CHAPTER XII
BEFORE THE BATTLE
Luckily for us, Infadoos and the chiefs knew all the paths of the greattown perfectly, so that we passed by side-ways unmolested, andnotwithstanding the gloom we made fair progress.
For an hour or more we journeyed on, till at length the eclipse beganto pass, and that edge of the moon which had disappeared the firstbecame again visible. Suddenly, as we watched, there burst from it asilver streak of light, accompanied by a wondrous ruddy glow, whichhung upon the blackness of the sky like a celestial lamp, and a wildand lovely sight it was. In another five minutes the stars began tofade, and there was sufficient light to see our whereabouts. We thendiscovered that we were clear of the town of Loo, and approaching alarge flat-topped hill, measuring some two miles in circumference. Thishill, which is of a formation common in South Africa, is not very high;indeed, its greatest elevation is scarcely more than 200 feet, but itis shaped like a horseshoe, and its sides are rather precipitous andstrewn with boulders. On the grass table-land at its summit is amplecamping-ground, which had been utilised as a military cantonment of nomean strength. Its ordinary garrison was one regiment of three thousandmen, but as we toiled up the steep side of the mountain in thereturning moonlight we perceived that there were several of suchregiments encamped there.
Reaching the table-land at last, we found crowds of men roused fromtheir sleep, shivering with fear and huddled up together in the utmostconsternation at the natural phenomenon which they were witnessing.Passing through these without a word, we gained a hut in the centre ofthe ground, where we were astonished to find two men waiting, ladenwith our few goods and chattels, which of course we had been obliged toleave behind in our hasty flight.
"I sent for them," explained Infadoos; "and also for these," and helifted up Good's long-lost trousers.
With an exclamation of rapturous delight Good sprang at them, andinstantly proceeded to put them on.
"Surely my lord will not hide his beautiful white legs!" exclaimedInfadoos regretfully.
But Good persisted, and once only did the Kukuana people get the chanceof seeing his beautiful legs again. Good is a very modest man.Henceforward they had to satisfy their aesthetic longings with his onewhisker, his transparent eye, and his movable teeth.
Still gazing with fond remembrance at Good's trousers, Infadoos nextinformed us that he had commanded the regiments to muster so soon asthe day broke, in order to explain to them fully the origin andcircumstances of the rebellion which was decided on by the chiefs, andto introduce to them the rightful heir to the throne, Ignosi.
Accordingly, when the sun was up, the troops--in all some twentythousand men, and the flower of the Kukuana army--were mustered on alarge open space, to which we went. The men were drawn up in threesides of a dense square, and presented a magnificent spectacle. We tookour station on the open side of the square, and were speedilysurrounded by all the principal chiefs and officers.
These, after silence had been proclaimed, Infadoos proceeded toaddress. He narrated to them in vigorous and graceful language--for,like most Kukuanas of high rank, he was a born orator--the history ofIgnosi's father, and of how he had been basely murdered by Twala theking, and his wife and child driven out to starve. Then he pointed outthat the people suffered and groaned under Twala's cruel rule,instancing the proceedings of the previous night, when, under pretenceof their being evil-doers, many of the noblest in the land had beendragged forth and wickedly done to death. Next he went on to say thatthe white lords from the Stars, looking down upon their country, hadperceived its trouble, and determined, at great personal inconvenience,to alleviate its lot: That they had accordingly taken the real king ofthe Kukuanas, Ignosi, who was languishing in exile, by the hand, andled him over the mountains: That they had seen the wickedness ofTwala's doings, and for a sign to the wavering, and to save the life ofthe girl Foulata, actually, by the exercise of their high magic, hadput out the moon and slain the young fiend Scragga; and that they wereprepared to stand by them, and assist them to overthrow Twala, and setup the rightful king, Ignosi, in his place.
He finished his discourse amidst a murmur of approbation. Then Ignosistepped forward and began to speak. Having reiterated all that Infadooshis uncle had said, he concluded a powerful speech in these words:--
"O chiefs, captains, soldiers, and people, ye have heard my words. Nowmust ye make choice between me and him who sits upon my throne, theuncle who killed his brother, and hunted his brother's child forth todie in the cold and the night. That I am indeed the kingthese"--pointing to the chiefs--"can tell you, for they have seen thesnake about my middle. If I were not the king, would these white men beon my side with all their magic? Tremble, chiefs, captains, soldiers,and people! Is not the darkness they have brought upon the land toconfound Twala and cover our flight, darkness even in the hour of thefull moon, yet before your eyes?"
"It is," answered the soldiers.
"I am the king; I say to you, I am the king," went on Ignosi, drawingup his great stature to its full, and lifting his broad-bladedbattle-axe above his head. "If there be any man among you who says thatit is not so, let him stand forth and I will fight him now, and hisblood shall be a red token that I tell you true. Let him stand forth, Isay;" and he shook the great axe till it flashed in the sunlight.
As nobody seemed inclined to respond to this heroic version of "Dilly,Dilly, come and be killed," our late henchman proceeded with hisaddress.
"I am indeed the king, and should ye stand by my side in the battle, ifI win the day ye shall go with me to victory and honour. I will giveyou oxen and wives, and ye shall take place of all the regiments; andif ye fall, I will fall with you.
"And behold, I give you this promise, that when I sit upon the seat ofmy fathers, bloodshed shall cease in the land. No longer shall ye cryfor justice to find slaughter, no longer shall the witch-finder huntyou out so that ye may be slain without a cause. No man shall die savehe who offends against the laws. The 'eating up' of your kraals shallcease; each one of you shall sleep secure in his own hut and fearnaught, and justice shall walk blindfold throughout the land. Have yechosen, chiefs, captains, soldiers, and people?"
"We have chosen, O king," came back the answer.
"It is well. Turn your heads and see how Twala's messengers go forthfrom the great town, east and west, and north and south, to gather amighty army to slay me and you, and these my friends and protectors.To-morrow, or perchance the next day, he will come against us with allwho are faithful to him. Then I shall see the man who is indeed my man,the man who fears not to die for his cause; and I tell you that heshall not be forgotten in the time of spoil. I have spoken, O chiefs,captains, soldiers, and people. Now go to your huts and make you readyfor war."
There was a pause, till presently one of the chiefs lifted his hand,and out rolled the royal salute, "_Koom._" It was a sign that thesoldiers accepted Ignosi as their king. Then they marched off inbattalions.
Half an hour afterwards we held a council of war, at which all thecommanders of regiments were present. It was evident to us that beforevery long we should be attacked in overwhelming force. Indeed, from ourpoint of vantage on the hill we could see troops mustering, and runnersgoing forth from Loo in every direction, doubtless to summon soldiersto the king's assistance. We had on our side about twenty thousand men,composed of seven of the best regiments in the country. Twala, soInfadoos and the chiefs calculated, had at least thirty to thirty-fivethousand on whom he could rely at present assembled in Loo, and theythought that by midday on the morrow he would be able to gather anotherfive thousand or more to his aid. It was, of course, possible that someof his troops would desert and come over to us, but it was not acontingency which could be reckoned on. Meanwhile, it was clear thatactive preparations were being made by Twala to subdue us. Alreadystrong bodies of armed men were patrolling round and round the foot ofthe hill, and there were other signs also of coming assault.
Infadoos and the chiefs, however, were of opinion that no atta
ck wouldtake place that day, which would be devoted to preparation and to theremoval of every available means of the moral effect produced upon theminds of the soldiery by the supposed magical darkening of the moon.The onslaught would be on the morrow, they said, and they proved to beright.
Meanwhile, we set to work to strengthen the position in all wayspossible. Almost every man was turned out, and in the course of theday, which seemed far too short, much was done. The paths up thehill--that was rather a sanatorium than a fortress, being usedgenerally as the camping place of regiments suffering from recentservice in unhealthy portions of the country--were carefully blockedwith masses of stones, and every other approach was made as impregnableas time would allow. Piles of boulders were collected at various spotsto be rolled down upon an advancing enemy, stations were appointed tothe different regiments, and all preparation was made which our jointingenuity could suggest.
Just before sundown, as we rested after our toil, we perceived a smallcompany of men advancing towards us from the direction of Loo, one ofwhom bore a palm leaf in his hand for a sign that he came as a herald.
As he drew near, Ignosi, Infadoos, one or two chiefs and ourselves,went down to the foot of the mountain to meet him. He was agallant-looking fellow, wearing the regulation leopard-skin cloak.
"Greeting!" he cried, as he came; "the king's greeting to those whomake unholy war against the king; the lion's greeting to the jackalsthat snarl around his heels."
"Speak," I said.
"These are the king's words. Surrender to the king's mercy ere a worsething befall you. Already the shoulder has been torn from the blackbull, and the king drives him bleeding about the camp."[1]
"What are Twala's terms?" I asked from curiosity.
"His terms are merciful, worthy of a great king. These are the words ofTwala, the one-eyed, the mighty, the husband of a thousand wives, lordof the Kukuanas, keeper of the Great Road (Solomon's Road), beloved ofthe Strange Ones who sit in silence at the mountains yonder (the ThreeWitches), Calf of the Black Cow, Elephant whose tread shakes the earth,Terror of the evil-doer, Ostrich whose feet devour the desert, hugeOne, black One, wise One, king from generation to generation! these arethe words of Twala: 'I will have mercy and be satisfied with a littleblood. One in every ten shall die, the rest shall go free; but thewhite man Incubu, who slew Scragga my son, and the black man hisservant, who pretends to my throne, and Infadoos my brother, who brewsrebellion against me, these shall die by torture as an offering to theSilent Ones.' Such are the merciful words of Twala."
After consulting with the others a little, I answered him in a loudvoice, so that the soldiers might hear, thus--
"Go back, thou dog, to Twala, who sent thee, and say that we, Ignosi,veritable king of the Kukuanas, Incubu, Bougwan, and Macumazahn, thewise ones from the Stars, who make dark the moon, Infadoos, of theroyal house, and the chiefs, captains, and people here gathered, makeanswer and say, 'That we will not surrender; that before the sun hasgone down twice, Twala's corpse shall stiffen at Twala's gate, andIgnosi, whose father Twala slew, shall reign in his stead.' Now go, erewe whip thee away, and beware how thou dost lift a hand against such aswe are."
The herald laughed loudly. "Ye frighten not men with such swellingwords," he cried out. "Show yourselves as bold to-morrow, O ye whodarken the moon. Be bold, fight, and be merry, before the crows pickyour bones till they are whiter than your faces. Farewell; perhaps wemay meet in the fight; fly not to the Stars, but wait for me, I pray,white men." With this shaft of sarcasm he retired, and almostimmediately the sun sank.
That night was a busy one, for weary as we were, so far as was possibleby the moonlight all preparations for the morrow's fight werecontinued, and messengers were constantly coming and going from theplace where we sat in council. At last, about an hour after midnight,everything that could be done was done, and the camp, save for theoccasional challenge of a sentry, sank into silence. Sir Henry and I,accompanied by Ignosi and one of the chiefs, descended the hill andmade a round of the pickets. As we went, suddenly, from all sorts ofunexpected places, spears gleamed out in the moonlight, only to vanishagain when we uttered the password. It was clear to us that none weresleeping at their posts. Then we returned, picking our way warilythrough thousands of sleeping warriors, many of whom were taking theirlast earthly rest.
The moonlight flickering along their spears, played upon their featuresand made them ghastly; the chilly night wind tossed their tall andhearse-like plumes. There they lay in wild confusion, with armsoutstretched and twisted limbs; their stern, stalwart forms lookingweird and unhuman in the moonlight.
"How many of these do you suppose will be alive at this timeto-morrow?" asked Sir Henry.
I shook my head and looked again at the sleeping men, and to my tiredand yet excited imagination it seemed as though Death had alreadytouched them. My mind's eye singled out those who were sealed toslaughter, and there rushed in upon my heart a great sense of themystery of human life, and an overwhelming sorrow at its futility andsadness. To-night these thousands slept their healthy sleep, to-morrowthey, and many others with them, ourselves perhaps among them, would bestiffening in the cold; their wives would be widows, their childrenfatherless, and their place know them no more for ever. Only the oldmoon would shine on serenely, the night wind would stir the grasses,and the wide earth would take its rest, even as it did aeons before wewere, and will do aeons after we have been forgotten.
Yet man dies not whilst the world, at once his mother and his monument,remains. His name is lost, indeed, but the breath he breathed stillstirs the pine-tops on the mountains, the sound of the words he spokeyet echoes on through space; the thoughts his brain gave birth to wehave inherited to-day; his passions are our cause of life; the joys andsorrows that he knew are our familiar friends--the end from which hefled aghast will surely overtake us also!
Truly the universe is full of ghosts, not sheeted churchyard spectres,but the inextinguishable elements of individual life, which having oncebeen, can never _die_, though they blend and change, and change againfor ever.
All sorts of reflections of this nature passed through my mind--for asI grow older I regret to say that a detestable habit of thinking seemsto be getting a hold of me--while I stood and stared at those grim yetfantastic lines of warriors, sleeping, as their saying goes, "upontheir spears."
"Curtis," I said, "I am in a condition of pitiable fear."
Sir Henry stroked his yellow beard and laughed, as he answered--
"I have heard you make that sort of remark before, Quatermain."
"Well, I mean it now. Do you know, I very much doubt if one of us willbe alive to-morrow night. We shall be attacked in overwhelming force,and it is quite a chance if we can hold this place."
"We'll give a good account of some of them, at any rate. Look here,Quatermain, this business is nasty, and one with which, properlyspeaking, we ought not to be mixed up, but we are in for it, so we mustmake the best of our job. Speaking personally, I had rather be killedfighting than any other way, and now that there seems little chance ofour finding my poor brother, it makes the idea easier to me. Butfortune favours the brave, and we may succeed. Anyway, the battle willbe awful, and having a reputation to keep up, we shall need to be inthe thick of the thing."
He made this last remark in a mournful voice, but there was a gleam inhis eye which belied its melancholy. I have an idea Sir Henry Curtisactually likes fighting.
After this we went to sleep for a couple of hours or so.
Just about dawn we were awakened by Infadoos, who came to say thatgreat activity was to be observed in Loo, and that parties of theking's skirmishers were driving in our outposts.
We rose and dressed ourselves for the fray, each putting on his chainarmour shirt, for which garments at the present juncture we feltexceedingly thankful. Sir Henry went the whole length about the matter,and dressed himself like a native warrior. "When you are inKukuanaland, do as the Kukuanas do," he remarked, as he drew theshining steel over his broad
breast, which it fitted like a glove. Nordid he stop there. At his request Infadoos had provided him with acomplete set of native war uniform. Round his throat he fastened theleopard-skin cloak of a commanding officer, on his brows he bound theplume of black ostrich feathers worn only by generals of high rank, andabout his middle a magnificent moocha of white ox-tails. A pair ofsandals, a leglet of goat's hair, a heavy battle-axe with arhinoceros-horn handle, a round iron shield covered with white ox-hide,and the regulation number of _tollas_, or throwing-knives, made up hisequipment, to which, however, he added his revolver. The dress was, nodoubt, a savage one, but I am bound to say that I seldom saw a finersight than Sir Henry Curtis presented in this guise. It showed off hismagnificent physique to the greatest advantage, and when Ignosi arrivedpresently, arrayed in a similar costume, I thought to myself that I hadnever before seen two such splendid men.
As for Good and myself, the armour did not suit us nearly so well. Tobegin with, Good insisted upon keeping on his new-found trousers, and astout, short gentleman with an eye-glass, and one half of his faceshaved, arrayed in a mail shirt, carefully tucked into a very seedypair of corduroys, looks more remarkable than imposing. In my case, thechain shirt being too big for me, I put it on over all my clothes,which caused it to bulge in a somewhat ungainly fashion. I discarded mytrousers, however, retaining only my veldtschoons, having determined togo into battle with bare legs, in order to be the lighter for running,in case it became necessary to retire quickly. The mail coat, a spear,a shield, that I did not know how to use, a couple of _tollas_, arevolver, and a huge plume, which I pinned into the top of my shootinghat, in order to give a bloodthirsty finish to my appearance, completedmy modest equipment. In addition to all these articles, of course wehad our rifles, but as ammunition was scarce, and as they would beuseless in case of a charge, we arranged that they should be carriedbehind us by bearers.
When at length we had equipped ourselves, we swallowed some foodhastily, and then started out to see how things were going on. At onepoint in the table-land of the mountain, there was a little koppie ofbrown stone, which served the double purpose of head-quarters and of aconning tower. Here we found Infadoos surrounded by his own regiment,the Greys, which was undoubtedly the finest in the Kukuana army, andthe same that we had first seen at the outlying kraal. This regiment,now three thousand five hundred strong, was being held in reserve, andthe men were lying down on the grass in companies, and watching theking's forces creep out of Loo in long ant-like columns. There seemedto be no end to the length of these columns--three in all, and each ofthem numbering, as we judged, at least eleven or twelve thousand men.
As soon as they were clear of the town the regiments formed up. Thenone body marched off to the right, one to the left, and the third cameon slowly towards us.
"Ah," said Infadoos, "they are going to attack us on three sides atonce."
This seemed rather serious news, for our position on the top of themountain, which measured a mile and a half in circumference, being anextended one, it was important to us to concentrate our comparativelysmall defending force as much as possible. But since it was impossiblefor us to dictate in what way we should be assailed, we had to make thebest of it, and accordingly sent orders to the various regiments toprepare to receive the separate onslaughts.
[1] This cruel custom is not confined to the Kukuanas, but is by nomeans uncommon amongst African tribes on the occasion of the outbreakof war or any other important public event.--A.Q.
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