CHAPTER NINETEEN.
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR, AND PECULIAR DRILL.
The plan which Jack and Peterkin concocted, while I was engaged inmaking the interior of our old residence as comfortable as possible, wasas follows:--
Scouts were, in the first place, to be sent out that night all over thecountry, to ascertain the whereabouts of the enemy. Then, when theenemy should be discovered, they were to send back one of their numberto report; while the remainder should remain to dog their steps, if needbe, in order to ascertain whether Mbango and Okandaga were in theirpossession, and if so, where they were kept--whether in the midst of thewarriors or in their rear.
This settled, the remainder of the warriors of the village were to becollected together, and a speech to be made to them by Jack, who shouldexplain to them that they were to be divided into two bands: all whocarried guns to be under the immediate charge of Jack himself; theothers, carrying bows and spears, to be placed under me. Peterkin wasto act a peculiar part, which will appear in the course of narration.
Having partaken of a hearty supper, we assembled the scouts, and having,through Makarooroo, given them their instructions, sent them away justas the shades of night began to fall. We next caused a huge bonfire tobe kindled, and round this all the men of the village assembled, to theextent of several hundreds. The king soon appeared, and mounting thetrunk of a fallen tree, made a long speech to his warriors, telling themof the danger that threatened them, in such vivid and lively terms thatthe greater part of them began to exhibit expressions of considerableuneasiness on their countenances. He then told them of the trouble thatwe had taken, in order to give them timely warning--whereat they castupon us looks of gratitude; and after that introduced Jack to them astheir commander-in-chief, saying, that as a white man led the enemy,nothing could be better than that a white man should lead them to meetthe enemy--whereat the sable warriors gave a shout of satisfaction andapproval.
Having been thus introduced, Jack mounted the trunk of the fallen tree,and Makarooroo got up beside him to interpret. He began, like a wisediplomatist, by complimenting King Jambai, and spoke at some length oncourage in general, and on the bravery of King Jambai's warriors inparticular; which, of course, he took for granted. Then he came toparticulars, and explained as much of his intended movements as hedeemed it good for them to know; and wound up by saying that he hadthree words of command to teach them, which they must learn tounderstand and act upon that very night. They were, "Forward!" "Halt!"and "Fire!" By saying the first of these words very slow and in adrawling voice, thus, "Forw-a-a-a-a-a-rd!" and the second in a quick,sharp tone, and the third in a ferocious yell that caused the whole bandto start, he actually got them to understand and distinguish thedifference between the commands, and to act upon them in the course ofhalf an hour.
The drill of his army being thus completed, Jack dismissed them with acaution to hold themselves in readiness to answer promptly the firstcall to arms; and the king enforced the caution by quietly assuring themthat the man who did not attend to this order, and otherwise respect andobey Jack as if he were the king, should have his heart, eyes, and livertorn out, and the rest of his carcass cast to the dogs--a threat whichseemed to us very horrible and uncalled for, but which, nevertheless,was received by the black warriors with perfect indifference.
"Now, Mak," said Jack, as he descended to the ground, "do you come withme, and help me to place sentries."
"W'at be dat, massa?"
"Men who are placed to guard the village from surprise during thenight," explained Jack.
"Ho! dat be de ting; me know someting 'bout dat."
"No doubt you do, but I daresay you don't know the best way to placethem; and perhaps you are not aware that the pretty little threatuttered by the king shall be _almost_ carried out in the case of everyman who shall be found asleep at his post or who shall desert it."
The guide grinned and followed his commander in silence, while Ireturned to our hut and busied myself in cleaning the rifles and makingother preparations for the expected fight.
At an early hour on the following morning we were awakened by thearrival of one of the scouts, who reported that the Portuguese trader,with a strong and well-armed force, was encamped on the margin of asmall pond about fifteen miles distant from the village. The scout hadgone straight to the spot on being sent out, knowing that it was alikely place for them to encamp, if they should encamp at all. And herehe found them making active preparations for an attack on the village.Creeping like a serpent through the grass, the scout approached nearenough to overhear their arrangements, which were to the elect that theattack should take place at midnight of the following day. He observedthat there were many prisoners in the camp--men, women, and children--and these were to be left behind, in charge of a small party of armedmen; while the main body, under the immediate command of the Portuguesetrader, should proceed to the attack of the village.
From the scout's description of the prisoners, we became convinced thatthey were none other than our friends Mbango and his people, and onewoman answering to the description of Okandaga was among them.
"So, Mak, we shall save her yet," cried Jack heartily, slapping theshoulder of the guide, whose honest visage beamed with returning hope.
"Yis, massa. S'pose we go off dis hour and fight 'em?"
"Nay; that were somewhat too hasty a movement. `Slow but sure' must beour motto until night. Then we shall pounce upon our foes like aleopard on his prey. But ask the scout if that is all he has got totell us."
"Hims say, massa, dat hims find one leetle chile--one boy--when hims goaway from de camp to come back to here."
"A boy!" repeated Jack; "where--how?"
"In de woods, where hims was trow'd to die; so de scout take him up andbring him to here."
"Ah, poor child!" said I; "no doubt it must have been sick, and being aburden, has been left behind. But stay. How could that be possible ifit was found between the camp and this village?"
On further inquiry, we ascertained that the scout, after hearing what hethought enough of their arrangements, had travelled some distance beyondthe encampment, in order to make sure that there were no other bandsconnected with the one he had left, and it was while thus engaged thathe stumbled on the child, which seemed to be in a dying condition.
"Hims say, too," continued Makarooroo, after interpreting the aboveinformation, "that there be one poor woman in awfable sorrow, screechin'and hollerowin' like one lion."
"Eh?" exclaimed Peterkin. "Describe her to us."
The scout did so as well as he could.
"As sure as we live," cried Peterkin, "it is our friend Njamie, and thechild must be her boy! Come, show us the little fellow."
We all ran out and followed the scout to his hut, where we found hiswives--for he had three of them--nursing the child as tenderly as if ithad been their own. It was very much wasted, evidently through want offood and over-fatigue; but we instantly recognised the once sturdylittle son of Njamie in the faded little being before us. He, too,recognised us, for his bright spectral eyes opened wide when he saw us.
"I knew it," said I.
"I told you so," cried Peterkin.--"Now, Mak, pump him, and let's hearwhat he knows."
The poor child was far too much exhausted to undergo the pumping processreferred to. He could merely answer that Njamie and Okandaga and Mbangowere prisoners in the camp, and then turned languidly away, as if hedesired rest.
"Poor boy!" said Peterkin tenderly, as he laid his hand gently on thechild's woolly pate.--"Tell them, Mak, to look well after him here, andthey shall be paid handsomely for--nay" (here he interrupted himself),"don't say that. 'Tis a bad thing to offer to pay for that which peopleare willing to do for love."
"Right, lad," said Jack: "we can easily make these poor folk happy bygiving them something afterwards, without saying that it is bestowedbecause of their kindness to the boy. The proper reward of diligentsuccessful labour is a prize, but the best reward of lov
e and kindnessis a warm, hearty recognition of their existence.--Just tell them, Mak,that we are glad to see them so good and attentive to the little chap.--And now, my generals, if it is consistent with your other engagements, Iwould be glad to have a little private consultation with you."
"Ready and willing, my lord," said Peterkin, as we followed Jack towardsthe king's palace. "But," he added seriously, "I don't like to be ageneral of _division_ at all."
"Why not, Peterkin?"
"Why, you see, when I was at school I found division so uncommonlydifficult, and suffered so much, mentally and physically, in thelearning of it, that I have a species of morbid antipathy to the veryname. I even intend to refuse a seat in parliament, when offered to me,because of the divisions that are constantly going on there. If youcould only make me a general of subtraction now, or--"
"That," interrupted Jack, "were easily done, by deducting you from theforce altogether, and commanding you to remain at home."
"In which case," rejoined Peterkin, "I should have to become general ofaddition, by revolunteering my services, in order to prevent the wholeexpedition from resolving itself into General Muddle, whose name andservices are well-known in all branches of military and civil service."
"So that," added Jack, "it all comes to this, that you and Ralph and Imust carry on the war by rule of three, each taking his just andappropriate proportion of the work to be done. Now, to change thesubject, there's the sun getting up, and so is the king, if I may judgefrom the stir in his majesty's household."
Having begged the king to assemble his warriors together, Jack nowproceeded to divide them into four companies, or bands, over which heappointed respective leaders. All the men who possessed guns wereassembled together in one band, numbering about one hundred and fiftymen. These Jack subdivided into two companies, one including a hundred,the other fifty men. The remainder, constituting the main army, werearmed with bows and arrows, spears and knives. Of these a large forcewas told off to remain behind and guard the village.
This home-guard was placed under command of the king in person. Thehundred musketeers were placed under Peterkin's command. The otherfifty were given to me, along with a hundred spear and bow men. Jackhimself took command of the main body of spearmen. As Peterkin had toact a special and independent part, besides commanding his hundredmusketeers, Makarooroo was made over to him, to act as lieutenant.
All these arrangements and appointments were made in a cool, quiet, andarbitrary manner by Jack, to whom the natives, including the king,looked up with a species of awe amounting almost to veneration.
"Now," said our commander-in-chief to Lieutenant Mak, "tell the niggersI am going to make them a speech," (this was received with a grunt ofsatisfaction), "and that if they wish to have the smallest chance ofovercoming their enemies, they had better give their closest attentionto what I have to say."
Another grunt of acquiescence followed this announcement.
"Say that I am going to speak to them of things so mysterious that theyshall not by any conceivable or possible effort understand them."
This being quite in accordance with the superstitions and tastes of thenegroes, was received with eager acclamations of delight.
"Tell them," continued Jack, in a deep, solemn tone, and frowningdarkly, "that we shall gain the victory _only_ through _obedience_.Each man must keep his ears open and his eye on his leader, and mustobey orders _at once_. If the order `Halt' should be given, and any manshould have his mouth open at the time, he must _keep_ his mouth open,and shut it _after_ he has halted."
Here Jack took occasion to revert to the three orders, "Forward,""Halt," and "Fire," and repeated the lesson several times, until his menwere quite perfect. Then he put the various bodies under theirrespective commanders, and telling the musketeers to make believe tofire (but making sure that they should not really do it, by taking theirguns from them), he made each of us give the various words separately,so that our men should become familiar with our voices.
This done, he called the generals of divisions to him, and said--
"Now, gentlemen, I am going to review my troops, and to give them theirfinal lesson in military tactics, with the double view of seeing thatthey know what they have got to do, and of impressing them with a duesense of the great advantage of even a slight knowledge of drill."
He then directed us to take command of our several companies (Makarooroobeing placed on this occasion over the king's band), and pointed out theseparate directions in which we were ultimately to post our troops, soas to advance upon the spot on which the king stood when the signalshould be given. We had already taught the men the necessity ofattacking in a compact single line, and of forming up into this positionfrom what is termed Indian file, with which latter they were alreadyacquainted. Of course we could not hope to teach them the principles ofwheeling in the short time at our command. To overcome this difficulty,we told each band to follow its leader, who should walk in front; toadvance when he advanced, to retire when he retired, and to turn thisway or that way, according to his movements.
At a signal we gave the word "Forward!" and the whole band defiled intothe woods before the king, and disappeared like a vision, to theunutterable amazement of his majesty, who stood perfectly motionless,with eyes and mouth open to their fullest extent.
Having marched together for some distance, each leader detached his menand led them, as it were, to opposite directions of the compass, threeof the bands making a considerable detour, in order to get the spotwhere the king stood in the centre of us. Then we halted and awaitedthe next signal. In about ten minutes it was given--a loud whistle--andwe gave the word "Forward" again. I say "we," because the result provedthat we had done so. Being out of sight of the other bands, of course Icould not see how they acted.
On I rushed over brake and bush and morass, my men following me in avery good line, considering the nature of the ground. I had dividedthem into four lines, with an interval of about six yards between each.And it was really wonderful how well they kept in that position. Theother companies had been ordered to act in the same way.
On bursting out of the woods I saw that we had outstripped the othercompanies, so I held my men in check by running somewhat slower; andthey had been so deeply impressed with the fatal consequences of notdoing exactly as I did, that they stared at me with all their eyes, tothe no small risk of their lives; for one or two dashed against trees,and others tumbled head over heels into holes, in their anxiety to keeptheir eyes upon me.
In a few seconds I observed Peterkin spring out of the woods, followedby his men, so I went on again at full speed. As we entered thevillage, our ranks were sadly broken and confused by the huts; but ongaining the open space where Jack stood, I was pleased to observe thatthe negroes tried, of their own accord, to regain their originalformation, and succeeded so well that we came on in four tolerablystraight and compact lines. Each commander having been forewarned tohold his men in check, or to push forward, so as to arrive at thecentral point at the same moment, Jack, Peterkin, Makarooroo, and I ranin upon the king together, and unitedly gave the word "Halt!" whereuponwe found ourselves in the centre of a solid square.
So deeply had the men been impressed with the necessity of obediencethat they had scarcely observed each other's approach. They now stoodrooted to the ground in every possible attitude of suddenly-arrestedmotion, and all with their eyes and mouths wide open. In another momentthe result of their combined movement became evident to them, and theyuttered a yell of delighted surprise.
"Very good, very good indeed," said Jack; "and that concluding yell wasvery effective--quite magnificent.--But you see," he added, turning tome, "although such a yell is sufficiently appalling to us, it will nodoubt be a mere trifle to men who are used to it. What say you toteaching them a British cheer?"
"Absurd," said I; "they will never learn to give it properly."
"I don't know that," rejoined Jack, in a doubtful manner.
"Try," said
Peterkin.
"So I will.--Mak, tell them now that I'm going to continue the speechwhich this little review interrupted."
"They's all ready for more, massa."
This was patent to the meanest capacity; for the negroes stood gazing attheir commander-in-chief with eyes and mouths and ears open, andnostrils expanded, as if anxious to gulp in and swallow down his wordsthrough every organ.
"There is a cry," said Jack, "which the white man gives when he entersinto battle--a terrible cry, which is quite different from that of theblack man, and which is so awful that it strikes terror into the heartof the white man's enemies, and has even been known to make a whole armyfly almost without a shot being fired. We shall let you hear it."
Thereupon Jack and I and Peterkin gave utterance to a cheer of the mostvociferous description, which evidently filled the minds of the nativeswith admiration.
"Now," resumed Jack, "I wish my black warriors to try that cheer--"
Some of the black warriors, supposing that the expression of this wishwas a direct invitation to them to begin, gave utterance to a terrifichowl.
"Stay! stop!" cried Jack, holding up his hand.
Every mouth was closed instantly.
"You must cheer by command. I will say `Hip, hip, hip!' three times; assoon as I say the third `hip,' out with the cry. Now then. Hip, hip--"
"'Popotamus," whispered Peterkin.
"Hip, hurrah!" shouted Jack.
"Hurl! ho! sh! kee! how!" yelled the savages, each man giving his ownidea of our terror-inspiring British cheer.
"That will do," said Jack quietly; "it is quite evident that the war-cryof the white man is not suited to the throat of the black. You willutter your usual shout, my friends, when the signal is given; but_remember_, not before that.
"And now I come to the greatest mystery of all." (Every ear was eagerlyattentive.) "The shot and bits of metal and little stones with whichKing Jambai's warriors are accustomed to kill will not do on this greatand peculiar occasion. They will not answer the purpose--my purpose;therefore I have provided a kind of bullet which every one must useinstead of his usual shot. No warriors ever used such bullets in thefight before. They are very precious, because I have only enough ofthem to give one to each man. But that will do. If the enemy does notfly at the first discharge, then you may load with your own shot."
So saying, Jack, with the utmost gravity, took from the pouch that hungat his side a handful of little balls of paper about the size of amusket bullet, which he began to distribute among the savages. We hadobserved Jack making several hundreds of these, the night previous tothis memorable day, out of one or two newspapers we had carried alongwith us for wadding; but he would not at that time tell us what he wasgoing to do with them. The negroes received this novel species ofammunition with deep interest and surprise. Never having seen printedpaper before, or, in all probability, paper of any kind, they were muchtaken up with the mysterious characters imprinted thereon, and no doubtregarded these as the cause of the supernatural power which the bulletswere supposed to possess.
"Remember," said Jack, "when these are discharged at the enemy, I do notsay that they will kill, but I do say that they will cause the enemy tofly. Only, be assured that everything depends on your _obedience_. Andif one single stone, or nail, or hard substance is put in along withthese bullets, the chief part of my plans will be frustrated."
It was quite evident, from the expression of their sable countenances,that the idea of the bullets not killing was anything but agreeable.They were too deeply impressed, however, with Jack's power, and too farcommitted in the enterprise, and generally too much overwhelmed withmingled surprise and perplexity, to offer any objection.
"Now," said Jack in conclusion, "you may go and eat well. To-night,when it grows dark, hold yourselves in readiness to go forth in _deadsilence_. Mind that: not a sound to be uttered until the signal, `Hip,hip, hip!' is given."
"And," added Peterkin, in an undertone to Makarooroo, "tell them thatKing Jambai expects that every man will do his duty."
This remark was received with a shout and a frightful display of whiteteeth, accompanied by a tremendous flourish of guns, bows, and spears.
There was something quite awful, not to say picturesque, in thisdisplaying of teeth, which took place many times during the course ofthe above proceedings. You looked upon a sea of black ebony balls, eachhaving two white dots with black centres near the top of it. Suddenlythe ebony balls were gashed across, and a sort of storm, as it were, ofdeep red mingled with pure white swept over the dark cloud of headsbefore you, and vanished as quickly as it had appeared, only toreappear, however, at the next stroke of humour, or at some "touch ofthat nature" which is said on very high authority, to "make the wholeworld kin."
The proceedings eventually closed with a brief speech from the king, whoreferred to Peterkin's remark about each man doing his duty, and saidthat, "if each man did _not_ do his duty--" Here his majesty paused fora minute, and wrought his countenance into horrible contortions,indicative of the most excruciating agony, and wound up with an emphaticrepetition of that dire threat about the unnatural treatment of eyes,heart, liver, and carcass, which had on the previous evening sounded soawful in our ears, and had been treated with such profound indifferenceby those whom it was specially designed to affect.
"I didn't know, Jack," observed Peterkin gravely, as we returned to ourhut, "that you were such an out-and-out humbug."
"You are severe, Peterkin. I scarcely deserve to be called a humbug foracting to the best of my judgment in peculiar circumstances."
"Peculiar circumstances!" responded Peterkin. "Truly they have receivedpeculiar treatment!"
"That is as it should be," rejoined Jack; "at any rate, be they peculiaror be they otherwise, our plans are settled and our mode of actionfixed, so we must e'en abide the issue."