CHAPTER VIII--REINECKE RETURNS
At the bungalow the native servants received Tom with smiles of welcome.It seemed that Reinecke had given out that his guest had gone away onlyfor a time; that the war, a distant and unreal thing to them, could haveturned apparent friends into enemies was as yet beyond theircomprehension. Quickly and cheerfully they prepared a meal; and whileTom enjoyed food that, after the experiences of the past weeks, wasincredible luxury, he bent all his wits to the solution of the amazingproblem with which he was now faced.
Here he was, within a few minutes transformed from a fugitive and awanderer into the absolute master of several hundreds of negroes. Hislightest word would be law to them. The simple people were incapable ofperceiving how precarious was his authority; to them he was just them'sungu whom they admired and who had at a stroke altered the conditionsof their existence.
The sergeant and three of the Arabs were for the present safely lockedup. The remaining overseers, somewhere in hiding, could not leave theplantation, the gate being locked, to give warning to Reinecke on hishomeward way of what had occurred. The askaris, always submissive toauthority, probably took the newcomer for a German officer, and supposedthe sergeant to have been guilty of some fault. And as for the negroes,there were something over a hundred able-bodied men who before longwould have been askaris in the German service--unwilling recruits, but,in spite of their difficulties with drill, the raw material of excellentsoldiers. That, at any rate, must be prevented.
How? Only by the immediate migration of the whole community. "A largeorder," thought Tom, knitting his brows. Yet not so difficult as itfirst appeared. These negroes had no possessions that they valuedexcept their cooking-pots. Their natural life was the free openexistence of the forest and the plain; they could build themselves hutsin a day, and needed no furniture. The implements of their plantationwork would be useful to them until they had made for themselves bows andarrows. A race of hunters, they would not want for food; besides, therewere the plantation stores which could be conveyed away.
But in what direction could they go? Bismarckburg was only twenty milesdistant; some ten miles nearer was the road to Neu Langenburg, no doubtstudded with German military posts, and patrolled. As soon as themutiny became known, a force would be dispatched from Bismarckburg, or atelegram sent along the road warning any troops that might be moving upfor the projected attack on Abercorn. Thus a migration into Britishterritory would be impossible. The Wahehe country was far to the north,within the German boundaries; there could be no safety for them there.For the moment the problem seemed to be, to find a temporary refuge insome spot difficult of access, where the people might dwell incomparative security until the course of events became clear.
What better place could there be than the nullah he had lately left? Itwas within easy marching distance, yet far enough away, for while onlyabout fifteen miles from the plantation, it was nearly twice thatdistance from Bismarckburg, and in the heart of the forest. Between itssteep banks a much larger body than these few hundred people might takeshelter. It was near water; the forest provided food to supplement whatmight be removed from Reinecke's storehouses. Within this naturalfortress, strengthened by such art as the negroes under guidance werecapable of, they might bid defiance to any but a well-equipped force,which circumstances might not allow the Germans to organise, and whichin any case it would take time to set on foot. In the interval he mightattempt to get into communication with the British beyond the border.
After half an hour's cogitation Tom had made up his mind. To ward offsuspicion among the servants, he ordered them to hasten preparations forthe meal which Reinecke would expect on his arrival, then hurried backto the negroes' quarters, his brain busy with his plans.
It was fortunate that he had in Mwesa a quick and efficient interpreter,and in Mirambo a devoted henchman whose former rank in his own countrylent him authority with the rest of the natives. Through these two,uncle and nephew, he made arrangements for the exodus with a celeritythat surprised himself. And if his brother Bob had been able totransport himself on a magic carpet to this spot in Central Africa, thathard-headed man of business would no doubt have been amazed at thequalities shown in this emergency by one whom, in his elder-brotherlyattitude, he was accustomed to call "the kid." The truth is, of course,that some people are happily born with the gift of organisation, thoughit may lie dormant, unsuspected, until occasion rouses it.
Tom's first measure was to arrange for the immediate evacuation of thewomen and children. Led by Mushota, and escorted by a band of the eldermen, they were to leave the plantation and push on as far as possible onthe way to the nullah while daylight lasted. At nightfall they wouldcamp, and their escort would be at no loss to protect them until thedawn. Nor would they go empty-handed. Each woman, each child, wouldcarry such household gear as would be useful, together with provisionsfor a meal or two.
While the women were merrily making their preparations, Tom got the mentogether, and set them to empty the store-sheds; to bring all thefoodstuffs into the open, and divide them up into loads, under thedirection of the men who were accustomed to serve as porters to and frobetween Bismarckburg and the plantation. In one of the sheds, whosepadlocked door he forced open, he was delighted to find the Mauserrifles which had recently been imported for the arming of the newrecruits, together with a stock of small-arm ammunition. He set Mwesato discover which of the men had had musketry instruction by the Germansergeant, and arranged that these should have the rifles and a fewrounds of cartridges when the packing was finished; and he warned themthat if they fired without orders the rifles would be taken away andthey would have to carry extra loads--a threat that was likely, hethought, to prove effectual. There were enough rifles to arm also a fewof the older men, like Mirambo himself, who had had previous experienceof firearms; and though their experience dated back a good many years,and the Mauser was a very different weapon from the old trade musketwhich they had formerly handled, he had no doubt that with a littlepractice they would soon outdo many of the recruits, whose instructioncould not yet have been carried very far.
The half-dozen askaris looked surprised when they were ordered to laydown their arms and assist in the baling of the food; but Tom's air ofassured authority imposed upon them, and they appeared to have nosuspicion that he was a usurper until the women and children were readyto march out. It was not till then that Tom, feeling in his pocket forthe duplicate key of the gate which Reinecke had given him, discoveredthat he had lost it, probably in his fall into the pit. The only otherkeys were in the possession of Reinecke and the principal overseer, andthe latter, arrested in his attempt to escape, was locked in theprison-shed. Tom went to the shed to get this man's key, opened thedoor, and was amazed to find the place empty. All three Arabs and theGerman sergeant were gone. They had wrenched away some of the polesthat formed the rear wall of the shed, and escaped unnoticed in thebustle attending the preparations for departure.
This discovery gave Tom an unpleasant, even an alarming shock. The lossof the key was a small matter; the gate could be forced; but if the menwere already well on the way to give the alarm to Reinecke, as was onlytoo likely, the whole scheme of escape was in danger of being utterlyruined. Without an instant's delay Tom hurried back, selected a dozenmen whose build promised fleetness of foot, armed them with hoes andmattocks, and ran with them down to the gate, intending to burst thelock with a rifle-shot. He found, however, that the Arab, in his hasteto escape, had left the key in the lock. The gate was open. Tomdispatched the natives along the road to capture the runaways. At thishour Reinecke was probably within eight or nine miles of the plantation,a distance which his bearers would take at least four hours to cover;but if the fugitives reached him, he would no doubt spring from hismachila and hurry forward on foot, accompanied by his armed askaris. Itseemed, then, that the evacuation of the place must be completed withinthree hours at the most.
Luckily the women were ready, and Tom ordered
them at once to set off.It was then that the askaris became suspicious, and began to put theirheads together; but Tom stamped out any spark of mutiny that might havebeen kindled by separating the men, and assigning to them places amongthe natives who were now preparing to mount their loads. Disarmed, witharmed men around them, the askaris dared not disobey; and within a fewminutes after the departure of the women they were marching out amongthe first contingent of the Wahehe, each bearing a weighty bundle uponhis head. Mirambo had selected the steadiest of his fellows to formthis first band, who were to follow the women, lay down their loads atthe proposed camping place, and then return at once for more. Meanwhilethe other three overseers had been rounded up, bound, and placed underguard: there must be no more fugitives.
While Mirambo was superintending the packing of the remainder of thestores, Tom was wrestling with another problem. Reinecke would arriveabout sunset. He would find the gate locked as usual, and the silenceof the plantation would not awaken suspicion, for work hours were over,and he would suppose the workers to have returned to their distantquarters, out of earshot from the central road and from the bungalow.But as soon as he reached the bungalow the fat would be in the fire. Hewould expect the principal overseer and the German sergeant to beawaiting him, to give in their reports. Not finding them, he would sendone of the servants to fetch them. In ten minutes, or little more, allwould be known. What would he do? Perhaps lead his askaris in pursuit,perhaps dispatch a runner to the nearest post on the Neu Langenburg roadto bring up reinforcements. In either case the flight of the peoplewould be harassed; they might be caught before they had reached theirdefensive position. Tom saw that to gain time was of prime importance.
How could he gain time? It would be possible to ambush Reinecke and hisparty in the woods close to the plantation. Even if they had beenwarned by the fugitive overseers and the sergeant, they would probablynot suspect that the Englishman would attempt, with untrained natives,to trap seasoned soldiers. But an ambush would involve the necessity offiring without warning, and Tom was too raw at the game of war to adoptso cold-blooded a course.
Another idea suggested itself which, hazardous as it seemed, had acertain attractiveness that commended it to Tom's sense of sport Hecalled up Mwesa.
"What does Reinecke do when he comes back from Bismarckburg withaskaris?" he asked.
"Him eat all too much," replied the boy.
"Yes, but I mean what does he do before that? Where does he dismiss theaskaris?"
"Dey all go to house, sah; stand outside; den he make um say one, two,three; den dey go home."
Tom gathered that Reinecke was accustomed to hold a sort of inspectionparade before dismissing the men to their shed several hundred yardsaway. From his own experience he knew the method of procedure with theporters. These brought their loads to the bungalow; the goods werechecked off by Yakoub, the native clerk, then carried to thestore-sheds.
"Very good, Mwesa.... Here come my scouts--without prisoners. See whatthey say."
The twelve men he had sent in pursuit of the runaways reported that theyhad run almost to Bismarckburg--a typical native exaggeration at whichTom smiled. They had seen Reinecke and his party coming slowly up theroad: neither the overseers nor the sergeant were with them. Since theAfrican has no measure either of time or distance Tom could not discoverexactly how far away Reinecke was when the men saw him; but on hisasking when the party would arrive, the spokesman pointed to the sun andthen stooped and moved his hand along just above the ground.
"At sunset, as I thought," said Tom to himself. "Then we have about twohours."
An hour later the second contingent of the people left, well loaded up.Tom locked the gate behind them, then set forty men whom he had retainedto remove all litter and other traces of the exodus from that portion ofthe road which must be traversed in approaching the bungalow. This done,he gave rifles and a round or two of ammunition to twenty of the men,and ordered the other twenty to arm themselves with implements of theirdaily work. It still wanted half an hour of sunset. Tom allowed themen twenty minutes to make a good meal; then he divided each band,posting ten riflemen and ten of the others in the bushes near the gate,and the rest under cover in the grounds of the bungalow, where theycommanded the open space in front of the entrance. This lastdisposition was made very stealthily, in order to avoid attracting theattention of the household servants, who, however, were busy in theiroutbuildings at the back, making final preparations for their master'sdinner.
Having given his men their orders, Tom entered the bungalow, clapped hishands for one of the servants, asked him if dinner was ready, andreminded him that Herr Reinecke always liked a drink as soon as hereturned home.
"Take it to the dining-room," he said, "and one for me too."
He then went into the room Reinecke used as an office, opened a drawerin which there was usually kept a revolver, assured himself that it wasloaded, and taking it to the dining-room, slipped it half underneath theedge of a wide fruit dish. The servant brought in two large tumblers ofa claret-cup of Reinecke's invention. Tom drank his off, then sat downand helped himself to a confection of rice and fruit. But now that thecritical moment was approaching he found himself without appetite. Tosteady his nerves he lit a cigarette, and changed his position slightly,so that he had a good view through the window of the approach to thebungalow.
Tom was smoking his fourth cigarette, and the brief twilight ofEquatorial Africa was already half spent, when he heard the tramp ofmarching men, and saw the expected party filing into the grounds of thebungalow. First came two askaris, then Reinecke and a native N.C.O.,then a number of porters with bales on their heads, finally a dozenaskaris. Reinecke was in uniform--white helmet and tunic, khakibreeches, and leggings.
The number of askaris was greater than Tom had looked for. He noticedthat the hand that held his cigarette was trembling a little, drew along breath, and waited. The atmosphere seemed to be highly electric.
Reinecke ordered the askaris to halt and ground arms, the porters to laydown their loads. Then he called for Selim and Sergeant Morgenstein,who ought to have been awaiting him, and cursed them volubly in German.He shouted a few words in Bantu to the native corporal, and strode intothe bungalow. He was evidently in a bad temper.
Turning into the dining-room he gasped and started back. Tom droppedhis cigarette into the ash-tray, laid his hand near the butt of therevolver on the table, and, smiling grimly, said--
"No. I'm not a ghost, Herr Reinecke--nor a skeleton."
Reinecke, standing in the doorway, had quickly recovered himself.
"So!" he laughed. "But it is clear: you are a fool."
"I _was_ a fool--to trust you," said Tom, standing up.
"You _are_ a fool--to come back here," said Reinecke, with anotherlaugh. He advanced a step into the room and laid his helmet on a chair.
"That's as may be. You will consider yourself my prisoner, HerrReinecke."
The German stared, then with a derisive guffaw, cried--
"Your prisoner? Are you a madman as well as a fool? Ha! ha!--yourprisoner! We are at war: yes, you realise it. But _your_ prisoner!Why, you foolish child, don't you realise that you are _my_prisoner?--that I can have you shot as a spy?--that that is exactly whatI shall do?"
"We seem to be talking at cross purposes." Tom grasped his revolver,and with a quick movement pointed it at the German's head. "Not a word,"he added swiftly, as Reinecke, after a moment's paralysing astonishment,was turning towards the door, and at the same time fumbling for therevolver slung across his shoulder. "Understand: if you call out, ormake a single suspicious movement--drop your hands, sir--I shall fire,and if I fire it will be a signal to my men who are waiting to settleaccounts with your askaris. Take off your pistol strap: lay it on thetable: your left hand, please: be careful not to touch the button."
Reinecke, taken all aback--what did the Englishman mean by "mymen"?--removed his strap and laid it on the corner of the table Tompointed to.<
br />
"Now your sword-belt."
The German obeyed.
A servant came through the inner door carrying dishes.
"Not yet," said Tom: "we are not quite ready."
The servant smiled, started as he saw the revolver in Tom's hand, thenbacked hurriedly.
"Remain in the kitchen till I call," added Tom. "Now, Herr Reinecke, youwill precede me--I am not bluffing--to the place where my men arehidden. I don't wish to kill your askaris, but any madness on your partwill provoke a volley from my men. It will avoid trouble, then, if youorder yours to pile arms. Remember this revolver. If you make amistake in the word of command it will be fatal to you as to them. Leadon."
The German turned without a word. Outside, the askaris were standing atease: Yakoub, the native clerk, had just finished checking off theporter's loads. Reinecke ordered the askaris, in a voice unlike hisown, to pile arms and reassemble two deep. At Tom's bidding he toldYakoub to go to his hut and remain there. A call from Tom brought Mwesabounding from behind a shrub.
"Get the men to collect these arms," said Tom.
The negroes came from their hiding place and seized upon the askaris'rifles. The amazed porters, standing by their loads, broke out intoeager questioning, and the replies set them shouting, laughing, leapingwith glee. The askaris, equally astonished, looked in a puzzled wayfrom Reinecke to Tom, and made no resistance when the Wahehe wereordered to tie their hands behind their backs. Reinecke, standingwithin a yard of Tom, gnawed his moustache in impotent rage.
"Keep these men under guard," said Tom, and Mwesa summoned forth theconcealed riflemen. "Now, Herr Reinecke, you shall have your dinner.Make the most of it. It will be a long time before you get such a mealagain."
Tom Willoughby's Scouts: A Story of the War in German East Africa Page 8
