A Salute Of Bullets
: The Great White QueenTHE low booming was, however, not repeated, and by this my companion
apparently became reassured, for shortly afterwards he threw himself down
near me to snatch a few hours' repose before dawn. I suppose I, too, must
have slept for some time, until suddenly a noise like thunder that seemed
to cause the earth to tremble awakened me, and together with the rest of
our party I sprang to my feet, fancying that some terribl
occurred.
It was still dark, and as each asked breathlessly of his neighbour the
cause of the deafening noise a sudden red flash showed for an instant on
the summit of the rock near where I had seen the light, and a second
report thundered forth, making the valley echo and startling the birds in
thousands from their roosting-places.
"We are attacked!" the natives cried. "It is a gun!"
It was a gun undoubtedly. Again it belched forth, its fire causing the
earth to tremble, sending some small shots unpleasantly close, and
striking terror into the hearts of our companions, who started to fly for
safety, expecting each moment that a shower of lead would sweep upon
them.
"Stay, cowards!" Omar cried. "Yonder gun fires not with anger, but with
joy. It is my welcome home; its fire is but powder play!"
Then a loud, joyous laugh arose, and the black faces broadened into great
grins, displaying red lips and white teeth.
"Truly the land of the great Naya is a land of wonders!" cried Kona, in
astonishment. "Here they welcome the queen's son by shooting at him.
Surely those shots a moment ago were more than powder play!"
"A mistake no doubt," Omar answered laughing. "Already it is known in Mo
that we are here in the Grave of Enemies, and the guns are being fired as
welcome, while steps are being taken to convey us into yonder land."
"How shall we be conveyed thither?" the headman asked, looking up puzzled
at the bare face of the rock, the summit of which was now obscured by a
bank of cloud.
"Wait until sun-rise. Then you will see," answered my friend
mysteriously, and as he spoke the blood-red flash showed again and the
great gun thundered forth its salute.
While the dawn was spreading we ate our morning meal with eyes fixed upon
the great high crag whence the gun belched forth with monotonous
regularity; then Omar and I strolled away together further up the valley
to occupy our time until the sun-rise. Here I saw for the first time that
natural curiosity, the honey-bird. Omar pointed it out to me. It was a
little grey common-looking bird about the size of a thrush. It first
forced itself upon our notice by flying across our path, uttering a
shrill, unlovely cry. It then sat on a neighbouring tree still calling
and waiting for us to follow. By short rapid flights the bird led us on
and on till we noticed that it stopped its onward course and was hanging
about among a certain half-dozen trees. These we visited one after
another and carefully examined them, our search being rewarded by finding
a nest of bees in each of them. It is a matter of honour with the
natives to set aside a good portion of the honey for the bird. Although
this action of the honey-bird is an established fact in natural history,
it would be interesting to know whether he ever tries to entice
quadrupeds also in assisting him in obtaining his much-loved honey.
As we walked back to the camp the sun suddenly broke forth, the clouds
rolled away, and on looking up at the point where the guns had been fired
we saw on the summit a number of moving figures, looking like black
specks against the morning sky. Everyone stood watching the far-off
inhabitants of the mysterious realm, wondering how we were to gain the
high overhanging rock that descended sheer to where we stood. Presently
the excitement reached fever-heat when we saw the small black figures
grouping themselves into a mass, and then we noticed that one man was
being slowly lowered by a rope over the precipice. The rope was
apparently passed under his arms, and as he swung out into mid-air his
companions began to let him down rapidly to where we stood. Owing to the
overhanging nature of the rock the wind caused the man to swing backwards
and forwards as a pendulum, and by reason of hitches that seemed to occur
in the arrangements above he was several times stopped in his descent.
At last, however, his feet touched the ground and headed by Omar, we all
rushed towards him. He was a very tall, loosely-built man, his complexion
almost white with just a yellowish tinge, colourless lips, colourless
drab hair; vague irregular features, with an entire absence of
expression. He wore an Arab haick upon his head bound with many yards of
brown camel's hair, a long white garment, something like a burnouse, only
embroidered at the edge with crimson thread and confined at the waist by
a girdle containing quite a small arsenal of weapons, while at his back
he carried a rifle of European manufacture, and around his neck was the
invariable string of amulets.
"I seek Omar, son of the Naya, the Great Queen," he cried with a loud
voice, as his feet touched the grass and he disengaged himself from the
swaying rope, which still continued to descend.
"I am Omar, Prince of Mo," answered my friend, stepping forward quickly.
The messenger from the mysterious realm above regarded him keenly from
head to foot, not without suspicion. Then looking him straight in the
face, he said with a puzzled expression upon his countenance:
"Thou hast altered since thou hast dwelt among the English. Thy face is
not that of Omar who left many moons ago with our Naya's trusted servant
Makhana."
"Yet I am still Omar," he exclaimed, laughing. "Thy caution is
commendable, Babila, son of Safad, but as the moon groweth old so does
the boy turn youth, and the youth man."
"Thou knowest my name, 'tis true," observed the messenger gravely. "But
where are thy royal jujus; those placed upon thy neck by the great Naya
in the presence of the people?"
"I fell among enemies who burned them."
"The curse of Zomara be upon them," Babila said. "Who were they?"
"The hirelings of our enemy, Samory."
"Then some have already met with their deserts, for three thousand of
them lie here in this valley," and he pointed to the gruesome corpses
scattered upon the grass. "But hast thou no possession to assure me that
thou art actually the long-absent son of our Naya?" he inquired.
"Thou carriest thy caution a little too far in this affair, Babila," Omar
answered smiling. "True, I have lost my jujus, nevertheless I can answer
thee what questions thou puttest to me regarding my youth and my life in
Mo. I know that thou art determined to satisfy thyself that I am actually
the Prince, ere thou admittest us to our kingdom."
"The caution I exercise is my duty to the great Naya and my country,"
Babila answered. "No invader nor intruder hath ever entered Mo, and none
shall while I am chief custodian of its Gate. The bones of many
adventurers lie here in this valley."
"Yes, I know that well," Omar answered good-humouredly. "But what must I
do to satisfy thee?" Then turning to me, he exclaimed in English, "This
is amusing, Scars. I am actually prevented from entering my own country
because I have grown a trifle taller!"
"What sayest thou in a foreign tongue?" Babila inquired, with a quick
look of suspicion.
"I commented upon the absurdity of my situation to my companion,
Scarsmere, who has accompanied me from England," Omar answered frankly.
"Scarsmere," repeated the man from the unknown region. "Scarsmere. And is
he your friend?"
"Yea, my best friend."
"If thou art actually Omar then his friend will assuredly find welcome in
Mo," the man said with courtesy. "But answer the questions I put to thee.
Canst thou tell me anything regarding myself?"
"Well, I think I can," answered my friend with a laugh. "When I was quite
a young lad thou wert one of the guardians of the outer gate of our
palace. Once I was threatened by a ruffianly soldier as I passed, and
thou didst strike him dead with one blow of thy sword. For thy prompt
punishment of the fellow thou wert exalted by the Naya and given command
over her body-guard. It was because thou didst unearth the dastardly
conspiracy against her life that thou wert given the custodianship of the
Gate of Mo."
"True," the man answered with a smile of satisfaction. "In one of my age
loss of memory is excusable, yet now on looking closely at thee, I see
the resemblance--yea, I welcome thee home, my lord the prince."
In an instant his manner had changed, and he became the most obedient of
slaves.
"Very well," Omar said. "Now thou art satisfied that I am what I said we
will lose no time in passing the last barrier."
"But these?" Babila inquired, glancing suspiciously at the black rabble
forming our Dagomba following.
"They are my escort," Omar answered. "Every man, from Kona, the head-man,
to the meanest slave, is my trusted servant, and they all deserve reward.
Each shall enter Mo and receive it at the hands of the Naya herself. This
I have already promised."
"The servants of the lord prince are welcome. The people shall fete
them, and make their days pass as quickly as seconds fly. If thou art
desirous they shall enter and be presented to the great Naya before whose
eyes all men quail," Babila said, bowing humbly before his royal master.
"Then let us not pause. We desire to enter Mo without an instant's
further delay. The way has been long and the obstacles great, but we have
successfully accomplished all, and seek now to enter the palace of my
queen-mother."
"Thy commands shall be obeyed," the man replied, again salaaming, and,
walking to the rope, he placed the loops under his arm-pits, and a few
minutes later was on his way back to the mysterious land, waving his hand
to us and promising that ere an hour passed we should enter the realm of
the Great White Queen.
With eager upturned faces we watched the cautious custodian of the mystic
kingdom dangling at the end of the rope, gradually leaving us, until at
length he was hauled up upon the far-off summit of the rock and
disappeared among the small crowd collected at the brow. The men were
evidently soldiers, and the eager manner in which they grouped themselves
about Babila when he stepped into their midst, showed what intense
excitement our arrival had caused.
As we watched we soon afterwards saw lowered from the towering height
what appeared at first to be a thin black cord, but which, when the end
fell at our feet, we found to be a ladder of curiously-knotted ropes
about as thick as packing twine, so flimsy in construction that it seemed
as though the weight of a single man would break it.
"Are we to climb to the top?" I asked Omar, who passed me by quickly in
order to examine the ladder.
"Of course," he said.
"But surely these ropes will not bear our weight!" I observed. "They are
only like string."
"Yes, but the core of each is of steel wire of such strength that it
would bear our whole party all together," he answered. "Nevertheless, it
is perhaps best to avoid running risks, so only a dozen shall ascend at a
time."
I looked up at the swaying ladder with distrust. I had heard many stories
of ropes chafing on the edges of rocks and being cut through, and my
awful experience in descending the face of the precipice opposite had
been sufficiently terrifying.
"The land of the Great White Queen is, indeed, unapproachable," I said.
"Surely no enemy could invade you?"
"We fear no outside enemy," Omar answered with sudden seriousness. "It is
internal dissensions that may cause trouble. Every precaution is taken
here, at the gate of our land, to prevent an enemy from gaining Mo. The
valley is commanded by guns in such a manner that it can be swept from
end to end, so that even if a foe were to succeed in treading the Way of
the Thousand Steps he must descend here and remain under the fire of the
guns."
"I noticed that last night you signalled with a torch," I said.
"Ah! you were awake and did not speak," he laughed. "Yes, I flashed my
name, with a message to the Naya. This was conveyed to her by a system of
signals flashed from one point to another across the country in similar
manner to those of European armies. At night the signals are constantly
at work and take the place of your telegraphs. When the message reached
the Naya she sent me a word in return, but even then Babila was far too
cautious to afford us means to enter the country without first inspecting
us himself."
"You've grown a bit, and become more Anglicized since you left," I said,
smiling.
"Yes, possibly," he answered, adding, "I was, however, going to explain
that so elaborate are the precautions against invasion that even now the
ladder has been lowered, nay, even if we were at the top, the custodians
of the Gate could, by simply pressing a button, send a current of
electricity through the wires that form the cores of the ropes of such a
strength, that the ropes and ourselves would almost instantly be fused
into a shapeless mass. See! the ropes are wet, so that the full strength
of the current could, if desired, be turned upon us." And he pulled
forward the ladder and placed it in my hand.
Instinctively I shrank away, saying:
"I have no desire to be electrocuted just yet."
"Well, it's merely one of the many devices we have here for the warm
reception of any enemy," he answered. "The number of bodies yonder are
sufficient proof that any expedition against us must be ill-fated."
But just at that moment a rapid signal was flashed by the sun's rays upon
a mirror, and reading it, he exclaimed in English:
"All is fast above. Come, Scars, old chap, follow me and let me hear your
opinion of my country. Keep your chin raised and don't look down, or you
may turn giddy."
Then, giving directions to Kona to allow only twelve men to swarm the
flimsy ladder at one time, he placed his foot upon the first rung and
commenced the long straight ascent.
As soon as he had climbed a dozen feet I glanced up at the towering crag,
then followed his example.
More
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Thus ended this memorable seance. That conversation threw me into a fever. I came out of my uncle's study as if I had been stunned, and as if there was not air enough in all the streets of Hamburg to put me right again. I therefore made for the bank... A Woman's Treachery
According to the agreement with Heideck, Brandelaar, on his return from Dover, was to put in at Flushing, and the Major had instructed the guardships at the mouth of the West Schelde to allow the smack to pass unmolested without detention. But he ... A World Called Crimson
When the starship Star of Fire collided with a meteor swarm six parsecs stellar north of the galactic hub in the year A.D. 2278, it lost its atmosphere within forty-five minutes. At first it was thought that every man, woman and child of the fou... Aboard The Lindner
James Medart was looking forward to his arrival in the Kingdom Systems. Another new culture to study, this time a group whose ancestors had fled the early Empire in an attempt to escape religious persecution. From Captain DeLayne's reports, that... Accident Or Incident?
The next day, the 22nd of March, at six in the morning, preparations for departure were begun. The last gleams of twilight were melting into night. The cold was great, the constellations shone with wonderful intensity. In the zenith glittered tha...