The capture of Goruba cheered the whole garrison of the fort. Curiously enough, it was rather as the evening visitor who disturbed them than as the leader of the besiegers that the negroes regarded him. No longer would they be worried by the mysterious intruder.
Kulana had, of course, told them about the hole in the wall of the well. They were eager to see for themselves the passage through which the giant had come, but Royce had forbidden that for the present.
Royce on his part, while glad enough to have Goruba in his hands, was in some doubt as to how he could turn that fact to account. Should he inform the Tubus or not? He tried to think the matter out thoroughly.
The Tubus would miss their leader as soon as morning broke. What would they do? No doubt they would at first simply wonder where he had gone, and why; but they would expect him to return and would feel no alarm.
As time passed, however, his continued absence would perplex them. It was pretty clear that they knew nothing of the secret passage. They might begin to search for him, perhaps supposing that he had met with an accident. Not finding him, they would grow more and more anxious; the mystery would paralyse them; they might give up the siege.
What would they do if they learnt that he was a prisoner? The fact might equally discourage them; or it might enrage them and spur them on to a desperate attempt to rescue him. On the whole, it seemed better to keep them in ignorance, so Royce decided to lie low and say nothing.
It was important at any rate that the prisoner should be securely guarded. Accordingly, when morning dawned, Royce had him carried to a little cell adjoining the room where Kulana did the cooking. There was a low doorway between the two rooms, and through this Kulana could keep his eye on Goruba.
Royce had the prisoner tied hand and foot, and instructed Kulana to give him food and water at intervals. Then, to prevent a rescue, he took some men down the well, through the passage and cave, and into the tunnel, which he ordered them to block up at the farther end with stones and earth. Thus, if the Tubus in their search for Goruba should light upon the secret entrance among the trees, they would see only a mass of rubbish and probably not pry further.
Two days passed. Goruba was sullen. He took his meals in silence under the eyes of three of the Hausas, who released his hands for a few minutes, and bound them again when he had finished. Gambaru bathed his injured wrist, but he expressed no gratitude.
On the third day, however, he broke his silence, telling Kulana that he wished to speak to the white man. Kulana left him for a few moments and fetched Royce, who was very curious as to what the big negro would say.
He was surprised and amused as Kulana translated. Goruba, a prisoner, tried to make terms as though he were a free man, and Royce a captive in his place! He said that if he were liberated, he would allow the white man to leave the country unmolested.
"Cheek!" thought Royce, though he could not help admiring the negro's spirit. "Tell him," he said, "that things are the other way round. If his men will give up their arms I will let them all return across the Yo, but they must promise not to come raiding any more."
Goruba's only answer was a scowl. He fell back into his former sullen silence.
"I really can't blame him," thought Royce. "If he went back to the Tubus' country with a broken force, his chief would probably cut off his head at once. Even if he were spared, he would know that he had lost all chance of securing his treasure, for which he has no doubt been scheming for years. But if he holds on, there's always a possibility of being rescued by his party. Goruba is no fool."
Another day passed. Parties of the enemy had been seen wandering in different directions around the fort, but they had not broken up their camps. It seemed indeed to Royce that their numbers had increased, and he guessed that a messenger had been sent back across the Yo to report Goruba's disappearance, and had brought other Tubus with him on his return.
Meanwhile Royce was growing more and more anxious about Challis and about the garrison. What chance had Challis, he thought, of raising the district, devastated as it was, against raiders so strong in numbers and so terrible in reputation? The prospects of relief from the outside were desperately slight.
Inside, food was running short. Royce realised with dismay that he had over-estimated the stock. He doled it out sparingly to Kulana, whose work became lighter every day. Several of the men were showing signs of weakness, some were scarcely fit for duty. Royce was touched by the courage with which they endured their privations. Even the weak did not murmur or complain. All looked to him with trust and confidence that he and Massa Chally would save them.
On this day, as Royce made the miserable dole for the evening meal, he had hard work to appear hopeful and cheerful. But he knew that he, at any rate, must not appear despondent.
"We are getting thin, Kulana," he said, with a smile, "but that gives all the more room for fattening up by and by, when Massa Chally comes back."
"Oh yes, sah—when Massa Chally comes back," Kulana repeated.
"It will be only a day or two now," Royce went on, fervently hoping that the future would not belie him.
"Only a day or two, sah," said Kulana. "Den we eat lots and lots, get all jolly fat."
Royce went to the wall, as he did many times a day, and scanned the country through his field-glasses. But beyond the Tubus' camps there was nothing to be seen but the vast stretch of open country, dotted with bush and woodland. There were no signs of Challis.
Suddenly he was startled by cries of alarm within the fort. Hurrying in the direction of the sounds, he was amazed to see a cloud of smoke arising from the roofless room used by Kulana. The cook was at the door, groaning and wringing his hands. Others were trying to get through the smoke into the room.
No sooner had Royce reached the spot than he heard new cries and rifle shots from the wall. Thinking that the Tubus were attacking at last, he rushed back to deal with the more pressing danger, leaving the men on the spot to fight the fire.
The Hausas at the north-east corner were blazing away in the direction of the tongue of woodland in which lay the entrance to Goruba's tunnel. But there were no Tubus in sight except a small group on foot far to the left, who were not attacking, but had apparently been drawn from their camp by the sound of firing from the fort.
Yes, there was one other. Looking into the distance he had at first failed to see a dark figure nearer at hand, zigzagging down the lower slopes of the hill. When at last Royce caught sight of it, it was disappearing into the wood.
"Stop firing!" he cried, recognising that it was only a waste of ammunition. "Keep a good look out."
Then he hurried back to deal with the fire, wondering whether the negro he had seen was a scout sent up to reconnoitre the fort.
The fire, meanwhile, seemed to have burnt itself out. The room was still full of smoke, smelling of roasting nuts and grain. Royce was seized with misgiving. He plunged through the smoke, coughing and rubbing his eyes. What he saw filled him with dismay. The whole remaining stock of provisions, except a few tins of beef he kept in his own room, was blackened and burnt.
Running back out of the smoke, he ordered some of the men to save what was still savable, then turned angrily to question Kulana, to whose carelessness he thought the fire was due. But his anger was immediately disarmed, Kulana explained that he had been absent a few minutes, fetching water from the well for the evening meal. The fire was quite safe when he left it, but when he returned the place was in flames.
A new suspicion flashed into Royce's mind. Darting again across the smoke-filled room, he bent down to look through the opening leading to the prisoner's cell. Goruba was gone!
Two pieces of broken cord lay on the floor; two other pieces, charred at one end, were in the cookhouse.
Royce could only guess at the manner of escape. During these past days Goruba must have been patiently working his feet loose. Having freed them, he had seized the opportunity of Kulana's absence to crawl into the cook-house, burn the cord about his wrists at the fire, set fire to the food, and make his escape in the subsequent confusion.
Three or four men at the wall said that a man had suddenly and without a sound rushed from behind them, jumped on to the wall, sprung down the twelve feet to the ground outside, and dashed down the hill. They fired as soon as they recovered from their surprise. One of them was sure that he had hit the man.
"But he got away," said Royce gloomily. "And nearly all the food is destroyed." Inwardly he added: "What is to become of us all?"
Kulana was doing his best to provide a meal—the last!—for the garrison, when Royce's thoughts were diverted from their gloomy situation by a sudden call for action.
His look-out men shouted, and rushing to the wall he saw that the great attack, which he had so long expected, was being made at last. The Tubus, dismounted, were rushing up the hill from three sides. Goruba was conspicuous at the head of the party from the north-east.
It was plain that the attack had been arranged. Probably only Goruba's absence had delayed it. The three columns were advancing in such a way that they would reach the fort at about the same moment, and a fact that for an instant struck Royce with the chill of dread was that some men in each party carried short ladders, which during these days of apparent inaction they had evidently been constructing in the woods.
The situation was one which might well cause the bravest heart to quail. The Tubus were two or three hundred in number; the garrison numbered only sixty, all suffering from the lack of sufficient food. Only fifteen had rifles; most of the Tubus carried firearms of a sort. The garrison's greatest defence was their walls, and these the enemy were coming prepared to scale.
"But we'll put up a fight," said Royce to himself.
He divided his riflemen into three sections, and posted one at each of the walls so soon to be assailed. Behind them he placed the rest of the garrison, of whom a few had spears, the remainder being armed only with stones. He himself took up a position on the bastion at the north-east corner.
The Tubus came leaping with immense strides up the hill. Royce waited until they were about two hundred yards away, then gave the order to fire. Three volleys flashed forth; some of the enemy dropped, but their leaders shouted words of encouragement, and the masses continued to sweep onward, as a stormy sea surges around an isolated rock.
The Hausas fired steadily at the word of command, but seemed to make little impression on the ranks of the Tubus. If a ladder-bearer fell, the man nearest to him snatched up the fallen burden and ran on. They did not even fire as they advanced—partly because the garrison were covered by the walls; chiefly, no doubt, because they hoped to overcome the defence by sheer weight of numbers.
Royce felt that the brunt of the attack would fall on that part of the fort against which Goruba was advancing in person. The gigantic negro seemed to bear a charmed life. Although he was bounding up the hill several paces ahead of his followers, and consequently drew the fire of two or three of the Hausas, he was untouched, though some of his men fell at every few yards.
With fierce yells the Tubus pressed on. Hitherto Royce had taken no active part in the fight, standing on the bastion and directing the men on each front. But now, thinking that if Goruba fell his followers might lose heart, he drew his revolver and flashed it at the giant. He was a good shot in general, but for some reason or other he missed, and before he could fire again Goruba was beneath the wall, hidden from him.
In a moment a score of ladders were placed against the wall on either side of the bastion. Royce had no doubt that an equal number was being employed behind him. The Tubus began to swarm up.
Royce saw that his men had done all that was possible with rifle fire; they could now only try to repulse the stormers hand to hand. He ordered his men to club their rifles and strike at every head they saw appear above the walls.
For some minutes there was desperate work, the Tubus striving to make a lodgment on the walls, the garrison to hurl them back. At first the struggle was not unequal. The enemy could only mount one by one; while mounting they could not use their weapons, and the defenders had the advantage of them in position.
GORUBA HAS A BLOWGORUBA HAS A BLOW
Royce waited for Goruba to appear. When he saw the massive head rise above the wall he pulled the trigger of his revolver. There was no response; something had gone wrong.
Dropping the weapon, he snatched the rifle from the nearest Hausa and brought the butt down on Goruba's head with all his force. The man fell back among his followers, and Royce hoped that he had seen the last of him.
But he had underestimated the thickness of the African skull. For a time he was busy with the Tubus who had mounted on each side of their fallen leader, and had just succeeded in clearing the wall in his neighbourhood when he heard loud shouts from the wall behind.
Turning round, he saw that Goruba had mounted there and was laying about him with his clubbed rifle with undiminished vigour. Royce called to Gambaru and another man to follow him, sprang down to the inside of the ditch, and rushed across the fort.
They were just in time to fell two or three Tubus who had already dropped down from the wall, tumbled into the ditch, and were struggling to clamber up. The other Hausas were gallantly trying to beat the assailants from their ladders. The air rang with shouts, mingled with the dull thuds of the rifles as they fell on heads and shoulders. Goruba had managed to plant his feet on the wall, and was about to spring down when Royce thrust his rifle between the negro's legs and, with a sudden wrench, caused him to lose his balance. With a savage yell he fell backwards, and once more lay prostrate on the ground outside.
Reinforced by Royce and his two followers, the Hausas on their side fought with redoubled fury, and after a minute's hard fighting cleared the wall. But the weakening of the defence at his former post had enabled the enemy to press the attack there.
Leaving some of his men to re-open fire on the Tubus, if they returned to the assault, Royce hurried back. He found that during his absence the garrison had been driven from the ramparts. The enemy had drawn up their ladders, and, jumping down on the inner side, had begun to throw them as bridges across the ditch, in spite of the shower of stones which the men there were hurling at them.
Royce called up some men from the western side, where the attack had failed, and led them with a ringing cheer upon the flank of the invaders. Attacked thus from two sides, they gave way and were driven in a confused mass between the wall and the ramparts towards the bastion on which Royce had recently posted his riflemen.
Seized with panic and deprived of their leader, the Tubus tried to clamber up the wall. Some few succeeded, the greater number were knocked down with rifles or pulled back by the defenders, and fell cowering to the ground.
Again Royce had to turn back to deal with another crowd who had taken advantage of his absence to swarm up on the eastern rampart, from which they had driven the panting Hausas. But the men behind the ditch, seeing that they could now cast their stones without hitting their friends, flung the jagged missiles at the enemy just as they were raising their guns to fire.
"Well done!" cried Royce, rushing to their support.
This was enough for the Tubus. Only one of them managed to fire; then a stone struck him, and with his companions he leapt from the wall among the baffled men beneath.
Beaten on all sides, the Tubus took to their heels and fled as fast as they could down the hill which they had ascended with such confidence a quarter of an hour before.
Challis, having re-formed his column, disorganised by the rhinoceroses, led it forward at a brisk pace to make up for lost time. Two men who knew the country went in advance as scouts.
The march continued for the rest of the day without mishap. At night they encamped on open ground, lighting no fires, and with sunrise next morning they were again on foot.
Soon after midday John announced that the fort was about three miles away. Challis ordered the men to halt. Now that they were nearing the enemy it was necessary to move with great caution. Calling the leaders of the various tribes together, he explained to them, through John, that he would leave them for a few hours and go forward alone to reconnoitre the position. They were not to move until his return.
"Sah not go by himself," said John. "Me show way; me savvy all 'bout it."
"I think you are right," said Challis. "I shall go faster with you as guide. Come along, then; let us start at once."
They set off across the open country in the direction of the fort, John's sense of locality making him a capable guide.
Presently they entered an extensive stretch of woodland, through which progress was slow. Just as they reached the farther end of it John started back suddenly.
"Tubus, sah!" he whispered.
Two Tubus, armed with spears, had just dismounted, tethered their horses, and entered the wood.
"This is awkward," thought Challis. "If they are scouts, they may go far enough to see our men, or they may see us. What can we do, John?" he asked.
"Shoot, sah," replied John at once.
"That would never do. The shots would alarm the enemy. Besides, I don't care about shooting. Do you think we could capture them?"
John grinned. The idea pleased him.
"If we can manage it," Challis went on, "you must take them back to our men. I can find my way alone now."
"Berry fine, all same, sah," said John. "Me show sah."
He turned back into the wood, moving swiftly but silently through the undergrowth. Challis followed him, noticing that he was taking a direction away from that followed by the Tubus. In a few moments he guessed the reason of this. John's intention was to get to leeward of the enemy, as if he were stalking animals.
It was nearly half-an-hour before the Hausa stopped, laid his finger to his lips, and pointed through the trees. Challis caught sight of the two men walking slowly towards them, a few yards apart, apparently examining the ground.
John by signs made his leader understand what his plan was. They were to separate and crouch among the undergrowth, one on each side, until the men passed; then to spring on them from behind.
Bending low, they selected two large bushes and lay in wait there. The Tubus came on unsuspiciously, but looking keenly around them.
Challis was tingling with excitement. Would the men see him? Would they hear the rustle of his movements? Would they escape? If they did, it seemed that all chance of a secret approach to the fort would be lost.
His man was drawing nearer. He passed within five or six yards of the bush. Then Challis rose to his feet, gathered himself together, and made a spring towards the negro. The man heard him, turned with a start, and was raising his spear, when Challis, stooping suddenly, threw his arms round the Tubu's knees and brought him to the ground.
Almost at the same moment, twenty yards away, John, as noiselessly as a panther, had leapt upon the back of the second Tubu and fallen on top of him. Depriving the man of his spear, he was now forcing him to crawl on all fours towards his prostrate companion, threatening to prick him with the spear if he made a noise or did not move fast enough.
While Challis kept guard over the men, John cut from the undergrowth a number of pliant tendrils. With these he tied the Tubus' wrists, and fastened them also neck to neck, telling them, in their own language, that they were silly fellows.
One of them spoke to him sullenly.
"Yoi-aloo!" cried John, laughing. "Dey say Goruba gone lost, sah!"
"Lost, is he?" said Challis. "They were searching for him, then. How was he lost?"
"Went away, sah," returned John, after questioning the man. "No savvy what for. 'Fraid him gobbled up."
"That's good news. What will they do if they don't find him?"
"Very sad all same, sah. Dey go back over Yo; had 'nuff; plenty sick, sah."
It was good news indeed that the Tubus had lost their leader; still better that they were disheartened and thinking of returning to their own country.
"Well, John," said Challis, "take these fellows back to our men; then come after me as fast as you can. I will go on and see what is happening."
John went off, driving the negroes in front of him. Challis waited until they were out of sight; then, going to the edge of the wood, he looked all around to make sure that no more Tubus were in sight, and continued his journey, taking cover from bush to bush.
In a few minutes he saw the fort on the hilltop some distance away. Making a round, he approached it from the north-west side, stopping every now and then to listen. Apparently there were no Tubus between him and the fort, but he dared not go too close to it while daylight lasted, for he would certainly be seen as he mounted the hill.
Accordingly he halted in a wooded hollow to wait for darkness. He wondered how the little garrison was faring, whether the Tubus had attacked, whether they were really on the point of giving up the siege. The time passed too slowly for his impatience, and he longed for the sun to go down.
Suddenly, about an hour before sunset, he heard shouts. They ceased immediately. What was happening? He stole up the slope of the hollow, intending to lie flat just below the top and peep over. But before he had reached it there were loud shouts, followed by rapid rifle fire. It was clear that the garrison was defending itself against a fierce assault.
When he gained the top of the slope and looked over, he found that he was still too far away to see anything clearly. The attack was not being made on the side towards which he was gazing. He was on the point of rushing forward, when he saw several dark forms running round the base of the wall. Though he longed to assist his friend, it was clear that he could not run the gauntlet through these armed negroes, and he sank back, filled with great anxiety.
The firing ceased, but the shouts continued for a time. Then again there was silence, and he saw with unspeakable thankfulness that the Tubus had disappeared.
"Well done!" he thought. "It will soon be dark, and then——"
John slipped up quietly behind him.
* * * * *
Meanwhile Royce and his men were resting after their victory. Never had a fight been won at so small a cost. Many of the men had been injured by the Tubus' clubbed rifles, some had spear wounds; but none had been killed, and with care all the wounded would recover.
Royce praised the men for their sturdy defence, and told them he hoped the enemy would trouble them no more. But in his heart he was far from confident. An ordinary raiding party of negroes would long since have abandoned the struggle, but in Goruba these men had no ordinary leader. He had shown himself possessed of exceptional courage and resource, and—what is still rarer in the negro—resolution. While he was with them they would not give up, Royce felt sure.
He wished that he could have disposed of Goruba; but when, after the fight, he mounted the wall at the point where the giant had fallen and looked for him, rifle in hand, he was not to be seen.
Kulana managed to provide a meal from the remains of the burnt provisions, but it was the last. The men knew it, and though Royce spoke cheerily, he could see that they were depressed, in spite of their victory. Unless relief came, they would be face to face with starvation if the siege were maintained, and of relief there was no sign.
When darkness fell Royce posted the sentries as usual, and looked anxiously down the hill to see whether the enemy were still encamped below. His hope that they had withdrawn was dashed by the appearance of their fires in the usual quarters; they still formed almost a complete ring round the hill.
Reckoning up the chances for the hundredth time, Royce realised that, although a sally from the fort might break through the ring, the enemy would follow them up on their horses and, in the open country, overwhelm them.
"It's no go," he thought with gloomy foreboding. "Poor old Tom! What has become of him?"
As he sat resting his chin on his hand, Gambaru came up with two or three of the Hausas.
"Well, what is it?" asked Royce.
"Massa Chally nebber come, sah," said Gambaru in a mournful tone.
"Well? You have something else to say?"
Gambaru hesitated for a moment.
"Food all gone, sah," he began. "What can do? Must eat. Nuffin to eat. Boys all die. All berry hungry, sah."
"I know. We have had little enough all along. We have now nothing at all. I am very sorry for you. But I want you to wait just one more day."
The men talked among themselves. Then Gambaru said:
"Boys no want to wait, sah. Tubus light fires; no go away. No more food; how can fight? Boys say all go out, run fast."
"They would catch us on their horses."
"Die all same, sah," said Gambaru. "No food, all die; Tubus catch um, all die same. One way die slow, other way die quick—boys say die quick best."
Royce was wandering how he could persuade the men to wait, even one day longer, when the bark of a jackal startled them all.
"Thank God!" said Royce, rising in excitement. "It is Massa Chally at last. That was John's cry."
Some of the men shook their heads and declared that it was the cry of a real jackal, but Gambaru and Kulana assured them positively that it was John's imitation. They listened silently for a repetition of the cry. It had come from a distance; there was no other sound in the silence of the night.
The whole garrison flocked to the walls and, holding their breath, peered out into the darkness. They could see nothing, hear nothing.
Minutes passed; hope gave way to disappointment and despair. Even Royce himself felt that he had been mistaken, and the men began to murmur against Gambaru and Kulana.
But suddenly they were startled to silence again by the cry, repeated softly close under the wall on the north-west side. Every one ran to the spot, even the sentries, and Royce did not send them back to their posts. For now, down the slope, they had caught sight of a dim, dark shape moving by almost imperceptible degrees towards the fort.
"Let down a ladder, Kulana," said Royce, whispering through parched lips.
The Hausa took up one of the scaling-ladders left behind by the Tubus and lowered it over the wall. In breathless silence the watchers saw the form crawl up to it, set his foot on it, and begin to climb.
Murmurs of excitement burst from the eager crowd.
"Hush!" said Royce. Leaning over the wall he whispered: "Tom?"
"Right-o, old boy. Back at last!" said Challis's cheery voice.
"Massy Chally back! Massa Chally back!" cried the negroes, irrepressibly laughing and shouting with joy. Royce bade them be silent in vain. His heart was too full to reprove them.
"Thank God, you're back!" he said, giving his hand to Challis as he reached the top of the wall. "I had given you up."
"Glad I'm in time," said Challis, pressing his friend's hand warmly.
"But where is John?" asked Royce. "It was his cry we heard?"
"Of course. I couldn't have done that. John has gone back to my army."
Together in the inner room of the fort, the two friends talked long and earnestly. Royce related all that had happened during Challis's absence; the discovery of Rabeh's hoard, the capture and escape of Goruba, the attack which had just been beaten off. He made light of the garrison's straits for food, and it was some time before Challis learnt that Goruba's cunning had destroyed the little that remained.
"Poor old chap!" he said. "Well, we've brought a little with us, and when we've driven the Tubus away we shall have the whole country to forage in."
"You spoke of your army," said Royce, "You're not pulling my leg?"
"Not a bit of it. I've got a couple of hundred fine fellows three or four miles away. I never thought I should live to be a drill sergeant!"
He explained how he had recruited and trained his army, and Royce chuckled as he saw in his mind's eye the first efforts of the negroes to obey the word of command.
Then they talked over their plans,
"What I propose is this," said Challis. "I'll slip out again presently, get back to my army, and lead an attack on the Tubus' camp to the north-west about dawn. When you hear the rumpus, make a sortie with your men, and fall on the enemy in the rear."
"But what about the other camps?" asked Royce.
"We must tackle them when we have joined forces," Challis replied. "I fancy the Tubus are so unaccustomed to meet organised attack that they won't put up much of a fight. At any rate, I hope they won't, for everybody's sake, though we shan't have done our work properly unless we teach them a lesson."
"Well, old man, we shall owe a lot to you. I've wondered and wondered what you were doing, wished you hadn't gone, feared I should never see you again; in short——"
"In short, you're an old ass, so shut up. You've had much the harder task in keeping your end up here. Now, don't argue, or we shall have to toss for it, and I won last time."
A little later Challis left the fort by the ladder as he had entered it, and crawled down the hill, pausing every now and again to listen for signs of the enemy. Several times he was deceived by the movement of bushes stirred by a light breeze. Once or twice rabbits or other small animals scurried away almost from beneath him, giving him a momentary start until he realised the nature of these harmless disturbances.
He reached the foot of the hill, and directed his course under cover of occasional bushes in a line between south-west and south.
A strange feeling of uneasiness held him, in spite of his efforts to shake it off. Though he moved with the utmost caution, his progress was not so silent as he could have wished. Once he stepped on a dry twig, which snapped with a report that, in his nervousness, he felt sure must be heard by the enemy.
Not until he had reached the shelter of the woodland did he breathe more freely.
There was now little chance, he thought, of his being intercepted by the Tubus, whose camp fires he had left behind him and on either hand. But there was always the risk of coming upon some wild animal, or perhaps a serpent like that which had disturbed Royce's night's rest in the tree, and in his watchfulness he strained eyes and ears painfully.
He passed safely through the thin belt of woodland, and hurried across open ground towards a thicker belt which he saw looming up before him, dark in the starlight. Just as he had come within about fifty yards of it, there was a slight sound immediately in his front. Halting, he heard the patter of bare feet on both sides, and a number of figures darted dimly into view from left and right.
And now Challis's training as three-quarter in his school fifteen stood him in good stead.
As the men approached, he sprang forward, just eluding their attack, swerved to avoid a man right ahead, and dropped, in time to bring down another rushing in from his left. He heard the negroes colliding and jostling one another in the darkness as he sprinted towards the trees.
They were after him instantly, but he had a few yards in hand when he plunged into the undergrowth, heedless of the thorns that tore his hands and clothes. The almost naked negroes were punished much more severely as they rushed in after him.
It was pitch dark in the wood. Challis ran on blindly, tearing a way by main strength, or by doubling and twisting when the obstacles were too firm to be broken through. He soon shook off his pursuers, but it was not long before he recognised that he was lost in the wood, and his nervousness returned with double force.
Should he go on, or stand still? If he went on, he might go farther and farther from his true course. If he stood still, he might be stalked by some wild beast which would probably avoid him if he were moving.
After a little anxious hesitation, he decided to climb a tree and try to get a rough bearing from the stars. When he descended, he pushed on again. He knew that the wood was not very wide. Beyond it was more or less open country, over which he thought he could easily find his way to the spot where his men were awaiting him.
Presently he came to a glade, and went more rapidly, paying less attention to his footsteps, and peering around for some opening through the rest of the wood.
Suddenly the ground seemed to give way beneath him. He fell, accompanied by a landslide of loose earth, and when at last his fall was checked, he lay for some minutes half-stunned upon the ground.
When he regained his wits, he anxiously felt his arms and legs.
"No bones broken," he thought. "But I'm sure I'm black and blue. And where am I?"
Feeling battered and bruised, he got up, shaking off the mass of earth, leaves, and twigs that had fallen with him, and began to grope about in the darkness. In a moment or two he stumbled over something hard, which rattled as he kicked it. He stooped down, and felt with his hand, which touched a heap of bones.
A shudder ran through him, and he recoiled. "Don't be a silly ass," he said to himself, and stooped again, taking up one bone after another. He could not help heaving a sigh of relief. Such large bones could never have been the framework of a human body. "I'm jiggered," he thought. "Of course, I've tumbled into an elephant pit. And how in the world am I to get out?"
He knew that elephants were sometimes trapped in deep pits by the natives, and he had vague recollections of stories of men who had fallen into such pits and never got out again.
Looking upward, he saw signs of dawn through the narrow opening. But within the pit it was still too dark for him to see the nature of the place into which he had fallen. He could only examine it by the sense of touch.
The result of his examination was alarming. He walked round the pit, testing the walls with his hand in the hope of finding a place where the earth had broken away, so that he could climb up. But he found that the walls sloped inward, like an inverted cup. They were quite unscalable.
At this discovery he was aghast. What could he do? He was twelve or fifteen feet below the ground, and though he groped around for objects with which to make a sort of pedestal, he found nothing but the elephant's bones.
"It's no good getting into a stew," he thought. "I had better wait until it is light. Perhaps I'll see a way out then."
He sat down, reflecting that, if there were no other way, he would have to dig up earth with his pocket-knife, and make a pillar high enough, if he stood on it, to enable him to reach the sides of the hole. The thought that, even if he succeeded in this, the earth above might break away in his hands, made him shiver.
In course of time the sky changed from dark blue to grey, and from grey to light blue. But the bottom of the pit was only dimly illuminated, because the hole was so small. He saw now, however, that the bones formed a complete skeleton, and that a pair of enormous tusks lay imbedded in moss, leaves, and earth.
Clearly the pit had long been disused. Those who had dug it had either forgotten it, or more probably had been killed in Tubu raids. The elephant must have met its fate many years before, for nothing but the skeleton remained.
The brushwood originally piled over the opening was only partially displaced when the elephant tumbled in, and creepers had grown over what was left, again concealing the trap.
As he became fully aware of the nature of his position, Challis grew more and more alarmed. He pictured himself sharing the fate of the elephant, starving by inches, and at last his bones lying with the skeleton on the floor of the pit.
His thoughts returned to Royce, waiting in the fort for the help that never came, and to his army, a few miles away, becoming more and more uneasy at the absence of their leader, perhaps quarrelling among themselves, breaking up and leaving the white man to his fate.
These terrible possibilities spurred him to action. Seizing one of the bones, he set to work to scrape at one side of the pit, with the idea of making a pathway.
The earth crumbled away, but was so friable that his work was like digging in sand; the space he hollowed out filled as fast as he scraped the earth away. Then he thought of driving the bones into the side to form steps, but the ground gave no hold sufficient to bear his weight.
These failures drove him to despair. Only one resource was left—to shout for help. His own men were too far away to hear him; the only persons within call were probably the Tubus from whom he had escaped. But he might as well be killed by Tubus as die of hunger and thirst in the pit. Already his mouth was parched through his exertions and his distress of mind.
He shouted again and again, until he was hoarse. There was no answer. Waiting awhile, he made his hands into a trumpet, and shouted still more loudly up through the opening. In the hollow pit the sound was tremendous. Still no one replied.
Feeling desperate, he seized his bone spade again and hacked feverishly at the floor.
"I must do something," he thought, "or I shall go mad."
With the earth he dug up he began to construct a pillar. But he soon realised that it would take many hours, perhaps days, to raise it to a sufficient height.
Hot, weary, and despairing, he was resting for a moment when he heard a low hail from above. He looked up; at one side of the hole he saw a dark face peering down. He could not distinguish the features.
Without stopping to consider whether the man were an enemy or a friend, he called to him, and he trembled with joy when he heard, in startled tones, the words:
"Massa Chally!"
"John!" he cried. "I can't get out, John."
He laughed afterwards when he remembered this very obvious statement.
"Take care," he added. "We shall both be lost if you fall in, too."
"Oh my lawks!" John ejaculated. "What for you go tumble in dat way, sah? Berry funny all same."
"Not so funny as you think," said Challis. "You must get me out. I've had enough of it."
"Oh yes, sah, me savvy. Half mo, sah."
His broad face disappeared. After some minutes he returned with an armful of creepers, which he stripped of their leaves and deftly wound into a rope. This he let down into the pit. Challis tied it under his arms, and called to John to pull. But John, strong as he was, could not haul up a man of Challis's weight without leverage, as he found in a very few moments. There was no convenient tree within easy reach. What was to be done?
"Wind it round you, and I will climb up," said Challis.
But he had risen only a few feet above the floor of the pit when John staggered, and Challis let go and dropped for fear of pulling the Hausa down. The mishap seemed to tickle John, who laughed heartily, though Challis found it no laughing matter, and was all the time uneasy lest the Tubus should appear on the scene.
"Don't stand there grinning like an ape," he said somewhat tartly.
John sobered at once.
"Me savvy, sah," he said, and for the second time he went away.
When he came back he was accompanied, to Challis's astonishment, by the two Tubus whom they had captured on the previous day. Lengthening the rope a little, he wound it tightly round the two men, who were still tied together, then called to Challis to climb.
RESCUED BY THE ENEMYRESCUED BY THE ENEMY
In half a minute Challis's head was level with the brink of the pit. Then John, telling the Tubus to move away, grasped his master's hands, and by dint of the efforts of the three men Challis was hauled out of his prison.
"How did you happen to be here with the Tubus?" asked Challis, when he stood beside John.
"Nebber let go, sah," said John.
"But I told you to take them back to the men."
"All same, sah," was John's reply.
He seemed unwilling to say more, fearing, perhaps, a reproof for disobedience. But Challis managed to get out of him the explanation that he had been too anxious about his master's safety to go far away. He had left the Tubus tied up to a tree while he went on to the fort to give his jackal cry, and on returning to them he had decided to wait in the forest to make sure that Challis would come back safely. At dawn he was stealing in the direction of the fort when he heard Challis's cry.
"Well, it's very lucky that you did disobey," said Challis, "and I owe you my life, John. Be sure I shan't forget it."
"Like to please Massa Chally," John grinned happily.
Anxious to make up for lost time, Challis hurried back with John and the Tubus to the spot where he had left his men. As he expected, they were becoming restless. But they gave a great shout of joy when they saw him in the distance, and Challis sent John forward to order them to be silent; for all he knew, Tubu scouts might be in the neighbourhood.
His intention, as he had arranged with Royce, was to reach the Tubus' camp north-west of the fort about sunrise, and he felt that there was grave risk in leading an attack in broad daylight. But the thought of Royce's disappointment, of his wonder and dismay when the arrangement was not carried out, nerved him to the task.
Impressing on the men that they must march in perfect silence, he drew them up in an orderly column, inspected their arms, and moved off at their head. Some of the best scouts were thrown out ahead and on the flanks to guard against surprise with orders to report at once if they caught sight of the enemy.
Challis felt very nervous. Numbers and arms were on the side of the Tubus. He had hoped to counterbalance this disadvantage by the effect of a sudden swoop in the early morning twilight, but that was now impossible.
The steadiness of his men, however, at the fight by the swamp, was of good augury, and their belief in white man's magic and trust in their leader were strong. They were full of courage and enthusiasm, and seemed confident that the coming struggle would rid them for ever of the murderous tyranny of their oppressors.
They followed a roundabout course, in order to take advantage of all the cover afforded by the numerous clumps of woodland on the western side of the fort.
As they passed through the undergrowth and trees, they started many flights of birds, which Challis feared would give warning to the Tubus, from whom he had so narrowly escaped in the night. He was surprised that there was no sign of them. Why had they not followed him up, or at least fetched a body of their comrades to hunt for him?
The explanation, which he only guessed at later, was that the Tubus had supposed that the white fugitive was Royce. They reported this to Goruba, who jumped to the conclusion that Royce had left his men in the lurch. The result of this mistaken belief will be seen presently.
The column thus advanced unmolested and unseen. After an hour and a half's march, John, who had gone ahead with the scouts, came back to announce that they were now in a line with the fort, which was something less than a mile away.
Challis called a halt at the western side, farthest from the fort, of a patch of scrub. Once more he impressed on his men the necessity of silence. He told them also that if they succeeded in putting the Tubus of the north-west camp to flight, they must not carry the pursuit too far, for they would then become dispersed and be unable to deal with the men from the other camps.
Wondering doubtfully whether John had made his meaning clear, he was about to lead his men on, when a sound suddenly struck his ear. For the moment he did not recognise it, but hearing it again he knew it to be the sound of horses neighing. The animals were apparently between him and the camp.
An idea flashed into his mind.
"John," he said, "go out ahead and see where those horses are, how many there are, and what the Tubus are doing."
It was twenty minutes before John returned. His report was interesting, and would have been alarming, but for the idea which had occurred to Challis.
About fifty of the Tubus, said John, were about to ride off in a northerly direction. Each man had four or five horses in his charge, so that they were probably going to a grazing ground somewhere near.
The rest of the men in the north-west camp were hard at work making ladders. It was clear that another attack was to be made on the fort. The ladders previously used had been left behind under the walls.
It was clear, too, that the enemy had no suspicion of any attempt from the outside to raise the siege. Confident in their numbers, they had taken no steps to guard against an attack from the rear.
"With luck we have them!" said Challis to himself, and turned to give final orders to his expectant men.
Challis wished to get as near as possible to the Tubus who were collecting the horses without being discovered. Accordingly he drew out his men in line over a long front, and passed the word along that they must keep a strict silence.
Then he signed to them to advance, and they moved forward swiftly, with the lightness of foot which is the negroes' birthright.
For some distance they were covered by the undergrowth. In spite of all their care, it was inevitable that the passage of so large a number of men should cause a slight rustling, and they were still nearly three hundred yards from the horses when the sound was heard.
The Tubus turned round, caught sight of them, and raised a shout of alarm. Concealment was no longer possible. Challis blew his whistle for the charge. His men answered with a fierce yell, and the whole line swept forward.
Challis had scarcely anticipated the effect of the shrill cries from hundreds of throats. The Tubus' horses were seized with panic and plunged wildly. Their riders, unable to control them, were themselves terror-stricken at the sight of the long line of warriors rushing towards them. Dropping the horses' bridles, they led the stampede.
The mob of men and horses surged towards the camp, where some of the Tubus were engaged in making new ladders, the rest cooking or idling. They dashed through and over them, scattering them right and left. Panic spread through the camp, and before the attackers were within striking distance, the whole force of the enemy was in headlong flight.
The horses in their blind charge dashed into the slight grass huts which the Tubus had built and razed them to the ground. Challis saw Goruba spring up from the ruins of one of them, catch at the bridle of a horse that was running by, and leap with extraordinary agility upon its back.
On went the torrent. The Tubus who had arms in their hands at the moment of alarm flung them away to speed their flight. Behind them panted Challis's men, shouting more and more loudly as they saw the dreaded enemy fleeing before them, and Challis rejoiced in the prospect of a bloodless victory.
For a little the course was uphill, towards the fort; but the slope gradually affected the direction, and the fugitives bore more and more to the right. At last they disappeared among the brushwood and woodland to the north of the fort, Goruba, conspicuous on his horse, striving vainly to check the flight.
When all the horses and men had vanished from sight, Goruba reappeared after a moment or two and galloped round the hill to the west, the direction of the second Tubu camp.
Challis had hard work, even with John's assistance, to keep his men in hand. Their instinct was to rush into the wood after the fleeing enemy, and they could not understand why the white man's whistle kept on calling them to halt.
Their line was quite broken, and it was some minutes before Challis could reform it. Even then it was incomplete, for many of the men, carried away by their ardour, had dashed among the trees.
But the line was reformed only just in time. Round the base of the hill galloped a force of Tubus from the second camp, led by Goruba. It was clear from the disorder of their ranks that they had mounted and rushed off without any attempt to form up.
Challis felt a good deal of anxiety about the result of the approaching collision until he saw that the Tubus were much fewer in number than his own men. Their lack of order also gave him a great advantage.
Shouting to his men to plant their pikes and stand firm, he awaited the onset. Goruba and the foremost of the Tubus charged straight upon the bristling barrier. Down they went, though the impact felled many of the pikemen. But their fall caused their comrades behind to hesitate. Challis was quick to seize the moment. With a shrill blast of his whistle he ordered his men to charge, and the willing negroes, always more ready to advance than to hold their ground, rushed forward with an impetuosity that carried all before it.
Some of the Tubus turned at once and galloped away. A few stood for several moments, as if weighing the chances of a countercharge; then they too, wheeled their horses about and urged them to a frantic gallop. Within a few minutes from the first dash, the hillside in this quarter was clear.
Challis again called off his men, and hastened to search for Goruba, whom he expected to find dead or at least seriously wounded on the ground. But among the fallen enemy there was no trace of the giant. He had disappeared.
Meanwhile, Royce, according to his arrangement with Challis, had dealt with the enemy in the third camp. He had almost given up hope when he heard the first sounds of the fray.
The third party of Tubus, when the alarm was raised, took a course which would have brought them on the rear of Challis's men. This had been foreseen by Royce. After Challis's departure in the night, he had had the gateway cleared, except for a light, movable barrier, in readiness for a sortie. He had seen from the walls the flight of the first party of the enemy, and the other two parties rushing to the rescue, one on Challis's front, the other on his rear. Leaving Challis to deal with the frontal attack, he led his men out through the gateway to head off the other party.
ROYCE LEADS THE CHARGEROYCE LEADS THE CHARGE
Unlike Challis, he had fewer men than the enemy, and less than a third of them were armed. But one rifle was of more value than many spears. The men lined up on the slope of the hill, where the advancing enemy must come within close range. At the word of command they fired.
The Tubus checked instantly. They appeared to hesitate whether to run the gauntlet of the attack and push on to the support of their comrades or to remain and fight it out with the garrison of the fort. It was evident that they had no leader of authority, and Royce, like Challis, was quick to profit by their hesitation.
"After me, boys!" he cried, and led the Hausas in a headlong charge down the hill.
Behind them, in a wild, tumultuous mob, swarmed the other men, some armed with stones, some with spears, some even with the Tubus' scaling ladders.
The very boldness of the movement decided the issue. If the Tubus stopped to think, they must have supposed that so small a body, in measuring themselves against overwhelming numbers, was covered by support from some other quarter. They fired one scattered volley. Royce did not halt his men to reply to it, but bounded on at their head whooping like a schoolboy, while the Tubus kicked their horses' flanks and bolted for cover to the nearest wood.
The fight was won.
Royce and Challis met at the foot of the hill.
"Splendid, old man!" said the former, gripping his friend by the hand. "I had almost given you up, and my men were in a frightful state of depression."
"Not more depressed than I was," rejoined Challis with a smile. "I was depressed sixteen feet below ground! But I'll tell you all about that presently. Give your men a good feed out of the reserve provisions we have brought. I'll send my lot out to prevent the Tubus from reuniting; then we'll talk things over."
Challis sent three-fourths of his force into the forest and the surrounding country, with orders to check any attempt of the scattered Tubus to combine. Meanwhile Royce's men revelled in what was, after their privations, a sumptuous feast.
While they were eating Royce and Challis attended to the few wounded.
"It's extraordinary, that so few have been lost on either side," said Challis. "It's almost a bloodless victory. The Tubus have been vastly over-rated. They seem more ready to bunk than to fight."
"The explanation is simple enough," said Royce. "They have never met with organised opposition before. They have had it all their own way, and kept the negroes down by the sheer terror of their name. Their power is gone for good now."
"I'm not sure of that," returned Challis. "Goruba is still at large. He was bowled over when he charged my pikemen, but he couldn't have been much hurt, for he got clean away."
"That's a pity. If we had collared him our victory would have been complete. None of your men saw which way he went?"
"They didn't say so."
"If we could only find out, we might pursue him. So long as he is at large, he is a danger; he may rally the fugitives, and when they have got over their fright they will be a far more formidable enemy to tackle."
"Well, let us round up some horses, in case we get word of him. We'll probably find a good many in the woods."
"A good idea. Some of the Hausas can ride—I will send them."
He selected half-a-dozen of the Hausas, including Gambaru and Kulana, and sent them under John's command to bring in any horses they might find within a short distance of the fort. While they were gone, Challis related the incident of his fall into the pit.
"But for John's disobedience I should never have got out," he concluded. "We owe a good deal to the devotion of our men, Hugh."
"We do, indeed, and it shan't go unrewarded. The way they have stuck to us is magnificent."
After about an hour, John and his party returned, riding on captured horses and leading others. They also brought several Tubu prisoners, tied to their saddles. John was evidently much excited.
"Goruba, sah!" he cried, springing from his horse. "Him run away."
"We know that," said Royce. "Which way did he go? Did you see him?"
"No see him, sah. Hah! Him berry clebber chap, sah, Gamba feel very bad, sure 'nuff."
"Who is Gamba? What do you mean?" Royce asked.
John drew forward one of the prisoners, a tall young negro slightly wounded in the thigh.
"Dis Gamba, sah," John went on. "Him say Goruba pull him off horse, knock him boko, sah. Goruba get a horse, run away all same. Gamba berry mad; what for Goruba run away, not him? Him Tubu, Goruba no Tubu; make him berry mad, sah."
John did not explain himself very clearly; but, after questioning him patiently, Royce made out that when Gamba was about to ride away Goruba pulled him from the saddle, struck him on the head, and galloped away on his horse.
Gamba resented this. He had always disliked Goruba as a stranger who had wormed his way into the confidence of the Tubu chief, and whose rise to power had awakened the jealousy of many of the tribe. He blamed Goruba, too, for the misfortunes which had lately befallen the community, and had a personal grudge against him for appropriating his horse and preventing him from fleeing to safety.
"Which way did Goruba ride?" asked Royce.
Gamba explained that Goruba had ridden northwards towards the Yo, probably to fetch reinforcements large enough to crush the Englishmen's party.
"He has got a good start," said Royce to Challis. "but there's just a chance we may catch him if we go at once."
"Especially if this fellow will guide us," said Challis.
In spite of his wound, Gamba was eager to lead the chase of the man he hated. Accordingly, Royce and Challis mounted and, accompanied by the Tubu and their six Hausas, cantered away towards the north. John, much to his disappointment, was left behind in command of the men.
As they rode on, the Englishmen got more information from Gamba, Kalana interpreting. It turned out that he was a nephew of the childless chief of the Tubus, and had expected some day to succeed him, until Goruba appeared on the scene.
Moreover, he had a special affection for the horse of which he had been deprived. It was the fastest horse owned by the tribe, and Goruba had long coveted it. He said that if Goruba rode straight for the Yo and crossed it they would never catch him. Their only chance of doing so was that he might be delayed, or halt for some reason or other.
On learning this Royce quickened the pace. Gamba led the party almost due north, through a country which had probably never before been visited by a white man. It was broken, hilly country, for the Yo was still far from the mud flats that mark its entrance into Lake Chad.
They soon had visible proof, in hoof marks, that more than one horseman had recently ridden in front of them. Clearly Goruba was not alone. Gamba dismounted and examined the tracks. He gave a grunt of satisfaction when he discovered the track of his own horse.
When they rode on he seemed to forget that he was following up an important member of his own tribe. All his attention was fixed on recovering his horse and squaring accounts with a personal enemy.
Keenly scanning the trail as he rode, he pointed out every now and then spots where stragglers had joined Goruba, until it was clear that the party with him numbered eight or nine men.
"We needn't bother about them," said Royce. "You boys, go for Goruba. You can't mistake him; he is bigger than the rest. Don't kill him if you can help it; he will be more useful to us alive than dead."
The track was easy to follow, and there was no doubt that Goruba was making straight for the Yo. It was not likely that he had given up the contest, for his treasure was still safe in the underground cave.
Royce hoped that the giant would not meet a raiding party of Tubus before he reached the headquarters of the tribe, for with his few Hausas, armed with rifles though they were, he would be no match for a large band of the negro warriors.
The sun was hot, and the stiff pace at which they rode fatigued the whole party. But Royce pressed on, hoping to make up for the start of more than an hour which Goruba had had.
At last, early in the afternoon, he caught sight of the quarry about two miles ahead, disappearing over the crest of a gentle slope.
The pursuers, who were riding down hill, urged their horses to a gallop. Easing them up the slope, they found when they had reached the top that they had gained nearly half-a-mile on the fugitives, who were apparently unaware of being followed.
From this point onwards the country was a succession of ups and downs like a switchback. The Tubus had disappeared; when next they were sighted, they had almost gained the top of another slope. Royce allowed them to pass from sight over the skyline, then galloped on to gain on them once more.
Hitherto the ground had been fairly open, but it became more wooded as they proceeded. The Tubus were hidden when the pursuers got to the crest of the hill. They gave their horses a breather, and then pushed on at full speed over a rough forest track. Royce was leading with Gamba, Challis and the rest following in single file.
It was impossible to see more than about a hundred yards in front, owing to the winding of the path among the trees. Suddenly the rearmost of the Tubus came into sight about eighty yards ahead. At the same moment he heard the thuds of the pursuers' horses, turned in his saddle, and, shouting with alarm, urged his horse forward.
"After them!" cried Royce, digging his heels into his horse's flanks.
A turn of the path brought the whole nine of the fugitives into view. The path narrowed, so that there was only room for one horseman to ride at a time. The better mounted of the Tubus tried to pass the slower, with the result that some were edged off into the wood on either side, and tried to force their way through the entangling vegetation.
"Never mind about them," cried Royce, who had seen Goruba's huge form galloping ahead of two others.
It was a wild ride. In some places the branches of trees hung down over the path, and the pursuers had to dodge them by bending low on their horses' necks. At other places the path itself was obstructed by fallen boughs and by masses of creepers, so that both pursuers and pursued had the utmost difficulty in avoiding a fall.
Royce, with his eyes fixed on Goruba, narrowly escaped coming a cropper, and was only saved by the sure-footedness of his horse, accustomed to running in this wild forest country. Gambaru was struck from his saddle by an overhanging branch, and Challis, close behind him, pulled up just in time to avoid riding over him.
One of the Tubus riding behind Goruba edged his companion off into the thicket. Royce, close on his heels, shot out his left arm as he passed and threw the man from his seat.
Then, just as his horse was steadily overhauling the man in front, there was a sudden dramatic development.
Goruba glanced round, took the measure of the situation, and drawing a pistol, while still riding at full speed, deliberately shot the horse of his follower. The beast fell with its rider. Royce was unable to check his horse in time; it turned a somersault over the fallen animal, and Royce was shot over its head into a thorn bush several yards away.
The Hausas yelled with alarm and reined up. Challis, forgetting Goruba in his anxiety for his friend, sprang from his horse and ran to assist him as he rose, torn and bleeding, from the merciless thorns.
For a few seconds Royce was too dazed with pain and shock to think or speak. Then, collecting his wits, he said:
"Don't bother about me! After Goruba—don't let him escape."
But Goruba had reckoned on the confusion and delay which his shooting the horse would occasion. By the time that Challis had remounted and dashed on in pursuit, the bold negro was out of sight.