Blind Lion of the Congo

by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER XIX

  THE RAFT

  When he wakened, it was hard for Burt to realize where he was. He staredup at the thatched roof above him and gradually collected his thoughts.A shiver swept over him as he recollected what had occurred thepreceding night. He sat up, and saw Critch still asleep beside him. Itappeared to be broad daylight outside, and he roused his chum at once.Critch rolled over and sprang to his feet, then stood blinking aroundwith so puzzled an expression that Burt went into a shout of laughter.

  "What's the matter?" he gasped.

  "I was dreaming that old Ta was having a scrap with me," confessed hischum sheepishly. "He threw the _ankh_ at me and just then Pongo comealong and jumped him. Both of 'em rolled over on me and I woke up."

  "Say, was last night all a dream?" asked Burt, soberly, as he stared athis chum. "Or did we really put it over--"

  "You bet we did!" cried Critch with a grin of recollection. "No dreamabout that, old man. We've only been here two days, but we've done aheap of things. Now we got to finish the lion. Then we can see aboutgetting off."

  "I'm not anxious to monkey with Pongo," stated Burt. "However, we mightsend out Mbopo to trail him. I'll take him over to the hut if you'll getsome breakfast fixed up."

  "I'm on," exclaimed Critch. Upon leaving the hut, the two boys foundthemselves objects of awed veneration from the pigmies. They met Mbopo,and Burt took him out to the sacred hut. Here he described the fightwith Pongo in detail, not mentioning when it occurred and purposelyleaving the dwarf rather confused. There could be no such doubt aboutthe struggle itself, however, and Mbopo nodded understandingly.

  They then left the ivory zareba while Mbopo made a cast around the placefor the lion's trail. Burt accompanied him, and Mbopo soon uttered ashout of excitement. Running to his side, Burt saw the beaten spot inthe tall grass where the lion must have alighted from his last leap overthe ivory zareba after having been wounded. There was a speck or twoof dried blood in evidence, and Mbopo found more blood farther on, aswell as a clearly defined trail. The excited pigmy was for following itup at once, but Burt held him back. By dint of much patience he madeMbopo understand that Critch, whom the pigmies called "Mwanzi," or"Red-head," must accompany them, as well as some warriors. Burt had hadone experience with a wounded lion and he intended to take no chancesthis time.

  The two returned to the village where Mbopo shouted forth his news, andBurt was instantly the center of an excited mob. He pushed through them,however, and found Critch with breakfast ready. Over the meal theydiscussed the matter of the lion, and decided to start out at once.

  "Mebbe they'll go without waitin' for us," suggested Burt, glancing atthe chattering crowd of warriors around the young chief. Critch shookhis head.

  "Not much. They ain't got the nerve. They'll do whatever we tell 'em,but they won't leave us out o' the game, take it from me."

  As soon as they had finished, the boys joined Mbopo. Their first objectwas a search for weapons. Critch suggested taking two of the spears,whose blades were over a foot long and keen as a razor, but Burtobjected.

  "We don't know how to use them," he said. "Let's see; didn't Cap'n Macsay something about trade-guns?"

  "Mebbe he did," assented Critch, "but I haven't seen any sign of gunsaround here. Let's ask Mbopo."

  They tried to make the young chief understand, but without success.Thereupon the boys took matters into their own hands, and began a searchamong the largest huts. This was presently rewarded by the finding of anold Snider, wrapped in tarpaulin. There were three cartridges in themagazine, but no more. These were displayed to Mbopo, but he stated thatthere were no more weapons of the kind in the village.

  "Well, she seems to be in pretty fair shape," remarked Burt, squintingdown the barrel of the rifle. "Get some palm oil, Critch. Three bulletsought to do."

  "Don't catch me around when you fire that thing," sniffed his chumdisgustedly. "She's liable to bust. I'll bet she's twenty years old."

  "Better'n a spear at that," chuckled Burt, oiling the rifle until itworked perfectly. "We ain't so badly off, Critch. There, I guess that'lldo. Ready?"

  Critch armed himself with one of the spears, and at the head of twentypicked warriors they left the village. Mbopo led the way to the spooralready found, and Critch at once ordered the pigmy warriors to followit up.

  "Let 'em take the chances," he grinned. "They ain't scared now I'malong. If they find Pongo you can finish him with the gun--unless thegun finishes you."

  "You're sore because you didn't find the gun yourself," retorted Burt."Come on, they're quite a ways ahead."

  The pigmies had started at once along the spoor of the lion, spreadingout on either side and calling to one another continually. The boysfollowed more carefully with Mbopo. The spoor led them through the longrank grass into the forest, and was easy for the boys to read.

  The lion had made only one leap after leaving the zareba. This had takenhim almost across the grassy space. Upon reaching the first thicket hehad crawled along and left a plain blood-marked trail for the hunters tofollow. A hundred yards farther on they heard a shrill yell from ahead,and hurried on.

  Emerging from the thicket, they found the pigmies clustered about aclump of thorn-bushes. These were almost impenetrable save by the trailleft by the lion. The pigmies reported to Mbopo, who turned to Critch.

  "Him Pongo in there," he stated, pointing to the bushes with a grin."Mwanzi kill? Vera good!"

  Critch hesitated. He glanced at the waiting pigmies, who evidently hadnot the slightest intention of robbing him of the honor of going first.

  "Come on," he muttered to Burt. "We got to pull the bluff through righthere. Have your gun ready."

  Burt nodded. The two boys, their hearts beating fast, advanced to theedge of the thicket. No sound came from the bushes, and Burt thrust thefirst branches aside as he entered. The thorns made sad havoc with theirclothes, but the boys were too anxious to heed this. A moment later Burtgave a startled exclamation. Critch came to his side, and the boys sawa tawny shape lying ahead of them.

  "Is he dead?" whispered Critch.

  "Can't see him plain enough," responded Burt. "If he jumps and I don'tstop him, try to catch him on the spear."

  A few steps farther on and the lion came into full view. He was lying onhis side, stretched out, and something black hid his head. Burt levelledthe gun, but as he did so the black object resolved itself into a swarmof flies, who buzzed up at the noise made by the boys.

  "Hurray!" shouted Burt, flinging down the gun, "he's dead!"

  "Look at the axe!" yelled his chum, pointing to the weapon that wasalmost buried in the skull of the beast. "Golly, you must have hit likefury! Hey, Mbopo!"

  The pigmies were not far behind the boys, and at the shout they camedashing forward. A shrill yell went up as they saw the dead lion, thenall remained silent and motionless, gazing down at the form of the beastwhich they had worshipped for so long. That he was blind could be easilymade out, for the white scar ran across his eyes, which were notpleasant to see. Burt turned away with a shudder.

  "Leave Mbopo to skin him, Critch. I'm goin' back where it's cool."

  His chum nodded, directed Mbopo to skin the lion and followed Burt backto the shade of the hut. There the two boys settled down for a talk.

  "We got nothing to worry over now," remarked Critch, "except the gettingaway. How'll we keep the skin of Pongo?"

  "Let Mbopo do that," replied Burt. "They can fix it so it'll keep longenough to get down the river with anyhow." He suddenly sat up. "Say,building that raft is going to be some job! Let's have a look at theriver."

  "Come on," and Critch sprang to his feet. "If we do get off, Burt, let'stake a collection o' these pigmy weapons. Wouldn't they be swell in ourrooms at home?"

  "Right now I'd take the rooms without anything at all in 'em," grinnedBurt, who was fast recovering his spirits in the fresh morning air. Afew moments later they reached the village, which stood on the riverbank, and descended by a well-worn path to
the edge of the stream.

  "There's some big trees growin' handy," announced Critch. "How'll wemake it?" Burt thought a moment.

  "Why," he replied slowly, "take four big logs an' lash 'em in a square.Then put four on top o' them, with a platform. That ought to floatpretty high even with a good load. Guess we'll have to make two rafts,though. We couldn't carry any men an' that ivory on one, 'less we madeit almighty big."

  "The river wouldn't stand for a very big one," suggested Critch. "Go an'get a bunch o' the men, Burt. We might as well pitch in right now."

  Burt nodded and returned up the path, leaving Critch to inspect thetrees growing at the edge of the river. He returned with a score of men,all of whom brought their little axes. They looked wonderingly at thetwo boys.

  "Here's a good tree," declared Critch, pointing to one about two feetthrough. "We'll take an axe an' show 'em how to do it."

  Shedding their upper garments, for the place was by no means cool, theboys fell to work on the tree. The pigmies comprehended at once, andalso went to work on three other trees picked out by the boys. Thelatter, having started things satisfactorily, flung themselves down inthe shade and directed operations.

  When the first tree was about to fall, they showed the dwarfs how tomake it fall toward the stream, so that it lay half in the water. Thereseemed to be no crocodiles in the river, the men splashing about withoutfear. Then Burt took a spear and measured a straight section of thetrunk for three spear-lengths, or fifteen feet. While Critch saw thatthis was lopped and cut rightly, Burt visited the other workers.

  All this, however, was not done in a few moments. The axes of thepigmies were keen, but they were also very small. No sooner had the workbegun than the whole tribe came down from the village to look on withwondering interest, and Mbopo shortly after arrived also.

  It was well into the afternoon before the four trees were down, and notuntil noon of the next day were they cut into the proper lengths andtrimmed. Finally, however, the logs lay end to end in the shape of asquare, in the shallow water. Burt now explained to Mbopo that thesewere to be fastened together. The young chief comprehended at once, andwith strips of tough hides had the first part of the raft completed bynightfall.

  The abundance of help lightened the work wonderfully, as the otherwarriors learned the work. They went at it like children, laughing andplaying continually, until the two white boys wondered how they couldever have stood in fear of these pranking dwarfs who were so full of funand laughter.

  At the end of five days the first raft was finished to the satisfactionof the boys. Even when the platform was crowded with men it floatedclear of the water, and with an ordinary load the platform would be atleast a foot above the surface. The whole fabric was very strong, forthe platform itself was formed of saplings which were lashed carefully,and no ordinary shock would break up the raft. A small bulwark was thenrun around the edges.

  At the end of a week the second raft also lay completed, and now theboys had to face the somewhat difficult task of explaining their purposeto Mbopo. They took him over to the sacred hut, and Burt pointed to theivory tusks, with gestures of uprooting them.

  "Take him to Buburika Mac," he explained over and over. "You go along.Come back afterwards."

  Mbopo looked doubtful as he grasped the idea that the tusks were to beloaded on the rafts. Finally, however, he nodded and the boys drew abreath of relief. That they would be obeyed now they had no fear at all,for the pigmies were their devoted slaves in every way, and stood inevident awe of the two boys and especially of "Mwanzi."

  This belief was confirmed when Mbopo addressed the tribe in a greatcouncil that night. The pigmies made not the slightest opposition, andthe boys could see by his gestures that he was describing their desires.

  "All right," murmured Burt as the two short guttural barks ascended fromthe audience, "it's all over but the shouting, Critch. S'pose we can getthe stuff loaded up to-morrow?"

  "We ought to," replied his chum. "We'll have to see first. Those thornsare tangled up with the tusks somethin' fierce."

  Next morning the entire tribe left the village and approached thesacred hut of Pongo. Under the direction of Mbopo, who took matters intohis own hands now, the work of uprooting the ivory was begun. This wasdifficult, but by evening the last of the great tusks lay in the pile bythe river edge. All that remained was to load them aboard the rafts.This, however, would be no easy matter, for the tusks were heavy and thebalance of the rafts must be preserved.

  Critch took charge of the loading, while Burt attended to gettingprovisions together for the journey. There was dried meat in abundance,and plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits. The boys had a longconsultation over loading the ivory, for even with the protection of thedwarfs a raftload of tusks would be too much of an inducement for thetribes they were sure to meet.

  At length it was settled by making a layer of tusks, of which there werethirty-nine in all, on the platforms. Fifteen of the tusks had beendiscarded by the boys as worthless. Over the layer of ivory was placedenough dirt to fill in the spaces and hold the tusks steady. A top layerof skins completed the whole.

  The young chief made no objection to taking the journey on the rafts,for the boys held out "Buburika Mac" at the end of the trip as a bribe,and Mbopo could not resist. He selected six warriors for each raft; heand Burt took charge of one and Critch of the other. Poles were cut forthe "deckhands," as Burt named the crews, and at length all was ready.

  CHAPTER XX

  DOWN THE MAKUA

  The start was made in the early dawn of a perfect day. The whole tribeassembled to see the party off, and it was plain that the pigmies, whilenot opposing the departure, did not like to lose "Mwanzi," for manygifts were brought to the boys, with gestures of good will. In theirturn, Burt and Critch gave away all the small articles they possessedexcept those which they would absolutely need. Their collection ofweapons was completed, and Burt carefully wrapped up the rifle with itsthree precious cartridges in the tarpaulin. As the sequel proved, it waswell indeed for the boys that they had found the old rifle.

  Finally all was ready. The warriors took their places on board, standingamid the piles of provisions and skins of water, for the boys dared notdrink the river water.

  "Cast off!" shouted Critch, throwing off the vine that bound his raft tothe bank. Burt followed suit. A roll of tom-toms and a loud shout rosefrom the tribe, which was answered by a shout from the crews. Slowly thepoles sent the rafts out into mid-stream, where the current caught themand swept them down. For half a mile they remained in sight of thevillage, then a bend swept all away. The perilous voyage was begun.

  Burt's raft followed that of Critch at a distance of fifty feet. Neitherboy made any effort to increase the speed of the craft, confining theirefforts to keeping the rafts from turning around and around in thecurrent. Both floated well above the water, and the pigmies were highlydelighted with their novel situation.

  The river was of good size and to the joy of the two boys it continuedto flow steadily toward the northwest. They floated down between banksof heavy vegetation, but saw no signs of life. That night they camped onan island and the party seemed in high spirits.

  The next day they received their first sign of the hidden life thatfilled the great jungles. There came a high shrill yell from one bank,to which Mbopo replied, and the boys knew that once more they were amongthe black dwarfs. This was repeated in the afternoon, but even by theaid of their glasses they could not make out who had hailed them.

  Only once did they meet with trouble. This occurred when Critch ranaground on a hidden shoal. The solid raft ran deeply into the mud of theriver bottom and it took the efforts of both crews to get her off.

  For three days more they floated down the river, but on the thirdevening both boys noticed signs of uneasiness among the pigmies. In themorning, before the start, Mbopo approached Critch.

  "Where Buburika Mac?" he inquired, glancing around as if he expected tofind Captain Montenay in their vicinity. Critch gl
anced at Burt.

  "Him down there," and he waved his hand downstream. Mbopo lookeddoubtfully around.

  "Mbopo no like vera good," was his reply. "Him Zwengi pretty quick."

  "Zwengi?" repeated Critch, puzzled.

  "Him vera bad," declared Mbopo. "Him big, much fight. Mbopo no like."

  "Must be a tribe they're at war with," said Burt. He took up the rifleand turned to the chief. "Him kill Zwengi."

  "Mwanzi kill Zwengi?" asked Mbopo of Critch, plainly putting all hisfaith in the latter's prowess. Critch laughed and nodded. Mbopo turnedand spoke joyfully to his men, who instantly lost their uneasyappearance and sprang aboard with a shout of delight.

  "It's up to you," grinned Burt, and Critch nodded soberly.

  "Plain bluff again," he said. "If we are held up, those bows o' thedwarfs ought to get in good work, an' your three cartridges'll help awhole lot unless the Zwengi have guns. If they have, it's all up, Iguess."

  "The Makua can't be so very far off now," replied Burt. "The river'sgetting bigger and bigger, and the current's swifter. S'pose we couldrig up any kind of breastwork on the rafts?"

  "Better not waste time trying," dissented Critch. "I'm afraid of makingthem top-heavy. Well, let's be off. We ought to hit the Makua prettyquick now. If we don't meet Cap'n Mac I expect Mbopo'll be sore. That'swhat's worrying me right now."

  It was worrying Burt too, but he jumped aboard his raft and cast loosewithout giving vent to his fears. He realized only too well that theZwengi might have canoes, and if they were discovered and pursued theironly hope was to beat off the enemy.

  For several hours they swept along the rapidly widening river withoutany sign of a foe. Toward noon the stream swept around in a great bend,and as Burt stared ahead he caught a wild shout from Critch.

  "There she is!" and the red-haired boy danced around and waved his armsback at the other raft. "The Makua, Burt!"

  Sweeping around with the current, Burt saw ahead of them two or threescattered islands. Beyond these was the sheen of water, and he couldplainly see that their river formed a juncture with another and muchlarger stream. As he was staring down the river there came a sudden yellfrom his men.

  "Zwengi!"

  Whirling around, Burt saw them pointing to the right bank. At the sameinstant a yell of alarm went up from Critch's raft. It was answered byanother shout from the right bank, and Burt saw three long canoesputting out, with a crowd of savage warriors pouring into others. Hesaw instantly that they had only one chance.

  "Make for the island!" he shouted to Critch. "Land and hold them off!"

  Critch waved his hand, and both boys set the men to work frantically,trying to guide the unwieldy craft toward an island that rose straightahead of them. Burt unwrapped the rifle, but did not wish to use ituntil he had to.

  With a dozen paddlers in each, the big war canoes shot out across theriver to head off the first raft. Now, the bows used by the whitepigmies were larger than those of any other tribe the boys had seen.They were fully as long as the men themselves and of great strength.Burt saw Critch say something to Mbopo and take the pole from one of hismen. Instantly he followed suit, directing the man he relieved to shootat two of the following canoes which were heading toward them. As he didso a flight of arrows came over the water, all but one falling short,the one rebounding from the wet logs without sticking.

  As Burt's man caught up his bow, the boy saw Mbopo and another warriorloose their shafts from the first raft. The arrows, driven by the fullforce of those tremendous bows, easily reached to the canoes. The bowmanin the first canoe gave a yell and dropped his paddle; as he did so, theman behind him threw up his arms and fell back, overturning the canoe.At this instant Burt's man shot, and although his arrow missed, thepursuing canoes instantly ceased their approach and sheered off,paddling down ahead of the rafts.

  Their plan was evident. By reaching the islands ahead of the two rafts,which were still two hundred yards away, they could command the passagesthat led into the Makua. Realizing the danger as he saw one of thecanoes turn and head for the island in front of them, Burt took up hisrifle. He did not wish to shoot to kill and therefore took careful aimat the bow of the canoe, ahead of the bowman and just at the waterline.As the canoes were hollowed-out logs, a bullet there would shatter thewhole bow.

  Trusting to luck that the old rifle would hold together, Burt pulled thetrigger. The sharp crack awoke a thousand echoes from the forest oneither hand. At the same instant the bow of the canoe seemed to fly intosplinters, a shrill yell of fear went up from the foe, and as the canoefilled, the others instantly turned back but still continueddownstream. A moment later Critch's raft swept down toward the island,four of the pigmies sprang out, and drew her safely to shore.

  The other islands, however, were well within range of the Zwengi bowsand to them the canoes dashed. Mbopo's men sent one whirling downstreamby a flight of arrows that completely cleared the craft, but the othersgained the shelter of the islands just as Burt's raft was landed besidethat of Critch. Then the dwarfs made fast and sprang out.

  "We're in for it," cried Critch, pointing upstream. "Look there!"

  Pulling out his glasses, Burt saw at least a dozen other canoes slinkingdown close to the banks. Catching up his rifle, he aimed full at the bowof the first. It was a long shot, but as the echoes rose the boys sawthe paddlers spring overboard, and the canoe filled and sank a momentlater.

  "Dandy shot," shouted Critch, "but they got us, Burt! Mebbe we can hold'em off while our arrows last, but--"

  At that instant something happened that caused the boys to whirl andstare at each other with pale faces. Clear and sharp above the yells ofthe warriors, and coming from the left bank, the south bank, they hadheard the report of a heavy rifle!

  "Hear that!" yelled Burt. "There's a hunter there!"

  "Hurray!" shouted his chum, turning and hitting Mbopo a clap on the backthat sent the dwarf staggering. "Mwanzi'll fix them, old scout. Hurray!Try another shot, Burt!"

  And as a flight of Zwengi arrows poured into the island, Burt firedagain, this time in the air. As if in answer there came another shotfrom the left bank, and a yell went up from the dwarfs as one of theirfoes on the neighboring island threw up his arms and fell back. A shriekof terror went up from the Zwengi, while the pigmy arrows played havocamong them as they fled back to their canoes. Next instant a canoe putout from the south bank.

  "Look there!" shouted Burt, peering through his glasses. "White helmets!We're saved, Critch!"

  "Yes," and Critch began to dance up and down, waving his arms like mad,"an' it's your uncle and Cap'n Mac! Hurray! Hurray!"

  A week later a small German Company steamer was making her way down thebroad Makua River. In the shade of her awning reclined Mr. Wallace,Captain Montenay, Burt and Critch. John was busying himself forward, andthe decks of the little craft were littered with long, curved packagesthat looked strangely like elephant tusks.

  "Well, it was mighty lucky for us that you started after us that way,"Burt was saying. "If you'd tried to strike right through the black dwarfcountry we'd have missed you. Ain't it queer how things worked out?"

  "Not a bit," asserted Captain Mac quietly. "It looks to me, Burt, as ifthe hand o' Providence was in it."

  The boys stared at the Scotchman for a moment in wonder. Suddenly Burtsprang to his feet.

  "Oh, I forgot!" he cried. "I ain't showed you that roll yet!" Dashingoff to the cabin, he returned with the tightly rolled packet he hadtaken from the mummy as he and Critch had unwrapped it. Mr. Wallace tookit with an exclamation of pleasure.

  "This is really something worth having, boys!" he declared, carefullyunfolding the papyrus. "Hello! Let's see what it says."

  In spite of its age, the first part that unrolled showed clear andstrong picture writing, in bright colors. The others gave a simultaneousexclamation, while Mr. Wallace bent his brows in the endeavor to readit.

  "Well, it's nothing special," he announced, "merely being scenes fromthe life of Ta-En-User,
with the story of his achievements. I think we'dbetter roll it up and keep it from the damp now; we can read it later.It'll make something great for your room, Burt! It's mighty few boysthat can boast of having a relic like that hanging on their walls!"

  "Well, I'm kind o' sorry we're going home," sighed Critch. "Won't thisbe a great yarn to write up for the school paper, eh, Burt?"

  "Nonsense!" said Mr. Wallace sharply. "It's too big a story for that,Critch. Why don't you two chaps get busy and make a book out of it? I'llhelp you in the stiff places."

  "Hurray!" cried Burt.

  "Bully!" uttered Critch, delighted. "That's just what we'll do, Mr.Wallace! Say, won't it make a great yarn?"

  "An' if you do," put in Captain Mac with a quiet grin, "be sure an' sendme a copy o' the thing, laddies! I'd like powerful well to see my namein a story book!"

  "You bet we will!" said Burt, and Critch grinned happily.