CHAPTER XVI.
WORDS OF FIRE.
RAISING our eyes from the straight narrow path whereon we set our feet inthe footprints of those before us, we halted and looked eagerly ahead.
We had come to the edge of what seemed a shallow depression, and alreadyOmar had disappeared from view, followed cautiously by those immediatelybehind him. Owing to the cries of warning and astonishment from each manwho reached the edge, I advanced, carefully following my black companionin front until I at length gained the spot where the path ended.
Involuntarily a cry of amazement escaped me. I looked over into a fearfulabyss. Below was a fertile valley, but so deep was it that the riverlooked only like a silver thread, and the trees but an inch in height. Iwas standing on the edge of a huge granite cliff that went down sheerinto the valley, its face almost as flat as the side of a house.
The descent appeared terrible. I shuddered as I looked over, and Kona,who came behind me, also peeped down and cried:
"See! It is the Great Gulf about which we have heard. Into this the Nayahurls her enemies."
On the opposite side, about a quarter of a mile distant, giganticoverhanging crags rose from the valley to a height greater than the rockwhereon we were kneeling. At a glance we could both see that to scale thewall of rock opposite would be impossible owing to its overhangingnature, therefore, we concluded that our way lay along the fertile valleywhere the cool welcome green refreshed our eyes.
Already Omar and a couple of dozen of our black followers were carefullyswarming down the face of the rock. Now and then warning shouts arosefrom them, and ever and anon Omar's voice could be heard givingdirections, or urging caution. The latter was certainly necessary, for asingle false step would mean a terrible death.
As I gazed down into the deep abyss I felt my head reeling. There is afascination in great heights that impels one to thoughts ofself-destruction. A sudden dizziness seized me as I placed my foot overthe edge of the fearful precipice, and were it not for Kona, who,noticing my condition, gripped me by the arm, I should have certainlymissed my footing and been dashed to pieces on the needle-like crags atthe base.
The sudden knowledge that I had been within an ace of death caused me tohold my breath; then I crept cautiously over the edge. For a moment, withmy hands clutching frantically upon a jutting piece of rock, my legsswung in mid air, failing to find a foothold, and I cried out, fearinglest I should again fall. But at last my feet struck against aprojection, and upon it I carefully lowered myself, while Kona also swunghimself over, taking the perilous position I had a moment beforeoccupied. Again and again I lowered myself, gripping on to the successiveprojections, and lowering myself until my feet touched the one below,thus descending as Omar had done.
"Be careful, Scars," he presently cried from far below. "Drop straight,and look to your footing."
His words caused me to reflect upon the strange fact that each of theseprojections, almost like natural steps, were placed immediately below oneanother. Whether they were actually natural formations, or whether theywere the work of man I could not determine. Yet they seemed interminable,and sometimes so far apart that I remained stationary, fearing to letmyself go until, urged downward by Kona, I held my breath, and, steadyingmyself, dropped upon the narrow ledge below. Dreading a recurrence ofgiddiness I dared not to look down at my companions. My bare feet andhands were blistered and cut by the sharp edges of the rocks, and mymovements were seriously hampered by the musket slung at my back.
The descent was terribly fatiguing. The way across the quicksands hadbeen so level that we had walked, counting our paces mechanically, butnow in every movement there was danger, and terror gripped my heart witha gauntlet of steel. From every pore there broke from me a coldperspiration, as from each tiny projection I lowered myself, not knowingwhether my feet would find another resting-place. For my blackcompanions, who were taller and more muscular, the way was not nearly sodifficult, and Kona, aware of this, assisted me whenever possible.
Once, when I found myself progressing well, and apparently havingsuccessfully negotiated the more dangerous of these natural steps, Ipaused for a few moments to breathe, and, summoning courage, looked downto where the others were scrambling below. I was then amazed to discoverthat, notwithstanding all the fatigue, the distance I had covered wasscarcely perceptible. I still seemed almost as far from the base of therock as I was when first I had peered over into the abyss. Suddenly,without warning, I felt the rock give way beneath my feet, and the nextinstant the whole projection, loosened by the weight of Omar and hisfollowers who had preceded me, fell away beneath me, and crashed straightdown into the valley.
My presence of mind caused me just at that instant to grip the ledgeabove, otherwise I, too, must have gone with my unstable resting-place.It was indeed a narrow escape, and as clinging on with my hands, my legsagain swinging in mid air, I heard the heavy rock, weighing perhaps aton, strike a projection under me and then crash down, carrying allbefore it.
There was an appalling shriek from below, and I dreaded to turn my gazedownward, fearing that my companions had been swept away by the greatmass of stone. At last, however, I looked in trepidation and wasgratified to notice that the projection struck by the rock had been leftby the man preceding me, and that the course of the descending stone hadbeen altered so that all had escaped.
"Careful up there!" shouted Omar angrily. "Don't spring upon the steps,or they will become loosened like that one. It might have swept thewhole lot of us into the valley if its course had not been turned. Loweryourselves slowly--very slowly--take plenty of time."
"I did it, Omar," I cried breathlessly. "It was an accident. I could notavoid it, and nearly fell, too."
But it was apparent that my voice did not reach him, for he slowlylowered himself over the next projection, and continued giving directionsto the men who followed, while I, with the next ledge fallen away, wascompelled to let myself drop a distance of about nine feet on to one thatseemed far below.
From that point the descent became much easier, although during the twohours it occupied I stumbled and nearly lost my foothold many times. Myfeet and hands were covered with blood, my elbows were severely grazed,and from my knees the skin was torn by the constant scrambling over theedges of the ledges.
Truly the approach to the Land of the Great White Queen was fraught witha myriad dangers.
When about half-way down the steep rock another piercing shriek brokeforth immediately below me, and glancing down I saw one of our blackcompanions who had dropped from one ledge to the next lose his footing,stumble, and fall headlong into the great chasm. Cries of horror escapedus as we saw him strike a rugged ledge of rock far below, rebound, andthen fall head foremost to the rock's base, his skull already battered toa pulp.
This terrible lesson was heeded by everyone, and for fully half an hourthe silence was almost complete, save for the gasps and hard breathing ofour followers as they toiled onward down the steep face of the giganticrock.
Someone cried out that here, as across the quicksands, there were athousand steps. If this were true, as I believe it was, then the averagedistance between the ledges being about five feet, the height of the rockwas somewhere about five thousand feet. When progress at last becameeasier, I tried to attract Omar's attention, and inquire whether weshould have to scale the rock opposite, but I could not project my voicefar enough below to reach him. When he shouted I could hear, as his voiceascended, but he apparently could not distinguish what I said in reply.
Kona, his bow and empty quiver slung behind him, scrambled down after meever nimble as a cat. His black skin shone like ebony, but here and therewere cuts from which blood freely flowed, showing that he too, althoughinured to a savage life, had not altogether escaped in this struggle toenter the land unknown.
As we approached the base the ledges became more frequent, and hasteningin my downward climb I at last experienced gratification at finding theperil past, and myself standing at the foot of the great precipice
.
"Well?" asked Omar, approaching me quickly. "How did you fare?"
"Badly," I answered with a smile. "A dozen times I gave myself up forlost."
"Care and courage may accomplish everything," he said, laughing. "Few,however, would care to risk the perils of the Thousand Steps without aguide, or even if they did, and succeeded in accomplishing the journey tothis point, they could not enter our land."
"Why?"
He turned towards the flat, bare face of overhanging rock opposite, andgazing up to its towering summit, answered:
"Because our land lies yonder. We must, after resting, ascend."
"How?" I inquired, noticing that the wall of the great cliff wasperfectly smooth.
He smiled.
"Be patient, and you shall see. Only friends can enter Mo; an enemynever."
At that moment Kona desired to consult him regarding our campingarrangements, and turning I left them and wandered a little way along thevalley. Presently, although its fertility was pleasant, I noticed thatthe air had a strange foetid odour, and, shortly afterwards, whilewalking in the long rank grass my feet struck against something, which,on examination, I found to be the decomposing body of a man. He wore aburnouse, and from the long-barrelled musket that lay by his side Iconcluded it was an Arab. As I went forward I discovered bodies scatteredin twos and threes over the grass-plain. Great grey vultures were tearingthe rotting flesh from the bones, feasting upon the carrion. Broken guns,bent swords and blunted daggers lay about in profusion, while the furtherI went, the more numerous became the hideous bodies which the long grassseemed to be striving to hide. This was assuredly the battle-fieldwhereon the army of the Great White Queen had defeated the expeditionsent by Samory. Truly the slaughter must have been appalling, and littlewonder was it that the survivors whom we had met and annihilated shouldhave fought so desperately for their lives.
Judging from the great pile of corpses, the stand made by Samory's Arabsmust have been a dogged and stubborn one, for traces of a most desperatebattle were everywhere apparent, yet their defeat must have beencrushing and complete, for hundreds of the invaders had apparently beenmowed down where they had stood. Others had fallen in hand-to-handencounters, their limbs slashed and disabled by keener swords than theirown, while many seemed literally riddled by bullets which could neverhave been fired by ordinary guns, or if so, at such close quarters thatin nearly every case the balls had passed clean through their bodies.
The number of corpses lying in the grass were too numerous to count, butat a rough estimate there must have been several thousands. The air ofthat beautiful valley was suffocating on account of the stench theyemitted, and the river was poisoned by the heaps of bodies that had beenhurled into it.
This valley, that had appeared a veritable paradise from the summit ofthe rock, was in reality a Valley of Death.
So nauseating was the smell that Omar decided upon pitching the camp at apoint lower down, for so exhausted were we all and so dark was it growingthat it became imperative we should remain there for the night. So webivouacked half a mile away from the spot where the Thousand Stepsdescended, our fire was lit, and after a little food had been served out,we threw ourselves upon the grass, and, worn out by fatigue, sleptheavily and well.
The valley was filled with a thick mist that rose from the river,overspreading everything and saturating our scanty clothing withmoisture, causing us to be chilly and uncomfortable. It was this fact,perhaps, that awakened me during the night, when all my companions lyingaround were snoring soundly, dreaming most probably, of their triumphantentry into the land of the great Naya. Becoming fully awake, I heard theswish of a footstep through the grass, and, raising my head, saw at alittle distance from me Omar, standing alone. With his back turned to mehe was gazing up at the summit of the rock we had yet to gain, bearing inhis hand a fire-brand that had apparently been lit at the dying embers ofour fire. The brand, blazing and crackling, threw his lithe figure intorelief, and I saw that his face wore an eager, anxious look. His gazeseemed rivetted upon the highest pinnacle of the great rock, as if he hadnoticed some unusual aspect.
During several minutes he remained motionless, his eyes fixed in thatdirection. At first I was impelled to rise and join him, but not knowingwhy, I remained there motionless watching. Presently I heard a loud cryof joy escape his lips, and with frantic gesture he waved the fire-brandquickly from left to right, sometimes with a sharp motion, and at othersslowly.
He was signalling to someone on the brow of the precipice!
Open-mouthed I watched the result. The glare of his torch prevented mefrom distinguishing the crest of the rock distinctly, yet as I looked inthe direction he was gazing I presently saw far away on the summit,glittering like a brilliant star, a bright light that seemed in answer toOmar's signals to appear and disappear rapidly, evidently flashing back areply from the mysterious realm above.
Suddenly the distant light became totally obscured, and from Omar's lipsthere fell an expression of disappointment. His own fire-brand wasburning but dimly, therefore, rushing to the embers, he drew another fromthe fire, blew upon it violently until it flamed, and then recommencedthe puzzling signals, the system of which seemed very similar to thoseused in the British Army.
Again and again he repeated the long and short waves of the flamingtorch, but no answering light appeared. All was dark upon the toweringsummit, that loomed up black and lonely against the deep vault of dark,star-lit blue. His was a weird figure, standing in the centre of thecircle of uncertain light shed by the flambeau, watching eagerly, andwaving his signals with untiring energy.
"Fools!" he cried aloud to himself. "They are so fearful of treacherythat they feign not to be able to distinguish the name of their ruler."
But ere the words had fallen from his lips the star-like light againshone forth white, with intense brilliancy, but in a different position.It seemed to have moved along the brink of the precipice, nearer to us,and its whiteness had been somehow intensified. In appearance it was verysimilar to an electric search-light, and so powerful were its rays thatthey streamed forth in a long line of brilliancy that slowly swept thevalley where the corpses of the Arabs lay piled until it reached us,illuminating our camp with a light almost bright as day.
Several minutes elapsed, and Omar, standing in the centre of the light,casting a long grotesque shadow behind, continued waving the word he wasso desirous of signalling. In the meantime those who were working thelight had undoubtedly ascertained the extent of our numbers, for verysoon the light slowly travelled over the adjoining rocks, and evensearched the further end of the valley; then suddenly it shed upon usagain, and instantly became obscured.
Nothing daunted, Omar continued his signals until at last they wereevidently noticed and read, for suddenly the light streamed forth againand commenced a series of vivid flashes that lit up the valley likeshafts of lightning.
Thus came the answer, for next second Omar, overjoyed, and unable tocontain himself, again cried aloud:
"Seen! Hurrah! At last!"
The signals exchanged between those on the lofty summit of theinsurmountable barrier, and my friend Omar were long, and, to me tedious.I could make nothing of them, although it was apparent that my old chumwas carrying on an interesting conversation with some person unseen. Onceagain the light swept across the silent battle-field, showing, as if withjustifiable pride, the wholesale slaughter that had been there committedby the defenders, and again fell full upon the son of the dreaded Naya.Then it flashed quickly many times and suddenly disappeared.
Omar seemed at last satisfied, for, holding the brand before him, he tookfrom the tiny bag around his neck a pinch of the magic powder that wasincluded in his jujus, and pronouncing words that conveyed some mysticalmeaning, slowly let the powder fall into the flickering flame, causing itto hiss and splutter.
He was sacrificing to the fetish for our deliverance from the perils ofthe Way of the Thousand Steps. Even as he stood performing this paganrite, there sounded afa
r off a dull, low boom like the distant report ofheavy cannon. It echoed weirdly along the valley where all was quiet andat rest, and was three times repeated, like some ominous voice ofwarning.
Omar heard it. Surely the noise was an unexpected one, for it instantlyfilled him with apprehension, and he listened attentively, littledreaming that I also was his companion upon this strange midnight vigil.