CHAPTER XXV
THE CRY IN THE NIGHT
As the fire-sticks snapped under the heat, the jackal would open hisyellow eyes and start back with his gaze fixed inquiringly on thefire, whose mystery he could never solve. One of these starts rousedVenning, who, seeing the cause, threw out a hand and drew the animalto him. He felt nervous, and the company of the jackal comfortedhim, and the jackal in its turn forgot its uneasiness in the warmthof the blankets. With a little sigh it curled up and went to sleep.
The boy was the only one awake, and out in the wide space beyond heheard a voice calling--
"Ngonyama'"
He held his breath, and his throat grew very dry, for it was thevoice he had heard in the cavern, only sad this time, and notmocking as before.
"Ngonyama!--yama!" It came thin and melancholy, with a longlingering on the last syllables.
He put his hand out to rouse Mr. Hume, then drew it back ashamed ofhis fancies; but the movement awoke the jackal. It lifted its head,snuffed the air, then sprang up with the ruff on its neck erect, andits sharp white teeth gleaming. Several moments it stood so, thenwith many a look out, curled itself up again.
Venning had watched it breathlessly, now he patted it to sleep, anddozed off himself, only to wake up in a violent tremble, with thatsound quivering plaintively in the air--
"Ngonyama! Ngonyama!"
He brushed his hand across his forehead, and found his face burninghot. He removed his blanket from his shoulders and sat up, stillpatting the jackal. The fire was before him, and the dark ring ofthe cave's mouth; but his eyes dilated as he looked, for within theglare of the fire was that same awful face he had seen down in thedarkness.
He would have cried out, but his voice would not come; and with aneffort--for all the blood seemed to have left his limbs--he slowlymoved his hand to Mr. Hume's.
The Hunter made no sign; but Venning, with his face turned still ina frozen stare towards the entrance, caught a change in thebreathing, and knew that his touch had answered its purpose. To theboy they were acting over the scene in the cavern again. He waswaiting for the shrill laugh, the sudden treacherous thrust of steelin the dark, and then the ring of metal on the rocks.
Then, without any sign having been given that he was awake, thejackal in a bound was over the fire, swollen to double his size bythe bristling hair, and uttering as he charged a fierce yelp.
Muata seemed to awake and spring forward all in one movement. Amoment he paused in the glare of the light, stooping forward, theglare showing red on his blade, and the next he was gone with a war-whoop, and in his place stood the Hunter, crouching also with thebroad blade in his hand. Between the fierce yelp of the jackal andthe spring of the Hunter only a few seconds had passed. The three ofthem less than half a minute since had been asleep; and now, out ofthe darkness on the ledge beyond came the ring of metal and thesavage grunts of men fighting for their lives.
Venning remained where he was, too ill to rise; and Compton, not yettrained to act on a sudden emergency, sat up, bewildered by thenoise.
"Mr. Hume--Godfrey--what is it?"
"The witches," said Venning, "out of the underground. I saw onelooking in."
"Eh?"
Compton felt for his carbine, and, gathering his wits, ran out,receiving promptly, on getting within the ring of light, a blow onhis arm, followed by a clutch at his throat. Driving the muzzle ofhis gun forward into something soft which emitted a grunt, he freedhimself from his assailant, and sprang aside. He heard the whizz ofweapons, the clash of blows, and saw dark forms indistinctly movingrapidly this way and that; then his rifle flashed as he saw acrouching form stealing upon him.
"Yavuma!" cried the Hunter's voice, giving the Kaffir war-cry as heswung his terrible weapon at a foe.
"Yavuma '" cried Muata, with the jackal snarling by his side. "Fire,little great one, into the thick."
It was very well to say fire, but Compton could not tell friend fromfoe until, bending low, he made out that while two men had theirbacks to the cliff there were others around them in an enclosingring. Judging these were the enemy, though he could make out nodistinguishing point, he went down on his knee and fired rapidly.
A man dashed by him towards the gorge, and the rest who couldfollowed. One gave a slashing left-hand stroke with a long sword ashe went by the kneeling marksman, and Compton went down in a heap.The man paused to finish his work, but with a savage roar the Hunterleapt forward and bore him to the ground.
At the heels of the flying men went the jackal, and after him, soft-footed, went Muata, still-voiced.
The fight was over. Mr. Hume picked Dick up and carried him into thecave.
"A light," said the Hunter.
Venning, with his head throbbing, crawled feebly to where thelantern was, lit it with trembling fingers, and, sitting up, threwthe light on the two forms--on the one face, beaded, working stillwith the fury of the fight; on the other, still, white, and blood-stained.
The boy's hand shook more violently, and in his weakness he sobbed.
"Put the lantern down," said Mr. Hume, fiercely.
Quickly he staunched the flow of blood, cut away the hair, and then,with an impatient look at the sobbing boy, lowered the head he wassupporting, and searched for liniment, ointment, and restoratives.
Bending over his task, he worked with skilful fingers, and then,with a sigh, watched the white face intently. Then he went outsideto listen, to bend over the figures lying still in the darkness, andreturning, built up the fire.
Venning watched him return to Dick, saw the long, anxious scrutiny,and then burst out crying as he saw a look of relief come into therugged face.
"Don't worry, lad; he'll pick up."
"I know you think I'm no good," was the boy's heartbroken reply.
Mr. Home was at his side. "Nonsense, lad. I know what it is to havea touch of fever; and besides, I believe it was you who gavewarning."
"I heard some one calling Ngonyama," said the boy, in a whisper,"and I saw the face in the entrance--the same face I saw down underthere. Were they the witches?"
"It was Hassan and some of his men. They must have escaped from theriver and remained in hiding. I felt your hand in the night, and itwoke me. So, you see, you did your part. Now rest, there's a goodchap."
Mr. Hume made the boy a cooling drink, with a dose of quinine.
"I would have helped, if I could."
"You did help," said the Hunter, earnestly. "If it had not been foryou we should have been killed while we slept. You saved our lives,just as you saved the valley by your thought of letting the waterout."
Venning was comforted. He rose up on his elbow to have another lookat Dick, saw that the colour was coming back into the white face,and leant back on his pillow.
In the morning Muata came into the cave, staggering like a drunkenman from loss of blood, and at his heels limped the jackal with histongue out.
"Well?" said the Hunter.
"The last fell on the shores of the dead pool, and the last wasHassan himself."
The chiefs bloodshot eyes roamed over the cave, until they rested onVenning's startled face.
"On the brink of the pool he fell, and where he fell there, too, wasthe Inkosikase." It seemed as if he were addressing the remark toVenning.
"I heard her call 'Ngonyama' in the night," whispered the boy.
"Wow!"
"So the young chief told me after you had gone," said the Hunter.
Venning nodded his head.
The chief accepted the explanation. "The Inkosikase waited for thewolf by the water's edge," he said simply, "and I smote him behindthe ear. So her spirit is at rest."
"Let me see to your wounds, chief."
"Wow! It is well my people should see them;" and the warrior wentdown with unsteady steps to the village, leaving a trail of blood;and when the people had shouted in triumph at his story of the lastfight, the medicine men took him into their charge, when his lifewas in danger of escaping through one of those gaping c
uts made byArab swords on his body.
For a fortnight Mr. Hume nursed his young friends back to health,and for a week they sat and walked in the sun, slowly regainingstrength; and then came the first forerunner of the rains in a dayof pelting showers.
"It is the beginning," said Muata, who was proud of his newly healedscars. "You must come down into the valley."
"There was something said about the full moon," said Mr. Hume,suspiciously.
The chief laughed. "It was the wish of the Inkosikase; but now sheis gone, it is in my heart to take the wives to myself. But thereare others, Ngonyama."
"No, chief," said the Hunter, quickly. "How do you live in therains, chief? Is there much discomfort?"
"Wow! it is the red pig's life--mud all about; and there is muchsickness, for the people crowd together in the huts."
"I suppose we must stay and make the best of it; but the huts aresmall."
"They are the best we can make."
"I don't know," said Venning, thoughtfully, with his eyes on theopposite cliff. "I see there are trees up there. Is there a way up?"
"There is a goats'-track. What is in your mind, young wise one?"
"We will climb up that goats'-path, chief," said Venning, "with allthe men, cut down many of those trees, and roll them over the cliffinto the valley. Then will we build a great house, and the womenwill gather grass and reeds for the thatching of it."
"It would be a good plan, if it could be done."
"We'll do it," said the Hunter; "but if we are to stay here, we mustbring up the boat, and you must let us have some of your men."
"All," said the chief; and that day the Okapi was brought up insections.
Then Venning's scheme was taken in hand, the cliff scaled, a hundredtrees felled, and rolled over as they fell, with all the brancheson. Then they returned to the valley, drew the fallen trees out,lopped off the branches, shaped the poles, dug holes, and got theuprights into position. Then followed the ridge-poles and thesideposts, and the roof took shape, to the wonder of the women, anoble span covering some thousands of square feet, with a length ofone hundred and fifty feet, and a height of fifty feet. As thesupporting rafters were laid, the women climbed up and set to workat the thatching, using long bands of bark for the binding. Andwhile the women worked at the roof, the men built up stone walls,under directions of the architects. The great house built, a smallerone was made for the women, to serve as a general kitchen, withgreat stacks of wood piled up all round for the fires. The entirepopulation was kept hard at it for a week, and when the work wasdone, there was a grand ceremony over the wedding of Muata; and thenone morning they awoke to find a low grey canopy drawn over thevalley, from which fell a steady drizzle of rain. The next day waslike the first, and so on for nearly three months there was aperpetual mist in the valley, a long dismal succession of leadenskies hanging low. One of these days the three white friends, incompany with Muata, paid a visit to the underground world to obtaina supply of sulphur to serve as a disinfectant and purifier--anotheridea of Venning's. They found the dark passages thundering to thefall of the water, but they found no signs whatever of livingcreatures. With their loads of sulphur they very soon left theforbidding place, and for some days after the unhappy people of thevillage had to submit to the terrors of fumigation. As the"medicine" was undoubtedly strong, and as it certainly stopped theprogress of sickness that had broken out, the "Spider" rose in theestimation of the people as a great wizard.
At last the curtains were drawn, the blue of the sky appeared, andthe valley glittered in the brilliant sunlight.
Then the women went singing to their gardens, the men prepared forthe hunt, and the white chiefs got out their shining canoe from itswrappings, rubbed it with fat, and polished it with wood-ashes tillit shone like a looking-glass.
"Ton will go, then?" said Muata.
"If your men will carry the pieces down to the larger river belowthe gates, we will thank you."
The men went off singing, six men to each section, and in theafternoon the Okapi was once more in her proper element.
"And which way will you go, Ngonyama?"
"We have thought it over during the rains, chief. We will go backthrough the open water, back past the place where we landed in theforest, back into the great river, and then south, even to thefarthest reaches of the Congo, when we shall be among people I know.There we will get carriers to take the boat to the waters of anothergreat river, the Zambesi."
"Towards the setting sun," said Muata. "And you will want a man?"
"Two men, we would ask; and one of them, the Angoni warrior, who didso well in the fight, for his country is to the south."
"Only one man you can have," said the chief, shortly.
They had said their good-bye to the people in the valley, who hadwept at their departure, for the white men had done much for them,and never before had they borne the visitation of the rains with solittle discomfort.
Now they said good-bye to the chief, the man who had shared so muchof danger with them, whose shield had been their shield, whose spearhad been theirs to command.
It was difficult to say good-bye, for he seemed moody, answered themin monosyllables, and at last, after a curt nod, left them longbefore they were ready to go. And when at last they were headingdown the broad river to the old pleasant music of the clanginglevers, the edge of their joy was blunted by the thought of thewarrior's lowering looks.
"I'm sorry," said Mr. Hume, for the third time.
"I believe he has had something on his mind for days past," saidVenning; "and yesterday I saw him arguing with the headmen."
"Yet he never opposed our going. I have never seen him like thatbefore. Hang it all, I can't bear to think we have left him lookingso down;" and Compton banged the lever over.
They went on in silence for a mile, still thinking over Muata, whenthe Angoni, who was on watch, cried out--
"Congela!"
"What do you see?"
The man pointed a black finger at the river, and on it they saw twoblack spots. The man's teeth gleamed in a smile and his black eyessparkled.
They stood up to look, and then Mr. Hume motioned to the boys.
"Let her have it," he said; and they made those levers smoke in theslots, for they saw in those black spots the long face of the jackaland the head of Muata!
They were helped dripping on board, the chief with nothing else thanhis Ghoorka blade.
Mr. Hume waited for an explanation, and the chief gave it in hiscalm way, without a smile.
"You wanted two men, great one. I am the second."
"But we go far, while the moon is many times at the full."
"You go towards the setting sun, Ngonyama, and there also goes theson of the Inkosikase."
"But your people?"
"I have said my say with them. They are in peace, and they can livein peace; but is Muata a goat that he should live in a kraal? Wow! Iam a Hunter, like this little one;" and he patted the jackal on thehead.
"We are only too glad to have you, chief, if your mind is fully madeup?"
"See, Ngonyama, I thought to live in ease and grow fat, but thespirit of my mother called out upon me--ay, it fought within me--andI go for the hills and the open plains. Behold, I am no longerchief." He took the long blue feather from his head, and let itglance to the water. "My shield is your shield."
He sat down in the bows with his face toward the river, and the boyslaughed as they worked the levers.
"Ripping!" said Compton, feeling quite happy, as he touched hisprecious journal.
"As good as finding a new butterfly," said Venning.
Mr. Hume nodded his head gravely several times, and then a smilecame into his eyes.
"I guess," he said, "we'll have some good hunting."
And good hunting they had after they had passed the Stanley Fallsand were in the game country, stretching for hundreds of miles tothe Zambesi. Some day, perhaps, we may hear of the adventures theyhad in their long voyage before at last, a thous
and miles off, theytouched bottom in the shallows where the mighty Congo narrowed downto a stream that could be crossed at a jump. From the Congo theymarched to a tributary of the Zambesi, and at the Victoria Falls,after having gathered a store of ivory, they found an ox-wagon,which took them to Bulawayo; and near Bulawayo the two boys, nowstalwart young men, took possession of a farm owned by Mr. Hume, towait for the return of the Hunter from England, whither he had gone.On his return they would go north, in order to keep their promise topick up Muata, whom they left at an Angoni kraal, on another huntingexpedition.
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