Into the Unknown: A Romance of South Africa

by Lawrence Fletcher

  CHAPTER THREE.

  A LEAP IN THE DARK.

  As the party sullenly descended the Pass, no one seemed in aconversational mood, but Leigh noticed that his cousin took a very easypace, and urged them to feed well, just before the sun set.

  No sooner was the darkness fairly upon them than Grenville turned shortin his tracks and quietly said, "I'm going back, Alf, and I'm goingthrough with this. There's a secret up there, and I believe it's ablack one, and I've no intention of playing into the hands of theserascals by running away."

  "But, my dear boy," remonstrated Leigh, with a rueful face, "you don'tknow your way into the mountain; you aren't a bird to fly over it, andyou'll only get yourself shot."

  "I believe I do know my way into the mountain, and I hope I shan't getshot; so come along, old fellow," replied his cousin.

  Grumbling and arguing, Leigh turned to follow, and very soon Grenvilleimposed the strictest silence upon his companions.

  The darkness was now something almost tangible, but after walking--or,rather, feeling--their way at a funereal pace for a couple of hours, themurmur of the waterfall broke upon their ears, and the stars nowbeginning to grow bright, greater caution than ever became necessary.Soon the trio were flat on the ground, wriggling along like threegigantic lizards over the rough, knobbly rocks, which called forth manya subdued groan from poor Leigh. The advance was, however, continued,all obstacles to the contrary notwithstanding, and in another hour theparty lay securely hidden within a stone-throw of the waterfall.

  A little later, becoming dissatisfied with his position, Grenville drewhis party back some fifty yards under the cover of a rock, and thenproceeded to act in a most singular manner. Divesting himself of hishat, jacket, and hunting-shirt, he slipped a brace of six-shooters intohis hip-pockets, and, directing Leigh and the Zulu to stay where theywhere--unless they heard him blow a small whistle, which he alwayscarried--he left the pair wondering at his extraordinary movements, andgradually and cautiously approached the Fall. Arrived there, hisconduct became curious to a degree, for, lying flat on the rock, on thevery edge of the basin indeed, where the spray from the cataract fell ina continuous and blinding shower, Grenville first commenced feelingabout inside the rush of the water at the very back of the Fall, andfinally buried himself, head and shoulders, in the water of the basin,frequently raising his head to take breath. After he had expended quiteten minutes in this edifying manner, he gave a grunt indicative ofsatisfaction, rose dripping wet, and retired into concealment behind thenearest rock, watching the Fall like a lynx.

  Soon his patience was well rewarded, for a wonderful and beautiful thinghappened. In a single instant the Fall grew gloriously light andbeautiful, and the foaming, flashing surface of the water seemed by thetouch of some fairy wand transformed into a stupendous rainbow ofindescribable loveliness, as the changing lights appeared to come and gothrough the driving rifts of steaming, gauze-like vapour.

  Grenville smiled, and made himself, if possible, still smaller amongstthe stones; a slight splashing was heard, and in another moment thelight went out suddenly and the Fall resumed its normal appearance--awhite, angry-looking streak of sliding foam, clearly outlined againstthe dark background of rock. And now Grenville could see by thestarlight the forms of fully a dozen men who appeared to have sprungfrom the earth; crouching down, he lay for some moments breathless andmotionless as the rocks beneath him, but, hearing no footsteps, andcautiously raising his head, he found no one within his limited range ofvision. Hazardous though the act was, Grenville crawled out,snake-like, to the spot where he had seen the strange party take itsstand, and, by following the damp feel of the rock where wet footstepshad passed, quickly satisfied himself that the enemy had proceeded downthe Pass. Quietly rejoining his anxious friends, he led them back,after a brief consultation, to the basin at the foot of the Fall, intowhich each silently dropped in turn, and instantly vanished from sight.

  A few moments later three dripping, panting forms stood whisperingtogether upon a rocky ledge, which was in fact the entrance to a vastcave, by which, as Grenville had cleverly surmised, their assailantspassed through the base of the mountain-range and obtained access totheir mysterious country beyond.

  The air, though dense with a heavy, noxious odour, was still veryrefreshing to the party after their dive; but Grenville soon remindedthe others that they had no time to lose, and, warning them to look totheir arms, ammunition and matches, all of which had been most carefullyenveloped in mackintosh ground-sheets, himself proceeded to strike alight. Now the striking of a match is a very trifling affair atordinary times, but, with a dark and doubtless vast unknown before them,each waited anxiously to see what the tiny flame would reveal. Onebrief instant it shed its feeble light upon their pallid faces, then, inan endeavour to pierce the apparently limitless gloom, Grenville raisedthe match above his head, and at that very moment there was a wild,hissing rush, and the cavern stood revealed in a blinding glare oflight. The match had evidently ignited by accident a reservoir ofnatural gas, and this, in the shape of an enormous stream of fire, nowhung globe-like from a rift in the roof of rock, where it arched a scoreof feet above their heads.

  One glance was sufficient to tell the merest novice in such matters thatthis cavern had at some distant date formed the channel of one of thoseunderground rivers by no means uncommon in Africa. What had been thebed of the stream was, however, filled in with earth, and was now to allintents and purposes a very passable road, which, after mounting a shorthill that served in fact to keep back the water from the basin, ranstraight before them as far as the light could penetrate.

  The first act of the whole party was to remove themselves from theintense heat thrown out by the gas; their next, to draw theirpistol-cartridges and slip fresh ones into the chambers; and hardly wasthis done when a startled exclamation, uttered just behind them, causedall to turn hurriedly, only to find themselves confronted by a mostrepulsive-looking white man, who stood dripping unpleasantly upon therocky ledge and regarding them with a scowling face.

  The newcomer appeared altogether unarmed, and our friends promptlyrushed at him; but he incontinently turned tail, and dived out throughthe entrance, followed like a flash of light by Myzukulwa.

  The cousins waited in anxious suspense for close upon a minute, and thenthe great Zulu silently appeared upon the rock and lay gasping forbreath. Soon, however, regaining his wind--

  "Inkoos," he said, "he was too quick for me; the coward ran away downthe pass; but first he fired his gun, and it was answered by another guna mile away."

  It was quite clear that the man had been a sentinel near to their oldsleeping-place, and, seeing the Fall suddenly light up of its ownaccord, had come down to examine the unusual phenomenon.

  The three now fell to eagerly discussing their position. If they wereholding the only entrance to the passage, they could with theirrevolvers defy almost any number of men attacking through the water; butif, on the other hand, there was more than one way of access to thecave, or if another hostile body, attracted by the firing, should comeup the river Pass, our friends would be placed between the devil and thedeep sea with a vengeance.

  Then, again, if the foe had any means of extinguishing the light fromoutside, the trio would be entirely at their mercy.

  This light was evidently a pure gas generated in the mountain, and usedby these strange people to light them to the entrance of the cave; buthow they extinguished it, and how without its help they followed theirsubterranean road through the absolutely inky gloom, was a mystery tothe adventurers.

  On looking about, however, they discovered a bundle of torches made of aresinous woody fibre, and lighting one of these in the gas-flame,Grenville proceeded to examine the road and see what cover, if any, itmight offer. Hardly had he taken a dozen steps when a stream of waterpoured through the fissure in the roof of rock, extinguishing the gas inan instant. Grenville quickly whispered to his friends to bring thetorches and follow him, as without proper light to sho
ot by it wasimpossible for them to hold the entrance to the passage. "Bring everysingle torch you can find," he said, "and keep your eyes skinned for anymore lying about the road. We'll keep these beggars in darkness ifpossible; and once let us get to daylight, and we'll fight them if needbe."

  And now by the light of one torch the party proceeded in single file ata good speed, for the roadway was fair, and, when the first hill hadbeen climbed, proved decidedly on the down grade. This surprisedGrenville, as he had been of opinion that the water had formerly comefrom the inside of the cavern and emptied itself into the basin; thereverse, however, had evidently been the case.

  After they had travelled about half a mile, the road, to Grenville'sdelight, twisted almost at a right angle--this would, of course, hidethe light from their pursuers--and directly after the turn had beennegotiated, Leigh called attention to a niche in the rock where severalmore torches were found; these they promptly annexed, and the partyagain hurried on, the air momentarily growing fresher and keener.

  Truly this cavernous road was a strange and awesome affair; the roofhere and there vanished from human ken in utter and indescribableblackness, but uniformly it hung some fifteen to twenty feet above theirheads, and had been worn quite smooth by the rapid action of water, butwas quickly becoming a vast bed of growing stalactites, which flashedback the rays of the torch like a sparkling sea of vivid radiance setwith many-hued and lovely diadems.

  After the party had accomplished quite five miles, Grenville suddenlycalled a halt, whilst all listened intently for a moment, and then,having first examined his matches, he extinguished the torch, and,holding one another's hands, the trio crept cautiously forward. Despiteall their care, however, in turning a corner some hundred yards furtherthey fairly walked into another sentinel, who promptly flew at theirthroats, and for a full minute Pandemonium seemed let loose in thebowels of the mountain. Grenville, with his customary coolness, quicklyextricated himself from the scrimmage and struck a light, only to findLeigh and an awkward-looking customer locked in a deadly grip. Thedraught here proved strong, and the match was blown out as soon aslighted; but its flash showed the Zulu all he needed to know--enemy fromfriend--and in another instant the sentinel lay a corpse, and Myzukulwawas eulogising his war-club. Quickly the party passed on, and inanother minute found themselves at the top of a massive stone stairway,and again under the lovely canopy of heaven, with the welcome moonshimmering down upon them in all the weird, glittering glory of anEquatorial African midnight.

  The scene revealed to them by the moonlight was inexpressibly beautifuland magnificent; below them some hundred feet only the rolling veldt inall its mysterious silence swept sheer away as far as the eye couldreach, whilst to the right and left towered the majestic spurs of themountain-range, their snowcapped crests gleaming white under thebrilliant moon, and rendered even more vivid by contrast with the awfulchasms which here and there rent the precipitous rocks with unfathomeddepths of yawning blackness.

  No sign of any living creature could they see; yet each knew that itwould be sheer madness to strike out into the unknown veldt, withoutwater, almost without food, and with the knowledge that a few minutes,more or less, would in all likelihood bring their pursuers to the headof the stairway, whence, under such a clear light, the movements oftheir party over the scrub would be distinctly visible for miles. Aftera brief colloquy, they descended the stairway and glided along the wallof rock, stepping on the stones and keeping carefully in the shadow,meantime seeking keen-eyed for a secure hiding-place adjacent to water.

  Almost within gun-shot of the stairway, the party hit upon a narrowcanon in the rocks, into which they entered, and, posting Leigh as asentinel, Grenville consulted with Myzukulwa, and, after they hadwhispered together for a few moments, the Zulu slipped out of theopening and was instantly engulfed in the shadows of the mountain.Taking up his position opposite his cousin, Grenville looked at hiswatch and found it was after two o'clock in the morning; the pair thenproceeded carefully to wipe out their Winchester rifles, and each felthappier when he lowered his gun with the magazine chock-full ofcartridges. These rifles, though made on the Winchester pattern,carried a heavy shell-bullet, and had proved themselves uncommonlyserviceable weapons amongst the heaviest game, and, as both men werecrack shots, any hostile person getting within range was likely to havean unpleasantly hot time of it. The Zulu alone carried no rifle, but hehad so far overcome the traditions of his race as to use a heavy servicerevolver, whilst each of the cousins possessed a brace of Smith andWesson's six-shooters. This and the knowledge that they had plenty ofammunition, having only parted with their bearers two days before at thefoot of the Pass, was reassuring. And now, as the pair awaited theZulu's return, a very curious and fearsome thing happened: the canon,which, when they entered it, had been as dark as Erebus, was beinggradually lighted by the moon, and, as the silvery radiance illuminedthe centre of the gulf, a guarded exclamation broke from the astonishedwatchers as they saw that the canon terminated abruptly some two hundredyards from them in a gigantic wall of apparently solid rock; yet fromthe very centre of this mighty but otherwise commonplace mass looked outa prodigious and perfect model of a human face, about five times thesize of life, complete in every detail, and most diabolical in itsexpression; the eyes, from which streamed scintillating rays of fire,appeared to be rigidly examining every nook and corner of the canon, andthe cousins, who felt somewhat creepy, almost involuntarily drew outsidethe entrance and kept close in the shadow.

  At this juncture a cloud crossed the moon, and it was at once evidentthat the unearthly-looking figure borrowed no light from the heavenlyorb, for the exaggerated lineaments showed up as if cut with a sword offire out of the inky blackness of the chasm, and on its brow they couldnow read, in English, the words:--

  "The Eyes of the Holy Three are Unsleeping."

  And each knew he was gazing upon the fateful and universally-hatedemblem of the false and filthy prophet of the Mormon creed. The cloudpassed from the moon, and even as it did so, the light behind thehideous face died out, and the wall of rock regained its normalappearance, scarcely revealing to the straining eyes of the watchersthat the counterfeit presentment of the human head had ever existed,save in their excited imaginations.

  At this moment the Zulu rejoined the cousins, but as both eagerlywelcomed him, and were about to speak, another diversion occurred. Agleaming, rushing thread of living fire suddenly shot up from thestairway and cut its way across the heavens, bursting at its extremeheight into a shower of blazing and meteoric stars; and hardly had itsradiance died out, than it was followed by a second and similarmessenger, which in its turn was succeeded by a third, and then all wasagain as still as death.

  "Three rockets," said Grenville, "meaning three enemies in the camp; solook out for squalls. Watch keenly where the answer comes from." Andhardly had he spoken, when a single answering rocket was fired, probablya score of miles away, across the veldt.