CHAPTER VIII
THE START
That evening when the baggage had been disposed of and locked up in mylittle stable and arrangements were made for the delivery of some casescontaining tinned foods, etc., which had proved too heavy for the Scotchcart, Lord Ragnall and I continued our conversation. First, however, weunpacked the guns and checked the ammunition, of which there was a largesupply, with more to follow.
A beautiful battery they were of all sorts from elephant guns down, themost costly and best finished that money could buy at the time. It mademe shiver to think what the bill for them must have been, while theirappearance when they were put together and stood in a long line againstthe wall of my sitting-room, moved old Hans to a kind of ecstasy. For along while he contemplated them, patting the stocks one after the otherand giving to each a name as though they were all alive, then exclaimed:
"With such weapons as these the Baas could kill the devil himself.Still, let the Baas bring Intombi with him"--a favourite old rifle ofmine and a mere toy in size, that had however done me good service inthe past, as those who have read what I have written in "Marie" and"The Holy Flower" may remember. "For, Baas, after all, the wife of one'syouth often proves more to be trusted than the fine young ones a manbuys in his age. Also one knows all her faults, but who can say howmany there may be hidden up in new women however beautifully they aretattooed?" and he pointed to the elaborate engraving upon the guns.
I translated this speech to Lord Ragnall. It made him laugh, at whichI was glad for up till then I had not seen him even smile. I shouldadd that in addition to these sporting weapons there were no fewer thanfifty military rifles of the best make, they were large-bore Snidersthat had just then been put upon the market, and with them, packed intin cases, a great quantity of ammunition. Although the regulationswere not so strict then as they are now, I met with a great deal ofdifficulty in getting all this armament through the Customs. LordRagnall however had letters from the Colonial Office to such authoritiesas ruled in Natal, and on our giving a joint undertaking that they werefor defensive purposes only in unexplored territory and not for sale,they were allowed through. Fortunate did it prove for us in after daysthat this matter was arranged.
That night before we went to bed I narrated to Lord Ragnall all thehistory of our search for the Holy Flower, which he seemed to find veryentertaining. Also I told him of my adventures, to me far more terrible,as chairman of the Bona Fide Gold Mine and of their melancholy end.
"The lesson of which is," he remarked when I had finished, "that becausea man is master of one trade, it does not follow that he is master ofanother. You are, I should judge, one of the finest shots in theworld, you are also a great hunter and explorer. But when it comes tocompanies, Quatermain----! Still," he went on, "I ought to be gratefulto that Bona Fide Gold Mine, since I gather that had it not been forit and for your rascally friend, Mr. Jacob, I should not have found youhere."
"No," I answered, "it is probable that you would not, as by this timeI might have been far in the interior where a man cannot be traced andletters do not reach him."
Then he made a few pointed inquiries about the affairs of the mine,noting my answers down in his pocket-book. I thought this odd butconcluded that he wished to verify my statements before entering intoa close companionship with me, since for aught he knew I might be thelargest liar in the world and a swindler to boot. So I said nothing,even when I heard through a roundabout channel on the morrow that he hadsought an interview with the late secretary of the defunct company.
A few days later, for I may as well finish with this matter at once, theastonishing object of these inquiries was made clear to me. One morningI found upon my table a whole pile of correspondence, at the sightof which I groaned, feeling sure that it must come from duns and beconnected with that infernal mine. Curiosity and a desire to face theworst, however, led me to open the first letter which as it happenedproved to be from that very shareholder who had proposed a vote ofconfidence in me at the winding-up meeting. By the time that it wasfinished my eyes were swimming and really I felt quite faint. It ran:
"Honoured Sir,--I knew that I was putting my money on the right horsewhen I said the other day that you were one of the straightest that everran. Well, I have got the cheque sent me by the lawyer on your account,being payment in full for every farthing I invested in the Bona FideGold Mine, and I can only say that it is uncommonly useful, for thatbusiness had pretty well cleaned me out. God bless you, Mr. Quatermain."
I opened another letter, and another, and another. They were all to thesame effect. Bewildered I went on to the stoep, where I found Hans withan epistle in his hand which he requested me to be good enough to read.I read it. It was from a well-known firm of local lawyers and said:
"On behalf of Allan Quatermain, Esq., we beg to enclose a draft forthe sum of L650, being the value of the interest in the Bona Fide GoldCompany, Limited (in liquidation), which stands in your name on thebooks of the company. Please sign enclosed receipt and return same tous."
Yes, and there was the draft for L650 sterling!
I explained the matter to Hans, or rather I translated the document,adding:
"You see you have got your money back again. But Hans, I never sent it;I don't know where it comes from."
"Is it money, Baas?" asked Hans, surveying the draft with suspicion. "Itlooks very much like the other bit of paper for which I paid money."
Again I explained, reiterating that I knew nothing of the transaction.
"Well, Baas," he said, "if you did not send it someone did--perhapsyour father the reverend Predikant, who sees that you are in trouble andwishes to wash your name white again. Meanwhile, Baas, please put thatbit of paper in your pocket-book and keep it for me, for otherwise Imight be tempted to buy square-face with it."
"No," I answered, "you can now buy your land back, or some other land,and there will be no need for you to come with me to the country of theKendah."
Hans thought a moment and then very deliberately began to tear up thedraft; indeed I was only just in time to save it from destruction.
"If the Baas is going to turn me off because of this paper," he said, "Iwill make it small and eat it."
"You silly old fool," I said as I possessed myself of the cheque.
Then the conversation was interrupted, for who should appear but Sammy,my old cook, who began in his pompous language:
"The perfect rectitude of your conduct, Mr. Quatermain, moves me to thedeepest gratitude, though indeed I wish that I had put something intothe food of the knave Jacob who beguiled us all, that would have causedhim internal pangs of a severe if not of a dangerous order. My holdingin the gold mine was not extensive, but the unpaid bill of the saidJacob and his friends----"
Here I cut him short and fled, since I saw yet another shareholdergalloping to the gate, and behind him two more in a spider. First I tookrefuge in my room, my idea being to put away that pile of letters. In sodoing I observed that there was one still unopened. Half mechanicallyI took it from the envelope and glanced at its contents. They wereword for word identical with those of that addressed to "Mr. Hans,Hottentot," only my name was at the bottom of it instead of that of Hansand the cheque was for L1,500, the amount I had paid for the shares Iheld in the venture.
Feeling as though my brain were in a melting-pot, I departed from thehouse into a patch of native bush that in those days still grew upon theslope of the hill behind. Here I sat myself down, as I had oftendone before when there was a knotty point to be considered, aimlesslywatching a lovely emerald cuckoo flashing, a jewel of light, from treeto tree, while I turned all this fairy-godmother business over in mymind.
Of course it soon became clear to me. Lord Ragnall in this case wasthe little old lady with the wand, the touch of which could convertworthless share certificates into bank-notes of their face value. Iremembered now that his wealth was said to be phenomenal and afterall the cash capital of the company was quite small. But the questionwas--could I accept hi
s bounty?
I returned to the house where the first person whom I met was LordRagnall himself, just arrived from some interview about the fifty Sniderrifles, which were still in bond. I told him solemnly that I wished tospeak to him, whereon he remarked in a cheerful voice,
"Advance, friend, and all's well!"
I don't know that I need set out the details of the interview. Hewaited till I had got through my halting speech of mingled gratitude andexpostulation, then remarked:
"My friend, if you will allow me to call you so, it is quite true that Ihave done this because I wished to do it. But it is equally true that tome it is a small thing--to be frank, scarcely a month's income; what Ihave saved travelling on that ship to Natal would pay for it all. AlsoI have weighed my own interest in the matter, for I am anxious that youshould start upon this hazardous journey of ours up country with a mindabsolutely free from self-reproach or any money care, for thus you willbe able to do me better service. Therefore I beg that you will say nomore of the episode. I have only one thing to add, namely that I havemyself bought up at par value a few of the debentures. The price of themwill pay the lawyers and the liquidation fees; moreover they give me astatus as a shareholder which will enable me to sue Mr. Jacob for hisfraud, to which business I have already issued instructions. For pleaseunderstand that I have not paid off any shares still standing in hisname or in those of his friends."
Here I may add that nothing ever came of this action, for the lawyersfound themselves unable to serve any writ upon that elusive person,Mr. Jacob, who by then had probably adopted the name of some otherpatriarch.
"Please put it all down as a rich man's whim," he concluded.
"I can't call that a whim which has returned L1,500 odd to my pocketthat I had lost upon a gamble, Lord Ragnall."
"Do you remember, Quatermain, how you won L250 upon a gamble at my placeand what you did with it, which sum probably represented to you twentyor fifty times what it would to me? Also if that argument does notappeal to you, may I remark that I do not expect you to give me yourservices as a professional hunter and guide for nothing."
"Ah!" I answered, fixing on this point and ignoring the rest, "nowwe come to business. If I may look upon this amount as salary, a veryhandsome salary by the way, paid in advance, you taking the risks of mydying or becoming incapacitated before it is earned, I will say no moreof the matter. If not I must refuse to accept what is an unearned gift."
"I confess, Quatermain, that I did not regard it in that light, though Imight have been willing to call it a retaining fee. However, do not letus wrangle about money any more. We can always settle our accounts whenthe bill is added up, if ever we reach so far. Now let us come to moreimportant details."
So we fell to discussing the scheme, route and details of our proposedjourney. Expenditure being practically no object, there were severalplans open to us. We might sail up the coast and go by Kilwa, as I haddone on the search for the Holy Flower, or we might retrace the line ofour retreat from the Mazitu country which ran through Zululand. Again,we might advance by whatever road we selected with a small army ofdrilled and disciplined retainers, trusting to force to break a waythrough to the Kendah. Or we might go practically unaccompanied, relyingon our native wit and good fortune to attain our ends. Each of thesealternatives had so much to recommend it and yet presented so manydifficulties, that after long hours of discussion, for this talk wasrenewed again and again, I found it quite impossible to decide uponany one of them, especially as in the end Lord Ragnall always left thechoice with its heavy responsibilities to me.
At length in despair I opened the window and whistled twice on a certainlow note. A minute later Hans shuffled in, shaking the wet off the newcorduroy clothes which he had bought upon the strength of his return toaffluence, for it was raining outside, and squatted himself down uponthe floor at a little distance. In the shadow of the table which cut offthe light from the hanging lamp he looked, I remember, exactly likean enormous and antique toad. I threw him a piece of tobacco which hethrust into his corn-cob pipe and lit with a match.
"The Baas called me," he said when it was drawing to his satisfaction,"what does Baas want of Hans?"
"Light in darkness!" I replied, playing on his native name, andproceeded to set out the whole case to him.
He listened without a word, then asked for a small glass of gin, whichI gave him doubtfully. Having swallowed this at a gulp as though it werewater, he delivered himself briefly to this effect:
"I think the Baas will do well not to go to Kilwa, since it meanswaiting for a ship, or hiring one; also there may be more slave-tradersthere by now who will bear him no love because of a lesson he taughtthem a while ago. On the other hand the road through Zululand is open,though it be long, and there the name of Macumazana is one well known.I think also that the Baas would do well not to take too many men, whomake marching slow, only a wagon or two and some drivers which might besent back when they can go no farther. From Zululand messengers can bedispatched to the Mazitu, who love you, and Bausi or whoever is kingthere to-day will order bearers to meet us on the road, until which timewe can hire other bearers in Zululand. The old woman at Beza-Town toldme, moreover, as you will remember, that the Kendah are a very greatpeople who live by themselves and will allow none to enter their land,which is bordered by deserts. Therefore no force that you could takewith you and feed upon a road without water would be strong enough toknock down their gates like an elephant, and it seems better that youshould try to creep through them like a wise snake, although they appearto be shut in your face. Perhaps also they will not be shut since didyou not say that two of their great doctors promised to meet you andguide you through them?"
"Yes," I interrupted, "I dare say it will be easier to get in than toget out of Kendahland."
"Last of all, Baas, if you take many men armed with guns, the black partof the Kendah people of whom I told you will perhaps think you come tomake war, whatever the white Kendah may say, and kill us all, whereas ifwe be but a few perchance they will let us pass in peace. I think thatis all, Baas. Let the Baas and the Lord Igeza forgive me if my words arefoolish."
Here I should explain that "Igeza" was the name which the nativeshad given to Lord Ragnall because of his appearance. The word means ahandsome person in the Zulu tongue. Savage they called "Bena," I don'tknow why. "Bena" in Zulu means to push out the breast and it may bethat the name was a round-about allusion to the proud appearance of thedignified Savage, or possibly it had some other recondite signification.At any rate Lord Ragnall, Hans and myself knew the splendid Savagethenceforward by the homely appellation of Beans. His master said itsuited him very well because he was so green.
"The advice seems wise, Hans. Go now. No, no more gin," I answered.
As a matter of fact careful consideration convinced us it was so wisethat we acted on it down to the last detail.