Long Odds

by Harold Bindloss

  CHAPTER XV

  NARES COUNTS THE COST

  It was getting late and the night was very hot, but Nares was stillbusy in his palm-thatched hut. The creed he taught was not regardedwith any great favor by the authorities, and, perhaps, was also byvirtue of its very simplicity a little beyond the comprehension of thenegro, who not unnaturally finds it a good deal easier to believe in apantheon of mostly malevolent deities, but if his precepts produced novery visible result, there were, at least, many sick who flocked tohim. It was significant that the door of his hut stood wide open, asit always did, though there were men in that forest who had littlelove for him. The priests of the heathen also practice the art ofhealing, and it is not in human nature to be very tolerant towards arival who works without a fee.

  He sat with the perspiration trickling down his worn face beside alittle silver reading lamp, a gift from somebody in the land he camefrom. Now and then there was a faint stirring of the muggy air, andthe light flickered a little, while the blue flame of a spirit lampthat burned beneath a test tube was deflected a trifle, but the wearyman scarcely noticed it as he pored over a medical treatise. Nor didhe notice the crackling that unseen creatures made in the thatchabove his head, the steamy dampness that soaked his thin duck jacket,or the sickly smell of lilies that now and then flowed into the room.He was too intent upon the symbols of certain equations, letters andfigures, and crosses of materialistic significance, with the aid ofwhich he could, at least, mitigate bodily suffering and fight disease.They were always present, and it was a valiant fight he made in a landwhere the white man's courage melts and his faith grows dim.

  At last there were voices and footsteps in the compound, which heheard but scarcely heeded, and he only looked up when a man stood inthe doorway smiling at him.

  "Ah," he said, "I scarcely expected to see you, Father. What hasbecome of your hammock boys, and where have you sprung from?"

  Father Tiebout waved his hand, and dropped into the nearest chair."The boys are already in the guest hut," he said. "I have come fromSan Roque, but not directly. In fact, I found it advisable to make alittle detour."

  "In your case that is not a very unusual thing," and Nares laughed."Still, you appear to get there, arrive, as you express it, at leastas frequently as I do."

  The priest made a little gesture. "When one finds a wall he can notget over across his path it is generally wiser to go round. Why shouldone waste his strength and bruise his hands endeavoring to tear itdown? It may be a misfortune, but I think we were not all intended tobe battering rams. The metaphor, however, is not a very excellentone, since it is in this case a lion that stands in the path of ourfriend Ormsgill. For a minute or two you will give me your attention."

  Nares listened with wrinkled forehead, leaning forward with both armson the table, and then there was a faint twinkle in his eyes as helooked at his companion. It was, after all, not very astonishing thathe should smile, for he was accustomed to disconcerting news.

  "I wonder if one could ask how you learned so much?" he said. "It isscarcely likely that the Chefe or his Lieutenant would tell it you."

  "For one thing, I heard a few words that were not exactly meant forme; for another, I laid unauthorized hands upon a certain letter. One,as I have pointed out, must use the means available."

  "The results justify it--when he is successful, which is, no doubt,why you so seldom fail? Under the circumstances you can not afford to.There may be something to say for that point of view, but our fatherswere not so liberal in Geneva."

  Father Tiebout smiled good-humoredly. "We will not discuss the pointjust now. The question is what must be done? We have a friend who willwalk straight into the jaws of the lion unless--some one--warns him."

  "It is not impossible that he will do so then."

  The priest spread his hands out. "Ah," he said, "how can one teach themen who delight in stone walls and lions a little sense? Still,perhaps, it would be a pity if one could. It is possible that follywas the greatest thing bestowed on them when they were sent into thisworld. That, however, is not quite the question."

  "It is--who shall go?" and Nares, who closed one hand, thrust hischair back noisily. "There are you and I alone available, padre, andwe know that the one of us who ventures to do this thing will be laidunder the ban of Authority, openly proscribed or, at least, quietlythwarted here and there until he is driven from his work and out ofthe country. There are many ways in which those who hold power inthese forests can trouble us."

  Father Tiebout said nothing, but he made a gesture of concurrence,with his eyes fixed steadily on his companion, and Nares, who couldnot help it, smiled a trifle bitterly.

  "Well," he said, "you have your adherents--a band of them--and whatyou teach them must be a higher thing than their own idolatry. If theylost their shepherd they would fall away again. I, as you know, havenone. My call, it seems, is never listened to--and it is plain thatcircumstances point to me. Well, I am ready."

  His companion nodded gravely. "It is a hard thing I have to say, butyou are right in this," he said. "I have a flock, and some of themwould perish if I left them. For their sake I can not go. It is notfor me to take my part in a splendid folly, but"--and he spread histhin hands out--"because it is so I am sorry."

  It was clear that Nares believed him, though he said nothing. He knewwhat the thing he was about to do would in all probability cost him,but he also realized that had circumstances permitted it the littlefever-wasted priest would have gladly undertaken it in place of him.Father Tiebout was one who recognized his duty, but there was also theLatin fire in him, and Nares did not think it was merely because heliked it he submitted to Authority and walked circumspectly,contenting himself with quietly accomplishing a little here and there.

  Then Father Tiebout made a gesture which seemed to imply that therewas nothing further to be said on that subject, as he pointed throughthe open door to the steamy bush.

  "You and I have, perhaps, another duty," he said. "We know what isgoing on up yonder, and, as usual, those in authority seem a trifleblind. If nothing is done there will be bloodshed when the men withthe spears come down."

  Nares was by no means perfect, and his face grew suddenly hard."That," he said, "is the business of those who rule. They would notbelieve my warning, and I should not offer it if they would. There arewrongs which can only be set right by the shedding of blood, and Iwould not raise a hand if those who have suffered long enough sweptthe whole land clean."

  Father Tiebout smiled curiously. "There is, I think, one man who wouldhave justice done. It is possible there are also others behind him,but that I do not know. He is not a man who takes many into hisconfidence or explains his intentions beforehand. I will venture tosend him Herrero's letter--and a warning."

  He rose with a soft chuckle. "I almost think he will do--something byand by, but in the meanwhile it is late, and you start to-morrow."

  "No," said Nares simply. "I am starting as soon as the hammock boysare ready."

  He extinguished the spirit lamp, and lighting a lantern went out intothe darkness which shrouded the compound. He spent a few minutes in abig whitened hut where two or three sick men lay and a half-nakednegro sat half-asleep. There was, as he realized, not much that hecould do for any of them, and after all, his most strenuous effortswere of very slight avail against the pestilence that swept thoseforests. He had not spared himself, and had done what he could, butthat night he recognized the uselessness of the struggle, as other menhave done in the land of unlifting shadow. Still, he gave the negro afew simple instructions, and then went out and stood still a fewmoments in the compound before he roused the hammock boys.

  There was black darkness about him, and the thicker obscurity of thesteamy forest that shut him in seemed to emphasize the desolation ofthe little station. He had borne many sorrows there, and had foughtfor weeks together, with the black, pessimistic dejection the feverbreeds, but now it hurt him to leave it, for he knew that in allprobability he would never come back
again. He sighed a little as hemoved towards one of the huts, and standing in the entrance calleduntil a drowsy voice answered him.

  "Get the hammock ready with all the provisions the boys can carry. Westart on a long journey in half an hour," he said.

  Then he went back to his hut, and set out food for himself and hisguest. They had scarcely finished eating when there was a patter offeet in the compound and a shadowy figure appeared in the dim lightthat streamed out from the door.

  "The boys wait," it said. "The hammock is ready."

  Nares rose and shook hands with his companion. "If I do not comeback," he said, "you know what I would wish done."

  The priest was stirred, but he merely nodded. "In that case I will seeto it," he said.

  Then Nares climbed into the hammock, and once more turned to hiscompanion.

  "I have," he said, "failed here as a teacher. At first it hurt alittle to admit it, but the thing is plain. I may have wasted time inwondering where my duty lay, but I think I was waiting for a sign.Now, when the life of the man you and I brought back here is in perilI think it has been given me."

  "Ah," said the little priest quietly, "when one has faith enough thesign is sometimes given. There are, I think, other men waiting on thecoast yonder, and one of them is a man who moves surely when the timeis ripe."

  Nares called to the hammock boys, who slipped away into the darknesswith a soft patter of naked feet, while Father Tiebout stood still inthe doorway with a curious look in his eyes. He remembered how Nareshad first walked out of that forest and unobtrusively set about thebuilding of his station several years ago. Now he had as quietly goneaway again, and in a few more months the encroaching forest wouldspread across the compound and enfold the crumbling huts, but for allthat, the man he had left behind could not believe that what he haddone there would be wholly thrown away.

  It was a long and hasty march the woolly-haired bearers made, and theydid not spare themselves. It is believed in some quarters that theAfrican will only exert himself when he is driven with the stick, andthere are certainly white men in whose case the belief is more or lesswarranted, but Nares, like Ormsgill, used none, and the boys ploddedonwards uncomplainingly under burning heat and through sour whitesteam. They hewed a way through tangled creepers, and plunged knee andsometimes waist deep in foul morasses. The sweat of tense effortdripped from them, and thorns rent their skin, but they would havedone more had he asked it for the man who lay in the hammock thatlurched above them.

  Nares on his part knew that Ormsgill was well in front of him, andOrmsgill as a rule traveled fast, but it was evident that he must havemade a long journey already, and the Mission boys were fresh. That, atleast, was clear by the pace they made, but it did not greatly slackenwhen weariness laid hold on them. They pushed on without flaggingthrough the unlifting shade, and the ashes of their cooking firesmarked their track across leagues of forest, until late one night theystopped suddenly in a more open glade, and Nares, flung forward in hishammock, seized the pole and swung himself down.

  He alighted in black shadow, but he could dimly see one of the boys infront of him leaning forward as though listening. A blaze of moonlightfell upon the trail some forty yards away, and two great trunks roseathwart it in towering columns, but there was nothing else visible.Still, the boy, who now crouched a trifle, was clearly intent andapprehensive. He stood rigid and motionless, gazing at the bush, untilhe slowly turned his head.

  Nares, who could hear no sound, felt his heart beat, for the man'sattitude was unpleasantly suggestive. It seemed that he was followingsomething that moved behind the festooned creepers with eyes whichcould see more than those of a white man, and Nares felt the tensionbecoming unendurable as he watched him until the negro flung out apointing hand. Then a voice rose sharply.

  "Move forward a few paces out of the shadow," it said in a nativetongue.

  Nares laughed from sheer relief, for the voice was familiar.

  "We'll move as far as you wish, but we're quite harmless," he said.

  There was a crackle of undergrowth, and a white-clad figure steppedout of the bush with something that caught the moonlight and glintedin its hand. Nares moved forward, and in another moment or two stoppedby Ormsgill's side.

  "I might have expected something of the kind, but I scarcely fanciedyou were so near," he said. "Anyway, I should not have supposed awhite man could have crept up on us as you have done."

  Ormsgill's smile was a trifle grim. "Most white men have not beenhunted for their life," he said. "As a rule it's prudent to takeprecautions in the bush. It was not you I expected to see."

  "Still, I have come a long way after you."

  "Then we'll go back to camp," said Ormsgill. "Bring your boys along."

  He sent a hoarse call ringing through the shadows of the bush, andthen turned to his companion as if in explanation.

  "One or two of the boys have Sniders, and their nerves might be atrifle unsteady," he said, "I can't get them to keep their finger offthe trigger."

  "Sniders?" said Nares.

  Ormsgill laughed. "There are, it seems, a few of them in the country.I have now and then come across American rifles, too. I don't know howthey got here, and it's not my business, but it is generally believedthat officials now and then acquire a competence by keeping a handopen and their eyes shut."

  Nares, who asked no more questions, followed him through the creepersand undergrowth until he turned and pointed to a stalwart negrostanding close against a mighty trunk, who lowered his heavy riflewith a grin. Then the faint glow of a smoldering fire became visible,and Ormsgill stopped where the moonlight streamed down upon the groundsheet spread outside a little tent.

  "Your boys can camp among my carriers," he said. "You will probablyhave fed them, but I can offer you a few biscuits and some coffee.It's Liberian."

  The coffee was made and brought them by a splendid grinning negro withblue-striped forehead, who hailed from the land where it was grown,and while they drank it Nares made his errand clear. When he had donethis Ormsgill laid down his cup and looked at him.

  "There is one thing you have to do, and that is to go back to theMission as fast as you can," he said. "Our friends in authority willmake things singularly uncomfortable for you if they hear that youhave taken the trouble to spoil their plan by warning me."

  Nares smiled and shook his head. "You ought to be acquainted with thecustoms of this country by now," he said. "I couldn't keep clear ofall the villages on my way up, and, if I had, news of what I have donewould have reached San Roque already."

  "Ah," said Ormsgill quietly, "that is probably correct. It isunfortunate. I won't attempt to thank you--under the circumstances itwould be a trifle difficult to do it efficiently. Well, since youcan't go back to the Mission, you must come on with me."

  Nares looked at him in some astonishment. "After what I told you, youare going on?"

  "Of course!" and Ormsgill laughed softly. "I have been trailingDomingo for a long while, and he is, as you know, in the village a fewdays' march in front of us with most of the boys. It is scarcelylikely that I shall have a more favorable opportunity."

  "Haven't I made it clear to you that the Headman is a friend of his,and they are supposed to have arms there? Can't you understand yetthat Domingo will embroil you with him, and arrange that you will haveto fight your way out? Even if you manage it Dom Luiz is close behindwith several files of infantry, and will certainly lay hands on you.You will have fired upon natives under official protection, and takena labor purveyor's boys away from him. It would not be difficult tomake out that you were inciting the natives to rebellion. Do youexpect a fair hearing at San Roque?"

  "I don't," and Ormsgill smiled. "In fact, I don't purpose to go thereat all. I expect to be clear again with the boys before Dom Luizarrives. From what I know of his habits on the march I should be ableto manage it."

  "But it is likely that Domingo, who knows he is expected to keep youhere until Dom Luiz turns up, will sell the boys?"

&n
bsp; Ormsgill smiled again. "I don't purpose to afford him the opportunity.He stole the boys, and I am merely going to make him give them upagain. With a little resolution I believe it can be done. Still, I amsorry to drag you into the thing."

  Nares said nothing for a moment or two. He felt that it would beuseless, and his companion's quiet cold-blooded daring had its effecton him. After all, check it as he would, there was in him a vaguepride and belief in the white man's destiny, and in the land he camefrom the term white man does not include the Latins. This world, itseems, was made for Americans and Englishmen to rule. A little gleamcrept into his eyes.

  "Well," he said, "I don't think I'm going to blame you now I am in."