Into The Mist
:
The Great White Queen
OUR troops had, we found, withdrawn from the burning city and were
encamped about a mile away, taking a well-earned rest, and watching with
satisfaction the destruction of the once powerful capital of the "Pirate
of the Niger." The presence of Liola, together with the announcement of
the discovery of the treasure of the Sanoms, that we made to Kona
secretly, caused him the wildest delight. His barbaric instinct overcame
him, and seizing his spear he executed a kind of war-dance around us,
bestowing upon us the most adulatory phrases of the Dagomba vocabulary.
Afterwards he addressed the assembled soldiers, omitting at my desire
all mention of the jewels of Mo, and three days later, having secured all
the gems and golden ornaments, together with Samory's hidden wealth, we
set forth on our triumphant return to the mysterious far-off land.
Rapidly and pleasantly we accomplished the long journey, re-crossing the
treacherous Way of the Thousand Steps without a single mishap, and
ascended to the lofty plateau of Omar's kingdom until, high up in the
grey morning mist, we saw looming before us with almost spectral
indistinctness the gigantic battlements and domes of the City in the
Clouds. On ascending the rope steps at the Gate of Mo a few days
previously we had ascertained that the expedition to the Hombori
Mountains had been entirely successful, for the enemy had been met in the
pass by the defenders and mercilessly overwhelmed and slaughtered.
Against the lightweight Maxim guns, weighing only about twenty-five
pounds each and firing 600 to 700 shots per minute with an effective
range of two miles, the old-fashioned rifles and field-pieces of the
force under the traitor Kouaga had been powerless, hence the whole
expedition had been utterly routed, followed up after their flight and
massacred almost to a man, Kouaga himself being shot dead by Niaro while
strenuously endeavouring to rally his men for a final onslaught. Omar, at
the head of his victorious army, had re-entered the city only the day
before our arrival, therefore on our return we found ourselves in the
midst of feasting and merry-making of a most enthusiastic character.
Little wonder was it that when the news of the complete victory we had
secured spread through the city the joy of the people knew no bounds, for
especially welcome was the information that, in addition to utterly
destroying Samory's city we had secured the whole of his treasure. Kona,
Liola and myself held back the fact that we had also recovered the stolen
jewels, and we also took elaborate precautions that the knowledge of
Liola's safety should not be conveyed prematurely to Omar.
During the formal welcome that the young Naba, resplendent in his
magnificent bejewelled robes of state and surrounded by his sages and
officers, accorded us at the great palace-gate, now fully restored, Liola
held back, hiding herself. Not until evening, when I was sitting with
Omar in his luxurious private pavilion after eating a sumptuous meal
served on the royal dishes of chased gold, I told him confidentially of
the recovery of the lost jewels.
"Impossible, Scars!" he cried in English, starting suddenly to his feet.
"Where did you find them? How?"
Brief words were required to explain how I had discovered them hidden in
Samory's secret cavern beyond the lion's lair.
"I understood that only the wealth of the old Arab's Kasbah was hidden
there," he exclaimed quickly. "This news is indeed as astounding as it is
welcome."
"Your subjects are unaware that your treasure has ever been removed from
Mo, therefore I have not enlightened them," I answered. "Come with me and
see if you recognize any of the jewels."
Eagerly he followed me into a small adjoining apartment where the loot
had been deposited, and as we opened pack after pack he uttered
ejaculations of surprise and complete gratification, recognizing in the
recovered gems the wonderful incomparable heirlooms of his royal house.
He turned to thank me when we had finished, and as he did so I placed my
hand firmly on his arm, saying in a serious voice:
"In addition to these, Omar, I have also recovered a jewel of even far
greater worth than all this magnificent collection; one that will shine
as the brightest and most beautiful gem in the diadem of Mo."
A genuine look of bewilderment crossed his pale refined features for an
instant, as he answered:
"I really don't understand, Scars. No jewel can be of greater intrinsic
value than the Treasure of the Sanoms. What is it?"
For answer, Liola, a veritable vision of classic beauty in her loose
white robe, gold-embroidered at the hem, and broad girdle of fiery
rubies, stepped from behind the heavy curtain of blue silk where she had
been concealed, and stood before him.
Rigid in speechless amazement he stood for a moment, then recognizing
that his lost love was actually present, alive and well, he bounded
towards her, and with a loud cry of joy embraced her, brushing back her
soft hair and covering her white open brow with passionate kisses.
It was indeed a joyous reunion, but as I turned intending to withdraw
discreetly and leave them alone together to continue their exchange of
confidences, my friend promptly called me back, saying:
"Stay, Scars, old fellow! Let me hear from your own lips the solution of
this mystery of the return of the dead to life. Truly you have recovered
a jewel worth to me a hundred times all the treasures of Mo."
Crossing again towards him I described briefly the revolting
circumstances in which I had discovered her, a harem slave of our Arab
enemy; how we had both narrowly escaped being burned to death, our
subsequent adventures in the damp subterranean burrow, and the finding of
the secreted treasure.
"Liola herself also made one discovery," I said in conclusion, laughing
and turning towards her.
Gently disengaging herself from her lover's fond arms she went behind the
curtain where she had hidden, and on coming forth again held in her slim
white hands a round package still securely wrapped in untanned hide,
which she handed to Omar.
"The Rock Diadem of the Naya!" he cried in joy, when his trembling, eager
hands had opened it. "The most valued of all our possessions!" Then,
turning towards Liola, he tenderly placed upon her head the historic mark
of royalty, saying in his own tongue:
"Now that the days of our sorrow have passed like the shadow of a cloud
upon a sunlit sea, we will be wed as soon as it is meet for us so to do,
and upon thy brow thus shalt rest the diadem of the first Naya, the
upright queen to whom Mo oweth her magnificence, her power, and her
present prosperity. Thou shalt sit beside me upon the Emerald Throne;
thou shalt be known as the Naya Liola."
Again he embraced her with ineffable tenderness, and with her handsome
head pillowed heavily upon his shoulder her breast heaved, and from her
deep blue fathomless eyes there fell tears of joy.
At last, having received the warmest thanks from my old companion through
many misfortunes and from the woman he loved, I turned and sought the
sage Goliba, to whom I told the good news of his daughter's safety and
betrothal to Omar.
Three days later the marriage took place amid the most gorgeous pomp and
the wildest popular rejoicings, the strange ceremony being performed by
the high-priest of the Temple of Zomara beneath the golden figure of the
Crocodile-god that hung suspended above the Emerald Throne. Feasts and
merry-making continued throughout a whole moon, and the mystic city,
decorated with flags and flowers, was agog by day and brilliantly
illuminated by night. Never in the long history of the ancient kingdom
had such costly banquets been served; never had the royal entertainments
been on such lavish scale; never had the sounds of revelry contained such
a true genuine ring, for never before had the people been so happy and
content. Though on the day of the marriage Liola was solemnly crowned
with the wonderful Rock Diadem of Mo, I, as keeper of the royal treasure,
allowed no word to go forth regarding the theft and recovery of the Sanom
jewels, which had already been deposited in their original hiding-place
beneath the lake. Samory's treasure was, however, given to Liola by Omar,
and she ordered half of it to be distributed to the poor, an act of
generosity that won for her intense popularity.
Her action was, she told me in confidence, a thank-offering to Zomara for
her timely rescue from a terrible fate.
CONCLUSION.
SAMORY, the truculent old Arab, escaped. By some means he eluded us in
the dark intricacies of that subterranean way, and groping along in a
similar manner to ourselves, he evidently fled to the forest, for he has
since collected the scattered remnant of his nomadic bands, and although
he has never since troubled us, yet he now and then commits depredations
on the borders of the English and French spheres of influence. Ere long
he will overstep the bounds, and one Power or another will certainly send
a punitive expedition to crush and humiliate him, as they have crushed
the arrogant Prempeh of Ashanti.
During many months the means by which the theft of the Treasure of the
Sanoms had been effected remained an inscrutable mystery, and it was only
on the day previous to my departure from the mysterious land for England,
or rather more than six months ago, that the problem was solved and in a
manner entirely unexpected.
In preparation for the annual feast in honour of the Crocodile-god I had
occasion to go secretly and alone to the submerged Treasure-house, in
order to obtain certain jewels which tradition decreed should be worn on
that day by the reigning sovereign. I had emptied the lake, unsealed the
cover of the well-like aperture, locked the mechanism fatal to intruders,
descended and obtained what I sought, when on ascending I was dismayed to
find water pouring in upon me in increasing volumes. Upwards I climbed,
struggling desperately against the inrushing flood thundering down upon
me, and was aghast to find, when I gained the surface, that the
sluice-gates that held back the waters feeding the lake had been opened,
and that it was rapidly refilling. Instantly it occurred to me to replace
the cover, and in breathless haste I succeeded in screwing it down and
dashing for my life back to the bank, the water being up to my arm-pits
ere I reached it.
When next second I glanced upward to the mound where the mechanism was
concealed, I saw standing thereon the wild-looking figure of a woman
with her soiled, tattered garments fluttering in the wind.
Her long scraggy arms were raised high above her head, and she was crying
aloud to me.
Without a moment's hesitation I dashed forward up the hill to secure the
person who had apparently discovered the secret of the Treasure-house,
but on approaching her closely I suddenly halted in astonishment.
The wretched, fiendish-looking virago, upon whose face were the most
hideous distortions of insanity I had ever witnessed, was none other than
the once-powerful tyrannical autocrat, the Great White Queen!
Across her narrow, withered brow, brown almost as a toad's back, a single
wisp of thin grey hair strayed; in her eyes was the unmistakeable light
of madness, while the nails of her outstretched fingers were as sharp and
long as the talons of some beast of prey. So weird and repulsive-looking
was she that I stood before her dumbfounded.
"Ah!" she shrieked to me exultantly, in a harsh, rasping voice, "I have
killed them--drowned them all, the accursed spies and renegades! The
traitor Kouaga captured me as I fled for life from the city-gate, and
promising me release and safe escort from this land of evil spirits in
return for the secret of the Treasure-house, I recklessly gave it to him,
on condition that his armed men should assist me to recover my lost
position as Queen of Mo. I promised to forget the past and take him back
into my favour. But, securing my jewels, he conveyed them to his Arab
master at Koussan, and left me alone, deposed and ruined. May Zomara
crush and torture him, the traitor!" Then, turning with wild gesture
towards the lake, now a great sheet of placid water, her hands clutched
convulsively, her eyes starting as if she saw, in her disordered
imagination, a host of her enemies, she cried: "This, at last, is the
hour of my revenge! I have drawn the lever, and while they were below
with you they were drowned like rats in a hole!" And she gave vent to a
short, dry laugh, exclaiming: "They refused to assist me to tear the
usurper from the Emerald Throne, so I have killed them. My work is
finished! I have reigned and have been deposed; I have striven for the
people, and have been rewarded by their curses; I have----"
At this moment, determined to carry her back to the city, I sprang
forward and gripped her lean, bony arms. With colossal strength,
engendered by insanity, she fought and bit, shrieking and showering
imprecations upon me, it requiring all my strength to hold her; but
presently she became quiet again, uttering long strings of rapid
incoherent words that plainly showed the hopeless state of her mind.
Thus walking, we gained the edge of the lake, and having passed the
cascade were skirting the river when, with a suddenness that took me
completely by surprise, she slipped from my grasp, and with a wild
exclamation dashed towards the warm, oozy bank.
Next second I noticed that the waters were alive with the sacred
reptiles, but ere I could reach her she threw up her long, thin arms, and
uttering an unearthly yell, plunged in.
A dozen hideous, hungry jaws snapped viciously as she cast herself
amongst them, and an instant later where, with a shriek of horror, she
disappeared for ever beneath the waters, the swiftly-flowing current was
tinged red by long streaks of human blood.
In an excess of religious fervour she had sacrificed herself to her god
Zomara.
* * * * *
This is no apologue. Little there remains to tell. Under the beneficent
rule of Omar and Liola power, prosperity and contentment have now
returned to the mysterious ancient realm, within which I have been the
first stranger to set foot. As principal official of the ruler of the
land that, although familiar to me, is still a mystery to the Royal
Geographical Society, I left for England a few months ago on a mission to
the greatest White Queen, Victoria, offering her assistance in her effort
to crush the cruel sway of our mutual enemies the Ashantis. Our offer was
cordially accepted, and the successful issue of the campaign which caused
the downfall of Prempeh is now well known. Before returning to resume my
duties as Governor of Mo, the far-off spectral City in the Clouds, into
which no stranger may enter, I have, however, written down, at the
instigation of the publishers whose name this volume bears upon its
title-page, this plain tale of travel, treason and treasure as a record
of the first successful journey to the high-up, inaccessible land of the
Naya, the once-dreaded Great White Queen.