Words Of Fire
:
The Great White Queen
RAISING our eyes from the straight narrow path whereon we set our feet in
the footprints of those before us, we halted and looked eagerly ahead.
We had come to the edge of what seemed a shallow depression, and already
Omar had disappeared from view, followed cautiously by those immediately
behind him. Owing to the cries of warning and astonishment from each man
who reached the edge, I advanced, carefully following my
lack companion
in front until I at length gained the spot where the path ended.
Involuntarily a cry of amazement escaped me. I looked over into a fearful
abyss. Below was a fertile valley, but so deep was it that the river
looked only like a silver thread, and the trees but an inch in height. I
was standing on the edge of a huge granite cliff that went down sheer
into the valley, its face almost as flat as the side of a house.
The descent appeared terrible. I shuddered as I looked over, and Kona,
who came behind me, also peeped down and cried:
"See! It is the Great Gulf about which we have heard. Into this the Naya
hurls her enemies."
On the opposite side, about a quarter of a mile distant, gigantic
overhanging crags rose from the valley to a height greater than the rock
whereon we were kneeling. At a glance we could both see that to scale the
wall of rock opposite would be impossible owing to its overhanging
nature, therefore, we concluded that our way lay along the fertile valley
where the cool welcome green refreshed our eyes.
Already Omar and a couple of dozen of our black followers were carefully
swarming down the face of the rock. Now and then warning shouts arose
from them, and ever and anon Omar's voice could be heard giving
directions, or urging caution. The latter was certainly necessary, for a
single false step would mean a terrible death.
As I gazed down into the deep abyss I felt my head reeling. There is a
fascination in great heights that impels one to thoughts of
self-destruction. A sudden dizziness seized me as I placed my foot over
the edge of the fearful precipice, and were it not for Kona, who,
noticing my condition, gripped me by the arm, I should have certainly
missed my footing and been dashed to pieces on the needle-like crags at
the base.
The sudden knowledge that I had been within an ace of death caused me to
hold my breath; then I crept cautiously over the edge. For a moment, with
my hands clutching frantically upon a jutting piece of rock, my legs
swung in mid air, failing to find a foothold, and I cried out, fearing
lest I should again fall. But at last my feet struck against a
projection, and upon it I carefully lowered myself, while Kona also swung
himself over, taking the perilous position I had a moment before
occupied. Again and again I lowered myself, gripping on to the successive
projections, and lowering myself until my feet touched the one below,
thus descending as Omar had done.
"Be careful, Scars," he presently cried from far below. "Drop straight,
and look to your footing."
His words caused me to reflect upon the strange fact that each of these
projections, almost like natural steps, were placed immediately below one
another. Whether they were actually natural formations, or whether they
were the work of man I could not determine. Yet they seemed interminable,
and sometimes so far apart that I remained stationary, fearing to let
myself go until, urged downward by Kona, I held my breath, and, steadying
myself, dropped upon the narrow ledge below. Dreading a recurrence of
giddiness I dared not to look down at my companions. My bare feet and
hands were blistered and cut by the sharp edges of the rocks, and my
movements were seriously hampered by the musket slung at my back.
The descent was terribly fatiguing. The way across the quicksands had
been so level that we had walked, counting our paces mechanically, but
now in every movement there was danger, and terror gripped my heart with
a gauntlet of steel. From every pore there broke from me a cold
perspiration, as from each tiny projection I lowered myself, not knowing
whether my feet would find another resting-place. For my black
companions, who were taller and more muscular, the way was not nearly so
difficult, and Kona, aware of this, assisted me whenever possible.
Once, when I found myself progressing well, and apparently having
successfully negotiated the more dangerous of these natural steps, I
paused for a few moments to breathe, and, summoning courage, looked down
to where the others were scrambling below. I was then amazed to discover
that, notwithstanding all the fatigue, the distance I had covered was
scarcely perceptible. I still seemed almost as far from the base of the
rock as I was when first I had peered over into the abyss. Suddenly,
without warning, I felt the rock give way beneath my feet, and the next
instant the whole projection, loosened by the weight of Omar and his
followers who had preceded me, fell away beneath me, and crashed straight
down into the valley.
My presence of mind caused me just at that instant to grip the ledge
above, otherwise I, too, must have gone with my unstable resting-place.
It was indeed a narrow escape, and as clinging on with my hands, my legs
again swinging in mid air, I heard the heavy rock, weighing perhaps a
ton, strike a projection under me and then crash down, carrying all
before it.
There was an appalling shriek from below, and I dreaded to turn my gaze
downward, fearing that my companions had been swept away by the great
mass of stone. At last, however, I looked in trepidation and was
gratified to notice that the projection struck by the rock had been left
by the man preceding me, and that the course of the descending stone had
been altered so that all had escaped.
"Careful up there!" shouted Omar angrily. "Don't spring upon the steps,
or they will become loosened like that one. It might have swept the
whole lot of us into the valley if its course had not been turned. Lower
yourselves slowly--very slowly--take plenty of time."
"I did it, Omar," I cried breathlessly. "It was an accident. I could not
avoid it, and nearly fell, too."
But it was apparent that my voice did not reach him, for he slowly
lowered himself over the next projection, and continued giving directions
to the men who followed, while I, with the next ledge fallen away, was
compelled to let myself drop a distance of about nine feet on to one that
seemed far below.
From that point the descent became much easier, although during the two
hours it occupied I stumbled and nearly lost my foothold many times. My
feet and hands were covered with blood, my elbows were severely grazed,
and from my knees the skin was torn by the constant scrambling over the
edges of the ledges.
Truly the approach to the Land of the Great White Queen was fraught with
a myriad dangers.
When about half-way down the steep rock another piercing shriek broke
forth immediately below me, and glancing down I saw one of our black
companions who had dropped from one ledge to the next lose his footing,
stumble, and fall headlong into the great chasm. Cries of horror escaped
us as we saw him strike a rugged ledge of rock far below, rebound, and
then fall head foremost to the rock's base, his skull already battered to
a pulp.
This terrible lesson was heeded by everyone, and for fully half an hour
the silence was almost complete, save for the gasps and hard breathing of
our followers as they toiled onward down the steep face of the gigantic
rock.
Someone cried out that here, as across the quicksands, there were a
thousand steps. If this were true, as I believe it was, then the average
distance between the ledges being about five feet, the height of the rock
was somewhere about five thousand feet. When progress at last became
easier, I tried to attract Omar's attention, and inquire whether we
should have to scale the rock opposite, but I could not project my voice
far enough below to reach him. When he shouted I could hear, as his voice
ascended, but he apparently could not distinguish what I said in reply.
Kona, his bow and empty quiver slung behind him, scrambled down after me
ever nimble as a cat. His black skin shone like ebony, but here and there
were cuts from which blood freely flowed, showing that he too, although
inured to a savage life, had not altogether escaped in this struggle to
enter the land unknown.
As we approached the base the ledges became more frequent, and hastening
in my downward climb I at last experienced gratification at finding the
peril past, and myself standing at the foot of the great precipice.
"Well?" asked Omar, approaching me quickly. "How did you fare?"
"Badly," I answered with a smile. "A dozen times I gave myself up for
lost."
"Care and courage may accomplish everything," he said, laughing. "Few,
however, would care to risk the perils of the Thousand Steps without a
guide, or even if they did, and succeeded in accomplishing the journey to
this point, they could not enter our land."
"Why?"
He turned towards the flat, bare face of overhanging rock opposite, and
gazing up to its towering summit, answered:
"Because our land lies yonder. We must, after resting, ascend."
"How?" I inquired, noticing that the wall of the great cliff was
perfectly smooth.
He smiled.
"Be patient, and you shall see. Only friends can enter Mo; an enemy
never."
At that moment Kona desired to consult him regarding our camping
arrangements, and turning I left them and wandered a little way along the
valley. Presently, although its fertility was pleasant, I noticed that
the air had a strange foetid odour, and, shortly afterwards, while
walking in the long rank grass my feet struck against something, which,
on examination, I found to be the decomposing body of a man. He wore a
burnouse, and from the long-barrelled musket that lay by his side I
concluded it was an Arab. As I went forward I discovered bodies scattered
in twos and threes over the grass-plain. Great grey vultures were tearing
the rotting flesh from the bones, feasting upon the carrion. Broken guns,
bent swords and blunted daggers lay about in profusion, while the further
I went, the more numerous became the hideous bodies which the long grass
seemed to be striving to hide. This was assuredly the battle-field
whereon the army of the Great White Queen had defeated the expedition
sent by Samory. Truly the slaughter must have been appalling, and little
wonder was it that the survivors whom we had met and annihilated should
have fought so desperately for their lives.
Judging from the great pile of corpses, the stand made by Samory's Arabs
must have been a dogged and stubborn one, for traces of a most desperate
battle were everywhere apparent, yet their defeat must have been
crushing and complete, for hundreds of the invaders had apparently been
mowed down where they had stood. Others had fallen in hand-to-hand
encounters, their limbs slashed and disabled by keener swords than their
own, while many seemed literally riddled by bullets which could never
have been fired by ordinary guns, or if so, at such close quarters that
in nearly every case the balls had passed clean through their bodies.
The number of corpses lying in the grass were too numerous to count, but
at a rough estimate there must have been several thousands. The air of
that beautiful valley was suffocating on account of the stench they
emitted, and the river was poisoned by the heaps of bodies that had been
hurled into it.
This valley, that had appeared a veritable paradise from the summit of
the rock, was in reality a Valley of Death.
So nauseating was the smell that Omar decided upon pitching the camp at a
point lower down, for so exhausted were we all and so dark was it growing
that it became imperative we should remain there for the night. So we
bivouacked half a mile away from the spot where the Thousand Steps
descended, our fire was lit, and after a little food had been served out,
we threw ourselves upon the grass, and, worn out by fatigue, slept
heavily and well.
The valley was filled with a thick mist that rose from the river,
overspreading everything and saturating our scanty clothing with
moisture, causing us to be chilly and uncomfortable. It was this fact,
perhaps, that awakened me during the night, when all my companions lying
around were snoring soundly, dreaming most probably, of their triumphant
entry into the land of the great Naya. Becoming fully awake, I heard the
swish of a footstep through the grass, and, raising my head, saw at a
little distance from me Omar, standing alone. With his back turned to me
he was gazing up at the summit of the rock we had yet to gain, bearing in
his hand a fire-brand that had apparently been lit at the dying embers of
our fire. The brand, blazing and crackling, threw his lithe figure into
relief, and I saw that his face wore an eager, anxious look. His gaze
seemed rivetted upon the highest pinnacle of the great rock, as if he had
noticed some unusual aspect.
During several minutes he remained motionless, his eyes fixed in that
direction. At first I was impelled to rise and join him, but not knowing
why, I remained there motionless watching. Presently I heard a loud cry
of joy escape his lips, and with frantic gesture he waved the fire-brand
quickly from left to right, sometimes with a sharp motion, and at others
slowly.
He was signalling to someone on the brow of the precipice!
Open-mouthed I watched the result. The glare of his torch prevented me
from distinguishing the crest of the rock distinctly, yet as I looked in
the direction he was gazing I presently saw far away on the summit,
glittering like a brilliant star, a bright light that seemed in answer to
Omar's signals to appear and disappear rapidly, evidently flashing back a
reply from the mysterious realm above.
Suddenly the distant light became totally obscured, and from Omar's lips
there fell an expression of disappointment. His own fire-brand was
burning but dimly, therefore, rushing to the embers, he drew another from
the fire, blew upon it violently until it flamed, and then recommenced
the puzzling signals, the system of which seemed very similar to those
used in the British Army.
Again and again he repeated the long and short waves of the flaming
torch, but no answering light appeared. All was dark upon the towering
summit, that loomed up black and lonely against the deep vault of dark,
star-lit blue. His was a weird figure, standing in the centre of the
circle of uncertain light shed by the flambeau, watching eagerly, and
waving his signals with untiring energy.
"Fools!" he cried aloud to himself. "They are so fearful of treachery
that they feign not to be able to distinguish the name of their ruler."
But ere the words had fallen from his lips the star-like light again
shone forth white, with intense brilliancy, but in a different position.
It seemed to have moved along the brink of the precipice, nearer to us,
and its whiteness had been somehow intensified. In appearance it was very
similar to an electric search-light, and so powerful were its rays that
they streamed forth in a long line of brilliancy that slowly swept the
valley where the corpses of the Arabs lay piled until it reached us,
illuminating our camp with a light almost bright as day.
Several minutes elapsed, and Omar, standing in the centre of the light,
casting a long grotesque shadow behind, continued waving the word he was
so desirous of signalling. In the meantime those who were working the
light had undoubtedly ascertained the extent of our numbers, for very
soon the light slowly travelled over the adjoining rocks, and even
searched the further end of the valley; then suddenly it shed upon us
again, and instantly became obscured.
Nothing daunted, Omar continued his signals until at last they were
evidently noticed and read, for suddenly the light streamed forth again
and commenced a series of vivid flashes that lit up the valley like
shafts of lightning.
Thus came the answer, for next second Omar, overjoyed, and unable to
contain himself, again cried aloud:
"Seen! Hurrah! At last!"
The signals exchanged between those on the lofty summit of the
insurmountable barrier, and my friend Omar were long, and, to me tedious.
I could make nothing of them, although it was apparent that my old chum
was carrying on an interesting conversation with some person unseen. Once
again the light swept across the silent battle-field, showing, as if with
justifiable pride, the wholesale slaughter that had been there committed
by the defenders, and again fell full upon the son of the dreaded Naya.
Then it flashed quickly many times and suddenly disappeared.
Omar seemed at last satisfied, for, holding the brand before him, he took
from the tiny bag around his neck a pinch of the magic powder that was
included in his jujus, and pronouncing words that conveyed some mystical
meaning, slowly let the powder fall into the flickering flame, causing it
to hiss and splutter.
He was sacrificing to the fetish for our deliverance from the perils of
the Way of the Thousand Steps. Even as he stood performing this pagan
rite, there sounded afar off a dull, low boom like the distant report of
heavy cannon. It echoed weirdly along the valley where all was quiet and
at rest, and was three times repeated, like some ominous voice of
warning.
Omar heard it. Surely the noise was an unexpected one, for it instantly
filled him with apprehension, and he listened attentively, little
dreaming that I also was his companion upon this strange midnight vigil.