CHAPTER XXV--BENEE'S MOTHER TO THE FRONT
Here was a difficulty!
If they returned without the queen, they would be torn in pieces andquietly eaten afterwards.
They became excited. They looked here, there, and everywhere forLeeboo. Up into the trees, under the bushes, behind rocks and stones,but all in vain. The beautiful girl seemed to have been spirited away,or the earth had opened and admitted her into fairy-land, or--
But see! To their great joy, yonder comes the young queen holding aloftthe dragon-fly and singing to herself.
Not a whit worse was the lovely thing; not one of its four gauzy wingswas so much as rumpled.
Then she whispered something to it, and tossed it high in air.
And away it flew, straight to the north-east, as if bent upon deliveringthe message she had entrusted to its keeping.
She stood gazing after it with flushed cheeks and parted lips until itwas no longer visible against the sky's pale blue, then turned away witha sigh.
But Leeboo was not tired yet. There were beautiful birds to be seen andtheir songs listened to. And there were garlands of wild flowers to bestrung.
One she threw over Kaloomah's neck.
Kalamazoo looked wretched.
She made him even a larger, and he was happy. This garland quite hid hismother's frightful teeth.
But it must be said that these two lovers of Leeboo's looked--with thosegarlands of flowers around their necks--more foolish than ever.
She trotted them round for two whole hours. Then she resumed hersceptre, and intimated her intention to return to the palace.
For a whole week these rambles were continued day after day.
Then storm-winds blew wild from off the snow-patched mountains, andLeeboo was confined to her palace for days.
Her maids of honour, however, did all they could to please and comforther. They brought her the choicest of fruits, and they told her strangeweird tales of strange weird people and mannikins who in these regionsdwell deep down in caves below the ground, and often steal littlechildren to nurse their tiny infants.
And they sang or chanted to her also, and all night long in thedrapery-hung chamber, where she reposed on a couch of skins, they laynear her, ready to start to their feet and obey her slightest command.
Leeboo ruled her empire by love. But she could be haughty and sternwhen she pleased, only she never made use of that terrible spear, onetouch of which meant death.
----
In less than six-weeks' time Queen Leeboo had so thoroughly gained theconfidence of her people that she was trusted to go anywhere, althoughalways under the eyes of the young prince or Kaloomah.
I believe Leeboo would have learned to like the savages but for theircannibal tastes, and several times, when men returned from the war-path,she had to witness the most terrible of orgies.
It was always young girls or boys who were the victims of those fearfulfeasts. Her heart bled for them, but all remonstrance on her part wasin vain.
Leeboo had got her pony back, and often had a glorious gallop over theprairie.
But something else had happened, which added greatly to Leeboo's comfortand happiness. Shooks-gee himself came to camp and brought with himlittle Weenah, his beautiful child-daughter.
Leeboo took to her at once, and the two became constant companions.
Weenah could converse in broken English, and so many a long delightful"confab" they had together.
Child-like, Weenah told Leeboo of her love for Benee, of their earlyrambles in the forest, too, and of her own wild wanderings in search ofhim. Told her, too, that Benee was coming back again with a fresh armyof Indians and white men, with Leeboo's own lover and her brother astheir captains; told her of the fearful fight that was bound to takeplace, but which would end in the complete triumph of the good men andthe rescue of Leeboo herself.
Yes, Weenah had her prophecy all cut and dry, and her story ended with agood "curtain", as all good stories should.
Whether Weenah's prophecy would be fulfilled or not we have to read onto see, for, alas! it was a dark and gloomy race of savages that wouldhave to be dealt with, and rather than lose their queen, Kaloomah andhis people would--but there! I have no wish to paint my chapters red.
----
Leeboo was not slow to perceive that her chief chance of escape lay inthe skill with which she might play her two lovers against each other.
Whoever married her would be king. He would rank with, but after, thequeen herself, for, to the credit of these cannibals be it said, theyalways prefer female government.
In civilized society Leeboo might have been accused of actingmischievously; for she would take first one into favour and then theother, giving, that is, each of them a taste of the seventh heaven timeabout. When Kalamazoo's star was in the ascendant, then Kaloomah wasdeep down in a pit of despair; but anon, he would be up and out again,and then it was Kalamazoo's turn to weep and wail and gnash histriangular red-stained teeth.
It is needless to say that the game she was playing was a sad strainupon our poor young heroine. No wonder her eyes grew bright with thatbrightness which denotes loss of strength, and weariness, and that hercheeks were often far too flushed.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, and but for little Weenah I thinkthat Leeboo would have given up heart altogether and lain down to die.
But Weenah was always bright, cheerful, and happy. She was laughing allday long. Benee was coming for her; of that she was very certain andsure, so she sang about her absent lover even as birds in the woodlandssing, and with just as sweet a voice.
The plot was thickening and thickening, and Leeboo managed matters nowso that only one of her guardians at a time accompanied herself andWeenah in their rides or rambles.
Dixie--as the pony was named--was a very faithful little horse, andthough when Weenah had to trot beside him he never was allowed to go thepace, he was exceedingly strong, and could scour the plain or prairie asfleet as the wind whenever his young mistress put him on his mettle. Onsuch occasions, no matter which of Leeboo's admirers was with her, hedropped far astern, and after running for a mile or so, had to sit downto pant.
But the young queen always returned, and so she was trusted implicitly.
So too was Weenah, but then Weenah was one of themselves.
----
In their very long and toilsome march, up the Mayatata, well was itindeed for Roland and Dick that they had guides so faithful and cleveras Benee and Charlie. But for them, indeed, the expedition would havebeen foredoomed to failure.
Benee indeed was really the guiding star. For in his own lonesomewanderings he had surveyed the whole country as it were, and knew everyfitting place for a camp, every ford on every stream, and every pathwaythrough the dense and dark forests.
They were but the pathways made by the beasts, however, and often allbut impassable. Still, in single file they marched, and were alwayssuccessful in making their way. Two whole months passed away, and now,as they were nearing the cannibal highlands, greater precautions thanever were required.
And for a week they had to turn night into day, and travel while thesavages slept.
They kept away, too, from any portion of the country which seemed tohave the slightest claim to be called inhabited. Better they shouldherd with the wild beasts of the forest than sight the face of even asingle savage. For swift as deer that savage would run towards thecannibal head-quarters and give information of the approach of apale-face horde of enemies.
At last there came a day when Benee called a council of war.
"We now get near de bad man's land," he said. "Ugh! I not lub moochblood."
"Then what would you have us do?" said Roland. "Shall we advance boldlyor make a night attack?"
"No, no, no, sah. Too many cannibal warrior, too much pizen arrow,sling, and spear. No; build here a camp. Make he strong. Ben
ee willgo all same. Benee will creep and crawl till he come to father andmother house. Den Benee make all right. Pray for Benee."
Benee left, poor Brawn bidding him a most affectionate farewell. Surelythat honest dog knew he was bent on saving his little mistress, if onlyhe could.
Charlie, the ex-cannibal, stayed in camp for the time being, but hemight be useful as a spy afterwards.
It is needless to say that the prayers of both our heroes were offeredup night and day for Benee's success, and that their blessings followedhim.
But we do not always receive the answers that would appear to us thebest to our prayers, however earnest and heartfelt they may be. Still,we know well, though we are generally very loth to admit it, thatafflictions are very often blessings in disguise.
And now Benee was once more all alone on the war-path, and he followedhis old tactics, creeping quietly through the jungle only by night, andretiring into hiding whenever day began to obliterate the stars. Rolandgave orders for the camp to be immediately fortified. It was certainlya well-chosen one, on the top of a wooded hill.
This hill was scarcely a hundred feet high, but although it might betaken by siege, its position rendered it almost impregnable as far asassault was concerned.
A rampart with a trench was thrown round three sides of it. That wasapparently all that would be needed.
Looking from below by daylight even, hardly a savage could have toldthat an enemy held the hill.
And now there was nothing to do but to wait. And waiting is alwayswearisome work.
But let us follow Benee.
His progress was slow, but it was sure, and at last he reached thecottage where good Shooks-gee and his wife resided.
But here was no one save his "mother", as Benee lovingly called her.
A great fear took possession of his mind. Could it be that his fatherhimself was dead, and that Weenah was captive?
His lips and voice almost refused to formulate the question nearest tohis heart.
But his mother's smile reassured him. Weenah was safe, and at the courtof the queen, and Shooks-gee himself was there. So Benee grew hopefulonce more.
But his task would be by no means an easy one.
First and foremost he must establish communication between the captivegirl and himself. How could this be done?
Had Shooks-gee been at home it might have been managed simply enough.But he himself dared not appear anywhere in sight of the savages.
He felt almost baffled, but at last his mother came to his rescue.
The risk would be extreme. These cannibal savages are as suspicious ofstrangers as they are fierce and bloodthirsty, and if this poor,kindly-hearted woman was taken for a spy her doom would be sealed.
But see the young queen she must, or little Weenah, her daughter; forgreat though Benee's abilities were, he did not possess theaccomplishment of writing.
----
Dressed as one of the lowest of peasants, the mother of Weenah setboldly out on her forlorn hope the very next day, and in the afternoonshe was within one mile of the palace itself.
Here she hid herself in the jungle, and after eating a little fruit wentto sleep.
The stars were still shining when she awoke, but she knew them all, andthose that were setting told her that day would soon break.
To pass through the soldier-guards and enter the palace would, she knew,be an utter impossibility. There was nothing for it but to wait withpatience, for her husband had told her that the queen rode out for ascamper over the plains every forenoon.
He had even told her the direction she usually took, not riding fast,but with Weenah running by her side, keeping a long way ahead of herlover guardian, whichever one of them might happen for the time being tobe the happy man.
Benee's mother was as courageous as a mountain cat. She had a duty toperform, and she meant to carry it out.
Well, we are told in some old classic that fortune favours the brave.
It does not always do so, but in this case, at all events, this goodwoman was successful.
At a certain part of the plain there were bushes close and thick enough,and just here Leeboo with her little charger must pass if she came outto-day at all.
It was at this spot, then, that Weenah's mother concealed herself.
Nor had she very long to wait, for soon the sound of the pony's hoofsfell on her ear, beating a pleasant accompaniment to two sweet voicesraised in song.
The Indian woman raised herself and peeped over the bushes.
Yes, they were coming, and alone too, for Kaloomah could not run so fastas Kalamazoo, and was a long way behind.
With characteristic impulse Weenah rushed forward and was clasped for amoment in her mother's arms.
And, somewhat astonished, Leeboo immediately reined up.