CHAPTER NINE.
THE WAR TRAIL.
As the question had now purely resolved into one of warfare, offensiveor defensive, Amaxosa was called into council, in order that a definiteand feasible plan of action might be formulated.
Leigh and Kenyon were disposed to stay just where they were, as theplace seemed well-adapted for defence, had an ample supply of water, andwas, at the same time, sufficiently close to Equatoria to be handy inthe event of their party finding it desirable to sally out upon Zero'sposition.
Grenville, however, was distrustful with regard to the cave itself, ashe half-suspected that Muzi Zimba the hermit had a secret method ofentering the Mormon Town without going all round by the forest; and ifsuch a way existed, Zero would be quite certain to know of it, althoughhis followers might be kept, in ignorance for a purpose; and, of course,it would never do for our friends to get themselves fixed between twofires.
The Zulu chief listened intently to all the arguments _pro_ and _con_,but never opened his mouth until Grenville, addressing him in the Zulutongue, asked him to express his opinion upon the matter under notice.
"Can my father," he said, "tell his son Amaxosa, whither the Black One(Zero) has journeyed?"
"Surely, my brother," answered Grenville, "didst thou not hear when butyesterday we stood yonder tethered like oxen for the slaughter that hehad compassed thrice three days' travel towards the east, and that hisbloodhounds could not return in time to gnaw the flesh from our brokenbones?"
"Ay, Inkoos," was the reply, "I heard the words, but yet believed themnot. Hearken! my father, when the Black One went forth, he went at deadof night, and with him went the savage dogs and but one hundred men withguns. Think, then, my father, for well thou knowest that did the BlackOne journey but one day towards the rising sun without a full impi athis back, he would be eaten up by the Arab tribes, who dwell outsidethis land of witchcraft, and who hate him even as we do. More, myfather, I know that the men lied when they spoke, for only yester morndid I see two of the snow-white message birds arrive, and they came fromthe mountains of the distant southern lands.
"Hearken to my words, oh, chiefs! and if ye follow them, doubt not thatall shall yet go well.
"To-morrow night, when the moon rises, will the Black One rest beneaththe cool shadow of yon distant peak; let us be there, oh! chiefs, and heshall sleep the sleep that never wakes in life.
"Thus shall the matter go--thou knowest well the place, my father--theevil ones will come in from the southern lands--the Lands of Lakes andRivers--and will set their kraal beneath the great white mountain, andtowards the setting sun, at the spot in the deep hollow where there everflows a spring of clear, sweet water, where is a mighty wall of rock onthis side and on that side, and a hill hard to be climbed towards thefurther north; and it shall be, my father, that when the evil ones,filled with food and worn with the toil of the day, have entered intothe trap, and have lain them down to rest, that we will turn from itscourse the flowing waters of the great river which runs on the path ofthe rising sun, and will fill the place with weeping, and with thebodies of dead men.
"With ten of these low black fellows (Zanzibaris) will I turn the river,and with those that remain, and with the spears and guns, shalt thou, myfather, safely keep the northern hill, and it shall be that ere thearrows of the dawn glance upon the snows of the great white mountain,the evil ones shall be stamped flat and eaten up, and the foul carcaseof the Black Master of Evil himself, shall be but food for the vulturesand the wolves. I have spoken."
The Zulu's idea was, unquestionably, a very fine one, and promised torid our friends of their arch-enemy, together with a hundred of the veryvilest of his following at one fell swoop, and it was thereforedetermined that the plan should be adopted in its entirety, their ownparty thus taking the initiative.
If the scheme failed, the little band would be really no worse off thanthey were at the present time, whilst if it succeeded--and with thecunning of the Zulu at its back, it certainly had every chance ofsuccess--the campaign would be capitally inaugurated by drawing thelion's teeth at the very first attempt. Zero, it was conceded upon allsides, was the one man to be feared, and could they but dispose of himout of hand, the Mormon-cum-Slaver fraternity would be like a shipwithout a helm, and would very soon find itself in unpleasantly roughwater.
Our friends calculated that the slavers, on discovering the nearapproach of the water, would first drive their black captives up thehill, and after Grenville's party had allowed these to pass and savethemselves, his men would keep the road against the slavers and fiercelycontest the narrow passage hand to hand, with axe and spear, rifle andpistol. It would be a stubborn fight; that was certain, for, grantingthat the slavers had expended a few men on their distant foray, theywould still be in the proportion of two to one; and if they oncepenetrated the ranks of our friends, it would be all up with the littleband, as they would instantly be driven back by sheer weight of numbers,into a ready-made watery grave of their own providing.
At dawn, therefore, the entire party breakfasted hastily, and, afterleaving in the outer cave a few articles likely to be of service to thefriendly old hermit, made their way quickly down the hill, and strikingwell into the fog-banks at its foot, steered a straight course for thedistant mountains; Grenville and the other rescued white men, who wereextremely feeble, being carried by the Zanzibaris in hammocks, so as tohusband, as far as possible, what little strength they possessed.
The Zulu knew his ground thoroughly, and ere the mist had beencompletely sucked up by the sun, had got his followers some miles ontheir way, and travelling smoothly along the shallow bed of a smallstream, whose overhanging banks provided a capital safeguard againstprying eyes.
Naught of interest occurred that day, and by keeping the men hard at it,so as to shorten the next day's journey, a good forty miles was knockedoff before the tired wayfarers lay down to snatch a brief spell of restuntil the tardy appearance of the moon provided them with sufficientlight to proceed by, when the little band again took the road and keptmoving until the waning light put a welcome period to their labours, andsleeping a heavy, dreamless sleep until the sun once more awoke them tothe weary toil and travel of another burning tropic day.
A glorious sight now met the wondering eyes of our friends, for rightbefore them and distant perhaps a score of miles across the veldt, rosethe giant fabric of the wished-for mountain, now sharply defined inevery detail of its vast and massive grandeur. Straight up into thevery heavens themselves shot one glorious, glittering peak, whoseperfect beauty was beyond all earthly praise: around its lofty summitthe everlasting snows had grouped themselves like gleaming, flashingjewels in the radiant crown of this mighty cloud-clad monarch of theequator. Wreaths of filmy, fleecy mist drifted slowly here and thereacross his distorted shoulders, which were seamed in every directionwith yawning fissures, whose awful blackness was rendered even morestriking by contrast with the unmatched, glittering glory of thissolitary inland peak, whilst the green and rolling veldt, sweeping awayunbroken to the horizon on every hand, formed a fit setting for thislovely, lonely diadem of God's own fashioning.
Soon, however, the heat-clouds settled down upon the mountain, veilingfrom sight all but its lower vast proportions, upon whose rugged sidesno vestige of vegetation could as yet be seen.
With but a short rest at mid-day, our adventurers pressed on, in spiteof the stifling heat, and reached the spring of which Amaxosa hadspoken, about three o'clock in the afternoon, when the fighting brigadeinstantly threw themselves down to rest and sleep in the grateful shadecast by the giant walls of overhanging rock, which stretched grimlyupwards on either hand, their barren wildness relieved only here andthere by a few odd patches of trees and bush.
Grenville himself kept guard, and Kenyon at once proceeded down the passand climbed some way up the mountain side to keep a sharp look-out overthe southern veldt, whilst Leigh and Amaxosa turned their faces towardsthe river, and closely scrutinised its banks for quite half a
milebeyond the further exit of the pass ere they discovered a species ofcreek, or inlet, only two score yards from the edge of the track, and inevery way eminently suited to their requirements. Leigh then returnedto the spring, and promptly dispatched ten of the Zanzibaris, with theirimplements, to join the Zulu chief, and to lie hidden until theyreceived his further orders.
The scheme, artfully as it hod been planned, had one weak spot in it,which gave both Grenville and Kenyon much serious thought, and thatanxiety was caused by the certain knowledge that Zero had with him histhree magnificent bloodhounds, which, token in conjunction with theirvile master--who was, perhaps, more of a brute than the noble animalsthemselves--composed the most formidable quartette in Equatoria.Grenville had already warned his friends not to waste their bullets onthe dogs, but to leave the brutes to him, as should the slavers once getwithin range, he would not raise a hand against them until he had firstsettled with the canine element His great fear was, however, that thehounds would warn their masters of the presence of the little band themoment they struck the scent. The way through the pass being, however,mostly composed of rock, and a heavy gang of slaves going on in front,it was, of course, more than possible that the scent would be renderedtoo faint to attract anything but a mere passing whimper from the greatdogs.
When the party had had perhaps three hours' rest, a shrill whistle wassuddenly heard from Kenyon, and looking upwards Grenville saw him makingthe agreed danger signal.
Half-an-hour later the American rejoined his friends, and reported thata vast mob of human beings had come within range of his field-glassduring the last hour, and were now a score of miles away and headingdirect for their own position in the pass. News was quickly sent roundto Amaxosa, who, however, soon appeared and carried off the chief, who,next to himself, stood highest among his own men. Him he carefullyinducted into the mysteries of the "Zulu irrigation scheme," as Kenyonstyled it, and then returned to the main body, where he considered "hisfather would need his arm"--the fact, of course, being, that thesplendid fellow was simply spoiling for a good fight with his latetormentors.