Harry Milvaine; Or, The Wanderings of a Wayward Boy

by Gordon Stables

boiled milk mixed with honey and some pleasant bitterherb. After swallowing this Harry remembered seeing the king squattingon a mat by the fire, and his own boys in a corner; he noticed thatwhenever any one entered the tent his majesty lifted a beckoning finger,warning them to keep silence. He remembered little more that day, forhe fell into a soothing perspiration, and soon after into a deep anddreamless sleep.

  It was broad daylight when he wakened, and he felt so much better thathe even attempted to rise. It was then he noticed how feeble and weakhe was.

  Whether or not the bitter medicine mingled with the warm and honeyedmilk partook of the nature of an opiate or not, Harry had no means ofascertaining, but for nearly three days he did little else but sleep--and perspire during the intervals of taking nourishment.

  He was aware, however, that the great kind-hearted king was almostconstantly in the tent, and that he moved about on tiptoe, and talked inwhispers, never failing to lift his finger and shake it at any one whoentered.

  Sometimes an amazon came in and looked at Harry, then smiled a grimsmile and retired, and once a terrible-looking old man with triangularteeth like Walda's put in an appearance. He had a fowl in his arm,which after many strange antics--that showed he was working a fetish--heslew. He then dipped his finger in the blood and smeared Harry'sforehead.

  After this another fowl was brought to him, and he then made motionswith his hand and arm over the patient, of a semi-mesmeric kind, or asif he were drawing something invisible towards the fowl in his arms.The latter was immediately after chased out of the tent, and from thenoise out of doors it was evidently being hunted out of the enclosureentirely.

  Next morning a cocoanut shell full of pure warm blood was handed to him;this was not unpleasant to drink, and was repeated three times a day,and day after day for a week. [The blood-cure is not unknown in Europe,but I believe some of the African tribes used it ages and ages ago.--G.S.]

  Every hour now, almost, Harry felt himself getting stronger. He wassoon able to sit up for hours, then the king exhibited all the exuberantjoy of a child of six. With his own hands he brought his patient asmall dish of delightfully curried chicken and rice, and as Harry ate itKing Googagoo laughed till his black, fat sides shook again.

  With returning health came returning hope and happiness, and when,leaning on the king's arm, Harry made his first venture out of doors itseemed for all the world like going into a new world. Everything was soinexpressibly bright and lovely, the drooping palm trees, the bananagroves the greenest of the green, the splendid flowers that greweverywhere, the bright-plumaged birds, the cloudless sky, the blue andplacid lake, and the purple hills on the far horizon. It was all like abeautiful dream, it was all a scene of enchantment, and to breathe thebalmy air was verily life itself.

  How grateful he felt to this simple-minded king; ah! yes, and howgrateful to the Great Father above, who had spared his life, and broughthim safely through countless dangers.

  Harry soon found the air was almost too strong for him, it flushed hischeeks and quickened his breathing, so he retired again, and was almostimmediately after asleep on his lion-skin couch.

  Next evening a hammock was slung for him near the fire, and lying therehe found himself strong enough to entertain the king with a little musicon the concertina, which "through thick and thin" Raggy had keptpossession of.

  Only some sweet old-fashioned Scottish lilts he played, but they pleasedhis majesty immensely, and after each he rubbed his hands and said,"Lobo! Lobo! Lobo!"

  Could Harry now tell him more of the story of the world?

  Yes, Harry could and would. He laid the concertina gently down by hisside, and, turning half round to where the king was squatting, began totell him through Raggy the simple Bible story of the creation.

  Raggy had heard it all before, and was quite capable of translating it.

  Next night Harry was even stronger; King Googagoo brought into the tentquite a crowd of his favourite amazons, and the young historian had tobegin at the beginning again.

  To have seen the boy preacher leaning half up in his hammock as he toldin earnest language his wondrous tale, and the innocent looks of thesimple king with the firelight playing over his face, and the backgroundof terrible-looking but listening amazons, would have suggested apicture to many an artist which might have made him famous.

  The story of Joseph seemed, next to that of Eden's garden, particularlyto interest his hearers, and many an interjection, many a marvelling"Lobo?" did the king utter while Harry spoke through Raggy.

  His remarks, too, were innocent, not to say childish, but very much tothe point.

  Almost every night for weeks Harry had to tell the Bible and NewTestament tale. And one day, when now nearly strong again, he wasgratified to find the king himself repeating the story to his people.

  And they seemed spellbound.

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  Harry determined to make the islands his home for many months to come.

  Meanwhile scouts were employed to scour the country in many differentdirections, and endeavour if possible to find out the whereabouts ornews at least of the white men.

  For a very long time they were unsuccessful. At last, however, much toHarry's joy, one man returned, bringing with him a vague rumour that hehad heard of five men belonging to a foreign country, who lived at thecourt of a chief not very far from the lakes, but in the fastnesses of amountain-studded wilderness. So fierce and terrible was this chiefreported to be that no one would dare to enter his territory. If anyone did--so it was said--he would assuredly be crucified, or hoisted bythe heels into a sapling tree, there to hang in the sun until the greatgrey kites ate the flesh from off his bones.

  News of an equally important nature was soon after brought by anotherand probably braver scout. He _had_ entered the chief's wild country,he had even seen and conversed with one of the white men, and found outthat there were six more in captivity, and that until now they had givenup all hopes of ever being able to regain their freedom.

  King Googagoo was as much delighted with the news as was Harry.

  And the king, moreover, now showed all the fierce impetuosity of hisnature.

  He smote the ground with the staff of his spear.

  "I will go," he cried, "with all the strength of my amazons and fightthis king, and deliver your friends from bondage."

  But Harry saw that whatever was to be done must be done with care andcaution. For failure would mean the death--probably by torture--of theunfortunate white captives.

  To please King Googagoo he at once accepted his assistance, but saidthey must prepare.

  "All the men of war and all the amazons," replied the king, "are at yourdisposal. You have brought everlasting joy to my heart, do with us whatyou will."

  Harry at once set about operations. He held a great review in one ofthe largest islands. Every man, he found, was a soldier, but they weresadly deficient in armour of an effective kind. Spears there were,though, in abundance--nothing else save these and knives.

  Then it occurred to Harry to regularly drill them as sailors are drilledon shore, in companies, in squares of various kinds, and in battalionsor--impis.

  He guessed, rightly too, that the fine old Highland triangle-formationwould do well with these people. [Note 1.] So he taught them that.

  But his teaching did not end here. He must furnish his little army withsome weapon far more effective than either dagger or spear; so he sethimself to think.

  How he wished he had but a hundred rifles and ammunition! But wishes inthis case were vain enough.

  Why not bows and arrows?

  Why not, indeed. The idea struck him as he lay in bed one night, and soexcited him that he did not steep a wink till nearly sunrise.

  He was up betimes all the same, and made haste to communicate his notionto the king.

  His majesty was delighted, as, indeed, he was with all Harry'sproposals. So that very day a branch w
as cut from a species ofyew-tree, and with the aid of a string composed of hide the first rudebow was made.

  This was improved upon day after day. The king's forgemen andartificers were summoned, and after many trials of different kinds ofwood for the bows and for the arrows, a very useful and very deadly kindof Cross-bow was eventually fashioned and duly approved of by the king.

  The arrow-heads presented the greatest difficulty, but this was finallygot over, and they fell upon a plan of not only forging goodserviceable, ones, but of fastening them on so that the arrow itselfwould break before the head could come off.

  King Googagoo's, people now went in for the study of war in downrightearnest, and gradually the army was supplied with finely-madecross-bows.

  Many months went on in these preparations. Meanwhile the arts of peacewere not forgotten. Googagoo's men were very far ahead of any othertribe that ever Harry in his wanderings had met, in the pursuits ofagriculture. There grew on many of the islands immense fields of paddy,or rice, and fields of sugarcane,