CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
"A FRIEND IN NEED."
That very night, when our friends were conversing together in the houseof their prison, a guard appeared with a small note, which he handed toKenyon, and signified that he was to await his answer.
At once tearing open the cover, the wonder-stricken detective read thesimple message:--
"Follow the bearer.
"Weston Abbott (`Noughts and Crosses')."
Springing to his feet in joyful haste, he quietly whispered toGrenville, "A friend at court! by Jove, old man! The note is from UncleSam's own trusted correspondent in Salt Lake City. We're in luckagain," and, indicating to the officer his willingness to comply withthe instructions contained in the note, Kenyon quickly followed the manout of the hall.
To the astonishment of our friend, the fellow led him directly to theancient Prophet's room, where he found the old man very comfortablydomiciled, and prepared to receive him most kindly, though still in astrictly business-like manner.
"Well, Mr Kenyon," he said, "so in this out-of-the-way part of theworld we meet at last, and I assure you that it gives me pleasure toknow you personally. I am the man who wrote this note, and am also yourregular and constant correspondent in Salt Lake City.
"Now, I want you just to tell me the whole history of this affair, andwhy I find you here at the ends of the earth, when I thought you in NewYork. Tell me all; for, I assure you, we are at our wits' end to knowhow to deal with these English people, whom, particularly the woman andchild, I rather shrink from slaying."
Kenyon then gave him a full, true, and particular account of the wholeexpedition, adding that the presence of Lady Drelincourt in Equatoriawas still an enigma to him, as he believed her dead in England, slain byZero's hand; but that the poor woman was still so weak and hystericalthat they had not liked to question her, especially whilst her recoveredhusband hung between life and death. The detective also touched warilyupon the destruction of East Utah by Grenville and his friends someyears before, palliating their conduct there, by pointing out how verynecessary it had seemed to them to rescue Miss Winfield and her fatherfrom their captors. To Kenyon's surprise, however, the old Mormonfrankly told him that Grenville had in this case, also, only anticipatedthe intentions of the Holy Three in Utah itself, where they hadabsolutely enrolled an army of the Saints to eat up the whole of thisrebellious African community as soon as they could find out the precisewhereabouts of East Utah--a task which had, however, proved toodifficult for them; and Zero's idea had been to found a colony of hisown, supported by the abominable traffic in slaves, and, by drawing intoit (under the name of Mormonism) all the cut-throats and scoundrels hecould lay hands on, to make the community much too strong for even theSaints to overcome him or prevail against him, and eventually no doubt,by exercising the power of the enormous wealth which he had wrung fromsuffering flesh and blood, to usurp the supreme authority in Salt LakeCity itself.
Far into the night this curious pair sat talking of matters vitallyinteresting to both, and though the old Prophet would not absolutelycommit himself to any promise regarding Kenyon's friends, he willinglyundertook to do his best for them, adding that, so far as he wasconcerned, he rather liked them all, and should be glad to do thedetective a good turn by setting them all free, but that there were manymatters of policy to be considered by himself and his colleagues erethey could see their way to any definite decision upon this head.
In the morning, when Grenville and Kenyon were released from the roomwhich they had been allotted, next to that occupied by the stillunconscious Leigh and his anxious wife and child, they were surprised tonotice the unusual quiet which overhung the place, but soon found thatone of the old Mormon's earliest measures of policy had consisted instarting off to the southward the whole of the female population ofEquatoria at dawn, accompanied by their children, and convoyed by fivehundred of his own well-armed band.
Immediately breakfast was over, every soul remaining in the town wassummoned to another grand assembly, at which it was formally announced,to the astonishment and annoyance of everyone, that Zero had succeededin filing through his fetters, and had decamped in the night, togetherwith the Zulu Amaxosa and the Chieftain of the Stick, and, therefore,said the stern judges, when these men were recaptured, all three wouldbe crucified without mercy, and Zero, for this additional offence, wouldbe _nailed head-downwards to the awful cross_.
The prophet then proceeded to say that, after due and carefulconsideration of the whole peculiar circumstances of the case, the HolyThree had decided to give life and unconditional freedom to all the restof the prisoners, both white and black, and to present them in additionwith large and handsome rewards for the way in which they had acted, asthere could be no doubt that the fearful slaughter inflicted by theEnglish party upon the rebel crew, had alone saved the Mormon communityfrom having to fight several severe battles, from losing very many livesof valued men, and perhaps, owing to their lack of knowledge of thedistrict, failing, after all, to accomplish their desired object. Forthe gentle English lady, and for the injured "People of the Stick," theHoly Three had nothing but sympathy, and had, therefore, decided toapportion the immense spoil taken from Zero--amounting to nearly amillion of money--into three equal parts: one for the Mormon community,one for the Atagbondo--to enable them to rebuild their kraals, to buynew wives and weapons, and stock their enclosures with oxen and withgoats--and the third share for the English-Zulu party, who had behavedso well and fought so grandly, and amongst whom was classed DetectiveKenyon of Uncle Sam's police.
It was a bold course to take, and the old Mormon had unquestionably donea wise thing when he weeded out, and started on the home journey incharge of the women and children of Equatoria, all the possiblemalcontents of his own band. Still, the Mormons had already seen such alot of bloodshed that they probably thought the course adopted by theirleaders to be the wisest; at all events, they raised no voice againstit.
The aged Prophet had, as he afterwards confided to Kenyon, positively noother course open to him under his instructions: either he must declarethe party guilty, and cut them off, one and all, absolutely withoutexception; or he must liberate them unconditionally, congratulate themupon the success of their actions, and give them large rewards for thevaluable services they had rendered to the community in destroying theslavers; and this latter course the old gentleman had, fortunately, seenhis way to take.
The old fellow would, however, listen to no word of pleading or ofexplanation for either Amaxosa or Barad, and frankly said that he darednot leave the country until Zero was known to be actually dead, asotherwise he would himself get into very serious trouble athead-quarters, and experience an unpleasantly warm time of it on hisreturn; and he accepted with grateful alacrity Kenyon's offer to assistwith his own party in the search for the missing man--an offer whichGrenville gladly concurred in, saying that none of them could know amoment's perfect rest until this slippery villain was finally disposedof.
To our friends, the unexplained absence of Amaxosa and of the Chieftainof the Stick was, of course, a complete enigma. Only of this one thingwere they sure: that, though both might have either followed or havepreceded the slaver-chief--probably the former--they certainly had notescaped along with him, but would, on the contrary, never rest until therascal's life-blood had washed their spears and clubs.