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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36804-0.txt b/36804-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb0f975 --- /dev/null +++ b/36804-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10540 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The League of the Leopard, by Harold Bindloss + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The League of the Leopard + +Author: Harold Bindloss + +Illustrator: Carlton Glidden + +Release Date: July 21, 2011 [EBook #36804] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD + +HAROLD BINDLOSS + + + + +[Illustration: "AT DAWN THEY WERE STILL RIDING"--_Page 230_] + + + + +THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD + +BY HAROLD BINDLOSS + +AUTHOR OF "PRESCOTT OF SASKATCHEWAN," "THE LONG +PORTAGE," "RANCHING FOR SYLVIA," ETC. + +WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR +BY CARLTON GLIDDEN + +[Illustration] + +NEW YORK + +FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY +PUBLISHERS + +_June, 1914_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + Chap. Page + I. A DANGEROUS BEQUEST 1 + II. AN UNDERSTANDING 15 + III. AT THE ELBOW POOL 30 + IV. THE POACHER 43 + V. THE TRYST AT HALLOWS BRIG 56 + VI. DANE'S SILENCE 71 + VII. A WARNING 85 + VIII. TREACHERY 96 + IX. TEMPTATION 110 + X. RIDEAU'S BARGAIN 125 + XI. THE TRAIL OF THE LEOPARD 137 + XII. WEALTH IN SIGHT 149 + XIII. PESTILENCE 163 + XIV. AN EVENTFUL DECISION 177 + XV. THE BOARDING OF THE KABUNDA 189 + XVI. ILLUMINATION 202 + XVII. IN NEED OF HELP 214 + XVIII. MAXWELL'S CONFIDENCE 227 + XIX. THE DANGEROUS SEÑORITA 240 + XX. MAXWELL'S LAST MARCH 251 + XXI. RELIEF 262 + XXII. ON TO THE COAST 274 + XXIII. AN EYE FOR AN EYE 285 + XXIV. THE ESCAPE 297 + XXV. THE HEART OF BONITA CASTRO 311 + XXVI. REWARDED 320 + + + + +THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A DANGEROUS BEQUEST + + +It was very hot in the little West African factory where trader Niven +lay dying. The sea breeze had died away, and though sunset drew near, it +was not yet time for the spicy airs from the inland forest to mitigate +the temperature. The dust lay still in the sun-scorched compound, about +which the palm fronds hung motionless, and only the roar of breakers on +the beach broke through the drowsy silence. + +Two white men lounged in cane chairs upon the veranda which encircled +the building. Both were limp, gaunt of frame, and pallid in face, +because the climate they lived in is particularly unhealthy. Neither had +enjoyed much education, or felt the lack of it in the trade they +followed, while the cocktail jug on the little table betokened their +favorite relaxation. Redmond and Gilby were West Coast traders who lived +far remote from intercourse with their fellows, except for the two +French rivals with whom they periodically quarreled. They concerned +themselves with little beyond the well-being of their factory, and +indulged each appetite on opportunity, knowing that on the morrow they +might suddenly die. Yet they had their strong points, including a +tenacious regard for their employers' interests, which led them to toil +twelve hours daily when sick of fever if trade was good, and sometimes +defy the French authorities, and an inconsistent generosity, as the +result of which they had camped in the store shed, and turned over their +own quarters to the man who stood behind them, and his stricken +companion. The former was of very different type. + +"You have done your best for the poor devil," said Redmond, glancing +regretfully from him toward the empty jug. "But if I know anything about +coast fever--and I ought to--Niven will get his release to-night. Still +rambling about that fortune, I suppose?" + +Carsluith Maxwell nodded, and Gilby commented meditatively: "It may be +all a fever fancy, and it may be true. Niven was well known in this +afflicted colony years ago, and there is gold up yonder. In fact, right +away from here to the Volta you can find the color in the rivers, but +there's very little of it that will pay for the washing, and few British +mining companies that distribute much in dividends. Still, the old +Portuguese took a good deal out, if the tales are true, and one gets +small lots now and then put up in quills." + +Redmond laughed maliciously. + +"The last quills Gilby took in contained brass filings, and the firm +wrote off their nominal value against our commission. Gilby had been +drinking cocktails all that day. He may be right about the gold, but +it's my firm opinion that unless the French send up a strong column and +root out the Leopards, no white man will ever find it. You have heard +about them, Maxwell?" + +Maxwell was a man of discretion, and though he had ventured beyond the +fringe of the Leopards' country, he only said: + +"I don't know much about them. Do you?" + +"He does not," said Gilby. "Neither does any white man; unless perhaps +it's Rideau, or Niven. They are supposed to be members of one of the +secret leagues run by the bush magicians in connection with the cult of +the Ju-Ju; and if you want to know just what kind of devil a Ju-Ju is, +you need not ask me. Anyway, from what one hears, those fellows can't be +all impostors. They could apparently give our amateur necromancers +points in hypnotism, and what they don't know about poisons is not worth +learning. They're no fools at bush politics either; and have managed to +run Shaillu's kingdom, and keep white men out of it pretty successfully. +It is believed that Shaillu would be glad to rule it without them, in +his own way." + +Maxwell knew all this, and a little more which his informant apparently +did not; but he made no comment, and asked only one question: + +"Who is Rideau?" + +"He says he is a Frenchman," answered Gilby. "One would suppose that he +ought to know; but after a dispute about the count of some monkey skins, +Clancy of Axim once asked in public if there was not a dash of the tar +brush in him, and was taken ill suddenly that night--which may, of +course, have been a coincidence. In any case, he goes trading inland; +and though he brings down a little gum, nobody knows exactly what he +buys or sells. As you have heard, it's a ghastly country, and there's a +heavy penalty for supplying niggers with modern rifles. The little +French commandant would give a good deal to fix a charge on him." + +"Thanks. I will remember if I meet him; but it is about time I returned +to my patient," said Maxwell, and the other two looked after him until +he disappeared round a corner of the dwelling. + +"A curious man," Gilby commented. "He's probably like the parrot, for he +says very little. Still, it is not everybody who would have turned back +with his expedition on the very odd chance of saving a crazy countryman. +It is just possible, however, he was glad to, after the bushmen had +scared him." + +"African parrots never think, unless it's about the pricking inside +them," said Redmond. "You wouldn't either, if a nigger had fed you with +broken glass, so you'd die as soon as he'd sold you, and keep the demand +up. You're wrong, as usual, in other ways, too. If I'm a judge of +character, there are no niggers in Africa who could scare that man." + +Meanwhile Maxwell had seated himself on the opposite veranda, and, after +a glance at a trestle couch which showed him that Niven was apparently +asleep, was gazing out to sea. He was close on the age of thirty, of +average stature, but spare and sinewy. His sallow face had been further +darkened by the African sun, and though now its expression and that of +the dark eyes was thoughtful, it was the face of a resolute man. +Carsluith Maxwell was also, in a somewhat somber fashion, a handsome +man; and though some of his fair acquaintances described him as too +silent, and others as too sardonic, all agreed that he was interesting. +Maxwell described himself as an individual of unsettled habits, born +with fastidious tastes and no means to gratify them--which, he said, +explained his wanderings in search of a fortune. He did not add that his +chief ambition was to restore to its former prosperity an old Border +stronghold which, with every acre of its grass parks and stony plow-land +heavily encumbered, stood behind the shores of Solway. Carsluith +Maxwell, who some day would be master of Culmeny, had inherited more +than a trace of the silent grimness of the old moss-troopers from whom +he sprang. + +Turning presently, he saw that Niven was wide awake and looking out to +sea. Their acquaintance had been brief, and dated from the night when +Niven reeled into the camp of a small French expedition, alone, +fever-stricken, and half-crazy. Seeing that he would die in the forest +when the expedition continued its march, Maxwell abandoned his +prospecting journey and turned back to the coast with him. The African +malaria often attacks a white man's brain as well as his body; and +during most of the time Niven had talked erratically. Now, however, +Maxwell noticed that he appeared sensible and sane. + +"Good to come back to, isn't it?" he said, glancing at the sea, athwart +which the track of the sunset beat luridly. "I used to long for it in +the forest when Lyle and I first set up the one factory which ever stood +more than twelve months in Shaillu's country. That reminds me! I have a +good deal to tell you, and, considering that I may not last out +to-morrow, it's high time I began. I have given you a good deal of +trouble, but you may not regret it when I have done." + +"I shall not regret it in any case," said Maxwell quietly. He was seldom +emphatic in speech. + +"You are like Lyle, and that's partly why I'm going to tell you. He and +I went up into Shaillu's country long ago, and the Leopards tried to +poison us. They wanted no white men there, and did not like free trade. +They also tried other ways; but if our lives were in our own hands, we +held them tight--and any man might face the devil with a partner like +Lyle. You will understand presently why I'm commencing at the beginning. +Well, we nursed each other through fevers, and twice stood behind a +stockade with the rifle barrels burning our hands; but we made money, +and I think the Leopards grew afraid of us because we lived in spite of +them. Of course, we had our friends, because the brown traders from the +North had to pay a heavy toll to the Leopards before we came; and some +of them told us about gold having been washed out of a far-off river by +niggers who had a poor idea of its value. We were too busy to trouble +about ventures of that kind; and as the river flowed through No Man's +Land there was nobody to sell us a marketable concession." + +The sunset was fading off the waters when Niven paused to gather breath, +while his strained voice sank to a deeper tone as he proceeded: + +"There was a dispute as to who owned some gum we had paid for, and two +men were shot before we convinced the niggers that nobody could lay +violent hands upon our property. Then one of Shaillu's sub-headmen, who +said there had been a mistake somewhere, summoned us to a palaver to +talk the question over. We went, with twenty armed Krooboys scared +almost to death, who feared Lyle more than they did the niggers, and +were given a fair hearing. Several of the big Leopard men were there, +but the headman held us justified, and when we had made everybody a +present the palaver ended in revelry. I warned Lyle; but to fear +nothing, and be equally ready with smile or pistol, was always my +comrade's way. + +"We came back safely; but he dragged himself up the stairway with his +face all twisted the next night, and I knew what had happened before he +told me. 'Those devils have poisoned me,' said he." + +It was almost dark now, and the white mist from the forest slid in +ghostly wreaths past the little factory. Niven shivered before he +proceeded: + +"Have you ever seen a comrade poisoned by the bushmen--when they meant +to hurt him? No! Then you have something to be thankful for. Lyle, by +worse luck, was young and strong, and took an unconscionable time dying; +I don't know that I did well when I took the pistol from him. For three +mortal hours I suffered all with him, and there was no power left in me +when at last he let his head drop on the table. There are things it is +not fit to remember which one can never forget. Then I knew all that the +man had been to me; and what I must do was plain before me. + +"I sent the chief Leopard man a message, with a token which, in +accordance with his own superstitions, made it more impressive, that +sooner or later I would demand full satisfaction, or, if I died too +soon, would pass the debt on in a way he understood; and I had not +forgotten when a new trading combination made me general manager. You +see, I needed money, and could wait very patiently. I also made money, +and, when badly sick, let the firm send me home, a fairly prosperous +man, to recruit in England. It was there I met the woman I married; and +she was worlds too good for me. I even forgot Lyle, and what we had +done in Africa; and--for one looks at things differently over +there--hoped for nothing better than to end my days in peace and +security." + +Niven so far had spoken sensibly, but he ceased when the thick hot +African darkness rolled down like a curtain, and was silent a space. The +land breeze had delayed its coming, the temperature was almost +insupportable, and the roar of the breakers set the whole factory +vibrating in unison. It is possible that the fever gathered strength, as +it often does, at nightfall; for the sick man's speech was slow and +disjointed when he began again. It was also evident that he was a little +hazy in his mind. + +"Poor Elsie died, and left me very lonely. Without her the life grew +tame, and I would lie awake thinking of Africa and Lyle. He was growing +impatient, and tried to warn me it was time I went back again. The +warnings grew plainer, and at last I went. I had, so far as it was in +me, trusted one man and loved one woman, and both of them had gone. The +trading firms had forgotten my name, but I remembered the gold in the +Leopard's country, and determined, if I could find it, to hire my own +fighting boys, and hunt down the whole accursed league. There is no law +but the right of the strongest hand in Shaillu's country. I went up with +fifty Krooboys; and perhaps the Leopards remembered and were afraid of +me, for we had almost reached the place in safety, when one of the +sicknesses common up there seized us. I left most of the boys behind in +camp with my headman, and pushed on for the river where the gold was +said to be. I found it--or Lyle found it for me." + +Maxwell thought that no sane man would have attempted single-handed to +try conclusions with the almost omnipotent league, but he sat still, +with a composure that was characteristic of him, asking no questions, +though the simple statement had roused his most eager interest. It was +some time before Niven proceeded. + +"I turned back to camp, and found none of all the boys I left there. +Perhaps the headman had sold them. He had, you must remember, a curious +cross-shaped scar upon his forehead. I don't know where the rest went, +or what I did, being fever-crazy, and it must have been Lyle who brought +me to the Frenchman's camp. Of course, Lyle is dead--I buried him with +my own hands under the first big cottonwood behind the factory long +ago--but he has never forgotten me. There was good alluvial gold in that +river; and when I go you will find a record of my journey, with sketches +and compass bearings, under my pillow. I'll bequeath it to you, with my +curse upon the men who killed poor Lyle, on this condition: If you meet +the Leopards--and whoever goes up there will--you will remember my +quarrel with them, and how my partner died." + +"After what I have heard about their doings, I can promise that," said +Maxwell quietly. + +"I think we both can trust you. You look that kind of man," said Niven. +"I should never have told you if you hadn't. The two things go together, +for the Leopard headmen will know I have passed the quarrel on. You +can't take one without the other." + +Niven sank into sleep or unconsciousness presently, and Maxwell sat +beside him considering what he had heard. He could see that there was a +burden attached to the legacy; but he had no profession, and was not a +rich man. It was true that he would shortly succeed to Culmeny, and had +inherited the family pride in the ancient estate; but, when the interest +had been paid, the rental of the poor, encumbered lands would provide +the barest living. He determined that if there was gold in the Leopards' +country he would stake his life on the chance of finding it. After +coming to this decision he called a Krooboy to watch the sick man, and +retired to snatch a few hours' badly needed sleep. Sleep, however, was +some time in coming. The mildewed building was insufferably hot, and the +thunder of the surf sufficient to keep awake any man who had lately +emerged from the hush of the twilight forest; but at last Maxwell sank +into fitful slumber. It afterward was evident that the Krooboy, too, had +slumbered. + +Several hours had passed when Maxwell awakened suddenly, and sat up +listening. Through the deep monotone of the breakers he could hear the +land breeze sigh eerily about the building. A snake rustled in the +thatch, and loose boards creaked as they soaked in the damp; but +although there was nothing suspicious in all this, Maxwell felt that +something unusual had roused him. Men acquire an almost instinctive +prevision of danger in the eternal shadow of the African bush. + +Suddenly a detonation shook the building. Maxwell, leaping from his +couch, ran along the veranda and burst, breathless, into Niven's room. +Bright moonlight streamed in through the window, and he saw the sick man +lying propped up on one elbow, with a pistol smoking in his hand. Niven +appeared perfectly sane, and his voice was steady when he spoke. + +"My fingers are shaky, and this is a hard pull-off, or I'd have shown +you the man who betrayed me," he said. "It was my book he wanted." + +Maxwell, who was quick in action, sprang out upon the veranda and made a +circuit of the building. The dusty compound beneath it was clear as +noonday under the moon, but, save for two startled Krooboys and trader +Redmond who crossed it at a run, nobody moved therein, and Maxwell +hardly considered it possible that any fugitive would have had time to +reach the bush. He returned and told Niven so. + +"You must have been mistaken," he said. + +The sick trader laughed harshly. + +"I am not in the least mistaken. I saw the man with the scar on his +forehead as plainly as I see you. He must have been one of the Leopards; +and, whether it's magic or trickery, those fellows are fiendishly +clever. You won't be astonished at stranger things before they have done +with you. Take the book now, and keep it, if you can. If a man called +Rideau ever hears you have it and wants to trade with you, distrust him +as you would the devil. If he says I ever made any bargain with him, it +will be a lie!" + +Maxwell went out and allayed Redmond's curiosity by a promise to confer +with him in the morning; then he returned to watch beside Niven, who +slept tranquilly during the remainder of the night. After breakfast +Maxwell told Redmond as much of the story as appeared judicious; but the +trader did not, as he partly expected, laugh at it. + +"Of course, it may have been all a delusion, and it may not," he said. +"If so, it's a coincidence that I heard Rideau has just arrived at the +next beach; and one of my boys, who seemed afraid of it, picked this up +in the bush. It's a trifle that has a significance in the country your +sick friend rambled through." + +The trader handed Maxwell a little tuft of leopard's fur braided with +fiber. + +"If Niven has told you any of his secrets it might be good policy not to +mention it," he cautioned; "and Gilby and I are not curious. This +factory is sufficiently remunerative and deadly for us." + +Niven grew rapidly weaker all day, and when Maxwell asked him at sunset +whether he had any messages to send to friends in the old country, he +did not appear to recognize him. + +"They're all dead a long time ago," he said ramblingly. "Poor Elsie, who +was worlds too good for me, lies in clean English earth a long way +across the sea; but Lyle, who understands everything and why I forgot +him, is waiting for me. I could not have a better comrade wherever he +is." + +These were his last comprehensible words, for he passed out of +existence, sleeping, with the chill of early morning, and was, as usual, +laid to rest that day. Maxwell returned thoughtfully from the simple +funeral, feeling that the legacy might well prove an unmixed blessing. + +On reaching the veranda stairway, he heard somebody moving softly about +what had been the sick man's room. He had good ears, and felt tolerably +certain that the next sound he caught was that made by cotton garments +being quickly unfolded or wrapped together. Somebody, it appeared, was +searching Niven's apparel. In spite of Maxwell's quickness, he had not +reached the doorway when a man came out of it and advanced, smiling +toward him. He was rather dark in face and full in flesh for an +European who had dwelt any time in Western Africa. He also was more +elaborately dressed, in spotless white duck, fine linen, and silk sash, +than the average trader; but if his lips were a trifle thick, and his +eyes cunning, he had an easy, good-humored air, and saluted Maxwell +gracefully. + +"Monsieur Maxwell, is it not? I have the honor to present myself--Victor +Rideau," he said. "By grand misfortune, I arrive too late to change the +adieux with my friend of long time, the estimable Niven, and so wait to +ask if he left any paper for me. We have affair together, and there is +small debt he owe me, _voyez vous_?" + +Maxwell was a man of keen perceptions, and he would have distrusted the +speaker even if he had not been warned against him. + +"He left you no papers. Neither, so far as I can discover, did he leave +a single franc piece in money." + +"Grand misfortune!" exclaimed Rideau. "Possible it is he tell you of his +affair. The estimable Niven, you understand, was old friend of me. That +is why I have the pleasure of wait your company." + +"He told me very little about his business affairs, and the rest was +spoken in strict confidence," said Maxwell; and for a few seconds the +two men eyed each other--Maxwell curious but expressionless in face; +Rideau somewhat uneasy. The advantage was with the Briton, for he was +seldom loquacious, while the man of Latin extraction seemed to find the +silence irksome. + +"You are perhaps busy," he said at length. "You grieve for the estimable +Niven. Me, I grieve for him also. So, if it is not intrusion, to-morrow, +by the morning, I come for condole with you." + +Rideau withdrew, and Maxwell first packed his few belongings--a +homeward bound steamer was due to call on the morrow--and then sat down +to make a copy of the dead man's itinerary, with the sketches attached +to it. He was surprised to find that, mad or sane, Niven had noted the +magnetic direction of each day's march, as well as taken cross bearings +of prominent objects wherever there was open country. These details +increased his hopefulness; and when he had enclosed the copy in a sealed +envelope and handed it to the French postmaster, he buttoned the +original in an inside pocket and sat down on the veranda, smoking +thoughtfully. + +"It appears that other men beside myself believe Niven actually did find +gold up there, as two attempts to steal his diary seem to prove," he +reflected. "Whoever goes up to look for it will probably have to deal +with Monsieur Victor Rideau as well as the Leopards; and a little delay +in setting about the search may throw him off the scent. The first +necessity is a reliable partner, and I can think of nobody better than +Hyslop." + +The homeward bound mailboat arrived before Rideau the next day, and when +she stopped at the first port connected by cable, Maxwell despatched a +message to London: + +"_Wire Hyslop to meet me by Malemba._" + +Before the steamer proceeded he received the answer: + +"_Hyslop dead South America, according to Dane._" + +"Poor Andrew!" thought Maxwell. "That is check number one. Still, there +must be many suitable men at home, and I dare say I shall find one. Who +Dane is, Carslake, parsimonious as usual, does not explain." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN UNDERSTANDING + + +It was a pleasant summer evening when Hilton Dane leaned against a beech +trunk outside Thomas Chatterton's villa which stands upon a hillside +above the Solway shore. He was a tall, fair-haired man who looked older +than his age, twenty-five, with steady blue eyes, and usually a somewhat +masterful air; but just then his eyes were wistful, and his face, which +betokened an acquaintance with the tropical sun, expressed somewhat +tempered satisfaction. He had certainly cause for the latter feeling, +because, after toiling hard at railroad building in a foreign land, it +was comforting to know that he had earned the right to rest a while in +that peaceful retreat. + +The sun still touched the velvet lawn, though the shadows lengthened +across it, and the larch wood behind the red-tiled building diffused +resinous odors. The grass sloped to a river which came down amber-tinted +from the stretch of heather growing black against the east, and, curving +round two meadows, flashed through the gloom of fir branches into a deep +pool. All this was pleasant to the wanderer newly returned from the +glare of the desolate pampa and the turmoil of dusty construction camps; +but Dane found the keenest pleasure in watching his companion. + +Lilian Chatterton, niece of the childless owner of The Larches, was +worth inspection. She was a year or two younger than the man, and lay in +a low chair opposite him, her fingers busy with a ball of colored +thread, while the last of the sunlight sparkled in her hair. Dane +noticed how its bronze color flashed into lustrous gold, and decided +that the changing lights in the hazel eyes matched it wonderfully well. +Nevertheless, he had seen them burn with quick indignation, for the girl +possessed a spice of the Chatterton temper, which was never remarkably +equable. Presently he allowed several loops of thread to slip from the +skein he held, and she looked up with a trace of indignation. + +"That is the second time! You cannot be tired already," she said. + +Dane smiled a trifle grimly. He had toiled for twelve hours daily under +burning heat and then spent half the night poring over plans, not long +ago. + +"I am not quite worn out; but is it not an unfair question, considering +my present employment? This skein is getting mixed, and I was wondering +if you would allow me to help you in straightening it." + +Miss Chatterton glanced at him keenly before she shook her head. It was +not surprising that she had grown used to masculine homage, but none of +her other cavaliers had quite resembled this one. He was slower and more +solid, and, while he had a way of anticipating her wishes, he lacked +their versatility. Sometimes she wished, with a sense of irritation, +that she could dismiss him as summarily as she had done the rest, but +that could not be done without incurring Thomas Chatterton's +displeasure, which was no small thing to risk. + +"No," she said decisively. "I believe you tangled it yourself. Don't you +think it would run more smoothly if you gave the thread more length? +Well, why don't you act upon the suggestion?" + +"I was thinking," the man answered with a meditative air; and Miss +Chatterton laughed. + +"It is a bad habit of yours. Of the famous mining pump, or the lawsuit, +presumably?" + +There was something in the speaker's manner which qualified the smile in +her hazel eyes, and warned the man that his companion was merely bent on +discovering how far he was disposed to respect the wishes she had not +directly expressed. He, on his part, was wondering how he could best +intimate that certain fears she entertained were groundless. He laughed +softly, though a tinge of darker color crept into his tanned face as he +remembered the uncompromising frigidity with which she had at first +received him. + +"I feel that I ought to say something civil," he said. "How could one +think of the things you mention in such surroundings?" + +The girl was in a variable mood, and she smiled mischievously. + +"That is not civil. It implies that I expected you to. Tell me instead +how the pump is progressing." + +"The pump is not progressing," said the man. "In fact, it is standing +still; and, though the court upheld my patent, it will probably continue +to stand still for lack of capital. Capital is hard to acquire, you +know." + +"But you were well paid, and promoted several times on your merits in +South America, were you not?" asked Miss Chatterton. + +"I was lucky," Dane said quietly. "It was due to no merit of mine that +my superiors died off with yellow fever; but when the inventor desires +a fair share of the profit himself, it requires a good deal of money to +start off pumps and similar inventions successfully." + +"You are growing avaricious," declared Miss Chatterton, and let her eyes +fall a little under the man's gaze. + +"You are right," he said. "I would sell half my life to any one for the +few thousand pounds the invention would repay twenty-fold; and somehow I +shall get them." + +The listener fancied that this was possible, for there was a stamp of +force and endurance upon the man; but she did not inquire why he was so +anxious for wealth. While she considered her answer, and he wondered how +he could best express what must be said, there was an interruption; for +it happened a few moments earlier that the owner of The Larches flung +down the balance-sheet he was perusing in a room which did not look out +upon the lawn. + +"Those new directors are a pack of fools," he observed. "They are +throwing away all I so painfully built up. I'm going to catch a trout in +the moss pool; and, as I saw Maxwell's rascals putting up the fence +again, I'll demolish his iniquitous obstruction on my way. Helen, where +have these stupid people hidden my flybook again?" + +Mrs. Chatterton smiled a little, and, reminding her husband that the +book was in his pocket, followed him to the door. + +Thomas Chatterton and the father of Hilton Dane had set up a little wire +mill when both were struggling men, and, though Dane's rolling machinery +had started them on the way to prosperity, its inventor died too soon. +Chatterton was always considered an upright man; but, because Dane's +widow did not long survive her husband, nobody knew exactly whether his +success was due to his own energy or the dead man's invention. +Chatterton, however, recognized a moral debt, and would have discharged +it, but that Hilton Dane had inherited his mother's pride as well as his +father's skill. When the famous business was sold to a company, the +iron-master, purchasing a small estate in Scotland, aspired to play the +part of a country gentleman, in which he was not wholly successful. He +was at once too autocratic and too democratic; and the local magnates of +ancient descent resented his habit of doing exactly what pleased himself +in defiance of their most cherished traditions. He had accordingly +embroiled himself with Maxwell of Culmeny over what he contended was an +ancient right of way. + +When he reached the door he turned and smiled significantly at his wife. + +"They seem well contented, do they not?" he said. + +Mrs. Chatterton understood him, though she did not smile as she glanced +at the two on the lawn. Lilian's white-robed figure was forced up +sharply in a manner that emphasized its comeliness by the somber +background of larches; and the last of the ruddy light deepened the +faint, warm tinge in her cheeks. Dane's face was in the shadow, as he +looked down upon the girl, but his form showing darkly against the light +was that of a vigorous, well-made man; and Mrs. Chatterton, knowing his +disposition, reflected that her niece might make a less desirable +choice. It was, however, she thought, unfortunate that her husband was +seldom addicted to leaving those he desired to benefit any choice at +all; and she considered that he had made his intentions respecting Dane +and his niece too plain, for Lilian had a tolerably strong will of her +own. + +Chatterton moved forward, and the two turned sharply at the sight of the +stout, thick-necked, elderly gentleman, in vivid red leggings and slouch +hat adorned with gaudy flies. + +"We had neither time nor taste for needle-work when I was young, Hilton, +but these are degenerate days," he said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "Do +you feel inclined to help me to catch a trout during the evening rise?" + +Dane glanced appealingly toward his companion. He would have felt no +great inclination for being sent into the river to free the +iron-master's line, which usually formed part of the program on such +excursions, even if he had not a better reason for refusing. + +"I am afraid the water is too clear, sir, for an indifferent angler; and +it might spoil this skein if I left it partly wound," he answered +lamely. + +Lilian, however, possibly for Chatterton's benefit, ignored the appeal. + +"So far you have only succeeded in entangling it," she said. + +Dane had no choice left but to express the pleasure it would afford him +at least to carry his host's landing net; and he did it as well as +possible, though uneasily conscious that Chatterton was amused at him. +Then they waded together through long damp grass which soaked Dane's +thin shoes through, while Chatterton discoursed learnedly upon lines and +flies. He was as choleric and obstinate as he could be generous when the +impulse seized him, and he had ruled stubborn operatives so long that +the use of the strong hand had become habitual to him. Presently he +halted, fuming with indignation, before a hedge. + +"That confounded Maxwell has built it up stronger than ever!" he +exploded. "Look at that, and see how he respects a public right of way! +Don't you consider it perfectly scandalous, Hilton?" + +Dane saw an irate elderly gentleman, and a neatly mended gap in the +hedge; but being uncertain as to what answer would best soothe the +former, he wisely held his peace until he should furnish further +particulars. Chatterton, however, espying a stout stake in the grass, +commenced a spirited attack upon the hedge. So vigorous was it that his +face grew flushed and his hat fell off, while Dane looked on with +suspicious gravity, smothering a desire to laugh. + +"If you really want that gap opened, I dare say I could assist you, +sir," he said. + +Chatterton panted wrathfully. + +"Do you suppose I am doing this for exercise? It's a public duty! I have +battered it down twice already, and defied Culmeny to sue me." + +He plied the stake again until, glancing from a root, it smote him on +the ankle. Desisting then, he commented upon his neighbor's conduct +viciously while Dane proceeded to attack the obstruction with marked +success. Chatterton, when he noticed this, watched him admiringly; and +when Dane tore his hand on a strand of barbed wire, he positively beamed +on him. + +"I'm sorry, Hilton; but, in one way, it's almost a pity you did not tear +it worse," he said. "Still, I dare say it will rankle sufficiently to +give us something to claim damages from Culmeny upon. Meantime, go home +and ask Lily to tie it up. Nobody could do it more neatly." + +"I certainly hope it will not, sir," said Dane, with a trace of +irritation; though, being thankful for the excuse, he lost no time in +returning. + +Meanwhile, Lilian Chatterton sat where he had left her, in a +contemplative frame of mind. She and Dane had been playmates in their +younger days, and the latter had afterward shown his admiration for her +in youthful fashion. That was before he went abroad; but her cheeks +tingled as she remembered how she had been made to feel, a few weeks +earlier, that it was Chatterton's desire that their youthful friendship +should speedily ripen into something further. Lilian was grateful to the +iron-master, who had denied her nothing, and brought her up as his +daughter; but she was also sensitive, and accordingly shrank from Dane, +wondering, with a sense of shame, what had been said to him, and whether +he, too, considered her own opinion as of no importance. The man's +conduct had, however, partly reassured her, for he made no advances; she +did not know that he had, during several years spent in strenuous +effort, carried her memory and a stolen photograph about with him. + +Had she been a free agent she might have been inclined to approve of +Hilton Dane. She knew he was honest, resolute, and capable, while as +regards physique, nature had treated him well; but as it was, and +because there were no friends she could find an excuse for visiting, it +appeared essential that he should be made to recognize that there could +be no more than a mutual toleration between them. Miss Chatterton had +just arrived at this conclusion when the man came toward her across the +lawn. Again it struck her that the bronzed face beneath the straw hat +was that of an honest man, and that the blue eyes had a kindly gleam in +them; but she brushed such thoughts aside impatiently. + +"What has brought you back so soon?" she asked. + +"The need of assistance," Dane answered with a laugh, and the girl's +mood changed swiftly as she glanced at his injured hand. Her eyes grew +sympathetic. + +"Will you wait a few moments until I find some arnica?" she said. + +Dane would have waited a long time in return for such a glance, and, +when the girl rejoined him, he felt that the pain was a very small price +to pay for the pleasure of letting his torn hand rest in her little cool +palm. When it had been bound up with a dainty handkerchief, Lilian +smiled prettily. + +"I think," she said playfully, "with due care you should now recover." + +"Do you know that I feel tempted to go back and tear the other?" +returned the man. + +Lilian regarded him with some uneasiness. + +"Such speeches do not become you," she said. "No doubt there are idle +men who consider that they prove irresistible to most of us; but +you--you are different." + +"Yes," Dane assented somewhat grimly. "I suppose my lot is to drag the +measuring chain and do the hard work more famous men get paid for; but a +little variety is refreshing--and there were times when you did not seem +to find any levity on my part wholly irksome." + +The girl's color rose a little, and there was a sparkle in her eyes. She +understood that this was a challenge, but she did not guess that it had +been thrown down for her sake out of kindliness. Unfortunately, she +recalled several incidents connected with the days to which her +companion referred, and she recollected that he had an unpleasantly good +memory. + +"We were only boy and girl then," she said. "One forgets such nonsense +as one grows older. Still, I am almost glad you mentioned it, +because--can't you see the uselessness of remembering?" + +Dane, though he did not say so, saw most clearly the impossibility of +ever being able to forget; but he was considerate, and had sense enough +to see what he would lose by taking advantage of the position. He had +noticed how, until his conduct reassured her, she held aloof from him. + +"What could an unfortunate man answer?" he asked with a mirthless smile. +"Do you expect me to admit that I am pleased to consider it is so?" + +Lilian looked down at the grass to hide the anger in her face. + +"Please don't--I am not wholly foolish," she said; and added abruptly, +"I have almost decided on going to London for a course of art study +shortly." + +Dane leaned forward a little, and forced her to look up at him. + +"That is, you are going away to avoid me," he said. "Have you considered +that this might not only render circumstances unpleasant for you, but be +unnecessary?" + +Lilian looked at him steadily, for she was not lacking in courage. + +"I am my own mistress; and they are distinctly unpleasant already." + +Every word of the answer cost Dane an effort, but he determined to +finish his task. + +"I can realize that they must be so," he said. "I am not clever at +expressing myself, and what I have to say is difficult to me, but I +cannot allow you to be driven away. We are both master of our own +inclinations, are we not?--and you have my word that, if you can trust +me, it really isn't necessary." + +There was no doubt about the relief in Lilian's face; and though it hurt +the man to see it, he held out his hand. + +"We shall be good friends once more; and that implies a good deal, does +it not?" he said. "Promise so much, and I will engage that you have no +further perplexity." + +Lilian felt very grateful. + +"I think I can promise that, now that we understand," she replied. + +"Then it is a compact," said Dane, hiding his own regret manfully. "As a +change, you might tell me why your uncle finds such satisfaction in +destroying his neighbor's fences. He even said it was a pity I did not +tear my hand more seriously." + +Lilian was glad to change the subject. + +"He fancied that Maxwell of Culmeny closed the gap to annoy him," she +explained. "Unfortunately, when tearing down the first barrier, he hurt +his foot, which naturally made him more determined to maintain ancient +privileges. In one way, the feud is amusing; in another, vexatious; +because we are lonely here, and the Misses Maxwell cannot well call upon +us. Their brother Carsluith has lately returned from Africa, and would +have made you a pleasant companion." + +"Carsluith Maxwell?" said Dane. "It is curious that I was of some +service to a friend of his, named Hyslop, in South America. The poor +fellow struck our camp pulled down by sickness and apparently in want of +money, and we were able to find him employment." + +"Did you not mention that the contractors would not replace the +assistants who died of fever?" asked Lilian. "Did they endorse your +action?" + +"I can't say they did," was the answer. "They were not required to." + +"Oh! Then who paid Hyslop's salary?" + +"It was arranged," Dane answered ambiguously. "You see, he was a +countryman; and the poor fellow died soon afterward, anyway. I think I +shall walk over to Culmeny." + +Lilian asked no further questions. She felt that any one in trouble +could trust the man beside her. She smiled as she said: + +"I am afraid that would not be judicious. Your host would consider it an +act of treachery." + +They went back to the house together; and in the meantime, Thomas +Chatterton, who was not a skilful angler, whipped several pools +unsuccessfully, hooking nothing but weeds, and once, by accident, a +water hen. Thus it happened that he had not returned when darkness fell, +and Mrs. Chatterton despatched Dane in search of him. The moon was +rising when the latter came down a path through the fir wood and stopped +beside a deep, black pool. A streak of silver light crept up to the +roots of an alder beside a ruined wall, and he paused to watch the +wrinkled current flash athwart it. The odors of the firs and the +stillness of the night were soothing: the sacrifice he had lately made +had been a heavy one. Dane had not abandoned his hopes, but knew that he +might have to wait long for their consummation, if they were ever +realized. + +Presently there was a sound of footsteps, and Dane guessed that the +approaching shape was Chatterton by the red glow of his cigar. The +iron-master stopped beside the alder, and it seemed that something which +caused a ripple near its roots caught his eyes. Dane suspected that some +poacher had set a night line. + +Now, the wall marked the boundary between Chatterton's riparian rights +and those of Culmeny; and it was out of idle curiosity that Dane watched +his host instead of hailing him as, first looking about him, he +descended the bank and hauled in the line. An exclamation of disgust +followed as a writhing eel was flung out upon the grass; but there were +nobler fish attached, and presently Chatterton stood up holding a +splendid trout. Dane remembered that his father had sworn by +Chatterton's commercial integrity, but he was not wholly astonished when +the man slipped the fish, and a second one which followed it, into his +creel. Then, surmising that the angler would not have desired a witness, +he turned back softly and met him in the wood, flattering himself that +he had arranged the meeting neatly. + +"Had you any luck, sir?" he asked. + +"The water was low, but here is something to convince the mockers," +Chatterton answered, holding up a handsome trout; and Dane expressed +admiration but no astonishment, which might not have been complimentary. + +They walked home together, and Lilian met them in the hall. She +surveyed the trout suspiciously, then laughed as she said: + +"You look hot and muddy, and almost guilty. Are you quite sure you have +not been poaching?" + +Miss Chatterton was a shrewd young lady, and for a moment the +iron-master, who had quelled several strikes unaided, looked positively +uneasy. + +"Young women were taught that flippancy did not become them when I was +young," he rebuked. + +Late that night the two men sat talking together. + +"You have told me little about your affairs, Hilton," Chatterton said; +"but I presume you will stay at home and put your pump on the market +instead of accepting the foreign commission. There should be a good +demand for it among the deep mine owners." + +"I'm afraid not, sir," was the answer. "The patent lawsuit proved +expensive, and to start an article of that kind successfully requires a +good deal of money. I shall therefore go abroad to earn a little more as +soon as the firm sends me." + +"And risk your life for a thousand pounds," said Chatterton severely. +"Don't you know that there are men with money who would be willing to +finance you?" + +"All I have met demanded three-fourths of the possible profits in +return; and this is my invention." + +"It is a valuable one," declared Chatterton with unusual diffidence. +"But can't you think of anybody who would lend you the money out of +good-will at a very moderate interest?" + +Dane looked at the speaker steadily before he answered. + +"I think I could; and I'm grateful; but unfortunately I can't bring +myself to borrow money from such people. It would be abusing their +kindness; and I might lose it for them." + +Chatterton frowned. + +"You are like your father--and as confoundedly hard to do a favor to," +he said. + +He retired shortly after this; and Dane went out into the moonlight, and +leaned over the rails of a footbridge, watching the river slide past. He +found a faint solace in the sounds and scents which filled the shadows, +and knew that though he had taken the one course possible, if he was to +retain his own self-respect and Lilian's esteem, there would be no sleep +for him that night. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AT THE ELBOW POOL + + +While waiting for his foreign commission, Dane found the summer days +slip by almost too rapidly, though there were occasions when, after a +long afternoon spent in Lilian's company, he fancied he could understand +the feelings of Tantallus. The girl appeared completely reassured, and +treated him with sisterly cordiality, while Chatterton, who knew nothing +of their compact, nodded sapiently as he observed their growing +friendship. Dane sometimes wondered if he were not heaping up future +sorrow for himself; but, with infrequent exceptions, he found the +present very good, and, being a sanguine man who could wait, he made the +most of it. + +Lilian was troubled by no misgivings. Once, when her aunt asked a +diplomatic question, she smiled frankly as she said: "Yes. I am in one +way very fond of Hilton; you will remember that I always was. We +understand each other thoroughly; and he is so assured and solid that +one feels a restful sense of security in his company. You will remember +the Highland chieftain's candlesticks--the men with the claymores and +torches, Aunty. Well, I fancy that worthy gentleman must have felt the +same thing when he dined in state with them about him. He had but to +lift his finger and they would disappear, you know." + +Mrs. Chatterton looked slightly grave as she answered: "Don't forget +that they were also men with passions, and very terrible men, +sometimes--for instance, at Killiecrankie. It would not surprise me if +you discovered that there is a good deal of very vigorous human nature +in Hilton Dane." + +Thomas Chatterton still went fishing, generally with indifferent +success, but once Lilian caught Dane examining his creel, which was +surprisingly well filled. + +"I am puzzled, Hilton," she said. "I made a wager with Uncle that he +would not catch a dozen good trout in a month, and now I fancy that he +will win it." + +"Well?" + +"Men are deceivers ever--especially when it is a question of catching +fish. I have noticed that when your host goes fishing by daylight he +rarely catches anything but eels, which, as everybody knows, do not rise +to a fly, while when he rises early or returns in the dusk he brings a +really fine trout or two. I cannot, however, believe that this one died +only two hours ago. Can you suggest an explanation?" + +"Charity," said Dane gravely, "suspecteth nothing. Don't you know that +trout rise most freely just before the dusk?" + +Lilian shook her head. + +"You are not sufficiently clever to set your wits against a woman's," +she declared. + +Dane laughed, a trifle grimly; and the girl, momentarily startled by +something in his merriment, decided that she must have been mistaken; +but she abandoned the subject with some abruptness. + +That very evening, perhaps sent forth by fate, because much depended +upon his fishing, Thomas Chatterton took up his rod and landing net, +and, as he did not return by nightfall, his wife once more despatched +Dane in search of him. + +"I think you know where to find him; and I wish I did, for he has only +to take two more trout to win," Lilian added significantly. + +Dane proceeded by the shortest way to the big elbow pool, but it was +almost dark when he reached it. There had been heavy rain, and all the +firs which loomed through thin white mist were dripping. The water came +down beneath them thick with the peat of the moorlands in incipient +flood. Dane could hear its hoarse growl about the boulders studding the +tail rapid, and surmised that there ought to be several trout on the +poacher's line. Having, nevertheless, no desire to surprise his host +red-handed, he did not immediately proceed toward it, but sat upon the +driest stone he could find, listening for his coming. There was no sound +but the clamor of the river and the heavy splashing of moisture from the +boughs above, some of which trickled down his neck, until he heard a +rattle of falling stones, and a shadowy figure, which he guessed was +Chatterton's, crawled down toward the alder roots. + +A splash was followed by a hoarse exclamation as the man slipped into +the water up to the knee; then Dane heard the thud of a flung out fish, +and sat very still, for it would clearly be injudicious to present +himself just then. He noticed a minute twinkle of brightness among the +boulders across the pool which puzzled him. It was too small for the +light of a lantern, and he remembered nothing that shone in just the +same fashion. While he wondered what it could be, another dark object +rose beside the alder, gripping what looked like a heavy stick. + +"I'm thinking I have ye noo!" a gruff voice exclaimed. "Ye sorrowful +wastrel, stealing a puir man's fish!" + +Thomas Chatterton stood upright, knee-deep in the river, with an +exclamation; and Dane, knowing there was much deeper water close behind +him, sprang to his feet. That the irascible iron-master would show fight +if necessary, he felt certain, and equally so that a portly elderly +gentleman would make a poor match for a brawny laborer. Hardly had he +got to his feet, however, than the keeper, sliding down the bank, +dropped silently into the river, and disappeared as if by magic, while, +as Dane wondered what had startled him, another voice rang out. + +"Run straight in on the alder while I head him off from the firs!" it +directed; and a whistle was followed by the sound of trampling feet. + +Somebody came smashing through the undergrowth, and Dane was never quite +certain as to the cause for what happened next, though he surmised that +Chatterton's dread of becoming a laughing-stock to his enemy proved +momentarily stronger than his reason. In any case, he must have +endeavored to follow the keeper's lead, and lost his footing, for a side +swing of the stream swept him out from shore, while Dane, realizing that +an elderly gentleman in heavy boots and leggings was hardly likely to +make much head against a flooded river, plunged from the bank in the +flattest dive he could compass, though horribly afraid that he might +strike his head against a submerged stone. It was a good plunge, for he +rose almost in mid-stream, and heard a great splashing and panting +close before him. A few moments later, he had Chatterton by the +shoulder, and braced himself for a struggle. + +Chatterton, though driving sideways down the stream, could apparently +swim a little, and did not appear unduly alarmed. Indeed, Dane had cause +for believing he feared nothing except ridicule; but he was very heavy, +and panted stentoriously, while muddy froth beat into the younger man's +eyes and nostrils, and the rebound, which surged in a whirling eddy from +a central rock, swept them down together toward the white race between +the boulders at the tail of the pool. Dane had no intention of being +hammered against them if it could be avoided, and did his utmost, +thrusting with one hand on Chatterton's shoulder and swimming on his +side. Still, the boulders swept up-stream past them, the larches flitted +by, and though they drew clear of the fastest rush, it seemed impossible +that they could make a landing in time to escape the rapid. Chatterton +was apparently swallowing water, and choking badly now. + +"For heaven's sake, make a last effort, sir!" spluttered Dane; and the +iron-master splashed furiously. + +A strip of shingle grew nearer, but they would hardly have reached it +had not a man floundered in almost shoulder-deep and clutched them as +they passed. All three went down together, Chatterton undermost; but +when Dane's head broke the surface, a hand was twined in his hair, and a +half-choked voice said: + +"You are in wading distance, man. Get up and walk!" + +Dane felt sliding shingle beneath him, and tightening his grip on +Chatterton he struggled for a foothold; and finally they reeled, +breathless, dazed, and dripping, out among the boulders. Then somebody +turned back the slide of a darkened lantern, and the half-drowned +Chatterton gasped, for it was evident that his rescuer was Carsluith +Maxwell, the son of his enemy. Maxwell stared at Chatterton, and the +iron-master gaped at him; but while blank astonishment was stamped on +both their faces, it was Maxwell who recovered his senses first. + +"Robertson, hail Jim to run over to The Larches, and say that Mr. +Chatterton, who fell into the river trying to capture a poacher, is +coming home with me to change his clothes," he ordered, and then turned +toward the dripping pair. "It was very plucky of you, sir, and you were +only a few seconds too late. I thought you would secure the depredator. +It is two miles round by the footbridge, and you hardly look fit for the +walk, so you are coming to Culmeny with me. There is really no use +protesting." + +Thomas Chatterton did not look capable of much exertion, but he +hesitated. + +"It is very kind of you, but your father and I, unfortunately--" + +Maxwell laughed. + +"I believe you had some trifling difference; but this is a Christian +country, and the reason given quite insufficient for letting you freeze +to death. Mr. Dane, I presume? You will help me to persuade your host." + +Chatterton, although exhausted, yielded dubiously, and it was not long +before the pair shed their dripping garments beside a blazing fire in +Culmeny, and struggled into the dry ones provided, both sets being of +average size. Dane, however, was tall and long of limb; Chatterton was +short and broad, and when his toilet was finished, he stood up +half-choked, with every button straining about him. + +"This is worse than a strait waistcoat, Hilton," he fumed; "and I'd +rather forfeit five pounds than go down and meet them as I am. By the +way, I believe I never thanked you; but I will not forget our swim. But +tell me how you came to turn up so opportunely." + +Chatterton betrayed some anxiety in the last words, but Dane managed to +frame an answer which reassured him as he surveyed himself in a glass +and hoped the Misses Maxwell would not put in an appearance. The wet +hair plastered down his forehead showed a washed-out straw color against +the darkened skin. His brown wrists and ankles projected ridiculously +from the borrowed garments, and somebody's slippers would not cover more +than a portion of his feet. + +"We are neither of us particularly prepossessing at first sight, but I +suppose we must make the best of it; Maxwell asked us to come down when +we were ready," he said. + +They went down, Chatterton fuming, Dane struggling with a desire to +laugh; and two men rose to meet them when they entered a long, +low-ceilinged room. That meeting was fraught with far-reaching +consequences, and Dane could afterward recall it vividly. The old place +of Culmeny was an ancient and somewhat decrepit edifice, owned for many +generations by the Maxwells, and the wainscot of the room was dark with +age. Quaintly embroidered curtains were drawn across one end of it; +there were few pictures, and these old; while the whole place wore a +somber air, almost intensified by the light of the wax candles on the +great uncovered table, which supported a steaming bowl. This, Dane +noticed, was of oak hooped with tarnished silver. It was, however, the +two men who fixed his attention. The elder, a spare gray-haired man with +a white moustache, came forward holding out his hand. + +"I must congratulate you upon your escape, Mr. Chatterton," he said. "I +am glad that Carsluith had sense enough to bring you home with him; and +I can recommend a ladleful of this mixture as a preventative against a +chill, while regretting that, because the fires were low, we could not +send you a dose earlier. The customs of Culmeny are not altogether what +they used to be." + +The pair formed a striking contrast when Chatterton turned toward his +host, glass in hand. The one was softly spoken, spare to gauntness, and +characterized by a subtle air of distinction; the other, short, florid, +abrupt in speech, and more often aggressive than dignified in manner. +Then, because Chatterton was also a man of impulse, who cared for +neither place nor tradition when anything stirred him, as his host's +welcome evidently did, he bowed to Brandram Maxwell with more grace than +Dane deemed him capable of. + +"Here's to our better acquaintance, sir; and my best thanks," he said. +"I'm a plain, self-taught man, and may have blundered in enforcing what +I thought my rights. If so, I regret it." + +What Brandram Maxwell answered Dane did not remember, but he expressed +it very neatly; and while the feud was patched up, his son smiled +curiously at the younger man. He was like his father, but taller in +stature, dark in color of eyes and hair, and slightly olive-tinted in +complexion, while his movements suggested a wiry suppleness. Dane +surmised that he was of reserved, if not slightly sardonic, disposition. + +The bowl of punch was emptied with every sign of amity; and when it was +finished Thomas Chatterton, who had absorbed the major portion and +declared that he had never tasted anything better, said: "I hope we +shall see much more of each other in future, and, as an earnest of the +wish, I will expect you shortly at The Larches, where Mrs. Chatterton +will thank you for your kindness better than I can." + +While Brandram Maxwell started some topic of conversation with his elder +guest, his son, to whom Dane had mentioned the affair of the Englishman +in South America, drew him aside. + +"Hyslop and I were once good friends, and I consider myself your debtor +for what you did for him," he said. "Did he tell you much about his +wanderings, or that he and I came near successfully exploiting a Mexican +mine?" + +"No," said Dane. "He told me very little. What went wrong with the +mine?" + +Maxwell laughed. + +"The unexpected happened. It generally does when one awaits the +consummation of an ingenious scheme. I am especially sorry Hyslop has +gone." + +Dane longed to ascertain whether his new friend suspected any other +explanation than the one he had seized upon for Chatterton's plunge into +the river, and endeavored to do so, without success; for even when he +afterward learned to know and trust him well, he never found it easy to +glean more from Carsluith Maxwell than he wished to tell. An accident, +however, favored him, and he thought more of the man for his reticence +when, as the master of Culmeny was exhibiting some new artificial +minnows in his gun-room, he heard his son, who had slipped away, say to +somebody in the darkness beneath the open window: + +"You remember the pheasants' eggs incident, Kevan? You need not repeat +your explanations, because I have no intention of raking it up, and +merely wish to suggest that you find means of preventing your comrades +from talking too much about what happened to-night. When a gentleman of +Mr. Chatterton's years allows his excitement to overcome him to such an +extent that he follows a poacher into a flooded river, he naturally +would not like his adventures made public property." + +"I'm a wee bit puzzled, sir," answered an invisible person; and +Maxwell's voice rose faintly through the sound of retreating footsteps: + +"I am not puzzled in the least; and that ought to be sufficient. You are +sure you understand my wishes?" + +He came in a few moments later to inform his guests that the dog-cart +was waiting. + +As they drove home, Chatterton said sententiously: + +"We all make mistakes at times, Hilton; and that was most excellent +punch. For instance, when one comes to know him, Maxwell is what might +be termed a very good fellow. Hard up like the rest of them, of course; +land and buildings, as everybody knows, burdened to the hilt, but--I +suppose it was born in him--he bears the stamp, and his son wears it +too. You and I are different, you know, though travel has done a good +deal for you. I have handled a good many men in my time, and I like that +fellow's looks. He would be a very bad kind to tackle when the devil +that smiles through his black eyes wakes up; and I think he'd stand by +the man who played him fair through the damnedest kind of luck." + +Dane, who fully endorsed this opinion, was afterward to discover that +Thomas Chatterton was no bad judge of his fellow-men. + +"They are neither of the type one associates with this part of the +country," he commented. + +"No," said Chatterton. "They were, I understand, always an adventurous +family, and some of them who took part in the wars there in the old days +intermarried with the Spaniards then holding the Low Countries. A strain +of that kind takes a long time to work out, you know." + +Chatterton's fishing was not without results, for in spite of, or +perhaps because of, their different character and experience, it was the +commencement of a friendship between himself and Maxwell of Culmeny. The +iron-master had hewn his own way to fortune, and, being troubled by no +petty diffidence, was, if anything, overfond of recounting has earlier +struggles. The wild blood of the old moss-troopers still pulsed in the +veins of the Maxwells, and the impoverished gentleman, who listened with +interest, sighed as he remembered the sordid monotony of his own career, +during which he had, by dint of painful economy, somewhat lightened the +burden with which his inheritance had been saddled by the recklessness +of his forbears. + +Carsluith Maxwell took even more kindly to his new acquaintances; and +there sprang up between himself and Dane a comradeship which was to +stand a bitter test, while, as summer merged into autumn, he would +sometimes wonder at himself. He said nothing about his African venture, +and spent much time considering old rent books and the cost of moss-land +reclamation schemes. The rest he spent shooting with Dane, or lounging +at The Larches, if possible in Lilian Chatterton's vicinity; but, +although he could rouse himself to temporary brilliancy, Maxwell was +usually oversilent in feminine society, and Dane felt no jealousy. The +latter rested content in the meantime with the knowledge that Lilian +found a mild pleasure in his company; and only Mrs. Chatterton felt any +misgivings respecting future possibilities. Being a wise woman, she kept +her suspicions to herself until they became certainties, when one day +Miss Margaret Maxwell, perhaps not wholly by accident, gave her a +significant hint. + +"I hear that your brother has undertaken an extensive drainage scheme," +said the elder lady. + +"We are hopeful that he will settle down at last," responded Margaret +Maxwell. "My father's health is failing, and he has long desired his +son's company; but Carsluith was always ambitious, and used to say he +would never vegetate in poverty at Culmeny. Of late, however, we have +been pleased to see that he is taking an almost suspicious interest in +the improvement of the estate, and is now investing the money he made in +Mexico in the reclamation of Langside Moss. As Carsluith seldom does +anything without a reason, his sudden change of program puzzles us." + +Mrs. Chatterton fancied she could supply the reason, but she made no +comment. Lilian, she decided, had a right to choose for herself, and +might make a worse selection than a Maxwell of Culmeny. + +In the meantime, Dane still awaited his foreign commission, and might +have waited indefinitely, but that once again a poacher played a part in +the shaping of his destiny. There were plenty of them in that +neighborhood; while rogue, and clown, and commonplace individual of +average honesty usually outnumber either the saints or heroes in life's +comedy. The poachers were netting the Culmeny partridges, and Dane +promised to assist his comrade in an attempt to capture them. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE POACHER + + +It was a chilly night when Dane crouched in very damp clover beside a +straggling hedge, waiting for the poachers, and wishing he had been wise +enough to remain at home. Rain had fallen throughout the day, and now +heavy clouds drifted overhead, while a chilly breeze shook an eery +sighing out of the firs behind him. The moon was seldom visible, but a +subdued luminescence filtered through, and he could just see Maxwell +crouching in a neighboring ditch which was not wholly dry. + +"What are you meditating upon, Hilton?" Maxwell asked. + +"I was just thinking what a fool I was to come at all, and that it is +almost time I went home again. When a man has had tropical fever it is +his own fault if he suffers from indulgence in amusements of this +description." + +"I am not entirely comfortable either," Maxwell said dryly. "My boots +are full of water, and my hair is thick with sand; but I dare say both +of us have had worse experiences. If those fellows don't come in the +next ten minutes I'll turn back with you." + +Neither said anything further for a space. The firs moaned behind them, +the dampness chilled them through, and the odor of wet clover was in +their nostrils. When, instead of ten minutes, nearly half an hour had +passed, there was a low whistle from a hidden keeper, and Dane could +dimly see several indistinct figures in the adjoining meadow. + +"Kevan and the constable should head them off," whispered Maxwell. "I'll +race you for the first prisoner, Hilton!" + +It was characteristic of Maxwell that he had worked an opening ready in +the hedge, and slipped through it, while Dane hurled himself crashing +upon the thorns. He broke through them, somehow, and noticed very little +as he raced across the dripping aftermath except that two men strove to +drag something over the opposite hedge. Before he could reach it, +Maxwell had separated from him, and because the moon shone down through +a rift in the clouds, he saw him clear the hedge in a flying bound. The +next moment he had his hand on the collar of one man brought up by the +thorns. Dane saw his face for an instant, and then, when the other +kicked him savagely on the knee, he shifted his hand to his throat, and +was doing his best to choke the fight out of him when he heard footsteps +behind him, and something descended heavily upon his head. He fell with +a violence that shook the remaining senses out of him, and lay vacantly +listening to the sound of running feet and hoarse shouts which grew +fainter in the distance, until Maxwell, returning, shook him by the arm. +It was dark again now, for the moon had vanished, and a thin drizzle was +falling. Dane's head ached intolerably, and a warm trickle ran into one +of his eyes. + +"Are you badly hurt, Hilton?" asked Maxwell, stooping and holding out a +flask. + +"No," Dane answered dubiously, as, gripping his comrade's hand, he +staggered to his feet. "Mine is a pretty thick cranium, but somebody +did their best to test its solidity with the butt of a gun. Did you get +them?" + +"We did not." Maxwell, who seldom showed what he felt, evinced no +chagrin. "The constable managed to stick fast in the one gap in the +second hedge; but we got their net, and, although I don't wish to +trouble you if you are not fit, if you could describe the fellow you +grappled with, we should know where to find him." + +Dane did so to the best of his ability. + +"It's young Jim Johnstone!" the keeper exclaimed; "an' after this we +should grip him trying to slip off by the night train. I'm minding Mr. +Black told me he'd e'en be sitting up in case yon rascals killed +onybody, an' ye needed authority. He's a pleasant-spoken gentleman, an' +this is a clear case o' unlawful woundin'." + +"Start at once with that fool of a policeman!" said Maxwell. "Now, +Hilton, if you can manage to walk as far as the road, I will drive you +home." + +He held out his arm, but grew tired long before they reached his trap: +Dane was no featherweight, and he leaned upon him heavily. When Maxwell +helped his comrade down before The Larches there were lights in the +lower windows, though it was very late, and its owner stood upon the +steps awaiting them. + +"I could not sleep until I heard whether you had caught the rascals," he +began. "But what's this? Have they hurt you, Hilton?" + +"Not much, sir," answered Dane. + +Seeing Mrs. Chatterton in the hall, he shook off Maxwell's arm, and +attempted to enter it unassisted to prove his assertion. The attempt, +however, was a distinct failure. He tripped upon a mat, reeled forward +drunkenly, and, clutching at the nearest chair, sank into it, presenting +a sufficiently surprising spectacle, for his collar, as he subsequently +found, was burst, while there were generous rents in his garments, and +the red trickle flowed faster down his face. Then there followed +confusion, for Mrs. Chatterton was a gentle but easily disconcerted +lady, and her husband addicted to over-vigorous action. So, while the +one proceeded in search of bandages, and, not finding them, returned to +ask useless questions and, in spite of his feeble protests, pour cold +water over Dane's injured head, Chatterton smote a gong and hurled +confused orders at the startled servants. This lasted until a dainty +figure came swiftly down the stairway, and chaos was reduced to order +when Lilian took control with a firm hand. + +"Don't trouble him with questions, Aunty, but get some brandy, quick!" +she said. "Uncle, please do not make any more useless noise, but ask one +of these foolish women to bring hot water. Annie, bring me the arnica, +and the first piece of clean linen you can find. Now, Hilton, you are +not hurt very badly, are you?" + +She bent down, with the light of a big hanging lamp upon her, and, +forgetting the faintness and pain, which was considerable, Dane felt his +heart bound within him. In spite of her swift orderliness, the girl's +eyes were anxious as well as very pitiful, and there was a tension in +her voice. + +"No," he replied, as carelessly as he could, for all his pulses were +throbbing. "I am just a little dizzy, and shall be better presently. I +am chiefly ashamed of making such a scene, Lily." + +It did the man good to see the relief in his attendant's face. Miss +Chatterton flushed a little under his gaze and became once more strictly +practical. + +"The wound is worse than you suppose," she said, with a slight but +perceptible shiver. "Take a mouthful of this brandy, and I will fix a +dressing. Aunty, hold the bandage, and give me the scissors!" + +She did all very cleverly, then slipped away; and ten minutes later Dane +was glad to bid Chatterton and his wife good-night. His head still +throbbed painfully--for the trigger-guard which struck his forehead had +bitten deep--and, having seen what pleased him greatly, he desired to be +alone to think. + +When he had gone, Mrs. Chatterton looked at her husband. + +"Did it strike you as significant that Lily should come down at a few +moments' notice dressed just as she left us?" she asked. + +"Am I quite a fool?" said Chatterton, and then added in oracular +fashion: "Hilton Dane will make his mark some day; and it was his +father's roll which started me on the way to prosperity." + +As it happened, Lilian Chatterton had also food for reflection, and sat +long by an open window looking out into the night. There was no doubt, +she admitted, that she found Hilton Dane's society congenial. His swift +deference to all her wishes pleased her; and as he had intimated that he +desired nothing more than her friendship, there was no reason why it +should not be granted him. Under different circumstances the girl +fancied that her interest might have carried her farther; but Thomas +Chatterton's thinly veiled command was a fatal barrier. Even then she +frowned, remembering the summary manner in which he had purposed to +dispose of her as though she were a chattel. Nevertheless, she had been +badly startled by the sight of the wounded man; and the fact remained +that when her eyes first rested upon him she grew almost faint with a +sudden and wholly unexplainable fear. Lilian wondered, with a crimsoning +of her face, whether she had betrayed the relief she certainly +experienced on discovering that his injuries were not serious; and then +she closed the window with somewhat unnecessary violence. + +The next sun had not long risen when Dane went out shakily into the +freshness of the morning. His brain had refused duty during the +preceding night, and there were questions to be grappled with. Hilton +Dane possessed a long patience, but, although a chivalrous person, he +was not a fool. He shrank from the thought of allowing the iron-master's +ward to be forced into a union with him, even if that were +possible--about which, however, knowing the young lady's character, he +was very doubtful. Also, he was at present a comparatively poor man, and +though he believed there was a moderate fortune in his invention, he saw +that some time must elapse before he could realize it. Abusing his +host's interference fervently, he decided that because the continual +effort to keep silence was wearing his resolution down, it would be well +to avoid further temptation by leaving The Larches. + +He had just arrived at this decision when Chatterton came upon him. + +"You do not look at all fit, Hilton," said the elder man. "The cut on +your forehead would, of course, account for that; but it has struck me +lately that something is troubling you. I refrain on principle from +prying into other folks' affairs; but, considering the time I have +known you, if you have any difficulty, I think you might confide it to +me." + +Dane understood what lay behind this, and he felt that it was the last +thing under the circumstances he would think of doing. + +"You have made my stay here so pleasant that if I remain much longer I +shall never be fit for work again," he said. "I have accordingly decided +to run up to London, and, if the railroad builders have not my work cut +out, look round for another foreign commission." + +Thomas Chatterton started a little, and tried to hide a frown. + +"I thought you had changed your mind after the letter you showed me, and +decided to stay in this country. It strikes me as downright folly to +risk accidents and fevers abroad with such a patent in your hands. Your +pump would beat the best pulsometer ever put into a mine. If you don't +approve of the offers you have received, and my suggestions, why can't +you sell it to the public through a limited company?" + +Dane laughed a little. + +"As I said before, sir, by the time I paid promoters and directors, +there would be very little left for me. If the pump, which cost years of +thought and experimenting, is to enrich anybody it shall be its +inventor; and another good foreign commission should supply me with the +necessary money." + +"Listen to me," said Chatterton. "It is time I spoke plainly. I have +been called a hard man, but I hope I am equally just, and I had to fight +desperately for a foothold at the beginning. Well, I kept a mental +ledger, and no man ever robbed or assisted me but I made against his +name a debit or credit entry. Some of those debts were heavy, but in +due time I paid them back in full." + +For a moment Chatterton certainly looked a hard man as he shut his hand +slowly, and with a very grim expression in his heavy-jawed visage, +stared steadily at Dane. Then the grimness vanished as he added: + +"There is still a sum standing to the credit of Henry Dane, and I feel +ashamed often that I have let it stand so long. There is still one way +in which you could help me wipe it off, if none of those mentioned +already suits you. My niece will not leave me dowerless--and--for if it +had not been so I should not have spoken--you expressed your admiration +pretty openly some years ago." + +Dane had no enviable task before him, but, remembering his compact, he +was determined to accomplish it, even if it should be necessary to use a +little brutality. + +"I am afraid I see two somewhat important objections, sir," he answered +quietly. "In the first place, it is not apparent that the lady approves +of me." + +"Pshaw!" said Chatterton. "When I was your age I never allowed such +trifles to daunt me. You surely did not expect her to say she had been +patiently waiting for you?" + +"I think I mentioned two objections, sir, and the second is of almost +equal importance," Dane responded gravely. "I am at present a poor man, +you see." + +Thomas Chatterton faced round on him again with his jaw protruded, and a +deeper hue in his generally sufficiently florid countenance. + +"You need not be, unless you are fond of poverty. You mean----" + +"That a boy and girl attachment seldom lasts long--on either side." + +Chatterton moved a few paces forward, with the dry cough which those who +knew his temper recognized as a danger signal, then wheeled round upon +his heel and strode toward the house; and Dane noticed that he kicked an +unoffending dog he usually fondled. + +As luck would have it, the next person Dane met was Lilian, and she +looked very winsome as she stood bareheaded under the morning sunshine +in her thin white dress. Dane's lips set tight as he watched her, then +suddenly his face softened again. + +"I am glad to see you recovering, Hilton," she greeted him. "That hat +hides my bandages nicely. Do you feel able to walk slowly over to +Culmeny with me to-day?" + +It was a tantalizing question: Dane felt not only able but very willing +to walk across the breadth of Scotland in Lilian Chatterton's company. +He feared however, that his moral strength would prove unequal to the +strain the excursion might impose, for it was growing very difficult to +observe the conditions of the indefinite compact. + +"I am very sorry, but I have letters to write," he said. + +Lilian Chatterton was a trifle quick-tempered, and though Dane knew it, +and considered it not a fault but a characteristic, he wondered at the +ways of women as she answered: + +"I could not, of course, expect you to delay your correspondence, which +is no doubt important. Have you run out of those new powder cartridges?" + +Dane felt that, under the circumstances, this was particularly hard on +him, but he smiled dryly. + +"The correspondence relates to my departure for London. I want you to +listen, Lilian. I have just had an interview with your uncle, which +makes my absence appear desirable. Perhaps you can guess its purport, +and the gist of what he said." + +The clear rose-color deepened a little in the girl's cheeks, but she +answered steadily. + +"I will admit the possibility. The most important question is what you +said to him." + +Now Dane had not only subdued mutinous alien laborers, and held them to +their task, but he had even been complimented by a South American +Spaniard upon the incisive vocabulary which helped him to accomplish it. +Nevertheless, at that moment he felt almost abject, and found speech of +any kind very difficult. + +"Are you ashamed of your answer?" asked the girl. + +"I am," Dane admitted. "There was, however, only one way in which I +could satisfy Mr. Chatterton without running the risk of allowing him to +apply considerable misdirected energy to the task of convincing a second +person. Therefore, though I did not like it, I took that way. He was not +pleased with me." + +"You told him----" Lilian began, coloring still more. + +"I did," said Dane grimly. "Horribly unflattering, wasn't it; but it was +the best I could do for you." + +The girl first experienced a wholly illogical desire to humiliate the +speaker; but, recognizing the unreasonableness of this, she reflected a +moment, and then laughed mirthlessly. + +"It should certainly prove effective. Still, a woman would have found a +neater way out of the difficulty!" + +Lilian left him, and when the man passed out of earshot into the +shrubbery, he used a few pointed and forbidden adjectives in connection +with what he termed his luck. + +He was leaning moodily upon a gate, looking down on a sunlit +stubble-field the following afternoon, when the next link was forged in +the chain of circumstances which, beginning with Chatterton's fishing, +would drag him through strange adventures. There was late honeysuckle on +the hedges, and festoons of warm-tinted straw. Running water sang +soothingly beneath the pine branches overhanging a neighboring hollow; +while all the wide vista of river, moor, and fell was mellowed by the +golden autumn haze. Dane, however, was far from happy. He was in no way +jealous of Carsluith Maxwell, which was perhaps surprising; but, in +addition to his other troubles, it did not please him that the latter +should have accompanied Miss Chatterton home on foot from Culmeny. They +had also been an inordinate time over the journey. + +Presently, a little brown-faced child came pattering barefooted down the +lane, and stopping, glanced at him shyly, as though half afraid. She was +a pretty, elfish little thing, though her well-mended garments betokened +industrious poverty. She apparently gathered courage when the man smiled +at her. + +"Whom are you staring so hard at, my little maid?" said he. + +The child fished out a strip of folded paper from somewhere about her +diminutive person, and held it up to him. + +"Ye will be the Mr. Dane who's staying at The Larches?" + +Dane nodded, and the girl glanced up and down the lane suspiciously. + +"Then Sis telt me to give ye this when there was naebody to see." + +"And who is your sister, and what's it all about?" asked Dane; and the +little thing smiled roguishly. + +"Just Mary Johnstone. Maybe it would tell ye gin ye lookit inside it, +sir." + +She vanished the next moment, with a patter of bare feet, leaving Dane +to stare blankly at the folded paper. + +"Now, who is Mary Johnstone, and what can she want with me?" he +wondered, as he prepared to follow the child's advice and read the +missive. When this had been done, however, he was not greatly +enlightened. + +"_I'm taking a great liberty_," it ran. "_I am in great trouble, and you +are the one person who can help me. If you would not have two little +children go hungry all winter, you will meet me by the planting at +Hallows Brig in the gloaming to-morrow. I saw you at The Larches, and +thought I could trust you._" + +"Very confiding of Miss Johnstone, whoever she is, but I'm thankful my +conscience is clear," thought Dane. It was unfortunate that he did not +obey the first impulse which prompted him to destroy the note. Instead +of this, he lighted another cigar, and sat down to consider the affair. + +Just then the local constable, who on an eventful occasion had also +stuck fast in the hedge, came tramping through the stubble with +elephantine gait. + +"Grand weather the day, sir," he beamed. "Ye will have heard we grippit +the man who broke yere heid." + +"I'm summoned as a witness; but who is Mary Johnstone?" asked Dane. "You +should know everybody about here." + +"Old Rab Johnstone's daughter; and that's no great credit to the lass. +Rab's overfond of the whisky, and never does nothing when he can help +it, which is gey often, I'm thinking. The daughter's a hard working +lass--sews for the gentlefolks; and she and her brither between them +keep the two mitherless bairns fed. It's him we've got in the lock-up +for breaking yere heid." + +"Oh," said Dane, as a light dawned upon him. "Then Mary Johnstone would +be the pretty, light-haired girl I saw sewing for Miss Chatterton?" + +"That same, sir," answered the constable, with professional alacrity. +"Miss Chatterton has missed nothing, has she?" + +"Of course not!" Dane said impatiently. "I was only inquiring out of +curiosity. You need not mention it. Would this coin be of any use to +you?" + +The official admitted that it might be; but when he appeared to smother +a bovine chuckle, Dane turned upon him. + +"What the deuce is amusing you so?" + +"Naething, sir," the man answered sheepishly. "I'm taken that way whiles +in hot weather." + +The constable furnished further particulars about the poacher's family +before he departed; and Dane, reflecting that his must be the most +damaging testimony against the prisoner, understood why Mary Johnstone +had sent for him. It was perhaps foolish, but the child's face had +attracted him; and deciding that the lot of the pretty seamstress, +struggling to bring up her sisters under the conditions mentioned, must +be a hard one at the best, he resolved at least to hear what she had to +say. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE TRYST AT HALLOWS BRIG + + +It was a clear, cool evening when Carsluith Maxwell leaned on the rails +of a footbridge which spanned the river, looking up at the old place of +Culmeny. It rose from the stony hillside, a straggling pile of time-worn +masonry, with all its narrow windows aflame with the evening light, and +the green of ivy softening its rugged simplicity. A square tower formed +its major portion, and this had been built with no pretense at adornment +in troubled days when the Maxwells had won and held their possessions +with the mailed hand. They had been, for the most part, soldiers of +fortune, and their descendant recalled the traditions of his race as, +turning, he looked south and east across the shining flood-tide toward +the Solway sands. + +More of his forbears had, when there was scarcity at Culmeny--which was +generally the case--ridden that way in steel cap and dinted harness than +ever rode back, and Carsluith Maxwell had hitherto fulfilled the family +destiny, chancing his life in modern ventures where the risks were +perhaps as heavy as any the old moss-troopers ran. Now, however, he had +come to a turning-point in his career, and that night must decide +whether he applied his energies to the slow conversion of barren mosses +into arable land, or went forth again to seek his fortune over seas. The +wandering life appealed to his instincts; and fortune had not wholly +evaded him; but he had recognized of late that unless he could share it +with one woman, even prosperity would have little value for him. There +was a trace of melancholy almost akin to superstition in his nature, and +it was with a curious smile that he turned toward Culmeny to put his +fate to the test. If Lilian Chatterton would not listen, it was high +time to begin his search for the African mine. + +In the meantime, Hilton Dane sat in the hall of Culmeny waiting for a +word with Maxwell, and also until it was time to keep his appointment at +the Hallows Brig. Three narrow, diamond-paned windows with rose lights +in the crown of their lancets pierced one end of the hall, and the +fading sunlight beating through, forced up into brightness the +pale-tinted dresses of his companions. They were young and comely women, +and, because the rest of the dark-paneled room was wrapped in shadow, +neither face nor dainty figure suffered from being silhouetted against a +somber background. A cluster of late roses in a silver bowl, and the +tawny skin of an African leopard on the polished floor, both touched by +the tinted gleam, formed by contrast glowing patches of color. +Nevertheless, Dane's eyes most often rested upon Lilian Chatterton, who +sat near an open window with a ruddy glory blazing in her hair, while +the dark oak behind it emphasized the delicate chiseling of her face. +There was a stamp of decision upon it as well as refinement. + +"Is it not wonderfully peaceful to-night?" she said, glancing out across +the velvet lawn. A few roses still flowered along one side of it, a tall +clipped hedge hemmed it in, and, beyond the lawn, fir wood, yellow +stubble, and meadow rolled down to the silver shining of the sea. The +whole lay steeped in the sunset, serenely beautiful; but the black +shadow of the firs lengthened rapidly across the grass. + +"You are all very silent," the girl continued. "Why does not somebody +agree with me? Don't you think it peaceful, Margaret? This might be an +enchanted garden, and yonder hedge a barrier impassable to care. It is +good to talk nonsense occasionally; and to-night one could almost fancy +that no cause for trouble might enter here." + +As she spoke, Dane noticed that the gloom of the firs had swallowed most +of the lawn, and the coincidence struck him as an unfortunate augury. +Lilian had known little of either sorrow or care; and having learned by +painful experience that the balance of light and darkness is determined +by immutable law, the man trembled for her. + +Margaret Maxwell laughed a little. + +"You are distinctly fanciful. Culmeny has seen very little of either +peace or prosperity. The spot where this very garden stands was once +worn down by the hoofs of stolen cattle, and the feet of armed men bent +on exterminating the gentle Maxwells who plundered them. We also read +that the serpent entered Eden, and have the authority of Milton and +others for picturing the Prince of Darkness as a somewhat courtly +gentleman; while one notices that when there is unusual harmony, trouble +not infrequently follows the advent of a man. It is a coincidence, but +that ditty should herald Carsluith's coming." + +A voice rose out of the adjoining meadow chanting a plaintive ditty in +an unknown tongue. The air resembled nothing Lilian had heard before, +and she leaned forward listening, for the refrain, pitched in a +mournful minor key, was equally striking. + +"I did not know your brother sang so well; but I do not like that song. +It strikes one as uncanny," she said. + +Margaret Maxwell nodded. + +"It is West African, and that, I understand, is an uncanny country. My +brother spent some time there. He really sings--as he does most things +when he thinks it worth while, which is not always--tolerably well." + +The song died away as Carsluith Maxwell came lightly across the lawn, +and Dane noticed that the last of the sunlight faded and the shadows +shut in both himself and Lilian Chatterton when the newcomer entered +through the open window. + +"I did not know I had such an audience, or I should have been too +diffident to play the nightingale," Maxwell laughed. + +"Miss Chatterton did not like your song, though she admired its +rendering," said Margaret mischievously. "But what put that doleful +composition into your head to-night?" + +"Association of ideas, most probably," answered Maxwell, with a smile on +his lips, but none in his eyes. "I met the post-carrier, and must decide +forthwith whether I shall follow up my African scheme or not. It is +curious, but by the same token I'm standing with my heel on the neck of +the leopard, and I feel inclined to say God send it be a true augury. +You have your foot upon him, too, Miss Chatterton; and that is a very +ill-omened beast." + +"How so?" asked Lilian. "It cannot be very large or terrible, to judge +by its skin." + +"It holds a country larger than Scotland in terror," replied Maxwell. +"There are whole tribes of black men who tremble at the sight of a tuft +of leopard's fur." + +"As an insignia, I suppose; but the beast is clearly vulnerable." Lilian +stooped and pointed to the fur. "Surely that is the work of a bullet." + +"You have keen eyes," said Maxwell. "The taxidermist did his best to +hide it. That hole was made when I first pitted myself against the +leopard by shooting one to convince my carriers the thing was mortal. +For some time I suspected that was the beginning of a duel." + +"And now?" interposed his sister, with a trace of anxiety. + +"Now I almost hope I was mistaken," said Carsluith Maxwell. "With your +permission, I have one or two things to see to, and should like a word +with Hilton." + +They went out together, and presently Dane returned alone to bid Miss +Maxwell adieu. + +"You have been very patient during the last hour," said that lady. "Now +that you have seen Carsluith, one could not, of course, expect too much +from you." + +"I have been very self-indulgent," said Dane, who had seen the elfish +child again and promised to meet his correspondent. "Still, there is a +limit to everybody's opportunities for enjoyment, and unfortunately I +must tear myself away." + +Margaret Maxwell glanced at him sharply, for she fancied that he spoke +with sincerity, as indeed he did; but Dane, having given his promise, +intended to keep it. She also glanced at Lilian, and decided that Miss +Chatterton was not wholly pleased. + +"Carsluith proposed to drive you both home. Can you not wait until he is +ready?" she suggested. + +"I fear I cannot," answered Dane, with a trace of confusion. "The fact +is, I have an appointment to keep." + +He left them a trifle abruptly, and Miss Maxwell turned to Lilian. + +"Whom can your guest have an appointment with? He looked positively +guilty. I fear that he must have fallen into the toils of some rustic +beauty, which, considering his opportunities, shows a deplorably +defective taste." + +If Lilian felt any resentment she showed no sign of it; but she was a +little more quiet than usual while they awaited the return of Carsluith +Maxwell. + +Dane, remembering Lilian's glance of interrogation, hurried toward the +Hallows Brig in a somewhat uncertain humor. Though the hillside was +still projected blackly against a pale gleam of saffron above, it was +nearly but not quite dark when he reached the bridge, and the water sang +mournfully through the deepening gloom of the firs. The cool air was +fragrant with the faint sweetness of honeysuckle, and the calling of +curlew rose from a misty meadow; and it seemed to Dane that the slight, +shadowy figure which presently flitted toward him was in keeping with +the spirit of the scene. When the girl halted beside him there was still +just sufficient light to show that her face was comely. Hilton Dane was +not given to wandering fancies, and had long carried Lilian Chatterton's +photograph about with him; but he felt compassionate when he saw the +anxiety in the thin face, and noticed that the girl's lips were +quivering. + +"Miss Johnstone, I presume?" he said. "Will you please tell me why you +sent for me?" + +"I will try, sir," was the answer. "I have two little sisters to bring +up on what I earn by my needle, and what Jim can spare; but work has +been ill to get at the quarries, and, now when Jim's in prison, and +winter's no far away, I'm afraid to wonder what will be the outcome if +he is convicted." + +"He should have considered such risks before he attempted to steal +another man's partridges," said Dane, with a poor attempt at severity. + +"Poaching is not stealing, sir!" There was a ring in the girl's voice. +"Sorrow on the game that steals the farmer's corn to make a rich man's +pleasure, and tempts a poor man to his ruin! May ye never learn, sir, +what it is to choose between stealing and starving." + +"The question is, what do you wish me to do?" + +"To let Jim off, sir," was the answer; and the girl's eyes were eager to +tearfulness as she fixed them on the man, who frowned, perhaps because +he felt the appeal in them almost irresistible. "It was a dark night, +and maybe ye could not be quite certain. It was the others who tempted +him. He will go no more poaching if he once wins clear, and if the +fiscal sends him to prison the bairns will be hungry often or the +winter's through. It's for their sakes I'm asking; and the neighbors say +there will be no conviction if ye cannot swear to Jim." + +Perhaps it was Dane's duty to sternly rebuke the pleader, but she +appeared half-fed and desperately anxious; and the face of her tiny +sister, with its look of childish confidence, rose up before his fancy. +He had once, and with little compunction, cut down with a shovel a +frenzied Italian laborer who led a mutiny, but now, though he set his +lips firmly for a moment, his eyes were pitiful. + +"I am afraid what you suggest would not be right," he said presently. +"Does your father not help you at all?" + +The girl's "No," expressed a good deal, and the despair in her voice +completed the man's discomfiture. + +"I'm sorry; I had no right to ask," he said. "I am sure, at least, that +it was not your brother who broke my head, because--because he was not +in a position to attack anybody just then--and, for the sake of the +little ones, if there is any doubt at all--and I dare say there will be, +he shall have full benefit. But I cannot set him at liberty to continue +poaching; and the neighboring land-owners will probably see that he gets +no more work at the quarries; so he must take a letter from me to a +contractor who will no doubt find him employment." + +Here, to the consternation of Dane, who did not know that his underfed +and overworked companion had done a courageous and, in the eyes of her +neighbors, a very suspicious thing, the girl broke out into half-choked +sobbing. + +"You really must not cry," he pleaded awkwardly. "It is distressing to +me; and it is not my fault that your brother's friends cut my head open. +However, as I am the unfortunate cause of your distress, if the little +ones have suffered already it would be my duty to--to see they +didn't--you understand me?" + +The girl, though still tearful, drew herself up with some show of pride. + +"I'm no asking ye for money. The relief was just overmuch for me; but, +and it's a last favor, ye will no tell Miss Chatterton. Her good word +means work and bread to me." + +"I am not likely to tell Miss Chatterton," the man assured her; then +added in haste: "If I did, she would not blame you." + +"Maybe! Ye will not tell her," the girl said enigmatically, and then +once more caught her breath. + +Dane, being unpleasantly uncertain what she might say or do in an +hysterical attack, felt it incumbent on him to soothe her, and laid a +hand reassuringly on her shoulder. It is possible that his companion +found comfort in the grasp, or instinctively recognized the touch of an +honest man, for she made no effort to evade it. As it happened, the lane +was grass-grown and sandy, and the river frothed noisily down a rapid +beyond the bridge. Thus neither of them heard the fall of hoofs until a +sudden glare of light beat into the face of the man. Fate had decreed +that the driver of the approaching vehicle should not only light the +lamps a little earlier than usual, but choose the longest road. + +The result was unfortunate, for Dane, acting on impulse, drew the girl +farther back into the shadow of the hedge, and stood before her with his +hand still on her arm. The light had partly dazzled him, but he +recognized in the occupants of the dog-cart Lilian Chatterton and +Carsluith Maxwell, and barely choked back an expletive. Neither, if they +had seen him, showed any sign of recognition, which, however, was hardly +to be expected under the circumstances. Then, as the vehicle jolted on, +the girl, seeing the chagrin in the man's face, gazed at him curiously, +and with half-coherent thanks hurried away, leaving Dane in a state of +savage dismay. + +"It is confoundedly hard on an unfortunate and innocent man! This is a +situation which will require considerable explaining, and I shall +probably never have an opportunity for attempting it," he muttered. + +In the meantime Lilian Chatterton felt the hot blood surge upward from +her neck, and was thankful that the darkness partly hid her face. It is +true that she had effectively, so she hoped, put an end to any +aspirations Dane might have cherished; but when he had once accepted the +position there was no longer any necessity to conceal the fact that to a +certain degree she found his society congenial, or to consider how far +her interest in him might carry her. His complaisance had been the more +gratifying because she fancied it was not every woman who could bend +such an individual to her will. Lilian, however, had not only set up a +somewhat elevated standard of conduct for herself, but was inclined to +judge harshly those who fell beneath it; and now she was unmistakably, +if illogically, angry. The knowledge that the man had gone out fresh +from her presence to keep such an assignation stung her pride to the +quick, and brought the crimson to her very forehead. It was, she +considered, an unforgivable insult. Still, she had but seen him dimly +for a second, and might be mistaken, and so she turned toward her +companion. + +"It is curious that I should fancy there was something familiar in the +voices we overheard," she said as lightly as she could. + +Maxwell had learned discretion. + +"Voices are always deceptive," he answered. "One should never trust to a +fanciful resemblance. The bridge is a favorite trysting-place for rustic +lovers; as one result of the sudden appearance of a pair of them, this +excitable beast managed to upset me the last time I approached it." + +Carsluith Maxwell had done his best for his friend, and it was not his +fault that he had only confirmed the girl's suspicions, and set her +wondering if all men were equally perfidious. + +"That being so, was it not very thoughtless of you to drive me this +way?" she inquired, with some asperity. + +"Guilty," laughed Maxwell. "May I plead in extenuation that it is the +longest?" + +He sprang down and looped the reins round a gatepost when they reached +the winding drive which led up to The Larches. + +"Do you mind alighting here, Miss Chatterton?" he asked. + +"No," said Lilian. "But may I inquire the reason?" + +"A desire not to risk your safety a second time. The drive is very dark, +the horse addicted to bolting on opportunity; and it would be hard to do +justice to what I must tell you if I were forced to watch him. The task +is sufficiently beyond me already; I would give a good deal for the +power of eloquence." + +Lilian was startled, for the speaker had certainly not worn his heart on +his sleeve. + +"Could you not wait until to-morrow?" she asked with some trepidation. + +"I am afraid not," said Maxwell, a trifle grimly. "I fear this must be a +surprise to you, but circumstances prevent my waiting, and it is even +better to hear one's sentence than to remain in suspense. Won't you +listen?" + +Lilian, seeing there was no escape, bent her head; and, if Maxwell had +not the gift of eloquence, he could compress a good deal into a few +brief sentences. There was no superfluous protestation. The man spoke +abruptly, but Lilian could not doubt the earnestness in his voice, or, +as he stood hat in hand under the lamplight, mistake the look in his +eyes. She saw that what he offered was the enduring love of one who +could be trusted to the utmost, and the few pointed words revealed +depths of tenderness she had hardly suspected in him. + +"I am sorry, very sorry--but it is impossible," she said softly. + +Maxwell moved a pace or two forward, and his face seemed to have grown +suddenly haggard. + +"Think," he urged hoarsely. "This means so much to me. Will it always be +impossible? I shall not change." + +Lilian fancied she could believe him. She looked him fully in the eyes +as she answered. + +"It can never be possible. I am sorry. If I had known, I should have +tried to warn you. You must forget me." + +Maxwell recognized finality in her tone. For the space of several +seconds he turned his head away. Then he faced round again, speaking +very quietly: + +"You have nothing to reproach yourself with. The mistake was mine. I +shall, however, never forget you; and I want you to promise that if any +adversity overtakes you--which God forbid--you will remember me. I sail +for Africa shortly, and it may be long before we meet again. Now I will +walk with you up the drive." + +He held out his arm, and Lilian wondered a little at his composure as +she laid her hand on it and they passed together into the blackness of +the firs. + +Miss Chatterton had not long joined her aunt when Dane came in, and +glanced in her direction as he made some not oversapient observation to +Chatterton. She did not avoid his gaze, but met it coldly, and, +gathering up some needlework, moved without ostentation, but +deliberately, out of the room. No speech could have been plainer, and +Dane grew hot, while the fingers of one hand contracted without his +will. + +"You don't look well, Hilton," remarked Thomas Chatterton. "Is your head +troubling you?" + +"No," said Dane. "I must have walked tolerably fast, and I am perhaps a +trifle shaky yet. With Mrs. Chatterton's permission I will go out and +smoke a cigar." + +He passed out, and the iron-master smiled as he looked at his wife. + +"Can you tell me what is the meaning of this?" he asked. + +"Your inquiry is indefinite; and why do you ask me?" + +"Because I think you ought to know," Chatterton answered dryly. "Women +generally have a finger in it whenever there is trouble." + +"Even if true, that is not strikingly original," Mrs. Chatterton +retorted. "I have not noticed anything unusual." + +"Then listen," and Chatterton pointed toward the window. "When a young +man goes out for a stroll he does not usually stamp in that savage +fashion upon the gravel. Now, I want your candid opinion." + +"You shall have it," said the lady, smiling. "I believe that no good +ever resulted from a choleric elderly gentleman's interference in +affairs beyond his comprehension." + +Meanwhile Carsluith Maxwell stood talking to his sister in the hall of +Culmeny. + +"After what has happened, the sooner I get out on my African venture the +more pleasant it will be for all concerned," he said gloomily. "It is a +good country where one can forget one's troubles; in fact, there are so +many peculiarly its own that I don't know a better." + +"Poor Carsluith! It will be a heavy disappointment to father. He is +failing more rapidly than I care to notice, and had begun to lean on +you. I don't think I can forgive her. Yes; go out, and forget her." + +"It was not Miss Chatterton's fault," Maxwell declared quickly. "She +never, to use the inappropriate phrase, encouraged me. It was my own +folly to hope that she could stoop to me." + +"Without any wish to flatter you, I consider that Miss Chatterton might +have stooped a good deal farther," said Margaret Maxwell. "However, we +need not go into that; and I am only sorry you are so hardly hit. I +wonder if it was because of Dane?" + +"No," Maxwell answered with decision. "I can't exactly tell you why, but +I am certain it was not because of Dane." + +His sister said nothing further, though she was not convinced. Her heart +was heavy for her brother, because she knew the Maxwell temperament, and +that he was not the man to change. + +Carsluith passed out into the darkness, and leaning against a fir, spoke +half aloud: + +"No man Miss Chatterton had smiled upon could scatter his affections as +Dane seems to have done. Pshaw! The thing is perfectly impossible!" + +This was, perhaps, a greater tribute to the speaker's loyalty than to +his knowledge of human nature, though Carsluith Maxwell was usually +accounted a shrewd man. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +DANE'S SILENCE + + +It was in a combative humor that Hilton Dane presented himself in court +on the day of the poacher's trial. It was impossible to ignore the +summons, which alone had delayed his departure from The Larches; but the +time he spent there waiting had passed very uncomfortably. Lilian had, +so far as she could do so without attracting attention, sedulously +avoided his company; and he fancied that both Chatterton and his wife +regarded him with suspicion. Dane, knowing the iron-master's opinions, +surmised that Chatterton would not have blamed him had he frankly +related all that had passed; but he had pledged himself to secrecy, and +it never occurred to him to break his promise. + +Therefore he kept his own counsel, and went into court prepared for +battle, further fortified by a contempt for the assumed omnipotence of +petty local magnates which men of his kind, who have tasted power in the +vigorous life of the newer lands, acquire. He decided that the prisoner, +who was very young, looked free from inherent vice, and worthy of a +chance to prove himself, in the main, honest. He was not absolutely +certain that the man was the one with whom he had grappled, and he gave +him the full benefit of the doubt. His answers provided the neighborhood +with a sensational topic for conversation, and, while there were some +who laughed at the legal functionaries' discomfiture and the witness's +nonchalance, the game preservers in the vicinity were emphatic in their +indignation. + +In any case, Dane left the court amid the plaudits of the assembled +quarrymen, which the officials could not restrain. He hated the rôle of +popular hero but he felt a certain grim satisfaction, though he guessed +that every word he had spoken might cost him dearly. Also, because he +did nothing by halves, he sought the discharged prisoner. + +"I don't know whether you are the right man or not, and I don't want +to," he said dryly. "If you are a wholly worthless rascal, you will no +doubt drift back into the clutches of the police, when it is probable +that the worthy gentlemen I addressed to-day will see that you don't get +out again. It would not surprise me if they starved you out of this +neighborhood; so, if you desire to make a fresh start, you will take +this letter to the English waterworks contractor to whom it is +addressed--and send your sister as much as possible of what he pays +you." + +"Would you believe that I'm sairly sorry, sir?" began the lad; but Dane +turned upon him with a laugh and a frown. + +"Sorry for what? Prove it by turning honest. Do you wish to convince me +I did wrong to-day?" + +The poacher departed with grateful protestations, and Dane was glad that +he had vanished before Maxwell came up. + +"I don't know whether I ought to congratulate you on your forensic +abilities, or otherwise, but the spectacle was worth the journey," he +said. "I hardly suspected that you possessed such talents; but why you +displayed them is, of course, another question." + +"It is also my particular business," Dane replied stiffly, and frowned +when Maxwell smiled significantly. + +"Confound you! Do you think----" he broke out; and Maxwell smiled again +in ironical fashion as he moved away. + +"I might make use of your own rejoinder, and say that I generally find +it saves trouble to keep my opinions to myself," he returned. "However, +since you asked me, what would any person of the most modest discernment +think?" + +Dane groaned inwardly as he climbed into the waiting vehicle, for the +last speech placed beyond all doubt the fact that the occupants of the +dog-cart had recognized him at Hallows Brig; and he knew that Lilian +Chatterton held somewhat puritanical views. He had, it was evident, +involved himself hopelessly. + +That very evening, just as Dane had finished packing his few +possessions, an irate game-preserving gentleman drove over to The +Larches to express his indignation. + +"I would not like to hurt your feelings, Chatterton, but your young +friend did not give wholly unbiased testimony to-day," he said. +"Considering his evident desire to shield the prisoner, I e'en felt it +my duty to----" + +He got no farther, for the choleric iron-master was equally loyal to +those he honored with his good opinion, and prompt on any challenge to +take up the cudgels. + +"If that is all you called to tell me, you might have spared yourself +the trouble, Black," he interrupted. "I have known Hilton Dane from +boyhood, as I knew his father before him; and I haven't the slightest +objection to hurting the feelings of any man who impugns the honesty of +my friends." + +"I'm thinking ye are very generous," replied Black, relapsing into his +native idiom. "Man, do not be so testy, but bide and listen. He +described his adversary so well that the police at once identified and +arrested him; but he appeared troubled with a distressfully bad memory +in court to-day. + +"'What are ye meaning by the words, "A man like the prisoner"?' the +fiscal asked him; and Mr. Dane answers: 'Just what I say.' + +"'Can you not swear to him?' asked the fiscal severely; and your young +friend smiled. 'Could you swear to the complexion and color of the eyes +of any man who, on a dark night, had just kicked you hard upon the +knee?' says he. + +"It was not even respectful; and when the rabble cheered there was more +than me who agreed with the fiscal: 'This place is a court of +justice--or it ought to be,' said he." + +Black, pausing, betrayed his indignation with a gesture, while +Chatterton laughed in aggressive fashion. + +"Considering my worthy neighbors' prejudices, I think there was +something in that last remark," he said. + +Just then Lilian, who may have overheard part of the colloquy, appeared +in an opening in the tall hedge. + +"Did you convict the malefactor, Mr. Black?" she asked. + +"No," said that gentleman ruefully. "Unfortunately we did not, although +I'm thinking that we did our best." + +Lilian smiled a little, and Chatterton's eyes twinkled as he glanced at +her encouragingly. + +"Was that quite in accordance with the spirit of our glorious +constitution?" she asked. + +"Eh?" said Black sharply. "What's this I'm saying; and I see ye are +laughing at me. I mean his guilt was manifest, but a friend of yours +showed considerable audacity, forby a trace of talent, in his efforts to +release him. Ye will mind that it's a principle of British justice to +give even a poacher fair play, my dear young lady." + +"So I was always taught," Lilian replied artlessly. + +Thomas Chatterton chuckled again, and pointed toward a man who, in turn, +passed through the opening in the hedge. + +"I fancy that Mr. Black is anxious to talk to you, Hilton," he said. + +Black, however, had evidently found two adversaries sufficient without +engaging a third, and, as sometimes happens, he did not recollect the +crushing things he might have said until the opportunity had passed; so, +after a stiff greeting, he allowed Chatterton, who was rarely ungenerous +to a beaten enemy, to lead him away. + +Lilian had disappeared, but not before the manner in which she had +ignored Dane had roused him to precipitate action. He forgot his +prudence in a sudden fit of anger, and, remembering only that he might +never have another opportunity for speech with her, he followed the +girl. Miss Chatterton, however, had a fair start, and, perhaps being +warned by the sound of his hurried footsteps, made the most of it; so +that while Dane pursued her down two avenues, and through a shrubbery, +the situation grew rapidly ludicrous. The humor of it did not strike him +then, and he saw only the flicker of a white dress receding before him. +Finally he came upon the fugitive in a narrow path between rows of +choice chrysanthemums, where, as there was no room for two to pass, +Lilian turned upon him with an ominous light in her eyes. It was evident +that Miss Chatterton was seriously angry, as well as a little +breathless. + +"What brings you here?" she demanded. + +Dane was not, as a rule, readily disconcerted; but for a moment the +power of lucid speech deserted him. + +"I came----" he gasped. + +"That is unfortunately evident," retorted Lilian, chillingly. "What I +desire to know is why, considering the size of the garden, you must, +after seeing I wished to be alone, choose this particular path!" + +Dane had slight cause for merriment, but he actually laughed. + +"Any other place would have suited me, but you went so fast!" + +This was a blunder, and he realized it as he heard the gravel crunch in +a manner that suggested the pressure of somebody's heel. Lilian had +clearly roused herself to face the situation. + +"Admitting that it was so, will you explain why you cannot take a hint?" + +"I will," Dane said quietly, though he was once more maladroit. "I +wished to ask why you have avoided me like contagion lately?" + +"Is that a necessary question, or is it generous to place the onus of +such an explanation upon me?" + +"Perhaps not," he admitted. "I am not so quick of wit as I could wish, +to-day, but I am going away early to-morrow, and it may be very long +before I see you again; so I could not help asking it. We have known +each other a long time, Lily, and I would not care to leave England +feeling that you were displeased with me." + +"Have I told you that I was displeased?" asked the girl. + +"Speech was hardly necessary." + +Lilian Chatterton was not deficient in courage, and she no longer tried +to evade the difficulty. "Please understand that I have neither the +right nor the desire to inquire into your motives, but--since you +insist--there are limits within which one must restrict one's +friendship; and after comparing your own account of your nocturnal +adventures with what I heard Mr. Black relate about your conduct in +court to-day, it is hardly possible to avoid concluding that you have +overstepped them." + +"There may be an explanation. Is it fair, as you reminded that very +gentleman, to condemn any one unheard?" + +"Can you furnish one?" asked Lilian, with a quickness which was not +wholly lost upon her companion. If he had spoken plainly, it is possible +that the explanation might have changed a good deal for both of them; +but that was just what the man had pledged himself not to do. He was not +a casuist, and, having no time for reflection, saw only one course open +to him. It was too late when he realized that it was the worst one +possible from any point of view. + +"I am afraid I cannot, at present," he said. + +The girl's eyes grew almost wicked, for his hesitation was fatal, and +she was angry that she had even allowed him to draw her into the +discussion. + +"That is comprehensible," she said. "You must already have taxed your +imagination severely, and it is perhaps natural that the testimony of a +quite disinterested gentleman should be more convincing. Besides, as I +said already, it is certainly not my part to judge you." + +"Then I can only hope that you will hear the full truth from some other +person you consider more worthy of credit," Dane said somberly. + +Miss Chatterton returned no answer, but, drawing her skirt to her side, +brushed past the man, who stepped recklessly among the chrysanthemums. +She had, of course, no intention of looking back in his direction, but, +on turning at the end of the alley, it was almost necessary to do so, +and she sometimes remembered, with both a smile and a sigh, how he had +stood, a somewhat commanding, as well as a slightly ludicrous figure, +staring straight before him, knee-deep among the chrysanthemums. That, +however, was afterward, for then Lilian was in a royal rage with herself +as well as the man, because she had allowed anything he could say or do +to disturb her serenity. + +Dane sighed a little, but there was resolution as well as indignation in +his face as he moved away, and left the gardener, who had witnessed the +scene with indignation, to assess the damage. + +"Would nothing fit yon theatrical ijiot but stamping my new quilled +Regents flat?" the gardener grumbled. + +Early the next morning Chatterton and Dane stood waiting for the South +express in the little country station. + +"I don't altogether understand what you have been doing, Hilton, and, +though nobody seems quite pleased with you, I won't ask," said the +iron-master. "I know you had a good reason for it, whatever it was; and +if that meddlesome Black or any of his friends feel inclined to make +further unpleasant suggestions, I shall enjoy the opportunity for a +little plain speaking. If you ever change your mind, remember what I +said; and don't close with any offer unless it's tempting, but come +back and wait at The Larches for a better. I can't help saying I'm +sorry you did not altogether hit it with Lilian. Modern young women, +however, often appear to consider cheap smartness more becoming than the +genuine cordiality they may feel." + +"It was not Miss Chatterton's fault, sir," declared Dane, who, growing +slightly confused, wished the iron-master would favor anything else with +his fixed attention. He was thankful that the approach of the express +prevented the conversation from progressing further in that direction. + +A few evenings later, Lilian dismounted from her pony in the shadow of a +copse. For some reason she had been restless all day, and sought solace +in a ride across the moor. The saddle had slipped a little, and she +spent some time tightening the girth. Meanwhile two men came to a +standstill in the stubble beyond the hedge, and she recognized Carsluith +Maxwell in one spare figure. The sunset beat into his face, and she saw +it was stamped with a curious melancholy as he looked down the +deep-wooded valley toward Culmeny. Ridges of brown moorland, whose +slopes were streaked by dark firs, hemmed the hollow in, and the tower +rose blackly in the mouth of it against the shimmer of the sea. + +"It is an inheritance to be proud of, sir," Carsluith said. "Perhaps it +is because of the contrast with the rank luxuriance of the tropics, and +their stifling heat, but each time I come home to the old place and +breathe this keen sweet air, I feel that I love it better." + +The second man, turning, laid his hand on the speaker's shoulder, and as +he did so Lilian recognized the master of Culmeny. + +"It will be yours some day which cannot be very distant now," the elder +man replied. "It is a barren heritage, and I have long regretted that, +after the girls are provided for, its revenues will do little more than +cover the interest on the burden you must take up along with it." + +"I hope that day will be long in coming, sir; and I shall never rest +contented until by some means I win enough to restore our former +prosperity. To-morrow will see me on my way to London, and we must hope +that my latest venture will prove successful!" + +Lilian could not escape without attracting attention, and she was so +close to the two men that she heard Brandram Maxwell sigh. + +"I do not approve of it, but know I cannot dissuade you," he said, with +a certain pride as well as wistfulness in the glance he cast upon his +son. "I had hoped you might have settled here--and think she is good as +well as bonny--but that was not to be. Prosperity! The old place was aye +needy, and its plenishing has cost the life of many of those who have +gone before you. You will mind Andrew's answer when he fell out dying in +the retreat from Derby: 'I'm not caring greatly where I lie,' said he. +'Our kirkyard is not contracted. It runs from the Low Countries to the +sands of Cree.' Maybe it's your destiny, but you will not forget that an +old man is longing for the sight of you, longing the more because----" + +He ceased abruptly, and Lilian noticed that Carsluith Maxwell made the +slightest gesture of negation, while his face darkened a little. She +recalled an old superstitious tale. + +"We have outgrown belief in those fables, sir," he declared. + +The ruler of Culmeny made no direct answer. + +"The old tale is told over often, and the end is the same. God keep you, +and bring you safe home from that dark land," he said solemnly. + +Here the pair forestalled the unwilling spectator's intention by moving +away, and left her troubled. She had done nothing to raise false hopes +in Carsluith Maxwell, and in that respect her conscience was clear; but +there had been a strange somberness in both men's faces, and she felt +that she was mainly responsible for sending the younger one to Africa. +He was of good family and accomplished, and she wondered why, when many +another damsel would have gladly listened, she had so promptly declined +him as a suitor. Then, even as she reflected that there was no one else +she preferred to him, a tinge of color crept into her face, and, +dismissing the subject, she mounted, and sent the pony at a gallop +across the next meadow. + + * * * * * + +It was a depressing afternoon when Carsluith Maxwell found Dane lounging +in the smoking-room of a London hotel. The air outside was foul with +smoke and fog; and it was little more cheerful within. Dane was in +distinctly low spirits. He had spent a fortnight haunting the offices of +engineering firms, financiers, and company promoters, and had discovered +once more that anybody willing to take up his invention would require +the lion's share of the contingent profit. He could hear of no +remunerative professional engagement; and the contractors who had +promised him the foreign commission stated that the work would not be +begun for some time. + +"You do not look exactly pleased with either the world or yourself," +observed Maxwell. + +"I certainly don't feel so," Dane said shortly. "Several things have +gone wrong with me lately, and I'm even more troubled than usual by a +chronic shortness of capital. I want ten thousand pounds rather more +badly than most folks do, and no mental effort will show me where to +raise more than five." + +Maxwell looked hard at the speaker. + +"If you are willing to risk a good deal on a chance of obtaining the +money, I think I can show you a way." + +Dane laughed harshly. + +"There is no risk you could mention which, for the sake of five thousand +pounds, I would not run." + +"If you join me you will run a good many," said Maxwell. "There were +reasons why I could not make the offer until to-day. Give me about ten +minutes to explain the venture." + +Dane drew in a deep breath when his companion concluded; then held out a +big hand. + +"It is a bargain," he said simply. "Half the profit, half the expense +and peril. I can start any time after to-morrow." + +They shook hands on it, while the blue cigar smoke curled about them; +and the bargain they made was kept faithfully in the face of manifold +perils, and in spirit as well as in letter. Long afterward, Dane +remembered that Maxwell's smile was much the same when, clenching the +hot rifle barrels, they watched the flintlocks flashing through thicker +wreaths of a more deadly vapor. + +All arrangements had been made when Maxwell departed; and Dane sat down +to write Chatterton a letter. When that gentleman received it, he first +used expressions which should have cost him five shillings, and then, +seeking his wife, thrust it down before her with quite unnecessary +violence. + +"The man has taken leave of his senses!" he exclaimed. "Read that, and +tell me if you don't think so." + +"Is this the beginning of another ancient-right crusade, or the effect +of the lobster salad? You will remember that I warned you," said Mrs. +Chatterton. + +"This is not a time to indulge in puerile levity! It is that--that +confounded idiot, Hilton! He and the other madman, Maxwell, have gone +out to look for gold mines in one of the deadliest holes in Africa. He +says he wanted five thousand pounds, and, when he knows it was his duty, +could not come to me!" + +Mrs. Chatterton read the letter, and then tried to flash a warning at +her husband before she glanced in her niece's direction. Lilian who had +leaned forward as though listening intently, sank back into her chair. + +"Perhaps they may find the gold mine; and Carsluith Maxwell is by no +means an idiot," she said. "Indeed, he always struck me as a shrewd, +determined man." + +"Determined enough," fumed her husband. "They're all made that way. +Maxwell rebuilt his iniquitous obstruction four times after I tore it +up; but there's something in Carsluith's dark face I don't care to see. +I've seen the sign on other men, and it implies a tragedy. Besides, from +what Black told me, they're an unlucky family, with an hereditary +weakness for dying fully dressed. Any mad venture they could get +themselves decently killed in seems to have been irresistible to those +men of Culmeny. I'd have given three times the money to prevent +Carsluith from decoying poor Hilton. Do the fools fancy nuggets grow on +palm trees?" + +Chatterton, receiving no answer, retired to what he called his study, +where they heard him banging books about. Lilian sat silent with hands +crossed in her lap. She, also, she fancied, had seen the shadow in +Carsluith Maxwell's face, and she felt both troubled and anxious about +him and about somebody else. + +A week later Mrs. Chatterton, entering her niece's room in search of +some trifle, came upon a book the girl had been reading. She looked +thoughtful when she saw that the volume treated of travels in West +Africa, and that the marker in it rested between the last pages. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A WARNING + + +It was a bright morning when the S.S. _Manyamba_ rolled south into sight +of the Canaries over a white-flecked sea. They rose rather like dim blue +clouds than islands athwart the far horizon, with one glistening cone +cut off by silver mists from the ocean plain beneath, towering high +above the loftiest. Maxwell leaned over the poop rails, while Dane, the +middle-aged purser, and Miss Bonita Castro stood near by. The lady's +father, a little, olive-faced Portuguese, with shifty black eyes, +lounged in a deck chair watching them languidly. There were few +passengers on board, and the members of the group, who had made friends +somewhat rapidly, were now amusing themselves by shooting at the bottles +a steward forward flung into the sea. + +A big pistol flashed in Miss Castro's hand. The purser clutched at a +stanchion and uttered a quick exclamation; Maxwell wheeled round +suddenly. A bottle, ceasing its gyrations, sank into the white wash of +the screw, and the lady laughed as she lowered the pistol muzzle. + +"_Trés!_" she cried exultantly. "That is three to me! _Carramba!_ I have +also it seem, as you say, nearly bag the Señor Maxwell." + +If Dom Pedro Castro was a typical Portuguese, his wife had been an +Andalusian, and his daughter, while speaking several languages rather +prettily than well, preferred her mother's tongue, and had inherited a +full share of the voluptuous beauty of a race whose women are famous in +Spain. She formed an interesting picture as she stood with the blue of +the sea behind her, laughter in her dark eyes, and the pistol still +smoking in her hand. They were remarkably attractive eyes; and Maxwell, +knowing what to look for, saw more than Dane had apparently seen in +their depths, and decided to warn his comrade to beware of them. A faint +carmine warmth emphasized the comeliness of the slightly dusky face, +while graceful pose and figure were both characteristic of a woman of +her extraction as yet well short of the age at which Southern beauty +changes into grossness. + +"You have not the fright, Señor Maxwell, though a little nearer and we +leave you behind?" she added naively. + +Maxwell did not look frightened, though he might well have been, for the +bullet had passed him close. He answered with a smile which, as Dane had +noticed before, appeared to linger on his lips after the gravity had +returned to his eyes. + +"No, señorita. If a man could choose his last resting-place, wouldn't +this blue water be much nicer than a mangrove swamp in Africa. That very +little, however, makes a vast difference; and you have won the gloves. +You shall have the best in Las Palmas to-night. You will land us by +sunset, Mr. Purser?" + +"Yes." The Purser sighed with relief when he saw that the contest was +over. "Hadn't you better give me that pistol, señorita? Accidents happen +when one least expects them, and the Company would hold me responsible +if you killed anybody. I don't think the skipper would see quite as much +humor in the position as you seem to." + +Bonita laughed with the light-heartedness of a child, and glanced +demurely at Dane. + +"To kill the Señor Maxwell, or my good friend Don Ilton, is catastrophe; +but to kill a bad man, it is nothing. Many men are killed in Africa; I +myself shoot one. There was in him the blood of the negro, and he forget +it when without respect he speak to me." + +Dane was a trifle staggered by the matter-of-fact manner in which Miss +Castro mentioned the way she had disposed of one whom he surmised had +been too venturesome a suitor. + +"_Verdad!_" exclaimed Dom Pedro. "The man, by bad fortune, he is not +die, and that affair is cost me much commercio. My daughter she has, in +your English, the spirited way." + +The lady's face changed suddenly as she turned toward Maxwell. + +"I beat you, Señor, but it is because you are _muy caballero_, and +prefer the defeat from me. You have the steady hand and the dangerous +eye, and have not the fear. That is well if you go up into the forest in +my country. It is different with your friend. The pistol is not for him. +No, he remind me of those big fair men with the axes I read of in +England. I make you my compliments, Don Ilton, and you show me where the +swift Bonita he leap at the bow." + +Whether, because Miss Castro was fond of admiration, this was done out +of pique at Maxwell's indifference to her attractions, Dane naturally +did not know, but he answered with a bow, and the two strolled forward +together. There were no porpoises circling, as they often will, athwart +the stem, but the lady who perched herself upon a knighthead seemed in +no way disappointed. The sun made rainbows in the spray which whirled +beneath her, as each blue ridge fell back shattered from the shearing +bows; and nowhere else could one realize so well the swift passage of +the quivering hull through the white-topped seas, or feel the same +cradle-like rise and fall of the warm deck planking. + +"All this," remarked Miss Castro, "is very nice; and the Señor Maxwell, +who is _muy caballero_, but somber sometimes, he is not here. You have +my permission to sit there, and I will talk to you." + +Dane afterward wondered why, in place of doing so, she led him on to +talk about his comrade; but it was perhaps not unnatural that he should +find a certain degree of pleasure in the society of his comely and +versatile companion. He knew little of Miss Castro beyond what the +purser had told him, and that Maxwell had met her elsewhere; but he was +to learn more in due time. She had been educated in some Spanish +convent; but, being born on the fever coast, could withstand the +climate, and she spent part of her time there in her father's factory, +and the rest with her mother's sister in the Canaries. Dom Pedro was +assumed to be a tolerably prosperous trader. + +An hour had passed before the two came aft together, and on the next +opportunity Maxwell took his friend to task. + +"It is perhaps time for me to warn you about playing with fire, Hilton," +he said. "Miss Castro is certainly pretty, but her people don't +understand the game of flirtation as played in England. In all +emotional questions they're unpleasantly in earnest. I may remind you +that I met the señorita in Africa." + +"I have not so far obtruded my advice on you," Dane returned. "Don't you +think this----" + +"Is an impertinence?" and Maxwell smiled. "Perfectly. I also admit that +the rôle of mentor does not become me. Nevertheless, when Miss Castro +casually mentioned how she got rid of her last suitor, there was +something in her eyes which might have warned an observer. You needn't +trouble about a neat rejoinder, because I'll retire, having done my +duty." + +"I mean to call upon Miss Castro at the Catalina to-morrow. Your +warning, however, is superfluous, as it will be the last time I shall +see her. She is remaining here." + +There was a trace of mischief in Maxwell's smile as he answered. + +"I am going with you. You need not express astonishment. She invited +me." + +It was a sunny afternoon when they went ashore together; but they did +not find Miss Castro immediately at her hotel. It appeared that the +British tourists and invalids who sojourned in the dusty Spanish city +had joined hands with its leading inhabitants over the organization of a +gala for the benefit of local institutions, and Miss Castro was playing +the part of soothsayer in the cause of charity. + +Dane found it pleasant, in spite of the dust, to watch the white mists +sliding athwart the great volcanic peaks, and the silvery spray toss +beneath the white-walled city. The assembly also was interesting. Gaily +uniformed Castilian officer, and British tourist fantastically attired, +jostled each other. Dark-skinned, black-haired beauties--pleasant to +look upon even when they wore Parisian headgear instead of the national +mantilla--in filmy draperies, flitted in and out among young +Englishwomen, whose indifferent faces and attire emphasized the contrast +between their respective characters; while here and there a matron of +their own nation stood surveying the scene with the pitying contempt for +everything foreign which too many insular Britons consider impresses the +benighted alien. Good music mingled with the merry voices, swish of +diaphanous dresses, clank of sabers, and patter of feet, and through all +rang the monotone of the sea. + +"Look at it well," said Maxwell. "It is the last glimpse of civilization +you will get for many a day. Henceforward our path leads us into a land +of eternal shadow haunted by all things evil; at least, and they have +some reason, so the negroes say. There's the señorita, telling fortunes +in that striped tent. It is curious that she is beckoning--me." + +Maxwell pushed his way through the throng surrounding a gaudy pavilion, +where Miss Castro was evidently doing excellent business; and presently +he returned, smiling curiously. + +"She wishes to tell your fortune. Go in and spend a crown in the cause +of charity. I can't say that mine was a very good one, but the señorita +showed an accuracy which was, under the circumstances, surprising." + +Dane made his way with difficulty into the tent, and when his eyes grew +used to the change from brilliant sunshine to shadow, he realized one +reason for Miss Castro's success. She wore the dress of the Andaluces, +thin, lace-like draperies of black, sufficiently short to reveal the +tiny high-arched feet in dainty Moorish slippers. A gauzy black mantilla +and a crimson rose adorned her hair, while the graces of her figure were +emphasized by a broad zone of African gold, chased with zodiacal +characters by sable craftsmen. The costume suited her; and Miss Castro +was probably aware of the fact. + +"So you will learn a little of the future, Don Ilton?" she said, with +unusual gravity. "No, you must not smile. This is not the charlatan's +trickery. The ancient Moors they teach us wisdom, and I have study. So, +we throw there the crown, and I lay this Aggri in your palm. The Aggri +has virtue, though what it is no man know." + +She detached from her bracelet an insignificant bead, one of the +mysterious Aggri which cannot be counterfeited, and, as Dane afterward +learned, can hardly be bought with money in West Africa. + +"It is a big, hard hand, and has done much work, perhaps with the +shovel, in a hot country--I think the Sud America," she said. "It will +also hold the rifle. It is well to hold the rifle straight in Africa." + +Miss Castro had splendid eyes, of a kind that it is not wise for a +susceptible man to gaze into too steadily while his hand is held in very +pretty fingers; and Dane felt it incumbent on him to break the spell. + +"This is not all divination, señorita. I told you I was going inland +from the African coast; though I certainly did not tell you I had been +in South America. Did you guess it by my darkened skin?" + +"It is not the trickery," repeated Miss Castro. "I tell you only the +things I know. There is blood on your path through the forest--blood, +and a shadow that follows, creeping always behind. Look well to your +friend. The shadow follows, but does not rest on--you. If it should, +there is a pale, cold woman in England who--but I cannot tell you if she +would be sorry, or if you will ever see her again. There is also +treasure, but the lines fade and the crosses are many, with only the +sign of danger clear. I can see no farther. Only the good saints know +the end." + +She paused for a moment, leaving Dane somewhat impressed, for, although +no believer in palmistry of that description, he had seen that Miss +Castro was apparently not speaking without a purpose. Then she laid down +the Aggri and, it seemed to Dane, her mantle of prophetess +simultaneously, saying in her usual tone, but with somewhat unusual +earnestness: + +"And now you will not laugh while I give you the warning. Beware of +these three things: a man with the holy cross on his forehead, the +carved calabash, and the leopard's skin. You will remember always, but +tell only the Señor Maxwell. There is one at least who would not have +that shadow overtake you. It may be I shall see you in Africa." + +Here the eager crowd outside showed signs of storming the tent, and Dane +was forced to take his leave, reflecting that it might perhaps be as +well if they did not, as Miss Castro expected, meet in Africa. Rejoining +Maxwell, he told him what he had heard, concluding: + +"It much resembled the usual professional soothsayer's medley, and I +could make neither head nor tail of it. Still, the señorita's manner +impressed me." + +"How did she look or speak?" Maxwell's glance betrayed his interest. + +"As though she believed what she was saying, and wished me to." + +"I am inclined to think she did," Maxwell answered thoughtfully. "She +was also probably giving you good advice in the one way available. How +she knows I cannot tell, but by the light of past experience I can make +a good deal of the medley. As you probably surmised, her warning was not +the result of divination." + +Maxwell did not appear inclined to answer questions, and, dismissing the +subject, they proceeded to make the most of their last few hours upon +what he termed Christian soil. The black peaks were fading against the +saffron in the west, and purple darkness creeping up from Africa across +the sea, when the mail gun warned them it was time to return to the +steamer. + +"We shall have seen, and perhaps suffered, very strange things before we +set foot in a civilized land again," said Maxwell. "It is not a tropical +sporting trip that we are embarking upon. There remain just five minutes +for a valedictory libation." + +"Champagne!" Dane said to the Swiss attendant as they passed through the +veranda of the hotel; and presently he rose from a little table, holding +up the sparkling cup. Maxwell's hints had impressed him, and there was a +grimness behind his smile when he spoke. + +"Here's death or glory! A swift journey to the heart of the forest!" + +Maxwell generally frowned upon anything that approached the theatrical, +but, as he touched his comrade's glass with his own, his face was grave. + +"Heaven send us both back safe out of it and--because the one implies +the other--confound the cross-marked man!" + +Dane asked no questions. Maxwell was always slightly oracular, and might +not have answered them; and a few minutes later they were being rowed +off to the steamer in company with Dom Pedro Castro. + +The _Manyamba_ was not a fast boat; she anchored off many surf-hammered +beaches before she reached the one where the adventurers had arranged to +disembark, and where, as it happened, Dom Pedro had built his principal +factory. He proved a pleasant companion, though Dane fancied that he was +weak alike in character and in principle. One day as they rolled slowly +along the spray-veiled coast with a maze of half-seen mangroves over the +port hand, Dom Pedro sauntered across the deck toward Dane. + +"You go up into the Leopard's country to look for gold?" he said, +glancing at Dane in a manner which puzzled him. + +"We are certainly going inland, but I am afraid that is all I can tell +you," Dane replied guardedly. + +Dom Pedro smiled. + +"Then you seek the gold. Even your countrymen do not go into that forest +for pleasure. But only one man, I think, has seen that gold since the +men of my nation who came after Gama ruled this country. That man he +die, as you call it, crazy. How much your expedition cost you, Don +Ilton?" + +Dane mentioned an approximate sum, expressing his surprise that the +questioner should even have guessed their object, but refraining from +stating whether the guess was a correct one; and the elder man spread +out his yellow palms deprecatingly. + +"Where the gold lie is not concern me. I am gentleman of peace and +commercio. There is one man, not all the nigger, who think he know, and +another not all a white man who will pay him to hinder you. More I only +guess at and cannot tell you, but I know you and the Señor Maxwell never +pass the Leopard country. Don Ilton, I presume you bold man who come +here to make the money. With the sum you mention I show you how. It is +not all for the good will, but for the assistance also of me." + +Now Dane might have suspected treachery, but he did not do so. Indeed, +he was inclined to fancy the offer and warning were genuine. He declined +the offer, however; and consulted Maxwell on the first opportunity. + +"I believe what he told you was spoken in good faith," Maxwell said; +"and he was perfectly correct. The first man he mentioned is probably +the rascal who betrayed poor Niven; and Rideau must be the other. He +has, if I am correct in my surmises, had dealings not wholly creditable +to either, with Dom Pedro; and it is possible the latter might have +found us useful. This, combination may, however, increase our +difficulties." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +TREACHERY + + +The region which lies behind the West African coast is not a pleasant +one to traverse, and bad fortune seemed to attend Maxwell's expedition +from the time it marched out of the seaboard settlement, where he had +had trouble with certain French officials, as well as with the black +head man from whom he hired his carriers. All of this Dane remembered +when he halted, one burning afternoon, shoulder-deep in the tall grass +of a swamp, worn out in body and perplexed in mind. Few Europeans are +capable of much exertion in that country, especially during the hottest +part of the afternoon; but the hammock boys were too weary to drag their +burdens farther, and there was urgent need for haste. Dane accordingly +had taxed his strength to the utmost during the last few hours. The tall +grass stems were almost too hot to touch, and foul mire bubbled about +their roots. At least a league of it, through which, slashed by +saw-edged blades and stabbed by broken stalks, the expedition must force +its way, stretched toward an inland ridge of higher ground that rose +from the morass. Beyond this, in turn, flat-topped hills dimmed by a +yellow heat haze cut the horizon. + +As Dane halted, a naked carrier stumbled, and, dropping the deal case +from his woolly crown, splashed him all over. Another straightway fell +over his prostrate comrade, and began a spirited attack upon him when +they scrambled to their feet again. Dane was too weary to rebuke either +in the fashion they would best understand; but a man of dusky color +undertook the duty for him, with the barrel of a gaspipe gun, and the +combatants, desisting, found new places in the straggling line. A few +picked men in flowing white draperies with flintlock guns on their +shoulders were already floundering through the swamp ahead. Behind them, +almost and wholly naked negroes, many wearing on their forehead the blue +band which marks the amphibious Kroo, went splashing by, each bearing a +deal case or tarred cloth package upon his crown. Then the rearguard, +tall and soldierly men with the blood of the Arab in them, who carried +old-fashioned rifles in spite of certain regulations, came up with +Maxwell. They wore a ragged white uniform, swore by the Prophet, and +were, as Dane subsequently discovered, reliable fighting men. The +Krooboys carried a cutlass-shaped matchet, a by no means despicable +weapon when rubbed keen with a file. + +Maxwell differed in outward appearance from the somewhat fastidious +gentleman Dane had known in Scotland. His cotton jacket was badly rent, +sun-baked mire clung thickly about his leggings, and one side of his big +sun-helmet had been flattened in. The raw condition of his face and neck +betokened the power of the last few days' sun, and he blinked a little +because his eyes had suffered by the change from the forest shadow to +the dazzling brightness and the fibrous dust of the grass. + +"Don't let your particular scarecrows get too far ahead of you, Hilton," +he cautioned. "I should hardly have suspected you of any inclination to +stop and admire the scenery after the opinion you recently expressed +concerning this country." + +"I'd willingly burn or flood the whole of it if I could," Dane replied +irritably. "Miss Castro was not mistaken when she mentioned the shadow +that crept up from behind. Ill luck has certainly followed us from the +beginning, and it is time we turned round and endeavored to settle up +accounts with whoever is the cause of it." + +"You may have an opportunity to-night, or earlier," said Maxwell. "When, +in spite of warnings, two white men insist on visiting a region which +was specially made for black men, they can't expect to be comfortable. +What is it that excites your particular indignation?" + +The malarial fever contracted in other parts of the tropics had, as not +infrequently happens, returned upon Dane in Africa. His head ached +intolerably, every joint seemed stiff, and he swept his hand round the +horizon as he answered vaguely. + +"Everything! Why was it that, after drinking at a village well, two of +our carriers died? Why should venomous insects crawl into my boots and +from underneath my pillow? Or a guide, who declared he knew the country, +bog us waist-deep in a quagmire, where we lost half our ammunition? +Doesn't it strike you that the sequence of accidents is not all due to +coincidence?" + +"And, in addition to all this, you will be wondering why you are +prostrate with fever to-morrow, if you excite yourself at the present +temperature. Forget your grievances until your turn comes, and then +strike the harder. Meanwhile, we have been stalked since we passed the +last village, and the sooner we reach yonder dry ground, and build a +breastwork, the better." + +Knowing that this was good counsel, Dane did his best, finding a savage +comfort in the thought that at last he would probably have the +satisfaction of seeing his persecutors; but the grass was tall and +matted, the temperature suffocating, and when they lost sight of the +islet the morass appeared interminable. Such civilization as may be +found in West Africa is only skin-deep. That is to say, it pertains to +the coast, and is occasionally hard to discover there. In many places it +still extends less than a day's march from the black troops' barracks, +and the white man who travels beyond that distance takes his own risks, +which are sometimes considerable. Dane already had cause to realize +this, and he was accordingly thankful when at last the expedition, +floundering out of the swamp, reached the strip of firmer earth. Here a +breastwork of deal cases and branches was built, and camp pitched among +the giant buttresses staying the cottonwood trunks. + +"I think," said Maxwell cheerfully, when they lingered over a frugal +meal, "if any misguided bushmen try to rush this camp to-night they will +regret it. I will see to the sentries and keep first watch while you +rest. You look as though you needed sleep." + +Dane certainly did, having enjoyed little sleep worth mentioning since +he left the coast. Indeed, he could scarcely keep his eyes open, and he +wondered vacantly that Maxwell, who seemed proof against the climate, +should show no sign of fatigue. When he unrolled his strip of matting +and water-proof inside the little tent, the African sunset was flaming +in the west, and the cottonwoods crowning the ridge stood out black as +ebony against its almost unearthly brilliancy. Among them fantastic +figures, some naked as when they first entered the world, some draped in +white and blue, crouched about the cooking fires; while, seen between +two mighty buttresses of living wood which stayed ponderous trunks, men +with matchets and long guns were curled up beneath the breastwork. The +wood smoke drifted in filmy wisps athwart the lonely camp, the swamp +steamed like a cauldron, and the chirruping of countless frogs rose out +of the vapor. Then the brief brilliancy faded, and thick impenetrable +darkness suddenly rolled down. The faint coolness that came with it +brought sleep to Dane, and it was midnight when Maxwell's voice roused +him. + +"Get up and stand by with your rifle! There are bushmen in the grass!" +he said. + +Half-awake, Dane groped for the breastwork, falling over several negroes +on the way, and when he reached it the blackness was Egyptian. There was +nothing visible beyond the loom of shadowy trunks, but Dane could hear +unseen men breathing heavily, the click-clack of flintlocks, and the +rasp of a file along a matchet blade. Then a faint crackle which drew +nearer came out of the grass, and instantly a blaze of weird blue +radiance leaped up, showing Maxwell's spare figure perched recklessly +aloft upon the breastwork with a port-fire held high above him. Its +glare beat along the matchet blades, the gun-barrels, and the oily skin +of the men beneath, and showed black patches which might have been arms +or heads among the grass. Then it died out; and Dane pitched the rifle +to his shoulder at Maxwell's shout. There was neither challenge nor +parley. They were now beyond civilized jurisdiction, and the right of +any man to existence in that country depends upon the strength of his +hand. + +The heel-plate jarred on his shoulder, the barrel jumped in his left +hand, red sparks flickered along the breastwork, and the sputtering roar +of the flintlocks was repeated among the trunks. Dane fancied a scream +rose in answer from the grass, and once or twice a long gun flashed; +then the firing slackened, and it was heartsome to hear Maxwell laugh. +He came stumbling toward Dane, and held up a second port-fire whose +light showed no trace of any assailant. The silence that followed grew +oppressive. It was, however, suddenly broken. A rifle flashed in the +rear of the camp, a bullet whirred close by Dane's head; and Maxwell, +dropping the flare, set his foot upon it. + +"The second time! That was a good rifle, and fired by one of our own +men," he said. "Take this nigger, Hilton, crawl in on him, and, +disregarding anything which may happen, get that man--alive if you can. +He is worth all the rest of the expedition." + +Crouching low, crawling on hands and knees, and slipping from trunk to +trunk, the pair worked backward in a semicircle, though, instead of +following, it was the negro who led the white man. It seemed to Dane +that he was making noise enough to waken the dead, but his dusky +companion had probably owed his life to his powers of silent motion, and +his progress was as noiseless as that of a serpent. Still, a clamor +which broke out at the rear of the camp drowned the sound of Dane's +passage, and presently a fire commenced to crackle behind the serried +trunks. Rising partly upright, he could see naked figures outlined +against it flitting with burdens on their heads into the swamp. +Nevertheless, Maxwell's instructions were explicit, and, when the negro +beckoned, he sank down again. + +The fire tossed higher, and Dane surmised that somebody had lighted the +dried grass to divert attention from the deserters or a fresh attack. +Its purport, however, was in the meantime a side issue, for, as the +radiance came flickering athwart the trunks, it revealed something dim +and shadowy crouching among the roots of a neighboring cottonwood. The +blurred shape might have escaped notice had not the line of steel before +it glimmered once or twice. With infinite caution Dane covered a few +more yards, and stooped behind a screen of trailers, with every nerve +quivering, and a heavy pistol clenched in his right hand. What had +become of the negro he did not know. Once the assassin raised his +weapon, and Dane laid the short pistol barrel upon his raised forearm, +hoping that the stiffness of the trigger might not spoil his aim; but he +lowered it again, for, evidently attracted by the increasing glare, the +man he stalked rose partly upright, glancing over his shoulder. His +caution betrayed him, for, hurling himself crashing through the +creepers, Dane fell upon him, driving the heavy pistol into the center +of the dusky face with his full weight behind it. The two went down, the +colored man undermost, clawing with greasy hands at his adversary's +throat. Their grip was feeble, for the first blow had got home; but time +was precious, and Dane, heaving his right shoulder clear, brought the +steel-bound butt down again. + +There was a hollow groan; several men who came running up fell heavily +over the pair, and while one dragged the half-dazed white man clear, +the others lashed the prisoner fast with creeper ropes. Rising shakily, +Dane sent up a breathless shout. + +"Stand fast and see that nobody gets in your way if you have him safe!" +cried Maxwell. "Don't trouble about the grass! It is damp among the +cottonwoods, and will soon burn out." + +Dane waited ten long minutes, feeling thankful, meanwhile, that the one +spot where the ridge could be reached on that side through the quaggy +swamp was lighted by the fire. Then Maxwell joined him, and, trusting to +their subordinates' vigilance, they made the round of the knoll +together. A dozen carriers were missing; and their assailants had +vanished as mysteriously as they came. + +"We shall miss the boys, but it might be fatal to try to follow them; +and at least we know whom we can trust," said Maxwell. "A treacherous +servant is worse to deal with than an open enemy. Our assailants were +evidently mere bush thieves, and not regular fighting men, or they would +probably have got in. Whether they expected help from the deserters, or +what share the man you seized had in the plot, I can't decide now; and, +in the meantime, it is of no great importance. We shall discover it +to-morrow." + +Nobody in camp slept during the rest of the night, which was one of the +longest in Dane's recollection. Most of it he spent huddled among the +roots of a cottonwood while the heavy dew of the tropics splashed upon +him, straining ears and eyes alike for any sign of the enemy. There was, +however, no sound but the wailing of some night bird from all the +tangled grass; and except when now and then a murmur of negro voices +rose up, a deep impressive silence brooded over the camp. Dane could +hear his watch ticking, and there were times when he found it difficult +to master an impulse to cry aloud, or to commit any extravagance which +would break the tormenting stillness. + +At last, however, the temperature fell a little. A faint chill air shook +the dew from the tangled creepers flung from mighty branch to branch, +and the darkness became less dense. The steam of the swamps grew +thicker, a streak of radiance broadened in the east, and suddenly as +night had fallen, the red sun leaped up. It was once more burning day, +and neither the dew-drenched white men, who stiffly straightened their +aching limbs, nor the stolid Africans, who rolled over in their lairs +among the undergrowth, were sorry to greet the light again. They were a +pitiful handful of travel-worn and somewhat dejected men, alone on a +contracted islet of dry soil in a limitless sea of mist whose white +waves were doubtless filled with unseen perils. + +"Another day to be endured," said Maxwell, yawning as he spoke. +"Another, and another, until the long weeks swell into months, and then, +if nobody poisons or shoots us prematurely, we shall go back to England +and fancy we have been dreaming. Has it occurred to you yet, Hilton, +that the men who gain fortunes in Africa don't _win_ but _earn_ them +hardly? One might wonder why a beneficent Creator made this country." + +"It was His Satanic Majesty who made West Africa, using for a model his +own dominions. A good many details prove it beside the temperature!" + +It was eight o'clock in the morning and already fiercely hot, while the +brightness outside the shade of the cottonwoods grew dazzling, when +Maxwell, constituting himself at once prosecutor and judge, summoned +the prisoner before an informal court. He was a big man, draped in loose +cotton, and rather the hue of ocher than ebony; but his countenance was +ghastly as well as malevolent, for the pistol butt had left its mark on +it. A slackly rolled turban covered half his forehead, and he leaned +with his back against a cottonwood scowling upon his judge. Maxwell sat +on a camp-stool, not far away, with a rifle laid across his knee; Dane +lay in the grass beside him; and the carriers and the armed men were +drawn up in a half-circle behind them. Hitherto the would-be assassin, +who acted as headman or chief of a section, had done nothing to excite +Dane's suspicions. + +"There is no law in this country but one, the _lex talionis_, while you +and I are responsible for the lives of all these about us," said +Maxwell. "It is a heavy responsibility, and I dare not allow any attempt +to betray them to pass unpunished. You need not translate this, +interpreter. Ask that fellow why he twice shot at the men whose bread +and salt he has eaten." + +What the interpreter, who spoke a little of the fantastic English in use +along the coast, said, Dane did not know, but he spent some time over +it, and when he had finished the prisoner spat upon the ground +contemptuously. + +"Damn fool man," explained the sable linguist. "He savvy too much and +done say nothing." + +"That means he refuses to plead," said Maxwell. "Well, we will proceed +to inquire into his offenses as directly as possible. Listen carefully, +and don't mix up my questions more than you can help, interpreter." + +Maxwell asked questions which astonished his companion, and it was plain +that he had for some time suspected a good deal. There was no lack of +testimony; for carrier and armed retainer in turn set forth, through the +black interpreter or in quaintest English, how the accused had told them +gruesome stories of the devils inhabiting the country they were +venturing into; had dropped hints that by seizing the provisions they +might enrich themselves for life; and had been seen communing with +mysterious strangers a few nights earlier. Dane listened with growing +indignation, for the simple tales made plain not only how venomous +insects got into his boots, but that on two occasions he had narrowly +escaped with his life. + +"Ask them," said Maxwell grimly, "why nobody had the sense to tell me +this before." + +"Them boy say you not done ask them, sah," answered the interpreter +convincingly. + +"It's African logic, and there's no use expecting too much from any +nigger," said Maxwell aside. "The man's guilt is plainly evident; but +while presumably neither of us knows much of jurisprudence, I wish to +give him a fair chance of making his defense. We will do it in his own +speech, though I am inclined to fancy that he understands English. +Interpreter, try to make this clear to him." + +Maxwell spoke for some minutes, pausing often for the linguist to +explain his meaning, and again astonished Dane. He traced the accused's +actions with surprising skill, showing how he had inspired a marauding +headman to plunder and leave them starving, and induced the carriers to +desert in the hope of precipitating a panic among the loyal. He also +connected him with several of the mysterious accidents which had +delayed the march. + +"Tell him I give him a last chance. He has just five minutes to clear +himself in." + +Maxwell laid his watch on the camp-stool between his knees, pointed +toward a lengthening shaft of brightness which approached the roots of a +tree, and then opened and closed the breach of his rifle significantly. +The dusky man before him showed no sign of fear, and his half-scornful, +wholly malevolent scowl, together with the intense silence, the +expectant black faces, and the glint of light on weapons, burnt itself +into Dane's memory. The five minutes seemed very long to him. Then, as +his comrade slowly replaced his watch in his pocket, the prisoner spoke +a few words disdainfully, and Dane could feel his fingers contract as he +waited for the interpreter's answer. + +"Damn fool man," it came. "Say he only sorry he done miss you that time. +Very bad man, sah. Say no white man or coast nigger ever lib for get +into the Leopards' country." + +"So," said Maxwell dryly. "That is to say, while he can prevent it, +which may not be long. Ask these boys what should be done with the man +who would have left them starving, or perhaps sold them for slaves to +some headman." + +The camp boys had followed the evidence, and a clamor of voices answered +the query. Big eyes glistened, black thumbs were run along twinkling +matchet blades, and Dane distinguished ominous cries. + +"You shoot him one time, sah! Give him to us and we done chop him!" + +"It is the only possible verdict," Maxwell said with strange quietness. +"One returns to primitive customs in this part of Africa; and it is more +merciful that one should die than many. A curse upon the country! Must I +turn executioner?--but for the sake of all those about us, there is no +other way." + +"What is your purpose?" Dane asked sharply, jumping to his feet. + +Maxwell looked at him steadily with his lips firmly set and the color +mottled a little in his face. + +"Give him thirty seconds to reach the grass. I might miss; these others +certainly would--and it will be a little easier that way. Do you +understand me, interpreter? If he can reach the swamp alive no man shall +harm him." + +"You shall not do it!" Dane exclaimed hotly. "Heaven knows, the brute +deserves it; but you can't go home with your hands fouled by that +helpless wretch's blood! Pass him that rifle, and give me another, with +fifty yards to commence at, if you can't think of anything better. The +other is too much like murder!" + +For a moment the returning color suffused Maxwell's forehead, and there +was a flash of anger in his eyes, but he was generally master of his +temper, and he answered calmly. + +"I could not afford to lose you, Hilton. As I said, we have these men's +lives to answer for; and while that fellow lives theirs and our own are +equally in danger. That reminds me, I had forgotten something which may +or may not surprise you further. You yonder, strike off his turban!" + +A Kroo did it with the haft of his machet, and Dane gasped with +astonishment, for there was a curiously shaped scar on the prisoner's +forehead. + +"The cross-marked man," said Maxwell. "The rascal who betrayed and sold +poor Niven's carriers. He has, I think, one white man's death already to +answer for." + +Dane, stooping, laid a hand on each of the speaker's shoulders. Maxwell +was a determined man, with virile brain and no lack of nervous energy; +but Dane had the advantage in stature and muscular strength, and was +glad that it was so. His leader was helpless in his grasp. + +"You are perfectly right, Carsluith," he said stolidly. "If you were +not, it would be useless for me to try to convince you; but I give you +warning that the death of this man dissolves our partnership; and it +will, at least, not be your rifle which fires the fatal shot." + +Maxwell smiled curiously. + +"Do you suppose I am fond of bloodshed, or sorry that you have forced me +against my judgment?" he said. "On your head be it, and you can have the +murderer. I hope that neither of us will regret your clemency!" + +He beckoned the interpreter, and when the latter had spoken, the +prisoner twice spat upon the ground, which was probably the most +insulting action that occurred to him; then, turning, without word or +sign, stalked into the grass. There was a harsh crackling, and, when his +ragged draperies vanished, a murmur of wonder from the camp boys. +Maxwell sighed as with relief. + +"I am glad it is over; and whether we have done ill or well, time alone +will show, but neither of us has seen the last of the cross-marked man," +he said. "In the meantime, we want more carriers and supplies. Go back +to the coast and get them. You will have much less trouble on the return +journey. I will stockade a camp in the hills yonder and wait for you." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +TEMPTATION + + +Dane's preparations for his journey were quickly made, and he was ready +to start before the sun was overhead. + +"Life is very uncertain in this country, and because we are partners it +might be as well if you took this map with you in case you should not +find me on your return," said Maxwell. "I worked it out from Niven's +notes, and have the knowledge safe within my brain; but you will +remember that the information would be of value to another white man, +who has already made attempts to obtain it. It might also be well, in +case Miss Castro happens to be present at her father's factory, if you +conducted yourself with a little more than your usual diplomacy." + +"Your advice is a trifle superfluous," returned Dane testily. "Do you +think I'm fool or rogue enough to make love to her?" + +Maxwell smiled. + +"You are one person, and I mentioned two. With all respect to Miss +Castro, it is not quite impossible that she might make love to you. +Remember that she might either prove a useful friend or a dangerous +enemy." + +A few minutes later Dane, followed by three men of Moslem faith, was on +his way; and eventually limped--hungry, half-dazed, and sick of +fever--out of the dim forest, which, it seemed to him, was loth to let +its victim go. The glare of sunlight was overpowering, and at first he +could see little more than the two ragged scarecrows, one muttering +excitedly as he stretched out a brown hand toward the southern horizon, +and the other leaning very heavily on his long Snider rifle. The third +man lay full length among the grass. Dane could never recollect all the +incidents of that journey through a land of eternal shadow, but he felt +tolerably certain that if his dusky followers had not served him +faithfully his bones would have lain rotting somewhere among its +jungles. + +Then, as his eyes grew accustomed to the change of light, he shouted +exultantly, in a voice his British friends would not have recognized. +The shining to the southward was, beyond all doubt, the sea, and the +white blurs among the palms could represent only factories! Turning, he +shook his fist at the forest with childish solemnity. + +"Tell Amadu to turn that gun away from him, Monday. It might go off, and +I be no fit to lose him," he said in coast jargon. "I don't care what +your color is, you are fine fellows too much, both of you, and now we'll +go on while we have strength left to reach them factory." + +How much his followers comprehended did not appear. The man he called +Monday grinned from ear to ear, the other slung his rifle, and they went +on, staggering at their best pace toward the sea, though Dane had a +vague impression that, with one arm beneath either shoulder, the two +ragged Africans dragged him most of the way. Some time later a +blindingly whitewashed factory rose up before them against a background +of tossing spray and equally dazzling sea, and Dane made shift to reach +its outer stairway unaided. An elderly man and a lady who sat on the +shady veranda rose at the sight of him. Making an attempt to raise his +battered sun-hat, he lurched up the stairway. The attempt was not +successful. The sun-hat fell over the balustrade, and he saw it long +afterward, painted green and blue, upon a Krooboy's head. Clutching at +the topmost rail, he steadied himself by it. + +"Unexpected pleasure to see you here, Miss Castro," he said. +"Salutations, Dom Pedro! Sorry to arrive in this fashion; not quite +myself to-day." + +The elderly man shouted, clapping his hands, the lady moved toward the +newcomer; then factory and palm trees went round and round before him, +and Dane, loosing his hold, went down with a crash. + +What happened next he did not remember, having only a hazy recollection +of tossing in burning torment for an interminable space, during which at +intervals somebody held a glass filled with cooling liquid to his lips, +while now and then gentle hands, whose touch was soothing, raised his +aching head. Still, he fancied that at times a white face bent over him, +and once, when the dim light of a calabash lamp beat into his eyes, that +waves of dusky hair drooped close above his forehead, and that he +caught, and held fast with all his strength, the cool fingers that +slipped into his own. They seemed to draw him back out of the black +abyss into which he was sliding; and, he surmised afterward, they +actually did so. + +Attacks of malarial fever, however, are usually brief; and not long +after his arrival Dane lay, clothed in neatly mended garments and more +or less in his right mind, beside an open window of Castro's factory. +The words "more or less" are used advisedly, for the malaria leaves a +strange lassitude behind it, and the sufferer often takes up the burden +of life again, as it were, reluctantly, and with somewhat clouded +brain. The sea breeze had set in fresh and cool, but the man lay limp +and dejected, scarcely troubling to breathe it in, while a haggard +English surgeon from a neighboring British colony sat near by watching +him with an irritating curiosity. White men recognize the bond of color +in West Africa, and the surgeon had remained to fight hard for the life +of a stranger when passing that way. Also, where all dwell under the +shadow in a land where the veneer of civilization wears thin, and the +primitive passions show through, the Briton casts aside much of his +normal reticence. + +"Tolerably bad, was I not?" asked Dane; and the surgeon answered +frankly. + +"You were. In fact, on two occasions, I concluded you were going to beat +me. Wouldn't even take a draught from--me, and one might compliment you +on your determined obstinacy." + +"I'm much obliged," Dane said slowly. "That's not quite all I mean, but +it's the best I'm capable of just now. I don't know who you are, or why +you did so much for me." + +The surgeon laughed good-humoredly. + +"If you must have a reason, you were an interesting case. I'm Dennis +Ormond, of the Gold Coast service, and Dom Pedro asked me to look at +you. I obliged him, and at first you were not a very encouraging +spectacle. Of course, I did my little, but I may say that my medicine +was not the only thing responsible for your cure. The señorita assisted +me very ably, and--for a man must sleep sometimes--without her help it +is quite probable we should have attended the expected funeral." + +Ormond said this with an indifference which Dane, because he did not +then know how much his little had been, or that his was an eminent name +on the fever coast, thought hardly civil; but there was a warning +gravity in his tone as he continued: + +"It was, of course, my business; but not the señorita's; and you might +have changed the pronouns in your last sentence advantageously." + +Dane was ashamed of several things he said and did that day, and his +answer among them; but few white men are quite accountable for their +actions when recovering from fever, and there was that in the surgeon's +glance which aroused his indignation. + +"Are you not taking an unfair advantage--considering how much I owe +you!" he asked. + +"Perhaps so!" said Ormond. "In this land one takes an advantage when and +how one can. I dare say I'm a meddlesome idiot; but I conceived a +certain respect for you, if only because of the spirited manner in which +you resisted my attempts to cure you; and more for the señorita. Now, I +don't think Miss Castro, curious combination of ministering angel, +child, and--well, the angel's antithesis, as she evidently is, would +have done so much for everybody!" + +Dane answered nothing. One cannot rebuke the man one owes one's life to. +Ormond, however, had not finished with the subject. + +"You crawled off your cot in delirium one night, and I found you groping +among some papers scattered from your pocket-book about the floor," he +said. "It required the assistance of two Krooboys to induce you to lie +down again, and Miss Castro helped me to pick up the papers. I, however, +found this among them first, and considered it well to take charge of it +in the meantime. Miss Castro, you have heard, made an excellent nurse." + +Dane felt that the surgeon noticed the way his fingers tightened on the +little photograph handed him; but the man went on, with a smile: + +"Your sister, presumably, for one could not help glancing at the +picture. Still, I can't flatter you by saying that I recognize a family +likeness. Therefore--I kept it aside." + +Dane thanked him, and Ormond answered lightly: + +"The rest of the papers Miss Castro returned to the pocket-book. All you +have to do now is to lie still and recover." + +"I will try," Dane said. "When can I start again?" + +Ormond pointed out through the window toward the sea. + +"In a week, if you are prudent--in fact, the sooner you start in that +direction the wiser you will be. This country is not healthy for +full-blooded Englishmen of your description. If you march inland again, +cable anybody interested to double your life insurance." + +Dane made a negatory gesture, but Ormond anticipated his answer. + +"Of course, I hardly expected you would take good advice, but it was my +duty to give it. Just now I'll leave you to your own resources, because +Dom Pedro is waiting with the chessmen below. Most gentlemanly old +rascal, and you are indebted to him; but I wouldn't tell him too much +respecting the supposititious treasure you rambled about if I were you. +Henceforward you will have to get better in your own way, because word +has just been sent me that my niggers are dying by dozens." + +He went out, and left Dane staring at the photograph in his hand. +Although not improved by long exposure to tropic heat, or the dampness +of the African climate, it had been a good portrait of Lilian +Chatterton, and the eyes that looked out from the faded paper seemed to +challenge the man. On inspecting the dim picture later he decided it +must have been because he remembered them so well. They were clear and +searching, honest above all things, but, as it were, demanding equal +sincerity from whoever looked into them; and though perhaps this was due +to the observer's fancy, the whole face seemed to possess a spiritual +beauty. Dane, however, was certainly a little light-headed still, for as +he gazed the face grew scornful. + +To most Europeans in that country there comes a time of mental weakness +and black dejection, and Dane's courage had melted before the fever +which left him unstable as water, and fanciful as a child. Thus it was +that, in a sudden access of bitterness, he slipped the picture back into +its case. Lilian, he decided, had cruelly misjudged him, and now +doubtless enjoyed the sunny side of life in the cool British air, +careless of the fact that for her sake he risked life and reason in the +pestilential steam of Africa. + +There was a rustle of draperies, and Bonita Castro swept into the room +with the grace of movement and carriage which characterizes her mother's +race. There was, however, nothing spiritual about Miss Castro's beauty, +which was of the flesh and of the glowing south, appealing to the +senses, delighting the eye; and Dane's pulse throbbed a little faster as +she came toward him with a low cry of pleasure. It was the first time he +had risen from his trestle cot in the adjoining room. Stooping, she held +toward him a great cluster of the spotless African lilies--which, +scented ambrosially, spring up wherever decay is rankest--then sank +with lithe gracefulness into a chair near his side. + +"It is very good to see you better, Don Ilton," she said. + +"It is the result of your kindness, señorita. Unfortunately, I don't +know how to thank you----" + +"Then you will not try." Miss Castro raised a restraining hand. "We do +not leave the sick to die. Even if it had been another, there is always +enjoined on us the charity." + +Dane had lost his sense of humor, and just then Bonita Castro looked all +ministering angel, and his attitude expressed rather reverential respect +than personal admiration, which, it is possible, did not please the lady +so well. + +"But you have done so much for one who is almost a stranger," he +persisted. + +Miss Castro's mood changed swiftly, and spreading out her hands with a +gesture of amusement, and a smile which Dane fancied most men would have +given much to win, she was again all a woman, and a very alluring one. + +"It is true that you English have not the graceful speech. Are we, then, +the mere stranger, Don Ilton? _Carramba!_ One takes pride in what one +save from the fever, and it was on my lips to call you _cariño_." + +Dane had acquired sufficient knowledge of Castilian in South America to +appreciate the possible significance of the substantive; and he +afterward remembered that he was not wholly displeased with it. + +"You make me a vain man, señorita," he said lightly. + +Miss Castro laughed again, and Dane lay silent for a while. + +"I am the more indebted to your care because every day is precious, and +I must rejoin my comrade as soon as possible," he said at last. + +The damask warmth deepened just a trifle in his companion's cheek. + +"You two still go on into the forest--why?" she asked. + +"Because I am a poor man, and, as you have guessed, my comrade believes +there is treasure waiting up yonder." + +Bonita Castro smiled scornfully, and answered him with the assurance of +one stating a definite fact. + +"The Señor Maxwell will never bring gold out of the Leopards' country. +Two white men have try already and, both of them, they die. You must not +go back there, Don Ilton, nor let your comrade go, though I know he is a +very clever and fearless man." + +"How do you know that?" + +Dane found it hard to conceal his astonishment at her tranquil answer: + +"I try if he is fearless on board the steamer. I can use the pistol +well." + +"It is fortunate you did not test my courage in the same fashion. But +was there not a third man?" + +Miss Castro's fingers closed viciously, and the questioner experienced +an instinctive shrinking as he saw the hatred in her deep black eyes. + +"The third was not a white man, though he call himself so," she said, +with a quietness that was ominous. "_Maldito sea el perro!_ To-day again +he infect this factory." + +Dane could not help feeling that, unless the gentleman were prudent, he +might have cause to regret his visit to the factory. He was inclined to +admire high-spirited women, but Miss Castro looked more than dangerous +just then; though Dane learned afterward that her hatred was +justifiable. + +Following her glance, he saw a short and very sallow-faced gentleman, +neatly dressed in spotless duck, cross the compound below and disappear +into the salt shed, evidently in search of Dom Pedro. There was nothing +particularly noticeable about him; but another taller figure, draped in +blue and white cotton and wearing a crimson turban, followed, and +squatted in the hot dust outside the shed. This man was an African, but +lighter in color than the seaboard tribes, and his movements reminded +Dane of those of the midnight assassin. He decided, however, that the +resemblance was fanciful. + +"Is that the person you mentioned?" he asked. "It is evident that you +dislike him. May I ask why?" + +Miss Castro appeared to consider, and then answered frankly: + +"Why should I not tell you? You are _muy caballero_, and I think, good +friend of me. He was partner with my father, this Victor Rideau. They +once go inland to trade with an Emir, who at that time gather much +plunder of ivory, and perhaps they give their carrier boy the good rifle +and cartridge, for the Emir is treacherous. He is very bad man, +and--_pobre padre mio!_--when Rideau is go away he put pressure on Dom +Pedro, and demand all his rifle and black carrier boy. What would you? +My father he is not desire his throat cut, and he agree. The Emir write +safe conduct and agreement, and sent him back with ivory, but this +Rideau he guard the scroll in Arabic, and now always demand the silver +from my father for fear he denounce him to the authority. One must not +sell the black boy, and there is heavy penalty for giving the negro the +arm of precision." + +Dane grasped the situation, surmising that the Emir in question was one +who had, for a time, successfully defied both British and French. He +also surmised that the Gallic authorities would deal stringently with +whoever had supplied the Moslem soldier with modern weapons at a time +when it appeared quite possible he would even march upon the coast. +Still, he was not sure that very much pressure had been required to +convince Dom Pedro. + +Returning to her almost caressing manner, Miss Castro touched his arm: + +"Why you need that gold?" + +"Gold is generally useful, isn't it?" smiled Dane. "It would help me to +earn a little more than my bread when I go back to England." + +Bonita Castro laughed, and then grew serious. There was a light in her +dark eyes, and her voice grew deeper; and it was only because it +appeared necessary that Dane afterward told his comrade part of what +followed. Indeed, there was little to relate, but much to be imagined. + +"Is there no other place than England, when all the world is good?" she +said. "Is not this much better than your mud and snow, and the sight of +the men with anxious faces groping through the fog? _Vaya!_ You men of +the English cities, you not know how to live." + +The speaker pointed out through the open window, and most men would have +agreed with her in a measure. If the beauty of the fever coast is that +of a whited sepulcher, it is a sufficiently alluring region, and Dom +Pedro's factory stood high and healthily upon the summit of a bluff. +Tall palms swaying about it before the sea breeze tossed their emerald +traceries against transparent blue. In the cottonwoods' shadow beyond +them tall white lilies grew, and the rollers of the southern ocean, +flaming dazzlingly, dissolved into spouts of incandescence upon a +crescent of silver sand below. The whole scene was flooded with light +and color, and permeated by the languorous spell of the tropics, which +it is not good for white men to linger under. + +"It is all very beautiful," he said; "but I have my bread to win." + +"You are very modest, Don Ilton. Is there no place for such as you in +Africa? Now I know one who would give much--even a share in the profits +of several factories--for the help of two men he could trust. There will +be more gold to win than you will ever find in the Leopards' country; +and there will be the excitement you hunger for. The man who needs the +assistance has a cunning enemy. Will you not listen when again he speaks +to you?" + +Miss Castro leaned slightly forward. + +"It is the life you English long for. There would be adventure; much +profit, I think, too, and--for that you like also--an enemy. He is bad +enemy of--me. This England of yours is far off, and the wise man he--is +it not so?--takes gratefully what the good saints send him. Is it not +enough, Don Ilton?" + +Dane was not a vain man, but there was a subtle inflection in the +woman's voice which suggested an amplification of the meaning of her +last words. England certainly seemed very far away, Maxwell's project a +mad one; and Dane remembered that the woman for whose sake he had joined +in it had been ready to think ill of him. His companion was very +alluring, he was weak in mind and body, very grateful to one who had +saved his life for him, and loath to resume the burden which was part +of his birthright as a civilized Englishman. A word, even a gesture, +would, it seemed, smooth out many difficulties, and, shaking off +responsibility, he might henceforward live for the day only; but though +intoxicated by the spell of the tropics and the eyes of his companion, +Dane had a memory, and he realized that he stood on the brink of a +declivity. He had seen the end of other Britons who, selling their +birthright for a few years' indulgence, sank beyond the level of the +beasts. The face of a countrywoman, no longer cold and disdainful, but +innocent and gentle, rose up before him; and the struggle ended. + +"It is so much that I do not deserve it," he said humbly, answering her +question. "I must accomplish the purpose which brought me here, and then +go back to England. Nothing would turn back my comrade." + +Miss Castro did not speak for a few moments, but Dane felt that she +understood more than he had said. Then she looked at him steadily. + +"You are a strange people, but, go when you will, God go with you, Don +Ilton. Now, at least from my hands, you will take the medicine." + +Dane's hand trembled as he held it out for the glass, for the struggle +had left its mark on him; but he felt inclined to resent this climax, +which appeared grotesquely ludicrous. Nevertheless, he duly swallowed +the medicine, and resisted an inexplicable impulse which prompted him to +smash the glass. Then, with a wondrous unfolding of filmy draperies, his +companion rose languidly, and, it seemed to Dane, melted out of the +room. Almost simultaneously the crouching figure in the dusty compound +rose and vanished too. + +Dane decided that it would be well to gather strength with all possible +celerity, and leave the factory as soon as he was fit to travel in a +hammock. Accordingly, in spite of the protests of Dom Pedro, who, after +repeating in definite form the offer made by his daughter, found him +supplies and carriers, he presently took his leave, and shook hands with +Miss Castro beside the waiting hammock at the compound gate. Her manner +had been a shade more reserved of late, but she spoke with friendly +earnestness when she laid in his hand a tiny object wrought in silver +and ivory. + +"You will take this for what you call a keep-a-sake, Don Ilton," she +said. "There is always peril in the bush country, and it was given my +mother by a holy man. It has the virtue. If you meet Rideau in the +forest, remember he is my enemy and beware of him. And now, señor, the +good saints keep you." + +Dane bent over the little olive-tinted fingers, then Amadu helped him +into the hammock, and presently Dom Pedro's factory had faded to a white +blur against the sparkling sea. + +As he journeyed northward Dane had much to ponder over. He regretted +that he had been unable to secure a closer view of Rideau or his dusky +follower. He fancied he once heard the Frenchman's voice raised angrily +in an altercation with Dom Pedro; but he could learn nothing about the +tall negro, who had vanished mysteriously. When the journey was almost +accomplished, and he was recovering strength again, there was added +another subject for consideration. Searching for the map Maxwell had +given him, he failed to find it; but, after the first shock of dismay +had passed, he was almost thankful that time and distance prevented his +returning to the factory in search of it. Dane, remembering the +surgeon's narrative, felt himself unequal to the task of asking Miss +Castro what she had done with it. He pushed on, hoping for the best, and +that Maxwell might not ask too many questions. + +Maxwell, when he heard the news, sat silent for several minutes. + +"We are not beginning well," he then said gravely, "but that is perhaps +not material. It seems to me that the future of the mine will be settled +when we meet Monsieur Rideau and his lieutenant, as I think we will. Of +course it is no use asking where you lost the map." + +Dane recognized the significance of the last sentence, and answered +accordingly. + +"If I had possessed that knowledge I should have returned and found it. +I have reasons for believing it was in my pocket-book when I left the +factory." + +Maxwell glanced at him keenly and smiled. + +"After what you told me, I suppose one could expect nothing else from +you," said he. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +RIDEAU'S BARGAIN + + +Some time after Dane's departure, a smartly uniformed hammock train +approached Dom Pedro's factory. That worthy ceased his leisurely pacing +up and down the veranda, and watched the bearers wind out from the +steamy shadow with ill-concealed anxiety, hoping that he might be +mistaken. Then as they came on at a steady trot with the poles of the +lurching hammock upon their woolly crowns, he stamped on the flooring; +and even a sleepy Krooboy started at his vivid maledictions. There was +no longer room for doubt that he was about to be honored by a visit from +his former partner, Monsieur Victor Rideau, and it was very evident that +Dom Pedro was not pleased to see him. His sister, a portly lady, of +doubtful age, sat in a shady corner of the veranda, but she passed much +of her time in Africa in peaceful slumber, and was now asleep as +usual--or appeared so. + +"It is too hot for anger, father," a voice said; and Dom Pedro, turning, +saw his daughter leaning languidly over the balustrade. She, too, was +watching the hammock with a curious expression. + +"There is good cause!" Dom Pedro answered, cutting short his flow of +expletives. "This Rideau comes another time to torment me. Why is it +that when so many honest men die up yonder this one should always come +back safely?" + +"He will not always do so. Some day he, too, will be lost in the +forest," said Bonita quietly; and the man glanced at her with hope in +his eyes, for several of his daughter's predictions had curiously been +fulfilled. This may have been due to coincidence, or a shrewd +calculation of probabilities; but Dom Pedro, having lived long in a land +where occult influences are believed in, was not free from superstition. + +"I would send half, or at least a third, of all I have, to the hospital +in Lisboa if that were so," he declared. "Niña, you speak as though you +knew." + +Bonita laughed a little, though there was anxiety in her face. + +"Padre, one might doubt the efficacy of such a bribe. Perhaps I do. It +is money he wants, as usual?" + +"Yes." There was a certain hesitation in the man's answer which did not +escape his daughter. "It is, of course, the silver, and I have not much +to give him. You have no regard for this Rideau, niña?" + +Bonita's face was a study. Anger, loathing, and the faintest trace of +fear were stamped upon it. + +"Regard! I have only hatred for _el perro_!" + +The emphasis on the last word was significant: while it means simply +dog, and is used on occasion to designate a person jestingly, the +Castilian can, by change of inflection, make it imply a rabid cur of the +lowest degree; and Bonita used the epithet in that manner. + +Dom Pedro raised his shoulders, and drew in his breath. He was slightly +afraid of his daughter; but, unfortunately for them both, he was more +afraid of Rideau, and he did not look at her when he spoke again. + +"It is strange the Señor Dane did not return for the book he left, +since it shows the path through the forests of Shaillu's country, and he +cannot find his way without it." + +Bonita smiled upon him pityingly. + +"You do not know those men as I do. They plan all from the beginning and +leave nothing to chance. The Señor Maxwell is a man of system, and he +will have safe in his memory all the book could tell him." + +"They are a curious people," observed Dom Pedro dryly. "One of those +two, however, was surely a trifle blind." + +A faint trace of color crept into Bonita's face. + +"It is time for you to receive your guest," she said. + +Dom Pedro did so with the utmost cordiality, his hat in his hand, and +the two men--one of whom despised the other, who feared and hated +him--expressed their mutual delight at the meeting with great +effusiveness. Bonita Castro watched them meanwhile from a green latticed +window, and shivered a little, though the day was as hot as it usually +is at that season in West Africa. She slipped her fingers under the +laces at her breast, and her face was not attractive when they touched a +little piece of wrought silver. It was not a mere adornment, for there +was a slender blade of steel attached to it. Again she said, with an +intensity of detestation: "_El perro!_" + +Dom Pedro played chess and discoursed upon the shortcomings of their +rulers with his guest all afternoon, and the five o'clock _comida_ had +been eaten before either hinted that Rideau could have any possible +motive for his visit beyond the pleasure of seeing his former partner. +Time has no great value to men of Latin extraction in the tropics; and +it is possible that one of them found pleasure in prolonging the +other's anxiety. At last, when they sat out on the veranda, the visitor, +lighting a maize husk cigarette, thrust his wineglass away. + +"It is always a gratification to see my old friend Dom Pedro, and I have +traveled a long way to give myself that pleasure," he observed; and his +host, knowing how much this was worth, braced himself to meet what +should follow. "Being here, there is, however, a little affair we can +discuss together. I have an opportunity for a small investment to lay +before you." + +"I am honored, but trade is very bad, and silver scanty," Dom Pedro said +hastily. "I have received no profits yet on the last venture." + +Rideau spread out his palms deprecatingly. + +"They are very dishonest men up yonder in the bush, as you, my friend, +should know, and have robbed me shamefully; while it was but an hour +since I rejoiced at your prosperity. I saw the cloth and gin sheds +empty--and they were full not long ago." + +Dom Pedro groaned inwardly, but attempted a show of resolution. + +"I repeat that trade is bad. It is, I fear, impossible to oblige even +you." + +Rideau laughed a little, but his merriment was akin to mockery. + +"I can only hope you are mistaken, and this time there will be a profit. +There is also another affair I would discuss with you. I am a man with a +conscience, and something we are concerned in up in the bush country +troubles me. It is told me that these troublesome English make protest +with the Administration that when the Emir invaded their dominions his +men carried good rifles which could only have been obtained from this +colony. The Captain Oger stated publicly that it is a stain on the +national honor, and there will be strict inquiry. I am a good friend of +Dom Pedro, but first of all patriotic Frenchman, me." + +There was no need to speak more plainly, because Dom Pedro understood +him thoroughly, and inquired forthwith the lowest sum that would set his +visitor's uneasy conscience at rest. Rideau promptly named it; and the +Portuguese, being desirous of gaining time, shook his head. + +"It is impossible. I also have considered about those rifles often," he +said. "Now I think it would be better for me, being an innocent man, to +explain to the Administration how the Emir robbed me." + +Rideau was not in the least deceived, for he smiled sardonically. + +"Is it not a little late, my friend, and the Commandant is a most +suspicious man. It is possible he might not believe you, and it is not +permitted to arm even one's carriers for protection with rifles; while +there is in existence a scroll signed by the Emir and another which +shows a voluntary sale. But you say what I ask is impossible. Well, I'll +consider, and to-morrow may make a more feasible offer. The last time I +came you entertained the sick comrade of the Englishman Maxwell. He has +not given you any information about Niven's mine?" + +"He did not," said Dom Pedro, with so much earnestness that Rideau did +not believe him, and dismissing the subject, airily proposed another +game of chess. + +The next morning, Dom Pedro, being perhaps anxious to postpone the evil +moment, set out for a bush village where he stated he had business; and +his guest, feeling sure of his own position, was not wholly sorry to +see him go. It would allow him to enjoy Miss Castro's society +undisturbed, and also, if circumstances permitted, to glance through the +books in her father's office, which he had long desired to do, with a +view to discovering how far the man might be taxed. Dom Pedro was not a +good bookkeeper, it is true, but his late partner understood his system, +or rather the lack of it. + +An opportunity did not present itself until all the occupants of the +factory had apparently retired, as usual, to sleep in the coolest place +they could find during the heat which follows noon. Rideau slipped into +the iron-roofed room where Dom Pedro kept his accounts. As it happened, +however, Bonita was rather more wide-awake than usual, and shortly +afterward she also entered the office, to find her guest glancing into a +big folio with evident interest. He was in no way disconcerted, and +smiled upon her affably. + +"There was a difference in the weight of the last gums I sent down," he +explained. "I would find the entry before I speak to Dom Pedro." + +Bonita Castro was quick of wit. + +"Then, as I help my father with the accounts, you will give me the +details," she said. + +Rideau's inventive genius was apparently unequal to the task, for he +bowed ceremoniously. + +"It is impossible to consider any question of business in the brightness +of the señorita's presence." + +Miss Castro laughed. + +"You have my full permission. Now, as regards this gum?" + +Rideau seated himself languidly. + +"I am a man of affairs, but I have also sensibility, and shall I trouble +the señorita about a bag of gum? To touch those dusty books is a +desecration to her fingers." + +"Still, it is of business I wish to talk to you, and you will give me +your attention, señor," said the girl. "You have the power to cause my +father some anxiety." + +Rideau leaned forward a little in his chair. + +"It is true, but I am too devoted a servant of the señorita's to wish to +do so. It is for her sake I have concealed an indiscretion of Dom +Pedro's which would excite the anger of the Administration. As I have +said, I would do very much to win the señorita's approval." + +"But this is very little, and Dom Pedro pays you well," returned the +girl. "The Commandant, who is not a friend of yours, might not credit +your story if you told it to him." + +Rideau smiled significantly. + +"It is very little for me to do if it pleases the señorita; but it is +much for Dom Pedro. You will know there is provided confiscation and +banishment, and even a worse penalty, for selling the Indigene modern +rifles, and I have therefore carefully hidden the Emir's agreement and +safe conduct made in the Arabic when he is at war with this colony. It +is misfortune that Dom Pedro has written his name to it." + +Bonita Castro felt a chill run through her, though her face was calm. +The man had shown his power plainly, but the desire in his eyes, as he +watched her, caused her greater uneasiness. She could, she fancied, see +the African nature beneath the indifferent veneer of civilization, and +she trembled, knowing that under sufficient pressure her father might +be capable of selling more than forbidden rifles. Therefore, even if she +had no other motive, it was of the first necessity to lessen that power. + +"Such generosity should not go unrewarded," she said. "You have long +desired the gold you think the Englishman Niven found, but, unless I +help you, you will never discover it. Even the man with the cross on his +forehead does not know where the river lies. What would you give for a +map showing Niven's road through the Leopards' country? It is so plain +that a child could understand it." + +Rideau's eyes glistened, but he was cautious. + +"There is only one man who can have such a book; and I know he would +never part with it." + +Bonita laughed. + +"Yes--the Señor Maxwell. You know he would not part with it? Then you +have tried and failed to obtain it from him? The Señor Maxwell is a very +clever man. Nevertheless, I have the map. Would you recognize that it +was genuine if I showed it to you?" + +Rideau rose carelessly, and strolled toward the window. There was nobody +on that side of the veranda--the compound lay empty under the pitiless +heat below, and a slumbrous silence pervaded the factory. There was a +change in him when he turned toward the girl, who held out an unfolded +paper so that he could see a portion of it. The man was usually cunning, +but it was not without results that he had inherited a strain of native +blood, and now the instincts of the savage rose uppermost. Brute passion +and unreasoning avarice were stamped on his face. He had hitherto made +his admiration for the girl very plain, and had accepted her rebuffs +with the serenity of one strong enough to wait. Now, however, his +companion conceived it possible that he intended to retain his hold upon +Dom Pedro and secure the map as well. It was her person he desired, and +whether her good will accompanied it or not was probably immaterial. + +"The sun has dazzled my eyes, and you will give it to me for near +examination," he said, and his voice was husky. When she made a gesture +of negation, he halted close in front of her with the veins on his +forehead swollen, and one big, dusky hand partly raised. + +Bonita Castro had not studied the native character profitlessly, and she +knew that very little was required to cause those fingers--and they were +the fingers of a negro--to fasten upon her shoulders, or even about her +throat; but she had arranged accordingly. She clapped her hands sharply, +and Rideau let his arm drop to his side when a patter of bare feet drew +nearer along the veranda. A huge muscular Krooman in white uniform stood +in the doorway, and the girl smiled a little. + +"Call Andres, Pobrecito. Tell him to bring the wine and the last of the +steamer ice; but stay there on the veranda yourself. I may want you. It +is so hot that you will not refuse if I offer you refreshment, señor?" +she said. + +Rideau's lips twitched a little, and his face was greasy, but the look +of the African had faded from it, and he might have passed for a native +of southern France when he bowed. + +"Who could refuse anything offered by the señorita?" + +The wine was brought, and the man, who a few moments earlier might have +posed for a study of avarice and passion debased to ferocity, smiled as +he compared his companion's eyes to the sparkling ocean when he raised +his glass. Then, while the big negro squatted just outside the doorway, +Miss Castro read extracts from the notes on the back of the map. + +"This would be very valuable to a bold man," she said. "What would you +give for it? It is no use offering a small thing." + +"I would give"--the man hesitated--"I would even give the agreement in +Arabic signed by Dom Pedro and the Emir!" + +"Then it is yours," said Bonita Castro. "Now it is too hot for further +business, even the underweighed gum. You may sit there and tell me of +your adventures in the bush country." + +Rideau had a large share of vanity, inherited from both parents, and he +was in no wise reluctant; if Miss Castro failed to believe all he told +her she did not say so. Indeed, she made the man feel that she accepted +him as a hero, and fooled him so tactfully that he was several times on +the brink of making confidences which might have jeopardized his plans. +Fortunately for himself, however, he reflected in time, and did not do +so. When at last he withdrew, Miss Castro walked somewhat limply to her +room, and sank down into a basket chair in the manner of one who has +undergone a heavy nervous strain. Her aunt found her there presently, +and placed a hand caressingly on her shoulder as she bent over her. + +"This Rideau is a bad man. He has terrified you?" she said +compassionately. + +"No." The girl's voice trembled, though she smiled. "No, I hardly feared +the cur. I have sent him to his own destruction. It is my own sin I +fear. I have betrayed the man who trusted me; but still I do not think +he will suffer from my treachery." + +The elder lady shook off her somnolent expression, and nodded +sagaciously. + +"The big Englishman who was sick?--I comprehend," she said. "I do not +ask questions; but take comfort if it was for your father, niña. Also, +that Englishman is not clever, but he is very stubborn and strong, and I +do not think it will be well for Rideau if he interferes with him." + +When Miss Castro found Dom Pedro alone in his sweltering office that +night she said to him: "Here is a present, father. I have drawn the +dog's teeth." + +Dom Pedro's eyes glistened as he clutched at the scroll handed him, +then, though he first burned it over the lamp, his forehead grew +furrowed, and his jaw fell. + +"The cur may have other teeth left, and is of the blood of the African," +he said. "Twice I repulsed him when he spoke of marriage. Little one, +you have not sold yourself for this?" + +The man positively quivered with impatience, but the girl laughed. + +"No. I have sold him the blind Englishman. Rideau has the map that +belonged to the Señor Maxwell." + +"Thanks be to heaven!" Dom Pedro exclaimed piously; but his sallow face +grew grave again. "It is a great deliverance, but it is not well to make +one's profit from the blood of white men. This Rideau, who is very +cunning, will follow and bring disaster upon the Englishmen up yonder. +Already, I have suffered many things because of the black men the Emir +stole from me." + +Bonita's eyes shone. + +"You do not see clearly, father, or know the manner of those other men. +What is it to me if these strangers do not find the gold--but I would +not have them die. I have been in their country, and if the cur dog +follows, plotting treachery, as I think he will, the Señor Maxwell will +surely kill him." + +"_Ojala!_ Heaven send it so," murmured Dom Pedro, and would have +embraced his daughter, but that, shrinking from him, she slipped out +into the moonlit veranda. The little olive-faced gentleman stood staring +at the papers before him, and hoping that it might come about as she had +predicted. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE TRAIL OF THE LEOPARD + + +Maxwell expressed his approval of the recruits Dane brought in, for Dom +Pedro had chosen well. They were sturdy, woolly-haired Kroomen from +Liberia who had gained some experience of forest warfare in petty +skirmishes with the troops of the black republic. It is noticeable that +the untamed African cherishes little love for his partly civilized +brother. When he had harangued them, the two white men sat talking +together. + +"I would give a good deal to know what is in Dom Pedro's mind just now," +said Maxwell. "It is quite possible that the offer he made you was +genuine. There is, if one may say it without appealing to your vanity, a +certain air of solidity and force about you which might appeal to a man +of his type who could supply all the finesse necessary--and who +possesses a troublesome enemy. The map would in any case be of little +use to Dom Pedro, who would never venture into the Leopards' country; +and I hardly fancy he would give it to Rideau. In the meantime our own +program is clear. We start again at sunrise to-morrow." + +"Are you not taking too much for granted when you assume that Dom Pedro +has the map?" asked Dane; and Maxwell smiled enigmatically but did not +answer. + +A few days later they halted at sunset beside a stream which, contrary +to the custom of most African rivers, flowed clear as crystal over +yellow sand. Wooded hills whose hollows were filled with drifting steam +sloped steeply upward from the opposite bank, and the black shadow of a +few palms lengthened across the grass behind the waiting men. There was +nothing remarkable about the river or its surroundings; but heathen, +missionary convert, and dusky Moslem alike shrank back murmuring from +its bank. + +"This is our Rubicon, and beyond it lies the Leopards' country," said +Maxwell. "It is not a very imposing stream, but I believe no white man +has ever crossed it without suffering from his rashness, since the days +of the early Portuguese. Something has evidently startled the boys. As I +partly expected, here it is." + +Maxwell pointed to a slender wand set up beside the bank. A tuft of +reddened rags was tied to it, and beneath them hung a piece of sun-dried +clay rudely modeled into the resemblance of a leopard. + +"I would rather have seen fifty men with flint-locks than this trumpery +thing," he declared. "You don't quite grasp its significance, Hilton? +Well, in this land anything may be made the emblem of the Ju-ju, and +that is the insignia of a powerful one I have alluded to several times +already." + +"I could never understand what a Ju-ju is." + +"Very few white men do, but its ministers are a force to reckon with; +and this piece of clay signifies that many unpleasant things, varying +from slow poisoning to death by violence, may happen to the man who +disregards it. You can see that the boys are afraid of it." + +"We can't stay here forever because some benighted heathen has tied it +to a stick," expostulated Dane. "Here's a challenge to the powers of +darkness. Watch and try to understand, you boy! If them thing be no fit +to hurt me, it can't hurt you. That's logic, or, as you say, the Lord he +give me sense too much, isn't it?" + +The eyes of the spectators grew wide with horror as, snapping the wand +across his knee, he next crushed the leopard beneath his heel; and there +was a heavy silence while they waited to see what would follow this bold +defiance of the forest deity. So real was their terror, and the hush so +impressive, that Dane felt his own heart beating faster than it +generally did, and when he laughed the laugh rang hollow. But nothing +unusual happened; and with murmurs of relief the men followed him as he +splashed through the ford. + +"It was necessary," said Maxwell with noticeable gravity. "Nevertheless, +we will double our sentries henceforward, and recharge our filters. +There is no doubt that the powers of darkness will take up your +challenge." + +They pitched camp among the cottonwoods at the mouth of a ravine, and, +when they had eaten, sat for a time within their little tent poring over +a map issued privately for the use of French officials. Innumerable +insects dimmed the light of the lamp above them, and they could scarcely +see the lettering. + +"We are here," said Maxwell, laying his finger on the paper, "on the +threshold of what the niggers call the Leopards' country, which is +marked as partly explored territory, with this patch to represent the +dominions of King, or headman, Shaillu. A few armed expeditions have +traversed it farther east, and found it thinly peopled by petty tribes +hostile to Europeans, while nobody knows much about Shaillu except that +he abruptly broke off the negotiations he once began with the +authorities. That showed the hand of his priests, and brings us back to +the Leopard League." + +Dane laid down his damp cigar, and listened with keen interest as +Maxwell explained. + +"As you have heard, secret leagues of all kinds are common in this +country, and that of the Leopard is probably one of the most powerful. +Its priestly leaders are apparently the power behind the throne in +Shaillu's dominions, and, so the natives say, those they favor with a +share of their supernatural qualities can render themselves invisible or +take the shape of beasts. Like their namesake, they always strike at +night. Dismissing all idea of witchcraft, you can take very ingenious +human cunning, a thorough knowledge of poisoning, and no mean strategic +skill, for granted. Once the white man settles in their country the +power of the bush magician must decline; and the deduction you can draw +from that should justify a close watch to-night. It is your turn until +twelve o'clock, Hilton." + +Dane found it a somewhat depressing watch when the cooking fires had +died out and the sounds which gather depth with the darkness emphasized +the hush of the forest. There was nothing visible but the faint glimmer +of the lighted tent, which suggested a huge Chinese lantern set down +among the dripping undergrowth. Behind it loomed dim ghosts of trees. +Moisture fell drumming upon the tight-strained canvas; and at intervals +some beast in the forest sent up an unearthly scream. The darkness was +filled with the scent of wood smoke and lilies, and thickened by wisps +of drifting steam. + +The time dragged by slowly; but at last Dane was about to make a final +round, when a stealthy rustling held him rigidly still, save that his +left hand slid farther along the rifle barrel. The sound ceased and +began again, and it became certain that something or somebody was +crawling toward the tent. It could hardly be one of the carriers, for +Maxwell had intimated that any man found wandering in the darkness would +promptly be fired upon. Dane could feel his heart throbbing, but his +fingers were steady on the cool barrel as he waited, realizing +instinctively that death or danger in some strange shape was drawing +near. Nevertheless he was silent, fearing to rouse the camp on a false +alarm, and also because he wished to make certain of their unseen enemy. + +For a space of a few seconds there was no sound at all, and he grew the +more uneasy, knowing that the naked bushman learns by sheer necessity to +wriggle almost silently through the undergrowth. Then he found it hard +to repress a cry of astonishment as, for a moment, a monstrous shape was +silhouetted against the faintly illuminated canvas. It was bulkier than +a man, and though it stood upright, its head was that of a beast. +Maxwell was clearly in danger, there was no time to lose, and, pitching +up the rifle, Dane pressed the trigger. A streak of red fire rent the +darkness, and a spark blew into his eyes. He felt the jerk of the +barrel, and then, though he scarcely heard the explosion, he caught a +thud there is no mistaking--the sound made by the impact of a solid +bullet. + +As he snapped down the lever and slid home another cartridge, something +dim and shadowy rushed past, and the rifle blazed again. Then there was +a snapping of undergrowth, a yell from a sentry, the crash of a Snider, +and the camp awoke to life. Maxwell, holding up a lamp, sprang +half-dressed from the tent, black men rose out of the shadows clamoring +excitedly, and Dane's headman, Monday, stood close beside him, peering +into the darkness with his long Snider rifle held out before him. Monday +was not a timid man, but he looked distinctly uneasy when the light of +Maxwell's lantern fell upon his face. + +Dane briefly related what had happened; and Maxwell lowered his lantern. + +"The Leopards have made their first move, and lost a man, I think," he +said. "Most black men are able to carry off considerable lead, but this +red trail on the undergrowth is significant. It also appears quite +probable that you have saved my life." + +Just then, there was a shrill scream in the forest, a scream of human +agony, horrible and intense, and afterward a silence that could be felt. + +"Them ghost leopard he done go chop some boy!" exclaimed Monday, +trembling a little. "We savvy fight black man, sah, but not them +debbil." + +"The sound rose from behind the tuft of palms," Maxwell said quietly. +"Take six of your best men, Monday, and see who is missing. No--stay +where you are, Hilton! It is advisable to break them in to this kind of +thing." + +Monday went reluctantly, and returned to say that one of the sentries +and his gun had vanished completely. Then a half-naked man with a +matchet burst through the wondering group which had gathered about the +pair, demanding assistance to search for his brother. + +Maxwell glanced at him, hesitated, and, while Dane protested, shook his +head. + +"We could never track them, even in broad daylight; and some of the +rescue party would not come back," he explained. "By this time the poor +devil is certainly dead, and I feel convinced that we shall find him +to-morrow without searching. Amadu, tell your boys to fire on any man +trying to leave the camp." + +Maxwell kept watch himself henceforward, and Dane retired to the tent, +resigned though far from contented. He had learned that, if his ways +were a trifle autocratic, his comrade was a leader who could be trusted, +and though he longed with a vindictive yearning to search the forest, +rifle in hand, he did not consider it judicious to question Maxwell's +authority. + +It was a relief when morning came, and somewhat silently they began the +march again. The path wound up a ravine, through climbing forest that +rotted as it grew, where grotesque and ghostly orchids sprouted from +each crumbling bough, and there was scarcely room for two men abreast in +the rutted trail. It had been worn deep by the passage of naked feet; +for gum, skins, and a little ivory came down on the heads of slave +trains out of Shaillu's country. + +Maxwell, with a few picked men, led the way, after giving Dane orders +not to follow him too closely with the main body; but the latter found +it hard to restrain his carriers, who desired to leave the site of the +camp as far behind them as possible. + +Dane had lagged a little behind the long line of colored headgear, cases +poised aloft on woolly crowns, white draperies, and patches of sable +skin, which wound on before him through the green of the tangled jungle, +when Maxwell's voice came back sharply. + +"Lead your boys wide into the bush, Hilton! Break through for several +hundred yards, and send them on before you. Turn back and rejoin me +alone when you strike the trail again!" + +It was done, though Dane fell over an ant-heap and into a network of +horrible thorny trailers which tore the flesh about his ankles. Hurrying +back along the trail, he found Maxwell standing behind a screen of +resplendent creepers, lighting a cigar with a hand that was not quite +steady. His eyes were positively savage, and a patch in the center of +each cheek was gray. Startled as Dane was, it was nevertheless soothing +to find that his comrade shared some, at least, of the weaknesses of +their common humanity. He could not mistake the intensity of Maxwell's +anger. + +"Prepare yourself for a surprise, Hilton, and then see what awaits you +beyond that bush," he said. "I had partly expected it, but when I came +upon it the sight almost sickened me." + +Dane's nerves were tolerably good, but when he passed the creepers he +experienced a shock of nausea and halted abruptly. Two black men were +scooping out a trench, while another crouched near by, crooning +something while he ran his thumb caressingly up and down a matchet +blade. He looked up at the white man's coming, and his face was a study. +Horror was stamped upon it; but a slow, relentless ferocity was written +there too. This Dane saw with his first glance, but after the second he +turned his eyes away. Maxwell was right. They had found the missing +sentry. The object--for there was little resemblance of humanity left in +what lay a foul blotch on the forest before him--was stretched across +the trail; and the neck was twisted so that the face, left whole, +looked down the pathway the way the expedition should have come, +distorted and ghastly, with its changeless grin of pain. Words appeared +superfluous, but Dane's sensations demanded relief in speech. + +"Horrible! horrible! But what is the matter with Bad Dollar? He looks +positively murderous!" + +"It is not surprising," answered Maxwell. "The African is not always +admirable in his domestic relations, but what lies yonder was his +brother." + +Dane, stooping, patted the negro's head. + +"It will be a bad day for some of the Leopards when he settles that +score. Listen to me, Maxwell. Heaven knows whether through greed I am +responsible for part of this; but I most solemnly promise that if ever I +can find the master fiend who inspired the murderers, I'll avenge that +poor devil, as well as Lyle, the trader, whatever it costs me. We're +partners in this affair, Bad Dollar!" + +It is probable that the naked heathen attached little meaning to the +words, but he understood the hoarseness of the white man's voice, and +the steely glint in his eyes. He laid his black hands on the speaker's +foot. + +"It is a bargain," Dane said gravely. "I mean to keep it, Maxwell." + +"You are a little impetuous," was the quiet answer. "Some day there +will, I hope, be a reckoning; but a wise man says little and awaits his +opportunity. Our turn has not come yet. When it does I do not think you +will find me dilatory. Meanwhile, I'm puzzled. There are points +connected with this affair which are far from clear; but those fellows +have finished and we will go on again." + +Beyond instructing Dane and his immediate followers to keep the +occurrence secret, Maxwell said nothing further until noon had passed, +when Dane asked a question. + +"Why did the Leopards make their first move now, when we could, if we +wished it, retreat, instead of waiting until we had penetrated farther +into their country?" + +"It is a pertinent question," said Maxwell. "For one thing, this is, +after all, King Shaillu's country, and they possibly fear that if we +once have speech with him, the headman, who, so the French officers told +me, has a hankering after civilization, might extend us protection. But +that does not quite account for everything. You remember Miss Castro's +mention of the following shadow? Events have proved her predictions +signally correct hitherto, and I am inclined to fancy that the worst +danger still lies behind us and not before." + +Maxwell vouchsafed no further information, and though Dane knew it was +well the expedition had for its leader a man unmoved alike by excess of +anger or misguided pity, he could not help retorting: "You foresee a +good deal, Carsluith. It is unfortunate you could not more often prevent +it. Why could you not have told me more of what you anticipated?" + +Maxwell laughed good-humoredly. + +"Isn't it apparent that what I prevent from happening does not occur? As +to the last question, perhaps the African's answer, 'You never asked +me,' is the best. One dreads so much that it appeared useless to harrow +your feelings until I was certain." + +The march through headman Shaillu's dominions left upon Dane only a +series of blurred impressions. He was too sick to notice definite +details most of the time; but he decided that under no circumstances +could it be considered a cheerful country. For days together the +expedition floundered through dripping forest so laced and bound with +creepers that at noon the daylight could hardly filter down. The +atmosphere resembled that of a Turkish bath; moisture splashed upon the +broad leaves everywhere, and the heat and the gloom together produced a +distressing lassitude. This the white men made strenuous efforts to +resist, knowing that they might blunder into an ambush at any moment. + +It was evident that their enemies had not lost touch with them; for in +spite of their keenest vigilance, a carrier was twice spirited out of +camp at night. Once Dane, making the rounds with a lantern, came upon a +sentry huddled beneath a cottonwood. He had paid a heavy penalty for his +drowsiness. Even Maxwell showed signs of temper at this, and the +expedition waited two nights in camp while its leaders prowled through +the forest in an attempt to surprise the assassins. It was, of course, a +failure. They returned at sunrise, muddy, ragged, and savage, having +neither seen nor heard anything suspicious. + +The fact that they never did see their persecutors was the most +harassing feature of it all; and at last Dane grew by turns murderously +resentful and subject to fits of limp dejection, in which the fever had +doubtless a share. The few villages they passed were empty. Where a +river crossed their path the canoes had been taken away; and at +intervals detachments of the carriers fell sick mysteriously. When they +limped out into a waste of crackling, sword-edged grass, the glare and +dust and heat were bewildering, and after a few days Dane longed for the +forest again. + +Still they held on, and one evening they marched, blanched in face, and +very weary, into sight of one of the strongholds of headman Shaillu. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WEALTH IN SIGHT + + +A stockade ran round the village, and rows of thatched roofs loomed +above the frowning wall of timber, but instead of the usual clamor, +there was dead silence as, with some semblance of order, the footsore +and spiritless carriers limped in through the open gate. Nothing except +a few lizards stirred in the first sandy avenue, and the oppressive +stillness remained unbroken by the voice of man or beast. The sun hung +low above the parched grass in the west, and crimson splendors blazed +behind the huts; but a strange musky odor replaced the pungent fragrance +of burning wood which at that hour hangs over each African village. + +"The whole land seems dead," Dane said slowly, leaning heavily on his +rifle as he spoke. "There are times when one could almost fancy, +Carsluith, that you and I were ghosts--indeed, at the present moment you +don't look unlike one; but what is the meaning of this latest riddle? +This is the black headman's capital, isn't it?" + +Maxwell smiled mirthlessly, as he stood, with beaded forehead and +shoulders bent, glancing toward the weary carriers. His face was worn +and hollow, though his eyes were bright, and his clothing was dropping +in tatters from his weary limbs. The glare behind him emphasized the +lividness of his pallid skin. + +"It is one of them. I believe he has several," he said. "Whether he +fears reprisals from some plundered neighbor, or pestilence, I naturally +don't know; but, as his absence will save us a good many presents and +much loss of time, it is not material. Still, we might find some clue in +one of these huts." + +Maxwell entered the nearest, then moved into another, and stayed there +some time, leaving Dane in the sandy avenue before it; the carriers were +resting at a distance. The sun dipped, and as Dane watched the night +creep up swiftly from the east, it struck him that there was a curious +uncanny feeling about the place. It was a relief when his comrade +returned, looking graver than ever. + +"Did you find any one inside?" + +"I did," was the answer. "Unfortunately the man, as well as the one in +the next hut, was dead, and had, I fancy, been so for some time. He +probably died of a plague, which explains why the town is empty. We may +find something more conclusive in one of the larger huts." + +Dane decided that the discovery of two dead Africans was sufficient, and +said so; but Maxwell persisted, and it was almost dark when they halted +outside what appeared to be the headman's dwelling. Nothing could be +distinguished in the interior, but Dane could hear creeping things +rustle in the thatch, and the peculiar odor he already had noticed +drifted forth from the hut. This was all, but he felt an instinctive +repugnance to entering, and when Maxwell passed him, he caught him by +the shoulder to suggest that they should light a lantern first. Hardly +had he done so than what appeared to be a puff of colder air sighed +close past his ear, and Maxwell, whipping out his revolver, hailed him +to run round the hut as he leaped into the room. Dane did so, finding +another entrance at the rear, and a broad space between the dwelling and +the nearest hut. Nobody, he felt almost certain, would have had +sufficient time to cross it, but the space was empty. When he went in +Maxwell had torn down and lighted strips of palm-leaf from the thatch, +but the name that leaped up showed them no sign of living humanity. +Maxwell's countenance was very grim. + +"You saw nobody outside there? I hardly thought you would," he said. +"Our animal instincts are sometimes more useful than our powers of +reasoning, Hilton. It is probable that if you had not checked me, I +should now be on my way out of this land of surprises. What we heard was +a diminutive arrow, no doubt with the venom there's no cure for upon its +point. It could not have been shot at us by either of the Africans +yonder." + +Dane, glancing at the two awful huddled figures, swore softly and +viciously. + +"It is time we struck back, Carsluith," he urged. "I'll call up our boys +and surround the huts." + +"It would be useless," said Maxwell, shaking his head. "You have not +realized these fellows' ingenuity, even yet. Further, if the boys saw +what we have seen it might be disastrous." + +A horror of the whole country where such things were possible came upon +Dane and he moistened his dry lips with his tongue. + +"I would give ten years of my life to stand face to face with the leader +of these devils." + +"Perhaps you will some day! I am puzzled among other things by their +pertinacity. The heathen is unstable, and one almost feels that there +must be something stronger than the native's spasmodic purpose behind +what we have endured. In any case, it will be pleasanter to camp outside +the town to-night." + +They had some trouble in inducing their followers to quit the promised +shelter, but both felt easier when they had repassed the stockade gate. +That was apparently their enemies' last effort, for they were not +molested during the rest of their journey; and eventually Maxwell halted +his worn-out men beside a shrunken river. It came down out of a chaos of +jungle-covered hills, rippling over sharp sand, with tall bluffs on the +opposite side of it; and within five minutes every carrier was rolling +and splashing in the lukewarm stream. + +Dane quivered with eagerness as he watched Maxwell, who, looking up from +a paper in his hand, smiled inscrutably. + +"Yes. From Niven's description we have reached our goal at last. I was +almost afraid his memory or imagination had betrayed him," he said. +"That must be the bluff he camped on, and this, according to his +assertion, the river which sprinkles its sand with gold. However, he +hinted that it would pay better to prospect the higher pools. I want you +to test his statement, Hilton. The result of the experiment promises to +be eventful." + +Maxwell's voice was slightly uneven, but his fingers seemed steady as he +lighted one of their few last cigars. Dane felt his own knees weak +beneath him, and his voice was hoarse when he hailed a carrier whose +load consisted of prospecting tools. Carrying a tin dish and a small +shovel, he waded into the shrunken river. There was a patch of sand near +its center from which he filled the metal basin, and then halted with a +curious sickly feeling, afraid almost to test its contents. He had sunk +too much of his slender capital in the venture, and his future depended +upon that test. Its issues were prosperity and the realization of the +hope that had sent him to Africa, or a weary struggle for daily bread; +and the climate-weakened man felt that, after all they had dared and +suffered, he could hardly face failure. The perspiration trickled into +his eyes, and oozed from his hair, and he stood still, knee-deep in the +nameless river, for the space of almost a minute. + +Then, stooping suddenly, he dipped the vessel and whirled it round and +round until partly empty. There was a color about some of the particles +remaining that caught his attention; but he would not trust a partial +test, and continued the washing until, except for a very trifling +residue, the pan was empty. Still, Maxwell made no comment and asked no +question, for, if one was now swift in action, the other was great in +silence. + +Dane straightened himself, and waded back with dry lips and tickling +throat, but with triumph in his eyes; and Maxwell laughed softly as he +grasped the hand he stretched out. + +"What have you found?" he asked. + +"Enough to prove your dead friend right, and encourage us to search for +something better!" Dane spoke as calmly as he could. "It is only stream +gold, and doubtless readily worked out, but heaven knows how much more +there may be up yonder where this came down from." + +"You think----" + +"That Niven was not mad, but eminently sane! I'm not a practical gold +prospector, but I couldn't well help learning a little of the theory +when working on the drawings of hydraulic mining machinery. It's a +question of the velocity of the current and specific gravity--for even +with a stream behind gold grains of any size don't travel far; and their +matrix lies in yonder hills, or beyond them, somewhere." + +"We'll go on again to-morrow," said Maxwell quietly. + +For a week they hewed a way through the jungles on the hillside, or +waded up the bed of the river where it promised an easier road; and +finally, daring to penetrate no farther, they pitched camp on a +palm-crested bluff overhanging a breadth of dry sand and a deep pool +beneath a fall. Since leaving Shaillu's stronghold they had neither been +followed by their persecutors nor seen anything with life in it. Maxwell +left all operations to his friend's direction, and toiled beside him for +several days like a galley slave, digging and blowing out with +explosives a new channel to empty the pool, besides hewing troughs to +bring down the water from above the fall. + +Once more the burning day was drawing toward its close when, with the +roar of the last shot rolling across the encircling forest and the water +frothing muddily down its new outlet, Dane stood beside his comrade, +leaning on a shovel, and wondering greatly that the latter could think +of anything beyond the result of their experiment. + +"The jungle seems to mock us, does it not?" Maxwell remarked. "Already +its silence has swallowed the feeble din we made; and the next flood +will obliterate forever all traces of your workings." + +"Then you don't believe that this is the beginning of a new era, and +that those who follow us will change the future of this wilderness?" +asked Dane with a show of incredulity. + +Maxwell pointed to the jungle fading into the dimness of the east. + +"I do not. Look at it," he said. "It has stood so from the beginning, a +place of everlasting shadow, for the naked bushmen to hunt each other +in; and it will be the same long centuries after you and I are gone. It +is too old and changeless for even the Briton to subdue. PhÅ“nician, +Roman, Arab, and Moor have all tackled this all-absorbing Africa; and +while the brown men have left a plainer stamp on it than the white men, +how much has any of them done? Still, all this is beside the question, +isn't it? It will be enough for you and me if we can return home safely +with some small augmentation of our capital. Hadn't you better resume +your digging, Hilton?" + +Dane did so, stripped to the waist; and great fires were blazing before +he came up out of the river, exultant. + +"I can't promise a fortune, but there should be sufficient to pay us for +all our toil," he said. "Those little grains will realize almost four +pounds an ounce." + +They set out a carefully treasured bottle of lukewarm wine that night in +the tent, and duly emptied it, though, perhaps for the same reason, +neither of them ate much; and afterward they sat long talking under the +smoky lamp. It was a night to remember, for it is not often one enjoys +the same thrill of triumph twice in a lifetime. Maxwell was unusually +communicative; and long afterward Dane could remember how he leaned +against a deal case, worn, thin, and haggard, but with a smile of +satisfaction on his hollow face. + +"Success appears within sight at last, but it is well to take good +fortune soberly," he said. "I am, however, sensible of an insane desire +to do something extravagant when I remember all that word implies. You +have seen Culmeny, Hilton, but it is hardly possible that you can +realize the affection I have for the old place. It was fast falling into +ruin before my father improved its finances a little by painful economy; +and, because we generally fought and plotted for the losing side, the +poor acres about it have been starved overlong. Now, after many an +arduous search for the wherewithal, I can hope it may be granted me to +restore a measure of its former prosperity. The Culmeny mosses could be +turned into plow-land and pasture with the aid of a little money." + +"You are a young man, Carsluith," Dane replied suggestively. "Being +merely one of the swarming people, I don't know that love for--an +ancient dwelling--would have exacted so much from me. Drainage schemes +are no doubt useful, but was the extension of them your only ambition?" + +Maxwell laughed good-humoredly, though a trace of shadow crept back into +his face. + +"No," he said slowly; "there was a time when they took a very secondary +place. Every one has his weaknesses, and even now I have not quite got +over mine." + +The friendship between the two men had never been demonstrative, but it +was deep enough to make Dane's comment no liberty. + +"I can guess. The old story, no doubt. 'It was the woman who tempted +me!' She treated you badly?" + +"No," Maxwell answered quietly, looking hard at his companion. "She--God +bless her--could treat no one harshly. It was my own folly to dream that +she, with her fresh young beauty and the light-heartedness of innocence, +could find anything congenial in such a taciturn, somber man as myself. +Well, that romance is over, but it has left its mark; and now all that I +hope for is that Culmeny will flourish for a brief space under the last +of an unfortunate family." + +Now there are limits beyond which even one who has sickened and fought +and suffered beside a trusted comrade may hardly go, and Dane repressed +the question which trembled on his lips. Nevertheless, he afterward +fancied that if he had asked it then Maxwell would have answered him; +and the revelation probably would have made a vast difference in the +future of both of them. Dane did not, however, ask. + +He was partly dazed by his own good fortune, and, when at last they +ceased from speech, he sat in contented silence conjuring up roseate +visions of the future. It was true that he had quarreled with Lilian, or +she had quarreled with him; but during the time of stress and struggle +the importance of the difference between them had--so it seemed to the +man--steadily diminished. He could recall significant trifles which +suggested that the time would come when the woman would no longer +enforce the terms of their compact; and he felt that it was at least +possible that, returning triumphant, he would find that she had already +forgiven his supposed offenses. So hope rose victorious over doubts and +dejection; and Dane was nodding, dreaming, while still half-awake, +golden dreams, when Maxwell's voice recalled him to the laborious +present. + +"It is past midnight, and the task before us will tax our uttermost +energies. Isn't it time to turn in, Hilton?" + +Dane nodded. + +"We will begin at sunrise," he said; "work every possible hour, and +start back for England whenever the yield falls off. It is better to +make sure of a portion than risk the whole by straining for too much; +and fortune does not appear to favor white men overlong in this country. +Even if we were but half satisfied, it should not be difficult to float +a company." + +Maxwell shook his head. + +"Your first suggestion shows some discernment, Hilton; the second, less. +Even a wildcat company promoter would fight shy of this mine; and it is +tolerably certain that we have both the cross-marked man and Monsieur +Victor Rideau still to reckon with." + +Dane stretched himself out on some matting when Maxwell turned out the +lamp, but he did not immediately sleep. The hot African darkness hemmed +in the little tent, but he could see his comrade's figure dimly outlined +against it as he sat rigidly still in the entrance. Then it struck him +that they were very far away from all help from civilization, with a +secret in their possession which already had cost the lives of other +men. The roseate visions faded, and a sense of impending trouble +preceded slumber. It was significant that Dane's fingers sought the +pistol that lay beside him. + +"Not asleep yet?" asked Maxwell. "What is troubling you?" + +"I don't quite know," Dane answered. "I was going to ask you the same +thing. Carsluith, if Rideau or the other rascal interferes with us +further before I have won sufficient to float my patent, some of the +party won't go home again." + +The sun had just cleared the forest when, one morning soon after Dane +had set his flume and washing gear to work, he sat at breakfast before a +swinging table in their extemporized mess tent. Maxwell, who had just +risen, stood in the entrance, partly dazzled by the growing brightness. +Suddenly some of the Krooboys commenced to chatter excitedly, and a +negro's voice rose above the commotion: + +"White man lib for across the river!" + +Maxwell, springing into the tent, snatched up a pair of binoculars; and +the table overturned with a crash as Dane scrambled to his feet. + +"The devil!" he exclaimed, staring stupidly at the figure below which +saluted them with uplifted arm. + +Maxwell frowned as he sharply closed the glasses. + +"No," he said, "not exactly. It is Monsieur Victor Rideau." + +Ten minutes had passed before the man Dane had seen at Castro's factory +came smiling into camp, and the miner glanced at him curiously. He was +short, but somewhat burly and broad-chested for a man of pure Gallic +descent. His hair was very crisp and black, his face swarthy, and his +fingers suspiciously like those of the negro. He was, considering the +country, neatly arrayed in white duck and shoes with pointed toes. +Monsieur Rideau had evidently traveled in a hammock. + +"Felicitations, camarades," he began, with, it seemed to one observer, +an excess of amiability. "It please me greatly to meet the friend of my +own color in this country of the devil, so I leave all my boy behind +there and push on with much expedition to salute you." + +"That was very kind," said Maxwell shortly, never moving his eyes from +his enemy. "The eagerness was mutual. My friend here upset our breakfast +equipage in his hurry to greet you. The cook, however, will get you some +more presently." + +Dane fancied he read satisfaction in his comrade's face when the other +answered: + +"I have the breakfast already. You smoke now. I have these from Cuba--he +is smuggle. No? That is the pity; but we talk at least. I have affaire +of importance to discuss with you." + +"So I presumed," said Maxwell, with no excess of civility. "Our tent is +hardly fit to enter, but there is still shade here. Please consider us +attentive listeners." + +"_Bien!_" Rideau carefully laid a silk handkerchief on a fallen +cottonwood before he took his seat. "I come to search the gold mine, and +find two men of my own color have find her already. Me, I am not greedy. +I say there is the plenty for three. So I make proposal. I go the +partner with you." + +"Suppose that does not suit us?" Dane broke in. + +Rideau lifted one shoulder and stretched out the other arm with an air +that was not wholly Gallic, but rather suggested the grimaces of a +negro. + +"It would be the pity. You know how we say, '_J'y suis_----?' As an +American captain I have once small difference with tell me when he +establish himself all day on my veranda: 'I'm here, Mr. Shylocker, and +until I get what I've come for I stop right where I am.' Shylocker, I +tell him, is a compliment not comprehended of me. That was a man of +determination, but I vanquish him, my friends." + +Hitherto something in the speaker's fastidious neatness and excessive +bonhommie had, because his welcome was the reverse of cordial, prevented +Dane from taking him seriously. Now there was a glint in his dark eyes +which suggested that he might prove dangerous; and Dane surmised that +the last sentence was meant as a warning. In any case, his blood took +fire at its veiled insolence. + +"It seems to me you could only have found your way here by means of a +map stolen from me!" he said hotly, rising as he spoke. + +Maxwell silenced him with a gesture. + +"That is beside the question, Hilton. Monsieur Rideau is here, and, as +he informs us, here he means to stay. The first question is whether, if +we do not wish it, he is able to." + +Rideau took up the challenge with outward good-humor. + +"I have of camp boy two, or perhaps three, for every one I see of you. +Most he is also arm with the good rifle. If there is the bad +understanding, somebody is possibly get kill, which is distressing to +me. Beside, the barbaric indigene he go chop us separables, as the +nigger say. United we are invincibles, _voyez vous_?" + +"I believe I do," Maxwell answered, in a tone which suggested that he +saw considerably more than the other's words revealed; and Dane watched +the pair, as for some seconds they lapsed into silence--the Briton +motionless and almost too rigid in bearing, with an expressionless face; +the swarthy adventurer smiling out of shifty eyes, while his fingers +betrayed his impatience. + +Then Maxwell spoke abruptly. + +"Your proposal demands serious consideration. I would prefer to give you +an answer this time to-morrow." + +"_Bien_," Rideau acquiesced; and after a detailed account of his +adventures, which Dane surmised was wholly fictitious, he took his +leave. + +"The savage has his virtues as well as his failings," said Maxwell, +looking after him. "That man, however, is neither French nor negro, and +such as he usually combine the vices of both sides of their ancestry. +What do you think of his proposal, Hilton?" + +"I should have dismissed him with four expressive words. Why did you +promise to consider it at all?" + +Maxwell smiled dryly. + +"Because I intend to do so. I will give you my reasons this evening +when, after a day's consideration, I shall have them ready in a more +definite shape. In the meantime, we had better continue the mining." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PESTILENCE + + +The result of the day's work was encouraging, though it cost Dane an +effort to concentrate his attention upon his task. Rideau's swarthy face +haunted him; he would have felt more cheerful had his companion decided +to defy him. Maxwell, however, said little, and appeared to find +pleasure in working with concentrated energy. + +Evening came at last, and thick darkness closed about the lonely tent. +Neither of the men ate much, and when the frugal meal had been cleared +away, Maxwell once more spread his map on the table. + +"We have to make an eventful decision, and it might be well to consider +our position," he said, laying his finger on the map. "We are somewhere +here, just beyond the fringe of Shaillu's country, with a difficult and +dangerous country between us and civilization, and a little-known land, +whose inhabitants are supposed to be predatory tribes, to the north." + +"We will take all that for granted," responded Dane. "Can you give me +Rideau's record?" + +"But little of it. He is evidently of mixed blood, and partly educated, +a trader by profession, with a mysterious inland connection. I was told +that the authorities suspect him of trafficking in unlawful weapons, or +even in black humanity. I have little doubt it was he who hired the man +with the scar on his forehead to arrange for Niven's destruction; and, +while several points are not clear to me, I fancy he is at least partly +responsible for our own misfortunes. Seeing his efforts to circumvent us +fail, he has decided to join us--for a time. Lastly, I am inclined to +surmise that by reason of some unlawful speculation, jointly undertaken, +he has a hold on Dom Pedro, and so obtained possession of the map you +lost. Now, what are we to say to him?" + +"Very little, in my opinion!" grunted Dane. "Tell him to go to the +devil! If that rouses his indignation, as I hope it will, I should find +satisfaction in assisting him." + +Maxwell smiled, but shook his head. + +"Your ways are delightfully simple, but hardly practicable, Hilton," he +said. "In the first place, Rideau means to stay, and has, he tells us, a +force much superior to our own. Suppose we succeeded in driving him out +by violence, we should have to meet a charge of filibustering when we +returned to the coast, or stand a siege if he returned with a host of +native allies. The one safe step in that direction would be the +entrapping and total annihilation of Rideau and his party, which, +presumably, would not recommend itself to you!" + +"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed Dane, convinced against his will. "Am I a +professional murderer? Since you don't agree with mine, let me hear your +views." + +"In the first place we must hope that, as he suggests, there may be gold +enough for three. Further, I consider Rideau least dangerous when under +my own eye, and therefore consider it would be wisest to accept his +proposal and watch him carefully. We shall thus have peace for a time, +at least, and when necessary must endeavor to match our wits against his +guile. That the man's company will not be pleasant, I need hardly say; +but we can't afford to be particular with so much at stake. Remember +that we came here to make money, and not in search of adventures, or to +maintain our dignity." + +Dane only nodded, and so the conference concluded. Sooner than lose what +he hoped for he was prepared to concede anything; but it might have been +better if he had adhered to his own simple plan; for it is difficult to +make a bargain with such a man as Rideau, and keep it without material +losses as well as diminished self-respect. + +Early the next morning Rideau arrived, bringing with him an imposing +number of colored desperadoes; and a written agreement was drawn up. +They were to share all risks and expenses, and divide what gold they won +on its safe arrival at the coast. Rideau showed bland satisfaction when +he read it through; but, before he filled a rusty pen, Dane rose and +laid Bonita Castro's keepsake on the table. + +"Faith is a question of training, and exactly what each man believes +concerns only himself; but probably all of us respect this as a symbol," +he said. "Is that not so, Monsieur Rideau?" + +Rideau glanced from the speaker to Maxwell, and there was a gleam in his +eyes, then he bent his head. + +Flinging down his battered sun-hat, Dane laid his right hand on the +object on the table, saying: "So I solemnly promise, first to keep this +bargain and faith with my partners, if it cost me my life or fortune; +and secondly, to demand a full account from either should he betray his +trust, as, if I fail them, they shall do to me." + +Maxwell in turn recorded his promise with quiet simplicity; but Rideau +started when the object was passed on to him. It was a beautifully +wrought crucifix of medieval workmanship. For a moment he stared +malevolently at Dane, and then a look akin to fear crept into his eyes. +But, raising one hand aloft, he pledged himself more solemnly than +either, and attached his name first of all to the foot of the agreement. +He retired shortly afterward to pitch his camp, for the new partners had +decided that their respective carriers would be best kept apart; and +Maxwell looked at his comrade. + +"Had you mentally rehearsed that scene, Hilton?" he asked. "It was +almost a stroke of genius." + +"No. I don't claim to be a genius. It was simply the most solemn thing I +could think of from his point of view. I meant exactly what I said, and +I feel somewhat easier now that Rideau has passed the test." + +Maxwell smiled. + +"You are very confiding, Hilton--and he did not pass the test. Still, +considering the blend between the worthy missionaries' teaching and +African superstition which, while it would probably astonish them, +accounted for his momentary hesitation, Rideau is either braver or more +avaricious than I supposed him. Did it occur to you that he recognized +Miss Castro's gift?" + +Dane was somewhat astonished. + +"How do you know that it was Miss Castro's gift; and what if he did?" + +"I saw it once in her possession, and, as she naturally would not sell +such a thing, I presumed that you had not stolen it. I heard that Rideau +had persecuted that lady with his attentions. It would be well to +remember henceforward that ceaseless vigilance is the price of safety." + +Thus, with the prospect of treachery on one side, the partnership with +Rideau began; but the new carriers were sturdy men, and the gold-washing +was carried on with characteristic energy, alike under the burning sun +of noon and by the glare of great fires until long into the steamy +night. Dane labored with his own hands among his Krooboys, stripped to +the waist. Maxwell seconded him loyally, for he had now relinquished the +leader's place; and by degrees the pair drilled their dusky subordinates +into capable workmen. It is true that they usually suspended operations +the moment the white men relaxed their vigilance; but that was only to +be expected, and their masters got a good deal out of them considering +that most negroes have a chronic distaste for manual labor. Rideau's +detachment, Dane noticed, were the most amenable to discipline, and +obeyed all orders with a submission which puzzled the observer, for he +knew that meek obedience is not a characteristic of the seaboard +African. Their master, who did little beyond expressing his approval of +Danes' efforts, grew more cordial as the weeks went by. But Maxwell was +civil, and nothing more; and Dane surmised that he was rather more +watchful and suspicious than he had been before. + +One night when, worn out by physical exertion and aching in every joint, +they dragged themselves, dripping with river water, back to their tent, +there was a covert sneer in Rideau's laugh as he addressed them: + +"You English are a curious people, and there are those who call you mad. +The more tired and dirty you are, the more happy. I once see your naval +officer on the Niger harness with the indigene, like the mule, to drag +the wheel-gun through a robber headman's swamp. One drôle, he tell me it +was the glorious fun." + +"I dare say he meant it," retorted Maxwell. "It is probably owing to +that very form of insanity that, while you--the French, I mean--have +with commendable foresight appropriated the best of Africa, we others +remain at least its commercial masters." + +The pause and apparent correction was not made by accident, and Dane +fancied that Rideau grasped its significance. He retired shortly, and +Maxwell looked thoughtful. + +"I am afraid I was not judicious; but we are only human, and there are +times when my dislike for that rascal almost masters me," he said. "I +would give much to learn who it is that slinks into his camp at night." + +Dane looked puzzled, for Rideau's camp lay across the river, and was +watched by black sentries; no negro was permitted on any excuse to pass +its boundaries. + +"As you know, I have of late taken an interest in botany," Maxwell +laughed. "During my researches I found considerably more specimens of +African vegetation in the forest surrounding Rideau's camp than I know +the names of, and on several occasions what is of greater +interest--footsteps leading toward our partner's tent. The man who made +them wore sandals; there is nobody among our combined followers who +does." + +Dane had no suggestions to make, and therefore kept silent; but that +piece of information left him uneasy. + +It was a still, oppressive day some months later when Dane stood leaning +heavily on a shovel near the edge of the bush. The temperature made +exertion almost impossible, and there was a weight in the atmosphere +which rendered respiration an effort; for the last two weeks the sun had +been hidden all day long and the stars shrouded by haze at night, and +the same heavy stillness had brooded over the camp. In such weather +sickly white men die off, and wise ones lie still in a hammock whenever +possible; but the lust of gold had held two at least of the party +strenuously to their task, and already a little heap of yellow grains +reposed within an iron-bound chest. The men had, however, experienced +some trouble with their colored assistants, who had been unusually +dejected and apathetic of late. + +While Dane ran his eyes along his trenches it struck him that the raw +heaps of sand and the rude wooden flumes appeared strangely out of place +in that gap in the primeval forest. It towered about them, vast, +shadowy, and impressive, rotting as it grew, but throbbing with the +pulse of an untrammeled life that would tear down the conduits, and bury +the workings with verdure, almost as soon as their constructors +relinquished them. The voices of the negroes, rising hollowly through +the motionless atmosphere, sounded weak and feeble against its silence. + +"If all goes well, and the yield increases as it has done of late, we +should have enough to leave us a creditable profit before the year is +done," Dane said. "We have been long enough in this country, Carsluith, +and I mean to return to England before it wastes all the life out of +me." + +Perhaps it was the weather, for Maxwell appeared in an unusually somber +mood. + +"Your proviso covers a good deal," he replied. "This is a land of +surprises, where it is more than usually useless to predict what any man +will do. Neither are the signs auspicious at present." + +"No," Dane agreed reflectively; "I can't say that I consider them so. +This dead stillness worries me. Does it presage a premature change in +the seasons, or has it any other unpleasant meaning?" + +"Who can tell? Anything abnormal carries a hint of death with it in this +country. Still, there are other tokens. The few tribesmen who brought us +in provisions have vanished completely. The last we saw looked like +badly frightened men and were moving south with, for natives, surprising +celerity. As you know, the interpreter failed to understand them, but I +have an uneasy feeling that there was a sufficient cause for their +hurry. The negro is not a foreseeing person, and does not run away +unless the danger which threatens him is tangible and near." + +Dane twice turned to move back toward the workings, but did not do so. +His physical nature revolted from toil that day, and his brain felt sick +and useless under the stress of temperature. So the two lingered until a +negro near them, dropping his shovel, rolled over, clawing at the sand, +as suddenly as a rabbit stricken by the gun. His fall was so swift and +unexpected that Dane stared at the twitching black limbs motionless +until Maxwell's voice roused him. + +"Shake yourself together, Hilton. There is work before us! That fellow +must be carried into the bush before the rest discover what he is +suffering from." + +The man proved a heavy lift, and his greasy limbs writhed within their +grasp; but they laid him among the creepers without attracting +attention, and Dane, running to the tent, returned with a phial. + +"Where do you feel them pain lib?" he asked. + +The sufferer laid a black hand on his waist-cloth. + +"Somebody done put hot iron in heah, sah, and turn him round and round." + +Dane managed to drench him from the phial before his teeth met in an +agony, and Maxwell closed one hand as he looked at his partner. + +"It is very hard that this should happen--now--but you and I must see +the poor devils through," he said. "Our help may not be worth much, but +it is all that stands between them and destruction. It is one of the +scourges of this afflicted country--swifter than cholera, and more +deadly. This camp will resemble the pit presently." + +Maxwell next glanced down at the negro pitifully, his forehead +contracted and his lips firmly set, but he nodded abruptly when Dane +spoke again. + +"I have seen something like it in South America. Is it invariably +contagious?" + +"To negroes, yes; to white men, less so. In any case you have run the +worst risk of infection already." + +"Confound you! Do you suppose--?" + +Maxwell interrupted, laying a hand on his shoulder. + +"I think you and I are going to fight a very tough battle together, +Hilton." + +He had hardly spoken when Rideau appeared from behind them, and glanced +at the groaning man. Then he shuffled backward well away from him; +answered Maxwell's look of interrogation with a nod; and, while his +face grew distinctly less like that of a European, he fumbled inside his +jacket. The barrel of a pistol was visible the next moment. "It is," he +said suggestively, "if the cases are few, the best way for preserve the +others. In their own country they use the paddle. One good blow where +the skull she is thinnest, and--voilà , the safe remedy!" + +Dane stretched a big hand out, and Rideau winced with a stifled +expletive as he dropped the weapon; while the Briton was sensible of a +distinct disappointment when he saw that the man's wrist remained +unbroken. The suggestion had apparently revolted Maxwell also; he stared +at the speaker with unconcealed loathing, while the latter opened his +lips for a moment in a wolfish snarl as he glanced sideways at Dane. +Just then, Victor Rideau looked very much less like a French gentleman +than a low-caste negro. Nevertheless, he was the first to recover his +serenity. + +"You have the mistaken squeamish; but me, I know the most advisable, and +have great fear of the sick which catches," said he. "She is distressful +for me. Sacre! Here is more other. To-morrow I consult you. Alors, I +go." + +A shrill scream of human agony rang through the lifeless air, and +Rideau, who did not stand upon the order of his going, departed with all +possible celerity. + +Neither of his partners was much inclined for mirth, but there is often +a ludicrous side to a tragedy; and Maxwell positively laughed when Dane +savagely hurled the pistol after its vanishing owner. + +"Missed! I would have given a good deal of the gold to strike him +squarely between the shoulders. I meant it to hurt," he said. + +Then an uproar began. Black figures, swarming out of the workings, +gathered about the fallen man, clamoring excitedly, and Maxwell resumed +command. + +"They're panic-stricken; and fear will spread the sickness fastest. This +must be stopped at once! We have not a moment to lose, or there will be +murder done." + +Dane felt very helpless as they ran forward to disperse the mob of +terror-stricken black men. He still carried the shovel, though Maxwell +went empty-handed, because, either from pride or policy, he never +displayed a weapon once camp had been pitched. He appeared quietly +resolute, though Dane afterward admitted feeling desperately anxious and +more than a little afraid, for the mass of dusky faces with unreasoning +fear and its accompanying ferocity stamped upon them was not an +encouraging spectacle. Any one of those negroes was physically a match +for two white men, and there were a good many of them. + +The mob came to a standstill at the sight of them. Maxwell, removing his +hat, straightened out the dints in it before he spoke a few words, and +then, thrusting his way through the groups which opened up before him, +halted beside the fallen man. + +Some of the negroes began to chatter; some shrank farther back; but +there was presently an ominous growling, and again the mob surged +forward, one man with a matchet launching himself straight at his white +master. Hitherto he had shown himself both cheerful and docile, but now +he seemed possessed of a devil, the devil of fear transmuted into +maniacal savagery. Maxwell did not at first see him, and when he did it +would have been too late, but that Dane whirled aloft the shovel, and +when it came down the negro fell like a pole-axed ox at his comrade's +feet. Even then Dane felt sick and sorry as he saw the red drops run +from the steel, for he had often encouragingly patted his victim's +brawny shoulder; but the negro is above all things unstable, and that +blow was the saving of many lives. The crowd stood silent, cowed for a +few moments by the swift retribution. + +"Thanks," said Maxwell; "I think you have nipped it in the bud, Hilton." + +Before he began to speak again his lieutenant, Amadu, and Dane's special +follower, Monday, sprang to their side. Both carried rifles; and that +turned the scale. Before half an hour had elapsed the two had not only +restored a degree of confidence and order, but had picked out a number +of men who might be trusted to act as sanitary police. By this time, +however, the plague had claimed other victims, and Maxwell started +forthwith to choose an isolated site for a hospital camp; while Dane, +moving to and fro among the laborers, set apart any with suspicious +symptoms. + +It was midnight before either found leisure for food or rest, and then +Dane knelt, with a biscuit in one hand, beside the little medicine chest +in the tent, while Maxwell bent over a medical treatise as he ate. +Several sick men lay moaning just outside the illuminated canvas, and +one, apparently in delirium, had during the last hour never ceased +crooning the hammock-bearers' song. + +"That chanty grows wearisome," said Maxwell at length; and, because Dane +was overwrought, his companion's composure jarred upon him. + +"Put down that tin and hold the glass for me. You have eaten three +biscuits already, and this is no time for feasting! I'm going to start +with chlorodyne. We found it good in South America when we could give it +to them quick enough; but these fellows have an irritating trick of +crawling away into some lair to die quietly. There. Give this to the +first two poor devils, half each by measure." + +Maxwell went swiftly, and returned very grim in face. + +"Too late," he reported. "One is cold already; the other testified that +there is but one Allah as I bent over him, and ended in a gurgle. Hallo! +What is this?" + +Preceded by a negro carrying a torch, Rideau, smoking sedulously, +approached the tent, and halted well clear of it. The man was not, as +his partners had cause to know, unduly timid, but now fear was plainly +stamped on his face, which the red glare of the torch forced up against +the gloom. + +"I have great fear of this sick, and make proposition," he said. "I go +take all the boy of me back a league into the forest, and make other +camp. If any he is fall ill, I with all possible expedition send him +you." + +Both of the listeners found heart to smile at the latter sentence before +Dane's resentment mastered him. + +"It is particularly considerate of him, but his proposition has some +sense in it," said Maxwell aside. "You are acting surgeon-major, Hilton. +What do you suggest?" + +"You can go straight to perdition, or anywhere else that pleases you, so +long as you don't waste our time!" thundered Dane; and with a salute +which expressed no resentment, but only relief, Rideau withdrew. + +"How long does this thing generally last?" asked Dane. + +"Sometimes it clears a village out in a fortnight, more often it hangs +round a month, or even longer, picking out odd victims; and before that +time has gone we shall have the rains." + +"Which will prevent any further mining, probably cut off our road to the +coast, and render life here almost impossible," Dane said hoarsely. + +"Exactly. There can be no more mining now." + +As the two men's eyes met, each knew just what his comrade was thinking. + +"We must see them through," said Dane, and Maxwell answered, as though +this decision had never been in doubt: "Of course!" + +With that they fell to work again, for there was much to do, which was +fortunate, because, otherwise, the thought of what both would certainly +lose and what one was risking for the sake of naked heathen, many of +whom were little higher in intelligence than dumb cattle, might have +maddened them. Still, even the most stupid had trusted the white men, +and, in their own fashion, served them well. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN EVENTFUL DECISION + + +The weeks that followed left only a hazy impression of hurry, effort, +fatigue that was almost overwhelming, and anxiety which spurred wornout +mind and body to further action, with the two white men who lived +through them. Some of the sick they cured, and though it is possible +their lack of knowledge hastened the end of others, their intentions at +least were benevolent, and while they often went hungry the convalescent +were always fed. They put heart into the hopeless and buried the dead, +stormed, exhorted, and jested by turn all day long, and sat watching the +worst cases when the hot night fell. Dane was never afterward able to +recollect the exact mixtures he dispensed, which Maxwell said was +probably fortunate; but as a result of their labors, while all would +otherwise have perished, part at least of their followers escaped. They +had also capable assistants. Amadu, Maxwell's man, had fought under a +great Emir who had made his name a terror in the Soudan; and Monday, so +Dane gathered, had carried the standard of a successful robber chieftain +somewhere far up in the land of the brown men who swear by the Prophet; +but both had the full courage of their fatalist convictions, and what +their masters bade them that they did. The rank and file of the +orderlies were thick-headed heathen who grinned each time their leader +stormed at them. + +One day when the sick were recovering, and a little hope was springing +up again, Dane, staggering half asleep behind his bearer detachment, +halted when Maxwell beckoned him. + +"Get on, you dusky angels, and try to carry that poor devil +right-side-up," Dane said. "Monday, tell them hopeless idiots if they +handle the other fellow that way they'll pull his head off. You would +tempt the most patient man to murder some of you." + +The bearers beamed upon him with mouths extended, and Maxwell laughed. + +"They take your abuse as a compliment, Hilton; and your capabilities +become apparent by degrees. Still, after the success which has attended +your daring pharmaceutical experiments, one could hardly be astonished +at your licking even yonder most unpromising raw material into shape." + +"The credit is to necessity," replied Dane, surveying his assistants +with a certain air of pride. "Those are the most wooden-headed niggers +in Africa, and the more I swear at them the wider they grin; but if I +wanted sulphur from the pit, and told them, the beggars would go--and +get it." + +"I wish we were both fresher," Maxwell said; "because there is another +worry to grapple with. The man I sent over to Rideau found the camp +empty, and this pinned to the tree his tent had been pitched beneath." + +"If Mr. Rideau desires to repeat his opinion that we should set them all +to work it is as well he does it in writing. I could hardly keep my +hands off the brute the last time he made the suggestion in person," +answered Dane. + +"Read, and see," said Maxwell, holding out the note; and because Dane's +head was swimming he translated the indifferent French with difficulty. +The message might have appeared ambiguous to a more accomplished +linguist. Nevertheless, he gathered from it that their partner, who +professed a total ignorance of physics and a fear of contagion, +regretted his inability to render them any assistance, and had decided +to visit a headman he had dealings with who dwelt at a considerable +distance. He stated that none of his boys could be induced to carry a +message to the stricken camp. + +"He might have expressed himself more plainly, but it is plausible. Do +you attach a different meaning?" Dane asked. + +Maxwell, instead of answering, asked another question. + +"You feel tolerably certain that we have seen the worst of this +epidemic?" + +"Yes," was the answer. "I did not, however, tell our estimable partner +so. It seemed a pity to relieve him prematurely of what he called his +fear of the sick. Perhaps I was wrong in this." + +"Pshaw!" exclaimed Maxwell. "It is not the plague he fears the most. In +fact, considering that he must have lived through one or two outbreaks +already, part, at least, of his fear must have been simulated. If you +expect to see Rideau here again on the old terms, Hilton, you are +mistaken." + +"His absence would not leave me disconsolate," said Dane. "In that case, +one wonders what he is afraid of, and why he came? Isn't it also +surprising that he should abandon his share of the gold?" + +"In reply to the first query, I don't know--but we shall doubtless +discover in good time. There is no difficulty in answering the rest. He +came to see if the river was worth exploitation, and to pick up a +practical knowledge of the necessary operations. His share of what we +have obtained is, after all, but trifling for an avaricious man who +cherishes a grudge against you, and desires the whole. Two men alone at +present prevent him from obtaining it, and the life of any white man is +very uncertain in this country." + +"A grudge against me?" Dane queried. + +Maxwell nodded. + +"Have you forgotten Miss Castro? Your powers of attraction may prove a +dangerous gift, Hilton." + +Dane flushed with sudden anger, for this appeared to him ill-timed +levity; but Maxwell continued unheeding: + +"The whole complication resembles a mosaic puzzle, and I have fitted +most of it together. One or two pieces, however, are missing, and we +must wait until accident supplies them. Meanwhile, every effort to +expedite our sick men's recovery would be advisable." + +Maxwell left his comrade startled and uneasy. Dane could see that he was +anxious, and they already had sufficient to try their endurance without +the addition of a haunting fear. There was, however, no remedy, and they +continued to tend the sick, setting those who had recovered to work as +the pestilence slackened its grip. So, while groups of naked tribesmen +whose tongue nobody therein could understand traveled southward past the +camp, the days went by until Maxwell was supplied with one missing +portion of his mosaic. One morning a seaboard negro, whose leg had been +rendered useless by the horrible Guinea worm which had burrowed from +knee to ankle, crawled into camp, and told a story which roused both +listeners to suppressed fury. Rideau had left him behind crippled, to +starve, but with many sufferings he had managed to drag himself to their +camp. + +"I be missionary boy, sah, and savvy them JuJu palaver be all dam +fraud," he stated in the coast English. "When them low white nigger +Rideau lib for them first river by the Leopards' country he send one man +two day into the bush." + +"What was the man like? How that boy he look?" asked Maxwell. + +"Yellow man with mark on front of him head, sah. He be fit to make +fetich palaver." + +"Oh," commented Maxwell. "This is going to be very interesting, Hilton." + +"Two night go," continued the negro. "Then I look them white man he wait +for somebody sitting with a pistol outside him tent. I lib for behind a +cottonwood, where he not done see me. Bimeby, two leopard come soffly, +soffly, and stand up when he see them. The white man light a lamp before +him say: 'Why you done play them fool trick with me?'" + +"You were too frightened to crawl away?" Maxwell asked; and though the +negro evidently trembled at the mere recollection, he answered boldly: + +"I be missionary boy, and savvy all them JuJu palaver humbug, sah. One +leopard done throw off him skin and sit down by the tent. I know him for +the man with the mark on him. 'How much you want for let me lib for your +country and come back again,' the white man say, and they all talk +plenty. Then the white man say: 'I leave them cloth and bead and gun in +the bush, and when I lib for come back safe you get two time as much, +but you see them other white men done get lost or sick too much in your +country.' Rideau talk more plenty, and them leopard go away. I not know +how. I see him one lil' minute, then there be no more leopard, sah. I +lib for say nothing. Suppose Rideau guess I look him he shoot me, sah. +The Lord he give me sense too much." + +"Rideau is a capable rascal and this explains a good deal," said +Maxwell, when he had handed the cripple over to the Krooboy cook. "The +man with the scarred forehead is clearly an influence among the +Leopards. Otherwise Rideau might never have overtaken us. His prudence +in promising to double the toll demanded on his safe return strikes me +as highly commendable; and one can only presume that, seeing us +successful in spite of his efforts, he determined to cast his lot in +with us for a time." + +Dane's answer was fierce and emphatic; and Maxwell smiled. + +"Over-confidence is a weakness of yours, Hilton. Now it is no doubt +flattering to one's pride to disdain petty suspicions and precautions; +but having done so, isn't it illogical to grow feverishly indignant when +you are victimized?" + +"You need not waste time in moralizing. It is much more necessary to +discover why Rideau cleared out in a hurry, and what he is doing now." + +"I don't know, but it will be high time to move when we do. Meanwhile, +we can only wait. It will become apparent presently." + +Dane left him, and went back to his task, stolidly determined that he +would have a reckoning with M. Victor Rideau before he sailed from +Africa. Hilton Dane, though by no means a fool, possessed neither his +comrade's power of deduction nor his insight into the weakness of human +nature; but he was, nevertheless, likely to prove an even more dangerous +enemy when his natural generosity, being abused, had changed into +vindictiveness. It is generally well to avoid the righteous indignation +of the good-humored man when his patience is exhausted; and Dane's +patience was not of the longest. + +The time dragged slowly by until, when those the plague had spared were +well on the way to recovery, chance supplied the partners with the final +clue. A man swathed in ragged cotton and of comparatively light color +halted one morning to beg a little food at their camp, and Maxwell grew +eager when he found that Amadu could understand him. Headman Shaillu's +villages had been stricken by the plague, he said, and that ruler, +either to avoid contagion or to prevent the spread of disaffection among +his people, had marched them out on a campaign against his northern +neighbors. He had been badly beaten, and the tribesmen had summoned +every petty chieftain who had suffered by his depredations to join them +in retaliating. They would probably wait until the rains were over, the +stranger said, though this was not certain; but once they started, they +would spare nothing on their march; and as their priests had a special +animus against white men, he considered they would certainly storm the +camp. + +It was dark when Dane and Maxwell held their final conference, and they +sat moodily silent a while before either spoke. The sufferings and +hardships undergone had left their mark on them; it is possible that +Maxwell's British acquaintances might scarcely have recognized him, as +he sat huddled, as it were, together under the smoky lamp. Even his +ironical humor had deserted him along with every personal characteristic +save the courage and certain racial instincts that were ineradicable. +Dane was reminded of an ancient portrait in Culmeny as he watched him. +The old moss-trooper had looked much the same--lean and dour and grim; +and the observer could recognize the same baleful light in his wolfish +eyes. It was not an unnatural reversion, for the customs of modern +Africa are not greatly different from those of Britain in bygone days. + +It was hotter than ever, and a darkness that could be felt hung over the +tent. + +"We have had several of these talks, Hilton, but never one half so +important as that before us now," said Maxwell at length. "Rideau's +whole intentions are clear at last. He learned what was threatening long +before we did, and profited by the sickness as an excuse for escaping +and leaving us to our fate. The gold? Please wait until I have +concluded. These tribesmen are mere predatory nomads, with no knowledge +of mining, and after burning every village they come across they will +vanish into the bush again. Therefore, our partner clearly expects that +if the pestilence fails to remove us the spearmen will; and he no doubt +hopes to return when there is peace again, and clean out this river +without our assistance." + +Dane smote the camp table hard with his fist, and was sullenly pleased +to see that he had not lost all his strength, for one of the thin boards +split. + +"Then I solemnly pledge myself to carry out the second portion of our +compact. The vile, treacherous scoundrel shall not escape if I live," he +declared. + +Maxwell raised his hand, but there was an ominous light in his eyes as +they met those of his companion. + +"That may come later; but in the first place the severely practical +aspect of this affair requires to be dealt with. To begin, less than +half our men are, even yet, capable of steady marching, and our numbers +would be quite insufficient to convoy those too weak to walk safely +through a hostile country. Therefore we have to choose between two +evils. The first possible course would be to leave all the sick and +weakly, and striking due south, not by the way we came, endeavor to +reach the coast with what gold we have won. We could return when it +appeared safe to do so. I put it before you, without expressing my own +opinion, dispassionately." + +Dane did not falter, but he remembered that in all probability there was +gold enough in the river to enable him to market his patent with at +least a hope of success, and this implied a prospect of winning Lilian. +Of late his hopes that he would eventually do so had grown steadily +stronger; and during many a lonely watch, when he recalled her delicate +beauty, the longing for her had almost mastered him. As Maxwell had +pointed out, one way to realize his ambitions was still open; but Dane +knew that he could not go home with the blood of the men who had trusted +him upon his hands. + +"That course is impossible!" he said hoarsely. + +"Yes," agreed Maxwell with impressive quietness. "We have, it is said, +outgrown superstition, but I can't help thinking misfortune would follow +the money we made that way. They have done their best for us, poor +devils. Therefore, we come to the second alternative. This camp could be +further stockaded into a very strong position, and you or I must hold +it against all comers. While one of us does so, the other, with a couple +of picked men, will strike straight for the coast, catch the first +mailboat, and, if he can't persuade an agent to believe and finance him +by the sight of a few ounces of gold, cable home for a credit to be +opened by telegraph on some big trading firm. My bankers should manage +that. Then he will return with a strong expedition. Speed affords the +one chance for success, for if Rideau heard of the attempt, he and the +Leopards would frustrate it; and both are doubtless watchful; but two or +three men traveling night and day might escape observation. They must +start unburdened, with just sufficient food, abandoning all idea of +carrying treasure. The one question is, who is to go?" + +Dane was conscious of a grim satisfaction. Everything pointed to him as +the one to stay, and he had no desire to return home with nothing more +than expectations; while, harassed as he had been by many enemies, +deserted, and betrayed, the prospect of trying conclusions with an open +foe came as a relief to him. + +"You have the money, and brains, Carsluith, and you must go," he said. +"I have the brute strength, and, I think, to-night some of its ferocity. +I can promise that all the savages in Africa shall not turn me out of +this camp. Neither would I be sorry if they attempted it." + +As Maxwell turned toward him the smoldering fire was plainer in his eye. + +"Are you not forgetting that other men are born with the same passions? +Break that twig into unequal lengths, shut your eyes, and draw. The man +who picks the longest stays." + +They were equal at the second draw, and Dane grew feverishly anxious as +he thrust in his hand again. Then he threw the twig on the table +triumphantly. + +"It points to me," he said. + +"So be it," Maxwell answered quietly. "Then we will get ready two loads +of provisions. I start at sunrise to-morrow, taking Amadu and one other +man with me." + +The night was far spent before the preparations were finished and they +lay down to sleep; and Maxwell was dressed and equipped when his comrade +awakened. + +"I could not bring myself to disturb you earlier," he said, when Dane +glanced at him reproachfully. "We will eat a morsel of breakfast, and +then I will start." + +Dane could swallow nothing, but Maxwell ate a little, though he seemed +to force his appetite. Then they walked silently together as far as the +stockade gate, where Maxwell turned and held out his hand. + +"God knows whether I will reach the coast. This gold, with whatever you +can add to it, is yours if I fail," he said. "If I live I will come back +and join you should I come alone!" + +"Whether you come late or early you will find me or my bones here," Dane +answered huskily, for there was a painful contraction in his throat. + +Their hands met in a strenuous grasp, and with a hoarse "Good luck!" +following him, Maxwell strode out through the gate. Dane watched him +descend the slope to the river, while all the camp boys capable of +motion clustered about the one who stayed, and Monday squatted at his +feet. They were all very silent until a murmur went up as the white man, +halting on the edge of the forest, turned toward them. He raised his +shapeless sun-hat high above his head, answering Dane's salute; and long +afterward the latter sighed each time that lonely figure rose out of the +blurred memories. + +A horrible sense of loneliness oppressed the man left behind, and there +came upon him an irrepressible desire for speech. + +"He has gone, Monday," he said, patting the naked shoulder of the big +dark-skinned alien, who looked up at him sympathetically; "but if he +lives he will certainly come back; and you and I in the meantime are +going to keep his place warm for him. You don't understand? Well, you +probably will when several hundred yelling devils come round this way at +midnight wanting to get in. Still, I don't think we'll make a bad show +between us, even then." + +The dusky man caught a glimpse of his meaning, for he grinned and nodded +when Dane continued: + +"You don't feel quite sure what I'm saying yet. I don't care, so long as +you sit up and listen patiently. I'm feeling very low and lonely this +morning, Monday." + +The listener appeared to consider, and then rose upright, saying +solemnly: + +"Cappy Maxwell, say we lib for this place, then we dam well lib. Cappy +Maxwell fine white man too much. Suppose them low bushmen come we dam +well go chop him." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE BOARDING OF THE KABUNDA + + +It was a hot and steamy night when trader Redmond sat with his comrade +Gilby in an upper room of their factory perched above a beach swept by +smoking surf, which was even heavier than usual that night. The factory +was not a desirable residence, even for West Africa, where there are not +many places where a fastidious white man would care to live; but neither +Redmond nor his comrade was particular, and so long as they could make a +good percentage on the factory's turnover, they disregarded the dirt, +smells, and insect legions. Redmond was pale and round-shouldered; Gilby +lank and tall; and their speech was usually vivid and their tempers +quick. + +Redmond strolled toward the window and swore at the surf. He had some +justification, for the whole heave of the southern ocean hurled itself +thundering upon the hammered beach. The factory windows rattled as each +breaker dissolved into long sheets of foam which surged far up the +trembling sand, while the steamy haze of spray veiled almost to its +summit the lofty bluff behind the edifice. + +"No use lighting the signal fire. There's not a surf-boat on the coast +could run a load of produce through. The _Kabunda_ can either blow her +whistle off or go on again," he said. "It's even too bad to venture off +light, and screw an odd bottle of liquor out of her purser." + +"It always is when the markets are rising and we have cargo waiting," +grumbled Gilby. "As to the liquor, you can go yourself if you want it. +I'm not over-keen on playing that game with the _Kabunda_'s new factotum +again. It takes a good deal to stir me, but that man has no sense of +humor, and was positively insulting. 'No cargo in your confounded boat?' +growls he. 'Well, the next time you stop this mailboat just because +you're thirsty, we'll heave you over the rail!'" + +Redmond chuckled dryly. The steamboat officials who ply along that coast +have a good deal to ruffle them; and it is exasperating for the master +of a steamer, attracted by flag or fire signal, to anchor off a +dangerous beach expecting several boat-loads of cargo at least, and then +discover that the shipper desires only a piece of ice or gratis liquor. + +"Better wait for the old _Luala_. She's the canteen ship. Still, we'll +sit up until we hear the _Kabunda_'s whistle. It sounds homelike," he +said. + +Gilby nodded approval, for the coast-hunting steamers were the only link +connecting the two lonely men with civilization, and there were times +when they acquired a childish fear of losing all touch with it. + +Redmond sat smoking in silence, while Gilby listlessly turned over an +old English newspaper, and huge brown cockroaches crawled up and down +the mildewed walls. + +"Hallo!" Redmond exclaimed suddenly. "There's a man with boots on +crossing the compound. Who, by all that's wonderful, can it be?" + +"The Frenchman from Swamp Creek, looking for drinks," suggested Gilby. + +"Guyot's dying of fever this time, sure, his nigger said. There's no +other white man within marching distance; but whoever it is is coming up +the stairs!" + +Projected against the darkness outside, a strange, bedraggled figure +stood in the door. The man's hair was wet and long, the half-closed eyes +beneath it glittered feverishly, and the bones of the haggard face +showed through the pallid skin. Thorn-rent rags barely decently covered +the bony limbs beneath them, and the mire of many a league of swamp +clung about him to the knees. Behind loomed the figure of a negro +leaning on a rifle. + +Moving unevenly, the stranger advanced into the room, and Redmond +positively recoiled before him. + +"Who in the name of perdition are you, and where do you come from?" he +gasped. + +The newcomer, instead of answering the question, caught at the table as +he asked another: + +"What day of the month is this, and have they changed the homeward +mailboat's time bill?" + +"The tenth, and the _Kabunda_ should pass to-night," said Gilby, staring +blankly at him. + +"Thank heaven!" was the response. "I am just in time! You ought to know +me. I am Maxwell, and have been prospecting for Niven's gold beyond the +Leopards' country." + +"Good Lord!" broke from Redmond. "Stir round, Gilby, instead of gaping +there! Fetch out some whisky, and kick up the steward boy! Can't you see +there's a white man starving? Sit down before you fall over, Mr. +Maxwell." + +Maxwell gulped down a draught of the spirit forced upon him, and sank +into the chair his host dragged forward, while there was a crash and a +howl on the veranda where Gilby fell over the sleeping steward boy. + +"He means well, but can't help having been born clumsy," said the trader +apologetically. "Lie right back there, and don't talk until you've +eaten. Oh, I see--brought a nigger with you. Tell the cook to stuff the +black man, Gilby." + +When food was set before him, Maxwell ate ravenously; then leaning +forward in his chair, he looked at his hosts. + +"I must thank you for your kindness, and ask another favor," he said. +"It is of vital consequence that I should catch the _Kabunda_ to-night. +I will pay up to twenty pounds for a passage off to her." + +The pair stared at him, and there was a sceptical smile on Gilby's lips. +It was clear that he doubted the ragged adventurer's ability to redeem +his promise. + +"It can't be done," declared Redmond. "Our surf-boat has a plank badly +split; and if she hadn't there's not a man on all this coast could run +you off to-night." + +"Nevertheless, if you will listen a few minutes, and treat what I tell +you in strict confidence, I think one of you will," said Maxwell, +determining to trust them in part. + +As he told the story, the incredulous smile faded from the faces of his +listeners. + +"You can understand the necessity for my desperate hurry now," he +concluded. "My partner is left alone, save for a handful of sickly +niggers, with the bushmen coming down, and his life may depend upon my +catching that steamer. I will leave this packet of gold dust, which I +had intended to use for traveling expenses, as the price of my passage." + +Redmond opened the leather bag tendered him, and Gilby dropped acid upon +part of its contents. Then there was silence, until Redmond spoke with a +naive directness which called up the faintest flicker of amusement into +Maxwell's eyes. + +"It is quite genuine, and we believe you. Rideau's a hard case, and we'd +stake a good deal to get even with him after a certain game he played +us; but our folks at home are so confoundedly particular, and you +wouldn't find an agent on the coast willing to speculate in mines beyond +Shaillu's country. You see, if you let us in, the auditors would set off +the sum against our salary. Steady; I haven't quite finished yet. We're +not fastidious, either of us, but we haven't come down to screwing money +out of a countryman's necessity; so we're open to do the best we can for +you. Now take back your gold, and be hanged to you!" + +"My sentiments, too!" nodded Gilby. "Redmond can talk sensibly when he +likes. It looks uncommonly like suicide, but as my place down under +can't be much worse than this one, I'm open to chance drowning with you. +I'll go out, and fill my boat boys up with trade gin now. They're +tolerably daring beggars, but they'd never face it sober." + +An hour later Maxwell and the two traders stood upon the roaring beach +amidst a crowd of black men. Steamy spray whirled about them, and veiled +half the palm-crowned bluff from whose summit a crimson flame leaped up; +and each time the white haze thinned, two lights reeled wildly through +the blackness out at sea. Between these and the beach a succession of +great rollers reared their crests of phosphorescent flame, and the hoot +of the steamer's whistle was but faintly audible through the roar they +made. A picked crew of brawny negroes chattered about the big surf-boat +they held upright on rollers just clear of the surges which raced up the +sand. + +"It does not look nice. In fact, I've seldom seen it worse, but we'll +take our chances when those big ones have run in," said Gilby. "Get into +the boat Maxwell, and take care when the rest of us follow in a hurry +that we don't fall over you. Hyah you Krooboy, all be fit and ready!" + +Huge breakers usually run in series, and when the last of the larger +ones had crumbled with a thunderous roar, burying the half-mile sweep of +sand in foam from end to end, there was a heaving of muscular shoulders, +and clamorous black men floundered waist-deep through the backwash +dragging at the boat. She was large and heavy, but thirty pairs of +strong hands made light work, and when a dozen amphibious Kroos had +swung themselves on board the rest toiled almost shoulder-deep in +hissing froth while the sand streamed seaward under them. The craft's +stern alone stuck fast, and Redmond shouted himself breathless as he +braced his shoulders beneath her quarter, knowing that unless they could +drive her clear boat and crew would be rolled over together when the +next sea came in. + +"Shove, you black imps, shove before them sharks go chop you!" he cried. + +They made a last effort, the boat slid clear. Twelve three-tongued +paddles smote the water together, and Redmond watched the craft rise +almost upright with bows buried in froth and seafire as another +majestic breaker came rolling in. Then he turned and raced shoreward for +his life, with an acre of foam close behind him. When he halted again +the surf-boat had vanished into the hollow of the sea, but the howling +of those who paddled her, and the helmsman's sulphurous encouragement, +rising above the roar of waters, betokened her safety. + +"Gilby's no fool in a surf-boat, anyway," he mused, as he went back +dripping to the factory. + +Another hour had passed when the boat was flung upon the beach with a +crash which rent her damaged plank from end to end; and the soaked white +man who sprang out of her hurried to the factory with his proud display +of two bottles of claret, and one, partly-empty, of liqueur, besides a +piece of ice in flannel, and a cigar box. + +"The time was too short, or I might have done better," he explained. +"Had only a few minutes to tax the skipper and mates in, while the old +man wasn't over-pleased about stopping for one passenger. Boat was +half-full when we got alongside, and Maxwell too weak to climb the +ladder. They hove him on board with the crane, wrong side uppermost, and +half-dazed apparently. The boat was plunging wildly, and Sorrowful Tom +too drunk to fix the sling. Taking things all around, it's a mercy we +didn't drown him." + +"You're a good man in a boat," Redmond conceded. "Still, you have very +little sense. Fancy making a run of that kind and coming ashore +with--claret!" + + * * * * * + +While Dane and Maxwell fought the plague in Africa, Lilian Chatterton +and the young clergyman in charge of that parish walked side by side +down the street of a village in North Britain one afternoon. The village +was neither picturesque nor prosperous just then, for there was a +scarcity of work at the quarries, and for weeks together hard frost had +rendered all stone-cutting impossible. A bitter wind sighed about the +low stone houses which rose dripping in unlovely simplicity from the +muddy street, while an air of stolid, uncomplaining poverty was stamped +upon the faces of the men who lounged idly where they could find a +shelter in the lee of a building. Miss Chatterton had not enjoyed good +health that winter, and the surroundings depressed her. Neither did she +find the vista of bleak hillside, snow-streaked moor, and lowering sky +much more cheerful, and she was glad when her companion broke the +silence. + +"It is not exhilarating weather, and this has been a hard winter for the +poor," he said. "Unfortunately, we have had rather more of them than +usual with us of late, and the sick would have suffered considerably if +it had not been for your kindness." + +"I have done little," Lilian replied; "but they are somewhat hard to +help." + +The Reverend Andrew Rae laughed. + +"That is the simple truth. We are not an effusive race, and it sometimes +hurts us to receive a favor. Still, though they would rather perish than +express it, I fancy most of them would on opportunity prove their +gratitude. I have been wondering if the worthy Robert Johnstone's +opinions have been too much for you, having noticed that his house, or +rather, his son's house, is the only one in the village you have not +entered. It surprised me, since his daughter used to sew for you, and +has been ailing lately." + +"It is some time since Mary Johnstone did any work for me," said Lilian, +and the clergyman wondered at the coldness of her tone. + +"She is a very hard-working girl, and as she has been lying helpless for +several weeks, would it not appear unkind if you made her the one +exception? I want you to come in with me now." + +Drawing the girl's arm lightly through his own, he marched her up to the +doorway before she quite grasped his intentions, and halted in front of +the man who lounged there regarding them with undisguised hostility. He +was not an attractive person, and did not look like an abstainer from +alcoholic liquor, but just then he was evidently in the more aggressive +humor because, for the time being, he was wholly sober. + +"We are coming in for a few minutes to see your daughter," announced +Rae. + +The man did not move an inch, and his person barred the entrance. + +"Will ye no wait until ye are invitit?" he inquired sardonically. +"Still, if there is anything good in yon basket ye can leave it with +me." + +A grimy hand descended into the basket Rae carried and reappeared +clutching the neck of a bottle, while a derisive grin suffused the +speaker's unwashed countenance. + +"I'm thinking I'll just keep it with thanks. It's whiles more comforting +than tracts." + +The Reverend Andrew Rae had perhaps studied more than theology at a +certain university, for there was a twinkle in his eyes as he laid one +hand on Johnstone's wrist. + +"Not so fast!" he said. "That is Miss Chatterton's property, and I did +not hear you ask her permission." + +He used no apparent violence, but his fingers tightened steadily, and +Johnstone gasped with astonishment as he relinquished his hold upon the +bottle. + +"Am I to be insulted in my own house?" he cried. "Away with ye! A free +man's dwelling is his castle." + +"Havers!" exclaimed a voice behind them; and a neatly dressed young man +joined the group. "If it's anybody's castle it's the man's who pays the +rent, and that's more than Rab Johnstone has done for long, I'm +thinking. If ye an' Miss Chatterton are for stepping in to see Mary we'd +take it kindly, sir." + +Johnstone senior slouched away down the street, frowning scornfully. + +"I am glad to see you have prospered since you took to honest ways, +Jim," Rae said. + +"It's small thanks to any one but Mr. Dane. He was no too particular to +help a poor man, ye see." + +"Was that it?" asked Rae, a trifle awkwardly. "You are surely not +turning back, Miss Chatterton!" + +Lilian was certainly about to retreat; but being a young woman of +spirit, she determined to make the best of it when the man, opening +another door, announced: + +"Miss Chatterton an' the minister to see ye, Mary." + +She entered the poorly furnished room the next moment, but saw nothing +of its interior, for her eyes were fixed upon the sick girl, who lay on +a dilapidated sofa. Rae noticed the contrast between his companion and +the seamstress. Miss Chatterton was a very dainty figure in costly furs, +and the slight trace of haughtiness became her. The seamstress was pale, +and hollow in face, with the sign of poverty stamped upon her, for the +faded shawl about her shoulders and the little ragged garment told the +same story. + +Rae soon became conscious that there was a latent hostility between the +women, and he felt it incumbent on him to break the silence. + +"I am glad to see you better," he said; "but you should not work too +soon. You must lie still and recover completely, because there are a +number of customers waiting for you. Mrs. Gordon told me she was keeping +quite a large order back until you were fit to undertake it." + +Lilian had been present when, by dint of dogged persistence, the +reverend gentleman had secured a reluctant promise to employ his +protégée, and she wondered whether all his sex, without exception, could +be deluded by a pretty face. She was forced to admit that men of +uncultivated taste might consider Miss Johnstone pretty. + +"Poor folk cannot afford to be idle long, an' my wee sisters cannot go +ragged," replied the sick girl. "Still, I'm no complaining. Jim has +helped me bravely, and we're winning through a hard winter well, thanks +to the gentleman who befriended him." + +Rae observed that the speaker flashed a glance at Miss Chatterton, whose +face remained icily indifferent. Feeling that the situation was becoming +strained, he turned toward the boy. + +"Being away at the time, I never quite got to the bottom of what +preceded your acquittal. Do you mind telling me, Jim?" + +"It's no great secret, an' all to the credit of the man who helped me. +Weel, I was locked up, charged with poaching and wounding." + +"Innocently, I hope," said Rae; and there was a trace of Caledonian +dryness in Johnstone's reply. + +"Ye will mind the saying about speiring no questions and being telt less +lies. Meanwhile two or three others consultit with Lawyer Davidson, and +he said conviction would be certain if Mr. Dane could swear to me. +Otherwise, he suspectit I would go free. Then Mary would see Mr. Dane +for the sake of the bairns. I was sore against it, but they had me +jailed, an' what could I do? Well, she wrote asking him to meet her by +the Hallows Brig, and Mr. Dane e'en promised to do his best for me, an' +tell nobody. May be he could no be quite certain. Ye will mind there was +no moon just then, and the night was thick, Mr. Rae." + +"I have heard that no man is expected to testify against himself," said +the reverend gentleman dryly. + +"That's what Davidson telt the fiscal," continued Johnstone, with a +laugh. "Says he, 'It's the business o' your witnesses to convict him'; +an' I'm no denying that they did their best, all but Mr. Dane. He just +stuck to his story--it was dark, an' while the man he grappled with was +like to me, he could swear to nobody who had just kicked him hard upon +the knee." + +Johnstone added further details, and then looked hard at the clergyman, +as though expecting him to take up the challenge when he concluded, "May +be there are folks who lightly Mr. Dane for what he done, but it was him +an' no other who made an honest man of me, forby a promotit foreman home +on a holiday." + +"I am not a lawyer," said Rae. "It is therefore not my business to judge +him; and you need not stare at me. I already believed Mr. Dane to be a +kindly gentleman. I am also open to admit that he did more than either +I or my predecessor could accomplish. We are not, however, all friends +of big contractors, you see." + +Johnstone grinned in answer to the last thrust, while Lilian felt +thankful that she sat in a shadowy corner, for the simple story which +bore the truth stamped upon the face of it, had stirred her strangely. +The action narrated was characteristic of the man who was risking his +life in Africa. She knew that he was very generous, and could be loyal +to a pledge, even to his disadvantage. It was equally evident that the +young workman with his unconcealed dislike to his benefactor's class +would be very unlikely to shut his eyes to any intrigue between Dane and +his sister. Yet, though Lilian was angry with herself for the thought, +it was possible that the brother might have been deceived, and she felt +that she must learn the truth. The seamstress said nothing, and it +dawned upon Rae that his presence was superfluous; so, making the first +excuse available, he took his departure, and Johnstone with him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ILLUMINATION + + +When the two men went out Miss Chatterton discovered that she had +undertaken a very difficult task. The seamstress lay still looking at +her, evidently expectant, but saying nothing. She, it appeared, felt +herself mistress of the position. Lilian felt that the silence was +growing painful, and determined to attack the subject boldly. + +"Mr. Dane has clearly been a good friend to your brother, but may I ask +whether that evening at the Hallows Bridge was the only time you spoke +to him?" + +A flush crept into the sick girl's cheeks, and a hardness into her eyes. + +"I was expecting ye would ask me. What would ye say if I did not +answer?" + +"Probably nothing," returned Lilian, quietly. "Mr. Dane is, as we know, +somewhat impulsive, as well as generous. Why do you tell me that you +expected such a question?" + +Mary Johnstone painfully raised herself on one elbow. + +"Ye are a grand lady, but hard, I think, as some folk would call ye +bonny. I am a poor sewing woman with the need to strive hard, an' +always, to keep hunger from the door--but in the hearts of us there is +no that difference between you an' me. No--bide ye and listen." + +Lilian had risen, but she sat down again. Something in the girl's voice +and manner compelled her attention, for the seamstress spoke as equal +to equal on the basis of their common humanity. + +"I owe ye little, Miss Chatterton. What ye paid, I earned, an' some of +it hardly, but when ye bade me come no more to The Larches, with no +other word, there was many an ill tongue to cast dirt at me, forby lying +tales that ye found things of value missing." + +"I never suspected that would happen," said Lilian, a little uneasily. + +"How should ye?" continued the seamstress. "But ye could not blame the +slanderers, being quick yourself to think evil. May be ye did not know, +either, that my good name means work and bread to more than me? So, if +there was no other person interested, I would ask--how dare ye, thinking +what ye think, come here and ask me that question?" + +Lilian was contrite, realizing the harm she had unwittingly done, and +recognizing the genuine ring of injured innocence in the speaker's +voice. She was also slightly angry, as well as astonished, but she was +sufficiently just to see that it would not become her to manifest +displeasure. + +"I did wrong, but how do you know what I thought, or if I thought +anything at all?" she asked. "You have also avoided the question instead +of answering me." + +"What did I tell ye at the beginning?" said the sick girl with a curious +smile. "Being poor, am I less a woman? Well, and not for your sake only, +ye shall have the answer that should pleasure ye. That night at Hallows +Brig was the one time only Mr. Dane had word with me. Are ye believing +me?" + +Lilian failed to understand why she should feel so relieved by the +information, but she certainly did. She also felt humbled; and as it +was not her way to do anything by half, she made reparation with a +queenly simplicity. Stooping over the sick girl, she kissed her on the +cheek. + +"After that you cannot refuse to forgive me, and must come back and help +me as soon as you are fit," she said. "But I do not understand yet what +you meant when you said it was not for my sake only." + +The sick girl at first only regarded her with a smile, but it sufficed +to show Lilian that peace was made. + +"If ye cannot guess, I fear I cannot tell ye," she said. "I have eyes +and the sense to see, but it would be presumption for me to tell ye all +they showed me. Still, ye and Mr. Maxwell were not the only persons I +saw that night at the Hallows Brig." + +Lilian asked no further questions, but when she left there was a +brightness in her eyes which had not been there before. + +"Mary Johnstone has clearly bewitched you," the clergyman remarked. +"Your very step is lighter than it was an hour ago, and you are looking +better than you have done all winter. Would it be indiscreet to ask what +spell she cast upon you?" + +"I am afraid it would," Lilian answered, while a softness crept into her +face. She laughed, and henceforward chatted so brightly that when she +left him her companion looked after her longingly, and then sighed as he +turned back to his bachelor quarters. They struck him as very cheerless +and lonely. + +A week had passed when Miss Chatterton, sitting alone, listlessly took +up a newspaper a maid brought in. The listlessness vanished, however, +when a heading, "Further Fighting in the Dark Continent," caught her +eye, and she eagerly hurried through an account of the reverses suffered +by a British punitive expedition in West Africa. Then, while her heart +beat fast, she sat very still, staring at the concluding paragraph: + + A French trader brought news to the coast of another + unfortunate affair in the hinterland. It appears that + two Englishmen, Dane and Maxwell, who left the coast + months earlier, on a prospecting expedition, lost + their carriers by sickness, and have since been hemmed + in by hostile natives in a perilous position. Our + correspondent states that the French authorities, who + warned them against the expedition, consider their + extrication impossible, and believe they must have + perished already. + +Lilian let the paper fall from her nerveless hands, and lay motionless, +shivering in her chair. The shock of a supposed discovery, and a +jealousy she would not own, had played their part in forcing on her +attention a question she had resolutely striven to ignore, while now, +when it was perhaps too late forever, the answer was clear. She could +deceive herself no longer; and she guessed why the man had risked his +life to win a little gold in Africa. Risked it--at the thought her eyes +grew hazy. It might well be that he had flung his life away! Yet, even +then, it was with a passing thrill of pride that she remembered the +stubbornness beneath his patience, and knew that it would go very hard +with his enemies before he went down. + +Hilton Dane had changed swiftly in her estimation from a man with a +weakness to a hero, generous, loyal, swift to do her pleasure, and yet +fitted to command. It seemed to her overstrained fancy that she could +almost hear his voice ringing through the blast of the rifles in the +last struggle; and that it would be a very grim and terrible struggle +she knew. Then she shuddered once more, recollecting what she had read +of the scenes within an African stockade when the rifles lay cold in the +undergrowth, and the smoke of the flintlocks had melted away. + +The sense of constraint inside grew unbearable, and the girl went forth +into the night, and stood bareheaded, staring into the darkness, hoping, +though almost afraid to hope, that the man she had sent away had not +passed forever beyond her power to recall him. + +Chatterton and his wife, returning presently, found her waiting in the +hall; and the iron-master's action was characteristic when he had +glanced at the paper she handed him. Wrenching out his notebook he wrote +on the first blank leaf the address of a firm dealing in palm oil in +Liverpool, and then a message beneath it: + +"_See newspaper report of disaster to West Coast explorers, Dane and +Maxwell. Wire your agents to find out how much is true, and all possible +details. Spare no expense whatever._" + +He flung the paper to the groom outside. + +"Get that telegram sent off before the post-office closes, if you kill +the horse!" he said. + +There was a rattle of wheels, and Chatterton laughed a grim laugh as he +turned toward the women. + +"No great cause for anxiety as yet. I know Hilton Dane better than +either of you, and I think I know Maxwell too. It would take several +legions of niggers to hem them in--and I should be sorry for many of the +black men." + +A few days later, Thomas Chatterton sat beside his hearth one evening in +an unpleasant frame of mind. The weather might have caused a more even +tempered person some discontent, because the windows rattled under the +impact of the sleet-laden blast, and the snugly curtained room was swept +by chilling draughts. But Chatterton was not considering the weather; he +glanced at the clock before he turned toward the owner of Culmeny. + +"That lazy rascal is stopping somewhere to gossip on the way," he said. + +"The telegraph office is closed now, and he must be here shortly," +replied Maxwell. "I was sorry to hear that Miss Chatterton was no +better. Have you any more favorable news to give me?" + +"No. She is rather worse than better, and we are distinctly uneasy about +her to-night," he said. "Dr. Gilmour was here an hour ago, looking +rather more owl-like than usual, but I could get no opinion out of him. +In fact, the man puzzled me. He appeared dazed, and either would not +listen to my questions or was incapable of understanding plain English." + +"Dazed? You do not as a rule speak ambiguously. If Miss Chatterton is +seriously ill I think it is my duty to tell you what you evidently do +not know, though it is no secret. Gilmour is not free from a weakness +for alcohol." + +Chatterton was a man of action; making no comment, he wrenched upon the +rope of the bell before he pulled out his watch. + +"Send Robertson here at once!" he ordered; and when his groom appeared, +he asked: + +"Is it possible to ride a horse to Swiftsbridge across the Langside moss +and through the ford in time to bring out the doctor by the last +train?" + +"No, sir," was the answer. "The moor track's under water, the ford just +roaring full, and I'm thinking that to swim the Swift to-night is +impossible." + +"I think he is right," Maxwell said; "though I fancy I could have done +it twenty years ago." + +"Then you can drive!" Chatterton said harshly to the groom. "It's a +little over forty miles there and back by road. Get a fresh horse at the +bridge; but if you value your place don't come back without the doctor!" + +Chatterton walked to the window and flung the curtains behind him; then +he returned with brows contracted farther. + +"The moor is white all over, and the air thick with sleet," he said. "It +will take that fellow all his time to bring the doctor here by +to-morrow." + +A maid, appearing, laid a telegraphic envelope on the table, and +Chatterton tore it open. + +"At last! I always thought the man was incapable. Listen to this! + +"_Difficult to communicate by ocean cable except at heavy cost, but +surmise from message received that our coast agent credits published +account. His cable just received reads, as deciphered by our code: Yes. +Consider prospects discouraging. Do not look for improvement. Think we +could confirm._" + +Chatterton whipped out a pencil and, scribbling across the foot of the +message, handed it to Maxwell. + +"Can you send somebody down to the office with that?" he said. "It can't +go until to-morrow. I want to keep my other man ready." + +"Yes," agreed Maxwell. "There are regulations, Chatterton, which will +bar out your opening sentence, _Damn your private code._ The rest is, I +think, plain enough. _Get news whatever it costs. Wire your agent in +English if he has sense enough to understand it. Believe I am quite able +to meet the bill._" + +"That man," explained Chatterton, "is, I blush to say, a relative of my +own, and given to complaining that times are bad. It surprises me that +he does not find them ruinous, if this is a sample of his enterprise. +I'm almost as much cut up as you are about this affair; and I'm sorry +for you, Maxwell." + +"Thanks," returned the master of Culmeny, quietly. "He was the only son +left me, and I have a presentiment of what the end will be. It is, +however, in the hands of the Almighty; but, if the worst comes, I know +that neither of them will forget what is due to the land that bred him." + +Chatterton coughed huskily. + +"You are morbid, Culmeny. If they can only steer clear of treachery, by +the Lord, those two lads will cut their way out in spite of all the +savages in Africa. I know the one whose father was my partner, and I +know your son. If my own brother told me he had seen them beaten, I +would not believe him." + +Maxwell left, and in a few minutes Mrs. Chatterton came in to say that +Lilian was growing delirious. As they spoke together the iron-master +heard a voice in the hall. + +"It is that confounded Rae," he observed. "It was he who encouraged Lily +to go poking into the houses of poor folks who didn't want her, all +winter. I consider him responsible for her illness, and feel quite +capable of telling him so." + +The clergyman was ushered in, and he had barely stated the purport of +his visit when the elder man cut him short. + +"No. Miss Chatterton will neither sing at your concert, nor distribute +any more coal tickets to encourage professional loafers!" he said. "In +fact she is seriously ill. If you had not been enjoying yourself in +Edinburgh you would have known it. You are sorry! Well, I really cannot +help saying that I think you ought to be. Miss Chatterton has not been +strong all winter, and was warned against damp and exposure; but you +managed to convince her it was her duty to wander up and down the +village, pestering the sick folk, in spite of the rain and snow. Women +have not the sense to discriminate between what is necessary and +sentimental foolishness, you know." + +Rae, who was not readily browbeaten, interrupted the speaker, and though +he expressed no contrition, he showed such genuine anxiety concerning +Miss Chatterton's health that her uncle was surprised, as well as +mollified. It is possible that the clergyman showed his fears too +plainly. + +"Perhaps you could not help it, being possibly afflicted with the crazy +notion that to destroy one's bodily health is good for the soul," he +said. "It is one of the few things which always excites my indignation." + +Rae, who knew that the things which roused the speaker's ire were +numerous, smiled a little. "I certainly have never preached that +doctrine." + +"You must forgive me if I appear abrupt," Chatterton apologized. "The +fact is that when I'm anxious my temper is not so good as it generally +is, and I am very anxious about my niece to-night. When Gilmour came +round, the infernal--yes, that's the adjective I meant--old scoundrel +wasn't even sober. And you remember Dane? Well, he is hemmed in by +hostile savages somewhere in Africa, and we can learn no news of him. My +niece and he were very good friends, and when she grows light-headed she +begs us to tell her what has happened to him. It is distressing because, +of course, we cannot do so." + +Rae winced visibly at the last few sentences, and found a corroboration +of them in the recollection of the change in Miss Chatterton after +hearing Johnstone's story. Still, he pulled out his watch. + +"There is a clever doctor at Swiftsbridge." + +"I believe so," said Chatterton, impatiently. "There are also a number +in London and a few in New York, I've heard. I sent over for the +Swiftsbridge man some time ago; but considering the snow and bad roads, +I don't expect him before to-morrow--and to-morrow may be too late." + +"It is scarcely twelve miles across the moor and moss," said Rae. +"There's a train this way in two hours' time. If you could lend me a +horse----" + +"My man, who ought to know, declares that nobody could get through the +ford to-night. I'm obliged to you, Rae, but what you suggest is out of +the question. The one horse now in my stable has the fiend's own temper, +and I cannot allow you, who cannot have had much experience in the +saddle, to run risks that were too heavy for a very capable horseman." + +"I used to ride a little, and haven't quite forgotten. If, as you +suggest, I am responsible for Miss Chatterton's illness, I must make the +only reparation possible. In fact, I intend to do so; and unless you +will mount me I will borrow a horse at Culmeny. I will not, however +promise to spare the beast." + +"You can drown him if you bring the doctor through by the last train!" +said Chatterton, ringing the bell. "The horse will be ready inside ten +minutes; and I'm greatly obliged to you." + +The time had not elapsed when Rae walked quietly toward the mettlesome +beast, which, resenting the change from its warm stable into the +stinging sleet, laid its ears back, and when Chatterton approached it +bared its teeth. + +"Stand clear of his head!" cautioned Rae, swinging himself to the +saddle; and the horse, rearing half upright, sent the gravel flying. +"No. Leave the gate shut! I'm going the nearest way." + +"I shall not forget this kindness," called Chatterton. "Feel I ought to +stop you, but dare not do it. Take care of yourself--and God bless you!" + +"I hope He will prosper my journey," the younger man answered gravely. + +There was a further scattering of gravel, a pounding of hoofs across a +strip of lawn, and a crash of brittle branches as horse and rider +smashed through a tall hedge into the sleet which whirled across the +meadow beyond it. + +Chatterton, shaking the white flakes from him, returned to his wife. + +"I suppose you saw what has happened," he said. "There's another of them +in the running now, and this one has mettle in him if he is a clergyman. +He's going through Langside moss to-night, though I gave him the +plainest hint I could that in respect to Lilian his chance is of the +smallest. Maxwell, it seems, took his dismissal gracefully; but what +Rae has done to-night will count heavily on his side. Why must that +idiot Hilton go out and get himself cut off by niggers in Africa?" + +Thanks to Rae's daring ride, a skilful doctor arrived at the junction by +the last train, and remained at The Larches all the next day. He also +made a number of other visits before he stated that his patient was +making rapid progress on the way to recovery. + +"You had, however, better take her south, say Egypt or the Canaries, to +escape our genial spring," he said. "Not necessary, but distinctly +advisable. Miss Chatterton might sail almost at any time." + +"We will choose Teneriffe, and start at once," Chatterton informed his +wife. "It is well on the mail route to West Africa, and I'm growing +anxious about Hilton." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +IN NEED OF HELP + + +Mrs. Chatterton had no objections to Teneriffe, and so it came about +that one evening she and her niece, who had almost recovered her usual +health, sat upon a hotel balcony in Santa Cruz, looking down upon the +quaint Spanish city. It had lain basking under fierce sunlight all day, +but now the cool shadow of the giant Cañadas rested upon it, and its +olive-faced inhabitants came forth to breathe the freshness from the +Atlantic. Garrison officers and somberly clad merchants with their wives +and daughters, strolled up and down the plaza beneath the balcony, while +laughter and merry voices throbbed through the strains of an artillery +band. Near by, the Atlantic swell pulsed whitely on the lava reefs, and +high above the great black cordillera heaved aloft its jagged pinnacles +against the sunset fires. + +Lilian Chatterton, however, saw little of all this. She was looking out +across the shimmering Atlantic toward the blue peaks of Grand Canary, +beyond which stretched the coast of Africa. A little black-funneled +steamer was creeping across the sea-plain between. + +"That must be the African boat. The flag is going up above the agent's +offices," she said. "She may bring us news. It is a pity that my uncle +is away. He seems distressed about the uncertainty concerning Hilton." + +Perhaps Lilian's tone was less indifferent than she wished, for Mrs. +Chatterton watched her keenly before she answered. + +"It is hardly surprising. Your uncle is a just man, and never forgets a +benefit. As you must have heard, it was an invention of Hilton's father +which first started them, when both were struggling men, on the way to +success; but Dane died, and the widow, who was never cordial toward my +husband, drew her share out of the business against his advice. She died +comparatively poor when Hilton was young, while your uncle, who still +considers he owes his dead partner a moral debt, tried several means of +discharging it by benefiting his son. Hilton, of whom I am very fond, is +not, however, a person one can readily confer favors upon." + +"No," said Lilian, with a trace of coldness in her tone. "You never told +me quite so much before. My uncle is not always quite judicious in the +way he sets about accomplishing his benevolent intentions. But the boat +will soon be in." + +Mrs. Chatterton smiled a little. + +"He will certainly blame us if we allow any opportunity for obtaining +news to escape, and I must find somebody to take a note off to the +purser. You are tired, Lily, and had better remain here while I go +across to the agent's offices." + +Lilian sat leaning back in a basket chair, shrouded from observation by +two tall aloe plants, with her face still turned toward the cost of +Africa. The silver shimmer faded from off the sea, the fires of sunset +died out behind the cordillera, but Mrs. Chatterton did not return, and +her niece waited with hands crossed idly in her lap. It was now some +time since the steamer's anchor had rattled down. Presently, because the +long windows behind her were open, she started at a voice in the +adjoining room. It seemed the voice of one risen from the dead. + +"It is impossible!" she thought. + +"I have no baggage," the voice rose again. "Going on with the +Southampton boat, due to-morrow. Send across to the offices and book a +berth for me." + +Lilian, rising, stood in the open window, and the speaker stared at her +in astonishment. + +"I could hardly believe my eyes, Mr. Maxwell," she exclaimed. + +Maxwell strode out into the balcony, but his surprise, which vanished +quickly, was surpassed by the girl's. His face was worn and hollow, and +in the failing light he looked strangely frail. A great sense of pity +came upon her. + +"You are ill, and I must not keep you standing! Please sit down, because +there is so much I--we all--wish to know," she said, striving to +suppress her eagerness. + +"I have been in the African forest," Maxwell replied simply, as though +that were sufficient explanation. "Thank you, but I would rather lean +against the railing here." + +As he spoke, he drew out the basket chair, and bent his head with a +gesture of invitation, while the girl, noticing the languidness of his +movements, showed her compassion in her eyes. Maxwell saw the pity, and +smiled wistfully; then as Lilian's gaze met his own, she glanced aside a +moment with a sudden trace of color. She remembered their last meeting, +and there was an awkward silence which Maxwell broke. + +"We can at least return to our former status as good friends, can we +not?" he said. "I see you are anxious for my news, and it may be a +painful story; but first I must ask you a question. What fortunate +accident brought you here?" + +"I was unwell and ordered south to escape the spring." Seeing the +anxiety in the man's face, Lilian added quickly, "I have recovered now. +My aunt will be here in a few minutes, but Mr. Chatterton has gone +across the island. An Englishman he met invested some money in a +sugar-mill the Spaniards are reconstructing, and he could not resist the +temptation of joining him. My uncle has a weakness for showing other +people how to manage machinery. It is your turn now, but first, where is +your partner?" + +In spite of Lilian's intention the last question was put with a +sharpness which surprised the listener. + +"He is alive and well, I hope," he answered gravely. "My story will be +longer, but I will try to tell it to you clearly." + +The waltz the band played in the plaza below formed a curious +accompaniment to such a tale. After the first few sentences neither of +them, however, heard the music, and Lilian leaned forward with the color +changing in her intent face as she listened. Maxwell suppressed the most +gruesome details, but the narrative would have been startling to any one +of the girl's upbringing. The thunder of the sunset gun brought it to an +abrupt conclusion, and as the long reverberations rolled among the +hills, Lilian rose suddenly and turned upon the speaker. There was +scorn, as well as horror, in her eyes. + +"And you left him in that pestilence-stricken camp to be murdered by the +tribesmen--you coward!" + +They were equally off their guard, and, for there are occasions when +human nature mocks at all conventional restraint, both had dropped the +mask. When once before they spoke openly it was Maxwell who had laid +bare his heart, and now, though he made a valiant effort, he could not +conceal his astonishment. + +"And I never guessed," he said under his breath. + +So for a few seconds they stood, with inmost thoughts laid open, face to +face. Maxwell, having revealed the less, first recovered himself. + +"I am afraid I have told my story badly, Miss Chatterton," he said. "You +see there was gold enough to excite most men's cupidity lying within our +sight, and that was why we drew lots to determine which should go out +and seek help to secure it. Dane was, for a reason he did not mention, +not only willing, but anxious, to stake his life on the chance of +turning that gold into currency, and the lot fell to me. Being unable to +raise the necessary funds by cable, I am now on my way to England, to +sell my last possessions and pledge whatever in the future may be mine. +Then, if I have to go alone, I am going back into the Leopards' country +to bring my comrade help." + +It is possible that few men under the circumstances would have framed +their answer as Maxwell did; but he was in all things loyal, as his +listener recognized. She was once more mistress of herself, but she did +not look at the man as she answered him. + +"You must forgive me. What you had to tell must have dissipated my poor +senses. It is even more startling than anything I had imagined," she +said. + +"I can hardly forgive myself for telling it so badly," Maxwell answered +gravely. "You had already, I gather, received some news that we were +not exactly prospering. How did it reach you?" + +Lilian mentioned the newspaper paragraph, and Maxwell's face grew dark. + +"It was evidently the work of our enemy, and done to divert suspicion +from himself in case the tribesmen overwhelmed us, as he hoped. It is +another reason for haste, and if you will excuse me I will go on to the +steamship office to make sure of my berth." + +An inspiration dawned upon Lilian. + +"I want you to promise that you will not sail without seeing me again," +she said quickly. + +"It is a conditional promise. While I would do anything to please you, +Miss Chatterton, so much depends on my speed that whatever happens I +must catch the steamer. She will land me in England three days before +the West Coast boat, and is expected early to-morrow." + +He moved away, and Lilian was left alone, plunged in a whirl of +thoughts, with her eyes still turned toward Africa. But as she sat there +one purpose grew into definite shape, and at last she rose sharply, and +set out in search of Mrs. Chatterton, with determination stamped upon +her face. Lilian was shrewd; she saw that Maxwell might well arrive too +late unless she could hasten the starting of the relief expedition. She +found Mrs. Chatterton presently in the bustling plaza, and the elder +lady turned aside from her English companions after a glance at her +niece. The girl came straight toward her with swift, resolute steps. + +"Mr. Maxwell was on board the steamer," she said, with a calmness that +puzzled her aunt. "He has told me all about the expedition, and left +Hilton in deadly peril. Money is needed to extricate him, and Maxwell +is going home to-morrow to obtain it; but I think my uncle would find it +hard to forgive us if we did not let him know immediately. No--we have +no time to waste with these people now. Turn back with me." + +The girl passed the friends who advanced to greet her as though she did +not see them, and by the time they reached the door of the hotel Mrs. +Chatterton realized the need for haste. + +"My husband must certainly know at once, but it is twenty odd miles to +Oratava alone, and several more from there to the sugar-mill," she said. +"The telegraph office is closed, and you say the mailboat should sail +early to-morrow. It is very unfortunate, but what can we do?" + +"There is only one thing possible," declared Lilian. "No one could trust +a Canario with so urgent a message. We must start at once ourselves. We +need not go all the way round by Oratava. There is a bridle-path across +the hills." + +"But you are hardly strong enough for such a journey, and we might not +get a carriage to take us there to-night." + +"The carriage is entering the plaza now," said Lilian. "Can you not see +that if Mr. Maxwell goes to England he may be too late." + +Mrs. Chatterton looked hard at her niece. Lilian's face was very +resolute, but she bore the scrutiny calmly, and the elder lady was not +wholly astonished. + +"I will be ready in five minutes," she said, and Lilian, moved by some +impulse, kissed her swiftly. + +The five minutes had hardly expired when, with the Canario driver +shouting in warning, a two-horse carriage rolled out of the plaza, and +went rattling up the narrow street. Accustomed as they were to the +eccentricities of British visitors, the sleepy citizens stared at its +occupants, when, with unusual agility, they had leaped out of its way, +for the driver stood upright, lashing his horses until they broke into a +headlong gallop, and the crazy vehicle lurched and bounced over the +uneven stones. + +Night had closed in now, and a vault of velvety indigo spangled with +many stars, hung over the long rows of sun-baked walls, which rolled +away behind. A full moon rose slowly over the Atlantic. In front wastes +of scoriæ, maize fields, vineyards, rolled upward, ridge beyond ridge, +toward the Titanic wall of lava, nine thousand feet above; but the +climbing road was broad and good, and, if the string-patched harness +held, they might bring Thomas Chatterton news in time. + +Lilian retained but a blurred impression of that part of the journey. +They swept past climbing mule teams, and, sometimes on two wheels only, +swung round many curves. Blinding clouds of dust rolled up, and, driven +forward by the breeze from the Atlantic, whirled about them. There were +odd gleams of light, and a howling of dogs, as white-walled dwellings +swept by, then only the clang of iron on lava, and creaking of the +vehicle to break the silence of the desolate hillside, until the driver +howled again as they clattered into old-world Laguna, just sinking into +early sleep. The carriage lurched over the cobbles, sparks blazed up, +white walls and glimmering lattices raced by, and Lilian glanced at her +watch as, while the lathered team swung into swifter stride upon the +level, Laguna receded into the night. Branches of eucalyptus met above, +the road was checkered with shadow, but it was straight and good, and +the driver evidently meant to win the guerdon promised him. + +It was cool on the higher levels. The fresh night wind stirred the +passengers' blood, and while the stinging whip-cuts roused the horses to +further effort, the eucalyptus gave place to sugar-cane, vineyards, +cork-trees, and, looming black in the moonlight on the bare hill +shoulders, gnarled pines. + +"We have lost no time so far," said Lilian, bending her head over the +moonlit dial of her tiny watch, and almost resenting the attention when +her aunt drew the wrappings closer about her. "Still, it is passing +fast." + +The driver was certainly doing his utmost. He stood upright, for the +most part, shouting as he lashed his horses, for the Castilian is not as +a rule merciful to his beasts, and as the road had been lately mended in +places with broken lava the carriage jolted painfully. Lilian, making no +comment, only held fast the tighter, but once her aunt screamed, and it +was fortunate that, startled by her cry, the man checked his horses. +There was a steep grade before them, and when the beasts broke into a +walk he stopped them altogether, and leaped down from his perch. He +glanced at one of the wheels, then cast his hat into the road and kicked +it several times, shook his fist at the surrounding country, and for +nearly a minute poured forth a torrent of sonorous Castilian. It was +well that neither of the listeners wholly understood him. + +"What is the matter, and what can he be saying?" asked Mrs. Chatterton, +almost appalled by the man's vehemence; and Lilian answered with a +shudder. + +"I am not quite certain, but I fancy that a wheel is coming off." + +"_Lo creo_," interjected the Canario. "_Mal rayo!_ I spik good Ynglez. +This jimcraky wheel, which is made of a lost carpenter, she is come +right off." + +Putting his shoulder against the vehicle he hurled the wheel down +crashing upon the lava, and then flung one arm aloft, with a tragic +gesture. + +"Stop him at once, Lily!" begged Mrs. Chatterton. "The wretched man is +beginning again, and his language positively frightens me!" + +"You mustn't!" said Lilian severely, as the Canario's tongue, which had +apparently been dipped in brimstone unloosed itself again. "Stop +immediately! Instead of all that nonsense, try to think of what you can +do!" + +"I do nothing. No man do nothing. On three wheel this coche she is not +can go." The driver's gesture expressed despair. "We stop here for all +night, _puede ser_ all to-morrow. We stop a here forever." + +"That is absurd," said Lilian sharply. "Is there no blacksmith at +Laguna? Blacksmiths--_hombre de hierro, entiende_? Take one of those +horses out and go for him immediately!" + +"_No possible_, _señorita_. The black-a-smeet he sleep at night," +explained the Canario, hopelessly. + +Lilian stamped one little foot. + +"It is _no possible_ to waken him? _Escucha Vd_, and please try to +comprehend. If I reach the sugar-mill too late you will be paid exactly +what the Alcalde at Oratava says is your due. If I get there in time, +and not otherwise, you will receive what I promised you. Now take out +one of those horses, and I will help you." + +The driver rubbed his forehead, and kicked his hat again. Then he +declaimed a little further; and finally, while Mrs. Chatterton protested +against Lilian's helping him, he proceeded to act upon her suggestion. +The girl struggled with rusty buckle and raw-hide patched with string, +and at last tethered one horse to a branch, while the Canario clattered +off toward Laguna on the other. He had neither saddle nor stirrups, but +that did not matter much to a man of his race. + +The two women were left standing in the middle of the lonely road. + +"I wish we had never come," wailed Mrs. Chatterton. "Mind that horse +does not bite you, Lily." + +"Poor beast," said the girl, stroking the creature's scraggy neck. "He +did his best, and a great deal still depends on him. If that wretched +man does not return soon the waiting will drive me mad." + +Mrs. Chatterton found a seat by the wayside. Lilian paced to and fro, +halting only to listen and gaze down the long dusty road. An hour passed +slowly. Still only the rustle of the sugar-cane and the sighing of dark +branches broke the stillness. There was no light visible; and save for +the horse, the two anxious Englishwomen seemed the only living things +upon the mountain-side. + +"Can you hear nothing, auntie?" the girl asked; but the elder lady heard +only the drowsy gurgle of water in a distant barranco, and the moan of +the breeze. + +"No. There is no sign of any one coming yet; and I am afraid we should +be almost too late if we started now," she said. + +Twice again the girl paced up and down in a fever of impatience, then +stood rigidly still, leaning forward a little, for a faint thudding +sound came out of the shadows. + +"He is coming at last!" + +The man came up at a gallop, with a hammer and a bag of tools, and, +talking volubly, remounted the wheel. Then he lashed his horses +viciously, and they were off, pressing on at a gallop almost to the +divide, where, partly bathed in silver light by the moon, and partly +wrapped in black shadow by the mighty peak, the great horseshoe vale of +Oratava sloped to the Atlantic. Here the driver turned. + +"The brake of this coche is also broke. I have ten children, señoras, +and all very small, and if we must go down at the full speed it will be +one more ten shillings for the risk." + +Mrs. Chatterton, glancing down toward the lights that twinkled +apparently vertically beneath her, and the glimmering plain of the +Atlantic very far below, somewhat naturally hesitated, and was about to +speak, when Lilian thrust a gold coin into the man's brown palm. + +"You shall have more when I come back from Tampena. Only lose no time!" +she urged. + +The driver, who had been deluded on various occasions by British +emigrants bound for the Cape, first prudently bit the coin, then piously +crossed himself, after which he lashed the horses, and the carriage +began the long descent like a run-away locomotive or a thunderbolt, as +Mrs. Chatterton afterward said. The road was good, but it dipped in +zig-zags down the steep hillside, and they went round the bends madly +with two wheels in the air; while twice the elder lady held her breath +as a straggling mule team rushed past. She prayed spasmodically that the +ancient harness might not break. + +The walnuts gave place to fig-trees, the figs in turn to vines, and +still the straining gear held fast, and the bouncing vehicle hung +together behind the lathered beasts. Then the terraced vines were +replaced by maize, and when the broad leaves of bananas raced up, as it +were, to meet them under the moon, the driver, shouting his loudest, +reined his team in outside a little hill posada. + +"Horses and a trusty guide for the sugar-mill!" he roared, beating on +the door. "Here are two mad English señoras with a purse of gold!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MAXWELL'S CONFIDENCE + + +Though the English are not greatly loved in any possessions of Spain, +their gold has the power of rousing even the contemplative Canario out +of his usual lethargy, and when the driver shouted, drowsy men hurried +about the posada. The host had two good mules, and a vine-grower would +be glad to act as guide, but there was, he said, a difficulty. He had +only one saddle fit for a lady and with the deepest respect for the +señora, he feared she was too old to venture over the perilous bridle +paths at that time of night; with which opinion Mrs. Chatterton quite +concurred. Lilian glanced at her aunt, and then toward the bare-legged +peasant, who, with a great blanket rolled about his shoulders, stood, +hat in hand, before her. There was a rude dignity about this +vine-dresser which pleased her, and moving forward she kissed her aunt. + +"You must go on alone to the hotel at Oratava," she said. + +Mrs. Chatterton had long grown accustomed to being ruled by her niece, +and though she protested, she did so feebly. Even while she spoke the +girl put her foot in the hand of the vine-dresser, who lifted her to the +saddle, and then sprang into his own. He swept his battered hat to his +knee with the grace of a courtier as he passed Mrs. Chatterton, and +almost before the elder lady realized what had happened, the two +mounted figures had vanished among the maize. With a sigh and an +inarticulate prayer, she bade the driver proceed to Oratava, as slowly +as he liked. + +Lilian never counted the risks she ran during that ride. The two +strangely-assorted companions soon left the maize behind and rode over +broken lava and scoriæ; dipped, sliding and stumbling, into a barranco +filled with impenetrable shadow, out of which the guide had hard work to +drag the horses on the opposite side; and then skirted the dizzy brink +of another vast volcanic fissure in the black hillside. Lilian, looking +down into the depths that yawned beneath her, guessed aright that a slip +would mean destruction, while for once her heart failed her when the +peasant pulled the mules up where the pathway seemed to break off at the +brink. He pointed toward the lights far down in the hollow, saying in +Castilian: + +"That is the mill. The señorita rides well. If she will let the mule +find its own way she may, with the blessing of heaven, come down +safely." + +Lilian, partly comprehending, shuddered for a moment as she glanced into +the great volcanic pit, then, slacking the bridle, laid one hand on the +high peak of the saddle, as with the cinders rattling away beneath them, +they commenced the descent. No beast but a Canary pack-mule trained to +carry wine kegs over the wild hill trails could have come down alive, +and it seemed to be sliding with legs braced stiffly most of the time, +and then picking its way foot by foot down the face of an almost +precipitous descent. Fortunately the darkness hid the worst terrors; +they came down safely, and swept through tall cane on the level toward a +group of dusky buildings, which grew plainer ahead. + +Then the guide shouted, there was a howling of dogs, and Lilian, +dropping stiffly from the saddle, walked into the presence of her uncle +in the Spanish sugar-grower's dwelling. Chatterton, who had been poring +late over some machine drawings, rose abruptly at the sight of her. + +"Good heavens, Lily! Have you flown here?" he cried. "What has happened +girl? Is your aunt ill?" + +"Don't ask questions! Sit still a minute, and listen! My aunt is well +and should be safe in Oratava by now. Mr. Maxwell is in Santa Cruz, and +brings serious news of Hilton." + +Chatterton stiffened to attention as he listened. Then, because he was +above all things a man of action and could let side issues wait, he +asked no questions but patted his niece's shoulder. + +"Well done, my girl. Well done!" he said. "God forbid that my dead +partner's son should perish while I have the power to help him. If it's +money Maxwell needs, he shall have it if there's sufficient in the Bank +of Spain. It is lucky I opened credit to show these blunderers how to +run their mill. You will stay here with the Señora Martin, and rejoin +your aunt to-morrow. I shall start, but not by your road, as soon as +these loafers can get horses ready." + +"I am going with you," Lilian said, quietly. She was very tired; but +with Dane's life at stake, she dare not take any chances. That her uncle +would do his best to reach Maxwell in time, she knew; and yet, if +something should happen on the way! If his horse should slip on those +treacherous lava trails! + +Chatterton saw the pale lips close tightly with a determination that he +never attempted to resist. + +"Very well, Lily," he acquiesced; "but it will be a hard ride." + +In an incredibly short time the horses were ready, and Chatterton and +his niece followed their guide throughout the remaining hours of the +long night. Few words were spoken by either of them as they urged their +horses forward. At dawn they were still riding, Lilian feverishly +anxious, Chatterton grimly determined. + + * * * * * + +A big gray-painted steamer lay rolling in the harbor of Santa Cruz, and +Maxwell stood on the hotel steps impatiently glancing at his watch. He +had given Miss Chatterton his conditional promise that he would await +her return, but he dare not miss the steamer. A feathery column of vapor +roaring aloft from her steam-pipe indicated that all was ready. He had +less than ten minutes to spare, and there was still no sign of Miss +Chatterton. + +"Five more minutes. There's the first bell now!" + +Three of the minutes passed, and Maxwell was hurrying toward the boat, +when somebody shouted his name, and turning, he saw two white-flecked +horses race into the plaza. One kept on to the hotel; almost before the +other stopped, Thomas Chatterton leaped to the ground. + +"You're not going in that boat!" he gasped. "Can't you understand me? +You are going back to the Coast instead!" + +"I'm afraid I can't, sir," Maxwell replied with a puzzled air. "I don't +want to be uncivil, but I dare not waste a moment. I must catch the +steamer." + +"You shan't!" persisted Chatterton, his red face growing purple when +Maxwell shook his hand off his arm. "Confound you! Stop and listen! I +owed Hilton's father more than I can ever repay his son, and Lilian +told me what has befallen him. Well, if it's money you are short of, I'm +not a poor man, and you can have as much as they hold in the bank here +if you want it to rescue your partner. Now, don't let any foolish pride +lead you into manslaughter. I'm doing you no favor, but making a +commercial investment. Call me sleeping partner or anything you like, +but don't throw your comrade's life away." + +Maxwell looked his relief. + +"I am not quite a fool, sir, and dare not refuse. It only remains for me +to express my gratitude." + +"Gratitude be consumed!" said Chatterton, cheerily. "Call it business. +Now we'll order the best breakfast they can serve us in this place, and +you can tell me the whole thing again." + +Two days later when Maxwell boarded a steamer bound for the West Coast, +Chatterton and his niece went on board with him. Lilian was both +relieved and sorry when the iron-master hurried away in search of the +purser to make sure that several bags of silver currency were put in +safe keeping. She had something to say to Maxwell, but the task was +difficult. + +"I shall always take shame upon myself for what I said on the balcony," +she began. "You are a very loyal partner, and I wish you Godspeed." + +The words were simple, but because, during the fateful moments when the +two stood on the balcony, the veil which covered their inmost thoughts +had been drawn aside, they cost Lilian an effort, and meant a good deal. +They sent a curious thrill to the heart of Maxwell. + +"I meant all that I said one other night, and I am ready to prove it," +he said. "Whether I shall ever return or not, I say it solemnly, only +Gods knows; but if I live to reach our camp, I think Hilton Dane will." + +For a moment Lilian's eyes grew hazy, and she looked away from him. +Then, though there was moisture on her lashes, she turned fully toward +her companion, holding out her hand. + +"Heaven send you both back safe! You are a good man, and very generous. +I knew it the evening we passed the Hallows Brig--but----" + +"Destiny arranges these things for us," Maxwell interrupted quietly. "I +am glad that your good wishes follow me to Africa." + +Thomas Chatterton came up panting as he spoke, the warning of the last +bell broke through the rattle of the windlass, and Maxwell bent +bareheaded over Lilian's hand. Then she and Chatterton went down the +side together, a deep-toned whistle vibrated above the waters as the +steamer slowly forged ahead, and Maxwell saw a white-gowned figure in +the boat beneath her side turn with a farewell smile and wave a hand to +him. Once more he raised his hat, and when the boat slid astern Lilian's +eyes grew hazy as she gazed after the departing vessel. + +"That man will go far," said Chatterton. "Once he makes up his mind the +devil himself would hardly turn him. He is one of the steely, quiet kind +who are never more in earnest than when they are silent, but I am +anxious. He is bound for a very deadly country." + +Cool breezes followed the steamer to the African coast, and Maxwell had +recovered part of his vigor before the first palm-crowned bluff rose out +of the sea. He had sufficient funds at his disposal, but arduous work to +do, and he held himself apart from the few passengers, thinking +earnestly. Among other things he decided to fit out the relief +expedition at Redmond's factory at Little Mahu, because, though more +difficult, the road from there was shorter and less likely to be +watched; and he surmised that Rideau, who must hear of his presence on +the coast sooner or later, would expect him to start from Castro's +factory. Maxwell knew he had not seen the last of their treacherous +partner. + +At the last moment, he so far modified his plans as to call upon Dom +Pedro. + +It was a fine afternoon when the cliff with the tall palms on the crest +of it, and low whitewashed buildings nestling between them and the +smoking beach, rose to view, and the purser, strolling past, halted near +Maxwell. + +"We have several boat-loads of cottons for this place, and as the surf +is high it will take us until sunset to land them safely," he said. +"Then, as there are nasty reefs to thread through, the skipper will +probably wait for moonlight before he heaves the anchor; so if you don't +mind a spray bath you might have a few hours ashore." + +Maxwell, knowing that he would see quite sufficient of Africa before he +sailed west again, felt no great desire to go ashore; but as he gazed at +the dazzling buildings through his glasses a figure came out upon the +veranda, and an unaccountable impulse urged him to seek speech with Miss +Castro. Why he should do so, and what he should say to her, he did not +know, but he remembered that several times during his career some +unconsidered action made on the spur of the moment proved as fruitful as +his best laid plans. So, donning the mate's oil-skins, he dropped into a +surf-boat and was whirled shoreward on a big breaker's crest, landing +without misadventure amidst a cloud of spray. + +Dom Pedro, it appeared, was absent, but his daughter started at the +sight of the stranger, and the warm olive coloring of her face was +suffused with a deeper tinge. She was herself again the next moment, and +came to meet him with only a slightly heightened luster in her black +eyes; but for a man Maxwell was observant, and deduced a good deal from +what he had seen. Nevertheless, he was mistaken when he attributed it to +the loss of his map. + +Miss Castro received him affably, and presented him to her aunt, who +combined a lethargic disposition with the usual portliness of an Iberian +lady who has exceeded the age of forty, and after a few drowsy +compliments she betrayed no further interest in the visitor. +Nevertheless, the señora was not so sleepy as she appeared. Maxwell +seated himself beside Bonita near the opposite end of the veranda, and +was not wholly sorry he had come ashore. The girl made a charming +picture as she reclined in a deep chair near at hand, smiling at him +with a trace of shyness that was not assumed, though an occasional +nervous movement betokened a suppressed eagerness. Maxwell had pledged +himself soul and body to the service of another woman with a chivalrous +self-abnegation that only those who knew him well would have suspected +him capable of; but he possessed artistic perceptions, and Bonita's dark +beauty appealed to him. + +"You have very much to tell me. How is it you come from the westward, +and where is your compañero?" she asked; and once more Maxwell was +wholly misled. + +He noticed the swift gleam in the dark eyes that fell beneath his own; +and, knowing what he knew, he was troubled. There was a hidden +gentleness under the man's sardonic exterior, but he never learned how +blind he had been that afternoon. + +"My comrade was well when I left him," he said gravely; and Bonita, +flashing a swift glance at him, evinced less satisfaction than he had +expected. + +"We were the good friends, señor. You will tell me why you leave him and +now come from the west. Also if you met Rideau, and what you did with +him. You are a strong man, señor, but it may be a woman can help you?" + +Maxwell was in his own way a chivalrous person, but he owed a duty to +the comrade who remained in the forest, and he meant to discharge it. So +he answered with incisive frankness. + +"Can you not see why it might be better for both of us that I should not +tell you, señorita?" + +The girl laughed softly, then laid a little hand upon his own. It felt +strangely hot, and again her eyes were luminous in a manner that puzzled +him. + +"It is the map, you mean? It is true I find it after the Señor Dane +leave, and I sell it to _el perro_ Rideau. Señor, we women must use what +weapons we can, and the price he pay me--I have no secrets from you--was +my father's safety." + +"I do not venture to blame you," said Maxwell. "I had partly guessed it, +and your confidence is safe with me, but suppose _el perro_ had proved +too strong for me? After this, can I believe that you would prove a good +friend to me?" + +Miss Castro positively blushed as she drew her hand away, but her +laughter indicated a mingling of pride with scorn. + +"You are modest, señor. It is not possible that the cur dog should prove +too strong for--you. To Dom Pedro I say these Englishmen will kill this +Rideau. So señor, because I hate him, you will tell me." + +Maxwell did not speak for a while. Again an impulse which appeared +wholly illogical in face of the girl's confession prompted him to tell +her all; but very much lay at stake, and he did not usually act on +impulse. Meanwhile his companion watched him from under the dark lashes +which half covered her eyes; while, unobserved, the sleepy aunt watched +them both. Bonita Castro looked bewitchingly pretty in her filmy +draperies, perhaps the more so because of her curiously heightened +color; but though Maxwell knew that she was a woman who would do much +when prompted by passion, she did not look like a traitress. + +"So you fear to trust me, señor?" + +"On the contrary," Maxwell answered, "I have decided to trust you fully. +In doing so, I know that I place my life and my comrade's equally in +your hands." + +"It is well; I would hold them safe if I risked salvation," said the +girl. "So tell me everything. I shall be able to help you." + +Maxwell did so, and Miss Castro asked him many questions which betokened +a keenness of judgment that surprised the man. He spent some time in +answering them, and Bonita appeared to find pleasure in listening to +him. So while the palm-tufts tossed behind the factory and the spray +whirled above the beach, the minutes slipped by, until, when the sun +dipped, the señora woke up and ordered the black major-domo to hurry +forward _comida_. + +Bonita, reappearing attired in filmy robes of black, was more +fascinating than ever during the drawn-out meal. + +"That woman would turn any man's head," murmured Maxwell, inaudibly he +thought, and added, with a smile, to the sleepy aunt, who glanced at +him, "I was wondering, señora, if your distinguished family had a +monopoly of all the wit and beauty in the Peninsula." + +Maxwell was a little confused to notice that Bonita had overheard; for a +second the long lashes dropped across her eyes, and again there was a +flicker of damask in her cheek. + +The moon hung over the ocean which stretched away before them, a broad +sheet of silver, when the two stood once more on the veranda; and Miss +Castro shivered slightly for no apparent cause when Maxwell announced +that it was time for him to take his departure. The surf had gone down, +and the roar of the breakers diminished to dull pulsations that fell +drowsily on the ear, while the warm breeze brought down the fragrance of +spices and lilies from the forest. Two of the pure white blossoms +nestled among the laces beneath Miss Castro's neck, and their fragrance +filled Maxwell's nostrils as he stood close beside her under the +effulgent moonlight of the tropics. There was a thrill in the girl's +voice which, but for one fact, might have awakened an answering +vibration within him. + +"So you have trusted me, señor, and I am glad. It is also good that you +start from Little Mahu, for so _el perro_ hear the less of you. There +are many black people who fear him, and tell him things, but he come +first to this factory--and I deal with him. You will leave Mahu, two, +three, perhaps four weeks before him. It is true you have no longer any +doubt of me?" + +"I have no doubt at all. I have trusted you to the utmost." + +Bonita's eyes dropped swiftly beneath his gaze, but there was in her +attitude no sign of coquetry. She had, the man thought, changed with the +night, and put on a quiet simplicity which became her wonderfully. +Something impelled him to add: + +"I feel that I have done wisely." + +Once more the girl's voice thrilled him. + +"It is a dangerous country, and who can tell what may happen; but, +whatever it costs me, I will help you." + +Maxwell felt strangely softened toward her, for it seemed that some +influence born of the glamour of the night was at work upon his will. It +hardly seemed to emanate from his companion, for Miss Castro was graver +than he had ever seen her; but the strange mingling of tenderness and +admiration grew stronger in him, and he was glad when the boom of the +steamer's whistle rang through the monotone of the surf. + +"I must go, señorita." + +Bonita's eyes shone in the moonlight as, with the faintest of smiles, +she held out her hand to him. + +"It is a perilous journey, but I will pray always for your safety," she +said softly. + +Maxwell lifted the hat from his head as, stooping, he touched the +olive-tinted fingers with his lips. They trembled a little in his grasp. + +"I thank you, señorita. We are allies now." + +Again the roar of the whistle throbbed across the surf, and Maxwell went +swiftly down the stairway and across the sand. As the boat plunged out +through the breakers he shook himself with an air of irritation which +attracted the notice of the steamer's mate. + +"Got bewildered trying to understand those folks?" he asked +sympathetically. + +"No," laughed Maxwell. "The fact is rather that I don't understand +myself." + +"I dare say that don't greatly matter," commented the mate. "Take a good +stiff cocktail and give the puzzle up." + +The steamer heaved her anchor, and rolled slowly eastward down the +coast, while Miss Castro stood on the veranda following the tier of +diminishing lights until they faded and finally dipped into the moonlit +sea. Then she turned and walked very slowly into the factory without a +word, leaving the sleepy aunt lost in speculation when the door of her +room closed noisily. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE DANGEROUS SEÑORITA + + +Some days after Maxwell's departure Monsieur Victor Rideau, traveling in +hot haste, arrived at Castro's factory. Dom Pedro was absent in the +bush, but his daughter frowned when she saw the visitor coming. She was +standing on the veranda where she had bidden Maxwell farewell; and this +fact recalled the contrast between them, which was distinctly striking, +and to Monsieur Rideau's disadvantage. Maxwell wore an indefinite air of +refinement, which is the birthright of some favored Britons, and there +was a good deal of finely-tempered steel in his composition; Rideau was +by no means ill-favored, and as usual with gentlemen of his extraction, +dressed himself almost too well; but his face was sensual, his black +hair over-crisp, and, in spite of his very cunning eyes, there were +other signs that his animal appetites might on occasion prove stronger +than his judgment. + +When he descended from his hammock, attired in spotless duck and +American brown shoes, he was evidently well contented with himself. + +"I compassionate you on your misfortune," said Miss Castro. "My father +may not return until midnight, and you will have only myself and my +aunt, who is always sleepy, for company." + +"What better could any man desire?" There was a look of the African in +Rideau's over-bold eyes, and the girl regarded him frigidly. "I go east +by the steamer which will call to-night," he continued, "and hurried for +the pleasure of a few hours of your company. The English adventurer has +called here, is it not so?" + +That was sufficient warning, and Bonita Castro prepared for the fray. +The weapons she chose in the first place were merely demure glances and +opportune smiles; and though many of his speeches stung her pride to the +quick, she fooled Monsieur Rideau cleverly, and extracted from him more +information than he meant to impart. Still, when the black major-domo +set out the _comida_ and Miss Castro withdrew, the visitor might have +lounged less complacently on the veranda had he seen her kneeling, with +a face that was stamped with hatred, beside the factory medicine chest. +She lifted a ribbed glass phial, and glanced at it earnestly, then let +it fall back, took out another, and clutched at the chest, when she saw +that the door had opened a little. Then, as the rustle of the +palm-fronds suggested that the breeze was accountable for this, she +slipped the bottle behind a vase on the window-sill, and went out +softly. Hardly had she done so than the Señora Diaz entered silently, +lifted the bottle, and read its label, and then, with a gesture which +expressed both relief and perplexity, replaced it. The señora was much +more observant than she seemed to be, and was by no means a friend of +Victor Rideau. + +It might have been better for Rideau had he reached the factory after +dinner. He did not eat prettily, and Miss Castro had lived long enough +in the Iberian peninsula to grow particular about small matters. Also, +he drank freely, and while his voice grew louder his consonants lost +their crispness. Rideau spoke several civilized languages, but that +night he emphasized the vowels after the fashion of the negro. Though +not excessively indulgent, Dom Pedro's old Madeira had awakened a side +of his nature he usually kept in subjection, and perhaps it had slightly +clouded his judgment. In any case, the Señora Diaz frowned at some of +the compliments he paid her niece, and her ancient laces rustled as she +stirred with indignation, for while compliments were common in her +country, they were characterized by either a becoming deference or +scintillating wit. Once or twice she glanced sharply at the girl, who +was generally quite capable of resenting a liberty; but Bonita did not +heed her. She was working for an end, and working skilfully. Perhaps she +suffered during the process, but that was only part of the price of +victory. + +The _comida_ was cleared away at length, and when Bonita accompanied her +guest to the moonlit veranda, she made it manifest that she did not +desire her aunt's company. Nevertheless the Señora Diaz, who respected +the customs of the Peninsula, seated herself beside an open window and +saw all that passed. Rideau lounged in a cane chair with a cigar in his +hand, while Bonita stood upright, dropping morsels of ice presented by a +steamboat purser into the bowl which rested on the little table at his +side. A Frenchman would not have shown such lack of manners. Rideau's +very leer, which grew more pronounced, conveyed a hint that he knew he +held the whip hand, and meant to use it; with any one of Miss Castro's +disposition, that was very bad policy. + +"It is charming, señorita. I have done much for you; you do a little now +for me." + +Miss Castro dropped the next lump of ice somewhat hastily, so that the +liquid splashed over the table; but she smiled with apparent good +humor, and the man grew more bold. + +"You will sit here while I tell you something, is it not so? This scene +is so charming that after I make one more journey I have resolved to +cultivate the domestic virtue." + +"That is commendable," said the girl, smiling. "Might one compliment you +on such a piece of self-denial?" + +She did not forget that the African's greatest weakness is vanity, as +Rideau answered her with a deprecatory smile: + +"It is not my fault if many women love me. Perhaps they are foolish and +trust to the eye. But, me, I aspire, and am only content with the great +mind and virtue." + +Miss Castro, instead of meeting his glance, appeared to be looking out +to sea, and Rideau continued, still far too complacently: + +"Now I see all that I desire--the peace, the tranquillity, the night +that speaks of love, and the company of the peerless Bonita." + +The girl laughed as she turned upon him; but her sleepy aunt, who sat by +the window, knew that the passion which called the color to her forehead +and set a sparkle in her eyes was by no means love. + +"Is that another empty compliment, monsieur?" she asked lightly. + +"It is the ambition of my life," he declared in a deeper tone; "and a +long time I dream of it. Now when I make one more journey I ask you to +gratify it." + +"You must be more explicit. And is it the custom of France--or +Africa--to make such speeches--so?" + +Rideau frowned, and for a moment it appeared that he would have +preferred the African custom of choosing his bride; but remembering what +he claimed to be, he stood upright, a full-fleshed, crisp-haired figure, +with his sensual lips showing too prominently. + +"I have the honor to offer you my name and devotion, señorita." + +"That is very much better," laughed Miss Castro. "But are you quite sure +you would not find domestic happiness grow monotonous? I, at least, have +been my own mistress so long that it might not content me. What else +have you to offer?" + +"An affection that will not weary," was the answer, and the man +dramatically laid his hand where he supposed his heart to be. + +"And if even that were not enough?" + +"All the good things that money can buy, and women love. I shall be a +rich man presently." + +"You have not won those riches yet; and white men have lost their lives +already in the Leopards' country. You should understand me." + +Rideau blundered when he resolved to use the strong hand at last. + +"There is still something--the safety of your father. It is, as I have +once said, forbidden with the heaviest penalty to sell the black man the +modern rifle, and Dom Pedro has sold more than this." + +It is possible that Miss Castro had expected a similar answer, but the +speaker's tone and the glitter of his eyes would have inspired most +women with misgivings under the circumstances. + +"You are forgetful," she said slowly. "I have bought that from you +already." + +Rideau laughed. + +"You are mistaken. You sold me the English madman's map for the Emir's +agreement, but you did not buy my lieutenant or the black headman who +hired your father his people, and is a good friend of me. Señorita, you +quite fail to comprehend me. To those who love me I give everything, but +with those who bargain it is different. You are too young and pretty to +drive a hard one with me." + +The girl turned from him, and walked slowly across the veranda with her +back toward her suitor and her face toward the sea, so that he could not +see how one hand slipped without a rustle beneath a fold of her dress. +He had left her but one way out of the difficulty, and it was dangerous; +but gauging the quality of her antagonist she was content to take the +risks. The sleepy aunt saw, however, and smiled grimly to herself. + +Then Miss Castro turned, and smiled. + +"It is a long journey to the Leopards' country, and many things may +happen on the way. You would be wise to wait for my answer, monsieur. +What you offer appears insufficient now, but few women are sure of their +own minds, so some wise men say; and, who knows, when you come back I +may think differently. I have duties to attend to, and may not see you +before you sail, but I want your promise to keep silence in the +meantime. Pledge it in Vermouth." + +Before the man could answer, she had passed into the house and returned +with a small flask and two fresh glasses. One was brimming, and she +filled the other before she held it out to him. + +"A swift journey to the land of the Leopard!" she said. + +Miss Castro's voice was steady, though she waited almost breathlessly +while the man stood undecided, holding up the cup. It was evident that +he was averse to delay, and yet afraid to lose by undue precipitancy. + +"So, I give the promise. To your bright eyes, señorita. It is a journey +I make for you." + +Rideau laid the glass down empty, and with a swift salutation that was +half-ironical, and a swish of light draperies, Miss Castro had vanished +before he quite realized that she had left him. When he did, he gnawed +the end off a cigar, and lay thoughtfully back in his chair. It struck +him that perhaps he might find Bonita Castro much less amenable to his +wishes and more difficult to live with than a deeper-tinted helpmate. + +In the meantime, a group of chattering Krooboys were lighting a fire on +the crest of the bluff, their figures outlined against the increasing +glare. It was a signal to the east-bound steamer due to pass shortly +that cargo or passengers were awaiting her. Rideau watched the blaze +until it flared high aloft in token that the fire had good hold, then he +walked slowly to the rail of the veranda and leaned over it, as though +expecting an answering light from the moonlit sea. There was none, and +presently he walked back, still more slowly, and sank into his chair +with a sigh. Then his shoulders sank lower until his head drooped +forward and there was silence in the veranda except for the sound of his +uneven breathing. This had scarcely continued five minutes when a +slender black-robed figure flitted out of a shadowy door, and the +profile of a woman's face was silhouetted against the moonlight as it +bent over the sleeper. + +"Sleep soundly, and awake too late!" a voice said, and the figure +vanished again. + +Presently, perhaps because there was nobody to watch them, or they had +been regaled too freely with factory gin, the Krooboys left to tend the +fire curled themselves up beside it, and when an hour had passed, only a +thin column of vapor rose up from the bluff. The stokers slumbered +peacefully, as did the comrades they should have awakened, when the +twinkle of a masthead light crept nearer from out at sea. It rose until +the black patch beneath it lengthened into a line of wallowing hull; but +the fresh land breeze and the clamor of the surf between them rendered +the hoot of the steamer's whistle but faintly audible at the factory. +Still, the Señora Diaz awakened, and sitting upright on her couch near +an open window, looked out on to the veranda. Her niece stood in a +doorway, with the moonlight on her face, which showed white and anxious +as she watched the sleeping figure. + +The girl set her lips tight when again the whistle's summons, ringing +louder this time, was flung back by the bluff behind the factory; but +Rideau lay motionless in his chair; and Bonita quivered all through +when, finding his signal unanswered, the steamboat skipper burned a +crimson flare. She could see the wall of hull and slanting spars sharp +and clear in the blood-red glare, with the figure of a man leaning out +from the slanted bridge projected against it, but there was still no +answer from either bluff or factory, and with a last blast of the +whistle the steamer moved on. No other boat would call for a fortnight, +and this one would have saved Rideau a protracted and risky surf-boat +voyage, or a weary march through the jungles overland. + +It was past midnight when Dom Pedro's hammock came lurching into the +compound, and, alighting stiffly, the trader climbed the veranda steps. +He started on reaching the veranda, for there was nobody to meet him, +only a man whose visits he had learned to dread, asleep in a chair. The +trader bent over him; and by the way his eyes glistened and his fingers +twitched as he saw that the duck jacket had fallen open, leaving the +dusky throat bare, an observer might have concluded that he would not +have been sorry had some accident prevented the sleeper from ever +awakening. Still, Dom Pedro was only a man of lax principles; he +shrugged his shoulders as he quoted a Castilian proverb, and then he +shook his guest by the arm. Rideau sat upright, grasping the arms of his +chair. He stared at the table, possibly seeking the glass he had drunk +from, but it was not there, and rising shakily, he staggered toward the +balustrade. + +"What hour is it?" he asked. + +"Past twelve. It is not good to sleep in the moonlight, my friend." + +Rideau's face was a study of evil passions, but his reason resumed the +mastery. The fact that the glasses were missing was significant, and +perhaps he recognized that the woman might prove no contemptible +adversary; for he answered Dom Pedro calmly. + +"Your wine is too good, and I have slept so well that it seems I have +missed the steamer. Well, there are other means of transit, and, if it +is not too late, you and I have business to talk about." + +A light shone in a window of the factory for an hour after this, and +when Victor Rideau walked somewhat unevenly toward his quarters, Dom +Pedro cursed him under his breath. + +The next morning he demanded a surf-boat and Krooboy crew, and when his +host had provided them, he sought speech with his daughter before +embarking. Rideau did not look his best that morning. His eyes were +heavy, the color of his face was mottled in patches; and he was in a +dangerous humor. Miss Castro, however, did not avoid him. + +"It is to be hoped that you passed a good night," she said. + +Rideau could not have failed to notice the boldness of the challenge. He +looked at her steadily, and his glance expressed desire rather than +resentment. The girl grew hot beneath his gaze as he surveyed her +critically, after the manner of one appraising a costly bargain. + +"I slept well--so well that I missed the steamer--and awakened with a +heaviness I can guess the cause of. You have a bold spirit--and that +pleases me; but you are dangerous, señorita--so dangerous that even if +you were not otherwise very desirable, I dare not let you go." + +Miss Castro returned no answer, and the man added threateningly: + +"If you have not a promise to make me when I return from this journey, +it will be very bad for Dom Pedro." + +The girl clenched one hand tightly, but her voice was clear as she +answered him. + +"You shall have your promise now. If you come back from the Leopards' +country, I will marry you." + +Rideau appeared both gratified and perplexed. Possibly he felt that he +should seal the bargain; but the girl's attitude did not encourage him, +and he had learned that it was not judicious to press her too hardly. So +he answered with a bow which had in it little Latin grace. + +"Then one must defer his happiness. The señorita will not forget." + +"I have given my word," said Miss Castro calmly. "You may claim the +fulfilment of my promise if we are both alive when two months have +passed." + +Rideau shivered slightly as he turned away. He had inherited more than a +trace of superstition from one side of his ancestry, and there was an +unusual significance in the speaker's tone, and he had heard stories +respecting her powers of prediction. A few minutes later he departed +eastward in a surf-boat, and it was not a blessing which Dom Pedro, +standing on the beach, sent after him. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MAXWELL'S LAST MARCH + + +Maxwell was never addicted to losing time, and, thanks to Miss Castro's +efforts, he had a clear start of Rideau, when he left Little Mahu. +Redmond, being warned by a message posted on from the cable station +farther along the coast, had a number of picked men ready; and Amadu +declared that they were sturdy cattle. Both traders had done their +utmost, and by dint of working night and day, Maxwell was able to leave +their factory two days after he reached it. + +They followed him to the compound gate, where Gilby gazed longingly at +the forest and then sighed as he surveyed the line of brawny men, each +of whom stood waiting beside his burden. Their clothing was simple. +Broad folds of white cotton hung over one shoulder, and, drooping to the +knee, were belted at the waist by a band from which a matchet hung. A +number of the men also carried long flintlock guns. + +"They're warranted free from civilization, and fit for almost anything, +if you drive them with a tight rein," Gilby said. + +"The niggers are fit enough," agreed Redmond. "If I were you, Maxwell, I +wouldn't spare them. Nobody has heard anything of Rideau since he +reported you as hopelessly hemmed in, but there's not much happens in +this region he does not get news of, and it's my humble opinion he'll +turn up somewhere along your trail just when you least desire to see +him. As you probably know, news travels very fast in this country. That +fellow must have some influence with the nigger headmen or the chiefs of +the Leopards, or somebody would have cut his throat long ago. You'll +have to push on your fastest to keep ahead of him." + +"I quite appreciate the necessity," Maxwell replied quietly. "But if it +were not for my comrade's sake I think I'd wait for him. It strikes me +that I am wasting precious time now, and I'll leave you with my best +thanks for your assistance." + +One trader thumped him on the back, the other grasped his hand. + +"Good luck!" cried Redmond. "We'll put a spoke in Rideau's wheel if we +can." + +"You're the sort of man I take to!" Gilby added. "We'll use up a whole +quarter's allowance, and turn this place inside out when you come back +again." + +Maxwell beckoned to Amadu, and waved his hand to the traders, as his +carriers picked up their loads; and the two stood gazing after him until +the steamy forest swallowed the long line of plodding men. They never +saw him again, and it was some time before any news of his movements +reached them, but meanwhile Gilby nearly brought about the death of +Rideau's principal assistant, and ever afterward regretted he did not +wholly do so. + +That evening Gilby was returning with a gun in his hand from a prowl +beside a lagoon soon after darkness fell, when his boot became unlaced +near the factory boys' quarters, which stood at some distance from the +white men's dwelling. Gilby seated himself on a fallen log, and remained +a few minutes glancing meditatively, but unseen himself, toward a group +of dusky figures crouching around a cooking-fire just outside the +edifice. They sat with their backs toward the long, low shed, and, +because the fire had sunk, the light was dim and fitful. Accordingly, +Gilby saw, though the negroes did not, a shadowy form crawl without a +sound down the slope of thatch. With suspicions aroused, Gilby reached +out for his gun. It was a heavy big-bore, and there was a large-shot +cartridge in either chamber. + +Still, he was distinctly puzzled until the crawling object resolved +itself into a man, who dropped noiselessly from the overhanging eaves, +and the next moment appeared before the astonished negroes, as though he +had fallen from the clouds. It was cleverly done, and Gilby could see by +the negroes' attitude that they were impressed. The stranger was +evidently one of the wandering magicians who are a power in that +country, and wanted something from the Krooboys. Gilby, having suffered +by the visits of similar gentlemen, determined to demonstrate to his +servants the hollowness of such trickery, and furnish the intruder with +cause to regret having frightened them. He could see the dusky figures +shrink backward until the stranger checked them with an imperious +gesture, and asked questions in some native tongue. As Gilby crept +carefully nearer, the man's appearance seemed to be familiar. He wore a +broad palm-leaf hat low down on his forehead, but as the firelight +leaped up the trader felt almost certain that he had before him Rideau's +headman. + +"If you lib for move a foot, I'll shoot you!" he shouted, pitching up +the gun. + +There was a murmur, apparently of relief, from the Kroos, and, though +Gilby afterward said he did not run, the stranger's figure grew less +distinct. It had almost vanished when he called again, and, receiving no +answer, pressed the trigger. A wisp of smoke blew into his eyes, he +heard the lead smash through the frail boarding of the shed; but though +he was a tolerable shot there was no other sound beyond the concussion +flung back from the palms above. Gilby, dashing forward, searched all +the surrounding bush before he returned to the Krooboys, having found +nothing. + +"What did them Ju-ju man lib for want?" he asked. + +"He done ask us how many boy them white man take, and when he lib for +bush, sah," answered a trembling negro. + +"I'll stop half your rations if the next time he comes one of you +doesn't lib for get out soffly, soffly, and tell me," said the trader. +"I'll also flog any boy who tells him what he wants to know!" + +"Were you trying to shoot yourself, Gilby?" asked Redmond, meeting him +at the foot of the stairway. "I'd try to hang out here on top as long as +possible, if I were you." + +"I was trying to shoot one of those confounded Ju-ju men, more fool me. +The beggar got away, and, though of course it was trickery, he did it +cleverly. I believe it was that brute of Rideau's." + +"Then it would have saved somebody a lot of trouble if you had held +straighter. Rideau doesn't usually make his movements plain, but it will +be unlucky for Maxwell if those two rascals are on his trail." + +Maxwell in the meantime was pushing north with feverish haste. He did +not know what had happened at the factory, but he feared many things, +and guessed that his rival would miss no opportunity to prevent his +joining hands with his comrade. Still, he could not forecast what his +plan would be, and could only redouble his precautions and make Amadu +solemnly promise to carry relief to the threatened camp if disaster +overtook him personally. Also he traveled very fast, for Maxwell +possessed the gift of getting the utmost out of his men, and because +news flies swiftly through the African bush, that perhaps accounted for +his being able to cover the distance he did before misfortune overtook +him. + +The rains had set in, when, with Amadu some paces behind him, he plodded +one day through thick jungle before his men. The deluge had ceased +during the last hour, but the narrow path ran water, while the cane, +which grew higher than a tall man's head on either side, shook down +drenching showers alike on soaked white man and naked negro. Belts of +thick steam drifted across it in places. There was no sound but the +splash of moisture and the fall of weary feet, but Maxwell, with his +pistol loose in its waterproof holster, marched the more cautiously. He +had faced numerous perils in his time, and had learned never to run an +unnecessary risk; and the jungle he traversed was particularly suitable +for an ambush. + +Amadu, who recognized this, also was vigilant, and swept the cane on +either side with searching eyes. He endeavored to persuade his master to +travel in his hammock; but unavailingly. Therefore he carried the long +Snider rifle with its breech well covered by his arm, and felt at times +with wet fingers for the hilt of the short, straight blade, which hung +at his side. He was a tolerable shot, but like most of the Moslem +tribesmen deadly with the steel. + +"These men march well," said Maxwell. "We should reach the camp within a +week if nothing hinders us. Tell them to spread out a little and keep +their matchets ready. The cane is getting thicker." + +Amadu moved backward along the plodding line, and when he turned to +rejoin his master, Maxwell was some distance in front of him. The path +twisted sharply round a thicker clump of cane, and suddenly Amadu caught +a glimpse of a tiny black patch among the dripping stems. Nevertheless, +he evinced no sign of notice until he was certain that the black strip +formed part of a human arm; and then he was called upon to make an +eventful decision. The dusky soldier of fortune knew that if an ambush +had been planted among the cane the lurking foe would, should both pass +apparently unobservant, hold their fire until, by a volley poured into +the main body, they could spread panic and cut the column in two. That +might mean the loss of many black men; but Amadu counted these as beasts +of burden in comparison with his master. He guessed that almost before +he could pitch up his rifle a poisoned arrow or a charge of ragged +potleg would strike down the white man. So he held on stolidly, with +dusky lips set tight, hoping that Maxwell might not see what he had +until the corner was passed. Then there might still be time to crawl in +upon the enemy from behind. + +Maxwell walked straight on until he turned and glanced over his +shoulder; then he shook the moisture from his jacket, and in doing so, +let his hand slip from its lower corner to his revolver holster. He +turned again, with death, as it were, suspended above his head; and +Amadu gasped as he approached the thicker clump of cane. There was now +no sign of an enemy's presence in all the jungle; only the splashing +and panting of the carriers behind. + +Suddenly the white man's hand swept out level with his shoulder, and +almost at the same instant a bright flash blazed from the cane. Then the +quick ringing of a rifle broke through the dull thud of the flintlock +and the pistol's second crack, and Maxwell, reeling a little, hurled +himself into the thicket. + +With a roar to those who followed, Amadu plunged in too, a score of +clamorous black men with naked blades hard behind, and was just in time +to spring upon a naked man who strove to clear an entangled foot from +the creeper withes. The short blade twice passed through him; and +wrenching it free with an exultant laugh, Amadu floundered on. For a +space he and his followers smashed through that strip of jungle, but +found only a smoking rifle and one flintlock gun; then calling off the +rest, he led them back to the path. Maxwell was sitting there in a pool +of water. + +"Send those boys back," he said thickly. "One of those brutes missed me, +the other did not. One can't always guess aright, Amadu, and I thought +there were at least a score of them." + +Amadu groaned. He could see that his master was hard stricken, for he +looked faint and cold, and did not usually converse with his +subordinates in that kind of English. Still, he understood the first +sentence, and drove the curious black men back beyond the corner before +he stooped over the speaker. Maxwell's face was distorted and clammy. +There was a stain on the side of his jacket, and it plainly cost him an +effort to speak. + +"Did you lib for chop them bush boy, Amadu?" + +"One of him, sah," was the grim answer. "He done leave them rifle." + +"Let me see," said Maxwell. "That is an old chassepot. Rideau had a +number of them. You don't quite follow? Well, you got the wrong man, +Amadu. Don't stand there, but slit up this jacket. Chop them doff piece +up the side of him." + +Amadu did it with the still wet blade, and groaned again when Maxwell, +turning his head a little, looked down at the slow, red trickle from his +right side, then passed his hand across his lips and nodded when he saw +what there was upon it. + +"Take them lil' silver bottle out of my pocket and pull the top off +him," he said very slowly; and when Amadu had done so he gulped down a +draught of lukewarm brandy before he spoke again. + +"I don't suppose it's much use, but you may as well take the knife +that's in the pocket, and feel if there's any potleg near the top. Well, +why don't you do it? You need not be frightened. It won't bleed +much--that way." + +Amadu shivered as he probed the wound. Maxwell's face grew grayer, and +after a downward glance out of half-closed eyes he shook his head and +stretched out one hand for more of the brandy. Then there was a heavy +silence for several minutes. + +"If I could lie still with ice to suck until somebody brought a surgeon +there might be a chance; but that's out of the question here," he said +in a rambling fashion, and then roused himself. "You don't understand. +Well, I'll try in the little I know of your own idiom. We have made two +great journeys together, but now it is written that I shall shortly set +out on a longer one alone, Amadu." + +Maxwell spoke thickly, but there was a wry smile on his lips as he +watched the big dark-skinned alien, who, rending his cotton robe, bound +a pad of wet leaves upon the injured side. + +"It is useless, Amadu." Maxwell coughed once or twice. "Listen. Because +of something you may remember you dare not fail me, and this is my word +to you. I made a promise which must be kept, and you will carry me to +the white man's camp before six days are over, alive or dead." + +Amadu looked eastward across the jungle, spread his palms outward, and +then bent his head. + +"By fire and salt, and the beard of the Prophet it shall be so," he said +in his own tongue. "And I would it may also be written that I shall +still follow my master should these dogs of bushmen meddle again." + +"Your master is one of the infidel," replied Maxwell. "Now see that none +of these others know what has overtaken me, and call up the hammock +men." + +Maxwell was leaning on Amadu's shoulder when the hammock appeared round +the bend, and none of the black men who lifted him into it guessed how +hard he had been hit; and the monotonous carrying chanty drowned the +groans he could not quite suppress. The heavens were opened as the march +began again, and the rain rushed down. It lashed the negroes' oily skins +until they tingled, the trail became a streamlet, and the mire in places +fouled them to the knee; but Amadu, having given his promise, saw to the +keeping of it with a terrible persistence, and they trudged on doggedly, +the dripping hammock always before them. As one worn-out bearer +stumbled another replaced him, and the march progressed until long after +darkness fell, and after a few hours' halt in drifting mist it began +again. + +So the long days and black nights passed. There were odd flashes of +sunlight, and once or twice the moon looked down; but between these +times the air was filled with the steam of the saturated earth or with a +rush of lukewarm water. + +Late one night, when the weary carriers lay camped for a brief rest in +thick forest, Maxwell beckoned Amadu. He lay in the slung hammock, a +lantern burning behind his head. + +"You will start in two hours. I must reach the camp before another night +comes. My time is short," he said. + +Amadu, looking down at him gravely, saw that the words were true; but he +strove to deny them in his own tongue. + +Maxwell smiled wearily, answering him in English beyond his complete +comprehension. + +"I have known many men of lighter tint I could part from more easily, +Amadu. If we reach the camp before another night comes you shall have my +big elephant gun." + +The dusky man stood upright. + +"I carried an Emir's standard. Will you bribe me with a gun to keep the +oath I swore?" + +Maxwell must have been in a state of torment about that time, but he was +in his own way a man of extravagant pride, and it was perhaps to deny +his weakness that he spoke again. + +"Yet it is a good gun," he said, with a trace of his old dryness. +"Once you will remember at over a hundred paces it drove a smooth +ball through a rash bushman's head. You could keep it in +remembrance--couldn't you?" + +The alien stooped and laid one of the thin hands on his own bent head, +then dropped it suddenly, for from somewhere far off a faint sound +scarcely more than audible trembled across the forest. Maxwell strove to +raise himself to listen, but before he could speak his lieutenant sprang +bolt upright, and his voice rang out. It was the sound of firing, and +even at that distance something warned the listeners that the quick beat +of it betokened modern rifles. + +The hammock-bearers, who feared their new master rather more than the +old, came up at the double; bundles were thrown hurriedly on to woolly +crowns; the tired men swung into line; and the little camp grew empty. + +Amadu, limping behind the hammock, laughed. + +"If it be the will of Allah, I shall see that big gun make even a bigger +hole in more than one heathen's head!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +RELIEF + + +Hilton Dane sat with a fouled rifle across his knees in an angle of the +stockade protecting what had been the hospital camp. It was, however, a +hospital no longer, for some of the sick had recovered, and the rest had +died. Dane considered that he might have saved more of them had he been +more skilled in medicine, but he had done his best according to his +abilities; and none of the poor wretches seemed to blame him. Still, +there were times when he felt like a murderer as some unfortunate +sufferer's eyes turned in his direction, beseeching help, and he could +do nothing but watch him die. They died, for the most part, as +apathetically as they had lived, the heathen with the uncomplaining +stolidity which had carried them through much hardship and cruelty, and +those who followed the prophet testifying that it was Allah's will. + +Dane remembered it all that morning as he looked round upon the remnant +left him, for it seemed hardly possible that any would see another day. +When the pestilence relaxed its grip he had resumed the mining, until +the tribesmen hemmed them in. Once the foe tried to storm the camp, and +failed so signally that beyond creeping up and firing into it, they had +not repeated the attempt until the preceding night, when a few succeeded +in passing the defenses. These, however, did not survive very long. On +the other hand, the garrison could not get out, and though they had no +lack of water, one cannot subsist upon fluid alone, and there was very +little else. + +The men lay about the stockade with their rusty guns beside them, the +negro, Bad Dollar, filing his matchet, as he did continually. The man +Dane called Monday, however, crouched close beside him. A curious +friendship had sprung up between the two, and they would talk long +together with mutual satisfaction, though neither of them fully +understood his companion. + +A ravine cut the camp off from the forest in the rear, and beyond the +front stockade the ground fell steeply to the river. There was forest +across it, but only the tops of the higher trees rose out of the mist +which shrouded all the plain below. + +"You tink Cappy Maxwell perhallups come to-day, sah?" asked Monday. + +"He will certainly come some day," Dane answered with a cheerfulness he +found it hard to assume. "It would be opportune if he came just now, +especially as he might be too late to-morrow. A miss is rather better +than a mile in the present case, but you let too many of your black +friends get in last night, Monday." + +The dusky man, for he was not a negro, looked up at the speaker +doubtfully and shook his head. + +"I no savvy all them palaver, sah, but Cappy Maxwell too much fine white +man. All them black boy tink each morning they go look him. Cappy +Maxwell say he lib for heah, and them boy believe him." + +Dane glanced at the dejected objects, even then staring down expectantly +into the drifting mist, then at the tally of days that would never be +wholly forgotten which he had scored on a post of the stockade. A +deeper notch marked each seventh, and after many calculations he had +gashed a few across to indicate the probable date of Maxwell's departure +from Little Mahu. The black men did not understand the meaning of those +scores and regarded the making of them as a religious ceremony, but Dane +fancied that Maxwell might understand if he reached the camp too late. +Then, perhaps because he was overwrought, he became conscious of an +extravagant pride in his friend. Those half-naked Africans had waited, +trusting in Maxwell's promise patiently and long, and trusting it +implicitly still. This, it seemed to him, was no small testimony. + +"I tink we look Cappy Maxwell one time, sah," Monday began again. + +"If he is alive, you will," Dane answered as sturdily. "Stop those boys' +chattering. Something is going on down yonder now." + +Monday stood up staring at the mist. + +"Them parrot scream, sah, and them monkey talk. I tink them dam bushmen +lib for come back again." + +"Then don't let your boys start shooting until they crawl close in," +Dane answered, with an indifference assumed to reassure the rest "Some +of those fellows can't hit anything with a gun, and you had better keep +a few as a standby in case they come in with a run. Let them wait until +the bushmen lib for climb the stockade, and then split their heads with +the matchets. You understand me?" + +Monday apparently did so, for he moved off with a grin which betokened +nothing pleasant for the bushmen; and Dane sat still with his eyes fixed +on the forest. Something was evidently happening, but the mist was +thick, and he could not see into its dim recesses. His few men were worn +down by hunger and continuous watching, and he feared that if the foe +pushed the attack with vigor they would certainly get in. There was no +doubt that the garrison would make a grim last stand if they did, but +that appeared at the best a poor consolation, and Dane became sensible +of a coldly murderous indignation against the bushmen. + +There was a crackle of undergrowth far below, then a sound as of men +splashing through the river which ran high and swollen; but Dane was +short of ammunition, and did not consider it advisable to fire blindly +into the mist. He felt himself quivering with suspense. Staring down the +steep face of the bluff, he waited, ready to drive a bullet through the +head of the first assailant who rose out of the vapor. Then the noise +ceased altogether, and the ensuing silence became maddening. How long +this lasted Dane could never tell, but he grew cold and hot by turns as +he waited, until a sound that was wholly unexpected became faintly +audible. It was not the rustle made by the passage of a stealthy foe, +but more resembled the approach of men marching in some order. While the +blood pulsed within him he saw that the camp boys glanced from him to +the vapor under the influence of an overwhelming excitement. But though +the sound came nearer, the mist, which was thicker than ever, still hid +all below, until a negro's head rose out of it, and Dane saw that he +carried a hammock pole. Then a wild shout went up, and Monday's yell +rang through all the rest: + +"Cappy Maxwell lib!" + +There was an end of all discipline. Weapons went down clattering, and +famishing men, who during many weary days had vainly scanned the +forest, poured out through the stockade gate and raced madly down the +slope to welcome those who had brought them the long expected help. For +a moment Dane stood stupidly still, almost too dazed to realize what had +come about, vacantly wondering how Maxwell had forced a passage without +firing a shot. Then the contagion seized him and, leaping down from the +stockade, he followed the rest. His perceptions were yet clouded by a +bewildering sense of relief, but it struck him that the hammock-bearers +came on in an ominous silence. When he reached them, Amadu looked at him +curiously, as though he would have spoken, but, brushing past, Dane tore +the wet matting aside. + +Then he stepped suddenly backward, breathless and aghast. Maxwell lay +huddled in a limp heap upon the drenched canvas, almost unrecognizable. +His face was distorted and shrunken, his jacket reddened in patches, and +his lips were cracked and black. His eyes had grown dim and glassy, and +when he spoke his very voice seemed changed. + +"Have I altered so much that you don't know me, comrade?" + +"You have brought us our lives, Carsluith, but God knows I would rather +have stayed on here forever than to see you come like this," said Dane. + +Maxwell moved a little, and there was the ghost of a smile in his +half-dosed eyes. + +"I really couldn't help it. I hardly think I shall trouble you long. A +bushman back in the forest shot me." + +"Don't!" Dane answered hoarsely. "It can't be so bad as that. I won't +believe it!" + +Maxwell let his hand fall into his comrade's palm as though to convince +him. + +"I am afraid it is. I have been holding on to my life +desperately--because I wanted to see you before I went," he said +brokenly. + +The touch of his clammy hand struck a cold chill through Dane, who, +turning abruptly, bade the hammock boys carry their burden with all +speed to the tent. What he saw there convinced him that Carsluith +Maxwell had made his last adventurous march, and that the best to be +hoped for him was a painless passing to his rest. Maxwell also knew it, +and though Dane could say nothing because of the choking sensation in +his throat, he looked up at him and nodded. + +"Hopeless, isn't it? This case is beyond your skill," he said faintly. +"We have been good comrades, but even the best partnership can't last +forever. Still, you might do what little you can, for there are things I +want to tell you." + +Dane went out to seek for his case of drugs, and just then, as if in +mockery, a blaze of sunshine beat down on clustering negroes and +rain-beaten camp. Swayed by a sudden gust of grief and passion, the man +shook his fist at the river and cursed what lay beneath it. It seemed to +his overwrought fancy that the stain of blood was on the gold, the blood +of the staunchest comrade any man ever starved or fought beside. Though +their friendship had been neither lengthy nor demonstrative, the +hardships and perils undergone had woven a bond between them that knit +them as close as brothers. Nevertheless, Dane had yet to learn all that +his comrade had done for him. + +Maxwell slept or lapsed into unconsciousness all afternoon, but he +revived a little by nightfall, and beckoned his comrade near him. The +night was black and hot. Because Dane had given stringent orders, no +negro's voice reached them, and they seemed utterly alone, hemmed in by +the darkness of Africa. Dane could hear only the river moan below, and +he found it necessary to cough huskily, for again, as he remembered one +other night when they sat there together filled with bright hopes for +the future, an obstruction gathered in his throat. Maxwell told him of +his journey, in a low, strained voice, halting for breath at frequent +intervals, and every word burned itself into the listener's memory. +Maxwell always put things vividly and tersely. + +"It was a wonderful march; but I have let you talk too much," said Dane, +when he concluded. "So it was by Lilian's help you fitted out the +expedition, and she rode all night across the mountains to warn +Chatterton. It was what one might have expected. God bless her!" + +"Amen," said Maxwell, with full solemnity. "The talking can't make much +difference now--I shall have a long rest to-morrow. There is still +something I must say, and even if I am blundering it seems best to +speak. We are very blind when we think we see most clearly, Hilton." + +Dane looked at the speaker with some bewilderment as he let his head +fall back on the matting, and lay still gasping. Five long minutes +passed before he spoke again. + +"Will you raise me a little, Hilton? My breath comes short." + +Dane slipped one arm beneath his shoulder before Maxwell continued. + +"It is strange that neither of us guessed; but all was for the best, +maybe. The knowledge might have severed our friendship--I hardly think +much more than that would part us now. Though twice I came near doing +so, I never told you that I asked Miss Chatterton to marry me." + +It was only by an effort that Dane held his arm motionless so that it +still supported the dying man. It seemed the strangest of all the +strange happenings that they two should have braved so much together for +the love of the same woman. + +Maxwell saw his blank surprise, and smiled feebly. + +"You asked Lilian Chatterton to marry you?" Dane repeated dazedly. + +"Very foolish of me, was it not? But there is no reason for such +surprise that I should desire it; and I promptly discovered my folly. I +also gathered there was somebody who might please her better. Now you +have the simple fact, but as there is an inference you must listen +still. How could I have guessed the truth--after what I saw at the +Hallows Brig? It appeared impossible to me that any man who had won Miss +Chatterton's approval could find pleasure in----" + +"Stop!" cried Dane, striving to hold his excitement in check. "You were +mistaken, Carsluith. It was only out of pity, and because the +imprisonment of her brother would bring destitution upon her, that I met +that girl." + +"I can take your word," Maxwell said quietly. "That was the one point +which troubled me. Strange, isn't it, that on my last night I should +talk in this fashion; but when one's grasp on material things grows +feeble the others assume their due value. Yes, I loved Lilian +Chatterton--as I love her still--though it was madness to think that +she, fresh and bright with innocent light-heartedness, could stoop to +mate with a somber man like me. But raise me a little. I can't see you +clearly, Hilton." + +Dane did as he was bidden, and Maxwell continued: + +"I want you to remember that it was my fault, Hilton. Miss Chatterton +never suspected until I spoke that night we passed you at Hallows Brig. +I had a suspicion you admired her before that time, but it vanished +completely then. You see how each trivial incident fitted in. She was +very gentle, but I knew her decision was final--and still I did not see +the truth." + +As Maxwell looked into his comrade's eyes a quiver ran through Dane. + +"I am bewildered, and it seems brutal to ask you questions now," he said +huskily. "But you have more to tell." + +Maxwell's eyes signified assent, but he paused to gather breath. + +"It is only because I am dying. Otherwise, you would never have heard +this from me, but it seems best for both that you should know. It was +naturally not for--my--sake Miss Chatterton made that midnight journey." + +Maxwell smiled wistfully as he let his head sink back again; and Dane, +drawing his arm away, said nothing for a few minutes. It was wonderful +news he had heard, but the price which had been paid for his safety was +unbearably heavy. + +"You are a very staunch friend--and this makes it the harder for me to +lose you. If only there was anything a man could do to prevent it! +Carsluith, rouse yourself! I can't lose you!" + +"It makes it the easier for me to go," said Maxwell. "If what I hope for +happens, you will always be kind to her, Hilton. Just moisten my lips +with the brandy." + +There was silence afterward, for Maxwell lay breathing unevenly with his +eyes closed, and Dane was swayed in turn by satisfaction and a crushing +sense of loss. He suffered from remorse as well. Maxwell dying had +revealed a side of his nature his comrade now knew he should have seen +manifested in his actions if not in his words. + +It was the sufferer who first spoke again. + +"It was Rideau who brought misfortune upon us from the beginning, and to +judge by the rifle the bushman left, he was the instigator of the last +attack." + +"May worse befall me if I do not repay him fully before I leave Africa!" +Dane said, solemnly. + +Maxwell appeared to smile as he had always done when his partner was +unusually emphatic. + +"He had excuses, Hilton, and I am past all desire for vengeance now. For +one thing he recognized the señorita's gift to you. Still, for the sake +of Miss Castro--and she promised to help me--I would advise you not to +let him go free to continue his persecution of Dom Pedro. We both owe +her a good deal, and I would like you, if possible, to tell her so. You +might add my respectful remembrance, too. There is yet another point. +Whatever my share of this gold may be, I bequeath it to you, with my +blessing, on condition that you send the boys back happy, with as much +cloth as they can carry, to wherever they came from. The poor devils +served us faithfully. When I have rested, I would like to see Amadu. +Then I think my work will be finished, and I can only await the summons +to answer for what I have failed in. It will come before sunrise, +Hilton." + +An hour passed slowly while Dane listened to the ticking of his watch; +then Maxwell opened his eyes again, and Dane beckoned to Amadu, who +stood waiting without. He came in, still wearing the straight blade +which had struck the murderer down, and stood like a bronze statue +beside his master. + +"I want to thank you for faithful service, Amadu," Maxwell said weakly. +"You shall have the gun--you have won it--and whatever else you wish +besides. We made two great journeys together, but I cannot take you with +me now." + +The big man bent until Maxwell's thin hand rested on his head. What they +said Dane failed to comprehend, but Amadu seemed to do him homage, and +when he rose, he moved slowly, with raised palms and head bent, backward +out of the tent. Then as Maxwell's eyes closed he crouched in the +entrance, with the steel, which caught the lamplight, lying naked across +his knee. + +"Often I lib for watch them white man so," he said softly. "No djinn or +devil go near him now." + +Maxwell said little further. He slept or lay unconscious for some time, +and then just smiled for a moment as his eyes rested on the grim +sentinel with the bronze limbs and raw blue draperies, guarding the +entrance. When he next roused himself he laid his chilly hand on one of +Dane's, and showed a faint sign of pleasure when his comrade's fingers +closed upon it. Once again he murmured, but it was rather by the +movements of his lips than by audible sound that Dane gathered the +message: + +"You will tell her I kept my promise." + +That was his last effort, for when the night was almost gone the fingers +which lay limp in Dane's grew rigid. Then Dane stood up stiffly, +desolate, knowing that the spirit of Carsluith Maxwell had passed to +find such rest as may be reserved for the souls of loyal gentlemen. But +the dust claims that which sprang from it quickly in that land, and the +comrade he left to mourn over him found his own endurance heavily taxed +before the aliens who had helped him at his task took up their stations +with weapons girt about them, a barbaric guard of honor, at the dead +man's head and feet. It was Amadu who strapped the big revolver by its +lanyard to his master's wrist, when, scattering a few of the +heavy-scented lily blossoms, Dane folded the tired hands. Then they kept +their vigil together, and it did not seem incongruous that dusky cattle +thief and soldier of fortune should watch beside the English adventurer. +Humanity is greater than color and creed, and it was as those who had +suffered together they did their dead due honor. + +The rain had ceased and a dazzling sunrise flamed across the forest when +Dane stooped for a last glance at Carsluith Maxwell. The pain had faded +from his face, and he lay in impressive serenity as one who rested with +his work well done. Then the lonely survivor went out into the +brightness of the morning with a grief that found no expression mingled +in his heart with the lust of vengeance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +ON TO THE COAST + + +Nature, untrammeled by human inventions, takes her own way swiftly in +the fever land, and the sun had hardly cleared the cottonwoods when Dane +found himself mechanically following a tattered hammock borne high on +the heads of dusky men. Though there was somber cloud above, dazzling +brightness beat into their set faces, and flashed on glistening blade +and long gun-barrel borne by those who marched behind. There was no word +spoken. Only the patter of naked feet and the jingle of steel broke +through the impressive hush, for that morning every leaf hung limp and +still. It was with all solemnity that Carsluith Maxwell set out on his +last journey. + +Dane halted by the eastern gate of the stockade, watching the black men +swing past him file by file; they were as strange a company as ever +followed a British gentleman to his grave--Moslem bandit, woolly haired +bush thief, stalwart, heathen Kroo, brown desperadoes who had fought the +French under the banner of the great Sultan, and two-legged beasts of +burden from the steaming swamps. Still, unstable and unreasoning, with +the light-heartedness of a child and the cruelty of a devil, as many +were, it gave the watcher a mournful pleasure to see that one and all +had come to pay respect to their dead leader; and he showed his wonder +when Amadu cried aloud, and the glinting flintlocks swung together, with +muzzles to the rear. Dane guessed that the dusky adventurer had not +learned to reverse arms in the service of any hinterland Emir. + +He followed, seeing as one walking in a dream, the sinuous line of sable +limbs and white and blue draperies wind on through deepening shadow. +When Amadu cried again, the moving figures fell apart on either hand, +and Dane was left with their leader and the bearers beside a shallow +trench, on which one shaft of sunlight fell. He cast his ragged hat down +on the sand, and in a voice which seemed to belong to some other person +recited such fragmentary portions of the last office as he could +remember. No one moved among all the silent company, but there was an +inarticulate murmur when at last the solemn words broke off. + +Dane remembered nothing further beyond the dull thud of shovels; his +eyesight seemed to fail him, until presently he found himself moving +dejectedly back to camp behind the straggling company. He must have +slept when he reached his tent, for the sun was low when Monday and +Amadu stood outside the entrance, calling him. When he rose wearily, +Amadu pointed to the groups of men waiting without. + +"Them boy lib for savvy what you do now, sah," he said in the coast +palaver. + +"I can't tell them just yet," Dane answered. "What do they wish +themselves?" + +It was a few moments before his meaning dawned upon Amadu, for the white +man felt too dazed to frame his thoughts in other than everyday English. + +"Them carrier bushmen lib for beach and go back to his own country one +time," said Amadu. "Say this country belong to the Ju-ju." + +No man could have blamed the carriers. They had in their own fashion +done their utmost, and Dane almost shared their opinion about the +locality; but he pointed to other men of lighter color and soldierly +aspect. + +"Do these want to lib for their own country one time, too?" he asked. + +Amadu laughed mirthlessly, and fingering the hilt of the straight blade +glanced at Monday, whose face was very grim, and the little negro, Bad +Dollar, crouching close by with a polished matchet in his hand. + +"They say they follow you if you be fit to hunt them Leopard or go chop +them dam Rideau." + +"They shall have an answer to-morrow," said Dane. "Monday, see there is +order in the camp. Tell them no man is fit to reach the coast himself, +and must wait until I go with him. There is something I want to ask you, +Amadu. What you did was well done, but who taught you how, when a white +soldier is buried, men carry the gun. Your master has gone, and I am +Cappy now." + +As it were mechanically, the big dusky alien closed his heels together, +while his hand went up to his ragged turban and fell again with a rigid +precision. + +"I had suspected it already," said Dane, half-aloud. "Sit down and tell +me about it. Monday, see no boy leaves the camp." + +The others disappeared, and Dane was glad when the man obeyed him. He +was respectful and intelligent, and Dane felt the need of company. It +seemed that the same feeling troubled Amadu. + +"The white man has guessed," he said, in a strangely mixed idiom. "I +carried an Emir's standard in the North, in the dry country where men +fear Allah, and there is corn and tobacco. My master mocked at the +Sultan, refusing his tribute, and the Sultan's horsemen came upon us +while we slept. They wore fine iron chain and carried the guns which +come south through the desert from where no man knows, but for an hour a +handful of us held the gate with the sword. Then when other gates went +down and the huts burned behind us, some one brought my master's horse, +and he rode out upon them. There were less than a score of us living +then, but we carried the standard almost through their midst, and when +my master went down, I and three others stood over him. The Sultan had +fewer men and horses when at last a gun-butt struck me down." + +Amadu flung his head up as he halted, and his eyes glittered when they +fastened on the listener's face. + +"The Sultan was served by men, and not by such as the heathen who follow +the little white man," he said. + +Dane could draw the intended inference, and when he nodded Amadu +appeared satisfied. + +"When I lay in the grass next morning only the wall remained of the +town," continued the dusky soldier of fortune. "There were sufficient +heads hung about it already, so I fled south to serve the White Queen, +as others of my people had done. We would follow the strongest, and knew +how the great Emir of the West had mocked the white men who do not speak +your tongue. So I came south and learned the drill, and wondered if the +English were mad when they sent a lad with the face of a woman to lead +us. There were twenty of us, all broken men who had lived by the sword, +and some laughed when for the first time our officer spoke to us. Others +answered him openly, and, perhaps not understanding all, he said no word +to them; but when one night four men returned carrying plunder they had +stolen from the heathen, and, mocking at his orders, threatened him, he +shot their leader. He stood alone before us, very slight and slender, +with the smoke of the pistol curling about him, and any one of those who +stood by could have crushed him with their hand; but we went back to our +huts when he told us, and henceforward obeyed him. + +"It happened that when time had passed, and we knew our officer, as he +knew us, we went up with him to chastise certain thieves, and came upon +a stockade across the path, with many men who carried guns behind it. +The sun hung low over the forest, and we feared treachery when one held +out a palm branch; but refusing to heed us, our officer went forward +alone to speak with the heathen. He stood as he used to stand, with one +hand on his side, so, holding in the other only a little cane, the +stockade ten paces from him, and we waiting, as he had bidden us, it may +be a hundred, behind him. A wise man would not have done so, but the one +who led us feared nothing. He spoke, and his voice came clear through +the shadow as he stood twisting his cane a little, one lonely white man +demanding submission from the heathen. Then a gun flashed, and he fell +forward on his face, and with a cry for vengeance we swept the stockade. +The heathen did not wait for the steel, and most of them escaped, for +darkness fell suddenly upon the forest. + +"We knew they would fly to the stronghold of a thief in the country of +the white men who speak a different tongue, where, when certain thieves +had done so, our leader might not follow; but when we had buried him we +made a plan, and swore to send many of the bushmen after him. The night +was far spent when we crept softly about the stockade of that heathen +village, but men drunk with palm wine made merry within, doubtless +boasting how they had slain our leader. It was one who had served the +Sultan, climbing the stockade, drove his bayonet through the watcher at +the gate, and no man saw us slip from hut to hut until we gathered +softly about the headman's house, where in honor of the strangers who +had killed a white man there was feasting. + +"Three we could count on held the door, the rest went in, and there +remained no one living when they came out again. Then we burned the +village, and I went back to the outpost of the next white Captain and +told him what we had done. He had eyes like the Captain Maxwell, and +listened very quietly, tapping with his fingers on the table--so--but +another white man whom I did not know, smote it, calling upon Allah in +the speech of the English. + +"Then the Captain looked hard at me, asking, 'You had no order?' + +"'No. He was our master, and those bush thieves killed him +treacherously,' I said boldly, and one white man nodded to the other. + +"'You were wise to speak the truth in this,' said the Captain. 'Your +master would never have given that order; but there are men who will not +believe the rest of your tale.' + +"'By salt and by fire,' I was answering, when he lifted his hand. + +"'I said there are men who will doubt you, and say you shot your leader. +Even if that is not so, you have killed many of our good friends' +people.' When he said this the listening white man laughed a little. +'Their nation will demand restitution, and it is possible the +Commissioner will hang you for what you did--which would not please me, +for you are a good soldier, Amadu. Now you must wait in prison until we +hear from him.' + +"Again the white man smiled, and I could not read all that was in the +Captain's face as he looked at me, but his friend spoke, in the speech +of the English, saying that if he did something he would be condemned. +So I was laid in prison, and stayed there several days, fearing greatly +that I, who had carried the Emir's standard, should hang like a common +bushman, until one night the comrade who brought me rations set down a +treble quantity. + +"'Am I to hang, a fat man, to please the white men who speak +differently?' I asked him, but he answered nothing. + +"It was near midnight when I heard the silver whistle, and a sound of +running feet, after some one called the guard. Now I did not wish to +hang, and Allah gave me understanding. The roof was of whitened iron, +but the door was not strong, and they had left me my rifle, which was +not usual. The door went down at the second blow, and no man saw me as I +fled for the bush, taking the rifle and three days' food with me. Still, +I knew it would not be well for me to remain in the country of the +English, and when no man would hire me, I took service with my last +master. Two I had were killed before him, but neither was his equal, +and I shall not find such another in all Africa--though my service is +not completed yet." + +Again there was a mutual understanding between the pair, and when Dane +nodded Amadu went out softly. The story had interested and also +encouraged him, for he knew he would not be left without a helper in +what he had still to do. Now that the numbness which followed the blow +had begun to pass, there was sufficient to occupy his attention, and +Dane never closed his eyes that night. The gold won would suffice to +cover the cost of the two expeditions, and leave a balance which would +enable him to launch his invention. Dane feared that, situated where the +mine was, no company could be induced to handle it. It appeared certain +that the climate, the sicknesses, and the hostility of the natives would +between them prevent any private adventurers from working it +successfully. Nothing could be done for some months at least, until the +rains had ceased; and before morning the one white man who knew the +river's secret had decided to keep it and send no more of his countrymen +to their deaths in the Leopards' country. At the best, the mine lay in +no-man's-land, and he had not even a black ruler's doubtful concession +for reckless speculators to operate upon. + +What Dane had seen and suffered had humbled his pride. Maxwell's last +news still thrilled him, and he determined he would do what might better +have been done earlier--ask the woman for whose sake he had pressed on +into that forest to wait until he had made further progress in his +legitimate profession. So far, the way was clear, but even before his +comrade left him a desire for vengeance had been growing stronger +within the survivor, and now a sullen fury filled the lonely man, who +had pledged himself to demand a full account for any breach of trust, +and had not hitherto failed his promise. + +At sunrise, leaving his tent unrefreshed, he called the men together and +addressed them first collectively. + +"I will take you all back to the coast, and you will receive more than +you bargained for when you get there," he said, rendering it, however, +into the seaboard tongue. "Still, as the bushmen may try to stop us on +the way, you will not start until you are rested, and I think you ready. +We may not go quite the shortest way, but no boy shall suffer for it who +serves me well." + +There was an approving shout when the listeners grasped his meaning, but +Dane called Amadu and Monday aside. + +"Before or after I take these boys to the coast, I have an account to +settle with Rideau. You will help me?" he said; and when he had made his +purpose plainer, a dozen of his special bodyguard came forward, +protesting their willingness to follow. + +They set to work at once, and there was much to be done. Arms required +to be stripped and oiled, loads packed for transport, and Dane drilled +his men an hour or two each day. A number of days passed before all was +ready, and then the combined forces looked fit for whatever they might +have to do; their leader recognized that the work might be arduous. + +It was early in the morning, and all waited for the word to march, when +Dane stood bareheaded beside a little cross on the bluff beyond the +camp. For a few moments his eyes grew misty as he glanced down at the +date and name he had painfully hacked upon it. He felt that he would +never meet the equal of the man who slept beneath. + +"Good-by, comrade. You will be long remembered," he murmured thickly; +then he solemnly recorded a vow that while Rideau went free and +unpunished his own affairs would wait. Dane owed the dead man a duty, +and he had taken upon himself a pledge which he meant to discharge +thoroughly. + +It was with as little parade of weapons as possible that the expedition +headed for the coast, for the men had their orders and Amadu saw they +were carried out. Those who carried matchets wore them hidden under +their cotton robes, while at times the rank and file were allowed to +straggle unchecked, with small semblance of discipline, in a drawn-out +line. The discipline, however, was there, and disaster would have +overtaken any bushmen who attempted to profit by the apparent lack of +it. Dane did not order defenses of any kind to be raised at night, and +generally had his tent pitched apart from the main camp; so that when +they had made wide detours through dense forest and reeking swamp, some +of the black men commenced to murmur as well as wonder at his +recklessness. Amadu, Monday, and the negro, Bad Dollar, with whom he +held long conferences, realized, however, that their leader was by no +means inconsistent, even if they did not know that he was to all intents +and purposes the victim of a monomania. + +When it was too late forever to tell him so, he realized what his fallen +comrade had been to him; and remembering how Maxwell reached the river +camp, it was with difficulty that he refrained from breaking out into +fits of baresark rage at the thought of their third partner's +treachery. The knowledge that it was necessary to pit an intelligence +unhampered by senseless fury against the enemy's cunning alone +restrained him; for he felt that Rideau, who had probably heard by this +time of his relief, even if he did not know it earlier, would strike +again to ensure his own personal safety. He had no lack of opportunity, +but, either by accident or by judgment, for long refused to fall into +the trap, however temptingly Dane baited it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AN EYE FOR AN EYE + + +The expedition wandered southward leisurely, and Dane grew more savagely +sullen as they passed dripping forest and foul morass in safety, until +at last he ordered his tent to be pitched one sunset, fully a hundred +yards from the camp. The light was failing when he stood outside it +looking about him with a curious suggestion of anticipation in his face. +They had reached the southern fringe of the Leopards' country, and +another week's march should place them in touch with French officials. +The forest was comparatively open, the cottonwoods growing well apart; +and gazing between the long rows of towering trunks streaked by blue +wood smoke, Dane could catch the shimmer of a sluggish creek. It was +deep and miry, and haunted, as he had seen, by huge saurians, but a +little produce evidently came down that way, for the bush path on either +side was connected by a native ferry. + +As he made a last survey the light died out; and his lamp was lighted +when Amadu, Monday, and Bad Dollar came softly into the tent. Dane stood +upright, but the rest crouched low among the cases, that they might not +reveal their presence on the illuminated canvas. Monday growled a +protest as he noticed how his master's figure was projected against it +by the light; but his comments fell unheeded, for there was a definite +purpose behind the white man's imprudence. + +"Again I found the footsteps," Amadu reported, using a mixture of +several tongues, as well as broken English. "The men who made them were +tired, and have doubtless followed us far. They will surely be satisfied +when they see us resting to-night." + +Monday grinned wickedly; Bad Dollar flung back his woolly head and broke +into a silent laugh; and Dane felt a thrill of satisfaction as he +glanced at the speaker. The four formed a curiously assorted company; +but one purpose dominated each of them equally, and the leader was +contented with his assistants. + +"One wore boots and trod in the soft places as no black man would," said +Amadu, reading the unspoken question in the white man's eyes. "Another +wore sandals, and went cunningly, as did the rest, walking as we do upon +our naked feet. Still, they left this behind them among the thorns." + +He held out what Dane was not surprised to see, a small tuft of +leopard's fur, and laughed harshly. + +"Ho, ho! We shall try whether they are devils with lead and steel!" + +"The ferry canoe?" asked Dane briefly; and Amadu nodded. + +"I go to see to it, and afterward it will need good witchcraft to find +it. If any one would go south in a hurry he must swim to-night." + +"There are crocodiles in that stream," smiled Dane. "You will take men +you can trust and hide them where the path winds down to the water, +Amadu. Monday, you will see that until I call, no boy leaves the camp, +but let them lie down with their matchets beside them. Bad Dollar will +wait with me; and I will borrow Cappy Maxwell's gun to-night, Amadu." + +Sitting low among the cases now, Dane made careful preparations for his +own share in the approaching tragedy. That it would prove one he felt +certain. He cleaned Maxwell's gun with a loving care, polishing the +inside of the barrel until it glistened, and touching each part of the +action with oil. The weapon was a heavy, single eight-bore, with a +rubber pad on the heel; part of this Dane cut away, leaving the steel +bare, because he knew that at close quarters the butt of a heavy gun may +prove as deadly as the muzzle. It was with a curious stirring of +recollections that he saw the dead man's initials cut into the elevated +rib, and because of them his face was the sterner as he laid down the +weapon. At short range in the darkness it was likely to prove more +formidable than any rifle, and--for Dane was wholly under the influence +of the monomania--his own safety counted for little if he could use it +with due effect. + +Presently he reloaded half a dozen cartridges with heavy B pellets, +crimping the wads down almost affectionately, and thrust one into the +chamber and the rest into his pocket. Never were cartridges filled with +greater care. Then he laid two of the colored lights Maxwell had brought +beside the tent door, made sure he could find them by feeling alone, and +placed a tin match-box in one pocket where it could be most quickly +grasped. + +At last all was ready, and Dane sat perched high on a deal case between +the lamp and the canvas for a while. Any one in the forest could, of +course, see him clearly; but though Dane expected his foes would strike +that night he did not fear a long-range shot. Rideau, he knew, must have +recognized that his late associate could lay a formidable complaint +before the authorities, who, regarding his inland journeys with +suspicion, would be glad to fasten any charge upon him, and perhaps +equally glad of an excuse to send an expedition up into the Leopards' +country. + +After lying for a time on the matting at one end of the tent, he rose +and turned the lamp out; the watching then was not cheerful, and it was +comforting to feel the weight of the big gun upon his knee. The last hum +of voices had died away in camp, the fires burned low, and except for an +occasional floundering beside the creek, the bush was strangely silent. +The darkness was now intense. The wild animals would await moonrise to +begin their hunting; what Dane expected would happen before then. He +could not see Bad Dollar, who crouched somewhere near the entrance of +the tent, though he heard his file grate softly upon a matchet, and +could picture him running a black thumb along the keen-edged blade at +every cessation. + +Confused memories crowded upon Dane, with Maxwell stalking through them +all. He saw him again, alert, indomitable, resourceful, quelling the +mutinous, cheering the dejected, and tending the sick. He saw him +gasping his life away in that very tent, with, regardless of his own +agony, words which would brighten all his partner's future upon his +lips; and again a gust of passion stirred the lonely man in every fiber. +It passed, and--for Dane was not for the time being wholly sane--left +behind it a coldly murderous resolution. + +Suddenly there was a touch upon his leg. Without a sound Bad Dollar had +wriggled toward him. Turning as silently as he could, Dane crawled to +the entrance, where he crouched with his right heel beneath him, behind +the drawn-back sheeting which hung slackly. It was so dark that he could +scarcely distinguish the nearest cottonwood; but though his ears failed +to localize any definite sound he became conscious of some danger +approaching. Under different circumstances Dane would have felt +distinctly uneasy, knowing, as he did, that the thick gloom sheltered +those who sought his life. Then, however, he feared only that he had not +accurately loaded the cartridge, or that the damp had spoiled the +fulminating mixture inside its cap; and his fingers were woodenly steady +as they tightened on the gun. + +He felt with one hand for the socket of the signal light and found it, +stretched out a foot and pressed it against Bad Dollar when he touched +him again warningly; and then the vague sensation of impending danger +grew into shape at a recognizable sound. Noiselessly almost, but not +quite, somebody or something was crawling toward the tent. + +Dane suspended his very respiration as he strained his eyes, and +listened. He could see nothing, and his ears seemed filled with a dull +throbbing, but in spite of this he could hear the faintest of rustlings +on two sides of the tent at once, and knew that, because no white man +could move in such a manner, his dusky enemies were coming. One seemed +to be making for the end of the tent, where his bed was spread; the +other was creeping toward the entrance to prevent the escape of the +victim in case his comrade failed at the first attempt. It was done with +so little noise that Dane found it hard to realize he had creatures of +flesh and blood to deal with, and not the malevolent devils the bushmen +believed in. Bad Dollar made no further movement, and Dane crouched +woodenly still, only sliding his forefinger inside the guard of the +trigger when at last a spray of leaves swished softly a few yards away. + +Then he heard somebody breathing close beside him, and knew that sudden +death stood hidden behind the slacker sheeting which began to roll back +very slowly; and yet, while the throbbing in his ears grew louder, he +remained impassive another few seconds. He had awaited that moment +patiently; and he meant to strike decisively, for his dead comrade's +sake. There was no light. The night was black and thick; but some sense +beside that of the optic nerve made it evident that part of the moving +sheeting was more rigid than the rest because it rested against human +flesh. Knowing that at the next move the assassin would fall over him, +Dane felt for that portion of the sheeting with the muzzle of the gun +while his forefinger contracted on the trigger. + +The barrel found something that yielded as he added the last ounce of +pressure; there was a detonation; the white man fell backward with his +eyes filled with smoke and two fingers gashed by the trigger guard; and +something that struggled convulsively fell upon the canvas and bore it +down. + +The tent collapsed behind Dane as he slipped from under it; but knowing +how the heavy B-shot would at that distance smash through bone and +muscle, he paid no more attention to this assailant. First he snapped +out the spent cartridge and crammed another home, then, striking a +match, touched the signal light. It smoldered for a moment, then a +column of blue fire swept aloft, and its radiance which beat athwart the +towering trunks showed a striking spectacle. + +Close behind the white man a shapeless heap of fur and black flesh lay +quivering upon the over-turned tent. Half-seen for a second a dim +figure, whose garments were not those of a native, vanished among the +remoter trunks. Men with weapons came flitting out of the shadows which +shrouded the camp; and about thirty yards away a monstrous object with +the head of a beast and the legs of a man was slinking toward a creeper +festoon. Dane flung the gun to his shoulder and fired as it ran, but the +glare of the light beat transversely along the barrel, blinding him. +Springing clear of the filmy smoke, he saw the second assailant was +still running, and he sprang forward without waiting to reload. The +light would last but a few more seconds. Still, the object moved at +twice his speed, and might have escaped but that as he blundered on, +choking in his haste, a diminutive figure ran forth to meet it, and the +beast flung an upper limb aloft. Dane saw the spear which had been meant +for his destruction draw back to stab; but the negro, Bad Dollar, sprang +sideways, and his broad matchet, long filed to a razor-edge, flared +under the last flicker of the light as he swung it round his head. Then +there was sudden darkness, a thud and a crash. + +Dane, guessing that Bad Dollar's matchet had bitten deep, and that his +carrier comrades would see his victim did not escape, turned at top-most +speed in the direction of the creek. Men came running behind him; but a +heavier sound was audible through the patter of their feet, and he knew +that one who was not barefooted fled for his life near ahead. He was +running fast, but Dane, flinging the gun down, knew that he was gaining, +and remembered that the man he sought would find his passage barred +across the creek. So they ran, straining every sinew in a desperate +race. Now and then one smashed through a thorn brake, or staggered, +catching his foot in a creeper vine, but neither went down, and the +gurgle of the creek grew nearer all the time. Dane raised his voice, and +though his cry was barely articulate it proved sufficient, and as +Amadu's hail came back in answer the footsteps before him grew slower, +and a tongue of flame shot up. + +So far there had been no miscarriage, and to furnish light for the +climax a torch had been kept ready by one of Amadu's men. It showed +first the group of grim black figures which guarded the narrow path to +the water through tall cane, and then a man in European dress who stood +still, gasping with fear and rage. + +It was Victor Rideau. + +"See that no boy fires on him unless he moves!" Dane made shift to cry; +and Rideau, turning, met him face to face. + +"I have expected you a long time," Dane said brokenly, for the race had +taxed his strength, and once more he was shaken by a fit of futile rage. +"Now I can't tell you how I regret we did not meet just five minutes +earlier." + +This was an adequate expression of the pursuer's feelings, for as his +enemy stood gazing about him in abject terror, Dane felt he could not +strike him down in cold blood, and he longed fiercely that he might be +provoked to some fresh violence. + +"Can you understand, you thief and midnight assassin, that there is not +enough room in this country for both of us?" + +"I comprehend nothing, camarade," Rideau answered calmly. "What would +you of me?" + +"Satisfaction!" Dane tried to choke down his fury. "There is a long +account between us, and we could have settled it with less difficulty +if you had had the courage of your confederates a few minutes ago. As it +is, you can choose between a dash for the forest and a volley as you go, +or a journey down to the coast in my custody. There you will be turned +over to the authorities. I reserve myself the privilege, if they do not +render you incapable of further mischief." + +Rideau laughed. + +"There I should denounce you for the plunder and killing of the +Indigene. The Administration has no charge against me. I am good friend +of the sous official, me. My friend, you are excite, and talk +foolishly." + +"If the chief of the Administration is a friend of yours, his own words +don't bear it out. I can substantiate quite sufficient against you; and +unless I'm greatly mistaken, the man with the cross on his forehead lies +riddled with big shot beside my tent. A number of my boys will swear to +his identity. In the meantime I have no further words to waste with you. +I intend to give the Administration the first opportunity for rewarding +you. It will be time for me to take further steps if they do not profit +by it as I think they will." + +Dane felt that he was weak; but even in his passion there were things he +could not do, and his enemy's helplessness was his protection. Also, he +knew that justice is tempered with discretion throughout much of that +country, and he hoped that if the Authorities suspected Rideau of +different offenses, but could not convict him, they would see that this +charge did not miscarry. + +The assumption of indifference faded from Rideau's face, and with a +swift glance over his shoulder he drew out his hand from under his +jacket. Dane afterward decided that he saw, what all the rest were too +intent to notice, that the torch was burning out; for with an evident +effort and a shrug of his shoulders he answered quietly. + +"La bas they laugh at you, and I make you pay. Alors, when I am impotent +I surrender to the force majeure." + +Dane, calling to Amadu, strode forward with the failing light upon him. +Unarmed as he was, this was distinctly foolish, and he might have paid +for his folly, for just before the negro dropped the torch Rideau flung +one hand up, and simultaneously with a thin flash something hummed past +the Briton's head. There was bewildering darkness, and Dane ran straight +in upon his enemy, or where he supposed him to be, determined in spite +of the pistol to end the feud there and then. Rideau, however, had +beaten him again, for the growth about the water-side began crackling, +and when some of Amadu's men fired into it, the sound did not cease, and +they only came near destroying their master, who plunged savagely +through the bending stems. + +He fell into a pit of slime, sinking to the waist, and lost precious +time floundering in its oozy grip before he dragged himself out. Then +there was further ooze with matted roots which fouled his feet, while a +sound behind him showed that the negroes were following. It was Amadu +who, when he had waded up to the shoulders and sought for room to swim, +dragged him backward by main force; and though Dane struggled, he was +held fast in a grasp against which he was powerless. + +"If the white man is alive he makes no sound," he said. "No man could +find him in this darkness, but perhaps they who crawl along the bottom +will. Still, when one brings the canoe up we will look for him." + +As his reason returned to him Dane realized that the search would be +useless. A hundred men might fail to find a fugitive who cowered +motionless amid the luxuriant aquatic growth, though, as Amadu had +suggested, the scaled inhabitants of the river would be less likely to +miss him. Still, when somebody brought up a canoe he encouraged them by +extravagant offers of cloth, and then turned back hurriedly toward the +camp. It would, while the confusion lasted, lie open to attack; and Dane +hoped that his enemy, if he succeeded in crossing the river, would leave +a trail behind him which could be followed on the morrow. + +Reaching his overturned tent he found a group of curious negroes +clustered about it, and because a fire had been lighted, there was light +to show that the huddled mass of fur and dusky skin lay where it had +fallen. The canvas was foul with half-coagulated stains whose color made +it unnecessary to inquire if the wound had been fatal. Dane had no +compunction. The man who had been slain when seeking his life with +devilish cunning was one of the league which had struck down his +comrade. Stooping with a shudder of disgust, he stripped the leopard's +fur from the face beneath, and was not surprised to see that a +cross-shaped scar on the forehead showed lividly. + +"Where is the other? There were two?" he asked; and it was with relief +that he saw Bad Dollar, whom he had forgotten, shamble toward him and +then turn beckoning. Dane followed the negro, who held high a blazing +brand, toward where another monstrous object lay full length among the +trampled undergrowth. The fur had fallen partly clear of the flesh +beneath, and he saw that Bad Dollar's matchet had done its work. + +"Come here, all of you," called Dane. "Tell them to look at this man's +neck, Monday, and say if they know the meaning of what there is about +it." + +Monday talked with some of the negroes, who, chattering excitedly, bent +with fear and hesitation, to examine the tattooed device. + +"Them boy say this yellow nigger and them other be big cappy among them +Leopard, sah," Monday interpreted. "That be the Ju-Ju mark, and no +common nigger done wear him, sah." + +"Cappy Maxwell was right again," said Dane. "Make me a bed in the camp +and burn that tent to-morrow, Monday. I could not sleep in it--and I +think until I leave this ghastly country I shall not sleep again. See to +the sentries and let the rest lie down while they can. We lib for go on +again with the sun." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE ESCAPE + + +Dane was mistaken when he said he could not sleep, for hardly had Amadu +returned to report his failure to find any trace of the fugitive than he +sank into deep slumber. This was not strange. He had lived for some time +under a constant strain, sleeping very little; and now that part at +least of his task was accomplished nature had her way. It was true that +Rideau had escaped him, but Dane believed that if he was alive they +might still overtake him. He decided that Rideau's life would no longer +be worth a day's purchase in the Leopards' country, and he would head at +once for the coast. + +Events proved him right, for when he opened his eyes the next morning +Amadu stood beside his couch to say that Rideau had left a trail it was +easy to follow across the creek, and that the boys were ready to march. +They started forthwith, and that was the beginning of a memorable chase. +Every indispensable pound of weight, including the weapons, was +ruthlessly flung away once they entered a settled country. The time for +food and sleep was cut down, and the camp boys, seeing that the road led +south toward the sea, vied with each other in their efforts to shorten +the journey. The forest rolled behind them, as did miles of dusty grass; +but the chase never slackened, and, for this region was populous, they +had news of the fugitive. One morning Dane reached a village he had +passed the previous night. At another they missed him by a few hours, +and found two lame men he had hired and left behind. + +Dane's own men had flung themselves down panting in the shade, but most +of them rose cheerfully in answer to his summons, while Monday used +forcible arguments to encourage the rest, and in ten minutes all were on +their way again. They lost the path in a morass, and at the next village +they found that Rideau had increased his lead; but Dane knew that they +were near the coast, and that he held his enemy between him and the sea. +So the chase went on, until they reached a native market on the banks of +a broad stream. A white man, so its ruler stated, had seized a canoe +there a few hours earlier. + +"Say dam low t'ief man done go chop one canoe and lib for get out like +the debbil down them river," explained a negro who seemed proud of his +linguistic abilities. + +"Tell your headman I'll pay twice its value for the best craft he has," +said Dane; and then consulted with his subordinates, for it was evident +that they must divide forces here. It was not more than three days' +journey to the coast, the headman said; and taking Amadu, Bad Dollar, +and six picked Krooboys with him in the big canoe, he left Monday to +follow with the rest to Little Mahu. Dane felt sorely tempted to leave +the gold with the headman, under guard, but thought better of it. + +The Kroos were skilled with the paddle, the canoe was long and fast, and +Dane's spirits rose as he felt the thin shell surge forward at every +sturdy stroke. All that day the dusky bodies, stripped to the costume +of Eden, swayed athwart his vision over the flashing blades, as he +stared forward with aching eyes down the long vista of dazzling water +that unrolled itself before him. Palms, cottonwoods, creeper festoons, +mud banks, fled astern. The temperature grew suffocating under the glare +of afternoon, but still the thudding paddles rose and fell, while froth +licked the bows and the paddling song rose in spasmodic gasps. At sunset +they met a big trade canoe toiling upstream; and, excited by promises of +rich reward, the crew roused themselves to fresh effort when its +helmsman told them that another craft with three men in it, one of whom +was dressed as a white man, had passed him an hour earlier. + +A full moon rose over the forest presently, and they pushed on across +stretches of glistening silver and breadths of inky gloom. The Kroos had +done gallantly, but they were only beings of flesh and blood, and their +strength was ebbing fast. One who had dropped his paddle lay idle in the +bows, another appeared to be choking, and fouled his comrade's blade, +while the paddles of the rest dipped at steadily increasing intervals; +so seeing that neither bribes nor threats could stir them, Dane +desisted, almost too hoarse to make his voice audible. His hands were +raw and bleeding where the haft of his paddle had eaten into them. The +stream, however, ran with them, and they still made headway, while he +strained his heavy eyes, expecting each moment to see a canoe ahead. + +Dane, however, even yet had not gaged his enemy's ingenuity. + +They ran the craft alongside the landing of a native village in another +hour or two, crawled out of her very stiffly, and were told by the +headman that two negroes had come ashore from a passing craft to +purchase food a little earlier, while a white man lay still in her +bottom. Dane concluded from this that the fugitive had slightly +increased his lead, and he was wondering whether he could by main force +get his boys on board again, or could engage a fresh crew, when a negro +who spoke English plucked his sleeve. + +"I go look them white men in canoe soffly, soffly. What you lib for dash +me if I tell you something, suh?" + +Dane had nothing left to offer as a present, and seizing the man by the +shoulder, shook him violently. + +"Tell me at once, and you shall have whatever you want if you will go to +Mahu for it," he said. + +The headman protested, but the negro only grinned when Dane slackened +his grip. + +"I not fool man, sah. The Lord he give me sense too much. You done dash +me them jackus you have on now." + +Dane's duck jacket was badly rent, but it was garnished with ornamental +metal buttons such as the black man loves. Tearing it off, he flung it +at the speaker. The heathen, finding himself successful, desired the +white man's trousers too; but this time Dane, disregarding the headman, +shook him savagely. + +"I go look them white man, sah. He was a black man in white man's +clofes." + +Dane stared at the man stupidly; and then clustering huts, red fires, +and wondering negroes, grew hazy before him, as choking with fury he saw +what had happened. Rideau had changed clothes with one of his +followers, and sending him on for the pursuers to follow, had landed +and vanished into the forest. It was of the first importance to decide +where he would make for. Mastering himself with an effort, Dane managed +to obtain some useful information from the headman. Mahu, being +partially sheltered, was the only port in that vicinity where any one +would be likely to find surf-boats, or canoes suitable for a coast trip, +he said; for the bar of the river they had descended was generally +impassable. It seemed hardly probable that Rideau would turn north again +without equipment or escort; and deciding that he would endeavor to +escape from the colony before the authorities heard his pursuer's story, +Dane determined to push on at once for Redmond's factory. His men, +however, were utterly worn out, and finally declined to drag themselves +a yard farther. Bad Dollar lay down, and was either unwilling or unable +to get up again; only Amadu remained unbeaten. Finally the headman was +prevailed upon to provide carriers, and Dane and Amadu were borne out of +the village in lurching hammocks. + +At first the motion of a hammock is soothing, but though very weary Dane +could not sleep. The boys marched well; but consumed with impatience, he +lay wide awake peering into the darkness, and striving to encourage them +to more determined effort. They ceased the carrying song from sheer lack +of breath, and the white man could hear them panting beneath him. The +sun rose, but there was no halt for rest; and the men were stumbling +when one shouted excitedly, and not far ahead low whitewashed buildings +rose dazzlingly against the sea. + +When the carriers halted in front of them, two traders whom Dane +recognized from Maxwell's description met him at the compound gate, and +stared wonderingly when, watching them with bloodshot eyes, the newcomer +told his name. + +"Where are the rest of you, and Maxwell?" asked Redmond. "You can't have +lost the whole of them; though there's no need to tell me something has +gone wrong. Few men come home from the back country looking as though +they had enjoyed the experience, but you're almost as bad as the last +one." + +"I have not enjoyed mine," Dane answered huskily; for he remembered with +what hopes and in whose company he had first marched from the sea, and +the contrast was bitter. "Maxwell has made his last journey." + +"Dead?" + +Dane nodded; and Gilby laid a hand on his shoulder with a gesture of +sympathy which touched him. + +"He was a wonderful man--but all the rest of them are not dead, too?" + +"We lost too many. The rest are following. I will try to tell you all in +good time. Has Rideau arrived here lately?" + +Gilby smiled dryly. + +"He has; and the way he did it coupled with your own appearance would +stir up any man's curiosity. Rideau came in dressed like a nigger this +morning, in the hottest hurry, saying he'd important business down the +coast, and offered me my own price for the loan of our big surf-boat to +go there in." + +"You didn't let him have it!" Dane gasped. + +"We don't often let business pass us; but I told him to go to perdition, +if he could find his way swimming." Gilby chuckled. "I also told him +several things that needn't be repeated." + +"Gilby never had any sense to spare," interjected his comrade. "He was +so proud of the speech he made that instead of warning the niggers not +to help him, he did nothing except tell me how he said it; and Rideau +got some fishermen to take him east in their canoe. They'll be well away +to leeward now. What did the brute do?" + +"Instigated my partner's murder, and twice attempted my own life," Dane +answered in breathless haste. "But I'm in no mood to waste time. Will +you hire me that surf-boat?" + +"If you want her to follow Rideau you shall have the boat for nothing, +and we'll both come along," said Redmond. "Gilby, get down to the beach +and see to the gear and crew. Meantime, you are coming straight into the +factory to get some food. Where is Rideau making for? That I don't know, +but he'll probably try to get on board the _Minella_ if he's afraid of +you. She's billed on a stopping trip for Lagos, but she'll edge close +round Twin Point Bluff, and he'll no doubt try to board her there. +There's a nice southwester blowing now, and under the big lugsail we +ought to overhaul the canoe before he does so. She can't have got far +until the breeze sprang up." + +Dane had eaten little of late, but the food forced upon him almost +choked him now; and leaving most of it untasted, he drank feverishly; +then finding himself almost too exhausted to pace the veranda, he flung +himself impatiently into a chair. + +"Will that boat never be ready?" he asked. + +"I'm hurrying her," replied Gilby, who also seemed impatient. "One +boy's sewing a new cloth in the sail, and as she's too big to paddle +far, we can't start until it's finished. She wants some pitch run into +her bilge seams, too, and won't be ready for an hour or longer. Still, +I'm hoping to overhaul Rideau early to-morrow--and he won't enjoy the +meeting, by the look of you." + +After some discussion Redmond reluctantly agreed to remain behind in +charge of the gold Dane brought down; and it was nearly dark when, +without shipping overmuch water, the surf-boat cleared the beach, and +with tall lugsail straining, lurched away eastward over the moonlit +swell. It was then that, lying in the stern to rest and gather strength +for what might yet be required of him, Dane told Gilby his detailed +story. He could afterward recall the intent face fixed upon him, the +crash of breakers throbbing through the haze that hid the shore, and the +listing craft's swift rise and fall. At the time, however, he was +conscious of nothing except that they were speeding east, and that the +trader assured him the slender native canoe dare carry very little sail +in such a strength of breeze. Gilby held the tiller, a big Krooboy sat +on the weather gunwale slacking off the lugsail sheet each time the boat +dipped her side to a stronger puff of breeze, and Amadu lay on the +weather floorings, deadly sick and groaning horribly, to the amusement +of the amphibious heathen. + +"It will be remembered that I have suffered these torments for my +master's sake," he said in a mixture of several tongues. "Still, once we +land I will beat the life out of some of these dogs." + +The craft traveled fast, for the off-shore breeze blew fresh abeam; and +though at times it lashed the waters into foam, the helmsman daringly +held on to the whole lugsail; and so at last, when the moon hung low in +the west, and pearly streaks brightened over her starboard bow, a tall +bluff loomed blackly through the haze ahead. + +"Twin Point," said Gilby, shaking the spray from his jacket. "I have +kept her well inshore for a purpose, but now we'll ease the sheet off. +We should see the canoe once we round the head. The _Minella_ can't be +far off by this time, either." + +Dane rose stiffly, but he could see little except the belts of thinning +haze which dimmed the waters ahead. He could hear the thunder of +breakers on the invisible foot of the cliff. The light was growing each +moment, the breeze dying fast, and presently the damp lugsail slatted +against the mast. + +"Get out your paddles!" ordered Gilby. + +The lugsail rustled down, the mast was lowered. Muscular black men +perched themselves on the gunwales, and the paddles beat the water, +while, when they had brought the head abeam, the mist rolled back, and +the red track of the sunrise streaked the heaving sea. A low, black blur +and a smear of smoke crawled athwart it; while nearer the shore, and +seen only when the surf-boat climbed the long undulations, a dusky +strip, with moving figures silhouetted against the radiant sea, lurched +toward the approaching steamer. + +"There he is!" Dane shouted. "Gilby, promise those boys anything if we +overtake him! Pull up your tiller and swing her farther off-shore! If we +pass out of hailing distance I shall miss the steamer." + +"You are right; and that's the _Minella_," was the answer. "Still, if +you wish to meet Mr. Rideau you had better let me arrange things for +you. We can see him out there, but he won't see us under the high bluff +as yet, and his boys don't seem to be killing themselves yonder. He'll +expect us coming up from the southwest, and that is why I edged in along +the shore. Besides, there's a nasty piece of stone lying off the False +Point which, as the stream sets strong over it, it's wiser to keep well +clear of." + +Straining his eyes, Dane could see the surf on the Twin promontory some +distance away; and while he watched it a long undulation outshore of it +was rent asunder and a column of foam rushed aloft. It dissipated into +filmy spray, and a dull roar reached the listeners faintly. The steep +swell of the southern ocean breaks heavily along the coast. + +"That's Sunk Reed," said Gilby. "A steam-boat went ashore there three +years ago and smashed most of her bottom out in less than five minutes. +Since then careful skippers coming round False Point haul out from +shore. By the way the _Minella_'s steering, it's not certain that either +Rideau or ourselves will catch her. Paddle, you black devils, paddle!" + +Dane fancied the boys were doing their utmost, but the progress they +made appeared distressfully slow. The steamer was rising higher all the +time, but thin haze still clung about the rocks, and the surf-boat +probably remained unseen against the towering background. The canoe also +was growing larger, and Dane could plainly see the sunken reef hurling +clouds of spray aloft ahead of her, for the flood-tide joining the usual +eastward current was setting strong across it. Presently a figure waving +a white cotton cloth rose upright in the craft and the paddles whirled +faster, but there was no answering hoot from the steamer's whistle. + +"The _Minella_'s deep, and her skipper wouldn't stop long for a +Colonial Governor when he has a full cargo on board," explained Gilby. +"It will be a tight fit to catch her; but we could head off Rideau, who +doesn't see us yet. I don't think his boys, being strangers, know how +far that reef runs out. Only the steeper seas break on the outer end of +it." + +"Head him off. Never mind the steamer," Dane said hoarsely. + +The boys made further efforts. Foam lapped about the bows, the splash of +paddles swelled into a resonant thudding, and Gilby pulled hard upon his +helm. + +"They see us at last!" + +Dane stood upright, cheering on the paddlers, who broke into a gasping +song, and both craft went flying across the swell; but as they edged +outshore it became evident that Rideau must pass the reef closely to +reach the steamer. Rolling heavily, she still came on, perhaps a mile +away, with unslackened speed. The spouting on the reef drew nearer, and +Dane's voice seemed to break up in his throat, for unless Rideau could +clear it during the next few minutes the pursuers felt sure of him. Dane +had no paddle, and there being nothing he could do, he stared forward, +moistening his parched lips with his tongue. Quickening a trifle, the +paddles flashed and fell, while the lurching hull leaped forward at +every impetus; but it seemed to the anxious man that she was merely +crawling over the flaming sea. + +"We have him!" gasped Gilby, with exultation in his tone. "If he holds +clear of the reef we have him safe! Hallo! Where is he going now? It's a +very odd chance he shoots through between the seas." + +Dane already had noticed that the outer end of the reef was marked only +by a swirl of water when the smaller seas passed. As Gilby spoke, the +canoe was turned straight toward it. + +"What that man can do we can. Follow him!" Dane cried; but Gilby +signaled to his crew, and they slackened their paddling. They were far +from timid, but they had not lost their reason. + +Twice the sea was rent apart ahead, and sheets of foam rushed up, while +the sound of its impact on the reef rang in a deafening crash. Then the +pursuit ended suddenly. + +"Are they mad, or turning on him?" gasped Gilby. + +A man flung in his paddle on board the craft ahead. The flash of a +pistol followed, but no sound was audible through the thunder of the +reef. Then a black form rose upright with paddle swung high, and a long +sea rose between the pursuers and the canoe. When it passed, the frail +craft floated bottom uppermost, and the reef hurled up a smother of foam +close ahead. Already several black heads were spread out across the +swell as the native crew swam for dear life to evade the danger. + +Gilby's boys stopped paddling altogether. + +"Go on! Rideau's clinging to the canoe!" shouted Dane. + +Gilby looked at the whirling spray, and then at his comrade. + +"It won't be in this world he'll answer for his offenses. She's drifting +straight across the reef, and nothing at that distance could cheat it." + +Dane struck the nearest negro. + +"Go on! Why don't you paddle? Gilby, where that man goes I follow!" + +The trader gripped him savagely by the arm. + +"He has escaped you. Keep still or I'll fell you with the tiller. Are +you mad? There, look yonder. That is the last of him." + +Staring out of eyes that but imperfectly recorded their impressions, +Dane saw the black hull of the canoe swing aloft on the crest of a sea +which rolled majestically toward the hidden barrier. The wall of water +broke up suddenly with a deafening roar, and a tremendous rush of foam +hurled itself aloft. When it fell, there was no sign of the canoe. + +"He has gone," said Gilby, in a curiously strained voice. "The niggers +will get ashore all right. You couldn't drown a beach man. Rideau will +be smashed out of recognition. Still, we'll paddle round to leeward and +make certain. Appolyon, you try to signal them 'teamer." + +When they slid round the other side of the barrier a shattered canoe +rocked bottom-uppermost on the confused welter, but there was no sign of +a human head; and when the blast of a whistle reached the searchers, the +surf-boat's bow was toward the steamer. + +"You had better go on with her and make an affidavit before the +Commandant, if they'll land you," advised Gilby. "I'll send in a written +statement and swear to it if they send a Commissioner. Meantime, we'll +keep your boys at the factory; and, in case we might want their +testimony, I'll take off Rideau's niggers too. Of course, we had no +intention of drowning him, but the way he shot that poor black +paddle-boy lessens one's regrets. Rideau was dangerous to his friends to +the last." + +Dane was ready to act upon any suggestion. Worn out, mentally and +physically alike, he could not think connectedly; and when, climbing +the lowered ladder, he was surrounded by a wondering group on the +steamer's deck, he turned from them savagely. + +"We are all curious," said the skipper. "What took place aboard the +canoe--mutiny, murder, or an outbreak of insanity?" + +"I can't tell you anything now; but if you will come ashore with me at +the next French station, where I must make a declaration, you shall hear +how the canoe was wrecked when I am able to tell it." + +"That will do," acquiesced the skipper. "You certainly don't look fit +for unnecessary talking now. Better turn in, and I'll send our doctor +along to you." + +Dane was glad to do so; but he had hardly flung himself down in his room +before the doctor came in. + +"I have been living under a constant strain during the last few months, +and have had very little sleep for weeks," he said. "Give me something +that will keep me from waking or thinking for twelve hours, if you have +it." + +The surgeon touched his wrist and laid a hand on his forehead. + +"So one would suppose," he replied; "but if the scene we just witnessed +was the climax of your adventures, I hardly think you will need a +sleeping draught. Nature is addicted to providing her own remedy. If +you'll take the dose I'll send you, you will probably wake up +considerably better. It will not contain narcotics." + +He went out, and Dane soon sank into deep, refreshing sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE HEART OF BONITA CASTRO + + +A puff of cool air streaming in through an open port roused the sleeper, +and he became conscious of a restful lift and swing. The hammock boys, +it seemed, had a good path beneath them and were traveling well. But the +swing was longer than that of any hammock, and a steady vibration, which +resembled no sound in the forest, recalled him to remembrance. He +recognized that it was made by pounding engines. The air that fanned him +was also fresh and invigorating, and Dane lay still again with a sense +of vast relief. The time of strain was over, and now for a space at +least he could rest. Dressing languidly, he went up on deck. + +The ocean gleamed, a great sheet of rippling silver, under the moon. +Clear stars burned above the mastheads, which swayed to and fro athwart +them, while the splash of tumbling waters and the sting of flung-up +spray seemed charged with healing. Lights shone in the smoking-room +windows, through which laughter and a murmur of voices came out, but +just then merriment would have jarred on Dane, and he leaned over the +rails, baring his head to the breeze, and trying to realize what had +happened to him. He felt that the shadow which had hung over him had +melted while he slept, and escaping from its baleful darkness, which had +obscured his mental vision, he had awakened sane. Then, though for the +sake of one who slept on a lonely bluff beyond the Leopards' country, +Dane did not regret what had been done, he shuddered, remembering the +one grim purpose which had dominated him. + +"We did not expect to see you yet," said the skipper, halting beside him +with the doctor. "Of course, we have had only one topic of +conversation." + +"What is the general opinion?" Dane asked indifferently. + +"My glass is an old one, but the mate has one of the latest inventions," +the skipper answered. "He declares it was the white man who upset the +canoe, and did it deliberately." + +"I should like to see the mate," exclaimed Dane. "If he is right it +would to some extent be a relief to me." + +"I haven't quite relinquished my authority yet," the doctor interposed. +"One might conclude it would be wise for you to give your mind a rest +from that particular subject. A good many things happen in this country +which it is well to forget; and there are signs that your load has been +as heavy as you are fit to carry." + +"It is good advice, if somewhat hard to profit by," said Dane; and the +two men turned away. The skipper's words, however, had removed his last +compunction. He had determined to deliver Rideau to justice, and not +planned to drown him, but if his enemy had preferred to take his own +life rather than stand a trial, the responsibility did not rest upon his +pursuer. + +Dane strolled forward out on to the reeling forecastle, and found the +swift passage of the ship through the moonlit water soothing. Ahead +there was neither reef nor shoal. She forged on, hurling aside each sea +which barred her way, straight toward a safe haven through open water. +It seemed a happy augury, and presently Dane retired tranquilly to sleep +again. + +Early the next morning the mate and the skipper went ashore with him at +a cluster of white-washed buildings, over the largest of which the +tricolor floated, and were courteously received by a little elderly +officer. His secretary took down the statements made by the captain and +mate, and when these had been sworn to, he quoted from a book before him +as he turned to Dane. + +"It sounds like a romance, but we have proof that Monsieur speaks the +truth," he said. "He will return to Petit Mahu with an official who will +examine the traders and the Indigene. Until his report is considered, +Monsieur will not leave this colony. In touching the gold, the signature +of this contract is undoubtedly that of Victor Rideau, and under the +terms of it his share is forfeit. Thus, subject to certain fees, +Monsieur retains possession. In regard to the position of the river he +decides to say nothing? It is not convenient that more white men lose +their lives in that country of the devil, or cause the bad understanding +with the Indigene. We have not yet open it for exploitation. Our +information describes it as barren, and without value, which Monsieur +will, I think, not contradict." + +Dane had little trouble with the authorities. A commendable absence of +useless formalities characterized all their dealings with him, and in a +very brief space he was free to leave the colony. His men had been paid +much more than they bargained for, and it was with genuine regret that +he took leave of the last of them; it was with difficulty that he +dissuaded Monday from accompanying him to England. The few Kroos +remaining at Mahu when he left paddled him off to his steamer; and +looking back from her deck, he could see Amadu's tall figure on the +beach. Redmond and Gilby came on board, and, dining there, celebrated +the parting so thoroughly that several seamen were needed to assist them +into their boat, while how any of the party ran the gauntlet of the surf +was more than Dane knew. They were not men of much refinement and had +their weaknesses, black and white alike; but he owed a good deal to the +sturdy heathen, while the two of paler color, instead of turning aside +from a distressed compatriot, had shown themselves ready to assist him +with a warm-hearted recklessness not always to be found among those +possessing a higher degree of culture. + +Dane had one task still before him; and it was a hot afternoon when he +called for the last time at Dom Pedro's factory. It seemed almost +strange that everything should remain as he had last seen it--the little +olive-faced gentleman lounging, cigarette in hand, against the veranda +balustrade, and Bonita and her sleepy aunt lying in deep chairs in the +shadow. In spite of the heat and sickness in that land, life goes +smoothly at an African factory run by men of Latin race. + +Dane was puzzled by something in Bonita's manner as she rose to meet +him. She showed little pleasure, but rather suppressed anxiety, and +looked past him toward the beach as though expecting somebody. Even Dom +Pedro seemed shaken out of his usual serenity, the señora's eyes were +open wide, and there was a silence after the opening courtesies. + +"It is with the great satisfaction we see you safe," said Dom Pedro, +though satisfaction was not what his voice most clearly expressed. "But +you bring us news? Two of you go up yonder, and there is a third who +follow. One only he comes back." + +Dane guessed that the speaker's anxiety chiefly concerned the third who +followed, and the implied question was the least difficult to answer. + +"I have news," he said. "The man who followed us was no friend of yours, +señorita?" + +Bonita Castro's lips curled scornfully. + +"No. I have little cause to be a friend of him." + +"He will harass you no longer. He is dead," said Dane. + +There was no pity, but rather pride and a still strained anxiety in the +girl's eyes. + +"It is as I told you, padre. The dog has failed in his treachery and the +Señor Maxwell has kill him." + +"No. He was drowned at sea." + +"It was not the Señor Maxwell who kill him? And the man with the cross +on his forehead?" + +"No," said Dane. "Rideau was drowned while trying to avoid me. The man +with the cross on his forehead is also dead. He twice attempted my +comrade's life, and I shot him one night when he was crawling toward my +tent." + +Bonita bent her head in a curious formal salutation. + +"Our felicitations, Don Ilton. And the Señor Maxwell?" + +Her voice grew a little deeper with the last question, and there was a +note in it which puzzled Dane, while she cast a swift glance toward the +second surf-boat lurching in shore from the anchored steamer. The man +hesitated before he answered. + +"He also is dead, señorita. He was treacherously murdered in the forest +beyond the Leopards' country." + +Amid all the memories Dane carried with him from Africa there were only +two which equaled in vividness that of the few following moments. The +girl stifled a half-articulate cry, and a heavy silence succeeded. Dom +Pedro grasped the rails hard with genuine consternation in his face; and +there was horror in the señora's expression. Bonita stood stiffly +upright, with lips turned suddenly bloodless and a look that astonished +Dane in her dilated eyes. Beyond that space of shadow there was dazzling +sunlight, and to emphasize the stillness on the veranda the hot air +vibrated with the roar of the sea. The girl appeared to choke for +breath. Understanding suddenly, Dane turned his eyes away. It was the +señora who spoke first. + +"All dead. _Reina de los angeles--ave!_" she murmured. + +Dane, looking round again, saw that Bonita was mistress of herself. It +was all clear now, and he admired as well as pitied her. Passionate, +vindictive, wayward as she was, the blow had stirred within her the +pride of her race, and it was with a queenly air she turned toward him. + +"The señor will pardon us if we give him pain, but he will tell us all. +Of Rideau's treachery, and--how his comrade fell." + +Dane fancied that he was the only one in the party who had guessed the +girl's secret; and he might not have done so but that sympathy quickened +his perceptions, for he also had loved Carsluith Maxwell. He felt that +it might be well for Bonita Castro if she heard everything, and he +roused himself to do his fallen comrade justice. Thus the dead man moved +an heroic figure through all the kaleidoscopic happenings. The rest, +black and brown, were lay figures, himself a puppet obeying the leader's +will; and, when the narrative concluded, Dane felt that if others now +knew his comrade as he had known him he was satisfied. Remembering what +he had seen he could, he fancied, read by the light of it what was +passing in Bonita Castro's mind. At times she listened with quivering +lips, then a moisture gathered in her eyes, which nevertheless glittered +with a curious pride, and he thought her superb when at last, with a +glance only, she thanked the bringer of the news. + +"He was all _caballero_, as you say, a very gallant gentleman. I will +pray for the sound rest of him," she said. + +Dom Pedro moved uneasily. + +"He was a man without principle this Rideau. With excuses to the señor, +I would my books examine, and try to figure of how much he rob me," he +said, and hurried away. + +Bonita followed, and Dane was left with her sleepy aunt who presently +astonished him. The señora, it appeared, was a lady of much keener +perceptions than he had imagined; and he understood why she told him +what had happened during Rideau's last visit to the factory. It was +evident that Dane owed his life in a measure to her niece. When she +concluded, the lady lapsed into a somnolent silence, which, if assumed, +was tactful, leaving the man, who was glad of a respite from +conversational effort, to digest the information. + +Dom Pedro had cargo for the steamer, and it was late when Dane said +good-by to Bonita on the moonlit veranda. It may have been due to the +silvery light, but she seemed to have changed, and Dane shrank a little +from meeting her. Bonita, however, spoke very quietly. + +"I have a confession to make," she said. "You have done much for my +father, and it is right that I tell you." + +"Please don't, señorita," Dane interposed; but the girl checked him. + +"You lost the Señor Maxwell's map here, and I, who found it, sold it +Rideau. It was the infamy, but the price was tempting--and I knew one of +you would kill him. You will try to forget the injury?" + +"I think I know why you did it, and I do not blame you," said Dane. "I +shall most clearly remember that, when I was sick, you saved my life for +me, as I think you did again when you helped my comrade to forestall +Rideau." + +Bonita smiled a little. + +"You are generous, but I would have it so. Then we are, as you say, the +equal. I have been able to help you. You give me my liberty. You sail +now for England, Don Ilton?" + +"Yes," said Dane; and again Bonita Castro astonished him. + +"She loves you?" she asked simply. + +The question was startling, and the man answered stupidly. + +"I hope so. I--I do not know." + +For a moment the swift laughter rose to the girl's eyes, but died in its +birth, and the movement of her hands that followed it stirred the man's +pity. + +"You do not know? I saw the picture, and it was for her you went up into +the Leopards' country. You are a strange people, Don Ilton--and the +Señor Maxwell, he was like you?" + +Dane afterward remained uncertain why he spoke as he did, but the words +framed themselves, as it were, without his volition. + +"No," he said; "nobody could compare me with Maxwell. Nor do I think I +have met many such as he; but when he was dying, he spoke much of you. +He told me you had promised to help us, and that he could trust you. It +was almost his last charge that I should tell you so." + +Dane knew by her swift grateful glance that Bonita Castro blessed him +for the speech. In impulsive southern fashion, she held out both hands +to him. + +"_Vaya con Dios_, and the good saints send you happiness! I think we +neither of us forget what has happened here, Don Ilton." + +The last words ended in something like a sob, and Dane, who could think +of no fitting words to say, only crushed the little hot hands in his own +and swung his hat low as he turned away. Dom Pedro walked to the +surf-boat with him, but Dane scarcely heard what he said, for his +thoughts were centered on the girl, who stood, a pathetic figure, gazing +after him from the moonlit veranda. + +The Krooboys were slow to reach the steamer, but Dane was the better +pleased, for he hardly felt equal to facing the questions or the +badinage of her passengers just then. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +REWARDED + + +It was a sunny afternoon when the little West Coast mailboat's engines +ceased their throbbing off the mole of Santa Cruz, Teneriffe. Clear +skies had hung over her as she rolled northward in no great hurry, and +the fresh breezes which curl the sparkling sea between Morocco and the +fever coast had brought new life to her sickly passengers. Dane felt his +heart grow lighter as each league of deep blue water rolled astern, and +the shadow of the dark land had almost fallen from him when the Canaries +rose out of the sea. He had youth on his side, besides a comparatively +clean conscience and a sound constitution; and a little chest consigned +by him to a British bank was locked in the steamer's specie room. Though +he would gladly have flung its contents into the sea to undo the past, +regrets were futile. So, with a courage which sprang rather from +humility than pride, he had determined to ask Lilian Chatterton to +either share his struggles or await his prosperity. + +The long black mole slid past, the bows forged more slowly through the +crystal brine, and the harbor opened up. Even before the yellow flag +fluttered aloft, boats by the dozen shot out from the lava steps, and +Dane eagerly scanned the faces of their occupants. They were fruit +peddlers, shipping and coaling clerks, and he sighed with disappointment +as he next swept his eyes along the mole. Nobody among the loungers +there raised a hat or a handkerchief. + +"Expecting friends?" asked the purser, halting beside him. + +"I was," Dane answered dejectedly. "Although I cabled from the Coast, I +don't see them." + +"I wouldn't count too much on that," smiled the purser. "Nobody is very +particular in Spanish possessions, and it's quite possible they lost +your message or couldn't decipher the English name. We shall fill up +here with tourists, and if you are going home with us you must let me +know." + +"I can't tell you now," Dane said. "It depends on what I hear ashore." + +"Well, I won't keep a berth for you." + +He left Dane troubled when he turned away, for he had certainly expected +Chatterton to welcome him and he had counted the days until he could ask +Lilian an eventful question. He had hoped also that the cable message +would have prepared them for his tidings; he shrank from again appearing +unexpectedly as the bearer of tragic news. There was no time to be lost, +however, and he went ashore in the first boat. Strange faces looked down +at him from the mole, and no friendly voice was raised in greeting; and +further annoyance awaited him when he hurried into the hotel. + +Mr. Chatterton and family had stayed there for a time, but had left, the +major-domo said. He thought they had gone to Madeira, but they might +have sailed for England, or anywhere. It was not his business to ask +where any Englishman wandered to, but the clerk might know. The clerk, +it appeared, was out, and might not be back for an hour or so, but the +major-domo suggested that in the meantime something might be gathered +by an examination of the visitors' letters in his office. He showed Dane +where the office was, and then shrugged his shoulders. + +"What pity! Ramon he have lock the door," he said. + +"That's a very small obstacle," answered Dane. "Nobody else has a key, I +suppose, so I'm going to get in through the window, and I will most +certainly break it if he has fastened that up, too." + +There were murmurs of protest, and Dane fancied that half the staff +gathered in the hall and watched him endeavor to wrench the sash out by +main force. When he had almost accomplished it, somebody suggested that +when Ramon locked the front door he usually left one at the side open. +It was a characteristic example of how things are managed in Latin +countries; and the next minute Dane was busy turning over a bundle of +letters in the office. There were several for Thomas and Mrs. +Chatterton, and the sight of them filled him with satisfaction. Then his +eye was caught by his own name on the top of two envelopes reforwarded +to Chatterton, and after a swift glance at the embossed name on the +back, he tore the first open. + +It was from a celebrated engineering firm, and his blood pulsed faster +as he read it: + +"Although when you last called upon us we could not quite see our way to +do so on the terms you mentioned, we are now prepared to undertake the +manufacture and sale of your invention on the following conditions." + +Dane saw that the conditions were as favorable as any non-capitalist +inventor could expect, but he felt that the gold he had sent home would +help him to improve them; and it was with a thrill of satisfaction that +he opened the second letter. This was from his last employers, offering +him reasonable remuneration if he would undertake the supervision of the +machines and bridge work they were sending out to execute an important +railroad-building contract abroad. + +Here was one difficulty removed, at least. Dane hastened to the cable +offices, and felt a great contentment when his messages were on the +wires. His prospects were improving, and it was encouraging to know he +would not pose as a wholly indigent suitor. When he reached the hotel +once more, the clerk had returned, and informed him that Mr. Chatterton +and family had retired for the sake of coolness to Laguna, five or six +miles away. + +Dane procured a horse, and within the next few minutes he was urging it +at its best pace up the steep hillside. The horse, as it happened, was a +good one, and its rider's spirits rose higher as each mile went by. It +was a fine evening, and to one fresh from the enervating heat of Africa, +there was a wonderful buoyancy in the cool air that came down from the +cordillera. It was a refreshing change to see the merry brown faces of +the peasants who saluted him as he passed, and hear the laughter of the +mule drivers as their climbing teams dropped behind. Dane had almost +forgotten the dark land when the white walls of drowsy Laguna rose to +view. The loungers in the plaza knew the Englishman Dane inquired for, +and one of them preceded him down a narrow street with a dignified +leisureliness which even the sight of a dollar failed to dissipate, and +finally halted outside a high-walled garden doubtless laid out by some +Castilian conquistador four centuries ago. + +Dane swung himself from the saddle before a door ornamented by a +beautiful bronze bell handle, and spent two minutes pulling the bell +vigorously. There was no answer nor any sound within, and remembering +that it did not necessarily follow that the handle had a wire attached, +he stepped back into the roadway and flung himself against the barrier. +A hasp of some kind yielded, and he staggered forward into the garden. +The sun was dipping behind the cordillera, but its red light beat into +his eyes, and at first he could see only a row of crimson oleanders +stretching away before him. Their fragrance and the scent of heliotrope +was heavy within his nostrils. Passing through the shadow of an +orange-tree he made out a white wall garlanded by blue bougainvillea, +and halted at the sound of a startled voice as his eyes fell upon the +group on the terrace beneath it. + +Thomas Chatterton had flung his chair back, and stood up with a flushed +face, speaking excitedly. His niece also had risen, and her gaze was +fixed upon the man who came hurriedly out of the shadow of the tree. She +was silent, but Dane read in her eyes that which set his heart beating, +and for a second or two he saw only the dainty figure and the smiling +face turned toward his own. + +The elation suddenly died out within him, and it was by an effort that +he moved forward, for there was a third in the party. A man with +iron-gray hair stood a little apart from the rest, and while each of his +companions showed that they rejoiced to see the new arrival, he was +gazing fixedly at the open door behind him. Dane saw that it was +Brandram Maxwell of Culmeny, and knew why he watched the door. + +"This is even more than we hoped for, Hilton, though we have all been +anxiously waiting for news of you," said Chatterton. "Thank Heaven you +are safe anyway. Worth a good many dead men, isn't he, Lilian? She knew +Maxwell would bring you out; and when I grew anxious her confidence +reassured me. But why didn't you cable--and where is Maxwell?" + +Dane disregarded the last question, for Lilian laid her hand in his. He +was not certain what she said, but her eyes were shining under the +half-closed lashes in a fashion that was eloquent enough. Still Dane +could not linger to wonder what, if they were fully opened, he might see +within them, for Chatterton repeated his question. + +"Where have you left Carsluith. Did he not come up with you from Santa +Cruz?" + +"No," Dane answered, and his voice shook a little. "Did you receive my +cable?" + +"We did not," said Chatterton. "What has gone wrong, Hilton. Speak out, +man!" + +Lilian, guided by some womanly instinct, laid her hand warningly on the +speaker's arm, and Dane nerved himself for the hardest task of all, as +the owner of Culmeny, moving forward, stood close beside him. He was +very much like what Dane's dead comrade had been--wiry, spare, and grim. +The drooping gray moustache matched the pallor of his face; but his eyes +were steady and keen, and only a deepening of the lines about them +betrayed his anxiety. + +"I fear you bring bad news," he said. + +"I do," Dane answered as steadily as he could, though the older man's +composure rendered his task even harder than a sign of weakness would +have done. "I had hoped the cable I sent might have prepared you--and +now I hardly know how to tell you." + +It was just possible to see that a tremor ran through Maxwell and his +lean hand closed a little more firmly than was needful on the back of a +chair. + +"Brevity is best. Disaster has overtaken him?" + +"Yes." + +The owner of Culmeny looked him full in the eyes, and it was some time +before Dane could shake off the memory of that gaze. + +"It is the worst--he is dead?" he said; and Dane mutely bent his head. + +Brandram Maxwell's fingers trembled, and for a moment he looked at the +ground; then he spoke very quietly: + +"I feared this when I saw he was not with you. Tell me how it happened. +It is not the first shrewd blow fate has dealt me." + +Chatterton and Lilian would have turned away, but Maxwell beckoned them +to remain. + +"No. We have grown to be good friends, and I should like you to hear it, +too," he said, looking toward Lilian. "There will be no cause for any +one who knew my son to blush at this story. It will be a kindness if you +hide nothing, Hilton." + +Dane afterward wondered how he got through that recital. At the +beginning speech seemed to fail him, but one listener's spirit infected +him as he proceeded, and pride was mingled with the man's grief, for +what he had seen in Bonita Castro's face he read in that of the owner of +Culmeny. It was dark when he concluded: + +"I can tell you nothing more, sir, and, though God knows it is the +truth, it is useless to say that I would willingly have staked my own +life on the chance of saving him." + +Lilian appeared to be crying softly, and Chatterton troubled with +something in his throat, for he coughed several times vigorously, but +Maxwell held out his hand to Dane. + +"I believe you would. You were his friend," he said, still with a +startling quietness. "You did your best for my dead son, and no man dare +blame you. It is a brave story, and I am not ashamed of his end. It was +in accordance with the traditions of an unfortunate family. But you will +excuse me. I am getting an old man and weaker in the fiber than I used +to be." + +He turned away, holding himself stiffly erect, and Chatterton laid a +heavy grasp on Dane's shoulder. + +"Well done, Hilton. If you had not chased that damned rascal to his +death I'd have sent you back with another expedition to take up the hunt +again. I am sorry for Culmeny. He was fonder of Carsluith than anything +else under heaven, and you saw how he took the blow. Well, I won my own +place, and went through the fire for it, but the brand Culmeny wears is +what I could never attain to. They were alike, both of them, and it will +be a long time before we find their equal. Perhaps I had better follow +and try to comfort him." + +It struck Dane that Thomas Chatterton, though not lacking in sympathy, +would hardly make a tactful comforter, but he did not say so, and Lilian +seemed content to let him go. + +"You are not sorry to see me, Lilian?" asked Dane, taking one of the +girl's hands into his own, for her cheeks were damp yet, and bending, he +caught her answer. + +"No, but I was shocked. Hilton, I felt that when he went out to save you +he knew he was going to his death, and I--I let him go." + +"Even you could not have turned him aside," said Dane. + +"I--right or wrong--I did not try." + +"He was a better man than I am," declared Dane. "But it is fortunate +that there are women who can be content with less than the best, and +make up the deficiencies themselves. Will you listen to a little tale, +one which is rather amusing than somber?" + +"Is it about the poacher? If so, you need not tell me. You must also +take the confession I ought to make for granted. You were always a +blunderer, Hilton." + +"I dare say I was," Dane answered, laying his hand on the girl's +shoulder in a masterful fashion. "And my last adventure was perhaps the +maddest freak of all; but that is beside the question. I once made a +very vague arrangement with you, though you kindly said we understood +each other. Now, I must ask you, do you wish that understanding to +continue. If so, the only way for me to keep it would be to go back to +Africa. A steamer sails to-morrow." + +"No," the girl said shyly, then lifted her head and glanced at her +companion. "I dare not send you back to that hateful country, Hilton." + +There was no need for further speech. Dane knew that he had won at last. + + +THE END + + + + +Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original text have been corrected. + +In Chapter IV, "You need not be. unless you are fond of poverty" was +changed to "You need not be, unless you are fond of poverty", and a +comma was added after "That same, sir". + +In Chapter VI, a period was added after "the power of lucid speech +deserted him". + +In Chapter IX, "Your sister, persumably" was changed to "Your sister, +presumably". + +In Chapter XI, "at sunrise tomorrow" was changed to "at sunrise +to-morrow", and a comma was changed to a period after "until I was +certain". + +In Chapter XII, a comma was removed from "the footsore, and spiritless +carriers". + +In Chapter XV, "prospecting for Niven'st gold" was changed to +"prospecting for Niven's gold", and a comma was added after "I think one +of you will". + +In Chapter XVI, "unpleasnt frame of mind" was changed to "unpleasant +frame of mind", and "snuggly curtained room" was changed to "snugly +curtained room". + +In Chapter XVII, "which suprised the listener" was changed to "which +surprised the listener", and a period was added after "said Lilian +sharply". + +In Chapter XXII, a period was added after "the white men who do not +speak your tongue". + +In Chapter XXIII, "Dane ran straight in upon his emeny" was changed to +"Dane ran straight in upon his enemy". + +In Chapter XXIV, "out in less then five minutes" was changed to "out in +less than five minutes", and "the scene we just witnessesd" was changed +to "the scene we just witnessed". + +In Chapter XXV, "Reina de los anegles" was changed to "Reina de los +angeles". + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The League of the Leopard, by Harold Bindloss + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD *** + +***** This file should be named 36804-8.txt or 36804-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/8/0/36804/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/36804-0.zip b/36804-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..63069de --- /dev/null +++ b/36804-0.zip diff --git a/36804-8.txt b/36804-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e19cfcc --- /dev/null +++ b/36804-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10540 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The League of the Leopard, by Harold Bindloss + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The League of the Leopard + +Author: Harold Bindloss + +Illustrator: Carlton Glidden + +Release Date: July 21, 2011 [EBook #36804] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD + +HAROLD BINDLOSS + + + + +[Illustration: "AT DAWN THEY WERE STILL RIDING"--_Page 230_] + + + + +THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD + +BY HAROLD BINDLOSS + +AUTHOR OF "PRESCOTT OF SASKATCHEWAN," "THE LONG +PORTAGE," "RANCHING FOR SYLVIA," ETC. + +WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR +BY CARLTON GLIDDEN + +[Illustration] + +NEW YORK + +FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY +PUBLISHERS + +_June, 1914_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + Chap. Page + I. A DANGEROUS BEQUEST 1 + II. AN UNDERSTANDING 15 + III. AT THE ELBOW POOL 30 + IV. THE POACHER 43 + V. THE TRYST AT HALLOWS BRIG 56 + VI. DANE'S SILENCE 71 + VII. A WARNING 85 + VIII. TREACHERY 96 + IX. TEMPTATION 110 + X. RIDEAU'S BARGAIN 125 + XI. THE TRAIL OF THE LEOPARD 137 + XII. WEALTH IN SIGHT 149 + XIII. PESTILENCE 163 + XIV. AN EVENTFUL DECISION 177 + XV. THE BOARDING OF THE KABUNDA 189 + XVI. ILLUMINATION 202 + XVII. IN NEED OF HELP 214 + XVIII. MAXWELL'S CONFIDENCE 227 + XIX. THE DANGEROUS SEÑORITA 240 + XX. MAXWELL'S LAST MARCH 251 + XXI. RELIEF 262 + XXII. ON TO THE COAST 274 + XXIII. AN EYE FOR AN EYE 285 + XXIV. THE ESCAPE 297 + XXV. THE HEART OF BONITA CASTRO 311 + XXVI. REWARDED 320 + + + + +THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A DANGEROUS BEQUEST + + +It was very hot in the little West African factory where trader Niven +lay dying. The sea breeze had died away, and though sunset drew near, it +was not yet time for the spicy airs from the inland forest to mitigate +the temperature. The dust lay still in the sun-scorched compound, about +which the palm fronds hung motionless, and only the roar of breakers on +the beach broke through the drowsy silence. + +Two white men lounged in cane chairs upon the veranda which encircled +the building. Both were limp, gaunt of frame, and pallid in face, +because the climate they lived in is particularly unhealthy. Neither had +enjoyed much education, or felt the lack of it in the trade they +followed, while the cocktail jug on the little table betokened their +favorite relaxation. Redmond and Gilby were West Coast traders who lived +far remote from intercourse with their fellows, except for the two +French rivals with whom they periodically quarreled. They concerned +themselves with little beyond the well-being of their factory, and +indulged each appetite on opportunity, knowing that on the morrow they +might suddenly die. Yet they had their strong points, including a +tenacious regard for their employers' interests, which led them to toil +twelve hours daily when sick of fever if trade was good, and sometimes +defy the French authorities, and an inconsistent generosity, as the +result of which they had camped in the store shed, and turned over their +own quarters to the man who stood behind them, and his stricken +companion. The former was of very different type. + +"You have done your best for the poor devil," said Redmond, glancing +regretfully from him toward the empty jug. "But if I know anything about +coast fever--and I ought to--Niven will get his release to-night. Still +rambling about that fortune, I suppose?" + +Carsluith Maxwell nodded, and Gilby commented meditatively: "It may be +all a fever fancy, and it may be true. Niven was well known in this +afflicted colony years ago, and there is gold up yonder. In fact, right +away from here to the Volta you can find the color in the rivers, but +there's very little of it that will pay for the washing, and few British +mining companies that distribute much in dividends. Still, the old +Portuguese took a good deal out, if the tales are true, and one gets +small lots now and then put up in quills." + +Redmond laughed maliciously. + +"The last quills Gilby took in contained brass filings, and the firm +wrote off their nominal value against our commission. Gilby had been +drinking cocktails all that day. He may be right about the gold, but +it's my firm opinion that unless the French send up a strong column and +root out the Leopards, no white man will ever find it. You have heard +about them, Maxwell?" + +Maxwell was a man of discretion, and though he had ventured beyond the +fringe of the Leopards' country, he only said: + +"I don't know much about them. Do you?" + +"He does not," said Gilby. "Neither does any white man; unless perhaps +it's Rideau, or Niven. They are supposed to be members of one of the +secret leagues run by the bush magicians in connection with the cult of +the Ju-Ju; and if you want to know just what kind of devil a Ju-Ju is, +you need not ask me. Anyway, from what one hears, those fellows can't be +all impostors. They could apparently give our amateur necromancers +points in hypnotism, and what they don't know about poisons is not worth +learning. They're no fools at bush politics either; and have managed to +run Shaillu's kingdom, and keep white men out of it pretty successfully. +It is believed that Shaillu would be glad to rule it without them, in +his own way." + +Maxwell knew all this, and a little more which his informant apparently +did not; but he made no comment, and asked only one question: + +"Who is Rideau?" + +"He says he is a Frenchman," answered Gilby. "One would suppose that he +ought to know; but after a dispute about the count of some monkey skins, +Clancy of Axim once asked in public if there was not a dash of the tar +brush in him, and was taken ill suddenly that night--which may, of +course, have been a coincidence. In any case, he goes trading inland; +and though he brings down a little gum, nobody knows exactly what he +buys or sells. As you have heard, it's a ghastly country, and there's a +heavy penalty for supplying niggers with modern rifles. The little +French commandant would give a good deal to fix a charge on him." + +"Thanks. I will remember if I meet him; but it is about time I returned +to my patient," said Maxwell, and the other two looked after him until +he disappeared round a corner of the dwelling. + +"A curious man," Gilby commented. "He's probably like the parrot, for he +says very little. Still, it is not everybody who would have turned back +with his expedition on the very odd chance of saving a crazy countryman. +It is just possible, however, he was glad to, after the bushmen had +scared him." + +"African parrots never think, unless it's about the pricking inside +them," said Redmond. "You wouldn't either, if a nigger had fed you with +broken glass, so you'd die as soon as he'd sold you, and keep the demand +up. You're wrong, as usual, in other ways, too. If I'm a judge of +character, there are no niggers in Africa who could scare that man." + +Meanwhile Maxwell had seated himself on the opposite veranda, and, after +a glance at a trestle couch which showed him that Niven was apparently +asleep, was gazing out to sea. He was close on the age of thirty, of +average stature, but spare and sinewy. His sallow face had been further +darkened by the African sun, and though now its expression and that of +the dark eyes was thoughtful, it was the face of a resolute man. +Carsluith Maxwell was also, in a somewhat somber fashion, a handsome +man; and though some of his fair acquaintances described him as too +silent, and others as too sardonic, all agreed that he was interesting. +Maxwell described himself as an individual of unsettled habits, born +with fastidious tastes and no means to gratify them--which, he said, +explained his wanderings in search of a fortune. He did not add that his +chief ambition was to restore to its former prosperity an old Border +stronghold which, with every acre of its grass parks and stony plow-land +heavily encumbered, stood behind the shores of Solway. Carsluith +Maxwell, who some day would be master of Culmeny, had inherited more +than a trace of the silent grimness of the old moss-troopers from whom +he sprang. + +Turning presently, he saw that Niven was wide awake and looking out to +sea. Their acquaintance had been brief, and dated from the night when +Niven reeled into the camp of a small French expedition, alone, +fever-stricken, and half-crazy. Seeing that he would die in the forest +when the expedition continued its march, Maxwell abandoned his +prospecting journey and turned back to the coast with him. The African +malaria often attacks a white man's brain as well as his body; and +during most of the time Niven had talked erratically. Now, however, +Maxwell noticed that he appeared sensible and sane. + +"Good to come back to, isn't it?" he said, glancing at the sea, athwart +which the track of the sunset beat luridly. "I used to long for it in +the forest when Lyle and I first set up the one factory which ever stood +more than twelve months in Shaillu's country. That reminds me! I have a +good deal to tell you, and, considering that I may not last out +to-morrow, it's high time I began. I have given you a good deal of +trouble, but you may not regret it when I have done." + +"I shall not regret it in any case," said Maxwell quietly. He was seldom +emphatic in speech. + +"You are like Lyle, and that's partly why I'm going to tell you. He and +I went up into Shaillu's country long ago, and the Leopards tried to +poison us. They wanted no white men there, and did not like free trade. +They also tried other ways; but if our lives were in our own hands, we +held them tight--and any man might face the devil with a partner like +Lyle. You will understand presently why I'm commencing at the beginning. +Well, we nursed each other through fevers, and twice stood behind a +stockade with the rifle barrels burning our hands; but we made money, +and I think the Leopards grew afraid of us because we lived in spite of +them. Of course, we had our friends, because the brown traders from the +North had to pay a heavy toll to the Leopards before we came; and some +of them told us about gold having been washed out of a far-off river by +niggers who had a poor idea of its value. We were too busy to trouble +about ventures of that kind; and as the river flowed through No Man's +Land there was nobody to sell us a marketable concession." + +The sunset was fading off the waters when Niven paused to gather breath, +while his strained voice sank to a deeper tone as he proceeded: + +"There was a dispute as to who owned some gum we had paid for, and two +men were shot before we convinced the niggers that nobody could lay +violent hands upon our property. Then one of Shaillu's sub-headmen, who +said there had been a mistake somewhere, summoned us to a palaver to +talk the question over. We went, with twenty armed Krooboys scared +almost to death, who feared Lyle more than they did the niggers, and +were given a fair hearing. Several of the big Leopard men were there, +but the headman held us justified, and when we had made everybody a +present the palaver ended in revelry. I warned Lyle; but to fear +nothing, and be equally ready with smile or pistol, was always my +comrade's way. + +"We came back safely; but he dragged himself up the stairway with his +face all twisted the next night, and I knew what had happened before he +told me. 'Those devils have poisoned me,' said he." + +It was almost dark now, and the white mist from the forest slid in +ghostly wreaths past the little factory. Niven shivered before he +proceeded: + +"Have you ever seen a comrade poisoned by the bushmen--when they meant +to hurt him? No! Then you have something to be thankful for. Lyle, by +worse luck, was young and strong, and took an unconscionable time dying; +I don't know that I did well when I took the pistol from him. For three +mortal hours I suffered all with him, and there was no power left in me +when at last he let his head drop on the table. There are things it is +not fit to remember which one can never forget. Then I knew all that the +man had been to me; and what I must do was plain before me. + +"I sent the chief Leopard man a message, with a token which, in +accordance with his own superstitions, made it more impressive, that +sooner or later I would demand full satisfaction, or, if I died too +soon, would pass the debt on in a way he understood; and I had not +forgotten when a new trading combination made me general manager. You +see, I needed money, and could wait very patiently. I also made money, +and, when badly sick, let the firm send me home, a fairly prosperous +man, to recruit in England. It was there I met the woman I married; and +she was worlds too good for me. I even forgot Lyle, and what we had +done in Africa; and--for one looks at things differently over +there--hoped for nothing better than to end my days in peace and +security." + +Niven so far had spoken sensibly, but he ceased when the thick hot +African darkness rolled down like a curtain, and was silent a space. The +land breeze had delayed its coming, the temperature was almost +insupportable, and the roar of the breakers set the whole factory +vibrating in unison. It is possible that the fever gathered strength, as +it often does, at nightfall; for the sick man's speech was slow and +disjointed when he began again. It was also evident that he was a little +hazy in his mind. + +"Poor Elsie died, and left me very lonely. Without her the life grew +tame, and I would lie awake thinking of Africa and Lyle. He was growing +impatient, and tried to warn me it was time I went back again. The +warnings grew plainer, and at last I went. I had, so far as it was in +me, trusted one man and loved one woman, and both of them had gone. The +trading firms had forgotten my name, but I remembered the gold in the +Leopard's country, and determined, if I could find it, to hire my own +fighting boys, and hunt down the whole accursed league. There is no law +but the right of the strongest hand in Shaillu's country. I went up with +fifty Krooboys; and perhaps the Leopards remembered and were afraid of +me, for we had almost reached the place in safety, when one of the +sicknesses common up there seized us. I left most of the boys behind in +camp with my headman, and pushed on for the river where the gold was +said to be. I found it--or Lyle found it for me." + +Maxwell thought that no sane man would have attempted single-handed to +try conclusions with the almost omnipotent league, but he sat still, +with a composure that was characteristic of him, asking no questions, +though the simple statement had roused his most eager interest. It was +some time before Niven proceeded. + +"I turned back to camp, and found none of all the boys I left there. +Perhaps the headman had sold them. He had, you must remember, a curious +cross-shaped scar upon his forehead. I don't know where the rest went, +or what I did, being fever-crazy, and it must have been Lyle who brought +me to the Frenchman's camp. Of course, Lyle is dead--I buried him with +my own hands under the first big cottonwood behind the factory long +ago--but he has never forgotten me. There was good alluvial gold in that +river; and when I go you will find a record of my journey, with sketches +and compass bearings, under my pillow. I'll bequeath it to you, with my +curse upon the men who killed poor Lyle, on this condition: If you meet +the Leopards--and whoever goes up there will--you will remember my +quarrel with them, and how my partner died." + +"After what I have heard about their doings, I can promise that," said +Maxwell quietly. + +"I think we both can trust you. You look that kind of man," said Niven. +"I should never have told you if you hadn't. The two things go together, +for the Leopard headmen will know I have passed the quarrel on. You +can't take one without the other." + +Niven sank into sleep or unconsciousness presently, and Maxwell sat +beside him considering what he had heard. He could see that there was a +burden attached to the legacy; but he had no profession, and was not a +rich man. It was true that he would shortly succeed to Culmeny, and had +inherited the family pride in the ancient estate; but, when the interest +had been paid, the rental of the poor, encumbered lands would provide +the barest living. He determined that if there was gold in the Leopards' +country he would stake his life on the chance of finding it. After +coming to this decision he called a Krooboy to watch the sick man, and +retired to snatch a few hours' badly needed sleep. Sleep, however, was +some time in coming. The mildewed building was insufferably hot, and the +thunder of the surf sufficient to keep awake any man who had lately +emerged from the hush of the twilight forest; but at last Maxwell sank +into fitful slumber. It afterward was evident that the Krooboy, too, had +slumbered. + +Several hours had passed when Maxwell awakened suddenly, and sat up +listening. Through the deep monotone of the breakers he could hear the +land breeze sigh eerily about the building. A snake rustled in the +thatch, and loose boards creaked as they soaked in the damp; but +although there was nothing suspicious in all this, Maxwell felt that +something unusual had roused him. Men acquire an almost instinctive +prevision of danger in the eternal shadow of the African bush. + +Suddenly a detonation shook the building. Maxwell, leaping from his +couch, ran along the veranda and burst, breathless, into Niven's room. +Bright moonlight streamed in through the window, and he saw the sick man +lying propped up on one elbow, with a pistol smoking in his hand. Niven +appeared perfectly sane, and his voice was steady when he spoke. + +"My fingers are shaky, and this is a hard pull-off, or I'd have shown +you the man who betrayed me," he said. "It was my book he wanted." + +Maxwell, who was quick in action, sprang out upon the veranda and made a +circuit of the building. The dusty compound beneath it was clear as +noonday under the moon, but, save for two startled Krooboys and trader +Redmond who crossed it at a run, nobody moved therein, and Maxwell +hardly considered it possible that any fugitive would have had time to +reach the bush. He returned and told Niven so. + +"You must have been mistaken," he said. + +The sick trader laughed harshly. + +"I am not in the least mistaken. I saw the man with the scar on his +forehead as plainly as I see you. He must have been one of the Leopards; +and, whether it's magic or trickery, those fellows are fiendishly +clever. You won't be astonished at stranger things before they have done +with you. Take the book now, and keep it, if you can. If a man called +Rideau ever hears you have it and wants to trade with you, distrust him +as you would the devil. If he says I ever made any bargain with him, it +will be a lie!" + +Maxwell went out and allayed Redmond's curiosity by a promise to confer +with him in the morning; then he returned to watch beside Niven, who +slept tranquilly during the remainder of the night. After breakfast +Maxwell told Redmond as much of the story as appeared judicious; but the +trader did not, as he partly expected, laugh at it. + +"Of course, it may have been all a delusion, and it may not," he said. +"If so, it's a coincidence that I heard Rideau has just arrived at the +next beach; and one of my boys, who seemed afraid of it, picked this up +in the bush. It's a trifle that has a significance in the country your +sick friend rambled through." + +The trader handed Maxwell a little tuft of leopard's fur braided with +fiber. + +"If Niven has told you any of his secrets it might be good policy not to +mention it," he cautioned; "and Gilby and I are not curious. This +factory is sufficiently remunerative and deadly for us." + +Niven grew rapidly weaker all day, and when Maxwell asked him at sunset +whether he had any messages to send to friends in the old country, he +did not appear to recognize him. + +"They're all dead a long time ago," he said ramblingly. "Poor Elsie, who +was worlds too good for me, lies in clean English earth a long way +across the sea; but Lyle, who understands everything and why I forgot +him, is waiting for me. I could not have a better comrade wherever he +is." + +These were his last comprehensible words, for he passed out of +existence, sleeping, with the chill of early morning, and was, as usual, +laid to rest that day. Maxwell returned thoughtfully from the simple +funeral, feeling that the legacy might well prove an unmixed blessing. + +On reaching the veranda stairway, he heard somebody moving softly about +what had been the sick man's room. He had good ears, and felt tolerably +certain that the next sound he caught was that made by cotton garments +being quickly unfolded or wrapped together. Somebody, it appeared, was +searching Niven's apparel. In spite of Maxwell's quickness, he had not +reached the doorway when a man came out of it and advanced, smiling +toward him. He was rather dark in face and full in flesh for an +European who had dwelt any time in Western Africa. He also was more +elaborately dressed, in spotless white duck, fine linen, and silk sash, +than the average trader; but if his lips were a trifle thick, and his +eyes cunning, he had an easy, good-humored air, and saluted Maxwell +gracefully. + +"Monsieur Maxwell, is it not? I have the honor to present myself--Victor +Rideau," he said. "By grand misfortune, I arrive too late to change the +adieux with my friend of long time, the estimable Niven, and so wait to +ask if he left any paper for me. We have affair together, and there is +small debt he owe me, _voyez vous_?" + +Maxwell was a man of keen perceptions, and he would have distrusted the +speaker even if he had not been warned against him. + +"He left you no papers. Neither, so far as I can discover, did he leave +a single franc piece in money." + +"Grand misfortune!" exclaimed Rideau. "Possible it is he tell you of his +affair. The estimable Niven, you understand, was old friend of me. That +is why I have the pleasure of wait your company." + +"He told me very little about his business affairs, and the rest was +spoken in strict confidence," said Maxwell; and for a few seconds the +two men eyed each other--Maxwell curious but expressionless in face; +Rideau somewhat uneasy. The advantage was with the Briton, for he was +seldom loquacious, while the man of Latin extraction seemed to find the +silence irksome. + +"You are perhaps busy," he said at length. "You grieve for the estimable +Niven. Me, I grieve for him also. So, if it is not intrusion, to-morrow, +by the morning, I come for condole with you." + +Rideau withdrew, and Maxwell first packed his few belongings--a +homeward bound steamer was due to call on the morrow--and then sat down +to make a copy of the dead man's itinerary, with the sketches attached +to it. He was surprised to find that, mad or sane, Niven had noted the +magnetic direction of each day's march, as well as taken cross bearings +of prominent objects wherever there was open country. These details +increased his hopefulness; and when he had enclosed the copy in a sealed +envelope and handed it to the French postmaster, he buttoned the +original in an inside pocket and sat down on the veranda, smoking +thoughtfully. + +"It appears that other men beside myself believe Niven actually did find +gold up there, as two attempts to steal his diary seem to prove," he +reflected. "Whoever goes up to look for it will probably have to deal +with Monsieur Victor Rideau as well as the Leopards; and a little delay +in setting about the search may throw him off the scent. The first +necessity is a reliable partner, and I can think of nobody better than +Hyslop." + +The homeward bound mailboat arrived before Rideau the next day, and when +she stopped at the first port connected by cable, Maxwell despatched a +message to London: + +"_Wire Hyslop to meet me by Malemba._" + +Before the steamer proceeded he received the answer: + +"_Hyslop dead South America, according to Dane._" + +"Poor Andrew!" thought Maxwell. "That is check number one. Still, there +must be many suitable men at home, and I dare say I shall find one. Who +Dane is, Carslake, parsimonious as usual, does not explain." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN UNDERSTANDING + + +It was a pleasant summer evening when Hilton Dane leaned against a beech +trunk outside Thomas Chatterton's villa which stands upon a hillside +above the Solway shore. He was a tall, fair-haired man who looked older +than his age, twenty-five, with steady blue eyes, and usually a somewhat +masterful air; but just then his eyes were wistful, and his face, which +betokened an acquaintance with the tropical sun, expressed somewhat +tempered satisfaction. He had certainly cause for the latter feeling, +because, after toiling hard at railroad building in a foreign land, it +was comforting to know that he had earned the right to rest a while in +that peaceful retreat. + +The sun still touched the velvet lawn, though the shadows lengthened +across it, and the larch wood behind the red-tiled building diffused +resinous odors. The grass sloped to a river which came down amber-tinted +from the stretch of heather growing black against the east, and, curving +round two meadows, flashed through the gloom of fir branches into a deep +pool. All this was pleasant to the wanderer newly returned from the +glare of the desolate pampa and the turmoil of dusty construction camps; +but Dane found the keenest pleasure in watching his companion. + +Lilian Chatterton, niece of the childless owner of The Larches, was +worth inspection. She was a year or two younger than the man, and lay in +a low chair opposite him, her fingers busy with a ball of colored +thread, while the last of the sunlight sparkled in her hair. Dane +noticed how its bronze color flashed into lustrous gold, and decided +that the changing lights in the hazel eyes matched it wonderfully well. +Nevertheless, he had seen them burn with quick indignation, for the girl +possessed a spice of the Chatterton temper, which was never remarkably +equable. Presently he allowed several loops of thread to slip from the +skein he held, and she looked up with a trace of indignation. + +"That is the second time! You cannot be tired already," she said. + +Dane smiled a trifle grimly. He had toiled for twelve hours daily under +burning heat and then spent half the night poring over plans, not long +ago. + +"I am not quite worn out; but is it not an unfair question, considering +my present employment? This skein is getting mixed, and I was wondering +if you would allow me to help you in straightening it." + +Miss Chatterton glanced at him keenly before she shook her head. It was +not surprising that she had grown used to masculine homage, but none of +her other cavaliers had quite resembled this one. He was slower and more +solid, and, while he had a way of anticipating her wishes, he lacked +their versatility. Sometimes she wished, with a sense of irritation, +that she could dismiss him as summarily as she had done the rest, but +that could not be done without incurring Thomas Chatterton's +displeasure, which was no small thing to risk. + +"No," she said decisively. "I believe you tangled it yourself. Don't you +think it would run more smoothly if you gave the thread more length? +Well, why don't you act upon the suggestion?" + +"I was thinking," the man answered with a meditative air; and Miss +Chatterton laughed. + +"It is a bad habit of yours. Of the famous mining pump, or the lawsuit, +presumably?" + +There was something in the speaker's manner which qualified the smile in +her hazel eyes, and warned the man that his companion was merely bent on +discovering how far he was disposed to respect the wishes she had not +directly expressed. He, on his part, was wondering how he could best +intimate that certain fears she entertained were groundless. He laughed +softly, though a tinge of darker color crept into his tanned face as he +remembered the uncompromising frigidity with which she had at first +received him. + +"I feel that I ought to say something civil," he said. "How could one +think of the things you mention in such surroundings?" + +The girl was in a variable mood, and she smiled mischievously. + +"That is not civil. It implies that I expected you to. Tell me instead +how the pump is progressing." + +"The pump is not progressing," said the man. "In fact, it is standing +still; and, though the court upheld my patent, it will probably continue +to stand still for lack of capital. Capital is hard to acquire, you +know." + +"But you were well paid, and promoted several times on your merits in +South America, were you not?" asked Miss Chatterton. + +"I was lucky," Dane said quietly. "It was due to no merit of mine that +my superiors died off with yellow fever; but when the inventor desires +a fair share of the profit himself, it requires a good deal of money to +start off pumps and similar inventions successfully." + +"You are growing avaricious," declared Miss Chatterton, and let her eyes +fall a little under the man's gaze. + +"You are right," he said. "I would sell half my life to any one for the +few thousand pounds the invention would repay twenty-fold; and somehow I +shall get them." + +The listener fancied that this was possible, for there was a stamp of +force and endurance upon the man; but she did not inquire why he was so +anxious for wealth. While she considered her answer, and he wondered how +he could best express what must be said, there was an interruption; for +it happened a few moments earlier that the owner of The Larches flung +down the balance-sheet he was perusing in a room which did not look out +upon the lawn. + +"Those new directors are a pack of fools," he observed. "They are +throwing away all I so painfully built up. I'm going to catch a trout in +the moss pool; and, as I saw Maxwell's rascals putting up the fence +again, I'll demolish his iniquitous obstruction on my way. Helen, where +have these stupid people hidden my flybook again?" + +Mrs. Chatterton smiled a little, and, reminding her husband that the +book was in his pocket, followed him to the door. + +Thomas Chatterton and the father of Hilton Dane had set up a little wire +mill when both were struggling men, and, though Dane's rolling machinery +had started them on the way to prosperity, its inventor died too soon. +Chatterton was always considered an upright man; but, because Dane's +widow did not long survive her husband, nobody knew exactly whether his +success was due to his own energy or the dead man's invention. +Chatterton, however, recognized a moral debt, and would have discharged +it, but that Hilton Dane had inherited his mother's pride as well as his +father's skill. When the famous business was sold to a company, the +iron-master, purchasing a small estate in Scotland, aspired to play the +part of a country gentleman, in which he was not wholly successful. He +was at once too autocratic and too democratic; and the local magnates of +ancient descent resented his habit of doing exactly what pleased himself +in defiance of their most cherished traditions. He had accordingly +embroiled himself with Maxwell of Culmeny over what he contended was an +ancient right of way. + +When he reached the door he turned and smiled significantly at his wife. + +"They seem well contented, do they not?" he said. + +Mrs. Chatterton understood him, though she did not smile as she glanced +at the two on the lawn. Lilian's white-robed figure was forced up +sharply in a manner that emphasized its comeliness by the somber +background of larches; and the last of the ruddy light deepened the +faint, warm tinge in her cheeks. Dane's face was in the shadow, as he +looked down upon the girl, but his form showing darkly against the light +was that of a vigorous, well-made man; and Mrs. Chatterton, knowing his +disposition, reflected that her niece might make a less desirable +choice. It was, however, she thought, unfortunate that her husband was +seldom addicted to leaving those he desired to benefit any choice at +all; and she considered that he had made his intentions respecting Dane +and his niece too plain, for Lilian had a tolerably strong will of her +own. + +Chatterton moved forward, and the two turned sharply at the sight of the +stout, thick-necked, elderly gentleman, in vivid red leggings and slouch +hat adorned with gaudy flies. + +"We had neither time nor taste for needle-work when I was young, Hilton, +but these are degenerate days," he said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "Do +you feel inclined to help me to catch a trout during the evening rise?" + +Dane glanced appealingly toward his companion. He would have felt no +great inclination for being sent into the river to free the +iron-master's line, which usually formed part of the program on such +excursions, even if he had not a better reason for refusing. + +"I am afraid the water is too clear, sir, for an indifferent angler; and +it might spoil this skein if I left it partly wound," he answered +lamely. + +Lilian, however, possibly for Chatterton's benefit, ignored the appeal. + +"So far you have only succeeded in entangling it," she said. + +Dane had no choice left but to express the pleasure it would afford him +at least to carry his host's landing net; and he did it as well as +possible, though uneasily conscious that Chatterton was amused at him. +Then they waded together through long damp grass which soaked Dane's +thin shoes through, while Chatterton discoursed learnedly upon lines and +flies. He was as choleric and obstinate as he could be generous when the +impulse seized him, and he had ruled stubborn operatives so long that +the use of the strong hand had become habitual to him. Presently he +halted, fuming with indignation, before a hedge. + +"That confounded Maxwell has built it up stronger than ever!" he +exploded. "Look at that, and see how he respects a public right of way! +Don't you consider it perfectly scandalous, Hilton?" + +Dane saw an irate elderly gentleman, and a neatly mended gap in the +hedge; but being uncertain as to what answer would best soothe the +former, he wisely held his peace until he should furnish further +particulars. Chatterton, however, espying a stout stake in the grass, +commenced a spirited attack upon the hedge. So vigorous was it that his +face grew flushed and his hat fell off, while Dane looked on with +suspicious gravity, smothering a desire to laugh. + +"If you really want that gap opened, I dare say I could assist you, +sir," he said. + +Chatterton panted wrathfully. + +"Do you suppose I am doing this for exercise? It's a public duty! I have +battered it down twice already, and defied Culmeny to sue me." + +He plied the stake again until, glancing from a root, it smote him on +the ankle. Desisting then, he commented upon his neighbor's conduct +viciously while Dane proceeded to attack the obstruction with marked +success. Chatterton, when he noticed this, watched him admiringly; and +when Dane tore his hand on a strand of barbed wire, he positively beamed +on him. + +"I'm sorry, Hilton; but, in one way, it's almost a pity you did not tear +it worse," he said. "Still, I dare say it will rankle sufficiently to +give us something to claim damages from Culmeny upon. Meantime, go home +and ask Lily to tie it up. Nobody could do it more neatly." + +"I certainly hope it will not, sir," said Dane, with a trace of +irritation; though, being thankful for the excuse, he lost no time in +returning. + +Meanwhile, Lilian Chatterton sat where he had left her, in a +contemplative frame of mind. She and Dane had been playmates in their +younger days, and the latter had afterward shown his admiration for her +in youthful fashion. That was before he went abroad; but her cheeks +tingled as she remembered how she had been made to feel, a few weeks +earlier, that it was Chatterton's desire that their youthful friendship +should speedily ripen into something further. Lilian was grateful to the +iron-master, who had denied her nothing, and brought her up as his +daughter; but she was also sensitive, and accordingly shrank from Dane, +wondering, with a sense of shame, what had been said to him, and whether +he, too, considered her own opinion as of no importance. The man's +conduct had, however, partly reassured her, for he made no advances; she +did not know that he had, during several years spent in strenuous +effort, carried her memory and a stolen photograph about with him. + +Had she been a free agent she might have been inclined to approve of +Hilton Dane. She knew he was honest, resolute, and capable, while as +regards physique, nature had treated him well; but as it was, and +because there were no friends she could find an excuse for visiting, it +appeared essential that he should be made to recognize that there could +be no more than a mutual toleration between them. Miss Chatterton had +just arrived at this conclusion when the man came toward her across the +lawn. Again it struck her that the bronzed face beneath the straw hat +was that of an honest man, and that the blue eyes had a kindly gleam in +them; but she brushed such thoughts aside impatiently. + +"What has brought you back so soon?" she asked. + +"The need of assistance," Dane answered with a laugh, and the girl's +mood changed swiftly as she glanced at his injured hand. Her eyes grew +sympathetic. + +"Will you wait a few moments until I find some arnica?" she said. + +Dane would have waited a long time in return for such a glance, and, +when the girl rejoined him, he felt that the pain was a very small price +to pay for the pleasure of letting his torn hand rest in her little cool +palm. When it had been bound up with a dainty handkerchief, Lilian +smiled prettily. + +"I think," she said playfully, "with due care you should now recover." + +"Do you know that I feel tempted to go back and tear the other?" +returned the man. + +Lilian regarded him with some uneasiness. + +"Such speeches do not become you," she said. "No doubt there are idle +men who consider that they prove irresistible to most of us; but +you--you are different." + +"Yes," Dane assented somewhat grimly. "I suppose my lot is to drag the +measuring chain and do the hard work more famous men get paid for; but a +little variety is refreshing--and there were times when you did not seem +to find any levity on my part wholly irksome." + +The girl's color rose a little, and there was a sparkle in her eyes. She +understood that this was a challenge, but she did not guess that it had +been thrown down for her sake out of kindliness. Unfortunately, she +recalled several incidents connected with the days to which her +companion referred, and she recollected that he had an unpleasantly good +memory. + +"We were only boy and girl then," she said. "One forgets such nonsense +as one grows older. Still, I am almost glad you mentioned it, +because--can't you see the uselessness of remembering?" + +Dane, though he did not say so, saw most clearly the impossibility of +ever being able to forget; but he was considerate, and had sense enough +to see what he would lose by taking advantage of the position. He had +noticed how, until his conduct reassured her, she held aloof from him. + +"What could an unfortunate man answer?" he asked with a mirthless smile. +"Do you expect me to admit that I am pleased to consider it is so?" + +Lilian looked down at the grass to hide the anger in her face. + +"Please don't--I am not wholly foolish," she said; and added abruptly, +"I have almost decided on going to London for a course of art study +shortly." + +Dane leaned forward a little, and forced her to look up at him. + +"That is, you are going away to avoid me," he said. "Have you considered +that this might not only render circumstances unpleasant for you, but be +unnecessary?" + +Lilian looked at him steadily, for she was not lacking in courage. + +"I am my own mistress; and they are distinctly unpleasant already." + +Every word of the answer cost Dane an effort, but he determined to +finish his task. + +"I can realize that they must be so," he said. "I am not clever at +expressing myself, and what I have to say is difficult to me, but I +cannot allow you to be driven away. We are both master of our own +inclinations, are we not?--and you have my word that, if you can trust +me, it really isn't necessary." + +There was no doubt about the relief in Lilian's face; and though it hurt +the man to see it, he held out his hand. + +"We shall be good friends once more; and that implies a good deal, does +it not?" he said. "Promise so much, and I will engage that you have no +further perplexity." + +Lilian felt very grateful. + +"I think I can promise that, now that we understand," she replied. + +"Then it is a compact," said Dane, hiding his own regret manfully. "As a +change, you might tell me why your uncle finds such satisfaction in +destroying his neighbor's fences. He even said it was a pity I did not +tear my hand more seriously." + +Lilian was glad to change the subject. + +"He fancied that Maxwell of Culmeny closed the gap to annoy him," she +explained. "Unfortunately, when tearing down the first barrier, he hurt +his foot, which naturally made him more determined to maintain ancient +privileges. In one way, the feud is amusing; in another, vexatious; +because we are lonely here, and the Misses Maxwell cannot well call upon +us. Their brother Carsluith has lately returned from Africa, and would +have made you a pleasant companion." + +"Carsluith Maxwell?" said Dane. "It is curious that I was of some +service to a friend of his, named Hyslop, in South America. The poor +fellow struck our camp pulled down by sickness and apparently in want of +money, and we were able to find him employment." + +"Did you not mention that the contractors would not replace the +assistants who died of fever?" asked Lilian. "Did they endorse your +action?" + +"I can't say they did," was the answer. "They were not required to." + +"Oh! Then who paid Hyslop's salary?" + +"It was arranged," Dane answered ambiguously. "You see, he was a +countryman; and the poor fellow died soon afterward, anyway. I think I +shall walk over to Culmeny." + +Lilian asked no further questions. She felt that any one in trouble +could trust the man beside her. She smiled as she said: + +"I am afraid that would not be judicious. Your host would consider it an +act of treachery." + +They went back to the house together; and in the meantime, Thomas +Chatterton, who was not a skilful angler, whipped several pools +unsuccessfully, hooking nothing but weeds, and once, by accident, a +water hen. Thus it happened that he had not returned when darkness fell, +and Mrs. Chatterton despatched Dane in search of him. The moon was +rising when the latter came down a path through the fir wood and stopped +beside a deep, black pool. A streak of silver light crept up to the +roots of an alder beside a ruined wall, and he paused to watch the +wrinkled current flash athwart it. The odors of the firs and the +stillness of the night were soothing: the sacrifice he had lately made +had been a heavy one. Dane had not abandoned his hopes, but knew that he +might have to wait long for their consummation, if they were ever +realized. + +Presently there was a sound of footsteps, and Dane guessed that the +approaching shape was Chatterton by the red glow of his cigar. The +iron-master stopped beside the alder, and it seemed that something which +caused a ripple near its roots caught his eyes. Dane suspected that some +poacher had set a night line. + +Now, the wall marked the boundary between Chatterton's riparian rights +and those of Culmeny; and it was out of idle curiosity that Dane watched +his host instead of hailing him as, first looking about him, he +descended the bank and hauled in the line. An exclamation of disgust +followed as a writhing eel was flung out upon the grass; but there were +nobler fish attached, and presently Chatterton stood up holding a +splendid trout. Dane remembered that his father had sworn by +Chatterton's commercial integrity, but he was not wholly astonished when +the man slipped the fish, and a second one which followed it, into his +creel. Then, surmising that the angler would not have desired a witness, +he turned back softly and met him in the wood, flattering himself that +he had arranged the meeting neatly. + +"Had you any luck, sir?" he asked. + +"The water was low, but here is something to convince the mockers," +Chatterton answered, holding up a handsome trout; and Dane expressed +admiration but no astonishment, which might not have been complimentary. + +They walked home together, and Lilian met them in the hall. She +surveyed the trout suspiciously, then laughed as she said: + +"You look hot and muddy, and almost guilty. Are you quite sure you have +not been poaching?" + +Miss Chatterton was a shrewd young lady, and for a moment the +iron-master, who had quelled several strikes unaided, looked positively +uneasy. + +"Young women were taught that flippancy did not become them when I was +young," he rebuked. + +Late that night the two men sat talking together. + +"You have told me little about your affairs, Hilton," Chatterton said; +"but I presume you will stay at home and put your pump on the market +instead of accepting the foreign commission. There should be a good +demand for it among the deep mine owners." + +"I'm afraid not, sir," was the answer. "The patent lawsuit proved +expensive, and to start an article of that kind successfully requires a +good deal of money. I shall therefore go abroad to earn a little more as +soon as the firm sends me." + +"And risk your life for a thousand pounds," said Chatterton severely. +"Don't you know that there are men with money who would be willing to +finance you?" + +"All I have met demanded three-fourths of the possible profits in +return; and this is my invention." + +"It is a valuable one," declared Chatterton with unusual diffidence. +"But can't you think of anybody who would lend you the money out of +good-will at a very moderate interest?" + +Dane looked at the speaker steadily before he answered. + +"I think I could; and I'm grateful; but unfortunately I can't bring +myself to borrow money from such people. It would be abusing their +kindness; and I might lose it for them." + +Chatterton frowned. + +"You are like your father--and as confoundedly hard to do a favor to," +he said. + +He retired shortly after this; and Dane went out into the moonlight, and +leaned over the rails of a footbridge, watching the river slide past. He +found a faint solace in the sounds and scents which filled the shadows, +and knew that though he had taken the one course possible, if he was to +retain his own self-respect and Lilian's esteem, there would be no sleep +for him that night. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AT THE ELBOW POOL + + +While waiting for his foreign commission, Dane found the summer days +slip by almost too rapidly, though there were occasions when, after a +long afternoon spent in Lilian's company, he fancied he could understand +the feelings of Tantallus. The girl appeared completely reassured, and +treated him with sisterly cordiality, while Chatterton, who knew nothing +of their compact, nodded sapiently as he observed their growing +friendship. Dane sometimes wondered if he were not heaping up future +sorrow for himself; but, with infrequent exceptions, he found the +present very good, and, being a sanguine man who could wait, he made the +most of it. + +Lilian was troubled by no misgivings. Once, when her aunt asked a +diplomatic question, she smiled frankly as she said: "Yes. I am in one +way very fond of Hilton; you will remember that I always was. We +understand each other thoroughly; and he is so assured and solid that +one feels a restful sense of security in his company. You will remember +the Highland chieftain's candlesticks--the men with the claymores and +torches, Aunty. Well, I fancy that worthy gentleman must have felt the +same thing when he dined in state with them about him. He had but to +lift his finger and they would disappear, you know." + +Mrs. Chatterton looked slightly grave as she answered: "Don't forget +that they were also men with passions, and very terrible men, +sometimes--for instance, at Killiecrankie. It would not surprise me if +you discovered that there is a good deal of very vigorous human nature +in Hilton Dane." + +Thomas Chatterton still went fishing, generally with indifferent +success, but once Lilian caught Dane examining his creel, which was +surprisingly well filled. + +"I am puzzled, Hilton," she said. "I made a wager with Uncle that he +would not catch a dozen good trout in a month, and now I fancy that he +will win it." + +"Well?" + +"Men are deceivers ever--especially when it is a question of catching +fish. I have noticed that when your host goes fishing by daylight he +rarely catches anything but eels, which, as everybody knows, do not rise +to a fly, while when he rises early or returns in the dusk he brings a +really fine trout or two. I cannot, however, believe that this one died +only two hours ago. Can you suggest an explanation?" + +"Charity," said Dane gravely, "suspecteth nothing. Don't you know that +trout rise most freely just before the dusk?" + +Lilian shook her head. + +"You are not sufficiently clever to set your wits against a woman's," +she declared. + +Dane laughed, a trifle grimly; and the girl, momentarily startled by +something in his merriment, decided that she must have been mistaken; +but she abandoned the subject with some abruptness. + +That very evening, perhaps sent forth by fate, because much depended +upon his fishing, Thomas Chatterton took up his rod and landing net, +and, as he did not return by nightfall, his wife once more despatched +Dane in search of him. + +"I think you know where to find him; and I wish I did, for he has only +to take two more trout to win," Lilian added significantly. + +Dane proceeded by the shortest way to the big elbow pool, but it was +almost dark when he reached it. There had been heavy rain, and all the +firs which loomed through thin white mist were dripping. The water came +down beneath them thick with the peat of the moorlands in incipient +flood. Dane could hear its hoarse growl about the boulders studding the +tail rapid, and surmised that there ought to be several trout on the +poacher's line. Having, nevertheless, no desire to surprise his host +red-handed, he did not immediately proceed toward it, but sat upon the +driest stone he could find, listening for his coming. There was no sound +but the clamor of the river and the heavy splashing of moisture from the +boughs above, some of which trickled down his neck, until he heard a +rattle of falling stones, and a shadowy figure, which he guessed was +Chatterton's, crawled down toward the alder roots. + +A splash was followed by a hoarse exclamation as the man slipped into +the water up to the knee; then Dane heard the thud of a flung out fish, +and sat very still, for it would clearly be injudicious to present +himself just then. He noticed a minute twinkle of brightness among the +boulders across the pool which puzzled him. It was too small for the +light of a lantern, and he remembered nothing that shone in just the +same fashion. While he wondered what it could be, another dark object +rose beside the alder, gripping what looked like a heavy stick. + +"I'm thinking I have ye noo!" a gruff voice exclaimed. "Ye sorrowful +wastrel, stealing a puir man's fish!" + +Thomas Chatterton stood upright, knee-deep in the river, with an +exclamation; and Dane, knowing there was much deeper water close behind +him, sprang to his feet. That the irascible iron-master would show fight +if necessary, he felt certain, and equally so that a portly elderly +gentleman would make a poor match for a brawny laborer. Hardly had he +got to his feet, however, than the keeper, sliding down the bank, +dropped silently into the river, and disappeared as if by magic, while, +as Dane wondered what had startled him, another voice rang out. + +"Run straight in on the alder while I head him off from the firs!" it +directed; and a whistle was followed by the sound of trampling feet. + +Somebody came smashing through the undergrowth, and Dane was never quite +certain as to the cause for what happened next, though he surmised that +Chatterton's dread of becoming a laughing-stock to his enemy proved +momentarily stronger than his reason. In any case, he must have +endeavored to follow the keeper's lead, and lost his footing, for a side +swing of the stream swept him out from shore, while Dane, realizing that +an elderly gentleman in heavy boots and leggings was hardly likely to +make much head against a flooded river, plunged from the bank in the +flattest dive he could compass, though horribly afraid that he might +strike his head against a submerged stone. It was a good plunge, for he +rose almost in mid-stream, and heard a great splashing and panting +close before him. A few moments later, he had Chatterton by the +shoulder, and braced himself for a struggle. + +Chatterton, though driving sideways down the stream, could apparently +swim a little, and did not appear unduly alarmed. Indeed, Dane had cause +for believing he feared nothing except ridicule; but he was very heavy, +and panted stentoriously, while muddy froth beat into the younger man's +eyes and nostrils, and the rebound, which surged in a whirling eddy from +a central rock, swept them down together toward the white race between +the boulders at the tail of the pool. Dane had no intention of being +hammered against them if it could be avoided, and did his utmost, +thrusting with one hand on Chatterton's shoulder and swimming on his +side. Still, the boulders swept up-stream past them, the larches flitted +by, and though they drew clear of the fastest rush, it seemed impossible +that they could make a landing in time to escape the rapid. Chatterton +was apparently swallowing water, and choking badly now. + +"For heaven's sake, make a last effort, sir!" spluttered Dane; and the +iron-master splashed furiously. + +A strip of shingle grew nearer, but they would hardly have reached it +had not a man floundered in almost shoulder-deep and clutched them as +they passed. All three went down together, Chatterton undermost; but +when Dane's head broke the surface, a hand was twined in his hair, and a +half-choked voice said: + +"You are in wading distance, man. Get up and walk!" + +Dane felt sliding shingle beneath him, and tightening his grip on +Chatterton he struggled for a foothold; and finally they reeled, +breathless, dazed, and dripping, out among the boulders. Then somebody +turned back the slide of a darkened lantern, and the half-drowned +Chatterton gasped, for it was evident that his rescuer was Carsluith +Maxwell, the son of his enemy. Maxwell stared at Chatterton, and the +iron-master gaped at him; but while blank astonishment was stamped on +both their faces, it was Maxwell who recovered his senses first. + +"Robertson, hail Jim to run over to The Larches, and say that Mr. +Chatterton, who fell into the river trying to capture a poacher, is +coming home with me to change his clothes," he ordered, and then turned +toward the dripping pair. "It was very plucky of you, sir, and you were +only a few seconds too late. I thought you would secure the depredator. +It is two miles round by the footbridge, and you hardly look fit for the +walk, so you are coming to Culmeny with me. There is really no use +protesting." + +Thomas Chatterton did not look capable of much exertion, but he +hesitated. + +"It is very kind of you, but your father and I, unfortunately--" + +Maxwell laughed. + +"I believe you had some trifling difference; but this is a Christian +country, and the reason given quite insufficient for letting you freeze +to death. Mr. Dane, I presume? You will help me to persuade your host." + +Chatterton, although exhausted, yielded dubiously, and it was not long +before the pair shed their dripping garments beside a blazing fire in +Culmeny, and struggled into the dry ones provided, both sets being of +average size. Dane, however, was tall and long of limb; Chatterton was +short and broad, and when his toilet was finished, he stood up +half-choked, with every button straining about him. + +"This is worse than a strait waistcoat, Hilton," he fumed; "and I'd +rather forfeit five pounds than go down and meet them as I am. By the +way, I believe I never thanked you; but I will not forget our swim. But +tell me how you came to turn up so opportunely." + +Chatterton betrayed some anxiety in the last words, but Dane managed to +frame an answer which reassured him as he surveyed himself in a glass +and hoped the Misses Maxwell would not put in an appearance. The wet +hair plastered down his forehead showed a washed-out straw color against +the darkened skin. His brown wrists and ankles projected ridiculously +from the borrowed garments, and somebody's slippers would not cover more +than a portion of his feet. + +"We are neither of us particularly prepossessing at first sight, but I +suppose we must make the best of it; Maxwell asked us to come down when +we were ready," he said. + +They went down, Chatterton fuming, Dane struggling with a desire to +laugh; and two men rose to meet them when they entered a long, +low-ceilinged room. That meeting was fraught with far-reaching +consequences, and Dane could afterward recall it vividly. The old place +of Culmeny was an ancient and somewhat decrepit edifice, owned for many +generations by the Maxwells, and the wainscot of the room was dark with +age. Quaintly embroidered curtains were drawn across one end of it; +there were few pictures, and these old; while the whole place wore a +somber air, almost intensified by the light of the wax candles on the +great uncovered table, which supported a steaming bowl. This, Dane +noticed, was of oak hooped with tarnished silver. It was, however, the +two men who fixed his attention. The elder, a spare gray-haired man with +a white moustache, came forward holding out his hand. + +"I must congratulate you upon your escape, Mr. Chatterton," he said. "I +am glad that Carsluith had sense enough to bring you home with him; and +I can recommend a ladleful of this mixture as a preventative against a +chill, while regretting that, because the fires were low, we could not +send you a dose earlier. The customs of Culmeny are not altogether what +they used to be." + +The pair formed a striking contrast when Chatterton turned toward his +host, glass in hand. The one was softly spoken, spare to gauntness, and +characterized by a subtle air of distinction; the other, short, florid, +abrupt in speech, and more often aggressive than dignified in manner. +Then, because Chatterton was also a man of impulse, who cared for +neither place nor tradition when anything stirred him, as his host's +welcome evidently did, he bowed to Brandram Maxwell with more grace than +Dane deemed him capable of. + +"Here's to our better acquaintance, sir; and my best thanks," he said. +"I'm a plain, self-taught man, and may have blundered in enforcing what +I thought my rights. If so, I regret it." + +What Brandram Maxwell answered Dane did not remember, but he expressed +it very neatly; and while the feud was patched up, his son smiled +curiously at the younger man. He was like his father, but taller in +stature, dark in color of eyes and hair, and slightly olive-tinted in +complexion, while his movements suggested a wiry suppleness. Dane +surmised that he was of reserved, if not slightly sardonic, disposition. + +The bowl of punch was emptied with every sign of amity; and when it was +finished Thomas Chatterton, who had absorbed the major portion and +declared that he had never tasted anything better, said: "I hope we +shall see much more of each other in future, and, as an earnest of the +wish, I will expect you shortly at The Larches, where Mrs. Chatterton +will thank you for your kindness better than I can." + +While Brandram Maxwell started some topic of conversation with his elder +guest, his son, to whom Dane had mentioned the affair of the Englishman +in South America, drew him aside. + +"Hyslop and I were once good friends, and I consider myself your debtor +for what you did for him," he said. "Did he tell you much about his +wanderings, or that he and I came near successfully exploiting a Mexican +mine?" + +"No," said Dane. "He told me very little. What went wrong with the +mine?" + +Maxwell laughed. + +"The unexpected happened. It generally does when one awaits the +consummation of an ingenious scheme. I am especially sorry Hyslop has +gone." + +Dane longed to ascertain whether his new friend suspected any other +explanation than the one he had seized upon for Chatterton's plunge into +the river, and endeavored to do so, without success; for even when he +afterward learned to know and trust him well, he never found it easy to +glean more from Carsluith Maxwell than he wished to tell. An accident, +however, favored him, and he thought more of the man for his reticence +when, as the master of Culmeny was exhibiting some new artificial +minnows in his gun-room, he heard his son, who had slipped away, say to +somebody in the darkness beneath the open window: + +"You remember the pheasants' eggs incident, Kevan? You need not repeat +your explanations, because I have no intention of raking it up, and +merely wish to suggest that you find means of preventing your comrades +from talking too much about what happened to-night. When a gentleman of +Mr. Chatterton's years allows his excitement to overcome him to such an +extent that he follows a poacher into a flooded river, he naturally +would not like his adventures made public property." + +"I'm a wee bit puzzled, sir," answered an invisible person; and +Maxwell's voice rose faintly through the sound of retreating footsteps: + +"I am not puzzled in the least; and that ought to be sufficient. You are +sure you understand my wishes?" + +He came in a few moments later to inform his guests that the dog-cart +was waiting. + +As they drove home, Chatterton said sententiously: + +"We all make mistakes at times, Hilton; and that was most excellent +punch. For instance, when one comes to know him, Maxwell is what might +be termed a very good fellow. Hard up like the rest of them, of course; +land and buildings, as everybody knows, burdened to the hilt, but--I +suppose it was born in him--he bears the stamp, and his son wears it +too. You and I are different, you know, though travel has done a good +deal for you. I have handled a good many men in my time, and I like that +fellow's looks. He would be a very bad kind to tackle when the devil +that smiles through his black eyes wakes up; and I think he'd stand by +the man who played him fair through the damnedest kind of luck." + +Dane, who fully endorsed this opinion, was afterward to discover that +Thomas Chatterton was no bad judge of his fellow-men. + +"They are neither of the type one associates with this part of the +country," he commented. + +"No," said Chatterton. "They were, I understand, always an adventurous +family, and some of them who took part in the wars there in the old days +intermarried with the Spaniards then holding the Low Countries. A strain +of that kind takes a long time to work out, you know." + +Chatterton's fishing was not without results, for in spite of, or +perhaps because of, their different character and experience, it was the +commencement of a friendship between himself and Maxwell of Culmeny. The +iron-master had hewn his own way to fortune, and, being troubled by no +petty diffidence, was, if anything, overfond of recounting has earlier +struggles. The wild blood of the old moss-troopers still pulsed in the +veins of the Maxwells, and the impoverished gentleman, who listened with +interest, sighed as he remembered the sordid monotony of his own career, +during which he had, by dint of painful economy, somewhat lightened the +burden with which his inheritance had been saddled by the recklessness +of his forbears. + +Carsluith Maxwell took even more kindly to his new acquaintances; and +there sprang up between himself and Dane a comradeship which was to +stand a bitter test, while, as summer merged into autumn, he would +sometimes wonder at himself. He said nothing about his African venture, +and spent much time considering old rent books and the cost of moss-land +reclamation schemes. The rest he spent shooting with Dane, or lounging +at The Larches, if possible in Lilian Chatterton's vicinity; but, +although he could rouse himself to temporary brilliancy, Maxwell was +usually oversilent in feminine society, and Dane felt no jealousy. The +latter rested content in the meantime with the knowledge that Lilian +found a mild pleasure in his company; and only Mrs. Chatterton felt any +misgivings respecting future possibilities. Being a wise woman, she kept +her suspicions to herself until they became certainties, when one day +Miss Margaret Maxwell, perhaps not wholly by accident, gave her a +significant hint. + +"I hear that your brother has undertaken an extensive drainage scheme," +said the elder lady. + +"We are hopeful that he will settle down at last," responded Margaret +Maxwell. "My father's health is failing, and he has long desired his +son's company; but Carsluith was always ambitious, and used to say he +would never vegetate in poverty at Culmeny. Of late, however, we have +been pleased to see that he is taking an almost suspicious interest in +the improvement of the estate, and is now investing the money he made in +Mexico in the reclamation of Langside Moss. As Carsluith seldom does +anything without a reason, his sudden change of program puzzles us." + +Mrs. Chatterton fancied she could supply the reason, but she made no +comment. Lilian, she decided, had a right to choose for herself, and +might make a worse selection than a Maxwell of Culmeny. + +In the meantime, Dane still awaited his foreign commission, and might +have waited indefinitely, but that once again a poacher played a part in +the shaping of his destiny. There were plenty of them in that +neighborhood; while rogue, and clown, and commonplace individual of +average honesty usually outnumber either the saints or heroes in life's +comedy. The poachers were netting the Culmeny partridges, and Dane +promised to assist his comrade in an attempt to capture them. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE POACHER + + +It was a chilly night when Dane crouched in very damp clover beside a +straggling hedge, waiting for the poachers, and wishing he had been wise +enough to remain at home. Rain had fallen throughout the day, and now +heavy clouds drifted overhead, while a chilly breeze shook an eery +sighing out of the firs behind him. The moon was seldom visible, but a +subdued luminescence filtered through, and he could just see Maxwell +crouching in a neighboring ditch which was not wholly dry. + +"What are you meditating upon, Hilton?" Maxwell asked. + +"I was just thinking what a fool I was to come at all, and that it is +almost time I went home again. When a man has had tropical fever it is +his own fault if he suffers from indulgence in amusements of this +description." + +"I am not entirely comfortable either," Maxwell said dryly. "My boots +are full of water, and my hair is thick with sand; but I dare say both +of us have had worse experiences. If those fellows don't come in the +next ten minutes I'll turn back with you." + +Neither said anything further for a space. The firs moaned behind them, +the dampness chilled them through, and the odor of wet clover was in +their nostrils. When, instead of ten minutes, nearly half an hour had +passed, there was a low whistle from a hidden keeper, and Dane could +dimly see several indistinct figures in the adjoining meadow. + +"Kevan and the constable should head them off," whispered Maxwell. "I'll +race you for the first prisoner, Hilton!" + +It was characteristic of Maxwell that he had worked an opening ready in +the hedge, and slipped through it, while Dane hurled himself crashing +upon the thorns. He broke through them, somehow, and noticed very little +as he raced across the dripping aftermath except that two men strove to +drag something over the opposite hedge. Before he could reach it, +Maxwell had separated from him, and because the moon shone down through +a rift in the clouds, he saw him clear the hedge in a flying bound. The +next moment he had his hand on the collar of one man brought up by the +thorns. Dane saw his face for an instant, and then, when the other +kicked him savagely on the knee, he shifted his hand to his throat, and +was doing his best to choke the fight out of him when he heard footsteps +behind him, and something descended heavily upon his head. He fell with +a violence that shook the remaining senses out of him, and lay vacantly +listening to the sound of running feet and hoarse shouts which grew +fainter in the distance, until Maxwell, returning, shook him by the arm. +It was dark again now, for the moon had vanished, and a thin drizzle was +falling. Dane's head ached intolerably, and a warm trickle ran into one +of his eyes. + +"Are you badly hurt, Hilton?" asked Maxwell, stooping and holding out a +flask. + +"No," Dane answered dubiously, as, gripping his comrade's hand, he +staggered to his feet. "Mine is a pretty thick cranium, but somebody +did their best to test its solidity with the butt of a gun. Did you get +them?" + +"We did not." Maxwell, who seldom showed what he felt, evinced no +chagrin. "The constable managed to stick fast in the one gap in the +second hedge; but we got their net, and, although I don't wish to +trouble you if you are not fit, if you could describe the fellow you +grappled with, we should know where to find him." + +Dane did so to the best of his ability. + +"It's young Jim Johnstone!" the keeper exclaimed; "an' after this we +should grip him trying to slip off by the night train. I'm minding Mr. +Black told me he'd e'en be sitting up in case yon rascals killed +onybody, an' ye needed authority. He's a pleasant-spoken gentleman, an' +this is a clear case o' unlawful woundin'." + +"Start at once with that fool of a policeman!" said Maxwell. "Now, +Hilton, if you can manage to walk as far as the road, I will drive you +home." + +He held out his arm, but grew tired long before they reached his trap: +Dane was no featherweight, and he leaned upon him heavily. When Maxwell +helped his comrade down before The Larches there were lights in the +lower windows, though it was very late, and its owner stood upon the +steps awaiting them. + +"I could not sleep until I heard whether you had caught the rascals," he +began. "But what's this? Have they hurt you, Hilton?" + +"Not much, sir," answered Dane. + +Seeing Mrs. Chatterton in the hall, he shook off Maxwell's arm, and +attempted to enter it unassisted to prove his assertion. The attempt, +however, was a distinct failure. He tripped upon a mat, reeled forward +drunkenly, and, clutching at the nearest chair, sank into it, presenting +a sufficiently surprising spectacle, for his collar, as he subsequently +found, was burst, while there were generous rents in his garments, and +the red trickle flowed faster down his face. Then there followed +confusion, for Mrs. Chatterton was a gentle but easily disconcerted +lady, and her husband addicted to over-vigorous action. So, while the +one proceeded in search of bandages, and, not finding them, returned to +ask useless questions and, in spite of his feeble protests, pour cold +water over Dane's injured head, Chatterton smote a gong and hurled +confused orders at the startled servants. This lasted until a dainty +figure came swiftly down the stairway, and chaos was reduced to order +when Lilian took control with a firm hand. + +"Don't trouble him with questions, Aunty, but get some brandy, quick!" +she said. "Uncle, please do not make any more useless noise, but ask one +of these foolish women to bring hot water. Annie, bring me the arnica, +and the first piece of clean linen you can find. Now, Hilton, you are +not hurt very badly, are you?" + +She bent down, with the light of a big hanging lamp upon her, and, +forgetting the faintness and pain, which was considerable, Dane felt his +heart bound within him. In spite of her swift orderliness, the girl's +eyes were anxious as well as very pitiful, and there was a tension in +her voice. + +"No," he replied, as carelessly as he could, for all his pulses were +throbbing. "I am just a little dizzy, and shall be better presently. I +am chiefly ashamed of making such a scene, Lily." + +It did the man good to see the relief in his attendant's face. Miss +Chatterton flushed a little under his gaze and became once more strictly +practical. + +"The wound is worse than you suppose," she said, with a slight but +perceptible shiver. "Take a mouthful of this brandy, and I will fix a +dressing. Aunty, hold the bandage, and give me the scissors!" + +She did all very cleverly, then slipped away; and ten minutes later Dane +was glad to bid Chatterton and his wife good-night. His head still +throbbed painfully--for the trigger-guard which struck his forehead had +bitten deep--and, having seen what pleased him greatly, he desired to be +alone to think. + +When he had gone, Mrs. Chatterton looked at her husband. + +"Did it strike you as significant that Lily should come down at a few +moments' notice dressed just as she left us?" she asked. + +"Am I quite a fool?" said Chatterton, and then added in oracular +fashion: "Hilton Dane will make his mark some day; and it was his +father's roll which started me on the way to prosperity." + +As it happened, Lilian Chatterton had also food for reflection, and sat +long by an open window looking out into the night. There was no doubt, +she admitted, that she found Hilton Dane's society congenial. His swift +deference to all her wishes pleased her; and as he had intimated that he +desired nothing more than her friendship, there was no reason why it +should not be granted him. Under different circumstances the girl +fancied that her interest might have carried her farther; but Thomas +Chatterton's thinly veiled command was a fatal barrier. Even then she +frowned, remembering the summary manner in which he had purposed to +dispose of her as though she were a chattel. Nevertheless, she had been +badly startled by the sight of the wounded man; and the fact remained +that when her eyes first rested upon him she grew almost faint with a +sudden and wholly unexplainable fear. Lilian wondered, with a crimsoning +of her face, whether she had betrayed the relief she certainly +experienced on discovering that his injuries were not serious; and then +she closed the window with somewhat unnecessary violence. + +The next sun had not long risen when Dane went out shakily into the +freshness of the morning. His brain had refused duty during the +preceding night, and there were questions to be grappled with. Hilton +Dane possessed a long patience, but, although a chivalrous person, he +was not a fool. He shrank from the thought of allowing the iron-master's +ward to be forced into a union with him, even if that were +possible--about which, however, knowing the young lady's character, he +was very doubtful. Also, he was at present a comparatively poor man, and +though he believed there was a moderate fortune in his invention, he saw +that some time must elapse before he could realize it. Abusing his +host's interference fervently, he decided that because the continual +effort to keep silence was wearing his resolution down, it would be well +to avoid further temptation by leaving The Larches. + +He had just arrived at this decision when Chatterton came upon him. + +"You do not look at all fit, Hilton," said the elder man. "The cut on +your forehead would, of course, account for that; but it has struck me +lately that something is troubling you. I refrain on principle from +prying into other folks' affairs; but, considering the time I have +known you, if you have any difficulty, I think you might confide it to +me." + +Dane understood what lay behind this, and he felt that it was the last +thing under the circumstances he would think of doing. + +"You have made my stay here so pleasant that if I remain much longer I +shall never be fit for work again," he said. "I have accordingly decided +to run up to London, and, if the railroad builders have not my work cut +out, look round for another foreign commission." + +Thomas Chatterton started a little, and tried to hide a frown. + +"I thought you had changed your mind after the letter you showed me, and +decided to stay in this country. It strikes me as downright folly to +risk accidents and fevers abroad with such a patent in your hands. Your +pump would beat the best pulsometer ever put into a mine. If you don't +approve of the offers you have received, and my suggestions, why can't +you sell it to the public through a limited company?" + +Dane laughed a little. + +"As I said before, sir, by the time I paid promoters and directors, +there would be very little left for me. If the pump, which cost years of +thought and experimenting, is to enrich anybody it shall be its +inventor; and another good foreign commission should supply me with the +necessary money." + +"Listen to me," said Chatterton. "It is time I spoke plainly. I have +been called a hard man, but I hope I am equally just, and I had to fight +desperately for a foothold at the beginning. Well, I kept a mental +ledger, and no man ever robbed or assisted me but I made against his +name a debit or credit entry. Some of those debts were heavy, but in +due time I paid them back in full." + +For a moment Chatterton certainly looked a hard man as he shut his hand +slowly, and with a very grim expression in his heavy-jawed visage, +stared steadily at Dane. Then the grimness vanished as he added: + +"There is still a sum standing to the credit of Henry Dane, and I feel +ashamed often that I have let it stand so long. There is still one way +in which you could help me wipe it off, if none of those mentioned +already suits you. My niece will not leave me dowerless--and--for if it +had not been so I should not have spoken--you expressed your admiration +pretty openly some years ago." + +Dane had no enviable task before him, but, remembering his compact, he +was determined to accomplish it, even if it should be necessary to use a +little brutality. + +"I am afraid I see two somewhat important objections, sir," he answered +quietly. "In the first place, it is not apparent that the lady approves +of me." + +"Pshaw!" said Chatterton. "When I was your age I never allowed such +trifles to daunt me. You surely did not expect her to say she had been +patiently waiting for you?" + +"I think I mentioned two objections, sir, and the second is of almost +equal importance," Dane responded gravely. "I am at present a poor man, +you see." + +Thomas Chatterton faced round on him again with his jaw protruded, and a +deeper hue in his generally sufficiently florid countenance. + +"You need not be, unless you are fond of poverty. You mean----" + +"That a boy and girl attachment seldom lasts long--on either side." + +Chatterton moved a few paces forward, with the dry cough which those who +knew his temper recognized as a danger signal, then wheeled round upon +his heel and strode toward the house; and Dane noticed that he kicked an +unoffending dog he usually fondled. + +As luck would have it, the next person Dane met was Lilian, and she +looked very winsome as she stood bareheaded under the morning sunshine +in her thin white dress. Dane's lips set tight as he watched her, then +suddenly his face softened again. + +"I am glad to see you recovering, Hilton," she greeted him. "That hat +hides my bandages nicely. Do you feel able to walk slowly over to +Culmeny with me to-day?" + +It was a tantalizing question: Dane felt not only able but very willing +to walk across the breadth of Scotland in Lilian Chatterton's company. +He feared however, that his moral strength would prove unequal to the +strain the excursion might impose, for it was growing very difficult to +observe the conditions of the indefinite compact. + +"I am very sorry, but I have letters to write," he said. + +Lilian Chatterton was a trifle quick-tempered, and though Dane knew it, +and considered it not a fault but a characteristic, he wondered at the +ways of women as she answered: + +"I could not, of course, expect you to delay your correspondence, which +is no doubt important. Have you run out of those new powder cartridges?" + +Dane felt that, under the circumstances, this was particularly hard on +him, but he smiled dryly. + +"The correspondence relates to my departure for London. I want you to +listen, Lilian. I have just had an interview with your uncle, which +makes my absence appear desirable. Perhaps you can guess its purport, +and the gist of what he said." + +The clear rose-color deepened a little in the girl's cheeks, but she +answered steadily. + +"I will admit the possibility. The most important question is what you +said to him." + +Now Dane had not only subdued mutinous alien laborers, and held them to +their task, but he had even been complimented by a South American +Spaniard upon the incisive vocabulary which helped him to accomplish it. +Nevertheless, at that moment he felt almost abject, and found speech of +any kind very difficult. + +"Are you ashamed of your answer?" asked the girl. + +"I am," Dane admitted. "There was, however, only one way in which I +could satisfy Mr. Chatterton without running the risk of allowing him to +apply considerable misdirected energy to the task of convincing a second +person. Therefore, though I did not like it, I took that way. He was not +pleased with me." + +"You told him----" Lilian began, coloring still more. + +"I did," said Dane grimly. "Horribly unflattering, wasn't it; but it was +the best I could do for you." + +The girl first experienced a wholly illogical desire to humiliate the +speaker; but, recognizing the unreasonableness of this, she reflected a +moment, and then laughed mirthlessly. + +"It should certainly prove effective. Still, a woman would have found a +neater way out of the difficulty!" + +Lilian left him, and when the man passed out of earshot into the +shrubbery, he used a few pointed and forbidden adjectives in connection +with what he termed his luck. + +He was leaning moodily upon a gate, looking down on a sunlit +stubble-field the following afternoon, when the next link was forged in +the chain of circumstances which, beginning with Chatterton's fishing, +would drag him through strange adventures. There was late honeysuckle on +the hedges, and festoons of warm-tinted straw. Running water sang +soothingly beneath the pine branches overhanging a neighboring hollow; +while all the wide vista of river, moor, and fell was mellowed by the +golden autumn haze. Dane, however, was far from happy. He was in no way +jealous of Carsluith Maxwell, which was perhaps surprising; but, in +addition to his other troubles, it did not please him that the latter +should have accompanied Miss Chatterton home on foot from Culmeny. They +had also been an inordinate time over the journey. + +Presently, a little brown-faced child came pattering barefooted down the +lane, and stopping, glanced at him shyly, as though half afraid. She was +a pretty, elfish little thing, though her well-mended garments betokened +industrious poverty. She apparently gathered courage when the man smiled +at her. + +"Whom are you staring so hard at, my little maid?" said he. + +The child fished out a strip of folded paper from somewhere about her +diminutive person, and held it up to him. + +"Ye will be the Mr. Dane who's staying at The Larches?" + +Dane nodded, and the girl glanced up and down the lane suspiciously. + +"Then Sis telt me to give ye this when there was naebody to see." + +"And who is your sister, and what's it all about?" asked Dane; and the +little thing smiled roguishly. + +"Just Mary Johnstone. Maybe it would tell ye gin ye lookit inside it, +sir." + +She vanished the next moment, with a patter of bare feet, leaving Dane +to stare blankly at the folded paper. + +"Now, who is Mary Johnstone, and what can she want with me?" he +wondered, as he prepared to follow the child's advice and read the +missive. When this had been done, however, he was not greatly +enlightened. + +"_I'm taking a great liberty_," it ran. "_I am in great trouble, and you +are the one person who can help me. If you would not have two little +children go hungry all winter, you will meet me by the planting at +Hallows Brig in the gloaming to-morrow. I saw you at The Larches, and +thought I could trust you._" + +"Very confiding of Miss Johnstone, whoever she is, but I'm thankful my +conscience is clear," thought Dane. It was unfortunate that he did not +obey the first impulse which prompted him to destroy the note. Instead +of this, he lighted another cigar, and sat down to consider the affair. + +Just then the local constable, who on an eventful occasion had also +stuck fast in the hedge, came tramping through the stubble with +elephantine gait. + +"Grand weather the day, sir," he beamed. "Ye will have heard we grippit +the man who broke yere heid." + +"I'm summoned as a witness; but who is Mary Johnstone?" asked Dane. "You +should know everybody about here." + +"Old Rab Johnstone's daughter; and that's no great credit to the lass. +Rab's overfond of the whisky, and never does nothing when he can help +it, which is gey often, I'm thinking. The daughter's a hard working +lass--sews for the gentlefolks; and she and her brither between them +keep the two mitherless bairns fed. It's him we've got in the lock-up +for breaking yere heid." + +"Oh," said Dane, as a light dawned upon him. "Then Mary Johnstone would +be the pretty, light-haired girl I saw sewing for Miss Chatterton?" + +"That same, sir," answered the constable, with professional alacrity. +"Miss Chatterton has missed nothing, has she?" + +"Of course not!" Dane said impatiently. "I was only inquiring out of +curiosity. You need not mention it. Would this coin be of any use to +you?" + +The official admitted that it might be; but when he appeared to smother +a bovine chuckle, Dane turned upon him. + +"What the deuce is amusing you so?" + +"Naething, sir," the man answered sheepishly. "I'm taken that way whiles +in hot weather." + +The constable furnished further particulars about the poacher's family +before he departed; and Dane, reflecting that his must be the most +damaging testimony against the prisoner, understood why Mary Johnstone +had sent for him. It was perhaps foolish, but the child's face had +attracted him; and deciding that the lot of the pretty seamstress, +struggling to bring up her sisters under the conditions mentioned, must +be a hard one at the best, he resolved at least to hear what she had to +say. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE TRYST AT HALLOWS BRIG + + +It was a clear, cool evening when Carsluith Maxwell leaned on the rails +of a footbridge which spanned the river, looking up at the old place of +Culmeny. It rose from the stony hillside, a straggling pile of time-worn +masonry, with all its narrow windows aflame with the evening light, and +the green of ivy softening its rugged simplicity. A square tower formed +its major portion, and this had been built with no pretense at adornment +in troubled days when the Maxwells had won and held their possessions +with the mailed hand. They had been, for the most part, soldiers of +fortune, and their descendant recalled the traditions of his race as, +turning, he looked south and east across the shining flood-tide toward +the Solway sands. + +More of his forbears had, when there was scarcity at Culmeny--which was +generally the case--ridden that way in steel cap and dinted harness than +ever rode back, and Carsluith Maxwell had hitherto fulfilled the family +destiny, chancing his life in modern ventures where the risks were +perhaps as heavy as any the old moss-troopers ran. Now, however, he had +come to a turning-point in his career, and that night must decide +whether he applied his energies to the slow conversion of barren mosses +into arable land, or went forth again to seek his fortune over seas. The +wandering life appealed to his instincts; and fortune had not wholly +evaded him; but he had recognized of late that unless he could share it +with one woman, even prosperity would have little value for him. There +was a trace of melancholy almost akin to superstition in his nature, and +it was with a curious smile that he turned toward Culmeny to put his +fate to the test. If Lilian Chatterton would not listen, it was high +time to begin his search for the African mine. + +In the meantime, Hilton Dane sat in the hall of Culmeny waiting for a +word with Maxwell, and also until it was time to keep his appointment at +the Hallows Brig. Three narrow, diamond-paned windows with rose lights +in the crown of their lancets pierced one end of the hall, and the +fading sunlight beating through, forced up into brightness the +pale-tinted dresses of his companions. They were young and comely women, +and, because the rest of the dark-paneled room was wrapped in shadow, +neither face nor dainty figure suffered from being silhouetted against a +somber background. A cluster of late roses in a silver bowl, and the +tawny skin of an African leopard on the polished floor, both touched by +the tinted gleam, formed by contrast glowing patches of color. +Nevertheless, Dane's eyes most often rested upon Lilian Chatterton, who +sat near an open window with a ruddy glory blazing in her hair, while +the dark oak behind it emphasized the delicate chiseling of her face. +There was a stamp of decision upon it as well as refinement. + +"Is it not wonderfully peaceful to-night?" she said, glancing out across +the velvet lawn. A few roses still flowered along one side of it, a tall +clipped hedge hemmed it in, and, beyond the lawn, fir wood, yellow +stubble, and meadow rolled down to the silver shining of the sea. The +whole lay steeped in the sunset, serenely beautiful; but the black +shadow of the firs lengthened rapidly across the grass. + +"You are all very silent," the girl continued. "Why does not somebody +agree with me? Don't you think it peaceful, Margaret? This might be an +enchanted garden, and yonder hedge a barrier impassable to care. It is +good to talk nonsense occasionally; and to-night one could almost fancy +that no cause for trouble might enter here." + +As she spoke, Dane noticed that the gloom of the firs had swallowed most +of the lawn, and the coincidence struck him as an unfortunate augury. +Lilian had known little of either sorrow or care; and having learned by +painful experience that the balance of light and darkness is determined +by immutable law, the man trembled for her. + +Margaret Maxwell laughed a little. + +"You are distinctly fanciful. Culmeny has seen very little of either +peace or prosperity. The spot where this very garden stands was once +worn down by the hoofs of stolen cattle, and the feet of armed men bent +on exterminating the gentle Maxwells who plundered them. We also read +that the serpent entered Eden, and have the authority of Milton and +others for picturing the Prince of Darkness as a somewhat courtly +gentleman; while one notices that when there is unusual harmony, trouble +not infrequently follows the advent of a man. It is a coincidence, but +that ditty should herald Carsluith's coming." + +A voice rose out of the adjoining meadow chanting a plaintive ditty in +an unknown tongue. The air resembled nothing Lilian had heard before, +and she leaned forward listening, for the refrain, pitched in a +mournful minor key, was equally striking. + +"I did not know your brother sang so well; but I do not like that song. +It strikes one as uncanny," she said. + +Margaret Maxwell nodded. + +"It is West African, and that, I understand, is an uncanny country. My +brother spent some time there. He really sings--as he does most things +when he thinks it worth while, which is not always--tolerably well." + +The song died away as Carsluith Maxwell came lightly across the lawn, +and Dane noticed that the last of the sunlight faded and the shadows +shut in both himself and Lilian Chatterton when the newcomer entered +through the open window. + +"I did not know I had such an audience, or I should have been too +diffident to play the nightingale," Maxwell laughed. + +"Miss Chatterton did not like your song, though she admired its +rendering," said Margaret mischievously. "But what put that doleful +composition into your head to-night?" + +"Association of ideas, most probably," answered Maxwell, with a smile on +his lips, but none in his eyes. "I met the post-carrier, and must decide +forthwith whether I shall follow up my African scheme or not. It is +curious, but by the same token I'm standing with my heel on the neck of +the leopard, and I feel inclined to say God send it be a true augury. +You have your foot upon him, too, Miss Chatterton; and that is a very +ill-omened beast." + +"How so?" asked Lilian. "It cannot be very large or terrible, to judge +by its skin." + +"It holds a country larger than Scotland in terror," replied Maxwell. +"There are whole tribes of black men who tremble at the sight of a tuft +of leopard's fur." + +"As an insignia, I suppose; but the beast is clearly vulnerable." Lilian +stooped and pointed to the fur. "Surely that is the work of a bullet." + +"You have keen eyes," said Maxwell. "The taxidermist did his best to +hide it. That hole was made when I first pitted myself against the +leopard by shooting one to convince my carriers the thing was mortal. +For some time I suspected that was the beginning of a duel." + +"And now?" interposed his sister, with a trace of anxiety. + +"Now I almost hope I was mistaken," said Carsluith Maxwell. "With your +permission, I have one or two things to see to, and should like a word +with Hilton." + +They went out together, and presently Dane returned alone to bid Miss +Maxwell adieu. + +"You have been very patient during the last hour," said that lady. "Now +that you have seen Carsluith, one could not, of course, expect too much +from you." + +"I have been very self-indulgent," said Dane, who had seen the elfish +child again and promised to meet his correspondent. "Still, there is a +limit to everybody's opportunities for enjoyment, and unfortunately I +must tear myself away." + +Margaret Maxwell glanced at him sharply, for she fancied that he spoke +with sincerity, as indeed he did; but Dane, having given his promise, +intended to keep it. She also glanced at Lilian, and decided that Miss +Chatterton was not wholly pleased. + +"Carsluith proposed to drive you both home. Can you not wait until he is +ready?" she suggested. + +"I fear I cannot," answered Dane, with a trace of confusion. "The fact +is, I have an appointment to keep." + +He left them a trifle abruptly, and Miss Maxwell turned to Lilian. + +"Whom can your guest have an appointment with? He looked positively +guilty. I fear that he must have fallen into the toils of some rustic +beauty, which, considering his opportunities, shows a deplorably +defective taste." + +If Lilian felt any resentment she showed no sign of it; but she was a +little more quiet than usual while they awaited the return of Carsluith +Maxwell. + +Dane, remembering Lilian's glance of interrogation, hurried toward the +Hallows Brig in a somewhat uncertain humor. Though the hillside was +still projected blackly against a pale gleam of saffron above, it was +nearly but not quite dark when he reached the bridge, and the water sang +mournfully through the deepening gloom of the firs. The cool air was +fragrant with the faint sweetness of honeysuckle, and the calling of +curlew rose from a misty meadow; and it seemed to Dane that the slight, +shadowy figure which presently flitted toward him was in keeping with +the spirit of the scene. When the girl halted beside him there was still +just sufficient light to show that her face was comely. Hilton Dane was +not given to wandering fancies, and had long carried Lilian Chatterton's +photograph about with him; but he felt compassionate when he saw the +anxiety in the thin face, and noticed that the girl's lips were +quivering. + +"Miss Johnstone, I presume?" he said. "Will you please tell me why you +sent for me?" + +"I will try, sir," was the answer. "I have two little sisters to bring +up on what I earn by my needle, and what Jim can spare; but work has +been ill to get at the quarries, and, now when Jim's in prison, and +winter's no far away, I'm afraid to wonder what will be the outcome if +he is convicted." + +"He should have considered such risks before he attempted to steal +another man's partridges," said Dane, with a poor attempt at severity. + +"Poaching is not stealing, sir!" There was a ring in the girl's voice. +"Sorrow on the game that steals the farmer's corn to make a rich man's +pleasure, and tempts a poor man to his ruin! May ye never learn, sir, +what it is to choose between stealing and starving." + +"The question is, what do you wish me to do?" + +"To let Jim off, sir," was the answer; and the girl's eyes were eager to +tearfulness as she fixed them on the man, who frowned, perhaps because +he felt the appeal in them almost irresistible. "It was a dark night, +and maybe ye could not be quite certain. It was the others who tempted +him. He will go no more poaching if he once wins clear, and if the +fiscal sends him to prison the bairns will be hungry often or the +winter's through. It's for their sakes I'm asking; and the neighbors say +there will be no conviction if ye cannot swear to Jim." + +Perhaps it was Dane's duty to sternly rebuke the pleader, but she +appeared half-fed and desperately anxious; and the face of her tiny +sister, with its look of childish confidence, rose up before his fancy. +He had once, and with little compunction, cut down with a shovel a +frenzied Italian laborer who led a mutiny, but now, though he set his +lips firmly for a moment, his eyes were pitiful. + +"I am afraid what you suggest would not be right," he said presently. +"Does your father not help you at all?" + +The girl's "No," expressed a good deal, and the despair in her voice +completed the man's discomfiture. + +"I'm sorry; I had no right to ask," he said. "I am sure, at least, that +it was not your brother who broke my head, because--because he was not +in a position to attack anybody just then--and, for the sake of the +little ones, if there is any doubt at all--and I dare say there will be, +he shall have full benefit. But I cannot set him at liberty to continue +poaching; and the neighboring land-owners will probably see that he gets +no more work at the quarries; so he must take a letter from me to a +contractor who will no doubt find him employment." + +Here, to the consternation of Dane, who did not know that his underfed +and overworked companion had done a courageous and, in the eyes of her +neighbors, a very suspicious thing, the girl broke out into half-choked +sobbing. + +"You really must not cry," he pleaded awkwardly. "It is distressing to +me; and it is not my fault that your brother's friends cut my head open. +However, as I am the unfortunate cause of your distress, if the little +ones have suffered already it would be my duty to--to see they +didn't--you understand me?" + +The girl, though still tearful, drew herself up with some show of pride. + +"I'm no asking ye for money. The relief was just overmuch for me; but, +and it's a last favor, ye will no tell Miss Chatterton. Her good word +means work and bread to me." + +"I am not likely to tell Miss Chatterton," the man assured her; then +added in haste: "If I did, she would not blame you." + +"Maybe! Ye will not tell her," the girl said enigmatically, and then +once more caught her breath. + +Dane, being unpleasantly uncertain what she might say or do in an +hysterical attack, felt it incumbent on him to soothe her, and laid a +hand reassuringly on her shoulder. It is possible that his companion +found comfort in the grasp, or instinctively recognized the touch of an +honest man, for she made no effort to evade it. As it happened, the lane +was grass-grown and sandy, and the river frothed noisily down a rapid +beyond the bridge. Thus neither of them heard the fall of hoofs until a +sudden glare of light beat into the face of the man. Fate had decreed +that the driver of the approaching vehicle should not only light the +lamps a little earlier than usual, but choose the longest road. + +The result was unfortunate, for Dane, acting on impulse, drew the girl +farther back into the shadow of the hedge, and stood before her with his +hand still on her arm. The light had partly dazzled him, but he +recognized in the occupants of the dog-cart Lilian Chatterton and +Carsluith Maxwell, and barely choked back an expletive. Neither, if they +had seen him, showed any sign of recognition, which, however, was hardly +to be expected under the circumstances. Then, as the vehicle jolted on, +the girl, seeing the chagrin in the man's face, gazed at him curiously, +and with half-coherent thanks hurried away, leaving Dane in a state of +savage dismay. + +"It is confoundedly hard on an unfortunate and innocent man! This is a +situation which will require considerable explaining, and I shall +probably never have an opportunity for attempting it," he muttered. + +In the meantime Lilian Chatterton felt the hot blood surge upward from +her neck, and was thankful that the darkness partly hid her face. It is +true that she had effectively, so she hoped, put an end to any +aspirations Dane might have cherished; but when he had once accepted the +position there was no longer any necessity to conceal the fact that to a +certain degree she found his society congenial, or to consider how far +her interest in him might carry her. His complaisance had been the more +gratifying because she fancied it was not every woman who could bend +such an individual to her will. Lilian, however, had not only set up a +somewhat elevated standard of conduct for herself, but was inclined to +judge harshly those who fell beneath it; and now she was unmistakably, +if illogically, angry. The knowledge that the man had gone out fresh +from her presence to keep such an assignation stung her pride to the +quick, and brought the crimson to her very forehead. It was, she +considered, an unforgivable insult. Still, she had but seen him dimly +for a second, and might be mistaken, and so she turned toward her +companion. + +"It is curious that I should fancy there was something familiar in the +voices we overheard," she said as lightly as she could. + +Maxwell had learned discretion. + +"Voices are always deceptive," he answered. "One should never trust to a +fanciful resemblance. The bridge is a favorite trysting-place for rustic +lovers; as one result of the sudden appearance of a pair of them, this +excitable beast managed to upset me the last time I approached it." + +Carsluith Maxwell had done his best for his friend, and it was not his +fault that he had only confirmed the girl's suspicions, and set her +wondering if all men were equally perfidious. + +"That being so, was it not very thoughtless of you to drive me this +way?" she inquired, with some asperity. + +"Guilty," laughed Maxwell. "May I plead in extenuation that it is the +longest?" + +He sprang down and looped the reins round a gatepost when they reached +the winding drive which led up to The Larches. + +"Do you mind alighting here, Miss Chatterton?" he asked. + +"No," said Lilian. "But may I inquire the reason?" + +"A desire not to risk your safety a second time. The drive is very dark, +the horse addicted to bolting on opportunity; and it would be hard to do +justice to what I must tell you if I were forced to watch him. The task +is sufficiently beyond me already; I would give a good deal for the +power of eloquence." + +Lilian was startled, for the speaker had certainly not worn his heart on +his sleeve. + +"Could you not wait until to-morrow?" she asked with some trepidation. + +"I am afraid not," said Maxwell, a trifle grimly. "I fear this must be a +surprise to you, but circumstances prevent my waiting, and it is even +better to hear one's sentence than to remain in suspense. Won't you +listen?" + +Lilian, seeing there was no escape, bent her head; and, if Maxwell had +not the gift of eloquence, he could compress a good deal into a few +brief sentences. There was no superfluous protestation. The man spoke +abruptly, but Lilian could not doubt the earnestness in his voice, or, +as he stood hat in hand under the lamplight, mistake the look in his +eyes. She saw that what he offered was the enduring love of one who +could be trusted to the utmost, and the few pointed words revealed +depths of tenderness she had hardly suspected in him. + +"I am sorry, very sorry--but it is impossible," she said softly. + +Maxwell moved a pace or two forward, and his face seemed to have grown +suddenly haggard. + +"Think," he urged hoarsely. "This means so much to me. Will it always be +impossible? I shall not change." + +Lilian fancied she could believe him. She looked him fully in the eyes +as she answered. + +"It can never be possible. I am sorry. If I had known, I should have +tried to warn you. You must forget me." + +Maxwell recognized finality in her tone. For the space of several +seconds he turned his head away. Then he faced round again, speaking +very quietly: + +"You have nothing to reproach yourself with. The mistake was mine. I +shall, however, never forget you; and I want you to promise that if any +adversity overtakes you--which God forbid--you will remember me. I sail +for Africa shortly, and it may be long before we meet again. Now I will +walk with you up the drive." + +He held out his arm, and Lilian wondered a little at his composure as +she laid her hand on it and they passed together into the blackness of +the firs. + +Miss Chatterton had not long joined her aunt when Dane came in, and +glanced in her direction as he made some not oversapient observation to +Chatterton. She did not avoid his gaze, but met it coldly, and, +gathering up some needlework, moved without ostentation, but +deliberately, out of the room. No speech could have been plainer, and +Dane grew hot, while the fingers of one hand contracted without his +will. + +"You don't look well, Hilton," remarked Thomas Chatterton. "Is your head +troubling you?" + +"No," said Dane. "I must have walked tolerably fast, and I am perhaps a +trifle shaky yet. With Mrs. Chatterton's permission I will go out and +smoke a cigar." + +He passed out, and the iron-master smiled as he looked at his wife. + +"Can you tell me what is the meaning of this?" he asked. + +"Your inquiry is indefinite; and why do you ask me?" + +"Because I think you ought to know," Chatterton answered dryly. "Women +generally have a finger in it whenever there is trouble." + +"Even if true, that is not strikingly original," Mrs. Chatterton +retorted. "I have not noticed anything unusual." + +"Then listen," and Chatterton pointed toward the window. "When a young +man goes out for a stroll he does not usually stamp in that savage +fashion upon the gravel. Now, I want your candid opinion." + +"You shall have it," said the lady, smiling. "I believe that no good +ever resulted from a choleric elderly gentleman's interference in +affairs beyond his comprehension." + +Meanwhile Carsluith Maxwell stood talking to his sister in the hall of +Culmeny. + +"After what has happened, the sooner I get out on my African venture the +more pleasant it will be for all concerned," he said gloomily. "It is a +good country where one can forget one's troubles; in fact, there are so +many peculiarly its own that I don't know a better." + +"Poor Carsluith! It will be a heavy disappointment to father. He is +failing more rapidly than I care to notice, and had begun to lean on +you. I don't think I can forgive her. Yes; go out, and forget her." + +"It was not Miss Chatterton's fault," Maxwell declared quickly. "She +never, to use the inappropriate phrase, encouraged me. It was my own +folly to hope that she could stoop to me." + +"Without any wish to flatter you, I consider that Miss Chatterton might +have stooped a good deal farther," said Margaret Maxwell. "However, we +need not go into that; and I am only sorry you are so hardly hit. I +wonder if it was because of Dane?" + +"No," Maxwell answered with decision. "I can't exactly tell you why, but +I am certain it was not because of Dane." + +His sister said nothing further, though she was not convinced. Her heart +was heavy for her brother, because she knew the Maxwell temperament, and +that he was not the man to change. + +Carsluith passed out into the darkness, and leaning against a fir, spoke +half aloud: + +"No man Miss Chatterton had smiled upon could scatter his affections as +Dane seems to have done. Pshaw! The thing is perfectly impossible!" + +This was, perhaps, a greater tribute to the speaker's loyalty than to +his knowledge of human nature, though Carsluith Maxwell was usually +accounted a shrewd man. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +DANE'S SILENCE + + +It was in a combative humor that Hilton Dane presented himself in court +on the day of the poacher's trial. It was impossible to ignore the +summons, which alone had delayed his departure from The Larches; but the +time he spent there waiting had passed very uncomfortably. Lilian had, +so far as she could do so without attracting attention, sedulously +avoided his company; and he fancied that both Chatterton and his wife +regarded him with suspicion. Dane, knowing the iron-master's opinions, +surmised that Chatterton would not have blamed him had he frankly +related all that had passed; but he had pledged himself to secrecy, and +it never occurred to him to break his promise. + +Therefore he kept his own counsel, and went into court prepared for +battle, further fortified by a contempt for the assumed omnipotence of +petty local magnates which men of his kind, who have tasted power in the +vigorous life of the newer lands, acquire. He decided that the prisoner, +who was very young, looked free from inherent vice, and worthy of a +chance to prove himself, in the main, honest. He was not absolutely +certain that the man was the one with whom he had grappled, and he gave +him the full benefit of the doubt. His answers provided the neighborhood +with a sensational topic for conversation, and, while there were some +who laughed at the legal functionaries' discomfiture and the witness's +nonchalance, the game preservers in the vicinity were emphatic in their +indignation. + +In any case, Dane left the court amid the plaudits of the assembled +quarrymen, which the officials could not restrain. He hated the rôle of +popular hero but he felt a certain grim satisfaction, though he guessed +that every word he had spoken might cost him dearly. Also, because he +did nothing by halves, he sought the discharged prisoner. + +"I don't know whether you are the right man or not, and I don't want +to," he said dryly. "If you are a wholly worthless rascal, you will no +doubt drift back into the clutches of the police, when it is probable +that the worthy gentlemen I addressed to-day will see that you don't get +out again. It would not surprise me if they starved you out of this +neighborhood; so, if you desire to make a fresh start, you will take +this letter to the English waterworks contractor to whom it is +addressed--and send your sister as much as possible of what he pays +you." + +"Would you believe that I'm sairly sorry, sir?" began the lad; but Dane +turned upon him with a laugh and a frown. + +"Sorry for what? Prove it by turning honest. Do you wish to convince me +I did wrong to-day?" + +The poacher departed with grateful protestations, and Dane was glad that +he had vanished before Maxwell came up. + +"I don't know whether I ought to congratulate you on your forensic +abilities, or otherwise, but the spectacle was worth the journey," he +said. "I hardly suspected that you possessed such talents; but why you +displayed them is, of course, another question." + +"It is also my particular business," Dane replied stiffly, and frowned +when Maxwell smiled significantly. + +"Confound you! Do you think----" he broke out; and Maxwell smiled again +in ironical fashion as he moved away. + +"I might make use of your own rejoinder, and say that I generally find +it saves trouble to keep my opinions to myself," he returned. "However, +since you asked me, what would any person of the most modest discernment +think?" + +Dane groaned inwardly as he climbed into the waiting vehicle, for the +last speech placed beyond all doubt the fact that the occupants of the +dog-cart had recognized him at Hallows Brig; and he knew that Lilian +Chatterton held somewhat puritanical views. He had, it was evident, +involved himself hopelessly. + +That very evening, just as Dane had finished packing his few +possessions, an irate game-preserving gentleman drove over to The +Larches to express his indignation. + +"I would not like to hurt your feelings, Chatterton, but your young +friend did not give wholly unbiased testimony to-day," he said. +"Considering his evident desire to shield the prisoner, I e'en felt it +my duty to----" + +He got no farther, for the choleric iron-master was equally loyal to +those he honored with his good opinion, and prompt on any challenge to +take up the cudgels. + +"If that is all you called to tell me, you might have spared yourself +the trouble, Black," he interrupted. "I have known Hilton Dane from +boyhood, as I knew his father before him; and I haven't the slightest +objection to hurting the feelings of any man who impugns the honesty of +my friends." + +"I'm thinking ye are very generous," replied Black, relapsing into his +native idiom. "Man, do not be so testy, but bide and listen. He +described his adversary so well that the police at once identified and +arrested him; but he appeared troubled with a distressfully bad memory +in court to-day. + +"'What are ye meaning by the words, "A man like the prisoner"?' the +fiscal asked him; and Mr. Dane answers: 'Just what I say.' + +"'Can you not swear to him?' asked the fiscal severely; and your young +friend smiled. 'Could you swear to the complexion and color of the eyes +of any man who, on a dark night, had just kicked you hard upon the +knee?' says he. + +"It was not even respectful; and when the rabble cheered there was more +than me who agreed with the fiscal: 'This place is a court of +justice--or it ought to be,' said he." + +Black, pausing, betrayed his indignation with a gesture, while +Chatterton laughed in aggressive fashion. + +"Considering my worthy neighbors' prejudices, I think there was +something in that last remark," he said. + +Just then Lilian, who may have overheard part of the colloquy, appeared +in an opening in the tall hedge. + +"Did you convict the malefactor, Mr. Black?" she asked. + +"No," said that gentleman ruefully. "Unfortunately we did not, although +I'm thinking that we did our best." + +Lilian smiled a little, and Chatterton's eyes twinkled as he glanced at +her encouragingly. + +"Was that quite in accordance with the spirit of our glorious +constitution?" she asked. + +"Eh?" said Black sharply. "What's this I'm saying; and I see ye are +laughing at me. I mean his guilt was manifest, but a friend of yours +showed considerable audacity, forby a trace of talent, in his efforts to +release him. Ye will mind that it's a principle of British justice to +give even a poacher fair play, my dear young lady." + +"So I was always taught," Lilian replied artlessly. + +Thomas Chatterton chuckled again, and pointed toward a man who, in turn, +passed through the opening in the hedge. + +"I fancy that Mr. Black is anxious to talk to you, Hilton," he said. + +Black, however, had evidently found two adversaries sufficient without +engaging a third, and, as sometimes happens, he did not recollect the +crushing things he might have said until the opportunity had passed; so, +after a stiff greeting, he allowed Chatterton, who was rarely ungenerous +to a beaten enemy, to lead him away. + +Lilian had disappeared, but not before the manner in which she had +ignored Dane had roused him to precipitate action. He forgot his +prudence in a sudden fit of anger, and, remembering only that he might +never have another opportunity for speech with her, he followed the +girl. Miss Chatterton, however, had a fair start, and, perhaps being +warned by the sound of his hurried footsteps, made the most of it; so +that while Dane pursued her down two avenues, and through a shrubbery, +the situation grew rapidly ludicrous. The humor of it did not strike him +then, and he saw only the flicker of a white dress receding before him. +Finally he came upon the fugitive in a narrow path between rows of +choice chrysanthemums, where, as there was no room for two to pass, +Lilian turned upon him with an ominous light in her eyes. It was evident +that Miss Chatterton was seriously angry, as well as a little +breathless. + +"What brings you here?" she demanded. + +Dane was not, as a rule, readily disconcerted; but for a moment the +power of lucid speech deserted him. + +"I came----" he gasped. + +"That is unfortunately evident," retorted Lilian, chillingly. "What I +desire to know is why, considering the size of the garden, you must, +after seeing I wished to be alone, choose this particular path!" + +Dane had slight cause for merriment, but he actually laughed. + +"Any other place would have suited me, but you went so fast!" + +This was a blunder, and he realized it as he heard the gravel crunch in +a manner that suggested the pressure of somebody's heel. Lilian had +clearly roused herself to face the situation. + +"Admitting that it was so, will you explain why you cannot take a hint?" + +"I will," Dane said quietly, though he was once more maladroit. "I +wished to ask why you have avoided me like contagion lately?" + +"Is that a necessary question, or is it generous to place the onus of +such an explanation upon me?" + +"Perhaps not," he admitted. "I am not so quick of wit as I could wish, +to-day, but I am going away early to-morrow, and it may be very long +before I see you again; so I could not help asking it. We have known +each other a long time, Lily, and I would not care to leave England +feeling that you were displeased with me." + +"Have I told you that I was displeased?" asked the girl. + +"Speech was hardly necessary." + +Lilian Chatterton was not deficient in courage, and she no longer tried +to evade the difficulty. "Please understand that I have neither the +right nor the desire to inquire into your motives, but--since you +insist--there are limits within which one must restrict one's +friendship; and after comparing your own account of your nocturnal +adventures with what I heard Mr. Black relate about your conduct in +court to-day, it is hardly possible to avoid concluding that you have +overstepped them." + +"There may be an explanation. Is it fair, as you reminded that very +gentleman, to condemn any one unheard?" + +"Can you furnish one?" asked Lilian, with a quickness which was not +wholly lost upon her companion. If he had spoken plainly, it is possible +that the explanation might have changed a good deal for both of them; +but that was just what the man had pledged himself not to do. He was not +a casuist, and, having no time for reflection, saw only one course open +to him. It was too late when he realized that it was the worst one +possible from any point of view. + +"I am afraid I cannot, at present," he said. + +The girl's eyes grew almost wicked, for his hesitation was fatal, and +she was angry that she had even allowed him to draw her into the +discussion. + +"That is comprehensible," she said. "You must already have taxed your +imagination severely, and it is perhaps natural that the testimony of a +quite disinterested gentleman should be more convincing. Besides, as I +said already, it is certainly not my part to judge you." + +"Then I can only hope that you will hear the full truth from some other +person you consider more worthy of credit," Dane said somberly. + +Miss Chatterton returned no answer, but, drawing her skirt to her side, +brushed past the man, who stepped recklessly among the chrysanthemums. +She had, of course, no intention of looking back in his direction, but, +on turning at the end of the alley, it was almost necessary to do so, +and she sometimes remembered, with both a smile and a sigh, how he had +stood, a somewhat commanding, as well as a slightly ludicrous figure, +staring straight before him, knee-deep among the chrysanthemums. That, +however, was afterward, for then Lilian was in a royal rage with herself +as well as the man, because she had allowed anything he could say or do +to disturb her serenity. + +Dane sighed a little, but there was resolution as well as indignation in +his face as he moved away, and left the gardener, who had witnessed the +scene with indignation, to assess the damage. + +"Would nothing fit yon theatrical ijiot but stamping my new quilled +Regents flat?" the gardener grumbled. + +Early the next morning Chatterton and Dane stood waiting for the South +express in the little country station. + +"I don't altogether understand what you have been doing, Hilton, and, +though nobody seems quite pleased with you, I won't ask," said the +iron-master. "I know you had a good reason for it, whatever it was; and +if that meddlesome Black or any of his friends feel inclined to make +further unpleasant suggestions, I shall enjoy the opportunity for a +little plain speaking. If you ever change your mind, remember what I +said; and don't close with any offer unless it's tempting, but come +back and wait at The Larches for a better. I can't help saying I'm +sorry you did not altogether hit it with Lilian. Modern young women, +however, often appear to consider cheap smartness more becoming than the +genuine cordiality they may feel." + +"It was not Miss Chatterton's fault, sir," declared Dane, who, growing +slightly confused, wished the iron-master would favor anything else with +his fixed attention. He was thankful that the approach of the express +prevented the conversation from progressing further in that direction. + +A few evenings later, Lilian dismounted from her pony in the shadow of a +copse. For some reason she had been restless all day, and sought solace +in a ride across the moor. The saddle had slipped a little, and she +spent some time tightening the girth. Meanwhile two men came to a +standstill in the stubble beyond the hedge, and she recognized Carsluith +Maxwell in one spare figure. The sunset beat into his face, and she saw +it was stamped with a curious melancholy as he looked down the +deep-wooded valley toward Culmeny. Ridges of brown moorland, whose +slopes were streaked by dark firs, hemmed the hollow in, and the tower +rose blackly in the mouth of it against the shimmer of the sea. + +"It is an inheritance to be proud of, sir," Carsluith said. "Perhaps it +is because of the contrast with the rank luxuriance of the tropics, and +their stifling heat, but each time I come home to the old place and +breathe this keen sweet air, I feel that I love it better." + +The second man, turning, laid his hand on the speaker's shoulder, and as +he did so Lilian recognized the master of Culmeny. + +"It will be yours some day which cannot be very distant now," the elder +man replied. "It is a barren heritage, and I have long regretted that, +after the girls are provided for, its revenues will do little more than +cover the interest on the burden you must take up along with it." + +"I hope that day will be long in coming, sir; and I shall never rest +contented until by some means I win enough to restore our former +prosperity. To-morrow will see me on my way to London, and we must hope +that my latest venture will prove successful!" + +Lilian could not escape without attracting attention, and she was so +close to the two men that she heard Brandram Maxwell sigh. + +"I do not approve of it, but know I cannot dissuade you," he said, with +a certain pride as well as wistfulness in the glance he cast upon his +son. "I had hoped you might have settled here--and think she is good as +well as bonny--but that was not to be. Prosperity! The old place was aye +needy, and its plenishing has cost the life of many of those who have +gone before you. You will mind Andrew's answer when he fell out dying in +the retreat from Derby: 'I'm not caring greatly where I lie,' said he. +'Our kirkyard is not contracted. It runs from the Low Countries to the +sands of Cree.' Maybe it's your destiny, but you will not forget that an +old man is longing for the sight of you, longing the more because----" + +He ceased abruptly, and Lilian noticed that Carsluith Maxwell made the +slightest gesture of negation, while his face darkened a little. She +recalled an old superstitious tale. + +"We have outgrown belief in those fables, sir," he declared. + +The ruler of Culmeny made no direct answer. + +"The old tale is told over often, and the end is the same. God keep you, +and bring you safe home from that dark land," he said solemnly. + +Here the pair forestalled the unwilling spectator's intention by moving +away, and left her troubled. She had done nothing to raise false hopes +in Carsluith Maxwell, and in that respect her conscience was clear; but +there had been a strange somberness in both men's faces, and she felt +that she was mainly responsible for sending the younger one to Africa. +He was of good family and accomplished, and she wondered why, when many +another damsel would have gladly listened, she had so promptly declined +him as a suitor. Then, even as she reflected that there was no one else +she preferred to him, a tinge of color crept into her face, and, +dismissing the subject, she mounted, and sent the pony at a gallop +across the next meadow. + + * * * * * + +It was a depressing afternoon when Carsluith Maxwell found Dane lounging +in the smoking-room of a London hotel. The air outside was foul with +smoke and fog; and it was little more cheerful within. Dane was in +distinctly low spirits. He had spent a fortnight haunting the offices of +engineering firms, financiers, and company promoters, and had discovered +once more that anybody willing to take up his invention would require +the lion's share of the contingent profit. He could hear of no +remunerative professional engagement; and the contractors who had +promised him the foreign commission stated that the work would not be +begun for some time. + +"You do not look exactly pleased with either the world or yourself," +observed Maxwell. + +"I certainly don't feel so," Dane said shortly. "Several things have +gone wrong with me lately, and I'm even more troubled than usual by a +chronic shortness of capital. I want ten thousand pounds rather more +badly than most folks do, and no mental effort will show me where to +raise more than five." + +Maxwell looked hard at the speaker. + +"If you are willing to risk a good deal on a chance of obtaining the +money, I think I can show you a way." + +Dane laughed harshly. + +"There is no risk you could mention which, for the sake of five thousand +pounds, I would not run." + +"If you join me you will run a good many," said Maxwell. "There were +reasons why I could not make the offer until to-day. Give me about ten +minutes to explain the venture." + +Dane drew in a deep breath when his companion concluded; then held out a +big hand. + +"It is a bargain," he said simply. "Half the profit, half the expense +and peril. I can start any time after to-morrow." + +They shook hands on it, while the blue cigar smoke curled about them; +and the bargain they made was kept faithfully in the face of manifold +perils, and in spirit as well as in letter. Long afterward, Dane +remembered that Maxwell's smile was much the same when, clenching the +hot rifle barrels, they watched the flintlocks flashing through thicker +wreaths of a more deadly vapor. + +All arrangements had been made when Maxwell departed; and Dane sat down +to write Chatterton a letter. When that gentleman received it, he first +used expressions which should have cost him five shillings, and then, +seeking his wife, thrust it down before her with quite unnecessary +violence. + +"The man has taken leave of his senses!" he exclaimed. "Read that, and +tell me if you don't think so." + +"Is this the beginning of another ancient-right crusade, or the effect +of the lobster salad? You will remember that I warned you," said Mrs. +Chatterton. + +"This is not a time to indulge in puerile levity! It is that--that +confounded idiot, Hilton! He and the other madman, Maxwell, have gone +out to look for gold mines in one of the deadliest holes in Africa. He +says he wanted five thousand pounds, and, when he knows it was his duty, +could not come to me!" + +Mrs. Chatterton read the letter, and then tried to flash a warning at +her husband before she glanced in her niece's direction. Lilian who had +leaned forward as though listening intently, sank back into her chair. + +"Perhaps they may find the gold mine; and Carsluith Maxwell is by no +means an idiot," she said. "Indeed, he always struck me as a shrewd, +determined man." + +"Determined enough," fumed her husband. "They're all made that way. +Maxwell rebuilt his iniquitous obstruction four times after I tore it +up; but there's something in Carsluith's dark face I don't care to see. +I've seen the sign on other men, and it implies a tragedy. Besides, from +what Black told me, they're an unlucky family, with an hereditary +weakness for dying fully dressed. Any mad venture they could get +themselves decently killed in seems to have been irresistible to those +men of Culmeny. I'd have given three times the money to prevent +Carsluith from decoying poor Hilton. Do the fools fancy nuggets grow on +palm trees?" + +Chatterton, receiving no answer, retired to what he called his study, +where they heard him banging books about. Lilian sat silent with hands +crossed in her lap. She, also, she fancied, had seen the shadow in +Carsluith Maxwell's face, and she felt both troubled and anxious about +him and about somebody else. + +A week later Mrs. Chatterton, entering her niece's room in search of +some trifle, came upon a book the girl had been reading. She looked +thoughtful when she saw that the volume treated of travels in West +Africa, and that the marker in it rested between the last pages. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A WARNING + + +It was a bright morning when the S.S. _Manyamba_ rolled south into sight +of the Canaries over a white-flecked sea. They rose rather like dim blue +clouds than islands athwart the far horizon, with one glistening cone +cut off by silver mists from the ocean plain beneath, towering high +above the loftiest. Maxwell leaned over the poop rails, while Dane, the +middle-aged purser, and Miss Bonita Castro stood near by. The lady's +father, a little, olive-faced Portuguese, with shifty black eyes, +lounged in a deck chair watching them languidly. There were few +passengers on board, and the members of the group, who had made friends +somewhat rapidly, were now amusing themselves by shooting at the bottles +a steward forward flung into the sea. + +A big pistol flashed in Miss Castro's hand. The purser clutched at a +stanchion and uttered a quick exclamation; Maxwell wheeled round +suddenly. A bottle, ceasing its gyrations, sank into the white wash of +the screw, and the lady laughed as she lowered the pistol muzzle. + +"_Trés!_" she cried exultantly. "That is three to me! _Carramba!_ I have +also it seem, as you say, nearly bag the Señor Maxwell." + +If Dom Pedro Castro was a typical Portuguese, his wife had been an +Andalusian, and his daughter, while speaking several languages rather +prettily than well, preferred her mother's tongue, and had inherited a +full share of the voluptuous beauty of a race whose women are famous in +Spain. She formed an interesting picture as she stood with the blue of +the sea behind her, laughter in her dark eyes, and the pistol still +smoking in her hand. They were remarkably attractive eyes; and Maxwell, +knowing what to look for, saw more than Dane had apparently seen in +their depths, and decided to warn his comrade to beware of them. A faint +carmine warmth emphasized the comeliness of the slightly dusky face, +while graceful pose and figure were both characteristic of a woman of +her extraction as yet well short of the age at which Southern beauty +changes into grossness. + +"You have not the fright, Señor Maxwell, though a little nearer and we +leave you behind?" she added naively. + +Maxwell did not look frightened, though he might well have been, for the +bullet had passed him close. He answered with a smile which, as Dane had +noticed before, appeared to linger on his lips after the gravity had +returned to his eyes. + +"No, señorita. If a man could choose his last resting-place, wouldn't +this blue water be much nicer than a mangrove swamp in Africa. That very +little, however, makes a vast difference; and you have won the gloves. +You shall have the best in Las Palmas to-night. You will land us by +sunset, Mr. Purser?" + +"Yes." The Purser sighed with relief when he saw that the contest was +over. "Hadn't you better give me that pistol, señorita? Accidents happen +when one least expects them, and the Company would hold me responsible +if you killed anybody. I don't think the skipper would see quite as much +humor in the position as you seem to." + +Bonita laughed with the light-heartedness of a child, and glanced +demurely at Dane. + +"To kill the Señor Maxwell, or my good friend Don Ilton, is catastrophe; +but to kill a bad man, it is nothing. Many men are killed in Africa; I +myself shoot one. There was in him the blood of the negro, and he forget +it when without respect he speak to me." + +Dane was a trifle staggered by the matter-of-fact manner in which Miss +Castro mentioned the way she had disposed of one whom he surmised had +been too venturesome a suitor. + +"_Verdad!_" exclaimed Dom Pedro. "The man, by bad fortune, he is not +die, and that affair is cost me much commercio. My daughter she has, in +your English, the spirited way." + +The lady's face changed suddenly as she turned toward Maxwell. + +"I beat you, Señor, but it is because you are _muy caballero_, and +prefer the defeat from me. You have the steady hand and the dangerous +eye, and have not the fear. That is well if you go up into the forest in +my country. It is different with your friend. The pistol is not for him. +No, he remind me of those big fair men with the axes I read of in +England. I make you my compliments, Don Ilton, and you show me where the +swift Bonita he leap at the bow." + +Whether, because Miss Castro was fond of admiration, this was done out +of pique at Maxwell's indifference to her attractions, Dane naturally +did not know, but he answered with a bow, and the two strolled forward +together. There were no porpoises circling, as they often will, athwart +the stem, but the lady who perched herself upon a knighthead seemed in +no way disappointed. The sun made rainbows in the spray which whirled +beneath her, as each blue ridge fell back shattered from the shearing +bows; and nowhere else could one realize so well the swift passage of +the quivering hull through the white-topped seas, or feel the same +cradle-like rise and fall of the warm deck planking. + +"All this," remarked Miss Castro, "is very nice; and the Señor Maxwell, +who is _muy caballero_, but somber sometimes, he is not here. You have +my permission to sit there, and I will talk to you." + +Dane afterward wondered why, in place of doing so, she led him on to +talk about his comrade; but it was perhaps not unnatural that he should +find a certain degree of pleasure in the society of his comely and +versatile companion. He knew little of Miss Castro beyond what the +purser had told him, and that Maxwell had met her elsewhere; but he was +to learn more in due time. She had been educated in some Spanish +convent; but, being born on the fever coast, could withstand the +climate, and she spent part of her time there in her father's factory, +and the rest with her mother's sister in the Canaries. Dom Pedro was +assumed to be a tolerably prosperous trader. + +An hour had passed before the two came aft together, and on the next +opportunity Maxwell took his friend to task. + +"It is perhaps time for me to warn you about playing with fire, Hilton," +he said. "Miss Castro is certainly pretty, but her people don't +understand the game of flirtation as played in England. In all +emotional questions they're unpleasantly in earnest. I may remind you +that I met the señorita in Africa." + +"I have not so far obtruded my advice on you," Dane returned. "Don't you +think this----" + +"Is an impertinence?" and Maxwell smiled. "Perfectly. I also admit that +the rôle of mentor does not become me. Nevertheless, when Miss Castro +casually mentioned how she got rid of her last suitor, there was +something in her eyes which might have warned an observer. You needn't +trouble about a neat rejoinder, because I'll retire, having done my +duty." + +"I mean to call upon Miss Castro at the Catalina to-morrow. Your +warning, however, is superfluous, as it will be the last time I shall +see her. She is remaining here." + +There was a trace of mischief in Maxwell's smile as he answered. + +"I am going with you. You need not express astonishment. She invited +me." + +It was a sunny afternoon when they went ashore together; but they did +not find Miss Castro immediately at her hotel. It appeared that the +British tourists and invalids who sojourned in the dusty Spanish city +had joined hands with its leading inhabitants over the organization of a +gala for the benefit of local institutions, and Miss Castro was playing +the part of soothsayer in the cause of charity. + +Dane found it pleasant, in spite of the dust, to watch the white mists +sliding athwart the great volcanic peaks, and the silvery spray toss +beneath the white-walled city. The assembly also was interesting. Gaily +uniformed Castilian officer, and British tourist fantastically attired, +jostled each other. Dark-skinned, black-haired beauties--pleasant to +look upon even when they wore Parisian headgear instead of the national +mantilla--in filmy draperies, flitted in and out among young +Englishwomen, whose indifferent faces and attire emphasized the contrast +between their respective characters; while here and there a matron of +their own nation stood surveying the scene with the pitying contempt for +everything foreign which too many insular Britons consider impresses the +benighted alien. Good music mingled with the merry voices, swish of +diaphanous dresses, clank of sabers, and patter of feet, and through all +rang the monotone of the sea. + +"Look at it well," said Maxwell. "It is the last glimpse of civilization +you will get for many a day. Henceforward our path leads us into a land +of eternal shadow haunted by all things evil; at least, and they have +some reason, so the negroes say. There's the señorita, telling fortunes +in that striped tent. It is curious that she is beckoning--me." + +Maxwell pushed his way through the throng surrounding a gaudy pavilion, +where Miss Castro was evidently doing excellent business; and presently +he returned, smiling curiously. + +"She wishes to tell your fortune. Go in and spend a crown in the cause +of charity. I can't say that mine was a very good one, but the señorita +showed an accuracy which was, under the circumstances, surprising." + +Dane made his way with difficulty into the tent, and when his eyes grew +used to the change from brilliant sunshine to shadow, he realized one +reason for Miss Castro's success. She wore the dress of the Andaluces, +thin, lace-like draperies of black, sufficiently short to reveal the +tiny high-arched feet in dainty Moorish slippers. A gauzy black mantilla +and a crimson rose adorned her hair, while the graces of her figure were +emphasized by a broad zone of African gold, chased with zodiacal +characters by sable craftsmen. The costume suited her; and Miss Castro +was probably aware of the fact. + +"So you will learn a little of the future, Don Ilton?" she said, with +unusual gravity. "No, you must not smile. This is not the charlatan's +trickery. The ancient Moors they teach us wisdom, and I have study. So, +we throw there the crown, and I lay this Aggri in your palm. The Aggri +has virtue, though what it is no man know." + +She detached from her bracelet an insignificant bead, one of the +mysterious Aggri which cannot be counterfeited, and, as Dane afterward +learned, can hardly be bought with money in West Africa. + +"It is a big, hard hand, and has done much work, perhaps with the +shovel, in a hot country--I think the Sud America," she said. "It will +also hold the rifle. It is well to hold the rifle straight in Africa." + +Miss Castro had splendid eyes, of a kind that it is not wise for a +susceptible man to gaze into too steadily while his hand is held in very +pretty fingers; and Dane felt it incumbent on him to break the spell. + +"This is not all divination, señorita. I told you I was going inland +from the African coast; though I certainly did not tell you I had been +in South America. Did you guess it by my darkened skin?" + +"It is not the trickery," repeated Miss Castro. "I tell you only the +things I know. There is blood on your path through the forest--blood, +and a shadow that follows, creeping always behind. Look well to your +friend. The shadow follows, but does not rest on--you. If it should, +there is a pale, cold woman in England who--but I cannot tell you if she +would be sorry, or if you will ever see her again. There is also +treasure, but the lines fade and the crosses are many, with only the +sign of danger clear. I can see no farther. Only the good saints know +the end." + +She paused for a moment, leaving Dane somewhat impressed, for, although +no believer in palmistry of that description, he had seen that Miss +Castro was apparently not speaking without a purpose. Then she laid down +the Aggri and, it seemed to Dane, her mantle of prophetess +simultaneously, saying in her usual tone, but with somewhat unusual +earnestness: + +"And now you will not laugh while I give you the warning. Beware of +these three things: a man with the holy cross on his forehead, the +carved calabash, and the leopard's skin. You will remember always, but +tell only the Señor Maxwell. There is one at least who would not have +that shadow overtake you. It may be I shall see you in Africa." + +Here the eager crowd outside showed signs of storming the tent, and Dane +was forced to take his leave, reflecting that it might perhaps be as +well if they did not, as Miss Castro expected, meet in Africa. Rejoining +Maxwell, he told him what he had heard, concluding: + +"It much resembled the usual professional soothsayer's medley, and I +could make neither head nor tail of it. Still, the señorita's manner +impressed me." + +"How did she look or speak?" Maxwell's glance betrayed his interest. + +"As though she believed what she was saying, and wished me to." + +"I am inclined to think she did," Maxwell answered thoughtfully. "She +was also probably giving you good advice in the one way available. How +she knows I cannot tell, but by the light of past experience I can make +a good deal of the medley. As you probably surmised, her warning was not +the result of divination." + +Maxwell did not appear inclined to answer questions, and, dismissing the +subject, they proceeded to make the most of their last few hours upon +what he termed Christian soil. The black peaks were fading against the +saffron in the west, and purple darkness creeping up from Africa across +the sea, when the mail gun warned them it was time to return to the +steamer. + +"We shall have seen, and perhaps suffered, very strange things before we +set foot in a civilized land again," said Maxwell. "It is not a tropical +sporting trip that we are embarking upon. There remain just five minutes +for a valedictory libation." + +"Champagne!" Dane said to the Swiss attendant as they passed through the +veranda of the hotel; and presently he rose from a little table, holding +up the sparkling cup. Maxwell's hints had impressed him, and there was a +grimness behind his smile when he spoke. + +"Here's death or glory! A swift journey to the heart of the forest!" + +Maxwell generally frowned upon anything that approached the theatrical, +but, as he touched his comrade's glass with his own, his face was grave. + +"Heaven send us both back safe out of it and--because the one implies +the other--confound the cross-marked man!" + +Dane asked no questions. Maxwell was always slightly oracular, and might +not have answered them; and a few minutes later they were being rowed +off to the steamer in company with Dom Pedro Castro. + +The _Manyamba_ was not a fast boat; she anchored off many surf-hammered +beaches before she reached the one where the adventurers had arranged to +disembark, and where, as it happened, Dom Pedro had built his principal +factory. He proved a pleasant companion, though Dane fancied that he was +weak alike in character and in principle. One day as they rolled slowly +along the spray-veiled coast with a maze of half-seen mangroves over the +port hand, Dom Pedro sauntered across the deck toward Dane. + +"You go up into the Leopard's country to look for gold?" he said, +glancing at Dane in a manner which puzzled him. + +"We are certainly going inland, but I am afraid that is all I can tell +you," Dane replied guardedly. + +Dom Pedro smiled. + +"Then you seek the gold. Even your countrymen do not go into that forest +for pleasure. But only one man, I think, has seen that gold since the +men of my nation who came after Gama ruled this country. That man he +die, as you call it, crazy. How much your expedition cost you, Don +Ilton?" + +Dane mentioned an approximate sum, expressing his surprise that the +questioner should even have guessed their object, but refraining from +stating whether the guess was a correct one; and the elder man spread +out his yellow palms deprecatingly. + +"Where the gold lie is not concern me. I am gentleman of peace and +commercio. There is one man, not all the nigger, who think he know, and +another not all a white man who will pay him to hinder you. More I only +guess at and cannot tell you, but I know you and the Señor Maxwell never +pass the Leopard country. Don Ilton, I presume you bold man who come +here to make the money. With the sum you mention I show you how. It is +not all for the good will, but for the assistance also of me." + +Now Dane might have suspected treachery, but he did not do so. Indeed, +he was inclined to fancy the offer and warning were genuine. He declined +the offer, however; and consulted Maxwell on the first opportunity. + +"I believe what he told you was spoken in good faith," Maxwell said; +"and he was perfectly correct. The first man he mentioned is probably +the rascal who betrayed poor Niven; and Rideau must be the other. He +has, if I am correct in my surmises, had dealings not wholly creditable +to either, with Dom Pedro; and it is possible the latter might have +found us useful. This, combination may, however, increase our +difficulties." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +TREACHERY + + +The region which lies behind the West African coast is not a pleasant +one to traverse, and bad fortune seemed to attend Maxwell's expedition +from the time it marched out of the seaboard settlement, where he had +had trouble with certain French officials, as well as with the black +head man from whom he hired his carriers. All of this Dane remembered +when he halted, one burning afternoon, shoulder-deep in the tall grass +of a swamp, worn out in body and perplexed in mind. Few Europeans are +capable of much exertion in that country, especially during the hottest +part of the afternoon; but the hammock boys were too weary to drag their +burdens farther, and there was urgent need for haste. Dane accordingly +had taxed his strength to the utmost during the last few hours. The tall +grass stems were almost too hot to touch, and foul mire bubbled about +their roots. At least a league of it, through which, slashed by +saw-edged blades and stabbed by broken stalks, the expedition must force +its way, stretched toward an inland ridge of higher ground that rose +from the morass. Beyond this, in turn, flat-topped hills dimmed by a +yellow heat haze cut the horizon. + +As Dane halted, a naked carrier stumbled, and, dropping the deal case +from his woolly crown, splashed him all over. Another straightway fell +over his prostrate comrade, and began a spirited attack upon him when +they scrambled to their feet again. Dane was too weary to rebuke either +in the fashion they would best understand; but a man of dusky color +undertook the duty for him, with the barrel of a gaspipe gun, and the +combatants, desisting, found new places in the straggling line. A few +picked men in flowing white draperies with flintlock guns on their +shoulders were already floundering through the swamp ahead. Behind them, +almost and wholly naked negroes, many wearing on their forehead the blue +band which marks the amphibious Kroo, went splashing by, each bearing a +deal case or tarred cloth package upon his crown. Then the rearguard, +tall and soldierly men with the blood of the Arab in them, who carried +old-fashioned rifles in spite of certain regulations, came up with +Maxwell. They wore a ragged white uniform, swore by the Prophet, and +were, as Dane subsequently discovered, reliable fighting men. The +Krooboys carried a cutlass-shaped matchet, a by no means despicable +weapon when rubbed keen with a file. + +Maxwell differed in outward appearance from the somewhat fastidious +gentleman Dane had known in Scotland. His cotton jacket was badly rent, +sun-baked mire clung thickly about his leggings, and one side of his big +sun-helmet had been flattened in. The raw condition of his face and neck +betokened the power of the last few days' sun, and he blinked a little +because his eyes had suffered by the change from the forest shadow to +the dazzling brightness and the fibrous dust of the grass. + +"Don't let your particular scarecrows get too far ahead of you, Hilton," +he cautioned. "I should hardly have suspected you of any inclination to +stop and admire the scenery after the opinion you recently expressed +concerning this country." + +"I'd willingly burn or flood the whole of it if I could," Dane replied +irritably. "Miss Castro was not mistaken when she mentioned the shadow +that crept up from behind. Ill luck has certainly followed us from the +beginning, and it is time we turned round and endeavored to settle up +accounts with whoever is the cause of it." + +"You may have an opportunity to-night, or earlier," said Maxwell. "When, +in spite of warnings, two white men insist on visiting a region which +was specially made for black men, they can't expect to be comfortable. +What is it that excites your particular indignation?" + +The malarial fever contracted in other parts of the tropics had, as not +infrequently happens, returned upon Dane in Africa. His head ached +intolerably, every joint seemed stiff, and he swept his hand round the +horizon as he answered vaguely. + +"Everything! Why was it that, after drinking at a village well, two of +our carriers died? Why should venomous insects crawl into my boots and +from underneath my pillow? Or a guide, who declared he knew the country, +bog us waist-deep in a quagmire, where we lost half our ammunition? +Doesn't it strike you that the sequence of accidents is not all due to +coincidence?" + +"And, in addition to all this, you will be wondering why you are +prostrate with fever to-morrow, if you excite yourself at the present +temperature. Forget your grievances until your turn comes, and then +strike the harder. Meanwhile, we have been stalked since we passed the +last village, and the sooner we reach yonder dry ground, and build a +breastwork, the better." + +Knowing that this was good counsel, Dane did his best, finding a savage +comfort in the thought that at last he would probably have the +satisfaction of seeing his persecutors; but the grass was tall and +matted, the temperature suffocating, and when they lost sight of the +islet the morass appeared interminable. Such civilization as may be +found in West Africa is only skin-deep. That is to say, it pertains to +the coast, and is occasionally hard to discover there. In many places it +still extends less than a day's march from the black troops' barracks, +and the white man who travels beyond that distance takes his own risks, +which are sometimes considerable. Dane already had cause to realize +this, and he was accordingly thankful when at last the expedition, +floundering out of the swamp, reached the strip of firmer earth. Here a +breastwork of deal cases and branches was built, and camp pitched among +the giant buttresses staying the cottonwood trunks. + +"I think," said Maxwell cheerfully, when they lingered over a frugal +meal, "if any misguided bushmen try to rush this camp to-night they will +regret it. I will see to the sentries and keep first watch while you +rest. You look as though you needed sleep." + +Dane certainly did, having enjoyed little sleep worth mentioning since +he left the coast. Indeed, he could scarcely keep his eyes open, and he +wondered vacantly that Maxwell, who seemed proof against the climate, +should show no sign of fatigue. When he unrolled his strip of matting +and water-proof inside the little tent, the African sunset was flaming +in the west, and the cottonwoods crowning the ridge stood out black as +ebony against its almost unearthly brilliancy. Among them fantastic +figures, some naked as when they first entered the world, some draped in +white and blue, crouched about the cooking fires; while, seen between +two mighty buttresses of living wood which stayed ponderous trunks, men +with matchets and long guns were curled up beneath the breastwork. The +wood smoke drifted in filmy wisps athwart the lonely camp, the swamp +steamed like a cauldron, and the chirruping of countless frogs rose out +of the vapor. Then the brief brilliancy faded, and thick impenetrable +darkness suddenly rolled down. The faint coolness that came with it +brought sleep to Dane, and it was midnight when Maxwell's voice roused +him. + +"Get up and stand by with your rifle! There are bushmen in the grass!" +he said. + +Half-awake, Dane groped for the breastwork, falling over several negroes +on the way, and when he reached it the blackness was Egyptian. There was +nothing visible beyond the loom of shadowy trunks, but Dane could hear +unseen men breathing heavily, the click-clack of flintlocks, and the +rasp of a file along a matchet blade. Then a faint crackle which drew +nearer came out of the grass, and instantly a blaze of weird blue +radiance leaped up, showing Maxwell's spare figure perched recklessly +aloft upon the breastwork with a port-fire held high above him. Its +glare beat along the matchet blades, the gun-barrels, and the oily skin +of the men beneath, and showed black patches which might have been arms +or heads among the grass. Then it died out; and Dane pitched the rifle +to his shoulder at Maxwell's shout. There was neither challenge nor +parley. They were now beyond civilized jurisdiction, and the right of +any man to existence in that country depends upon the strength of his +hand. + +The heel-plate jarred on his shoulder, the barrel jumped in his left +hand, red sparks flickered along the breastwork, and the sputtering roar +of the flintlocks was repeated among the trunks. Dane fancied a scream +rose in answer from the grass, and once or twice a long gun flashed; +then the firing slackened, and it was heartsome to hear Maxwell laugh. +He came stumbling toward Dane, and held up a second port-fire whose +light showed no trace of any assailant. The silence that followed grew +oppressive. It was, however, suddenly broken. A rifle flashed in the +rear of the camp, a bullet whirred close by Dane's head; and Maxwell, +dropping the flare, set his foot upon it. + +"The second time! That was a good rifle, and fired by one of our own +men," he said. "Take this nigger, Hilton, crawl in on him, and, +disregarding anything which may happen, get that man--alive if you can. +He is worth all the rest of the expedition." + +Crouching low, crawling on hands and knees, and slipping from trunk to +trunk, the pair worked backward in a semicircle, though, instead of +following, it was the negro who led the white man. It seemed to Dane +that he was making noise enough to waken the dead, but his dusky +companion had probably owed his life to his powers of silent motion, and +his progress was as noiseless as that of a serpent. Still, a clamor +which broke out at the rear of the camp drowned the sound of Dane's +passage, and presently a fire commenced to crackle behind the serried +trunks. Rising partly upright, he could see naked figures outlined +against it flitting with burdens on their heads into the swamp. +Nevertheless, Maxwell's instructions were explicit, and, when the negro +beckoned, he sank down again. + +The fire tossed higher, and Dane surmised that somebody had lighted the +dried grass to divert attention from the deserters or a fresh attack. +Its purport, however, was in the meantime a side issue, for, as the +radiance came flickering athwart the trunks, it revealed something dim +and shadowy crouching among the roots of a neighboring cottonwood. The +blurred shape might have escaped notice had not the line of steel before +it glimmered once or twice. With infinite caution Dane covered a few +more yards, and stooped behind a screen of trailers, with every nerve +quivering, and a heavy pistol clenched in his right hand. What had +become of the negro he did not know. Once the assassin raised his +weapon, and Dane laid the short pistol barrel upon his raised forearm, +hoping that the stiffness of the trigger might not spoil his aim; but he +lowered it again, for, evidently attracted by the increasing glare, the +man he stalked rose partly upright, glancing over his shoulder. His +caution betrayed him, for, hurling himself crashing through the +creepers, Dane fell upon him, driving the heavy pistol into the center +of the dusky face with his full weight behind it. The two went down, the +colored man undermost, clawing with greasy hands at his adversary's +throat. Their grip was feeble, for the first blow had got home; but time +was precious, and Dane, heaving his right shoulder clear, brought the +steel-bound butt down again. + +There was a hollow groan; several men who came running up fell heavily +over the pair, and while one dragged the half-dazed white man clear, +the others lashed the prisoner fast with creeper ropes. Rising shakily, +Dane sent up a breathless shout. + +"Stand fast and see that nobody gets in your way if you have him safe!" +cried Maxwell. "Don't trouble about the grass! It is damp among the +cottonwoods, and will soon burn out." + +Dane waited ten long minutes, feeling thankful, meanwhile, that the one +spot where the ridge could be reached on that side through the quaggy +swamp was lighted by the fire. Then Maxwell joined him, and, trusting to +their subordinates' vigilance, they made the round of the knoll +together. A dozen carriers were missing; and their assailants had +vanished as mysteriously as they came. + +"We shall miss the boys, but it might be fatal to try to follow them; +and at least we know whom we can trust," said Maxwell. "A treacherous +servant is worse to deal with than an open enemy. Our assailants were +evidently mere bush thieves, and not regular fighting men, or they would +probably have got in. Whether they expected help from the deserters, or +what share the man you seized had in the plot, I can't decide now; and, +in the meantime, it is of no great importance. We shall discover it +to-morrow." + +Nobody in camp slept during the rest of the night, which was one of the +longest in Dane's recollection. Most of it he spent huddled among the +roots of a cottonwood while the heavy dew of the tropics splashed upon +him, straining ears and eyes alike for any sign of the enemy. There was, +however, no sound but the wailing of some night bird from all the +tangled grass; and except when now and then a murmur of negro voices +rose up, a deep impressive silence brooded over the camp. Dane could +hear his watch ticking, and there were times when he found it difficult +to master an impulse to cry aloud, or to commit any extravagance which +would break the tormenting stillness. + +At last, however, the temperature fell a little. A faint chill air shook +the dew from the tangled creepers flung from mighty branch to branch, +and the darkness became less dense. The steam of the swamps grew +thicker, a streak of radiance broadened in the east, and suddenly as +night had fallen, the red sun leaped up. It was once more burning day, +and neither the dew-drenched white men, who stiffly straightened their +aching limbs, nor the stolid Africans, who rolled over in their lairs +among the undergrowth, were sorry to greet the light again. They were a +pitiful handful of travel-worn and somewhat dejected men, alone on a +contracted islet of dry soil in a limitless sea of mist whose white +waves were doubtless filled with unseen perils. + +"Another day to be endured," said Maxwell, yawning as he spoke. +"Another, and another, until the long weeks swell into months, and then, +if nobody poisons or shoots us prematurely, we shall go back to England +and fancy we have been dreaming. Has it occurred to you yet, Hilton, +that the men who gain fortunes in Africa don't _win_ but _earn_ them +hardly? One might wonder why a beneficent Creator made this country." + +"It was His Satanic Majesty who made West Africa, using for a model his +own dominions. A good many details prove it beside the temperature!" + +It was eight o'clock in the morning and already fiercely hot, while the +brightness outside the shade of the cottonwoods grew dazzling, when +Maxwell, constituting himself at once prosecutor and judge, summoned +the prisoner before an informal court. He was a big man, draped in loose +cotton, and rather the hue of ocher than ebony; but his countenance was +ghastly as well as malevolent, for the pistol butt had left its mark on +it. A slackly rolled turban covered half his forehead, and he leaned +with his back against a cottonwood scowling upon his judge. Maxwell sat +on a camp-stool, not far away, with a rifle laid across his knee; Dane +lay in the grass beside him; and the carriers and the armed men were +drawn up in a half-circle behind them. Hitherto the would-be assassin, +who acted as headman or chief of a section, had done nothing to excite +Dane's suspicions. + +"There is no law in this country but one, the _lex talionis_, while you +and I are responsible for the lives of all these about us," said +Maxwell. "It is a heavy responsibility, and I dare not allow any attempt +to betray them to pass unpunished. You need not translate this, +interpreter. Ask that fellow why he twice shot at the men whose bread +and salt he has eaten." + +What the interpreter, who spoke a little of the fantastic English in use +along the coast, said, Dane did not know, but he spent some time over +it, and when he had finished the prisoner spat upon the ground +contemptuously. + +"Damn fool man," explained the sable linguist. "He savvy too much and +done say nothing." + +"That means he refuses to plead," said Maxwell. "Well, we will proceed +to inquire into his offenses as directly as possible. Listen carefully, +and don't mix up my questions more than you can help, interpreter." + +Maxwell asked questions which astonished his companion, and it was plain +that he had for some time suspected a good deal. There was no lack of +testimony; for carrier and armed retainer in turn set forth, through the +black interpreter or in quaintest English, how the accused had told them +gruesome stories of the devils inhabiting the country they were +venturing into; had dropped hints that by seizing the provisions they +might enrich themselves for life; and had been seen communing with +mysterious strangers a few nights earlier. Dane listened with growing +indignation, for the simple tales made plain not only how venomous +insects got into his boots, but that on two occasions he had narrowly +escaped with his life. + +"Ask them," said Maxwell grimly, "why nobody had the sense to tell me +this before." + +"Them boy say you not done ask them, sah," answered the interpreter +convincingly. + +"It's African logic, and there's no use expecting too much from any +nigger," said Maxwell aside. "The man's guilt is plainly evident; but +while presumably neither of us knows much of jurisprudence, I wish to +give him a fair chance of making his defense. We will do it in his own +speech, though I am inclined to fancy that he understands English. +Interpreter, try to make this clear to him." + +Maxwell spoke for some minutes, pausing often for the linguist to +explain his meaning, and again astonished Dane. He traced the accused's +actions with surprising skill, showing how he had inspired a marauding +headman to plunder and leave them starving, and induced the carriers to +desert in the hope of precipitating a panic among the loyal. He also +connected him with several of the mysterious accidents which had +delayed the march. + +"Tell him I give him a last chance. He has just five minutes to clear +himself in." + +Maxwell laid his watch on the camp-stool between his knees, pointed +toward a lengthening shaft of brightness which approached the roots of a +tree, and then opened and closed the breach of his rifle significantly. +The dusky man before him showed no sign of fear, and his half-scornful, +wholly malevolent scowl, together with the intense silence, the +expectant black faces, and the glint of light on weapons, burnt itself +into Dane's memory. The five minutes seemed very long to him. Then, as +his comrade slowly replaced his watch in his pocket, the prisoner spoke +a few words disdainfully, and Dane could feel his fingers contract as he +waited for the interpreter's answer. + +"Damn fool man," it came. "Say he only sorry he done miss you that time. +Very bad man, sah. Say no white man or coast nigger ever lib for get +into the Leopards' country." + +"So," said Maxwell dryly. "That is to say, while he can prevent it, +which may not be long. Ask these boys what should be done with the man +who would have left them starving, or perhaps sold them for slaves to +some headman." + +The camp boys had followed the evidence, and a clamor of voices answered +the query. Big eyes glistened, black thumbs were run along twinkling +matchet blades, and Dane distinguished ominous cries. + +"You shoot him one time, sah! Give him to us and we done chop him!" + +"It is the only possible verdict," Maxwell said with strange quietness. +"One returns to primitive customs in this part of Africa; and it is more +merciful that one should die than many. A curse upon the country! Must I +turn executioner?--but for the sake of all those about us, there is no +other way." + +"What is your purpose?" Dane asked sharply, jumping to his feet. + +Maxwell looked at him steadily with his lips firmly set and the color +mottled a little in his face. + +"Give him thirty seconds to reach the grass. I might miss; these others +certainly would--and it will be a little easier that way. Do you +understand me, interpreter? If he can reach the swamp alive no man shall +harm him." + +"You shall not do it!" Dane exclaimed hotly. "Heaven knows, the brute +deserves it; but you can't go home with your hands fouled by that +helpless wretch's blood! Pass him that rifle, and give me another, with +fifty yards to commence at, if you can't think of anything better. The +other is too much like murder!" + +For a moment the returning color suffused Maxwell's forehead, and there +was a flash of anger in his eyes, but he was generally master of his +temper, and he answered calmly. + +"I could not afford to lose you, Hilton. As I said, we have these men's +lives to answer for; and while that fellow lives theirs and our own are +equally in danger. That reminds me, I had forgotten something which may +or may not surprise you further. You yonder, strike off his turban!" + +A Kroo did it with the haft of his machet, and Dane gasped with +astonishment, for there was a curiously shaped scar on the prisoner's +forehead. + +"The cross-marked man," said Maxwell. "The rascal who betrayed and sold +poor Niven's carriers. He has, I think, one white man's death already to +answer for." + +Dane, stooping, laid a hand on each of the speaker's shoulders. Maxwell +was a determined man, with virile brain and no lack of nervous energy; +but Dane had the advantage in stature and muscular strength, and was +glad that it was so. His leader was helpless in his grasp. + +"You are perfectly right, Carsluith," he said stolidly. "If you were +not, it would be useless for me to try to convince you; but I give you +warning that the death of this man dissolves our partnership; and it +will, at least, not be your rifle which fires the fatal shot." + +Maxwell smiled curiously. + +"Do you suppose I am fond of bloodshed, or sorry that you have forced me +against my judgment?" he said. "On your head be it, and you can have the +murderer. I hope that neither of us will regret your clemency!" + +He beckoned the interpreter, and when the latter had spoken, the +prisoner twice spat upon the ground, which was probably the most +insulting action that occurred to him; then, turning, without word or +sign, stalked into the grass. There was a harsh crackling, and, when his +ragged draperies vanished, a murmur of wonder from the camp boys. +Maxwell sighed as with relief. + +"I am glad it is over; and whether we have done ill or well, time alone +will show, but neither of us has seen the last of the cross-marked man," +he said. "In the meantime, we want more carriers and supplies. Go back +to the coast and get them. You will have much less trouble on the return +journey. I will stockade a camp in the hills yonder and wait for you." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +TEMPTATION + + +Dane's preparations for his journey were quickly made, and he was ready +to start before the sun was overhead. + +"Life is very uncertain in this country, and because we are partners it +might be as well if you took this map with you in case you should not +find me on your return," said Maxwell. "I worked it out from Niven's +notes, and have the knowledge safe within my brain; but you will +remember that the information would be of value to another white man, +who has already made attempts to obtain it. It might also be well, in +case Miss Castro happens to be present at her father's factory, if you +conducted yourself with a little more than your usual diplomacy." + +"Your advice is a trifle superfluous," returned Dane testily. "Do you +think I'm fool or rogue enough to make love to her?" + +Maxwell smiled. + +"You are one person, and I mentioned two. With all respect to Miss +Castro, it is not quite impossible that she might make love to you. +Remember that she might either prove a useful friend or a dangerous +enemy." + +A few minutes later Dane, followed by three men of Moslem faith, was on +his way; and eventually limped--hungry, half-dazed, and sick of +fever--out of the dim forest, which, it seemed to him, was loth to let +its victim go. The glare of sunlight was overpowering, and at first he +could see little more than the two ragged scarecrows, one muttering +excitedly as he stretched out a brown hand toward the southern horizon, +and the other leaning very heavily on his long Snider rifle. The third +man lay full length among the grass. Dane could never recollect all the +incidents of that journey through a land of eternal shadow, but he felt +tolerably certain that if his dusky followers had not served him +faithfully his bones would have lain rotting somewhere among its +jungles. + +Then, as his eyes grew accustomed to the change of light, he shouted +exultantly, in a voice his British friends would not have recognized. +The shining to the southward was, beyond all doubt, the sea, and the +white blurs among the palms could represent only factories! Turning, he +shook his fist at the forest with childish solemnity. + +"Tell Amadu to turn that gun away from him, Monday. It might go off, and +I be no fit to lose him," he said in coast jargon. "I don't care what +your color is, you are fine fellows too much, both of you, and now we'll +go on while we have strength left to reach them factory." + +How much his followers comprehended did not appear. The man he called +Monday grinned from ear to ear, the other slung his rifle, and they went +on, staggering at their best pace toward the sea, though Dane had a +vague impression that, with one arm beneath either shoulder, the two +ragged Africans dragged him most of the way. Some time later a +blindingly whitewashed factory rose up before them against a background +of tossing spray and equally dazzling sea, and Dane made shift to reach +its outer stairway unaided. An elderly man and a lady who sat on the +shady veranda rose at the sight of him. Making an attempt to raise his +battered sun-hat, he lurched up the stairway. The attempt was not +successful. The sun-hat fell over the balustrade, and he saw it long +afterward, painted green and blue, upon a Krooboy's head. Clutching at +the topmost rail, he steadied himself by it. + +"Unexpected pleasure to see you here, Miss Castro," he said. +"Salutations, Dom Pedro! Sorry to arrive in this fashion; not quite +myself to-day." + +The elderly man shouted, clapping his hands, the lady moved toward the +newcomer; then factory and palm trees went round and round before him, +and Dane, loosing his hold, went down with a crash. + +What happened next he did not remember, having only a hazy recollection +of tossing in burning torment for an interminable space, during which at +intervals somebody held a glass filled with cooling liquid to his lips, +while now and then gentle hands, whose touch was soothing, raised his +aching head. Still, he fancied that at times a white face bent over him, +and once, when the dim light of a calabash lamp beat into his eyes, that +waves of dusky hair drooped close above his forehead, and that he +caught, and held fast with all his strength, the cool fingers that +slipped into his own. They seemed to draw him back out of the black +abyss into which he was sliding; and, he surmised afterward, they +actually did so. + +Attacks of malarial fever, however, are usually brief; and not long +after his arrival Dane lay, clothed in neatly mended garments and more +or less in his right mind, beside an open window of Castro's factory. +The words "more or less" are used advisedly, for the malaria leaves a +strange lassitude behind it, and the sufferer often takes up the burden +of life again, as it were, reluctantly, and with somewhat clouded +brain. The sea breeze had set in fresh and cool, but the man lay limp +and dejected, scarcely troubling to breathe it in, while a haggard +English surgeon from a neighboring British colony sat near by watching +him with an irritating curiosity. White men recognize the bond of color +in West Africa, and the surgeon had remained to fight hard for the life +of a stranger when passing that way. Also, where all dwell under the +shadow in a land where the veneer of civilization wears thin, and the +primitive passions show through, the Briton casts aside much of his +normal reticence. + +"Tolerably bad, was I not?" asked Dane; and the surgeon answered +frankly. + +"You were. In fact, on two occasions, I concluded you were going to beat +me. Wouldn't even take a draught from--me, and one might compliment you +on your determined obstinacy." + +"I'm much obliged," Dane said slowly. "That's not quite all I mean, but +it's the best I'm capable of just now. I don't know who you are, or why +you did so much for me." + +The surgeon laughed good-humoredly. + +"If you must have a reason, you were an interesting case. I'm Dennis +Ormond, of the Gold Coast service, and Dom Pedro asked me to look at +you. I obliged him, and at first you were not a very encouraging +spectacle. Of course, I did my little, but I may say that my medicine +was not the only thing responsible for your cure. The señorita assisted +me very ably, and--for a man must sleep sometimes--without her help it +is quite probable we should have attended the expected funeral." + +Ormond said this with an indifference which Dane, because he did not +then know how much his little had been, or that his was an eminent name +on the fever coast, thought hardly civil; but there was a warning +gravity in his tone as he continued: + +"It was, of course, my business; but not the señorita's; and you might +have changed the pronouns in your last sentence advantageously." + +Dane was ashamed of several things he said and did that day, and his +answer among them; but few white men are quite accountable for their +actions when recovering from fever, and there was that in the surgeon's +glance which aroused his indignation. + +"Are you not taking an unfair advantage--considering how much I owe +you!" he asked. + +"Perhaps so!" said Ormond. "In this land one takes an advantage when and +how one can. I dare say I'm a meddlesome idiot; but I conceived a +certain respect for you, if only because of the spirited manner in which +you resisted my attempts to cure you; and more for the señorita. Now, I +don't think Miss Castro, curious combination of ministering angel, +child, and--well, the angel's antithesis, as she evidently is, would +have done so much for everybody!" + +Dane answered nothing. One cannot rebuke the man one owes one's life to. +Ormond, however, had not finished with the subject. + +"You crawled off your cot in delirium one night, and I found you groping +among some papers scattered from your pocket-book about the floor," he +said. "It required the assistance of two Krooboys to induce you to lie +down again, and Miss Castro helped me to pick up the papers. I, however, +found this among them first, and considered it well to take charge of it +in the meantime. Miss Castro, you have heard, made an excellent nurse." + +Dane felt that the surgeon noticed the way his fingers tightened on the +little photograph handed him; but the man went on, with a smile: + +"Your sister, presumably, for one could not help glancing at the +picture. Still, I can't flatter you by saying that I recognize a family +likeness. Therefore--I kept it aside." + +Dane thanked him, and Ormond answered lightly: + +"The rest of the papers Miss Castro returned to the pocket-book. All you +have to do now is to lie still and recover." + +"I will try," Dane said. "When can I start again?" + +Ormond pointed out through the window toward the sea. + +"In a week, if you are prudent--in fact, the sooner you start in that +direction the wiser you will be. This country is not healthy for +full-blooded Englishmen of your description. If you march inland again, +cable anybody interested to double your life insurance." + +Dane made a negatory gesture, but Ormond anticipated his answer. + +"Of course, I hardly expected you would take good advice, but it was my +duty to give it. Just now I'll leave you to your own resources, because +Dom Pedro is waiting with the chessmen below. Most gentlemanly old +rascal, and you are indebted to him; but I wouldn't tell him too much +respecting the supposititious treasure you rambled about if I were you. +Henceforward you will have to get better in your own way, because word +has just been sent me that my niggers are dying by dozens." + +He went out, and left Dane staring at the photograph in his hand. +Although not improved by long exposure to tropic heat, or the dampness +of the African climate, it had been a good portrait of Lilian +Chatterton, and the eyes that looked out from the faded paper seemed to +challenge the man. On inspecting the dim picture later he decided it +must have been because he remembered them so well. They were clear and +searching, honest above all things, but, as it were, demanding equal +sincerity from whoever looked into them; and though perhaps this was due +to the observer's fancy, the whole face seemed to possess a spiritual +beauty. Dane, however, was certainly a little light-headed still, for as +he gazed the face grew scornful. + +To most Europeans in that country there comes a time of mental weakness +and black dejection, and Dane's courage had melted before the fever +which left him unstable as water, and fanciful as a child. Thus it was +that, in a sudden access of bitterness, he slipped the picture back into +its case. Lilian, he decided, had cruelly misjudged him, and now +doubtless enjoyed the sunny side of life in the cool British air, +careless of the fact that for her sake he risked life and reason in the +pestilential steam of Africa. + +There was a rustle of draperies, and Bonita Castro swept into the room +with the grace of movement and carriage which characterizes her mother's +race. There was, however, nothing spiritual about Miss Castro's beauty, +which was of the flesh and of the glowing south, appealing to the +senses, delighting the eye; and Dane's pulse throbbed a little faster as +she came toward him with a low cry of pleasure. It was the first time he +had risen from his trestle cot in the adjoining room. Stooping, she held +toward him a great cluster of the spotless African lilies--which, +scented ambrosially, spring up wherever decay is rankest--then sank +with lithe gracefulness into a chair near his side. + +"It is very good to see you better, Don Ilton," she said. + +"It is the result of your kindness, señorita. Unfortunately, I don't +know how to thank you----" + +"Then you will not try." Miss Castro raised a restraining hand. "We do +not leave the sick to die. Even if it had been another, there is always +enjoined on us the charity." + +Dane had lost his sense of humor, and just then Bonita Castro looked all +ministering angel, and his attitude expressed rather reverential respect +than personal admiration, which, it is possible, did not please the lady +so well. + +"But you have done so much for one who is almost a stranger," he +persisted. + +Miss Castro's mood changed swiftly, and spreading out her hands with a +gesture of amusement, and a smile which Dane fancied most men would have +given much to win, she was again all a woman, and a very alluring one. + +"It is true that you English have not the graceful speech. Are we, then, +the mere stranger, Don Ilton? _Carramba!_ One takes pride in what one +save from the fever, and it was on my lips to call you _cariño_." + +Dane had acquired sufficient knowledge of Castilian in South America to +appreciate the possible significance of the substantive; and he +afterward remembered that he was not wholly displeased with it. + +"You make me a vain man, señorita," he said lightly. + +Miss Castro laughed again, and Dane lay silent for a while. + +"I am the more indebted to your care because every day is precious, and +I must rejoin my comrade as soon as possible," he said at last. + +The damask warmth deepened just a trifle in his companion's cheek. + +"You two still go on into the forest--why?" she asked. + +"Because I am a poor man, and, as you have guessed, my comrade believes +there is treasure waiting up yonder." + +Bonita Castro smiled scornfully, and answered him with the assurance of +one stating a definite fact. + +"The Señor Maxwell will never bring gold out of the Leopards' country. +Two white men have try already and, both of them, they die. You must not +go back there, Don Ilton, nor let your comrade go, though I know he is a +very clever and fearless man." + +"How do you know that?" + +Dane found it hard to conceal his astonishment at her tranquil answer: + +"I try if he is fearless on board the steamer. I can use the pistol +well." + +"It is fortunate you did not test my courage in the same fashion. But +was there not a third man?" + +Miss Castro's fingers closed viciously, and the questioner experienced +an instinctive shrinking as he saw the hatred in her deep black eyes. + +"The third was not a white man, though he call himself so," she said, +with a quietness that was ominous. "_Maldito sea el perro!_ To-day again +he infect this factory." + +Dane could not help feeling that, unless the gentleman were prudent, he +might have cause to regret his visit to the factory. He was inclined to +admire high-spirited women, but Miss Castro looked more than dangerous +just then; though Dane learned afterward that her hatred was +justifiable. + +Following her glance, he saw a short and very sallow-faced gentleman, +neatly dressed in spotless duck, cross the compound below and disappear +into the salt shed, evidently in search of Dom Pedro. There was nothing +particularly noticeable about him; but another taller figure, draped in +blue and white cotton and wearing a crimson turban, followed, and +squatted in the hot dust outside the shed. This man was an African, but +lighter in color than the seaboard tribes, and his movements reminded +Dane of those of the midnight assassin. He decided, however, that the +resemblance was fanciful. + +"Is that the person you mentioned?" he asked. "It is evident that you +dislike him. May I ask why?" + +Miss Castro appeared to consider, and then answered frankly: + +"Why should I not tell you? You are _muy caballero_, and I think, good +friend of me. He was partner with my father, this Victor Rideau. They +once go inland to trade with an Emir, who at that time gather much +plunder of ivory, and perhaps they give their carrier boy the good rifle +and cartridge, for the Emir is treacherous. He is very bad man, +and--_pobre padre mio!_--when Rideau is go away he put pressure on Dom +Pedro, and demand all his rifle and black carrier boy. What would you? +My father he is not desire his throat cut, and he agree. The Emir write +safe conduct and agreement, and sent him back with ivory, but this +Rideau he guard the scroll in Arabic, and now always demand the silver +from my father for fear he denounce him to the authority. One must not +sell the black boy, and there is heavy penalty for giving the negro the +arm of precision." + +Dane grasped the situation, surmising that the Emir in question was one +who had, for a time, successfully defied both British and French. He +also surmised that the Gallic authorities would deal stringently with +whoever had supplied the Moslem soldier with modern weapons at a time +when it appeared quite possible he would even march upon the coast. +Still, he was not sure that very much pressure had been required to +convince Dom Pedro. + +Returning to her almost caressing manner, Miss Castro touched his arm: + +"Why you need that gold?" + +"Gold is generally useful, isn't it?" smiled Dane. "It would help me to +earn a little more than my bread when I go back to England." + +Bonita Castro laughed, and then grew serious. There was a light in her +dark eyes, and her voice grew deeper; and it was only because it +appeared necessary that Dane afterward told his comrade part of what +followed. Indeed, there was little to relate, but much to be imagined. + +"Is there no other place than England, when all the world is good?" she +said. "Is not this much better than your mud and snow, and the sight of +the men with anxious faces groping through the fog? _Vaya!_ You men of +the English cities, you not know how to live." + +The speaker pointed out through the open window, and most men would have +agreed with her in a measure. If the beauty of the fever coast is that +of a whited sepulcher, it is a sufficiently alluring region, and Dom +Pedro's factory stood high and healthily upon the summit of a bluff. +Tall palms swaying about it before the sea breeze tossed their emerald +traceries against transparent blue. In the cottonwoods' shadow beyond +them tall white lilies grew, and the rollers of the southern ocean, +flaming dazzlingly, dissolved into spouts of incandescence upon a +crescent of silver sand below. The whole scene was flooded with light +and color, and permeated by the languorous spell of the tropics, which +it is not good for white men to linger under. + +"It is all very beautiful," he said; "but I have my bread to win." + +"You are very modest, Don Ilton. Is there no place for such as you in +Africa? Now I know one who would give much--even a share in the profits +of several factories--for the help of two men he could trust. There will +be more gold to win than you will ever find in the Leopards' country; +and there will be the excitement you hunger for. The man who needs the +assistance has a cunning enemy. Will you not listen when again he speaks +to you?" + +Miss Castro leaned slightly forward. + +"It is the life you English long for. There would be adventure; much +profit, I think, too, and--for that you like also--an enemy. He is bad +enemy of--me. This England of yours is far off, and the wise man he--is +it not so?--takes gratefully what the good saints send him. Is it not +enough, Don Ilton?" + +Dane was not a vain man, but there was a subtle inflection in the +woman's voice which suggested an amplification of the meaning of her +last words. England certainly seemed very far away, Maxwell's project a +mad one; and Dane remembered that the woman for whose sake he had joined +in it had been ready to think ill of him. His companion was very +alluring, he was weak in mind and body, very grateful to one who had +saved his life for him, and loath to resume the burden which was part +of his birthright as a civilized Englishman. A word, even a gesture, +would, it seemed, smooth out many difficulties, and, shaking off +responsibility, he might henceforward live for the day only; but though +intoxicated by the spell of the tropics and the eyes of his companion, +Dane had a memory, and he realized that he stood on the brink of a +declivity. He had seen the end of other Britons who, selling their +birthright for a few years' indulgence, sank beyond the level of the +beasts. The face of a countrywoman, no longer cold and disdainful, but +innocent and gentle, rose up before him; and the struggle ended. + +"It is so much that I do not deserve it," he said humbly, answering her +question. "I must accomplish the purpose which brought me here, and then +go back to England. Nothing would turn back my comrade." + +Miss Castro did not speak for a few moments, but Dane felt that she +understood more than he had said. Then she looked at him steadily. + +"You are a strange people, but, go when you will, God go with you, Don +Ilton. Now, at least from my hands, you will take the medicine." + +Dane's hand trembled as he held it out for the glass, for the struggle +had left its mark on him; but he felt inclined to resent this climax, +which appeared grotesquely ludicrous. Nevertheless, he duly swallowed +the medicine, and resisted an inexplicable impulse which prompted him to +smash the glass. Then, with a wondrous unfolding of filmy draperies, his +companion rose languidly, and, it seemed to Dane, melted out of the +room. Almost simultaneously the crouching figure in the dusty compound +rose and vanished too. + +Dane decided that it would be well to gather strength with all possible +celerity, and leave the factory as soon as he was fit to travel in a +hammock. Accordingly, in spite of the protests of Dom Pedro, who, after +repeating in definite form the offer made by his daughter, found him +supplies and carriers, he presently took his leave, and shook hands with +Miss Castro beside the waiting hammock at the compound gate. Her manner +had been a shade more reserved of late, but she spoke with friendly +earnestness when she laid in his hand a tiny object wrought in silver +and ivory. + +"You will take this for what you call a keep-a-sake, Don Ilton," she +said. "There is always peril in the bush country, and it was given my +mother by a holy man. It has the virtue. If you meet Rideau in the +forest, remember he is my enemy and beware of him. And now, señor, the +good saints keep you." + +Dane bent over the little olive-tinted fingers, then Amadu helped him +into the hammock, and presently Dom Pedro's factory had faded to a white +blur against the sparkling sea. + +As he journeyed northward Dane had much to ponder over. He regretted +that he had been unable to secure a closer view of Rideau or his dusky +follower. He fancied he once heard the Frenchman's voice raised angrily +in an altercation with Dom Pedro; but he could learn nothing about the +tall negro, who had vanished mysteriously. When the journey was almost +accomplished, and he was recovering strength again, there was added +another subject for consideration. Searching for the map Maxwell had +given him, he failed to find it; but, after the first shock of dismay +had passed, he was almost thankful that time and distance prevented his +returning to the factory in search of it. Dane, remembering the +surgeon's narrative, felt himself unequal to the task of asking Miss +Castro what she had done with it. He pushed on, hoping for the best, and +that Maxwell might not ask too many questions. + +Maxwell, when he heard the news, sat silent for several minutes. + +"We are not beginning well," he then said gravely, "but that is perhaps +not material. It seems to me that the future of the mine will be settled +when we meet Monsieur Rideau and his lieutenant, as I think we will. Of +course it is no use asking where you lost the map." + +Dane recognized the significance of the last sentence, and answered +accordingly. + +"If I had possessed that knowledge I should have returned and found it. +I have reasons for believing it was in my pocket-book when I left the +factory." + +Maxwell glanced at him keenly and smiled. + +"After what you told me, I suppose one could expect nothing else from +you," said he. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +RIDEAU'S BARGAIN + + +Some time after Dane's departure, a smartly uniformed hammock train +approached Dom Pedro's factory. That worthy ceased his leisurely pacing +up and down the veranda, and watched the bearers wind out from the +steamy shadow with ill-concealed anxiety, hoping that he might be +mistaken. Then as they came on at a steady trot with the poles of the +lurching hammock upon their woolly crowns, he stamped on the flooring; +and even a sleepy Krooboy started at his vivid maledictions. There was +no longer room for doubt that he was about to be honored by a visit from +his former partner, Monsieur Victor Rideau, and it was very evident that +Dom Pedro was not pleased to see him. His sister, a portly lady, of +doubtful age, sat in a shady corner of the veranda, but she passed much +of her time in Africa in peaceful slumber, and was now asleep as +usual--or appeared so. + +"It is too hot for anger, father," a voice said; and Dom Pedro, turning, +saw his daughter leaning languidly over the balustrade. She, too, was +watching the hammock with a curious expression. + +"There is good cause!" Dom Pedro answered, cutting short his flow of +expletives. "This Rideau comes another time to torment me. Why is it +that when so many honest men die up yonder this one should always come +back safely?" + +"He will not always do so. Some day he, too, will be lost in the +forest," said Bonita quietly; and the man glanced at her with hope in +his eyes, for several of his daughter's predictions had curiously been +fulfilled. This may have been due to coincidence, or a shrewd +calculation of probabilities; but Dom Pedro, having lived long in a land +where occult influences are believed in, was not free from superstition. + +"I would send half, or at least a third, of all I have, to the hospital +in Lisboa if that were so," he declared. "Niña, you speak as though you +knew." + +Bonita laughed a little, though there was anxiety in her face. + +"Padre, one might doubt the efficacy of such a bribe. Perhaps I do. It +is money he wants, as usual?" + +"Yes." There was a certain hesitation in the man's answer which did not +escape his daughter. "It is, of course, the silver, and I have not much +to give him. You have no regard for this Rideau, niña?" + +Bonita's face was a study. Anger, loathing, and the faintest trace of +fear were stamped upon it. + +"Regard! I have only hatred for _el perro_!" + +The emphasis on the last word was significant: while it means simply +dog, and is used on occasion to designate a person jestingly, the +Castilian can, by change of inflection, make it imply a rabid cur of the +lowest degree; and Bonita used the epithet in that manner. + +Dom Pedro raised his shoulders, and drew in his breath. He was slightly +afraid of his daughter; but, unfortunately for them both, he was more +afraid of Rideau, and he did not look at her when he spoke again. + +"It is strange the Señor Dane did not return for the book he left, +since it shows the path through the forests of Shaillu's country, and he +cannot find his way without it." + +Bonita smiled upon him pityingly. + +"You do not know those men as I do. They plan all from the beginning and +leave nothing to chance. The Señor Maxwell is a man of system, and he +will have safe in his memory all the book could tell him." + +"They are a curious people," observed Dom Pedro dryly. "One of those +two, however, was surely a trifle blind." + +A faint trace of color crept into Bonita's face. + +"It is time for you to receive your guest," she said. + +Dom Pedro did so with the utmost cordiality, his hat in his hand, and +the two men--one of whom despised the other, who feared and hated +him--expressed their mutual delight at the meeting with great +effusiveness. Bonita Castro watched them meanwhile from a green latticed +window, and shivered a little, though the day was as hot as it usually +is at that season in West Africa. She slipped her fingers under the +laces at her breast, and her face was not attractive when they touched a +little piece of wrought silver. It was not a mere adornment, for there +was a slender blade of steel attached to it. Again she said, with an +intensity of detestation: "_El perro!_" + +Dom Pedro played chess and discoursed upon the shortcomings of their +rulers with his guest all afternoon, and the five o'clock _comida_ had +been eaten before either hinted that Rideau could have any possible +motive for his visit beyond the pleasure of seeing his former partner. +Time has no great value to men of Latin extraction in the tropics; and +it is possible that one of them found pleasure in prolonging the +other's anxiety. At last, when they sat out on the veranda, the visitor, +lighting a maize husk cigarette, thrust his wineglass away. + +"It is always a gratification to see my old friend Dom Pedro, and I have +traveled a long way to give myself that pleasure," he observed; and his +host, knowing how much this was worth, braced himself to meet what +should follow. "Being here, there is, however, a little affair we can +discuss together. I have an opportunity for a small investment to lay +before you." + +"I am honored, but trade is very bad, and silver scanty," Dom Pedro said +hastily. "I have received no profits yet on the last venture." + +Rideau spread out his palms deprecatingly. + +"They are very dishonest men up yonder in the bush, as you, my friend, +should know, and have robbed me shamefully; while it was but an hour +since I rejoiced at your prosperity. I saw the cloth and gin sheds +empty--and they were full not long ago." + +Dom Pedro groaned inwardly, but attempted a show of resolution. + +"I repeat that trade is bad. It is, I fear, impossible to oblige even +you." + +Rideau laughed a little, but his merriment was akin to mockery. + +"I can only hope you are mistaken, and this time there will be a profit. +There is also another affair I would discuss with you. I am a man with a +conscience, and something we are concerned in up in the bush country +troubles me. It is told me that these troublesome English make protest +with the Administration that when the Emir invaded their dominions his +men carried good rifles which could only have been obtained from this +colony. The Captain Oger stated publicly that it is a stain on the +national honor, and there will be strict inquiry. I am a good friend of +Dom Pedro, but first of all patriotic Frenchman, me." + +There was no need to speak more plainly, because Dom Pedro understood +him thoroughly, and inquired forthwith the lowest sum that would set his +visitor's uneasy conscience at rest. Rideau promptly named it; and the +Portuguese, being desirous of gaining time, shook his head. + +"It is impossible. I also have considered about those rifles often," he +said. "Now I think it would be better for me, being an innocent man, to +explain to the Administration how the Emir robbed me." + +Rideau was not in the least deceived, for he smiled sardonically. + +"Is it not a little late, my friend, and the Commandant is a most +suspicious man. It is possible he might not believe you, and it is not +permitted to arm even one's carriers for protection with rifles; while +there is in existence a scroll signed by the Emir and another which +shows a voluntary sale. But you say what I ask is impossible. Well, I'll +consider, and to-morrow may make a more feasible offer. The last time I +came you entertained the sick comrade of the Englishman Maxwell. He has +not given you any information about Niven's mine?" + +"He did not," said Dom Pedro, with so much earnestness that Rideau did +not believe him, and dismissing the subject, airily proposed another +game of chess. + +The next morning, Dom Pedro, being perhaps anxious to postpone the evil +moment, set out for a bush village where he stated he had business; and +his guest, feeling sure of his own position, was not wholly sorry to +see him go. It would allow him to enjoy Miss Castro's society +undisturbed, and also, if circumstances permitted, to glance through the +books in her father's office, which he had long desired to do, with a +view to discovering how far the man might be taxed. Dom Pedro was not a +good bookkeeper, it is true, but his late partner understood his system, +or rather the lack of it. + +An opportunity did not present itself until all the occupants of the +factory had apparently retired, as usual, to sleep in the coolest place +they could find during the heat which follows noon. Rideau slipped into +the iron-roofed room where Dom Pedro kept his accounts. As it happened, +however, Bonita was rather more wide-awake than usual, and shortly +afterward she also entered the office, to find her guest glancing into a +big folio with evident interest. He was in no way disconcerted, and +smiled upon her affably. + +"There was a difference in the weight of the last gums I sent down," he +explained. "I would find the entry before I speak to Dom Pedro." + +Bonita Castro was quick of wit. + +"Then, as I help my father with the accounts, you will give me the +details," she said. + +Rideau's inventive genius was apparently unequal to the task, for he +bowed ceremoniously. + +"It is impossible to consider any question of business in the brightness +of the señorita's presence." + +Miss Castro laughed. + +"You have my full permission. Now, as regards this gum?" + +Rideau seated himself languidly. + +"I am a man of affairs, but I have also sensibility, and shall I trouble +the señorita about a bag of gum? To touch those dusty books is a +desecration to her fingers." + +"Still, it is of business I wish to talk to you, and you will give me +your attention, señor," said the girl. "You have the power to cause my +father some anxiety." + +Rideau leaned forward a little in his chair. + +"It is true, but I am too devoted a servant of the señorita's to wish to +do so. It is for her sake I have concealed an indiscretion of Dom +Pedro's which would excite the anger of the Administration. As I have +said, I would do very much to win the señorita's approval." + +"But this is very little, and Dom Pedro pays you well," returned the +girl. "The Commandant, who is not a friend of yours, might not credit +your story if you told it to him." + +Rideau smiled significantly. + +"It is very little for me to do if it pleases the señorita; but it is +much for Dom Pedro. You will know there is provided confiscation and +banishment, and even a worse penalty, for selling the Indigene modern +rifles, and I have therefore carefully hidden the Emir's agreement and +safe conduct made in the Arabic when he is at war with this colony. It +is misfortune that Dom Pedro has written his name to it." + +Bonita Castro felt a chill run through her, though her face was calm. +The man had shown his power plainly, but the desire in his eyes, as he +watched her, caused her greater uneasiness. She could, she fancied, see +the African nature beneath the indifferent veneer of civilization, and +she trembled, knowing that under sufficient pressure her father might +be capable of selling more than forbidden rifles. Therefore, even if she +had no other motive, it was of the first necessity to lessen that power. + +"Such generosity should not go unrewarded," she said. "You have long +desired the gold you think the Englishman Niven found, but, unless I +help you, you will never discover it. Even the man with the cross on his +forehead does not know where the river lies. What would you give for a +map showing Niven's road through the Leopards' country? It is so plain +that a child could understand it." + +Rideau's eyes glistened, but he was cautious. + +"There is only one man who can have such a book; and I know he would +never part with it." + +Bonita laughed. + +"Yes--the Señor Maxwell. You know he would not part with it? Then you +have tried and failed to obtain it from him? The Señor Maxwell is a very +clever man. Nevertheless, I have the map. Would you recognize that it +was genuine if I showed it to you?" + +Rideau rose carelessly, and strolled toward the window. There was nobody +on that side of the veranda--the compound lay empty under the pitiless +heat below, and a slumbrous silence pervaded the factory. There was a +change in him when he turned toward the girl, who held out an unfolded +paper so that he could see a portion of it. The man was usually cunning, +but it was not without results that he had inherited a strain of native +blood, and now the instincts of the savage rose uppermost. Brute passion +and unreasoning avarice were stamped on his face. He had hitherto made +his admiration for the girl very plain, and had accepted her rebuffs +with the serenity of one strong enough to wait. Now, however, his +companion conceived it possible that he intended to retain his hold upon +Dom Pedro and secure the map as well. It was her person he desired, and +whether her good will accompanied it or not was probably immaterial. + +"The sun has dazzled my eyes, and you will give it to me for near +examination," he said, and his voice was husky. When she made a gesture +of negation, he halted close in front of her with the veins on his +forehead swollen, and one big, dusky hand partly raised. + +Bonita Castro had not studied the native character profitlessly, and she +knew that very little was required to cause those fingers--and they were +the fingers of a negro--to fasten upon her shoulders, or even about her +throat; but she had arranged accordingly. She clapped her hands sharply, +and Rideau let his arm drop to his side when a patter of bare feet drew +nearer along the veranda. A huge muscular Krooman in white uniform stood +in the doorway, and the girl smiled a little. + +"Call Andres, Pobrecito. Tell him to bring the wine and the last of the +steamer ice; but stay there on the veranda yourself. I may want you. It +is so hot that you will not refuse if I offer you refreshment, señor?" +she said. + +Rideau's lips twitched a little, and his face was greasy, but the look +of the African had faded from it, and he might have passed for a native +of southern France when he bowed. + +"Who could refuse anything offered by the señorita?" + +The wine was brought, and the man, who a few moments earlier might have +posed for a study of avarice and passion debased to ferocity, smiled as +he compared his companion's eyes to the sparkling ocean when he raised +his glass. Then, while the big negro squatted just outside the doorway, +Miss Castro read extracts from the notes on the back of the map. + +"This would be very valuable to a bold man," she said. "What would you +give for it? It is no use offering a small thing." + +"I would give"--the man hesitated--"I would even give the agreement in +Arabic signed by Dom Pedro and the Emir!" + +"Then it is yours," said Bonita Castro. "Now it is too hot for further +business, even the underweighed gum. You may sit there and tell me of +your adventures in the bush country." + +Rideau had a large share of vanity, inherited from both parents, and he +was in no wise reluctant; if Miss Castro failed to believe all he told +her she did not say so. Indeed, she made the man feel that she accepted +him as a hero, and fooled him so tactfully that he was several times on +the brink of making confidences which might have jeopardized his plans. +Fortunately for himself, however, he reflected in time, and did not do +so. When at last he withdrew, Miss Castro walked somewhat limply to her +room, and sank down into a basket chair in the manner of one who has +undergone a heavy nervous strain. Her aunt found her there presently, +and placed a hand caressingly on her shoulder as she bent over her. + +"This Rideau is a bad man. He has terrified you?" she said +compassionately. + +"No." The girl's voice trembled, though she smiled. "No, I hardly feared +the cur. I have sent him to his own destruction. It is my own sin I +fear. I have betrayed the man who trusted me; but still I do not think +he will suffer from my treachery." + +The elder lady shook off her somnolent expression, and nodded +sagaciously. + +"The big Englishman who was sick?--I comprehend," she said. "I do not +ask questions; but take comfort if it was for your father, niña. Also, +that Englishman is not clever, but he is very stubborn and strong, and I +do not think it will be well for Rideau if he interferes with him." + +When Miss Castro found Dom Pedro alone in his sweltering office that +night she said to him: "Here is a present, father. I have drawn the +dog's teeth." + +Dom Pedro's eyes glistened as he clutched at the scroll handed him, +then, though he first burned it over the lamp, his forehead grew +furrowed, and his jaw fell. + +"The cur may have other teeth left, and is of the blood of the African," +he said. "Twice I repulsed him when he spoke of marriage. Little one, +you have not sold yourself for this?" + +The man positively quivered with impatience, but the girl laughed. + +"No. I have sold him the blind Englishman. Rideau has the map that +belonged to the Señor Maxwell." + +"Thanks be to heaven!" Dom Pedro exclaimed piously; but his sallow face +grew grave again. "It is a great deliverance, but it is not well to make +one's profit from the blood of white men. This Rideau, who is very +cunning, will follow and bring disaster upon the Englishmen up yonder. +Already, I have suffered many things because of the black men the Emir +stole from me." + +Bonita's eyes shone. + +"You do not see clearly, father, or know the manner of those other men. +What is it to me if these strangers do not find the gold--but I would +not have them die. I have been in their country, and if the cur dog +follows, plotting treachery, as I think he will, the Señor Maxwell will +surely kill him." + +"_Ojala!_ Heaven send it so," murmured Dom Pedro, and would have +embraced his daughter, but that, shrinking from him, she slipped out +into the moonlit veranda. The little olive-faced gentleman stood staring +at the papers before him, and hoping that it might come about as she had +predicted. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE TRAIL OF THE LEOPARD + + +Maxwell expressed his approval of the recruits Dane brought in, for Dom +Pedro had chosen well. They were sturdy, woolly-haired Kroomen from +Liberia who had gained some experience of forest warfare in petty +skirmishes with the troops of the black republic. It is noticeable that +the untamed African cherishes little love for his partly civilized +brother. When he had harangued them, the two white men sat talking +together. + +"I would give a good deal to know what is in Dom Pedro's mind just now," +said Maxwell. "It is quite possible that the offer he made you was +genuine. There is, if one may say it without appealing to your vanity, a +certain air of solidity and force about you which might appeal to a man +of his type who could supply all the finesse necessary--and who +possesses a troublesome enemy. The map would in any case be of little +use to Dom Pedro, who would never venture into the Leopards' country; +and I hardly fancy he would give it to Rideau. In the meantime our own +program is clear. We start again at sunrise to-morrow." + +"Are you not taking too much for granted when you assume that Dom Pedro +has the map?" asked Dane; and Maxwell smiled enigmatically but did not +answer. + +A few days later they halted at sunset beside a stream which, contrary +to the custom of most African rivers, flowed clear as crystal over +yellow sand. Wooded hills whose hollows were filled with drifting steam +sloped steeply upward from the opposite bank, and the black shadow of a +few palms lengthened across the grass behind the waiting men. There was +nothing remarkable about the river or its surroundings; but heathen, +missionary convert, and dusky Moslem alike shrank back murmuring from +its bank. + +"This is our Rubicon, and beyond it lies the Leopards' country," said +Maxwell. "It is not a very imposing stream, but I believe no white man +has ever crossed it without suffering from his rashness, since the days +of the early Portuguese. Something has evidently startled the boys. As I +partly expected, here it is." + +Maxwell pointed to a slender wand set up beside the bank. A tuft of +reddened rags was tied to it, and beneath them hung a piece of sun-dried +clay rudely modeled into the resemblance of a leopard. + +"I would rather have seen fifty men with flint-locks than this trumpery +thing," he declared. "You don't quite grasp its significance, Hilton? +Well, in this land anything may be made the emblem of the Ju-ju, and +that is the insignia of a powerful one I have alluded to several times +already." + +"I could never understand what a Ju-ju is." + +"Very few white men do, but its ministers are a force to reckon with; +and this piece of clay signifies that many unpleasant things, varying +from slow poisoning to death by violence, may happen to the man who +disregards it. You can see that the boys are afraid of it." + +"We can't stay here forever because some benighted heathen has tied it +to a stick," expostulated Dane. "Here's a challenge to the powers of +darkness. Watch and try to understand, you boy! If them thing be no fit +to hurt me, it can't hurt you. That's logic, or, as you say, the Lord he +give me sense too much, isn't it?" + +The eyes of the spectators grew wide with horror as, snapping the wand +across his knee, he next crushed the leopard beneath his heel; and there +was a heavy silence while they waited to see what would follow this bold +defiance of the forest deity. So real was their terror, and the hush so +impressive, that Dane felt his own heart beating faster than it +generally did, and when he laughed the laugh rang hollow. But nothing +unusual happened; and with murmurs of relief the men followed him as he +splashed through the ford. + +"It was necessary," said Maxwell with noticeable gravity. "Nevertheless, +we will double our sentries henceforward, and recharge our filters. +There is no doubt that the powers of darkness will take up your +challenge." + +They pitched camp among the cottonwoods at the mouth of a ravine, and, +when they had eaten, sat for a time within their little tent poring over +a map issued privately for the use of French officials. Innumerable +insects dimmed the light of the lamp above them, and they could scarcely +see the lettering. + +"We are here," said Maxwell, laying his finger on the paper, "on the +threshold of what the niggers call the Leopards' country, which is +marked as partly explored territory, with this patch to represent the +dominions of King, or headman, Shaillu. A few armed expeditions have +traversed it farther east, and found it thinly peopled by petty tribes +hostile to Europeans, while nobody knows much about Shaillu except that +he abruptly broke off the negotiations he once began with the +authorities. That showed the hand of his priests, and brings us back to +the Leopard League." + +Dane laid down his damp cigar, and listened with keen interest as +Maxwell explained. + +"As you have heard, secret leagues of all kinds are common in this +country, and that of the Leopard is probably one of the most powerful. +Its priestly leaders are apparently the power behind the throne in +Shaillu's dominions, and, so the natives say, those they favor with a +share of their supernatural qualities can render themselves invisible or +take the shape of beasts. Like their namesake, they always strike at +night. Dismissing all idea of witchcraft, you can take very ingenious +human cunning, a thorough knowledge of poisoning, and no mean strategic +skill, for granted. Once the white man settles in their country the +power of the bush magician must decline; and the deduction you can draw +from that should justify a close watch to-night. It is your turn until +twelve o'clock, Hilton." + +Dane found it a somewhat depressing watch when the cooking fires had +died out and the sounds which gather depth with the darkness emphasized +the hush of the forest. There was nothing visible but the faint glimmer +of the lighted tent, which suggested a huge Chinese lantern set down +among the dripping undergrowth. Behind it loomed dim ghosts of trees. +Moisture fell drumming upon the tight-strained canvas; and at intervals +some beast in the forest sent up an unearthly scream. The darkness was +filled with the scent of wood smoke and lilies, and thickened by wisps +of drifting steam. + +The time dragged by slowly; but at last Dane was about to make a final +round, when a stealthy rustling held him rigidly still, save that his +left hand slid farther along the rifle barrel. The sound ceased and +began again, and it became certain that something or somebody was +crawling toward the tent. It could hardly be one of the carriers, for +Maxwell had intimated that any man found wandering in the darkness would +promptly be fired upon. Dane could feel his heart throbbing, but his +fingers were steady on the cool barrel as he waited, realizing +instinctively that death or danger in some strange shape was drawing +near. Nevertheless he was silent, fearing to rouse the camp on a false +alarm, and also because he wished to make certain of their unseen enemy. + +For a space of a few seconds there was no sound at all, and he grew the +more uneasy, knowing that the naked bushman learns by sheer necessity to +wriggle almost silently through the undergrowth. Then he found it hard +to repress a cry of astonishment as, for a moment, a monstrous shape was +silhouetted against the faintly illuminated canvas. It was bulkier than +a man, and though it stood upright, its head was that of a beast. +Maxwell was clearly in danger, there was no time to lose, and, pitching +up the rifle, Dane pressed the trigger. A streak of red fire rent the +darkness, and a spark blew into his eyes. He felt the jerk of the +barrel, and then, though he scarcely heard the explosion, he caught a +thud there is no mistaking--the sound made by the impact of a solid +bullet. + +As he snapped down the lever and slid home another cartridge, something +dim and shadowy rushed past, and the rifle blazed again. Then there was +a snapping of undergrowth, a yell from a sentry, the crash of a Snider, +and the camp awoke to life. Maxwell, holding up a lamp, sprang +half-dressed from the tent, black men rose out of the shadows clamoring +excitedly, and Dane's headman, Monday, stood close beside him, peering +into the darkness with his long Snider rifle held out before him. Monday +was not a timid man, but he looked distinctly uneasy when the light of +Maxwell's lantern fell upon his face. + +Dane briefly related what had happened; and Maxwell lowered his lantern. + +"The Leopards have made their first move, and lost a man, I think," he +said. "Most black men are able to carry off considerable lead, but this +red trail on the undergrowth is significant. It also appears quite +probable that you have saved my life." + +Just then, there was a shrill scream in the forest, a scream of human +agony, horrible and intense, and afterward a silence that could be felt. + +"Them ghost leopard he done go chop some boy!" exclaimed Monday, +trembling a little. "We savvy fight black man, sah, but not them +debbil." + +"The sound rose from behind the tuft of palms," Maxwell said quietly. +"Take six of your best men, Monday, and see who is missing. No--stay +where you are, Hilton! It is advisable to break them in to this kind of +thing." + +Monday went reluctantly, and returned to say that one of the sentries +and his gun had vanished completely. Then a half-naked man with a +matchet burst through the wondering group which had gathered about the +pair, demanding assistance to search for his brother. + +Maxwell glanced at him, hesitated, and, while Dane protested, shook his +head. + +"We could never track them, even in broad daylight; and some of the +rescue party would not come back," he explained. "By this time the poor +devil is certainly dead, and I feel convinced that we shall find him +to-morrow without searching. Amadu, tell your boys to fire on any man +trying to leave the camp." + +Maxwell kept watch himself henceforward, and Dane retired to the tent, +resigned though far from contented. He had learned that, if his ways +were a trifle autocratic, his comrade was a leader who could be trusted, +and though he longed with a vindictive yearning to search the forest, +rifle in hand, he did not consider it judicious to question Maxwell's +authority. + +It was a relief when morning came, and somewhat silently they began the +march again. The path wound up a ravine, through climbing forest that +rotted as it grew, where grotesque and ghostly orchids sprouted from +each crumbling bough, and there was scarcely room for two men abreast in +the rutted trail. It had been worn deep by the passage of naked feet; +for gum, skins, and a little ivory came down on the heads of slave +trains out of Shaillu's country. + +Maxwell, with a few picked men, led the way, after giving Dane orders +not to follow him too closely with the main body; but the latter found +it hard to restrain his carriers, who desired to leave the site of the +camp as far behind them as possible. + +Dane had lagged a little behind the long line of colored headgear, cases +poised aloft on woolly crowns, white draperies, and patches of sable +skin, which wound on before him through the green of the tangled jungle, +when Maxwell's voice came back sharply. + +"Lead your boys wide into the bush, Hilton! Break through for several +hundred yards, and send them on before you. Turn back and rejoin me +alone when you strike the trail again!" + +It was done, though Dane fell over an ant-heap and into a network of +horrible thorny trailers which tore the flesh about his ankles. Hurrying +back along the trail, he found Maxwell standing behind a screen of +resplendent creepers, lighting a cigar with a hand that was not quite +steady. His eyes were positively savage, and a patch in the center of +each cheek was gray. Startled as Dane was, it was nevertheless soothing +to find that his comrade shared some, at least, of the weaknesses of +their common humanity. He could not mistake the intensity of Maxwell's +anger. + +"Prepare yourself for a surprise, Hilton, and then see what awaits you +beyond that bush," he said. "I had partly expected it, but when I came +upon it the sight almost sickened me." + +Dane's nerves were tolerably good, but when he passed the creepers he +experienced a shock of nausea and halted abruptly. Two black men were +scooping out a trench, while another crouched near by, crooning +something while he ran his thumb caressingly up and down a matchet +blade. He looked up at the white man's coming, and his face was a study. +Horror was stamped upon it; but a slow, relentless ferocity was written +there too. This Dane saw with his first glance, but after the second he +turned his eyes away. Maxwell was right. They had found the missing +sentry. The object--for there was little resemblance of humanity left in +what lay a foul blotch on the forest before him--was stretched across +the trail; and the neck was twisted so that the face, left whole, +looked down the pathway the way the expedition should have come, +distorted and ghastly, with its changeless grin of pain. Words appeared +superfluous, but Dane's sensations demanded relief in speech. + +"Horrible! horrible! But what is the matter with Bad Dollar? He looks +positively murderous!" + +"It is not surprising," answered Maxwell. "The African is not always +admirable in his domestic relations, but what lies yonder was his +brother." + +Dane, stooping, patted the negro's head. + +"It will be a bad day for some of the Leopards when he settles that +score. Listen to me, Maxwell. Heaven knows whether through greed I am +responsible for part of this; but I most solemnly promise that if ever I +can find the master fiend who inspired the murderers, I'll avenge that +poor devil, as well as Lyle, the trader, whatever it costs me. We're +partners in this affair, Bad Dollar!" + +It is probable that the naked heathen attached little meaning to the +words, but he understood the hoarseness of the white man's voice, and +the steely glint in his eyes. He laid his black hands on the speaker's +foot. + +"It is a bargain," Dane said gravely. "I mean to keep it, Maxwell." + +"You are a little impetuous," was the quiet answer. "Some day there +will, I hope, be a reckoning; but a wise man says little and awaits his +opportunity. Our turn has not come yet. When it does I do not think you +will find me dilatory. Meanwhile, I'm puzzled. There are points +connected with this affair which are far from clear; but those fellows +have finished and we will go on again." + +Beyond instructing Dane and his immediate followers to keep the +occurrence secret, Maxwell said nothing further until noon had passed, +when Dane asked a question. + +"Why did the Leopards make their first move now, when we could, if we +wished it, retreat, instead of waiting until we had penetrated farther +into their country?" + +"It is a pertinent question," said Maxwell. "For one thing, this is, +after all, King Shaillu's country, and they possibly fear that if we +once have speech with him, the headman, who, so the French officers told +me, has a hankering after civilization, might extend us protection. But +that does not quite account for everything. You remember Miss Castro's +mention of the following shadow? Events have proved her predictions +signally correct hitherto, and I am inclined to fancy that the worst +danger still lies behind us and not before." + +Maxwell vouchsafed no further information, and though Dane knew it was +well the expedition had for its leader a man unmoved alike by excess of +anger or misguided pity, he could not help retorting: "You foresee a +good deal, Carsluith. It is unfortunate you could not more often prevent +it. Why could you not have told me more of what you anticipated?" + +Maxwell laughed good-humoredly. + +"Isn't it apparent that what I prevent from happening does not occur? As +to the last question, perhaps the African's answer, 'You never asked +me,' is the best. One dreads so much that it appeared useless to harrow +your feelings until I was certain." + +The march through headman Shaillu's dominions left upon Dane only a +series of blurred impressions. He was too sick to notice definite +details most of the time; but he decided that under no circumstances +could it be considered a cheerful country. For days together the +expedition floundered through dripping forest so laced and bound with +creepers that at noon the daylight could hardly filter down. The +atmosphere resembled that of a Turkish bath; moisture splashed upon the +broad leaves everywhere, and the heat and the gloom together produced a +distressing lassitude. This the white men made strenuous efforts to +resist, knowing that they might blunder into an ambush at any moment. + +It was evident that their enemies had not lost touch with them; for in +spite of their keenest vigilance, a carrier was twice spirited out of +camp at night. Once Dane, making the rounds with a lantern, came upon a +sentry huddled beneath a cottonwood. He had paid a heavy penalty for his +drowsiness. Even Maxwell showed signs of temper at this, and the +expedition waited two nights in camp while its leaders prowled through +the forest in an attempt to surprise the assassins. It was, of course, a +failure. They returned at sunrise, muddy, ragged, and savage, having +neither seen nor heard anything suspicious. + +The fact that they never did see their persecutors was the most +harassing feature of it all; and at last Dane grew by turns murderously +resentful and subject to fits of limp dejection, in which the fever had +doubtless a share. The few villages they passed were empty. Where a +river crossed their path the canoes had been taken away; and at +intervals detachments of the carriers fell sick mysteriously. When they +limped out into a waste of crackling, sword-edged grass, the glare and +dust and heat were bewildering, and after a few days Dane longed for the +forest again. + +Still they held on, and one evening they marched, blanched in face, and +very weary, into sight of one of the strongholds of headman Shaillu. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WEALTH IN SIGHT + + +A stockade ran round the village, and rows of thatched roofs loomed +above the frowning wall of timber, but instead of the usual clamor, +there was dead silence as, with some semblance of order, the footsore +and spiritless carriers limped in through the open gate. Nothing except +a few lizards stirred in the first sandy avenue, and the oppressive +stillness remained unbroken by the voice of man or beast. The sun hung +low above the parched grass in the west, and crimson splendors blazed +behind the huts; but a strange musky odor replaced the pungent fragrance +of burning wood which at that hour hangs over each African village. + +"The whole land seems dead," Dane said slowly, leaning heavily on his +rifle as he spoke. "There are times when one could almost fancy, +Carsluith, that you and I were ghosts--indeed, at the present moment you +don't look unlike one; but what is the meaning of this latest riddle? +This is the black headman's capital, isn't it?" + +Maxwell smiled mirthlessly, as he stood, with beaded forehead and +shoulders bent, glancing toward the weary carriers. His face was worn +and hollow, though his eyes were bright, and his clothing was dropping +in tatters from his weary limbs. The glare behind him emphasized the +lividness of his pallid skin. + +"It is one of them. I believe he has several," he said. "Whether he +fears reprisals from some plundered neighbor, or pestilence, I naturally +don't know; but, as his absence will save us a good many presents and +much loss of time, it is not material. Still, we might find some clue in +one of these huts." + +Maxwell entered the nearest, then moved into another, and stayed there +some time, leaving Dane in the sandy avenue before it; the carriers were +resting at a distance. The sun dipped, and as Dane watched the night +creep up swiftly from the east, it struck him that there was a curious +uncanny feeling about the place. It was a relief when his comrade +returned, looking graver than ever. + +"Did you find any one inside?" + +"I did," was the answer. "Unfortunately the man, as well as the one in +the next hut, was dead, and had, I fancy, been so for some time. He +probably died of a plague, which explains why the town is empty. We may +find something more conclusive in one of the larger huts." + +Dane decided that the discovery of two dead Africans was sufficient, and +said so; but Maxwell persisted, and it was almost dark when they halted +outside what appeared to be the headman's dwelling. Nothing could be +distinguished in the interior, but Dane could hear creeping things +rustle in the thatch, and the peculiar odor he already had noticed +drifted forth from the hut. This was all, but he felt an instinctive +repugnance to entering, and when Maxwell passed him, he caught him by +the shoulder to suggest that they should light a lantern first. Hardly +had he done so than what appeared to be a puff of colder air sighed +close past his ear, and Maxwell, whipping out his revolver, hailed him +to run round the hut as he leaped into the room. Dane did so, finding +another entrance at the rear, and a broad space between the dwelling and +the nearest hut. Nobody, he felt almost certain, would have had +sufficient time to cross it, but the space was empty. When he went in +Maxwell had torn down and lighted strips of palm-leaf from the thatch, +but the name that leaped up showed them no sign of living humanity. +Maxwell's countenance was very grim. + +"You saw nobody outside there? I hardly thought you would," he said. +"Our animal instincts are sometimes more useful than our powers of +reasoning, Hilton. It is probable that if you had not checked me, I +should now be on my way out of this land of surprises. What we heard was +a diminutive arrow, no doubt with the venom there's no cure for upon its +point. It could not have been shot at us by either of the Africans +yonder." + +Dane, glancing at the two awful huddled figures, swore softly and +viciously. + +"It is time we struck back, Carsluith," he urged. "I'll call up our boys +and surround the huts." + +"It would be useless," said Maxwell, shaking his head. "You have not +realized these fellows' ingenuity, even yet. Further, if the boys saw +what we have seen it might be disastrous." + +A horror of the whole country where such things were possible came upon +Dane and he moistened his dry lips with his tongue. + +"I would give ten years of my life to stand face to face with the leader +of these devils." + +"Perhaps you will some day! I am puzzled among other things by their +pertinacity. The heathen is unstable, and one almost feels that there +must be something stronger than the native's spasmodic purpose behind +what we have endured. In any case, it will be pleasanter to camp outside +the town to-night." + +They had some trouble in inducing their followers to quit the promised +shelter, but both felt easier when they had repassed the stockade gate. +That was apparently their enemies' last effort, for they were not +molested during the rest of their journey; and eventually Maxwell halted +his worn-out men beside a shrunken river. It came down out of a chaos of +jungle-covered hills, rippling over sharp sand, with tall bluffs on the +opposite side of it; and within five minutes every carrier was rolling +and splashing in the lukewarm stream. + +Dane quivered with eagerness as he watched Maxwell, who, looking up from +a paper in his hand, smiled inscrutably. + +"Yes. From Niven's description we have reached our goal at last. I was +almost afraid his memory or imagination had betrayed him," he said. +"That must be the bluff he camped on, and this, according to his +assertion, the river which sprinkles its sand with gold. However, he +hinted that it would pay better to prospect the higher pools. I want you +to test his statement, Hilton. The result of the experiment promises to +be eventful." + +Maxwell's voice was slightly uneven, but his fingers seemed steady as he +lighted one of their few last cigars. Dane felt his own knees weak +beneath him, and his voice was hoarse when he hailed a carrier whose +load consisted of prospecting tools. Carrying a tin dish and a small +shovel, he waded into the shrunken river. There was a patch of sand near +its center from which he filled the metal basin, and then halted with a +curious sickly feeling, afraid almost to test its contents. He had sunk +too much of his slender capital in the venture, and his future depended +upon that test. Its issues were prosperity and the realization of the +hope that had sent him to Africa, or a weary struggle for daily bread; +and the climate-weakened man felt that, after all they had dared and +suffered, he could hardly face failure. The perspiration trickled into +his eyes, and oozed from his hair, and he stood still, knee-deep in the +nameless river, for the space of almost a minute. + +Then, stooping suddenly, he dipped the vessel and whirled it round and +round until partly empty. There was a color about some of the particles +remaining that caught his attention; but he would not trust a partial +test, and continued the washing until, except for a very trifling +residue, the pan was empty. Still, Maxwell made no comment and asked no +question, for, if one was now swift in action, the other was great in +silence. + +Dane straightened himself, and waded back with dry lips and tickling +throat, but with triumph in his eyes; and Maxwell laughed softly as he +grasped the hand he stretched out. + +"What have you found?" he asked. + +"Enough to prove your dead friend right, and encourage us to search for +something better!" Dane spoke as calmly as he could. "It is only stream +gold, and doubtless readily worked out, but heaven knows how much more +there may be up yonder where this came down from." + +"You think----" + +"That Niven was not mad, but eminently sane! I'm not a practical gold +prospector, but I couldn't well help learning a little of the theory +when working on the drawings of hydraulic mining machinery. It's a +question of the velocity of the current and specific gravity--for even +with a stream behind gold grains of any size don't travel far; and their +matrix lies in yonder hills, or beyond them, somewhere." + +"We'll go on again to-morrow," said Maxwell quietly. + +For a week they hewed a way through the jungles on the hillside, or +waded up the bed of the river where it promised an easier road; and +finally, daring to penetrate no farther, they pitched camp on a +palm-crested bluff overhanging a breadth of dry sand and a deep pool +beneath a fall. Since leaving Shaillu's stronghold they had neither been +followed by their persecutors nor seen anything with life in it. Maxwell +left all operations to his friend's direction, and toiled beside him for +several days like a galley slave, digging and blowing out with +explosives a new channel to empty the pool, besides hewing troughs to +bring down the water from above the fall. + +Once more the burning day was drawing toward its close when, with the +roar of the last shot rolling across the encircling forest and the water +frothing muddily down its new outlet, Dane stood beside his comrade, +leaning on a shovel, and wondering greatly that the latter could think +of anything beyond the result of their experiment. + +"The jungle seems to mock us, does it not?" Maxwell remarked. "Already +its silence has swallowed the feeble din we made; and the next flood +will obliterate forever all traces of your workings." + +"Then you don't believe that this is the beginning of a new era, and +that those who follow us will change the future of this wilderness?" +asked Dane with a show of incredulity. + +Maxwell pointed to the jungle fading into the dimness of the east. + +"I do not. Look at it," he said. "It has stood so from the beginning, a +place of everlasting shadow, for the naked bushmen to hunt each other +in; and it will be the same long centuries after you and I are gone. It +is too old and changeless for even the Briton to subdue. Phoenician, +Roman, Arab, and Moor have all tackled this all-absorbing Africa; and +while the brown men have left a plainer stamp on it than the white men, +how much has any of them done? Still, all this is beside the question, +isn't it? It will be enough for you and me if we can return home safely +with some small augmentation of our capital. Hadn't you better resume +your digging, Hilton?" + +Dane did so, stripped to the waist; and great fires were blazing before +he came up out of the river, exultant. + +"I can't promise a fortune, but there should be sufficient to pay us for +all our toil," he said. "Those little grains will realize almost four +pounds an ounce." + +They set out a carefully treasured bottle of lukewarm wine that night in +the tent, and duly emptied it, though, perhaps for the same reason, +neither of them ate much; and afterward they sat long talking under the +smoky lamp. It was a night to remember, for it is not often one enjoys +the same thrill of triumph twice in a lifetime. Maxwell was unusually +communicative; and long afterward Dane could remember how he leaned +against a deal case, worn, thin, and haggard, but with a smile of +satisfaction on his hollow face. + +"Success appears within sight at last, but it is well to take good +fortune soberly," he said. "I am, however, sensible of an insane desire +to do something extravagant when I remember all that word implies. You +have seen Culmeny, Hilton, but it is hardly possible that you can +realize the affection I have for the old place. It was fast falling into +ruin before my father improved its finances a little by painful economy; +and, because we generally fought and plotted for the losing side, the +poor acres about it have been starved overlong. Now, after many an +arduous search for the wherewithal, I can hope it may be granted me to +restore a measure of its former prosperity. The Culmeny mosses could be +turned into plow-land and pasture with the aid of a little money." + +"You are a young man, Carsluith," Dane replied suggestively. "Being +merely one of the swarming people, I don't know that love for--an +ancient dwelling--would have exacted so much from me. Drainage schemes +are no doubt useful, but was the extension of them your only ambition?" + +Maxwell laughed good-humoredly, though a trace of shadow crept back into +his face. + +"No," he said slowly; "there was a time when they took a very secondary +place. Every one has his weaknesses, and even now I have not quite got +over mine." + +The friendship between the two men had never been demonstrative, but it +was deep enough to make Dane's comment no liberty. + +"I can guess. The old story, no doubt. 'It was the woman who tempted +me!' She treated you badly?" + +"No," Maxwell answered quietly, looking hard at his companion. "She--God +bless her--could treat no one harshly. It was my own folly to dream that +she, with her fresh young beauty and the light-heartedness of innocence, +could find anything congenial in such a taciturn, somber man as myself. +Well, that romance is over, but it has left its mark; and now all that I +hope for is that Culmeny will flourish for a brief space under the last +of an unfortunate family." + +Now there are limits beyond which even one who has sickened and fought +and suffered beside a trusted comrade may hardly go, and Dane repressed +the question which trembled on his lips. Nevertheless, he afterward +fancied that if he had asked it then Maxwell would have answered him; +and the revelation probably would have made a vast difference in the +future of both of them. Dane did not, however, ask. + +He was partly dazed by his own good fortune, and, when at last they +ceased from speech, he sat in contented silence conjuring up roseate +visions of the future. It was true that he had quarreled with Lilian, or +she had quarreled with him; but during the time of stress and struggle +the importance of the difference between them had--so it seemed to the +man--steadily diminished. He could recall significant trifles which +suggested that the time would come when the woman would no longer +enforce the terms of their compact; and he felt that it was at least +possible that, returning triumphant, he would find that she had already +forgiven his supposed offenses. So hope rose victorious over doubts and +dejection; and Dane was nodding, dreaming, while still half-awake, +golden dreams, when Maxwell's voice recalled him to the laborious +present. + +"It is past midnight, and the task before us will tax our uttermost +energies. Isn't it time to turn in, Hilton?" + +Dane nodded. + +"We will begin at sunrise," he said; "work every possible hour, and +start back for England whenever the yield falls off. It is better to +make sure of a portion than risk the whole by straining for too much; +and fortune does not appear to favor white men overlong in this country. +Even if we were but half satisfied, it should not be difficult to float +a company." + +Maxwell shook his head. + +"Your first suggestion shows some discernment, Hilton; the second, less. +Even a wildcat company promoter would fight shy of this mine; and it is +tolerably certain that we have both the cross-marked man and Monsieur +Victor Rideau still to reckon with." + +Dane stretched himself out on some matting when Maxwell turned out the +lamp, but he did not immediately sleep. The hot African darkness hemmed +in the little tent, but he could see his comrade's figure dimly outlined +against it as he sat rigidly still in the entrance. Then it struck him +that they were very far away from all help from civilization, with a +secret in their possession which already had cost the lives of other +men. The roseate visions faded, and a sense of impending trouble +preceded slumber. It was significant that Dane's fingers sought the +pistol that lay beside him. + +"Not asleep yet?" asked Maxwell. "What is troubling you?" + +"I don't quite know," Dane answered. "I was going to ask you the same +thing. Carsluith, if Rideau or the other rascal interferes with us +further before I have won sufficient to float my patent, some of the +party won't go home again." + +The sun had just cleared the forest when, one morning soon after Dane +had set his flume and washing gear to work, he sat at breakfast before a +swinging table in their extemporized mess tent. Maxwell, who had just +risen, stood in the entrance, partly dazzled by the growing brightness. +Suddenly some of the Krooboys commenced to chatter excitedly, and a +negro's voice rose above the commotion: + +"White man lib for across the river!" + +Maxwell, springing into the tent, snatched up a pair of binoculars; and +the table overturned with a crash as Dane scrambled to his feet. + +"The devil!" he exclaimed, staring stupidly at the figure below which +saluted them with uplifted arm. + +Maxwell frowned as he sharply closed the glasses. + +"No," he said, "not exactly. It is Monsieur Victor Rideau." + +Ten minutes had passed before the man Dane had seen at Castro's factory +came smiling into camp, and the miner glanced at him curiously. He was +short, but somewhat burly and broad-chested for a man of pure Gallic +descent. His hair was very crisp and black, his face swarthy, and his +fingers suspiciously like those of the negro. He was, considering the +country, neatly arrayed in white duck and shoes with pointed toes. +Monsieur Rideau had evidently traveled in a hammock. + +"Felicitations, camarades," he began, with, it seemed to one observer, +an excess of amiability. "It please me greatly to meet the friend of my +own color in this country of the devil, so I leave all my boy behind +there and push on with much expedition to salute you." + +"That was very kind," said Maxwell shortly, never moving his eyes from +his enemy. "The eagerness was mutual. My friend here upset our breakfast +equipage in his hurry to greet you. The cook, however, will get you some +more presently." + +Dane fancied he read satisfaction in his comrade's face when the other +answered: + +"I have the breakfast already. You smoke now. I have these from Cuba--he +is smuggle. No? That is the pity; but we talk at least. I have affaire +of importance to discuss with you." + +"So I presumed," said Maxwell, with no excess of civility. "Our tent is +hardly fit to enter, but there is still shade here. Please consider us +attentive listeners." + +"_Bien!_" Rideau carefully laid a silk handkerchief on a fallen +cottonwood before he took his seat. "I come to search the gold mine, and +find two men of my own color have find her already. Me, I am not greedy. +I say there is the plenty for three. So I make proposal. I go the +partner with you." + +"Suppose that does not suit us?" Dane broke in. + +Rideau lifted one shoulder and stretched out the other arm with an air +that was not wholly Gallic, but rather suggested the grimaces of a +negro. + +"It would be the pity. You know how we say, '_J'y suis_----?' As an +American captain I have once small difference with tell me when he +establish himself all day on my veranda: 'I'm here, Mr. Shylocker, and +until I get what I've come for I stop right where I am.' Shylocker, I +tell him, is a compliment not comprehended of me. That was a man of +determination, but I vanquish him, my friends." + +Hitherto something in the speaker's fastidious neatness and excessive +bonhommie had, because his welcome was the reverse of cordial, prevented +Dane from taking him seriously. Now there was a glint in his dark eyes +which suggested that he might prove dangerous; and Dane surmised that +the last sentence was meant as a warning. In any case, his blood took +fire at its veiled insolence. + +"It seems to me you could only have found your way here by means of a +map stolen from me!" he said hotly, rising as he spoke. + +Maxwell silenced him with a gesture. + +"That is beside the question, Hilton. Monsieur Rideau is here, and, as +he informs us, here he means to stay. The first question is whether, if +we do not wish it, he is able to." + +Rideau took up the challenge with outward good-humor. + +"I have of camp boy two, or perhaps three, for every one I see of you. +Most he is also arm with the good rifle. If there is the bad +understanding, somebody is possibly get kill, which is distressing to +me. Beside, the barbaric indigene he go chop us separables, as the +nigger say. United we are invincibles, _voyez vous_?" + +"I believe I do," Maxwell answered, in a tone which suggested that he +saw considerably more than the other's words revealed; and Dane watched +the pair, as for some seconds they lapsed into silence--the Briton +motionless and almost too rigid in bearing, with an expressionless face; +the swarthy adventurer smiling out of shifty eyes, while his fingers +betrayed his impatience. + +Then Maxwell spoke abruptly. + +"Your proposal demands serious consideration. I would prefer to give you +an answer this time to-morrow." + +"_Bien_," Rideau acquiesced; and after a detailed account of his +adventures, which Dane surmised was wholly fictitious, he took his +leave. + +"The savage has his virtues as well as his failings," said Maxwell, +looking after him. "That man, however, is neither French nor negro, and +such as he usually combine the vices of both sides of their ancestry. +What do you think of his proposal, Hilton?" + +"I should have dismissed him with four expressive words. Why did you +promise to consider it at all?" + +Maxwell smiled dryly. + +"Because I intend to do so. I will give you my reasons this evening +when, after a day's consideration, I shall have them ready in a more +definite shape. In the meantime, we had better continue the mining." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PESTILENCE + + +The result of the day's work was encouraging, though it cost Dane an +effort to concentrate his attention upon his task. Rideau's swarthy face +haunted him; he would have felt more cheerful had his companion decided +to defy him. Maxwell, however, said little, and appeared to find +pleasure in working with concentrated energy. + +Evening came at last, and thick darkness closed about the lonely tent. +Neither of the men ate much, and when the frugal meal had been cleared +away, Maxwell once more spread his map on the table. + +"We have to make an eventful decision, and it might be well to consider +our position," he said, laying his finger on the map. "We are somewhere +here, just beyond the fringe of Shaillu's country, with a difficult and +dangerous country between us and civilization, and a little-known land, +whose inhabitants are supposed to be predatory tribes, to the north." + +"We will take all that for granted," responded Dane. "Can you give me +Rideau's record?" + +"But little of it. He is evidently of mixed blood, and partly educated, +a trader by profession, with a mysterious inland connection. I was told +that the authorities suspect him of trafficking in unlawful weapons, or +even in black humanity. I have little doubt it was he who hired the man +with the scar on his forehead to arrange for Niven's destruction; and, +while several points are not clear to me, I fancy he is at least partly +responsible for our own misfortunes. Seeing his efforts to circumvent us +fail, he has decided to join us--for a time. Lastly, I am inclined to +surmise that by reason of some unlawful speculation, jointly undertaken, +he has a hold on Dom Pedro, and so obtained possession of the map you +lost. Now, what are we to say to him?" + +"Very little, in my opinion!" grunted Dane. "Tell him to go to the +devil! If that rouses his indignation, as I hope it will, I should find +satisfaction in assisting him." + +Maxwell smiled, but shook his head. + +"Your ways are delightfully simple, but hardly practicable, Hilton," he +said. "In the first place, Rideau means to stay, and has, he tells us, a +force much superior to our own. Suppose we succeeded in driving him out +by violence, we should have to meet a charge of filibustering when we +returned to the coast, or stand a siege if he returned with a host of +native allies. The one safe step in that direction would be the +entrapping and total annihilation of Rideau and his party, which, +presumably, would not recommend itself to you!" + +"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed Dane, convinced against his will. "Am I a +professional murderer? Since you don't agree with mine, let me hear your +views." + +"In the first place we must hope that, as he suggests, there may be gold +enough for three. Further, I consider Rideau least dangerous when under +my own eye, and therefore consider it would be wisest to accept his +proposal and watch him carefully. We shall thus have peace for a time, +at least, and when necessary must endeavor to match our wits against his +guile. That the man's company will not be pleasant, I need hardly say; +but we can't afford to be particular with so much at stake. Remember +that we came here to make money, and not in search of adventures, or to +maintain our dignity." + +Dane only nodded, and so the conference concluded. Sooner than lose what +he hoped for he was prepared to concede anything; but it might have been +better if he had adhered to his own simple plan; for it is difficult to +make a bargain with such a man as Rideau, and keep it without material +losses as well as diminished self-respect. + +Early the next morning Rideau arrived, bringing with him an imposing +number of colored desperadoes; and a written agreement was drawn up. +They were to share all risks and expenses, and divide what gold they won +on its safe arrival at the coast. Rideau showed bland satisfaction when +he read it through; but, before he filled a rusty pen, Dane rose and +laid Bonita Castro's keepsake on the table. + +"Faith is a question of training, and exactly what each man believes +concerns only himself; but probably all of us respect this as a symbol," +he said. "Is that not so, Monsieur Rideau?" + +Rideau glanced from the speaker to Maxwell, and there was a gleam in his +eyes, then he bent his head. + +Flinging down his battered sun-hat, Dane laid his right hand on the +object on the table, saying: "So I solemnly promise, first to keep this +bargain and faith with my partners, if it cost me my life or fortune; +and secondly, to demand a full account from either should he betray his +trust, as, if I fail them, they shall do to me." + +Maxwell in turn recorded his promise with quiet simplicity; but Rideau +started when the object was passed on to him. It was a beautifully +wrought crucifix of medieval workmanship. For a moment he stared +malevolently at Dane, and then a look akin to fear crept into his eyes. +But, raising one hand aloft, he pledged himself more solemnly than +either, and attached his name first of all to the foot of the agreement. +He retired shortly afterward to pitch his camp, for the new partners had +decided that their respective carriers would be best kept apart; and +Maxwell looked at his comrade. + +"Had you mentally rehearsed that scene, Hilton?" he asked. "It was +almost a stroke of genius." + +"No. I don't claim to be a genius. It was simply the most solemn thing I +could think of from his point of view. I meant exactly what I said, and +I feel somewhat easier now that Rideau has passed the test." + +Maxwell smiled. + +"You are very confiding, Hilton--and he did not pass the test. Still, +considering the blend between the worthy missionaries' teaching and +African superstition which, while it would probably astonish them, +accounted for his momentary hesitation, Rideau is either braver or more +avaricious than I supposed him. Did it occur to you that he recognized +Miss Castro's gift?" + +Dane was somewhat astonished. + +"How do you know that it was Miss Castro's gift; and what if he did?" + +"I saw it once in her possession, and, as she naturally would not sell +such a thing, I presumed that you had not stolen it. I heard that Rideau +had persecuted that lady with his attentions. It would be well to +remember henceforward that ceaseless vigilance is the price of safety." + +Thus, with the prospect of treachery on one side, the partnership with +Rideau began; but the new carriers were sturdy men, and the gold-washing +was carried on with characteristic energy, alike under the burning sun +of noon and by the glare of great fires until long into the steamy +night. Dane labored with his own hands among his Krooboys, stripped to +the waist. Maxwell seconded him loyally, for he had now relinquished the +leader's place; and by degrees the pair drilled their dusky subordinates +into capable workmen. It is true that they usually suspended operations +the moment the white men relaxed their vigilance; but that was only to +be expected, and their masters got a good deal out of them considering +that most negroes have a chronic distaste for manual labor. Rideau's +detachment, Dane noticed, were the most amenable to discipline, and +obeyed all orders with a submission which puzzled the observer, for he +knew that meek obedience is not a characteristic of the seaboard +African. Their master, who did little beyond expressing his approval of +Danes' efforts, grew more cordial as the weeks went by. But Maxwell was +civil, and nothing more; and Dane surmised that he was rather more +watchful and suspicious than he had been before. + +One night when, worn out by physical exertion and aching in every joint, +they dragged themselves, dripping with river water, back to their tent, +there was a covert sneer in Rideau's laugh as he addressed them: + +"You English are a curious people, and there are those who call you mad. +The more tired and dirty you are, the more happy. I once see your naval +officer on the Niger harness with the indigene, like the mule, to drag +the wheel-gun through a robber headman's swamp. One drôle, he tell me it +was the glorious fun." + +"I dare say he meant it," retorted Maxwell. "It is probably owing to +that very form of insanity that, while you--the French, I mean--have +with commendable foresight appropriated the best of Africa, we others +remain at least its commercial masters." + +The pause and apparent correction was not made by accident, and Dane +fancied that Rideau grasped its significance. He retired shortly, and +Maxwell looked thoughtful. + +"I am afraid I was not judicious; but we are only human, and there are +times when my dislike for that rascal almost masters me," he said. "I +would give much to learn who it is that slinks into his camp at night." + +Dane looked puzzled, for Rideau's camp lay across the river, and was +watched by black sentries; no negro was permitted on any excuse to pass +its boundaries. + +"As you know, I have of late taken an interest in botany," Maxwell +laughed. "During my researches I found considerably more specimens of +African vegetation in the forest surrounding Rideau's camp than I know +the names of, and on several occasions what is of greater +interest--footsteps leading toward our partner's tent. The man who made +them wore sandals; there is nobody among our combined followers who +does." + +Dane had no suggestions to make, and therefore kept silent; but that +piece of information left him uneasy. + +It was a still, oppressive day some months later when Dane stood leaning +heavily on a shovel near the edge of the bush. The temperature made +exertion almost impossible, and there was a weight in the atmosphere +which rendered respiration an effort; for the last two weeks the sun had +been hidden all day long and the stars shrouded by haze at night, and +the same heavy stillness had brooded over the camp. In such weather +sickly white men die off, and wise ones lie still in a hammock whenever +possible; but the lust of gold had held two at least of the party +strenuously to their task, and already a little heap of yellow grains +reposed within an iron-bound chest. The men had, however, experienced +some trouble with their colored assistants, who had been unusually +dejected and apathetic of late. + +While Dane ran his eyes along his trenches it struck him that the raw +heaps of sand and the rude wooden flumes appeared strangely out of place +in that gap in the primeval forest. It towered about them, vast, +shadowy, and impressive, rotting as it grew, but throbbing with the +pulse of an untrammeled life that would tear down the conduits, and bury +the workings with verdure, almost as soon as their constructors +relinquished them. The voices of the negroes, rising hollowly through +the motionless atmosphere, sounded weak and feeble against its silence. + +"If all goes well, and the yield increases as it has done of late, we +should have enough to leave us a creditable profit before the year is +done," Dane said. "We have been long enough in this country, Carsluith, +and I mean to return to England before it wastes all the life out of +me." + +Perhaps it was the weather, for Maxwell appeared in an unusually somber +mood. + +"Your proviso covers a good deal," he replied. "This is a land of +surprises, where it is more than usually useless to predict what any man +will do. Neither are the signs auspicious at present." + +"No," Dane agreed reflectively; "I can't say that I consider them so. +This dead stillness worries me. Does it presage a premature change in +the seasons, or has it any other unpleasant meaning?" + +"Who can tell? Anything abnormal carries a hint of death with it in this +country. Still, there are other tokens. The few tribesmen who brought us +in provisions have vanished completely. The last we saw looked like +badly frightened men and were moving south with, for natives, surprising +celerity. As you know, the interpreter failed to understand them, but I +have an uneasy feeling that there was a sufficient cause for their +hurry. The negro is not a foreseeing person, and does not run away +unless the danger which threatens him is tangible and near." + +Dane twice turned to move back toward the workings, but did not do so. +His physical nature revolted from toil that day, and his brain felt sick +and useless under the stress of temperature. So the two lingered until a +negro near them, dropping his shovel, rolled over, clawing at the sand, +as suddenly as a rabbit stricken by the gun. His fall was so swift and +unexpected that Dane stared at the twitching black limbs motionless +until Maxwell's voice roused him. + +"Shake yourself together, Hilton. There is work before us! That fellow +must be carried into the bush before the rest discover what he is +suffering from." + +The man proved a heavy lift, and his greasy limbs writhed within their +grasp; but they laid him among the creepers without attracting +attention, and Dane, running to the tent, returned with a phial. + +"Where do you feel them pain lib?" he asked. + +The sufferer laid a black hand on his waist-cloth. + +"Somebody done put hot iron in heah, sah, and turn him round and round." + +Dane managed to drench him from the phial before his teeth met in an +agony, and Maxwell closed one hand as he looked at his partner. + +"It is very hard that this should happen--now--but you and I must see +the poor devils through," he said. "Our help may not be worth much, but +it is all that stands between them and destruction. It is one of the +scourges of this afflicted country--swifter than cholera, and more +deadly. This camp will resemble the pit presently." + +Maxwell next glanced down at the negro pitifully, his forehead +contracted and his lips firmly set, but he nodded abruptly when Dane +spoke again. + +"I have seen something like it in South America. Is it invariably +contagious?" + +"To negroes, yes; to white men, less so. In any case you have run the +worst risk of infection already." + +"Confound you! Do you suppose--?" + +Maxwell interrupted, laying a hand on his shoulder. + +"I think you and I are going to fight a very tough battle together, +Hilton." + +He had hardly spoken when Rideau appeared from behind them, and glanced +at the groaning man. Then he shuffled backward well away from him; +answered Maxwell's look of interrogation with a nod; and, while his +face grew distinctly less like that of a European, he fumbled inside his +jacket. The barrel of a pistol was visible the next moment. "It is," he +said suggestively, "if the cases are few, the best way for preserve the +others. In their own country they use the paddle. One good blow where +the skull she is thinnest, and--voilà, the safe remedy!" + +Dane stretched a big hand out, and Rideau winced with a stifled +expletive as he dropped the weapon; while the Briton was sensible of a +distinct disappointment when he saw that the man's wrist remained +unbroken. The suggestion had apparently revolted Maxwell also; he stared +at the speaker with unconcealed loathing, while the latter opened his +lips for a moment in a wolfish snarl as he glanced sideways at Dane. +Just then, Victor Rideau looked very much less like a French gentleman +than a low-caste negro. Nevertheless, he was the first to recover his +serenity. + +"You have the mistaken squeamish; but me, I know the most advisable, and +have great fear of the sick which catches," said he. "She is distressful +for me. Sacre! Here is more other. To-morrow I consult you. Alors, I +go." + +A shrill scream of human agony rang through the lifeless air, and +Rideau, who did not stand upon the order of his going, departed with all +possible celerity. + +Neither of his partners was much inclined for mirth, but there is often +a ludicrous side to a tragedy; and Maxwell positively laughed when Dane +savagely hurled the pistol after its vanishing owner. + +"Missed! I would have given a good deal of the gold to strike him +squarely between the shoulders. I meant it to hurt," he said. + +Then an uproar began. Black figures, swarming out of the workings, +gathered about the fallen man, clamoring excitedly, and Maxwell resumed +command. + +"They're panic-stricken; and fear will spread the sickness fastest. This +must be stopped at once! We have not a moment to lose, or there will be +murder done." + +Dane felt very helpless as they ran forward to disperse the mob of +terror-stricken black men. He still carried the shovel, though Maxwell +went empty-handed, because, either from pride or policy, he never +displayed a weapon once camp had been pitched. He appeared quietly +resolute, though Dane afterward admitted feeling desperately anxious and +more than a little afraid, for the mass of dusky faces with unreasoning +fear and its accompanying ferocity stamped upon them was not an +encouraging spectacle. Any one of those negroes was physically a match +for two white men, and there were a good many of them. + +The mob came to a standstill at the sight of them. Maxwell, removing his +hat, straightened out the dints in it before he spoke a few words, and +then, thrusting his way through the groups which opened up before him, +halted beside the fallen man. + +Some of the negroes began to chatter; some shrank farther back; but +there was presently an ominous growling, and again the mob surged +forward, one man with a matchet launching himself straight at his white +master. Hitherto he had shown himself both cheerful and docile, but now +he seemed possessed of a devil, the devil of fear transmuted into +maniacal savagery. Maxwell did not at first see him, and when he did it +would have been too late, but that Dane whirled aloft the shovel, and +when it came down the negro fell like a pole-axed ox at his comrade's +feet. Even then Dane felt sick and sorry as he saw the red drops run +from the steel, for he had often encouragingly patted his victim's +brawny shoulder; but the negro is above all things unstable, and that +blow was the saving of many lives. The crowd stood silent, cowed for a +few moments by the swift retribution. + +"Thanks," said Maxwell; "I think you have nipped it in the bud, Hilton." + +Before he began to speak again his lieutenant, Amadu, and Dane's special +follower, Monday, sprang to their side. Both carried rifles; and that +turned the scale. Before half an hour had elapsed the two had not only +restored a degree of confidence and order, but had picked out a number +of men who might be trusted to act as sanitary police. By this time, +however, the plague had claimed other victims, and Maxwell started +forthwith to choose an isolated site for a hospital camp; while Dane, +moving to and fro among the laborers, set apart any with suspicious +symptoms. + +It was midnight before either found leisure for food or rest, and then +Dane knelt, with a biscuit in one hand, beside the little medicine chest +in the tent, while Maxwell bent over a medical treatise as he ate. +Several sick men lay moaning just outside the illuminated canvas, and +one, apparently in delirium, had during the last hour never ceased +crooning the hammock-bearers' song. + +"That chanty grows wearisome," said Maxwell at length; and, because Dane +was overwrought, his companion's composure jarred upon him. + +"Put down that tin and hold the glass for me. You have eaten three +biscuits already, and this is no time for feasting! I'm going to start +with chlorodyne. We found it good in South America when we could give it +to them quick enough; but these fellows have an irritating trick of +crawling away into some lair to die quietly. There. Give this to the +first two poor devils, half each by measure." + +Maxwell went swiftly, and returned very grim in face. + +"Too late," he reported. "One is cold already; the other testified that +there is but one Allah as I bent over him, and ended in a gurgle. Hallo! +What is this?" + +Preceded by a negro carrying a torch, Rideau, smoking sedulously, +approached the tent, and halted well clear of it. The man was not, as +his partners had cause to know, unduly timid, but now fear was plainly +stamped on his face, which the red glare of the torch forced up against +the gloom. + +"I have great fear of this sick, and make proposition," he said. "I go +take all the boy of me back a league into the forest, and make other +camp. If any he is fall ill, I with all possible expedition send him +you." + +Both of the listeners found heart to smile at the latter sentence before +Dane's resentment mastered him. + +"It is particularly considerate of him, but his proposition has some +sense in it," said Maxwell aside. "You are acting surgeon-major, Hilton. +What do you suggest?" + +"You can go straight to perdition, or anywhere else that pleases you, so +long as you don't waste our time!" thundered Dane; and with a salute +which expressed no resentment, but only relief, Rideau withdrew. + +"How long does this thing generally last?" asked Dane. + +"Sometimes it clears a village out in a fortnight, more often it hangs +round a month, or even longer, picking out odd victims; and before that +time has gone we shall have the rains." + +"Which will prevent any further mining, probably cut off our road to the +coast, and render life here almost impossible," Dane said hoarsely. + +"Exactly. There can be no more mining now." + +As the two men's eyes met, each knew just what his comrade was thinking. + +"We must see them through," said Dane, and Maxwell answered, as though +this decision had never been in doubt: "Of course!" + +With that they fell to work again, for there was much to do, which was +fortunate, because, otherwise, the thought of what both would certainly +lose and what one was risking for the sake of naked heathen, many of +whom were little higher in intelligence than dumb cattle, might have +maddened them. Still, even the most stupid had trusted the white men, +and, in their own fashion, served them well. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN EVENTFUL DECISION + + +The weeks that followed left only a hazy impression of hurry, effort, +fatigue that was almost overwhelming, and anxiety which spurred wornout +mind and body to further action, with the two white men who lived +through them. Some of the sick they cured, and though it is possible +their lack of knowledge hastened the end of others, their intentions at +least were benevolent, and while they often went hungry the convalescent +were always fed. They put heart into the hopeless and buried the dead, +stormed, exhorted, and jested by turn all day long, and sat watching the +worst cases when the hot night fell. Dane was never afterward able to +recollect the exact mixtures he dispensed, which Maxwell said was +probably fortunate; but as a result of their labors, while all would +otherwise have perished, part at least of their followers escaped. They +had also capable assistants. Amadu, Maxwell's man, had fought under a +great Emir who had made his name a terror in the Soudan; and Monday, so +Dane gathered, had carried the standard of a successful robber chieftain +somewhere far up in the land of the brown men who swear by the Prophet; +but both had the full courage of their fatalist convictions, and what +their masters bade them that they did. The rank and file of the +orderlies were thick-headed heathen who grinned each time their leader +stormed at them. + +One day when the sick were recovering, and a little hope was springing +up again, Dane, staggering half asleep behind his bearer detachment, +halted when Maxwell beckoned him. + +"Get on, you dusky angels, and try to carry that poor devil +right-side-up," Dane said. "Monday, tell them hopeless idiots if they +handle the other fellow that way they'll pull his head off. You would +tempt the most patient man to murder some of you." + +The bearers beamed upon him with mouths extended, and Maxwell laughed. + +"They take your abuse as a compliment, Hilton; and your capabilities +become apparent by degrees. Still, after the success which has attended +your daring pharmaceutical experiments, one could hardly be astonished +at your licking even yonder most unpromising raw material into shape." + +"The credit is to necessity," replied Dane, surveying his assistants +with a certain air of pride. "Those are the most wooden-headed niggers +in Africa, and the more I swear at them the wider they grin; but if I +wanted sulphur from the pit, and told them, the beggars would go--and +get it." + +"I wish we were both fresher," Maxwell said; "because there is another +worry to grapple with. The man I sent over to Rideau found the camp +empty, and this pinned to the tree his tent had been pitched beneath." + +"If Mr. Rideau desires to repeat his opinion that we should set them all +to work it is as well he does it in writing. I could hardly keep my +hands off the brute the last time he made the suggestion in person," +answered Dane. + +"Read, and see," said Maxwell, holding out the note; and because Dane's +head was swimming he translated the indifferent French with difficulty. +The message might have appeared ambiguous to a more accomplished +linguist. Nevertheless, he gathered from it that their partner, who +professed a total ignorance of physics and a fear of contagion, +regretted his inability to render them any assistance, and had decided +to visit a headman he had dealings with who dwelt at a considerable +distance. He stated that none of his boys could be induced to carry a +message to the stricken camp. + +"He might have expressed himself more plainly, but it is plausible. Do +you attach a different meaning?" Dane asked. + +Maxwell, instead of answering, asked another question. + +"You feel tolerably certain that we have seen the worst of this +epidemic?" + +"Yes," was the answer. "I did not, however, tell our estimable partner +so. It seemed a pity to relieve him prematurely of what he called his +fear of the sick. Perhaps I was wrong in this." + +"Pshaw!" exclaimed Maxwell. "It is not the plague he fears the most. In +fact, considering that he must have lived through one or two outbreaks +already, part, at least, of his fear must have been simulated. If you +expect to see Rideau here again on the old terms, Hilton, you are +mistaken." + +"His absence would not leave me disconsolate," said Dane. "In that case, +one wonders what he is afraid of, and why he came? Isn't it also +surprising that he should abandon his share of the gold?" + +"In reply to the first query, I don't know--but we shall doubtless +discover in good time. There is no difficulty in answering the rest. He +came to see if the river was worth exploitation, and to pick up a +practical knowledge of the necessary operations. His share of what we +have obtained is, after all, but trifling for an avaricious man who +cherishes a grudge against you, and desires the whole. Two men alone at +present prevent him from obtaining it, and the life of any white man is +very uncertain in this country." + +"A grudge against me?" Dane queried. + +Maxwell nodded. + +"Have you forgotten Miss Castro? Your powers of attraction may prove a +dangerous gift, Hilton." + +Dane flushed with sudden anger, for this appeared to him ill-timed +levity; but Maxwell continued unheeding: + +"The whole complication resembles a mosaic puzzle, and I have fitted +most of it together. One or two pieces, however, are missing, and we +must wait until accident supplies them. Meanwhile, every effort to +expedite our sick men's recovery would be advisable." + +Maxwell left his comrade startled and uneasy. Dane could see that he was +anxious, and they already had sufficient to try their endurance without +the addition of a haunting fear. There was, however, no remedy, and they +continued to tend the sick, setting those who had recovered to work as +the pestilence slackened its grip. So, while groups of naked tribesmen +whose tongue nobody therein could understand traveled southward past the +camp, the days went by until Maxwell was supplied with one missing +portion of his mosaic. One morning a seaboard negro, whose leg had been +rendered useless by the horrible Guinea worm which had burrowed from +knee to ankle, crawled into camp, and told a story which roused both +listeners to suppressed fury. Rideau had left him behind crippled, to +starve, but with many sufferings he had managed to drag himself to their +camp. + +"I be missionary boy, sah, and savvy them JuJu palaver be all dam +fraud," he stated in the coast English. "When them low white nigger +Rideau lib for them first river by the Leopards' country he send one man +two day into the bush." + +"What was the man like? How that boy he look?" asked Maxwell. + +"Yellow man with mark on front of him head, sah. He be fit to make +fetich palaver." + +"Oh," commented Maxwell. "This is going to be very interesting, Hilton." + +"Two night go," continued the negro. "Then I look them white man he wait +for somebody sitting with a pistol outside him tent. I lib for behind a +cottonwood, where he not done see me. Bimeby, two leopard come soffly, +soffly, and stand up when he see them. The white man light a lamp before +him say: 'Why you done play them fool trick with me?'" + +"You were too frightened to crawl away?" Maxwell asked; and though the +negro evidently trembled at the mere recollection, he answered boldly: + +"I be missionary boy, and savvy all them JuJu palaver humbug, sah. One +leopard done throw off him skin and sit down by the tent. I know him for +the man with the mark on him. 'How much you want for let me lib for your +country and come back again,' the white man say, and they all talk +plenty. Then the white man say: 'I leave them cloth and bead and gun in +the bush, and when I lib for come back safe you get two time as much, +but you see them other white men done get lost or sick too much in your +country.' Rideau talk more plenty, and them leopard go away. I not know +how. I see him one lil' minute, then there be no more leopard, sah. I +lib for say nothing. Suppose Rideau guess I look him he shoot me, sah. +The Lord he give me sense too much." + +"Rideau is a capable rascal and this explains a good deal," said +Maxwell, when he had handed the cripple over to the Krooboy cook. "The +man with the scarred forehead is clearly an influence among the +Leopards. Otherwise Rideau might never have overtaken us. His prudence +in promising to double the toll demanded on his safe return strikes me +as highly commendable; and one can only presume that, seeing us +successful in spite of his efforts, he determined to cast his lot in +with us for a time." + +Dane's answer was fierce and emphatic; and Maxwell smiled. + +"Over-confidence is a weakness of yours, Hilton. Now it is no doubt +flattering to one's pride to disdain petty suspicions and precautions; +but having done so, isn't it illogical to grow feverishly indignant when +you are victimized?" + +"You need not waste time in moralizing. It is much more necessary to +discover why Rideau cleared out in a hurry, and what he is doing now." + +"I don't know, but it will be high time to move when we do. Meanwhile, +we can only wait. It will become apparent presently." + +Dane left him, and went back to his task, stolidly determined that he +would have a reckoning with M. Victor Rideau before he sailed from +Africa. Hilton Dane, though by no means a fool, possessed neither his +comrade's power of deduction nor his insight into the weakness of human +nature; but he was, nevertheless, likely to prove an even more dangerous +enemy when his natural generosity, being abused, had changed into +vindictiveness. It is generally well to avoid the righteous indignation +of the good-humored man when his patience is exhausted; and Dane's +patience was not of the longest. + +The time dragged slowly by until, when those the plague had spared were +well on the way to recovery, chance supplied the partners with the final +clue. A man swathed in ragged cotton and of comparatively light color +halted one morning to beg a little food at their camp, and Maxwell grew +eager when he found that Amadu could understand him. Headman Shaillu's +villages had been stricken by the plague, he said, and that ruler, +either to avoid contagion or to prevent the spread of disaffection among +his people, had marched them out on a campaign against his northern +neighbors. He had been badly beaten, and the tribesmen had summoned +every petty chieftain who had suffered by his depredations to join them +in retaliating. They would probably wait until the rains were over, the +stranger said, though this was not certain; but once they started, they +would spare nothing on their march; and as their priests had a special +animus against white men, he considered they would certainly storm the +camp. + +It was dark when Dane and Maxwell held their final conference, and they +sat moodily silent a while before either spoke. The sufferings and +hardships undergone had left their mark on them; it is possible that +Maxwell's British acquaintances might scarcely have recognized him, as +he sat huddled, as it were, together under the smoky lamp. Even his +ironical humor had deserted him along with every personal characteristic +save the courage and certain racial instincts that were ineradicable. +Dane was reminded of an ancient portrait in Culmeny as he watched him. +The old moss-trooper had looked much the same--lean and dour and grim; +and the observer could recognize the same baleful light in his wolfish +eyes. It was not an unnatural reversion, for the customs of modern +Africa are not greatly different from those of Britain in bygone days. + +It was hotter than ever, and a darkness that could be felt hung over the +tent. + +"We have had several of these talks, Hilton, but never one half so +important as that before us now," said Maxwell at length. "Rideau's +whole intentions are clear at last. He learned what was threatening long +before we did, and profited by the sickness as an excuse for escaping +and leaving us to our fate. The gold? Please wait until I have +concluded. These tribesmen are mere predatory nomads, with no knowledge +of mining, and after burning every village they come across they will +vanish into the bush again. Therefore, our partner clearly expects that +if the pestilence fails to remove us the spearmen will; and he no doubt +hopes to return when there is peace again, and clean out this river +without our assistance." + +Dane smote the camp table hard with his fist, and was sullenly pleased +to see that he had not lost all his strength, for one of the thin boards +split. + +"Then I solemnly pledge myself to carry out the second portion of our +compact. The vile, treacherous scoundrel shall not escape if I live," he +declared. + +Maxwell raised his hand, but there was an ominous light in his eyes as +they met those of his companion. + +"That may come later; but in the first place the severely practical +aspect of this affair requires to be dealt with. To begin, less than +half our men are, even yet, capable of steady marching, and our numbers +would be quite insufficient to convoy those too weak to walk safely +through a hostile country. Therefore we have to choose between two +evils. The first possible course would be to leave all the sick and +weakly, and striking due south, not by the way we came, endeavor to +reach the coast with what gold we have won. We could return when it +appeared safe to do so. I put it before you, without expressing my own +opinion, dispassionately." + +Dane did not falter, but he remembered that in all probability there was +gold enough in the river to enable him to market his patent with at +least a hope of success, and this implied a prospect of winning Lilian. +Of late his hopes that he would eventually do so had grown steadily +stronger; and during many a lonely watch, when he recalled her delicate +beauty, the longing for her had almost mastered him. As Maxwell had +pointed out, one way to realize his ambitions was still open; but Dane +knew that he could not go home with the blood of the men who had trusted +him upon his hands. + +"That course is impossible!" he said hoarsely. + +"Yes," agreed Maxwell with impressive quietness. "We have, it is said, +outgrown superstition, but I can't help thinking misfortune would follow +the money we made that way. They have done their best for us, poor +devils. Therefore, we come to the second alternative. This camp could be +further stockaded into a very strong position, and you or I must hold +it against all comers. While one of us does so, the other, with a couple +of picked men, will strike straight for the coast, catch the first +mailboat, and, if he can't persuade an agent to believe and finance him +by the sight of a few ounces of gold, cable home for a credit to be +opened by telegraph on some big trading firm. My bankers should manage +that. Then he will return with a strong expedition. Speed affords the +one chance for success, for if Rideau heard of the attempt, he and the +Leopards would frustrate it; and both are doubtless watchful; but two or +three men traveling night and day might escape observation. They must +start unburdened, with just sufficient food, abandoning all idea of +carrying treasure. The one question is, who is to go?" + +Dane was conscious of a grim satisfaction. Everything pointed to him as +the one to stay, and he had no desire to return home with nothing more +than expectations; while, harassed as he had been by many enemies, +deserted, and betrayed, the prospect of trying conclusions with an open +foe came as a relief to him. + +"You have the money, and brains, Carsluith, and you must go," he said. +"I have the brute strength, and, I think, to-night some of its ferocity. +I can promise that all the savages in Africa shall not turn me out of +this camp. Neither would I be sorry if they attempted it." + +As Maxwell turned toward him the smoldering fire was plainer in his eye. + +"Are you not forgetting that other men are born with the same passions? +Break that twig into unequal lengths, shut your eyes, and draw. The man +who picks the longest stays." + +They were equal at the second draw, and Dane grew feverishly anxious as +he thrust in his hand again. Then he threw the twig on the table +triumphantly. + +"It points to me," he said. + +"So be it," Maxwell answered quietly. "Then we will get ready two loads +of provisions. I start at sunrise to-morrow, taking Amadu and one other +man with me." + +The night was far spent before the preparations were finished and they +lay down to sleep; and Maxwell was dressed and equipped when his comrade +awakened. + +"I could not bring myself to disturb you earlier," he said, when Dane +glanced at him reproachfully. "We will eat a morsel of breakfast, and +then I will start." + +Dane could swallow nothing, but Maxwell ate a little, though he seemed +to force his appetite. Then they walked silently together as far as the +stockade gate, where Maxwell turned and held out his hand. + +"God knows whether I will reach the coast. This gold, with whatever you +can add to it, is yours if I fail," he said. "If I live I will come back +and join you should I come alone!" + +"Whether you come late or early you will find me or my bones here," Dane +answered huskily, for there was a painful contraction in his throat. + +Their hands met in a strenuous grasp, and with a hoarse "Good luck!" +following him, Maxwell strode out through the gate. Dane watched him +descend the slope to the river, while all the camp boys capable of +motion clustered about the one who stayed, and Monday squatted at his +feet. They were all very silent until a murmur went up as the white man, +halting on the edge of the forest, turned toward them. He raised his +shapeless sun-hat high above his head, answering Dane's salute; and long +afterward the latter sighed each time that lonely figure rose out of the +blurred memories. + +A horrible sense of loneliness oppressed the man left behind, and there +came upon him an irrepressible desire for speech. + +"He has gone, Monday," he said, patting the naked shoulder of the big +dark-skinned alien, who looked up at him sympathetically; "but if he +lives he will certainly come back; and you and I in the meantime are +going to keep his place warm for him. You don't understand? Well, you +probably will when several hundred yelling devils come round this way at +midnight wanting to get in. Still, I don't think we'll make a bad show +between us, even then." + +The dusky man caught a glimpse of his meaning, for he grinned and nodded +when Dane continued: + +"You don't feel quite sure what I'm saying yet. I don't care, so long as +you sit up and listen patiently. I'm feeling very low and lonely this +morning, Monday." + +The listener appeared to consider, and then rose upright, saying +solemnly: + +"Cappy Maxwell, say we lib for this place, then we dam well lib. Cappy +Maxwell fine white man too much. Suppose them low bushmen come we dam +well go chop him." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE BOARDING OF THE KABUNDA + + +It was a hot and steamy night when trader Redmond sat with his comrade +Gilby in an upper room of their factory perched above a beach swept by +smoking surf, which was even heavier than usual that night. The factory +was not a desirable residence, even for West Africa, where there are not +many places where a fastidious white man would care to live; but neither +Redmond nor his comrade was particular, and so long as they could make a +good percentage on the factory's turnover, they disregarded the dirt, +smells, and insect legions. Redmond was pale and round-shouldered; Gilby +lank and tall; and their speech was usually vivid and their tempers +quick. + +Redmond strolled toward the window and swore at the surf. He had some +justification, for the whole heave of the southern ocean hurled itself +thundering upon the hammered beach. The factory windows rattled as each +breaker dissolved into long sheets of foam which surged far up the +trembling sand, while the steamy haze of spray veiled almost to its +summit the lofty bluff behind the edifice. + +"No use lighting the signal fire. There's not a surf-boat on the coast +could run a load of produce through. The _Kabunda_ can either blow her +whistle off or go on again," he said. "It's even too bad to venture off +light, and screw an odd bottle of liquor out of her purser." + +"It always is when the markets are rising and we have cargo waiting," +grumbled Gilby. "As to the liquor, you can go yourself if you want it. +I'm not over-keen on playing that game with the _Kabunda_'s new factotum +again. It takes a good deal to stir me, but that man has no sense of +humor, and was positively insulting. 'No cargo in your confounded boat?' +growls he. 'Well, the next time you stop this mailboat just because +you're thirsty, we'll heave you over the rail!'" + +Redmond chuckled dryly. The steamboat officials who ply along that coast +have a good deal to ruffle them; and it is exasperating for the master +of a steamer, attracted by flag or fire signal, to anchor off a +dangerous beach expecting several boat-loads of cargo at least, and then +discover that the shipper desires only a piece of ice or gratis liquor. + +"Better wait for the old _Luala_. She's the canteen ship. Still, we'll +sit up until we hear the _Kabunda_'s whistle. It sounds homelike," he +said. + +Gilby nodded approval, for the coast-hunting steamers were the only link +connecting the two lonely men with civilization, and there were times +when they acquired a childish fear of losing all touch with it. + +Redmond sat smoking in silence, while Gilby listlessly turned over an +old English newspaper, and huge brown cockroaches crawled up and down +the mildewed walls. + +"Hallo!" Redmond exclaimed suddenly. "There's a man with boots on +crossing the compound. Who, by all that's wonderful, can it be?" + +"The Frenchman from Swamp Creek, looking for drinks," suggested Gilby. + +"Guyot's dying of fever this time, sure, his nigger said. There's no +other white man within marching distance; but whoever it is is coming up +the stairs!" + +Projected against the darkness outside, a strange, bedraggled figure +stood in the door. The man's hair was wet and long, the half-closed eyes +beneath it glittered feverishly, and the bones of the haggard face +showed through the pallid skin. Thorn-rent rags barely decently covered +the bony limbs beneath them, and the mire of many a league of swamp +clung about him to the knees. Behind loomed the figure of a negro +leaning on a rifle. + +Moving unevenly, the stranger advanced into the room, and Redmond +positively recoiled before him. + +"Who in the name of perdition are you, and where do you come from?" he +gasped. + +The newcomer, instead of answering the question, caught at the table as +he asked another: + +"What day of the month is this, and have they changed the homeward +mailboat's time bill?" + +"The tenth, and the _Kabunda_ should pass to-night," said Gilby, staring +blankly at him. + +"Thank heaven!" was the response. "I am just in time! You ought to know +me. I am Maxwell, and have been prospecting for Niven's gold beyond the +Leopards' country." + +"Good Lord!" broke from Redmond. "Stir round, Gilby, instead of gaping +there! Fetch out some whisky, and kick up the steward boy! Can't you see +there's a white man starving? Sit down before you fall over, Mr. +Maxwell." + +Maxwell gulped down a draught of the spirit forced upon him, and sank +into the chair his host dragged forward, while there was a crash and a +howl on the veranda where Gilby fell over the sleeping steward boy. + +"He means well, but can't help having been born clumsy," said the trader +apologetically. "Lie right back there, and don't talk until you've +eaten. Oh, I see--brought a nigger with you. Tell the cook to stuff the +black man, Gilby." + +When food was set before him, Maxwell ate ravenously; then leaning +forward in his chair, he looked at his hosts. + +"I must thank you for your kindness, and ask another favor," he said. +"It is of vital consequence that I should catch the _Kabunda_ to-night. +I will pay up to twenty pounds for a passage off to her." + +The pair stared at him, and there was a sceptical smile on Gilby's lips. +It was clear that he doubted the ragged adventurer's ability to redeem +his promise. + +"It can't be done," declared Redmond. "Our surf-boat has a plank badly +split; and if she hadn't there's not a man on all this coast could run +you off to-night." + +"Nevertheless, if you will listen a few minutes, and treat what I tell +you in strict confidence, I think one of you will," said Maxwell, +determining to trust them in part. + +As he told the story, the incredulous smile faded from the faces of his +listeners. + +"You can understand the necessity for my desperate hurry now," he +concluded. "My partner is left alone, save for a handful of sickly +niggers, with the bushmen coming down, and his life may depend upon my +catching that steamer. I will leave this packet of gold dust, which I +had intended to use for traveling expenses, as the price of my passage." + +Redmond opened the leather bag tendered him, and Gilby dropped acid upon +part of its contents. Then there was silence, until Redmond spoke with a +naive directness which called up the faintest flicker of amusement into +Maxwell's eyes. + +"It is quite genuine, and we believe you. Rideau's a hard case, and we'd +stake a good deal to get even with him after a certain game he played +us; but our folks at home are so confoundedly particular, and you +wouldn't find an agent on the coast willing to speculate in mines beyond +Shaillu's country. You see, if you let us in, the auditors would set off +the sum against our salary. Steady; I haven't quite finished yet. We're +not fastidious, either of us, but we haven't come down to screwing money +out of a countryman's necessity; so we're open to do the best we can for +you. Now take back your gold, and be hanged to you!" + +"My sentiments, too!" nodded Gilby. "Redmond can talk sensibly when he +likes. It looks uncommonly like suicide, but as my place down under +can't be much worse than this one, I'm open to chance drowning with you. +I'll go out, and fill my boat boys up with trade gin now. They're +tolerably daring beggars, but they'd never face it sober." + +An hour later Maxwell and the two traders stood upon the roaring beach +amidst a crowd of black men. Steamy spray whirled about them, and veiled +half the palm-crowned bluff from whose summit a crimson flame leaped up; +and each time the white haze thinned, two lights reeled wildly through +the blackness out at sea. Between these and the beach a succession of +great rollers reared their crests of phosphorescent flame, and the hoot +of the steamer's whistle was but faintly audible through the roar they +made. A picked crew of brawny negroes chattered about the big surf-boat +they held upright on rollers just clear of the surges which raced up the +sand. + +"It does not look nice. In fact, I've seldom seen it worse, but we'll +take our chances when those big ones have run in," said Gilby. "Get into +the boat Maxwell, and take care when the rest of us follow in a hurry +that we don't fall over you. Hyah you Krooboy, all be fit and ready!" + +Huge breakers usually run in series, and when the last of the larger +ones had crumbled with a thunderous roar, burying the half-mile sweep of +sand in foam from end to end, there was a heaving of muscular shoulders, +and clamorous black men floundered waist-deep through the backwash +dragging at the boat. She was large and heavy, but thirty pairs of +strong hands made light work, and when a dozen amphibious Kroos had +swung themselves on board the rest toiled almost shoulder-deep in +hissing froth while the sand streamed seaward under them. The craft's +stern alone stuck fast, and Redmond shouted himself breathless as he +braced his shoulders beneath her quarter, knowing that unless they could +drive her clear boat and crew would be rolled over together when the +next sea came in. + +"Shove, you black imps, shove before them sharks go chop you!" he cried. + +They made a last effort, the boat slid clear. Twelve three-tongued +paddles smote the water together, and Redmond watched the craft rise +almost upright with bows buried in froth and seafire as another +majestic breaker came rolling in. Then he turned and raced shoreward for +his life, with an acre of foam close behind him. When he halted again +the surf-boat had vanished into the hollow of the sea, but the howling +of those who paddled her, and the helmsman's sulphurous encouragement, +rising above the roar of waters, betokened her safety. + +"Gilby's no fool in a surf-boat, anyway," he mused, as he went back +dripping to the factory. + +Another hour had passed when the boat was flung upon the beach with a +crash which rent her damaged plank from end to end; and the soaked white +man who sprang out of her hurried to the factory with his proud display +of two bottles of claret, and one, partly-empty, of liqueur, besides a +piece of ice in flannel, and a cigar box. + +"The time was too short, or I might have done better," he explained. +"Had only a few minutes to tax the skipper and mates in, while the old +man wasn't over-pleased about stopping for one passenger. Boat was +half-full when we got alongside, and Maxwell too weak to climb the +ladder. They hove him on board with the crane, wrong side uppermost, and +half-dazed apparently. The boat was plunging wildly, and Sorrowful Tom +too drunk to fix the sling. Taking things all around, it's a mercy we +didn't drown him." + +"You're a good man in a boat," Redmond conceded. "Still, you have very +little sense. Fancy making a run of that kind and coming ashore +with--claret!" + + * * * * * + +While Dane and Maxwell fought the plague in Africa, Lilian Chatterton +and the young clergyman in charge of that parish walked side by side +down the street of a village in North Britain one afternoon. The village +was neither picturesque nor prosperous just then, for there was a +scarcity of work at the quarries, and for weeks together hard frost had +rendered all stone-cutting impossible. A bitter wind sighed about the +low stone houses which rose dripping in unlovely simplicity from the +muddy street, while an air of stolid, uncomplaining poverty was stamped +upon the faces of the men who lounged idly where they could find a +shelter in the lee of a building. Miss Chatterton had not enjoyed good +health that winter, and the surroundings depressed her. Neither did she +find the vista of bleak hillside, snow-streaked moor, and lowering sky +much more cheerful, and she was glad when her companion broke the +silence. + +"It is not exhilarating weather, and this has been a hard winter for the +poor," he said. "Unfortunately, we have had rather more of them than +usual with us of late, and the sick would have suffered considerably if +it had not been for your kindness." + +"I have done little," Lilian replied; "but they are somewhat hard to +help." + +The Reverend Andrew Rae laughed. + +"That is the simple truth. We are not an effusive race, and it sometimes +hurts us to receive a favor. Still, though they would rather perish than +express it, I fancy most of them would on opportunity prove their +gratitude. I have been wondering if the worthy Robert Johnstone's +opinions have been too much for you, having noticed that his house, or +rather, his son's house, is the only one in the village you have not +entered. It surprised me, since his daughter used to sew for you, and +has been ailing lately." + +"It is some time since Mary Johnstone did any work for me," said Lilian, +and the clergyman wondered at the coldness of her tone. + +"She is a very hard-working girl, and as she has been lying helpless for +several weeks, would it not appear unkind if you made her the one +exception? I want you to come in with me now." + +Drawing the girl's arm lightly through his own, he marched her up to the +doorway before she quite grasped his intentions, and halted in front of +the man who lounged there regarding them with undisguised hostility. He +was not an attractive person, and did not look like an abstainer from +alcoholic liquor, but just then he was evidently in the more aggressive +humor because, for the time being, he was wholly sober. + +"We are coming in for a few minutes to see your daughter," announced +Rae. + +The man did not move an inch, and his person barred the entrance. + +"Will ye no wait until ye are invitit?" he inquired sardonically. +"Still, if there is anything good in yon basket ye can leave it with +me." + +A grimy hand descended into the basket Rae carried and reappeared +clutching the neck of a bottle, while a derisive grin suffused the +speaker's unwashed countenance. + +"I'm thinking I'll just keep it with thanks. It's whiles more comforting +than tracts." + +The Reverend Andrew Rae had perhaps studied more than theology at a +certain university, for there was a twinkle in his eyes as he laid one +hand on Johnstone's wrist. + +"Not so fast!" he said. "That is Miss Chatterton's property, and I did +not hear you ask her permission." + +He used no apparent violence, but his fingers tightened steadily, and +Johnstone gasped with astonishment as he relinquished his hold upon the +bottle. + +"Am I to be insulted in my own house?" he cried. "Away with ye! A free +man's dwelling is his castle." + +"Havers!" exclaimed a voice behind them; and a neatly dressed young man +joined the group. "If it's anybody's castle it's the man's who pays the +rent, and that's more than Rab Johnstone has done for long, I'm +thinking. If ye an' Miss Chatterton are for stepping in to see Mary we'd +take it kindly, sir." + +Johnstone senior slouched away down the street, frowning scornfully. + +"I am glad to see you have prospered since you took to honest ways, +Jim," Rae said. + +"It's small thanks to any one but Mr. Dane. He was no too particular to +help a poor man, ye see." + +"Was that it?" asked Rae, a trifle awkwardly. "You are surely not +turning back, Miss Chatterton!" + +Lilian was certainly about to retreat; but being a young woman of +spirit, she determined to make the best of it when the man, opening +another door, announced: + +"Miss Chatterton an' the minister to see ye, Mary." + +She entered the poorly furnished room the next moment, but saw nothing +of its interior, for her eyes were fixed upon the sick girl, who lay on +a dilapidated sofa. Rae noticed the contrast between his companion and +the seamstress. Miss Chatterton was a very dainty figure in costly furs, +and the slight trace of haughtiness became her. The seamstress was pale, +and hollow in face, with the sign of poverty stamped upon her, for the +faded shawl about her shoulders and the little ragged garment told the +same story. + +Rae soon became conscious that there was a latent hostility between the +women, and he felt it incumbent on him to break the silence. + +"I am glad to see you better," he said; "but you should not work too +soon. You must lie still and recover completely, because there are a +number of customers waiting for you. Mrs. Gordon told me she was keeping +quite a large order back until you were fit to undertake it." + +Lilian had been present when, by dint of dogged persistence, the +reverend gentleman had secured a reluctant promise to employ his +protégée, and she wondered whether all his sex, without exception, could +be deluded by a pretty face. She was forced to admit that men of +uncultivated taste might consider Miss Johnstone pretty. + +"Poor folk cannot afford to be idle long, an' my wee sisters cannot go +ragged," replied the sick girl. "Still, I'm no complaining. Jim has +helped me bravely, and we're winning through a hard winter well, thanks +to the gentleman who befriended him." + +Rae observed that the speaker flashed a glance at Miss Chatterton, whose +face remained icily indifferent. Feeling that the situation was becoming +strained, he turned toward the boy. + +"Being away at the time, I never quite got to the bottom of what +preceded your acquittal. Do you mind telling me, Jim?" + +"It's no great secret, an' all to the credit of the man who helped me. +Weel, I was locked up, charged with poaching and wounding." + +"Innocently, I hope," said Rae; and there was a trace of Caledonian +dryness in Johnstone's reply. + +"Ye will mind the saying about speiring no questions and being telt less +lies. Meanwhile two or three others consultit with Lawyer Davidson, and +he said conviction would be certain if Mr. Dane could swear to me. +Otherwise, he suspectit I would go free. Then Mary would see Mr. Dane +for the sake of the bairns. I was sore against it, but they had me +jailed, an' what could I do? Well, she wrote asking him to meet her by +the Hallows Brig, and Mr. Dane e'en promised to do his best for me, an' +tell nobody. May be he could no be quite certain. Ye will mind there was +no moon just then, and the night was thick, Mr. Rae." + +"I have heard that no man is expected to testify against himself," said +the reverend gentleman dryly. + +"That's what Davidson telt the fiscal," continued Johnstone, with a +laugh. "Says he, 'It's the business o' your witnesses to convict him'; +an' I'm no denying that they did their best, all but Mr. Dane. He just +stuck to his story--it was dark, an' while the man he grappled with was +like to me, he could swear to nobody who had just kicked him hard upon +the knee." + +Johnstone added further details, and then looked hard at the clergyman, +as though expecting him to take up the challenge when he concluded, "May +be there are folks who lightly Mr. Dane for what he done, but it was him +an' no other who made an honest man of me, forby a promotit foreman home +on a holiday." + +"I am not a lawyer," said Rae. "It is therefore not my business to judge +him; and you need not stare at me. I already believed Mr. Dane to be a +kindly gentleman. I am also open to admit that he did more than either +I or my predecessor could accomplish. We are not, however, all friends +of big contractors, you see." + +Johnstone grinned in answer to the last thrust, while Lilian felt +thankful that she sat in a shadowy corner, for the simple story which +bore the truth stamped upon the face of it, had stirred her strangely. +The action narrated was characteristic of the man who was risking his +life in Africa. She knew that he was very generous, and could be loyal +to a pledge, even to his disadvantage. It was equally evident that the +young workman with his unconcealed dislike to his benefactor's class +would be very unlikely to shut his eyes to any intrigue between Dane and +his sister. Yet, though Lilian was angry with herself for the thought, +it was possible that the brother might have been deceived, and she felt +that she must learn the truth. The seamstress said nothing, and it +dawned upon Rae that his presence was superfluous; so, making the first +excuse available, he took his departure, and Johnstone with him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ILLUMINATION + + +When the two men went out Miss Chatterton discovered that she had +undertaken a very difficult task. The seamstress lay still looking at +her, evidently expectant, but saying nothing. She, it appeared, felt +herself mistress of the position. Lilian felt that the silence was +growing painful, and determined to attack the subject boldly. + +"Mr. Dane has clearly been a good friend to your brother, but may I ask +whether that evening at the Hallows Bridge was the only time you spoke +to him?" + +A flush crept into the sick girl's cheeks, and a hardness into her eyes. + +"I was expecting ye would ask me. What would ye say if I did not +answer?" + +"Probably nothing," returned Lilian, quietly. "Mr. Dane is, as we know, +somewhat impulsive, as well as generous. Why do you tell me that you +expected such a question?" + +Mary Johnstone painfully raised herself on one elbow. + +"Ye are a grand lady, but hard, I think, as some folk would call ye +bonny. I am a poor sewing woman with the need to strive hard, an' +always, to keep hunger from the door--but in the hearts of us there is +no that difference between you an' me. No--bide ye and listen." + +Lilian had risen, but she sat down again. Something in the girl's voice +and manner compelled her attention, for the seamstress spoke as equal +to equal on the basis of their common humanity. + +"I owe ye little, Miss Chatterton. What ye paid, I earned, an' some of +it hardly, but when ye bade me come no more to The Larches, with no +other word, there was many an ill tongue to cast dirt at me, forby lying +tales that ye found things of value missing." + +"I never suspected that would happen," said Lilian, a little uneasily. + +"How should ye?" continued the seamstress. "But ye could not blame the +slanderers, being quick yourself to think evil. May be ye did not know, +either, that my good name means work and bread to more than me? So, if +there was no other person interested, I would ask--how dare ye, thinking +what ye think, come here and ask me that question?" + +Lilian was contrite, realizing the harm she had unwittingly done, and +recognizing the genuine ring of injured innocence in the speaker's +voice. She was also slightly angry, as well as astonished, but she was +sufficiently just to see that it would not become her to manifest +displeasure. + +"I did wrong, but how do you know what I thought, or if I thought +anything at all?" she asked. "You have also avoided the question instead +of answering me." + +"What did I tell ye at the beginning?" said the sick girl with a curious +smile. "Being poor, am I less a woman? Well, and not for your sake only, +ye shall have the answer that should pleasure ye. That night at Hallows +Brig was the one time only Mr. Dane had word with me. Are ye believing +me?" + +Lilian failed to understand why she should feel so relieved by the +information, but she certainly did. She also felt humbled; and as it +was not her way to do anything by half, she made reparation with a +queenly simplicity. Stooping over the sick girl, she kissed her on the +cheek. + +"After that you cannot refuse to forgive me, and must come back and help +me as soon as you are fit," she said. "But I do not understand yet what +you meant when you said it was not for my sake only." + +The sick girl at first only regarded her with a smile, but it sufficed +to show Lilian that peace was made. + +"If ye cannot guess, I fear I cannot tell ye," she said. "I have eyes +and the sense to see, but it would be presumption for me to tell ye all +they showed me. Still, ye and Mr. Maxwell were not the only persons I +saw that night at the Hallows Brig." + +Lilian asked no further questions, but when she left there was a +brightness in her eyes which had not been there before. + +"Mary Johnstone has clearly bewitched you," the clergyman remarked. +"Your very step is lighter than it was an hour ago, and you are looking +better than you have done all winter. Would it be indiscreet to ask what +spell she cast upon you?" + +"I am afraid it would," Lilian answered, while a softness crept into her +face. She laughed, and henceforward chatted so brightly that when she +left him her companion looked after her longingly, and then sighed as he +turned back to his bachelor quarters. They struck him as very cheerless +and lonely. + +A week had passed when Miss Chatterton, sitting alone, listlessly took +up a newspaper a maid brought in. The listlessness vanished, however, +when a heading, "Further Fighting in the Dark Continent," caught her +eye, and she eagerly hurried through an account of the reverses suffered +by a British punitive expedition in West Africa. Then, while her heart +beat fast, she sat very still, staring at the concluding paragraph: + + A French trader brought news to the coast of another + unfortunate affair in the hinterland. It appears that + two Englishmen, Dane and Maxwell, who left the coast + months earlier, on a prospecting expedition, lost + their carriers by sickness, and have since been hemmed + in by hostile natives in a perilous position. Our + correspondent states that the French authorities, who + warned them against the expedition, consider their + extrication impossible, and believe they must have + perished already. + +Lilian let the paper fall from her nerveless hands, and lay motionless, +shivering in her chair. The shock of a supposed discovery, and a +jealousy she would not own, had played their part in forcing on her +attention a question she had resolutely striven to ignore, while now, +when it was perhaps too late forever, the answer was clear. She could +deceive herself no longer; and she guessed why the man had risked his +life to win a little gold in Africa. Risked it--at the thought her eyes +grew hazy. It might well be that he had flung his life away! Yet, even +then, it was with a passing thrill of pride that she remembered the +stubbornness beneath his patience, and knew that it would go very hard +with his enemies before he went down. + +Hilton Dane had changed swiftly in her estimation from a man with a +weakness to a hero, generous, loyal, swift to do her pleasure, and yet +fitted to command. It seemed to her overstrained fancy that she could +almost hear his voice ringing through the blast of the rifles in the +last struggle; and that it would be a very grim and terrible struggle +she knew. Then she shuddered once more, recollecting what she had read +of the scenes within an African stockade when the rifles lay cold in the +undergrowth, and the smoke of the flintlocks had melted away. + +The sense of constraint inside grew unbearable, and the girl went forth +into the night, and stood bareheaded, staring into the darkness, hoping, +though almost afraid to hope, that the man she had sent away had not +passed forever beyond her power to recall him. + +Chatterton and his wife, returning presently, found her waiting in the +hall; and the iron-master's action was characteristic when he had +glanced at the paper she handed him. Wrenching out his notebook he wrote +on the first blank leaf the address of a firm dealing in palm oil in +Liverpool, and then a message beneath it: + +"_See newspaper report of disaster to West Coast explorers, Dane and +Maxwell. Wire your agents to find out how much is true, and all possible +details. Spare no expense whatever._" + +He flung the paper to the groom outside. + +"Get that telegram sent off before the post-office closes, if you kill +the horse!" he said. + +There was a rattle of wheels, and Chatterton laughed a grim laugh as he +turned toward the women. + +"No great cause for anxiety as yet. I know Hilton Dane better than +either of you, and I think I know Maxwell too. It would take several +legions of niggers to hem them in--and I should be sorry for many of the +black men." + +A few days later, Thomas Chatterton sat beside his hearth one evening in +an unpleasant frame of mind. The weather might have caused a more even +tempered person some discontent, because the windows rattled under the +impact of the sleet-laden blast, and the snugly curtained room was swept +by chilling draughts. But Chatterton was not considering the weather; he +glanced at the clock before he turned toward the owner of Culmeny. + +"That lazy rascal is stopping somewhere to gossip on the way," he said. + +"The telegraph office is closed now, and he must be here shortly," +replied Maxwell. "I was sorry to hear that Miss Chatterton was no +better. Have you any more favorable news to give me?" + +"No. She is rather worse than better, and we are distinctly uneasy about +her to-night," he said. "Dr. Gilmour was here an hour ago, looking +rather more owl-like than usual, but I could get no opinion out of him. +In fact, the man puzzled me. He appeared dazed, and either would not +listen to my questions or was incapable of understanding plain English." + +"Dazed? You do not as a rule speak ambiguously. If Miss Chatterton is +seriously ill I think it is my duty to tell you what you evidently do +not know, though it is no secret. Gilmour is not free from a weakness +for alcohol." + +Chatterton was a man of action; making no comment, he wrenched upon the +rope of the bell before he pulled out his watch. + +"Send Robertson here at once!" he ordered; and when his groom appeared, +he asked: + +"Is it possible to ride a horse to Swiftsbridge across the Langside moss +and through the ford in time to bring out the doctor by the last +train?" + +"No, sir," was the answer. "The moor track's under water, the ford just +roaring full, and I'm thinking that to swim the Swift to-night is +impossible." + +"I think he is right," Maxwell said; "though I fancy I could have done +it twenty years ago." + +"Then you can drive!" Chatterton said harshly to the groom. "It's a +little over forty miles there and back by road. Get a fresh horse at the +bridge; but if you value your place don't come back without the doctor!" + +Chatterton walked to the window and flung the curtains behind him; then +he returned with brows contracted farther. + +"The moor is white all over, and the air thick with sleet," he said. "It +will take that fellow all his time to bring the doctor here by +to-morrow." + +A maid, appearing, laid a telegraphic envelope on the table, and +Chatterton tore it open. + +"At last! I always thought the man was incapable. Listen to this! + +"_Difficult to communicate by ocean cable except at heavy cost, but +surmise from message received that our coast agent credits published +account. His cable just received reads, as deciphered by our code: Yes. +Consider prospects discouraging. Do not look for improvement. Think we +could confirm._" + +Chatterton whipped out a pencil and, scribbling across the foot of the +message, handed it to Maxwell. + +"Can you send somebody down to the office with that?" he said. "It can't +go until to-morrow. I want to keep my other man ready." + +"Yes," agreed Maxwell. "There are regulations, Chatterton, which will +bar out your opening sentence, _Damn your private code._ The rest is, I +think, plain enough. _Get news whatever it costs. Wire your agent in +English if he has sense enough to understand it. Believe I am quite able +to meet the bill._" + +"That man," explained Chatterton, "is, I blush to say, a relative of my +own, and given to complaining that times are bad. It surprises me that +he does not find them ruinous, if this is a sample of his enterprise. +I'm almost as much cut up as you are about this affair; and I'm sorry +for you, Maxwell." + +"Thanks," returned the master of Culmeny, quietly. "He was the only son +left me, and I have a presentiment of what the end will be. It is, +however, in the hands of the Almighty; but, if the worst comes, I know +that neither of them will forget what is due to the land that bred him." + +Chatterton coughed huskily. + +"You are morbid, Culmeny. If they can only steer clear of treachery, by +the Lord, those two lads will cut their way out in spite of all the +savages in Africa. I know the one whose father was my partner, and I +know your son. If my own brother told me he had seen them beaten, I +would not believe him." + +Maxwell left, and in a few minutes Mrs. Chatterton came in to say that +Lilian was growing delirious. As they spoke together the iron-master +heard a voice in the hall. + +"It is that confounded Rae," he observed. "It was he who encouraged Lily +to go poking into the houses of poor folks who didn't want her, all +winter. I consider him responsible for her illness, and feel quite +capable of telling him so." + +The clergyman was ushered in, and he had barely stated the purport of +his visit when the elder man cut him short. + +"No. Miss Chatterton will neither sing at your concert, nor distribute +any more coal tickets to encourage professional loafers!" he said. "In +fact she is seriously ill. If you had not been enjoying yourself in +Edinburgh you would have known it. You are sorry! Well, I really cannot +help saying that I think you ought to be. Miss Chatterton has not been +strong all winter, and was warned against damp and exposure; but you +managed to convince her it was her duty to wander up and down the +village, pestering the sick folk, in spite of the rain and snow. Women +have not the sense to discriminate between what is necessary and +sentimental foolishness, you know." + +Rae, who was not readily browbeaten, interrupted the speaker, and though +he expressed no contrition, he showed such genuine anxiety concerning +Miss Chatterton's health that her uncle was surprised, as well as +mollified. It is possible that the clergyman showed his fears too +plainly. + +"Perhaps you could not help it, being possibly afflicted with the crazy +notion that to destroy one's bodily health is good for the soul," he +said. "It is one of the few things which always excites my indignation." + +Rae, who knew that the things which roused the speaker's ire were +numerous, smiled a little. "I certainly have never preached that +doctrine." + +"You must forgive me if I appear abrupt," Chatterton apologized. "The +fact is that when I'm anxious my temper is not so good as it generally +is, and I am very anxious about my niece to-night. When Gilmour came +round, the infernal--yes, that's the adjective I meant--old scoundrel +wasn't even sober. And you remember Dane? Well, he is hemmed in by +hostile savages somewhere in Africa, and we can learn no news of him. My +niece and he were very good friends, and when she grows light-headed she +begs us to tell her what has happened to him. It is distressing because, +of course, we cannot do so." + +Rae winced visibly at the last few sentences, and found a corroboration +of them in the recollection of the change in Miss Chatterton after +hearing Johnstone's story. Still, he pulled out his watch. + +"There is a clever doctor at Swiftsbridge." + +"I believe so," said Chatterton, impatiently. "There are also a number +in London and a few in New York, I've heard. I sent over for the +Swiftsbridge man some time ago; but considering the snow and bad roads, +I don't expect him before to-morrow--and to-morrow may be too late." + +"It is scarcely twelve miles across the moor and moss," said Rae. +"There's a train this way in two hours' time. If you could lend me a +horse----" + +"My man, who ought to know, declares that nobody could get through the +ford to-night. I'm obliged to you, Rae, but what you suggest is out of +the question. The one horse now in my stable has the fiend's own temper, +and I cannot allow you, who cannot have had much experience in the +saddle, to run risks that were too heavy for a very capable horseman." + +"I used to ride a little, and haven't quite forgotten. If, as you +suggest, I am responsible for Miss Chatterton's illness, I must make the +only reparation possible. In fact, I intend to do so; and unless you +will mount me I will borrow a horse at Culmeny. I will not, however +promise to spare the beast." + +"You can drown him if you bring the doctor through by the last train!" +said Chatterton, ringing the bell. "The horse will be ready inside ten +minutes; and I'm greatly obliged to you." + +The time had not elapsed when Rae walked quietly toward the mettlesome +beast, which, resenting the change from its warm stable into the +stinging sleet, laid its ears back, and when Chatterton approached it +bared its teeth. + +"Stand clear of his head!" cautioned Rae, swinging himself to the +saddle; and the horse, rearing half upright, sent the gravel flying. +"No. Leave the gate shut! I'm going the nearest way." + +"I shall not forget this kindness," called Chatterton. "Feel I ought to +stop you, but dare not do it. Take care of yourself--and God bless you!" + +"I hope He will prosper my journey," the younger man answered gravely. + +There was a further scattering of gravel, a pounding of hoofs across a +strip of lawn, and a crash of brittle branches as horse and rider +smashed through a tall hedge into the sleet which whirled across the +meadow beyond it. + +Chatterton, shaking the white flakes from him, returned to his wife. + +"I suppose you saw what has happened," he said. "There's another of them +in the running now, and this one has mettle in him if he is a clergyman. +He's going through Langside moss to-night, though I gave him the +plainest hint I could that in respect to Lilian his chance is of the +smallest. Maxwell, it seems, took his dismissal gracefully; but what +Rae has done to-night will count heavily on his side. Why must that +idiot Hilton go out and get himself cut off by niggers in Africa?" + +Thanks to Rae's daring ride, a skilful doctor arrived at the junction by +the last train, and remained at The Larches all the next day. He also +made a number of other visits before he stated that his patient was +making rapid progress on the way to recovery. + +"You had, however, better take her south, say Egypt or the Canaries, to +escape our genial spring," he said. "Not necessary, but distinctly +advisable. Miss Chatterton might sail almost at any time." + +"We will choose Teneriffe, and start at once," Chatterton informed his +wife. "It is well on the mail route to West Africa, and I'm growing +anxious about Hilton." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +IN NEED OF HELP + + +Mrs. Chatterton had no objections to Teneriffe, and so it came about +that one evening she and her niece, who had almost recovered her usual +health, sat upon a hotel balcony in Santa Cruz, looking down upon the +quaint Spanish city. It had lain basking under fierce sunlight all day, +but now the cool shadow of the giant Cañadas rested upon it, and its +olive-faced inhabitants came forth to breathe the freshness from the +Atlantic. Garrison officers and somberly clad merchants with their wives +and daughters, strolled up and down the plaza beneath the balcony, while +laughter and merry voices throbbed through the strains of an artillery +band. Near by, the Atlantic swell pulsed whitely on the lava reefs, and +high above the great black cordillera heaved aloft its jagged pinnacles +against the sunset fires. + +Lilian Chatterton, however, saw little of all this. She was looking out +across the shimmering Atlantic toward the blue peaks of Grand Canary, +beyond which stretched the coast of Africa. A little black-funneled +steamer was creeping across the sea-plain between. + +"That must be the African boat. The flag is going up above the agent's +offices," she said. "She may bring us news. It is a pity that my uncle +is away. He seems distressed about the uncertainty concerning Hilton." + +Perhaps Lilian's tone was less indifferent than she wished, for Mrs. +Chatterton watched her keenly before she answered. + +"It is hardly surprising. Your uncle is a just man, and never forgets a +benefit. As you must have heard, it was an invention of Hilton's father +which first started them, when both were struggling men, on the way to +success; but Dane died, and the widow, who was never cordial toward my +husband, drew her share out of the business against his advice. She died +comparatively poor when Hilton was young, while your uncle, who still +considers he owes his dead partner a moral debt, tried several means of +discharging it by benefiting his son. Hilton, of whom I am very fond, is +not, however, a person one can readily confer favors upon." + +"No," said Lilian, with a trace of coldness in her tone. "You never told +me quite so much before. My uncle is not always quite judicious in the +way he sets about accomplishing his benevolent intentions. But the boat +will soon be in." + +Mrs. Chatterton smiled a little. + +"He will certainly blame us if we allow any opportunity for obtaining +news to escape, and I must find somebody to take a note off to the +purser. You are tired, Lily, and had better remain here while I go +across to the agent's offices." + +Lilian sat leaning back in a basket chair, shrouded from observation by +two tall aloe plants, with her face still turned toward the cost of +Africa. The silver shimmer faded from off the sea, the fires of sunset +died out behind the cordillera, but Mrs. Chatterton did not return, and +her niece waited with hands crossed idly in her lap. It was now some +time since the steamer's anchor had rattled down. Presently, because the +long windows behind her were open, she started at a voice in the +adjoining room. It seemed the voice of one risen from the dead. + +"It is impossible!" she thought. + +"I have no baggage," the voice rose again. "Going on with the +Southampton boat, due to-morrow. Send across to the offices and book a +berth for me." + +Lilian, rising, stood in the open window, and the speaker stared at her +in astonishment. + +"I could hardly believe my eyes, Mr. Maxwell," she exclaimed. + +Maxwell strode out into the balcony, but his surprise, which vanished +quickly, was surpassed by the girl's. His face was worn and hollow, and +in the failing light he looked strangely frail. A great sense of pity +came upon her. + +"You are ill, and I must not keep you standing! Please sit down, because +there is so much I--we all--wish to know," she said, striving to +suppress her eagerness. + +"I have been in the African forest," Maxwell replied simply, as though +that were sufficient explanation. "Thank you, but I would rather lean +against the railing here." + +As he spoke, he drew out the basket chair, and bent his head with a +gesture of invitation, while the girl, noticing the languidness of his +movements, showed her compassion in her eyes. Maxwell saw the pity, and +smiled wistfully; then as Lilian's gaze met his own, she glanced aside a +moment with a sudden trace of color. She remembered their last meeting, +and there was an awkward silence which Maxwell broke. + +"We can at least return to our former status as good friends, can we +not?" he said. "I see you are anxious for my news, and it may be a +painful story; but first I must ask you a question. What fortunate +accident brought you here?" + +"I was unwell and ordered south to escape the spring." Seeing the +anxiety in the man's face, Lilian added quickly, "I have recovered now. +My aunt will be here in a few minutes, but Mr. Chatterton has gone +across the island. An Englishman he met invested some money in a +sugar-mill the Spaniards are reconstructing, and he could not resist the +temptation of joining him. My uncle has a weakness for showing other +people how to manage machinery. It is your turn now, but first, where is +your partner?" + +In spite of Lilian's intention the last question was put with a +sharpness which surprised the listener. + +"He is alive and well, I hope," he answered gravely. "My story will be +longer, but I will try to tell it to you clearly." + +The waltz the band played in the plaza below formed a curious +accompaniment to such a tale. After the first few sentences neither of +them, however, heard the music, and Lilian leaned forward with the color +changing in her intent face as she listened. Maxwell suppressed the most +gruesome details, but the narrative would have been startling to any one +of the girl's upbringing. The thunder of the sunset gun brought it to an +abrupt conclusion, and as the long reverberations rolled among the +hills, Lilian rose suddenly and turned upon the speaker. There was +scorn, as well as horror, in her eyes. + +"And you left him in that pestilence-stricken camp to be murdered by the +tribesmen--you coward!" + +They were equally off their guard, and, for there are occasions when +human nature mocks at all conventional restraint, both had dropped the +mask. When once before they spoke openly it was Maxwell who had laid +bare his heart, and now, though he made a valiant effort, he could not +conceal his astonishment. + +"And I never guessed," he said under his breath. + +So for a few seconds they stood, with inmost thoughts laid open, face to +face. Maxwell, having revealed the less, first recovered himself. + +"I am afraid I have told my story badly, Miss Chatterton," he said. "You +see there was gold enough to excite most men's cupidity lying within our +sight, and that was why we drew lots to determine which should go out +and seek help to secure it. Dane was, for a reason he did not mention, +not only willing, but anxious, to stake his life on the chance of +turning that gold into currency, and the lot fell to me. Being unable to +raise the necessary funds by cable, I am now on my way to England, to +sell my last possessions and pledge whatever in the future may be mine. +Then, if I have to go alone, I am going back into the Leopards' country +to bring my comrade help." + +It is possible that few men under the circumstances would have framed +their answer as Maxwell did; but he was in all things loyal, as his +listener recognized. She was once more mistress of herself, but she did +not look at the man as she answered him. + +"You must forgive me. What you had to tell must have dissipated my poor +senses. It is even more startling than anything I had imagined," she +said. + +"I can hardly forgive myself for telling it so badly," Maxwell answered +gravely. "You had already, I gather, received some news that we were +not exactly prospering. How did it reach you?" + +Lilian mentioned the newspaper paragraph, and Maxwell's face grew dark. + +"It was evidently the work of our enemy, and done to divert suspicion +from himself in case the tribesmen overwhelmed us, as he hoped. It is +another reason for haste, and if you will excuse me I will go on to the +steamship office to make sure of my berth." + +An inspiration dawned upon Lilian. + +"I want you to promise that you will not sail without seeing me again," +she said quickly. + +"It is a conditional promise. While I would do anything to please you, +Miss Chatterton, so much depends on my speed that whatever happens I +must catch the steamer. She will land me in England three days before +the West Coast boat, and is expected early to-morrow." + +He moved away, and Lilian was left alone, plunged in a whirl of +thoughts, with her eyes still turned toward Africa. But as she sat there +one purpose grew into definite shape, and at last she rose sharply, and +set out in search of Mrs. Chatterton, with determination stamped upon +her face. Lilian was shrewd; she saw that Maxwell might well arrive too +late unless she could hasten the starting of the relief expedition. She +found Mrs. Chatterton presently in the bustling plaza, and the elder +lady turned aside from her English companions after a glance at her +niece. The girl came straight toward her with swift, resolute steps. + +"Mr. Maxwell was on board the steamer," she said, with a calmness that +puzzled her aunt. "He has told me all about the expedition, and left +Hilton in deadly peril. Money is needed to extricate him, and Maxwell +is going home to-morrow to obtain it; but I think my uncle would find it +hard to forgive us if we did not let him know immediately. No--we have +no time to waste with these people now. Turn back with me." + +The girl passed the friends who advanced to greet her as though she did +not see them, and by the time they reached the door of the hotel Mrs. +Chatterton realized the need for haste. + +"My husband must certainly know at once, but it is twenty odd miles to +Oratava alone, and several more from there to the sugar-mill," she said. +"The telegraph office is closed, and you say the mailboat should sail +early to-morrow. It is very unfortunate, but what can we do?" + +"There is only one thing possible," declared Lilian. "No one could trust +a Canario with so urgent a message. We must start at once ourselves. We +need not go all the way round by Oratava. There is a bridle-path across +the hills." + +"But you are hardly strong enough for such a journey, and we might not +get a carriage to take us there to-night." + +"The carriage is entering the plaza now," said Lilian. "Can you not see +that if Mr. Maxwell goes to England he may be too late." + +Mrs. Chatterton looked hard at her niece. Lilian's face was very +resolute, but she bore the scrutiny calmly, and the elder lady was not +wholly astonished. + +"I will be ready in five minutes," she said, and Lilian, moved by some +impulse, kissed her swiftly. + +The five minutes had hardly expired when, with the Canario driver +shouting in warning, a two-horse carriage rolled out of the plaza, and +went rattling up the narrow street. Accustomed as they were to the +eccentricities of British visitors, the sleepy citizens stared at its +occupants, when, with unusual agility, they had leaped out of its way, +for the driver stood upright, lashing his horses until they broke into a +headlong gallop, and the crazy vehicle lurched and bounced over the +uneven stones. + +Night had closed in now, and a vault of velvety indigo spangled with +many stars, hung over the long rows of sun-baked walls, which rolled +away behind. A full moon rose slowly over the Atlantic. In front wastes +of scoriæ, maize fields, vineyards, rolled upward, ridge beyond ridge, +toward the Titanic wall of lava, nine thousand feet above; but the +climbing road was broad and good, and, if the string-patched harness +held, they might bring Thomas Chatterton news in time. + +Lilian retained but a blurred impression of that part of the journey. +They swept past climbing mule teams, and, sometimes on two wheels only, +swung round many curves. Blinding clouds of dust rolled up, and, driven +forward by the breeze from the Atlantic, whirled about them. There were +odd gleams of light, and a howling of dogs, as white-walled dwellings +swept by, then only the clang of iron on lava, and creaking of the +vehicle to break the silence of the desolate hillside, until the driver +howled again as they clattered into old-world Laguna, just sinking into +early sleep. The carriage lurched over the cobbles, sparks blazed up, +white walls and glimmering lattices raced by, and Lilian glanced at her +watch as, while the lathered team swung into swifter stride upon the +level, Laguna receded into the night. Branches of eucalyptus met above, +the road was checkered with shadow, but it was straight and good, and +the driver evidently meant to win the guerdon promised him. + +It was cool on the higher levels. The fresh night wind stirred the +passengers' blood, and while the stinging whip-cuts roused the horses to +further effort, the eucalyptus gave place to sugar-cane, vineyards, +cork-trees, and, looming black in the moonlight on the bare hill +shoulders, gnarled pines. + +"We have lost no time so far," said Lilian, bending her head over the +moonlit dial of her tiny watch, and almost resenting the attention when +her aunt drew the wrappings closer about her. "Still, it is passing +fast." + +The driver was certainly doing his utmost. He stood upright, for the +most part, shouting as he lashed his horses, for the Castilian is not as +a rule merciful to his beasts, and as the road had been lately mended in +places with broken lava the carriage jolted painfully. Lilian, making no +comment, only held fast the tighter, but once her aunt screamed, and it +was fortunate that, startled by her cry, the man checked his horses. +There was a steep grade before them, and when the beasts broke into a +walk he stopped them altogether, and leaped down from his perch. He +glanced at one of the wheels, then cast his hat into the road and kicked +it several times, shook his fist at the surrounding country, and for +nearly a minute poured forth a torrent of sonorous Castilian. It was +well that neither of the listeners wholly understood him. + +"What is the matter, and what can he be saying?" asked Mrs. Chatterton, +almost appalled by the man's vehemence; and Lilian answered with a +shudder. + +"I am not quite certain, but I fancy that a wheel is coming off." + +"_Lo creo_," interjected the Canario. "_Mal rayo!_ I spik good Ynglez. +This jimcraky wheel, which is made of a lost carpenter, she is come +right off." + +Putting his shoulder against the vehicle he hurled the wheel down +crashing upon the lava, and then flung one arm aloft, with a tragic +gesture. + +"Stop him at once, Lily!" begged Mrs. Chatterton. "The wretched man is +beginning again, and his language positively frightens me!" + +"You mustn't!" said Lilian severely, as the Canario's tongue, which had +apparently been dipped in brimstone unloosed itself again. "Stop +immediately! Instead of all that nonsense, try to think of what you can +do!" + +"I do nothing. No man do nothing. On three wheel this coche she is not +can go." The driver's gesture expressed despair. "We stop here for all +night, _puede ser_ all to-morrow. We stop a here forever." + +"That is absurd," said Lilian sharply. "Is there no blacksmith at +Laguna? Blacksmiths--_hombre de hierro, entiende_? Take one of those +horses out and go for him immediately!" + +"_No possible_, _señorita_. The black-a-smeet he sleep at night," +explained the Canario, hopelessly. + +Lilian stamped one little foot. + +"It is _no possible_ to waken him? _Escucha Vd_, and please try to +comprehend. If I reach the sugar-mill too late you will be paid exactly +what the Alcalde at Oratava says is your due. If I get there in time, +and not otherwise, you will receive what I promised you. Now take out +one of those horses, and I will help you." + +The driver rubbed his forehead, and kicked his hat again. Then he +declaimed a little further; and finally, while Mrs. Chatterton protested +against Lilian's helping him, he proceeded to act upon her suggestion. +The girl struggled with rusty buckle and raw-hide patched with string, +and at last tethered one horse to a branch, while the Canario clattered +off toward Laguna on the other. He had neither saddle nor stirrups, but +that did not matter much to a man of his race. + +The two women were left standing in the middle of the lonely road. + +"I wish we had never come," wailed Mrs. Chatterton. "Mind that horse +does not bite you, Lily." + +"Poor beast," said the girl, stroking the creature's scraggy neck. "He +did his best, and a great deal still depends on him. If that wretched +man does not return soon the waiting will drive me mad." + +Mrs. Chatterton found a seat by the wayside. Lilian paced to and fro, +halting only to listen and gaze down the long dusty road. An hour passed +slowly. Still only the rustle of the sugar-cane and the sighing of dark +branches broke the stillness. There was no light visible; and save for +the horse, the two anxious Englishwomen seemed the only living things +upon the mountain-side. + +"Can you hear nothing, auntie?" the girl asked; but the elder lady heard +only the drowsy gurgle of water in a distant barranco, and the moan of +the breeze. + +"No. There is no sign of any one coming yet; and I am afraid we should +be almost too late if we started now," she said. + +Twice again the girl paced up and down in a fever of impatience, then +stood rigidly still, leaning forward a little, for a faint thudding +sound came out of the shadows. + +"He is coming at last!" + +The man came up at a gallop, with a hammer and a bag of tools, and, +talking volubly, remounted the wheel. Then he lashed his horses +viciously, and they were off, pressing on at a gallop almost to the +divide, where, partly bathed in silver light by the moon, and partly +wrapped in black shadow by the mighty peak, the great horseshoe vale of +Oratava sloped to the Atlantic. Here the driver turned. + +"The brake of this coche is also broke. I have ten children, señoras, +and all very small, and if we must go down at the full speed it will be +one more ten shillings for the risk." + +Mrs. Chatterton, glancing down toward the lights that twinkled +apparently vertically beneath her, and the glimmering plain of the +Atlantic very far below, somewhat naturally hesitated, and was about to +speak, when Lilian thrust a gold coin into the man's brown palm. + +"You shall have more when I come back from Tampena. Only lose no time!" +she urged. + +The driver, who had been deluded on various occasions by British +emigrants bound for the Cape, first prudently bit the coin, then piously +crossed himself, after which he lashed the horses, and the carriage +began the long descent like a run-away locomotive or a thunderbolt, as +Mrs. Chatterton afterward said. The road was good, but it dipped in +zig-zags down the steep hillside, and they went round the bends madly +with two wheels in the air; while twice the elder lady held her breath +as a straggling mule team rushed past. She prayed spasmodically that the +ancient harness might not break. + +The walnuts gave place to fig-trees, the figs in turn to vines, and +still the straining gear held fast, and the bouncing vehicle hung +together behind the lathered beasts. Then the terraced vines were +replaced by maize, and when the broad leaves of bananas raced up, as it +were, to meet them under the moon, the driver, shouting his loudest, +reined his team in outside a little hill posada. + +"Horses and a trusty guide for the sugar-mill!" he roared, beating on +the door. "Here are two mad English señoras with a purse of gold!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MAXWELL'S CONFIDENCE + + +Though the English are not greatly loved in any possessions of Spain, +their gold has the power of rousing even the contemplative Canario out +of his usual lethargy, and when the driver shouted, drowsy men hurried +about the posada. The host had two good mules, and a vine-grower would +be glad to act as guide, but there was, he said, a difficulty. He had +only one saddle fit for a lady and with the deepest respect for the +señora, he feared she was too old to venture over the perilous bridle +paths at that time of night; with which opinion Mrs. Chatterton quite +concurred. Lilian glanced at her aunt, and then toward the bare-legged +peasant, who, with a great blanket rolled about his shoulders, stood, +hat in hand, before her. There was a rude dignity about this +vine-dresser which pleased her, and moving forward she kissed her aunt. + +"You must go on alone to the hotel at Oratava," she said. + +Mrs. Chatterton had long grown accustomed to being ruled by her niece, +and though she protested, she did so feebly. Even while she spoke the +girl put her foot in the hand of the vine-dresser, who lifted her to the +saddle, and then sprang into his own. He swept his battered hat to his +knee with the grace of a courtier as he passed Mrs. Chatterton, and +almost before the elder lady realized what had happened, the two +mounted figures had vanished among the maize. With a sigh and an +inarticulate prayer, she bade the driver proceed to Oratava, as slowly +as he liked. + +Lilian never counted the risks she ran during that ride. The two +strangely-assorted companions soon left the maize behind and rode over +broken lava and scoriæ; dipped, sliding and stumbling, into a barranco +filled with impenetrable shadow, out of which the guide had hard work to +drag the horses on the opposite side; and then skirted the dizzy brink +of another vast volcanic fissure in the black hillside. Lilian, looking +down into the depths that yawned beneath her, guessed aright that a slip +would mean destruction, while for once her heart failed her when the +peasant pulled the mules up where the pathway seemed to break off at the +brink. He pointed toward the lights far down in the hollow, saying in +Castilian: + +"That is the mill. The señorita rides well. If she will let the mule +find its own way she may, with the blessing of heaven, come down +safely." + +Lilian, partly comprehending, shuddered for a moment as she glanced into +the great volcanic pit, then, slacking the bridle, laid one hand on the +high peak of the saddle, as with the cinders rattling away beneath them, +they commenced the descent. No beast but a Canary pack-mule trained to +carry wine kegs over the wild hill trails could have come down alive, +and it seemed to be sliding with legs braced stiffly most of the time, +and then picking its way foot by foot down the face of an almost +precipitous descent. Fortunately the darkness hid the worst terrors; +they came down safely, and swept through tall cane on the level toward a +group of dusky buildings, which grew plainer ahead. + +Then the guide shouted, there was a howling of dogs, and Lilian, +dropping stiffly from the saddle, walked into the presence of her uncle +in the Spanish sugar-grower's dwelling. Chatterton, who had been poring +late over some machine drawings, rose abruptly at the sight of her. + +"Good heavens, Lily! Have you flown here?" he cried. "What has happened +girl? Is your aunt ill?" + +"Don't ask questions! Sit still a minute, and listen! My aunt is well +and should be safe in Oratava by now. Mr. Maxwell is in Santa Cruz, and +brings serious news of Hilton." + +Chatterton stiffened to attention as he listened. Then, because he was +above all things a man of action and could let side issues wait, he +asked no questions but patted his niece's shoulder. + +"Well done, my girl. Well done!" he said. "God forbid that my dead +partner's son should perish while I have the power to help him. If it's +money Maxwell needs, he shall have it if there's sufficient in the Bank +of Spain. It is lucky I opened credit to show these blunderers how to +run their mill. You will stay here with the Señora Martin, and rejoin +your aunt to-morrow. I shall start, but not by your road, as soon as +these loafers can get horses ready." + +"I am going with you," Lilian said, quietly. She was very tired; but +with Dane's life at stake, she dare not take any chances. That her uncle +would do his best to reach Maxwell in time, she knew; and yet, if +something should happen on the way! If his horse should slip on those +treacherous lava trails! + +Chatterton saw the pale lips close tightly with a determination that he +never attempted to resist. + +"Very well, Lily," he acquiesced; "but it will be a hard ride." + +In an incredibly short time the horses were ready, and Chatterton and +his niece followed their guide throughout the remaining hours of the +long night. Few words were spoken by either of them as they urged their +horses forward. At dawn they were still riding, Lilian feverishly +anxious, Chatterton grimly determined. + + * * * * * + +A big gray-painted steamer lay rolling in the harbor of Santa Cruz, and +Maxwell stood on the hotel steps impatiently glancing at his watch. He +had given Miss Chatterton his conditional promise that he would await +her return, but he dare not miss the steamer. A feathery column of vapor +roaring aloft from her steam-pipe indicated that all was ready. He had +less than ten minutes to spare, and there was still no sign of Miss +Chatterton. + +"Five more minutes. There's the first bell now!" + +Three of the minutes passed, and Maxwell was hurrying toward the boat, +when somebody shouted his name, and turning, he saw two white-flecked +horses race into the plaza. One kept on to the hotel; almost before the +other stopped, Thomas Chatterton leaped to the ground. + +"You're not going in that boat!" he gasped. "Can't you understand me? +You are going back to the Coast instead!" + +"I'm afraid I can't, sir," Maxwell replied with a puzzled air. "I don't +want to be uncivil, but I dare not waste a moment. I must catch the +steamer." + +"You shan't!" persisted Chatterton, his red face growing purple when +Maxwell shook his hand off his arm. "Confound you! Stop and listen! I +owed Hilton's father more than I can ever repay his son, and Lilian +told me what has befallen him. Well, if it's money you are short of, I'm +not a poor man, and you can have as much as they hold in the bank here +if you want it to rescue your partner. Now, don't let any foolish pride +lead you into manslaughter. I'm doing you no favor, but making a +commercial investment. Call me sleeping partner or anything you like, +but don't throw your comrade's life away." + +Maxwell looked his relief. + +"I am not quite a fool, sir, and dare not refuse. It only remains for me +to express my gratitude." + +"Gratitude be consumed!" said Chatterton, cheerily. "Call it business. +Now we'll order the best breakfast they can serve us in this place, and +you can tell me the whole thing again." + +Two days later when Maxwell boarded a steamer bound for the West Coast, +Chatterton and his niece went on board with him. Lilian was both +relieved and sorry when the iron-master hurried away in search of the +purser to make sure that several bags of silver currency were put in +safe keeping. She had something to say to Maxwell, but the task was +difficult. + +"I shall always take shame upon myself for what I said on the balcony," +she began. "You are a very loyal partner, and I wish you Godspeed." + +The words were simple, but because, during the fateful moments when the +two stood on the balcony, the veil which covered their inmost thoughts +had been drawn aside, they cost Lilian an effort, and meant a good deal. +They sent a curious thrill to the heart of Maxwell. + +"I meant all that I said one other night, and I am ready to prove it," +he said. "Whether I shall ever return or not, I say it solemnly, only +Gods knows; but if I live to reach our camp, I think Hilton Dane will." + +For a moment Lilian's eyes grew hazy, and she looked away from him. +Then, though there was moisture on her lashes, she turned fully toward +her companion, holding out her hand. + +"Heaven send you both back safe! You are a good man, and very generous. +I knew it the evening we passed the Hallows Brig--but----" + +"Destiny arranges these things for us," Maxwell interrupted quietly. "I +am glad that your good wishes follow me to Africa." + +Thomas Chatterton came up panting as he spoke, the warning of the last +bell broke through the rattle of the windlass, and Maxwell bent +bareheaded over Lilian's hand. Then she and Chatterton went down the +side together, a deep-toned whistle vibrated above the waters as the +steamer slowly forged ahead, and Maxwell saw a white-gowned figure in +the boat beneath her side turn with a farewell smile and wave a hand to +him. Once more he raised his hat, and when the boat slid astern Lilian's +eyes grew hazy as she gazed after the departing vessel. + +"That man will go far," said Chatterton. "Once he makes up his mind the +devil himself would hardly turn him. He is one of the steely, quiet kind +who are never more in earnest than when they are silent, but I am +anxious. He is bound for a very deadly country." + +Cool breezes followed the steamer to the African coast, and Maxwell had +recovered part of his vigor before the first palm-crowned bluff rose out +of the sea. He had sufficient funds at his disposal, but arduous work to +do, and he held himself apart from the few passengers, thinking +earnestly. Among other things he decided to fit out the relief +expedition at Redmond's factory at Little Mahu, because, though more +difficult, the road from there was shorter and less likely to be +watched; and he surmised that Rideau, who must hear of his presence on +the coast sooner or later, would expect him to start from Castro's +factory. Maxwell knew he had not seen the last of their treacherous +partner. + +At the last moment, he so far modified his plans as to call upon Dom +Pedro. + +It was a fine afternoon when the cliff with the tall palms on the crest +of it, and low whitewashed buildings nestling between them and the +smoking beach, rose to view, and the purser, strolling past, halted near +Maxwell. + +"We have several boat-loads of cottons for this place, and as the surf +is high it will take us until sunset to land them safely," he said. +"Then, as there are nasty reefs to thread through, the skipper will +probably wait for moonlight before he heaves the anchor; so if you don't +mind a spray bath you might have a few hours ashore." + +Maxwell, knowing that he would see quite sufficient of Africa before he +sailed west again, felt no great desire to go ashore; but as he gazed at +the dazzling buildings through his glasses a figure came out upon the +veranda, and an unaccountable impulse urged him to seek speech with Miss +Castro. Why he should do so, and what he should say to her, he did not +know, but he remembered that several times during his career some +unconsidered action made on the spur of the moment proved as fruitful as +his best laid plans. So, donning the mate's oil-skins, he dropped into a +surf-boat and was whirled shoreward on a big breaker's crest, landing +without misadventure amidst a cloud of spray. + +Dom Pedro, it appeared, was absent, but his daughter started at the +sight of the stranger, and the warm olive coloring of her face was +suffused with a deeper tinge. She was herself again the next moment, and +came to meet him with only a slightly heightened luster in her black +eyes; but for a man Maxwell was observant, and deduced a good deal from +what he had seen. Nevertheless, he was mistaken when he attributed it to +the loss of his map. + +Miss Castro received him affably, and presented him to her aunt, who +combined a lethargic disposition with the usual portliness of an Iberian +lady who has exceeded the age of forty, and after a few drowsy +compliments she betrayed no further interest in the visitor. +Nevertheless, the señora was not so sleepy as she appeared. Maxwell +seated himself beside Bonita near the opposite end of the veranda, and +was not wholly sorry he had come ashore. The girl made a charming +picture as she reclined in a deep chair near at hand, smiling at him +with a trace of shyness that was not assumed, though an occasional +nervous movement betokened a suppressed eagerness. Maxwell had pledged +himself soul and body to the service of another woman with a chivalrous +self-abnegation that only those who knew him well would have suspected +him capable of; but he possessed artistic perceptions, and Bonita's dark +beauty appealed to him. + +"You have very much to tell me. How is it you come from the westward, +and where is your compañero?" she asked; and once more Maxwell was +wholly misled. + +He noticed the swift gleam in the dark eyes that fell beneath his own; +and, knowing what he knew, he was troubled. There was a hidden +gentleness under the man's sardonic exterior, but he never learned how +blind he had been that afternoon. + +"My comrade was well when I left him," he said gravely; and Bonita, +flashing a swift glance at him, evinced less satisfaction than he had +expected. + +"We were the good friends, señor. You will tell me why you leave him and +now come from the west. Also if you met Rideau, and what you did with +him. You are a strong man, señor, but it may be a woman can help you?" + +Maxwell was in his own way a chivalrous person, but he owed a duty to +the comrade who remained in the forest, and he meant to discharge it. So +he answered with incisive frankness. + +"Can you not see why it might be better for both of us that I should not +tell you, señorita?" + +The girl laughed softly, then laid a little hand upon his own. It felt +strangely hot, and again her eyes were luminous in a manner that puzzled +him. + +"It is the map, you mean? It is true I find it after the Señor Dane +leave, and I sell it to _el perro_ Rideau. Señor, we women must use what +weapons we can, and the price he pay me--I have no secrets from you--was +my father's safety." + +"I do not venture to blame you," said Maxwell. "I had partly guessed it, +and your confidence is safe with me, but suppose _el perro_ had proved +too strong for me? After this, can I believe that you would prove a good +friend to me?" + +Miss Castro positively blushed as she drew her hand away, but her +laughter indicated a mingling of pride with scorn. + +"You are modest, señor. It is not possible that the cur dog should prove +too strong for--you. To Dom Pedro I say these Englishmen will kill this +Rideau. So señor, because I hate him, you will tell me." + +Maxwell did not speak for a while. Again an impulse which appeared +wholly illogical in face of the girl's confession prompted him to tell +her all; but very much lay at stake, and he did not usually act on +impulse. Meanwhile his companion watched him from under the dark lashes +which half covered her eyes; while, unobserved, the sleepy aunt watched +them both. Bonita Castro looked bewitchingly pretty in her filmy +draperies, perhaps the more so because of her curiously heightened +color; but though Maxwell knew that she was a woman who would do much +when prompted by passion, she did not look like a traitress. + +"So you fear to trust me, señor?" + +"On the contrary," Maxwell answered, "I have decided to trust you fully. +In doing so, I know that I place my life and my comrade's equally in +your hands." + +"It is well; I would hold them safe if I risked salvation," said the +girl. "So tell me everything. I shall be able to help you." + +Maxwell did so, and Miss Castro asked him many questions which betokened +a keenness of judgment that surprised the man. He spent some time in +answering them, and Bonita appeared to find pleasure in listening to +him. So while the palm-tufts tossed behind the factory and the spray +whirled above the beach, the minutes slipped by, until, when the sun +dipped, the señora woke up and ordered the black major-domo to hurry +forward _comida_. + +Bonita, reappearing attired in filmy robes of black, was more +fascinating than ever during the drawn-out meal. + +"That woman would turn any man's head," murmured Maxwell, inaudibly he +thought, and added, with a smile, to the sleepy aunt, who glanced at +him, "I was wondering, señora, if your distinguished family had a +monopoly of all the wit and beauty in the Peninsula." + +Maxwell was a little confused to notice that Bonita had overheard; for a +second the long lashes dropped across her eyes, and again there was a +flicker of damask in her cheek. + +The moon hung over the ocean which stretched away before them, a broad +sheet of silver, when the two stood once more on the veranda; and Miss +Castro shivered slightly for no apparent cause when Maxwell announced +that it was time for him to take his departure. The surf had gone down, +and the roar of the breakers diminished to dull pulsations that fell +drowsily on the ear, while the warm breeze brought down the fragrance of +spices and lilies from the forest. Two of the pure white blossoms +nestled among the laces beneath Miss Castro's neck, and their fragrance +filled Maxwell's nostrils as he stood close beside her under the +effulgent moonlight of the tropics. There was a thrill in the girl's +voice which, but for one fact, might have awakened an answering +vibration within him. + +"So you have trusted me, señor, and I am glad. It is also good that you +start from Little Mahu, for so _el perro_ hear the less of you. There +are many black people who fear him, and tell him things, but he come +first to this factory--and I deal with him. You will leave Mahu, two, +three, perhaps four weeks before him. It is true you have no longer any +doubt of me?" + +"I have no doubt at all. I have trusted you to the utmost." + +Bonita's eyes dropped swiftly beneath his gaze, but there was in her +attitude no sign of coquetry. She had, the man thought, changed with the +night, and put on a quiet simplicity which became her wonderfully. +Something impelled him to add: + +"I feel that I have done wisely." + +Once more the girl's voice thrilled him. + +"It is a dangerous country, and who can tell what may happen; but, +whatever it costs me, I will help you." + +Maxwell felt strangely softened toward her, for it seemed that some +influence born of the glamour of the night was at work upon his will. It +hardly seemed to emanate from his companion, for Miss Castro was graver +than he had ever seen her; but the strange mingling of tenderness and +admiration grew stronger in him, and he was glad when the boom of the +steamer's whistle rang through the monotone of the surf. + +"I must go, señorita." + +Bonita's eyes shone in the moonlight as, with the faintest of smiles, +she held out her hand to him. + +"It is a perilous journey, but I will pray always for your safety," she +said softly. + +Maxwell lifted the hat from his head as, stooping, he touched the +olive-tinted fingers with his lips. They trembled a little in his grasp. + +"I thank you, señorita. We are allies now." + +Again the roar of the whistle throbbed across the surf, and Maxwell went +swiftly down the stairway and across the sand. As the boat plunged out +through the breakers he shook himself with an air of irritation which +attracted the notice of the steamer's mate. + +"Got bewildered trying to understand those folks?" he asked +sympathetically. + +"No," laughed Maxwell. "The fact is rather that I don't understand +myself." + +"I dare say that don't greatly matter," commented the mate. "Take a good +stiff cocktail and give the puzzle up." + +The steamer heaved her anchor, and rolled slowly eastward down the +coast, while Miss Castro stood on the veranda following the tier of +diminishing lights until they faded and finally dipped into the moonlit +sea. Then she turned and walked very slowly into the factory without a +word, leaving the sleepy aunt lost in speculation when the door of her +room closed noisily. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE DANGEROUS SEÑORITA + + +Some days after Maxwell's departure Monsieur Victor Rideau, traveling in +hot haste, arrived at Castro's factory. Dom Pedro was absent in the +bush, but his daughter frowned when she saw the visitor coming. She was +standing on the veranda where she had bidden Maxwell farewell; and this +fact recalled the contrast between them, which was distinctly striking, +and to Monsieur Rideau's disadvantage. Maxwell wore an indefinite air of +refinement, which is the birthright of some favored Britons, and there +was a good deal of finely-tempered steel in his composition; Rideau was +by no means ill-favored, and as usual with gentlemen of his extraction, +dressed himself almost too well; but his face was sensual, his black +hair over-crisp, and, in spite of his very cunning eyes, there were +other signs that his animal appetites might on occasion prove stronger +than his judgment. + +When he descended from his hammock, attired in spotless duck and +American brown shoes, he was evidently well contented with himself. + +"I compassionate you on your misfortune," said Miss Castro. "My father +may not return until midnight, and you will have only myself and my +aunt, who is always sleepy, for company." + +"What better could any man desire?" There was a look of the African in +Rideau's over-bold eyes, and the girl regarded him frigidly. "I go east +by the steamer which will call to-night," he continued, "and hurried for +the pleasure of a few hours of your company. The English adventurer has +called here, is it not so?" + +That was sufficient warning, and Bonita Castro prepared for the fray. +The weapons she chose in the first place were merely demure glances and +opportune smiles; and though many of his speeches stung her pride to the +quick, she fooled Monsieur Rideau cleverly, and extracted from him more +information than he meant to impart. Still, when the black major-domo +set out the _comida_ and Miss Castro withdrew, the visitor might have +lounged less complacently on the veranda had he seen her kneeling, with +a face that was stamped with hatred, beside the factory medicine chest. +She lifted a ribbed glass phial, and glanced at it earnestly, then let +it fall back, took out another, and clutched at the chest, when she saw +that the door had opened a little. Then, as the rustle of the +palm-fronds suggested that the breeze was accountable for this, she +slipped the bottle behind a vase on the window-sill, and went out +softly. Hardly had she done so than the Señora Diaz entered silently, +lifted the bottle, and read its label, and then, with a gesture which +expressed both relief and perplexity, replaced it. The señora was much +more observant than she seemed to be, and was by no means a friend of +Victor Rideau. + +It might have been better for Rideau had he reached the factory after +dinner. He did not eat prettily, and Miss Castro had lived long enough +in the Iberian peninsula to grow particular about small matters. Also, +he drank freely, and while his voice grew louder his consonants lost +their crispness. Rideau spoke several civilized languages, but that +night he emphasized the vowels after the fashion of the negro. Though +not excessively indulgent, Dom Pedro's old Madeira had awakened a side +of his nature he usually kept in subjection, and perhaps it had slightly +clouded his judgment. In any case, the Señora Diaz frowned at some of +the compliments he paid her niece, and her ancient laces rustled as she +stirred with indignation, for while compliments were common in her +country, they were characterized by either a becoming deference or +scintillating wit. Once or twice she glanced sharply at the girl, who +was generally quite capable of resenting a liberty; but Bonita did not +heed her. She was working for an end, and working skilfully. Perhaps she +suffered during the process, but that was only part of the price of +victory. + +The _comida_ was cleared away at length, and when Bonita accompanied her +guest to the moonlit veranda, she made it manifest that she did not +desire her aunt's company. Nevertheless the Señora Diaz, who respected +the customs of the Peninsula, seated herself beside an open window and +saw all that passed. Rideau lounged in a cane chair with a cigar in his +hand, while Bonita stood upright, dropping morsels of ice presented by a +steamboat purser into the bowl which rested on the little table at his +side. A Frenchman would not have shown such lack of manners. Rideau's +very leer, which grew more pronounced, conveyed a hint that he knew he +held the whip hand, and meant to use it; with any one of Miss Castro's +disposition, that was very bad policy. + +"It is charming, señorita. I have done much for you; you do a little now +for me." + +Miss Castro dropped the next lump of ice somewhat hastily, so that the +liquid splashed over the table; but she smiled with apparent good +humor, and the man grew more bold. + +"You will sit here while I tell you something, is it not so? This scene +is so charming that after I make one more journey I have resolved to +cultivate the domestic virtue." + +"That is commendable," said the girl, smiling. "Might one compliment you +on such a piece of self-denial?" + +She did not forget that the African's greatest weakness is vanity, as +Rideau answered her with a deprecatory smile: + +"It is not my fault if many women love me. Perhaps they are foolish and +trust to the eye. But, me, I aspire, and am only content with the great +mind and virtue." + +Miss Castro, instead of meeting his glance, appeared to be looking out +to sea, and Rideau continued, still far too complacently: + +"Now I see all that I desire--the peace, the tranquillity, the night +that speaks of love, and the company of the peerless Bonita." + +The girl laughed as she turned upon him; but her sleepy aunt, who sat by +the window, knew that the passion which called the color to her forehead +and set a sparkle in her eyes was by no means love. + +"Is that another empty compliment, monsieur?" she asked lightly. + +"It is the ambition of my life," he declared in a deeper tone; "and a +long time I dream of it. Now when I make one more journey I ask you to +gratify it." + +"You must be more explicit. And is it the custom of France--or +Africa--to make such speeches--so?" + +Rideau frowned, and for a moment it appeared that he would have +preferred the African custom of choosing his bride; but remembering what +he claimed to be, he stood upright, a full-fleshed, crisp-haired figure, +with his sensual lips showing too prominently. + +"I have the honor to offer you my name and devotion, señorita." + +"That is very much better," laughed Miss Castro. "But are you quite sure +you would not find domestic happiness grow monotonous? I, at least, have +been my own mistress so long that it might not content me. What else +have you to offer?" + +"An affection that will not weary," was the answer, and the man +dramatically laid his hand where he supposed his heart to be. + +"And if even that were not enough?" + +"All the good things that money can buy, and women love. I shall be a +rich man presently." + +"You have not won those riches yet; and white men have lost their lives +already in the Leopards' country. You should understand me." + +Rideau blundered when he resolved to use the strong hand at last. + +"There is still something--the safety of your father. It is, as I have +once said, forbidden with the heaviest penalty to sell the black man the +modern rifle, and Dom Pedro has sold more than this." + +It is possible that Miss Castro had expected a similar answer, but the +speaker's tone and the glitter of his eyes would have inspired most +women with misgivings under the circumstances. + +"You are forgetful," she said slowly. "I have bought that from you +already." + +Rideau laughed. + +"You are mistaken. You sold me the English madman's map for the Emir's +agreement, but you did not buy my lieutenant or the black headman who +hired your father his people, and is a good friend of me. Señorita, you +quite fail to comprehend me. To those who love me I give everything, but +with those who bargain it is different. You are too young and pretty to +drive a hard one with me." + +The girl turned from him, and walked slowly across the veranda with her +back toward her suitor and her face toward the sea, so that he could not +see how one hand slipped without a rustle beneath a fold of her dress. +He had left her but one way out of the difficulty, and it was dangerous; +but gauging the quality of her antagonist she was content to take the +risks. The sleepy aunt saw, however, and smiled grimly to herself. + +Then Miss Castro turned, and smiled. + +"It is a long journey to the Leopards' country, and many things may +happen on the way. You would be wise to wait for my answer, monsieur. +What you offer appears insufficient now, but few women are sure of their +own minds, so some wise men say; and, who knows, when you come back I +may think differently. I have duties to attend to, and may not see you +before you sail, but I want your promise to keep silence in the +meantime. Pledge it in Vermouth." + +Before the man could answer, she had passed into the house and returned +with a small flask and two fresh glasses. One was brimming, and she +filled the other before she held it out to him. + +"A swift journey to the land of the Leopard!" she said. + +Miss Castro's voice was steady, though she waited almost breathlessly +while the man stood undecided, holding up the cup. It was evident that +he was averse to delay, and yet afraid to lose by undue precipitancy. + +"So, I give the promise. To your bright eyes, señorita. It is a journey +I make for you." + +Rideau laid the glass down empty, and with a swift salutation that was +half-ironical, and a swish of light draperies, Miss Castro had vanished +before he quite realized that she had left him. When he did, he gnawed +the end off a cigar, and lay thoughtfully back in his chair. It struck +him that perhaps he might find Bonita Castro much less amenable to his +wishes and more difficult to live with than a deeper-tinted helpmate. + +In the meantime, a group of chattering Krooboys were lighting a fire on +the crest of the bluff, their figures outlined against the increasing +glare. It was a signal to the east-bound steamer due to pass shortly +that cargo or passengers were awaiting her. Rideau watched the blaze +until it flared high aloft in token that the fire had good hold, then he +walked slowly to the rail of the veranda and leaned over it, as though +expecting an answering light from the moonlit sea. There was none, and +presently he walked back, still more slowly, and sank into his chair +with a sigh. Then his shoulders sank lower until his head drooped +forward and there was silence in the veranda except for the sound of his +uneven breathing. This had scarcely continued five minutes when a +slender black-robed figure flitted out of a shadowy door, and the +profile of a woman's face was silhouetted against the moonlight as it +bent over the sleeper. + +"Sleep soundly, and awake too late!" a voice said, and the figure +vanished again. + +Presently, perhaps because there was nobody to watch them, or they had +been regaled too freely with factory gin, the Krooboys left to tend the +fire curled themselves up beside it, and when an hour had passed, only a +thin column of vapor rose up from the bluff. The stokers slumbered +peacefully, as did the comrades they should have awakened, when the +twinkle of a masthead light crept nearer from out at sea. It rose until +the black patch beneath it lengthened into a line of wallowing hull; but +the fresh land breeze and the clamor of the surf between them rendered +the hoot of the steamer's whistle but faintly audible at the factory. +Still, the Señora Diaz awakened, and sitting upright on her couch near +an open window, looked out on to the veranda. Her niece stood in a +doorway, with the moonlight on her face, which showed white and anxious +as she watched the sleeping figure. + +The girl set her lips tight when again the whistle's summons, ringing +louder this time, was flung back by the bluff behind the factory; but +Rideau lay motionless in his chair; and Bonita quivered all through +when, finding his signal unanswered, the steamboat skipper burned a +crimson flare. She could see the wall of hull and slanting spars sharp +and clear in the blood-red glare, with the figure of a man leaning out +from the slanted bridge projected against it, but there was still no +answer from either bluff or factory, and with a last blast of the +whistle the steamer moved on. No other boat would call for a fortnight, +and this one would have saved Rideau a protracted and risky surf-boat +voyage, or a weary march through the jungles overland. + +It was past midnight when Dom Pedro's hammock came lurching into the +compound, and, alighting stiffly, the trader climbed the veranda steps. +He started on reaching the veranda, for there was nobody to meet him, +only a man whose visits he had learned to dread, asleep in a chair. The +trader bent over him; and by the way his eyes glistened and his fingers +twitched as he saw that the duck jacket had fallen open, leaving the +dusky throat bare, an observer might have concluded that he would not +have been sorry had some accident prevented the sleeper from ever +awakening. Still, Dom Pedro was only a man of lax principles; he +shrugged his shoulders as he quoted a Castilian proverb, and then he +shook his guest by the arm. Rideau sat upright, grasping the arms of his +chair. He stared at the table, possibly seeking the glass he had drunk +from, but it was not there, and rising shakily, he staggered toward the +balustrade. + +"What hour is it?" he asked. + +"Past twelve. It is not good to sleep in the moonlight, my friend." + +Rideau's face was a study of evil passions, but his reason resumed the +mastery. The fact that the glasses were missing was significant, and +perhaps he recognized that the woman might prove no contemptible +adversary; for he answered Dom Pedro calmly. + +"Your wine is too good, and I have slept so well that it seems I have +missed the steamer. Well, there are other means of transit, and, if it +is not too late, you and I have business to talk about." + +A light shone in a window of the factory for an hour after this, and +when Victor Rideau walked somewhat unevenly toward his quarters, Dom +Pedro cursed him under his breath. + +The next morning he demanded a surf-boat and Krooboy crew, and when his +host had provided them, he sought speech with his daughter before +embarking. Rideau did not look his best that morning. His eyes were +heavy, the color of his face was mottled in patches; and he was in a +dangerous humor. Miss Castro, however, did not avoid him. + +"It is to be hoped that you passed a good night," she said. + +Rideau could not have failed to notice the boldness of the challenge. He +looked at her steadily, and his glance expressed desire rather than +resentment. The girl grew hot beneath his gaze as he surveyed her +critically, after the manner of one appraising a costly bargain. + +"I slept well--so well that I missed the steamer--and awakened with a +heaviness I can guess the cause of. You have a bold spirit--and that +pleases me; but you are dangerous, señorita--so dangerous that even if +you were not otherwise very desirable, I dare not let you go." + +Miss Castro returned no answer, and the man added threateningly: + +"If you have not a promise to make me when I return from this journey, +it will be very bad for Dom Pedro." + +The girl clenched one hand tightly, but her voice was clear as she +answered him. + +"You shall have your promise now. If you come back from the Leopards' +country, I will marry you." + +Rideau appeared both gratified and perplexed. Possibly he felt that he +should seal the bargain; but the girl's attitude did not encourage him, +and he had learned that it was not judicious to press her too hardly. So +he answered with a bow which had in it little Latin grace. + +"Then one must defer his happiness. The señorita will not forget." + +"I have given my word," said Miss Castro calmly. "You may claim the +fulfilment of my promise if we are both alive when two months have +passed." + +Rideau shivered slightly as he turned away. He had inherited more than a +trace of superstition from one side of his ancestry, and there was an +unusual significance in the speaker's tone, and he had heard stories +respecting her powers of prediction. A few minutes later he departed +eastward in a surf-boat, and it was not a blessing which Dom Pedro, +standing on the beach, sent after him. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MAXWELL'S LAST MARCH + + +Maxwell was never addicted to losing time, and, thanks to Miss Castro's +efforts, he had a clear start of Rideau, when he left Little Mahu. +Redmond, being warned by a message posted on from the cable station +farther along the coast, had a number of picked men ready; and Amadu +declared that they were sturdy cattle. Both traders had done their +utmost, and by dint of working night and day, Maxwell was able to leave +their factory two days after he reached it. + +They followed him to the compound gate, where Gilby gazed longingly at +the forest and then sighed as he surveyed the line of brawny men, each +of whom stood waiting beside his burden. Their clothing was simple. +Broad folds of white cotton hung over one shoulder, and, drooping to the +knee, were belted at the waist by a band from which a matchet hung. A +number of the men also carried long flintlock guns. + +"They're warranted free from civilization, and fit for almost anything, +if you drive them with a tight rein," Gilby said. + +"The niggers are fit enough," agreed Redmond. "If I were you, Maxwell, I +wouldn't spare them. Nobody has heard anything of Rideau since he +reported you as hopelessly hemmed in, but there's not much happens in +this region he does not get news of, and it's my humble opinion he'll +turn up somewhere along your trail just when you least desire to see +him. As you probably know, news travels very fast in this country. That +fellow must have some influence with the nigger headmen or the chiefs of +the Leopards, or somebody would have cut his throat long ago. You'll +have to push on your fastest to keep ahead of him." + +"I quite appreciate the necessity," Maxwell replied quietly. "But if it +were not for my comrade's sake I think I'd wait for him. It strikes me +that I am wasting precious time now, and I'll leave you with my best +thanks for your assistance." + +One trader thumped him on the back, the other grasped his hand. + +"Good luck!" cried Redmond. "We'll put a spoke in Rideau's wheel if we +can." + +"You're the sort of man I take to!" Gilby added. "We'll use up a whole +quarter's allowance, and turn this place inside out when you come back +again." + +Maxwell beckoned to Amadu, and waved his hand to the traders, as his +carriers picked up their loads; and the two stood gazing after him until +the steamy forest swallowed the long line of plodding men. They never +saw him again, and it was some time before any news of his movements +reached them, but meanwhile Gilby nearly brought about the death of +Rideau's principal assistant, and ever afterward regretted he did not +wholly do so. + +That evening Gilby was returning with a gun in his hand from a prowl +beside a lagoon soon after darkness fell, when his boot became unlaced +near the factory boys' quarters, which stood at some distance from the +white men's dwelling. Gilby seated himself on a fallen log, and remained +a few minutes glancing meditatively, but unseen himself, toward a group +of dusky figures crouching around a cooking-fire just outside the +edifice. They sat with their backs toward the long, low shed, and, +because the fire had sunk, the light was dim and fitful. Accordingly, +Gilby saw, though the negroes did not, a shadowy form crawl without a +sound down the slope of thatch. With suspicions aroused, Gilby reached +out for his gun. It was a heavy big-bore, and there was a large-shot +cartridge in either chamber. + +Still, he was distinctly puzzled until the crawling object resolved +itself into a man, who dropped noiselessly from the overhanging eaves, +and the next moment appeared before the astonished negroes, as though he +had fallen from the clouds. It was cleverly done, and Gilby could see by +the negroes' attitude that they were impressed. The stranger was +evidently one of the wandering magicians who are a power in that +country, and wanted something from the Krooboys. Gilby, having suffered +by the visits of similar gentlemen, determined to demonstrate to his +servants the hollowness of such trickery, and furnish the intruder with +cause to regret having frightened them. He could see the dusky figures +shrink backward until the stranger checked them with an imperious +gesture, and asked questions in some native tongue. As Gilby crept +carefully nearer, the man's appearance seemed to be familiar. He wore a +broad palm-leaf hat low down on his forehead, but as the firelight +leaped up the trader felt almost certain that he had before him Rideau's +headman. + +"If you lib for move a foot, I'll shoot you!" he shouted, pitching up +the gun. + +There was a murmur, apparently of relief, from the Kroos, and, though +Gilby afterward said he did not run, the stranger's figure grew less +distinct. It had almost vanished when he called again, and, receiving no +answer, pressed the trigger. A wisp of smoke blew into his eyes, he +heard the lead smash through the frail boarding of the shed; but though +he was a tolerable shot there was no other sound beyond the concussion +flung back from the palms above. Gilby, dashing forward, searched all +the surrounding bush before he returned to the Krooboys, having found +nothing. + +"What did them Ju-ju man lib for want?" he asked. + +"He done ask us how many boy them white man take, and when he lib for +bush, sah," answered a trembling negro. + +"I'll stop half your rations if the next time he comes one of you +doesn't lib for get out soffly, soffly, and tell me," said the trader. +"I'll also flog any boy who tells him what he wants to know!" + +"Were you trying to shoot yourself, Gilby?" asked Redmond, meeting him +at the foot of the stairway. "I'd try to hang out here on top as long as +possible, if I were you." + +"I was trying to shoot one of those confounded Ju-ju men, more fool me. +The beggar got away, and, though of course it was trickery, he did it +cleverly. I believe it was that brute of Rideau's." + +"Then it would have saved somebody a lot of trouble if you had held +straighter. Rideau doesn't usually make his movements plain, but it will +be unlucky for Maxwell if those two rascals are on his trail." + +Maxwell in the meantime was pushing north with feverish haste. He did +not know what had happened at the factory, but he feared many things, +and guessed that his rival would miss no opportunity to prevent his +joining hands with his comrade. Still, he could not forecast what his +plan would be, and could only redouble his precautions and make Amadu +solemnly promise to carry relief to the threatened camp if disaster +overtook him personally. Also he traveled very fast, for Maxwell +possessed the gift of getting the utmost out of his men, and because +news flies swiftly through the African bush, that perhaps accounted for +his being able to cover the distance he did before misfortune overtook +him. + +The rains had set in, when, with Amadu some paces behind him, he plodded +one day through thick jungle before his men. The deluge had ceased +during the last hour, but the narrow path ran water, while the cane, +which grew higher than a tall man's head on either side, shook down +drenching showers alike on soaked white man and naked negro. Belts of +thick steam drifted across it in places. There was no sound but the +splash of moisture and the fall of weary feet, but Maxwell, with his +pistol loose in its waterproof holster, marched the more cautiously. He +had faced numerous perils in his time, and had learned never to run an +unnecessary risk; and the jungle he traversed was particularly suitable +for an ambush. + +Amadu, who recognized this, also was vigilant, and swept the cane on +either side with searching eyes. He endeavored to persuade his master to +travel in his hammock; but unavailingly. Therefore he carried the long +Snider rifle with its breech well covered by his arm, and felt at times +with wet fingers for the hilt of the short, straight blade, which hung +at his side. He was a tolerable shot, but like most of the Moslem +tribesmen deadly with the steel. + +"These men march well," said Maxwell. "We should reach the camp within a +week if nothing hinders us. Tell them to spread out a little and keep +their matchets ready. The cane is getting thicker." + +Amadu moved backward along the plodding line, and when he turned to +rejoin his master, Maxwell was some distance in front of him. The path +twisted sharply round a thicker clump of cane, and suddenly Amadu caught +a glimpse of a tiny black patch among the dripping stems. Nevertheless, +he evinced no sign of notice until he was certain that the black strip +formed part of a human arm; and then he was called upon to make an +eventful decision. The dusky soldier of fortune knew that if an ambush +had been planted among the cane the lurking foe would, should both pass +apparently unobservant, hold their fire until, by a volley poured into +the main body, they could spread panic and cut the column in two. That +might mean the loss of many black men; but Amadu counted these as beasts +of burden in comparison with his master. He guessed that almost before +he could pitch up his rifle a poisoned arrow or a charge of ragged +potleg would strike down the white man. So he held on stolidly, with +dusky lips set tight, hoping that Maxwell might not see what he had +until the corner was passed. Then there might still be time to crawl in +upon the enemy from behind. + +Maxwell walked straight on until he turned and glanced over his +shoulder; then he shook the moisture from his jacket, and in doing so, +let his hand slip from its lower corner to his revolver holster. He +turned again, with death, as it were, suspended above his head; and +Amadu gasped as he approached the thicker clump of cane. There was now +no sign of an enemy's presence in all the jungle; only the splashing +and panting of the carriers behind. + +Suddenly the white man's hand swept out level with his shoulder, and +almost at the same instant a bright flash blazed from the cane. Then the +quick ringing of a rifle broke through the dull thud of the flintlock +and the pistol's second crack, and Maxwell, reeling a little, hurled +himself into the thicket. + +With a roar to those who followed, Amadu plunged in too, a score of +clamorous black men with naked blades hard behind, and was just in time +to spring upon a naked man who strove to clear an entangled foot from +the creeper withes. The short blade twice passed through him; and +wrenching it free with an exultant laugh, Amadu floundered on. For a +space he and his followers smashed through that strip of jungle, but +found only a smoking rifle and one flintlock gun; then calling off the +rest, he led them back to the path. Maxwell was sitting there in a pool +of water. + +"Send those boys back," he said thickly. "One of those brutes missed me, +the other did not. One can't always guess aright, Amadu, and I thought +there were at least a score of them." + +Amadu groaned. He could see that his master was hard stricken, for he +looked faint and cold, and did not usually converse with his +subordinates in that kind of English. Still, he understood the first +sentence, and drove the curious black men back beyond the corner before +he stooped over the speaker. Maxwell's face was distorted and clammy. +There was a stain on the side of his jacket, and it plainly cost him an +effort to speak. + +"Did you lib for chop them bush boy, Amadu?" + +"One of him, sah," was the grim answer. "He done leave them rifle." + +"Let me see," said Maxwell. "That is an old chassepot. Rideau had a +number of them. You don't quite follow? Well, you got the wrong man, +Amadu. Don't stand there, but slit up this jacket. Chop them doff piece +up the side of him." + +Amadu did it with the still wet blade, and groaned again when Maxwell, +turning his head a little, looked down at the slow, red trickle from his +right side, then passed his hand across his lips and nodded when he saw +what there was upon it. + +"Take them lil' silver bottle out of my pocket and pull the top off +him," he said very slowly; and when Amadu had done so he gulped down a +draught of lukewarm brandy before he spoke again. + +"I don't suppose it's much use, but you may as well take the knife +that's in the pocket, and feel if there's any potleg near the top. Well, +why don't you do it? You need not be frightened. It won't bleed +much--that way." + +Amadu shivered as he probed the wound. Maxwell's face grew grayer, and +after a downward glance out of half-closed eyes he shook his head and +stretched out one hand for more of the brandy. Then there was a heavy +silence for several minutes. + +"If I could lie still with ice to suck until somebody brought a surgeon +there might be a chance; but that's out of the question here," he said +in a rambling fashion, and then roused himself. "You don't understand. +Well, I'll try in the little I know of your own idiom. We have made two +great journeys together, but now it is written that I shall shortly set +out on a longer one alone, Amadu." + +Maxwell spoke thickly, but there was a wry smile on his lips as he +watched the big dark-skinned alien, who, rending his cotton robe, bound +a pad of wet leaves upon the injured side. + +"It is useless, Amadu." Maxwell coughed once or twice. "Listen. Because +of something you may remember you dare not fail me, and this is my word +to you. I made a promise which must be kept, and you will carry me to +the white man's camp before six days are over, alive or dead." + +Amadu looked eastward across the jungle, spread his palms outward, and +then bent his head. + +"By fire and salt, and the beard of the Prophet it shall be so," he said +in his own tongue. "And I would it may also be written that I shall +still follow my master should these dogs of bushmen meddle again." + +"Your master is one of the infidel," replied Maxwell. "Now see that none +of these others know what has overtaken me, and call up the hammock +men." + +Maxwell was leaning on Amadu's shoulder when the hammock appeared round +the bend, and none of the black men who lifted him into it guessed how +hard he had been hit; and the monotonous carrying chanty drowned the +groans he could not quite suppress. The heavens were opened as the march +began again, and the rain rushed down. It lashed the negroes' oily skins +until they tingled, the trail became a streamlet, and the mire in places +fouled them to the knee; but Amadu, having given his promise, saw to the +keeping of it with a terrible persistence, and they trudged on doggedly, +the dripping hammock always before them. As one worn-out bearer +stumbled another replaced him, and the march progressed until long after +darkness fell, and after a few hours' halt in drifting mist it began +again. + +So the long days and black nights passed. There were odd flashes of +sunlight, and once or twice the moon looked down; but between these +times the air was filled with the steam of the saturated earth or with a +rush of lukewarm water. + +Late one night, when the weary carriers lay camped for a brief rest in +thick forest, Maxwell beckoned Amadu. He lay in the slung hammock, a +lantern burning behind his head. + +"You will start in two hours. I must reach the camp before another night +comes. My time is short," he said. + +Amadu, looking down at him gravely, saw that the words were true; but he +strove to deny them in his own tongue. + +Maxwell smiled wearily, answering him in English beyond his complete +comprehension. + +"I have known many men of lighter tint I could part from more easily, +Amadu. If we reach the camp before another night comes you shall have my +big elephant gun." + +The dusky man stood upright. + +"I carried an Emir's standard. Will you bribe me with a gun to keep the +oath I swore?" + +Maxwell must have been in a state of torment about that time, but he was +in his own way a man of extravagant pride, and it was perhaps to deny +his weakness that he spoke again. + +"Yet it is a good gun," he said, with a trace of his old dryness. +"Once you will remember at over a hundred paces it drove a smooth +ball through a rash bushman's head. You could keep it in +remembrance--couldn't you?" + +The alien stooped and laid one of the thin hands on his own bent head, +then dropped it suddenly, for from somewhere far off a faint sound +scarcely more than audible trembled across the forest. Maxwell strove to +raise himself to listen, but before he could speak his lieutenant sprang +bolt upright, and his voice rang out. It was the sound of firing, and +even at that distance something warned the listeners that the quick beat +of it betokened modern rifles. + +The hammock-bearers, who feared their new master rather more than the +old, came up at the double; bundles were thrown hurriedly on to woolly +crowns; the tired men swung into line; and the little camp grew empty. + +Amadu, limping behind the hammock, laughed. + +"If it be the will of Allah, I shall see that big gun make even a bigger +hole in more than one heathen's head!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +RELIEF + + +Hilton Dane sat with a fouled rifle across his knees in an angle of the +stockade protecting what had been the hospital camp. It was, however, a +hospital no longer, for some of the sick had recovered, and the rest had +died. Dane considered that he might have saved more of them had he been +more skilled in medicine, but he had done his best according to his +abilities; and none of the poor wretches seemed to blame him. Still, +there were times when he felt like a murderer as some unfortunate +sufferer's eyes turned in his direction, beseeching help, and he could +do nothing but watch him die. They died, for the most part, as +apathetically as they had lived, the heathen with the uncomplaining +stolidity which had carried them through much hardship and cruelty, and +those who followed the prophet testifying that it was Allah's will. + +Dane remembered it all that morning as he looked round upon the remnant +left him, for it seemed hardly possible that any would see another day. +When the pestilence relaxed its grip he had resumed the mining, until +the tribesmen hemmed them in. Once the foe tried to storm the camp, and +failed so signally that beyond creeping up and firing into it, they had +not repeated the attempt until the preceding night, when a few succeeded +in passing the defenses. These, however, did not survive very long. On +the other hand, the garrison could not get out, and though they had no +lack of water, one cannot subsist upon fluid alone, and there was very +little else. + +The men lay about the stockade with their rusty guns beside them, the +negro, Bad Dollar, filing his matchet, as he did continually. The man +Dane called Monday, however, crouched close beside him. A curious +friendship had sprung up between the two, and they would talk long +together with mutual satisfaction, though neither of them fully +understood his companion. + +A ravine cut the camp off from the forest in the rear, and beyond the +front stockade the ground fell steeply to the river. There was forest +across it, but only the tops of the higher trees rose out of the mist +which shrouded all the plain below. + +"You tink Cappy Maxwell perhallups come to-day, sah?" asked Monday. + +"He will certainly come some day," Dane answered with a cheerfulness he +found it hard to assume. "It would be opportune if he came just now, +especially as he might be too late to-morrow. A miss is rather better +than a mile in the present case, but you let too many of your black +friends get in last night, Monday." + +The dusky man, for he was not a negro, looked up at the speaker +doubtfully and shook his head. + +"I no savvy all them palaver, sah, but Cappy Maxwell too much fine white +man. All them black boy tink each morning they go look him. Cappy +Maxwell say he lib for heah, and them boy believe him." + +Dane glanced at the dejected objects, even then staring down expectantly +into the drifting mist, then at the tally of days that would never be +wholly forgotten which he had scored on a post of the stockade. A +deeper notch marked each seventh, and after many calculations he had +gashed a few across to indicate the probable date of Maxwell's departure +from Little Mahu. The black men did not understand the meaning of those +scores and regarded the making of them as a religious ceremony, but Dane +fancied that Maxwell might understand if he reached the camp too late. +Then, perhaps because he was overwrought, he became conscious of an +extravagant pride in his friend. Those half-naked Africans had waited, +trusting in Maxwell's promise patiently and long, and trusting it +implicitly still. This, it seemed to him, was no small testimony. + +"I tink we look Cappy Maxwell one time, sah," Monday began again. + +"If he is alive, you will," Dane answered as sturdily. "Stop those boys' +chattering. Something is going on down yonder now." + +Monday stood up staring at the mist. + +"Them parrot scream, sah, and them monkey talk. I tink them dam bushmen +lib for come back again." + +"Then don't let your boys start shooting until they crawl close in," +Dane answered, with an indifference assumed to reassure the rest "Some +of those fellows can't hit anything with a gun, and you had better keep +a few as a standby in case they come in with a run. Let them wait until +the bushmen lib for climb the stockade, and then split their heads with +the matchets. You understand me?" + +Monday apparently did so, for he moved off with a grin which betokened +nothing pleasant for the bushmen; and Dane sat still with his eyes fixed +on the forest. Something was evidently happening, but the mist was +thick, and he could not see into its dim recesses. His few men were worn +down by hunger and continuous watching, and he feared that if the foe +pushed the attack with vigor they would certainly get in. There was no +doubt that the garrison would make a grim last stand if they did, but +that appeared at the best a poor consolation, and Dane became sensible +of a coldly murderous indignation against the bushmen. + +There was a crackle of undergrowth far below, then a sound as of men +splashing through the river which ran high and swollen; but Dane was +short of ammunition, and did not consider it advisable to fire blindly +into the mist. He felt himself quivering with suspense. Staring down the +steep face of the bluff, he waited, ready to drive a bullet through the +head of the first assailant who rose out of the vapor. Then the noise +ceased altogether, and the ensuing silence became maddening. How long +this lasted Dane could never tell, but he grew cold and hot by turns as +he waited, until a sound that was wholly unexpected became faintly +audible. It was not the rustle made by the passage of a stealthy foe, +but more resembled the approach of men marching in some order. While the +blood pulsed within him he saw that the camp boys glanced from him to +the vapor under the influence of an overwhelming excitement. But though +the sound came nearer, the mist, which was thicker than ever, still hid +all below, until a negro's head rose out of it, and Dane saw that he +carried a hammock pole. Then a wild shout went up, and Monday's yell +rang through all the rest: + +"Cappy Maxwell lib!" + +There was an end of all discipline. Weapons went down clattering, and +famishing men, who during many weary days had vainly scanned the +forest, poured out through the stockade gate and raced madly down the +slope to welcome those who had brought them the long expected help. For +a moment Dane stood stupidly still, almost too dazed to realize what had +come about, vacantly wondering how Maxwell had forced a passage without +firing a shot. Then the contagion seized him and, leaping down from the +stockade, he followed the rest. His perceptions were yet clouded by a +bewildering sense of relief, but it struck him that the hammock-bearers +came on in an ominous silence. When he reached them, Amadu looked at him +curiously, as though he would have spoken, but, brushing past, Dane tore +the wet matting aside. + +Then he stepped suddenly backward, breathless and aghast. Maxwell lay +huddled in a limp heap upon the drenched canvas, almost unrecognizable. +His face was distorted and shrunken, his jacket reddened in patches, and +his lips were cracked and black. His eyes had grown dim and glassy, and +when he spoke his very voice seemed changed. + +"Have I altered so much that you don't know me, comrade?" + +"You have brought us our lives, Carsluith, but God knows I would rather +have stayed on here forever than to see you come like this," said Dane. + +Maxwell moved a little, and there was the ghost of a smile in his +half-dosed eyes. + +"I really couldn't help it. I hardly think I shall trouble you long. A +bushman back in the forest shot me." + +"Don't!" Dane answered hoarsely. "It can't be so bad as that. I won't +believe it!" + +Maxwell let his hand fall into his comrade's palm as though to convince +him. + +"I am afraid it is. I have been holding on to my life +desperately--because I wanted to see you before I went," he said +brokenly. + +The touch of his clammy hand struck a cold chill through Dane, who, +turning abruptly, bade the hammock boys carry their burden with all +speed to the tent. What he saw there convinced him that Carsluith +Maxwell had made his last adventurous march, and that the best to be +hoped for him was a painless passing to his rest. Maxwell also knew it, +and though Dane could say nothing because of the choking sensation in +his throat, he looked up at him and nodded. + +"Hopeless, isn't it? This case is beyond your skill," he said faintly. +"We have been good comrades, but even the best partnership can't last +forever. Still, you might do what little you can, for there are things I +want to tell you." + +Dane went out to seek for his case of drugs, and just then, as if in +mockery, a blaze of sunshine beat down on clustering negroes and +rain-beaten camp. Swayed by a sudden gust of grief and passion, the man +shook his fist at the river and cursed what lay beneath it. It seemed to +his overwrought fancy that the stain of blood was on the gold, the blood +of the staunchest comrade any man ever starved or fought beside. Though +their friendship had been neither lengthy nor demonstrative, the +hardships and perils undergone had woven a bond between them that knit +them as close as brothers. Nevertheless, Dane had yet to learn all that +his comrade had done for him. + +Maxwell slept or lapsed into unconsciousness all afternoon, but he +revived a little by nightfall, and beckoned his comrade near him. The +night was black and hot. Because Dane had given stringent orders, no +negro's voice reached them, and they seemed utterly alone, hemmed in by +the darkness of Africa. Dane could hear only the river moan below, and +he found it necessary to cough huskily, for again, as he remembered one +other night when they sat there together filled with bright hopes for +the future, an obstruction gathered in his throat. Maxwell told him of +his journey, in a low, strained voice, halting for breath at frequent +intervals, and every word burned itself into the listener's memory. +Maxwell always put things vividly and tersely. + +"It was a wonderful march; but I have let you talk too much," said Dane, +when he concluded. "So it was by Lilian's help you fitted out the +expedition, and she rode all night across the mountains to warn +Chatterton. It was what one might have expected. God bless her!" + +"Amen," said Maxwell, with full solemnity. "The talking can't make much +difference now--I shall have a long rest to-morrow. There is still +something I must say, and even if I am blundering it seems best to +speak. We are very blind when we think we see most clearly, Hilton." + +Dane looked at the speaker with some bewilderment as he let his head +fall back on the matting, and lay still gasping. Five long minutes +passed before he spoke again. + +"Will you raise me a little, Hilton? My breath comes short." + +Dane slipped one arm beneath his shoulder before Maxwell continued. + +"It is strange that neither of us guessed; but all was for the best, +maybe. The knowledge might have severed our friendship--I hardly think +much more than that would part us now. Though twice I came near doing +so, I never told you that I asked Miss Chatterton to marry me." + +It was only by an effort that Dane held his arm motionless so that it +still supported the dying man. It seemed the strangest of all the +strange happenings that they two should have braved so much together for +the love of the same woman. + +Maxwell saw his blank surprise, and smiled feebly. + +"You asked Lilian Chatterton to marry you?" Dane repeated dazedly. + +"Very foolish of me, was it not? But there is no reason for such +surprise that I should desire it; and I promptly discovered my folly. I +also gathered there was somebody who might please her better. Now you +have the simple fact, but as there is an inference you must listen +still. How could I have guessed the truth--after what I saw at the +Hallows Brig? It appeared impossible to me that any man who had won Miss +Chatterton's approval could find pleasure in----" + +"Stop!" cried Dane, striving to hold his excitement in check. "You were +mistaken, Carsluith. It was only out of pity, and because the +imprisonment of her brother would bring destitution upon her, that I met +that girl." + +"I can take your word," Maxwell said quietly. "That was the one point +which troubled me. Strange, isn't it, that on my last night I should +talk in this fashion; but when one's grasp on material things grows +feeble the others assume their due value. Yes, I loved Lilian +Chatterton--as I love her still--though it was madness to think that +she, fresh and bright with innocent light-heartedness, could stoop to +mate with a somber man like me. But raise me a little. I can't see you +clearly, Hilton." + +Dane did as he was bidden, and Maxwell continued: + +"I want you to remember that it was my fault, Hilton. Miss Chatterton +never suspected until I spoke that night we passed you at Hallows Brig. +I had a suspicion you admired her before that time, but it vanished +completely then. You see how each trivial incident fitted in. She was +very gentle, but I knew her decision was final--and still I did not see +the truth." + +As Maxwell looked into his comrade's eyes a quiver ran through Dane. + +"I am bewildered, and it seems brutal to ask you questions now," he said +huskily. "But you have more to tell." + +Maxwell's eyes signified assent, but he paused to gather breath. + +"It is only because I am dying. Otherwise, you would never have heard +this from me, but it seems best for both that you should know. It was +naturally not for--my--sake Miss Chatterton made that midnight journey." + +Maxwell smiled wistfully as he let his head sink back again; and Dane, +drawing his arm away, said nothing for a few minutes. It was wonderful +news he had heard, but the price which had been paid for his safety was +unbearably heavy. + +"You are a very staunch friend--and this makes it the harder for me to +lose you. If only there was anything a man could do to prevent it! +Carsluith, rouse yourself! I can't lose you!" + +"It makes it the easier for me to go," said Maxwell. "If what I hope for +happens, you will always be kind to her, Hilton. Just moisten my lips +with the brandy." + +There was silence afterward, for Maxwell lay breathing unevenly with his +eyes closed, and Dane was swayed in turn by satisfaction and a crushing +sense of loss. He suffered from remorse as well. Maxwell dying had +revealed a side of his nature his comrade now knew he should have seen +manifested in his actions if not in his words. + +It was the sufferer who first spoke again. + +"It was Rideau who brought misfortune upon us from the beginning, and to +judge by the rifle the bushman left, he was the instigator of the last +attack." + +"May worse befall me if I do not repay him fully before I leave Africa!" +Dane said, solemnly. + +Maxwell appeared to smile as he had always done when his partner was +unusually emphatic. + +"He had excuses, Hilton, and I am past all desire for vengeance now. For +one thing he recognized the señorita's gift to you. Still, for the sake +of Miss Castro--and she promised to help me--I would advise you not to +let him go free to continue his persecution of Dom Pedro. We both owe +her a good deal, and I would like you, if possible, to tell her so. You +might add my respectful remembrance, too. There is yet another point. +Whatever my share of this gold may be, I bequeath it to you, with my +blessing, on condition that you send the boys back happy, with as much +cloth as they can carry, to wherever they came from. The poor devils +served us faithfully. When I have rested, I would like to see Amadu. +Then I think my work will be finished, and I can only await the summons +to answer for what I have failed in. It will come before sunrise, +Hilton." + +An hour passed slowly while Dane listened to the ticking of his watch; +then Maxwell opened his eyes again, and Dane beckoned to Amadu, who +stood waiting without. He came in, still wearing the straight blade +which had struck the murderer down, and stood like a bronze statue +beside his master. + +"I want to thank you for faithful service, Amadu," Maxwell said weakly. +"You shall have the gun--you have won it--and whatever else you wish +besides. We made two great journeys together, but I cannot take you with +me now." + +The big man bent until Maxwell's thin hand rested on his head. What they +said Dane failed to comprehend, but Amadu seemed to do him homage, and +when he rose, he moved slowly, with raised palms and head bent, backward +out of the tent. Then as Maxwell's eyes closed he crouched in the +entrance, with the steel, which caught the lamplight, lying naked across +his knee. + +"Often I lib for watch them white man so," he said softly. "No djinn or +devil go near him now." + +Maxwell said little further. He slept or lay unconscious for some time, +and then just smiled for a moment as his eyes rested on the grim +sentinel with the bronze limbs and raw blue draperies, guarding the +entrance. When he next roused himself he laid his chilly hand on one of +Dane's, and showed a faint sign of pleasure when his comrade's fingers +closed upon it. Once again he murmured, but it was rather by the +movements of his lips than by audible sound that Dane gathered the +message: + +"You will tell her I kept my promise." + +That was his last effort, for when the night was almost gone the fingers +which lay limp in Dane's grew rigid. Then Dane stood up stiffly, +desolate, knowing that the spirit of Carsluith Maxwell had passed to +find such rest as may be reserved for the souls of loyal gentlemen. But +the dust claims that which sprang from it quickly in that land, and the +comrade he left to mourn over him found his own endurance heavily taxed +before the aliens who had helped him at his task took up their stations +with weapons girt about them, a barbaric guard of honor, at the dead +man's head and feet. It was Amadu who strapped the big revolver by its +lanyard to his master's wrist, when, scattering a few of the +heavy-scented lily blossoms, Dane folded the tired hands. Then they kept +their vigil together, and it did not seem incongruous that dusky cattle +thief and soldier of fortune should watch beside the English adventurer. +Humanity is greater than color and creed, and it was as those who had +suffered together they did their dead due honor. + +The rain had ceased and a dazzling sunrise flamed across the forest when +Dane stooped for a last glance at Carsluith Maxwell. The pain had faded +from his face, and he lay in impressive serenity as one who rested with +his work well done. Then the lonely survivor went out into the +brightness of the morning with a grief that found no expression mingled +in his heart with the lust of vengeance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +ON TO THE COAST + + +Nature, untrammeled by human inventions, takes her own way swiftly in +the fever land, and the sun had hardly cleared the cottonwoods when Dane +found himself mechanically following a tattered hammock borne high on +the heads of dusky men. Though there was somber cloud above, dazzling +brightness beat into their set faces, and flashed on glistening blade +and long gun-barrel borne by those who marched behind. There was no word +spoken. Only the patter of naked feet and the jingle of steel broke +through the impressive hush, for that morning every leaf hung limp and +still. It was with all solemnity that Carsluith Maxwell set out on his +last journey. + +Dane halted by the eastern gate of the stockade, watching the black men +swing past him file by file; they were as strange a company as ever +followed a British gentleman to his grave--Moslem bandit, woolly haired +bush thief, stalwart, heathen Kroo, brown desperadoes who had fought the +French under the banner of the great Sultan, and two-legged beasts of +burden from the steaming swamps. Still, unstable and unreasoning, with +the light-heartedness of a child and the cruelty of a devil, as many +were, it gave the watcher a mournful pleasure to see that one and all +had come to pay respect to their dead leader; and he showed his wonder +when Amadu cried aloud, and the glinting flintlocks swung together, with +muzzles to the rear. Dane guessed that the dusky adventurer had not +learned to reverse arms in the service of any hinterland Emir. + +He followed, seeing as one walking in a dream, the sinuous line of sable +limbs and white and blue draperies wind on through deepening shadow. +When Amadu cried again, the moving figures fell apart on either hand, +and Dane was left with their leader and the bearers beside a shallow +trench, on which one shaft of sunlight fell. He cast his ragged hat down +on the sand, and in a voice which seemed to belong to some other person +recited such fragmentary portions of the last office as he could +remember. No one moved among all the silent company, but there was an +inarticulate murmur when at last the solemn words broke off. + +Dane remembered nothing further beyond the dull thud of shovels; his +eyesight seemed to fail him, until presently he found himself moving +dejectedly back to camp behind the straggling company. He must have +slept when he reached his tent, for the sun was low when Monday and +Amadu stood outside the entrance, calling him. When he rose wearily, +Amadu pointed to the groups of men waiting without. + +"Them boy lib for savvy what you do now, sah," he said in the coast +palaver. + +"I can't tell them just yet," Dane answered. "What do they wish +themselves?" + +It was a few moments before his meaning dawned upon Amadu, for the white +man felt too dazed to frame his thoughts in other than everyday English. + +"Them carrier bushmen lib for beach and go back to his own country one +time," said Amadu. "Say this country belong to the Ju-ju." + +No man could have blamed the carriers. They had in their own fashion +done their utmost, and Dane almost shared their opinion about the +locality; but he pointed to other men of lighter color and soldierly +aspect. + +"Do these want to lib for their own country one time, too?" he asked. + +Amadu laughed mirthlessly, and fingering the hilt of the straight blade +glanced at Monday, whose face was very grim, and the little negro, Bad +Dollar, crouching close by with a polished matchet in his hand. + +"They say they follow you if you be fit to hunt them Leopard or go chop +them dam Rideau." + +"They shall have an answer to-morrow," said Dane. "Monday, see there is +order in the camp. Tell them no man is fit to reach the coast himself, +and must wait until I go with him. There is something I want to ask you, +Amadu. What you did was well done, but who taught you how, when a white +soldier is buried, men carry the gun. Your master has gone, and I am +Cappy now." + +As it were mechanically, the big dusky alien closed his heels together, +while his hand went up to his ragged turban and fell again with a rigid +precision. + +"I had suspected it already," said Dane, half-aloud. "Sit down and tell +me about it. Monday, see no boy leaves the camp." + +The others disappeared, and Dane was glad when the man obeyed him. He +was respectful and intelligent, and Dane felt the need of company. It +seemed that the same feeling troubled Amadu. + +"The white man has guessed," he said, in a strangely mixed idiom. "I +carried an Emir's standard in the North, in the dry country where men +fear Allah, and there is corn and tobacco. My master mocked at the +Sultan, refusing his tribute, and the Sultan's horsemen came upon us +while we slept. They wore fine iron chain and carried the guns which +come south through the desert from where no man knows, but for an hour a +handful of us held the gate with the sword. Then when other gates went +down and the huts burned behind us, some one brought my master's horse, +and he rode out upon them. There were less than a score of us living +then, but we carried the standard almost through their midst, and when +my master went down, I and three others stood over him. The Sultan had +fewer men and horses when at last a gun-butt struck me down." + +Amadu flung his head up as he halted, and his eyes glittered when they +fastened on the listener's face. + +"The Sultan was served by men, and not by such as the heathen who follow +the little white man," he said. + +Dane could draw the intended inference, and when he nodded Amadu +appeared satisfied. + +"When I lay in the grass next morning only the wall remained of the +town," continued the dusky soldier of fortune. "There were sufficient +heads hung about it already, so I fled south to serve the White Queen, +as others of my people had done. We would follow the strongest, and knew +how the great Emir of the West had mocked the white men who do not speak +your tongue. So I came south and learned the drill, and wondered if the +English were mad when they sent a lad with the face of a woman to lead +us. There were twenty of us, all broken men who had lived by the sword, +and some laughed when for the first time our officer spoke to us. Others +answered him openly, and, perhaps not understanding all, he said no word +to them; but when one night four men returned carrying plunder they had +stolen from the heathen, and, mocking at his orders, threatened him, he +shot their leader. He stood alone before us, very slight and slender, +with the smoke of the pistol curling about him, and any one of those who +stood by could have crushed him with their hand; but we went back to our +huts when he told us, and henceforward obeyed him. + +"It happened that when time had passed, and we knew our officer, as he +knew us, we went up with him to chastise certain thieves, and came upon +a stockade across the path, with many men who carried guns behind it. +The sun hung low over the forest, and we feared treachery when one held +out a palm branch; but refusing to heed us, our officer went forward +alone to speak with the heathen. He stood as he used to stand, with one +hand on his side, so, holding in the other only a little cane, the +stockade ten paces from him, and we waiting, as he had bidden us, it may +be a hundred, behind him. A wise man would not have done so, but the one +who led us feared nothing. He spoke, and his voice came clear through +the shadow as he stood twisting his cane a little, one lonely white man +demanding submission from the heathen. Then a gun flashed, and he fell +forward on his face, and with a cry for vengeance we swept the stockade. +The heathen did not wait for the steel, and most of them escaped, for +darkness fell suddenly upon the forest. + +"We knew they would fly to the stronghold of a thief in the country of +the white men who speak a different tongue, where, when certain thieves +had done so, our leader might not follow; but when we had buried him we +made a plan, and swore to send many of the bushmen after him. The night +was far spent when we crept softly about the stockade of that heathen +village, but men drunk with palm wine made merry within, doubtless +boasting how they had slain our leader. It was one who had served the +Sultan, climbing the stockade, drove his bayonet through the watcher at +the gate, and no man saw us slip from hut to hut until we gathered +softly about the headman's house, where in honor of the strangers who +had killed a white man there was feasting. + +"Three we could count on held the door, the rest went in, and there +remained no one living when they came out again. Then we burned the +village, and I went back to the outpost of the next white Captain and +told him what we had done. He had eyes like the Captain Maxwell, and +listened very quietly, tapping with his fingers on the table--so--but +another white man whom I did not know, smote it, calling upon Allah in +the speech of the English. + +"Then the Captain looked hard at me, asking, 'You had no order?' + +"'No. He was our master, and those bush thieves killed him +treacherously,' I said boldly, and one white man nodded to the other. + +"'You were wise to speak the truth in this,' said the Captain. 'Your +master would never have given that order; but there are men who will not +believe the rest of your tale.' + +"'By salt and by fire,' I was answering, when he lifted his hand. + +"'I said there are men who will doubt you, and say you shot your leader. +Even if that is not so, you have killed many of our good friends' +people.' When he said this the listening white man laughed a little. +'Their nation will demand restitution, and it is possible the +Commissioner will hang you for what you did--which would not please me, +for you are a good soldier, Amadu. Now you must wait in prison until we +hear from him.' + +"Again the white man smiled, and I could not read all that was in the +Captain's face as he looked at me, but his friend spoke, in the speech +of the English, saying that if he did something he would be condemned. +So I was laid in prison, and stayed there several days, fearing greatly +that I, who had carried the Emir's standard, should hang like a common +bushman, until one night the comrade who brought me rations set down a +treble quantity. + +"'Am I to hang, a fat man, to please the white men who speak +differently?' I asked him, but he answered nothing. + +"It was near midnight when I heard the silver whistle, and a sound of +running feet, after some one called the guard. Now I did not wish to +hang, and Allah gave me understanding. The roof was of whitened iron, +but the door was not strong, and they had left me my rifle, which was +not usual. The door went down at the second blow, and no man saw me as I +fled for the bush, taking the rifle and three days' food with me. Still, +I knew it would not be well for me to remain in the country of the +English, and when no man would hire me, I took service with my last +master. Two I had were killed before him, but neither was his equal, +and I shall not find such another in all Africa--though my service is +not completed yet." + +Again there was a mutual understanding between the pair, and when Dane +nodded Amadu went out softly. The story had interested and also +encouraged him, for he knew he would not be left without a helper in +what he had still to do. Now that the numbness which followed the blow +had begun to pass, there was sufficient to occupy his attention, and +Dane never closed his eyes that night. The gold won would suffice to +cover the cost of the two expeditions, and leave a balance which would +enable him to launch his invention. Dane feared that, situated where the +mine was, no company could be induced to handle it. It appeared certain +that the climate, the sicknesses, and the hostility of the natives would +between them prevent any private adventurers from working it +successfully. Nothing could be done for some months at least, until the +rains had ceased; and before morning the one white man who knew the +river's secret had decided to keep it and send no more of his countrymen +to their deaths in the Leopards' country. At the best, the mine lay in +no-man's-land, and he had not even a black ruler's doubtful concession +for reckless speculators to operate upon. + +What Dane had seen and suffered had humbled his pride. Maxwell's last +news still thrilled him, and he determined he would do what might better +have been done earlier--ask the woman for whose sake he had pressed on +into that forest to wait until he had made further progress in his +legitimate profession. So far, the way was clear, but even before his +comrade left him a desire for vengeance had been growing stronger +within the survivor, and now a sullen fury filled the lonely man, who +had pledged himself to demand a full account for any breach of trust, +and had not hitherto failed his promise. + +At sunrise, leaving his tent unrefreshed, he called the men together and +addressed them first collectively. + +"I will take you all back to the coast, and you will receive more than +you bargained for when you get there," he said, rendering it, however, +into the seaboard tongue. "Still, as the bushmen may try to stop us on +the way, you will not start until you are rested, and I think you ready. +We may not go quite the shortest way, but no boy shall suffer for it who +serves me well." + +There was an approving shout when the listeners grasped his meaning, but +Dane called Amadu and Monday aside. + +"Before or after I take these boys to the coast, I have an account to +settle with Rideau. You will help me?" he said; and when he had made his +purpose plainer, a dozen of his special bodyguard came forward, +protesting their willingness to follow. + +They set to work at once, and there was much to be done. Arms required +to be stripped and oiled, loads packed for transport, and Dane drilled +his men an hour or two each day. A number of days passed before all was +ready, and then the combined forces looked fit for whatever they might +have to do; their leader recognized that the work might be arduous. + +It was early in the morning, and all waited for the word to march, when +Dane stood bareheaded beside a little cross on the bluff beyond the +camp. For a few moments his eyes grew misty as he glanced down at the +date and name he had painfully hacked upon it. He felt that he would +never meet the equal of the man who slept beneath. + +"Good-by, comrade. You will be long remembered," he murmured thickly; +then he solemnly recorded a vow that while Rideau went free and +unpunished his own affairs would wait. Dane owed the dead man a duty, +and he had taken upon himself a pledge which he meant to discharge +thoroughly. + +It was with as little parade of weapons as possible that the expedition +headed for the coast, for the men had their orders and Amadu saw they +were carried out. Those who carried matchets wore them hidden under +their cotton robes, while at times the rank and file were allowed to +straggle unchecked, with small semblance of discipline, in a drawn-out +line. The discipline, however, was there, and disaster would have +overtaken any bushmen who attempted to profit by the apparent lack of +it. Dane did not order defenses of any kind to be raised at night, and +generally had his tent pitched apart from the main camp; so that when +they had made wide detours through dense forest and reeking swamp, some +of the black men commenced to murmur as well as wonder at his +recklessness. Amadu, Monday, and the negro, Bad Dollar, with whom he +held long conferences, realized, however, that their leader was by no +means inconsistent, even if they did not know that he was to all intents +and purposes the victim of a monomania. + +When it was too late forever to tell him so, he realized what his fallen +comrade had been to him; and remembering how Maxwell reached the river +camp, it was with difficulty that he refrained from breaking out into +fits of baresark rage at the thought of their third partner's +treachery. The knowledge that it was necessary to pit an intelligence +unhampered by senseless fury against the enemy's cunning alone +restrained him; for he felt that Rideau, who had probably heard by this +time of his relief, even if he did not know it earlier, would strike +again to ensure his own personal safety. He had no lack of opportunity, +but, either by accident or by judgment, for long refused to fall into +the trap, however temptingly Dane baited it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AN EYE FOR AN EYE + + +The expedition wandered southward leisurely, and Dane grew more savagely +sullen as they passed dripping forest and foul morass in safety, until +at last he ordered his tent to be pitched one sunset, fully a hundred +yards from the camp. The light was failing when he stood outside it +looking about him with a curious suggestion of anticipation in his face. +They had reached the southern fringe of the Leopards' country, and +another week's march should place them in touch with French officials. +The forest was comparatively open, the cottonwoods growing well apart; +and gazing between the long rows of towering trunks streaked by blue +wood smoke, Dane could catch the shimmer of a sluggish creek. It was +deep and miry, and haunted, as he had seen, by huge saurians, but a +little produce evidently came down that way, for the bush path on either +side was connected by a native ferry. + +As he made a last survey the light died out; and his lamp was lighted +when Amadu, Monday, and Bad Dollar came softly into the tent. Dane stood +upright, but the rest crouched low among the cases, that they might not +reveal their presence on the illuminated canvas. Monday growled a +protest as he noticed how his master's figure was projected against it +by the light; but his comments fell unheeded, for there was a definite +purpose behind the white man's imprudence. + +"Again I found the footsteps," Amadu reported, using a mixture of +several tongues, as well as broken English. "The men who made them were +tired, and have doubtless followed us far. They will surely be satisfied +when they see us resting to-night." + +Monday grinned wickedly; Bad Dollar flung back his woolly head and broke +into a silent laugh; and Dane felt a thrill of satisfaction as he +glanced at the speaker. The four formed a curiously assorted company; +but one purpose dominated each of them equally, and the leader was +contented with his assistants. + +"One wore boots and trod in the soft places as no black man would," said +Amadu, reading the unspoken question in the white man's eyes. "Another +wore sandals, and went cunningly, as did the rest, walking as we do upon +our naked feet. Still, they left this behind them among the thorns." + +He held out what Dane was not surprised to see, a small tuft of +leopard's fur, and laughed harshly. + +"Ho, ho! We shall try whether they are devils with lead and steel!" + +"The ferry canoe?" asked Dane briefly; and Amadu nodded. + +"I go to see to it, and afterward it will need good witchcraft to find +it. If any one would go south in a hurry he must swim to-night." + +"There are crocodiles in that stream," smiled Dane. "You will take men +you can trust and hide them where the path winds down to the water, +Amadu. Monday, you will see that until I call, no boy leaves the camp, +but let them lie down with their matchets beside them. Bad Dollar will +wait with me; and I will borrow Cappy Maxwell's gun to-night, Amadu." + +Sitting low among the cases now, Dane made careful preparations for his +own share in the approaching tragedy. That it would prove one he felt +certain. He cleaned Maxwell's gun with a loving care, polishing the +inside of the barrel until it glistened, and touching each part of the +action with oil. The weapon was a heavy, single eight-bore, with a +rubber pad on the heel; part of this Dane cut away, leaving the steel +bare, because he knew that at close quarters the butt of a heavy gun may +prove as deadly as the muzzle. It was with a curious stirring of +recollections that he saw the dead man's initials cut into the elevated +rib, and because of them his face was the sterner as he laid down the +weapon. At short range in the darkness it was likely to prove more +formidable than any rifle, and--for Dane was wholly under the influence +of the monomania--his own safety counted for little if he could use it +with due effect. + +Presently he reloaded half a dozen cartridges with heavy B pellets, +crimping the wads down almost affectionately, and thrust one into the +chamber and the rest into his pocket. Never were cartridges filled with +greater care. Then he laid two of the colored lights Maxwell had brought +beside the tent door, made sure he could find them by feeling alone, and +placed a tin match-box in one pocket where it could be most quickly +grasped. + +At last all was ready, and Dane sat perched high on a deal case between +the lamp and the canvas for a while. Any one in the forest could, of +course, see him clearly; but though Dane expected his foes would strike +that night he did not fear a long-range shot. Rideau, he knew, must have +recognized that his late associate could lay a formidable complaint +before the authorities, who, regarding his inland journeys with +suspicion, would be glad to fasten any charge upon him, and perhaps +equally glad of an excuse to send an expedition up into the Leopards' +country. + +After lying for a time on the matting at one end of the tent, he rose +and turned the lamp out; the watching then was not cheerful, and it was +comforting to feel the weight of the big gun upon his knee. The last hum +of voices had died away in camp, the fires burned low, and except for an +occasional floundering beside the creek, the bush was strangely silent. +The darkness was now intense. The wild animals would await moonrise to +begin their hunting; what Dane expected would happen before then. He +could not see Bad Dollar, who crouched somewhere near the entrance of +the tent, though he heard his file grate softly upon a matchet, and +could picture him running a black thumb along the keen-edged blade at +every cessation. + +Confused memories crowded upon Dane, with Maxwell stalking through them +all. He saw him again, alert, indomitable, resourceful, quelling the +mutinous, cheering the dejected, and tending the sick. He saw him +gasping his life away in that very tent, with, regardless of his own +agony, words which would brighten all his partner's future upon his +lips; and again a gust of passion stirred the lonely man in every fiber. +It passed, and--for Dane was not for the time being wholly sane--left +behind it a coldly murderous resolution. + +Suddenly there was a touch upon his leg. Without a sound Bad Dollar had +wriggled toward him. Turning as silently as he could, Dane crawled to +the entrance, where he crouched with his right heel beneath him, behind +the drawn-back sheeting which hung slackly. It was so dark that he could +scarcely distinguish the nearest cottonwood; but though his ears failed +to localize any definite sound he became conscious of some danger +approaching. Under different circumstances Dane would have felt +distinctly uneasy, knowing, as he did, that the thick gloom sheltered +those who sought his life. Then, however, he feared only that he had not +accurately loaded the cartridge, or that the damp had spoiled the +fulminating mixture inside its cap; and his fingers were woodenly steady +as they tightened on the gun. + +He felt with one hand for the socket of the signal light and found it, +stretched out a foot and pressed it against Bad Dollar when he touched +him again warningly; and then the vague sensation of impending danger +grew into shape at a recognizable sound. Noiselessly almost, but not +quite, somebody or something was crawling toward the tent. + +Dane suspended his very respiration as he strained his eyes, and +listened. He could see nothing, and his ears seemed filled with a dull +throbbing, but in spite of this he could hear the faintest of rustlings +on two sides of the tent at once, and knew that, because no white man +could move in such a manner, his dusky enemies were coming. One seemed +to be making for the end of the tent, where his bed was spread; the +other was creeping toward the entrance to prevent the escape of the +victim in case his comrade failed at the first attempt. It was done with +so little noise that Dane found it hard to realize he had creatures of +flesh and blood to deal with, and not the malevolent devils the bushmen +believed in. Bad Dollar made no further movement, and Dane crouched +woodenly still, only sliding his forefinger inside the guard of the +trigger when at last a spray of leaves swished softly a few yards away. + +Then he heard somebody breathing close beside him, and knew that sudden +death stood hidden behind the slacker sheeting which began to roll back +very slowly; and yet, while the throbbing in his ears grew louder, he +remained impassive another few seconds. He had awaited that moment +patiently; and he meant to strike decisively, for his dead comrade's +sake. There was no light. The night was black and thick; but some sense +beside that of the optic nerve made it evident that part of the moving +sheeting was more rigid than the rest because it rested against human +flesh. Knowing that at the next move the assassin would fall over him, +Dane felt for that portion of the sheeting with the muzzle of the gun +while his forefinger contracted on the trigger. + +The barrel found something that yielded as he added the last ounce of +pressure; there was a detonation; the white man fell backward with his +eyes filled with smoke and two fingers gashed by the trigger guard; and +something that struggled convulsively fell upon the canvas and bore it +down. + +The tent collapsed behind Dane as he slipped from under it; but knowing +how the heavy B-shot would at that distance smash through bone and +muscle, he paid no more attention to this assailant. First he snapped +out the spent cartridge and crammed another home, then, striking a +match, touched the signal light. It smoldered for a moment, then a +column of blue fire swept aloft, and its radiance which beat athwart the +towering trunks showed a striking spectacle. + +Close behind the white man a shapeless heap of fur and black flesh lay +quivering upon the over-turned tent. Half-seen for a second a dim +figure, whose garments were not those of a native, vanished among the +remoter trunks. Men with weapons came flitting out of the shadows which +shrouded the camp; and about thirty yards away a monstrous object with +the head of a beast and the legs of a man was slinking toward a creeper +festoon. Dane flung the gun to his shoulder and fired as it ran, but the +glare of the light beat transversely along the barrel, blinding him. +Springing clear of the filmy smoke, he saw the second assailant was +still running, and he sprang forward without waiting to reload. The +light would last but a few more seconds. Still, the object moved at +twice his speed, and might have escaped but that as he blundered on, +choking in his haste, a diminutive figure ran forth to meet it, and the +beast flung an upper limb aloft. Dane saw the spear which had been meant +for his destruction draw back to stab; but the negro, Bad Dollar, sprang +sideways, and his broad matchet, long filed to a razor-edge, flared +under the last flicker of the light as he swung it round his head. Then +there was sudden darkness, a thud and a crash. + +Dane, guessing that Bad Dollar's matchet had bitten deep, and that his +carrier comrades would see his victim did not escape, turned at top-most +speed in the direction of the creek. Men came running behind him; but a +heavier sound was audible through the patter of their feet, and he knew +that one who was not barefooted fled for his life near ahead. He was +running fast, but Dane, flinging the gun down, knew that he was gaining, +and remembered that the man he sought would find his passage barred +across the creek. So they ran, straining every sinew in a desperate +race. Now and then one smashed through a thorn brake, or staggered, +catching his foot in a creeper vine, but neither went down, and the +gurgle of the creek grew nearer all the time. Dane raised his voice, and +though his cry was barely articulate it proved sufficient, and as +Amadu's hail came back in answer the footsteps before him grew slower, +and a tongue of flame shot up. + +So far there had been no miscarriage, and to furnish light for the +climax a torch had been kept ready by one of Amadu's men. It showed +first the group of grim black figures which guarded the narrow path to +the water through tall cane, and then a man in European dress who stood +still, gasping with fear and rage. + +It was Victor Rideau. + +"See that no boy fires on him unless he moves!" Dane made shift to cry; +and Rideau, turning, met him face to face. + +"I have expected you a long time," Dane said brokenly, for the race had +taxed his strength, and once more he was shaken by a fit of futile rage. +"Now I can't tell you how I regret we did not meet just five minutes +earlier." + +This was an adequate expression of the pursuer's feelings, for as his +enemy stood gazing about him in abject terror, Dane felt he could not +strike him down in cold blood, and he longed fiercely that he might be +provoked to some fresh violence. + +"Can you understand, you thief and midnight assassin, that there is not +enough room in this country for both of us?" + +"I comprehend nothing, camarade," Rideau answered calmly. "What would +you of me?" + +"Satisfaction!" Dane tried to choke down his fury. "There is a long +account between us, and we could have settled it with less difficulty +if you had had the courage of your confederates a few minutes ago. As it +is, you can choose between a dash for the forest and a volley as you go, +or a journey down to the coast in my custody. There you will be turned +over to the authorities. I reserve myself the privilege, if they do not +render you incapable of further mischief." + +Rideau laughed. + +"There I should denounce you for the plunder and killing of the +Indigene. The Administration has no charge against me. I am good friend +of the sous official, me. My friend, you are excite, and talk +foolishly." + +"If the chief of the Administration is a friend of yours, his own words +don't bear it out. I can substantiate quite sufficient against you; and +unless I'm greatly mistaken, the man with the cross on his forehead lies +riddled with big shot beside my tent. A number of my boys will swear to +his identity. In the meantime I have no further words to waste with you. +I intend to give the Administration the first opportunity for rewarding +you. It will be time for me to take further steps if they do not profit +by it as I think they will." + +Dane felt that he was weak; but even in his passion there were things he +could not do, and his enemy's helplessness was his protection. Also, he +knew that justice is tempered with discretion throughout much of that +country, and he hoped that if the Authorities suspected Rideau of +different offenses, but could not convict him, they would see that this +charge did not miscarry. + +The assumption of indifference faded from Rideau's face, and with a +swift glance over his shoulder he drew out his hand from under his +jacket. Dane afterward decided that he saw, what all the rest were too +intent to notice, that the torch was burning out; for with an evident +effort and a shrug of his shoulders he answered quietly. + +"La bas they laugh at you, and I make you pay. Alors, when I am impotent +I surrender to the force majeure." + +Dane, calling to Amadu, strode forward with the failing light upon him. +Unarmed as he was, this was distinctly foolish, and he might have paid +for his folly, for just before the negro dropped the torch Rideau flung +one hand up, and simultaneously with a thin flash something hummed past +the Briton's head. There was bewildering darkness, and Dane ran straight +in upon his enemy, or where he supposed him to be, determined in spite +of the pistol to end the feud there and then. Rideau, however, had +beaten him again, for the growth about the water-side began crackling, +and when some of Amadu's men fired into it, the sound did not cease, and +they only came near destroying their master, who plunged savagely +through the bending stems. + +He fell into a pit of slime, sinking to the waist, and lost precious +time floundering in its oozy grip before he dragged himself out. Then +there was further ooze with matted roots which fouled his feet, while a +sound behind him showed that the negroes were following. It was Amadu +who, when he had waded up to the shoulders and sought for room to swim, +dragged him backward by main force; and though Dane struggled, he was +held fast in a grasp against which he was powerless. + +"If the white man is alive he makes no sound," he said. "No man could +find him in this darkness, but perhaps they who crawl along the bottom +will. Still, when one brings the canoe up we will look for him." + +As his reason returned to him Dane realized that the search would be +useless. A hundred men might fail to find a fugitive who cowered +motionless amid the luxuriant aquatic growth, though, as Amadu had +suggested, the scaled inhabitants of the river would be less likely to +miss him. Still, when somebody brought up a canoe he encouraged them by +extravagant offers of cloth, and then turned back hurriedly toward the +camp. It would, while the confusion lasted, lie open to attack; and Dane +hoped that his enemy, if he succeeded in crossing the river, would leave +a trail behind him which could be followed on the morrow. + +Reaching his overturned tent he found a group of curious negroes +clustered about it, and because a fire had been lighted, there was light +to show that the huddled mass of fur and dusky skin lay where it had +fallen. The canvas was foul with half-coagulated stains whose color made +it unnecessary to inquire if the wound had been fatal. Dane had no +compunction. The man who had been slain when seeking his life with +devilish cunning was one of the league which had struck down his +comrade. Stooping with a shudder of disgust, he stripped the leopard's +fur from the face beneath, and was not surprised to see that a +cross-shaped scar on the forehead showed lividly. + +"Where is the other? There were two?" he asked; and it was with relief +that he saw Bad Dollar, whom he had forgotten, shamble toward him and +then turn beckoning. Dane followed the negro, who held high a blazing +brand, toward where another monstrous object lay full length among the +trampled undergrowth. The fur had fallen partly clear of the flesh +beneath, and he saw that Bad Dollar's matchet had done its work. + +"Come here, all of you," called Dane. "Tell them to look at this man's +neck, Monday, and say if they know the meaning of what there is about +it." + +Monday talked with some of the negroes, who, chattering excitedly, bent +with fear and hesitation, to examine the tattooed device. + +"Them boy say this yellow nigger and them other be big cappy among them +Leopard, sah," Monday interpreted. "That be the Ju-Ju mark, and no +common nigger done wear him, sah." + +"Cappy Maxwell was right again," said Dane. "Make me a bed in the camp +and burn that tent to-morrow, Monday. I could not sleep in it--and I +think until I leave this ghastly country I shall not sleep again. See to +the sentries and let the rest lie down while they can. We lib for go on +again with the sun." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE ESCAPE + + +Dane was mistaken when he said he could not sleep, for hardly had Amadu +returned to report his failure to find any trace of the fugitive than he +sank into deep slumber. This was not strange. He had lived for some time +under a constant strain, sleeping very little; and now that part at +least of his task was accomplished nature had her way. It was true that +Rideau had escaped him, but Dane believed that if he was alive they +might still overtake him. He decided that Rideau's life would no longer +be worth a day's purchase in the Leopards' country, and he would head at +once for the coast. + +Events proved him right, for when he opened his eyes the next morning +Amadu stood beside his couch to say that Rideau had left a trail it was +easy to follow across the creek, and that the boys were ready to march. +They started forthwith, and that was the beginning of a memorable chase. +Every indispensable pound of weight, including the weapons, was +ruthlessly flung away once they entered a settled country. The time for +food and sleep was cut down, and the camp boys, seeing that the road led +south toward the sea, vied with each other in their efforts to shorten +the journey. The forest rolled behind them, as did miles of dusty grass; +but the chase never slackened, and, for this region was populous, they +had news of the fugitive. One morning Dane reached a village he had +passed the previous night. At another they missed him by a few hours, +and found two lame men he had hired and left behind. + +Dane's own men had flung themselves down panting in the shade, but most +of them rose cheerfully in answer to his summons, while Monday used +forcible arguments to encourage the rest, and in ten minutes all were on +their way again. They lost the path in a morass, and at the next village +they found that Rideau had increased his lead; but Dane knew that they +were near the coast, and that he held his enemy between him and the sea. +So the chase went on, until they reached a native market on the banks of +a broad stream. A white man, so its ruler stated, had seized a canoe +there a few hours earlier. + +"Say dam low t'ief man done go chop one canoe and lib for get out like +the debbil down them river," explained a negro who seemed proud of his +linguistic abilities. + +"Tell your headman I'll pay twice its value for the best craft he has," +said Dane; and then consulted with his subordinates, for it was evident +that they must divide forces here. It was not more than three days' +journey to the coast, the headman said; and taking Amadu, Bad Dollar, +and six picked Krooboys with him in the big canoe, he left Monday to +follow with the rest to Little Mahu. Dane felt sorely tempted to leave +the gold with the headman, under guard, but thought better of it. + +The Kroos were skilled with the paddle, the canoe was long and fast, and +Dane's spirits rose as he felt the thin shell surge forward at every +sturdy stroke. All that day the dusky bodies, stripped to the costume +of Eden, swayed athwart his vision over the flashing blades, as he +stared forward with aching eyes down the long vista of dazzling water +that unrolled itself before him. Palms, cottonwoods, creeper festoons, +mud banks, fled astern. The temperature grew suffocating under the glare +of afternoon, but still the thudding paddles rose and fell, while froth +licked the bows and the paddling song rose in spasmodic gasps. At sunset +they met a big trade canoe toiling upstream; and, excited by promises of +rich reward, the crew roused themselves to fresh effort when its +helmsman told them that another craft with three men in it, one of whom +was dressed as a white man, had passed him an hour earlier. + +A full moon rose over the forest presently, and they pushed on across +stretches of glistening silver and breadths of inky gloom. The Kroos had +done gallantly, but they were only beings of flesh and blood, and their +strength was ebbing fast. One who had dropped his paddle lay idle in the +bows, another appeared to be choking, and fouled his comrade's blade, +while the paddles of the rest dipped at steadily increasing intervals; +so seeing that neither bribes nor threats could stir them, Dane +desisted, almost too hoarse to make his voice audible. His hands were +raw and bleeding where the haft of his paddle had eaten into them. The +stream, however, ran with them, and they still made headway, while he +strained his heavy eyes, expecting each moment to see a canoe ahead. + +Dane, however, even yet had not gaged his enemy's ingenuity. + +They ran the craft alongside the landing of a native village in another +hour or two, crawled out of her very stiffly, and were told by the +headman that two negroes had come ashore from a passing craft to +purchase food a little earlier, while a white man lay still in her +bottom. Dane concluded from this that the fugitive had slightly +increased his lead, and he was wondering whether he could by main force +get his boys on board again, or could engage a fresh crew, when a negro +who spoke English plucked his sleeve. + +"I go look them white men in canoe soffly, soffly. What you lib for dash +me if I tell you something, suh?" + +Dane had nothing left to offer as a present, and seizing the man by the +shoulder, shook him violently. + +"Tell me at once, and you shall have whatever you want if you will go to +Mahu for it," he said. + +The headman protested, but the negro only grinned when Dane slackened +his grip. + +"I not fool man, sah. The Lord he give me sense too much. You done dash +me them jackus you have on now." + +Dane's duck jacket was badly rent, but it was garnished with ornamental +metal buttons such as the black man loves. Tearing it off, he flung it +at the speaker. The heathen, finding himself successful, desired the +white man's trousers too; but this time Dane, disregarding the headman, +shook him savagely. + +"I go look them white man, sah. He was a black man in white man's +clofes." + +Dane stared at the man stupidly; and then clustering huts, red fires, +and wondering negroes, grew hazy before him, as choking with fury he saw +what had happened. Rideau had changed clothes with one of his +followers, and sending him on for the pursuers to follow, had landed +and vanished into the forest. It was of the first importance to decide +where he would make for. Mastering himself with an effort, Dane managed +to obtain some useful information from the headman. Mahu, being +partially sheltered, was the only port in that vicinity where any one +would be likely to find surf-boats, or canoes suitable for a coast trip, +he said; for the bar of the river they had descended was generally +impassable. It seemed hardly probable that Rideau would turn north again +without equipment or escort; and deciding that he would endeavor to +escape from the colony before the authorities heard his pursuer's story, +Dane determined to push on at once for Redmond's factory. His men, +however, were utterly worn out, and finally declined to drag themselves +a yard farther. Bad Dollar lay down, and was either unwilling or unable +to get up again; only Amadu remained unbeaten. Finally the headman was +prevailed upon to provide carriers, and Dane and Amadu were borne out of +the village in lurching hammocks. + +At first the motion of a hammock is soothing, but though very weary Dane +could not sleep. The boys marched well; but consumed with impatience, he +lay wide awake peering into the darkness, and striving to encourage them +to more determined effort. They ceased the carrying song from sheer lack +of breath, and the white man could hear them panting beneath him. The +sun rose, but there was no halt for rest; and the men were stumbling +when one shouted excitedly, and not far ahead low whitewashed buildings +rose dazzlingly against the sea. + +When the carriers halted in front of them, two traders whom Dane +recognized from Maxwell's description met him at the compound gate, and +stared wonderingly when, watching them with bloodshot eyes, the newcomer +told his name. + +"Where are the rest of you, and Maxwell?" asked Redmond. "You can't have +lost the whole of them; though there's no need to tell me something has +gone wrong. Few men come home from the back country looking as though +they had enjoyed the experience, but you're almost as bad as the last +one." + +"I have not enjoyed mine," Dane answered huskily; for he remembered with +what hopes and in whose company he had first marched from the sea, and +the contrast was bitter. "Maxwell has made his last journey." + +"Dead?" + +Dane nodded; and Gilby laid a hand on his shoulder with a gesture of +sympathy which touched him. + +"He was a wonderful man--but all the rest of them are not dead, too?" + +"We lost too many. The rest are following. I will try to tell you all in +good time. Has Rideau arrived here lately?" + +Gilby smiled dryly. + +"He has; and the way he did it coupled with your own appearance would +stir up any man's curiosity. Rideau came in dressed like a nigger this +morning, in the hottest hurry, saying he'd important business down the +coast, and offered me my own price for the loan of our big surf-boat to +go there in." + +"You didn't let him have it!" Dane gasped. + +"We don't often let business pass us; but I told him to go to perdition, +if he could find his way swimming." Gilby chuckled. "I also told him +several things that needn't be repeated." + +"Gilby never had any sense to spare," interjected his comrade. "He was +so proud of the speech he made that instead of warning the niggers not +to help him, he did nothing except tell me how he said it; and Rideau +got some fishermen to take him east in their canoe. They'll be well away +to leeward now. What did the brute do?" + +"Instigated my partner's murder, and twice attempted my own life," Dane +answered in breathless haste. "But I'm in no mood to waste time. Will +you hire me that surf-boat?" + +"If you want her to follow Rideau you shall have the boat for nothing, +and we'll both come along," said Redmond. "Gilby, get down to the beach +and see to the gear and crew. Meantime, you are coming straight into the +factory to get some food. Where is Rideau making for? That I don't know, +but he'll probably try to get on board the _Minella_ if he's afraid of +you. She's billed on a stopping trip for Lagos, but she'll edge close +round Twin Point Bluff, and he'll no doubt try to board her there. +There's a nice southwester blowing now, and under the big lugsail we +ought to overhaul the canoe before he does so. She can't have got far +until the breeze sprang up." + +Dane had eaten little of late, but the food forced upon him almost +choked him now; and leaving most of it untasted, he drank feverishly; +then finding himself almost too exhausted to pace the veranda, he flung +himself impatiently into a chair. + +"Will that boat never be ready?" he asked. + +"I'm hurrying her," replied Gilby, who also seemed impatient. "One +boy's sewing a new cloth in the sail, and as she's too big to paddle +far, we can't start until it's finished. She wants some pitch run into +her bilge seams, too, and won't be ready for an hour or longer. Still, +I'm hoping to overhaul Rideau early to-morrow--and he won't enjoy the +meeting, by the look of you." + +After some discussion Redmond reluctantly agreed to remain behind in +charge of the gold Dane brought down; and it was nearly dark when, +without shipping overmuch water, the surf-boat cleared the beach, and +with tall lugsail straining, lurched away eastward over the moonlit +swell. It was then that, lying in the stern to rest and gather strength +for what might yet be required of him, Dane told Gilby his detailed +story. He could afterward recall the intent face fixed upon him, the +crash of breakers throbbing through the haze that hid the shore, and the +listing craft's swift rise and fall. At the time, however, he was +conscious of nothing except that they were speeding east, and that the +trader assured him the slender native canoe dare carry very little sail +in such a strength of breeze. Gilby held the tiller, a big Krooboy sat +on the weather gunwale slacking off the lugsail sheet each time the boat +dipped her side to a stronger puff of breeze, and Amadu lay on the +weather floorings, deadly sick and groaning horribly, to the amusement +of the amphibious heathen. + +"It will be remembered that I have suffered these torments for my +master's sake," he said in a mixture of several tongues. "Still, once we +land I will beat the life out of some of these dogs." + +The craft traveled fast, for the off-shore breeze blew fresh abeam; and +though at times it lashed the waters into foam, the helmsman daringly +held on to the whole lugsail; and so at last, when the moon hung low in +the west, and pearly streaks brightened over her starboard bow, a tall +bluff loomed blackly through the haze ahead. + +"Twin Point," said Gilby, shaking the spray from his jacket. "I have +kept her well inshore for a purpose, but now we'll ease the sheet off. +We should see the canoe once we round the head. The _Minella_ can't be +far off by this time, either." + +Dane rose stiffly, but he could see little except the belts of thinning +haze which dimmed the waters ahead. He could hear the thunder of +breakers on the invisible foot of the cliff. The light was growing each +moment, the breeze dying fast, and presently the damp lugsail slatted +against the mast. + +"Get out your paddles!" ordered Gilby. + +The lugsail rustled down, the mast was lowered. Muscular black men +perched themselves on the gunwales, and the paddles beat the water, +while, when they had brought the head abeam, the mist rolled back, and +the red track of the sunrise streaked the heaving sea. A low, black blur +and a smear of smoke crawled athwart it; while nearer the shore, and +seen only when the surf-boat climbed the long undulations, a dusky +strip, with moving figures silhouetted against the radiant sea, lurched +toward the approaching steamer. + +"There he is!" Dane shouted. "Gilby, promise those boys anything if we +overtake him! Pull up your tiller and swing her farther off-shore! If we +pass out of hailing distance I shall miss the steamer." + +"You are right; and that's the _Minella_," was the answer. "Still, if +you wish to meet Mr. Rideau you had better let me arrange things for +you. We can see him out there, but he won't see us under the high bluff +as yet, and his boys don't seem to be killing themselves yonder. He'll +expect us coming up from the southwest, and that is why I edged in along +the shore. Besides, there's a nasty piece of stone lying off the False +Point which, as the stream sets strong over it, it's wiser to keep well +clear of." + +Straining his eyes, Dane could see the surf on the Twin promontory some +distance away; and while he watched it a long undulation outshore of it +was rent asunder and a column of foam rushed aloft. It dissipated into +filmy spray, and a dull roar reached the listeners faintly. The steep +swell of the southern ocean breaks heavily along the coast. + +"That's Sunk Reed," said Gilby. "A steam-boat went ashore there three +years ago and smashed most of her bottom out in less than five minutes. +Since then careful skippers coming round False Point haul out from +shore. By the way the _Minella_'s steering, it's not certain that either +Rideau or ourselves will catch her. Paddle, you black devils, paddle!" + +Dane fancied the boys were doing their utmost, but the progress they +made appeared distressfully slow. The steamer was rising higher all the +time, but thin haze still clung about the rocks, and the surf-boat +probably remained unseen against the towering background. The canoe also +was growing larger, and Dane could plainly see the sunken reef hurling +clouds of spray aloft ahead of her, for the flood-tide joining the usual +eastward current was setting strong across it. Presently a figure waving +a white cotton cloth rose upright in the craft and the paddles whirled +faster, but there was no answering hoot from the steamer's whistle. + +"The _Minella_'s deep, and her skipper wouldn't stop long for a +Colonial Governor when he has a full cargo on board," explained Gilby. +"It will be a tight fit to catch her; but we could head off Rideau, who +doesn't see us yet. I don't think his boys, being strangers, know how +far that reef runs out. Only the steeper seas break on the outer end of +it." + +"Head him off. Never mind the steamer," Dane said hoarsely. + +The boys made further efforts. Foam lapped about the bows, the splash of +paddles swelled into a resonant thudding, and Gilby pulled hard upon his +helm. + +"They see us at last!" + +Dane stood upright, cheering on the paddlers, who broke into a gasping +song, and both craft went flying across the swell; but as they edged +outshore it became evident that Rideau must pass the reef closely to +reach the steamer. Rolling heavily, she still came on, perhaps a mile +away, with unslackened speed. The spouting on the reef drew nearer, and +Dane's voice seemed to break up in his throat, for unless Rideau could +clear it during the next few minutes the pursuers felt sure of him. Dane +had no paddle, and there being nothing he could do, he stared forward, +moistening his parched lips with his tongue. Quickening a trifle, the +paddles flashed and fell, while the lurching hull leaped forward at +every impetus; but it seemed to the anxious man that she was merely +crawling over the flaming sea. + +"We have him!" gasped Gilby, with exultation in his tone. "If he holds +clear of the reef we have him safe! Hallo! Where is he going now? It's a +very odd chance he shoots through between the seas." + +Dane already had noticed that the outer end of the reef was marked only +by a swirl of water when the smaller seas passed. As Gilby spoke, the +canoe was turned straight toward it. + +"What that man can do we can. Follow him!" Dane cried; but Gilby +signaled to his crew, and they slackened their paddling. They were far +from timid, but they had not lost their reason. + +Twice the sea was rent apart ahead, and sheets of foam rushed up, while +the sound of its impact on the reef rang in a deafening crash. Then the +pursuit ended suddenly. + +"Are they mad, or turning on him?" gasped Gilby. + +A man flung in his paddle on board the craft ahead. The flash of a +pistol followed, but no sound was audible through the thunder of the +reef. Then a black form rose upright with paddle swung high, and a long +sea rose between the pursuers and the canoe. When it passed, the frail +craft floated bottom uppermost, and the reef hurled up a smother of foam +close ahead. Already several black heads were spread out across the +swell as the native crew swam for dear life to evade the danger. + +Gilby's boys stopped paddling altogether. + +"Go on! Rideau's clinging to the canoe!" shouted Dane. + +Gilby looked at the whirling spray, and then at his comrade. + +"It won't be in this world he'll answer for his offenses. She's drifting +straight across the reef, and nothing at that distance could cheat it." + +Dane struck the nearest negro. + +"Go on! Why don't you paddle? Gilby, where that man goes I follow!" + +The trader gripped him savagely by the arm. + +"He has escaped you. Keep still or I'll fell you with the tiller. Are +you mad? There, look yonder. That is the last of him." + +Staring out of eyes that but imperfectly recorded their impressions, +Dane saw the black hull of the canoe swing aloft on the crest of a sea +which rolled majestically toward the hidden barrier. The wall of water +broke up suddenly with a deafening roar, and a tremendous rush of foam +hurled itself aloft. When it fell, there was no sign of the canoe. + +"He has gone," said Gilby, in a curiously strained voice. "The niggers +will get ashore all right. You couldn't drown a beach man. Rideau will +be smashed out of recognition. Still, we'll paddle round to leeward and +make certain. Appolyon, you try to signal them 'teamer." + +When they slid round the other side of the barrier a shattered canoe +rocked bottom-uppermost on the confused welter, but there was no sign of +a human head; and when the blast of a whistle reached the searchers, the +surf-boat's bow was toward the steamer. + +"You had better go on with her and make an affidavit before the +Commandant, if they'll land you," advised Gilby. "I'll send in a written +statement and swear to it if they send a Commissioner. Meantime, we'll +keep your boys at the factory; and, in case we might want their +testimony, I'll take off Rideau's niggers too. Of course, we had no +intention of drowning him, but the way he shot that poor black +paddle-boy lessens one's regrets. Rideau was dangerous to his friends to +the last." + +Dane was ready to act upon any suggestion. Worn out, mentally and +physically alike, he could not think connectedly; and when, climbing +the lowered ladder, he was surrounded by a wondering group on the +steamer's deck, he turned from them savagely. + +"We are all curious," said the skipper. "What took place aboard the +canoe--mutiny, murder, or an outbreak of insanity?" + +"I can't tell you anything now; but if you will come ashore with me at +the next French station, where I must make a declaration, you shall hear +how the canoe was wrecked when I am able to tell it." + +"That will do," acquiesced the skipper. "You certainly don't look fit +for unnecessary talking now. Better turn in, and I'll send our doctor +along to you." + +Dane was glad to do so; but he had hardly flung himself down in his room +before the doctor came in. + +"I have been living under a constant strain during the last few months, +and have had very little sleep for weeks," he said. "Give me something +that will keep me from waking or thinking for twelve hours, if you have +it." + +The surgeon touched his wrist and laid a hand on his forehead. + +"So one would suppose," he replied; "but if the scene we just witnessed +was the climax of your adventures, I hardly think you will need a +sleeping draught. Nature is addicted to providing her own remedy. If +you'll take the dose I'll send you, you will probably wake up +considerably better. It will not contain narcotics." + +He went out, and Dane soon sank into deep, refreshing sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE HEART OF BONITA CASTRO + + +A puff of cool air streaming in through an open port roused the sleeper, +and he became conscious of a restful lift and swing. The hammock boys, +it seemed, had a good path beneath them and were traveling well. But the +swing was longer than that of any hammock, and a steady vibration, which +resembled no sound in the forest, recalled him to remembrance. He +recognized that it was made by pounding engines. The air that fanned him +was also fresh and invigorating, and Dane lay still again with a sense +of vast relief. The time of strain was over, and now for a space at +least he could rest. Dressing languidly, he went up on deck. + +The ocean gleamed, a great sheet of rippling silver, under the moon. +Clear stars burned above the mastheads, which swayed to and fro athwart +them, while the splash of tumbling waters and the sting of flung-up +spray seemed charged with healing. Lights shone in the smoking-room +windows, through which laughter and a murmur of voices came out, but +just then merriment would have jarred on Dane, and he leaned over the +rails, baring his head to the breeze, and trying to realize what had +happened to him. He felt that the shadow which had hung over him had +melted while he slept, and escaping from its baleful darkness, which had +obscured his mental vision, he had awakened sane. Then, though for the +sake of one who slept on a lonely bluff beyond the Leopards' country, +Dane did not regret what had been done, he shuddered, remembering the +one grim purpose which had dominated him. + +"We did not expect to see you yet," said the skipper, halting beside him +with the doctor. "Of course, we have had only one topic of +conversation." + +"What is the general opinion?" Dane asked indifferently. + +"My glass is an old one, but the mate has one of the latest inventions," +the skipper answered. "He declares it was the white man who upset the +canoe, and did it deliberately." + +"I should like to see the mate," exclaimed Dane. "If he is right it +would to some extent be a relief to me." + +"I haven't quite relinquished my authority yet," the doctor interposed. +"One might conclude it would be wise for you to give your mind a rest +from that particular subject. A good many things happen in this country +which it is well to forget; and there are signs that your load has been +as heavy as you are fit to carry." + +"It is good advice, if somewhat hard to profit by," said Dane; and the +two men turned away. The skipper's words, however, had removed his last +compunction. He had determined to deliver Rideau to justice, and not +planned to drown him, but if his enemy had preferred to take his own +life rather than stand a trial, the responsibility did not rest upon his +pursuer. + +Dane strolled forward out on to the reeling forecastle, and found the +swift passage of the ship through the moonlit water soothing. Ahead +there was neither reef nor shoal. She forged on, hurling aside each sea +which barred her way, straight toward a safe haven through open water. +It seemed a happy augury, and presently Dane retired tranquilly to sleep +again. + +Early the next morning the mate and the skipper went ashore with him at +a cluster of white-washed buildings, over the largest of which the +tricolor floated, and were courteously received by a little elderly +officer. His secretary took down the statements made by the captain and +mate, and when these had been sworn to, he quoted from a book before him +as he turned to Dane. + +"It sounds like a romance, but we have proof that Monsieur speaks the +truth," he said. "He will return to Petit Mahu with an official who will +examine the traders and the Indigene. Until his report is considered, +Monsieur will not leave this colony. In touching the gold, the signature +of this contract is undoubtedly that of Victor Rideau, and under the +terms of it his share is forfeit. Thus, subject to certain fees, +Monsieur retains possession. In regard to the position of the river he +decides to say nothing? It is not convenient that more white men lose +their lives in that country of the devil, or cause the bad understanding +with the Indigene. We have not yet open it for exploitation. Our +information describes it as barren, and without value, which Monsieur +will, I think, not contradict." + +Dane had little trouble with the authorities. A commendable absence of +useless formalities characterized all their dealings with him, and in a +very brief space he was free to leave the colony. His men had been paid +much more than they bargained for, and it was with genuine regret that +he took leave of the last of them; it was with difficulty that he +dissuaded Monday from accompanying him to England. The few Kroos +remaining at Mahu when he left paddled him off to his steamer; and +looking back from her deck, he could see Amadu's tall figure on the +beach. Redmond and Gilby came on board, and, dining there, celebrated +the parting so thoroughly that several seamen were needed to assist them +into their boat, while how any of the party ran the gauntlet of the surf +was more than Dane knew. They were not men of much refinement and had +their weaknesses, black and white alike; but he owed a good deal to the +sturdy heathen, while the two of paler color, instead of turning aside +from a distressed compatriot, had shown themselves ready to assist him +with a warm-hearted recklessness not always to be found among those +possessing a higher degree of culture. + +Dane had one task still before him; and it was a hot afternoon when he +called for the last time at Dom Pedro's factory. It seemed almost +strange that everything should remain as he had last seen it--the little +olive-faced gentleman lounging, cigarette in hand, against the veranda +balustrade, and Bonita and her sleepy aunt lying in deep chairs in the +shadow. In spite of the heat and sickness in that land, life goes +smoothly at an African factory run by men of Latin race. + +Dane was puzzled by something in Bonita's manner as she rose to meet +him. She showed little pleasure, but rather suppressed anxiety, and +looked past him toward the beach as though expecting somebody. Even Dom +Pedro seemed shaken out of his usual serenity, the señora's eyes were +open wide, and there was a silence after the opening courtesies. + +"It is with the great satisfaction we see you safe," said Dom Pedro, +though satisfaction was not what his voice most clearly expressed. "But +you bring us news? Two of you go up yonder, and there is a third who +follow. One only he comes back." + +Dane guessed that the speaker's anxiety chiefly concerned the third who +followed, and the implied question was the least difficult to answer. + +"I have news," he said. "The man who followed us was no friend of yours, +señorita?" + +Bonita Castro's lips curled scornfully. + +"No. I have little cause to be a friend of him." + +"He will harass you no longer. He is dead," said Dane. + +There was no pity, but rather pride and a still strained anxiety in the +girl's eyes. + +"It is as I told you, padre. The dog has failed in his treachery and the +Señor Maxwell has kill him." + +"No. He was drowned at sea." + +"It was not the Señor Maxwell who kill him? And the man with the cross +on his forehead?" + +"No," said Dane. "Rideau was drowned while trying to avoid me. The man +with the cross on his forehead is also dead. He twice attempted my +comrade's life, and I shot him one night when he was crawling toward my +tent." + +Bonita bent her head in a curious formal salutation. + +"Our felicitations, Don Ilton. And the Señor Maxwell?" + +Her voice grew a little deeper with the last question, and there was a +note in it which puzzled Dane, while she cast a swift glance toward the +second surf-boat lurching in shore from the anchored steamer. The man +hesitated before he answered. + +"He also is dead, señorita. He was treacherously murdered in the forest +beyond the Leopards' country." + +Amid all the memories Dane carried with him from Africa there were only +two which equaled in vividness that of the few following moments. The +girl stifled a half-articulate cry, and a heavy silence succeeded. Dom +Pedro grasped the rails hard with genuine consternation in his face; and +there was horror in the señora's expression. Bonita stood stiffly +upright, with lips turned suddenly bloodless and a look that astonished +Dane in her dilated eyes. Beyond that space of shadow there was dazzling +sunlight, and to emphasize the stillness on the veranda the hot air +vibrated with the roar of the sea. The girl appeared to choke for +breath. Understanding suddenly, Dane turned his eyes away. It was the +señora who spoke first. + +"All dead. _Reina de los angeles--ave!_" she murmured. + +Dane, looking round again, saw that Bonita was mistress of herself. It +was all clear now, and he admired as well as pitied her. Passionate, +vindictive, wayward as she was, the blow had stirred within her the +pride of her race, and it was with a queenly air she turned toward him. + +"The señor will pardon us if we give him pain, but he will tell us all. +Of Rideau's treachery, and--how his comrade fell." + +Dane fancied that he was the only one in the party who had guessed the +girl's secret; and he might not have done so but that sympathy quickened +his perceptions, for he also had loved Carsluith Maxwell. He felt that +it might be well for Bonita Castro if she heard everything, and he +roused himself to do his fallen comrade justice. Thus the dead man moved +an heroic figure through all the kaleidoscopic happenings. The rest, +black and brown, were lay figures, himself a puppet obeying the leader's +will; and, when the narrative concluded, Dane felt that if others now +knew his comrade as he had known him he was satisfied. Remembering what +he had seen he could, he fancied, read by the light of it what was +passing in Bonita Castro's mind. At times she listened with quivering +lips, then a moisture gathered in her eyes, which nevertheless glittered +with a curious pride, and he thought her superb when at last, with a +glance only, she thanked the bringer of the news. + +"He was all _caballero_, as you say, a very gallant gentleman. I will +pray for the sound rest of him," she said. + +Dom Pedro moved uneasily. + +"He was a man without principle this Rideau. With excuses to the señor, +I would my books examine, and try to figure of how much he rob me," he +said, and hurried away. + +Bonita followed, and Dane was left with her sleepy aunt who presently +astonished him. The señora, it appeared, was a lady of much keener +perceptions than he had imagined; and he understood why she told him +what had happened during Rideau's last visit to the factory. It was +evident that Dane owed his life in a measure to her niece. When she +concluded, the lady lapsed into a somnolent silence, which, if assumed, +was tactful, leaving the man, who was glad of a respite from +conversational effort, to digest the information. + +Dom Pedro had cargo for the steamer, and it was late when Dane said +good-by to Bonita on the moonlit veranda. It may have been due to the +silvery light, but she seemed to have changed, and Dane shrank a little +from meeting her. Bonita, however, spoke very quietly. + +"I have a confession to make," she said. "You have done much for my +father, and it is right that I tell you." + +"Please don't, señorita," Dane interposed; but the girl checked him. + +"You lost the Señor Maxwell's map here, and I, who found it, sold it +Rideau. It was the infamy, but the price was tempting--and I knew one of +you would kill him. You will try to forget the injury?" + +"I think I know why you did it, and I do not blame you," said Dane. "I +shall most clearly remember that, when I was sick, you saved my life for +me, as I think you did again when you helped my comrade to forestall +Rideau." + +Bonita smiled a little. + +"You are generous, but I would have it so. Then we are, as you say, the +equal. I have been able to help you. You give me my liberty. You sail +now for England, Don Ilton?" + +"Yes," said Dane; and again Bonita Castro astonished him. + +"She loves you?" she asked simply. + +The question was startling, and the man answered stupidly. + +"I hope so. I--I do not know." + +For a moment the swift laughter rose to the girl's eyes, but died in its +birth, and the movement of her hands that followed it stirred the man's +pity. + +"You do not know? I saw the picture, and it was for her you went up into +the Leopards' country. You are a strange people, Don Ilton--and the +Señor Maxwell, he was like you?" + +Dane afterward remained uncertain why he spoke as he did, but the words +framed themselves, as it were, without his volition. + +"No," he said; "nobody could compare me with Maxwell. Nor do I think I +have met many such as he; but when he was dying, he spoke much of you. +He told me you had promised to help us, and that he could trust you. It +was almost his last charge that I should tell you so." + +Dane knew by her swift grateful glance that Bonita Castro blessed him +for the speech. In impulsive southern fashion, she held out both hands +to him. + +"_Vaya con Dios_, and the good saints send you happiness! I think we +neither of us forget what has happened here, Don Ilton." + +The last words ended in something like a sob, and Dane, who could think +of no fitting words to say, only crushed the little hot hands in his own +and swung his hat low as he turned away. Dom Pedro walked to the +surf-boat with him, but Dane scarcely heard what he said, for his +thoughts were centered on the girl, who stood, a pathetic figure, gazing +after him from the moonlit veranda. + +The Krooboys were slow to reach the steamer, but Dane was the better +pleased, for he hardly felt equal to facing the questions or the +badinage of her passengers just then. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +REWARDED + + +It was a sunny afternoon when the little West Coast mailboat's engines +ceased their throbbing off the mole of Santa Cruz, Teneriffe. Clear +skies had hung over her as she rolled northward in no great hurry, and +the fresh breezes which curl the sparkling sea between Morocco and the +fever coast had brought new life to her sickly passengers. Dane felt his +heart grow lighter as each league of deep blue water rolled astern, and +the shadow of the dark land had almost fallen from him when the Canaries +rose out of the sea. He had youth on his side, besides a comparatively +clean conscience and a sound constitution; and a little chest consigned +by him to a British bank was locked in the steamer's specie room. Though +he would gladly have flung its contents into the sea to undo the past, +regrets were futile. So, with a courage which sprang rather from +humility than pride, he had determined to ask Lilian Chatterton to +either share his struggles or await his prosperity. + +The long black mole slid past, the bows forged more slowly through the +crystal brine, and the harbor opened up. Even before the yellow flag +fluttered aloft, boats by the dozen shot out from the lava steps, and +Dane eagerly scanned the faces of their occupants. They were fruit +peddlers, shipping and coaling clerks, and he sighed with disappointment +as he next swept his eyes along the mole. Nobody among the loungers +there raised a hat or a handkerchief. + +"Expecting friends?" asked the purser, halting beside him. + +"I was," Dane answered dejectedly. "Although I cabled from the Coast, I +don't see them." + +"I wouldn't count too much on that," smiled the purser. "Nobody is very +particular in Spanish possessions, and it's quite possible they lost +your message or couldn't decipher the English name. We shall fill up +here with tourists, and if you are going home with us you must let me +know." + +"I can't tell you now," Dane said. "It depends on what I hear ashore." + +"Well, I won't keep a berth for you." + +He left Dane troubled when he turned away, for he had certainly expected +Chatterton to welcome him and he had counted the days until he could ask +Lilian an eventful question. He had hoped also that the cable message +would have prepared them for his tidings; he shrank from again appearing +unexpectedly as the bearer of tragic news. There was no time to be lost, +however, and he went ashore in the first boat. Strange faces looked down +at him from the mole, and no friendly voice was raised in greeting; and +further annoyance awaited him when he hurried into the hotel. + +Mr. Chatterton and family had stayed there for a time, but had left, the +major-domo said. He thought they had gone to Madeira, but they might +have sailed for England, or anywhere. It was not his business to ask +where any Englishman wandered to, but the clerk might know. The clerk, +it appeared, was out, and might not be back for an hour or so, but the +major-domo suggested that in the meantime something might be gathered +by an examination of the visitors' letters in his office. He showed Dane +where the office was, and then shrugged his shoulders. + +"What pity! Ramon he have lock the door," he said. + +"That's a very small obstacle," answered Dane. "Nobody else has a key, I +suppose, so I'm going to get in through the window, and I will most +certainly break it if he has fastened that up, too." + +There were murmurs of protest, and Dane fancied that half the staff +gathered in the hall and watched him endeavor to wrench the sash out by +main force. When he had almost accomplished it, somebody suggested that +when Ramon locked the front door he usually left one at the side open. +It was a characteristic example of how things are managed in Latin +countries; and the next minute Dane was busy turning over a bundle of +letters in the office. There were several for Thomas and Mrs. +Chatterton, and the sight of them filled him with satisfaction. Then his +eye was caught by his own name on the top of two envelopes reforwarded +to Chatterton, and after a swift glance at the embossed name on the +back, he tore the first open. + +It was from a celebrated engineering firm, and his blood pulsed faster +as he read it: + +"Although when you last called upon us we could not quite see our way to +do so on the terms you mentioned, we are now prepared to undertake the +manufacture and sale of your invention on the following conditions." + +Dane saw that the conditions were as favorable as any non-capitalist +inventor could expect, but he felt that the gold he had sent home would +help him to improve them; and it was with a thrill of satisfaction that +he opened the second letter. This was from his last employers, offering +him reasonable remuneration if he would undertake the supervision of the +machines and bridge work they were sending out to execute an important +railroad-building contract abroad. + +Here was one difficulty removed, at least. Dane hastened to the cable +offices, and felt a great contentment when his messages were on the +wires. His prospects were improving, and it was encouraging to know he +would not pose as a wholly indigent suitor. When he reached the hotel +once more, the clerk had returned, and informed him that Mr. Chatterton +and family had retired for the sake of coolness to Laguna, five or six +miles away. + +Dane procured a horse, and within the next few minutes he was urging it +at its best pace up the steep hillside. The horse, as it happened, was a +good one, and its rider's spirits rose higher as each mile went by. It +was a fine evening, and to one fresh from the enervating heat of Africa, +there was a wonderful buoyancy in the cool air that came down from the +cordillera. It was a refreshing change to see the merry brown faces of +the peasants who saluted him as he passed, and hear the laughter of the +mule drivers as their climbing teams dropped behind. Dane had almost +forgotten the dark land when the white walls of drowsy Laguna rose to +view. The loungers in the plaza knew the Englishman Dane inquired for, +and one of them preceded him down a narrow street with a dignified +leisureliness which even the sight of a dollar failed to dissipate, and +finally halted outside a high-walled garden doubtless laid out by some +Castilian conquistador four centuries ago. + +Dane swung himself from the saddle before a door ornamented by a +beautiful bronze bell handle, and spent two minutes pulling the bell +vigorously. There was no answer nor any sound within, and remembering +that it did not necessarily follow that the handle had a wire attached, +he stepped back into the roadway and flung himself against the barrier. +A hasp of some kind yielded, and he staggered forward into the garden. +The sun was dipping behind the cordillera, but its red light beat into +his eyes, and at first he could see only a row of crimson oleanders +stretching away before him. Their fragrance and the scent of heliotrope +was heavy within his nostrils. Passing through the shadow of an +orange-tree he made out a white wall garlanded by blue bougainvillea, +and halted at the sound of a startled voice as his eyes fell upon the +group on the terrace beneath it. + +Thomas Chatterton had flung his chair back, and stood up with a flushed +face, speaking excitedly. His niece also had risen, and her gaze was +fixed upon the man who came hurriedly out of the shadow of the tree. She +was silent, but Dane read in her eyes that which set his heart beating, +and for a second or two he saw only the dainty figure and the smiling +face turned toward his own. + +The elation suddenly died out within him, and it was by an effort that +he moved forward, for there was a third in the party. A man with +iron-gray hair stood a little apart from the rest, and while each of his +companions showed that they rejoiced to see the new arrival, he was +gazing fixedly at the open door behind him. Dane saw that it was +Brandram Maxwell of Culmeny, and knew why he watched the door. + +"This is even more than we hoped for, Hilton, though we have all been +anxiously waiting for news of you," said Chatterton. "Thank Heaven you +are safe anyway. Worth a good many dead men, isn't he, Lilian? She knew +Maxwell would bring you out; and when I grew anxious her confidence +reassured me. But why didn't you cable--and where is Maxwell?" + +Dane disregarded the last question, for Lilian laid her hand in his. He +was not certain what she said, but her eyes were shining under the +half-closed lashes in a fashion that was eloquent enough. Still Dane +could not linger to wonder what, if they were fully opened, he might see +within them, for Chatterton repeated his question. + +"Where have you left Carsluith. Did he not come up with you from Santa +Cruz?" + +"No," Dane answered, and his voice shook a little. "Did you receive my +cable?" + +"We did not," said Chatterton. "What has gone wrong, Hilton. Speak out, +man!" + +Lilian, guided by some womanly instinct, laid her hand warningly on the +speaker's arm, and Dane nerved himself for the hardest task of all, as +the owner of Culmeny, moving forward, stood close beside him. He was +very much like what Dane's dead comrade had been--wiry, spare, and grim. +The drooping gray moustache matched the pallor of his face; but his eyes +were steady and keen, and only a deepening of the lines about them +betrayed his anxiety. + +"I fear you bring bad news," he said. + +"I do," Dane answered as steadily as he could, though the older man's +composure rendered his task even harder than a sign of weakness would +have done. "I had hoped the cable I sent might have prepared you--and +now I hardly know how to tell you." + +It was just possible to see that a tremor ran through Maxwell and his +lean hand closed a little more firmly than was needful on the back of a +chair. + +"Brevity is best. Disaster has overtaken him?" + +"Yes." + +The owner of Culmeny looked him full in the eyes, and it was some time +before Dane could shake off the memory of that gaze. + +"It is the worst--he is dead?" he said; and Dane mutely bent his head. + +Brandram Maxwell's fingers trembled, and for a moment he looked at the +ground; then he spoke very quietly: + +"I feared this when I saw he was not with you. Tell me how it happened. +It is not the first shrewd blow fate has dealt me." + +Chatterton and Lilian would have turned away, but Maxwell beckoned them +to remain. + +"No. We have grown to be good friends, and I should like you to hear it, +too," he said, looking toward Lilian. "There will be no cause for any +one who knew my son to blush at this story. It will be a kindness if you +hide nothing, Hilton." + +Dane afterward wondered how he got through that recital. At the +beginning speech seemed to fail him, but one listener's spirit infected +him as he proceeded, and pride was mingled with the man's grief, for +what he had seen in Bonita Castro's face he read in that of the owner of +Culmeny. It was dark when he concluded: + +"I can tell you nothing more, sir, and, though God knows it is the +truth, it is useless to say that I would willingly have staked my own +life on the chance of saving him." + +Lilian appeared to be crying softly, and Chatterton troubled with +something in his throat, for he coughed several times vigorously, but +Maxwell held out his hand to Dane. + +"I believe you would. You were his friend," he said, still with a +startling quietness. "You did your best for my dead son, and no man dare +blame you. It is a brave story, and I am not ashamed of his end. It was +in accordance with the traditions of an unfortunate family. But you will +excuse me. I am getting an old man and weaker in the fiber than I used +to be." + +He turned away, holding himself stiffly erect, and Chatterton laid a +heavy grasp on Dane's shoulder. + +"Well done, Hilton. If you had not chased that damned rascal to his +death I'd have sent you back with another expedition to take up the hunt +again. I am sorry for Culmeny. He was fonder of Carsluith than anything +else under heaven, and you saw how he took the blow. Well, I won my own +place, and went through the fire for it, but the brand Culmeny wears is +what I could never attain to. They were alike, both of them, and it will +be a long time before we find their equal. Perhaps I had better follow +and try to comfort him." + +It struck Dane that Thomas Chatterton, though not lacking in sympathy, +would hardly make a tactful comforter, but he did not say so, and Lilian +seemed content to let him go. + +"You are not sorry to see me, Lilian?" asked Dane, taking one of the +girl's hands into his own, for her cheeks were damp yet, and bending, he +caught her answer. + +"No, but I was shocked. Hilton, I felt that when he went out to save you +he knew he was going to his death, and I--I let him go." + +"Even you could not have turned him aside," said Dane. + +"I--right or wrong--I did not try." + +"He was a better man than I am," declared Dane. "But it is fortunate +that there are women who can be content with less than the best, and +make up the deficiencies themselves. Will you listen to a little tale, +one which is rather amusing than somber?" + +"Is it about the poacher? If so, you need not tell me. You must also +take the confession I ought to make for granted. You were always a +blunderer, Hilton." + +"I dare say I was," Dane answered, laying his hand on the girl's +shoulder in a masterful fashion. "And my last adventure was perhaps the +maddest freak of all; but that is beside the question. I once made a +very vague arrangement with you, though you kindly said we understood +each other. Now, I must ask you, do you wish that understanding to +continue. If so, the only way for me to keep it would be to go back to +Africa. A steamer sails to-morrow." + +"No," the girl said shyly, then lifted her head and glanced at her +companion. "I dare not send you back to that hateful country, Hilton." + +There was no need for further speech. Dane knew that he had won at last. + + +THE END + + + + +Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original text have been corrected. + +In Chapter IV, "You need not be. unless you are fond of poverty" was +changed to "You need not be, unless you are fond of poverty", and a +comma was added after "That same, sir". + +In Chapter VI, a period was added after "the power of lucid speech +deserted him". + +In Chapter IX, "Your sister, persumably" was changed to "Your sister, +presumably". + +In Chapter XI, "at sunrise tomorrow" was changed to "at sunrise +to-morrow", and a comma was changed to a period after "until I was +certain". + +In Chapter XII, a comma was removed from "the footsore, and spiritless +carriers". + +In Chapter XV, "prospecting for Niven'st gold" was changed to +"prospecting for Niven's gold", and a comma was added after "I think one +of you will". + +In Chapter XVI, "unpleasnt frame of mind" was changed to "unpleasant +frame of mind", and "snuggly curtained room" was changed to "snugly +curtained room". + +In Chapter XVII, "which suprised the listener" was changed to "which +surprised the listener", and a period was added after "said Lilian +sharply". + +In Chapter XXII, a period was added after "the white men who do not +speak your tongue". + +In Chapter XXIII, "Dane ran straight in upon his emeny" was changed to +"Dane ran straight in upon his enemy". + +In Chapter XXIV, "out in less then five minutes" was changed to "out in +less than five minutes", and "the scene we just witnessesd" was changed +to "the scene we just witnessed". + +In Chapter XXV, "Reina de los anegles" was changed to "Reina de los +angeles". + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The League of the Leopard, by Harold Bindloss + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD *** + +***** This file should be named 36804-8.txt or 36804-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/8/0/36804/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The League of the Leopard + +Author: Harold Bindloss + +Illustrator: Carlton Glidden + +Release Date: July 21, 2011 [EBook #36804] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="353" height="500" alt="cover of The League of the Leopard" title="" /> +</div> + +<h1>THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD</h1> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/front.jpg" width="400" height="514" alt=""AT DAWN THEY WERE STILL RIDING"—Page 230" title="" /> +</div> +<p class="caption">"AT DAWN THEY WERE STILL RIDING"—<a href="#dawn">Page 230</a></p> + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<p class="center bigtext">THE LEAGUE<br /> +OF THE LEOPARD</p> + +<p class="center">BY<br /> +<span class="bigtext">HAROLD BINDLOSS</span></p> + +<p class="center">AUTHOR OF "PRESCOTT OF SASKATCHEWAN," "THE LONG<br /> +PORTAGE," "RANCHING FOR SYLVIA," ETC.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR<br /> +BY CARLTON GLIDDEN</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 180px;"> +<img src="images/logo.png" width="180" height="209" alt="publisher's logo" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">NEW YORK<br /> +FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY<br /> +PUBLISHERS</p> + + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/pubdate.png" width="200" height="63" alt="FAS Co June, 1914" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table class="figcenter" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum smalltext">CHAP.</td> +<td class="chapname smalltext"> </td> +<td class="chappage smalltext">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">I.</td> +<td class="chapname">A Dangerous Bequest</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">II.</td> +<td class="chapname">An Understanding</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">15</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">III.</td> +<td class="chapname">At the Elbow Pool</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">30</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IV.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Poacher</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">43</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">V.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Tryst at Hallows Brig</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">56</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VI.</td> +<td class="chapname">Dane's Silence</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">71</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VII.</td> +<td class="chapname">A Warning</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">85</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">Treachery</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">96</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IX.</td> +<td class="chapname">Temptation</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">110</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">X.</td> +<td class="chapname">Rideau's Bargain</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">125</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XI.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Trail of the Leopard</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">137</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XII.</td> +<td class="chapname">Wealth in Sight</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">149</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">Pestilence</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">163</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIV.</td> +<td class="chapname">An Eventful Decision</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">177</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XV.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Boarding of the Kabunda</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">189</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVI.</td> +<td class="chapname">Illumination</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">202</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVII.</td> +<td class="chapname">In Need of Help</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">214</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">Maxwell's Confidence</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">227</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIX.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Dangerous Señorita</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">240</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XX.</td> +<td class="chapname">Maxwell's Last March</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">251</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXI.</td> +<td class="chapname">Relief</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">262</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXII.</td> +<td class="chapname">On to the Coast</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">274</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">An Eye for an Eye</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">285</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXIV.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Escape</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">297</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXV.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Heart of Bonita Castro</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">311</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXVI.</td> +<td class="chapname">Rewarded</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">320</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="THE_LEAGUE_OF_THE_LEOPARD" id="THE_LEAGUE_OF_THE_LEOPARD"></a>THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD</h2> + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br /> +<span class="smalltext">A DANGEROUS BEQUEST</span></h2> + + +<p>It was very hot in the little West African factory where trader Niven +lay dying. The sea breeze had died away, and though sunset drew near, it +was not yet time for the spicy airs from the inland forest to mitigate +the temperature. The dust lay still in the sun-scorched compound, about +which the palm fronds hung motionless, and only the roar of breakers on +the beach broke through the drowsy silence.</p> + +<p>Two white men lounged in cane chairs upon the veranda which encircled +the building. Both were limp, gaunt of frame, and pallid in face, +because the climate they lived in is particularly unhealthy. Neither had +enjoyed much education, or felt the lack of it in the trade they +followed, while the cocktail jug on the little table betokened their +favorite relaxation. Redmond and Gilby were West Coast traders who lived +far remote from intercourse with their fellows, except for the two +French rivals with whom they periodically quarreled. They concerned +themselves with little beyond the well-being of their factory, and +indulged each appetite on opportunity, knowing that on the morrow they +might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> suddenly die. Yet they had their strong points, including a +tenacious regard for their employers' interests, which led them to toil +twelve hours daily when sick of fever if trade was good, and sometimes +defy the French authorities, and an inconsistent generosity, as the +result of which they had camped in the store shed, and turned over their +own quarters to the man who stood behind them, and his stricken +companion. The former was of very different type.</p> + +<p>"You have done your best for the poor devil," said Redmond, glancing +regretfully from him toward the empty jug. "But if I know anything about +coast fever—and I ought to—Niven will get his release to-night. Still +rambling about that fortune, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>Carsluith Maxwell nodded, and Gilby commented meditatively: "It may be +all a fever fancy, and it may be true. Niven was well known in this +afflicted colony years ago, and there is gold up yonder. In fact, right +away from here to the Volta you can find the color in the rivers, but +there's very little of it that will pay for the washing, and few British +mining companies that distribute much in dividends. Still, the old +Portuguese took a good deal out, if the tales are true, and one gets +small lots now and then put up in quills."</p> + +<p>Redmond laughed maliciously.</p> + +<p>"The last quills Gilby took in contained brass filings, and the firm +wrote off their nominal value against our commission. Gilby had been +drinking cocktails all that day. He may be right about the gold, but +it's my firm opinion that unless the French send up a strong column and +root out the Leopards, no white man will ever find it. You have heard +about them, Maxwell?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>Maxwell was a man of discretion, and though he had ventured beyond the +fringe of the Leopards' country, he only said:</p> + +<p>"I don't know much about them. Do you?"</p> + +<p>"He does not," said Gilby. "Neither does any white man; unless perhaps +it's Rideau, or Niven. They are supposed to be members of one of the +secret leagues run by the bush magicians in connection with the cult of +the Ju-Ju; and if you want to know just what kind of devil a Ju-Ju is, +you need not ask me. Anyway, from what one hears, those fellows can't be +all impostors. They could apparently give our amateur necromancers +points in hypnotism, and what they don't know about poisons is not worth +learning. They're no fools at bush politics either; and have managed to +run Shaillu's kingdom, and keep white men out of it pretty successfully. +It is believed that Shaillu would be glad to rule it without them, in +his own way."</p> + +<p>Maxwell knew all this, and a little more which his informant apparently +did not; but he made no comment, and asked only one question:</p> + +<p>"Who is Rideau?"</p> + +<p>"He says he is a Frenchman," answered Gilby. "One would suppose that he +ought to know; but after a dispute about the count of some monkey skins, +Clancy of Axim once asked in public if there was not a dash of the tar +brush in him, and was taken ill suddenly that night—which may, of +course, have been a coincidence. In any case, he goes trading inland; +and though he brings down a little gum, nobody knows exactly what he +buys or sells. As you have heard, it's a ghastly country, and there's a +heavy penalty for supplying niggers with modern rifles. The little +French<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> commandant would give a good deal to fix a charge on him."</p> + +<p>"Thanks. I will remember if I meet him; but it is about time I returned +to my patient," said Maxwell, and the other two looked after him until +he disappeared round a corner of the dwelling.</p> + +<p>"A curious man," Gilby commented. "He's probably like the parrot, for he +says very little. Still, it is not everybody who would have turned back +with his expedition on the very odd chance of saving a crazy countryman. +It is just possible, however, he was glad to, after the bushmen had +scared him."</p> + +<p>"African parrots never think, unless it's about the pricking inside +them," said Redmond. "You wouldn't either, if a nigger had fed you with +broken glass, so you'd die as soon as he'd sold you, and keep the demand +up. You're wrong, as usual, in other ways, too. If I'm a judge of +character, there are no niggers in Africa who could scare that man."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Maxwell had seated himself on the opposite veranda, and, after +a glance at a trestle couch which showed him that Niven was apparently +asleep, was gazing out to sea. He was close on the age of thirty, of +average stature, but spare and sinewy. His sallow face had been further +darkened by the African sun, and though now its expression and that of +the dark eyes was thoughtful, it was the face of a resolute man. +Carsluith Maxwell was also, in a somewhat somber fashion, a handsome +man; and though some of his fair acquaintances described him as too +silent, and others as too sardonic, all agreed that he was interesting. +Maxwell described himself as an individual of unsettled habits, born +with fastidious tastes and no means to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> gratify them—which, he said, +explained his wanderings in search of a fortune. He did not add that his +chief ambition was to restore to its former prosperity an old Border +stronghold which, with every acre of its grass parks and stony plow-land +heavily encumbered, stood behind the shores of Solway. Carsluith +Maxwell, who some day would be master of Culmeny, had inherited more +than a trace of the silent grimness of the old moss-troopers from whom +he sprang.</p> + +<p>Turning presently, he saw that Niven was wide awake and looking out to +sea. Their acquaintance had been brief, and dated from the night when +Niven reeled into the camp of a small French expedition, alone, +fever-stricken, and half-crazy. Seeing that he would die in the forest +when the expedition continued its march, Maxwell abandoned his +prospecting journey and turned back to the coast with him. The African +malaria often attacks a white man's brain as well as his body; and +during most of the time Niven had talked erratically. Now, however, +Maxwell noticed that he appeared sensible and sane.</p> + +<p>"Good to come back to, isn't it?" he said, glancing at the sea, athwart +which the track of the sunset beat luridly. "I used to long for it in +the forest when Lyle and I first set up the one factory which ever stood +more than twelve months in Shaillu's country. That reminds me! I have a +good deal to tell you, and, considering that I may not last out +to-morrow, it's high time I began. I have given you a good deal of +trouble, but you may not regret it when I have done."</p> + +<p>"I shall not regret it in any case," said Maxwell quietly. He was seldom +emphatic in speech.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>"You are like Lyle, and that's partly why I'm going to tell you. He and +I went up into Shaillu's country long ago, and the Leopards tried to +poison us. They wanted no white men there, and did not like free trade. +They also tried other ways; but if our lives were in our own hands, we +held them tight—and any man might face the devil with a partner like +Lyle. You will understand presently why I'm commencing at the beginning. +Well, we nursed each other through fevers, and twice stood behind a +stockade with the rifle barrels burning our hands; but we made money, +and I think the Leopards grew afraid of us because we lived in spite of +them. Of course, we had our friends, because the brown traders from the +North had to pay a heavy toll to the Leopards before we came; and some +of them told us about gold having been washed out of a far-off river by +niggers who had a poor idea of its value. We were too busy to trouble +about ventures of that kind; and as the river flowed through No Man's +Land there was nobody to sell us a marketable concession."</p> + +<p>The sunset was fading off the waters when Niven paused to gather breath, +while his strained voice sank to a deeper tone as he proceeded:</p> + +<p>"There was a dispute as to who owned some gum we had paid for, and two +men were shot before we convinced the niggers that nobody could lay +violent hands upon our property. Then one of Shaillu's sub-headmen, who +said there had been a mistake somewhere, summoned us to a palaver to +talk the question over. We went, with twenty armed Krooboys scared +almost to death, who feared Lyle more than they did the niggers, and +were given a fair hearing. Several of the big Leopard men were there, +but the headman held us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> justified, and when we had made everybody a +present the palaver ended in revelry. I warned Lyle; but to fear +nothing, and be equally ready with smile or pistol, was always my +comrade's way.</p> + +<p>"We came back safely; but he dragged himself up the stairway with his +face all twisted the next night, and I knew what had happened before he +told me. 'Those devils have poisoned me,' said he."</p> + +<p>It was almost dark now, and the white mist from the forest slid in +ghostly wreaths past the little factory. Niven shivered before he +proceeded:</p> + +<p>"Have you ever seen a comrade poisoned by the bushmen—when they meant +to hurt him? No! Then you have something to be thankful for. Lyle, by +worse luck, was young and strong, and took an unconscionable time dying; +I don't know that I did well when I took the pistol from him. For three +mortal hours I suffered all with him, and there was no power left in me +when at last he let his head drop on the table. There are things it is +not fit to remember which one can never forget. Then I knew all that the +man had been to me; and what I must do was plain before me.</p> + +<p>"I sent the chief Leopard man a message, with a token which, in +accordance with his own superstitions, made it more impressive, that +sooner or later I would demand full satisfaction, or, if I died too +soon, would pass the debt on in a way he understood; and I had not +forgotten when a new trading combination made me general manager. You +see, I needed money, and could wait very patiently. I also made money, +and, when badly sick, let the firm send me home, a fairly prosperous +man, to recruit in England. It was there I met the woman I married; and +she was worlds too good for me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> I even forgot Lyle, and what we had +done in Africa; and—for one looks at things differently over +there—hoped for nothing better than to end my days in peace and +security."</p> + +<p>Niven so far had spoken sensibly, but he ceased when the thick hot +African darkness rolled down like a curtain, and was silent a space. The +land breeze had delayed its coming, the temperature was almost +insupportable, and the roar of the breakers set the whole factory +vibrating in unison. It is possible that the fever gathered strength, as +it often does, at nightfall; for the sick man's speech was slow and +disjointed when he began again. It was also evident that he was a little +hazy in his mind.</p> + +<p>"Poor Elsie died, and left me very lonely. Without her the life grew +tame, and I would lie awake thinking of Africa and Lyle. He was growing +impatient, and tried to warn me it was time I went back again. The +warnings grew plainer, and at last I went. I had, so far as it was in +me, trusted one man and loved one woman, and both of them had gone. The +trading firms had forgotten my name, but I remembered the gold in the +Leopard's country, and determined, if I could find it, to hire my own +fighting boys, and hunt down the whole accursed league. There is no law +but the right of the strongest hand in Shaillu's country. I went up with +fifty Krooboys; and perhaps the Leopards remembered and were afraid of +me, for we had almost reached the place in safety, when one of the +sicknesses common up there seized us. I left most of the boys behind in +camp with my headman, and pushed on for the river where the gold was +said to be. I found it—or Lyle found it for me."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>Maxwell thought that no sane man would have attempted single-handed to +try conclusions with the almost omnipotent league, but he sat still, +with a composure that was characteristic of him, asking no questions, +though the simple statement had roused his most eager interest. It was +some time before Niven proceeded.</p> + +<p>"I turned back to camp, and found none of all the boys I left there. +Perhaps the headman had sold them. He had, you must remember, a curious +cross-shaped scar upon his forehead. I don't know where the rest went, +or what I did, being fever-crazy, and it must have been Lyle who brought +me to the Frenchman's camp. Of course, Lyle is dead—I buried him with +my own hands under the first big cottonwood behind the factory long +ago—but he has never forgotten me. There was good alluvial gold in that +river; and when I go you will find a record of my journey, with sketches +and compass bearings, under my pillow. I'll bequeath it to you, with my +curse upon the men who killed poor Lyle, on this condition: If you meet +the Leopards—and whoever goes up there will—you will remember my +quarrel with them, and how my partner died."</p> + +<p>"After what I have heard about their doings, I can promise that," said +Maxwell quietly.</p> + +<p>"I think we both can trust you. You look that kind of man," said Niven. +"I should never have told you if you hadn't. The two things go together, +for the Leopard headmen will know I have passed the quarrel on. You +can't take one without the other."</p> + +<p>Niven sank into sleep or unconsciousness presently, and Maxwell sat +beside him considering what he had heard. He could see that there was a +burden attached to the legacy; but he had no profession, and was not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> a +rich man. It was true that he would shortly succeed to Culmeny, and had +inherited the family pride in the ancient estate; but, when the interest +had been paid, the rental of the poor, encumbered lands would provide +the barest living. He determined that if there was gold in the Leopards' +country he would stake his life on the chance of finding it. After +coming to this decision he called a Krooboy to watch the sick man, and +retired to snatch a few hours' badly needed sleep. Sleep, however, was +some time in coming. The mildewed building was insufferably hot, and the +thunder of the surf sufficient to keep awake any man who had lately +emerged from the hush of the twilight forest; but at last Maxwell sank +into fitful slumber. It afterward was evident that the Krooboy, too, had +slumbered.</p> + +<p>Several hours had passed when Maxwell awakened suddenly, and sat up +listening. Through the deep monotone of the breakers he could hear the +land breeze sigh eerily about the building. A snake rustled in the +thatch, and loose boards creaked as they soaked in the damp; but +although there was nothing suspicious in all this, Maxwell felt that +something unusual had roused him. Men acquire an almost instinctive +prevision of danger in the eternal shadow of the African bush.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a detonation shook the building. Maxwell, leaping from his +couch, ran along the veranda and burst, breathless, into Niven's room. +Bright moonlight streamed in through the window, and he saw the sick man +lying propped up on one elbow, with a pistol smoking in his hand. Niven +appeared perfectly sane, and his voice was steady when he spoke.</p> + +<p>"My fingers are shaky, and this is a hard pull-off,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> or I'd have shown +you the man who betrayed me," he said. "It was my book he wanted."</p> + +<p>Maxwell, who was quick in action, sprang out upon the veranda and made a +circuit of the building. The dusty compound beneath it was clear as +noonday under the moon, but, save for two startled Krooboys and trader +Redmond who crossed it at a run, nobody moved therein, and Maxwell +hardly considered it possible that any fugitive would have had time to +reach the bush. He returned and told Niven so.</p> + +<p>"You must have been mistaken," he said.</p> + +<p>The sick trader laughed harshly.</p> + +<p>"I am not in the least mistaken. I saw the man with the scar on his +forehead as plainly as I see you. He must have been one of the Leopards; +and, whether it's magic or trickery, those fellows are fiendishly +clever. You won't be astonished at stranger things before they have done +with you. Take the book now, and keep it, if you can. If a man called +Rideau ever hears you have it and wants to trade with you, distrust him +as you would the devil. If he says I ever made any bargain with him, it +will be a lie!"</p> + +<p>Maxwell went out and allayed Redmond's curiosity by a promise to confer +with him in the morning; then he returned to watch beside Niven, who +slept tranquilly during the remainder of the night. After breakfast +Maxwell told Redmond as much of the story as appeared judicious; but the +trader did not, as he partly expected, laugh at it.</p> + +<p>"Of course, it may have been all a delusion, and it may not," he said. +"If so, it's a coincidence that I heard Rideau has just arrived at the +next beach; and one of my boys, who seemed afraid of it, picked this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> up +in the bush. It's a trifle that has a significance in the country your +sick friend rambled through."</p> + +<p>The trader handed Maxwell a little tuft of leopard's fur braided with +fiber.</p> + +<p>"If Niven has told you any of his secrets it might be good policy not to +mention it," he cautioned; "and Gilby and I are not curious. This +factory is sufficiently remunerative and deadly for us."</p> + +<p>Niven grew rapidly weaker all day, and when Maxwell asked him at sunset +whether he had any messages to send to friends in the old country, he +did not appear to recognize him.</p> + +<p>"They're all dead a long time ago," he said ramblingly. "Poor Elsie, who +was worlds too good for me, lies in clean English earth a long way +across the sea; but Lyle, who understands everything and why I forgot +him, is waiting for me. I could not have a better comrade wherever he +is."</p> + +<p>These were his last comprehensible words, for he passed out of +existence, sleeping, with the chill of early morning, and was, as usual, +laid to rest that day. Maxwell returned thoughtfully from the simple +funeral, feeling that the legacy might well prove an unmixed blessing.</p> + +<p>On reaching the veranda stairway, he heard somebody moving softly about +what had been the sick man's room. He had good ears, and felt tolerably +certain that the next sound he caught was that made by cotton garments +being quickly unfolded or wrapped together. Somebody, it appeared, was +searching Niven's apparel. In spite of Maxwell's quickness, he had not +reached the doorway when a man came out of it and advanced, smiling +toward him. He was rather dark in face and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> full in flesh for an +European who had dwelt any time in Western Africa. He also was more +elaborately dressed, in spotless white duck, fine linen, and silk sash, +than the average trader; but if his lips were a trifle thick, and his +eyes cunning, he had an easy, good-humored air, and saluted Maxwell +gracefully.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur Maxwell, is it not? I have the honor to present myself—Victor +Rideau," he said. "By grand misfortune, I arrive too late to change the +adieux with my friend of long time, the estimable Niven, and so wait to +ask if he left any paper for me. We have affair together, and there is +small debt he owe me, <i>voyez vous</i>?"</p> + +<p>Maxwell was a man of keen perceptions, and he would have distrusted the +speaker even if he had not been warned against him.</p> + +<p>"He left you no papers. Neither, so far as I can discover, did he leave +a single franc piece in money."</p> + +<p>"Grand misfortune!" exclaimed Rideau. "Possible it is he tell you of his +affair. The estimable Niven, you understand, was old friend of me. That +is why I have the pleasure of wait your company."</p> + +<p>"He told me very little about his business affairs, and the rest was +spoken in strict confidence," said Maxwell; and for a few seconds the +two men eyed each other—Maxwell curious but expressionless in face; +Rideau somewhat uneasy. The advantage was with the Briton, for he was +seldom loquacious, while the man of Latin extraction seemed to find the +silence irksome.</p> + +<p>"You are perhaps busy," he said at length. "You grieve for the estimable +Niven. Me, I grieve for him also. So, if it is not intrusion, to-morrow, +by the morning, I come for condole with you."</p> + +<p>Rideau withdrew, and Maxwell first packed his few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> belongings—a +homeward bound steamer was due to call on the morrow—and then sat down +to make a copy of the dead man's itinerary, with the sketches attached +to it. He was surprised to find that, mad or sane, Niven had noted the +magnetic direction of each day's march, as well as taken cross bearings +of prominent objects wherever there was open country. These details +increased his hopefulness; and when he had enclosed the copy in a sealed +envelope and handed it to the French postmaster, he buttoned the +original in an inside pocket and sat down on the veranda, smoking +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"It appears that other men beside myself believe Niven actually did find +gold up there, as two attempts to steal his diary seem to prove," he +reflected. "Whoever goes up to look for it will probably have to deal +with Monsieur Victor Rideau as well as the Leopards; and a little delay +in setting about the search may throw him off the scent. The first +necessity is a reliable partner, and I can think of nobody better than +Hyslop."</p> + +<p>The homeward bound mailboat arrived before Rideau the next day, and when +she stopped at the first port connected by cable, Maxwell despatched a +message to London:</p> + +<p>"<i>Wire Hyslop to meet me by Malemba.</i>"</p> + +<p>Before the steamer proceeded he received the answer:</p> + +<p>"<i>Hyslop dead South America, according to Dane.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Poor Andrew!" thought Maxwell. "That is check number one. Still, there +must be many suitable men at home, and I dare say I shall find one. Who +Dane is, Carslake, parsimonious as usual, does not explain."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> +<span class="smalltext">AN UNDERSTANDING</span></h2> + + +<p>It was a pleasant summer evening when Hilton Dane leaned against a beech +trunk outside Thomas Chatterton's villa which stands upon a hillside +above the Solway shore. He was a tall, fair-haired man who looked older +than his age, twenty-five, with steady blue eyes, and usually a somewhat +masterful air; but just then his eyes were wistful, and his face, which +betokened an acquaintance with the tropical sun, expressed somewhat +tempered satisfaction. He had certainly cause for the latter feeling, +because, after toiling hard at railroad building in a foreign land, it +was comforting to know that he had earned the right to rest a while in +that peaceful retreat.</p> + +<p>The sun still touched the velvet lawn, though the shadows lengthened +across it, and the larch wood behind the red-tiled building diffused +resinous odors. The grass sloped to a river which came down amber-tinted +from the stretch of heather growing black against the east, and, curving +round two meadows, flashed through the gloom of fir branches into a deep +pool. All this was pleasant to the wanderer newly returned from the +glare of the desolate pampa and the turmoil of dusty construction camps; +but Dane found the keenest pleasure in watching his companion.</p> + +<p>Lilian Chatterton, niece of the childless owner of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> The Larches, was +worth inspection. She was a year or two younger than the man, and lay in +a low chair opposite him, her fingers busy with a ball of colored +thread, while the last of the sunlight sparkled in her hair. Dane +noticed how its bronze color flashed into lustrous gold, and decided +that the changing lights in the hazel eyes matched it wonderfully well. +Nevertheless, he had seen them burn with quick indignation, for the girl +possessed a spice of the Chatterton temper, which was never remarkably +equable. Presently he allowed several loops of thread to slip from the +skein he held, and she looked up with a trace of indignation.</p> + +<p>"That is the second time! You cannot be tired already," she said.</p> + +<p>Dane smiled a trifle grimly. He had toiled for twelve hours daily under +burning heat and then spent half the night poring over plans, not long +ago.</p> + +<p>"I am not quite worn out; but is it not an unfair question, considering +my present employment? This skein is getting mixed, and I was wondering +if you would allow me to help you in straightening it."</p> + +<p>Miss Chatterton glanced at him keenly before she shook her head. It was +not surprising that she had grown used to masculine homage, but none of +her other cavaliers had quite resembled this one. He was slower and more +solid, and, while he had a way of anticipating her wishes, he lacked +their versatility. Sometimes she wished, with a sense of irritation, +that she could dismiss him as summarily as she had done the rest, but +that could not be done without incurring Thomas Chatterton's +displeasure, which was no small thing to risk.</p> + +<p>"No," she said decisively. "I believe you tangled it yourself. Don't you +think it would run more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> smoothly if you gave the thread more length? +Well, why don't you act upon the suggestion?"</p> + +<p>"I was thinking," the man answered with a meditative air; and Miss +Chatterton laughed.</p> + +<p>"It is a bad habit of yours. Of the famous mining pump, or the lawsuit, +presumably?"</p> + +<p>There was something in the speaker's manner which qualified the smile in +her hazel eyes, and warned the man that his companion was merely bent on +discovering how far he was disposed to respect the wishes she had not +directly expressed. He, on his part, was wondering how he could best +intimate that certain fears she entertained were groundless. He laughed +softly, though a tinge of darker color crept into his tanned face as he +remembered the uncompromising frigidity with which she had at first +received him.</p> + +<p>"I feel that I ought to say something civil," he said. "How could one +think of the things you mention in such surroundings?"</p> + +<p>The girl was in a variable mood, and she smiled mischievously.</p> + +<p>"That is not civil. It implies that I expected you to. Tell me instead +how the pump is progressing."</p> + +<p>"The pump is not progressing," said the man. "In fact, it is standing +still; and, though the court upheld my patent, it will probably continue +to stand still for lack of capital. Capital is hard to acquire, you +know."</p> + +<p>"But you were well paid, and promoted several times on your merits in +South America, were you not?" asked Miss Chatterton.</p> + +<p>"I was lucky," Dane said quietly. "It was due to no merit of mine that +my superiors died off with yellow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> fever; but when the inventor desires +a fair share of the profit himself, it requires a good deal of money to +start off pumps and similar inventions successfully."</p> + +<p>"You are growing avaricious," declared Miss Chatterton, and let her eyes +fall a little under the man's gaze.</p> + +<p>"You are right," he said. "I would sell half my life to any one for the +few thousand pounds the invention would repay twenty-fold; and somehow I +shall get them."</p> + +<p>The listener fancied that this was possible, for there was a stamp of +force and endurance upon the man; but she did not inquire why he was so +anxious for wealth. While she considered her answer, and he wondered how +he could best express what must be said, there was an interruption; for +it happened a few moments earlier that the owner of The Larches flung +down the balance-sheet he was perusing in a room which did not look out +upon the lawn.</p> + +<p>"Those new directors are a pack of fools," he observed. "They are +throwing away all I so painfully built up. I'm going to catch a trout in +the moss pool; and, as I saw Maxwell's rascals putting up the fence +again, I'll demolish his iniquitous obstruction on my way. Helen, where +have these stupid people hidden my flybook again?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton smiled a little, and, reminding her husband that the +book was in his pocket, followed him to the door.</p> + +<p>Thomas Chatterton and the father of Hilton Dane had set up a little wire +mill when both were struggling men, and, though Dane's rolling machinery +had started them on the way to prosperity, its inventor died too<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> soon. +Chatterton was always considered an upright man; but, because Dane's +widow did not long survive her husband, nobody knew exactly whether his +success was due to his own energy or the dead man's invention. +Chatterton, however, recognized a moral debt, and would have discharged +it, but that Hilton Dane had inherited his mother's pride as well as his +father's skill. When the famous business was sold to a company, the +iron-master, purchasing a small estate in Scotland, aspired to play the +part of a country gentleman, in which he was not wholly successful. He +was at once too autocratic and too democratic; and the local magnates of +ancient descent resented his habit of doing exactly what pleased himself +in defiance of their most cherished traditions. He had accordingly +embroiled himself with Maxwell of Culmeny over what he contended was an +ancient right of way.</p> + +<p>When he reached the door he turned and smiled significantly at his wife.</p> + +<p>"They seem well contented, do they not?" he said.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton understood him, though she did not smile as she glanced +at the two on the lawn. Lilian's white-robed figure was forced up +sharply in a manner that emphasized its comeliness by the somber +background of larches; and the last of the ruddy light deepened the +faint, warm tinge in her cheeks. Dane's face was in the shadow, as he +looked down upon the girl, but his form showing darkly against the light +was that of a vigorous, well-made man; and Mrs. Chatterton, knowing his +disposition, reflected that her niece might make a less desirable +choice. It was, however, she thought, unfortunate that her husband was +seldom addicted to leaving those he desired to benefit any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> choice at +all; and she considered that he had made his intentions respecting Dane +and his niece too plain, for Lilian had a tolerably strong will of her +own.</p> + +<p>Chatterton moved forward, and the two turned sharply at the sight of the +stout, thick-necked, elderly gentleman, in vivid red leggings and slouch +hat adorned with gaudy flies.</p> + +<p>"We had neither time nor taste for needle-work when I was young, Hilton, +but these are degenerate days," he said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "Do +you feel inclined to help me to catch a trout during the evening rise?"</p> + +<p>Dane glanced appealingly toward his companion. He would have felt no +great inclination for being sent into the river to free the +iron-master's line, which usually formed part of the program on such +excursions, even if he had not a better reason for refusing.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid the water is too clear, sir, for an indifferent angler; and +it might spoil this skein if I left it partly wound," he answered +lamely.</p> + +<p>Lilian, however, possibly for Chatterton's benefit, ignored the appeal.</p> + +<p>"So far you have only succeeded in entangling it," she said.</p> + +<p>Dane had no choice left but to express the pleasure it would afford him +at least to carry his host's landing net; and he did it as well as +possible, though uneasily conscious that Chatterton was amused at him. +Then they waded together through long damp grass which soaked Dane's +thin shoes through, while Chatterton discoursed learnedly upon lines and +flies. He was as choleric and obstinate as he could be generous when the +impulse seized him, and he had ruled stubborn opera<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>tives so long that +the use of the strong hand had become habitual to him. Presently he +halted, fuming with indignation, before a hedge.</p> + +<p>"That confounded Maxwell has built it up stronger than ever!" he +exploded. "Look at that, and see how he respects a public right of way! +Don't you consider it perfectly scandalous, Hilton?"</p> + +<p>Dane saw an irate elderly gentleman, and a neatly mended gap in the +hedge; but being uncertain as to what answer would best soothe the +former, he wisely held his peace until he should furnish further +particulars. Chatterton, however, espying a stout stake in the grass, +commenced a spirited attack upon the hedge. So vigorous was it that his +face grew flushed and his hat fell off, while Dane looked on with +suspicious gravity, smothering a desire to laugh.</p> + +<p>"If you really want that gap opened, I dare say I could assist you, +sir," he said.</p> + +<p>Chatterton panted wrathfully.</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose I am doing this for exercise? It's a public duty! I have +battered it down twice already, and defied Culmeny to sue me."</p> + +<p>He plied the stake again until, glancing from a root, it smote him on +the ankle. Desisting then, he commented upon his neighbor's conduct +viciously while Dane proceeded to attack the obstruction with marked +success. Chatterton, when he noticed this, watched him admiringly; and +when Dane tore his hand on a strand of barbed wire, he positively beamed +on him.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, Hilton; but, in one way, it's almost a pity you did not tear +it worse," he said. "Still, I dare say it will rankle sufficiently to +give us something to claim damages from Culmeny upon. Meantime, go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> home +and ask Lily to tie it up. Nobody could do it more neatly."</p> + +<p>"I certainly hope it will not, sir," said Dane, with a trace of +irritation; though, being thankful for the excuse, he lost no time in +returning.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Lilian Chatterton sat where he had left her, in a +contemplative frame of mind. She and Dane had been playmates in their +younger days, and the latter had afterward shown his admiration for her +in youthful fashion. That was before he went abroad; but her cheeks +tingled as she remembered how she had been made to feel, a few weeks +earlier, that it was Chatterton's desire that their youthful friendship +should speedily ripen into something further. Lilian was grateful to the +iron-master, who had denied her nothing, and brought her up as his +daughter; but she was also sensitive, and accordingly shrank from Dane, +wondering, with a sense of shame, what had been said to him, and whether +he, too, considered her own opinion as of no importance. The man's +conduct had, however, partly reassured her, for he made no advances; she +did not know that he had, during several years spent in strenuous +effort, carried her memory and a stolen photograph about with him.</p> + +<p>Had she been a free agent she might have been inclined to approve of +Hilton Dane. She knew he was honest, resolute, and capable, while as +regards physique, nature had treated him well; but as it was, and +because there were no friends she could find an excuse for visiting, it +appeared essential that he should be made to recognize that there could +be no more than a mutual toleration between them. Miss Chatterton had +just arrived at this conclusion when the man came toward her across<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> the +lawn. Again it struck her that the bronzed face beneath the straw hat +was that of an honest man, and that the blue eyes had a kindly gleam in +them; but she brushed such thoughts aside impatiently.</p> + +<p>"What has brought you back so soon?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"The need of assistance," Dane answered with a laugh, and the girl's +mood changed swiftly as she glanced at his injured hand. Her eyes grew +sympathetic.</p> + +<p>"Will you wait a few moments until I find some arnica?" she said.</p> + +<p>Dane would have waited a long time in return for such a glance, and, +when the girl rejoined him, he felt that the pain was a very small price +to pay for the pleasure of letting his torn hand rest in her little cool +palm. When it had been bound up with a dainty handkerchief, Lilian +smiled prettily.</p> + +<p>"I think," she said playfully, "with due care you should now recover."</p> + +<p>"Do you know that I feel tempted to go back and tear the other?" +returned the man.</p> + +<p>Lilian regarded him with some uneasiness.</p> + +<p>"Such speeches do not become you," she said. "No doubt there are idle +men who consider that they prove irresistible to most of us; but +you—you are different."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Dane assented somewhat grimly. "I suppose my lot is to drag the +measuring chain and do the hard work more famous men get paid for; but a +little variety is refreshing—and there were times when you did not seem +to find any levity on my part wholly irksome."</p> + +<p>The girl's color rose a little, and there was a sparkle in her eyes. She +understood that this was a challenge,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> but she did not guess that it had +been thrown down for her sake out of kindliness. Unfortunately, she +recalled several incidents connected with the days to which her +companion referred, and she recollected that he had an unpleasantly good +memory.</p> + +<p>"We were only boy and girl then," she said. "One forgets such nonsense +as one grows older. Still, I am almost glad you mentioned it, +because—can't you see the uselessness of remembering?"</p> + +<p>Dane, though he did not say so, saw most clearly the impossibility of +ever being able to forget; but he was considerate, and had sense enough +to see what he would lose by taking advantage of the position. He had +noticed how, until his conduct reassured her, she held aloof from him.</p> + +<p>"What could an unfortunate man answer?" he asked with a mirthless smile. +"Do you expect me to admit that I am pleased to consider it is so?"</p> + +<p>Lilian looked down at the grass to hide the anger in her face.</p> + +<p>"Please don't—I am not wholly foolish," she said; and added abruptly, +"I have almost decided on going to London for a course of art study +shortly."</p> + +<p>Dane leaned forward a little, and forced her to look up at him.</p> + +<p>"That is, you are going away to avoid me," he said. "Have you considered +that this might not only render circumstances unpleasant for you, but be +unnecessary?"</p> + +<p>Lilian looked at him steadily, for she was not lacking in courage.</p> + +<p>"I am my own mistress; and they are distinctly unpleasant already."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>Every word of the answer cost Dane an effort, but he determined to +finish his task.</p> + +<p>"I can realize that they must be so," he said. "I am not clever at +expressing myself, and what I have to say is difficult to me, but I +cannot allow you to be driven away. We are both master of our own +inclinations, are we not?—and you have my word that, if you can trust +me, it really isn't necessary."</p> + +<p>There was no doubt about the relief in Lilian's face; and though it hurt +the man to see it, he held out his hand.</p> + +<p>"We shall be good friends once more; and that implies a good deal, does +it not?" he said. "Promise so much, and I will engage that you have no +further perplexity."</p> + +<p>Lilian felt very grateful.</p> + +<p>"I think I can promise that, now that we understand," she replied.</p> + +<p>"Then it is a compact," said Dane, hiding his own regret manfully. "As a +change, you might tell me why your uncle finds such satisfaction in +destroying his neighbor's fences. He even said it was a pity I did not +tear my hand more seriously."</p> + +<p>Lilian was glad to change the subject.</p> + +<p>"He fancied that Maxwell of Culmeny closed the gap to annoy him," she +explained. "Unfortunately, when tearing down the first barrier, he hurt +his foot, which naturally made him more determined to maintain ancient +privileges. In one way, the feud is amusing; in another, vexatious; +because we are lonely here, and the Misses Maxwell cannot well call upon +us. Their brother Carsluith has lately returned from Africa, and would +have made you a pleasant companion."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>"Carsluith Maxwell?" said Dane. "It is curious that I was of some +service to a friend of his, named Hyslop, in South America. The poor +fellow struck our camp pulled down by sickness and apparently in want of +money, and we were able to find him employment."</p> + +<p>"Did you not mention that the contractors would not replace the +assistants who died of fever?" asked Lilian. "Did they endorse your +action?"</p> + +<p>"I can't say they did," was the answer. "They were not required to."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Then who paid Hyslop's salary?"</p> + +<p>"It was arranged," Dane answered ambiguously. "You see, he was a +countryman; and the poor fellow died soon afterward, anyway. I think I +shall walk over to Culmeny."</p> + +<p>Lilian asked no further questions. She felt that any one in trouble +could trust the man beside her. She smiled as she said:</p> + +<p>"I am afraid that would not be judicious. Your host would consider it an +act of treachery."</p> + +<p>They went back to the house together; and in the meantime, Thomas +Chatterton, who was not a skilful angler, whipped several pools +unsuccessfully, hooking nothing but weeds, and once, by accident, a +water hen. Thus it happened that he had not returned when darkness fell, +and Mrs. Chatterton despatched Dane in search of him. The moon was +rising when the latter came down a path through the fir wood and stopped +beside a deep, black pool. A streak of silver light crept up to the +roots of an alder beside a ruined wall, and he paused to watch the +wrinkled current flash athwart it. The odors of the firs and the +stillness of the night were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> soothing: the sacrifice he had lately made +had been a heavy one. Dane had not abandoned his hopes, but knew that he +might have to wait long for their consummation, if they were ever +realized.</p> + +<p>Presently there was a sound of footsteps, and Dane guessed that the +approaching shape was Chatterton by the red glow of his cigar. The +iron-master stopped beside the alder, and it seemed that something which +caused a ripple near its roots caught his eyes. Dane suspected that some +poacher had set a night line.</p> + +<p>Now, the wall marked the boundary between Chatterton's riparian rights +and those of Culmeny; and it was out of idle curiosity that Dane watched +his host instead of hailing him as, first looking about him, he +descended the bank and hauled in the line. An exclamation of disgust +followed as a writhing eel was flung out upon the grass; but there were +nobler fish attached, and presently Chatterton stood up holding a +splendid trout. Dane remembered that his father had sworn by +Chatterton's commercial integrity, but he was not wholly astonished when +the man slipped the fish, and a second one which followed it, into his +creel. Then, surmising that the angler would not have desired a witness, +he turned back softly and met him in the wood, flattering himself that +he had arranged the meeting neatly.</p> + +<p>"Had you any luck, sir?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"The water was low, but here is something to convince the mockers," +Chatterton answered, holding up a handsome trout; and Dane expressed +admiration but no astonishment, which might not have been complimentary.</p> + +<p>They walked home together, and Lilian met them in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> the hall. She +surveyed the trout suspiciously, then laughed as she said:</p> + +<p>"You look hot and muddy, and almost guilty. Are you quite sure you have +not been poaching?"</p> + +<p>Miss Chatterton was a shrewd young lady, and for a moment the +iron-master, who had quelled several strikes unaided, looked positively +uneasy.</p> + +<p>"Young women were taught that flippancy did not become them when I was +young," he rebuked.</p> + +<p>Late that night the two men sat talking together.</p> + +<p>"You have told me little about your affairs, Hilton," Chatterton said; +"but I presume you will stay at home and put your pump on the market +instead of accepting the foreign commission. There should be a good +demand for it among the deep mine owners."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not, sir," was the answer. "The patent lawsuit proved +expensive, and to start an article of that kind successfully requires a +good deal of money. I shall therefore go abroad to earn a little more as +soon as the firm sends me."</p> + +<p>"And risk your life for a thousand pounds," said Chatterton severely. +"Don't you know that there are men with money who would be willing to +finance you?"</p> + +<p>"All I have met demanded three-fourths of the possible profits in +return; and this is my invention."</p> + +<p>"It is a valuable one," declared Chatterton with unusual diffidence. +"But can't you think of anybody who would lend you the money out of +good-will at a very moderate interest?"</p> + +<p>Dane looked at the speaker steadily before he answered.</p> + +<p>"I think I could; and I'm grateful; but unfortunately I can't bring +myself to borrow money from such people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> It would be abusing their +kindness; and I might lose it for them."</p> + +<p>Chatterton frowned.</p> + +<p>"You are like your father—and as confoundedly hard to do a favor to," +he said.</p> + +<p>He retired shortly after this; and Dane went out into the moonlight, and +leaned over the rails of a footbridge, watching the river slide past. He +found a faint solace in the sounds and scents which filled the shadows, +and knew that though he had taken the one course possible, if he was to +retain his own self-respect and Lilian's esteem, there would be no sleep +for him that night.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> +<span class="smalltext">AT THE ELBOW POOL</span></h2> + + +<p>While waiting for his foreign commission, Dane found the summer days +slip by almost too rapidly, though there were occasions when, after a +long afternoon spent in Lilian's company, he fancied he could understand +the feelings of Tantallus. The girl appeared completely reassured, and +treated him with sisterly cordiality, while Chatterton, who knew nothing +of their compact, nodded sapiently as he observed their growing +friendship. Dane sometimes wondered if he were not heaping up future +sorrow for himself; but, with infrequent exceptions, he found the +present very good, and, being a sanguine man who could wait, he made the +most of it.</p> + +<p>Lilian was troubled by no misgivings. Once, when her aunt asked a +diplomatic question, she smiled frankly as she said: "Yes. I am in one +way very fond of Hilton; you will remember that I always was. We +understand each other thoroughly; and he is so assured and solid that +one feels a restful sense of security in his company. You will remember +the Highland chieftain's candlesticks—the men with the claymores and +torches, Aunty. Well, I fancy that worthy gentleman must have felt the +same thing when he dined in state with them about him. He had but to +lift his finger and they would disappear, you know."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton looked slightly grave as she an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>swered: "Don't forget +that they were also men with passions, and very terrible men, +sometimes—for instance, at Killiecrankie. It would not surprise me if +you discovered that there is a good deal of very vigorous human nature +in Hilton Dane."</p> + +<p>Thomas Chatterton still went fishing, generally with indifferent +success, but once Lilian caught Dane examining his creel, which was +surprisingly well filled.</p> + +<p>"I am puzzled, Hilton," she said. "I made a wager with Uncle that he +would not catch a dozen good trout in a month, and now I fancy that he +will win it."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Men are deceivers ever—especially when it is a question of catching +fish. I have noticed that when your host goes fishing by daylight he +rarely catches anything but eels, which, as everybody knows, do not rise +to a fly, while when he rises early or returns in the dusk he brings a +really fine trout or two. I cannot, however, believe that this one died +only two hours ago. Can you suggest an explanation?"</p> + +<p>"Charity," said Dane gravely, "suspecteth nothing. Don't you know that +trout rise most freely just before the dusk?"</p> + +<p>Lilian shook her head.</p> + +<p>"You are not sufficiently clever to set your wits against a woman's," +she declared.</p> + +<p>Dane laughed, a trifle grimly; and the girl, momentarily startled by +something in his merriment, decided that she must have been mistaken; +but she abandoned the subject with some abruptness.</p> + +<p>That very evening, perhaps sent forth by fate, because much depended +upon his fishing, Thomas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> Chatterton took up his rod and landing net, +and, as he did not return by nightfall, his wife once more despatched +Dane in search of him.</p> + +<p>"I think you know where to find him; and I wish I did, for he has only +to take two more trout to win," Lilian added significantly.</p> + +<p>Dane proceeded by the shortest way to the big elbow pool, but it was +almost dark when he reached it. There had been heavy rain, and all the +firs which loomed through thin white mist were dripping. The water came +down beneath them thick with the peat of the moorlands in incipient +flood. Dane could hear its hoarse growl about the boulders studding the +tail rapid, and surmised that there ought to be several trout on the +poacher's line. Having, nevertheless, no desire to surprise his host +red-handed, he did not immediately proceed toward it, but sat upon the +driest stone he could find, listening for his coming. There was no sound +but the clamor of the river and the heavy splashing of moisture from the +boughs above, some of which trickled down his neck, until he heard a +rattle of falling stones, and a shadowy figure, which he guessed was +Chatterton's, crawled down toward the alder roots.</p> + +<p>A splash was followed by a hoarse exclamation as the man slipped into +the water up to the knee; then Dane heard the thud of a flung out fish, +and sat very still, for it would clearly be injudicious to present +himself just then. He noticed a minute twinkle of brightness among the +boulders across the pool which puzzled him. It was too small for the +light of a lantern, and he remembered nothing that shone in just the +same fashion. While he wondered what it could be, another dark ob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>ject +rose beside the alder, gripping what looked like a heavy stick.</p> + +<p>"I'm thinking I have ye noo!" a gruff voice exclaimed. "Ye sorrowful +wastrel, stealing a puir man's fish!"</p> + +<p>Thomas Chatterton stood upright, knee-deep in the river, with an +exclamation; and Dane, knowing there was much deeper water close behind +him, sprang to his feet. That the irascible iron-master would show fight +if necessary, he felt certain, and equally so that a portly elderly +gentleman would make a poor match for a brawny laborer. Hardly had he +got to his feet, however, than the keeper, sliding down the bank, +dropped silently into the river, and disappeared as if by magic, while, +as Dane wondered what had startled him, another voice rang out.</p> + +<p>"Run straight in on the alder while I head him off from the firs!" it +directed; and a whistle was followed by the sound of trampling feet.</p> + +<p>Somebody came smashing through the undergrowth, and Dane was never quite +certain as to the cause for what happened next, though he surmised that +Chatterton's dread of becoming a laughing-stock to his enemy proved +momentarily stronger than his reason. In any case, he must have +endeavored to follow the keeper's lead, and lost his footing, for a side +swing of the stream swept him out from shore, while Dane, realizing that +an elderly gentleman in heavy boots and leggings was hardly likely to +make much head against a flooded river, plunged from the bank in the +flattest dive he could compass, though horribly afraid that he might +strike his head against a submerged stone. It was a good plunge, for he +rose almost in mid-stream, and heard a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> great splashing and panting +close before him. A few moments later, he had Chatterton by the +shoulder, and braced himself for a struggle.</p> + +<p>Chatterton, though driving sideways down the stream, could apparently +swim a little, and did not appear unduly alarmed. Indeed, Dane had cause +for believing he feared nothing except ridicule; but he was very heavy, +and panted stentoriously, while muddy froth beat into the younger man's +eyes and nostrils, and the rebound, which surged in a whirling eddy from +a central rock, swept them down together toward the white race between +the boulders at the tail of the pool. Dane had no intention of being +hammered against them if it could be avoided, and did his utmost, +thrusting with one hand on Chatterton's shoulder and swimming on his +side. Still, the boulders swept up-stream past them, the larches flitted +by, and though they drew clear of the fastest rush, it seemed impossible +that they could make a landing in time to escape the rapid. Chatterton +was apparently swallowing water, and choking badly now.</p> + +<p>"For heaven's sake, make a last effort, sir!" spluttered Dane; and the +iron-master splashed furiously.</p> + +<p>A strip of shingle grew nearer, but they would hardly have reached it +had not a man floundered in almost shoulder-deep and clutched them as +they passed. All three went down together, Chatterton undermost; but +when Dane's head broke the surface, a hand was twined in his hair, and a +half-choked voice said:</p> + +<p>"You are in wading distance, man. Get up and walk!"</p> + +<p>Dane felt sliding shingle beneath him, and tightening his grip on +Chatterton he struggled for a foothold; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> finally they reeled, +breathless, dazed, and dripping, out among the boulders. Then somebody +turned back the slide of a darkened lantern, and the half-drowned +Chatterton gasped, for it was evident that his rescuer was Carsluith +Maxwell, the son of his enemy. Maxwell stared at Chatterton, and the +iron-master gaped at him; but while blank astonishment was stamped on +both their faces, it was Maxwell who recovered his senses first.</p> + +<p>"Robertson, hail Jim to run over to The Larches, and say that Mr. +Chatterton, who fell into the river trying to capture a poacher, is +coming home with me to change his clothes," he ordered, and then turned +toward the dripping pair. "It was very plucky of you, sir, and you were +only a few seconds too late. I thought you would secure the depredator. +It is two miles round by the footbridge, and you hardly look fit for the +walk, so you are coming to Culmeny with me. There is really no use +protesting."</p> + +<p>Thomas Chatterton did not look capable of much exertion, but he +hesitated.</p> + +<p>"It is very kind of you, but your father and I, unfortunately—"</p> + +<p>Maxwell laughed.</p> + +<p>"I believe you had some trifling difference; but this is a Christian +country, and the reason given quite insufficient for letting you freeze +to death. Mr. Dane, I presume? You will help me to persuade your host."</p> + +<p>Chatterton, although exhausted, yielded dubiously, and it was not long +before the pair shed their dripping garments beside a blazing fire in +Culmeny, and struggled into the dry ones provided, both sets being of +average<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> size. Dane, however, was tall and long of limb; Chatterton was +short and broad, and when his toilet was finished, he stood up +half-choked, with every button straining about him.</p> + +<p>"This is worse than a strait waistcoat, Hilton," he fumed; "and I'd +rather forfeit five pounds than go down and meet them as I am. By the +way, I believe I never thanked you; but I will not forget our swim. But +tell me how you came to turn up so opportunely."</p> + +<p>Chatterton betrayed some anxiety in the last words, but Dane managed to +frame an answer which reassured him as he surveyed himself in a glass +and hoped the Misses Maxwell would not put in an appearance. The wet +hair plastered down his forehead showed a washed-out straw color against +the darkened skin. His brown wrists and ankles projected ridiculously +from the borrowed garments, and somebody's slippers would not cover more +than a portion of his feet.</p> + +<p>"We are neither of us particularly prepossessing at first sight, but I +suppose we must make the best of it; Maxwell asked us to come down when +we were ready," he said.</p> + +<p>They went down, Chatterton fuming, Dane struggling with a desire to +laugh; and two men rose to meet them when they entered a long, +low-ceilinged room. That meeting was fraught with far-reaching +consequences, and Dane could afterward recall it vividly. The old place +of Culmeny was an ancient and somewhat decrepit edifice, owned for many +generations by the Maxwells, and the wainscot of the room was dark with +age. Quaintly embroidered curtains were drawn across one end of it; +there were few pictures, and these old;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> while the whole place wore a +somber air, almost intensified by the light of the wax candles on the +great uncovered table, which supported a steaming bowl. This, Dane +noticed, was of oak hooped with tarnished silver. It was, however, the +two men who fixed his attention. The elder, a spare gray-haired man with +a white moustache, came forward holding out his hand.</p> + +<p>"I must congratulate you upon your escape, Mr. Chatterton," he said. "I +am glad that Carsluith had sense enough to bring you home with him; and +I can recommend a ladleful of this mixture as a preventative against a +chill, while regretting that, because the fires were low, we could not +send you a dose earlier. The customs of Culmeny are not altogether what +they used to be."</p> + +<p>The pair formed a striking contrast when Chatterton turned toward his +host, glass in hand. The one was softly spoken, spare to gauntness, and +characterized by a subtle air of distinction; the other, short, florid, +abrupt in speech, and more often aggressive than dignified in manner. +Then, because Chatterton was also a man of impulse, who cared for +neither place nor tradition when anything stirred him, as his host's +welcome evidently did, he bowed to Brandram Maxwell with more grace than +Dane deemed him capable of.</p> + +<p>"Here's to our better acquaintance, sir; and my best thanks," he said. +"I'm a plain, self-taught man, and may have blundered in enforcing what +I thought my rights. If so, I regret it."</p> + +<p>What Brandram Maxwell answered Dane did not remember, but he expressed +it very neatly; and while the feud was patched up, his son smiled +curiously at the younger man. He was like his father, but taller<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> in +stature, dark in color of eyes and hair, and slightly olive-tinted in +complexion, while his movements suggested a wiry suppleness. Dane +surmised that he was of reserved, if not slightly sardonic, disposition.</p> + +<p>The bowl of punch was emptied with every sign of amity; and when it was +finished Thomas Chatterton, who had absorbed the major portion and +declared that he had never tasted anything better, said: "I hope we +shall see much more of each other in future, and, as an earnest of the +wish, I will expect you shortly at The Larches, where Mrs. Chatterton +will thank you for your kindness better than I can."</p> + +<p>While Brandram Maxwell started some topic of conversation with his elder +guest, his son, to whom Dane had mentioned the affair of the Englishman +in South America, drew him aside.</p> + +<p>"Hyslop and I were once good friends, and I consider myself your debtor +for what you did for him," he said. "Did he tell you much about his +wanderings, or that he and I came near successfully exploiting a Mexican +mine?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Dane. "He told me very little. What went wrong with the +mine?"</p> + +<p>Maxwell laughed.</p> + +<p>"The unexpected happened. It generally does when one awaits the +consummation of an ingenious scheme. I am especially sorry Hyslop has +gone."</p> + +<p>Dane longed to ascertain whether his new friend suspected any other +explanation than the one he had seized upon for Chatterton's plunge into +the river, and endeavored to do so, without success; for even when he +afterward learned to know and trust him well, he never found it easy to +glean more from Carsluith Maxwell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> than he wished to tell. An accident, +however, favored him, and he thought more of the man for his reticence +when, as the master of Culmeny was exhibiting some new artificial +minnows in his gun-room, he heard his son, who had slipped away, say to +somebody in the darkness beneath the open window:</p> + +<p>"You remember the pheasants' eggs incident, Kevan? You need not repeat +your explanations, because I have no intention of raking it up, and +merely wish to suggest that you find means of preventing your comrades +from talking too much about what happened to-night. When a gentleman of +Mr. Chatterton's years allows his excitement to overcome him to such an +extent that he follows a poacher into a flooded river, he naturally +would not like his adventures made public property."</p> + +<p>"I'm a wee bit puzzled, sir," answered an invisible person; and +Maxwell's voice rose faintly through the sound of retreating footsteps:</p> + +<p>"I am not puzzled in the least; and that ought to be sufficient. You are +sure you understand my wishes?"</p> + +<p>He came in a few moments later to inform his guests that the dog-cart +was waiting.</p> + +<p>As they drove home, Chatterton said sententiously:</p> + +<p>"We all make mistakes at times, Hilton; and that was most excellent +punch. For instance, when one comes to know him, Maxwell is what might +be termed a very good fellow. Hard up like the rest of them, of course; +land and buildings, as everybody knows, burdened to the hilt, but—I +suppose it was born in him—he bears the stamp, and his son wears it +too. You and I are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> different, you know, though travel has done a good +deal for you. I have handled a good many men in my time, and I like that +fellow's looks. He would be a very bad kind to tackle when the devil +that smiles through his black eyes wakes up; and I think he'd stand by +the man who played him fair through the damnedest kind of luck."</p> + +<p>Dane, who fully endorsed this opinion, was afterward to discover that +Thomas Chatterton was no bad judge of his fellow-men.</p> + +<p>"They are neither of the type one associates with this part of the +country," he commented.</p> + +<p>"No," said Chatterton. "They were, I understand, always an adventurous +family, and some of them who took part in the wars there in the old days +intermarried with the Spaniards then holding the Low Countries. A strain +of that kind takes a long time to work out, you know."</p> + +<p>Chatterton's fishing was not without results, for in spite of, or +perhaps because of, their different character and experience, it was the +commencement of a friendship between himself and Maxwell of Culmeny. The +iron-master had hewn his own way to fortune, and, being troubled by no +petty diffidence, was, if anything, overfond of recounting has earlier +struggles. The wild blood of the old moss-troopers still pulsed in the +veins of the Maxwells, and the impoverished gentleman, who listened with +interest, sighed as he remembered the sordid monotony of his own career, +during which he had, by dint of painful economy, somewhat lightened the +burden with which his inheritance had been saddled by the recklessness +of his forbears.</p> + +<p>Carsluith Maxwell took even more kindly to his new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> acquaintances; and +there sprang up between himself and Dane a comradeship which was to +stand a bitter test, while, as summer merged into autumn, he would +sometimes wonder at himself. He said nothing about his African venture, +and spent much time considering old rent books and the cost of moss-land +reclamation schemes. The rest he spent shooting with Dane, or lounging +at The Larches, if possible in Lilian Chatterton's vicinity; but, +although he could rouse himself to temporary brilliancy, Maxwell was +usually oversilent in feminine society, and Dane felt no jealousy. The +latter rested content in the meantime with the knowledge that Lilian +found a mild pleasure in his company; and only Mrs. Chatterton felt any +misgivings respecting future possibilities. Being a wise woman, she kept +her suspicions to herself until they became certainties, when one day +Miss Margaret Maxwell, perhaps not wholly by accident, gave her a +significant hint.</p> + +<p>"I hear that your brother has undertaken an extensive drainage scheme," +said the elder lady.</p> + +<p>"We are hopeful that he will settle down at last," responded Margaret +Maxwell. "My father's health is failing, and he has long desired his +son's company; but Carsluith was always ambitious, and used to say he +would never vegetate in poverty at Culmeny. Of late, however, we have +been pleased to see that he is taking an almost suspicious interest in +the improvement of the estate, and is now investing the money he made in +Mexico in the reclamation of Langside Moss. As Carsluith seldom does +anything without a reason, his sudden change of program puzzles us."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton fancied she could supply the reason, but she made no +comment. Lilian, she decided, had a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> right to choose for herself, and +might make a worse selection than a Maxwell of Culmeny.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, Dane still awaited his foreign commission, and might +have waited indefinitely, but that once again a poacher played a part in +the shaping of his destiny. There were plenty of them in that +neighborhood; while rogue, and clown, and commonplace individual of +average honesty usually outnumber either the saints or heroes in life's +comedy. The poachers were netting the Culmeny partridges, and Dane +promised to assist his comrade in an attempt to capture them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE POACHER</span></h2> + + +<p>It was a chilly night when Dane crouched in very damp clover beside a +straggling hedge, waiting for the poachers, and wishing he had been wise +enough to remain at home. Rain had fallen throughout the day, and now +heavy clouds drifted overhead, while a chilly breeze shook an eery +sighing out of the firs behind him. The moon was seldom visible, but a +subdued luminescence filtered through, and he could just see Maxwell +crouching in a neighboring ditch which was not wholly dry.</p> + +<p>"What are you meditating upon, Hilton?" Maxwell asked.</p> + +<p>"I was just thinking what a fool I was to come at all, and that it is +almost time I went home again. When a man has had tropical fever it is +his own fault if he suffers from indulgence in amusements of this +description."</p> + +<p>"I am not entirely comfortable either," Maxwell said dryly. "My boots +are full of water, and my hair is thick with sand; but I dare say both +of us have had worse experiences. If those fellows don't come in the +next ten minutes I'll turn back with you."</p> + +<p>Neither said anything further for a space. The firs moaned behind them, +the dampness chilled them through, and the odor of wet clover was in +their nostrils. When, instead of ten minutes, nearly half an hour had +passed, there was a low whistle from a hidden keeper,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> and Dane could +dimly see several indistinct figures in the adjoining meadow.</p> + +<p>"Kevan and the constable should head them off," whispered Maxwell. "I'll +race you for the first prisoner, Hilton!"</p> + +<p>It was characteristic of Maxwell that he had worked an opening ready in +the hedge, and slipped through it, while Dane hurled himself crashing +upon the thorns. He broke through them, somehow, and noticed very little +as he raced across the dripping aftermath except that two men strove to +drag something over the opposite hedge. Before he could reach it, +Maxwell had separated from him, and because the moon shone down through +a rift in the clouds, he saw him clear the hedge in a flying bound. The +next moment he had his hand on the collar of one man brought up by the +thorns. Dane saw his face for an instant, and then, when the other +kicked him savagely on the knee, he shifted his hand to his throat, and +was doing his best to choke the fight out of him when he heard footsteps +behind him, and something descended heavily upon his head. He fell with +a violence that shook the remaining senses out of him, and lay vacantly +listening to the sound of running feet and hoarse shouts which grew +fainter in the distance, until Maxwell, returning, shook him by the arm. +It was dark again now, for the moon had vanished, and a thin drizzle was +falling. Dane's head ached intolerably, and a warm trickle ran into one +of his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Are you badly hurt, Hilton?" asked Maxwell, stooping and holding out a +flask.</p> + +<p>"No," Dane answered dubiously, as, gripping his comrade's hand, he +staggered to his feet. "Mine is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> pretty thick cranium, but somebody +did their best to test its solidity with the butt of a gun. Did you get +them?"</p> + +<p>"We did not." Maxwell, who seldom showed what he felt, evinced no +chagrin. "The constable managed to stick fast in the one gap in the +second hedge; but we got their net, and, although I don't wish to +trouble you if you are not fit, if you could describe the fellow you +grappled with, we should know where to find him."</p> + +<p>Dane did so to the best of his ability.</p> + +<p>"It's young Jim Johnstone!" the keeper exclaimed; "an' after this we +should grip him trying to slip off by the night train. I'm minding Mr. +Black told me he'd e'en be sitting up in case yon rascals killed +onybody, an' ye needed authority. He's a pleasant-spoken gentleman, an' +this is a clear case o' unlawful woundin'."</p> + +<p>"Start at once with that fool of a policeman!" said Maxwell. "Now, +Hilton, if you can manage to walk as far as the road, I will drive you +home."</p> + +<p>He held out his arm, but grew tired long before they reached his trap: +Dane was no featherweight, and he leaned upon him heavily. When Maxwell +helped his comrade down before The Larches there were lights in the +lower windows, though it was very late, and its owner stood upon the +steps awaiting them.</p> + +<p>"I could not sleep until I heard whether you had caught the rascals," he +began. "But what's this? Have they hurt you, Hilton?"</p> + +<p>"Not much, sir," answered Dane.</p> + +<p>Seeing Mrs. Chatterton in the hall, he shook off Maxwell's arm, and +attempted to enter it unassisted to prove his assertion. The attempt, +however, was a distinct failure. He tripped upon a mat, reeled forward<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +drunkenly, and, clutching at the nearest chair, sank into it, presenting +a sufficiently surprising spectacle, for his collar, as he subsequently +found, was burst, while there were generous rents in his garments, and +the red trickle flowed faster down his face. Then there followed +confusion, for Mrs. Chatterton was a gentle but easily disconcerted +lady, and her husband addicted to over-vigorous action. So, while the +one proceeded in search of bandages, and, not finding them, returned to +ask useless questions and, in spite of his feeble protests, pour cold +water over Dane's injured head, Chatterton smote a gong and hurled +confused orders at the startled servants. This lasted until a dainty +figure came swiftly down the stairway, and chaos was reduced to order +when Lilian took control with a firm hand.</p> + +<p>"Don't trouble him with questions, Aunty, but get some brandy, quick!" +she said. "Uncle, please do not make any more useless noise, but ask one +of these foolish women to bring hot water. Annie, bring me the arnica, +and the first piece of clean linen you can find. Now, Hilton, you are +not hurt very badly, are you?"</p> + +<p>She bent down, with the light of a big hanging lamp upon her, and, +forgetting the faintness and pain, which was considerable, Dane felt his +heart bound within him. In spite of her swift orderliness, the girl's +eyes were anxious as well as very pitiful, and there was a tension in +her voice.</p> + +<p>"No," he replied, as carelessly as he could, for all his pulses were +throbbing. "I am just a little dizzy, and shall be better presently. I +am chiefly ashamed of making such a scene, Lily."</p> + +<p>It did the man good to see the relief in his attendant's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> face. Miss +Chatterton flushed a little under his gaze and became once more strictly +practical.</p> + +<p>"The wound is worse than you suppose," she said, with a slight but +perceptible shiver. "Take a mouthful of this brandy, and I will fix a +dressing. Aunty, hold the bandage, and give me the scissors!"</p> + +<p>She did all very cleverly, then slipped away; and ten minutes later Dane +was glad to bid Chatterton and his wife good-night. His head still +throbbed painfully—for the trigger-guard which struck his forehead had +bitten deep—and, having seen what pleased him greatly, he desired to be +alone to think.</p> + +<p>When he had gone, Mrs. Chatterton looked at her husband.</p> + +<p>"Did it strike you as significant that Lily should come down at a few +moments' notice dressed just as she left us?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Am I quite a fool?" said Chatterton, and then added in oracular +fashion: "Hilton Dane will make his mark some day; and it was his +father's roll which started me on the way to prosperity."</p> + +<p>As it happened, Lilian Chatterton had also food for reflection, and sat +long by an open window looking out into the night. There was no doubt, +she admitted, that she found Hilton Dane's society congenial. His swift +deference to all her wishes pleased her; and as he had intimated that he +desired nothing more than her friendship, there was no reason why it +should not be granted him. Under different circumstances the girl +fancied that her interest might have carried her farther; but Thomas +Chatterton's thinly veiled command was a fatal barrier. Even then she +frowned, remembering the summary manner in which he had purposed to +dis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>pose of her as though she were a chattel. Nevertheless, she had been +badly startled by the sight of the wounded man; and the fact remained +that when her eyes first rested upon him she grew almost faint with a +sudden and wholly unexplainable fear. Lilian wondered, with a crimsoning +of her face, whether she had betrayed the relief she certainly +experienced on discovering that his injuries were not serious; and then +she closed the window with somewhat unnecessary violence.</p> + +<p>The next sun had not long risen when Dane went out shakily into the +freshness of the morning. His brain had refused duty during the +preceding night, and there were questions to be grappled with. Hilton +Dane possessed a long patience, but, although a chivalrous person, he +was not a fool. He shrank from the thought of allowing the iron-master's +ward to be forced into a union with him, even if that were +possible—about which, however, knowing the young lady's character, he +was very doubtful. Also, he was at present a comparatively poor man, and +though he believed there was a moderate fortune in his invention, he saw +that some time must elapse before he could realize it. Abusing his +host's interference fervently, he decided that because the continual +effort to keep silence was wearing his resolution down, it would be well +to avoid further temptation by leaving The Larches.</p> + +<p>He had just arrived at this decision when Chatterton came upon him.</p> + +<p>"You do not look at all fit, Hilton," said the elder man. "The cut on +your forehead would, of course, account for that; but it has struck me +lately that something is troubling you. I refrain on principle from +prying into other folks' affairs; but, considering the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> time I have +known you, if you have any difficulty, I think you might confide it to +me."</p> + +<p>Dane understood what lay behind this, and he felt that it was the last +thing under the circumstances he would think of doing.</p> + +<p>"You have made my stay here so pleasant that if I remain much longer I +shall never be fit for work again," he said. "I have accordingly decided +to run up to London, and, if the railroad builders have not my work cut +out, look round for another foreign commission."</p> + +<p>Thomas Chatterton started a little, and tried to hide a frown.</p> + +<p>"I thought you had changed your mind after the letter you showed me, and +decided to stay in this country. It strikes me as downright folly to +risk accidents and fevers abroad with such a patent in your hands. Your +pump would beat the best pulsometer ever put into a mine. If you don't +approve of the offers you have received, and my suggestions, why can't +you sell it to the public through a limited company?"</p> + +<p>Dane laughed a little.</p> + +<p>"As I said before, sir, by the time I paid promoters and directors, +there would be very little left for me. If the pump, which cost years of +thought and experimenting, is to enrich anybody it shall be its +inventor; and another good foreign commission should supply me with the +necessary money."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me," said Chatterton. "It is time I spoke plainly. I have +been called a hard man, but I hope I am equally just, and I had to fight +desperately for a foothold at the beginning. Well, I kept a mental +ledger, and no man ever robbed or assisted me but I made against his +name a debit or credit entry. Some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> of those debts were heavy, but in +due time I paid them back in full."</p> + +<p>For a moment Chatterton certainly looked a hard man as he shut his hand +slowly, and with a very grim expression in his heavy-jawed visage, +stared steadily at Dane. Then the grimness vanished as he added:</p> + +<p>"There is still a sum standing to the credit of Henry Dane, and I feel +ashamed often that I have let it stand so long. There is still one way +in which you could help me wipe it off, if none of those mentioned +already suits you. My niece will not leave me dowerless—and—for if it +had not been so I should not have spoken—you expressed your admiration +pretty openly some years ago."</p> + +<p>Dane had no enviable task before him, but, remembering his compact, he +was determined to accomplish it, even if it should be necessary to use a +little brutality.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I see two somewhat important objections, sir," he answered +quietly. "In the first place, it is not apparent that the lady approves +of me."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw!" said Chatterton. "When I was your age I never allowed such +trifles to daunt me. You surely did not expect her to say she had been +patiently waiting for you?"</p> + +<p>"I think I mentioned two objections, sir, and the second is of almost +equal importance," Dane responded gravely. "I am at present a poor man, +you see."</p> + +<p>Thomas Chatterton faced round on him again with his jaw protruded, and a +deeper hue in his generally sufficiently florid countenance.</p> + +<p>"You need not be, unless you are fond of poverty. You mean——"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>"That a boy and girl attachment seldom lasts long—on either side."</p> + +<p>Chatterton moved a few paces forward, with the dry cough which those who +knew his temper recognized as a danger signal, then wheeled round upon +his heel and strode toward the house; and Dane noticed that he kicked an +unoffending dog he usually fondled.</p> + +<p>As luck would have it, the next person Dane met was Lilian, and she +looked very winsome as she stood bareheaded under the morning sunshine +in her thin white dress. Dane's lips set tight as he watched her, then +suddenly his face softened again.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you recovering, Hilton," she greeted him. "That hat +hides my bandages nicely. Do you feel able to walk slowly over to +Culmeny with me to-day?"</p> + +<p>It was a tantalizing question: Dane felt not only able but very willing +to walk across the breadth of Scotland in Lilian Chatterton's company. +He feared however, that his moral strength would prove unequal to the +strain the excursion might impose, for it was growing very difficult to +observe the conditions of the indefinite compact.</p> + +<p>"I am very sorry, but I have letters to write," he said.</p> + +<p>Lilian Chatterton was a trifle quick-tempered, and though Dane knew it, +and considered it not a fault but a characteristic, he wondered at the +ways of women as she answered:</p> + +<p>"I could not, of course, expect you to delay your correspondence, which +is no doubt important. Have you run out of those new powder cartridges?"</p> + +<p>Dane felt that, under the circumstances, this was particularly hard on +him, but he smiled dryly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>"The correspondence relates to my departure for London. I want you to +listen, Lilian. I have just had an interview with your uncle, which +makes my absence appear desirable. Perhaps you can guess its purport, +and the gist of what he said."</p> + +<p>The clear rose-color deepened a little in the girl's cheeks, but she +answered steadily.</p> + +<p>"I will admit the possibility. The most important question is what you +said to him."</p> + +<p>Now Dane had not only subdued mutinous alien laborers, and held them to +their task, but he had even been complimented by a South American +Spaniard upon the incisive vocabulary which helped him to accomplish it. +Nevertheless, at that moment he felt almost abject, and found speech of +any kind very difficult.</p> + +<p>"Are you ashamed of your answer?" asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"I am," Dane admitted. "There was, however, only one way in which I +could satisfy Mr. Chatterton without running the risk of allowing him to +apply considerable misdirected energy to the task of convincing a second +person. Therefore, though I did not like it, I took that way. He was not +pleased with me."</p> + +<p>"You told him——" Lilian began, coloring still more.</p> + +<p>"I did," said Dane grimly. "Horribly unflattering, wasn't it; but it was +the best I could do for you."</p> + +<p>The girl first experienced a wholly illogical desire to humiliate the +speaker; but, recognizing the unreasonableness of this, she reflected a +moment, and then laughed mirthlessly.</p> + +<p>"It should certainly prove effective. Still, a woman would have found a +neater way out of the difficulty!"</p> + +<p>Lilian left him, and when the man passed out of earshot into the +shrubbery, he used a few pointed and for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>bidden adjectives in connection +with what he termed his luck.</p> + +<p>He was leaning moodily upon a gate, looking down on a sunlit +stubble-field the following afternoon, when the next link was forged in +the chain of circumstances which, beginning with Chatterton's fishing, +would drag him through strange adventures. There was late honeysuckle on +the hedges, and festoons of warm-tinted straw. Running water sang +soothingly beneath the pine branches overhanging a neighboring hollow; +while all the wide vista of river, moor, and fell was mellowed by the +golden autumn haze. Dane, however, was far from happy. He was in no way +jealous of Carsluith Maxwell, which was perhaps surprising; but, in +addition to his other troubles, it did not please him that the latter +should have accompanied Miss Chatterton home on foot from Culmeny. They +had also been an inordinate time over the journey.</p> + +<p>Presently, a little brown-faced child came pattering barefooted down the +lane, and stopping, glanced at him shyly, as though half afraid. She was +a pretty, elfish little thing, though her well-mended garments betokened +industrious poverty. She apparently gathered courage when the man smiled +at her.</p> + +<p>"Whom are you staring so hard at, my little maid?" said he.</p> + +<p>The child fished out a strip of folded paper from somewhere about her +diminutive person, and held it up to him.</p> + +<p>"Ye will be the Mr. Dane who's staying at The Larches?"</p> + +<p>Dane nodded, and the girl glanced up and down the lane suspiciously.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>"Then Sis telt me to give ye this when there was naebody to see."</p> + +<p>"And who is your sister, and what's it all about?" asked Dane; and the +little thing smiled roguishly.</p> + +<p>"Just Mary Johnstone. Maybe it would tell ye gin ye lookit inside it, +sir."</p> + +<p>She vanished the next moment, with a patter of bare feet, leaving Dane +to stare blankly at the folded paper.</p> + +<p>"Now, who is Mary Johnstone, and what can she want with me?" he +wondered, as he prepared to follow the child's advice and read the +missive. When this had been done, however, he was not greatly +enlightened.</p> + +<p>"<i>I'm taking a great liberty</i>," it ran. "<i>I am in great trouble, and you +are the one person who can help me. If you would not have two little +children go hungry all winter, you will meet me by the planting at +Hallows Brig in the gloaming to-morrow. I saw you at The Larches, and +thought I could trust you.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Very confiding of Miss Johnstone, whoever she is, but I'm thankful my +conscience is clear," thought Dane. It was unfortunate that he did not +obey the first impulse which prompted him to destroy the note. Instead +of this, he lighted another cigar, and sat down to consider the affair.</p> + +<p>Just then the local constable, who on an eventful occasion had also +stuck fast in the hedge, came tramping through the stubble with +elephantine gait.</p> + +<p>"Grand weather the day, sir," he beamed. "Ye will have heard we grippit +the man who broke yere heid."</p> + +<p>"I'm summoned as a witness; but who is Mary Johnstone?" asked Dane. "You +should know everybody about here."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>"Old Rab Johnstone's daughter; and that's no great credit to the lass. +Rab's overfond of the whisky, and never does nothing when he can help +it, which is gey often, I'm thinking. The daughter's a hard working +lass—sews for the gentlefolks; and she and her brither between them +keep the two mitherless bairns fed. It's him we've got in the lock-up +for breaking yere heid."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Dane, as a light dawned upon him. "Then Mary Johnstone would +be the pretty, light-haired girl I saw sewing for Miss Chatterton?"</p> + +<p>"That same, sir," answered the constable, with professional alacrity. +"Miss Chatterton has missed nothing, has she?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not!" Dane said impatiently. "I was only inquiring out of +curiosity. You need not mention it. Would this coin be of any use to +you?"</p> + +<p>The official admitted that it might be; but when he appeared to smother +a bovine chuckle, Dane turned upon him.</p> + +<p>"What the deuce is amusing you so?"</p> + +<p>"Naething, sir," the man answered sheepishly. "I'm taken that way whiles +in hot weather."</p> + +<p>The constable furnished further particulars about the poacher's family +before he departed; and Dane, reflecting that his must be the most +damaging testimony against the prisoner, understood why Mary Johnstone +had sent for him. It was perhaps foolish, but the child's face had +attracted him; and deciding that the lot of the pretty seamstress, +struggling to bring up her sisters under the conditions mentioned, must +be a hard one at the best, he resolved at least to hear what she had to +say.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE TRYST AT HALLOWS BRIG</span></h2> + + +<p>It was a clear, cool evening when Carsluith Maxwell leaned on the rails +of a footbridge which spanned the river, looking up at the old place of +Culmeny. It rose from the stony hillside, a straggling pile of time-worn +masonry, with all its narrow windows aflame with the evening light, and +the green of ivy softening its rugged simplicity. A square tower formed +its major portion, and this had been built with no pretense at adornment +in troubled days when the Maxwells had won and held their possessions +with the mailed hand. They had been, for the most part, soldiers of +fortune, and their descendant recalled the traditions of his race as, +turning, he looked south and east across the shining flood-tide toward +the Solway sands.</p> + +<p>More of his forbears had, when there was scarcity at Culmeny—which was +generally the case—ridden that way in steel cap and dinted harness than +ever rode back, and Carsluith Maxwell had hitherto fulfilled the family +destiny, chancing his life in modern ventures where the risks were +perhaps as heavy as any the old moss-troopers ran. Now, however, he had +come to a turning-point in his career, and that night must decide +whether he applied his energies to the slow conversion of barren mosses +into arable land, or went forth again to seek his fortune over seas. The +wandering life appealed to his instincts; and fortune had not wholly +evaded him; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> he had recognized of late that unless he could share it +with one woman, even prosperity would have little value for him. There +was a trace of melancholy almost akin to superstition in his nature, and +it was with a curious smile that he turned toward Culmeny to put his +fate to the test. If Lilian Chatterton would not listen, it was high +time to begin his search for the African mine.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, Hilton Dane sat in the hall of Culmeny waiting for a +word with Maxwell, and also until it was time to keep his appointment at +the Hallows Brig. Three narrow, diamond-paned windows with rose lights +in the crown of their lancets pierced one end of the hall, and the +fading sunlight beating through, forced up into brightness the +pale-tinted dresses of his companions. They were young and comely women, +and, because the rest of the dark-paneled room was wrapped in shadow, +neither face nor dainty figure suffered from being silhouetted against a +somber background. A cluster of late roses in a silver bowl, and the +tawny skin of an African leopard on the polished floor, both touched by +the tinted gleam, formed by contrast glowing patches of color. +Nevertheless, Dane's eyes most often rested upon Lilian Chatterton, who +sat near an open window with a ruddy glory blazing in her hair, while +the dark oak behind it emphasized the delicate chiseling of her face. +There was a stamp of decision upon it as well as refinement.</p> + +<p>"Is it not wonderfully peaceful to-night?" she said, glancing out across +the velvet lawn. A few roses still flowered along one side of it, a tall +clipped hedge hemmed it in, and, beyond the lawn, fir wood, yellow +stubble, and meadow rolled down to the silver shining<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> of the sea. The +whole lay steeped in the sunset, serenely beautiful; but the black +shadow of the firs lengthened rapidly across the grass.</p> + +<p>"You are all very silent," the girl continued. "Why does not somebody +agree with me? Don't you think it peaceful, Margaret? This might be an +enchanted garden, and yonder hedge a barrier impassable to care. It is +good to talk nonsense occasionally; and to-night one could almost fancy +that no cause for trouble might enter here."</p> + +<p>As she spoke, Dane noticed that the gloom of the firs had swallowed most +of the lawn, and the coincidence struck him as an unfortunate augury. +Lilian had known little of either sorrow or care; and having learned by +painful experience that the balance of light and darkness is determined +by immutable law, the man trembled for her.</p> + +<p>Margaret Maxwell laughed a little.</p> + +<p>"You are distinctly fanciful. Culmeny has seen very little of either +peace or prosperity. The spot where this very garden stands was once +worn down by the hoofs of stolen cattle, and the feet of armed men bent +on exterminating the gentle Maxwells who plundered them. We also read +that the serpent entered Eden, and have the authority of Milton and +others for picturing the Prince of Darkness as a somewhat courtly +gentleman; while one notices that when there is unusual harmony, trouble +not infrequently follows the advent of a man. It is a coincidence, but +that ditty should herald Carsluith's coming."</p> + +<p>A voice rose out of the adjoining meadow chanting a plaintive ditty in +an unknown tongue. The air resembled nothing Lilian had heard before, +and she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> leaned forward listening, for the refrain, pitched in a +mournful minor key, was equally striking.</p> + +<p>"I did not know your brother sang so well; but I do not like that song. +It strikes one as uncanny," she said.</p> + +<p>Margaret Maxwell nodded.</p> + +<p>"It is West African, and that, I understand, is an uncanny country. My +brother spent some time there. He really sings—as he does most things +when he thinks it worth while, which is not always—tolerably well."</p> + +<p>The song died away as Carsluith Maxwell came lightly across the lawn, +and Dane noticed that the last of the sunlight faded and the shadows +shut in both himself and Lilian Chatterton when the newcomer entered +through the open window.</p> + +<p>"I did not know I had such an audience, or I should have been too +diffident to play the nightingale," Maxwell laughed.</p> + +<p>"Miss Chatterton did not like your song, though she admired its +rendering," said Margaret mischievously. "But what put that doleful +composition into your head to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Association of ideas, most probably," answered Maxwell, with a smile on +his lips, but none in his eyes. "I met the post-carrier, and must decide +forthwith whether I shall follow up my African scheme or not. It is +curious, but by the same token I'm standing with my heel on the neck of +the leopard, and I feel inclined to say God send it be a true augury. +You have your foot upon him, too, Miss Chatterton; and that is a very +ill-omened beast."</p> + +<p>"How so?" asked Lilian. "It cannot be very large or terrible, to judge +by its skin."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>"It holds a country larger than Scotland in terror," replied Maxwell. +"There are whole tribes of black men who tremble at the sight of a tuft +of leopard's fur."</p> + +<p>"As an insignia, I suppose; but the beast is clearly vulnerable." Lilian +stooped and pointed to the fur. "Surely that is the work of a bullet."</p> + +<p>"You have keen eyes," said Maxwell. "The taxidermist did his best to +hide it. That hole was made when I first pitted myself against the +leopard by shooting one to convince my carriers the thing was mortal. +For some time I suspected that was the beginning of a duel."</p> + +<p>"And now?" interposed his sister, with a trace of anxiety.</p> + +<p>"Now I almost hope I was mistaken," said Carsluith Maxwell. "With your +permission, I have one or two things to see to, and should like a word +with Hilton."</p> + +<p>They went out together, and presently Dane returned alone to bid Miss +Maxwell adieu.</p> + +<p>"You have been very patient during the last hour," said that lady. "Now +that you have seen Carsluith, one could not, of course, expect too much +from you."</p> + +<p>"I have been very self-indulgent," said Dane, who had seen the elfish +child again and promised to meet his correspondent. "Still, there is a +limit to everybody's opportunities for enjoyment, and unfortunately I +must tear myself away."</p> + +<p>Margaret Maxwell glanced at him sharply, for she fancied that he spoke +with sincerity, as indeed he did; but Dane, having given his promise, +intended to keep it. She also glanced at Lilian, and decided that Miss +Chatterton was not wholly pleased.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>"Carsluith proposed to drive you both home. Can you not wait until he is +ready?" she suggested.</p> + +<p>"I fear I cannot," answered Dane, with a trace of confusion. "The fact +is, I have an appointment to keep."</p> + +<p>He left them a trifle abruptly, and Miss Maxwell turned to Lilian.</p> + +<p>"Whom can your guest have an appointment with? He looked positively +guilty. I fear that he must have fallen into the toils of some rustic +beauty, which, considering his opportunities, shows a deplorably +defective taste."</p> + +<p>If Lilian felt any resentment she showed no sign of it; but she was a +little more quiet than usual while they awaited the return of Carsluith +Maxwell.</p> + +<p>Dane, remembering Lilian's glance of interrogation, hurried toward the +Hallows Brig in a somewhat uncertain humor. Though the hillside was +still projected blackly against a pale gleam of saffron above, it was +nearly but not quite dark when he reached the bridge, and the water sang +mournfully through the deepening gloom of the firs. The cool air was +fragrant with the faint sweetness of honeysuckle, and the calling of +curlew rose from a misty meadow; and it seemed to Dane that the slight, +shadowy figure which presently flitted toward him was in keeping with +the spirit of the scene. When the girl halted beside him there was still +just sufficient light to show that her face was comely. Hilton Dane was +not given to wandering fancies, and had long carried Lilian Chatterton's +photograph about with him; but he felt compassionate when he saw the +anxiety in the thin face, and noticed that the girl's lips were +quivering.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>"Miss Johnstone, I presume?" he said. "Will you please tell me why you +sent for me?"</p> + +<p>"I will try, sir," was the answer. "I have two little sisters to bring +up on what I earn by my needle, and what Jim can spare; but work has +been ill to get at the quarries, and, now when Jim's in prison, and +winter's no far away, I'm afraid to wonder what will be the outcome if +he is convicted."</p> + +<p>"He should have considered such risks before he attempted to steal +another man's partridges," said Dane, with a poor attempt at severity.</p> + +<p>"Poaching is not stealing, sir!" There was a ring in the girl's voice. +"Sorrow on the game that steals the farmer's corn to make a rich man's +pleasure, and tempts a poor man to his ruin! May ye never learn, sir, +what it is to choose between stealing and starving."</p> + +<p>"The question is, what do you wish me to do?"</p> + +<p>"To let Jim off, sir," was the answer; and the girl's eyes were eager to +tearfulness as she fixed them on the man, who frowned, perhaps because +he felt the appeal in them almost irresistible. "It was a dark night, +and maybe ye could not be quite certain. It was the others who tempted +him. He will go no more poaching if he once wins clear, and if the +fiscal sends him to prison the bairns will be hungry often or the +winter's through. It's for their sakes I'm asking; and the neighbors say +there will be no conviction if ye cannot swear to Jim."</p> + +<p>Perhaps it was Dane's duty to sternly rebuke the pleader, but she +appeared half-fed and desperately anxious; and the face of her tiny +sister, with its look of childish confidence, rose up before his fancy. +He had once, and with little compunction, cut down with a shovel a +frenzied Italian laborer who led a mutiny,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> but now, though he set his +lips firmly for a moment, his eyes were pitiful.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid what you suggest would not be right," he said presently. +"Does your father not help you at all?"</p> + +<p>The girl's "No," expressed a good deal, and the despair in her voice +completed the man's discomfiture.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry; I had no right to ask," he said. "I am sure, at least, that +it was not your brother who broke my head, because—because he was not +in a position to attack anybody just then—and, for the sake of the +little ones, if there is any doubt at all—and I dare say there will be, +he shall have full benefit. But I cannot set him at liberty to continue +poaching; and the neighboring land-owners will probably see that he gets +no more work at the quarries; so he must take a letter from me to a +contractor who will no doubt find him employment."</p> + +<p>Here, to the consternation of Dane, who did not know that his underfed +and overworked companion had done a courageous and, in the eyes of her +neighbors, a very suspicious thing, the girl broke out into half-choked +sobbing.</p> + +<p>"You really must not cry," he pleaded awkwardly. "It is distressing to +me; and it is not my fault that your brother's friends cut my head open. +However, as I am the unfortunate cause of your distress, if the little +ones have suffered already it would be my duty to—to see they +didn't—you understand me?"</p> + +<p>The girl, though still tearful, drew herself up with some show of pride.</p> + +<p>"I'm no asking ye for money. The relief was just overmuch for me; but, +and it's a last favor, ye will no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> tell Miss Chatterton. Her good word +means work and bread to me."</p> + +<p>"I am not likely to tell Miss Chatterton," the man assured her; then +added in haste: "If I did, she would not blame you."</p> + +<p>"Maybe! Ye will not tell her," the girl said enigmatically, and then +once more caught her breath.</p> + +<p>Dane, being unpleasantly uncertain what she might say or do in an +hysterical attack, felt it incumbent on him to soothe her, and laid a +hand reassuringly on her shoulder. It is possible that his companion +found comfort in the grasp, or instinctively recognized the touch of an +honest man, for she made no effort to evade it. As it happened, the lane +was grass-grown and sandy, and the river frothed noisily down a rapid +beyond the bridge. Thus neither of them heard the fall of hoofs until a +sudden glare of light beat into the face of the man. Fate had decreed +that the driver of the approaching vehicle should not only light the +lamps a little earlier than usual, but choose the longest road.</p> + +<p>The result was unfortunate, for Dane, acting on impulse, drew the girl +farther back into the shadow of the hedge, and stood before her with his +hand still on her arm. The light had partly dazzled him, but he +recognized in the occupants of the dog-cart Lilian Chatterton and +Carsluith Maxwell, and barely choked back an expletive. Neither, if they +had seen him, showed any sign of recognition, which, however, was hardly +to be expected under the circumstances. Then, as the vehicle jolted on, +the girl, seeing the chagrin in the man's face, gazed at him curiously, +and with half-coherent thanks hurried away, leaving Dane in a state of +savage dismay.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>"It is confoundedly hard on an unfortunate and innocent man! This is a +situation which will require considerable explaining, and I shall +probably never have an opportunity for attempting it," he muttered.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Lilian Chatterton felt the hot blood surge upward from +her neck, and was thankful that the darkness partly hid her face. It is +true that she had effectively, so she hoped, put an end to any +aspirations Dane might have cherished; but when he had once accepted the +position there was no longer any necessity to conceal the fact that to a +certain degree she found his society congenial, or to consider how far +her interest in him might carry her. His complaisance had been the more +gratifying because she fancied it was not every woman who could bend +such an individual to her will. Lilian, however, had not only set up a +somewhat elevated standard of conduct for herself, but was inclined to +judge harshly those who fell beneath it; and now she was unmistakably, +if illogically, angry. The knowledge that the man had gone out fresh +from her presence to keep such an assignation stung her pride to the +quick, and brought the crimson to her very forehead. It was, she +considered, an unforgivable insult. Still, she had but seen him dimly +for a second, and might be mistaken, and so she turned toward her +companion.</p> + +<p>"It is curious that I should fancy there was something familiar in the +voices we overheard," she said as lightly as she could.</p> + +<p>Maxwell had learned discretion.</p> + +<p>"Voices are always deceptive," he answered. "One should never trust to a +fanciful resemblance. The bridge is a favorite trysting-place for rustic +lovers; as one result of the sudden appearance of a pair of them,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> this +excitable beast managed to upset me the last time I approached it."</p> + +<p>Carsluith Maxwell had done his best for his friend, and it was not his +fault that he had only confirmed the girl's suspicions, and set her +wondering if all men were equally perfidious.</p> + +<p>"That being so, was it not very thoughtless of you to drive me this +way?" she inquired, with some asperity.</p> + +<p>"Guilty," laughed Maxwell. "May I plead in extenuation that it is the +longest?"</p> + +<p>He sprang down and looped the reins round a gatepost when they reached +the winding drive which led up to The Larches.</p> + +<p>"Do you mind alighting here, Miss Chatterton?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No," said Lilian. "But may I inquire the reason?"</p> + +<p>"A desire not to risk your safety a second time. The drive is very dark, +the horse addicted to bolting on opportunity; and it would be hard to do +justice to what I must tell you if I were forced to watch him. The task +is sufficiently beyond me already; I would give a good deal for the +power of eloquence."</p> + +<p>Lilian was startled, for the speaker had certainly not worn his heart on +his sleeve.</p> + +<p>"Could you not wait until to-morrow?" she asked with some trepidation.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid not," said Maxwell, a trifle grimly. "I fear this must be a +surprise to you, but circumstances prevent my waiting, and it is even +better to hear one's sentence than to remain in suspense. Won't you +listen?"</p> + +<p>Lilian, seeing there was no escape, bent her head;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> and, if Maxwell had +not the gift of eloquence, he could compress a good deal into a few +brief sentences. There was no superfluous protestation. The man spoke +abruptly, but Lilian could not doubt the earnestness in his voice, or, +as he stood hat in hand under the lamplight, mistake the look in his +eyes. She saw that what he offered was the enduring love of one who +could be trusted to the utmost, and the few pointed words revealed +depths of tenderness she had hardly suspected in him.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry, very sorry—but it is impossible," she said softly.</p> + +<p>Maxwell moved a pace or two forward, and his face seemed to have grown +suddenly haggard.</p> + +<p>"Think," he urged hoarsely. "This means so much to me. Will it always be +impossible? I shall not change."</p> + +<p>Lilian fancied she could believe him. She looked him fully in the eyes +as she answered.</p> + +<p>"It can never be possible. I am sorry. If I had known, I should have +tried to warn you. You must forget me."</p> + +<p>Maxwell recognized finality in her tone. For the space of several +seconds he turned his head away. Then he faced round again, speaking +very quietly:</p> + +<p>"You have nothing to reproach yourself with. The mistake was mine. I +shall, however, never forget you; and I want you to promise that if any +adversity overtakes you—which God forbid—you will remember me. I sail +for Africa shortly, and it may be long before we meet again. Now I will +walk with you up the drive."</p> + +<p>He held out his arm, and Lilian wondered a little at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> his composure as +she laid her hand on it and they passed together into the blackness of +the firs.</p> + +<p>Miss Chatterton had not long joined her aunt when Dane came in, and +glanced in her direction as he made some not oversapient observation to +Chatterton. She did not avoid his gaze, but met it coldly, and, +gathering up some needlework, moved without ostentation, but +deliberately, out of the room. No speech could have been plainer, and +Dane grew hot, while the fingers of one hand contracted without his +will.</p> + +<p>"You don't look well, Hilton," remarked Thomas Chatterton. "Is your head +troubling you?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Dane. "I must have walked tolerably fast, and I am perhaps a +trifle shaky yet. With Mrs. Chatterton's permission I will go out and +smoke a cigar."</p> + +<p>He passed out, and the iron-master smiled as he looked at his wife.</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me what is the meaning of this?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Your inquiry is indefinite; and why do you ask me?"</p> + +<p>"Because I think you ought to know," Chatterton answered dryly. "Women +generally have a finger in it whenever there is trouble."</p> + +<p>"Even if true, that is not strikingly original," Mrs. Chatterton +retorted. "I have not noticed anything unusual."</p> + +<p>"Then listen," and Chatterton pointed toward the window. "When a young +man goes out for a stroll he does not usually stamp in that savage +fashion upon the gravel. Now, I want your candid opinion."</p> + +<p>"You shall have it," said the lady, smiling. "I be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>lieve that no good +ever resulted from a choleric elderly gentleman's interference in +affairs beyond his comprehension."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Carsluith Maxwell stood talking to his sister in the hall of +Culmeny.</p> + +<p>"After what has happened, the sooner I get out on my African venture the +more pleasant it will be for all concerned," he said gloomily. "It is a +good country where one can forget one's troubles; in fact, there are so +many peculiarly its own that I don't know a better."</p> + +<p>"Poor Carsluith! It will be a heavy disappointment to father. He is +failing more rapidly than I care to notice, and had begun to lean on +you. I don't think I can forgive her. Yes; go out, and forget her."</p> + +<p>"It was not Miss Chatterton's fault," Maxwell declared quickly. "She +never, to use the inappropriate phrase, encouraged me. It was my own +folly to hope that she could stoop to me."</p> + +<p>"Without any wish to flatter you, I consider that Miss Chatterton might +have stooped a good deal farther," said Margaret Maxwell. "However, we +need not go into that; and I am only sorry you are so hardly hit. I +wonder if it was because of Dane?"</p> + +<p>"No," Maxwell answered with decision. "I can't exactly tell you why, but +I am certain it was not because of Dane."</p> + +<p>His sister said nothing further, though she was not convinced. Her heart +was heavy for her brother, because she knew the Maxwell temperament, and +that he was not the man to change.</p> + +<p>Carsluith passed out into the darkness, and leaning against a fir, spoke +half aloud:</p> + +<p>"No man Miss Chatterton had smiled upon could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> scatter his affections as +Dane seems to have done. Pshaw! The thing is perfectly impossible!"</p> + +<p>This was, perhaps, a greater tribute to the speaker's loyalty than to +his knowledge of human nature, though Carsluith Maxwell was usually +accounted a shrewd man.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /> +<span class="smalltext">DANE'S SILENCE</span></h2> + + +<p>It was in a combative humor that Hilton Dane presented himself in court +on the day of the poacher's trial. It was impossible to ignore the +summons, which alone had delayed his departure from The Larches; but the +time he spent there waiting had passed very uncomfortably. Lilian had, +so far as she could do so without attracting attention, sedulously +avoided his company; and he fancied that both Chatterton and his wife +regarded him with suspicion. Dane, knowing the iron-master's opinions, +surmised that Chatterton would not have blamed him had he frankly +related all that had passed; but he had pledged himself to secrecy, and +it never occurred to him to break his promise.</p> + +<p>Therefore he kept his own counsel, and went into court prepared for +battle, further fortified by a contempt for the assumed omnipotence of +petty local magnates which men of his kind, who have tasted power in the +vigorous life of the newer lands, acquire. He decided that the prisoner, +who was very young, looked free from inherent vice, and worthy of a +chance to prove himself, in the main, honest. He was not absolutely +certain that the man was the one with whom he had grappled, and he gave +him the full benefit of the doubt. His answers provided the neighborhood +with a sensational topic for conversation, and, while there were some +who laughed at the legal functionaries' discomfiture and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> the witness's +nonchalance, the game preservers in the vicinity were emphatic in their +indignation.</p> + +<p>In any case, Dane left the court amid the plaudits of the assembled +quarrymen, which the officials could not restrain. He hated the rôle of +popular hero but he felt a certain grim satisfaction, though he guessed +that every word he had spoken might cost him dearly. Also, because he +did nothing by halves, he sought the discharged prisoner.</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether you are the right man or not, and I don't want +to," he said dryly. "If you are a wholly worthless rascal, you will no +doubt drift back into the clutches of the police, when it is probable +that the worthy gentlemen I addressed to-day will see that you don't get +out again. It would not surprise me if they starved you out of this +neighborhood; so, if you desire to make a fresh start, you will take +this letter to the English waterworks contractor to whom it is +addressed—and send your sister as much as possible of what he pays +you."</p> + +<p>"Would you believe that I'm sairly sorry, sir?" began the lad; but Dane +turned upon him with a laugh and a frown.</p> + +<p>"Sorry for what? Prove it by turning honest. Do you wish to convince me +I did wrong to-day?"</p> + +<p>The poacher departed with grateful protestations, and Dane was glad that +he had vanished before Maxwell came up.</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether I ought to congratulate you on your forensic +abilities, or otherwise, but the spectacle was worth the journey," he +said. "I hardly suspected that you possessed such talents; but why you +displayed them is, of course, another question."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>"It is also my particular business," Dane replied stiffly, and frowned +when Maxwell smiled significantly.</p> + +<p>"Confound you! Do you think——" he broke out; and Maxwell smiled again +in ironical fashion as he moved away.</p> + +<p>"I might make use of your own rejoinder, and say that I generally find +it saves trouble to keep my opinions to myself," he returned. "However, +since you asked me, what would any person of the most modest discernment +think?"</p> + +<p>Dane groaned inwardly as he climbed into the waiting vehicle, for the +last speech placed beyond all doubt the fact that the occupants of the +dog-cart had recognized him at Hallows Brig; and he knew that Lilian +Chatterton held somewhat puritanical views. He had, it was evident, +involved himself hopelessly.</p> + +<p>That very evening, just as Dane had finished packing his few +possessions, an irate game-preserving gentleman drove over to The +Larches to express his indignation.</p> + +<p>"I would not like to hurt your feelings, Chatterton, but your young +friend did not give wholly unbiased testimony to-day," he said. +"Considering his evident desire to shield the prisoner, I e'en felt it +my duty to——"</p> + +<p>He got no farther, for the choleric iron-master was equally loyal to +those he honored with his good opinion, and prompt on any challenge to +take up the cudgels.</p> + +<p>"If that is all you called to tell me, you might have spared yourself +the trouble, Black," he interrupted. "I have known Hilton Dane from +boyhood, as I knew his father before him; and I haven't the slightest +objection to hurting the feelings of any man who impugns the honesty of +my friends."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>"I'm thinking ye are very generous," replied Black, relapsing into his +native idiom. "Man, do not be so testy, but bide and listen. He +described his adversary so well that the police at once identified and +arrested him; but he appeared troubled with a distressfully bad memory +in court to-day.</p> + +<p>"'What are ye meaning by the words, "A man like the prisoner"?' the +fiscal asked him; and Mr. Dane answers: 'Just what I say.'</p> + +<p>"'Can you not swear to him?' asked the fiscal severely; and your young +friend smiled. 'Could you swear to the complexion and color of the eyes +of any man who, on a dark night, had just kicked you hard upon the +knee?' says he.</p> + +<p>"It was not even respectful; and when the rabble cheered there was more +than me who agreed with the fiscal: 'This place is a court of +justice—or it ought to be,' said he."</p> + +<p>Black, pausing, betrayed his indignation with a gesture, while +Chatterton laughed in aggressive fashion.</p> + +<p>"Considering my worthy neighbors' prejudices, I think there was +something in that last remark," he said.</p> + +<p>Just then Lilian, who may have overheard part of the colloquy, appeared +in an opening in the tall hedge.</p> + +<p>"Did you convict the malefactor, Mr. Black?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"No," said that gentleman ruefully. "Unfortunately we did not, although +I'm thinking that we did our best."</p> + +<p>Lilian smiled a little, and Chatterton's eyes twinkled as he glanced at +her encouragingly.</p> + +<p>"Was that quite in accordance with the spirit of our glorious +constitution?" she asked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>"Eh?" said Black sharply. "What's this I'm saying; and I see ye are +laughing at me. I mean his guilt was manifest, but a friend of yours +showed considerable audacity, forby a trace of talent, in his efforts to +release him. Ye will mind that it's a principle of British justice to +give even a poacher fair play, my dear young lady."</p> + +<p>"So I was always taught," Lilian replied artlessly.</p> + +<p>Thomas Chatterton chuckled again, and pointed toward a man who, in turn, +passed through the opening in the hedge.</p> + +<p>"I fancy that Mr. Black is anxious to talk to you, Hilton," he said.</p> + +<p>Black, however, had evidently found two adversaries sufficient without +engaging a third, and, as sometimes happens, he did not recollect the +crushing things he might have said until the opportunity had passed; so, +after a stiff greeting, he allowed Chatterton, who was rarely ungenerous +to a beaten enemy, to lead him away.</p> + +<p>Lilian had disappeared, but not before the manner in which she had +ignored Dane had roused him to precipitate action. He forgot his +prudence in a sudden fit of anger, and, remembering only that he might +never have another opportunity for speech with her, he followed the +girl. Miss Chatterton, however, had a fair start, and, perhaps being +warned by the sound of his hurried footsteps, made the most of it; so +that while Dane pursued her down two avenues, and through a shrubbery, +the situation grew rapidly ludicrous. The humor of it did not strike him +then, and he saw only the flicker of a white dress receding before him. +Finally he came upon the fugitive in a narrow path between rows of +choice chrysanthemums, where, as there was no room for two to pass,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +Lilian turned upon him with an ominous light in her eyes. It was evident +that Miss Chatterton was seriously angry, as well as a little +breathless.</p> + +<p>"What brings you here?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>Dane was not, as a rule, readily disconcerted; but for a moment the +power of lucid speech deserted him.</p> + +<p>"I came——" he gasped.</p> + +<p>"That is unfortunately evident," retorted Lilian, chillingly. "What I +desire to know is why, considering the size of the garden, you must, +after seeing I wished to be alone, choose this particular path!"</p> + +<p>Dane had slight cause for merriment, but he actually laughed.</p> + +<p>"Any other place would have suited me, but you went so fast!"</p> + +<p>This was a blunder, and he realized it as he heard the gravel crunch in +a manner that suggested the pressure of somebody's heel. Lilian had +clearly roused herself to face the situation.</p> + +<p>"Admitting that it was so, will you explain why you cannot take a hint?"</p> + +<p>"I will," Dane said quietly, though he was once more maladroit. "I +wished to ask why you have avoided me like contagion lately?"</p> + +<p>"Is that a necessary question, or is it generous to place the onus of +such an explanation upon me?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not," he admitted. "I am not so quick of wit as I could wish, +to-day, but I am going away early to-morrow, and it may be very long +before I see you again; so I could not help asking it. We have known +each other a long time, Lily, and I would not care to leave England +feeling that you were displeased with me."</p> + +<p>"Have I told you that I was displeased?" asked the girl.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>"Speech was hardly necessary."</p> + +<p>Lilian Chatterton was not deficient in courage, and she no longer tried +to evade the difficulty. "Please understand that I have neither the +right nor the desire to inquire into your motives, but—since you +insist—there are limits within which one must restrict one's +friendship; and after comparing your own account of your nocturnal +adventures with what I heard Mr. Black relate about your conduct in +court to-day, it is hardly possible to avoid concluding that you have +overstepped them."</p> + +<p>"There may be an explanation. Is it fair, as you reminded that very +gentleman, to condemn any one unheard?"</p> + +<p>"Can you furnish one?" asked Lilian, with a quickness which was not +wholly lost upon her companion. If he had spoken plainly, it is possible +that the explanation might have changed a good deal for both of them; +but that was just what the man had pledged himself not to do. He was not +a casuist, and, having no time for reflection, saw only one course open +to him. It was too late when he realized that it was the worst one +possible from any point of view.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I cannot, at present," he said.</p> + +<p>The girl's eyes grew almost wicked, for his hesitation was fatal, and +she was angry that she had even allowed him to draw her into the +discussion.</p> + +<p>"That is comprehensible," she said. "You must already have taxed your +imagination severely, and it is perhaps natural that the testimony of a +quite disinterested gentleman should be more convincing. Besides, as I +said already, it is certainly not my part to judge you."</p> + +<p>"Then I can only hope that you will hear the full<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> truth from some other +person you consider more worthy of credit," Dane said somberly.</p> + +<p>Miss Chatterton returned no answer, but, drawing her skirt to her side, +brushed past the man, who stepped recklessly among the chrysanthemums. +She had, of course, no intention of looking back in his direction, but, +on turning at the end of the alley, it was almost necessary to do so, +and she sometimes remembered, with both a smile and a sigh, how he had +stood, a somewhat commanding, as well as a slightly ludicrous figure, +staring straight before him, knee-deep among the chrysanthemums. That, +however, was afterward, for then Lilian was in a royal rage with herself +as well as the man, because she had allowed anything he could say or do +to disturb her serenity.</p> + +<p>Dane sighed a little, but there was resolution as well as indignation in +his face as he moved away, and left the gardener, who had witnessed the +scene with indignation, to assess the damage.</p> + +<p>"Would nothing fit yon theatrical ijiot but stamping my new quilled +Regents flat?" the gardener grumbled.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning Chatterton and Dane stood waiting for the South +express in the little country station.</p> + +<p>"I don't altogether understand what you have been doing, Hilton, and, +though nobody seems quite pleased with you, I won't ask," said the +iron-master. "I know you had a good reason for it, whatever it was; and +if that meddlesome Black or any of his friends feel inclined to make +further unpleasant suggestions, I shall enjoy the opportunity for a +little plain speaking. If you ever change your mind, remember what I +said; and don't close with any offer unless it's tempting, but come +back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> and wait at The Larches for a better. I can't help saying I'm +sorry you did not altogether hit it with Lilian. Modern young women, +however, often appear to consider cheap smartness more becoming than the +genuine cordiality they may feel."</p> + +<p>"It was not Miss Chatterton's fault, sir," declared Dane, who, growing +slightly confused, wished the iron-master would favor anything else with +his fixed attention. He was thankful that the approach of the express +prevented the conversation from progressing further in that direction.</p> + +<p>A few evenings later, Lilian dismounted from her pony in the shadow of a +copse. For some reason she had been restless all day, and sought solace +in a ride across the moor. The saddle had slipped a little, and she +spent some time tightening the girth. Meanwhile two men came to a +standstill in the stubble beyond the hedge, and she recognized Carsluith +Maxwell in one spare figure. The sunset beat into his face, and she saw +it was stamped with a curious melancholy as he looked down the +deep-wooded valley toward Culmeny. Ridges of brown moorland, whose +slopes were streaked by dark firs, hemmed the hollow in, and the tower +rose blackly in the mouth of it against the shimmer of the sea.</p> + +<p>"It is an inheritance to be proud of, sir," Carsluith said. "Perhaps it +is because of the contrast with the rank luxuriance of the tropics, and +their stifling heat, but each time I come home to the old place and +breathe this keen sweet air, I feel that I love it better."</p> + +<p>The second man, turning, laid his hand on the speaker's shoulder, and as +he did so Lilian recognized the master of Culmeny.</p> + +<p>"It will be yours some day which cannot be very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> distant now," the elder +man replied. "It is a barren heritage, and I have long regretted that, +after the girls are provided for, its revenues will do little more than +cover the interest on the burden you must take up along with it."</p> + +<p>"I hope that day will be long in coming, sir; and I shall never rest +contented until by some means I win enough to restore our former +prosperity. To-morrow will see me on my way to London, and we must hope +that my latest venture will prove successful!"</p> + +<p>Lilian could not escape without attracting attention, and she was so +close to the two men that she heard Brandram Maxwell sigh.</p> + +<p>"I do not approve of it, but know I cannot dissuade you," he said, with +a certain pride as well as wistfulness in the glance he cast upon his +son. "I had hoped you might have settled here—and think she is good as +well as bonny—but that was not to be. Prosperity! The old place was aye +needy, and its plenishing has cost the life of many of those who have +gone before you. You will mind Andrew's answer when he fell out dying in +the retreat from Derby: 'I'm not caring greatly where I lie,' said he. +'Our kirkyard is not contracted. It runs from the Low Countries to the +sands of Cree.' Maybe it's your destiny, but you will not forget that an +old man is longing for the sight of you, longing the more because——"</p> + +<p>He ceased abruptly, and Lilian noticed that Carsluith Maxwell made the +slightest gesture of negation, while his face darkened a little. She +recalled an old superstitious tale.</p> + +<p>"We have outgrown belief in those fables, sir," he declared.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>The ruler of Culmeny made no direct answer.</p> + +<p>"The old tale is told over often, and the end is the same. God keep you, +and bring you safe home from that dark land," he said solemnly.</p> + +<p>Here the pair forestalled the unwilling spectator's intention by moving +away, and left her troubled. She had done nothing to raise false hopes +in Carsluith Maxwell, and in that respect her conscience was clear; but +there had been a strange somberness in both men's faces, and she felt +that she was mainly responsible for sending the younger one to Africa. +He was of good family and accomplished, and she wondered why, when many +another damsel would have gladly listened, she had so promptly declined +him as a suitor. Then, even as she reflected that there was no one else +she preferred to him, a tinge of color crept into her face, and, +dismissing the subject, she mounted, and sent the pony at a gallop +across the next meadow.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>It was a depressing afternoon when Carsluith Maxwell found Dane lounging +in the smoking-room of a London hotel. The air outside was foul with +smoke and fog; and it was little more cheerful within. Dane was in +distinctly low spirits. He had spent a fortnight haunting the offices of +engineering firms, financiers, and company promoters, and had discovered +once more that anybody willing to take up his invention would require +the lion's share of the contingent profit. He could hear of no +remunerative professional engagement; and the contractors who had +promised him the foreign commission stated that the work would not be +begun for some time.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>"You do not look exactly pleased with either the world or yourself," +observed Maxwell.</p> + +<p>"I certainly don't feel so," Dane said shortly. "Several things have +gone wrong with me lately, and I'm even more troubled than usual by a +chronic shortness of capital. I want ten thousand pounds rather more +badly than most folks do, and no mental effort will show me where to +raise more than five."</p> + +<p>Maxwell looked hard at the speaker.</p> + +<p>"If you are willing to risk a good deal on a chance of obtaining the +money, I think I can show you a way."</p> + +<p>Dane laughed harshly.</p> + +<p>"There is no risk you could mention which, for the sake of five thousand +pounds, I would not run."</p> + +<p>"If you join me you will run a good many," said Maxwell. "There were +reasons why I could not make the offer until to-day. Give me about ten +minutes to explain the venture."</p> + +<p>Dane drew in a deep breath when his companion concluded; then held out a +big hand.</p> + +<p>"It is a bargain," he said simply. "Half the profit, half the expense +and peril. I can start any time after to-morrow."</p> + +<p>They shook hands on it, while the blue cigar smoke curled about them; +and the bargain they made was kept faithfully in the face of manifold +perils, and in spirit as well as in letter. Long afterward, Dane +remembered that Maxwell's smile was much the same when, clenching the +hot rifle barrels, they watched the flintlocks flashing through thicker +wreaths of a more deadly vapor.</p> + +<p>All arrangements had been made when Maxwell departed; and Dane sat down +to write Chatterton a letter. When that gentleman received it, he first +used expressions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> which should have cost him five shillings, and then, +seeking his wife, thrust it down before her with quite unnecessary +violence.</p> + +<p>"The man has taken leave of his senses!" he exclaimed. "Read that, and +tell me if you don't think so."</p> + +<p>"Is this the beginning of another ancient-right crusade, or the effect +of the lobster salad? You will remember that I warned you," said Mrs. +Chatterton.</p> + +<p>"This is not a time to indulge in puerile levity! It is that—that +confounded idiot, Hilton! He and the other madman, Maxwell, have gone +out to look for gold mines in one of the deadliest holes in Africa. He +says he wanted five thousand pounds, and, when he knows it was his duty, +could not come to me!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton read the letter, and then tried to flash a warning at +her husband before she glanced in her niece's direction. Lilian who had +leaned forward as though listening intently, sank back into her chair.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps they may find the gold mine; and Carsluith Maxwell is by no +means an idiot," she said. "Indeed, he always struck me as a shrewd, +determined man."</p> + +<p>"Determined enough," fumed her husband. "They're all made that way. +Maxwell rebuilt his iniquitous obstruction four times after I tore it +up; but there's something in Carsluith's dark face I don't care to see. +I've seen the sign on other men, and it implies a tragedy. Besides, from +what Black told me, they're an unlucky family, with an hereditary +weakness for dying fully dressed. Any mad venture they could get +themselves decently killed in seems to have been irresistible to those +men of Culmeny. I'd have given three times the money to prevent +Carsluith from decoying poor Hilton. Do the fools fancy nuggets grow on +palm trees?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>Chatterton, receiving no answer, retired to what he called his study, +where they heard him banging books about. Lilian sat silent with hands +crossed in her lap. She, also, she fancied, had seen the shadow in +Carsluith Maxwell's face, and she felt both troubled and anxious about +him and about somebody else.</p> + +<p>A week later Mrs. Chatterton, entering her niece's room in search of +some trifle, came upon a book the girl had been reading. She looked +thoughtful when she saw that the volume treated of travels in West +Africa, and that the marker in it rested between the last pages.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">A WARNING</span></h2> + + +<p>It was a bright morning when the <span class="smcap lowercase">S.S.</span> <i>Manyamba</i> rolled south into sight +of the Canaries over a white-flecked sea. They rose rather like dim blue +clouds than islands athwart the far horizon, with one glistening cone +cut off by silver mists from the ocean plain beneath, towering high +above the loftiest. Maxwell leaned over the poop rails, while Dane, the +middle-aged purser, and Miss Bonita Castro stood near by. The lady's +father, a little, olive-faced Portuguese, with shifty black eyes, +lounged in a deck chair watching them languidly. There were few +passengers on board, and the members of the group, who had made friends +somewhat rapidly, were now amusing themselves by shooting at the bottles +a steward forward flung into the sea.</p> + +<p>A big pistol flashed in Miss Castro's hand. The purser clutched at a +stanchion and uttered a quick exclamation; Maxwell wheeled round +suddenly. A bottle, ceasing its gyrations, sank into the white wash of +the screw, and the lady laughed as she lowered the pistol muzzle.</p> + +<p>"<i>Trés!</i>" she cried exultantly. "That is three to me! <i>Carramba!</i> I have +also it seem, as you say, nearly bag the Señor Maxwell."</p> + +<p>If Dom Pedro Castro was a typical Portuguese, his wife had been an +Andalusian, and his daughter, while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> speaking several languages rather +prettily than well, preferred her mother's tongue, and had inherited a +full share of the voluptuous beauty of a race whose women are famous in +Spain. She formed an interesting picture as she stood with the blue of +the sea behind her, laughter in her dark eyes, and the pistol still +smoking in her hand. They were remarkably attractive eyes; and Maxwell, +knowing what to look for, saw more than Dane had apparently seen in +their depths, and decided to warn his comrade to beware of them. A faint +carmine warmth emphasized the comeliness of the slightly dusky face, +while graceful pose and figure were both characteristic of a woman of +her extraction as yet well short of the age at which Southern beauty +changes into grossness.</p> + +<p>"You have not the fright, Señor Maxwell, though a little nearer and we +leave you behind?" she added naively.</p> + +<p>Maxwell did not look frightened, though he might well have been, for the +bullet had passed him close. He answered with a smile which, as Dane had +noticed before, appeared to linger on his lips after the gravity had +returned to his eyes.</p> + +<p>"No, señorita. If a man could choose his last resting-place, wouldn't +this blue water be much nicer than a mangrove swamp in Africa. That very +little, however, makes a vast difference; and you have won the gloves. +You shall have the best in Las Palmas to-night. You will land us by +sunset, Mr. Purser?"</p> + +<p>"Yes." The Purser sighed with relief when he saw that the contest was +over. "Hadn't you better give me that pistol, señorita? Accidents happen +when one least expects them, and the Company would hold me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> responsible +if you killed anybody. I don't think the skipper would see quite as much +humor in the position as you seem to."</p> + +<p>Bonita laughed with the light-heartedness of a child, and glanced +demurely at Dane.</p> + +<p>"To kill the Señor Maxwell, or my good friend Don Ilton, is catastrophe; +but to kill a bad man, it is nothing. Many men are killed in Africa; I +myself shoot one. There was in him the blood of the negro, and he forget +it when without respect he speak to me."</p> + +<p>Dane was a trifle staggered by the matter-of-fact manner in which Miss +Castro mentioned the way she had disposed of one whom he surmised had +been too venturesome a suitor.</p> + +<p>"<i>Verdad!</i>" exclaimed Dom Pedro. "The man, by bad fortune, he is not +die, and that affair is cost me much commercio. My daughter she has, in +your English, the spirited way."</p> + +<p>The lady's face changed suddenly as she turned toward Maxwell.</p> + +<p>"I beat you, Señor, but it is because you are <i>muy caballero</i>, and +prefer the defeat from me. You have the steady hand and the dangerous +eye, and have not the fear. That is well if you go up into the forest in +my country. It is different with your friend. The pistol is not for him. +No, he remind me of those big fair men with the axes I read of in +England. I make you my compliments, Don Ilton, and you show me where the +swift Bonita he leap at the bow."</p> + +<p>Whether, because Miss Castro was fond of admiration, this was done out +of pique at Maxwell's indifference to her attractions, Dane naturally +did not know,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> but he answered with a bow, and the two strolled forward +together. There were no porpoises circling, as they often will, athwart +the stem, but the lady who perched herself upon a knighthead seemed in +no way disappointed. The sun made rainbows in the spray which whirled +beneath her, as each blue ridge fell back shattered from the shearing +bows; and nowhere else could one realize so well the swift passage of +the quivering hull through the white-topped seas, or feel the same +cradle-like rise and fall of the warm deck planking.</p> + +<p>"All this," remarked Miss Castro, "is very nice; and the Señor Maxwell, +who is <i>muy caballero</i>, but somber sometimes, he is not here. You have +my permission to sit there, and I will talk to you."</p> + +<p>Dane afterward wondered why, in place of doing so, she led him on to +talk about his comrade; but it was perhaps not unnatural that he should +find a certain degree of pleasure in the society of his comely and +versatile companion. He knew little of Miss Castro beyond what the +purser had told him, and that Maxwell had met her elsewhere; but he was +to learn more in due time. She had been educated in some Spanish +convent; but, being born on the fever coast, could withstand the +climate, and she spent part of her time there in her father's factory, +and the rest with her mother's sister in the Canaries. Dom Pedro was +assumed to be a tolerably prosperous trader.</p> + +<p>An hour had passed before the two came aft together, and on the next +opportunity Maxwell took his friend to task.</p> + +<p>"It is perhaps time for me to warn you about playing with fire, Hilton," +he said. "Miss Castro is certainly pretty, but her people don't +understand the game of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> flirtation as played in England. In all +emotional questions they're unpleasantly in earnest. I may remind you +that I met the señorita in Africa."</p> + +<p>"I have not so far obtruded my advice on you," Dane returned. "Don't you +think this——"</p> + +<p>"Is an impertinence?" and Maxwell smiled. "Perfectly. I also admit that +the rôle of mentor does not become me. Nevertheless, when Miss Castro +casually mentioned how she got rid of her last suitor, there was +something in her eyes which might have warned an observer. You needn't +trouble about a neat rejoinder, because I'll retire, having done my +duty."</p> + +<p>"I mean to call upon Miss Castro at the Catalina to-morrow. Your +warning, however, is superfluous, as it will be the last time I shall +see her. She is remaining here."</p> + +<p>There was a trace of mischief in Maxwell's smile as he answered.</p> + +<p>"I am going with you. You need not express astonishment. She invited +me."</p> + +<p>It was a sunny afternoon when they went ashore together; but they did +not find Miss Castro immediately at her hotel. It appeared that the +British tourists and invalids who sojourned in the dusty Spanish city +had joined hands with its leading inhabitants over the organization of a +gala for the benefit of local institutions, and Miss Castro was playing +the part of soothsayer in the cause of charity.</p> + +<p>Dane found it pleasant, in spite of the dust, to watch the white mists +sliding athwart the great volcanic peaks, and the silvery spray toss +beneath the white-walled city. The assembly also was interesting. Gaily +uniformed Castilian officer, and British tourist fantas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>tically attired, +jostled each other. Dark-skinned, black-haired beauties—pleasant to +look upon even when they wore Parisian headgear instead of the national +mantilla—in filmy draperies, flitted in and out among young +Englishwomen, whose indifferent faces and attire emphasized the contrast +between their respective characters; while here and there a matron of +their own nation stood surveying the scene with the pitying contempt for +everything foreign which too many insular Britons consider impresses the +benighted alien. Good music mingled with the merry voices, swish of +diaphanous dresses, clank of sabers, and patter of feet, and through all +rang the monotone of the sea.</p> + +<p>"Look at it well," said Maxwell. "It is the last glimpse of civilization +you will get for many a day. Henceforward our path leads us into a land +of eternal shadow haunted by all things evil; at least, and they have +some reason, so the negroes say. There's the señorita, telling fortunes +in that striped tent. It is curious that she is beckoning—me."</p> + +<p>Maxwell pushed his way through the throng surrounding a gaudy pavilion, +where Miss Castro was evidently doing excellent business; and presently +he returned, smiling curiously.</p> + +<p>"She wishes to tell your fortune. Go in and spend a crown in the cause +of charity. I can't say that mine was a very good one, but the señorita +showed an accuracy which was, under the circumstances, surprising."</p> + +<p>Dane made his way with difficulty into the tent, and when his eyes grew +used to the change from brilliant sunshine to shadow, he realized one +reason for Miss Castro's success. She wore the dress of the Andaluces,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +thin, lace-like draperies of black, sufficiently short to reveal the +tiny high-arched feet in dainty Moorish slippers. A gauzy black mantilla +and a crimson rose adorned her hair, while the graces of her figure were +emphasized by a broad zone of African gold, chased with zodiacal +characters by sable craftsmen. The costume suited her; and Miss Castro +was probably aware of the fact.</p> + +<p>"So you will learn a little of the future, Don Ilton?" she said, with +unusual gravity. "No, you must not smile. This is not the charlatan's +trickery. The ancient Moors they teach us wisdom, and I have study. So, +we throw there the crown, and I lay this Aggri in your palm. The Aggri +has virtue, though what it is no man know."</p> + +<p>She detached from her bracelet an insignificant bead, one of the +mysterious Aggri which cannot be counterfeited, and, as Dane afterward +learned, can hardly be bought with money in West Africa.</p> + +<p>"It is a big, hard hand, and has done much work, perhaps with the +shovel, in a hot country—I think the Sud America," she said. "It will +also hold the rifle. It is well to hold the rifle straight in Africa."</p> + +<p>Miss Castro had splendid eyes, of a kind that it is not wise for a +susceptible man to gaze into too steadily while his hand is held in very +pretty fingers; and Dane felt it incumbent on him to break the spell.</p> + +<p>"This is not all divination, señorita. I told you I was going inland +from the African coast; though I certainly did not tell you I had been +in South America. Did you guess it by my darkened skin?"</p> + +<p>"It is not the trickery," repeated Miss Castro. "I tell you only the +things I know. There is blood on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> your path through the forest—blood, +and a shadow that follows, creeping always behind. Look well to your +friend. The shadow follows, but does not rest on—you. If it should, +there is a pale, cold woman in England who—but I cannot tell you if she +would be sorry, or if you will ever see her again. There is also +treasure, but the lines fade and the crosses are many, with only the +sign of danger clear. I can see no farther. Only the good saints know +the end."</p> + +<p>She paused for a moment, leaving Dane somewhat impressed, for, although +no believer in palmistry of that description, he had seen that Miss +Castro was apparently not speaking without a purpose. Then she laid down +the Aggri and, it seemed to Dane, her mantle of prophetess +simultaneously, saying in her usual tone, but with somewhat unusual +earnestness:</p> + +<p>"And now you will not laugh while I give you the warning. Beware of +these three things: a man with the holy cross on his forehead, the +carved calabash, and the leopard's skin. You will remember always, but +tell only the Señor Maxwell. There is one at least who would not have +that shadow overtake you. It may be I shall see you in Africa."</p> + +<p>Here the eager crowd outside showed signs of storming the tent, and Dane +was forced to take his leave, reflecting that it might perhaps be as +well if they did not, as Miss Castro expected, meet in Africa. Rejoining +Maxwell, he told him what he had heard, concluding:</p> + +<p>"It much resembled the usual professional soothsayer's medley, and I +could make neither head nor tail of it. Still, the señorita's manner +impressed me."</p> + +<p>"How did she look or speak?" Maxwell's glance betrayed his interest.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>"As though she believed what she was saying, and wished me to."</p> + +<p>"I am inclined to think she did," Maxwell answered thoughtfully. "She +was also probably giving you good advice in the one way available. How +she knows I cannot tell, but by the light of past experience I can make +a good deal of the medley. As you probably surmised, her warning was not +the result of divination."</p> + +<p>Maxwell did not appear inclined to answer questions, and, dismissing the +subject, they proceeded to make the most of their last few hours upon +what he termed Christian soil. The black peaks were fading against the +saffron in the west, and purple darkness creeping up from Africa across +the sea, when the mail gun warned them it was time to return to the +steamer.</p> + +<p>"We shall have seen, and perhaps suffered, very strange things before we +set foot in a civilized land again," said Maxwell. "It is not a tropical +sporting trip that we are embarking upon. There remain just five minutes +for a valedictory libation."</p> + +<p>"Champagne!" Dane said to the Swiss attendant as they passed through the +veranda of the hotel; and presently he rose from a little table, holding +up the sparkling cup. Maxwell's hints had impressed him, and there was a +grimness behind his smile when he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Here's death or glory! A swift journey to the heart of the forest!"</p> + +<p>Maxwell generally frowned upon anything that approached the theatrical, +but, as he touched his comrade's glass with his own, his face was grave.</p> + +<p>"Heaven send us both back safe out of it and—because the one implies +the other—confound the cross-marked man!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>Dane asked no questions. Maxwell was always slightly oracular, and might +not have answered them; and a few minutes later they were being rowed +off to the steamer in company with Dom Pedro Castro.</p> + +<p>The <i>Manyamba</i> was not a fast boat; she anchored off many surf-hammered +beaches before she reached the one where the adventurers had arranged to +disembark, and where, as it happened, Dom Pedro had built his principal +factory. He proved a pleasant companion, though Dane fancied that he was +weak alike in character and in principle. One day as they rolled slowly +along the spray-veiled coast with a maze of half-seen mangroves over the +port hand, Dom Pedro sauntered across the deck toward Dane.</p> + +<p>"You go up into the Leopard's country to look for gold?" he said, +glancing at Dane in a manner which puzzled him.</p> + +<p>"We are certainly going inland, but I am afraid that is all I can tell +you," Dane replied guardedly.</p> + +<p>Dom Pedro smiled.</p> + +<p>"Then you seek the gold. Even your countrymen do not go into that forest +for pleasure. But only one man, I think, has seen that gold since the +men of my nation who came after Gama ruled this country. That man he +die, as you call it, crazy. How much your expedition cost you, Don +Ilton?"</p> + +<p>Dane mentioned an approximate sum, expressing his surprise that the +questioner should even have guessed their object, but refraining from +stating whether the guess was a correct one; and the elder man spread +out his yellow palms deprecatingly.</p> + +<p>"Where the gold lie is not concern me. I am gentleman of peace and +commercio. There is one man,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> not all the nigger, who think he know, and +another not all a white man who will pay him to hinder you. More I only +guess at and cannot tell you, but I know you and the Señor Maxwell never +pass the Leopard country. Don Ilton, I presume you bold man who come +here to make the money. With the sum you mention I show you how. It is +not all for the good will, but for the assistance also of me."</p> + +<p>Now Dane might have suspected treachery, but he did not do so. Indeed, +he was inclined to fancy the offer and warning were genuine. He declined +the offer, however; and consulted Maxwell on the first opportunity.</p> + +<p>"I believe what he told you was spoken in good faith," Maxwell said; +"and he was perfectly correct. The first man he mentioned is probably +the rascal who betrayed poor Niven; and Rideau must be the other. He +has, if I am correct in my surmises, had dealings not wholly creditable +to either, with Dom Pedro; and it is possible the latter might have +found us useful. This, combination may, however, increase our +difficulties."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">TREACHERY</span></h2> + + +<p>The region which lies behind the West African coast is not a pleasant +one to traverse, and bad fortune seemed to attend Maxwell's expedition +from the time it marched out of the seaboard settlement, where he had +had trouble with certain French officials, as well as with the black +head man from whom he hired his carriers. All of this Dane remembered +when he halted, one burning afternoon, shoulder-deep in the tall grass +of a swamp, worn out in body and perplexed in mind. Few Europeans are +capable of much exertion in that country, especially during the hottest +part of the afternoon; but the hammock boys were too weary to drag their +burdens farther, and there was urgent need for haste. Dane accordingly +had taxed his strength to the utmost during the last few hours. The tall +grass stems were almost too hot to touch, and foul mire bubbled about +their roots. At least a league of it, through which, slashed by +saw-edged blades and stabbed by broken stalks, the expedition must force +its way, stretched toward an inland ridge of higher ground that rose +from the morass. Beyond this, in turn, flat-topped hills dimmed by a +yellow heat haze cut the horizon.</p> + +<p>As Dane halted, a naked carrier stumbled, and, dropping the deal case +from his woolly crown, splashed him all over. Another straightway fell +over his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> prostrate comrade, and began a spirited attack upon him when +they scrambled to their feet again. Dane was too weary to rebuke either +in the fashion they would best understand; but a man of dusky color +undertook the duty for him, with the barrel of a gaspipe gun, and the +combatants, desisting, found new places in the straggling line. A few +picked men in flowing white draperies with flintlock guns on their +shoulders were already floundering through the swamp ahead. Behind them, +almost and wholly naked negroes, many wearing on their forehead the blue +band which marks the amphibious Kroo, went splashing by, each bearing a +deal case or tarred cloth package upon his crown. Then the rearguard, +tall and soldierly men with the blood of the Arab in them, who carried +old-fashioned rifles in spite of certain regulations, came up with +Maxwell. They wore a ragged white uniform, swore by the Prophet, and +were, as Dane subsequently discovered, reliable fighting men. The +Krooboys carried a cutlass-shaped matchet, a by no means despicable +weapon when rubbed keen with a file.</p> + +<p>Maxwell differed in outward appearance from the somewhat fastidious +gentleman Dane had known in Scotland. His cotton jacket was badly rent, +sun-baked mire clung thickly about his leggings, and one side of his big +sun-helmet had been flattened in. The raw condition of his face and neck +betokened the power of the last few days' sun, and he blinked a little +because his eyes had suffered by the change from the forest shadow to +the dazzling brightness and the fibrous dust of the grass.</p> + +<p>"Don't let your particular scarecrows get too far ahead of you, Hilton," +he cautioned. "I should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> hardly have suspected you of any inclination to +stop and admire the scenery after the opinion you recently expressed +concerning this country."</p> + +<p>"I'd willingly burn or flood the whole of it if I could," Dane replied +irritably. "Miss Castro was not mistaken when she mentioned the shadow +that crept up from behind. Ill luck has certainly followed us from the +beginning, and it is time we turned round and endeavored to settle up +accounts with whoever is the cause of it."</p> + +<p>"You may have an opportunity to-night, or earlier," said Maxwell. "When, +in spite of warnings, two white men insist on visiting a region which +was specially made for black men, they can't expect to be comfortable. +What is it that excites your particular indignation?"</p> + +<p>The malarial fever contracted in other parts of the tropics had, as not +infrequently happens, returned upon Dane in Africa. His head ached +intolerably, every joint seemed stiff, and he swept his hand round the +horizon as he answered vaguely.</p> + +<p>"Everything! Why was it that, after drinking at a village well, two of +our carriers died? Why should venomous insects crawl into my boots and +from underneath my pillow? Or a guide, who declared he knew the country, +bog us waist-deep in a quagmire, where we lost half our ammunition? +Doesn't it strike you that the sequence of accidents is not all due to +coincidence?"</p> + +<p>"And, in addition to all this, you will be wondering why you are +prostrate with fever to-morrow, if you excite yourself at the present +temperature. Forget your grievances until your turn comes, and then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +strike the harder. Meanwhile, we have been stalked since we passed the +last village, and the sooner we reach yonder dry ground, and build a +breastwork, the better."</p> + +<p>Knowing that this was good counsel, Dane did his best, finding a savage +comfort in the thought that at last he would probably have the +satisfaction of seeing his persecutors; but the grass was tall and +matted, the temperature suffocating, and when they lost sight of the +islet the morass appeared interminable. Such civilization as may be +found in West Africa is only skin-deep. That is to say, it pertains to +the coast, and is occasionally hard to discover there. In many places it +still extends less than a day's march from the black troops' barracks, +and the white man who travels beyond that distance takes his own risks, +which are sometimes considerable. Dane already had cause to realize +this, and he was accordingly thankful when at last the expedition, +floundering out of the swamp, reached the strip of firmer earth. Here a +breastwork of deal cases and branches was built, and camp pitched among +the giant buttresses staying the cottonwood trunks.</p> + +<p>"I think," said Maxwell cheerfully, when they lingered over a frugal +meal, "if any misguided bushmen try to rush this camp to-night they will +regret it. I will see to the sentries and keep first watch while you +rest. You look as though you needed sleep."</p> + +<p>Dane certainly did, having enjoyed little sleep worth mentioning since +he left the coast. Indeed, he could scarcely keep his eyes open, and he +wondered vacantly that Maxwell, who seemed proof against the climate, +should show no sign of fatigue. When he unrolled his strip of matting +and water-proof inside the little tent,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> the African sunset was flaming +in the west, and the cottonwoods crowning the ridge stood out black as +ebony against its almost unearthly brilliancy. Among them fantastic +figures, some naked as when they first entered the world, some draped in +white and blue, crouched about the cooking fires; while, seen between +two mighty buttresses of living wood which stayed ponderous trunks, men +with matchets and long guns were curled up beneath the breastwork. The +wood smoke drifted in filmy wisps athwart the lonely camp, the swamp +steamed like a cauldron, and the chirruping of countless frogs rose out +of the vapor. Then the brief brilliancy faded, and thick impenetrable +darkness suddenly rolled down. The faint coolness that came with it +brought sleep to Dane, and it was midnight when Maxwell's voice roused +him.</p> + +<p>"Get up and stand by with your rifle! There are bushmen in the grass!" +he said.</p> + +<p>Half-awake, Dane groped for the breastwork, falling over several negroes +on the way, and when he reached it the blackness was Egyptian. There was +nothing visible beyond the loom of shadowy trunks, but Dane could hear +unseen men breathing heavily, the click-clack of flintlocks, and the +rasp of a file along a matchet blade. Then a faint crackle which drew +nearer came out of the grass, and instantly a blaze of weird blue +radiance leaped up, showing Maxwell's spare figure perched recklessly +aloft upon the breastwork with a port-fire held high above him. Its +glare beat along the matchet blades, the gun-barrels, and the oily skin +of the men beneath, and showed black patches which might have been arms +or heads among the grass. Then it died out; and Dane pitched the rifle +to his shoulder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> at Maxwell's shout. There was neither challenge nor +parley. They were now beyond civilized jurisdiction, and the right of +any man to existence in that country depends upon the strength of his +hand.</p> + +<p>The heel-plate jarred on his shoulder, the barrel jumped in his left +hand, red sparks flickered along the breastwork, and the sputtering roar +of the flintlocks was repeated among the trunks. Dane fancied a scream +rose in answer from the grass, and once or twice a long gun flashed; +then the firing slackened, and it was heartsome to hear Maxwell laugh. +He came stumbling toward Dane, and held up a second port-fire whose +light showed no trace of any assailant. The silence that followed grew +oppressive. It was, however, suddenly broken. A rifle flashed in the +rear of the camp, a bullet whirred close by Dane's head; and Maxwell, +dropping the flare, set his foot upon it.</p> + +<p>"The second time! That was a good rifle, and fired by one of our own +men," he said. "Take this nigger, Hilton, crawl in on him, and, +disregarding anything which may happen, get that man—alive if you can. +He is worth all the rest of the expedition."</p> + +<p>Crouching low, crawling on hands and knees, and slipping from trunk to +trunk, the pair worked backward in a semicircle, though, instead of +following, it was the negro who led the white man. It seemed to Dane +that he was making noise enough to waken the dead, but his dusky +companion had probably owed his life to his powers of silent motion, and +his progress was as noiseless as that of a serpent. Still, a clamor +which broke out at the rear of the camp drowned the sound of Dane's +passage, and presently a fire commenced to crackle behind the serried +trunks. Rising partly upright,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> he could see naked figures outlined +against it flitting with burdens on their heads into the swamp. +Nevertheless, Maxwell's instructions were explicit, and, when the negro +beckoned, he sank down again.</p> + +<p>The fire tossed higher, and Dane surmised that somebody had lighted the +dried grass to divert attention from the deserters or a fresh attack. +Its purport, however, was in the meantime a side issue, for, as the +radiance came flickering athwart the trunks, it revealed something dim +and shadowy crouching among the roots of a neighboring cottonwood. The +blurred shape might have escaped notice had not the line of steel before +it glimmered once or twice. With infinite caution Dane covered a few +more yards, and stooped behind a screen of trailers, with every nerve +quivering, and a heavy pistol clenched in his right hand. What had +become of the negro he did not know. Once the assassin raised his +weapon, and Dane laid the short pistol barrel upon his raised forearm, +hoping that the stiffness of the trigger might not spoil his aim; but he +lowered it again, for, evidently attracted by the increasing glare, the +man he stalked rose partly upright, glancing over his shoulder. His +caution betrayed him, for, hurling himself crashing through the +creepers, Dane fell upon him, driving the heavy pistol into the center +of the dusky face with his full weight behind it. The two went down, the +colored man undermost, clawing with greasy hands at his adversary's +throat. Their grip was feeble, for the first blow had got home; but time +was precious, and Dane, heaving his right shoulder clear, brought the +steel-bound butt down again.</p> + +<p>There was a hollow groan; several men who came running up fell heavily +over the pair, and while one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> dragged the half-dazed white man clear, +the others lashed the prisoner fast with creeper ropes. Rising shakily, +Dane sent up a breathless shout.</p> + +<p>"Stand fast and see that nobody gets in your way if you have him safe!" +cried Maxwell. "Don't trouble about the grass! It is damp among the +cottonwoods, and will soon burn out."</p> + +<p>Dane waited ten long minutes, feeling thankful, meanwhile, that the one +spot where the ridge could be reached on that side through the quaggy +swamp was lighted by the fire. Then Maxwell joined him, and, trusting to +their subordinates' vigilance, they made the round of the knoll +together. A dozen carriers were missing; and their assailants had +vanished as mysteriously as they came.</p> + +<p>"We shall miss the boys, but it might be fatal to try to follow them; +and at least we know whom we can trust," said Maxwell. "A treacherous +servant is worse to deal with than an open enemy. Our assailants were +evidently mere bush thieves, and not regular fighting men, or they would +probably have got in. Whether they expected help from the deserters, or +what share the man you seized had in the plot, I can't decide now; and, +in the meantime, it is of no great importance. We shall discover it +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Nobody in camp slept during the rest of the night, which was one of the +longest in Dane's recollection. Most of it he spent huddled among the +roots of a cottonwood while the heavy dew of the tropics splashed upon +him, straining ears and eyes alike for any sign of the enemy. There was, +however, no sound but the wailing of some night bird from all the +tangled grass; and except when now and then a murmur of negro voices +rose up,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> a deep impressive silence brooded over the camp. Dane could +hear his watch ticking, and there were times when he found it difficult +to master an impulse to cry aloud, or to commit any extravagance which +would break the tormenting stillness.</p> + +<p>At last, however, the temperature fell a little. A faint chill air shook +the dew from the tangled creepers flung from mighty branch to branch, +and the darkness became less dense. The steam of the swamps grew +thicker, a streak of radiance broadened in the east, and suddenly as +night had fallen, the red sun leaped up. It was once more burning day, +and neither the dew-drenched white men, who stiffly straightened their +aching limbs, nor the stolid Africans, who rolled over in their lairs +among the undergrowth, were sorry to greet the light again. They were a +pitiful handful of travel-worn and somewhat dejected men, alone on a +contracted islet of dry soil in a limitless sea of mist whose white +waves were doubtless filled with unseen perils.</p> + +<p>"Another day to be endured," said Maxwell, yawning as he spoke. +"Another, and another, until the long weeks swell into months, and then, +if nobody poisons or shoots us prematurely, we shall go back to England +and fancy we have been dreaming. Has it occurred to you yet, Hilton, +that the men who gain fortunes in Africa don't <i>win</i> but <i>earn</i> them +hardly? One might wonder why a beneficent Creator made this country."</p> + +<p>"It was His Satanic Majesty who made West Africa, using for a model his +own dominions. A good many details prove it beside the temperature!"</p> + +<p>It was eight o'clock in the morning and already fiercely hot, while the +brightness outside the shade of the cottonwoods grew dazzling, when +Maxwell, con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>stituting himself at once prosecutor and judge, summoned +the prisoner before an informal court. He was a big man, draped in loose +cotton, and rather the hue of ocher than ebony; but his countenance was +ghastly as well as malevolent, for the pistol butt had left its mark on +it. A slackly rolled turban covered half his forehead, and he leaned +with his back against a cottonwood scowling upon his judge. Maxwell sat +on a camp-stool, not far away, with a rifle laid across his knee; Dane +lay in the grass beside him; and the carriers and the armed men were +drawn up in a half-circle behind them. Hitherto the would-be assassin, +who acted as headman or chief of a section, had done nothing to excite +Dane's suspicions.</p> + +<p>"There is no law in this country but one, the <i>lex talionis</i>, while you +and I are responsible for the lives of all these about us," said +Maxwell. "It is a heavy responsibility, and I dare not allow any attempt +to betray them to pass unpunished. You need not translate this, +interpreter. Ask that fellow why he twice shot at the men whose bread +and salt he has eaten."</p> + +<p>What the interpreter, who spoke a little of the fantastic English in use +along the coast, said, Dane did not know, but he spent some time over +it, and when he had finished the prisoner spat upon the ground +contemptuously.</p> + +<p>"Damn fool man," explained the sable linguist. "He savvy too much and +done say nothing."</p> + +<p>"That means he refuses to plead," said Maxwell. "Well, we will proceed +to inquire into his offenses as directly as possible. Listen carefully, +and don't mix up my questions more than you can help, interpreter."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>Maxwell asked questions which astonished his companion, and it was plain +that he had for some time suspected a good deal. There was no lack of +testimony; for carrier and armed retainer in turn set forth, through the +black interpreter or in quaintest English, how the accused had told them +gruesome stories of the devils inhabiting the country they were +venturing into; had dropped hints that by seizing the provisions they +might enrich themselves for life; and had been seen communing with +mysterious strangers a few nights earlier. Dane listened with growing +indignation, for the simple tales made plain not only how venomous +insects got into his boots, but that on two occasions he had narrowly +escaped with his life.</p> + +<p>"Ask them," said Maxwell grimly, "why nobody had the sense to tell me +this before."</p> + +<p>"Them boy say you not done ask them, sah," answered the interpreter +convincingly.</p> + +<p>"It's African logic, and there's no use expecting too much from any +nigger," said Maxwell aside. "The man's guilt is plainly evident; but +while presumably neither of us knows much of jurisprudence, I wish to +give him a fair chance of making his defense. We will do it in his own +speech, though I am inclined to fancy that he understands English. +Interpreter, try to make this clear to him."</p> + +<p>Maxwell spoke for some minutes, pausing often for the linguist to +explain his meaning, and again astonished Dane. He traced the accused's +actions with surprising skill, showing how he had inspired a marauding +headman to plunder and leave them starving, and induced the carriers to +desert in the hope of precipitating a panic among the loyal. He also +connected him with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> several of the mysterious accidents which had +delayed the march.</p> + +<p>"Tell him I give him a last chance. He has just five minutes to clear +himself in."</p> + +<p>Maxwell laid his watch on the camp-stool between his knees, pointed +toward a lengthening shaft of brightness which approached the roots of a +tree, and then opened and closed the breach of his rifle significantly. +The dusky man before him showed no sign of fear, and his half-scornful, +wholly malevolent scowl, together with the intense silence, the +expectant black faces, and the glint of light on weapons, burnt itself +into Dane's memory. The five minutes seemed very long to him. Then, as +his comrade slowly replaced his watch in his pocket, the prisoner spoke +a few words disdainfully, and Dane could feel his fingers contract as he +waited for the interpreter's answer.</p> + +<p>"Damn fool man," it came. "Say he only sorry he done miss you that time. +Very bad man, sah. Say no white man or coast nigger ever lib for get +into the Leopards' country."</p> + +<p>"So," said Maxwell dryly. "That is to say, while he can prevent it, +which may not be long. Ask these boys what should be done with the man +who would have left them starving, or perhaps sold them for slaves to +some headman."</p> + +<p>The camp boys had followed the evidence, and a clamor of voices answered +the query. Big eyes glistened, black thumbs were run along twinkling +matchet blades, and Dane distinguished ominous cries.</p> + +<p>"You shoot him one time, sah! Give him to us and we done chop him!"</p> + +<p>"It is the only possible verdict," Maxwell said with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> strange quietness. +"One returns to primitive customs in this part of Africa; and it is more +merciful that one should die than many. A curse upon the country! Must I +turn executioner?—but for the sake of all those about us, there is no +other way."</p> + +<p>"What is your purpose?" Dane asked sharply, jumping to his feet.</p> + +<p>Maxwell looked at him steadily with his lips firmly set and the color +mottled a little in his face.</p> + +<p>"Give him thirty seconds to reach the grass. I might miss; these others +certainly would—and it will be a little easier that way. Do you +understand me, interpreter? If he can reach the swamp alive no man shall +harm him."</p> + +<p>"You shall not do it!" Dane exclaimed hotly. "Heaven knows, the brute +deserves it; but you can't go home with your hands fouled by that +helpless wretch's blood! Pass him that rifle, and give me another, with +fifty yards to commence at, if you can't think of anything better. The +other is too much like murder!"</p> + +<p>For a moment the returning color suffused Maxwell's forehead, and there +was a flash of anger in his eyes, but he was generally master of his +temper, and he answered calmly.</p> + +<p>"I could not afford to lose you, Hilton. As I said, we have these men's +lives to answer for; and while that fellow lives theirs and our own are +equally in danger. That reminds me, I had forgotten something which may +or may not surprise you further. You yonder, strike off his turban!"</p> + +<p>A Kroo did it with the haft of his machet, and Dane gasped with +astonishment, for there was a curiously shaped scar on the prisoner's +forehead.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>"The cross-marked man," said Maxwell. "The rascal who betrayed and sold +poor Niven's carriers. He has, I think, one white man's death already to +answer for."</p> + +<p>Dane, stooping, laid a hand on each of the speaker's shoulders. Maxwell +was a determined man, with virile brain and no lack of nervous energy; +but Dane had the advantage in stature and muscular strength, and was +glad that it was so. His leader was helpless in his grasp.</p> + +<p>"You are perfectly right, Carsluith," he said stolidly. "If you were +not, it would be useless for me to try to convince you; but I give you +warning that the death of this man dissolves our partnership; and it +will, at least, not be your rifle which fires the fatal shot."</p> + +<p>Maxwell smiled curiously.</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose I am fond of bloodshed, or sorry that you have forced me +against my judgment?" he said. "On your head be it, and you can have the +murderer. I hope that neither of us will regret your clemency!"</p> + +<p>He beckoned the interpreter, and when the latter had spoken, the +prisoner twice spat upon the ground, which was probably the most +insulting action that occurred to him; then, turning, without word or +sign, stalked into the grass. There was a harsh crackling, and, when his +ragged draperies vanished, a murmur of wonder from the camp boys. +Maxwell sighed as with relief.</p> + +<p>"I am glad it is over; and whether we have done ill or well, time alone +will show, but neither of us has seen the last of the cross-marked man," +he said. "In the meantime, we want more carriers and supplies. Go back +to the coast and get them. You will have much less trouble on the return +journey. I will stockade a camp in the hills yonder and wait for you."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /> +<span class="smalltext">TEMPTATION</span></h2> + + +<p>Dane's preparations for his journey were quickly made, and he was ready +to start before the sun was overhead.</p> + +<p>"Life is very uncertain in this country, and because we are partners it +might be as well if you took this map with you in case you should not +find me on your return," said Maxwell. "I worked it out from Niven's +notes, and have the knowledge safe within my brain; but you will +remember that the information would be of value to another white man, +who has already made attempts to obtain it. It might also be well, in +case Miss Castro happens to be present at her father's factory, if you +conducted yourself with a little more than your usual diplomacy."</p> + +<p>"Your advice is a trifle superfluous," returned Dane testily. "Do you +think I'm fool or rogue enough to make love to her?"</p> + +<p>Maxwell smiled.</p> + +<p>"You are one person, and I mentioned two. With all respect to Miss +Castro, it is not quite impossible that she might make love to you. +Remember that she might either prove a useful friend or a dangerous +enemy."</p> + +<p>A few minutes later Dane, followed by three men of Moslem faith, was on +his way; and eventually limped—hungry, half-dazed, and sick of +fever—out of the dim forest, which, it seemed to him, was loth to let +its victim<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> go. The glare of sunlight was overpowering, and at first he +could see little more than the two ragged scarecrows, one muttering +excitedly as he stretched out a brown hand toward the southern horizon, +and the other leaning very heavily on his long Snider rifle. The third +man lay full length among the grass. Dane could never recollect all the +incidents of that journey through a land of eternal shadow, but he felt +tolerably certain that if his dusky followers had not served him +faithfully his bones would have lain rotting somewhere among its +jungles.</p> + +<p>Then, as his eyes grew accustomed to the change of light, he shouted +exultantly, in a voice his British friends would not have recognized. +The shining to the southward was, beyond all doubt, the sea, and the +white blurs among the palms could represent only factories! Turning, he +shook his fist at the forest with childish solemnity.</p> + +<p>"Tell Amadu to turn that gun away from him, Monday. It might go off, and +I be no fit to lose him," he said in coast jargon. "I don't care what +your color is, you are fine fellows too much, both of you, and now we'll +go on while we have strength left to reach them factory."</p> + +<p>How much his followers comprehended did not appear. The man he called +Monday grinned from ear to ear, the other slung his rifle, and they went +on, staggering at their best pace toward the sea, though Dane had a +vague impression that, with one arm beneath either shoulder, the two +ragged Africans dragged him most of the way. Some time later a +blindingly whitewashed factory rose up before them against a background +of tossing spray and equally dazzling sea, and Dane made shift to reach +its outer stairway unaided. An elderly man and a lady who sat on the +shady veranda rose at the sight of him. Making<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> an attempt to raise his +battered sun-hat, he lurched up the stairway. The attempt was not +successful. The sun-hat fell over the balustrade, and he saw it long +afterward, painted green and blue, upon a Krooboy's head. Clutching at +the topmost rail, he steadied himself by it.</p> + +<p>"Unexpected pleasure to see you here, Miss Castro," he said. +"Salutations, Dom Pedro! Sorry to arrive in this fashion; not quite +myself to-day."</p> + +<p>The elderly man shouted, clapping his hands, the lady moved toward the +newcomer; then factory and palm trees went round and round before him, +and Dane, loosing his hold, went down with a crash.</p> + +<p>What happened next he did not remember, having only a hazy recollection +of tossing in burning torment for an interminable space, during which at +intervals somebody held a glass filled with cooling liquid to his lips, +while now and then gentle hands, whose touch was soothing, raised his +aching head. Still, he fancied that at times a white face bent over him, +and once, when the dim light of a calabash lamp beat into his eyes, that +waves of dusky hair drooped close above his forehead, and that he +caught, and held fast with all his strength, the cool fingers that +slipped into his own. They seemed to draw him back out of the black +abyss into which he was sliding; and, he surmised afterward, they +actually did so.</p> + +<p>Attacks of malarial fever, however, are usually brief; and not long +after his arrival Dane lay, clothed in neatly mended garments and more +or less in his right mind, beside an open window of Castro's factory. +The words "more or less" are used advisedly, for the malaria leaves a +strange lassitude behind it, and the sufferer often takes up the burden +of life again, as it were, reluctantly, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> with somewhat clouded +brain. The sea breeze had set in fresh and cool, but the man lay limp +and dejected, scarcely troubling to breathe it in, while a haggard +English surgeon from a neighboring British colony sat near by watching +him with an irritating curiosity. White men recognize the bond of color +in West Africa, and the surgeon had remained to fight hard for the life +of a stranger when passing that way. Also, where all dwell under the +shadow in a land where the veneer of civilization wears thin, and the +primitive passions show through, the Briton casts aside much of his +normal reticence.</p> + +<p>"Tolerably bad, was I not?" asked Dane; and the surgeon answered +frankly.</p> + +<p>"You were. In fact, on two occasions, I concluded you were going to beat +me. Wouldn't even take a draught from—me, and one might compliment you +on your determined obstinacy."</p> + +<p>"I'm much obliged," Dane said slowly. "That's not quite all I mean, but +it's the best I'm capable of just now. I don't know who you are, or why +you did so much for me."</p> + +<p>The surgeon laughed good-humoredly.</p> + +<p>"If you must have a reason, you were an interesting case. I'm Dennis +Ormond, of the Gold Coast service, and Dom Pedro asked me to look at +you. I obliged him, and at first you were not a very encouraging +spectacle. Of course, I did my little, but I may say that my medicine +was not the only thing responsible for your cure. The señorita assisted +me very ably, and—for a man must sleep sometimes—without her help it +is quite probable we should have attended the expected funeral."</p> + +<p>Ormond said this with an indifference which Dane, because he did not +then know how much his little had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> been, or that his was an eminent name +on the fever coast, thought hardly civil; but there was a warning +gravity in his tone as he continued:</p> + +<p>"It was, of course, my business; but not the señorita's; and you might +have changed the pronouns in your last sentence advantageously."</p> + +<p>Dane was ashamed of several things he said and did that day, and his +answer among them; but few white men are quite accountable for their +actions when recovering from fever, and there was that in the surgeon's +glance which aroused his indignation.</p> + +<p>"Are you not taking an unfair advantage—considering how much I owe +you!" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so!" said Ormond. "In this land one takes an advantage when and +how one can. I dare say I'm a meddlesome idiot; but I conceived a +certain respect for you, if only because of the spirited manner in which +you resisted my attempts to cure you; and more for the señorita. Now, I +don't think Miss Castro, curious combination of ministering angel, +child, and—well, the angel's antithesis, as she evidently is, would +have done so much for everybody!"</p> + +<p>Dane answered nothing. One cannot rebuke the man one owes one's life to. +Ormond, however, had not finished with the subject.</p> + +<p>"You crawled off your cot in delirium one night, and I found you groping +among some papers scattered from your pocket-book about the floor," he +said. "It required the assistance of two Krooboys to induce you to lie +down again, and Miss Castro helped me to pick up the papers. I, however, +found this among them first, and considered it well to take charge of it +in the meantime. Miss Castro, you have heard, made an excellent nurse."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>Dane felt that the surgeon noticed the way his fingers tightened on the +little photograph handed him; but the man went on, with a smile:</p> + +<p>"Your sister, presumably, for one could not help glancing at the +picture. Still, I can't flatter you by saying that I recognize a family +likeness. Therefore—I kept it aside."</p> + +<p>Dane thanked him, and Ormond answered lightly:</p> + +<p>"The rest of the papers Miss Castro returned to the pocket-book. All you +have to do now is to lie still and recover."</p> + +<p>"I will try," Dane said. "When can I start again?"</p> + +<p>Ormond pointed out through the window toward the sea.</p> + +<p>"In a week, if you are prudent—in fact, the sooner you start in that +direction the wiser you will be. This country is not healthy for +full-blooded Englishmen of your description. If you march inland again, +cable anybody interested to double your life insurance."</p> + +<p>Dane made a negatory gesture, but Ormond anticipated his answer.</p> + +<p>"Of course, I hardly expected you would take good advice, but it was my +duty to give it. Just now I'll leave you to your own resources, because +Dom Pedro is waiting with the chessmen below. Most gentlemanly old +rascal, and you are indebted to him; but I wouldn't tell him too much +respecting the supposititious treasure you rambled about if I were you. +Henceforward you will have to get better in your own way, because word +has just been sent me that my niggers are dying by dozens."</p> + +<p>He went out, and left Dane staring at the photograph in his hand. +Although not improved by long exposure to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> tropic heat, or the dampness +of the African climate, it had been a good portrait of Lilian +Chatterton, and the eyes that looked out from the faded paper seemed to +challenge the man. On inspecting the dim picture later he decided it +must have been because he remembered them so well. They were clear and +searching, honest above all things, but, as it were, demanding equal +sincerity from whoever looked into them; and though perhaps this was due +to the observer's fancy, the whole face seemed to possess a spiritual +beauty. Dane, however, was certainly a little light-headed still, for as +he gazed the face grew scornful.</p> + +<p>To most Europeans in that country there comes a time of mental weakness +and black dejection, and Dane's courage had melted before the fever +which left him unstable as water, and fanciful as a child. Thus it was +that, in a sudden access of bitterness, he slipped the picture back into +its case. Lilian, he decided, had cruelly misjudged him, and now +doubtless enjoyed the sunny side of life in the cool British air, +careless of the fact that for her sake he risked life and reason in the +pestilential steam of Africa.</p> + +<p>There was a rustle of draperies, and Bonita Castro swept into the room +with the grace of movement and carriage which characterizes her mother's +race. There was, however, nothing spiritual about Miss Castro's beauty, +which was of the flesh and of the glowing south, appealing to the +senses, delighting the eye; and Dane's pulse throbbed a little faster as +she came toward him with a low cry of pleasure. It was the first time he +had risen from his trestle cot in the adjoining room. Stooping, she held +toward him a great cluster of the spotless African lilies—which, +scented ambrosially, spring up wherever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> decay is rankest—then sank +with lithe gracefulness into a chair near his side.</p> + +<p>"It is very good to see you better, Don Ilton," she said.</p> + +<p>"It is the result of your kindness, señorita. Unfortunately, I don't +know how to thank you——"</p> + +<p>"Then you will not try." Miss Castro raised a restraining hand. "We do +not leave the sick to die. Even if it had been another, there is always +enjoined on us the charity."</p> + +<p>Dane had lost his sense of humor, and just then Bonita Castro looked all +ministering angel, and his attitude expressed rather reverential respect +than personal admiration, which, it is possible, did not please the lady +so well.</p> + +<p>"But you have done so much for one who is almost a stranger," he +persisted.</p> + +<p>Miss Castro's mood changed swiftly, and spreading out her hands with a +gesture of amusement, and a smile which Dane fancied most men would have +given much to win, she was again all a woman, and a very alluring one.</p> + +<p>"It is true that you English have not the graceful speech. Are we, then, +the mere stranger, Don Ilton? <i>Carramba!</i> One takes pride in what one +save from the fever, and it was on my lips to call you <i>cariño</i>."</p> + +<p>Dane had acquired sufficient knowledge of Castilian in South America to +appreciate the possible significance of the substantive; and he +afterward remembered that he was not wholly displeased with it.</p> + +<p>"You make me a vain man, señorita," he said lightly.</p> + +<p>Miss Castro laughed again, and Dane lay silent for a while.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>"I am the more indebted to your care because every day is precious, and +I must rejoin my comrade as soon as possible," he said at last.</p> + +<p>The damask warmth deepened just a trifle in his companion's cheek.</p> + +<p>"You two still go on into the forest—why?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Because I am a poor man, and, as you have guessed, my comrade believes +there is treasure waiting up yonder."</p> + +<p>Bonita Castro smiled scornfully, and answered him with the assurance of +one stating a definite fact.</p> + +<p>"The Señor Maxwell will never bring gold out of the Leopards' country. +Two white men have try already and, both of them, they die. You must not +go back there, Don Ilton, nor let your comrade go, though I know he is a +very clever and fearless man."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?"</p> + +<p>Dane found it hard to conceal his astonishment at her tranquil answer:</p> + +<p>"I try if he is fearless on board the steamer. I can use the pistol +well."</p> + +<p>"It is fortunate you did not test my courage in the same fashion. But +was there not a third man?"</p> + +<p>Miss Castro's fingers closed viciously, and the questioner experienced +an instinctive shrinking as he saw the hatred in her deep black eyes.</p> + +<p>"The third was not a white man, though he call himself so," she said, +with a quietness that was ominous. "<i>Maldito sea el perro!</i> To-day again +he infect this factory."</p> + +<p>Dane could not help feeling that, unless the gentleman were prudent, he +might have cause to regret his visit to the factory. He was inclined to +admire high-spirited women, but Miss Castro looked more than dangerous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +just then; though Dane learned afterward that her hatred was +justifiable.</p> + +<p>Following her glance, he saw a short and very sallow-faced gentleman, +neatly dressed in spotless duck, cross the compound below and disappear +into the salt shed, evidently in search of Dom Pedro. There was nothing +particularly noticeable about him; but another taller figure, draped in +blue and white cotton and wearing a crimson turban, followed, and +squatted in the hot dust outside the shed. This man was an African, but +lighter in color than the seaboard tribes, and his movements reminded +Dane of those of the midnight assassin. He decided, however, that the +resemblance was fanciful.</p> + +<p>"Is that the person you mentioned?" he asked. "It is evident that you +dislike him. May I ask why?"</p> + +<p>Miss Castro appeared to consider, and then answered frankly:</p> + +<p>"Why should I not tell you? You are <i>muy caballero</i>, and I think, good +friend of me. He was partner with my father, this Victor Rideau. They +once go inland to trade with an Emir, who at that time gather much +plunder of ivory, and perhaps they give their carrier boy the good rifle +and cartridge, for the Emir is treacherous. He is very bad man, +and—<i>pobre padre mio!</i>—when Rideau is go away he put pressure on Dom +Pedro, and demand all his rifle and black carrier boy. What would you? +My father he is not desire his throat cut, and he agree. The Emir write +safe conduct and agreement, and sent him back with ivory, but this +Rideau he guard the scroll in Arabic, and now always demand the silver +from my father for fear he denounce him to the authority. One must not +sell the black boy, and there is heavy penalty for giving the negro the +arm of precision."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>Dane grasped the situation, surmising that the Emir in question was one +who had, for a time, successfully defied both British and French. He +also surmised that the Gallic authorities would deal stringently with +whoever had supplied the Moslem soldier with modern weapons at a time +when it appeared quite possible he would even march upon the coast. +Still, he was not sure that very much pressure had been required to +convince Dom Pedro.</p> + +<p>Returning to her almost caressing manner, Miss Castro touched his arm:</p> + +<p>"Why you need that gold?"</p> + +<p>"Gold is generally useful, isn't it?" smiled Dane. "It would help me to +earn a little more than my bread when I go back to England."</p> + +<p>Bonita Castro laughed, and then grew serious. There was a light in her +dark eyes, and her voice grew deeper; and it was only because it +appeared necessary that Dane afterward told his comrade part of what +followed. Indeed, there was little to relate, but much to be imagined.</p> + +<p>"Is there no other place than England, when all the world is good?" she +said. "Is not this much better than your mud and snow, and the sight of +the men with anxious faces groping through the fog? <i>Vaya!</i> You men of +the English cities, you not know how to live."</p> + +<p>The speaker pointed out through the open window, and most men would have +agreed with her in a measure. If the beauty of the fever coast is that +of a whited sepulcher, it is a sufficiently alluring region, and Dom +Pedro's factory stood high and healthily upon the summit of a bluff. +Tall palms swaying about it before the sea breeze tossed their emerald +traceries against transparent blue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> In the cottonwoods' shadow beyond +them tall white lilies grew, and the rollers of the southern ocean, +flaming dazzlingly, dissolved into spouts of incandescence upon a +crescent of silver sand below. The whole scene was flooded with light +and color, and permeated by the languorous spell of the tropics, which +it is not good for white men to linger under.</p> + +<p>"It is all very beautiful," he said; "but I have my bread to win."</p> + +<p>"You are very modest, Don Ilton. Is there no place for such as you in +Africa? Now I know one who would give much—even a share in the profits +of several factories—for the help of two men he could trust. There will +be more gold to win than you will ever find in the Leopards' country; +and there will be the excitement you hunger for. The man who needs the +assistance has a cunning enemy. Will you not listen when again he speaks +to you?"</p> + +<p>Miss Castro leaned slightly forward.</p> + +<p>"It is the life you English long for. There would be adventure; much +profit, I think, too, and—for that you like also—an enemy. He is bad +enemy of—me. This England of yours is far off, and the wise man he—is +it not so?—takes gratefully what the good saints send him. Is it not +enough, Don Ilton?"</p> + +<p>Dane was not a vain man, but there was a subtle inflection in the +woman's voice which suggested an amplification of the meaning of her +last words. England certainly seemed very far away, Maxwell's project a +mad one; and Dane remembered that the woman for whose sake he had joined +in it had been ready to think ill of him. His companion was very +alluring, he was weak in mind and body, very grateful to one who had +saved his life for him, and loath to resume the burden which was part +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> his birthright as a civilized Englishman. A word, even a gesture, +would, it seemed, smooth out many difficulties, and, shaking off +responsibility, he might henceforward live for the day only; but though +intoxicated by the spell of the tropics and the eyes of his companion, +Dane had a memory, and he realized that he stood on the brink of a +declivity. He had seen the end of other Britons who, selling their +birthright for a few years' indulgence, sank beyond the level of the +beasts. The face of a countrywoman, no longer cold and disdainful, but +innocent and gentle, rose up before him; and the struggle ended.</p> + +<p>"It is so much that I do not deserve it," he said humbly, answering her +question. "I must accomplish the purpose which brought me here, and then +go back to England. Nothing would turn back my comrade."</p> + +<p>Miss Castro did not speak for a few moments, but Dane felt that she +understood more than he had said. Then she looked at him steadily.</p> + +<p>"You are a strange people, but, go when you will, God go with you, Don +Ilton. Now, at least from my hands, you will take the medicine."</p> + +<p>Dane's hand trembled as he held it out for the glass, for the struggle +had left its mark on him; but he felt inclined to resent this climax, +which appeared grotesquely ludicrous. Nevertheless, he duly swallowed +the medicine, and resisted an inexplicable impulse which prompted him to +smash the glass. Then, with a wondrous unfolding of filmy draperies, his +companion rose languidly, and, it seemed to Dane, melted out of the +room. Almost simultaneously the crouching figure in the dusty compound +rose and vanished too.</p> + +<p>Dane decided that it would be well to gather strength with all possible +celerity, and leave the factory as soon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> as he was fit to travel in a +hammock. Accordingly, in spite of the protests of Dom Pedro, who, after +repeating in definite form the offer made by his daughter, found him +supplies and carriers, he presently took his leave, and shook hands with +Miss Castro beside the waiting hammock at the compound gate. Her manner +had been a shade more reserved of late, but she spoke with friendly +earnestness when she laid in his hand a tiny object wrought in silver +and ivory.</p> + +<p>"You will take this for what you call a keep-a-sake, Don Ilton," she +said. "There is always peril in the bush country, and it was given my +mother by a holy man. It has the virtue. If you meet Rideau in the +forest, remember he is my enemy and beware of him. And now, señor, the +good saints keep you."</p> + +<p>Dane bent over the little olive-tinted fingers, then Amadu helped him +into the hammock, and presently Dom Pedro's factory had faded to a white +blur against the sparkling sea.</p> + +<p>As he journeyed northward Dane had much to ponder over. He regretted +that he had been unable to secure a closer view of Rideau or his dusky +follower. He fancied he once heard the Frenchman's voice raised angrily +in an altercation with Dom Pedro; but he could learn nothing about the +tall negro, who had vanished mysteriously. When the journey was almost +accomplished, and he was recovering strength again, there was added +another subject for consideration. Searching for the map Maxwell had +given him, he failed to find it; but, after the first shock of dismay +had passed, he was almost thankful that time and distance prevented his +returning to the factory in search of it. Dane, remembering the +surgeon's narrative, felt himself unequal to the task of asking Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +Castro what she had done with it. He pushed on, hoping for the best, and +that Maxwell might not ask too many questions.</p> + +<p>Maxwell, when he heard the news, sat silent for several minutes.</p> + +<p>"We are not beginning well," he then said gravely, "but that is perhaps +not material. It seems to me that the future of the mine will be settled +when we meet Monsieur Rideau and his lieutenant, as I think we will. Of +course it is no use asking where you lost the map."</p> + +<p>Dane recognized the significance of the last sentence, and answered +accordingly.</p> + +<p>"If I had possessed that knowledge I should have returned and found it. +I have reasons for believing it was in my pocket-book when I left the +factory."</p> + +<p>Maxwell glanced at him keenly and smiled.</p> + +<p>"After what you told me, I suppose one could expect nothing else from +you," said he.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br /> +<span class="smalltext">RIDEAU'S BARGAIN</span></h2> + + +<p>Some time after Dane's departure, a smartly uniformed hammock train +approached Dom Pedro's factory. That worthy ceased his leisurely pacing +up and down the veranda, and watched the bearers wind out from the +steamy shadow with ill-concealed anxiety, hoping that he might be +mistaken. Then as they came on at a steady trot with the poles of the +lurching hammock upon their woolly crowns, he stamped on the flooring; +and even a sleepy Krooboy started at his vivid maledictions. There was +no longer room for doubt that he was about to be honored by a visit from +his former partner, Monsieur Victor Rideau, and it was very evident that +Dom Pedro was not pleased to see him. His sister, a portly lady, of +doubtful age, sat in a shady corner of the veranda, but she passed much +of her time in Africa in peaceful slumber, and was now asleep as +usual—or appeared so.</p> + +<p>"It is too hot for anger, father," a voice said; and Dom Pedro, turning, +saw his daughter leaning languidly over the balustrade. She, too, was +watching the hammock with a curious expression.</p> + +<p>"There is good cause!" Dom Pedro answered, cutting short his flow of +expletives. "This Rideau comes another time to torment me. Why is it +that when so many honest men die up yonder this one should always come +back safely?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>"He will not always do so. Some day he, too, will be lost in the +forest," said Bonita quietly; and the man glanced at her with hope in +his eyes, for several of his daughter's predictions had curiously been +fulfilled. This may have been due to coincidence, or a shrewd +calculation of probabilities; but Dom Pedro, having lived long in a land +where occult influences are believed in, was not free from superstition.</p> + +<p>"I would send half, or at least a third, of all I have, to the hospital +in Lisboa if that were so," he declared. "Niña, you speak as though you +knew."</p> + +<p>Bonita laughed a little, though there was anxiety in her face.</p> + +<p>"Padre, one might doubt the efficacy of such a bribe. Perhaps I do. It +is money he wants, as usual?"</p> + +<p>"Yes." There was a certain hesitation in the man's answer which did not +escape his daughter. "It is, of course, the silver, and I have not much +to give him. You have no regard for this Rideau, niña?"</p> + +<p>Bonita's face was a study. Anger, loathing, and the faintest trace of +fear were stamped upon it.</p> + +<p>"Regard! I have only hatred for <i>el perro</i>!"</p> + +<p>The emphasis on the last word was significant: while it means simply +dog, and is used on occasion to designate a person jestingly, the +Castilian can, by change of inflection, make it imply a rabid cur of the +lowest degree; and Bonita used the epithet in that manner.</p> + +<p>Dom Pedro raised his shoulders, and drew in his breath. He was slightly +afraid of his daughter; but, unfortunately for them both, he was more +afraid of Rideau, and he did not look at her when he spoke again.</p> + +<p>"It is strange the Señor Dane did not return for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> book he left, +since it shows the path through the forests of Shaillu's country, and he +cannot find his way without it."</p> + +<p>Bonita smiled upon him pityingly.</p> + +<p>"You do not know those men as I do. They plan all from the beginning and +leave nothing to chance. The Señor Maxwell is a man of system, and he +will have safe in his memory all the book could tell him."</p> + +<p>"They are a curious people," observed Dom Pedro dryly. "One of those +two, however, was surely a trifle blind."</p> + +<p>A faint trace of color crept into Bonita's face.</p> + +<p>"It is time for you to receive your guest," she said.</p> + +<p>Dom Pedro did so with the utmost cordiality, his hat in his hand, and +the two men—one of whom despised the other, who feared and hated +him—expressed their mutual delight at the meeting with great +effusiveness. Bonita Castro watched them meanwhile from a green latticed +window, and shivered a little, though the day was as hot as it usually +is at that season in West Africa. She slipped her fingers under the +laces at her breast, and her face was not attractive when they touched a +little piece of wrought silver. It was not a mere adornment, for there +was a slender blade of steel attached to it. Again she said, with an +intensity of detestation: "<i>El perro!</i>"</p> + +<p>Dom Pedro played chess and discoursed upon the shortcomings of their +rulers with his guest all afternoon, and the five o'clock <i>comida</i> had +been eaten before either hinted that Rideau could have any possible +motive for his visit beyond the pleasure of seeing his former partner. +Time has no great value to men of Latin extraction in the tropics; and +it is possible that one of them found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> pleasure in prolonging the +other's anxiety. At last, when they sat out on the veranda, the visitor, +lighting a maize husk cigarette, thrust his wineglass away.</p> + +<p>"It is always a gratification to see my old friend Dom Pedro, and I have +traveled a long way to give myself that pleasure," he observed; and his +host, knowing how much this was worth, braced himself to meet what +should follow. "Being here, there is, however, a little affair we can +discuss together. I have an opportunity for a small investment to lay +before you."</p> + +<p>"I am honored, but trade is very bad, and silver scanty," Dom Pedro said +hastily. "I have received no profits yet on the last venture."</p> + +<p>Rideau spread out his palms deprecatingly.</p> + +<p>"They are very dishonest men up yonder in the bush, as you, my friend, +should know, and have robbed me shamefully; while it was but an hour +since I rejoiced at your prosperity. I saw the cloth and gin sheds +empty—and they were full not long ago."</p> + +<p>Dom Pedro groaned inwardly, but attempted a show of resolution.</p> + +<p>"I repeat that trade is bad. It is, I fear, impossible to oblige even +you."</p> + +<p>Rideau laughed a little, but his merriment was akin to mockery.</p> + +<p>"I can only hope you are mistaken, and this time there will be a profit. +There is also another affair I would discuss with you. I am a man with a +conscience, and something we are concerned in up in the bush country +troubles me. It is told me that these troublesome English make protest +with the Administration that when the Emir invaded their dominions his +men carried good rifles which could only have been obtained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> from this +colony. The Captain Oger stated publicly that it is a stain on the +national honor, and there will be strict inquiry. I am a good friend of +Dom Pedro, but first of all patriotic Frenchman, me."</p> + +<p>There was no need to speak more plainly, because Dom Pedro understood +him thoroughly, and inquired forthwith the lowest sum that would set his +visitor's uneasy conscience at rest. Rideau promptly named it; and the +Portuguese, being desirous of gaining time, shook his head.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible. I also have considered about those rifles often," he +said. "Now I think it would be better for me, being an innocent man, to +explain to the Administration how the Emir robbed me."</p> + +<p>Rideau was not in the least deceived, for he smiled sardonically.</p> + +<p>"Is it not a little late, my friend, and the Commandant is a most +suspicious man. It is possible he might not believe you, and it is not +permitted to arm even one's carriers for protection with rifles; while +there is in existence a scroll signed by the Emir and another which +shows a voluntary sale. But you say what I ask is impossible. Well, I'll +consider, and to-morrow may make a more feasible offer. The last time I +came you entertained the sick comrade of the Englishman Maxwell. He has +not given you any information about Niven's mine?"</p> + +<p>"He did not," said Dom Pedro, with so much earnestness that Rideau did +not believe him, and dismissing the subject, airily proposed another +game of chess.</p> + +<p>The next morning, Dom Pedro, being perhaps anxious to postpone the evil +moment, set out for a bush village where he stated he had business; and +his guest,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> feeling sure of his own position, was not wholly sorry to +see him go. It would allow him to enjoy Miss Castro's society +undisturbed, and also, if circumstances permitted, to glance through the +books in her father's office, which he had long desired to do, with a +view to discovering how far the man might be taxed. Dom Pedro was not a +good bookkeeper, it is true, but his late partner understood his system, +or rather the lack of it.</p> + +<p>An opportunity did not present itself until all the occupants of the +factory had apparently retired, as usual, to sleep in the coolest place +they could find during the heat which follows noon. Rideau slipped into +the iron-roofed room where Dom Pedro kept his accounts. As it happened, +however, Bonita was rather more wide-awake than usual, and shortly +afterward she also entered the office, to find her guest glancing into a +big folio with evident interest. He was in no way disconcerted, and +smiled upon her affably.</p> + +<p>"There was a difference in the weight of the last gums I sent down," he +explained. "I would find the entry before I speak to Dom Pedro."</p> + +<p>Bonita Castro was quick of wit.</p> + +<p>"Then, as I help my father with the accounts, you will give me the +details," she said.</p> + +<p>Rideau's inventive genius was apparently unequal to the task, for he +bowed ceremoniously.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible to consider any question of business in the brightness +of the señorita's presence."</p> + +<p>Miss Castro laughed.</p> + +<p>"You have my full permission. Now, as regards this gum?"</p> + +<p>Rideau seated himself languidly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>"I am a man of affairs, but I have also sensibility, and shall I trouble +the señorita about a bag of gum? To touch those dusty books is a +desecration to her fingers."</p> + +<p>"Still, it is of business I wish to talk to you, and you will give me +your attention, señor," said the girl. "You have the power to cause my +father some anxiety."</p> + +<p>Rideau leaned forward a little in his chair.</p> + +<p>"It is true, but I am too devoted a servant of the señorita's to wish to +do so. It is for her sake I have concealed an indiscretion of Dom +Pedro's which would excite the anger of the Administration. As I have +said, I would do very much to win the señorita's approval."</p> + +<p>"But this is very little, and Dom Pedro pays you well," returned the +girl. "The Commandant, who is not a friend of yours, might not credit +your story if you told it to him."</p> + +<p>Rideau smiled significantly.</p> + +<p>"It is very little for me to do if it pleases the señorita; but it is +much for Dom Pedro. You will know there is provided confiscation and +banishment, and even a worse penalty, for selling the Indigene modern +rifles, and I have therefore carefully hidden the Emir's agreement and +safe conduct made in the Arabic when he is at war with this colony. It +is misfortune that Dom Pedro has written his name to it."</p> + +<p>Bonita Castro felt a chill run through her, though her face was calm. +The man had shown his power plainly, but the desire in his eyes, as he +watched her, caused her greater uneasiness. She could, she fancied, see +the African nature beneath the indifferent veneer of civilization, and +she trembled, knowing that under sufficient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> pressure her father might +be capable of selling more than forbidden rifles. Therefore, even if she +had no other motive, it was of the first necessity to lessen that power.</p> + +<p>"Such generosity should not go unrewarded," she said. "You have long +desired the gold you think the Englishman Niven found, but, unless I +help you, you will never discover it. Even the man with the cross on his +forehead does not know where the river lies. What would you give for a +map showing Niven's road through the Leopards' country? It is so plain +that a child could understand it."</p> + +<p>Rideau's eyes glistened, but he was cautious.</p> + +<p>"There is only one man who can have such a book; and I know he would +never part with it."</p> + +<p>Bonita laughed.</p> + +<p>"Yes—the Señor Maxwell. You know he would not part with it? Then you +have tried and failed to obtain it from him? The Señor Maxwell is a very +clever man. Nevertheless, I have the map. Would you recognize that it +was genuine if I showed it to you?"</p> + +<p>Rideau rose carelessly, and strolled toward the window. There was nobody +on that side of the veranda—the compound lay empty under the pitiless +heat below, and a slumbrous silence pervaded the factory. There was a +change in him when he turned toward the girl, who held out an unfolded +paper so that he could see a portion of it. The man was usually cunning, +but it was not without results that he had inherited a strain of native +blood, and now the instincts of the savage rose uppermost. Brute passion +and unreasoning avarice were stamped on his face. He had hitherto made +his admiration for the girl very plain, and had accepted her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> rebuffs +with the serenity of one strong enough to wait. Now, however, his +companion conceived it possible that he intended to retain his hold upon +Dom Pedro and secure the map as well. It was her person he desired, and +whether her good will accompanied it or not was probably immaterial.</p> + +<p>"The sun has dazzled my eyes, and you will give it to me for near +examination," he said, and his voice was husky. When she made a gesture +of negation, he halted close in front of her with the veins on his +forehead swollen, and one big, dusky hand partly raised.</p> + +<p>Bonita Castro had not studied the native character profitlessly, and she +knew that very little was required to cause those fingers—and they were +the fingers of a negro—to fasten upon her shoulders, or even about her +throat; but she had arranged accordingly. She clapped her hands sharply, +and Rideau let his arm drop to his side when a patter of bare feet drew +nearer along the veranda. A huge muscular Krooman in white uniform stood +in the doorway, and the girl smiled a little.</p> + +<p>"Call Andres, Pobrecito. Tell him to bring the wine and the last of the +steamer ice; but stay there on the veranda yourself. I may want you. It +is so hot that you will not refuse if I offer you refreshment, señor?" +she said.</p> + +<p>Rideau's lips twitched a little, and his face was greasy, but the look +of the African had faded from it, and he might have passed for a native +of southern France when he bowed.</p> + +<p>"Who could refuse anything offered by the señorita?"</p> + +<p>The wine was brought, and the man, who a few moments earlier might have +posed for a study of avarice and passion debased to ferocity, smiled as +he compared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> his companion's eyes to the sparkling ocean when he raised +his glass. Then, while the big negro squatted just outside the doorway, +Miss Castro read extracts from the notes on the back of the map.</p> + +<p>"This would be very valuable to a bold man," she said. "What would you +give for it? It is no use offering a small thing."</p> + +<p>"I would give"—the man hesitated—"I would even give the agreement in +Arabic signed by Dom Pedro and the Emir!"</p> + +<p>"Then it is yours," said Bonita Castro. "Now it is too hot for further +business, even the underweighed gum. You may sit there and tell me of +your adventures in the bush country."</p> + +<p>Rideau had a large share of vanity, inherited from both parents, and he +was in no wise reluctant; if Miss Castro failed to believe all he told +her she did not say so. Indeed, she made the man feel that she accepted +him as a hero, and fooled him so tactfully that he was several times on +the brink of making confidences which might have jeopardized his plans. +Fortunately for himself, however, he reflected in time, and did not do +so. When at last he withdrew, Miss Castro walked somewhat limply to her +room, and sank down into a basket chair in the manner of one who has +undergone a heavy nervous strain. Her aunt found her there presently, +and placed a hand caressingly on her shoulder as she bent over her.</p> + +<p>"This Rideau is a bad man. He has terrified you?" she said +compassionately.</p> + +<p>"No." The girl's voice trembled, though she smiled. "No, I hardly feared +the cur. I have sent him to his own destruction. It is my own sin I +fear. I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> betrayed the man who trusted me; but still I do not think +he will suffer from my treachery."</p> + +<p>The elder lady shook off her somnolent expression, and nodded +sagaciously.</p> + +<p>"The big Englishman who was sick?—I comprehend," she said. "I do not +ask questions; but take comfort if it was for your father, niña. Also, +that Englishman is not clever, but he is very stubborn and strong, and I +do not think it will be well for Rideau if he interferes with him."</p> + +<p>When Miss Castro found Dom Pedro alone in his sweltering office that +night she said to him: "Here is a present, father. I have drawn the +dog's teeth."</p> + +<p>Dom Pedro's eyes glistened as he clutched at the scroll handed him, +then, though he first burned it over the lamp, his forehead grew +furrowed, and his jaw fell.</p> + +<p>"The cur may have other teeth left, and is of the blood of the African," +he said. "Twice I repulsed him when he spoke of marriage. Little one, +you have not sold yourself for this?"</p> + +<p>The man positively quivered with impatience, but the girl laughed.</p> + +<p>"No. I have sold him the blind Englishman. Rideau has the map that +belonged to the Señor Maxwell."</p> + +<p>"Thanks be to heaven!" Dom Pedro exclaimed piously; but his sallow face +grew grave again. "It is a great deliverance, but it is not well to make +one's profit from the blood of white men. This Rideau, who is very +cunning, will follow and bring disaster upon the Englishmen up yonder. +Already, I have suffered many things because of the black men the Emir +stole from me."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>Bonita's eyes shone.</p> + +<p>"You do not see clearly, father, or know the manner of those other men. +What is it to me if these strangers do not find the gold—but I would +not have them die. I have been in their country, and if the cur dog +follows, plotting treachery, as I think he will, the Señor Maxwell will +surely kill him."</p> + +<p>"<i>Ojala!</i> Heaven send it so," murmured Dom Pedro, and would have +embraced his daughter, but that, shrinking from him, she slipped out +into the moonlit veranda. The little olive-faced gentleman stood staring +at the papers before him, and hoping that it might come about as she had +predicted.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE TRAIL OF THE LEOPARD</span></h2> + + +<p>Maxwell expressed his approval of the recruits Dane brought in, for Dom +Pedro had chosen well. They were sturdy, woolly-haired Kroomen from +Liberia who had gained some experience of forest warfare in petty +skirmishes with the troops of the black republic. It is noticeable that +the untamed African cherishes little love for his partly civilized +brother. When he had harangued them, the two white men sat talking +together.</p> + +<p>"I would give a good deal to know what is in Dom Pedro's mind just now," +said Maxwell. "It is quite possible that the offer he made you was +genuine. There is, if one may say it without appealing to your vanity, a +certain air of solidity and force about you which might appeal to a man +of his type who could supply all the finesse necessary—and who +possesses a troublesome enemy. The map would in any case be of little +use to Dom Pedro, who would never venture into the Leopards' country; +and I hardly fancy he would give it to Rideau. In the meantime our own +program is clear. We start again at sunrise to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Are you not taking too much for granted when you assume that Dom Pedro +has the map?" asked Dane; and Maxwell smiled enigmatically but did not +answer.</p> + +<p>A few days later they halted at sunset beside a stream which, contrary +to the custom of most African rivers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> flowed clear as crystal over +yellow sand. Wooded hills whose hollows were filled with drifting steam +sloped steeply upward from the opposite bank, and the black shadow of a +few palms lengthened across the grass behind the waiting men. There was +nothing remarkable about the river or its surroundings; but heathen, +missionary convert, and dusky Moslem alike shrank back murmuring from +its bank.</p> + +<p>"This is our Rubicon, and beyond it lies the Leopards' country," said +Maxwell. "It is not a very imposing stream, but I believe no white man +has ever crossed it without suffering from his rashness, since the days +of the early Portuguese. Something has evidently startled the boys. As I +partly expected, here it is."</p> + +<p>Maxwell pointed to a slender wand set up beside the bank. A tuft of +reddened rags was tied to it, and beneath them hung a piece of sun-dried +clay rudely modeled into the resemblance of a leopard.</p> + +<p>"I would rather have seen fifty men with flint-locks than this trumpery +thing," he declared. "You don't quite grasp its significance, Hilton? +Well, in this land anything may be made the emblem of the Ju-ju, and +that is the insignia of a powerful one I have alluded to several times +already."</p> + +<p>"I could never understand what a Ju-ju is."</p> + +<p>"Very few white men do, but its ministers are a force to reckon with; +and this piece of clay signifies that many unpleasant things, varying +from slow poisoning to death by violence, may happen to the man who +disregards it. You can see that the boys are afraid of it."</p> + +<p>"We can't stay here forever because some benighted heathen has tied it +to a stick," expostulated Dane. "Here's a challenge to the powers of +darkness. Watch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> and try to understand, you boy! If them thing be no fit +to hurt me, it can't hurt you. That's logic, or, as you say, the Lord he +give me sense too much, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>The eyes of the spectators grew wide with horror as, snapping the wand +across his knee, he next crushed the leopard beneath his heel; and there +was a heavy silence while they waited to see what would follow this bold +defiance of the forest deity. So real was their terror, and the hush so +impressive, that Dane felt his own heart beating faster than it +generally did, and when he laughed the laugh rang hollow. But nothing +unusual happened; and with murmurs of relief the men followed him as he +splashed through the ford.</p> + +<p>"It was necessary," said Maxwell with noticeable gravity. "Nevertheless, +we will double our sentries henceforward, and recharge our filters. +There is no doubt that the powers of darkness will take up your +challenge."</p> + +<p>They pitched camp among the cottonwoods at the mouth of a ravine, and, +when they had eaten, sat for a time within their little tent poring over +a map issued privately for the use of French officials. Innumerable +insects dimmed the light of the lamp above them, and they could scarcely +see the lettering.</p> + +<p>"We are here," said Maxwell, laying his finger on the paper, "on the +threshold of what the niggers call the Leopards' country, which is +marked as partly explored territory, with this patch to represent the +dominions of King, or headman, Shaillu. A few armed expeditions have +traversed it farther east, and found it thinly peopled by petty tribes +hostile to Europeans, while nobody knows much about Shaillu except that +he abruptly broke<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> off the negotiations he once began with the +authorities. That showed the hand of his priests, and brings us back to +the Leopard League."</p> + +<p>Dane laid down his damp cigar, and listened with keen interest as +Maxwell explained.</p> + +<p>"As you have heard, secret leagues of all kinds are common in this +country, and that of the Leopard is probably one of the most powerful. +Its priestly leaders are apparently the power behind the throne in +Shaillu's dominions, and, so the natives say, those they favor with a +share of their supernatural qualities can render themselves invisible or +take the shape of beasts. Like their namesake, they always strike at +night. Dismissing all idea of witchcraft, you can take very ingenious +human cunning, a thorough knowledge of poisoning, and no mean strategic +skill, for granted. Once the white man settles in their country the +power of the bush magician must decline; and the deduction you can draw +from that should justify a close watch to-night. It is your turn until +twelve o'clock, Hilton."</p> + +<p>Dane found it a somewhat depressing watch when the cooking fires had +died out and the sounds which gather depth with the darkness emphasized +the hush of the forest. There was nothing visible but the faint glimmer +of the lighted tent, which suggested a huge Chinese lantern set down +among the dripping undergrowth. Behind it loomed dim ghosts of trees. +Moisture fell drumming upon the tight-strained canvas; and at intervals +some beast in the forest sent up an unearthly scream. The darkness was +filled with the scent of wood smoke and lilies, and thickened by wisps +of drifting steam.</p> + +<p>The time dragged by slowly; but at last Dane was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> about to make a final +round, when a stealthy rustling held him rigidly still, save that his +left hand slid farther along the rifle barrel. The sound ceased and +began again, and it became certain that something or somebody was +crawling toward the tent. It could hardly be one of the carriers, for +Maxwell had intimated that any man found wandering in the darkness would +promptly be fired upon. Dane could feel his heart throbbing, but his +fingers were steady on the cool barrel as he waited, realizing +instinctively that death or danger in some strange shape was drawing +near. Nevertheless he was silent, fearing to rouse the camp on a false +alarm, and also because he wished to make certain of their unseen enemy.</p> + +<p>For a space of a few seconds there was no sound at all, and he grew the +more uneasy, knowing that the naked bushman learns by sheer necessity to +wriggle almost silently through the undergrowth. Then he found it hard +to repress a cry of astonishment as, for a moment, a monstrous shape was +silhouetted against the faintly illuminated canvas. It was bulkier than +a man, and though it stood upright, its head was that of a beast. +Maxwell was clearly in danger, there was no time to lose, and, pitching +up the rifle, Dane pressed the trigger. A streak of red fire rent the +darkness, and a spark blew into his eyes. He felt the jerk of the +barrel, and then, though he scarcely heard the explosion, he caught a +thud there is no mistaking—the sound made by the impact of a solid +bullet.</p> + +<p>As he snapped down the lever and slid home another cartridge, something +dim and shadowy rushed past, and the rifle blazed again. Then there was +a snapping of undergrowth, a yell from a sentry, the crash of a Snider,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +and the camp awoke to life. Maxwell, holding up a lamp, sprang +half-dressed from the tent, black men rose out of the shadows clamoring +excitedly, and Dane's headman, Monday, stood close beside him, peering +into the darkness with his long Snider rifle held out before him. Monday +was not a timid man, but he looked distinctly uneasy when the light of +Maxwell's lantern fell upon his face.</p> + +<p>Dane briefly related what had happened; and Maxwell lowered his lantern.</p> + +<p>"The Leopards have made their first move, and lost a man, I think," he +said. "Most black men are able to carry off considerable lead, but this +red trail on the undergrowth is significant. It also appears quite +probable that you have saved my life."</p> + +<p>Just then, there was a shrill scream in the forest, a scream of human +agony, horrible and intense, and afterward a silence that could be felt.</p> + +<p>"Them ghost leopard he done go chop some boy!" exclaimed Monday, +trembling a little. "We savvy fight black man, sah, but not them +debbil."</p> + +<p>"The sound rose from behind the tuft of palms," Maxwell said quietly. +"Take six of your best men, Monday, and see who is missing. No—stay +where you are, Hilton! It is advisable to break them in to this kind of +thing."</p> + +<p>Monday went reluctantly, and returned to say that one of the sentries +and his gun had vanished completely. Then a half-naked man with a +matchet burst through the wondering group which had gathered about the +pair, demanding assistance to search for his brother.</p> + +<p>Maxwell glanced at him, hesitated, and, while Dane protested, shook his +head.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>"We could never track them, even in broad daylight; and some of the +rescue party would not come back," he explained. "By this time the poor +devil is certainly dead, and I feel convinced that we shall find him +to-morrow without searching. Amadu, tell your boys to fire on any man +trying to leave the camp."</p> + +<p>Maxwell kept watch himself henceforward, and Dane retired to the tent, +resigned though far from contented. He had learned that, if his ways +were a trifle autocratic, his comrade was a leader who could be trusted, +and though he longed with a vindictive yearning to search the forest, +rifle in hand, he did not consider it judicious to question Maxwell's +authority.</p> + +<p>It was a relief when morning came, and somewhat silently they began the +march again. The path wound up a ravine, through climbing forest that +rotted as it grew, where grotesque and ghostly orchids sprouted from +each crumbling bough, and there was scarcely room for two men abreast in +the rutted trail. It had been worn deep by the passage of naked feet; +for gum, skins, and a little ivory came down on the heads of slave +trains out of Shaillu's country.</p> + +<p>Maxwell, with a few picked men, led the way, after giving Dane orders +not to follow him too closely with the main body; but the latter found +it hard to restrain his carriers, who desired to leave the site of the +camp as far behind them as possible.</p> + +<p>Dane had lagged a little behind the long line of colored headgear, cases +poised aloft on woolly crowns, white draperies, and patches of sable +skin, which wound on before him through the green of the tangled jungle, +when Maxwell's voice came back sharply.</p> + +<p>"Lead your boys wide into the bush, Hilton! Break<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> through for several +hundred yards, and send them on before you. Turn back and rejoin me +alone when you strike the trail again!"</p> + +<p>It was done, though Dane fell over an ant-heap and into a network of +horrible thorny trailers which tore the flesh about his ankles. Hurrying +back along the trail, he found Maxwell standing behind a screen of +resplendent creepers, lighting a cigar with a hand that was not quite +steady. His eyes were positively savage, and a patch in the center of +each cheek was gray. Startled as Dane was, it was nevertheless soothing +to find that his comrade shared some, at least, of the weaknesses of +their common humanity. He could not mistake the intensity of Maxwell's +anger.</p> + +<p>"Prepare yourself for a surprise, Hilton, and then see what awaits you +beyond that bush," he said. "I had partly expected it, but when I came +upon it the sight almost sickened me."</p> + +<p>Dane's nerves were tolerably good, but when he passed the creepers he +experienced a shock of nausea and halted abruptly. Two black men were +scooping out a trench, while another crouched near by, crooning +something while he ran his thumb caressingly up and down a matchet +blade. He looked up at the white man's coming, and his face was a study. +Horror was stamped upon it; but a slow, relentless ferocity was written +there too. This Dane saw with his first glance, but after the second he +turned his eyes away. Maxwell was right. They had found the missing +sentry. The object—for there was little resemblance of humanity left in +what lay a foul blotch on the forest before him—was stretched across +the trail; and the neck was twisted so that the face, left whole,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +looked down the pathway the way the expedition should have come, +distorted and ghastly, with its changeless grin of pain. Words appeared +superfluous, but Dane's sensations demanded relief in speech.</p> + +<p>"Horrible! horrible! But what is the matter with Bad Dollar? He looks +positively murderous!"</p> + +<p>"It is not surprising," answered Maxwell. "The African is not always +admirable in his domestic relations, but what lies yonder was his +brother."</p> + +<p>Dane, stooping, patted the negro's head.</p> + +<p>"It will be a bad day for some of the Leopards when he settles that +score. Listen to me, Maxwell. Heaven knows whether through greed I am +responsible for part of this; but I most solemnly promise that if ever I +can find the master fiend who inspired the murderers, I'll avenge that +poor devil, as well as Lyle, the trader, whatever it costs me. We're +partners in this affair, Bad Dollar!"</p> + +<p>It is probable that the naked heathen attached little meaning to the +words, but he understood the hoarseness of the white man's voice, and +the steely glint in his eyes. He laid his black hands on the speaker's +foot.</p> + +<p>"It is a bargain," Dane said gravely. "I mean to keep it, Maxwell."</p> + +<p>"You are a little impetuous," was the quiet answer. "Some day there +will, I hope, be a reckoning; but a wise man says little and awaits his +opportunity. Our turn has not come yet. When it does I do not think you +will find me dilatory. Meanwhile, I'm puzzled. There are points +connected with this affair which are far from clear; but those fellows +have finished and we will go on again."</p> + +<p>Beyond instructing Dane and his immediate followers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> to keep the +occurrence secret, Maxwell said nothing further until noon had passed, +when Dane asked a question.</p> + +<p>"Why did the Leopards make their first move now, when we could, if we +wished it, retreat, instead of waiting until we had penetrated farther +into their country?"</p> + +<p>"It is a pertinent question," said Maxwell. "For one thing, this is, +after all, King Shaillu's country, and they possibly fear that if we +once have speech with him, the headman, who, so the French officers told +me, has a hankering after civilization, might extend us protection. But +that does not quite account for everything. You remember Miss Castro's +mention of the following shadow? Events have proved her predictions +signally correct hitherto, and I am inclined to fancy that the worst +danger still lies behind us and not before."</p> + +<p>Maxwell vouchsafed no further information, and though Dane knew it was +well the expedition had for its leader a man unmoved alike by excess of +anger or misguided pity, he could not help retorting: "You foresee a +good deal, Carsluith. It is unfortunate you could not more often prevent +it. Why could you not have told me more of what you anticipated?"</p> + +<p>Maxwell laughed good-humoredly.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it apparent that what I prevent from happening does not occur? As +to the last question, perhaps the African's answer, 'You never asked +me,' is the best. One dreads so much that it appeared useless to harrow +your feelings until I was certain."</p> + +<p>The march through headman Shaillu's dominions left upon Dane only a +series of blurred impressions. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> was too sick to notice definite +details most of the time; but he decided that under no circumstances +could it be considered a cheerful country. For days together the +expedition floundered through dripping forest so laced and bound with +creepers that at noon the daylight could hardly filter down. The +atmosphere resembled that of a Turkish bath; moisture splashed upon the +broad leaves everywhere, and the heat and the gloom together produced a +distressing lassitude. This the white men made strenuous efforts to +resist, knowing that they might blunder into an ambush at any moment.</p> + +<p>It was evident that their enemies had not lost touch with them; for in +spite of their keenest vigilance, a carrier was twice spirited out of +camp at night. Once Dane, making the rounds with a lantern, came upon a +sentry huddled beneath a cottonwood. He had paid a heavy penalty for his +drowsiness. Even Maxwell showed signs of temper at this, and the +expedition waited two nights in camp while its leaders prowled through +the forest in an attempt to surprise the assassins. It was, of course, a +failure. They returned at sunrise, muddy, ragged, and savage, having +neither seen nor heard anything suspicious.</p> + +<p>The fact that they never did see their persecutors was the most +harassing feature of it all; and at last Dane grew by turns murderously +resentful and subject to fits of limp dejection, in which the fever had +doubtless a share. The few villages they passed were empty. Where a +river crossed their path the canoes had been taken away; and at +intervals detachments of the carriers fell sick mysteriously. When they +limped out into a waste of crackling, sword-edged grass, the glare<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> and +dust and heat were bewildering, and after a few days Dane longed for the +forest again.</p> + +<p>Still they held on, and one evening they marched, blanched in face, and +very weary, into sight of one of the strongholds of headman Shaillu.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">WEALTH IN SIGHT</span></h2> + + +<p>A stockade ran round the village, and rows of thatched roofs loomed +above the frowning wall of timber, but instead of the usual clamor, +there was dead silence as, with some semblance of order, the footsore +and spiritless carriers limped in through the open gate. Nothing except +a few lizards stirred in the first sandy avenue, and the oppressive +stillness remained unbroken by the voice of man or beast. The sun hung +low above the parched grass in the west, and crimson splendors blazed +behind the huts; but a strange musky odor replaced the pungent fragrance +of burning wood which at that hour hangs over each African village.</p> + +<p>"The whole land seems dead," Dane said slowly, leaning heavily on his +rifle as he spoke. "There are times when one could almost fancy, +Carsluith, that you and I were ghosts—indeed, at the present moment you +don't look unlike one; but what is the meaning of this latest riddle? +This is the black headman's capital, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>Maxwell smiled mirthlessly, as he stood, with beaded forehead and +shoulders bent, glancing toward the weary carriers. His face was worn +and hollow, though his eyes were bright, and his clothing was dropping +in tatters from his weary limbs. The glare behind him emphasized the +lividness of his pallid skin.</p> + +<p>"It is one of them. I believe he has several," he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> said. "Whether he +fears reprisals from some plundered neighbor, or pestilence, I naturally +don't know; but, as his absence will save us a good many presents and +much loss of time, it is not material. Still, we might find some clue in +one of these huts."</p> + +<p>Maxwell entered the nearest, then moved into another, and stayed there +some time, leaving Dane in the sandy avenue before it; the carriers were +resting at a distance. The sun dipped, and as Dane watched the night +creep up swiftly from the east, it struck him that there was a curious +uncanny feeling about the place. It was a relief when his comrade +returned, looking graver than ever.</p> + +<p>"Did you find any one inside?"</p> + +<p>"I did," was the answer. "Unfortunately the man, as well as the one in +the next hut, was dead, and had, I fancy, been so for some time. He +probably died of a plague, which explains why the town is empty. We may +find something more conclusive in one of the larger huts."</p> + +<p>Dane decided that the discovery of two dead Africans was sufficient, and +said so; but Maxwell persisted, and it was almost dark when they halted +outside what appeared to be the headman's dwelling. Nothing could be +distinguished in the interior, but Dane could hear creeping things +rustle in the thatch, and the peculiar odor he already had noticed +drifted forth from the hut. This was all, but he felt an instinctive +repugnance to entering, and when Maxwell passed him, he caught him by +the shoulder to suggest that they should light a lantern first. Hardly +had he done so than what appeared to be a puff of colder air sighed +close past his ear, and Maxwell, whipping out his revolver, hailed him +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> run round the hut as he leaped into the room. Dane did so, finding +another entrance at the rear, and a broad space between the dwelling and +the nearest hut. Nobody, he felt almost certain, would have had +sufficient time to cross it, but the space was empty. When he went in +Maxwell had torn down and lighted strips of palm-leaf from the thatch, +but the name that leaped up showed them no sign of living humanity. +Maxwell's countenance was very grim.</p> + +<p>"You saw nobody outside there? I hardly thought you would," he said. +"Our animal instincts are sometimes more useful than our powers of +reasoning, Hilton. It is probable that if you had not checked me, I +should now be on my way out of this land of surprises. What we heard was +a diminutive arrow, no doubt with the venom there's no cure for upon its +point. It could not have been shot at us by either of the Africans +yonder."</p> + +<p>Dane, glancing at the two awful huddled figures, swore softly and +viciously.</p> + +<p>"It is time we struck back, Carsluith," he urged. "I'll call up our boys +and surround the huts."</p> + +<p>"It would be useless," said Maxwell, shaking his head. "You have not +realized these fellows' ingenuity, even yet. Further, if the boys saw +what we have seen it might be disastrous."</p> + +<p>A horror of the whole country where such things were possible came upon +Dane and he moistened his dry lips with his tongue.</p> + +<p>"I would give ten years of my life to stand face to face with the leader +of these devils."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you will some day! I am puzzled among other things by their +pertinacity. The heathen is un<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>stable, and one almost feels that there +must be something stronger than the native's spasmodic purpose behind +what we have endured. In any case, it will be pleasanter to camp outside +the town to-night."</p> + +<p>They had some trouble in inducing their followers to quit the promised +shelter, but both felt easier when they had repassed the stockade gate. +That was apparently their enemies' last effort, for they were not +molested during the rest of their journey; and eventually Maxwell halted +his worn-out men beside a shrunken river. It came down out of a chaos of +jungle-covered hills, rippling over sharp sand, with tall bluffs on the +opposite side of it; and within five minutes every carrier was rolling +and splashing in the lukewarm stream.</p> + +<p>Dane quivered with eagerness as he watched Maxwell, who, looking up from +a paper in his hand, smiled inscrutably.</p> + +<p>"Yes. From Niven's description we have reached our goal at last. I was +almost afraid his memory or imagination had betrayed him," he said. +"That must be the bluff he camped on, and this, according to his +assertion, the river which sprinkles its sand with gold. However, he +hinted that it would pay better to prospect the higher pools. I want you +to test his statement, Hilton. The result of the experiment promises to +be eventful."</p> + +<p>Maxwell's voice was slightly uneven, but his fingers seemed steady as he +lighted one of their few last cigars. Dane felt his own knees weak +beneath him, and his voice was hoarse when he hailed a carrier whose +load consisted of prospecting tools. Carrying a tin dish and a small +shovel, he waded into the shrunken river. There was a patch of sand near +its center from which he filled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> the metal basin, and then halted with a +curious sickly feeling, afraid almost to test its contents. He had sunk +too much of his slender capital in the venture, and his future depended +upon that test. Its issues were prosperity and the realization of the +hope that had sent him to Africa, or a weary struggle for daily bread; +and the climate-weakened man felt that, after all they had dared and +suffered, he could hardly face failure. The perspiration trickled into +his eyes, and oozed from his hair, and he stood still, knee-deep in the +nameless river, for the space of almost a minute.</p> + +<p>Then, stooping suddenly, he dipped the vessel and whirled it round and +round until partly empty. There was a color about some of the particles +remaining that caught his attention; but he would not trust a partial +test, and continued the washing until, except for a very trifling +residue, the pan was empty. Still, Maxwell made no comment and asked no +question, for, if one was now swift in action, the other was great in +silence.</p> + +<p>Dane straightened himself, and waded back with dry lips and tickling +throat, but with triumph in his eyes; and Maxwell laughed softly as he +grasped the hand he stretched out.</p> + +<p>"What have you found?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Enough to prove your dead friend right, and encourage us to search for +something better!" Dane spoke as calmly as he could. "It is only stream +gold, and doubtless readily worked out, but heaven knows how much more +there may be up yonder where this came down from."</p> + +<p>"You think——"</p> + +<p>"That Niven was not mad, but eminently sane! I'm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> not a practical gold +prospector, but I couldn't well help learning a little of the theory +when working on the drawings of hydraulic mining machinery. It's a +question of the velocity of the current and specific gravity—for even +with a stream behind gold grains of any size don't travel far; and their +matrix lies in yonder hills, or beyond them, somewhere."</p> + +<p>"We'll go on again to-morrow," said Maxwell quietly.</p> + +<p>For a week they hewed a way through the jungles on the hillside, or +waded up the bed of the river where it promised an easier road; and +finally, daring to penetrate no farther, they pitched camp on a +palm-crested bluff overhanging a breadth of dry sand and a deep pool +beneath a fall. Since leaving Shaillu's stronghold they had neither been +followed by their persecutors nor seen anything with life in it. Maxwell +left all operations to his friend's direction, and toiled beside him for +several days like a galley slave, digging and blowing out with +explosives a new channel to empty the pool, besides hewing troughs to +bring down the water from above the fall.</p> + +<p>Once more the burning day was drawing toward its close when, with the +roar of the last shot rolling across the encircling forest and the water +frothing muddily down its new outlet, Dane stood beside his comrade, +leaning on a shovel, and wondering greatly that the latter could think +of anything beyond the result of their experiment.</p> + +<p>"The jungle seems to mock us, does it not?" Maxwell remarked. "Already +its silence has swallowed the feeble din we made; and the next flood +will obliterate forever all traces of your workings."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>"Then you don't believe that this is the beginning of a new era, and +that those who follow us will change the future of this wilderness?" +asked Dane with a show of incredulity.</p> + +<p>Maxwell pointed to the jungle fading into the dimness of the east.</p> + +<p>"I do not. Look at it," he said. "It has stood so from the beginning, a +place of everlasting shadow, for the naked bushmen to hunt each other +in; and it will be the same long centuries after you and I are gone. It +is too old and changeless for even the Briton to subdue. Phœnician, +Roman, Arab, and Moor have all tackled this all-absorbing Africa; and +while the brown men have left a plainer stamp on it than the white men, +how much has any of them done? Still, all this is beside the question, +isn't it? It will be enough for you and me if we can return home safely +with some small augmentation of our capital. Hadn't you better resume +your digging, Hilton?"</p> + +<p>Dane did so, stripped to the waist; and great fires were blazing before +he came up out of the river, exultant.</p> + +<p>"I can't promise a fortune, but there should be sufficient to pay us for +all our toil," he said. "Those little grains will realize almost four +pounds an ounce."</p> + +<p>They set out a carefully treasured bottle of lukewarm wine that night in +the tent, and duly emptied it, though, perhaps for the same reason, +neither of them ate much; and afterward they sat long talking under the +smoky lamp. It was a night to remember, for it is not often one enjoys +the same thrill of triumph twice in a lifetime. Maxwell was unusually +communicative; and long afterward Dane could remember how he leaned +against a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> deal case, worn, thin, and haggard, but with a smile of +satisfaction on his hollow face.</p> + +<p>"Success appears within sight at last, but it is well to take good +fortune soberly," he said. "I am, however, sensible of an insane desire +to do something extravagant when I remember all that word implies. You +have seen Culmeny, Hilton, but it is hardly possible that you can +realize the affection I have for the old place. It was fast falling into +ruin before my father improved its finances a little by painful economy; +and, because we generally fought and plotted for the losing side, the +poor acres about it have been starved overlong. Now, after many an +arduous search for the wherewithal, I can hope it may be granted me to +restore a measure of its former prosperity. The Culmeny mosses could be +turned into plow-land and pasture with the aid of a little money."</p> + +<p>"You are a young man, Carsluith," Dane replied suggestively. "Being +merely one of the swarming people, I don't know that love for—an +ancient dwelling—would have exacted so much from me. Drainage schemes +are no doubt useful, but was the extension of them your only ambition?"</p> + +<p>Maxwell laughed good-humoredly, though a trace of shadow crept back into +his face.</p> + +<p>"No," he said slowly; "there was a time when they took a very secondary +place. Every one has his weaknesses, and even now I have not quite got +over mine."</p> + +<p>The friendship between the two men had never been demonstrative, but it +was deep enough to make Dane's comment no liberty.</p> + +<p>"I can guess. The old story, no doubt. 'It was the woman who tempted +me!' She treated you badly?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>"No," Maxwell answered quietly, looking hard at his companion. "She—God +bless her—could treat no one harshly. It was my own folly to dream that +she, with her fresh young beauty and the light-heartedness of innocence, +could find anything congenial in such a taciturn, somber man as myself. +Well, that romance is over, but it has left its mark; and now all that I +hope for is that Culmeny will flourish for a brief space under the last +of an unfortunate family."</p> + +<p>Now there are limits beyond which even one who has sickened and fought +and suffered beside a trusted comrade may hardly go, and Dane repressed +the question which trembled on his lips. Nevertheless, he afterward +fancied that if he had asked it then Maxwell would have answered him; +and the revelation probably would have made a vast difference in the +future of both of them. Dane did not, however, ask.</p> + +<p>He was partly dazed by his own good fortune, and, when at last they +ceased from speech, he sat in contented silence conjuring up roseate +visions of the future. It was true that he had quarreled with Lilian, or +she had quarreled with him; but during the time of stress and struggle +the importance of the difference between them had—so it seemed to the +man—steadily diminished. He could recall significant trifles which +suggested that the time would come when the woman would no longer +enforce the terms of their compact; and he felt that it was at least +possible that, returning triumphant, he would find that she had already +forgiven his supposed offenses. So hope rose victorious over doubts and +dejection; and Dane was nodding, dreaming, while still half-awake, +golden dreams, when Maxwell's voice recalled him to the laborious +present.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>"It is past midnight, and the task before us will tax our uttermost +energies. Isn't it time to turn in, Hilton?"</p> + +<p>Dane nodded.</p> + +<p>"We will begin at sunrise," he said; "work every possible hour, and +start back for England whenever the yield falls off. It is better to +make sure of a portion than risk the whole by straining for too much; +and fortune does not appear to favor white men overlong in this country. +Even if we were but half satisfied, it should not be difficult to float +a company."</p> + +<p>Maxwell shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Your first suggestion shows some discernment, Hilton; the second, less. +Even a wildcat company promoter would fight shy of this mine; and it is +tolerably certain that we have both the cross-marked man and Monsieur +Victor Rideau still to reckon with."</p> + +<p>Dane stretched himself out on some matting when Maxwell turned out the +lamp, but he did not immediately sleep. The hot African darkness hemmed +in the little tent, but he could see his comrade's figure dimly outlined +against it as he sat rigidly still in the entrance. Then it struck him +that they were very far away from all help from civilization, with a +secret in their possession which already had cost the lives of other +men. The roseate visions faded, and a sense of impending trouble +preceded slumber. It was significant that Dane's fingers sought the +pistol that lay beside him.</p> + +<p>"Not asleep yet?" asked Maxwell. "What is troubling you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't quite know," Dane answered. "I was going to ask you the same +thing. Carsluith, if Rideau or the other rascal interferes with us +further before I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> have won sufficient to float my patent, some of the +party won't go home again."</p> + +<p>The sun had just cleared the forest when, one morning soon after Dane +had set his flume and washing gear to work, he sat at breakfast before a +swinging table in their extemporized mess tent. Maxwell, who had just +risen, stood in the entrance, partly dazzled by the growing brightness. +Suddenly some of the Krooboys commenced to chatter excitedly, and a +negro's voice rose above the commotion:</p> + +<p>"White man lib for across the river!"</p> + +<p>Maxwell, springing into the tent, snatched up a pair of binoculars; and +the table overturned with a crash as Dane scrambled to his feet.</p> + +<p>"The devil!" he exclaimed, staring stupidly at the figure below which +saluted them with uplifted arm.</p> + +<p>Maxwell frowned as he sharply closed the glasses.</p> + +<p>"No," he said, "not exactly. It is Monsieur Victor Rideau."</p> + +<p>Ten minutes had passed before the man Dane had seen at Castro's factory +came smiling into camp, and the miner glanced at him curiously. He was +short, but somewhat burly and broad-chested for a man of pure Gallic +descent. His hair was very crisp and black, his face swarthy, and his +fingers suspiciously like those of the negro. He was, considering the +country, neatly arrayed in white duck and shoes with pointed toes. +Monsieur Rideau had evidently traveled in a hammock.</p> + +<p>"Felicitations, camarades," he began, with, it seemed to one observer, +an excess of amiability. "It please me greatly to meet the friend of my +own color in this country of the devil, so I leave all my boy behind +there and push on with much expedition to salute you."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>"That was very kind," said Maxwell shortly, never moving his eyes from +his enemy. "The eagerness was mutual. My friend here upset our breakfast +equipage in his hurry to greet you. The cook, however, will get you some +more presently."</p> + +<p>Dane fancied he read satisfaction in his comrade's face when the other +answered:</p> + +<p>"I have the breakfast already. You smoke now. I have these from Cuba—he +is smuggle. No? That is the pity; but we talk at least. I have affaire +of importance to discuss with you."</p> + +<p>"So I presumed," said Maxwell, with no excess of civility. "Our tent is +hardly fit to enter, but there is still shade here. Please consider us +attentive listeners."</p> + +<p>"<i>Bien!</i>" Rideau carefully laid a silk handkerchief on a fallen +cottonwood before he took his seat. "I come to search the gold mine, and +find two men of my own color have find her already. Me, I am not greedy. +I say there is the plenty for three. So I make proposal. I go the +partner with you."</p> + +<p>"Suppose that does not suit us?" Dane broke in.</p> + +<p>Rideau lifted one shoulder and stretched out the other arm with an air +that was not wholly Gallic, but rather suggested the grimaces of a +negro.</p> + +<p>"It would be the pity. You know how we say, '<i>J'y suis</i>——?' As an +American captain I have once small difference with tell me when he +establish himself all day on my veranda: 'I'm here, Mr. Shylocker, and +until I get what I've come for I stop right where I am.' Shylocker, I +tell him, is a compliment not comprehended of me. That was a man of +determination, but I vanquish him, my friends."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>Hitherto something in the speaker's fastidious neatness and excessive +bonhommie had, because his welcome was the reverse of cordial, prevented +Dane from taking him seriously. Now there was a glint in his dark eyes +which suggested that he might prove dangerous; and Dane surmised that +the last sentence was meant as a warning. In any case, his blood took +fire at its veiled insolence.</p> + +<p>"It seems to me you could only have found your way here by means of a +map stolen from me!" he said hotly, rising as he spoke.</p> + +<p>Maxwell silenced him with a gesture.</p> + +<p>"That is beside the question, Hilton. Monsieur Rideau is here, and, as +he informs us, here he means to stay. The first question is whether, if +we do not wish it, he is able to."</p> + +<p>Rideau took up the challenge with outward good-humor.</p> + +<p>"I have of camp boy two, or perhaps three, for every one I see of you. +Most he is also arm with the good rifle. If there is the bad +understanding, somebody is possibly get kill, which is distressing to +me. Beside, the barbaric indigene he go chop us separables, as the +nigger say. United we are invincibles, <i>voyez vous</i>?"</p> + +<p>"I believe I do," Maxwell answered, in a tone which suggested that he +saw considerably more than the other's words revealed; and Dane watched +the pair, as for some seconds they lapsed into silence—the Briton +motionless and almost too rigid in bearing, with an expressionless face; +the swarthy adventurer smiling out of shifty eyes, while his fingers +betrayed his impatience.</p> + +<p>Then Maxwell spoke abruptly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>"Your proposal demands serious consideration. I would prefer to give you +an answer this time to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"<i>Bien</i>," Rideau acquiesced; and after a detailed account of his +adventures, which Dane surmised was wholly fictitious, he took his +leave.</p> + +<p>"The savage has his virtues as well as his failings," said Maxwell, +looking after him. "That man, however, is neither French nor negro, and +such as he usually combine the vices of both sides of their ancestry. +What do you think of his proposal, Hilton?"</p> + +<p>"I should have dismissed him with four expressive words. Why did you +promise to consider it at all?"</p> + +<p>Maxwell smiled dryly.</p> + +<p>"Because I intend to do so. I will give you my reasons this evening +when, after a day's consideration, I shall have them ready in a more +definite shape. In the meantime, we had better continue the mining."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">PESTILENCE</span></h2> + + +<p>The result of the day's work was encouraging, though it cost Dane an +effort to concentrate his attention upon his task. Rideau's swarthy face +haunted him; he would have felt more cheerful had his companion decided +to defy him. Maxwell, however, said little, and appeared to find +pleasure in working with concentrated energy.</p> + +<p>Evening came at last, and thick darkness closed about the lonely tent. +Neither of the men ate much, and when the frugal meal had been cleared +away, Maxwell once more spread his map on the table.</p> + +<p>"We have to make an eventful decision, and it might be well to consider +our position," he said, laying his finger on the map. "We are somewhere +here, just beyond the fringe of Shaillu's country, with a difficult and +dangerous country between us and civilization, and a little-known land, +whose inhabitants are supposed to be predatory tribes, to the north."</p> + +<p>"We will take all that for granted," responded Dane. "Can you give me +Rideau's record?"</p> + +<p>"But little of it. He is evidently of mixed blood, and partly educated, +a trader by profession, with a mysterious inland connection. I was told +that the authorities suspect him of trafficking in unlawful weapons, or +even in black humanity. I have little doubt it was he who hired the man +with the scar on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> his forehead to arrange for Niven's destruction; and, +while several points are not clear to me, I fancy he is at least partly +responsible for our own misfortunes. Seeing his efforts to circumvent us +fail, he has decided to join us—for a time. Lastly, I am inclined to +surmise that by reason of some unlawful speculation, jointly undertaken, +he has a hold on Dom Pedro, and so obtained possession of the map you +lost. Now, what are we to say to him?"</p> + +<p>"Very little, in my opinion!" grunted Dane. "Tell him to go to the +devil! If that rouses his indignation, as I hope it will, I should find +satisfaction in assisting him."</p> + +<p>Maxwell smiled, but shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Your ways are delightfully simple, but hardly practicable, Hilton," he +said. "In the first place, Rideau means to stay, and has, he tells us, a +force much superior to our own. Suppose we succeeded in driving him out +by violence, we should have to meet a charge of filibustering when we +returned to the coast, or stand a siege if he returned with a host of +native allies. The one safe step in that direction would be the +entrapping and total annihilation of Rideau and his party, which, +presumably, would not recommend itself to you!"</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed Dane, convinced against his will. "Am I a +professional murderer? Since you don't agree with mine, let me hear your +views."</p> + +<p>"In the first place we must hope that, as he suggests, there may be gold +enough for three. Further, I consider Rideau least dangerous when under +my own eye, and therefore consider it would be wisest to accept his +proposal and watch him carefully. We shall thus have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> peace for a time, +at least, and when necessary must endeavor to match our wits against his +guile. That the man's company will not be pleasant, I need hardly say; +but we can't afford to be particular with so much at stake. Remember +that we came here to make money, and not in search of adventures, or to +maintain our dignity."</p> + +<p>Dane only nodded, and so the conference concluded. Sooner than lose what +he hoped for he was prepared to concede anything; but it might have been +better if he had adhered to his own simple plan; for it is difficult to +make a bargain with such a man as Rideau, and keep it without material +losses as well as diminished self-respect.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning Rideau arrived, bringing with him an imposing +number of colored desperadoes; and a written agreement was drawn up. +They were to share all risks and expenses, and divide what gold they won +on its safe arrival at the coast. Rideau showed bland satisfaction when +he read it through; but, before he filled a rusty pen, Dane rose and +laid Bonita Castro's keepsake on the table.</p> + +<p>"Faith is a question of training, and exactly what each man believes +concerns only himself; but probably all of us respect this as a symbol," +he said. "Is that not so, Monsieur Rideau?"</p> + +<p>Rideau glanced from the speaker to Maxwell, and there was a gleam in his +eyes, then he bent his head.</p> + +<p>Flinging down his battered sun-hat, Dane laid his right hand on the +object on the table, saying: "So I solemnly promise, first to keep this +bargain and faith with my partners, if it cost me my life or fortune; +and secondly, to demand a full account from either should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> he betray his +trust, as, if I fail them, they shall do to me."</p> + +<p>Maxwell in turn recorded his promise with quiet simplicity; but Rideau +started when the object was passed on to him. It was a beautifully +wrought crucifix of medieval workmanship. For a moment he stared +malevolently at Dane, and then a look akin to fear crept into his eyes. +But, raising one hand aloft, he pledged himself more solemnly than +either, and attached his name first of all to the foot of the agreement. +He retired shortly afterward to pitch his camp, for the new partners had +decided that their respective carriers would be best kept apart; and +Maxwell looked at his comrade.</p> + +<p>"Had you mentally rehearsed that scene, Hilton?" he asked. "It was +almost a stroke of genius."</p> + +<p>"No. I don't claim to be a genius. It was simply the most solemn thing I +could think of from his point of view. I meant exactly what I said, and +I feel somewhat easier now that Rideau has passed the test."</p> + +<p>Maxwell smiled.</p> + +<p>"You are very confiding, Hilton—and he did not pass the test. Still, +considering the blend between the worthy missionaries' teaching and +African superstition which, while it would probably astonish them, +accounted for his momentary hesitation, Rideau is either braver or more +avaricious than I supposed him. Did it occur to you that he recognized +Miss Castro's gift?"</p> + +<p>Dane was somewhat astonished.</p> + +<p>"How do you know that it was Miss Castro's gift; and what if he did?"</p> + +<p>"I saw it once in her possession, and, as she naturally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> would not sell +such a thing, I presumed that you had not stolen it. I heard that Rideau +had persecuted that lady with his attentions. It would be well to +remember henceforward that ceaseless vigilance is the price of safety."</p> + +<p>Thus, with the prospect of treachery on one side, the partnership with +Rideau began; but the new carriers were sturdy men, and the gold-washing +was carried on with characteristic energy, alike under the burning sun +of noon and by the glare of great fires until long into the steamy +night. Dane labored with his own hands among his Krooboys, stripped to +the waist. Maxwell seconded him loyally, for he had now relinquished the +leader's place; and by degrees the pair drilled their dusky subordinates +into capable workmen. It is true that they usually suspended operations +the moment the white men relaxed their vigilance; but that was only to +be expected, and their masters got a good deal out of them considering +that most negroes have a chronic distaste for manual labor. Rideau's +detachment, Dane noticed, were the most amenable to discipline, and +obeyed all orders with a submission which puzzled the observer, for he +knew that meek obedience is not a characteristic of the seaboard +African. Their master, who did little beyond expressing his approval of +Danes' efforts, grew more cordial as the weeks went by. But Maxwell was +civil, and nothing more; and Dane surmised that he was rather more +watchful and suspicious than he had been before.</p> + +<p>One night when, worn out by physical exertion and aching in every joint, +they dragged themselves, dripping with river water, back to their tent, +there was a covert sneer in Rideau's laugh as he addressed them:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>"You English are a curious people, and there are those who call you mad. +The more tired and dirty you are, the more happy. I once see your naval +officer on the Niger harness with the indigene, like the mule, to drag +the wheel-gun through a robber headman's swamp. One drôle, he tell me it +was the glorious fun."</p> + +<p>"I dare say he meant it," retorted Maxwell. "It is probably owing to +that very form of insanity that, while you—the French, I mean—have +with commendable foresight appropriated the best of Africa, we others +remain at least its commercial masters."</p> + +<p>The pause and apparent correction was not made by accident, and Dane +fancied that Rideau grasped its significance. He retired shortly, and +Maxwell looked thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I was not judicious; but we are only human, and there are +times when my dislike for that rascal almost masters me," he said. "I +would give much to learn who it is that slinks into his camp at night."</p> + +<p>Dane looked puzzled, for Rideau's camp lay across the river, and was +watched by black sentries; no negro was permitted on any excuse to pass +its boundaries.</p> + +<p>"As you know, I have of late taken an interest in botany," Maxwell +laughed. "During my researches I found considerably more specimens of +African vegetation in the forest surrounding Rideau's camp than I know +the names of, and on several occasions what is of greater +interest—footsteps leading toward our partner's tent. The man who made +them wore sandals; there is nobody among our combined followers who +does."</p> + +<p>Dane had no suggestions to make, and therefore kept silent; but that +piece of information left him uneasy.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>It was a still, oppressive day some months later when Dane stood leaning +heavily on a shovel near the edge of the bush. The temperature made +exertion almost impossible, and there was a weight in the atmosphere +which rendered respiration an effort; for the last two weeks the sun had +been hidden all day long and the stars shrouded by haze at night, and +the same heavy stillness had brooded over the camp. In such weather +sickly white men die off, and wise ones lie still in a hammock whenever +possible; but the lust of gold had held two at least of the party +strenuously to their task, and already a little heap of yellow grains +reposed within an iron-bound chest. The men had, however, experienced +some trouble with their colored assistants, who had been unusually +dejected and apathetic of late.</p> + +<p>While Dane ran his eyes along his trenches it struck him that the raw +heaps of sand and the rude wooden flumes appeared strangely out of place +in that gap in the primeval forest. It towered about them, vast, +shadowy, and impressive, rotting as it grew, but throbbing with the +pulse of an untrammeled life that would tear down the conduits, and bury +the workings with verdure, almost as soon as their constructors +relinquished them. The voices of the negroes, rising hollowly through +the motionless atmosphere, sounded weak and feeble against its silence.</p> + +<p>"If all goes well, and the yield increases as it has done of late, we +should have enough to leave us a creditable profit before the year is +done," Dane said. "We have been long enough in this country, Carsluith, +and I mean to return to England before it wastes all the life out of +me."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>Perhaps it was the weather, for Maxwell appeared in an unusually somber +mood.</p> + +<p>"Your proviso covers a good deal," he replied. "This is a land of +surprises, where it is more than usually useless to predict what any man +will do. Neither are the signs auspicious at present."</p> + +<p>"No," Dane agreed reflectively; "I can't say that I consider them so. +This dead stillness worries me. Does it presage a premature change in +the seasons, or has it any other unpleasant meaning?"</p> + +<p>"Who can tell? Anything abnormal carries a hint of death with it in this +country. Still, there are other tokens. The few tribesmen who brought us +in provisions have vanished completely. The last we saw looked like +badly frightened men and were moving south with, for natives, surprising +celerity. As you know, the interpreter failed to understand them, but I +have an uneasy feeling that there was a sufficient cause for their +hurry. The negro is not a foreseeing person, and does not run away +unless the danger which threatens him is tangible and near."</p> + +<p>Dane twice turned to move back toward the workings, but did not do so. +His physical nature revolted from toil that day, and his brain felt sick +and useless under the stress of temperature. So the two lingered until a +negro near them, dropping his shovel, rolled over, clawing at the sand, +as suddenly as a rabbit stricken by the gun. His fall was so swift and +unexpected that Dane stared at the twitching black limbs motionless +until Maxwell's voice roused him.</p> + +<p>"Shake yourself together, Hilton. There is work before us! That fellow +must be carried into the bush before the rest discover what he is +suffering from."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>The man proved a heavy lift, and his greasy limbs writhed within their +grasp; but they laid him among the creepers without attracting +attention, and Dane, running to the tent, returned with a phial.</p> + +<p>"Where do you feel them pain lib?" he asked.</p> + +<p>The sufferer laid a black hand on his waist-cloth.</p> + +<p>"Somebody done put hot iron in heah, sah, and turn him round and round."</p> + +<p>Dane managed to drench him from the phial before his teeth met in an +agony, and Maxwell closed one hand as he looked at his partner.</p> + +<p>"It is very hard that this should happen—now—but you and I must see +the poor devils through," he said. "Our help may not be worth much, but +it is all that stands between them and destruction. It is one of the +scourges of this afflicted country—swifter than cholera, and more +deadly. This camp will resemble the pit presently."</p> + +<p>Maxwell next glanced down at the negro pitifully, his forehead +contracted and his lips firmly set, but he nodded abruptly when Dane +spoke again.</p> + +<p>"I have seen something like it in South America. Is it invariably +contagious?"</p> + +<p>"To negroes, yes; to white men, less so. In any case you have run the +worst risk of infection already."</p> + +<p>"Confound you! Do you suppose—?"</p> + +<p>Maxwell interrupted, laying a hand on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"I think you and I are going to fight a very tough battle together, +Hilton."</p> + +<p>He had hardly spoken when Rideau appeared from behind them, and glanced +at the groaning man. Then he shuffled backward well away from him; +answered Maxwell's look of interrogation with a nod; and, while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> his +face grew distinctly less like that of a European, he fumbled inside his +jacket. The barrel of a pistol was visible the next moment. "It is," he +said suggestively, "if the cases are few, the best way for preserve the +others. In their own country they use the paddle. One good blow where +the skull she is thinnest, and—voilà, the safe remedy!"</p> + +<p>Dane stretched a big hand out, and Rideau winced with a stifled +expletive as he dropped the weapon; while the Briton was sensible of a +distinct disappointment when he saw that the man's wrist remained +unbroken. The suggestion had apparently revolted Maxwell also; he stared +at the speaker with unconcealed loathing, while the latter opened his +lips for a moment in a wolfish snarl as he glanced sideways at Dane. +Just then, Victor Rideau looked very much less like a French gentleman +than a low-caste negro. Nevertheless, he was the first to recover his +serenity.</p> + +<p>"You have the mistaken squeamish; but me, I know the most advisable, and +have great fear of the sick which catches," said he. "She is distressful +for me. Sacre! Here is more other. To-morrow I consult you. Alors, I +go."</p> + +<p>A shrill scream of human agony rang through the lifeless air, and +Rideau, who did not stand upon the order of his going, departed with all +possible celerity.</p> + +<p>Neither of his partners was much inclined for mirth, but there is often +a ludicrous side to a tragedy; and Maxwell positively laughed when Dane +savagely hurled the pistol after its vanishing owner.</p> + +<p>"Missed! I would have given a good deal of the gold to strike him +squarely between the shoulders. I meant it to hurt," he said.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>Then an uproar began. Black figures, swarming out of the workings, +gathered about the fallen man, clamoring excitedly, and Maxwell resumed +command.</p> + +<p>"They're panic-stricken; and fear will spread the sickness fastest. This +must be stopped at once! We have not a moment to lose, or there will be +murder done."</p> + +<p>Dane felt very helpless as they ran forward to disperse the mob of +terror-stricken black men. He still carried the shovel, though Maxwell +went empty-handed, because, either from pride or policy, he never +displayed a weapon once camp had been pitched. He appeared quietly +resolute, though Dane afterward admitted feeling desperately anxious and +more than a little afraid, for the mass of dusky faces with unreasoning +fear and its accompanying ferocity stamped upon them was not an +encouraging spectacle. Any one of those negroes was physically a match +for two white men, and there were a good many of them.</p> + +<p>The mob came to a standstill at the sight of them. Maxwell, removing his +hat, straightened out the dints in it before he spoke a few words, and +then, thrusting his way through the groups which opened up before him, +halted beside the fallen man.</p> + +<p>Some of the negroes began to chatter; some shrank farther back; but +there was presently an ominous growling, and again the mob surged +forward, one man with a matchet launching himself straight at his white +master. Hitherto he had shown himself both cheerful and docile, but now +he seemed possessed of a devil, the devil of fear transmuted into +maniacal savagery. Maxwell did not at first see him, and when he did it +would have been too late, but that Dane whirled aloft<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> the shovel, and +when it came down the negro fell like a pole-axed ox at his comrade's +feet. Even then Dane felt sick and sorry as he saw the red drops run +from the steel, for he had often encouragingly patted his victim's +brawny shoulder; but the negro is above all things unstable, and that +blow was the saving of many lives. The crowd stood silent, cowed for a +few moments by the swift retribution.</p> + +<p>"Thanks," said Maxwell; "I think you have nipped it in the bud, Hilton."</p> + +<p>Before he began to speak again his lieutenant, Amadu, and Dane's special +follower, Monday, sprang to their side. Both carried rifles; and that +turned the scale. Before half an hour had elapsed the two had not only +restored a degree of confidence and order, but had picked out a number +of men who might be trusted to act as sanitary police. By this time, +however, the plague had claimed other victims, and Maxwell started +forthwith to choose an isolated site for a hospital camp; while Dane, +moving to and fro among the laborers, set apart any with suspicious +symptoms.</p> + +<p>It was midnight before either found leisure for food or rest, and then +Dane knelt, with a biscuit in one hand, beside the little medicine chest +in the tent, while Maxwell bent over a medical treatise as he ate. +Several sick men lay moaning just outside the illuminated canvas, and +one, apparently in delirium, had during the last hour never ceased +crooning the hammock-bearers' song.</p> + +<p>"That chanty grows wearisome," said Maxwell at length; and, because Dane +was overwrought, his companion's composure jarred upon him.</p> + +<p>"Put down that tin and hold the glass for me. You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> have eaten three +biscuits already, and this is no time for feasting! I'm going to start +with chlorodyne. We found it good in South America when we could give it +to them quick enough; but these fellows have an irritating trick of +crawling away into some lair to die quietly. There. Give this to the +first two poor devils, half each by measure."</p> + +<p>Maxwell went swiftly, and returned very grim in face.</p> + +<p>"Too late," he reported. "One is cold already; the other testified that +there is but one Allah as I bent over him, and ended in a gurgle. Hallo! +What is this?"</p> + +<p>Preceded by a negro carrying a torch, Rideau, smoking sedulously, +approached the tent, and halted well clear of it. The man was not, as +his partners had cause to know, unduly timid, but now fear was plainly +stamped on his face, which the red glare of the torch forced up against +the gloom.</p> + +<p>"I have great fear of this sick, and make proposition," he said. "I go +take all the boy of me back a league into the forest, and make other +camp. If any he is fall ill, I with all possible expedition send him +you."</p> + +<p>Both of the listeners found heart to smile at the latter sentence before +Dane's resentment mastered him.</p> + +<p>"It is particularly considerate of him, but his proposition has some +sense in it," said Maxwell aside. "You are acting surgeon-major, Hilton. +What do you suggest?"</p> + +<p>"You can go straight to perdition, or anywhere else that pleases you, so +long as you don't waste our time!" thundered Dane; and with a salute +which expressed no resentment, but only relief, Rideau withdrew.</p> + +<p>"How long does this thing generally last?" asked Dane.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>"Sometimes it clears a village out in a fortnight, more often it hangs +round a month, or even longer, picking out odd victims; and before that +time has gone we shall have the rains."</p> + +<p>"Which will prevent any further mining, probably cut off our road to the +coast, and render life here almost impossible," Dane said hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"Exactly. There can be no more mining now."</p> + +<p>As the two men's eyes met, each knew just what his comrade was thinking.</p> + +<p>"We must see them through," said Dane, and Maxwell answered, as though +this decision had never been in doubt: "Of course!"</p> + +<p>With that they fell to work again, for there was much to do, which was +fortunate, because, otherwise, the thought of what both would certainly +lose and what one was risking for the sake of naked heathen, many of +whom were little higher in intelligence than dumb cattle, might have +maddened them. Still, even the most stupid had trusted the white men, +and, in their own fashion, served them well.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /> +<span class="smalltext">AN EVENTFUL DECISION</span></h2> + + +<p>The weeks that followed left only a hazy impression of hurry, effort, +fatigue that was almost overwhelming, and anxiety which spurred wornout +mind and body to further action, with the two white men who lived +through them. Some of the sick they cured, and though it is possible +their lack of knowledge hastened the end of others, their intentions at +least were benevolent, and while they often went hungry the convalescent +were always fed. They put heart into the hopeless and buried the dead, +stormed, exhorted, and jested by turn all day long, and sat watching the +worst cases when the hot night fell. Dane was never afterward able to +recollect the exact mixtures he dispensed, which Maxwell said was +probably fortunate; but as a result of their labors, while all would +otherwise have perished, part at least of their followers escaped. They +had also capable assistants. Amadu, Maxwell's man, had fought under a +great Emir who had made his name a terror in the Soudan; and Monday, so +Dane gathered, had carried the standard of a successful robber chieftain +somewhere far up in the land of the brown men who swear by the Prophet; +but both had the full courage of their fatalist convictions, and what +their masters bade them that they did. The rank and file of the +orderlies were thick-headed heathen who grinned each time their leader +stormed at them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>One day when the sick were recovering, and a little hope was springing +up again, Dane, staggering half asleep behind his bearer detachment, +halted when Maxwell beckoned him.</p> + +<p>"Get on, you dusky angels, and try to carry that poor devil +right-side-up," Dane said. "Monday, tell them hopeless idiots if they +handle the other fellow that way they'll pull his head off. You would +tempt the most patient man to murder some of you."</p> + +<p>The bearers beamed upon him with mouths extended, and Maxwell laughed.</p> + +<p>"They take your abuse as a compliment, Hilton; and your capabilities +become apparent by degrees. Still, after the success which has attended +your daring pharmaceutical experiments, one could hardly be astonished +at your licking even yonder most unpromising raw material into shape."</p> + +<p>"The credit is to necessity," replied Dane, surveying his assistants +with a certain air of pride. "Those are the most wooden-headed niggers +in Africa, and the more I swear at them the wider they grin; but if I +wanted sulphur from the pit, and told them, the beggars would go—and +get it."</p> + +<p>"I wish we were both fresher," Maxwell said; "because there is another +worry to grapple with. The man I sent over to Rideau found the camp +empty, and this pinned to the tree his tent had been pitched beneath."</p> + +<p>"If Mr. Rideau desires to repeat his opinion that we should set them all +to work it is as well he does it in writing. I could hardly keep my +hands off the brute the last time he made the suggestion in person," +answered Dane.</p> + +<p>"Read, and see," said Maxwell, holding out the note;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> and because Dane's +head was swimming he translated the indifferent French with difficulty. +The message might have appeared ambiguous to a more accomplished +linguist. Nevertheless, he gathered from it that their partner, who +professed a total ignorance of physics and a fear of contagion, +regretted his inability to render them any assistance, and had decided +to visit a headman he had dealings with who dwelt at a considerable +distance. He stated that none of his boys could be induced to carry a +message to the stricken camp.</p> + +<p>"He might have expressed himself more plainly, but it is plausible. Do +you attach a different meaning?" Dane asked.</p> + +<p>Maxwell, instead of answering, asked another question.</p> + +<p>"You feel tolerably certain that we have seen the worst of this +epidemic?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the answer. "I did not, however, tell our estimable partner +so. It seemed a pity to relieve him prematurely of what he called his +fear of the sick. Perhaps I was wrong in this."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw!" exclaimed Maxwell. "It is not the plague he fears the most. In +fact, considering that he must have lived through one or two outbreaks +already, part, at least, of his fear must have been simulated. If you +expect to see Rideau here again on the old terms, Hilton, you are +mistaken."</p> + +<p>"His absence would not leave me disconsolate," said Dane. "In that case, +one wonders what he is afraid of, and why he came? Isn't it also +surprising that he should abandon his share of the gold?"</p> + +<p>"In reply to the first query, I don't know—but we shall doubtless +discover in good time. There is no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> difficulty in answering the rest. He +came to see if the river was worth exploitation, and to pick up a +practical knowledge of the necessary operations. His share of what we +have obtained is, after all, but trifling for an avaricious man who +cherishes a grudge against you, and desires the whole. Two men alone at +present prevent him from obtaining it, and the life of any white man is +very uncertain in this country."</p> + +<p>"A grudge against me?" Dane queried.</p> + +<p>Maxwell nodded.</p> + +<p>"Have you forgotten Miss Castro? Your powers of attraction may prove a +dangerous gift, Hilton."</p> + +<p>Dane flushed with sudden anger, for this appeared to him ill-timed +levity; but Maxwell continued unheeding:</p> + +<p>"The whole complication resembles a mosaic puzzle, and I have fitted +most of it together. One or two pieces, however, are missing, and we +must wait until accident supplies them. Meanwhile, every effort to +expedite our sick men's recovery would be advisable."</p> + +<p>Maxwell left his comrade startled and uneasy. Dane could see that he was +anxious, and they already had sufficient to try their endurance without +the addition of a haunting fear. There was, however, no remedy, and they +continued to tend the sick, setting those who had recovered to work as +the pestilence slackened its grip. So, while groups of naked tribesmen +whose tongue nobody therein could understand traveled southward past the +camp, the days went by until Maxwell was supplied with one missing +portion of his mosaic. One morning a seaboard negro, whose leg had been +rendered useless by the horrible Guinea worm which had burrowed from +knee to ankle, crawled into camp, and told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> a story which roused both +listeners to suppressed fury. Rideau had left him behind crippled, to +starve, but with many sufferings he had managed to drag himself to their +camp.</p> + +<p>"I be missionary boy, sah, and savvy them JuJu palaver be all dam +fraud," he stated in the coast English. "When them low white nigger +Rideau lib for them first river by the Leopards' country he send one man +two day into the bush."</p> + +<p>"What was the man like? How that boy he look?" asked Maxwell.</p> + +<p>"Yellow man with mark on front of him head, sah. He be fit to make +fetich palaver."</p> + +<p>"Oh," commented Maxwell. "This is going to be very interesting, Hilton."</p> + +<p>"Two night go," continued the negro. "Then I look them white man he wait +for somebody sitting with a pistol outside him tent. I lib for behind a +cottonwood, where he not done see me. Bimeby, two leopard come soffly, +soffly, and stand up when he see them. The white man light a lamp before +him say: 'Why you done play them fool trick with me?'"</p> + +<p>"You were too frightened to crawl away?" Maxwell asked; and though the +negro evidently trembled at the mere recollection, he answered boldly:</p> + +<p>"I be missionary boy, and savvy all them JuJu palaver humbug, sah. One +leopard done throw off him skin and sit down by the tent. I know him for +the man with the mark on him. 'How much you want for let me lib for your +country and come back again,' the white man say, and they all talk +plenty. Then the white man say: 'I leave them cloth and bead and gun in +the bush, and when I lib for come back safe you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> get two time as much, +but you see them other white men done get lost or sick too much in your +country.' Rideau talk more plenty, and them leopard go away. I not know +how. I see him one lil' minute, then there be no more leopard, sah. I +lib for say nothing. Suppose Rideau guess I look him he shoot me, sah. +The Lord he give me sense too much."</p> + +<p>"Rideau is a capable rascal and this explains a good deal," said +Maxwell, when he had handed the cripple over to the Krooboy cook. "The +man with the scarred forehead is clearly an influence among the +Leopards. Otherwise Rideau might never have overtaken us. His prudence +in promising to double the toll demanded on his safe return strikes me +as highly commendable; and one can only presume that, seeing us +successful in spite of his efforts, he determined to cast his lot in +with us for a time."</p> + +<p>Dane's answer was fierce and emphatic; and Maxwell smiled.</p> + +<p>"Over-confidence is a weakness of yours, Hilton. Now it is no doubt +flattering to one's pride to disdain petty suspicions and precautions; +but having done so, isn't it illogical to grow feverishly indignant when +you are victimized?"</p> + +<p>"You need not waste time in moralizing. It is much more necessary to +discover why Rideau cleared out in a hurry, and what he is doing now."</p> + +<p>"I don't know, but it will be high time to move when we do. Meanwhile, +we can only wait. It will become apparent presently."</p> + +<p>Dane left him, and went back to his task, stolidly determined that he +would have a reckoning with M. Victor Rideau before he sailed from +Africa. Hilton<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> Dane, though by no means a fool, possessed neither his +comrade's power of deduction nor his insight into the weakness of human +nature; but he was, nevertheless, likely to prove an even more dangerous +enemy when his natural generosity, being abused, had changed into +vindictiveness. It is generally well to avoid the righteous indignation +of the good-humored man when his patience is exhausted; and Dane's +patience was not of the longest.</p> + +<p>The time dragged slowly by until, when those the plague had spared were +well on the way to recovery, chance supplied the partners with the final +clue. A man swathed in ragged cotton and of comparatively light color +halted one morning to beg a little food at their camp, and Maxwell grew +eager when he found that Amadu could understand him. Headman Shaillu's +villages had been stricken by the plague, he said, and that ruler, +either to avoid contagion or to prevent the spread of disaffection among +his people, had marched them out on a campaign against his northern +neighbors. He had been badly beaten, and the tribesmen had summoned +every petty chieftain who had suffered by his depredations to join them +in retaliating. They would probably wait until the rains were over, the +stranger said, though this was not certain; but once they started, they +would spare nothing on their march; and as their priests had a special +animus against white men, he considered they would certainly storm the +camp.</p> + +<p>It was dark when Dane and Maxwell held their final conference, and they +sat moodily silent a while before either spoke. The sufferings and +hardships undergone had left their mark on them; it is possible that +Maxwell's British acquaintances might scarcely have recognized<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> him, as +he sat huddled, as it were, together under the smoky lamp. Even his +ironical humor had deserted him along with every personal characteristic +save the courage and certain racial instincts that were ineradicable. +Dane was reminded of an ancient portrait in Culmeny as he watched him. +The old moss-trooper had looked much the same—lean and dour and grim; +and the observer could recognize the same baleful light in his wolfish +eyes. It was not an unnatural reversion, for the customs of modern +Africa are not greatly different from those of Britain in bygone days.</p> + +<p>It was hotter than ever, and a darkness that could be felt hung over the +tent.</p> + +<p>"We have had several of these talks, Hilton, but never one half so +important as that before us now," said Maxwell at length. "Rideau's +whole intentions are clear at last. He learned what was threatening long +before we did, and profited by the sickness as an excuse for escaping +and leaving us to our fate. The gold? Please wait until I have +concluded. These tribesmen are mere predatory nomads, with no knowledge +of mining, and after burning every village they come across they will +vanish into the bush again. Therefore, our partner clearly expects that +if the pestilence fails to remove us the spearmen will; and he no doubt +hopes to return when there is peace again, and clean out this river +without our assistance."</p> + +<p>Dane smote the camp table hard with his fist, and was sullenly pleased +to see that he had not lost all his strength, for one of the thin boards +split.</p> + +<p>"Then I solemnly pledge myself to carry out the second portion of our +compact. The vile, treacherous scoundrel shall not escape if I live," he +declared.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>Maxwell raised his hand, but there was an ominous light in his eyes as +they met those of his companion.</p> + +<p>"That may come later; but in the first place the severely practical +aspect of this affair requires to be dealt with. To begin, less than +half our men are, even yet, capable of steady marching, and our numbers +would be quite insufficient to convoy those too weak to walk safely +through a hostile country. Therefore we have to choose between two +evils. The first possible course would be to leave all the sick and +weakly, and striking due south, not by the way we came, endeavor to +reach the coast with what gold we have won. We could return when it +appeared safe to do so. I put it before you, without expressing my own +opinion, dispassionately."</p> + +<p>Dane did not falter, but he remembered that in all probability there was +gold enough in the river to enable him to market his patent with at +least a hope of success, and this implied a prospect of winning Lilian. +Of late his hopes that he would eventually do so had grown steadily +stronger; and during many a lonely watch, when he recalled her delicate +beauty, the longing for her had almost mastered him. As Maxwell had +pointed out, one way to realize his ambitions was still open; but Dane +knew that he could not go home with the blood of the men who had trusted +him upon his hands.</p> + +<p>"That course is impossible!" he said hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Maxwell with impressive quietness. "We have, it is said, +outgrown superstition, but I can't help thinking misfortune would follow +the money we made that way. They have done their best for us, poor +devils. Therefore, we come to the second alternative. This camp could be +further stockaded into a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> very strong position, and you or I must hold +it against all comers. While one of us does so, the other, with a couple +of picked men, will strike straight for the coast, catch the first +mailboat, and, if he can't persuade an agent to believe and finance him +by the sight of a few ounces of gold, cable home for a credit to be +opened by telegraph on some big trading firm. My bankers should manage +that. Then he will return with a strong expedition. Speed affords the +one chance for success, for if Rideau heard of the attempt, he and the +Leopards would frustrate it; and both are doubtless watchful; but two or +three men traveling night and day might escape observation. They must +start unburdened, with just sufficient food, abandoning all idea of +carrying treasure. The one question is, who is to go?"</p> + +<p>Dane was conscious of a grim satisfaction. Everything pointed to him as +the one to stay, and he had no desire to return home with nothing more +than expectations; while, harassed as he had been by many enemies, +deserted, and betrayed, the prospect of trying conclusions with an open +foe came as a relief to him.</p> + +<p>"You have the money, and brains, Carsluith, and you must go," he said. +"I have the brute strength, and, I think, to-night some of its ferocity. +I can promise that all the savages in Africa shall not turn me out of +this camp. Neither would I be sorry if they attempted it."</p> + +<p>As Maxwell turned toward him the smoldering fire was plainer in his eye.</p> + +<p>"Are you not forgetting that other men are born with the same passions? +Break that twig into unequal lengths, shut your eyes, and draw. The man +who picks the longest stays."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>They were equal at the second draw, and Dane grew feverishly anxious as +he thrust in his hand again. Then he threw the twig on the table +triumphantly.</p> + +<p>"It points to me," he said.</p> + +<p>"So be it," Maxwell answered quietly. "Then we will get ready two loads +of provisions. I start at sunrise to-morrow, taking Amadu and one other +man with me."</p> + +<p>The night was far spent before the preparations were finished and they +lay down to sleep; and Maxwell was dressed and equipped when his comrade +awakened.</p> + +<p>"I could not bring myself to disturb you earlier," he said, when Dane +glanced at him reproachfully. "We will eat a morsel of breakfast, and +then I will start."</p> + +<p>Dane could swallow nothing, but Maxwell ate a little, though he seemed +to force his appetite. Then they walked silently together as far as the +stockade gate, where Maxwell turned and held out his hand.</p> + +<p>"God knows whether I will reach the coast. This gold, with whatever you +can add to it, is yours if I fail," he said. "If I live I will come back +and join you should I come alone!"</p> + +<p>"Whether you come late or early you will find me or my bones here," Dane +answered huskily, for there was a painful contraction in his throat.</p> + +<p>Their hands met in a strenuous grasp, and with a hoarse "Good luck!" +following him, Maxwell strode out through the gate. Dane watched him +descend the slope to the river, while all the camp boys capable of +motion clustered about the one who stayed, and Monday squatted at his +feet. They were all very silent until a murmur went up as the white man, +halting on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> edge of the forest, turned toward them. He raised his +shapeless sun-hat high above his head, answering Dane's salute; and long +afterward the latter sighed each time that lonely figure rose out of the +blurred memories.</p> + +<p>A horrible sense of loneliness oppressed the man left behind, and there +came upon him an irrepressible desire for speech.</p> + +<p>"He has gone, Monday," he said, patting the naked shoulder of the big +dark-skinned alien, who looked up at him sympathetically; "but if he +lives he will certainly come back; and you and I in the meantime are +going to keep his place warm for him. You don't understand? Well, you +probably will when several hundred yelling devils come round this way at +midnight wanting to get in. Still, I don't think we'll make a bad show +between us, even then."</p> + +<p>The dusky man caught a glimpse of his meaning, for he grinned and nodded +when Dane continued:</p> + +<p>"You don't feel quite sure what I'm saying yet. I don't care, so long as +you sit up and listen patiently. I'm feeling very low and lonely this +morning, Monday."</p> + +<p>The listener appeared to consider, and then rose upright, saying +solemnly:</p> + +<p>"Cappy Maxwell, say we lib for this place, then we dam well lib. Cappy +Maxwell fine white man too much. Suppose them low bushmen come we dam +well go chop him."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE BOARDING OF THE KABUNDA</span></h2> + + +<p>It was a hot and steamy night when trader Redmond sat with his comrade +Gilby in an upper room of their factory perched above a beach swept by +smoking surf, which was even heavier than usual that night. The factory +was not a desirable residence, even for West Africa, where there are not +many places where a fastidious white man would care to live; but neither +Redmond nor his comrade was particular, and so long as they could make a +good percentage on the factory's turnover, they disregarded the dirt, +smells, and insect legions. Redmond was pale and round-shouldered; Gilby +lank and tall; and their speech was usually vivid and their tempers +quick.</p> + +<p>Redmond strolled toward the window and swore at the surf. He had some +justification, for the whole heave of the southern ocean hurled itself +thundering upon the hammered beach. The factory windows rattled as each +breaker dissolved into long sheets of foam which surged far up the +trembling sand, while the steamy haze of spray veiled almost to its +summit the lofty bluff behind the edifice.</p> + +<p>"No use lighting the signal fire. There's not a surf-boat on the coast +could run a load of produce through. The <i>Kabunda</i> can either blow her +whistle off or go on again," he said. "It's even too bad to venture off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +light, and screw an odd bottle of liquor out of her purser."</p> + +<p>"It always is when the markets are rising and we have cargo waiting," +grumbled Gilby. "As to the liquor, you can go yourself if you want it. +I'm not over-keen on playing that game with the <i>Kabunda</i>'s new factotum +again. It takes a good deal to stir me, but that man has no sense of +humor, and was positively insulting. 'No cargo in your confounded boat?' +growls he. 'Well, the next time you stop this mailboat just because +you're thirsty, we'll heave you over the rail!'"</p> + +<p>Redmond chuckled dryly. The steamboat officials who ply along that coast +have a good deal to ruffle them; and it is exasperating for the master +of a steamer, attracted by flag or fire signal, to anchor off a +dangerous beach expecting several boat-loads of cargo at least, and then +discover that the shipper desires only a piece of ice or gratis liquor.</p> + +<p>"Better wait for the old <i>Luala</i>. She's the canteen ship. Still, we'll +sit up until we hear the <i>Kabunda</i>'s whistle. It sounds homelike," he +said.</p> + +<p>Gilby nodded approval, for the coast-hunting steamers were the only link +connecting the two lonely men with civilization, and there were times +when they acquired a childish fear of losing all touch with it.</p> + +<p>Redmond sat smoking in silence, while Gilby listlessly turned over an +old English newspaper, and huge brown cockroaches crawled up and down +the mildewed walls.</p> + +<p>"Hallo!" Redmond exclaimed suddenly. "There's a man with boots on +crossing the compound. Who, by all that's wonderful, can it be?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>"The Frenchman from Swamp Creek, looking for drinks," suggested Gilby.</p> + +<p>"Guyot's dying of fever this time, sure, his nigger said. There's no +other white man within marching distance; but whoever it is is coming up +the stairs!"</p> + +<p>Projected against the darkness outside, a strange, bedraggled figure +stood in the door. The man's hair was wet and long, the half-closed eyes +beneath it glittered feverishly, and the bones of the haggard face +showed through the pallid skin. Thorn-rent rags barely decently covered +the bony limbs beneath them, and the mire of many a league of swamp +clung about him to the knees. Behind loomed the figure of a negro +leaning on a rifle.</p> + +<p>Moving unevenly, the stranger advanced into the room, and Redmond +positively recoiled before him.</p> + +<p>"Who in the name of perdition are you, and where do you come from?" he +gasped.</p> + +<p>The newcomer, instead of answering the question, caught at the table as +he asked another:</p> + +<p>"What day of the month is this, and have they changed the homeward +mailboat's time bill?"</p> + +<p>"The tenth, and the <i>Kabunda</i> should pass to-night," said Gilby, staring +blankly at him.</p> + +<p>"Thank heaven!" was the response. "I am just in time! You ought to know +me. I am Maxwell, and have been prospecting for Niven's gold beyond the +Leopards' country."</p> + +<p>"Good Lord!" broke from Redmond. "Stir round, Gilby, instead of gaping +there! Fetch out some whisky, and kick up the steward boy! Can't you see +there's a white man starving? Sit down before you fall over, Mr. +Maxwell."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>Maxwell gulped down a draught of the spirit forced upon him, and sank +into the chair his host dragged forward, while there was a crash and a +howl on the veranda where Gilby fell over the sleeping steward boy.</p> + +<p>"He means well, but can't help having been born clumsy," said the trader +apologetically. "Lie right back there, and don't talk until you've +eaten. Oh, I see—brought a nigger with you. Tell the cook to stuff the +black man, Gilby."</p> + +<p>When food was set before him, Maxwell ate ravenously; then leaning +forward in his chair, he looked at his hosts.</p> + +<p>"I must thank you for your kindness, and ask another favor," he said. +"It is of vital consequence that I should catch the <i>Kabunda</i> to-night. +I will pay up to twenty pounds for a passage off to her."</p> + +<p>The pair stared at him, and there was a sceptical smile on Gilby's lips. +It was clear that he doubted the ragged adventurer's ability to redeem +his promise.</p> + +<p>"It can't be done," declared Redmond. "Our surf-boat has a plank badly +split; and if she hadn't there's not a man on all this coast could run +you off to-night."</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, if you will listen a few minutes, and treat what I tell +you in strict confidence, I think one of you will," said Maxwell, +determining to trust them in part.</p> + +<p>As he told the story, the incredulous smile faded from the faces of his +listeners.</p> + +<p>"You can understand the necessity for my desperate hurry now," he +concluded. "My partner is left alone, save for a handful of sickly +niggers, with the bushmen coming down, and his life may depend upon my +catch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>ing that steamer. I will leave this packet of gold dust, which I +had intended to use for traveling expenses, as the price of my passage."</p> + +<p>Redmond opened the leather bag tendered him, and Gilby dropped acid upon +part of its contents. Then there was silence, until Redmond spoke with a +naive directness which called up the faintest flicker of amusement into +Maxwell's eyes.</p> + +<p>"It is quite genuine, and we believe you. Rideau's a hard case, and we'd +stake a good deal to get even with him after a certain game he played +us; but our folks at home are so confoundedly particular, and you +wouldn't find an agent on the coast willing to speculate in mines beyond +Shaillu's country. You see, if you let us in, the auditors would set off +the sum against our salary. Steady; I haven't quite finished yet. We're +not fastidious, either of us, but we haven't come down to screwing money +out of a countryman's necessity; so we're open to do the best we can for +you. Now take back your gold, and be hanged to you!"</p> + +<p>"My sentiments, too!" nodded Gilby. "Redmond can talk sensibly when he +likes. It looks uncommonly like suicide, but as my place down under +can't be much worse than this one, I'm open to chance drowning with you. +I'll go out, and fill my boat boys up with trade gin now. They're +tolerably daring beggars, but they'd never face it sober."</p> + +<p>An hour later Maxwell and the two traders stood upon the roaring beach +amidst a crowd of black men. Steamy spray whirled about them, and veiled +half the palm-crowned bluff from whose summit a crimson flame leaped up; +and each time the white haze thinned, two lights reeled wildly through +the blackness out at sea.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> Between these and the beach a succession of +great rollers reared their crests of phosphorescent flame, and the hoot +of the steamer's whistle was but faintly audible through the roar they +made. A picked crew of brawny negroes chattered about the big surf-boat +they held upright on rollers just clear of the surges which raced up the +sand.</p> + +<p>"It does not look nice. In fact, I've seldom seen it worse, but we'll +take our chances when those big ones have run in," said Gilby. "Get into +the boat Maxwell, and take care when the rest of us follow in a hurry +that we don't fall over you. Hyah you Krooboy, all be fit and ready!"</p> + +<p>Huge breakers usually run in series, and when the last of the larger +ones had crumbled with a thunderous roar, burying the half-mile sweep of +sand in foam from end to end, there was a heaving of muscular shoulders, +and clamorous black men floundered waist-deep through the backwash +dragging at the boat. She was large and heavy, but thirty pairs of +strong hands made light work, and when a dozen amphibious Kroos had +swung themselves on board the rest toiled almost shoulder-deep in +hissing froth while the sand streamed seaward under them. The craft's +stern alone stuck fast, and Redmond shouted himself breathless as he +braced his shoulders beneath her quarter, knowing that unless they could +drive her clear boat and crew would be rolled over together when the +next sea came in.</p> + +<p>"Shove, you black imps, shove before them sharks go chop you!" he cried.</p> + +<p>They made a last effort, the boat slid clear. Twelve three-tongued +paddles smote the water together, and Redmond watched the craft rise +almost upright with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> bows buried in froth and seafire as another +majestic breaker came rolling in. Then he turned and raced shoreward for +his life, with an acre of foam close behind him. When he halted again +the surf-boat had vanished into the hollow of the sea, but the howling +of those who paddled her, and the helmsman's sulphurous encouragement, +rising above the roar of waters, betokened her safety.</p> + +<p>"Gilby's no fool in a surf-boat, anyway," he mused, as he went back +dripping to the factory.</p> + +<p>Another hour had passed when the boat was flung upon the beach with a +crash which rent her damaged plank from end to end; and the soaked white +man who sprang out of her hurried to the factory with his proud display +of two bottles of claret, and one, partly-empty, of liqueur, besides a +piece of ice in flannel, and a cigar box.</p> + +<p>"The time was too short, or I might have done better," he explained. +"Had only a few minutes to tax the skipper and mates in, while the old +man wasn't over-pleased about stopping for one passenger. Boat was +half-full when we got alongside, and Maxwell too weak to climb the +ladder. They hove him on board with the crane, wrong side uppermost, and +half-dazed apparently. The boat was plunging wildly, and Sorrowful Tom +too drunk to fix the sling. Taking things all around, it's a mercy we +didn't drown him."</p> + +<p>"You're a good man in a boat," Redmond conceded. "Still, you have very +little sense. Fancy making a run of that kind and coming ashore +with—claret!"</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>While Dane and Maxwell fought the plague in Africa, Lilian Chatterton +and the young clergyman in charge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> of that parish walked side by side +down the street of a village in North Britain one afternoon. The village +was neither picturesque nor prosperous just then, for there was a +scarcity of work at the quarries, and for weeks together hard frost had +rendered all stone-cutting impossible. A bitter wind sighed about the +low stone houses which rose dripping in unlovely simplicity from the +muddy street, while an air of stolid, uncomplaining poverty was stamped +upon the faces of the men who lounged idly where they could find a +shelter in the lee of a building. Miss Chatterton had not enjoyed good +health that winter, and the surroundings depressed her. Neither did she +find the vista of bleak hillside, snow-streaked moor, and lowering sky +much more cheerful, and she was glad when her companion broke the +silence.</p> + +<p>"It is not exhilarating weather, and this has been a hard winter for the +poor," he said. "Unfortunately, we have had rather more of them than +usual with us of late, and the sick would have suffered considerably if +it had not been for your kindness."</p> + +<p>"I have done little," Lilian replied; "but they are somewhat hard to +help."</p> + +<p>The Reverend Andrew Rae laughed.</p> + +<p>"That is the simple truth. We are not an effusive race, and it sometimes +hurts us to receive a favor. Still, though they would rather perish than +express it, I fancy most of them would on opportunity prove their +gratitude. I have been wondering if the worthy Robert Johnstone's +opinions have been too much for you, having noticed that his house, or +rather, his son's house, is the only one in the village you have not +entered. It surprised me, since his daughter used to sew for you, and +has been ailing lately."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>"It is some time since Mary Johnstone did any work for me," said Lilian, +and the clergyman wondered at the coldness of her tone.</p> + +<p>"She is a very hard-working girl, and as she has been lying helpless for +several weeks, would it not appear unkind if you made her the one +exception? I want you to come in with me now."</p> + +<p>Drawing the girl's arm lightly through his own, he marched her up to the +doorway before she quite grasped his intentions, and halted in front of +the man who lounged there regarding them with undisguised hostility. He +was not an attractive person, and did not look like an abstainer from +alcoholic liquor, but just then he was evidently in the more aggressive +humor because, for the time being, he was wholly sober.</p> + +<p>"We are coming in for a few minutes to see your daughter," announced +Rae.</p> + +<p>The man did not move an inch, and his person barred the entrance.</p> + +<p>"Will ye no wait until ye are invitit?" he inquired sardonically. +"Still, if there is anything good in yon basket ye can leave it with +me."</p> + +<p>A grimy hand descended into the basket Rae carried and reappeared +clutching the neck of a bottle, while a derisive grin suffused the +speaker's unwashed countenance.</p> + +<p>"I'm thinking I'll just keep it with thanks. It's whiles more comforting +than tracts."</p> + +<p>The Reverend Andrew Rae had perhaps studied more than theology at a +certain university, for there was a twinkle in his eyes as he laid one +hand on Johnstone's wrist.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>"Not so fast!" he said. "That is Miss Chatterton's property, and I did +not hear you ask her permission."</p> + +<p>He used no apparent violence, but his fingers tightened steadily, and +Johnstone gasped with astonishment as he relinquished his hold upon the +bottle.</p> + +<p>"Am I to be insulted in my own house?" he cried. "Away with ye! A free +man's dwelling is his castle."</p> + +<p>"Havers!" exclaimed a voice behind them; and a neatly dressed young man +joined the group. "If it's anybody's castle it's the man's who pays the +rent, and that's more than Rab Johnstone has done for long, I'm +thinking. If ye an' Miss Chatterton are for stepping in to see Mary we'd +take it kindly, sir."</p> + +<p>Johnstone senior slouched away down the street, frowning scornfully.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you have prospered since you took to honest ways, +Jim," Rae said.</p> + +<p>"It's small thanks to any one but Mr. Dane. He was no too particular to +help a poor man, ye see."</p> + +<p>"Was that it?" asked Rae, a trifle awkwardly. "You are surely not +turning back, Miss Chatterton!"</p> + +<p>Lilian was certainly about to retreat; but being a young woman of +spirit, she determined to make the best of it when the man, opening +another door, announced:</p> + +<p>"Miss Chatterton an' the minister to see ye, Mary."</p> + +<p>She entered the poorly furnished room the next moment, but saw nothing +of its interior, for her eyes were fixed upon the sick girl, who lay on +a dilapidated sofa. Rae noticed the contrast between his companion and +the seamstress. Miss Chatterton was a very dainty figure in costly furs, +and the slight trace of haughtiness became her. The seamstress was pale, +and hollow in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> face, with the sign of poverty stamped upon her, for the +faded shawl about her shoulders and the little ragged garment told the +same story.</p> + +<p>Rae soon became conscious that there was a latent hostility between the +women, and he felt it incumbent on him to break the silence.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you better," he said; "but you should not work too +soon. You must lie still and recover completely, because there are a +number of customers waiting for you. Mrs. Gordon told me she was keeping +quite a large order back until you were fit to undertake it."</p> + +<p>Lilian had been present when, by dint of dogged persistence, the +reverend gentleman had secured a reluctant promise to employ his +protégée, and she wondered whether all his sex, without exception, could +be deluded by a pretty face. She was forced to admit that men of +uncultivated taste might consider Miss Johnstone pretty.</p> + +<p>"Poor folk cannot afford to be idle long, an' my wee sisters cannot go +ragged," replied the sick girl. "Still, I'm no complaining. Jim has +helped me bravely, and we're winning through a hard winter well, thanks +to the gentleman who befriended him."</p> + +<p>Rae observed that the speaker flashed a glance at Miss Chatterton, whose +face remained icily indifferent. Feeling that the situation was becoming +strained, he turned toward the boy.</p> + +<p>"Being away at the time, I never quite got to the bottom of what +preceded your acquittal. Do you mind telling me, Jim?"</p> + +<p>"It's no great secret, an' all to the credit of the man who helped me. +Weel, I was locked up, charged with poaching and wounding."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>"Innocently, I hope," said Rae; and there was a trace of Caledonian +dryness in Johnstone's reply.</p> + +<p>"Ye will mind the saying about speiring no questions and being telt less +lies. Meanwhile two or three others consultit with Lawyer Davidson, and +he said conviction would be certain if Mr. Dane could swear to me. +Otherwise, he suspectit I would go free. Then Mary would see Mr. Dane +for the sake of the bairns. I was sore against it, but they had me +jailed, an' what could I do? Well, she wrote asking him to meet her by +the Hallows Brig, and Mr. Dane e'en promised to do his best for me, an' +tell nobody. May be he could no be quite certain. Ye will mind there was +no moon just then, and the night was thick, Mr. Rae."</p> + +<p>"I have heard that no man is expected to testify against himself," said +the reverend gentleman dryly.</p> + +<p>"That's what Davidson telt the fiscal," continued Johnstone, with a +laugh. "Says he, 'It's the business o' your witnesses to convict him'; +an' I'm no denying that they did their best, all but Mr. Dane. He just +stuck to his story—it was dark, an' while the man he grappled with was +like to me, he could swear to nobody who had just kicked him hard upon +the knee."</p> + +<p>Johnstone added further details, and then looked hard at the clergyman, +as though expecting him to take up the challenge when he concluded, "May +be there are folks who lightly Mr. Dane for what he done, but it was him +an' no other who made an honest man of me, forby a promotit foreman home +on a holiday."</p> + +<p>"I am not a lawyer," said Rae. "It is therefore not my business to judge +him; and you need not stare at me. I already believed Mr. Dane to be a +kindly gentleman. I am also open to admit that he did more than either +I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> or my predecessor could accomplish. We are not, however, all friends +of big contractors, you see."</p> + +<p>Johnstone grinned in answer to the last thrust, while Lilian felt +thankful that she sat in a shadowy corner, for the simple story which +bore the truth stamped upon the face of it, had stirred her strangely. +The action narrated was characteristic of the man who was risking his +life in Africa. She knew that he was very generous, and could be loyal +to a pledge, even to his disadvantage. It was equally evident that the +young workman with his unconcealed dislike to his benefactor's class +would be very unlikely to shut his eyes to any intrigue between Dane and +his sister. Yet, though Lilian was angry with herself for the thought, +it was possible that the brother might have been deceived, and she felt +that she must learn the truth. The seamstress said nothing, and it +dawned upon Rae that his presence was superfluous; so, making the first +excuse available, he took his departure, and Johnstone with him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /> +<span class="smalltext">ILLUMINATION</span></h2> + + +<p>When the two men went out Miss Chatterton discovered that she had +undertaken a very difficult task. The seamstress lay still looking at +her, evidently expectant, but saying nothing. She, it appeared, felt +herself mistress of the position. Lilian felt that the silence was +growing painful, and determined to attack the subject boldly.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Dane has clearly been a good friend to your brother, but may I ask +whether that evening at the Hallows Bridge was the only time you spoke +to him?"</p> + +<p>A flush crept into the sick girl's cheeks, and a hardness into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"I was expecting ye would ask me. What would ye say if I did not +answer?"</p> + +<p>"Probably nothing," returned Lilian, quietly. "Mr. Dane is, as we know, +somewhat impulsive, as well as generous. Why do you tell me that you +expected such a question?"</p> + +<p>Mary Johnstone painfully raised herself on one elbow.</p> + +<p>"Ye are a grand lady, but hard, I think, as some folk would call ye +bonny. I am a poor sewing woman with the need to strive hard, an' +always, to keep hunger from the door—but in the hearts of us there is +no that difference between you an' me. No—bide ye and listen."</p> + +<p>Lilian had risen, but she sat down again. Something in the girl's voice +and manner compelled her attention,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> for the seamstress spoke as equal +to equal on the basis of their common humanity.</p> + +<p>"I owe ye little, Miss Chatterton. What ye paid, I earned, an' some of +it hardly, but when ye bade me come no more to The Larches, with no +other word, there was many an ill tongue to cast dirt at me, forby lying +tales that ye found things of value missing."</p> + +<p>"I never suspected that would happen," said Lilian, a little uneasily.</p> + +<p>"How should ye?" continued the seamstress. "But ye could not blame the +slanderers, being quick yourself to think evil. May be ye did not know, +either, that my good name means work and bread to more than me? So, if +there was no other person interested, I would ask—how dare ye, thinking +what ye think, come here and ask me that question?"</p> + +<p>Lilian was contrite, realizing the harm she had unwittingly done, and +recognizing the genuine ring of injured innocence in the speaker's +voice. She was also slightly angry, as well as astonished, but she was +sufficiently just to see that it would not become her to manifest +displeasure.</p> + +<p>"I did wrong, but how do you know what I thought, or if I thought +anything at all?" she asked. "You have also avoided the question instead +of answering me."</p> + +<p>"What did I tell ye at the beginning?" said the sick girl with a curious +smile. "Being poor, am I less a woman? Well, and not for your sake only, +ye shall have the answer that should pleasure ye. That night at Hallows +Brig was the one time only Mr. Dane had word with me. Are ye believing +me?"</p> + +<p>Lilian failed to understand why she should feel so relieved by the +information, but she certainly did. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> also felt humbled; and as it +was not her way to do anything by half, she made reparation with a +queenly simplicity. Stooping over the sick girl, she kissed her on the +cheek.</p> + +<p>"After that you cannot refuse to forgive me, and must come back and help +me as soon as you are fit," she said. "But I do not understand yet what +you meant when you said it was not for my sake only."</p> + +<p>The sick girl at first only regarded her with a smile, but it sufficed +to show Lilian that peace was made.</p> + +<p>"If ye cannot guess, I fear I cannot tell ye," she said. "I have eyes +and the sense to see, but it would be presumption for me to tell ye all +they showed me. Still, ye and Mr. Maxwell were not the only persons I +saw that night at the Hallows Brig."</p> + +<p>Lilian asked no further questions, but when she left there was a +brightness in her eyes which had not been there before.</p> + +<p>"Mary Johnstone has clearly bewitched you," the clergyman remarked. +"Your very step is lighter than it was an hour ago, and you are looking +better than you have done all winter. Would it be indiscreet to ask what +spell she cast upon you?"</p> + +<p>"I am afraid it would," Lilian answered, while a softness crept into her +face. She laughed, and henceforward chatted so brightly that when she +left him her companion looked after her longingly, and then sighed as he +turned back to his bachelor quarters. They struck him as very cheerless +and lonely.</p> + +<p>A week had passed when Miss Chatterton, sitting alone, listlessly took +up a newspaper a maid brought in. The listlessness vanished, however, +when a heading, "Further Fighting in the Dark Continent," caught her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +eye, and she eagerly hurried through an account of the reverses suffered +by a British punitive expedition in West Africa. Then, while her heart +beat fast, she sat very still, staring at the concluding paragraph:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A French trader brought news to the coast of another +unfortunate affair in the hinterland. It appears that +two Englishmen, Dane and Maxwell, who left the coast +months earlier, on a prospecting expedition, lost +their carriers by sickness, and have since been hemmed +in by hostile natives in a perilous position. Our +correspondent states that the French authorities, who +warned them against the expedition, consider their +extrication impossible, and believe they must have +perished already.</p></div> + +<p>Lilian let the paper fall from her nerveless hands, and lay motionless, +shivering in her chair. The shock of a supposed discovery, and a +jealousy she would not own, had played their part in forcing on her +attention a question she had resolutely striven to ignore, while now, +when it was perhaps too late forever, the answer was clear. She could +deceive herself no longer; and she guessed why the man had risked his +life to win a little gold in Africa. Risked it—at the thought her eyes +grew hazy. It might well be that he had flung his life away! Yet, even +then, it was with a passing thrill of pride that she remembered the +stubbornness beneath his patience, and knew that it would go very hard +with his enemies before he went down.</p> + +<p>Hilton Dane had changed swiftly in her estimation from a man with a +weakness to a hero, generous, loyal, swift to do her pleasure, and yet +fitted to command. It seemed to her overstrained fancy that she could +almost hear his voice ringing through the blast of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> rifles in the +last struggle; and that it would be a very grim and terrible struggle +she knew. Then she shuddered once more, recollecting what she had read +of the scenes within an African stockade when the rifles lay cold in the +undergrowth, and the smoke of the flintlocks had melted away.</p> + +<p>The sense of constraint inside grew unbearable, and the girl went forth +into the night, and stood bareheaded, staring into the darkness, hoping, +though almost afraid to hope, that the man she had sent away had not +passed forever beyond her power to recall him.</p> + +<p>Chatterton and his wife, returning presently, found her waiting in the +hall; and the iron-master's action was characteristic when he had +glanced at the paper she handed him. Wrenching out his notebook he wrote +on the first blank leaf the address of a firm dealing in palm oil in +Liverpool, and then a message beneath it:</p> + +<p>"<i>See newspaper report of disaster to West Coast explorers, Dane and +Maxwell. Wire your agents to find out how much is true, and all possible +details. Spare no expense whatever.</i>"</p> + +<p>He flung the paper to the groom outside.</p> + +<p>"Get that telegram sent off before the post-office closes, if you kill +the horse!" he said.</p> + +<p>There was a rattle of wheels, and Chatterton laughed a grim laugh as he +turned toward the women.</p> + +<p>"No great cause for anxiety as yet. I know Hilton Dane better than +either of you, and I think I know Maxwell too. It would take several +legions of niggers to hem them in—and I should be sorry for many of the +black men."</p> + +<p>A few days later, Thomas Chatterton sat beside his hearth one evening in +an unpleasant frame of mind.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> The weather might have caused a more even +tempered person some discontent, because the windows rattled under the +impact of the sleet-laden blast, and the snugly curtained room was swept +by chilling draughts. But Chatterton was not considering the weather; he +glanced at the clock before he turned toward the owner of Culmeny.</p> + +<p>"That lazy rascal is stopping somewhere to gossip on the way," he said.</p> + +<p>"The telegraph office is closed now, and he must be here shortly," +replied Maxwell. "I was sorry to hear that Miss Chatterton was no +better. Have you any more favorable news to give me?"</p> + +<p>"No. She is rather worse than better, and we are distinctly uneasy about +her to-night," he said. "Dr. Gilmour was here an hour ago, looking +rather more owl-like than usual, but I could get no opinion out of him. +In fact, the man puzzled me. He appeared dazed, and either would not +listen to my questions or was incapable of understanding plain English."</p> + +<p>"Dazed? You do not as a rule speak ambiguously. If Miss Chatterton is +seriously ill I think it is my duty to tell you what you evidently do +not know, though it is no secret. Gilmour is not free from a weakness +for alcohol."</p> + +<p>Chatterton was a man of action; making no comment, he wrenched upon the +rope of the bell before he pulled out his watch.</p> + +<p>"Send Robertson here at once!" he ordered; and when his groom appeared, +he asked:</p> + +<p>"Is it possible to ride a horse to Swiftsbridge across the Langside moss +and through the ford in time to bring out the doctor by the last +train?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>"No, sir," was the answer. "The moor track's under water, the ford just +roaring full, and I'm thinking that to swim the Swift to-night is +impossible."</p> + +<p>"I think he is right," Maxwell said; "though I fancy I could have done +it twenty years ago."</p> + +<p>"Then you can drive!" Chatterton said harshly to the groom. "It's a +little over forty miles there and back by road. Get a fresh horse at the +bridge; but if you value your place don't come back without the doctor!"</p> + +<p>Chatterton walked to the window and flung the curtains behind him; then +he returned with brows contracted farther.</p> + +<p>"The moor is white all over, and the air thick with sleet," he said. "It +will take that fellow all his time to bring the doctor here by +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>A maid, appearing, laid a telegraphic envelope on the table, and +Chatterton tore it open.</p> + +<p>"At last! I always thought the man was incapable. Listen to this!</p> + +<p>"<i>Difficult to communicate by ocean cable except at heavy cost, but +surmise from message received that our coast agent credits published +account. His cable just received reads, as deciphered by our code: Yes. +Consider prospects discouraging. Do not look for improvement. Think we +could confirm.</i>"</p> + +<p>Chatterton whipped out a pencil and, scribbling across the foot of the +message, handed it to Maxwell.</p> + +<p>"Can you send somebody down to the office with that?" he said. "It can't +go until to-morrow. I want to keep my other man ready."</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Maxwell. "There are regulations, Chatterton, which will +bar out your opening sentence,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> <i>Damn your private code.</i> The rest is, I +think, plain enough. <i>Get news whatever it costs. Wire your agent in +English if he has sense enough to understand it. Believe I am quite able +to meet the bill.</i>"</p> + +<p>"That man," explained Chatterton, "is, I blush to say, a relative of my +own, and given to complaining that times are bad. It surprises me that +he does not find them ruinous, if this is a sample of his enterprise. +I'm almost as much cut up as you are about this affair; and I'm sorry +for you, Maxwell."</p> + +<p>"Thanks," returned the master of Culmeny, quietly. "He was the only son +left me, and I have a presentiment of what the end will be. It is, +however, in the hands of the Almighty; but, if the worst comes, I know +that neither of them will forget what is due to the land that bred him."</p> + +<p>Chatterton coughed huskily.</p> + +<p>"You are morbid, Culmeny. If they can only steer clear of treachery, by +the Lord, those two lads will cut their way out in spite of all the +savages in Africa. I know the one whose father was my partner, and I +know your son. If my own brother told me he had seen them beaten, I +would not believe him."</p> + +<p>Maxwell left, and in a few minutes Mrs. Chatterton came in to say that +Lilian was growing delirious. As they spoke together the iron-master +heard a voice in the hall.</p> + +<p>"It is that confounded Rae," he observed. "It was he who encouraged Lily +to go poking into the houses of poor folks who didn't want her, all +winter. I consider him responsible for her illness, and feel quite +capable of telling him so."</p> + +<p>The clergyman was ushered in, and he had barely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> stated the purport of +his visit when the elder man cut him short.</p> + +<p>"No. Miss Chatterton will neither sing at your concert, nor distribute +any more coal tickets to encourage professional loafers!" he said. "In +fact she is seriously ill. If you had not been enjoying yourself in +Edinburgh you would have known it. You are sorry! Well, I really cannot +help saying that I think you ought to be. Miss Chatterton has not been +strong all winter, and was warned against damp and exposure; but you +managed to convince her it was her duty to wander up and down the +village, pestering the sick folk, in spite of the rain and snow. Women +have not the sense to discriminate between what is necessary and +sentimental foolishness, you know."</p> + +<p>Rae, who was not readily browbeaten, interrupted the speaker, and though +he expressed no contrition, he showed such genuine anxiety concerning +Miss Chatterton's health that her uncle was surprised, as well as +mollified. It is possible that the clergyman showed his fears too +plainly.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you could not help it, being possibly afflicted with the crazy +notion that to destroy one's bodily health is good for the soul," he +said. "It is one of the few things which always excites my indignation."</p> + +<p>Rae, who knew that the things which roused the speaker's ire were +numerous, smiled a little. "I certainly have never preached that +doctrine."</p> + +<p>"You must forgive me if I appear abrupt," Chatterton apologized. "The +fact is that when I'm anxious my temper is not so good as it generally +is, and I am very anxious about my niece to-night. When Gilmour<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> came +round, the infernal—yes, that's the adjective I meant—old scoundrel +wasn't even sober. And you remember Dane? Well, he is hemmed in by +hostile savages somewhere in Africa, and we can learn no news of him. My +niece and he were very good friends, and when she grows light-headed she +begs us to tell her what has happened to him. It is distressing because, +of course, we cannot do so."</p> + +<p>Rae winced visibly at the last few sentences, and found a corroboration +of them in the recollection of the change in Miss Chatterton after +hearing Johnstone's story. Still, he pulled out his watch.</p> + +<p>"There is a clever doctor at Swiftsbridge."</p> + +<p>"I believe so," said Chatterton, impatiently. "There are also a number +in London and a few in New York, I've heard. I sent over for the +Swiftsbridge man some time ago; but considering the snow and bad roads, +I don't expect him before to-morrow—and to-morrow may be too late."</p> + +<p>"It is scarcely twelve miles across the moor and moss," said Rae. +"There's a train this way in two hours' time. If you could lend me a +horse——"</p> + +<p>"My man, who ought to know, declares that nobody could get through the +ford to-night. I'm obliged to you, Rae, but what you suggest is out of +the question. The one horse now in my stable has the fiend's own temper, +and I cannot allow you, who cannot have had much experience in the +saddle, to run risks that were too heavy for a very capable horseman."</p> + +<p>"I used to ride a little, and haven't quite forgotten. If, as you +suggest, I am responsible for Miss Chatterton's illness, I must make the +only reparation possible. In fact, I intend to do so; and unless you +will mount me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> I will borrow a horse at Culmeny. I will not, however +promise to spare the beast."</p> + +<p>"You can drown him if you bring the doctor through by the last train!" +said Chatterton, ringing the bell. "The horse will be ready inside ten +minutes; and I'm greatly obliged to you."</p> + +<p>The time had not elapsed when Rae walked quietly toward the mettlesome +beast, which, resenting the change from its warm stable into the +stinging sleet, laid its ears back, and when Chatterton approached it +bared its teeth.</p> + +<p>"Stand clear of his head!" cautioned Rae, swinging himself to the +saddle; and the horse, rearing half upright, sent the gravel flying. +"No. Leave the gate shut! I'm going the nearest way."</p> + +<p>"I shall not forget this kindness," called Chatterton. "Feel I ought to +stop you, but dare not do it. Take care of yourself—and God bless you!"</p> + +<p>"I hope He will prosper my journey," the younger man answered gravely.</p> + +<p>There was a further scattering of gravel, a pounding of hoofs across a +strip of lawn, and a crash of brittle branches as horse and rider +smashed through a tall hedge into the sleet which whirled across the +meadow beyond it.</p> + +<p>Chatterton, shaking the white flakes from him, returned to his wife.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you saw what has happened," he said. "There's another of them +in the running now, and this one has mettle in him if he is a clergyman. +He's going through Langside moss to-night, though I gave him the +plainest hint I could that in respect to Lilian his chance is of the +smallest. Maxwell, it seems, took his dismissal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> gracefully; but what +Rae has done to-night will count heavily on his side. Why must that +idiot Hilton go out and get himself cut off by niggers in Africa?"</p> + +<p>Thanks to Rae's daring ride, a skilful doctor arrived at the junction by +the last train, and remained at The Larches all the next day. He also +made a number of other visits before he stated that his patient was +making rapid progress on the way to recovery.</p> + +<p>"You had, however, better take her south, say Egypt or the Canaries, to +escape our genial spring," he said. "Not necessary, but distinctly +advisable. Miss Chatterton might sail almost at any time."</p> + +<p>"We will choose Teneriffe, and start at once," Chatterton informed his +wife. "It is well on the mail route to West Africa, and I'm growing +anxious about Hilton."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">IN NEED OF HELP</span></h2> + + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton had no objections to Teneriffe, and so it came about +that one evening she and her niece, who had almost recovered her usual +health, sat upon a hotel balcony in Santa Cruz, looking down upon the +quaint Spanish city. It had lain basking under fierce sunlight all day, +but now the cool shadow of the giant Cañadas rested upon it, and its +olive-faced inhabitants came forth to breathe the freshness from the +Atlantic. Garrison officers and somberly clad merchants with their wives +and daughters, strolled up and down the plaza beneath the balcony, while +laughter and merry voices throbbed through the strains of an artillery +band. Near by, the Atlantic swell pulsed whitely on the lava reefs, and +high above the great black cordillera heaved aloft its jagged pinnacles +against the sunset fires.</p> + +<p>Lilian Chatterton, however, saw little of all this. She was looking out +across the shimmering Atlantic toward the blue peaks of Grand Canary, +beyond which stretched the coast of Africa. A little black-funneled +steamer was creeping across the sea-plain between.</p> + +<p>"That must be the African boat. The flag is going up above the agent's +offices," she said. "She may bring us news. It is a pity that my uncle +is away. He seems distressed about the uncertainty concerning Hilton."</p> + +<p>Perhaps Lilian's tone was less indifferent than she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> wished, for Mrs. +Chatterton watched her keenly before she answered.</p> + +<p>"It is hardly surprising. Your uncle is a just man, and never forgets a +benefit. As you must have heard, it was an invention of Hilton's father +which first started them, when both were struggling men, on the way to +success; but Dane died, and the widow, who was never cordial toward my +husband, drew her share out of the business against his advice. She died +comparatively poor when Hilton was young, while your uncle, who still +considers he owes his dead partner a moral debt, tried several means of +discharging it by benefiting his son. Hilton, of whom I am very fond, is +not, however, a person one can readily confer favors upon."</p> + +<p>"No," said Lilian, with a trace of coldness in her tone. "You never told +me quite so much before. My uncle is not always quite judicious in the +way he sets about accomplishing his benevolent intentions. But the boat +will soon be in."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton smiled a little.</p> + +<p>"He will certainly blame us if we allow any opportunity for obtaining +news to escape, and I must find somebody to take a note off to the +purser. You are tired, Lily, and had better remain here while I go +across to the agent's offices."</p> + +<p>Lilian sat leaning back in a basket chair, shrouded from observation by +two tall aloe plants, with her face still turned toward the cost of +Africa. The silver shimmer faded from off the sea, the fires of sunset +died out behind the cordillera, but Mrs. Chatterton did not return, and +her niece waited with hands crossed idly in her lap. It was now some +time since the steamer's anchor had rattled down. Presently, because the +long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> windows behind her were open, she started at a voice in the +adjoining room. It seemed the voice of one risen from the dead.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible!" she thought.</p> + +<p>"I have no baggage," the voice rose again. "Going on with the +Southampton boat, due to-morrow. Send across to the offices and book a +berth for me."</p> + +<p>Lilian, rising, stood in the open window, and the speaker stared at her +in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"I could hardly believe my eyes, Mr. Maxwell," she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Maxwell strode out into the balcony, but his surprise, which vanished +quickly, was surpassed by the girl's. His face was worn and hollow, and +in the failing light he looked strangely frail. A great sense of pity +came upon her.</p> + +<p>"You are ill, and I must not keep you standing! Please sit down, because +there is so much I—we all—wish to know," she said, striving to +suppress her eagerness.</p> + +<p>"I have been in the African forest," Maxwell replied simply, as though +that were sufficient explanation. "Thank you, but I would rather lean +against the railing here."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, he drew out the basket chair, and bent his head with a +gesture of invitation, while the girl, noticing the languidness of his +movements, showed her compassion in her eyes. Maxwell saw the pity, and +smiled wistfully; then as Lilian's gaze met his own, she glanced aside a +moment with a sudden trace of color. She remembered their last meeting, +and there was an awkward silence which Maxwell broke.</p> + +<p>"We can at least return to our former status as good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> friends, can we +not?" he said. "I see you are anxious for my news, and it may be a +painful story; but first I must ask you a question. What fortunate +accident brought you here?"</p> + +<p>"I was unwell and ordered south to escape the spring." Seeing the +anxiety in the man's face, Lilian added quickly, "I have recovered now. +My aunt will be here in a few minutes, but Mr. Chatterton has gone +across the island. An Englishman he met invested some money in a +sugar-mill the Spaniards are reconstructing, and he could not resist the +temptation of joining him. My uncle has a weakness for showing other +people how to manage machinery. It is your turn now, but first, where is +your partner?"</p> + +<p>In spite of Lilian's intention the last question was put with a +sharpness which surprised the listener.</p> + +<p>"He is alive and well, I hope," he answered gravely. "My story will be +longer, but I will try to tell it to you clearly."</p> + +<p>The waltz the band played in the plaza below formed a curious +accompaniment to such a tale. After the first few sentences neither of +them, however, heard the music, and Lilian leaned forward with the color +changing in her intent face as she listened. Maxwell suppressed the most +gruesome details, but the narrative would have been startling to any one +of the girl's upbringing. The thunder of the sunset gun brought it to an +abrupt conclusion, and as the long reverberations rolled among the +hills, Lilian rose suddenly and turned upon the speaker. There was +scorn, as well as horror, in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"And you left him in that pestilence-stricken camp to be murdered by the +tribesmen—you coward!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>They were equally off their guard, and, for there are occasions when +human nature mocks at all conventional restraint, both had dropped the +mask. When once before they spoke openly it was Maxwell who had laid +bare his heart, and now, though he made a valiant effort, he could not +conceal his astonishment.</p> + +<p>"And I never guessed," he said under his breath.</p> + +<p>So for a few seconds they stood, with inmost thoughts laid open, face to +face. Maxwell, having revealed the less, first recovered himself.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I have told my story badly, Miss Chatterton," he said. "You +see there was gold enough to excite most men's cupidity lying within our +sight, and that was why we drew lots to determine which should go out +and seek help to secure it. Dane was, for a reason he did not mention, +not only willing, but anxious, to stake his life on the chance of +turning that gold into currency, and the lot fell to me. Being unable to +raise the necessary funds by cable, I am now on my way to England, to +sell my last possessions and pledge whatever in the future may be mine. +Then, if I have to go alone, I am going back into the Leopards' country +to bring my comrade help."</p> + +<p>It is possible that few men under the circumstances would have framed +their answer as Maxwell did; but he was in all things loyal, as his +listener recognized. She was once more mistress of herself, but she did +not look at the man as she answered him.</p> + +<p>"You must forgive me. What you had to tell must have dissipated my poor +senses. It is even more startling than anything I had imagined," she +said.</p> + +<p>"I can hardly forgive myself for telling it so badly," Maxwell answered +gravely. "You had already, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> gather, received some news that we were +not exactly prospering. How did it reach you?"</p> + +<p>Lilian mentioned the newspaper paragraph, and Maxwell's face grew dark.</p> + +<p>"It was evidently the work of our enemy, and done to divert suspicion +from himself in case the tribesmen overwhelmed us, as he hoped. It is +another reason for haste, and if you will excuse me I will go on to the +steamship office to make sure of my berth."</p> + +<p>An inspiration dawned upon Lilian.</p> + +<p>"I want you to promise that you will not sail without seeing me again," +she said quickly.</p> + +<p>"It is a conditional promise. While I would do anything to please you, +Miss Chatterton, so much depends on my speed that whatever happens I +must catch the steamer. She will land me in England three days before +the West Coast boat, and is expected early to-morrow."</p> + +<p>He moved away, and Lilian was left alone, plunged in a whirl of +thoughts, with her eyes still turned toward Africa. But as she sat there +one purpose grew into definite shape, and at last she rose sharply, and +set out in search of Mrs. Chatterton, with determination stamped upon +her face. Lilian was shrewd; she saw that Maxwell might well arrive too +late unless she could hasten the starting of the relief expedition. She +found Mrs. Chatterton presently in the bustling plaza, and the elder +lady turned aside from her English companions after a glance at her +niece. The girl came straight toward her with swift, resolute steps.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Maxwell was on board the steamer," she said, with a calmness that +puzzled her aunt. "He has told me all about the expedition, and left +Hilton in deadly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> peril. Money is needed to extricate him, and Maxwell +is going home to-morrow to obtain it; but I think my uncle would find it +hard to forgive us if we did not let him know immediately. No—we have +no time to waste with these people now. Turn back with me."</p> + +<p>The girl passed the friends who advanced to greet her as though she did +not see them, and by the time they reached the door of the hotel Mrs. +Chatterton realized the need for haste.</p> + +<p>"My husband must certainly know at once, but it is twenty odd miles to +Oratava alone, and several more from there to the sugar-mill," she said. +"The telegraph office is closed, and you say the mailboat should sail +early to-morrow. It is very unfortunate, but what can we do?"</p> + +<p>"There is only one thing possible," declared Lilian. "No one could trust +a Canario with so urgent a message. We must start at once ourselves. We +need not go all the way round by Oratava. There is a bridle-path across +the hills."</p> + +<p>"But you are hardly strong enough for such a journey, and we might not +get a carriage to take us there to-night."</p> + +<p>"The carriage is entering the plaza now," said Lilian. "Can you not see +that if Mr. Maxwell goes to England he may be too late."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton looked hard at her niece. Lilian's face was very +resolute, but she bore the scrutiny calmly, and the elder lady was not +wholly astonished.</p> + +<p>"I will be ready in five minutes," she said, and Lilian, moved by some +impulse, kissed her swiftly.</p> + +<p>The five minutes had hardly expired when, with the Canario driver +shouting in warning, a two-horse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> carriage rolled out of the plaza, and +went rattling up the narrow street. Accustomed as they were to the +eccentricities of British visitors, the sleepy citizens stared at its +occupants, when, with unusual agility, they had leaped out of its way, +for the driver stood upright, lashing his horses until they broke into a +headlong gallop, and the crazy vehicle lurched and bounced over the +uneven stones.</p> + +<p>Night had closed in now, and a vault of velvety indigo spangled with +many stars, hung over the long rows of sun-baked walls, which rolled +away behind. A full moon rose slowly over the Atlantic. In front wastes +of scoriæ, maize fields, vineyards, rolled upward, ridge beyond ridge, +toward the Titanic wall of lava, nine thousand feet above; but the +climbing road was broad and good, and, if the string-patched harness +held, they might bring Thomas Chatterton news in time.</p> + +<p>Lilian retained but a blurred impression of that part of the journey. +They swept past climbing mule teams, and, sometimes on two wheels only, +swung round many curves. Blinding clouds of dust rolled up, and, driven +forward by the breeze from the Atlantic, whirled about them. There were +odd gleams of light, and a howling of dogs, as white-walled dwellings +swept by, then only the clang of iron on lava, and creaking of the +vehicle to break the silence of the desolate hillside, until the driver +howled again as they clattered into old-world Laguna, just sinking into +early sleep. The carriage lurched over the cobbles, sparks blazed up, +white walls and glimmering lattices raced by, and Lilian glanced at her +watch as, while the lathered team swung into swifter stride upon the +level, Laguna receded into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> night. Branches of eucalyptus met above, +the road was checkered with shadow, but it was straight and good, and +the driver evidently meant to win the guerdon promised him.</p> + +<p>It was cool on the higher levels. The fresh night wind stirred the +passengers' blood, and while the stinging whip-cuts roused the horses to +further effort, the eucalyptus gave place to sugar-cane, vineyards, +cork-trees, and, looming black in the moonlight on the bare hill +shoulders, gnarled pines.</p> + +<p>"We have lost no time so far," said Lilian, bending her head over the +moonlit dial of her tiny watch, and almost resenting the attention when +her aunt drew the wrappings closer about her. "Still, it is passing +fast."</p> + +<p>The driver was certainly doing his utmost. He stood upright, for the +most part, shouting as he lashed his horses, for the Castilian is not as +a rule merciful to his beasts, and as the road had been lately mended in +places with broken lava the carriage jolted painfully. Lilian, making no +comment, only held fast the tighter, but once her aunt screamed, and it +was fortunate that, startled by her cry, the man checked his horses. +There was a steep grade before them, and when the beasts broke into a +walk he stopped them altogether, and leaped down from his perch. He +glanced at one of the wheels, then cast his hat into the road and kicked +it several times, shook his fist at the surrounding country, and for +nearly a minute poured forth a torrent of sonorous Castilian. It was +well that neither of the listeners wholly understood him.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, and what can he be saying?" asked Mrs. Chatterton, +almost appalled by the man's vehemence; and Lilian answered with a +shudder.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>"I am not quite certain, but I fancy that a wheel is coming off."</p> + +<p>"<i>Lo creo</i>," interjected the Canario. "<i>Mal rayo!</i> I spik good Ynglez. +This jimcraky wheel, which is made of a lost carpenter, she is come +right off."</p> + +<p>Putting his shoulder against the vehicle he hurled the wheel down +crashing upon the lava, and then flung one arm aloft, with a tragic +gesture.</p> + +<p>"Stop him at once, Lily!" begged Mrs. Chatterton. "The wretched man is +beginning again, and his language positively frightens me!"</p> + +<p>"You mustn't!" said Lilian severely, as the Canario's tongue, which had +apparently been dipped in brimstone unloosed itself again. "Stop +immediately! Instead of all that nonsense, try to think of what you can +do!"</p> + +<p>"I do nothing. No man do nothing. On three wheel this coche she is not +can go." The driver's gesture expressed despair. "We stop here for all +night, <i>puede ser</i> all to-morrow. We stop a here forever."</p> + +<p>"That is absurd," said Lilian sharply. "Is there no blacksmith at +Laguna? Blacksmiths—<i>hombre de hierro, entiende</i>? Take one of those +horses out and go for him immediately!"</p> + +<p>"<i>No possible</i>, <i>señorita</i>. The black-a-smeet he sleep at night," +explained the Canario, hopelessly.</p> + +<p>Lilian stamped one little foot.</p> + +<p>"It is <i>no possible</i> to waken him? <i>Escucha Vd</i>, and please try to +comprehend. If I reach the sugar-mill too late you will be paid exactly +what the Alcalde at Oratava says is your due. If I get there in time, +and not otherwise, you will receive what I promised you. Now take out +one of those horses, and I will help you."</p> + +<p>The driver rubbed his forehead, and kicked his hat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> again. Then he +declaimed a little further; and finally, while Mrs. Chatterton protested +against Lilian's helping him, he proceeded to act upon her suggestion. +The girl struggled with rusty buckle and raw-hide patched with string, +and at last tethered one horse to a branch, while the Canario clattered +off toward Laguna on the other. He had neither saddle nor stirrups, but +that did not matter much to a man of his race.</p> + +<p>The two women were left standing in the middle of the lonely road.</p> + +<p>"I wish we had never come," wailed Mrs. Chatterton. "Mind that horse +does not bite you, Lily."</p> + +<p>"Poor beast," said the girl, stroking the creature's scraggy neck. "He +did his best, and a great deal still depends on him. If that wretched +man does not return soon the waiting will drive me mad."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton found a seat by the wayside. Lilian paced to and fro, +halting only to listen and gaze down the long dusty road. An hour passed +slowly. Still only the rustle of the sugar-cane and the sighing of dark +branches broke the stillness. There was no light visible; and save for +the horse, the two anxious Englishwomen seemed the only living things +upon the mountain-side.</p> + +<p>"Can you hear nothing, auntie?" the girl asked; but the elder lady heard +only the drowsy gurgle of water in a distant barranco, and the moan of +the breeze.</p> + +<p>"No. There is no sign of any one coming yet; and I am afraid we should +be almost too late if we started now," she said.</p> + +<p>Twice again the girl paced up and down in a fever of impatience, then +stood rigidly still, leaning forward a little, for a faint thudding +sound came out of the shadows.</p> + +<p>"He is coming at last!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>The man came up at a gallop, with a hammer and a bag of tools, and, +talking volubly, remounted the wheel. Then he lashed his horses +viciously, and they were off, pressing on at a gallop almost to the +divide, where, partly bathed in silver light by the moon, and partly +wrapped in black shadow by the mighty peak, the great horseshoe vale of +Oratava sloped to the Atlantic. Here the driver turned.</p> + +<p>"The brake of this coche is also broke. I have ten children, señoras, +and all very small, and if we must go down at the full speed it will be +one more ten shillings for the risk."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton, glancing down toward the lights that twinkled +apparently vertically beneath her, and the glimmering plain of the +Atlantic very far below, somewhat naturally hesitated, and was about to +speak, when Lilian thrust a gold coin into the man's brown palm.</p> + +<p>"You shall have more when I come back from Tampena. Only lose no time!" +she urged.</p> + +<p>The driver, who had been deluded on various occasions by British +emigrants bound for the Cape, first prudently bit the coin, then piously +crossed himself, after which he lashed the horses, and the carriage +began the long descent like a run-away locomotive or a thunderbolt, as +Mrs. Chatterton afterward said. The road was good, but it dipped in +zig-zags down the steep hillside, and they went round the bends madly +with two wheels in the air; while twice the elder lady held her breath +as a straggling mule team rushed past. She prayed spasmodically that the +ancient harness might not break.</p> + +<p>The walnuts gave place to fig-trees, the figs in turn to vines, and +still the straining gear held fast, and the bouncing vehicle hung +together behind the lathered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> beasts. Then the terraced vines were +replaced by maize, and when the broad leaves of bananas raced up, as it +were, to meet them under the moon, the driver, shouting his loudest, +reined his team in outside a little hill posada.</p> + +<p>"Horses and a trusty guide for the sugar-mill!" he roared, beating on +the door. "Here are two mad English señoras with a purse of gold!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">MAXWELL'S CONFIDENCE</span></h2> + + +<p>Though the English are not greatly loved in any possessions of Spain, +their gold has the power of rousing even the contemplative Canario out +of his usual lethargy, and when the driver shouted, drowsy men hurried +about the posada. The host had two good mules, and a vine-grower would +be glad to act as guide, but there was, he said, a difficulty. He had +only one saddle fit for a lady and with the deepest respect for the +señora, he feared she was too old to venture over the perilous bridle +paths at that time of night; with which opinion Mrs. Chatterton quite +concurred. Lilian glanced at her aunt, and then toward the bare-legged +peasant, who, with a great blanket rolled about his shoulders, stood, +hat in hand, before her. There was a rude dignity about this +vine-dresser which pleased her, and moving forward she kissed her aunt.</p> + +<p>"You must go on alone to the hotel at Oratava," she said.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chatterton had long grown accustomed to being ruled by her niece, +and though she protested, she did so feebly. Even while she spoke the +girl put her foot in the hand of the vine-dresser, who lifted her to the +saddle, and then sprang into his own. He swept his battered hat to his +knee with the grace of a courtier as he passed Mrs. Chatterton, and +almost before the elder lady realized what had happened, the two +mounted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> figures had vanished among the maize. With a sigh and an +inarticulate prayer, she bade the driver proceed to Oratava, as slowly +as he liked.</p> + +<p>Lilian never counted the risks she ran during that ride. The two +strangely-assorted companions soon left the maize behind and rode over +broken lava and scoriæ; dipped, sliding and stumbling, into a barranco +filled with impenetrable shadow, out of which the guide had hard work to +drag the horses on the opposite side; and then skirted the dizzy brink +of another vast volcanic fissure in the black hillside. Lilian, looking +down into the depths that yawned beneath her, guessed aright that a slip +would mean destruction, while for once her heart failed her when the +peasant pulled the mules up where the pathway seemed to break off at the +brink. He pointed toward the lights far down in the hollow, saying in +Castilian:</p> + +<p>"That is the mill. The señorita rides well. If she will let the mule +find its own way she may, with the blessing of heaven, come down +safely."</p> + +<p>Lilian, partly comprehending, shuddered for a moment as she glanced into +the great volcanic pit, then, slacking the bridle, laid one hand on the +high peak of the saddle, as with the cinders rattling away beneath them, +they commenced the descent. No beast but a Canary pack-mule trained to +carry wine kegs over the wild hill trails could have come down alive, +and it seemed to be sliding with legs braced stiffly most of the time, +and then picking its way foot by foot down the face of an almost +precipitous descent. Fortunately the darkness hid the worst terrors; +they came down safely, and swept through tall cane on the level toward a +group of dusky buildings, which grew plainer ahead.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>Then the guide shouted, there was a howling of dogs, and Lilian, +dropping stiffly from the saddle, walked into the presence of her uncle +in the Spanish sugar-grower's dwelling. Chatterton, who had been poring +late over some machine drawings, rose abruptly at the sight of her.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, Lily! Have you flown here?" he cried. "What has happened +girl? Is your aunt ill?"</p> + +<p>"Don't ask questions! Sit still a minute, and listen! My aunt is well +and should be safe in Oratava by now. Mr. Maxwell is in Santa Cruz, and +brings serious news of Hilton."</p> + +<p>Chatterton stiffened to attention as he listened. Then, because he was +above all things a man of action and could let side issues wait, he +asked no questions but patted his niece's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Well done, my girl. Well done!" he said. "God forbid that my dead +partner's son should perish while I have the power to help him. If it's +money Maxwell needs, he shall have it if there's sufficient in the Bank +of Spain. It is lucky I opened credit to show these blunderers how to +run their mill. You will stay here with the Señora Martin, and rejoin +your aunt to-morrow. I shall start, but not by your road, as soon as +these loafers can get horses ready."</p> + +<p>"I am going with you," Lilian said, quietly. She was very tired; but +with Dane's life at stake, she dare not take any chances. That her uncle +would do his best to reach Maxwell in time, she knew; and yet, if +something should happen on the way! If his horse should slip on those +treacherous lava trails!</p> + +<p>Chatterton saw the pale lips close tightly with a determination that he +never attempted to resist.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>"Very well, Lily," he acquiesced; "but it will be a hard ride."</p> + +<p><a name="dawn" id="dawn"></a>In an incredibly short time the horses were ready, and Chatterton and +his niece followed their guide throughout the remaining hours of the +long night. Few words were spoken by either of them as they urged their +horses forward. At dawn they were still riding, Lilian feverishly +anxious, Chatterton grimly determined.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>A big gray-painted steamer lay rolling in the harbor of Santa Cruz, and +Maxwell stood on the hotel steps impatiently glancing at his watch. He +had given Miss Chatterton his conditional promise that he would await +her return, but he dare not miss the steamer. A feathery column of vapor +roaring aloft from her steam-pipe indicated that all was ready. He had +less than ten minutes to spare, and there was still no sign of Miss +Chatterton.</p> + +<p>"Five more minutes. There's the first bell now!"</p> + +<p>Three of the minutes passed, and Maxwell was hurrying toward the boat, +when somebody shouted his name, and turning, he saw two white-flecked +horses race into the plaza. One kept on to the hotel; almost before the +other stopped, Thomas Chatterton leaped to the ground.</p> + +<p>"You're not going in that boat!" he gasped. "Can't you understand me? +You are going back to the Coast instead!"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I can't, sir," Maxwell replied with a puzzled air. "I don't +want to be uncivil, but I dare not waste a moment. I must catch the +steamer."</p> + +<p>"You shan't!" persisted Chatterton, his red face growing purple when +Maxwell shook his hand off his arm. "Confound you! Stop and listen! I +owed Hilton's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> father more than I can ever repay his son, and Lilian +told me what has befallen him. Well, if it's money you are short of, I'm +not a poor man, and you can have as much as they hold in the bank here +if you want it to rescue your partner. Now, don't let any foolish pride +lead you into manslaughter. I'm doing you no favor, but making a +commercial investment. Call me sleeping partner or anything you like, +but don't throw your comrade's life away."</p> + +<p>Maxwell looked his relief.</p> + +<p>"I am not quite a fool, sir, and dare not refuse. It only remains for me +to express my gratitude."</p> + +<p>"Gratitude be consumed!" said Chatterton, cheerily. "Call it business. +Now we'll order the best breakfast they can serve us in this place, and +you can tell me the whole thing again."</p> + +<p>Two days later when Maxwell boarded a steamer bound for the West Coast, +Chatterton and his niece went on board with him. Lilian was both +relieved and sorry when the iron-master hurried away in search of the +purser to make sure that several bags of silver currency were put in +safe keeping. She had something to say to Maxwell, but the task was +difficult.</p> + +<p>"I shall always take shame upon myself for what I said on the balcony," +she began. "You are a very loyal partner, and I wish you Godspeed."</p> + +<p>The words were simple, but because, during the fateful moments when the +two stood on the balcony, the veil which covered their inmost thoughts +had been drawn aside, they cost Lilian an effort, and meant a good deal. +They sent a curious thrill to the heart of Maxwell.</p> + +<p>"I meant all that I said one other night, and I am ready<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> to prove it," +he said. "Whether I shall ever return or not, I say it solemnly, only +Gods knows; but if I live to reach our camp, I think Hilton Dane will."</p> + +<p>For a moment Lilian's eyes grew hazy, and she looked away from him. +Then, though there was moisture on her lashes, she turned fully toward +her companion, holding out her hand.</p> + +<p>"Heaven send you both back safe! You are a good man, and very generous. +I knew it the evening we passed the Hallows Brig—but——"</p> + +<p>"Destiny arranges these things for us," Maxwell interrupted quietly. "I +am glad that your good wishes follow me to Africa."</p> + +<p>Thomas Chatterton came up panting as he spoke, the warning of the last +bell broke through the rattle of the windlass, and Maxwell bent +bareheaded over Lilian's hand. Then she and Chatterton went down the +side together, a deep-toned whistle vibrated above the waters as the +steamer slowly forged ahead, and Maxwell saw a white-gowned figure in +the boat beneath her side turn with a farewell smile and wave a hand to +him. Once more he raised his hat, and when the boat slid astern Lilian's +eyes grew hazy as she gazed after the departing vessel.</p> + +<p>"That man will go far," said Chatterton. "Once he makes up his mind the +devil himself would hardly turn him. He is one of the steely, quiet kind +who are never more in earnest than when they are silent, but I am +anxious. He is bound for a very deadly country."</p> + +<p>Cool breezes followed the steamer to the African coast, and Maxwell had +recovered part of his vigor before the first palm-crowned bluff rose out +of the sea. He had sufficient funds at his disposal, but arduous work to +do,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> and he held himself apart from the few passengers, thinking +earnestly. Among other things he decided to fit out the relief +expedition at Redmond's factory at Little Mahu, because, though more +difficult, the road from there was shorter and less likely to be +watched; and he surmised that Rideau, who must hear of his presence on +the coast sooner or later, would expect him to start from Castro's +factory. Maxwell knew he had not seen the last of their treacherous +partner.</p> + +<p>At the last moment, he so far modified his plans as to call upon Dom +Pedro.</p> + +<p>It was a fine afternoon when the cliff with the tall palms on the crest +of it, and low whitewashed buildings nestling between them and the +smoking beach, rose to view, and the purser, strolling past, halted near +Maxwell.</p> + +<p>"We have several boat-loads of cottons for this place, and as the surf +is high it will take us until sunset to land them safely," he said. +"Then, as there are nasty reefs to thread through, the skipper will +probably wait for moonlight before he heaves the anchor; so if you don't +mind a spray bath you might have a few hours ashore."</p> + +<p>Maxwell, knowing that he would see quite sufficient of Africa before he +sailed west again, felt no great desire to go ashore; but as he gazed at +the dazzling buildings through his glasses a figure came out upon the +veranda, and an unaccountable impulse urged him to seek speech with Miss +Castro. Why he should do so, and what he should say to her, he did not +know, but he remembered that several times during his career some +unconsidered action made on the spur of the moment proved as fruitful as +his best laid plans. So, donning the mate's oil-skins, he dropped into a +surf-boat and was whirled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> shoreward on a big breaker's crest, landing +without misadventure amidst a cloud of spray.</p> + +<p>Dom Pedro, it appeared, was absent, but his daughter started at the +sight of the stranger, and the warm olive coloring of her face was +suffused with a deeper tinge. She was herself again the next moment, and +came to meet him with only a slightly heightened luster in her black +eyes; but for a man Maxwell was observant, and deduced a good deal from +what he had seen. Nevertheless, he was mistaken when he attributed it to +the loss of his map.</p> + +<p>Miss Castro received him affably, and presented him to her aunt, who +combined a lethargic disposition with the usual portliness of an Iberian +lady who has exceeded the age of forty, and after a few drowsy +compliments she betrayed no further interest in the visitor. +Nevertheless, the señora was not so sleepy as she appeared. Maxwell +seated himself beside Bonita near the opposite end of the veranda, and +was not wholly sorry he had come ashore. The girl made a charming +picture as she reclined in a deep chair near at hand, smiling at him +with a trace of shyness that was not assumed, though an occasional +nervous movement betokened a suppressed eagerness. Maxwell had pledged +himself soul and body to the service of another woman with a chivalrous +self-abnegation that only those who knew him well would have suspected +him capable of; but he possessed artistic perceptions, and Bonita's dark +beauty appealed to him.</p> + +<p>"You have very much to tell me. How is it you come from the westward, +and where is your compañero?" she asked; and once more Maxwell was +wholly misled.</p> + +<p>He noticed the swift gleam in the dark eyes that fell beneath his own; +and, knowing what he knew, he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> troubled. There was a hidden +gentleness under the man's sardonic exterior, but he never learned how +blind he had been that afternoon.</p> + +<p>"My comrade was well when I left him," he said gravely; and Bonita, +flashing a swift glance at him, evinced less satisfaction than he had +expected.</p> + +<p>"We were the good friends, señor. You will tell me why you leave him and +now come from the west. Also if you met Rideau, and what you did with +him. You are a strong man, señor, but it may be a woman can help you?"</p> + +<p>Maxwell was in his own way a chivalrous person, but he owed a duty to +the comrade who remained in the forest, and he meant to discharge it. So +he answered with incisive frankness.</p> + +<p>"Can you not see why it might be better for both of us that I should not +tell you, señorita?"</p> + +<p>The girl laughed softly, then laid a little hand upon his own. It felt +strangely hot, and again her eyes were luminous in a manner that puzzled +him.</p> + +<p>"It is the map, you mean? It is true I find it after the Señor Dane +leave, and I sell it to <i>el perro</i> Rideau. Señor, we women must use what +weapons we can, and the price he pay me—I have no secrets from you—was +my father's safety."</p> + +<p>"I do not venture to blame you," said Maxwell. "I had partly guessed it, +and your confidence is safe with me, but suppose <i>el perro</i> had proved +too strong for me? After this, can I believe that you would prove a good +friend to me?"</p> + +<p>Miss Castro positively blushed as she drew her hand away, but her +laughter indicated a mingling of pride with scorn.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>"You are modest, señor. It is not possible that the cur dog should prove +too strong for—you. To Dom Pedro I say these Englishmen will kill this +Rideau. So señor, because I hate him, you will tell me."</p> + +<p>Maxwell did not speak for a while. Again an impulse which appeared +wholly illogical in face of the girl's confession prompted him to tell +her all; but very much lay at stake, and he did not usually act on +impulse. Meanwhile his companion watched him from under the dark lashes +which half covered her eyes; while, unobserved, the sleepy aunt watched +them both. Bonita Castro looked bewitchingly pretty in her filmy +draperies, perhaps the more so because of her curiously heightened +color; but though Maxwell knew that she was a woman who would do much +when prompted by passion, she did not look like a traitress.</p> + +<p>"So you fear to trust me, señor?"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," Maxwell answered, "I have decided to trust you fully. +In doing so, I know that I place my life and my comrade's equally in +your hands."</p> + +<p>"It is well; I would hold them safe if I risked salvation," said the +girl. "So tell me everything. I shall be able to help you."</p> + +<p>Maxwell did so, and Miss Castro asked him many questions which betokened +a keenness of judgment that surprised the man. He spent some time in +answering them, and Bonita appeared to find pleasure in listening to +him. So while the palm-tufts tossed behind the factory and the spray +whirled above the beach, the minutes slipped by, until, when the sun +dipped, the señora woke up and ordered the black major-domo to hurry +forward <i>comida</i>.</p> + +<p>Bonita, reappearing attired in filmy robes of black,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> was more +fascinating than ever during the drawn-out meal.</p> + +<p>"That woman would turn any man's head," murmured Maxwell, inaudibly he +thought, and added, with a smile, to the sleepy aunt, who glanced at +him, "I was wondering, señora, if your distinguished family had a +monopoly of all the wit and beauty in the Peninsula."</p> + +<p>Maxwell was a little confused to notice that Bonita had overheard; for a +second the long lashes dropped across her eyes, and again there was a +flicker of damask in her cheek.</p> + +<p>The moon hung over the ocean which stretched away before them, a broad +sheet of silver, when the two stood once more on the veranda; and Miss +Castro shivered slightly for no apparent cause when Maxwell announced +that it was time for him to take his departure. The surf had gone down, +and the roar of the breakers diminished to dull pulsations that fell +drowsily on the ear, while the warm breeze brought down the fragrance of +spices and lilies from the forest. Two of the pure white blossoms +nestled among the laces beneath Miss Castro's neck, and their fragrance +filled Maxwell's nostrils as he stood close beside her under the +effulgent moonlight of the tropics. There was a thrill in the girl's +voice which, but for one fact, might have awakened an answering +vibration within him.</p> + +<p>"So you have trusted me, señor, and I am glad. It is also good that you +start from Little Mahu, for so <i>el perro</i> hear the less of you. There +are many black people who fear him, and tell him things, but he come +first to this factory—and I deal with him. You will leave Mahu, two, +three, perhaps four weeks before him. It is true you have no longer any +doubt of me?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>"I have no doubt at all. I have trusted you to the utmost."</p> + +<p>Bonita's eyes dropped swiftly beneath his gaze, but there was in her +attitude no sign of coquetry. She had, the man thought, changed with the +night, and put on a quiet simplicity which became her wonderfully. +Something impelled him to add:</p> + +<p>"I feel that I have done wisely."</p> + +<p>Once more the girl's voice thrilled him.</p> + +<p>"It is a dangerous country, and who can tell what may happen; but, +whatever it costs me, I will help you."</p> + +<p>Maxwell felt strangely softened toward her, for it seemed that some +influence born of the glamour of the night was at work upon his will. It +hardly seemed to emanate from his companion, for Miss Castro was graver +than he had ever seen her; but the strange mingling of tenderness and +admiration grew stronger in him, and he was glad when the boom of the +steamer's whistle rang through the monotone of the surf.</p> + +<p>"I must go, señorita."</p> + +<p>Bonita's eyes shone in the moonlight as, with the faintest of smiles, +she held out her hand to him.</p> + +<p>"It is a perilous journey, but I will pray always for your safety," she +said softly.</p> + +<p>Maxwell lifted the hat from his head as, stooping, he touched the +olive-tinted fingers with his lips. They trembled a little in his grasp.</p> + +<p>"I thank you, señorita. We are allies now."</p> + +<p>Again the roar of the whistle throbbed across the surf, and Maxwell went +swiftly down the stairway and across the sand. As the boat plunged out +through the breakers he shook himself with an air of irritation which +attracted the notice of the steamer's mate.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>"Got bewildered trying to understand those folks?" he asked +sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"No," laughed Maxwell. "The fact is rather that I don't understand +myself."</p> + +<p>"I dare say that don't greatly matter," commented the mate. "Take a good +stiff cocktail and give the puzzle up."</p> + +<p>The steamer heaved her anchor, and rolled slowly eastward down the +coast, while Miss Castro stood on the veranda following the tier of +diminishing lights until they faded and finally dipped into the moonlit +sea. Then she turned and walked very slowly into the factory without a +word, leaving the sleepy aunt lost in speculation when the door of her +room closed noisily.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE DANGEROUS SEÑORITA</span></h2> + + +<p>Some days after Maxwell's departure Monsieur Victor Rideau, traveling in +hot haste, arrived at Castro's factory. Dom Pedro was absent in the +bush, but his daughter frowned when she saw the visitor coming. She was +standing on the veranda where she had bidden Maxwell farewell; and this +fact recalled the contrast between them, which was distinctly striking, +and to Monsieur Rideau's disadvantage. Maxwell wore an indefinite air of +refinement, which is the birthright of some favored Britons, and there +was a good deal of finely-tempered steel in his composition; Rideau was +by no means ill-favored, and as usual with gentlemen of his extraction, +dressed himself almost too well; but his face was sensual, his black +hair over-crisp, and, in spite of his very cunning eyes, there were +other signs that his animal appetites might on occasion prove stronger +than his judgment.</p> + +<p>When he descended from his hammock, attired in spotless duck and +American brown shoes, he was evidently well contented with himself.</p> + +<p>"I compassionate you on your misfortune," said Miss Castro. "My father +may not return until midnight, and you will have only myself and my +aunt, who is always sleepy, for company."</p> + +<p>"What better could any man desire?" There was a look of the African in +Rideau's over-bold eyes, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> girl regarded him frigidly. "I go east +by the steamer which will call to-night," he continued, "and hurried for +the pleasure of a few hours of your company. The English adventurer has +called here, is it not so?"</p> + +<p>That was sufficient warning, and Bonita Castro prepared for the fray. +The weapons she chose in the first place were merely demure glances and +opportune smiles; and though many of his speeches stung her pride to the +quick, she fooled Monsieur Rideau cleverly, and extracted from him more +information than he meant to impart. Still, when the black major-domo +set out the <i>comida</i> and Miss Castro withdrew, the visitor might have +lounged less complacently on the veranda had he seen her kneeling, with +a face that was stamped with hatred, beside the factory medicine chest. +She lifted a ribbed glass phial, and glanced at it earnestly, then let +it fall back, took out another, and clutched at the chest, when she saw +that the door had opened a little. Then, as the rustle of the +palm-fronds suggested that the breeze was accountable for this, she +slipped the bottle behind a vase on the window-sill, and went out +softly. Hardly had she done so than the Señora Diaz entered silently, +lifted the bottle, and read its label, and then, with a gesture which +expressed both relief and perplexity, replaced it. The señora was much +more observant than she seemed to be, and was by no means a friend of +Victor Rideau.</p> + +<p>It might have been better for Rideau had he reached the factory after +dinner. He did not eat prettily, and Miss Castro had lived long enough +in the Iberian peninsula to grow particular about small matters. Also, +he drank freely, and while his voice grew louder his consonants lost +their crispness. Rideau spoke several civilized languages, but that +night he emphasized the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> vowels after the fashion of the negro. Though +not excessively indulgent, Dom Pedro's old Madeira had awakened a side +of his nature he usually kept in subjection, and perhaps it had slightly +clouded his judgment. In any case, the Señora Diaz frowned at some of +the compliments he paid her niece, and her ancient laces rustled as she +stirred with indignation, for while compliments were common in her +country, they were characterized by either a becoming deference or +scintillating wit. Once or twice she glanced sharply at the girl, who +was generally quite capable of resenting a liberty; but Bonita did not +heed her. She was working for an end, and working skilfully. Perhaps she +suffered during the process, but that was only part of the price of +victory.</p> + +<p>The <i>comida</i> was cleared away at length, and when Bonita accompanied her +guest to the moonlit veranda, she made it manifest that she did not +desire her aunt's company. Nevertheless the Señora Diaz, who respected +the customs of the Peninsula, seated herself beside an open window and +saw all that passed. Rideau lounged in a cane chair with a cigar in his +hand, while Bonita stood upright, dropping morsels of ice presented by a +steamboat purser into the bowl which rested on the little table at his +side. A Frenchman would not have shown such lack of manners. Rideau's +very leer, which grew more pronounced, conveyed a hint that he knew he +held the whip hand, and meant to use it; with any one of Miss Castro's +disposition, that was very bad policy.</p> + +<p>"It is charming, señorita. I have done much for you; you do a little now +for me."</p> + +<p>Miss Castro dropped the next lump of ice somewhat hastily, so that the +liquid splashed over the table; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> she smiled with apparent good +humor, and the man grew more bold.</p> + +<p>"You will sit here while I tell you something, is it not so? This scene +is so charming that after I make one more journey I have resolved to +cultivate the domestic virtue."</p> + +<p>"That is commendable," said the girl, smiling. "Might one compliment you +on such a piece of self-denial?"</p> + +<p>She did not forget that the African's greatest weakness is vanity, as +Rideau answered her with a deprecatory smile:</p> + +<p>"It is not my fault if many women love me. Perhaps they are foolish and +trust to the eye. But, me, I aspire, and am only content with the great +mind and virtue."</p> + +<p>Miss Castro, instead of meeting his glance, appeared to be looking out +to sea, and Rideau continued, still far too complacently:</p> + +<p>"Now I see all that I desire—the peace, the tranquillity, the night +that speaks of love, and the company of the peerless Bonita."</p> + +<p>The girl laughed as she turned upon him; but her sleepy aunt, who sat by +the window, knew that the passion which called the color to her forehead +and set a sparkle in her eyes was by no means love.</p> + +<p>"Is that another empty compliment, monsieur?" she asked lightly.</p> + +<p>"It is the ambition of my life," he declared in a deeper tone; "and a +long time I dream of it. Now when I make one more journey I ask you to +gratify it."</p> + +<p>"You must be more explicit. And is it the custom of France—or +Africa—to make such speeches—so?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>Rideau frowned, and for a moment it appeared that he would have +preferred the African custom of choosing his bride; but remembering what +he claimed to be, he stood upright, a full-fleshed, crisp-haired figure, +with his sensual lips showing too prominently.</p> + +<p>"I have the honor to offer you my name and devotion, señorita."</p> + +<p>"That is very much better," laughed Miss Castro. "But are you quite sure +you would not find domestic happiness grow monotonous? I, at least, have +been my own mistress so long that it might not content me. What else +have you to offer?"</p> + +<p>"An affection that will not weary," was the answer, and the man +dramatically laid his hand where he supposed his heart to be.</p> + +<p>"And if even that were not enough?"</p> + +<p>"All the good things that money can buy, and women love. I shall be a +rich man presently."</p> + +<p>"You have not won those riches yet; and white men have lost their lives +already in the Leopards' country. You should understand me."</p> + +<p>Rideau blundered when he resolved to use the strong hand at last.</p> + +<p>"There is still something—the safety of your father. It is, as I have +once said, forbidden with the heaviest penalty to sell the black man the +modern rifle, and Dom Pedro has sold more than this."</p> + +<p>It is possible that Miss Castro had expected a similar answer, but the +speaker's tone and the glitter of his eyes would have inspired most +women with misgivings under the circumstances.</p> + +<p>"You are forgetful," she said slowly. "I have bought that from you +already."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>Rideau laughed.</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken. You sold me the English madman's map for the Emir's +agreement, but you did not buy my lieutenant or the black headman who +hired your father his people, and is a good friend of me. Señorita, you +quite fail to comprehend me. To those who love me I give everything, but +with those who bargain it is different. You are too young and pretty to +drive a hard one with me."</p> + +<p>The girl turned from him, and walked slowly across the veranda with her +back toward her suitor and her face toward the sea, so that he could not +see how one hand slipped without a rustle beneath a fold of her dress. +He had left her but one way out of the difficulty, and it was dangerous; +but gauging the quality of her antagonist she was content to take the +risks. The sleepy aunt saw, however, and smiled grimly to herself.</p> + +<p>Then Miss Castro turned, and smiled.</p> + +<p>"It is a long journey to the Leopards' country, and many things may +happen on the way. You would be wise to wait for my answer, monsieur. +What you offer appears insufficient now, but few women are sure of their +own minds, so some wise men say; and, who knows, when you come back I +may think differently. I have duties to attend to, and may not see you +before you sail, but I want your promise to keep silence in the +meantime. Pledge it in Vermouth."</p> + +<p>Before the man could answer, she had passed into the house and returned +with a small flask and two fresh glasses. One was brimming, and she +filled the other before she held it out to him.</p> + +<p>"A swift journey to the land of the Leopard!" she said.</p> + +<p>Miss Castro's voice was steady, though she waited<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> almost breathlessly +while the man stood undecided, holding up the cup. It was evident that +he was averse to delay, and yet afraid to lose by undue precipitancy.</p> + +<p>"So, I give the promise. To your bright eyes, señorita. It is a journey +I make for you."</p> + +<p>Rideau laid the glass down empty, and with a swift salutation that was +half-ironical, and a swish of light draperies, Miss Castro had vanished +before he quite realized that she had left him. When he did, he gnawed +the end off a cigar, and lay thoughtfully back in his chair. It struck +him that perhaps he might find Bonita Castro much less amenable to his +wishes and more difficult to live with than a deeper-tinted helpmate.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, a group of chattering Krooboys were lighting a fire on +the crest of the bluff, their figures outlined against the increasing +glare. It was a signal to the east-bound steamer due to pass shortly +that cargo or passengers were awaiting her. Rideau watched the blaze +until it flared high aloft in token that the fire had good hold, then he +walked slowly to the rail of the veranda and leaned over it, as though +expecting an answering light from the moonlit sea. There was none, and +presently he walked back, still more slowly, and sank into his chair +with a sigh. Then his shoulders sank lower until his head drooped +forward and there was silence in the veranda except for the sound of his +uneven breathing. This had scarcely continued five minutes when a +slender black-robed figure flitted out of a shadowy door, and the +profile of a woman's face was silhouetted against the moonlight as it +bent over the sleeper.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>"Sleep soundly, and awake too late!" a voice said, and the figure +vanished again.</p> + +<p>Presently, perhaps because there was nobody to watch them, or they had +been regaled too freely with factory gin, the Krooboys left to tend the +fire curled themselves up beside it, and when an hour had passed, only a +thin column of vapor rose up from the bluff. The stokers slumbered +peacefully, as did the comrades they should have awakened, when the +twinkle of a masthead light crept nearer from out at sea. It rose until +the black patch beneath it lengthened into a line of wallowing hull; but +the fresh land breeze and the clamor of the surf between them rendered +the hoot of the steamer's whistle but faintly audible at the factory. +Still, the Señora Diaz awakened, and sitting upright on her couch near +an open window, looked out on to the veranda. Her niece stood in a +doorway, with the moonlight on her face, which showed white and anxious +as she watched the sleeping figure.</p> + +<p>The girl set her lips tight when again the whistle's summons, ringing +louder this time, was flung back by the bluff behind the factory; but +Rideau lay motionless in his chair; and Bonita quivered all through +when, finding his signal unanswered, the steamboat skipper burned a +crimson flare. She could see the wall of hull and slanting spars sharp +and clear in the blood-red glare, with the figure of a man leaning out +from the slanted bridge projected against it, but there was still no +answer from either bluff or factory, and with a last blast of the +whistle the steamer moved on. No other boat would call for a fortnight, +and this one would have saved Rideau a protracted and risky surf-boat +voyage, or a weary march through the jungles overland.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>It was past midnight when Dom Pedro's hammock came lurching into the +compound, and, alighting stiffly, the trader climbed the veranda steps. +He started on reaching the veranda, for there was nobody to meet him, +only a man whose visits he had learned to dread, asleep in a chair. The +trader bent over him; and by the way his eyes glistened and his fingers +twitched as he saw that the duck jacket had fallen open, leaving the +dusky throat bare, an observer might have concluded that he would not +have been sorry had some accident prevented the sleeper from ever +awakening. Still, Dom Pedro was only a man of lax principles; he +shrugged his shoulders as he quoted a Castilian proverb, and then he +shook his guest by the arm. Rideau sat upright, grasping the arms of his +chair. He stared at the table, possibly seeking the glass he had drunk +from, but it was not there, and rising shakily, he staggered toward the +balustrade.</p> + +<p>"What hour is it?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Past twelve. It is not good to sleep in the moonlight, my friend."</p> + +<p>Rideau's face was a study of evil passions, but his reason resumed the +mastery. The fact that the glasses were missing was significant, and +perhaps he recognized that the woman might prove no contemptible +adversary; for he answered Dom Pedro calmly.</p> + +<p>"Your wine is too good, and I have slept so well that it seems I have +missed the steamer. Well, there are other means of transit, and, if it +is not too late, you and I have business to talk about."</p> + +<p>A light shone in a window of the factory for an hour after this, and +when Victor Rideau walked somewhat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> unevenly toward his quarters, Dom +Pedro cursed him under his breath.</p> + +<p>The next morning he demanded a surf-boat and Krooboy crew, and when his +host had provided them, he sought speech with his daughter before +embarking. Rideau did not look his best that morning. His eyes were +heavy, the color of his face was mottled in patches; and he was in a +dangerous humor. Miss Castro, however, did not avoid him.</p> + +<p>"It is to be hoped that you passed a good night," she said.</p> + +<p>Rideau could not have failed to notice the boldness of the challenge. He +looked at her steadily, and his glance expressed desire rather than +resentment. The girl grew hot beneath his gaze as he surveyed her +critically, after the manner of one appraising a costly bargain.</p> + +<p>"I slept well—so well that I missed the steamer—and awakened with a +heaviness I can guess the cause of. You have a bold spirit—and that +pleases me; but you are dangerous, señorita—so dangerous that even if +you were not otherwise very desirable, I dare not let you go."</p> + +<p>Miss Castro returned no answer, and the man added threateningly:</p> + +<p>"If you have not a promise to make me when I return from this journey, +it will be very bad for Dom Pedro."</p> + +<p>The girl clenched one hand tightly, but her voice was clear as she +answered him.</p> + +<p>"You shall have your promise now. If you come back from the Leopards' +country, I will marry you."</p> + +<p>Rideau appeared both gratified and perplexed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> Possibly he felt that he +should seal the bargain; but the girl's attitude did not encourage him, +and he had learned that it was not judicious to press her too hardly. So +he answered with a bow which had in it little Latin grace.</p> + +<p>"Then one must defer his happiness. The señorita will not forget."</p> + +<p>"I have given my word," said Miss Castro calmly. "You may claim the +fulfilment of my promise if we are both alive when two months have +passed."</p> + +<p>Rideau shivered slightly as he turned away. He had inherited more than a +trace of superstition from one side of his ancestry, and there was an +unusual significance in the speaker's tone, and he had heard stories +respecting her powers of prediction. A few minutes later he departed +eastward in a surf-boat, and it was not a blessing which Dom Pedro, +standing on the beach, sent after him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX<br /> +<span class="smalltext">MAXWELL'S LAST MARCH</span></h2> + + +<p>Maxwell was never addicted to losing time, and, thanks to Miss Castro's +efforts, he had a clear start of Rideau, when he left Little Mahu. +Redmond, being warned by a message posted on from the cable station +farther along the coast, had a number of picked men ready; and Amadu +declared that they were sturdy cattle. Both traders had done their +utmost, and by dint of working night and day, Maxwell was able to leave +their factory two days after he reached it.</p> + +<p>They followed him to the compound gate, where Gilby gazed longingly at +the forest and then sighed as he surveyed the line of brawny men, each +of whom stood waiting beside his burden. Their clothing was simple. +Broad folds of white cotton hung over one shoulder, and, drooping to the +knee, were belted at the waist by a band from which a matchet hung. A +number of the men also carried long flintlock guns.</p> + +<p>"They're warranted free from civilization, and fit for almost anything, +if you drive them with a tight rein," Gilby said.</p> + +<p>"The niggers are fit enough," agreed Redmond. "If I were you, Maxwell, I +wouldn't spare them. Nobody has heard anything of Rideau since he +reported you as hopelessly hemmed in, but there's not much happens in +this region he does not get news of, and it's my humble opinion he'll +turn up somewhere along your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> trail just when you least desire to see +him. As you probably know, news travels very fast in this country. That +fellow must have some influence with the nigger headmen or the chiefs of +the Leopards, or somebody would have cut his throat long ago. You'll +have to push on your fastest to keep ahead of him."</p> + +<p>"I quite appreciate the necessity," Maxwell replied quietly. "But if it +were not for my comrade's sake I think I'd wait for him. It strikes me +that I am wasting precious time now, and I'll leave you with my best +thanks for your assistance."</p> + +<p>One trader thumped him on the back, the other grasped his hand.</p> + +<p>"Good luck!" cried Redmond. "We'll put a spoke in Rideau's wheel if we +can."</p> + +<p>"You're the sort of man I take to!" Gilby added. "We'll use up a whole +quarter's allowance, and turn this place inside out when you come back +again."</p> + +<p>Maxwell beckoned to Amadu, and waved his hand to the traders, as his +carriers picked up their loads; and the two stood gazing after him until +the steamy forest swallowed the long line of plodding men. They never +saw him again, and it was some time before any news of his movements +reached them, but meanwhile Gilby nearly brought about the death of +Rideau's principal assistant, and ever afterward regretted he did not +wholly do so.</p> + +<p>That evening Gilby was returning with a gun in his hand from a prowl +beside a lagoon soon after darkness fell, when his boot became unlaced +near the factory boys' quarters, which stood at some distance from the +white men's dwelling. Gilby seated himself on a fallen log, and remained +a few minutes glancing meditatively,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> but unseen himself, toward a group +of dusky figures crouching around a cooking-fire just outside the +edifice. They sat with their backs toward the long, low shed, and, +because the fire had sunk, the light was dim and fitful. Accordingly, +Gilby saw, though the negroes did not, a shadowy form crawl without a +sound down the slope of thatch. With suspicions aroused, Gilby reached +out for his gun. It was a heavy big-bore, and there was a large-shot +cartridge in either chamber.</p> + +<p>Still, he was distinctly puzzled until the crawling object resolved +itself into a man, who dropped noiselessly from the overhanging eaves, +and the next moment appeared before the astonished negroes, as though he +had fallen from the clouds. It was cleverly done, and Gilby could see by +the negroes' attitude that they were impressed. The stranger was +evidently one of the wandering magicians who are a power in that +country, and wanted something from the Krooboys. Gilby, having suffered +by the visits of similar gentlemen, determined to demonstrate to his +servants the hollowness of such trickery, and furnish the intruder with +cause to regret having frightened them. He could see the dusky figures +shrink backward until the stranger checked them with an imperious +gesture, and asked questions in some native tongue. As Gilby crept +carefully nearer, the man's appearance seemed to be familiar. He wore a +broad palm-leaf hat low down on his forehead, but as the firelight +leaped up the trader felt almost certain that he had before him Rideau's +headman.</p> + +<p>"If you lib for move a foot, I'll shoot you!" he shouted, pitching up +the gun.</p> + +<p>There was a murmur, apparently of relief, from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> Kroos, and, though +Gilby afterward said he did not run, the stranger's figure grew less +distinct. It had almost vanished when he called again, and, receiving no +answer, pressed the trigger. A wisp of smoke blew into his eyes, he +heard the lead smash through the frail boarding of the shed; but though +he was a tolerable shot there was no other sound beyond the concussion +flung back from the palms above. Gilby, dashing forward, searched all +the surrounding bush before he returned to the Krooboys, having found +nothing.</p> + +<p>"What did them Ju-ju man lib for want?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"He done ask us how many boy them white man take, and when he lib for +bush, sah," answered a trembling negro.</p> + +<p>"I'll stop half your rations if the next time he comes one of you +doesn't lib for get out soffly, soffly, and tell me," said the trader. +"I'll also flog any boy who tells him what he wants to know!"</p> + +<p>"Were you trying to shoot yourself, Gilby?" asked Redmond, meeting him +at the foot of the stairway. "I'd try to hang out here on top as long as +possible, if I were you."</p> + +<p>"I was trying to shoot one of those confounded Ju-ju men, more fool me. +The beggar got away, and, though of course it was trickery, he did it +cleverly. I believe it was that brute of Rideau's."</p> + +<p>"Then it would have saved somebody a lot of trouble if you had held +straighter. Rideau doesn't usually make his movements plain, but it will +be unlucky for Maxwell if those two rascals are on his trail."</p> + +<p>Maxwell in the meantime was pushing north with feverish haste. He did +not know what had happened at the factory, but he feared many things, +and guessed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> that his rival would miss no opportunity to prevent his +joining hands with his comrade. Still, he could not forecast what his +plan would be, and could only redouble his precautions and make Amadu +solemnly promise to carry relief to the threatened camp if disaster +overtook him personally. Also he traveled very fast, for Maxwell +possessed the gift of getting the utmost out of his men, and because +news flies swiftly through the African bush, that perhaps accounted for +his being able to cover the distance he did before misfortune overtook +him.</p> + +<p>The rains had set in, when, with Amadu some paces behind him, he plodded +one day through thick jungle before his men. The deluge had ceased +during the last hour, but the narrow path ran water, while the cane, +which grew higher than a tall man's head on either side, shook down +drenching showers alike on soaked white man and naked negro. Belts of +thick steam drifted across it in places. There was no sound but the +splash of moisture and the fall of weary feet, but Maxwell, with his +pistol loose in its waterproof holster, marched the more cautiously. He +had faced numerous perils in his time, and had learned never to run an +unnecessary risk; and the jungle he traversed was particularly suitable +for an ambush.</p> + +<p>Amadu, who recognized this, also was vigilant, and swept the cane on +either side with searching eyes. He endeavored to persuade his master to +travel in his hammock; but unavailingly. Therefore he carried the long +Snider rifle with its breech well covered by his arm, and felt at times +with wet fingers for the hilt of the short, straight blade, which hung +at his side. He was a tolerable shot, but like most of the Moslem +tribesmen deadly with the steel.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>"These men march well," said Maxwell. "We should reach the camp within a +week if nothing hinders us. Tell them to spread out a little and keep +their matchets ready. The cane is getting thicker."</p> + +<p>Amadu moved backward along the plodding line, and when he turned to +rejoin his master, Maxwell was some distance in front of him. The path +twisted sharply round a thicker clump of cane, and suddenly Amadu caught +a glimpse of a tiny black patch among the dripping stems. Nevertheless, +he evinced no sign of notice until he was certain that the black strip +formed part of a human arm; and then he was called upon to make an +eventful decision. The dusky soldier of fortune knew that if an ambush +had been planted among the cane the lurking foe would, should both pass +apparently unobservant, hold their fire until, by a volley poured into +the main body, they could spread panic and cut the column in two. That +might mean the loss of many black men; but Amadu counted these as beasts +of burden in comparison with his master. He guessed that almost before +he could pitch up his rifle a poisoned arrow or a charge of ragged +potleg would strike down the white man. So he held on stolidly, with +dusky lips set tight, hoping that Maxwell might not see what he had +until the corner was passed. Then there might still be time to crawl in +upon the enemy from behind.</p> + +<p>Maxwell walked straight on until he turned and glanced over his +shoulder; then he shook the moisture from his jacket, and in doing so, +let his hand slip from its lower corner to his revolver holster. He +turned again, with death, as it were, suspended above his head; and +Amadu gasped as he approached the thicker clump of cane. There was now +no sign of an enemy's presence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> in all the jungle; only the splashing +and panting of the carriers behind.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the white man's hand swept out level with his shoulder, and +almost at the same instant a bright flash blazed from the cane. Then the +quick ringing of a rifle broke through the dull thud of the flintlock +and the pistol's second crack, and Maxwell, reeling a little, hurled +himself into the thicket.</p> + +<p>With a roar to those who followed, Amadu plunged in too, a score of +clamorous black men with naked blades hard behind, and was just in time +to spring upon a naked man who strove to clear an entangled foot from +the creeper withes. The short blade twice passed through him; and +wrenching it free with an exultant laugh, Amadu floundered on. For a +space he and his followers smashed through that strip of jungle, but +found only a smoking rifle and one flintlock gun; then calling off the +rest, he led them back to the path. Maxwell was sitting there in a pool +of water.</p> + +<p>"Send those boys back," he said thickly. "One of those brutes missed me, +the other did not. One can't always guess aright, Amadu, and I thought +there were at least a score of them."</p> + +<p>Amadu groaned. He could see that his master was hard stricken, for he +looked faint and cold, and did not usually converse with his +subordinates in that kind of English. Still, he understood the first +sentence, and drove the curious black men back beyond the corner before +he stooped over the speaker. Maxwell's face was distorted and clammy. +There was a stain on the side of his jacket, and it plainly cost him an +effort to speak.</p> + +<p>"Did you lib for chop them bush boy, Amadu?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>"One of him, sah," was the grim answer. "He done leave them rifle."</p> + +<p>"Let me see," said Maxwell. "That is an old chassepot. Rideau had a +number of them. You don't quite follow? Well, you got the wrong man, +Amadu. Don't stand there, but slit up this jacket. Chop them doff piece +up the side of him."</p> + +<p>Amadu did it with the still wet blade, and groaned again when Maxwell, +turning his head a little, looked down at the slow, red trickle from his +right side, then passed his hand across his lips and nodded when he saw +what there was upon it.</p> + +<p>"Take them lil' silver bottle out of my pocket and pull the top off +him," he said very slowly; and when Amadu had done so he gulped down a +draught of lukewarm brandy before he spoke again.</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose it's much use, but you may as well take the knife +that's in the pocket, and feel if there's any potleg near the top. Well, +why don't you do it? You need not be frightened. It won't bleed +much—that way."</p> + +<p>Amadu shivered as he probed the wound. Maxwell's face grew grayer, and +after a downward glance out of half-closed eyes he shook his head and +stretched out one hand for more of the brandy. Then there was a heavy +silence for several minutes.</p> + +<p>"If I could lie still with ice to suck until somebody brought a surgeon +there might be a chance; but that's out of the question here," he said +in a rambling fashion, and then roused himself. "You don't understand. +Well, I'll try in the little I know of your own idiom. We have made two +great journeys together, but now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> it is written that I shall shortly set +out on a longer one alone, Amadu."</p> + +<p>Maxwell spoke thickly, but there was a wry smile on his lips as he +watched the big dark-skinned alien, who, rending his cotton robe, bound +a pad of wet leaves upon the injured side.</p> + +<p>"It is useless, Amadu." Maxwell coughed once or twice. "Listen. Because +of something you may remember you dare not fail me, and this is my word +to you. I made a promise which must be kept, and you will carry me to +the white man's camp before six days are over, alive or dead."</p> + +<p>Amadu looked eastward across the jungle, spread his palms outward, and +then bent his head.</p> + +<p>"By fire and salt, and the beard of the Prophet it shall be so," he said +in his own tongue. "And I would it may also be written that I shall +still follow my master should these dogs of bushmen meddle again."</p> + +<p>"Your master is one of the infidel," replied Maxwell. "Now see that none +of these others know what has overtaken me, and call up the hammock +men."</p> + +<p>Maxwell was leaning on Amadu's shoulder when the hammock appeared round +the bend, and none of the black men who lifted him into it guessed how +hard he had been hit; and the monotonous carrying chanty drowned the +groans he could not quite suppress. The heavens were opened as the march +began again, and the rain rushed down. It lashed the negroes' oily skins +until they tingled, the trail became a streamlet, and the mire in places +fouled them to the knee; but Amadu, having given his promise, saw to the +keeping of it with a terrible persistence, and they trudged on doggedly, +the dripping hammock always before them. As one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> worn-out bearer +stumbled another replaced him, and the march progressed until long after +darkness fell, and after a few hours' halt in drifting mist it began +again.</p> + +<p>So the long days and black nights passed. There were odd flashes of +sunlight, and once or twice the moon looked down; but between these +times the air was filled with the steam of the saturated earth or with a +rush of lukewarm water.</p> + +<p>Late one night, when the weary carriers lay camped for a brief rest in +thick forest, Maxwell beckoned Amadu. He lay in the slung hammock, a +lantern burning behind his head.</p> + +<p>"You will start in two hours. I must reach the camp before another night +comes. My time is short," he said.</p> + +<p>Amadu, looking down at him gravely, saw that the words were true; but he +strove to deny them in his own tongue.</p> + +<p>Maxwell smiled wearily, answering him in English beyond his complete +comprehension.</p> + +<p>"I have known many men of lighter tint I could part from more easily, +Amadu. If we reach the camp before another night comes you shall have my +big elephant gun."</p> + +<p>The dusky man stood upright.</p> + +<p>"I carried an Emir's standard. Will you bribe me with a gun to keep the +oath I swore?"</p> + +<p>Maxwell must have been in a state of torment about that time, but he was +in his own way a man of extravagant pride, and it was perhaps to deny +his weakness that he spoke again.</p> + +<p>"Yet it is a good gun," he said, with a trace of his old dryness. +"Once you will remember at over a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> hundred paces it drove a smooth +ball through a rash bushman's head. You could keep it in +remembrance—couldn't you?"</p> + +<p>The alien stooped and laid one of the thin hands on his own bent head, +then dropped it suddenly, for from somewhere far off a faint sound +scarcely more than audible trembled across the forest. Maxwell strove to +raise himself to listen, but before he could speak his lieutenant sprang +bolt upright, and his voice rang out. It was the sound of firing, and +even at that distance something warned the listeners that the quick beat +of it betokened modern rifles.</p> + +<p>The hammock-bearers, who feared their new master rather more than the +old, came up at the double; bundles were thrown hurriedly on to woolly +crowns; the tired men swung into line; and the little camp grew empty.</p> + +<p>Amadu, limping behind the hammock, laughed.</p> + +<p>"If it be the will of Allah, I shall see that big gun make even a bigger +hole in more than one heathen's head!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br /> +<span class="smalltext">RELIEF</span></h2> + + +<p>Hilton Dane sat with a fouled rifle across his knees in an angle of the +stockade protecting what had been the hospital camp. It was, however, a +hospital no longer, for some of the sick had recovered, and the rest had +died. Dane considered that he might have saved more of them had he been +more skilled in medicine, but he had done his best according to his +abilities; and none of the poor wretches seemed to blame him. Still, +there were times when he felt like a murderer as some unfortunate +sufferer's eyes turned in his direction, beseeching help, and he could +do nothing but watch him die. They died, for the most part, as +apathetically as they had lived, the heathen with the uncomplaining +stolidity which had carried them through much hardship and cruelty, and +those who followed the prophet testifying that it was Allah's will.</p> + +<p>Dane remembered it all that morning as he looked round upon the remnant +left him, for it seemed hardly possible that any would see another day. +When the pestilence relaxed its grip he had resumed the mining, until +the tribesmen hemmed them in. Once the foe tried to storm the camp, and +failed so signally that beyond creeping up and firing into it, they had +not repeated the attempt until the preceding night, when a few succeeded +in passing the defenses. These, however, did not survive very long. On +the other hand, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> garrison could not get out, and though they had no +lack of water, one cannot subsist upon fluid alone, and there was very +little else.</p> + +<p>The men lay about the stockade with their rusty guns beside them, the +negro, Bad Dollar, filing his matchet, as he did continually. The man +Dane called Monday, however, crouched close beside him. A curious +friendship had sprung up between the two, and they would talk long +together with mutual satisfaction, though neither of them fully +understood his companion.</p> + +<p>A ravine cut the camp off from the forest in the rear, and beyond the +front stockade the ground fell steeply to the river. There was forest +across it, but only the tops of the higher trees rose out of the mist +which shrouded all the plain below.</p> + +<p>"You tink Cappy Maxwell perhallups come to-day, sah?" asked Monday.</p> + +<p>"He will certainly come some day," Dane answered with a cheerfulness he +found it hard to assume. "It would be opportune if he came just now, +especially as he might be too late to-morrow. A miss is rather better +than a mile in the present case, but you let too many of your black +friends get in last night, Monday."</p> + +<p>The dusky man, for he was not a negro, looked up at the speaker +doubtfully and shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I no savvy all them palaver, sah, but Cappy Maxwell too much fine white +man. All them black boy tink each morning they go look him. Cappy +Maxwell say he lib for heah, and them boy believe him."</p> + +<p>Dane glanced at the dejected objects, even then staring down expectantly +into the drifting mist, then at the tally of days that would never be +wholly forgotten<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> which he had scored on a post of the stockade. A +deeper notch marked each seventh, and after many calculations he had +gashed a few across to indicate the probable date of Maxwell's departure +from Little Mahu. The black men did not understand the meaning of those +scores and regarded the making of them as a religious ceremony, but Dane +fancied that Maxwell might understand if he reached the camp too late. +Then, perhaps because he was overwrought, he became conscious of an +extravagant pride in his friend. Those half-naked Africans had waited, +trusting in Maxwell's promise patiently and long, and trusting it +implicitly still. This, it seemed to him, was no small testimony.</p> + +<p>"I tink we look Cappy Maxwell one time, sah," Monday began again.</p> + +<p>"If he is alive, you will," Dane answered as sturdily. "Stop those boys' +chattering. Something is going on down yonder now."</p> + +<p>Monday stood up staring at the mist.</p> + +<p>"Them parrot scream, sah, and them monkey talk. I tink them dam bushmen +lib for come back again."</p> + +<p>"Then don't let your boys start shooting until they crawl close in," +Dane answered, with an indifference assumed to reassure the rest "Some +of those fellows can't hit anything with a gun, and you had better keep +a few as a standby in case they come in with a run. Let them wait until +the bushmen lib for climb the stockade, and then split their heads with +the matchets. You understand me?"</p> + +<p>Monday apparently did so, for he moved off with a grin which betokened +nothing pleasant for the bushmen; and Dane sat still with his eyes fixed +on the forest. Something was evidently happening, but the mist was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +thick, and he could not see into its dim recesses. His few men were worn +down by hunger and continuous watching, and he feared that if the foe +pushed the attack with vigor they would certainly get in. There was no +doubt that the garrison would make a grim last stand if they did, but +that appeared at the best a poor consolation, and Dane became sensible +of a coldly murderous indignation against the bushmen.</p> + +<p>There was a crackle of undergrowth far below, then a sound as of men +splashing through the river which ran high and swollen; but Dane was +short of ammunition, and did not consider it advisable to fire blindly +into the mist. He felt himself quivering with suspense. Staring down the +steep face of the bluff, he waited, ready to drive a bullet through the +head of the first assailant who rose out of the vapor. Then the noise +ceased altogether, and the ensuing silence became maddening. How long +this lasted Dane could never tell, but he grew cold and hot by turns as +he waited, until a sound that was wholly unexpected became faintly +audible. It was not the rustle made by the passage of a stealthy foe, +but more resembled the approach of men marching in some order. While the +blood pulsed within him he saw that the camp boys glanced from him to +the vapor under the influence of an overwhelming excitement. But though +the sound came nearer, the mist, which was thicker than ever, still hid +all below, until a negro's head rose out of it, and Dane saw that he +carried a hammock pole. Then a wild shout went up, and Monday's yell +rang through all the rest:</p> + +<p>"Cappy Maxwell lib!"</p> + +<p>There was an end of all discipline. Weapons went down clattering, and +famishing men, who during many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> weary days had vainly scanned the +forest, poured out through the stockade gate and raced madly down the +slope to welcome those who had brought them the long expected help. For +a moment Dane stood stupidly still, almost too dazed to realize what had +come about, vacantly wondering how Maxwell had forced a passage without +firing a shot. Then the contagion seized him and, leaping down from the +stockade, he followed the rest. His perceptions were yet clouded by a +bewildering sense of relief, but it struck him that the hammock-bearers +came on in an ominous silence. When he reached them, Amadu looked at him +curiously, as though he would have spoken, but, brushing past, Dane tore +the wet matting aside.</p> + +<p>Then he stepped suddenly backward, breathless and aghast. Maxwell lay +huddled in a limp heap upon the drenched canvas, almost unrecognizable. +His face was distorted and shrunken, his jacket reddened in patches, and +his lips were cracked and black. His eyes had grown dim and glassy, and +when he spoke his very voice seemed changed.</p> + +<p>"Have I altered so much that you don't know me, comrade?"</p> + +<p>"You have brought us our lives, Carsluith, but God knows I would rather +have stayed on here forever than to see you come like this," said Dane.</p> + +<p>Maxwell moved a little, and there was the ghost of a smile in his +half-dosed eyes.</p> + +<p>"I really couldn't help it. I hardly think I shall trouble you long. A +bushman back in the forest shot me."</p> + +<p>"Don't!" Dane answered hoarsely. "It can't be so bad as that. I won't +believe it!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>Maxwell let his hand fall into his comrade's palm as though to convince +him.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid it is. I have been holding on to my life +desperately—because I wanted to see you before I went," he said +brokenly.</p> + +<p>The touch of his clammy hand struck a cold chill through Dane, who, +turning abruptly, bade the hammock boys carry their burden with all +speed to the tent. What he saw there convinced him that Carsluith +Maxwell had made his last adventurous march, and that the best to be +hoped for him was a painless passing to his rest. Maxwell also knew it, +and though Dane could say nothing because of the choking sensation in +his throat, he looked up at him and nodded.</p> + +<p>"Hopeless, isn't it? This case is beyond your skill," he said faintly. +"We have been good comrades, but even the best partnership can't last +forever. Still, you might do what little you can, for there are things I +want to tell you."</p> + +<p>Dane went out to seek for his case of drugs, and just then, as if in +mockery, a blaze of sunshine beat down on clustering negroes and +rain-beaten camp. Swayed by a sudden gust of grief and passion, the man +shook his fist at the river and cursed what lay beneath it. It seemed to +his overwrought fancy that the stain of blood was on the gold, the blood +of the staunchest comrade any man ever starved or fought beside. Though +their friendship had been neither lengthy nor demonstrative, the +hardships and perils undergone had woven a bond between them that knit +them as close as brothers. Nevertheless, Dane had yet to learn all that +his comrade had done for him.</p> + +<p>Maxwell slept or lapsed into unconsciousness all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> afternoon, but he +revived a little by nightfall, and beckoned his comrade near him. The +night was black and hot. Because Dane had given stringent orders, no +negro's voice reached them, and they seemed utterly alone, hemmed in by +the darkness of Africa. Dane could hear only the river moan below, and +he found it necessary to cough huskily, for again, as he remembered one +other night when they sat there together filled with bright hopes for +the future, an obstruction gathered in his throat. Maxwell told him of +his journey, in a low, strained voice, halting for breath at frequent +intervals, and every word burned itself into the listener's memory. +Maxwell always put things vividly and tersely.</p> + +<p>"It was a wonderful march; but I have let you talk too much," said Dane, +when he concluded. "So it was by Lilian's help you fitted out the +expedition, and she rode all night across the mountains to warn +Chatterton. It was what one might have expected. God bless her!"</p> + +<p>"Amen," said Maxwell, with full solemnity. "The talking can't make much +difference now—I shall have a long rest to-morrow. There is still +something I must say, and even if I am blundering it seems best to +speak. We are very blind when we think we see most clearly, Hilton."</p> + +<p>Dane looked at the speaker with some bewilderment as he let his head +fall back on the matting, and lay still gasping. Five long minutes +passed before he spoke again.</p> + +<p>"Will you raise me a little, Hilton? My breath comes short."</p> + +<p>Dane slipped one arm beneath his shoulder before Maxwell continued.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>"It is strange that neither of us guessed; but all was for the best, +maybe. The knowledge might have severed our friendship—I hardly think +much more than that would part us now. Though twice I came near doing +so, I never told you that I asked Miss Chatterton to marry me."</p> + +<p>It was only by an effort that Dane held his arm motionless so that it +still supported the dying man. It seemed the strangest of all the +strange happenings that they two should have braved so much together for +the love of the same woman.</p> + +<p>Maxwell saw his blank surprise, and smiled feebly.</p> + +<p>"You asked Lilian Chatterton to marry you?" Dane repeated dazedly.</p> + +<p>"Very foolish of me, was it not? But there is no reason for such +surprise that I should desire it; and I promptly discovered my folly. I +also gathered there was somebody who might please her better. Now you +have the simple fact, but as there is an inference you must listen +still. How could I have guessed the truth—after what I saw at the +Hallows Brig? It appeared impossible to me that any man who had won Miss +Chatterton's approval could find pleasure in——"</p> + +<p>"Stop!" cried Dane, striving to hold his excitement in check. "You were +mistaken, Carsluith. It was only out of pity, and because the +imprisonment of her brother would bring destitution upon her, that I met +that girl."</p> + +<p>"I can take your word," Maxwell said quietly. "That was the one point +which troubled me. Strange, isn't it, that on my last night I should +talk in this fashion; but when one's grasp on material things grows +feeble the others assume their due value. Yes, I loved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> Lilian +Chatterton—as I love her still—though it was madness to think that +she, fresh and bright with innocent light-heartedness, could stoop to +mate with a somber man like me. But raise me a little. I can't see you +clearly, Hilton."</p> + +<p>Dane did as he was bidden, and Maxwell continued:</p> + +<p>"I want you to remember that it was my fault, Hilton. Miss Chatterton +never suspected until I spoke that night we passed you at Hallows Brig. +I had a suspicion you admired her before that time, but it vanished +completely then. You see how each trivial incident fitted in. She was +very gentle, but I knew her decision was final—and still I did not see +the truth."</p> + +<p>As Maxwell looked into his comrade's eyes a quiver ran through Dane.</p> + +<p>"I am bewildered, and it seems brutal to ask you questions now," he said +huskily. "But you have more to tell."</p> + +<p>Maxwell's eyes signified assent, but he paused to gather breath.</p> + +<p>"It is only because I am dying. Otherwise, you would never have heard +this from me, but it seems best for both that you should know. It was +naturally not for—my—sake Miss Chatterton made that midnight journey."</p> + +<p>Maxwell smiled wistfully as he let his head sink back again; and Dane, +drawing his arm away, said nothing for a few minutes. It was wonderful +news he had heard, but the price which had been paid for his safety was +unbearably heavy.</p> + +<p>"You are a very staunch friend—and this makes it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> the harder for me to +lose you. If only there was anything a man could do to prevent it! +Carsluith, rouse yourself! I can't lose you!"</p> + +<p>"It makes it the easier for me to go," said Maxwell. "If what I hope for +happens, you will always be kind to her, Hilton. Just moisten my lips +with the brandy."</p> + +<p>There was silence afterward, for Maxwell lay breathing unevenly with his +eyes closed, and Dane was swayed in turn by satisfaction and a crushing +sense of loss. He suffered from remorse as well. Maxwell dying had +revealed a side of his nature his comrade now knew he should have seen +manifested in his actions if not in his words.</p> + +<p>It was the sufferer who first spoke again.</p> + +<p>"It was Rideau who brought misfortune upon us from the beginning, and to +judge by the rifle the bushman left, he was the instigator of the last +attack."</p> + +<p>"May worse befall me if I do not repay him fully before I leave Africa!" +Dane said, solemnly.</p> + +<p>Maxwell appeared to smile as he had always done when his partner was +unusually emphatic.</p> + +<p>"He had excuses, Hilton, and I am past all desire for vengeance now. For +one thing he recognized the señorita's gift to you. Still, for the sake +of Miss Castro—and she promised to help me—I would advise you not to +let him go free to continue his persecution of Dom Pedro. We both owe +her a good deal, and I would like you, if possible, to tell her so. You +might add my respectful remembrance, too. There is yet another point. +Whatever my share of this gold may be, I bequeath it to you, with my +blessing, on condition that you send the boys back happy, with as much +cloth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> as they can carry, to wherever they came from. The poor devils +served us faithfully. When I have rested, I would like to see Amadu. +Then I think my work will be finished, and I can only await the summons +to answer for what I have failed in. It will come before sunrise, +Hilton."</p> + +<p>An hour passed slowly while Dane listened to the ticking of his watch; +then Maxwell opened his eyes again, and Dane beckoned to Amadu, who +stood waiting without. He came in, still wearing the straight blade +which had struck the murderer down, and stood like a bronze statue +beside his master.</p> + +<p>"I want to thank you for faithful service, Amadu," Maxwell said weakly. +"You shall have the gun—you have won it—and whatever else you wish +besides. We made two great journeys together, but I cannot take you with +me now."</p> + +<p>The big man bent until Maxwell's thin hand rested on his head. What they +said Dane failed to comprehend, but Amadu seemed to do him homage, and +when he rose, he moved slowly, with raised palms and head bent, backward +out of the tent. Then as Maxwell's eyes closed he crouched in the +entrance, with the steel, which caught the lamplight, lying naked across +his knee.</p> + +<p>"Often I lib for watch them white man so," he said softly. "No djinn or +devil go near him now."</p> + +<p>Maxwell said little further. He slept or lay unconscious for some time, +and then just smiled for a moment as his eyes rested on the grim +sentinel with the bronze limbs and raw blue draperies, guarding the +entrance. When he next roused himself he laid his chilly hand on one of +Dane's, and showed a faint sign<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> of pleasure when his comrade's fingers +closed upon it. Once again he murmured, but it was rather by the +movements of his lips than by audible sound that Dane gathered the +message:</p> + +<p>"You will tell her I kept my promise."</p> + +<p>That was his last effort, for when the night was almost gone the fingers +which lay limp in Dane's grew rigid. Then Dane stood up stiffly, +desolate, knowing that the spirit of Carsluith Maxwell had passed to +find such rest as may be reserved for the souls of loyal gentlemen. But +the dust claims that which sprang from it quickly in that land, and the +comrade he left to mourn over him found his own endurance heavily taxed +before the aliens who had helped him at his task took up their stations +with weapons girt about them, a barbaric guard of honor, at the dead +man's head and feet. It was Amadu who strapped the big revolver by its +lanyard to his master's wrist, when, scattering a few of the +heavy-scented lily blossoms, Dane folded the tired hands. Then they kept +their vigil together, and it did not seem incongruous that dusky cattle +thief and soldier of fortune should watch beside the English adventurer. +Humanity is greater than color and creed, and it was as those who had +suffered together they did their dead due honor.</p> + +<p>The rain had ceased and a dazzling sunrise flamed across the forest when +Dane stooped for a last glance at Carsluith Maxwell. The pain had faded +from his face, and he lay in impressive serenity as one who rested with +his work well done. Then the lonely survivor went out into the +brightness of the morning with a grief that found no expression mingled +in his heart with the lust of vengeance.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">ON TO THE COAST</span></h2> + + +<p>Nature, untrammeled by human inventions, takes her own way swiftly in +the fever land, and the sun had hardly cleared the cottonwoods when Dane +found himself mechanically following a tattered hammock borne high on +the heads of dusky men. Though there was somber cloud above, dazzling +brightness beat into their set faces, and flashed on glistening blade +and long gun-barrel borne by those who marched behind. There was no word +spoken. Only the patter of naked feet and the jingle of steel broke +through the impressive hush, for that morning every leaf hung limp and +still. It was with all solemnity that Carsluith Maxwell set out on his +last journey.</p> + +<p>Dane halted by the eastern gate of the stockade, watching the black men +swing past him file by file; they were as strange a company as ever +followed a British gentleman to his grave—Moslem bandit, woolly haired +bush thief, stalwart, heathen Kroo, brown desperadoes who had fought the +French under the banner of the great Sultan, and two-legged beasts of +burden from the steaming swamps. Still, unstable and unreasoning, with +the light-heartedness of a child and the cruelty of a devil, as many +were, it gave the watcher a mournful pleasure to see that one and all +had come to pay respect to their dead leader;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> and he showed his wonder +when Amadu cried aloud, and the glinting flintlocks swung together, with +muzzles to the rear. Dane guessed that the dusky adventurer had not +learned to reverse arms in the service of any hinterland Emir.</p> + +<p>He followed, seeing as one walking in a dream, the sinuous line of sable +limbs and white and blue draperies wind on through deepening shadow. +When Amadu cried again, the moving figures fell apart on either hand, +and Dane was left with their leader and the bearers beside a shallow +trench, on which one shaft of sunlight fell. He cast his ragged hat down +on the sand, and in a voice which seemed to belong to some other person +recited such fragmentary portions of the last office as he could +remember. No one moved among all the silent company, but there was an +inarticulate murmur when at last the solemn words broke off.</p> + +<p>Dane remembered nothing further beyond the dull thud of shovels; his +eyesight seemed to fail him, until presently he found himself moving +dejectedly back to camp behind the straggling company. He must have +slept when he reached his tent, for the sun was low when Monday and +Amadu stood outside the entrance, calling him. When he rose wearily, +Amadu pointed to the groups of men waiting without.</p> + +<p>"Them boy lib for savvy what you do now, sah," he said in the coast +palaver.</p> + +<p>"I can't tell them just yet," Dane answered. "What do they wish +themselves?"</p> + +<p>It was a few moments before his meaning dawned upon Amadu, for the white +man felt too dazed to frame his thoughts in other than everyday English.</p> + +<p>"Them carrier bushmen lib for beach and go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> back to his own country one +time," said Amadu. "Say this country belong to the Ju-ju."</p> + +<p>No man could have blamed the carriers. They had in their own fashion +done their utmost, and Dane almost shared their opinion about the +locality; but he pointed to other men of lighter color and soldierly +aspect.</p> + +<p>"Do these want to lib for their own country one time, too?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Amadu laughed mirthlessly, and fingering the hilt of the straight blade +glanced at Monday, whose face was very grim, and the little negro, Bad +Dollar, crouching close by with a polished matchet in his hand.</p> + +<p>"They say they follow you if you be fit to hunt them Leopard or go chop +them dam Rideau."</p> + +<p>"They shall have an answer to-morrow," said Dane. "Monday, see there is +order in the camp. Tell them no man is fit to reach the coast himself, +and must wait until I go with him. There is something I want to ask you, +Amadu. What you did was well done, but who taught you how, when a white +soldier is buried, men carry the gun. Your master has gone, and I am +Cappy now."</p> + +<p>As it were mechanically, the big dusky alien closed his heels together, +while his hand went up to his ragged turban and fell again with a rigid +precision.</p> + +<p>"I had suspected it already," said Dane, half-aloud. "Sit down and tell +me about it. Monday, see no boy leaves the camp."</p> + +<p>The others disappeared, and Dane was glad when the man obeyed him. He +was respectful and intelligent, and Dane felt the need of company. It +seemed that the same feeling troubled Amadu.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>"The white man has guessed," he said, in a strangely mixed idiom. "I +carried an Emir's standard in the North, in the dry country where men +fear Allah, and there is corn and tobacco. My master mocked at the +Sultan, refusing his tribute, and the Sultan's horsemen came upon us +while we slept. They wore fine iron chain and carried the guns which +come south through the desert from where no man knows, but for an hour a +handful of us held the gate with the sword. Then when other gates went +down and the huts burned behind us, some one brought my master's horse, +and he rode out upon them. There were less than a score of us living +then, but we carried the standard almost through their midst, and when +my master went down, I and three others stood over him. The Sultan had +fewer men and horses when at last a gun-butt struck me down."</p> + +<p>Amadu flung his head up as he halted, and his eyes glittered when they +fastened on the listener's face.</p> + +<p>"The Sultan was served by men, and not by such as the heathen who follow +the little white man," he said.</p> + +<p>Dane could draw the intended inference, and when he nodded Amadu +appeared satisfied.</p> + +<p>"When I lay in the grass next morning only the wall remained of the +town," continued the dusky soldier of fortune. "There were sufficient +heads hung about it already, so I fled south to serve the White Queen, +as others of my people had done. We would follow the strongest, and knew +how the great Emir of the West had mocked the white men who do not speak +your tongue. So I came south and learned the drill, and wondered if the +English were mad when they sent a lad with the face of a woman to lead +us. There were twenty of us, all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> broken men who had lived by the sword, +and some laughed when for the first time our officer spoke to us. Others +answered him openly, and, perhaps not understanding all, he said no word +to them; but when one night four men returned carrying plunder they had +stolen from the heathen, and, mocking at his orders, threatened him, he +shot their leader. He stood alone before us, very slight and slender, +with the smoke of the pistol curling about him, and any one of those who +stood by could have crushed him with their hand; but we went back to our +huts when he told us, and henceforward obeyed him.</p> + +<p>"It happened that when time had passed, and we knew our officer, as he +knew us, we went up with him to chastise certain thieves, and came upon +a stockade across the path, with many men who carried guns behind it. +The sun hung low over the forest, and we feared treachery when one held +out a palm branch; but refusing to heed us, our officer went forward +alone to speak with the heathen. He stood as he used to stand, with one +hand on his side, so, holding in the other only a little cane, the +stockade ten paces from him, and we waiting, as he had bidden us, it may +be a hundred, behind him. A wise man would not have done so, but the one +who led us feared nothing. He spoke, and his voice came clear through +the shadow as he stood twisting his cane a little, one lonely white man +demanding submission from the heathen. Then a gun flashed, and he fell +forward on his face, and with a cry for vengeance we swept the stockade. +The heathen did not wait for the steel, and most of them escaped, for +darkness fell suddenly upon the forest.</p> + +<p>"We knew they would fly to the stronghold of a thief<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> in the country of +the white men who speak a different tongue, where, when certain thieves +had done so, our leader might not follow; but when we had buried him we +made a plan, and swore to send many of the bushmen after him. The night +was far spent when we crept softly about the stockade of that heathen +village, but men drunk with palm wine made merry within, doubtless +boasting how they had slain our leader. It was one who had served the +Sultan, climbing the stockade, drove his bayonet through the watcher at +the gate, and no man saw us slip from hut to hut until we gathered +softly about the headman's house, where in honor of the strangers who +had killed a white man there was feasting.</p> + +<p>"Three we could count on held the door, the rest went in, and there +remained no one living when they came out again. Then we burned the +village, and I went back to the outpost of the next white Captain and +told him what we had done. He had eyes like the Captain Maxwell, and +listened very quietly, tapping with his fingers on the table—so—but +another white man whom I did not know, smote it, calling upon Allah in +the speech of the English.</p> + +<p>"Then the Captain looked hard at me, asking, 'You had no order?'</p> + +<p>"'No. He was our master, and those bush thieves killed him +treacherously,' I said boldly, and one white man nodded to the other.</p> + +<p>"'You were wise to speak the truth in this,' said the Captain. 'Your +master would never have given that order; but there are men who will not +believe the rest of your tale.'</p> + +<p>"'By salt and by fire,' I was answering, when he lifted his hand.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>"'I said there are men who will doubt you, and say you shot your leader. +Even if that is not so, you have killed many of our good friends' +people.' When he said this the listening white man laughed a little. +'Their nation will demand restitution, and it is possible the +Commissioner will hang you for what you did—which would not please me, +for you are a good soldier, Amadu. Now you must wait in prison until we +hear from him.'</p> + +<p>"Again the white man smiled, and I could not read all that was in the +Captain's face as he looked at me, but his friend spoke, in the speech +of the English, saying that if he did something he would be condemned. +So I was laid in prison, and stayed there several days, fearing greatly +that I, who had carried the Emir's standard, should hang like a common +bushman, until one night the comrade who brought me rations set down a +treble quantity.</p> + +<p>"'Am I to hang, a fat man, to please the white men who speak +differently?' I asked him, but he answered nothing.</p> + +<p>"It was near midnight when I heard the silver whistle, and a sound of +running feet, after some one called the guard. Now I did not wish to +hang, and Allah gave me understanding. The roof was of whitened iron, +but the door was not strong, and they had left me my rifle, which was +not usual. The door went down at the second blow, and no man saw me as I +fled for the bush, taking the rifle and three days' food with me. Still, +I knew it would not be well for me to remain in the country of the +English, and when no man would hire me, I took service with my last +master. Two I had were killed before him, but neither was his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> equal, +and I shall not find such another in all Africa—though my service is +not completed yet."</p> + +<p>Again there was a mutual understanding between the pair, and when Dane +nodded Amadu went out softly. The story had interested and also +encouraged him, for he knew he would not be left without a helper in +what he had still to do. Now that the numbness which followed the blow +had begun to pass, there was sufficient to occupy his attention, and +Dane never closed his eyes that night. The gold won would suffice to +cover the cost of the two expeditions, and leave a balance which would +enable him to launch his invention. Dane feared that, situated where the +mine was, no company could be induced to handle it. It appeared certain +that the climate, the sicknesses, and the hostility of the natives would +between them prevent any private adventurers from working it +successfully. Nothing could be done for some months at least, until the +rains had ceased; and before morning the one white man who knew the +river's secret had decided to keep it and send no more of his countrymen +to their deaths in the Leopards' country. At the best, the mine lay in +no-man's-land, and he had not even a black ruler's doubtful concession +for reckless speculators to operate upon.</p> + +<p>What Dane had seen and suffered had humbled his pride. Maxwell's last +news still thrilled him, and he determined he would do what might better +have been done earlier—ask the woman for whose sake he had pressed on +into that forest to wait until he had made further progress in his +legitimate profession. So far, the way was clear, but even before his +comrade left him a desire for vengeance had been growing stronger +within<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> the survivor, and now a sullen fury filled the lonely man, who +had pledged himself to demand a full account for any breach of trust, +and had not hitherto failed his promise.</p> + +<p>At sunrise, leaving his tent unrefreshed, he called the men together and +addressed them first collectively.</p> + +<p>"I will take you all back to the coast, and you will receive more than +you bargained for when you get there," he said, rendering it, however, +into the seaboard tongue. "Still, as the bushmen may try to stop us on +the way, you will not start until you are rested, and I think you ready. +We may not go quite the shortest way, but no boy shall suffer for it who +serves me well."</p> + +<p>There was an approving shout when the listeners grasped his meaning, but +Dane called Amadu and Monday aside.</p> + +<p>"Before or after I take these boys to the coast, I have an account to +settle with Rideau. You will help me?" he said; and when he had made his +purpose plainer, a dozen of his special bodyguard came forward, +protesting their willingness to follow.</p> + +<p>They set to work at once, and there was much to be done. Arms required +to be stripped and oiled, loads packed for transport, and Dane drilled +his men an hour or two each day. A number of days passed before all was +ready, and then the combined forces looked fit for whatever they might +have to do; their leader recognized that the work might be arduous.</p> + +<p>It was early in the morning, and all waited for the word to march, when +Dane stood bareheaded beside a little cross on the bluff beyond the +camp. For a few moments his eyes grew misty as he glanced down<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> at the +date and name he had painfully hacked upon it. He felt that he would +never meet the equal of the man who slept beneath.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, comrade. You will be long remembered," he murmured thickly; +then he solemnly recorded a vow that while Rideau went free and +unpunished his own affairs would wait. Dane owed the dead man a duty, +and he had taken upon himself a pledge which he meant to discharge +thoroughly.</p> + +<p>It was with as little parade of weapons as possible that the expedition +headed for the coast, for the men had their orders and Amadu saw they +were carried out. Those who carried matchets wore them hidden under +their cotton robes, while at times the rank and file were allowed to +straggle unchecked, with small semblance of discipline, in a drawn-out +line. The discipline, however, was there, and disaster would have +overtaken any bushmen who attempted to profit by the apparent lack of +it. Dane did not order defenses of any kind to be raised at night, and +generally had his tent pitched apart from the main camp; so that when +they had made wide detours through dense forest and reeking swamp, some +of the black men commenced to murmur as well as wonder at his +recklessness. Amadu, Monday, and the negro, Bad Dollar, with whom he +held long conferences, realized, however, that their leader was by no +means inconsistent, even if they did not know that he was to all intents +and purposes the victim of a monomania.</p> + +<p>When it was too late forever to tell him so, he realized what his fallen +comrade had been to him; and remembering how Maxwell reached the river +camp, it was with difficulty that he refrained from breaking out into +fits<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> of baresark rage at the thought of their third partner's +treachery. The knowledge that it was necessary to pit an intelligence +unhampered by senseless fury against the enemy's cunning alone +restrained him; for he felt that Rideau, who had probably heard by this +time of his relief, even if he did not know it earlier, would strike +again to ensure his own personal safety. He had no lack of opportunity, +but, either by accident or by judgment, for long refused to fall into +the trap, however temptingly Dane baited it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">AN EYE FOR AN EYE</span></h2> + + +<p>The expedition wandered southward leisurely, and Dane grew more savagely +sullen as they passed dripping forest and foul morass in safety, until +at last he ordered his tent to be pitched one sunset, fully a hundred +yards from the camp. The light was failing when he stood outside it +looking about him with a curious suggestion of anticipation in his face. +They had reached the southern fringe of the Leopards' country, and +another week's march should place them in touch with French officials. +The forest was comparatively open, the cottonwoods growing well apart; +and gazing between the long rows of towering trunks streaked by blue +wood smoke, Dane could catch the shimmer of a sluggish creek. It was +deep and miry, and haunted, as he had seen, by huge saurians, but a +little produce evidently came down that way, for the bush path on either +side was connected by a native ferry.</p> + +<p>As he made a last survey the light died out; and his lamp was lighted +when Amadu, Monday, and Bad Dollar came softly into the tent. Dane stood +upright, but the rest crouched low among the cases, that they might not +reveal their presence on the illuminated canvas. Monday growled a +protest as he noticed how his master's figure was projected against it +by the light; but his comments fell unheeded, for there was a definite +purpose behind the white man's imprudence.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>"Again I found the footsteps," Amadu reported, using a mixture of +several tongues, as well as broken English. "The men who made them were +tired, and have doubtless followed us far. They will surely be satisfied +when they see us resting to-night."</p> + +<p>Monday grinned wickedly; Bad Dollar flung back his woolly head and broke +into a silent laugh; and Dane felt a thrill of satisfaction as he +glanced at the speaker. The four formed a curiously assorted company; +but one purpose dominated each of them equally, and the leader was +contented with his assistants.</p> + +<p>"One wore boots and trod in the soft places as no black man would," said +Amadu, reading the unspoken question in the white man's eyes. "Another +wore sandals, and went cunningly, as did the rest, walking as we do upon +our naked feet. Still, they left this behind them among the thorns."</p> + +<p>He held out what Dane was not surprised to see, a small tuft of +leopard's fur, and laughed harshly.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho! We shall try whether they are devils with lead and steel!"</p> + +<p>"The ferry canoe?" asked Dane briefly; and Amadu nodded.</p> + +<p>"I go to see to it, and afterward it will need good witchcraft to find +it. If any one would go south in a hurry he must swim to-night."</p> + +<p>"There are crocodiles in that stream," smiled Dane. "You will take men +you can trust and hide them where the path winds down to the water, +Amadu. Monday, you will see that until I call, no boy leaves the camp, +but let them lie down with their matchets beside them. Bad Dollar will +wait with me; and I will borrow Cappy Maxwell's gun to-night, Amadu."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>Sitting low among the cases now, Dane made careful preparations for his +own share in the approaching tragedy. That it would prove one he felt +certain. He cleaned Maxwell's gun with a loving care, polishing the +inside of the barrel until it glistened, and touching each part of the +action with oil. The weapon was a heavy, single eight-bore, with a +rubber pad on the heel; part of this Dane cut away, leaving the steel +bare, because he knew that at close quarters the butt of a heavy gun may +prove as deadly as the muzzle. It was with a curious stirring of +recollections that he saw the dead man's initials cut into the elevated +rib, and because of them his face was the sterner as he laid down the +weapon. At short range in the darkness it was likely to prove more +formidable than any rifle, and—for Dane was wholly under the influence +of the monomania—his own safety counted for little if he could use it +with due effect.</p> + +<p>Presently he reloaded half a dozen cartridges with heavy B pellets, +crimping the wads down almost affectionately, and thrust one into the +chamber and the rest into his pocket. Never were cartridges filled with +greater care. Then he laid two of the colored lights Maxwell had brought +beside the tent door, made sure he could find them by feeling alone, and +placed a tin match-box in one pocket where it could be most quickly +grasped.</p> + +<p>At last all was ready, and Dane sat perched high on a deal case between +the lamp and the canvas for a while. Any one in the forest could, of +course, see him clearly; but though Dane expected his foes would strike +that night he did not fear a long-range shot. Rideau, he knew, must have +recognized that his late associate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> could lay a formidable complaint +before the authorities, who, regarding his inland journeys with +suspicion, would be glad to fasten any charge upon him, and perhaps +equally glad of an excuse to send an expedition up into the Leopards' +country.</p> + +<p>After lying for a time on the matting at one end of the tent, he rose +and turned the lamp out; the watching then was not cheerful, and it was +comforting to feel the weight of the big gun upon his knee. The last hum +of voices had died away in camp, the fires burned low, and except for an +occasional floundering beside the creek, the bush was strangely silent. +The darkness was now intense. The wild animals would await moonrise to +begin their hunting; what Dane expected would happen before then. He +could not see Bad Dollar, who crouched somewhere near the entrance of +the tent, though he heard his file grate softly upon a matchet, and +could picture him running a black thumb along the keen-edged blade at +every cessation.</p> + +<p>Confused memories crowded upon Dane, with Maxwell stalking through them +all. He saw him again, alert, indomitable, resourceful, quelling the +mutinous, cheering the dejected, and tending the sick. He saw him +gasping his life away in that very tent, with, regardless of his own +agony, words which would brighten all his partner's future upon his +lips; and again a gust of passion stirred the lonely man in every fiber. +It passed, and—for Dane was not for the time being wholly sane—left +behind it a coldly murderous resolution.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there was a touch upon his leg. Without a sound Bad Dollar had +wriggled toward him. Turning as silently as he could, Dane crawled to +the entrance, where he crouched with his right heel beneath him, be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>hind +the drawn-back sheeting which hung slackly. It was so dark that he could +scarcely distinguish the nearest cottonwood; but though his ears failed +to localize any definite sound he became conscious of some danger +approaching. Under different circumstances Dane would have felt +distinctly uneasy, knowing, as he did, that the thick gloom sheltered +those who sought his life. Then, however, he feared only that he had not +accurately loaded the cartridge, or that the damp had spoiled the +fulminating mixture inside its cap; and his fingers were woodenly steady +as they tightened on the gun.</p> + +<p>He felt with one hand for the socket of the signal light and found it, +stretched out a foot and pressed it against Bad Dollar when he touched +him again warningly; and then the vague sensation of impending danger +grew into shape at a recognizable sound. Noiselessly almost, but not +quite, somebody or something was crawling toward the tent.</p> + +<p>Dane suspended his very respiration as he strained his eyes, and +listened. He could see nothing, and his ears seemed filled with a dull +throbbing, but in spite of this he could hear the faintest of rustlings +on two sides of the tent at once, and knew that, because no white man +could move in such a manner, his dusky enemies were coming. One seemed +to be making for the end of the tent, where his bed was spread; the +other was creeping toward the entrance to prevent the escape of the +victim in case his comrade failed at the first attempt. It was done with +so little noise that Dane found it hard to realize he had creatures of +flesh and blood to deal with, and not the malevolent devils the bushmen +believed in. Bad Dollar made no further movement, and Dane crouched +woodenly still, only sliding his forefinger inside the guard of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +trigger when at last a spray of leaves swished softly a few yards away.</p> + +<p>Then he heard somebody breathing close beside him, and knew that sudden +death stood hidden behind the slacker sheeting which began to roll back +very slowly; and yet, while the throbbing in his ears grew louder, he +remained impassive another few seconds. He had awaited that moment +patiently; and he meant to strike decisively, for his dead comrade's +sake. There was no light. The night was black and thick; but some sense +beside that of the optic nerve made it evident that part of the moving +sheeting was more rigid than the rest because it rested against human +flesh. Knowing that at the next move the assassin would fall over him, +Dane felt for that portion of the sheeting with the muzzle of the gun +while his forefinger contracted on the trigger.</p> + +<p>The barrel found something that yielded as he added the last ounce of +pressure; there was a detonation; the white man fell backward with his +eyes filled with smoke and two fingers gashed by the trigger guard; and +something that struggled convulsively fell upon the canvas and bore it +down.</p> + +<p>The tent collapsed behind Dane as he slipped from under it; but knowing +how the heavy B-shot would at that distance smash through bone and +muscle, he paid no more attention to this assailant. First he snapped +out the spent cartridge and crammed another home, then, striking a +match, touched the signal light. It smoldered for a moment, then a +column of blue fire swept aloft, and its radiance which beat athwart the +towering trunks showed a striking spectacle.</p> + +<p>Close behind the white man a shapeless heap of fur and black flesh lay +quivering upon the over-turned tent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> Half-seen for a second a dim +figure, whose garments were not those of a native, vanished among the +remoter trunks. Men with weapons came flitting out of the shadows which +shrouded the camp; and about thirty yards away a monstrous object with +the head of a beast and the legs of a man was slinking toward a creeper +festoon. Dane flung the gun to his shoulder and fired as it ran, but the +glare of the light beat transversely along the barrel, blinding him. +Springing clear of the filmy smoke, he saw the second assailant was +still running, and he sprang forward without waiting to reload. The +light would last but a few more seconds. Still, the object moved at +twice his speed, and might have escaped but that as he blundered on, +choking in his haste, a diminutive figure ran forth to meet it, and the +beast flung an upper limb aloft. Dane saw the spear which had been meant +for his destruction draw back to stab; but the negro, Bad Dollar, sprang +sideways, and his broad matchet, long filed to a razor-edge, flared +under the last flicker of the light as he swung it round his head. Then +there was sudden darkness, a thud and a crash.</p> + +<p>Dane, guessing that Bad Dollar's matchet had bitten deep, and that his +carrier comrades would see his victim did not escape, turned at top-most +speed in the direction of the creek. Men came running behind him; but a +heavier sound was audible through the patter of their feet, and he knew +that one who was not barefooted fled for his life near ahead. He was +running fast, but Dane, flinging the gun down, knew that he was gaining, +and remembered that the man he sought would find his passage barred +across the creek. So they ran, straining every sinew in a desperate +race. Now and then one smashed through a thorn brake, or staggered,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +catching his foot in a creeper vine, but neither went down, and the +gurgle of the creek grew nearer all the time. Dane raised his voice, and +though his cry was barely articulate it proved sufficient, and as +Amadu's hail came back in answer the footsteps before him grew slower, +and a tongue of flame shot up.</p> + +<p>So far there had been no miscarriage, and to furnish light for the +climax a torch had been kept ready by one of Amadu's men. It showed +first the group of grim black figures which guarded the narrow path to +the water through tall cane, and then a man in European dress who stood +still, gasping with fear and rage.</p> + +<p>It was Victor Rideau.</p> + +<p>"See that no boy fires on him unless he moves!" Dane made shift to cry; +and Rideau, turning, met him face to face.</p> + +<p>"I have expected you a long time," Dane said brokenly, for the race had +taxed his strength, and once more he was shaken by a fit of futile rage. +"Now I can't tell you how I regret we did not meet just five minutes +earlier."</p> + +<p>This was an adequate expression of the pursuer's feelings, for as his +enemy stood gazing about him in abject terror, Dane felt he could not +strike him down in cold blood, and he longed fiercely that he might be +provoked to some fresh violence.</p> + +<p>"Can you understand, you thief and midnight assassin, that there is not +enough room in this country for both of us?"</p> + +<p>"I comprehend nothing, camarade," Rideau answered calmly. "What would +you of me?"</p> + +<p>"Satisfaction!" Dane tried to choke down his fury. "There is a long +account between us, and we could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> have settled it with less difficulty +if you had had the courage of your confederates a few minutes ago. As it +is, you can choose between a dash for the forest and a volley as you go, +or a journey down to the coast in my custody. There you will be turned +over to the authorities. I reserve myself the privilege, if they do not +render you incapable of further mischief."</p> + +<p>Rideau laughed.</p> + +<p>"There I should denounce you for the plunder and killing of the +Indigene. The Administration has no charge against me. I am good friend +of the sous official, me. My friend, you are excite, and talk +foolishly."</p> + +<p>"If the chief of the Administration is a friend of yours, his own words +don't bear it out. I can substantiate quite sufficient against you; and +unless I'm greatly mistaken, the man with the cross on his forehead lies +riddled with big shot beside my tent. A number of my boys will swear to +his identity. In the meantime I have no further words to waste with you. +I intend to give the Administration the first opportunity for rewarding +you. It will be time for me to take further steps if they do not profit +by it as I think they will."</p> + +<p>Dane felt that he was weak; but even in his passion there were things he +could not do, and his enemy's helplessness was his protection. Also, he +knew that justice is tempered with discretion throughout much of that +country, and he hoped that if the Authorities suspected Rideau of +different offenses, but could not convict him, they would see that this +charge did not miscarry.</p> + +<p>The assumption of indifference faded from Rideau's face, and with a +swift glance over his shoulder he drew out his hand from under his +jacket. Dane afterward<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> decided that he saw, what all the rest were too +intent to notice, that the torch was burning out; for with an evident +effort and a shrug of his shoulders he answered quietly.</p> + +<p>"La bas they laugh at you, and I make you pay. Alors, when I am impotent +I surrender to the force majeure."</p> + +<p>Dane, calling to Amadu, strode forward with the failing light upon him. +Unarmed as he was, this was distinctly foolish, and he might have paid +for his folly, for just before the negro dropped the torch Rideau flung +one hand up, and simultaneously with a thin flash something hummed past +the Briton's head. There was bewildering darkness, and Dane ran straight +in upon his enemy, or where he supposed him to be, determined in spite +of the pistol to end the feud there and then. Rideau, however, had +beaten him again, for the growth about the water-side began crackling, +and when some of Amadu's men fired into it, the sound did not cease, and +they only came near destroying their master, who plunged savagely +through the bending stems.</p> + +<p>He fell into a pit of slime, sinking to the waist, and lost precious +time floundering in its oozy grip before he dragged himself out. Then +there was further ooze with matted roots which fouled his feet, while a +sound behind him showed that the negroes were following. It was Amadu +who, when he had waded up to the shoulders and sought for room to swim, +dragged him backward by main force; and though Dane struggled, he was +held fast in a grasp against which he was powerless.</p> + +<p>"If the white man is alive he makes no sound," he said. "No man could +find him in this darkness, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> perhaps they who crawl along the bottom +will. Still, when one brings the canoe up we will look for him."</p> + +<p>As his reason returned to him Dane realized that the search would be +useless. A hundred men might fail to find a fugitive who cowered +motionless amid the luxuriant aquatic growth, though, as Amadu had +suggested, the scaled inhabitants of the river would be less likely to +miss him. Still, when somebody brought up a canoe he encouraged them by +extravagant offers of cloth, and then turned back hurriedly toward the +camp. It would, while the confusion lasted, lie open to attack; and Dane +hoped that his enemy, if he succeeded in crossing the river, would leave +a trail behind him which could be followed on the morrow.</p> + +<p>Reaching his overturned tent he found a group of curious negroes +clustered about it, and because a fire had been lighted, there was light +to show that the huddled mass of fur and dusky skin lay where it had +fallen. The canvas was foul with half-coagulated stains whose color made +it unnecessary to inquire if the wound had been fatal. Dane had no +compunction. The man who had been slain when seeking his life with +devilish cunning was one of the league which had struck down his +comrade. Stooping with a shudder of disgust, he stripped the leopard's +fur from the face beneath, and was not surprised to see that a +cross-shaped scar on the forehead showed lividly.</p> + +<p>"Where is the other? There were two?" he asked; and it was with relief +that he saw Bad Dollar, whom he had forgotten, shamble toward him and +then turn beckoning. Dane followed the negro, who held high a blazing +brand, toward where another monstrous object lay full length among the +trampled undergrowth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> The fur had fallen partly clear of the flesh +beneath, and he saw that Bad Dollar's matchet had done its work.</p> + +<p>"Come here, all of you," called Dane. "Tell them to look at this man's +neck, Monday, and say if they know the meaning of what there is about +it."</p> + +<p>Monday talked with some of the negroes, who, chattering excitedly, bent +with fear and hesitation, to examine the tattooed device.</p> + +<p>"Them boy say this yellow nigger and them other be big cappy among them +Leopard, sah," Monday interpreted. "That be the Ju-Ju mark, and no +common nigger done wear him, sah."</p> + +<p>"Cappy Maxwell was right again," said Dane. "Make me a bed in the camp +and burn that tent to-morrow, Monday. I could not sleep in it—and I +think until I leave this ghastly country I shall not sleep again. See to +the sentries and let the rest lie down while they can. We lib for go on +again with the sun."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE ESCAPE</span></h2> + + +<p>Dane was mistaken when he said he could not sleep, for hardly had Amadu +returned to report his failure to find any trace of the fugitive than he +sank into deep slumber. This was not strange. He had lived for some time +under a constant strain, sleeping very little; and now that part at +least of his task was accomplished nature had her way. It was true that +Rideau had escaped him, but Dane believed that if he was alive they +might still overtake him. He decided that Rideau's life would no longer +be worth a day's purchase in the Leopards' country, and he would head at +once for the coast.</p> + +<p>Events proved him right, for when he opened his eyes the next morning +Amadu stood beside his couch to say that Rideau had left a trail it was +easy to follow across the creek, and that the boys were ready to march. +They started forthwith, and that was the beginning of a memorable chase. +Every indispensable pound of weight, including the weapons, was +ruthlessly flung away once they entered a settled country. The time for +food and sleep was cut down, and the camp boys, seeing that the road led +south toward the sea, vied with each other in their efforts to shorten +the journey. The forest rolled behind them, as did miles of dusty grass; +but the chase never slackened, and, for this region was populous, they +had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> news of the fugitive. One morning Dane reached a village he had +passed the previous night. At another they missed him by a few hours, +and found two lame men he had hired and left behind.</p> + +<p>Dane's own men had flung themselves down panting in the shade, but most +of them rose cheerfully in answer to his summons, while Monday used +forcible arguments to encourage the rest, and in ten minutes all were on +their way again. They lost the path in a morass, and at the next village +they found that Rideau had increased his lead; but Dane knew that they +were near the coast, and that he held his enemy between him and the sea. +So the chase went on, until they reached a native market on the banks of +a broad stream. A white man, so its ruler stated, had seized a canoe +there a few hours earlier.</p> + +<p>"Say dam low t'ief man done go chop one canoe and lib for get out like +the debbil down them river," explained a negro who seemed proud of his +linguistic abilities.</p> + +<p>"Tell your headman I'll pay twice its value for the best craft he has," +said Dane; and then consulted with his subordinates, for it was evident +that they must divide forces here. It was not more than three days' +journey to the coast, the headman said; and taking Amadu, Bad Dollar, +and six picked Krooboys with him in the big canoe, he left Monday to +follow with the rest to Little Mahu. Dane felt sorely tempted to leave +the gold with the headman, under guard, but thought better of it.</p> + +<p>The Kroos were skilled with the paddle, the canoe was long and fast, and +Dane's spirits rose as he felt the thin shell surge forward at every +sturdy stroke. All<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> that day the dusky bodies, stripped to the costume +of Eden, swayed athwart his vision over the flashing blades, as he +stared forward with aching eyes down the long vista of dazzling water +that unrolled itself before him. Palms, cottonwoods, creeper festoons, +mud banks, fled astern. The temperature grew suffocating under the glare +of afternoon, but still the thudding paddles rose and fell, while froth +licked the bows and the paddling song rose in spasmodic gasps. At sunset +they met a big trade canoe toiling upstream; and, excited by promises of +rich reward, the crew roused themselves to fresh effort when its +helmsman told them that another craft with three men in it, one of whom +was dressed as a white man, had passed him an hour earlier.</p> + +<p>A full moon rose over the forest presently, and they pushed on across +stretches of glistening silver and breadths of inky gloom. The Kroos had +done gallantly, but they were only beings of flesh and blood, and their +strength was ebbing fast. One who had dropped his paddle lay idle in the +bows, another appeared to be choking, and fouled his comrade's blade, +while the paddles of the rest dipped at steadily increasing intervals; +so seeing that neither bribes nor threats could stir them, Dane +desisted, almost too hoarse to make his voice audible. His hands were +raw and bleeding where the haft of his paddle had eaten into them. The +stream, however, ran with them, and they still made headway, while he +strained his heavy eyes, expecting each moment to see a canoe ahead.</p> + +<p>Dane, however, even yet had not gaged his enemy's ingenuity.</p> + +<p>They ran the craft alongside the landing of a native<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> village in another +hour or two, crawled out of her very stiffly, and were told by the +headman that two negroes had come ashore from a passing craft to +purchase food a little earlier, while a white man lay still in her +bottom. Dane concluded from this that the fugitive had slightly +increased his lead, and he was wondering whether he could by main force +get his boys on board again, or could engage a fresh crew, when a negro +who spoke English plucked his sleeve.</p> + +<p>"I go look them white men in canoe soffly, soffly. What you lib for dash +me if I tell you something, suh?"</p> + +<p>Dane had nothing left to offer as a present, and seizing the man by the +shoulder, shook him violently.</p> + +<p>"Tell me at once, and you shall have whatever you want if you will go to +Mahu for it," he said.</p> + +<p>The headman protested, but the negro only grinned when Dane slackened +his grip.</p> + +<p>"I not fool man, sah. The Lord he give me sense too much. You done dash +me them jackus you have on now."</p> + +<p>Dane's duck jacket was badly rent, but it was garnished with ornamental +metal buttons such as the black man loves. Tearing it off, he flung it +at the speaker. The heathen, finding himself successful, desired the +white man's trousers too; but this time Dane, disregarding the headman, +shook him savagely.</p> + +<p>"I go look them white man, sah. He was a black man in white man's +clofes."</p> + +<p>Dane stared at the man stupidly; and then clustering huts, red fires, +and wondering negroes, grew hazy before him, as choking with fury he saw +what had happened. Rideau had changed clothes with one of his +followers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> and sending him on for the pursuers to follow, had landed +and vanished into the forest. It was of the first importance to decide +where he would make for. Mastering himself with an effort, Dane managed +to obtain some useful information from the headman. Mahu, being +partially sheltered, was the only port in that vicinity where any one +would be likely to find surf-boats, or canoes suitable for a coast trip, +he said; for the bar of the river they had descended was generally +impassable. It seemed hardly probable that Rideau would turn north again +without equipment or escort; and deciding that he would endeavor to +escape from the colony before the authorities heard his pursuer's story, +Dane determined to push on at once for Redmond's factory. His men, +however, were utterly worn out, and finally declined to drag themselves +a yard farther. Bad Dollar lay down, and was either unwilling or unable +to get up again; only Amadu remained unbeaten. Finally the headman was +prevailed upon to provide carriers, and Dane and Amadu were borne out of +the village in lurching hammocks.</p> + +<p>At first the motion of a hammock is soothing, but though very weary Dane +could not sleep. The boys marched well; but consumed with impatience, he +lay wide awake peering into the darkness, and striving to encourage them +to more determined effort. They ceased the carrying song from sheer lack +of breath, and the white man could hear them panting beneath him. The +sun rose, but there was no halt for rest; and the men were stumbling +when one shouted excitedly, and not far ahead low whitewashed buildings +rose dazzlingly against the sea.</p> + +<p>When the carriers halted in front of them, two traders<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> whom Dane +recognized from Maxwell's description met him at the compound gate, and +stared wonderingly when, watching them with bloodshot eyes, the newcomer +told his name.</p> + +<p>"Where are the rest of you, and Maxwell?" asked Redmond. "You can't have +lost the whole of them; though there's no need to tell me something has +gone wrong. Few men come home from the back country looking as though +they had enjoyed the experience, but you're almost as bad as the last +one."</p> + +<p>"I have not enjoyed mine," Dane answered huskily; for he remembered with +what hopes and in whose company he had first marched from the sea, and +the contrast was bitter. "Maxwell has made his last journey."</p> + +<p>"Dead?"</p> + +<p>Dane nodded; and Gilby laid a hand on his shoulder with a gesture of +sympathy which touched him.</p> + +<p>"He was a wonderful man—but all the rest of them are not dead, too?"</p> + +<p>"We lost too many. The rest are following. I will try to tell you all in +good time. Has Rideau arrived here lately?"</p> + +<p>Gilby smiled dryly.</p> + +<p>"He has; and the way he did it coupled with your own appearance would +stir up any man's curiosity. Rideau came in dressed like a nigger this +morning, in the hottest hurry, saying he'd important business down the +coast, and offered me my own price for the loan of our big surf-boat to +go there in."</p> + +<p>"You didn't let him have it!" Dane gasped.</p> + +<p>"We don't often let business pass us; but I told him to go to perdition, +if he could find his way swimming."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> Gilby chuckled. "I also told him +several things that needn't be repeated."</p> + +<p>"Gilby never had any sense to spare," interjected his comrade. "He was +so proud of the speech he made that instead of warning the niggers not +to help him, he did nothing except tell me how he said it; and Rideau +got some fishermen to take him east in their canoe. They'll be well away +to leeward now. What did the brute do?"</p> + +<p>"Instigated my partner's murder, and twice attempted my own life," Dane +answered in breathless haste. "But I'm in no mood to waste time. Will +you hire me that surf-boat?"</p> + +<p>"If you want her to follow Rideau you shall have the boat for nothing, +and we'll both come along," said Redmond. "Gilby, get down to the beach +and see to the gear and crew. Meantime, you are coming straight into the +factory to get some food. Where is Rideau making for? That I don't know, +but he'll probably try to get on board the <i>Minella</i> if he's afraid of +you. She's billed on a stopping trip for Lagos, but she'll edge close +round Twin Point Bluff, and he'll no doubt try to board her there. +There's a nice southwester blowing now, and under the big lugsail we +ought to overhaul the canoe before he does so. She can't have got far +until the breeze sprang up."</p> + +<p>Dane had eaten little of late, but the food forced upon him almost +choked him now; and leaving most of it untasted, he drank feverishly; +then finding himself almost too exhausted to pace the veranda, he flung +himself impatiently into a chair.</p> + +<p>"Will that boat never be ready?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I'm hurrying her," replied Gilby, who also seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> impatient. "One +boy's sewing a new cloth in the sail, and as she's too big to paddle +far, we can't start until it's finished. She wants some pitch run into +her bilge seams, too, and won't be ready for an hour or longer. Still, +I'm hoping to overhaul Rideau early to-morrow—and he won't enjoy the +meeting, by the look of you."</p> + +<p>After some discussion Redmond reluctantly agreed to remain behind in +charge of the gold Dane brought down; and it was nearly dark when, +without shipping overmuch water, the surf-boat cleared the beach, and +with tall lugsail straining, lurched away eastward over the moonlit +swell. It was then that, lying in the stern to rest and gather strength +for what might yet be required of him, Dane told Gilby his detailed +story. He could afterward recall the intent face fixed upon him, the +crash of breakers throbbing through the haze that hid the shore, and the +listing craft's swift rise and fall. At the time, however, he was +conscious of nothing except that they were speeding east, and that the +trader assured him the slender native canoe dare carry very little sail +in such a strength of breeze. Gilby held the tiller, a big Krooboy sat +on the weather gunwale slacking off the lugsail sheet each time the boat +dipped her side to a stronger puff of breeze, and Amadu lay on the +weather floorings, deadly sick and groaning horribly, to the amusement +of the amphibious heathen.</p> + +<p>"It will be remembered that I have suffered these torments for my +master's sake," he said in a mixture of several tongues. "Still, once we +land I will beat the life out of some of these dogs."</p> + +<p>The craft traveled fast, for the off-shore breeze blew fresh abeam; and +though at times it lashed the waters into foam, the helmsman daringly +held on to the whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> lugsail; and so at last, when the moon hung low in +the west, and pearly streaks brightened over her starboard bow, a tall +bluff loomed blackly through the haze ahead.</p> + +<p>"Twin Point," said Gilby, shaking the spray from his jacket. "I have +kept her well inshore for a purpose, but now we'll ease the sheet off. +We should see the canoe once we round the head. The <i>Minella</i> can't be +far off by this time, either."</p> + +<p>Dane rose stiffly, but he could see little except the belts of thinning +haze which dimmed the waters ahead. He could hear the thunder of +breakers on the invisible foot of the cliff. The light was growing each +moment, the breeze dying fast, and presently the damp lugsail slatted +against the mast.</p> + +<p>"Get out your paddles!" ordered Gilby.</p> + +<p>The lugsail rustled down, the mast was lowered. Muscular black men +perched themselves on the gunwales, and the paddles beat the water, +while, when they had brought the head abeam, the mist rolled back, and +the red track of the sunrise streaked the heaving sea. A low, black blur +and a smear of smoke crawled athwart it; while nearer the shore, and +seen only when the surf-boat climbed the long undulations, a dusky +strip, with moving figures silhouetted against the radiant sea, lurched +toward the approaching steamer.</p> + +<p>"There he is!" Dane shouted. "Gilby, promise those boys anything if we +overtake him! Pull up your tiller and swing her farther off-shore! If we +pass out of hailing distance I shall miss the steamer."</p> + +<p>"You are right; and that's the <i>Minella</i>," was the answer. "Still, if +you wish to meet Mr. Rideau you had better let me arrange things for +you. We can see him out there, but he won't see us under the high bluff<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> +as yet, and his boys don't seem to be killing themselves yonder. He'll +expect us coming up from the southwest, and that is why I edged in along +the shore. Besides, there's a nasty piece of stone lying off the False +Point which, as the stream sets strong over it, it's wiser to keep well +clear of."</p> + +<p>Straining his eyes, Dane could see the surf on the Twin promontory some +distance away; and while he watched it a long undulation outshore of it +was rent asunder and a column of foam rushed aloft. It dissipated into +filmy spray, and a dull roar reached the listeners faintly. The steep +swell of the southern ocean breaks heavily along the coast.</p> + +<p>"That's Sunk Reed," said Gilby. "A steam-boat went ashore there three +years ago and smashed most of her bottom out in less than five minutes. +Since then careful skippers coming round False Point haul out from +shore. By the way the <i>Minella</i>'s steering, it's not certain that either +Rideau or ourselves will catch her. Paddle, you black devils, paddle!"</p> + +<p>Dane fancied the boys were doing their utmost, but the progress they +made appeared distressfully slow. The steamer was rising higher all the +time, but thin haze still clung about the rocks, and the surf-boat +probably remained unseen against the towering background. The canoe also +was growing larger, and Dane could plainly see the sunken reef hurling +clouds of spray aloft ahead of her, for the flood-tide joining the usual +eastward current was setting strong across it. Presently a figure waving +a white cotton cloth rose upright in the craft and the paddles whirled +faster, but there was no answering hoot from the steamer's whistle.</p> + +<p>"The <i>Minella</i>'s deep, and her skipper wouldn't stop<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> long for a +Colonial Governor when he has a full cargo on board," explained Gilby. +"It will be a tight fit to catch her; but we could head off Rideau, who +doesn't see us yet. I don't think his boys, being strangers, know how +far that reef runs out. Only the steeper seas break on the outer end of +it."</p> + +<p>"Head him off. Never mind the steamer," Dane said hoarsely.</p> + +<p>The boys made further efforts. Foam lapped about the bows, the splash of +paddles swelled into a resonant thudding, and Gilby pulled hard upon his +helm.</p> + +<p>"They see us at last!"</p> + +<p>Dane stood upright, cheering on the paddlers, who broke into a gasping +song, and both craft went flying across the swell; but as they edged +outshore it became evident that Rideau must pass the reef closely to +reach the steamer. Rolling heavily, she still came on, perhaps a mile +away, with unslackened speed. The spouting on the reef drew nearer, and +Dane's voice seemed to break up in his throat, for unless Rideau could +clear it during the next few minutes the pursuers felt sure of him. Dane +had no paddle, and there being nothing he could do, he stared forward, +moistening his parched lips with his tongue. Quickening a trifle, the +paddles flashed and fell, while the lurching hull leaped forward at +every impetus; but it seemed to the anxious man that she was merely +crawling over the flaming sea.</p> + +<p>"We have him!" gasped Gilby, with exultation in his tone. "If he holds +clear of the reef we have him safe! Hallo! Where is he going now? It's a +very odd chance he shoots through between the seas."</p> + +<p>Dane already had noticed that the outer end of the reef was marked only +by a swirl of water when the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> smaller seas passed. As Gilby spoke, the +canoe was turned straight toward it.</p> + +<p>"What that man can do we can. Follow him!" Dane cried; but Gilby +signaled to his crew, and they slackened their paddling. They were far +from timid, but they had not lost their reason.</p> + +<p>Twice the sea was rent apart ahead, and sheets of foam rushed up, while +the sound of its impact on the reef rang in a deafening crash. Then the +pursuit ended suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Are they mad, or turning on him?" gasped Gilby.</p> + +<p>A man flung in his paddle on board the craft ahead. The flash of a +pistol followed, but no sound was audible through the thunder of the +reef. Then a black form rose upright with paddle swung high, and a long +sea rose between the pursuers and the canoe. When it passed, the frail +craft floated bottom uppermost, and the reef hurled up a smother of foam +close ahead. Already several black heads were spread out across the +swell as the native crew swam for dear life to evade the danger.</p> + +<p>Gilby's boys stopped paddling altogether.</p> + +<p>"Go on! Rideau's clinging to the canoe!" shouted Dane.</p> + +<p>Gilby looked at the whirling spray, and then at his comrade.</p> + +<p>"It won't be in this world he'll answer for his offenses. She's drifting +straight across the reef, and nothing at that distance could cheat it."</p> + +<p>Dane struck the nearest negro.</p> + +<p>"Go on! Why don't you paddle? Gilby, where that man goes I follow!"</p> + +<p>The trader gripped him savagely by the arm.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>"He has escaped you. Keep still or I'll fell you with the tiller. Are +you mad? There, look yonder. That is the last of him."</p> + +<p>Staring out of eyes that but imperfectly recorded their impressions, +Dane saw the black hull of the canoe swing aloft on the crest of a sea +which rolled majestically toward the hidden barrier. The wall of water +broke up suddenly with a deafening roar, and a tremendous rush of foam +hurled itself aloft. When it fell, there was no sign of the canoe.</p> + +<p>"He has gone," said Gilby, in a curiously strained voice. "The niggers +will get ashore all right. You couldn't drown a beach man. Rideau will +be smashed out of recognition. Still, we'll paddle round to leeward and +make certain. Appolyon, you try to signal them 'teamer."</p> + +<p>When they slid round the other side of the barrier a shattered canoe +rocked bottom-uppermost on the confused welter, but there was no sign of +a human head; and when the blast of a whistle reached the searchers, the +surf-boat's bow was toward the steamer.</p> + +<p>"You had better go on with her and make an affidavit before the +Commandant, if they'll land you," advised Gilby. "I'll send in a written +statement and swear to it if they send a Commissioner. Meantime, we'll +keep your boys at the factory; and, in case we might want their +testimony, I'll take off Rideau's niggers too. Of course, we had no +intention of drowning him, but the way he shot that poor black +paddle-boy lessens one's regrets. Rideau was dangerous to his friends to +the last."</p> + +<p>Dane was ready to act upon any suggestion. Worn out, mentally and +physically alike, he could not think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> connectedly; and when, climbing +the lowered ladder, he was surrounded by a wondering group on the +steamer's deck, he turned from them savagely.</p> + +<p>"We are all curious," said the skipper. "What took place aboard the +canoe—mutiny, murder, or an outbreak of insanity?"</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you anything now; but if you will come ashore with me at +the next French station, where I must make a declaration, you shall hear +how the canoe was wrecked when I am able to tell it."</p> + +<p>"That will do," acquiesced the skipper. "You certainly don't look fit +for unnecessary talking now. Better turn in, and I'll send our doctor +along to you."</p> + +<p>Dane was glad to do so; but he had hardly flung himself down in his room +before the doctor came in.</p> + +<p>"I have been living under a constant strain during the last few months, +and have had very little sleep for weeks," he said. "Give me something +that will keep me from waking or thinking for twelve hours, if you have +it."</p> + +<p>The surgeon touched his wrist and laid a hand on his forehead.</p> + +<p>"So one would suppose," he replied; "but if the scene we just witnessed +was the climax of your adventures, I hardly think you will need a +sleeping draught. Nature is addicted to providing her own remedy. If +you'll take the dose I'll send you, you will probably wake up +considerably better. It will not contain narcotics."</p> + +<p>He went out, and Dane soon sank into deep, refreshing sleep.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE HEART OF BONITA CASTRO</span></h2> + + +<p>A puff of cool air streaming in through an open port roused the sleeper, +and he became conscious of a restful lift and swing. The hammock boys, +it seemed, had a good path beneath them and were traveling well. But the +swing was longer than that of any hammock, and a steady vibration, which +resembled no sound in the forest, recalled him to remembrance. He +recognized that it was made by pounding engines. The air that fanned him +was also fresh and invigorating, and Dane lay still again with a sense +of vast relief. The time of strain was over, and now for a space at +least he could rest. Dressing languidly, he went up on deck.</p> + +<p>The ocean gleamed, a great sheet of rippling silver, under the moon. +Clear stars burned above the mastheads, which swayed to and fro athwart +them, while the splash of tumbling waters and the sting of flung-up +spray seemed charged with healing. Lights shone in the smoking-room +windows, through which laughter and a murmur of voices came out, but +just then merriment would have jarred on Dane, and he leaned over the +rails, baring his head to the breeze, and trying to realize what had +happened to him. He felt that the shadow which had hung over him had +melted while he slept, and escaping from its baleful darkness, which had +obscured his mental vision, he had awakened sane. Then, though for the +sake of one who slept on a lonely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> bluff beyond the Leopards' country, +Dane did not regret what had been done, he shuddered, remembering the +one grim purpose which had dominated him.</p> + +<p>"We did not expect to see you yet," said the skipper, halting beside him +with the doctor. "Of course, we have had only one topic of +conversation."</p> + +<p>"What is the general opinion?" Dane asked indifferently.</p> + +<p>"My glass is an old one, but the mate has one of the latest inventions," +the skipper answered. "He declares it was the white man who upset the +canoe, and did it deliberately."</p> + +<p>"I should like to see the mate," exclaimed Dane. "If he is right it +would to some extent be a relief to me."</p> + +<p>"I haven't quite relinquished my authority yet," the doctor interposed. +"One might conclude it would be wise for you to give your mind a rest +from that particular subject. A good many things happen in this country +which it is well to forget; and there are signs that your load has been +as heavy as you are fit to carry."</p> + +<p>"It is good advice, if somewhat hard to profit by," said Dane; and the +two men turned away. The skipper's words, however, had removed his last +compunction. He had determined to deliver Rideau to justice, and not +planned to drown him, but if his enemy had preferred to take his own +life rather than stand a trial, the responsibility did not rest upon his +pursuer.</p> + +<p>Dane strolled forward out on to the reeling forecastle, and found the +swift passage of the ship through the moonlit water soothing. Ahead +there was neither reef nor shoal. She forged on, hurling aside each sea +which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> barred her way, straight toward a safe haven through open water. +It seemed a happy augury, and presently Dane retired tranquilly to sleep +again.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning the mate and the skipper went ashore with him at +a cluster of white-washed buildings, over the largest of which the +tricolor floated, and were courteously received by a little elderly +officer. His secretary took down the statements made by the captain and +mate, and when these had been sworn to, he quoted from a book before him +as he turned to Dane.</p> + +<p>"It sounds like a romance, but we have proof that Monsieur speaks the +truth," he said. "He will return to Petit Mahu with an official who will +examine the traders and the Indigene. Until his report is considered, +Monsieur will not leave this colony. In touching the gold, the signature +of this contract is undoubtedly that of Victor Rideau, and under the +terms of it his share is forfeit. Thus, subject to certain fees, +Monsieur retains possession. In regard to the position of the river he +decides to say nothing? It is not convenient that more white men lose +their lives in that country of the devil, or cause the bad understanding +with the Indigene. We have not yet open it for exploitation. Our +information describes it as barren, and without value, which Monsieur +will, I think, not contradict."</p> + +<p>Dane had little trouble with the authorities. A commendable absence of +useless formalities characterized all their dealings with him, and in a +very brief space he was free to leave the colony. His men had been paid +much more than they bargained for, and it was with genuine regret that +he took leave of the last of them; it was with difficulty that he +dissuaded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> Monday from accompanying him to England. The few Kroos +remaining at Mahu when he left paddled him off to his steamer; and +looking back from her deck, he could see Amadu's tall figure on the +beach. Redmond and Gilby came on board, and, dining there, celebrated +the parting so thoroughly that several seamen were needed to assist them +into their boat, while how any of the party ran the gauntlet of the surf +was more than Dane knew. They were not men of much refinement and had +their weaknesses, black and white alike; but he owed a good deal to the +sturdy heathen, while the two of paler color, instead of turning aside +from a distressed compatriot, had shown themselves ready to assist him +with a warm-hearted recklessness not always to be found among those +possessing a higher degree of culture.</p> + +<p>Dane had one task still before him; and it was a hot afternoon when he +called for the last time at Dom Pedro's factory. It seemed almost +strange that everything should remain as he had last seen it—the little +olive-faced gentleman lounging, cigarette in hand, against the veranda +balustrade, and Bonita and her sleepy aunt lying in deep chairs in the +shadow. In spite of the heat and sickness in that land, life goes +smoothly at an African factory run by men of Latin race.</p> + +<p>Dane was puzzled by something in Bonita's manner as she rose to meet +him. She showed little pleasure, but rather suppressed anxiety, and +looked past him toward the beach as though expecting somebody. Even Dom +Pedro seemed shaken out of his usual serenity, the señora's eyes were +open wide, and there was a silence after the opening courtesies.</p> + +<p>"It is with the great satisfaction we see you safe,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> said Dom Pedro, +though satisfaction was not what his voice most clearly expressed. "But +you bring us news? Two of you go up yonder, and there is a third who +follow. One only he comes back."</p> + +<p>Dane guessed that the speaker's anxiety chiefly concerned the third who +followed, and the implied question was the least difficult to answer.</p> + +<p>"I have news," he said. "The man who followed us was no friend of yours, +señorita?"</p> + +<p>Bonita Castro's lips curled scornfully.</p> + +<p>"No. I have little cause to be a friend of him."</p> + +<p>"He will harass you no longer. He is dead," said Dane.</p> + +<p>There was no pity, but rather pride and a still strained anxiety in the +girl's eyes.</p> + +<p>"It is as I told you, padre. The dog has failed in his treachery and the +Señor Maxwell has kill him."</p> + +<p>"No. He was drowned at sea."</p> + +<p>"It was not the Señor Maxwell who kill him? And the man with the cross +on his forehead?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Dane. "Rideau was drowned while trying to avoid me. The man +with the cross on his forehead is also dead. He twice attempted my +comrade's life, and I shot him one night when he was crawling toward my +tent."</p> + +<p>Bonita bent her head in a curious formal salutation.</p> + +<p>"Our felicitations, Don Ilton. And the Señor Maxwell?"</p> + +<p>Her voice grew a little deeper with the last question, and there was a +note in it which puzzled Dane, while she cast a swift glance toward the +second surf-boat lurching in shore from the anchored steamer. The man +hesitated before he answered.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>"He also is dead, señorita. He was treacherously murdered in the forest +beyond the Leopards' country."</p> + +<p>Amid all the memories Dane carried with him from Africa there were only +two which equaled in vividness that of the few following moments. The +girl stifled a half-articulate cry, and a heavy silence succeeded. Dom +Pedro grasped the rails hard with genuine consternation in his face; and +there was horror in the señora's expression. Bonita stood stiffly +upright, with lips turned suddenly bloodless and a look that astonished +Dane in her dilated eyes. Beyond that space of shadow there was dazzling +sunlight, and to emphasize the stillness on the veranda the hot air +vibrated with the roar of the sea. The girl appeared to choke for +breath. Understanding suddenly, Dane turned his eyes away. It was the +señora who spoke first.</p> + +<p>"All dead. <i>Reina de los angeles—ave!</i>" she murmured.</p> + +<p>Dane, looking round again, saw that Bonita was mistress of herself. It +was all clear now, and he admired as well as pitied her. Passionate, +vindictive, wayward as she was, the blow had stirred within her the +pride of her race, and it was with a queenly air she turned toward him.</p> + +<p>"The señor will pardon us if we give him pain, but he will tell us all. +Of Rideau's treachery, and—how his comrade fell."</p> + +<p>Dane fancied that he was the only one in the party who had guessed the +girl's secret; and he might not have done so but that sympathy quickened +his perceptions, for he also had loved Carsluith Maxwell. He felt that +it might be well for Bonita Castro if she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> heard everything, and he +roused himself to do his fallen comrade justice. Thus the dead man moved +an heroic figure through all the kaleidoscopic happenings. The rest, +black and brown, were lay figures, himself a puppet obeying the leader's +will; and, when the narrative concluded, Dane felt that if others now +knew his comrade as he had known him he was satisfied. Remembering what +he had seen he could, he fancied, read by the light of it what was +passing in Bonita Castro's mind. At times she listened with quivering +lips, then a moisture gathered in her eyes, which nevertheless glittered +with a curious pride, and he thought her superb when at last, with a +glance only, she thanked the bringer of the news.</p> + +<p>"He was all <i>caballero</i>, as you say, a very gallant gentleman. I will +pray for the sound rest of him," she said.</p> + +<p>Dom Pedro moved uneasily.</p> + +<p>"He was a man without principle this Rideau. With excuses to the señor, +I would my books examine, and try to figure of how much he rob me," he +said, and hurried away.</p> + +<p>Bonita followed, and Dane was left with her sleepy aunt who presently +astonished him. The señora, it appeared, was a lady of much keener +perceptions than he had imagined; and he understood why she told him +what had happened during Rideau's last visit to the factory. It was +evident that Dane owed his life in a measure to her niece. When she +concluded, the lady lapsed into a somnolent silence, which, if assumed, +was tactful, leaving the man, who was glad of a respite from +conversational effort, to digest the information.</p> + +<p>Dom Pedro had cargo for the steamer, and it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> late when Dane said +good-by to Bonita on the moonlit veranda. It may have been due to the +silvery light, but she seemed to have changed, and Dane shrank a little +from meeting her. Bonita, however, spoke very quietly.</p> + +<p>"I have a confession to make," she said. "You have done much for my +father, and it is right that I tell you."</p> + +<p>"Please don't, señorita," Dane interposed; but the girl checked him.</p> + +<p>"You lost the Señor Maxwell's map here, and I, who found it, sold it +Rideau. It was the infamy, but the price was tempting—and I knew one of +you would kill him. You will try to forget the injury?"</p> + +<p>"I think I know why you did it, and I do not blame you," said Dane. "I +shall most clearly remember that, when I was sick, you saved my life for +me, as I think you did again when you helped my comrade to forestall +Rideau."</p> + +<p>Bonita smiled a little.</p> + +<p>"You are generous, but I would have it so. Then we are, as you say, the +equal. I have been able to help you. You give me my liberty. You sail +now for England, Don Ilton?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Dane; and again Bonita Castro astonished him.</p> + +<p>"She loves you?" she asked simply.</p> + +<p>The question was startling, and the man answered stupidly.</p> + +<p>"I hope so. I—I do not know."</p> + +<p>For a moment the swift laughter rose to the girl's eyes, but died in its +birth, and the movement of her hands that followed it stirred the man's +pity.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>"You do not know? I saw the picture, and it was for her you went up into +the Leopards' country. You are a strange people, Don Ilton—and the +Señor Maxwell, he was like you?"</p> + +<p>Dane afterward remained uncertain why he spoke as he did, but the words +framed themselves, as it were, without his volition.</p> + +<p>"No," he said; "nobody could compare me with Maxwell. Nor do I think I +have met many such as he; but when he was dying, he spoke much of you. +He told me you had promised to help us, and that he could trust you. It +was almost his last charge that I should tell you so."</p> + +<p>Dane knew by her swift grateful glance that Bonita Castro blessed him +for the speech. In impulsive southern fashion, she held out both hands +to him.</p> + +<p>"<i>Vaya con Dios</i>, and the good saints send you happiness! I think we +neither of us forget what has happened here, Don Ilton."</p> + +<p>The last words ended in something like a sob, and Dane, who could think +of no fitting words to say, only crushed the little hot hands in his own +and swung his hat low as he turned away. Dom Pedro walked to the +surf-boat with him, but Dane scarcely heard what he said, for his +thoughts were centered on the girl, who stood, a pathetic figure, gazing +after him from the moonlit veranda.</p> + +<p>The Krooboys were slow to reach the steamer, but Dane was the better +pleased, for he hardly felt equal to facing the questions or the +badinage of her passengers just then.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI<br /> +<span class="smalltext">REWARDED</span></h2> + + +<p>It was a sunny afternoon when the little West Coast mailboat's engines +ceased their throbbing off the mole of Santa Cruz, Teneriffe. Clear +skies had hung over her as she rolled northward in no great hurry, and +the fresh breezes which curl the sparkling sea between Morocco and the +fever coast had brought new life to her sickly passengers. Dane felt his +heart grow lighter as each league of deep blue water rolled astern, and +the shadow of the dark land had almost fallen from him when the Canaries +rose out of the sea. He had youth on his side, besides a comparatively +clean conscience and a sound constitution; and a little chest consigned +by him to a British bank was locked in the steamer's specie room. Though +he would gladly have flung its contents into the sea to undo the past, +regrets were futile. So, with a courage which sprang rather from +humility than pride, he had determined to ask Lilian Chatterton to +either share his struggles or await his prosperity.</p> + +<p>The long black mole slid past, the bows forged more slowly through the +crystal brine, and the harbor opened up. Even before the yellow flag +fluttered aloft, boats by the dozen shot out from the lava steps, and +Dane eagerly scanned the faces of their occupants. They were fruit +peddlers, shipping and coaling clerks, and he sighed with disappointment +as he next swept his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> eyes along the mole. Nobody among the loungers +there raised a hat or a handkerchief.</p> + +<p>"Expecting friends?" asked the purser, halting beside him.</p> + +<p>"I was," Dane answered dejectedly. "Although I cabled from the Coast, I +don't see them."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't count too much on that," smiled the purser. "Nobody is very +particular in Spanish possessions, and it's quite possible they lost +your message or couldn't decipher the English name. We shall fill up +here with tourists, and if you are going home with us you must let me +know."</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you now," Dane said. "It depends on what I hear ashore."</p> + +<p>"Well, I won't keep a berth for you."</p> + +<p>He left Dane troubled when he turned away, for he had certainly expected +Chatterton to welcome him and he had counted the days until he could ask +Lilian an eventful question. He had hoped also that the cable message +would have prepared them for his tidings; he shrank from again appearing +unexpectedly as the bearer of tragic news. There was no time to be lost, +however, and he went ashore in the first boat. Strange faces looked down +at him from the mole, and no friendly voice was raised in greeting; and +further annoyance awaited him when he hurried into the hotel.</p> + +<p>Mr. Chatterton and family had stayed there for a time, but had left, the +major-domo said. He thought they had gone to Madeira, but they might +have sailed for England, or anywhere. It was not his business to ask +where any Englishman wandered to, but the clerk might know. The clerk, +it appeared, was out, and might not be back for an hour or so, but the +major-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>domo suggested that in the meantime something might be gathered +by an examination of the visitors' letters in his office. He showed Dane +where the office was, and then shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"What pity! Ramon he have lock the door," he said.</p> + +<p>"That's a very small obstacle," answered Dane. "Nobody else has a key, I +suppose, so I'm going to get in through the window, and I will most +certainly break it if he has fastened that up, too."</p> + +<p>There were murmurs of protest, and Dane fancied that half the staff +gathered in the hall and watched him endeavor to wrench the sash out by +main force. When he had almost accomplished it, somebody suggested that +when Ramon locked the front door he usually left one at the side open. +It was a characteristic example of how things are managed in Latin +countries; and the next minute Dane was busy turning over a bundle of +letters in the office. There were several for Thomas and Mrs. +Chatterton, and the sight of them filled him with satisfaction. Then his +eye was caught by his own name on the top of two envelopes reforwarded +to Chatterton, and after a swift glance at the embossed name on the +back, he tore the first open.</p> + +<p>It was from a celebrated engineering firm, and his blood pulsed faster +as he read it:</p> + +<p>"Although when you last called upon us we could not quite see our way to +do so on the terms you mentioned, we are now prepared to undertake the +manufacture and sale of your invention on the following conditions."</p> + +<p>Dane saw that the conditions were as favorable as any non-capitalist +inventor could expect, but he felt that the gold he had sent home would +help him to improve them; and it was with a thrill of satisfaction that +he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> opened the second letter. This was from his last employers, offering +him reasonable remuneration if he would undertake the supervision of the +machines and bridge work they were sending out to execute an important +railroad-building contract abroad.</p> + +<p>Here was one difficulty removed, at least. Dane hastened to the cable +offices, and felt a great contentment when his messages were on the +wires. His prospects were improving, and it was encouraging to know he +would not pose as a wholly indigent suitor. When he reached the hotel +once more, the clerk had returned, and informed him that Mr. Chatterton +and family had retired for the sake of coolness to Laguna, five or six +miles away.</p> + +<p>Dane procured a horse, and within the next few minutes he was urging it +at its best pace up the steep hillside. The horse, as it happened, was a +good one, and its rider's spirits rose higher as each mile went by. It +was a fine evening, and to one fresh from the enervating heat of Africa, +there was a wonderful buoyancy in the cool air that came down from the +cordillera. It was a refreshing change to see the merry brown faces of +the peasants who saluted him as he passed, and hear the laughter of the +mule drivers as their climbing teams dropped behind. Dane had almost +forgotten the dark land when the white walls of drowsy Laguna rose to +view. The loungers in the plaza knew the Englishman Dane inquired for, +and one of them preceded him down a narrow street with a dignified +leisureliness which even the sight of a dollar failed to dissipate, and +finally halted outside a high-walled garden doubtless laid out by some +Castilian conquistador four centuries ago.</p> + +<p>Dane swung himself from the saddle before a door<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> ornamented by a +beautiful bronze bell handle, and spent two minutes pulling the bell +vigorously. There was no answer nor any sound within, and remembering +that it did not necessarily follow that the handle had a wire attached, +he stepped back into the roadway and flung himself against the barrier. +A hasp of some kind yielded, and he staggered forward into the garden. +The sun was dipping behind the cordillera, but its red light beat into +his eyes, and at first he could see only a row of crimson oleanders +stretching away before him. Their fragrance and the scent of heliotrope +was heavy within his nostrils. Passing through the shadow of an +orange-tree he made out a white wall garlanded by blue bougainvillea, +and halted at the sound of a startled voice as his eyes fell upon the +group on the terrace beneath it.</p> + +<p>Thomas Chatterton had flung his chair back, and stood up with a flushed +face, speaking excitedly. His niece also had risen, and her gaze was +fixed upon the man who came hurriedly out of the shadow of the tree. She +was silent, but Dane read in her eyes that which set his heart beating, +and for a second or two he saw only the dainty figure and the smiling +face turned toward his own.</p> + +<p>The elation suddenly died out within him, and it was by an effort that +he moved forward, for there was a third in the party. A man with +iron-gray hair stood a little apart from the rest, and while each of his +companions showed that they rejoiced to see the new arrival, he was +gazing fixedly at the open door behind him. Dane saw that it was +Brandram Maxwell of Culmeny, and knew why he watched the door.</p> + +<p>"This is even more than we hoped for, Hilton, though we have all been +anxiously waiting for news of you,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> said Chatterton. "Thank Heaven you +are safe anyway. Worth a good many dead men, isn't he, Lilian? She knew +Maxwell would bring you out; and when I grew anxious her confidence +reassured me. But why didn't you cable—and where is Maxwell?"</p> + +<p>Dane disregarded the last question, for Lilian laid her hand in his. He +was not certain what she said, but her eyes were shining under the +half-closed lashes in a fashion that was eloquent enough. Still Dane +could not linger to wonder what, if they were fully opened, he might see +within them, for Chatterton repeated his question.</p> + +<p>"Where have you left Carsluith. Did he not come up with you from Santa +Cruz?"</p> + +<p>"No," Dane answered, and his voice shook a little. "Did you receive my +cable?"</p> + +<p>"We did not," said Chatterton. "What has gone wrong, Hilton. Speak out, +man!"</p> + +<p>Lilian, guided by some womanly instinct, laid her hand warningly on the +speaker's arm, and Dane nerved himself for the hardest task of all, as +the owner of Culmeny, moving forward, stood close beside him. He was +very much like what Dane's dead comrade had been—wiry, spare, and grim. +The drooping gray moustache matched the pallor of his face; but his eyes +were steady and keen, and only a deepening of the lines about them +betrayed his anxiety.</p> + +<p>"I fear you bring bad news," he said.</p> + +<p>"I do," Dane answered as steadily as he could, though the older man's +composure rendered his task even harder than a sign of weakness would +have done. "I had hoped the cable I sent might have prepared you—and +now I hardly know how to tell you."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>It was just possible to see that a tremor ran through Maxwell and his +lean hand closed a little more firmly than was needful on the back of a +chair.</p> + +<p>"Brevity is best. Disaster has overtaken him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>The owner of Culmeny looked him full in the eyes, and it was some time +before Dane could shake off the memory of that gaze.</p> + +<p>"It is the worst—he is dead?" he said; and Dane mutely bent his head.</p> + +<p>Brandram Maxwell's fingers trembled, and for a moment he looked at the +ground; then he spoke very quietly:</p> + +<p>"I feared this when I saw he was not with you. Tell me how it happened. +It is not the first shrewd blow fate has dealt me."</p> + +<p>Chatterton and Lilian would have turned away, but Maxwell beckoned them +to remain.</p> + +<p>"No. We have grown to be good friends, and I should like you to hear it, +too," he said, looking toward Lilian. "There will be no cause for any +one who knew my son to blush at this story. It will be a kindness if you +hide nothing, Hilton."</p> + +<p>Dane afterward wondered how he got through that recital. At the +beginning speech seemed to fail him, but one listener's spirit infected +him as he proceeded, and pride was mingled with the man's grief, for +what he had seen in Bonita Castro's face he read in that of the owner of +Culmeny. It was dark when he concluded:</p> + +<p>"I can tell you nothing more, sir, and, though God knows it is the +truth, it is useless to say that I would willingly have staked my own +life on the chance of saving him."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>Lilian appeared to be crying softly, and Chatterton troubled with +something in his throat, for he coughed several times vigorously, but +Maxwell held out his hand to Dane.</p> + +<p>"I believe you would. You were his friend," he said, still with a +startling quietness. "You did your best for my dead son, and no man dare +blame you. It is a brave story, and I am not ashamed of his end. It was +in accordance with the traditions of an unfortunate family. But you will +excuse me. I am getting an old man and weaker in the fiber than I used +to be."</p> + +<p>He turned away, holding himself stiffly erect, and Chatterton laid a +heavy grasp on Dane's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Well done, Hilton. If you had not chased that damned rascal to his +death I'd have sent you back with another expedition to take up the hunt +again. I am sorry for Culmeny. He was fonder of Carsluith than anything +else under heaven, and you saw how he took the blow. Well, I won my own +place, and went through the fire for it, but the brand Culmeny wears is +what I could never attain to. They were alike, both of them, and it will +be a long time before we find their equal. Perhaps I had better follow +and try to comfort him."</p> + +<p>It struck Dane that Thomas Chatterton, though not lacking in sympathy, +would hardly make a tactful comforter, but he did not say so, and Lilian +seemed content to let him go.</p> + +<p>"You are not sorry to see me, Lilian?" asked Dane, taking one of the +girl's hands into his own, for her cheeks were damp yet, and bending, he +caught her answer.</p> + +<p>"No, but I was shocked. Hilton, I felt that when he went out to save you +he knew he was going to his death, and I—I let him go."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>"Even you could not have turned him aside," said Dane.</p> + +<p>"I—right or wrong—I did not try."</p> + +<p>"He was a better man than I am," declared Dane. "But it is fortunate +that there are women who can be content with less than the best, and +make up the deficiencies themselves. Will you listen to a little tale, +one which is rather amusing than somber?"</p> + +<p>"Is it about the poacher? If so, you need not tell me. You must also +take the confession I ought to make for granted. You were always a +blunderer, Hilton."</p> + +<p>"I dare say I was," Dane answered, laying his hand on the girl's +shoulder in a masterful fashion. "And my last adventure was perhaps the +maddest freak of all; but that is beside the question. I once made a +very vague arrangement with you, though you kindly said we understood +each other. Now, I must ask you, do you wish that understanding to +continue. If so, the only way for me to keep it would be to go back to +Africa. A steamer sails to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"No," the girl said shyly, then lifted her head and glanced at her +companion. "I dare not send you back to that hateful country, Hilton."</p> + +<p>There was no need for further speech. Dane knew that he had won at last.</p> + +<p class="theend">THE END</p> + + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original text have been corrected.</p> + +<p>In Chapter IV, "You need not be. unless you are fond of poverty" was +changed to "You need not be, unless you are fond of poverty", and a +comma was added after "That same, sir".</p> + +<p>In Chapter VI, a period was added after "the power of lucid speech +deserted him".</p> + +<p>In Chapter IX, "Your sister, persumably" was changed to "Your sister, +presumably".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XI, "at sunrise tomorrow" was changed to "at sunrise +to-morrow", and a comma was changed to a period after "until I was +certain".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XII, a comma was removed from "the footsore, and spiritless +carriers".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XV, "prospecting for Niven'st gold" was changed to +"prospecting for Niven's gold", and a comma was added after "I think one +of you will".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVI, "unpleasnt frame of mind" was changed to "unpleasant +frame of mind", and "snuggly curtained room" was changed to "snugly +curtained room".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVII, "which suprised the listener" was changed to "which +surprised the listener", and a period was added after "said Lilian +sharply".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXII, a period was added after "the white men who do not +speak your tongue".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXIII, "Dane ran straight in upon his emeny" was changed to +"Dane ran straight in upon his enemy".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXIV, "out in less then five minutes" was changed to "out in +less than five minutes", and "the scene we just witnessesd" was changed +to "the scene we just witnessed".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXV, "Reina de los anegles" was changed to "Reina de los +angeles".</p></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The League of the Leopard, by Harold Bindloss + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD *** + +***** This file should be named 36804-h.htm or 36804-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/8/0/36804/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The League of the Leopard + +Author: Harold Bindloss + +Illustrator: Carlton Glidden + +Release Date: July 21, 2011 [EBook #36804] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD + +HAROLD BINDLOSS + + + + +[Illustration: "AT DAWN THEY WERE STILL RIDING"--_Page 230_] + + + + +THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD + +BY HAROLD BINDLOSS + +AUTHOR OF "PRESCOTT OF SASKATCHEWAN," "THE LONG +PORTAGE," "RANCHING FOR SYLVIA," ETC. + +WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR +BY CARLTON GLIDDEN + +[Illustration] + +NEW YORK + +FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY +PUBLISHERS + +_June, 1914_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + Chap. Page + I. A DANGEROUS BEQUEST 1 + II. AN UNDERSTANDING 15 + III. AT THE ELBOW POOL 30 + IV. THE POACHER 43 + V. THE TRYST AT HALLOWS BRIG 56 + VI. DANE'S SILENCE 71 + VII. A WARNING 85 + VIII. TREACHERY 96 + IX. TEMPTATION 110 + X. RIDEAU'S BARGAIN 125 + XI. THE TRAIL OF THE LEOPARD 137 + XII. WEALTH IN SIGHT 149 + XIII. PESTILENCE 163 + XIV. AN EVENTFUL DECISION 177 + XV. THE BOARDING OF THE KABUNDA 189 + XVI. ILLUMINATION 202 + XVII. IN NEED OF HELP 214 + XVIII. MAXWELL'S CONFIDENCE 227 + XIX. THE DANGEROUS SENORITA 240 + XX. MAXWELL'S LAST MARCH 251 + XXI. RELIEF 262 + XXII. ON TO THE COAST 274 + XXIII. AN EYE FOR AN EYE 285 + XXIV. THE ESCAPE 297 + XXV. THE HEART OF BONITA CASTRO 311 + XXVI. REWARDED 320 + + + + +THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A DANGEROUS BEQUEST + + +It was very hot in the little West African factory where trader Niven +lay dying. The sea breeze had died away, and though sunset drew near, it +was not yet time for the spicy airs from the inland forest to mitigate +the temperature. The dust lay still in the sun-scorched compound, about +which the palm fronds hung motionless, and only the roar of breakers on +the beach broke through the drowsy silence. + +Two white men lounged in cane chairs upon the veranda which encircled +the building. Both were limp, gaunt of frame, and pallid in face, +because the climate they lived in is particularly unhealthy. Neither had +enjoyed much education, or felt the lack of it in the trade they +followed, while the cocktail jug on the little table betokened their +favorite relaxation. Redmond and Gilby were West Coast traders who lived +far remote from intercourse with their fellows, except for the two +French rivals with whom they periodically quarreled. They concerned +themselves with little beyond the well-being of their factory, and +indulged each appetite on opportunity, knowing that on the morrow they +might suddenly die. Yet they had their strong points, including a +tenacious regard for their employers' interests, which led them to toil +twelve hours daily when sick of fever if trade was good, and sometimes +defy the French authorities, and an inconsistent generosity, as the +result of which they had camped in the store shed, and turned over their +own quarters to the man who stood behind them, and his stricken +companion. The former was of very different type. + +"You have done your best for the poor devil," said Redmond, glancing +regretfully from him toward the empty jug. "But if I know anything about +coast fever--and I ought to--Niven will get his release to-night. Still +rambling about that fortune, I suppose?" + +Carsluith Maxwell nodded, and Gilby commented meditatively: "It may be +all a fever fancy, and it may be true. Niven was well known in this +afflicted colony years ago, and there is gold up yonder. In fact, right +away from here to the Volta you can find the color in the rivers, but +there's very little of it that will pay for the washing, and few British +mining companies that distribute much in dividends. Still, the old +Portuguese took a good deal out, if the tales are true, and one gets +small lots now and then put up in quills." + +Redmond laughed maliciously. + +"The last quills Gilby took in contained brass filings, and the firm +wrote off their nominal value against our commission. Gilby had been +drinking cocktails all that day. He may be right about the gold, but +it's my firm opinion that unless the French send up a strong column and +root out the Leopards, no white man will ever find it. You have heard +about them, Maxwell?" + +Maxwell was a man of discretion, and though he had ventured beyond the +fringe of the Leopards' country, he only said: + +"I don't know much about them. Do you?" + +"He does not," said Gilby. "Neither does any white man; unless perhaps +it's Rideau, or Niven. They are supposed to be members of one of the +secret leagues run by the bush magicians in connection with the cult of +the Ju-Ju; and if you want to know just what kind of devil a Ju-Ju is, +you need not ask me. Anyway, from what one hears, those fellows can't be +all impostors. They could apparently give our amateur necromancers +points in hypnotism, and what they don't know about poisons is not worth +learning. They're no fools at bush politics either; and have managed to +run Shaillu's kingdom, and keep white men out of it pretty successfully. +It is believed that Shaillu would be glad to rule it without them, in +his own way." + +Maxwell knew all this, and a little more which his informant apparently +did not; but he made no comment, and asked only one question: + +"Who is Rideau?" + +"He says he is a Frenchman," answered Gilby. "One would suppose that he +ought to know; but after a dispute about the count of some monkey skins, +Clancy of Axim once asked in public if there was not a dash of the tar +brush in him, and was taken ill suddenly that night--which may, of +course, have been a coincidence. In any case, he goes trading inland; +and though he brings down a little gum, nobody knows exactly what he +buys or sells. As you have heard, it's a ghastly country, and there's a +heavy penalty for supplying niggers with modern rifles. The little +French commandant would give a good deal to fix a charge on him." + +"Thanks. I will remember if I meet him; but it is about time I returned +to my patient," said Maxwell, and the other two looked after him until +he disappeared round a corner of the dwelling. + +"A curious man," Gilby commented. "He's probably like the parrot, for he +says very little. Still, it is not everybody who would have turned back +with his expedition on the very odd chance of saving a crazy countryman. +It is just possible, however, he was glad to, after the bushmen had +scared him." + +"African parrots never think, unless it's about the pricking inside +them," said Redmond. "You wouldn't either, if a nigger had fed you with +broken glass, so you'd die as soon as he'd sold you, and keep the demand +up. You're wrong, as usual, in other ways, too. If I'm a judge of +character, there are no niggers in Africa who could scare that man." + +Meanwhile Maxwell had seated himself on the opposite veranda, and, after +a glance at a trestle couch which showed him that Niven was apparently +asleep, was gazing out to sea. He was close on the age of thirty, of +average stature, but spare and sinewy. His sallow face had been further +darkened by the African sun, and though now its expression and that of +the dark eyes was thoughtful, it was the face of a resolute man. +Carsluith Maxwell was also, in a somewhat somber fashion, a handsome +man; and though some of his fair acquaintances described him as too +silent, and others as too sardonic, all agreed that he was interesting. +Maxwell described himself as an individual of unsettled habits, born +with fastidious tastes and no means to gratify them--which, he said, +explained his wanderings in search of a fortune. He did not add that his +chief ambition was to restore to its former prosperity an old Border +stronghold which, with every acre of its grass parks and stony plow-land +heavily encumbered, stood behind the shores of Solway. Carsluith +Maxwell, who some day would be master of Culmeny, had inherited more +than a trace of the silent grimness of the old moss-troopers from whom +he sprang. + +Turning presently, he saw that Niven was wide awake and looking out to +sea. Their acquaintance had been brief, and dated from the night when +Niven reeled into the camp of a small French expedition, alone, +fever-stricken, and half-crazy. Seeing that he would die in the forest +when the expedition continued its march, Maxwell abandoned his +prospecting journey and turned back to the coast with him. The African +malaria often attacks a white man's brain as well as his body; and +during most of the time Niven had talked erratically. Now, however, +Maxwell noticed that he appeared sensible and sane. + +"Good to come back to, isn't it?" he said, glancing at the sea, athwart +which the track of the sunset beat luridly. "I used to long for it in +the forest when Lyle and I first set up the one factory which ever stood +more than twelve months in Shaillu's country. That reminds me! I have a +good deal to tell you, and, considering that I may not last out +to-morrow, it's high time I began. I have given you a good deal of +trouble, but you may not regret it when I have done." + +"I shall not regret it in any case," said Maxwell quietly. He was seldom +emphatic in speech. + +"You are like Lyle, and that's partly why I'm going to tell you. He and +I went up into Shaillu's country long ago, and the Leopards tried to +poison us. They wanted no white men there, and did not like free trade. +They also tried other ways; but if our lives were in our own hands, we +held them tight--and any man might face the devil with a partner like +Lyle. You will understand presently why I'm commencing at the beginning. +Well, we nursed each other through fevers, and twice stood behind a +stockade with the rifle barrels burning our hands; but we made money, +and I think the Leopards grew afraid of us because we lived in spite of +them. Of course, we had our friends, because the brown traders from the +North had to pay a heavy toll to the Leopards before we came; and some +of them told us about gold having been washed out of a far-off river by +niggers who had a poor idea of its value. We were too busy to trouble +about ventures of that kind; and as the river flowed through No Man's +Land there was nobody to sell us a marketable concession." + +The sunset was fading off the waters when Niven paused to gather breath, +while his strained voice sank to a deeper tone as he proceeded: + +"There was a dispute as to who owned some gum we had paid for, and two +men were shot before we convinced the niggers that nobody could lay +violent hands upon our property. Then one of Shaillu's sub-headmen, who +said there had been a mistake somewhere, summoned us to a palaver to +talk the question over. We went, with twenty armed Krooboys scared +almost to death, who feared Lyle more than they did the niggers, and +were given a fair hearing. Several of the big Leopard men were there, +but the headman held us justified, and when we had made everybody a +present the palaver ended in revelry. I warned Lyle; but to fear +nothing, and be equally ready with smile or pistol, was always my +comrade's way. + +"We came back safely; but he dragged himself up the stairway with his +face all twisted the next night, and I knew what had happened before he +told me. 'Those devils have poisoned me,' said he." + +It was almost dark now, and the white mist from the forest slid in +ghostly wreaths past the little factory. Niven shivered before he +proceeded: + +"Have you ever seen a comrade poisoned by the bushmen--when they meant +to hurt him? No! Then you have something to be thankful for. Lyle, by +worse luck, was young and strong, and took an unconscionable time dying; +I don't know that I did well when I took the pistol from him. For three +mortal hours I suffered all with him, and there was no power left in me +when at last he let his head drop on the table. There are things it is +not fit to remember which one can never forget. Then I knew all that the +man had been to me; and what I must do was plain before me. + +"I sent the chief Leopard man a message, with a token which, in +accordance with his own superstitions, made it more impressive, that +sooner or later I would demand full satisfaction, or, if I died too +soon, would pass the debt on in a way he understood; and I had not +forgotten when a new trading combination made me general manager. You +see, I needed money, and could wait very patiently. I also made money, +and, when badly sick, let the firm send me home, a fairly prosperous +man, to recruit in England. It was there I met the woman I married; and +she was worlds too good for me. I even forgot Lyle, and what we had +done in Africa; and--for one looks at things differently over +there--hoped for nothing better than to end my days in peace and +security." + +Niven so far had spoken sensibly, but he ceased when the thick hot +African darkness rolled down like a curtain, and was silent a space. The +land breeze had delayed its coming, the temperature was almost +insupportable, and the roar of the breakers set the whole factory +vibrating in unison. It is possible that the fever gathered strength, as +it often does, at nightfall; for the sick man's speech was slow and +disjointed when he began again. It was also evident that he was a little +hazy in his mind. + +"Poor Elsie died, and left me very lonely. Without her the life grew +tame, and I would lie awake thinking of Africa and Lyle. He was growing +impatient, and tried to warn me it was time I went back again. The +warnings grew plainer, and at last I went. I had, so far as it was in +me, trusted one man and loved one woman, and both of them had gone. The +trading firms had forgotten my name, but I remembered the gold in the +Leopard's country, and determined, if I could find it, to hire my own +fighting boys, and hunt down the whole accursed league. There is no law +but the right of the strongest hand in Shaillu's country. I went up with +fifty Krooboys; and perhaps the Leopards remembered and were afraid of +me, for we had almost reached the place in safety, when one of the +sicknesses common up there seized us. I left most of the boys behind in +camp with my headman, and pushed on for the river where the gold was +said to be. I found it--or Lyle found it for me." + +Maxwell thought that no sane man would have attempted single-handed to +try conclusions with the almost omnipotent league, but he sat still, +with a composure that was characteristic of him, asking no questions, +though the simple statement had roused his most eager interest. It was +some time before Niven proceeded. + +"I turned back to camp, and found none of all the boys I left there. +Perhaps the headman had sold them. He had, you must remember, a curious +cross-shaped scar upon his forehead. I don't know where the rest went, +or what I did, being fever-crazy, and it must have been Lyle who brought +me to the Frenchman's camp. Of course, Lyle is dead--I buried him with +my own hands under the first big cottonwood behind the factory long +ago--but he has never forgotten me. There was good alluvial gold in that +river; and when I go you will find a record of my journey, with sketches +and compass bearings, under my pillow. I'll bequeath it to you, with my +curse upon the men who killed poor Lyle, on this condition: If you meet +the Leopards--and whoever goes up there will--you will remember my +quarrel with them, and how my partner died." + +"After what I have heard about their doings, I can promise that," said +Maxwell quietly. + +"I think we both can trust you. You look that kind of man," said Niven. +"I should never have told you if you hadn't. The two things go together, +for the Leopard headmen will know I have passed the quarrel on. You +can't take one without the other." + +Niven sank into sleep or unconsciousness presently, and Maxwell sat +beside him considering what he had heard. He could see that there was a +burden attached to the legacy; but he had no profession, and was not a +rich man. It was true that he would shortly succeed to Culmeny, and had +inherited the family pride in the ancient estate; but, when the interest +had been paid, the rental of the poor, encumbered lands would provide +the barest living. He determined that if there was gold in the Leopards' +country he would stake his life on the chance of finding it. After +coming to this decision he called a Krooboy to watch the sick man, and +retired to snatch a few hours' badly needed sleep. Sleep, however, was +some time in coming. The mildewed building was insufferably hot, and the +thunder of the surf sufficient to keep awake any man who had lately +emerged from the hush of the twilight forest; but at last Maxwell sank +into fitful slumber. It afterward was evident that the Krooboy, too, had +slumbered. + +Several hours had passed when Maxwell awakened suddenly, and sat up +listening. Through the deep monotone of the breakers he could hear the +land breeze sigh eerily about the building. A snake rustled in the +thatch, and loose boards creaked as they soaked in the damp; but +although there was nothing suspicious in all this, Maxwell felt that +something unusual had roused him. Men acquire an almost instinctive +prevision of danger in the eternal shadow of the African bush. + +Suddenly a detonation shook the building. Maxwell, leaping from his +couch, ran along the veranda and burst, breathless, into Niven's room. +Bright moonlight streamed in through the window, and he saw the sick man +lying propped up on one elbow, with a pistol smoking in his hand. Niven +appeared perfectly sane, and his voice was steady when he spoke. + +"My fingers are shaky, and this is a hard pull-off, or I'd have shown +you the man who betrayed me," he said. "It was my book he wanted." + +Maxwell, who was quick in action, sprang out upon the veranda and made a +circuit of the building. The dusty compound beneath it was clear as +noonday under the moon, but, save for two startled Krooboys and trader +Redmond who crossed it at a run, nobody moved therein, and Maxwell +hardly considered it possible that any fugitive would have had time to +reach the bush. He returned and told Niven so. + +"You must have been mistaken," he said. + +The sick trader laughed harshly. + +"I am not in the least mistaken. I saw the man with the scar on his +forehead as plainly as I see you. He must have been one of the Leopards; +and, whether it's magic or trickery, those fellows are fiendishly +clever. You won't be astonished at stranger things before they have done +with you. Take the book now, and keep it, if you can. If a man called +Rideau ever hears you have it and wants to trade with you, distrust him +as you would the devil. If he says I ever made any bargain with him, it +will be a lie!" + +Maxwell went out and allayed Redmond's curiosity by a promise to confer +with him in the morning; then he returned to watch beside Niven, who +slept tranquilly during the remainder of the night. After breakfast +Maxwell told Redmond as much of the story as appeared judicious; but the +trader did not, as he partly expected, laugh at it. + +"Of course, it may have been all a delusion, and it may not," he said. +"If so, it's a coincidence that I heard Rideau has just arrived at the +next beach; and one of my boys, who seemed afraid of it, picked this up +in the bush. It's a trifle that has a significance in the country your +sick friend rambled through." + +The trader handed Maxwell a little tuft of leopard's fur braided with +fiber. + +"If Niven has told you any of his secrets it might be good policy not to +mention it," he cautioned; "and Gilby and I are not curious. This +factory is sufficiently remunerative and deadly for us." + +Niven grew rapidly weaker all day, and when Maxwell asked him at sunset +whether he had any messages to send to friends in the old country, he +did not appear to recognize him. + +"They're all dead a long time ago," he said ramblingly. "Poor Elsie, who +was worlds too good for me, lies in clean English earth a long way +across the sea; but Lyle, who understands everything and why I forgot +him, is waiting for me. I could not have a better comrade wherever he +is." + +These were his last comprehensible words, for he passed out of +existence, sleeping, with the chill of early morning, and was, as usual, +laid to rest that day. Maxwell returned thoughtfully from the simple +funeral, feeling that the legacy might well prove an unmixed blessing. + +On reaching the veranda stairway, he heard somebody moving softly about +what had been the sick man's room. He had good ears, and felt tolerably +certain that the next sound he caught was that made by cotton garments +being quickly unfolded or wrapped together. Somebody, it appeared, was +searching Niven's apparel. In spite of Maxwell's quickness, he had not +reached the doorway when a man came out of it and advanced, smiling +toward him. He was rather dark in face and full in flesh for an +European who had dwelt any time in Western Africa. He also was more +elaborately dressed, in spotless white duck, fine linen, and silk sash, +than the average trader; but if his lips were a trifle thick, and his +eyes cunning, he had an easy, good-humored air, and saluted Maxwell +gracefully. + +"Monsieur Maxwell, is it not? I have the honor to present myself--Victor +Rideau," he said. "By grand misfortune, I arrive too late to change the +adieux with my friend of long time, the estimable Niven, and so wait to +ask if he left any paper for me. We have affair together, and there is +small debt he owe me, _voyez vous_?" + +Maxwell was a man of keen perceptions, and he would have distrusted the +speaker even if he had not been warned against him. + +"He left you no papers. Neither, so far as I can discover, did he leave +a single franc piece in money." + +"Grand misfortune!" exclaimed Rideau. "Possible it is he tell you of his +affair. The estimable Niven, you understand, was old friend of me. That +is why I have the pleasure of wait your company." + +"He told me very little about his business affairs, and the rest was +spoken in strict confidence," said Maxwell; and for a few seconds the +two men eyed each other--Maxwell curious but expressionless in face; +Rideau somewhat uneasy. The advantage was with the Briton, for he was +seldom loquacious, while the man of Latin extraction seemed to find the +silence irksome. + +"You are perhaps busy," he said at length. "You grieve for the estimable +Niven. Me, I grieve for him also. So, if it is not intrusion, to-morrow, +by the morning, I come for condole with you." + +Rideau withdrew, and Maxwell first packed his few belongings--a +homeward bound steamer was due to call on the morrow--and then sat down +to make a copy of the dead man's itinerary, with the sketches attached +to it. He was surprised to find that, mad or sane, Niven had noted the +magnetic direction of each day's march, as well as taken cross bearings +of prominent objects wherever there was open country. These details +increased his hopefulness; and when he had enclosed the copy in a sealed +envelope and handed it to the French postmaster, he buttoned the +original in an inside pocket and sat down on the veranda, smoking +thoughtfully. + +"It appears that other men beside myself believe Niven actually did find +gold up there, as two attempts to steal his diary seem to prove," he +reflected. "Whoever goes up to look for it will probably have to deal +with Monsieur Victor Rideau as well as the Leopards; and a little delay +in setting about the search may throw him off the scent. The first +necessity is a reliable partner, and I can think of nobody better than +Hyslop." + +The homeward bound mailboat arrived before Rideau the next day, and when +she stopped at the first port connected by cable, Maxwell despatched a +message to London: + +"_Wire Hyslop to meet me by Malemba._" + +Before the steamer proceeded he received the answer: + +"_Hyslop dead South America, according to Dane._" + +"Poor Andrew!" thought Maxwell. "That is check number one. Still, there +must be many suitable men at home, and I dare say I shall find one. Who +Dane is, Carslake, parsimonious as usual, does not explain." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN UNDERSTANDING + + +It was a pleasant summer evening when Hilton Dane leaned against a beech +trunk outside Thomas Chatterton's villa which stands upon a hillside +above the Solway shore. He was a tall, fair-haired man who looked older +than his age, twenty-five, with steady blue eyes, and usually a somewhat +masterful air; but just then his eyes were wistful, and his face, which +betokened an acquaintance with the tropical sun, expressed somewhat +tempered satisfaction. He had certainly cause for the latter feeling, +because, after toiling hard at railroad building in a foreign land, it +was comforting to know that he had earned the right to rest a while in +that peaceful retreat. + +The sun still touched the velvet lawn, though the shadows lengthened +across it, and the larch wood behind the red-tiled building diffused +resinous odors. The grass sloped to a river which came down amber-tinted +from the stretch of heather growing black against the east, and, curving +round two meadows, flashed through the gloom of fir branches into a deep +pool. All this was pleasant to the wanderer newly returned from the +glare of the desolate pampa and the turmoil of dusty construction camps; +but Dane found the keenest pleasure in watching his companion. + +Lilian Chatterton, niece of the childless owner of The Larches, was +worth inspection. She was a year or two younger than the man, and lay in +a low chair opposite him, her fingers busy with a ball of colored +thread, while the last of the sunlight sparkled in her hair. Dane +noticed how its bronze color flashed into lustrous gold, and decided +that the changing lights in the hazel eyes matched it wonderfully well. +Nevertheless, he had seen them burn with quick indignation, for the girl +possessed a spice of the Chatterton temper, which was never remarkably +equable. Presently he allowed several loops of thread to slip from the +skein he held, and she looked up with a trace of indignation. + +"That is the second time! You cannot be tired already," she said. + +Dane smiled a trifle grimly. He had toiled for twelve hours daily under +burning heat and then spent half the night poring over plans, not long +ago. + +"I am not quite worn out; but is it not an unfair question, considering +my present employment? This skein is getting mixed, and I was wondering +if you would allow me to help you in straightening it." + +Miss Chatterton glanced at him keenly before she shook her head. It was +not surprising that she had grown used to masculine homage, but none of +her other cavaliers had quite resembled this one. He was slower and more +solid, and, while he had a way of anticipating her wishes, he lacked +their versatility. Sometimes she wished, with a sense of irritation, +that she could dismiss him as summarily as she had done the rest, but +that could not be done without incurring Thomas Chatterton's +displeasure, which was no small thing to risk. + +"No," she said decisively. "I believe you tangled it yourself. Don't you +think it would run more smoothly if you gave the thread more length? +Well, why don't you act upon the suggestion?" + +"I was thinking," the man answered with a meditative air; and Miss +Chatterton laughed. + +"It is a bad habit of yours. Of the famous mining pump, or the lawsuit, +presumably?" + +There was something in the speaker's manner which qualified the smile in +her hazel eyes, and warned the man that his companion was merely bent on +discovering how far he was disposed to respect the wishes she had not +directly expressed. He, on his part, was wondering how he could best +intimate that certain fears she entertained were groundless. He laughed +softly, though a tinge of darker color crept into his tanned face as he +remembered the uncompromising frigidity with which she had at first +received him. + +"I feel that I ought to say something civil," he said. "How could one +think of the things you mention in such surroundings?" + +The girl was in a variable mood, and she smiled mischievously. + +"That is not civil. It implies that I expected you to. Tell me instead +how the pump is progressing." + +"The pump is not progressing," said the man. "In fact, it is standing +still; and, though the court upheld my patent, it will probably continue +to stand still for lack of capital. Capital is hard to acquire, you +know." + +"But you were well paid, and promoted several times on your merits in +South America, were you not?" asked Miss Chatterton. + +"I was lucky," Dane said quietly. "It was due to no merit of mine that +my superiors died off with yellow fever; but when the inventor desires +a fair share of the profit himself, it requires a good deal of money to +start off pumps and similar inventions successfully." + +"You are growing avaricious," declared Miss Chatterton, and let her eyes +fall a little under the man's gaze. + +"You are right," he said. "I would sell half my life to any one for the +few thousand pounds the invention would repay twenty-fold; and somehow I +shall get them." + +The listener fancied that this was possible, for there was a stamp of +force and endurance upon the man; but she did not inquire why he was so +anxious for wealth. While she considered her answer, and he wondered how +he could best express what must be said, there was an interruption; for +it happened a few moments earlier that the owner of The Larches flung +down the balance-sheet he was perusing in a room which did not look out +upon the lawn. + +"Those new directors are a pack of fools," he observed. "They are +throwing away all I so painfully built up. I'm going to catch a trout in +the moss pool; and, as I saw Maxwell's rascals putting up the fence +again, I'll demolish his iniquitous obstruction on my way. Helen, where +have these stupid people hidden my flybook again?" + +Mrs. Chatterton smiled a little, and, reminding her husband that the +book was in his pocket, followed him to the door. + +Thomas Chatterton and the father of Hilton Dane had set up a little wire +mill when both were struggling men, and, though Dane's rolling machinery +had started them on the way to prosperity, its inventor died too soon. +Chatterton was always considered an upright man; but, because Dane's +widow did not long survive her husband, nobody knew exactly whether his +success was due to his own energy or the dead man's invention. +Chatterton, however, recognized a moral debt, and would have discharged +it, but that Hilton Dane had inherited his mother's pride as well as his +father's skill. When the famous business was sold to a company, the +iron-master, purchasing a small estate in Scotland, aspired to play the +part of a country gentleman, in which he was not wholly successful. He +was at once too autocratic and too democratic; and the local magnates of +ancient descent resented his habit of doing exactly what pleased himself +in defiance of their most cherished traditions. He had accordingly +embroiled himself with Maxwell of Culmeny over what he contended was an +ancient right of way. + +When he reached the door he turned and smiled significantly at his wife. + +"They seem well contented, do they not?" he said. + +Mrs. Chatterton understood him, though she did not smile as she glanced +at the two on the lawn. Lilian's white-robed figure was forced up +sharply in a manner that emphasized its comeliness by the somber +background of larches; and the last of the ruddy light deepened the +faint, warm tinge in her cheeks. Dane's face was in the shadow, as he +looked down upon the girl, but his form showing darkly against the light +was that of a vigorous, well-made man; and Mrs. Chatterton, knowing his +disposition, reflected that her niece might make a less desirable +choice. It was, however, she thought, unfortunate that her husband was +seldom addicted to leaving those he desired to benefit any choice at +all; and she considered that he had made his intentions respecting Dane +and his niece too plain, for Lilian had a tolerably strong will of her +own. + +Chatterton moved forward, and the two turned sharply at the sight of the +stout, thick-necked, elderly gentleman, in vivid red leggings and slouch +hat adorned with gaudy flies. + +"We had neither time nor taste for needle-work when I was young, Hilton, +but these are degenerate days," he said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "Do +you feel inclined to help me to catch a trout during the evening rise?" + +Dane glanced appealingly toward his companion. He would have felt no +great inclination for being sent into the river to free the +iron-master's line, which usually formed part of the program on such +excursions, even if he had not a better reason for refusing. + +"I am afraid the water is too clear, sir, for an indifferent angler; and +it might spoil this skein if I left it partly wound," he answered +lamely. + +Lilian, however, possibly for Chatterton's benefit, ignored the appeal. + +"So far you have only succeeded in entangling it," she said. + +Dane had no choice left but to express the pleasure it would afford him +at least to carry his host's landing net; and he did it as well as +possible, though uneasily conscious that Chatterton was amused at him. +Then they waded together through long damp grass which soaked Dane's +thin shoes through, while Chatterton discoursed learnedly upon lines and +flies. He was as choleric and obstinate as he could be generous when the +impulse seized him, and he had ruled stubborn operatives so long that +the use of the strong hand had become habitual to him. Presently he +halted, fuming with indignation, before a hedge. + +"That confounded Maxwell has built it up stronger than ever!" he +exploded. "Look at that, and see how he respects a public right of way! +Don't you consider it perfectly scandalous, Hilton?" + +Dane saw an irate elderly gentleman, and a neatly mended gap in the +hedge; but being uncertain as to what answer would best soothe the +former, he wisely held his peace until he should furnish further +particulars. Chatterton, however, espying a stout stake in the grass, +commenced a spirited attack upon the hedge. So vigorous was it that his +face grew flushed and his hat fell off, while Dane looked on with +suspicious gravity, smothering a desire to laugh. + +"If you really want that gap opened, I dare say I could assist you, +sir," he said. + +Chatterton panted wrathfully. + +"Do you suppose I am doing this for exercise? It's a public duty! I have +battered it down twice already, and defied Culmeny to sue me." + +He plied the stake again until, glancing from a root, it smote him on +the ankle. Desisting then, he commented upon his neighbor's conduct +viciously while Dane proceeded to attack the obstruction with marked +success. Chatterton, when he noticed this, watched him admiringly; and +when Dane tore his hand on a strand of barbed wire, he positively beamed +on him. + +"I'm sorry, Hilton; but, in one way, it's almost a pity you did not tear +it worse," he said. "Still, I dare say it will rankle sufficiently to +give us something to claim damages from Culmeny upon. Meantime, go home +and ask Lily to tie it up. Nobody could do it more neatly." + +"I certainly hope it will not, sir," said Dane, with a trace of +irritation; though, being thankful for the excuse, he lost no time in +returning. + +Meanwhile, Lilian Chatterton sat where he had left her, in a +contemplative frame of mind. She and Dane had been playmates in their +younger days, and the latter had afterward shown his admiration for her +in youthful fashion. That was before he went abroad; but her cheeks +tingled as she remembered how she had been made to feel, a few weeks +earlier, that it was Chatterton's desire that their youthful friendship +should speedily ripen into something further. Lilian was grateful to the +iron-master, who had denied her nothing, and brought her up as his +daughter; but she was also sensitive, and accordingly shrank from Dane, +wondering, with a sense of shame, what had been said to him, and whether +he, too, considered her own opinion as of no importance. The man's +conduct had, however, partly reassured her, for he made no advances; she +did not know that he had, during several years spent in strenuous +effort, carried her memory and a stolen photograph about with him. + +Had she been a free agent she might have been inclined to approve of +Hilton Dane. She knew he was honest, resolute, and capable, while as +regards physique, nature had treated him well; but as it was, and +because there were no friends she could find an excuse for visiting, it +appeared essential that he should be made to recognize that there could +be no more than a mutual toleration between them. Miss Chatterton had +just arrived at this conclusion when the man came toward her across the +lawn. Again it struck her that the bronzed face beneath the straw hat +was that of an honest man, and that the blue eyes had a kindly gleam in +them; but she brushed such thoughts aside impatiently. + +"What has brought you back so soon?" she asked. + +"The need of assistance," Dane answered with a laugh, and the girl's +mood changed swiftly as she glanced at his injured hand. Her eyes grew +sympathetic. + +"Will you wait a few moments until I find some arnica?" she said. + +Dane would have waited a long time in return for such a glance, and, +when the girl rejoined him, he felt that the pain was a very small price +to pay for the pleasure of letting his torn hand rest in her little cool +palm. When it had been bound up with a dainty handkerchief, Lilian +smiled prettily. + +"I think," she said playfully, "with due care you should now recover." + +"Do you know that I feel tempted to go back and tear the other?" +returned the man. + +Lilian regarded him with some uneasiness. + +"Such speeches do not become you," she said. "No doubt there are idle +men who consider that they prove irresistible to most of us; but +you--you are different." + +"Yes," Dane assented somewhat grimly. "I suppose my lot is to drag the +measuring chain and do the hard work more famous men get paid for; but a +little variety is refreshing--and there were times when you did not seem +to find any levity on my part wholly irksome." + +The girl's color rose a little, and there was a sparkle in her eyes. She +understood that this was a challenge, but she did not guess that it had +been thrown down for her sake out of kindliness. Unfortunately, she +recalled several incidents connected with the days to which her +companion referred, and she recollected that he had an unpleasantly good +memory. + +"We were only boy and girl then," she said. "One forgets such nonsense +as one grows older. Still, I am almost glad you mentioned it, +because--can't you see the uselessness of remembering?" + +Dane, though he did not say so, saw most clearly the impossibility of +ever being able to forget; but he was considerate, and had sense enough +to see what he would lose by taking advantage of the position. He had +noticed how, until his conduct reassured her, she held aloof from him. + +"What could an unfortunate man answer?" he asked with a mirthless smile. +"Do you expect me to admit that I am pleased to consider it is so?" + +Lilian looked down at the grass to hide the anger in her face. + +"Please don't--I am not wholly foolish," she said; and added abruptly, +"I have almost decided on going to London for a course of art study +shortly." + +Dane leaned forward a little, and forced her to look up at him. + +"That is, you are going away to avoid me," he said. "Have you considered +that this might not only render circumstances unpleasant for you, but be +unnecessary?" + +Lilian looked at him steadily, for she was not lacking in courage. + +"I am my own mistress; and they are distinctly unpleasant already." + +Every word of the answer cost Dane an effort, but he determined to +finish his task. + +"I can realize that they must be so," he said. "I am not clever at +expressing myself, and what I have to say is difficult to me, but I +cannot allow you to be driven away. We are both master of our own +inclinations, are we not?--and you have my word that, if you can trust +me, it really isn't necessary." + +There was no doubt about the relief in Lilian's face; and though it hurt +the man to see it, he held out his hand. + +"We shall be good friends once more; and that implies a good deal, does +it not?" he said. "Promise so much, and I will engage that you have no +further perplexity." + +Lilian felt very grateful. + +"I think I can promise that, now that we understand," she replied. + +"Then it is a compact," said Dane, hiding his own regret manfully. "As a +change, you might tell me why your uncle finds such satisfaction in +destroying his neighbor's fences. He even said it was a pity I did not +tear my hand more seriously." + +Lilian was glad to change the subject. + +"He fancied that Maxwell of Culmeny closed the gap to annoy him," she +explained. "Unfortunately, when tearing down the first barrier, he hurt +his foot, which naturally made him more determined to maintain ancient +privileges. In one way, the feud is amusing; in another, vexatious; +because we are lonely here, and the Misses Maxwell cannot well call upon +us. Their brother Carsluith has lately returned from Africa, and would +have made you a pleasant companion." + +"Carsluith Maxwell?" said Dane. "It is curious that I was of some +service to a friend of his, named Hyslop, in South America. The poor +fellow struck our camp pulled down by sickness and apparently in want of +money, and we were able to find him employment." + +"Did you not mention that the contractors would not replace the +assistants who died of fever?" asked Lilian. "Did they endorse your +action?" + +"I can't say they did," was the answer. "They were not required to." + +"Oh! Then who paid Hyslop's salary?" + +"It was arranged," Dane answered ambiguously. "You see, he was a +countryman; and the poor fellow died soon afterward, anyway. I think I +shall walk over to Culmeny." + +Lilian asked no further questions. She felt that any one in trouble +could trust the man beside her. She smiled as she said: + +"I am afraid that would not be judicious. Your host would consider it an +act of treachery." + +They went back to the house together; and in the meantime, Thomas +Chatterton, who was not a skilful angler, whipped several pools +unsuccessfully, hooking nothing but weeds, and once, by accident, a +water hen. Thus it happened that he had not returned when darkness fell, +and Mrs. Chatterton despatched Dane in search of him. The moon was +rising when the latter came down a path through the fir wood and stopped +beside a deep, black pool. A streak of silver light crept up to the +roots of an alder beside a ruined wall, and he paused to watch the +wrinkled current flash athwart it. The odors of the firs and the +stillness of the night were soothing: the sacrifice he had lately made +had been a heavy one. Dane had not abandoned his hopes, but knew that he +might have to wait long for their consummation, if they were ever +realized. + +Presently there was a sound of footsteps, and Dane guessed that the +approaching shape was Chatterton by the red glow of his cigar. The +iron-master stopped beside the alder, and it seemed that something which +caused a ripple near its roots caught his eyes. Dane suspected that some +poacher had set a night line. + +Now, the wall marked the boundary between Chatterton's riparian rights +and those of Culmeny; and it was out of idle curiosity that Dane watched +his host instead of hailing him as, first looking about him, he +descended the bank and hauled in the line. An exclamation of disgust +followed as a writhing eel was flung out upon the grass; but there were +nobler fish attached, and presently Chatterton stood up holding a +splendid trout. Dane remembered that his father had sworn by +Chatterton's commercial integrity, but he was not wholly astonished when +the man slipped the fish, and a second one which followed it, into his +creel. Then, surmising that the angler would not have desired a witness, +he turned back softly and met him in the wood, flattering himself that +he had arranged the meeting neatly. + +"Had you any luck, sir?" he asked. + +"The water was low, but here is something to convince the mockers," +Chatterton answered, holding up a handsome trout; and Dane expressed +admiration but no astonishment, which might not have been complimentary. + +They walked home together, and Lilian met them in the hall. She +surveyed the trout suspiciously, then laughed as she said: + +"You look hot and muddy, and almost guilty. Are you quite sure you have +not been poaching?" + +Miss Chatterton was a shrewd young lady, and for a moment the +iron-master, who had quelled several strikes unaided, looked positively +uneasy. + +"Young women were taught that flippancy did not become them when I was +young," he rebuked. + +Late that night the two men sat talking together. + +"You have told me little about your affairs, Hilton," Chatterton said; +"but I presume you will stay at home and put your pump on the market +instead of accepting the foreign commission. There should be a good +demand for it among the deep mine owners." + +"I'm afraid not, sir," was the answer. "The patent lawsuit proved +expensive, and to start an article of that kind successfully requires a +good deal of money. I shall therefore go abroad to earn a little more as +soon as the firm sends me." + +"And risk your life for a thousand pounds," said Chatterton severely. +"Don't you know that there are men with money who would be willing to +finance you?" + +"All I have met demanded three-fourths of the possible profits in +return; and this is my invention." + +"It is a valuable one," declared Chatterton with unusual diffidence. +"But can't you think of anybody who would lend you the money out of +good-will at a very moderate interest?" + +Dane looked at the speaker steadily before he answered. + +"I think I could; and I'm grateful; but unfortunately I can't bring +myself to borrow money from such people. It would be abusing their +kindness; and I might lose it for them." + +Chatterton frowned. + +"You are like your father--and as confoundedly hard to do a favor to," +he said. + +He retired shortly after this; and Dane went out into the moonlight, and +leaned over the rails of a footbridge, watching the river slide past. He +found a faint solace in the sounds and scents which filled the shadows, +and knew that though he had taken the one course possible, if he was to +retain his own self-respect and Lilian's esteem, there would be no sleep +for him that night. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AT THE ELBOW POOL + + +While waiting for his foreign commission, Dane found the summer days +slip by almost too rapidly, though there were occasions when, after a +long afternoon spent in Lilian's company, he fancied he could understand +the feelings of Tantallus. The girl appeared completely reassured, and +treated him with sisterly cordiality, while Chatterton, who knew nothing +of their compact, nodded sapiently as he observed their growing +friendship. Dane sometimes wondered if he were not heaping up future +sorrow for himself; but, with infrequent exceptions, he found the +present very good, and, being a sanguine man who could wait, he made the +most of it. + +Lilian was troubled by no misgivings. Once, when her aunt asked a +diplomatic question, she smiled frankly as she said: "Yes. I am in one +way very fond of Hilton; you will remember that I always was. We +understand each other thoroughly; and he is so assured and solid that +one feels a restful sense of security in his company. You will remember +the Highland chieftain's candlesticks--the men with the claymores and +torches, Aunty. Well, I fancy that worthy gentleman must have felt the +same thing when he dined in state with them about him. He had but to +lift his finger and they would disappear, you know." + +Mrs. Chatterton looked slightly grave as she answered: "Don't forget +that they were also men with passions, and very terrible men, +sometimes--for instance, at Killiecrankie. It would not surprise me if +you discovered that there is a good deal of very vigorous human nature +in Hilton Dane." + +Thomas Chatterton still went fishing, generally with indifferent +success, but once Lilian caught Dane examining his creel, which was +surprisingly well filled. + +"I am puzzled, Hilton," she said. "I made a wager with Uncle that he +would not catch a dozen good trout in a month, and now I fancy that he +will win it." + +"Well?" + +"Men are deceivers ever--especially when it is a question of catching +fish. I have noticed that when your host goes fishing by daylight he +rarely catches anything but eels, which, as everybody knows, do not rise +to a fly, while when he rises early or returns in the dusk he brings a +really fine trout or two. I cannot, however, believe that this one died +only two hours ago. Can you suggest an explanation?" + +"Charity," said Dane gravely, "suspecteth nothing. Don't you know that +trout rise most freely just before the dusk?" + +Lilian shook her head. + +"You are not sufficiently clever to set your wits against a woman's," +she declared. + +Dane laughed, a trifle grimly; and the girl, momentarily startled by +something in his merriment, decided that she must have been mistaken; +but she abandoned the subject with some abruptness. + +That very evening, perhaps sent forth by fate, because much depended +upon his fishing, Thomas Chatterton took up his rod and landing net, +and, as he did not return by nightfall, his wife once more despatched +Dane in search of him. + +"I think you know where to find him; and I wish I did, for he has only +to take two more trout to win," Lilian added significantly. + +Dane proceeded by the shortest way to the big elbow pool, but it was +almost dark when he reached it. There had been heavy rain, and all the +firs which loomed through thin white mist were dripping. The water came +down beneath them thick with the peat of the moorlands in incipient +flood. Dane could hear its hoarse growl about the boulders studding the +tail rapid, and surmised that there ought to be several trout on the +poacher's line. Having, nevertheless, no desire to surprise his host +red-handed, he did not immediately proceed toward it, but sat upon the +driest stone he could find, listening for his coming. There was no sound +but the clamor of the river and the heavy splashing of moisture from the +boughs above, some of which trickled down his neck, until he heard a +rattle of falling stones, and a shadowy figure, which he guessed was +Chatterton's, crawled down toward the alder roots. + +A splash was followed by a hoarse exclamation as the man slipped into +the water up to the knee; then Dane heard the thud of a flung out fish, +and sat very still, for it would clearly be injudicious to present +himself just then. He noticed a minute twinkle of brightness among the +boulders across the pool which puzzled him. It was too small for the +light of a lantern, and he remembered nothing that shone in just the +same fashion. While he wondered what it could be, another dark object +rose beside the alder, gripping what looked like a heavy stick. + +"I'm thinking I have ye noo!" a gruff voice exclaimed. "Ye sorrowful +wastrel, stealing a puir man's fish!" + +Thomas Chatterton stood upright, knee-deep in the river, with an +exclamation; and Dane, knowing there was much deeper water close behind +him, sprang to his feet. That the irascible iron-master would show fight +if necessary, he felt certain, and equally so that a portly elderly +gentleman would make a poor match for a brawny laborer. Hardly had he +got to his feet, however, than the keeper, sliding down the bank, +dropped silently into the river, and disappeared as if by magic, while, +as Dane wondered what had startled him, another voice rang out. + +"Run straight in on the alder while I head him off from the firs!" it +directed; and a whistle was followed by the sound of trampling feet. + +Somebody came smashing through the undergrowth, and Dane was never quite +certain as to the cause for what happened next, though he surmised that +Chatterton's dread of becoming a laughing-stock to his enemy proved +momentarily stronger than his reason. In any case, he must have +endeavored to follow the keeper's lead, and lost his footing, for a side +swing of the stream swept him out from shore, while Dane, realizing that +an elderly gentleman in heavy boots and leggings was hardly likely to +make much head against a flooded river, plunged from the bank in the +flattest dive he could compass, though horribly afraid that he might +strike his head against a submerged stone. It was a good plunge, for he +rose almost in mid-stream, and heard a great splashing and panting +close before him. A few moments later, he had Chatterton by the +shoulder, and braced himself for a struggle. + +Chatterton, though driving sideways down the stream, could apparently +swim a little, and did not appear unduly alarmed. Indeed, Dane had cause +for believing he feared nothing except ridicule; but he was very heavy, +and panted stentoriously, while muddy froth beat into the younger man's +eyes and nostrils, and the rebound, which surged in a whirling eddy from +a central rock, swept them down together toward the white race between +the boulders at the tail of the pool. Dane had no intention of being +hammered against them if it could be avoided, and did his utmost, +thrusting with one hand on Chatterton's shoulder and swimming on his +side. Still, the boulders swept up-stream past them, the larches flitted +by, and though they drew clear of the fastest rush, it seemed impossible +that they could make a landing in time to escape the rapid. Chatterton +was apparently swallowing water, and choking badly now. + +"For heaven's sake, make a last effort, sir!" spluttered Dane; and the +iron-master splashed furiously. + +A strip of shingle grew nearer, but they would hardly have reached it +had not a man floundered in almost shoulder-deep and clutched them as +they passed. All three went down together, Chatterton undermost; but +when Dane's head broke the surface, a hand was twined in his hair, and a +half-choked voice said: + +"You are in wading distance, man. Get up and walk!" + +Dane felt sliding shingle beneath him, and tightening his grip on +Chatterton he struggled for a foothold; and finally they reeled, +breathless, dazed, and dripping, out among the boulders. Then somebody +turned back the slide of a darkened lantern, and the half-drowned +Chatterton gasped, for it was evident that his rescuer was Carsluith +Maxwell, the son of his enemy. Maxwell stared at Chatterton, and the +iron-master gaped at him; but while blank astonishment was stamped on +both their faces, it was Maxwell who recovered his senses first. + +"Robertson, hail Jim to run over to The Larches, and say that Mr. +Chatterton, who fell into the river trying to capture a poacher, is +coming home with me to change his clothes," he ordered, and then turned +toward the dripping pair. "It was very plucky of you, sir, and you were +only a few seconds too late. I thought you would secure the depredator. +It is two miles round by the footbridge, and you hardly look fit for the +walk, so you are coming to Culmeny with me. There is really no use +protesting." + +Thomas Chatterton did not look capable of much exertion, but he +hesitated. + +"It is very kind of you, but your father and I, unfortunately--" + +Maxwell laughed. + +"I believe you had some trifling difference; but this is a Christian +country, and the reason given quite insufficient for letting you freeze +to death. Mr. Dane, I presume? You will help me to persuade your host." + +Chatterton, although exhausted, yielded dubiously, and it was not long +before the pair shed their dripping garments beside a blazing fire in +Culmeny, and struggled into the dry ones provided, both sets being of +average size. Dane, however, was tall and long of limb; Chatterton was +short and broad, and when his toilet was finished, he stood up +half-choked, with every button straining about him. + +"This is worse than a strait waistcoat, Hilton," he fumed; "and I'd +rather forfeit five pounds than go down and meet them as I am. By the +way, I believe I never thanked you; but I will not forget our swim. But +tell me how you came to turn up so opportunely." + +Chatterton betrayed some anxiety in the last words, but Dane managed to +frame an answer which reassured him as he surveyed himself in a glass +and hoped the Misses Maxwell would not put in an appearance. The wet +hair plastered down his forehead showed a washed-out straw color against +the darkened skin. His brown wrists and ankles projected ridiculously +from the borrowed garments, and somebody's slippers would not cover more +than a portion of his feet. + +"We are neither of us particularly prepossessing at first sight, but I +suppose we must make the best of it; Maxwell asked us to come down when +we were ready," he said. + +They went down, Chatterton fuming, Dane struggling with a desire to +laugh; and two men rose to meet them when they entered a long, +low-ceilinged room. That meeting was fraught with far-reaching +consequences, and Dane could afterward recall it vividly. The old place +of Culmeny was an ancient and somewhat decrepit edifice, owned for many +generations by the Maxwells, and the wainscot of the room was dark with +age. Quaintly embroidered curtains were drawn across one end of it; +there were few pictures, and these old; while the whole place wore a +somber air, almost intensified by the light of the wax candles on the +great uncovered table, which supported a steaming bowl. This, Dane +noticed, was of oak hooped with tarnished silver. It was, however, the +two men who fixed his attention. The elder, a spare gray-haired man with +a white moustache, came forward holding out his hand. + +"I must congratulate you upon your escape, Mr. Chatterton," he said. "I +am glad that Carsluith had sense enough to bring you home with him; and +I can recommend a ladleful of this mixture as a preventative against a +chill, while regretting that, because the fires were low, we could not +send you a dose earlier. The customs of Culmeny are not altogether what +they used to be." + +The pair formed a striking contrast when Chatterton turned toward his +host, glass in hand. The one was softly spoken, spare to gauntness, and +characterized by a subtle air of distinction; the other, short, florid, +abrupt in speech, and more often aggressive than dignified in manner. +Then, because Chatterton was also a man of impulse, who cared for +neither place nor tradition when anything stirred him, as his host's +welcome evidently did, he bowed to Brandram Maxwell with more grace than +Dane deemed him capable of. + +"Here's to our better acquaintance, sir; and my best thanks," he said. +"I'm a plain, self-taught man, and may have blundered in enforcing what +I thought my rights. If so, I regret it." + +What Brandram Maxwell answered Dane did not remember, but he expressed +it very neatly; and while the feud was patched up, his son smiled +curiously at the younger man. He was like his father, but taller in +stature, dark in color of eyes and hair, and slightly olive-tinted in +complexion, while his movements suggested a wiry suppleness. Dane +surmised that he was of reserved, if not slightly sardonic, disposition. + +The bowl of punch was emptied with every sign of amity; and when it was +finished Thomas Chatterton, who had absorbed the major portion and +declared that he had never tasted anything better, said: "I hope we +shall see much more of each other in future, and, as an earnest of the +wish, I will expect you shortly at The Larches, where Mrs. Chatterton +will thank you for your kindness better than I can." + +While Brandram Maxwell started some topic of conversation with his elder +guest, his son, to whom Dane had mentioned the affair of the Englishman +in South America, drew him aside. + +"Hyslop and I were once good friends, and I consider myself your debtor +for what you did for him," he said. "Did he tell you much about his +wanderings, or that he and I came near successfully exploiting a Mexican +mine?" + +"No," said Dane. "He told me very little. What went wrong with the +mine?" + +Maxwell laughed. + +"The unexpected happened. It generally does when one awaits the +consummation of an ingenious scheme. I am especially sorry Hyslop has +gone." + +Dane longed to ascertain whether his new friend suspected any other +explanation than the one he had seized upon for Chatterton's plunge into +the river, and endeavored to do so, without success; for even when he +afterward learned to know and trust him well, he never found it easy to +glean more from Carsluith Maxwell than he wished to tell. An accident, +however, favored him, and he thought more of the man for his reticence +when, as the master of Culmeny was exhibiting some new artificial +minnows in his gun-room, he heard his son, who had slipped away, say to +somebody in the darkness beneath the open window: + +"You remember the pheasants' eggs incident, Kevan? You need not repeat +your explanations, because I have no intention of raking it up, and +merely wish to suggest that you find means of preventing your comrades +from talking too much about what happened to-night. When a gentleman of +Mr. Chatterton's years allows his excitement to overcome him to such an +extent that he follows a poacher into a flooded river, he naturally +would not like his adventures made public property." + +"I'm a wee bit puzzled, sir," answered an invisible person; and +Maxwell's voice rose faintly through the sound of retreating footsteps: + +"I am not puzzled in the least; and that ought to be sufficient. You are +sure you understand my wishes?" + +He came in a few moments later to inform his guests that the dog-cart +was waiting. + +As they drove home, Chatterton said sententiously: + +"We all make mistakes at times, Hilton; and that was most excellent +punch. For instance, when one comes to know him, Maxwell is what might +be termed a very good fellow. Hard up like the rest of them, of course; +land and buildings, as everybody knows, burdened to the hilt, but--I +suppose it was born in him--he bears the stamp, and his son wears it +too. You and I are different, you know, though travel has done a good +deal for you. I have handled a good many men in my time, and I like that +fellow's looks. He would be a very bad kind to tackle when the devil +that smiles through his black eyes wakes up; and I think he'd stand by +the man who played him fair through the damnedest kind of luck." + +Dane, who fully endorsed this opinion, was afterward to discover that +Thomas Chatterton was no bad judge of his fellow-men. + +"They are neither of the type one associates with this part of the +country," he commented. + +"No," said Chatterton. "They were, I understand, always an adventurous +family, and some of them who took part in the wars there in the old days +intermarried with the Spaniards then holding the Low Countries. A strain +of that kind takes a long time to work out, you know." + +Chatterton's fishing was not without results, for in spite of, or +perhaps because of, their different character and experience, it was the +commencement of a friendship between himself and Maxwell of Culmeny. The +iron-master had hewn his own way to fortune, and, being troubled by no +petty diffidence, was, if anything, overfond of recounting has earlier +struggles. The wild blood of the old moss-troopers still pulsed in the +veins of the Maxwells, and the impoverished gentleman, who listened with +interest, sighed as he remembered the sordid monotony of his own career, +during which he had, by dint of painful economy, somewhat lightened the +burden with which his inheritance had been saddled by the recklessness +of his forbears. + +Carsluith Maxwell took even more kindly to his new acquaintances; and +there sprang up between himself and Dane a comradeship which was to +stand a bitter test, while, as summer merged into autumn, he would +sometimes wonder at himself. He said nothing about his African venture, +and spent much time considering old rent books and the cost of moss-land +reclamation schemes. The rest he spent shooting with Dane, or lounging +at The Larches, if possible in Lilian Chatterton's vicinity; but, +although he could rouse himself to temporary brilliancy, Maxwell was +usually oversilent in feminine society, and Dane felt no jealousy. The +latter rested content in the meantime with the knowledge that Lilian +found a mild pleasure in his company; and only Mrs. Chatterton felt any +misgivings respecting future possibilities. Being a wise woman, she kept +her suspicions to herself until they became certainties, when one day +Miss Margaret Maxwell, perhaps not wholly by accident, gave her a +significant hint. + +"I hear that your brother has undertaken an extensive drainage scheme," +said the elder lady. + +"We are hopeful that he will settle down at last," responded Margaret +Maxwell. "My father's health is failing, and he has long desired his +son's company; but Carsluith was always ambitious, and used to say he +would never vegetate in poverty at Culmeny. Of late, however, we have +been pleased to see that he is taking an almost suspicious interest in +the improvement of the estate, and is now investing the money he made in +Mexico in the reclamation of Langside Moss. As Carsluith seldom does +anything without a reason, his sudden change of program puzzles us." + +Mrs. Chatterton fancied she could supply the reason, but she made no +comment. Lilian, she decided, had a right to choose for herself, and +might make a worse selection than a Maxwell of Culmeny. + +In the meantime, Dane still awaited his foreign commission, and might +have waited indefinitely, but that once again a poacher played a part in +the shaping of his destiny. There were plenty of them in that +neighborhood; while rogue, and clown, and commonplace individual of +average honesty usually outnumber either the saints or heroes in life's +comedy. The poachers were netting the Culmeny partridges, and Dane +promised to assist his comrade in an attempt to capture them. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE POACHER + + +It was a chilly night when Dane crouched in very damp clover beside a +straggling hedge, waiting for the poachers, and wishing he had been wise +enough to remain at home. Rain had fallen throughout the day, and now +heavy clouds drifted overhead, while a chilly breeze shook an eery +sighing out of the firs behind him. The moon was seldom visible, but a +subdued luminescence filtered through, and he could just see Maxwell +crouching in a neighboring ditch which was not wholly dry. + +"What are you meditating upon, Hilton?" Maxwell asked. + +"I was just thinking what a fool I was to come at all, and that it is +almost time I went home again. When a man has had tropical fever it is +his own fault if he suffers from indulgence in amusements of this +description." + +"I am not entirely comfortable either," Maxwell said dryly. "My boots +are full of water, and my hair is thick with sand; but I dare say both +of us have had worse experiences. If those fellows don't come in the +next ten minutes I'll turn back with you." + +Neither said anything further for a space. The firs moaned behind them, +the dampness chilled them through, and the odor of wet clover was in +their nostrils. When, instead of ten minutes, nearly half an hour had +passed, there was a low whistle from a hidden keeper, and Dane could +dimly see several indistinct figures in the adjoining meadow. + +"Kevan and the constable should head them off," whispered Maxwell. "I'll +race you for the first prisoner, Hilton!" + +It was characteristic of Maxwell that he had worked an opening ready in +the hedge, and slipped through it, while Dane hurled himself crashing +upon the thorns. He broke through them, somehow, and noticed very little +as he raced across the dripping aftermath except that two men strove to +drag something over the opposite hedge. Before he could reach it, +Maxwell had separated from him, and because the moon shone down through +a rift in the clouds, he saw him clear the hedge in a flying bound. The +next moment he had his hand on the collar of one man brought up by the +thorns. Dane saw his face for an instant, and then, when the other +kicked him savagely on the knee, he shifted his hand to his throat, and +was doing his best to choke the fight out of him when he heard footsteps +behind him, and something descended heavily upon his head. He fell with +a violence that shook the remaining senses out of him, and lay vacantly +listening to the sound of running feet and hoarse shouts which grew +fainter in the distance, until Maxwell, returning, shook him by the arm. +It was dark again now, for the moon had vanished, and a thin drizzle was +falling. Dane's head ached intolerably, and a warm trickle ran into one +of his eyes. + +"Are you badly hurt, Hilton?" asked Maxwell, stooping and holding out a +flask. + +"No," Dane answered dubiously, as, gripping his comrade's hand, he +staggered to his feet. "Mine is a pretty thick cranium, but somebody +did their best to test its solidity with the butt of a gun. Did you get +them?" + +"We did not." Maxwell, who seldom showed what he felt, evinced no +chagrin. "The constable managed to stick fast in the one gap in the +second hedge; but we got their net, and, although I don't wish to +trouble you if you are not fit, if you could describe the fellow you +grappled with, we should know where to find him." + +Dane did so to the best of his ability. + +"It's young Jim Johnstone!" the keeper exclaimed; "an' after this we +should grip him trying to slip off by the night train. I'm minding Mr. +Black told me he'd e'en be sitting up in case yon rascals killed +onybody, an' ye needed authority. He's a pleasant-spoken gentleman, an' +this is a clear case o' unlawful woundin'." + +"Start at once with that fool of a policeman!" said Maxwell. "Now, +Hilton, if you can manage to walk as far as the road, I will drive you +home." + +He held out his arm, but grew tired long before they reached his trap: +Dane was no featherweight, and he leaned upon him heavily. When Maxwell +helped his comrade down before The Larches there were lights in the +lower windows, though it was very late, and its owner stood upon the +steps awaiting them. + +"I could not sleep until I heard whether you had caught the rascals," he +began. "But what's this? Have they hurt you, Hilton?" + +"Not much, sir," answered Dane. + +Seeing Mrs. Chatterton in the hall, he shook off Maxwell's arm, and +attempted to enter it unassisted to prove his assertion. The attempt, +however, was a distinct failure. He tripped upon a mat, reeled forward +drunkenly, and, clutching at the nearest chair, sank into it, presenting +a sufficiently surprising spectacle, for his collar, as he subsequently +found, was burst, while there were generous rents in his garments, and +the red trickle flowed faster down his face. Then there followed +confusion, for Mrs. Chatterton was a gentle but easily disconcerted +lady, and her husband addicted to over-vigorous action. So, while the +one proceeded in search of bandages, and, not finding them, returned to +ask useless questions and, in spite of his feeble protests, pour cold +water over Dane's injured head, Chatterton smote a gong and hurled +confused orders at the startled servants. This lasted until a dainty +figure came swiftly down the stairway, and chaos was reduced to order +when Lilian took control with a firm hand. + +"Don't trouble him with questions, Aunty, but get some brandy, quick!" +she said. "Uncle, please do not make any more useless noise, but ask one +of these foolish women to bring hot water. Annie, bring me the arnica, +and the first piece of clean linen you can find. Now, Hilton, you are +not hurt very badly, are you?" + +She bent down, with the light of a big hanging lamp upon her, and, +forgetting the faintness and pain, which was considerable, Dane felt his +heart bound within him. In spite of her swift orderliness, the girl's +eyes were anxious as well as very pitiful, and there was a tension in +her voice. + +"No," he replied, as carelessly as he could, for all his pulses were +throbbing. "I am just a little dizzy, and shall be better presently. I +am chiefly ashamed of making such a scene, Lily." + +It did the man good to see the relief in his attendant's face. Miss +Chatterton flushed a little under his gaze and became once more strictly +practical. + +"The wound is worse than you suppose," she said, with a slight but +perceptible shiver. "Take a mouthful of this brandy, and I will fix a +dressing. Aunty, hold the bandage, and give me the scissors!" + +She did all very cleverly, then slipped away; and ten minutes later Dane +was glad to bid Chatterton and his wife good-night. His head still +throbbed painfully--for the trigger-guard which struck his forehead had +bitten deep--and, having seen what pleased him greatly, he desired to be +alone to think. + +When he had gone, Mrs. Chatterton looked at her husband. + +"Did it strike you as significant that Lily should come down at a few +moments' notice dressed just as she left us?" she asked. + +"Am I quite a fool?" said Chatterton, and then added in oracular +fashion: "Hilton Dane will make his mark some day; and it was his +father's roll which started me on the way to prosperity." + +As it happened, Lilian Chatterton had also food for reflection, and sat +long by an open window looking out into the night. There was no doubt, +she admitted, that she found Hilton Dane's society congenial. His swift +deference to all her wishes pleased her; and as he had intimated that he +desired nothing more than her friendship, there was no reason why it +should not be granted him. Under different circumstances the girl +fancied that her interest might have carried her farther; but Thomas +Chatterton's thinly veiled command was a fatal barrier. Even then she +frowned, remembering the summary manner in which he had purposed to +dispose of her as though she were a chattel. Nevertheless, she had been +badly startled by the sight of the wounded man; and the fact remained +that when her eyes first rested upon him she grew almost faint with a +sudden and wholly unexplainable fear. Lilian wondered, with a crimsoning +of her face, whether she had betrayed the relief she certainly +experienced on discovering that his injuries were not serious; and then +she closed the window with somewhat unnecessary violence. + +The next sun had not long risen when Dane went out shakily into the +freshness of the morning. His brain had refused duty during the +preceding night, and there were questions to be grappled with. Hilton +Dane possessed a long patience, but, although a chivalrous person, he +was not a fool. He shrank from the thought of allowing the iron-master's +ward to be forced into a union with him, even if that were +possible--about which, however, knowing the young lady's character, he +was very doubtful. Also, he was at present a comparatively poor man, and +though he believed there was a moderate fortune in his invention, he saw +that some time must elapse before he could realize it. Abusing his +host's interference fervently, he decided that because the continual +effort to keep silence was wearing his resolution down, it would be well +to avoid further temptation by leaving The Larches. + +He had just arrived at this decision when Chatterton came upon him. + +"You do not look at all fit, Hilton," said the elder man. "The cut on +your forehead would, of course, account for that; but it has struck me +lately that something is troubling you. I refrain on principle from +prying into other folks' affairs; but, considering the time I have +known you, if you have any difficulty, I think you might confide it to +me." + +Dane understood what lay behind this, and he felt that it was the last +thing under the circumstances he would think of doing. + +"You have made my stay here so pleasant that if I remain much longer I +shall never be fit for work again," he said. "I have accordingly decided +to run up to London, and, if the railroad builders have not my work cut +out, look round for another foreign commission." + +Thomas Chatterton started a little, and tried to hide a frown. + +"I thought you had changed your mind after the letter you showed me, and +decided to stay in this country. It strikes me as downright folly to +risk accidents and fevers abroad with such a patent in your hands. Your +pump would beat the best pulsometer ever put into a mine. If you don't +approve of the offers you have received, and my suggestions, why can't +you sell it to the public through a limited company?" + +Dane laughed a little. + +"As I said before, sir, by the time I paid promoters and directors, +there would be very little left for me. If the pump, which cost years of +thought and experimenting, is to enrich anybody it shall be its +inventor; and another good foreign commission should supply me with the +necessary money." + +"Listen to me," said Chatterton. "It is time I spoke plainly. I have +been called a hard man, but I hope I am equally just, and I had to fight +desperately for a foothold at the beginning. Well, I kept a mental +ledger, and no man ever robbed or assisted me but I made against his +name a debit or credit entry. Some of those debts were heavy, but in +due time I paid them back in full." + +For a moment Chatterton certainly looked a hard man as he shut his hand +slowly, and with a very grim expression in his heavy-jawed visage, +stared steadily at Dane. Then the grimness vanished as he added: + +"There is still a sum standing to the credit of Henry Dane, and I feel +ashamed often that I have let it stand so long. There is still one way +in which you could help me wipe it off, if none of those mentioned +already suits you. My niece will not leave me dowerless--and--for if it +had not been so I should not have spoken--you expressed your admiration +pretty openly some years ago." + +Dane had no enviable task before him, but, remembering his compact, he +was determined to accomplish it, even if it should be necessary to use a +little brutality. + +"I am afraid I see two somewhat important objections, sir," he answered +quietly. "In the first place, it is not apparent that the lady approves +of me." + +"Pshaw!" said Chatterton. "When I was your age I never allowed such +trifles to daunt me. You surely did not expect her to say she had been +patiently waiting for you?" + +"I think I mentioned two objections, sir, and the second is of almost +equal importance," Dane responded gravely. "I am at present a poor man, +you see." + +Thomas Chatterton faced round on him again with his jaw protruded, and a +deeper hue in his generally sufficiently florid countenance. + +"You need not be, unless you are fond of poverty. You mean----" + +"That a boy and girl attachment seldom lasts long--on either side." + +Chatterton moved a few paces forward, with the dry cough which those who +knew his temper recognized as a danger signal, then wheeled round upon +his heel and strode toward the house; and Dane noticed that he kicked an +unoffending dog he usually fondled. + +As luck would have it, the next person Dane met was Lilian, and she +looked very winsome as she stood bareheaded under the morning sunshine +in her thin white dress. Dane's lips set tight as he watched her, then +suddenly his face softened again. + +"I am glad to see you recovering, Hilton," she greeted him. "That hat +hides my bandages nicely. Do you feel able to walk slowly over to +Culmeny with me to-day?" + +It was a tantalizing question: Dane felt not only able but very willing +to walk across the breadth of Scotland in Lilian Chatterton's company. +He feared however, that his moral strength would prove unequal to the +strain the excursion might impose, for it was growing very difficult to +observe the conditions of the indefinite compact. + +"I am very sorry, but I have letters to write," he said. + +Lilian Chatterton was a trifle quick-tempered, and though Dane knew it, +and considered it not a fault but a characteristic, he wondered at the +ways of women as she answered: + +"I could not, of course, expect you to delay your correspondence, which +is no doubt important. Have you run out of those new powder cartridges?" + +Dane felt that, under the circumstances, this was particularly hard on +him, but he smiled dryly. + +"The correspondence relates to my departure for London. I want you to +listen, Lilian. I have just had an interview with your uncle, which +makes my absence appear desirable. Perhaps you can guess its purport, +and the gist of what he said." + +The clear rose-color deepened a little in the girl's cheeks, but she +answered steadily. + +"I will admit the possibility. The most important question is what you +said to him." + +Now Dane had not only subdued mutinous alien laborers, and held them to +their task, but he had even been complimented by a South American +Spaniard upon the incisive vocabulary which helped him to accomplish it. +Nevertheless, at that moment he felt almost abject, and found speech of +any kind very difficult. + +"Are you ashamed of your answer?" asked the girl. + +"I am," Dane admitted. "There was, however, only one way in which I +could satisfy Mr. Chatterton without running the risk of allowing him to +apply considerable misdirected energy to the task of convincing a second +person. Therefore, though I did not like it, I took that way. He was not +pleased with me." + +"You told him----" Lilian began, coloring still more. + +"I did," said Dane grimly. "Horribly unflattering, wasn't it; but it was +the best I could do for you." + +The girl first experienced a wholly illogical desire to humiliate the +speaker; but, recognizing the unreasonableness of this, she reflected a +moment, and then laughed mirthlessly. + +"It should certainly prove effective. Still, a woman would have found a +neater way out of the difficulty!" + +Lilian left him, and when the man passed out of earshot into the +shrubbery, he used a few pointed and forbidden adjectives in connection +with what he termed his luck. + +He was leaning moodily upon a gate, looking down on a sunlit +stubble-field the following afternoon, when the next link was forged in +the chain of circumstances which, beginning with Chatterton's fishing, +would drag him through strange adventures. There was late honeysuckle on +the hedges, and festoons of warm-tinted straw. Running water sang +soothingly beneath the pine branches overhanging a neighboring hollow; +while all the wide vista of river, moor, and fell was mellowed by the +golden autumn haze. Dane, however, was far from happy. He was in no way +jealous of Carsluith Maxwell, which was perhaps surprising; but, in +addition to his other troubles, it did not please him that the latter +should have accompanied Miss Chatterton home on foot from Culmeny. They +had also been an inordinate time over the journey. + +Presently, a little brown-faced child came pattering barefooted down the +lane, and stopping, glanced at him shyly, as though half afraid. She was +a pretty, elfish little thing, though her well-mended garments betokened +industrious poverty. She apparently gathered courage when the man smiled +at her. + +"Whom are you staring so hard at, my little maid?" said he. + +The child fished out a strip of folded paper from somewhere about her +diminutive person, and held it up to him. + +"Ye will be the Mr. Dane who's staying at The Larches?" + +Dane nodded, and the girl glanced up and down the lane suspiciously. + +"Then Sis telt me to give ye this when there was naebody to see." + +"And who is your sister, and what's it all about?" asked Dane; and the +little thing smiled roguishly. + +"Just Mary Johnstone. Maybe it would tell ye gin ye lookit inside it, +sir." + +She vanished the next moment, with a patter of bare feet, leaving Dane +to stare blankly at the folded paper. + +"Now, who is Mary Johnstone, and what can she want with me?" he +wondered, as he prepared to follow the child's advice and read the +missive. When this had been done, however, he was not greatly +enlightened. + +"_I'm taking a great liberty_," it ran. "_I am in great trouble, and you +are the one person who can help me. If you would not have two little +children go hungry all winter, you will meet me by the planting at +Hallows Brig in the gloaming to-morrow. I saw you at The Larches, and +thought I could trust you._" + +"Very confiding of Miss Johnstone, whoever she is, but I'm thankful my +conscience is clear," thought Dane. It was unfortunate that he did not +obey the first impulse which prompted him to destroy the note. Instead +of this, he lighted another cigar, and sat down to consider the affair. + +Just then the local constable, who on an eventful occasion had also +stuck fast in the hedge, came tramping through the stubble with +elephantine gait. + +"Grand weather the day, sir," he beamed. "Ye will have heard we grippit +the man who broke yere heid." + +"I'm summoned as a witness; but who is Mary Johnstone?" asked Dane. "You +should know everybody about here." + +"Old Rab Johnstone's daughter; and that's no great credit to the lass. +Rab's overfond of the whisky, and never does nothing when he can help +it, which is gey often, I'm thinking. The daughter's a hard working +lass--sews for the gentlefolks; and she and her brither between them +keep the two mitherless bairns fed. It's him we've got in the lock-up +for breaking yere heid." + +"Oh," said Dane, as a light dawned upon him. "Then Mary Johnstone would +be the pretty, light-haired girl I saw sewing for Miss Chatterton?" + +"That same, sir," answered the constable, with professional alacrity. +"Miss Chatterton has missed nothing, has she?" + +"Of course not!" Dane said impatiently. "I was only inquiring out of +curiosity. You need not mention it. Would this coin be of any use to +you?" + +The official admitted that it might be; but when he appeared to smother +a bovine chuckle, Dane turned upon him. + +"What the deuce is amusing you so?" + +"Naething, sir," the man answered sheepishly. "I'm taken that way whiles +in hot weather." + +The constable furnished further particulars about the poacher's family +before he departed; and Dane, reflecting that his must be the most +damaging testimony against the prisoner, understood why Mary Johnstone +had sent for him. It was perhaps foolish, but the child's face had +attracted him; and deciding that the lot of the pretty seamstress, +struggling to bring up her sisters under the conditions mentioned, must +be a hard one at the best, he resolved at least to hear what she had to +say. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE TRYST AT HALLOWS BRIG + + +It was a clear, cool evening when Carsluith Maxwell leaned on the rails +of a footbridge which spanned the river, looking up at the old place of +Culmeny. It rose from the stony hillside, a straggling pile of time-worn +masonry, with all its narrow windows aflame with the evening light, and +the green of ivy softening its rugged simplicity. A square tower formed +its major portion, and this had been built with no pretense at adornment +in troubled days when the Maxwells had won and held their possessions +with the mailed hand. They had been, for the most part, soldiers of +fortune, and their descendant recalled the traditions of his race as, +turning, he looked south and east across the shining flood-tide toward +the Solway sands. + +More of his forbears had, when there was scarcity at Culmeny--which was +generally the case--ridden that way in steel cap and dinted harness than +ever rode back, and Carsluith Maxwell had hitherto fulfilled the family +destiny, chancing his life in modern ventures where the risks were +perhaps as heavy as any the old moss-troopers ran. Now, however, he had +come to a turning-point in his career, and that night must decide +whether he applied his energies to the slow conversion of barren mosses +into arable land, or went forth again to seek his fortune over seas. The +wandering life appealed to his instincts; and fortune had not wholly +evaded him; but he had recognized of late that unless he could share it +with one woman, even prosperity would have little value for him. There +was a trace of melancholy almost akin to superstition in his nature, and +it was with a curious smile that he turned toward Culmeny to put his +fate to the test. If Lilian Chatterton would not listen, it was high +time to begin his search for the African mine. + +In the meantime, Hilton Dane sat in the hall of Culmeny waiting for a +word with Maxwell, and also until it was time to keep his appointment at +the Hallows Brig. Three narrow, diamond-paned windows with rose lights +in the crown of their lancets pierced one end of the hall, and the +fading sunlight beating through, forced up into brightness the +pale-tinted dresses of his companions. They were young and comely women, +and, because the rest of the dark-paneled room was wrapped in shadow, +neither face nor dainty figure suffered from being silhouetted against a +somber background. A cluster of late roses in a silver bowl, and the +tawny skin of an African leopard on the polished floor, both touched by +the tinted gleam, formed by contrast glowing patches of color. +Nevertheless, Dane's eyes most often rested upon Lilian Chatterton, who +sat near an open window with a ruddy glory blazing in her hair, while +the dark oak behind it emphasized the delicate chiseling of her face. +There was a stamp of decision upon it as well as refinement. + +"Is it not wonderfully peaceful to-night?" she said, glancing out across +the velvet lawn. A few roses still flowered along one side of it, a tall +clipped hedge hemmed it in, and, beyond the lawn, fir wood, yellow +stubble, and meadow rolled down to the silver shining of the sea. The +whole lay steeped in the sunset, serenely beautiful; but the black +shadow of the firs lengthened rapidly across the grass. + +"You are all very silent," the girl continued. "Why does not somebody +agree with me? Don't you think it peaceful, Margaret? This might be an +enchanted garden, and yonder hedge a barrier impassable to care. It is +good to talk nonsense occasionally; and to-night one could almost fancy +that no cause for trouble might enter here." + +As she spoke, Dane noticed that the gloom of the firs had swallowed most +of the lawn, and the coincidence struck him as an unfortunate augury. +Lilian had known little of either sorrow or care; and having learned by +painful experience that the balance of light and darkness is determined +by immutable law, the man trembled for her. + +Margaret Maxwell laughed a little. + +"You are distinctly fanciful. Culmeny has seen very little of either +peace or prosperity. The spot where this very garden stands was once +worn down by the hoofs of stolen cattle, and the feet of armed men bent +on exterminating the gentle Maxwells who plundered them. We also read +that the serpent entered Eden, and have the authority of Milton and +others for picturing the Prince of Darkness as a somewhat courtly +gentleman; while one notices that when there is unusual harmony, trouble +not infrequently follows the advent of a man. It is a coincidence, but +that ditty should herald Carsluith's coming." + +A voice rose out of the adjoining meadow chanting a plaintive ditty in +an unknown tongue. The air resembled nothing Lilian had heard before, +and she leaned forward listening, for the refrain, pitched in a +mournful minor key, was equally striking. + +"I did not know your brother sang so well; but I do not like that song. +It strikes one as uncanny," she said. + +Margaret Maxwell nodded. + +"It is West African, and that, I understand, is an uncanny country. My +brother spent some time there. He really sings--as he does most things +when he thinks it worth while, which is not always--tolerably well." + +The song died away as Carsluith Maxwell came lightly across the lawn, +and Dane noticed that the last of the sunlight faded and the shadows +shut in both himself and Lilian Chatterton when the newcomer entered +through the open window. + +"I did not know I had such an audience, or I should have been too +diffident to play the nightingale," Maxwell laughed. + +"Miss Chatterton did not like your song, though she admired its +rendering," said Margaret mischievously. "But what put that doleful +composition into your head to-night?" + +"Association of ideas, most probably," answered Maxwell, with a smile on +his lips, but none in his eyes. "I met the post-carrier, and must decide +forthwith whether I shall follow up my African scheme or not. It is +curious, but by the same token I'm standing with my heel on the neck of +the leopard, and I feel inclined to say God send it be a true augury. +You have your foot upon him, too, Miss Chatterton; and that is a very +ill-omened beast." + +"How so?" asked Lilian. "It cannot be very large or terrible, to judge +by its skin." + +"It holds a country larger than Scotland in terror," replied Maxwell. +"There are whole tribes of black men who tremble at the sight of a tuft +of leopard's fur." + +"As an insignia, I suppose; but the beast is clearly vulnerable." Lilian +stooped and pointed to the fur. "Surely that is the work of a bullet." + +"You have keen eyes," said Maxwell. "The taxidermist did his best to +hide it. That hole was made when I first pitted myself against the +leopard by shooting one to convince my carriers the thing was mortal. +For some time I suspected that was the beginning of a duel." + +"And now?" interposed his sister, with a trace of anxiety. + +"Now I almost hope I was mistaken," said Carsluith Maxwell. "With your +permission, I have one or two things to see to, and should like a word +with Hilton." + +They went out together, and presently Dane returned alone to bid Miss +Maxwell adieu. + +"You have been very patient during the last hour," said that lady. "Now +that you have seen Carsluith, one could not, of course, expect too much +from you." + +"I have been very self-indulgent," said Dane, who had seen the elfish +child again and promised to meet his correspondent. "Still, there is a +limit to everybody's opportunities for enjoyment, and unfortunately I +must tear myself away." + +Margaret Maxwell glanced at him sharply, for she fancied that he spoke +with sincerity, as indeed he did; but Dane, having given his promise, +intended to keep it. She also glanced at Lilian, and decided that Miss +Chatterton was not wholly pleased. + +"Carsluith proposed to drive you both home. Can you not wait until he is +ready?" she suggested. + +"I fear I cannot," answered Dane, with a trace of confusion. "The fact +is, I have an appointment to keep." + +He left them a trifle abruptly, and Miss Maxwell turned to Lilian. + +"Whom can your guest have an appointment with? He looked positively +guilty. I fear that he must have fallen into the toils of some rustic +beauty, which, considering his opportunities, shows a deplorably +defective taste." + +If Lilian felt any resentment she showed no sign of it; but she was a +little more quiet than usual while they awaited the return of Carsluith +Maxwell. + +Dane, remembering Lilian's glance of interrogation, hurried toward the +Hallows Brig in a somewhat uncertain humor. Though the hillside was +still projected blackly against a pale gleam of saffron above, it was +nearly but not quite dark when he reached the bridge, and the water sang +mournfully through the deepening gloom of the firs. The cool air was +fragrant with the faint sweetness of honeysuckle, and the calling of +curlew rose from a misty meadow; and it seemed to Dane that the slight, +shadowy figure which presently flitted toward him was in keeping with +the spirit of the scene. When the girl halted beside him there was still +just sufficient light to show that her face was comely. Hilton Dane was +not given to wandering fancies, and had long carried Lilian Chatterton's +photograph about with him; but he felt compassionate when he saw the +anxiety in the thin face, and noticed that the girl's lips were +quivering. + +"Miss Johnstone, I presume?" he said. "Will you please tell me why you +sent for me?" + +"I will try, sir," was the answer. "I have two little sisters to bring +up on what I earn by my needle, and what Jim can spare; but work has +been ill to get at the quarries, and, now when Jim's in prison, and +winter's no far away, I'm afraid to wonder what will be the outcome if +he is convicted." + +"He should have considered such risks before he attempted to steal +another man's partridges," said Dane, with a poor attempt at severity. + +"Poaching is not stealing, sir!" There was a ring in the girl's voice. +"Sorrow on the game that steals the farmer's corn to make a rich man's +pleasure, and tempts a poor man to his ruin! May ye never learn, sir, +what it is to choose between stealing and starving." + +"The question is, what do you wish me to do?" + +"To let Jim off, sir," was the answer; and the girl's eyes were eager to +tearfulness as she fixed them on the man, who frowned, perhaps because +he felt the appeal in them almost irresistible. "It was a dark night, +and maybe ye could not be quite certain. It was the others who tempted +him. He will go no more poaching if he once wins clear, and if the +fiscal sends him to prison the bairns will be hungry often or the +winter's through. It's for their sakes I'm asking; and the neighbors say +there will be no conviction if ye cannot swear to Jim." + +Perhaps it was Dane's duty to sternly rebuke the pleader, but she +appeared half-fed and desperately anxious; and the face of her tiny +sister, with its look of childish confidence, rose up before his fancy. +He had once, and with little compunction, cut down with a shovel a +frenzied Italian laborer who led a mutiny, but now, though he set his +lips firmly for a moment, his eyes were pitiful. + +"I am afraid what you suggest would not be right," he said presently. +"Does your father not help you at all?" + +The girl's "No," expressed a good deal, and the despair in her voice +completed the man's discomfiture. + +"I'm sorry; I had no right to ask," he said. "I am sure, at least, that +it was not your brother who broke my head, because--because he was not +in a position to attack anybody just then--and, for the sake of the +little ones, if there is any doubt at all--and I dare say there will be, +he shall have full benefit. But I cannot set him at liberty to continue +poaching; and the neighboring land-owners will probably see that he gets +no more work at the quarries; so he must take a letter from me to a +contractor who will no doubt find him employment." + +Here, to the consternation of Dane, who did not know that his underfed +and overworked companion had done a courageous and, in the eyes of her +neighbors, a very suspicious thing, the girl broke out into half-choked +sobbing. + +"You really must not cry," he pleaded awkwardly. "It is distressing to +me; and it is not my fault that your brother's friends cut my head open. +However, as I am the unfortunate cause of your distress, if the little +ones have suffered already it would be my duty to--to see they +didn't--you understand me?" + +The girl, though still tearful, drew herself up with some show of pride. + +"I'm no asking ye for money. The relief was just overmuch for me; but, +and it's a last favor, ye will no tell Miss Chatterton. Her good word +means work and bread to me." + +"I am not likely to tell Miss Chatterton," the man assured her; then +added in haste: "If I did, she would not blame you." + +"Maybe! Ye will not tell her," the girl said enigmatically, and then +once more caught her breath. + +Dane, being unpleasantly uncertain what she might say or do in an +hysterical attack, felt it incumbent on him to soothe her, and laid a +hand reassuringly on her shoulder. It is possible that his companion +found comfort in the grasp, or instinctively recognized the touch of an +honest man, for she made no effort to evade it. As it happened, the lane +was grass-grown and sandy, and the river frothed noisily down a rapid +beyond the bridge. Thus neither of them heard the fall of hoofs until a +sudden glare of light beat into the face of the man. Fate had decreed +that the driver of the approaching vehicle should not only light the +lamps a little earlier than usual, but choose the longest road. + +The result was unfortunate, for Dane, acting on impulse, drew the girl +farther back into the shadow of the hedge, and stood before her with his +hand still on her arm. The light had partly dazzled him, but he +recognized in the occupants of the dog-cart Lilian Chatterton and +Carsluith Maxwell, and barely choked back an expletive. Neither, if they +had seen him, showed any sign of recognition, which, however, was hardly +to be expected under the circumstances. Then, as the vehicle jolted on, +the girl, seeing the chagrin in the man's face, gazed at him curiously, +and with half-coherent thanks hurried away, leaving Dane in a state of +savage dismay. + +"It is confoundedly hard on an unfortunate and innocent man! This is a +situation which will require considerable explaining, and I shall +probably never have an opportunity for attempting it," he muttered. + +In the meantime Lilian Chatterton felt the hot blood surge upward from +her neck, and was thankful that the darkness partly hid her face. It is +true that she had effectively, so she hoped, put an end to any +aspirations Dane might have cherished; but when he had once accepted the +position there was no longer any necessity to conceal the fact that to a +certain degree she found his society congenial, or to consider how far +her interest in him might carry her. His complaisance had been the more +gratifying because she fancied it was not every woman who could bend +such an individual to her will. Lilian, however, had not only set up a +somewhat elevated standard of conduct for herself, but was inclined to +judge harshly those who fell beneath it; and now she was unmistakably, +if illogically, angry. The knowledge that the man had gone out fresh +from her presence to keep such an assignation stung her pride to the +quick, and brought the crimson to her very forehead. It was, she +considered, an unforgivable insult. Still, she had but seen him dimly +for a second, and might be mistaken, and so she turned toward her +companion. + +"It is curious that I should fancy there was something familiar in the +voices we overheard," she said as lightly as she could. + +Maxwell had learned discretion. + +"Voices are always deceptive," he answered. "One should never trust to a +fanciful resemblance. The bridge is a favorite trysting-place for rustic +lovers; as one result of the sudden appearance of a pair of them, this +excitable beast managed to upset me the last time I approached it." + +Carsluith Maxwell had done his best for his friend, and it was not his +fault that he had only confirmed the girl's suspicions, and set her +wondering if all men were equally perfidious. + +"That being so, was it not very thoughtless of you to drive me this +way?" she inquired, with some asperity. + +"Guilty," laughed Maxwell. "May I plead in extenuation that it is the +longest?" + +He sprang down and looped the reins round a gatepost when they reached +the winding drive which led up to The Larches. + +"Do you mind alighting here, Miss Chatterton?" he asked. + +"No," said Lilian. "But may I inquire the reason?" + +"A desire not to risk your safety a second time. The drive is very dark, +the horse addicted to bolting on opportunity; and it would be hard to do +justice to what I must tell you if I were forced to watch him. The task +is sufficiently beyond me already; I would give a good deal for the +power of eloquence." + +Lilian was startled, for the speaker had certainly not worn his heart on +his sleeve. + +"Could you not wait until to-morrow?" she asked with some trepidation. + +"I am afraid not," said Maxwell, a trifle grimly. "I fear this must be a +surprise to you, but circumstances prevent my waiting, and it is even +better to hear one's sentence than to remain in suspense. Won't you +listen?" + +Lilian, seeing there was no escape, bent her head; and, if Maxwell had +not the gift of eloquence, he could compress a good deal into a few +brief sentences. There was no superfluous protestation. The man spoke +abruptly, but Lilian could not doubt the earnestness in his voice, or, +as he stood hat in hand under the lamplight, mistake the look in his +eyes. She saw that what he offered was the enduring love of one who +could be trusted to the utmost, and the few pointed words revealed +depths of tenderness she had hardly suspected in him. + +"I am sorry, very sorry--but it is impossible," she said softly. + +Maxwell moved a pace or two forward, and his face seemed to have grown +suddenly haggard. + +"Think," he urged hoarsely. "This means so much to me. Will it always be +impossible? I shall not change." + +Lilian fancied she could believe him. She looked him fully in the eyes +as she answered. + +"It can never be possible. I am sorry. If I had known, I should have +tried to warn you. You must forget me." + +Maxwell recognized finality in her tone. For the space of several +seconds he turned his head away. Then he faced round again, speaking +very quietly: + +"You have nothing to reproach yourself with. The mistake was mine. I +shall, however, never forget you; and I want you to promise that if any +adversity overtakes you--which God forbid--you will remember me. I sail +for Africa shortly, and it may be long before we meet again. Now I will +walk with you up the drive." + +He held out his arm, and Lilian wondered a little at his composure as +she laid her hand on it and they passed together into the blackness of +the firs. + +Miss Chatterton had not long joined her aunt when Dane came in, and +glanced in her direction as he made some not oversapient observation to +Chatterton. She did not avoid his gaze, but met it coldly, and, +gathering up some needlework, moved without ostentation, but +deliberately, out of the room. No speech could have been plainer, and +Dane grew hot, while the fingers of one hand contracted without his +will. + +"You don't look well, Hilton," remarked Thomas Chatterton. "Is your head +troubling you?" + +"No," said Dane. "I must have walked tolerably fast, and I am perhaps a +trifle shaky yet. With Mrs. Chatterton's permission I will go out and +smoke a cigar." + +He passed out, and the iron-master smiled as he looked at his wife. + +"Can you tell me what is the meaning of this?" he asked. + +"Your inquiry is indefinite; and why do you ask me?" + +"Because I think you ought to know," Chatterton answered dryly. "Women +generally have a finger in it whenever there is trouble." + +"Even if true, that is not strikingly original," Mrs. Chatterton +retorted. "I have not noticed anything unusual." + +"Then listen," and Chatterton pointed toward the window. "When a young +man goes out for a stroll he does not usually stamp in that savage +fashion upon the gravel. Now, I want your candid opinion." + +"You shall have it," said the lady, smiling. "I believe that no good +ever resulted from a choleric elderly gentleman's interference in +affairs beyond his comprehension." + +Meanwhile Carsluith Maxwell stood talking to his sister in the hall of +Culmeny. + +"After what has happened, the sooner I get out on my African venture the +more pleasant it will be for all concerned," he said gloomily. "It is a +good country where one can forget one's troubles; in fact, there are so +many peculiarly its own that I don't know a better." + +"Poor Carsluith! It will be a heavy disappointment to father. He is +failing more rapidly than I care to notice, and had begun to lean on +you. I don't think I can forgive her. Yes; go out, and forget her." + +"It was not Miss Chatterton's fault," Maxwell declared quickly. "She +never, to use the inappropriate phrase, encouraged me. It was my own +folly to hope that she could stoop to me." + +"Without any wish to flatter you, I consider that Miss Chatterton might +have stooped a good deal farther," said Margaret Maxwell. "However, we +need not go into that; and I am only sorry you are so hardly hit. I +wonder if it was because of Dane?" + +"No," Maxwell answered with decision. "I can't exactly tell you why, but +I am certain it was not because of Dane." + +His sister said nothing further, though she was not convinced. Her heart +was heavy for her brother, because she knew the Maxwell temperament, and +that he was not the man to change. + +Carsluith passed out into the darkness, and leaning against a fir, spoke +half aloud: + +"No man Miss Chatterton had smiled upon could scatter his affections as +Dane seems to have done. Pshaw! The thing is perfectly impossible!" + +This was, perhaps, a greater tribute to the speaker's loyalty than to +his knowledge of human nature, though Carsluith Maxwell was usually +accounted a shrewd man. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +DANE'S SILENCE + + +It was in a combative humor that Hilton Dane presented himself in court +on the day of the poacher's trial. It was impossible to ignore the +summons, which alone had delayed his departure from The Larches; but the +time he spent there waiting had passed very uncomfortably. Lilian had, +so far as she could do so without attracting attention, sedulously +avoided his company; and he fancied that both Chatterton and his wife +regarded him with suspicion. Dane, knowing the iron-master's opinions, +surmised that Chatterton would not have blamed him had he frankly +related all that had passed; but he had pledged himself to secrecy, and +it never occurred to him to break his promise. + +Therefore he kept his own counsel, and went into court prepared for +battle, further fortified by a contempt for the assumed omnipotence of +petty local magnates which men of his kind, who have tasted power in the +vigorous life of the newer lands, acquire. He decided that the prisoner, +who was very young, looked free from inherent vice, and worthy of a +chance to prove himself, in the main, honest. He was not absolutely +certain that the man was the one with whom he had grappled, and he gave +him the full benefit of the doubt. His answers provided the neighborhood +with a sensational topic for conversation, and, while there were some +who laughed at the legal functionaries' discomfiture and the witness's +nonchalance, the game preservers in the vicinity were emphatic in their +indignation. + +In any case, Dane left the court amid the plaudits of the assembled +quarrymen, which the officials could not restrain. He hated the role of +popular hero but he felt a certain grim satisfaction, though he guessed +that every word he had spoken might cost him dearly. Also, because he +did nothing by halves, he sought the discharged prisoner. + +"I don't know whether you are the right man or not, and I don't want +to," he said dryly. "If you are a wholly worthless rascal, you will no +doubt drift back into the clutches of the police, when it is probable +that the worthy gentlemen I addressed to-day will see that you don't get +out again. It would not surprise me if they starved you out of this +neighborhood; so, if you desire to make a fresh start, you will take +this letter to the English waterworks contractor to whom it is +addressed--and send your sister as much as possible of what he pays +you." + +"Would you believe that I'm sairly sorry, sir?" began the lad; but Dane +turned upon him with a laugh and a frown. + +"Sorry for what? Prove it by turning honest. Do you wish to convince me +I did wrong to-day?" + +The poacher departed with grateful protestations, and Dane was glad that +he had vanished before Maxwell came up. + +"I don't know whether I ought to congratulate you on your forensic +abilities, or otherwise, but the spectacle was worth the journey," he +said. "I hardly suspected that you possessed such talents; but why you +displayed them is, of course, another question." + +"It is also my particular business," Dane replied stiffly, and frowned +when Maxwell smiled significantly. + +"Confound you! Do you think----" he broke out; and Maxwell smiled again +in ironical fashion as he moved away. + +"I might make use of your own rejoinder, and say that I generally find +it saves trouble to keep my opinions to myself," he returned. "However, +since you asked me, what would any person of the most modest discernment +think?" + +Dane groaned inwardly as he climbed into the waiting vehicle, for the +last speech placed beyond all doubt the fact that the occupants of the +dog-cart had recognized him at Hallows Brig; and he knew that Lilian +Chatterton held somewhat puritanical views. He had, it was evident, +involved himself hopelessly. + +That very evening, just as Dane had finished packing his few +possessions, an irate game-preserving gentleman drove over to The +Larches to express his indignation. + +"I would not like to hurt your feelings, Chatterton, but your young +friend did not give wholly unbiased testimony to-day," he said. +"Considering his evident desire to shield the prisoner, I e'en felt it +my duty to----" + +He got no farther, for the choleric iron-master was equally loyal to +those he honored with his good opinion, and prompt on any challenge to +take up the cudgels. + +"If that is all you called to tell me, you might have spared yourself +the trouble, Black," he interrupted. "I have known Hilton Dane from +boyhood, as I knew his father before him; and I haven't the slightest +objection to hurting the feelings of any man who impugns the honesty of +my friends." + +"I'm thinking ye are very generous," replied Black, relapsing into his +native idiom. "Man, do not be so testy, but bide and listen. He +described his adversary so well that the police at once identified and +arrested him; but he appeared troubled with a distressfully bad memory +in court to-day. + +"'What are ye meaning by the words, "A man like the prisoner"?' the +fiscal asked him; and Mr. Dane answers: 'Just what I say.' + +"'Can you not swear to him?' asked the fiscal severely; and your young +friend smiled. 'Could you swear to the complexion and color of the eyes +of any man who, on a dark night, had just kicked you hard upon the +knee?' says he. + +"It was not even respectful; and when the rabble cheered there was more +than me who agreed with the fiscal: 'This place is a court of +justice--or it ought to be,' said he." + +Black, pausing, betrayed his indignation with a gesture, while +Chatterton laughed in aggressive fashion. + +"Considering my worthy neighbors' prejudices, I think there was +something in that last remark," he said. + +Just then Lilian, who may have overheard part of the colloquy, appeared +in an opening in the tall hedge. + +"Did you convict the malefactor, Mr. Black?" she asked. + +"No," said that gentleman ruefully. "Unfortunately we did not, although +I'm thinking that we did our best." + +Lilian smiled a little, and Chatterton's eyes twinkled as he glanced at +her encouragingly. + +"Was that quite in accordance with the spirit of our glorious +constitution?" she asked. + +"Eh?" said Black sharply. "What's this I'm saying; and I see ye are +laughing at me. I mean his guilt was manifest, but a friend of yours +showed considerable audacity, forby a trace of talent, in his efforts to +release him. Ye will mind that it's a principle of British justice to +give even a poacher fair play, my dear young lady." + +"So I was always taught," Lilian replied artlessly. + +Thomas Chatterton chuckled again, and pointed toward a man who, in turn, +passed through the opening in the hedge. + +"I fancy that Mr. Black is anxious to talk to you, Hilton," he said. + +Black, however, had evidently found two adversaries sufficient without +engaging a third, and, as sometimes happens, he did not recollect the +crushing things he might have said until the opportunity had passed; so, +after a stiff greeting, he allowed Chatterton, who was rarely ungenerous +to a beaten enemy, to lead him away. + +Lilian had disappeared, but not before the manner in which she had +ignored Dane had roused him to precipitate action. He forgot his +prudence in a sudden fit of anger, and, remembering only that he might +never have another opportunity for speech with her, he followed the +girl. Miss Chatterton, however, had a fair start, and, perhaps being +warned by the sound of his hurried footsteps, made the most of it; so +that while Dane pursued her down two avenues, and through a shrubbery, +the situation grew rapidly ludicrous. The humor of it did not strike him +then, and he saw only the flicker of a white dress receding before him. +Finally he came upon the fugitive in a narrow path between rows of +choice chrysanthemums, where, as there was no room for two to pass, +Lilian turned upon him with an ominous light in her eyes. It was evident +that Miss Chatterton was seriously angry, as well as a little +breathless. + +"What brings you here?" she demanded. + +Dane was not, as a rule, readily disconcerted; but for a moment the +power of lucid speech deserted him. + +"I came----" he gasped. + +"That is unfortunately evident," retorted Lilian, chillingly. "What I +desire to know is why, considering the size of the garden, you must, +after seeing I wished to be alone, choose this particular path!" + +Dane had slight cause for merriment, but he actually laughed. + +"Any other place would have suited me, but you went so fast!" + +This was a blunder, and he realized it as he heard the gravel crunch in +a manner that suggested the pressure of somebody's heel. Lilian had +clearly roused herself to face the situation. + +"Admitting that it was so, will you explain why you cannot take a hint?" + +"I will," Dane said quietly, though he was once more maladroit. "I +wished to ask why you have avoided me like contagion lately?" + +"Is that a necessary question, or is it generous to place the onus of +such an explanation upon me?" + +"Perhaps not," he admitted. "I am not so quick of wit as I could wish, +to-day, but I am going away early to-morrow, and it may be very long +before I see you again; so I could not help asking it. We have known +each other a long time, Lily, and I would not care to leave England +feeling that you were displeased with me." + +"Have I told you that I was displeased?" asked the girl. + +"Speech was hardly necessary." + +Lilian Chatterton was not deficient in courage, and she no longer tried +to evade the difficulty. "Please understand that I have neither the +right nor the desire to inquire into your motives, but--since you +insist--there are limits within which one must restrict one's +friendship; and after comparing your own account of your nocturnal +adventures with what I heard Mr. Black relate about your conduct in +court to-day, it is hardly possible to avoid concluding that you have +overstepped them." + +"There may be an explanation. Is it fair, as you reminded that very +gentleman, to condemn any one unheard?" + +"Can you furnish one?" asked Lilian, with a quickness which was not +wholly lost upon her companion. If he had spoken plainly, it is possible +that the explanation might have changed a good deal for both of them; +but that was just what the man had pledged himself not to do. He was not +a casuist, and, having no time for reflection, saw only one course open +to him. It was too late when he realized that it was the worst one +possible from any point of view. + +"I am afraid I cannot, at present," he said. + +The girl's eyes grew almost wicked, for his hesitation was fatal, and +she was angry that she had even allowed him to draw her into the +discussion. + +"That is comprehensible," she said. "You must already have taxed your +imagination severely, and it is perhaps natural that the testimony of a +quite disinterested gentleman should be more convincing. Besides, as I +said already, it is certainly not my part to judge you." + +"Then I can only hope that you will hear the full truth from some other +person you consider more worthy of credit," Dane said somberly. + +Miss Chatterton returned no answer, but, drawing her skirt to her side, +brushed past the man, who stepped recklessly among the chrysanthemums. +She had, of course, no intention of looking back in his direction, but, +on turning at the end of the alley, it was almost necessary to do so, +and she sometimes remembered, with both a smile and a sigh, how he had +stood, a somewhat commanding, as well as a slightly ludicrous figure, +staring straight before him, knee-deep among the chrysanthemums. That, +however, was afterward, for then Lilian was in a royal rage with herself +as well as the man, because she had allowed anything he could say or do +to disturb her serenity. + +Dane sighed a little, but there was resolution as well as indignation in +his face as he moved away, and left the gardener, who had witnessed the +scene with indignation, to assess the damage. + +"Would nothing fit yon theatrical ijiot but stamping my new quilled +Regents flat?" the gardener grumbled. + +Early the next morning Chatterton and Dane stood waiting for the South +express in the little country station. + +"I don't altogether understand what you have been doing, Hilton, and, +though nobody seems quite pleased with you, I won't ask," said the +iron-master. "I know you had a good reason for it, whatever it was; and +if that meddlesome Black or any of his friends feel inclined to make +further unpleasant suggestions, I shall enjoy the opportunity for a +little plain speaking. If you ever change your mind, remember what I +said; and don't close with any offer unless it's tempting, but come +back and wait at The Larches for a better. I can't help saying I'm +sorry you did not altogether hit it with Lilian. Modern young women, +however, often appear to consider cheap smartness more becoming than the +genuine cordiality they may feel." + +"It was not Miss Chatterton's fault, sir," declared Dane, who, growing +slightly confused, wished the iron-master would favor anything else with +his fixed attention. He was thankful that the approach of the express +prevented the conversation from progressing further in that direction. + +A few evenings later, Lilian dismounted from her pony in the shadow of a +copse. For some reason she had been restless all day, and sought solace +in a ride across the moor. The saddle had slipped a little, and she +spent some time tightening the girth. Meanwhile two men came to a +standstill in the stubble beyond the hedge, and she recognized Carsluith +Maxwell in one spare figure. The sunset beat into his face, and she saw +it was stamped with a curious melancholy as he looked down the +deep-wooded valley toward Culmeny. Ridges of brown moorland, whose +slopes were streaked by dark firs, hemmed the hollow in, and the tower +rose blackly in the mouth of it against the shimmer of the sea. + +"It is an inheritance to be proud of, sir," Carsluith said. "Perhaps it +is because of the contrast with the rank luxuriance of the tropics, and +their stifling heat, but each time I come home to the old place and +breathe this keen sweet air, I feel that I love it better." + +The second man, turning, laid his hand on the speaker's shoulder, and as +he did so Lilian recognized the master of Culmeny. + +"It will be yours some day which cannot be very distant now," the elder +man replied. "It is a barren heritage, and I have long regretted that, +after the girls are provided for, its revenues will do little more than +cover the interest on the burden you must take up along with it." + +"I hope that day will be long in coming, sir; and I shall never rest +contented until by some means I win enough to restore our former +prosperity. To-morrow will see me on my way to London, and we must hope +that my latest venture will prove successful!" + +Lilian could not escape without attracting attention, and she was so +close to the two men that she heard Brandram Maxwell sigh. + +"I do not approve of it, but know I cannot dissuade you," he said, with +a certain pride as well as wistfulness in the glance he cast upon his +son. "I had hoped you might have settled here--and think she is good as +well as bonny--but that was not to be. Prosperity! The old place was aye +needy, and its plenishing has cost the life of many of those who have +gone before you. You will mind Andrew's answer when he fell out dying in +the retreat from Derby: 'I'm not caring greatly where I lie,' said he. +'Our kirkyard is not contracted. It runs from the Low Countries to the +sands of Cree.' Maybe it's your destiny, but you will not forget that an +old man is longing for the sight of you, longing the more because----" + +He ceased abruptly, and Lilian noticed that Carsluith Maxwell made the +slightest gesture of negation, while his face darkened a little. She +recalled an old superstitious tale. + +"We have outgrown belief in those fables, sir," he declared. + +The ruler of Culmeny made no direct answer. + +"The old tale is told over often, and the end is the same. God keep you, +and bring you safe home from that dark land," he said solemnly. + +Here the pair forestalled the unwilling spectator's intention by moving +away, and left her troubled. She had done nothing to raise false hopes +in Carsluith Maxwell, and in that respect her conscience was clear; but +there had been a strange somberness in both men's faces, and she felt +that she was mainly responsible for sending the younger one to Africa. +He was of good family and accomplished, and she wondered why, when many +another damsel would have gladly listened, she had so promptly declined +him as a suitor. Then, even as she reflected that there was no one else +she preferred to him, a tinge of color crept into her face, and, +dismissing the subject, she mounted, and sent the pony at a gallop +across the next meadow. + + * * * * * + +It was a depressing afternoon when Carsluith Maxwell found Dane lounging +in the smoking-room of a London hotel. The air outside was foul with +smoke and fog; and it was little more cheerful within. Dane was in +distinctly low spirits. He had spent a fortnight haunting the offices of +engineering firms, financiers, and company promoters, and had discovered +once more that anybody willing to take up his invention would require +the lion's share of the contingent profit. He could hear of no +remunerative professional engagement; and the contractors who had +promised him the foreign commission stated that the work would not be +begun for some time. + +"You do not look exactly pleased with either the world or yourself," +observed Maxwell. + +"I certainly don't feel so," Dane said shortly. "Several things have +gone wrong with me lately, and I'm even more troubled than usual by a +chronic shortness of capital. I want ten thousand pounds rather more +badly than most folks do, and no mental effort will show me where to +raise more than five." + +Maxwell looked hard at the speaker. + +"If you are willing to risk a good deal on a chance of obtaining the +money, I think I can show you a way." + +Dane laughed harshly. + +"There is no risk you could mention which, for the sake of five thousand +pounds, I would not run." + +"If you join me you will run a good many," said Maxwell. "There were +reasons why I could not make the offer until to-day. Give me about ten +minutes to explain the venture." + +Dane drew in a deep breath when his companion concluded; then held out a +big hand. + +"It is a bargain," he said simply. "Half the profit, half the expense +and peril. I can start any time after to-morrow." + +They shook hands on it, while the blue cigar smoke curled about them; +and the bargain they made was kept faithfully in the face of manifold +perils, and in spirit as well as in letter. Long afterward, Dane +remembered that Maxwell's smile was much the same when, clenching the +hot rifle barrels, they watched the flintlocks flashing through thicker +wreaths of a more deadly vapor. + +All arrangements had been made when Maxwell departed; and Dane sat down +to write Chatterton a letter. When that gentleman received it, he first +used expressions which should have cost him five shillings, and then, +seeking his wife, thrust it down before her with quite unnecessary +violence. + +"The man has taken leave of his senses!" he exclaimed. "Read that, and +tell me if you don't think so." + +"Is this the beginning of another ancient-right crusade, or the effect +of the lobster salad? You will remember that I warned you," said Mrs. +Chatterton. + +"This is not a time to indulge in puerile levity! It is that--that +confounded idiot, Hilton! He and the other madman, Maxwell, have gone +out to look for gold mines in one of the deadliest holes in Africa. He +says he wanted five thousand pounds, and, when he knows it was his duty, +could not come to me!" + +Mrs. Chatterton read the letter, and then tried to flash a warning at +her husband before she glanced in her niece's direction. Lilian who had +leaned forward as though listening intently, sank back into her chair. + +"Perhaps they may find the gold mine; and Carsluith Maxwell is by no +means an idiot," she said. "Indeed, he always struck me as a shrewd, +determined man." + +"Determined enough," fumed her husband. "They're all made that way. +Maxwell rebuilt his iniquitous obstruction four times after I tore it +up; but there's something in Carsluith's dark face I don't care to see. +I've seen the sign on other men, and it implies a tragedy. Besides, from +what Black told me, they're an unlucky family, with an hereditary +weakness for dying fully dressed. Any mad venture they could get +themselves decently killed in seems to have been irresistible to those +men of Culmeny. I'd have given three times the money to prevent +Carsluith from decoying poor Hilton. Do the fools fancy nuggets grow on +palm trees?" + +Chatterton, receiving no answer, retired to what he called his study, +where they heard him banging books about. Lilian sat silent with hands +crossed in her lap. She, also, she fancied, had seen the shadow in +Carsluith Maxwell's face, and she felt both troubled and anxious about +him and about somebody else. + +A week later Mrs. Chatterton, entering her niece's room in search of +some trifle, came upon a book the girl had been reading. She looked +thoughtful when she saw that the volume treated of travels in West +Africa, and that the marker in it rested between the last pages. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A WARNING + + +It was a bright morning when the S.S. _Manyamba_ rolled south into sight +of the Canaries over a white-flecked sea. They rose rather like dim blue +clouds than islands athwart the far horizon, with one glistening cone +cut off by silver mists from the ocean plain beneath, towering high +above the loftiest. Maxwell leaned over the poop rails, while Dane, the +middle-aged purser, and Miss Bonita Castro stood near by. The lady's +father, a little, olive-faced Portuguese, with shifty black eyes, +lounged in a deck chair watching them languidly. There were few +passengers on board, and the members of the group, who had made friends +somewhat rapidly, were now amusing themselves by shooting at the bottles +a steward forward flung into the sea. + +A big pistol flashed in Miss Castro's hand. The purser clutched at a +stanchion and uttered a quick exclamation; Maxwell wheeled round +suddenly. A bottle, ceasing its gyrations, sank into the white wash of +the screw, and the lady laughed as she lowered the pistol muzzle. + +"_Tres!_" she cried exultantly. "That is three to me! _Carramba!_ I have +also it seem, as you say, nearly bag the Senor Maxwell." + +If Dom Pedro Castro was a typical Portuguese, his wife had been an +Andalusian, and his daughter, while speaking several languages rather +prettily than well, preferred her mother's tongue, and had inherited a +full share of the voluptuous beauty of a race whose women are famous in +Spain. She formed an interesting picture as she stood with the blue of +the sea behind her, laughter in her dark eyes, and the pistol still +smoking in her hand. They were remarkably attractive eyes; and Maxwell, +knowing what to look for, saw more than Dane had apparently seen in +their depths, and decided to warn his comrade to beware of them. A faint +carmine warmth emphasized the comeliness of the slightly dusky face, +while graceful pose and figure were both characteristic of a woman of +her extraction as yet well short of the age at which Southern beauty +changes into grossness. + +"You have not the fright, Senor Maxwell, though a little nearer and we +leave you behind?" she added naively. + +Maxwell did not look frightened, though he might well have been, for the +bullet had passed him close. He answered with a smile which, as Dane had +noticed before, appeared to linger on his lips after the gravity had +returned to his eyes. + +"No, senorita. If a man could choose his last resting-place, wouldn't +this blue water be much nicer than a mangrove swamp in Africa. That very +little, however, makes a vast difference; and you have won the gloves. +You shall have the best in Las Palmas to-night. You will land us by +sunset, Mr. Purser?" + +"Yes." The Purser sighed with relief when he saw that the contest was +over. "Hadn't you better give me that pistol, senorita? Accidents happen +when one least expects them, and the Company would hold me responsible +if you killed anybody. I don't think the skipper would see quite as much +humor in the position as you seem to." + +Bonita laughed with the light-heartedness of a child, and glanced +demurely at Dane. + +"To kill the Senor Maxwell, or my good friend Don Ilton, is catastrophe; +but to kill a bad man, it is nothing. Many men are killed in Africa; I +myself shoot one. There was in him the blood of the negro, and he forget +it when without respect he speak to me." + +Dane was a trifle staggered by the matter-of-fact manner in which Miss +Castro mentioned the way she had disposed of one whom he surmised had +been too venturesome a suitor. + +"_Verdad!_" exclaimed Dom Pedro. "The man, by bad fortune, he is not +die, and that affair is cost me much commercio. My daughter she has, in +your English, the spirited way." + +The lady's face changed suddenly as she turned toward Maxwell. + +"I beat you, Senor, but it is because you are _muy caballero_, and +prefer the defeat from me. You have the steady hand and the dangerous +eye, and have not the fear. That is well if you go up into the forest in +my country. It is different with your friend. The pistol is not for him. +No, he remind me of those big fair men with the axes I read of in +England. I make you my compliments, Don Ilton, and you show me where the +swift Bonita he leap at the bow." + +Whether, because Miss Castro was fond of admiration, this was done out +of pique at Maxwell's indifference to her attractions, Dane naturally +did not know, but he answered with a bow, and the two strolled forward +together. There were no porpoises circling, as they often will, athwart +the stem, but the lady who perched herself upon a knighthead seemed in +no way disappointed. The sun made rainbows in the spray which whirled +beneath her, as each blue ridge fell back shattered from the shearing +bows; and nowhere else could one realize so well the swift passage of +the quivering hull through the white-topped seas, or feel the same +cradle-like rise and fall of the warm deck planking. + +"All this," remarked Miss Castro, "is very nice; and the Senor Maxwell, +who is _muy caballero_, but somber sometimes, he is not here. You have +my permission to sit there, and I will talk to you." + +Dane afterward wondered why, in place of doing so, she led him on to +talk about his comrade; but it was perhaps not unnatural that he should +find a certain degree of pleasure in the society of his comely and +versatile companion. He knew little of Miss Castro beyond what the +purser had told him, and that Maxwell had met her elsewhere; but he was +to learn more in due time. She had been educated in some Spanish +convent; but, being born on the fever coast, could withstand the +climate, and she spent part of her time there in her father's factory, +and the rest with her mother's sister in the Canaries. Dom Pedro was +assumed to be a tolerably prosperous trader. + +An hour had passed before the two came aft together, and on the next +opportunity Maxwell took his friend to task. + +"It is perhaps time for me to warn you about playing with fire, Hilton," +he said. "Miss Castro is certainly pretty, but her people don't +understand the game of flirtation as played in England. In all +emotional questions they're unpleasantly in earnest. I may remind you +that I met the senorita in Africa." + +"I have not so far obtruded my advice on you," Dane returned. "Don't you +think this----" + +"Is an impertinence?" and Maxwell smiled. "Perfectly. I also admit that +the role of mentor does not become me. Nevertheless, when Miss Castro +casually mentioned how she got rid of her last suitor, there was +something in her eyes which might have warned an observer. You needn't +trouble about a neat rejoinder, because I'll retire, having done my +duty." + +"I mean to call upon Miss Castro at the Catalina to-morrow. Your +warning, however, is superfluous, as it will be the last time I shall +see her. She is remaining here." + +There was a trace of mischief in Maxwell's smile as he answered. + +"I am going with you. You need not express astonishment. She invited +me." + +It was a sunny afternoon when they went ashore together; but they did +not find Miss Castro immediately at her hotel. It appeared that the +British tourists and invalids who sojourned in the dusty Spanish city +had joined hands with its leading inhabitants over the organization of a +gala for the benefit of local institutions, and Miss Castro was playing +the part of soothsayer in the cause of charity. + +Dane found it pleasant, in spite of the dust, to watch the white mists +sliding athwart the great volcanic peaks, and the silvery spray toss +beneath the white-walled city. The assembly also was interesting. Gaily +uniformed Castilian officer, and British tourist fantastically attired, +jostled each other. Dark-skinned, black-haired beauties--pleasant to +look upon even when they wore Parisian headgear instead of the national +mantilla--in filmy draperies, flitted in and out among young +Englishwomen, whose indifferent faces and attire emphasized the contrast +between their respective characters; while here and there a matron of +their own nation stood surveying the scene with the pitying contempt for +everything foreign which too many insular Britons consider impresses the +benighted alien. Good music mingled with the merry voices, swish of +diaphanous dresses, clank of sabers, and patter of feet, and through all +rang the monotone of the sea. + +"Look at it well," said Maxwell. "It is the last glimpse of civilization +you will get for many a day. Henceforward our path leads us into a land +of eternal shadow haunted by all things evil; at least, and they have +some reason, so the negroes say. There's the senorita, telling fortunes +in that striped tent. It is curious that she is beckoning--me." + +Maxwell pushed his way through the throng surrounding a gaudy pavilion, +where Miss Castro was evidently doing excellent business; and presently +he returned, smiling curiously. + +"She wishes to tell your fortune. Go in and spend a crown in the cause +of charity. I can't say that mine was a very good one, but the senorita +showed an accuracy which was, under the circumstances, surprising." + +Dane made his way with difficulty into the tent, and when his eyes grew +used to the change from brilliant sunshine to shadow, he realized one +reason for Miss Castro's success. She wore the dress of the Andaluces, +thin, lace-like draperies of black, sufficiently short to reveal the +tiny high-arched feet in dainty Moorish slippers. A gauzy black mantilla +and a crimson rose adorned her hair, while the graces of her figure were +emphasized by a broad zone of African gold, chased with zodiacal +characters by sable craftsmen. The costume suited her; and Miss Castro +was probably aware of the fact. + +"So you will learn a little of the future, Don Ilton?" she said, with +unusual gravity. "No, you must not smile. This is not the charlatan's +trickery. The ancient Moors they teach us wisdom, and I have study. So, +we throw there the crown, and I lay this Aggri in your palm. The Aggri +has virtue, though what it is no man know." + +She detached from her bracelet an insignificant bead, one of the +mysterious Aggri which cannot be counterfeited, and, as Dane afterward +learned, can hardly be bought with money in West Africa. + +"It is a big, hard hand, and has done much work, perhaps with the +shovel, in a hot country--I think the Sud America," she said. "It will +also hold the rifle. It is well to hold the rifle straight in Africa." + +Miss Castro had splendid eyes, of a kind that it is not wise for a +susceptible man to gaze into too steadily while his hand is held in very +pretty fingers; and Dane felt it incumbent on him to break the spell. + +"This is not all divination, senorita. I told you I was going inland +from the African coast; though I certainly did not tell you I had been +in South America. Did you guess it by my darkened skin?" + +"It is not the trickery," repeated Miss Castro. "I tell you only the +things I know. There is blood on your path through the forest--blood, +and a shadow that follows, creeping always behind. Look well to your +friend. The shadow follows, but does not rest on--you. If it should, +there is a pale, cold woman in England who--but I cannot tell you if she +would be sorry, or if you will ever see her again. There is also +treasure, but the lines fade and the crosses are many, with only the +sign of danger clear. I can see no farther. Only the good saints know +the end." + +She paused for a moment, leaving Dane somewhat impressed, for, although +no believer in palmistry of that description, he had seen that Miss +Castro was apparently not speaking without a purpose. Then she laid down +the Aggri and, it seemed to Dane, her mantle of prophetess +simultaneously, saying in her usual tone, but with somewhat unusual +earnestness: + +"And now you will not laugh while I give you the warning. Beware of +these three things: a man with the holy cross on his forehead, the +carved calabash, and the leopard's skin. You will remember always, but +tell only the Senor Maxwell. There is one at least who would not have +that shadow overtake you. It may be I shall see you in Africa." + +Here the eager crowd outside showed signs of storming the tent, and Dane +was forced to take his leave, reflecting that it might perhaps be as +well if they did not, as Miss Castro expected, meet in Africa. Rejoining +Maxwell, he told him what he had heard, concluding: + +"It much resembled the usual professional soothsayer's medley, and I +could make neither head nor tail of it. Still, the senorita's manner +impressed me." + +"How did she look or speak?" Maxwell's glance betrayed his interest. + +"As though she believed what she was saying, and wished me to." + +"I am inclined to think she did," Maxwell answered thoughtfully. "She +was also probably giving you good advice in the one way available. How +she knows I cannot tell, but by the light of past experience I can make +a good deal of the medley. As you probably surmised, her warning was not +the result of divination." + +Maxwell did not appear inclined to answer questions, and, dismissing the +subject, they proceeded to make the most of their last few hours upon +what he termed Christian soil. The black peaks were fading against the +saffron in the west, and purple darkness creeping up from Africa across +the sea, when the mail gun warned them it was time to return to the +steamer. + +"We shall have seen, and perhaps suffered, very strange things before we +set foot in a civilized land again," said Maxwell. "It is not a tropical +sporting trip that we are embarking upon. There remain just five minutes +for a valedictory libation." + +"Champagne!" Dane said to the Swiss attendant as they passed through the +veranda of the hotel; and presently he rose from a little table, holding +up the sparkling cup. Maxwell's hints had impressed him, and there was a +grimness behind his smile when he spoke. + +"Here's death or glory! A swift journey to the heart of the forest!" + +Maxwell generally frowned upon anything that approached the theatrical, +but, as he touched his comrade's glass with his own, his face was grave. + +"Heaven send us both back safe out of it and--because the one implies +the other--confound the cross-marked man!" + +Dane asked no questions. Maxwell was always slightly oracular, and might +not have answered them; and a few minutes later they were being rowed +off to the steamer in company with Dom Pedro Castro. + +The _Manyamba_ was not a fast boat; she anchored off many surf-hammered +beaches before she reached the one where the adventurers had arranged to +disembark, and where, as it happened, Dom Pedro had built his principal +factory. He proved a pleasant companion, though Dane fancied that he was +weak alike in character and in principle. One day as they rolled slowly +along the spray-veiled coast with a maze of half-seen mangroves over the +port hand, Dom Pedro sauntered across the deck toward Dane. + +"You go up into the Leopard's country to look for gold?" he said, +glancing at Dane in a manner which puzzled him. + +"We are certainly going inland, but I am afraid that is all I can tell +you," Dane replied guardedly. + +Dom Pedro smiled. + +"Then you seek the gold. Even your countrymen do not go into that forest +for pleasure. But only one man, I think, has seen that gold since the +men of my nation who came after Gama ruled this country. That man he +die, as you call it, crazy. How much your expedition cost you, Don +Ilton?" + +Dane mentioned an approximate sum, expressing his surprise that the +questioner should even have guessed their object, but refraining from +stating whether the guess was a correct one; and the elder man spread +out his yellow palms deprecatingly. + +"Where the gold lie is not concern me. I am gentleman of peace and +commercio. There is one man, not all the nigger, who think he know, and +another not all a white man who will pay him to hinder you. More I only +guess at and cannot tell you, but I know you and the Senor Maxwell never +pass the Leopard country. Don Ilton, I presume you bold man who come +here to make the money. With the sum you mention I show you how. It is +not all for the good will, but for the assistance also of me." + +Now Dane might have suspected treachery, but he did not do so. Indeed, +he was inclined to fancy the offer and warning were genuine. He declined +the offer, however; and consulted Maxwell on the first opportunity. + +"I believe what he told you was spoken in good faith," Maxwell said; +"and he was perfectly correct. The first man he mentioned is probably +the rascal who betrayed poor Niven; and Rideau must be the other. He +has, if I am correct in my surmises, had dealings not wholly creditable +to either, with Dom Pedro; and it is possible the latter might have +found us useful. This, combination may, however, increase our +difficulties." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +TREACHERY + + +The region which lies behind the West African coast is not a pleasant +one to traverse, and bad fortune seemed to attend Maxwell's expedition +from the time it marched out of the seaboard settlement, where he had +had trouble with certain French officials, as well as with the black +head man from whom he hired his carriers. All of this Dane remembered +when he halted, one burning afternoon, shoulder-deep in the tall grass +of a swamp, worn out in body and perplexed in mind. Few Europeans are +capable of much exertion in that country, especially during the hottest +part of the afternoon; but the hammock boys were too weary to drag their +burdens farther, and there was urgent need for haste. Dane accordingly +had taxed his strength to the utmost during the last few hours. The tall +grass stems were almost too hot to touch, and foul mire bubbled about +their roots. At least a league of it, through which, slashed by +saw-edged blades and stabbed by broken stalks, the expedition must force +its way, stretched toward an inland ridge of higher ground that rose +from the morass. Beyond this, in turn, flat-topped hills dimmed by a +yellow heat haze cut the horizon. + +As Dane halted, a naked carrier stumbled, and, dropping the deal case +from his woolly crown, splashed him all over. Another straightway fell +over his prostrate comrade, and began a spirited attack upon him when +they scrambled to their feet again. Dane was too weary to rebuke either +in the fashion they would best understand; but a man of dusky color +undertook the duty for him, with the barrel of a gaspipe gun, and the +combatants, desisting, found new places in the straggling line. A few +picked men in flowing white draperies with flintlock guns on their +shoulders were already floundering through the swamp ahead. Behind them, +almost and wholly naked negroes, many wearing on their forehead the blue +band which marks the amphibious Kroo, went splashing by, each bearing a +deal case or tarred cloth package upon his crown. Then the rearguard, +tall and soldierly men with the blood of the Arab in them, who carried +old-fashioned rifles in spite of certain regulations, came up with +Maxwell. They wore a ragged white uniform, swore by the Prophet, and +were, as Dane subsequently discovered, reliable fighting men. The +Krooboys carried a cutlass-shaped matchet, a by no means despicable +weapon when rubbed keen with a file. + +Maxwell differed in outward appearance from the somewhat fastidious +gentleman Dane had known in Scotland. His cotton jacket was badly rent, +sun-baked mire clung thickly about his leggings, and one side of his big +sun-helmet had been flattened in. The raw condition of his face and neck +betokened the power of the last few days' sun, and he blinked a little +because his eyes had suffered by the change from the forest shadow to +the dazzling brightness and the fibrous dust of the grass. + +"Don't let your particular scarecrows get too far ahead of you, Hilton," +he cautioned. "I should hardly have suspected you of any inclination to +stop and admire the scenery after the opinion you recently expressed +concerning this country." + +"I'd willingly burn or flood the whole of it if I could," Dane replied +irritably. "Miss Castro was not mistaken when she mentioned the shadow +that crept up from behind. Ill luck has certainly followed us from the +beginning, and it is time we turned round and endeavored to settle up +accounts with whoever is the cause of it." + +"You may have an opportunity to-night, or earlier," said Maxwell. "When, +in spite of warnings, two white men insist on visiting a region which +was specially made for black men, they can't expect to be comfortable. +What is it that excites your particular indignation?" + +The malarial fever contracted in other parts of the tropics had, as not +infrequently happens, returned upon Dane in Africa. His head ached +intolerably, every joint seemed stiff, and he swept his hand round the +horizon as he answered vaguely. + +"Everything! Why was it that, after drinking at a village well, two of +our carriers died? Why should venomous insects crawl into my boots and +from underneath my pillow? Or a guide, who declared he knew the country, +bog us waist-deep in a quagmire, where we lost half our ammunition? +Doesn't it strike you that the sequence of accidents is not all due to +coincidence?" + +"And, in addition to all this, you will be wondering why you are +prostrate with fever to-morrow, if you excite yourself at the present +temperature. Forget your grievances until your turn comes, and then +strike the harder. Meanwhile, we have been stalked since we passed the +last village, and the sooner we reach yonder dry ground, and build a +breastwork, the better." + +Knowing that this was good counsel, Dane did his best, finding a savage +comfort in the thought that at last he would probably have the +satisfaction of seeing his persecutors; but the grass was tall and +matted, the temperature suffocating, and when they lost sight of the +islet the morass appeared interminable. Such civilization as may be +found in West Africa is only skin-deep. That is to say, it pertains to +the coast, and is occasionally hard to discover there. In many places it +still extends less than a day's march from the black troops' barracks, +and the white man who travels beyond that distance takes his own risks, +which are sometimes considerable. Dane already had cause to realize +this, and he was accordingly thankful when at last the expedition, +floundering out of the swamp, reached the strip of firmer earth. Here a +breastwork of deal cases and branches was built, and camp pitched among +the giant buttresses staying the cottonwood trunks. + +"I think," said Maxwell cheerfully, when they lingered over a frugal +meal, "if any misguided bushmen try to rush this camp to-night they will +regret it. I will see to the sentries and keep first watch while you +rest. You look as though you needed sleep." + +Dane certainly did, having enjoyed little sleep worth mentioning since +he left the coast. Indeed, he could scarcely keep his eyes open, and he +wondered vacantly that Maxwell, who seemed proof against the climate, +should show no sign of fatigue. When he unrolled his strip of matting +and water-proof inside the little tent, the African sunset was flaming +in the west, and the cottonwoods crowning the ridge stood out black as +ebony against its almost unearthly brilliancy. Among them fantastic +figures, some naked as when they first entered the world, some draped in +white and blue, crouched about the cooking fires; while, seen between +two mighty buttresses of living wood which stayed ponderous trunks, men +with matchets and long guns were curled up beneath the breastwork. The +wood smoke drifted in filmy wisps athwart the lonely camp, the swamp +steamed like a cauldron, and the chirruping of countless frogs rose out +of the vapor. Then the brief brilliancy faded, and thick impenetrable +darkness suddenly rolled down. The faint coolness that came with it +brought sleep to Dane, and it was midnight when Maxwell's voice roused +him. + +"Get up and stand by with your rifle! There are bushmen in the grass!" +he said. + +Half-awake, Dane groped for the breastwork, falling over several negroes +on the way, and when he reached it the blackness was Egyptian. There was +nothing visible beyond the loom of shadowy trunks, but Dane could hear +unseen men breathing heavily, the click-clack of flintlocks, and the +rasp of a file along a matchet blade. Then a faint crackle which drew +nearer came out of the grass, and instantly a blaze of weird blue +radiance leaped up, showing Maxwell's spare figure perched recklessly +aloft upon the breastwork with a port-fire held high above him. Its +glare beat along the matchet blades, the gun-barrels, and the oily skin +of the men beneath, and showed black patches which might have been arms +or heads among the grass. Then it died out; and Dane pitched the rifle +to his shoulder at Maxwell's shout. There was neither challenge nor +parley. They were now beyond civilized jurisdiction, and the right of +any man to existence in that country depends upon the strength of his +hand. + +The heel-plate jarred on his shoulder, the barrel jumped in his left +hand, red sparks flickered along the breastwork, and the sputtering roar +of the flintlocks was repeated among the trunks. Dane fancied a scream +rose in answer from the grass, and once or twice a long gun flashed; +then the firing slackened, and it was heartsome to hear Maxwell laugh. +He came stumbling toward Dane, and held up a second port-fire whose +light showed no trace of any assailant. The silence that followed grew +oppressive. It was, however, suddenly broken. A rifle flashed in the +rear of the camp, a bullet whirred close by Dane's head; and Maxwell, +dropping the flare, set his foot upon it. + +"The second time! That was a good rifle, and fired by one of our own +men," he said. "Take this nigger, Hilton, crawl in on him, and, +disregarding anything which may happen, get that man--alive if you can. +He is worth all the rest of the expedition." + +Crouching low, crawling on hands and knees, and slipping from trunk to +trunk, the pair worked backward in a semicircle, though, instead of +following, it was the negro who led the white man. It seemed to Dane +that he was making noise enough to waken the dead, but his dusky +companion had probably owed his life to his powers of silent motion, and +his progress was as noiseless as that of a serpent. Still, a clamor +which broke out at the rear of the camp drowned the sound of Dane's +passage, and presently a fire commenced to crackle behind the serried +trunks. Rising partly upright, he could see naked figures outlined +against it flitting with burdens on their heads into the swamp. +Nevertheless, Maxwell's instructions were explicit, and, when the negro +beckoned, he sank down again. + +The fire tossed higher, and Dane surmised that somebody had lighted the +dried grass to divert attention from the deserters or a fresh attack. +Its purport, however, was in the meantime a side issue, for, as the +radiance came flickering athwart the trunks, it revealed something dim +and shadowy crouching among the roots of a neighboring cottonwood. The +blurred shape might have escaped notice had not the line of steel before +it glimmered once or twice. With infinite caution Dane covered a few +more yards, and stooped behind a screen of trailers, with every nerve +quivering, and a heavy pistol clenched in his right hand. What had +become of the negro he did not know. Once the assassin raised his +weapon, and Dane laid the short pistol barrel upon his raised forearm, +hoping that the stiffness of the trigger might not spoil his aim; but he +lowered it again, for, evidently attracted by the increasing glare, the +man he stalked rose partly upright, glancing over his shoulder. His +caution betrayed him, for, hurling himself crashing through the +creepers, Dane fell upon him, driving the heavy pistol into the center +of the dusky face with his full weight behind it. The two went down, the +colored man undermost, clawing with greasy hands at his adversary's +throat. Their grip was feeble, for the first blow had got home; but time +was precious, and Dane, heaving his right shoulder clear, brought the +steel-bound butt down again. + +There was a hollow groan; several men who came running up fell heavily +over the pair, and while one dragged the half-dazed white man clear, +the others lashed the prisoner fast with creeper ropes. Rising shakily, +Dane sent up a breathless shout. + +"Stand fast and see that nobody gets in your way if you have him safe!" +cried Maxwell. "Don't trouble about the grass! It is damp among the +cottonwoods, and will soon burn out." + +Dane waited ten long minutes, feeling thankful, meanwhile, that the one +spot where the ridge could be reached on that side through the quaggy +swamp was lighted by the fire. Then Maxwell joined him, and, trusting to +their subordinates' vigilance, they made the round of the knoll +together. A dozen carriers were missing; and their assailants had +vanished as mysteriously as they came. + +"We shall miss the boys, but it might be fatal to try to follow them; +and at least we know whom we can trust," said Maxwell. "A treacherous +servant is worse to deal with than an open enemy. Our assailants were +evidently mere bush thieves, and not regular fighting men, or they would +probably have got in. Whether they expected help from the deserters, or +what share the man you seized had in the plot, I can't decide now; and, +in the meantime, it is of no great importance. We shall discover it +to-morrow." + +Nobody in camp slept during the rest of the night, which was one of the +longest in Dane's recollection. Most of it he spent huddled among the +roots of a cottonwood while the heavy dew of the tropics splashed upon +him, straining ears and eyes alike for any sign of the enemy. There was, +however, no sound but the wailing of some night bird from all the +tangled grass; and except when now and then a murmur of negro voices +rose up, a deep impressive silence brooded over the camp. Dane could +hear his watch ticking, and there were times when he found it difficult +to master an impulse to cry aloud, or to commit any extravagance which +would break the tormenting stillness. + +At last, however, the temperature fell a little. A faint chill air shook +the dew from the tangled creepers flung from mighty branch to branch, +and the darkness became less dense. The steam of the swamps grew +thicker, a streak of radiance broadened in the east, and suddenly as +night had fallen, the red sun leaped up. It was once more burning day, +and neither the dew-drenched white men, who stiffly straightened their +aching limbs, nor the stolid Africans, who rolled over in their lairs +among the undergrowth, were sorry to greet the light again. They were a +pitiful handful of travel-worn and somewhat dejected men, alone on a +contracted islet of dry soil in a limitless sea of mist whose white +waves were doubtless filled with unseen perils. + +"Another day to be endured," said Maxwell, yawning as he spoke. +"Another, and another, until the long weeks swell into months, and then, +if nobody poisons or shoots us prematurely, we shall go back to England +and fancy we have been dreaming. Has it occurred to you yet, Hilton, +that the men who gain fortunes in Africa don't _win_ but _earn_ them +hardly? One might wonder why a beneficent Creator made this country." + +"It was His Satanic Majesty who made West Africa, using for a model his +own dominions. A good many details prove it beside the temperature!" + +It was eight o'clock in the morning and already fiercely hot, while the +brightness outside the shade of the cottonwoods grew dazzling, when +Maxwell, constituting himself at once prosecutor and judge, summoned +the prisoner before an informal court. He was a big man, draped in loose +cotton, and rather the hue of ocher than ebony; but his countenance was +ghastly as well as malevolent, for the pistol butt had left its mark on +it. A slackly rolled turban covered half his forehead, and he leaned +with his back against a cottonwood scowling upon his judge. Maxwell sat +on a camp-stool, not far away, with a rifle laid across his knee; Dane +lay in the grass beside him; and the carriers and the armed men were +drawn up in a half-circle behind them. Hitherto the would-be assassin, +who acted as headman or chief of a section, had done nothing to excite +Dane's suspicions. + +"There is no law in this country but one, the _lex talionis_, while you +and I are responsible for the lives of all these about us," said +Maxwell. "It is a heavy responsibility, and I dare not allow any attempt +to betray them to pass unpunished. You need not translate this, +interpreter. Ask that fellow why he twice shot at the men whose bread +and salt he has eaten." + +What the interpreter, who spoke a little of the fantastic English in use +along the coast, said, Dane did not know, but he spent some time over +it, and when he had finished the prisoner spat upon the ground +contemptuously. + +"Damn fool man," explained the sable linguist. "He savvy too much and +done say nothing." + +"That means he refuses to plead," said Maxwell. "Well, we will proceed +to inquire into his offenses as directly as possible. Listen carefully, +and don't mix up my questions more than you can help, interpreter." + +Maxwell asked questions which astonished his companion, and it was plain +that he had for some time suspected a good deal. There was no lack of +testimony; for carrier and armed retainer in turn set forth, through the +black interpreter or in quaintest English, how the accused had told them +gruesome stories of the devils inhabiting the country they were +venturing into; had dropped hints that by seizing the provisions they +might enrich themselves for life; and had been seen communing with +mysterious strangers a few nights earlier. Dane listened with growing +indignation, for the simple tales made plain not only how venomous +insects got into his boots, but that on two occasions he had narrowly +escaped with his life. + +"Ask them," said Maxwell grimly, "why nobody had the sense to tell me +this before." + +"Them boy say you not done ask them, sah," answered the interpreter +convincingly. + +"It's African logic, and there's no use expecting too much from any +nigger," said Maxwell aside. "The man's guilt is plainly evident; but +while presumably neither of us knows much of jurisprudence, I wish to +give him a fair chance of making his defense. We will do it in his own +speech, though I am inclined to fancy that he understands English. +Interpreter, try to make this clear to him." + +Maxwell spoke for some minutes, pausing often for the linguist to +explain his meaning, and again astonished Dane. He traced the accused's +actions with surprising skill, showing how he had inspired a marauding +headman to plunder and leave them starving, and induced the carriers to +desert in the hope of precipitating a panic among the loyal. He also +connected him with several of the mysterious accidents which had +delayed the march. + +"Tell him I give him a last chance. He has just five minutes to clear +himself in." + +Maxwell laid his watch on the camp-stool between his knees, pointed +toward a lengthening shaft of brightness which approached the roots of a +tree, and then opened and closed the breach of his rifle significantly. +The dusky man before him showed no sign of fear, and his half-scornful, +wholly malevolent scowl, together with the intense silence, the +expectant black faces, and the glint of light on weapons, burnt itself +into Dane's memory. The five minutes seemed very long to him. Then, as +his comrade slowly replaced his watch in his pocket, the prisoner spoke +a few words disdainfully, and Dane could feel his fingers contract as he +waited for the interpreter's answer. + +"Damn fool man," it came. "Say he only sorry he done miss you that time. +Very bad man, sah. Say no white man or coast nigger ever lib for get +into the Leopards' country." + +"So," said Maxwell dryly. "That is to say, while he can prevent it, +which may not be long. Ask these boys what should be done with the man +who would have left them starving, or perhaps sold them for slaves to +some headman." + +The camp boys had followed the evidence, and a clamor of voices answered +the query. Big eyes glistened, black thumbs were run along twinkling +matchet blades, and Dane distinguished ominous cries. + +"You shoot him one time, sah! Give him to us and we done chop him!" + +"It is the only possible verdict," Maxwell said with strange quietness. +"One returns to primitive customs in this part of Africa; and it is more +merciful that one should die than many. A curse upon the country! Must I +turn executioner?--but for the sake of all those about us, there is no +other way." + +"What is your purpose?" Dane asked sharply, jumping to his feet. + +Maxwell looked at him steadily with his lips firmly set and the color +mottled a little in his face. + +"Give him thirty seconds to reach the grass. I might miss; these others +certainly would--and it will be a little easier that way. Do you +understand me, interpreter? If he can reach the swamp alive no man shall +harm him." + +"You shall not do it!" Dane exclaimed hotly. "Heaven knows, the brute +deserves it; but you can't go home with your hands fouled by that +helpless wretch's blood! Pass him that rifle, and give me another, with +fifty yards to commence at, if you can't think of anything better. The +other is too much like murder!" + +For a moment the returning color suffused Maxwell's forehead, and there +was a flash of anger in his eyes, but he was generally master of his +temper, and he answered calmly. + +"I could not afford to lose you, Hilton. As I said, we have these men's +lives to answer for; and while that fellow lives theirs and our own are +equally in danger. That reminds me, I had forgotten something which may +or may not surprise you further. You yonder, strike off his turban!" + +A Kroo did it with the haft of his machet, and Dane gasped with +astonishment, for there was a curiously shaped scar on the prisoner's +forehead. + +"The cross-marked man," said Maxwell. "The rascal who betrayed and sold +poor Niven's carriers. He has, I think, one white man's death already to +answer for." + +Dane, stooping, laid a hand on each of the speaker's shoulders. Maxwell +was a determined man, with virile brain and no lack of nervous energy; +but Dane had the advantage in stature and muscular strength, and was +glad that it was so. His leader was helpless in his grasp. + +"You are perfectly right, Carsluith," he said stolidly. "If you were +not, it would be useless for me to try to convince you; but I give you +warning that the death of this man dissolves our partnership; and it +will, at least, not be your rifle which fires the fatal shot." + +Maxwell smiled curiously. + +"Do you suppose I am fond of bloodshed, or sorry that you have forced me +against my judgment?" he said. "On your head be it, and you can have the +murderer. I hope that neither of us will regret your clemency!" + +He beckoned the interpreter, and when the latter had spoken, the +prisoner twice spat upon the ground, which was probably the most +insulting action that occurred to him; then, turning, without word or +sign, stalked into the grass. There was a harsh crackling, and, when his +ragged draperies vanished, a murmur of wonder from the camp boys. +Maxwell sighed as with relief. + +"I am glad it is over; and whether we have done ill or well, time alone +will show, but neither of us has seen the last of the cross-marked man," +he said. "In the meantime, we want more carriers and supplies. Go back +to the coast and get them. You will have much less trouble on the return +journey. I will stockade a camp in the hills yonder and wait for you." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +TEMPTATION + + +Dane's preparations for his journey were quickly made, and he was ready +to start before the sun was overhead. + +"Life is very uncertain in this country, and because we are partners it +might be as well if you took this map with you in case you should not +find me on your return," said Maxwell. "I worked it out from Niven's +notes, and have the knowledge safe within my brain; but you will +remember that the information would be of value to another white man, +who has already made attempts to obtain it. It might also be well, in +case Miss Castro happens to be present at her father's factory, if you +conducted yourself with a little more than your usual diplomacy." + +"Your advice is a trifle superfluous," returned Dane testily. "Do you +think I'm fool or rogue enough to make love to her?" + +Maxwell smiled. + +"You are one person, and I mentioned two. With all respect to Miss +Castro, it is not quite impossible that she might make love to you. +Remember that she might either prove a useful friend or a dangerous +enemy." + +A few minutes later Dane, followed by three men of Moslem faith, was on +his way; and eventually limped--hungry, half-dazed, and sick of +fever--out of the dim forest, which, it seemed to him, was loth to let +its victim go. The glare of sunlight was overpowering, and at first he +could see little more than the two ragged scarecrows, one muttering +excitedly as he stretched out a brown hand toward the southern horizon, +and the other leaning very heavily on his long Snider rifle. The third +man lay full length among the grass. Dane could never recollect all the +incidents of that journey through a land of eternal shadow, but he felt +tolerably certain that if his dusky followers had not served him +faithfully his bones would have lain rotting somewhere among its +jungles. + +Then, as his eyes grew accustomed to the change of light, he shouted +exultantly, in a voice his British friends would not have recognized. +The shining to the southward was, beyond all doubt, the sea, and the +white blurs among the palms could represent only factories! Turning, he +shook his fist at the forest with childish solemnity. + +"Tell Amadu to turn that gun away from him, Monday. It might go off, and +I be no fit to lose him," he said in coast jargon. "I don't care what +your color is, you are fine fellows too much, both of you, and now we'll +go on while we have strength left to reach them factory." + +How much his followers comprehended did not appear. The man he called +Monday grinned from ear to ear, the other slung his rifle, and they went +on, staggering at their best pace toward the sea, though Dane had a +vague impression that, with one arm beneath either shoulder, the two +ragged Africans dragged him most of the way. Some time later a +blindingly whitewashed factory rose up before them against a background +of tossing spray and equally dazzling sea, and Dane made shift to reach +its outer stairway unaided. An elderly man and a lady who sat on the +shady veranda rose at the sight of him. Making an attempt to raise his +battered sun-hat, he lurched up the stairway. The attempt was not +successful. The sun-hat fell over the balustrade, and he saw it long +afterward, painted green and blue, upon a Krooboy's head. Clutching at +the topmost rail, he steadied himself by it. + +"Unexpected pleasure to see you here, Miss Castro," he said. +"Salutations, Dom Pedro! Sorry to arrive in this fashion; not quite +myself to-day." + +The elderly man shouted, clapping his hands, the lady moved toward the +newcomer; then factory and palm trees went round and round before him, +and Dane, loosing his hold, went down with a crash. + +What happened next he did not remember, having only a hazy recollection +of tossing in burning torment for an interminable space, during which at +intervals somebody held a glass filled with cooling liquid to his lips, +while now and then gentle hands, whose touch was soothing, raised his +aching head. Still, he fancied that at times a white face bent over him, +and once, when the dim light of a calabash lamp beat into his eyes, that +waves of dusky hair drooped close above his forehead, and that he +caught, and held fast with all his strength, the cool fingers that +slipped into his own. They seemed to draw him back out of the black +abyss into which he was sliding; and, he surmised afterward, they +actually did so. + +Attacks of malarial fever, however, are usually brief; and not long +after his arrival Dane lay, clothed in neatly mended garments and more +or less in his right mind, beside an open window of Castro's factory. +The words "more or less" are used advisedly, for the malaria leaves a +strange lassitude behind it, and the sufferer often takes up the burden +of life again, as it were, reluctantly, and with somewhat clouded +brain. The sea breeze had set in fresh and cool, but the man lay limp +and dejected, scarcely troubling to breathe it in, while a haggard +English surgeon from a neighboring British colony sat near by watching +him with an irritating curiosity. White men recognize the bond of color +in West Africa, and the surgeon had remained to fight hard for the life +of a stranger when passing that way. Also, where all dwell under the +shadow in a land where the veneer of civilization wears thin, and the +primitive passions show through, the Briton casts aside much of his +normal reticence. + +"Tolerably bad, was I not?" asked Dane; and the surgeon answered +frankly. + +"You were. In fact, on two occasions, I concluded you were going to beat +me. Wouldn't even take a draught from--me, and one might compliment you +on your determined obstinacy." + +"I'm much obliged," Dane said slowly. "That's not quite all I mean, but +it's the best I'm capable of just now. I don't know who you are, or why +you did so much for me." + +The surgeon laughed good-humoredly. + +"If you must have a reason, you were an interesting case. I'm Dennis +Ormond, of the Gold Coast service, and Dom Pedro asked me to look at +you. I obliged him, and at first you were not a very encouraging +spectacle. Of course, I did my little, but I may say that my medicine +was not the only thing responsible for your cure. The senorita assisted +me very ably, and--for a man must sleep sometimes--without her help it +is quite probable we should have attended the expected funeral." + +Ormond said this with an indifference which Dane, because he did not +then know how much his little had been, or that his was an eminent name +on the fever coast, thought hardly civil; but there was a warning +gravity in his tone as he continued: + +"It was, of course, my business; but not the senorita's; and you might +have changed the pronouns in your last sentence advantageously." + +Dane was ashamed of several things he said and did that day, and his +answer among them; but few white men are quite accountable for their +actions when recovering from fever, and there was that in the surgeon's +glance which aroused his indignation. + +"Are you not taking an unfair advantage--considering how much I owe +you!" he asked. + +"Perhaps so!" said Ormond. "In this land one takes an advantage when and +how one can. I dare say I'm a meddlesome idiot; but I conceived a +certain respect for you, if only because of the spirited manner in which +you resisted my attempts to cure you; and more for the senorita. Now, I +don't think Miss Castro, curious combination of ministering angel, +child, and--well, the angel's antithesis, as she evidently is, would +have done so much for everybody!" + +Dane answered nothing. One cannot rebuke the man one owes one's life to. +Ormond, however, had not finished with the subject. + +"You crawled off your cot in delirium one night, and I found you groping +among some papers scattered from your pocket-book about the floor," he +said. "It required the assistance of two Krooboys to induce you to lie +down again, and Miss Castro helped me to pick up the papers. I, however, +found this among them first, and considered it well to take charge of it +in the meantime. Miss Castro, you have heard, made an excellent nurse." + +Dane felt that the surgeon noticed the way his fingers tightened on the +little photograph handed him; but the man went on, with a smile: + +"Your sister, presumably, for one could not help glancing at the +picture. Still, I can't flatter you by saying that I recognize a family +likeness. Therefore--I kept it aside." + +Dane thanked him, and Ormond answered lightly: + +"The rest of the papers Miss Castro returned to the pocket-book. All you +have to do now is to lie still and recover." + +"I will try," Dane said. "When can I start again?" + +Ormond pointed out through the window toward the sea. + +"In a week, if you are prudent--in fact, the sooner you start in that +direction the wiser you will be. This country is not healthy for +full-blooded Englishmen of your description. If you march inland again, +cable anybody interested to double your life insurance." + +Dane made a negatory gesture, but Ormond anticipated his answer. + +"Of course, I hardly expected you would take good advice, but it was my +duty to give it. Just now I'll leave you to your own resources, because +Dom Pedro is waiting with the chessmen below. Most gentlemanly old +rascal, and you are indebted to him; but I wouldn't tell him too much +respecting the supposititious treasure you rambled about if I were you. +Henceforward you will have to get better in your own way, because word +has just been sent me that my niggers are dying by dozens." + +He went out, and left Dane staring at the photograph in his hand. +Although not improved by long exposure to tropic heat, or the dampness +of the African climate, it had been a good portrait of Lilian +Chatterton, and the eyes that looked out from the faded paper seemed to +challenge the man. On inspecting the dim picture later he decided it +must have been because he remembered them so well. They were clear and +searching, honest above all things, but, as it were, demanding equal +sincerity from whoever looked into them; and though perhaps this was due +to the observer's fancy, the whole face seemed to possess a spiritual +beauty. Dane, however, was certainly a little light-headed still, for as +he gazed the face grew scornful. + +To most Europeans in that country there comes a time of mental weakness +and black dejection, and Dane's courage had melted before the fever +which left him unstable as water, and fanciful as a child. Thus it was +that, in a sudden access of bitterness, he slipped the picture back into +its case. Lilian, he decided, had cruelly misjudged him, and now +doubtless enjoyed the sunny side of life in the cool British air, +careless of the fact that for her sake he risked life and reason in the +pestilential steam of Africa. + +There was a rustle of draperies, and Bonita Castro swept into the room +with the grace of movement and carriage which characterizes her mother's +race. There was, however, nothing spiritual about Miss Castro's beauty, +which was of the flesh and of the glowing south, appealing to the +senses, delighting the eye; and Dane's pulse throbbed a little faster as +she came toward him with a low cry of pleasure. It was the first time he +had risen from his trestle cot in the adjoining room. Stooping, she held +toward him a great cluster of the spotless African lilies--which, +scented ambrosially, spring up wherever decay is rankest--then sank +with lithe gracefulness into a chair near his side. + +"It is very good to see you better, Don Ilton," she said. + +"It is the result of your kindness, senorita. Unfortunately, I don't +know how to thank you----" + +"Then you will not try." Miss Castro raised a restraining hand. "We do +not leave the sick to die. Even if it had been another, there is always +enjoined on us the charity." + +Dane had lost his sense of humor, and just then Bonita Castro looked all +ministering angel, and his attitude expressed rather reverential respect +than personal admiration, which, it is possible, did not please the lady +so well. + +"But you have done so much for one who is almost a stranger," he +persisted. + +Miss Castro's mood changed swiftly, and spreading out her hands with a +gesture of amusement, and a smile which Dane fancied most men would have +given much to win, she was again all a woman, and a very alluring one. + +"It is true that you English have not the graceful speech. Are we, then, +the mere stranger, Don Ilton? _Carramba!_ One takes pride in what one +save from the fever, and it was on my lips to call you _carino_." + +Dane had acquired sufficient knowledge of Castilian in South America to +appreciate the possible significance of the substantive; and he +afterward remembered that he was not wholly displeased with it. + +"You make me a vain man, senorita," he said lightly. + +Miss Castro laughed again, and Dane lay silent for a while. + +"I am the more indebted to your care because every day is precious, and +I must rejoin my comrade as soon as possible," he said at last. + +The damask warmth deepened just a trifle in his companion's cheek. + +"You two still go on into the forest--why?" she asked. + +"Because I am a poor man, and, as you have guessed, my comrade believes +there is treasure waiting up yonder." + +Bonita Castro smiled scornfully, and answered him with the assurance of +one stating a definite fact. + +"The Senor Maxwell will never bring gold out of the Leopards' country. +Two white men have try already and, both of them, they die. You must not +go back there, Don Ilton, nor let your comrade go, though I know he is a +very clever and fearless man." + +"How do you know that?" + +Dane found it hard to conceal his astonishment at her tranquil answer: + +"I try if he is fearless on board the steamer. I can use the pistol +well." + +"It is fortunate you did not test my courage in the same fashion. But +was there not a third man?" + +Miss Castro's fingers closed viciously, and the questioner experienced +an instinctive shrinking as he saw the hatred in her deep black eyes. + +"The third was not a white man, though he call himself so," she said, +with a quietness that was ominous. "_Maldito sea el perro!_ To-day again +he infect this factory." + +Dane could not help feeling that, unless the gentleman were prudent, he +might have cause to regret his visit to the factory. He was inclined to +admire high-spirited women, but Miss Castro looked more than dangerous +just then; though Dane learned afterward that her hatred was +justifiable. + +Following her glance, he saw a short and very sallow-faced gentleman, +neatly dressed in spotless duck, cross the compound below and disappear +into the salt shed, evidently in search of Dom Pedro. There was nothing +particularly noticeable about him; but another taller figure, draped in +blue and white cotton and wearing a crimson turban, followed, and +squatted in the hot dust outside the shed. This man was an African, but +lighter in color than the seaboard tribes, and his movements reminded +Dane of those of the midnight assassin. He decided, however, that the +resemblance was fanciful. + +"Is that the person you mentioned?" he asked. "It is evident that you +dislike him. May I ask why?" + +Miss Castro appeared to consider, and then answered frankly: + +"Why should I not tell you? You are _muy caballero_, and I think, good +friend of me. He was partner with my father, this Victor Rideau. They +once go inland to trade with an Emir, who at that time gather much +plunder of ivory, and perhaps they give their carrier boy the good rifle +and cartridge, for the Emir is treacherous. He is very bad man, +and--_pobre padre mio!_--when Rideau is go away he put pressure on Dom +Pedro, and demand all his rifle and black carrier boy. What would you? +My father he is not desire his throat cut, and he agree. The Emir write +safe conduct and agreement, and sent him back with ivory, but this +Rideau he guard the scroll in Arabic, and now always demand the silver +from my father for fear he denounce him to the authority. One must not +sell the black boy, and there is heavy penalty for giving the negro the +arm of precision." + +Dane grasped the situation, surmising that the Emir in question was one +who had, for a time, successfully defied both British and French. He +also surmised that the Gallic authorities would deal stringently with +whoever had supplied the Moslem soldier with modern weapons at a time +when it appeared quite possible he would even march upon the coast. +Still, he was not sure that very much pressure had been required to +convince Dom Pedro. + +Returning to her almost caressing manner, Miss Castro touched his arm: + +"Why you need that gold?" + +"Gold is generally useful, isn't it?" smiled Dane. "It would help me to +earn a little more than my bread when I go back to England." + +Bonita Castro laughed, and then grew serious. There was a light in her +dark eyes, and her voice grew deeper; and it was only because it +appeared necessary that Dane afterward told his comrade part of what +followed. Indeed, there was little to relate, but much to be imagined. + +"Is there no other place than England, when all the world is good?" she +said. "Is not this much better than your mud and snow, and the sight of +the men with anxious faces groping through the fog? _Vaya!_ You men of +the English cities, you not know how to live." + +The speaker pointed out through the open window, and most men would have +agreed with her in a measure. If the beauty of the fever coast is that +of a whited sepulcher, it is a sufficiently alluring region, and Dom +Pedro's factory stood high and healthily upon the summit of a bluff. +Tall palms swaying about it before the sea breeze tossed their emerald +traceries against transparent blue. In the cottonwoods' shadow beyond +them tall white lilies grew, and the rollers of the southern ocean, +flaming dazzlingly, dissolved into spouts of incandescence upon a +crescent of silver sand below. The whole scene was flooded with light +and color, and permeated by the languorous spell of the tropics, which +it is not good for white men to linger under. + +"It is all very beautiful," he said; "but I have my bread to win." + +"You are very modest, Don Ilton. Is there no place for such as you in +Africa? Now I know one who would give much--even a share in the profits +of several factories--for the help of two men he could trust. There will +be more gold to win than you will ever find in the Leopards' country; +and there will be the excitement you hunger for. The man who needs the +assistance has a cunning enemy. Will you not listen when again he speaks +to you?" + +Miss Castro leaned slightly forward. + +"It is the life you English long for. There would be adventure; much +profit, I think, too, and--for that you like also--an enemy. He is bad +enemy of--me. This England of yours is far off, and the wise man he--is +it not so?--takes gratefully what the good saints send him. Is it not +enough, Don Ilton?" + +Dane was not a vain man, but there was a subtle inflection in the +woman's voice which suggested an amplification of the meaning of her +last words. England certainly seemed very far away, Maxwell's project a +mad one; and Dane remembered that the woman for whose sake he had joined +in it had been ready to think ill of him. His companion was very +alluring, he was weak in mind and body, very grateful to one who had +saved his life for him, and loath to resume the burden which was part +of his birthright as a civilized Englishman. A word, even a gesture, +would, it seemed, smooth out many difficulties, and, shaking off +responsibility, he might henceforward live for the day only; but though +intoxicated by the spell of the tropics and the eyes of his companion, +Dane had a memory, and he realized that he stood on the brink of a +declivity. He had seen the end of other Britons who, selling their +birthright for a few years' indulgence, sank beyond the level of the +beasts. The face of a countrywoman, no longer cold and disdainful, but +innocent and gentle, rose up before him; and the struggle ended. + +"It is so much that I do not deserve it," he said humbly, answering her +question. "I must accomplish the purpose which brought me here, and then +go back to England. Nothing would turn back my comrade." + +Miss Castro did not speak for a few moments, but Dane felt that she +understood more than he had said. Then she looked at him steadily. + +"You are a strange people, but, go when you will, God go with you, Don +Ilton. Now, at least from my hands, you will take the medicine." + +Dane's hand trembled as he held it out for the glass, for the struggle +had left its mark on him; but he felt inclined to resent this climax, +which appeared grotesquely ludicrous. Nevertheless, he duly swallowed +the medicine, and resisted an inexplicable impulse which prompted him to +smash the glass. Then, with a wondrous unfolding of filmy draperies, his +companion rose languidly, and, it seemed to Dane, melted out of the +room. Almost simultaneously the crouching figure in the dusty compound +rose and vanished too. + +Dane decided that it would be well to gather strength with all possible +celerity, and leave the factory as soon as he was fit to travel in a +hammock. Accordingly, in spite of the protests of Dom Pedro, who, after +repeating in definite form the offer made by his daughter, found him +supplies and carriers, he presently took his leave, and shook hands with +Miss Castro beside the waiting hammock at the compound gate. Her manner +had been a shade more reserved of late, but she spoke with friendly +earnestness when she laid in his hand a tiny object wrought in silver +and ivory. + +"You will take this for what you call a keep-a-sake, Don Ilton," she +said. "There is always peril in the bush country, and it was given my +mother by a holy man. It has the virtue. If you meet Rideau in the +forest, remember he is my enemy and beware of him. And now, senor, the +good saints keep you." + +Dane bent over the little olive-tinted fingers, then Amadu helped him +into the hammock, and presently Dom Pedro's factory had faded to a white +blur against the sparkling sea. + +As he journeyed northward Dane had much to ponder over. He regretted +that he had been unable to secure a closer view of Rideau or his dusky +follower. He fancied he once heard the Frenchman's voice raised angrily +in an altercation with Dom Pedro; but he could learn nothing about the +tall negro, who had vanished mysteriously. When the journey was almost +accomplished, and he was recovering strength again, there was added +another subject for consideration. Searching for the map Maxwell had +given him, he failed to find it; but, after the first shock of dismay +had passed, he was almost thankful that time and distance prevented his +returning to the factory in search of it. Dane, remembering the +surgeon's narrative, felt himself unequal to the task of asking Miss +Castro what she had done with it. He pushed on, hoping for the best, and +that Maxwell might not ask too many questions. + +Maxwell, when he heard the news, sat silent for several minutes. + +"We are not beginning well," he then said gravely, "but that is perhaps +not material. It seems to me that the future of the mine will be settled +when we meet Monsieur Rideau and his lieutenant, as I think we will. Of +course it is no use asking where you lost the map." + +Dane recognized the significance of the last sentence, and answered +accordingly. + +"If I had possessed that knowledge I should have returned and found it. +I have reasons for believing it was in my pocket-book when I left the +factory." + +Maxwell glanced at him keenly and smiled. + +"After what you told me, I suppose one could expect nothing else from +you," said he. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +RIDEAU'S BARGAIN + + +Some time after Dane's departure, a smartly uniformed hammock train +approached Dom Pedro's factory. That worthy ceased his leisurely pacing +up and down the veranda, and watched the bearers wind out from the +steamy shadow with ill-concealed anxiety, hoping that he might be +mistaken. Then as they came on at a steady trot with the poles of the +lurching hammock upon their woolly crowns, he stamped on the flooring; +and even a sleepy Krooboy started at his vivid maledictions. There was +no longer room for doubt that he was about to be honored by a visit from +his former partner, Monsieur Victor Rideau, and it was very evident that +Dom Pedro was not pleased to see him. His sister, a portly lady, of +doubtful age, sat in a shady corner of the veranda, but she passed much +of her time in Africa in peaceful slumber, and was now asleep as +usual--or appeared so. + +"It is too hot for anger, father," a voice said; and Dom Pedro, turning, +saw his daughter leaning languidly over the balustrade. She, too, was +watching the hammock with a curious expression. + +"There is good cause!" Dom Pedro answered, cutting short his flow of +expletives. "This Rideau comes another time to torment me. Why is it +that when so many honest men die up yonder this one should always come +back safely?" + +"He will not always do so. Some day he, too, will be lost in the +forest," said Bonita quietly; and the man glanced at her with hope in +his eyes, for several of his daughter's predictions had curiously been +fulfilled. This may have been due to coincidence, or a shrewd +calculation of probabilities; but Dom Pedro, having lived long in a land +where occult influences are believed in, was not free from superstition. + +"I would send half, or at least a third, of all I have, to the hospital +in Lisboa if that were so," he declared. "Nina, you speak as though you +knew." + +Bonita laughed a little, though there was anxiety in her face. + +"Padre, one might doubt the efficacy of such a bribe. Perhaps I do. It +is money he wants, as usual?" + +"Yes." There was a certain hesitation in the man's answer which did not +escape his daughter. "It is, of course, the silver, and I have not much +to give him. You have no regard for this Rideau, nina?" + +Bonita's face was a study. Anger, loathing, and the faintest trace of +fear were stamped upon it. + +"Regard! I have only hatred for _el perro_!" + +The emphasis on the last word was significant: while it means simply +dog, and is used on occasion to designate a person jestingly, the +Castilian can, by change of inflection, make it imply a rabid cur of the +lowest degree; and Bonita used the epithet in that manner. + +Dom Pedro raised his shoulders, and drew in his breath. He was slightly +afraid of his daughter; but, unfortunately for them both, he was more +afraid of Rideau, and he did not look at her when he spoke again. + +"It is strange the Senor Dane did not return for the book he left, +since it shows the path through the forests of Shaillu's country, and he +cannot find his way without it." + +Bonita smiled upon him pityingly. + +"You do not know those men as I do. They plan all from the beginning and +leave nothing to chance. The Senor Maxwell is a man of system, and he +will have safe in his memory all the book could tell him." + +"They are a curious people," observed Dom Pedro dryly. "One of those +two, however, was surely a trifle blind." + +A faint trace of color crept into Bonita's face. + +"It is time for you to receive your guest," she said. + +Dom Pedro did so with the utmost cordiality, his hat in his hand, and +the two men--one of whom despised the other, who feared and hated +him--expressed their mutual delight at the meeting with great +effusiveness. Bonita Castro watched them meanwhile from a green latticed +window, and shivered a little, though the day was as hot as it usually +is at that season in West Africa. She slipped her fingers under the +laces at her breast, and her face was not attractive when they touched a +little piece of wrought silver. It was not a mere adornment, for there +was a slender blade of steel attached to it. Again she said, with an +intensity of detestation: "_El perro!_" + +Dom Pedro played chess and discoursed upon the shortcomings of their +rulers with his guest all afternoon, and the five o'clock _comida_ had +been eaten before either hinted that Rideau could have any possible +motive for his visit beyond the pleasure of seeing his former partner. +Time has no great value to men of Latin extraction in the tropics; and +it is possible that one of them found pleasure in prolonging the +other's anxiety. At last, when they sat out on the veranda, the visitor, +lighting a maize husk cigarette, thrust his wineglass away. + +"It is always a gratification to see my old friend Dom Pedro, and I have +traveled a long way to give myself that pleasure," he observed; and his +host, knowing how much this was worth, braced himself to meet what +should follow. "Being here, there is, however, a little affair we can +discuss together. I have an opportunity for a small investment to lay +before you." + +"I am honored, but trade is very bad, and silver scanty," Dom Pedro said +hastily. "I have received no profits yet on the last venture." + +Rideau spread out his palms deprecatingly. + +"They are very dishonest men up yonder in the bush, as you, my friend, +should know, and have robbed me shamefully; while it was but an hour +since I rejoiced at your prosperity. I saw the cloth and gin sheds +empty--and they were full not long ago." + +Dom Pedro groaned inwardly, but attempted a show of resolution. + +"I repeat that trade is bad. It is, I fear, impossible to oblige even +you." + +Rideau laughed a little, but his merriment was akin to mockery. + +"I can only hope you are mistaken, and this time there will be a profit. +There is also another affair I would discuss with you. I am a man with a +conscience, and something we are concerned in up in the bush country +troubles me. It is told me that these troublesome English make protest +with the Administration that when the Emir invaded their dominions his +men carried good rifles which could only have been obtained from this +colony. The Captain Oger stated publicly that it is a stain on the +national honor, and there will be strict inquiry. I am a good friend of +Dom Pedro, but first of all patriotic Frenchman, me." + +There was no need to speak more plainly, because Dom Pedro understood +him thoroughly, and inquired forthwith the lowest sum that would set his +visitor's uneasy conscience at rest. Rideau promptly named it; and the +Portuguese, being desirous of gaining time, shook his head. + +"It is impossible. I also have considered about those rifles often," he +said. "Now I think it would be better for me, being an innocent man, to +explain to the Administration how the Emir robbed me." + +Rideau was not in the least deceived, for he smiled sardonically. + +"Is it not a little late, my friend, and the Commandant is a most +suspicious man. It is possible he might not believe you, and it is not +permitted to arm even one's carriers for protection with rifles; while +there is in existence a scroll signed by the Emir and another which +shows a voluntary sale. But you say what I ask is impossible. Well, I'll +consider, and to-morrow may make a more feasible offer. The last time I +came you entertained the sick comrade of the Englishman Maxwell. He has +not given you any information about Niven's mine?" + +"He did not," said Dom Pedro, with so much earnestness that Rideau did +not believe him, and dismissing the subject, airily proposed another +game of chess. + +The next morning, Dom Pedro, being perhaps anxious to postpone the evil +moment, set out for a bush village where he stated he had business; and +his guest, feeling sure of his own position, was not wholly sorry to +see him go. It would allow him to enjoy Miss Castro's society +undisturbed, and also, if circumstances permitted, to glance through the +books in her father's office, which he had long desired to do, with a +view to discovering how far the man might be taxed. Dom Pedro was not a +good bookkeeper, it is true, but his late partner understood his system, +or rather the lack of it. + +An opportunity did not present itself until all the occupants of the +factory had apparently retired, as usual, to sleep in the coolest place +they could find during the heat which follows noon. Rideau slipped into +the iron-roofed room where Dom Pedro kept his accounts. As it happened, +however, Bonita was rather more wide-awake than usual, and shortly +afterward she also entered the office, to find her guest glancing into a +big folio with evident interest. He was in no way disconcerted, and +smiled upon her affably. + +"There was a difference in the weight of the last gums I sent down," he +explained. "I would find the entry before I speak to Dom Pedro." + +Bonita Castro was quick of wit. + +"Then, as I help my father with the accounts, you will give me the +details," she said. + +Rideau's inventive genius was apparently unequal to the task, for he +bowed ceremoniously. + +"It is impossible to consider any question of business in the brightness +of the senorita's presence." + +Miss Castro laughed. + +"You have my full permission. Now, as regards this gum?" + +Rideau seated himself languidly. + +"I am a man of affairs, but I have also sensibility, and shall I trouble +the senorita about a bag of gum? To touch those dusty books is a +desecration to her fingers." + +"Still, it is of business I wish to talk to you, and you will give me +your attention, senor," said the girl. "You have the power to cause my +father some anxiety." + +Rideau leaned forward a little in his chair. + +"It is true, but I am too devoted a servant of the senorita's to wish to +do so. It is for her sake I have concealed an indiscretion of Dom +Pedro's which would excite the anger of the Administration. As I have +said, I would do very much to win the senorita's approval." + +"But this is very little, and Dom Pedro pays you well," returned the +girl. "The Commandant, who is not a friend of yours, might not credit +your story if you told it to him." + +Rideau smiled significantly. + +"It is very little for me to do if it pleases the senorita; but it is +much for Dom Pedro. You will know there is provided confiscation and +banishment, and even a worse penalty, for selling the Indigene modern +rifles, and I have therefore carefully hidden the Emir's agreement and +safe conduct made in the Arabic when he is at war with this colony. It +is misfortune that Dom Pedro has written his name to it." + +Bonita Castro felt a chill run through her, though her face was calm. +The man had shown his power plainly, but the desire in his eyes, as he +watched her, caused her greater uneasiness. She could, she fancied, see +the African nature beneath the indifferent veneer of civilization, and +she trembled, knowing that under sufficient pressure her father might +be capable of selling more than forbidden rifles. Therefore, even if she +had no other motive, it was of the first necessity to lessen that power. + +"Such generosity should not go unrewarded," she said. "You have long +desired the gold you think the Englishman Niven found, but, unless I +help you, you will never discover it. Even the man with the cross on his +forehead does not know where the river lies. What would you give for a +map showing Niven's road through the Leopards' country? It is so plain +that a child could understand it." + +Rideau's eyes glistened, but he was cautious. + +"There is only one man who can have such a book; and I know he would +never part with it." + +Bonita laughed. + +"Yes--the Senor Maxwell. You know he would not part with it? Then you +have tried and failed to obtain it from him? The Senor Maxwell is a very +clever man. Nevertheless, I have the map. Would you recognize that it +was genuine if I showed it to you?" + +Rideau rose carelessly, and strolled toward the window. There was nobody +on that side of the veranda--the compound lay empty under the pitiless +heat below, and a slumbrous silence pervaded the factory. There was a +change in him when he turned toward the girl, who held out an unfolded +paper so that he could see a portion of it. The man was usually cunning, +but it was not without results that he had inherited a strain of native +blood, and now the instincts of the savage rose uppermost. Brute passion +and unreasoning avarice were stamped on his face. He had hitherto made +his admiration for the girl very plain, and had accepted her rebuffs +with the serenity of one strong enough to wait. Now, however, his +companion conceived it possible that he intended to retain his hold upon +Dom Pedro and secure the map as well. It was her person he desired, and +whether her good will accompanied it or not was probably immaterial. + +"The sun has dazzled my eyes, and you will give it to me for near +examination," he said, and his voice was husky. When she made a gesture +of negation, he halted close in front of her with the veins on his +forehead swollen, and one big, dusky hand partly raised. + +Bonita Castro had not studied the native character profitlessly, and she +knew that very little was required to cause those fingers--and they were +the fingers of a negro--to fasten upon her shoulders, or even about her +throat; but she had arranged accordingly. She clapped her hands sharply, +and Rideau let his arm drop to his side when a patter of bare feet drew +nearer along the veranda. A huge muscular Krooman in white uniform stood +in the doorway, and the girl smiled a little. + +"Call Andres, Pobrecito. Tell him to bring the wine and the last of the +steamer ice; but stay there on the veranda yourself. I may want you. It +is so hot that you will not refuse if I offer you refreshment, senor?" +she said. + +Rideau's lips twitched a little, and his face was greasy, but the look +of the African had faded from it, and he might have passed for a native +of southern France when he bowed. + +"Who could refuse anything offered by the senorita?" + +The wine was brought, and the man, who a few moments earlier might have +posed for a study of avarice and passion debased to ferocity, smiled as +he compared his companion's eyes to the sparkling ocean when he raised +his glass. Then, while the big negro squatted just outside the doorway, +Miss Castro read extracts from the notes on the back of the map. + +"This would be very valuable to a bold man," she said. "What would you +give for it? It is no use offering a small thing." + +"I would give"--the man hesitated--"I would even give the agreement in +Arabic signed by Dom Pedro and the Emir!" + +"Then it is yours," said Bonita Castro. "Now it is too hot for further +business, even the underweighed gum. You may sit there and tell me of +your adventures in the bush country." + +Rideau had a large share of vanity, inherited from both parents, and he +was in no wise reluctant; if Miss Castro failed to believe all he told +her she did not say so. Indeed, she made the man feel that she accepted +him as a hero, and fooled him so tactfully that he was several times on +the brink of making confidences which might have jeopardized his plans. +Fortunately for himself, however, he reflected in time, and did not do +so. When at last he withdrew, Miss Castro walked somewhat limply to her +room, and sank down into a basket chair in the manner of one who has +undergone a heavy nervous strain. Her aunt found her there presently, +and placed a hand caressingly on her shoulder as she bent over her. + +"This Rideau is a bad man. He has terrified you?" she said +compassionately. + +"No." The girl's voice trembled, though she smiled. "No, I hardly feared +the cur. I have sent him to his own destruction. It is my own sin I +fear. I have betrayed the man who trusted me; but still I do not think +he will suffer from my treachery." + +The elder lady shook off her somnolent expression, and nodded +sagaciously. + +"The big Englishman who was sick?--I comprehend," she said. "I do not +ask questions; but take comfort if it was for your father, nina. Also, +that Englishman is not clever, but he is very stubborn and strong, and I +do not think it will be well for Rideau if he interferes with him." + +When Miss Castro found Dom Pedro alone in his sweltering office that +night she said to him: "Here is a present, father. I have drawn the +dog's teeth." + +Dom Pedro's eyes glistened as he clutched at the scroll handed him, +then, though he first burned it over the lamp, his forehead grew +furrowed, and his jaw fell. + +"The cur may have other teeth left, and is of the blood of the African," +he said. "Twice I repulsed him when he spoke of marriage. Little one, +you have not sold yourself for this?" + +The man positively quivered with impatience, but the girl laughed. + +"No. I have sold him the blind Englishman. Rideau has the map that +belonged to the Senor Maxwell." + +"Thanks be to heaven!" Dom Pedro exclaimed piously; but his sallow face +grew grave again. "It is a great deliverance, but it is not well to make +one's profit from the blood of white men. This Rideau, who is very +cunning, will follow and bring disaster upon the Englishmen up yonder. +Already, I have suffered many things because of the black men the Emir +stole from me." + +Bonita's eyes shone. + +"You do not see clearly, father, or know the manner of those other men. +What is it to me if these strangers do not find the gold--but I would +not have them die. I have been in their country, and if the cur dog +follows, plotting treachery, as I think he will, the Senor Maxwell will +surely kill him." + +"_Ojala!_ Heaven send it so," murmured Dom Pedro, and would have +embraced his daughter, but that, shrinking from him, she slipped out +into the moonlit veranda. The little olive-faced gentleman stood staring +at the papers before him, and hoping that it might come about as she had +predicted. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE TRAIL OF THE LEOPARD + + +Maxwell expressed his approval of the recruits Dane brought in, for Dom +Pedro had chosen well. They were sturdy, woolly-haired Kroomen from +Liberia who had gained some experience of forest warfare in petty +skirmishes with the troops of the black republic. It is noticeable that +the untamed African cherishes little love for his partly civilized +brother. When he had harangued them, the two white men sat talking +together. + +"I would give a good deal to know what is in Dom Pedro's mind just now," +said Maxwell. "It is quite possible that the offer he made you was +genuine. There is, if one may say it without appealing to your vanity, a +certain air of solidity and force about you which might appeal to a man +of his type who could supply all the finesse necessary--and who +possesses a troublesome enemy. The map would in any case be of little +use to Dom Pedro, who would never venture into the Leopards' country; +and I hardly fancy he would give it to Rideau. In the meantime our own +program is clear. We start again at sunrise to-morrow." + +"Are you not taking too much for granted when you assume that Dom Pedro +has the map?" asked Dane; and Maxwell smiled enigmatically but did not +answer. + +A few days later they halted at sunset beside a stream which, contrary +to the custom of most African rivers, flowed clear as crystal over +yellow sand. Wooded hills whose hollows were filled with drifting steam +sloped steeply upward from the opposite bank, and the black shadow of a +few palms lengthened across the grass behind the waiting men. There was +nothing remarkable about the river or its surroundings; but heathen, +missionary convert, and dusky Moslem alike shrank back murmuring from +its bank. + +"This is our Rubicon, and beyond it lies the Leopards' country," said +Maxwell. "It is not a very imposing stream, but I believe no white man +has ever crossed it without suffering from his rashness, since the days +of the early Portuguese. Something has evidently startled the boys. As I +partly expected, here it is." + +Maxwell pointed to a slender wand set up beside the bank. A tuft of +reddened rags was tied to it, and beneath them hung a piece of sun-dried +clay rudely modeled into the resemblance of a leopard. + +"I would rather have seen fifty men with flint-locks than this trumpery +thing," he declared. "You don't quite grasp its significance, Hilton? +Well, in this land anything may be made the emblem of the Ju-ju, and +that is the insignia of a powerful one I have alluded to several times +already." + +"I could never understand what a Ju-ju is." + +"Very few white men do, but its ministers are a force to reckon with; +and this piece of clay signifies that many unpleasant things, varying +from slow poisoning to death by violence, may happen to the man who +disregards it. You can see that the boys are afraid of it." + +"We can't stay here forever because some benighted heathen has tied it +to a stick," expostulated Dane. "Here's a challenge to the powers of +darkness. Watch and try to understand, you boy! If them thing be no fit +to hurt me, it can't hurt you. That's logic, or, as you say, the Lord he +give me sense too much, isn't it?" + +The eyes of the spectators grew wide with horror as, snapping the wand +across his knee, he next crushed the leopard beneath his heel; and there +was a heavy silence while they waited to see what would follow this bold +defiance of the forest deity. So real was their terror, and the hush so +impressive, that Dane felt his own heart beating faster than it +generally did, and when he laughed the laugh rang hollow. But nothing +unusual happened; and with murmurs of relief the men followed him as he +splashed through the ford. + +"It was necessary," said Maxwell with noticeable gravity. "Nevertheless, +we will double our sentries henceforward, and recharge our filters. +There is no doubt that the powers of darkness will take up your +challenge." + +They pitched camp among the cottonwoods at the mouth of a ravine, and, +when they had eaten, sat for a time within their little tent poring over +a map issued privately for the use of French officials. Innumerable +insects dimmed the light of the lamp above them, and they could scarcely +see the lettering. + +"We are here," said Maxwell, laying his finger on the paper, "on the +threshold of what the niggers call the Leopards' country, which is +marked as partly explored territory, with this patch to represent the +dominions of King, or headman, Shaillu. A few armed expeditions have +traversed it farther east, and found it thinly peopled by petty tribes +hostile to Europeans, while nobody knows much about Shaillu except that +he abruptly broke off the negotiations he once began with the +authorities. That showed the hand of his priests, and brings us back to +the Leopard League." + +Dane laid down his damp cigar, and listened with keen interest as +Maxwell explained. + +"As you have heard, secret leagues of all kinds are common in this +country, and that of the Leopard is probably one of the most powerful. +Its priestly leaders are apparently the power behind the throne in +Shaillu's dominions, and, so the natives say, those they favor with a +share of their supernatural qualities can render themselves invisible or +take the shape of beasts. Like their namesake, they always strike at +night. Dismissing all idea of witchcraft, you can take very ingenious +human cunning, a thorough knowledge of poisoning, and no mean strategic +skill, for granted. Once the white man settles in their country the +power of the bush magician must decline; and the deduction you can draw +from that should justify a close watch to-night. It is your turn until +twelve o'clock, Hilton." + +Dane found it a somewhat depressing watch when the cooking fires had +died out and the sounds which gather depth with the darkness emphasized +the hush of the forest. There was nothing visible but the faint glimmer +of the lighted tent, which suggested a huge Chinese lantern set down +among the dripping undergrowth. Behind it loomed dim ghosts of trees. +Moisture fell drumming upon the tight-strained canvas; and at intervals +some beast in the forest sent up an unearthly scream. The darkness was +filled with the scent of wood smoke and lilies, and thickened by wisps +of drifting steam. + +The time dragged by slowly; but at last Dane was about to make a final +round, when a stealthy rustling held him rigidly still, save that his +left hand slid farther along the rifle barrel. The sound ceased and +began again, and it became certain that something or somebody was +crawling toward the tent. It could hardly be one of the carriers, for +Maxwell had intimated that any man found wandering in the darkness would +promptly be fired upon. Dane could feel his heart throbbing, but his +fingers were steady on the cool barrel as he waited, realizing +instinctively that death or danger in some strange shape was drawing +near. Nevertheless he was silent, fearing to rouse the camp on a false +alarm, and also because he wished to make certain of their unseen enemy. + +For a space of a few seconds there was no sound at all, and he grew the +more uneasy, knowing that the naked bushman learns by sheer necessity to +wriggle almost silently through the undergrowth. Then he found it hard +to repress a cry of astonishment as, for a moment, a monstrous shape was +silhouetted against the faintly illuminated canvas. It was bulkier than +a man, and though it stood upright, its head was that of a beast. +Maxwell was clearly in danger, there was no time to lose, and, pitching +up the rifle, Dane pressed the trigger. A streak of red fire rent the +darkness, and a spark blew into his eyes. He felt the jerk of the +barrel, and then, though he scarcely heard the explosion, he caught a +thud there is no mistaking--the sound made by the impact of a solid +bullet. + +As he snapped down the lever and slid home another cartridge, something +dim and shadowy rushed past, and the rifle blazed again. Then there was +a snapping of undergrowth, a yell from a sentry, the crash of a Snider, +and the camp awoke to life. Maxwell, holding up a lamp, sprang +half-dressed from the tent, black men rose out of the shadows clamoring +excitedly, and Dane's headman, Monday, stood close beside him, peering +into the darkness with his long Snider rifle held out before him. Monday +was not a timid man, but he looked distinctly uneasy when the light of +Maxwell's lantern fell upon his face. + +Dane briefly related what had happened; and Maxwell lowered his lantern. + +"The Leopards have made their first move, and lost a man, I think," he +said. "Most black men are able to carry off considerable lead, but this +red trail on the undergrowth is significant. It also appears quite +probable that you have saved my life." + +Just then, there was a shrill scream in the forest, a scream of human +agony, horrible and intense, and afterward a silence that could be felt. + +"Them ghost leopard he done go chop some boy!" exclaimed Monday, +trembling a little. "We savvy fight black man, sah, but not them +debbil." + +"The sound rose from behind the tuft of palms," Maxwell said quietly. +"Take six of your best men, Monday, and see who is missing. No--stay +where you are, Hilton! It is advisable to break them in to this kind of +thing." + +Monday went reluctantly, and returned to say that one of the sentries +and his gun had vanished completely. Then a half-naked man with a +matchet burst through the wondering group which had gathered about the +pair, demanding assistance to search for his brother. + +Maxwell glanced at him, hesitated, and, while Dane protested, shook his +head. + +"We could never track them, even in broad daylight; and some of the +rescue party would not come back," he explained. "By this time the poor +devil is certainly dead, and I feel convinced that we shall find him +to-morrow without searching. Amadu, tell your boys to fire on any man +trying to leave the camp." + +Maxwell kept watch himself henceforward, and Dane retired to the tent, +resigned though far from contented. He had learned that, if his ways +were a trifle autocratic, his comrade was a leader who could be trusted, +and though he longed with a vindictive yearning to search the forest, +rifle in hand, he did not consider it judicious to question Maxwell's +authority. + +It was a relief when morning came, and somewhat silently they began the +march again. The path wound up a ravine, through climbing forest that +rotted as it grew, where grotesque and ghostly orchids sprouted from +each crumbling bough, and there was scarcely room for two men abreast in +the rutted trail. It had been worn deep by the passage of naked feet; +for gum, skins, and a little ivory came down on the heads of slave +trains out of Shaillu's country. + +Maxwell, with a few picked men, led the way, after giving Dane orders +not to follow him too closely with the main body; but the latter found +it hard to restrain his carriers, who desired to leave the site of the +camp as far behind them as possible. + +Dane had lagged a little behind the long line of colored headgear, cases +poised aloft on woolly crowns, white draperies, and patches of sable +skin, which wound on before him through the green of the tangled jungle, +when Maxwell's voice came back sharply. + +"Lead your boys wide into the bush, Hilton! Break through for several +hundred yards, and send them on before you. Turn back and rejoin me +alone when you strike the trail again!" + +It was done, though Dane fell over an ant-heap and into a network of +horrible thorny trailers which tore the flesh about his ankles. Hurrying +back along the trail, he found Maxwell standing behind a screen of +resplendent creepers, lighting a cigar with a hand that was not quite +steady. His eyes were positively savage, and a patch in the center of +each cheek was gray. Startled as Dane was, it was nevertheless soothing +to find that his comrade shared some, at least, of the weaknesses of +their common humanity. He could not mistake the intensity of Maxwell's +anger. + +"Prepare yourself for a surprise, Hilton, and then see what awaits you +beyond that bush," he said. "I had partly expected it, but when I came +upon it the sight almost sickened me." + +Dane's nerves were tolerably good, but when he passed the creepers he +experienced a shock of nausea and halted abruptly. Two black men were +scooping out a trench, while another crouched near by, crooning +something while he ran his thumb caressingly up and down a matchet +blade. He looked up at the white man's coming, and his face was a study. +Horror was stamped upon it; but a slow, relentless ferocity was written +there too. This Dane saw with his first glance, but after the second he +turned his eyes away. Maxwell was right. They had found the missing +sentry. The object--for there was little resemblance of humanity left in +what lay a foul blotch on the forest before him--was stretched across +the trail; and the neck was twisted so that the face, left whole, +looked down the pathway the way the expedition should have come, +distorted and ghastly, with its changeless grin of pain. Words appeared +superfluous, but Dane's sensations demanded relief in speech. + +"Horrible! horrible! But what is the matter with Bad Dollar? He looks +positively murderous!" + +"It is not surprising," answered Maxwell. "The African is not always +admirable in his domestic relations, but what lies yonder was his +brother." + +Dane, stooping, patted the negro's head. + +"It will be a bad day for some of the Leopards when he settles that +score. Listen to me, Maxwell. Heaven knows whether through greed I am +responsible for part of this; but I most solemnly promise that if ever I +can find the master fiend who inspired the murderers, I'll avenge that +poor devil, as well as Lyle, the trader, whatever it costs me. We're +partners in this affair, Bad Dollar!" + +It is probable that the naked heathen attached little meaning to the +words, but he understood the hoarseness of the white man's voice, and +the steely glint in his eyes. He laid his black hands on the speaker's +foot. + +"It is a bargain," Dane said gravely. "I mean to keep it, Maxwell." + +"You are a little impetuous," was the quiet answer. "Some day there +will, I hope, be a reckoning; but a wise man says little and awaits his +opportunity. Our turn has not come yet. When it does I do not think you +will find me dilatory. Meanwhile, I'm puzzled. There are points +connected with this affair which are far from clear; but those fellows +have finished and we will go on again." + +Beyond instructing Dane and his immediate followers to keep the +occurrence secret, Maxwell said nothing further until noon had passed, +when Dane asked a question. + +"Why did the Leopards make their first move now, when we could, if we +wished it, retreat, instead of waiting until we had penetrated farther +into their country?" + +"It is a pertinent question," said Maxwell. "For one thing, this is, +after all, King Shaillu's country, and they possibly fear that if we +once have speech with him, the headman, who, so the French officers told +me, has a hankering after civilization, might extend us protection. But +that does not quite account for everything. You remember Miss Castro's +mention of the following shadow? Events have proved her predictions +signally correct hitherto, and I am inclined to fancy that the worst +danger still lies behind us and not before." + +Maxwell vouchsafed no further information, and though Dane knew it was +well the expedition had for its leader a man unmoved alike by excess of +anger or misguided pity, he could not help retorting: "You foresee a +good deal, Carsluith. It is unfortunate you could not more often prevent +it. Why could you not have told me more of what you anticipated?" + +Maxwell laughed good-humoredly. + +"Isn't it apparent that what I prevent from happening does not occur? As +to the last question, perhaps the African's answer, 'You never asked +me,' is the best. One dreads so much that it appeared useless to harrow +your feelings until I was certain." + +The march through headman Shaillu's dominions left upon Dane only a +series of blurred impressions. He was too sick to notice definite +details most of the time; but he decided that under no circumstances +could it be considered a cheerful country. For days together the +expedition floundered through dripping forest so laced and bound with +creepers that at noon the daylight could hardly filter down. The +atmosphere resembled that of a Turkish bath; moisture splashed upon the +broad leaves everywhere, and the heat and the gloom together produced a +distressing lassitude. This the white men made strenuous efforts to +resist, knowing that they might blunder into an ambush at any moment. + +It was evident that their enemies had not lost touch with them; for in +spite of their keenest vigilance, a carrier was twice spirited out of +camp at night. Once Dane, making the rounds with a lantern, came upon a +sentry huddled beneath a cottonwood. He had paid a heavy penalty for his +drowsiness. Even Maxwell showed signs of temper at this, and the +expedition waited two nights in camp while its leaders prowled through +the forest in an attempt to surprise the assassins. It was, of course, a +failure. They returned at sunrise, muddy, ragged, and savage, having +neither seen nor heard anything suspicious. + +The fact that they never did see their persecutors was the most +harassing feature of it all; and at last Dane grew by turns murderously +resentful and subject to fits of limp dejection, in which the fever had +doubtless a share. The few villages they passed were empty. Where a +river crossed their path the canoes had been taken away; and at +intervals detachments of the carriers fell sick mysteriously. When they +limped out into a waste of crackling, sword-edged grass, the glare and +dust and heat were bewildering, and after a few days Dane longed for the +forest again. + +Still they held on, and one evening they marched, blanched in face, and +very weary, into sight of one of the strongholds of headman Shaillu. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WEALTH IN SIGHT + + +A stockade ran round the village, and rows of thatched roofs loomed +above the frowning wall of timber, but instead of the usual clamor, +there was dead silence as, with some semblance of order, the footsore +and spiritless carriers limped in through the open gate. Nothing except +a few lizards stirred in the first sandy avenue, and the oppressive +stillness remained unbroken by the voice of man or beast. The sun hung +low above the parched grass in the west, and crimson splendors blazed +behind the huts; but a strange musky odor replaced the pungent fragrance +of burning wood which at that hour hangs over each African village. + +"The whole land seems dead," Dane said slowly, leaning heavily on his +rifle as he spoke. "There are times when one could almost fancy, +Carsluith, that you and I were ghosts--indeed, at the present moment you +don't look unlike one; but what is the meaning of this latest riddle? +This is the black headman's capital, isn't it?" + +Maxwell smiled mirthlessly, as he stood, with beaded forehead and +shoulders bent, glancing toward the weary carriers. His face was worn +and hollow, though his eyes were bright, and his clothing was dropping +in tatters from his weary limbs. The glare behind him emphasized the +lividness of his pallid skin. + +"It is one of them. I believe he has several," he said. "Whether he +fears reprisals from some plundered neighbor, or pestilence, I naturally +don't know; but, as his absence will save us a good many presents and +much loss of time, it is not material. Still, we might find some clue in +one of these huts." + +Maxwell entered the nearest, then moved into another, and stayed there +some time, leaving Dane in the sandy avenue before it; the carriers were +resting at a distance. The sun dipped, and as Dane watched the night +creep up swiftly from the east, it struck him that there was a curious +uncanny feeling about the place. It was a relief when his comrade +returned, looking graver than ever. + +"Did you find any one inside?" + +"I did," was the answer. "Unfortunately the man, as well as the one in +the next hut, was dead, and had, I fancy, been so for some time. He +probably died of a plague, which explains why the town is empty. We may +find something more conclusive in one of the larger huts." + +Dane decided that the discovery of two dead Africans was sufficient, and +said so; but Maxwell persisted, and it was almost dark when they halted +outside what appeared to be the headman's dwelling. Nothing could be +distinguished in the interior, but Dane could hear creeping things +rustle in the thatch, and the peculiar odor he already had noticed +drifted forth from the hut. This was all, but he felt an instinctive +repugnance to entering, and when Maxwell passed him, he caught him by +the shoulder to suggest that they should light a lantern first. Hardly +had he done so than what appeared to be a puff of colder air sighed +close past his ear, and Maxwell, whipping out his revolver, hailed him +to run round the hut as he leaped into the room. Dane did so, finding +another entrance at the rear, and a broad space between the dwelling and +the nearest hut. Nobody, he felt almost certain, would have had +sufficient time to cross it, but the space was empty. When he went in +Maxwell had torn down and lighted strips of palm-leaf from the thatch, +but the name that leaped up showed them no sign of living humanity. +Maxwell's countenance was very grim. + +"You saw nobody outside there? I hardly thought you would," he said. +"Our animal instincts are sometimes more useful than our powers of +reasoning, Hilton. It is probable that if you had not checked me, I +should now be on my way out of this land of surprises. What we heard was +a diminutive arrow, no doubt with the venom there's no cure for upon its +point. It could not have been shot at us by either of the Africans +yonder." + +Dane, glancing at the two awful huddled figures, swore softly and +viciously. + +"It is time we struck back, Carsluith," he urged. "I'll call up our boys +and surround the huts." + +"It would be useless," said Maxwell, shaking his head. "You have not +realized these fellows' ingenuity, even yet. Further, if the boys saw +what we have seen it might be disastrous." + +A horror of the whole country where such things were possible came upon +Dane and he moistened his dry lips with his tongue. + +"I would give ten years of my life to stand face to face with the leader +of these devils." + +"Perhaps you will some day! I am puzzled among other things by their +pertinacity. The heathen is unstable, and one almost feels that there +must be something stronger than the native's spasmodic purpose behind +what we have endured. In any case, it will be pleasanter to camp outside +the town to-night." + +They had some trouble in inducing their followers to quit the promised +shelter, but both felt easier when they had repassed the stockade gate. +That was apparently their enemies' last effort, for they were not +molested during the rest of their journey; and eventually Maxwell halted +his worn-out men beside a shrunken river. It came down out of a chaos of +jungle-covered hills, rippling over sharp sand, with tall bluffs on the +opposite side of it; and within five minutes every carrier was rolling +and splashing in the lukewarm stream. + +Dane quivered with eagerness as he watched Maxwell, who, looking up from +a paper in his hand, smiled inscrutably. + +"Yes. From Niven's description we have reached our goal at last. I was +almost afraid his memory or imagination had betrayed him," he said. +"That must be the bluff he camped on, and this, according to his +assertion, the river which sprinkles its sand with gold. However, he +hinted that it would pay better to prospect the higher pools. I want you +to test his statement, Hilton. The result of the experiment promises to +be eventful." + +Maxwell's voice was slightly uneven, but his fingers seemed steady as he +lighted one of their few last cigars. Dane felt his own knees weak +beneath him, and his voice was hoarse when he hailed a carrier whose +load consisted of prospecting tools. Carrying a tin dish and a small +shovel, he waded into the shrunken river. There was a patch of sand near +its center from which he filled the metal basin, and then halted with a +curious sickly feeling, afraid almost to test its contents. He had sunk +too much of his slender capital in the venture, and his future depended +upon that test. Its issues were prosperity and the realization of the +hope that had sent him to Africa, or a weary struggle for daily bread; +and the climate-weakened man felt that, after all they had dared and +suffered, he could hardly face failure. The perspiration trickled into +his eyes, and oozed from his hair, and he stood still, knee-deep in the +nameless river, for the space of almost a minute. + +Then, stooping suddenly, he dipped the vessel and whirled it round and +round until partly empty. There was a color about some of the particles +remaining that caught his attention; but he would not trust a partial +test, and continued the washing until, except for a very trifling +residue, the pan was empty. Still, Maxwell made no comment and asked no +question, for, if one was now swift in action, the other was great in +silence. + +Dane straightened himself, and waded back with dry lips and tickling +throat, but with triumph in his eyes; and Maxwell laughed softly as he +grasped the hand he stretched out. + +"What have you found?" he asked. + +"Enough to prove your dead friend right, and encourage us to search for +something better!" Dane spoke as calmly as he could. "It is only stream +gold, and doubtless readily worked out, but heaven knows how much more +there may be up yonder where this came down from." + +"You think----" + +"That Niven was not mad, but eminently sane! I'm not a practical gold +prospector, but I couldn't well help learning a little of the theory +when working on the drawings of hydraulic mining machinery. It's a +question of the velocity of the current and specific gravity--for even +with a stream behind gold grains of any size don't travel far; and their +matrix lies in yonder hills, or beyond them, somewhere." + +"We'll go on again to-morrow," said Maxwell quietly. + +For a week they hewed a way through the jungles on the hillside, or +waded up the bed of the river where it promised an easier road; and +finally, daring to penetrate no farther, they pitched camp on a +palm-crested bluff overhanging a breadth of dry sand and a deep pool +beneath a fall. Since leaving Shaillu's stronghold they had neither been +followed by their persecutors nor seen anything with life in it. Maxwell +left all operations to his friend's direction, and toiled beside him for +several days like a galley slave, digging and blowing out with +explosives a new channel to empty the pool, besides hewing troughs to +bring down the water from above the fall. + +Once more the burning day was drawing toward its close when, with the +roar of the last shot rolling across the encircling forest and the water +frothing muddily down its new outlet, Dane stood beside his comrade, +leaning on a shovel, and wondering greatly that the latter could think +of anything beyond the result of their experiment. + +"The jungle seems to mock us, does it not?" Maxwell remarked. "Already +its silence has swallowed the feeble din we made; and the next flood +will obliterate forever all traces of your workings." + +"Then you don't believe that this is the beginning of a new era, and +that those who follow us will change the future of this wilderness?" +asked Dane with a show of incredulity. + +Maxwell pointed to the jungle fading into the dimness of the east. + +"I do not. Look at it," he said. "It has stood so from the beginning, a +place of everlasting shadow, for the naked bushmen to hunt each other +in; and it will be the same long centuries after you and I are gone. It +is too old and changeless for even the Briton to subdue. Phoenician, +Roman, Arab, and Moor have all tackled this all-absorbing Africa; and +while the brown men have left a plainer stamp on it than the white men, +how much has any of them done? Still, all this is beside the question, +isn't it? It will be enough for you and me if we can return home safely +with some small augmentation of our capital. Hadn't you better resume +your digging, Hilton?" + +Dane did so, stripped to the waist; and great fires were blazing before +he came up out of the river, exultant. + +"I can't promise a fortune, but there should be sufficient to pay us for +all our toil," he said. "Those little grains will realize almost four +pounds an ounce." + +They set out a carefully treasured bottle of lukewarm wine that night in +the tent, and duly emptied it, though, perhaps for the same reason, +neither of them ate much; and afterward they sat long talking under the +smoky lamp. It was a night to remember, for it is not often one enjoys +the same thrill of triumph twice in a lifetime. Maxwell was unusually +communicative; and long afterward Dane could remember how he leaned +against a deal case, worn, thin, and haggard, but with a smile of +satisfaction on his hollow face. + +"Success appears within sight at last, but it is well to take good +fortune soberly," he said. "I am, however, sensible of an insane desire +to do something extravagant when I remember all that word implies. You +have seen Culmeny, Hilton, but it is hardly possible that you can +realize the affection I have for the old place. It was fast falling into +ruin before my father improved its finances a little by painful economy; +and, because we generally fought and plotted for the losing side, the +poor acres about it have been starved overlong. Now, after many an +arduous search for the wherewithal, I can hope it may be granted me to +restore a measure of its former prosperity. The Culmeny mosses could be +turned into plow-land and pasture with the aid of a little money." + +"You are a young man, Carsluith," Dane replied suggestively. "Being +merely one of the swarming people, I don't know that love for--an +ancient dwelling--would have exacted so much from me. Drainage schemes +are no doubt useful, but was the extension of them your only ambition?" + +Maxwell laughed good-humoredly, though a trace of shadow crept back into +his face. + +"No," he said slowly; "there was a time when they took a very secondary +place. Every one has his weaknesses, and even now I have not quite got +over mine." + +The friendship between the two men had never been demonstrative, but it +was deep enough to make Dane's comment no liberty. + +"I can guess. The old story, no doubt. 'It was the woman who tempted +me!' She treated you badly?" + +"No," Maxwell answered quietly, looking hard at his companion. "She--God +bless her--could treat no one harshly. It was my own folly to dream that +she, with her fresh young beauty and the light-heartedness of innocence, +could find anything congenial in such a taciturn, somber man as myself. +Well, that romance is over, but it has left its mark; and now all that I +hope for is that Culmeny will flourish for a brief space under the last +of an unfortunate family." + +Now there are limits beyond which even one who has sickened and fought +and suffered beside a trusted comrade may hardly go, and Dane repressed +the question which trembled on his lips. Nevertheless, he afterward +fancied that if he had asked it then Maxwell would have answered him; +and the revelation probably would have made a vast difference in the +future of both of them. Dane did not, however, ask. + +He was partly dazed by his own good fortune, and, when at last they +ceased from speech, he sat in contented silence conjuring up roseate +visions of the future. It was true that he had quarreled with Lilian, or +she had quarreled with him; but during the time of stress and struggle +the importance of the difference between them had--so it seemed to the +man--steadily diminished. He could recall significant trifles which +suggested that the time would come when the woman would no longer +enforce the terms of their compact; and he felt that it was at least +possible that, returning triumphant, he would find that she had already +forgiven his supposed offenses. So hope rose victorious over doubts and +dejection; and Dane was nodding, dreaming, while still half-awake, +golden dreams, when Maxwell's voice recalled him to the laborious +present. + +"It is past midnight, and the task before us will tax our uttermost +energies. Isn't it time to turn in, Hilton?" + +Dane nodded. + +"We will begin at sunrise," he said; "work every possible hour, and +start back for England whenever the yield falls off. It is better to +make sure of a portion than risk the whole by straining for too much; +and fortune does not appear to favor white men overlong in this country. +Even if we were but half satisfied, it should not be difficult to float +a company." + +Maxwell shook his head. + +"Your first suggestion shows some discernment, Hilton; the second, less. +Even a wildcat company promoter would fight shy of this mine; and it is +tolerably certain that we have both the cross-marked man and Monsieur +Victor Rideau still to reckon with." + +Dane stretched himself out on some matting when Maxwell turned out the +lamp, but he did not immediately sleep. The hot African darkness hemmed +in the little tent, but he could see his comrade's figure dimly outlined +against it as he sat rigidly still in the entrance. Then it struck him +that they were very far away from all help from civilization, with a +secret in their possession which already had cost the lives of other +men. The roseate visions faded, and a sense of impending trouble +preceded slumber. It was significant that Dane's fingers sought the +pistol that lay beside him. + +"Not asleep yet?" asked Maxwell. "What is troubling you?" + +"I don't quite know," Dane answered. "I was going to ask you the same +thing. Carsluith, if Rideau or the other rascal interferes with us +further before I have won sufficient to float my patent, some of the +party won't go home again." + +The sun had just cleared the forest when, one morning soon after Dane +had set his flume and washing gear to work, he sat at breakfast before a +swinging table in their extemporized mess tent. Maxwell, who had just +risen, stood in the entrance, partly dazzled by the growing brightness. +Suddenly some of the Krooboys commenced to chatter excitedly, and a +negro's voice rose above the commotion: + +"White man lib for across the river!" + +Maxwell, springing into the tent, snatched up a pair of binoculars; and +the table overturned with a crash as Dane scrambled to his feet. + +"The devil!" he exclaimed, staring stupidly at the figure below which +saluted them with uplifted arm. + +Maxwell frowned as he sharply closed the glasses. + +"No," he said, "not exactly. It is Monsieur Victor Rideau." + +Ten minutes had passed before the man Dane had seen at Castro's factory +came smiling into camp, and the miner glanced at him curiously. He was +short, but somewhat burly and broad-chested for a man of pure Gallic +descent. His hair was very crisp and black, his face swarthy, and his +fingers suspiciously like those of the negro. He was, considering the +country, neatly arrayed in white duck and shoes with pointed toes. +Monsieur Rideau had evidently traveled in a hammock. + +"Felicitations, camarades," he began, with, it seemed to one observer, +an excess of amiability. "It please me greatly to meet the friend of my +own color in this country of the devil, so I leave all my boy behind +there and push on with much expedition to salute you." + +"That was very kind," said Maxwell shortly, never moving his eyes from +his enemy. "The eagerness was mutual. My friend here upset our breakfast +equipage in his hurry to greet you. The cook, however, will get you some +more presently." + +Dane fancied he read satisfaction in his comrade's face when the other +answered: + +"I have the breakfast already. You smoke now. I have these from Cuba--he +is smuggle. No? That is the pity; but we talk at least. I have affaire +of importance to discuss with you." + +"So I presumed," said Maxwell, with no excess of civility. "Our tent is +hardly fit to enter, but there is still shade here. Please consider us +attentive listeners." + +"_Bien!_" Rideau carefully laid a silk handkerchief on a fallen +cottonwood before he took his seat. "I come to search the gold mine, and +find two men of my own color have find her already. Me, I am not greedy. +I say there is the plenty for three. So I make proposal. I go the +partner with you." + +"Suppose that does not suit us?" Dane broke in. + +Rideau lifted one shoulder and stretched out the other arm with an air +that was not wholly Gallic, but rather suggested the grimaces of a +negro. + +"It would be the pity. You know how we say, '_J'y suis_----?' As an +American captain I have once small difference with tell me when he +establish himself all day on my veranda: 'I'm here, Mr. Shylocker, and +until I get what I've come for I stop right where I am.' Shylocker, I +tell him, is a compliment not comprehended of me. That was a man of +determination, but I vanquish him, my friends." + +Hitherto something in the speaker's fastidious neatness and excessive +bonhommie had, because his welcome was the reverse of cordial, prevented +Dane from taking him seriously. Now there was a glint in his dark eyes +which suggested that he might prove dangerous; and Dane surmised that +the last sentence was meant as a warning. In any case, his blood took +fire at its veiled insolence. + +"It seems to me you could only have found your way here by means of a +map stolen from me!" he said hotly, rising as he spoke. + +Maxwell silenced him with a gesture. + +"That is beside the question, Hilton. Monsieur Rideau is here, and, as +he informs us, here he means to stay. The first question is whether, if +we do not wish it, he is able to." + +Rideau took up the challenge with outward good-humor. + +"I have of camp boy two, or perhaps three, for every one I see of you. +Most he is also arm with the good rifle. If there is the bad +understanding, somebody is possibly get kill, which is distressing to +me. Beside, the barbaric indigene he go chop us separables, as the +nigger say. United we are invincibles, _voyez vous_?" + +"I believe I do," Maxwell answered, in a tone which suggested that he +saw considerably more than the other's words revealed; and Dane watched +the pair, as for some seconds they lapsed into silence--the Briton +motionless and almost too rigid in bearing, with an expressionless face; +the swarthy adventurer smiling out of shifty eyes, while his fingers +betrayed his impatience. + +Then Maxwell spoke abruptly. + +"Your proposal demands serious consideration. I would prefer to give you +an answer this time to-morrow." + +"_Bien_," Rideau acquiesced; and after a detailed account of his +adventures, which Dane surmised was wholly fictitious, he took his +leave. + +"The savage has his virtues as well as his failings," said Maxwell, +looking after him. "That man, however, is neither French nor negro, and +such as he usually combine the vices of both sides of their ancestry. +What do you think of his proposal, Hilton?" + +"I should have dismissed him with four expressive words. Why did you +promise to consider it at all?" + +Maxwell smiled dryly. + +"Because I intend to do so. I will give you my reasons this evening +when, after a day's consideration, I shall have them ready in a more +definite shape. In the meantime, we had better continue the mining." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PESTILENCE + + +The result of the day's work was encouraging, though it cost Dane an +effort to concentrate his attention upon his task. Rideau's swarthy face +haunted him; he would have felt more cheerful had his companion decided +to defy him. Maxwell, however, said little, and appeared to find +pleasure in working with concentrated energy. + +Evening came at last, and thick darkness closed about the lonely tent. +Neither of the men ate much, and when the frugal meal had been cleared +away, Maxwell once more spread his map on the table. + +"We have to make an eventful decision, and it might be well to consider +our position," he said, laying his finger on the map. "We are somewhere +here, just beyond the fringe of Shaillu's country, with a difficult and +dangerous country between us and civilization, and a little-known land, +whose inhabitants are supposed to be predatory tribes, to the north." + +"We will take all that for granted," responded Dane. "Can you give me +Rideau's record?" + +"But little of it. He is evidently of mixed blood, and partly educated, +a trader by profession, with a mysterious inland connection. I was told +that the authorities suspect him of trafficking in unlawful weapons, or +even in black humanity. I have little doubt it was he who hired the man +with the scar on his forehead to arrange for Niven's destruction; and, +while several points are not clear to me, I fancy he is at least partly +responsible for our own misfortunes. Seeing his efforts to circumvent us +fail, he has decided to join us--for a time. Lastly, I am inclined to +surmise that by reason of some unlawful speculation, jointly undertaken, +he has a hold on Dom Pedro, and so obtained possession of the map you +lost. Now, what are we to say to him?" + +"Very little, in my opinion!" grunted Dane. "Tell him to go to the +devil! If that rouses his indignation, as I hope it will, I should find +satisfaction in assisting him." + +Maxwell smiled, but shook his head. + +"Your ways are delightfully simple, but hardly practicable, Hilton," he +said. "In the first place, Rideau means to stay, and has, he tells us, a +force much superior to our own. Suppose we succeeded in driving him out +by violence, we should have to meet a charge of filibustering when we +returned to the coast, or stand a siege if he returned with a host of +native allies. The one safe step in that direction would be the +entrapping and total annihilation of Rideau and his party, which, +presumably, would not recommend itself to you!" + +"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed Dane, convinced against his will. "Am I a +professional murderer? Since you don't agree with mine, let me hear your +views." + +"In the first place we must hope that, as he suggests, there may be gold +enough for three. Further, I consider Rideau least dangerous when under +my own eye, and therefore consider it would be wisest to accept his +proposal and watch him carefully. We shall thus have peace for a time, +at least, and when necessary must endeavor to match our wits against his +guile. That the man's company will not be pleasant, I need hardly say; +but we can't afford to be particular with so much at stake. Remember +that we came here to make money, and not in search of adventures, or to +maintain our dignity." + +Dane only nodded, and so the conference concluded. Sooner than lose what +he hoped for he was prepared to concede anything; but it might have been +better if he had adhered to his own simple plan; for it is difficult to +make a bargain with such a man as Rideau, and keep it without material +losses as well as diminished self-respect. + +Early the next morning Rideau arrived, bringing with him an imposing +number of colored desperadoes; and a written agreement was drawn up. +They were to share all risks and expenses, and divide what gold they won +on its safe arrival at the coast. Rideau showed bland satisfaction when +he read it through; but, before he filled a rusty pen, Dane rose and +laid Bonita Castro's keepsake on the table. + +"Faith is a question of training, and exactly what each man believes +concerns only himself; but probably all of us respect this as a symbol," +he said. "Is that not so, Monsieur Rideau?" + +Rideau glanced from the speaker to Maxwell, and there was a gleam in his +eyes, then he bent his head. + +Flinging down his battered sun-hat, Dane laid his right hand on the +object on the table, saying: "So I solemnly promise, first to keep this +bargain and faith with my partners, if it cost me my life or fortune; +and secondly, to demand a full account from either should he betray his +trust, as, if I fail them, they shall do to me." + +Maxwell in turn recorded his promise with quiet simplicity; but Rideau +started when the object was passed on to him. It was a beautifully +wrought crucifix of medieval workmanship. For a moment he stared +malevolently at Dane, and then a look akin to fear crept into his eyes. +But, raising one hand aloft, he pledged himself more solemnly than +either, and attached his name first of all to the foot of the agreement. +He retired shortly afterward to pitch his camp, for the new partners had +decided that their respective carriers would be best kept apart; and +Maxwell looked at his comrade. + +"Had you mentally rehearsed that scene, Hilton?" he asked. "It was +almost a stroke of genius." + +"No. I don't claim to be a genius. It was simply the most solemn thing I +could think of from his point of view. I meant exactly what I said, and +I feel somewhat easier now that Rideau has passed the test." + +Maxwell smiled. + +"You are very confiding, Hilton--and he did not pass the test. Still, +considering the blend between the worthy missionaries' teaching and +African superstition which, while it would probably astonish them, +accounted for his momentary hesitation, Rideau is either braver or more +avaricious than I supposed him. Did it occur to you that he recognized +Miss Castro's gift?" + +Dane was somewhat astonished. + +"How do you know that it was Miss Castro's gift; and what if he did?" + +"I saw it once in her possession, and, as she naturally would not sell +such a thing, I presumed that you had not stolen it. I heard that Rideau +had persecuted that lady with his attentions. It would be well to +remember henceforward that ceaseless vigilance is the price of safety." + +Thus, with the prospect of treachery on one side, the partnership with +Rideau began; but the new carriers were sturdy men, and the gold-washing +was carried on with characteristic energy, alike under the burning sun +of noon and by the glare of great fires until long into the steamy +night. Dane labored with his own hands among his Krooboys, stripped to +the waist. Maxwell seconded him loyally, for he had now relinquished the +leader's place; and by degrees the pair drilled their dusky subordinates +into capable workmen. It is true that they usually suspended operations +the moment the white men relaxed their vigilance; but that was only to +be expected, and their masters got a good deal out of them considering +that most negroes have a chronic distaste for manual labor. Rideau's +detachment, Dane noticed, were the most amenable to discipline, and +obeyed all orders with a submission which puzzled the observer, for he +knew that meek obedience is not a characteristic of the seaboard +African. Their master, who did little beyond expressing his approval of +Danes' efforts, grew more cordial as the weeks went by. But Maxwell was +civil, and nothing more; and Dane surmised that he was rather more +watchful and suspicious than he had been before. + +One night when, worn out by physical exertion and aching in every joint, +they dragged themselves, dripping with river water, back to their tent, +there was a covert sneer in Rideau's laugh as he addressed them: + +"You English are a curious people, and there are those who call you mad. +The more tired and dirty you are, the more happy. I once see your naval +officer on the Niger harness with the indigene, like the mule, to drag +the wheel-gun through a robber headman's swamp. One drole, he tell me it +was the glorious fun." + +"I dare say he meant it," retorted Maxwell. "It is probably owing to +that very form of insanity that, while you--the French, I mean--have +with commendable foresight appropriated the best of Africa, we others +remain at least its commercial masters." + +The pause and apparent correction was not made by accident, and Dane +fancied that Rideau grasped its significance. He retired shortly, and +Maxwell looked thoughtful. + +"I am afraid I was not judicious; but we are only human, and there are +times when my dislike for that rascal almost masters me," he said. "I +would give much to learn who it is that slinks into his camp at night." + +Dane looked puzzled, for Rideau's camp lay across the river, and was +watched by black sentries; no negro was permitted on any excuse to pass +its boundaries. + +"As you know, I have of late taken an interest in botany," Maxwell +laughed. "During my researches I found considerably more specimens of +African vegetation in the forest surrounding Rideau's camp than I know +the names of, and on several occasions what is of greater +interest--footsteps leading toward our partner's tent. The man who made +them wore sandals; there is nobody among our combined followers who +does." + +Dane had no suggestions to make, and therefore kept silent; but that +piece of information left him uneasy. + +It was a still, oppressive day some months later when Dane stood leaning +heavily on a shovel near the edge of the bush. The temperature made +exertion almost impossible, and there was a weight in the atmosphere +which rendered respiration an effort; for the last two weeks the sun had +been hidden all day long and the stars shrouded by haze at night, and +the same heavy stillness had brooded over the camp. In such weather +sickly white men die off, and wise ones lie still in a hammock whenever +possible; but the lust of gold had held two at least of the party +strenuously to their task, and already a little heap of yellow grains +reposed within an iron-bound chest. The men had, however, experienced +some trouble with their colored assistants, who had been unusually +dejected and apathetic of late. + +While Dane ran his eyes along his trenches it struck him that the raw +heaps of sand and the rude wooden flumes appeared strangely out of place +in that gap in the primeval forest. It towered about them, vast, +shadowy, and impressive, rotting as it grew, but throbbing with the +pulse of an untrammeled life that would tear down the conduits, and bury +the workings with verdure, almost as soon as their constructors +relinquished them. The voices of the negroes, rising hollowly through +the motionless atmosphere, sounded weak and feeble against its silence. + +"If all goes well, and the yield increases as it has done of late, we +should have enough to leave us a creditable profit before the year is +done," Dane said. "We have been long enough in this country, Carsluith, +and I mean to return to England before it wastes all the life out of +me." + +Perhaps it was the weather, for Maxwell appeared in an unusually somber +mood. + +"Your proviso covers a good deal," he replied. "This is a land of +surprises, where it is more than usually useless to predict what any man +will do. Neither are the signs auspicious at present." + +"No," Dane agreed reflectively; "I can't say that I consider them so. +This dead stillness worries me. Does it presage a premature change in +the seasons, or has it any other unpleasant meaning?" + +"Who can tell? Anything abnormal carries a hint of death with it in this +country. Still, there are other tokens. The few tribesmen who brought us +in provisions have vanished completely. The last we saw looked like +badly frightened men and were moving south with, for natives, surprising +celerity. As you know, the interpreter failed to understand them, but I +have an uneasy feeling that there was a sufficient cause for their +hurry. The negro is not a foreseeing person, and does not run away +unless the danger which threatens him is tangible and near." + +Dane twice turned to move back toward the workings, but did not do so. +His physical nature revolted from toil that day, and his brain felt sick +and useless under the stress of temperature. So the two lingered until a +negro near them, dropping his shovel, rolled over, clawing at the sand, +as suddenly as a rabbit stricken by the gun. His fall was so swift and +unexpected that Dane stared at the twitching black limbs motionless +until Maxwell's voice roused him. + +"Shake yourself together, Hilton. There is work before us! That fellow +must be carried into the bush before the rest discover what he is +suffering from." + +The man proved a heavy lift, and his greasy limbs writhed within their +grasp; but they laid him among the creepers without attracting +attention, and Dane, running to the tent, returned with a phial. + +"Where do you feel them pain lib?" he asked. + +The sufferer laid a black hand on his waist-cloth. + +"Somebody done put hot iron in heah, sah, and turn him round and round." + +Dane managed to drench him from the phial before his teeth met in an +agony, and Maxwell closed one hand as he looked at his partner. + +"It is very hard that this should happen--now--but you and I must see +the poor devils through," he said. "Our help may not be worth much, but +it is all that stands between them and destruction. It is one of the +scourges of this afflicted country--swifter than cholera, and more +deadly. This camp will resemble the pit presently." + +Maxwell next glanced down at the negro pitifully, his forehead +contracted and his lips firmly set, but he nodded abruptly when Dane +spoke again. + +"I have seen something like it in South America. Is it invariably +contagious?" + +"To negroes, yes; to white men, less so. In any case you have run the +worst risk of infection already." + +"Confound you! Do you suppose--?" + +Maxwell interrupted, laying a hand on his shoulder. + +"I think you and I are going to fight a very tough battle together, +Hilton." + +He had hardly spoken when Rideau appeared from behind them, and glanced +at the groaning man. Then he shuffled backward well away from him; +answered Maxwell's look of interrogation with a nod; and, while his +face grew distinctly less like that of a European, he fumbled inside his +jacket. The barrel of a pistol was visible the next moment. "It is," he +said suggestively, "if the cases are few, the best way for preserve the +others. In their own country they use the paddle. One good blow where +the skull she is thinnest, and--voila, the safe remedy!" + +Dane stretched a big hand out, and Rideau winced with a stifled +expletive as he dropped the weapon; while the Briton was sensible of a +distinct disappointment when he saw that the man's wrist remained +unbroken. The suggestion had apparently revolted Maxwell also; he stared +at the speaker with unconcealed loathing, while the latter opened his +lips for a moment in a wolfish snarl as he glanced sideways at Dane. +Just then, Victor Rideau looked very much less like a French gentleman +than a low-caste negro. Nevertheless, he was the first to recover his +serenity. + +"You have the mistaken squeamish; but me, I know the most advisable, and +have great fear of the sick which catches," said he. "She is distressful +for me. Sacre! Here is more other. To-morrow I consult you. Alors, I +go." + +A shrill scream of human agony rang through the lifeless air, and +Rideau, who did not stand upon the order of his going, departed with all +possible celerity. + +Neither of his partners was much inclined for mirth, but there is often +a ludicrous side to a tragedy; and Maxwell positively laughed when Dane +savagely hurled the pistol after its vanishing owner. + +"Missed! I would have given a good deal of the gold to strike him +squarely between the shoulders. I meant it to hurt," he said. + +Then an uproar began. Black figures, swarming out of the workings, +gathered about the fallen man, clamoring excitedly, and Maxwell resumed +command. + +"They're panic-stricken; and fear will spread the sickness fastest. This +must be stopped at once! We have not a moment to lose, or there will be +murder done." + +Dane felt very helpless as they ran forward to disperse the mob of +terror-stricken black men. He still carried the shovel, though Maxwell +went empty-handed, because, either from pride or policy, he never +displayed a weapon once camp had been pitched. He appeared quietly +resolute, though Dane afterward admitted feeling desperately anxious and +more than a little afraid, for the mass of dusky faces with unreasoning +fear and its accompanying ferocity stamped upon them was not an +encouraging spectacle. Any one of those negroes was physically a match +for two white men, and there were a good many of them. + +The mob came to a standstill at the sight of them. Maxwell, removing his +hat, straightened out the dints in it before he spoke a few words, and +then, thrusting his way through the groups which opened up before him, +halted beside the fallen man. + +Some of the negroes began to chatter; some shrank farther back; but +there was presently an ominous growling, and again the mob surged +forward, one man with a matchet launching himself straight at his white +master. Hitherto he had shown himself both cheerful and docile, but now +he seemed possessed of a devil, the devil of fear transmuted into +maniacal savagery. Maxwell did not at first see him, and when he did it +would have been too late, but that Dane whirled aloft the shovel, and +when it came down the negro fell like a pole-axed ox at his comrade's +feet. Even then Dane felt sick and sorry as he saw the red drops run +from the steel, for he had often encouragingly patted his victim's +brawny shoulder; but the negro is above all things unstable, and that +blow was the saving of many lives. The crowd stood silent, cowed for a +few moments by the swift retribution. + +"Thanks," said Maxwell; "I think you have nipped it in the bud, Hilton." + +Before he began to speak again his lieutenant, Amadu, and Dane's special +follower, Monday, sprang to their side. Both carried rifles; and that +turned the scale. Before half an hour had elapsed the two had not only +restored a degree of confidence and order, but had picked out a number +of men who might be trusted to act as sanitary police. By this time, +however, the plague had claimed other victims, and Maxwell started +forthwith to choose an isolated site for a hospital camp; while Dane, +moving to and fro among the laborers, set apart any with suspicious +symptoms. + +It was midnight before either found leisure for food or rest, and then +Dane knelt, with a biscuit in one hand, beside the little medicine chest +in the tent, while Maxwell bent over a medical treatise as he ate. +Several sick men lay moaning just outside the illuminated canvas, and +one, apparently in delirium, had during the last hour never ceased +crooning the hammock-bearers' song. + +"That chanty grows wearisome," said Maxwell at length; and, because Dane +was overwrought, his companion's composure jarred upon him. + +"Put down that tin and hold the glass for me. You have eaten three +biscuits already, and this is no time for feasting! I'm going to start +with chlorodyne. We found it good in South America when we could give it +to them quick enough; but these fellows have an irritating trick of +crawling away into some lair to die quietly. There. Give this to the +first two poor devils, half each by measure." + +Maxwell went swiftly, and returned very grim in face. + +"Too late," he reported. "One is cold already; the other testified that +there is but one Allah as I bent over him, and ended in a gurgle. Hallo! +What is this?" + +Preceded by a negro carrying a torch, Rideau, smoking sedulously, +approached the tent, and halted well clear of it. The man was not, as +his partners had cause to know, unduly timid, but now fear was plainly +stamped on his face, which the red glare of the torch forced up against +the gloom. + +"I have great fear of this sick, and make proposition," he said. "I go +take all the boy of me back a league into the forest, and make other +camp. If any he is fall ill, I with all possible expedition send him +you." + +Both of the listeners found heart to smile at the latter sentence before +Dane's resentment mastered him. + +"It is particularly considerate of him, but his proposition has some +sense in it," said Maxwell aside. "You are acting surgeon-major, Hilton. +What do you suggest?" + +"You can go straight to perdition, or anywhere else that pleases you, so +long as you don't waste our time!" thundered Dane; and with a salute +which expressed no resentment, but only relief, Rideau withdrew. + +"How long does this thing generally last?" asked Dane. + +"Sometimes it clears a village out in a fortnight, more often it hangs +round a month, or even longer, picking out odd victims; and before that +time has gone we shall have the rains." + +"Which will prevent any further mining, probably cut off our road to the +coast, and render life here almost impossible," Dane said hoarsely. + +"Exactly. There can be no more mining now." + +As the two men's eyes met, each knew just what his comrade was thinking. + +"We must see them through," said Dane, and Maxwell answered, as though +this decision had never been in doubt: "Of course!" + +With that they fell to work again, for there was much to do, which was +fortunate, because, otherwise, the thought of what both would certainly +lose and what one was risking for the sake of naked heathen, many of +whom were little higher in intelligence than dumb cattle, might have +maddened them. Still, even the most stupid had trusted the white men, +and, in their own fashion, served them well. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN EVENTFUL DECISION + + +The weeks that followed left only a hazy impression of hurry, effort, +fatigue that was almost overwhelming, and anxiety which spurred wornout +mind and body to further action, with the two white men who lived +through them. Some of the sick they cured, and though it is possible +their lack of knowledge hastened the end of others, their intentions at +least were benevolent, and while they often went hungry the convalescent +were always fed. They put heart into the hopeless and buried the dead, +stormed, exhorted, and jested by turn all day long, and sat watching the +worst cases when the hot night fell. Dane was never afterward able to +recollect the exact mixtures he dispensed, which Maxwell said was +probably fortunate; but as a result of their labors, while all would +otherwise have perished, part at least of their followers escaped. They +had also capable assistants. Amadu, Maxwell's man, had fought under a +great Emir who had made his name a terror in the Soudan; and Monday, so +Dane gathered, had carried the standard of a successful robber chieftain +somewhere far up in the land of the brown men who swear by the Prophet; +but both had the full courage of their fatalist convictions, and what +their masters bade them that they did. The rank and file of the +orderlies were thick-headed heathen who grinned each time their leader +stormed at them. + +One day when the sick were recovering, and a little hope was springing +up again, Dane, staggering half asleep behind his bearer detachment, +halted when Maxwell beckoned him. + +"Get on, you dusky angels, and try to carry that poor devil +right-side-up," Dane said. "Monday, tell them hopeless idiots if they +handle the other fellow that way they'll pull his head off. You would +tempt the most patient man to murder some of you." + +The bearers beamed upon him with mouths extended, and Maxwell laughed. + +"They take your abuse as a compliment, Hilton; and your capabilities +become apparent by degrees. Still, after the success which has attended +your daring pharmaceutical experiments, one could hardly be astonished +at your licking even yonder most unpromising raw material into shape." + +"The credit is to necessity," replied Dane, surveying his assistants +with a certain air of pride. "Those are the most wooden-headed niggers +in Africa, and the more I swear at them the wider they grin; but if I +wanted sulphur from the pit, and told them, the beggars would go--and +get it." + +"I wish we were both fresher," Maxwell said; "because there is another +worry to grapple with. The man I sent over to Rideau found the camp +empty, and this pinned to the tree his tent had been pitched beneath." + +"If Mr. Rideau desires to repeat his opinion that we should set them all +to work it is as well he does it in writing. I could hardly keep my +hands off the brute the last time he made the suggestion in person," +answered Dane. + +"Read, and see," said Maxwell, holding out the note; and because Dane's +head was swimming he translated the indifferent French with difficulty. +The message might have appeared ambiguous to a more accomplished +linguist. Nevertheless, he gathered from it that their partner, who +professed a total ignorance of physics and a fear of contagion, +regretted his inability to render them any assistance, and had decided +to visit a headman he had dealings with who dwelt at a considerable +distance. He stated that none of his boys could be induced to carry a +message to the stricken camp. + +"He might have expressed himself more plainly, but it is plausible. Do +you attach a different meaning?" Dane asked. + +Maxwell, instead of answering, asked another question. + +"You feel tolerably certain that we have seen the worst of this +epidemic?" + +"Yes," was the answer. "I did not, however, tell our estimable partner +so. It seemed a pity to relieve him prematurely of what he called his +fear of the sick. Perhaps I was wrong in this." + +"Pshaw!" exclaimed Maxwell. "It is not the plague he fears the most. In +fact, considering that he must have lived through one or two outbreaks +already, part, at least, of his fear must have been simulated. If you +expect to see Rideau here again on the old terms, Hilton, you are +mistaken." + +"His absence would not leave me disconsolate," said Dane. "In that case, +one wonders what he is afraid of, and why he came? Isn't it also +surprising that he should abandon his share of the gold?" + +"In reply to the first query, I don't know--but we shall doubtless +discover in good time. There is no difficulty in answering the rest. He +came to see if the river was worth exploitation, and to pick up a +practical knowledge of the necessary operations. His share of what we +have obtained is, after all, but trifling for an avaricious man who +cherishes a grudge against you, and desires the whole. Two men alone at +present prevent him from obtaining it, and the life of any white man is +very uncertain in this country." + +"A grudge against me?" Dane queried. + +Maxwell nodded. + +"Have you forgotten Miss Castro? Your powers of attraction may prove a +dangerous gift, Hilton." + +Dane flushed with sudden anger, for this appeared to him ill-timed +levity; but Maxwell continued unheeding: + +"The whole complication resembles a mosaic puzzle, and I have fitted +most of it together. One or two pieces, however, are missing, and we +must wait until accident supplies them. Meanwhile, every effort to +expedite our sick men's recovery would be advisable." + +Maxwell left his comrade startled and uneasy. Dane could see that he was +anxious, and they already had sufficient to try their endurance without +the addition of a haunting fear. There was, however, no remedy, and they +continued to tend the sick, setting those who had recovered to work as +the pestilence slackened its grip. So, while groups of naked tribesmen +whose tongue nobody therein could understand traveled southward past the +camp, the days went by until Maxwell was supplied with one missing +portion of his mosaic. One morning a seaboard negro, whose leg had been +rendered useless by the horrible Guinea worm which had burrowed from +knee to ankle, crawled into camp, and told a story which roused both +listeners to suppressed fury. Rideau had left him behind crippled, to +starve, but with many sufferings he had managed to drag himself to their +camp. + +"I be missionary boy, sah, and savvy them JuJu palaver be all dam +fraud," he stated in the coast English. "When them low white nigger +Rideau lib for them first river by the Leopards' country he send one man +two day into the bush." + +"What was the man like? How that boy he look?" asked Maxwell. + +"Yellow man with mark on front of him head, sah. He be fit to make +fetich palaver." + +"Oh," commented Maxwell. "This is going to be very interesting, Hilton." + +"Two night go," continued the negro. "Then I look them white man he wait +for somebody sitting with a pistol outside him tent. I lib for behind a +cottonwood, where he not done see me. Bimeby, two leopard come soffly, +soffly, and stand up when he see them. The white man light a lamp before +him say: 'Why you done play them fool trick with me?'" + +"You were too frightened to crawl away?" Maxwell asked; and though the +negro evidently trembled at the mere recollection, he answered boldly: + +"I be missionary boy, and savvy all them JuJu palaver humbug, sah. One +leopard done throw off him skin and sit down by the tent. I know him for +the man with the mark on him. 'How much you want for let me lib for your +country and come back again,' the white man say, and they all talk +plenty. Then the white man say: 'I leave them cloth and bead and gun in +the bush, and when I lib for come back safe you get two time as much, +but you see them other white men done get lost or sick too much in your +country.' Rideau talk more plenty, and them leopard go away. I not know +how. I see him one lil' minute, then there be no more leopard, sah. I +lib for say nothing. Suppose Rideau guess I look him he shoot me, sah. +The Lord he give me sense too much." + +"Rideau is a capable rascal and this explains a good deal," said +Maxwell, when he had handed the cripple over to the Krooboy cook. "The +man with the scarred forehead is clearly an influence among the +Leopards. Otherwise Rideau might never have overtaken us. His prudence +in promising to double the toll demanded on his safe return strikes me +as highly commendable; and one can only presume that, seeing us +successful in spite of his efforts, he determined to cast his lot in +with us for a time." + +Dane's answer was fierce and emphatic; and Maxwell smiled. + +"Over-confidence is a weakness of yours, Hilton. Now it is no doubt +flattering to one's pride to disdain petty suspicions and precautions; +but having done so, isn't it illogical to grow feverishly indignant when +you are victimized?" + +"You need not waste time in moralizing. It is much more necessary to +discover why Rideau cleared out in a hurry, and what he is doing now." + +"I don't know, but it will be high time to move when we do. Meanwhile, +we can only wait. It will become apparent presently." + +Dane left him, and went back to his task, stolidly determined that he +would have a reckoning with M. Victor Rideau before he sailed from +Africa. Hilton Dane, though by no means a fool, possessed neither his +comrade's power of deduction nor his insight into the weakness of human +nature; but he was, nevertheless, likely to prove an even more dangerous +enemy when his natural generosity, being abused, had changed into +vindictiveness. It is generally well to avoid the righteous indignation +of the good-humored man when his patience is exhausted; and Dane's +patience was not of the longest. + +The time dragged slowly by until, when those the plague had spared were +well on the way to recovery, chance supplied the partners with the final +clue. A man swathed in ragged cotton and of comparatively light color +halted one morning to beg a little food at their camp, and Maxwell grew +eager when he found that Amadu could understand him. Headman Shaillu's +villages had been stricken by the plague, he said, and that ruler, +either to avoid contagion or to prevent the spread of disaffection among +his people, had marched them out on a campaign against his northern +neighbors. He had been badly beaten, and the tribesmen had summoned +every petty chieftain who had suffered by his depredations to join them +in retaliating. They would probably wait until the rains were over, the +stranger said, though this was not certain; but once they started, they +would spare nothing on their march; and as their priests had a special +animus against white men, he considered they would certainly storm the +camp. + +It was dark when Dane and Maxwell held their final conference, and they +sat moodily silent a while before either spoke. The sufferings and +hardships undergone had left their mark on them; it is possible that +Maxwell's British acquaintances might scarcely have recognized him, as +he sat huddled, as it were, together under the smoky lamp. Even his +ironical humor had deserted him along with every personal characteristic +save the courage and certain racial instincts that were ineradicable. +Dane was reminded of an ancient portrait in Culmeny as he watched him. +The old moss-trooper had looked much the same--lean and dour and grim; +and the observer could recognize the same baleful light in his wolfish +eyes. It was not an unnatural reversion, for the customs of modern +Africa are not greatly different from those of Britain in bygone days. + +It was hotter than ever, and a darkness that could be felt hung over the +tent. + +"We have had several of these talks, Hilton, but never one half so +important as that before us now," said Maxwell at length. "Rideau's +whole intentions are clear at last. He learned what was threatening long +before we did, and profited by the sickness as an excuse for escaping +and leaving us to our fate. The gold? Please wait until I have +concluded. These tribesmen are mere predatory nomads, with no knowledge +of mining, and after burning every village they come across they will +vanish into the bush again. Therefore, our partner clearly expects that +if the pestilence fails to remove us the spearmen will; and he no doubt +hopes to return when there is peace again, and clean out this river +without our assistance." + +Dane smote the camp table hard with his fist, and was sullenly pleased +to see that he had not lost all his strength, for one of the thin boards +split. + +"Then I solemnly pledge myself to carry out the second portion of our +compact. The vile, treacherous scoundrel shall not escape if I live," he +declared. + +Maxwell raised his hand, but there was an ominous light in his eyes as +they met those of his companion. + +"That may come later; but in the first place the severely practical +aspect of this affair requires to be dealt with. To begin, less than +half our men are, even yet, capable of steady marching, and our numbers +would be quite insufficient to convoy those too weak to walk safely +through a hostile country. Therefore we have to choose between two +evils. The first possible course would be to leave all the sick and +weakly, and striking due south, not by the way we came, endeavor to +reach the coast with what gold we have won. We could return when it +appeared safe to do so. I put it before you, without expressing my own +opinion, dispassionately." + +Dane did not falter, but he remembered that in all probability there was +gold enough in the river to enable him to market his patent with at +least a hope of success, and this implied a prospect of winning Lilian. +Of late his hopes that he would eventually do so had grown steadily +stronger; and during many a lonely watch, when he recalled her delicate +beauty, the longing for her had almost mastered him. As Maxwell had +pointed out, one way to realize his ambitions was still open; but Dane +knew that he could not go home with the blood of the men who had trusted +him upon his hands. + +"That course is impossible!" he said hoarsely. + +"Yes," agreed Maxwell with impressive quietness. "We have, it is said, +outgrown superstition, but I can't help thinking misfortune would follow +the money we made that way. They have done their best for us, poor +devils. Therefore, we come to the second alternative. This camp could be +further stockaded into a very strong position, and you or I must hold +it against all comers. While one of us does so, the other, with a couple +of picked men, will strike straight for the coast, catch the first +mailboat, and, if he can't persuade an agent to believe and finance him +by the sight of a few ounces of gold, cable home for a credit to be +opened by telegraph on some big trading firm. My bankers should manage +that. Then he will return with a strong expedition. Speed affords the +one chance for success, for if Rideau heard of the attempt, he and the +Leopards would frustrate it; and both are doubtless watchful; but two or +three men traveling night and day might escape observation. They must +start unburdened, with just sufficient food, abandoning all idea of +carrying treasure. The one question is, who is to go?" + +Dane was conscious of a grim satisfaction. Everything pointed to him as +the one to stay, and he had no desire to return home with nothing more +than expectations; while, harassed as he had been by many enemies, +deserted, and betrayed, the prospect of trying conclusions with an open +foe came as a relief to him. + +"You have the money, and brains, Carsluith, and you must go," he said. +"I have the brute strength, and, I think, to-night some of its ferocity. +I can promise that all the savages in Africa shall not turn me out of +this camp. Neither would I be sorry if they attempted it." + +As Maxwell turned toward him the smoldering fire was plainer in his eye. + +"Are you not forgetting that other men are born with the same passions? +Break that twig into unequal lengths, shut your eyes, and draw. The man +who picks the longest stays." + +They were equal at the second draw, and Dane grew feverishly anxious as +he thrust in his hand again. Then he threw the twig on the table +triumphantly. + +"It points to me," he said. + +"So be it," Maxwell answered quietly. "Then we will get ready two loads +of provisions. I start at sunrise to-morrow, taking Amadu and one other +man with me." + +The night was far spent before the preparations were finished and they +lay down to sleep; and Maxwell was dressed and equipped when his comrade +awakened. + +"I could not bring myself to disturb you earlier," he said, when Dane +glanced at him reproachfully. "We will eat a morsel of breakfast, and +then I will start." + +Dane could swallow nothing, but Maxwell ate a little, though he seemed +to force his appetite. Then they walked silently together as far as the +stockade gate, where Maxwell turned and held out his hand. + +"God knows whether I will reach the coast. This gold, with whatever you +can add to it, is yours if I fail," he said. "If I live I will come back +and join you should I come alone!" + +"Whether you come late or early you will find me or my bones here," Dane +answered huskily, for there was a painful contraction in his throat. + +Their hands met in a strenuous grasp, and with a hoarse "Good luck!" +following him, Maxwell strode out through the gate. Dane watched him +descend the slope to the river, while all the camp boys capable of +motion clustered about the one who stayed, and Monday squatted at his +feet. They were all very silent until a murmur went up as the white man, +halting on the edge of the forest, turned toward them. He raised his +shapeless sun-hat high above his head, answering Dane's salute; and long +afterward the latter sighed each time that lonely figure rose out of the +blurred memories. + +A horrible sense of loneliness oppressed the man left behind, and there +came upon him an irrepressible desire for speech. + +"He has gone, Monday," he said, patting the naked shoulder of the big +dark-skinned alien, who looked up at him sympathetically; "but if he +lives he will certainly come back; and you and I in the meantime are +going to keep his place warm for him. You don't understand? Well, you +probably will when several hundred yelling devils come round this way at +midnight wanting to get in. Still, I don't think we'll make a bad show +between us, even then." + +The dusky man caught a glimpse of his meaning, for he grinned and nodded +when Dane continued: + +"You don't feel quite sure what I'm saying yet. I don't care, so long as +you sit up and listen patiently. I'm feeling very low and lonely this +morning, Monday." + +The listener appeared to consider, and then rose upright, saying +solemnly: + +"Cappy Maxwell, say we lib for this place, then we dam well lib. Cappy +Maxwell fine white man too much. Suppose them low bushmen come we dam +well go chop him." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE BOARDING OF THE KABUNDA + + +It was a hot and steamy night when trader Redmond sat with his comrade +Gilby in an upper room of their factory perched above a beach swept by +smoking surf, which was even heavier than usual that night. The factory +was not a desirable residence, even for West Africa, where there are not +many places where a fastidious white man would care to live; but neither +Redmond nor his comrade was particular, and so long as they could make a +good percentage on the factory's turnover, they disregarded the dirt, +smells, and insect legions. Redmond was pale and round-shouldered; Gilby +lank and tall; and their speech was usually vivid and their tempers +quick. + +Redmond strolled toward the window and swore at the surf. He had some +justification, for the whole heave of the southern ocean hurled itself +thundering upon the hammered beach. The factory windows rattled as each +breaker dissolved into long sheets of foam which surged far up the +trembling sand, while the steamy haze of spray veiled almost to its +summit the lofty bluff behind the edifice. + +"No use lighting the signal fire. There's not a surf-boat on the coast +could run a load of produce through. The _Kabunda_ can either blow her +whistle off or go on again," he said. "It's even too bad to venture off +light, and screw an odd bottle of liquor out of her purser." + +"It always is when the markets are rising and we have cargo waiting," +grumbled Gilby. "As to the liquor, you can go yourself if you want it. +I'm not over-keen on playing that game with the _Kabunda_'s new factotum +again. It takes a good deal to stir me, but that man has no sense of +humor, and was positively insulting. 'No cargo in your confounded boat?' +growls he. 'Well, the next time you stop this mailboat just because +you're thirsty, we'll heave you over the rail!'" + +Redmond chuckled dryly. The steamboat officials who ply along that coast +have a good deal to ruffle them; and it is exasperating for the master +of a steamer, attracted by flag or fire signal, to anchor off a +dangerous beach expecting several boat-loads of cargo at least, and then +discover that the shipper desires only a piece of ice or gratis liquor. + +"Better wait for the old _Luala_. She's the canteen ship. Still, we'll +sit up until we hear the _Kabunda_'s whistle. It sounds homelike," he +said. + +Gilby nodded approval, for the coast-hunting steamers were the only link +connecting the two lonely men with civilization, and there were times +when they acquired a childish fear of losing all touch with it. + +Redmond sat smoking in silence, while Gilby listlessly turned over an +old English newspaper, and huge brown cockroaches crawled up and down +the mildewed walls. + +"Hallo!" Redmond exclaimed suddenly. "There's a man with boots on +crossing the compound. Who, by all that's wonderful, can it be?" + +"The Frenchman from Swamp Creek, looking for drinks," suggested Gilby. + +"Guyot's dying of fever this time, sure, his nigger said. There's no +other white man within marching distance; but whoever it is is coming up +the stairs!" + +Projected against the darkness outside, a strange, bedraggled figure +stood in the door. The man's hair was wet and long, the half-closed eyes +beneath it glittered feverishly, and the bones of the haggard face +showed through the pallid skin. Thorn-rent rags barely decently covered +the bony limbs beneath them, and the mire of many a league of swamp +clung about him to the knees. Behind loomed the figure of a negro +leaning on a rifle. + +Moving unevenly, the stranger advanced into the room, and Redmond +positively recoiled before him. + +"Who in the name of perdition are you, and where do you come from?" he +gasped. + +The newcomer, instead of answering the question, caught at the table as +he asked another: + +"What day of the month is this, and have they changed the homeward +mailboat's time bill?" + +"The tenth, and the _Kabunda_ should pass to-night," said Gilby, staring +blankly at him. + +"Thank heaven!" was the response. "I am just in time! You ought to know +me. I am Maxwell, and have been prospecting for Niven's gold beyond the +Leopards' country." + +"Good Lord!" broke from Redmond. "Stir round, Gilby, instead of gaping +there! Fetch out some whisky, and kick up the steward boy! Can't you see +there's a white man starving? Sit down before you fall over, Mr. +Maxwell." + +Maxwell gulped down a draught of the spirit forced upon him, and sank +into the chair his host dragged forward, while there was a crash and a +howl on the veranda where Gilby fell over the sleeping steward boy. + +"He means well, but can't help having been born clumsy," said the trader +apologetically. "Lie right back there, and don't talk until you've +eaten. Oh, I see--brought a nigger with you. Tell the cook to stuff the +black man, Gilby." + +When food was set before him, Maxwell ate ravenously; then leaning +forward in his chair, he looked at his hosts. + +"I must thank you for your kindness, and ask another favor," he said. +"It is of vital consequence that I should catch the _Kabunda_ to-night. +I will pay up to twenty pounds for a passage off to her." + +The pair stared at him, and there was a sceptical smile on Gilby's lips. +It was clear that he doubted the ragged adventurer's ability to redeem +his promise. + +"It can't be done," declared Redmond. "Our surf-boat has a plank badly +split; and if she hadn't there's not a man on all this coast could run +you off to-night." + +"Nevertheless, if you will listen a few minutes, and treat what I tell +you in strict confidence, I think one of you will," said Maxwell, +determining to trust them in part. + +As he told the story, the incredulous smile faded from the faces of his +listeners. + +"You can understand the necessity for my desperate hurry now," he +concluded. "My partner is left alone, save for a handful of sickly +niggers, with the bushmen coming down, and his life may depend upon my +catching that steamer. I will leave this packet of gold dust, which I +had intended to use for traveling expenses, as the price of my passage." + +Redmond opened the leather bag tendered him, and Gilby dropped acid upon +part of its contents. Then there was silence, until Redmond spoke with a +naive directness which called up the faintest flicker of amusement into +Maxwell's eyes. + +"It is quite genuine, and we believe you. Rideau's a hard case, and we'd +stake a good deal to get even with him after a certain game he played +us; but our folks at home are so confoundedly particular, and you +wouldn't find an agent on the coast willing to speculate in mines beyond +Shaillu's country. You see, if you let us in, the auditors would set off +the sum against our salary. Steady; I haven't quite finished yet. We're +not fastidious, either of us, but we haven't come down to screwing money +out of a countryman's necessity; so we're open to do the best we can for +you. Now take back your gold, and be hanged to you!" + +"My sentiments, too!" nodded Gilby. "Redmond can talk sensibly when he +likes. It looks uncommonly like suicide, but as my place down under +can't be much worse than this one, I'm open to chance drowning with you. +I'll go out, and fill my boat boys up with trade gin now. They're +tolerably daring beggars, but they'd never face it sober." + +An hour later Maxwell and the two traders stood upon the roaring beach +amidst a crowd of black men. Steamy spray whirled about them, and veiled +half the palm-crowned bluff from whose summit a crimson flame leaped up; +and each time the white haze thinned, two lights reeled wildly through +the blackness out at sea. Between these and the beach a succession of +great rollers reared their crests of phosphorescent flame, and the hoot +of the steamer's whistle was but faintly audible through the roar they +made. A picked crew of brawny negroes chattered about the big surf-boat +they held upright on rollers just clear of the surges which raced up the +sand. + +"It does not look nice. In fact, I've seldom seen it worse, but we'll +take our chances when those big ones have run in," said Gilby. "Get into +the boat Maxwell, and take care when the rest of us follow in a hurry +that we don't fall over you. Hyah you Krooboy, all be fit and ready!" + +Huge breakers usually run in series, and when the last of the larger +ones had crumbled with a thunderous roar, burying the half-mile sweep of +sand in foam from end to end, there was a heaving of muscular shoulders, +and clamorous black men floundered waist-deep through the backwash +dragging at the boat. She was large and heavy, but thirty pairs of +strong hands made light work, and when a dozen amphibious Kroos had +swung themselves on board the rest toiled almost shoulder-deep in +hissing froth while the sand streamed seaward under them. The craft's +stern alone stuck fast, and Redmond shouted himself breathless as he +braced his shoulders beneath her quarter, knowing that unless they could +drive her clear boat and crew would be rolled over together when the +next sea came in. + +"Shove, you black imps, shove before them sharks go chop you!" he cried. + +They made a last effort, the boat slid clear. Twelve three-tongued +paddles smote the water together, and Redmond watched the craft rise +almost upright with bows buried in froth and seafire as another +majestic breaker came rolling in. Then he turned and raced shoreward for +his life, with an acre of foam close behind him. When he halted again +the surf-boat had vanished into the hollow of the sea, but the howling +of those who paddled her, and the helmsman's sulphurous encouragement, +rising above the roar of waters, betokened her safety. + +"Gilby's no fool in a surf-boat, anyway," he mused, as he went back +dripping to the factory. + +Another hour had passed when the boat was flung upon the beach with a +crash which rent her damaged plank from end to end; and the soaked white +man who sprang out of her hurried to the factory with his proud display +of two bottles of claret, and one, partly-empty, of liqueur, besides a +piece of ice in flannel, and a cigar box. + +"The time was too short, or I might have done better," he explained. +"Had only a few minutes to tax the skipper and mates in, while the old +man wasn't over-pleased about stopping for one passenger. Boat was +half-full when we got alongside, and Maxwell too weak to climb the +ladder. They hove him on board with the crane, wrong side uppermost, and +half-dazed apparently. The boat was plunging wildly, and Sorrowful Tom +too drunk to fix the sling. Taking things all around, it's a mercy we +didn't drown him." + +"You're a good man in a boat," Redmond conceded. "Still, you have very +little sense. Fancy making a run of that kind and coming ashore +with--claret!" + + * * * * * + +While Dane and Maxwell fought the plague in Africa, Lilian Chatterton +and the young clergyman in charge of that parish walked side by side +down the street of a village in North Britain one afternoon. The village +was neither picturesque nor prosperous just then, for there was a +scarcity of work at the quarries, and for weeks together hard frost had +rendered all stone-cutting impossible. A bitter wind sighed about the +low stone houses which rose dripping in unlovely simplicity from the +muddy street, while an air of stolid, uncomplaining poverty was stamped +upon the faces of the men who lounged idly where they could find a +shelter in the lee of a building. Miss Chatterton had not enjoyed good +health that winter, and the surroundings depressed her. Neither did she +find the vista of bleak hillside, snow-streaked moor, and lowering sky +much more cheerful, and she was glad when her companion broke the +silence. + +"It is not exhilarating weather, and this has been a hard winter for the +poor," he said. "Unfortunately, we have had rather more of them than +usual with us of late, and the sick would have suffered considerably if +it had not been for your kindness." + +"I have done little," Lilian replied; "but they are somewhat hard to +help." + +The Reverend Andrew Rae laughed. + +"That is the simple truth. We are not an effusive race, and it sometimes +hurts us to receive a favor. Still, though they would rather perish than +express it, I fancy most of them would on opportunity prove their +gratitude. I have been wondering if the worthy Robert Johnstone's +opinions have been too much for you, having noticed that his house, or +rather, his son's house, is the only one in the village you have not +entered. It surprised me, since his daughter used to sew for you, and +has been ailing lately." + +"It is some time since Mary Johnstone did any work for me," said Lilian, +and the clergyman wondered at the coldness of her tone. + +"She is a very hard-working girl, and as she has been lying helpless for +several weeks, would it not appear unkind if you made her the one +exception? I want you to come in with me now." + +Drawing the girl's arm lightly through his own, he marched her up to the +doorway before she quite grasped his intentions, and halted in front of +the man who lounged there regarding them with undisguised hostility. He +was not an attractive person, and did not look like an abstainer from +alcoholic liquor, but just then he was evidently in the more aggressive +humor because, for the time being, he was wholly sober. + +"We are coming in for a few minutes to see your daughter," announced +Rae. + +The man did not move an inch, and his person barred the entrance. + +"Will ye no wait until ye are invitit?" he inquired sardonically. +"Still, if there is anything good in yon basket ye can leave it with +me." + +A grimy hand descended into the basket Rae carried and reappeared +clutching the neck of a bottle, while a derisive grin suffused the +speaker's unwashed countenance. + +"I'm thinking I'll just keep it with thanks. It's whiles more comforting +than tracts." + +The Reverend Andrew Rae had perhaps studied more than theology at a +certain university, for there was a twinkle in his eyes as he laid one +hand on Johnstone's wrist. + +"Not so fast!" he said. "That is Miss Chatterton's property, and I did +not hear you ask her permission." + +He used no apparent violence, but his fingers tightened steadily, and +Johnstone gasped with astonishment as he relinquished his hold upon the +bottle. + +"Am I to be insulted in my own house?" he cried. "Away with ye! A free +man's dwelling is his castle." + +"Havers!" exclaimed a voice behind them; and a neatly dressed young man +joined the group. "If it's anybody's castle it's the man's who pays the +rent, and that's more than Rab Johnstone has done for long, I'm +thinking. If ye an' Miss Chatterton are for stepping in to see Mary we'd +take it kindly, sir." + +Johnstone senior slouched away down the street, frowning scornfully. + +"I am glad to see you have prospered since you took to honest ways, +Jim," Rae said. + +"It's small thanks to any one but Mr. Dane. He was no too particular to +help a poor man, ye see." + +"Was that it?" asked Rae, a trifle awkwardly. "You are surely not +turning back, Miss Chatterton!" + +Lilian was certainly about to retreat; but being a young woman of +spirit, she determined to make the best of it when the man, opening +another door, announced: + +"Miss Chatterton an' the minister to see ye, Mary." + +She entered the poorly furnished room the next moment, but saw nothing +of its interior, for her eyes were fixed upon the sick girl, who lay on +a dilapidated sofa. Rae noticed the contrast between his companion and +the seamstress. Miss Chatterton was a very dainty figure in costly furs, +and the slight trace of haughtiness became her. The seamstress was pale, +and hollow in face, with the sign of poverty stamped upon her, for the +faded shawl about her shoulders and the little ragged garment told the +same story. + +Rae soon became conscious that there was a latent hostility between the +women, and he felt it incumbent on him to break the silence. + +"I am glad to see you better," he said; "but you should not work too +soon. You must lie still and recover completely, because there are a +number of customers waiting for you. Mrs. Gordon told me she was keeping +quite a large order back until you were fit to undertake it." + +Lilian had been present when, by dint of dogged persistence, the +reverend gentleman had secured a reluctant promise to employ his +protegee, and she wondered whether all his sex, without exception, could +be deluded by a pretty face. She was forced to admit that men of +uncultivated taste might consider Miss Johnstone pretty. + +"Poor folk cannot afford to be idle long, an' my wee sisters cannot go +ragged," replied the sick girl. "Still, I'm no complaining. Jim has +helped me bravely, and we're winning through a hard winter well, thanks +to the gentleman who befriended him." + +Rae observed that the speaker flashed a glance at Miss Chatterton, whose +face remained icily indifferent. Feeling that the situation was becoming +strained, he turned toward the boy. + +"Being away at the time, I never quite got to the bottom of what +preceded your acquittal. Do you mind telling me, Jim?" + +"It's no great secret, an' all to the credit of the man who helped me. +Weel, I was locked up, charged with poaching and wounding." + +"Innocently, I hope," said Rae; and there was a trace of Caledonian +dryness in Johnstone's reply. + +"Ye will mind the saying about speiring no questions and being telt less +lies. Meanwhile two or three others consultit with Lawyer Davidson, and +he said conviction would be certain if Mr. Dane could swear to me. +Otherwise, he suspectit I would go free. Then Mary would see Mr. Dane +for the sake of the bairns. I was sore against it, but they had me +jailed, an' what could I do? Well, she wrote asking him to meet her by +the Hallows Brig, and Mr. Dane e'en promised to do his best for me, an' +tell nobody. May be he could no be quite certain. Ye will mind there was +no moon just then, and the night was thick, Mr. Rae." + +"I have heard that no man is expected to testify against himself," said +the reverend gentleman dryly. + +"That's what Davidson telt the fiscal," continued Johnstone, with a +laugh. "Says he, 'It's the business o' your witnesses to convict him'; +an' I'm no denying that they did their best, all but Mr. Dane. He just +stuck to his story--it was dark, an' while the man he grappled with was +like to me, he could swear to nobody who had just kicked him hard upon +the knee." + +Johnstone added further details, and then looked hard at the clergyman, +as though expecting him to take up the challenge when he concluded, "May +be there are folks who lightly Mr. Dane for what he done, but it was him +an' no other who made an honest man of me, forby a promotit foreman home +on a holiday." + +"I am not a lawyer," said Rae. "It is therefore not my business to judge +him; and you need not stare at me. I already believed Mr. Dane to be a +kindly gentleman. I am also open to admit that he did more than either +I or my predecessor could accomplish. We are not, however, all friends +of big contractors, you see." + +Johnstone grinned in answer to the last thrust, while Lilian felt +thankful that she sat in a shadowy corner, for the simple story which +bore the truth stamped upon the face of it, had stirred her strangely. +The action narrated was characteristic of the man who was risking his +life in Africa. She knew that he was very generous, and could be loyal +to a pledge, even to his disadvantage. It was equally evident that the +young workman with his unconcealed dislike to his benefactor's class +would be very unlikely to shut his eyes to any intrigue between Dane and +his sister. Yet, though Lilian was angry with herself for the thought, +it was possible that the brother might have been deceived, and she felt +that she must learn the truth. The seamstress said nothing, and it +dawned upon Rae that his presence was superfluous; so, making the first +excuse available, he took his departure, and Johnstone with him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ILLUMINATION + + +When the two men went out Miss Chatterton discovered that she had +undertaken a very difficult task. The seamstress lay still looking at +her, evidently expectant, but saying nothing. She, it appeared, felt +herself mistress of the position. Lilian felt that the silence was +growing painful, and determined to attack the subject boldly. + +"Mr. Dane has clearly been a good friend to your brother, but may I ask +whether that evening at the Hallows Bridge was the only time you spoke +to him?" + +A flush crept into the sick girl's cheeks, and a hardness into her eyes. + +"I was expecting ye would ask me. What would ye say if I did not +answer?" + +"Probably nothing," returned Lilian, quietly. "Mr. Dane is, as we know, +somewhat impulsive, as well as generous. Why do you tell me that you +expected such a question?" + +Mary Johnstone painfully raised herself on one elbow. + +"Ye are a grand lady, but hard, I think, as some folk would call ye +bonny. I am a poor sewing woman with the need to strive hard, an' +always, to keep hunger from the door--but in the hearts of us there is +no that difference between you an' me. No--bide ye and listen." + +Lilian had risen, but she sat down again. Something in the girl's voice +and manner compelled her attention, for the seamstress spoke as equal +to equal on the basis of their common humanity. + +"I owe ye little, Miss Chatterton. What ye paid, I earned, an' some of +it hardly, but when ye bade me come no more to The Larches, with no +other word, there was many an ill tongue to cast dirt at me, forby lying +tales that ye found things of value missing." + +"I never suspected that would happen," said Lilian, a little uneasily. + +"How should ye?" continued the seamstress. "But ye could not blame the +slanderers, being quick yourself to think evil. May be ye did not know, +either, that my good name means work and bread to more than me? So, if +there was no other person interested, I would ask--how dare ye, thinking +what ye think, come here and ask me that question?" + +Lilian was contrite, realizing the harm she had unwittingly done, and +recognizing the genuine ring of injured innocence in the speaker's +voice. She was also slightly angry, as well as astonished, but she was +sufficiently just to see that it would not become her to manifest +displeasure. + +"I did wrong, but how do you know what I thought, or if I thought +anything at all?" she asked. "You have also avoided the question instead +of answering me." + +"What did I tell ye at the beginning?" said the sick girl with a curious +smile. "Being poor, am I less a woman? Well, and not for your sake only, +ye shall have the answer that should pleasure ye. That night at Hallows +Brig was the one time only Mr. Dane had word with me. Are ye believing +me?" + +Lilian failed to understand why she should feel so relieved by the +information, but she certainly did. She also felt humbled; and as it +was not her way to do anything by half, she made reparation with a +queenly simplicity. Stooping over the sick girl, she kissed her on the +cheek. + +"After that you cannot refuse to forgive me, and must come back and help +me as soon as you are fit," she said. "But I do not understand yet what +you meant when you said it was not for my sake only." + +The sick girl at first only regarded her with a smile, but it sufficed +to show Lilian that peace was made. + +"If ye cannot guess, I fear I cannot tell ye," she said. "I have eyes +and the sense to see, but it would be presumption for me to tell ye all +they showed me. Still, ye and Mr. Maxwell were not the only persons I +saw that night at the Hallows Brig." + +Lilian asked no further questions, but when she left there was a +brightness in her eyes which had not been there before. + +"Mary Johnstone has clearly bewitched you," the clergyman remarked. +"Your very step is lighter than it was an hour ago, and you are looking +better than you have done all winter. Would it be indiscreet to ask what +spell she cast upon you?" + +"I am afraid it would," Lilian answered, while a softness crept into her +face. She laughed, and henceforward chatted so brightly that when she +left him her companion looked after her longingly, and then sighed as he +turned back to his bachelor quarters. They struck him as very cheerless +and lonely. + +A week had passed when Miss Chatterton, sitting alone, listlessly took +up a newspaper a maid brought in. The listlessness vanished, however, +when a heading, "Further Fighting in the Dark Continent," caught her +eye, and she eagerly hurried through an account of the reverses suffered +by a British punitive expedition in West Africa. Then, while her heart +beat fast, she sat very still, staring at the concluding paragraph: + + A French trader brought news to the coast of another + unfortunate affair in the hinterland. It appears that + two Englishmen, Dane and Maxwell, who left the coast + months earlier, on a prospecting expedition, lost + their carriers by sickness, and have since been hemmed + in by hostile natives in a perilous position. Our + correspondent states that the French authorities, who + warned them against the expedition, consider their + extrication impossible, and believe they must have + perished already. + +Lilian let the paper fall from her nerveless hands, and lay motionless, +shivering in her chair. The shock of a supposed discovery, and a +jealousy she would not own, had played their part in forcing on her +attention a question she had resolutely striven to ignore, while now, +when it was perhaps too late forever, the answer was clear. She could +deceive herself no longer; and she guessed why the man had risked his +life to win a little gold in Africa. Risked it--at the thought her eyes +grew hazy. It might well be that he had flung his life away! Yet, even +then, it was with a passing thrill of pride that she remembered the +stubbornness beneath his patience, and knew that it would go very hard +with his enemies before he went down. + +Hilton Dane had changed swiftly in her estimation from a man with a +weakness to a hero, generous, loyal, swift to do her pleasure, and yet +fitted to command. It seemed to her overstrained fancy that she could +almost hear his voice ringing through the blast of the rifles in the +last struggle; and that it would be a very grim and terrible struggle +she knew. Then she shuddered once more, recollecting what she had read +of the scenes within an African stockade when the rifles lay cold in the +undergrowth, and the smoke of the flintlocks had melted away. + +The sense of constraint inside grew unbearable, and the girl went forth +into the night, and stood bareheaded, staring into the darkness, hoping, +though almost afraid to hope, that the man she had sent away had not +passed forever beyond her power to recall him. + +Chatterton and his wife, returning presently, found her waiting in the +hall; and the iron-master's action was characteristic when he had +glanced at the paper she handed him. Wrenching out his notebook he wrote +on the first blank leaf the address of a firm dealing in palm oil in +Liverpool, and then a message beneath it: + +"_See newspaper report of disaster to West Coast explorers, Dane and +Maxwell. Wire your agents to find out how much is true, and all possible +details. Spare no expense whatever._" + +He flung the paper to the groom outside. + +"Get that telegram sent off before the post-office closes, if you kill +the horse!" he said. + +There was a rattle of wheels, and Chatterton laughed a grim laugh as he +turned toward the women. + +"No great cause for anxiety as yet. I know Hilton Dane better than +either of you, and I think I know Maxwell too. It would take several +legions of niggers to hem them in--and I should be sorry for many of the +black men." + +A few days later, Thomas Chatterton sat beside his hearth one evening in +an unpleasant frame of mind. The weather might have caused a more even +tempered person some discontent, because the windows rattled under the +impact of the sleet-laden blast, and the snugly curtained room was swept +by chilling draughts. But Chatterton was not considering the weather; he +glanced at the clock before he turned toward the owner of Culmeny. + +"That lazy rascal is stopping somewhere to gossip on the way," he said. + +"The telegraph office is closed now, and he must be here shortly," +replied Maxwell. "I was sorry to hear that Miss Chatterton was no +better. Have you any more favorable news to give me?" + +"No. She is rather worse than better, and we are distinctly uneasy about +her to-night," he said. "Dr. Gilmour was here an hour ago, looking +rather more owl-like than usual, but I could get no opinion out of him. +In fact, the man puzzled me. He appeared dazed, and either would not +listen to my questions or was incapable of understanding plain English." + +"Dazed? You do not as a rule speak ambiguously. If Miss Chatterton is +seriously ill I think it is my duty to tell you what you evidently do +not know, though it is no secret. Gilmour is not free from a weakness +for alcohol." + +Chatterton was a man of action; making no comment, he wrenched upon the +rope of the bell before he pulled out his watch. + +"Send Robertson here at once!" he ordered; and when his groom appeared, +he asked: + +"Is it possible to ride a horse to Swiftsbridge across the Langside moss +and through the ford in time to bring out the doctor by the last +train?" + +"No, sir," was the answer. "The moor track's under water, the ford just +roaring full, and I'm thinking that to swim the Swift to-night is +impossible." + +"I think he is right," Maxwell said; "though I fancy I could have done +it twenty years ago." + +"Then you can drive!" Chatterton said harshly to the groom. "It's a +little over forty miles there and back by road. Get a fresh horse at the +bridge; but if you value your place don't come back without the doctor!" + +Chatterton walked to the window and flung the curtains behind him; then +he returned with brows contracted farther. + +"The moor is white all over, and the air thick with sleet," he said. "It +will take that fellow all his time to bring the doctor here by +to-morrow." + +A maid, appearing, laid a telegraphic envelope on the table, and +Chatterton tore it open. + +"At last! I always thought the man was incapable. Listen to this! + +"_Difficult to communicate by ocean cable except at heavy cost, but +surmise from message received that our coast agent credits published +account. His cable just received reads, as deciphered by our code: Yes. +Consider prospects discouraging. Do not look for improvement. Think we +could confirm._" + +Chatterton whipped out a pencil and, scribbling across the foot of the +message, handed it to Maxwell. + +"Can you send somebody down to the office with that?" he said. "It can't +go until to-morrow. I want to keep my other man ready." + +"Yes," agreed Maxwell. "There are regulations, Chatterton, which will +bar out your opening sentence, _Damn your private code._ The rest is, I +think, plain enough. _Get news whatever it costs. Wire your agent in +English if he has sense enough to understand it. Believe I am quite able +to meet the bill._" + +"That man," explained Chatterton, "is, I blush to say, a relative of my +own, and given to complaining that times are bad. It surprises me that +he does not find them ruinous, if this is a sample of his enterprise. +I'm almost as much cut up as you are about this affair; and I'm sorry +for you, Maxwell." + +"Thanks," returned the master of Culmeny, quietly. "He was the only son +left me, and I have a presentiment of what the end will be. It is, +however, in the hands of the Almighty; but, if the worst comes, I know +that neither of them will forget what is due to the land that bred him." + +Chatterton coughed huskily. + +"You are morbid, Culmeny. If they can only steer clear of treachery, by +the Lord, those two lads will cut their way out in spite of all the +savages in Africa. I know the one whose father was my partner, and I +know your son. If my own brother told me he had seen them beaten, I +would not believe him." + +Maxwell left, and in a few minutes Mrs. Chatterton came in to say that +Lilian was growing delirious. As they spoke together the iron-master +heard a voice in the hall. + +"It is that confounded Rae," he observed. "It was he who encouraged Lily +to go poking into the houses of poor folks who didn't want her, all +winter. I consider him responsible for her illness, and feel quite +capable of telling him so." + +The clergyman was ushered in, and he had barely stated the purport of +his visit when the elder man cut him short. + +"No. Miss Chatterton will neither sing at your concert, nor distribute +any more coal tickets to encourage professional loafers!" he said. "In +fact she is seriously ill. If you had not been enjoying yourself in +Edinburgh you would have known it. You are sorry! Well, I really cannot +help saying that I think you ought to be. Miss Chatterton has not been +strong all winter, and was warned against damp and exposure; but you +managed to convince her it was her duty to wander up and down the +village, pestering the sick folk, in spite of the rain and snow. Women +have not the sense to discriminate between what is necessary and +sentimental foolishness, you know." + +Rae, who was not readily browbeaten, interrupted the speaker, and though +he expressed no contrition, he showed such genuine anxiety concerning +Miss Chatterton's health that her uncle was surprised, as well as +mollified. It is possible that the clergyman showed his fears too +plainly. + +"Perhaps you could not help it, being possibly afflicted with the crazy +notion that to destroy one's bodily health is good for the soul," he +said. "It is one of the few things which always excites my indignation." + +Rae, who knew that the things which roused the speaker's ire were +numerous, smiled a little. "I certainly have never preached that +doctrine." + +"You must forgive me if I appear abrupt," Chatterton apologized. "The +fact is that when I'm anxious my temper is not so good as it generally +is, and I am very anxious about my niece to-night. When Gilmour came +round, the infernal--yes, that's the adjective I meant--old scoundrel +wasn't even sober. And you remember Dane? Well, he is hemmed in by +hostile savages somewhere in Africa, and we can learn no news of him. My +niece and he were very good friends, and when she grows light-headed she +begs us to tell her what has happened to him. It is distressing because, +of course, we cannot do so." + +Rae winced visibly at the last few sentences, and found a corroboration +of them in the recollection of the change in Miss Chatterton after +hearing Johnstone's story. Still, he pulled out his watch. + +"There is a clever doctor at Swiftsbridge." + +"I believe so," said Chatterton, impatiently. "There are also a number +in London and a few in New York, I've heard. I sent over for the +Swiftsbridge man some time ago; but considering the snow and bad roads, +I don't expect him before to-morrow--and to-morrow may be too late." + +"It is scarcely twelve miles across the moor and moss," said Rae. +"There's a train this way in two hours' time. If you could lend me a +horse----" + +"My man, who ought to know, declares that nobody could get through the +ford to-night. I'm obliged to you, Rae, but what you suggest is out of +the question. The one horse now in my stable has the fiend's own temper, +and I cannot allow you, who cannot have had much experience in the +saddle, to run risks that were too heavy for a very capable horseman." + +"I used to ride a little, and haven't quite forgotten. If, as you +suggest, I am responsible for Miss Chatterton's illness, I must make the +only reparation possible. In fact, I intend to do so; and unless you +will mount me I will borrow a horse at Culmeny. I will not, however +promise to spare the beast." + +"You can drown him if you bring the doctor through by the last train!" +said Chatterton, ringing the bell. "The horse will be ready inside ten +minutes; and I'm greatly obliged to you." + +The time had not elapsed when Rae walked quietly toward the mettlesome +beast, which, resenting the change from its warm stable into the +stinging sleet, laid its ears back, and when Chatterton approached it +bared its teeth. + +"Stand clear of his head!" cautioned Rae, swinging himself to the +saddle; and the horse, rearing half upright, sent the gravel flying. +"No. Leave the gate shut! I'm going the nearest way." + +"I shall not forget this kindness," called Chatterton. "Feel I ought to +stop you, but dare not do it. Take care of yourself--and God bless you!" + +"I hope He will prosper my journey," the younger man answered gravely. + +There was a further scattering of gravel, a pounding of hoofs across a +strip of lawn, and a crash of brittle branches as horse and rider +smashed through a tall hedge into the sleet which whirled across the +meadow beyond it. + +Chatterton, shaking the white flakes from him, returned to his wife. + +"I suppose you saw what has happened," he said. "There's another of them +in the running now, and this one has mettle in him if he is a clergyman. +He's going through Langside moss to-night, though I gave him the +plainest hint I could that in respect to Lilian his chance is of the +smallest. Maxwell, it seems, took his dismissal gracefully; but what +Rae has done to-night will count heavily on his side. Why must that +idiot Hilton go out and get himself cut off by niggers in Africa?" + +Thanks to Rae's daring ride, a skilful doctor arrived at the junction by +the last train, and remained at The Larches all the next day. He also +made a number of other visits before he stated that his patient was +making rapid progress on the way to recovery. + +"You had, however, better take her south, say Egypt or the Canaries, to +escape our genial spring," he said. "Not necessary, but distinctly +advisable. Miss Chatterton might sail almost at any time." + +"We will choose Teneriffe, and start at once," Chatterton informed his +wife. "It is well on the mail route to West Africa, and I'm growing +anxious about Hilton." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +IN NEED OF HELP + + +Mrs. Chatterton had no objections to Teneriffe, and so it came about +that one evening she and her niece, who had almost recovered her usual +health, sat upon a hotel balcony in Santa Cruz, looking down upon the +quaint Spanish city. It had lain basking under fierce sunlight all day, +but now the cool shadow of the giant Canadas rested upon it, and its +olive-faced inhabitants came forth to breathe the freshness from the +Atlantic. Garrison officers and somberly clad merchants with their wives +and daughters, strolled up and down the plaza beneath the balcony, while +laughter and merry voices throbbed through the strains of an artillery +band. Near by, the Atlantic swell pulsed whitely on the lava reefs, and +high above the great black cordillera heaved aloft its jagged pinnacles +against the sunset fires. + +Lilian Chatterton, however, saw little of all this. She was looking out +across the shimmering Atlantic toward the blue peaks of Grand Canary, +beyond which stretched the coast of Africa. A little black-funneled +steamer was creeping across the sea-plain between. + +"That must be the African boat. The flag is going up above the agent's +offices," she said. "She may bring us news. It is a pity that my uncle +is away. He seems distressed about the uncertainty concerning Hilton." + +Perhaps Lilian's tone was less indifferent than she wished, for Mrs. +Chatterton watched her keenly before she answered. + +"It is hardly surprising. Your uncle is a just man, and never forgets a +benefit. As you must have heard, it was an invention of Hilton's father +which first started them, when both were struggling men, on the way to +success; but Dane died, and the widow, who was never cordial toward my +husband, drew her share out of the business against his advice. She died +comparatively poor when Hilton was young, while your uncle, who still +considers he owes his dead partner a moral debt, tried several means of +discharging it by benefiting his son. Hilton, of whom I am very fond, is +not, however, a person one can readily confer favors upon." + +"No," said Lilian, with a trace of coldness in her tone. "You never told +me quite so much before. My uncle is not always quite judicious in the +way he sets about accomplishing his benevolent intentions. But the boat +will soon be in." + +Mrs. Chatterton smiled a little. + +"He will certainly blame us if we allow any opportunity for obtaining +news to escape, and I must find somebody to take a note off to the +purser. You are tired, Lily, and had better remain here while I go +across to the agent's offices." + +Lilian sat leaning back in a basket chair, shrouded from observation by +two tall aloe plants, with her face still turned toward the cost of +Africa. The silver shimmer faded from off the sea, the fires of sunset +died out behind the cordillera, but Mrs. Chatterton did not return, and +her niece waited with hands crossed idly in her lap. It was now some +time since the steamer's anchor had rattled down. Presently, because the +long windows behind her were open, she started at a voice in the +adjoining room. It seemed the voice of one risen from the dead. + +"It is impossible!" she thought. + +"I have no baggage," the voice rose again. "Going on with the +Southampton boat, due to-morrow. Send across to the offices and book a +berth for me." + +Lilian, rising, stood in the open window, and the speaker stared at her +in astonishment. + +"I could hardly believe my eyes, Mr. Maxwell," she exclaimed. + +Maxwell strode out into the balcony, but his surprise, which vanished +quickly, was surpassed by the girl's. His face was worn and hollow, and +in the failing light he looked strangely frail. A great sense of pity +came upon her. + +"You are ill, and I must not keep you standing! Please sit down, because +there is so much I--we all--wish to know," she said, striving to +suppress her eagerness. + +"I have been in the African forest," Maxwell replied simply, as though +that were sufficient explanation. "Thank you, but I would rather lean +against the railing here." + +As he spoke, he drew out the basket chair, and bent his head with a +gesture of invitation, while the girl, noticing the languidness of his +movements, showed her compassion in her eyes. Maxwell saw the pity, and +smiled wistfully; then as Lilian's gaze met his own, she glanced aside a +moment with a sudden trace of color. She remembered their last meeting, +and there was an awkward silence which Maxwell broke. + +"We can at least return to our former status as good friends, can we +not?" he said. "I see you are anxious for my news, and it may be a +painful story; but first I must ask you a question. What fortunate +accident brought you here?" + +"I was unwell and ordered south to escape the spring." Seeing the +anxiety in the man's face, Lilian added quickly, "I have recovered now. +My aunt will be here in a few minutes, but Mr. Chatterton has gone +across the island. An Englishman he met invested some money in a +sugar-mill the Spaniards are reconstructing, and he could not resist the +temptation of joining him. My uncle has a weakness for showing other +people how to manage machinery. It is your turn now, but first, where is +your partner?" + +In spite of Lilian's intention the last question was put with a +sharpness which surprised the listener. + +"He is alive and well, I hope," he answered gravely. "My story will be +longer, but I will try to tell it to you clearly." + +The waltz the band played in the plaza below formed a curious +accompaniment to such a tale. After the first few sentences neither of +them, however, heard the music, and Lilian leaned forward with the color +changing in her intent face as she listened. Maxwell suppressed the most +gruesome details, but the narrative would have been startling to any one +of the girl's upbringing. The thunder of the sunset gun brought it to an +abrupt conclusion, and as the long reverberations rolled among the +hills, Lilian rose suddenly and turned upon the speaker. There was +scorn, as well as horror, in her eyes. + +"And you left him in that pestilence-stricken camp to be murdered by the +tribesmen--you coward!" + +They were equally off their guard, and, for there are occasions when +human nature mocks at all conventional restraint, both had dropped the +mask. When once before they spoke openly it was Maxwell who had laid +bare his heart, and now, though he made a valiant effort, he could not +conceal his astonishment. + +"And I never guessed," he said under his breath. + +So for a few seconds they stood, with inmost thoughts laid open, face to +face. Maxwell, having revealed the less, first recovered himself. + +"I am afraid I have told my story badly, Miss Chatterton," he said. "You +see there was gold enough to excite most men's cupidity lying within our +sight, and that was why we drew lots to determine which should go out +and seek help to secure it. Dane was, for a reason he did not mention, +not only willing, but anxious, to stake his life on the chance of +turning that gold into currency, and the lot fell to me. Being unable to +raise the necessary funds by cable, I am now on my way to England, to +sell my last possessions and pledge whatever in the future may be mine. +Then, if I have to go alone, I am going back into the Leopards' country +to bring my comrade help." + +It is possible that few men under the circumstances would have framed +their answer as Maxwell did; but he was in all things loyal, as his +listener recognized. She was once more mistress of herself, but she did +not look at the man as she answered him. + +"You must forgive me. What you had to tell must have dissipated my poor +senses. It is even more startling than anything I had imagined," she +said. + +"I can hardly forgive myself for telling it so badly," Maxwell answered +gravely. "You had already, I gather, received some news that we were +not exactly prospering. How did it reach you?" + +Lilian mentioned the newspaper paragraph, and Maxwell's face grew dark. + +"It was evidently the work of our enemy, and done to divert suspicion +from himself in case the tribesmen overwhelmed us, as he hoped. It is +another reason for haste, and if you will excuse me I will go on to the +steamship office to make sure of my berth." + +An inspiration dawned upon Lilian. + +"I want you to promise that you will not sail without seeing me again," +she said quickly. + +"It is a conditional promise. While I would do anything to please you, +Miss Chatterton, so much depends on my speed that whatever happens I +must catch the steamer. She will land me in England three days before +the West Coast boat, and is expected early to-morrow." + +He moved away, and Lilian was left alone, plunged in a whirl of +thoughts, with her eyes still turned toward Africa. But as she sat there +one purpose grew into definite shape, and at last she rose sharply, and +set out in search of Mrs. Chatterton, with determination stamped upon +her face. Lilian was shrewd; she saw that Maxwell might well arrive too +late unless she could hasten the starting of the relief expedition. She +found Mrs. Chatterton presently in the bustling plaza, and the elder +lady turned aside from her English companions after a glance at her +niece. The girl came straight toward her with swift, resolute steps. + +"Mr. Maxwell was on board the steamer," she said, with a calmness that +puzzled her aunt. "He has told me all about the expedition, and left +Hilton in deadly peril. Money is needed to extricate him, and Maxwell +is going home to-morrow to obtain it; but I think my uncle would find it +hard to forgive us if we did not let him know immediately. No--we have +no time to waste with these people now. Turn back with me." + +The girl passed the friends who advanced to greet her as though she did +not see them, and by the time they reached the door of the hotel Mrs. +Chatterton realized the need for haste. + +"My husband must certainly know at once, but it is twenty odd miles to +Oratava alone, and several more from there to the sugar-mill," she said. +"The telegraph office is closed, and you say the mailboat should sail +early to-morrow. It is very unfortunate, but what can we do?" + +"There is only one thing possible," declared Lilian. "No one could trust +a Canario with so urgent a message. We must start at once ourselves. We +need not go all the way round by Oratava. There is a bridle-path across +the hills." + +"But you are hardly strong enough for such a journey, and we might not +get a carriage to take us there to-night." + +"The carriage is entering the plaza now," said Lilian. "Can you not see +that if Mr. Maxwell goes to England he may be too late." + +Mrs. Chatterton looked hard at her niece. Lilian's face was very +resolute, but she bore the scrutiny calmly, and the elder lady was not +wholly astonished. + +"I will be ready in five minutes," she said, and Lilian, moved by some +impulse, kissed her swiftly. + +The five minutes had hardly expired when, with the Canario driver +shouting in warning, a two-horse carriage rolled out of the plaza, and +went rattling up the narrow street. Accustomed as they were to the +eccentricities of British visitors, the sleepy citizens stared at its +occupants, when, with unusual agility, they had leaped out of its way, +for the driver stood upright, lashing his horses until they broke into a +headlong gallop, and the crazy vehicle lurched and bounced over the +uneven stones. + +Night had closed in now, and a vault of velvety indigo spangled with +many stars, hung over the long rows of sun-baked walls, which rolled +away behind. A full moon rose slowly over the Atlantic. In front wastes +of scoriae, maize fields, vineyards, rolled upward, ridge beyond ridge, +toward the Titanic wall of lava, nine thousand feet above; but the +climbing road was broad and good, and, if the string-patched harness +held, they might bring Thomas Chatterton news in time. + +Lilian retained but a blurred impression of that part of the journey. +They swept past climbing mule teams, and, sometimes on two wheels only, +swung round many curves. Blinding clouds of dust rolled up, and, driven +forward by the breeze from the Atlantic, whirled about them. There were +odd gleams of light, and a howling of dogs, as white-walled dwellings +swept by, then only the clang of iron on lava, and creaking of the +vehicle to break the silence of the desolate hillside, until the driver +howled again as they clattered into old-world Laguna, just sinking into +early sleep. The carriage lurched over the cobbles, sparks blazed up, +white walls and glimmering lattices raced by, and Lilian glanced at her +watch as, while the lathered team swung into swifter stride upon the +level, Laguna receded into the night. Branches of eucalyptus met above, +the road was checkered with shadow, but it was straight and good, and +the driver evidently meant to win the guerdon promised him. + +It was cool on the higher levels. The fresh night wind stirred the +passengers' blood, and while the stinging whip-cuts roused the horses to +further effort, the eucalyptus gave place to sugar-cane, vineyards, +cork-trees, and, looming black in the moonlight on the bare hill +shoulders, gnarled pines. + +"We have lost no time so far," said Lilian, bending her head over the +moonlit dial of her tiny watch, and almost resenting the attention when +her aunt drew the wrappings closer about her. "Still, it is passing +fast." + +The driver was certainly doing his utmost. He stood upright, for the +most part, shouting as he lashed his horses, for the Castilian is not as +a rule merciful to his beasts, and as the road had been lately mended in +places with broken lava the carriage jolted painfully. Lilian, making no +comment, only held fast the tighter, but once her aunt screamed, and it +was fortunate that, startled by her cry, the man checked his horses. +There was a steep grade before them, and when the beasts broke into a +walk he stopped them altogether, and leaped down from his perch. He +glanced at one of the wheels, then cast his hat into the road and kicked +it several times, shook his fist at the surrounding country, and for +nearly a minute poured forth a torrent of sonorous Castilian. It was +well that neither of the listeners wholly understood him. + +"What is the matter, and what can he be saying?" asked Mrs. Chatterton, +almost appalled by the man's vehemence; and Lilian answered with a +shudder. + +"I am not quite certain, but I fancy that a wheel is coming off." + +"_Lo creo_," interjected the Canario. "_Mal rayo!_ I spik good Ynglez. +This jimcraky wheel, which is made of a lost carpenter, she is come +right off." + +Putting his shoulder against the vehicle he hurled the wheel down +crashing upon the lava, and then flung one arm aloft, with a tragic +gesture. + +"Stop him at once, Lily!" begged Mrs. Chatterton. "The wretched man is +beginning again, and his language positively frightens me!" + +"You mustn't!" said Lilian severely, as the Canario's tongue, which had +apparently been dipped in brimstone unloosed itself again. "Stop +immediately! Instead of all that nonsense, try to think of what you can +do!" + +"I do nothing. No man do nothing. On three wheel this coche she is not +can go." The driver's gesture expressed despair. "We stop here for all +night, _puede ser_ all to-morrow. We stop a here forever." + +"That is absurd," said Lilian sharply. "Is there no blacksmith at +Laguna? Blacksmiths--_hombre de hierro, entiende_? Take one of those +horses out and go for him immediately!" + +"_No possible_, _senorita_. The black-a-smeet he sleep at night," +explained the Canario, hopelessly. + +Lilian stamped one little foot. + +"It is _no possible_ to waken him? _Escucha Vd_, and please try to +comprehend. If I reach the sugar-mill too late you will be paid exactly +what the Alcalde at Oratava says is your due. If I get there in time, +and not otherwise, you will receive what I promised you. Now take out +one of those horses, and I will help you." + +The driver rubbed his forehead, and kicked his hat again. Then he +declaimed a little further; and finally, while Mrs. Chatterton protested +against Lilian's helping him, he proceeded to act upon her suggestion. +The girl struggled with rusty buckle and raw-hide patched with string, +and at last tethered one horse to a branch, while the Canario clattered +off toward Laguna on the other. He had neither saddle nor stirrups, but +that did not matter much to a man of his race. + +The two women were left standing in the middle of the lonely road. + +"I wish we had never come," wailed Mrs. Chatterton. "Mind that horse +does not bite you, Lily." + +"Poor beast," said the girl, stroking the creature's scraggy neck. "He +did his best, and a great deal still depends on him. If that wretched +man does not return soon the waiting will drive me mad." + +Mrs. Chatterton found a seat by the wayside. Lilian paced to and fro, +halting only to listen and gaze down the long dusty road. An hour passed +slowly. Still only the rustle of the sugar-cane and the sighing of dark +branches broke the stillness. There was no light visible; and save for +the horse, the two anxious Englishwomen seemed the only living things +upon the mountain-side. + +"Can you hear nothing, auntie?" the girl asked; but the elder lady heard +only the drowsy gurgle of water in a distant barranco, and the moan of +the breeze. + +"No. There is no sign of any one coming yet; and I am afraid we should +be almost too late if we started now," she said. + +Twice again the girl paced up and down in a fever of impatience, then +stood rigidly still, leaning forward a little, for a faint thudding +sound came out of the shadows. + +"He is coming at last!" + +The man came up at a gallop, with a hammer and a bag of tools, and, +talking volubly, remounted the wheel. Then he lashed his horses +viciously, and they were off, pressing on at a gallop almost to the +divide, where, partly bathed in silver light by the moon, and partly +wrapped in black shadow by the mighty peak, the great horseshoe vale of +Oratava sloped to the Atlantic. Here the driver turned. + +"The brake of this coche is also broke. I have ten children, senoras, +and all very small, and if we must go down at the full speed it will be +one more ten shillings for the risk." + +Mrs. Chatterton, glancing down toward the lights that twinkled +apparently vertically beneath her, and the glimmering plain of the +Atlantic very far below, somewhat naturally hesitated, and was about to +speak, when Lilian thrust a gold coin into the man's brown palm. + +"You shall have more when I come back from Tampena. Only lose no time!" +she urged. + +The driver, who had been deluded on various occasions by British +emigrants bound for the Cape, first prudently bit the coin, then piously +crossed himself, after which he lashed the horses, and the carriage +began the long descent like a run-away locomotive or a thunderbolt, as +Mrs. Chatterton afterward said. The road was good, but it dipped in +zig-zags down the steep hillside, and they went round the bends madly +with two wheels in the air; while twice the elder lady held her breath +as a straggling mule team rushed past. She prayed spasmodically that the +ancient harness might not break. + +The walnuts gave place to fig-trees, the figs in turn to vines, and +still the straining gear held fast, and the bouncing vehicle hung +together behind the lathered beasts. Then the terraced vines were +replaced by maize, and when the broad leaves of bananas raced up, as it +were, to meet them under the moon, the driver, shouting his loudest, +reined his team in outside a little hill posada. + +"Horses and a trusty guide for the sugar-mill!" he roared, beating on +the door. "Here are two mad English senoras with a purse of gold!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MAXWELL'S CONFIDENCE + + +Though the English are not greatly loved in any possessions of Spain, +their gold has the power of rousing even the contemplative Canario out +of his usual lethargy, and when the driver shouted, drowsy men hurried +about the posada. The host had two good mules, and a vine-grower would +be glad to act as guide, but there was, he said, a difficulty. He had +only one saddle fit for a lady and with the deepest respect for the +senora, he feared she was too old to venture over the perilous bridle +paths at that time of night; with which opinion Mrs. Chatterton quite +concurred. Lilian glanced at her aunt, and then toward the bare-legged +peasant, who, with a great blanket rolled about his shoulders, stood, +hat in hand, before her. There was a rude dignity about this +vine-dresser which pleased her, and moving forward she kissed her aunt. + +"You must go on alone to the hotel at Oratava," she said. + +Mrs. Chatterton had long grown accustomed to being ruled by her niece, +and though she protested, she did so feebly. Even while she spoke the +girl put her foot in the hand of the vine-dresser, who lifted her to the +saddle, and then sprang into his own. He swept his battered hat to his +knee with the grace of a courtier as he passed Mrs. Chatterton, and +almost before the elder lady realized what had happened, the two +mounted figures had vanished among the maize. With a sigh and an +inarticulate prayer, she bade the driver proceed to Oratava, as slowly +as he liked. + +Lilian never counted the risks she ran during that ride. The two +strangely-assorted companions soon left the maize behind and rode over +broken lava and scoriae; dipped, sliding and stumbling, into a barranco +filled with impenetrable shadow, out of which the guide had hard work to +drag the horses on the opposite side; and then skirted the dizzy brink +of another vast volcanic fissure in the black hillside. Lilian, looking +down into the depths that yawned beneath her, guessed aright that a slip +would mean destruction, while for once her heart failed her when the +peasant pulled the mules up where the pathway seemed to break off at the +brink. He pointed toward the lights far down in the hollow, saying in +Castilian: + +"That is the mill. The senorita rides well. If she will let the mule +find its own way she may, with the blessing of heaven, come down +safely." + +Lilian, partly comprehending, shuddered for a moment as she glanced into +the great volcanic pit, then, slacking the bridle, laid one hand on the +high peak of the saddle, as with the cinders rattling away beneath them, +they commenced the descent. No beast but a Canary pack-mule trained to +carry wine kegs over the wild hill trails could have come down alive, +and it seemed to be sliding with legs braced stiffly most of the time, +and then picking its way foot by foot down the face of an almost +precipitous descent. Fortunately the darkness hid the worst terrors; +they came down safely, and swept through tall cane on the level toward a +group of dusky buildings, which grew plainer ahead. + +Then the guide shouted, there was a howling of dogs, and Lilian, +dropping stiffly from the saddle, walked into the presence of her uncle +in the Spanish sugar-grower's dwelling. Chatterton, who had been poring +late over some machine drawings, rose abruptly at the sight of her. + +"Good heavens, Lily! Have you flown here?" he cried. "What has happened +girl? Is your aunt ill?" + +"Don't ask questions! Sit still a minute, and listen! My aunt is well +and should be safe in Oratava by now. Mr. Maxwell is in Santa Cruz, and +brings serious news of Hilton." + +Chatterton stiffened to attention as he listened. Then, because he was +above all things a man of action and could let side issues wait, he +asked no questions but patted his niece's shoulder. + +"Well done, my girl. Well done!" he said. "God forbid that my dead +partner's son should perish while I have the power to help him. If it's +money Maxwell needs, he shall have it if there's sufficient in the Bank +of Spain. It is lucky I opened credit to show these blunderers how to +run their mill. You will stay here with the Senora Martin, and rejoin +your aunt to-morrow. I shall start, but not by your road, as soon as +these loafers can get horses ready." + +"I am going with you," Lilian said, quietly. She was very tired; but +with Dane's life at stake, she dare not take any chances. That her uncle +would do his best to reach Maxwell in time, she knew; and yet, if +something should happen on the way! If his horse should slip on those +treacherous lava trails! + +Chatterton saw the pale lips close tightly with a determination that he +never attempted to resist. + +"Very well, Lily," he acquiesced; "but it will be a hard ride." + +In an incredibly short time the horses were ready, and Chatterton and +his niece followed their guide throughout the remaining hours of the +long night. Few words were spoken by either of them as they urged their +horses forward. At dawn they were still riding, Lilian feverishly +anxious, Chatterton grimly determined. + + * * * * * + +A big gray-painted steamer lay rolling in the harbor of Santa Cruz, and +Maxwell stood on the hotel steps impatiently glancing at his watch. He +had given Miss Chatterton his conditional promise that he would await +her return, but he dare not miss the steamer. A feathery column of vapor +roaring aloft from her steam-pipe indicated that all was ready. He had +less than ten minutes to spare, and there was still no sign of Miss +Chatterton. + +"Five more minutes. There's the first bell now!" + +Three of the minutes passed, and Maxwell was hurrying toward the boat, +when somebody shouted his name, and turning, he saw two white-flecked +horses race into the plaza. One kept on to the hotel; almost before the +other stopped, Thomas Chatterton leaped to the ground. + +"You're not going in that boat!" he gasped. "Can't you understand me? +You are going back to the Coast instead!" + +"I'm afraid I can't, sir," Maxwell replied with a puzzled air. "I don't +want to be uncivil, but I dare not waste a moment. I must catch the +steamer." + +"You shan't!" persisted Chatterton, his red face growing purple when +Maxwell shook his hand off his arm. "Confound you! Stop and listen! I +owed Hilton's father more than I can ever repay his son, and Lilian +told me what has befallen him. Well, if it's money you are short of, I'm +not a poor man, and you can have as much as they hold in the bank here +if you want it to rescue your partner. Now, don't let any foolish pride +lead you into manslaughter. I'm doing you no favor, but making a +commercial investment. Call me sleeping partner or anything you like, +but don't throw your comrade's life away." + +Maxwell looked his relief. + +"I am not quite a fool, sir, and dare not refuse. It only remains for me +to express my gratitude." + +"Gratitude be consumed!" said Chatterton, cheerily. "Call it business. +Now we'll order the best breakfast they can serve us in this place, and +you can tell me the whole thing again." + +Two days later when Maxwell boarded a steamer bound for the West Coast, +Chatterton and his niece went on board with him. Lilian was both +relieved and sorry when the iron-master hurried away in search of the +purser to make sure that several bags of silver currency were put in +safe keeping. She had something to say to Maxwell, but the task was +difficult. + +"I shall always take shame upon myself for what I said on the balcony," +she began. "You are a very loyal partner, and I wish you Godspeed." + +The words were simple, but because, during the fateful moments when the +two stood on the balcony, the veil which covered their inmost thoughts +had been drawn aside, they cost Lilian an effort, and meant a good deal. +They sent a curious thrill to the heart of Maxwell. + +"I meant all that I said one other night, and I am ready to prove it," +he said. "Whether I shall ever return or not, I say it solemnly, only +Gods knows; but if I live to reach our camp, I think Hilton Dane will." + +For a moment Lilian's eyes grew hazy, and she looked away from him. +Then, though there was moisture on her lashes, she turned fully toward +her companion, holding out her hand. + +"Heaven send you both back safe! You are a good man, and very generous. +I knew it the evening we passed the Hallows Brig--but----" + +"Destiny arranges these things for us," Maxwell interrupted quietly. "I +am glad that your good wishes follow me to Africa." + +Thomas Chatterton came up panting as he spoke, the warning of the last +bell broke through the rattle of the windlass, and Maxwell bent +bareheaded over Lilian's hand. Then she and Chatterton went down the +side together, a deep-toned whistle vibrated above the waters as the +steamer slowly forged ahead, and Maxwell saw a white-gowned figure in +the boat beneath her side turn with a farewell smile and wave a hand to +him. Once more he raised his hat, and when the boat slid astern Lilian's +eyes grew hazy as she gazed after the departing vessel. + +"That man will go far," said Chatterton. "Once he makes up his mind the +devil himself would hardly turn him. He is one of the steely, quiet kind +who are never more in earnest than when they are silent, but I am +anxious. He is bound for a very deadly country." + +Cool breezes followed the steamer to the African coast, and Maxwell had +recovered part of his vigor before the first palm-crowned bluff rose out +of the sea. He had sufficient funds at his disposal, but arduous work to +do, and he held himself apart from the few passengers, thinking +earnestly. Among other things he decided to fit out the relief +expedition at Redmond's factory at Little Mahu, because, though more +difficult, the road from there was shorter and less likely to be +watched; and he surmised that Rideau, who must hear of his presence on +the coast sooner or later, would expect him to start from Castro's +factory. Maxwell knew he had not seen the last of their treacherous +partner. + +At the last moment, he so far modified his plans as to call upon Dom +Pedro. + +It was a fine afternoon when the cliff with the tall palms on the crest +of it, and low whitewashed buildings nestling between them and the +smoking beach, rose to view, and the purser, strolling past, halted near +Maxwell. + +"We have several boat-loads of cottons for this place, and as the surf +is high it will take us until sunset to land them safely," he said. +"Then, as there are nasty reefs to thread through, the skipper will +probably wait for moonlight before he heaves the anchor; so if you don't +mind a spray bath you might have a few hours ashore." + +Maxwell, knowing that he would see quite sufficient of Africa before he +sailed west again, felt no great desire to go ashore; but as he gazed at +the dazzling buildings through his glasses a figure came out upon the +veranda, and an unaccountable impulse urged him to seek speech with Miss +Castro. Why he should do so, and what he should say to her, he did not +know, but he remembered that several times during his career some +unconsidered action made on the spur of the moment proved as fruitful as +his best laid plans. So, donning the mate's oil-skins, he dropped into a +surf-boat and was whirled shoreward on a big breaker's crest, landing +without misadventure amidst a cloud of spray. + +Dom Pedro, it appeared, was absent, but his daughter started at the +sight of the stranger, and the warm olive coloring of her face was +suffused with a deeper tinge. She was herself again the next moment, and +came to meet him with only a slightly heightened luster in her black +eyes; but for a man Maxwell was observant, and deduced a good deal from +what he had seen. Nevertheless, he was mistaken when he attributed it to +the loss of his map. + +Miss Castro received him affably, and presented him to her aunt, who +combined a lethargic disposition with the usual portliness of an Iberian +lady who has exceeded the age of forty, and after a few drowsy +compliments she betrayed no further interest in the visitor. +Nevertheless, the senora was not so sleepy as she appeared. Maxwell +seated himself beside Bonita near the opposite end of the veranda, and +was not wholly sorry he had come ashore. The girl made a charming +picture as she reclined in a deep chair near at hand, smiling at him +with a trace of shyness that was not assumed, though an occasional +nervous movement betokened a suppressed eagerness. Maxwell had pledged +himself soul and body to the service of another woman with a chivalrous +self-abnegation that only those who knew him well would have suspected +him capable of; but he possessed artistic perceptions, and Bonita's dark +beauty appealed to him. + +"You have very much to tell me. How is it you come from the westward, +and where is your companero?" she asked; and once more Maxwell was +wholly misled. + +He noticed the swift gleam in the dark eyes that fell beneath his own; +and, knowing what he knew, he was troubled. There was a hidden +gentleness under the man's sardonic exterior, but he never learned how +blind he had been that afternoon. + +"My comrade was well when I left him," he said gravely; and Bonita, +flashing a swift glance at him, evinced less satisfaction than he had +expected. + +"We were the good friends, senor. You will tell me why you leave him and +now come from the west. Also if you met Rideau, and what you did with +him. You are a strong man, senor, but it may be a woman can help you?" + +Maxwell was in his own way a chivalrous person, but he owed a duty to +the comrade who remained in the forest, and he meant to discharge it. So +he answered with incisive frankness. + +"Can you not see why it might be better for both of us that I should not +tell you, senorita?" + +The girl laughed softly, then laid a little hand upon his own. It felt +strangely hot, and again her eyes were luminous in a manner that puzzled +him. + +"It is the map, you mean? It is true I find it after the Senor Dane +leave, and I sell it to _el perro_ Rideau. Senor, we women must use what +weapons we can, and the price he pay me--I have no secrets from you--was +my father's safety." + +"I do not venture to blame you," said Maxwell. "I had partly guessed it, +and your confidence is safe with me, but suppose _el perro_ had proved +too strong for me? After this, can I believe that you would prove a good +friend to me?" + +Miss Castro positively blushed as she drew her hand away, but her +laughter indicated a mingling of pride with scorn. + +"You are modest, senor. It is not possible that the cur dog should prove +too strong for--you. To Dom Pedro I say these Englishmen will kill this +Rideau. So senor, because I hate him, you will tell me." + +Maxwell did not speak for a while. Again an impulse which appeared +wholly illogical in face of the girl's confession prompted him to tell +her all; but very much lay at stake, and he did not usually act on +impulse. Meanwhile his companion watched him from under the dark lashes +which half covered her eyes; while, unobserved, the sleepy aunt watched +them both. Bonita Castro looked bewitchingly pretty in her filmy +draperies, perhaps the more so because of her curiously heightened +color; but though Maxwell knew that she was a woman who would do much +when prompted by passion, she did not look like a traitress. + +"So you fear to trust me, senor?" + +"On the contrary," Maxwell answered, "I have decided to trust you fully. +In doing so, I know that I place my life and my comrade's equally in +your hands." + +"It is well; I would hold them safe if I risked salvation," said the +girl. "So tell me everything. I shall be able to help you." + +Maxwell did so, and Miss Castro asked him many questions which betokened +a keenness of judgment that surprised the man. He spent some time in +answering them, and Bonita appeared to find pleasure in listening to +him. So while the palm-tufts tossed behind the factory and the spray +whirled above the beach, the minutes slipped by, until, when the sun +dipped, the senora woke up and ordered the black major-domo to hurry +forward _comida_. + +Bonita, reappearing attired in filmy robes of black, was more +fascinating than ever during the drawn-out meal. + +"That woman would turn any man's head," murmured Maxwell, inaudibly he +thought, and added, with a smile, to the sleepy aunt, who glanced at +him, "I was wondering, senora, if your distinguished family had a +monopoly of all the wit and beauty in the Peninsula." + +Maxwell was a little confused to notice that Bonita had overheard; for a +second the long lashes dropped across her eyes, and again there was a +flicker of damask in her cheek. + +The moon hung over the ocean which stretched away before them, a broad +sheet of silver, when the two stood once more on the veranda; and Miss +Castro shivered slightly for no apparent cause when Maxwell announced +that it was time for him to take his departure. The surf had gone down, +and the roar of the breakers diminished to dull pulsations that fell +drowsily on the ear, while the warm breeze brought down the fragrance of +spices and lilies from the forest. Two of the pure white blossoms +nestled among the laces beneath Miss Castro's neck, and their fragrance +filled Maxwell's nostrils as he stood close beside her under the +effulgent moonlight of the tropics. There was a thrill in the girl's +voice which, but for one fact, might have awakened an answering +vibration within him. + +"So you have trusted me, senor, and I am glad. It is also good that you +start from Little Mahu, for so _el perro_ hear the less of you. There +are many black people who fear him, and tell him things, but he come +first to this factory--and I deal with him. You will leave Mahu, two, +three, perhaps four weeks before him. It is true you have no longer any +doubt of me?" + +"I have no doubt at all. I have trusted you to the utmost." + +Bonita's eyes dropped swiftly beneath his gaze, but there was in her +attitude no sign of coquetry. She had, the man thought, changed with the +night, and put on a quiet simplicity which became her wonderfully. +Something impelled him to add: + +"I feel that I have done wisely." + +Once more the girl's voice thrilled him. + +"It is a dangerous country, and who can tell what may happen; but, +whatever it costs me, I will help you." + +Maxwell felt strangely softened toward her, for it seemed that some +influence born of the glamour of the night was at work upon his will. It +hardly seemed to emanate from his companion, for Miss Castro was graver +than he had ever seen her; but the strange mingling of tenderness and +admiration grew stronger in him, and he was glad when the boom of the +steamer's whistle rang through the monotone of the surf. + +"I must go, senorita." + +Bonita's eyes shone in the moonlight as, with the faintest of smiles, +she held out her hand to him. + +"It is a perilous journey, but I will pray always for your safety," she +said softly. + +Maxwell lifted the hat from his head as, stooping, he touched the +olive-tinted fingers with his lips. They trembled a little in his grasp. + +"I thank you, senorita. We are allies now." + +Again the roar of the whistle throbbed across the surf, and Maxwell went +swiftly down the stairway and across the sand. As the boat plunged out +through the breakers he shook himself with an air of irritation which +attracted the notice of the steamer's mate. + +"Got bewildered trying to understand those folks?" he asked +sympathetically. + +"No," laughed Maxwell. "The fact is rather that I don't understand +myself." + +"I dare say that don't greatly matter," commented the mate. "Take a good +stiff cocktail and give the puzzle up." + +The steamer heaved her anchor, and rolled slowly eastward down the +coast, while Miss Castro stood on the veranda following the tier of +diminishing lights until they faded and finally dipped into the moonlit +sea. Then she turned and walked very slowly into the factory without a +word, leaving the sleepy aunt lost in speculation when the door of her +room closed noisily. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE DANGEROUS SENORITA + + +Some days after Maxwell's departure Monsieur Victor Rideau, traveling in +hot haste, arrived at Castro's factory. Dom Pedro was absent in the +bush, but his daughter frowned when she saw the visitor coming. She was +standing on the veranda where she had bidden Maxwell farewell; and this +fact recalled the contrast between them, which was distinctly striking, +and to Monsieur Rideau's disadvantage. Maxwell wore an indefinite air of +refinement, which is the birthright of some favored Britons, and there +was a good deal of finely-tempered steel in his composition; Rideau was +by no means ill-favored, and as usual with gentlemen of his extraction, +dressed himself almost too well; but his face was sensual, his black +hair over-crisp, and, in spite of his very cunning eyes, there were +other signs that his animal appetites might on occasion prove stronger +than his judgment. + +When he descended from his hammock, attired in spotless duck and +American brown shoes, he was evidently well contented with himself. + +"I compassionate you on your misfortune," said Miss Castro. "My father +may not return until midnight, and you will have only myself and my +aunt, who is always sleepy, for company." + +"What better could any man desire?" There was a look of the African in +Rideau's over-bold eyes, and the girl regarded him frigidly. "I go east +by the steamer which will call to-night," he continued, "and hurried for +the pleasure of a few hours of your company. The English adventurer has +called here, is it not so?" + +That was sufficient warning, and Bonita Castro prepared for the fray. +The weapons she chose in the first place were merely demure glances and +opportune smiles; and though many of his speeches stung her pride to the +quick, she fooled Monsieur Rideau cleverly, and extracted from him more +information than he meant to impart. Still, when the black major-domo +set out the _comida_ and Miss Castro withdrew, the visitor might have +lounged less complacently on the veranda had he seen her kneeling, with +a face that was stamped with hatred, beside the factory medicine chest. +She lifted a ribbed glass phial, and glanced at it earnestly, then let +it fall back, took out another, and clutched at the chest, when she saw +that the door had opened a little. Then, as the rustle of the +palm-fronds suggested that the breeze was accountable for this, she +slipped the bottle behind a vase on the window-sill, and went out +softly. Hardly had she done so than the Senora Diaz entered silently, +lifted the bottle, and read its label, and then, with a gesture which +expressed both relief and perplexity, replaced it. The senora was much +more observant than she seemed to be, and was by no means a friend of +Victor Rideau. + +It might have been better for Rideau had he reached the factory after +dinner. He did not eat prettily, and Miss Castro had lived long enough +in the Iberian peninsula to grow particular about small matters. Also, +he drank freely, and while his voice grew louder his consonants lost +their crispness. Rideau spoke several civilized languages, but that +night he emphasized the vowels after the fashion of the negro. Though +not excessively indulgent, Dom Pedro's old Madeira had awakened a side +of his nature he usually kept in subjection, and perhaps it had slightly +clouded his judgment. In any case, the Senora Diaz frowned at some of +the compliments he paid her niece, and her ancient laces rustled as she +stirred with indignation, for while compliments were common in her +country, they were characterized by either a becoming deference or +scintillating wit. Once or twice she glanced sharply at the girl, who +was generally quite capable of resenting a liberty; but Bonita did not +heed her. She was working for an end, and working skilfully. Perhaps she +suffered during the process, but that was only part of the price of +victory. + +The _comida_ was cleared away at length, and when Bonita accompanied her +guest to the moonlit veranda, she made it manifest that she did not +desire her aunt's company. Nevertheless the Senora Diaz, who respected +the customs of the Peninsula, seated herself beside an open window and +saw all that passed. Rideau lounged in a cane chair with a cigar in his +hand, while Bonita stood upright, dropping morsels of ice presented by a +steamboat purser into the bowl which rested on the little table at his +side. A Frenchman would not have shown such lack of manners. Rideau's +very leer, which grew more pronounced, conveyed a hint that he knew he +held the whip hand, and meant to use it; with any one of Miss Castro's +disposition, that was very bad policy. + +"It is charming, senorita. I have done much for you; you do a little now +for me." + +Miss Castro dropped the next lump of ice somewhat hastily, so that the +liquid splashed over the table; but she smiled with apparent good +humor, and the man grew more bold. + +"You will sit here while I tell you something, is it not so? This scene +is so charming that after I make one more journey I have resolved to +cultivate the domestic virtue." + +"That is commendable," said the girl, smiling. "Might one compliment you +on such a piece of self-denial?" + +She did not forget that the African's greatest weakness is vanity, as +Rideau answered her with a deprecatory smile: + +"It is not my fault if many women love me. Perhaps they are foolish and +trust to the eye. But, me, I aspire, and am only content with the great +mind and virtue." + +Miss Castro, instead of meeting his glance, appeared to be looking out +to sea, and Rideau continued, still far too complacently: + +"Now I see all that I desire--the peace, the tranquillity, the night +that speaks of love, and the company of the peerless Bonita." + +The girl laughed as she turned upon him; but her sleepy aunt, who sat by +the window, knew that the passion which called the color to her forehead +and set a sparkle in her eyes was by no means love. + +"Is that another empty compliment, monsieur?" she asked lightly. + +"It is the ambition of my life," he declared in a deeper tone; "and a +long time I dream of it. Now when I make one more journey I ask you to +gratify it." + +"You must be more explicit. And is it the custom of France--or +Africa--to make such speeches--so?" + +Rideau frowned, and for a moment it appeared that he would have +preferred the African custom of choosing his bride; but remembering what +he claimed to be, he stood upright, a full-fleshed, crisp-haired figure, +with his sensual lips showing too prominently. + +"I have the honor to offer you my name and devotion, senorita." + +"That is very much better," laughed Miss Castro. "But are you quite sure +you would not find domestic happiness grow monotonous? I, at least, have +been my own mistress so long that it might not content me. What else +have you to offer?" + +"An affection that will not weary," was the answer, and the man +dramatically laid his hand where he supposed his heart to be. + +"And if even that were not enough?" + +"All the good things that money can buy, and women love. I shall be a +rich man presently." + +"You have not won those riches yet; and white men have lost their lives +already in the Leopards' country. You should understand me." + +Rideau blundered when he resolved to use the strong hand at last. + +"There is still something--the safety of your father. It is, as I have +once said, forbidden with the heaviest penalty to sell the black man the +modern rifle, and Dom Pedro has sold more than this." + +It is possible that Miss Castro had expected a similar answer, but the +speaker's tone and the glitter of his eyes would have inspired most +women with misgivings under the circumstances. + +"You are forgetful," she said slowly. "I have bought that from you +already." + +Rideau laughed. + +"You are mistaken. You sold me the English madman's map for the Emir's +agreement, but you did not buy my lieutenant or the black headman who +hired your father his people, and is a good friend of me. Senorita, you +quite fail to comprehend me. To those who love me I give everything, but +with those who bargain it is different. You are too young and pretty to +drive a hard one with me." + +The girl turned from him, and walked slowly across the veranda with her +back toward her suitor and her face toward the sea, so that he could not +see how one hand slipped without a rustle beneath a fold of her dress. +He had left her but one way out of the difficulty, and it was dangerous; +but gauging the quality of her antagonist she was content to take the +risks. The sleepy aunt saw, however, and smiled grimly to herself. + +Then Miss Castro turned, and smiled. + +"It is a long journey to the Leopards' country, and many things may +happen on the way. You would be wise to wait for my answer, monsieur. +What you offer appears insufficient now, but few women are sure of their +own minds, so some wise men say; and, who knows, when you come back I +may think differently. I have duties to attend to, and may not see you +before you sail, but I want your promise to keep silence in the +meantime. Pledge it in Vermouth." + +Before the man could answer, she had passed into the house and returned +with a small flask and two fresh glasses. One was brimming, and she +filled the other before she held it out to him. + +"A swift journey to the land of the Leopard!" she said. + +Miss Castro's voice was steady, though she waited almost breathlessly +while the man stood undecided, holding up the cup. It was evident that +he was averse to delay, and yet afraid to lose by undue precipitancy. + +"So, I give the promise. To your bright eyes, senorita. It is a journey +I make for you." + +Rideau laid the glass down empty, and with a swift salutation that was +half-ironical, and a swish of light draperies, Miss Castro had vanished +before he quite realized that she had left him. When he did, he gnawed +the end off a cigar, and lay thoughtfully back in his chair. It struck +him that perhaps he might find Bonita Castro much less amenable to his +wishes and more difficult to live with than a deeper-tinted helpmate. + +In the meantime, a group of chattering Krooboys were lighting a fire on +the crest of the bluff, their figures outlined against the increasing +glare. It was a signal to the east-bound steamer due to pass shortly +that cargo or passengers were awaiting her. Rideau watched the blaze +until it flared high aloft in token that the fire had good hold, then he +walked slowly to the rail of the veranda and leaned over it, as though +expecting an answering light from the moonlit sea. There was none, and +presently he walked back, still more slowly, and sank into his chair +with a sigh. Then his shoulders sank lower until his head drooped +forward and there was silence in the veranda except for the sound of his +uneven breathing. This had scarcely continued five minutes when a +slender black-robed figure flitted out of a shadowy door, and the +profile of a woman's face was silhouetted against the moonlight as it +bent over the sleeper. + +"Sleep soundly, and awake too late!" a voice said, and the figure +vanished again. + +Presently, perhaps because there was nobody to watch them, or they had +been regaled too freely with factory gin, the Krooboys left to tend the +fire curled themselves up beside it, and when an hour had passed, only a +thin column of vapor rose up from the bluff. The stokers slumbered +peacefully, as did the comrades they should have awakened, when the +twinkle of a masthead light crept nearer from out at sea. It rose until +the black patch beneath it lengthened into a line of wallowing hull; but +the fresh land breeze and the clamor of the surf between them rendered +the hoot of the steamer's whistle but faintly audible at the factory. +Still, the Senora Diaz awakened, and sitting upright on her couch near +an open window, looked out on to the veranda. Her niece stood in a +doorway, with the moonlight on her face, which showed white and anxious +as she watched the sleeping figure. + +The girl set her lips tight when again the whistle's summons, ringing +louder this time, was flung back by the bluff behind the factory; but +Rideau lay motionless in his chair; and Bonita quivered all through +when, finding his signal unanswered, the steamboat skipper burned a +crimson flare. She could see the wall of hull and slanting spars sharp +and clear in the blood-red glare, with the figure of a man leaning out +from the slanted bridge projected against it, but there was still no +answer from either bluff or factory, and with a last blast of the +whistle the steamer moved on. No other boat would call for a fortnight, +and this one would have saved Rideau a protracted and risky surf-boat +voyage, or a weary march through the jungles overland. + +It was past midnight when Dom Pedro's hammock came lurching into the +compound, and, alighting stiffly, the trader climbed the veranda steps. +He started on reaching the veranda, for there was nobody to meet him, +only a man whose visits he had learned to dread, asleep in a chair. The +trader bent over him; and by the way his eyes glistened and his fingers +twitched as he saw that the duck jacket had fallen open, leaving the +dusky throat bare, an observer might have concluded that he would not +have been sorry had some accident prevented the sleeper from ever +awakening. Still, Dom Pedro was only a man of lax principles; he +shrugged his shoulders as he quoted a Castilian proverb, and then he +shook his guest by the arm. Rideau sat upright, grasping the arms of his +chair. He stared at the table, possibly seeking the glass he had drunk +from, but it was not there, and rising shakily, he staggered toward the +balustrade. + +"What hour is it?" he asked. + +"Past twelve. It is not good to sleep in the moonlight, my friend." + +Rideau's face was a study of evil passions, but his reason resumed the +mastery. The fact that the glasses were missing was significant, and +perhaps he recognized that the woman might prove no contemptible +adversary; for he answered Dom Pedro calmly. + +"Your wine is too good, and I have slept so well that it seems I have +missed the steamer. Well, there are other means of transit, and, if it +is not too late, you and I have business to talk about." + +A light shone in a window of the factory for an hour after this, and +when Victor Rideau walked somewhat unevenly toward his quarters, Dom +Pedro cursed him under his breath. + +The next morning he demanded a surf-boat and Krooboy crew, and when his +host had provided them, he sought speech with his daughter before +embarking. Rideau did not look his best that morning. His eyes were +heavy, the color of his face was mottled in patches; and he was in a +dangerous humor. Miss Castro, however, did not avoid him. + +"It is to be hoped that you passed a good night," she said. + +Rideau could not have failed to notice the boldness of the challenge. He +looked at her steadily, and his glance expressed desire rather than +resentment. The girl grew hot beneath his gaze as he surveyed her +critically, after the manner of one appraising a costly bargain. + +"I slept well--so well that I missed the steamer--and awakened with a +heaviness I can guess the cause of. You have a bold spirit--and that +pleases me; but you are dangerous, senorita--so dangerous that even if +you were not otherwise very desirable, I dare not let you go." + +Miss Castro returned no answer, and the man added threateningly: + +"If you have not a promise to make me when I return from this journey, +it will be very bad for Dom Pedro." + +The girl clenched one hand tightly, but her voice was clear as she +answered him. + +"You shall have your promise now. If you come back from the Leopards' +country, I will marry you." + +Rideau appeared both gratified and perplexed. Possibly he felt that he +should seal the bargain; but the girl's attitude did not encourage him, +and he had learned that it was not judicious to press her too hardly. So +he answered with a bow which had in it little Latin grace. + +"Then one must defer his happiness. The senorita will not forget." + +"I have given my word," said Miss Castro calmly. "You may claim the +fulfilment of my promise if we are both alive when two months have +passed." + +Rideau shivered slightly as he turned away. He had inherited more than a +trace of superstition from one side of his ancestry, and there was an +unusual significance in the speaker's tone, and he had heard stories +respecting her powers of prediction. A few minutes later he departed +eastward in a surf-boat, and it was not a blessing which Dom Pedro, +standing on the beach, sent after him. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MAXWELL'S LAST MARCH + + +Maxwell was never addicted to losing time, and, thanks to Miss Castro's +efforts, he had a clear start of Rideau, when he left Little Mahu. +Redmond, being warned by a message posted on from the cable station +farther along the coast, had a number of picked men ready; and Amadu +declared that they were sturdy cattle. Both traders had done their +utmost, and by dint of working night and day, Maxwell was able to leave +their factory two days after he reached it. + +They followed him to the compound gate, where Gilby gazed longingly at +the forest and then sighed as he surveyed the line of brawny men, each +of whom stood waiting beside his burden. Their clothing was simple. +Broad folds of white cotton hung over one shoulder, and, drooping to the +knee, were belted at the waist by a band from which a matchet hung. A +number of the men also carried long flintlock guns. + +"They're warranted free from civilization, and fit for almost anything, +if you drive them with a tight rein," Gilby said. + +"The niggers are fit enough," agreed Redmond. "If I were you, Maxwell, I +wouldn't spare them. Nobody has heard anything of Rideau since he +reported you as hopelessly hemmed in, but there's not much happens in +this region he does not get news of, and it's my humble opinion he'll +turn up somewhere along your trail just when you least desire to see +him. As you probably know, news travels very fast in this country. That +fellow must have some influence with the nigger headmen or the chiefs of +the Leopards, or somebody would have cut his throat long ago. You'll +have to push on your fastest to keep ahead of him." + +"I quite appreciate the necessity," Maxwell replied quietly. "But if it +were not for my comrade's sake I think I'd wait for him. It strikes me +that I am wasting precious time now, and I'll leave you with my best +thanks for your assistance." + +One trader thumped him on the back, the other grasped his hand. + +"Good luck!" cried Redmond. "We'll put a spoke in Rideau's wheel if we +can." + +"You're the sort of man I take to!" Gilby added. "We'll use up a whole +quarter's allowance, and turn this place inside out when you come back +again." + +Maxwell beckoned to Amadu, and waved his hand to the traders, as his +carriers picked up their loads; and the two stood gazing after him until +the steamy forest swallowed the long line of plodding men. They never +saw him again, and it was some time before any news of his movements +reached them, but meanwhile Gilby nearly brought about the death of +Rideau's principal assistant, and ever afterward regretted he did not +wholly do so. + +That evening Gilby was returning with a gun in his hand from a prowl +beside a lagoon soon after darkness fell, when his boot became unlaced +near the factory boys' quarters, which stood at some distance from the +white men's dwelling. Gilby seated himself on a fallen log, and remained +a few minutes glancing meditatively, but unseen himself, toward a group +of dusky figures crouching around a cooking-fire just outside the +edifice. They sat with their backs toward the long, low shed, and, +because the fire had sunk, the light was dim and fitful. Accordingly, +Gilby saw, though the negroes did not, a shadowy form crawl without a +sound down the slope of thatch. With suspicions aroused, Gilby reached +out for his gun. It was a heavy big-bore, and there was a large-shot +cartridge in either chamber. + +Still, he was distinctly puzzled until the crawling object resolved +itself into a man, who dropped noiselessly from the overhanging eaves, +and the next moment appeared before the astonished negroes, as though he +had fallen from the clouds. It was cleverly done, and Gilby could see by +the negroes' attitude that they were impressed. The stranger was +evidently one of the wandering magicians who are a power in that +country, and wanted something from the Krooboys. Gilby, having suffered +by the visits of similar gentlemen, determined to demonstrate to his +servants the hollowness of such trickery, and furnish the intruder with +cause to regret having frightened them. He could see the dusky figures +shrink backward until the stranger checked them with an imperious +gesture, and asked questions in some native tongue. As Gilby crept +carefully nearer, the man's appearance seemed to be familiar. He wore a +broad palm-leaf hat low down on his forehead, but as the firelight +leaped up the trader felt almost certain that he had before him Rideau's +headman. + +"If you lib for move a foot, I'll shoot you!" he shouted, pitching up +the gun. + +There was a murmur, apparently of relief, from the Kroos, and, though +Gilby afterward said he did not run, the stranger's figure grew less +distinct. It had almost vanished when he called again, and, receiving no +answer, pressed the trigger. A wisp of smoke blew into his eyes, he +heard the lead smash through the frail boarding of the shed; but though +he was a tolerable shot there was no other sound beyond the concussion +flung back from the palms above. Gilby, dashing forward, searched all +the surrounding bush before he returned to the Krooboys, having found +nothing. + +"What did them Ju-ju man lib for want?" he asked. + +"He done ask us how many boy them white man take, and when he lib for +bush, sah," answered a trembling negro. + +"I'll stop half your rations if the next time he comes one of you +doesn't lib for get out soffly, soffly, and tell me," said the trader. +"I'll also flog any boy who tells him what he wants to know!" + +"Were you trying to shoot yourself, Gilby?" asked Redmond, meeting him +at the foot of the stairway. "I'd try to hang out here on top as long as +possible, if I were you." + +"I was trying to shoot one of those confounded Ju-ju men, more fool me. +The beggar got away, and, though of course it was trickery, he did it +cleverly. I believe it was that brute of Rideau's." + +"Then it would have saved somebody a lot of trouble if you had held +straighter. Rideau doesn't usually make his movements plain, but it will +be unlucky for Maxwell if those two rascals are on his trail." + +Maxwell in the meantime was pushing north with feverish haste. He did +not know what had happened at the factory, but he feared many things, +and guessed that his rival would miss no opportunity to prevent his +joining hands with his comrade. Still, he could not forecast what his +plan would be, and could only redouble his precautions and make Amadu +solemnly promise to carry relief to the threatened camp if disaster +overtook him personally. Also he traveled very fast, for Maxwell +possessed the gift of getting the utmost out of his men, and because +news flies swiftly through the African bush, that perhaps accounted for +his being able to cover the distance he did before misfortune overtook +him. + +The rains had set in, when, with Amadu some paces behind him, he plodded +one day through thick jungle before his men. The deluge had ceased +during the last hour, but the narrow path ran water, while the cane, +which grew higher than a tall man's head on either side, shook down +drenching showers alike on soaked white man and naked negro. Belts of +thick steam drifted across it in places. There was no sound but the +splash of moisture and the fall of weary feet, but Maxwell, with his +pistol loose in its waterproof holster, marched the more cautiously. He +had faced numerous perils in his time, and had learned never to run an +unnecessary risk; and the jungle he traversed was particularly suitable +for an ambush. + +Amadu, who recognized this, also was vigilant, and swept the cane on +either side with searching eyes. He endeavored to persuade his master to +travel in his hammock; but unavailingly. Therefore he carried the long +Snider rifle with its breech well covered by his arm, and felt at times +with wet fingers for the hilt of the short, straight blade, which hung +at his side. He was a tolerable shot, but like most of the Moslem +tribesmen deadly with the steel. + +"These men march well," said Maxwell. "We should reach the camp within a +week if nothing hinders us. Tell them to spread out a little and keep +their matchets ready. The cane is getting thicker." + +Amadu moved backward along the plodding line, and when he turned to +rejoin his master, Maxwell was some distance in front of him. The path +twisted sharply round a thicker clump of cane, and suddenly Amadu caught +a glimpse of a tiny black patch among the dripping stems. Nevertheless, +he evinced no sign of notice until he was certain that the black strip +formed part of a human arm; and then he was called upon to make an +eventful decision. The dusky soldier of fortune knew that if an ambush +had been planted among the cane the lurking foe would, should both pass +apparently unobservant, hold their fire until, by a volley poured into +the main body, they could spread panic and cut the column in two. That +might mean the loss of many black men; but Amadu counted these as beasts +of burden in comparison with his master. He guessed that almost before +he could pitch up his rifle a poisoned arrow or a charge of ragged +potleg would strike down the white man. So he held on stolidly, with +dusky lips set tight, hoping that Maxwell might not see what he had +until the corner was passed. Then there might still be time to crawl in +upon the enemy from behind. + +Maxwell walked straight on until he turned and glanced over his +shoulder; then he shook the moisture from his jacket, and in doing so, +let his hand slip from its lower corner to his revolver holster. He +turned again, with death, as it were, suspended above his head; and +Amadu gasped as he approached the thicker clump of cane. There was now +no sign of an enemy's presence in all the jungle; only the splashing +and panting of the carriers behind. + +Suddenly the white man's hand swept out level with his shoulder, and +almost at the same instant a bright flash blazed from the cane. Then the +quick ringing of a rifle broke through the dull thud of the flintlock +and the pistol's second crack, and Maxwell, reeling a little, hurled +himself into the thicket. + +With a roar to those who followed, Amadu plunged in too, a score of +clamorous black men with naked blades hard behind, and was just in time +to spring upon a naked man who strove to clear an entangled foot from +the creeper withes. The short blade twice passed through him; and +wrenching it free with an exultant laugh, Amadu floundered on. For a +space he and his followers smashed through that strip of jungle, but +found only a smoking rifle and one flintlock gun; then calling off the +rest, he led them back to the path. Maxwell was sitting there in a pool +of water. + +"Send those boys back," he said thickly. "One of those brutes missed me, +the other did not. One can't always guess aright, Amadu, and I thought +there were at least a score of them." + +Amadu groaned. He could see that his master was hard stricken, for he +looked faint and cold, and did not usually converse with his +subordinates in that kind of English. Still, he understood the first +sentence, and drove the curious black men back beyond the corner before +he stooped over the speaker. Maxwell's face was distorted and clammy. +There was a stain on the side of his jacket, and it plainly cost him an +effort to speak. + +"Did you lib for chop them bush boy, Amadu?" + +"One of him, sah," was the grim answer. "He done leave them rifle." + +"Let me see," said Maxwell. "That is an old chassepot. Rideau had a +number of them. You don't quite follow? Well, you got the wrong man, +Amadu. Don't stand there, but slit up this jacket. Chop them doff piece +up the side of him." + +Amadu did it with the still wet blade, and groaned again when Maxwell, +turning his head a little, looked down at the slow, red trickle from his +right side, then passed his hand across his lips and nodded when he saw +what there was upon it. + +"Take them lil' silver bottle out of my pocket and pull the top off +him," he said very slowly; and when Amadu had done so he gulped down a +draught of lukewarm brandy before he spoke again. + +"I don't suppose it's much use, but you may as well take the knife +that's in the pocket, and feel if there's any potleg near the top. Well, +why don't you do it? You need not be frightened. It won't bleed +much--that way." + +Amadu shivered as he probed the wound. Maxwell's face grew grayer, and +after a downward glance out of half-closed eyes he shook his head and +stretched out one hand for more of the brandy. Then there was a heavy +silence for several minutes. + +"If I could lie still with ice to suck until somebody brought a surgeon +there might be a chance; but that's out of the question here," he said +in a rambling fashion, and then roused himself. "You don't understand. +Well, I'll try in the little I know of your own idiom. We have made two +great journeys together, but now it is written that I shall shortly set +out on a longer one alone, Amadu." + +Maxwell spoke thickly, but there was a wry smile on his lips as he +watched the big dark-skinned alien, who, rending his cotton robe, bound +a pad of wet leaves upon the injured side. + +"It is useless, Amadu." Maxwell coughed once or twice. "Listen. Because +of something you may remember you dare not fail me, and this is my word +to you. I made a promise which must be kept, and you will carry me to +the white man's camp before six days are over, alive or dead." + +Amadu looked eastward across the jungle, spread his palms outward, and +then bent his head. + +"By fire and salt, and the beard of the Prophet it shall be so," he said +in his own tongue. "And I would it may also be written that I shall +still follow my master should these dogs of bushmen meddle again." + +"Your master is one of the infidel," replied Maxwell. "Now see that none +of these others know what has overtaken me, and call up the hammock +men." + +Maxwell was leaning on Amadu's shoulder when the hammock appeared round +the bend, and none of the black men who lifted him into it guessed how +hard he had been hit; and the monotonous carrying chanty drowned the +groans he could not quite suppress. The heavens were opened as the march +began again, and the rain rushed down. It lashed the negroes' oily skins +until they tingled, the trail became a streamlet, and the mire in places +fouled them to the knee; but Amadu, having given his promise, saw to the +keeping of it with a terrible persistence, and they trudged on doggedly, +the dripping hammock always before them. As one worn-out bearer +stumbled another replaced him, and the march progressed until long after +darkness fell, and after a few hours' halt in drifting mist it began +again. + +So the long days and black nights passed. There were odd flashes of +sunlight, and once or twice the moon looked down; but between these +times the air was filled with the steam of the saturated earth or with a +rush of lukewarm water. + +Late one night, when the weary carriers lay camped for a brief rest in +thick forest, Maxwell beckoned Amadu. He lay in the slung hammock, a +lantern burning behind his head. + +"You will start in two hours. I must reach the camp before another night +comes. My time is short," he said. + +Amadu, looking down at him gravely, saw that the words were true; but he +strove to deny them in his own tongue. + +Maxwell smiled wearily, answering him in English beyond his complete +comprehension. + +"I have known many men of lighter tint I could part from more easily, +Amadu. If we reach the camp before another night comes you shall have my +big elephant gun." + +The dusky man stood upright. + +"I carried an Emir's standard. Will you bribe me with a gun to keep the +oath I swore?" + +Maxwell must have been in a state of torment about that time, but he was +in his own way a man of extravagant pride, and it was perhaps to deny +his weakness that he spoke again. + +"Yet it is a good gun," he said, with a trace of his old dryness. +"Once you will remember at over a hundred paces it drove a smooth +ball through a rash bushman's head. You could keep it in +remembrance--couldn't you?" + +The alien stooped and laid one of the thin hands on his own bent head, +then dropped it suddenly, for from somewhere far off a faint sound +scarcely more than audible trembled across the forest. Maxwell strove to +raise himself to listen, but before he could speak his lieutenant sprang +bolt upright, and his voice rang out. It was the sound of firing, and +even at that distance something warned the listeners that the quick beat +of it betokened modern rifles. + +The hammock-bearers, who feared their new master rather more than the +old, came up at the double; bundles were thrown hurriedly on to woolly +crowns; the tired men swung into line; and the little camp grew empty. + +Amadu, limping behind the hammock, laughed. + +"If it be the will of Allah, I shall see that big gun make even a bigger +hole in more than one heathen's head!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +RELIEF + + +Hilton Dane sat with a fouled rifle across his knees in an angle of the +stockade protecting what had been the hospital camp. It was, however, a +hospital no longer, for some of the sick had recovered, and the rest had +died. Dane considered that he might have saved more of them had he been +more skilled in medicine, but he had done his best according to his +abilities; and none of the poor wretches seemed to blame him. Still, +there were times when he felt like a murderer as some unfortunate +sufferer's eyes turned in his direction, beseeching help, and he could +do nothing but watch him die. They died, for the most part, as +apathetically as they had lived, the heathen with the uncomplaining +stolidity which had carried them through much hardship and cruelty, and +those who followed the prophet testifying that it was Allah's will. + +Dane remembered it all that morning as he looked round upon the remnant +left him, for it seemed hardly possible that any would see another day. +When the pestilence relaxed its grip he had resumed the mining, until +the tribesmen hemmed them in. Once the foe tried to storm the camp, and +failed so signally that beyond creeping up and firing into it, they had +not repeated the attempt until the preceding night, when a few succeeded +in passing the defenses. These, however, did not survive very long. On +the other hand, the garrison could not get out, and though they had no +lack of water, one cannot subsist upon fluid alone, and there was very +little else. + +The men lay about the stockade with their rusty guns beside them, the +negro, Bad Dollar, filing his matchet, as he did continually. The man +Dane called Monday, however, crouched close beside him. A curious +friendship had sprung up between the two, and they would talk long +together with mutual satisfaction, though neither of them fully +understood his companion. + +A ravine cut the camp off from the forest in the rear, and beyond the +front stockade the ground fell steeply to the river. There was forest +across it, but only the tops of the higher trees rose out of the mist +which shrouded all the plain below. + +"You tink Cappy Maxwell perhallups come to-day, sah?" asked Monday. + +"He will certainly come some day," Dane answered with a cheerfulness he +found it hard to assume. "It would be opportune if he came just now, +especially as he might be too late to-morrow. A miss is rather better +than a mile in the present case, but you let too many of your black +friends get in last night, Monday." + +The dusky man, for he was not a negro, looked up at the speaker +doubtfully and shook his head. + +"I no savvy all them palaver, sah, but Cappy Maxwell too much fine white +man. All them black boy tink each morning they go look him. Cappy +Maxwell say he lib for heah, and them boy believe him." + +Dane glanced at the dejected objects, even then staring down expectantly +into the drifting mist, then at the tally of days that would never be +wholly forgotten which he had scored on a post of the stockade. A +deeper notch marked each seventh, and after many calculations he had +gashed a few across to indicate the probable date of Maxwell's departure +from Little Mahu. The black men did not understand the meaning of those +scores and regarded the making of them as a religious ceremony, but Dane +fancied that Maxwell might understand if he reached the camp too late. +Then, perhaps because he was overwrought, he became conscious of an +extravagant pride in his friend. Those half-naked Africans had waited, +trusting in Maxwell's promise patiently and long, and trusting it +implicitly still. This, it seemed to him, was no small testimony. + +"I tink we look Cappy Maxwell one time, sah," Monday began again. + +"If he is alive, you will," Dane answered as sturdily. "Stop those boys' +chattering. Something is going on down yonder now." + +Monday stood up staring at the mist. + +"Them parrot scream, sah, and them monkey talk. I tink them dam bushmen +lib for come back again." + +"Then don't let your boys start shooting until they crawl close in," +Dane answered, with an indifference assumed to reassure the rest "Some +of those fellows can't hit anything with a gun, and you had better keep +a few as a standby in case they come in with a run. Let them wait until +the bushmen lib for climb the stockade, and then split their heads with +the matchets. You understand me?" + +Monday apparently did so, for he moved off with a grin which betokened +nothing pleasant for the bushmen; and Dane sat still with his eyes fixed +on the forest. Something was evidently happening, but the mist was +thick, and he could not see into its dim recesses. His few men were worn +down by hunger and continuous watching, and he feared that if the foe +pushed the attack with vigor they would certainly get in. There was no +doubt that the garrison would make a grim last stand if they did, but +that appeared at the best a poor consolation, and Dane became sensible +of a coldly murderous indignation against the bushmen. + +There was a crackle of undergrowth far below, then a sound as of men +splashing through the river which ran high and swollen; but Dane was +short of ammunition, and did not consider it advisable to fire blindly +into the mist. He felt himself quivering with suspense. Staring down the +steep face of the bluff, he waited, ready to drive a bullet through the +head of the first assailant who rose out of the vapor. Then the noise +ceased altogether, and the ensuing silence became maddening. How long +this lasted Dane could never tell, but he grew cold and hot by turns as +he waited, until a sound that was wholly unexpected became faintly +audible. It was not the rustle made by the passage of a stealthy foe, +but more resembled the approach of men marching in some order. While the +blood pulsed within him he saw that the camp boys glanced from him to +the vapor under the influence of an overwhelming excitement. But though +the sound came nearer, the mist, which was thicker than ever, still hid +all below, until a negro's head rose out of it, and Dane saw that he +carried a hammock pole. Then a wild shout went up, and Monday's yell +rang through all the rest: + +"Cappy Maxwell lib!" + +There was an end of all discipline. Weapons went down clattering, and +famishing men, who during many weary days had vainly scanned the +forest, poured out through the stockade gate and raced madly down the +slope to welcome those who had brought them the long expected help. For +a moment Dane stood stupidly still, almost too dazed to realize what had +come about, vacantly wondering how Maxwell had forced a passage without +firing a shot. Then the contagion seized him and, leaping down from the +stockade, he followed the rest. His perceptions were yet clouded by a +bewildering sense of relief, but it struck him that the hammock-bearers +came on in an ominous silence. When he reached them, Amadu looked at him +curiously, as though he would have spoken, but, brushing past, Dane tore +the wet matting aside. + +Then he stepped suddenly backward, breathless and aghast. Maxwell lay +huddled in a limp heap upon the drenched canvas, almost unrecognizable. +His face was distorted and shrunken, his jacket reddened in patches, and +his lips were cracked and black. His eyes had grown dim and glassy, and +when he spoke his very voice seemed changed. + +"Have I altered so much that you don't know me, comrade?" + +"You have brought us our lives, Carsluith, but God knows I would rather +have stayed on here forever than to see you come like this," said Dane. + +Maxwell moved a little, and there was the ghost of a smile in his +half-dosed eyes. + +"I really couldn't help it. I hardly think I shall trouble you long. A +bushman back in the forest shot me." + +"Don't!" Dane answered hoarsely. "It can't be so bad as that. I won't +believe it!" + +Maxwell let his hand fall into his comrade's palm as though to convince +him. + +"I am afraid it is. I have been holding on to my life +desperately--because I wanted to see you before I went," he said +brokenly. + +The touch of his clammy hand struck a cold chill through Dane, who, +turning abruptly, bade the hammock boys carry their burden with all +speed to the tent. What he saw there convinced him that Carsluith +Maxwell had made his last adventurous march, and that the best to be +hoped for him was a painless passing to his rest. Maxwell also knew it, +and though Dane could say nothing because of the choking sensation in +his throat, he looked up at him and nodded. + +"Hopeless, isn't it? This case is beyond your skill," he said faintly. +"We have been good comrades, but even the best partnership can't last +forever. Still, you might do what little you can, for there are things I +want to tell you." + +Dane went out to seek for his case of drugs, and just then, as if in +mockery, a blaze of sunshine beat down on clustering negroes and +rain-beaten camp. Swayed by a sudden gust of grief and passion, the man +shook his fist at the river and cursed what lay beneath it. It seemed to +his overwrought fancy that the stain of blood was on the gold, the blood +of the staunchest comrade any man ever starved or fought beside. Though +their friendship had been neither lengthy nor demonstrative, the +hardships and perils undergone had woven a bond between them that knit +them as close as brothers. Nevertheless, Dane had yet to learn all that +his comrade had done for him. + +Maxwell slept or lapsed into unconsciousness all afternoon, but he +revived a little by nightfall, and beckoned his comrade near him. The +night was black and hot. Because Dane had given stringent orders, no +negro's voice reached them, and they seemed utterly alone, hemmed in by +the darkness of Africa. Dane could hear only the river moan below, and +he found it necessary to cough huskily, for again, as he remembered one +other night when they sat there together filled with bright hopes for +the future, an obstruction gathered in his throat. Maxwell told him of +his journey, in a low, strained voice, halting for breath at frequent +intervals, and every word burned itself into the listener's memory. +Maxwell always put things vividly and tersely. + +"It was a wonderful march; but I have let you talk too much," said Dane, +when he concluded. "So it was by Lilian's help you fitted out the +expedition, and she rode all night across the mountains to warn +Chatterton. It was what one might have expected. God bless her!" + +"Amen," said Maxwell, with full solemnity. "The talking can't make much +difference now--I shall have a long rest to-morrow. There is still +something I must say, and even if I am blundering it seems best to +speak. We are very blind when we think we see most clearly, Hilton." + +Dane looked at the speaker with some bewilderment as he let his head +fall back on the matting, and lay still gasping. Five long minutes +passed before he spoke again. + +"Will you raise me a little, Hilton? My breath comes short." + +Dane slipped one arm beneath his shoulder before Maxwell continued. + +"It is strange that neither of us guessed; but all was for the best, +maybe. The knowledge might have severed our friendship--I hardly think +much more than that would part us now. Though twice I came near doing +so, I never told you that I asked Miss Chatterton to marry me." + +It was only by an effort that Dane held his arm motionless so that it +still supported the dying man. It seemed the strangest of all the +strange happenings that they two should have braved so much together for +the love of the same woman. + +Maxwell saw his blank surprise, and smiled feebly. + +"You asked Lilian Chatterton to marry you?" Dane repeated dazedly. + +"Very foolish of me, was it not? But there is no reason for such +surprise that I should desire it; and I promptly discovered my folly. I +also gathered there was somebody who might please her better. Now you +have the simple fact, but as there is an inference you must listen +still. How could I have guessed the truth--after what I saw at the +Hallows Brig? It appeared impossible to me that any man who had won Miss +Chatterton's approval could find pleasure in----" + +"Stop!" cried Dane, striving to hold his excitement in check. "You were +mistaken, Carsluith. It was only out of pity, and because the +imprisonment of her brother would bring destitution upon her, that I met +that girl." + +"I can take your word," Maxwell said quietly. "That was the one point +which troubled me. Strange, isn't it, that on my last night I should +talk in this fashion; but when one's grasp on material things grows +feeble the others assume their due value. Yes, I loved Lilian +Chatterton--as I love her still--though it was madness to think that +she, fresh and bright with innocent light-heartedness, could stoop to +mate with a somber man like me. But raise me a little. I can't see you +clearly, Hilton." + +Dane did as he was bidden, and Maxwell continued: + +"I want you to remember that it was my fault, Hilton. Miss Chatterton +never suspected until I spoke that night we passed you at Hallows Brig. +I had a suspicion you admired her before that time, but it vanished +completely then. You see how each trivial incident fitted in. She was +very gentle, but I knew her decision was final--and still I did not see +the truth." + +As Maxwell looked into his comrade's eyes a quiver ran through Dane. + +"I am bewildered, and it seems brutal to ask you questions now," he said +huskily. "But you have more to tell." + +Maxwell's eyes signified assent, but he paused to gather breath. + +"It is only because I am dying. Otherwise, you would never have heard +this from me, but it seems best for both that you should know. It was +naturally not for--my--sake Miss Chatterton made that midnight journey." + +Maxwell smiled wistfully as he let his head sink back again; and Dane, +drawing his arm away, said nothing for a few minutes. It was wonderful +news he had heard, but the price which had been paid for his safety was +unbearably heavy. + +"You are a very staunch friend--and this makes it the harder for me to +lose you. If only there was anything a man could do to prevent it! +Carsluith, rouse yourself! I can't lose you!" + +"It makes it the easier for me to go," said Maxwell. "If what I hope for +happens, you will always be kind to her, Hilton. Just moisten my lips +with the brandy." + +There was silence afterward, for Maxwell lay breathing unevenly with his +eyes closed, and Dane was swayed in turn by satisfaction and a crushing +sense of loss. He suffered from remorse as well. Maxwell dying had +revealed a side of his nature his comrade now knew he should have seen +manifested in his actions if not in his words. + +It was the sufferer who first spoke again. + +"It was Rideau who brought misfortune upon us from the beginning, and to +judge by the rifle the bushman left, he was the instigator of the last +attack." + +"May worse befall me if I do not repay him fully before I leave Africa!" +Dane said, solemnly. + +Maxwell appeared to smile as he had always done when his partner was +unusually emphatic. + +"He had excuses, Hilton, and I am past all desire for vengeance now. For +one thing he recognized the senorita's gift to you. Still, for the sake +of Miss Castro--and she promised to help me--I would advise you not to +let him go free to continue his persecution of Dom Pedro. We both owe +her a good deal, and I would like you, if possible, to tell her so. You +might add my respectful remembrance, too. There is yet another point. +Whatever my share of this gold may be, I bequeath it to you, with my +blessing, on condition that you send the boys back happy, with as much +cloth as they can carry, to wherever they came from. The poor devils +served us faithfully. When I have rested, I would like to see Amadu. +Then I think my work will be finished, and I can only await the summons +to answer for what I have failed in. It will come before sunrise, +Hilton." + +An hour passed slowly while Dane listened to the ticking of his watch; +then Maxwell opened his eyes again, and Dane beckoned to Amadu, who +stood waiting without. He came in, still wearing the straight blade +which had struck the murderer down, and stood like a bronze statue +beside his master. + +"I want to thank you for faithful service, Amadu," Maxwell said weakly. +"You shall have the gun--you have won it--and whatever else you wish +besides. We made two great journeys together, but I cannot take you with +me now." + +The big man bent until Maxwell's thin hand rested on his head. What they +said Dane failed to comprehend, but Amadu seemed to do him homage, and +when he rose, he moved slowly, with raised palms and head bent, backward +out of the tent. Then as Maxwell's eyes closed he crouched in the +entrance, with the steel, which caught the lamplight, lying naked across +his knee. + +"Often I lib for watch them white man so," he said softly. "No djinn or +devil go near him now." + +Maxwell said little further. He slept or lay unconscious for some time, +and then just smiled for a moment as his eyes rested on the grim +sentinel with the bronze limbs and raw blue draperies, guarding the +entrance. When he next roused himself he laid his chilly hand on one of +Dane's, and showed a faint sign of pleasure when his comrade's fingers +closed upon it. Once again he murmured, but it was rather by the +movements of his lips than by audible sound that Dane gathered the +message: + +"You will tell her I kept my promise." + +That was his last effort, for when the night was almost gone the fingers +which lay limp in Dane's grew rigid. Then Dane stood up stiffly, +desolate, knowing that the spirit of Carsluith Maxwell had passed to +find such rest as may be reserved for the souls of loyal gentlemen. But +the dust claims that which sprang from it quickly in that land, and the +comrade he left to mourn over him found his own endurance heavily taxed +before the aliens who had helped him at his task took up their stations +with weapons girt about them, a barbaric guard of honor, at the dead +man's head and feet. It was Amadu who strapped the big revolver by its +lanyard to his master's wrist, when, scattering a few of the +heavy-scented lily blossoms, Dane folded the tired hands. Then they kept +their vigil together, and it did not seem incongruous that dusky cattle +thief and soldier of fortune should watch beside the English adventurer. +Humanity is greater than color and creed, and it was as those who had +suffered together they did their dead due honor. + +The rain had ceased and a dazzling sunrise flamed across the forest when +Dane stooped for a last glance at Carsluith Maxwell. The pain had faded +from his face, and he lay in impressive serenity as one who rested with +his work well done. Then the lonely survivor went out into the +brightness of the morning with a grief that found no expression mingled +in his heart with the lust of vengeance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +ON TO THE COAST + + +Nature, untrammeled by human inventions, takes her own way swiftly in +the fever land, and the sun had hardly cleared the cottonwoods when Dane +found himself mechanically following a tattered hammock borne high on +the heads of dusky men. Though there was somber cloud above, dazzling +brightness beat into their set faces, and flashed on glistening blade +and long gun-barrel borne by those who marched behind. There was no word +spoken. Only the patter of naked feet and the jingle of steel broke +through the impressive hush, for that morning every leaf hung limp and +still. It was with all solemnity that Carsluith Maxwell set out on his +last journey. + +Dane halted by the eastern gate of the stockade, watching the black men +swing past him file by file; they were as strange a company as ever +followed a British gentleman to his grave--Moslem bandit, woolly haired +bush thief, stalwart, heathen Kroo, brown desperadoes who had fought the +French under the banner of the great Sultan, and two-legged beasts of +burden from the steaming swamps. Still, unstable and unreasoning, with +the light-heartedness of a child and the cruelty of a devil, as many +were, it gave the watcher a mournful pleasure to see that one and all +had come to pay respect to their dead leader; and he showed his wonder +when Amadu cried aloud, and the glinting flintlocks swung together, with +muzzles to the rear. Dane guessed that the dusky adventurer had not +learned to reverse arms in the service of any hinterland Emir. + +He followed, seeing as one walking in a dream, the sinuous line of sable +limbs and white and blue draperies wind on through deepening shadow. +When Amadu cried again, the moving figures fell apart on either hand, +and Dane was left with their leader and the bearers beside a shallow +trench, on which one shaft of sunlight fell. He cast his ragged hat down +on the sand, and in a voice which seemed to belong to some other person +recited such fragmentary portions of the last office as he could +remember. No one moved among all the silent company, but there was an +inarticulate murmur when at last the solemn words broke off. + +Dane remembered nothing further beyond the dull thud of shovels; his +eyesight seemed to fail him, until presently he found himself moving +dejectedly back to camp behind the straggling company. He must have +slept when he reached his tent, for the sun was low when Monday and +Amadu stood outside the entrance, calling him. When he rose wearily, +Amadu pointed to the groups of men waiting without. + +"Them boy lib for savvy what you do now, sah," he said in the coast +palaver. + +"I can't tell them just yet," Dane answered. "What do they wish +themselves?" + +It was a few moments before his meaning dawned upon Amadu, for the white +man felt too dazed to frame his thoughts in other than everyday English. + +"Them carrier bushmen lib for beach and go back to his own country one +time," said Amadu. "Say this country belong to the Ju-ju." + +No man could have blamed the carriers. They had in their own fashion +done their utmost, and Dane almost shared their opinion about the +locality; but he pointed to other men of lighter color and soldierly +aspect. + +"Do these want to lib for their own country one time, too?" he asked. + +Amadu laughed mirthlessly, and fingering the hilt of the straight blade +glanced at Monday, whose face was very grim, and the little negro, Bad +Dollar, crouching close by with a polished matchet in his hand. + +"They say they follow you if you be fit to hunt them Leopard or go chop +them dam Rideau." + +"They shall have an answer to-morrow," said Dane. "Monday, see there is +order in the camp. Tell them no man is fit to reach the coast himself, +and must wait until I go with him. There is something I want to ask you, +Amadu. What you did was well done, but who taught you how, when a white +soldier is buried, men carry the gun. Your master has gone, and I am +Cappy now." + +As it were mechanically, the big dusky alien closed his heels together, +while his hand went up to his ragged turban and fell again with a rigid +precision. + +"I had suspected it already," said Dane, half-aloud. "Sit down and tell +me about it. Monday, see no boy leaves the camp." + +The others disappeared, and Dane was glad when the man obeyed him. He +was respectful and intelligent, and Dane felt the need of company. It +seemed that the same feeling troubled Amadu. + +"The white man has guessed," he said, in a strangely mixed idiom. "I +carried an Emir's standard in the North, in the dry country where men +fear Allah, and there is corn and tobacco. My master mocked at the +Sultan, refusing his tribute, and the Sultan's horsemen came upon us +while we slept. They wore fine iron chain and carried the guns which +come south through the desert from where no man knows, but for an hour a +handful of us held the gate with the sword. Then when other gates went +down and the huts burned behind us, some one brought my master's horse, +and he rode out upon them. There were less than a score of us living +then, but we carried the standard almost through their midst, and when +my master went down, I and three others stood over him. The Sultan had +fewer men and horses when at last a gun-butt struck me down." + +Amadu flung his head up as he halted, and his eyes glittered when they +fastened on the listener's face. + +"The Sultan was served by men, and not by such as the heathen who follow +the little white man," he said. + +Dane could draw the intended inference, and when he nodded Amadu +appeared satisfied. + +"When I lay in the grass next morning only the wall remained of the +town," continued the dusky soldier of fortune. "There were sufficient +heads hung about it already, so I fled south to serve the White Queen, +as others of my people had done. We would follow the strongest, and knew +how the great Emir of the West had mocked the white men who do not speak +your tongue. So I came south and learned the drill, and wondered if the +English were mad when they sent a lad with the face of a woman to lead +us. There were twenty of us, all broken men who had lived by the sword, +and some laughed when for the first time our officer spoke to us. Others +answered him openly, and, perhaps not understanding all, he said no word +to them; but when one night four men returned carrying plunder they had +stolen from the heathen, and, mocking at his orders, threatened him, he +shot their leader. He stood alone before us, very slight and slender, +with the smoke of the pistol curling about him, and any one of those who +stood by could have crushed him with their hand; but we went back to our +huts when he told us, and henceforward obeyed him. + +"It happened that when time had passed, and we knew our officer, as he +knew us, we went up with him to chastise certain thieves, and came upon +a stockade across the path, with many men who carried guns behind it. +The sun hung low over the forest, and we feared treachery when one held +out a palm branch; but refusing to heed us, our officer went forward +alone to speak with the heathen. He stood as he used to stand, with one +hand on his side, so, holding in the other only a little cane, the +stockade ten paces from him, and we waiting, as he had bidden us, it may +be a hundred, behind him. A wise man would not have done so, but the one +who led us feared nothing. He spoke, and his voice came clear through +the shadow as he stood twisting his cane a little, one lonely white man +demanding submission from the heathen. Then a gun flashed, and he fell +forward on his face, and with a cry for vengeance we swept the stockade. +The heathen did not wait for the steel, and most of them escaped, for +darkness fell suddenly upon the forest. + +"We knew they would fly to the stronghold of a thief in the country of +the white men who speak a different tongue, where, when certain thieves +had done so, our leader might not follow; but when we had buried him we +made a plan, and swore to send many of the bushmen after him. The night +was far spent when we crept softly about the stockade of that heathen +village, but men drunk with palm wine made merry within, doubtless +boasting how they had slain our leader. It was one who had served the +Sultan, climbing the stockade, drove his bayonet through the watcher at +the gate, and no man saw us slip from hut to hut until we gathered +softly about the headman's house, where in honor of the strangers who +had killed a white man there was feasting. + +"Three we could count on held the door, the rest went in, and there +remained no one living when they came out again. Then we burned the +village, and I went back to the outpost of the next white Captain and +told him what we had done. He had eyes like the Captain Maxwell, and +listened very quietly, tapping with his fingers on the table--so--but +another white man whom I did not know, smote it, calling upon Allah in +the speech of the English. + +"Then the Captain looked hard at me, asking, 'You had no order?' + +"'No. He was our master, and those bush thieves killed him +treacherously,' I said boldly, and one white man nodded to the other. + +"'You were wise to speak the truth in this,' said the Captain. 'Your +master would never have given that order; but there are men who will not +believe the rest of your tale.' + +"'By salt and by fire,' I was answering, when he lifted his hand. + +"'I said there are men who will doubt you, and say you shot your leader. +Even if that is not so, you have killed many of our good friends' +people.' When he said this the listening white man laughed a little. +'Their nation will demand restitution, and it is possible the +Commissioner will hang you for what you did--which would not please me, +for you are a good soldier, Amadu. Now you must wait in prison until we +hear from him.' + +"Again the white man smiled, and I could not read all that was in the +Captain's face as he looked at me, but his friend spoke, in the speech +of the English, saying that if he did something he would be condemned. +So I was laid in prison, and stayed there several days, fearing greatly +that I, who had carried the Emir's standard, should hang like a common +bushman, until one night the comrade who brought me rations set down a +treble quantity. + +"'Am I to hang, a fat man, to please the white men who speak +differently?' I asked him, but he answered nothing. + +"It was near midnight when I heard the silver whistle, and a sound of +running feet, after some one called the guard. Now I did not wish to +hang, and Allah gave me understanding. The roof was of whitened iron, +but the door was not strong, and they had left me my rifle, which was +not usual. The door went down at the second blow, and no man saw me as I +fled for the bush, taking the rifle and three days' food with me. Still, +I knew it would not be well for me to remain in the country of the +English, and when no man would hire me, I took service with my last +master. Two I had were killed before him, but neither was his equal, +and I shall not find such another in all Africa--though my service is +not completed yet." + +Again there was a mutual understanding between the pair, and when Dane +nodded Amadu went out softly. The story had interested and also +encouraged him, for he knew he would not be left without a helper in +what he had still to do. Now that the numbness which followed the blow +had begun to pass, there was sufficient to occupy his attention, and +Dane never closed his eyes that night. The gold won would suffice to +cover the cost of the two expeditions, and leave a balance which would +enable him to launch his invention. Dane feared that, situated where the +mine was, no company could be induced to handle it. It appeared certain +that the climate, the sicknesses, and the hostility of the natives would +between them prevent any private adventurers from working it +successfully. Nothing could be done for some months at least, until the +rains had ceased; and before morning the one white man who knew the +river's secret had decided to keep it and send no more of his countrymen +to their deaths in the Leopards' country. At the best, the mine lay in +no-man's-land, and he had not even a black ruler's doubtful concession +for reckless speculators to operate upon. + +What Dane had seen and suffered had humbled his pride. Maxwell's last +news still thrilled him, and he determined he would do what might better +have been done earlier--ask the woman for whose sake he had pressed on +into that forest to wait until he had made further progress in his +legitimate profession. So far, the way was clear, but even before his +comrade left him a desire for vengeance had been growing stronger +within the survivor, and now a sullen fury filled the lonely man, who +had pledged himself to demand a full account for any breach of trust, +and had not hitherto failed his promise. + +At sunrise, leaving his tent unrefreshed, he called the men together and +addressed them first collectively. + +"I will take you all back to the coast, and you will receive more than +you bargained for when you get there," he said, rendering it, however, +into the seaboard tongue. "Still, as the bushmen may try to stop us on +the way, you will not start until you are rested, and I think you ready. +We may not go quite the shortest way, but no boy shall suffer for it who +serves me well." + +There was an approving shout when the listeners grasped his meaning, but +Dane called Amadu and Monday aside. + +"Before or after I take these boys to the coast, I have an account to +settle with Rideau. You will help me?" he said; and when he had made his +purpose plainer, a dozen of his special bodyguard came forward, +protesting their willingness to follow. + +They set to work at once, and there was much to be done. Arms required +to be stripped and oiled, loads packed for transport, and Dane drilled +his men an hour or two each day. A number of days passed before all was +ready, and then the combined forces looked fit for whatever they might +have to do; their leader recognized that the work might be arduous. + +It was early in the morning, and all waited for the word to march, when +Dane stood bareheaded beside a little cross on the bluff beyond the +camp. For a few moments his eyes grew misty as he glanced down at the +date and name he had painfully hacked upon it. He felt that he would +never meet the equal of the man who slept beneath. + +"Good-by, comrade. You will be long remembered," he murmured thickly; +then he solemnly recorded a vow that while Rideau went free and +unpunished his own affairs would wait. Dane owed the dead man a duty, +and he had taken upon himself a pledge which he meant to discharge +thoroughly. + +It was with as little parade of weapons as possible that the expedition +headed for the coast, for the men had their orders and Amadu saw they +were carried out. Those who carried matchets wore them hidden under +their cotton robes, while at times the rank and file were allowed to +straggle unchecked, with small semblance of discipline, in a drawn-out +line. The discipline, however, was there, and disaster would have +overtaken any bushmen who attempted to profit by the apparent lack of +it. Dane did not order defenses of any kind to be raised at night, and +generally had his tent pitched apart from the main camp; so that when +they had made wide detours through dense forest and reeking swamp, some +of the black men commenced to murmur as well as wonder at his +recklessness. Amadu, Monday, and the negro, Bad Dollar, with whom he +held long conferences, realized, however, that their leader was by no +means inconsistent, even if they did not know that he was to all intents +and purposes the victim of a monomania. + +When it was too late forever to tell him so, he realized what his fallen +comrade had been to him; and remembering how Maxwell reached the river +camp, it was with difficulty that he refrained from breaking out into +fits of baresark rage at the thought of their third partner's +treachery. The knowledge that it was necessary to pit an intelligence +unhampered by senseless fury against the enemy's cunning alone +restrained him; for he felt that Rideau, who had probably heard by this +time of his relief, even if he did not know it earlier, would strike +again to ensure his own personal safety. He had no lack of opportunity, +but, either by accident or by judgment, for long refused to fall into +the trap, however temptingly Dane baited it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AN EYE FOR AN EYE + + +The expedition wandered southward leisurely, and Dane grew more savagely +sullen as they passed dripping forest and foul morass in safety, until +at last he ordered his tent to be pitched one sunset, fully a hundred +yards from the camp. The light was failing when he stood outside it +looking about him with a curious suggestion of anticipation in his face. +They had reached the southern fringe of the Leopards' country, and +another week's march should place them in touch with French officials. +The forest was comparatively open, the cottonwoods growing well apart; +and gazing between the long rows of towering trunks streaked by blue +wood smoke, Dane could catch the shimmer of a sluggish creek. It was +deep and miry, and haunted, as he had seen, by huge saurians, but a +little produce evidently came down that way, for the bush path on either +side was connected by a native ferry. + +As he made a last survey the light died out; and his lamp was lighted +when Amadu, Monday, and Bad Dollar came softly into the tent. Dane stood +upright, but the rest crouched low among the cases, that they might not +reveal their presence on the illuminated canvas. Monday growled a +protest as he noticed how his master's figure was projected against it +by the light; but his comments fell unheeded, for there was a definite +purpose behind the white man's imprudence. + +"Again I found the footsteps," Amadu reported, using a mixture of +several tongues, as well as broken English. "The men who made them were +tired, and have doubtless followed us far. They will surely be satisfied +when they see us resting to-night." + +Monday grinned wickedly; Bad Dollar flung back his woolly head and broke +into a silent laugh; and Dane felt a thrill of satisfaction as he +glanced at the speaker. The four formed a curiously assorted company; +but one purpose dominated each of them equally, and the leader was +contented with his assistants. + +"One wore boots and trod in the soft places as no black man would," said +Amadu, reading the unspoken question in the white man's eyes. "Another +wore sandals, and went cunningly, as did the rest, walking as we do upon +our naked feet. Still, they left this behind them among the thorns." + +He held out what Dane was not surprised to see, a small tuft of +leopard's fur, and laughed harshly. + +"Ho, ho! We shall try whether they are devils with lead and steel!" + +"The ferry canoe?" asked Dane briefly; and Amadu nodded. + +"I go to see to it, and afterward it will need good witchcraft to find +it. If any one would go south in a hurry he must swim to-night." + +"There are crocodiles in that stream," smiled Dane. "You will take men +you can trust and hide them where the path winds down to the water, +Amadu. Monday, you will see that until I call, no boy leaves the camp, +but let them lie down with their matchets beside them. Bad Dollar will +wait with me; and I will borrow Cappy Maxwell's gun to-night, Amadu." + +Sitting low among the cases now, Dane made careful preparations for his +own share in the approaching tragedy. That it would prove one he felt +certain. He cleaned Maxwell's gun with a loving care, polishing the +inside of the barrel until it glistened, and touching each part of the +action with oil. The weapon was a heavy, single eight-bore, with a +rubber pad on the heel; part of this Dane cut away, leaving the steel +bare, because he knew that at close quarters the butt of a heavy gun may +prove as deadly as the muzzle. It was with a curious stirring of +recollections that he saw the dead man's initials cut into the elevated +rib, and because of them his face was the sterner as he laid down the +weapon. At short range in the darkness it was likely to prove more +formidable than any rifle, and--for Dane was wholly under the influence +of the monomania--his own safety counted for little if he could use it +with due effect. + +Presently he reloaded half a dozen cartridges with heavy B pellets, +crimping the wads down almost affectionately, and thrust one into the +chamber and the rest into his pocket. Never were cartridges filled with +greater care. Then he laid two of the colored lights Maxwell had brought +beside the tent door, made sure he could find them by feeling alone, and +placed a tin match-box in one pocket where it could be most quickly +grasped. + +At last all was ready, and Dane sat perched high on a deal case between +the lamp and the canvas for a while. Any one in the forest could, of +course, see him clearly; but though Dane expected his foes would strike +that night he did not fear a long-range shot. Rideau, he knew, must have +recognized that his late associate could lay a formidable complaint +before the authorities, who, regarding his inland journeys with +suspicion, would be glad to fasten any charge upon him, and perhaps +equally glad of an excuse to send an expedition up into the Leopards' +country. + +After lying for a time on the matting at one end of the tent, he rose +and turned the lamp out; the watching then was not cheerful, and it was +comforting to feel the weight of the big gun upon his knee. The last hum +of voices had died away in camp, the fires burned low, and except for an +occasional floundering beside the creek, the bush was strangely silent. +The darkness was now intense. The wild animals would await moonrise to +begin their hunting; what Dane expected would happen before then. He +could not see Bad Dollar, who crouched somewhere near the entrance of +the tent, though he heard his file grate softly upon a matchet, and +could picture him running a black thumb along the keen-edged blade at +every cessation. + +Confused memories crowded upon Dane, with Maxwell stalking through them +all. He saw him again, alert, indomitable, resourceful, quelling the +mutinous, cheering the dejected, and tending the sick. He saw him +gasping his life away in that very tent, with, regardless of his own +agony, words which would brighten all his partner's future upon his +lips; and again a gust of passion stirred the lonely man in every fiber. +It passed, and--for Dane was not for the time being wholly sane--left +behind it a coldly murderous resolution. + +Suddenly there was a touch upon his leg. Without a sound Bad Dollar had +wriggled toward him. Turning as silently as he could, Dane crawled to +the entrance, where he crouched with his right heel beneath him, behind +the drawn-back sheeting which hung slackly. It was so dark that he could +scarcely distinguish the nearest cottonwood; but though his ears failed +to localize any definite sound he became conscious of some danger +approaching. Under different circumstances Dane would have felt +distinctly uneasy, knowing, as he did, that the thick gloom sheltered +those who sought his life. Then, however, he feared only that he had not +accurately loaded the cartridge, or that the damp had spoiled the +fulminating mixture inside its cap; and his fingers were woodenly steady +as they tightened on the gun. + +He felt with one hand for the socket of the signal light and found it, +stretched out a foot and pressed it against Bad Dollar when he touched +him again warningly; and then the vague sensation of impending danger +grew into shape at a recognizable sound. Noiselessly almost, but not +quite, somebody or something was crawling toward the tent. + +Dane suspended his very respiration as he strained his eyes, and +listened. He could see nothing, and his ears seemed filled with a dull +throbbing, but in spite of this he could hear the faintest of rustlings +on two sides of the tent at once, and knew that, because no white man +could move in such a manner, his dusky enemies were coming. One seemed +to be making for the end of the tent, where his bed was spread; the +other was creeping toward the entrance to prevent the escape of the +victim in case his comrade failed at the first attempt. It was done with +so little noise that Dane found it hard to realize he had creatures of +flesh and blood to deal with, and not the malevolent devils the bushmen +believed in. Bad Dollar made no further movement, and Dane crouched +woodenly still, only sliding his forefinger inside the guard of the +trigger when at last a spray of leaves swished softly a few yards away. + +Then he heard somebody breathing close beside him, and knew that sudden +death stood hidden behind the slacker sheeting which began to roll back +very slowly; and yet, while the throbbing in his ears grew louder, he +remained impassive another few seconds. He had awaited that moment +patiently; and he meant to strike decisively, for his dead comrade's +sake. There was no light. The night was black and thick; but some sense +beside that of the optic nerve made it evident that part of the moving +sheeting was more rigid than the rest because it rested against human +flesh. Knowing that at the next move the assassin would fall over him, +Dane felt for that portion of the sheeting with the muzzle of the gun +while his forefinger contracted on the trigger. + +The barrel found something that yielded as he added the last ounce of +pressure; there was a detonation; the white man fell backward with his +eyes filled with smoke and two fingers gashed by the trigger guard; and +something that struggled convulsively fell upon the canvas and bore it +down. + +The tent collapsed behind Dane as he slipped from under it; but knowing +how the heavy B-shot would at that distance smash through bone and +muscle, he paid no more attention to this assailant. First he snapped +out the spent cartridge and crammed another home, then, striking a +match, touched the signal light. It smoldered for a moment, then a +column of blue fire swept aloft, and its radiance which beat athwart the +towering trunks showed a striking spectacle. + +Close behind the white man a shapeless heap of fur and black flesh lay +quivering upon the over-turned tent. Half-seen for a second a dim +figure, whose garments were not those of a native, vanished among the +remoter trunks. Men with weapons came flitting out of the shadows which +shrouded the camp; and about thirty yards away a monstrous object with +the head of a beast and the legs of a man was slinking toward a creeper +festoon. Dane flung the gun to his shoulder and fired as it ran, but the +glare of the light beat transversely along the barrel, blinding him. +Springing clear of the filmy smoke, he saw the second assailant was +still running, and he sprang forward without waiting to reload. The +light would last but a few more seconds. Still, the object moved at +twice his speed, and might have escaped but that as he blundered on, +choking in his haste, a diminutive figure ran forth to meet it, and the +beast flung an upper limb aloft. Dane saw the spear which had been meant +for his destruction draw back to stab; but the negro, Bad Dollar, sprang +sideways, and his broad matchet, long filed to a razor-edge, flared +under the last flicker of the light as he swung it round his head. Then +there was sudden darkness, a thud and a crash. + +Dane, guessing that Bad Dollar's matchet had bitten deep, and that his +carrier comrades would see his victim did not escape, turned at top-most +speed in the direction of the creek. Men came running behind him; but a +heavier sound was audible through the patter of their feet, and he knew +that one who was not barefooted fled for his life near ahead. He was +running fast, but Dane, flinging the gun down, knew that he was gaining, +and remembered that the man he sought would find his passage barred +across the creek. So they ran, straining every sinew in a desperate +race. Now and then one smashed through a thorn brake, or staggered, +catching his foot in a creeper vine, but neither went down, and the +gurgle of the creek grew nearer all the time. Dane raised his voice, and +though his cry was barely articulate it proved sufficient, and as +Amadu's hail came back in answer the footsteps before him grew slower, +and a tongue of flame shot up. + +So far there had been no miscarriage, and to furnish light for the +climax a torch had been kept ready by one of Amadu's men. It showed +first the group of grim black figures which guarded the narrow path to +the water through tall cane, and then a man in European dress who stood +still, gasping with fear and rage. + +It was Victor Rideau. + +"See that no boy fires on him unless he moves!" Dane made shift to cry; +and Rideau, turning, met him face to face. + +"I have expected you a long time," Dane said brokenly, for the race had +taxed his strength, and once more he was shaken by a fit of futile rage. +"Now I can't tell you how I regret we did not meet just five minutes +earlier." + +This was an adequate expression of the pursuer's feelings, for as his +enemy stood gazing about him in abject terror, Dane felt he could not +strike him down in cold blood, and he longed fiercely that he might be +provoked to some fresh violence. + +"Can you understand, you thief and midnight assassin, that there is not +enough room in this country for both of us?" + +"I comprehend nothing, camarade," Rideau answered calmly. "What would +you of me?" + +"Satisfaction!" Dane tried to choke down his fury. "There is a long +account between us, and we could have settled it with less difficulty +if you had had the courage of your confederates a few minutes ago. As it +is, you can choose between a dash for the forest and a volley as you go, +or a journey down to the coast in my custody. There you will be turned +over to the authorities. I reserve myself the privilege, if they do not +render you incapable of further mischief." + +Rideau laughed. + +"There I should denounce you for the plunder and killing of the +Indigene. The Administration has no charge against me. I am good friend +of the sous official, me. My friend, you are excite, and talk +foolishly." + +"If the chief of the Administration is a friend of yours, his own words +don't bear it out. I can substantiate quite sufficient against you; and +unless I'm greatly mistaken, the man with the cross on his forehead lies +riddled with big shot beside my tent. A number of my boys will swear to +his identity. In the meantime I have no further words to waste with you. +I intend to give the Administration the first opportunity for rewarding +you. It will be time for me to take further steps if they do not profit +by it as I think they will." + +Dane felt that he was weak; but even in his passion there were things he +could not do, and his enemy's helplessness was his protection. Also, he +knew that justice is tempered with discretion throughout much of that +country, and he hoped that if the Authorities suspected Rideau of +different offenses, but could not convict him, they would see that this +charge did not miscarry. + +The assumption of indifference faded from Rideau's face, and with a +swift glance over his shoulder he drew out his hand from under his +jacket. Dane afterward decided that he saw, what all the rest were too +intent to notice, that the torch was burning out; for with an evident +effort and a shrug of his shoulders he answered quietly. + +"La bas they laugh at you, and I make you pay. Alors, when I am impotent +I surrender to the force majeure." + +Dane, calling to Amadu, strode forward with the failing light upon him. +Unarmed as he was, this was distinctly foolish, and he might have paid +for his folly, for just before the negro dropped the torch Rideau flung +one hand up, and simultaneously with a thin flash something hummed past +the Briton's head. There was bewildering darkness, and Dane ran straight +in upon his enemy, or where he supposed him to be, determined in spite +of the pistol to end the feud there and then. Rideau, however, had +beaten him again, for the growth about the water-side began crackling, +and when some of Amadu's men fired into it, the sound did not cease, and +they only came near destroying their master, who plunged savagely +through the bending stems. + +He fell into a pit of slime, sinking to the waist, and lost precious +time floundering in its oozy grip before he dragged himself out. Then +there was further ooze with matted roots which fouled his feet, while a +sound behind him showed that the negroes were following. It was Amadu +who, when he had waded up to the shoulders and sought for room to swim, +dragged him backward by main force; and though Dane struggled, he was +held fast in a grasp against which he was powerless. + +"If the white man is alive he makes no sound," he said. "No man could +find him in this darkness, but perhaps they who crawl along the bottom +will. Still, when one brings the canoe up we will look for him." + +As his reason returned to him Dane realized that the search would be +useless. A hundred men might fail to find a fugitive who cowered +motionless amid the luxuriant aquatic growth, though, as Amadu had +suggested, the scaled inhabitants of the river would be less likely to +miss him. Still, when somebody brought up a canoe he encouraged them by +extravagant offers of cloth, and then turned back hurriedly toward the +camp. It would, while the confusion lasted, lie open to attack; and Dane +hoped that his enemy, if he succeeded in crossing the river, would leave +a trail behind him which could be followed on the morrow. + +Reaching his overturned tent he found a group of curious negroes +clustered about it, and because a fire had been lighted, there was light +to show that the huddled mass of fur and dusky skin lay where it had +fallen. The canvas was foul with half-coagulated stains whose color made +it unnecessary to inquire if the wound had been fatal. Dane had no +compunction. The man who had been slain when seeking his life with +devilish cunning was one of the league which had struck down his +comrade. Stooping with a shudder of disgust, he stripped the leopard's +fur from the face beneath, and was not surprised to see that a +cross-shaped scar on the forehead showed lividly. + +"Where is the other? There were two?" he asked; and it was with relief +that he saw Bad Dollar, whom he had forgotten, shamble toward him and +then turn beckoning. Dane followed the negro, who held high a blazing +brand, toward where another monstrous object lay full length among the +trampled undergrowth. The fur had fallen partly clear of the flesh +beneath, and he saw that Bad Dollar's matchet had done its work. + +"Come here, all of you," called Dane. "Tell them to look at this man's +neck, Monday, and say if they know the meaning of what there is about +it." + +Monday talked with some of the negroes, who, chattering excitedly, bent +with fear and hesitation, to examine the tattooed device. + +"Them boy say this yellow nigger and them other be big cappy among them +Leopard, sah," Monday interpreted. "That be the Ju-Ju mark, and no +common nigger done wear him, sah." + +"Cappy Maxwell was right again," said Dane. "Make me a bed in the camp +and burn that tent to-morrow, Monday. I could not sleep in it--and I +think until I leave this ghastly country I shall not sleep again. See to +the sentries and let the rest lie down while they can. We lib for go on +again with the sun." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE ESCAPE + + +Dane was mistaken when he said he could not sleep, for hardly had Amadu +returned to report his failure to find any trace of the fugitive than he +sank into deep slumber. This was not strange. He had lived for some time +under a constant strain, sleeping very little; and now that part at +least of his task was accomplished nature had her way. It was true that +Rideau had escaped him, but Dane believed that if he was alive they +might still overtake him. He decided that Rideau's life would no longer +be worth a day's purchase in the Leopards' country, and he would head at +once for the coast. + +Events proved him right, for when he opened his eyes the next morning +Amadu stood beside his couch to say that Rideau had left a trail it was +easy to follow across the creek, and that the boys were ready to march. +They started forthwith, and that was the beginning of a memorable chase. +Every indispensable pound of weight, including the weapons, was +ruthlessly flung away once they entered a settled country. The time for +food and sleep was cut down, and the camp boys, seeing that the road led +south toward the sea, vied with each other in their efforts to shorten +the journey. The forest rolled behind them, as did miles of dusty grass; +but the chase never slackened, and, for this region was populous, they +had news of the fugitive. One morning Dane reached a village he had +passed the previous night. At another they missed him by a few hours, +and found two lame men he had hired and left behind. + +Dane's own men had flung themselves down panting in the shade, but most +of them rose cheerfully in answer to his summons, while Monday used +forcible arguments to encourage the rest, and in ten minutes all were on +their way again. They lost the path in a morass, and at the next village +they found that Rideau had increased his lead; but Dane knew that they +were near the coast, and that he held his enemy between him and the sea. +So the chase went on, until they reached a native market on the banks of +a broad stream. A white man, so its ruler stated, had seized a canoe +there a few hours earlier. + +"Say dam low t'ief man done go chop one canoe and lib for get out like +the debbil down them river," explained a negro who seemed proud of his +linguistic abilities. + +"Tell your headman I'll pay twice its value for the best craft he has," +said Dane; and then consulted with his subordinates, for it was evident +that they must divide forces here. It was not more than three days' +journey to the coast, the headman said; and taking Amadu, Bad Dollar, +and six picked Krooboys with him in the big canoe, he left Monday to +follow with the rest to Little Mahu. Dane felt sorely tempted to leave +the gold with the headman, under guard, but thought better of it. + +The Kroos were skilled with the paddle, the canoe was long and fast, and +Dane's spirits rose as he felt the thin shell surge forward at every +sturdy stroke. All that day the dusky bodies, stripped to the costume +of Eden, swayed athwart his vision over the flashing blades, as he +stared forward with aching eyes down the long vista of dazzling water +that unrolled itself before him. Palms, cottonwoods, creeper festoons, +mud banks, fled astern. The temperature grew suffocating under the glare +of afternoon, but still the thudding paddles rose and fell, while froth +licked the bows and the paddling song rose in spasmodic gasps. At sunset +they met a big trade canoe toiling upstream; and, excited by promises of +rich reward, the crew roused themselves to fresh effort when its +helmsman told them that another craft with three men in it, one of whom +was dressed as a white man, had passed him an hour earlier. + +A full moon rose over the forest presently, and they pushed on across +stretches of glistening silver and breadths of inky gloom. The Kroos had +done gallantly, but they were only beings of flesh and blood, and their +strength was ebbing fast. One who had dropped his paddle lay idle in the +bows, another appeared to be choking, and fouled his comrade's blade, +while the paddles of the rest dipped at steadily increasing intervals; +so seeing that neither bribes nor threats could stir them, Dane +desisted, almost too hoarse to make his voice audible. His hands were +raw and bleeding where the haft of his paddle had eaten into them. The +stream, however, ran with them, and they still made headway, while he +strained his heavy eyes, expecting each moment to see a canoe ahead. + +Dane, however, even yet had not gaged his enemy's ingenuity. + +They ran the craft alongside the landing of a native village in another +hour or two, crawled out of her very stiffly, and were told by the +headman that two negroes had come ashore from a passing craft to +purchase food a little earlier, while a white man lay still in her +bottom. Dane concluded from this that the fugitive had slightly +increased his lead, and he was wondering whether he could by main force +get his boys on board again, or could engage a fresh crew, when a negro +who spoke English plucked his sleeve. + +"I go look them white men in canoe soffly, soffly. What you lib for dash +me if I tell you something, suh?" + +Dane had nothing left to offer as a present, and seizing the man by the +shoulder, shook him violently. + +"Tell me at once, and you shall have whatever you want if you will go to +Mahu for it," he said. + +The headman protested, but the negro only grinned when Dane slackened +his grip. + +"I not fool man, sah. The Lord he give me sense too much. You done dash +me them jackus you have on now." + +Dane's duck jacket was badly rent, but it was garnished with ornamental +metal buttons such as the black man loves. Tearing it off, he flung it +at the speaker. The heathen, finding himself successful, desired the +white man's trousers too; but this time Dane, disregarding the headman, +shook him savagely. + +"I go look them white man, sah. He was a black man in white man's +clofes." + +Dane stared at the man stupidly; and then clustering huts, red fires, +and wondering negroes, grew hazy before him, as choking with fury he saw +what had happened. Rideau had changed clothes with one of his +followers, and sending him on for the pursuers to follow, had landed +and vanished into the forest. It was of the first importance to decide +where he would make for. Mastering himself with an effort, Dane managed +to obtain some useful information from the headman. Mahu, being +partially sheltered, was the only port in that vicinity where any one +would be likely to find surf-boats, or canoes suitable for a coast trip, +he said; for the bar of the river they had descended was generally +impassable. It seemed hardly probable that Rideau would turn north again +without equipment or escort; and deciding that he would endeavor to +escape from the colony before the authorities heard his pursuer's story, +Dane determined to push on at once for Redmond's factory. His men, +however, were utterly worn out, and finally declined to drag themselves +a yard farther. Bad Dollar lay down, and was either unwilling or unable +to get up again; only Amadu remained unbeaten. Finally the headman was +prevailed upon to provide carriers, and Dane and Amadu were borne out of +the village in lurching hammocks. + +At first the motion of a hammock is soothing, but though very weary Dane +could not sleep. The boys marched well; but consumed with impatience, he +lay wide awake peering into the darkness, and striving to encourage them +to more determined effort. They ceased the carrying song from sheer lack +of breath, and the white man could hear them panting beneath him. The +sun rose, but there was no halt for rest; and the men were stumbling +when one shouted excitedly, and not far ahead low whitewashed buildings +rose dazzlingly against the sea. + +When the carriers halted in front of them, two traders whom Dane +recognized from Maxwell's description met him at the compound gate, and +stared wonderingly when, watching them with bloodshot eyes, the newcomer +told his name. + +"Where are the rest of you, and Maxwell?" asked Redmond. "You can't have +lost the whole of them; though there's no need to tell me something has +gone wrong. Few men come home from the back country looking as though +they had enjoyed the experience, but you're almost as bad as the last +one." + +"I have not enjoyed mine," Dane answered huskily; for he remembered with +what hopes and in whose company he had first marched from the sea, and +the contrast was bitter. "Maxwell has made his last journey." + +"Dead?" + +Dane nodded; and Gilby laid a hand on his shoulder with a gesture of +sympathy which touched him. + +"He was a wonderful man--but all the rest of them are not dead, too?" + +"We lost too many. The rest are following. I will try to tell you all in +good time. Has Rideau arrived here lately?" + +Gilby smiled dryly. + +"He has; and the way he did it coupled with your own appearance would +stir up any man's curiosity. Rideau came in dressed like a nigger this +morning, in the hottest hurry, saying he'd important business down the +coast, and offered me my own price for the loan of our big surf-boat to +go there in." + +"You didn't let him have it!" Dane gasped. + +"We don't often let business pass us; but I told him to go to perdition, +if he could find his way swimming." Gilby chuckled. "I also told him +several things that needn't be repeated." + +"Gilby never had any sense to spare," interjected his comrade. "He was +so proud of the speech he made that instead of warning the niggers not +to help him, he did nothing except tell me how he said it; and Rideau +got some fishermen to take him east in their canoe. They'll be well away +to leeward now. What did the brute do?" + +"Instigated my partner's murder, and twice attempted my own life," Dane +answered in breathless haste. "But I'm in no mood to waste time. Will +you hire me that surf-boat?" + +"If you want her to follow Rideau you shall have the boat for nothing, +and we'll both come along," said Redmond. "Gilby, get down to the beach +and see to the gear and crew. Meantime, you are coming straight into the +factory to get some food. Where is Rideau making for? That I don't know, +but he'll probably try to get on board the _Minella_ if he's afraid of +you. She's billed on a stopping trip for Lagos, but she'll edge close +round Twin Point Bluff, and he'll no doubt try to board her there. +There's a nice southwester blowing now, and under the big lugsail we +ought to overhaul the canoe before he does so. She can't have got far +until the breeze sprang up." + +Dane had eaten little of late, but the food forced upon him almost +choked him now; and leaving most of it untasted, he drank feverishly; +then finding himself almost too exhausted to pace the veranda, he flung +himself impatiently into a chair. + +"Will that boat never be ready?" he asked. + +"I'm hurrying her," replied Gilby, who also seemed impatient. "One +boy's sewing a new cloth in the sail, and as she's too big to paddle +far, we can't start until it's finished. She wants some pitch run into +her bilge seams, too, and won't be ready for an hour or longer. Still, +I'm hoping to overhaul Rideau early to-morrow--and he won't enjoy the +meeting, by the look of you." + +After some discussion Redmond reluctantly agreed to remain behind in +charge of the gold Dane brought down; and it was nearly dark when, +without shipping overmuch water, the surf-boat cleared the beach, and +with tall lugsail straining, lurched away eastward over the moonlit +swell. It was then that, lying in the stern to rest and gather strength +for what might yet be required of him, Dane told Gilby his detailed +story. He could afterward recall the intent face fixed upon him, the +crash of breakers throbbing through the haze that hid the shore, and the +listing craft's swift rise and fall. At the time, however, he was +conscious of nothing except that they were speeding east, and that the +trader assured him the slender native canoe dare carry very little sail +in such a strength of breeze. Gilby held the tiller, a big Krooboy sat +on the weather gunwale slacking off the lugsail sheet each time the boat +dipped her side to a stronger puff of breeze, and Amadu lay on the +weather floorings, deadly sick and groaning horribly, to the amusement +of the amphibious heathen. + +"It will be remembered that I have suffered these torments for my +master's sake," he said in a mixture of several tongues. "Still, once we +land I will beat the life out of some of these dogs." + +The craft traveled fast, for the off-shore breeze blew fresh abeam; and +though at times it lashed the waters into foam, the helmsman daringly +held on to the whole lugsail; and so at last, when the moon hung low in +the west, and pearly streaks brightened over her starboard bow, a tall +bluff loomed blackly through the haze ahead. + +"Twin Point," said Gilby, shaking the spray from his jacket. "I have +kept her well inshore for a purpose, but now we'll ease the sheet off. +We should see the canoe once we round the head. The _Minella_ can't be +far off by this time, either." + +Dane rose stiffly, but he could see little except the belts of thinning +haze which dimmed the waters ahead. He could hear the thunder of +breakers on the invisible foot of the cliff. The light was growing each +moment, the breeze dying fast, and presently the damp lugsail slatted +against the mast. + +"Get out your paddles!" ordered Gilby. + +The lugsail rustled down, the mast was lowered. Muscular black men +perched themselves on the gunwales, and the paddles beat the water, +while, when they had brought the head abeam, the mist rolled back, and +the red track of the sunrise streaked the heaving sea. A low, black blur +and a smear of smoke crawled athwart it; while nearer the shore, and +seen only when the surf-boat climbed the long undulations, a dusky +strip, with moving figures silhouetted against the radiant sea, lurched +toward the approaching steamer. + +"There he is!" Dane shouted. "Gilby, promise those boys anything if we +overtake him! Pull up your tiller and swing her farther off-shore! If we +pass out of hailing distance I shall miss the steamer." + +"You are right; and that's the _Minella_," was the answer. "Still, if +you wish to meet Mr. Rideau you had better let me arrange things for +you. We can see him out there, but he won't see us under the high bluff +as yet, and his boys don't seem to be killing themselves yonder. He'll +expect us coming up from the southwest, and that is why I edged in along +the shore. Besides, there's a nasty piece of stone lying off the False +Point which, as the stream sets strong over it, it's wiser to keep well +clear of." + +Straining his eyes, Dane could see the surf on the Twin promontory some +distance away; and while he watched it a long undulation outshore of it +was rent asunder and a column of foam rushed aloft. It dissipated into +filmy spray, and a dull roar reached the listeners faintly. The steep +swell of the southern ocean breaks heavily along the coast. + +"That's Sunk Reed," said Gilby. "A steam-boat went ashore there three +years ago and smashed most of her bottom out in less than five minutes. +Since then careful skippers coming round False Point haul out from +shore. By the way the _Minella_'s steering, it's not certain that either +Rideau or ourselves will catch her. Paddle, you black devils, paddle!" + +Dane fancied the boys were doing their utmost, but the progress they +made appeared distressfully slow. The steamer was rising higher all the +time, but thin haze still clung about the rocks, and the surf-boat +probably remained unseen against the towering background. The canoe also +was growing larger, and Dane could plainly see the sunken reef hurling +clouds of spray aloft ahead of her, for the flood-tide joining the usual +eastward current was setting strong across it. Presently a figure waving +a white cotton cloth rose upright in the craft and the paddles whirled +faster, but there was no answering hoot from the steamer's whistle. + +"The _Minella_'s deep, and her skipper wouldn't stop long for a +Colonial Governor when he has a full cargo on board," explained Gilby. +"It will be a tight fit to catch her; but we could head off Rideau, who +doesn't see us yet. I don't think his boys, being strangers, know how +far that reef runs out. Only the steeper seas break on the outer end of +it." + +"Head him off. Never mind the steamer," Dane said hoarsely. + +The boys made further efforts. Foam lapped about the bows, the splash of +paddles swelled into a resonant thudding, and Gilby pulled hard upon his +helm. + +"They see us at last!" + +Dane stood upright, cheering on the paddlers, who broke into a gasping +song, and both craft went flying across the swell; but as they edged +outshore it became evident that Rideau must pass the reef closely to +reach the steamer. Rolling heavily, she still came on, perhaps a mile +away, with unslackened speed. The spouting on the reef drew nearer, and +Dane's voice seemed to break up in his throat, for unless Rideau could +clear it during the next few minutes the pursuers felt sure of him. Dane +had no paddle, and there being nothing he could do, he stared forward, +moistening his parched lips with his tongue. Quickening a trifle, the +paddles flashed and fell, while the lurching hull leaped forward at +every impetus; but it seemed to the anxious man that she was merely +crawling over the flaming sea. + +"We have him!" gasped Gilby, with exultation in his tone. "If he holds +clear of the reef we have him safe! Hallo! Where is he going now? It's a +very odd chance he shoots through between the seas." + +Dane already had noticed that the outer end of the reef was marked only +by a swirl of water when the smaller seas passed. As Gilby spoke, the +canoe was turned straight toward it. + +"What that man can do we can. Follow him!" Dane cried; but Gilby +signaled to his crew, and they slackened their paddling. They were far +from timid, but they had not lost their reason. + +Twice the sea was rent apart ahead, and sheets of foam rushed up, while +the sound of its impact on the reef rang in a deafening crash. Then the +pursuit ended suddenly. + +"Are they mad, or turning on him?" gasped Gilby. + +A man flung in his paddle on board the craft ahead. The flash of a +pistol followed, but no sound was audible through the thunder of the +reef. Then a black form rose upright with paddle swung high, and a long +sea rose between the pursuers and the canoe. When it passed, the frail +craft floated bottom uppermost, and the reef hurled up a smother of foam +close ahead. Already several black heads were spread out across the +swell as the native crew swam for dear life to evade the danger. + +Gilby's boys stopped paddling altogether. + +"Go on! Rideau's clinging to the canoe!" shouted Dane. + +Gilby looked at the whirling spray, and then at his comrade. + +"It won't be in this world he'll answer for his offenses. She's drifting +straight across the reef, and nothing at that distance could cheat it." + +Dane struck the nearest negro. + +"Go on! Why don't you paddle? Gilby, where that man goes I follow!" + +The trader gripped him savagely by the arm. + +"He has escaped you. Keep still or I'll fell you with the tiller. Are +you mad? There, look yonder. That is the last of him." + +Staring out of eyes that but imperfectly recorded their impressions, +Dane saw the black hull of the canoe swing aloft on the crest of a sea +which rolled majestically toward the hidden barrier. The wall of water +broke up suddenly with a deafening roar, and a tremendous rush of foam +hurled itself aloft. When it fell, there was no sign of the canoe. + +"He has gone," said Gilby, in a curiously strained voice. "The niggers +will get ashore all right. You couldn't drown a beach man. Rideau will +be smashed out of recognition. Still, we'll paddle round to leeward and +make certain. Appolyon, you try to signal them 'teamer." + +When they slid round the other side of the barrier a shattered canoe +rocked bottom-uppermost on the confused welter, but there was no sign of +a human head; and when the blast of a whistle reached the searchers, the +surf-boat's bow was toward the steamer. + +"You had better go on with her and make an affidavit before the +Commandant, if they'll land you," advised Gilby. "I'll send in a written +statement and swear to it if they send a Commissioner. Meantime, we'll +keep your boys at the factory; and, in case we might want their +testimony, I'll take off Rideau's niggers too. Of course, we had no +intention of drowning him, but the way he shot that poor black +paddle-boy lessens one's regrets. Rideau was dangerous to his friends to +the last." + +Dane was ready to act upon any suggestion. Worn out, mentally and +physically alike, he could not think connectedly; and when, climbing +the lowered ladder, he was surrounded by a wondering group on the +steamer's deck, he turned from them savagely. + +"We are all curious," said the skipper. "What took place aboard the +canoe--mutiny, murder, or an outbreak of insanity?" + +"I can't tell you anything now; but if you will come ashore with me at +the next French station, where I must make a declaration, you shall hear +how the canoe was wrecked when I am able to tell it." + +"That will do," acquiesced the skipper. "You certainly don't look fit +for unnecessary talking now. Better turn in, and I'll send our doctor +along to you." + +Dane was glad to do so; but he had hardly flung himself down in his room +before the doctor came in. + +"I have been living under a constant strain during the last few months, +and have had very little sleep for weeks," he said. "Give me something +that will keep me from waking or thinking for twelve hours, if you have +it." + +The surgeon touched his wrist and laid a hand on his forehead. + +"So one would suppose," he replied; "but if the scene we just witnessed +was the climax of your adventures, I hardly think you will need a +sleeping draught. Nature is addicted to providing her own remedy. If +you'll take the dose I'll send you, you will probably wake up +considerably better. It will not contain narcotics." + +He went out, and Dane soon sank into deep, refreshing sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE HEART OF BONITA CASTRO + + +A puff of cool air streaming in through an open port roused the sleeper, +and he became conscious of a restful lift and swing. The hammock boys, +it seemed, had a good path beneath them and were traveling well. But the +swing was longer than that of any hammock, and a steady vibration, which +resembled no sound in the forest, recalled him to remembrance. He +recognized that it was made by pounding engines. The air that fanned him +was also fresh and invigorating, and Dane lay still again with a sense +of vast relief. The time of strain was over, and now for a space at +least he could rest. Dressing languidly, he went up on deck. + +The ocean gleamed, a great sheet of rippling silver, under the moon. +Clear stars burned above the mastheads, which swayed to and fro athwart +them, while the splash of tumbling waters and the sting of flung-up +spray seemed charged with healing. Lights shone in the smoking-room +windows, through which laughter and a murmur of voices came out, but +just then merriment would have jarred on Dane, and he leaned over the +rails, baring his head to the breeze, and trying to realize what had +happened to him. He felt that the shadow which had hung over him had +melted while he slept, and escaping from its baleful darkness, which had +obscured his mental vision, he had awakened sane. Then, though for the +sake of one who slept on a lonely bluff beyond the Leopards' country, +Dane did not regret what had been done, he shuddered, remembering the +one grim purpose which had dominated him. + +"We did not expect to see you yet," said the skipper, halting beside him +with the doctor. "Of course, we have had only one topic of +conversation." + +"What is the general opinion?" Dane asked indifferently. + +"My glass is an old one, but the mate has one of the latest inventions," +the skipper answered. "He declares it was the white man who upset the +canoe, and did it deliberately." + +"I should like to see the mate," exclaimed Dane. "If he is right it +would to some extent be a relief to me." + +"I haven't quite relinquished my authority yet," the doctor interposed. +"One might conclude it would be wise for you to give your mind a rest +from that particular subject. A good many things happen in this country +which it is well to forget; and there are signs that your load has been +as heavy as you are fit to carry." + +"It is good advice, if somewhat hard to profit by," said Dane; and the +two men turned away. The skipper's words, however, had removed his last +compunction. He had determined to deliver Rideau to justice, and not +planned to drown him, but if his enemy had preferred to take his own +life rather than stand a trial, the responsibility did not rest upon his +pursuer. + +Dane strolled forward out on to the reeling forecastle, and found the +swift passage of the ship through the moonlit water soothing. Ahead +there was neither reef nor shoal. She forged on, hurling aside each sea +which barred her way, straight toward a safe haven through open water. +It seemed a happy augury, and presently Dane retired tranquilly to sleep +again. + +Early the next morning the mate and the skipper went ashore with him at +a cluster of white-washed buildings, over the largest of which the +tricolor floated, and were courteously received by a little elderly +officer. His secretary took down the statements made by the captain and +mate, and when these had been sworn to, he quoted from a book before him +as he turned to Dane. + +"It sounds like a romance, but we have proof that Monsieur speaks the +truth," he said. "He will return to Petit Mahu with an official who will +examine the traders and the Indigene. Until his report is considered, +Monsieur will not leave this colony. In touching the gold, the signature +of this contract is undoubtedly that of Victor Rideau, and under the +terms of it his share is forfeit. Thus, subject to certain fees, +Monsieur retains possession. In regard to the position of the river he +decides to say nothing? It is not convenient that more white men lose +their lives in that country of the devil, or cause the bad understanding +with the Indigene. We have not yet open it for exploitation. Our +information describes it as barren, and without value, which Monsieur +will, I think, not contradict." + +Dane had little trouble with the authorities. A commendable absence of +useless formalities characterized all their dealings with him, and in a +very brief space he was free to leave the colony. His men had been paid +much more than they bargained for, and it was with genuine regret that +he took leave of the last of them; it was with difficulty that he +dissuaded Monday from accompanying him to England. The few Kroos +remaining at Mahu when he left paddled him off to his steamer; and +looking back from her deck, he could see Amadu's tall figure on the +beach. Redmond and Gilby came on board, and, dining there, celebrated +the parting so thoroughly that several seamen were needed to assist them +into their boat, while how any of the party ran the gauntlet of the surf +was more than Dane knew. They were not men of much refinement and had +their weaknesses, black and white alike; but he owed a good deal to the +sturdy heathen, while the two of paler color, instead of turning aside +from a distressed compatriot, had shown themselves ready to assist him +with a warm-hearted recklessness not always to be found among those +possessing a higher degree of culture. + +Dane had one task still before him; and it was a hot afternoon when he +called for the last time at Dom Pedro's factory. It seemed almost +strange that everything should remain as he had last seen it--the little +olive-faced gentleman lounging, cigarette in hand, against the veranda +balustrade, and Bonita and her sleepy aunt lying in deep chairs in the +shadow. In spite of the heat and sickness in that land, life goes +smoothly at an African factory run by men of Latin race. + +Dane was puzzled by something in Bonita's manner as she rose to meet +him. She showed little pleasure, but rather suppressed anxiety, and +looked past him toward the beach as though expecting somebody. Even Dom +Pedro seemed shaken out of his usual serenity, the senora's eyes were +open wide, and there was a silence after the opening courtesies. + +"It is with the great satisfaction we see you safe," said Dom Pedro, +though satisfaction was not what his voice most clearly expressed. "But +you bring us news? Two of you go up yonder, and there is a third who +follow. One only he comes back." + +Dane guessed that the speaker's anxiety chiefly concerned the third who +followed, and the implied question was the least difficult to answer. + +"I have news," he said. "The man who followed us was no friend of yours, +senorita?" + +Bonita Castro's lips curled scornfully. + +"No. I have little cause to be a friend of him." + +"He will harass you no longer. He is dead," said Dane. + +There was no pity, but rather pride and a still strained anxiety in the +girl's eyes. + +"It is as I told you, padre. The dog has failed in his treachery and the +Senor Maxwell has kill him." + +"No. He was drowned at sea." + +"It was not the Senor Maxwell who kill him? And the man with the cross +on his forehead?" + +"No," said Dane. "Rideau was drowned while trying to avoid me. The man +with the cross on his forehead is also dead. He twice attempted my +comrade's life, and I shot him one night when he was crawling toward my +tent." + +Bonita bent her head in a curious formal salutation. + +"Our felicitations, Don Ilton. And the Senor Maxwell?" + +Her voice grew a little deeper with the last question, and there was a +note in it which puzzled Dane, while she cast a swift glance toward the +second surf-boat lurching in shore from the anchored steamer. The man +hesitated before he answered. + +"He also is dead, senorita. He was treacherously murdered in the forest +beyond the Leopards' country." + +Amid all the memories Dane carried with him from Africa there were only +two which equaled in vividness that of the few following moments. The +girl stifled a half-articulate cry, and a heavy silence succeeded. Dom +Pedro grasped the rails hard with genuine consternation in his face; and +there was horror in the senora's expression. Bonita stood stiffly +upright, with lips turned suddenly bloodless and a look that astonished +Dane in her dilated eyes. Beyond that space of shadow there was dazzling +sunlight, and to emphasize the stillness on the veranda the hot air +vibrated with the roar of the sea. The girl appeared to choke for +breath. Understanding suddenly, Dane turned his eyes away. It was the +senora who spoke first. + +"All dead. _Reina de los angeles--ave!_" she murmured. + +Dane, looking round again, saw that Bonita was mistress of herself. It +was all clear now, and he admired as well as pitied her. Passionate, +vindictive, wayward as she was, the blow had stirred within her the +pride of her race, and it was with a queenly air she turned toward him. + +"The senor will pardon us if we give him pain, but he will tell us all. +Of Rideau's treachery, and--how his comrade fell." + +Dane fancied that he was the only one in the party who had guessed the +girl's secret; and he might not have done so but that sympathy quickened +his perceptions, for he also had loved Carsluith Maxwell. He felt that +it might be well for Bonita Castro if she heard everything, and he +roused himself to do his fallen comrade justice. Thus the dead man moved +an heroic figure through all the kaleidoscopic happenings. The rest, +black and brown, were lay figures, himself a puppet obeying the leader's +will; and, when the narrative concluded, Dane felt that if others now +knew his comrade as he had known him he was satisfied. Remembering what +he had seen he could, he fancied, read by the light of it what was +passing in Bonita Castro's mind. At times she listened with quivering +lips, then a moisture gathered in her eyes, which nevertheless glittered +with a curious pride, and he thought her superb when at last, with a +glance only, she thanked the bringer of the news. + +"He was all _caballero_, as you say, a very gallant gentleman. I will +pray for the sound rest of him," she said. + +Dom Pedro moved uneasily. + +"He was a man without principle this Rideau. With excuses to the senor, +I would my books examine, and try to figure of how much he rob me," he +said, and hurried away. + +Bonita followed, and Dane was left with her sleepy aunt who presently +astonished him. The senora, it appeared, was a lady of much keener +perceptions than he had imagined; and he understood why she told him +what had happened during Rideau's last visit to the factory. It was +evident that Dane owed his life in a measure to her niece. When she +concluded, the lady lapsed into a somnolent silence, which, if assumed, +was tactful, leaving the man, who was glad of a respite from +conversational effort, to digest the information. + +Dom Pedro had cargo for the steamer, and it was late when Dane said +good-by to Bonita on the moonlit veranda. It may have been due to the +silvery light, but she seemed to have changed, and Dane shrank a little +from meeting her. Bonita, however, spoke very quietly. + +"I have a confession to make," she said. "You have done much for my +father, and it is right that I tell you." + +"Please don't, senorita," Dane interposed; but the girl checked him. + +"You lost the Senor Maxwell's map here, and I, who found it, sold it +Rideau. It was the infamy, but the price was tempting--and I knew one of +you would kill him. You will try to forget the injury?" + +"I think I know why you did it, and I do not blame you," said Dane. "I +shall most clearly remember that, when I was sick, you saved my life for +me, as I think you did again when you helped my comrade to forestall +Rideau." + +Bonita smiled a little. + +"You are generous, but I would have it so. Then we are, as you say, the +equal. I have been able to help you. You give me my liberty. You sail +now for England, Don Ilton?" + +"Yes," said Dane; and again Bonita Castro astonished him. + +"She loves you?" she asked simply. + +The question was startling, and the man answered stupidly. + +"I hope so. I--I do not know." + +For a moment the swift laughter rose to the girl's eyes, but died in its +birth, and the movement of her hands that followed it stirred the man's +pity. + +"You do not know? I saw the picture, and it was for her you went up into +the Leopards' country. You are a strange people, Don Ilton--and the +Senor Maxwell, he was like you?" + +Dane afterward remained uncertain why he spoke as he did, but the words +framed themselves, as it were, without his volition. + +"No," he said; "nobody could compare me with Maxwell. Nor do I think I +have met many such as he; but when he was dying, he spoke much of you. +He told me you had promised to help us, and that he could trust you. It +was almost his last charge that I should tell you so." + +Dane knew by her swift grateful glance that Bonita Castro blessed him +for the speech. In impulsive southern fashion, she held out both hands +to him. + +"_Vaya con Dios_, and the good saints send you happiness! I think we +neither of us forget what has happened here, Don Ilton." + +The last words ended in something like a sob, and Dane, who could think +of no fitting words to say, only crushed the little hot hands in his own +and swung his hat low as he turned away. Dom Pedro walked to the +surf-boat with him, but Dane scarcely heard what he said, for his +thoughts were centered on the girl, who stood, a pathetic figure, gazing +after him from the moonlit veranda. + +The Krooboys were slow to reach the steamer, but Dane was the better +pleased, for he hardly felt equal to facing the questions or the +badinage of her passengers just then. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +REWARDED + + +It was a sunny afternoon when the little West Coast mailboat's engines +ceased their throbbing off the mole of Santa Cruz, Teneriffe. Clear +skies had hung over her as she rolled northward in no great hurry, and +the fresh breezes which curl the sparkling sea between Morocco and the +fever coast had brought new life to her sickly passengers. Dane felt his +heart grow lighter as each league of deep blue water rolled astern, and +the shadow of the dark land had almost fallen from him when the Canaries +rose out of the sea. He had youth on his side, besides a comparatively +clean conscience and a sound constitution; and a little chest consigned +by him to a British bank was locked in the steamer's specie room. Though +he would gladly have flung its contents into the sea to undo the past, +regrets were futile. So, with a courage which sprang rather from +humility than pride, he had determined to ask Lilian Chatterton to +either share his struggles or await his prosperity. + +The long black mole slid past, the bows forged more slowly through the +crystal brine, and the harbor opened up. Even before the yellow flag +fluttered aloft, boats by the dozen shot out from the lava steps, and +Dane eagerly scanned the faces of their occupants. They were fruit +peddlers, shipping and coaling clerks, and he sighed with disappointment +as he next swept his eyes along the mole. Nobody among the loungers +there raised a hat or a handkerchief. + +"Expecting friends?" asked the purser, halting beside him. + +"I was," Dane answered dejectedly. "Although I cabled from the Coast, I +don't see them." + +"I wouldn't count too much on that," smiled the purser. "Nobody is very +particular in Spanish possessions, and it's quite possible they lost +your message or couldn't decipher the English name. We shall fill up +here with tourists, and if you are going home with us you must let me +know." + +"I can't tell you now," Dane said. "It depends on what I hear ashore." + +"Well, I won't keep a berth for you." + +He left Dane troubled when he turned away, for he had certainly expected +Chatterton to welcome him and he had counted the days until he could ask +Lilian an eventful question. He had hoped also that the cable message +would have prepared them for his tidings; he shrank from again appearing +unexpectedly as the bearer of tragic news. There was no time to be lost, +however, and he went ashore in the first boat. Strange faces looked down +at him from the mole, and no friendly voice was raised in greeting; and +further annoyance awaited him when he hurried into the hotel. + +Mr. Chatterton and family had stayed there for a time, but had left, the +major-domo said. He thought they had gone to Madeira, but they might +have sailed for England, or anywhere. It was not his business to ask +where any Englishman wandered to, but the clerk might know. The clerk, +it appeared, was out, and might not be back for an hour or so, but the +major-domo suggested that in the meantime something might be gathered +by an examination of the visitors' letters in his office. He showed Dane +where the office was, and then shrugged his shoulders. + +"What pity! Ramon he have lock the door," he said. + +"That's a very small obstacle," answered Dane. "Nobody else has a key, I +suppose, so I'm going to get in through the window, and I will most +certainly break it if he has fastened that up, too." + +There were murmurs of protest, and Dane fancied that half the staff +gathered in the hall and watched him endeavor to wrench the sash out by +main force. When he had almost accomplished it, somebody suggested that +when Ramon locked the front door he usually left one at the side open. +It was a characteristic example of how things are managed in Latin +countries; and the next minute Dane was busy turning over a bundle of +letters in the office. There were several for Thomas and Mrs. +Chatterton, and the sight of them filled him with satisfaction. Then his +eye was caught by his own name on the top of two envelopes reforwarded +to Chatterton, and after a swift glance at the embossed name on the +back, he tore the first open. + +It was from a celebrated engineering firm, and his blood pulsed faster +as he read it: + +"Although when you last called upon us we could not quite see our way to +do so on the terms you mentioned, we are now prepared to undertake the +manufacture and sale of your invention on the following conditions." + +Dane saw that the conditions were as favorable as any non-capitalist +inventor could expect, but he felt that the gold he had sent home would +help him to improve them; and it was with a thrill of satisfaction that +he opened the second letter. This was from his last employers, offering +him reasonable remuneration if he would undertake the supervision of the +machines and bridge work they were sending out to execute an important +railroad-building contract abroad. + +Here was one difficulty removed, at least. Dane hastened to the cable +offices, and felt a great contentment when his messages were on the +wires. His prospects were improving, and it was encouraging to know he +would not pose as a wholly indigent suitor. When he reached the hotel +once more, the clerk had returned, and informed him that Mr. Chatterton +and family had retired for the sake of coolness to Laguna, five or six +miles away. + +Dane procured a horse, and within the next few minutes he was urging it +at its best pace up the steep hillside. The horse, as it happened, was a +good one, and its rider's spirits rose higher as each mile went by. It +was a fine evening, and to one fresh from the enervating heat of Africa, +there was a wonderful buoyancy in the cool air that came down from the +cordillera. It was a refreshing change to see the merry brown faces of +the peasants who saluted him as he passed, and hear the laughter of the +mule drivers as their climbing teams dropped behind. Dane had almost +forgotten the dark land when the white walls of drowsy Laguna rose to +view. The loungers in the plaza knew the Englishman Dane inquired for, +and one of them preceded him down a narrow street with a dignified +leisureliness which even the sight of a dollar failed to dissipate, and +finally halted outside a high-walled garden doubtless laid out by some +Castilian conquistador four centuries ago. + +Dane swung himself from the saddle before a door ornamented by a +beautiful bronze bell handle, and spent two minutes pulling the bell +vigorously. There was no answer nor any sound within, and remembering +that it did not necessarily follow that the handle had a wire attached, +he stepped back into the roadway and flung himself against the barrier. +A hasp of some kind yielded, and he staggered forward into the garden. +The sun was dipping behind the cordillera, but its red light beat into +his eyes, and at first he could see only a row of crimson oleanders +stretching away before him. Their fragrance and the scent of heliotrope +was heavy within his nostrils. Passing through the shadow of an +orange-tree he made out a white wall garlanded by blue bougainvillea, +and halted at the sound of a startled voice as his eyes fell upon the +group on the terrace beneath it. + +Thomas Chatterton had flung his chair back, and stood up with a flushed +face, speaking excitedly. His niece also had risen, and her gaze was +fixed upon the man who came hurriedly out of the shadow of the tree. She +was silent, but Dane read in her eyes that which set his heart beating, +and for a second or two he saw only the dainty figure and the smiling +face turned toward his own. + +The elation suddenly died out within him, and it was by an effort that +he moved forward, for there was a third in the party. A man with +iron-gray hair stood a little apart from the rest, and while each of his +companions showed that they rejoiced to see the new arrival, he was +gazing fixedly at the open door behind him. Dane saw that it was +Brandram Maxwell of Culmeny, and knew why he watched the door. + +"This is even more than we hoped for, Hilton, though we have all been +anxiously waiting for news of you," said Chatterton. "Thank Heaven you +are safe anyway. Worth a good many dead men, isn't he, Lilian? She knew +Maxwell would bring you out; and when I grew anxious her confidence +reassured me. But why didn't you cable--and where is Maxwell?" + +Dane disregarded the last question, for Lilian laid her hand in his. He +was not certain what she said, but her eyes were shining under the +half-closed lashes in a fashion that was eloquent enough. Still Dane +could not linger to wonder what, if they were fully opened, he might see +within them, for Chatterton repeated his question. + +"Where have you left Carsluith. Did he not come up with you from Santa +Cruz?" + +"No," Dane answered, and his voice shook a little. "Did you receive my +cable?" + +"We did not," said Chatterton. "What has gone wrong, Hilton. Speak out, +man!" + +Lilian, guided by some womanly instinct, laid her hand warningly on the +speaker's arm, and Dane nerved himself for the hardest task of all, as +the owner of Culmeny, moving forward, stood close beside him. He was +very much like what Dane's dead comrade had been--wiry, spare, and grim. +The drooping gray moustache matched the pallor of his face; but his eyes +were steady and keen, and only a deepening of the lines about them +betrayed his anxiety. + +"I fear you bring bad news," he said. + +"I do," Dane answered as steadily as he could, though the older man's +composure rendered his task even harder than a sign of weakness would +have done. "I had hoped the cable I sent might have prepared you--and +now I hardly know how to tell you." + +It was just possible to see that a tremor ran through Maxwell and his +lean hand closed a little more firmly than was needful on the back of a +chair. + +"Brevity is best. Disaster has overtaken him?" + +"Yes." + +The owner of Culmeny looked him full in the eyes, and it was some time +before Dane could shake off the memory of that gaze. + +"It is the worst--he is dead?" he said; and Dane mutely bent his head. + +Brandram Maxwell's fingers trembled, and for a moment he looked at the +ground; then he spoke very quietly: + +"I feared this when I saw he was not with you. Tell me how it happened. +It is not the first shrewd blow fate has dealt me." + +Chatterton and Lilian would have turned away, but Maxwell beckoned them +to remain. + +"No. We have grown to be good friends, and I should like you to hear it, +too," he said, looking toward Lilian. "There will be no cause for any +one who knew my son to blush at this story. It will be a kindness if you +hide nothing, Hilton." + +Dane afterward wondered how he got through that recital. At the +beginning speech seemed to fail him, but one listener's spirit infected +him as he proceeded, and pride was mingled with the man's grief, for +what he had seen in Bonita Castro's face he read in that of the owner of +Culmeny. It was dark when he concluded: + +"I can tell you nothing more, sir, and, though God knows it is the +truth, it is useless to say that I would willingly have staked my own +life on the chance of saving him." + +Lilian appeared to be crying softly, and Chatterton troubled with +something in his throat, for he coughed several times vigorously, but +Maxwell held out his hand to Dane. + +"I believe you would. You were his friend," he said, still with a +startling quietness. "You did your best for my dead son, and no man dare +blame you. It is a brave story, and I am not ashamed of his end. It was +in accordance with the traditions of an unfortunate family. But you will +excuse me. I am getting an old man and weaker in the fiber than I used +to be." + +He turned away, holding himself stiffly erect, and Chatterton laid a +heavy grasp on Dane's shoulder. + +"Well done, Hilton. If you had not chased that damned rascal to his +death I'd have sent you back with another expedition to take up the hunt +again. I am sorry for Culmeny. He was fonder of Carsluith than anything +else under heaven, and you saw how he took the blow. Well, I won my own +place, and went through the fire for it, but the brand Culmeny wears is +what I could never attain to. They were alike, both of them, and it will +be a long time before we find their equal. Perhaps I had better follow +and try to comfort him." + +It struck Dane that Thomas Chatterton, though not lacking in sympathy, +would hardly make a tactful comforter, but he did not say so, and Lilian +seemed content to let him go. + +"You are not sorry to see me, Lilian?" asked Dane, taking one of the +girl's hands into his own, for her cheeks were damp yet, and bending, he +caught her answer. + +"No, but I was shocked. Hilton, I felt that when he went out to save you +he knew he was going to his death, and I--I let him go." + +"Even you could not have turned him aside," said Dane. + +"I--right or wrong--I did not try." + +"He was a better man than I am," declared Dane. "But it is fortunate +that there are women who can be content with less than the best, and +make up the deficiencies themselves. Will you listen to a little tale, +one which is rather amusing than somber?" + +"Is it about the poacher? If so, you need not tell me. You must also +take the confession I ought to make for granted. You were always a +blunderer, Hilton." + +"I dare say I was," Dane answered, laying his hand on the girl's +shoulder in a masterful fashion. "And my last adventure was perhaps the +maddest freak of all; but that is beside the question. I once made a +very vague arrangement with you, though you kindly said we understood +each other. Now, I must ask you, do you wish that understanding to +continue. If so, the only way for me to keep it would be to go back to +Africa. A steamer sails to-morrow." + +"No," the girl said shyly, then lifted her head and glanced at her +companion. "I dare not send you back to that hateful country, Hilton." + +There was no need for further speech. Dane knew that he had won at last. + + +THE END + + + + +Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original text have been corrected. + +In Chapter IV, "You need not be. unless you are fond of poverty" was +changed to "You need not be, unless you are fond of poverty", and a +comma was added after "That same, sir". + +In Chapter VI, a period was added after "the power of lucid speech +deserted him". + +In Chapter IX, "Your sister, persumably" was changed to "Your sister, +presumably". + +In Chapter XI, "at sunrise tomorrow" was changed to "at sunrise +to-morrow", and a comma was changed to a period after "until I was +certain". + +In Chapter XII, a comma was removed from "the footsore, and spiritless +carriers". + +In Chapter XV, "prospecting for Niven'st gold" was changed to +"prospecting for Niven's gold", and a comma was added after "I think one +of you will". + +In Chapter XVI, "unpleasnt frame of mind" was changed to "unpleasant +frame of mind", and "snuggly curtained room" was changed to "snugly +curtained room". + +In Chapter XVII, "which suprised the listener" was changed to "which +surprised the listener", and a period was added after "said Lilian +sharply". + +In Chapter XXII, a period was added after "the white men who do not +speak your tongue". + +In Chapter XXIII, "Dane ran straight in upon his emeny" was changed to +"Dane ran straight in upon his enemy". + +In Chapter XXIV, "out in less then five minutes" was changed to "out in +less than five minutes", and "the scene we just witnessesd" was changed +to "the scene we just witnessed". + +In Chapter XXV, "Reina de los anegles" was changed to "Reina de los +angeles". + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The League of the Leopard, by Harold Bindloss + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD *** + +***** This file should be named 36804.txt or 36804.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/8/0/36804/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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