CHAPTER X
CHARGE!
Ten minutes later the truth was known and every man in the camp was upand armed. At first there were some signs of panic, but these with thehelp of Babemba we managed to control, setting the men to make thebest preparations for defence that circumstances would allow, and thusoccupying their minds. For from the first we saw that, except for thethree of us who had horses, escape was impossible. That great camelcorps could catch us within a mile.
Leaving old Babemba in charge of his soldiers, we three white men andHans held a council at which I repeated every word that had passedbetween Harut and Marut and myself, including their absolute denial oftheir having had anything to do with the disappearance of Lady Ragnallon the Nile.
"Now," I asked, "what is to be done? My fate is sealed, since forpurposes of their own, of which probably we know nothing, these peopleintend to take me with them to their country, as indeed they arejustified in doing, since I have been fool enough to keep a kind ofassignation with them here. But they don't want anybody else. Thereforethere is nothing to prevent you Ragnall, and you Savage, and you Hans,from returning with the Mazitu."
"Oh! Baas," said Hans, who could understand English well enoughalthough he seldom spoke it, "why are you always bothering me with such_praatjes_?"--(that is, chatter). "Whatever you do I will do, and Idon't care what you do, except for your own sake, Baas. If I am going todie, let me die; it doesn't at all matter how, since I must go soon andmake report to your reverend father, the Predikant. And now, Baas, Ihave been awake all night, for I heard those camels coming a long whilebefore the two spook men appeared, and as I have never heard camelsbefore, could not make out what they were, for they don't walk likegiraffes. So I am going to sleep, Baas, there in the sun. When you havesettled things, you can wake me up and give me your orders," and hesuited the action to the word, for when I glanced at him again he was,or appeared to be, slumbering, just like a dog at its master's feet.
I looked at Ragnall in interrogation.
"I am going on," he said briefly.
"Despite the denial of these men of any complicity in your wife'sfate?" I asked. "If their words are true, what have you to gain by thisjourney, Ragnall?"
"An interesting experience while it lasts; that is all. Like Hansthere, if what they say _is_ true, my future is a matter of completeindifference to me. But I do not believe a word of what they say.Something tells me that they know a great deal which they do not chooseto repeat--about my wife I mean. That is why they are so anxious that Ishould not accompany you."
"You must judge for yourself," I answered doubtfully, "and I hope toHeaven that you are judging right. Now, Savage, what have you decided?Remember before you reply that these uncanny fellows declare that if wefour go, two of us will never return. It seems impossible that they canread the future, still, without doubt, they _are_ most uncanny."
"Sir," said Savage, "I will take my chance. Before I left England hislordship made a provision for my old mother and my widowed sister andher children, and I have none other dependent upon me. Moreover, I won'treturn alone with those Mazitu to become a barbarian, for how could Ifind my way back to the coast without anyone to guide me? So I'll go onand leave the rest to God."
"Which is just what we have all got to do," I remarked. "Well, as thatis settled, let us send for Babemba and tell him."
This we did accordingly. The old fellow received the news with moreresignation than I had anticipated. Fixing his one eye upon me, he said:
"Macumazana, these words are what I expected from you. Had any other manspoken them I should have declared that he was quite mad. But I rememberthat I said this when you determined to visit the Pongo, and that youcame back from their country safe and sound, having done wonderfulthings there, and that it was the Pongo who suffered, not you. So Ibelieve it will be again, so far as you are concerned, Macumazana, forI think that some devil goes with you who looks after his own. For theothers I do not know. They must settle the matter with their own devils,or with those of the Kendah people. Now farewell, Macumazana, for itcomes to me that we shall meet no more. Well, that happens to all atlast, and it is good to have known you who are so great in your own way.Often I shall think of you as you will think of me, and hope that in acountry beyond that of the Kendah I may hear from your lips all thathas befallen you on this and other journeys. Now I go to withdraw mymen before these white-robed Arabs come on their strange beasts to seizeyou, lest they should take us also and there should be a fight in whichwe, being the fewer, must die. The loads are all in order ready to beladen on their strange beasts. If they declare that the horses cannotcross the desert, leave them loose and we will catch them and take themhome with us, and since they are male and female, breed young ones fromthem which shall be yours when you send for them, or Bausi the king'sif you never send. Nay, I want no more presents who have the gun and thepowder and the bullets you gave me, and the tusks of ivory for Bausi theking, and what is best of all, the memory of you and of your courageand wisdom. May these and the gods you worship befriend you. Fromyonder hill we will watch till we see that you have gone. Farewell,"and waiting for no answer, he departed with the tears running from hissolitary eye.
Ten minutes later the Mazitu bearers had also saluted us and gone,leaving us seated in that deserted camp surrounded by our baggage, andso far as I was concerned, feeling most lonely. Another ten minutes wentby which we occupied in packing our personal belongings. Then Hans, whowas now washing out the coffee kettle at a little distance, looked upand said:
"Here come the spook-men, Baas, the whole regiment of them." We ran andlooked. It was true. Marshalled in orderly squadrons, the camels withtheir riders were sweeping towards us, and a fine sight the beasts madewith their swaying necks and long, lurching gait. About fifty yards awaythey halted just where the stream from our spring entered the desert,and there proceeded to water the camels, twenty of them at a time. Twomen, however, in whom I recognized Harut and Marut, walked forward andpresently were standing before us, bowing obsequiously.
"Good morning, Lord," said Harut to Ragnall in his broken English. "Soyou come with Macumazana to call at our poor house, as we call at yourfine one in England. You think we got the beautiful lady you marry, shewe give old necklace. That is not so. No white lady ever in Kendahland.We hear story from Macumazana and believe that lady drowned in Nile, foryou 'member she walk much in her sleep. We very sorry for you, but godsknow their business. They leave when they will leave, and take when theywill take. You find her again some day more beautiful still and with hersoul come back."
Here I looked at him sharply. I had told him nothing about Lady Ragnallhaving lost her wits. How then did he know of the matter? Still Ithought it best to hold my peace. I think that Harut saw he had madesome mistake, for leaving the subject of Lady Ragnall, he went on:
"You very welcome, O Lord, but it right tell you this most dangerousjourney, since elephant Jana not like strangers, and," he continuedslowly, "think no elephant like your blood, and all elephants brothers.What one hate rest hate everywhere in world. See it in your face thatyou already suffer great hurt from elephant, you or someone near you.Also some of Kendah very fierce people and love fighting, and p'rapsthere war in the land while you there, and in war people get killed."
"Very good, my friend," said Ragnall, "I am prepared to take mychance of these things. Either we all go to your country together, asMacumazana has explained to you, or none of us go."
"We understand. That is our bargain and we no break word," repliedHarut.
Then he turned his benevolent gaze upon Savage, and said: "So you cometoo, Mr. Bena. That your name here, eh? Well, you learn lot things inKendahland, about snakes and all rest."
Here the jovial-looking Marut whispered something into the ear of hiscompanion, smiling all over his face and showing his white teeth as hedid so. "Oh!" went on Harut, "my brother tells me you meet one snakealready, down in country called Natal, but sit on him so hard, that hegrow quite flat and no bit
e."
"Who told him that?" gasped Savage.
"Oh! forget. Think Macumazana. No? Then p'raps you tell him in sleep,for people talk much in sleep, you know, and some other people got goodears and hear long way. Or p'raps little joke Harut. You 'member, hefirst-rate conjurer. P'raps he send that snake. No trouble if know how.Well, we show you much better snake Kendahland. But you no sit on _him_,Mr. Bena."
To me, I know not why, there was something horrible in all thisjocosity, something that gave me the creeps as always does the sightof a cat playing with a mouse. I felt even then that it foreshadowedterrible things. How _could_ these men know the details of occurrencesat which they were not present and of which no one had told them? Didthat strange "tobacco" of theirs really give them some clairvoyantpower, I wondered, or had they other secret methods of obtaining news?I glanced at poor Savage and perceived that he too felt as I did, forhe had turned quite pale beneath his tan. Even Hans was affected, forhe whispered to me in Dutch: "These are not men; these are devils, Baas,and this journey of ours is one into hell."
Only Ragnall sat stern, silent, and apparently quite unmoved. Indeedthere was something almost sphinx-like about the set and expression ofhis handsome face. Moreover, I felt sure that Harut and Marut recognizedthe man's strength and determination and that he was one with whom theymust reckon seriously. Beneath all their smiles and courtesies I couldread this knowledge in their eyes; also that it was causing them graveanxiety. It was as though they knew that here was one against whom theirpower had no avail, whose fate was the master of their fate. In a senseHarut admitted this to me, for suddenly he looked up and said in achanged voice and in Bantu:
"You are a good reader of hearts, O Macumazana, almost as good as I am.But remember that there is One Who writes upon the book of the heart,Who is the Lord of us who do but read, and that what He writes, thatwill befall, strive as we may, for in His hands is the future."
"Quite so," I replied coolly, "and that is why I am going with you toKendahland and fear you not at all."
"So it is and so let it be," he answered. "And now, Lords, are you readyto start? For long is the road and who knows what awaits us ere we seeits end?"
"Yes," I replied, "long is the road of life and who knows what awaits usere we see its end--and after?"