Samba: A Story of the Rubber Slaves of the Congo Page 24

  CHAPTER XXI

  A Dash and All Together

  Barney brought back with him both father and son. Mboyo was afinely-built negro, but Samba, who had been growing rapidly, promisedto outstrip his father in height, as he already excelled him innimbleness of wit. He had a noble brow, and eyes of extraordinarylustre; and Jack could not help contrasting him with the mean-lookingwhite man, who, in the providence of King Leopold, was entrusted withthe lives of such people as these.

  Jack explained his purpose, and the difficulty which seemed to stand inthe way. A glance was exchanged between Samba and his father; then theboy said that they would deal with the outpost.

  "How will you do it?"

  "We will creep upon them."

  "But it is daylight."

  "True. We may fail; but we will do our best."

  "Very well. Now we must get our men together, Barney. It will beuseless for Samba and Mboyo to start until we are ready. In fact, wewill postpone the whole thing for an hour or two. In the hottest partof the day the men in the camp will very likely be dozing or fastasleep; even if they're awake, they'll probably not have all their witsabout them."

  He selected twenty riflemen, including Imbono, Makoko, and Lepoko, andfifty spearmen, the pick of the force, and ordered them to assemble ata given signal at a small exit he had recently had cut in the base ofthe wall on the gully side. The hole had been made at a spot where thegully was very rugged and covered with creepers, so that any oneleaving the fort by this small aperture could scarcely be detectedexcept by an observer placed immediately opposite. The portion of thewall which had been removed could be replaced, and it would beimpossible, save on very close scrutiny, to discover the existence ofthe exit.

  A dozen of the men, besides carrying their weapons, were to sling roundtheir shoulders some large fireballs which had been made under Barney'ssuperintendence from the resin in the confiscated barrels.

  "Begorra, sorr, 'tis meself that has an idea!" cried Barney in themidst of these preparations. "Couldn't we do something to hould theattention uv those villains at the outpost while Samba and the chiefare doing their job?"

  "A good idea, indeed. What do you suggest?"

  "'Deed now, I wish we had Mike Henchie and Denis O'Sullivan and a fewmore uv the bhoys. We'd treat the niggers to the finest dancing widthe shillelagh that iver was seen this side uv Limerick."

  "I wish we had! You speak of shillelaghs. Won't Indian clubs do? Ihave it! We'll get some of the children to go through their exercises.Go and collect them, Samba--Lofinda and Ilafa and Lokilo and Isungila,they're the best, and about a dozen more. But hang it! I forgot.They won't be seen over the wall."

  "Sure there's the platform by the blockhouse, sorr. 'Tis uncommonsmall for a stage play, but 'tis meself could make it wider in a braceuv shakes."

  "Then do so, like a good fellow. It's a capital idea of yours, Barney."

  The platform was quickly enlarged. Then, just after midday, when thesun was blazing fiercely, and in the ordinary course of thingseverybody would be at rest in the huts, Barney marshalled some twentychildren, boys and girls, on the platform, and Jack accompanied Mboyoand Samba to the little exit.

  "You must give me a signal if you succeed with the outpost," said Jack,as they prepared to slip through. "It must not be a sound. You hadbetter show yourself for a moment above the rocks, Samba."

  The instant they had reached the gully, Imbono's drummer began to beathis drum, not with the powerful strokes that would have sent athunderous boom echoing for miles around, but with gentle taps thatwould scarcely be heard beyond the two outposts. At the same time twoor three children blew softly through their little trumpets of bananaleaves. In a moment two woolly heads could be seen cautiously peepingover the rocks for which Mboyo and Samba were making. Then theperformance began. Instructed by Barney, the children on the platformswung their clubs about, wondering why they were forbidden to sing thesong about Lokolobolo which usually accompanied their exercise. Theyknew nothing of the intention of their instructor, nor why he hadchosen this hot hour instead of the cool of the evening; but they lovedhim, and delighted in the rhythmic motion, and they plied their clubsgracefully, all unconscious of the four curious eyes watching them fromthe rocks a few hundred yards away.

  Jack saw nothing of their pretty movements. He was at the wall. Thetwo men of the outpost gazed at the children. Jack gazed at them.Below him squatted his warriors, subdued to unnatural quietness by thethought of what was before them. Impatiently they waited for the word.They did not know exactly what they were to do; Lokolobolo had simplysaid they were to follow him. But they knew Lokolobolo; had he nottime and again brought Elobela's schemes to nought? Lokolobolo hadsaid they were to follow him; and they were confident that where he ledwas the one place in the world for them.

  Twenty minutes passed. The performance on the platform still went on.Then Jack suddenly saw the two black heads above the rocks disappear.Next moment Samba's head showed itself where they had been.

  "Aiyoko!"[1] said Jack to his men.

  Quickly, one by one, they slipped through the narrow hole, and formedup under cover of the thick-growing creepers in the gully. Jack wentlast, saw that the opening was closed behind him, and turned to addresshis men.

  "We are going to Elobela's camp," he said. "We shall go down the gullyuntil we come opposite to it, then I shall lead you; you will comebehind me silently, keeping your ranks. I hope the men in the camp maybe asleep. You will not fire until I give the word. When we havedriven them out of the camp, those of you who have fireballs will setfire to their huts. Then seize on all the guns and ammunition you canfind, and return as quickly as possible to the fort."

  The men's eyes gleamed with excitement. Stealthily as panthers theycrept down the dry gully after their leader. They did not know thatbehind them, at the wall, Barney, having abruptly dismissed thechildren, was watching with a very wistful look. The good fellowwished that he were with them.

  Down they went, as rapidly as the rough ground permitted, scarcelymaking a sound. At length Jack halted. He turned and gave one quickglance over the eager faces; there was no falterer among his band.Then he scrambled over the brink of the gully. Lepoko was first afterhim, Makoko was second; the rest of the men stood upon no order ofgoing, but made each for the easiest point of ascent. And there Mboyoand Samba joined them. Standing on gently sloping ground Jack lookedeagerly ahead. Had his movement been detected? There, two hundredyards away, was the camp within its light stockade. Not a man was tobe seen. The midday sun beat fiercely down; doubtless the garrisonwere enjoying a siesta. No sentry was posted, or, if posted, he hadforgotten his duty. The gate of Ilombekabasi on the northern face wasfar away; what simple negro would suppose that the enemy wasapproaching silently from the nearer end?

  In compact and orderly ranks Jack's men were sprinting noiselesslyafter him, holding their weapons so that no clash or click shoulddisturb the silent camp. They were within a few yards of the stockadewhen suddenly there was a cry. All were black men in the camp saveone. At that moment he, in the intolerable heat, was about to leavehis tent and bathe in a clear stream that ran through the enclosure.He saw the running band; he cried to his men, and, flinging away histowel, sprang back to his hut to get his rifle. He was too late.Jack, getting a "shove up" from one of his men, was on and over thestockade in a few seconds; his men were leaping all around him. Andnow their tongues were loosened. Yells and rifle shots aroused thelethargic garrison, some from sleep within their huts, some from drowsylolling in shady quarters by the stockade. For most of them one glancewas enough. Here was Lokolobolo, the Inglesa, and with him a crowd ofmen among whom they recognized some they had beaten in Ilola with thewhip. With frantic yells of alarm they ran for dear life across thecompound to the gate on the further side, out into the open, neverpausing until they had gained the forest fringe, with half a milebetween them and the men they feared.

  But not all; the white man ha
d seized his rifle and collected a smallband about him. Mboyo, near Jack, gave a cry; among the negroes aroundthe white man he saw Boloko, his renegade brother. Taking cover wherethey could, they began to fire at the invaders, hastily, frantically.But Jack had his men in hand. Bidding them also take cover, he sentthose who had fireballs to creep round the camp and set light to thehuts. Soon volumes of dense suffocating smoke bellied across the camp,screening attackers from defenders. Then Jack gave the order to closein upon the few who resisted. With triumphant yells his men sweptforward through the smoke--a few shots were fired; one or two men fell;then the white man, with Boloko and the rest of his band at his heels,made a dash for the gate. Two men dropped ere they could pass through;but the white man and Boloko and half a dozen others were morefortunate. Out in the open they ran like hunted deer; and Elobela'sburning camp was left in the hands of Lokolobolo.

  Jack lost no time. The stockade and the huts on the windward side wereablaze; soon the whole place must be in flames. The sound of theshots, the sight of the smoke, would bring back Elbel and all hisforce. Shouting to his men to collect all the arms and ammunition theycould carry and then rush back to the fort, Jack went outside thestockade beyond the cloud of smoke to keep watch. The flames wereroaring and crackling behind him; but even at this distance, nearly twomiles from the place where Elbel was at work, he fancied he heard theshouts of the amazed and angry enemy. Then suddenly the deep resonantnote of Imbono's drum struck his ear. Barney must be warning him! Heturned and called to his men to delay no longer. Back to the fort!Meanwhile Barney had followed the movements of the gallant band. Heheard the shots and yells, and saw the first spiral of smoke; then hehastened to the northwest blockhouse, calling to all the riflemen leftwith him to line the wall overlooking the gully. In a few minutes hesaw the negroes above dashing helter-skelter down the slope. And yes!there was Elbel at their head, a figure in white, running as though hewere running for a prize. Barney smiled with satisfaction.

  "Begorra! They're forgetting me!" he murmured pleasantly, as he sawthat the enemy, in their frantic haste, were making for the shortestpath along the further edge of the gully, within easy range of thecamp. Barney determined to wait until they were well abreast of him,and then give them a volley. But the impatience of a negro forced hishand. In the excitement of the moment one of the riflemen, free fromJack's restraining presence, fired his piece. The shot brought Elbelto his senses. He suddenly remembered the danger into which he wasrunning. Turning sharp to the right, he sprinted straight to the coverof the copse. Some of his men followed him; others ran heedlessly on.Growling at the man who had spoilt his scheme, Barney gave the order tofire, and half a dozen of the enemy fell. But Elbel had escaped; andthe rest of his men took warning and diverged from the direct course ashe had done. Barney saw that further efforts would be wasted; so,ordering his men to cease fire, he returned to the other end of thefort to see how Jack was faring.

  Jack rushes Elbel's camp]

  Here they come! Makoko is leading, staggering up the gully under theweight of half a dozen rifles. Behind him is Lombola, poising a loadof ammunition on his head. There is Lingombela, with a bundle ofcartridge pouches roped to his back. So one after another they file upthe gully. Barney opens the little gate in the wall; willing helperswithin haul the loads through. No man enters until all the rifles andammunition have been handed in; then they scramble through, laughingand jesting; and Jack comes last of all.

  "Well done, sorr!" said Barney heartily.

  "Well done, Barney!" returned Jack, gripping his hand. "By Jove!What's that?"

  A loud explosion set the air trembling, and a hundred echoes flyingfrom the rocks around. A dense volume of flame and smoke rose from thesite of Elbel's camp.

  "There goes the last of their ammunition!" said Jack with a laugh."We've got best part of it here."

  "Bedad, sorr, now's the chance for me meself. Give me leave, sorr, andI'll go at them wid the men and wipe them clean off the face uv theearth."

  "Stop, stop, Barney! We mustn't be impatient. They've no moreammunition in reserve, but every man who was with Elbel will have agood many rounds with him. We can't risk a pitched battle against twohundred rifles."

  "Ochone, sorr! Will I niver get a chance at all?"

  "Cheer up! Your chance will come, and you've done splendidly as it is.It was a fine idea of yours to sound that drum when you saw themrunning down. And it was your idea to set something going here tooccupy the attention of the outpost. By the by, I haven't had time toask Samba yet how they dealt with those fellows."

  He called up the boy. His story was very simple. Mboyo and he hadcrawled round under cover of the rocks and bushes, and came upon theunsuspecting sentries from the rear. They had their knives; the mendied without a sound. Jack shuddered. It was not an Englishman's wayof dealing with an enemy; it was the negro's way. But his feeling ofcompunction was somewhat diminished when Samba added that one of themen was Bomolo, the brutal forest guard who had been the terror ofImbono's people. For how many maimings and murders had this man beenresponsible? Surely in this quick death he had met with far less thanhis deserts!

  Jack had every reason to be satisfied with the success of his sortie.To have burned the enemy's camp; captured more than half his reserveammunition, and destroyed the rest, was no mean feat. And as for thepeople of Ilombekabasi, they were frantic with delight. So quietly hadJack made his preparations that the majority of the people knew nothingof what was happening until they heard the first shot. Then theycrowded to the wall and watched eagerly. The camp itself was hiddenfrom them by the contour of the hill, but they saw the smoke risingabove the bushes and hailed it with loud shouts. When they understoodthe meaning of the great noise that followed Lokolobolo's return theywere almost beside themselves with joy. And in the cool of the eveningJack allowed them to hold a great feast, after which Imbono reeled offa long oration in praise of Lokolobolo, and the village bard composedand chanted a new song in numerous stanzas, the whole populace roaringthe chorus:--

  O kelaki na? Bomong'ilombe, Bosak'owa wanga,[2] Lokolobolo!

  For several days after the sortie Jack was left undisturbed. Heguessed how Elbel was occupied, and his conjecture was confirmed bySamba, who at once resumed his scouting work. Elbel was constructinganother camp a good distance east of his former position. And he wasspending more time and labour on it; the stockade was more than usuallyhigh and thick, and was flanked with bastions after the model of theblockhouses at Ilombekabasi.

  Samba also discovered that on the day after the burning of the camp oneof the white men with twenty paddlers had gone down the river. Jackhad no doubt that he had been despatched to the headquarters of hisCompany for more ammunition. Clearly Elbel was rendered only the moredetermined by his successive rebuffs.

  "And I don't wonder at it," remarked Jack, talking the situation overwith Barney. "We are making hay of the rubber collection in thisdistrict, and Elbel's Company will be pretty mad with him. Iunderstand why he hasn't got help before this from the State forces.For one thing he has got to rehabilitate himself with his Company,who'll certainly cashier him if he doesn't find a way out of the messhe has got into. For another thing, if he brings the State forces onthe scene, he'll most likely lose all chance of collaring uncle's gold,and I believe that's at the bottom of it right through. But thingscan't last much longer as they are. The State must intervene soon,whether Elbel likes it or not."

  "And what then, sorr?"

  "Then it will be all up with us, I'm afraid. But we won't look forwardto that. I only wish I could find some means of sending word toEngland of what goes on here, and what we're doing."

  "What would be the good uv it, sorr? Sorrow a bit."

  "Why do you say that?"

  "Why! Because in England they're all too busy making money to attendto such things--making money, sorr, or fighting tooth and nail abouteducation, or dreaming about football. Now if Ireland had HomeRule----
"

  "No politics, Barney! I don't agree with you. I'm as sure as I'malive that if the people at home really knew how abominably the nativesare treated--knew about the floggings and maimings and murders, they'dmake such an outcry that either King Leopold would be forced to changehis policy, or some one would step in and manage things for him. Ifonly England and America would join hands!"

  When Elbel had completed his new camp, he resumed the work far up thehill which the sortie had interrupted. Jack was still at a loss tounderstand what the Belgian's scheme was, and he was prevented fromfinding out, by the fact that every night a strong body was left onguard, as he knew by the many camp fires at the top of the ridge.

  One afternoon, however, the secret was explained. One of the menplaced on the look-out at the north-eastern blockhouse reported that hesaw a stream of water rushing down the hill. Jack hastened to the spotwith his field-glass, and was somewhat alarmed to see that the man'sinformation was correct; water was certainly streaming down over therocky ground, making a course that seemingly would bring it rightagainst the fort wall.

  "He's going to flood us out!" thought Jack. "He must have built anembankment across the new course of the river."

  This was a manoeuvre which he had not foreseen, and one which it seemedimpossible to counter. The water, gathering impetus as it flowed downthe hill, would almost infallibly undermine the wall, even if it hadnot force enough to wash it away altogether. But as he watched, forthe moment so much taken aback that he could not think of anything tobe done, his consternation was changed to amusement, for about twohundred yards up the hill the water made a swerve to his right, andflowed with increasing rapidity in that direction. The slope was suchthat, instead of coming straight down as Elbel had evidently expected,the stream, finding the easiest course, took at this point a trend tothe south-east. After all it would only wash the blockhouse on whichJack stood.

  Jack instantly saw what he ought to do. Running down to the base ofthe stockade, he summoned a large body of workers, and set some of themto dismantle the blockhouse, the remainder to pull down the wall andbuild it up again several feet behind its former position, and in sucha way that instead of forming the angle of a square it lay across,making a line parallel with the course of the stream.

  They had hardly got to work before the full body of water was uponthem. But so many men were employed, and they moved so rapidly, thatonly one or two logs were carried away by the current, the solidlybuilt blockhouse serving as a dam and protecting the workers behind.The main stream fell with a roar over the steep slope on the edge ofwhich the blockhouse stood--a slope only less precipitous than that ofthe cataract, now a thing of the past, at the opposite corner of thefort.

  Only a few minutes later a tremendous outcry was heard from thedirection of Elbel's new camp. For a moment it startled Jack. Had theenemy taken advantage of the sudden flood to organize an attack inforce? But the thought had hardly crossed his mind when he burst intolaughter, causing his workers to pause and look round in astonishment.

  "A magnificent idea!" he said to Barney. "D'you see what has happened?The silly fellow is flooding his own camp!"

  "Bedad, sorr, that's what comes uv being too clever by half."

  "It comes of playing with things he knows nothing about. He's tried anengineer's job without experience and without surveying instruments.It's ticklish work interfering with the course of nature, and you neverknow what will happen if you set water on the run. Look at them,Barney! 'Pon my soul, it's the funniest thing I've ever seen. There'sElbel himself, do you see? scampering down the hill like a madman."

  "Like a mad gorilla, sorr."

  "And all his men after him! By Jove! can't they yell! He'll have toshift his quarters again, Barney."

  "And sure I hope all his food is soaked and all his clothes in thewash-tub. A bath will do those greasy niggers no harm."

  "We'll build up our blockhouse a few yards to the left, and be none theworse. Let's go and lend a hand."

  [1] Now.

  [2] Who did it? The master of the house, A most clever person.