by Grant Allen
“Hush!” Jack answered, with one finger on his lip. “We’re drawing near the outskirts of the village now. You must be very quiet. I can just see the grass roof of Taranaka’s temple peeping above the brushwood to the right. In three minutes more we shall be out in the open.”
And sure enough he told the truth. Almost as he ceased speaking, the noise of savage voices fell full upon my ear from the village in front, and I could hear the natives, in their hideous corroboree, beating hard upon their hollow drums of stretched skin, and shouting in the dance to their drunken comrades.
It was a ghastly noise, but it did our hearts good just then to hear it.
I could almost have clapped my hand upon Jack’s back and given him three cheers for his gallant guidance when we saw the village plot opening up in front of us, and the naked savages, in their war-paint and feathers, guarding the door of Taranaka’s temple. But the necessity for caution compelled me to preserve a solemn silence. So we crouched as still as mice behind a clumpy thicket of close-leaved tiro bushes, and peeped out from our ambush through the dense foliage to keep an eye upon the scene till the Albatross hove into sight in the harbor.
“My father and my mother must still be there,” Jack whispered under his breath, but in a deep tone of relief. “The Tanaki men are guarding them exactly as they did when Martin and I left the island. I almost think I can see Miriam’s head through the open door. We shall be in time still to deliver them from these bloodthirsty wretches.”
“In what direction must we look for the Albatross?” I whispered back. “Will she come in from the south there?”
“O, no!” Jack answered in a very low voice. “That’s an island to the right — a little rocky island that guards the harbor. There’s deep water close in by the shore that side. Martin ‘ll try to bring her in the northern way, so that the natives mayn’t see her till she’s close upon the village. It’s a difficult channel to the north, all full of reefs and sunken rocks; but I think he understands it, he’s swam in it so often. We won’t see her at all till she’s right in the harbor and just opposite the temple.”
We were dying of thirst now, and longing for drink, but could get nothing to quench our drought. “What I would give,” I muttered to Tom Blake, “for a drink of water!”
“If Captain want water,” Nassaline answered, “me soon get him some.” And he made a gash with his knife in the stem of a sort of gourd that climbed over the bushes, from which there slowly oozed and trickled out a sort of gummy juice that relieved to some degree our oppressive sensations. All the men began at once cutting and chewing it, with considerable satisfaction. It wasn’t as good as a glass of British beer, I will freely admit; but still, it was better than nothing, any way.
By this time it was nearly half-past six, and we watched eagerly to see what action the natives would take as soon as they finished their night-long sing-sing. Lying flat on the ground, with our rifles ready at hand, and our heads just raised to look out among the foliage, we kept observing their movements cautiously through the thick brushwood.
At a quarter to seven we saw some bustle and commotion setting in on a sudden in front of the temple; and presently a tall and sinister-looking native, who, Jack whispered to me, was the Chief of Tanaki, came up from the village, where the sing-sing had taken place, and stood by the door of the thatched grass-house. We could distinctly hear him call the missionary to come out in pigeon English; and next moment our unfortunate countryman staggered forth, with his little daughter half fainting in his arms, and stood out in the bare space between the tomb of Taranaka and the spot where we were lying.
Oh! how I longed to take a shot at that miscreant black fellow.
At sight of his father, worn with fatigue and pale with the terror of that agonizing moment, Jack almost cried aloud in his mingled joy and apprehension; but I clapped my hand on his mouth and kept him still for the moment. “Not a sound, my boy, not a sound,” I whispered low, “till the time comes for firing!”
“Shall we give it them hot now?” Tom Blake inquired low at my ear next moment. But I waved him aside cautiously.
“Not yet,” I answered, “unless the worst comes to the worst, and we see our people in pressing and immediate danger; we’d better do nothing till the Albatross heaves in sight. Her gun will frighten them. To fire now would be to expose ourselves and our friends there to unnecessary danger.”
“All right, sir,” Tom murmured low in reply. “You know best, of course. But I must say, it’d do my ‘eart good to up an’ pepper ’em!”
“Come out, white woman!” we heard the Chief say next with insolent familiarity; and Mrs. Macglashin stepped out, a deplorable figure, with her boy’s hand twined in hers, and her white lips twitching with horror for her little ones. It made one’s blood boil so to see it that we could hardly resist the temptation as we looked to fire at all hazards, and let them know good friends were even now close at hand to help and deliver them.
“Whether the Albatross heaves in sight or not,” I whispered to Tom Blake, “we must fire at them soon — within five minutes — and sell our lives as dearly as we can. I can’t stand this much longer. It’s too terrible a strain. Come what may, I must give the word and at them!”
“Quite right, sir,” says Tom. “What’s the use of delaying?”
And, indeed, I began to be terribly afraid by this time there was something very wrong indeed somewhere. Could Martin have missed his way among those difficult shoals, and run our trusty vessel helplessly on the rocks and reefs? It looked very like it. They were certainly overdue; for even at the present crippled rate of speed, the good old Albatross had had plenty of time, I judged, to round the point and get back safe again into the deep water of the harbor. If she failed in this our hour of need, the natives would surround us and cut us to pieces in a mass, for our best reliance was in our solid brass thirty-pounder. I began to tremble in my shoes for some time for the possible upshot. Over and over again I glanced eagerly towards the point for that longed-for white nose of hers to appear round the corner.
At last, unable to restrain my curiosity any longer, I rose to my feet and peered across the bushes. As I did so, I saw the savages seize Macglashin in their arms, and range the four poor fugitives in a line together. My blood curdled. The Chief and the ten savages with the Sniders stood in a row, half fronting us where we lay. Macglashin and his wife were fortunately out of line of fire for our rifles. “Now, we can delay no longer,” I cried. “He means murder. The moment the black fellow gives the word of command, fire at once upon him and his men, boys. Take steady aim. No matter what comes. Let the poor souls have a run for their lives, any way.”
As I spoke, the Chief uttered in Kanaka the native words for “One, two, three,” with loud drunken laughter.
At the sound of the Chief’s voice, the savages loosed the four wretched Europeans. At the very same sound we all fired simultaneously — and six of the black monsters fell writhing on the ground, while the Chief and the four others, taken completely by surprise, dropped their rifles in their supreme astonishment.
“Forward, boys, and secure them!” I cried, dashing out into the open, and waving my hat to the astounded missionary. “Here we are, sir. Run this way! We’re friends. We’ve come to your rescue. Catch the Chief at once, lads; and hooray for the Albatross!”
For just as I spoke, to my joy and relief, her good white nose showed at last round the point; and next instant, the boom! boom! of her jolly brass thirty-pounder, fired in the very nick of time, completed the discomfiture of the astonished savages.
Before they knew where they were, they found themselves hemmed in between a raking cross-fire from our Sniders on one side, and the heavy gun of the Albatross on the other. The tables were now completely turned. We charged at them, running. Macglashin, seizing the situation at a glance, caught up one of the rifles belonging to the wounded men, which had been flung upon the ground, and, hardly yet realizing his miraculous escape, joined our little party as an a
rmed recruit with surprising alacrity. For the next ten minutes there was a terrible scene of noise and confusion. The blacks advanced upon us, swarming up from the village like bees or wasps, and it was only by a hand-to-hand fight with our bayonets — for we had fortunately brought them in case of close quarters — that we kept our dusky enemy at bay. At last, however, after a smart hand-to-hand contest, we secured the Chief, and tied him safely with the rope he had loosed from Macglashin. Then we seized the remaining Sniders that lay upon the ground, while the men of the village, drunk and stupefied, began to fall back a little and molest us from a distance.
“Now, put the lady and children in the center, boys,” I cried, at the top of my voice, “and let the Chief march along with us as a hostage. Down to the shore, while the Albatross boat puts out to save us!” Then I turned to the savages, and called out in English, “If any one of you dares to fire at us, I give you fair warning, we shoot your Chief! Hold off there, all of you!”
To my great delight, Nassaline, standing forward as I spoke, translated my words to them into their own tongue, and waving them back with his hands made a little alley for us through the midst to regain the shore by. Smart boy, Nassaline!
After a moment, however, the natives once more began to crowd round us, as we started to march, in very threatening attitudes, with their Sniders and hatchets. At one time I almost thought they would overpower us; but just then Jim, who was watching the proceedings with his glass from the deck of the Albatross, and saw exactly how matters stood, created a judicious diversion at the exact right moment by firing a little grape-shot plump into the heart of the grass huts of the village, and bowling over a roof or two before the very eyes of the astonished savages. They fell back at once, and began to make signs of desiring a parley. So we halted on the spot, with the lady and children still carefully guarded, and held up our handkerchiefs in sign of truce. Then Nassaline, aided by our sailor who understood the Kanaka language, began to palaver with them. He told them in plain and simple terms we must first be allowed to take the lady and children in safety to the Albatross, and that we would afterwards come back to treat at greater length with their head men as to the Chief’s safety. To this, after some demur, the black fellows assented; and we beckoned to Jim accordingly by a preconcerted sign to send the boat ashore to us, to fetch off the fugitives. At the same time we retreated in military order, in a small hollow square, to the beach, still taking good care to protect in the midst our terrified non-combatants.
As for the Chief, he marched before us, with his hands tied, and his feet free, led by a rope, the ends of which I held myself, with the aid of two of my sailors. A more ridiculously crestfallen or disappointed creature than that drunken and conquered savage at that particular moment it has never yet been my fate to light upon.
We reached the beach in safety, and sent Mrs. Macglashin and the children aboard, with Jack to accompany them. Then we turned to parley with the discomfited savages. Jim kept the thirty-pounder well pointed in their direction, with ostentatious precision, and we made them hold off along the beach at a convenient distance, where he could rake them in security, while we ourselves retained the Chief in our hands, with a pistol at his head, as a gentle reminder that we meant to stand no nonsense.
After a few minutes’ parley, conducted chiefly by our Kanaka-speaking sailor, with an occasional explanation put in by our assistant-interpreter, Nassaline, we arrived at an understanding, in accordance with which we were to return them their Chief for the time being, on consideration of their bringing us down to the beach all the Macglashins’ goods, and making restitution for the sack of the mission-house in dried cocoa-nut, the sole wealth of the island. Those were the terms for the immediate present, as a mere personal matter: for the rest, we gave the Chief clearly to understand that we intended to sail straight away with all our guests for Fiji, there to lay our complaint of his conduct before the British High Commissioner in the South Pacific. We would then charge him with murder and attempted cannibalism, and with stirring up his people to massacre the other missionary, and the trader Freeman. We would endeavor to get a gunboat sent to the spot, to make official inquiry into the nature of the disturbances, and to demand satisfaction on the part of the relations of the murdered men. Finally, we would also lay before the Commissioner the conduct of the French labor-vessel, and her kidnaping skipper, who had instigated the savages to their dastardly attack, and whom I was strongly inclined to identify with the captain from whose grip we had rescued our friend Nassaline. We gave the Chief to understand, therefore, that he must by no means consider himself as scot free, merely because we let him go unhurt till trial could be instituted by the proper authorities. He must answer hereafter for his high crimes and misdemeanors to the Queen’s representative.
To all of which the penitent savage merely answered with a sigh:
“Me make mistake. Kill missionary by accident. Man a oui-oui tell me Queenie England no care for Scotchman, an’ me too much believe him. Now Captain tell me Queenie send gunboat for eat me up, and kill all my people. No listen any more to man a oui-oui.”
And then we put off in triumph to the Albatross. The family meeting that ensued on board when Macglashin stood once more upon a British deck with his wife and children, I won’t attempt — rough sailor as I am — to describe: I don’t believe even the special correspondent of a morning paper could do full justice to it. To see those two lads, too, catch their pretty little sister once more in their arms, and cover her with kisses, while she clung to their necks and cried and laughed alternately, was a sight to do a man’s heart good for another twelvemonth. And as we sat that same evening round the cabin-table (where our Malay cook had performed wonders of culinary art for the occasion), and drank healths all round to everybody concerned in this remarkable rescue, the toast that was received with the profoundest acclamations from every soul on board, was that of the two brave boys whose courage and skill had guided us at last, as if by a miracle, to the recovery of all that was nearest and dearest to them.
Indeed, if Martin and Jack don’t get the Victoria Cross when we return to England, I shall have even a lower opinion than ever before of her Majesty’s confidential political advisers of all creeds or parties.
An African Millionaire
EPISODES IN THE LIFE OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS COLONEL CLAY
CONTENTS
THE EPISODE OF THE MEXICAN SEER
THE EPISODE OF THE DIAMOND LINKS
THE EPISODE OF THE OLD MASTER
THE EPISODE OF THE TYROLEAN CASTLE
THE EPISODE OF THE DRAWN GAME
THE EPISODE OF THE GERMAN PROFESSOR
THE EPISODE OF THE ARREST OF THE COLONEL
THE EPISODE OF THE SELDON GOLD-MINE
THE EPISODE OF THE JAPANNED DISPATCH-BOX
THE EPISODE OF THE GAME OF POKER
THE EPISODE OF THE BERTILLON METHOD
THE EPISODE OF THE OLD BAILEY
THE EPISODE OF THE MEXICAN SEER
My name is Seymour Wilbraham Wentworth. I am brother-in-law and secretary to Sir Charles Vandrift, the South African millionaire and famous financier. Many years ago, when Charlie Vandrift was a small lawyer in Cape Town, I had the (qualified) good fortune to marry his sister. Much later, when the Vandrift estate and farm near Kimberley developed by degrees into the Cloetedorp Golcondas, Limited, my brother-in-law offered me the not unremunerative post of secretary; in which capacity I have ever since been his constant and attached companion.
He is not a man whom any common sharper can take in, is Charles Vandrift. Middle height, square build, firm mouth, keen eyes — the very picture of a sharp and successful business genius. I have only known one rogue impose upon Sir Charles, and that one rogue, as the Commissary of Police at Nice remarked, would doubtless have imposed upon a syndicate of Vidocq, Robert Houdin, and Cagliostro.
We had run across to the Riviera for a few weeks in the season. Our object being strictly rest and recreation from the arduous duties of financial comb
ination, we did not think it necessary to take our wives out with us. Indeed, Lady Vandrift is absolutely wedded to the joys of London, and does not appreciate the rural delights of the Mediterranean littoral. But Sir Charles and I, though immersed in affairs when at home, both thoroughly enjoy the complete change from the City to the charming vegetation and pellucid air on the terrace at Monte Carlo. We are so fond of scenery. That delicious view over the rocks of Monaco, with the Maritime Alps in the rear, and the blue sea in front, not to mention the imposing Casino in the foreground, appeals to me as one of the most beautiful prospects in all Europe. Sir Charles has a sentimental attachment for the place. He finds it restores and freshens him, after the turmoil of London, to win a few hundreds at roulette in the course of an afternoon among the palms and cactuses and pure breezes of Monte Carlo. The country, say I, for a jaded intellect! However, we never on any account actually stop in the Principality itself. Sir Charles thinks Monte Carlo is not a sound address for a financier’s letters. He prefers a comfortable hotel on the Promenade des Anglais at Nice, where he recovers health and renovates his nervous system by taking daily excursions along the coast to the Casino.
This particular season we were snugly ensconced at the Hôtel des Anglais. We had capital quarters on the first floor — salon, study, and bedrooms — and found on the spot a most agreeable cosmopolitan society. All Nice, just then, was ringing with talk about a curious impostor, known to his followers as the Great Mexican Seer, and supposed to be gifted with second sight, as well as with endless other supernatural powers. Now, it is a peculiarity of my able brother-in-law’s that, when he meets with a quack, he burns to expose him; he is so keen a man of business himself that it gives him, so to speak, a disinterested pleasure to unmask and detect imposture in others. Many ladies at the hotel, some of whom had met and conversed with the Mexican Seer, were constantly telling us strange stories of his doings. He had disclosed to one the present whereabouts of a runaway husband; he had pointed out to another the numbers that would win at roulette next evening; he had shown a third the image on a screen of the man she had for years adored without his knowledge. Of course, Sir Charles didn’t believe a word of it; but his curiosity was roused; he wished to see and judge for himself of the wonderful thought-reader.