Toward evening we prepared our supper, while many of the inhabitants came to watch us through our glass case. Presently some one rapped softly upon the glass, and going to the place I saw a woman standing there and holding out a basket made of rushes. I opened a window near and took in the basket.
“Ilalah sends it to the big white slave,” said the woman, in her native dialect.
“The big white slave thanks Ilalah and sends her his love in return,” I answered, laughing. But she nodded and turned away with a serious countenance, as if the message was no more than she had expected.
I handed the basket to Duncan and gave him the message of the princess. His face lighted up and he blushed like a school-boy, but made no comment.
In the basket were some fresh eggs and a roasted fowl that resembled a pheasant in size and flavor. We cooked the eggs over our alcohol stove and blessed the girl for her thoughtfulness, for her contribution was a grateful addition to our tinned foods.
As darkness came on we lighted our lamps and drew our curtains and after a little further discussion as to our future actions we lay down upon our blankets and prepared to pass a second peaceful night in the heart of the enemy’s country.
It must have been about midnight when I was awakened by a strange crackling sound. For a moment I lay still, wondering what it could be; then I sprang up and opened one of the little windows.
Dense smoke was rising all around the automobile, and thrusting out my head I saw a mass of flames underneath us. I drew back quickly, my eyes smarting from the smoke, and closed the orifice.
The interior of the car was now dimly illumined by a dull red glow. Moit was sitting up when I reached out to touch him.
“What is it?” he asked sleepily.
“They have built a great bonfire underneath us,” I answered. “Will it be likely to do any damage?”
He shook his head.
“All the harm it could possibly do would be to melt the rubber of the tires, and as they are vulcanized I do not believe any open fire would be powerful enough,” he said. “But it may get rather close and warm for us to sleep, so we will move on a bit.”
He reached for the lever and the machine started and slowly moved over the blazing logs, bouncing us around somewhat but creating no other discomfort. By raising the curtain in front Duncan could see when we were at a safe distance from the fire, so he stopped about twenty yards away and we prepared to lie down again.
“Some one ought to stand watch,” said the inventor; “for if we are sound asleep while they are wide awake they may get into more dangerous mischief than building bonfires.”
We cheerfully agreed to so necessary a precaution, and I was glad to find myself selected for the first watch, because by that time I had become as wakeful as an owl. When the others returned to their blankets I settled myself comfortably on a seat and listened intently for the slightest sound that might indicate danger.
Presently I heard another crackling, from which it appeared that our unseen foes had dragged the blazing logs toward us and were making another effort to burn our stout metal car. So I aroused Duncan, and this time we moved around to the other side of the enclosure, halting close to a wing of the king’s house. For while the car itself could not burn, a good bed of coals under us would convert it into a frying-pan, and we had no mind to sizzle and brown for the entertainment of the San Blas.
Perhaps it was a fear of setting the royal palace on fire that deterred our enemies from annoying us further; for after this second move we were not molested and my comrades were allowed to finish their sleep in comfort.
CHAPTER TWELVE
WAR IS DECLARED
NEXT MORNING WE made an unpleasant discovery.
When we brought the automobile around to the front of the house again we found that during the night the natives had bricked up the entrance arch to a height of some four feet above the ground, using blocks of baked clay cemented together with some preparation that we were not familiar with.
This action was intended to imprison the automobile within the wall and prevent our running out on another excursion, as we had the day before.
At first sight it appeared that the device was successful. A small hut had been torn down to provide the material, and the blocks were thick and hard as rock.
Duncan frowned as he looked at the barrier, and remarked:
“Then it is to be war.”
“I knew that last night,” said I, “when they tried to smoke us out or burn us up.”
“Let us give them a good volley from our revolvers,” he suggested, angrily.
“Don’ do dat, seh,” said Bry, earnestly. “Wait first till dey shoot arrows. We make b’lieve we frien’s as long as we can. It gives us time to think what we do.”
“Evidently,” said I, “the council of chiefs has advised the king to make short work of us. We have probably been condemned already, and all that now holds them in check is their uncertainty of the best way to vanquish us.”
“They are a little awed by our wonderful powers, I am sure,” declared Moit.
“Quite probable,” I replied. “Is there any way to get over that wall, Duncan?”
He did not answer at once, but looked reflectively at the archway.
“We can leave this place tomorrow morning,” said he, finally; “but I do not see how we can accomplish the feat before then. Do you imagine we can hold the natives at bay another day?”
“We can try,” I said as cheerfully as I could.
But the prospect was not an enticing one, and I began to bitterly regret our folly in ever entering a place wherein we could be so easily imprisoned.
“If we get out,” said Nux, “then we mus’ fight our way all time. If we bold an’ quick, we get away all right.”
Nux didn’t speak often, but his judgment was pretty good.
“I want those diamonds,” I said; “and I’m going to have them. If we go back empty-handed we have made a failure of the expedition.”
“To let a lot of ignorant natives triumph over the greatest invention of the century is absurd — it’s fairly criminal!” added Moit. “I’m not afraid to tackle the whole San Blas nation in this car.”
“Too bad you didn’t make it a man-o’-war,” said I, with a laugh. “If we had a gattling gun aboard we’d have everything our own way.”
We raised the curtains, and while Bry openly got the breakfast ready I took careful note of our surroundings.
Some twenty warriors, armed with spears and bows, were in sight, lounging in doorways or leaning silently against the various buildings. They were watching us closely, no doubt; but there was no open attempt to attack us as yet.
After a brief conference we decided not to put down the top again, as the San Blas might take a notion to shoot at any time, and their arrows, while they might not penetrate the netted glass of the dome, might mow us down quickly if we were exposed to them.
But I did not like to acknowledge that we were afraid, either; so I let down the steps and opened the rear door, and Bry and Nux and myself all descended to the ground and grouped ourselves carelessly near the car, leaving Moit alone in the machine.
As soon as we appeared the natives began to come nearer, in a curious observant crowd. Then one who was doubtless a chief came forward and said that the King Nalig-Nad desired his brother kings to attend him at once in his palace.
“In our country,” answered Bry, gravely, “it is the custom when kings meet to honor each other in turn. Yesterday we waited upon Nalig-Nad; today he must wait upon us.”
“But he is the great King of the Techlas!” protested the other, as if amazed that the command could be disregarded.
“And we are the mighty Kings of Tayakoo, which numbers more people than the leaves of the forest,” replied Bry, drawing himself up proudly and frowning upon the other. “Take your master our answer, slave!”
The fellow obeyed; but the king was in no hurry to come.
His daughter arrived, though, fre
sh and beautiful as a rose in bloom, and the natives made way for her as she pressed through the group.
“A greeting to my friends!” she said in English, and peered into the car in search of Duncan Moit.
“Enter, Princess,” said I, holding open the door.
She accepted the invitation frankly, and Duncan took her hand and pressed it to his lips as an old time courtier would have done. She was very sweet and lovely, this Indian maiden, and I did not blame the inventor for worshipping her as he evidently did.
“You cannot today with me run away,” she said, laughing and pointing a slender finger at the barricade.
“You are wrong, Ilalah,” answered Moit, smiling into her fair face. “When I wish to go, the walls cannot stop me. But we would like to stay another day in your village.”
She became serious at this. Thinking someone in the crowd might understand the English language as well as she did, I motioned to Nux and Bry to enter the car, and I followed them and closed the door.
“Listen, then,” she said, seeming to be glad of the seclusion. “The king, who is my father, is angry because you have told lies to him. There was a council of the chiefs last night. The white men are to be captured and shot with arrows. The magic machine that is a bird and a fish will be destroyed, and the two black kings may then go free because they speak in our tongue, and are therefore brothers.”
“That is pleasant news,” said Duncan. “When will they do this?”
“To-day, if they can. I was with them at the council. I told them that I loved you, and would make you the mate of the Princess Ilalah. But to that my father would not agree. He says you must die.”
Duncan took her hand and kissed it again, very gratefully and with a look of joy and animation upon his face that fairly transformed it.
“Did not this make you afraid?” I asked the girl, surprised that she seemed to accept her lover’s cruel fate so lightly.
“Oh, no,” she replied. “For the white Chief I love is greater than the San Blas. He will save himself and fly, and I will go with him.”
“Will you?” cried Duncan, earnestly.
“And why not?” she asked, frankly. “Will the doe leave the stag she has chosen? Could I be happy or content without my white chief?”
“Here is a case of love at first sight, with a vengeance!” I said, greatly amused at the girl’s bold declaration. But Moit frowned upon me angrily and his eyes flashed.
“Shut up, you pig!” he growled, and suddenly I felt ashamed of myself for not better appreciating the maiden’s brave honesty.
“Is there no way, Ilalah, to make your father wait until tomorrow morning?” he asked, turning again toward the girl.
“Why should he wait?” she returned.
“I have summoned mighty powers to my assistance,” declared Moit, after a moment’s thought, “and it would please me to await their arrival. It will make me stronger; but I am not afraid if your people begin the war at any time.”
“And to-morrow morning?”
“Then, at daybreak, you must come to me, and we will go away and leave your people.”
“That is good,” she said, joyfully. “I will try to make my father wait, and to-morrow I will give up my power to go with my white chief.”
“What is your power, Ilalah?” asked Duncan, puzzled by the expression.
“After my father, I am the ruler of the Techlas, which you call the San Blas. When the king dies, I am queen, with power of life and death over my people. But the king my father hates white men, who may not live if they enter his kingdom, so I must go with my mate to another country where the king does not hate him, or to his own country, where he will rule.”
This willing abdication of a throne for the sake of a man whom she had known only for a day aroused my wonder. But I could not fail to admire the girl’s courage, and indeed to rule the San Blas was no great privilege, in my estimation.
“If your father makes war to-day,” said Duncan, “fly here to me at once. Then, if I escape, we will never more be separated.”
She promised readily to do this, and leaving the car rejoined her women and moved away to enter the palace.
I noticed that while she had abandoned all — her life, her prejudices and her kingdom — for her white lover, Duncan Moit had promised nothing in return except that they would not be separated. The thought made me sorry for the poor maid; but it was none of my affair.
Bye and bye the king came out, followed by his chief men and counsellors, in an imposing group.
As he approached, Bry and Nux again descended from the car and stood by the steps, and I followed and took up a position just behind them. Duncan, as before, remained inside. We were all prepared to act quickly in an emergency, but our plan was to secure a truce in some way until another morning. I could not understand why Moit desired the delay so earnestly, but was willing to assist him to obtain it The king was plainly annoyed at the refusal of the black kings to come into his dwelling. His face still wore its calm expression but his eyes snapped ominously.
“My brothers,” said he, “we do not like your white slaves. Years ago the whites wronged the Techlas most cruelly, and the law of our nation is to put all white people to death who enter our country. I am sorry to take away your property, but the slaves must die.”
“My brother,” answered Bry, “see how much more we love you than you love us. We could kill you in a flash, even where you stand. We could destroy your village and all your people. If we so desired, there would be no more a nation of Techlas on the face of the earth. But we let you live, because we have called you our friend. To break that friendship would be to destroy yourselves. I beg you will not again ask us to give up our slaves to your cruel and unjust vengeance.”
It did me much good to watch Nalig-Nad’s face. He did not like to risk defying the unknown power of the strangers, but if his own authority was thus ignored he would hereafter be a king only in name. Some of his chiefs were glancing at one another significantly, while others were clearly uneasy at our domineering attitude.
I stood with my hands in the pockets of my jacket and a grin of amusement on my face when the king’s roving eyes suddenly observed me. I suppose his forbearance could not withstand the white boy’s audacity, for he raised his hand and at the signal a coil of rope shot through the air and a loop settled over my body and clutched me firmly around the chest.
Instantly I was jerked from my feet and dragged into the group of warriors, all of whom, as if the action had been preconcerted, sprang forward with their spears levelled threateningly at Nux and Bry.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
WE LOOK INTO DANGER’S EYES
THE CAPTURE WAS SO sudden that it took me a moment to collect my wits. Although bruised and bumped to some extent I had not been much hurt, and even before I was jerked to my feet I cried aloud to my men:
“Get into the car and watch out! Don’t mind me. Take care of yourselves.”
They obeyed promptly, but none too soon; for scarcely had they closed the door when a shower of arrows rattled against the dome. All subterfuge and arbitration was now at an end; they had at last “shot the arrow” and we might expect in the future nothing but implacable hatred.
My captors — two stalwart chiefs — having raised me to my feet now held me firmly secured by means of the thong lasso which still encircled my body. The coils pinioned my elbows so closely to my sides that I could not even withdraw my hands from the pockets of my jacket.
They had begun to hurry me toward the king’s house when a roar of dismay broke from the group we had just left. I turned half around and saw that the automobile had made a short circle and was plunging straight at the king and his warriors. Some were wise enough to scatter from its path, but the more dignified hesitated and were bowled over like a company of wooden soldiers and tossed in every direction.
The lightness of the machine prevented many serious casualties, however, and while Duncan chased them here and there, managing the huge
automobile with consumate skill, the warriors gathered up the stunned and maimed and, dodging the onslaught as nimbly as they could, fled into the palace and houses where the terrible monster could not follow them.
Forgetting for the moment my own unenviable plight, I laughed heartily at the exhibition until the two chiefs pushed me roughly toward a doorway and so along the narrow hall and into the big courtyard.
Here the chiefs began to gather, muttering angrily at their recent discomfiture and casting upon me glances of such malignity that they had the effect of sobering me effectually.
The king came limping in and dropped upon his bench with a brow like a thundercloud. He had not been much injured, but his royal dignity had suffered a severe blow.
While one man held the loose end of my lasso and guarded me, the others all ranged themselves back of the king, who said, with what appeared to me to be unseemly haste:
“What shall be the fate of the white stranger?”
“Death!” they cried, in a fierce chorus.
“And at once,” added Nalig-Nad. He glanced around him. “To you, Tetch-Tsa, I allow the privilege.”
A stout young fellow with considerable of the royal green in his robe stepped forward with a grim smile and drew his long knife. As I looked at him I clutched with my fingers the handles of the two self-cocking revolvers that were fortunately in my jacket pockets, and which I had been secretly holding when the coil of the lasso settled over me. I was not able to move my arms because of the thong that pressed them against my body, but I pointed the barrel of the right hand weapon as accurately as I could toward my proposed executioner. When he was but a few paces off I blazed away at him.
At the first shot he paused, as if astonished; at the second he threw up his arms and tumbled over.
Instantly I whirled and fired at the man behind, and my position was so awkward and my aim so uncertain that I emptied the chambers of the revolver in quick succession to make sure one bullet would take effect.
He staggered back and released the thong, and even while I loosed the slip-noose I ran toward the hall and made my best speed for the door.
Complete Works of L. Frank Baum Page 660