Into the Unknown: A Romance of South Africa

by Lawrence Fletcher

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  DARK DAYS.

  Leaving poor Grenville in his dismal prison, we must now return for thetime being to our friends at the plateau.

  Despite the awful storm which followed Grenville's departure, Leigh andMyzukulwa kept diligent guard, for both were determined that they wouldnever again be caught napping. One of Grenville's last instructions toLeigh had been to keep a double watch every night, and to at once get anenormous pile of thorn-bushes up to the plateau, "when," said he, "youcan make a _chevaux de frise_ at the top of the path, which will keepthe whole Mormon nation fully employed whilst you shoot them."

  In the very height of the storm the watchers, by a flash of lightning,saw a figure approaching their position, and Leigh at once challenged,but received no reply. The next flash, however, showed him that thenocturnal wanderer was Amaxosa. The chief stalked up the path, shookhimself like a great dog, and then, without saying a single word,entered the cave, deposited Grenville's weapons on the floor, and laydown by the fire.

  Now, however, this extraordinary and unexplained return penetrated thereserve of even the well-trained Myzukulwa, who, after waiting in astate of suppressed excitement for some moments to give his brother timeto speak, at length burst out with a torrent of questions.

  "Since when has a child of the Undi learned to desert his chief? Thoudidst go out into the dark night but a few short hours ago with myfather, the great and mighty warrior; where is my father now? Myzukulwaasks thee. Is he perchance dead? Then will I, Myzukulwa, the son ofIsanusi, follow on after the spirit of my father, and cry, `Behold, myfather, thy faithful war-dog of the race of Undi. Turn thine eyes, myfather, towards Zululand, and wait for thy son Myzukulwa, who followsafter thee, and is thy man to the death, ay, and ever after.'"

  And the splendid fellow sprang to his feet, took his spears in hand asif ready to set out, and fixed his eyes, glowing with inquiry and fiercedetermination, full upon his brother.

  For a short space Amaxosa answered not, then his words came low andsadly:--

  "The great white chief my father has chased away from his side hisfaithful dog, and the heart of Amaxosa is sad, my brother, and hisbreast heavy with fear that the evil men, the witch-finders, being somany, will overcome my father and prevail against him."

  Then he broke out into a sort of funereal wail which made Leigh's bloodrun cold, it sounded so like ill-omened prophecy.

  "Ow, my father, why hast thou left me? The stormy night is wet andcold, but the hand of death is colder--colder, and the mists of thegrave are still more wet and deadly. Let my father call his sons tohim, and they will follow along the dark and fearsome path that leads tothe hereafter. Inkoos, the heart of Amaxosa is split in twain, and hefears the unknown evil which will befall the mighty chief he loves."

  Leigh was about to answer the Zulu, when all of a sudden the heavens andearth seemed to meet in one vivid blinding sheet of flame, and as theastonished watchers held their breath, the very, mountains were shakento their pro-Adamite foundations, by the explosion of the magazines inEast Utah.

  For a moment the countenance of Amaxosa brightened, and turning toMyzukulwa, as the flames in the Mormon town shot up towards the sky,"See, my brother," he cried, "the great chief our father has destroyedthe wicked witch-finders, and set fire to their kraals. Oh that we, hissons, might be at his side to slay the evil ones who yet are left alive!Great is the chief, our father; let us also die the deaths of mightywarriors, and let our last end be even as his."

  The girls now rushed in, affrighted by the explosion, and asked if thethunder had torn the mountain in two.

  Leigh briefly explained the position, when his betrothed, who saw hisanxious face, looked very grave, and poor Rose burst into tears andthrew herself into Dora's arms, crying, to Leigh's astonishment, "Oh! mydarling, my darling, I have indeed lost you for ever!"

  The grim Zulu Amaxosa turned to Leigh as Rose was led away by Dora,saying, "It is even so, Inkoos; the Flower of East Utah is laid low, forshe loved my father, even as his sons loved him, and my heart is verysad for her." And then changing his manner to the old warlike tones,"And now let the Inkoos, my master, say what he wishes the sons of Undito do. The storm is breaking, and if perchance my father has escapedfrom the evil men he will be here by daybreak; but whether he be here orno, the remnant of yon witch-finders will attempt to take our kraalbefore the sun is again at rest. Let my master open his ears that hemay hear my words. With these bushes we will build a wall of thorns,which no living man can force--it must be placed below the rock, notupon it--and it shall be that when the whole army of devils are gatheredin one place to uproot the bushes, then will the Inkoos my mastercommand the sons of Undi, who will cast upon these low people thelightning-boxes--surely they are bewitched--which will tear them inpieces, even as they would have destroyed ourselves when last they came;and if any shall yet be left alive after the lightning of the thunder,then the spears in the right hands of my master's servants shall slaythem; so will the faithful sons of my father, the great and mightylion-hearted chief, revenge his death and make smooth his path to theshades as he views the bleeding, senseless bodies of his evil-mindedfoes."

  After some little discussion Leigh accepted this cunning scheme in itsentirety, subject, of course, to the approval of his cousin should hereturn.

  The night wore on, and the grey dawn broke upon East Utah smiling andlovely as ever, but the poor watchers upon the rock sat haggard andanxious, for he whom they loved and waited for came not.

  Almost broken-hearted, Leigh at last laid himself down and slept anuneasy and troubled sleep, from which he was awakened by the welcomenews that the enemy was close at hand and advancing in considerableforce. Welcome the news indeed was, for every man and woman upon thatrocky shelf felt that at that moment they had but one object in life--vengeance of the most awful character for the death of him they lovedbeyond all earthly considerations.

  Disregarding the deadly fire of the Winchesters, which thinned theirnumbers in every direction, the Mormons marched on, a solemn silentmass. At one hundred yards they began to fire their guns, but did noexecution of any kind; and now the party above fairly hailed bulletsupon them from rifles, revolvers, and from the Mormons' own capturedguns, and the ground was thickly strewn with dead and dying men.

  Volley after volley the attacking party fired, till at last theirsalvoes dwindled down to a few sputtering shots, and then ceasedentirely. _The Mormons had exhausted their last kernel of powder_, andnow prepared to storm the plateau, sword in hand.

  The matter fell out exactly as Amaxosa had foreseen, and when a fullhundred of the enemy were busy with their swords trying to cut into thezareba, the Zulus plunged the two shells into the mass of living men,which was promptly transformed into an awful heap of bleeding, groaning,human pulp. A few wounded men tried to limp away, but the Zulus weredown the rock almost as soon as the shells, and of one hundred and fiftymen who had left the Mormon town that morning, not one returned to tellthe awful tale of shame and woe.

  The wounded were soon put out of pain by the unconcerned Zulus, who thenbrought up to the plateau a perfect mountain of weapons in the shape ofguns, spears, swords, and knives, all the time chanting victorious notesover their fallen enemies, and adjuring their father, the mighty chief,to smile upon his children.

  As Leigh had supposed, the Mormons had entirely exhausted their powderbefore they made the final charge which proved so fatal to themselves--not a single grain of powder could be found in any of their flasks.Thus ended another attempt of the Mormons upon the plateau; they had, asGrenville had foreseen, no more stomach for such desperate work as this,at present.

  As soon as night fell, Amaxosa set out for East Utah, armed withGrenville's revolvers, and determined if possible to discover what hadhappened to his beloved chief.

  Obtaining access to the town, as before, by the river, which was nowreduced to its normal state, he prowled about in the shade, runningawful risks, but hearing and seeing nothi
ng, and was just about to leavethe place in despair, when observing a number of Mormons approaching, heshrank back into a dark alley between two houses.

  The band he sought to avoid was met at this point--in fact, directlyopposite to his hiding-place--by a detachment travelling in the oppositedirection, both parties stopping and entering into conversation.

  The Zulu watched them like a lynx, but what was his astonishment andeven delight to behold the master whom he had believed to be dead,standing amongst his enemies; with great chains upon his hands and feet,it is true, yet still alive and well, and preserving upon his face theimpress of that habitual coolness and determined bravery which had sowon upon the heart of this untutored savage.

  With longing eyes Amaxosa gazed upon his friend, but he was a shrewd manas well as a courageous one, and he foresaw that any attempt at a rescuecould at this moment have no good result, but rather the reverse.

  Just as the two bands parted, Grenville was forced up against the wall,and quick as lightning the Zulu shot out his hand and dropped a smallpistol into his friend's coat-pocket. So neatly was the actionperformed that our hero, who had been roused out of his sleep, and ledaway to be interviewed, he was told, by the Holy Three, did not knowwhat had happened, thinking he had only knocked his side against acorner; but on moving his hand directly after, his forearm strucksomething heavy, and carefully feeling in his pocket, his fingers closedlike a vice on his own favourite Derringer, and in an instant herealised that he had stood within a foot or two of his devoted Zulufriend without knowing it. Cautiously hiding the pistol in his breast,where his chained hands could more easily reach it, he found himselfonce more ushered into the presence of the Mormon Trinity.

  As soon as the guards had retired, which they did at a sign from theMormon prophet, the triumvirate commenced to question Grenville upon thenumber of his friends, the quantity of their ammunition, the range oftheir weapons, and so forth.

  To all these reiterated inquiries he made no answer save an amusedsmile.

  Then Brother Ishmael Warden, as usual, lost his temper.

  "Dog of an Englishman!" he thundered, "answer or you die."

  "Death," was the cutting reply, "is the home which welcomes brave men,the shadow which frightens cowards. Our rifles are more than sufficientto sweep from the face of the earth the few men your nation has left."

  The Prophet now interposed, and, to Grenville's amused disgust, offeredhim life and magnificent terms if he would throw in his lot with themand conform to their laws, bringing his party and his weapons with them.

  To all these offers he had but one answer:--

  "I am the conqueror, you the conquered--it is for me to offer terms, notfor you; and if I must die, why the sooner the better; but merely tosave my life I will never consent to herd with murderers, thieves, andvagabonds. Listen, you three misguided men. Here are the terms RichardGrenville dictates, and think well ere you refuse them:--This country isnow the property of her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of GreatBritain and Ireland and Empress of India. You, the so-called HolyThree, will at once abdicate and give up your power to the young girlknown as the Rose of Sharon, Queen of the Mormon people by hereditaryright, returning to her all her moneys, lands, and property feloniouslyretained by you. To me, and to my party, as your conquerors, you willpay twenty thousand ounces of gold, and provide us with bearers forsame, and guides out of the country forthwith. I have spoken."

  Suddenly Warden sprang to his feet, fairly foaming at the mouth--

  "Here!" he yelled, "is your passport out of the country and direct tohell!" and levelling a pistol at Grenville's head, he fired. The bulletmissed our hero by a hair's breadth--indeed, it grazed the side of hisface--but the very next second Brother Ishmael Warden, the mostuniversally-hated member of the Mormon Trinity, fell to the ground witha bullet through his heart, and Grenville coolly threw his pistol down,saying as he did so--

  "The fellow was a dog, and like a dog he died;" then he quietly lookedhis remaining judges in the face, and waited their action.

  Father and son had sprung to their feet in fear upon seeing Grenville inpossession of a weapon, but they now quietly sat down again, and hiskeen eye noted that upon the face of the old man there sat an expressionof indifference, whilst the younger man obviously eyed the corpse of hislate colleague with unconcealed relief, and looked at our hero withabsolute approbation. Another circumstance, however, was significant toGrenville, and he had not failed to notice it; this was the fact thatthe guards could be heard pacing up and down outside the room, neverseeming the least disturbed by the pistol-shots. It was, therefore,clear that murder in the presence of the Holy Three was far from beinguncommon; indeed, when some minutes later the men entered, by order, totake him away, even before they observed the body of their late tyrant,Grenville saw looks of astonishment cast upon him.

  And now an honour as unexpected as it was unsought was offered to theyoung Englishman, for father and son, having held a private conference,the elder man turned to Grenville, and in brief but distinct languageoffered him the seat of the man he had just killed, together with allits emoluments.

  "Nay, my son," said he, as our friend was about to speak, "take time tothink before you give your answer. I much wish to save you alive, butour laws are as the laws of the Medes and Persians, and by them the HolyThree, who have power of life and death, are obliged to condemn you, andyou are too young to die. In the one way indicated we can save you.Live, then, and become the prop of our Holy State."

  "Sir," replied Grenville, moved by the kindly manner of the patriarch asno threats would ever have moved him, "I appreciate your kind wishes,and God forbid I should insult the beard of a man old enough to be mygrandsire, but I regard your faith and your own exalted office here withutter abhorrence and loathing. I have a most healthy contempt for yourlaws and your nation, and having the courage of my opinions I prefer todie for them."

  The old prophet eyed him sadly for a moment; then his face grew stem,and drawing himself up proudly, "'Tis well," he said, "ere long, foolishheadstrong youth, thou wilt regret thine impetuosity. At sundown, threedays hence, you die by the rifle--farewell." Then touching a smallgong, "Guards, remove the prisoner;" and as he noted the looks of theofficer directed at Warden's corpse lying in a pool of blood, "BrotherHarper, remove this body, and see that the Saints are notified of thedecease of a member of the Holy Trinity, and the necessity of choosingout one of the elect to supply his place."

  The officer merely bowed, and the guard then removed Grenville; but assoon as they got outside the officer turned to his prisoner, askingeagerly, "Did you kill yonder fiend?"

  "I did," replied our hero coolly, "and I'm sure I never killed a greaterscoundrel in all my life."

  In reply the officer seized Grenville's hand and shook it heartily."You are a plucky fellow," he said; "if you _have_ killed about half ourpeople, you've prevented that scoundrel from making away with the otherhalf. Tell me, did you shoot Radford Custance?"

  "I did," was the stern reply; "the coward struck a man who had his handstied."

  "Well," rejoined the other, "taken all through we owe you a debt ofgratitude. It's a shame to shoot you; but what must be--must be, youknow."

  "Quite so," responded Grenville, cheerfully, "don't let us fall out overthat; I see the necessity, I have done my work, and I am ready to go.But look here, my friend; your prophet--very nice old chap he is, too--told me I was to die by the rifle. Now as you've no powder, how willyou work it? Shall I give you a line to my people asking them to letyou have a flask of your own powder for the occasion?"

  "See here," replied the officer, "I owe you some information, and as youare to die I don't mind telling you we have just twelve charges ofpowder left in the whole community, and as you've used up all the restwe've decided to give you the benefit of what little we have left--it'sa great compliment, let me tell you."

  Thus laughing and talking they drew near the prison; but thoughGrenville had engaged in conversation
with the Mormon, he hadnevertheless been straining every faculty to try and discover thewhereabouts of his Zulu friend. Nowhere, however, could he see him ordetect any sign of his presence.

  On seeing the prisoner into his cell, the officer again shook hands, andGrenville, with the intention of giving information to his friend if hewere lying hidden close by, called out, "You'll come and see meto-morrow, won't you? I'm to be shot at sundown on Friday, you know; soyou'll have to entertain me until then."

  "With pleasure," was the laughing rejoinder. "Good-night!"

  Grenville's precaution was well taken, for it so happened that Amaxosahad at that instant arrived within earshot of his friend's words, whichhe heard with a grunt of satisfaction, as he had feared that aftercausing the death of Warden--of which act he had been an unseen andexultant witness--his chief would have been executed at daybreak.

  The audacity and self-abandonment of the Zulu on this night had beensimply magnificent. He had fearlessly climbed to the window of the roomin which he believed Grenville to be, and had watched every movement offriend and enemy with eyes like coals of fire; and ill would it havefared with the two remaining members of the Mormon Trinity had theyattempted any further violence against their prisoner.

  As it was, Amaxosa had watched the movements of the patriarch, andhaving seen him, after the departure of his colleague, open a strong boxand take out a lot of papers similar to that which his friend, the Roseof Sharon, had recognised as her own, he had quietly slipped in, brainedthe venerable "witch-finder," and walked off with his possessions,coolly setting the house on fire before he departed, as silently as hehad come. And now his fingers itched to slay the man who held the keyto his friend's prison, but knowing that in a few minutes the wholeplace would be agog with the fire, and the death of the prophet, hedecided to postpone his operations until the following night. "Hisfather" knew he had been at his side, and Amaxosa was content.

  Hardly had Grenville laid himself down to sleep than his prison door wastorn open, and he found himself the centre of a raging mob of humanbeings, all clamouring for his life; and had his friend the officer notbeen at his side, our hero would have been lynched forthwith. Findingout at last that he was in some way accused of causing the death of theMormon Patriarch, Grenville asked to be permitted to speak; and whensilence had been obtained he briefly and succinctly related the night'sevents to the crowd--omitting of course the presence of the Zulu--andadded meaningly, "You say your prophet has been murdered and thetreasures of the Holy Three stolen. Believe me, I would never lift myhand against an old man who could not defend himself--I murder not, nordo I rob. With whomsoever you find the treasure, let him die; but donot attempt to sully my good name, which is all that is left to me now."

  Finally, after the officer had harangued the crowd, he succeeded ingetting rid of them; and congratulating Grenville on his escape, heagain took his leave, when our friend once more laid himself down--not,however, to sleep at once, but to reflect on the events of the night.

  Truth to tell, he was inclined to ascribe the murder and robbery of thePatriarch to one of the Mormon's own people, for though he knew Amaxosahated the triumvirate with a bitter hatred, yet he, strange to say, wasnot given to "looting" in any shape or form; and Grenville was wholly ata loss to understand, moreover, how the Zulu could possibly haveobtained access to the treasure chamber of the Mormon leader. In anycase, he felt that whether Amaxosa was or was not responsible for theaffair, he personally had lost a friend at Court, but that the Mormoncommunity had at the same time been deprived of their best and wisesthead.

  Clearly there was nothing for the prisoner to do but to watch and wait.He had made up his mind to die, but with sublime confidence in hisfriends he felt certain that some effort would be made to save him, andhe was fully determined that when the attempt came off, it should atleast not fail from lack of readiness on his part.