CHAPTER XV
THE DWELLER IN THE CAVE
After this it seemed to me that I dreamed a long and very troubled dreamconcerning all sorts of curious things which I cannot remember. At lastI opened my eyes and observed that I lay on a low bed raised about threeinches above the floor, in an Eastern-looking room, large and cool. Ithad window-places in it but no windows, only grass mats hung upon arod which, I noted inconsequently, worked on a rough, wooden hinge, orrather pin, that enabled the curtain to be turned back against the wall.
Through one of these window-places I saw at a little distance the slopeof the forest-covered hill, which reminded me of something to do with achild--for the life of me I could not remember what. As I lay wonderingover the matter I heard a shuffling step which I recognized, and,turning, saw Hans twiddling a new hat made of straw in his fingers.
"Hans," I said, "where did you get that new hat?"
"They gave it me here, Baas," he answered. "The Baas will remember thatthe devil Jana ate the other."
Then I did remember more or less, while Hans continued to twiddle thehat. I begged him to put it on his head because it fidgeted me, and theninquired where we were.
"In the Town of the Child, Baas, where they carried you after you hadseemed to die down yonder. A very nice town, where there is plenty toeat, though, having been asleep for three days, you have had nothingexcept a little milk and soup, which was poured down your throat with aspoon whenever you seemed to half wake up for a while."
"I was tired and wanted a long rest, Hans, and now I feel hungry. Tellme, are the lord and Bena here also, or were they killed after all?"
"Yes, Baas, they are safe enough, and so are all our goods. They wereboth with Harut when he saved us down by the village yonder, but youwent to sleep and did not see them. They have been nursing you eversince, Baas."
Just then Savage himself entered, carrying some soup upon a wooden trayand looking almost as smart as he used to do at Ragnall Castle.
"Good day, sir," he said in his best professional manner. "Very glad tosee you back with us, sir, and getting well, I trust, especially afterwe had given you and Mr. Hans up as dead."
I thanked him and drank the soup, asking him to cook me something moresubstantial as I was starving, which he departed to do. Then I sent Hansto find Lord Ragnall, who it appeared was out walking in the town. Nosooner had they gone than Harut entered looking more dignified than everand, bowing gravely, seated himself upon the mat in the Eastern fashion.
"Some strong spirit must go with you, Lord Macumazana," he said, "thatyou should live today, after we were sure that you had been slain."
"That's where you made a mistake. Your magic was not of much service toyou there, friend Harut."
"Yet my magic, as you call it, though I have none, was of some serviceafter all, Macumazana. As it chanced I had no opportunity of breathingin the wisdom of the Child for two days from the hour of our arrivalhere, because I was hurt on the knee in the fight and so weary that Icould not travel up the mountain and seek light from the eyes of theChild. On the third day, however, I went and the Oracle told me all.Then I descended swiftly, gathered men and reached those fools in timeto keep you from harm. They have paid for what they did, Lord."
"I am sorry, Harut, for they knew no better; and, Harut, although Isaved myself, or rather Hans saved me, we have left your brother behind,and with him the others."
"I know. Jana was too strong for them; you and your servant alone couldprevail against him."
"Not so, Harut. He prevailed against us; all we could do was to injurehis eye and the tip of his trunk and escape from him."
"Which is more than any others have done for many generations, Lord. Butdoubtless as the beginning was, so shall the end be. Jana, I think, isnear his death and through you."
"I don't know," I repeated. "Who and what is Jana?"
"Have I not told you that he is an evil spirit who inhabits the body ofa huge elephant?"
"Yes, and so did Marut; but I think that he is just a huge elephant witha very bad temper of his own. Still, whatever he is, he will take somekilling, and I don't want to meet him again by that horrible lake."
"Then you will meet him elsewhere, Lord. For if you do not go to lookfor Jana, Jana will come to look for you who have hurt him so sorely.Remember that henceforth, wherever you go in all this land, it mayhappen that you will meet Jana."
"Do you mean to say that the brute comes into the territory of the WhiteKendah?"
"Yes, Macumazana, at times he comes, or a spirit wearing his shapecomes; I know not which. What I do know is that twice in my life Imyself have seen him upon the Holy Mount, though how he came or how hewent none can tell."
"Why was he wandering there, Harut?"
"Who can say, Lord? Tell me why evil wanders through the world and Iwill answer your question. Only I repeat--let those who have harmed Janabeware of Jana."
"And let Jana beware of me if I can meet him with a decent gun in myhand, for I have a score to settle with the beast. Now, Harut, there isanother matter. Just before he was killed Marut, your brother, began totell me something about the wife of the Lord Ragnall. I had no time tolisten to the end of his words, though I thought he said that she wasupon yonder Holy Mount. Did I hear aright?"
Instantly Harut's face became like that of a stone idol, impenetrable,impassive.
"Either you misunderstood, Lord," he answered, "or my brother raved inhis fear. Wherever she may be, that beautiful lady is not upon theHoly Mount, unless there is another Holy Mount in the Land of Death.Moreover, Lord, as we are speaking of this matter, let me tell you theforest upon that Mount must be trodden by none save the priest ofthe Child. If others set foot there they die, for it is watched by aguardian more terrible even than Jana, nor is he the only one. Ask menothing of that guardian, for I will not answer, and, above all, if youor your comrades value life, let them not seek to look upon him."
Understanding that it was quite useless to pursue this subject fartherat the moment, I turned to another, remarking that the hailstorm whichhad smitten the country of the Black Kendah was the worst that I hadever experienced.
"Yes," answered Harut, "so I have learned. That was the first of thecurses which the Child, through my mouth, promised to Simba and hispeople if they molested us upon our road. The second, you will remember,was famine, which for them is near at hand, seeing that they have littlecorn in store and none left to gather, and that most of their cattle aredead of the hail."
"If they have no corn while, as I noted, you have plenty which the stormspared, will not they, who are many in number but near to starving,attack you and take your corn, Harut?"
"Certainly they will do so, Lord, and then will fall the third curse,the curse of war. All this was foreseen long ago, Macumazana, and youare here to help us in that war. Among your goods you have many guns andmuch powder and lead. You shall teach our people how to use those guns,that with them we may destroy the Black Kendah."
"I think not," I replied quietly. "I came here to kill a certainelephant, and to receive payment for my service in ivory, not to fightthe Black Kendah, of whom I have already seen enough. Moreover, the gunsare not my property but that of the Lord Ragnall, who perhaps will askhis own price for the use of them."
"And the Lord Ragnall, who came here against our will, is, as itchances, our property and we may ask your own price for his life. Now,farewell for a while, since you, who are still sick and weak, havetalked enough. Only before I go, as your friend and that of those withyou, I will add one word. If you would continue to look upon the sun,let none of you try to set foot in the forest upon the Holy Mount.Wander where you will upon its southern slopes, but strive not to passthe wall of rock which rings the forest round."
Then he rose, bowed gravely and departed, leaving me full ofreflections.
Shortly afterwards Savage and Hans returned, bringing me some meat whichthe former had cooked in an admirable fashion. I ate of it heartily, andjust as they were carrying off
the remains of the meal Ragnall himselfarrived. Our greeting was very warm, as might be expected in the case oftwo comrades who never thought to speak to each other again on this sideof the grave. As I had supposed, he was certain that Hans and I had beencut off and killed by the Black Kendah, as, after we were missed, someof the camelmen asserted that they had actually seen us fall. So he wenton, or rather was carried on by the rush of the camels, grieving, since,it being impossible to attempt to recover our bodies or even to return,that was the only thing to do, and in due course reached the Town ofthe Child without further accident. Here they rested and mourned forus, till some days later Harut suddenly announced that we still lived,though how he knew this they could not ascertain. Then they salliedout and found us, as has been told, in great danger from the ignorantvillagers who, until we appeared, had not even heard of our existence.
I asked what they had done and what information they had obtained sincetheir arrival at this place. His answer was: Nothing and none worthmentioning. The town appeared to be a small one of not much over twothousand inhabitants, all of whom were engaged in agricultural pursuitsand in camel-breeding. The herds of camels, however, they gathered, forthe most part were kept at outlying settlements on the farther side ofthe cone-shaped mountain. As they were unable to talk the language theonly person from whom they could gain knowledge was Harut, who spoketo them in his broken English and told them much what he had told me,namely that the upper mountain was a sacred place that might only bevisited by the priests, since any uninitiated person who set foot therecame to a bad end. They had not seen any of these priests in the town,where no form of worship appeared to be practised, but they had observedmen driving small numbers of sheep or goats up the flanks of themountain towards the forest.
Of what went on upon this mountain and who lived there they remainedin complete ignorance. It was a case of stalemate. Harut would not tellthem anything nor could they learn anything for themselves. He added ina depressed way that the whole business seemed very hopeless, and thathe had begun to doubt whether there was any tidings of his lost wife tobe gained among the Kendah, White or Black.
Now I repeated to him Marut's dying words, of which most unhappily I hadnever heard the end. These seemed to give him new life since they showedthat tidings there was of some sort, if only it could be extracted. Buthow might this be done? How, how?