CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE PURSUERS.
Haffgo, king of the Murhapas, intended to keep his promise to Ziffak,so far as permitting the explorers to remain in his village until themorrow, at which time he intended that the men should be allowed to goin safety.
But the barbarian was very similar to some of us whose resentment growswith reflection. When he recalled the admiring glances of the handsomeyoung member of the company towards his beloved Ariel, his anger becameintense, fanned by the strong suspicion that the princess herself feltsome interest in the stranger.
At this critical time, Waggaman put in an appearance. The ruffian wasshrewd enough to see his opportunity, and it took him but a few minutesto rouse him to the exploding point. He determined that every one ofthe whites should die, and he ordered the assault which has alreadybeen described.
As has been explained, the king kept within his home, while the attackwas under way; but since he resided adjoining the structure which wasassaulted, he was aware of every phase of the progress.
His rage has been hinted at because of the repulse of his warriorsdirectly under his own eyes; but when he came to learn that the youthagainst whom his resentment burned so hotly was not within thebuilding; that the two who had fought so bravely had escaped with theirnative helpers; that his own daughter the princess was absent; that shehad been seen fleeing with the white youth in the direction of theenchanted lake:--when all this became known to the ruler, it may besaid that his fury was such that no language could do it justice. Itis not impossible that the despot felt thus himself, for, withoutpausing to give utterance to a few of his imaginings, he made instantpreparations to follow the couple to the region which he neverpermitted a white man to look upon.
A native woman had seen the princess pass up the side of the river,followed a few minutes later by the young man. Her curiosity led herto watch them. She saw the two meet and stand for some time in lovingconverse. Then one of the white men stole behind them and was about tofire his dreadful weapon, when Ziffak hurled his terrible javelin whichpinned him to the ground. Then the native woman hastened to the palaceto tell the news, but she could not gain the chance for some time.
When the king turned upon his brother for an explanation of what he haddone, Ziffak was prepared. It was the intention of Burkhardt to shootnot the white man but the princess herself, because she had refused hislove. He heard Burkhardt mutter those words to himself and it wasbecause of those words that Ziffak drove his javelin through his body.
King Haffgo looked sharply at his kinsman when he made this unblushingresponse, but his doubts if there were any quickly vanished, when herecalled the impetuosity with which he had attacked the defenders inthe house and the vigor of his pursuit and his evident indignation andchagrin at the escape of the two white men. No, Ziffak might talkplainly with his royal brother, but when the time for action came hewas a true Murhapa, who knew only his duty to his king.
Besides, the little flurry between the two had helped to clear away thefogs of misunderstanding as the lightning often purifies the murkyatmosphere. The pursuit of the lovers was quickly organized, for theynow occupied the thoughts of the king to the exclusion of everythingelse. Grimcke and Long could not be far off, and a vigorous hunt waslikely to discover one or both of them, but the king gave orders thatno attempt of the kind should be made. It was his intention to leavethe village for an indefinite time, and he wished every one of hiswarriors to remain while he was absent. It cannot be said that he wasafraid of such an insignificant force, but there was a strong vein ofsuperstition in his nature, which caused a vague fear of the men thathad escaped him with such wonderful cleverness. Individuals who coulddo _that_ sort of thing, were capable of doing things still moremarvellous, and to use homely language, King Haffgo was taking nochances.
The party in pursuit numbered just ten persona including the king,Ziffak, Waggaman, and the very pick of the tribe. They were allsplendid fellows, fit to be the body-guard of a king, who, when he laidaside the robes of cumbrous dress he was accustomed to wear, andarrayed himself similarly to the warriors, proved himself no meanleader of such a party.
Any one looking upon the little company would have been most impressedby the fact that there were nine dusky barbarians, half naked and asblack as Africans, under the guidance of a man as fair as any European;and yet, as the reader knows, the most prominent warrior of the partywas the brother of that king, dusky, tall and a giant in stature.
A tribe living in a country as well watered as the Matto Grosso, issure to be well provided with the means of navigation, though theexplorers, when they first reached the neighborhood of the rapids,deemed there was an unusual absence of such craft. A canoe, longereven than that used by our friends in ascending from the Amazon, wascarried a short distance down the bank and launched in the Xingu. Fiveof the warriors seized their long paddles and swung them with the skillof veterans. They were accustomed to that kind of work, and sent thecraft up the current with much greater speed than would have beensuspected, even by those accustomed to see such work.
Two of the dusky occupants were furnished with bows and arrows, whileWaggaman carried his rifle. Thus every species of weapon known to theMurhapas was in the boat.
King Haffgo sat at the stern, his brow dark and threatening, his armsfolded and his lips set. His thoughts were too deep for utterance andno one ventured to disturb him. Though the pale countenance wasoutwardly calm, yet a volcano was raging in that breast, hot andfurious enough to burst out and consume the barbarian.
Just in front of him, Ziffak was facing toward the prow, directing theactions of the crew, though for a time little of that was required ofhim. Waggaman was at the prow, silent, glum, scowling. He did notspeak for a long while, but, now and then, glanced at Ziffak. When hedid so, he was pretty sure to find the black eyes of the head chieftainfixed upon him.
The two thoroughly distrusted each other. Waggaman knew why thatjavelin had been driven through the body of his associate and, thoughthe convict felt little sorrow for the loss of his companion, yet hehated the chieftain with a deadly hatred, well aware as he was that thefeeling was thoroughly reciprocated by Ziffak.
Whether King Haffgo suspected the truth cannot be known, nor is it ofimportance to know. All the energy of his nature was concentrated inthe emotion of fury against Fred Ashman, who had committed theunparalleled presumption of robbing him of his daughter; and evenagainst that lovely maiden he was so incensed that he stood ready tobury his spear in her snowy bosom.
Though it may have seemed strange to Ashman that Ziffak had ordered himto make all haste to the enchanted lake, instead of starting on adirect flight through the woods, returning to the Xingu at a lowerpoint, yet the sagacious chieftain had the best of reasons for hiscourse, as will soon appear.
Had Ashman fled through the forest, the fact would have been discoveredat daybreak, if not before, and such a vigorous pursuit would have beenpressed as to render escape out of the question. There was apossibility of outwitting Haffgo by the flight to the lake, though itwas remote enough to cause the giant warrior to shudder when hereflected upon it.
That which caused Ziffak regret was, that he had not paused long enoughbefore parting from the couple, to arrange a better understanding withthem. As it was, he was mostly in the dark concerning their movements,and greatly handicapped by the necessity of appearing to be the devotedally of his royal brother.
Under the powerful propulsion of the five paddles, the long narrowcanoe sped swiftly up the Xingu, and, sooner than even Ziffakanticipated, it turned into the narrow stream leading to the enchantedlake. Along this it sped like a swallow until the huge rock with itssentinel came in sight.
It was here that King Haffgo, for the first time, showed some interestin his surroundings. He scanned the massive rock closely andmanifestly was surprised that the guard did not rise to his feet andchallenge them.
Observing that the figure remained motionless, he commanded the craftt
o approach the rock. This was silently done, the boat halting withthe prow touching the mass of black stone.
Still the sentinel moved not, all unaware of his peril. One keenglance showed he was committing the unpardonable sin of sleeping at hispost.
Rising quickly to his feet, the king stood upright for an instant, andthen, with a furious exclamation, drove the javelin which he snatchedfrom the hands of one of the warriors through the breast of theunfaithful servant, who uttered but a single groan as he perished bythe hands of his master and sovereign.
Then Haffgo commanded one of his men to take his place. The fellowinstantly sprang from the boat and took his station on the rock, as thesuccessor of him who had died so ignominiously. Little fear of hisfalling asleep on his post.
A minute later the boat shot out upon the moonlit surface of theenchanted lake. There the occupants used their eyes for all they wereworth, the craft making a partial circuit of the sheet of water. Therewas a possibility that the fugitives were there, though it was slight.Many places afforded a landing, where they might have found temporaryshelter, but nothing was seen of the boat, and Haffgo ordered theoarsmen to pass through the tunnel leading to the underground lake.
This was speedily effected, and the large boat debouched into thewonderful body of water, so brilliantly illuminated by the glare fromthe burning mountain on the western side.
Instinctively every eye was cast in that direction, but nothingrewarded the scrutiny. Then the vision swept along the shores, everyportion of which, as will be remembered, was in plain view.
Almost at the same moment; Ziffak uttered an excited exclamation, andpointed to the northern shore. As the gaze of every one was directedthither, they caught sight of the craft for which they were so eagerlyhunting.