CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
THE RINGING OF THE SHILLING.
People make their plans in cold blood and forget all about them when theblood grows hot.
It was so here. West had made up his mind what to do while cool, butacted just in the fashion he had cried out against to his companion.
For as soon as Anson lounged up to them in his supercilious jaunty way,West's cool blood warmed, grew hot at the scoundrel's contemptuous lookof triumph, and at the insult respecting the Boers boiled over.
"How dare you!" he raged out. "Keep your distance, you contemptiblecur, or, prisoner though I am, I'll give you such a thrashing as shallmake you yell for mercy!"
"Hullo! What does this mean?" said one of the Boer officers, closingup, followed by the others.
"The prisoner is a bit saucy!" said Anson contemptuously. "You did notbleed him enough!"
"You know these two?" asked the officer.
"Well, in a way," said Anson, in a haughty, indifferent tone. "Theywere a pair of underlings where I was engaged at the diamond-mines.Insolent bullying fellows, both of them! But you'll tame them down."
The Boer leader nodded.
"A bit sore at being taken prisoners!" he said.
"No," cried West; "it is the fortune of war, sir. We are Englishmen,and we made a dash to escape Kimberley, and got through your investinglines."
"To carry despatches to the rooineks?"
"No," replied West. "Your men searched us and found no despatches."
"Messages then. You were going to the British forces?"
"We should have joined them after a time, perhaps," said West, speakingmore coolly.
"He's lying!" said Anson sharply. "Have them searched again!"
The Boer commandant nodded, gave the order, and half-a-dozen of his mencame forward, after which the prisoners were ordered out of the wagon,and they let themselves down, when they were thoroughly searched fromhead to heel--of course, without result, and the Boer chief turnedfrowningly to Anson.
"They must have hid the letter somewhere about the wagon then!"
"Two of you get in and search!" said the commandant.
This was carefully carried out, and the men descended.
"Then they must have destroyed their message before you took them,"cried Anson, "or somehow since."
"They were carefully searched as soon as they were taken," observed oneof the field-cornets.
"Yes," said the commandant, "and I saw it done. Well, they will notcarry any news to Mafeking. Tell them that the British are being sweptinto the sea east and south, and their rule is at an end. I want bravemen who can ride and fight, so if they like to join the Federal forcesand do their duty there will be a prosperous time for them. If theyrefuse there will be a long imprisonment, perhaps something worse."
"Mr Anson, the renegade, need not trouble himself, sir," said Westquietly. "Neither my companion nor I will do as he has done."
"You had better!" said Anson sneeringly. "It's a grand chance for younow your characters are gone and the I.D. detectives are after you."
Ingleborough looked at the speaker sharply; but Anson made believe notto notice it and went on.
"You've no character now, either of you," he continued coolly. "OldNorton came after me as I was trekking south, utterly sick of theEnglish lot. He came on the old pretext: that I had bought diamonds andwas carrying them off. He searched again, and then I told him thesimple truth--that you two had volunteered to carry despatches so as toget clear off with the swag you had acquired--after accusing me; but heprofessed not to believe me, and took me back to Kimberley, but the verynext day he started off with half-a-dozen men to fetch you back, and Icame away."
"With the diamonds you had hidden?" said Ingleborough sharply.
"Perhaps," replied Anson coolly. "So, you see, you had better join ourparty, for even if you escaped it would only be for the policesuperintendent to get hold of you both, and if he did, you wouldn't findhim such an excellent friend."
"Wants thinking about!" said Ingleborough drily. "But `our'party--`our'?"
"Yes," said Anson coolly. "I've made up my mind to belong to the rightowners of the country for a long time past. We've got the gold atJohannesburg, and the diamonds at Kimberley are ours by right, and we'regoing to have them."
There was a murmur of satisfaction from the Boers at this, and Ansonwent on nonchalantly: "That is one reason why I consented to serve thecompany in such a beggarly position. I wanted to learn all I couldabout the mining so that it might come in useful when we of the Boerparty took possession."
"And then, I suppose," said Ingleborough, "you'll expect to bemanager-in-chief?"
"Well, I don't go so far as that," said Anson; "but, with my knowledgeof the management of the mining business, I feel sure my Boer friendswill find it to their advantage to retain me high up on the staff. Yousee, there are so many things in the way of checking losses which I havemastered."
"Stopping the illicit-diamond-buying and selling, for instance," saidIngleborough sarcastically.
"Exactly!" replied Anson, apparently without noticing the sarcasm; "andI've been thinking that no doubt I could put a good thing in both yourways. Of course, we have been bad enough friends; but I'll pass overall that if you'll serve me as faithfully as you did the company. Whatdo you say?"
"Say?" cried West.
"Stop! Hold hard, Oliver!" cried Ingleborough, stopping him short;"this is a thing that can't be settled in a minute. We want time. AllI say now, Mr Anson, is that I'm glad we bear such a good character,seeing that we are illicit-diamond-dealers escaping with the plunderthat we haven't got."
"Exactly!" said Anson. "Very well, then, I'll give you till to-morrownight to think it over, and you'll soon see which side your bread'sbuttered."
"Don't stop me, Ingle," said West hotly. "I can't stand this. I mustspeak. This--"
A sharp report from behind the wagon checked further words, and everyman made a rush for this place or that in full expectation that a suddenattack had been made upon the laager within the rocky walls.
At the same moment a Kaffir of the blackest type and with his hairgreased up into the familiar Zulu ring bounded into sight, tripped, fellupon his hands, sprang up again, ran on, and disappeared, whilst a rushwas made for the man who fired, leaving Anson and the prisonerstogether.
The next minute West's blood felt as if it was running cold in his veinsas he saw, only a few yards from him and close to the stone upon whichhis jacket had been stretched, the sentry slowly re-loading his pistol.But the coat was gone.
West had hard work to repress a groan. "My orders were to fire atanyone I saw stealing," said the man surlily, and West heard every word.
"Well, who was stealing?" asked one of the officers.
"A Kaffir," replied the sentry. "I'd got a jacket stretched out uponthe stones yonder, to get aired in the sunshine, and I only took my eyesoff it for a minute, when I saw a foot rise up from behind a stone, grabhold of the coat with its toes--"
"Nonsense!" cried the officer; "a foot could not do that!"
"Not do it?" said the man excitedly. "It had to do it; and it wascreeping away, when I fired, and the black sprang up and ran."
"Where's the jacket?"
The officer's question woke an echo in West's breast, and he started,for it was just as if the question was repeated there, and it seemed tobe echoed so loudly that he fancied those near must have heard it.
"He's got it, I suppose," said the sentry coolly. "Carried it away, anda bullet too somewhere in his carcass."
A miserably despondent feeling attacked West at these words, for he hadclung to the hope that he might be able to recover the despatch, succeedin escaping and delivering it in safety, however late; while now thedesire to get away died out, for how could he return to Kimberley andconfess that he had failed?
He turned to glance at Ingleborough, who met his eyes and then shruggedhis shoulders as much as to say: "It's a bad job, and I
pity you."
At that moment a hand was clapped heavily upon West's shoulder, and theBoer who had saluted him so roughly pointed to the wagon, and he sawthat his companion was being treated in the same way, while, the scarebeing over, upon their walking back and preparing to climb in, they werecalled upon to stop. Naturally the prisoners obeyed, and, turning, theyfound the group of Boers in earnest conversation once more with Anson,who at the end of a few minutes nodded decisively and approached his twoold fellow-clerks, making West's heart begin to thump with excitementand his eyes gleam, for the despair he felt at the loss he had sustainedmade him ready to turn fiercely upon the first enemy who addressed him.
"Take it calmly!" whispered Ingleborough. "Let me diplomatise. You'lldo no good by making a row."
"Take it calmly!" whispered back West, "and at a time like this! Ican't!"
"Look here, you two," said Anson coolly. "Let's have no more bonesabout the matter. These gentlemen say they have too much to think aboutto bother over any shilly-shallying on the part of a couple ofprisoners. You know it's a good chance, and I've told them you'll bothjoin along with me. Just tell them out and out you will."
"You miserable renegade, how dare you!" cried West fiercely.
"Here, what does that mean?" cried the Boer commandant sharply.
"Shamming!" replied Anson, with a contemptuous laugh. "They're going tojoin us, knowing, as they do, that the game is all up at Kimberley; butthey put on all this make-believe. They want to be able to say thatthey were forced to serve, so as to hedge--so as to make it allcomfortable with their consciences, as they call them."
"It is false!" cried West furiously--"a tissue of lies! Don't believehim; this man is no better than a miserable contemptible thief!"
"What!" shouted Anson, lowering the rifle he carried and taking a stepforward with what was intended to be a fierce aspect.
But he only took one step, being checked suddenly by the action of West,who, regardless of the weapon, sprang at him, and would have wrenchedaway the rifle had he not been seized by a couple of the Boers, who heldhim fast.
"Pooh! I don't want to shoot the wretched cad!" said Ansoncontemptuously. "An old fellow-clerk of mine! He's savage and jealousof my position here! He always was an ill-tempered brute!"
"But he says that you are a thief!" said the Boer commandant sternly.
"Pooh! A spiteful man would say anything!" cried Anson contemptuously."Look here, sir, I've watched the Boer troubles from the first: I'veseen how the English have been trying to find an excuse for seizing thetwo republics: I know how they got possession of the great diamond-minesby a trick arranged with the surveyors of the boundaries."
There was a low murmur of assent here from the gathering crowd of Boerswho had now surrounded him.
"Yes," he said, raising his voice, "I knew all the iniquities of theBritish Government--how the English had seized the diamond-fields, andhow they were trying to get the gold-mines, and as soon as the war brokeout I made up my mind to join the people fighting for their liberty."
There was a burst of cheering from the few who could follow the speaker,and then a roar as soon as his words were explained to the crowd, whileAnson looked round with his fat face growing shiny, as he beamed uponhis hearers.
"Yes," said the Boer leader coldly; "but this young man, who knows you,charges you with being a thief."
"All cowardly malice!" cried Anson contemptuously, and giving hisfingers a snap. "A thief?--a robber?--nonsense. Pooh! I only dealt inand brought away with me a few of the stones, which were as much mine astheirs. I was not coming away from the enemy empty-handed. I said tomyself that I'd spoil the Egyptians as much as I could, and I did."
There was a shout of delight at this, and one of the field-cornets gavethe speaker a hearty slap on the shoulder.
"Yes, I brought some away," continued Anson, rejoicing fatly in thesuccess of his words; and, raising his voice, he said, first in Englishand then in Boer-Dutch: "I brought some away, and I wish I had broughtmore."
There was a fresh and a long-continued roar of delight, repeated againand again, giving the speaker time to collect his thoughts, and as soonas he could gain silence he continued.
"Look here," he said: "I came and joined the Boers because I believedtheir cause to be just; and I said to myself, knowing what I do of thesecrets of the diamond-mines, I will be the first as soon as Kimberleyis taken to show the commandants where the British tyrants have hiddenaway the stones that belong of right to the Boers, the stones that havebeen stolen from the earth--the land they fought for and won with theirblood from the savage black scum who infested the country. I know wherethe stones are hidden away, and I can, if you like, lead you to what theBritish think you will never find. But if you are going to believe thewords of this malicious boy, and consider me to be a common thief, I'vedone. You can have the few paltry stones I brought away to sell and payfor my bread and meat till the war is over, and let me go. I don't wantto act as your guide into Kimberley! It's nothing to me! I have toldyou what I did; and what is more, I'd do it again!"
"Yes," said Ingleborough, in a whisper to West, as he sat holding hishand to his injured head: "I believe him there."
West nodded, and the next minute they saw Anson being led away intriumph by a crowd of Boers; but the commandant, with half-a-dozen morewho seemed to be officers, and the man who had defended them when theywere captured, remained close by the prisoners, talking together.
Soon after, the commandant approached them, glanced at Ingleborough, wholay back, evidently in pain, and then turned to West: "You heard whatyour old friend said?"
"Yes," replied West.
"It is all true?"
"His base confession is," said West boldly. "The man is a detectedillicit-diamond-dealer."
"He only bought what the British wrongly claimed!" said the Boer warmly."What right had they to make laws forbidding people to buy what wasfreely given up by the earth for the benefit of all?"
"It is of no use for me to argue about the matter!" said West coolly."I shall never convince you, and you will never convince me."
"Oh yes, I should, after you had come to your senses! There, we are notbrutes, only men fighting for our liberties, and I like you, for you arebrave and manly. Why not join our cause? It is just."
West looked the Boer full in the eyes, thinking the while that the manspoke in all sincerity and belief that his cause was right.
"Well, what do you say?" cried the Boer.
West tightened his lips and shook his head.
The Boer frowned and turned to Ingleborough.
"Well," he said, "you join us, and you will not repent. Prove faithful,and you will gain a place of trust among us!"
West listened for his comrade's reply.
"Oh, I can't join without him," said Ingleborough. "He's master, andI'm only man!"
"Then he was bearer of the despatch--what that man Anson said was true?"
"Oh yes, that part of his story was true enough."
"That you were despatch-riders on the way to Mafeking--you two?"
"Quite right."
"And you two had been diamond-dealers, and brought away a quantity?"
"Just as many, as we schoolboys used to say, as you could put in youreye with the point of a needle. All a lie! Anson was putting his owncase. All we brought away was the despatch."
"Then where is it?" said the Boer sharply.
"I don't know; I was not the bearer," said Ingleborough quietly, "Butyou know where it is now?"
"I--do--not," said Ingleborough firmly. "I have not the slightest ideawhere it is!"
"Then you have sent it on by someone else?"
"No," said Ingleborough. "There, you know that we have failed, and ifyou set us at liberty, all we can do is to go back to Kimberley and saywhat has happened."
"You will not go back to Kimberley," said the Boer, speaking with hiseyes half-closed, "and if you did it would only be to go into prison,for the Diamond
City is closely besieged, and if not already taken itwill in a few days be ours. There, go back to your wagon, and spend thetime in thinking till I send for you again. The choice is before you--agood position with us, or a long imprisonment before you are turned outof the country."
He pointed towards their temporary place of confinement, and then turnedaway, while a couple of the Boers marched them to the wagon and leftthem in the sentry's charge.