The Great White Queen: A Tale of Treasure and Treason
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CHAPTER XXI.
A FIGURE IN THE SHADOW.
AN hour after sundown I was seated with Omar and Kona on a mat in thecourtyard of a house not far from the gates of the palace, wherehospitality had been secretly offered us. We were discussing thesituation. Our black followers, on leaving the presence of the iratequeen, had gone out in small groups to wander through the wonderful city,having arranged to meet again at midnight.
The man in whose house we had found shelter was named Goliba, a staunchfriend of Omar's, although one of the royal councillors. As we sattogether this old man with long flowing white beard, keen aquilinefeatures and black eyes that age had not dimmed, explained facts thatamazed us. He told us that Kouaga, a favourite of the Naya, had beenapproached secretly by her as to the advisability of Omar'sassassination. The old councillor had actually overheard this dastardlyplot formed by the queen against her son, for she feared that owing tothe harshness of her rule popular opinion might be diverted in hisfavour, and that she might be overthrown, and he set upon the EmeraldThrone in her stead. The Naya had regretted sending Omar away for safety,so giving Kouaga a large sum of money, she ordered him to proceed toEngland and assassinate the heir. He left, and apparently on his wayconceived the idea that he might, with considerable advantage, play adouble game. Samory, whose secret agent in Mo he was, intended, he knew,to lead a great expedition against the unapproachable country, itsprincipal object being to secure the vast treasures known to be concealedwithin the City in the Clouds. As Omar alone knew its secret hiding-placeit occurred to Kouaga to convey him to the stronghold of the Mohammedanchief before assassinating him, and obtain from him the whereabouts ofthe great collection of gold and gems. The Naya had ordered that her sonshould be killed secretly in England, but this cowardly crime was avertedby Kouaga's cupidity, and we had therefore been enticed to the Arabsheikh's headquarters. The object of both men being thwarted by Omar'srefusal to divulge the secret, we had been sold into slavery andconsigned as human sacrifices before King Prempeh.
"We'll be even yet with that scoundrel and traitor, Kouaga," Omar said,turning to me when Goliba had finished.
"If the command be given every man in Mo would go forth against Samory'saccursed hordes," Goliba declared with emphasis, removing the mouthpieceof his long pipe from his lips. "But how dost thou intend now to act?" heasked Omar. "Remember thou art banished until the Naya's death. Let ushope that Zomara will not spare her long to tyrannize over our land andto plot against thy life," he added in a half whisper.
Omar started in surprise. This man, one of the principal advisers of hisroyal mother, was actually expressing a wish that she might die! Itoccurred to me, too, that if her advisers were antagonistic towards her,might not the poor, oppressed and afflicted people also be of the samemind?
"Speak, O Goliba," Omar said. "Is the balance of popular feeling actuallyagainst the Naya?"
"Entirely. Within the past few years the loyal spirit hath, on account ofthe revolting cruelties practised by thy royal mother, turned utterlyagainst her. Before thy departure to the land beyond the black water theloyal feeling was uppermost because of the efforts of Moloto to obtainthe crown. Now, however, that the power of his party is broken and theNaya, feeling her position invulnerable, hath commenced a reign ofterror, disgust and despair are felt on every hand."
"What must I do?" Omar asked.
"Remain here," the sage replied. "Thou art banished from the royalpresence, it is true, but heed not her words, and remain with thyfollowers in Mo. Guard vigilantly against the attempts of secretassassins that are certain to be made when the Naya is aware of thydefiance, but remember thou art heir to the Emerald Throne, and althoughsome of the regiments may remain loyal unto their queen, the majority ofour fighting-men are thine to command."
Omar knit his brows, and thought deeply for several moments. It wasapparent that this suggestion to oppose the Naya by force of arms hadnever before entered his mind.
"Is this really true?" he asked in a doubting tone.
"O Master, let thy servant Goliba perish rather than his word bequestioned. As councillor of thy queen-mother, have I not greaterfacilities for testing the popular feeling than any other man in Mo? Iswear by Zomara's wrath that what I have uttered is truth. If thouremainest here--in hiding for a time it may be--thou shalt either berestored to the royal favour and thy friends recognized, or thou shaltassuredly occupy the royal stool. The people, living as they do inconstant dread of the Naya's cruelties, would hail with satisfaction anychange of rule that would ensure safety to their persons and property.Thou art their saviour."
"Take the advice of our friend Goliba," I urged. "Let us remain and defyher."
"Yea," cried Kona, displaying his even white teeth. "The Dagombas arehere and likely to remain. They will fight and die to a man in thy cause.I, their head-man, speak for them."
"Is it agreed?" asked Omar, glancing at us.
"It is," we all three answered with one voice, Kona and Goliba fingeringtheir amulets as they spoke.
"Then if it is thy will I shall remain and defy the Naya," Omar answered,grasping the string of jujus around his neck and muttering some words Icould not catch. "I, Omar, Prince of Mo, am thy leader in this struggleof my people against oppression and misrule. If they will declare in myfavour I will free them. I have spoken."
"Thou hast until noon to-morrow to quit this city," Goliba said. "Hastennot thy decision, but what I will show thee secretly ere long willperhaps convince thee of the terrors of the Naya's reign. I have oftencounselled the queen to aspire to the virtues of truth, wisdom, justiceand moderation, the great ornaments of the Emerald Throne, but myendeavours have been frustrated and the fruit of my labour blasted."
As the white-bearded sage uttered these words, I noticed that from behindone of the great marble pillars of the colonnade that surrounded thecourtyard of Goliba's fine house a white robe flitted for an instant,disappearing in the fast-falling gloom. At the moment, sitting as we weresmoking and chatting in the open air, the presence of an intruder didnot strike me as strange, and only half an hour later did I begin to fearthat our decision had been listened to by an eavesdropper, possibly a spyin the service of the terrible queen! When, after due reflection, Iimparted my misgivings privately to Goliba, he, however, allayed myfears, smiling, as he said:
"Heed it not. It was but my slave Fiou. I saw her also as she passedalong."
"Then thou dost not fear spies?" I said.
"Not in this mine own house," he answered proudly. "The dwelling-house ofa royal councillor is exempt from any espionage in the Naya's cause."
This satisfied me, and the incident escaped my recollection entirelyuntil long after, when I had bitter cause to remember it, as will be seenfrom later chapters of this record.
Soon after Omar had promised to act as our leader in his country's cause,Goliba arose, and crossing the courtyard, now lit only by the brightstars twinkling in the dark blue vault above, disappeared through a doorwith a fine horse-shoe arch in Moorish style. Left together, we satcross-legged on the mat, a silent, thoughtful trio. Omar had decided toact on the sage's advice, and none of us knew what the result might be.That fierce fighting and terrible bloodshed must occur ere the struggleended, we felt assured, but with our mere handful of Dagombas we werecertainly no match for the trained hosts of the Naya.
Presently we began to discuss the matter among ourselves. Kona,enthusiastic, yet hardly sanguine, wondered whether the people werearmed, and if not, where we could procure guns and ammunition. Omar, onthe other hand, assured us that nearly every civilian possessed a gun,being bound by law to acquire one so that he might act his part in animmediate defence in case of invasion. He had no apprehensions regardingthe materials for war; he only feared that Goliba might be mistaken inthe estimate of his popularity.
"If they will only stand by me they shall have freedom," he saiddecisively. "If they do not, death will come to all of us."
"We are ready," Kona answered, his black face glistening
in the ray oflight shed by a single lamp lit by a slave on the opposite side of thecourt. "We will serve thy cause while we have breath."
A few minutes later footsteps sounded on the paving, and from thedarkness of the colonnade Goliba, accompanied by six other younger men,all tall, erect and stately, emerged from the shadow and approached us.Addressing Omar, the sage said:
"All these men are known to thee, O Master. I need not repeat theirnames, but they have known thee since their birth, and are of a verity apower in our land. They have come hither to see thee."
My friend rising gave them greeting, snapped fingers with them, andanswered:
"I forget no face. I remember each, and I know ye are men of might andjustice. Each was ruler of a province----"
"All are still governors," interrupted the sage. "They have come hitherto swear allegiance to thee."
"It is even so, O Master," exclaimed one of the men, hitching his richcloak of gold-coloured silk more closely around his shoulders. "We havemet and resolved to ask thee to defy the sentence of banishment that theNaya hath imposed upon thee."
"Already have I decided so to do," Omar answered. "Have I the support ofthy people, O Niaro?"
"To a man," the Governor answered. "For the military we cannot, however,answer. They are ruled by unscrupulous place-seekers, who may defend theNaya, expecting to reap rich rewards; but such will assuredly discoverthat their confidence was misplaced. If the Naya seriously threateneththee and thy friends, then assuredly she shall be overthrown and thoushalt ascend the stool in her stead."
"I thank thee for these expressions of good-will," my friend said afterthe remaining five had all spoken and assured us of staunch support. "Iremain in Mo with my black companions, and when the time cometh I amready to take a stand in the cause against tyranny and oppression."
"May the fetish be good," Niaro said, and as if with one voice they allcried, "We will offer daily sacrifices for the success of our arms."
Together we then went to a small apartment, well-furnished in Arab stylewith mats, low lounges, and tiny coffee-tables, and during the threehours that followed the more minute details of this great conspiracyagainst the tyrannical Naya were discussed and arranged, Goliba acting asadviser upon various points.
As I sat listening to the conversation I fully realised the seriousnessof the great undertaking upon which we had embarked, and I confess myconfidence in our success was by no means deep-rooted, for it wasapparent that in the revolt, if revolt became necessary, the militarywould act on the side of the Naya and suppress it with a firm, mercilesshand. What apparently was most feared by our fellow-conspirators was thatin commanding the suppression of the rebellion the Naya would giveorders for a general massacre of the people.
To guard against this, Niaro urged the secret assassination of the Nayaimmediately preceding the revolt, but Omar, rising with that regal air henow and then assumed, said:
"Give heed, O my friends, unto my words. I, Omar, Prince of Mo, willnever sanction the murder of my mother. A Sanom hath never been amurderer. If this step be decided, I shall withdraw from the leadershipand depart."
"But canst thou not see, O Prince, that a massacre would strike panicinto the hearts of the people, and they would lay down their arms," Niarourged.
"We must prevent all bloodshed that is unnecessary," my friend replied."I am fully aware that in such a struggle as the coming one it must belife for life, but I will never be a party to my mother's murder. If thepeople of Mo desire the Naya's overthrow on account of her barbaroustreatment of her subjects and the bribery and corruption of herofficials, then I, to preserve the traditions of my ancestors, will leadthem, and act my part in their liberation, but only on the understandingthat not a hair of her head is injured."
The men grouped around nodded acquiescence, but smiled.
"When thou hast witnessed how the Naya ruleth her subjects, perhaps thouwilt not so readily defend her," one of the Governors observed. "Ourruler is not so just nor so merciful as when thou wert last in Mo. Go,let Goliba take thee in secret among the people, and only when we nextmeet decide the point."
"I will never allow the Naya to fall beneath the blade or poison-cup ofthe assassin," Omar said decisively. "A Sanom departeth not from the wordhe hath uttered."
After some further discussion this horrible detail of the conspiracy wasdropped, and other matters arranged with a coolness that utterlyastounded me.
We were plotting to obtain a kingdom!