Zero the Slaver: A Romance of Equatorial Africa

by Lawrence Fletcher

  CHAPTER NINETEEN.

  A FORCED MARCH.

  After arranging with the old Mormon to start out with Grenville and ascouting party of Zulus at dawn of day, Kenyon turned into the roomjointly occupied by himself and Grenville; but, both being overwroughtby the events of the day, entirely failed to find the sleep they sought,and finally rose and strolled outside for a moonlight smoke, carefullytaking with them their restored and treasured rifles. Both feltrelatively happy, for the fear of death--and, however brave a man maybe, a violent death is still a fearsome thing--the fear of death, I say,no longer weighed upon them; and the fact that Leigh had that nighttaken a favourable turn, which placed him out of danger, had also lifteda load of sorrow from the heart of each; and as they strolled quietlyalong, the pair talked pleasantly of home and friends, and of an earlystart for England.

  Just as the twain reached the limits of their stroll, and were about toturn back and have another try to sleep, Grenville's keen eye detected amovement in the long grass at his right hand. Throwing forward hisrifle, he was about to fire, when a shrill, peculiar whistle broke uponthe night air, and, dropping the butt of his rifle upon the ground, hestood expectant, whilst Amaxosa coolly stalked forth from his lair, and,advancing to where they stood, gravely saluted them.

  "Greeting, Inkoosis, greeting," said the great Zulu; "it does my heartgood to see ye free again, and gun in hand. And now, my brothers, leadme, I pray ye, to the ancient man of this people of many women and threekings, for I have news to tell him--news which will not wait; and yemust be my mouth to him, O chiefs!"

  "My brother," answered Grenville, laying a hand kindly on the shoulderof his stalwart friend, "knowest thou that, because of thy departure, hehas sentenced thee to death; ay, thee, and Barad the Hailstorm withthee."

  "Nay, my father," replied the Zulu, "I knew it not, nor do I carewhether I live or die; yet do I think the ancient one will gladly hearmy words."

  Quickly returning to the public hall, Kenyon sent in word to the oldProphet that the Zulu chief had returned of his own accord, and had newsof much importance for his private ear.

  A few minutes elapsed, and then all were ushered into the unitedpresence of the Holy Three, where, utterly disregarding the frowninglooks cast upon him, the great Zulu thus commenced his stirring tale:--

  "Hear my words, O ye ancient ones, and let the message of the child ofthe Zulu sink down into your ears; for his words are heavy words tohear, yet come they from a straight and friendly tongue."

  Then addressing himself to Grenville, "Yesternight, my father," hebegan, speaking rapidly and forcibly in Zulu--"yesternight I had it inmy mind that Zero, the Black One, would escape and break his bonds, andin the same mind was also the Chieftain of the Stick; he knew no speechof mine, nor knew I aught of his, my father, yet eye looked into eye,and each knew well the secret thought of each.

  "We soon slipped past the sleepy guards and out into the night, butnaught had we in our hands, my father, and so we left behind the ruinedkraals, and hid us in the bushes by the well.

  "Long did we wait, but yet we had no doubt, and, so when half the nightwas gone, there came to us the ghost of him, the ancient one, who dwellsin yon lonely grave upon the northern hills--alas! my father, that I lethim pass me by, but empty hands are evil things wherewith to face awell-armed spook, and in his grasp he swung a mighty axe, dripping withhuman blood.

  "And so we waited, and when the Father of the Spooks had left ushalf-an-hour, then my thought changed, and I knew it was no spook thatpassed us by, but the black one, Zero himself, escaped in Muzi Zimba'sdress, and so I beckoned to Barad, my father, and down the well we wentto follow on his trail; but when we reached the narrow mountain pass, wefound it all blocked up with mighty rocks rolled from above, so that wecould not move them. Then climbed we forth again, and, skirting roundthe mountain, we filled our ready hands with arms from the dead who lieout yonder; and so sped we onwards through the night running our utmostspeed, but naught did we see, my father, until at dawn we struck theBlack One's footsteps crossing the western veldt, and these we followedtill the sun grew hot at noon, and so we tracked him to the thorn-girtkraal of a mighty host of low black fellows; those men, they were, myfather, whose king was here when first we hither came.

  "Lying hid, O chief, we watched, as well we might, and when the sun wentdown, the host set out, led forward by the Black One, and the track theytook, my father, was the track of the women and the children who havegone towards the sea.

  "And then, my father, did I leave the Chieftain of the Stick to mark thetrail, and follow on their rear, whilst I returned at speed to tell theeall.

  "And now, O chiefs, think wisely and think quickly what ye do. There isno time to waste--your army, split in twain by thrice a thousand men,must travel like the wind if ye would happen on the spot, ere Zero eatsyour friends and stamps them flat."

  Briefly and succinctly, Grenville gave the Mormons the substance of theZulu's thrilling news, adding that, from his own knowledge, he couldtell them that this king was a very great warrior and the most notoriousslave-dealer in all the country side, with a fighting band of quitethree thousand men, who were experts in the use of both bow and spear.

  Replying, the old Prophet said that he and his colleagues freelypardoned the Zulu and his sable friend, and also thanked them for theirzeal, and would now ask further what course Grenville, who knew thecountry so well, would advise them all to follow. Knowing, however,that Amaxosa must have fully thought out his plan of action, Grenvilleinformed him that the ancient ones had pardoned his escape, and that ofBarad, and would wish to hear his plan for eating up the foe.

  The great Zulu had quietly sat him down, and taken snuff to his heart'scontent, but now he rose to his feet, and drawing himself up to his fullheight, addressed himself to Grenville.

  "O my father," said he, "think ye these people here can fight, think yethat they can travel on a long, weary road? For thus shall the mattergo:--Seest thou, my father, that yonder comes the dawn. At dawn, nextday but one, will the evil Black One, backed by all his wicked host,fall on the white men as they sleep close by the burning mountain; andit shall be, my father, that while the Black One sets a snare for thewhite men, we ourselves will set a snare for him. Thus, when he risesto fire upon our friends, will we fire on him and his, and take him bysurprise. Then will our friends upon the mountain wake and shoot theirshots. So shall the Black One find himself between two heavy fires.But think upon the weary way, my father, for much I doubt that few willwin it, and therein lies my fear; for, spread out wide upon the veldtand weakened, Zero will eat us up, and stamp us flat for ever. Well,even so, my father, we can but try, and if we die 'twill be a braveman's death, facing a savage foe."

  Grenville detailed the whole scheme to the Mormons, urging its adoptionwithout a moment's delay, in view of the tremendous journey--quite ahundred English miles--which must be accomplished at high pressure ifthey would save the first detachment, and, indeed, themselves; for, ifZero once disposed of half their army, with the enormous force at hisback, he would very soon render an account of the remainder.

  Our friend recommended that the entire band should start at once, andpush on at top speed until the sun was too hot to allow of furtherprogress; then, after resting in the heat of the day--the moon being,fortunately, at the full--they must go for their lives throughout thesummer night, until the advent of the sun again drove them from theroad, resuming their journey with the cool of evening, and so go everforward, and hope to be in time. Clearly, there was nothing else forit, and the Mormons rapidly assented to the plan, and all filed out ofthe room, leaving the Zulu where he sat, for exhausted nature hadasserted her rights, and the man was fast asleep.

  The Mormon force could not leave the place under an hour, and from longexperience of the ways of these active children of the veldt, Grenvillewell knew that that precious hour would give back to the great Zulu allhis magnificent powers, and enable him to lead the party until noon,faster than most of t
hem would care to go.

  The sun was already high in the heavens by the time that Grenville andKenyon had succeeded in getting the Mormons under weigh, and their ownbreakfast being then ready, Grenville waked Amaxosa, and all threepartook of a hearty meal, feeling quite sure that they would soonovertake the main body.

  Leigh, with his wife and child, all the wounded, and a guard, whichconsisted of the few remaining "People of the Stick," were left behindin Equatoria, there being no other course open to our friends, as it wasobviously impossible to carry the sick and wounded with them on a forcedmarch, and probably into the very teeth of a desperate and extremelydoubtful battle.

  Grenville, however, took two carrier pigeons with him, telling Dora thatif the fight was going against their party he would send her word by oneof these, when she must depart at once from Equatoria with her party,cross the chasm by means of the traversing cage, must cut the ropebehind her, and by causing her men to again turn the course of themountain stream into the northern marsh, lay bare the rocky pathway downthe kloof.

  When her party reached the veldt it would at once strike out due eastand travel night and day until some of the wandering Arab slavers weremet with, when Grenville considered it likely that the promise of largerewards would induce these men to afford her safe escort to some seaporttown. The plan did not, of course, promise particularly well; but, onthe other hand, it was infinitely better than sitting still and waitingfor Zero to return and torture everyone to death, and Grenville wellknew that the gallant "warriors of the Stick" would fight for "theirsister," if need arose, as long as they had a leg left to stand on.

  And so the trio bade farewell to the tearful Dora, begging her to be ofgood comfort, as if they could but arrive in time there would be littlefear of the result; and so they passed away and left her once again,alone in this hated Mormon town--yet not alone, for she had now herhusband and her child, and these two needed all her loving care.