CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE HAREM SLAVE.
A DOZEN times were we driven back by overwhelming numbers of Arabs, butas many times we dashed forward again, determined to strike a fatal,irrisistible blow at the power of the egotistical and fanatical chieftainwhose depredations had earned for him the appelation of "The Pirate ofthe Niger." Every nation in Western Africa, save the dwellers in themystic land of Mo, existed in daily fear of raids by his ruthless armedbands, who, travelling rapidly across desert and forest, devastated wholeregions, seizing cattle, laying waste prosperous and fertile districts,burning towns and villages, and reducing their weaker neighbours toslavery. Indeed, no bodies of armed men throughout the whole of the greatAfrican continent, including even the Tuaregs, were so reckless in theirattacks, or so fiendish in their wholesale butchery of those whoresented the ruin and devastation of their homes. It was thereforescarcely surprising that this brigandish horde, whose power even Europeannations failed to break, should throw themselves into the conflict withreckless enthusiasm, and repel our attack by the exertion of everymuscle.
In point of numbers we were much inferior; our superiority existed onlyin our arms. Their old-fashioned bronze field-pieces, flint-lock pistolsand long-barrelled Arab guns, although deadly weapons in the hands ofsuch expert shots, proved no match against such irresistible appliancesas the Maxim, the Hotchkiss, or the modern English-made rifle. This factvery soon became apparent, for although the fierce battle raged for manyhours, and Samory himself, in yellow robe, and mounted upon a snow-whitestallion, gorgeously caparisoned, could be seen urging on his hordes tovaliant deeds, we nevertheless everywhere made a firm stand at variouspoints of vantage, and by no effort were they able to dislodge us.
When the sun rose, red and fiery through the veil of smoke, theincreasing weakness of the defence was visibly demonstrated by the mannerin which the entrance to the Kasbah was guarded. The great doors of ironwere closed and barred securely, and on the walls the crimson fezes ofthe defenders showed in profusion, but presently Kona, as we drove backthe soldiers of Al-Islam almost for the hundredth time, shouted the orderto storm the citadel. With one accord we made a mad, reckless rush aninstant later, and carried on by the thousands of my comrades behind, Ifound myself slashing to right and left under the high, sun-blanchedwalls of the enormous fortress. Kona, appearing a giant even among histall Dagombas, gave one the impression in those critical moments of averitable demon, filled as he was with a mad excitement and knowing thatupon the success of our assault depended the result of the expedition.Towering above his fellows, his long spear in hand, he seemed to lead acharmed existence, swaying to and fro among whistling bullets, whizzingarrows, flashing swords and whirring spears. His own weapon he dyed inthe blood of his adversaries times without number, for where he struck henever failed to kill. His aim was unerring, and his courage that of alion of his native forest.
In those furious moments I escaped death only by a miracle. As I dashedforward to seek shelter beneath the ponderous wall, a tall Arab, withlong brown hairy arms, swung his curved sword high above his head andbrought it down with such force that had I not dodged him just in time,he would have smashed my skull. Lowering my rifle quickly till its muzzlealmost touched his flowing garments, I fired, but unfortunately thebullet passed beneath his arm-pit, and flattened itself against the wall.Again, muttering some fearful imprecation in Arabic, he raised hisgleaming blade, and, unable to fire at such close quarters, I was thencompelled to use my rifle to ward off his attack. For an instant westruggled desperately, when suddenly he gave his sword a rapid twist,jerking my weapon from my hands and leaving me unarmed at his mercy.
His features broadened into a brutal grin as, noticing me fumbling for mypistol, he again raised his razor-edged Moorish blade, and holding it atarm's length, gave one vigorous slash at me. Pressed forward towards himby men engaged in mortal conflict behind me, I could not evade him, andwas about to receive the full force of what my adversary intended shouldbe a fatal blow, when suddenly a savage spear struck him full in thethroat, and stuck quivering there.
Instantly his sinewy arm fell, the heavy sword dropped from his nervelessfingers, and he stumbled backward and fell to earth like a log.
"Thou art safe, O Master!" a voice cried cheerily behind me, and turning,I saw that the man who had thrown his spear and saved my life was Kona.
Shouting an expression of thanks I bent, and, unable to recover my lostrifle in the frightful _melee_, snatched up the dead Arab's sword thathad so nearly caused my death, then fought on by my deliverer's side. Hiswounds were many, for blood was flowing from cuts and gashes innumerablein his bare black flesh, yet he appeared insensible to pain, strivingforward, gasping as he dealt each blow, determined to conquer.
The fight continued with unabated fury--the bloodshed was horrible. Theopen square before the gate of the Kasbah was transformed into averitable slaughter-yard, the stones being slippery with blood, andpassage rendered difficult by the corpses that lay piled everywhere. Atlast, however, while engaged in another warm corner, the shrill,awe-inspiring war cry of the Dagombas again sounded above the tumult, andturning, I saw that by some means our men had opened the great gate, andthat they were pouring into the spacious courtyards that I so wellremembered.
Our assault, though fiercely and savagely repelled, was at lastsuccessful. We were entering the stronghold of Samory, and had achieved afeat that the well-equipped expeditions of the French and English hadfailed to accomplish.
The Arabs during the next quarter of an hour struggled bravely againsttheir adversity and fought with a dogged courage of which I had notbelieved them capable. Soon, however, finding themselves conquered, theycried for quarter. Had they known the peculiar temperament of theDagombas and the soldiers of Mo, they would never thus have imploredmercy. But they cried out, and some even sank on their knees in the bloodof their dead comrades, uttering piteous appeals. But the Arabs of Samoryhad never shown mercy to the Dagombas or the people of Mo, andconsequently our army, in the first flush of their victory, filled withthe awful lust for blood, treated their cries with jeers, and as theyadvanced into court after court within the great Kasbah walls, they fellupon all they met, armed or unarmed, men or women, and massacred themwhere they stood.
The appeal shouted time after time by Kona to view our victory intemperate spirit and spare those who submitted, was disregarded by all inthis wholesale savage butchery. The scene within the Arab chieftain'sstronghold was, alas! far more horrible than any I had witnessed duringthe revolt in Mo. Guards, officials and slaves of Samory's household wereindiscriminately put to the sword, some of the men being hunted intocorners and speared by the Dagombas, while others were forced upon theirknees by the soldiers of Mo and mercilessly decapitated. The door of thegreat harem, long ago reputed to contain a thousand inmates, includingslaves, was burst open, and in those beautiful and luxuriant courts andchambers the whole of the women were butchered with a brutality quite asfiendish as any displayed by the Arabs themselves. The handsomefavourites of Samory in their filmy garments of gold tissue and girdlesof precious stones were dragged by their long tresses from their hidingplaces and literally hacked to pieces, their magnificent and costlyjewels being torn from them and regarded as legitimate loot. Women'sdeath-screams filled the great courts and corridors; their life-bloodstained the pavements of polished jasper and bespattered the conquerors.The Dagombas, finding themselves inside this extensive abode of luxury,where beautiful fountains shot high into the morning sunlight,sweet-smelling flowers bloomed everywhere and sensuous odours fromperfuming-pans hung heavily in the air, seemed suddenly transformed intoa demoniac horde bent upon the most ruthless devastation. They rememberedthat times without number had the Sofas of Samory burnt their villagesand towns, and carried hundreds of their tribesmen away as slaves; theywere now seeking revenge for past wrongs.
As, nauseated by the sight of blood, I witnessed these awful atrocities,I reflected that the curse of Zomara, uttered solemnly by Omar whenS
amory had sold us to the slave-dealers, had at last fallen upon the Arabchieftain.
Omar had prophesied the downfall of Samory, and his utterance was nowfulfilled.
Screams, piercing and heart-rending, sounded everywhere, mingled with thefierce war-shouts of our savage allies, as, time after time, someunfortunate woman in gorgeous garb and ablaze with valuable gems wasdiscovered, dragged unceremoniously from her hiding-place to the greatcourt wherein I stood, her many necklets ruthlessly torn from her whitethroat and a keen sword drawn across it as a butcher would calmlydespatch a lamb. Then, when life had ebbed, her body would be cast intothe great basin of the fountain, where hundreds of others had alreadybeen pitched.
In other parts of the Kasbah a similar massacre was proceeding, none ofthose found therein being allowed to escape; while an active search waseverywhere in progress for Samory himself.
From where I stood I witnessed the breaking up of the Arab ruler'sthrone, and the tearing down of the great canopy of amaranth silk underwhich Samory had reclined when, with Omar, I had been brought before him.The crescent of solid gold that had surmounted it was handed to Kona, whobroke it in half beneath his heel as sign of the completeness of hisvictory. Then, when the destruction of the seat of the brutal autocratwas complete, the _debris_ with the torn silk, and the long strips ofcrimson cloth, whereon good counsels from the Koran were embroidered inKufic characters of gold, that had formed a kind of frieze to thechamber, were carried out into the court by fifty willing hands, heapedup and there burnt.
While watching the flames leaping up consuming the wrecked remains of theroyal seat of the powerful Arab ruler, a woman's scream, louder than therest, caused me to look suddenly round at the latest victim of theDagombas' thirst for vengeance, and I beheld in the clutches ofhalf-a-dozen savages, a young woman, dragged as the others had been byher fair, unbound hair towards the spot where each had, in turn, beenmurdered. She was dressed in a rich, beautiful robe of bright yellowsilk, embroidered with pale pink flowers, but her garments werebedraggled with water and blood, and her bleeding wrists and fingersshowed with what heartless brutality her jewels had been torn from herby her pitiless captors. She struggled frantically to free herself, butwithout avail, and one of the savages, noticing a magnificent diamondbangle upon her ankle, bent, and tried to force it off.
Just at that moment, in endeavouring to twist herself free from theirclutches, her fair face became turned towards me and her deep blue,terrified eyes for an instant met mine.
Next second I uttered a cry of recognition. Yes, there was no mistakeabout that flawless complexion, those handsome features or those wondrouseyes, the mysterious depths of which had enthralled me, as they had doneOmar.
It was Liola!
With a bound I sprang forward, tearing at the knot of savages andshouting to them to release her. At first they only grinned hideously, nodoubt thinking that I desired her as a slave, and as they had decidedthat all should die without exception, in order that their conquestshould be rendered the more complete, they were in no way disposed toobey my command. At last I succeeded in arresting their progress, whenthe man who had attempted to wrench from her ankle the diamond ornamentshook his long, keen knife threateningly at me, while the others yelledall kinds of imprecations. Not liking his fierce attitude, and knowingthat in the heat of victory they were capable of turning upon friends whoattempted to thwart them, I drew back, and as I did so he flung himselfupon one knee and raised his knife over Liola's foot.
Instantly I saw his intention. He meant to hack off her foot in order tosecure the bangle, a horrible proceeding that had been carried out morethan once before my eyes within the past hour. There was, I knew, but oneway to save her, therefore without hesitating I drew my revolver andfired at him point blank.
The ball pierced his breast. With an agonized cry he clutched for amoment wildly at the air, then fell back dead.
My action, as I fully expected it would, aroused the intense ire of hiscompanions and all released Liola, now insensible, and sprang at me,their ready knives flashing in the sunlight. I was compelled to fly, andhad it not been for Kona, who, standing some distance off watching thereduction of Samory's throne to ashes, took in the situation at a glance,sped in their direction, and ordered his men to stop and tell him thecause, I should undoubtedly have lost my life. As their head-man his wordwas law. Then, glancing at the inanimate form of Liola, who, havingfainted, had been left lying on the blood-stained pavement, he recognizedher as Goliba's daughter, and in a dozen words told his men that she wasthe betrothed of the young Naba of Mo, and that I, his friend, had savedher.
The savages, aghast at this statement, and recognizing how near they hadbeen to murdering the beloved of the Naba Omar, rushed towards mepenitent, urging that they might be forgiven, and declaring that theirconduct, under the circumstances, was excusable. They had, they said, noidea that they would find in the harem of their enemy Samory thebetrothed of Mo's ruler, and I also was compelled to admit myself quiteas astounded as themselves. Therefore in brief words explanations andforgiveness were exchanged and I rushed across, and with the ready helpof Kona and his men endeavoured to restore her to consciousness.
The dread of her horrible fate had caused her to faint, and it was a longtime ere we could bring her back to the knowledge of her surroundings.Tenderly the Dagombas, who a few minutes before would have brutallymurdered her, carried her into one of the small luxuriantly-furnishedchambers of the harem, and at my request left me alone with her. Kona,though fierce as a wild beast in war, was tender-hearted as a child whereundefended women were concerned, and would have remained, but ascommander of the forces now engaged in sacking the palace many onerousduties devolved upon him. Therefore I was left alone with her.
Her eyes closed, her fair hair disarranged, her clothing torn andblood-stained, she lay upon a soft divan, pale and motionless as onedead. I chafed her tiny hands, and released her rich robe at the throatto give her air, wondering by what strange chain of circumstances she hadcome to be an inmate of the private apartments of our enemy Samory. Atlast, however, her breast heaved and fell slowly once or twice, andpresently she opened her beautiful eyes, gazing up at me with a puzzled,half-frightened expression.
"Liola," I exclaimed softly, in the language of Mo. "Thou art withfriends, have no further fear. The soldiers of thy lover Omar havewreaked a vengeance complete and terrible upon thy captor Samory."
"But the savages!" she gasped. "They will kill me as they massacred allthe women."
"No, no, they will not," I assured her, placing my arm tenderly beneathher handsome head. "The savages are our Dagomba allies who, not knowingthat thou wert a native of Mo, would have butchered thee like the rest."
"And thou didst save me?" she cried. "Yes, I remember, thou didst shootdead the brute who would have cut off my foot to secure my diamondanklet. I owe my life to thee."
"Ah! do not speak of that," I cried. "Calm thyself and rest assured ofthy safety, for thou shalt return with us to the land of thy fathers.Thou shalt, ere a moon has run its course, pillow thine head upon theshoulder of the man thou lovest, Omar, Naba of Mo."
She blushed deeply at my words, and her small white hand still smearedwith blood, gripped my wrist. Her heart seemed too full for words, and inthis manner she silently thanked me for rescuing her from the awful fateto which she had so nearly been hurried.
Soon she recovered from the shock sufficiently to sit up and chat.Together we listened to the roar of the excited multitude outside, andfrom the lattice window could see columns of dense black smoke risingfrom the city, where the fighting-men of Mo, in accordance with theirinstructions from Omar, having sacked the place, were now setting it onfire.
In answer to my eager questions as to her adventures after her seizure bythe soldiers of the Great White Queen, she said:
"Yes. It is true they captured me, together with my girl slave, Wyona,and hurried me towards the palace. Wyona fought and bit like a tigress,and one of the men becoming infuriated, kille
d her. Just at that momentthe attack was made upon us by the populace, and they, witnessing hisaction, tore him limb from limb. Then, in the fierce conflict thatfollowed, I escaped from their clutches in the same manner as Omar andthyself. Knowing of the attack to be made upon the palace I fled forsafety in the opposite direction, and remained in hiding throughout thenight in the house of one of my kinswomen away towards the city-gate. Atlast the report spread that the people had taken the palace by assault,the Naya had been deposed, and Omar enthroned Naba in her stead. Then,feeling that safety was assured, I ventured forth, but ere I had gone farI met a body of strange fighting men. They were Arabs, and proved to bemen from this stronghold of our enemy Samory. After a strenuous attemptto cross the city they had been repulsed by the people, leaving manydead, and in their retreat towards the city-gate they seized me and boreme away in triumph here."
"How long hast thou been in Koussan?"
"Twenty days ago we arrived, after fighting our way back and losing halfour force in skirmishes with the hostile savages of the forest. I wasbrought here to Samory's harem as slave, attired in the garments I nowwear, loaded with jewels torn from the body of one of his favourites,who, incurring his displeasure, had been promptly strangled by the chiefof the negro eunuchs, and placed in an apartment with three other slavesto do my bidding, there to await such time as it should please my Arabcaptor to inspect me. I was contemplating death," she added, dropping herdeep blue eyes. "If your attack upon the Kasbah had not been delivered Ishould most assuredly have killed myself to-day ere the going down of thesun."
"It was fortunate that I recognized thee, or thou wouldst have beenhacked to pieces by the keen blades of our savage allies," I said.
"Take me hence," she urged panting. "I cannot bear to hear the shout ofthe victor and the despairing cry of the vanquished. It is horrible.Throughout the night we, in the women's quarters, have dreaded the fateawaiting us if the invaders, whom we thought were savages of the forest,should gain the mastery and enter the palace. From the high windowsyonder we witnessed the fight, knowing that our lives depended upon itsissue, and judge our dismay and despair when, soon after dawn, we saw theArabs overwhelmed and the Kasbah fall into the hands of their conquerors.Many of my wretched companions killed themselves with their poignardsrather than fall into the hands of the blacks, while the majority hidthemselves only to be afterwards discovered and butchered. Ah, it is allterrible, terrible!"
"True," I answered. "Yet it is only revenge for the depredations andheartless atrocities committed by these people upon the dwellers in thyborder lands. Even at this moment Samory hath a great expedition on thenorthern confines of Mo, making a vigorous attempt to invade thy country,so that he shall reign upon the Emerald Throne in the place of thy loverOmar."
"An expedition to invade Mo?" she cried surprised. "Hath Samory donethis; is it his intention to cause Omar's overthrow?"
"Most assuredly it is," I answered. "The reason of our presence here insuch force was to assault Koussan in the absence of its picked troops,twenty thousand of whom were we ascertained on their way northward, withthe intention of forcing a passage through Aribanda and the HomboriMountains into Mo. Niaro hath led our fighting-men to repel their attack,and he is accompanied by Omar and thy father, while we are here, underKona's leadership, to punish Samory for his intrepidity."
Then she asked how Omar fared, and I explained how it had been believedthat she had died, and that all were mourning for her.
"My slave Wyona must have been mistaken for me," she answered. "Andnaturally, as I had given her one of my left-off robes only the daybefore."
"Omar believeth thee dead. Thy presence in Mo will indeed bring happinessto his eyes, and gaiety to his heart," I exclaimed happily.
"Doth he still mourn for me?" she inquired artlessly. I knew she wantedto ask me many questions regarding her lover, but her modesty forbade it.
"Since the fatal night when thou wert lost joy hath never caused a smileto cross his countenance. Sleeping and waking he thinketh only of thee,revering thy memory, reflecting upon the happy moments spent at thy side,as one fondly remembers a pleasant dream or adventures in some fairparadise, yet ever sad in the knowledge that those blissful days cannever return. His is an empty honour, a kingship devoid of all pleasurebecause thou art no longer his."
Her lips trembled slightly, and I thought her brilliant eyes becamebrighter for a moment because of an unshed tear.
"I am still his," she said slowly, with emphasis. "I am ready, nayanxious, to return to him. Thou hast saved me from death and fromdishonour; truly thou art a worthy friend of Omar's, for by thy valiantdeed alone thou restorest unto him the woman he loveth."
I urged her to utter no word of thanks, and pointing to the sky, renderedevery moment more dark by the increasing volumes of smoke ascending fromthe city, said:
"See! Our men are busy preparing for the destruction of this palace thatthrough many centuries hath been a centre of Mohammedan influence andoppression. Time doth not admit of thanks, for we both have much to doere we start forth on our return to Mo, and----"
My words were interrupted by a terrific explosion in such close proximityto us that it caused us to jump, and was followed by a deafening crash offalling masonry. From the lattice we saw the high handsome minaret of thepalace topple and fall amid a dense smoke and shower of stones. Our menhad undermined it and blown it up.
Liola shuddered, glancing at me in alarm.
"Fear not," I said. "Ere we leave, the city of Koussan must be devastatedand burned. Samory hath never given quarter, or shown mercy to his weakerneighbours, and we will show none. Besides, he held thee captive as hehath already held thy lover Omar and myself. He sold us to slavers thatwe might be sacrificed in Kumassi, therefore the curse of thyCrocodile-god Zomara placed upon him hath at last fallen. The flood-gatesof vengeance now opened the hand of man cannot close."
The great court of the harem, deserted by the troops, had become filledwith volumes of dense smoke, showing that fire had broken out somewherewithin the palace, and ever and anon explosions of a more or less violentcharacter told us that the hands of the destroyers were actually at work.The sack of the Kasbah was indeed complete.
The loot, of which there was an enormous quantity of considerable value,was being removed to a place of safety by a large body of men told offfor the purpose. Although Samory was a fugitive, yet the treasures foundwithin his private apartments were of no mean order, and ere noon hadpassed preparations were being made for its conveyance to Mo, the greaterpart of the city being already in flames. The fire roared and crackled,choking smoke-clouds obscured the sun, and the heat wafted up wasstifling. All opposition to us had long ago ceased, but whenever an Arabwas found secreted or a fugitive, he was shot down without mercy. Tolinger longer in the harem might, I judged, be dangerous on account ofthe place having been fired, therefore we went together out into thecourt, and stepping over the mutilated bodies of its beautiful prisoners,entered the chamber where Samory had held his court. Empty, dismantledand wrecked, its appearance showed plainly how the mighty monarch hadfallen. Even the great bejewelled manuscript of the Koran, the Arab bookof Everlasting Will, that had reposed upon its golden stand at the end ofthe fine, high-roofed chamber, had been torn up, for its leaves layscattered about the pavement and after the jewels had been hastily dugfrom their settings, the covers of green velvet had been cast aside asworthless. Every seat or divan had been either broken or slashed byswords, every vessel or mirror smashed, every ornament damaged beyondrepair.
Thinking it best to leave her, a woman, in care of a guard of our armedmen, while I went forward, I made the suggestion, but she would not hearof it.
"No," she answered smiling. "I will remain ever at thy side, for besidethee I fear not. Thou art my rescuer, and my life is thine."
"But some of the sights we may witness are not such as a woman's eyesshould behold," I answered.
"It mattereth not. That thou wilt allow me to accompany thee, is all Iask."
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"Very well," I replied, laughing. "Thou art welcome. Come."
By my side she hurried through the chamber wherein had stood the throne,and thence through several handsome courts, wandering at last intoanother smaller chamber at the side of which I noticed an alcove with ahuge Arab bed surrounded by quaint lattices, so dark that my gaze couldnot penetrate to its recesses.
As we passed, the movement of some object in the deep shadow beside thebed attracted my attention. Advancing quickly I detected the figure of aman, and, fearing a sudden dash by one of our lurking foes, I again drewmy sword.
Liola, seeing this, gave vent to a little scream of alarm and placed herhand upon my arm in fear, but next second the fugitive, anticipating myintention to attack him, sprang suddenly forward into the light.
The bearded face, the fierce, flashing eyes, the thick lips and bushybrows were all familiar to me. Although he wore the white cotton garb ofthe meanest slave, I recognised him in an instant.
It was the great Arab chieftain Samory!