The Five Knots
Page 21
*CHAPTER XXI*
*A DOUBLE FOE*
Russell smiled slightly in reply. Apparently he expected Uzali to makethat guess, for he went on again unsurprised. Nor had Mercer time toshow any astonishment.
"I am obliged to you for saving me so much trouble," Russell said. "Itis so pleasant to have an appreciative audience. I don't mind admittingthat at the time I was more surprised than Mr. Uzali appears to be now.Mind you, I knew Samuel Flower well enough. I had done a variety ofwork for him from time to time, some of it shady, but nothing that onecould call positively dishonourable. But to see that man on that sideof the globe came on me like a shock. I thought the blackguard was inLondon, engaged in his congenial occupation of sending coffin ships tosea and profiting by their wrecks. When I came to think of it, Iremembered Flower once telling me that he had been pretty well all overthe world in his youth, and now I guessed what he was doing in thatout-of-way spot. I knew he was there with sinister designs upon myfriendly host. I knew he must be at the head of the faction of nativeswho were bearing down upon the devoted city."
Russell paused and helped himself to a fresh cigarette.
"Mind you, I am not taking credit to myself for any philanthropy," hewent on. "I admit those people were very good to me, but I wanted toget back to civilization nevertheless. And I am afraid I was thinkingmore about those jewels than anything else. If I could succeed inreaching the coast with them, why, then, my fortune was made. All thesethoughts passed swiftly through my mind as I crouched behind thefriendly shelter, watching Flower and his companions. There were twoEuropeans besides himself, and some half-a-dozen natives who stood at adistance waiting for orders. It puzzled me to know what they were doingup there, and it was some little time before I could make out. Butgradually the thing began to appear plainer, for one of the Europeanscame along with something in his hand which I made out to be an electricbattery. This man silently paced along the whole length of the dam,then he proceeded to make pencil notes in a pocket-book. Flower seemedto be watching him carefully, as if waiting for a verdict.
"'No great difficulty,' said the man with the pocket-book by and by.'On the whole the thing appears feasible. It only means removing astone or two and applying a big charge of dynamite and the thing isdone. I don't think we need take the trouble to keep our men here. Theless people we have about us the better. We can easily find some excusefor sending them to the coast. It is by far the most expeditious plan,to say nothing of its absolute safety.'
"'And those places down there?' Flower asked.
"The man with the battery shrugged his shoulders.
"'What does it matter?' he asked. 'It will only make the game excitingafterwards--the finest game of hide-and-seek you ever had in your life.You leave it to me and I'll fix it all right. And the sooner it comesoff the better.'"
Russell made another pause.
"I daresay you will think me stupid," he said, "but for the moment Icould not make out what those fellows were doing. I knew there wasmischief on foot. I knew that Samuel Flower would never come all thatway for nothing. But, for the life of me, I couldn't see what they weredriving at. I stayed there thinking the matter over long after Flowerand his companions had gone, but the more I pondered the more muddled Igrew. Still, I decided to go down presently and see how the chief wasprogressing. It only wanted a glance in the moonlight to see what hadhappened. The poor fellow was dead. He had told me the sober truth. Hehad fallen by a poisoned arrow shot by one of those miscreants who hadguided Flower and his companions to that out-of-the-way corner of theworld.
"But there was nothing for it but to wait for the morning. I went backto my own quarters sorrowfully enough, feeling that I had lost whatlittle power I possessed, for since the chief was dead my reputation forsurgery would vanish to nothing. I might alarm the natives in themorning and try to show them what was in store for them if they had notmuch faith in my diplomacy. I lay on my bed full of fears and none theless alarmed because I did not know in which quarter to look for thedanger. I suppose I must have dozed off into a sort of sleep, when Iwas alarmed by a tremendous crash and boom overhead as if a mightythunderstorm were in progress, and a moment later I heard the torrentsof rain roaring down the flinty streets. Even then I did not connectthis with the peril to come, though it was impossible to sleep for thenoise of the rushing waters, and I sat up in bed. Presently I could seethe yellow flood creeping into my room and almost before I knew where itwas it was knee-deep on the floor.
"And then it flashed across me what had happened. The truth came toolate. I saw once more in my mind's eye the man jotting down hiscalculations in a pocket-book. It came back to me with vivid force whathe had said about the dynamite, and I knew. They had removed some ofthe heavy coping-stones from the top of the dam, then with the aid oftheir battery they had fired a mine of dynamite, and in the twinkling ofan eye the dam was no more. The huge wall had been removed as if by agigantic knife, and the great lake overhead was rushing on to thedestruction of the city. In a few minutes every man, woman and childwould perish, and the gigantic buildings be torn apart like so manypacks of cards.
"I rose from my bed and rushed into the street where the torrent wasalready high. With a shudder I looked upwards and saw a huge wall ofwater bearing down upon me like some all-compelling cataract down anAlpine mountain side. I could hear a cry now and again as somethinghuman flashed by me, but I was powerless to give any assistance; I waseven powerless to secure my own safety. A moment later and the waterhad me in its grip, tossing and turning me over as if I had been a chip.I remember sliding over a ledge of rock and finding myself pinioned by agreat mass of bushes whilst the water slid over me, leaving me free tobreathe, and indeed, the mass of rock forming a huge cascade as it did,saved my life.
"Goodness knows how long I was held there. It seemed that the nightchanged to day and the day to dusk again before the mighty roar ceasedand I was free to creep from under the shelter of the rock and gaze onthe destruction which had taken place around me. As to the city itself,it had vanished. The great stone buildings were gone, the mass oftemples were no more, nothing remained to speak of what had been excepta mighty jumble of stones at the foot of the valley. I was the solesurvivor of that appalling calamity. It did not need any one to informme that I witnessed one of the most awful tragedies of modern times.For the time being I could not even think.
"But gradually my strength and courage came back to me. I knew that Iwas not altogether alone. I knew now what Flower and hisfellow-miscreants were after. They had not dared to meet the people ofthe granite city single-handed; they had taken this murderous way ofsweeping life out of existence, so that they might recover the losttreasures of the city without interruption.
"This knowledge was my one chance of salvation. If I could keep on thetrack of those people without being seen, then it was just possible thatI might make my way down to the coast. I could hang about the camp atnight, for they would not be likely to keep a very close watch, so thatI could help myself to what food I required. For the best part of threedays I hid myself closely in the daylight and prowled about at nightuntil I got on the track of those people. As I had expected, they wereafter plunder alone, and gradually began to collect a mass of loot. Butwith all my caution there was one thing I did not succeed in findingout, and that was, where the stuff was hidden. At the end of a weekthey appeared to be satisfied, and one morning they moved off towardsthe coast. It was only by a bit of sheer luck that I managed to keep upwith them. You see, I had my life to think of, for all the treasure onthe island was worthless to me without that. At the end of a week webegan to see signs of civilization and I could afford to drop back andlet Flower and his party go their own way. The strange part of thewhole thing was this--when Flower reached the sea, save for one Europeanhe was alone. I don't insinuate anything, but I feel certain that notone of Flower's escort lived to tell the tale. I believe that every
native who went with him as far as the granite city was murdered. Oh,that would be nothing to a man like Flower. It would be easy to make apresent of a case of whisky to those natives and see that it was heavilydrugged with poison. And now I think I have told you everything. Everyword of it is true."
"Absolutely true," Uzali said. "I can confirm it if necessary. For thechief you spoke of just now was well known to me; in fact, I may saythat he was my elder brother."