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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of By Sheer Pluck, by G. A. Henty
+#19 in our series by G. A. Henty
+
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+
+Title: By Sheer Pluck
+       A Tale of the Ashanti War
+
+Author: G. A. Henty
+
+Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8576]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 25, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BY SHEER PLUCK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Martin Robb
+
+
+
+
+BY SHEER PLUCK:
+A TALE OF THE ASHANTI WAR.
+BY G. A. HENTY
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I: A FISHING EXCURSION
+
+
+"Now, Hargate, what a fellow you are! I've been looking for you
+everywhere. Don't you know it's the House against the Town boys.
+It's lucky that the Town have got the first innings; they began a
+quarter of an hour ago."
+
+"How tiresome!" Frank Hargate said. "I was watching a most interesting
+thing here. Don't you see this little chaffinch nest in the bush,
+with a newly hatched brood. There was a small black snake threatening
+the nest, and the mother was defending it with quivering wings
+and open beak. I never saw a prettier thing. I sat quite still
+and neither of them seemed to notice me. Of course I should have
+interfered if I had seen the snake getting the best of it. When
+you came running up like a cart horse, the snake glided away in the
+grass, and the bird flew off. Oh, dear! I am sorry. I had forgotten
+all about the match."
+
+"I never saw such a fellow as you are, Hargate. Here's the opening
+match of the season, and you, who are one of our best bats, poking
+about after birds and snakes. Come along; Thompson sent me and two
+or three other fellows off in all directions to find you. We shall
+be half out before you're back. Wilson took James's wicket the
+first ball."
+
+Frank Hargate leaped to his feet, and, laying aside for the present
+all thoughts of his favorite pursuit, started off at a run to the
+playing field. His arrival there was greeted with a mingled chorus
+of welcome and indignation. Frank Hargate was, next to Thompson the
+captain of the Town eleven, the best bat among the home boarders.
+He played a steady rather than a brilliant game, and was noted as
+a good sturdy sticker. Had he been there, Thompson would have put
+him in at first, in order to break the bowling of the House team.
+As it was, misfortunes had come rapidly. Ruthven and Handcock were
+bowling splendidly, and none of the Town boys were making any stand
+against them. Thompson himself had gone in when the fourth wicket
+fell, and was still in, although two wickets had since fallen, for
+only four runs, and the seventh wicket fell just as Frank arrived,
+panting, on the ground.
+
+"Confound you, Hargate!" Thompson shouted, "where have you been?
+And not even in flannels yet."
+
+"I'm very sorry," Frank shouted back cheerfully, "and never mind
+the flannels, for once. Shall I come in now?"
+
+"No," Thompson said. "You'd better get your wind first. Let Fenner
+come in next."
+
+Fenner stayed in four overs, adding two singles as his share,
+while Thompson put on a three and a two. Then Fenner was caught.
+Thirty-one runs for eight wickets! Then Frank took the bat, and
+walked to the ground. Thompson came across to him.
+
+"Look here, Hargate, you have made a nice mess of it, and the game
+looks as bad as can be. Whatever you do, play carefully. Don't let
+out at anything that comes straight. The great thing is to bother
+their bowling a bit. They're so cocky now, that pretty near every
+ball is straight on the wickets. Be content with blocking for a
+bit, and Handcock will soon go off. He always gets savage if his
+bowling is collared."
+
+Frank obeyed orders. In the next twenty minutes he only scored six
+runs, all in singles, while Thompson, who was also playing very
+carefully, put on thirteen. The game looked more hopeful for the
+Town boys. Then there was a shout from the House, as Thompson's
+middle wicket was sent flying. Childers, who was the last of the
+team, walked out.
+
+"Now, Childers," Thompson said, "don't you hit at a ball. You're
+safe to be bowled or caught if you do. Just lift your bat, and block
+them each time. Now, Frank, it's your turn to score. Put them on
+as fast as you can. It's no use playing carefully any longer."
+
+Frank set to to hit in earnest. He had now got his eye well in,
+and the stand which he and Thompson had made together, had taken
+the sting out of the bowling. The ball which had taken Thompson's
+wicket was the last of the over. Consequently the next came to him.
+It was a little wide, and Frank, stepping out, drove it for four.
+A loud shout rose from the Town boys. There had only been one four
+scored before, during the innings. Off the next ball Frank scored
+a couple, blocked the next, and drove the last of the over past
+long leg for four. The next over Childers strictly obeyed orders,
+blocking each ball. Then it was Frank's turn again, and seven
+more went up on the board. They remained together for just fifteen
+minutes, but during that time thirty-one had been added to the
+score. Frank was caught at cover point, having added twenty-eight
+since Thompson left him, the other three being credited to Childers.
+The total was eighty-one--not a bad score in a school match.
+
+"Well, you've redeemed yourself," Thompson said, as Frank walked
+to the tent. "You played splendidly, old fellow, when you did come.
+If we do as well next innings we are safe. They're not likely to
+average eighty. Now get on your wicket-keeping gloves. Green and
+I will bowl."
+
+The House scored rapidly at first, and fifty runs were put on with
+the loss of four wickets. Then misfortune fell upon them, and the
+remaining six fell for nineteen. The next innings Frank went in
+first, but was caught when the score stood at fifteen. Thompson
+made fourteen, but the rest scored but badly, and the whole were
+out for forty-eight.
+
+The House had sixty-one to get to win. Six wickets had fallen for
+fifty-one runs, when Thompson put Childers on to bowl. The change
+was a fortunate one. Ruthven's stumps were lowered at the first
+ball. Handcock was caught off the second. The spirits of the Town
+boys rose. There were but two wickets more, and still ten runs to
+get to win. The House played cautiously now, and overs were sent
+down without a run. Then off a ball from Childers a four was scored,
+but the next ball leveled the outside stump. Then by singles the
+score mounted up until a tremendous shout from the House announced
+that the game was saved, sixty runs being marked by the scorers.
+The next ball, the Town boys replied even more lustily, for Childers
+ball removed the bails, and the game ended in a tie. Both parties
+were equally well satisfied, and declared that a better game had
+never been played at Dr. Parker's. As soon as the game was over
+Frank, without waiting to join in the general talk over the game,
+put on his coat and waistcoat and started at a run for home.
+
+Frank Hargate was an only son. His mother lived in a tiny cottage
+on the outskirts of Deal. She was a widow, her husband, Captain
+Hargate, having died a year before. She had only her pension as
+an officer's widow, a pittance that scarce sufficed even for the
+modest wants of herself, Frank, and her little daughter Lucy, now
+six years old.
+
+"I hope I have not kept tea waiting, mother," Frank said as he ran
+in. "It is not my beetles and butterflies this time. We have been
+playing a cricket match, and a first rate one it was. Town boys
+against the House. It ended in a tie."
+
+"You are only a quarter of an hour late," his mother said, smiling,
+"which is a great deal nearer being punctual than is usually the
+case when you are out with your net. We were just going to begin,
+for I know your habits too well to give you more than a quarter of
+an hour's law."
+
+"I'm afraid I am horridly unpunctual," Frank said, "and yet, mother,
+I never go out without making up my mind that I will be in sharp
+to time. But somehow there is always something which draws me away."
+
+"It makes no matter, Frank. If you are happy and amused I am content,
+and if the tea is cold it is your loss, not ours. Now, my boy, as
+soon as you have washed your hands we will have tea."
+
+It was a simple meal, thick slices of bread and butter and tea,
+for Mrs. Hargate could only afford to put meat upon the table once
+a day, and even for that several times in the week fish was substituted,
+when the weather was fine and the fishing boats returned, when well
+laden. Frank fortunately cared very little what he ate, and what
+was good enough for his mother was good enough for him. In his
+father's lifetime things had been different, but Captain Hargate
+had fallen in battle in New Zealand. He had nothing besides his
+pay, and his wife and children had lived with him in barracks until
+his regiment was ordered out to New Zealand, when he had placed
+his wife in the little cottage she now occupied. He had fallen in
+an attack on a Maori pah, a fortnight after landing in New Zealand.
+He had always intended Frank to enter the military profession, and
+had himself directed his education so long as he was at home.
+
+The loss of his father had been a terrible blow for the boy, who
+had been his constant companion when off duty. Captain Hargate had
+been devoted to field sports and was an excellent naturalist. The
+latter taste Frank had inherited from him. His father had brought
+home from India--where the regiment had been stationed until it
+returned for its turn of home service four years before he left
+New Zealand--a very large quantity of skins of birds which he
+had shot there. These he had stuffed and mounted, and so dexterous
+was he at the work, so natural and artistic were the groups of
+birds, that he was enabled to add considerably to his income by
+sending these up to the shop of a London naturalist. He had instructed
+Frank in his methods, and had given him one of the long blowguns
+used by some of the hill tribes in India. The boy had attained
+such dexterity in its use that he was able with his clay pellets
+to bring down sitting birds, however small, with almost unerring
+accuracy.
+
+These he stuffed and mounted, arranging them with a taste and skill
+which delighted the few visitors at his mother's cottage.
+
+Frank was ready to join in a game of football or cricket when
+wanted, and could hold his own in either. But he vastly preferred
+to go out for long walks with his blowgun, his net, and his collecting
+boxes. At home every moment not required for the preparation of
+his lessons was spent in mounting and arranging his captures. He
+was quite ready to follow the course his father proposed for him,
+and to enter the army. Captain Hargate had been a very gallant
+officer, and the despatches had spoken most highly of the bravery
+with which he led his company into action in the fight in which he
+lost his life. Therefore Mrs. Hargate hoped that Frank would have
+little difficulty in obtaining a commission without purchase when
+the time for his entering the army arrived.
+
+Frank's desire for a military life was based chiefly upon the fact
+that it would enable him to travel to many parts of the world, and
+to indulge his taste for natural history to the fullest. He was
+but ten years old when he left India with the regiment, but he had
+still a vivid recollection of the lovely butterflies and bright
+birds of that country.
+
+His father had been at pains to teach him that a student of natural
+history must be more than a mere collector, and that like other
+sciences it must be methodically studied. He possessed an excellent
+library of books upon the subject, and although Frank might be
+ignorant of the name of any bird or insect shown to him he could
+at once name the family and species.
+
+In the year which Frank had been at school at Dr. Parker's he had
+made few intimate friends. His habits of solitary wandering and
+studious indoor work had hindered his becoming the chum of any of
+his schoolfellows, and this absence of intimacy had been increased
+by the fact that the straitness of his mother's means prevented
+his inviting any of his schoolfellows to his home. He had, indeed,
+brought one or two of the boys, whose tastes lay in the direction
+of his own, to the house, to show them his collections of birds
+and insects. But he declined their invitations to visit them, as
+he was unable to return their hospitality, and was too proud to
+eat and drink at other fellows' houses when he could not ask them
+to do the same at his own. It was understood at Dr. Parker's that
+Frank Hargate's people were poor, but it was known that his father
+had been killed in battle. There are writers who depict boys
+as worshipers of wealth, and many pictures have been drawn of the
+slights and indignities to which boys, whose means are inferior to
+those of their schoolfellows, are subject. I am happy to believe
+that this is a libel. There are, it is true, toadies and tuft hunters
+among boys as among men. That odious creature, the parasite of the
+Greek and Latin plays, exists still, but I do not believe that a
+boy is one whit the less liked, or is ever taunted with his poverty,
+provided he is a good fellow. Most of the miseries endured by boys
+whose pocket money is less abundant than that of their fellows are
+purely self inflicted. Boys and men who are always on the lookout
+for slights will, of course, find what they seek. But the lad who
+is not ashamed of what is no fault of his own, who frankly and
+manfully says, "I can't afford it," will not find that he is in
+any way looked down upon by those of his schoolfellows whose good
+opinion is in the smallest degree worth having.
+
+Certainly this was so in the case of Frank Hargate. He was never
+in the slightest degree ashamed of saying, "I can't afford it;" and
+the fact that he was the son of an officer killed in battle gave
+him a standing among the best in the school in spite of his want
+of pocket money.
+
+Frank was friends with many of the fishermen, and these would often
+bring him strange fish and sea creatures brought up in their nets,
+instead of throwing them back into the sea.
+
+During the holidays he would sometimes go out with them for twenty-four
+hours in their fishing-boats. His mother made no objection to
+this, as she thought that the exercise and sea air were good for
+his health, and that the change did him good. Frank himself was so
+fond of the sea that he was half disposed to adopt it instead of
+the army as a profession. But his mother was strongly opposed to
+the idea, and won him to her way of thinking by pointing out that
+although a sailor visits many ports he stays long at none of them,
+and that in the few hours' leave he might occasionally obtain he
+would be unable to carry out his favorite pursuits.
+
+"Hargate," Ruthven, who was one of the oldest of the House boys,
+and was about Frank's age, that is about fifteen years old, said a
+few days after the match, "the Doctor has given Handcock and Jones
+and myself leave to take a boat and go out this afternoon. We mean
+to start soon after dinner, and shall take some lines and bait
+with us. We have got leave till lockup, so we shall have a long
+afternoon of it. Will you come with us?"
+
+"Thank you, Ruthven," Frank said; "I should like it very much, but
+you know I'm short of pocket money, and I can't pay my share of
+the boat, so I would rather leave it alone."
+
+"Oh, nonsense, Hargate!" Ruthven answered; "we know money is not
+your strong point, but we really want you to go with us. You can
+manage a boat better than any of us, and you will really oblige us
+if you will go with us."
+
+"Oh, if you put it in that way," Frank said, "I shall be glad to
+go with you; but I do not think," he went on, looking at the sky,
+"that the weather looks very settled. However, if you do not mind
+the chance of a ducking, I don't."
+
+"That's agreed then," Ruthven said; "will you meet us near the pier
+at three o'clock?"
+
+"All right. I'll be punctual."
+
+At the appointed hour the four lads met on the beach. Ruthven and
+his companions wanted to choose a light rowing boat, but Frank
+strongly urged them to take a much larger and heavier one. "In the
+first place," he said, "the wind is blowing off shore, and although
+it's calm here it will be rougher farther out; and, unless I'm
+mistaken, the wind is getting up fast. Besides this it will be much
+more comfortable to fish from a good sized boat."
+
+His comrades grumbled at the extra labor which the large boat would
+entail in rowing. However, they finally gave in and the boat was
+launched.
+
+"Look out, Master Hargate," the boatman said as they started; "you'd
+best not go out too far, for the wind is freshening fast, and we
+shall have, I think, a nasty night."
+
+The boys thought little of the warning, for the sky was bright and
+blue, broken only by a few gauzy white clouds which streaked it
+here and there. They rowed out about a mile, and then laying in
+their oars, lowered their grapnel and began to fish. The sport was
+good. The fish bit freely and were rapidly hauled on board. Even
+Frank was so absorbed in the pursuit that he paid no attention to
+the changing aspect of the sky, the increasing roughness of the
+sea, or the rapidly rising wind.
+
+Suddenly a heavy drop or two of rain fell in the boat. All looked
+up.
+
+"We are in for a squall," Frank exclaimed, "and no mistake. I told
+you you would get a ducking, Ruthven."
+
+He had scarcely spoken when the squall was upon them. A deluge of
+rain swept down, driven by a strong squall of wind.
+
+"Sit in the bottom of the boat," Frank said; "this is a snorter."
+
+Not a word was said for ten minutes, long before which all were
+drenched to the skin. With the rain a sudden darkness had fallen,
+and the land was entirely invisible. Frank looked anxiously towards
+the shore. The sea was getting up fast, and the boat tugging and
+straining at the cord of the grapnel. He shook his head. "It looks
+very bad," he said to himself. "If this squall does not abate we
+are going to have a bad time of it."
+
+A quarter of an hour after it commenced the heavy downpour of
+rain ceased, or rather changed into a driving sleet. It was still
+extremely dark, a thick lead colored cloud overspread the sky.
+Already the white horses showed how fast the sea was rising, and
+the wind showed no signs of falling with the cessation of the rain
+storm. The boat was laboring at her head rope and dipping her nose
+heavily into the waves.
+
+"Look here, you fellows," Frank shouted, "we must take to the oars.
+If the rope were a long one we might ride here, but you know it
+little more than reached the ground when we threw it out. I believe
+she's dragging already, and even if she isn't she would pull her
+head under water with so short a rope when the sea gets up. We'd
+better get out the oars and row to shore, if we can, before the
+sea gets worse."
+
+The lads got up and looked round, and their faces grew pale and
+somewhat anxious as they saw how threatening was the aspect of the
+sea. They had four oars on board, and these were soon in the water
+and the grapnel hauled up. A few strokes sufficed to show them that
+with all four rowing the boat's head could not be kept towards the
+shore, the wind taking it and turning the boat broadside on.
+
+"This will never do," Frank said. "I will steer and you row, two
+oars on one side and one on the other. I will take a spell presently.
+
+"Row steadily, Ruthven," he shouted; "don't spurt. We have a long
+row before us and must not knock ourselves up at the beginning."
+
+For half an hour not a word was spoken beyond an occasional cheery
+exhortation from Frank. The shore could be dimly seen at times
+through the driving mist, and Frank's heart sank as he recognized
+the fact that it was further off than it had been when they first
+began to row. The wind was blowing a gale now, and, although but
+two miles from shore, the sea was already rough for an open boat.
+
+"Here, Ruthven, you take a spell now," he said.
+
+Although the rowers had from time to time glanced over their
+shoulders, they could not, through the mist, form any idea of their
+position. When Ruthven took the helm he exclaimed, "Good gracious,
+Frank! the shore is hardly visible. We are being blown out to sea."
+
+"I am afraid we are," Frank said; "but there is nothing to do but
+to keep on rowing. The wind may lull or it may shift and give us
+a chance of making for Ramsgate. The boat is a good sea boat, and
+may keep afloat even if we are driven out to sea. Or if we are
+missed from shore they may send the lifeboat out after us. That is
+our best chance."
+
+In another quarter of an hour Ruthven was ready to take another
+spell at the oar. "I fear," Frank shouted to him as he climbed over
+the seat, "there is no chance whatever of making shore. All we've
+got to do is to row steadily and keep her head dead to wind. Two
+of us will do for that. You and I will row now, and let Handcock
+and Jones steer and rest by turns. Then when we are done up they
+can take our places."
+
+In another hour it was quite dark, save for the gray light from
+the foaming water around. The wind was blowing stronger than ever,
+and it required the greatest care on the part of the steersman to
+keep her dead in the eye of the wind. Handcock was steering now,
+and Jones lying at the bottom of the boat, where he was sheltered,
+at least from the wind. All the lads were plucky fellows and kept
+up a semblance of good spirits, but all in their hearts knew that
+their position was a desperate one.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II: A MAD DOG
+
+
+"Don't you think, Hargate," Ruthven shouted in his ear, "we had
+better run before it? It's as much as Handcock can do to keep her
+head straight."
+
+"Yes," Frank shouted back, "if it were not for the Goodwins. They
+lie right across ahead of us."
+
+Ruthven said no more, and for another hour he and Frank rowed
+their hardest. Then Handcock and Jones took the oars. Ruthven lay
+down in the bottom of the boat and Frank steered. After rowing for
+another hour Frank found that he could no longer keep the boat head
+to wind. Indeed, he could not have done so for so long had he not
+shipped the rudder and steered the boat with an oar, through a
+notch cut in the stern for the purpose. Already the boat shipped
+several heavy seas, and Ruthven was kept hard at work baling with
+a tin can in which they had brought out bait.
+
+"Ruthven, we must let her run. Put out the other oar, we must watch
+our time. Row hard when I give the word."
+
+The maneuver was safely accomplished, and in a minute the boat was
+flying before the gale.
+
+"Keep on rowing," Frank said, "but take it easily. We must try and
+make for the tail of the sands. I can see the lightship."
+
+Frank soon found that the wind was blowing too directly upon the
+long line of sands to enable him to make the lightship. Already,
+far ahead, a gray light seemed to gleam up, marking where the sea
+was breaking over the dreaded shoal.
+
+"I am afraid it is no use," he said. "Now, boys, we had best, each
+of us, say our prayers to God, and prepare to die bravely, for I
+fear that there is no hope for us."
+
+There was silence in the boat for the next five minutes, as the
+boys sat with their heads bent down. More than one choking sob might
+have been heard, had the wind lulled, as they thought of the dear
+ones at home. Suddenly there was a flash of light ahead, and the
+boom of a gun directly afterwards came upon their ears. Then a
+rocket soared up into the air.
+
+"There is a vessel on the sands," Frank exclaimed. "Let us make
+for her. If we can get on board we shall have a better chance than
+here."
+
+The boys again bent to their oars, and Frank tried to steer exactly
+for the spot whence the rocket had gone up. Presently another gun
+flashed out.
+
+"There she is," he said. "I can see her now against the line
+of breakers. Take the oar again, Ruthven. We must bring up under
+shelter of her lee."
+
+In another minute or two they were within a hundred yards of
+the ship. She was a large vessel, and lay just at the edge of the
+broken water. The waves, as they struck her, flew high above her
+deck. As the boat neared her a bright light suddenly sprang up.
+The ship was burning a blue light. Then a faint cheer was heard.
+
+"They see us," Frank said. "They must think we are the lifeboat.
+What a disappointment for them! Now, steady, lads, and prepare to
+pull her round the instant we are under her stern. I will go as
+near as I dare."
+
+Frank could see the people on deck watching the boat. They must
+have seen now that she was not the lifeboat; but even in their own
+danger they must have watched with intense interest the efforts
+of the tiny boat, adrift in the raging sea, to reach them. Frank
+steered the boat within a few yards of the stern. Then Jones and
+Ruthven, who were both rowing the same side, exerted themselves
+to the utmost, while Frank pushed with the steering oar. A minute
+later, and they lay in comparatively still water, under the lee of
+the ship. Two or three ropes were thrown them, and they speedily
+climbed on board.
+
+"We thought you were the lifeboat at first," the captain said, as
+they reached the deck; "but, of course, they cannot be here for a
+couple of hours yet."
+
+"We were blown off shore, sir," Frank said, "and have been rowing
+against the wind for hours."
+
+"Well, my lads," the captain said, "you have only prolonged your
+lives for a few minutes, for she will not hold together long."
+
+The ship, indeed, presented a pitiable appearance. The masts had
+already gone, the bulwark to windward had been carried away, and
+the hull lay heeled over at a sharp angle, her deck to leeward
+being level with the water. The crew were huddled down near the
+lee bulwarks, sheltered somewhat by the sharp slope of the deck
+from the force of the wind. As each wave broke over the ship, tons
+of water rushed down upon them. No more guns were fired, for the
+lashing had broken and the gun run down to leeward. Already there
+were signs that the ship would break up ere long, and no hope
+existed that rescue could arrive in time.
+
+Suddenly there was a great crash, and the vessel parted amidships.
+
+"A few minutes will settle it now," the captain said. "God help us
+all."
+
+At this moment there was a shout to leeward, which was answered
+by a scream of joy from those on board the wreck, for there, close
+alongside, lay the lifeboat, whose approach had been entirely unseen.
+In a few minutes the fifteen men who remained of the twenty-two,
+who had formed the crew of the wreck, and the four boys, were on
+board her. A tiny sail was set and the boat's head laid towards
+Ramsgate.
+
+"I am glad to see you, Master Hargate," the sailor who rowed one
+of the stroke oars shouted. He was the man who had lent them the
+boat. "I was up in the town looking after my wife, who is sick,
+and clean forgot you till it was dark. Then I ran down and found
+the boat hadn't returned, so I got the crew together and we came
+out to look for you, though we had little hope of finding you. It
+was lucky for you we did, and for the rest of them too, for so it
+chanced that we were but half a mile away when the ship fired her
+first gun, just as we had given you up and determined to go back;
+so on we came straight here. Another ten minutes and we should have
+been too late. We are making for Ramsgate now. We could never beat
+back to Deal in this wind. I don't know as I ever saw it blow much
+harder."
+
+These sentences were not spoken consecutively, but were shouted out
+in the intervals between gusts of wind. It took them two hours to
+beat back to Ramsgate, a signal having been made as soon as they
+left the wreck to inform the lifeboat there and at Broadstairs that
+they need not put out, as the rescue had been already effected.
+The lads were soon put to bed at the sailors' home, a man being
+at once despatched on horseback to Deal, to inform those there of
+the arrival of the lifeboat, and of the rescue of the four boys
+who had been blown to sea.
+
+Early next morning Frank and Handcock returned to Deal, the other
+two lads being so exhausted by their fatigue and exposure that the
+doctor said they had better remain in bed for another twenty-four
+hours.
+
+It is impossible to describe the thankfulness and relief which Mrs.
+Hargate experienced, when, about two in the morning, Dr. Parker
+himself brought her news of the safety of her boy. She had long
+given up all hope, for when the evening came on and Frank had not
+returned, she had gone down to the shore. She learned from the
+fishermen there that it was deemed impossible that the boys could
+reach shore in face of the gale, and that although the lifeboat had
+just put out in search of them, the chances of their being found
+were, as she herself saw, faint indeed. She had passed the hours
+which had intervened, in prayer, and was still kneeling by her
+bedside, where little Lucy was unconsciously sleeping, when Dr.
+Parker's knock was heard at the door. Fervent, indeed, was her
+gratitude to God for the almost miraculous preservation of her son's
+life, and then, overcome by the emotions she had experienced, she
+sought her couch, and was still asleep when, by the earliest train
+in the morning, Frank returned.
+
+For some time the four boys were the heroes of the school.
+A subscription was got up to pay for the lost boat, and close
+as were Mrs. Hargate's means, she enabled Frank to subscribe his
+share towards the fund. The incident raised Frank to a pinnacle
+of popularity among his schoolfellows, for the three others were
+unanimous in saying that it was his coolness and skill in the
+management of the boat, which alone kept up their spirits, and
+enabled them to keep her afloat during the gale, and to make the
+wreck in safety.
+
+In the general enthusiasm excited by the event, Frank's pursuits,
+which had hitherto found few followers, now became quite popular
+in the school. A field club was formed, of which he was elected
+president, and long rambles in the country in search of insects
+and plants were frequently organized. Frank himself was obliged, in
+the interests of the school, to moderate the zeal of the naturalists,
+and to point out that cricket must not be given up, as, if so large a
+number withdrew themselves from the game, the school would suffer
+disaster in its various engagements with other schools in the
+neighborhood. Consequently the rule was made that members of the
+club were bound to be in the cricket field on at least three days
+in the week, including one half holiday, while they were free to
+ramble in the country on other days. This wise regulation prevented
+the "naturalists" from becoming unpopular in the school, which would
+assuredly have been the case had they entirely absented themselves
+from cricket.
+
+One Saturday afternoon Frank started with a smaller boy, who was
+one of his most devoted followers, for a long country walk. Frank
+carried his blowgun, and a butterfly net, Charlie Goodall a net
+of about a foot in depth, made of canvas, mounted on a stout brass
+rim, and strong stick, for the capture of water beetles. Their
+pockets bulged with bottles and tin boxes for the carriage of their
+captured prey.
+
+They had passed through Eastry, a village four miles from Deal,
+when Frank exclaimed, "There is a green hairstreak. The first I've
+seen this year. I have never caught one before."
+
+Cautiously approaching the butterfly, who was sunning himself on
+the top of a thistle, Frank prepared to strike, when it suddenly
+mounted and flitted over a hedge. In a moment the boys had scrambled
+through the gap and were in full pursuit. The butterfly flitted
+here and there, sometimes allowing the boys to approach within
+a few feet and then flitting away again for fifty yards without
+stopping. Heedless where they were going, the boys pursued, till
+they were startled by a sudden shout close to them.
+
+"You young rascals, how dare you run over my wheat?"
+
+The boys stopped, and Frank saw what, in his excitement, he had
+not hitherto heeded, that he was now running in a field of wheat,
+which reached to his knee.
+
+"I am very sorry, sir," he said. "I was so excited than I really
+did not see where I was going."
+
+"Not see!" shouted the angry farmer. "You young rascal, I'll break
+every bone in your body," and he flourished a heavy stick as he
+spoke.
+
+Charlie Goodall began to cry.
+
+"I have no right to trespass on your wheat, sir," Frank said firmly;
+"but you have no right to strike us. My name is Frank Hargate.
+I belong to Dr. Parker's school at Deal, and if you will say what
+damage I have caused, I will pay for it."
+
+"You shall pay for it now," shouted the farmer, as he advanced with
+uplifted stick.
+
+Frank slipped three or four of his clay bullets into his mouth.
+
+"Leave us alone or it will be worse for you," he said as he raised
+the blowgun to his mouth.
+
+The farmer advanced, and Frank sent a bullet with all his force,
+and with so true an aim that he struck the farmer on the knuckles.
+It was a sharp blow, and the farmer, with a cry of pain and surprise,
+dropped the stick.
+
+"Don't come a step nearer," Frank shouted. "If you do, I will aim
+at your eye next time," and he pointed the threatening tube at the
+enraged farmer's face.
+
+"I'll have the law of you, you young villain. I'll make you smart
+for this."
+
+"You can do as you like about that," Frank said. "I have only
+struck you in self defense, and have let you off easily. Come along,
+Charlie, let's get out of this."
+
+In a few minutes they were again on the road, the farmer making no
+attempt to follow them, but determined in his mind to drive over
+the next morning to Deal to take out a summons against them for
+trespass and assault. The lads proceeded silently along the road.
+Frank was greatly vexed with himself at his carelessness in running
+over half grown wheat, and was meditating how he could pay the fine
+without having to ask his mother. He determined upon his return
+to carry some of his cases of stuffed birds down to a shop in the
+town, and he felt sure that he could get enough for these to pay
+for any damage which could have been inflicted, with a fine for
+trespassing, for he had seen stuffed birds exposed in the windows
+for sale, which were, he was sure, very inferior to his own both
+in execution and lifelike interest.
+
+After proceeding a few hundred yards along the road they met a pretty
+little girl of seven or eight years old walking along alone. Frank
+scarcely glanced at her, for at the moment he heard a shouting in
+the distance and saw some men running along the road. For a moment
+he thought that the farmer had despatched some of his men to stop
+him, but instantly dismissed the idea, as they were coming from
+the opposite direction and could by no possibility have heard what
+had happened. They were lost sight of by a dip in the road, and as
+they disappeared, an object was seen on the road on the near side
+of the dip.
+
+"It is a dog," Frank said. "What can they be shouting at?"
+
+The dog was within fifty yards of them when the men again appeared
+from the dip and recommenced shouting. Frank could now hear what
+they said.
+
+"Mad dog! mad dog!"
+
+"Get through the hedge, Charlie, quick," Frank cried. "Here, I will
+help you over, never mind the thorns."
+
+The hedge was low and closely kept, and Frank, bundling his comrade
+over it, threw himself across and looked round. The dog was within
+ten yards of them, and Frank saw that the alarm was well founded.
+The dog was a large crossbred animal, between a mastiff and a
+bulldog. Its hair was rough and bristling. It came along with its
+head down and foam churning from its mouth. Frank looked the other
+way and gave a cry. Yet twenty yards off, in the middle of the road,
+stood the child. She, too, had heard the shouts, and had paused
+to see what was the matter. She had not taken the alarm, but stood
+unsuspicious of danger, watching, not the dog, but the men in the
+distance.
+
+Frank placed the blowgun to his mouth, and in a moment his pellet
+struck the animal smartly on the side of the head. It gave a short
+yelp and paused. Another shot struck it, and then Frank, snatching
+the water net from Charlie, threw himself over the hedge, and placed
+himself between the child and the dog just as the latter, with a
+savage growl, rushed at him.
+
+Frank stood perfectly cool, and as the animal rushed forward,
+thrust the net over its head; the ring was but just large enough to
+allow its head to enter. Frank at once sprang forward, and placing
+himself behind the dog kept a strain upon the stick, so retaining
+the mouth of the net tightly on his neck. The animal at first
+rushed forward dragging Frank after him. Then he stopped, backed,
+and tried to withdraw his head from the encumbrance which blinded
+him. Frank, however, had no difficulty in retaining the canvas net
+in its place, until the men, who were armed with pitchforks, ran
+up and speedily despatched the unfortunate animal.
+
+"That's bravely done, young master," one of them said; "and you
+have saved missy's life surely. The savage brute rushed into the
+yard and bit a young colt and a heifer, and then, as we came running
+out with forks, he took to the road again. We chased 'um along,
+not knowing who we might meet, and it gived us a rare turn when we
+saw the master's Bessy standing alone in the road, wi' nout between
+her and the dog. Where have you been, Miss Bessy?"
+
+"I've been to aunt's," she said, "and she gave me some strawberries
+and cream, and it's wicked of you to kill the poor dog."
+
+"Her aunt's farm lies next to master's," the man explained; "and
+little miss often goes over there.
+
+"The dog was mad, missy, and if it hadn't been for young master
+here, it would have killed you as safe as eggs. Won't you come back
+to the farm, sir? Master and mistress would be main glad to thank
+you for having saved missy's life."
+
+"No, thank you," Frank said; "we are late now and must be going
+on our way. I am very glad I happened to be here at the time;" so
+saying Frank and Charlie proceeded on their way to Deal.
+
+On reaching home he at once picked out four of his best cases of
+stuffed birds. The cases he had constructed himself, for his father
+had encouraged him to depend upon himself for his amusements. He
+had asked Charlie to come round to help him to carry the cases,
+and with these he proceeded to a shop where he had seen such things
+offered for sale.
+
+"And you really did these yourself?" the man said in surprise.
+"They are beautifully done. Quite pictures, I call them. It is a
+pity that they are homely birds. There is no great sale for such
+things here. I cannot give you more than five shillings each, but
+if you had them in London they would be worth a great deal more."
+
+Frank gladly accepted the offer, and feeling sure that the pound
+would cover the damage done and the fine, which might be five
+shillings apiece for trespassing, went home in good spirits. The
+next morning the doctor was called out in the middle of school,
+and presently returned accompanied by the farmer with whom they
+had had the altercation on the previous day. Frank felt his cheeks
+flush as he anticipated a severe reprimand before the whole school.
+
+"Mr. Gregson," the doctor said, "tells me that two of my boys were
+out near his place at Eastry yesterday. One of them gave him his
+name, which he has forgotten."
+
+"It was I, sir," Frank said rising in his place; "I was there with
+Goodall. We ran on Mr. Gregson's ground after a butterfly. It was
+my fault, sir, for, of course, Goodall went where I did. We ran
+among his wheat, and I really did not notice where we were going
+till he called to us. I was wrong, of course, and am ready to pay
+for any damage we may have caused."
+
+"You are welcome," the farmer said, "to trample on my wheat for
+the rest of your born days. I haven't come over here to talk about
+the wheat, though I tell you fairly I'd minded to do so. I've come
+over here, Dr. Parker, me and my missus who's outside, to thank
+this young gentleman for having saved the life of my little daughter
+Bessy. She was walking along the road when a mad dog, a big brute
+of a mastiff, who came, I hear, from somewhere about Canterbury,
+and who has bit two boys on the road, to say nothing of other dogs
+and horses and such like; he came along the road, he were close
+to my Bess, and she stood there all alone. Some of my men with
+pitchforks were two hundred yards or so behind; but law, they could
+have done nothing! when this young gentleman here jumped all of a
+sudden over a hedge and put himself between the dog and my Bess.
+The dog, he rushed at him; but what does he do but claps a bag he'd
+got at the end of a stick over the brute's head, and there he holds
+him tight till the men comes up and kills him with their forks.
+
+"Young gentleman," he said, stepping up to Frank and holding out
+his hand, "I owe my child's life to you. There are not many men
+who would have thrown themselves in the way of a mad dog, for the
+sake of a child they knew nothing of. I thank you for it with all
+my heart. God bless you, sir. Now, boys, you give three cheers with
+me for your schoolmate, for you've got a right to be proud of him."
+
+Three such thundering cheers as those which arose had never been
+heard within the limits of Dr. Parker's school from the day of its
+foundation. Seeing that farther work could not be expected from them
+after this excitement, Dr. Parker gave the boys a holiday for the
+rest of the day, and they poured out from the schoolroom, shouting
+and delighted, while Frank was taken off to the parlor to be thanked
+by Mrs. Gregson. The farmer closed his visit by inviting Frank,
+with as many of his schoolfellows as he liked--the whole school
+if they would come, the more the better--to come over to tea
+on the following Saturday afternoon, and he promised them as much
+strawberries and cream as they could eat. The invitation was largely
+accepted, and the boys all agreed that a jollier meal they never
+sat down to than that which was spread on tables in the farmer's
+garden. The meal was called tea, but it might have been a dinner,
+for the tables were laden with huge pies, cold chicken and duck,
+hams, and piles of cakes and tarts of all sorts. Before they started
+for home, late in the evening, syllabub and cake were handed round,
+and the boys tramped back to Deal in the highest of glee at the
+entertainment they had received from the hospitable farmer and his
+wife.
+
+Great fun had been caused after tea by the farmer giving a humorous
+relation of the battle with which his acquaintance with Frank had
+commenced, and especially at the threat of Frank to send a bullet
+into his eye if he interfered with him. When they left, a most
+cordial invitation was given to Frank to come over, with any friend
+he liked to bring with him, and have tea at the Oaks Farm whenever
+he chose to do so.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III: A TOUGH YARN
+
+
+"You had a close shave the other night," one of the boatmen remarked
+to Frank, as a few days after the adventure he strolled down with
+Ruthven and Handcock to talk to the boatman whose boat had been
+lost, "a very narrow shave. I had one out there myself when I was
+just about your age, nigh forty years ago. I went out for a sail
+with my father in his fishing boat, and I didn't come back for
+three years. That was the only long voyage I ever went. I've been
+sticking to fishing ever since."
+
+"How was it you were away three years?" Handcock asked, "and what
+was the adventure? Tell us about it."
+
+"Well, it's rather a long yarn," the boatman said.
+
+"Well, your best plan, Jack," Ruthven said, putting his hand in
+his pocket and bringing out sixpence, "will be for you to go across
+the road and wet your whistle before you begin."
+
+"Thank ye, young gentleman. I will take three o' grog and an ounce
+of 'bacca."
+
+He went across to the public house, and soon returned with a long
+clay in his hand. Then he sat down on the shingle with his back
+against a boat, and the boys threw themselves down close to him.
+
+"Now," he began, when he had filled his pipe with great deliberation
+and got it fairly alight, "this here yarn as I'm going to tell you
+ain't no gammon. Most of the tales which gets told on the beach to
+visitors as comes down here and wants to hear of sea adventures is
+just lies from beginning to end. Now, I ain't that sort, leastways,
+I shouldn't go to impose upon young gents like you as ha' had a real
+adventure of your own, and showed oncommon good pluck and coolness
+too. I don't say, mind ye, that every word is just gospel. My mates
+as ha' known me from a boy tells me that I've 'bellished the yarn
+since I first told it, and that all sorts of things have crept in
+which wasn't there first. That may be so. When a man tells a story
+a great many times, naturally he can't always tell it just the same,
+and he gets so mixed up atween what he told last and what he told
+first that he don't rightly know which was which when he wants to
+tell it just as it really happened. So if sometimes it appears to
+you that I'm steering rather wild, just you put a stopper on and
+bring me up all standing with a question."
+
+There was a quiet humor about the boatman's face, and the boys
+winked at each other as much as to say that after such an exordium
+they must expect something rather staggering. The boatman took two
+or three hard whiffs at his pipe and then began.
+
+"It was towards the end of September in 1832, that's just forty
+years ago now, that I went out with my father and three hands in
+the smack, the Flying Dolphin. I'd been at sea with father off and
+on ever since I was about nine years old, and a smarter boy wasn't
+to be found on the beach. The Dolphin was a good sea boat, but she
+wasn't, so to say, fast, and I dunno' as she was much to look at,
+for the old man wasn't the sort of chap to chuck away his money in
+paint or in new sails as long as the old ones could be pieced and
+patched so as to hold the wind. We sailed out pretty nigh over to
+the French coast, and good sport we had. We'd been out two days when
+we turned her head homewards. The wind was blowing pretty strong,
+and the old man remarked, he thought we was in for a gale. There
+was some talk of our running in to Calais and waiting till it had
+blown itself out, but the fish might have spoil before the Wind
+dropped, so we made up our minds to run straight into Dover and
+send the fish up from there. The night came on wild and squally,
+and as dark as pitch. It might be about eight bells, and I and one
+of the other hands had turned in, when father gave a sudden shout
+down the hatch, 'All hands on deck.' I was next to the steps and
+sprang up 'em. Just as I got to the top something grazed my face.
+I caught at it, not knowing what it was, and the next moment there
+was a crash, and the Dolphin went away from under my feet. I clung
+for bare life, scarce awake yet nor knowing what had happened. The
+next moment I was under water. I still held on to the rope and was
+soon out again. By this time I was pretty well awake to what had
+happened. A ship running down channel had walked clean over the
+poor old Dolphin, and I had got hold of the bobstay. It took me some
+time to climb up on to the bowsprit, for every time she pitched I
+went under water. However, I got up at last and swarmed along the
+bowsprit and got on board. There was a chap sitting down fast asleep
+there. I walked aft to the helmsman. Two men were pacing up and
+down in front of him. 'You're a nice lot, you are,' I said, 'to
+go running down Channel at ten knots an hour without any watch,
+a-walking over ships and a-drowning of seamen. I'll have the law
+of ye, see if I don't.'
+
+"'Jeerusalem!' said one, 'who have we here?'
+
+"'My name is Jack Perkins,' says I, 'and I'm the sole survivor, as
+far as I knows, of the smack, the Flying Dolphin, as has been run
+down by this craft and lost with all hands.'
+
+"'Darn the Flying Dolphin, and you too,' says the man, and he
+begins to walk up and down the deck a-puffn' of a long cigar as if
+nothing had happened.
+
+"'Oh, come,' says I, 'this won't do. Here you've been and run down
+a smack, drowned father and the other three hands, and your lookout
+fast asleep, and you does nothing.'
+
+"'I suppose,' said the captain, sarcastic, 'you want me to jump
+over to look for 'em. You want me to heave the ship to in this gale
+and to invite yer father perlitely to come on board. P'raps you'd
+like a grapnel put out to see if I couldn't hook the smack and bring
+her up again. Perhaps you'd like to be chucked overboard yourself.
+Nobody asked you to come on board, nobody wanted your company. I
+reckon the wisest thing you can do is to go for'ard and turn in.'
+There didn't seem much for me to do else, so I went forward to the
+forecastle. There most of the hands were asleep, but two or three
+were sitting up yarning. I told 'em my story and what this captain
+had said.
+
+"'He's a queer hand is the skipper,' one of 'em said, 'and hasn't
+got a soft place about him. Well, my lad, I'm sorry for what's
+happened, but talking won't do it any good. You've got a long voyage
+before you, and you'd best turn in and make yourself comfortable
+for it.'
+
+"'I ain't going a long voyage,' says I, beginning to wipe my eye,
+'I wants to be put ashore at the first port.'
+
+"'Well, my lad, I daresay the skipper will do that, but as we're
+bound for the coast of Chili from Hamburg, and ain't likely to be
+there for about five months, you've got, as I said, a long voyage
+before you. If the weather had been fine the skipper might have
+spoken some ship in the Channel, and put you on board, but before
+the gale's blown out we shall be hundreds of miles at sea. Even
+if it had been fine I don't suppose the skipper would have parted
+with you, especially if you told him the watch was asleep. He would
+not care next time he entered an English port to have a claim fixed
+on his ship for the vally of the smack.'
+
+"I saw what the sailor said was like enough, and blamed myself for
+having let out about the watch. However, there was no help for it,
+and I turned into an empty bunk and cried myself to sleep. What a
+voyage that was, to be sure! The ship was a Yankee and so was the
+master and mates. The crew were of all sorts, Dutch, and Swedes,
+and English, a Yank or two, and a sprinklin' of niggers. It was one
+of those ships they call a hell on earth, and cussing and kicking
+and driving went on all day. I hadn't no regular place give me, but
+helped the black cook, and pulled at ropes, and swabbed the decks,
+and got kicked and cuffed all round. The skipper did not often
+speak to me, but when his eye lighted on me he gave an ugly sort
+of look, as seemed to say, 'You'd better ha' gone down with the
+others. You think you're going to report the loss of the smack, and
+to get damages against the Potomac, do you? we shall see.' The crew
+were a rough lot, but the spirit seemed taken out of 'em by the
+treatment they met with. It was a word and a blow with the mates,
+and they would think no more of catching up a handspike and stretching
+a man senseless on the deck than I should of killing a fly. There
+was two or three among 'em of a better sort than the others. The
+best of 'em was the carpenter, an old Dutchman. 'Leetle boy,' he
+used to say to me, 'you keep yourself out of the sight of de skipper.
+Bad man dat. Me much surprise if you get to de end of dis voyage
+all right. You best work vera hard and give him no excuse to hit
+you. If he do, by gosh, he kill you, and put down in de log, Boy
+killed by accident.'
+
+"I felt that this was so myself, and I did my work as well as I
+could. One day, however, when we were near the line I happened to
+upset a bucket with some tar. The captain was standing close by.
+
+"'You young dog,' he said, 'you've done that a purpose,' and before
+I could speak he caught up the bucket by the handle and brought it
+down on my head with all his might. The next thing I remember was,
+I was lying in a bunk in the forecastle. Everything looked strange
+to me, and I couldn't raise my head. After a time I made shift to
+turn it round, and saw old Jans sitting on a chest mending a jacket.
+I called him, but my voice was so low I hardly seemed to hear it
+myself.
+
+"'Ah, my leetle boy!' he said, 'I am glad to hear you speak again.
+Two whole weeks you say nothing except talk nonsense.'
+
+"'Have I been ill?' I asked.
+
+"'You haf been vera bad,' he said. 'De captain meant to kill you,
+I haf no doubt, and he pretty near do it. After he knock you down
+he said you dead. He sorry for accident, not mean to hit you so
+hard, but you dead and better be tossed overboard at once. De mates
+they come up and take your hands and feet. Den I insist dat I feel
+your wrist. Two or three of us dey stood by me. Captain he vera
+angry, say we mutinous dogs. I say not mutinous, but wasn't going
+to see a boy who was only stunned thrown overboard. We say if he
+did dat we make complaint before consul when we get to port. De
+skipper he cuss and swear awful. Howebber we haf our way and carry
+you here. You haf fever and near die. Tree days after we bring
+you here de captain he swear you shamming and comed to look at you
+hisself, but he see that it true and tink you going to die. He go
+away wid smile on his face. Every day he ask if you alive, and give
+grunt when I say yes. Now you best keep vera quiet. You no talk
+'cept when no one else here but me. Other times lie wid your face
+to the side and your eyes shut. Best keep you here as long as
+we can, de longer de better. He make you come on deck and work as
+soon as he think you strong enough to stand. Best get pretty strong
+before you go out.'
+
+"For another three weeks I lay in my bunk. I only ate a little
+gruel when others were there, but when the skipper was at dinner
+Jans would bring me strong soup and meat from the caboose. The
+captain came several times and shook me and swore I was shamming,
+but I only answered in a whisper and seemed as faint as a girl.
+All this time the Potomac was making good way, and was running fast
+down the coast of South America. The air was getting cool and fresh.
+
+"'I tink,' Jans said one evening to me, 'dat dis not go on much
+much longer. De crew getting desperate. Dey talk and mutter among
+demselves. Me thinks we have trouble before long.'
+
+"The next day one of the mates came in with a bucket of water. 'There!
+you skulking young hound,' he said as he threw it over me; 'you'd
+best get out, or the skipper will come and rouse you up himself.'
+
+"I staggered on to the floor. I had made up my mind to sham weak,
+but I did not need to pretend at first, for having been six weeks
+in bed, I felt strange and giddy when I got up. I slipped on my
+clothes and went out on deck, staggered to the bulwarks and held
+on. The fresh air soon set me straight, and I felt that I was pretty
+strong again. However, I pretended to be able to scarce stand, and,
+holding on by the bulwark, made my way aft.
+
+"'You young dog,' the skipper said, 'you've been shamming for the
+last six weeks. I reckon I'll sharpen you up now,' and he hit me
+a heavy blow with a rattan he held in his hand. There was a cry
+of 'Shame!' from some of the men. As quick as thought the skipper
+pulled a pistol from his pocket.
+
+"'Who cried "Shame"?' he asked looking round.
+
+"No one answered. Still holding the pistol in his hand he gave me
+several more cuts, and then told me to swab the deck. I did it,
+pretending all the time I was scarce strong enough to keep my feet.
+Then I made my way forward and sat down against the bulwark, as
+if nigh done up, till night came. That night as I lay in my bunk
+I heard the men talking in whispers together. I judged from what
+they said that they intended to wait for another week, when they
+expected to enter Magellan Straits, and then to attack and throw
+the officers overboard. Nothing seemed settled as to what they
+would do afterwards. Some were in favor of continuing the voyage to
+port, and there giving out that the captain and officers had been
+washed overboard in a storm; when, if all stood true to each other,
+the truth could never be known, although suspicions might arise.
+The others, however, insisted that you never could be sure of
+every one, and that some one would be sure to peach. They argued in
+favor of sailing west and beaching the ship on one of the Pacific
+islands, where they could live comfortably and take wives among
+the native women. If they were ever found they could then say that
+the ship was blown out of her course and wrecked there, and that
+the captain and officers had been drowned or killed by the natives.
+It seemed to me that this party were the strongest. For the next
+week I was thrashed and kicked every day and had I been as weak
+as I pretended to be, I'm sure they would have killed me. However,
+thanks to the food Jans brought me, for I was put on bread and water,
+I held on. At last we entered the straits. The men were very quiet
+that day, and the captain in a worse temper than usual. I did not
+go to sleep, and turned out at the midnight watch, for I was made
+to keep watch although I was on duty all day. As the watch came in
+I heard them say to the others, 'In ten minutes' time.' Presently
+I saw them come out, and joining the watch on deck they went aft
+quietly in a body. They had all got handspikes in their hands. Then
+there was a rush. Two pistol shots were fired, and then there was
+a splash, and I knew that the officer on watch was done for. Then
+they burst into the aft cabins. There were pistol shots and shouts,
+and for three or four minutes the fight went on. Then all was quiet.
+Then they came up on deck again and I heard three splashes, that
+accounted for the captain and the two other mates. I thought it
+safe now to go aft. I found that six of the men had been killed.
+These were thrown overboard, and then the crew got at the spirit
+stores and began to drink. I looked about for Jans, and found him
+presently sitting on the deck by the bulwark.
+
+"'Ah, my leetle boy!' he said, 'you have just come in time. I have
+been shot through the body. I was not in de fight, but was standing
+near when dey rushed at de officer on watch. De first pistol
+he fire missed de man he aim at and hit me. Well, it was shust as
+well. I am too old to care for living among de black peoples, and
+I did not want a black wife at all. So matters haf not turned out
+so vera bad. Get me some water.'
+
+"I got him some, but in five minutes the poor old Dutchman was
+dead. There was no one on deck. All were shouting and singing in
+the captain's cabin, so I went and turned in forward. Morning was
+just breaking when I suddenly woke. There was a great light, and
+running on deck I saw the fire pouring out from the cabin aft. I
+suppose they had all drunk themselves stupid and had upset a light,
+and the fire had spread and suffocated them all. Anyhow, there were
+none of them to be seen. I got hold of a water keg and placed it
+in a boat which luckily hung out on its davits, as Jans had, the
+day before, been calking a seam in her side just above the water's
+edge. I made a shift to lower it, threw off the falls, and getting
+out the oars, rowed off. I lay by for some little time, but did
+not see a soul on deck. Then, as I had nowhere particular to go,
+I lay down and slept. On getting up I found that I had drifted two
+or three miles from the ship, which was now a mere smoking shell,
+the greater part being burnt to the Water's edge. Two miles to the
+north lay the land, and getting out an oar at the stern I sculled
+her to shore. I suppose I had been seen, or that the flames of the
+ship had called down the people, for there they were in the bay,
+and such a lot of creatures I never set eyes on. Men and women
+alike was pretty nigh naked, and dirt is no name for them. Though
+I was but a boy I was taller than most. They came round me and
+jabbered and jabbered till I was nigh deafened. Over and over again
+they pointed to the ship. I thought they wanted to know whether
+I belonged to it, but it couldn't have been that, because when I
+nodded a lot of 'em jumped into some canoes which was lying ashore,
+and taking me with them paddled off to the ship. I suppose they
+really wanted to know if they could have what they could find.
+That wasn't much, but it seemed a treasure to them. There was a lot
+of burned beams floating about alongside, and all of these which
+had iron or copper bolts or fastenings they took in tow and rowed
+ashore. We hadn't been gone many hundred yards from the vessel when
+she sunk. Well, young gentlemen, for upwards of two years I lived
+with them critturs. My clothes soon wore out, and I got to be as
+naked and dirty as the rest of 'em. They were good hands at fishing,
+and could spear a fish by the light of a torch wonderful. In other
+respects they didn't seem to have much sense. They lived, when I
+first went there, in holes scratched in the side of a hill, but I
+taught 'em to make huts, making a sort of ax out of the iron saved.
+In summer they used to live in these, but in winter, when it was
+awful cold, we lived in the holes, which were a sight warmer than
+the huts. Law, what a time that was! I had no end of adventures
+with wild beasts. The way the lions used to roar and the elephants
+--"
+
+"I think, Jack," Ruthven interrupted, "that this must be one of the
+embellishments which have crept in since you first began telling
+the tale. I don't think I should keep it in if I were you, because
+the fact that there are neither lions or elephants in South America
+throws a doubt upon the accuracy of this portion of your story."
+
+"It may be, sir," the sailor said, with a twinkle of his eyes, "that
+the elephants and lions may not have been in the first story. Now
+I think of it, I can't recall that they were; but, you see, people
+wants to know all about it. They ain't satisfied when I tell 'em
+that I lived two years among these chaps. They wants to know how I
+passed my time, and whether there were any wild beasts, and a lot
+of such like questions, and, in course, I must answer them. So
+then, you see, naturally, 'bellishments creeps in; but I did live
+there for two years, that's gospel truth, and I did go pretty nigh
+naked, and in winter was pretty near starved to death over and
+over again. When the ground was too hard to dig up roots, and the
+sea was too rough for the canoes to put out, it went hard with us,
+and very often we looked more like living skelingtons than human
+beings. Every time a ship came in sight they used to hurry me away
+into the woods. I suppose they found me useful, and didn't want
+to part with me. At last I got desperate, and made up my mind I'd
+make a bolt whatever came of it. They didn't watch me when there
+were no ships near. I suppose they thought there was nowhere for
+me to run to, so one night I steals down to the shore, gets into
+a canoe, puts in a lot of roots which I had dug up and hidden away
+in readiness, and so makes off. I rowed hard all night, for I knew
+they would be after me when they found I had gone. Them straits
+is sometimes miles and miles across; at other times not much more
+than a ship's length, and the tide runs through 'em like a mill
+race. I had chosen a time when I had the tide with me, and soon
+after morning I came to one of them narrow places. I should like to
+have stopped here, because it would have been handy for any ship
+as passed; but the tide run so strong, and the rocks were so steep
+on both sides, that I couldn't make a landing. Howsomdever, directly
+it widened out, I managed to paddle into the back water and landed
+there. Well, gents, would you believe me, if there wasn't two big
+allygaters sitting there with their mouths open ready to swallow
+me, canoe and all, when I came to shore."
+
+"No, Jack, I'm afraid we can't believe that. We would if we could,
+you know, but alligators are not fond of such cold weather as you'd
+been having, nor do they frequent the seashore."
+
+"Ah, but this, you see, was a straits, Master Ruthven, just a narrow
+straits, and I expect the creatures took it for a river."
+
+"No, no, Jack, we can't swallow the alligators, any more than they
+could swallow you and your canoe."
+
+"Well," the sailor said with a sigh, "I won't say no more about the
+allygaters. I can't rightly recall when they came into the story.
+Howsomdever, I landed, you can believe that, you know."
+
+"Oh yes, we can quite believe, Jack, that, if you were there, in
+that canoe, in that back water, with the land close ahead, you did
+land."
+
+The sailor looked searchingly at Ruthven and then continued:
+
+"I hauled the canoe up and hid it in some bushes, and it were well
+I did, for a short time afterwards a great--" and he paused. "Does
+the hippypotybus live in them ere waters, young gents?"
+
+"He does not, Jack," Ruthven said.
+
+"Then it's clear," the sailor said, "that it wasn't a hippypotybus.
+It must have been a seal."
+
+"Yes, it might have been a seal," Ruthven said. "What did he do?"
+
+"Well he just took a look at me, gents, winked with one eye, as much
+as to say, 'I see you,' and went down again. There warn't nothing
+else as he could do, was there?"
+
+"It was the best thing he could do anyhow," Ruthven said.
+
+"Well, gents, I lived there for about three weeks, and then a ship
+comes along, homeward bound, and I goes out and hails her. At first
+they thought as I was a native as had learned to speak English,
+and it wasn't till they'd boiled me for three hours in the ship's
+copper as they got at the color of my skin, and could believe as
+I was English. So I came back here and found the old woman still
+alive, and took to fishing again; but it was weeks and weeks before
+I could get her or any one else to believe as I was Jack Perkins.
+And that's all the story, young gents. Generally I tells it a
+sight longer to the gents as come down from London in summer; but,
+you see, I can't make much out of it when ye won't let me have
+'bellishments."
+
+"And how much of it is true altogether, Jack?" Frank asked. "Really
+how much?"
+
+"It's all true as I have told you, young masters," the boatman
+said. "It were every bit true about the running down of the smack,
+and me being nearly killed by the skipper, and the mutiny, and
+the burning of the vessel, and my living for a long time--no, I
+won't stick to the two years, but it might have been three weeks,
+with the natives before a ship picked me up. And that's good enough
+for a yarn, ain't it?"
+
+"Quite good enough, Jack, and we're much obliged to you; but I
+should advise you to drop the embellishments in future."
+
+"It ain't no use, Master Hargate, they will have 'bellishments,
+and if they will have 'em, Jack Perkins isn't the man to disappint
+'em; and, Lord bless you, sir, the stiffer I pitches it in the
+more liberal they is with their tips. Thank ye kindly all round,
+gentlemen. Yes, I do feel dry after the yarn."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV: A RISING TIDE
+
+
+The half year was drawing to its close, and it was generally
+agreed at Dr. Parker's that it had been the jolliest ever known.
+The boating episode and that of the tea at Oak Farm had been
+events which had given a fillip to existence. The school had been
+successful in the greater part of its cricket matches, and generally
+every one was well satisfied with himself. On the Saturday preceding
+the breaking up Frank, with Ruthven, Charlie Goodall and two of the
+other naturalists, started along the seashore to look for anemones
+and other marine creatures among the rocks and pools at the foot
+of the South Foreland. Between Ruthven and Frank a strong feeling
+of affection had grown up since the date of their boating adventure.
+They were constantly together now; and as Ruthven was also intended
+for the army, and would probably obtain his commission about the
+same time as Frank, they often talked over their future, and indulged
+in hopes that they might often meet, and that in their campaigns,
+they might go through adventures together.
+
+Tide was low when they started. They had nearly three miles to
+walk. The pools in front of Deal and Walmer had often been searched,
+but they hoped that once round the Foreland they might light upon
+specimens differing from any which they had hitherto found. For
+some hours they searched the pools, retiring as the tide advanced.
+Then they went up to the foot of the cliffs, and sat down to open
+their cans and compare the treasures they had collected. The spot
+which they had unwittingly selected was a little bay. For a long
+time they sat comparing their specimens. Then Frank said, "Come
+along, it is time to be moving."
+
+As he rose to his feet he uttered an exclamation of dismay. Although
+the tide was still at some little distance from the spot where they
+were sitting, it had already reached the cliffs extending out at
+either end of the bay. A brisk wind was blowing on shore, and the
+waves were already splashing against the foot of the rocks.
+
+The whole party leaped to their feet, and seizing their cans ran
+off at the top of their speed to the end of the bay.
+
+"I will see how deep the water is," Frank exclaimed; "we may yet
+be able to wade round."
+
+The water soon reached Frank's waist. He waded on until it was up
+to his shoulders, and he had to leap as each wave approached him.
+Then he returned to his friends.
+
+"I could see round," he said, "and I think I could have got round
+without getting into deeper water. The worst of it is the bottom
+is all rocky, and I stumbled several times, and should have gone
+under water if I could not have swam. You can't swim, Ruthven, I
+know; can you other fellows?"
+
+Goodall could swim, as could one of the others.
+
+"Now, Ruthven," Frank said, "if you will put your hand on my
+shoulder and keep quiet, I think I could carry you around. Goodall
+and Jackson can take Childers."
+
+But neither of the other boys had much confidence in their swimming.
+They could get thirty or forty yards, but felt sure that they
+would be able to render but little assistance to Childers, and in
+fact scarcely liked to round the point alone. For some time they
+debated the question, the sea every minute rising and pushing them
+farther and farther from the point. "Look here, Frank," Ruthven said
+at last; "you are not sure you can carry me. The others are quite
+certain that they cannot take Childers. We must give up that idea.
+The best thing, old boy, is for you three who can swim to start
+together. Then if either of the others fail you can help them a
+bit. Childers and I must take our chance here. When you get round
+you must send a boat as soon as possible."
+
+"I certainly shall not desert you, Ruthven," Frank said. "You know
+as well as I do that I'm not likely to find a boat on the shore
+till I get pretty near Walmer Castle, and long before we could get
+back it would be settled here. No, no, old fellow, we will see the
+matter out together. Jackson and Goodall can swim round if they
+like."
+
+These lads, however, would not venture to take the risk alone, but
+said they would go if Frank would go with them.
+
+"Chuck off your boots and coats and waistcoats," Frank said suddenly,
+proceeding to strip rapidly to the skin. "I will take them round,
+Ruthven, and come back to you. Run round the bay you and Childers,
+and see if you can find any sort of ledge or projection that we can
+take refuge upon. Now, then, come on you two as quick as you can."
+
+The sea had already reached within a few feet of the foot of the
+cliff all round the bay.
+
+"Now, mind," Frank said sharply, "no struggling and nonsense, you
+fellows. I will keep quite close to you and stick to you, so you
+needn't be afraid. If you get tired just put one hand on my back
+and swim with the other and your legs; and above all things keep
+your heads as low as possible in the water so as just to be able
+to breathe."
+
+The three lads soon waded out as far as they could go and then
+struck out. Jackson and Goodall were both poor swimmers and would
+have fared very badly alone. The confidence, however, which they
+entertained in Frank gave them courage, and they were well abreast
+of the point when first Jackson and then Goodall put their hands
+on his shoulders. Thanks to the instructions he had given them, and
+to their confidence in him, they placed no great weight upon him.
+But every ounce tells heavily on a swimmer, and Frank gave a gasp
+of relief as at last his feet touched the ground. Bidding his
+companions at once set off at a run he sat down for two or three
+minutes to recover his breath.
+
+"It is lucky," he said to himself, "that I did not try with
+Ruthven. It's a very different thing carrying fellows who can swim
+and fellows who can't. What fools we've been to let ourselves he
+caught here! I had no idea the tide came so high, or that it was
+so dangerous, and none of us have ever been round here before. Now
+I must go back to Ruthven."
+
+Frank found it even harder work to get back than it had been to
+come out from the bay, for the tide was against him now. At last
+he stood beside Ruthven and Childers.
+
+"We can only find one place, Frank, where there is any projection
+a fellow could stand upon, and that is only large enough for one.
+See!" he said, pointing to a projecting block of chalk, whose upper
+surface, some eight inches wide, was tolerably flat. "There is a
+cave here, too, which may go beyond the tide. It is not deep but
+it slopes up a bit."
+
+"That will never do," Frank said; "as the waves come in they will
+rush up and fill it to the top. Don't you see it is all rounded by
+the water? Now, Childers, we will put you on that stone. You will
+be perfectly safe there, for you see it is two feet above this
+greenish line, which shows where the water generally comes to.
+The tides are not at spring at present, so though you may get a
+splashing there is no fear of your being washed off."
+
+The water was already knee deep at the foot of the rocks, and the
+waves took them nearly up to the shoulders. Ruthven did not attempt
+to dispute Frank's allotment of the one place of safety to Childers.
+Frank and he placed themselves below the block of chalk, which was
+somewhat over six feet from the ground. Then Childers scrambled up
+on to their shoulders, and from these stepped onto the ledge.
+
+"I am all right," he said; "I wish to Heaven that you were too."
+
+"We shall do," Frank said. "Mind you hold tight, Childers! You had
+better turn round with your face to the cliff, so as to be able to
+grip hold and steady yourself in case the waves come up high. The
+tide will turn in three quarters of an hour at the outside. Now,
+then, Ruthven, let's make a fight for it, old man."
+
+"What are you going to do, Frank?"
+
+"We will wade along here as far as we can towards the corner, and
+than we must swim for it."
+
+"Don't you think it's possible to stay here," Ruthven said, "if
+the tide will turn so soon?"
+
+"Quite impossible!" Frank said. "I have been nearly taken off my
+feet twice already, and the water will rise a yard yet, at least.
+We should be smashed against the rocks, even if we weren't drowned. It
+must be tried, Ruthven. There is no other way for it. The distance
+is a good deal farther than it would have been if we had started
+at first; but it isn't the distance that makes much matter. We've
+only got to go out a little way, and the tide will soon take us
+around the point. Everything depends on you. I can take you round
+the point, and land you safely enough, if you will lie quiet. If you
+don't, you will drown both of us. So it's entirely in your hands.
+
+"Look out!"
+
+At this moment a larger wave than usual took both boys off their
+legs, and dashed them with considerable force against the cliff.
+Frank seized Ruthven, and assisted him to regain his feet.
+
+"Now, old fellow, let me put you on your back. I will lie on mine
+and tow you along. Don't struggle; don't move; above all, don't try
+and lift your head, and don't mind if a little water gets in your
+mouth. Now!"
+
+For a moment Ruthven felt himself under water, and had to make a great
+effort to restrain himself from struggling to come to the surface.
+Then he felt himself lying on his back in the water, supported by
+Frank. The motion was not unpleasant as he rose and fell on the
+waves, although now and then a splash of water came over his face,
+and made him cough and splutter for breath. He could see nothing but
+the blue sky overhead, could feel nothing except that occasionally he
+received a blow from one or other of Frank's knees, as the latter
+swam beneath him, with Ruthven's head on his chest. It was a dreamy
+sensation, and looking back upon it afterwards Ruthven could never
+recall anything that he had thought of. It seemed simply a drowsy
+pleasant time, except when occasionally a wave covered his face.
+His first sensation was that of surprise when he felt the motion
+change, and Frank lifted his head from the water and said, "Stand
+up, old fellow. Thank God, here we are, safe!"
+
+Frank had indeed found the journey easier than that which he had
+before undertaken with the others. He had scarcely tried to progress,
+but had, after getting sufficiently far out to allow the tide to
+take him round the point, drifted quietly.
+
+"I owe my life to you, Frank. I shall never forget it, old fellow."
+
+"It's been a close thing," Frank answered; "but you owe your life
+as much to your own coolness as to me, and above all, Ruthven,
+don't let us forget that we both owe our lives to God."
+
+"I sha'n't forget it," Ruthven said quietly, and they stood for a
+few minutes without speaking. "Now, what had we better do? Shall
+we start to run home?"
+
+"I can't," Frank laughed, for he had nothing on but his trousers.
+These he had slipped on after the return from his first trip,
+pushing the rest of his things into a crevice in the rocks as high
+up as he could reach.
+
+"You had better take off your things, Ruthven, and lay them out
+to dry in the sun. The boat will be here in half an hour. I wonder
+how Childers is getting on!"
+
+"I think he will be safe," Ruthven said. "The tide will not rise
+high enough for there to be much danger of his being washed off."
+
+"I don't think so either," Frank agreed, "or I would try and swim
+back again; but I really don't think I could get round the point
+against the tide again."
+
+In half an hour a boat rowing four oars was seen approaching.
+
+"They are laying out well," Ruthven said. "They couldn't row harder
+if they were rowing a race. But had it not been for you, old fellow,
+they would have been too late, as far as I am concerned."
+
+As the boat approached, the coxswain waved his hat to the boys.
+Frank motioned with his arm for them to row on round the point.
+The boat swept along at a short distance from the shore. The boys
+watched them breathlessly. Presently as it reached the point they
+saw the coxswain stand up and say something to the men, who glanced
+over their shoulders as they rowed. Then the coxswain gave a loud
+shout. "Hold on! We'll be with you directly."
+
+"Thank God!" Frank exclaimed, "Childers is all right."
+
+It was well, however, that the boat arrived when it did, for Childers
+was utterly exhausted when it reached him. The sea had risen so
+high that the waves broke against his feet, throwing the spray far
+above his head, and often nearly washing him from the ledge on which
+he stood. Had it not been, indeed, for the hold which he obtained
+of the cliff, it would several times have swept him away. About
+eighteen inches above his head he had found a ledge sufficiently
+wide to give a grip for his hands, and hanging by these he managed
+to retain his place when three times his feet were swept off the
+rock by the rush of water. The tide was just on the turn when the
+boat arrived, and so exhausted was he that he certainly would not
+have been able to hold out for the half hour's buffeting to which
+he would have been exposed before the water fell sufficiently to
+leave him. After helping him into the boat the men gathered the
+clothes jammed in fissures of the cliffs. These were, of course,
+drenched with water, but had for the most part remained firm in
+their places. They now pulled round to the spot where Frank and
+Ruthven were awaiting them.
+
+"Childers must have been pretty nearly done," Frank said. "He must
+be lying in the bottom of the boat."
+
+Childers gave a smile of pleasure as his schoolfellows jumped on
+board. He had, glancing over his shoulder, seen them drift out of
+sight round the point, and had felt certain that they had reached
+shore. It was, however, a great pleasure to be assured of the fact.
+
+"You have made quite a stir upon the beach, young gentlemen," the
+coxswain of the boat said. "When they two came running up without
+their shoes or coats and said there were three of you cut off in
+the bay under the Foreland, there didn't seem much chance for you.
+It didn't take us two minutes to launch the boat, for there were
+a score of hands helping to run her down; and my mates bent to it
+well, I can tell you, though we didn't think it would be of any use.
+We were glad when we made you two out on this side of the point.
+Look, there's half Deal and Walmer coming along the shore."
+
+It was as the boatman said. Numbers of persons were streaming along
+the beach, and loud were the cheers which rose as the coxswain
+stood up and shouted in a stentorian voice, "All saved!"
+
+Frank put on his things as they approached Walmer. His shoes were
+lost, as were those of Ruthven, and he had difficulty in getting his
+arms into his wet and shrunken jacket. Quite a crowd were gathered
+near the castle as the boat rowed to shore, and a hearty cheer arose
+as it was run up on the shingle and the boys were helped out. Frank
+and Ruthven, indeed, required no assistance. They were in no way
+the worse for the adventure, but Childers was so weak that he was
+unable to stand. He was carried up and laid on a fly, the others
+sitting opposite, the driver having first taken the precaution of
+removing the cushions.
+
+There were among the crowd most of the boys from Dr. Parker's.
+Goodall and Jackson had arrived nearly an hour and a half before,
+and the news had spread like wildfire. Bats and balls had been
+thrown down and every one had hurried to the beach. Goodall and
+his companion had already related the circumstance of their being
+cut off by the water and taken round the point by Frank; and as
+Ruthven on jumping out had explained to his comrades who flocked
+round to shake his hand, "I owe my life to Hargate," the enthusiasm
+reached boiling point, and Frank had difficulty in taking his place
+in the fly, so anxious were all to shake his hand and pat him on
+the shoulder. Had it not been for his anxiety to get home as soon
+as possible, and his urgent entreaties, they would have carried him
+on their shoulders in triumph through the town. They drove first to
+the school, where Childers was at once carried up to a bed, which
+had been prepared with warm blankets in readiness; Ruthven needed
+only to change his clothes.
+
+The moment they had left the fly Frank drove straight home, and
+was delighted at finding, from his mother's exclamation of surprise
+as he alighted from the cab, that she had not been suffering any
+anxiety, no one, in the general excitement, having thought of taking
+the news to her. In answer to her anxious inquiries he made light
+of the affair, saying only that they had stupidly allowed themselves
+to be cut off by the sea and had got a ducking. It was not, indeed,
+till the next morning, when the other four boys came around to tell
+Mrs. Hargate that they were indebted to Frank for their lives, that
+she had any notion that he had been in danger.
+
+Frank was quite oppressed by what he called the fuss which was
+made over the affair. A thrilling description of it appeared in the
+local papers. A subscription was got up in the school, and a gold
+watch with an inscription was presented to him; and he received letters
+of heart felt thanks from the parents of his four schoolfellows,
+for Childers maintained that it was entirely to Frank's coolness
+and thoughtfulness that his preservation was also due.
+
+On the following Wednesday the school broke up. Frank had several
+invitations from the boys to spend his holidays with them; but he
+knew how lonely his mother would feel in his absence, and he declined
+all the invitations. Mrs. Hargate was far from strong, and had had
+several fits of fainting. These, however, had taken place at times
+when Frank was at school, and she had strictly charged her little
+servant to say nothing about it.
+
+One day on returning from a long walk he saw the doctor's carriage
+standing at the door. Just as he arrived the door opened and the
+doctor came out. Upon seeing Frank he turned.
+
+"Come in here, my boy," he said.
+
+Frank followed him, and seeing that the blinds were down, went to
+draw them up. The doctor laid his hand on his arm.
+
+"Never mind that," he said gently.
+
+"My boy," he said, "do you know that your mother has been for some
+time ailing?"
+
+"No, indeed," Frank said with a gasp of pain and surprise.
+
+"It is so, my boy. I have been attending her for some time. She
+has been suffering from fainting fits brought on by weakness of
+the heart's action. Two hours since I was sent for and found her
+unconscious. My poor boy, you must compose yourself. God is good and
+merciful, though his decrees are hard to bear. Your mother passed
+away quietly half an hour since, without recovering consciousness."
+
+Frank gave a short cry, and then sat stunned by the suddenness
+of the blow. The doctor drew out a small case from his pocket and
+poured a few drops from the phial into a glass, added some water,
+and held it to Frank's lips.
+
+"Drink this, my boy," he said.
+
+Frank turned his head from the offered glass. He could not speak.
+
+"Drink this, my boy," the doctor said again; "it will do you good.
+Try and be strong for the sake of your little sister, who has only
+you in the world now."
+
+The thought of Lucy touched the right chord in the boy's heart,
+and he burst into a passionate fit of crying. The doctor allowed
+his tears to flow unchecked.
+
+"You will be better now," he said presently. "Now drink this, then
+lie down on the sofa. We must not be having you ill, you know."
+
+Frank gulped down the contents of the glass, and, passive as a
+child, allowed the doctor to place him upon the sofa.
+
+"God help and strengthen you, my poor boy," he said; "ask help from
+Him."
+
+For an hour Frank lay sobbing on the sofa, and then, remembering
+the doctor's last words, he knelt beside it and prayed for strength.
+
+A week had passed. The blinds were up again. Mrs. Hargate had been
+laid in her last home, and Frank was sitting alone again in the
+little parlor thinking over what had best be done. The outlook
+was a dark one, enough to shake the courage of one much older than
+Frank. His mother's pension, he knew, died with her. He had, on
+the doctor's advice, written to the War Office on the day following
+his mother's death, to inform the authorities of the circumstances,
+and to ask if any pension could be granted to his sister. The reply
+had arrived that morning and had relieved him of the greatest of
+his cares. It stated that as he was now just fifteen years old he
+was not eligible for a pension, but that twenty-five pounds a year
+would be paid to his sister until she married or attained the age
+of twenty-one.
+
+He had spoken to the doctor that morning, and the latter said that
+he knew a lady who kept a small school, and who would, he doubted
+not, be willing to receive Lucy and to board and clothe her for
+that sum. She was a very kind and motherly person, and he was sure
+that Lucy would be most kindly treated and cared for by her. It
+was then of his own future only that Frank had to think. There were
+but a few pounds in the house, but the letter from the War Office
+inclosed a check for twenty pounds, as his mother's quarterly pension
+was just due. The furniture of the little house would fetch but a
+small sum, not more, Frank thought, than thirty or forty pounds.
+There were a few debts to pay, and after all was settled up there
+would remain about fifty pounds. Of this he determined to place
+half in the doctor's hands for the use of Lucy.
+
+"She will want," he said to himself, "a little pocket money. It is
+hard on a girl having no money to spend of her own. Then, as she
+gets on, she may need lessons in something or other. Besides, half
+the money rightly belongs to her, The question is, What am I to
+do?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V: ALONE IN THE WORLD
+
+
+"What am I to do?"
+
+A difficult question indeed, for a boy of fifteen, with but twenty-five
+pounds, and without a friend in the world. Was he, indeed, without
+a friend? he asked himself. There was Dr. Parker. Should he apply
+to him? But the doctor had started for a trip on the Continent the
+day after the school had broken up, and would not return for six
+weeks. It was possible that, had he been at home, he might have
+offered to keep Frank for a while; but the boys seldom stayed at
+his school past the age of fifteen, going elsewhere to have their
+education completed. What possible claim had he to quarter himself
+upon the doctor for the next four years, even were the offer made?
+No, Frank felt; he could not live upon the doctor's charity. Then
+there were the parents of the boys he had saved from drowning. But
+even as he sat alone Frank's face flushed at the thought of trading
+upon services so rendered. The boy's chief fault was pride. It was
+no petty feeling, and he had felt no shame at being poorer than
+the rest of his schoolfellows. It was rather a pride which led him
+unduly to rely upon himself, and to shrink from accepting favors
+from any one. Frank might well, without any derogation, have written
+to his friends, telling them of the loss he had suffered and the
+necessity there was for him to earn his living, and asking them to
+beg their fathers to use their interest to procure him a situation
+as a boy clerk, or any other position in which he could earn his
+livelihood.
+
+Frank, however, shrunk from making any such appeal, and determined
+to fight his battle without asking for help. He knew nothing of his
+parents' relations. His father was an only son, who had been left
+early an orphan. His mother, too, had, he was aware, lost both
+her parents, and he had never heard her speak of other relations.
+There was no one, therefore, so far as he knew, to whom he could
+appeal on the ground of ties of blood. It must be said for him
+that he had no idea how hard was the task which he was undertaking.
+It seemed to him that it must be easy for a strong, active lad to
+find employment of some sort in London. What the employment might
+be he cared little for. He had no pride of that kind, and so that
+he could earn his bread he cared not much in what capacity he might
+do it.
+
+Already preparations had been made for the sale of the furniture,
+which was to take place next day. Everything was to be sold except
+the scientific books which had belonged to his father. These had
+been packed in a great box until the time when he might place them
+in a library of his own, and the doctor kindly offered to keep it
+for him until such time should arrive. Frank wrote a long letter
+to Ruthven, telling him of his loss, and his reasons for leaving
+Deal, and promising to write some day and tell him how he was
+getting on in London. This letter he did not intend to post until
+the last thing before leaving Deal. Lucy had already gone to her
+new home, and Frank felt confident that she would be happy there.
+His friend, the doctor, who had tried strongly, but without avail, to
+dissuade Frank from going up to London to seek his fortune there,
+had promised that if the lad referred any inquiries to him he would
+answer for his character.
+
+He went down to the beach the last evening and said goodbye to his
+friends among the fishermen, and he walked over in the afternoon
+and took his last meal with Farmer Gregson.
+
+"Look ye here, my lad," the farmer said as they parted. "I tell ye,
+from what I've heerd, this London be a hard nut to crack. There be
+plenty of kernel, no doubt, when you can get at it, but it be hard
+work to open the shell. Now, if so be as at any time you run short
+of money, just drop me a line, and there's ten pound at your service
+whenever you like. Don't you think it's an obligation. Quite the
+other way. It would be a real pleasure to me to lend you a helping
+hand."
+
+Two days after the sale Frank started for London. On getting out of
+the train he felt strange and lonely amid the bustle and confusion
+which was going on on the platform. The doctor had advised him to
+ask one of the porters, or a policeman, if he could recommend him
+to a quiet and respectable lodging, as expenses at an hotel would
+soon make a deep hole in his money. He, therefore, as soon as the
+crowd cleared away, addressed himself to one of the porters.
+
+"What sort of lodgings do you want, sir?" the man said, looking at
+him rather suspiciously, with, as Frank saw, a strong idea in his
+mind that he was a runaway schoolboy.
+
+"I only want one room," he said, "and I don't care how small it is,
+so that it is clean and quiet. I shall be out all day, and should
+not give much trouble."
+
+The porter went away and spoke to some of his mates, and presently
+returned with one of them.
+
+"You're wanting a room I hear, sir," the man said. "I have a little
+house down the Old Kent Road, and my missus lets a room or two.
+It's quiet and clean, I'll warrant you. We have one room vacant at
+present."
+
+"I'm sure that would suit me very well," Frank said. "How much do
+you charge a week?"
+
+"Three and sixpence, sir, if you don't want any cooking done."
+
+Frank took the address, and leaving his portmanteau in charge of
+the porter, who promised, unless he heard to the contrary, that
+he would bring it home with him when he had done his work, he set
+off from the station.
+
+Deal is one of the quietest and most dreary places on the coast of
+England, and Frank was perfectly astounded at the crowd and bustle
+which filled the street, when he issued from the railway approach,
+at the foot of London Bridge. The porter had told him that he was
+to turn to his left, and keep straight along until he reached the
+"Elephant and Castle." He had, therefore, no trouble about his
+road, and was able to give his whole attention to the sights which
+met his eye. For a time the stream of omnibuses, cabs, heavy wagons,
+and light carts, completely bewildered him, as did the throng of
+people who hastened along the footway. He was depressed rather than
+exhilarated at the sight of this busy multitude. He seemed such a
+solitary atom in the midst of this great moving crowd. Presently,
+however, the thought that where so many millions gained their living
+there must be room for one boy more, somewhat cheered him. He was
+a long time making his way to his place of destination, for he
+stared into every shop window, and being, although he was perfectly
+ignorant of the fact, on the wrong side of the pavement, he was
+bumped and bustled continually, and was not long in arriving at
+the conclusion that the people of London must be the roughest and
+rudest in the world. It was not until he ran against a gentleman,
+and was greeted with the angry, "now then, boy. Where are you going?
+Why the deuce don't you keep on your own side of the pavement?" that
+he perceived that the moving throng was divided into two currents,
+that on the inside meeting him, while the outside stream was
+proceeding in the same direction as himself. After this he got on
+better, and arrived without adventure at the house of the porter,
+in the Old Kent Road.
+
+It was a small house, but was clean and respectable, and Frank
+found that the room would suit him well.
+
+"I do not wait upon the lodgers," the landlady said, "except to
+make the beds and tidy the rooms in the morning. So if you want
+breakfast and tea at home you will have to get them yourself. There
+is a separate place downstairs for your coals. There are some tea
+things, plates and dishes, in this cupboard. You will want to buy
+a small tea kettle, and a gridiron, and a frying pan, in case you
+want a chop or a rasher. Do you think you can cook them yourself?"
+
+"Frank, amused at the thought of cooking and catering for himself,
+said boldly that he should soon learn.
+
+"You are a very young gentleman," the landlady said, eyeing him
+doubtfully, "to be setting up on your own hook. I mean," she said,
+seeing Frank look puzzled, "setting up housekeeping on your own
+account. You will have to be particular careful with the frying
+pan, because if you were to upset the fat in the fire you might
+have the house in a blaze in a jiffey."
+
+Frank said that he would certainly be careful with the frying pan.
+
+"Well," she went on, "as you're a stranger to the place I don't
+know as you could do better than get your tea, and sugar, and things
+at the grocer's at the next corner. I deals there myself, and he
+gives every satisfaction. My baker will be round in a few minutes,
+and, if you likes, I can take in your bread for you. The same with
+milk."
+
+These matters being arranged, and Frank agreeing at once to the
+proposition that as he was a stranger it would make things more
+comfortable were he to pay his rent in advance, found himself alone
+in his new apartment. It was a room about ten feet square. The bed
+occupied one corner, with the washstand at its foot. There was a
+small table in front of the fireplace, and two chairs; a piece of
+carpet half covered the floor, and these with the addition of the
+articles in the cupboard constituted the furniture of the room.
+Feeling hungry after his journey Frank resolved to go out at once
+and get something to eat, and then to lay in a stock of provisions.
+After some hesitation regarding the character of the meal he decided
+upon two Bath buns, determining to make a substantial tea. He
+laid in a supply of tea, sugar, butter, and salt, bought a little
+kettle, a frying pan, and a gridiron. Then he hesitated as to
+whether he should venture upon a mutton chop or some bacon, deciding
+finally in favor of the latter, upon the reflection that any fellow
+could see whether bacon were properly frizzled up, while as to
+a chop there was no seeing anything about it till one cut it. He,
+therefore, invested in a pound of prime streaky Wiltshire bacon,
+the very best, as the shopman informed him, that could be bought.
+He returned carrying all his purchases, with the exception of the
+hardware. Then he inquired of his landlady where he could get coal.
+
+"The green grocer's round the corner," the landlady said. "Tell
+him to send in a hundredweight of the best, that's a shilling, and
+you'll want some firewood too."
+
+The coal arrived in the course of the afternoon, and at half past
+six the porter came in with Frank's trunk. He had by this time lit
+a fire, and while the water was boiling got some of his things out
+of the box, and by hanging some clothes on the pegs on the back
+of the door, and by putting the two or three favorite books he had
+brought with him on to the mantelpiece, he gave the room a more
+homelike appearance. He enjoyed his tea all the more from the
+novelty of having to prepare it himself, and succeeded very fairly
+for a first attempt with his bacon.
+
+When tea was over he first washed up the things and then started for
+a ramble. He followed the broad straight road to Waterloo Bridge,
+stood for a long time looking at the river, and then crossed into
+the Strand. The lamps were now alight and the brightness and bustle
+of the scene greatly interested him. At nine o'clock he returned
+to his lodgings, but was again obliged to sally out, as he found
+he had forgotten candles.
+
+After breakfast next morning he went out and bought a newspaper,
+and set himself to work to study the advertisements. He was dismayed
+to find how many more applicants there were for places than places
+requiring to be filled. All the persons advertising were older than
+himself, and seemed to possess various accomplishments in the way
+of languages; many too could be strongly recommended from their
+last situation. The prospect did not look hopeful. In the first
+place he had looked to see if any required boy clerks, but this
+species of assistant appeared little in demand; and then, although
+he hoped that it would not come to that, he ran his eye down the
+columns to see if any required errand boys or lads in manufacturing
+businesses. He found, however, no such advertisements. However, as
+he said to himself, it could not be expected that he should find a
+place waiting for him on the very day after his arrival, and that
+he ought to be able to live for a year on his five and twenty
+pounds; at this reflection his spirits rose and he went out again
+for a walk.
+
+For the first week, indeed, of his arrival in London Frank did
+not set himself very earnestly to work to look for a situation.
+In his walks about the streets he several times observed cards in
+the window indicating that an errand boy was wanted. He resolved,
+however, that this should be the last resource which he would
+adopt, as he would much prefer to go to work as a common lad in a
+factory to serving in a shop. After the first week he answered many
+advertisements, but in no case received a reply. In one case, in
+which it was stated that a lad who could write a good fast hand
+was required in an office, wages to begin with eight shillings a
+week, he called two days after writing. It was a small office with
+a solitary clerk sitting in it. The latter, upon learning Frank's
+business, replied with some exasperation that his mind was being
+worried out by boys.
+
+"We have had four hundred and thirty letters," he said; "and I should
+think that a hundred boys must have called. We took the first who
+applied, and all the other letters were chucked into the fire as
+soon as we saw what they were about."
+
+Frank returned to the street greatly disheartened.
+
+"Four hundred and thirty letters!" he said. "Four hundred and
+thirty other fellows on the lookout, just as I am, for a place as
+a boy clerk, and lots of them, no doubt, with friends and relations
+to recommend them! The lookout seems to be a bad one."
+
+Two days later, when Frank was walking along the strand he noticed
+the placards in front of a theater.
+
+"Gallery one shilling!" he said to himself; "I will go. I have
+never seen a theater yet."
+
+The play was The Merchant of Venice, and Frank sat in rapt attention
+and interest through it. When the performance was over he walked
+briskly homewards. When he had proceeded some distance he saw a
+glare in the sky ahead, and presently a steam engine dashed past
+him at full speed.
+
+"That must be a house on fire," he said. "I have never seen a fire;"
+and he broke into a run.
+
+Others were running in the same direction, and as he passed the
+"Elephant and Castle" the crowd became thicker, and when within
+fifty yards of the house he could no longer advance. He could see
+the flames now rising high in the air. A horrible fear seized him.
+
+"It must be," he exclaimed to himself, "either our house or the
+one next door."
+
+It was in vain that he pressed forward to see more nearly. A line
+of policemen was drawn up across the road to keep a large space
+clear for the firemen. Behind the policemen the crowd were thickly
+packed. Frank inquired of many who stood near him if they could
+tell him the number of the house which was on fire; but none could
+inform him.
+
+Presently the flames began to die away, and the crowd to disperse.
+At length Frank reached the first line of spectators.
+
+"Can you tell me the number of the houses which are burned?" Frank
+said to a policeman.
+
+"There are two of them," the policeman said "a hundred and four
+and a hundred and five. A hundred and four caught first, and they
+say that a woman and two children have been burned to death."
+
+"That is where I live!" Frank cried. "Oh, please let me pass!"
+
+"I'll pass you in," the policeman said good naturedly, and he led
+him forward to the spot where the engines were playing upon the
+burning houses. "Is it true, mate," he asked a fireman, "that a
+woman and two children have been burned?"
+
+"It's true enough," the fireman said. "The landlady and her
+children. Her husband was a porter at the railway station, and had
+been detained on overtime. He only came back a quarter of an hour
+ago, and he's been going on like a madman;" and he pointed to the
+porter, who was sitting down on the doorsteps of a house facing
+his own, with his face hidden in his hands.
+
+Frank went and sat down beside him.
+
+"My poor fellow," he said, "I am sorry for you."
+
+Frank had had many chats with his landlord of an evening, and had
+become quite friendly with him and his wife.
+
+"I can't believe it," the man said huskily. "Just to think! When I
+went out this morning there was Jane and the kids, as well and as
+happy as ever, and there, where are they now?"
+
+"Happier still," Frank said gently. "I lost my mother just as
+suddenly only five weeks ago. I went out for a walk, leaving her
+as well as usual, and when I came back she was dead; so I can feel
+for you with all my heart."
+
+"I would have given my life for them," the man said, wiping his
+eyes, "willing."
+
+"I'm sure you would," Frank answered.
+
+"There's the home gone," the man said, "with all the things that
+it took ten years' savings of Jane and me to buy; not that that
+matters one way or the other now. And your traps are gone, too, I
+suppose, sir."
+
+"Yes," Frank replied quietly, "I have lost my clothes and twenty-three
+pounds in money; every penny I've got in the world except half a
+crown in my pocket."
+
+"And you don't say nothing about it!" the man said, roused into
+animation. "But, there, perhaps you've friends as will make it up
+to you."
+
+"I have no one in the world," Frank answered, "whom I could ask to
+give me a helping hand."
+
+"Well, you are a plucky chap," the man said. "That would be a knock
+down blow to a man, let alone a boy like you. What are you going
+to do now?" he asked, forgetting for the moment his own loss, in
+his interest in his companion.
+
+"I don't know," Frank replied. "Perhaps," he added, seeing that the
+interest in his condition roused the poor fellow from the thought
+of his own deep sorrow, "you might give me some advice. I was thinking
+of getting a place in an office, but of course I must give that up
+now, and should be thankful to get anything by which I can earn my
+bread."
+
+"You come along with me," the man said rising. "You've done me
+a heap of good. It's no use sitting here. I shall go back to the
+station, and turn in on some sacks. If you've nothing better to
+do, and nowhere to go to, you come along with me. We will talk it
+all over."
+
+Pleased to have some one to talk to, and glad that he should not
+have to look for a place to sleep, Frank accompanied the porter to
+the station. With a word or two to the nightmen on duty, the porter
+led the way to a shed near the station, where a number of sacks
+were heaped in a corner.
+
+"Now," the man said, "I will light a pipe. It's against the
+regulations, but that's neither here nor there now. Now, if you're
+not sleepy, would you mind talking to me? Tell me something about
+yourself, and how you come to be alone here in London. It does me
+good to talk. It prevents me from thinking."
+
+"There is very little to tell," Frank said; and he related to him
+the circumstances of the deaths of his father and mother, and how
+it came that he was alone in London in search of a place.
+
+"You're in a fix," the porter said.
+
+"Yes, I can see that."
+
+"You see you're young for most work, and you never had no practice
+with horses, or you might have got a place to drive a light cart.
+Then, again, your knowing nothing of London is against you as an
+errand boy; and what's worse than all this, anyone can see with
+half an eye that you're a gentleman, and not accustomed to hard
+work. However, we will think it over. The daylight's breaking now,
+and I has to be at work at six. But look ye here, young fellow,
+tomorrow I've got to look for a room, and when I gets it there's
+half of it for you, if you're not too proud to accept it. It will
+be doing me a real kindness, I can tell you, for what I am to do
+alone of an evening without Jane and the kids, God knows. I can't
+believe they're gone yet."
+
+Then the man threw himself down upon the sacks, and broke into
+sobs. Frank listened for half an hour till these gradually died
+away, and he knew by the regular breathing that his companion was
+asleep. It was long after this before be himself closed his eyes.
+The position did, indeed, appear a dark one. Thanks to the offer
+of his companion, which he at once resolved to accept for a time,
+he would have a roof to sleep under. But this could not last; and
+what was he to do? Perhaps he had been wrong in not writing at once
+to Ruthven and his schoolfellows. He even felt sure he had been
+wrong; but it would be ten times as hard to write now. He would
+rather starve than do this. How was he to earn his living? He
+would, he determined, at any rate try for a few days to procure a
+place as an errand boy. If that failed, he would sell his clothes,
+and get a rough working suit. He was sure that he should have more
+chance of obtaining work in such a dress than in his present attire.
+
+Musing thus, Frank at last dropped off to sleep. When he woke he
+found himself alone, his companion having left without disturbing
+him. From the noises around him of trains coming in and out, Frank
+judged that the hour was late.
+
+"I have done one wise thing," he said, "anyhow, and as far as I
+can see it's the only one, in leaving my watch with the doctor to
+keep. He pointed out that I might have it stolen if I carried it,
+and that there was no use in keeping it shut up in a box. Very
+possibly it might be stolen by the dishonesty of a servant. That's
+safe anyhow, and it is my only worldly possession, except the books,
+and I would rather go into the workhouse than part with either of
+them."
+
+Rising, he made his way into the station, where he found the porter
+at his usual work.
+
+"I would not wake you," the man said; "you were sleeping so quiet,
+and I knew 'twas no use your getting up early. I shall go out and
+settle for a room at dinner time. If you will come here at six
+o'clock we'll go off together. The mates have all been very kind,
+and have been making a collection to bury my poor girl and the kids.
+They've found 'em, and the inquest is tomorrow, so I shall be off
+work. The governor has offered me a week; but there, I'd rather be
+here where there's no time for thinking, than hanging about with
+nothing to do but to drink."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI: THE FIRST STEP
+
+
+All that day Frank tramped the streets. He went into many shops
+where he saw notices that an errand boy was required, but everywhere
+without success. He perceived at once that his appearance was
+against him, and he either received the abrupt answer of, "You're
+not the sort of chap for my place," or an equally decided refusal
+upon the grounds that he did not know the neighborhood, or that
+they preferred one who had parents who lived close by and could
+speak for him.
+
+At six o'clock he rejoined the porter. He brought with him some
+bread and butter and a piece of bacon. When, on arriving at the
+lodging of his new friend, a neat room with two small beds in it,
+he produced and opened his parcel, the porter said angrily, "Don't
+you do that again, young fellow, or we shall have words. You're
+just coming to stop with me for a bit till you see your way, and
+I'm not going to have you bring things in here. My money is good
+for two months, and your living here with me won't cost three
+shillings a week. So don't you hurt my feelings by bringing things
+home again. There, don't say no more about it."
+
+Frank, seeing that his companion was really in earnest, said no
+more, and was the less reluctant to accept the other's kindness
+as he saw that his society was really a great relief to him in his
+trouble. After the meal they sallied out to a second hand clothes
+shop. Here Frank disposed of his things, and received in return a
+good suit of clothes fit for a working lad.
+
+"I don't know how it is," the porter said as they sat together
+afterwards, "but a gentleman looks like a gentleman put him in
+what clothes you will. I could have sworn to your being that if
+I'd never seen you before. I can't make it out, I don't know what
+it is, but there's certainly something in gentle blood, whatever
+you may say about it. Some of my mates are forever saying that one
+man's as good as another. Now I don't mean to say they ain't as
+good; but what I say is, as they ain't the same. One man ain't the
+same as another any more than a race horse is the same as a cart
+horse. They both sprang from the same stock, at least so they says;
+but breeding and feeding and care has made one into a slim boned
+creature as can run like the wind, while the other has got big
+bones and weight and can drag his two ton after him without turning
+a hair. Now, I take it, it's the same thing with gentlefolks
+and working men. It isn't that one's bigger than the other, for I
+don't see much difference that way; but a gentleman's lighter in
+the bone, and his hands and his feet are smaller, and he carries
+himself altogether different. His voice gets a different tone. Why,
+Lord bless you, when I hears two men coming along the platform at
+night, even when I can't see 'em, and can't hear what they says,
+only the tone of their voices, I knows just as well whether it's
+a first class or a third door as I've got to open as if I saw 'em
+in the daylight. Rum, ain't it?"
+
+Frank had never thought the matter out, and could only give his
+general assent to his companion's proposition.
+
+"Now," the porter went on, "if you go into a factory or workshop,
+I'll bet a crown to a penny that before you've been there a week
+you'll get called Gentleman Jack, or some such name. You see if
+you ain't."
+
+"I don't care what they call me," Frank laughed, "so that they'll
+take me into the factory."
+
+"All in good time," the porter said; "don't you hurry yourself. As
+long as you can stay here you'll be heartily welcome. Just look what
+a comfort it is to have you sitting here sociable and comfortable.
+You don't suppose I could have sat here alone in this room if you
+hadn't been here? I should have been in a public house making a
+beast of myself, and spending as much money as would keep the pair
+of us."
+
+Day after day Frank went out in search of work. In his tramps he
+visited scores of workshops and factories, but without success.
+Either they did not want boys, or they declined altogether to take
+one who had no experience in work, and had no references in the
+neighborhood. Frank took his breakfast and tea with the porter,
+and was glad that the latter had his dinner at the station, as a
+penny loaf served his purposes. One day in his walks Frank entered
+Covent Garden and stood looking on at the bustle and flow of
+business, for it happened to be market day. He leaned against one
+of the columns of the piazza, eating the bread he had just bought.
+Presently a sharp faced lad, a year or two younger than himself,
+came up to him.
+
+"Give us a hit," he said, "I ain't tasted nothing today."
+
+Frank broke the bread in half and gave a portion to him.
+
+"What a lot there is going on here!" Frank said.
+
+"Law!" the boy answered, "that ain't nothing to what it is of a
+morning. That's the time, 'special on the mornings of the flower
+market. It's hard lines if a chap can't pick up a tanner or even
+a bob then."
+
+"How?" Frank asked eagerly.
+
+"Why, by holding horses, helping to carry out plants, and such like.
+You seems a green 'un, you do. Up from the country, eh? Don't seem
+like one of our sort."
+
+"Yes," Frank said, "I'm just up from the country. I thought it
+would be easy to get a place in London, but I don't find it so."
+
+"A place!" the boy repeated scornfully. "I should like any one
+to see me in a place. It's better a hundred times to be your own
+master."
+
+"Even if you do want a piece of bread sometimes?" Frank put in.
+
+"Yes," the boy said. "When it ain't market day and ye haven't saved
+enough to buy a few papers or boxes of matches it does come hard.
+In winter the times is bad, but in summer we gets on fairish, and
+there ain't nothing to grumble about. Are you out of work yourself?"
+
+"Yes," Frank answered, "I'm on the lookout for a job."
+
+"You'd have a chance here in the morning," said the boy, looking
+at him. "You look decent, and might get a job unloading. They won't
+have us at no price, if they can help it."
+
+"I will come and try anyhow," Frank said.
+
+That evening Frank told his friend, the porter, that he thought of
+going out early next morning to try and pick up odd jobs at Covent
+Garden.
+
+"Don't you think of it," the porter said. "There's nothing worse
+for a lad than taking to odd jobs. It gets him into bad ways and
+bad company. Don't you hurry. I have spoken to lots of my mates,
+and they're all on the lookout for you. We on the platform can't do
+much. It ain't in our line, you see; but in the goods department,
+where they are constant with vans and wagons and such like, they
+are likely enough to hear of something before long."
+
+That night, thinking matters over in bed, Frank determined to go
+down to the docks and see if he could get a place as cabin boy.
+He had had this idea in his mind ever since he lost his money, and
+had only put it aside in order that he might, if possible, get some
+berth on shore which might seem likely in the end to afford him a
+means of making his way up again. It was not that he was afraid of
+the roughness of a cabin boy's life; it was only because he knew
+that it would be so very long before, working his way up from boy
+to able bodied seaman, he could obtain a mate's certificate, and
+so make a first step up the ladder. However, he thought that even
+this would be better than going as a wagoner's boy, and he accordingly
+crossed London Bridge, turned down Eastcheap, and presently found
+himself in Ratcliff Highway. He was amused here at the nautical
+character of the shops, and presently found himself staring into
+a window full of foreign birds, for the most part alive in cages,
+among which, however, were a few cases of stuffed birds.
+
+"How stupid I have been!" he thought to himself. "I wonder I never
+thought of it before! I can stuff birds and beasts at any rate a
+deal better than those wooden looking things. I might have a chance
+of getting work at some naturalist's shop. I will get a directory
+and take down all the addresses in London, and then go around."
+
+He now became conscious of a conversation going on between a little
+old man with a pair of thick horn rimmed spectacles and a sailor
+who had a dead parrot and a cat in his hand.
+
+"I really cannot undertake them," the old man said. "Since the
+death of my daughter I have had but little time to attend to that
+branch. What with buying and selling, and feeding and attending to
+the live ones, I have no time for stuffing. Besides, if the things
+were poisoned, they would not be worth stuffing."
+
+"It isn't the question of worth, skipper," the sailor said; "and
+I don't say, mind ye, that these here critturs was pisoned, only
+if you looks at it that this was the noisiest bird and the worst
+tempered thievingest cat in the neighborhood--though, Lord bless
+you, my missus wouldn't allow it for worlds--why, you know, when
+they were both found stiff and cold this morning people does have
+a sort of a suspicion as how they've been pisoned;" and he winked
+one eye in a portentous manner, and grinned hugely. "The missus
+she's in a nice taking, screeching, and yelling as you might hear
+her two cables' length away, and she turns round on me and will have
+it as I'd a hand in the matter. Well, just to show my innocence,
+I offers to get a glass case for 'em and have 'em stuffed, if it
+cost me a couple of pounds. I wouldn't care if they fell all to
+pieces a week afterwards, so that it pacified the old woman just
+at present. If I can't get 'em done I shall ship at once, for the
+place will be too hot to hold me. So you can't do it nohow?"
+
+The old man shook his head, and the sailor was just turning off
+when Frank went up to him:
+
+"Will you please wait a moment? Can I speak to you, sir, a minute?"
+he asked the old man.
+
+The naturalist went into his shop, and Frank followed him.
+
+"I can stuff birds and animals, sir," he said. "I think I really
+stuff them well, for some which I did for amusement were sold at
+ten shillings a case, and the man who bought them of me told me
+they would be worth four times as much in London. I am out of work,
+sir, and very very anxious to get my living. You will find me hard
+working and honest. Do give me a chance. Let me stuff that cat and
+parrot for the sailor. If you are not satisfied then, I will go
+away and charge nothing for it."
+
+The man looked at him keenly.
+
+"I will at any rate give you a trial," he said. Then he went to
+the door and called in the sailor. "This lad tells me he can stuff
+birds. I know nothing about him, but I believe he is speaking
+truthfully. If you like to intrust them to him he will do his best.
+If you're not satisfied he will make no charge."
+
+Much pleased at seeing a way out of his dilemma, the sailor placed
+the dead animals on the counter.
+
+"Now," the old man said to Frank, "you can take these out into the
+back yard and skin them. Then you can go to work in that back room.
+You will find arsenical soap, cotton wool, wires, and everything
+else you require there. This has been a fine cat," he said, looking
+at the animal.
+
+"Yes, it has been a splendid creature," Frank answered. "It is a
+magnificent macaw also."
+
+"Ah! you know it is a macaw!" the old man said.
+
+"Of course," Frank said simply; "it has a tail."
+
+The old man then furnished Frank with two or three sharp knives
+and scissors. Taking the bird and cat, he went out into the yard
+and in the course of an hour had skinned them both. Then he returned
+to the shop and set to work in the room behind.
+
+"May I make a group of them?" he asked.
+
+"Do them just as you like," the old man said.
+
+After settling upon his subject, Frank set to work, and, except
+that he went out for five minutes to buy and eat a penny loaf,
+continued his work till nightfall. The old man came in several
+times to look at him, but each time went out again without making
+a remark. At six o'clock Frank laid down his tools.
+
+"I will come again tomorrow, sir," he said.
+
+The old man nodded, and Frank went home in high spirits. There was
+a prospect at last of getting something to do, and that in a line
+most congenial to his own tastes.
+
+The old man looked up when he entered next morning.
+
+"I shall not come in today," he remarked. "I will wait to see them
+finished."
+
+Working without interruption till the evening, Frank finished
+them to his satisfaction, and enveloped them with many wrappings
+of thread to keep them in precisely the attitudes in which he had
+placed them.
+
+"They are ready for drying now, sir," he said. "If I might place
+them in an oven they would be dried by morning."
+
+The old man led the way to the kitchen, where a small fire was
+burning.
+
+"I shall put no more coals on the fire," he said, "and it will be
+out in a quarter of an hour. Put them in there and leave the door
+open. I will close it in an hour when the oven cools."
+
+The next day Frank was again at work. It took him all day to get
+fur and feather to lie exactly as he wished them. In the afternoon
+he asked the naturalist for a piece of flat board, three feet long,
+and a perch, but said that instead of the piece of board he should
+prefer mounting them in a case at once. The old man had not one
+in the shop large enough, and therefore Frank arranged his group
+temporarily on the table. On the board lay the cat. At first sight
+she seemed asleep, but it was clearly only seeming. Her eyes were
+half open, the upper lip was curled up, and the sharp teeth showed.
+The hind feet were drawn somewhat under her as in readiness for
+an instant spring. Her front paws were before her, the talons were
+somewhat stretched, and one paw was curved. Her ears lay slightly
+back. She was evidently on the point of springing. The macaw perch,
+which had been cut down to a height of two feet, stood behind her.
+The bird hung by its feet, and, head downwards, stretched with
+open beak towards the tip of the cat's tail, which was slightly
+uplifted. On a piece of paper Frank wrote, "Dangerous Play."
+
+It was evening before he had finished perfectly to his satisfaction.
+Then he called the naturalist in. The old man stopped at the door,
+surveying the group. Then he entered and examined it carefully.
+
+"Wonderful!" he said. "Wonderful! I should have thought them alive.
+There is not a shop in the West End where it could have been turned
+out better, if so well.
+
+"Lad, you are a wonder! Tell me now who and what are you? I saw
+when you first addressed me that you were not what you seemed to
+be, a working lad."
+
+"I have been well educated," Frank said, "and was taught to preserve
+and stuff by my father, who was a great naturalist. My parents
+died suddenly, and I was left on my own resources, which," he
+said, smiling faintly, "have hitherto proved of very small avail.
+I am glad you are pleased. If you will take me into your service I
+will work hard and make myself useful in every way. If you require
+references I can refer you to the doctor who attended us in the
+country; but I have not a single friend in London except a railway
+porter, who has most kindly and generously taken me in and sheltered
+me for the last two months."
+
+"I need no references," the old man said; "your work speaks for
+itself as to your skill, and your face for your character. But I
+can offer you nothing fit for you. With such a genius as you have
+for setting up animals, you ought to be able to earn a good income.
+Not one man in a thousand can make a dead animal look like a live
+one. You have the knack or the art."
+
+"I shall be very content with anything you can give me," Frank said;
+"for the present I only ask to earn my living. If later on I can,
+as you say, do more, all the better."
+
+The old man stood for some time thinking, and presently said, "I
+do but little except in live stock. When I had my daughter with me
+I did a good deal of stuffing, for there is a considerable trade
+hereabout. The sailors bring home skins of foreign birds, and want
+them stuffed and put in cases, as presents for their wives and
+sweethearts. You work fast as well as skillfully. I have known men
+who would take a fortnight to do such a group as that, and then it
+would be a failure. It will be quite a new branch for my trade. I
+do not know how it will act yet, but to begin with I will give you
+twelve shillings a week, and a room upstairs. If it succeeds we
+will make other arrangements. I am an old man, and a very lonely
+one. I shall be glad to have such a companion."
+
+Frank joyfully embraced the offer, and ran all the way home to tell
+his friend, the porter, of the engagement.
+
+"I am very glad," the man said; "heartily glad. I shall miss you
+sorely. I do not know what I should have done without you when I
+first lost poor Jane and the kids. But now I can go back to my old
+ways again."
+
+"Perhaps," Frank suggested, "you might arrange to have a room also
+in the house. It would not be a very long walk, not above twenty or
+five and twenty minutes, and I should be so glad to have you with
+me."
+
+The man sat silent for a time. "No," he said at last, "I thank you
+all the same. I should like it too, but I don't think it would be
+best in the end. Here all my mates live near, and I shall get on
+in time. The Christmas holiday season will soon be coming on and
+we shall be up working late. If you were always going to stop at
+the place you are going to, it would be different; but you will
+rise, never fear. I shall be seeing you in gentleman's clothes
+again some of these days. I've heard you say you were longing to
+get your books and to be studying again, and you'll soon fall into
+your own ways; but if you will let me, I'll come over sometimes and
+have a cup of tea and a chat with you. Now, look here, I'm going
+out with you now, and I'm going to buy you a suit of clothes,
+something like what you had on when I first saw you. They won't
+be altogether unsuitable in a shop. This is a loan, mind, and you
+may pay me off as you get flush."
+
+Frank saw he should hurt the good fellow's feelings by refusing, and
+accordingly went out with him, and next morning presented himself
+at the shop in a quiet suit of dark gray tweed, and with his other
+clothes in a bundle.
+
+"Aha!" said the old man; "you look more as you ought to do now,
+though you're a cut above an assistant in a naturalist's shop in
+Ratcliff Highway. Now, let me tell you the names of some of these
+birds. They are, every one of them, foreigners; some of them I
+don't know myself."
+
+"I can tell all the family names," Frank said quietly, "and the
+species, but I do not know the varieties."
+
+"Can you!" the old man said in surprise. "What is this now?"
+
+"That is a mockingbird, the great black capped mockingbird, I think.
+The one next to it is a golden lory."
+
+So Frank went round all the cages and perches in the shop.
+
+"Right in every case," the old man said enthusiastically; "I shall
+have nothing to teach you. The sailor has been here this morning.
+I offered him two pounds for the cat and bird to put in my front
+window, but he would not take it, and has paid me that sum for
+your work. Here it is. This is yours, you know. You were not in my
+employment then, and you will want some things to start with, no
+doubt. Now come upstairs, I will show you your room. I had intended
+at first to give you the one at the back, but I have decided now
+on giving you my daughter's. I think you will like it."
+
+Frank did like it greatly. It was the front room on the second
+floor. The old man's daughter had evidently been a woman of taste
+and refinement. The room was prettily papered, a quiet carpet
+covered the floor, and the furniture was neat and in good keeping.
+Two pairs of spotless muslin curtains hung across the windows.
+
+"I put them up this morning," the old man said, nodding. "I have
+got the sheets and bedding airing in the kitchen. They have not
+been out of the press for the last three years. You can cook in
+the kitchen. There is always a fire there.
+
+"Now, the first thing to do," he went on when they returned to
+the shop, "will be for you to mount a dozen cases for the windows.
+These drawers are full of skins of birds and small animals. I get
+them for next to nothing from the sailors, and sell them to furriers
+and feather preparers, who supply ladies' hat and bonnet makers. In
+future, I propose that you shall mount them and sell them direct.
+We shall get far higher prices than we do now. I seem to be putting
+most of the work on your shoulders, but do not want you to help me
+in the shop. I will look after the birds and buy and sell as I used
+to do; you will have the back room private to yourself for stuffing
+and mounting."
+
+Frank was delighted at this allotment of labor, and was soon at
+work rummaging the drawers and picking out specimens for mounting,
+and made a selection sufficient to keep him employed for weeks. That
+evening he sallied out and expended his two pounds in underlinen,
+of which he was sorely in need. As he required them his employer
+ordered showcases for the window, of various sizes, getting the
+backgrounds painted and fitted up as Frank suggested.
+
+Frank did not get on so fast with his work as he had hoped,
+for the fame of the sailor's cat and macaw spread rapidly in the
+neighborhood, and there was a perfect rush of sailors and their
+wives anxious to have birds and skins, which had been brought from
+abroad, mounted. The sailor himself looked in one day.
+
+"If you like another two pounds for that 'ere cat, governor, I'm
+game to pay you. It's the best thing that ever happened to me.
+Every one's wanting to see 'em, and there's the old woman dressed
+up in her Sunday clothes a-sitting in the parlor as proud as a
+peacock a showing of 'em off. The house ain't been so quiet since
+I married. Them animals would be cheap to me at a ten pound note.
+They'll get you no end of orders, I can tell you."
+
+The orders, indeed, came in much faster than Frank could fulfill
+them, although he worked twelve hours a day; laying aside all other
+work, however, for three hours in order to devote himself to the
+shop cases, which were to be chef d'oeuvres.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII: AN OLD FRIEND
+
+
+For three months Frank passed a quiet and not unpleasant life with
+the old naturalist in Ratcliff Highway. The latter took a great
+liking to him, and treated him like a son rather than an assistant.
+The two took their meals together now, and Frank's salary had been
+raised from twelve to eighteen shillings a week. So attractive
+had the cases in the windows proved that quite a little crowd
+was generally collected round them, and the business had greatly
+augmented. The old naturalist was less pleased at this change than
+most men would have been in his position. He had got into a groove
+and did not care to get out of it. He had no relatives or any one
+dependent on him, and he had been well content to go on in a jog
+trot way, just paying his expenses of shop and living. The extra
+bustle and push worried rather than pleased him.
+
+"I am an old man," he said to Frank one day, as after the shop was
+closed they sat over their tea. "I have no motive in laying by
+money, and had enough for my wants. I was influenced more by my
+liking for your face and my appreciation of your talent, than by
+any desire of increasing my business. I am taking now three times
+as much as I did before. Now I should not mind, indeed, I should
+be glad, if I thought that you would succeed me here as a son would
+do. I would gladly take you into partnership with me, and you would
+have the whole business after my death. But I know, my boy, that
+it wouldn't do. I know that the time will come when you will not
+be content with so dull a life here. You will either get an offer
+from some West End house which would open higher prospects to you,
+or you will be wandering away as a collector. In any case you would
+not stop here, of that I am quite sure, and therefore do not care,
+as I should have done, had you been my son, for the increase of
+the business. As it is, lad, I could not even wish to see you waste
+your life here."
+
+Frank, after he was once fairly settled at his new work, had written
+to his friend the doctor, at Deal, telling him of the position
+he had taken, and that he was in a fair way to make at least a
+comfortable living, and that at a pursuit of which he was passionately
+fond. He asked him, however, while writing to him from time to time
+to give him news of his sister, not to tell any one his address,
+as although he was not ashamed of his berth, still he would rather
+that, until he had made another step up in life, his old schoolfellows
+should not know of his whereabouts. He had also written to his
+friend Ruthven a bright chatty letter, telling him somewhat of his
+adventures in London and the loss of his money, and saying that
+he had now got employment at a naturalist's, with every chance of
+making his way.
+
+"When I mount a bit higher," he concluded, "I shall be awfully glad
+to see you again, and will let you know what my address may then
+be. For the present I had rather keep it dark. If you will write
+to me, addressed to the General Post Office, telling me all about
+yourself and the fellows at school, I shall be very, very glad to
+get your letter. I suppose you will be breaking up for Christmas
+in a few days."
+
+Christmas came and went. It was signalized to Frank only by the
+despatch of a pretty present to Lucy, and the receipt of a letter
+from her written in a round childish hand. A week afterwards he
+heard somebody come into the shop. His employer was out, and he
+therefore went into the shop.
+
+"I knew it was!" shouted a voice. "My dear old Frank, how are you?"
+and his hand was warmly clasped in that of Ruthven.
+
+"My dear Ruthven," was all Frank could say.
+
+"I had intended," Ruthven exclaimed, "to punch your head directly
+I found you; but I am too glad to do it, though you deserve it
+fifty times over. What a fellow you are! I wouldn't have believed
+it of you, running away in that secret sort of way and letting none
+of us know anything about you. Wasn't I angry, and sorry too, when
+I got the letter you wrote me from Deal! When I went back to school
+and found that not even Dr. Parker, not even your sister, knew
+where you were, I was mad. So were all the other fellows. However,
+I said I would find you wherever you had hidden yourself."
+
+"But how did you find me?" Frank asked greatly moved at the warmth
+of his schoolfellow's greeting.
+
+"Oh! it wasn't so very difficult to find you when once I got your
+letter saying what you were doing. The very day I came up to town
+I began to hunt about. I found from the Directory there were not
+such a great number of shops where they stuffed birds and that
+sort of thing. I tried the places in Bond Street, and Piccadilly,
+and Wigmore Street, and so on to begin with. Then I began to work
+east, and directly I saw the things in the window here I felt sure
+I had found you at last. You tiresome fellow! Here I have wasted
+nearly half my holidays looking for you."
+
+"I am so sorry, Ruthven."
+
+"Sorry! you ought to be more than sorry. You ought to be ashamed
+of yourself, downright ashamed. But, there, I won't say any more
+now. Now, can't you come out with me?"
+
+"No, I can't come out now, Ruthven; but come into this room with
+me."
+
+There for the next hour they chatted, Frank giving a full account
+of all he had gone through since he came up to town, while Ruthven
+gave him the gossip of the half year at school.
+
+"Well," Ruthven said at last, "this old Horton of yours must be a
+brick. Still, you know, you can't stop here all your life. You must
+come and talk it over with my governor."
+
+"Oh, no, indeed, Ruthven! I am getting on very well here, and am
+very contented with my lot, and I could not think of troubling your
+father in the matter."
+
+"Well, you will trouble him a great deal," Ruthven said, "if you
+don't come, for you will trouble him to come all the way down here.
+He was quite worried when he first heard of your disappearance,
+and has been almost as excited as I have over the search for you.
+
+"You are really a foolish fellow, Frank," he went on more seriously; "I
+really didn't think it of you. Here you save the lives of four or
+five fellows and put all their friends under a tremendous obligation,
+and then you run away and hide yourself as if you were ashamed. I
+tell you you can't do it. A fellow has no more right to get rid of
+obligations than he has to run away without paying his debts. It
+would be a burden on your mind if you had a heavy debt you couldn't
+pay, and you would have a right to be angry if, when you were
+perfectly able to pay, your creditor refused to take the money.
+That's just the position in which you've placed my father. Well,
+anyhow, you've got to come and see him, or he's got to come and
+see you. I know he has something in his mind's eye which will just
+suit you, though he did not tell me what it was. For the last day
+or two he has been particularly anxious about finding you. Only
+yesterday when I came back and reported that I had been to half a
+dozen places without success, he said, 'Confound the young rascal,
+where can he be hiding? Here are the days slipping by and it will
+be too late. If you don't find him in a day or two, Dick, I will
+set the police after him--say he has committed a murder or broken
+into a bank and offer a reward for his apprehension.' So you must
+either come home with me this afternoon, or you will be having my
+father down here tonight."
+
+"Of course, Ruthven," Frank said, "I would not put your father to
+such trouble. He is very kind to have taken so much interest in
+me, only I hate--"
+
+"Oh, nonsense! I hate to see such beastly stuck up pride, putting
+your own dignity above the affection of your friends; for that's
+really what it comes to, old boy, if you look it fairly in the
+face."
+
+Frank flushed a little and was silent for a minute or two.
+
+"I suppose you are right, Ruthven; but it is a little hard for a
+fellow--"
+
+"Oh, no, it isn't," Ruthven said. "If you'd got into a scrape from
+some fault of your own one could understand it, although even then
+there would be no reason for you to cut your old friends till they
+cut you. Young Goodall, who lives over at Bayswater, has been over
+four or five times to ask me if I have succeeded in finding you,
+and I have had letters from Handcock, and Childers, and Jackson.
+Just as if a fellow had got nothing to do but to write letters.
+How long will you be before you can come out?"
+
+"There is Mr. Horton just come in," Frank said. "I have no doubt
+he will let me go at once."
+
+The old naturalist at once assented upon Frank's telling him that
+a friend had come who wished him to go out.
+
+"Certainly, my dear boy. Why, working the hours and hours of
+overtime that you do, of course you can take a holiday whenever
+you're disposed."
+
+"He will not be back till late," Ruthven said as they went out. "I
+shall keep him all the evening."
+
+"Oh, indeed, Ruthven, I have no clothes!"
+
+"Clothes be bothered," Ruthven said. "I certainly shall end by
+punching your head, Frank, before the day's out."
+
+Frank remonstrated no more, but committed himself entirely to his
+friend's guidance. At the Mansion House they mounted on the roof
+of an omnibus going west, and at Knightsbridge got off and walked
+to Eaton Square, where Ruthven's father resided. The latter was
+out, so Frank accompanied his friend to what he called his sanctum,
+a small room littered up with books, bats, insect boxes, and a
+great variety of rubbish of all kinds. Here they chatted until the
+servant came up and said that Sir James had returned.
+
+"Come on, Frank," Ruthven said, running downstairs. "There's nothing
+of the ogre about the governor."
+
+They entered the study, and Ruthven introduced his friend.
+
+"I've caught him, father, at last. This is the culprit."
+
+Sir James Ruthven was a pleasant looking man, with a kindly face.
+
+"Well, you troublesome boy," he said, holding out his hand, "where
+have you been hiding all this time?"
+
+"I don't know that I've been hiding, sir," Frank said.
+
+"Not exactly hiding," Sir James smiled, "only keeping away from
+those who wanted to find you. Well, and how are you getting on?"
+
+"I am getting on very well, sir. I am earning eighteen shillings
+a week and my board and lodging, and my employer says he will take
+me into partnership as soon as I come of age."
+
+"Ah, indeed!" Sir James said. "I am glad to hear that, as it shows
+you must be clever and industrious."
+
+"Yes, father, and the place was full of the most lovely cases of
+things Frank had stuffed. There was quite a crowd looking in at
+the window."
+
+"That is very satisfactory. Now, Frank, do you sit down and write
+a note to your employer, asking him to send down half a dozen of
+the best cases. I want to show them to a gentleman who will dine
+with me here today, and who is greatly interested in such matters.
+When you have written the note I will send a servant off at once
+in a cab to fetch them."
+
+"And, father," Dick continued, "if you don't mind, might Frank and
+I have our dinner quietly together in my room? You've got a dinner
+party on, and Frank won't enjoy it half as much as he would dining
+quietly with me."
+
+"By all means," Sir James said. "But mind he is not to run away
+without seeing me.
+
+"You are a foolish lad," he went on in a kind voice to Frank; "and
+it was wrong as well as foolish to hide yourself from your friends.
+However independent we may be in this world, all must, to a
+certain extent, rely upon others. There is scarcely a man who can
+stand aloof from the rest and say, 'I want nothing of you.' I can
+understand your feeling in shrinking from asking a favor of me,
+or of the fathers of the other boys who are, like myself, deeply
+indebted to you for the great service you have rendered their sons.
+I can admire the feeling if not carried too far; but you should
+have let your schoolfellows know exactly how you were placed, and
+so have given us the opportunity of repaying the obligation if we
+were disposed, not to have run away and hidden yourself from us."
+
+"I am sorry, sir," Frank said simply. "I did not like to seem to
+trade upon the slight service I rendered some of my schoolfellows.
+Dr. Bateman told me I was wrong, but I did not see it then. Now I
+think, perhaps he was right, although I am afraid that if it happened
+again I should do the same."
+
+Sir James smiled.
+
+"I fear you are a stiff necked one, Master Frank. However, I will
+not scold you any further. Now, what will you do with yourselves
+till dinner time?"
+
+"Oh, we'll just sit and chat, father. We have got lots more things
+to tell each other."
+
+The afternoon passed in pleasant talk. Frank learned that Ruthven
+had now left Dr. Parker's for good, and that he was going down
+after the holidays to a clergyman who prepared six or eight boys
+for the army. Before dinner the footman returned with half a dozen
+of the best cases from the shop, which were brought up to Dick's
+room, and the latter was delighted with them. They greatly enjoyed
+their dinner together. At nine o'clock a servant came up and took
+down the cases. Five minutes later he returned again with a message,
+saying that Sir James wished Mr. Richard and his friend to go down
+into the dining room. Frank was not shy, but he felt it rather
+a trial when he entered the room, where seven or eight gentlemen
+were sitting round the table, the ladies having already withdrawn.
+The gentlemen were engaged in examining and admiring the cases of
+stuffed birds and animals.
+
+"This is my young friend," Sir James said, "of whom I have been
+speaking to you, and whose work you are all admiring. This, Frank,
+is Mr. Goodenough, the traveler and naturalist, of whom you may
+have heard."
+
+"Yes, indeed," Frank said, looking at the gentleman indicated. "I
+have Mr. Goodenough's book on The Passerine Family at home."
+
+"It is rather an expensive book too," the gentleman said.
+
+"Yes, sir. My father bought it, not I. He was very fond of natural
+history and taught me all I know. He had a capital library of books
+on the subject, which Dr. Bateman is keeping for me, at Deal, till
+I have some place where I can put them. I was thinking of getting
+them up soon."
+
+Mr. Goodenough asked him a few questions as to the books in the
+library, and then put him through what Frank felt was a sort of
+examination, as to his knowledge of their contents.
+
+"Very good indeed!" Mr. Goodenough said. "I can see from your work
+here that you are not only a very clever preparer, but a close
+student of the habits and ways of wild creatures. But I was hardly
+prepared to find your scientific knowledge so accurate and extensive.
+I was at first rather inclined to hesitate when Sir James Ruthven
+made me a proposal just now. I do so no longer. I am on the point
+of starting on an expedition into the center of Africa in search
+of specimens of natural history. He has proposed that you should
+accompany me, and has offered to defray the cost of your outfit,
+and of your passage out and home. I may be away for two years. Of
+course you would act as my assistant, and have every opportunity
+of acquiring such knowledge as I possess. It will be no pleasure
+trip, you know, but hard work, with all sorts of hardships and,
+perhaps, some dangers. At the same time it would be a fine opening
+in a career as a naturalist. Well, what do you say?"
+
+"Oh, sir!" Frank exclaimed, clasping his hands, "it is of all things
+in the world what I should like most. How can I thank you enough?
+And you, Sir James, it is indeed kind and thoughtful of you."
+
+"We are not quits yet by any means, Frank," Sir James said kindly.
+"I am glad indeed to be able to forward your wishes; and now you
+must go upstairs and be introduced to my wife. She is most anxious
+to see you. She only returned home just before dinner."
+
+Frank was taken upstairs, where he and his cases of birds were made
+much of by Lady Ruthven and the ladies assembled in the drawing
+room. He himself was so filled with delight at the prospect opened
+to him that all thought of his dark tweed suit being out of place
+among the evening dresses of the ladies and gentlemen, which had
+troubled him while he was awaiting the summons to the dining room,
+quite passed out of his mind, and he was able to do the honors of
+his cases naturally and without embarrassment. At eleven o'clock
+he took his leave, promising to call upon Mr. Goodenough, who was
+in lodgings in Jermyn Street, upon the following morning, that
+gentleman having at Sir James' request undertaken to procure all
+the necessary outfit.
+
+"I feel really obliged to you, Sir James," Mr. Goodenough said when
+Frank had left. "The lad has a genius for natural history, and he
+is modest and self possessed. From what you tell me he has done
+rather than apply for assistance to anyone, he must have plenty of
+pluck and resolution, and will make a capital traveling companion. I
+feel quite relieved, for it is so difficult to procure a companion
+who will exactly suit. Clever naturalists are rare, and one can never
+tell how one will get on with a man when you are thrown together.
+He may want to have his own way, may be irritable and bad tempered,
+may in many respects be a disagreeable companion. With that lad I
+feel sure of my ground. We shall get on capitally together."
+
+On his return to the shop Frank told his employer, whom he found
+sitting up for him, the change which had taken place in his life,
+and the opening which presented itself.
+
+Mr. Horton expressed himself as sincerely glad.
+
+"I shall miss you sadly," he said, "shall feel very dull for a
+time in my solitary house here; but it is better for you that you
+should go, and I never expected to keep you long. You were made for
+better things than this shop, and I have no doubt that a brilliant
+career will be open before you. You may not become a rich man, for
+natural history is scarcely a lucrative profession, but you may
+become a famous one. Now, my lad, go off to bed and dream of your
+future."
+
+The next morning Frank went over, the first thing after breakfast,
+to see his friend the porter. He, too, was very pleased to hear
+of Frank's good fortune, but he was too busy to talk much to him,
+and promised that he would come over that evening and hear all
+about it. Then Frank took his way to Jermyn Street, and went with
+Mr. Goodenough to Silver's, where an outfit suited for the climate
+of Central Africa was ordered. The clothes were simple. Shirts made
+of thin soft flannel, knickerbockers and Norfolk jackets of tough
+New Zealand flax, with gaiters of the same material.
+
+"There is nothing like it," Mr. Goodenough said; "it is the only
+stuff which has a chance with the thorns of an African forest.
+Now you will want a revolver, a Winchester repeating carbine, and
+a shotgun. My outfit of boxes and cases is ready, so beyond two or
+three extra nets and collecting boxes there is nothing farther to
+do in that way. For your head you'd better have a very soft felt
+hat with a wide brim; with a leaf or two inside they are as cool
+as anything, and are far lighter and more comfortable than the
+helmets which many people use in the tropics."
+
+"As far as shooting goes," Frank said, "I think that I shall do
+much better with my blowgun than with a regular one. I can hit a
+small bird sitting nineteen times out of twenty."
+
+"That is a good thing," Mr. Goodenough answered. "For shooting
+sitting there is nothing better than a blowgun in skillful hands.
+They have the advantage too of not breaking the skin; but for
+flying a shotgun is infinitely more accurate. You will have little
+difficulty in learning to shoot well, as your eye is already trained
+by the use of your blowpipe. Will you want any knives for skinning?"
+
+"No, sir. I have a plentiful stock of them."
+
+"Are you going back to Eaton Square? I heard Sir James ask you to
+stop there until we start."
+
+"No," Frank replied; "I asked his permission to stay where I am
+till tomorrow. I did not like to seem in a hurry to run away from
+Mr. Horton, who has been extremely kind to me."
+
+"Mind, you must come here in three days to have your things tried
+on," Mr. Goodenough said. "I particularly ordered that they are to
+be made easy and comfortable, larger, indeed, than you absolutely
+require, but we must allow for growing, and two years may make
+a difference of some inches to you. Now, we have only to go to a
+bootmaker's and then we have done."
+
+When the orders were completed they separated, as Mr. Goodenough
+was going down that afternoon to the country, and was not to return
+until the day preceding that on which they were to sail. That
+evening Frank had a long chat with his two friends, and was much
+pleased when the old naturalist, who had taken a great fancy to the
+honest porter, offered him the use of a room at his house, saying
+that he should be more than paid by the pleasure of his company
+of an evening. The offer was accepted, and Frank was glad to think
+that his two friends would be sitting smoking their pipes together
+of an evening instead of being in their solitary rooms. The next
+day he took up his residence in Eaton square.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII: TO THE DARK CONTINENT
+
+
+After spending two or three days going about London and enjoying
+himself with his friend Dick, Frank started for Deal, where he was
+pleased to find his sister well and happy. He bade goodbye to her,
+to the doctor, and such of his schoolfellows as lived in Deal, to
+whom his start for Central Africa was quite an event. Dr. Bateman
+handed over to him his watch and chain and his blowgun, which he
+had taken care of for him, also his skinning knives and instruments.
+The same evening he returned to town, and spent the days very
+pleasantly until the afternoon came when he was to depart. Then he
+bade farewell to his kind friends Sir James and Lady Ruthven. Dick
+accompanied him in the cab to Euston station, where a minute or two
+later Mr. Goodenough arrived. The luggage was placed in a carriage,
+and Frank stood chatting with Dick at the door, until the guard's
+cry, "Take your places!" caused him to jump into the carriage.
+There was one more hearty handshake with his friend, and then the
+train steamed out of the station.
+
+It was midnight when they arrived at Liverpool, and at once went
+to bed at the Station Hotel. On coming down in the morning Frank
+was astonished at the huge heap of baggage piled up in the hall,
+but he was told that this was of daily occurrence, as six or eight
+large steamers went out from Liverpool every week for America
+alone, and that the great proportion of the passengers came down,
+as they had done, on the previous night, and slept at the Station
+hotel. Their own share of the baggage was not large, consisting
+only of a portmanteau each, Mr. Goodenough having sent down all
+his boxes two days previously. At twelve o'clock they went on board
+the Niger, bound for the west coast of Africa. This would carry
+them as far as Sierra Leone, whence Mr. Goodenough intended to take
+passage in a sailing ship to his starting point for the interior.
+
+Frank enjoyed the voyage out intensely, and three days after sailing
+they had left winter behind; four days later they were lying in
+the harbor of Funchal.
+
+"What a glorious place that would be to ramble about!" he said to
+Mr. Goodenough.
+
+"Yes, indeed. It would be difficult to imagine a greater contrast
+than between this mountainous island of Madeira and the country
+which we are about to penetrate. This is one of the most delightful
+climates in the world, the west coast of Africa one of the worst.
+Once well in the interior, the swamp fevers, which are the curse of
+the shores, disappear, but African travelers are seldom long free
+from attacks of fever of one kind or the other. However, quinine
+does wonders, and we shall be far in the interior before the bad
+season comes on."
+
+"You have been there before, you said, Mr. Goodenough?"
+
+"Yes, I have been there twice, and have made excursions for short
+distances from the coast. But this time we are going into a country
+which may be said to be altogether unknown. One or two explorers
+have made their way there, but these have done little towards
+examining the natural productions of the country, and have been
+rather led by inducements of sport than by those of research."
+
+"Did you have fever, sir?"
+
+"Two or three little attacks. A touch of African fever, during
+what is called the good season, is of little more importance than a
+feverish cold at home. It lasts two or three days, and then there
+is an end of it. In the bad season the attacks are extremely violent,
+sometimes carrying men off in a few hours. I consider, however,
+that dysentery is a more formidable enemy than fever. However, even
+that, when properly treated, should be combated successfully."
+
+"Do you mean to hire the men to go with you at Sierra Leone?"
+
+"Certainly not, Frank. The negroes of Sierra Leone are the most
+indolent, the most worthless, and the most insolent in all Africa.
+It is the last place in the world at which to hire followers. We
+must get them at the Gaboon itself, and at each place we arrive at
+afterwards we take on others, merely retaining one of the old lot
+to act as interpreter. The natives, although they may allow white
+men to pass safely, are exceedingly jealous of men of other tribes.
+I shall, however, take with me, if possible, a body of, say six
+Houssas, who are the best fighting negroes on the coast. These I
+shall take as a bodyguard; the carriers we shall obtain from the
+different tribes we visit. The Kroomen, whom you will see at Cape
+Palmas, are a magnificent set of men. They furnish sailors and
+boatmen to all the ships trading on these shores. They are strong,
+willing, and faithful, but they do not like going up into the
+interior. Now we will land here and get a few hours' run on shore.
+There are one or two peculiarities about Madeira which distinguish
+it from other places. To begin with we will go for a ride in a
+bullock cart without wheels."
+
+"But surely it must jolt about terribly," Frank said.
+
+"Not at all. The roads are paved with round, knubbly stones, such
+as you see sometimes in narrow lanes and courts in seaside places
+at home. These would not make smooth roads for wheeled vehicles;
+but here, as you will see, the carts are placed on long runners
+like those of sledges. These are greased, and the driver always has
+a pound of candles or so hanging to the cart. When he thinks that
+the runners want greasing he takes a candle, lays it down on the
+road in front of one of the runners, and lets this pass over it.
+This greases it sufficiently, and it glides along over the stones
+almost as smoothly as if passing over ice."
+
+Frank thoroughly enjoyed his run on shore, but was surprised at
+the air of listlessness which pervaded the inhabitants. Every one
+moved about in the most dawdling fashion. The shopkeepers looked
+out from their doors as if it were a matter of perfect indifference
+to them whether customers called or not. The few soldiers in
+Portuguese uniform looked as if they had never done a day's drill
+since they left home. Groups sat in chairs under the trees and
+sipped cooling drinks or coffee. The very bullocks which drew the
+gliding wagons seemed to move more slowly than bullocks in other
+places. Frank and his friend drove in a wagon to the monastery,
+high up on the mountain, and then took their places on a little
+hand sledge, which was drawn by two men with ropes, who took them
+down the sharp descent at a run, dashing round corners at a pace
+which made Frank hold his breath. It took them but a quarter of an
+hour to regain the town, while an hour and a half had been occupied
+in the journey out.
+
+"I shall buy a couple of hammocks here," Mr. Goodenough said. "They
+are made of knotted string, and are lighter and more comfortable
+than those to be met with on the coast. I will get a couple of
+their cane chairs, too, they are very light and comfortable."
+
+In the afternoon they again embarked, and then steamed away for
+Sierra Leone. After several days' passage, they arrived there at
+daylight, and Frank was soon on deck.
+
+"What a beautiful place!" he exclaimed. "It is not a bit what I
+expected."
+
+"No," Mr. Goodenough said; "no one looking at it could suppose
+that bright pretty town had earned for itself the name of the white
+man's grave."
+
+Sierra Leone is built on a somewhat steep ascent about a mile up
+the river. Freetown, as the capital is properly called, stands some
+fifty feet or so above the sea, and the barracks upon a green hill
+three hundred feet above it, a quarter of a mile back. The town, as
+seen from the sea, consists entirely of the houses of the merchants
+and shopkeepers, the government buildings, churches, and other
+public and European buildings. The houses are all large and bright
+with yellow tinged whitewash, and the place is completely embowered
+in palms and other tropical trees. The native town lies hidden from
+sight among trees on low ground to the left of the town. Everywhere
+around the town the hills rise steep and high, wooded to the
+summit. Altogether there are few more prettily situated towns than
+the capital of Sierra Leone.
+
+"It is wonderful," Mr. Goodenough said, "that generations
+and generations of Europeans have been content to live and die in
+that wretchedly unhealthy place, when they might have established
+themselves on those lofty hills but a mile away. There they would
+be far above the malarious mists which rise from the low ground.
+The walk up and down to their warehouses and offices here would
+be good for them, and there is no reason why Sierra Leone should
+be an unhealthy residence. Unfortunately the European in Africa
+speedily loses his vigor and enterprise. When he first lands
+he exclaims, 'I certainly shall have a bungalow built upon those
+hills;' but in a short time his energy leaves him. He falls into
+the ways of the place, drinks a great deal more spirits than is
+good for him, stops down near the water, and at the end of a year
+or so, if he lives so long, is obliged to go back to Europe to
+recruit.
+
+"Look at the boats coming out."
+
+A score of boats, each containing from ten to twelve men, approached
+the ship. They remained at a short distance until the harbor master
+came on board and pronounced the ship free from quarantine. Then
+the boats made a rush to the side, and with shouts, yells, and
+screams of laughter scrambled on board. Frank was at once astonished
+and amused at the noise and confusion.
+
+"What on earth do they all want?" he asked Mr. Goodenough.
+
+"The great proportion of them don't want anything at all," Mr.
+Goodenough answered, "but have merely come off for amusement. Some
+of them come to be hired, some to carry luggage, others to tout
+for the boatmen below. Look at those respectable negresses coming
+up the gangway now. They are washerwomen, and will take our clothes
+ashore and bring them on board again this afternoon before we
+start."
+
+"It seems running rather a risk," Frank said.
+
+"No, you will see they all have testimonials, and I believe it is
+perfectly safe to intrust things to them."
+
+Mr. Goodenough and Frank now prepared to go on shore, but this was
+not easily accomplished, for there was a battle royal among the
+boatmen whose craft thronged at the foot of the ladder. Each boat
+had about four hands, three of whom remained on board her, while
+the fourth stood upon the ladder and hauled at the painter to keep
+the boat to which he belonged alongside. As out of the twenty boats
+lying there not more than two could be at the foot of the ladder
+together, the conflict was a desperate one. All the boatmen shouted,
+"Here, sar. This good boat, sar. You come wid me, sar," at the
+top of their voices, while at the same time they were hard at work
+pulling each other's boats back and pushing their own forward. So
+great was the struggle as Frank and Mr. Goodenough approached the
+gangway, so great the crowd upon the ladder, that one side of the
+iron bar from which the ladder chains depend broke in two, causing
+the ladder to drop some inches and giving a ducking to those on the
+lower step, causing shouts of laughter and confusion. These rose
+into perfect yells of amusement when one of the sailors suddenly
+loosed the ladder rope, letting five or six of the negroes into the
+water up to their necks. So intense was the appreciation by the
+sable mind of this joke that the boatmen rolled about with laughter,
+and even the victims, when they had once scrambled into their boats,
+yelled like people possessed.
+
+"They are just like children," Mr. Goodenough said. "They are
+always either laughing or quarreling. They are good natured and
+passionate, indolent, but will work hard for a time; clever up
+to a certain point, densely stupid beyond. The intelligence of an
+average negro is about equal to that of a European child of ten years
+old. A few, a very few, go beyond this, but these are exceptions,
+just as Shakespeare was an exception to the ordinary intellect of
+an Englishman. They are fluent talkers, but their ideas are borrowed.
+They are absolutely without originality, absolutely without inventive
+power. Living among white men, their imitative faculties enable
+them to attain a considerable amount of civilization. Left alone to
+their own devices they retrograde into a state little above their
+native savagery."
+
+This was said as, after having fixed upon a boat and literally
+fought their way into it, they were rowed towards the shore. On
+landing Frank was delighted with the greenness of everything. The
+trees were heavy with luxuriant foliage, the streets were green
+with grass as long and bright as that in a country lane in England.
+The hill on which the barracks stand was as bright a green as you
+would see on English slopes after a wet April, while down the streets
+clear streams were running. The town was alive with a chattering,
+laughing, good natured, excitable population, all black, but with
+some slight variation in the dinginess of the hue.
+
+Never was there such a place for fun as Sierra Leone. Every one was
+brimful of it. Every one laughed when he or she spoke, and every
+one standing near joined freely in the conversation and laughed
+too. Frank was delighted with the display of fruit in the market,
+which is probably unequaled in the world. Great piles there were
+of delicious big oranges, green but perfectly sweet, and of equally
+refreshing little green limes; pineapples and bananas, green, yellow,
+and red, guava, and custard apples, alligator pears, melons, and
+sour sops, and many other native fruits.
+
+Mr. Goodenough purchased a large basket of fruit, which they took
+with them on board the ship. The next morning they started down
+the coast. They passed Liberia, the republic formed of liberated
+slaves, and of negroes from America, and brought up a mile or two
+off Monrovia, its capital. The next day they anchored off Cape
+Palmas, the headquarters of the Kroomen. A number of these men
+came off in their canoes, and caused great amusement to Frank and
+the other passengers by their fun and dexterity in the management
+of their little craft. These boats are extremely light, being
+hollowed out until little thicker than pasteboard, and even with two
+Kroomen paddling it is difficult for a European to sit in them, so
+extremely crank are they. Light as they are the Krooboy can stand
+up and dive from his boat without upsetting it if he take time;
+but in the hurry and excitement of diving for coppers, when half a
+dozen men would leap overboard together, the canoes were frequently
+capsized. The divers, however, thought nothing of these mishaps,
+righting the boats and getting in again without difficulty.
+Splendidly muscular fellows they were. Indeed, except among the
+Turkish hamals it is doubtful whether such powerful figures could
+be found elsewhere.
+
+"They would be grand fellows to take with us, Mr. Goodenough,"
+Frank said.
+
+"Yes, if they were as plucky as they are strong, one could wish
+for nothing better; but they are notorious cowards, and no offer
+would tempt them to penetrate into such a country as that into
+which we are going."
+
+Stopping a few hours at Cape Coast Castle, Accra, and other ports
+they at last arrived at Bonny.
+
+"It is not tempting in appearance," Frank said, "certainly."
+
+"No," Mr. Goodenough replied, "this is one of the most horribly
+unhealthy spots in Africa. As you see, the white traders do not
+dare to live on shore, but take up their residence in those old
+floating hulks which are thatched over, and serve as residences and
+storehouses. I have a letter from one of the African merchants in
+London, and we shall take up our abode on board his hulk until we
+get one of the coasting steamers to carry us down. I hope it will
+not be many days."
+
+The very bulky luggage was soon transferred to the hulk, where Frank
+and Mr. Goodenough took up their residence. The agent in charge was
+very glad to receive them, as any break in the terrible monotony of
+such a life is eagerly welcomed. He was a pale, unhealthy looking
+man, and had just recovered from an unusually bad attack of fever.
+Like most of the traders on the coast he had an immense faith in
+the power of spirits.
+
+"It is the ruin of them," Mr. Goodenough said to Frank when they
+were alone. "Five out of six of the men here ruin their constitutions
+with spirits, and then fall an easy prey to the fever."
+
+"But you have brought spirits with you, Mr. Goodenough. I saw some
+of the cases were labeled Brandy.'"
+
+"Brandy is useful when taken as a medicine, and in moderation.
+A little mixed with water at the end of a long day of exhausting
+work acts as a restorative, and frequently enables a worn out man
+to sleep. But I have brought the brandy you see for the use of
+others rather than myself. One case is of the very best spirits for
+our own use. The rest is common stuff and is intended as presents.
+Our main drink will be tea and chocolate. These are invaluable for
+the traveler. I have, besides, large quantities of calico, brass
+stair rods, beads, and powder. These are the money of Africa, and
+pass current everywhere. With these we shall pay our carriers and
+boatmen, with these purchase the right of way through the various
+tribes we shall meet. Moreover it is almost necessary in Africa
+to pass as traders. The people perfectly understand that white men
+come here to trade; but if we said that our object was to shoot
+birds and beasts, and to catch butterflies and insects, they would
+not believe us in the slightest degree, but would suspect us of all
+sorts of hidden designs. Now we will go ashore and pay our respects
+to the king."
+
+"Do you mean to say that there is a king in that wretched looking
+village?" Frank asked in surprise.
+
+"Kings are as plentiful as peas in Africa," Mr. Goodenough said,
+"but you will not see much royal state."
+
+Frank was disappointed indeed upon landing. Sierra Leone had given
+him an exalted idea of African civilization, but this was at once
+dispelled by the appearance of Bonny. The houses were constructed
+entirely of black mud, and the streets were narrow and filthy
+beyond description. The palace was composed of two or three hovels,
+surrounded by a mud wall. In one of these huts the king was seated.
+Mr. Goodenough and Frank were introduced by the agent, who had
+gone ashore with them, and His Majesty, who was an almost naked
+negro, at once invited them to join him in the meal of which he
+was partaking. As a matter of courtesy they consented, and plates
+were placed before them, heaped with a stew consisting of meat,
+vegetables, and hot peppers. While the meal went on the king asked
+Mr. Goodenough what he had come to the coast for, and was disappointed
+to find that he was not going to set up as a trader at Bonny, as
+it was the custom for each newcomer to make a handsome present to
+him. When the meal was over they took their leave.
+
+"Do you know what you have been eating?" the agent asked Frank.
+
+"Not in the least," Frank said. "It was not bad; what was it?"
+
+"It was dog flesh," the agent answered.
+
+"Not really!" Frank exclaimed with an uncomfortable sensation of
+sickness.
+
+"Yes, indeed," the agent replied. "Dog's meat is considered a luxury
+in Bonny, and dogs are bred specially for the table."
+
+"You'll eat stranger things than that before you've done, Frank,"
+Mr. Goodenough continued, "and will find them just as good, and in
+many cases better, than those to which you are accustomed. It is
+a strange thing why in Europe certain animals should be considered
+fit to eat and certain animals altogether rejected, and this without
+the slightest reason. Horses and donkeys are as clean feeders as
+oxen and sheep. Dogs, cats, and rats are far cleaner than pigs and
+ducks. The flesh of the one set is every bit as good as that of
+the other, and yet the poorest peasant would turn up his nose at
+them. Here sheep and oxen, horses and donkeys, will not live, and
+the natives very wisely make the most of the animals which can do
+so."
+
+Frank was soon tired of Bonny, and was glad to hear that they would
+start the next day for Fernando Po in a little steamer called the
+Retriever. The island of Fernando Po is a very beautiful one, the
+peak rising ten thousand feet above the sea, and wooded to the
+very summit. Were the trees to some extent cleared away the island
+might be very healthy. As it is, it is little better than the
+mainland.
+
+There was not much to see in the town of Clarence, whose population
+consists entirely of traders from Sierra Leone, Kroomen, etc. The
+natives, whose tribal name is Adiza, live in little villages in
+the interior. They are an extremely primitive people, and for the
+most part dispense altogether with clothing. The island belongs to
+Spain, and is used as a prison, the convicts being kept in guard
+ships in the harbor. After a stay of three days there Mr. Goodenough
+and Frank took passage in a sailing ship for the Gaboon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX: THE START INLAND
+
+
+After the comforts of a fine steamer the accommodation on board the
+little trader was poor indeed. The vessel smelt horribly of palm
+oil and was alive with cockroaches. These, however, Mr. Goodenough
+and Frank cared little for, as they brought up their mattresses and
+slept on deck. Upon their voyage out from England Frank, as well as
+several of the other passengers, had amused himself by practicing
+with his rifle at empty bottles thrown overboard, and other
+objects, and having nothing else to do now, he resumed the practice,
+accustoming himself also to the use of his revolver, the mark being
+a small log of wood swung from the end of a yard.
+
+"I told you," Mr. Goodenough said, "that your skill with the blowgun
+would prove useful to you in shooting. You are as good a shot as
+I am, and I am considered a fair one. I have no doubt that with a
+little practice you will succeed as well with your double barrel.
+The shooting of birds on the wing is a knack which seems to come
+naturally to some people, while others, practice as they will,
+never become good shots."
+
+The ship touched twice upon its way down to the Gaboon. Once at
+the Malimba river, the second time at Botauga, the latter being
+the principal ivory port in equatorial Africa.
+
+"Shall we meet with any elephants, do you think?" Frank asked his
+friend.
+
+"In all probability," Mr. Goodenough said. "Elephant shooting, of
+course, does not come within our line of action, and I should not
+go at all out of my way for them. Still, if we meet them we will
+shoot them. The ivory is valuable and will help to pay our expenses,
+while the meat is much prized by the natives, who will gladly assist
+us in consideration of the flesh."
+
+On the sixteenth day after leaving Fernando Po they entered the
+Gaboon. On the right hand bank were the fort and dwellings of the
+French. A little farther up stood the English factories; and upon
+a green hill behind, the church, school, and houses of an American
+mission. On the left bank was the wattle town of King William, the
+sable monarch of the Gaboon. Mr. Goodenough at once landed and made
+inquiries for a house. He succeeded in finding one, consisting of
+three rooms, built on piles, an important point in a country in
+which disease rises from the soil. At Bonny Mr. Goodenough had,
+with the assistance of the agent, enlisted six Houssas. These people
+live much higher up on the coast, but they wander a good deal and
+may be met with in most of the ports. The men had formed a guard
+in one of the hulks, but trade having been bad the agent had gone
+home, and they were glad to take service with Mr. Goodenough. They
+spoke a few words of English, and, like the Kroomen, rejoiced in
+names which had been given them by sailors. They were called Moses,
+Firewater, Ugly Tom, Bacon, Tatters, and King John. They were now
+for the first time set to work, and the goods were soon transported
+from the brig to the house.
+
+"Is anything the matter with you, Frank?" Mr. Goodenough asked that
+evening.
+
+"I don't know, sir. My head feels heavy, somehow, and I am giddy."
+
+Mr. Goodenough felt his pulse.
+
+"You have got your first touch of fever," he said. "I wonder you've
+been so long without it. You had better lie down at once."
+
+A quarter of an hour afterwards Frank was seized with an overpowering
+heat, every vein appearing to be filled with liquid fire; but his
+skin, instead of being, as usual, in a state of perspiration, was
+dry and hard.
+
+"Now, Frank, sit up and drink this. It's only some mustard and salt
+and water. I have immense faith in an emetic."
+
+The draught soon took its effect. Frank was violently sick, and
+the perspiration broke in streams from him.
+
+"Here is a cup of tea," Mr. Goodenough said; "drink that and you
+will find that there will be little the matter with you in the
+morning."
+
+Frank awoke feeling weak, but otherwise perfectly well. Mr.
+Goodenough administered a strong dose of quinine, and after he had
+had his breakfast he felt quite himself again.
+
+"Now," Mr. Goodenough said, "we will go up to the factories and
+mission and try and find a really good servant. Everything depends
+upon that."
+
+In a short time an engagement was made with a negro of the name of
+Ostik. He was a Mpongwe man, that being the name of the tribe on
+the coast. He spoke English fairly, as well as two or three of the
+native languages. He had before made a journey some distance into
+the interior with a white traveler. He was a tall and powerfully
+built negro, very ugly, but with a pleasant and honest face. Frank
+felt at once that he should like him.
+
+"You quite understand," Mr. Goodenough explained, "we are going
+through the Fan country, far into the interior. We may be away from
+the coast for many months."
+
+"Me ready, sar," the man answered with a grin. "Mak no odds to
+Ostik. He got no wife, no piccanniny. Ostik very good cook. Master
+find good grub; he catch plenty of beasts."
+
+"You're not afraid, Ostik, because it is possible we may have
+trouble on the way?"
+
+"Me not very much afraid, massa. You good massa to Ostik he no run
+away if fightee come; but no good fight whole tribe."
+
+"I hope not to have any fighting at all, Ostik; but as I have got
+six Houssas with me who will all carry breech loading guns, I think
+we should be a match for a good sized tribe, if necessary."
+
+Ostik looked thoughtful. "More easy, massa, go without Houssas,"
+he said. "Black man not often touch white traveler."
+
+"No, Ostik, that is true; but I must take with me trade goods for
+paying my way and hiring carriers, and if alone I should be at the
+mercy of every petty chief who chose to plunder and delay me. I
+am going as a peaceful traveler, ready to pay my way, and to make
+presents to the different kings through whose territories I may
+pass. But I do not choose to put myself at the mercy of any of
+them. I do not say that eight men armed with breech loaders could
+defeat a whole tribe; but they would be so formidable, that any of
+these negro kings would probably prefer taking presents and letting
+us pass peacefully to trying to rob us. The first thing to do,
+will be to hire one large canoe, or two if necessary. The men must
+agree to take us up into the Fan country, as far as the rapids on
+the Gaboon. Then we shall take carriers there, and the boat can
+return by itself. These are the things which will have to go."
+
+The baggage consisted of ten large tin cases, each weighing about
+eighty pounds. These contained cotton cloths, powder, beads, tea,
+chocolate, sugar, and biscuits. There were in addition three bundles
+of stair rods, each about the same weight as the boxes. These were
+done up in canvas. There was also a tent made of double canvas
+weighing fifty pounds, and two light folding tressel beds weighing
+fifteen pounds apiece. Thus fourteen men would be required as
+carriers, besides some for plantains and other provisions, together
+with the portmanteaus, rugs, and waterproof sheets of the travelers.
+There were besides six great chests made of light iron. Four of
+these were fitted with trays with cork bottoms, for insects. The
+other two were for the skins of birds. All the boxes and cases had
+strips of India rubber where the lids fitted down, in order to keep
+out both damp and the tiny ants which are the plague of naturalists
+in Africa.
+
+Four or five days were occupied in getting together a crew, for the
+natives had an abject fear of entering the country of the cannibal
+Fans. Mr. Goodenough promised that they should not be obliged to
+proceed unless a safe conduct for their return was obtained from
+the King of the Fans. A large canoe was procured, sufficient to
+convey the whole party. Twelve paddlers were hired, and the goods
+taken down and arranged in the boat. The Houssas had been, on
+landing, furnished with their guns, which were Snider rifles, had
+been instructed in the breech loading arrangement, and had been set
+to work to practice at a mark at a hundred and fifty yards distance
+--the stump of an old tree, some five feet in height, serving
+for the purpose. The men were delighted with the accuracy of their
+pieces and the rapidity at which they could be fired. Mr. Goodenough
+impressed upon them that unless attacked at close quarters, and
+specially ordered to fire fast, they must aim just as slowly and
+deliberately as if using their old guns, for that in so long a
+journey ammunition would be precious, and must, therefore, on no
+account whatever, be wasted. In the boxes were six thousand rounds
+of ammunition, a thousand for each gun, besides the ammunition for
+the rifles and fowling pieces of Mr. Goodenough and Frank.
+
+In order to render the appearance of his followers as imposing as
+possible, Mr. Goodenough furnished each of the Houssas with a pair
+of trousers made of New Zealand flax, reaching to their knees.
+These he had brought from England with him. They were all found to
+be too large, but the men soon set to work with rough needles and
+thread and took them in. In addition to these, each man was furnished
+with a red sash, which went several times round the waist, and
+served to keep the trousers up and to give a gay aspect to the
+dress. The Houssas were much pleased with their appearance. All
+of them carried swords in addition to the guns, as in their own
+country they are accustomed to fight with these weapons.
+
+They started early in the morning, and after four hours' paddling
+passed Konig Island, an abandoned Dutch settlement. Here they stopped
+for an hour or two, and then the sea breeze sprang up, a sail was
+hoisted, and late at night they passed a French guardship placed
+to mark the boundary of that settlement at a point where a large
+tributary called the Boqui runs into it. Here is a little island
+called Nenge Nenge, formerly a missionary station, where the natives
+are still Christians. At this place the canoe was hauled ashore.
+The Houssas had already been instructed in the method of pitching
+the tent, and in a very few minutes this was erected. It was a
+double poled tent, some ten feet square, and there was a waterproof
+sheet large enough to cover the whole of the interior, thus
+preventing the miasma from arising from the ground within it. The
+beds were soon opened and fixed, two of the large cases formed a
+table and two smaller ones did service as chairs. A lamp was lit,
+and Frank was charmed with the comfort and snugness of the abode.
+
+The men's weapons were fastened round one of the poles to keep them
+from the damp night air. Ostik had at once set to work on landing,
+leaving the Houssas to pitch the tent. A fire was soon blazing and
+a kettle and saucepans suspended over it. Rice was served out to
+the men, with the addition of some salt meat, of which sufficient
+had been purchased from the captain of the brig to last throughout
+the journey in the canoe. The men were all in high spirits at this
+addition to their fare, which was more than had been bargained for,
+and their songs rose merrily round the fire in the night air.
+
+In the morning, after breakfast, they again took their places in the
+canoe. For twelve miles they paddled, the tide at first assisting
+them, but after this the water from the mountains ahead overpowered
+it. Presently they arrived at the first Fan village, called Olenga,
+which they reached six hours after starting. The natives crowded
+round as the canoe approached, full of curiosity and excitement,
+for never but once had a white man passed up the river. These
+Fans differed widely from the coast negroes. Their hair was longer
+and thicker, their figures were slight, their complexion coffee
+colored, and their projecting upper jaws gave them a rabbit mouthed
+appearance. They wore coronets on their heads adorned with the
+red tail feathers of the common gray parrot. Most of the men had
+beards, which were divided in the middle, red and white beads being
+strung up the tips. Some wore only a strip of goatskin hanging
+from the waist, or the skin of a tigercat, while others had short
+petticoats made of cloth woven from the inner bark of a tree. The
+travelers were led to the hut of the chief, where they were surrounded
+by a mob of the cannibals. The Houssas had been strictly enjoined
+to leave their guns in the bottom of the canoe, as Mr. Goodenough
+desired to avoid all appearance of armed force. The chief demanded
+of Ostik what these two white men wanted here, and whether they
+had come to trade. Ostik replied that the white men were going up
+the river into the country beyond to shoot elephants and buy ivory,
+that they did not want to trade for logwood or oil, but that they
+would give presents to the chiefs of the Fan villages. A score
+of cheap Birmingham muskets had been brought from England by Mr.
+Goodenough for this purpose. One of these was now bestowed upon
+the chief, together with some powder and ball, three bright cotton
+handkerchiefs, some gaudy glass beads, and two looking glasses for
+his wives. This was considered perfectly satisfactory.
+
+The crowd was very great, and at Mr. Goodenough's dictation Ostik
+informed the chief that if the white men were left quiet until
+the evening they would show his people many strange things. On the
+receipt of this information the crowd dispersed. But when at sunset
+the two travelers took a turn through the village, the excitement
+was again very great. The men stood their ground and stared at them,
+but the women and children ran screaming away to hide themselves.
+The idea of the people of Central Africa of the whites is that
+they are few in number, that they live at the bottom of the sea,
+and are possessed of great wealth, but that they have no palm oil
+or logwood, and are, therefore, compelled to come to land to trade
+for these articles. They believe that the strange clothes they wear
+are manufactured from the skins of sea beasts.
+
+When night fell Mr. Goodenough fastened a sheet against the outside
+of the chief's hut, and then placed a magic lantern in position
+ten paces from it. The Fans were then invited to gather round and
+take their seats upon the ground. A cry of astonishment greeted the
+appearance of the bright disk. This was followed by a wilder yell
+when this was darkened, and an elephant bearing some men sitting
+on his back was seen to cross the house. The men leaped to their
+feet and seized their spears. The women screamed, and Ostik, who
+was himself somewhat alarmed, had great difficulty in calming their
+fears and persuading them to sit down again, assuring them that
+they would see many wonderful things, but that nothing would hurt
+them.
+
+The next view was at first incomprehensible to many of them. It was
+a ship tossing in a stormy sea; but some of those present had been
+down to the mouth of the river, and these explained to the others
+the nature of the phenomenon. In all there were twenty slides, all
+of which were provided with movable figures; the last two being
+chromatropes, whose dancing colors elicited screams of delight
+from the astonished natives. This concluded the performance, but
+for hours after it was over the village rang with a perfect Babel
+of shouts, screams, and chatter. The whole thing was to the Fans
+absolutely incomprehensible, and their astonishment was equalled
+by their awe at the powers of the white men.
+
+The next two days they remained at Olenga, as word was sent up to
+Itchongue, the next town, asking the chief there for leave to come
+forward. The people had now begun to get over their first timidity,
+and when Frank went out for a walk after breakfast he was somewhat
+embarrassed by the women and girls crowding round him, feeling his
+clothes and touching his hands and face to assure themselves that
+these felt like those of human beings. He afforded them huge delight
+by taking off his Norfolk jacket and pulling up the sleeves of his
+shirt to show them that his arms were the same color as his hands,
+and so elated were they with this exhibition that it was with
+great difficulty that he withstood their entreaties that he would
+disrobe entirely. Indeed, Ostik had at last to come to his rescue
+and carry him off from the laughing crowd by which he was surrounded.
+
+After dinner Mr. Goodenough invited the people to sit down in a
+vast circle holding each other's hands. He then told them that he
+should at a word make them all jump to their feet. Then taking out
+a small but powerful galvanic battery, he arranged it and placed
+wires into the hands of the two men nearest to him in the great
+circle.
+
+"Now," he said, "when I clap my hands you will find that you are
+all obliged to jump up."
+
+He gave the signal. Frank turned on the battery, and in an instant
+the two hundred men and women, with a wild shriek, either leapt
+to their feet or rolled backward on the ground. In another minute
+not a native was to be seen, with the exception of the chief, who
+had not been included in the circle. The latter, at Mr. Goodenough's
+request, shouted loudly to his subjects to return, for that the white
+men would do them no harm; but it was a long time before, slowly
+and cautiously, they crept back again. When they had reassembled
+Mr. Goodenough showed them several simple but astonishing chemical
+experiments, which stupefied them with wonder; and concluded with
+three or four conjuring tricks, which completed their amazement.
+A long day's paddling took them to Itchongue, where they were as
+well received as at Olenga. Here they stopped for two days, and the
+magic lantern was again brought out, and the other tricks repeated
+with a success equal to that which they had before obtained. As
+another day's paddling would take them to the rapids Mr. Goodenough
+now set up a negotiation for obtaining a sufficient number of
+carriers. After great palaver, and the presentation of three guns
+to the chief to obtain his assistance, thirty men were engaged.
+These were each to receive a yard of calico or one brass stair rod
+a day, and were to proceed with the party until such time as they
+could procure carriers from another tribe.
+
+The new recruits were taken up in another canoe. Several villages
+were passed on the way. The river became a mere rapid, against which
+the canoes with difficulty made their way. They had now entered
+the mountains which rose steeply above them, embowered in wood.
+Two days of severe work took them to the foot of the falls. Here
+the canoes were unloaded. The men hired on the coast received
+their pay, and turned the boat's head down stream. The other canoe
+accompanied it, and the travelers remained with their bodyguard of
+Houssas and their carriers.
+
+"Now," Mr. Goodenough said, "we are fairly embarked on our journey,
+and we will commence operations at once. I have heard the cries
+of a great many birds which are strange to me today, and I expect
+that we shall have a good harvest. We may remain here for some
+time. The first thing to do is to find food for our followers. We
+have got six sacks of rice, but it will never do to let our men
+depend solely upon these. They would soon come to an end."
+
+"But how are we to feed forty people?" Frank asked in astonishment.
+
+"I pointed out to you today," Mr. Goodenough said, "the tracks of
+hippopotami in various places. One of these beasts will feed the
+men for nearly a week. There were, too, numbers of alligators'
+eggs on the banks, and these creatures make by no means bad eating.
+Your rifle will be of no use against such animals as these. You
+had better take one of the Sniders. I have some explosive shells
+which will fit them. My own double barrelled rifle is of the same
+bore."
+
+After dinner Mr. Goodenough told two of the Houssas to accompany
+them with their rifles, together with three or four of the Fans.
+He made his way down the stream to a point where the hills receded,
+and where he had observed a great many marks of the river horses. As
+they approached the spot they heard several loud snorts, and making
+their way along as quietly as possible they saw two of the great
+beasts standing in the stream. At this point it widened a good deal
+and was shallow and quite near the bank. The Fans had been told
+to stay behind directly the snorting was heard, and Mr. Goodenough
+and Frank, rifle in hand, crept forward, with the Houssas as still
+and noiseless as cats close behind them.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X: LOST IN THE FOREST
+
+
+The hippopotami were playing together, floundering in the shallow
+water, and the noise they made prevented their hearing the stealthy
+approach of their enemies.
+
+"You take the one nearest shore, Frank, I will take the other. Aim
+at the forehead between the eyes. I will make a slight sound to
+attract their attention."
+
+Frank knelt on one knee and took steady aim. Mr. Goodenough then
+gave a shout, and the two animals turning their heads stood staring
+at the foliage, scarce a dozen yards away, in which the travelers
+were concealed. The guns flashed at the same moment, and as if
+struck by lightning the hippopotami fell in the stream. The explosive
+balls had both flown true to the mark, invariably a fatal one in
+the case of the river horse. Frank as he fired had taken another
+rifle which the Houssas held in readiness for him, but there was
+no occasion for its use. The Fans came running up, and on seeing
+the great beasts lying in the stream, gave a shout of joy.
+
+"That will do for this evening," Mr. Goodenough said. "They are
+large beasts, and will give food enough for a week or ten days."
+
+They then returned to the camp which, at the news brought by one
+of the Fans, had already been deserted. Before the natives retired
+to sleep the hippopotami had been cut up and carried to the camp.
+Portions were already frizzling over the fires, other parts set
+aside for the consumption of the next two days, and the rest cut
+up in strips to be dried in the sun. The tongue of one was cut up
+and fried as a great luxury for the white men's supper by Ostik.
+It is not often that the natives of equatorial Africa are able to
+indulge in meat, and the joy of the Fans at this abundant supply,
+and the prospect afforded them of further good eating, raised their
+spirits to the highest extent.
+
+Next morning at daybreak Mr. Goodenough and Frank set out from
+the camp. Each carried a double barreled gun, and was accompanied
+by one of the Houssas carrying his rifle and a butterfly net, and
+when three hours later they returned to the camp for breakfast and
+compared their spoils they found that an excellent beginning had
+been made. Nearly a score of birds, of which several were very
+rare, and five were pronounced by Mr. Goodenough to be entirely
+new, had been shot, and many butterflies captured. Frank had been
+most successful in this respect, as he had come across a small
+clearing in which were several deserted huts. This was just the
+place in which butterflies delight, for, although many kinds prefer
+the deep shades of the forest, by far the greater portion love the
+bright sunlight.
+
+After breakfast they again set out, Frank this time keeping along
+the edge of the stream, where he had observed many butterflies as
+he came up, and where many birds of the kingfisher family had also
+been seen. He had been very successful, and was walking along by
+the edge of the water with his eyes fixed upon the trees above,
+where he had a minute before heard the call of a bird, when he was
+startled by a shout from the Houssa behind him. He involuntarily
+sprang back, and it was well he did so; for on the instant something
+swept by within an inch or two of his head. Looking round he saw, at
+the edge of the stream below him, a huge alligator. This had struck
+at him with its tail--the usual manner in which the alligator
+supplies itself with food--and had it not been for the warning
+cry of the Houssa, would have knocked him into the stream. Its mouth
+was open and Frank, as if by instinct, fired the contents of both
+barrels into its throat. The animal rolled over on to its back in
+the water and then turned as if to struggle to regain the bank.
+The Houssa, however, had run up, and, placing the muzzle of his
+gun within a foot of its eye, fired, and the creature rolled over
+dead, and was swept away by the stream.
+
+The Houssa gave a loud shout which was answered in the distance. He
+then shouted two or three words, and turning to Frank said: "Men
+get alligator," and proceeded on his way without concerning himself
+further in the matter.
+
+On his return to camp in the evening Frank found that the alligator
+had been discovered and fished out, and that its steaks were by no
+means bad eating. Frank told Mr. Goodenough of the narrow escape he
+had had, and the latter pointed out to him the necessity of always
+keeping his eyes on the watch.
+
+"Alligators frequently carry off the native women when engaged in
+washing," he said, "and almost invariably strike them, in the first
+place, into the river with a blow of their tails. Once in the water
+they are carried off, drowned, and eaten at leisure. Sometimes,
+indeed, a woman may escape with the loss of a foot or arm, but this
+is the exception."
+
+"What is the best thing to do when so attacked?" Frank asked. "I
+don't mean to be caught napping again, still it is as well to know
+what to do if I am."
+
+"Men when so attacked have been known frequently to escape by
+thrusting their thumbs or fingers into the creature's eyes. If it
+can be done the alligator is sure to lose his hold, but it demands
+quickness and great presence of mind. When a reptile is tearing
+at one's leg, and hurrying one along under water, you can see that
+the nerve required to keep perfectly cool, to feel for the creature's
+eyes, and to thrust your finger into them is very great. The best
+plan, Frank, distinctly is to keep out of their reach altogether."
+
+After remaining for a fortnight at their camp they prepared for
+a move. Another hippopotamus was killed, cut up and dried, and
+the flesh added to the burdens. Then the tent was struck and they
+proceeded farther into the mountains. Two days later they halted
+again, the site being chosen beside a little mountain rivulet.
+They were now very high up in the hills, Mr. Goodenough expecting
+to meet with new varieties of butterflies and insects at this
+elevation. They had scarcely pitched their camp when Frank exclaimed:
+
+"Surely, Mr. Goodenough, I can hear some dogs barking! I did not
+know that the native dogs barked."
+
+"Nor do they. They may yelp and howl, but they never bark like
+European dogs. What you hear is the bark of some sort of monkey or
+baboon."
+
+This opinion was at once confirmed by the Fans.
+
+"We will sally out with our guns at once," Mr. Goodenough said.
+
+"I don't like the thought of shooting monkeys," Frank muttered, as
+he took up his Winchester carbine.
+
+"They are very excellent eating," Mr. Goodenough continued, "superior
+in my opinion, and, indeed, in that of most travelers, to any other
+meat. We shall meet with no other kind of creature fit for food
+up here. The birds, indeed, supply us amply, but for the men it is
+desirable that we should obtain fresh meat when we have the chance.
+These baboons are very mischievous creatures, and are not to be
+attacked with impunity. Let four of the Houssas with their guns
+come with us."
+
+Following the direction of the sounds they had heard, the travelers
+came upon a troupe of great baboons. It was a curious sight. The males
+were as big as large dogs, some were sitting sunning themselves on
+rocks, others were being scratched by the females. Many of these
+had a baby monkey clinging on their necks, while others were playing
+about in all directions.
+
+"I'd rather not shoot at them, Mr. Goodenough," Frank said.
+
+"You will be glad enough to eat them," Mr. Goodenough answered, and
+selecting a big male he fired. The creature fell dead. The others
+all sprang to their feet. The females and little ones scampered
+off. The males, with angry gestures, rushed upon their assailants,
+barking, showing their teeth, and making menacing gestures. Mr.
+Goodenough fired again, and Frank now, seeing that they were likely
+to be attacked, also opened fire. Six of the baboons were killed
+before the others abstained from the attack and went screaming after
+the females. The dead baboons were brought down, skinned, and two
+were at once roasted, the others hung up to trees. It required a
+great effort on Frank's part to overcome his repugnance to tasting
+these creatures, but, when he did so, he admitted that the meat
+was excellent.
+
+That night they were disturbed by a cry of terror from the men.
+Seizing their rifles they ran out.
+
+"There are two leopards, sar," Ostik said; "they have smelt the
+monkeys."
+
+The shouts scared the creatures away, and the natives kept up a
+great fire till morning.
+
+"We must get the skins if we can," Mr. Goodenough said. "The skins
+of the equatorial leopard are rare. If we can get them both they
+will make a fine group for you to stuff when you get back, Frank."
+
+"Are you thinking of following their trail?" Frank asked.
+
+"That would be useless," Mr. Goodenough answered. "In soft swampy
+ground we might do so, but up here it would be out of the question.
+We must set a bait for them tonight, but be careful while you are
+out today. They have probably not gone far from the camp, and they
+are very formidable beasts. They not unfrequently attack and kill
+the natives."
+
+The Fans were much alarmed at the neighborhood of the leopards, and
+none would leave the camp during the day. Two of the Houssas were
+left on guard, although Mr. Goodenough felt sure that the animals
+would not attempt to carry off any meat in the daylight, and two
+Houssas accompanied each of the travelers while out in search of
+butterflies.
+
+Nothing was heard of the leopards during the day. At nightfall
+a portion of one of the monkeys was roasted and hung up, so as
+to swing within four feet of the ground from the arm of a tree, a
+hundred yards from the camp. Mr. Goodenough and Frank took their
+seats in another tree a short distance off. The night was fine and
+the stars clear and bright. The tree on which the meat hung stood
+somewhat alone, so that sufficient light penetrated from above to
+enable any creatures approaching the bait to be seen. Instead of
+his little Winchester, Frank had one of the Sniders with explosive
+bullets. The Houssas were told to keep a sharp watch in camp, in case
+the leopards, approaching from the other side, might be attracted
+by the smell of meat there, rather than by the bait. The Fans needed
+no telling to induce them to keep up great fires all night.
+
+Soon after dark the watchers heard a roaring in the forest. It came
+from the other side of the camp.
+
+"That is unlucky," Mr. Goodenough said. "We have pitched on the
+wrong side. However, they will probably be deterred by the fire
+from approaching the camp, and will wander round and round: so we
+may hope to hear of them before long."
+
+In answer to the roar of the leopards the natives kept up a continued
+shouting. For some hours the roaring continued at intervals,
+sometimes close at hand, sometimes at a considerable distance. Frank
+had some difficulty in keeping awake, and was beginning to wish that
+the leopards would move off altogether. Two or three times he had
+nearly dozed off, and his rifle had almost slipped from his hold.
+All at once he was aroused by a sharp nudge from his companion.
+Fixing his eyes on the bait he made out something immediately below
+it. Directly afterwards another creature stole forward. They were
+far less distinct than he had expected.
+
+"You take the one to the left," Mr. Goodenough whispered; "Now!"
+
+They fired together. Two tremendous roars were heard. One of the
+leopards immediately bounded away. The other rolled over and over,
+and then, recovering its feet, followed its companion, Mr. Goodenough
+firing his second barrel after him.
+
+"I'm afraid you missed altogether, Frank," he said.
+
+"I don't think so, sir. I fancied I saw the flash of the shell as
+it struck him, but where, I have not the remotest idea. I could not
+make him out clear enough. It was merely a dim shape, and I fired
+as well as I could at the middle of it.
+
+"Shall we go back to the camp now?" Frank asked.
+
+"Yes, we can safely do so. You can tell by the sound of the roars
+that they are already some distance away. There is little chance
+of their returning tonight. In the morning we will follow them.
+There is sure to be blood, and the natives will have no difficulty
+in tracking them."
+
+The rest of the night passed quietly, although roars and howling
+could be heard from time to time in the distance.
+
+Early in the morning they started with the Houssas.
+
+"We must be careful today," Mr. Goodenough said, "for a wounded
+leopard is a really formidable beast."
+
+There was no difficulty in taking up the traces.
+
+"One of them at least must be hard hit," Mr. Goodenough remarked;
+"there are traces of blood every yard."
+
+They had gone but a short distance when one of the Houssas gave a
+sudden exclamation, and pointed to something lying at the edge of
+a clump of bushes.
+
+"Leopard," he said.
+
+"Yes, there is one of them, sure enough. I think it's dead, but
+we cannot be too cautious. Advance very carefully, Frank, keeping
+ready to fire instantly."
+
+They moved forward slowly in a body, but their precaution was
+unnecessary. There was no movement in the spotted, tawny skin as
+they advanced, and when they came close they could see that the
+leopard was really dead. He had been hit by two bullets. The first
+had struck his shoulder and exploded there, inflicting so terrible
+a wound that it was wonderful he had been able to move afterwards.
+The other had struck him on the back, near the tail, and had burst
+inside him. Frank on seeing the nature of the wounds was astonished
+at the tenacity of life shown by the animal.
+
+"I wonder whether I hit the other," he said.
+
+"I have no doubt at all about it," Mr. Goodenough answered, "although
+I did not think so before. It seemed to me that I only heard the
+howls of one animal in the night, and thought it was the one I had
+hit. But as this fellow must have died at once, it is clear that
+the cries were made by the other."
+
+A sharp search was now set up for the tracks of the other leopard,
+the Houssas going back to the tree and taking it up anew. They
+soon found traces of blood in a line diverging from that followed
+by the other animal. For an hour they followed this, great care
+being required, as at times no spots of blood could be seen for a
+considerable distance. At last they seemed to lose it altogether.
+Mr. Goodenough and Frank stood together, while the Houssas, scattered
+round, were hunting like well trained dogs for a sign. Suddenly
+there was a sharp roar, and from the bough of a tree close by
+a great body sprang through the air and alighted within a yard of
+Frank. The latter, in his surprise, sprang back, stumbled and fell,
+but in an instant the report of the two barrels of Mr. Goodenough's
+rifle rang out.  In a moment Frank was on his feet again ready to
+fire. The leopard, however, lay dead, its skull almost blown off.
+
+"You have had another narrow escape," Mr. Goodenough said. "I see
+that your ball last night broke one of his hind legs. That spoilt
+his spring. Had it not been for that he would undoubtedly have
+reached you, and a blow with his paw, given with all his weight
+and impetus, would probably have killed you on the spot. We ought
+not to have stood near a tree strong enough to bear him when in
+pursuit of a wounded leopard. They will always take to trees if
+they can, and you see this was a very suitable one for him. This
+bough on which he was lying starts from the trunk only about four
+feet from the ground, so that even with his broken leg he was able
+to get upon it without difficulty. Well, thank God, you've not been
+hurt, my boy. It will teach us both to be more careful in future."
+
+That afternoon Frank was down with his second attack of fever,
+a much more severe one than the first had been. Mr. Goodenough's
+favorite remedy had its effect of producing profuse perspiration,
+but two or three hours afterwards the hot fit again came on, and for
+the next four days Frank lay half delirious, at one time consumed
+with heat, and the next shivering as if plunged into ice water.
+Copious doses of quinine, however, gradually overcame the fever,
+and on the fifth day he was convalescent. It was, nevertheless,
+another week before he was sufficiently recovered to be able
+to resume his hunting expeditions. They again shifted their camp,
+and this time traveled for three weeks, making short journeys, and
+halting early so as to give half a day from each camping place for
+their work.
+
+Frank was one day out as usual with one of the Houssas. He had
+killed several birds when he saw a butterfly, of a species which
+he had not before met with, flitting across a gleam of sunshine
+which streamed in through a rift in the trees. He told his Houssa
+to wait where he was in charge of the two guns and birds, and
+started off with his net in pursuit of the butterfly. The creature
+fluttered away with Frank in full pursuit. Hither and thither it
+flitted, seemingly taking an impish delight in tantalizing Frank,
+settling on a spot where a gleam of sunlight streamed upon the
+bark of a tree, till Frank had stolen up within a couple of paces
+of it, and then darting away again at a pace which defied Frank's
+best attempts to keep up with it until it chose to play with him
+again. Intent only upon his chase Frank thought of nothing else.
+At last, with a shout of triumph, he inclosed the creature in his
+net, shook it into the wide pickle bottle, containing a sponge soaked
+with chloroform, and then, after tightly fitting in the stopper,
+he looked around. He uttered an exclamation of dismay as he did
+so. He saw by the bands of light the sun was already setting, and
+knew that he must have been for upwards of an hour in chase of the
+butterfly. He had not the slightest idea of the direction in which
+he had come. He had, he knew, run up hill and down, but whether he
+had been traveling in a circle or going straight in one direction,
+he had not the least idea. He might be within a hundred yards of
+the spot where he had left the Houssa. He might be three or four
+miles away.
+
+He at once drew out his revolver, which he always carried strapped
+to his belt, and discharged the six chambers, waiting for half a
+minute between each shot, and listening intently for an answer to
+his signal. None came. The stillness of the wood was unbroken, and
+Frank felt that he must have wandered far indeed from his starting
+place, and that he was completely lost. His first impulse was to
+start off instantly at the top of his speed, but a moment's thought
+convinced him that this would be useless. He had not an idea of
+the direction which he should pursue. Besides the sun was sinking,
+twilight is short in the tropics, and in half an hour it would be
+as dark as midnight in the forest. Remembering his adventure with
+the leopard he determined to climb into a tree and pass the night
+there. He knew that an active search would be set on foot by his
+friends next morning, and that, as every step he took was as likely
+to lead him from as towards the camp, it was better to stay where
+he was.
+
+He soon found a tree with a branch which would suit his purpose, and,
+climbing up into it, lit his pipe and prepared for an uncomfortable
+night. Frank had never smoked until he reached Africa, but he had
+then taken to it on the advice of Mr. Goodenough, who told him
+that smoking was certainly a preventive, to some extent, of fever
+in malarious countries, and, although he had not liked it at first,
+he had now taken kindly to his pipe, and smoked from the time when
+the evening mists began to rise until he went to bed.
+
+The time passed very slowly. The cries of wild creatures could
+be heard in the woods, and although Frank did not expect to be
+attacked, it was impossible to sleep with these calls of leopards,
+with which the forest seemed to abound, in his ears. He had reloaded
+his revolver immediately after discharging it, and had replaced
+it in his pouch, and felt confident that nothing could climb the
+tree. Besides, he had heard that leopards seldom attack men unless
+themselves attacked. Sleep, however, was out of the question, for
+when he slept he might have fallen from his seat in the crotch of
+the tree. Occasionally, however, he dozed off, waking up always
+with an uncomfortable start, and a feeling that he had just saved
+himself from falling. With the earliest dawn of morn he descended,
+stiff and weary, from the tree. Directly the sun rose he set off
+walking. He knew at least that he was to the south of the camp,
+and that by keeping the sun on his right hand till it reached the
+zenith he must get in time to the little stream on which it was
+pitched. As he walked he listened intently for the sound of guns.
+Once or twice he fancied that he heard them, but he was quite
+unable to judge of the direction. He had been out with the Houssa
+about six hours before he strayed from him in the pursuit of the
+butterfly, and they had for some time been walking towards the
+camp, in order to reach it by nightfall. Thus he thought, that at
+that time, he could only have been some three or four miles distant
+from it. Supposing that he had run due south, he could still be but
+eight miles from the stream, and he thought that in three hours'
+walking he might arrive there. In point of fact, after leaving the
+Houssa the butterfly had led him towards the southeast, and as the
+stream took a sharp bend to the north a little distance above the
+camp, he was many miles farther from it than he expected. This
+stream was one of the upper tributaries of the Gaboon.
+
+After walking for two hours the character of the forest changed.
+The high trees were farther apart, and a thick undergrowth began
+to make its appearance, frequently causing him to make long detours
+and preventing his following the line he had marked out for himself.
+This caused him much uneasiness, for he knew that he had passed
+across no such country on his way from the camp, and the thought
+that he might experience great difficulties in recovering it, now
+began to press upon him.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI: A HOSTILE TRIBE
+
+
+Every step that he went the ground grew softer and more swampy, and
+he at length determined to push on no farther in this direction,
+but turning to his left to try and gain higher ground, and then to
+continue on the line he had marked out for himself.
+
+His progress was now very slow. The bush was thick and close, thorny
+plants and innumerable creepers continually barred his way, and the
+necessity for constantly looking up through the trees to catch a
+glimpse of the sun, which was his only guide, added to his difficulty.
+At length, when his watch told him it was eleven o'clock, he came
+to a standstill, the sun being too high overhead to serve him as a
+reliable guide. He had now been walking for nearly six hours, and
+he was utterly worn out and exhausted, having had no food since
+his midday meal on the previous day. He was devoured with thirst,
+having merely rinsed his mouth in the black and poisonous water
+of the swamps he had crossed. His sleepless night, too, had told
+on him. He was bathed in perspiration, and for the last hour had
+scarcely been able to drag his feet along.
+
+He now lay down at the foot of a great tree, and for three or four
+hours slept heavily. When he awoke he pursued his journey, the sun
+serving as a guide again. In two hours' time he had got upon higher
+ground. The brushwood was less dense, and he again turned his face
+to the north, and stepped forward with renewed hopes.
+
+It was late in the afternoon when he came upon a native path. Here he
+sat down to think. He did not remember having crossed such a path
+on the day before. Probably it crossed the stream at some point
+above the encampment. Therefore it would serve as a guide, and he
+might, too, come upon some native village where he could procure
+food. By following it far enough he must arrive somewhere. He sat
+for a quarter of an hour to rest himself, and then proceeded along
+the path, whose direction seemed to be the northwest.
+
+For an hour he proceeded and then paused, hearing a sudden outcry
+ahead. Scampering along the path came a number of great baboons,
+and Frank at once stepped aside into the bush to avoid them, as
+these are formidable creatures when disturbed. They were of a very
+large species, and several of the females had little ones clinging
+around their necks. In the distance Frank could hear the shouts
+of some natives, and supposed that the monkeys had been plundering
+their plantations, and that they were driving them away. The baboons
+passed without paying any attention to him, but Frank observed
+that the last of the troop was carrying a little one in one of its
+forearms.
+
+Frank glanced at the baby monkey and saw that it had round its waist
+a string of blue beads. As a string of beads is the only attire
+which a negro child wears until it reaches the age of ten or eleven
+years old, the truth at once flashed upon Frank that the baboons
+were carrying off a native baby, which had probably been set down
+by its mother while she worked in the plantation. Instantly he drew
+his pistol, leaped into the road, and fired at the retreating ape.
+It gave a cry, dropped the baby and turned to attack its aggressor.
+
+Frank waited till it was within six feet, and then shot it through
+the head. He sprang forward and seized the baby, but in a moment
+he was attacked by the whole party of baboons, who, barking like
+dogs, and uttering angry cries, rushed at him. Frank stood his
+ground, and discharged the four remaining barrels of his revolver
+at the foremost animals. Two of these dropped, but the others who
+were only wounded sprang upon him. Frank struck out with the butt
+end of his pistol, but in a minute he was overpowered.
+
+One monkey seized him by the leg with his teeth, while another bit
+his arm. Others struck and scratched at him, and he was at once
+thrown down. He tried to defend his face with his arms, kicking
+and struggling to the best of his power. With one hand he drew the
+long knife for skinning animals, which he wore at his belt, and
+struck out fiercely, but a baboon seized his wrist in its teeth,
+and Frank felt that all was over, when suddenly his assailants left
+him, and the instant afterwards he was lifted to his feet by some
+negroes.
+
+He had, when attacked by the apes, thrown the baby into a clump
+of ferns close by, in order to have the use of both his hands, and
+when he looked round he found that a negress had already picked it
+up, and was crying and fondling it. The negroes appeared intensely
+astonished at Frank's color, and he judged by their exclamations
+of surprise that, not only had they not seen a white man before,
+but that they had not heard of one being in the neighborhood.
+
+Frank had been too severely bitten and mauled by the baboons to be
+able to walk, and the negroes, seeing this, raised him, and four
+of them carried him to their village, which was but a quarter of a
+mile distant. Here he was taken to the principal hut, and laid on
+a bed. His wounds were dressed with poultices formed of bruised
+leaves of some plant, the natives evincing the utmost astonishment as
+Frank removed his clothes to enable these operations to be performed.
+
+By pointing to his lips he indicated that he was hungry and thirsty.
+Water was brought to him, and cakes made from pounded yams pressed
+and baked. Having eaten and drank he closed his eyes and lay
+back, and the natives, who had before been all noisily chattering
+together, now became suddenly silent, and stealing away left the
+strange white visitor to sleep.
+
+When Frank woke he could see by the light that it was early
+morning. A woman with a child in her lap, whom Frank recognized as
+the negress who had picked up the baby, was sitting on a low stool
+by his side. On seeing him open his eyes she came to the bed, took
+his hand and put it to her lips, and then raised the baby triumphantly
+and turned it round and round to show that it had escaped without
+damage. Then when Frank pointed again to his lips she brought him
+a pineapple, roughly cut off the skin, and sliced it. Frank ate
+the juicy fruit, and felt immensely refreshed, for the West Coast
+pineapple is even more delicious than that found in the West Indies.
+Then the woman removed the bandages and applied fresh poultices to
+his wounds, talking in low soft tones, and, as Frank had no doubt,
+expressing sorrow at their cause.
+
+Frank now endeavored to explain to her that he had a white companion
+in the woods, but the woman, not understanding, brought in two or
+three other natives, who stood round the couch and endeavored to
+gather what he wished to say.
+
+Frank held up two fingers. Then he pointed to himself and shut down
+one finger, keeping the other erect, and then pointed all round
+to signify that he had a friend somewhere in the wood. A grin of
+comprehension stole over the faces of the negroes, and Frank saw
+that he was understood.
+
+Then he again held up his two fingers, and taking the hands of the
+negress raised all her fingers by the side of the white ones to
+signify that there were many natives with them. Then he took aim,
+with an imaginary gun, up at the roof of the hut, and said "Bang"
+very loud, and a chorus of approving laughter from the negroes
+showed that he was understood. Then one of them pointed towards
+the various points of the compass, and looked interrogatively at
+Frank. The sun was streaming in through the doorway, and he was
+thus able to judge of the direction in which the camp must lie. He
+made a sweep with his hand towards the northwest, signifying that
+they were somewhere in that direction.
+
+That afternoon fever set in, and for the two next days Frank was
+delirious. When he recovered consciousness he found Mr. Goodenough
+sitting beside him. The latter would not suffer him to talk, but
+gave him a strong dose of quinine and told him to lie quiet and go
+to sleep.
+
+It was not till the next day that Frank learned what had happened
+in his absence. The Houssa had not returned until long after
+nightfall. He reported that Frank had told him to wait with the
+guns, and that he had waited until it grew nearly dark. Then he
+had fired several times and had walked about, firing his gun at
+intervals. Obtaining no responses he had made his way back to the
+camp, where his arrival alone caused great consternation.
+
+It was impossible to do anything that night, and the next morning
+Mr. Goodenough, accompanied by five of the Houssas, one only
+remaining to keep guard over the camp, had gone to the place where
+Frank had last been seen. Then they scattered in various directions,
+shouting and firing their guns. The search had been continued all
+day without success, and at nightfall, disheartened and worn out,
+they had returned to the camp. The next day the search had been
+continued with an equal want of success, and the fears that a leopard
+had attacked and killed Frank became stronger and stronger. On the
+third day the whole of the carriers were sent out with instructions
+to search the woods for native paths, to follow these to villages,
+and to enlist the natives in the search. One of these men had met
+one of the villagers on the search for the party of the white man.
+
+It was another ten days before Frank was sufficiently recovered
+from his fever and wounds to march back to the camp. After a stay
+there of two or three more days, to enable him completely to regain
+his strength, the party started again on their journey.
+
+In another three weeks they had descended the hills, and the Fans
+announced their unwillingness to travel farther. Mr. Goodenough,
+however, told them quietly that they had promised to go on until
+he could obtain other carriers, and that if they deserted him he
+should pay them nothing. They might now expect every day to meet
+people of another tribe, and as soon as they should do so they
+would be allowed to depart. Finding that he was firm, and having
+no desire to forfeit the wages they had earned, the Fans agreed to
+go forward, although they were now in a country entirely unknown
+to them, where the people would presumably be hostile. They had,
+however, such faith in the arms carried by the white men and Houssas,
+that they felt comparatively easy as to the result of any attack
+which might be made upon them.
+
+The very day after this little mutiny, smoke was seen curling up
+from the woods. Mr. Goodenough deemed it inexpedient to show himself
+at once with so large a number of men. He, therefore, sent forward
+Ostik with two of the Fans, each of whom could speak several native
+dialects, to announce his coming. They returned in an hour saying
+that the village was a very large one, and that the news of the
+coming of two white men had created great excitement. The people
+spoke of sending at once to their king, whom they called Malembe,
+whose place, it seemed, was a day's march off.
+
+They now prepared to enter the village. Ostik went first carrying
+himself with the dignity of a beadle at the head of a school
+procession. Two of the Houssas walked next. Mr. Goodenough and
+Frank followed, their guns being carried by two Fans behind them.
+Then came the long line of bearers, two of the Houssas walking
+on each side as a baggage guard. The villagers assembled in great
+numbers as they entered. The head man conducted the whites to his
+hut. No women or children were to be seen, and the expression of
+the men was that of fear rather than curiosity.
+
+"They are afraid of the Fans," Mr. Goodenough said. "The other tribes
+all have a species of terror of these cannibals. We must reassure
+them as soon as possible."
+
+A long palaver then took place with the chief, with whose language
+one of the Fans was sufficiently acquainted to make himself
+understood. It was rather a tedious business, as each speech had
+to be translated twice, through Ostik and the Fan.
+
+Mr. Goodenough informed the chief that the white men were friends
+of his people, that they had come to see the country and give presents
+to the chiefs, that they only wished to pass quietly through and
+to journey unmolested, and that they would pay handsomely for food
+and all that they required. They wished to obtain bearers for their
+baggage, and these they would pay in cloth and brass rods, and as
+soon as they procured carriers the Fans would return to their own
+country.
+
+The chief answered expressing his gratification at seeing white
+men in his village, saying that the king would, no doubt, carry out
+all their wishes. One of the boxes was opened and he was presented
+with five yards of bright colored calico, a gaudy silk handkerchief,
+and several strings of bright beads. In return a large number of
+plantains were presented to the white men. These were soon distributed
+among the Fans.
+
+"Me no like dat nigger," Ostik said. "Me think we hab trouble. You
+see all women and children gone, dat bad. Wait till see what do
+when king come."
+
+That day and the next passed quietly. The baggage had been piled
+in a circle, as usual, in an open space outside the village; the
+tent being pitched in the center, and Ostik advised Mr. Goodenough
+to sleep here instead of in the village. The day after their arrival
+passed but heavily. The natives showed but little curiosity as to
+the newcomers, although these must have been far more strange to
+them than to the people nearer the coast. Still no women or children
+made their appearance. Towards evening a great drumming was heard
+in the distance.
+
+"Here is his majesty at last," Mr. Goodenough said, "we shall soon
+see what is his disposition."
+
+In a short time the village was filled with a crowd of men all
+carrying spears and bows and arrows. The drumming came nearer and
+nearer, and then, carried in a chair on the shoulders of four strong
+negroes, while ten others armed with guns marched beside him, the
+king made his appearance.
+
+Mr. Goodenough and Frank advanced to meet him. The king was a tall
+man with a savage expression of countenance. Behind Mr. Goodenough,
+Ostik and the Fan who spoke the language advanced. The king's chair
+was lowered under the shade of a tree, and two attendants with palm
+leaf fans at once began to fan his majesty.
+
+"Tell the king," Mr. Goodenough said, "that we are white men who
+have come to see his country, and to pass through to the countries
+beyond. We have many presents for him, and wish to buy food and to
+hire carriers in place of those who have brought our things thus
+far."
+
+The king listened in silence.
+
+"Why do the white men bring our enemies into our land?" he asked
+angrily.
+
+"We have come up from the coast," Mr. Goodenough said; "and as
+we passed through the Fan country we hired men there to carry our
+goods, just as we wish to hire men here to go on into the country
+beyond. There were none of the king's men in that country or we
+would have hired them."
+
+"Let me see the white men's presents," the king said.
+
+A box was opened, a bright scarlet shirt and a smoking cap of the
+same color, worked with beads, a blue silk handkerchief and twenty
+yards of bright calico, were taken out. To these were added twelve
+stair rods, five pounds of powder, and two pounds of shot.
+
+The king's eye sparkled greedily as he looked at the treasures.
+
+"The white men must be very rich," he said, pointing to the pile
+of baggage.
+
+"Most of the boxes are empty," Mr. Goodenough said. "We have brought
+them to take home the things of the country and show them to the
+white men beyond the sea;" and to prove the truth of his words, Mr.
+Goodenough had two of the empty cases opened, as also one already
+half filled with bird skins, and another with trays of butterflies
+and beetles.
+
+The king looked at them with surprise.
+
+"And the others?" he asked, pointing to them.
+
+"The others," Mr. Goodenough said, "contain, some of them, food
+such as white men are accustomed to eat in their own country, the
+others, presents for the other kings and chiefs I shall meet when
+we have passed on.
+
+"The fellow is not satisfied," he said to Ostik, "give him two of
+the trade guns and a bottle of brandy."
+
+The king appeared mollified by these additional presents, and saying
+that he would talk to the white men in the morning, he retired into
+the village.
+
+"I don't like the looks of things," Mr. Goodenough said. "I fear
+that the presents we have given the king will only stimulate his
+desire for more. However, we shall see in the morning."
+
+When night fell, two of the Houssas were placed on guard. The
+Fans slept inside the circle formed by the baggage. Several times
+in the night the Houssas challenged bodies of men whom they heard
+approaching, but these at once retired.
+
+In the morning a messenger presented himself from the king, saying
+that he required many more presents, that the things which had
+been given were only fit for the chief of a village, and not for
+a great king. Mr. Goodenough answered, that he had given the best
+he had, that the presents were fit for a great king, and that he
+should give no more.
+
+"If we are to have trouble," he said to Frank, "it is far better
+to have it at once while the Fans are with us, than when we are
+alone with no one but the Houssas and the subjects of this man.
+The Fans will fight, and we could hold this encampment against any
+number of savages."
+
+A quarter of an hour later the drums began beating furiously again.
+Loud shouts and yells arose in the village, and the natives could
+be seen moving excitedly about. Presently these all disappeared.
+
+"Fight come now," Ostik said.
+
+"You'd better lower the tent at once, Ostik. It will only he in
+our way."
+
+The tent was speedily lowered. The Fans grasped their spears and
+lay down behind the circle of boxes and bales, and the six Houssas,
+the two white men and Ostik, to whom a trade musket had been
+entrusted, took their places at regular intervals round the circle,
+which was some eight yards in diameter. Presently the beat of
+the drums again broke the silence, and a shower of arrows, coming
+apparently from all points of the compass, fell in and around the
+circle.
+
+"Open fire steadily and quietly," Mr. Goodenough said, "among the
+bushes, but don't fire fast. We must tempt them to show themselves."
+
+A dropping fire commenced against the invisible foe, the fire being
+no more frequent than it would have been had they been armed with
+muzzle loading weapons. Presently musketry was heard on the enemy's
+side, the king's bodyguard having opened fire. This was disastrous
+to them, for, whereas the arrows had afforded but slight index as
+to the position of those who shot them, the puffs of smoke from the
+muskets at once showed the lurking places of those who used them,
+and Mr. Goodenough and Frank replied so truly that in a very short
+time the musketry fire of the enemy ceased altogether. The rain of
+arrows continued, the yells of the natives rose louder and louder,
+and the drums beat more furiously.
+
+"They will be out directly," Mr. Goodenough said. "Fire as quickly
+as you can when they show, but be sure and take good aim."
+
+Presently the sound of a war horn was heard, and from the wood all
+round a crowd of dark figures dashed forward, uttering appalling
+yells. On the instant the dropping fire of the defenders changed
+into an almost continuous fusillade, as the Sniders of the Houssas,
+the breech loading rifle of Mr. Goodenough, and the repeating
+Winchester of Frank were brought into play at their full speed.
+Yells of astonishment broke from the natives, and a minute later,
+leaving nearly a score of their comrades on the ground, the rest
+dashed back into the forest.
+
+There was silence for a time and then the war drums began again.
+
+"Dey try again hard dis time, massa," Ostik said. "King tell 'em
+he cut off deir heads dey not win battle."
+
+This time the natives rushed forward with reckless bravery, in
+spite of the execution made among them by the rapid fire of the
+defenders, and rushed up to the circle of boxes. Then the Fans
+leaped to their feet, and, spear in hand, dashed over the defenses
+and fell upon the enemy.
+
+The attack was decisive. Uttering yells of terror the natives fled,
+and two minutes later not a sound was to be heard in the forest.
+
+"I tink dey run away for good dis time, sar," Ostik said. "Dey hav'
+'nuf of him. Dey fight very brave, much more brave than people down
+near coast. Dere in great battle only three, four men killed. Here
+as many men killed as we got altogether."
+
+This was so, nearly fifty of the natives having fallen between the
+trees and the encampment. When an hour passed and all was still,
+it became nearly certain that the enemy had retreated, and the
+Houssas, who are splendid scouts, divested themselves of their
+clothing and crawled away into the wood to reconnoiter. They returned
+in half an hour in high glee, bearing the king's chair.
+
+"Dey all run away, sar, ebery one, de king an' all, and leab his
+chair behind. Dat great disgrace for him."
+
+A council was now held. The Fans were so delighted with the victory
+they had won, that they expressed their readiness to remain with
+their white companions as long as they chose, providing these would
+guarantee that they should be sent home on the expiration of their
+service. This Mr. Goodenough readily promised. After discussing the
+question with Frank, he determined to abstain from pushing farther
+into the interior, but to keep along northward, and then turning
+west with the sweep of the coast to travel slowly along, keeping
+at about the same distance as at present from the sea, and finally
+to come down either upon Cape Coast or Sierra Leone.
+
+This journey would occupy a considerable time. They would cross
+countries but little known, and would have an ample opportunity for
+the collection of specimens, which they might, from time to time,
+send down by the various rivers they would cross, to the trading
+stations at their mouths.
+
+It was felt that after this encounter with the natives it would be
+imprudent in the extreme to push further into the interior. They
+would have continual battles to fight, large numbers of the natives
+would be killed, and their collecting operations would be greatly
+interfered with. As a lesson to the natives the village was burnt
+to the ground; the presents, which the king in the hurry of his
+flight had left behind him, being recovered.
+
+A liberal allowance of tobacco was served out as a "dash" or present
+to the Fans, and a bright silk handkerchief given to each. Then
+they turned off at right angles to the line they had before been
+pursuing and continued their journey.
+
+Two days later Mr. Goodenough was prostrated by fever, and for
+several days lay between life and death. When he became convalescent
+he recovered strength very slowly. The heat was prodigious and the
+mosquitos rendered sleep almost impossible at night. The country at
+this place was low and swampy, and, weak as he was, Mr. Goodenough
+determined to push forward. He was, however, unable to walk, and,
+for the first time, a hammock was got out and mounted.
+
+There is no more comfortable conveyance in the world than a hammock
+in Africa. It is slung from a long bamboo pole, overhead a thick
+awning keeps the sun from the hammock. Across the ends of the
+pole boards of some three feet long are fastened. The natives wrap
+a piece of cloth into the shape of a muffin and place it on their
+heads, and then take their places, two at each end of the pole,
+with the ends of the board on their heads. They can trot along at
+the rate of six miles an hour, for great distances, often keeping
+up a monotonous song. Their action is perfectly smooth and easy,
+and the traveler in the hammock, by shutting his eyes, might imagine
+himself swinging in a cot on board ship on an almost waveless sea.
+
+After two days traveling they got on to higher ground, and here they
+camped for some time, Mr. Goodenough slowly recovering strength,
+and Frank busy in adding to their collections. In this he was in
+no slight degree assisted by the Fans, who, having nothing else to
+do, had now come to enter into the occupation of their employers.
+A good supply of muslin had been brought, and nets having been
+made, the Fans captured large quantities of butterflies, the great
+difficulty being in convincing them that only a few of each species
+were required. They were still more valuable in grubbing about in
+the decaying trunks of fallen trees, under loose bark, and in broken
+ground, for beetles and larvae, a task which suited them better
+than running about after butterflies, which, moreover, they often
+spoilt irreparably by their rough handling. Thus Frank was able to
+devote himself entirely to the pursuit of birds, and although all
+the varieties more usually met with had been obtained, the collection
+steadily increased in size.
+
+Frank himself had severe attacks of fever, but none of these were
+so severe as that which he had had on the day of the death of the
+leopards.
+
+At the end of a month Mr. Goodenough had recovered his strength,
+and they again moved forward.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII: A NEGRO'S STORY
+
+
+On arriving at a large village one day, they were struck as they
+approached by the far greater appearance of comfort and neatness
+than generally distinguish African villages. The plots of plantations
+were neatly fenced, the street was clean and well kept. As they
+entered the village they were met by the principal people, headed
+by an old white haired negro.
+
+"Me berry glad to see you, white men," he said. "Long time me no
+see white men."
+
+"And it is a long time," said Mr. Goodenough, shaking hands with
+him, "since I have heard the sound of my own tongue outside my
+party."
+
+"Me berry glad to see you," repeated the negro. "Me chief of
+dis village. Make you berry comfortable, sar. Great honor for dis
+village dat you come here. Plenty eberyting for you, fowl, and
+eggs, and plantain, and sometime a sheep."
+
+"We have, indeed, fallen into the lap of luxury," Mr. Goodenough
+said to Frank; and they followed the negro to his hut. "I suppose
+the old man has been employed in one of the factories upon the
+coast."
+
+The interior of the hut was comfortably furnished and very clean.
+A sort of divan covered with neatly woven mats extended round three
+sides. In the center was an attempt at a table. A doubled barreled
+gun and a rifle hung over the hearth. A small looking glass and
+several colored prints in cheap frames were suspended from the walls.
+A great chest stood at one end of the room, while on a shelf were
+a number of plates and dishes of English manufacture.
+
+The negro begged his guests to be seated, and presently a girl
+entered, bringing in a large calabash full of water for them to wash
+their hands and faces. In the meantime the old negro had gone to
+his chest, and, to the immense surprise of the travelers, brought
+out a snow white tablecloth, which he proceeded to lay on the table,
+and then to place knives, forks, and plates upon it.
+
+"You must 'scuse deficiencies, sar," he said. "We berry long way
+from coast, and dese stupid niggers dey break tings most ebery
+day."
+
+"Don't talk about deficiencies," Mr. Goodenough answered smiling.
+"All this is, indeed, astonishing to us here."
+
+"You berry good to say dat, sar, but dis chile know how tings ought
+to be done. Me libed in good Melican family. He know berry well
+how tings ought to be done."
+
+"Ah, you have traveled a good deal!" Mr. Goodenough said.
+
+"Yes, sar, me trabel great deal. Me lib in Cuba long time. Den me
+lib slave states, what you call Confederate. Den me lib Northern
+state, also Canada under Queen Victoria. Me trabel bery much.
+Now, sar, dinner come. Time to eat not to talk. After dinner white
+gentlemen tell me what they came here for. Me tell dem if they like
+about my trabels, but dat berry long story."
+
+The dinner consisted of two fowls cut in half and grilled over a
+fire, fried plantains, and, to the astonishment of the travelers,
+green peas, followed by cold boiled rice over which honey had been
+poured. Their host had placed plates only for two, but they would
+not sit down until he had consented to join them.
+
+Two girls waited, both neatly dressed in cotton, in a fashion which
+was a compromise between European and negro notions.
+
+After dinner the negro presented them with two large and excellent
+cigars, made, as he said, from tobacco grown in his own garden, and
+the astonishment of the travelers was heightened by the reappearance
+of one of the girls bearing a tray with three small cups of excellent
+black coffee.
+
+Their host now asked them for the story of their journey from
+the coast, and the object with which they had penetrated Africa.
+Mr. Goodenough related their adventures, and said that they were
+naturalists in search of objects of natural history. When he had
+finished Ostik, in obedience to a whisper from him, brought in
+a bottle of brandy, at the sight of which the negro broke into a
+chuckle.
+
+"Me tree months widout taste dat. Once ebery year me send down to
+coast, get coffee, tea, sugar, calico, beads, and rum. Dis time de
+rum am finish too soon. One of de cases get broke and half de bottles
+smash. Dat berry bad job. Dis chile calculate dat six dozen last
+for a year, dat give him one bottle each week and twenty bottles
+for presents to oder chiefs. Eighteen bottles go smash, and as de
+oder chiefs expec' deir present all de same, Sam hab ta go widout.
+De men start three weeks ago for coast. Me hope dey come back in
+six weeks more."
+
+"Well," Mr. Goodenough said, "you need not go without it till they
+come back, for I can give you eight bottles which will last you
+for two months. I have got a good supply, and as I never use it for
+trade unless a chief particularly wants it, I can very well spare
+it."
+
+The old negro was greatly pleased, and when he had drank his glass
+of brandy and water he responded to Mr. Goodenough's request, and,
+lighting a fresh cigar, he began the story of his adventures.
+
+"I was born in dis berry village somewhere about seventy years ago.
+I not know for sure widin two or three year, for when I young man
+I no keep account. My fader was de chief of dis village, just as
+I am now, but de village was not like dis. It was not so big, and
+was berry dirty and berry poor, just like the oder nigger villages.
+Well, sar, dere am nothing perticlar to tell about de first years
+of my life. I jus' dirty little naked nigger like de rest. Dose
+were berry bad times. Ebery one fight against ebery one else. Ebery
+one take slabes and send dem down de river, and sell to white men
+dere to carry ober sea. When I grow up to seventeen, I s'pose,
+I take spear and go out wid de people of dis village and de oder
+villages of dis part ob country under king, and fight against oder
+villages and carry the people away as slabes. All berry bad business
+dat. But Sam he tink nothing, and just do the same as oder people.
+Sometimes oder tribes come and fight against our villages and carry
+our people away. So it happened to Sam.
+
+"Jus' when he about twenty years old we had come back from a long
+'spedition. Dis village got its share ob slabes, and we drink and
+sing and make merry wid de palm tree wine and tink ourselves berry
+grand fellows. Well, sar, dat night great hullyballoo in de village.
+De dogs bark, de men shout and seize deir arms and run out to fight,
+but it no good. Anoder tribe fall on us ten times as many as we.
+We fight hard but no use. All de ole men and de ole women and de
+little babies dat no good to sell dey killed, and de rest of us,
+de men and de women and de boys and girls, we tied together and
+march away wid de people dat had taken us.
+
+"Berry bad time dat, sar. De season was dry and de water scarce.
+We make long march ebery day, and berry little food given. Dey beat
+us wid sticks and prod us wid spear to make us go. A good many ob
+de weak ones dey die, but de most ob us arribe at mouth ob riber;
+me neber know what riber dat was, but we were berry nigh two months
+in getting dere. By dis time Sam arribe at the conclusion berry
+strong, dat de burning ob villages and carrying off ob slabes berry
+bad affair altogether. Sam hab changed his mind about a great many
+things, but about dat he am fixed right up to dis time.
+
+"Well, at de mouth ob dat riber Sam saw de white man for de first
+time; and me tell you fair, sar, Sam not like him no way. Dey were
+Spanish men, and de way dey treat us poor niggers was someting awful.
+We huddle up night and day in a big shed dey call a barracoon. Dey
+gabe us berry little food, berry little water. Dey flog us if we
+grumble. Dese men belong to ships, and had bought us from dose who
+brought us down from up country. Deir ship not come yet, and for
+a long time we wait in the barracoon wishing dat we could die.
+At last de ship came, and we were taken on board and huddled down
+below. Law, what a place dat was to be sure! Not more than tree feet
+high, just high enough to sit up, and dere we chained to deck. De
+heat, sar, was someting terrible. Some ob us yell out and scream
+for air, but dey only come down and beat us wid whips.
+
+"De day after we got on board de ship set sail. Tree hours after
+dat we hear a great running about on deck, and a shouting by the
+white men. Den we hear big gun fire ober head, almost make us jump
+out of skin wid de noise. Den more guns. Den dere was a crash, and
+before we knew what was de matter dere was a big hole in de side,
+and six niggers was killed dead. Ebery one yelled berry loud. We
+tink for sure that de last day come. For a long time de guns keep
+firing, and den everyting quiet again. At de time no one could tink
+what de matter, but I s'pose dat British cruiser chase us and dat
+de slaber sail away.
+
+"Dat was an awful voyage, sar. At first de sea smoove, and de ship
+go along straight. Den de ship begin to toss about jus' as nigger
+does when he has taken too much palm wine, and we all feel berry bad.
+Ebery one groan and cry and tink dat dey must have been poisoned.
+For tree days it was a terrible time. De hatches were shut down
+and no air could come to us, and dere we was all alone in de dark,
+and no one could make out why de great house on de water roll and
+tumble so much. We cry and shout till all breaff gone, and den lie
+quiet and moan, till jus' when ebery one tink he dead, dey take
+off de hatch and come down and undo de padlocks and tell us to go
+up on deck. Dat berry easy to say, not at all easy to do. Most of
+us too weak to walk, and say dat we dead and cannot move. Den dey
+whip all about, and it was astonishing, sar, to see what life dat
+whip put into dead nigger. Somehow people feel dat dey could crawl
+after all, and when dey get up on deck and see de blessed sun again
+and de blue sky dey feel better. But not all. In spite ob de whip
+many hab to be carried up on deck, and dere de sailor men lay 'em
+down and trow cold water ober dem till dey open dere eyes and come
+to life. Some neber come to life. Dere were about six hundred when
+we start, and ob dese pretty nigh a hundred die in dose tree days.
+
+"After dat tings not so bad. De weather was fine and no more English
+cruisers seen, so dey let half ob us up on deck at once for tree
+or four hours ebery day. Dey give us more food, too, and fatten us
+up. We talk dis ober among ourselves, and s'pose dat dey going to
+eat us when we get to land again. Some propose not to eat food,
+but when dey try dat on they get de whip, and conclude dat if dey
+must be eaten dey might as well be eaten fat as lean.
+
+"At last we come in sight of land. Den we all sent below and stay
+dere till night. Den we brought on deck, and find de vessel lying
+in a little creek. Den we all land in boats, and march up country
+all night. In de morning we halt. Tree or four white men come on
+horses and look at us. Dey separate us into parties, and each march
+away into country again. Den we separate again, till at last me and
+twenty oders arribe at a plantation up in de hills. Here we range
+along in line before a white man. He speak in berry fierce tones,
+and a nigger by his side tell us dat dis man our master, dat he
+say if we work well he gib us plenty of food and treat us well,
+but dat if we not work wid all our might he whip us to death. After
+dis it was ebident that de best ting to do was to work hard.
+
+"I was young and berry strong, sar, and soon got de name of a
+willing hard working nigger. De massa he keep his word. Dose who
+work well not bad treated, plenty ob food and a piece of ground
+to plant vegetables and to raise fowls for ourselves. So we passed
+two or tree year, plenty ob hard work, but not berry much to grumble
+at. Den me and a gal of my own village, who had been bought in de
+same batch wid me, we go to massa and say we want to marry. Massa
+say, berry well. I fine strong nigger and work well, so he gib de
+gal four yards ob bright cotton for wedding dress, and a bottle ob
+rum to me, and we married.
+
+"Two or tree years pass, and my wife hab two piccanninies. Den de
+massa go home to Spain, and leab overseer in plantation. Berry bad
+man dat. Before, if nigger work well he not beaten. Now he beaten
+wheder he work or not. For two or tree months we 'tand it, but
+tings get worse and worse. De oberseer he always drunk and go on
+like wild beast. One day he passed by my wife hoeing de sugarcane
+and he gib her cut wid whip, jus' out of 'musement. She turn round
+and ask, 'What dat for?' He get mad, cut her wid whip, knock her
+down wid de handle, and den seizing de chile dat she had fastened
+to her back, he catch him by de leg and smash him skull against a
+tree. Den, sar, I seize my hoe, I rush at him, and I chop him down
+wid all my strength, cut his skull clean in sunder, and he drop
+down dead.
+
+"Den I knew dat dat was no place for Sam, so I take my hoe and I
+run away as fast as I could. No one try to stop me. De oder niggers
+dance and sing when dey saw de oberseer fall dead. I ran all dat
+day up among de hills, skirting round de different plantations till
+I get quite into de wild part. Wheneber I came to stream I walk a
+long way in him till I get to tree hanging ober. Den pull myself
+up into de branches, climb along and drop at de farthest end, and
+den run again, for I knew dat dey would set de bloodhounds after
+me.
+
+"At last I tink dat it am quite safe, and when de night came on
+lie down to sleep for a few hours. Before morning me off again,
+and by night get to de center of de wild country. Here I light a
+fire, and sit down, and, just as I 'spected, in two or tree hours
+five or six men come down to me. Dose were niggers who had run away
+from plantations. I tell dem my story, dey agree dat I did berry
+right in killing oberseer. Dey take me away to place where dey hab
+little huts and patches of yams. Two or tree days pass and no one
+come, so, we s'pose dat dey hab lost de scent. Me waited a month and
+den determined to go down and see about wife. I journey at night,
+and reach plantation in two days. Dere I hide till I see nigger
+come along close to bush. I call him and he come. I tell him to
+tell my wife to steal away when night come, and to meet me dere.
+He nod and go away. Dat night my wife come wid de oder chile. We
+not talk much but start away for mountains. Me berry much afraid now
+because my wife not berry strong, she hurt by de blow and fretting
+after me. Howeber, we follow the way I had gone before. I make shift
+to help her up into trees from the streams, and dis time after tree
+days' travel we got back to hut in the mountain.
+
+"Dere we lib berry happy for a year. Sometimes some ob us go down
+to plantation and take down baskets and oder tings dat we had made
+and chop dem for cotton. We had tobacco of our own, and some fowls
+which we got from the plantations in de fust place. Altogether we
+did berry well. Sometimes band of soldiers come and march trough
+the country, but we hab plenty hiding places and dey never find
+us. More and more runway slabes come, and at last we hear dat great
+'spedition going to start to search all de mountains. Dey come,
+two tree thousand ob dem. Dey form long skirmishing line, five or
+six mile long, and dey go ober mountain. Ebery nigger dey find who
+not surrender when dey call to him dey shoot. When I heard ob deir
+coming I had long talk wid wife. We agree that it better to leave
+de mountains altogether and go down and live in the bushes close
+to the old plantation. Nobody look for us dere. So we make our way
+down and lib there quiet. We get the yams out ob de plantations and
+lib very comfortable. When we tink all ober in the mountain we go
+back.
+
+"Well, sar, when we tink it all safe, and we get widin a mile ob de
+huts whar we had libed, all at once we came upon a lot of soldiers
+in camp. Dey see us and make shout. I call to my wife to run, when
+dey fire. A bullet hit de baby, which she hab at her back, and pass
+through both deir bodies. I did not run any more, but jus' stood
+looking at my wife and chile as if my senses had gone. Dere I stood
+till the soldiers came up. Dey put a cord round my arms and led me
+away. After a time I was taken down the country. Dere I was claimed,
+and when it was known I had killed a white oberseer I was tried.
+But de new oberseer did not want me to be hung, for I was a strong
+slave and worth money, so he told a story about how it happen, and
+after dey had flogged me very hard dey sent me back to plantation.
+Dere I work for a long time wid a great log of wood chained to my
+ankle to prevent me from running away again.
+
+"For a time I not care whether I lib or die, but at last I made
+up my mind to 'scape again. After six months dey took off de log,
+tinking dat I had had enuf of de mountains and would not try to
+'scape, and de log prevented my doing so much work. De bery next
+night I ran away again but dis time I determined to make for de
+town in hopes ob getting on board an English ship, for I had heard
+from de oder slabes dat de English did not keep black men as slabes,
+but dat, on de contry, dey did what dey could to stop de Spanish
+from getting dem away from Africa, and I understood now dat de
+dreful noise we had heard on de first day we were on board ship
+was an attack upon our vessel by an English cruiser.
+
+"It was four days' journey down to de town by de sea. Dere was no
+difficulty in finding de way, for de road was good, and I s'pose
+dat dey only looked for me towards de hills. Anyhow I got dar
+safe, walking at night and sleeping in the bushes by day. I got as
+near de town as I dar, and could see seberal vessels lying near de
+shore. I could see dat some ob dem had de Spanish flag--I knew
+dat flag--de oders had flags which I did not know. When it was
+dark I walked boldly into the town; no one asked me any question,
+and I make my way through de streets down to de shore. Dere I get
+into a boat and lay quiet till all de town was asleep. Den I get
+into water and swim off to a ship--one dat I had noticed had
+a flag which was not Spanish. Dere was a boat alongside. I climb
+into it and pull myself up by the rope on deck. Den some white men
+seize me and say someting in language which I not understand. Den
+dey take me into cabin and say someting to captain; me not know
+what it was, but de captain laugh, and me not like his laugh at
+all. Howeber, dey give me someting to eat, and den take me down
+into hold of ship and tell me to go to sleep on some sacks of sugar,
+and throw some empty sacks ober me to cover me. Den dey close up
+hatch and leab me alone.
+
+"When I come on deck de land was gone and de vessel sailing along.
+I speak to no one, for I only understand little Spanish, and dese
+people not speak dat. We sail along for some time, and at last we
+come in sight of land again. Den dey hoist flag and I see dat it
+a flag wid lots of red stars and stripes upon him. I know now dat
+it was a 'Merican ship. Den I know noting. We get to port and I
+want to land, but dey shake deir heads.
+
+"De next day de captain he make sign to me to come wid him. I go
+along to shore and he take me to a open space in town, where a man
+was standing on a raised platform. He had a black woman by de side
+ob him. Seberal men come up and look at her. De man he shout bery
+loud. Oder men say something short. At last he knock on de table;
+a man tell de woman to come after him and she walk away. Den a boy
+was put up, and den two more women, and ebery time just de same
+ting was done. Den de man call out, and de captain push his way
+through the crowd wid me, and tell me to climb up on platform. I
+get up and look round quite surprised. Eberybody laugh. Den de man
+began to holloa again. Den seberal men come up and feel my arms and
+my legs. Dey point to de marks which de whip had left on my back,
+and dey laugh again. Presently de man who was shouting bang his hand
+on the table again, and a white man in the crowd, who had seberal
+times called out loud, come up to me, take me by the arm, and sign
+to me to go wid him.
+
+"I begin to understand now; dat rascally captain had sold me for
+a slabe, and dat flag I had seen was not de English flag. However,
+it was no use to say anyting, and I went along wid my new massa.
+He was a nice looking man, and I thought it might not be so bery
+bad after all. He took me to a high carriage wid two wheels and
+a fine horse. A negro, who was dressed up like a white man, was
+holding de horse. He showed me to climb up behind, de oders climb
+up in front, and we dribe away."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII: A FUGITIVE SLAVE
+
+
+"Well, sar, work bery much de same on plantation in Virginia and
+Cuba, but de slabe much merrier in 'Merica, when de master am good.
+My new massa bery good man. Slabes all treat bery kind, work not
+too hard. At night dance and sing bery much. Den I marry again, dis
+time to one ob de girls in de house. She favorite ob missy, and so
+when we marry, missy hab me taken off de fields and put to garden.
+Bery fine garden dat was. Tree, four of us work dar, Sam jus' as
+happy as man could be. Sometime, when der am party, Sam come into
+the house to help at de table, dat how Sam know how to do tings
+proper. De little massas dey bery fond ob me, and when dey want to
+go out hunting de coon or fishing in de riber, dey always cry for
+Sam.
+
+"So fifteen years passed by, bery happy years, sar, den do ole massa
+die; missy, too, soon after. De young massa not like him father.
+Me tink de ole gentleman make mistake wid him when him chile, let
+him hab too much his own way. I bery fond ob him because I had
+been wid him so much, but I often shake my head when I tink de time
+come dat he be massa ob de plantation. It was not dat his nature
+was bad; he get in rage sometime, but dat all ober in no time, but
+he lub pleasure too much; go to de races and 'top at de town weeks
+together, and play too much wid de cards. Dere were two boys and
+two girls; de second boy, he go to West Point and become officer
+in de army.
+
+"After de death ob de ole people de house change bery much. Before
+dat time we keep good company, gib sometimes grand balls, and all
+de fust families ob Virginia in dat part visit dar. After dat always
+people in de house. De young massa, when he go to Richmond, bring
+back six or eight young men wid him, and dey laugh and drink and
+play cards half de night. I tink de young missys speak to him about
+his ways. Anyhow, one day dere great row, and dey off to lib wid
+an aunt in de city. After dat tings get worse. One day missy come
+back from town and she gib my wife her papers of freedom. You see,
+my wife was giben by de ole man to missy when her war a little
+girl, and fortunate it was dat he had made out de papers all right
+and presented dem to her. When missy gib her de papers ob freedom,
+she cry bery much. 'Me 'fraid bad time coming, Sally,' she said.
+'Me tink dat it better for a time dat you clar out ob dis. Now
+you got de paper you free woman, but you wife ob slabe; might be
+difficulty about it. Me fear dat broder Dick ruined--de plantation
+and slabes to be sole;' and wid dat she bu'st out crying wus dan
+eber. Ob course my wife she cry too.
+
+"'Better you go norf, Sally,' missy say presently. 'I gib you letter
+to friends dar, and tell dem you bery good nurse. Den if Sam get
+good master you can come back to him again. If not, as you tell
+me dat when he slabe before he run away, it jus' possible he do de
+same again.'
+
+"'Don't you tink, missy,' de wife said, 'dat de young massa gib
+freedom to Sam too. Sam wait on him a great many years, sabe him
+life when he tumbled into water.'
+
+"'I bery much afraid,' missy said, shaking her head, 'dat my broder
+not able to do so if he wish. He borrow money on de plantation
+and de slabes, and dat prevent him from making any ob dem free. De
+sale soon come now. You go tell Sam; tell him not to say word to
+nobody. Den you pack up and come right away wid me to de city. It
+bery much better you clar out ob dis before dey come down and seize
+eberybody.'
+
+"Well, sar, you guess when Sam heard dis he in fine taking. He often
+grieve bery much dat he and Sally hab no children. Now he tank de
+Lord wid all his heart dat dere no piccanniny, for dey would hab
+been sold, one one way and one another, and we should neber hab
+seen dem again. Hows'ever, I make great effort, and tell Sally she
+do jus' what missy say. I tell her to go norf while she can, and
+promise dat some day or oder Sam join her dar. 'Better for to be
+parted for ten year, Sally, dan to hab de risk ob you being seize
+and sold to one master, me to anoder. You trus' Sam to break out
+some day. He do bery well here for a time. He bery good strong
+nigger, good gardner, good at de horses, good carpenter. Sam sure
+to get good place, but, howeber good, when he see a chance he run
+away. If no chance, he sabe up his money, and you sabe up your
+money, Sally, and buy him freedom.'
+
+"Well, sar, we bofe cry bery much, and den Sally go away wid de
+young missy. A week after dat de bust up come. De officers dey come
+down and seize de place, and a little while after dey sell all de
+slabes. Dat was a terrible affair, to see de husbands and de wives
+and de children separated and sold to different masters. De young
+massa he not dere at sale. Dey say he pretty nigh break him heart,
+but he ought to hab thought ob dat before. Me sure dat de ole
+gentleman and de ole missy pretty nigh turn in deir grabe at de
+thought ob all de hands they was so kind to sold away.
+
+"Dat de curse of slabery, sar. Me trabel a good deal, and me tink
+dat no working people in de world are so merry and happy as de
+slabe in a plantation wid a good massa and missy. Dey not work so
+hard as de white man. Dey have plenty to eat and drink, dey hab
+deir gardens and deir fowls. When dey are sick dey are taken care
+ob, when dey are ole they are looked after and hab nothing to do.
+I have heard people talk a lot of nonsense about de hard life of
+de plantation slabe. Dat not true, sar, wid a good massa. De slabe
+hab no care and he bery happy. If all massas were good, and dere
+were a law dat if a plantation were broken up de slabes must be
+sold in families together, me tell you dat de life on a plantation
+a thousand times happier dan de life ob a black man in his own
+country. But all masters are not good. Some neber look after de
+slabes, and leabe all to overseers, and dese bery often bad, cruel
+men. But worst of all is when a sale comes. Dat terrible, sar. De
+husban' sold to Alabama, de wife to Carolina, de children scattered
+trough de States. Dis too bad, sar, dis make ob slabery a curse to
+de black men.
+
+"Well, sar, we all sold. Me fetch high price and sold to a planter
+in Missouri. Sam no like dat. Dat a long way from the frontier.
+Tree years Sam work dar in plantation. Den he sold again to a man
+who hab boats on de riber at New Orleans. Dar Sam work discharging
+de ships and working de barges. Dar he come to learn for sure which
+de British flag. De times were slack, and my massa hire me out to
+be waiter in a saloon. Dat place dey hab dinners, and after dinner
+dey gamble. Dat war a bad place, mos' ebery night quarrels, and
+sometimes de pistols drawn, and de bullets flying about. Sam 'top
+dar six months; de place near de riber, and de captains ob de ships
+often come to dine.
+
+"One young fellow come bery often, and one day Sam saw tree or
+four men he knew to be Texas horse dealers talking wid him. Now dis
+young captain had been bery friendly wid Sam; always speak cibil
+and gib him quarter for himself, and Sam sorry to see dose chaps
+get hold ob him. Dis went on for two or tree days, till one ebening
+de captain, instead of going away after dinner, stopped talking to
+dese follows. De play begin at de table, and dey persuade him to
+join. He hab de debil's luck. Dey thought they going to cheat him,
+and if dey had got him by demselves dey would have cleaned him out
+sure. But dere were oder people playing and dey not able to cheat.
+
+"Well, sar, he won all de money. Drinks had been flying about, and
+when at last de man dat kep' de table said, 'De bank will close
+for tonight,' de young fellow could scarce walk steady on his feet.
+His pockets were full ob notes. I went up to him and said, 'Will
+you hab a bed here, sar, bery good bed?' but he laugh and say, 'No,
+Sam, I may be a little fresh in de wind, but I tink I can make de
+boat.' I saw dose fellows scowl when I speak to him, and I make up
+my mind dey after no good. Well, sar, dey go out fust. Den he go
+out wid some oder people and stand laughing and talking at de door.
+Sam run up to him room, slip on his money belt, for he had had a
+good deal giben him while he was dar, and was sabing up to buy his
+freedom, and he didn't know what was going to happen. Den Sam look
+into de kitchen and caught up a heavy poker and a long knife, den
+he run down and turn out de lights ob de saloon and lock de door
+after him.
+
+"He was jus' in time, for he saw at de corner, where de street go
+down on to the wharves, de young captain separate from de men who
+had gone out wid him and walk away by hisself. Sam kicked off his
+shoes and ran as fast as he could to de end ob de street. De wharf
+was bery badly lighted, jus' a lamp here and dere. Sam ran along
+till he got widin about thirty yards ob de sailor, and den stole
+quiet along in de shadow ob de houses. Sudden he see five men run
+out. Den Sam he leap forward like tiger and gibs a shout to warn
+de captain. He turn round jus' in time. Sam saw an arm lifted and
+de captain fall, and den at de same moment almost him poker come
+down wid a crunch upon de top ob one of deir head. Den they turn on
+Sam, but, law bless you, sar! what was de good ob dat? Bery strong
+negro wid heavy poker in one hand and long knife in de oder more
+dan match for four men. He knock dem ober like nine pin. Tree of
+dem, he tink he kill straight, the poker fall on de top ob deir
+heads, de oder man give a dig in Sam's left shoulder wid his knife,
+and de sudden pain shake Sam's aim a little and de blow fall on
+him neck. He gib a shout and tumble down. None ob do oder four had
+shouted or made any remark when Sam hit dem. Den Sam caught up de
+captain and ran along de wharf. Presently he heard a hail. 'All
+right,' Sam said.
+
+"'Am dat you, captain?' some one say.
+
+"'Me got a captain here,' Sam say; 'you come and see wheder he
+yours.'
+
+"De men came up and look in de captain's face.
+
+"'Hullo,' dey say; 'de captain am dead.'
+
+"'Me no tink him dead,' I say. 'He had a fight, and Sam come to
+him aid and beat de rascals off. You had better take him straight
+on board de ship.'
+
+"Dey put him in boat and Sam go wid him to ship. Dey examine de
+wound and find it not bery serious. De captain was turning round
+when dey struck, and de blow had glanced off, but it had made a ugly
+gash; and what wid de surprise, and de loss ob blood, and knocking
+him head on de wharf, and de liquor, de captain had lost his
+consciousness. He soon come round, and Sam tell all about it. De
+captain shake Sam's hand bery much and call him his preserver, and
+ask what he do for him.
+
+"'You take me out ob dis country,' me said, 'and Sam be grateful.'
+
+"'Sartain, I will,' he said; 'and now what am de best ting to do?'
+
+"'Me not stop on board now. Dey come and search de vessel for sure
+in de morning. When de four white men found, me hope five, den dere
+great rumpus. If five dead no suspicion fall on Sam, but you're sure
+to be asked questions. It would be known dat dey were gambling in
+de saloon, and it would be known dat you had broken de bank and
+had gone away wid your pockets stuffed full ob notes. People would
+suspec' dat likely enuff dey had made an attack on you. Dis you
+couldn't deny, for you will be bandaged up in de morning, and if
+you had killed dem no one would blame you. But it a different ting
+wid Sam. All dose rascals friends together, and you be bery sure
+dat some ob dem pay him off for it. If five men dead, all well
+and good. Den you say you knocked down and know nufing furder. You
+s'pose some people came up and take your side, and kill dose men,
+and carry you to de boat, and gib you ober to de sailors, and den
+go away; but dat you know nufing at all about it. If only four men
+killed den do oder, who will be sure to go away and say nufing ob
+his share in de business, will tell all his mates dat dis nigger
+intrude himself into de affair, and dat bad for Sam. So, sar, propose
+dat I go ashore, and dat I go down de bank five or six mile, and
+dere hide in de bush. When your ship come down you hoist little
+white flag, so Sam sure ob de right ship. If Sam tink de coast am
+clear he swim off. If you no see Sam when you get fifteen mile down
+de riber, den you anchor, and at night send a boat ashore. Sam come
+down to it for sure.'
+
+"So de matter was arranged. De captain say he tree more days fill
+up his ship, but dat no do for me come on board by daylight because
+dere would be a pilot on board. Also he says little white flag no
+do, pilot tink him strange, but would tell one ob de men to hang
+a red shirt, as if to dry, up in de rigging. At night would show
+two lights ober de bow for me to know which was de ship.
+
+"Fust dey bind up de wound on my shoulder, den dey gib me food
+for four days and a bottle of rum, and den row me ashore. Den Sam
+start, and before morning he hid in de swampy bush ten miles down
+de riber. He wait dere two days, den make him way down anoder four
+miles and dere stop. Late dat afternoon he see a ship come down de
+riber wid a red shirt in de rigging. He go on and on, and jus' as
+it got dark he anchor two miles furder down. Sam make his way along
+through de bush and at last get facing de ship. At twelve o'clock
+boat come along bery quiet. Sam go down and get in. De men say,
+'Hush, make no noise. De pilot am as watchful as a cat. Dey had
+tied tings round de oars dat dey should make no noise, and when
+dey get to de side ob de ship dey lay dem in very quiet, hook on
+de tackle and hoist her up. De hatchway were off, and de men beckon
+to Sam, and two ob dem go down wid him, and de hatchways closed
+down again.
+
+"'I tink we hab tricked him,' one ob de sailors said. 'Dere great
+row at New Orleans about de four men found dead dar. Dey come off
+and inquire ob de captain ober and ober again. Dey know you missing,
+and dey find de kitchen poker lying by de men, and tink you must
+have had a hand in it. A thousand dollars reward have been offered,
+and dey searched de ship high and low, and turn ober all de cargo.
+A guard stop on board till de last ting to see no one come off.
+When de captain say he anchor de pilot say no, but de captain say
+he in no hurry and not going to risk his ship by sailing at night.
+Me tink pilot smell a rat, for ebery time he hear a noise on deck
+he come out of his cabin and look round. We greased de falls to
+make dem run quiet, and took off our shoes so as to make no noise
+while we were lowering it. De men on deck was told to get de
+hatchway open when dey saw us coming, and so we hoped dat de pilot
+heard nufing. Now we must head you up in a cask. We hab bored some
+holes in it for de air. Den we shall pile oder casks on de top and
+leabe you. Dey are as likely as not to search de ship again when
+she goes past de forts, for de pilot will suspect dat it am possible
+dat you have come on board tonight.'
+
+"Me take my place in a big sugar cask. Dey give me some water and
+some food, and den shut in de head ober me. Dere I remain two days.
+I heard some men come below and make a great noise, moving de cargo
+about near de hatchway, and dey hammered in all de casks ob de top
+tier to see if any ob dem was empty. I felt bery glad when it was
+all ober, and de hold was quiet again. I slept a great deal and did
+not know anything about time; but at last I heard a noise again,
+and de moving of casks, and den de head of de hogshead was taken
+out, and dere were de sailors and de captain. Dey shook Sam very
+hearty by de hand, and told him dat de ship was safe out at sea,
+and dat he was a free man.
+
+"All through dat voyage dey bery kind to Sam. He libed de life ob
+a gentleman; ate, and drank, and smoke plenty, and nufing at all
+to do. At last we got to Liberpool, and dar de captain take Sam
+to a vessel bound to New York, pay him passage across, and gib Sam
+a present ob fifty pound. Dis chile had saved fifty beside, so he
+felt dat he was a rich man. Nufing happen on passage, except great
+storm, and Sam thought dat de steamer go to de bottom, but she
+got through all right, and Sam land at New York. Den he journey to
+Philadelphia, dat the place where missy give Sam a card wid a name
+and address written on it, for him to go to ask where Sally was
+living. Well, sar, you could have knocked me down when I find a
+great bill in de window, saying dat de house were to let. Sam almost
+go out ob his mind. He ask a great many people, de servants at de
+doors, and de people in de shops and at last find dat de family am
+gone to trabel in Europe, and dat dey might be away for years.
+
+"For two months Sam searched about Philadelphia, and looked at ebery
+black woman he saw in de streets. He could see no signs whatsomeber
+ob Sally. Den he took a place as waiter at an hotel, and he wrote
+to missy at Richmond, to ask if she know Sally's address, but he
+neber got no answer to dat letter, and s'posed that missy was either
+dead or gone away. After he work dere for some months de idea came
+to Sam dat first class hotel wasn't de best place in de world to
+look for black woman. Den Sam went to warehouse and bought a lot
+of books and started to peddle them trough de country. He walked
+thousands ob miles, and altogether saw thousands ob black men, but
+nothing like Sally. Ebery black woman he could he spoke to, and
+asked dem if dey knew her. It was a curious ting dat no one did.
+Me did not find Sally, but me made a good deal of money, and tree
+more years pass away at dis work. By dis time me was nigh forty-five
+years old, as well as me could tell. Ebery few months me go back
+to Philadelphia and search dere again.
+
+"One day a woman, dressed bery plain, came up to me and said, 'I
+hab been tole by my nurse dat you have been asking her if she had
+seen your wife.' I s'pose I looked hopeful like for she said at
+once, 'Me know nothing ob her, but I was interested about you. You
+are an escaped slabe, are you not?'
+
+"'Yes, ma'am,' me said. 'Dere is no law against me here.'
+
+"'None at all,' she said. 'But I thought that you might, like me,
+be interested in freeing slabes.'
+
+"'Dat I am,' I said, 'dough I had neber thought much about it.'
+
+"'You hab heard, p'raps,' she said, 'ob de underground railway.'
+
+"'Yes, ma'am,' said I. 'Dat is de blessed 'stitution which smuggles
+slaves across the frontier.'
+
+"'Dat is it,' she said, 'and I belongs to it.'
+
+"'Does you, missy?' me says. 'De Lord bless you.'
+
+"'Now,' she said, 'we want two or three more earnest men, men not
+afraid to risk deir libes, or what is worse deir freedom, to help
+deir follow creatures. I thought that you, habing suffered so much
+yourself, might be inclined to devote yourself to freeing oders
+from de horrors of slabery.'
+
+"'Sam is ready, ma'am,' me says, 'It may be dat de Lord neber intends
+me see my Sally again, but if I can be de means ob helping to get
+oder men to join deir wives I shall be content.'
+
+"'Very well,' she said. 'Come into my house now and we will talk
+about it.'
+
+"Den she 'splained the whole business to me. Dere were, principally
+in lonely places, in swamps and woods, but sometimes libing in
+villages and towns in de south, people who had devoted deir libes
+to de carrying out of de purposes ob de underground railway. For
+de most part dese led libes differing no way from deir neighbors;
+dey tilled de land, or kept stores like oders, and none of dose
+around dem suspected in de slightest degree deir mission in de
+south. To deir houses at night fugitive slabes would come, guided
+by dose from de next post. De fugitives would be concealed for
+twenty-four hours or more, and den passed on at night again to de
+next station. Dose formed the larger portion ob de body.
+
+"Dere were oders who lived a life in de swamps, scattered trough
+the country. Deir place of residence would be known to de slabes ob
+de neighborhood, but de masters had no suspicion dat de emissaries
+ob de association were so near. To dese any negro, driben to desperation
+by harsh treatment, would resort, and from dem instructions would
+be received as to de route to be taken, and de places where aid
+could be obtained. Dose people held deir life in deir hands. Had
+any suspicion fallen upon dem ob belonging to de 'stitution dey
+would be lynched for sartin. De lady set before me all de dangers
+ob de venture. She said it war a case whar dere were no money to
+be earned, and only de chances of martyrdom. My mind quite made up.
+Me ready to undertake any work dey like to give me. My life ob no
+value to no one. De next day me saw some ob de oder people connected
+wid de affair, and tree days afterwards I started for de south."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV: A CHRISTIAN TOWN
+
+
+"My share ob de business was to make my way down south and settle in
+de swamps ob Carolina. I war to be taken down by trading schooner,
+to be landed on de coast, and to make my way to a place in de center
+ob a big swamp whar an ole nigger, named Joe, had been carrying
+on de work for four years. He had sent to say dat he war bery ill
+wid de swamp fever and like to die, dat he should not leabe de
+work as long as he libed, but hoped dat dey would send anoder man
+out to take on his work after his death.
+
+"Well, sar, I was landed, and I made my way to de place. It war
+no easy matter. De niggers all say dey know no such person, but I
+found de next post, and dere de man guided me to de path which led
+into de swamp. Dey told me dey thought de ole man dead, for dat no
+one had come along to dem from him for nigh two month. Well, sar,
+as I 'spected I found him dead, and I buried him, and took up my
+place in de hut. Soon it became known through de plantations round
+dat de hut was occupied again, and dey began to come to me to ask
+for assistance. My 'structions war dat only to enable a husband to
+join his wife, or a wife her husband, or in cases where de masters
+were uncommon cruel, dat I was to send 'em along by de underground
+railway. De risks was too great to be run often. If we had tried
+to help ebery one to 'scape we should mighty soon hab been hunted
+down.
+
+"Well, sar, I libed dere for three year. It was a lonesome life.
+I planted a few yams round de hut, and de plantation hands would
+bring me tings dat dey got hold of. It was my duty when I found
+dat a case was ob de proper description to arrange for de flight,
+de man or de woman would come to my hut, and I would guide dem
+through de swamps, twenty-five mile away, to de house ob a clergyman,
+which was de next station. I would jus' knock in a 'ticular way at
+de door, and when dis was open leab de party dere and go straight
+away back to de swamp. More dan once de planters got up hunts and
+searched de swamp through and through for me wid dogs, and my hut
+was twice burnt to de ground, but de slabes always brought me notice
+in time, and I went away into de tickest part ob de swamp and lay
+dar till dey had gone away.
+
+"Well, sar, one time come, I bery busy, passed tree men away in two
+week. One night me hear barking of dogs, and jump up jus' in time
+to see party ob men coming out from de little path towards de hut.
+I ran for de swamp. Dey fire at me and one ball hit me. Den I ran
+in to de swamp, de dogs dey follow, but I get farder and farder
+away, and de swamp get deeper, and me tink dey lose me altogether.
+I sit quiet on 'tump when I hear someting splashing in swamp, and
+all of a sudden a big hound sprang on me, and fix him teeth in my
+shoulder. I had no arms, for in de hurry I had not time to catch
+dem up. De beast he growl and bite, and hold on like death. I saw
+dere only one ting to do. I tumble forward into de swamp wid de
+dog underneath me, and dere I lay, wid my mouf sometimes above de
+water sometimes below, till de dog was drowned.
+
+"Den I start for de next station. I was hit in de hip, and it took
+me tree days to crawl dat twenty-five miles. On de tird ebening I
+knock at de door ob de house, and when it was open I tumble down
+in faint inside. It war a long time before I come to myself, two
+weeks dey tell me, and den I tink I dream, for sitting by de side
+of de bed war dat woman Sally. Till she spoke, me couldn't believe
+dat it war true, but she told me dat it war her, sure enuf, and
+dat I war to ask no questions but to go off to sleep.
+
+"Next day she told me all about it. She had stopped a year at
+Philadelphy. Den she heard ob de underground railway, and was tole
+dat a clergyman, who war just going down south to work a station,
+wanted a black nurse for his children, who would help in de work.
+Sally she volunteer, and dar she had been libing eber since, hoping
+all de time eider dat I should pass through dere or dat she should
+hear from Philadelphy dat I had got dere. She used to act as de
+guide ob de runaways to de next station, and ebery man who came
+along she asked if they knew me; but, law bless you, sar, de poor
+woman knew nufing ob places, or she would hab known dat she war
+hundreds ob miles south of Virginia, and though she allowed she
+had heard I had gone to Missouri, she s'posed dat de way from der
+might be by de sea coast. I hab observed, sar, dat de gography ob
+women am bery defective.
+
+"I stopped thar till I was cured. The clergyman knew someting of
+surgery, and he managed to substract the ball from my hip. When I
+war quite well Sally and me started for the norf, whar we had helped
+so many oders to go, and, bress de Lord, we arribed dere safe. Den
+I told Sally dat I should like to libe under de British flag, so
+we went up to Canada and dere we libed bery comfortable for ten
+years together. Sally washed and I kep' a barber's shop, and we made
+plenty ob money. Den she die, sar, de tought come into my mind dat
+I would come back to Africa and teach dose poor niggers here de
+ways ob de white men, and sar," and he pointed to a Bible standing
+on the chest, "de ways ob de Lord. So I came across the Atlantic,
+and stopped a little while on de coast, for I had pretty nigh
+forgotten de language ob de country. When I got it back again I
+started up for dis place, wid plenty ob goods and presents.
+
+"I had hard work at fust to get de people to know me. It war nigh
+forty year since I had gone away, but at last some ob de ole people
+remember me, dat I was de son ob de chief. As I had plenty goods,
+and dey did not like de man dat was here, dey made me chief in
+my fader's place. I told dem dat I no accept de place unless dey
+promise to behave bery well, to mind what I said to dem, and to
+listen to my words; but dat if they do dat I gibe dem plenty goods,
+I make dem comfortable and happy, and I teach dem de way ob de
+Lord. Dey agree to all dis.
+
+"I find de slave trade now all at an end, and dat de people not fight
+often now. Still, de twenty muskets dat I bring make de people of
+oder villages respec' us very much. Dey come ober to see de village.
+Dey see dat de houses are comfortable, dat de gardens are bery
+well cultivated, dat de people are well dressed, not like common
+nigger, dat dey are happy and contented. Dey see dat dey no believe
+in fetish any more, but dat ebery ebening when de work is ober, dey
+gadder under de big tree and listen for half an hour while I read
+to dem and den sing a hymn. Once a year I send down to de coast
+and get up plenty cloth, and hoes for de gardens, and eberyting
+dey want. When I land here ten year ago I hab eight hundred pound.
+I got five hundred ob him left here still. Dat more dan enuf to last
+Sam if he libe to be bery, bery ole man. Dar are some good men in
+de village who, when I am gone, will carry on de work ob de Lord
+and dat's all, sar, dat I hab to tell you about Sam, and I am sure
+dat you must be very tired and want to go to bed."
+
+The hour was, indeed, for Africa, extremely late, but the time had
+passed unheeded, so interested were the listeners in the narrative
+of the fine old negro. They remained at the village for a week,
+and were greatly pleased with the industrious habits and happy
+appearance of the people, and with the earnestness and fervor in
+which every evening, and twice on Sunday, they joined in devotions
+under the great tree. At the end of that time they said goodbye to
+their kind host, giving him a large amount of cloth for distribution
+among his people. He was unable to furnish them with bearers, as
+a considerable tract of uninhabited country extended beyond his
+village, and the people on the other side were on bad terms with
+his villagers, on account of an outstanding feud which had existed
+long before his return from America, and which he had in vain
+attempted to settle since he assumed the headship of the village.
+
+On approaching the Niger they again came upon an inhabited country,
+but the tribes here being accustomed to trade with the coast were
+friendly, and at the first large village they came to no difficulty
+was experienced in obtaining a fresh relay of bearers. This was
+a matter of great satisfaction, for the Fans were regarded with
+extreme antipathy by the natives. As soon as arrangements had been
+made to supply their place the Fans were paid the four months' wages
+which they had earned. A large "dash" of beads and other presents
+were bestowed upon them, three of the remaining sacks of rice
+were given to them, and, greatly rejoicing, they started for their
+own country, which, by making long marches, they would regain in
+a fortnight's time. Although it was not probable that they would
+meet with any enemies, six trade muskets, with a supply of powder
+and ball, were given to them, as, although they would not be able
+to do much execution with these weapons, their possession would
+exercise a powerful influence over any natives they might meet.
+
+In crossing the country to the Niger the white men were the objects
+of lively curiosity, and the exhibition of the magic lantern, the
+chemical experiments, and conjuring tricks created an effect equal
+to that which they had produced among the Fans. On reaching the
+Niger a canoe was hired with a crew of rowers. In this all the
+cases, filled with the objects they had collected, were placed,
+the whole being put in charge of the Houssas, Moses and King John,
+who had been seized with a fit of homesickness. These were to deliver
+the cases to the charge of an English agent at Lagos or Bonny, to
+both of whom Mr. Goodenough wrote requesting him to pay the sum
+agreed to the boatmen on the safe arrival of the cases, and also to
+pay the Houssas, who preferred taking their wages there, as it was
+not considered advisable to tempt the cupidity of any of the native
+princes along the river. Should they be overhauled the Houssas
+were told to open the cases and show that these contained nothing
+but birds' skins and insects, which would be absolutely valueless
+in the eyes of a native.
+
+When the precious freight had fairly started, the party crossed
+the Niger in a canoe, arrangements having already been made with
+the potentate of a village on the opposite side for a fresh relay
+of carriers, twenty men being now sufficient, owing to the gaps
+which had been made in the provisions in the goods, by the payment
+of the carriers and presents, and, in the cases, by the despatch
+of eight of the largest of these to the coast. They had still,
+however, ample space for the collections they might still make.
+The cases of goods and provisions were utilized for this purpose
+as they were emptied.
+
+For another two months they journeyed on, halting frequently and
+adding continually to their stores. The country was fairly populated,
+and there was no difficulty in buying plantains and fruit and in
+obtaining fresh sets of carriers through the territories of each
+petty chief. They were now approaching the Volta, when one day a
+native, covered with dust and bathed in perspiration, came up to
+their camp, and throwing himself on the ground before Mr. Goodenough
+poured out a stream of words.
+
+"What does he say, Ostik?"
+
+"Me not know, sar. P'r'aps Ugly Tom know. He been down near Volta
+country."
+
+Ugly Tom was called, and after a conversation with the native,
+told Mr. Goodenough that he was a messenger from Abeokuta, that the
+people there were threatened by an attack by the King of Dahomey,
+and that they implored the white men, who they heard were in the
+neighborhood, to come to their aid.
+
+"What do you say, Frank?" Mr. Goodenough asked.
+
+"I don't know anything about it, sir," Frank said. "I have heard
+of Dahomey, of course, and its horrible customs, but I don't know
+anything about Abeokuta."
+
+"Abeokuta is a very singular town," Mr. Goodenough said. "Its people
+were christianized many years ago, and have faithfully retained the
+religion. The town lies not very far from Dahomey, and this power,
+which has conquered and enslaved all its other neighbors, has been
+unable to conquer Abeokuta, although it has several times besieged
+it. The Dahomey people have every advantage, being supplied with
+firearms, and even cannon, by the rascally white traders at Whydah,
+the port of Dahomey. Nevertheless, the Abeokuta people have opposed
+an heroic resistance, and so far successfully. Of course they know
+that every soul would be put to death did they fall into the hands
+of the King of Dahomey; but negroes do not always fight well, even
+under such circumstances, and every credit must be given to the
+people of Abeokuta. What do you say? It will be a perilous business,
+mind, for if Abeokuta is taken we shall assuredly be put to death
+with the rest of the defenders."
+
+"I think we ought to help them, sir," Frank said. "They must be
+a noble people, and with our guns and the four Houssas we might
+really be of material assistance. Of course there is a risk in it,
+but we have risked our lives from fever, and in other ways, every
+day since we've been in the country."
+
+"Very well, my lad. I am glad that is your decision. Tell him, Ugly
+Tom, that we will at once move towards Abeokuta with all speed,
+and that they had better send out a party of carriers to meet us,
+as you may be sure that these men will not go far when they hear
+that the Dahomey people are on the warpath. Learn from him exactly
+the road we must move by, as if our carriers desert us we shall be
+detained till his people come up. How far is it to Abeokuta?"
+
+Ugly Tom learned from the native that it was about forty-five miles.
+
+"Very well," Mr. Goodenough said, "we shall march twenty this
+afternoon. Where we halt they will most likely have heard the rumors
+of the war, and I expect the carriers will go no farther, so they
+must send out to that point."
+
+The Houssa translated the message, and the native, saying, "I
+shall be at Abeokuta tonight," kissed the hands of the white men
+and started at a trot.
+
+"Wonderful stamina some of these men have," Mr. Goodenough said.
+"That man has come forty-five miles at full speed, and is now going
+off again as fresh as when he started."
+
+"What speed will he go at?" Frank asked.
+
+"About six miles an hour. Of course he goes faster when he is
+running, but he will sometimes break into a walk. Five miles an
+hour may be taken as the ordinary pace of a native runner, but in
+cases which they consider of importance, like the present, you may
+calculate on six."
+
+The camp was at once broken up, the carriers loaded, and they
+started on their way. It was late in the evening when they reached
+a village about twenty miles from their starting place. They found
+the inhabitants in a great state of alarm. The news had come that
+a great army was marching to attack Abeokuta, and that the King of
+Dahomey had sworn on his father's skull that this time the place
+should be captured, and not a house or a wall left remaining. As
+Abeokuta was certain to make a strong resistance, and to hold out
+for some time, the villagers feared that the Dahomey people would
+be sending out parties to plunder and carry away captives all over
+the surrounding country. The panic at once extended to the bearers,
+who declared that they would not go a foot farther. As their fears
+were natural, and Mr. Goodenough was expecting a fresh relay from
+Abeokuta on the following evening, he consented to their demand to
+be allowed to leave immediately, and paying them their wages due,
+he allowed them to depart at once on the return journey. The tent
+was soon pitched and supper prepared, of fried plantains, rice,
+a tin of sardines, and tea. Later on they had a cup of chocolate,
+and turned in for the night.
+
+In the morning they were awakened just at daybreak by great talking.
+
+"Men come for baggage, sar," Ugly Tom said, putting his head in
+the tent door.
+
+"They have lost no time about it, Frank," Mr. Goodenough exclaimed.
+"It was midday yesterday when the messenger left us. He had forty-five
+miles to run, and could not have been in till pretty nearly eight
+o'clock, and these men must have started at once."
+
+There was no time lost. While the Houssas were pulling down and
+packing up the tent Ostik prepared two bowls of chocolate with
+biscuit soaked in it. By the time that this was eaten the carriers
+had taken up their loads, and two minutes later the whole party
+started almost at a trot. Ugly Tom soon explained the cause of
+the haste. The army of Dahomey was, the evening before, but eight
+miles from Abeokuta, and was expected to appear before the town by
+midday, although, of course, it might be later, for the movements
+of savage troops are uncertain in the extreme, depending entirely
+upon the whims of their leader. So anxious were the bearers to get
+back to the town in time, that they frequently went at a trot. They
+were the better able to keep up the speed as a larger number than
+were required had been sent. Many of the cases, too, were light,
+consequently the men were able to shift the heavy burdens from
+time to time. So great was the speed, that after an hour both Mr.
+Goodenough and Frank, weakened by the effect of fever and climate,
+could no longer keep up. The various effects carried in the hammocks
+were hastily taken out and lifted by men unprovided with loads. The
+white men entered and were soon carried along at a brisk trot by
+the side of the baggage. When they recovered from their exhaustion
+sufficiently to observe what was going on, they could not help admiring
+the manner in which the negroes, with perspiration streaming from
+every pore, hurried along with their burdens. So fast did they go,
+that in less than six hours they emerged from the forest into the
+clearing, and a shout proclaimed that Abeokuta was close at hand.
+
+Ten minutes later the white men were carried through the gate,
+their arrival being hailed with shouts of joy by the inhabitants.
+They were carried in triumph to the principal building of the town,
+a large hut where the general councils of the people were held.
+Here they were received by the king and the leading inhabitants,
+who thanked them warmly for coming to their assistance in the time
+of their peril. The travelers were both struck with the appearance
+of the people. They were clad with far more decency and decorum
+than was usual among the negro tribes. Their bearing was quiet and
+dignified. An air of neatness and order pervaded everything, and
+it was clear that they were greatly superior to the people around.
+
+Mr. Goodenough expressed to the king the willingness with which
+his friend and himself took part in the struggle of a brave people
+against a cruel and bloodthirsty foe, and he said, that as the four
+Houssas were also armed with fast firing guns he hoped that their
+assistance would be of avail. He said that he would at once examine
+the defences of the town and see if anything could be done to
+strengthen them.
+
+Accompanied by the king, Mr. Goodenough and Frank made a detour of
+the walls. These were about a mile in circumference, were built of
+clay, and were of considerable height and thickness, but they were
+not calculated to resist an attack by artillery. As, however, it
+was not probable that the Dahomey people possessed much skill in
+the management of their cannon, Mr. Goodenough had hopes that they
+should succeed in repelling the assault. They learnt that a large
+store of provisions had been brought into the town, and that many
+of the women and children had been sent far away.
+
+The spies presently came in and reported that there was no movement
+on the part of the enemy, and that it was improbable that they
+would advance before the next day. Mr. Goodenough was unable to
+offer any suggestions for fresh defenses until they knew upon which
+side the enemy would attack. He advised, however, that the whole
+population should be set to work throwing up an earthwork just
+outside each gate, in order to shelter these as far as possible
+from the effect of the enemy's cannonballs. Orders were at once
+given to this effect, and in an hour the whole population were at
+work carrying earth in baskets and piling it in front of the gates.
+In order to economize labor, and to make the sides of the mounds as
+steep as possible, Mr. Goodenough directed with brushwood, forming
+a sort of rough wattle work. Not even when night set in did the
+people desist from their labor, and by the following morning the
+gates were protected from the effect of cannon shot, by mounds of
+earth twenty feet high, which rose before them. The king had, when
+Mr. Goodenough first suggested these defenses, pointed out that
+much less earth would be required were it piled directly against
+the gates. Mr. Goodenough replied, that certainly this was so,
+but that it was essential to be able to open the gates to make a
+sortie if necessary against the enemy, and although the king shook
+his head, as if doubting the ability of his people to take such a
+desperate step as that of attacking the enemy outside their walls,
+he yielded to Mr. Goodenough's opinion.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV: THE AMAZONS OF DAHOMET
+
+
+A spacious and comfortable hut was placed at the disposal of the
+white men, with a small one adjoining for the Houssas. That evening
+Frank asked Mr. Goodenough to tell him what he knew concerning the
+people of Dahomey.
+
+"The word Dahomey, or more properly Da-omi, means Da's belly. Da was,
+two hundred and fifty years ago, the king of the city of Abomey. It
+was attacked by Tacudona the chief of the Fois. It resisted bravely,
+and Tacudona made a vow that if he took it he would sacrifice the
+king to the gods. When he captured the town he carried out his vow
+by ripping open the king, and then called the place Daomi. Gradually
+the conquerors extended their power until the kingdom reached to
+the very foot of the Atlas range, obtaining a port by the conquest
+of Whydah. The King of Dahomey is a despot, and even his nobility
+crawl on the ground in his presence. The taxes are heavy, every
+article sold in the market paying about one eighteenth to the
+royal exchequer. There are besides many other taxes. Every slave
+is taxed, every article that enters the kingdom. If a cock crow
+it is forfeited, and, as it is the nature of cocks to crow, every
+bird in the kingdom is muzzled. The property of every one who
+dies goes to the king; and at the Annual Custom, a grand religious
+festival, every man has to bring a present in proportion to his
+rank and wealth. The royal pomp is kept up by receiving strangers
+who visit the country with much state, and by regaling the populace
+with spectacles of human sacrifices. The women stand high in
+Dahomey. Among other negro nations they till the soil. In Dahomey
+they fight as soldiers, and perform all the offices of men. Dahomey
+is principally celebrated for its army of women, and its human
+sacrifices. These last take place annually, or even more often.
+Sometimes as many as a thousand captives are slain on these occasions.
+In almost all the pagan nations of Africa human sacrifices are
+perpetrated, just as they were by the Druids and Egyptians of old.
+Nowhere, however, are they carried to such a terrible extent as in
+Dahomey. Even Ashanti, where matters are bad enough, is inferior
+in this respect. The victims are mostly captives taken in war, and
+it is to keep up the supply necessary for these wholesale sacrifices
+that Dahomey is constantly at war with her neighbors."
+
+"But are we going to fight against women, then?" Frank asked
+horrified.
+
+"Assuredly we are," Mr. Goodenough answered. "The Amazons, as white
+men have christened the force, are the flower of the Dahomey army,
+and fight with extraordinary bravery and ferocity."
+
+"But it will seem dreadful to fire at women!" Frank said.
+
+"That is merely an idea of civilization, Frank. In countries where
+women are dependent upon men, leaving to them the work of providing
+for the family and home, while they employ themselves in domestic
+duties and in brightening the lives of the men, they are treated with
+respect. But as their work becomes rougher, so does the position
+which they occupy in men's esteem fall. Among the middle and upper
+classes throughout Europe a man is considered a brute and a coward
+who lifts his hand against a woman. Among the lower classes wife
+and woman beating is by no means uncommon, nor is such an assault
+regarded with much more reprobation than an attack upon a man. When
+women leave their proper sphere and put themselves forward to do
+man's work they must expect man's treatment; and the foolish women
+at home who clamor for women's rights, that is to say, for an
+equality of work, would, if they had their way, inflict enormous
+damage upon their sex."
+
+"Still," Frank said, "I shan't like having to fire at women."
+
+"You won't see much difference between women and men when the fight
+begins, Frank. These female furies will slay all who fall into
+their hands, and therefore in self defense you will have to assist
+in slaying them."
+
+The following day the sound of beating of drums and firing of guns
+was heard, and soon afterwards the head of the army of Dahomey was
+seen approaching. It moved with considerable order and regularity.
+
+"Those must be the Amazons," Mr. Goodenough said. "They are proud
+of their drill and discipline. I do not think that any other African
+troops could march so regularly and solidly."
+
+The main body of the army now came in view, marching as a loose
+and scattered mob. Then twelve objects were seen dragged by oxen.
+These were the cannon of the besiegers.
+
+"How many do you think there are?" Frank asked.
+
+"It is very difficult to judge accurately," Mr. Goodenough said.
+"But Dahomey is said to be able to put fifty thousand fighting men
+and women in the field, that is to say her whole adult population,
+except those too old to bear arms. I should think that there are
+twenty or twenty-five thousand now in sight."
+
+The enemy approached within musket shot of the walls, and numbers
+of them running up, discharged their muskets. The Abeokuta people
+fired back; but Mr. Goodenough ordered the Houssas on no account
+to fire, as he did not wish the enemy to know the power of their
+rifles.
+
+The first step of the besiegers was to cut down all the plantations
+round the town and to erect great numbers of little huts. A large
+central hut with several smaller ones surrounding it was erected
+for the king and his principal nobles. The Dahomans spread round
+the town and by the gesticulation and pointing at the gates it was
+clear that the defenses raised to cover these excited great surprise.
+
+The wall was thick enough for men to walk along on the top, but
+being built of clay it would withstand but little battering. Mr.
+Goodenough set a large number of people to work, making sacks from
+the rough cloth, of which there was an abundance in the place.
+These were filled with earth and piled in the center of the town
+ready for conveyance to any point threatened. He likewise had a
+number of beams, used in construction of houses, sharpened at one
+end; stakes of five or six feet long were also prepared and sharpened
+at both ends. That day the enemy attempted nothing against the town.
+The next morning the twelve cannon were planted at a distance of
+about five hundred yards and opened fire on the walls. The shooting
+was wild in the extreme; many of the balls went over the place
+altogether; others topped the wall and fell in the town; some hit
+the wall and buried themselves in the clay.
+
+"We will give them a lesson," Mr. Goodenough said, "in the modern
+rifle. Frank, you take my double barrel rifle and I will take the
+heavy, large bored one. Your Winchester will scarcely make accurate
+firing at five hundred yards."
+
+The Houssas were already on the wall, anxious to open fire. Mr.
+Goodenough saw that their rifles were sighted to five hundred yards.
+The cannon offered an easy mark. They were ranged along side by
+side, surrounded by a crowd of negroes, who yelled and danced each
+time a shot struck the wall.
+
+"Now," Mr. Goodenough said to the Houssas, "fire steadily, and,
+above all, fire straight. I want every shot to tell."
+
+Mr. Goodenough gave the signal, and at once Frank and the Houssas
+opened fire. The triumphant yells of the Dahomans at once changed
+their character, and a cry of wrath and astonishment broke from
+them. Steadily Mr. Goodenough and his party kept up their fire. They
+could see that great execution was being done, a large proportion
+of the shots telling. Many wounded were carried to the rear, and
+black forms could be seen stretched everywhere on the ground. Still
+the enemy's fire continued with unabated vigor.
+
+"They fight very pluckily," Frank said.
+
+"They are plucky," Mr. Goodenough answered; "and as cowardice is
+punished with death, and human life has scarcely any value among
+them, they will be killed where they stand rather than retreat."
+
+For three or four hours the fight continued. Several officers,
+evidently of authority, surrounded by groups of attendants, came
+down to the guns; but as Frank and Mr. Goodenough always selected
+these for their mark, and--firing with their guns resting on the
+parapet--were able to make very accurate shooting, most of them
+were killed within a few minutes of their arriving on the spot.
+
+At the end of four hours the firing ceased, and the Dahomans retired
+from their guns. The Abeokuta people raised a cry of triumph.
+
+"I imagine they have only fallen back," Mr. Goodenough said, "to
+give the guns time to cool."
+
+While the cannonade had been going on a brisk attack had been kept
+up on several other points of the wall, the enemy advancing within
+fifty yards of this and firing their muskets, loaded with heavy
+charges of slugs, at the defenders, who replied vigorously to
+them. Their cannonade was not resumed that afternoon, the Dahomans
+contenting themselves with skirmishing round the walls.
+
+"They are disappointed with the result of their fire," Mr. Goodenough
+said. "No doubt they anticipated they should knock the wall down
+without difficulty. You will see some change in their tactics
+tomorrow."
+
+That night Mr. Goodenough had a number of barrels of palm oil
+carried on to the wall, with some of the great iron pots used for
+boiling down the oil, and a supply of fuel.
+
+"If they try to storm," he said, "it will most likely be at the
+point which they have been firing at. The parapet is knocked down
+in several places, and the defenders there would be more exposed
+to their fire."
+
+It was at this point, therefore, that the provision of oil was
+placed. Mr. Goodenough ordered fires to be lighted under the boilers
+an hour before daybreak, in order that all should be in readiness
+in case an attack should be made the first thing in the morning.
+The Abeokutans were in high spirits at the effect of the fire of
+their white allies, and at the comparative failure of the cannon,
+at whose power they had before been greatly alarmed. Soon after
+daylight the Dahomans were seen gathering near the guns. Their
+drums beat furiously, and presently they advanced in a solid mass
+against the wall.
+
+"They have got ladders," Mr. Goodenough said. "I can see numbers
+of them carrying something."
+
+The Houssas at once opened fire, and as the enemy approached
+closer, first the Abeokutans who had muskets, then the great mass
+with bows and arrows, began to fire upon the enemy, while these
+answered with their musketry. The central body, however, advanced
+without firing a shot, moving like the rest at a quick run.
+
+Mr. Goodenough and. Frank were not firing now, as they were devoting
+themselves to superintending the defence. Ostik kept close to them,
+carrying Frank's Winchester carbine and a double barreled shotgun.
+
+"This is hot," Mr. Goodenough said, as the enemy's slugs and bullets
+whizzed in a storm over the edge of the parapet, killing many of
+the defenders, and rendering it difficult for the others to take
+accurate aim. This, however, the Abeokutans did not try to do.
+Stooping below the parapet, they fitted their arrows to the string,
+or loaded their muskets, and then, standing up, fired hastily at
+the approaching throng.
+
+The walls were about twenty-five feet high inside, but the parapet
+gave an additional height of some four feet outside. They were
+about three feet thick at the top, and but a limited number of men
+could take post there to oppose the storming party. Strong bodies
+were placed farther along on the wall to make a rush to sweep the
+enemy off should they gain a footing. Others were posted below to
+attack them should they leap down into the town, while men with
+muskets were on the roofs of the houses near the walls, in readiness
+to open fire should the enemy get a footing on the wall. The din
+was prodigious.
+
+The Dahomans, having access to the sea coast, were armed entirely
+with muskets, these being either cheap Birmingham trade guns or
+old converted muskets, bought by traders for a song at the sale
+of disused government stores. It is much to be regretted that the
+various governments of Europe do not insist that their old guns
+shall be used only as old iron. The price obtained for them is
+so trifling as to be immaterial, and the great proportion of them
+find their way to Africa to be used in the constant wars that are
+waged there, and to enable rich and powerful tribes to enslave and
+destroy their weaker neighbors. The Africans use very much heavier
+charges of powder than those in used in civilized nations, ramming
+down a handful of slugs, of half a dozen small bullets, upon the
+powder. This does not conduce to good shooting, but the noise made
+is prodigious. The Abeokutans, on the other hand, were principally
+armed with bows and arrows, as, having no direct access to the sea
+coast, it was difficult for them to procure guns.
+
+The Dahomans poured up in a mass to the foot of the wall, and then a
+score of rough ladders, constructed of bamboo, and each four feet
+wide, were placed against the walls. Directly the point to be
+attacked was indicated, Mr. Goodenough had distributed his cauldrons
+of boiling oil along the walls, and had set men to work to pierce
+holes through the parapet at distances of a couple of feet apart,
+and at a height of six inches from the ground. A line of men with
+long spears wore told to lie down upon the ground, and to thrust
+through the holes at those climbing the ladders. Another line of
+holes was pierced two feet higher, through which those armed with
+muskets and bows were to fire, for when the enemy reached the foot
+of the walls their fire was so heavy that it was impossible to
+return it over the top of the parapet.
+
+Immediately the ladders were placed, men with ladles began to throw
+the boiling oil over the parapet. Shrieks and yells from below
+at once testified to its effect, but it was only just where the
+cauldrons were placed that the besiegers were prevented by this
+means from mounting the ladders, and even here many, in spite of
+the agony of their burns, climbed desperately upward.
+
+When they neared the top the fight began in earnest. Those without
+were now obliged to cease firing, and the besieged were able to
+stand up and with sword and spear defend their position. The breech
+loaders of Mr. Goodenough and the Houssas and Frank's repeating
+carbine now came into play. The Dahomans fought with extraordinary
+bravery, hundreds fell shot or cut down from above or pierced by
+the spears and arrows through the holes in the parapet. Fresh swarms
+of assailants took their places on the ladders. The drums kept up
+a ceaseless rattle, and the yells of the mass of negroes standing
+inactive were deafening. Their efforts, however, were in vain. Never
+did the Amazons fight with more reckless bravery; but the position
+was too strong for them, and at last, after upwards of a thousand
+of the assailants had fallen, the attack was given up, and the
+Dahomans retired from the wall followed by the exulting shouts of
+the men of Abeokuta.
+
+The loss of the defenders was small. Some ten or twelve had been
+killed with slugs. Three or four times that number were more or
+less severely wounded about the head or shoulders with the same
+missiles. Frank had a nasty cut on the cheek, and Firewater and
+Bacon were both streaming with blood.
+
+There was no chance of a renewal of the attack that day. Sentries
+were placed on the walls, and a grand thanksgiving service was
+held in the open space in the center of the town which the whole
+populace attended.
+
+"What will be their next move, do you think?" Frank asked Mr.
+Goodenough.
+
+"I cannot say," Mr. Goodenough said; "but these people know
+something of warfare, and finding that they cannot carry the place
+by assault, I think you will find that they will try some more
+cautious move next time."
+
+For two days there was no renewal of the attack. At Mr. Goodenough's
+suggestion the Abeokutans on the wall shouted out that the Dahomans
+might come and carry off their dead, as he feared that a pestilence
+might arise from so great a number of decomposing bodies at the
+foot of the wall. The Dahomans paid no attention to the request,
+and, at Mr. Goodenough's suggestion, on the second day the whole
+populace set to work carrying earth in baskets to the top of the
+wall, and throwing this over so as to cover the mass of bodies at
+its foot. As to those lying farther off nothing could be done. On
+the third morning it was seen that during the night a large number
+of sacks had been piled in a line upon the ground, two hundred
+yards away from the wall. The pile was eight feet in height and
+some fifty yards long.
+
+"I thought they were up to something," Mr. Goodenough said. "They
+have been sending back to Dahomey for sacks."
+
+In a short time the enemy brought up their cannon, behind the shelter
+of the sacks, regardless of the execution done by the rifles of
+Mr. Goodenough's party during the movement. The place chosen was
+two or three hundred yards to the left of that on which the former
+attack had been made. Then a swarm of men set to work removing some
+of the sacks, and in a short time twelve rough embrasures were made
+just wide enough for the muzzles of the guns, the sacks removed
+being piled on the others, raising them to the height of ten feet
+and sheltering the men behind completely from the fire from the
+walls.
+
+"They will make a breach now," Mr. Goodenough said. "We must prepare
+to receive them inside."
+
+The populace were at once set to work digging holes and securely
+planting the beams already prepared in a semicircle a hundred feet
+across, behind the wall facing the battery. The beams when fixed
+projected eight feet above the ground, the spaces between being
+filled with bamboos twisted in and out between them. Earth was
+thrown up behind to the height of four foot for the defenders to
+stand upon. The space between the stockade and the wall was filled
+with sharp pointed bamboos and stakes stuck firmly in the ground
+with their points projecting outwards. All day the townspeople
+labored at these defenses, while the wall crumbled fast under the
+fire of the Dahomey artillery, every shot of which, at so short a
+distance, struck it heavily. By five in the afternoon a great gap,
+fifty feet wide, was made in the walls, and the army of Dahomey
+again gathered for the assault. Mr. Goodenough with two of the
+Houssas took his place on the wall on one side of the gap, Frank
+with the other two faced him across the chasm. A large number of
+the Abeokuta warriors also lined the walls, while the rest gathered
+on the stockade.
+
+With the usual tumult of drumming and yells the Dahomans rushed
+to the assault. The fire from the walls did not check the onset in
+the slightest, and with yells of anticipated victory they swarmed
+over the breach. A cry of astonishment broke from them as they saw
+the formidable defense within, the fire of whose defenders was
+concentrated upon them. Then, with scarce a pause, they leaped
+down and strove to remove the obstructions. Regardless of the fire
+poured upon them they hewed away at the sharp stakes, or strove to
+pull them up with their hands. The riflemen on the walls directed
+their fire now exclusively upon the leaders of the column, the
+breech loaders doing immense execution, and soon the Dahomans in
+their efforts to advance had to climb over lines of dead in their
+front. For half an hour the struggle continued, and then the
+Dahomans lost heart and retired, leaving fifteen hundred of their
+number piled deep in the space between the breach and the stockade.
+
+"This is horrible work," Frank said when he rejoined Mr. Goodenough.
+
+"Horrible, Frank; but there is at least the consolation that by
+this fearful slaughter of their bravest warriors we are crippling
+the power of Dahomey as a curse and a scourge to its neighbors. After
+this crushing repulse the Abeokutans may hope that many years will
+elapse before they are again attacked by their savage neighbors,
+and the lessons which they have now learned in defense will enable
+them to make as good a stand on another occasion as they have done
+now."
+
+"Do you think the attack will be renewed?"
+
+"I should hardly think so. The flower of their army must have
+fallen, and the Amazon guard must have almost ceased to exist. I
+told you, Frank, you would soon get over your repugnance to firing
+at women."
+
+"I did not think anything about women," Frank said. "We seemed to
+be fighting a body of demons with their wild screams and yells.
+Indeed, I could scarce distinguish the men from the women."
+
+A strong guard was placed at night at the stockade, and Mr.
+Goodenough and Frank lay down close at hand in case the assault
+should be renewed. At daybreak the sound of a cannon caused them
+to start to their feet.
+
+"They are not satisfied yet," Mr. Goodenough exclaimed, hurrying
+to the wall. In the night the Dahomans had either with sacks or
+earth raised their cannon some six feet, so that they were able
+to fire over the mound caused by the fallen wall at the stockade
+behind it, at which they were now directing their fire.
+
+"Now for the sacks," Mr. Goodenough said. Running down, he directed
+the sacks laden with earth, to whose necks ropes had been attached,
+to be brought up. Five hundred willing hands seized them, and they
+were lowered in front of the center of the stockade, which was
+alone exposed to the enemy's fire, until they hung two deep over
+the whole face. As fast as one bag was injured by a shot it was
+drawn up and another lowered to its place. In the meantime the rifles
+from the walls had again opened fire, and as the gunners were now
+more exposed their shots did considerable execution. Seeing the
+uselessness of their efforts the Dahomans gradually slackened their
+fire.
+
+When night came Mr. Goodenough gathered two hundred of the best
+troops of Abeokuta. He caused plugs to be made corresponding to
+the size of the various cannonballs which were picked up within
+the stockade, which varied from six to eighteen pounders.
+
+About midnight the gate nearest to the breach was thrown open,
+and the party sallied out and made their way towards the enemy's
+battery. The Dahomans had placed sentries in front facing the
+breach, but anticipating no attack in any other direction had left
+the flanks unguarded. Mr. Goodenough had enjoined the strictest
+silence on his followers, and their approach was unobserved until
+they swept round into the battery. Large numbers of the enemy
+were lying asleep here, but these, taken by surprise, could offer
+no resistance, and were cut down or driven away instantly by the
+assailants.
+
+Mr. Goodenough and Frank, with a party who had been told off
+specially for the purpose, at once set to work at the cannon. These
+were filled nearly to the muzzle with powder, and the plugs were
+driven with mallets tight into the muzzles. Slow matches, composed
+of strips of calico dipped in saltpetre, were placed in the touch
+holes. Then the word was given, and the whole party fell back to
+the gate just as the Dahomans in great numbers came running up.
+In less than a minute after leaving the battery twelve tremendous
+reports, following closely one upon another were heard. The cannon
+were blown into fragments, killing numbers of the Dahomey men who
+had just crowded into the battery.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI: CAPTIVES IN COOMASSIE
+
+
+Upon the morning following the successful sortie not an enemy could
+be seen from the walls. Swift runners were sent out, and these
+returned in two hours with news that the enemy were in full retreat
+towards their capital. The people of Abeokuta were half wild with
+exultation and joy, and their gratitude to their white allies was
+unbounded. Mr. Goodenough begged them not to lose an hour in burying
+their slain enemies, and the entire population were engaged for
+the two following days upon this necessary but revolting duty. The
+dead were counted as they were placed in the great pits dug for
+their reception, and it was found that no fewer than three thousand
+of the enemy had fallen.
+
+Mr. Goodenough also advised the Abeokutans to erect flanking towers
+at short intervals round their walls, to dig a moat twenty feet
+wide and eight deep at a few yards from their foot, and to turn
+into it the water from the river in order that any future attack
+might be more easily repelled.
+
+The inhabitants were poor, but they would willingly have presented
+all their treasures to their white allies. Mr. Goodenough, however,
+would accept nothing save a few specimens of native cloth exquisitely
+woven from the inner barks of the trees, and some other specimens
+of choice native workmanship. He also begged them to send down to
+the coast by the first opportunity the cases of specimens which
+had been collected since the departure of the Fans.
+
+A violent attack of fever, brought on by their exertions in
+the sun, prostrated both the white travelers a few days after the
+termination of the siege, and it was some weeks before they were
+able to renew their journey. Their intention was to ascend the
+river for some distance, to move westward into upper Ashanti, and
+then to make their way to Coomassie, whence they would journey
+down to Cape Coast and there take ship for England. As soon as they
+were able to travel they took leave of their friends at Abeokuta,
+who furnished them with carriers for their cases and hammock bearers
+for their journey as far as the Volta. This lasted for a fortnight
+through an open and fertile country. Then they crossed the river
+and entered Ashanti, the great rival empire of Dahomey. As Ashanti
+was at peace with England they had now no fear of molestation on
+their journey.
+
+Ashanti consisted of five or six kingdoms, all of which had been
+conquered, and were tributary to it. The empire of Ashanti was
+separated by the river Prah from the country of the Fantis, who
+lived under British protection. The people drew their supplies from
+various points on the coast, principally, however, through Elmina,
+a Dutch settlement, five miles to the west of Cape Coast. The
+Ashantis could not be called peaceable neighbors. They, like the
+Dahomans, delighted in human sacrifices upon a grand scale, and to
+carry these out captives must be taken. Consequently every four or
+five years, on some pretext or other, they cross the Prah, destroyed
+the villages, dragged away the people to slavery or death, and carried
+fire and sword up to the very walls of the English fort at Cape
+Coast.  Sometimes the English confined themselves to remonstrance,
+sometimes fought, not always successfully, as upon one occasion
+Sir Charles Macarthy, the governor, with a West Indian regiment was
+utterly defeated, the governor himself and all his white officers,
+except three, being killed.
+
+In 1828 we aided the Fantis to defeat the Ashantis in a decisive
+battle, the consequence of which was the signature of a treaty, by
+which the King of Ashanti recognized the independence of all the
+Fanti tribes. In 1844, and again in 1852, a regular protectorate was
+arranged between the British and the Fantis, the former undertaking
+to protect them from enemies beyond the borders, and in turn
+exercising an authority over the Fantis, forbidding them to make
+war with each other, and imposing a nominal tribute upon them.
+
+In 1853 the Ashantis again crossed the Prah, but, being met with
+firmness, retired again. After ten years' quiet, in 1863 they again
+invaded the country, burnt thirty villages, and slaughtered their
+inhabitants. Governor Price then urged upon the home authorities the
+necessity for the sending out from England of two thousand troops
+to aid the native army in striking a heavy blow at the Ashantis,
+and so putting a stop to this constant aggression. The English
+government, however, refused to entertain the proposal. In order
+to encourage the natives some companies of West Indian troops were
+marched up to the Prah. The wet season set in, and, after suffering
+terribly from sickness, the survivors returned five months later
+to Cape Coast.
+
+Up to this period the Dutch trading ports and forts upon the coast
+were interspersed with ours, and as the tribes in their neighborhood
+were under Dutch protection constant troubles were arising between
+the Dutch tribes and our own, and in 1867 an exchange was effected,
+the Dutch ceding all their forts and territory east of the Sweet
+river, a small stream which falls into the sea midway between
+Cape Coast and Elmina, while we gave up all our forts to the west
+of this stream. Similarly the protectorate of the tribes inland up
+to the boundary of the Ashanti kingdom changed hands. The natives
+were not consulted as to this treaty, and some of those formerly
+under British protection, especially the natives of Commendah,
+refused to accept the transfer, and beat off with loss the Dutch
+troops who attempted to land. The Dutch men of war bombarded and
+destroyed Commendah.
+
+This step was the commencement of fresh troubles between the
+Ashantis and the English. The Commendah people were Fantis, and
+as such the implacable enemies of the Elmina people, who had under
+Dutch protection been always allies of the Ashantis, and had been
+mainly instrumental in supplying them with arms and ammunition. The
+Fantis, regarding the Elmina natives and the Dutch as one power,
+retaliated for the destruction of Commendah by invading the territory
+of the Elmina tribe, destroying their villages and blockading
+the Dutch in their port.  Another reason for this attack upon the
+Elminas was that an Ashanti general, named Atjempon, had marched
+with several hundred men through the Fanti country, burning,
+destroying, and slaying as usual, and had taken refuge with his
+men in Elmina. From this time the desultory war between the Elminas
+and their Ashanti allies, and the Fantis of the neighborhood had
+never ceased. Our influence over our allies was but small, for we in
+vain endeavored to persuade them to give up the invasion of Elmina.
+We even cut off the supplies of powder and arms to the Fantis,
+whose loyalty to our rule was thereby much shaken.
+
+All these troubles induced the Dutch to come to the decision to
+withdraw altogether, and they accordingly offered to transfer all
+their possessions to us. The English government determined not to
+accept the transfer if it should lead to troubles with the natives,
+and as a first step required that the Ashanti force should leave
+Elmina. In 1870 the King of Ashanti wrote to us claiming Elmina as
+his, and protesting against its being handed over to us. According
+to native ideas the king of Ashanti's claim was a just one. The
+land upon which all the forts, English, Dutch, Danish, and French,
+were built had been originally acquired from the native chiefs at
+a fixed annual tribute, or as we regarded it as rent, or as an annual
+present in return for friendly relations. By the native customs he
+who conquers a chief entitled to such a payment becomes the heir
+of that payment, and one time the King of Ashanti upon the strength
+of his conquest of the Fantis set up a claim of proprietorship over
+Cape Coast and the other British forts.
+
+Of a similar nature was the claim of the Ashantis upon Elmina. The
+Dutch had paid eighty pounds a year, as they asserted, as a present,
+and they proved conclusively that they had never regarded the King
+of Ashanti as having sovereignty over their forts, and that he
+had never advanced such a claim. They now arrested Atjempon, and
+refused to pay a further sum to the King of Ashanti until he withdrew
+his claim. In order to settle matters amicably they sent an envoy
+to Coomassie with presents for the king, and obtained from him
+a repudiation of his former letter, and a solemn acknowledgment
+that the money was not paid as a tribute. The king sent down two
+ambassadors to Elmina, who solemnly ratified this declaration.
+
+The transfer was then effected. We purchased from the Dutch their
+forts and stores, but the people of Elmina were told that we should
+not take possession of the place except with their consent; but it
+was pointed out to them that if they refused to accept our protection
+they would be exposed as before to the hostility of the Fantis.
+They agreed to accept our offer, and on the 4th of April, 1872,
+a grand council was hold, the king and chiefs of Elmina announced
+the agreement of their people to the transfer, and we took possession
+of Elmina, Atjempon and the Ashantis returning to their own country.
+
+Upon the transfer taking place, Mr. Pope Hennessey, the governor
+of the colony, sent to the King of Ashanti saying that the English
+desired peace and friendship with the natives, and would give an
+annual present, double that which he had received from the Dutch.
+At the same time negotiations were going on with the king for the
+free passage of Ashanti traders to the coast, and for the release
+of four Germans who had been carried off ten years before by Aboo
+Boffoo, one of the king's generals, from their mission station on
+British territory near the Volta. The king wrote saying that Aboo
+Boffoo would not give them up without a ransom of eighteen hundred
+ounces of gold, and protracted negotiations went on concerning the
+payments of these sums.
+
+At the time when Mr. Goodenough and Frank had landed on the Gaboon,
+early in 1872, nothing was known of any anticipated troubles with
+Ashanti. The negotiations between the English and the Dutch were in
+progress, but they had heard that the English would not take over
+Elmina without the consent of the inhabitants, and that they would
+be willing to increase the payment made by the Dutch to the king
+of Ashanti. It was known too that efforts would be made to settle
+all points of difference with the king; and as at Abeokuta they
+received news that the negotiations were going on satisfactorily,
+and that there was no prospect whatever of trouble, they did not
+hesitate to carry out the plans they had formed.
+
+Before crossing the Volta, they sent across to inquire of the chief
+of the town there whether two English travelers would be allowed
+to pass through Ashanti, and were delayed for a fortnight until a
+messenger was sent to Coomassie and returned with a letter, saying
+that the king would be glad to see white men at his capital. With
+this assurance they crossed the stream. They were received in
+state by the chief, who at once provided them with the necessary
+carriers, and with them a guard, which he said would prevent any
+trouble on their way. On the following day they started, and after
+arriving, at the end of a day's journey, at a village, prepared
+to stop as usual for a day or two to add to their collection. The
+officer of the guard, however, explained to them through Bacon, who
+spoke the Ashanti language, that his instructions were, that they
+were to go straight through to Coomassie. In vain Mr. Goodenough
+protested that this would entirely defeat the object of his journey.
+The officer was firm. His orders were that they were to travel
+straight to Coomassie, and if he failed in carrying these out, his
+head would assuredly be forfeited.
+
+"This is serious, Frank," Mr. Goodenough said. "If this fellow has
+not blundered about his orders, it is clear that we are prisoners.
+However, it may be that the king merely gave a direction that we
+should be escorted to the capital, having no idea that we should
+want to loiter upon the way."
+
+They now proceeded steadily forward, making long day's marches. The
+officer in command of the guard was most civil, obtaining for them
+an abundance of provisions at the villages at which they stopped,
+and as Frank and his companion were both weakened by fever he
+enlisted sufficient hammock bearers for them, taking fresh relays
+from each village. He would not hear of their paying either for
+provisions or bearers, saying that they were the king's guests,
+and it would be an insult to him were they to pay for anything.
+
+Ten days after starting from the Volta they entered Coomassie.
+This town lay on rising ground, surrounded by a deep marsh of from
+forty to a hundred yards wide. A messenger had been sent on in
+front to announce their coming, and after crossing the marsh they
+passed under a great fetish, or spell, consisting of a dead sheep
+wrapped up in red silk and suspended from two poles.
+
+Mr. Goodenough and Frank took their places at the head of the
+little procession. On entering the town they were met by a crowd
+of at least five thousand people, for the most part warriors, who
+fired their guns, shouted, and yelled. Horns, drums, rattles, and
+gongs added to the appalling noise. Men with flags performed wild
+dances, in which the warriors joined. The dress of the captains
+consisted of war caps with gilded rams' horns projecting in front,
+and immense plumes of eagles' feathers on each side. Their vest was
+of red cloth, covered with fetishes and charms in cases of gold,
+silver, and embroidery. These were interspersed with the horns and
+tails of animals, small brass bells, and shells. They wore loose
+cotton trousers, with great boots of dull red leather coming halfway
+up to the thigh, and fastened by small chains to their waist belts,
+also ornamented with bells, horse tails, strings of amulets, and
+strips of colored leather. Long leopards' tails hung down their
+backs.
+
+Through this crowd the party moved forward slowly, the throng thickening
+at every step. They were escorted to a house which they were told
+was set aside for their use, and that they would be allowed to see
+the king on the following day. The houses differed entirely from
+anything which they had before seen in Africa. They were built
+of red clay, plastered perfectly smooth. There were no windows or
+openings on the exterior, but the door led into an open courtyard
+of some twelve feet in diameter. On each side of this was a sort
+of alcove, built up of clay, about three feet from the ground. This
+formed a couch or seat, some eight feet long by three feet high,
+with a thatched roof projecting so as to prevent the rain beating
+into the alcove. Beyond were one or more similar courts in proportion
+to the size of the house. A sheep and a quantity of vegetables and
+fruits were sent in in the course of the day, but they were told
+not to show themselves in the streets until they had seen the king.
+
+"We shall be expected to make his majesty a handsome present," Mr.
+Goodenough said, "and, unfortunately, our stores were not intended
+for so great a potentate. I will give him my double barreled rifle
+and your Winchester, Frank. I do not suppose he has seen such an
+arm. We had better get them cleaned up and polished so as to look
+as handsome as possible."
+
+In the morning one of the captains came and said that the king
+was in readiness to receive them, and they made their way through
+a vast crowd to the marketplace, an open area, nearly half a mile
+in extent. The sun was shining brightly, and the scene was a brilliant
+one. The king, his Caboceers or great tributaries, his captains,
+and officers were seated under a vast number of huge umbrellas,
+some of them fifteen feet across. These were of scarlet, yellow,
+and other showy colors in silks and cloths, with fantastically
+scalloped and fringed valences. They were surmounted with crescents,
+birds, elephants, barrels, and swords of gold, and on some were
+couched stuffed animals. Innumerable smaller umbrellas of striped
+stuff were borne by the crowd, and all these were waved up and down,
+while a vast number of flutes, horns and other musical instruments
+sounded in the air. All the principal people wore robes woven
+of foreign silk, which had been unraveled for working into native
+patterns. All had golden necklaces and bracelets, in many cases so
+heavy that the arms of the bearers were supported on boys' heads.
+The whole crowd, many thousands in number, shone with gold, silver,
+and bright colors.
+
+The king received them with dignity, and expressed his satisfaction
+at seeing them, his speech being interpreted by one of his attendants,
+who spoke English. Mr. Goodenough replied that they had very great
+pleasure in visiting the court of his majesty, that they had already
+been traveling for many months in Africa, having started from the
+Gaboon and traveled through many tribes, but had they had any idea
+of visiting so great a king they would have provided themselves with
+presents fit for his acceptance. But they were simple travelers,
+catching the birds, beasts, and insects of the country, to take
+home with them to show to the people in England. The only things
+which they could offer him were a double barreled breech loading
+rifle of the best English construction, and a little gun, which
+would fire sixteen times without loading.
+
+The king examined the pieces with great attention, and, at his request,
+Mr. Goodenough fired off the whole contents of the magazine of the
+repeating rifle, whose action caused the greatest astonishment to
+the assembled chiefs. The king then intimated his acceptance of
+the presents, and said that he would speak farther with them on a
+future occasion. He informed them that they were free to move about
+in the town where they wished, and that the greatest respect would
+be shown to them by the people. There was a fresh outburst of wild
+music, and they were then conducted back to their house.
+
+After the assembly had dispersed the two Englishmen walked about
+through the town. It was not of great extent, but the streets
+were broad and well kept. Many of the houses were much larger than
+that allotted to them, but all were built on the same plan. It was
+evident that the great mass of the population they saw about must
+live in villages scattered around, the town being wholly insufficient
+to contain them.
+
+Three days afterwards they were told that the king wished to
+see them in his palace. This was a large building situated at the
+extremity of the town. It was constructed of stone, and was evidently
+built from European designs. It was square, with a flat roof and
+embattled parapet. They were conducted through the gateway into
+a large courtyard, and then into a hall where the king sat upon a
+raised throne. Attendants stood round fanning him.
+
+"Why," he asked abruptly as they took their places before him, "do
+the English take my town of Elmina?"
+
+Mr. Goodenough explained that he had been nine months absent from
+the coast, and that having come straight out from England he was
+altogether unaware of what had happened at Elmina.
+
+"Elmina is mine," the king said. "The Dutch, who were my tributaries,
+had no right to hand it over to the English."
+
+"But I understood, your majesty, that the English were ready to pay
+an annual sum, even larger than that which the Dutch have contributed."
+
+"I do not want money," the king said. "I have gold in plenty.
+There are places in my dominions where ten men in a day can wash
+a thousand ounces. I want Elmina, I want to trade with the coast."
+
+"But the English will give your majesty every facility for trade."
+
+"But suppose we quarrel," the king said, "they can stop powder and
+guns from coming up. If Elmina were mine I could bring up guns and
+powder at all times."
+
+"Your majesty would be no better off," Mr. Goodenough said; "for
+the English in case of war could stop supplies from entering."
+
+"My people will drive them into the sea," the king said. "We have
+been troubled with them too long. They can make guns, but they
+cannot fight. My people will eat them up. We fought them before;
+and see," he said pointing to a great drum, from the edge of which
+hung a dozen human skulls, "the heads of the White men serve to
+make a fetish for me."
+
+He then waved his hand to signify that the audience was terminated.
+
+"Things look bad, Frank," Mr. Goodenough said as they walked towards
+their home. "I fear that the king is determined upon war, and if
+so our lives are not worth a month's purchase."
+
+"It can't be helped," Frank said as cheerfully as he could. "We
+must make the best of it. Perhaps something may occur to improve
+our position."
+
+The next day the four German missionaries, who had so long been
+kept captive, called upon them, and they obtained a full insight
+into the position. This seemed more hopeful than the king's words
+had given them to expect. The missionaries said that negotiations
+were going on for their release, and that they expected very shortly
+to be sent down to Cape Coast. So far as they knew everything was
+being done by the English to satisfy the king, and they looked upon
+the establishment of peace as certain. They described the horrible
+rites and sacrifices which they had been compelled to witness, and
+said that at least three thousand persons were slaughtered annually
+in Coomassie.
+
+"You noticed," one of them said, "the great tree in the marketplace
+under which the king sat. That is the great fetish tree. A great
+many victims are sacrificed in the palace itself, but the wholesale
+slaughters take place there. The high brushwood comes up to within
+twenty yards of it, and if you turn in there you will see thousands
+of dead bodies or their remains putrefying together."
+
+"I thought I felt a horribly offensive smell as I was talking to
+the king," Frank said shuddering. "What monsters these people must
+be! Who would have thought that all that show of gold and silver
+and silks and bright colors covered such horrible barbarism!"
+
+After chatting for some time longer, and offering to do anything
+in their power to assist the captives, the Germans took their leave.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII: THE INVASION OF FANTI LAND
+
+
+The following morning Mr. Goodenough and Frank were called to the
+door by the noise of a passing crowd, and to their horror saw a
+man being taken to sacrifice. He was preceded by men beating drums,
+his hands were pinioned behind him. A sharp thin knife was passed
+through his cheeks, to which his lips were noozed like the figure
+8. One ear was cut off and carried before him, the other hung to
+his head by a small piece of skin. There were several gashes in
+his back, and a knife was thrust under each shoulder blade. He was
+led by a cord passed through a hole bored in his nose. Frank ran
+horror stricken back into the house, and sat for a while with his
+hand over his eyes as if to shut out the ghastly spectacle.
+
+"Mr. Goodenough," he said presently, "if we are to be killed, at
+least let us die fighting to the last, and blow out our own brains
+with the last shots we have left. I don't think I'm afraid of being
+killed, but to be tortured like that would be horrible."
+
+The next day a message was brought them that their retaining private
+guards was an insult to the king, and that the Houssas must remove
+to another part of the town. Resistance was evidently useless.
+Mr. Goodenough called his four men together and told them what had
+happened.
+
+"I am sorry I have brought you into this plight, my poor fellows,"
+he said. "There are now but two things open to you. You can either
+volunteer to join the king's army and then try to make your escape
+as an opportunity may offer, or slip away at once. You are accustomed
+to the woods, and in native costume might pass without notice. You
+can all swim, and it matters not where you strike the Prah. If you
+travel at night and lie in the woods by day you should be able to
+get through. At any rate you know that if you try to escape and are
+caught you will be killed. If you stop here it is possible that no
+harm may happen to you, but on the other hand you may at any moment
+be led out to sacrifice. Do not tell me your decision; I shall be
+questioned, and would rather be able to say that I was ignorant
+that you intended to escape. There is one other thing to settle.
+There is a long arrear of pay due to you for your good and faithful
+service. It would be useless for me to pay you now, as the money
+might be found on you and taken away, and if you should be killed
+it would be lost to your friends. I have written here four orders
+on my banker in England, which the agents down at Cape Coast will
+readily cash for you. Each order is for twice the sum due to you.
+As you have come into such great danger in my service, and have
+behaved so faithfully, it is right that you should be well rewarded.
+Give me the names of your wives or relatives whom you wish to have
+the money. Should any of you fall and escape, I will, on my arrival
+at Cape Coast, send money, double the amount I have written here,
+to them."
+
+The men expressed themselves warmly grateful for Mr. Goodenough's
+kindness, gave him the names and addresses of their wives, and
+then, with tears in their eyes, took their leave.
+
+"Now, Ostik, what do you say?" Mr. Goodenough asked, turning to
+him.
+
+"I stay here, sar," Ostik said. "Houssas fighting men, creep through
+wood, crawl on stomach. Dey get through sure enough. Ostik stay
+with massa. If dey kill massa dey kill Ostik. Ostik take chance."
+
+"Very well, Ostik, if we get through safe together you shall not
+have reason to regret your fidelity. Now, Frank, I think it would
+be a good thing if you were to spend some hours every day in trying
+to pick up as much of the language here as you can. You are quick
+at it, and were able to make yourself understood by our bearers
+far better than I could do. You already know a great many words in
+four or five of these dialects. They are all related to each other,
+and with what you know you would in a couple of months be able to
+get along very well in Ashanti. It will help to pass your time and
+to occupy your mind. There will be no difficulty in finding men
+here who have worked down on the coast and know a little English.
+If we get away safely you will not regret that your time has been
+employed. If we have trouble your knowledge of the language may
+in some way or other be of real use to you. We can go round to
+the Germans, who will, no doubt, be able to put you in the way of
+getting a man."
+
+The next day they were again sent for to the king, who was in a
+high state of anger at having heard that the Houssas had escaped.
+
+"I know nothing about it," Mr. Goodenough said. "They were contented
+when they were with me, and had no wish to go. Your soldiers took
+them away yesterday afternoon, and I suppose they were frightened.
+It was foolish of them. They should have known that a great king
+does not injure travelers who come peacefully into his country.
+They should have known better. They were poor, ignorant men, who
+did not know that the hospitality of a king is sacred, and that
+when a king invites travelers to enter his country they are his
+guests, and under his protection."
+
+When the interpreter translated this speech the king was silent
+for two or three minutes. Then he said, "My white friend is right,
+They were foolish men. They could not know these things. If my
+warriors overtake them no harm shall come to them."
+
+Pleased with the impression that his words had evidently made Mr.
+Goodenough returned to Frank, who had not been ordered to accompany
+him to the palace. In the afternoon the king sent a sheep and a
+present of five ounces of gold, and a message that he did not wish
+his white friends to remain always in the town, but that they might
+walk to any of the villages within a circle of three or four miles,
+and that four of his guards would always accompany them to see that
+no one interfered with or insulted them. They were much pleased with
+this permission, as they were now enabled to renew their work of
+collecting. It took them, too, away from the sight of the horrible
+human sacrifices which went on daily. Through the German missionaries
+they obtained a man who had worked for three years down at Cape
+Coast. He accompanied them on their walks, and in the evening sat
+and talked with Frank, who, from the knowledge of native words which
+he had picked up in his nine months' residence in Africa, was able
+to make rapid progress in Ashanti. He had one or two slight attacks
+of fever, but the constant use of quinine enabled him to resist their
+effect, and he was now to some degree acclimatized, and thought no
+more of the attacks of fever than he would have done at home of a
+violent bilious attack.
+
+This was not the case with Mr. Goodenough. Frank observed with
+concern that he lost strength rapidly, and was soon unable to
+accompany him in his walks. One morning he appeared very ill.
+
+"Have you a touch of fever, sir?"
+
+"No, Frank, it is worse than fever, it is dysentery. I had an
+attack last time I was on the coast, and know what to do with it.
+Get the medicine chest and bring me the bottle of ipecacuanha.
+Now, you must give me doses of this just strong enough not to act
+as an emetic, every three hours."
+
+Frank nursed his friend assiduously, and for the next three days
+hoped that he was obtaining a mastery over the illness. On the
+fourth day an attack of fever set in.
+
+"You must stop the ipecacuanha, now," Mr. Goodenough said, "and
+Frank, send Ostik round to the Germans, and say I wish them to come
+here at once."
+
+When these arrived Mr. Goodenough asked Frank to leave him alone
+with them. A quarter of an hour later they went out, and Frank,
+returning, found two sealed envelopes on the table beside him.
+
+"My boy," he said, "I have been making my will. I fear that it is
+all over with me. Fever and dysentery together are in nine cases
+out of ten fatal. Don't cry, Frank," he said, as the lad burst into
+tears. "I would gladly have lived, but if it is God's will that
+it should be otherwise, so be it. I have no wife or near relatives
+to regret my loss--none, my poor boy, who will mourn for me as
+sincerely as I know that you will do. In the year that we have been
+together I have come to look upon you as my son, and you will find
+that I have not forgotten you in my will. I have written it in
+duplicate. If you have an opportunity send one of these letters
+down to the coast. Keep the other yourself, and I trust that you
+will live to carry it to its destination. Should it not be so,
+should the worst come to the worst, it will be a consolation to
+you to know that I have not forgotten the little sister of whom
+you have spoken to me so often, and that in case of your death she
+will be provided for."
+
+An hour later Mr. Goodenough was in a state of delirium, in which
+he remained all night, falling towards morning into a dull coma,
+gradually breathing his last, without any return of sensibility,
+at eight in the morning.
+
+Frank was utterly prostrated with grief, from which he roused
+himself to send to the king to ask permission to bury his friend.
+
+The king sent down to say how grieved he was to hear of the white
+man's death. He had ordered many of his warriors to attend his
+funeral. Frank had a grave dug on a rising spot of ground beyond
+the marsh. In the evening a great number of the warriors gathered
+round the house, and upon the shoulders of four of them Mr.
+Goodenough was conveyed to his last resting place, Frank and the
+German missionaries following with a great crowd of warriors. The
+missionaries read the service over the grave, and Frank returned
+heart broken to his house, with Ostik, who also felt terribly the
+loss of his master.
+
+Two days later a wooden cross was erected over the grave. Upon this
+Frank carved the name of his friend. Hearing a week afterwards that
+the king was sending down a messenger to Cape Coast, Frank asked
+permission to send Mr. Goodenough's letter by him. The king sent
+for him.
+
+"I do not wish any more troubles," he said, "or that letters should
+be sent to the governor. You are my guest. When the troubles are
+settled I will send you down to the coast; but we have many things
+to write about, and I do not want more subjects for talk."
+
+Frank showed the letter and read the address, and told the king
+that it was only a letter to the man of business of Mr. Goodenough
+in England, giving directions for the disposal of his property
+there.
+
+The king then consented that his messenger should take the letter.
+
+At the end of December, when Frank had been nearly three months at
+Coomassie, one of the Germans said to him:
+
+"The king speaks fairly, and seems intent upon his negotiations;
+but he is preparing secretly for war. An army is collecting on
+the Prah. I hear that twelve thousand men are ordered to assemble
+there."
+
+"I have noticed," Frank said, "that there have been fewer men about
+than usual during the last few days. What will happen to us, do
+you think?"
+
+The missionary shook his head.
+
+"No one can say," he said. "It all depends upon the king's humor.
+I think, however, that he is more likely to keep us as hostages,
+and to obtain money for us at the end of the war, than to kill us.
+If all goes well with his army we are probably safe; but if the
+news comes of any defeat, he may in his rage order us to be executed."
+
+"What do you think are the chances of defeat?" Frank asked.
+
+"We know not," the missionary said; "but it seems probable that the
+Ashantis will turn the English out of the coast. The Fantis are of
+no use. They were a brave people once, and united might have made
+a successful resistance to the Ashantis; but you English have made
+women of them. You have forbidden them to fight among themselves,
+you have discouraged them in any attempts to raise armies, you have
+reduced the power of the chiefs, you have tried to turn them into
+a race of cultivators and traders instead of warriors, and you can
+expect no material aid from them now. They will melt away like snow
+before the Ashantis. The king's spies tell him that there are only
+a hundred and fifty black troops at Cape Coast. These are trained
+and led by Englishmen, but, after all, they are only negroes, no
+braver than the Ashantis. What chance have they of resisting an
+army nearly a hundred to one stronger than themselves?"
+
+"Is the fort at Cape Coast strong?" Frank asked.
+
+"Yes, against savages without cannon. Besides, the guns of the
+ships of war would cover it."
+
+"Well," Frank said, "if we can hold that, they will send out troops
+from England."
+
+"They may do so," the missionary asserted; "but what could white
+troops do in the fever haunted forests, which extend from Coomassie
+to the coast?"
+
+"They will manage somehow," Frank replied confidently. "Besides,
+after all, as I hear that the great portion of Ashanti lying beyond
+this is plain and open country, the Ashantis themselves cannot be
+all accustomed to bush fighting, and will suffer from fever in the
+low, swamp land."
+
+Three days later the king sent for Frank.
+
+"The English are not true," he said angrily. "They promised the
+people of Elmina that they should be allowed to retain all their
+customs as under the Dutch. They have broken their word. They have
+forbidden the customs. The people of Elmina have written to me to
+ask me to deliver them. I am going to do so."
+
+Frank afterwards learned that the king's words were true. Colonel
+Harley, the military commandant, having, with almost incredible
+fatuity, and in spite of the agreement which had been made with the
+Elminas, summoned their king and chiefs to a council, and abruptly
+told them that they would not be allowed henceforth to celebrate
+their customs, which consisted of firing of guns, waving of flags,
+dancing, and other harmless rites. The chiefs, greatly indignant
+at this breach of the agreement, solemnly entered into with them,
+at once, on leaving the council, wrote to the King of Ashanti,
+begging him to cross the Prah and attack the English. Frank could
+only say that he knew nothing of what was going on at the coast,
+and could only think that his majesty must have been misinformed,
+as the English wished to be friendly with the Ashantis.
+
+"They do not wish it," the king said furiously; "they are liars."
+
+A buzz of approval sounded among the cabooceers and captains
+standing round. Frank thought that he was about to be ordered to
+instant execution, and grasped a revolver, which he held in his
+pocket, resolving to shoot the king first, and then to blow out his
+own brains, rather than to be put to the horrible tortures which
+in Ashanti always precede death.
+
+Presently the king said suddenly to him:
+
+"My people tell me that you can talk to them in their own tongue."
+
+"I have learnt a little Ashanti," Frank said in that language. "I
+cannot talk well, but I can make myself understood."
+
+"Very well," the king said. "Then I shall send you down with my
+general. You know the ways of English fighting, and will tell him
+what is best to do against them. When the war is over and I have
+driven the English away, I will send you away also. You are my
+guest, and I do not wish to harm you. Tomorrow you will start. Your
+goods will be of no more use to you. I have ordered my treasurer
+to count the cloth, and the powder, and the other things which you
+have, and to pay you for them in gold. You may go."
+
+Frank retired, vowing in his heart that no information as to the
+best way of attacking the English should be obtained from him. Upon
+the whole he was much pleased at the order, for he thought that
+some way of making his escape might present itself. Such was also
+the opinion of Ostik when Frank told him what had taken place at
+the palace.
+
+An hour later the king's treasurer arrived. The whole of the trade
+goods were appraised at fair prices, and even the cases were paid
+for, as the treasurer said that these would be good for keeping the
+king's state robes. Frank only retained his own portmanteau with
+clothes, his bed and rugs, and the journals of the expedition, a
+supply of ammunition for his revolver, his medicine chest, tent,
+and a case with chocolate, preserved milk, tea, biscuits, rice,
+and a couple of bottles of brandy.
+
+In the morning there was a great beating of drums.
+
+Four carriers had been told off for Frank's service, and these came
+in, took up his baggage, and joined the line. Frank waited till
+the general, Ammon Quatia, whom he had several times met at the
+palace, came along, carried in a hammock, with a paraphernalia
+of attendants bearing chairs, umbrellas, and flags. Frank fell in
+behind these accompanied by Ostik. The whole population of Coomassie
+turned out and shouted their farewells.
+
+There was a pause in the marketplace while a hundred victims were
+sacrificed to the success of the expedition. Frank kept in the thick
+of the warriors so as to avoid witnessing the horrible spectacle.
+
+As they passed the king he said to the general, "Bring me back the
+head of the governor. I will place it on my drum by the side of
+that of Macarthy."
+
+Then the army passed the swamp knee deep in water, and started on
+their way down to the Prah. Three miles further they crossed the
+river Dah at Agogo, where the water was up to their necks. The road
+was little more than a track through the forest, and many small
+streams had to be crossed.
+
+It was well that Frank had not had an attack of fever for some time,
+for they marched without a stop to Fomanse, a distance of nearly
+thirty miles. Fomanse was a large town. Many of the houses were built
+in the same style as those at Coomassie, and the king's palace was
+a stone building. That night Frank slept in a native house which
+the general allotted to him close to the palace. The army slept on
+the ground.
+
+The next morning they crossed a lofty hill, and then descending
+again kept along through the forest until, late in the afternoon,
+they arrived on the Prah. This river was about sixty yards wide,
+and here, in roughly made huts of boughs, were encamped the main
+army, who had preceded them. Here there was a pause for a week
+while large numbers of carriers came down with provisions. Then
+on the 22d of January the army crossed the Prah in great canoes of
+cottonwood tree, which the troops who first arrived had prepared.
+
+Had the Ashanti army now pushed forward at full speed, Cape Coast
+and Elmina must have fallen into their hands, for there were no
+preparations whatever for their defence. The Assims, whose territory
+was first invaded, sent down for assistance, but Mr. Hennessey
+refused to believe that there was any invasion at all, and when
+the King of Akim, the most powerful of the Fanti potentates, sent
+down to ask for arms and ammunition, Mr. Hennessey refused so
+curtly that the King of Akim was grievously offended, and sent at
+once to the Ashantis to say that he should remain neutral in the
+war.
+
+About this time Mr. Hennessey, whose repeated blunders had in
+no slight degree contributed to the invasion, was relieved by Mr.
+Keate, who at once wholly alienated the Fantis by telling them
+that they must defend themselves, as the English had nothing more
+to do with the affair than to defend their forts. Considering that
+the English had taken the natives under their protection, and that
+the war was caused entirely by the taking over of Elmina by the
+English and by their breach of faith to the natives there, this
+treatment of the Fantis was as unjust as it was impolitic.
+
+Ammon Quatia, however, seemed to be impressed with a spirit of
+prudence as soon as he crossed the river. Parties were sent out,
+indeed, who attacked and plundered the Assim villages near the
+Prah, but the main body moved forward with the greatest caution,
+sometimes halting for weeks.
+
+The Ashanti general directed Frank always to pitch his tent next to
+the hut occupied by himself. Four guards were appointed, nominally
+to do him honor, but really, as Frank saw, to prevent him from
+making his escape. These men kept guard, two at a time, night and
+day over the tent, and if he moved out all followed him.  He never
+attempted to leave the camp. The forest was extremely dense with
+thick underwood and innumerable creepers, through which it would
+be almost impossible to make a way. The majority of the trees were
+of only moderate height, but above them towered the cotton trees
+and other giants, rising with straight stems to from two hundred
+and fifty to three hundred feet high. Many of the trees had shed
+their foliage, and some of these were completely covered with
+brilliant flowers of different colors. The woods resounded with the
+cries of various birds, but butterflies, except in the clearings,
+were scarce.
+
+The army depended for food partly upon the cultivated patches
+around the Assim villages, partly on supplies brought up from the
+rear. In the forest, too, they found many edible roots and fruits.
+In spite of the efforts to supply them with food, Frank saw ere
+many weeks had passed that the Ashantis were suffering much from
+hunger. They fell away in flesh. Many were shaking with fever, and
+the enthusiasm, which was manifest at the passage of the Prah, had
+entirely evaporated.
+
+The first morning after crossing the river Frank sent Ostik into
+the hut of the general with a cup of hot chocolate, with which
+Ammon Quatia expressed himself so much gratified that henceforth
+Frank sent in a cup every morning, having still a large supply of
+tins of preserved chocolate and milk, the very best food which a
+traveler can take with him. In return the Ashanti general showed
+Frank many little kindnesses, sending him in birds or animals when
+any were shot by his men, and keeping him as well provided with
+food as was possible under the circumstances.
+
+It was not until the 8th of April that any absolute hostilities took
+place. Then the Fantis, supported by fifty Houssas under Lieutenant
+Hopkins, barred the road outside the village of Dunquah. The Ashantis
+attacked, but the Fantis fought bravely, having great confidence
+in the Houssa contingent. The battle was one of the native fashion,
+neither side attempting any vigorous action, but contenting
+themselves with a heavy fire at a distance of a hundred yards. All
+the combatants took shelter behind trees, and the consequence was
+that at the end of the day a great quantity of powder and slugs
+had been fired away, and a very few men hit on either side. At
+nightfall both parties drew off.
+
+"Is that the way your English soldiers fight?" the general asked
+Frank that night.
+
+"Yes," Frank said vaguely; "they fire away at each other."
+
+"And then I suppose," the general said, "when one party has exhausted
+its ammunition it retires."
+
+"Certainly it would retire," Frank said. "It could not resist
+without ammunition you know."
+
+Frank carefully abstained from mentioning that one side or the
+other would advance even before the ammunition of its opponents was
+expended, for he did not wish the Ashantis to adopt tactics which,
+from their greatly superior numbers, must at once give them a
+victory. The Ashantis were not dissatisfied with the day's work,
+as they considered that they had proved themselves equal to the
+English troops.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII: THE ATTACK ON ELMINA
+
+
+On the 14th the Fantis took the initiative, and attacked the
+Ashantis. The fight was a mere repetition of that of a week before,
+and about midday the Fantis, having used up all their ammunition,
+fell back again to Cape Coast.
+
+"Now," the general said to Frank, "that we have beaten the Fantis
+we shall march down to Elmina."
+
+Leaving the main road at Dunquah the army moved slowly through the
+bush towards Elmina, thirty miles distant, halting in the woods
+some eight miles from the town, and twelve from Cape Coast.
+
+"I am going," the general said, "to look at the English forts. My
+white friend will go with me."
+
+With fifty of his warriors Ammon Quatia left the camp, and crossing
+a stream came down upon the sea coast, a short distance west of
+Elmina. With them were several of the Elmina tribe, who had come
+up to the camp to welcome the Ashantis. They approached to within
+three or four hundred yards of the fort, which was separated from
+them by a river.
+
+The forts on the west coast of Africa, not being built to resist
+artillery, are merely barracks surrounded by high walls sufficiently
+thick to allow men to walk in single file along the top, to fire
+over the parapet. The tops of the walls being castellated, the
+buildings have an appearance of much strength. The fort of Elmina
+is of considerable size, with a barrack and officers' quarters
+within it. One side faces the river, and another the sea.
+
+"It is a wonderful fort," the Ashanti general said, much impressed
+by its appearance.
+
+"Yes," Frank replied. "And there are cannon on the top, those
+great black things you see sticking out. Those are guns, and each
+carries balls enough to kill a hundred men with each shot."
+
+The general looked for some time attentively. "But you have castles
+in the white men's country, how do you take them?"
+
+"We bring a great many cannon throwing balls of iron as big as my
+head," Frank answered, "and so knock a great hole in the wall and
+then rush in."
+
+"But if there are no cannon?" the general urged.
+
+"We never attack a castle without cannon," Frank said. "But if we
+had no cannon we might try to starve the people out; but you cannot
+do that here, because they would land food from the sea."
+
+The general looked puzzled. "Why do the white men come here?
+
+"They come to trade," he said presently.
+
+"Yes, they come to trade," Frank replied.
+
+"And they have no other reason?"
+
+"No," Frank said. "They do not want to take land, because the white
+man cannot work in so hot a climate."
+
+"Then if he could not trade he would go away?" the general asked.
+
+"Yes," Frank agreed, "if he could do no trade it would be no use
+remaining here."
+
+"We will let him do no trade," the general said, brightening up.
+"If we cannot take the forts we will surround them closely, and
+no trade can come in and out. Then the white man will have to go
+away. As to the Fantis we will destroy them, and the white men will
+have no one to fight for them."
+
+"But there are white troops," Frank said.
+
+"White soldiers?" the Ashanti asked surprised. "I thought it was
+only black soldiers that fought for the whites. The whites are few,
+they are traders."
+
+"The English are many," Frank said earnestly. "For every man that
+the King of Ashanti could send to fight, England could send ten.
+There are white soldiers, numbers of them, but they are not sent
+here. They are kept at home to fight other white nations, the
+French and the Dutch and the Danes, and many others, just as the
+kings of Africa fight against each other. They are not sent here
+because the climate kills the whites, so to guard the white traders
+here we hire black soldiers; but, when it is known in England that
+the King of Ashanti is fighting against our forts, they will send
+white troops."
+
+Ammon Quatia was thoughtful for some time. "If they come," he said
+at length, "the fevers will kill them, The white man cannot live
+in the swamps. Your friend, the white guest of the king, died at
+Coomassie."
+
+"Yes," Frank asserted, "but he had been nearly a year in the country
+before he died. Three weeks will be enough for an English army to
+march from Cape Coast to Coomassie. A few might die, but most of
+them would get there."
+
+"Coomassie!" the general exclaimed in surprise. "The white men
+would be mad to think of marching against the city of the great
+king. We should make great fetish, and they would all die when they
+had crossed the river."
+
+"I don't think, General," Frank said dryly, "that the fetishes
+of the black man have any effect upon the white men. A fetish has
+power when it is believed in. A man who knows that his enemy has
+made a fetish against him is afraid. His blood becomes like water
+and he dies. But the whites do not believe in fetishes. They laugh
+at them, and then the fetishes cannot hurt them."
+
+The general said no more, but turned thoughtfully and retired to
+his camp. It was tantalizing to Frank to see the Union Jack waving
+within sight, and to know that friends were so near and yet to be
+unable to stretch out his hand to them.
+
+He was now dressed in all respects like a native, the king having,
+soon after his arrival at Coomassie, sent a present of clothes
+such as were worn by his nobles, saying that the people would not
+notice them so much if they were dressed like themselves. Consequently,
+had the party been seen from the castle walls the appearance of an
+Englishman among them would have been unobserved.
+
+Three days later the general with a similar party crossed the Sweet
+river at night, and proceeded along the sea coast to within a few
+hundred yards of Cape Coast Castle, whose appearance pleased him
+no more than that of Elmina had done.
+
+The Ashantis were now better supplied with food, as they were able
+to depend upon the Elmina tribes who cultivated a considerable extent
+of ground, and to add to the stock, the Ashanti soldiers were set
+to work to aid in planting a larger extent of ground than usual, a
+proof in Frank's mind that the general contemplated making a long
+stay, and blockading Elmina and Cape Coast into surrender if he
+could not carry them by assault.
+
+The natives of Africa are capable of great exertion for a time,
+but their habitual attitude is that of extreme laziness. One week's
+work in the year suffices to plant a sufficient amount of ground to
+supply the wants of a family. The seed only requires casting into
+the earth, and soon the ground will be covered with melons and
+pumpkins. Sweet potatoes and yams demand no greater cultivation, and
+the bananas and plantains require simply to be cut. For fifty-one
+weeks in the year the negro simply sits down and watches his crops
+grow. To people like these time is of absolutely no value. Their
+wants are few. Their garden furnishes them with tobacco. They make
+drink from the palm or by fermenting the juice of the cocoanut.
+The fowls that wander about in the clearings suffice when carried
+down occasionally to the port, to pay for the few yards of calico
+and strings of beads which are all that is necessary for the clothing
+and decoration of a family.
+
+Such people are never in a hurry. To wait means to do nothing. To
+do nothing is their highest joy. Their tomorrow means a month hence,
+directly, a week. If, then, the Ashanti army had been detained
+for one year or five before the English settlements, it would have
+been a matter of indifference to them, so long as they could obtain
+food. Their women were with them, for the wife and daughters of each
+warrior had carried on head, with the army, his household goods, a
+tiny stool, a few calabashes for cooking, a mat to sleep on, and
+baskets high piled with provisions. They were there to collect
+sticks, to cook food, draw water, bring fire for his pipe, minister
+to his pleasures. He could have no more if he were at home, and
+was contented to wait as long as the king ordered, were that time
+years distant.
+
+Frank was often filled with disgust at seeing these noble savages
+lying indolently from morn till night while their wives went miles
+in the forest searching for pineapples and fruits, bent down and
+prematurely aged by toil and hardship. Many of the young girls
+among the negroes are pretty, with their soft eyes and skin like
+velvet, their merry laugh and graceful figures. But in a very few
+years all this disappears, and by middle age they are bent, and
+wrinkled, and old. All loads are carried by women, with the exception
+only of hammocks, which are exclusively carried by men.
+
+Thus, then, the Ashantis settled down to what appeared to Frank to
+be an interminable business, and what rendered it more tantalizing
+was, that the morning and evening guns at the English forts could
+be plainly heard.
+
+It was on the 7th of June that Ammon Quatia reconnoitered Elmina,
+and the news came next day that a hundred and ten white men in red
+coats had landed from a ship which had arrived that morning off
+the coast. Frank judged from the description that these must be
+marines from a ship of war. In this he was correct, as they consisted
+of marines and marine artillerymen under Lieutenant Colonel Festing,
+who had just arrived from England.  Three days later the Ashanti
+general, with a portion of his force, moved down close to Elmina;
+Frank was told to accompany them. Shortly afterwards the news came
+that the Elminas were all ordered to lay down their arms. They replied
+by going over in a body to the Ashantis. Ammon Quatia determined
+at once to attack the town, but as he was advancing, the guns of
+the ships of war opened fire upon the native town of Elmina, which
+lay to the west of the European quarter.
+
+The sound of such heavy cannon, differing widely from anything they
+had ever heard before, caused the Ashantis to pause in astonishment.
+Then came the howl of the shells, which exploded in rapid succession
+in the village, from which flames began immediately to rise. After
+a few minutes' hesitation the Ashantis and Elminas again advanced.
+The general, who was carried in a chair upon the shoulders of four
+men, took his post on rising ground near the burning village.
+
+"There," he said, "the English soldiers are coming out of the fort.
+Now you will see."
+
+The little body of marines and the blue jackets of the Barraconta
+deployed in line as they sallied from the fort. The Ashantis opened
+fire upon them, but they were out of range of the slugs. As soon
+as the line was formed the English opened fire, and the Ashantis
+were perfectly astonished at the incessant rattle of musketry from
+so small a body of men. But it was not all noise, for the Snider
+bullets swept among the crowded body of blacks, mowing them down in
+considerable numbers. In two minutes the Ashantis turned and ran.
+The general's bearers, in spite of his shouts, hurried away with
+him with the others, and Frank would have taken this opportunity to
+escape had not two of his guards seized him by the arms and hauled
+him along, while the other two kept close behind.
+
+As soon as they had passed over the crest of the rise, and the
+British fire had ceased, Ammon Quatia leaped from his chair and
+threw himself among his flying troops, striking them right and left
+with his staff, and hurling imprecations upon them.
+
+"If you do not stop and return against the whites," he said, "I
+will send every one of you back to Coomassie, and there you will
+be put to death as cowards."
+
+The threat sufficed. The fugitives rallied, and in a few minutes
+were ready to march back again. It was the surprise created by the
+wonderful sustained fire of the breech loaders, rather than the
+actual loss they inflicted, which caused the panic.
+
+In the meantime, believing that the Ashantis had retired, the naval
+contingent went back to their boats, when the Dutch vice consul,
+having ascended a hill to look round, saw that Ammon Quatia had
+made a detour with his troops, and was marching against the town
+from the east, where he would not be exposed to the fire of the
+fort. He instantly ran back with the news.
+
+The marines and the thirty West Indian soldiers in the fort at
+once marched out, and met the Ashantis just as they were entering
+the town. The fight was a severe one, and for a time neither side
+appeared to have the advantage, and Frank, who, under the care of
+his guards, was a few hundred yards in the rear, was filled with
+dismay at observing that the Ashantis, in spite of the heavy loss
+they were suffering, were gaining ground and pressing forward bravely.
+Suddenly he gave a shout of joy, for on a rise on the flank of the
+Ashantis appeared the sailors of the Barraconta, who had been led
+round from the boats by Lieutenant Wells, R. N., who was in command.
+The instant these took up their position they opened a heavy fire
+upon the flank of the Ashantis, who, dismayed by this attack by fresh
+foes, lost heart and at once fled hastily. In the two engagements
+they had lost nearly four hundred men. Frank, of course, retired
+with the beaten Ashantis, and that evening Ammon Quatia told him
+that the arms of the white men were too good, and that he should
+not attack them again in the open.
+
+"Their guns shoot farther, as well as quicker, than ours," he said.
+"Our slugs are no use against the heavy bullets, at a distance;
+but in the woods, where you cannot see twenty feet among the trees,
+it will be different. If I do not attack them they must attack me,
+or their trade will be starved out. When they come into the woods
+you will see that we shall eat them up."
+
+Several weeks now passed quietly. There was news that there was
+great sickness among the white soldiers, and, indeed, with scarce
+an exception, the marines first sent out were invalided home; but
+a hundred and fifty more arrived to take their place. Some detachments
+of the 2d West Indian regiment came down to join their comrades
+from Sierra Leone, and the situation remained unchanged.
+
+One night towards the end of August a messenger arrived and there
+was an immediate stir.
+
+"Now," the general said to Frank, "you are going to see us fight
+the white men. Some of the big ships have gone to the mouth of the
+Prah, and we believe that they are going to land in boats. You will
+see. The Elmina tribes are going to attack, but I shall take some
+of my men to help."
+
+Taking fifty picked warriors Ammon Quatia started at once. They
+marched all night towards the west, and at daybreak joined the
+Elminas. These took post in the brushwood lining the river. The
+general with a dozen men, taking Frank, went down near the mouth
+of the river to reconnoiter. The ships lay more than a mile off
+the shore. Presently a half dozen boats were lowered, filled with
+men, and taken in tow by a steam launch. It was seen that they were
+making for the mouth of the river.
+
+"Now let us go back," Ammon Quatia said. "You will see what we
+shall do."
+
+Frank felt full of excitement. He saw the English running into an
+ambuscade, and he determined, even if it should cost him his life,
+to warn them. Presently they heard the sharp puffs of the steam
+launch. The boats were within three hundred yards.
+
+Frank stepped forward and was about to give a warning shout when
+Ammon Quatia's eye fell upon him. The expression of his face revealed
+his intention to the Ashanti, who in an instant sprang upon him and
+hurled him to the ground. Instantly a dozen hands seized him, and,
+in obedience to the general's order, fastened a bandage tightly
+across his mouth, and then bound him, standing against a tree, where
+he could observe what was going on. The incident had occupied but
+a minute, and Frank heard the pant of the steam launch coming nearer
+and nearer. Presently through the bushes he caught a glimpse of
+it, and then, as it came along, of the boats towing behind. The
+Elminas and Ashantis were lying upon the ground with their guns in
+front of them.
+
+The boats were but fifteen yards from the bank. When they were
+abreast Ammon Quatia shouted the word of command, and a stream
+of fire shot out from the bushes. In the boats all was confusion.
+Several were killed and many wounded by the deadly volley, among
+the latter Commodore Commerell himself, and two or three of his
+officers. The launch now attempted to turn round, and the marines
+in the boats opened fire upon their invisible foes, who replied
+steadily. In five minutes from the first shot being fired all was
+over, the launch was steaming down with the boats in tow towards
+the mouth of the river, the exulting shouts of the natives ringing
+in the ears of those on board.
+
+The position of Frank had not been a pleasant one while the fight
+had lasted, for the English rifle bullets sang close to him in
+quick succession, one striking the tree only a few inches above
+his head. He was doubtful, too, as to what his fate would be at
+the termination of the fight.
+
+Fortunately Ammon Quatia was in the highest spirits at his victory.
+He ordered Frank to be at once unbound.
+
+"There, you see," he said, "the whites are of no use. They cannot
+fight. They run with their eyes shut into danger. So it will be if
+they attack us on the land. You were foolish. Why did you wish to
+call out? Are you not well treated? Are you not the king's guest?
+Am I not your friend?"
+
+"I am well treated, and you are my friend," Frank said, "but the
+English are my countrymen. I am sure that were you in the hands of
+the English, and you saw a party of your countrymen marching into
+danger, you would call out and warn them, even if you knew that
+you would be killed for doing so."
+
+"I do not know," the Ashanti said candidly. "I cannot say what I
+should do, but you were brave to run the risk, and I'm not angry
+with you. Only, in future when we go to attack the English, I must
+gag you to prevent your giving the alarm."
+
+"That is fair enough," Frank said, pleased that the matter had passed
+off so well, "only another time do not stick me upright against a
+tree where I may be killed by English bullets. I had a narrow escape
+of it this time, you see," and he pointed to the hole in the trunk
+of the tree.
+
+"I am sorry," the Ashanti general said, with an air of real concern.
+"I did not think of your being in danger, I only wished you to have
+a good sight of the battle; next time I will put you in a safer
+place."
+
+They then returned to the camp.
+
+The next day a distant cannonade was heard, and at nightfall the
+news came that the English fleet had bombarded and burnt several
+Elmina villages at the mouth of the Prah.
+
+"Ah," the general said, "the English have great ships and great
+guns. They can fight on the seaside and round their forts, but they
+cannot drag their guns through the forests and swamps."
+
+"No," Frank agreed. "It would not be possible to drag heavy
+artillery."
+
+"No," Ammon Quatia repeated exultingly. "When they are beyond the
+shelter of their ships they are no good whatever. We will kill them
+all."
+
+The wet season had now set in, in earnest, and the suffering of the
+Ashantis were very great. Accustomed as many of them were to high
+lying lands free of trees, the miasma from the swamps was well nigh
+as fatal to them as it would be to Europeans. Thousands died, and
+many of the rest were worn by fever to mere shadows.
+
+"Do you think," Ammon Quatia said to Frank one day, "that it is
+possible to blow up a whole town with powder?"
+
+"It would be possible if there were powder enough," Frank said,
+wondering what could be the motive of the question.
+
+"They say that the English have put powder in holes all over Cape
+Coast, and my people are afraid to go. The guns of the fort could
+not shoot over the whole town, and there are few white soldiers
+there; but my men fear to be blown up in the air."
+
+"Yes," Frank said gravely. "The danger might be great. It is better
+that the Ashantis should keep away from the town. But if the fever
+goes on as at present the army will melt away."
+
+"Ten thousand more men are coming down when the rains are over.
+The king says that something must be done. There is talk in the
+English forts that more white troops are coming out from England.
+If this is so I shall not attack the towns, but shall wait for them
+to come into the woods for me. Then you will see."
+
+"Do they say there are many troops?" Frank asked anxiously.
+
+"No; they say only some white officers, but this is foolishness.
+What could white officers do without soldiers? As for the Fantis
+they are cowards, they are only good to carry burdens and to hoe
+the ground. They are women and not men."
+
+During this time, when the damp rose so thick and steaming that
+everything was saturated with it, Frank had a very sharp attack of
+fever, and was for a fortnight, just after the repulse of the attack
+on Elmina, completely prostrated. Such an attack would at his first
+landing have carried him off, but he was now getting acclimatized,
+and his supply of quinine was abundant. With its aid he saved a
+great many lives among the Ashantis, and many little presents in
+the way of fruit and birds did he receive from his patients.
+
+"I wish I could let you go," the general said to him one day. "You
+are a good white man, and my soldiers love you for the pains you
+take going amongst them when they are sick, and giving them the
+medicine of the whites. But I dare not do it. As you know when the
+king is wroth the greatest tremble, and I dare not tell the king
+that I have let you go. Were it otherwise I would gladly do so. I
+have written to the king telling him that you have saved the lives
+of many here. It may be that he will order you to be released."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX: THE TIDE TURNED
+
+
+From many of the points in the forest held by the Ashantis the sea
+could be seen, and on the morning of the 2d of October a steamer
+which had not been there on the previous evening was perceived lying
+off the town. The Ashantis were soon informed by spies in Elmina
+and Cape Coast that the ship had brought an English general with
+about thirty officers. The news that thirty men had come out to
+help to drive back twenty thousand was received with derision by
+the Ashantis.
+
+"They will do more than you think," Frank said when Ammon Quatia
+was scoffing over the new arrival. "You will see a change in the
+tactics of the whites. Hitherto they have done nothing. They have
+simply waited. Now you will see they will begin to move. The officers
+will drill the natives, and even a Fanti, drilled and commanded by
+white officers, will learn how to fight. You acknowledge that the
+black troops in red coats can fight. What are these? Some of them
+are Fantis, some of them are black men from the West Indian Islands,
+where they are even more peaceful than the Fantis, for they have no
+enemies. Perhaps alone the Fantis would not fight, but they will
+have the soldiers and sailors from on board ship with them, and
+you saw at Elmina how they can fight."
+
+The ship was the Ambriz, one of the African company's steamers,
+bringing with it thirty-five officers, of whom ten belonged to
+the Commissariat and Medical staff. Among the fighting men were
+Sir Garnet Wolseley, Colonel M'Neil, chief of his staff, Major T.
+D. Baker, 18th Regiment, Captain Huyshe, Rifle Brigade, Captain
+Buller, 60th Rifles, all of the staff; Captain Brackenbury, military
+secretary, and Lieutenant Maurice, R. A., private secretary, Major
+Home, R. E., Lieutenant Saunders, R. A., and Lieutenant Wilmot,
+R. A.. Lieutenant Colonel Evelyn Wood, 90th Regiment, and Major B.
+C. Russell, 13th Hussars, were each to form and command a native
+regiment, having the remainder of the officers as their assistants.
+
+The Ambriz had left England on the 12th of September, and had touched
+at Madeira and at the various towns on the coast on her way down,
+and at the former place had received the news of the disaster to
+the naval expedition up the Prah.
+
+The English government had been loath to embark upon such an
+expedition, but a petition which had been sent home by the English
+and native traders at Sierra Leone and Elmina had shown how great
+was the peril which threatened the colony, and it had been felt that
+unless an effort was made the British would be driven altogether from
+their hold of the coast. When the expedition was at last determined
+upon, the military authorities were flooded with recommendations and
+warnings of all kinds from persons who knew the coast. Unfortunately
+these gentlemen differed so widely from each other, that but little
+good was gained from their counsels. Some pronounced the climate
+to be deadly. Others said that it was really not bad. Some warmly
+advocated a moderate use of spirits. Others declared that stimulants
+were poison. One advised that all exercise should be taken between
+five and seven in the morning. Another insisted that on no account
+should anyone stir out until the sun had been up for an hour, which
+meant that no one should go out till half past seven. One said take
+exercise and excite perspiration. Another urged that any bodily
+exercise should be avoided. One consistent gentleman, after having
+written some letters to the papers strongly advocating the use of
+white troops upon the coast instead of West Indian regiments, when
+written to by Sir Garnet Wolseley for his advice as to articles
+of outfit, replied that the only article which he could strongly
+commend would be that each officer should take out his coffin.
+
+Ten days passed after the landing. It was known in the Ashanti
+camp that the Fanti kings had been ordered to raise contingents,
+and that a white officer had been alloted to each to assist him
+in this work. The Ashantis, however, had no fear whatever on this
+score. The twenty thousand natives who occupied the country south
+of the Prah had all been driven from their homes by the invaders,
+and had scattered among the towns and villages on the seacoast,
+where vast numbers had died from the ravages of smallpox. The kings
+had little or no authority over them, and it was certain that no
+native force, capable in any way of competing with the army of the
+assailants, could be raised.
+
+The small number of men of the 2d West Indian regiment at Elmina
+had been reinforced by a hundred and twenty Houssas brought down
+the coast. The Ashanti advanced parties remained close up to Elmina.
+
+On the 13th of October Frank accompanied the Ashanti general to the
+neighborhood of this town. The Ashanti force here was not a large
+one, the main body being nearly twenty miles away in the neighborhood
+of Dunquah, which was held by a small body of Houssas and natives
+under Captain Gordon. At six in the morning a messenger ran in
+with the news that two of the English war steamers from Cape Coast
+were lying off Elmina, and that a number of troops had been landed
+in boats. The Ashanti general was furious, and poured out threats
+against his spies in Cape Coast for not having warned him of the
+movement, but in fact these were not to blame. So quietly had the
+arrangements been made that, until late in the previous afternoon,
+no one, with the exception of three or four of the principal
+officers, knew that an expedition was intended. Even then it was
+given out that the expedition was going down the coast, and it was
+not until the ships anchored off Elmina at three in the morning
+that the officers and troops were aware of their destination. All
+the West Indian troops at Cape Coast had been taken, Captain Peel
+of the Simoon landing fifty sailors to hold the fort in case the
+Ashantis should attack it in their absence. The expedition consisted
+of the Houssas, two hundred men of the 2d West India regiment,
+fifty sailors, and two companies of marines and marine artillery,
+each fifty strong, and a large number of natives carrying a small
+Armstrong gun, two rocket tubes, rockets, spare ammunition, and
+hammocks for wounded.
+
+The few Ashantis in the village next to Elmina retired at once
+when the column was seen marching from the castle. Ammon Quatia had
+taken up his quarters at the village of Essarman, and now advanced
+with his troops and took post in the bush behind a small village
+about three miles from the town. The Houssas were skirmishing
+in front of the column. These entered the village which had been
+deserted by the Ashantis, and set it on fire, blowing up several
+kegs of powder which had been left there in the hurry of the flight.
+Then as they advanced farther the Ashantis opened fire. To their
+surprise the British, instead of falling back, opened fire in
+return, the Houssas, West Indians, and natives discharging their
+rifles at random in all directions. Captain Freemantle with the
+sailors, the gun, and rockets made for the upper corner of the wood
+facing them to their left. Captain Crease with a company of marine
+artillery took the wood on the right. The Houssas and a company of
+West Indians moved along the path in the center. The remainder of
+the force remained with the baggage in reserve. The Ashantis kept
+up a tremendous fire, but the marines and sailors pushed their
+way steadily through the wood on either side. Captain Freemantle
+at length gained a point where his gun and rockets could play on
+Essarman, which lay in the heart of the wood, and opened fire, but
+not until he had been struck by a slug which passed through his arm.
+Colonel M'Neil, who was with the Houssas, also received a severe
+wound in the arm, and thirty-two marines and Houssas were wounded.
+The Ashantis were gradually driven out of the village and wood, a
+great many being killed by the English fire.
+
+Having accomplished this, the British force rested for an hour and
+then moved on, first setting fire to Essarman, which was a very
+large village. A great quantity of the Ashanti powder was stored
+there, and each explosion excited yells of rage among the Ashantis.
+Their general was especially angry that two large war drums had
+been lost. So great was the effect produced upon the Ashantis by
+the tremendous fire which the British had poured into every bush and
+thicket as they advanced, that their general thought it expedient
+to draw them off in the direction of his main body instead of
+further disputing the way.
+
+The English now turned off towards the coast, marching part of the
+way through open country, part through a bush so dense that it was
+impossible to make a flank attack upon them here. In such cases
+as this, when the Ashantis know that an enemy is going to approach
+through a dense and impassable forest, they cut paths through
+it parallel to that by which he must advance and at a few yards'
+distance. Then, lying in ambush there, they suddenly open fire upon
+him as he comes along. As no idea of the coming of the English had
+been entertained they passed through the dense thickets in single
+file unmolested. These native paths are very difficult and unpleasant
+walking. The natives always walk in single file, and the action of
+their feet, aided by that of the rain, often wears the paths into
+a deep V-shaped rut, two feet in depth. Burning two or three villages
+by the way the column reached the coast at a spot five miles from
+Elmina, having marched nine miles.
+
+As the Ashantis were known to be in force at the villages of Akimfoo
+and Ampene, four miles farther, a party was taken on to this point.
+Akimfoo was occupied without resistance, but the Ashantis fought
+hard in Ampene, but were driven out of the town into the bush, from
+which the British force was too small to drive them, and therefore
+returned to Elmina, having marched twenty-two miles, a prodigious
+journey in such a climate for heavily armed Europeans. The effect
+produced among the Ashantis by the day's fighting was immense. All
+their theories that the white men could not fight in the bush were
+roughly upset, and they found that his superiority was as great
+there as it had been in the open. His heavy bullets, even at the
+distance of some hundred yards, crashed through the brush wood with
+deadly effect, while the slugs of the Ashantis would not penetrate
+at a distance much exceeding fifty yards.
+
+Ammon Quatia was profoundly depressed in spirits that evening.
+
+"The white men who come to fight us," he said, "are not like those
+who come to trade. Who ever heard of their making long marches?
+Why, if they go the shortest distances they are carried in hammocks.
+These men march as well as my warriors. They have guns which shoot
+ten times as far as ours, and never stop firing. They carry cannon
+with them, and have things which fly through the air and scream,
+and set villages on fire and kill men. I have never heard of such
+things before. What do you call them?"
+
+"They are called rockets," Frank said.
+
+"What are they made of?"
+
+"They are made of coarse powder mixed with other things, and rammed
+into an iron case."
+
+"Could we not make some too?" the Ashanti general asked.
+
+"No," Frank replied. "At least, not without a knowledge of the
+things you should mix with the powder, and of that I am ignorant.
+Besides, the rockets require great skill in firing, otherwise they
+will sometimes come back and kill the men who fire them."
+
+"Why did you not tell me that the white men could fight in the
+bush?"
+
+"I told you that there would be a change when the new general came,
+and that they would not any longer remain in their forts, but would
+come out and attack you."
+
+A few days after this fight the Ashantis broke up their camp at
+Mampon, twelve miles from Elmina, and moved eastward to join the
+body who were encamped in the forest near Dunquah.
+
+"I am going," Ammon Quatia said to Frank, "to eat up Dunquah and
+Abra Crampa. We shall do better this time. We know what the English
+guns can do and shall not be surprised."
+
+With ten thousand men Ammon Quatia halted at the little village
+of Asianchi, where there was a large clearing, which was speedily
+covered with the little leafy bowers which the Ashantis run up at
+each halting place.
+
+Two days later Sir Garnet Wolseley with a strong force marched out
+from Cape Coast to Abra Crampa, halting on the way for a night at
+Assaiboo, ten miles from the town. On the same day the general sent
+orders to Colonel Festing of the Marine Artillery, who commanded at
+Dunquah, to make a reconnaissance into the forest from that place.
+In accordance with this order Colonel Festing marched out with a gun
+and rocket apparatus under Captain Rait, the Annamaboe contingent
+of a hundred and twenty men under their king, directed by Captain
+Godwin, four hundred other Fantis under Captain Broomhead, and
+a hundred men of the 2d West India regiment. After a three mile
+march in perfect silence they came upon an Ashanti cutting wood,
+and compelled him to act as guide. The path divided into three,
+and the Annamaboes, who led the advance, when within a few yards
+of the camp, gave a sudden cheer and rushed in.
+
+The Ashantis, panic stricken at the sudden attack, fled instantly
+from the camp into the bush. Sudden as was the scare Frank's
+guards did not forget their duty, but seizing him dragged him off
+with them in their flight, by the side of Ammon Quatia. The latter
+ordered the war drums to begin to beat, and Frank was surprised at
+the quickness with which the Ashantis recovered from their panic.
+In five minutes a tremendous fire was opened from the whole circle
+of bush upon the camp. This stood on rising ground, and the British
+force returned the fire with great rapidity and effect. The Annamaboe
+men stood their ground gallantly, and the West Indians fought with
+great coolness, keeping up a constant and heavy fire with their
+Sniders. The Houssas, who had been trained as artillerymen, worked
+their gun and rocket tube with great energy, yelling and whooping
+as each round of grape or canister was fired into the bush, or each
+rocket whizzed out.
+
+Notwithstanding the heavy loss which they were suffering, the
+Ashantis stood their ground most bravely. Their wild yells and the
+beating of their drums never ceased, and only rose the louder as
+each volley of grape was poured into them. They did not, however,
+advance beyond the shelter of their bush, and, as the British were
+not strong enough to attack them there, the duel of artillery and
+musketry was continued without cessation for an hour and a half,
+and then Colonel Festing fell back unmolested to Dunquah.
+
+The Ashantis were delighted at the result of the fighting, heavy
+as their loss had been. They had held their ground, and the British
+had not ventured to attack them in the bush.
+
+"You see," Ammon Quatia said exultingly to Frank, "what I told you
+was true. The white men cannot fight us in the bush. At Essarman
+the wood was thin and gave but a poor cover. Here, you see, they
+dared not follow us."
+
+On the British side five officers and the King of Annamaboe were
+wounded, and fifty-two of the men. None were killed, the distance
+from the bush to the ground held by the English being too far for
+the Ashanti slugs to inflict mortal wounds.
+
+Ammon Quatia now began to meditate falling back upon the Prah--
+the sick and wounded were already sent back--but he determined
+before retiring to attack Abra Crampa, whose king had sided with
+us, and where an English garrison had been posted.
+
+On the 2d of November, however, Colonel Festing again marched out
+from Dunquah with a hundred men of the 2d West India regiment,
+nine hundred native allies, and some Houssas with rockets, under
+Lieutenant Wilmot, towards the Ashanti camp. This time Ammon Quatia
+was not taken by surprise. His scouts informed him of the approach
+of the column, and moving out to meet them, he attacked them in
+the bush before they reached the camp. Crouching among the trees
+the Ashantis opened a tremendous fire. All the native allies, with
+the exception of a hundred, bolted at once, but the remainder,
+with the Houssas and West Indians, behaved with great steadiness
+and gallantry, and for two hours kept up a heavy Snider fire upon
+their invisible foes.
+
+Early in the fight Lieutenant Wilmot, while directing the rocket
+tube, received a severe wound in the shoulder. He, however, continued
+at his work till, just as the fight was ended, he was shot through
+the heart with a bullet. Four officers were wounded as were thirteen
+men of the 2d West India regiment. One of the natives was killed,
+fifty severely wounded, and a great many slightly. After two hours'
+fighting Colonel Festing found the Ashantis were working round
+to cut off his retreat, and therefore fell back again on Dunquah.
+The conduct of the native levies here and in two or three smaller
+reconnaisances was so bad that it was found that no further
+dependence could be placed upon them, and, with the exception of
+the two partly disciplined regiments under Colonel Wood and Major
+Russell, they were in future treated as merely fit to act as carriers
+for the provisions.
+
+Although the second reconnaissance from Dunquah had, like the first,
+been unsuccessful, its effect upon the Ashantis was very great.
+They had themselves suffered great loss, while they could not see
+that any of their enemies had been killed, for Lieutenant Wilmot's
+body had been carried off. The rockets especially appalled them,
+one rocket having killed six, four of whom were chiefs who were
+talking together. It was true that the English had not succeeded
+in forcing their way through the bush, but if every time they came
+out they were to kill large numbers without suffering any loss
+themselves, they must clearly in the long run be victorious.
+
+What the Ashantis did not see, and what Frank carefully abstained
+from hinting to Ammon Quatia, was that if, instead of stopping and
+firing at a distance beyond that which at their slugs were effective,
+they were to charge down upon the English and fire their pieces
+when they reached within a few yards of them, they would overpower
+them at once by their enormous superiority of numbers. At ten paces
+distant a volley of slugs is as effective as a Snider bullet, and
+the whole of the native troops would have bolted the instant such
+a charge was made. In the open such tactics might not be possible,
+as the Sniders could be discharged twenty times before the English
+line was reached, but in the woods, where the two lines were not
+more than forty or fifty yards apart, the Sniders could be fired
+but once or at the utmost twice, while the assailants rushed across
+the short intervening space.
+
+Had the Ashantis adopted these tactics they could have crushed
+with ease the little bands with which the English attacked them.
+But it is characteristic of all savages that they can never be got
+to rush down upon a foe who is prepared and well armed. A half dozen
+white men have been known to keep a whole tribe of Red Indians at
+a distance on the prairie. This, however, can be accounted for by
+the fact that the power of the chiefs is limited, and that each
+Indian values his own life highly and does not care to throw it
+away on a desperate enterprise. Among the Ashantis, however, where
+the power of the chiefs is very great and where human life is held
+of little account, it is singular that such tactics should not have
+been adopted.
+
+The Ashantis were now becoming thoroughly dispirited. Their sufferings
+had been immense. Fever and hunger had made great ravages among
+them, and, although now the wet season was over a large quantity
+of food could be obtained in the forest, the losses which the white
+men's bullets, rockets, and guns had inflicted upon them had broken
+their courage. The longing for home became greater than ever, and
+had it not been that they knew that troops stationed at the Prah
+would prevent any fugitives from crossing, they would have deserted
+in large numbers. Already one of the divisions had fallen back.
+
+Ammon Quatia spent hours sitting at the door of his hut smoking and
+talking to the other chiefs. Frank was often called into council,
+as Ammon Quatia had conceived a high opinion of his judgment, which
+had proved invariably correct so far.
+
+"We are going," he said one day, "to take Abra Crampa and to kill
+its king, and then to fall back across the Prah."
+
+"I think you had better fall back at once," Frank answered. "When
+you took me with you to the edge of the clearing yesterday I saw
+that preparations had been made for the defense, and that there were
+white troops there. You will never carry the village. The English
+have thrown up breastworks of earth, and they will lie behind these
+and shoot down your men as they come out of the forest."
+
+"I must have one victory to report to the king if I can," Ammon
+Quatia said. "Then he can make peace if he chooses. The white men
+will not wish to go on fighting. The Fantis are eager for peace
+and to return to their villages. What do you think?"
+
+"If it be true that white troops are coming out from England,
+as the Fanti prisoners say," Frank answered, "you will see that
+the English will not make peace till they have crossed the Prah
+and marched to Coomassie. Your king is always making trouble. You
+will see that this time the English will not be content with your
+retiring, but will in turn invade Ashanti."
+
+Ammon Quatia and the chiefs laughed incredulously.
+
+"They will not dare to cross the Prah," Ammon Quatia said. "If they
+enter Ashanti they will be eaten up."
+
+"They are not so easy to eat up," Frank answered. "You have seen
+how a hundred or two can fight against your whole army. What will
+it be when they are in thousands? Your king has not been wise. It
+would be better for him to send down at once and to make peace at
+any price."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX: THE WHITE TROOPS
+
+
+Two days later Frank was awoke by a sudden yell. He leaped from
+his bed of boughs, seized his revolver, and rushing to the door,
+saw that a party of some twenty men were attacking Ammon Quatia's
+hut. The two guards stationed there had already been cut down. Frank
+shouted to his four guards and Ostik to follow him. The guards had
+been standing irresolute, not knowing what side to take, but the
+example of the young Englishman decided them. They fired their
+muskets into the knot of natives, and then charged sword in hand.
+Ostik drew the sword which he always carried and followed close
+to his master's heels. Frank did not fire until within two yards
+of the Ashantis. Then his revolver spoke out and six shots were
+discharged, each with deadly effect. Then, catching up a musket
+which had fallen from the hands of one of the men he had shot,
+he clubbed it and fell upon the surprised and already hesitating
+conspirators.
+
+These, fortunately for Frank, had not loaded their muskets. They
+had intended to kill Ammon Quatia and then to disperse instantly
+before aid could arrive, believing that with his death the order
+for retreat across the Prah would at once be given. Several of them
+had been killed by the slugs from the muskets of Frank's guard, and
+his pistol had completed their confusion. The reports of the guns
+called up other troops, and these came rushing in on all sides.
+Scarcely did Frank and his followers fall upon the conspirators
+than they took to their heels and fled into the wood.
+
+Ammon Quatia himself, sword in hand, had just sprung to the door
+of the hut prepared to sell his life dearly, when Frank's guard
+fired. The affair was so momentary that he had hardly time to
+realize what had happened before his assailants were in full flight.
+
+"You have saved my life," he said to Frank. "Had it not been for
+you I must have been killed. You shall not find me ungrateful.
+When I have taken Abra Crampa I will manage that you shall return
+to your friends. I dare not let you go openly, for the king would
+not forgive me, and I shall have enough to do already to pacify him
+when he hears how great have been our losses. But rest content. I
+will manage it somehow."
+
+An hour afterwards Ammon Quatia gave orders that the army should
+move to the attack of Abra Crampa. The place was held by a body of
+marines and sailors, a hundred West Indians, and the native troops
+of the king. Major Russell was in command. The village stood
+on rising ground, and was surrounded for a distance of a hundred
+and fifty yards by a clearing. Part of this consisted of patches
+of cultivated ground, the rest had been hastily cleared by the
+defenders. At the upper end stood a church, and this was converted
+into a stronghold. The windows were high up in the walls, and a
+platform had been erected inside for the sailors to fire from the
+windows, which were partially blocked with sandbags. The houses
+on the outside of the village had all been loopholed, and had been
+connected by breastworks of earth. Other defenses had been thrown
+up further back in case the outworks should be carried. The mission
+house in the main street and the huts which surrounded it formed,
+with the church, the last strongholds. For two or three days the
+bush round the town had swarmed with Ashantis, whose tomtoms could
+be heard by the garrison night and day.
+
+Frank accompanied Ammon Quatia, and was therefore in the front, and
+had an opportunity of seeing how the Ashantis commence an attack.
+The war drums gave the signal, and when they ceased, ten thousand
+voices raised the war song in measured cadence. The effect was very
+fine, rising as it did from all parts of the forest. By this time
+the Ashantis had lined the whole circle of wood round the clearing.
+Then three regular volleys were fired, making, from the heavy
+charges used, a tremendous roar.
+
+Scarcely had these ceased when the King of Abra, a splendid looking
+negro standing nearly six feet four in height, stepped out from
+behind the breastwork and shouted a taunting challenge to the
+Ashantis to come on. They replied with a loud yell, and with the
+opening of a continuous fire round the edge of the wood. On wall and
+roof of the village the slugs pattered thickly; but the defenders
+were all in shelter, and in reply, from breastwork and loophole,
+from the windows and roof of the church, the answering Snider bullets
+flew out straight and deadly. Several times Ammon Quatia tried to
+get his men to make a rush. The war drums beat, the great horns
+sounded, and the men shouted, but each time the English bullets flew
+so thick and deadly into the wood wherever the sound rose loudest
+that the Ashantis' heart failed them, and they could not be got to
+make the rush across the hundred yards of cleared ground.
+
+At five o'clock the fire slackened, but shortly after dark the
+attack recommenced. The moon was up and full. Frank feared that
+the Ashantis would try and crawl a part of the distance across the
+clearing and then make a sudden rush; but they appeared to have no
+idea of a silent attack. Several times, indeed, they gathered and
+rushed forward in large bodies, but each time their shouting and
+drums gave warning to the besieged, and so tremendous a fire was
+opened upon them when they emerged from the shadow of the trees
+into the moonlight, that each time they fell back leaving the ground
+strewn with dead. Till midnight the attack was continued, then the
+Ashantis fell back to their camp.
+
+At Accroful, a village on the main road some four miles distant,
+the attack had been heard, and a messenger sent off to Cape Coast
+to inform Sir Garnet Wolseley.
+
+In the morning fifty men of the 2d West India regiment marched from
+Accroful into Abra Crampa without molestation. Later on some Abra
+scouts approached the Ashanti camp and shouted tauntingly to know
+when the Ashantis were coming into Abra Crampa.
+
+They shouted in return, "After breakfast," and soon afterwards,
+a rocket fired from the roof of the church falling into the camp,
+they again sallied out and attacked. It was a repetition of the
+fight of the day before. Several times Major Russell withheld his
+fire altogether, but the Ashantis could not be tempted to show in
+force beyond the edge of the wood. So inspirited were the defenders
+that they now made several sorties and penetrated some distance
+into the wood.
+
+At eight in the morning Sir Garnet Wolseley had marched from Cape
+Coast with three hundred marines and blue jackets to the relief of
+the position, but so tremendous was the heat that nearly half the
+men fell exhausted by the way, and were ordered when they recovered
+to march back to Cape Coast. The remainder, when they arrived at
+Assaibo, five miles from Abra Crampa, were so utterly exhausted
+that a long halt was necessary, although a faint but continuous
+fire could be heard from the besieged place.
+
+Chocolate and cold preserved meat were served out to the men, and
+in the course of another three hours a large number of the stragglers
+came in. At three o'clock, a hundred of the most exhausted men being
+left to hold the village, the rest of the force with the fifty West
+Indians stationed there marched forward to Buteana, where they were
+jointed by fifty more men from Accroful. Just as they started from
+this place they met the King of Abra, who had come out with a small
+body of warriors; from him Sir Garnet learned that this road, which
+wound round and came in at the back of Abra Crampa, was still open.
+
+The Ashantis were too busy with their own operations to watch the
+path, and the relieving force entered the place without firing a
+shot. The firing round the town continued, but Ammon Quatia, when
+he saw the reinforcements enter, at once began to fall back with
+the main body of his troops, and although the firing was kept up
+all night, when the besieged in the morning advanced to attack the
+Ashanti camp they found it altogether deserted.
+
+"It is of no use," the Ashanti general said to Frank. "My men cannot
+fight in the open against the English guns. Besides, they do not
+know what they are fighting for here; but if your general should
+ever cross the Prah you will find it different. There are forests
+all the way to Coomassie, as you know, and the men will be fighting
+in defense of their own country, you will see what we shall do
+then. And now I will keep my promise to you. Tonight your guards
+will go to sleep. I shall have medicine given them which will
+make them sleep hard. One of the Fanti prisoners will come to your
+hut and will guide you through the woods to Assaiboo. Goodbye, my
+friend. Ammon Quatia has learnt that some of the white men are good
+and honest, and he will never forget that he owes his life to you.
+Take this in remembrance of Ammon Quatia."
+
+And he presented Frank with a necklace composed of nuggets of gold
+as big as walnuts and weighing nearly twenty pounds.
+
+Frank in return gave the general the only article of value which
+he now possessed, his revolver and tin box of cartridges, telling
+him that he hoped he would never use it against the English, but
+that it might be of value to him should he ever again have trouble
+with his own men. Frank made a parcel of the necklace and of the
+gold he had received from the king for his goods, and warned Ostik to
+hold himself in readiness for flight. The camp was silent although
+the roar of musketry a few hundred yards off round Abra Crampa
+continued unbroken. For some time Frank heard his guards pacing
+outside, and occasionally speaking to each other. Then these sounds
+ceased and all was quiet. Presently the front of the tent was opened
+and a voice said, "Come, all is ready."
+
+Frank came out and looked round. The Ashanti camp was deserted.
+Ammon Quatia had moved away with the main body of his troops,
+although the musketry fire round the village was kept up. A Fanti
+stood at the door of the hut with Ostik. The four guards were
+sleeping quietly. Noiselessly the little party stole away. A quarter
+of an hour later they struck the path, and an hour's walking brought
+them to Assaiboo. Not an Ashanti was met with along the path, but
+Frank hardly felt that he was safe until he heard the challenge of
+"Who goes there?" from an English sentry. A few minutes later he
+was taken before Captain Bradshaw, R. N., who commanded the sailors
+and marines who had been left there. Very hearty was the greeting
+which the young Englishman received from the genial sailor, and a
+bowl of soup and a glass of grog were soon set before him.
+
+His arrival created quite a sensation, and for some hours he sat
+talking with the officers, while Ostik was an equal subject of
+curiosity among the sailors. The news that the Ashanti army was in
+full retreat relieved the garrison of the place from all further
+fear of attack, and Frank went to sleep before morning, and was
+only roused at noon when a messenger arrived with the news that
+the Ashanti camp had been found deserted, and that the road in its
+rear was found to be strewn with chairs, clothes, pillows, muskets,
+and odds and ends of every description. Few Ashanti prisoners
+had been taken, but a considerable number of Fantis, who had been
+prisoners among them, had come in, having escaped in the confusion
+of the retreat. Among these were many women, several of whom had been
+captured when the Ashantis had first crossed the Prah ten months
+before. In the afternoon Sir Garnet Wolseley, with the greater
+portion of the force from Abra Crampa, marched in, and Frank was
+introduced by Captain Bradshaw to the general. As the latter was
+anxious to press on at once to Cape Coast, in order that the sailors
+and marines might sleep on board ship that night, he asked Frank to
+accompany him, and on the road heard the story of his adventures.
+He invited him to sleep for the night at Government House, an
+invitation which Frank accepted; but he slept worse than he had done
+for a long time. It was now nearly two years since he had landed
+in Africa, and during all that time he had slept, covered with a
+rug, on the canvas of his little camp bed. The complete change, the
+stillness and security, and, above all, the novelty of a bed with
+sheets, completely banished sleep, and it was not until morning was
+dawning that, wrapping himself in a rug, and lying on the ground,
+he was able to get a sleep. In the morning at breakfast Sir Garnet
+asked him what he intended to do, and said that if he were in no
+extreme hurry to return to England he could render great services
+as guide to the expedition, which would start for Coomassie as soon
+as the white troops arrived. Frank had already thought the matter
+over. He had had more than enough of Africa, but two or three months
+longer would make no difference, and he felt that his knowledge
+of the Ashanti methods of war, of the country to be traversed, the
+streams to be crossed, and the points at which the Ashantis would
+probably make a stand, would enable him to tender really valuable
+assistance to the army. He therefore told Sir Garnet Wolseley that
+he had no particular business which called him urgently back, and
+that he was willing to guide the army to Coomassie. He at once had
+quarters as an officer assigned to him in the town, with rations
+for himself and servant.
+
+His first step was to procure English garments, for although he
+had before starting laid aside his Ashanti costume, and put on that
+he had before worn, his clothes were now so travel worn as to be
+scarce wearable. He had no difficulty in doing this. Many of the
+officers were already invalided home, and one who was just sailing
+was glad to dispose of his uniform, which consisted of a light
+brown Norfolk shooting jacket, knickerbockers, and helmet, as these
+would be of no use to him in England.
+
+Frank's next step was to go to the agent of Messrs. Swanzy, the
+principal African merchants of the coast.  This gentleman readily
+cashed one of the orders on the African bank which Mr. Goodenough
+had, before his death, handed over to Frank, and the latter
+proceeded to discharge the long arrears of wages owing to Ostik,
+adding, besides, a handsome present. He offered to allow his faithful
+servant to depart to join his family on the Gaboon at once, should
+he wish to do so, but Ostik declared that he would remain with him
+as long as he stopped in Africa. On Frank's advice, however, he
+deposited his money, for safe keeping, with Messrs. Swanzy's agent,
+with orders to transmit it to his family should anything happen to
+him during the expedition.
+
+Three days later Frank was attacked by fever, the result of the
+reaction after so many dangers. He was at once sent on board the
+Simoon, which had been established as a hospital ship; but the attack
+was a mild one, and in a few days, thanks to the sea air, and the
+attention and nursing which he received, he was convalescent. As
+soon as the fever passed away, and he was able to sit on deck and
+enjoy the sea breezes, he had many visits from the officers of the
+ships of war. Among these was the captain of the Decoy gunboat.
+
+After chatting with Frank for some time the officer said: "I am
+going down the coast as far as the mouth of the Volta, where Captain
+Glover is organizing another expedition. You will not be wanted on
+shore just at present, and a week's rest will do you good; what do
+you say to coming down with me--it will give you a little change
+and variety?"
+
+Frank accepted the invitation with pleasure. An hour later the
+Decoy's boat came alongside, and Frank took his place on board it,
+Ostik following with his clothes. An hour later the Decoy got up
+her anchor and steamed down the coast. It was delightful to Frank,
+sitting in a large wicker work chair in the shade of the awning,
+watching the distant shore and chatting with the officers. He had
+much to hear of what had taken place in England since he left,
+and they on their part were equally eager to learn about the road
+along which they would have to march--at least those of them who
+were fortunate enough to be appointed to the naval brigade--and
+the wonders of the barbarian capital. The Decoy was not fast, about
+six knots being her average pace of steaming; however, no one was
+in a hurry; there would be nothing to do until the troops arrived
+from England; and to all, a trip down the coast was a pleasant
+change after the long monotony of rolling at anchor. For some
+distance from Cape Coast the shore was flat, but further on the
+country became hilly. Some of the undulations reached a considerable
+height, the highest, Mamquady, being over two thousand feet.
+
+"That ought to be a very healthy place," Frank said. "I should
+think that a sanatorium established there would be an immense boon
+to the whites all along the coasts."
+
+"One would think so," an officer replied "but I'm told that those
+hills are particularly unhealthy. That fellow you see jutting out
+is said to be extremely rich in gold. Over and over again parties
+have been formed to dig there, but they have always suffered so
+terribly from fever that they have had to relinquish the attempt.
+The natives suffer as well as the whites. I believe that the
+formation is granite, the surface of which is much decomposed; and
+it is always found here that the turning up of ground that has not
+been disturbed for many years is extremely unhealthy, and decomposing
+granite possesses some element particularly obnoxious to health.
+The natives, of course, look upon the mountain as a fetish, and
+believe that an evil spirit guards it. The superstition of the
+negroes is wonderful, and at Accra they are, if possible, more
+superstitious than anywhere else. Every one believes that every
+malady under the sun is produced by fetish, and that some enemy is
+casting spells upon them."
+
+"There is more in it than you think," the doctor joined in; "although
+it is not spells, but poison, which they use against each other.
+The use of poison is carried to an incredible extent here. I have
+not been much on shore; but the medical men, both civilian and
+military, who have been here any time are convinced that a vast
+number of the deaths that take place are due to poison. The fetish
+men and women who are the vendors of these drugs keep as a profound
+secret their origin and nature, but it is certain that many of them
+are in point of secrecy and celerity equal to those of the middle
+ages."
+
+"I wonder that the doctors have never discovered what plants they
+get them from," Frank said.
+
+"Some of them have tried to do so," the doctor replied; "but have
+invariably died shortly after commencing their experiments; it
+is believed they have been poisoned by the fetish men in order to
+prevent their secrets being discovered."
+
+The hours passed pleasurably. The beautiful neatness and order
+prevailing on board a man of war were specially delightful to
+Frank after the rough life he had so long led, and the silence and
+discipline of the men presented an equally strong contrast to the
+incessant chattering and noise kept up by the niggers.
+
+The next morning the ship was off Accra. Here the scenery had
+entirely changed. The hills had receded, and a wide and slightly
+undulating plain extended to their feet, some twelve miles back.
+The captain was going to land, as he had some despatches for the
+colony, and he invited Frank to accompany him. They did not, as
+Frank expected, land in a man of war's boat, but in a surf boat,
+which, upon their hoisting a signal, came out to them. These surf
+boats are large and very wide and flat. They are paddled by ten or
+twelve negroes, who sit upon the gunwale. These men work vigorously,
+and the boats travel at a considerable pace. Each boat has a stroke
+peculiar to itself. Some paddle hard for six strokes and then easy
+for an equal number. Some will take two or three hard and then one
+easy. The steersman stands in the stern and steers with an oar. He
+or one of the crew keeps up a monotonous song, to which the crew
+reply in chorus, always in time with their paddling.
+
+The surf is heavy at Accra and Frank held his breath, as, after
+waiting for a favorable moment, the steersman gave the sign and
+the boat darted in at lightning speed on the top of a great wave,
+and ran up on the beach in the midst of a whirl of white foam.
+
+While the captain went up to Government House, Frank, accompanied by
+one of the young officers who had also come ashore, took a stroll
+through the town. The first thing that struck him was the extraordinary
+number of pigs. These animals pervaded the whole place. They fed in
+threes and fours in the middle of the streets. They lay everywhere
+in the road, across the doors, and against the walls. They quarreled
+energetically inside lanes and courtyards, and when worsted in their
+disputes galloped away grunting, careless whom they might upset.
+The principal street of Accra was an amusing sight. Some effort had
+been made to keep it free of the filth and rubbish which everywhere
+else abounded. Both sides were lined by salesmen and women sitting
+on little mats upon the low wooden stools used as seats in Africa.
+The goods were contained in wooden trays. Here were dozens of women
+offering beads for sale of an unlimited variety of form and hue.
+They varied from the tiny opaque beads of all colors used by English
+children for their dolls, to great cylindrical beads of variegated
+hues as long and as thick as the joint of a finger. The love of
+the Africans for beads is surprising. The women wear them round
+the wrists, the neck, and the ankles. The occupation of threading
+the little beads is one of their greatest pleasures. The threads
+used are narrow fibers of palm leaves, which are very strong. The
+beads, however, are of unequal sizes, and no African girl who has
+any respect for her personal appearance will put on a string of
+beads until she has, with great pains and a good deal of skill,
+rubbed them with sand and water until all the projecting beads are
+ground down, and the whole are perfectly smooth and even.
+
+Next in number to the dealers in beads were those who sold calico,
+or, as it is called in Africa, cloth, and gaudily colored kerchiefs
+for the head. These three articles--beads, cotton cloth, and
+colored handkerchiefs--complete the list of articles required for
+the attire and adornment of males and females in Africa. Besides
+these goods, tobacco, in dried leaves, short clay pipes, knives,
+small looking glasses, and matches were offered for sale. The majority
+of the saleswomen, however, were dealers in eatables, dried fish,
+smoked fish, canki--which is a preparation of ground corn wrapped up
+in palm leaves in the shape of paste--eggs, fowls, kids, cooked
+meats in various forms, stews, boiled pork, fried knobs of meat,
+and other native delicacies, besides an abundance of seeds, nuts,
+and other vegetable productions.
+
+After walking for some time through the streets Frank and his
+companions returned to the boat, where, half an hour later, the
+captain joined them, and, putting off to the Decoy, they continued
+the voyage down the coast.
+
+The next morning they weighed anchor off Addah, a village at
+the mouth of the Volta. They whistled for a surf boat, but it was
+some time before one put out. When she was launched it was doubtful
+whether she would be able to make her way through the breaking
+water. The surf was much heavier here than it had been at Accra,
+and each wave threw the boat almost perpendicularly into the air,
+so that only a few feet of the end of the keel touched the water.
+Still she struggled on, although so long was she in getting through
+the surf that those on board the ship thought several times that
+she must give it up as impracticable. At last, however, she got
+through; the paddlers waited for a minute to recover from their
+exertions, and then made out to the Decoy. None of the officers had
+ever landed here, and several of them obtained leave to accompany
+the captain on shore. Frank was one of the party. After what they
+had seen of the difficulty which the boat had in getting out, all
+looked somewhat anxiously at the surf as they approached the line
+where the great smooth waves rolled over and broke into boiling
+foam. The steersman stood upon the seat in the stern, in one hand
+holding his oar, in the other his cap. For some time he stood half
+turned round, looking attentively seaward, while the boat lay at
+rest just outside the line of breakers. Suddenly he waved his cap
+and gave a shout. It was answered by the crew. Every man dashed
+his paddle into the water. Desperately they rowed, the steersman
+encouraging them by wild yells. A gigantic wave rolled in behind
+the boat, and looked for a moment as if she would break into it,
+but she rose on it just as it turned over, and for an instant was
+swept along amidst a cataract of white foam, with the speed of an
+arrow. The next wave was a small one, and ere a third reached it the
+boat grounded on the sand. A dozen men rushed out into the water.
+The passengers threw themselves anyhow on to their backs, and in
+a minute were standing perfectly dry upon the beach.
+
+They learned that Captain Glover's camp was half a mile distant,
+and at once set out for it. Upon the way up to the camp they passed
+hundreds of negroes, who had arrived in the last day or two, and
+had just received their arms. Some were squatted on the ground
+cooking and resting themselves. Others were examining their new
+weapons, oiling and removing every spot of rust, and occasionally
+loading and firing them off. The balls whizzed through the air in
+all directions. The most stringent orders had been given forbidding
+this dangerous nuisance; but nothing can repress the love of negroes
+for firing off guns. There were large numbers of women among them;
+these had acted as carriers on their journey to the camp; for among
+the coast tribes, as among the Ashantis, it is the proper thing
+when the warriors go out on the warpath, that the women should not
+permit them to carry anything except their guns until they approach
+the neighborhood of the enemy.
+
+The party soon arrived at the camp, which consisted of some bell
+tents and the little huts of a few hundred natives. This, indeed,
+was only the place where the latter were first received and armed,
+and they were then sent up the river in the steamboat belonging to
+the expedition, to the great camp some thirty miles higher.
+
+The expedition consisted only of some seven or eight English
+officers. Captain Glover of the royal navy was in command, with
+Mr. Goldsworthy and Captain Sartorius as his assistants. There were
+four other officers, two doctors, and an officer of commissariat.
+This little body had the whole work of drilling and keeping in
+order some eight or ten thousand men. They were generals, colonels,
+sergeants, quartermasters, storekeepers, and diplomatists, all at
+once, and from daybreak until late at night were incessantly at work.
+There were at least a dozen petty kings in camp, all of whom had
+to be kept in a good temper, and this was by no means the smallest
+of Captain Glover's difficulties, as upon the slightest ground for
+discontent each of these was ready at once to march away with his
+followers. The most reliable portion of Captain Glover's force were
+some 250 Houssas, and as many Yorabas. In addition to all their
+work with the native allies, the officers of the expedition had
+succeeded in drilling both these bodies until they had obtained a
+very fair amount of discipline.
+
+After strolling through the camp the visitors went to look on at
+the distribution of arms and accouterments to a hundred freshly
+arrived natives. They were served out with blue smocks, made of
+serge, and blue nightcaps, which had the result of transforming
+a fine looking body of natives, upright in carriage, and graceful
+in their toga-like attire, into a set of awkward looking, clumsy
+negroes. A haversack, water bottle, belts, cap pouch, and ammunition
+pouch, were also handed to each to their utter bewilderment, and
+it was easy to foresee that at the end of the first day's march the
+whole of these, to them utterly useless articles, would be thrown
+aside. They brightened up, however, when the guns were delivered to
+them. The first impulse of each was to examine his piece carefully,
+to try its balance by taking aim at distant objects, then to
+carefully rub off any little spot of rust that could be detected,
+lastly to take out the ramrod and let it fall into the barrel, to
+judge by the ring whether it was clean inside.
+
+Thence the visitors strolled away to watch a number of Houssas in
+hot pursuit of some bullocks, which were to be put on board the
+steamers and taken up the river to the great camp. These had broken
+loose in the night, and the chase was an exciting one. Although
+some fifty or sixty men were engaged in the hunt it took no less
+than four hours to capture the requisite number, and seven Houssas
+were more or less injured by the charges of the desperate little
+animals, which possessed wonderful strength and endurance, although
+no larger than moderate sized donkeys. They were only captured at
+last by hoops being thrown over their horns, and even when thrown
+down required the efforts of five or six men to tie them. They were
+finally got to the wharf by two men each: one went ahead with the
+rope attached to the animal's horn, the other kept behind, holding
+a rope fastened to one of the hind legs. Every bull made the most
+determined efforts to get at the man in front, who kept on at a run,
+the animal being checked when it got too close by the man behind
+pulling at its hind leg. When it turned to attack him the man in
+front again pulled at his rope. So most of them were brought down
+to the landing place, and there with great difficulty again thrown
+down, tied, and carried bodily on board. Some of them were so
+unmanageable that they had to be carried all the way down to the
+landing place. If English cattle possessed the strength and obstinate
+fury of these little animals, Copenhagen Fields would have to be
+removed farther from London, or the entrance swept by machine guns,
+for a charge of the cattle would clear the streets of London.
+
+After spending an amusing day on shore, the party returned on board
+ship. Captain Glover's expedition, although composed of only seven
+or eight English officers and costing the country comparatively
+nothing, accomplished great things, but its doings were almost
+ignored by England. Crossing the river they completely defeated
+the native tribes there, who were in alliance with the Ashantis,
+after some hard fighting, and thus prevented an invasion of our
+territory on that side. In addition to this they pushed forward
+into the interior and absolutely arrived at Coomassie two days
+after Sir Garnet Wolseley.
+
+It is true that the attention of the Ashantis was so much occupied
+by the advance of the white force that they paid but little attention
+to that advancing from the Volta; but none the less is the credit
+due to the indomitable perseverance and the immensity of the work
+accomplished by Captain Glover and his officers. Alone and single
+handed, they overcame all the enormous difficulties raised by
+the apathy, indolence, and self importance of the numerous petty
+chiefs whose followers constituted the army, infused something of
+their own spirit among their followers, and persuaded them to march
+without white allies against the hitherto invincible army of the
+Ashantis. Not a tithe of the credit due to them has been given to
+the officers of this little force.
+
+Captain Glover invited his visitors to pass the night on shore,
+offering to place a tent at their disposal; but the mosquitoes are
+so numerous and troublesome along the swampy shore of the Volta
+that the invitations were declined, and the whole party returned
+on board the Decoy. Next day the anchor was hove and the ship's
+head turned to the west; and two days later, after a pleasant and
+uneventful voyage, she was again off Cape Coast, and Frank, taking
+leave of his kind entertainers, returned on shore and reported
+himself as ready to perform any duty that might be assigned to him.
+
+Until the force advanced, he had nothing to do, and spent a good
+deal of his time watching the carriers starting with provisions
+for the Prah, and the doings of the negroes.
+
+The order had now been passed by the chiefs at a meeting called by
+Sir Garnet, that every able bodied man should work as a carrier,
+and while parties of men were sent to the villages round to fetch
+in people thence, hunts took place in Cape Coast itself. Every
+negro found in the streets was seized by the police; protestation,
+indignation, and resistance, were equally in vain. An arm or
+the loin cloth was firmly griped, and the victim was run into the
+castle yard, amid the laughter of the lookers on, who consisted,
+after the first quarter of an hour, of women only. Then the search
+began in the houses, the chiefs indicating the localities in which
+men were likely to be found. Some police were set to watch outside
+while others went in to search. The women would at once deny that
+anyone was there, but a door was pretty sure to be found locked,
+and upon this being broken open the fugitive would be found hiding
+under a pile of clothes or mats. Sometimes he would leap through
+the windows, sometimes take to the flat roof, and as the houses
+join together in the most confused way the roofs offered immense
+facilities for escape, and most lively chases took place.
+
+No excuses or pretences availed. A man seen limping painfully along
+the street would, after a brief examination of his leg to see if
+there was any external mark which would account for the lameness,
+be sent at a round trot down the road, amid peals of laughter from
+the women and girls looking on.
+
+The indignation of some of the men thus seized, loaded and sent up
+country under a strong escort, was very funny, and their astonishment
+in some cases altogether unfeigned. Small shopkeepers who had never
+supposed that they would be called upon to labor for the defense of
+their freedom and country, found themselves with a barrel of pork
+upon their heads and a policeman with a loaded musket by their side
+proceeding up country for an indefinite period. A school teacher was
+missing, and was found to have gone up with a case of ammunition.
+Casual visitors from down the coast had their stay prolonged.
+
+Lazy Sierra Leone men, discharged by their masters for incurable
+idleness, and living doing nothing, earning nothing, kept by the
+kindness of friends and the aid of an occasional petty theft, found
+themselves, in spite of the European cut of their clothes, groaning
+under the weight of cases of preserved provisions.
+
+Everywhere the town was busy and animated, but it was in the castle
+courtyard Frank found most amusement. Here of a morning a thousand
+negroes would be gathered, most of them men sent down from Dunquah,
+forming part of our native allied army. Their costumes were various
+but scant, their colors all shades of brown up to the deepest black.
+Their faces were all in a grin of amusement. The noise of talking
+and laughing was immense. All were squatted upon the ground, in
+front of each was a large keg labelled "pork." Among them moved
+two or three commissariat officers in gray uniforms. At the order,
+"Now then, off with you," the negroes would rise, take off their
+cloths, wrap them into pads, lift the barrels on to their heads,
+and go off at a brisk pace; the officer perhaps smartening up the
+last to leave with a cut with his stick, which would call forth a
+scream of laughter from all the others.
+
+When all the men had gone, the turn of the women came, and of these
+two or three hundred, who had been seated chattering and laughing
+against the walls, would now come forward and stoop to pick up
+the bags of biscuit laid out for them. Their appearance was most
+comical when they stooped to their work, their prodigious bustles
+forming an apex. At least two out of every three had babies seated on
+these bustles, kept firm against their backs by the cloth tightly
+wrapped round the mother's body. But from the attitudes of
+the mothers the position was now reversed, the little black heads
+hanging downwards upon the dark brown backs of the women. These
+were always in the highest state of good temper, often indulging
+when not at work in a general dance, and continually singing, and
+clapping their hands.
+
+After the women had been got off three or four hundred boys and girls,
+of from eleven to fourteen years old, would start with small kegs
+of rice or meat weighing from twenty-five to thirty-five pounds.
+These small kegs had upon their first arrival been a cause of great
+bewilderment and annoyance to the commissariat officers, for no man
+or woman, unless by profession a juggler, could balance two long
+narrow barrels on the head. At last the happy idea struck an officer
+of the department that the children of the place might be utilized
+for the purpose. No sooner was it known that boys and girls could
+get half men's wages for carrying up light loads, than there was
+a perfect rush of the juvenile population. Three hundred applied
+the first morning, four hundred the next. The glee of the youngsters
+was quite exuberant. All were accustomed to carry weights, such
+as great jars of water and baskets of yams, far heavier than those
+they were now called to take up the country; and the novel pleasure
+of earning money and of enjoying an expedition up the country
+delighted them immensely.
+
+Bullocks were now arriving from other parts of the coast, and although
+these would not live for any time at Cape Coast, it was thought
+they would do so long enough to afford the expedition a certain
+quantity of fresh meat; Australian meat, and salt pork, though
+valuable in their way, being poor food to men whose appetites are
+enfeebled by heat and exhaustion.
+
+It was not till upwards of six weeks after the fight at Abra Crampa
+that the last of the Ashanti army crossed the Prah. When arriving
+within a short distance of that river they had been met by seven
+thousand fresh troops, who had been sent by the king with orders
+that they were not to return until they had driven the English
+into the sea. Ammon Quatia's army, however, although still, from
+the many reinforcements it had received, nearly twenty thousand
+strong, positively refused to do any more fighting until they had
+been home and rested, and their tales of the prowess of the white
+troops so checked the enthusiasm of the newcomers, that these
+decided to return with the rest.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI: THE ADVANCE TO THE PRAH
+
+
+A large body of natives were now kept at work on the road up to the
+Prah. The swamps were made passable by bundles of brushwood thrown
+into them, the streams were bridged and huts erected for the reception
+of the white troops. These huts were constructed of bamboo, the
+beds being made of lattice work of the same material, and were
+light and cool.
+
+On the 9th of December the Himalaya and Tamar arrived, having on
+board the 23d Regiment, a battalion of the Rifle Brigade, a battery
+of artillery, and a company of engineers. On the 18th, the Surmatian
+arrived with the 42d. All these ships were sent off for a cruise,
+with orders to return on the 1st of January, when the troops were
+to be landed. A large number of officers arrived a few days later
+to assist in the organization of the transport corps.
+
+Colonel Wood and Major Russell were by this time on the Prah with
+their native regiments. These were formed principally of Houssas,
+Cossoos, and men of other fighting Mahomedan tribes who had been
+brought down the coast, together with companies from Bonny and some
+of the best of the Fantis. The rest of the Fanti forces had been
+disbanded, as being utterly useless for fighting purposes, and had
+been turned into carriers.
+
+On the 26th of December Frank started with the General's staff for
+the front. The journey to the Prah was a pleasant one. The stations
+had been arranged at easy marches from each other. At each of these,
+six huts for the troops, each capable of holding seventy men, had
+been built, together with some smaller huts for officers. Great
+filters formed of iron tanks with sand and charcoal at the bottom,
+the invention of Captain Crease, R.M.A., stood before the huts,
+with tubs at which the native bearers could quench their thirst.
+Along by the side of the road a single telegraph wire was supported
+on bamboos fifteen feet long.
+
+Passing through Assaiboo they entered the thick bush. The giant
+cotton trees had now shed their light feathery foliage, resembling
+that of an acacia, and the straight, round, even trunks looked like
+the skeletons of some giant or primeval vegetation rising above
+the sea of foliage below. White lilies, pink flowers of a bulbous
+plant, clusters of yellow acacia blossoms, occasionally brightened
+the roadside, and some of the old village clearings were covered
+with a low bush bearing a yellow blossom, and convolvuli white,
+buff, and pink. The second night the party slept at Accroful, and the
+next day marched through Dunquah. This was a great store station,
+but the white troops were not to halt there. It had been a large
+town, but the Ashantis had entirely destroyed it, as well as every
+other village between the Prah and the coast. Every fruit tree in
+the clearing had also been destroyed, and at Dunquah they had even
+cut down a great cotton tree which was looked upon as a fetish by
+the Fantis. It had taken them seven days' incessant work to overthrow
+this giant of the forest.
+
+The next halting place was Yancoomassie. When approaching Mansue
+the character of the forest changed. The undergrowth disappeared and
+the high trees grew thick and close. The plantain, which furnishes
+an abundant supply of fruit to the natives and had sustained the
+Ashanti army during its stay south of the Prah, before abundant,
+extended no further. Mansue stood, like other native villages, on
+rising ground, but the heavy rains which still fell every day and
+the deep swamps around rendered it a most unhealthy station.
+
+Beyond Mansue the forest was thick and gloomy. There was little
+undergrowth, but a perfect wilderness of climbers clustered round
+the trees, twisting in a thousand fantastic windings, and finally
+running down to the ground, where they took fresh root and formed
+props to the dead tree their embrace had killed. Not a flower was
+to be seen, but ferns grew by the roadside in luxuriance. Butterflies
+were scarce, but dragonflies darted along like sparks of fire. The
+road had the advantage of being shady and cool, but the heavy rain
+and traffic had made it everywhere slippery, and in many places
+inches deep in mud, while all the efforts of the engineers and
+working parties had failed to overcome the swamps.
+
+It was a relief to the party when they emerged from the forests
+into the little clearings where villages had once stood, for the
+gloom and quiet of the great forest weighed upon the spirits. The
+monotonous too too of the doves--not a slow dreamy cooing like that
+of the English variety, but a sharp quick note repeated in endless
+succession--alone broke the hush. The silence, the apparently
+never ending forest, the monotony of rank vegetation, the absence
+of a breath of wind to rustle a leaf, were most oppressive, and
+the feeling was not lessened by the dampness and heaviness of the
+air, and the malarious exhalation and smell of decaying vegetation
+arising from the swamps.
+
+Sootah was the station beyond Mansue, beyond this Assin and Barracoo.
+Beyond Sootah the odors of the forest became much more unpleasant,
+for at Fazoo they passed the scene of the conflict between Colonel
+Wood's regiment and the retiring Ashantis. In the forest beyond
+this were the remains of a great camp of the enemy's, which extended
+for miles, and hence to the Prah large numbers of Ashantis had
+dropped by the way or had crawled into the forest to die, smitten
+by disease or rifle balls.
+
+There was a general feeling of pleasure as the party emerged from
+the forest into the large open camp at Prahsue. This clearing was
+twenty acres in extent, and occupied an isthmus formed by a loop
+of the river. The 2d West Indians were encamped here, and huts had
+been erected under the shade of some lofty trees for the naval brigade.
+In the center was a great square. On one side were the range of
+huts for the general and his staff. Two sides of the square were
+formed by the huts for the white troops. On the fourth was the
+hospital, the huts for the brigadier and his staff, and the post
+office. Upon the river bank beyond the square were the tents of the
+engineers and Rait's battery of artillery, and the camps of Wood's
+and Russell's regiments. The river, some seventy yards wide, ran
+round three sides of the camp thirty feet below its level.
+
+The work which the engineers had accomplished was little less than
+marvelous. Eighty miles of road had been cut and cleared, every
+stream, however insignificant, had been bridged, and attempts made
+to corduroy every swamp. This would have been no great feat through
+a soft wood forest with the aid of good workmen. Here, however,
+the trees were for the most part of extremely hard wood, teak and
+mahogany forming the majority. The natives had no idea of using an
+axe. Their only notion of felling a tree was to squat down beside
+it and give it little hacking chops with a large knife or a sabre.
+
+With such means and such men as these the mere work of cutting and
+making the roads and bridging the streams was enormous. But not only
+was this done but the stations were all stockaded, and huts erected
+for the reception of four hundred and fifty men and officers, and
+immense quantities of stores, at each post. Major Home, commanding
+the engineers, was the life and soul of the work, and to him more
+than any other man was the expedition indebted for its success. He
+was nobly seconded by Buckle, Bell, Mann, Cotton, Skinner, Bates and
+Jeykyll, officers of his own corps, and by Hearle of the marines,
+and Hare of the 22d, attached to them. Long before daylight his men
+were off to their work, long after nightfall they returned utterly
+exhausted to camp.
+
+Upon the 1st of January, 1874, Sir Garnet Wolseley, with his staff,
+among whom Frank was now reckoned, reached the Prah. During the
+eight days which elapsed before the white troops came up Frank
+found much to amuse him. The engineers were at work, aided by the
+sailors of the naval brigade, which arrived two days after the
+general, in erecting a bridge across the Prah. The sailors worked,
+stripped to the waist, in the muddy water of the river, which was
+about seven feet deep in the middle. When tired of watching these
+he would wander into the camp of the native regiments, and chat
+with the men, whose astonishment at finding a young Englishman able
+to converse in their language, for the Fanti and Ashanti dialects
+differ but little, was unbounded. Sometimes he would be sent for
+to headquarters to translate to Captain Buller, the head of the
+intelligence department, the statements of prisoners brought in
+by the scouts, who, under Lord Gifford, had penetrated many miles
+beyond the Prah.
+
+Everywhere these found dead bodies by the side of the road, showing
+the state to which the Ashanti army was reduced in its retreat. The
+prisoners brought in were unanimous in saying that great uneasiness
+had been produced at Coomassie by the news of the advance of the
+British to the Prah. The king had written to Ammon Quatia, severely
+blaming him for his conduct of the campaign, and for the great loss
+of life among his army.
+
+All sorts of portents were happening at Coomassie, to the great
+disturbance of the mind of the people. Some of those related
+singularly resembled those said to have occurred before the capture
+of Rome by the Goths. An aerolite had fallen in the marketplace of
+Coomassie, and, still more strange, a child was born which was at
+once able to converse fluently. This youthful prodigy was placed
+in a room by itself, with guards around it to prevent anyone having
+converse with the supernatural visitant. In the morning, however,
+it was gone, and in its place was found a bundle of dead leaves.
+The fetish men having been consulted declared that this signified
+that Coomassie itself would disappear, and would become nothing but
+a bundle of dead leaves. This had greatly exercised the credulous
+there.
+
+Two days after his arrival Frank went down at sunset to bathe in
+the river. He had just reached the bank when he heard a cry among
+some white soldiers bathing there, and was just in time to see one
+of them pulled under water by an alligator, which had seized him
+by the leg. Frank had so often heard what was the best thing to
+do that he at once threw off his Norfolk jacket, plunged into the
+stream, and swam to the spot where the eddy on the surface showed
+that a struggle was going on beneath. The water was too muddy to
+see far through it, but Frank speedily came upon the alligator,
+and finding its eyes, shoved his thumbs into them. In an instant
+the creature relaxed his hold of his prey and made off, and Frank,
+seizing the wounded man, swam with him to shore amid the loud
+cheers of the sailors. The soldier, who proved to be a marine,
+was insensible, and his leg was nearly severed above the ankle. He
+soon recovered consciousness, and, being carried to the camp, his
+leg was amputated below the knee, and he was soon afterwards taken
+down to the coast.
+
+It had been known that there were alligators in the river, a young
+one about a yard long having been captured and tied up like a dog
+in the camp, with a string round its neck. But it was thought that
+the noise of building the bridge, and the movement on the banks,
+would have driven them away. After this incident bathing was for
+the most part abandoned.
+
+The affair made Frank a great favorite in the naval brigade, and
+of a night he would, after dinner, generally repair there, and sit
+by the great bonfires, which the tars kept up, and listen to the
+jovial choruses which they raised around them.
+
+Two days after the arrival of Sir Garnet, an ambassador came down
+from the king with a letter, inquiring indignantly why the English
+had attacked the Ashanti troops, and why they had advanced to the
+Prah. An opportunity was taken to impress him with the nature of
+the English arms. A Gatling gun was placed on the river bank, and
+its fire directed upon the surface, and the fountain of water which
+rose as the steady stream of bullets struck its surface astonished,
+and evidently filled with awe, the Ashanti ambassador. On the
+following day this emissary took his departure for Coomassie with
+a letter to the king.
+
+On the 12th the messengers returned with an unsatisfactory answer
+to Sir Garnet's letter; they brought with them Mr. Kuhne, one of
+the German missionaries. He said that it was reported in Coomassie
+that twenty thousand out of the forty thousand Ashantis who had
+crossed the Prah had died. It is probable that this was exaggerated,
+but Mr. Kuhne had counted two hundred and seventy-six men carrying
+boxes containing the bones of chiefs and leading men. As these would
+have fared better than the common herd they would have suffered less
+from famine and dysentery. The army had for the most part broken
+up into small parties and gone to their villages. The wrath of the
+king was great, and all the chiefs who accompanied the army had
+been fined and otherwise punished. Mr. Kuhne said that when Sir
+Garnet's letter arrived, the question of peace or war had been
+hotly contested at a council. The chiefs who had been in the late
+expedition were unanimous in deprecating any further attempt to
+contend with the white man. Those who had remained at home, and who
+knew nothing of the white man's arms, or white man's valor, were
+for war rather than surrender.
+
+Mr. Kuhne was unable to form any opinion what the final determination
+would be. The German missionary had no doubt been restored as
+a sort of peace offering. He was in a bad state of health, and as
+his brother and his brother's wife were among the captives, the
+Ashanti monarch calculated that anxiety for the fate of his relatives
+would induce him to argue as strongly as possible in favor of peace.
+
+Frank left the camp on the Prah some days before the arrival of
+the white troops, having moved forward with the scouts under Lord
+Gifford, to whom his knowledge of the country and language proved
+very valuable. The scouts did their work well. The Ashantis were
+in considerable numbers, but fell back gradually without fighting.
+Russell's regiment were in support, and they pressed forward until
+they neared the foot of the Adansee Hills. On the 16th Rait's
+artillery and Wood's regiment were to advance with two hundred men
+of the 2d West Indians. The Naval Brigade, the Rifle Brigade, the
+42d, and a hundred men of the 23d would be up on the Prah on the
+17th.
+
+News came down that fresh portents had happened at Coomassie. The
+word signifies the town under the tree, the town being so called
+because its founder sat under a broad tree, surrounded by his warriors,
+while he laid out the plan of the future town. The marketplace was
+situated round the tree, which became the great fetish tree of the
+town, under which human sacrifices were offered. On the 6th, the
+day upon which Sir Garnet sent his ultimatum to the king, a bird
+of ill omen was seen to perch upon it, and half an hour afterwards
+a tornado sprang up and the fetish tree was levelled to the ground.
+This caused an immense sensation in Coomassie, which was heightened
+when Sir Garnet's letter arrived, and proved to be dated upon the
+day upon which the fetish tree had fallen.
+
+The Adansee Hills are very steep and covered with trees, but
+without undergrowth. It had been supposed that the Ashantis would
+make their first stand here. Lord Gifford led the way up with the
+scouts, Russell's regiment following behind. Frank accompanied Major
+Russell. When Gifford neared the crest a priest came forward with
+five or six supporters and shouted to him to go back, for that five
+thousand men were waiting there to destroy them. Gifford paused
+for a moment to allow Russell with his regiment to come within
+supporting distance, and then made a rush with his scouts for the
+crest. It was found deserted, the priest and his followers having
+fled hastily, when they found that neither curses nor the imaginary
+force availed to prevent the British from advancing.
+
+The Adansee Hills are about six hundred feet high. Between them
+and the Prah the country was once thick with towns and villages
+inhabited by the Assins. These people, however, were so harassed
+by the Ashantis that they were forced to abandon their country and
+settle in the British protectorate south of the Prah.
+
+Had the Adansee Hills been held by European troops the position
+would have been extremely strong. A hill if clear of trees is of
+immense advantage to men armed with rifles and supported by artillery,
+but to men armed only with guns carrying slugs a distance of fifty
+yards, the advantage is not marked, especially when, as is the case
+with the Ashantis, they always fire high. The crest of the hill
+was very narrow, indeed a mere saddle, with some eight or ten yards
+only of level ground between the steep descents on either side. From
+this point the scouts perceived the first town in the territory of
+the King of Adansee, one of the five great kings of Ashanti. The
+scouts and Russell's regiment halted on the top of the hill, and
+the next morning the scouts went out skirmishing towards Queesa.
+The war drum could be heard beating in the town, but no opposition
+was offered. It was not, however, considered prudent to push
+beyond the foot of the hill until more troops came up. The scouts
+therefore contented themselves with keeping guard, while for the
+next four days Russell's men and the engineers labored incessantly,
+as they had done all the way from the Prah, in making the road over
+the hill practicable.
+
+During this time the scouts often pushed up close to Queesa, and
+reported that the soldiers and population were fast deserting the
+town. On the fifth day it was found to be totally deserted, and
+Major Russell moved the headquarters of his regiment down into it.
+The white officers were much surprised with the structure of the
+huts of this place, which was exactly similar to that of those
+of Coomassie, with their red clay, their alcoved bed places, and
+their little courts one behind the other. Major Russell established
+himself in the chief's palace, which was exactly like the other
+houses except that the alcoves were very lofty, and their roofs
+supported by pillars. These, with their red paint, their arabesque
+adornments, and their quaint character, gave the courtyard the
+precise appearance of an Egyptian temple.
+
+The question whether the Ashantis would or would not fight was
+still eagerly debated. Upon the one hand it was urged that if the
+Ashantis had meant to attack us they would have disputed every
+foot of the passage through the woods after we had once crossed
+the Prah. Had they done so it may be confidently affirmed that we
+could never have got to Coomassie. Their policy should have been to
+avoid any pitched battle, but to throng the woods on either side,
+continually harassing the troops on their march, preventing the men
+working on the roads, and rendering it impossible for the carriers
+to go along unless protected on either side by lines of troops. Even
+when unopposed it was difficult enough to keep the carriers, who
+were constantly deserting, but had they been exposed to continuous
+attacks there would have been no possibility of keeping them
+together.
+
+It was then a strong argument in favor of peace that we had been
+permitted to advance thirty miles into their country without a shot
+being fired. Upon the other hand no messengers had been sent down
+to meet us, no ambassadors had brought messages from the king. This
+silence was ominous; nor were other signs wanting. At one place a
+fetish, consisting of a wooden gun and several wooden daggers all
+pointing towards us, was placed in the middle of the road. Several
+kids had been found buried in calabashes in the path pierced through
+and through with stakes; while a short distance outside Queesa the
+dead body of a slave killed and mutilated but a few hours before
+we entered it was hanging from a tree. Other fetishes of a more
+common sort were to be met at every step, lines of worsted and
+cotton stretched across the road, rags hung upon bushes, and other
+negro trumperies of the same kind.
+
+Five days later the Naval Brigade, with Wood's regiment and Rait's
+battery, marched into Queesa, and the same afternoon the whole
+marched forward to Fomana, the capital of Adansee, situated half a
+mile only from Queesa. This was a large town capable of containing some
+seven or eight thousand inhabitants. The architecture was similar
+to that of Queesa, but the king's palace was a large structure
+covering a considerable extent of ground. Here were the apartments
+of the king himself, of his wives, the fetish room, and the room
+for execution, still smelling horribly of the blood with which
+the floor and walls were sprinkled. The first and largest court of
+the palace had really an imposing effect. It was some thirty feet
+square with an apartment or alcove on each side. The roofs of these
+alcoves were supported by columns about twenty-five feet high. As
+in all the buildings the lower parts were of red clay, the upper
+of white, all being covered with deep arabesque patterns.
+
+Fomana was one of the most pleasant stations which the troops had
+reached since leaving the coast. It lay high above the sea, and
+the temperature was considerably lower than that of the stations
+south of the hills. A nice breeze sprung up each day about noon.
+The nights were comparatively free from fog, and the town itself
+stood upon rising ground resembling in form an inverted saucer. The
+streets were very wide, with large trees at intervals every twenty
+or thirty yards along the middle of the road.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII: THE BATTLE OF AMOAFUL
+
+
+Two days after the arrival at Fomana the remaining members of the
+German mission, two males, a female, and two children, were sent in
+by the king with a letter containing many assurances of his desire
+for peace, but making no mention of the stipulations which Sir
+Garnet Wolseley had laid down. The advance was therefore to continue.
+The rest of the troops came up, and on the 25th Russell's regiment
+advanced to Dompiassee, Wood's regiment and Rait's battery joining
+him the next day. That afternoon the first blood north of the Prah
+was shed. It being known that a body of the enemy were collecting
+at a village a little off the road the force moved against them.
+Lord Gifford led the way, as usual, with his scouts. The enemy
+opened fire as soon as the scouts appeared; but these, with the
+Houssa company of Russell's regiment, rushed impetuously into the
+village, and the Ashantis at once bolted. Two of them were killed
+and five taken prisoners.
+
+The next halting places of the advance troops were Kiang Bossu
+and Ditchiassie. It was known now that Ammon Quatia was lying with
+the Ashanti army at Amoaful, but five miles away, and ambassadors
+arrived from the king finally declining to accept the terms of
+peace. Russell's and Wood's regiments marched forward to Quarman,
+within half a mile of the enemy's outposts. The white troops came
+on to Insafoo, three miles behind. Quarman was stockaded to resist
+an attack. Gordon with the Houssa company lay a quarter of a mile
+in advance of the village, Gifford with his scouts close to the
+edge of the wood. Major Home with the engineers cut a wide path for
+the advance of the troops to within a hundred yards of the village
+which the enemy held.
+
+Every one knew that the great battle of the war would be fought
+next morning. About half past seven on the morning of the 81st of
+January the 42d Regiment entered the village of Quarman, and marched
+through without a halt. Then came Rait's artillery, followed by the
+company of the 23d and by the Naval Brigade. The plan of operations
+was as follows. The 42d Regiment would form the main attacking
+force. They were to drive the enemy's scouts out of Agamassie,
+the village in front, and were then to move straight on, extending
+to the right and left, and, if possible, advance in a skirmishing
+line through the bush. Rait's two little guns were to be in their
+center moving upon the road itself. The right column, consisting
+of half the Naval Brigade, with Wood's regiment, now reduced by
+leaving garrisons at various posts along the road to three companies,
+was to cut a path out to the right and then to turn parallel with
+the main road, so that the head of the column should touch the right
+of the skirmishing line of the 42d. The left column, consisting
+of the other half of the Naval Brigade with the four companies of
+Russell's regiment, was to proceed in similar fashion on the left.
+These columns would therefore form two sides of a hollow square,
+protecting the 42d from any of those flanking movements of which
+the Ashantis are so fond. The company of the 23d was to proceed
+with the headquarter staff. The Rifle Brigade were held in reserve.
+
+Early in the morning Major Home cut the road to within thirty yards
+of the village of Agamassie, and ascertained by listening to the
+voices that there were not more than a score or so of men in the
+village. Gifford had made a circuit in the woods, and had ascertained
+that the Ashanti army was encamped on rising ground across a stream
+behind the village.
+
+Frank had been requested by Sir Garnet Wolseley to accompany the
+42d, as his knowledge of Ashanti tactics might be of value, and
+he might be able by the shouts of the Ashantis to understand the
+orders issued to them. The head of the 42d Regiment experienced no
+opposition whatever until they issued from the bush into the little
+clearing surrounding the village, which consisted only of four or
+five houses. The Ashantis discharged their muskets hastily as the
+first white men showed themselves, but the fire of the leading
+files of the column quickly cleared them away. The 42d pushed on
+through the village, and then forming in skirmishing line, advanced.
+For the first two or three hundred yards they encountered no serious
+opposition, and they were then received by a tremendous fire from
+an unseen foe in front. The left column had not gone a hundred yards
+before they too came under fire. Captain Buckle of the Engineers,
+who was with the Engineer laborers occupied in cutting the path
+ahead of the advancing column, was shot through the heart. A similar
+opposition was experienced by the right.
+
+The roar of the fire was tremendous, so heavy indeed that all
+sound of individual reports was lost, and the noise was one hoarse
+hissing roar. Even the crack of Rait's guns was lost in the general
+uproar, but the occasional rush of a rocket, of which two troughs
+with parties of Rait's men accompanied each wing, was distinctly
+audible.
+
+The 42d could for a time make scarcely any way, and the flanking
+columns were also brought to a stand. Owing to the extreme thickness
+of the wood and their ignorance of the nature of the ground these
+columns were unable to keep in their proper position, and diverged
+considerably. The Ashantis, however, made no effort to penetrate between
+them and the 42d. For an hour this state of things continued. The
+company of the 23d advanced along the main road to help to clear
+the bush, where the Ashantis still fought stubbornly not two hundred
+yards from the village, while two companies of the Rifle Brigade
+were sent up the left hand road to keep touch with the rear of
+Russell's regiment.
+
+When the fight commenced in earnest, and the 42d were brought to
+a stand by the enemy, Frank lay down with the soldiers. Not a foe
+could be seen, but the fire of the enemy broke out incessantly from
+the bushes some twenty yards ahead. The air above was literally
+alive with slugs and a perfect shower of leaves continued to fall
+upon the path. So bewilderingly dense was the bush that the men
+soon lost all idea of the points of the compass, and fired in any
+direction from which the enemy's shots came. Thus it happened that
+the sailors sent in complaints to the general that the 23d and 42d
+were firing at them, while the 42d and 23d made the same complaint
+against the Naval Brigade. Sir Garnet, who had taken up his
+headquarters at the village, sent out repeated instructions to the
+commanding officers to warn their men to avoid this error.
+
+For two hours the fight went on. Then the column to the left found
+that the Ashantis in front of them had fallen back; they had,
+however, altogether lost touch of the 42d. They were accordingly
+ordered to cut a road to the northeast until they came in contact
+with them. In doing so they came upon a partial clearing, where
+a sharp opposition was experienced. The Houssas carried the open
+ground at a rush, but the enemy, as usual, opened a heavy fire
+from the edge of the bush. The Houssas were recalled, and fire was
+opened with the rockets, which soon drove the Ashantis back, and
+the cutting of the path was proceeded with.
+
+In the meantime the 42d was having a hard time of it. They had
+fought their way to the edge of the swamp, beyond which lay an
+immense Ashanti camp, and here the fire was so tremendously heavy
+that the advance was again completely arrested. Not an enemy was to
+be seen, but from every bush of the opposite side puffs of smoke
+came thick and fast, and a perfect rain of slugs swept over the
+ground on which they were lying. Here Rait's gun, for he was only
+able from the narrowness of the path to bring one into position,
+did splendid service. Advancing boldly in front of the line of the
+42d, ably assisted by Lieutenant Saunders, he poured round after
+round of grape into the enemy until their fire slackened a little,
+and the 42d, leaping to their feet, struggled across the swamp,
+which was over knee deep. Step by step they won their way through
+the camp and up the hill. Everywhere the dead Ashantis lay in
+heaps, attesting the terrible effect of the Snider fire and the
+determination with which they had fought.
+
+Beyond the camp, upon the hills the bush was thicker than ever, and
+here, where it was impossible for the white soldiers to skirmish
+through the bush, the Ashantis made a last desperate stand. The
+narrow lane up which alone the troops could pass was torn as if
+by hail with the shower of slugs, while a large tree which stood
+nearly in the center of the path and caused it slightly to swerve,
+afforded some shelter to them from the storm of bullets which the
+42d sent back in return. Here Rait brought his gun up again to
+the front and cleared the lane. The bush was too thick even for
+the Ashantis. The gun stopped firing and with a rush the regiment
+went up the narrow path and out into the open clearing beyond. For
+a short time the Ashantis kept up a fire from the houses, but the
+42d soon drove them out, and a single shot from the gun down the
+wide street which divided the town into two portions, bursting in
+the midst of a group at the further end, killed eight and drove
+all further idea of resistance in that direction from their minds.
+
+It was now about twelve o'clock; but although the Ashantis had
+lost their camp and village, and had suffered terribly, they were
+not yet finally beaten. They had moved the principal part of the
+forces which had been engaged upon our left round to the right, were
+pressing hard upon the column there and the 23d, and were cutting
+in between the latter and the 42d, when a fortunate accident enabled
+us to meet this attack more effectively. The left column had cut
+its path rather too much to the east, and came into the road between
+the 42d and 23d, forming a connecting link between them; while the
+right column, having at last cut away the whole of the brush wood
+in which the Ashantis had so long wedged themselves between them
+and the road, were now in direct communication with the 23d. They
+had been reinforced by a company of the Rifle Brigade. Our front,
+therefore, was now entirely changed, and faced east instead of
+north. The Ashantis in vain tried to break the line, but desisted
+from their efforts.
+
+The firing died away, and it was thought that the battle was over,
+when at about a quarter to one a tremendous fire broke out from the
+rear of the column, showing that the Ashantis were making a last
+and desperate effort to turn our flank, and to retake the village
+from which we had driven them at eight in the morning. So near
+was the rear of the column to the village that the slugs fell fast
+into the reserve who were stationed there. Three companies of the
+Rifles were sent up to strengthen the line, and for three quarters
+of an hour the roar of the musketry was as heavy and continuous
+as it had been at any time during the day. Then, as the enemy's
+fire slackened, Sir Garnet gave the word for the line to advance,
+sweeping round from the rear so as to drive the enemy northwards
+before them.
+
+The movement was admirably executed. The Bonny men of Wood's
+regiment, who had fought silently and steadily all the time that
+they had been on the defensive, now raised their shrill war cry,
+and slinging their rifles and drawing their swords--their favorite
+weapons--dashed forward like so many panthers let loose. By their
+side, skirmishing as quietly and steadily as if on parade, the men
+of the Rifle Brigade searched every bush with their bullets, and
+in five minutes from the commencement of the advance the Ashantis
+were in full and final retreat. The battle ended at about half past
+one, having lasted five hours and a half.
+
+The Ashantis were supposed to have had from fifteen to twenty
+thousand men in the field. What their loss was could not accurately
+be calculated, as they carry off their dead as fast as they fall;
+but where rushes were made by our troops, as they had not time
+to do this, they lay everywhere thick on the ground. By the most
+moderate computation they must have lost over two thousand. Ammon
+Quatia himself was killed, as well as Aboo, one of the six great
+tributary kings. The body of the king's chief executioner was also
+pointed out by some of the prisoners. They fought with extraordinary
+pluck and resolution, as was shown by the fact that although wretchedly
+armed, for upwards of five hours they resisted the attack of troops
+armed with breech loaders, and supported by guns and rockets. Their
+position was a good one, and they had, no doubt, calculated upon
+coming down upon us from the rising ground, either on the flank or
+rear, with advantage, should we succeed in pushing forward.
+
+Upon our side the loss in killed was very slight, not exceeding
+eight or ten. The 42d out of a total of four hundred and fifty had
+a hundred and four wounded, of whom eight were officers. In the
+right hand column, Colonel Wood, six naval officers, and twenty men
+of the Naval Brigade, with many of the native regiment, were wounded.
+Of the sixty engineer laborers twenty were wounded; while of their
+five officers Captain Buckle was killed, Major Home and Lieutenant
+Hare wounded, together with several of their white soldiers. Altogether
+our casualties exceeded two hundred and fifty. Fortunately but a
+small proportion of the wounds were serious.
+
+While the battle was raging at one o'clock Quarman was attacked by
+a strong body of Ashantis coming from the west, probably forming
+part of Essarman Quatia's force. Captain Burnett, who was in command,
+having under him Lieutenant Jones of the 2d West Indian regiment,
+and thirty-five men of that corps and a few natives, conducted the
+defense, and was well seconded by his men. Although the attacking
+force was very greatly superior, and took the little garrison by
+surprise--for they did not expect, while a great battle was raging
+within a distance of a mile, that the Ashantis would be able to
+spare a force to attack a detached party--the garrison defended
+itself with great gallantry and complete success, not only beating
+off the enemy whenever they attacked, but sallying out and assisting
+to bring in a convoy of stores which was close at hand when the
+attack began.
+
+Amoaful was a town capable of containing two or three thousand
+inhabitants. Great quantities of grain and coarse flour were found
+here. These were done up in bundles of dried plantain leaves,
+each bundle weighing from five to fifteen pounds. This capture was
+of great service to the commissariat, as it afforded an abundant
+supply of excellent food for the carriers. The troops were in high
+spirits that night. They had won a battle fought under extreme
+difficulty, and that with a minimum of loss in killed. There were
+therefore no sad recollections to damp the pleasure of victory.
+
+Frank had been twice struck with slugs, but in neither case had
+these penetrated deeply, and he was able to sit round the camp fire
+and to enjoy his glass of rum and water. Two kegs of rum were the
+only stores which that night came up from the rear, thanks to the
+consideration of a commissariat officer, to whom the soldiers felt
+extremely grateful for providing them with an invigorating drink
+after their long and fatiguing labors of the day.
+
+At about a mile and a quarter from Amoaful lay the town of Bequah,
+the capital of one of the most powerful of the Ashanti kings. Here
+a considerable force was known to be collected before the battle,
+and here many of the fugitives were believed to have rallied. It
+would have been impossible to advance and leave this hostile camp
+so close to a station in our rear. Lord Gifford was therefore sent
+out at daybreak to reconnoiter it. He approached it closely, when
+twenty men sprang out from the bush and fired at him, fortunately
+without hitting him. When he returned and made his report the
+general determined to attack and burn the place, and orders were
+issued for a column, consisting of Russell's regiment, Rait's
+battery, and the Naval Brigade, supported by the 42d and commanded
+by Colonel M'Leod, to start at one o'clock.
+
+The march was not opposed through the bush, but as the scouts entered
+the clearing a heavy fire was opened upon them. Lord Gifford and
+almost the whole of his party were more or less severely wounded
+when the sailors rushed in to their support. For a short time the
+enemy kept up a heavy fire from the houses, and then fled, leaving
+about forty of their number dead on the ground. The town, which was
+about twice the size of Fomana, was burned, and the column returned
+to the camp.
+
+A great portion of the town was destroyed and the place stockaded,
+and then all was in readiness for the advance upon Coomassie. Amoaful
+was to be left in charge of the 2d West Indians, who had now come
+up. Each man received four days' rations and each regiment was to
+take charge of its own provision and baggage. The advance started
+at seven in the morning, Russell's regiment, Rait's battery, and
+the Rifle Brigade. Then came the headquarter staff followed by the
+42d and Naval Brigade. The hammocks and rations went on with the
+troops. The rest of the baggage remained behind. The road differed
+in nothing from that which had so long been followed. It bore
+everywhere marks of the retreating enemy, in provisions and other
+articles scattered about, in occasional dark stains, and in its
+plants and grass trampled into the ground, six feet in breadth,
+showing that the usual negro way of walking in single file had
+been abandoned. The rate of progression was slow, as the country
+had to be thoroughly searched by the advance. There were, too, many
+streams to be crossed, each causing a delay.
+
+At one of the villages there was a large camp, where about a thousand
+men were assembled to make a stand. The defense was, however,
+feeble in the extreme, and it was evident that they were greatly
+demoralized by their defeat on the 1st. Russell's regiment carried
+the place at a rush, the enemy firing wildly altogether beyond
+the range of their weapons. Several were killed and the rest took
+precipitately to the bush. A few shots were fired at other places, but
+no real resistance took place. On reaching the village of Agamemmu,
+after having taken six hours in getting over as many miles, the
+column halted, and orders were sent for the baggage to come on
+from Amoaful. The troops were set to work to cut the bush round the
+village, which was a very small one, and a breastwork was thrown
+up round it. The troops were in their little tentes d'abri packed
+as closely together as possible outside the houses, but within the
+stockade. The carriers slept in the street of the village, where
+so thickly did they lie that it was impossible for anyone to make
+his way along without treading upon them.
+
+News came in that night that Captain Butler with the Western Akims
+had arrived within two days' march of Amoaful, but that without
+the slightest reason the king and the whole of his army had left
+Captain Butler and retired suddenly to the Prah. At the same time
+they heard that the army of the Wassaws under Captain Dalrymple
+had also broken up without having come in contact with the enemy.
+From the rear also unpleasant news came up. The attack upon Quarman
+had been no isolated event. Fomana had also been attacked, but the
+garrison there had, after some hours' fighting, repulsed the enemy.
+Several convoys had been assaulted, and the whole road down to the
+Prah was unsafe. The next morning, after waiting till a large convoy
+came safely in, the column marched at nine o'clock, Gifford's scouts,
+Russell's regiment, and Rait's battery being as usual in front. The
+resistance increased with every step, and the head of the column
+was constantly engaged. Several villages were taken by Russell's
+regiment, who, full of confidence in themselves and their officers,
+carried them with a rush in capital style. It was but six miles
+to the Dab, but the ground was swampy and the road intersected by
+many streams. Consequently it was not until after being eight hours
+on the road that the head of the column reached the river, three
+hours later before the whole of the troops and their baggage were
+encamped there.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII: THE CAPTURE OF COOMASSIE
+
+
+Upon the afternoon of the arrival of the English column upon the
+Dah the king made another attempt to arrest their progress, with a
+view no doubt of bringing up fresh reinforcements. A flag of truce
+came in with a letter to the effect that our rapid advance had much
+disconcerted him, which was no doubt true, and that he had not been
+able to make arrangements for the payments claimed; that he would
+send in hostages, but that most of those whom the general had
+asked for were away, and that he could not agree to give the queen
+mother or the heir apparent. These were, of course, the principal
+hostages, indeed the only ones who would be of any real value.
+The answer was accordingly sent back, that unless these personages
+arrived before daybreak the next morning we should force our way
+into Coomassie.
+
+The Dah is a river about fifteen yards wide and three feet deep at
+the deepest place. The Engineers set to work to bridge it directly
+they arrived, Russell's regiment at once crossing the river and
+bivouacking on the opposite bank.
+
+It was unfortunate that this, the first night upon which the troops
+had been unprovided with tents, should have turned out tremendously
+wet. The thunder roared, the lightning flashed, and the rain came
+down incessantly. Tired as the troops were there were few who slept,
+and there was a general feeling of satisfaction when the morning
+broke and the last day of the march began.
+
+The rain held up a little before daybreak, and the sky was clear
+when at six o'clock Wood's Bonny men, who had come up by a forced
+march the evening before, led the advance. Lieutenant Saunders with
+one of Rait's guns came next. The Rifles followed in support.
+
+Before the Bonny men had gone half a mile they were hotly engaged,
+and the combat was for two hours a repetition of that of Amoaful.
+Saunders advanced again and again to the front with his gun, and
+with a few rounds of grape cleared the sides of the path of the
+enemy. At last, however, the Bonny men would advance no farther,
+and Lieutenant Byre, the adjutant of Wood's regiment, was mortally
+wounded.
+
+Lieutenant Saunders sent back to say it was impossible for him to
+get on farther unless supported by white troops. The Rifles were
+then sent forward to take the Bonny men's place, and slowly, very
+slowly, the advance was continued until the clearing round a village
+could be seen fifty yards away. Then the Rifles gave a cheer and
+with a sudden rush swept through to the open and carried the village
+without a check. In the meantime the whole column had been following
+in the rear as the Rifles advanced, and were hotly engaged in
+repelling a series of flank attacks on the part of the enemy. These
+attacks were gallantly persevered in by the Ashantis, who at times
+approached in such masses that the whole bush swayed and moved as
+they pushed forward.
+
+Their loss must have been extremely large, for our men lined the
+road and kept up a tremendous Snider fire upon them at a short
+distance. Our casualties were slight. The road, like almost all
+roads in the country, was sunk two feet in the center below the
+level of the surrounding ground, consequently the men were lying in
+shelter as behind a breastwork, while they kept up their tremendous
+fire upon the foe.
+
+The village once gained, the leading troops were thrown out in a
+circle round it, and the order was given to pass the baggage from
+the rear to the village. The operation was carried out in safety,
+the path being protected by the troops lying in a line along
+it. The baggage once in, the troops closed up to the village, the
+disappointed foe continuing a series of desperate attacks upon
+their rear. These assaults were kept up even after all had reached
+the cleared space of the village, the enemy's war horn sounding
+and the men making the woods re-echo with their wild war cry. The
+Naval Brigade at one time inflicted great slaughter upon the enemy
+by remaining perfectly quiet until the Ashantis, thinking they had
+retired, advanced full of confidence, cheering, when a tremendous
+fire almost swept them away.
+
+It was six hours from the time at which the advance began before
+the rear guard entered the village, and as but a mile and a half
+had been traversed and Coomassie was still six miles away, it
+was evident that if the Ashantis continued to fight with the same
+desperation, and if the baggage had to be carried on step by step
+from village to village, the force would not get halfway on to
+Coomassie by nightfall.
+
+The instant the baggage was all in, preparations were made for a
+fresh advance. Rait's guns, as usual, opened to clear the way, and
+the 42d this time led the advance. The enemy's fire was very heavy
+and the Highlanders at first advanced but slowly, their wounded
+straggling back in quick succession into the village. After twenty
+minutes' work, however, they had pushed back the enemy beyond the
+brow of the hill, and from this point they advanced with great
+rapidity, dashing forward at times at the double, until the foe,
+scared by the sudden onslaught, gave way altogether and literally
+fled at the top of their speed.
+
+War drums and horns, chiefs' stools and umbrellas, littered the next
+village and told how sudden and complete had been the stampede. As
+the 42d advanced troops were from time to time sent forward until
+a despatch came in from Sir A. Alison saying that all the villages
+save the last were taken, that opposition had ceased, and that the
+enemy were in complete rout. Up to this time the attack of the enemy
+upon the rear of the village had continued with unabated vigor, and
+shot and slug continually fell in the place itself. The news from
+the front was soon known and was hailed with a cheer which went
+right round the line of defense, and, whether scared by its note
+of triumph or because they too had received the news, the efforts
+of the enemy ceased at once, and scarcely another shot was fired.
+
+At half past three the baggage was sent forward and the headquarter staff
+and Rifle Brigade followed it. There was no further check. The 42d
+and several companies of the Rifle Brigade entered Coomassie without
+another shot being fired in its defense. Sir Garnet Wolseley soon
+after arrived, and taking off his hat called for three cheers for
+the Queen, which was responded to with a heartiness and vigor which
+must have astonished the Ashantis. These were still in considerable
+numbers in the town, having been told by the king that peace
+was or would be made. They seemed in no way alarmed, but watched,
+as amused and interested spectators, the proceedings of the white
+troops.
+
+The first thing to be done was to disarm those who had guns, and
+this seemed to scare the others, for in a short time the town was
+almost entirely deserted. It was now fast getting dark, and the
+troops bivouacked in the marketplace, which had so often been the
+scene of human sacrifices on a large scale.
+
+Their day's work had, indeed, been a heavy one. They had been
+twelve hours on the road without rest or time to cook food. Water
+was very scarce, no really drinkable water having been met with during
+the day. In addition to this they had undergone the excitement of
+a long and obstinate fight with an enemy concealed in the bush,
+after work of almost equal severity upon the day before, and had
+passed a sleepless night in a tropical rainstorm, yet with the
+exception of a few fever stricken men not a single soldier fell
+out from his place in the ranks.
+
+Nor was the first night in Coomassie destined to be a quiet one.
+Soon after two o'clock a fire broke out in one of the largest of
+the collections of huts, which was soon in a blaze from end to end.
+The engineers pulled down the huts on either side and with great
+difficulty prevented the flames from spreading. These fires were the
+result of carriers and others plundering, and one man, a policeman,
+caught with loot upon him, was forthwith hung from a tree. Several
+others were flogged, and after some hours' excitement the place
+quieted down. Sir Garnet was greatly vexed at the occurrence, as
+he had the evening before sent a messenger to the king asking him
+to come in and make peace, and promising to spare the town if he
+did so.
+
+Although Coomassie was well known to Frank he was still ignorant of
+the character of the interior of the chiefs' houses, and the next
+day he wandered about with almost as much curiosity as the soldiers
+themselves. The interiors even of the palaces of the chiefs showed
+that the Ashantis can have no idea of what we call comfort. The
+houses were filled with dust and litter, and this could not be
+accounted for solely by the bustle and hurry of picking out the things
+worth carrying away prior to the hurried evacuation of the place.
+From the roofs hung masses of spiders' web, thick with dust, while
+sweeping a place out before occupying it brought down an accumulation
+of dust which must have been the result of years of neglect. The
+principal apartments were lumbered up with drums, great umbrellas,
+and other paraphernalia of processions, such as horns, state chairs,
+wooden maces, etc. Before the door of each house stood a tree, at
+the foot of which were placed little idols, calabashes, bits of
+china, bones, and an extraordinary jumble of strange odds and ends
+of every kind, all of which were looked upon as fetish. Over the
+doors and alcoves were suspended a variety of charms, old stone axes
+and arrow tips, nuts, gourds, amulets, beads, and other trumpery
+articles.
+
+The palace was in all respects exactly as the king had left it. The
+royal bed and couch were in their places, the royal chairs occupied
+their usual raised position. Only, curiously enough, all had been
+turned round and over. The storerooms upstairs were untouched, and
+here was found an infinite variety of articles, for the most part
+mere rubbish, but many interesting and valuable: silver plate,
+gold masks, gold cups, clocks, glass, china, pillows, guns, cloth,
+caskets, and cabinets; an olla podrida, which resembled the contents
+of a sale room.
+
+In many of the native apartments of the palace were signs that human
+sacrifice had been carried on to the last minute. Several stools
+were found covered with thick coatings of recently shed blood, and
+a horrible smell of gore pervaded the whole palace, and, indeed, the
+whole town. The palace was full of fetish objects just as trumpery
+and meaningless as those in the humblest cottages. The king's private
+sitting room was, like the rest, an open court with a tree growing
+in it. This tree was covered with fetish objects, and thickly hung
+with spiders' webs. At each end was a small but deep alcove with
+a royal chair, so that the monarch could always sit on the shady
+side.
+
+Along each side of the little court ran a sort of verandah, beneath
+which was an immense assortment of little idols and fetishes of
+all kinds.
+
+From one of the verandahs a door opened into the king's bedroom,
+which was about ten feet by eight. It was very dark, being lighted
+only by a small window about a foot square, opening into the women's
+apartments. At one end was the royal couch, a raised bedstead with
+curtains, and upon a ledge by the near side (that is to say the
+king had to step over the ledge to get into bed) were a number of
+pistols and other weapons, among them an English general's sword,
+bearing the inscription, "From Queen Victoria to the King of Ashanti."
+This sword was presented to the predecessor of King Coffee. Upon
+the floor at the end opposite the bed was a couch upon which the
+king could sit and talk with his wives through the little window.
+
+In the women's apartments all sorts of stuffs, some of European,
+some of native manufacture, were found scattered about in the
+wildest confusion. The terror and horror of the four or five hundred
+ladies, when they found that their husband was about to abandon his
+palace and that they would have no time to remove their treasured
+finery, can be well imagined.
+
+In almost every apartment and yard of the palace were very slightly
+raised mounds, some no larger than a plate, others two or even three
+feet long. These were whitewashed and presented a strong contrast
+to the general red of the ground and lower walls. These patches
+marked the places of graves. The whole palace, in fact, appeared
+to be little better than a cemetery and a slaughterhouse in one.
+A guard was placed over the palace, and here, as elsewhere through
+the town, looting was strictly forbidden.
+
+All day the general expected the arrival of the king, who had sent
+a messenger to say he would be in early. At two o'clock a tremendous
+rainstorm broke over the town, lasting for three hours. In the evening
+it became evident that he was again deceiving us, and orders were
+issued that the troops, in the morning, should push on another three
+miles to the tombs of the kings, where he was said to be staying.
+Later on, however, the news came that the king had gone right away
+into the interior, and as another storm was coming up it became
+evident that the rainy season was setting in in earnest. The
+determination was therefore come to, to burn the town and to start
+for the coast next morning.
+
+All night Major Home with a party of Engineers was at work mining
+the palace and preparing it for explosion, while a prize committee were
+engaged in selecting and packing everything which they considered
+worth taking down to the coast. The news of the change of plan,
+however, had not got abroad, and the troops paraded next morning
+under the belief that they were about to march still farther up the
+country. When it became known that they were bound for the coast
+there was a general brightening of faces, and a buzz of satisfaction
+ran down the ranks. It was true that it was believed that a large
+amount of treasure was collected at the kings' tombs, and the prize
+money would not have been unwelcome, still the men felt that their
+powers were rapidly becoming exhausted. The hope of a fight with
+the foe and of the capture of Coomassie had kept them up upon the
+march, but now that this had been done the usual collapse after
+great exertion followed. Every hour added to the number of fever
+stricken men who would have to be carried down to the coast, and
+each man, as he saw his comrades fall out from the ranks, felt that
+his own turn might come next.
+
+At six o'clock in the morning the advanced guard of the baggage
+began to move out of the town. The main body was off by seven. The
+42d remained as rearguard to cover the Engineers and burning party.
+
+Frank stayed behind to see the destruction of the town. A hundred
+engineer laborers were supplied with palm leaf torches, and in
+spite of the outer coats of thatch being saturated by the tremendous
+rains, the flames soon spread. Volumes of black smoke poured up, and
+soon a huge pile of smoke resting over the town told the Ashantis
+of the destruction of their blood stained capital. The palace was
+blown up, and when the Engineers and 42d marched out from the town
+scarce a house remained untouched by the flames.
+
+The troops had proceeded but a short distance before they had reason
+to congratulate themselves on their retreat before the rains began
+in earnest, and to rejoice over the fact that the thunderstorms did
+not set in three days earlier than they did. The marsh round the
+town had increased a foot in depth, while the next stream, before
+a rivulet two feet and a half deep, had now swollen its banks for
+a hundred and fifty yards on either side, with over five feet and
+a half of water in the old channel.
+
+Across this channel the Engineers had with much difficulty thrown
+a tree, over which the white troops passed, while the native carriers
+had to wade across. It was laughable to see only the eyes of the
+taller men above the water, while the shorter disappeared altogether,
+nothing being seen but the boxes they carried. Fortunately the
+deep part was only three or four yards wide. Thus the carriers by
+taking a long breath on arriving at the edge of the original channel
+were able to struggle across.
+
+This caused a terrible delay, and a still greater one occurred at
+the Dah. Here the water was more than two feet above the bridge
+which the Engineers had made on the passage up. The river was as
+deep as the previous one had been, and the carriers therefore waded
+as before; but the deep part was wider, so wide, indeed, that it
+was impossible for the shorter men to keep under water long enough
+to carry their burdens across. The tall men therefore crossed and
+recrossed with the burdens, the short men swimming over.
+
+The passage across the bridge too was slow and tedious in the extreme.
+Some of the cross planks had been swept away, and each man had to
+feel every step of his way over. So tedious was the work that at
+five in the afternoon it became evident that it would be impossible
+for all the white troops to get across--a process at once slow
+and dangerous--before nightfall. The river was still rising, and
+it was a matter of importance that none should be left upon the
+other side at night, as the Ashantis might, for anything they could
+tell, be gathering in force in the rear. Consequently Sir Archibald
+Alison gave the order for the white troops to strip and to wade
+across taking only their helmets and guns. The clothes were made
+up in bundles and carried over by natives swimming, while others
+took their places below in case any of the men should be carried
+off their feet by the stream. All passed over without any accident.
+
+One result, however, was a laughable incident next morning, an
+incident which, it may be safely asserted, never before occurred in
+the British army. It was quite dark before the last party were over,
+and the natives collecting the clothes did not notice those of one
+of the men who had undressed at the foot of a tree. Consequently he
+had to pass the night, a very wet one, in a blanket, and absolutely
+paraded with his regiment in the morning in nothing but a helmet and
+rifle. The incident caused immense laughter, and a native swimming
+across the river found and brought back his clothes.
+
+As the journeys were necessarily slow and tedious, owing to the
+quantity of baggage and sick being carried down, Frank now determined
+to push straight down to the coast, and, bidding goodbye to Sir
+Garnet and the many friends he had made during the expedition, he
+took his place for the first time in the hammock, which with its
+bearers had accompanied him from Cape Coast, and started for the
+sea. There was some risk as far as the Prah, for straggling bodies
+of the enemy frequently intercepted the convoys. Frank, however,
+met with no obstacle, and in ten days after leaving the army reached
+Cape Coast.
+
+Ostik implored his master to take him with him across the sea; but
+Frank pointed out to him that he would not be happy long in England,
+where the customs were so different from his own, and where in winter
+he would feel the cold terribly. Ostik yielded to the arguments,
+and having earned enough to purchase for years the small comforts
+and luxuries dear to the negro heart, he agreed to start for the
+Gaboon immediately Frank left for England.
+
+On his first arrival at Cape Coast he had to his great satisfaction
+found that the Houssas who had escaped from Coomassie had succeeded
+in reaching the coast in safety, and that having obtained their
+pay from the agent they had sailed for their homes.
+
+Three days after Frank's arrival at Cape Coast the mail steamer
+came along, and he took passage for England. Very strange indeed
+did it feel to him when he set foot in Liverpool. Nearly two years
+and a half had elapsed since he had sailed, and he had gone through
+adventures sufficient for a lifetime. He was but eighteen years
+old now, but he had been so long accustomed to do man's work that
+he felt far older than he was. The next day on arriving in town he
+put up at the Charing Cross Hotel and then sallied out to see his
+friends.
+
+He determined to go first of all to visit the porter who had been
+the earliest friend he had made in London, and then to drive to
+Ruthven's, where he was sure of a hearty welcome. He had written
+several times, since it had been possible for him to send letters,
+to his various friends, first of all to his sister, and the doctor,
+to Ruthven, to the porter, and to the old naturalist. He drove to
+London Bridge Station, and there learned that the porter had been
+for a week absent from duty, having strained his back in lifting a
+heavy trunk. He therefore drove to Ratcliff Highway. The shop was
+closed, but his knock brought the naturalist to the door.
+
+"What can I do for you, sir?" he asked civilly.
+
+"Well, in the first place, you can shake me by the hand."
+
+The old man started at the voice.
+
+"Why, 'tis Frank!" he exclaimed, "grown and sunburnt out of all
+recollection. My dear boy, I am glad indeed to see you. Come in,
+come in; John is inside."
+
+Frank received another hearty greeting, and sat for a couple of
+hours chatting over his adventures. He found that had he arrived
+a fortnight later he would not have found either of his friends.
+The porter was in a week about to be married again to a widow who
+kept a small shop and was in comfortable circumstances. The naturalist
+had sold the business, and was going down into the country to live
+with a sister there.
+
+After leaving them Frank drove to the residence of Sir James Ruthven
+in Eaton Square. Frank sent in his name and was shown up to the
+drawing room. A minute later the door opened with a crash and his
+old schoolfellow rushed in.
+
+"My dear, dear, old boy," he said wringing Frank's hand, "I am
+glad to see you; but, bless me, how you have changed! How thin you
+are, and how black! I should have passed you in the street without
+knowing you; and you look years older than I do. But that is no
+wonder after all you've gone through. Well, when did you arrive,
+and where are your things? Why have you not brought them here?"
+
+Frank said that he had left them at the hotel, as he was going down
+early the next morning to Deal. He stayed, however, and dined with
+his friend, whose father received him with the greatest cordiality
+and kindness.
+
+On leaving the hotel next morning he directed his portmanteau to
+be sent in the course of the day to Sir James Ruthven's. He had
+bought a few things at Cape Coast, and had obtained a couple of
+suits of clothes for immediate use at Liverpool.
+
+On arriving at Deal he found his sister much grown and very well
+and happy. She was almost out of her mind with delight at seeing
+him. He stayed two or three days with her and then returned to town
+and took up his abode in Eaton Square.
+
+"Well, my dear boy, what are you thinking of doing?" Sir James
+Ruthven asked next morning at breakfast. "You have had almost enough
+of travel, I should think."
+
+"Quite enough, sir," Frank said. "I have made up my mind that
+I shall be a doctor. The gold necklace which I showed you, which
+Ammon Quatia gave me, weighs over twenty pounds, and as it is of
+the purest gold it is worth about a thousand pounds, a sum amply
+sufficient to keep me and pay my expenses till I have passed.
+Besides, Mr. Goodenough has, I believe, left me something in his
+will. I sent home one copy to his lawyer and have brought the other
+with me. I must call on the firm this morning. I have also some
+thirty pounds' weight in gold which was paid me by the king for
+the goods he took, but this, of course, belongs to Mr. Goodenough's
+estate."
+
+Upon calling upon the firm of lawyers, and sending in his name, he
+was at once shown in to the principal.
+
+"I congratulate you on your safe return, sir," the gentleman said.
+"You have called, of course, in reference to the will of the late
+Mr. Goodenough."
+
+"Yes," Frank replied. "I sent home one copy from Coomassie and have
+brought another with me."
+
+"We received the first in due course," the gentleman said, taking
+the document Frank held out to him. "You are, of course, acquainted
+with its contents."
+
+"No," Frank answered, "beyond the fact that Mr. Goodenough told me
+he had left me a legacy."
+
+"Then I have pleasant news to give you," the lawyer said. "Mr.
+Goodenough died possessed of about sixty thousand pounds. He left
+fifteen thousand each to his only surviving nephew and niece.
+Fifteen thousand pounds he has divided among several charitable
+and scientific institutions. Fifteen thousand pounds he has left
+to you."
+
+Frank gave a little cry of surprise.
+
+"The will is an eminently just and satisfactory one," the lawyer
+said, "for Mr. Goodenough has had but little intercourse with his
+relations, who live in Scotland, and they had no reason to expect
+to inherit any portion of his property. They are, therefore, delighted
+with the handsome legacy they have received. I may mention that Mr.
+Goodenough ordered that in the event of your not living to return
+to England, five thousand pounds of the portion which would have
+come to you was to be paid to trustees for the use of your sister,
+the remaining ten thousand to be added to the sum to be divided
+among the hospitals."
+
+"This is indeed a surprise," Frank said; "and I shall be obliged,
+sir, if you will at once draw out a paper for me to sign settling
+the five thousand pounds upon my sister. Whatever may happen then
+she will be provided for."
+
+The accession of this snug and most unexpected fortune in no way
+altered Frank's views as to his future profession. He worked hard
+and steadily and passed with high honors. He spent another three
+years in hospital work, and then purchased a partnership in an
+excellent West End practice. He is now considered one of the most
+rising young physicians of the day. His sister keeps house for him
+in Harley Street; but it is doubtful whether she will long continue
+to do so. The last time Dick Ruthven was at home on leave he persuaded
+her that it was her bounden duty to endeavor to make civilian life
+bearable to him when he should attain captain's rank, and, in
+accordance with his father's wish, retire from the army, events
+which are expected to take place in a few months' time.
+
+Ruthven often laughs and tells Frank that he is a good soldier
+spoiled, and that it is a pity a man should settle down as a doctor
+who had made his way in life "by sheer pluck."
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of By Sheer Pluck, by G. A. Henty
+
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+"http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
+<html>
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content=
+"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+<title>BY SHEER PLUCK:</title>
+</head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of By Sheer Pluck, by G. A. Henty
+#19 in our series by G. A. Henty
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
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+**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: By Sheer Pluck
+       A Tale of the Ashanti War
+
+Author: G. A. Henty
+
+Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8576]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 25, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BY SHEER PLUCK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Martin Robb
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<h1>BY SHEER PLUCK:</h1>
+
+<br>
+<h3>A TALE OF THE ASHANTI WAR.</h3>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>BY G. A. HENTY</h2>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<br>
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I: A FISHING EXCURSION</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II: A MAD DOG</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III: A TOUGH YARN</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV: A RISING TIDE</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V: ALONE IN THE WORLD</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI: THE FIRST STEP</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII: AN OLD FRIEND</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII: TO THE DARK
+CONTINENT</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX: THE START INLAND</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X: LOST IN THE FOREST</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI: A HOSTILE TRIBE</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII: A NEGRO'S STORY</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII: A FUGITIVE
+SLAVE</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV: A CHRISTIAN TOWN</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV: THE AMAZONS OF
+DAHOMET</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI: CAPTIVES IN
+COOMASSIE</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII: THE INVASION OF FANTI
+LAND</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII: THE ATTACK ON
+ELMINA</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX: THE TIDE TURNED</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX: THE WHITE TROOPS</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI: THE ADVANCE TO THE
+PRAH</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII: THE BATTLE OF
+AMOAFUL</a></h3>
+
+<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII: THE CAPTURE OF
+COOMASSIE</a></h3>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I: A FISHING
+EXCURSION</h1>
+
+<p>"Now, Hargate, what a fellow you are! I've been looking for
+you everywhere. Don't you know it's the House against the Town
+boys. It's lucky that the Town have got the first innings; they
+began a quarter of an hour ago."</p>
+
+<p>"How tiresome!" Frank Hargate said. "I was watching a most
+interesting thing here. Don't you see this little chaffinch nest
+in the bush, with a newly hatched brood. There was a small black
+snake threatening the nest, and the mother was defending it with
+quivering wings and open beak. I never saw a prettier thing. I
+sat quite still and neither of them seemed to notice me. Of
+course I should have interfered if I had seen the snake getting
+the best of it. When you came running up like a cart horse, the
+snake glided away in the grass, and the bird flew off. Oh, dear!
+I am sorry. I had forgotten all about the match."</p>
+
+<p>"I never saw such a fellow as you are, Hargate. Here's the
+opening match of the season, and you, who are one of our best
+bats, poking about after birds and snakes. Come along; Thompson
+sent me and two or three other fellows off in all directions to
+find you. We shall be half out before you're back. Wilson took
+James's wicket the first ball."</p>
+
+<p>Frank Hargate leaped to his feet, and, laying aside for the
+present all thoughts of his favorite pursuit, started off at a
+run to the playing field. His arrival there was greeted with a
+mingled chorus of welcome and indignation. Frank Hargate was,
+next to Thompson the captain of the Town eleven, the best bat
+among the home boarders. He played a steady rather than a
+brilliant game, and was noted as a good sturdy sticker. Had he
+been there, Thompson would have put him in at first, in order to
+break the bowling of the House team. As it was, misfortunes had
+come rapidly. Ruthven and Handcock were bowling splendidly, and
+none of the Town boys were making any stand against them.
+Thompson himself had gone in when the fourth wicket fell, and was
+still in, although two wickets had since fallen, for only four
+runs, and the seventh wicket fell just as Frank arrived, panting,
+on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"Confound you, Hargate!" Thompson shouted, "where have you
+been? And not even in flannels yet."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm very sorry," Frank shouted back cheerfully, "and never
+mind the flannels, for once. Shall I come in now?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," Thompson said. "You'd better get your wind first. Let
+Fenner come in next."</p>
+
+<p>Fenner stayed in four overs, adding two singles as his share,
+while Thompson put on a three and a two. Then Fenner was caught.
+Thirty-one runs for eight wickets! Then Frank took the bat, and
+walked to the ground. Thompson came across to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, Hargate, you have made a nice mess of it, and the
+game looks as bad as can be. Whatever you do, play carefully.
+Don't let out at anything that comes straight. The great thing is
+to bother their bowling a bit. They're so cocky now, that pretty
+near every ball is straight on the wickets. Be content with
+blocking for a bit, and Handcock will soon go off. He always gets
+savage if his bowling is collared."</p>
+
+<p>Frank obeyed orders. In the next twenty minutes he only scored
+six runs, all in singles, while Thompson, who was also playing
+very carefully, put on thirteen. The game looked more hopeful for
+the Town boys. Then there was a shout from the House, as
+Thompson's middle wicket was sent flying. Childers, who was the
+last of the team, walked out.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Childers," Thompson said, "don't you hit at a ball.
+You're safe to be bowled or caught if you do. Just lift your bat,
+and block them each time. Now, Frank, it's your turn to score.
+Put them on as fast as you can. It's no use playing carefully any
+longer."</p>
+
+<p>Frank set to to hit in earnest. He had now got his eye well
+in, and the stand which he and Thompson had made together, had
+taken the sting out of the bowling. The ball which had taken
+Thompson's wicket was the last of the over. Consequently the next
+came to him. It was a little wide, and Frank, stepping out, drove
+it for four. A loud shout rose from the Town boys. There had only
+been one four scored before, during the innings. Off the next
+ball Frank scored a couple, blocked the next, and drove the last
+of the over past long leg for four. The next over Childers
+strictly obeyed orders, blocking each ball. Then it was Frank's
+turn again, and seven more went up on the board. They remained
+together for just fifteen minutes, but during that time
+thirty-one had been added to the score. Frank was caught at cover
+point, having added twenty-eight since Thompson left him, the
+other three being credited to Childers. The total was eighty-one
+-- not a bad score in a school match.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you've redeemed yourself," Thompson said, as Frank
+walked to the tent. "You played splendidly, old fellow, when you
+did come. If we do as well next innings we are safe. They're not
+likely to average eighty. Now get on your wicket-keeping gloves.
+Green and I will bowl."</p>
+
+<p>The House scored rapidly at first, and fifty runs were put on
+with the loss of four wickets. Then misfortune fell upon them,
+and the remaining six fell for nineteen. The next innings Frank
+went in first, but was caught when the score stood at fifteen.
+Thompson made fourteen, but the rest scored but badly, and the
+whole were out for forty-eight.</p>
+
+<p>The House had sixty-one to get to win. Six wickets had fallen
+for fifty-one runs, when Thompson put Childers on to bowl. The
+change was a fortunate one. Ruthven's stumps were lowered at the
+first ball. Handcock was caught off the second. The spirits of
+the Town boys rose. There were but two wickets more, and still
+ten runs to get to win. The House played cautiously now, and
+overs were sent down without a run. Then off a ball from Childers
+a four was scored, but the next ball leveled the outside stump.
+Then by singles the score mounted up until a tremendous shout
+from the House announced that the game was saved, sixty runs
+being marked by the scorers. The next ball, the Town boys replied
+even more lustily, for Childers ball removed the bails, and the
+game ended in a tie. Both parties were equally well satisfied,
+and declared that a better game had never been played at Dr.
+Parker's. As soon as the game was over Frank, without waiting to
+join in the general talk over the game, put on his coat and
+waistcoat and started at a run for home.</p>
+
+<p>Frank Hargate was an only son. His mother lived in a tiny
+cottage on the outskirts of Deal. She was a widow, her husband,
+Captain Hargate, having died a year before. She had only her
+pension as an officer's widow, a pittance that scarce sufficed
+even for the modest wants of herself, Frank, and her little
+daughter Lucy, now six years old.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope I have not kept tea waiting, mother," Frank said as he
+ran in. "It is not my beetles and butterflies this time. We have
+been playing a cricket match, and a first rate one it was. Town
+boys against the House. It ended in a tie."</p>
+
+<p>"You are only a quarter of an hour late," his mother said,
+smiling, "which is a great deal nearer being punctual than is
+usually the case when you are out with your net. We were just
+going to begin, for I know your habits too well to give you more
+than a quarter of an hour's law."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid I am horridly unpunctual," Frank said, "and yet,
+mother, I never go out without making up my mind that I will be
+in sharp to time. But somehow there is always something which
+draws me away."</p>
+
+<p>"It makes no matter, Frank. If you are happy and amused I am
+content, and if the tea is cold it is your loss, not ours. Now,
+my boy, as soon as you have washed your hands we will have
+tea."</p>
+
+<p>It was a simple meal, thick slices of bread and butter and
+tea, for Mrs. Hargate could only afford to put meat upon the
+table once a day, and even for that several times in the week
+fish was substituted, when the weather was fine and the fishing
+boats returned, when well laden. Frank fortunately cared very
+little what he ate, and what was good enough for his mother was
+good enough for him. In his father's lifetime things had been
+different, but Captain Hargate had fallen in battle in New
+Zealand. He had nothing besides his pay, and his wife and
+children had lived with him in barracks until his regiment was
+ordered out to New Zealand, when he had placed his wife in the
+little cottage she now occupied. He had fallen in an attack on a
+Maori pah, a fortnight after landing in New Zealand. He had
+always intended Frank to enter the military profession, and had
+himself directed his education so long as he was at home.</p>
+
+<p>The loss of his father had been a terrible blow for the boy,
+who had been his constant companion when off duty. Captain
+Hargate had been devoted to field sports and was an excellent
+naturalist. The latter taste Frank had inherited from him. His
+father had brought home from India -- where the regiment had been
+stationed until it returned for its turn of home service four
+years before he left New Zealand -- a very large quantity of
+skins of birds which he had shot there. These he had stuffed and
+mounted, and so dexterous was he at the work, so natural and
+artistic were the groups of birds, that he was enabled to add
+considerably to his income by sending these up to the shop of a
+London naturalist. He had instructed Frank in his methods, and
+had given him one of the long blowguns used by some of the hill
+tribes in India. The boy had attained such dexterity in its use
+that he was able with his clay pellets to bring down sitting
+birds, however small, with almost unerring accuracy.</p>
+
+<p>These he stuffed and mounted, arranging them with a taste and
+skill which delighted the few visitors at his mother's
+cottage.</p>
+
+<p>Frank was ready to join in a game of football or cricket when
+wanted, and could hold his own in either. But he vastly preferred
+to go out for long walks with his blowgun, his net, and his
+collecting boxes. At home every moment not required for the
+preparation of his lessons was spent in mounting and arranging
+his captures. He was quite ready to follow the course his father
+proposed for him, and to enter the army. Captain Hargate had been
+a very gallant officer, and the despatches had spoken most highly
+of the bravery with which he led his company into action in the
+fight in which he lost his life. Therefore Mrs. Hargate hoped
+that Frank would have little difficulty in obtaining a commission
+without purchase when the time for his entering the army
+arrived.</p>
+
+<p>Frank's desire for a military life was based chiefly upon the
+fact that it would enable him to travel to many parts of the
+world, and to indulge his taste for natural history to the
+fullest. He was but ten years old when he left India with the
+regiment, but he had still a vivid recollection of the lovely
+butterflies and bright birds of that country.</p>
+
+<p>His father had been at pains to teach him that a student of
+natural history must be more than a mere collector, and that like
+other sciences it must be methodically studied. He possessed an
+excellent library of books upon the subject, and although Frank
+might be ignorant of the name of any bird or insect shown to him
+he could at once name the family and species.</p>
+
+<p>In the year which Frank had been at school at Dr. Parker's he
+had made few intimate friends. His habits of solitary wandering
+and studious indoor work had hindered his becoming the chum of
+any of his schoolfellows, and this absence of intimacy had been
+increased by the fact that the straitness of his mother's means
+prevented his inviting any of his schoolfellows to his home. He
+had, indeed, brought one or two of the boys, whose tastes lay in
+the direction of his own, to the house, to show them his
+collections of birds and insects. But he declined their
+invitations to visit them, as he was unable to return their
+hospitality, and was too proud to eat and drink at other fellows'
+houses when he could not ask them to do the same at his own. It
+was understood at Dr. Parker's that Frank Hargate's people were
+poor, but it was known that his father had been killed in battle.
+There are writers who depict boys as worshipers of wealth, and
+many pictures have been drawn of the slights and indignities to
+which boys, whose means are inferior to those of their
+schoolfellows, are subject. I am happy to believe that this is a
+libel. There are, it is true, toadies and tuft hunters among boys
+as among men. That odious creature, the parasite of the Greek and
+Latin plays, exists still, but I do not believe that a boy is one
+whit the less liked, or is ever taunted with his poverty,
+provided he is a good fellow. Most of the miseries endured by
+boys whose pocket money is less abundant than that of their
+fellows are purely self inflicted. Boys and men who are always on
+the lookout for slights will, of course, find what they seek. But
+the lad who is not ashamed of what is no fault of his own, who
+frankly and manfully says, "I can't afford it," will not find
+that he is in any way looked down upon by those of his
+schoolfellows whose good opinion is in the smallest degree worth
+having.</p>
+
+<p>Certainly this was so in the case of Frank Hargate. He was
+never in the slightest degree ashamed of saying, "I can't afford
+it;" and the fact that he was the son of an officer killed in
+battle gave him a standing among the best in the school in spite
+of his want of pocket money.</p>
+
+<p>Frank was friends with many of the fishermen, and these would
+often bring him strange fish and sea creatures brought up in
+their nets, instead of throwing them back into the sea.</p>
+
+<p>During the holidays he would sometimes go out with them for
+twenty-four hours in their fishing-boats. His mother made no
+objection to this, as she thought that the exercise and sea air
+were good for his health, and that the change did him good. Frank
+himself was so fond of the sea that he was half disposed to adopt
+it instead of the army as a profession. But his mother was
+strongly opposed to the idea, and won him to her way of thinking
+by pointing out that although a sailor visits many ports he stays
+long at none of them, and that in the few hours' leave he might
+occasionally obtain he would be unable to carry out his favorite
+pursuits.</p>
+
+<p>"Hargate," Ruthven, who was one of the oldest of the House
+boys, and was about Frank's age, that is about fifteen years old,
+said a few days after the match, "the Doctor has given Handcock
+and Jones and myself leave to take a boat and go out this
+afternoon. We mean to start soon after dinner, and shall take
+some lines and bait with us. We have got leave till lockup, so we
+shall have a long afternoon of it. Will you come with us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Ruthven," Frank said; "I should like it very much,
+but you know I'm short of pocket money, and I can't pay my share
+of the boat, so I would rather leave it alone."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nonsense, Hargate!" Ruthven answered; "we know money is
+not your strong point, but we really want you to go with us. You
+can manage a boat better than any of us, and you will really
+oblige us if you will go with us."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, if you put it in that way," Frank said, "I shall be glad
+to go with you; but I do not think," he went on, looking at the
+sky, "that the weather looks very settled. However, if you do not
+mind the chance of a ducking, I don't."</p>
+
+<p>"That's agreed then," Ruthven said; "will you meet us near the
+pier at three o'clock?"</p>
+
+<p>"All right. I'll be punctual."</p>
+
+<p>At the appointed hour the four lads met on the beach. Ruthven
+and his companions wanted to choose a light rowing boat, but
+Frank strongly urged them to take a much larger and heavier one.
+"In the first place," he said, "the wind is blowing off shore,
+and although it's calm here it will be rougher farther out; and,
+unless I'm mistaken, the wind is getting up fast. Besides this it
+will be much more comfortable to fish from a good sized
+boat."</p>
+
+<p>His comrades grumbled at the extra labor which the large boat
+would entail in rowing. However, they finally gave in and the
+boat was launched.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out, Master Hargate," the boatman said as they started;
+"you'd best not go out too far, for the wind is freshening fast,
+and we shall have, I think, a nasty night."</p>
+
+<p>The boys thought little of the warning, for the sky was bright
+and blue, broken only by a few gauzy white clouds which streaked
+it here and there. They rowed out about a mile, and then laying
+in their oars, lowered their grapnel and began to fish. The sport
+was good. The fish bit freely and were rapidly hauled on board.
+Even Frank was so absorbed in the pursuit that he paid no
+attention to the changing aspect of the sky, the increasing
+roughness of the sea, or the rapidly rising wind.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a heavy drop or two of rain fell in the boat. All
+looked up.</p>
+
+<p>"We are in for a squall," Frank exclaimed, "and no mistake. I
+told you you would get a ducking, Ruthven."</p>
+
+<p>He had scarcely spoken when the squall was upon them. A deluge
+of rain swept down, driven by a strong squall of wind.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit in the bottom of the boat," Frank said; "this is a
+snorter."</p>
+
+<p>Not a word was said for ten minutes, long before which all
+were drenched to the skin. With the rain a sudden darkness had
+fallen, and the land was entirely invisible. Frank looked
+anxiously towards the shore. The sea was getting up fast, and the
+boat tugging and straining at the cord of the grapnel. He shook
+his head. "It looks very bad," he said to himself. "If this
+squall does not abate we are going to have a bad time of it."</p>
+
+<p>A quarter of an hour after it commenced the heavy downpour of
+rain ceased, or rather changed into a driving sleet. It was still
+extremely dark, a thick lead colored cloud overspread the sky.
+Already the white horses showed how fast the sea was rising, and
+the wind showed no signs of falling with the cessation of the
+rain storm. The boat was laboring at her head rope and dipping
+her nose heavily into the waves.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, you fellows," Frank shouted, "we must take to the
+oars. If the rope were a long one we might ride here, but you
+know it little more than reached the ground when we threw it out.
+I believe she's dragging already, and even if she isn't she would
+pull her head under water with so short a rope when the sea gets
+up. We'd better get out the oars and row to shore, if we can,
+before the sea gets worse."</p>
+
+<p>The lads got up and looked round, and their faces grew pale
+and somewhat anxious as they saw how threatening was the aspect
+of the sea. They had four oars on board, and these were soon in
+the water and the grapnel hauled up. A few strokes sufficed to
+show them that with all four rowing the boat's head could not be
+kept towards the shore, the wind taking it and turning the boat
+broadside on.</p>
+
+<p>"This will never do," Frank said. "I will steer and you row,
+two oars on one side and one on the other. I will take a spell
+presently.</p>
+
+<p>"Row steadily, Ruthven," he shouted; "don't spurt. We have a
+long row before us and must not knock ourselves up at the
+beginning."</p>
+
+<p>For half an hour not a word was spoken beyond an occasional
+cheery exhortation from Frank. The shore could be dimly seen at
+times through the driving mist, and Frank's heart sank as he
+recognized the fact that it was further off than it had been when
+they first began to row. The wind was blowing a gale now, and,
+although but two miles from shore, the sea was already rough for
+an open boat.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Ruthven, you take a spell now," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Although the rowers had from time to time glanced over their
+shoulders, they could not, through the mist, form any idea of
+their position. When Ruthven took the helm he exclaimed, "Good
+gracious, Frank! the shore is hardly visible. We are being blown
+out to sea."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid we are," Frank said; "but there is nothing to do
+but to keep on rowing. The wind may lull or it may shift and give
+us a chance of making for Ramsgate. The boat is a good sea boat,
+and may keep afloat even if we are driven out to sea. Or if we
+are missed from shore they may send the lifeboat out after us.
+That is our best chance."</p>
+
+<p>In another quarter of an hour Ruthven was ready to take
+another spell at the oar. "I fear," Frank shouted to him as he
+climbed over the seat, "there is no chance whatever of making
+shore. All we've got to do is to row steadily and keep her head
+dead to wind. Two of us will do for that. You and I will row now,
+and let Handcock and Jones steer and rest by turns. Then when we
+are done up they can take our places."</p>
+
+<p>In another hour it was quite dark, save for the gray light
+from the foaming water around. The wind was blowing stronger than
+ever, and it required the greatest care on the part of the
+steersman to keep her dead in the eye of the wind. Handcock was
+steering now, and Jones lying at the bottom of the boat, where he
+was sheltered, at least from the wind. All the lads were plucky
+fellows and kept up a semblance of good spirits, but all in their
+hearts knew that their position was a desperate one.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II: A MAD
+DOG</h1>
+
+<p>"Don't you think, Hargate," Ruthven shouted in his ear, "we
+had better run before it? It's as much as Handcock can do to keep
+her head straight."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Frank shouted back, "if it were not for the Goodwins.
+They lie right across ahead of us."</p>
+
+<p>Ruthven said no more, and for another hour he and Frank rowed
+their hardest. Then Handcock and Jones took the oars. Ruthven lay
+down in the bottom of the boat and Frank steered. After rowing
+for another hour Frank found that he could no longer keep the
+boat head to wind. Indeed, he could not have done so for so long
+had he not shipped the rudder and steered the boat with an oar,
+through a notch cut in the stern for the purpose. Already the
+boat shipped several heavy seas, and Ruthven was kept hard at
+work baling with a tin can in which they had brought out
+bait.</p>
+
+<p>"Ruthven, we must let her run. Put out the other oar, we must
+watch our time. Row hard when I give the word."</p>
+
+<p>The maneuver was safely accomplished, and in a minute the boat
+was flying before the gale.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep on rowing," Frank said, "but take it easily. We must try
+and make for the tail of the sands. I can see the lightship."</p>
+
+<p>Frank soon found that the wind was blowing too directly upon
+the long line of sands to enable him to make the lightship.
+Already, far ahead, a gray light seemed to gleam up, marking
+where the sea was breaking over the dreaded shoal.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid it is no use," he said. "Now, boys, we had best,
+each of us, say our prayers to God, and prepare to die bravely,
+for I fear that there is no hope for us."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence in the boat for the next five minutes, as
+the boys sat with their heads bent down. More than one choking
+sob might have been heard, had the wind lulled, as they thought
+of the dear ones at home. Suddenly there was a flash of light
+ahead, and the boom of a gun directly afterwards came upon their
+ears. Then a rocket soared up into the air.</p>
+
+<p>"There is a vessel on the sands," Frank exclaimed. "Let us
+make for her. If we can get on board we shall have a better
+chance than here."</p>
+
+<p>The boys again bent to their oars, and Frank tried to steer
+exactly for the spot whence the rocket had gone up. Presently
+another gun flashed out.</p>
+
+<p>"There she is," he said. "I can see her now against the line
+of breakers. Take the oar again, Ruthven. We must bring up under
+shelter of her lee."</p>
+
+<p>In another minute or two they were within a hundred yards of
+the ship. She was a large vessel, and lay just at the edge of the
+broken water. The waves, as they struck her, flew high above her
+deck. As the boat neared her a bright light suddenly sprang up.
+The ship was burning a blue light. Then a faint cheer was
+heard.</p>
+
+<p>"They see us," Frank said. "They must think we are the
+lifeboat. What a disappointment for them! Now, steady, lads, and
+prepare to pull her round the instant we are under her stern. I
+will go as near as I dare."</p>
+
+<p>Frank could see the people on deck watching the boat. They
+must have seen now that she was not the lifeboat; but even in
+their own danger they must have watched with intense interest the
+efforts of the tiny boat, adrift in the raging sea, to reach
+them. Frank steered the boat within a few yards of the stern.
+Then Jones and Ruthven, who were both rowing the same side,
+exerted themselves to the utmost, while Frank pushed with the
+steering oar. A minute later, and they lay in comparatively still
+water, under the lee of the ship. Two or three ropes were thrown
+them, and they speedily climbed on board.</p>
+
+<p>"We thought you were the lifeboat at first," the captain said,
+as they reached the deck; "but, of course, they cannot be here
+for a couple of hours yet."</p>
+
+<p>"We were blown off shore, sir," Frank said, "and have been
+rowing against the wind for hours."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my lads," the captain said, "you have only prolonged
+your lives for a few minutes, for she will not hold together
+long."</p>
+
+<p>The ship, indeed, presented a pitiable appearance. The masts
+had already gone, the bulwark to windward had been carried away,
+and the hull lay heeled over at a sharp angle, her deck to
+leeward being level with the water. The crew were huddled down
+near the lee bulwarks, sheltered somewhat by the sharp slope of
+the deck from the force of the wind. As each wave broke over the
+ship, tons of water rushed down upon them. No more guns were
+fired, for the lashing had broken and the gun run down to
+leeward. Already there were signs that the ship would break up
+ere long, and no hope existed that rescue could arrive in
+time.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly there was a great crash, and the vessel parted
+amidships.</p>
+
+<p>"A few minutes will settle it now," the captain said. "God
+help us all."</p>
+
+<p>At this moment there was a shout to leeward, which was
+answered by a scream of joy from those on board the wreck, for
+there, close alongside, lay the lifeboat, whose approach had been
+entirely unseen. In a few minutes the fifteen men who remained of
+the twenty-two, who had formed the crew of the wreck, and the
+four boys, were on board her. A tiny sail was set and the boat's
+head laid towards Ramsgate.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad to see you, Master Hargate," the sailor who rowed
+one of the stroke oars shouted. He was the man who had lent them
+the boat. "I was up in the town looking after my wife, who is
+sick, and clean forgot you till it was dark. Then I ran down and
+found the boat hadn't returned, so I got the crew together and we
+came out to look for you, though we had little hope of finding
+you. It was lucky for you we did, and for the rest of them too,
+for so it chanced that we were but half a mile away when the ship
+fired her first gun, just as we had given you up and determined
+to go back; so on we came straight here. Another ten minutes and
+we should have been too late. We are making for Ramsgate now. We
+could never beat back to Deal in this wind. I don't know as I
+ever saw it blow much harder."</p>
+
+<p>These sentences were not spoken consecutively, but were
+shouted out in the intervals between gusts of wind. It took them
+two hours to beat back to Ramsgate, a signal having been made as
+soon as they left the wreck to inform the lifeboat there and at
+Broadstairs that they need not put out, as the rescue had been
+already effected. The lads were soon put to bed at the sailors'
+home, a man being at once despatched on horseback to Deal, to
+inform those there of the arrival of the lifeboat, and of the
+rescue of the four boys who had been blown to sea.</p>
+
+<p>Early next morning Frank and Handcock returned to Deal, the
+other two lads being so exhausted by their fatigue and exposure
+that the doctor said they had better remain in bed for another
+twenty-four hours.</p>
+
+<p>It is impossible to describe the thankfulness and relief which
+Mrs. Hargate experienced, when, about two in the morning, Dr.
+Parker himself brought her news of the safety of her boy. She had
+long given up all hope, for when the evening came on and Frank
+had not returned, she had gone down to the shore. She learned
+from the fishermen there that it was deemed impossible that the
+boys could reach shore in face of the gale, and that although the
+lifeboat had just put out in search of them, the chances of their
+being found were, as she herself saw, faint indeed. She had
+passed the hours which had intervened, in prayer, and was still
+kneeling by her bedside, where little Lucy was unconsciously
+sleeping, when Dr. Parker's knock was heard at the door. Fervent,
+indeed, was her gratitude to God for the almost miraculous
+preservation of her son's life, and then, overcome by the
+emotions she had experienced, she sought her couch, and was still
+asleep when, by the earliest train in the morning, Frank
+returned.</p>
+
+<p>For some time the four boys were the heroes of the school. A
+subscription was got up to pay for the lost boat, and close as
+were Mrs. Hargate's means, she enabled Frank to subscribe his
+share towards the fund. The incident raised Frank to a pinnacle
+of popularity among his schoolfellows, for the three others were
+unanimous in saying that it was his coolness and skill in the
+management of the boat, which alone kept up their spirits, and
+enabled them to keep her afloat during the gale, and to make the
+wreck in safety.</p>
+
+<p>In the general enthusiasm excited by the event, Frank's
+pursuits, which had hitherto found few followers, now became
+quite popular in the school. A field club was formed, of which he
+was elected president, and long rambles in the country in search
+of insects and plants were frequently organized. Frank himself
+was obliged, in the interests of the school, to moderate the zeal
+of the naturalists, and to point out that cricket must not be
+given up, as, if so large a number withdrew themselves from the
+game, the school would suffer disaster in its various engagements
+with other schools in the neighborhood. Consequently the rule was
+made that members of the club were bound to be in the cricket
+field on at least three days in the week, including one half
+holiday, while they were free to ramble in the country on other
+days. This wise regulation prevented the "naturalists" from
+becoming unpopular in the school, which would assuredly have been
+the case had they entirely absented themselves from cricket.</p>
+
+<p>One Saturday afternoon Frank started with a smaller boy, who
+was one of his most devoted followers, for a long country walk.
+Frank carried his blowgun, and a butterfly net, Charlie Goodall a
+net of about a foot in depth, made of canvas, mounted on a stout
+brass rim, and strong stick, for the capture of water beetles.
+Their pockets bulged with bottles and tin boxes for the carriage
+of their captured prey.</p>
+
+<p>They had passed through Eastry, a village four miles from
+Deal, when Frank exclaimed, "There is a green hairstreak. The
+first I've seen this year. I have never caught one before."</p>
+
+<p>Cautiously approaching the butterfly, who was sunning himself
+on the top of a thistle, Frank prepared to strike, when it
+suddenly mounted and flitted over a hedge. In a moment the boys
+had scrambled through the gap and were in full pursuit. The
+butterfly flitted here and there, sometimes allowing the boys to
+approach within a few feet and then flitting away again for fifty
+yards without stopping. Heedless where they were going, the boys
+pursued, till they were startled by a sudden shout close to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"You young rascals, how dare you run over my wheat?"</p>
+
+<p>The boys stopped, and Frank saw what, in his excitement, he
+had not hitherto heeded, that he was now running in a field of
+wheat, which reached to his knee.</p>
+
+<p>"I am very sorry, sir," he said. "I was so excited than I
+really did not see where I was going."</p>
+
+<p>"Not see!" shouted the angry farmer. "You young rascal, I'll
+break every bone in your body," and he flourished a heavy stick
+as he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>Charlie Goodall began to cry.</p>
+
+<p>"I have no right to trespass on your wheat, sir," Frank said
+firmly; "but you have no right to strike us. My name is Frank
+Hargate. I belong to Dr. Parker's school at Deal, and if you will
+say what damage I have caused, I will pay for it."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall pay for it now," shouted the farmer, as he advanced
+with uplifted stick.</p>
+
+<p>Frank slipped three or four of his clay bullets into his
+mouth.</p>
+
+<p>"Leave us alone or it will be worse for you," he said as he
+raised the blowgun to his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>The farmer advanced, and Frank sent a bullet with all his
+force, and with so true an aim that he struck the farmer on the
+knuckles. It was a sharp blow, and the farmer, with a cry of pain
+and surprise, dropped the stick.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't come a step nearer," Frank shouted. "If you do, I will
+aim at your eye next time," and he pointed the threatening tube
+at the enraged farmer's face.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll have the law of you, you young villain. I'll make you
+smart for this."</p>
+
+<p>"You can do as you like about that," Frank said. "I have only
+struck you in self defense, and have let you off easily. Come
+along, Charlie, let's get out of this."</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes they were again on the road, the farmer
+making no attempt to follow them, but determined in his mind to
+drive over the next morning to Deal to take out a summons against
+them for trespass and assault. The lads proceeded silently along
+the road. Frank was greatly vexed with himself at his
+carelessness in running over half grown wheat, and was meditating
+how he could pay the fine without having to ask his mother. He
+determined upon his return to carry some of his cases of stuffed
+birds down to a shop in the town, and he felt sure that he could
+get enough for these to pay for any damage which could have been
+inflicted, with a fine for trespassing, for he had seen stuffed
+birds exposed in the windows for sale, which were, he was sure,
+very inferior to his own both in execution and lifelike
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>After proceeding a few hundred yards along the road they met a
+pretty little girl of seven or eight years old walking along
+alone. Frank scarcely glanced at her, for at the moment he heard
+a shouting in the distance and saw some men running along the
+road. For a moment he thought that the farmer had despatched some
+of his men to stop him, but instantly dismissed the idea, as they
+were coming from the opposite direction and could by no
+possibility have heard what had happened. They were lost sight of
+by a dip in the road, and as they disappeared, an object was seen
+on the road on the near side of the dip.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a dog," Frank said. "What can they be shouting at?"</p>
+
+<p>The dog was within fifty yards of them when the men again
+appeared from the dip and recommenced shouting. Frank could now
+hear what they said.</p>
+
+<p>"Mad dog! mad dog!"</p>
+
+<p>"Get through the hedge, Charlie, quick," Frank cried. "Here, I
+will help you over, never mind the thorns."</p>
+
+<p>The hedge was low and closely kept, and Frank, bundling his
+comrade over it, threw himself across and looked round. The dog
+was within ten yards of them, and Frank saw that the alarm was
+well founded. The dog was a large crossbred animal, between a
+mastiff and a bulldog. Its hair was rough and bristling. It came
+along with its head down and foam churning from its mouth. Frank
+looked the other way and gave a cry. Yet twenty yards off, in the
+middle of the road, stood the child. She, too, had heard the
+shouts, and had paused to see what was the matter. She had not
+taken the alarm, but stood unsuspicious of danger, watching, not
+the dog, but the men in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>Frank placed the blowgun to his mouth, and in a moment his
+pellet struck the animal smartly on the side of the head. It gave
+a short yelp and paused. Another shot struck it, and then Frank,
+snatching the water net from Charlie, threw himself over the
+hedge, and placed himself between the child and the dog just as
+the latter, with a savage growl, rushed at him.</p>
+
+<p>Frank stood perfectly cool, and as the animal rushed forward,
+thrust the net over its head; the ring was but just large enough
+to allow its head to enter. Frank at once sprang forward, and
+placing himself behind the dog kept a strain upon the stick, so
+retaining the mouth of the net tightly on his neck. The animal at
+first rushed forward dragging Frank after him. Then he stopped,
+backed, and tried to withdraw his head from the encumbrance which
+blinded him. Frank, however, had no difficulty in retaining the
+canvas net in its place, until the men, who were armed with
+pitchforks, ran up and speedily despatched the unfortunate
+animal.</p>
+
+<p>"That's bravely done, young master," one of them said; "and
+you have saved missy's life surely. The savage brute rushed into
+the yard and bit a young colt and a heifer, and then, as we came
+running out with forks, he took to the road again. We chased 'um
+along, not knowing who we might meet, and it gived us a rare turn
+when we saw the master's Bessy standing alone in the road, wi'
+nout between her and the dog. Where have you been, Miss
+Bessy?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've been to aunt's," she said, "and she gave me some
+strawberries and cream, and it's wicked of you to kill the poor
+dog."</p>
+
+<p>"Her aunt's farm lies next to master's," the man explained;
+"and little miss often goes over there.</p>
+
+<p>"The dog was mad, missy, and if it hadn't been for young
+master here, it would have killed you as safe as eggs. Won't you
+come back to the farm, sir? Master and mistress would be main
+glad to thank you for having saved missy's life."</p>
+
+<p>"No, thank you," Frank said; "we are late now and must be
+going on our way. I am very glad I happened to be here at the
+time;" so saying Frank and Charlie proceeded on their way to
+Deal.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching home he at once picked out four of his best cases
+of stuffed birds. The cases he had constructed himself, for his
+father had encouraged him to depend upon himself for his
+amusements. He had asked Charlie to come round to help him to
+carry the cases, and with these he proceeded to a shop where he
+had seen such things offered for sale.</p>
+
+<p>"And you really did these yourself?" the man said in surprise.
+"They are beautifully done. Quite pictures, I call them. It is a
+pity that they are homely birds. There is no great sale for such
+things here. I cannot give you more than five shillings each, but
+if you had them in London they would be worth a great deal
+more."</p>
+
+<p>Frank gladly accepted the offer, and feeling sure that the
+pound would cover the damage done and the fine, which might be
+five shillings apiece for trespassing, went home in good spirits.
+The next morning the doctor was called out in the middle of
+school, and presently returned accompanied by the farmer with
+whom they had had the altercation on the previous day. Frank felt
+his cheeks flush as he anticipated a severe reprimand before the
+whole school.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Gregson," the doctor said, "tells me that two of my boys
+were out near his place at Eastry yesterday. One of them gave him
+his name, which he has forgotten."</p>
+
+<p>"It was I, sir," Frank said rising in his place; "I was there
+with Goodall. We ran on Mr. Gregson's ground after a butterfly.
+It was my fault, sir, for, of course, Goodall went where I did.
+We ran among his wheat, and I really did not notice where we were
+going till he called to us. I was wrong, of course, and am ready
+to pay for any damage we may have caused."</p>
+
+<p>"You are welcome," the farmer said, "to trample on my wheat
+for the rest of your born days. I haven't come over here to talk
+about the wheat, though I tell you fairly I'd minded to do so.
+I've come over here, Dr. Parker, me and my missus who's outside,
+to thank this young gentleman for having saved the life of my
+little daughter Bessy. She was walking along the road when a mad
+dog, a big brute of a mastiff, who came, I hear, from somewhere
+about Canterbury, and who has bit two boys on the road, to say
+nothing of other dogs and horses and such like; he came along the
+road, he were close to my Bess, and she stood there all alone.
+Some of my men with pitchforks were two hundred yards or so
+behind; but law, they could have done nothing! when this young
+gentleman here jumped all of a sudden over a hedge and put
+himself between the dog and my Bess. The dog, he rushed at him;
+but what does he do but claps a bag he'd got at the end of a
+stick over the brute's head, and there he holds him tight till
+the men comes up and kills him with their forks.</p>
+
+<p>"Young gentleman," he said, stepping up to Frank and holding
+out his hand, "I owe my child's life to you. There are not many
+men who would have thrown themselves in the way of a mad dog, for
+the sake of a child they knew nothing of. I thank you for it with
+all my heart. God bless you, sir. Now, boys, you give three
+cheers with me for your schoolmate, for you've got a right to be
+proud of him."</p>
+
+<p>Three such thundering cheers as those which arose had never
+been heard within the limits of Dr. Parker's school from the day
+of its foundation. Seeing that farther work could not be expected
+from them after this excitement, Dr. Parker gave the boys a
+holiday for the rest of the day, and they poured out from the
+schoolroom, shouting and delighted, while Frank was taken off to
+the parlor to be thanked by Mrs. Gregson. The farmer closed his
+visit by inviting Frank, with as many of his schoolfellows as he
+liked -- the whole school if they would come, the more the better
+-- to come over to tea on the following Saturday afternoon, and
+he promised them as much strawberries and cream as they could
+eat. The invitation was largely accepted, and the boys all agreed
+that a jollier meal they never sat down to than that which was
+spread on tables in the farmer's garden. The meal was called tea,
+but it might have been a dinner, for the tables were laden with
+huge pies, cold chicken and duck, hams, and piles of cakes and
+tarts of all sorts. Before they started for home, late in the
+evening, syllabub and cake were handed round, and the boys
+tramped back to Deal in the highest of glee at the entertainment
+they had received from the hospitable farmer and his wife.</p>
+
+<p>Great fun had been caused after tea by the farmer giving a
+humorous relation of the battle with which his acquaintance with
+Frank had commenced, and especially at the threat of Frank to
+send a bullet into his eye if he interfered with him. When they
+left, a most cordial invitation was given to Frank to come over,
+with any friend he liked to bring with him, and have tea at the
+Oaks Farm whenever he chose to do so.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III: A TOUGH
+YARN</h1>
+
+<p>"You had a close shave the other night," one of the boatmen
+remarked to Frank, as a few days after the adventure he strolled
+down with Ruthven and Handcock to talk to the boatman whose boat
+had been lost, "a very narrow shave. I had one out there myself
+when I was just about your age, nigh forty years ago. I went out
+for a sail with my father in his fishing boat, and I didn't come
+back for three years. That was the only long voyage I ever went.
+I've been sticking to fishing ever since."</p>
+
+<p>"How was it you were away three years?" Handcock asked, "and
+what was the adventure? Tell us about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's rather a long yarn," the boatman said.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, your best plan, Jack," Ruthven said, putting his hand
+in his pocket and bringing out sixpence, "will be for you to go
+across the road and wet your whistle before you begin."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank ye, young gentleman. I will take three o' grog and an
+ounce of 'bacca."</p>
+
+<p>He went across to the public house, and soon returned with a
+long clay in his hand. Then he sat down on the shingle with his
+back against a boat, and the boys threw themselves down close to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he began, when he had filled his pipe with great
+deliberation and got it fairly alight, "this here yarn as I'm
+going to tell you ain't no gammon. Most of the tales which gets
+told on the beach to visitors as comes down here and wants to
+hear of sea adventures is just lies from beginning to end. Now, I
+ain't that sort, leastways, I shouldn't go to impose upon young
+gents like you as ha' had a real adventure of your own, and
+showed oncommon good pluck and coolness too. I don't say, mind
+ye, that every word is just gospel. My mates as ha' known me from
+a boy tells me that I've 'bellished the yarn since I first told
+it, and that all sorts of things have crept in which wasn't there
+first. That may be so. When a man tells a story a great many
+times, naturally he can't always tell it just the same, and he
+gets so mixed up atween what he told last and what he told first
+that he don't rightly know which was which when he wants to tell
+it just as it really happened. So if sometimes it appears to you
+that I'm steering rather wild, just you put a stopper on and
+bring me up all standing with a question."</p>
+
+<p>There was a quiet humor about the boatman's face, and the boys
+winked at each other as much as to say that after such an
+exordium they must expect something rather staggering. The
+boatman took two or three hard whiffs at his pipe and then
+began.</p>
+
+<p>"It was towards the end of September in 1832, that's just
+forty years ago now, that I went out with my father and three
+hands in the smack, the <i>Flying Dolphin</i>. I'd been at sea
+with father off and on ever since I was about nine years old, and
+a smarter boy wasn't to be found on the beach. The <i>Dolphin</i>
+was a good sea boat, but she wasn't, so to say, fast, and I
+dunno' as she was much to look at, for the old man wasn't the
+sort of chap to chuck away his money in paint or in new sails as
+long as the old ones could be pieced and patched so as to hold
+the wind. We sailed out pretty nigh over to the French coast, and
+good sport we had. We'd been out two days when we turned her head
+homewards. The wind was blowing pretty strong, and the old man
+remarked, he thought we was in for a gale. There was some talk of
+our running in to Calais and waiting till it had blown itself
+out, but the fish might have spoil before the Wind dropped, so we
+made up our minds to run straight into Dover and send the fish up
+from there. The night came on wild and squally, and as dark as
+pitch. It might be about eight bells, and I and one of the other
+hands had turned in, when father gave a sudden shout down the
+hatch, 'All hands on deck.' I was next to the steps and sprang up
+'em. Just as I got to the top something grazed my face. I caught
+at it, not knowing what it was, and the next moment there was a
+crash, and the <i>Dolphin</i> went away from under my feet. I
+clung for bare life, scarce awake yet nor knowing what had
+happened. The next moment I was under water. I still held on to
+the rope and was soon out again. By this time I was pretty well
+awake to what had happened. A ship running down channel had
+walked clean over the poor old <i>Dolphin</i>, and I had got hold
+of the bobstay. It took me some time to climb up on to the
+bowsprit, for every time she pitched I went under water. However,
+I got up at last and swarmed along the bowsprit and got on board.
+There was a chap sitting down fast asleep there. I walked aft to
+the helmsman. Two men were pacing up and down in front of him.
+'You're a nice lot, you are,' I said, 'to go running down Channel
+at ten knots an hour without any watch, a-walking over ships and
+a-drowning of seamen. I'll have the law of ye, see if I
+don't.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Jeerusalem!' said one, 'who have we here?'</p>
+
+<p>"'My name is Jack Perkins,' says I, 'and I'm the sole
+survivor, as far as I knows, of the smack, the <i>Flying
+Dolphin</i>, as has been run down by this craft and lost with all
+hands.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Darn the <i>Flying Dolphin</i>, and you too,' says the man,
+and he begins to walk up and down the deck a-puffn' of a long
+cigar as if nothing had happened.</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, come,' says I, 'this won't do. Here you've been and run
+down a smack, drowned father and the other three hands, and your
+lookout fast asleep, and you does nothing.'</p>
+
+<p>"'I suppose,' said the captain, sarcastic, 'you want me to
+jump over to look for 'em. You want me to heave the ship to in
+this gale and to invite yer father perlitely to come on board.
+P'raps you'd like a grapnel put out to see if I couldn't hook the
+smack and bring her up again. Perhaps you'd like to be chucked
+overboard yourself. Nobody asked you to come on board, nobody
+wanted your company. I reckon the wisest thing you can do is to
+go for'ard and turn in.' There didn't seem much for me to do
+else, so I went forward to the forecastle. There most of the
+hands were asleep, but two or three were sitting up yarning. I
+told 'em my story and what this captain had said.</p>
+
+<p>"'He's a queer hand is the skipper,' one of 'em said, 'and
+hasn't got a soft place about him. Well, my lad, I'm sorry for
+what's happened, but talking won't do it any good. You've got a
+long voyage before you, and you'd best turn in and make yourself
+comfortable for it.'</p>
+
+<p>"'I ain't going a long voyage,' says I, beginning to wipe my
+eye, 'I wants to be put ashore at the first port.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, my lad, I daresay the skipper will do that, but as
+we're bound for the coast of Chili from Hamburg, and ain't likely
+to be there for about five months, you've got, as I said, a long
+voyage before you. If the weather had been fine the skipper might
+have spoken some ship in the Channel, and put you on board, but
+before the gale's blown out we shall be hundreds of miles at sea.
+Even if it had been fine I don't suppose the skipper would have
+parted with you, especially if you told him the watch was asleep.
+He would not care next time he entered an English port to have a
+claim fixed on his ship for the vally of the smack.'</p>
+
+<p>"I saw what the sailor said was like enough, and blamed myself
+for having let out about the watch. However, there was no help
+for it, and I turned into an empty bunk and cried myself to
+sleep. What a voyage that was, to be sure! The ship was a Yankee
+and so was the master and mates. The crew were of all sorts,
+Dutch, and Swedes, and English, a Yank or two, and a sprinklin'
+of niggers. It was one of those ships they call a hell on earth,
+and cussing and kicking and driving went on all day. I hadn't no
+regular place give me, but helped the black cook, and pulled at
+ropes, and swabbed the decks, and got kicked and cuffed all
+round. The skipper did not often speak to me, but when his eye
+lighted on me he gave an ugly sort of look, as seemed to say,
+'You'd better ha' gone down with the others. You think you're
+going to report the loss of the smack, and to get damages against
+the <i>Potomac</i>, do you? we shall see.' The crew were a rough
+lot, but the spirit seemed taken out of 'em by the treatment they
+met with. It was a word and a blow with the mates, and they would
+think no more of catching up a handspike and stretching a man
+senseless on the deck than I should of killing a fly. There was
+two or three among 'em of a better sort than the others. The best
+of 'em was the carpenter, an old Dutchman. 'Leetle boy,' he used
+to say to me, 'you keep yourself out of the sight of de skipper.
+Bad man dat. Me much surprise if you get to de end of dis voyage
+all right. You best work vera hard and give him no excuse to hit
+you. If he do, by gosh, he kill you, and put down in de log, Boy
+killed by accident.'</p>
+
+<p>"I felt that this was so myself, and I did my work as well as
+I could. One day, however, when we were near the line I happened
+to upset a bucket with some tar. The captain was standing close
+by.</p>
+
+<p>"'You young dog,' he said, 'you've done that a purpose,' and
+before I could speak he caught up the bucket by the handle and
+brought it down on my head with all his might. The next thing I
+remember was, I was lying in a bunk in the forecastle. Everything
+looked strange to me, and I couldn't raise my head. After a time
+I made shift to turn it round, and saw old Jans sitting on a
+chest mending a jacket. I called him, but my voice was so low I
+hardly seemed to hear it myself.</p>
+
+<p>"'Ah, my leetle boy!' he said, 'I am glad to hear you speak
+again. Two whole weeks you say nothing except talk nonsense.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Have I been ill?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"'You haf been vera bad,' he said. 'De captain meant to kill
+you, I haf no doubt, and he pretty near do it. After he knock you
+down he said you dead. He sorry for accident, not mean to hit you
+so hard, but you dead and better be tossed overboard at once. De
+mates they come up and take your hands and feet. Den I insist dat
+I feel your wrist. Two or three of us dey stood by me. Captain he
+vera angry, say we mutinous dogs. I say not mutinous, but wasn't
+going to see a boy who was only stunned thrown overboard. We say
+if he did dat we make complaint before consul when we get to
+port. De skipper he cuss and swear awful. Howebber we haf our way
+and carry you here. You haf fever and near die. Tree days after
+we bring you here de captain he swear you shamming and comed to
+look at you hisself, but he see that it true and tink you going
+to die. He go away wid smile on his face. Every day he ask if you
+alive, and give grunt when I say yes. Now you best keep vera
+quiet. You no talk 'cept when no one else here but me. Other
+times lie wid your face to the side and your eyes shut. Best keep
+you here as long as we can, de longer de better. He make you come
+on deck and work as soon as he think you strong enough to stand.
+Best get pretty strong before you go out.'</p>
+
+<p>"For another three weeks I lay in my bunk. I only ate a little
+gruel when others were there, but when the skipper was at dinner
+Jans would bring me strong soup and meat from the caboose. The
+captain came several times and shook me and swore I was shamming,
+but I only answered in a whisper and seemed as faint as a girl.
+All this time the <i>Potomac</i> was making good way, and was
+running fast down the coast of South America. The air was getting
+cool and fresh.</p>
+
+<p>"'I tink,' Jans said one evening to me, 'dat dis not go on
+much much longer. De crew getting desperate. Dey talk and mutter
+among demselves. Me thinks we have trouble before long.'</p>
+
+<p>"The next day one of the mates came in with a bucket of water.
+'There! you skulking young hound,' he said as he threw it over
+me; 'you'd best get out, or the skipper will come and rouse you
+up himself.'</p>
+
+<p>"I staggered on to the floor. I had made up my mind to sham
+weak, but I did not need to pretend at first, for having been six
+weeks in bed, I felt strange and giddy when I got up. I slipped
+on my clothes and went out on deck, staggered to the bulwarks and
+held on. The fresh air soon set me straight, and I felt that I
+was pretty strong again. However, I pretended to be able to
+scarce stand, and, holding on by the bulwark, made my way
+aft.</p>
+
+<p>"'You young dog,' the skipper said, 'you've been shamming for
+the last six weeks. I reckon I'll sharpen you up now,' and he hit
+me a heavy blow with a rattan he held in his hand. There was a
+cry of 'Shame!' from some of the men. As quick as thought the
+skipper pulled a pistol from his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"'Who cried "Shame"?' he asked looking round.</p>
+
+<p>"No one answered. Still holding the pistol in his hand he gave
+me several more cuts, and then told me to swab the deck. I did
+it, pretending all the time I was scarce strong enough to keep my
+feet. Then I made my way forward and sat down against the
+bulwark, as if nigh done up, till night came. That night as I lay
+in my bunk I heard the men talking in whispers together. I judged
+from what they said that they intended to wait for another week,
+when they expected to enter Magellan Straits, and then to attack
+and throw the officers overboard. Nothing seemed settled as to
+what they would do afterwards. Some were in favor of continuing
+the voyage to port, and there giving out that the captain and
+officers had been washed overboard in a storm; when, if all stood
+true to each other, the truth could never be known, although
+suspicions might arise. The others, however, insisted that you
+never could be sure of every one, and that some one would be sure
+to peach. They argued in favor of sailing west and beaching the
+ship on one of the Pacific islands, where they could live
+comfortably and take wives among the native women. If they were
+ever found they could then say that the ship was blown out of her
+course and wrecked there, and that the captain and officers had
+been drowned or killed by the natives. It seemed to me that this
+party were the strongest. For the next week I was thrashed and
+kicked every day and had I been as weak as I pretended to be, I'm
+sure they would have killed me. However, thanks to the food Jans
+brought me, for I was put on bread and water, I held on. At last
+we entered the straits. The men were very quiet that day, and the
+captain in a worse temper than usual. I did not go to sleep, and
+turned out at the midnight watch, for I was made to keep watch
+although I was on duty all day. As the watch came in I heard them
+say to the others, 'In ten minutes' time.' Presently I saw them
+come out, and joining the watch on deck they went aft quietly in
+a body. They had all got handspikes in their hands. Then there
+was a rush. Two pistol shots were fired, and then there was a
+splash, and I knew that the officer on watch was done for. Then
+they burst into the aft cabins. There were pistol shots and
+shouts, and for three or four minutes the fight went on. Then all
+was quiet. Then they came up on deck again and I heard three
+splashes, that accounted for the captain and the two other mates.
+I thought it safe now to go aft. I found that six of the men had
+been killed. These were thrown overboard, and then the crew got
+at the spirit stores and began to drink. I looked about for Jans,
+and found him presently sitting on the deck by the bulwark.</p>
+
+<p>"'Ah, my leetle boy!' he said, 'you have just come in time. I
+have been shot through the body. I was not in de fight, but was
+standing near when dey rushed at de officer on watch. De first
+pistol he fire missed de man he aim at and hit me. Well, it was
+shust as well. I am too old to care for living among de black
+peoples, and I did not want a black wife at all. So matters haf
+not turned out so vera bad. Get me some water.'</p>
+
+<p>"I got him some, but in five minutes the poor old Dutchman was
+dead. There was no one on deck. All were shouting and singing in
+the captain's cabin, so I went and turned in forward. Morning was
+just breaking when I suddenly woke. There was a great light, and
+running on deck I saw the fire pouring out from the cabin aft. I
+suppose they had all drunk themselves stupid and had upset a
+light, and the fire had spread and suffocated them all. Anyhow,
+there were none of them to be seen. I got hold of a water keg and
+placed it in a boat which luckily hung out on its davits, as Jans
+had, the day before, been calking a seam in her side just above
+the water's edge. I made a shift to lower it, threw off the
+falls, and getting out the oars, rowed off. I lay by for some
+little time, but did not see a soul on deck. Then, as I had
+nowhere particular to go, I lay down and slept. On getting up I
+found that I had drifted two or three miles from the ship, which
+was now a mere smoking shell, the greater part being burnt to the
+Water's edge. Two miles to the north lay the land, and getting
+out an oar at the stern I sculled her to shore. I suppose I had
+been seen, or that the flames of the ship had called down the
+people, for there they were in the bay, and such a lot of
+creatures I never set eyes on. Men and women alike was pretty
+nigh naked, and dirt is no name for them. Though I was but a boy
+I was taller than most. They came round me and jabbered and
+jabbered till I was nigh deafened. Over and over again they
+pointed to the ship. I thought they wanted to know whether I
+belonged to it, but it couldn't have been that, because when I
+nodded a lot of 'em jumped into some canoes which was lying
+ashore, and taking me with them paddled off to the ship. I
+suppose they really wanted to know if they could have what they
+could find. That wasn't much, but it seemed a treasure to them.
+There was a lot of burned beams floating about alongside, and all
+of these which had iron or copper bolts or fastenings they took
+in tow and rowed ashore. We hadn't been gone many hundred yards
+from the vessel when she sunk. Well, young gentlemen, for upwards
+of two years I lived with them critturs. My clothes soon wore
+out, and I got to be as naked and dirty as the rest of 'em. They
+were good hands at fishing, and could spear a fish by the light
+of a torch wonderful. In other respects they didn't seem to have
+much sense. They lived, when I first went there, in holes
+scratched in the side of a hill, but I taught 'em to make huts,
+making a sort of ax out of the iron saved. In summer they used to
+live in these, but in winter, when it was awful cold, we lived in
+the holes, which were a sight warmer than the huts. Law, what a
+time that was! I had no end of adventures with wild beasts. The
+way the lions used to roar and the elephants --"</p>
+
+<p>"I think, Jack," Ruthven interrupted, "that this must be one
+of the embellishments which have crept in since you first began
+telling the tale. I don't think I should keep it in if I were
+you, because the fact that there are neither lions or elephants
+in South America throws a doubt upon the accuracy of this portion
+of your story."</p>
+
+<p>"It may be, sir," the sailor said, with a twinkle of his eyes,
+"that the elephants and lions may not have been in the first
+story. Now I think of it, I can't recall that they were; but, you
+see, people wants to know all about it. They ain't satisfied when
+I tell 'em that I lived two years among these chaps. They wants
+to know how I passed my time, and whether there were any wild
+beasts, and a lot of such like questions, and, in course, I must
+answer them. So then, you see, naturally, 'bellishments creeps
+in; but I did live there for two years, that's gospel truth, and
+I did go pretty nigh naked, and in winter was pretty near starved
+to death over and over again. When the ground was too hard to dig
+up roots, and the sea was too rough for the canoes to put out, it
+went hard with us, and very often we looked more like living
+skelingtons than human beings. Every time a ship came in sight
+they used to hurry me away into the woods. I suppose they found
+me useful, and didn't want to part with me. At last I got
+desperate, and made up my mind I'd make a bolt whatever came of
+it. They didn't watch me when there were no ships near. I suppose
+they thought there was nowhere for me to run to, so one night I
+steals down to the shore, gets into a canoe, puts in a lot of
+roots which I had dug up and hidden away in readiness, and so
+makes off. I rowed hard all night, for I knew they would be after
+me when they found I had gone. Them straits is sometimes miles
+and miles across; at other times not much more than a ship's
+length, and the tide runs through 'em like a mill race. I had
+chosen a time when I had the tide with me, and soon after morning
+I came to one of them narrow places. I should like to have
+stopped here, because it would have been handy for any ship as
+passed; but the tide run so strong, and the rocks were so steep
+on both sides, that I couldn't make a landing. Howsomdever,
+directly it widened out, I managed to paddle into the back water
+and landed there. Well, gents, would you believe me, if there
+wasn't two big allygaters sitting there with their mouths open
+ready to swallow me, canoe and all, when I came to shore."</p>
+
+<p>"No, Jack, I'm afraid we can't believe that. We would if we
+could, you know, but alligators are not fond of such cold weather
+as you'd been having, nor do they frequent the seashore."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, but this, you see, was a straits, Master Ruthven, just a
+narrow straits, and I expect the creatures took it for a
+river."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, Jack, we can't swallow the alligators, any more than
+they could swallow you and your canoe."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," the sailor said with a sigh, "I won't say no more
+about the allygaters. I can't rightly recall when they came into
+the story. Howsomdever, I landed, you can believe that, you
+know."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, we can quite believe, Jack, that, if you were there,
+in that canoe, in that back water, with the land close ahead, you
+did land."</p>
+
+<p>The sailor looked searchingly at Ruthven and then
+continued:</p>
+
+<p>"I hauled the canoe up and hid it in some bushes, and it were
+well I did, for a short time afterwards a great --" and he
+paused. "Does the hippypotybus live in them ere waters, young
+gents?"</p>
+
+<p>"He does not, Jack," Ruthven said.</p>
+
+<p>"Then it's clear," the sailor said, "that it wasn't a
+hippypotybus. It must have been a seal."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it might have been a seal," Ruthven said. "What did he
+do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well he just took a look at me, gents, winked with one eye,
+as much as to say, 'I see you,' and went down again. There warn't
+nothing else as he could do, was there?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was the best thing he could do anyhow," Ruthven said.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, gents, I lived there for about three weeks, and then a
+ship comes along, homeward bound, and I goes out and hails her.
+At first they thought as I was a native as had learned to speak
+English, and it wasn't till they'd boiled me for three hours in
+the ship's copper as they got at the color of my skin, and could
+believe as I was English. So I came back here and found the old
+woman still alive, and took to fishing again; but it was weeks
+and weeks before I could get her or any one else to believe as I
+was Jack Perkins. And that's all the story, young gents.
+Generally I tells it a sight longer to the gents as come down
+from London in summer; but, you see, I can't make much out of it
+when ye won't let me have 'bellishments."</p>
+
+<p>"And how much of it is true altogether, Jack?" Frank asked.
+"Really how much?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's all true as I have told you, young masters," the boatman
+said. "It were every bit true about the running down of the
+smack, and me being nearly killed by the skipper, and the mutiny,
+and the burning of the vessel, and my living for a long time --
+no, I won't stick to the two years, but it might have been three
+weeks, with the natives before a ship picked me up. And that's
+good enough for a yarn, ain't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite good enough, Jack, and we're much obliged to you; but I
+should advise you to drop the embellishments in future."</p>
+
+<p>"It ain't no use, Master Hargate, they will have
+'bellishments, and if they will have 'em, Jack Perkins isn't the
+man to disappint 'em; and, Lord bless you, sir, the stiffer I
+pitches it in the more liberal they is with their tips. Thank ye
+kindly all round, gentlemen. Yes, I do feel dry after the
+yarn."</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV: A RISING
+TIDE</h1>
+
+<p>The half year was drawing to its close, and it was generally
+agreed at Dr. Parker's that it had been the jolliest ever known.
+The boating episode and that of the tea at Oak Farm had been
+events which had given a fillip to existence. The school had been
+successful in the greater part of its cricket matches, and
+generally every one was well satisfied with himself. On the
+Saturday preceding the breaking up Frank, with Ruthven, Charlie
+Goodall and two of the other naturalists, started along the
+seashore to look for anemones and other marine creatures among
+the rocks and pools at the foot of the South Foreland. Between
+Ruthven and Frank a strong feeling of affection had grown up
+since the date of their boating adventure. They were constantly
+together now; and as Ruthven was also intended for the army, and
+would probably obtain his commission about the same time as
+Frank, they often talked over their future, and indulged in hopes
+that they might often meet, and that in their campaigns, they
+might go through adventures together.</p>
+
+<p>Tide was low when they started. They had nearly three miles to
+walk. The pools in front of Deal and Walmer had often been
+searched, but they hoped that once round the Foreland they might
+light upon specimens differing from any which they had hitherto
+found. For some hours they searched the pools, retiring as the
+tide advanced. Then they went up to the foot of the cliffs, and
+sat down to open their cans and compare the treasures they had
+collected. The spot which they had unwittingly selected was a
+little bay. For a long time they sat comparing their specimens.
+Then Frank said, "Come along, it is time to be moving."</p>
+
+<p>As he rose to his feet he uttered an exclamation of dismay.
+Although the tide was still at some little distance from the spot
+where they were sitting, it had already reached the cliffs
+extending out at either end of the bay. A brisk wind was blowing
+on shore, and the waves were already splashing against the foot
+of the rocks.</p>
+
+<p>The whole party leaped to their feet, and seizing their cans
+ran off at the top of their speed to the end of the bay.</p>
+
+<p>"I will see how deep the water is," Frank exclaimed; "we may
+yet be able to wade round."</p>
+
+<p>The water soon reached Frank's waist. He waded on until it was
+up to his shoulders, and he had to leap as each wave approached
+him. Then he returned to his friends.</p>
+
+<p>"I could see round," he said, "and I think I could have got
+round without getting into deeper water. The worst of it is the
+bottom is all rocky, and I stumbled several times, and should
+have gone under water if I could not have swam. You can't swim,
+Ruthven, I know; can you other fellows?"</p>
+
+<p>Goodall could swim, as could one of the others.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Ruthven," Frank said, "if you will put your hand on my
+shoulder and keep quiet, I think I could carry you around.
+Goodall and Jackson can take Childers."</p>
+
+<p>But neither of the other boys had much confidence in their
+swimming. They could get thirty or forty yards, but felt sure
+that they would be able to render but little assistance to
+Childers, and in fact scarcely liked to round the point alone.
+For some time they debated the question, the sea every minute
+rising and pushing them farther and farther from the point. "Look
+here, Frank," Ruthven said at last; "you are not sure you can
+carry me. The others are quite certain that they cannot take
+Childers. We must give up that idea. The best thing, old boy, is
+for you three who can swim to start together. Then if either of
+the others fail you can help them a bit. Childers and I must take
+our chance here. When you get round you must send a boat as soon
+as possible."</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly shall not desert you, Ruthven," Frank said. "You
+know as well as I do that I'm not likely to find a boat on the
+shore till I get pretty near Walmer Castle, and long before we
+could get back it would be settled here. No, no, old fellow, we
+will see the matter out together. Jackson and Goodall can swim
+round if they like."</p>
+
+<p>These lads, however, would not venture to take the risk alone,
+but said they would go if Frank would go with them.</p>
+
+<p>"Chuck off your boots and coats and waistcoats," Frank said
+suddenly, proceeding to strip rapidly to the skin. "I will take
+them round, Ruthven, and come back to you. Run round the bay you
+and Childers, and see if you can find any sort of ledge or
+projection that we can take refuge upon. Now, then, come on you
+two as quick as you can."</p>
+
+<p>The sea had already reached within a few feet of the foot of
+the cliff all round the bay.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, mind," Frank said sharply, "no struggling and nonsense,
+you fellows. I will keep quite close to you and stick to you, so
+you needn't be afraid. If you get tired just put one hand on my
+back and swim with the other and your legs; and above all things
+keep your heads as low as possible in the water so as just to be
+able to breathe."</p>
+
+<p>The three lads soon waded out as far as they could go and then
+struck out. Jackson and Goodall were both poor swimmers and would
+have fared very badly alone. The confidence, however, which they
+entertained in Frank gave them courage, and they were well
+abreast of the point when first Jackson and then Goodall put
+their hands on his shoulders. Thanks to the instructions he had
+given them, and to their confidence in him, they placed no great
+weight upon him. But every ounce tells heavily on a swimmer, and
+Frank gave a gasp of relief as at last his feet touched the
+ground. Bidding his companions at once set off at a run he sat
+down for two or three minutes to recover his breath.</p>
+
+<p>"It is lucky," he said to himself, "that I did not try with
+Ruthven. It's a very different thing carrying fellows who can
+swim and fellows who can't. What fools we've been to let
+ourselves he caught here! I had no idea the tide came so high, or
+that it was so dangerous, and none of us have ever been round
+here before. Now I must go back to Ruthven."</p>
+
+<p>Frank found it even harder work to get back than it had been
+to come out from the bay, for the tide was against him now. At
+last he stood beside Ruthven and Childers.</p>
+
+<p>"We can only find one place, Frank, where there is any
+projection a fellow could stand upon, and that is only large
+enough for one. See!" he said, pointing to a projecting block of
+chalk, whose upper surface, some eight inches wide, was tolerably
+flat. "There is a cave here, too, which may go beyond the tide.
+It is not deep but it slopes up a bit."</p>
+
+<p>"That will never do," Frank said; "as the waves come in they
+will rush up and fill it to the top. Don't you see it is all
+rounded by the water? Now, Childers, we will put you on that
+stone. You will be perfectly safe there, for you see it is two
+feet above this greenish line, which shows where the water
+generally comes to. The tides are not at spring at present, so
+though you may get a splashing there is no fear of your being
+washed off."</p>
+
+<p>The water was already knee deep at the foot of the rocks, and
+the waves took them nearly up to the shoulders. Ruthven did not
+attempt to dispute Frank's allotment of the one place of safety
+to Childers. Frank and he placed themselves below the block of
+chalk, which was somewhat over six feet from the ground. Then
+Childers scrambled up on to their shoulders, and from these
+stepped onto the ledge.</p>
+
+<p>"I am all right," he said; "I wish to Heaven that you were
+too."</p>
+
+<p>"We shall do," Frank said. "Mind you hold tight, Childers! You
+had better turn round with your face to the cliff, so as to be
+able to grip hold and steady yourself in case the waves come up
+high. The tide will turn in three quarters of an hour at the
+outside. Now, then, Ruthven, let's make a fight for it, old
+man."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do, Frank?"</p>
+
+<p>"We will wade along here as far as we can towards the corner,
+and than we must swim for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think it's possible to stay here," Ruthven said,
+"if the tide will turn so soon?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite impossible!" Frank said. "I have been nearly taken off
+my feet twice already, and the water will rise a yard yet, at
+least. We should be smashed against the rocks, even if we weren't
+drowned. It must be tried, Ruthven. There is no other way for it.
+The distance is a good deal farther than it would have been if we
+had started at first; but it isn't the distance that makes much
+matter. We've only got to go out a little way, and the tide will
+soon take us around the point. Everything depends on you. I can
+take you round the point, and land you safely enough, if you will
+lie quiet. If you don't, you will drown both of us. So it's
+entirely in your hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out!"</p>
+
+<p>At this moment a larger wave than usual took both boys off
+their legs, and dashed them with considerable force against the
+cliff. Frank seized Ruthven, and assisted him to regain his
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, old fellow, let me put you on your back. I will lie on
+mine and tow you along. Don't struggle; don't move; above all,
+don't try and lift your head, and don't mind if a little water
+gets in your mouth. Now!"</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Ruthven felt himself under water, and had to make
+a great effort to restrain himself from struggling to come to the
+surface. Then he felt himself lying on his back in the water,
+supported by Frank. The motion was not unpleasant as he rose and
+fell on the waves, although now and then a splash of water came
+over his face, and made him cough and splutter for breath. He
+could see nothing but the blue sky overhead, could feel nothing
+except that occasionally he received a blow from one or other of
+Frank's knees, as the latter swam beneath him, with Ruthven's
+head on his chest. It was a dreamy sensation, and looking back
+upon it afterwards Ruthven could never recall anything that he
+had thought of. It seemed simply a drowsy pleasant time, except
+when occasionally a wave covered his face. His first sensation
+was that of surprise when he felt the motion change, and Frank
+lifted his head from the water and said, "Stand up, old fellow.
+Thank God, here we are, safe!"</p>
+
+<p>Frank had indeed found the journey easier than that which he
+had before undertaken with the others. He had scarcely tried to
+progress, but had, after getting sufficiently far out to allow
+the tide to take him round the point, drifted quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"I owe my life to you, Frank. I shall never forget it, old
+fellow."</p>
+
+<p>"It's been a close thing," Frank answered; "but you owe your
+life as much to your own coolness as to me, and above all,
+Ruthven, don't let us forget that we both owe our lives to
+God."</p>
+
+<p>"I sha'n't forget it," Ruthven said quietly, and they stood
+for a few minutes without speaking. "Now, what had we better do?
+Shall we start to run home?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't," Frank laughed, for he had nothing on but his
+trousers. These he had slipped on after the return from his first
+trip, pushing the rest of his things into a crevice in the rocks
+as high up as he could reach.</p>
+
+<p>"You had better take off your things, Ruthven, and lay them
+out to dry in the sun. The boat will be here in half an hour. I
+wonder how Childers is getting on!"</p>
+
+<p>"I think he will be safe," Ruthven said. "The tide will not
+rise high enough for there to be much danger of his being washed
+off."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think so either," Frank agreed, "or I would try and
+swim back again; but I really don't think I could get round the
+point against the tide again."</p>
+
+<p>In half an hour a boat rowing four oars was seen
+approaching.</p>
+
+<p>"They are laying out well," Ruthven said. "They couldn't row
+harder if they were rowing a race. But had it not been for you,
+old fellow, they would have been too late, as far as I am
+concerned."</p>
+
+<p>As the boat approached, the coxswain waved his hat to the
+boys. Frank motioned with his arm for them to row on round the
+point. The boat swept along at a short distance from the shore.
+The boys watched them breathlessly. Presently as it reached the
+point they saw the coxswain stand up and say something to the
+men, who glanced over their shoulders as they rowed. Then the
+coxswain gave a loud shout. "Hold on! We'll be with you
+directly."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank God!" Frank exclaimed, "Childers is all right."</p>
+
+<p>It was well, however, that the boat arrived when it did, for
+Childers was utterly exhausted when it reached him. The sea had
+risen so high that the waves broke against his feet, throwing the
+spray far above his head, and often nearly washing him from the
+ledge on which he stood. Had it not been, indeed, for the hold
+which he obtained of the cliff, it would several times have swept
+him away. About eighteen inches above his head he had found a
+ledge sufficiently wide to give a grip for his hands, and hanging
+by these he managed to retain his place when three times his feet
+were swept off the rock by the rush of water. The tide was just
+on the turn when the boat arrived, and so exhausted was he that
+he certainly would not have been able to hold out for the half
+hour's buffeting to which he would have been exposed before the
+water fell sufficiently to leave him. After helping him into the
+boat the men gathered the clothes jammed in fissures of the
+cliffs. These were, of course, drenched with water, but had for
+the most part remained firm in their places. They now pulled
+round to the spot where Frank and Ruthven were awaiting them.</p>
+
+<p>"Childers must have been pretty nearly done," Frank said. "He
+must be lying in the bottom of the boat."</p>
+
+<p>Childers gave a smile of pleasure as his schoolfellows jumped
+on board. He had, glancing over his shoulder, seen them drift out
+of sight round the point, and had felt certain that they had
+reached shore. It was, however, a great pleasure to be assured of
+the fact.</p>
+
+<p>"You have made quite a stir upon the beach, young gentlemen,"
+the coxswain of the boat said. "When they two came running up
+without their shoes or coats and said there were three of you cut
+off in the bay under the Foreland, there didn't seem much chance
+for you. It didn't take us two minutes to launch the boat, for
+there were a score of hands helping to run her down; and my mates
+bent to it well, I can tell you, though we didn't think it would
+be of any use. We were glad when we made you two out on this side
+of the point. Look, there's half Deal and Walmer coming along the
+shore."</p>
+
+<p>It was as the boatman said. Numbers of persons were streaming
+along the beach, and loud were the cheers which rose as the
+coxswain stood up and shouted in a stentorian voice, "All
+saved!"</p>
+
+<p>Frank put on his things as they approached Walmer. His shoes
+were lost, as were those of Ruthven, and he had difficulty in
+getting his arms into his wet and shrunken jacket. Quite a crowd
+were gathered near the castle as the boat rowed to shore, and a
+hearty cheer arose as it was run up on the shingle and the boys
+were helped out. Frank and Ruthven, indeed, required no
+assistance. They were in no way the worse for the adventure, but
+Childers was so weak that he was unable to stand. He was carried
+up and laid on a fly, the others sitting opposite, the driver
+having first taken the precaution of removing the cushions.</p>
+
+<p>There were among the crowd most of the boys from Dr. Parker's.
+Goodall and Jackson had arrived nearly an hour and a half before,
+and the news had spread like wildfire. Bats and balls had been
+thrown down and every one had hurried to the beach. Goodall and
+his companion had already related the circumstance of their being
+cut off by the water and taken round the point by Frank; and as
+Ruthven on jumping out had explained to his comrades who flocked
+round to shake his hand, "I owe my life to Hargate," the
+enthusiasm reached boiling point, and Frank had difficulty in
+taking his place in the fly, so anxious were all to shake his
+hand and pat him on the shoulder. Had it not been for his anxiety
+to get home as soon as possible, and his urgent entreaties, they
+would have carried him on their shoulders in triumph through the
+town. They drove first to the school, where Childers was at once
+carried up to a bed, which had been prepared with warm blankets
+in readiness; Ruthven needed only to change his clothes.</p>
+
+<p>The moment they had left the fly Frank drove straight home,
+and was delighted at finding, from his mother's exclamation of
+surprise as he alighted from the cab, that she had not been
+suffering any anxiety, no one, in the general excitement, having
+thought of taking the news to her. In answer to her anxious
+inquiries he made light of the affair, saying only that they had
+stupidly allowed themselves to be cut off by the sea and had got
+a ducking. It was not, indeed, till the next morning, when the
+other four boys came around to tell Mrs. Hargate that they were
+indebted to Frank for their lives, that she had any notion that
+he had been in danger.</p>
+
+<p>Frank was quite oppressed by what he called the fuss which was
+made over the affair. A thrilling description of it appeared in
+the local papers. A subscription was got up in the school, and a
+gold watch with an inscription was presented to him; and he
+received letters of heart felt thanks from the parents of his
+four schoolfellows, for Childers maintained that it was entirely
+to Frank's coolness and thoughtfulness that his preservation was
+also due.</p>
+
+<p>On the following Wednesday the school broke up. Frank had
+several invitations from the boys to spend his holidays with
+them; but he knew how lonely his mother would feel in his
+absence, and he declined all the invitations. Mrs. Hargate was
+far from strong, and had had several fits of fainting. These,
+however, had taken place at times when Frank was at school, and
+she had strictly charged her little servant to say nothing about
+it.</p>
+
+<p>One day on returning from a long walk he saw the doctor's
+carriage standing at the door. Just as he arrived the door opened
+and the doctor came out. Upon seeing Frank he turned.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in here, my boy," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Frank followed him, and seeing that the blinds were down, went
+to draw them up. The doctor laid his hand on his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind that," he said gently.</p>
+
+<p>"My boy," he said, "do you know that your mother has been for
+some time ailing?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed," Frank said with a gasp of pain and surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"It is so, my boy. I have been attending her for some time.
+She has been suffering from fainting fits brought on by weakness
+of the heart's action. Two hours since I was sent for and found
+her unconscious. My poor boy, you must compose yourself. God is
+good and merciful, though his decrees are hard to bear. Your
+mother passed away quietly half an hour since, without recovering
+consciousness."</p>
+
+<p>Frank gave a short cry, and then sat stunned by the suddenness
+of the blow. The doctor drew out a small case from his pocket and
+poured a few drops from the phial into a glass, added some water,
+and held it to Frank's lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Drink this, my boy," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Frank turned his head from the offered glass. He could not
+speak.</p>
+
+<p>"Drink this, my boy," the doctor said again; "it will do you
+good. Try and be strong for the sake of your little sister, who
+has only you in the world now."</p>
+
+<p>The thought of Lucy touched the right chord in the boy's
+heart, and he burst into a passionate fit of crying. The doctor
+allowed his tears to flow unchecked.</p>
+
+<p>"You will be better now," he said presently. "Now drink this,
+then lie down on the sofa. We must not be having you ill, you
+know."</p>
+
+<p>Frank gulped down the contents of the glass, and, passive as a
+child, allowed the doctor to place him upon the sofa.</p>
+
+<p>"God help and strengthen you, my poor boy," he said; "ask help
+from Him."</p>
+
+<p>For an hour Frank lay sobbing on the sofa, and then,
+remembering the doctor's last words, he knelt beside it and
+prayed for strength.</p>
+
+<p>A week had passed. The blinds were up again. Mrs. Hargate had
+been laid in her last home, and Frank was sitting alone again in
+the little parlor thinking over what had best be done. The
+outlook was a dark one, enough to shake the courage of one much
+older than Frank. His mother's pension, he knew, died with her.
+He had, on the doctor's advice, written to the War Office on the
+day following his mother's death, to inform the authorities of
+the circumstances, and to ask if any pension could be granted to
+his sister. The reply had arrived that morning and had relieved
+him of the greatest of his cares. It stated that as he was now
+just fifteen years old he was not eligible for a pension, but
+that twenty-five pounds a year would be paid to his sister until
+she married or attained the age of twenty-one.</p>
+
+<p>He had spoken to the doctor that morning, and the latter said
+that he knew a lady who kept a small school, and who would, he
+doubted not, be willing to receive Lucy and to board and clothe
+her for that sum. She was a very kind and motherly person, and he
+was sure that Lucy would be most kindly treated and cared for by
+her. It was then of his own future only that Frank had to think.
+There were but a few pounds in the house, but the letter from the
+War Office inclosed a check for twenty pounds, as his mother's
+quarterly pension was just due. The furniture of the little house
+would fetch but a small sum, not more, Frank thought, than thirty
+or forty pounds. There were a few debts to pay, and after all was
+settled up there would remain about fifty pounds. Of this he
+determined to place half in the doctor's hands for the use of
+Lucy.</p>
+
+<p>"She will want," he said to himself, "a little pocket money.
+It is hard on a girl having no money to spend of her own. Then,
+as she gets on, she may need lessons in something or other.
+Besides, half the money rightly belongs to her, The question is,
+What am I to do?"</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V: ALONE IN
+THE WORLD</h1>
+
+<p>"What am I to do?"</p>
+
+<p>A difficult question indeed, for a boy of fifteen, with but
+twenty-five pounds, and without a friend in the world. Was he,
+indeed, without a friend? he asked himself. There was Dr. Parker.
+Should he apply to him? But the doctor had started for a trip on
+the Continent the day after the school had broken up, and would
+not return for six weeks. It was possible that, had he been at
+home, he might have offered to keep Frank for a while; but the
+boys seldom stayed at his school past the age of fifteen, going
+elsewhere to have their education completed. What possible claim
+had he to quarter himself upon the doctor for the next four
+years, even were the offer made? No, Frank felt; he could not
+live upon the doctor's charity. Then there were the parents of
+the boys he had saved from drowning. But even as he sat alone
+Frank's face flushed at the thought of trading upon services so
+rendered. The boy's chief fault was pride. It was no petty
+feeling, and he had felt no shame at being poorer than the rest
+of his schoolfellows. It was rather a pride which led him unduly
+to rely upon himself, and to shrink from accepting favors from
+any one. Frank might well, without any derogation, have written
+to his friends, telling them of the loss he had suffered and the
+necessity there was for him to earn his living, and asking them
+to beg their fathers to use their interest to procure him a
+situation as a boy clerk, or any other position in which he could
+earn his livelihood.</p>
+
+<p>Frank, however, shrunk from making any such appeal, and
+determined to fight his battle without asking for help. He knew
+nothing of his parents' relations. His father was an only son,
+who had been left early an orphan. His mother, too, had, he was
+aware, lost both her parents, and he had never heard her speak of
+other relations. There was no one, therefore, so far as he knew,
+to whom he could appeal on the ground of ties of blood. It must
+be said for him that he had no idea how hard was the task which
+he was undertaking. It seemed to him that it must be easy for a
+strong, active lad to find employment of some sort in London.
+What the employment might be he cared little for. He had no pride
+of that kind, and so that he could earn his bread he cared not
+much in what capacity he might do it.</p>
+
+<p>Already preparations had been made for the sale of the
+furniture, which was to take place next day. Everything was to be
+sold except the scientific books which had belonged to his
+father. These had been packed in a great box until the time when
+he might place them in a library of his own, and the doctor
+kindly offered to keep it for him until such time should arrive.
+Frank wrote a long letter to Ruthven, telling him of his loss,
+and his reasons for leaving Deal, and promising to write some day
+and tell him how he was getting on in London. This letter he did
+not intend to post until the last thing before leaving Deal. Lucy
+had already gone to her new home, and Frank felt confident that
+she would be happy there. His friend, the doctor, who had tried
+strongly, but without avail, to dissuade Frank from going up to
+London to seek his fortune there, had promised that if the lad
+referred any inquiries to him he would answer for his
+character.</p>
+
+<p>He went down to the beach the last evening and said goodbye to
+his friends among the fishermen, and he walked over in the
+afternoon and took his last meal with Farmer Gregson.</p>
+
+<p>"Look ye here, my lad," the farmer said as they parted. "I
+tell ye, from what I've heerd, this London be a hard nut to
+crack. There be plenty of kernel, no doubt, when you can get at
+it, but it be hard work to open the shell. Now, if so be as at
+any time you run short of money, just drop me a line, and there's
+ten pound at your service whenever you like. Don't you think it's
+an obligation. Quite the other way. It would be a real pleasure
+to me to lend you a helping hand."</p>
+
+<p>Two days after the sale Frank started for London. On getting
+out of the train he felt strange and lonely amid the bustle and
+confusion which was going on on the platform. The doctor had
+advised him to ask one of the porters, or a policeman, if he
+could recommend him to a quiet and respectable lodging, as
+expenses at an hotel would soon make a deep hole in his money.
+He, therefore, as soon as the crowd cleared away, addressed
+himself to one of the porters.</p>
+
+<p>"What sort of lodgings do you want, sir?" the man said,
+looking at him rather suspiciously, with, as Frank saw, a strong
+idea in his mind that he was a runaway schoolboy.</p>
+
+<p>"I only want one room," he said, "and I don't care how small
+it is, so that it is clean and quiet. I shall be out all day, and
+should not give much trouble."</p>
+
+<p>The porter went away and spoke to some of his mates, and
+presently returned with one of them.</p>
+
+<p>"You're wanting a room I hear, sir," the man said. "I have a
+little house down the Old Kent Road, and my missus lets a room or
+two. It's quiet and clean, I'll warrant you. We have one room
+vacant at present."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure that would suit me very well," Frank said. "How much
+do you charge a week?"</p>
+
+<p>"Three and sixpence, sir, if you don't want any cooking
+done."</p>
+
+<p>Frank took the address, and leaving his portmanteau in charge
+of the porter, who promised, unless he heard to the contrary,
+that he would bring it home with him when he had done his work,
+he set off from the station.</p>
+
+<p>Deal is one of the quietest and most dreary places on the
+coast of England, and Frank was perfectly astounded at the crowd
+and bustle which filled the street, when he issued from the
+railway approach, at the foot of London Bridge. The porter had
+told him that he was to turn to his left, and keep straight along
+until he reached the "Elephant and Castle." He had, therefore, no
+trouble about his road, and was able to give his whole attention
+to the sights which met his eye. For a time the stream of
+omnibuses, cabs, heavy wagons, and light carts, completely
+bewildered him, as did the throng of people who hastened along
+the footway. He was depressed rather than exhilarated at the
+sight of this busy multitude. He seemed such a solitary atom in
+the midst of this great moving crowd. Presently, however, the
+thought that where so many millions gained their living there
+must be room for one boy more, somewhat cheered him. He was a
+long time making his way to his place of destination, for he
+stared into every shop window, and being, although he was
+perfectly ignorant of the fact, on the wrong side of the
+pavement, he was bumped and bustled continually, and was not long
+in arriving at the conclusion that the people of London must be
+the roughest and rudest in the world. It was not until he ran
+against a gentleman, and was greeted with the angry, "now then,
+boy. Where are you going? Why the deuce don't you keep on your
+own side of the pavement?" that he perceived that the moving
+throng was divided into two currents, that on the inside meeting
+him, while the outside stream was proceeding in the same
+direction as himself. After this he got on better, and arrived
+without adventure at the house of the porter, in the Old Kent
+Road.</p>
+
+<p>It was a small house, but was clean and respectable, and Frank
+found that the room would suit him well.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wait upon the lodgers," the landlady said, "except
+to make the beds and tidy the rooms in the morning. So if you
+want breakfast and tea at home you will have to get them
+yourself. There is a separate place downstairs for your coals.
+There are some tea things, plates and dishes, in this cupboard.
+You will want to buy a small tea kettle, and a gridiron, and a
+frying pan, in case you want a chop or a rasher. Do you think you
+can cook them yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"Frank, amused at the thought of cooking and catering for
+himself, said boldly that he should soon learn.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a very young gentleman," the landlady said, eyeing
+him doubtfully, "to be setting up on your own hook. I mean," she
+said, seeing Frank look puzzled, "setting up housekeeping on your
+own account. You will have to be particular careful with the
+frying pan, because if you were to upset the fat in the fire you
+might have the house in a blaze in a jiffey."</p>
+
+<p>Frank said that he would certainly be careful with the frying
+pan.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she went on, "as you're a stranger to the place I
+don't know as you could do better than get your tea, and sugar,
+and things at the grocer's at the next corner. I deals there
+myself, and he gives every satisfaction. My baker will be round
+in a few minutes, and, if you likes, I can take in your bread for
+you. The same with milk."</p>
+
+<p>These matters being arranged, and Frank agreeing at once to
+the proposition that as he was a stranger it would make things
+more comfortable were he to pay his rent in advance, found
+himself alone in his new apartment. It was a room about ten feet
+square. The bed occupied one corner, with the washstand at its
+foot. There was a small table in front of the fireplace, and two
+chairs; a piece of carpet half covered the floor, and these with
+the addition of the articles in the cupboard constituted the
+furniture of the room. Feeling hungry after his journey Frank
+resolved to go out at once and get something to eat, and then to
+lay in a stock of provisions. After some hesitation regarding the
+character of the meal he decided upon two Bath buns, determining
+to make a substantial tea. He laid in a supply of tea, sugar,
+butter, and salt, bought a little kettle, a frying pan, and a
+gridiron. Then he hesitated as to whether he should venture upon
+a mutton chop or some bacon, deciding finally in favor of the
+latter, upon the reflection that any fellow could see whether
+bacon were properly frizzled up, while as to a chop there was no
+seeing anything about it till one cut it. He, therefore, invested
+in a pound of prime streaky Wiltshire bacon, the very best, as
+the shopman informed him, that could be bought. He returned
+carrying all his purchases, with the exception of the hardware.
+Then he inquired of his landlady where he could get coal.</p>
+
+<p>"The green grocer's round the corner," the landlady said.
+"Tell him to send in a hundredweight of the best, that's a
+shilling, and you'll want some firewood too."</p>
+
+<p>The coal arrived in the course of the afternoon, and at half
+past six the porter came in with Frank's trunk. He had by this
+time lit a fire, and while the water was boiling got some of his
+things out of the box, and by hanging some clothes on the pegs on
+the back of the door, and by putting the two or three favorite
+books he had brought with him on to the mantelpiece, he gave the
+room a more homelike appearance. He enjoyed his tea all the more
+from the novelty of having to prepare it himself, and succeeded
+very fairly for a first attempt with his bacon.</p>
+
+<p>When tea was over he first washed up the things and then
+started for a ramble. He followed the broad straight road to
+Waterloo Bridge, stood for a long time looking at the river, and
+then crossed into the Strand. The lamps were now alight and the
+brightness and bustle of the scene greatly interested him. At
+nine o'clock he returned to his lodgings, but was again obliged
+to sally out, as he found he had forgotten candles.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast next morning he went out and bought a
+newspaper, and set himself to work to study the advertisements.
+He was dismayed to find how many more applicants there were for
+places than places requiring to be filled. All the persons
+advertising were older than himself, and seemed to possess
+various accomplishments in the way of languages; many too could
+be strongly recommended from their last situation. The prospect
+did not look hopeful. In the first place he had looked to see if
+any required boy clerks, but this species of assistant appeared
+little in demand; and then, although he hoped that it would not
+come to that, he ran his eye down the columns to see if any
+required errand boys or lads in manufacturing businesses. He
+found, however, no such advertisements. However, as he said to
+himself, it could not be expected that he should find a place
+waiting for him on the very day after his arrival, and that he
+ought to be able to live for a year on his five and twenty
+pounds; at this reflection his spirits rose and he went out again
+for a walk.</p>
+
+<p>For the first week, indeed, of his arrival in London Frank did
+not set himself very earnestly to work to look for a situation.
+In his walks about the streets he several times observed cards in
+the window indicating that an errand boy was wanted. He resolved,
+however, that this should be the last resource which he would
+adopt, as he would much prefer to go to work as a common lad in a
+factory to serving in a shop. After the first week he answered
+many advertisements, but in no case received a reply. In one
+case, in which it was stated that a lad who could write a good
+fast hand was required in an office, wages to begin with eight
+shillings a week, he called two days after writing. It was a
+small office with a solitary clerk sitting in it. The latter,
+upon learning Frank's business, replied with some exasperation
+that his mind was being worried out by boys.</p>
+
+<p>"We have had four hundred and thirty letters," he said; "and I
+should think that a hundred boys must have called. We took the
+first who applied, and all the other letters were chucked into
+the fire as soon as we saw what they were about."</p>
+
+<p>Frank returned to the street greatly disheartened.</p>
+
+<p>"Four hundred and thirty letters!" he said. "Four hundred and
+thirty other fellows on the lookout, just as I am, for a place as
+a boy clerk, and lots of them, no doubt, with friends and
+relations to recommend them! The lookout seems to be a bad
+one."</p>
+
+<p>Two days later, when Frank was walking along the strand he
+noticed the placards in front of a theater.</p>
+
+<p>"Gallery one shilling!" he said to himself; "I will go. I have
+never seen a theater yet."</p>
+
+<p>The play was <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>, and Frank sat in
+rapt attention and interest through it. When the performance was
+over he walked briskly homewards. When he had proceeded some
+distance he saw a glare in the sky ahead, and presently a steam
+engine dashed past him at full speed.</p>
+
+<p>"That must be a house on fire," he said. "I have never seen a
+fire;" and he broke into a run.</p>
+
+<p>Others were running in the same direction, and as he passed
+the "Elephant and Castle" the crowd became thicker, and when
+within fifty yards of the house he could no longer advance. He
+could see the flames now rising high in the air. A horrible fear
+seized him.</p>
+
+<p>"It must be," he exclaimed to himself, "either our house or
+the one next door."</p>
+
+<p>It was in vain that he pressed forward to see more nearly. A
+line of policemen was drawn up across the road to keep a large
+space clear for the firemen. Behind the policemen the crowd were
+thickly packed. Frank inquired of many who stood near him if they
+could tell him the number of the house which was on fire; but
+none could inform him.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the flames began to die away, and the crowd to
+disperse. At length Frank reached the first line of
+spectators.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you tell me the number of the houses which are burned?"
+Frank said to a policeman.</p>
+
+<p>"There are two of them," the policeman said "a hundred and
+four and a hundred and five. A hundred and four caught first, and
+they say that a woman and two children have been burned to
+death."</p>
+
+<p>"That is where I live!" Frank cried. "Oh, please let me
+pass!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll pass you in," the policeman said good naturedly, and he
+led him forward to the spot where the engines were playing upon
+the burning houses. "Is it true, mate," he asked a fireman, "that
+a woman and two children have been burned?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's true enough," the fireman said. "The landlady and her
+children. Her husband was a porter at the railway station, and
+had been detained on overtime. He only came back a quarter of an
+hour ago, and he's been going on like a madman;" and he pointed
+to the porter, who was sitting down on the doorsteps of a house
+facing his own, with his face hidden in his hands.</p>
+
+<p>Frank went and sat down beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"My poor fellow," he said, "I am sorry for you."</p>
+
+<p>Frank had had many chats with his landlord of an evening, and
+had become quite friendly with him and his wife.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't believe it," the man said huskily. "Just to think!
+When I went out this morning there was Jane and the kids, as well
+and as happy as ever, and there, where are they now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Happier still," Frank said gently. "I lost my mother just as
+suddenly only five weeks ago. I went out for a walk, leaving her
+as well as usual, and when I came back she was dead; so I can
+feel for you with all my heart."</p>
+
+<p>"I would have given my life for them," the man said, wiping
+his eyes, "willing."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure you would," Frank answered.</p>
+
+<p>"There's the home gone," the man said, "with all the things
+that it took ten years' savings of Jane and me to buy; not that
+that matters one way or the other now. And your traps are gone,
+too, I suppose, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Frank replied quietly, "I have lost my clothes and
+twenty-three pounds in money; every penny I've got in the world
+except half a crown in my pocket."</p>
+
+<p>"And you don't say nothing about it!" the man said, roused
+into animation. "But, there, perhaps you've friends as will make
+it up to you."</p>
+
+<p>"I have no one in the world," Frank answered, "whom I could
+ask to give me a helping hand."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you are a plucky chap," the man said. "That would be a
+knock down blow to a man, let alone a boy like you. What are you
+going to do now?" he asked, forgetting for the moment his own
+loss, in his interest in his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," Frank replied. "Perhaps," he added, seeing
+that the interest in his condition roused the poor fellow from
+the thought of his own deep sorrow, "you might give me some
+advice. I was thinking of getting a place in an office, but of
+course I must give that up now, and should be thankful to get
+anything by which I can earn my bread."</p>
+
+<p>"You come along with me," the man said rising. "You've done me
+a heap of good. It's no use sitting here. I shall go back to the
+station, and turn in on some sacks. If you've nothing better to
+do, and nowhere to go to, you come along with me. We will talk it
+all over."</p>
+
+<p>Pleased to have some one to talk to, and glad that he should
+not have to look for a place to sleep, Frank accompanied the
+porter to the station. With a word or two to the nightmen on
+duty, the porter led the way to a shed near the station, where a
+number of sacks were heaped in a corner.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," the man said, "I will light a pipe. It's against the
+regulations, but that's neither here nor there now. Now, if
+you're not sleepy, would you mind talking to me? Tell me
+something about yourself, and how you come to be alone here in
+London. It does me good to talk. It prevents me from
+thinking."</p>
+
+<p>"There is very little to tell," Frank said; and he related to
+him the circumstances of the deaths of his father and mother, and
+how it came that he was alone in London in search of a place.</p>
+
+<p>"You're in a fix," the porter said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I can see that."</p>
+
+<p>"You see you're young for most work, and you never had no
+practice with horses, or you might have got a place to drive a
+light cart. Then, again, your knowing nothing of London is
+against you as an errand boy; and what's worse than all this,
+anyone can see with half an eye that you're a gentleman, and not
+accustomed to hard work. However, we will think it over. The
+daylight's breaking now, and I has to be at work at six. But look
+ye here, young fellow, tomorrow I've got to look for a room, and
+when I gets it there's half of it for you, if you're not too
+proud to accept it. It will be doing me a real kindness, I can
+tell you, for what I am to do alone of an evening without Jane
+and the kids, God knows. I can't believe they're gone yet."</p>
+
+<p>Then the man threw himself down upon the sacks, and broke into
+sobs. Frank listened for half an hour till these gradually died
+away, and he knew by the regular breathing that his companion was
+asleep. It was long after this before be himself closed his eyes.
+The position did, indeed, appear a dark one. Thanks to the offer
+of his companion, which he at once resolved to accept for a time,
+he would have a roof to sleep under. But this could not last; and
+what was he to do? Perhaps he had been wrong in not writing at
+once to Ruthven and his schoolfellows. He even felt sure he had
+been wrong; but it would be ten times as hard to write now. He
+would rather starve than do this. How was he to earn his living?
+He would, he determined, at any rate try for a few days to
+procure a place as an errand boy. If that failed, he would sell
+his clothes, and get a rough working suit. He was sure that he
+should have more chance of obtaining work in such a dress than in
+his present attire.</p>
+
+<p>Musing thus, Frank at last dropped off to sleep. When he woke
+he found himself alone, his companion having left without
+disturbing him. From the noises around him of trains coming in
+and out, Frank judged that the hour was late.</p>
+
+<p>"I have done one wise thing," he said, "anyhow, and as far as
+I can see it's the only one, in leaving my watch with the doctor
+to keep. He pointed out that I might have it stolen if I carried
+it, and that there was no use in keeping it shut up in a box.
+Very possibly it might be stolen by the dishonesty of a servant.
+That's safe anyhow, and it is my only worldly possession, except
+the books, and I would rather go into the workhouse than part
+with either of them."</p>
+
+<p>Rising, he made his way into the station, where he found the
+porter at his usual work.</p>
+
+<p>"I would not wake you," the man said; "you were sleeping so
+quiet, and I knew 'twas no use your getting up early. I shall go
+out and settle for a room at dinner time. If you will come here
+at six o'clock we'll go off together. The mates have all been
+very kind, and have been making a collection to bury my poor girl
+and the kids. They've found 'em, and the inquest is tomorrow, so
+I shall be off work. The governor has offered me a week; but
+there, I'd rather be here where there's no time for thinking,
+than hanging about with nothing to do but to drink."</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI: THE FIRST
+STEP</h1>
+
+<p>All that day Frank tramped the streets. He went into many
+shops where he saw notices that an errand boy was required, but
+everywhere without success. He perceived at once that his
+appearance was against him, and he either received the abrupt
+answer of, "You're not the sort of chap for my place," or an
+equally decided refusal upon the grounds that he did not know the
+neighborhood, or that they preferred one who had parents who
+lived close by and could speak for him.</p>
+
+<p>At six o'clock he rejoined the porter. He brought with him
+some bread and butter and a piece of bacon. When, on arriving at
+the lodging of his new friend, a neat room with two small beds in
+it, he produced and opened his parcel, the porter said angrily,
+"Don't you do that again, young fellow, or we shall have words.
+You're just coming to stop with me for a bit till you see your
+way, and I'm not going to have you bring things in here. My money
+is good for two months, and your living here with me won't cost
+three shillings a week. So don't you hurt my feelings by bringing
+things home again. There, don't say no more about it."</p>
+
+<p>Frank, seeing that his companion was really in earnest, said
+no more, and was the less reluctant to accept the other's
+kindness as he saw that his society was really a great relief to
+him in his trouble. After the meal they sallied out to a second
+hand clothes shop. Here Frank disposed of his things, and
+received in return a good suit of clothes fit for a working
+lad.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know how it is," the porter said as they sat together
+afterwards, "but a gentleman looks like a gentleman put him in
+what clothes you will. I could have sworn to your being that if
+I'd never seen you before. I can't make it out, I don't know what
+it is, but there's certainly something in gentle blood, whatever
+you may say about it. Some of my mates are forever saying that
+one man's as good as another. Now I don't mean to say they ain't
+as good; but what I say is, as they ain't the same. One man ain't
+the same as another any more than a race horse is the same as a
+cart horse. They both sprang from the same stock, at least so
+they says; but breeding and feeding and care has made one into a
+slim boned creature as can run like the wind, while the other has
+got big bones and weight and can drag his two ton after him
+without turning a hair. Now, I take it, it's the same thing with
+gentlefolks and working men. It isn't that one's bigger than the
+other, for I don't see much difference that way; but a
+gentleman's lighter in the bone, and his hands and his feet are
+smaller, and he carries himself altogether different. His voice
+gets a different tone. Why, Lord bless you, when I hears two men
+coming along the platform at night, even when I can't see 'em,
+and can't hear what they says, only the tone of their voices, I
+knows just as well whether it's a first class or a third door as
+I've got to open as if I saw <i>'</i>em in the daylight. Rum,
+ain't it?"</p>
+
+<p>Frank had never thought the matter out, and could only give
+his general assent to his companion's proposition.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," the porter went on, "if you go into a factory or
+workshop, I'll bet a crown to a penny that before you've been
+there a week you'll get called Gentleman Jack, or some such name.
+You see if you ain't."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care what they call me," Frank laughed, "so that
+they'll take me into the factory."</p>
+
+<p>"All in good time," the porter said; "don't you hurry
+yourself. As long as you can stay here you'll be heartily
+welcome. Just look what a comfort it is to have you sitting here
+sociable and comfortable. You don't suppose I could have sat here
+alone in this room if you hadn't been here? I should have been in
+a public house making a beast of myself, and spending as much
+money as would keep the pair of us."</p>
+
+<p>Day after day Frank went out in search of work. In his tramps
+he visited scores of workshops and factories, but without
+success. Either they did not want boys, or they declined
+altogether to take one who had no experience in work, and had no
+references in the neighborhood. Frank took his breakfast and tea
+with the porter, and was glad that the latter had his dinner at
+the station, as a penny loaf served his purposes. One day in his
+walks Frank entered Covent Garden and stood looking on at the
+bustle and flow of business, for it happened to be market day. He
+leaned against one of the columns of the piazza, eating the bread
+he had just bought. Presently a sharp faced lad, a year or two
+younger than himself, came up to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Give us a hit," he said, "I ain't tasted nothing today."</p>
+
+<p>Frank broke the bread in half and gave a portion to him.</p>
+
+<p>"What a lot there is going on here!" Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>"Law!" the boy answered, "that ain't nothing to what it is of
+a morning. That's the time, <i>'</i>special on the mornings of
+the flower market. It's hard lines if a chap can't pick up a
+tanner or even a bob then."</p>
+
+<p>"How?" Frank asked eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, by holding horses, helping to carry out plants, and such
+like. You seems a green 'un, you do. Up from the country, eh?
+Don't seem like one of our sort."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Frank said, "I'm just up from the country. I thought it
+would be easy to get a place in London, but I don't find it
+so."</p>
+
+<p>"A place!" the boy repeated scornfully. "I should like any one
+to see me in a place. It's better a hundred times to be your own
+master."</p>
+
+<p>"Even if you do want a piece of bread sometimes?" Frank put
+in.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," the boy said. "When it ain't market day and ye haven't
+saved enough to buy a few papers or boxes of matches it does come
+hard. In winter the times is bad, but in summer we gets on
+fairish, and there ain't nothing to grumble about. Are you out of
+work yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Frank answered, "I'm on the lookout for a job."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd have a chance here in the morning," said the boy,
+looking at him. "You look decent, and might get a job unloading.
+They won't have us at no price, if they can help it."</p>
+
+<p>"I will come and try anyhow," Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>That evening Frank told his friend, the porter, that he
+thought of going out early next morning to try and pick up odd
+jobs at Covent Garden.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think of it," the porter said. "There's nothing
+worse for a lad than taking to odd jobs. It gets him into bad
+ways and bad company. Don't you hurry. I have spoken to lots of
+my mates, and they're all on the lookout for you. We on the
+platform can't do much. It ain't in our line, you see; but in the
+goods department, where they are constant with vans and wagons
+and such like, they are likely enough to hear of something before
+long."</p>
+
+<p>That night, thinking matters over in bed, Frank determined to
+go down to the docks and see if he could get a place as cabin
+boy. He had had this idea in his mind ever since he lost his
+money, and had only put it aside in order that he might, if
+possible, get some berth on shore which might seem likely in the
+end to afford him a means of making his way up again. It was not
+that he was afraid of the roughness of a cabin boy's life; it was
+only because he knew that it would be so very long before,
+working his way up from boy to able bodied seaman, he could
+obtain a mate's certificate, and so make a first step up the
+ladder. However, he thought that even this would be better than
+going as a wagoner's boy, and he accordingly crossed London
+Bridge, turned down Eastcheap, and presently found himself in
+Ratcliff Highway. He was amused here at the nautical character of
+the shops, and presently found himself staring into a window full
+of foreign birds, for the most part alive in cages, among which,
+however, were a few cases of stuffed birds.</p>
+
+<p>"How stupid I have been!" he thought to himself. "I wonder I
+never thought of it before! I can stuff birds and beasts at any
+rate a deal better than those wooden looking things. I might have
+a chance of getting work at some naturalist's shop. I will get a
+directory and take down all the addresses in London, and then go
+around."</p>
+
+<p>He now became conscious of a conversation going on between a
+little old man with a pair of thick horn rimmed spectacles and a
+sailor who had a dead parrot and a cat in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I really cannot undertake them," the old man said. "Since the
+death of my daughter I have had but little time to attend to that
+branch. What with buying and selling, and feeding and attending
+to the live ones, I have no time for stuffing. Besides, if the
+things were poisoned, they would not be worth stuffing."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't the question of worth, skipper," the sailor said;
+"and I don't say, mind ye, that these here critturs was pisoned,
+only if you looks at it that this was the noisiest bird and the
+worst tempered thievingest cat in the neighborhood -- though,
+Lord bless you, my missus wouldn't allow it for worlds -- why,
+you know, when they were both found stiff and cold this morning
+people does have a sort of a suspicion as how they've been
+pisoned;" and he winked one eye in a portentous manner, and
+grinned hugely. "The missus she's in a nice taking, screeching,
+and yelling as you might hear her two cables' length away, and
+she turns round on me and will have it as I'd a hand in the
+matter. Well, just to show my innocence, I offers to get a glass
+case for 'em and have 'em stuffed, if it cost me a couple of
+pounds. I wouldn't care if they fell all to pieces a week
+afterwards, so that it pacified the old woman just at present. If
+I can't get 'em done I shall ship at once, for the place will be
+too hot to hold me. So you can't do it nohow?"</p>
+
+<p>The old man shook his head, and the sailor was just turning
+off when Frank went up to him:</p>
+
+<p>"Will you please wait a moment? Can I speak to you, sir, a
+minute?" he asked the old man.</p>
+
+<p>The naturalist went into his shop, and Frank followed him.</p>
+
+<p>"I can stuff birds and animals, sir," he said. "I think I
+really stuff them well, for some which I did for amusement were
+sold at ten shillings a case, and the man who bought them of me
+told me they would be worth four times as much in London. I am
+out of work, sir, and very very anxious to get my living. You
+will find me hard working and honest. Do give me a chance. Let me
+stuff that cat and parrot for the sailor. If you are not
+satisfied then, I will go away and charge nothing for it."</p>
+
+<p>The man looked at him keenly.</p>
+
+<p>"I will at any rate give you a trial," he said. Then he went
+to the door and called in the sailor. "This lad tells me he can
+stuff birds. I know nothing about him, but I believe he is
+speaking truthfully. If you like to intrust them to him he will
+do his best. If you're not satisfied he will make no charge."</p>
+
+<p>Much pleased at seeing a way out of his dilemma, the sailor
+placed the dead animals on the counter.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," the old man said to Frank, "you can take these out into
+the back yard and skin them. Then you can go to work in that back
+room. You will find arsenical soap, cotton wool, wires, and
+everything else you require there. This has been a fine cat," he
+said, looking at the animal.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it has been a splendid creature," Frank answered. "It is
+a magnificent macaw also."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! you know it is a macaw!" the old man said.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," Frank said simply; "it has a tail."</p>
+
+<p>The old man then furnished Frank with two or three sharp
+knives and scissors. Taking the bird and cat, he went out into
+the yard and in the course of an hour had skinned them both. Then
+he returned to the shop and set to work in the room behind.</p>
+
+<p>"May I make a group of them?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Do them just as you like," the old man said.</p>
+
+<p>After settling upon his subject, Frank set to work, and,
+except that he went out for five minutes to buy and eat a penny
+loaf, continued his work till nightfall. The old man came in
+several times to look at him, but each time went out again
+without making a remark. At six o'clock Frank laid down his
+tools.</p>
+
+<p>"I will come again tomorrow, sir," he said.</p>
+
+<p>The old man nodded, and Frank went home in high spirits. There
+was a prospect at last of getting something to do, and that in a
+line most congenial to his own tastes.</p>
+
+<p>The old man looked up when he entered next morning.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not come in today," he remarked. "I will wait to see
+them finished."</p>
+
+<p>Working without interruption till the evening, Frank finished
+them to his satisfaction, and enveloped them with many wrappings
+of thread to keep them in precisely the attitudes in which he had
+placed them.</p>
+
+<p>"They are ready for drying now, sir," he said. "If I might
+place them in an oven they would be dried by morning."</p>
+
+<p>The old man led the way to the kitchen, where a small fire was
+burning.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall put no more coals on the fire," he said, "and it will
+be out in a quarter of an hour. Put them in there and leave the
+door open. I will close it in an hour when the oven cools."</p>
+
+<p>The next day Frank was again at work. It took him all day to
+get fur and feather to lie exactly as he wished them. In the
+afternoon he asked the naturalist for a piece of flat board,
+three feet long, and a perch, but said that instead of the piece
+of board he should prefer mounting them in a case at once. The
+old man had not one in the shop large enough, and therefore Frank
+arranged his group temporarily on the table. On the board lay the
+cat. At first sight she seemed asleep, but it was clearly only
+seeming. Her eyes were half open, the upper lip was curled up,
+and the sharp teeth showed. The hind feet were drawn somewhat
+under her as in readiness for an instant spring. Her front paws
+were before her, the talons were somewhat stretched, and one paw
+was curved. Her ears lay slightly back. She was evidently on the
+point of springing. The macaw perch, which had been cut down to a
+height of two feet, stood behind her. The bird hung by its feet,
+and, head downwards, stretched with open beak towards the tip of
+the cat's tail, which was slightly uplifted. On a piece of paper
+Frank wrote, "Dangerous Play."</p>
+
+<p>It was evening before he had finished perfectly to his
+satisfaction. Then he called the naturalist in. The old man
+stopped at the door, surveying the group. Then he entered and
+examined it carefully.</p>
+
+<p>"Wonderful!" he said. "Wonderful! I should have thought them
+alive. There is not a shop in the West End where it could have
+been turned out better, if so well.</p>
+
+<p>"Lad, you are a wonder! Tell me now who and what are you? I
+saw when you first addressed me that you were not what you seemed
+to be, a working lad."</p>
+
+<p>"I have been well educated," Frank said, "and was taught to
+preserve and stuff by my father, who was a great naturalist. My
+parents died suddenly, and I was left on my own resources,
+which," he said, smiling faintly, "have hitherto proved of very
+small avail. I am glad you are pleased. If you will take me into
+your service I will work hard and make myself useful in every
+way. If you require references I can refer you to the doctor who
+attended us in the country; but I have not a single friend in
+London except a railway porter, who has most kindly and
+generously taken me in and sheltered me for the last two
+months."</p>
+
+<p>"I need no references," the old man said; "your work speaks
+for itself as to your skill, and your face for your character.
+But I can offer you nothing fit for you. With such a genius as
+you have for setting up animals, you ought to be able to earn a
+good income. Not one man in a thousand can make a dead animal
+look like a live one. You have the knack or the art."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be very content with anything you can give me," Frank
+said; "for the present I only ask to earn my living. If later on
+I can, as you say, do more, all the better."</p>
+
+<p>The old man stood for some time thinking, and presently said,
+"I do but little except in live stock. When I had my daughter
+with me I did a good deal of stuffing, for there is a
+considerable trade hereabout. The sailors bring home skins of
+foreign birds, and want them stuffed and put in cases, as
+presents for their wives and sweethearts. You work fast as well
+as skillfully. I have known men who would take a fortnight to do
+such a group as that, and then it would be a failure. It will be
+quite a new branch for my trade. I do not know how it will act
+yet, but to begin with I will give you twelve shillings a week,
+and a room upstairs. If it succeeds we will make other
+arrangements. I am an old man, and a very lonely one. I shall be
+glad to have such a companion."</p>
+
+<p>Frank joyfully embraced the offer, and ran all the way home to
+tell his friend, the porter, of the engagement.</p>
+
+<p>"I am very glad," the man said; "heartily glad. I shall miss
+you sorely. I do not know what I should have done without you
+when I first lost poor Jane and the kids. But now I can go back
+to my old ways again."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps," Frank suggested, "you might arrange to have a room
+also in the house. It would not be a very long walk, not above
+twenty or five and twenty minutes, and I should be so glad to
+have you with me."</p>
+
+<p>The man sat silent for a time. "No," he said at last, "I thank
+you all the same. I should like it too, but I don't think it
+would be best in the end. Here all my mates live near, and I
+shall get on in time. The Christmas holiday season will soon be
+coming on and we shall be up working late. If you were always
+going to stop at the place you are going to, it would be
+different; but you will rise, never fear. I shall be seeing you
+in gentleman's clothes again some of these days. I've heard you
+say you were longing to get your books and to be studying again,
+and you'll soon fall into your own ways; but if you will let me,
+I'll come over sometimes and have a cup of tea and a chat with
+you. Now, look here, I'm going out with you now, and I'm going to
+buy you a suit of clothes, something like what you had on when I
+first saw you. They won't be altogether unsuitable in a shop.
+This is a loan, mind, and you may pay me off as you get
+flush."</p>
+
+<p>Frank saw he should hurt the good fellow's feelings by
+refusing, and accordingly went out with him, and next morning
+presented himself at the shop in a quiet suit of dark gray tweed,
+and with his other clothes in a bundle.</p>
+
+<p>"Aha!" said the old man; "you look more as you ought to do
+now, though you're a cut above an assistant in a naturalist's
+shop in Ratcliff Highway. Now, let me tell you the names of some
+of these birds. They are, every one of them, foreigners; some of
+them I don't know myself."</p>
+
+<p>"I can tell all the family names," Frank said quietly, "and
+the species, but I do not know the varieties."</p>
+
+<p>"Can you!" the old man said in surprise. "What is this
+now?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is a mockingbird, the great black capped mockingbird, I
+think. The one next to it is a golden lory."</p>
+
+<p>So Frank went round all the cages and perches in the shop.</p>
+
+<p>"Right in every case," the old man said enthusiastically; "I
+shall have nothing to teach you. The sailor has been here this
+morning. I offered him two pounds for the cat and bird to put in
+my front window, but he would not take it, and has paid me that
+sum for your work. Here it is. This is yours, you know. You were
+not in my employment then, and you will want some things to start
+with, no doubt. Now come upstairs, I will show you your room. I
+had intended at first to give you the one at the back, but I have
+decided now on giving you my daughter's. I think you will like
+it."</p>
+
+<p>Frank did like it greatly. It was the front room on the second
+floor. The old man's daughter had evidently been a woman of taste
+and refinement. The room was prettily papered, a quiet carpet
+covered the floor, and the furniture was neat and in good
+keeping. Two pairs of spotless muslin curtains hung across the
+windows.</p>
+
+<p>"I put them up this morning," the old man said, nodding. "I
+have got the sheets and bedding airing in the kitchen. They have
+not been out of the press for the last three years. You can cook
+in the kitchen. There is always a fire there.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, the first thing to do," he went on when they returned to
+the shop, "will be for you to mount a dozen cases for the
+windows. These drawers are full of skins of birds and small
+animals. I get them for next to nothing from the sailors, and
+sell them to furriers and feather preparers, who supply ladies'
+hat and bonnet makers. In future, I propose that you shall mount
+them and sell them direct. We shall get far higher prices than we
+do now. I seem to be putting most of the work on your shoulders,
+but do not want you to help me in the shop. I will look after the
+birds and buy and sell as I used to do; you will have the back
+room private to yourself for stuffing and mounting."</p>
+
+<p>Frank was delighted at this allotment of labor, and was soon
+at work rummaging the drawers and picking out specimens for
+mounting, and made a selection sufficient to keep him employed
+for weeks. That evening he sallied out and expended his two
+pounds in underlinen, of which he was sorely in need. As he
+required them his employer ordered showcases for the window, of
+various sizes, getting the backgrounds painted and fitted up as
+Frank suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Frank did not get on so fast with his work as he had hoped,
+for the fame of the sailor's cat and macaw spread rapidly in the
+neighborhood, and there was a perfect rush of sailors and their
+wives anxious to have birds and skins, which had been brought
+from abroad, mounted. The sailor himself looked in one day.</p>
+
+<p>"If you like another two pounds for that 'ere cat, governor,
+I'm game to pay you. It's the best thing that ever happened to
+me. Every one's wanting to see 'em, and there's the old woman
+dressed up in her Sunday clothes a-sitting in the parlor as proud
+as a peacock a showing of 'em off. The house ain't been so quiet
+since I married. Them animals would be cheap to me at a ten pound
+note. They'll get you no end of orders, I can tell you."</p>
+
+<p>The orders, indeed, came in much faster than Frank could
+fulfill them, although he worked twelve hours a day; laying aside
+all other work, however, for three hours in order to devote
+himself to the shop cases, which were to be <i>chef
+d'oeuvres</i>.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII: AN OLD
+FRIEND</h1>
+
+<p>For three months Frank passed a quiet and not unpleasant life
+with the old naturalist in Ratcliff Highway. The latter took a
+great liking to him, and treated him like a son rather than an
+assistant. The two took their meals together now, and Frank's
+salary had been raised from twelve to eighteen shillings a week.
+So attractive had the cases in the windows proved that quite a
+little crowd was generally collected round them, and the business
+had greatly augmented. The old naturalist was less pleased at
+this change than most men would have been in his position. He had
+got into a groove and did not care to get out of it. He had no
+relatives or any one dependent on him, and he had been well
+content to go on in a jog trot way, just paying his expenses of
+shop and living. The extra bustle and push worried rather than
+pleased him.</p>
+
+<p>"I am an old man," he said to Frank one day, as after the shop
+was closed they sat over their tea. "I have no motive in laying
+by money, and had enough for my wants. I was influenced more by
+my liking for your face and my appreciation of your talent, than
+by any desire of increasing my business. I am taking now three
+times as much as I did before. Now I should not mind, indeed, I
+should be glad, if I thought that you would succeed me here as a
+son would do. I would gladly take you into partnership with me,
+and you would have the whole business after my death. But I know,
+my boy, that it wouldn't do. I know that the time will come when
+you will not be content with so dull a life here. You will either
+get an offer from some West End house which would open higher
+prospects to you, or you will be wandering away as a collector.
+In any case you would not stop here, of that I am quite sure, and
+therefore do not care, as I should have done, had you been my
+son, for the increase of the business. As it is, lad, I could not
+even wish to see you waste your life here."</p>
+
+<p>Frank, after he was once fairly settled at his new work, had
+written to his friend the doctor, at Deal, telling him of the
+position he had taken, and that he was in a fair way to make at
+least a comfortable living, and that at a pursuit of which he was
+passionately fond. He asked him, however, while writing to him
+from time to time to give him news of his sister, not to tell any
+one his address, as although he was not ashamed of his berth,
+still he would rather that, until he had made another step up in
+life, his old schoolfellows should not know of his whereabouts.
+He had also written to his friend Ruthven a bright chatty letter,
+telling him somewhat of his adventures in London and the loss of
+his money, and saying that he had now got employment at a
+naturalist's, with every chance of making his way.</p>
+
+<p>"When I mount a bit higher," he concluded, "I shall be awfully
+glad to see you again, and will let you know what my address may
+then be. For the present I had rather keep it dark. If you will
+write to me, addressed to the General Post Office, telling me all
+about yourself and the fellows at school, I shall be very, very
+glad to get your letter. I suppose you will be breaking up for
+Christmas in a few days."</p>
+
+<p>Christmas came and went. It was signalized to Frank only by
+the despatch of a pretty present to Lucy, and the receipt of a
+letter from her written in a round childish hand. A week
+afterwards he heard somebody come into the shop. His employer was
+out, and he therefore went into the shop.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew it was!" shouted a voice. "My dear old Frank, how are
+you?" and his hand was warmly clasped in that of Ruthven.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Ruthven," was all Frank could say.</p>
+
+<p>"I had intended," Ruthven exclaimed, "to punch your head
+directly I found you; but I am too glad to do it, though you
+deserve it fifty times over. What a fellow you are! I wouldn't
+have believed it of you, running away in that secret sort of way
+and letting none of us know anything about you. Wasn't I angry,
+and sorry too, when I got the letter you wrote me from Deal! When
+I went back to school and found that not even Dr. Parker, not
+even your sister, knew where you were, I was mad. So were all the
+other fellows. However, I said I would find you wherever you had
+hidden yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"But how did you find me?" Frank asked greatly moved at the
+warmth of his schoolfellow's greeting.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! it wasn't so very difficult to find you when once I got
+your letter saying what you were doing. The very day I came up to
+town I began to hunt about. I found from the Directory there were
+not such a great number of shops where they stuffed birds and
+that sort of thing. I tried the places in Bond Street, and
+Piccadilly, and Wigmore Street, and so on to begin with. Then I
+began to work east, and directly I saw the things in the window
+here I felt sure I had found you at last. You tiresome fellow!
+Here I have wasted nearly half my holidays looking for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I am so sorry, Ruthven."</p>
+
+<p>"Sorry! you ought to be more than sorry. You ought to be
+ashamed of yourself, downright ashamed. But, there, I won't say
+any more now. Now, can't you come out with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I can't come out now, Ruthven; but come into this room
+with me."</p>
+
+<p>There for the next hour they chatted, Frank giving a full
+account of all he had gone through since he came up to town,
+while Ruthven gave him the gossip of the half year at school.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," Ruthven said at last, "this old Horton of yours must
+be a brick. Still, you know, you can't stop here all your life.
+You must come and talk it over with my governor."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, indeed, Ruthven! I am getting on very well here, and
+am very contented with my lot, and I could not think of troubling
+your father in the matter."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you will trouble him a great deal," Ruthven said, "if
+you don't come, for you will trouble him to come all the way down
+here. He was quite worried when he first heard of your
+disappearance, and has been almost as excited as I have over the
+search for you.</p>
+
+<p>"You are really a foolish fellow, Frank," he went on more
+seriously; "I really didn't think it of you. Here you save the
+lives of four or five fellows and put all their friends under a
+tremendous obligation, and then you run away and hide yourself as
+if you were ashamed. I tell you you can't do it. A fellow has no
+more right to get rid of obligations than he has to run away
+without paying his debts. It would be a burden on your mind if
+you had a heavy debt you couldn't pay, and you would have a right
+to be angry if, when you were perfectly able to pay, your
+creditor refused to take the money. That's just the position in
+which you've placed my father. Well, anyhow, you've got to come
+and see him, or he's got to come and see you. I know he has
+something in his mind's eye which will just suit you, though he
+did not tell me what it was. For the last day or two he has been
+particularly anxious about finding you. Only yesterday when I
+came back and reported that I had been to half a dozen places
+without success, he said, 'Confound the young rascal, where can
+he be hiding? Here are the days slipping by and it will be too
+late. If you don't find him in a day or two, Dick, I will set the
+police after him -- say he has committed a murder or broken into
+a bank and offer a reward for his apprehension.' So you must
+either come home with me this afternoon, or you will be having my
+father down here tonight."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, Ruthven," Frank said, "I would not put your father
+to such trouble. He is very kind to have taken so much interest
+in me, only I hate --"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nonsense! I hate to see such beastly stuck up pride,
+putting your own dignity above the affection of your friends; for
+that's really what it comes to, old boy, if you look it fairly in
+the face."</p>
+
+<p>Frank flushed a little and was silent for a minute or two.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you are right, Ruthven; but it is a little hard for
+a fellow --"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, it isn't," Ruthven said. "If you'd got into a scrape
+from some fault of your own one could understand it, although
+even then there would be no reason for you to cut your old
+friends till they cut you. Young Goodall, who lives over at
+Bayswater, has been over four or five times to ask me if I have
+succeeded in finding you, and I have had letters from Handcock,
+and Childers, and Jackson. Just as if a fellow had got nothing to
+do but to write letters. How long will you be before you can come
+out?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is Mr. Horton just come in," Frank said. "I have no
+doubt he will let me go at once."</p>
+
+<p>The old naturalist at once assented upon Frank's telling him
+that a friend had come who wished him to go out.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, my dear boy. Why, working the hours and hours of
+overtime that you do, of course you can take a holiday whenever
+you're disposed."</p>
+
+<p>"He will not be back till late," Ruthven said as they went
+out. "I shall keep him all the evening."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed, Ruthven, I have no clothes!"</p>
+
+<p>"Clothes be bothered," Ruthven said. "I certainly shall end by
+punching your head, Frank, before the day's out."</p>
+
+<p>Frank remonstrated no more, but committed himself entirely to
+his friend's guidance. At the Mansion House they mounted on the
+roof of an omnibus going west, and at Knightsbridge got off and
+walked to Eaton Square, where Ruthven's father resided. The
+latter was out, so Frank accompanied his friend to what he called
+his sanctum, a small room littered up with books, bats, insect
+boxes, and a great variety of rubbish of all kinds. Here they
+chatted until the servant came up and said that Sir James had
+returned.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on, Frank," Ruthven said, running downstairs. "There's
+nothing of the ogre about the governor."</p>
+
+<p>They entered the study, and Ruthven introduced his friend.</p>
+
+<p>"I've caught him, father, at last. This is the culprit."</p>
+
+<p>Sir James Ruthven was a pleasant looking man, with a kindly
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you troublesome boy," he said, holding out his hand,
+"where have you been hiding all this time?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know that I've been hiding, sir," Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly hiding," Sir James smiled, "only keeping away
+from those who wanted to find you. Well, and how are you getting
+on?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am getting on very well, sir. I am earning eighteen
+shillings a week and my board and lodging, and my employer says
+he will take me into partnership as soon as I come of age."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, indeed!" Sir James said. "I am glad to hear that, as it
+shows you must be clever and industrious."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, father, and the place was full of the most lovely cases
+of things Frank had stuffed. There was quite a crowd looking in
+at the window."</p>
+
+<p>"That is very satisfactory. Now, Frank, do you sit down and
+write a note to your employer, asking him to send down half a
+dozen of the best cases. I want to show them to a gentleman who
+will dine with me here today, and who is greatly interested in
+such matters. When you have written the note I will send a
+servant off at once in a cab to fetch them."</p>
+
+<p>"And, father," Dick continued, "if you don't mind, might Frank
+and I have our dinner quietly together in my room? You've got a
+dinner party on, and Frank won't enjoy it half as much as he
+would dining quietly with me."</p>
+
+<p>"By all means," Sir James said. "But mind he is not to run
+away without seeing me.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a foolish lad," he went on in a kind voice to Frank;
+"and it was wrong as well as foolish to hide yourself from your
+friends. However independent we may be in this world, all must,
+to a certain extent, rely upon others. There is scarcely a man
+who can stand aloof from the rest and say, 'I want nothing of
+you.' I can understand your feeling in shrinking from asking a
+favor of me, or of the fathers of the other boys who are, like
+myself, deeply indebted to you for the great service you have
+rendered their sons. I can admire the feeling if not carried too
+far; but you should have let your schoolfellows know exactly how
+you were placed, and so have given us the opportunity of repaying
+the obligation if we were disposed, not to have run away and
+hidden yourself from us."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry, sir," Frank said simply. "I did not like to seem
+to trade upon the slight service I rendered some of my
+schoolfellows. Dr. Bateman told me I was wrong, but I did not see
+it then. Now I think, perhaps he was right, although I am afraid
+that if it happened again I should do the same."</p>
+
+<p>Sir James smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"I fear you are a stiff necked one, Master Frank. However, I
+will not scold you any further. Now, what will you do with
+yourselves till dinner time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we'll just sit and chat, father. We have got lots more
+things to tell each other."</p>
+
+<p>The afternoon passed in pleasant talk. Frank learned that
+Ruthven had now left Dr. Parker's for good, and that he was going
+down after the holidays to a clergyman who prepared six or eight
+boys for the army. Before dinner the footman returned with half a
+dozen of the best cases from the shop, which were brought up to
+Dick's room, and the latter was delighted with them. They greatly
+enjoyed their dinner together. At nine o'clock a servant came up
+and took down the cases. Five minutes later he returned again
+with a message, saying that Sir James wished Mr. Richard and his
+friend to go down into the dining room. Frank was not shy, but he
+felt it rather a trial when he entered the room, where seven or
+eight gentlemen were sitting round the table, the ladies having
+already withdrawn. The gentlemen were engaged in examining and
+admiring the cases of stuffed birds and animals.</p>
+
+<p>"This is my young friend," Sir James said, "of whom I have
+been speaking to you, and whose work you are all admiring. This,
+Frank, is Mr. Goodenough, the traveler and naturalist, of whom
+you may have heard."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed," Frank said, looking at the gentleman indicated.
+"I have Mr. Goodenough's book on <i>The Passerine Family</i> at
+home."</p>
+
+<p>"It is rather an expensive book too," the gentleman said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. My father bought it, not I. He was very fond of
+natural history and taught me all I know. He had a capital
+library of books on the subject, which Dr. Bateman is keeping for
+me, at Deal, till I have some place where I can put them. I was
+thinking of getting them up soon."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough asked him a few questions as to the books in
+the library, and then put him through what Frank felt was a sort
+of examination, as to his knowledge of their contents.</p>
+
+<p>"Very good indeed!" Mr. Goodenough said. "I can see from your
+work here that you are not only a very clever preparer, but a
+close student of the habits and ways of wild creatures. But I was
+hardly prepared to find your scientific knowledge so accurate and
+extensive. I was at first rather inclined to hesitate when Sir
+James Ruthven made me a proposal just now. I do so no longer. I
+am on the point of starting on an expedition into the center of
+Africa in search of specimens of natural history. He has proposed
+that you should accompany me, and has offered to defray the cost
+of your outfit, and of your passage out and home. I may be away
+for two years. Of course you would act as my assistant, and have
+every opportunity of acquiring such knowledge as I possess. It
+will be no pleasure trip, you know, but hard work, with all sorts
+of hardships and, perhaps, some dangers. At the same time it
+would be a fine opening in a career as a naturalist. Well, what
+do you say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir!" Frank exclaimed, clasping his hands, "it is of all
+things in the world what I should like most. How can I thank you
+enough? And you, Sir James, it is indeed kind and thoughtful of
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"We are not quits yet by any means, Frank," Sir James said
+kindly. "I am glad indeed to be able to forward your wishes; and
+now you must go upstairs and be introduced to my wife. She is
+most anxious to see you. She only returned home just before
+dinner."</p>
+
+<p>Frank was taken upstairs, where he and his cases of birds were
+made much of by Lady Ruthven and the ladies assembled in the
+drawing room. He himself was so filled with delight at the
+prospect opened to him that all thought of his dark tweed suit
+being out of place among the evening dresses of the ladies and
+gentlemen, which had troubled him while he was awaiting the
+summons to the dining room, quite passed out of his mind, and he
+was able to do the honors of his cases naturally and without
+embarrassment. At eleven o'clock he took his leave, promising to
+call upon Mr. Goodenough, who was in lodgings in Jermyn Street,
+upon the following morning, that gentleman having at Sir James'
+request undertaken to procure all the necessary outfit.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel really obliged to you, Sir James," Mr. Goodenough said
+when Frank had left. "The lad has a genius for natural history,
+and he is modest and self possessed. From what you tell me he has
+done rather than apply for assistance to anyone, he must have
+plenty of pluck and resolution, and will make a capital traveling
+companion. I feel quite relieved, for it is so difficult to
+procure a companion who will exactly suit. Clever naturalists are
+rare, and one can never tell how one will get on with a man when
+you are thrown together. He may want to have his own way, may be
+irritable and bad tempered, may in many respects be a
+disagreeable companion. With that lad I feel sure of my ground.
+We shall get on capitally together."</p>
+
+<p>On his return to the shop Frank told his employer, whom he
+found sitting up for him, the change which had taken place in his
+life, and the opening which presented itself.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Horton expressed himself as sincerely glad.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall miss you sadly," he said, "shall feel very dull for a
+time in my solitary house here; but it is better for you that you
+should go, and I never expected to keep you long. You were made
+for better things than this shop, and I have no doubt that a
+brilliant career will be open before you. You may not become a
+rich man, for natural history is scarcely a lucrative profession,
+but you may become a famous one. Now, my lad, go off to bed and
+dream of your future."</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Frank went over, the first thing after
+breakfast, to see his friend the porter. He, too, was very
+pleased to hear of Frank's good fortune, but he was too busy to
+talk much to him, and promised that he would come over that
+evening and hear all about it. Then Frank took his way to Jermyn
+Street, and went with Mr. Goodenough to Silver's, where an outfit
+suited for the climate of Central Africa was ordered. The clothes
+were simple. Shirts made of thin soft flannel, knickerbockers and
+Norfolk jackets of tough New Zealand flax, with gaiters of the
+same material.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing like it," Mr. Goodenough said; "it is the
+only stuff which has a chance with the thorns of an African
+forest. Now you will want a revolver, a Winchester repeating
+carbine, and a shotgun. My outfit of boxes and cases is ready, so
+beyond two or three extra nets and collecting boxes there is
+nothing farther to do in that way. For your head you'd better
+have a very soft felt hat with a wide brim; with a leaf or two
+inside they are as cool as anything, and are far lighter and more
+comfortable than the helmets which many people use in the
+tropics."</p>
+
+<p>"As far as shooting goes," Frank said, "I think that I shall
+do much better with my blowgun than with a regular one. I can hit
+a small bird sitting nineteen times out of twenty."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a good thing," Mr. Goodenough answered. "For shooting
+sitting there is nothing better than a blowgun in skillful hands.
+They have the advantage too of not breaking the skin; but for
+flying a shotgun is infinitely more accurate. You will have
+little difficulty in learning to shoot well, as your eye is
+already trained by the use of your blowpipe. Will you want any
+knives for skinning?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. I have a plentiful stock of them."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going back to Eaton Square? I heard Sir James ask you
+to stop there until we start."</p>
+
+<p>"No," Frank replied; "I asked his permission to stay where I
+am till tomorrow. I did not like to seem in a hurry to run away
+from Mr. Horton, who has been extremely kind to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Mind, you must come here in three days to have your things
+tried on," Mr. Goodenough said. "I particularly ordered that they
+are to be made easy and comfortable, larger, indeed, than you
+absolutely require, but we must allow for growing, and two years
+may make a difference of some inches to you. Now, we have only to
+go to a bootmaker's and then we have done."</p>
+
+<p>When the orders were completed they separated, as Mr.
+Goodenough was going down that afternoon to the country, and was
+not to return until the day preceding that on which they were to
+sail. That evening Frank had a long chat with his two friends,
+and was much pleased when the old naturalist, who had taken a
+great fancy to the honest porter, offered him the use of a room
+at his house, saying that he should be more than paid by the
+pleasure of his company of an evening. The offer was accepted,
+and Frank was glad to think that his two friends would be sitting
+smoking their pipes together of an evening instead of being in
+their solitary rooms. The next day he took up his residence in
+Eaton square.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII: TO
+THE DARK CONTINENT</h1>
+
+<p>After spending two or three days going about London and
+enjoying himself with his friend Dick, Frank started for Deal,
+where he was pleased to find his sister well and happy. He bade
+goodbye to her, to the doctor, and such of his schoolfellows as
+lived in Deal, to whom his start for Central Africa was quite an
+event. Dr. Bateman handed over to him his watch and chain and his
+blowgun, which he had taken care of for him, also his skinning
+knives and instruments. The same evening he returned to town, and
+spent the days very pleasantly until the afternoon came when he
+was to depart. Then he bade farewell to his kind friends Sir
+James and Lady Ruthven. Dick accompanied him in the cab to Euston
+station, where a minute or two later Mr. Goodenough arrived. The
+luggage was placed in a carriage, and Frank stood chatting with
+Dick at the door, until the guard's cry, "Take your places!"
+caused him to jump into the carriage. There was one more hearty
+handshake with his friend, and then the train steamed out of the
+station.</p>
+
+<p>It was midnight when they arrived at Liverpool, and at once
+went to bed at the Station Hotel. On coming down in the morning
+Frank was astonished at the huge heap of baggage piled up in the
+hall, but he was told that this was of daily occurrence, as six
+or eight large steamers went out from Liverpool every week for
+America alone, and that the great proportion of the passengers
+came down, as they had done, on the previous night, and slept at
+the Station hotel. Their own share of the baggage was not large,
+consisting only of a portmanteau each, Mr. Goodenough having sent
+down all his boxes two days previously. At twelve o'clock they
+went on board the <i>Niger</i>, bound for the west coast of
+Africa. This would carry them as far as Sierra Leone, whence Mr.
+Goodenough intended to take passage in a sailing ship to his
+starting point for the interior.</p>
+
+<p>Frank enjoyed the voyage out intensely, and three days after
+sailing they had left winter behind; four days later they were
+lying in the harbor of Funchal.</p>
+
+<p>"What a glorious place that would be to ramble about!" he said
+to Mr. Goodenough.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed. It would be difficult to imagine a greater
+contrast than between this mountainous island of Madeira and the
+country which we are about to penetrate. This is one of the most
+delightful climates in the world, the west coast of Africa one of
+the worst. Once well in the interior, the swamp fevers, which are
+the curse of the shores, disappear, but African travelers are
+seldom long free from attacks of fever of one kind or the other.
+However, quinine does wonders, and we shall be far in the
+interior before the bad season comes on."</p>
+
+<p>"You have been there before, you said, Mr. Goodenough?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I have been there twice, and have made excursions for
+short distances from the coast. But this time we are going into a
+country which may be said to be altogether unknown. One or two
+explorers have made their way there, but these have done little
+towards examining the natural productions of the country, and
+have been rather led by inducements of sport than by those of
+research."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you have fever, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Two or three little attacks. A touch of African fever, during
+what is called the good season, is of little more importance than
+a feverish cold at home. It lasts two or three days, and then
+there is an end of it. In the bad season the attacks are
+extremely violent, sometimes carrying men off in a few hours. I
+consider, however, that dysentery is a more formidable enemy than
+fever. However, even that, when properly treated, should be
+combated successfully."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to hire the men to go with you at Sierra
+Leone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not, Frank. The negroes of Sierra Leone are the
+most indolent, the most worthless, and the most insolent in all
+Africa. It is the last place in the world at which to hire
+followers. We must get them at the Gaboon itself, and at each
+place we arrive at afterwards we take on others, merely retaining
+one of the old lot to act as interpreter. The natives, although
+they may allow white men to pass safely, are exceedingly jealous
+of men of other tribes. I shall, however, take with me, if
+possible, a body of, say six Houssas, who are the best fighting
+negroes on the coast. These I shall take as a bodyguard; the
+carriers we shall obtain from the different tribes we visit. The
+Kroomen, whom you will see at Cape Palmas, are a magnificent set
+of men. They furnish sailors and boatmen to all the ships trading
+on these shores. They are strong, willing, and faithful, but they
+do not like going up into the interior. Now we will land here and
+get a few hours' run on shore. There are one or two peculiarities
+about Madeira which distinguish it from other places. To begin
+with we will go for a ride in a bullock cart without wheels."</p>
+
+<p>"But surely it must jolt about terribly," Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all. The roads are paved with round, knubbly stones,
+such as you see sometimes in narrow lanes and courts in seaside
+places at home. These would not make smooth roads for wheeled
+vehicles; but here, as you will see, the carts are placed on long
+runners like those of sledges. These are greased, and the driver
+always has a pound of candles or so hanging to the cart. When he
+thinks that the runners want greasing he takes a candle, lays it
+down on the road in front of one of the runners, and lets this
+pass over it. This greases it sufficiently, and it glides along
+over the stones almost as smoothly as if passing over ice."</p>
+
+<p>Frank thoroughly enjoyed his run on shore, but was surprised
+at the air of listlessness which pervaded the inhabitants. Every
+one moved about in the most dawdling fashion. The shopkeepers
+looked out from their doors as if it were a matter of perfect
+indifference to them whether customers called or not. The few
+soldiers in Portuguese uniform looked as if they had never done a
+day's drill since they left home. Groups sat in chairs under the
+trees and sipped cooling drinks or coffee. The very bullocks
+which drew the gliding wagons seemed to move more slowly than
+bullocks in other places. Frank and his friend drove in a wagon
+to the monastery, high up on the mountain, and then took their
+places on a little hand sledge, which was drawn by two men with
+ropes, who took them down the sharp descent at a run, dashing
+round corners at a pace which made Frank hold his breath. It took
+them but a quarter of an hour to regain the town, while an hour
+and a half had been occupied in the journey out.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall buy a couple of hammocks here," Mr. Goodenough said.
+"They are made of knotted string, and are lighter and more
+comfortable than those to be met with on the coast. I will get a
+couple of their cane chairs, too, they are very light and
+comfortable."</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon they again embarked, and then steamed away
+for Sierra Leone. After several days' passage, they arrived there
+at daylight, and Frank was soon on deck.</p>
+
+<p>"What a beautiful place!" he exclaimed. "It is not a bit what
+I expected."</p>
+
+<p>"No," Mr. Goodenough said; "no one looking at it could suppose
+that bright pretty town had earned for itself the name of the
+white man's grave."</p>
+
+<p>Sierra Leone is built on a somewhat steep ascent about a mile
+up the river. Freetown, as the capital is properly called, stands
+some fifty feet or so above the sea, and the barracks upon a
+green hill three hundred feet above it, a quarter of a mile back.
+The town, as seen from the sea, consists entirely of the houses
+of the merchants and shopkeepers, the government buildings,
+churches, and other public and European buildings. The houses are
+all large and bright with yellow tinged whitewash, and the place
+is completely embowered in palms and other tropical trees. The
+native town lies hidden from sight among trees on low ground to
+the left of the town. Everywhere around the town the hills rise
+steep and high, wooded to the summit. Altogether there are few
+more prettily situated towns than the capital of Sierra
+Leone.</p>
+
+<p>"It is wonderful," Mr. Goodenough said, "that generations and
+generations of Europeans have been content to live and die in
+that wretchedly unhealthy place, when they might have established
+themselves on those lofty hills but a mile away. There they would
+be far above the malarious mists which rise from the low ground.
+The walk up and down to their warehouses and offices here would
+be good for them, and there is no reason why Sierra Leone should
+be an unhealthy residence. Unfortunately the European in Africa
+speedily loses his vigor and enterprise. When he first lands he
+exclaims, 'I certainly shall have a bungalow built upon those
+hills;' but in a short time his energy leaves him. He falls into
+the ways of the place, drinks a great deal more spirits than is
+good for him, stops down near the water, and at the end of a year
+or so, if he lives so long, is obliged to go back to Europe to
+recruit.</p>
+
+<p>"Look at the boats coming out."</p>
+
+<p>A score of boats, each containing from ten to twelve men,
+approached the ship. They remained at a short distance until the
+harbor master came on board and pronounced the ship free from
+quarantine. Then the boats made a rush to the side, and with
+shouts, yells, and screams of laughter scrambled on board. Frank
+was at once astonished and amused at the noise and confusion.</p>
+
+<p>"What on earth do they all want?" he asked Mr. Goodenough.</p>
+
+<p>"The great proportion of them don't want anything at all," Mr.
+Goodenough answered, "but have merely come off for amusement.
+Some of them come to be hired, some to carry luggage, others to
+tout for the boatmen below. Look at those respectable negresses
+coming up the gangway now. They are washerwomen, and will take
+our clothes ashore and bring them on board again this afternoon
+before we start."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems running rather a risk," Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you will see they all have testimonials, and I believe it
+is perfectly safe to intrust things to them."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough and Frank now prepared to go on shore, but this
+was not easily accomplished, for there was a battle royal among
+the boatmen whose craft thronged at the foot of the ladder. Each
+boat had about four hands, three of whom remained on board her,
+while the fourth stood upon the ladder and hauled at the painter
+to keep the boat to which he belonged alongside. As out of the
+twenty boats lying there not more than two could be at the foot
+of the ladder together, the conflict was a desperate one. All the
+boatmen shouted, "Here, sar. This good boat, sar. You come wid
+me, sar," at the top of their voices, while at the same time they
+were hard at work pulling each other's boats back and pushing
+their own forward. So great was the struggle as Frank and Mr.
+Goodenough approached the gangway, so great the crowd upon the
+ladder, that one side of the iron bar from which the ladder
+chains depend broke in two, causing the ladder to drop some
+inches and giving a ducking to those on the lower step, causing
+shouts of laughter and confusion. These rose into perfect yells
+of amusement when one of the sailors suddenly loosed the ladder
+rope, letting five or six of the negroes into the water up to
+their necks. So intense was the appreciation by the sable mind of
+this joke that the boatmen rolled about with laughter, and even
+the victims, when they had once scrambled into their boats,
+yelled like people possessed.</p>
+
+<p>"They are just like children," Mr. Goodenough said. "They are
+always either laughing or quarreling. They are good natured and
+passionate, indolent, but will work hard for a time; clever up to
+a certain point, densely stupid beyond. The intelligence of an
+average negro is about equal to that of a European child of ten
+years old. A few, a very few, go beyond this, but these are
+exceptions, just as Shakespeare was an exception to the ordinary
+intellect of an Englishman. They are fluent talkers, but their
+ideas are borrowed. They are absolutely without originality,
+absolutely without inventive power. Living among white men, their
+imitative faculties enable them to attain a considerable amount
+of civilization. Left alone to their own devices they retrograde
+into a state little above their native savagery."</p>
+
+<p>This was said as, after having fixed upon a boat and literally
+fought their way into it, they were rowed towards the shore. On
+landing Frank was delighted with the greenness of everything. The
+trees were heavy with luxuriant foliage, the streets were green
+with grass as long and bright as that in a country lane in
+England. The hill on which the barracks stand was as bright a
+green as you would see on English slopes after a wet April, while
+down the streets clear streams were running. The town was alive
+with a chattering, laughing, good natured, excitable population,
+all black, but with some slight variation in the dinginess of the
+hue.</p>
+
+<p>Never was there such a place for fun as Sierra Leone. Every
+one was brimful of it. Every one laughed when he or she spoke,
+and every one standing near joined freely in the conversation and
+laughed too. Frank was delighted with the display of fruit in the
+market, which is probably unequaled in the world. Great piles
+there were of delicious big oranges, green but perfectly sweet,
+and of equally refreshing little green limes; pineapples and
+bananas, green, yellow, and red, guava, and custard apples,
+alligator pears, melons, and sour sops, and many other native
+fruits.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough purchased a large basket of fruit, which they
+took with them on board the ship. The next morning they started
+down the coast. They passed Liberia, the republic formed of
+liberated slaves, and of negroes from America, and brought up a
+mile or two off Monrovia, its capital. The next day they anchored
+off Cape Palmas, the headquarters of the Kroomen. A number of
+these men came off in their canoes, and caused great amusement to
+Frank and the other passengers by their fun and dexterity in the
+management of their little craft. These boats are extremely
+light, being hollowed out until little thicker than pasteboard,
+and even with two Kroomen paddling it is difficult for a European
+to sit in them, so extremely crank are they. Light as they are
+the Krooboy can stand up and dive from his boat without upsetting
+it if he take time; but in the hurry and excitement of diving for
+coppers, when half a dozen men would leap overboard together, the
+canoes were frequently capsized. The divers, however, thought
+nothing of these mishaps, righting the boats and getting in again
+without difficulty. Splendidly muscular fellows they were.
+Indeed, except among the Turkish hamals it is doubtful whether
+such powerful figures could be found elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>"They would be grand fellows to take with us, Mr. Goodenough,"
+Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, if they were as plucky as they are strong, one could
+wish for nothing better; but they are notorious cowards, and no
+offer would tempt them to penetrate into such a country as that
+into which we are going."</p>
+
+<p>Stopping a few hours at Cape Coast Castle, Accra, and other
+ports they at last arrived at Bonny.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not tempting in appearance," Frank said,
+"certainly."</p>
+
+<p>"No," Mr. Goodenough replied, "this is one of the most
+horribly unhealthy spots in Africa. As you see, the white traders
+do not dare to live on shore, but take up their residence in
+those old floating hulks which are thatched over, and serve as
+residences and storehouses. I have a letter from one of the
+African merchants in London, and we shall take up our abode on
+board his hulk until we get one of the coasting steamers to carry
+us down. I hope it will not be many days."</p>
+
+<p>The very bulky luggage was soon transferred to the hulk, where
+Frank and Mr. Goodenough took up their residence. The agent in
+charge was very glad to receive them, as any break in the
+terrible monotony of such a life is eagerly welcomed. He was a
+pale, unhealthy looking man, and had just recovered from an
+unusually bad attack of fever. Like most of the traders on the
+coast he had an immense faith in the power of spirits.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the ruin of them," Mr. Goodenough said to Frank when
+they were alone. "Five out of six of the men here ruin their
+constitutions with spirits, and then fall an easy prey to the
+fever."</p>
+
+<p>"But you have brought spirits with you, Mr. Goodenough. I saw
+some of the cases were labeled Brandy.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Brandy is useful when taken as a medicine, and in moderation.
+A little mixed with water at the end of a long day of exhausting
+work acts as a restorative, and frequently enables a worn out man
+to sleep. But I have brought the brandy you see for the use of
+others rather than myself. One case is of the very best spirits
+for our own use. The rest is common stuff and is intended as
+presents. Our main drink will be tea and chocolate. These are
+invaluable for the traveler. I have, besides, large quantities of
+calico, brass stair rods, beads, and powder. These are the money
+of Africa, and pass current everywhere. With these we shall pay
+our carriers and boatmen, with these purchase the right of way
+through the various tribes we shall meet. Moreover it is almost
+necessary in Africa to pass as traders. The people perfectly
+understand that white men come here to trade; but if we said that
+our object was to shoot birds and beasts, and to catch
+butterflies and insects, they would not believe us in the
+slightest degree, but would suspect us of all sorts of hidden
+designs. Now we will go ashore and pay our respects to the
+king."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to say that there is a king in that wretched
+looking village?" Frank asked in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Kings are as plentiful as peas in Africa," Mr. Goodenough
+said, "but you will not see much royal state."</p>
+
+<p>Frank was disappointed indeed upon landing. Sierra Leone had
+given him an exalted idea of African civilization, but this was
+at once dispelled by the appearance of Bonny. The houses were
+constructed entirely of black mud, and the streets were narrow
+and filthy beyond description. The palace was composed of two or
+three hovels, surrounded by a mud wall. In one of these huts the
+king was seated. Mr. Goodenough and Frank were introduced by the
+agent, who had gone ashore with them, and His Majesty, who was an
+almost naked negro, at once invited them to join him in the meal
+of which he was partaking. As a matter of courtesy they
+consented, and plates were placed before them, heaped with a stew
+consisting of meat, vegetables, and hot peppers. While the meal
+went on the king asked Mr. Goodenough what he had come to the
+coast for, and was disappointed to find that he was not going to
+set up as a trader at Bonny, as it was the custom for each
+newcomer to make a handsome present to him. When the meal was
+over they took their leave.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know what you have been eating?" the agent asked
+Frank.</p>
+
+<p>"Not in the least," Frank said. "It was not bad; what was
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was dog flesh," the agent answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Not really!" Frank exclaimed with an uncomfortable sensation
+of sickness.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed," the agent replied. "Dog's meat is considered a
+luxury in Bonny, and dogs are bred specially for the table."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll eat stranger things than that before you've done,
+Frank," Mr. Goodenough continued, "and will find them just as
+good, and in many cases better, than those to which you are
+accustomed. It is a strange thing why in Europe certain animals
+should be considered fit to eat and certain animals altogether
+rejected, and this without the slightest reason. Horses and
+donkeys are as clean feeders as oxen and sheep. Dogs, cats, and
+rats are far cleaner than pigs and ducks. The flesh of the one
+set is every bit as good as that of the other, and yet the
+poorest peasant would turn up his nose at them. Here sheep and
+oxen, horses and donkeys, will not live, and the natives very
+wisely make the most of the animals which can do so."</p>
+
+<p>Frank was soon tired of Bonny, and was glad to hear that they
+would start the next day for Fernando Po in a little steamer
+called the <i>Retriever</i>. The island of Fernando Po is a very
+beautiful one, the peak rising ten thousand feet above the sea,
+and wooded to the very summit. Were the trees to some extent
+cleared away the island might be very healthy. As it is, it is
+little better than the mainland.</p>
+
+<p>There was not much to see in the town of Clarence, whose
+population consists entirely of traders from Sierra Leone,
+Kroomen, etc. The natives, whose tribal name is Adiza, live in
+little villages in the interior. They are an extremely primitive
+people, and for the most part dispense altogether with clothing.
+The island belongs to Spain, and is used as a prison, the
+convicts being kept in guard ships in the harbor. After a stay of
+three days there Mr. Goodenough and Frank took passage in a
+sailing ship for the Gaboon.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX: THE START
+INLAND</h1>
+
+<p>After the comforts of a fine steamer the accommodation on
+board the little trader was poor indeed. The vessel smelt
+horribly of palm oil and was alive with cockroaches. These,
+however, Mr. Goodenough and Frank cared little for, as they
+brought up their mattresses and slept on deck. Upon their voyage
+out from England Frank, as well as several of the other
+passengers, had amused himself by practicing with his rifle at
+empty bottles thrown overboard, and other objects, and having
+nothing else to do now, he resumed the practice, accustoming
+himself also to the use of his revolver, the mark being a small
+log of wood swung from the end of a yard.</p>
+
+<p>"I told you," Mr. Goodenough said, "that your skill with the
+blowgun would prove useful to you in shooting. You are as good a
+shot as I am, and I am considered a fair one. I have no doubt
+that with a little practice you will succeed as well with your
+double barrel. The shooting of birds on the wing is a knack which
+seems to come naturally to some people, while others, practice as
+they will, never become good shots."</p>
+
+<p>The ship touched twice upon its way down to the Gaboon. Once
+at the Malimba river, the second time at Botauga, the latter
+being the principal ivory port in equatorial Africa.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we meet with any elephants, do you think?" Frank asked
+his friend.</p>
+
+<p>"In all probability," Mr. Goodenough said. "Elephant shooting,
+of course, does not come within our line of action, and I should
+not go at all out of my way for them. Still, if we meet them we
+will shoot them. The ivory is valuable and will help to pay our
+expenses, while the meat is much prized by the natives, who will
+gladly assist us in consideration of the flesh."</p>
+
+<p>On the sixteenth day after leaving Fernando Po they entered
+the Gaboon. On the right hand bank were the fort and dwellings of
+the French. A little farther up stood the English factories; and
+upon a green hill behind, the church, school, and houses of an
+American mission. On the left bank was the wattle town of King
+William, the sable monarch of the Gaboon. Mr. Goodenough at once
+landed and made inquiries for a house. He succeeded in finding
+one, consisting of three rooms, built on piles, an important
+point in a country in which disease rises from the soil. At Bonny
+Mr. Goodenough had, with the assistance of the agent, enlisted
+six Houssas. These people live much higher up on the coast, but
+they wander a good deal and may be met with in most of the ports.
+The men had formed a guard in one of the hulks, but trade having
+been bad the agent had gone home, and they were glad to take
+service with Mr. Goodenough. They spoke a few words of English,
+and, like the Kroomen, rejoiced in names which had been given
+them by sailors. They were called Moses, Firewater, Ugly Tom,
+Bacon, Tatters, and King John. They were now for the first time
+set to work, and the goods were soon transported from the brig to
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>"Is anything the matter with you, Frank?" Mr. Goodenough asked
+that evening.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, sir. My head feels heavy, somehow, and I am
+giddy."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough felt his pulse.</p>
+
+<p>"You have got your first touch of fever," he said. "I wonder
+you've been so long without it. You had better lie down at
+once."</p>
+
+<p>A quarter of an hour afterwards Frank was seized with an
+overpowering heat, every vein appearing to be filled with liquid
+fire; but his skin, instead of being, as usual, in a state of
+perspiration, was dry and hard.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Frank, sit up and drink this. It's only some mustard and
+salt and water. I have immense faith in an emetic."</p>
+
+<p>The draught soon took its effect. Frank was violently sick,
+and the perspiration broke in streams from him.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is a cup of tea," Mr. Goodenough said; "drink that and
+you will find that there will be little the matter with you in
+the morning."</p>
+
+<p>Frank awoke feeling weak, but otherwise perfectly well. Mr.
+Goodenough administered a strong dose of quinine, and after he
+had had his breakfast he felt quite himself again.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," Mr. Goodenough said, "we will go up to the factories
+and mission and try and find a really good servant. Everything
+depends upon that."</p>
+
+<p>In a short time an engagement was made with a negro of the
+name of Ostik. He was a Mpongwe man, that being the name of the
+tribe on the coast. He spoke English fairly, as well as two or
+three of the native languages. He had before made a journey some
+distance into the interior with a white traveler. He was a tall
+and powerfully built negro, very ugly, but with a pleasant and
+honest face. Frank felt at once that he should like him.</p>
+
+<p>"You quite understand," Mr. Goodenough explained, "we are
+going through the Fan country, far into the interior. We may be
+away from the coast for many months."</p>
+
+<p>"Me ready, sar," the man answered with a grin. "Mak no odds to
+Ostik. He got no wife, no piccanniny. Ostik very good cook.
+Master find good grub; he catch plenty of beasts."</p>
+
+<p>"You're not afraid, Ostik, because it is possible we may have
+trouble on the way?"</p>
+
+<p>"Me not very much afraid, massa. You good massa to Ostik he no
+run away if fightee come; but no good fight whole tribe."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope not to have any fighting at all, Ostik; but as I have
+got six Houssas with me who will all carry breech loading guns, I
+think we should be a match for a good sized tribe, if
+necessary."</p>
+
+<p>Ostik looked thoughtful. "More easy, massa, go without
+Houssas," he said. "Black man not often touch white
+traveler."</p>
+
+<p>"No, Ostik, that is true; but I must take with me trade goods
+for paying my way and hiring carriers, and if alone I should be
+at the mercy of every petty chief who chose to plunder and delay
+me. I am going as a peaceful traveler, ready to pay my way, and
+to make presents to the different kings through whose territories
+I may pass. But I do not choose to put myself at the mercy of any
+of them. I do not say that eight men armed with breech loaders
+could defeat a whole tribe; but they would be so formidable, that
+any of these negro kings would probably prefer taking presents
+and letting us pass peacefully to trying to rob us. The first
+thing to do, will be to hire one large canoe, or two if
+necessary. The men must agree to take us up into the Fan country,
+as far as the rapids on the Gaboon. Then we shall take carriers
+there, and the boat can return by itself. These are the things
+which will have to go."</p>
+
+<p>The baggage consisted of ten large tin cases, each weighing
+about eighty pounds. These contained cotton cloths, powder,
+beads, tea, chocolate, sugar, and biscuits. There were in
+addition three bundles of stair rods, each about the same weight
+as the boxes. These were done up in canvas. There was also a tent
+made of double canvas weighing fifty pounds, and two light
+folding tressel beds weighing fifteen pounds apiece. Thus
+fourteen men would be required as carriers, besides some for
+plantains and other provisions, together with the portmanteaus,
+rugs, and waterproof sheets of the travelers. There were besides
+six great chests made of light iron. Four of these were fitted
+with trays with cork bottoms, for insects. The other two were for
+the skins of birds. All the boxes and cases had strips of India
+rubber where the lids fitted down, in order to keep out both damp
+and the tiny ants which are the plague of naturalists in
+Africa.</p>
+
+<p>Four or five days were occupied in getting together a crew,
+for the natives had an abject fear of entering the country of the
+cannibal Fans. Mr. Goodenough promised that they should not be
+obliged to proceed unless a safe conduct for their return was
+obtained from the King of the Fans. A large canoe was procured,
+sufficient to convey the whole party. Twelve paddlers were hired,
+and the goods taken down and arranged in the boat. The Houssas
+had been, on landing, furnished with their guns, which were
+Snider rifles, had been instructed in the breech loading
+arrangement, and had been set to work to practice at a mark at a
+hundred and fifty yards distance -- the stump of an old tree,
+some five feet in height, serving for the purpose. The men were
+delighted with the accuracy of their pieces and the rapidity at
+which they could be fired. Mr. Goodenough impressed upon them
+that unless attacked at close quarters, and specially ordered to
+fire fast, they must aim just as slowly and deliberately as if
+using their old guns, for that in so long a journey ammunition
+would be precious, and must, therefore, on no account whatever,
+be wasted. In the boxes were six thousand rounds of ammunition, a
+thousand for each gun, besides the ammunition for the rifles and
+fowling pieces of Mr. Goodenough and Frank.</p>
+
+<p>In order to render the appearance of his followers as imposing
+as possible, Mr. Goodenough furnished each of the Houssas with a
+pair of trousers made of New Zealand flax, reaching to their
+knees. These he had brought from England with him. They were all
+found to be too large, but the men soon set to work with rough
+needles and thread and took them in. In addition to these, each
+man was furnished with a red sash, which went several times round
+the waist, and served to keep the trousers up and to give a gay
+aspect to the dress. The Houssas were much pleased with their
+appearance. All of them carried swords in addition to the guns,
+as in their own country they are accustomed to fight with these
+weapons.</p>
+
+<p>They started early in the morning, and after four hours'
+paddling passed Konig Island, an abandoned Dutch settlement. Here
+they stopped for an hour or two, and then the sea breeze sprang
+up, a sail was hoisted, and late at night they passed a French
+guardship placed to mark the boundary of that settlement at a
+point where a large tributary called the Boqui runs into it. Here
+is a little island called Nenge Nenge, formerly a missionary
+station, where the natives are still Christians. At this place
+the canoe was hauled ashore. The Houssas had already been
+instructed in the method of pitching the tent, and in a very few
+minutes this was erected. It was a double poled tent, some ten
+feet square, and there was a waterproof sheet large enough to
+cover the whole of the interior, thus preventing the miasma from
+arising from the ground within it. The beds were soon opened and
+fixed, two of the large cases formed a table and two smaller ones
+did service as chairs. A lamp was lit, and Frank was charmed with
+the comfort and snugness of the abode.</p>
+
+<p>The men's weapons were fastened round one of the poles to keep
+them from the damp night air. Ostik had at once set to work on
+landing, leaving the Houssas to pitch the tent. A fire was soon
+blazing and a kettle and saucepans suspended over it. Rice was
+served out to the men, with the addition of some salt meat, of
+which sufficient had been purchased from the captain of the brig
+to last throughout the journey in the canoe. The men were all in
+high spirits at this addition to their fare, which was more than
+had been bargained for, and their songs rose merrily round the
+fire in the night air.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning, after breakfast, they again took their places
+in the canoe. For twelve miles they paddled, the tide at first
+assisting them, but after this the water from the mountains ahead
+overpowered it. Presently they arrived at the first Fan village,
+called Olenga, which they reached six hours after starting. The
+natives crowded round as the canoe approached, full of curiosity
+and excitement, for never but once had a white man passed up the
+river. These Fans differed widely from the coast negroes. Their
+hair was longer and thicker, their figures were slight, their
+complexion coffee colored, and their projecting upper jaws gave
+them a rabbit mouthed appearance. They wore coronets on their
+heads adorned with the red tail feathers of the common gray
+parrot. Most of the men had beards, which were divided in the
+middle, red and white beads being strung up the tips. Some wore
+only a strip of goatskin hanging from the waist, or the skin of a
+tigercat, while others had short petticoats made of cloth woven
+from the inner bark of a tree. The travelers were led to the hut
+of the chief, where they were surrounded by a mob of the
+cannibals. The Houssas had been strictly enjoined to leave their
+guns in the bottom of the canoe, as Mr. Goodenough desired to
+avoid all appearance of armed force. The chief demanded of Ostik
+what these two white men wanted here, and whether they had come
+to trade. Ostik replied that the white men were going up the
+river into the country beyond to shoot elephants and buy ivory,
+that they did not want to trade for logwood or oil, but that they
+would give presents to the chiefs of the Fan villages. A score of
+cheap Birmingham muskets had been brought from England by Mr.
+Goodenough for this purpose. One of these was now bestowed upon
+the chief, together with some powder and ball, three bright
+cotton handkerchiefs, some gaudy glass beads, and two looking
+glasses for his wives. This was considered perfectly
+satisfactory.</p>
+
+<p>The crowd was very great, and at Mr. Goodenough's dictation
+Ostik informed the chief that if the white men were left quiet
+until the evening they would show his people many strange things.
+On the receipt of this information the crowd dispersed. But when
+at sunset the two travelers took a turn through the village, the
+excitement was again very great. The men stood their ground and
+stared at them, but the women and children ran screaming away to
+hide themselves. The idea of the people of Central Africa of the
+whites is that they are few in number, that they live at the
+bottom of the sea, and are possessed of great wealth, but that
+they have no palm oil or logwood, and are, therefore, compelled
+to come to land to trade for these articles. They believe that
+the strange clothes they wear are manufactured from the skins of
+sea beasts.</p>
+
+<p>When night fell Mr. Goodenough fastened a sheet against the
+outside of the chief's hut, and then placed a magic lantern in
+position ten paces from it. The Fans were then invited to gather
+round and take their seats upon the ground. A cry of astonishment
+greeted the appearance of the bright disk. This was followed by a
+wilder yell when this was darkened, and an elephant bearing some
+men sitting on his back was seen to cross the house. The men
+leaped to their feet and seized their spears. The women screamed,
+and Ostik, who was himself somewhat alarmed, had great difficulty
+in calming their fears and persuading them to sit down again,
+assuring them that they would see many wonderful things, but that
+nothing would hurt them.</p>
+
+<p>The next view was at first incomprehensible to many of them.
+It was a ship tossing in a stormy sea; but some of those present
+had been down to the mouth of the river, and these explained to
+the others the nature of the phenomenon. In all there were twenty
+slides, all of which were provided with movable figures; the last
+two being chromatropes, whose dancing colors elicited screams of
+delight from the astonished natives. This concluded the
+performance, but for hours after it was over the village rang
+with a perfect Babel of shouts, screams, and chatter. The whole
+thing was to the Fans absolutely incomprehensible, and their
+astonishment was equalled by their awe at the powers of the white
+men.</p>
+
+<p>The next two days they remained at Olenga, as word was sent up
+to Itchongue, the next town, asking the chief there for leave to
+come forward. The people had now begun to get over their first
+timidity, and when Frank went out for a walk after breakfast he
+was somewhat embarrassed by the women and girls crowding round
+him, feeling his clothes and touching his hands and face to
+assure themselves that these felt like those of human beings. He
+afforded them huge delight by taking off his Norfolk jacket and
+pulling up the sleeves of his shirt to show them that his arms
+were the same color as his hands, and so elated were they with
+this exhibition that it was with great difficulty that he
+withstood their entreaties that he would disrobe entirely.
+Indeed, Ostik had at last to come to his rescue and carry him off
+from the laughing crowd by which he was surrounded.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner Mr. Goodenough invited the people to sit down in
+a vast circle holding each other's hands. He then told them that
+he should at a word make them all jump to their feet. Then taking
+out a small but powerful galvanic battery, he arranged it and
+placed wires into the hands of the two men nearest to him in the
+great circle.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "when I clap my hands you will find that you
+are all obliged to jump up."</p>
+
+<p>He gave the signal. Frank turned on the battery, and in an
+instant the two hundred men and women, with a wild shriek, either
+leapt to their feet or rolled backward on the ground. In another
+minute not a native was to be seen, with the exception of the
+chief, who had not been included in the circle. The latter, at
+Mr. Goodenough's request, shouted loudly to his subjects to
+return, for that the white men would do them no harm; but it was
+a long time before, slowly and cautiously, they crept back again.
+When they had reassembled Mr. Goodenough showed them several
+simple but astonishing chemical experiments, which stupefied them
+with wonder; and concluded with three or four conjuring tricks,
+which completed their amazement. A long day's paddling took them
+to Itchongue, where they were as well received as at Olenga. Here
+they stopped for two days, and the magic lantern was again
+brought out, and the other tricks repeated with a success equal
+to that which they had before obtained. As another day's paddling
+would take them to the rapids Mr. Goodenough now set up a
+negotiation for obtaining a sufficient number of carriers. After
+great palaver, and the presentation of three guns to the chief to
+obtain his assistance, thirty men were engaged. These were each
+to receive a yard of calico or one brass stair rod a day, and
+were to proceed with the party until such time as they could
+procure carriers from another tribe.</p>
+
+<p>The new recruits were taken up in another canoe. Several
+villages were passed on the way. The river became a mere rapid,
+against which the canoes with difficulty made their way. They had
+now entered the mountains which rose steeply above them,
+embowered in wood. Two days of severe work took them to the foot
+of the falls. Here the canoes were unloaded. The men hired on the
+coast received their pay, and turned the boat's head down stream.
+The other canoe accompanied it, and the travelers remained with
+their bodyguard of Houssas and their carriers.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," Mr. Goodenough said, "we are fairly embarked on our
+journey, and we will commence operations at once. I have heard
+the cries of a great many birds which are strange to me today,
+and I expect that we shall have a good harvest. We may remain
+here for some time. The first thing to do is to find food for our
+followers. We have got six sacks of rice, but it will never do to
+let our men depend solely upon these. They would soon come to an
+end."</p>
+
+<p>"But how are we to feed forty people?" Frank asked in
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"I pointed out to you today," Mr. Goodenough said, "the tracks
+of hippopotami in various places. One of these beasts will feed
+the men for nearly a week. There were, too, numbers of
+alligators' eggs on the banks, and these creatures make by no
+means bad eating. Your rifle will be of no use against such
+animals as these. You had better take one of the Sniders. I have
+some explosive shells which will fit them. My own double
+barrelled rifle is of the same bore."</p>
+
+<p>After dinner Mr. Goodenough told two of the Houssas to
+accompany them with their rifles, together with three or four of
+the Fans. He made his way down the stream to a point where the
+hills receded, and where he had observed a great many marks of
+the river horses. As they approached the spot they heard several
+loud snorts, and making their way along as quietly as possible
+they saw two of the great beasts standing in the stream. At this
+point it widened a good deal and was shallow and quite near the
+bank. The Fans had been told to stay behind directly the snorting
+was heard, and Mr. Goodenough and Frank, rifle in hand, crept
+forward, with the Houssas as still and noiseless as cats close
+behind them.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X: LOST IN THE
+FOREST</h1>
+
+<p>The hippopotami were playing together, floundering in the
+shallow water, and the noise they made prevented their hearing
+the stealthy approach of their enemies.</p>
+
+<p>"You take the one nearest shore, Frank, I will take the other.
+Aim at the forehead between the eyes. I will make a slight sound
+to attract their attention."</p>
+
+<p>Frank knelt on one knee and took steady aim. Mr. Goodenough
+then gave a shout, and the two animals turning their heads stood
+staring at the foliage, scarce a dozen yards away, in which the
+travelers were concealed. The guns flashed at the same moment,
+and as if struck by lightning the hippopotami fell in the stream.
+The explosive balls had both flown true to the mark, invariably a
+fatal one in the case of the river horse. Frank as he fired had
+taken another rifle which the Houssas held in readiness for him,
+but there was no occasion for its use. The Fans came running up,
+and on seeing the great beasts lying in the stream, gave a shout
+of joy.</p>
+
+<p>"That will do for this evening," Mr. Goodenough said. "They
+are large beasts, and will give food enough for a week or ten
+days."</p>
+
+<p>They then returned to the camp which, at the news brought by
+one of the Fans, had already been deserted. Before the natives
+retired to sleep the hippopotami had been cut up and carried to
+the camp. Portions were already frizzling over the fires, other
+parts set aside for the consumption of the next two days, and the
+rest cut up in strips to be dried in the sun. The tongue of one
+was cut up and fried as a great luxury for the white men's supper
+by Ostik. It is not often that the natives of equatorial Africa
+are able to indulge in meat, and the joy of the Fans at this
+abundant supply, and the prospect afforded them of further good
+eating, raised their spirits to the highest extent.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning at daybreak Mr. Goodenough and Frank set out from
+the camp. Each carried a double barreled gun, and was accompanied
+by one of the Houssas carrying his rifle and a butterfly net, and
+when three hours later they returned to the camp for breakfast
+and compared their spoils they found that an excellent beginning
+had been made. Nearly a score of birds, of which several were
+very rare, and five were pronounced by Mr. Goodenough to be
+entirely new, had been shot, and many butterflies captured. Frank
+had been most successful in this respect, as he had come across a
+small clearing in which were several deserted huts. This was just
+the place in which butterflies delight, for, although many kinds
+prefer the deep shades of the forest, by far the greater portion
+love the bright sunlight.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast they again set out, Frank this time keeping
+along the edge of the stream, where he had observed many
+butterflies as he came up, and where many birds of the kingfisher
+family had also been seen. He had been very successful, and was
+walking along by the edge of the water with his eyes fixed upon
+the trees above, where he had a minute before heard the call of a
+bird, when he was startled by a shout from the Houssa behind him.
+He involuntarily sprang back, and it was well he did so; for on
+the instant something swept by within an inch or two of his head.
+Looking round he saw, at the edge of the stream below him, a huge
+alligator. This had struck at him with its tail -- the usual
+manner in which the alligator supplies itself with food -- and
+had it not been for the warning cry of the Houssa, would have
+knocked him into the stream. Its mouth was open and Frank, as if
+by instinct, fired the contents of both barrels into its throat.
+The animal rolled over on to its back in the water and then
+turned as if to struggle to regain the bank. The Houssa, however,
+had run up, and, placing the muzzle of his gun within a foot of
+its eye, fired, and the creature rolled over dead, and was swept
+away by the stream.</p>
+
+<p>The Houssa gave a loud shout which was answered in the
+distance. He then shouted two or three words, and turning to
+Frank said: "Men get alligator," and proceeded on his way without
+concerning himself further in the matter.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to camp in the evening Frank found that the
+alligator had been discovered and fished out, and that its steaks
+were by no means bad eating. Frank told Mr. Goodenough of the
+narrow escape he had had, and the latter pointed out to him the
+necessity of always keeping his eyes on the watch.</p>
+
+<p>"Alligators frequently carry off the native women when engaged
+in washing," he said, "and almost invariably strike them, in the
+first place, into the river with a blow of their tails. Once in
+the water they are carried off, drowned, and eaten at leisure.
+Sometimes, indeed, a woman may escape with the loss of a foot or
+arm, but this is the exception."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the best thing to do when so attacked?" Frank asked.
+"I don't mean to be caught napping again, still it is as well to
+know what to do if I am."</p>
+
+<p>"Men when so attacked have been known frequently to escape by
+thrusting their thumbs or fingers into the creature's eyes. If it
+can be done the alligator is sure to lose his hold, but it
+demands quickness and great presence of mind. When a reptile is
+tearing at one's leg, and hurrying one along under water, you can
+see that the nerve required to keep perfectly cool, to feel for
+the creature's eyes, and to thrust your finger into them is very
+great. The best plan, Frank, distinctly is to keep out of their
+reach altogether."</p>
+
+<p>After remaining for a fortnight at their camp they prepared
+for a move. Another hippopotamus was killed, cut up and dried,
+and the flesh added to the burdens. Then the tent was struck and
+they proceeded farther into the mountains. Two days later they
+halted again, the site being chosen beside a little mountain
+rivulet. They were now very high up in the hills, Mr. Goodenough
+expecting to meet with new varieties of butterflies and insects
+at this elevation. They had scarcely pitched their camp when
+Frank exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Surely, Mr. Goodenough, I can hear some dogs barking! I did
+not know that the native dogs barked."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor do they. They may yelp and howl, but they never bark like
+European dogs. What you hear is the bark of some sort of monkey
+or baboon."</p>
+
+<p>This opinion was at once confirmed by the Fans.</p>
+
+<p>"We will sally out with our guns at once," Mr. Goodenough
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like the thought of shooting monkeys," Frank
+muttered, as he took up his Winchester carbine.</p>
+
+<p>"They are very excellent eating," Mr. Goodenough continued,
+"superior in my opinion, and, indeed, in that of most travelers,
+to any other meat. We shall meet with no other kind of creature
+fit for food up here. The birds, indeed, supply us amply, but for
+the men it is desirable that we should obtain fresh meat when we
+have the chance. These baboons are very mischievous creatures,
+and are not to be attacked with impunity. Let four of the Houssas
+with their guns come with us."</p>
+
+<p>Following the direction of the sounds they had heard, the
+travelers came upon a troupe of great baboons. It was a curious
+sight. The males were as big as large dogs, some were sitting
+sunning themselves on rocks, others were being scratched by the
+females. Many of these had a baby monkey clinging on their necks,
+while others were playing about in all directions.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd rather not shoot at them, Mr. Goodenough," Frank
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"You will be glad enough to eat them," Mr. Goodenough
+answered, and selecting a big male he fired. The creature fell
+dead. The others all sprang to their feet. The females and little
+ones scampered off. The males, with angry gestures, rushed upon
+their assailants, barking, showing their teeth, and making
+menacing gestures. Mr. Goodenough fired again, and Frank now,
+seeing that they were likely to be attacked, also opened fire.
+Six of the baboons were killed before the others abstained from
+the attack and went screaming after the females. The dead baboons
+were brought down, skinned, and two were at once roasted, the
+others hung up to trees. It required a great effort on Frank's
+part to overcome his repugnance to tasting these creatures, but,
+when he did so, he admitted that the meat was excellent.</p>
+
+<p>That night they were disturbed by a cry of terror from the
+men. Seizing their rifles they ran out.</p>
+
+<p>"There are two leopards, sar," Ostik said; "they have smelt
+the monkeys."</p>
+
+<p>The shouts scared the creatures away, and the natives kept up
+a great fire till morning.</p>
+
+<p>"We must get the skins if we can," Mr. Goodenough said. "The
+skins of the equatorial leopard are rare. If we can get them both
+they will make a fine group for you to stuff when you get back,
+Frank."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you thinking of following their trail?" Frank asked.</p>
+
+<p>"That would be useless," Mr. Goodenough answered. "In soft
+swampy ground we might do so, but up here it would be out of the
+question. We must set a bait for them tonight, but be careful
+while you are out today. They have probably not gone far from the
+camp, and they are very formidable beasts. They not unfrequently
+attack and kill the natives."</p>
+
+<p>The Fans were much alarmed at the neighborhood of the
+leopards, and none would leave the camp during the day. Two of
+the Houssas were left on guard, although Mr. Goodenough felt sure
+that the animals would not attempt to carry off any meat in the
+daylight, and two Houssas accompanied each of the travelers while
+out in search of butterflies.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing was heard of the leopards during the day. At nightfall
+a portion of one of the monkeys was roasted and hung up, so as to
+swing within four feet of the ground from the arm of a tree, a
+hundred yards from the camp. Mr. Goodenough and Frank took their
+seats in another tree a short distance off. The night was fine
+and the stars clear and bright. The tree on which the meat hung
+stood somewhat alone, so that sufficient light penetrated from
+above to enable any creatures approaching the bait to be seen.
+Instead of his little Winchester, Frank had one of the Sniders
+with explosive bullets. The Houssas were told to keep a sharp
+watch in camp, in case the leopards, approaching from the other
+side, might be attracted by the smell of meat there, rather than
+by the bait. The Fans needed no telling to induce them to keep up
+great fires all night.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after dark the watchers heard a roaring in the forest. It
+came from the other side of the camp.</p>
+
+<p>"That is unlucky," Mr. Goodenough said. "We have pitched on
+the wrong side. However, they will probably be deterred by the
+fire from approaching the camp, and will wander round and round:
+so we may hope to hear of them before long."</p>
+
+<p>In answer to the roar of the leopards the natives kept up a
+continued shouting. For some hours the roaring continued at
+intervals, sometimes close at hand, sometimes at a considerable
+distance. Frank had some difficulty in keeping awake, and was
+beginning to wish that the leopards would move off altogether.
+Two or three times he had nearly dozed off, and his rifle had
+almost slipped from his hold. All at once he was aroused by a
+sharp nudge from his companion. Fixing his eyes on the bait he
+made out something immediately below it. Directly afterwards
+another creature stole forward. They were far less distinct than
+he had expected.</p>
+
+<p>"You take the one to the left," Mr. Goodenough whispered;
+"Now!"</p>
+
+<p>They fired together. Two tremendous roars were heard. One of
+the leopards immediately bounded away. The other rolled over and
+over, and then, recovering its feet, followed its companion, Mr.
+Goodenough firing his second barrel after him.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid you missed altogether, Frank," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think so, sir. I fancied I saw the flash of the shell
+as it struck him, but where, I have not the remotest idea. I
+could not make him out clear enough. It was merely a dim shape,
+and I fired as well as I could at the middle of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we go back to the camp now?" Frank asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we can safely do so. You can tell by the sound of the
+roars that they are already some distance away. There is little
+chance of their returning tonight. In the morning we will follow
+them. There is sure to be blood, and the natives will have no
+difficulty in tracking them."</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the night passed quietly, although roars and
+howling could be heard from time to time in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the morning they started with the Houssas.</p>
+
+<p>"We must be careful today," Mr. Goodenough said, "for a
+wounded leopard is a really formidable beast."</p>
+
+<p>There was no difficulty in taking up the traces.</p>
+
+<p>"One of them at least must be hard hit," Mr. Goodenough
+remarked; "there are traces of blood every yard."</p>
+
+<p>They had gone but a short distance when one of the Houssas
+gave a sudden exclamation, and pointed to something lying at the
+edge of a clump of bushes.</p>
+
+<p>"Leopard," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, there is one of them, sure enough. I think it's dead,
+but we cannot be too cautious. Advance very carefully, Frank,
+keeping ready to fire instantly."</p>
+
+<p>They moved forward slowly in a body, but their precaution was
+unnecessary. There was no movement in the spotted, tawny skin as
+they advanced, and when they came close they could see that the
+leopard was really dead. He had been hit by two bullets. The
+first had struck his shoulder and exploded there, inflicting so
+terrible a wound that it was wonderful he had been able to move
+afterwards. The other had struck him on the back, near the tail,
+and had burst inside him. Frank on seeing the nature of the
+wounds was astonished at the tenacity of life shown by the
+animal.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder whether I hit the other," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I have no doubt at all about it," Mr. Goodenough answered,
+"although I did not think so before. It seemed to me that I only
+heard the howls of one animal in the night, and thought it was
+the one I had hit. But as this fellow must have died at once, it
+is clear that the cries were made by the other."</p>
+
+<p>A sharp search was now set up for the tracks of the other
+leopard, the Houssas going back to the tree and taking it up
+anew. They soon found traces of blood in a line diverging from
+that followed by the other animal. For an hour they followed
+this, great care being required, as at times no spots of blood
+could be seen for a considerable distance. At last they seemed to
+lose it altogether. Mr. Goodenough and Frank stood together,
+while the Houssas, scattered round, were hunting like well
+trained dogs for a sign. Suddenly there was a sharp roar, and
+from the bough of a tree close by a great body sprang through the
+air and alighted within a yard of Frank. The latter, in his
+surprise, sprang back, stumbled and fell, but in an instant the
+report of the two barrels of Mr. Goodenough's rifle rang out. In
+a moment Frank was on his feet again ready to fire. The leopard,
+however, lay dead, its skull almost blown off.</p>
+
+<p>"You have had another narrow escape," Mr. Goodenough said. "I
+see that your ball last night broke one of his hind legs. That
+spoilt his spring. Had it not been for that he would undoubtedly
+have reached you, and a blow with his paw, given with all his
+weight and impetus, would probably have killed you on the spot.
+We ought not to have stood near a tree strong enough to bear him
+when in pursuit of a wounded leopard. They will always take to
+trees if they can, and you see this was a very suitable one for
+him. This bough on which he was lying starts from the trunk only
+about four feet from the ground, so that even with his broken leg
+he was able to get upon it without difficulty. Well, thank God,
+you've not been hurt, my boy. It will teach us both to be more
+careful in future."</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon Frank was down with his second attack of fever,
+a much more severe one than the first had been. Mr. Goodenough's
+favorite remedy had its effect of producing profuse perspiration,
+but two or three hours afterwards the hot fit again came on, and
+for the next four days Frank lay half delirious, at one time
+consumed with heat, and the next shivering as if plunged into ice
+water. Copious doses of quinine, however, gradually overcame the
+fever, and on the fifth day he was convalescent. It was,
+nevertheless, another week before he was sufficiently recovered
+to be able to resume his hunting expeditions. They again shifted
+their camp, and this time traveled for three weeks, making short
+journeys, and halting early so as to give half a day from each
+camping place for their work.</p>
+
+<p>Frank was one day out as usual with one of the Houssas. He had
+killed several birds when he saw a butterfly, of a species which
+he had not before met with, flitting across a gleam of sunshine
+which streamed in through a rift in the trees. He told his Houssa
+to wait where he was in charge of the two guns and birds, and
+started off with his net in pursuit of the butterfly. The
+creature fluttered away with Frank in full pursuit. Hither and
+thither it flitted, seemingly taking an impish delight in
+tantalizing Frank, settling on a spot where a gleam of sunlight
+streamed upon the bark of a tree, till Frank had stolen up within
+a couple of paces of it, and then darting away again at a pace
+which defied Frank's best attempts to keep up with it until it
+chose to play with him again. Intent only upon his chase Frank
+thought of nothing else. At last, with a shout of triumph, he
+inclosed the creature in his net, shook it into the wide pickle
+bottle, containing a sponge soaked with chloroform, and then,
+after tightly fitting in the stopper, he looked around. He
+uttered an exclamation of dismay as he did so. He saw by the
+bands of light the sun was already setting, and knew that he must
+have been for upwards of an hour in chase of the butterfly. He
+had not the slightest idea of the direction in which he had come.
+He had, he knew, run up hill and down, but whether he had been
+traveling in a circle or going straight in one direction, he had
+not the least idea. He might be within a hundred yards of the
+spot where he had left the Houssa. He might be three or four
+miles away.</p>
+
+<p>He at once drew out his revolver, which he always carried
+strapped to his belt, and discharged the six chambers, waiting
+for half a minute between each shot, and listening intently for
+an answer to his signal. None came. The stillness of the wood was
+unbroken, and Frank felt that he must have wandered far indeed
+from his starting place, and that he was completely lost. His
+first impulse was to start off instantly at the top of his speed,
+but a moment's thought convinced him that this would be useless.
+He had not an idea of the direction which he should pursue.
+Besides the sun was sinking, twilight is short in the tropics,
+and in half an hour it would be as dark as midnight in the
+forest. Remembering his adventure with the leopard he determined
+to climb into a tree and pass the night there. He knew that an
+active search would be set on foot by his friends next morning,
+and that, as every step he took was as likely to lead him from as
+towards the camp, it was better to stay where he was.</p>
+
+<p>He soon found a tree with a branch which would suit his
+purpose, and, climbing up into it, lit his pipe and prepared for
+an uncomfortable night. Frank had never smoked until he reached
+Africa, but he had then taken to it on the advice of Mr.
+Goodenough, who told him that smoking was certainly a preventive,
+to some extent, of fever in malarious countries, and, although he
+had not liked it at first, he had now taken kindly to his pipe,
+and smoked from the time when the evening mists began to rise
+until he went to bed.</p>
+
+<p>The time passed very slowly. The cries of wild creatures could
+be heard in the woods, and although Frank did not expect to be
+attacked, it was impossible to sleep with these calls of
+leopards, with which the forest seemed to abound, in his ears. He
+had reloaded his revolver immediately after discharging it, and
+had replaced it in his pouch, and felt confident that nothing
+could climb the tree. Besides, he had heard that leopards seldom
+attack men unless themselves attacked. Sleep, however, was out of
+the question, for when he slept he might have fallen from his
+seat in the crotch of the tree. Occasionally, however, he dozed
+off, waking up always with an uncomfortable start, and a feeling
+that he had just saved himself from falling. With the earliest
+dawn of morn he descended, stiff and weary, from the tree.
+Directly the sun rose he set off walking. He knew at least that
+he was to the south of the camp, and that by keeping the sun on
+his right hand till it reached the zenith he must get in time to
+the little stream on which it was pitched. As he walked he
+listened intently for the sound of guns. Once or twice he fancied
+that he heard them, but he was quite unable to judge of the
+direction. He had been out with the Houssa about six hours before
+he strayed from him in the pursuit of the butterfly, and they had
+for some time been walking towards the camp, in order to reach it
+by nightfall. Thus he thought, that at that time, he could only
+have been some three or four miles distant from it. Supposing
+that he had run due south, he could still be but eight miles from
+the stream, and he thought that in three hours' walking he might
+arrive there. In point of fact, after leaving the Houssa the
+butterfly had led him towards the southeast, and as the stream
+took a sharp bend to the north a little distance above the camp,
+he was many miles farther from it than he expected. This stream
+was one of the upper tributaries of the Gaboon.</p>
+
+<p>After walking for two hours the character of the forest
+changed. The high trees were farther apart, and a thick
+undergrowth began to make its appearance, frequently causing him
+to make long detours and preventing his following the line he had
+marked out for himself. This caused him much uneasiness, for he
+knew that he had passed across no such country on his way from
+the camp, and the thought that he might experience great
+difficulties in recovering it, now began to press upon him.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI: A HOSTILE
+TRIBE</h1>
+
+<p>Every step that he went the ground grew softer and more
+swampy, and he at length determined to push on no farther in this
+direction, but turning to his left to try and gain higher ground,
+and then to continue on the line he had marked out for
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>His progress was now very slow. The bush was thick and close,
+thorny plants and innumerable creepers continually barred his
+way, and the necessity for constantly looking up through the
+trees to catch a glimpse of the sun, which was his only guide,
+added to his difficulty. At length, when his watch told him it
+was eleven o'clock, he came to a standstill, the sun being too
+high overhead to serve him as a reliable guide. He had now been
+walking for nearly six hours, and he was utterly worn out and
+exhausted, having had no food since his midday meal on the
+previous day. He was devoured with thirst, having merely rinsed
+his mouth in the black and poisonous water of the swamps he had
+crossed. His sleepless night, too, had told on him. He was bathed
+in perspiration, and for the last hour had scarcely been able to
+drag his feet along.</p>
+
+<p>He now lay down at the foot of a great tree, and for three or
+four hours slept heavily. When he awoke he pursued his journey,
+the sun serving as a guide again. In two hours' time he had got
+upon higher ground. The brushwood was less dense, and he again
+turned his face to the north, and stepped forward with renewed
+hopes.</p>
+
+<p>It was late in the afternoon when he came upon a native path.
+Here he sat down to think. He did not remember having crossed
+such a path on the day before. Probably it crossed the stream at
+some point above the encampment. Therefore it would serve as a
+guide, and he might, too, come upon some native village where he
+could procure food. By following it far enough he must arrive
+somewhere. He sat for a quarter of an hour to rest himself, and
+then proceeded along the path, whose direction seemed to be the
+northwest.</p>
+
+<p>For an hour he proceeded and then paused, hearing a sudden
+outcry ahead. Scampering along the path came a number of great
+baboons, and Frank at once stepped aside into the bush to avoid
+them, as these are formidable creatures when disturbed. They were
+of a very large species, and several of the females had little
+ones clinging around their necks. In the distance Frank could
+hear the shouts of some natives, and supposed that the monkeys
+had been plundering their plantations, and that they were driving
+them away. The baboons passed without paying any attention to
+him, but Frank observed that the last of the troop was carrying a
+little one in one of its forearms.</p>
+
+<p>Frank glanced at the baby monkey and saw that it had round its
+waist a string of blue beads. As a string of beads is the only
+attire which a negro child wears until it reaches the age of ten
+or eleven years old, the truth at once flashed upon Frank that
+the baboons were carrying off a native baby, which had probably
+been set down by its mother while she worked in the plantation.
+Instantly he drew his pistol, leaped into the road, and fired at
+the retreating ape. It gave a cry, dropped the baby and turned to
+attack its aggressor.</p>
+
+<p>Frank waited till it was within six feet, and then shot it
+through the head. He sprang forward and seized the baby, but in a
+moment he was attacked by the whole party of baboons, who,
+barking like dogs, and uttering angry cries, rushed at him. Frank
+stood his ground, and discharged the four remaining barrels of
+his revolver at the foremost animals. Two of these dropped, but
+the others who were only wounded sprang upon him. Frank struck
+out with the butt end of his pistol, but in a minute he was
+overpowered.</p>
+
+<p>One monkey seized him by the leg with his teeth, while another
+bit his arm. Others struck and scratched at him, and he was at
+once thrown down. He tried to defend his face with his arms,
+kicking and struggling to the best of his power. With one hand he
+drew the long knife for skinning animals, which he wore at his
+belt, and struck out fiercely, but a baboon seized his wrist in
+its teeth, and Frank felt that all was over, when suddenly his
+assailants left him, and the instant afterwards he was lifted to
+his feet by some negroes.</p>
+
+<p>He had, when attacked by the apes, thrown the baby into a
+clump of ferns close by, in order to have the use of both his
+hands, and when he looked round he found that a negress had
+already picked it up, and was crying and fondling it. The negroes
+appeared intensely astonished at Frank's color, and he judged by
+their exclamations of surprise that, not only had they not seen a
+white man before, but that they had not heard of one being in the
+neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>Frank had been too severely bitten and mauled by the baboons
+to be able to walk, and the negroes, seeing this, raised him, and
+four of them carried him to their village, which was but a
+quarter of a mile distant. Here he was taken to the principal
+hut, and laid on a bed. His wounds were dressed with poultices
+formed of bruised leaves of some plant, the natives evincing the
+utmost astonishment as Frank removed his clothes to enable these
+operations to be performed.</p>
+
+<p>By pointing to his lips he indicated that he was hungry and
+thirsty. Water was brought to him, and cakes made from pounded
+yams pressed and baked. Having eaten and drank he closed his eyes
+and lay back, and the natives, who had before been all noisily
+chattering together, now became suddenly silent, and stealing
+away left the strange white visitor to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>When Frank woke he could see by the light that it was early
+morning. A woman with a child in her lap, whom Frank recognized
+as the negress who had picked up the baby, was sitting on a low
+stool by his side. On seeing him open his eyes she came to the
+bed, took his hand and put it to her lips, and then raised the
+baby triumphantly and turned it round and round to show that it
+had escaped without damage. Then when Frank pointed again to his
+lips she brought him a pineapple, roughly cut off the skin, and
+sliced it. Frank ate the juicy fruit, and felt immensely
+refreshed, for the West Coast pineapple is even more delicious
+than that found in the West Indies. Then the woman removed the
+bandages and applied fresh poultices to his wounds, talking in
+low soft tones, and, as Frank had no doubt, expressing sorrow at
+their cause.</p>
+
+<p>Frank now endeavored to explain to her that he had a white
+companion in the woods, but the woman, not understanding, brought
+in two or three other natives, who stood round the couch and
+endeavored to gather what he wished to say.</p>
+
+<p>Frank held up two fingers. Then he pointed to himself and shut
+down one finger, keeping the other erect, and then pointed all
+round to signify that he had a friend somewhere in the wood. A
+grin of comprehension stole over the faces of the negroes, and
+Frank saw that he was understood.</p>
+
+<p>Then he again held up his two fingers, and taking the hands of
+the negress raised all her fingers by the side of the white ones
+to signify that there were many natives with them. Then he took
+aim, with an imaginary gun, up at the roof of the hut, and said
+"Bang" very loud, and a chorus of approving laughter from the
+negroes showed that he was understood. Then one of them pointed
+towards the various points of the compass, and looked
+interrogatively at Frank. The sun was streaming in through the
+doorway, and he was thus able to judge of the direction in which
+the camp must lie. He made a sweep with his hand towards the
+northwest, signifying that they were somewhere in that
+direction.</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon fever set in, and for the two next days Frank
+was delirious. When he recovered consciousness he found Mr.
+Goodenough sitting beside him. The latter would not suffer him to
+talk, but gave him a strong dose of quinine and told him to lie
+quiet and go to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>It was not till the next day that Frank learned what had
+happened in his absence. The Houssa had not returned until long
+after nightfall. He reported that Frank had told him to wait with
+the guns, and that he had waited until it grew nearly dark. Then
+he had fired several times and had walked about, firing his gun
+at intervals. Obtaining no responses he had made his way back to
+the camp, where his arrival alone caused great consternation.</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible to do anything that night, and the next
+morning Mr. Goodenough, accompanied by five of the Houssas, one
+only remaining to keep guard over the camp, had gone to the place
+where Frank had last been seen. Then they scattered in various
+directions, shouting and firing their guns. The search had been
+continued all day without success, and at nightfall, disheartened
+and worn out, they had returned to the camp. The next day the
+search had been continued with an equal want of success, and the
+fears that a leopard had attacked and killed Frank became
+stronger and stronger. On the third day the whole of the carriers
+were sent out with instructions to search the woods for native
+paths, to follow these to villages, and to enlist the natives in
+the search. One of these men had met one of the villagers on the
+search for the party of the white man.</p>
+
+<p>It was another ten days before Frank was sufficiently
+recovered from his fever and wounds to march back to the camp.
+After a stay there of two or three more days, to enable him
+completely to regain his strength, the party started again on
+their journey.</p>
+
+<p>In another three weeks they had descended the hills, and the
+Fans announced their unwillingness to travel farther. Mr.
+Goodenough, however, told them quietly that they had promised to
+go on until he could obtain other carriers, and that if they
+deserted him he should pay them nothing. They might now expect
+every day to meet people of another tribe, and as soon as they
+should do so they would be allowed to depart. Finding that he was
+firm, and having no desire to forfeit the wages they had earned,
+the Fans agreed to go forward, although they were now in a
+country entirely unknown to them, where the people would
+presumably be hostile. They had, however, such faith in the arms
+carried by the white men and Houssas, that they felt
+comparatively easy as to the result of any attack which might be
+made upon them.</p>
+
+<p>The very day after this little mutiny, smoke was seen curling
+up from the woods. Mr. Goodenough deemed it inexpedient to show
+himself at once with so large a number of men. He, therefore,
+sent forward Ostik with two of the Fans, each of whom could speak
+several native dialects, to announce his coming. They returned in
+an hour saying that the village was a very large one, and that
+the news of the coming of two white men had created great
+excitement. The people spoke of sending at once to their king,
+whom they called Malembe, whose place, it seemed, was a day's
+march off.</p>
+
+<p>They now prepared to enter the village. Ostik went first
+carrying himself with the dignity of a beadle at the head of a
+school procession. Two of the Houssas walked next. Mr. Goodenough
+and Frank followed, their guns being carried by two Fans behind
+them. Then came the long line of bearers, two of the Houssas
+walking on each side as a baggage guard. The villagers assembled
+in great numbers as they entered. The head man conducted the
+whites to his hut. No women or children were to be seen, and the
+expression of the men was that of fear rather than curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>"They are afraid of the Fans," Mr. Goodenough said. "The other
+tribes all have a species of terror of these cannibals. We must
+reassure them as soon as possible."</p>
+
+<p>A long palaver then took place with the chief, with whose
+language one of the Fans was sufficiently acquainted to make
+himself understood. It was rather a tedious business, as each
+speech had to be translated twice, through Ostik and the Fan.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough informed the chief that the white men were
+friends of his people, that they had come to see the country and
+give presents to the chiefs, that they only wished to pass
+quietly through and to journey unmolested, and that they would
+pay handsomely for food and all that they required. They wished
+to obtain bearers for their baggage, and these they would pay in
+cloth and brass rods, and as soon as they procured carriers the
+Fans would return to their own country.</p>
+
+<p>The chief answered expressing his gratification at seeing
+white men in his village, saying that the king would, no doubt,
+carry out all their wishes. One of the boxes was opened and he
+was presented with five yards of bright colored calico, a gaudy
+silk handkerchief, and several strings of bright beads. In return
+a large number of plantains were presented to the white men.
+These were soon distributed among the Fans.</p>
+
+<p>"Me no like dat nigger," Ostik said. "Me think we hab trouble.
+You see all women and children gone, dat bad. Wait till see what
+do when king come."</p>
+
+<p>That day and the next passed quietly. The baggage had been
+piled in a circle, as usual, in an open space outside the
+village; the tent being pitched in the center, and Ostik advised
+Mr. Goodenough to sleep here instead of in the village. The day
+after their arrival passed but heavily. The natives showed but
+little curiosity as to the newcomers, although these must have
+been far more strange to them than to the people nearer the
+coast. Still no women or children made their appearance. Towards
+evening a great drumming was heard in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is his majesty at last," Mr. Goodenough said, "we shall
+soon see what is his disposition."</p>
+
+<p>In a short time the village was filled with a crowd of men all
+carrying spears and bows and arrows. The drumming came nearer and
+nearer, and then, carried in a chair on the shoulders of four
+strong negroes, while ten others armed with guns marched beside
+him, the king made his appearance.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough and Frank advanced to meet him. The king was a
+tall man with a savage expression of countenance. Behind Mr.
+Goodenough, Ostik and the Fan who spoke the language advanced.
+The king's chair was lowered under the shade of a tree, and two
+attendants with palm leaf fans at once began to fan his
+majesty.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell the king," Mr. Goodenough said, "that we are white men
+who have come to see his country, and to pass through to the
+countries beyond. We have many presents for him, and wish to buy
+food and to hire carriers in place of those who have brought our
+things thus far."</p>
+
+<p>The king listened in silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Why do the white men bring our enemies into our land?" he
+asked angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"We have come up from the coast," Mr. Goodenough said; "and as
+we passed through the Fan country we hired men there to carry our
+goods, just as we wish to hire men here to go on into the country
+beyond. There were none of the king's men in that country or we
+would have hired them."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me see the white men's presents," the king said.</p>
+
+<p>A box was opened, a bright scarlet shirt and a smoking cap of
+the same color, worked with beads, a blue silk handkerchief and
+twenty yards of bright calico, were taken out. To these were
+added twelve stair rods, five pounds of powder, and two pounds of
+shot.</p>
+
+<p>The king's eye sparkled greedily as he looked at the
+treasures.</p>
+
+<p>"The white men must be very rich," he said, pointing to the
+pile of baggage.</p>
+
+<p>"Most of the boxes are empty," Mr. Goodenough said. "We have
+brought them to take home the things of the country and show them
+to the white men beyond the sea;" and to prove the truth of his
+words, Mr. Goodenough had two of the empty cases opened, as also
+one already half filled with bird skins, and another with trays
+of butterflies and beetles.</p>
+
+<p>The king looked at them with surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"And the others?" he asked, pointing to them.</p>
+
+<p>"The others," Mr. Goodenough said, "contain, some of them,
+food such as white men are accustomed to eat in their own
+country, the others, presents for the other kings and chiefs I
+shall meet when we have passed on.</p>
+
+<p>"The fellow is not satisfied," he said to Ostik, "give him two
+of the trade guns and a bottle of brandy."</p>
+
+<p>The king appeared mollified by these additional presents, and
+saying that he would talk to the white men in the morning, he
+retired into the village.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like the looks of things," Mr. Goodenough said. "I
+fear that the presents we have given the king will only stimulate
+his desire for more. However, we shall see in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>When night fell, two of the Houssas were placed on guard. The
+Fans slept inside the circle formed by the baggage. Several times
+in the night the Houssas challenged bodies of men whom they heard
+approaching, but these at once retired.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning a messenger presented himself from the king,
+saying that he required many more presents, that the things which
+had been given were only fit for the chief of a village, and not
+for a great king. Mr. Goodenough answered, that he had given the
+best he had, that the presents were fit for a great king, and
+that he should give no more.</p>
+
+<p>"If we are to have trouble," he said to Frank, "it is far
+better to have it at once while the Fans are with us, than when
+we are alone with no one but the Houssas and the subjects of this
+man. The Fans will fight, and we could hold this encampment
+against any number of savages."</p>
+
+<p>A quarter of an hour later the drums began beating furiously
+again. Loud shouts and yells arose in the village, and the
+natives could be seen moving excitedly about. Presently these all
+disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>"Fight come now," Ostik said.</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better lower the tent at once, Ostik. It will only he
+in our way."</p>
+
+<p>The tent was speedily lowered. The Fans grasped their spears
+and lay down behind the circle of boxes and bales, and the six
+Houssas, the two white men and Ostik, to whom a trade musket had
+been entrusted, took their places at regular intervals round the
+circle, which was some eight yards in diameter. Presently the
+beat of the drums again broke the silence, and a shower of
+arrows, coming apparently from all points of the compass, fell in
+and around the circle.</p>
+
+<p>"Open fire steadily and quietly," Mr. Goodenough said, "among
+the bushes, but don't fire fast. We must tempt them to show
+themselves."</p>
+
+<p>A dropping fire commenced against the invisible foe, the fire
+being no more frequent than it would have been had they been
+armed with muzzle loading weapons. Presently musketry was heard
+on the enemy's side, the king's bodyguard having opened fire.
+This was disastrous to them, for, whereas the arrows had afforded
+but slight index as to the position of those who shot them, the
+puffs of smoke from the muskets at once showed the lurking places
+of those who used them, and Mr. Goodenough and Frank replied so
+truly that in a very short time the musketry fire of the enemy
+ceased altogether. The rain of arrows continued, the yells of the
+natives rose louder and louder, and the drums beat more
+furiously.</p>
+
+<p>"They will be out directly," Mr. Goodenough said. "Fire as
+quickly as you can when they show, but be sure and take good
+aim."</p>
+
+<p>Presently the sound of a war horn was heard, and from the wood
+all round a crowd of dark figures dashed forward, uttering
+appalling yells. On the instant the dropping fire of the
+defenders changed into an almost continuous fusillade, as the
+Sniders of the Houssas, the breech loading rifle of Mr.
+Goodenough, and the repeating Winchester of Frank were brought
+into play at their full speed. Yells of astonishment broke from
+the natives, and a minute later, leaving nearly a score of their
+comrades on the ground, the rest dashed back into the forest.</p>
+
+<p>There was silence for a time and then the war drums began
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"Dey try again hard dis time, massa," Ostik said. "King tell
+'em he cut off deir heads dey not win battle."</p>
+
+<p>This time the natives rushed forward with reckless bravery, in
+spite of the execution made among them by the rapid fire of the
+defenders, and rushed up to the circle of boxes. Then the Fans
+leaped to their feet, and, spear in hand, dashed over the
+defenses and fell upon the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>The attack was decisive. Uttering yells of terror the natives
+fled, and two minutes later not a sound was to be heard in the
+forest.</p>
+
+<p>"I tink dey run away for good dis time, sar," Ostik said. "Dey
+hav' 'nuf of him. Dey fight very brave, much more brave than
+people down near coast. Dere in great battle only three, four men
+killed. Here as many men killed as we got altogether."</p>
+
+<p>This was so, nearly fifty of the natives having fallen between
+the trees and the encampment. When an hour passed and all was
+still, it became nearly certain that the enemy had retreated, and
+the Houssas, who are splendid scouts, divested themselves of
+their clothing and crawled away into the wood to reconnoiter.
+They returned in half an hour in high glee, bearing the king's
+chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Dey all run away, sar, ebery one, de king an' all, and leab
+his chair behind. Dat great disgrace for him."</p>
+
+<p>A council was now held. The Fans were so delighted with the
+victory they had won, that they expressed their readiness to
+remain with their white companions as long as they chose,
+providing these would guarantee that they should be sent home on
+the expiration of their service. This Mr. Goodenough readily
+promised. After discussing the question with Frank, he determined
+to abstain from pushing farther into the interior, but to keep
+along northward, and then turning west with the sweep of the
+coast to travel slowly along, keeping at about the same distance
+as at present from the sea, and finally to come down either upon
+Cape Coast or Sierra Leone.</p>
+
+<p>This journey would occupy a considerable time. They would
+cross countries but little known, and would have an ample
+opportunity for the collection of specimens, which they might,
+from time to time, send down by the various rivers they would
+cross, to the trading stations at their mouths.</p>
+
+<p>It was felt that after this encounter with the natives it
+would be imprudent in the extreme to push further into the
+interior. They would have continual battles to fight, large
+numbers of the natives would be killed, and their collecting
+operations would be greatly interfered with. As a lesson to the
+natives the village was burnt to the ground; the presents, which
+the king in the hurry of his flight had left behind him, being
+recovered.</p>
+
+<p>A liberal allowance of tobacco was served out as a "dash" or
+present to the Fans, and a bright silk handkerchief given to
+each. Then they turned off at right angles to the line they had
+before been pursuing and continued their journey.</p>
+
+<p>Two days later Mr. Goodenough was prostrated by fever, and for
+several days lay between life and death. When he became
+convalescent he recovered strength very slowly. The heat was
+prodigious and the mosquitos rendered sleep almost impossible at
+night. The country at this place was low and swampy, and, weak as
+he was, Mr. Goodenough determined to push forward. He was,
+however, unable to walk, and, for the first time, a hammock was
+got out and mounted.</p>
+
+<p>There is no more comfortable conveyance in the world than a
+hammock in Africa. It is slung from a long bamboo pole, overhead
+a thick awning keeps the sun from the hammock. Across the ends of
+the pole boards of some three feet long are fastened. The natives
+wrap a piece of cloth into the shape of a muffin and place it on
+their heads, and then take their places, two at each end of the
+pole, with the ends of the board on their heads. They can trot
+along at the rate of six miles an hour, for great distances,
+often keeping up a monotonous song. Their action is perfectly
+smooth and easy, and the traveler in the hammock, by shutting his
+eyes, might imagine himself swinging in a cot on board ship on an
+almost waveless sea.</p>
+
+<p>After two days traveling they got on to higher ground, and
+here they camped for some time, Mr. Goodenough slowly recovering
+strength, and Frank busy in adding to their collections. In this
+he was in no slight degree assisted by the Fans, who, having
+nothing else to do, had now come to enter into the occupation of
+their employers. A good supply of muslin had been brought, and
+nets having been made, the Fans captured large quantities of
+butterflies, the great difficulty being in convincing them that
+only a few of each species were required. They were still more
+valuable in grubbing about in the decaying trunks of fallen
+trees, under loose bark, and in broken ground, for beetles and
+larvae, a task which suited them better than running about after
+butterflies, which, moreover, they often spoilt irreparably by
+their rough handling. Thus Frank was able to devote himself
+entirely to the pursuit of birds, and although all the varieties
+more usually met with had been obtained, the collection steadily
+increased in size.</p>
+
+<p>Frank himself had severe attacks of fever, but none of these
+were so severe as that which he had had on the day of the death
+of the leopards.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of a month Mr. Goodenough had recovered his
+strength, and they again moved forward.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII: A
+NEGRO'S STORY</h1>
+
+<p>On arriving at a large village one day, they were struck as
+they approached by the far greater appearance of comfort and
+neatness than generally distinguish African villages. The plots
+of plantations were neatly fenced, the street was clean and well
+kept. As they entered the village they were met by the principal
+people, headed by an old white haired negro.</p>
+
+<p>"Me berry glad to see you, white men," he said. "Long time me
+no see white men."</p>
+
+<p>"And it is a long time," said Mr. Goodenough, shaking hands
+with him, "since I have heard the sound of my own tongue outside
+my party."</p>
+
+<p>"Me berry glad to see you," repeated the negro. "Me chief of
+dis village. Make you berry comfortable, sar. Great honor for dis
+village dat you come here. Plenty eberyting for you, fowl, and
+eggs, and plantain, and sometime a sheep."</p>
+
+<p>"We have, indeed, fallen into the lap of luxury," Mr.
+Goodenough said to Frank; and they followed the negro to his hut.
+"I suppose the old man has been employed in one of the factories
+upon the coast."</p>
+
+<p>The interior of the hut was comfortably furnished and very
+clean. A sort of divan covered with neatly woven mats extended
+round three sides. In the center was an attempt at a table. A
+doubled barreled gun and a rifle hung over the hearth. A small
+looking glass and several colored prints in cheap frames were
+suspended from the walls. A great chest stood at one end of the
+room, while on a shelf were a number of plates and dishes of
+English manufacture.</p>
+
+<p>The negro begged his guests to be seated, and presently a girl
+entered, bringing in a large calabash full of water for them to
+wash their hands and faces. In the meantime the old negro had
+gone to his chest, and, to the immense surprise of the travelers,
+brought out a snow white tablecloth, which he proceeded to lay on
+the table, and then to place knives, forks, and plates upon
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"You must 'scuse deficiencies, sar," he said. "We berry long
+way from coast, and dese stupid niggers dey break tings most
+ebery day."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't talk about deficiencies," Mr. Goodenough answered
+smiling. "All this is, indeed, astonishing to us here."</p>
+
+<p>"You berry good to say dat, sar, but dis chile know how tings
+ought to be done. Me libed in good Melican family. He know berry
+well how tings ought to be done."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, you have traveled a good deal!" Mr. Goodenough said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sar, me trabel great deal. Me lib in Cuba long time. Den
+me lib slave states, what you call Confederate. Den me lib
+Northern state, also Canada under Queen Victoria. Me trabel bery
+much. Now, sar, dinner come. Time to eat not to talk. After
+dinner white gentlemen tell me what they came here for. Me tell
+dem if they like about my trabels, but dat berry long story."</p>
+
+<p>The dinner consisted of two fowls cut in half and grilled over
+a fire, fried plantains, and, to the astonishment of the
+travelers, green peas, followed by cold boiled rice over which
+honey had been poured. Their host had placed plates only for two,
+but they would not sit down until he had consented to join
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Two girls waited, both neatly dressed in cotton, in a fashion
+which was a compromise between European and negro notions.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner the negro presented them with two large and
+excellent cigars, made, as he said, from tobacco grown in his own
+garden, and the astonishment of the travelers was heightened by
+the reappearance of one of the girls bearing a tray with three
+small cups of excellent black coffee.</p>
+
+<p>Their host now asked them for the story of their journey from
+the coast, and the object with which they had penetrated Africa.
+Mr. Goodenough related their adventures, and said that they were
+naturalists in search of objects of natural history. When he had
+finished Ostik, in obedience to a whisper from him, brought in a
+bottle of brandy, at the sight of which the negro broke into a
+chuckle.</p>
+
+<p>"Me tree months widout taste dat. Once ebery year me send down
+to coast, get coffee, tea, sugar, calico, beads, and rum. Dis
+time de rum am finish too soon. One of de cases get broke and
+half de bottles smash. Dat berry bad job. Dis chile calculate dat
+six dozen last for a year, dat give him one bottle each week and
+twenty bottles for presents to oder chiefs. Eighteen bottles go
+smash, and as de oder chiefs expec' deir present all de same, Sam
+hab ta go widout. De men start three weeks ago for coast. Me hope
+dey come back in six weeks more."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," Mr. Goodenough said, "you need not go without it till
+they come back, for I can give you eight bottles which will last
+you for two months. I have got a good supply, and as I never use
+it for trade unless a chief particularly wants it, I can very
+well spare it."</p>
+
+<p>The old negro was greatly pleased, and when he had drank his
+glass of brandy and water he responded to Mr. Goodenough's
+request, and, lighting a fresh cigar, he began the story of his
+adventures.</p>
+
+<p>"I was born in dis berry village somewhere about seventy years
+ago. I not know for sure widin two or three year, for when I
+young man I no keep account. My fader was de chief of dis
+village, just as I am now, but de village was not like dis. It
+was not so big, and was berry dirty and berry poor, just like the
+oder nigger villages. Well, sar, dere am nothing perticlar to
+tell about de first years of my life. I jus' dirty little naked
+nigger like de rest. Dose were berry bad times. Ebery one fight
+against ebery one else. Ebery one take slabes and send dem down
+de river, and sell to white men dere to carry ober sea. When I
+grow up to seventeen, I s'pose, I take spear and go out wid de
+people of dis village and de oder villages of dis part ob country
+under king, and fight against oder villages and carry the people
+away as slabes. All berry bad business dat. But Sam he tink
+nothing, and just do the same as oder people. Sometimes oder
+tribes come and fight against our villages and carry our people
+away. So it happened to Sam.</p>
+
+<p>"Jus' when he about twenty years old we had come back from a
+long 'spedition. Dis village got its share ob slabes, and we
+drink and sing and make merry wid de palm tree wine and tink
+ourselves berry grand fellows. Well, sar, dat night great
+hullyballoo in de village. De dogs bark, de men shout and seize
+deir arms and run out to fight, but it no good. Anoder tribe fall
+on us ten times as many as we. We fight hard but no use. All de
+ole men and de ole women and de little babies dat no good to sell
+dey killed, and de rest of us, de men and de women and de boys
+and girls, we tied together and march away wid de people dat had
+taken us.</p>
+
+<p>"Berry bad time dat, sar. De season was dry and de water
+scarce. We make long march ebery day, and berry little food
+given. Dey beat us wid sticks and prod us wid spear to make us
+go. A good many ob de weak ones dey die, but de most ob us arribe
+at mouth ob riber; me neber know what riber dat was, but we were
+berry nigh two months in getting dere. By dis time Sam arribe at
+the conclusion berry strong, dat de burning ob villages and
+carrying off ob slabes berry bad affair altogether. Sam hab
+changed his mind about a great many things, but about dat he am
+fixed right up to dis time.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, at de mouth ob dat riber Sam saw de white man for de
+first time; and me tell you fair, sar, Sam not like him no way.
+Dey were Spanish men, and de way dey treat us poor niggers was
+someting awful. We huddle up night and day in a big shed dey call
+a barracoon. Dey gabe us berry little food, berry little water.
+Dey flog us if we grumble. Dese men belong to ships, and had
+bought us from dose who brought us down from up country. Deir
+ship not come yet, and for a long time we wait in the barracoon
+wishing dat we could die. At last de ship came, and we were taken
+on board and huddled down below. Law, what a place dat was to be
+sure! Not more than tree feet high, just high enough to sit up,
+and dere we chained to deck. De heat, sar, was someting terrible.
+Some ob us yell out and scream for air, but dey only come down
+and beat us wid whips.</p>
+
+<p>"De day after we got on board de ship set sail. Tree hours
+after dat we hear a great running about on deck, and a shouting
+by the white men. Den we hear big gun fire ober head, almost make
+us jump out of skin wid de noise. Den more guns. Den dere was a
+crash, and before we knew what was de matter dere was a big hole
+in de side, and six niggers was killed dead. Ebery one yelled
+berry loud. We tink for sure that de last day come. For a long
+time de guns keep firing, and den everyting quiet again. At de
+time no one could tink what de matter, but I s'pose dat British
+cruiser chase us and dat de slaber sail away.</p>
+
+<p>"Dat was an awful voyage, sar. At first de sea smoove, and de
+ship go along straight. Den de ship begin to toss about jus' as
+nigger does when he has taken too much palm wine, and we all feel
+berry bad. Ebery one groan and cry and tink dat dey must have
+been poisoned. For tree days it was a terrible time. De hatches
+were shut down and no air could come to us, and dere we was all
+alone in de dark, and no one could make out why de great house on
+de water roll and tumble so much. We cry and shout till all
+breaff gone, and den lie quiet and moan, till jus' when ebery one
+tink he dead, dey take off de hatch and come down and undo de
+padlocks and tell us to go up on deck. Dat berry easy to say, not
+at all easy to do. Most of us too weak to walk, and say dat we
+dead and cannot move. Den dey whip all about, and it was
+astonishing, sar, to see what life dat whip put into dead nigger.
+Somehow people feel dat dey could crawl after all, and when dey
+get up on deck and see de blessed sun again and de blue sky dey
+feel better. But not all. In spite ob de whip many hab to be
+carried up on deck, and dere de sailor men lay 'em down and trow
+cold water ober dem till dey open dere eyes and come to life.
+Some neber come to life. Dere were about six hundred when we
+start, and ob dese pretty nigh a hundred die in dose tree
+days.</p>
+
+<p>"After dat tings not so bad. De weather was fine and no more
+English cruisers seen, so dey let half ob us up on deck at once
+for tree or four hours ebery day. Dey give us more food, too, and
+fatten us up. We talk dis ober among ourselves, and s'pose dat
+dey going to eat us when we get to land again. Some propose not
+to eat food, but when dey try dat on they get de whip, and
+conclude dat if dey must be eaten dey might as well be eaten fat
+as lean.</p>
+
+<p>"At last we come in sight of land. Den we all sent below and
+stay dere till night. Den we brought on deck, and find de vessel
+lying in a little creek. Den we all land in boats, and march up
+country all night. In de morning we halt. Tree or four white men
+come on horses and look at us. Dey separate us into parties, and
+each march away into country again. Den we separate again, till
+at last me and twenty oders arribe at a plantation up in de
+hills. Here we range along in line before a white man. He speak
+in berry fierce tones, and a nigger by his side tell us dat dis
+man our master, dat he say if we work well he gib us plenty of
+food and treat us well, but dat if we not work wid all our might
+he whip us to death. After dis it was ebident that de best ting
+to do was to work hard.</p>
+
+<p>"I was young and berry strong, sar, and soon got de name of a
+willing hard working nigger. De massa he keep his word. Dose who
+work well not bad treated, plenty ob food and a piece of ground
+to plant vegetables and to raise fowls for ourselves. So we
+passed two or tree year, plenty ob hard work, but not berry much
+to grumble at. Den me and a gal of my own village, who had been
+bought in de same batch wid me, we go to massa and say we want to
+marry. Massa say, berry well. I fine strong nigger and work well,
+so he gib de gal four yards ob bright cotton for wedding dress,
+and a bottle ob rum to me, and we married.</p>
+
+<p>"Two or tree years pass, and my wife hab two piccanninies. Den
+de massa go home to Spain, and leab overseer in plantation. Berry
+bad man dat. Before, if nigger work well he not beaten. Now he
+beaten wheder he work or not. For two or tree months we 'tand it,
+but tings get worse and worse. De oberseer he always drunk and go
+on like wild beast. One day he passed by my wife hoeing de
+sugarcane and he gib her cut wid whip, jus' out of 'musement. She
+turn round and ask, 'What dat for?' He get mad, cut her wid whip,
+knock her down wid de handle, and den seizing de chile dat she
+had fastened to her back, he catch him by de leg and smash him
+skull against a tree. Den, sar, I seize my hoe, I rush at him,
+and I chop him down wid all my strength, cut his skull clean in
+sunder, and he drop down dead.</p>
+
+<p>"Den I knew dat dat was no place for Sam, so I take my hoe and
+I run away as fast as I could. No one try to stop me. De oder
+niggers dance and sing when dey saw de oberseer fall dead. I ran
+all dat day up among de hills, skirting round de different
+plantations till I get quite into de wild part. Wheneber I came
+to stream I walk a long way in him till I get to tree hanging
+ober. Den pull myself up into de branches, climb along and drop
+at de farthest end, and den run again, for I knew dat dey would
+set de bloodhounds after me.</p>
+
+<p>"At last I tink dat it am quite safe, and when de night came
+on lie down to sleep for a few hours. Before morning me off
+again, and by night get to de center of de wild country. Here I
+light a fire, and sit down, and, just as I 'spected, in two or
+tree hours five or six men come down to me. Dose were niggers who
+had run away from plantations. I tell dem my story, dey agree dat
+I did berry right in killing oberseer. Dey take me away to place
+where dey hab little huts and patches of yams. Two or tree days
+pass and no one come, so, we s'pose dat dey hab lost de scent. Me
+waited a month and den determined to go down and see about wife.
+I journey at night, and reach plantation in two days. Dere I hide
+till I see nigger come along close to bush. I call him and he
+come. I tell him to tell my wife to steal away when night come,
+and to meet me dere. He nod and go away. Dat night my wife come
+wid de oder chile. We not talk much but start away for mountains.
+Me berry much afraid now because my wife not berry strong, she
+hurt by de blow and fretting after me. Howeber, we follow the way
+I had gone before. I make shift to help her up into trees from
+the streams, and dis time after tree days' travel we got back to
+hut in the mountain.</p>
+
+<p>"Dere we lib berry happy for a year. Sometimes some ob us go
+down to plantation and take down baskets and oder tings dat we
+had made and chop dem for cotton. We had tobacco of our own, and
+some fowls which we got from the plantations in de fust place.
+Altogether we did berry well. Sometimes band of soldiers come and
+march trough the country, but we hab plenty hiding places and dey
+never find us. More and more runway slabes come, and at last we
+hear dat great 'spedition going to start to search all de
+mountains. Dey come, two tree thousand ob dem. Dey form long
+skirmishing line, five or six mile long, and dey go ober
+mountain. Ebery nigger dey find who not surrender when dey call
+to him dey shoot. When I heard ob deir coming I had long talk wid
+wife. We agree that it better to leave de mountains altogether
+and go down and live in the bushes close to the old plantation.
+Nobody look for us dere. So we make our way down and lib there
+quiet. We get the yams out ob de plantations and lib very
+comfortable. When we tink all ober in the mountain we go
+back.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sar, when we tink it all safe, and we get widin a mile
+ob de huts whar we had libed, all at once we came upon a lot of
+soldiers in camp. Dey see us and make shout. I call to my wife to
+run, when dey fire. A bullet hit de baby, which she hab at her
+back, and pass through both deir bodies. I did not run any more,
+but jus' stood looking at my wife and chile as if my senses had
+gone. Dere I stood till the soldiers came up. Dey put a cord
+round my arms and led me away. After a time I was taken down the
+country. Dere I was claimed, and when it was known I had killed a
+white oberseer I was tried. But de new oberseer did not want me
+to be hung, for I was a strong slave and worth money, so he told
+a story about how it happen, and after dey had flogged me very
+hard dey sent me back to plantation. Dere I work for a long time
+wid a great log of wood chained to my ankle to prevent me from
+running away again.</p>
+
+<p>"For a time I not care whether I lib or die, but at last I
+made up my mind to 'scape again. After six months dey took off de
+log, tinking dat I had had enuf of de mountains and would not try
+to 'scape, and de log prevented my doing so much work. De bery
+next night I ran away again but dis time I determined to make for
+de town in hopes ob getting on board an English ship, for I had
+heard from de oder slabes dat de English did not keep black men
+as slabes, but dat, on de contry, dey did what dey could to stop
+de Spanish from getting dem away from Africa, and I understood
+now dat de dreful noise we had heard on de first day we were on
+board ship was an attack upon our vessel by an English
+cruiser.</p>
+
+<p>"It was four days' journey down to de town by de sea. Dere was
+no difficulty in finding de way, for de road was good, and I
+s'pose dat dey only looked for me towards de hills. Anyhow I got
+dar safe, walking at night and sleeping in the bushes by day. I
+got as near de town as I dar, and could see seberal vessels lying
+near de shore. I could see dat some ob dem had de Spanish flag --
+I knew dat flag -- de oders had flags which I did not know. When
+it was dark I walked boldly into the town; no one asked me any
+question, and I make my way through de streets down to de shore.
+Dere I get into a boat and lay quiet till all de town was asleep.
+Den I get into water and swim off to a ship -- one dat I had
+noticed had a flag which was not Spanish. Dere was a boat
+alongside. I climb into it and pull myself up by the rope on
+deck. Den some white men seize me and say someting in language
+which I not understand. Den dey take me into cabin and say
+someting to captain; me not know what it was, but de captain
+laugh, and me not like his laugh at all. Howeber, dey give me
+someting to eat, and den take me down into hold of ship and tell
+me to go to sleep on some sacks of sugar, and throw some empty
+sacks ober me to cover me. Den dey close up hatch and leab me
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>"When I come on deck de land was gone and de vessel sailing
+along. I speak to no one, for I only understand little Spanish,
+and dese people not speak dat. We sail along for some time, and
+at last we come in sight of land again. Den dey hoist flag and I
+see dat it a flag wid lots of red stars and stripes upon him. I
+know now dat it was a 'Merican ship. Den I know noting. We get to
+port and I want to land, but dey shake deir heads.</p>
+
+<p>"De next day de captain he make sign to me to come wid him. I
+go along to shore and he take me to a open space in town, where a
+man was standing on a raised platform. He had a black woman by de
+side ob him. Seberal men come up and look at her. De man he shout
+bery loud. Oder men say something short. At last he knock on de
+table; a man tell de woman to come after him and she walk away.
+Den a boy was put up, and den two more women, and ebery time just
+de same ting was done. Den de man call out, and de captain push
+his way through the crowd wid me, and tell me to climb up on
+platform. I get up and look round quite surprised. Eberybody
+laugh. Den de man began to holloa again. Den seberal men come up
+and feel my arms and my legs. Dey point to de marks which de whip
+had left on my back, and dey laugh again. Presently de man who
+was shouting bang his hand on the table again, and a white man in
+the crowd, who had seberal times called out loud, come up to me,
+take me by the arm, and sign to me to go wid him.</p>
+
+<p>"I begin to understand now; dat rascally captain had sold me
+for a slabe, and dat flag I had seen was not de English flag.
+However, it was no use to say anyting, and I went along wid my
+new massa. He was a nice looking man, and I thought it might not
+be so bery bad after all. He took me to a high carriage wid two
+wheels and a fine horse. A negro, who was dressed up like a white
+man, was holding de horse. He showed me to climb up behind, de
+oders climb up in front, and we dribe away."</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII: A
+FUGITIVE SLAVE</h1>
+
+<p>"Well, sar, work bery much de same on plantation in Virginia
+and Cuba, but de slabe much merrier in 'Merica, when de master am
+good. My new massa bery good man. Slabes all treat bery kind,
+work not too hard. At night dance and sing bery much. Den I marry
+again, dis time to one ob de girls in de house. She favorite ob
+missy, and so when we marry, missy hab me taken off de fields and
+put to garden. Bery fine garden dat was. Tree, four of us work
+dar, Sam jus' as happy as man could be. Sometime, when der am
+party, Sam come into the house to help at de table, dat how Sam
+know how to do tings proper. De little massas dey bery fond ob
+me, and when dey want to go out hunting de coon or fishing in de
+riber, dey always cry for Sam.</p>
+
+<p>"So fifteen years passed by, bery happy years, sar, den do ole
+massa die; missy, too, soon after. De young massa not like him
+father. Me tink de ole gentleman make mistake wid him when him
+chile, let him hab too much his own way. I bery fond ob him
+because I had been wid him so much, but I often shake my head
+when I tink de time come dat he be massa ob de plantation. It was
+not dat his nature was bad; he get in rage sometime, but dat all
+ober in no time, but he lub pleasure too much; go to de races and
+'top at de town weeks together, and play too much wid de cards.
+Dere were two boys and two girls; de second boy, he go to West
+Point and become officer in de army.</p>
+
+<p>"After de death ob de ole people de house change bery much.
+Before dat time we keep good company, gib sometimes grand balls,
+and all de fust families ob Virginia in dat part visit dar. After
+dat always people in de house. De young massa, when he go to
+Richmond, bring back six or eight young men wid him, and dey
+laugh and drink and play cards half de night. I tink de young
+missys speak to him about his ways. Anyhow, one day dere great
+row, and dey off to lib wid an aunt in de city. After dat tings
+get worse. One day missy come back from town and she gib my wife
+her papers of freedom. You see, my wife was giben by de ole man
+to missy when her war a little girl, and fortunate it was dat he
+had made out de papers all right and presented dem to her. When
+missy gib her de papers ob freedom, she cry bery much. 'Me 'fraid
+bad time coming, Sally,' she said. 'Me tink dat it better for a
+time dat you clar out ob dis. Now you got de paper you free
+woman, but you wife ob slabe; might be difficulty about it. Me
+fear dat broder Dick ruined -- de plantation and slabes to be
+sole;' and wid dat she bu'st out crying wus dan eber. Ob course
+my wife she cry too.</p>
+
+<p>"'Better you go norf, Sally,' missy say presently. 'I gib you
+letter to friends dar, and tell dem you bery good nurse. Den if
+Sam get good master you can come back to him again. If not, as
+you tell me dat when he slabe before he run away, it jus'
+possible he do de same again.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Don't you tink, missy,' de wife said, 'dat de young massa
+gib freedom to Sam too. Sam wait on him a great many years, sabe
+him life when he tumbled into water.'</p>
+
+<p>"'I bery much afraid,' missy said, shaking her head, 'dat my
+broder not able to do so if he wish. He borrow money on de
+plantation and de slabes, and dat prevent him from making any ob
+dem free. De sale soon come now. You go tell Sam; tell him not to
+say word to nobody. Den you pack up and come right away wid me to
+de city. It bery much better you clar out ob dis before dey come
+down and seize eberybody.'</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sar, you guess when Sam heard dis he in fine taking. He
+often grieve bery much dat he and Sally hab no children. Now he
+tank de Lord wid all his heart dat dere no piccanniny, for dey
+would hab been sold, one one way and one another, and we should
+neber hab seen dem again. Hows'ever, I make great effort, and
+tell Sally she do jus' what missy say. I tell her to go norf
+while she can, and promise dat some day or oder Sam join her dar.
+'Better for to be parted for ten year, Sally, dan to hab de risk
+ob you being seize and sold to one master, me to anoder. You
+trus' Sam to break out some day. He do bery well here for a time.
+He bery good strong nigger, good gardner, good at de horses, good
+carpenter. Sam sure to get good place, but, howeber good, when he
+see a chance he run away. If no chance, he sabe up his money, and
+you sabe up your money, Sally, and buy him freedom.'</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sar, we bofe cry bery much, and den Sally go away wid
+de young missy. A week after dat de bust up come. De officers dey
+come down and seize de place, and a little while after dey sell
+all de slabes. Dat was a terrible affair, to see de husbands and
+de wives and de children separated and sold to different masters.
+De young massa he not dere at sale. Dey say he pretty nigh break
+him heart, but he ought to hab thought ob dat before. Me sure dat
+de ole gentleman and de ole missy pretty nigh turn in deir grabe
+at de thought ob all de hands they was so kind to sold away.</p>
+
+<p>"Dat de curse of slabery, sar. Me trabel a good deal, and me
+tink dat no working people in de world are so merry and happy as
+de slabe in a plantation wid a good massa and missy. Dey not work
+so hard as de white man. Dey have plenty to eat and drink, dey
+hab deir gardens and deir fowls. When dey are sick dey are taken
+care ob, when dey are ole they are looked after and hab nothing
+to do. I have heard people talk a lot of nonsense about de hard
+life of de plantation slabe. Dat not true, sar, wid a good massa.
+De slabe hab no care and he bery happy. If all massas were good,
+and dere were a law dat if a plantation were broken up de slabes
+must be sold in families together, me tell you dat de life on a
+plantation a thousand times happier dan de life ob a black man in
+his own country. But all masters are not good. Some neber look
+after de slabes, and leabe all to overseers, and dese bery often
+bad, cruel men. But worst of all is when a sale comes. Dat
+terrible, sar. De husban' sold to Alabama, de wife to Carolina,
+de children scattered trough de States. Dis too bad, sar, dis
+make ob slabery a curse to de black men.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sar, we all sold. Me fetch high price and sold to a
+planter in Missouri. Sam no like dat. Dat a long way from the
+frontier. Tree years Sam work dar in plantation. Den he sold
+again to a man who hab boats on de riber at New Orleans. Dar Sam
+work discharging de ships and working de barges. Dar he come to
+learn for sure which de British flag. De times were slack, and my
+massa hire me out to be waiter in a saloon. Dat place dey hab
+dinners, and after dinner dey gamble. Dat war a bad place, mos'
+ebery night quarrels, and sometimes de pistols drawn, and de
+bullets flying about. Sam 'top dar six months; de place near de
+riber, and de captains ob de ships often come to dine.</p>
+
+<p>"One young fellow come bery often, and one day Sam saw tree or
+four men he knew to be Texas horse dealers talking wid him. Now
+dis young captain had been bery friendly wid Sam; always speak
+cibil and gib him quarter for himself, and Sam sorry to see dose
+chaps get hold ob him. Dis went on for two or tree days, till one
+ebening de captain, instead of going away after dinner, stopped
+talking to dese follows. De play begin at de table, and dey
+persuade him to join. He hab de debil's luck. Dey thought they
+going to cheat him, and if dey had got him by demselves dey would
+have cleaned him out sure. But dere were oder people playing and
+dey not able to cheat.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sar, he won all de money. Drinks had been flying about,
+and when at last de man dat kep' de table said, 'De bank will
+close for tonight,' de young fellow could scarce walk steady on
+his feet. His pockets were full ob notes. I went up to him and
+said, 'Will you hab a bed here, sar, bery good bed?' but he laugh
+and say, 'No, Sam, I may be a little fresh in de wind, but I tink
+I can make de boat.' I saw dose fellows scowl when I speak to
+him, and I make up my mind dey after no good. Well, sar, dey go
+out fust. Den he go out wid some oder people and stand laughing
+and talking at de door. Sam run up to him room, slip on his money
+belt, for he had had a good deal giben him while he was dar, and
+was sabing up to buy his freedom, and he didn't know what was
+going to happen. Den Sam look into de kitchen and caught up a
+heavy poker and a long knife, den he run down and turn out de
+lights ob de saloon and lock de door after him.</p>
+
+<p>"He was jus' in time, for he saw at de corner, where de street
+go down on to the wharves, de young captain separate from de men
+who had gone out wid him and walk away by hisself. Sam kicked off
+his shoes and ran as fast as he could to de end ob de street. De
+wharf was bery badly lighted, jus' a lamp here and dere. Sam ran
+along till he got widin about thirty yards ob de sailor, and den
+stole quiet along in de shadow ob de houses. Sudden he see five
+men run out. Den Sam he leap forward like tiger and gibs a shout
+to warn de captain. He turn round jus' in time. Sam saw an arm
+lifted and de captain fall, and den at de same moment almost him
+poker come down wid a crunch upon de top ob one of deir head. Den
+they turn on Sam, but, law bless you, sar! what was de good ob
+dat? Bery strong negro wid heavy poker in one hand and long knife
+in de oder more dan match for four men. He knock dem ober like
+nine pin. Tree of dem, he tink he kill straight, the poker fall
+on de top ob deir heads, de oder man give a dig in Sam's left
+shoulder wid his knife, and de sudden pain shake Sam's aim a
+little and de blow fall on him neck. He gib a shout and tumble
+down. None ob do oder four had shouted or made any remark when
+Sam hit dem. Den Sam caught up de captain and ran along de wharf.
+Presently he heard a hail. 'All right,' Sam said.</p>
+
+<p>"'Am dat you, captain?' some one say.</p>
+
+<p>"'Me got a captain here,' Sam say; 'you come and see wheder he
+yours.'</p>
+
+<p>"De men came up and look in de captain's face.</p>
+
+<p>"'Hullo,' dey say; 'de captain am dead.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Me no tink him dead,' I say. 'He had a fight, and Sam come
+to him aid and beat de rascals off. You had better take him
+straight on board de ship.'</p>
+
+<p>"Dey put him in boat and Sam go wid him to ship. Dey examine
+de wound and find it not bery serious. De captain was turning
+round when dey struck, and de blow had glanced off, but it had
+made a ugly gash; and what wid de surprise, and de loss ob blood,
+and knocking him head on de wharf, and de liquor, de captain had
+lost his consciousness. He soon come round, and Sam tell all
+about it. De captain shake Sam's hand bery much and call him his
+preserver, and ask what he do for him.</p>
+
+<p>"'You take me out ob dis country,' me said, 'and Sam be
+grateful.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Sartain, I will,' he said; 'and now what am de best ting to
+do?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Me not stop on board now. Dey come and search de vessel for
+sure in de morning. When de four white men found, me hope five,
+den dere great rumpus. If five dead no suspicion fall on Sam, but
+you're sure to be asked questions. It would be known dat dey were
+gambling in de saloon, and it would be known dat you had broken
+de bank and had gone away wid your pockets stuffed full ob notes.
+People would suspec' dat likely enuff dey had made an attack on
+you. Dis you couldn't deny, for you will be bandaged up in de
+morning, and if you had killed dem no one would blame you. But it
+a different ting wid Sam. All dose rascals friends together, and
+you be bery sure dat some ob dem pay him off for it. If five men
+dead, all well and good. Den you say you knocked down and know
+nufing furder. You s'pose some people came up and take your side,
+and kill dose men, and carry you to de boat, and gib you ober to
+de sailors, and den go away; but dat you know nufing at all about
+it. If only four men killed den do oder, who will be sure to go
+away and say nufing ob his share in de business, will tell all
+his mates dat dis nigger intrude himself into de affair, and dat
+bad for Sam. So, sar, propose dat I go ashore, and dat I go down
+de bank five or six mile, and dere hide in de bush. When your
+ship come down you hoist little white flag, so Sam sure ob de
+right ship. If Sam tink de coast am clear he swim off. If you no
+see Sam when you get fifteen mile down de riber, den you anchor,
+and at night send a boat ashore. Sam come down to it for
+sure.'</p>
+
+<p>"So de matter was arranged. De captain say he tree more days
+fill up his ship, but dat no do for me come on board by daylight
+because dere would be a pilot on board. Also he says little white
+flag no do, pilot tink him strange, but would tell one ob de men
+to hang a red shirt, as if to dry, up in de rigging. At night
+would show two lights ober de bow for me to know which was de
+ship.</p>
+
+<p>"Fust dey bind up de wound on my shoulder, den dey gib me food
+for four days and a bottle of rum, and den row me ashore. Den Sam
+start, and before morning he hid in de swampy bush ten miles down
+de riber. He wait dere two days, den make him way down anoder
+four miles and dere stop. Late dat afternoon he see a ship come
+down de riber wid a red shirt in de rigging. He go on and on, and
+jus' as it got dark he anchor two miles furder down. Sam make his
+way along through de bush and at last get facing de ship. At
+twelve o'clock boat come along bery quiet. Sam go down and get
+in. De men say, 'Hush, make no noise. De pilot am as watchful as
+a cat. Dey had tied tings round de oars dat dey should make no
+noise, and when dey get to de side ob de ship dey lay dem in very
+quiet, hook on de tackle and hoist her up. De hatchway were off,
+and de men beckon to Sam, and two ob dem go down wid him, and de
+hatchways closed down again.</p>
+
+<p>"'I tink we hab tricked him,' one ob de sailors said. 'Dere
+great row at New Orleans about de four men found dead dar. Dey
+come off and inquire ob de captain ober and ober again. Dey know
+you missing, and dey find de kitchen poker lying by de men, and
+tink you must have had a hand in it. A thousand dollars reward
+have been offered, and dey searched de ship high and low, and
+turn ober all de cargo. A guard stop on board till de last ting
+to see no one come off. When de captain say he anchor de pilot
+say no, but de captain say he in no hurry and not going to risk
+his ship by sailing at night. Me tink pilot smell a rat, for
+ebery time he hear a noise on deck he come out of his cabin and
+look round. We greased de falls to make dem run quiet, and took
+off our shoes so as to make no noise while we were lowering it.
+De men on deck was told to get de hatchway open when dey saw us
+coming, and so we hoped dat de pilot heard nufing. Now we must
+head you up in a cask. We hab bored some holes in it for de air.
+Den we shall pile oder casks on de top and leabe you. Dey are as
+likely as not to search de ship again when she goes past de
+forts, for de pilot will suspect dat it am possible dat you have
+come on board tonight.'</p>
+
+<p>"Me take my place in a big sugar cask. Dey give me some water
+and some food, and den shut in de head ober me. Dere I remain two
+days. I heard some men come below and make a great noise, moving
+de cargo about near de hatchway, and dey hammered in all de casks
+ob de top tier to see if any ob dem was empty. I felt bery glad
+when it was all ober, and de hold was quiet again. I slept a
+great deal and did not know anything about time; but at last I
+heard a noise again, and de moving of casks, and den de head of
+de hogshead was taken out, and dere were de sailors and de
+captain. Dey shook Sam very hearty by de hand, and told him dat
+de ship was safe out at sea, and dat he was a free man.</p>
+
+<p>"All through dat voyage dey bery kind to Sam. He libed de life
+ob a gentleman; ate, and drank, and smoke plenty, and nufing at
+all to do. At last we got to Liberpool, and dar de captain take
+Sam to a vessel bound to New York, pay him passage across, and
+gib Sam a present ob fifty pound. Dis chile had saved fifty
+beside, so he felt dat he was a rich man. Nufing happen on
+passage, except great storm, and Sam thought dat de steamer go to
+de bottom, but she got through all right, and Sam land at New
+York. Den he journey to Philadelphia, dat the place where missy
+give Sam a card wid a name and address written on it, for him to
+go to ask where Sally was living. Well, sar, you could have
+knocked me down when I find a great bill in de window, saying dat
+de house were to let. Sam almost go out ob his mind. He ask a
+great many people, de servants at de doors, and de people in de
+shops and at last find dat de family am gone to trabel in Europe,
+and dat dey might be away for years.</p>
+
+<p>"For two months Sam searched about Philadelphia, and looked at
+ebery black woman he saw in de streets. He could see no signs
+whatsomeber ob Sally. Den he took a place as waiter at an hotel,
+and he wrote to missy at Richmond, to ask if she know Sally's
+address, but he neber got no answer to dat letter, and s'posed
+that missy was either dead or gone away. After he work dere for
+some months de idea came to Sam dat first class hotel wasn't de
+best place in de world to look for black woman. Den Sam went to
+warehouse and bought a lot of books and started to peddle them
+trough de country. He walked thousands ob miles, and altogether
+saw thousands ob black men, but nothing like Sally. Ebery black
+woman he could he spoke to, and asked dem if dey knew her. It was
+a curious ting dat no one did. Me did not find Sally, but me made
+a good deal of money, and tree more years pass away at dis work.
+By dis time me was nigh forty-five years old, as well as me could
+tell. Ebery few months me go back to Philadelphia and search dere
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"One day a woman, dressed bery plain, came up to me and said,
+'I hab been tole by my nurse dat you have been asking her if she
+had seen your wife.' I s'pose I looked hopeful like for she said
+at once, 'Me know nothing ob her, but I was interested about you.
+You are an escaped slabe, are you not?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, ma'am,' me said. 'Dere is no law against me here.'</p>
+
+<p>"'None at all,' she said. 'But I thought that you might, like
+me, be interested in freeing slabes.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Dat I am,' I said, 'dough I had neber thought much about
+it.'</p>
+
+<p>"'You hab heard, p'raps,' she said, 'ob de underground
+railway.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, ma'am,' said I. 'Dat is de blessed 'stitution which
+smuggles slaves across the frontier.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Dat is it,' she said, 'and I belongs to it.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Does you, missy?' me says. 'De Lord bless you.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Now,' she said, 'we want two or three more earnest men, men
+not afraid to risk deir libes, or what is worse deir freedom, to
+help deir follow creatures. I thought that you, habing suffered
+so much yourself, might be inclined to devote yourself to freeing
+oders from de horrors of slabery.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Sam is ready, ma'am,' me says, 'It may be dat de Lord neber
+intends me see my Sally again, but if I can be de means ob
+helping to get oder men to join deir wives I shall be
+content.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Very well,' she said. 'Come into my house now and we will
+talk about it.'</p>
+
+<p>"Den she 'splained the whole business to me. Dere were,
+principally in lonely places, in swamps and woods, but sometimes
+libing in villages and towns in de south, people who had devoted
+deir libes to de carrying out of de purposes ob de underground
+railway. For de most part dese led libes differing no way from
+deir neighbors; dey tilled de land, or kept stores like oders,
+and none of dose around dem suspected in de slightest degree deir
+mission in de south. To deir houses at night fugitive slabes
+would come, guided by dose from de next post. De fugitives would
+be concealed for twenty-four hours or more, and den passed on at
+night again to de next station. Dose formed the larger portion ob
+de body.</p>
+
+<p>"Dere were oders who lived a life in de swamps, scattered
+trough the country. Deir place of residence would be known to de
+slabes ob de neighborhood, but de masters had no suspicion dat de
+emissaries ob de association were so near. To dese any negro,
+driben to desperation by harsh treatment, would resort, and from
+dem instructions would be received as to de route to be taken,
+and de places where aid could be obtained. Dose people held deir
+life in deir hands. Had any suspicion fallen upon dem ob
+belonging to de 'stitution dey would be lynched for sartin. De
+lady set before me all de dangers ob de venture. She said it war
+a case whar dere were no money to be earned, and only de chances
+of martyrdom. My mind quite made up. Me ready to undertake any
+work dey like to give me. My life ob no value to no one. De next
+day me saw some ob de oder people connected wid de affair, and
+tree days afterwards I started for de south."</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV: A
+CHRISTIAN TOWN</h1>
+
+<p>"My share ob de business was to make my way down south and
+settle in de swamps ob Carolina. I war to be taken down by
+trading schooner, to be landed on de coast, and to make my way to
+a place in de center ob a big swamp whar an ole nigger, named
+Joe, had been carrying on de work for four years. He had sent to
+say dat he war bery ill wid de swamp fever and like to die, dat
+he should not leabe de work as long as he libed, but hoped dat
+dey would send anoder man out to take on his work after his
+death.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sar, I was landed, and I made my way to de place. It
+war no easy matter. De niggers all say dey know no such person,
+but I found de next post, and dere de man guided me to de path
+which led into de swamp. Dey told me dey thought de ole man dead,
+for dat no one had come along to dem from him for nigh two month.
+Well, sar, as I 'spected I found him dead, and I buried him, and
+took up my place in de hut. Soon it became known through de
+plantations round dat de hut was occupied again, and dey began to
+come to me to ask for assistance. My <i>'</i>structions war dat
+only to enable a husband to join his wife, or a wife her husband,
+or in cases where de masters were uncommon cruel, dat I was to
+send 'em along by de underground railway. De risks was too great
+to be run often. If we had tried to help ebery one to 'scape we
+should mighty soon hab been hunted down.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sar, I libed dere for three year. It was a lonesome
+life. I planted a few yams round de hut, and de plantation hands
+would bring me tings dat dey got hold of. It was my duty when I
+found dat a case was ob de proper description to arrange for de
+flight, de man or de woman would come to my hut, and I would
+guide dem through de swamps, twenty-five mile away, to de house
+ob a clergyman, which was de next station. I would jus' knock in
+a 'ticular way at de door, and when dis was open leab de party
+dere and go straight away back to de swamp. More dan once de
+planters got up hunts and searched de swamp through and through
+for me wid dogs, and my hut was twice burnt to de ground, but de
+slabes always brought me notice in time, and I went away into de
+tickest part ob de swamp and lay dar till dey had gone away.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sar, one time come, I bery busy, passed tree men away
+in two week. One night me hear barking of dogs, and jump up jus'
+in time to see party ob men coming out from de little path
+towards de hut. I ran for de swamp. Dey fire at me and one ball
+hit me. Den I ran in to de swamp, de dogs dey follow, but I get
+farder and farder away, and de swamp get deeper, and me tink dey
+lose me altogether. I sit quiet on <i>'</i>tump when I hear
+someting splashing in swamp, and all of a sudden a big hound
+sprang on me, and fix him teeth in my shoulder. I had no arms,
+for in de hurry I had not time to catch dem up. De beast he growl
+and bite, and hold on like death. I saw dere only one ting to do.
+I tumble forward into de swamp wid de dog underneath me, and dere
+I lay, wid my mouf sometimes above de water sometimes below, till
+de dog was drowned.</p>
+
+<p>"Den I start for de next station. I was hit in de hip, and it
+took me tree days to crawl dat twenty-five miles. On de tird
+ebening I knock at de door ob de house, and when it was open I
+tumble down in faint inside. It war a long time before I come to
+myself, two weeks dey tell me, and den I tink I dream, for
+sitting by de side of de bed war dat woman Sally. Till she spoke,
+me couldn't believe dat it war true, but she told me dat it war
+her, sure enuf, and dat I war to ask no questions but to go off
+to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>"Next day she told me all about it. She had stopped a year at
+Philadelphy. Den she heard ob de underground railway, and was
+tole dat a clergyman, who war just going down south to work a
+station, wanted a black nurse for his children, who would help in
+de work. Sally she volunteer, and dar she had been libing eber
+since, hoping all de time eider dat I should pass through dere or
+dat she should hear from Philadelphy dat I had got dere. She used
+to act as de guide ob de runaways to de next station, and ebery
+man who came along she asked if they knew me; but, law bless you,
+sar, de poor woman knew nufing ob places, or she would hab known
+dat she war hundreds ob miles south of Virginia, and though she
+allowed she had heard I had gone to Missouri, she s'posed dat de
+way from der might be by de sea coast. I hab observed, sar, dat
+de gography ob women am bery defective.</p>
+
+<p>"I stopped thar till I was cured. The clergyman knew someting
+of surgery, and he managed to substract the ball from my hip.
+When I war quite well Sally and me started for the norf, whar we
+had helped so many oders to go, and, bress de Lord, we arribed
+dere safe. Den I told Sally dat I should like to libe under de
+British flag, so we went up to Canada and dere we libed bery
+comfortable for ten years together. Sally washed and I kep' a
+barber's shop, and we made plenty ob money. Den she die, sar, de
+tought come into my mind dat I would come back to Africa and
+teach dose poor niggers here de ways ob de white men, and sar,"
+and he pointed to a Bible standing on the chest, "de ways ob de
+Lord. So I came across the Atlantic, and stopped a little while
+on de coast, for I had pretty nigh forgotten de language ob de
+country. When I got it back again I started up for dis place, wid
+plenty ob goods and presents.</p>
+
+<p>"I had hard work at fust to get de people to know me. It war
+nigh forty year since I had gone away, but at last some ob de ole
+people remember me, dat I was de son ob de chief. As I had plenty
+goods, and dey did not like de man dat was here, dey made me
+chief in my fader's place. I told dem dat I no accept de place
+unless dey promise to behave bery well, to mind what I said to
+dem, and to listen to my words; but dat if they do dat I gibe dem
+plenty goods, I make dem comfortable and happy, and I teach dem
+de way ob de Lord. Dey agree to all dis.</p>
+
+<p>"I find de slave trade now all at an end, and dat de people
+not fight often now. Still, de twenty muskets dat I bring make de
+people of oder villages respec' us very much. Dey come ober to
+see de village. Dey see dat de houses are comfortable, dat de
+gardens are bery well cultivated, dat de people are well dressed,
+not like common nigger, dat dey are happy and contented. Dey see
+dat dey no believe in fetish any more, but dat ebery ebening when
+de work is ober, dey gadder under de big tree and listen for half
+an hour while I read to dem and den sing a hymn. Once a year I
+send down to de coast and get up plenty cloth, and hoes for de
+gardens, and eberyting dey want. When I land here ten year ago I
+hab eight hundred pound. I got five hundred ob him left here
+still. Dat more dan enuf to last Sam if he libe to be bery, bery
+ole man. Dar are some good men in de village who, when I am gone,
+will carry on de work ob de Lord and dat's all, sar, dat I hab to
+tell you about Sam, and I am sure dat you must be very tired and
+want to go to bed."</p>
+
+<p>The hour was, indeed, for Africa, extremely late, but the time
+had passed unheeded, so interested were the listeners in the
+narrative of the fine old negro. They remained at the village for
+a week, and were greatly pleased with the industrious habits and
+happy appearance of the people, and with the earnestness and
+fervor in which every evening, and twice on Sunday, they joined
+in devotions under the great tree. At the end of that time they
+said goodbye to their kind host, giving him a large amount of
+cloth for distribution among his people. He was unable to furnish
+them with bearers, as a considerable tract of uninhabited country
+extended beyond his village, and the people on the other side
+were on bad terms with his villagers, on account of an
+outstanding feud which had existed long before his return from
+America, and which he had in vain attempted to settle since he
+assumed the headship of the village.</p>
+
+<p>On approaching the Niger they again came upon an inhabited
+country, but the tribes here being accustomed to trade with the
+coast were friendly, and at the first large village they came to
+no difficulty was experienced in obtaining a fresh relay of
+bearers. This was a matter of great satisfaction, for the Fans
+were regarded with extreme antipathy by the natives. As soon as
+arrangements had been made to supply their place the Fans were
+paid the four months' wages which they had earned. A large "dash"
+of beads and other presents were bestowed upon them, three of the
+remaining sacks of rice were given to them, and, greatly
+rejoicing, they started for their own country, which, by making
+long marches, they would regain in a fortnight's time. Although
+it was not probable that they would meet with any enemies, six
+trade muskets, with a supply of powder and ball, were given to
+them, as, although they would not be able to do much execution
+with these weapons, their possession would exercise a powerful
+influence over any natives they might meet.</p>
+
+<p>In crossing the country to the Niger the white men were the
+objects of lively curiosity, and the exhibition of the magic
+lantern, the chemical experiments, and conjuring tricks created
+an effect equal to that which they had produced among the Fans.
+On reaching the Niger a canoe was hired with a crew of rowers. In
+this all the cases, filled with the objects they had collected,
+were placed, the whole being put in charge of the Houssas, Moses
+and King John, who had been seized with a fit of homesickness.
+These were to deliver the cases to the charge of an English agent
+at Lagos or Bonny, to both of whom Mr. Goodenough wrote
+requesting him to pay the sum agreed to the boatmen on the safe
+arrival of the cases, and also to pay the Houssas, who preferred
+taking their wages there, as it was not considered advisable to
+tempt the cupidity of any of the native princes along the river.
+Should they be overhauled the Houssas were told to open the cases
+and show that these contained nothing but birds' skins and
+insects, which would be absolutely valueless in the eyes of a
+native.</p>
+
+<p>When the precious freight had fairly started, the party
+crossed the Niger in a canoe, arrangements having already been
+made with the potentate of a village on the opposite side for a
+fresh relay of carriers, twenty men being now sufficient, owing
+to the gaps which had been made in the provisions in the goods,
+by the payment of the carriers and presents, and, in the cases,
+by the despatch of eight of the largest of these to the coast.
+They had still, however, ample space for the collections they
+might still make. The cases of goods and provisions were utilized
+for this purpose as they were emptied.</p>
+
+<p>For another two months they journeyed on, halting frequently
+and adding continually to their stores. The country was fairly
+populated, and there was no difficulty in buying plantains and
+fruit and in obtaining fresh sets of carriers through the
+territories of each petty chief. They were now approaching the
+Volta, when one day a native, covered with dust and bathed in
+perspiration, came up to their camp, and throwing himself on the
+ground before Mr. Goodenough poured out a stream of words.</p>
+
+<p>"What does he say, Ostik?"</p>
+
+<p>"Me not know, sar. P'r'aps Ugly Tom know. He been down near
+Volta country."</p>
+
+<p>Ugly Tom was called, and after a conversation with the native,
+told Mr. Goodenough that he was a messenger from Abeokuta, that
+the people there were threatened by an attack by the King of
+Dahomey, and that they implored the white men, who they heard
+were in the neighborhood, to come to their aid.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you say, Frank?" Mr. Goodenough asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know anything about it, sir," Frank said. "I have
+heard of Dahomey, of course, and its horrible customs, but I
+don't know anything about Abeokuta."</p>
+
+<p>"Abeokuta is a very singular town," Mr. Goodenough said. "Its
+people were christianized many years ago, and have faithfully
+retained the religion. The town lies not very far from Dahomey,
+and this power, which has conquered and enslaved all its other
+neighbors, has been unable to conquer Abeokuta, although it has
+several times besieged it. The Dahomey people have every
+advantage, being supplied with firearms, and even cannon, by the
+rascally white traders at Whydah, the port of Dahomey.
+Nevertheless, the Abeokuta people have opposed an heroic
+resistance, and so far successfully. Of course they know that
+every soul would be put to death did they fall into the hands of
+the King of Dahomey; but negroes do not always fight well, even
+under such circumstances, and every credit must be given to the
+people of Abeokuta. What do you say? It will be a perilous
+business, mind, for if Abeokuta is taken we shall assuredly be
+put to death with the rest of the defenders."</p>
+
+<p>"I think we ought to help them, sir," Frank said. "They must
+be a noble people, and with our guns and the four Houssas we
+might really be of material assistance. Of course there is a risk
+in it, but we have risked our lives from fever, and in other
+ways, every day since we've been in the country."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, my lad. I am glad that is your decision. Tell him,
+Ugly Tom, that we will at once move towards Abeokuta with all
+speed, and that they had better send out a party of carriers to
+meet us, as you may be sure that these men will not go far when
+they hear that the Dahomey people are on the warpath. Learn from
+him exactly the road we must move by, as if our carriers desert
+us we shall be detained till his people come up. How far is it to
+Abeokuta?"</p>
+
+<p>Ugly Tom learned from the native that it was about forty-five
+miles.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," Mr. Goodenough said, "we shall march twenty this
+afternoon. Where we halt they will most likely have heard the
+rumors of the war, and I expect the carriers will go no farther,
+so they must send out to that point."</p>
+
+<p>The Houssa translated the message, and the native, saying, "I
+shall be at Abeokuta tonight," kissed the hands of the white men
+and started at a trot.</p>
+
+<p>"Wonderful stamina some of these men have," Mr. Goodenough
+said. "That man has come forty-five miles at full speed, and is
+now going off again as fresh as when he started."</p>
+
+<p>"What speed will he go at?" Frank asked.</p>
+
+<p>"About six miles an hour. Of course he goes faster when he is
+running, but he will sometimes break into a walk. Five miles an
+hour may be taken as the ordinary pace of a native runner, but in
+cases which they consider of importance, like the present, you
+may calculate on six."</p>
+
+<p>The camp was at once broken up, the carriers loaded, and they
+started on their way. It was late in the evening when they
+reached a village about twenty miles from their starting place.
+They found the inhabitants in a great state of alarm. The news
+had come that a great army was marching to attack Abeokuta, and
+that the King of Dahomey had sworn on his father's skull that
+this time the place should be captured, and not a house or a wall
+left remaining. As Abeokuta was certain to make a strong
+resistance, and to hold out for some time, the villagers feared
+that the Dahomey people would be sending out parties to plunder
+and carry away captives all over the surrounding country. The
+panic at once extended to the bearers, who declared that they
+would not go a foot farther. As their fears were natural, and Mr.
+Goodenough was expecting a fresh relay from Abeokuta on the
+following evening, he consented to their demand to be allowed to
+leave immediately, and paying them their wages due, he allowed
+them to depart at once on the return journey. The tent was soon
+pitched and supper prepared, of fried plantains, rice, a tin of
+sardines, and tea. Later on they had a cup of chocolate, and
+turned in for the night.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning they were awakened just at daybreak by great
+talking.</p>
+
+<p>"Men come for baggage, sar," Ugly Tom said, putting his head
+in the tent door.</p>
+
+<p>"They have lost no time about it, Frank," Mr. Goodenough
+exclaimed. "It was midday yesterday when the messenger left us.
+He had forty-five miles to run, and could not have been in till
+pretty nearly eight o'clock, and these men must have started at
+once."</p>
+
+<p>There was no time lost. While the Houssas were pulling down
+and packing up the tent Ostik prepared two bowls of chocolate
+with biscuit soaked in it. By the time that this was eaten the
+carriers had taken up their loads, and two minutes later the
+whole party started almost at a trot. Ugly Tom soon explained the
+cause of the haste. The army of Dahomey was, the evening before,
+but eight miles from Abeokuta, and was expected to appear before
+the town by midday, although, of course, it might be later, for
+the movements of savage troops are uncertain in the extreme,
+depending entirely upon the whims of their leader. So anxious
+were the bearers to get back to the town in time, that they
+frequently went at a trot. They were the better able to keep up
+the speed as a larger number than were required had been sent.
+Many of the cases, too, were light, consequently the men were
+able to shift the heavy burdens from time to time. So great was
+the speed, that after an hour both Mr. Goodenough and Frank,
+weakened by the effect of fever and climate, could no longer keep
+up. The various effects carried in the hammocks were hastily
+taken out and lifted by men unprovided with loads. The white men
+entered and were soon carried along at a brisk trot by the side
+of the baggage. When they recovered from their exhaustion
+sufficiently to observe what was going on, they could not help
+admiring the manner in which the negroes, with perspiration
+streaming from every pore, hurried along with their burdens. So
+fast did they go, that in less than six hours they emerged from
+the forest into the clearing, and a shout proclaimed that
+Abeokuta was close at hand.</p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes later the white men were carried through the gate,
+their arrival being hailed with shouts of joy by the inhabitants.
+They were carried in triumph to the principal building of the
+town, a large hut where the general councils of the people were
+held. Here they were received by the king and the leading
+inhabitants, who thanked them warmly for coming to their
+assistance in the time of their peril. The travelers were both
+struck with the appearance of the people. They were clad with far
+more decency and decorum than was usual among the negro tribes.
+Their bearing was quiet and dignified. An air of neatness and
+order pervaded everything, and it was clear that they were
+greatly superior to the people around.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough expressed to the king the willingness with
+which his friend and himself took part in the struggle of a brave
+people against a cruel and bloodthirsty foe, and he said, that as
+the four Houssas were also armed with fast firing guns he hoped
+that their assistance would be of avail. He said that he would at
+once examine the defences of the town and see if anything could
+be done to strengthen them.</p>
+
+<p>Accompanied by the king, Mr. Goodenough and Frank made a
+detour of the walls. These were about a mile in circumference,
+were built of clay, and were of considerable height and
+thickness, but they were not calculated to resist an attack by
+artillery. As, however, it was not probable that the Dahomey
+people possessed much skill in the management of their cannon,
+Mr. Goodenough had hopes that they should succeed in repelling
+the assault. They learnt that a large store of provisions had
+been brought into the town, and that many of the women and
+children had been sent far away.</p>
+
+<p>The spies presently came in and reported that there was no
+movement on the part of the enemy, and that it was improbable
+that they would advance before the next day. Mr. Goodenough was
+unable to offer any suggestions for fresh defenses until they
+knew upon which side the enemy would attack. He advised, however,
+that the whole population should be set to work throwing up an
+earthwork just outside each gate, in order to shelter these as
+far as possible from the effect of the enemy's cannonballs.
+Orders were at once given to this effect, and in an hour the
+whole population were at work carrying earth in baskets and
+piling it in front of the gates. In order to economize labor, and
+to make the sides of the mounds as steep as possible, Mr.
+Goodenough directed with brushwood, forming a sort of rough
+wattle work. Not even when night set in did the people desist
+from their labor, and by the following morning the gates were
+protected from the effect of cannon shot, by mounds of earth
+twenty feet high, which rose before them. The king had, when Mr.
+Goodenough first suggested these defenses, pointed out that much
+less earth would be required were it piled directly against the
+gates. Mr. Goodenough replied, that certainly this was so, but
+that it was essential to be able to open the gates to make a
+sortie if necessary against the enemy, and although the king
+shook his head, as if doubting the ability of his people to take
+such a desperate step as that of attacking the enemy outside
+their walls, he yielded to Mr. Goodenough's opinion.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV: THE
+AMAZONS OF DAHOMET</h1>
+
+<p>A spacious and comfortable hut was placed at the disposal of
+the white men, with a small one adjoining for the Houssas. That
+evening Frank asked Mr. Goodenough to tell him what he knew
+concerning the people of Dahomey.</p>
+
+<p>"The word Dahomey, or more properly Da-omi, means Da's belly.
+Da was, two hundred and fifty years ago, the king of the city of
+Abomey. It was attacked by Tacudona the chief of the Fois. It
+resisted bravely, and Tacudona made a vow that if he took it he
+would sacrifice the king to the gods. When he captured the town
+he carried out his vow by ripping open the king, and then called
+the place Daomi. Gradually the conquerors extended their power
+until the kingdom reached to the very foot of the Atlas range,
+obtaining a port by the conquest of Whydah. The King of Dahomey
+is a despot, and even his nobility crawl on the ground in his
+presence. The taxes are heavy, every article sold in the market
+paying about one eighteenth to the royal exchequer. There are
+besides many other taxes. Every slave is taxed, every article
+that enters the kingdom. If a cock crow it is forfeited, and, as
+it is the nature of cocks to crow, every bird in the kingdom is
+muzzled. The property of every one who dies goes to the king; and
+at the Annual Custom, a grand religious festival, every man has
+to bring a present in proportion to his rank and wealth. The
+royal pomp is kept up by receiving strangers who visit the
+country with much state, and by regaling the populace with
+spectacles of human sacrifices. The women stand high in Dahomey.
+Among other negro nations they till the soil. In Dahomey they
+fight as soldiers, and perform all the offices of men. Dahomey is
+principally celebrated for its army of women, and its human
+sacrifices. These last take place annually, or even more often.
+Sometimes as many as a thousand captives are slain on these
+occasions. In almost all the pagan nations of Africa human
+sacrifices are perpetrated, just as they were by the Druids and
+Egyptians of old. Nowhere, however, are they carried to such a
+terrible extent as in Dahomey. Even Ashanti, where matters are
+bad enough, is inferior in this respect. The victims are mostly
+captives taken in war, and it is to keep up the supply necessary
+for these wholesale sacrifices that Dahomey is constantly at war
+with her neighbors."</p>
+
+<p>"But are we going to fight against women, then?" Frank asked
+horrified.</p>
+
+<p>"Assuredly we are," Mr. Goodenough answered. "The Amazons, as
+white men have christened the force, are the flower of the
+Dahomey army, and fight with extraordinary bravery and
+ferocity."</p>
+
+<p>"But it will seem dreadful to fire at women!" Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>"That is merely an idea of civilization, Frank. In countries
+where women are dependent upon men, leaving to them the work of
+providing for the family and home, while they employ themselves
+in domestic duties and in brightening the lives of the men, they
+are treated with respect. But as their work becomes rougher, so
+does the position which they occupy in men's esteem fall. Among
+the middle and upper classes throughout Europe a man is
+considered a brute and a coward who lifts his hand against a
+woman. Among the lower classes wife and woman beating is by no
+means uncommon, nor is such an assault regarded with much more
+reprobation than an attack upon a man. When women leave their
+proper sphere and put themselves forward to do man's work they
+must expect man's treatment; and the foolish women at home who
+clamor for women's rights, that is to say, for an equality of
+work, would, if they had their way, inflict enormous damage upon
+their sex."</p>
+
+<p>"Still," Frank said, "I shan't like having to fire at
+women."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't see much difference between women and men when the
+fight begins, Frank. These female furies will slay all who fall
+into their hands, and therefore in self defense you will have to
+assist in slaying them."</p>
+
+<p>The following day the sound of beating of drums and firing of
+guns was heard, and soon afterwards the head of the army of
+Dahomey was seen approaching. It moved with considerable order
+and regularity.</p>
+
+<p>"Those must be the Amazons," Mr. Goodenough said. "They are
+proud of their drill and discipline. I do not think that any
+other African troops could march so regularly and solidly."</p>
+
+<p>The main body of the army now came in view, marching as a
+loose and scattered mob. Then twelve objects were seen dragged by
+oxen. These were the cannon of the besiegers.</p>
+
+<p>"How many do you think there are?" Frank asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It is very difficult to judge accurately," Mr. Goodenough
+said. "But Dahomey is said to be able to put fifty thousand
+fighting men and women in the field, that is to say her whole
+adult population, except those too old to bear arms. I should
+think that there are twenty or twenty-five thousand now in
+sight."</p>
+
+<p>The enemy approached within musket shot of the walls, and
+numbers of them running up, discharged their muskets. The
+Abeokuta people fired back; but Mr. Goodenough ordered the
+Houssas on no account to fire, as he did not wish the enemy to
+know the power of their rifles.</p>
+
+<p>The first step of the besiegers was to cut down all the
+plantations round the town and to erect great numbers of little
+huts. A large central hut with several smaller ones surrounding
+it was erected for the king and his principal nobles. The
+Dahomans spread round the town and by the gesticulation and
+pointing at the gates it was clear that the defenses raised to
+cover these excited great surprise.</p>
+
+<p>The wall was thick enough for men to walk along on the top,
+but being built of clay it would withstand but little battering.
+Mr. Goodenough set a large number of people to work, making sacks
+from the rough cloth, of which there was an abundance in the
+place. These were filled with earth and piled in the center of
+the town ready for conveyance to any point threatened. He
+likewise had a number of beams, used in construction of houses,
+sharpened at one end; stakes of five or six feet long were also
+prepared and sharpened at both ends. That day the enemy attempted
+nothing against the town. The next morning the twelve cannon were
+planted at a distance of about five hundred yards and opened fire
+on the walls. The shooting was wild in the extreme; many of the
+balls went over the place altogether; others topped the wall and
+fell in the town; some hit the wall and buried themselves in the
+clay.</p>
+
+<p>"We will give them a lesson," Mr. Goodenough said, "in the
+modern rifle. Frank, you take my double barrel rifle and I will
+take the heavy, large bored one. Your Winchester will scarcely
+make accurate firing at five hundred yards."</p>
+
+<p>The Houssas were already on the wall, anxious to open fire.
+Mr. Goodenough saw that their rifles were sighted to five hundred
+yards. The cannon offered an easy mark. They were ranged along
+side by side, surrounded by a crowd of negroes, who yelled and
+danced each time a shot struck the wall.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," Mr. Goodenough said to the Houssas, "fire steadily,
+and, above all, fire straight. I want every shot to tell."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough gave the signal, and at once Frank and the
+Houssas opened fire. The triumphant yells of the Dahomans at once
+changed their character, and a cry of wrath and astonishment
+broke from them. Steadily Mr. Goodenough and his party kept up
+their fire. They could see that great execution was being done, a
+large proportion of the shots telling. Many wounded were carried
+to the rear, and black forms could be seen stretched everywhere
+on the ground. Still the enemy's fire continued with unabated
+vigor.</p>
+
+<p>"They fight very pluckily," Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>"They are plucky," Mr. Goodenough answered; "and as cowardice
+is punished with death, and human life has scarcely any value
+among them, they will be killed where they stand rather than
+retreat."</p>
+
+<p>For three or four hours the fight continued. Several officers,
+evidently of authority, surrounded by groups of attendants, came
+down to the guns; but as Frank and Mr. Goodenough always selected
+these for their mark, and -- firing with their guns resting on
+the parapet -- were able to make very accurate shooting, most of
+them were killed within a few minutes of their arriving on the
+spot.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of four hours the firing ceased, and the Dahomans
+retired from their guns. The Abeokuta people raised a cry of
+triumph.</p>
+
+<p>"I imagine they have only fallen back," Mr. Goodenough said,
+"to give the guns time to cool."</p>
+
+<p>While the cannonade had been going on a brisk attack had been
+kept up on several other points of the wall, the enemy advancing
+within fifty yards of this and firing their muskets, loaded with
+heavy charges of slugs, at the defenders, who replied vigorously
+to them. Their cannonade was not resumed that afternoon, the
+Dahomans contenting themselves with skirmishing round the
+walls.</p>
+
+<p>"They are disappointed with the result of their fire," Mr.
+Goodenough said. "No doubt they anticipated they should knock the
+wall down without difficulty. You will see some change in their
+tactics tomorrow."</p>
+
+<p>That night Mr. Goodenough had a number of barrels of palm oil
+carried on to the wall, with some of the great iron pots used for
+boiling down the oil, and a supply of fuel.</p>
+
+<p>"If they try to storm," he said, "it will most likely be at
+the point which they have been firing at. The parapet is knocked
+down in several places, and the defenders there would be more
+exposed to their fire."</p>
+
+<p>It was at this point, therefore, that the provision of oil was
+placed. Mr. Goodenough ordered fires to be lighted under the
+boilers an hour before daybreak, in order that all should be in
+readiness in case an attack should be made the first thing in the
+morning. The Abeokutans were in high spirits at the effect of the
+fire of their white allies, and at the comparative failure of the
+cannon, at whose power they had before been greatly alarmed. Soon
+after daylight the Dahomans were seen gathering near the guns.
+Their drums beat furiously, and presently they advanced in a
+solid mass against the wall.</p>
+
+<p>"They have got ladders," Mr. Goodenough said. "I can see
+numbers of them carrying something."</p>
+
+<p>The Houssas at once opened fire, and as the enemy approached
+closer, first the Abeokutans who had muskets, then the great mass
+with bows and arrows, began to fire upon the enemy, while these
+answered with their musketry. The central body, however, advanced
+without firing a shot, moving like the rest at a quick run.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough and. Frank were not firing now, as they were
+devoting themselves to superintending the defence. Ostik kept
+close to them, carrying Frank's Winchester carbine and a double
+barreled shotgun.</p>
+
+<p>"This is hot," Mr. Goodenough said, as the enemy's slugs and
+bullets whizzed in a storm over the edge of the parapet, killing
+many of the defenders, and rendering it difficult for the others
+to take accurate aim. This, however, the Abeokutans did not try
+to do. Stooping below the parapet, they fitted their arrows to
+the string, or loaded their muskets, and then, standing up, fired
+hastily at the approaching throng.</p>
+
+<p>The walls were about twenty-five feet high inside, but the
+parapet gave an additional height of some four feet outside. They
+were about three feet thick at the top, and but a limited number
+of men could take post there to oppose the storming party. Strong
+bodies were placed farther along on the wall to make a rush to
+sweep the enemy off should they gain a footing. Others were
+posted below to attack them should they leap down into the town,
+while men with muskets were on the roofs of the houses near the
+walls, in readiness to open fire should the enemy get a footing
+on the wall. The din was prodigious.</p>
+
+<p>The Dahomans, having access to the sea coast, were armed
+entirely with muskets, these being either cheap Birmingham trade
+guns or old converted muskets, bought by traders for a song at
+the sale of disused government stores. It is much to be regretted
+that the various governments of Europe do not insist that their
+old guns shall be used only as old iron. The price obtained for
+them is so trifling as to be immaterial, and the great proportion
+of them find their way to Africa to be used in the constant wars
+that are waged there, and to enable rich and powerful tribes to
+enslave and destroy their weaker neighbors. The Africans use very
+much heavier charges of powder than those in used in civilized
+nations, ramming down a handful of slugs, of half a dozen small
+bullets, upon the powder. This does not conduce to good shooting,
+but the noise made is prodigious. The Abeokutans, on the other
+hand, were principally armed with bows and arrows, as, having no
+direct access to the sea coast, it was difficult for them to
+procure guns.</p>
+
+<p>The Dahomans poured up in a mass to the foot of the wall, and
+then a score of rough ladders, constructed of bamboo, and each
+four feet wide, were placed against the walls. Directly the point
+to be attacked was indicated, Mr. Goodenough had distributed his
+cauldrons of boiling oil along the walls, and had set men to work
+to pierce holes through the parapet at distances of a couple of
+feet apart, and at a height of six inches from the ground. A line
+of men with long spears wore told to lie down upon the ground,
+and to thrust through the holes at those climbing the ladders.
+Another line of holes was pierced two feet higher, through which
+those armed with muskets and bows were to fire, for when the
+enemy reached the foot of the walls their fire was so heavy that
+it was impossible to return it over the top of the parapet.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately the ladders were placed, men with ladles began to
+throw the boiling oil over the parapet. Shrieks and yells from
+below at once testified to its effect, but it was only just where
+the cauldrons were placed that the besiegers were prevented by
+this means from mounting the ladders, and even here many, in
+spite of the agony of their burns, climbed desperately
+upward.</p>
+
+<p>When they neared the top the fight began in earnest. Those
+without were now obliged to cease firing, and the besieged were
+able to stand up and with sword and spear defend their position.
+The breech loaders of Mr. Goodenough and the Houssas and Frank's
+repeating carbine now came into play. The Dahomans fought with
+extraordinary bravery, hundreds fell shot or cut down from above
+or pierced by the spears and arrows through the holes in the
+parapet. Fresh swarms of assailants took their places on the
+ladders. The drums kept up a ceaseless rattle, and the yells of
+the mass of negroes standing inactive were deafening. Their
+efforts, however, were in vain. Never did the Amazons fight with
+more reckless bravery; but the position was too strong for them,
+and at last, after upwards of a thousand of the assailants had
+fallen, the attack was given up, and the Dahomans retired from
+the wall followed by the exulting shouts of the men of
+Abeokuta.</p>
+
+<p>The loss of the defenders was small. Some ten or twelve had
+been killed with slugs. Three or four times that number were more
+or less severely wounded about the head or shoulders with the
+same missiles. Frank had a nasty cut on the cheek, and Firewater
+and Bacon were both streaming with blood.</p>
+
+<p>There was no chance of a renewal of the attack that day.
+Sentries were placed on the walls, and a grand thanksgiving
+service was held in the open space in the center of the town
+which the whole populace attended.</p>
+
+<p>"What will be their next move, do you think?" Frank asked Mr.
+Goodenough.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot say," Mr. Goodenough said; "but these people know
+something of warfare, and finding that they cannot carry the
+place by assault, I think you will find that they will try some
+more cautious move next time."</p>
+
+<p>For two days there was no renewal of the attack. At Mr.
+Goodenough's suggestion the Abeokutans on the wall shouted out
+that the Dahomans might come and carry off their dead, as he
+feared that a pestilence might arise from so great a number of
+decomposing bodies at the foot of the wall. The Dahomans paid no
+attention to the request, and, at Mr. Goodenough's suggestion, on
+the second day the whole populace set to work carrying earth in
+baskets to the top of the wall, and throwing this over so as to
+cover the mass of bodies at its foot. As to those lying farther
+off nothing could be done. On the third morning it was seen that
+during the night a large number of sacks had been piled in a line
+upon the ground, two hundred yards away from the wall. The pile
+was eight feet in height and some fifty yards long.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought they were up to something," Mr. Goodenough said.
+"They have been sending back to Dahomey for sacks."</p>
+
+<p>In a short time the enemy brought up their cannon, behind the
+shelter of the sacks, regardless of the execution done by the
+rifles of Mr. Goodenough's party during the movement. The place
+chosen was two or three hundred yards to the left of that on
+which the former attack had been made. Then a swarm of men set to
+work removing some of the sacks, and in a short time twelve rough
+embrasures were made just wide enough for the muzzles of the
+guns, the sacks removed being piled on the others, raising them
+to the height of ten feet and sheltering the men behind
+completely from the fire from the walls.</p>
+
+<p>"They will make a breach now," Mr. Goodenough said. "We must
+prepare to receive them inside."</p>
+
+<p>The populace were at once set to work digging holes and
+securely planting the beams already prepared in a semicircle a
+hundred feet across, behind the wall facing the battery. The
+beams when fixed projected eight feet above the ground, the
+spaces between being filled with bamboos twisted in and out
+between them. Earth was thrown up behind to the height of four
+foot for the defenders to stand upon. The space between the
+stockade and the wall was filled with sharp pointed bamboos and
+stakes stuck firmly in the ground with their points projecting
+outwards. All day the townspeople labored at these defenses,
+while the wall crumbled fast under the fire of the Dahomey
+artillery, every shot of which, at so short a distance, struck it
+heavily. By five in the afternoon a great gap, fifty feet wide,
+was made in the walls, and the army of Dahomey again gathered for
+the assault. Mr. Goodenough with two of the Houssas took his
+place on the wall on one side of the gap, Frank with the other
+two faced him across the chasm. A large number of the Abeokuta
+warriors also lined the walls, while the rest gathered on the
+stockade.</p>
+
+<p>With the usual tumult of drumming and yells the Dahomans
+rushed to the assault. The fire from the walls did not check the
+onset in the slightest, and with yells of anticipated victory
+they swarmed over the breach. A cry of astonishment broke from
+them as they saw the formidable defense within, the fire of whose
+defenders was concentrated upon them. Then, with scarce a pause,
+they leaped down and strove to remove the obstructions.
+Regardless of the fire poured upon them they hewed away at the
+sharp stakes, or strove to pull them up with their hands. The
+riflemen on the walls directed their fire now exclusively upon
+the leaders of the column, the breech loaders doing immense
+execution, and soon the Dahomans in their efforts to advance had
+to climb over lines of dead in their front. For half an hour the
+struggle continued, and then the Dahomans lost heart and retired,
+leaving fifteen hundred of their number piled deep in the space
+between the breach and the stockade.</p>
+
+<p>"This is horrible work," Frank said when he rejoined Mr.
+Goodenough.</p>
+
+<p>"Horrible, Frank; but there is at least the consolation that
+by this fearful slaughter of their bravest warriors we are
+crippling the power of Dahomey as a curse and a scourge to its
+neighbors. After this crushing repulse the Abeokutans may hope
+that many years will elapse before they are again attacked by
+their savage neighbors, and the lessons which they have now
+learned in defense will enable them to make as good a stand on
+another occasion as they have done now."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think the attack will be renewed?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should hardly think so. The flower of their army must have
+fallen, and the Amazon guard must have almost ceased to exist. I
+told you, Frank, you would soon get over your repugnance to
+firing at women."</p>
+
+<p>"I did not think anything about women," Frank said. "We seemed
+to be fighting a body of demons with their wild screams and
+yells. Indeed, I could scarce distinguish the men from the
+women."</p>
+
+<p>A strong guard was placed at night at the stockade, and Mr.
+Goodenough and Frank lay down close at hand in case the assault
+should be renewed. At daybreak the sound of a cannon caused them
+to start to their feet.</p>
+
+<p>"They are not satisfied yet," Mr. Goodenough exclaimed,
+hurrying to the wall. In the night the Dahomans had either with
+sacks or earth raised their cannon some six feet, so that they
+were able to fire over the mound caused by the fallen wall at the
+stockade behind it, at which they were now directing their
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Now for the sacks," Mr. Goodenough said. Running down, he
+directed the sacks laden with earth, to whose necks ropes had
+been attached, to be brought up. Five hundred willing hands
+seized them, and they were lowered in front of the center of the
+stockade, which was alone exposed to the enemy's fire, until they
+hung two deep over the whole face. As fast as one bag was injured
+by a shot it was drawn up and another lowered to its place. In
+the meantime the rifles from the walls had again opened fire, and
+as the gunners were now more exposed their shots did considerable
+execution. Seeing the uselessness of their efforts the Dahomans
+gradually slackened their fire.</p>
+
+<p>When night came Mr. Goodenough gathered two hundred of the
+best troops of Abeokuta. He caused plugs to be made corresponding
+to the size of the various cannonballs which were picked up
+within the stockade, which varied from six to eighteen
+pounders.</p>
+
+<p>About midnight the gate nearest to the breach was thrown open,
+and the party sallied out and made their way towards the enemy's
+battery. The Dahomans had placed sentries in front facing the
+breach, but anticipating no attack in any other direction had
+left the flanks unguarded. Mr. Goodenough had enjoined the
+strictest silence on his followers, and their approach was
+unobserved until they swept round into the battery. Large numbers
+of the enemy were lying asleep here, but these, taken by
+surprise, could offer no resistance, and were cut down or driven
+away instantly by the assailants.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough and Frank, with a party who had been told off
+specially for the purpose, at once set to work at the cannon.
+These were filled nearly to the muzzle with powder, and the plugs
+were driven with mallets tight into the muzzles. Slow matches,
+composed of strips of calico dipped in saltpetre, were placed in
+the touch holes. Then the word was given, and the whole party
+fell back to the gate just as the Dahomans in great numbers came
+running up. In less than a minute after leaving the battery
+twelve tremendous reports, following closely one upon another
+were heard. The cannon were blown into fragments, killing numbers
+of the Dahomey men who had just crowded into the battery.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI:
+CAPTIVES IN COOMASSIE</h1>
+
+<p>Upon the morning following the successful sortie not an enemy
+could be seen from the walls. Swift runners were sent out, and
+these returned in two hours with news that the enemy were in full
+retreat towards their capital. The people of Abeokuta were half
+wild with exultation and joy, and their gratitude to their white
+allies was unbounded. Mr. Goodenough begged them not to lose an
+hour in burying their slain enemies, and the entire population
+were engaged for the two following days upon this necessary but
+revolting duty. The dead were counted as they were placed in the
+great pits dug for their reception, and it was found that no
+fewer than three thousand of the enemy had fallen.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough also advised the Abeokutans to erect flanking
+towers at short intervals round their walls, to dig a moat twenty
+feet wide and eight deep at a few yards from their foot, and to
+turn into it the water from the river in order that any future
+attack might be more easily repelled.</p>
+
+<p>The inhabitants were poor, but they would willingly have
+presented all their treasures to their white allies. Mr.
+Goodenough, however, would accept nothing save a few specimens of
+native cloth exquisitely woven from the inner barks of the trees,
+and some other specimens of choice native workmanship. He also
+begged them to send down to the coast by the first opportunity
+the cases of specimens which had been collected since the
+departure of the Fans.</p>
+
+<p>A violent attack of fever, brought on by their exertions in
+the sun, prostrated both the white travelers a few days after the
+termination of the siege, and it was some weeks before they were
+able to renew their journey. Their intention was to ascend the
+river for some distance, to move westward into upper Ashanti, and
+then to make their way to Coomassie, whence they would journey
+down to Cape Coast and there take ship for England. As soon as
+they were able to travel they took leave of their friends at
+Abeokuta, who furnished them with carriers for their cases and
+hammock bearers for their journey as far as the Volta. This
+lasted for a fortnight through an open and fertile country. Then
+they crossed the river and entered Ashanti, the great rival
+empire of Dahomey. As Ashanti was at peace with England they had
+now no fear of molestation on their journey.</p>
+
+<p>Ashanti consisted of five or six kingdoms, all of which had
+been conquered, and were tributary to it. The empire of Ashanti
+was separated by the river Prah from the country of the Fantis,
+who lived under British protection. The people drew their
+supplies from various points on the coast, principally, however,
+through Elmina, a Dutch settlement, five miles to the west of
+Cape Coast. The Ashantis could not be called peaceable neighbors.
+They, like the Dahomans, delighted in human sacrifices upon a
+grand scale, and to carry these out captives must be taken.
+Consequently every four or five years, on some pretext or other,
+they cross the Prah, destroyed the villages, dragged away the
+people to slavery or death, and carried fire and sword up to the
+very walls of the English fort at Cape Coast. Sometimes the
+English confined themselves to remonstrance, sometimes fought,
+not always successfully, as upon one occasion Sir Charles
+Macarthy, the governor, with a West Indian regiment was utterly
+defeated, the governor himself and all his white officers, except
+three, being killed.</p>
+
+<p>In 1828 we aided the Fantis to defeat the Ashantis in a
+decisive battle, the consequence of which was the signature of a
+treaty, by which the King of Ashanti recognized the independence
+of all the Fanti tribes. In 1844, and again in 1852, a regular
+protectorate was arranged between the British and the Fantis, the
+former undertaking to protect them from enemies beyond the
+borders, and in turn exercising an authority over the Fantis,
+forbidding them to make war with each other, and imposing a
+nominal tribute upon them.</p>
+
+<p>In 1853 the Ashantis again crossed the Prah, but, being met
+with firmness, retired again. After ten years' quiet, in 1863
+they again invaded the country, burnt thirty villages, and
+slaughtered their inhabitants. Governor Price then urged upon the
+home authorities the necessity for the sending out from England
+of two thousand troops to aid the native army in striking a heavy
+blow at the Ashantis, and so putting a stop to this constant
+aggression. The English government, however, refused to entertain
+the proposal. In order to encourage the natives some companies of
+West Indian troops were marched up to the Prah. The wet season
+set in, and, after suffering terribly from sickness, the
+survivors returned five months later to Cape Coast.</p>
+
+<p>Up to this period the Dutch trading ports and forts upon the
+coast were interspersed with ours, and as the tribes in their
+neighborhood were under Dutch protection constant troubles were
+arising between the Dutch tribes and our own, and in 1867 an
+exchange was effected, the Dutch ceding all their forts and
+territory east of the Sweet river, a small stream which falls
+into the sea midway between Cape Coast and Elmina, while we gave
+up all our forts to the west of this stream. Similarly the
+protectorate of the tribes inland up to the boundary of the
+Ashanti kingdom changed hands. The natives were not consulted as
+to this treaty, and some of those formerly under British
+protection, especially the natives of Commendah, refused to
+accept the transfer, and beat off with loss the Dutch troops who
+attempted to land. The Dutch men of war bombarded and destroyed
+Commendah.</p>
+
+<p>This step was the commencement of fresh troubles between the
+Ashantis and the English. The Commendah people were Fantis, and
+as such the implacable enemies of the Elmina people, who had
+under Dutch protection been always allies of the Ashantis, and
+had been mainly instrumental in supplying them with arms and
+ammunition. The Fantis, regarding the Elmina natives and the
+Dutch as one power, retaliated for the destruction of Commendah
+by invading the territory of the Elmina tribe, destroying their
+villages and blockading the Dutch in their port. Another reason
+for this attack upon the Elminas was that an Ashanti general,
+named Atjempon, had marched with several hundred men through the
+Fanti country, burning, destroying, and slaying as usual, and had
+taken refuge with his men in Elmina. From this time the desultory
+war between the Elminas and their Ashanti allies, and the Fantis
+of the neighborhood had never ceased. Our influence over our
+allies was but small, for we in vain endeavored to persuade them
+to give up the invasion of Elmina. We even cut off the supplies
+of powder and arms to the Fantis, whose loyalty to our rule was
+thereby much shaken.</p>
+
+<p>All these troubles induced the Dutch to come to the decision
+to withdraw altogether, and they accordingly offered to transfer
+all their possessions to us. The English government determined
+not to accept the transfer if it should lead to troubles with the
+natives, and as a first step required that the Ashanti force
+should leave Elmina. In 1870 the King of Ashanti wrote to us
+claiming Elmina as his, and protesting against its being handed
+over to us. According to native ideas the king of Ashanti's claim
+was a just one. The land upon which all the forts, English,
+Dutch, Danish, and French, were built had been originally
+acquired from the native chiefs at a fixed annual tribute, or as
+we regarded it as rent, or as an annual present in return for
+friendly relations. By the native customs he who conquers a chief
+entitled to such a payment becomes the heir of that payment, and
+one time the King of Ashanti upon the strength of his conquest of
+the Fantis set up a claim of proprietorship over Cape Coast and
+the other British forts.</p>
+
+<p>Of a similar nature was the claim of the Ashantis upon Elmina.
+The Dutch had paid eighty pounds a year, as they asserted, as a
+present, and they proved conclusively that they had never
+regarded the King of Ashanti as having sovereignty over their
+forts, and that he had never advanced such a claim. They now
+arrested Atjempon, and refused to pay a further sum to the King
+of Ashanti until he withdrew his claim. In order to settle
+matters amicably they sent an envoy to Coomassie with presents
+for the king, and obtained from him a repudiation of his former
+letter, and a solemn acknowledgment that the money was not paid
+as a tribute. The king sent down two ambassadors to Elmina, who
+solemnly ratified this declaration.</p>
+
+<p>The transfer was then effected. We purchased from the Dutch
+their forts and stores, but the people of Elmina were told that
+we should not take possession of the place except with their
+consent; but it was pointed out to them that if they refused to
+accept our protection they would be exposed as before to the
+hostility of the Fantis. They agreed to accept our offer, and on
+the 4th of April, 1872, a grand council was hold, the king and
+chiefs of Elmina announced the agreement of their people to the
+transfer, and we took possession of Elmina, Atjempon and the
+Ashantis returning to their own country.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the transfer taking place, Mr. Pope Hennessey, the
+governor of the colony, sent to the King of Ashanti saying that
+the English desired peace and friendship with the natives, and
+would give an annual present, double that which he had received
+from the Dutch. At the same time negotiations were going on with
+the king for the free passage of Ashanti traders to the coast,
+and for the release of four Germans who had been carried off ten
+years before by Aboo Boffoo, one of the king's generals, from
+their mission station on British territory near the Volta. The
+king wrote saying that Aboo Boffoo would not give them up without
+a ransom of eighteen hundred ounces of gold, and protracted
+negotiations went on concerning the payments of these sums.</p>
+
+<p>At the time when Mr. Goodenough and Frank had landed on the
+Gaboon, early in 1872, nothing was known of any anticipated
+troubles with Ashanti. The negotiations between the English and
+the Dutch were in progress, but they had heard that the English
+would not take over Elmina without the consent of the
+inhabitants, and that they would be willing to increase the
+payment made by the Dutch to the king of Ashanti. It was known
+too that efforts would be made to settle all points of difference
+with the king; and as at Abeokuta they received news that the
+negotiations were going on satisfactorily, and that there was no
+prospect whatever of trouble, they did not hesitate to carry out
+the plans they had formed.</p>
+
+<p>Before crossing the Volta, they sent across to inquire of the
+chief of the town there whether two English travelers would be
+allowed to pass through Ashanti, and were delayed for a fortnight
+until a messenger was sent to Coomassie and returned with a
+letter, saying that the king would be glad to see white men at
+his capital. With this assurance they crossed the stream. They
+were received in state by the chief, who at once provided them
+with the necessary carriers, and with them a guard, which he said
+would prevent any trouble on their way. On the following day they
+started, and after arriving, at the end of a day's journey, at a
+village, prepared to stop as usual for a day or two to add to
+their collection. The officer of the guard, however, explained to
+them through Bacon, who spoke the Ashanti language, that his
+instructions were, that they were to go straight through to
+Coomassie. In vain Mr. Goodenough protested that this would
+entirely defeat the object of his journey. The officer was firm.
+His orders were that they were to travel straight to Coomassie,
+and if he failed in carrying these out, his head would assuredly
+be forfeited.</p>
+
+<p>"This is serious, Frank," Mr. Goodenough said. "If this fellow
+has not blundered about his orders, it is clear that we are
+prisoners. However, it may be that the king merely gave a
+direction that we should be escorted to the capital, having no
+idea that we should want to loiter upon the way."</p>
+
+<p>They now proceeded steadily forward, making long day's
+marches. The officer in command of the guard was most civil,
+obtaining for them an abundance of provisions at the villages at
+which they stopped, and as Frank and his companion were both
+weakened by fever he enlisted sufficient hammock bearers for
+them, taking fresh relays from each village. He would not hear of
+their paying either for provisions or bearers, saying that they
+were the king's guests, and it would be an insult to him were
+they to pay for anything.</p>
+
+<p>Ten days after starting from the Volta they entered Coomassie.
+This town lay on rising ground, surrounded by a deep marsh of
+from forty to a hundred yards wide. A messenger had been sent on
+in front to announce their coming, and after crossing the marsh
+they passed under a great fetish, or spell, consisting of a dead
+sheep wrapped up in red silk and suspended from two poles.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough and Frank took their places at the head of the
+little procession. On entering the town they were met by a crowd
+of at least five thousand people, for the most part warriors, who
+fired their guns, shouted, and yelled. Horns, drums, rattles, and
+gongs added to the appalling noise. Men with flags performed wild
+dances, in which the warriors joined. The dress of the captains
+consisted of war caps with gilded rams' horns projecting in
+front, and immense plumes of eagles' feathers on each side. Their
+vest was of red cloth, covered with fetishes and charms in cases
+of gold, silver, and embroidery. These were interspersed with the
+horns and tails of animals, small brass bells, and shells. They
+wore loose cotton trousers, with great boots of dull red leather
+coming halfway up to the thigh, and fastened by small chains to
+their waist belts, also ornamented with bells, horse tails,
+strings of amulets, and strips of colored leather. Long leopards'
+tails hung down their backs.</p>
+
+<p>Through this crowd the party moved forward slowly, the throng
+thickening at every step. They were escorted to a house which
+they were told was set aside for their use, and that they would
+be allowed to see the king on the following day. The houses
+differed entirely from anything which they had before seen in
+Africa. They were built of red clay, plastered perfectly smooth.
+There were no windows or openings on the exterior, but the door
+led into an open courtyard of some twelve feet in diameter. On
+each side of this was a sort of alcove, built up of clay, about
+three feet from the ground. This formed a couch or seat, some
+eight feet long by three feet high, with a thatched roof
+projecting so as to prevent the rain beating into the alcove.
+Beyond were one or more similar courts in proportion to the size
+of the house. A sheep and a quantity of vegetables and fruits
+were sent in in the course of the day, but they were told not to
+show themselves in the streets until they had seen the king.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be expected to make his majesty a handsome present,"
+Mr. Goodenough said, "and, unfortunately, our stores were not
+intended for so great a potentate. I will give him my double
+barreled rifle and your Winchester, Frank. I do not suppose he
+has seen such an arm. We had better get them cleaned up and
+polished so as to look as handsome as possible."</p>
+
+<p>In the morning one of the captains came and said that the king
+was in readiness to receive them, and they made their way through
+a vast crowd to the marketplace, an open area, nearly half a mile
+in extent. The sun was shining brightly, and the scene was a
+brilliant one. The king, his Caboceers or great tributaries, his
+captains, and officers were seated under a vast number of huge
+umbrellas, some of them fifteen feet across. These were of
+scarlet, yellow, and other showy colors in silks and cloths, with
+fantastically scalloped and fringed valences. They were
+surmounted with crescents, birds, elephants, barrels, and swords
+of gold, and on some were couched stuffed animals. Innumerable
+smaller umbrellas of striped stuff were borne by the crowd, and
+all these were waved up and down, while a vast number of flutes,
+horns and other musical instruments sounded in the air. All the
+principal people wore robes woven of foreign silk, which had been
+unraveled for working into native patterns. All had golden
+necklaces and bracelets, in many cases so heavy that the arms of
+the bearers were supported on boys' heads. The whole crowd, many
+thousands in number, shone with gold, silver, and bright
+colors.</p>
+
+<p>The king received them with dignity, and expressed his
+satisfaction at seeing them, his speech being interpreted by one
+of his attendants, who spoke English. Mr. Goodenough replied that
+they had very great pleasure in visiting the court of his
+majesty, that they had already been traveling for many months in
+Africa, having started from the Gaboon and traveled through many
+tribes, but had they had any idea of visiting so great a king
+they would have provided themselves with presents fit for his
+acceptance. But they were simple travelers, catching the birds,
+beasts, and insects of the country, to take home with them to
+show to the people in England. The only things which they could
+offer him were a double barreled breech loading rifle of the best
+English construction, and a little gun, which would fire sixteen
+times without loading.</p>
+
+<p>The king examined the pieces with great attention, and, at his
+request, Mr. Goodenough fired off the whole contents of the
+magazine of the repeating rifle, whose action caused the greatest
+astonishment to the assembled chiefs. The king then intimated his
+acceptance of the presents, and said that he would speak farther
+with them on a future occasion. He informed them that they were
+free to move about in the town where they wished, and that the
+greatest respect would be shown to them by the people. There was
+a fresh outburst of wild music, and they were then conducted back
+to their house.</p>
+
+<p>After the assembly had dispersed the two Englishmen walked
+about through the town. It was not of great extent, but the
+streets were broad and well kept. Many of the houses were much
+larger than that allotted to them, but all were built on the same
+plan. It was evident that the great mass of the population they
+saw about must live in villages scattered around, the town being
+wholly insufficient to contain them.</p>
+
+<p>Three days afterwards they were told that the king wished to
+see them in his palace. This was a large building situated at the
+extremity of the town. It was constructed of stone, and was
+evidently built from European designs. It was square, with a flat
+roof and embattled parapet. They were conducted through the
+gateway into a large courtyard, and then into a hall where the
+king sat upon a raised throne. Attendants stood round fanning
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Why," he asked abruptly as they took their places before him,
+"do the English take my town of Elmina?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodenough explained that he had been nine months absent
+from the coast, and that having come straight out from England he
+was altogether unaware of what had happened at Elmina.</p>
+
+<p>"Elmina is mine," the king said. "The Dutch, who were my
+tributaries, had no right to hand it over to the English."</p>
+
+<p>"But I understood, your majesty, that the English were ready
+to pay an annual sum, even larger than that which the Dutch have
+contributed."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not want money," the king said. "I have gold in plenty.
+There are places in my dominions where ten men in a day can wash
+a thousand ounces. I want Elmina, I want to trade with the
+coast."</p>
+
+<p>"But the English will give your majesty every facility for
+trade."</p>
+
+<p>"But suppose we quarrel," the king said, "they can stop powder
+and guns from coming up. If Elmina were mine I could bring up
+guns and powder at all times."</p>
+
+<p>"Your majesty would be no better off," Mr. Goodenough said;
+"for the English in case of war could stop supplies from
+entering."</p>
+
+<p>"My people will drive them into the sea," the king said. "We
+have been troubled with them too long. They can make guns, but
+they cannot fight. My people will eat them up. We fought them
+before; and see," he said pointing to a great drum, from the edge
+of which hung a dozen human skulls, "the heads of the White men
+serve to make a fetish for me."</p>
+
+<p>He then waved his hand to signify that the audience was
+terminated.</p>
+
+<p>"Things look bad, Frank," Mr. Goodenough said as they walked
+towards their home. "I fear that the king is determined upon war,
+and if so our lives are not worth a month's purchase."</p>
+
+<p>"It can't be helped," Frank said as cheerfully as he could.
+"We must make the best of it. Perhaps something may occur to
+improve our position."</p>
+
+<p>The next day the four German missionaries, who had so long
+been kept captive, called upon them, and they obtained a full
+insight into the position. This seemed more hopeful than the
+king's words had given them to expect. The missionaries said that
+negotiations were going on for their release, and that they
+expected very shortly to be sent down to Cape Coast. So far as
+they knew everything was being done by the English to satisfy the
+king, and they looked upon the establishment of peace as certain.
+They described the horrible rites and sacrifices which they had
+been compelled to witness, and said that at least three thousand
+persons were slaughtered annually in Coomassie.</p>
+
+<p>"You noticed," one of them said, "the great tree in the
+marketplace under which the king sat. That is the great fetish
+tree. A great many victims are sacrificed in the palace itself,
+but the wholesale slaughters take place there. The high brushwood
+comes up to within twenty yards of it, and if you turn in there
+you will see thousands of dead bodies or their remains putrefying
+together."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought I felt a horribly offensive smell as I was talking
+to the king," Frank said shuddering. "What monsters these people
+must be! Who would have thought that all that show of gold and
+silver and silks and bright colors covered such horrible
+barbarism!"</p>
+
+<p>After chatting for some time longer, and offering to do
+anything in their power to assist the captives, the Germans took
+their leave.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII: THE
+INVASION OF FANTI LAND</h1>
+
+<p>The following morning Mr. Goodenough and Frank were called to
+the door by the noise of a passing crowd, and to their horror saw
+a man being taken to sacrifice. He was preceded by men beating
+drums, his hands were pinioned behind him. A sharp thin knife was
+passed through his cheeks, to which his lips were noozed like the
+figure 8. One ear was cut off and carried before him, the other
+hung to his head by a small piece of skin. There were several
+gashes in his back, and a knife was thrust under each shoulder
+blade. He was led by a cord passed through a hole bored in his
+nose. Frank ran horror stricken back into the house, and sat for
+a while with his hand over his eyes as if to shut out the ghastly
+spectacle.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Goodenough," he said presently, "if we are to be killed,
+at least let us die fighting to the last, and blow out our own
+brains with the last shots we have left. I don't think I'm afraid
+of being killed, but to be tortured like that would be
+horrible."</p>
+
+<p>The next day a message was brought them that their retaining
+private guards was an insult to the king, and that the Houssas
+must remove to another part of the town. Resistance was evidently
+useless. Mr. Goodenough called his four men together and told
+them what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry I have brought you into this plight, my poor
+fellows," he said. "There are now but two things open to you. You
+can either volunteer to join the king's army and then try to make
+your escape as an opportunity may offer, or slip away at once.
+You are accustomed to the woods, and in native costume might pass
+without notice. You can all swim, and it matters not where you
+strike the Prah. If you travel at night and lie in the woods by
+day you should be able to get through. At any rate you know that
+if you try to escape and are caught you will be killed. If you
+stop here it is possible that no harm may happen to you, but on
+the other hand you may at any moment be led out to sacrifice. Do
+not tell me your decision; I shall be questioned, and would
+rather be able to say that I was ignorant that you intended to
+escape. There is one other thing to settle. There is a long
+arrear of pay due to you for your good and faithful service. It
+would be useless for me to pay you now, as the money might be
+found on you and taken away, and if you should be killed it would
+be lost to your friends. I have written here four orders on my
+banker in England, which the agents down at Cape Coast will
+readily cash for you. Each order is for twice the sum due to you.
+As you have come into such great danger in my service, and have
+behaved so faithfully, it is right that you should be well
+rewarded. Give me the names of your wives or relatives whom you
+wish to have the money. Should any of you fall and escape, I
+will, on my arrival at Cape Coast, send money, double the amount
+I have written here, to them."</p>
+
+<p>The men expressed themselves warmly grateful for Mr.
+Goodenough's kindness, gave him the names and addresses of their
+wives, and then, with tears in their eyes, took their leave.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Ostik, what do you say?" Mr. Goodenough asked, turning
+to him.</p>
+
+<p>"I stay here, sar," Ostik said. "Houssas fighting men, creep
+through wood, crawl on stomach. Dey get through sure enough.
+Ostik stay with massa. If dey kill massa dey kill Ostik. Ostik
+take chance."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, Ostik, if we get through safe together you shall
+not have reason to regret your fidelity. Now, Frank, I think it
+would be a good thing if you were to spend some hours every day
+in trying to pick up as much of the language here as you can. You
+are quick at it, and were able to make yourself understood by our
+bearers far better than I could do. You already know a great many
+words in four or five of these dialects. They are all related to
+each other, and with what you know you would in a couple of
+months be able to get along very well in Ashanti. It will help to
+pass your time and to occupy your mind. There will be no
+difficulty in finding men here who have worked down on the coast
+and know a little English. If we get away safely you will not
+regret that your time has been employed. If we have trouble your
+knowledge of the language may in some way or other be of real use
+to you. We can go round to the Germans, who will, no doubt, be
+able to put you in the way of getting a man."</p>
+
+<p>The next day they were again sent for to the king, who was in
+a high state of anger at having heard that the Houssas had
+escaped.</p>
+
+<p>"I know nothing about it," Mr. Goodenough said. "They were
+contented when they were with me, and had no wish to go. Your
+soldiers took them away yesterday afternoon, and I suppose they
+were frightened. It was foolish of them. They should have known
+that a great king does not injure travelers who come peacefully
+into his country. They should have known better. They were poor,
+ignorant men, who did not know that the hospitality of a king is
+sacred, and that when a king invites travelers to enter his
+country they are his guests, and under his protection."</p>
+
+<p>When the interpreter translated this speech the king was
+silent for two or three minutes. Then he said, "My white friend
+is right, They were foolish men. They could not know these
+things. If my warriors overtake them no harm shall come to
+them."</p>
+
+<p>Pleased with the impression that his words had evidently made
+Mr. Goodenough returned to Frank, who had not been ordered to
+accompany him to the palace. In the afternoon the king sent a
+sheep and a present of five ounces of gold, and a message that he
+did not wish his white friends to remain always in the town, but
+that they might walk to any of the villages within a circle of
+three or four miles, and that four of his guards would always
+accompany them to see that no one interfered with or insulted
+them. They were much pleased with this permission, as they were
+now enabled to renew their work of collecting. It took them, too,
+away from the sight of the horrible human sacrifices which went
+on daily. Through the German missionaries they obtained a man who
+had worked for three years down at Cape Coast. He accompanied
+them on their walks, and in the evening sat and talked with
+Frank, who, from the knowledge of native words which he had
+picked up in his nine months' residence in Africa, was able to
+make rapid progress in Ashanti. He had one or two slight attacks
+of fever, but the constant use of quinine enabled him to resist
+their effect, and he was now to some degree acclimatized, and
+thought no more of the attacks of fever than he would have done
+at home of a violent bilious attack.</p>
+
+<p>This was not the case with Mr. Goodenough. Frank observed with
+concern that he lost strength rapidly, and was soon unable to
+accompany him in his walks. One morning he appeared very ill.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you a touch of fever, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, Frank, it is worse than fever, it is dysentery. I had an
+attack last time I was on the coast, and know what to do with it.
+Get the medicine chest and bring me the bottle of ipecacuanha.
+Now, you must give me doses of this just strong enough not to act
+as an emetic, every three hours."</p>
+
+<p>Frank nursed his friend assiduously, and for the next three
+days hoped that he was obtaining a mastery over the illness. On
+the fourth day an attack of fever set in.</p>
+
+<p>"You must stop the ipecacuanha, now," Mr. Goodenough said,
+"and Frank, send Ostik round to the Germans, and say I wish them
+to come here at once."</p>
+
+<p>When these arrived Mr. Goodenough asked Frank to leave him
+alone with them. A quarter of an hour later they went out, and
+Frank, returning, found two sealed envelopes on the table beside
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"My boy," he said, "I have been making my will. I fear that it
+is all over with me. Fever and dysentery together are in nine
+cases out of ten fatal. Don't cry, Frank," he said, as the lad
+burst into tears. "I would gladly have lived, but if it is God's
+will that it should be otherwise, so be it. I have no wife or
+near relatives to regret my loss -- none, my poor boy, who will
+mourn for me as sincerely as I know that you will do. In the year
+that we have been together I have come to look upon you as my
+son, and you will find that I have not forgotten you in my will.
+I have written it in duplicate. If you have an opportunity send
+one of these letters down to the coast. Keep the other yourself,
+and I trust that you will live to carry it to its destination.
+Should it not be so, should the worst come to the worst, it will
+be a consolation to you to know that I have not forgotten the
+little sister of whom you have spoken to me so often, and that in
+case of your death she will be provided for."</p>
+
+<p>An hour later Mr. Goodenough was in a state of delirium, in
+which he remained all night, falling towards morning into a dull
+coma, gradually breathing his last, without any return of
+sensibility, at eight in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>Frank was utterly prostrated with grief, from which he roused
+himself to send to the king to ask permission to bury his
+friend.</p>
+
+<p>The king sent down to say how grieved he was to hear of the
+white man's death. He had ordered many of his warriors to attend
+his funeral. Frank had a grave dug on a rising spot of ground
+beyond the marsh. In the evening a great number of the warriors
+gathered round the house, and upon the shoulders of four of them
+Mr. Goodenough was conveyed to his last resting place, Frank and
+the German missionaries following with a great crowd of warriors.
+The missionaries read the service over the grave, and Frank
+returned heart broken to his house, with Ostik, who also felt
+terribly the loss of his master.</p>
+
+<p>Two days later a wooden cross was erected over the grave. Upon
+this Frank carved the name of his friend. Hearing a week
+afterwards that the king was sending down a messenger to Cape
+Coast, Frank asked permission to send Mr. Goodenough's letter by
+him. The king sent for him.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wish any more troubles," he said, "or that letters
+should be sent to the governor. You are my guest. When the
+troubles are settled I will send you down to the coast; but we
+have many things to write about, and I do not want more subjects
+for talk."</p>
+
+<p>Frank showed the letter and read the address, and told the
+king that it was only a letter to the man of business of Mr.
+Goodenough in England, giving directions for the disposal of his
+property there.</p>
+
+<p>The king then consented that his messenger should take the
+letter.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of December, when Frank had been nearly three
+months at Coomassie, one of the Germans said to him:</p>
+
+<p>"The king speaks fairly, and seems intent upon his
+negotiations; but he is preparing secretly for war. An army is
+collecting on the Prah. I hear that twelve thousand men are
+ordered to assemble there."</p>
+
+<p>"I have noticed," Frank said, "that there have been fewer men
+about than usual during the last few days. What will happen to
+us, do you think?"</p>
+
+<p>The missionary shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"No one can say," he said. "It all depends upon the king's
+humor. I think, however, that he is more likely to keep us as
+hostages, and to obtain money for us at the end of the war, than
+to kill us. If all goes well with his army we are probably safe;
+but if the news comes of any defeat, he may in his rage order us
+to be executed."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think are the chances of defeat?" Frank
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"We know not," the missionary said; "but it seems probable
+that the Ashantis will turn the English out of the coast. The
+Fantis are of no use. They were a brave people once, and united
+might have made a successful resistance to the Ashantis; but you
+English have made women of them. You have forbidden them to fight
+among themselves, you have discouraged them in any attempts to
+raise armies, you have reduced the power of the chiefs, you have
+tried to turn them into a race of cultivators and traders instead
+of warriors, and you can expect no material aid from them now.
+They will melt away like snow before the Ashantis. The king's
+spies tell him that there are only a hundred and fifty black
+troops at Cape Coast. These are trained and led by Englishmen,
+but, after all, they are only negroes, no braver than the
+Ashantis. What chance have they of resisting an army nearly a
+hundred to one stronger than themselves?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is the fort at Cape Coast strong?" Frank asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, against savages without cannon. Besides, the guns of the
+ships of war would cover it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," Frank said, "if we can hold that, they will send out
+troops from England."</p>
+
+<p>"They may do so," the missionary asserted; "but what could
+white troops do in the fever haunted forests, which extend from
+Coomassie to the coast?"</p>
+
+<p>"They will manage somehow," Frank replied confidently.
+"Besides, after all, as I hear that the great portion of Ashanti
+lying beyond this is plain and open country, the Ashantis
+themselves cannot be all accustomed to bush fighting, and will
+suffer from fever in the low, swamp land."</p>
+
+<p>Three days later the king sent for Frank.</p>
+
+<p>"The English are not true," he said angrily. "They promised
+the people of Elmina that they should be allowed to retain all
+their customs as under the Dutch. They have broken their word.
+They have forbidden the customs. The people of Elmina have
+written to me to ask me to deliver them. I am going to do
+so."</p>
+
+<p>Frank afterwards learned that the king's words were true.
+Colonel Harley, the military commandant, having, with almost
+incredible fatuity, and in spite of the agreement which had been
+made with the Elminas, summoned their king and chiefs to a
+council, and abruptly told them that they would not be allowed
+henceforth to celebrate their customs, which consisted of firing
+of guns, waving of flags, dancing, and other harmless rites. The
+chiefs, greatly indignant at this breach of the agreement,
+solemnly entered into with them, at once, on leaving the council,
+wrote to the King of Ashanti, begging him to cross the Prah and
+attack the English. Frank could only say that he knew nothing of
+what was going on at the coast, and could only think that his
+majesty must have been misinformed, as the English wished to be
+friendly with the Ashantis.</p>
+
+<p>"They do not wish it," the king said furiously; "they are
+liars."</p>
+
+<p>A buzz of approval sounded among the cabooceers and captains
+standing round. Frank thought that he was about to be ordered to
+instant execution, and grasped a revolver, which he held in his
+pocket, resolving to shoot the king first, and then to blow out
+his own brains, rather than to be put to the horrible tortures
+which in Ashanti always precede death.</p>
+
+<p>Presently the king said suddenly to him:</p>
+
+<p>"My people tell me that you can talk to them in their own
+tongue."</p>
+
+<p>"I have learnt a little Ashanti," Frank said in that language.
+"I cannot talk well, but I can make myself understood."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," the king said. "Then I shall send you down with
+my general. You know the ways of English fighting, and will tell
+him what is best to do against them. When the war is over and I
+have driven the English away, I will send you away also. You are
+my guest, and I do not wish to harm you. Tomorrow you will start.
+Your goods will be of no more use to you. I have ordered my
+treasurer to count the cloth, and the powder, and the other
+things which you have, and to pay you for them in gold. You may
+go."</p>
+
+<p>Frank retired, vowing in his heart that no information as to
+the best way of attacking the English should be obtained from
+him. Upon the whole he was much pleased at the order, for he
+thought that some way of making his escape might present itself.
+Such was also the opinion of Ostik when Frank told him what had
+taken place at the palace.</p>
+
+<p>An hour later the king's treasurer arrived. The whole of the
+trade goods were appraised at fair prices, and even the cases
+were paid for, as the treasurer said that these would be good for
+keeping the king's state robes. Frank only retained his own
+portmanteau with clothes, his bed and rugs, and the journals of
+the expedition, a supply of ammunition for his revolver, his
+medicine chest, tent, and a case with chocolate, preserved milk,
+tea, biscuits, rice, and a couple of bottles of brandy.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning there was a great beating of drums.</p>
+
+<p>Four carriers had been told off for Frank's service, and these
+came in, took up his baggage, and joined the line. Frank waited
+till the general, Ammon Quatia, whom he had several times met at
+the palace, came along, carried in a hammock, with a
+paraphernalia of attendants bearing chairs, umbrellas, and flags.
+Frank fell in behind these accompanied by Ostik. The whole
+population of Coomassie turned out and shouted their
+farewells.</p>
+
+<p>There was a pause in the marketplace while a hundred victims
+were sacrificed to the success of the expedition. Frank kept in
+the thick of the warriors so as to avoid witnessing the horrible
+spectacle.</p>
+
+<p>As they passed the king he said to the general, "Bring me back
+the head of the governor. I will place it on my drum by the side
+of that of Macarthy."</p>
+
+<p>Then the army passed the swamp knee deep in water, and started
+on their way down to the Prah. Three miles further they crossed
+the river Dah at Agogo, where the water was up to their necks.
+The road was little more than a track through the forest, and
+many small streams had to be crossed.</p>
+
+<p>It was well that Frank had not had an attack of fever for some
+time, for they marched without a stop to Fomanse, a distance of
+nearly thirty miles. Fomanse was a large town. Many of the houses
+were built in the same style as those at Coomassie, and the
+king's palace was a stone building. That night Frank slept in a
+native house which the general allotted to him close to the
+palace. The army slept on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning they crossed a lofty hill, and then
+descending again kept along through the forest until, late in the
+afternoon, they arrived on the Prah. This river was about sixty
+yards wide, and here, in roughly made huts of boughs, were
+encamped the main army, who had preceded them. Here there was a
+pause for a week while large numbers of carriers came down with
+provisions. Then on the 22d of January the army crossed the Prah
+in great canoes of cottonwood tree, which the troops who first
+arrived had prepared.</p>
+
+<p>Had the Ashanti army now pushed forward at full speed, Cape
+Coast and Elmina must have fallen into their hands, for there
+were no preparations whatever for their defence. The Assims,
+whose territory was first invaded, sent down for assistance, but
+Mr. Hennessey refused to believe that there was any invasion at
+all, and when the King of Akim, the most powerful of the Fanti
+potentates, sent down to ask for arms and ammunition, Mr.
+Hennessey refused so curtly that the King of Akim was grievously
+offended, and sent at once to the Ashantis to say that he should
+remain neutral in the war.</p>
+
+<p>About this time Mr. Hennessey, whose repeated blunders had in
+no slight degree contributed to the invasion, was relieved by Mr.
+Keate, who at once wholly alienated the Fantis by telling them
+that they must defend themselves, as the English had nothing more
+to do with the affair than to defend their forts. Considering
+that the English had taken the natives under their protection,
+and that the war was caused entirely by the taking over of Elmina
+by the English and by their breach of faith to the natives there,
+this treatment of the Fantis was as unjust as it was
+impolitic.</p>
+
+<p>Ammon Quatia, however, seemed to be impressed with a spirit of
+prudence as soon as he crossed the river. Parties were sent out,
+indeed, who attacked and plundered the Assim villages near the
+Prah, but the main body moved forward with the greatest caution,
+sometimes halting for weeks.</p>
+
+<p>The Ashanti general directed Frank always to pitch his tent
+next to the hut occupied by himself. Four guards were appointed,
+nominally to do him honor, but really, as Frank saw, to prevent
+him from making his escape. These men kept guard, two at a time,
+night and day over the tent, and if he moved out all followed
+him. He never attempted to leave the camp. The forest was
+extremely dense with thick underwood and innumerable creepers,
+through which it would be almost impossible to make a way. The
+majority of the trees were of only moderate height, but above
+them towered the cotton trees and other giants, rising with
+straight stems to from two hundred and fifty to three hundred
+feet high. Many of the trees had shed their foliage, and some of
+these were completely covered with brilliant flowers of different
+colors. The woods resounded with the cries of various birds, but
+butterflies, except in the clearings, were scarce.</p>
+
+<p>The army depended for food partly upon the cultivated patches
+around the Assim villages, partly on supplies brought up from the
+rear. In the forest, too, they found many edible roots and
+fruits. In spite of the efforts to supply them with food, Frank
+saw ere many weeks had passed that the Ashantis were suffering
+much from hunger. They fell away in flesh. Many were shaking with
+fever, and the enthusiasm, which was manifest at the passage of
+the Prah, had entirely evaporated.</p>
+
+<p>The first morning after crossing the river Frank sent Ostik
+into the hut of the general with a cup of hot chocolate, with
+which Ammon Quatia expressed himself so much gratified that
+henceforth Frank sent in a cup every morning, having still a
+large supply of tins of preserved chocolate and milk, the very
+best food which a traveler can take with him. In return the
+Ashanti general showed Frank many little kindnesses, sending him
+in birds or animals when any were shot by his men, and keeping
+him as well provided with food as was possible under the
+circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until the 8th of April that any absolute
+hostilities took place. Then the Fantis, supported by fifty
+Houssas under Lieutenant Hopkins, barred the road outside the
+village of Dunquah. The Ashantis attacked, but the Fantis fought
+bravely, having great confidence in the Houssa contingent. The
+battle was one of the native fashion, neither side attempting any
+vigorous action, but contenting themselves with a heavy fire at a
+distance of a hundred yards. All the combatants took shelter
+behind trees, and the consequence was that at the end of the day
+a great quantity of powder and slugs had been fired away, and a
+very few men hit on either side. At nightfall both parties drew
+off.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that the way your English soldiers fight?" the general
+asked Frank that night.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Frank said vaguely; "they fire away at each other."</p>
+
+<p>"And then I suppose," the general said, "when one party has
+exhausted its ammunition it retires."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly it would retire," Frank said. "It could not resist
+without ammunition you know."</p>
+
+<p>Frank carefully abstained from mentioning that one side or the
+other would advance even before the ammunition of its opponents
+was expended, for he did not wish the Ashantis to adopt tactics
+which, from their greatly superior numbers, must at once give
+them a victory. The Ashantis were not dissatisfied with the day's
+work, as they considered that they had proved themselves equal to
+the English troops.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII: THE
+ATTACK ON ELMINA</h1>
+
+<p>On the 14th the Fantis took the initiative, and attacked the
+Ashantis. The fight was a mere repetition of that of a week
+before, and about midday the Fantis, having used up all their
+ammunition, fell back again to Cape Coast.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," the general said to Frank, "that we have beaten the
+Fantis we shall march down to Elmina."</p>
+
+<p>Leaving the main road at Dunquah the army moved slowly through
+the bush towards Elmina, thirty miles distant, halting in the
+woods some eight miles from the town, and twelve from Cape
+Coast.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going," the general said, "to look at the English forts.
+My white friend will go with me."</p>
+
+<p>With fifty of his warriors Ammon Quatia left the camp, and
+crossing a stream came down upon the sea coast, a short distance
+west of Elmina. With them were several of the Elmina tribe, who
+had come up to the camp to welcome the Ashantis. They approached
+to within three or four hundred yards of the fort, which was
+separated from them by a river.</p>
+
+<p>The forts on the west coast of Africa, not being built to
+resist artillery, are merely barracks surrounded by high walls
+sufficiently thick to allow men to walk in single file along the
+top, to fire over the parapet. The tops of the walls being
+castellated, the buildings have an appearance of much strength.
+The fort of Elmina is of considerable size, with a barrack and
+officers' quarters within it. One side faces the river, and
+another the sea.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a wonderful fort," the Ashanti general said, much
+impressed by its appearance.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Frank replied. "And there are cannon on the top, those
+great black things you see sticking out. Those are guns, and each
+carries balls enough to kill a hundred men with each shot."</p>
+
+<p>The general looked for some time attentively. "But you have
+castles in the white men's country, how do you take them?"</p>
+
+<p>"We bring a great many cannon throwing balls of iron as big as
+my head," Frank answered, "and so knock a great hole in the wall
+and then rush in."</p>
+
+<p>"But if there are no cannon?" the general urged.</p>
+
+<p>"We never attack a castle without cannon," Frank said. "But if
+we had no cannon we might try to starve the people out; but you
+cannot do that here, because they would land food from the
+sea."</p>
+
+<p>The general looked puzzled. "Why do the white men come
+here?</p>
+
+<p>"They come to trade," he said presently.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they come to trade," Frank replied.</p>
+
+<p>"And they have no other reason?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," Frank said. "They do not want to take land, because the
+white man cannot work in so hot a climate."</p>
+
+<p>"Then if he could not trade he would go away?" the general
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Frank agreed, "if he could do no trade it would be no
+use remaining here."</p>
+
+<p>"We will let him do no trade," the general said, brightening
+up. "If we cannot take the forts we will surround them closely,
+and no trade can come in and out. Then the white man will have to
+go away. As to the Fantis we will destroy them, and the white men
+will have no one to fight for them."</p>
+
+<p>"But there are white troops," Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>"White soldiers?" the Ashanti asked surprised. "I thought it
+was only black soldiers that fought for the whites. The whites
+are few, they are traders."</p>
+
+<p>"The English are many," Frank said earnestly. "For every man
+that the King of Ashanti could send to fight, England could send
+ten. There are white soldiers, numbers of them, but they are not
+sent here. They are kept at home to fight other white nations,
+the French and the Dutch and the Danes, and many others, just as
+the kings of Africa fight against each other. They are not sent
+here because the climate kills the whites, so to guard the white
+traders here we hire black soldiers; but, when it is known in
+England that the King of Ashanti is fighting against our forts,
+they will send white troops."</p>
+
+<p>Ammon Quatia was thoughtful for some time. "If they come," he
+said at length, "the fevers will kill them, The white man cannot
+live in the swamps. Your friend, the white guest of the king,
+died at Coomassie."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Frank asserted, "but he had been nearly a year in the
+country before he died. Three weeks will be enough for an English
+army to march from Cape Coast to Coomassie. A few might die, but
+most of them would get there."</p>
+
+<p>"Coomassie!" the general exclaimed in surprise. "The white men
+would be mad to think of marching against the city of the great
+king. We should make great fetish, and they would all die when
+they had crossed the river."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think, General," Frank said dryly, "that the fetishes
+of the black man have any effect upon the white men. A fetish has
+power when it is believed in. A man who knows that his enemy has
+made a fetish against him is afraid. His blood becomes like water
+and he dies. But the whites do not believe in fetishes. They
+laugh at them, and then the fetishes cannot hurt them."</p>
+
+<p>The general said no more, but turned thoughtfully and retired
+to his camp. It was tantalizing to Frank to see the Union Jack
+waving within sight, and to know that friends were so near and
+yet to be unable to stretch out his hand to them.</p>
+
+<p>He was now dressed in all respects like a native, the king
+having, soon after his arrival at Coomassie, sent a present of
+clothes such as were worn by his nobles, saying that the people
+would not notice them so much if they were dressed like
+themselves. Consequently, had the party been seen from the castle
+walls the appearance of an Englishman among them would have been
+unobserved.</p>
+
+<p>Three days later the general with a similar party crossed the
+Sweet river at night, and proceeded along the sea coast to within
+a few hundred yards of Cape Coast Castle, whose appearance
+pleased him no more than that of Elmina had done.</p>
+
+<p>The Ashantis were now better supplied with food, as they were
+able to depend upon the Elmina tribes who cultivated a
+considerable extent of ground, and to add to the stock, the
+Ashanti soldiers were set to work to aid in planting a larger
+extent of ground than usual, a proof in Frank's mind that the
+general contemplated making a long stay, and blockading Elmina
+and Cape Coast into surrender if he could not carry them by
+assault.</p>
+
+<p>The natives of Africa are capable of great exertion for a
+time, but their habitual attitude is that of extreme laziness.
+One week's work in the year suffices to plant a sufficient amount
+of ground to supply the wants of a family. The seed only requires
+casting into the earth, and soon the ground will be covered with
+melons and pumpkins. Sweet potatoes and yams demand no greater
+cultivation, and the bananas and plantains require simply to be
+cut. For fifty-one weeks in the year the negro simply sits down
+and watches his crops grow. To people like these time is of
+absolutely no value. Their wants are few. Their garden furnishes
+them with tobacco. They make drink from the palm or by fermenting
+the juice of the cocoanut. The fowls that wander about in the
+clearings suffice when carried down occasionally to the port, to
+pay for the few yards of calico and strings of beads which are
+all that is necessary for the clothing and decoration of a
+family.</p>
+
+<p>Such people are never in a hurry. To wait means to do nothing.
+To do nothing is their highest joy. Their tomorrow means a month
+hence, directly, a week. If, then, the Ashanti army had been
+detained for one year or five before the English settlements, it
+would have been a matter of indifference to them, so long as they
+could obtain food. Their women were with them, for the wife and
+daughters of each warrior had carried on head, with the army, his
+household goods, a tiny stool, a few calabashes for cooking, a
+mat to sleep on, and baskets high piled with provisions. They
+were there to collect sticks, to cook food, draw water, bring
+fire for his pipe, minister to his pleasures. He could have no
+more if he were at home, and was contented to wait as long as the
+king ordered, were that time years distant.</p>
+
+<p>Frank was often filled with disgust at seeing these noble
+savages lying indolently from morn till night while their wives
+went miles in the forest searching for pineapples and fruits,
+bent down and prematurely aged by toil and hardship. Many of the
+young girls among the negroes are pretty, with their soft eyes
+and skin like velvet, their merry laugh and graceful figures. But
+in a very few years all this disappears, and by middle age they
+are bent, and wrinkled, and old. All loads are carried by women,
+with the exception only of hammocks, which are exclusively
+carried by men.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, then, the Ashantis settled down to what appeared to
+Frank to be an interminable business, and what rendered it more
+tantalizing was, that the morning and evening guns at the English
+forts could be plainly heard.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the 7th of June that Ammon Quatia reconnoitered
+Elmina, and the news came next day that a hundred and ten white
+men in red coats had landed from a ship which had arrived that
+morning off the coast. Frank judged from the description that
+these must be marines from a ship of war. In this he was correct,
+as they consisted of marines and marine artillerymen under
+Lieutenant Colonel Festing, who had just arrived from England.
+Three days later the Ashanti general, with a portion of his
+force, moved down close to Elmina; Frank was told to accompany
+them. Shortly afterwards the news came that the Elminas were all
+ordered to lay down their arms. They replied by going over in a
+body to the Ashantis. Ammon Quatia determined at once to attack
+the town, but as he was advancing, the guns of the ships of war
+opened fire upon the native town of Elmina, which lay to the west
+of the European quarter.</p>
+
+<p>The sound of such heavy cannon, differing widely from anything
+they had ever heard before, caused the Ashantis to pause in
+astonishment. Then came the howl of the shells, which exploded in
+rapid succession in the village, from which flames began
+immediately to rise. After a few minutes' hesitation the Ashantis
+and Elminas again advanced. The general, who was carried in a
+chair upon the shoulders of four men, took his post on rising
+ground near the burning village.</p>
+
+<p>"There," he said, "the English soldiers are coming out of the
+fort. Now you will see."</p>
+
+<p>The little body of marines and the blue jackets of the
+<i>Barraconta</i> deployed in line as they sallied from the fort.
+The Ashantis opened fire upon them, but they were out of range of
+the slugs. As soon as the line was formed the English opened
+fire, and the Ashantis were perfectly astonished at the incessant
+rattle of musketry from so small a body of men. But it was not
+all noise, for the Snider bullets swept among the crowded body of
+blacks, mowing them down in considerable numbers. In two minutes
+the Ashantis turned and ran. The general's bearers, in spite of
+his shouts, hurried away with him with the others, and Frank
+would have taken this opportunity to escape had not two of his
+guards seized him by the arms and hauled him along, while the
+other two kept close behind.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as they had passed over the crest of the rise, and the
+British fire had ceased, Ammon Quatia leaped from his chair and
+threw himself among his flying troops, striking them right and
+left with his staff, and hurling imprecations upon them.</p>
+
+<p>"If you do not stop and return against the whites," he said,
+"I will send every one of you back to Coomassie, and there you
+will be put to death as cowards."</p>
+
+<p>The threat sufficed. The fugitives rallied, and in a few
+minutes were ready to march back again. It was the surprise
+created by the wonderful sustained fire of the breech loaders,
+rather than the actual loss they inflicted, which caused the
+panic.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, believing that the Ashantis had retired, the
+naval contingent went back to their boats, when the Dutch vice
+consul, having ascended a hill to look round, saw that Ammon
+Quatia had made a detour with his troops, and was marching
+against the town from the east, where he would not be exposed to
+the fire of the fort. He instantly ran back with the news.</p>
+
+<p>The marines and the thirty West Indian soldiers in the fort at
+once marched out, and met the Ashantis just as they were entering
+the town. The fight was a severe one, and for a time neither side
+appeared to have the advantage, and Frank, who, under the care of
+his guards, was a few hundred yards in the rear, was filled with
+dismay at observing that the Ashantis, in spite of the heavy loss
+they were suffering, were gaining ground and pressing forward
+bravely. Suddenly he gave a shout of joy, for on a rise on the
+flank of the Ashantis appeared the sailors of the
+<i>Barraconta</i>, who had been led round from the boats by
+Lieutenant Wells, R. N., who was in command. The instant these
+took up their position they opened a heavy fire upon the flank of
+the Ashantis, who, dismayed by this attack by fresh foes, lost
+heart and at once fled hastily. In the two engagements they had
+lost nearly four hundred men. Frank, of course, retired with the
+beaten Ashantis, and that evening Ammon Quatia told him that the
+arms of the white men were too good, and that he should not
+attack them again in the open.</p>
+
+<p>"Their guns shoot farther, as well as quicker, than ours," he
+said. "Our slugs are no use against the heavy bullets, at a
+distance; but in the woods, where you cannot see twenty feet
+among the trees, it will be different. If I do not attack them
+they must attack me, or their trade will be starved out. When
+they come into the woods you will see that we shall eat them
+up."</p>
+
+<p>Several weeks now passed quietly. There was news that there
+was great sickness among the white soldiers, and, indeed, with
+scarce an exception, the marines first sent out were invalided
+home; but a hundred and fifty more arrived to take their place.
+Some detachments of the 2d West Indian regiment came down to join
+their comrades from Sierra Leone, and the situation remained
+unchanged.</p>
+
+<p>One night towards the end of August a messenger arrived and
+there was an immediate stir.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," the general said to Frank, "you are going to see us
+fight the white men. Some of the big ships have gone to the mouth
+of the Prah, and we believe that they are going to land in boats.
+You will see. The Elmina tribes are going to attack, but I shall
+take some of my men to help."</p>
+
+<p>Taking fifty picked warriors Ammon Quatia started at once.
+They marched all night towards the west, and at daybreak joined
+the Elminas. These took post in the brushwood lining the river.
+The general with a dozen men, taking Frank, went down near the
+mouth of the river to reconnoiter. The ships lay more than a mile
+off the shore. Presently a half dozen boats were lowered, filled
+with men, and taken in tow by a steam launch. It was seen that
+they were making for the mouth of the river.</p>
+
+<p>"Now let us go back," Ammon Quatia said. "You will see what we
+shall do."</p>
+
+<p>Frank felt full of excitement. He saw the English running into
+an ambuscade, and he determined, even if it should cost him his
+life, to warn them. Presently they heard the sharp puffs of the
+steam launch. The boats were within three hundred yards.</p>
+
+<p>Frank stepped forward and was about to give a warning shout
+when Ammon Quatia's eye fell upon him. The expression of his face
+revealed his intention to the Ashanti, who in an instant sprang
+upon him and hurled him to the ground. Instantly a dozen hands
+seized him, and, in obedience to the general's order, fastened a
+bandage tightly across his mouth, and then bound him, standing
+against a tree, where he could observe what was going on. The
+incident had occupied but a minute, and Frank heard the pant of
+the steam launch coming nearer and nearer. Presently through the
+bushes he caught a glimpse of it, and then, as it came along, of
+the boats towing behind. The Elminas and Ashantis were lying upon
+the ground with their guns in front of them.</p>
+
+<p>The boats were but fifteen yards from the bank. When they were
+abreast Ammon Quatia shouted the word of command, and a stream of
+fire shot out from the bushes. In the boats all was confusion.
+Several were killed and many wounded by the deadly volley, among
+the latter Commodore Commerell himself, and two or three of his
+officers. The launch now attempted to turn round, and the marines
+in the boats opened fire upon their invisible foes, who replied
+steadily. In five minutes from the first shot being fired all was
+over, the launch was steaming down with the boats in tow towards
+the mouth of the river, the exulting shouts of the natives
+ringing in the ears of those on board.</p>
+
+<p>The position of Frank had not been a pleasant one while the
+fight had lasted, for the English rifle bullets sang close to him
+in quick succession, one striking the tree only a few inches
+above his head. He was doubtful, too, as to what his fate would
+be at the termination of the fight.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately Ammon Quatia was in the highest spirits at his
+victory. He ordered Frank to be at once unbound.</p>
+
+<p>"There, you see," he said, "the whites are of no use. They
+cannot fight. They run with their eyes shut into danger. So it
+will be if they attack us on the land. You were foolish. Why did
+you wish to call out? Are you not well treated? Are you not the
+king's guest? Am I not your friend?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am well treated, and you are my friend," Frank said, "but
+the English are my countrymen. I am sure that were you in the
+hands of the English, and you saw a party of your countrymen
+marching into danger, you would call out and warn them, even if
+you knew that you would be killed for doing so."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know," the Ashanti said candidly. "I cannot say what
+I should do, but you were brave to run the risk, and I'm not
+angry with you. Only, in future when we go to attack the English,
+I must gag you to prevent your giving the alarm."</p>
+
+<p>"That is fair enough," Frank said, pleased that the matter had
+passed off so well, "only another time do not stick me upright
+against a tree where I may be killed by English bullets. I had a
+narrow escape of it this time, you see," and he pointed to the
+hole in the trunk of the tree.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry," the Ashanti general said, with an air of real
+concern. "I did not think of your being in danger, I only wished
+you to have a good sight of the battle; next time I will put you
+in a safer place."</p>
+
+<p>They then returned to the camp.</p>
+
+<p>The next day a distant cannonade was heard, and at nightfall
+the news came that the English fleet had bombarded and burnt
+several Elmina villages at the mouth of the Prah.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," the general said, "the English have great ships and
+great guns. They can fight on the seaside and round their forts,
+but they cannot drag their guns through the forests and
+swamps."</p>
+
+<p>"No," Frank agreed. "It would not be possible to drag heavy
+artillery."</p>
+
+<p>"No," Ammon Quatia repeated exultingly. "When they are beyond
+the shelter of their ships they are no good whatever. We will
+kill them all."</p>
+
+<p>The wet season had now set in, in earnest, and the suffering
+of the Ashantis were very great. Accustomed as many of them were
+to high lying lands free of trees, the miasma from the swamps was
+well nigh as fatal to them as it would be to Europeans. Thousands
+died, and many of the rest were worn by fever to mere
+shadows.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think," Ammon Quatia said to Frank one day, "that it
+is possible to blow up a whole town with powder?"</p>
+
+<p>"It would be possible if there were powder enough," Frank
+said, wondering what could be the motive of the question.</p>
+
+<p>"They say that the English have put powder in holes all over
+Cape Coast, and my people are afraid to go. The guns of the fort
+could not shoot over the whole town, and there are few white
+soldiers there; but my men fear to be blown up in the air."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Frank said gravely. "The danger might be great. It is
+better that the Ashantis should keep away from the town. But if
+the fever goes on as at present the army will melt away."</p>
+
+<p>"Ten thousand more men are coming down when the rains are
+over. The king says that something must be done. There is talk in
+the English forts that more white troops are coming out from
+England. If this is so I shall not attack the towns, but shall
+wait for them to come into the woods for me. Then you will
+see."</p>
+
+<p>"Do they say there are many troops?" Frank asked
+anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"No; they say only some white officers, but this is
+foolishness. What could white officers do without soldiers? As
+for the Fantis they are cowards, they are only good to carry
+burdens and to hoe the ground. They are women and not men."</p>
+
+<p>During this time, when the damp rose so thick and steaming
+that everything was saturated with it, Frank had a very sharp
+attack of fever, and was for a fortnight, just after the repulse
+of the attack on Elmina, completely prostrated. Such an attack
+would at his first landing have carried him off, but he was now
+getting acclimatized, and his supply of quinine was abundant.
+With its aid he saved a great many lives among the Ashantis, and
+many little presents in the way of fruit and birds did he receive
+from his patients.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I could let you go," the general said to him one day.
+"You are a good white man, and my soldiers love you for the pains
+you take going amongst them when they are sick, and giving them
+the medicine of the whites. But I dare not do it. As you know
+when the king is wroth the greatest tremble, and I dare not tell
+the king that I have let you go. Were it otherwise I would gladly
+do so. I have written to the king telling him that you have saved
+the lives of many here. It may be that he will order you to be
+released."</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX: THE
+TIDE TURNED</h1>
+
+<p>From many of the points in the forest held by the Ashantis the
+sea could be seen, and on the morning of the 2d of October a
+steamer which had not been there on the previous evening was
+perceived lying off the town. The Ashantis were soon informed by
+spies in Elmina and Cape Coast that the ship had brought an
+English general with about thirty officers. The news that thirty
+men had come out to help to drive back twenty thousand was
+received with derision by the Ashantis.</p>
+
+<p>"They will do more than you think," Frank said when Ammon
+Quatia was scoffing over the new arrival. "You will see a change
+in the tactics of the whites. Hitherto they have done nothing.
+They have simply waited. Now you will see they will begin to
+move. The officers will drill the natives, and even a Fanti,
+drilled and commanded by white officers, will learn how to fight.
+You acknowledge that the black troops in red coats can fight.
+What are these? Some of them are Fantis, some of them are black
+men from the West Indian Islands, where they are even more
+peaceful than the Fantis, for they have no enemies. Perhaps alone
+the Fantis would not fight, but they will have the soldiers and
+sailors from on board ship with them, and you saw at Elmina how
+they can fight."</p>
+
+<p>The ship was the <i>Ambriz</i>, one of the African company's
+steamers, bringing with it thirty-five officers, of whom ten
+belonged to the Commissariat and Medical staff. Among the
+fighting men were Sir Garnet Wolseley, Colonel M'Neil, chief of
+his staff, Major T. D. Baker, 18th Regiment, Captain Huyshe,
+Rifle Brigade, Captain Buller, 60th Rifles, all of the staff;
+Captain Brackenbury, military secretary, and Lieutenant Maurice,
+R. A., private secretary, Major Home, R. E., Lieutenant Saunders,
+R. A., and Lieutenant Wilmot, R. A.. Lieutenant Colonel Evelyn
+Wood, 90th Regiment, and Major B. C. Russell, 13th Hussars, were
+each to form and command a native regiment, having the remainder
+of the officers as their assistants.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Ambriz</i> had left England on the 12th of September,
+and had touched at Madeira and at the various towns on the coast
+on her way down, and at the former place had received the news of
+the disaster to the naval expedition up the Prah.</p>
+
+<p>The English government had been loath to embark upon such an
+expedition, but a petition which had been sent home by the
+English and native traders at Sierra Leone and Elmina had shown
+how great was the peril which threatened the colony, and it had
+been felt that unless an effort was made the British would be
+driven altogether from their hold of the coast. When the
+expedition was at last determined upon, the military authorities
+were flooded with recommendations and warnings of all kinds from
+persons who knew the coast. Unfortunately these gentlemen
+differed so widely from each other, that but little good was
+gained from their counsels. Some pronounced the climate to be
+deadly. Others said that it was really not bad. Some warmly
+advocated a moderate use of spirits. Others declared that
+stimulants were poison. One advised that all exercise should be
+taken between five and seven in the morning. Another insisted
+that on no account should anyone stir out until the sun had been
+up for an hour, which meant that no one should go out till half
+past seven. One said take exercise and excite perspiration.
+Another urged that any bodily exercise should be avoided. One
+consistent gentleman, after having written some letters to the
+papers strongly advocating the use of white troops upon the coast
+instead of West Indian regiments, when written to by Sir Garnet
+Wolseley for his advice as to articles of outfit, replied that
+the only article which he could strongly commend would be that
+each officer should take out his coffin.</p>
+
+<p>Ten days passed after the landing. It was known in the Ashanti
+camp that the Fanti kings had been ordered to raise contingents,
+and that a white officer had been alloted to each to assist him
+in this work. The Ashantis, however, had no fear whatever on this
+score. The twenty thousand natives who occupied the country south
+of the Prah had all been driven from their homes by the invaders,
+and had scattered among the towns and villages on the seacoast,
+where vast numbers had died from the ravages of smallpox. The
+kings had little or no authority over them, and it was certain
+that no native force, capable in any way of competing with the
+army of the assailants, could be raised.</p>
+
+<p>The small number of men of the 2d West Indian regiment at
+Elmina had been reinforced by a hundred and twenty Houssas
+brought down the coast. The Ashanti advanced parties remained
+close up to Elmina.</p>
+
+<p>On the 13th of October Frank accompanied the Ashanti general
+to the neighborhood of this town. The Ashanti force here was not
+a large one, the main body being nearly twenty miles away in the
+neighborhood of Dunquah, which was held by a small body of
+Houssas and natives under Captain Gordon. At six in the morning a
+messenger ran in with the news that two of the English war
+steamers from Cape Coast were lying off Elmina, and that a number
+of troops had been landed in boats. The Ashanti general was
+furious, and poured out threats against his spies in Cape Coast
+for not having warned him of the movement, but in fact these were
+not to blame. So quietly had the arrangements been made that,
+until late in the previous afternoon, no one, with the exception
+of three or four of the principal officers, knew that an
+expedition was intended. Even then it was given out that the
+expedition was going down the coast, and it was not until the
+ships anchored off Elmina at three in the morning that the
+officers and troops were aware of their destination. All the West
+Indian troops at Cape Coast had been taken, Captain Peel of the
+<i>Simoon</i> landing fifty sailors to hold the fort in case the
+Ashantis should attack it in their absence. The expedition
+consisted of the Houssas, two hundred men of the 2d West India
+regiment, fifty sailors, and two companies of marines and marine
+artillery, each fifty strong, and a large number of natives
+carrying a small Armstrong gun, two rocket tubes, rockets, spare
+ammunition, and hammocks for wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The few Ashantis in the village next to Elmina retired at once
+when the column was seen marching from the castle. Ammon Quatia
+had taken up his quarters at the village of Essarman, and now
+advanced with his troops and took post in the bush behind a small
+village about three miles from the town. The Houssas were
+skirmishing in front of the column. These entered the village
+which had been deserted by the Ashantis, and set it on fire,
+blowing up several kegs of powder which had been left there in
+the hurry of the flight. Then as they advanced farther the
+Ashantis opened fire. To their surprise the British, instead of
+falling back, opened fire in return, the Houssas, West Indians,
+and natives discharging their rifles at random in all directions.
+Captain Freemantle with the sailors, the gun, and rockets made
+for the upper corner of the wood facing them to their left.
+Captain Crease with a company of marine artillery took the wood
+on the right. The Houssas and a company of West Indians moved
+along the path in the center. The remainder of the force remained
+with the baggage in reserve. The Ashantis kept up a tremendous
+fire, but the marines and sailors pushed their way steadily
+through the wood on either side. Captain Freemantle at length
+gained a point where his gun and rockets could play on Essarman,
+which lay in the heart of the wood, and opened fire, but not
+until he had been struck by a slug which passed through his arm.
+Colonel M'Neil, who was with the Houssas, also received a severe
+wound in the arm, and thirty-two marines and Houssas were
+wounded. The Ashantis were gradually driven out of the village
+and wood, a great many being killed by the English fire.</p>
+
+<p>Having accomplished this, the British force rested for an hour
+and then moved on, first setting fire to Essarman, which was a
+very large village. A great quantity of the Ashanti powder was
+stored there, and each explosion excited yells of rage among the
+Ashantis. Their general was especially angry that two large war
+drums had been lost. So great was the effect produced upon the
+Ashantis by the tremendous fire which the British had poured into
+every bush and thicket as they advanced, that their general
+thought it expedient to draw them off in the direction of his
+main body instead of further disputing the way.</p>
+
+<p>The English now turned off towards the coast, marching part of
+the way through open country, part through a bush so dense that
+it was impossible to make a flank attack upon them here. In such
+cases as this, when the Ashantis know that an enemy is going to
+approach through a dense and impassable forest, they cut paths
+through it parallel to that by which he must advance and at a few
+yards' distance. Then, lying in ambush there, they suddenly open
+fire upon him as he comes along. As no idea of the coming of the
+English had been entertained they passed through the dense
+thickets in single file unmolested. These native paths are very
+difficult and unpleasant walking. The natives always walk in
+single file, and the action of their feet, aided by that of the
+rain, often wears the paths into a deep V-shaped rut, two feet in
+depth. Burning two or three villages by the way the column
+reached the coast at a spot five miles from Elmina, having
+marched nine miles.</p>
+
+<p>As the Ashantis were known to be in force at the villages of
+Akimfoo and Ampene, four miles farther, a party was taken on to
+this point. Akimfoo was occupied without resistance, but the
+Ashantis fought hard in Ampene, but were driven out of the town
+into the bush, from which the British force was too small to
+drive them, and therefore returned to Elmina, having marched
+twenty-two miles, a prodigious journey in such a climate for
+heavily armed Europeans. The effect produced among the Ashantis
+by the day's fighting was immense. All their theories that the
+white men could not fight in the bush were roughly upset, and
+they found that his superiority was as great there as it had been
+in the open. His heavy bullets, even at the distance of some
+hundred yards, crashed through the brush wood with deadly effect,
+while the slugs of the Ashantis would not penetrate at a distance
+much exceeding fifty yards.</p>
+
+<p>Ammon Quatia was profoundly depressed in spirits that
+evening.</p>
+
+<p>"The white men who come to fight us," he said, "are not like
+those who come to trade. Who ever heard of their making long
+marches? Why, if they go the shortest distances they are carried
+in hammocks. These men march as well as my warriors. They have
+guns which shoot ten times as far as ours, and never stop firing.
+They carry cannon with them, and have things which fly through
+the air and scream, and set villages on fire and kill men. I have
+never heard of such things before. What do you call them?"</p>
+
+<p>"They are called rockets," Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>"What are they made of?"</p>
+
+<p>"They are made of coarse powder mixed with other things, and
+rammed into an iron case."</p>
+
+<p>"Could we not make some too?" the Ashanti general asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No," Frank replied. "At least, not without a knowledge of the
+things you should mix with the powder, and of that I am ignorant.
+Besides, the rockets require great skill in firing, otherwise
+they will sometimes come back and kill the men who fire
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you not tell me that the white men could fight in the
+bush?"</p>
+
+<p>"I told you that there would be a change when the new general
+came, and that they would not any longer remain in their forts,
+but would come out and attack you."</p>
+
+<p>A few days after this fight the Ashantis broke up their camp
+at Mampon, twelve miles from Elmina, and moved eastward to join
+the body who were encamped in the forest near Dunquah.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going," Ammon Quatia said to Frank, "to eat up Dunquah
+and Abra Crampa. We shall do better this time. We know what the
+English guns can do and shall not be surprised."</p>
+
+<p>With ten thousand men Ammon Quatia halted at the little
+village of Asianchi, where there was a large clearing, which was
+speedily covered with the little leafy bowers which the Ashantis
+run up at each halting place.</p>
+
+<p>Two days later Sir Garnet Wolseley with a strong force marched
+out from Cape Coast to Abra Crampa, halting on the way for a
+night at Assaiboo, ten miles from the town. On the same day the
+general sent orders to Colonel Festing of the Marine Artillery,
+who commanded at Dunquah, to make a reconnaissance into the
+forest from that place. In accordance with this order Colonel
+Festing marched out with a gun and rocket apparatus under Captain
+Rait, the Annamaboe contingent of a hundred and twenty men under
+their king, directed by Captain Godwin, four hundred other Fantis
+under Captain Broomhead, and a hundred men of the 2d West India
+regiment. After a three mile march in perfect silence they came
+upon an Ashanti cutting wood, and compelled him to act as guide.
+The path divided into three, and the Annamaboes, who led the
+advance, when within a few yards of the camp, gave a sudden cheer
+and rushed in.</p>
+
+<p>The Ashantis, panic stricken at the sudden attack, fled
+instantly from the camp into the bush. Sudden as was the scare
+Frank's guards did not forget their duty, but seizing him dragged
+him off with them in their flight, by the side of Ammon Quatia.
+The latter ordered the war drums to begin to beat, and Frank was
+surprised at the quickness with which the Ashantis recovered from
+their panic. In five minutes a tremendous fire was opened from
+the whole circle of bush upon the camp. This stood on rising
+ground, and the British force returned the fire with great
+rapidity and effect. The Annamaboe men stood their ground
+gallantly, and the West Indians fought with great coolness,
+keeping up a constant and heavy fire with their Sniders. The
+Houssas, who had been trained as artillerymen, worked their gun
+and rocket tube with great energy, yelling and whooping as each
+round of grape or canister was fired into the bush, or each
+rocket whizzed out.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the heavy loss which they were suffering, the
+Ashantis stood their ground most bravely. Their wild yells and
+the beating of their drums never ceased, and only rose the louder
+as each volley of grape was poured into them. They did not,
+however, advance beyond the shelter of their bush, and, as the
+British were not strong enough to attack them there, the duel of
+artillery and musketry was continued without cessation for an
+hour and a half, and then Colonel Festing fell back unmolested to
+Dunquah.</p>
+
+<p>The Ashantis were delighted at the result of the fighting,
+heavy as their loss had been. They had held their ground, and the
+British had not ventured to attack them in the bush.</p>
+
+<p>"You see," Ammon Quatia said exultingly to Frank, "what I told
+you was true. The white men cannot fight us in the bush. At
+Essarman the wood was thin and gave but a poor cover. Here, you
+see, they dared not follow us."</p>
+
+<p>On the British side five officers and the King of Annamaboe
+were wounded, and fifty-two of the men. None were killed, the
+distance from the bush to the ground held by the English being
+too far for the Ashanti slugs to inflict mortal wounds.</p>
+
+<p>Ammon Quatia now began to meditate falling back upon the Prah
+-- the sick and wounded were already sent back -- but he
+determined before retiring to attack Abra Crampa, whose king had
+sided with us, and where an English garrison had been posted.</p>
+
+<p>On the 2d of November, however, Colonel Festing again marched
+out from Dunquah with a hundred men of the 2d West India
+regiment, nine hundred native allies, and some Houssas with
+rockets, under Lieutenant Wilmot, towards the Ashanti camp. This
+time Ammon Quatia was not taken by surprise. His scouts informed
+him of the approach of the column, and moving out to meet them,
+he attacked them in the bush before they reached the camp.
+Crouching among the trees the Ashantis opened a tremendous fire.
+All the native allies, with the exception of a hundred, bolted at
+once, but the remainder, with the Houssas and West Indians,
+behaved with great steadiness and gallantry, and for two hours
+kept up a heavy Snider fire upon their invisible foes.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the fight Lieutenant Wilmot, while directing the
+rocket tube, received a severe wound in the shoulder. He,
+however, continued at his work till, just as the fight was ended,
+he was shot through the heart with a bullet. Four officers were
+wounded as were thirteen men of the 2d West India regiment. One
+of the natives was killed, fifty severely wounded, and a great
+many slightly. After two hours' fighting Colonel Festing found
+the Ashantis were working round to cut off his retreat, and
+therefore fell back again on Dunquah. The conduct of the native
+levies here and in two or three smaller reconnaisances was so bad
+that it was found that no further dependence could be placed upon
+them, and, with the exception of the two partly disciplined
+regiments under Colonel Wood and Major Russell, they were in
+future treated as merely fit to act as carriers for the
+provisions.</p>
+
+<p>Although the second reconnaissance from Dunquah had, like the
+first, been unsuccessful, its effect upon the Ashantis was very
+great. They had themselves suffered great loss, while they could
+not see that any of their enemies had been killed, for Lieutenant
+Wilmot's body had been carried off. The rockets especially
+appalled them, one rocket having killed six, four of whom were
+chiefs who were talking together. It was true that the English
+had not succeeded in forcing their way through the bush, but if
+every time they came out they were to kill large numbers without
+suffering any loss themselves, they must clearly in the long run
+be victorious.</p>
+
+<p>What the Ashantis did not see, and what Frank carefully
+abstained from hinting to Ammon Quatia, was that if, instead of
+stopping and firing at a distance beyond that which at their
+slugs were effective, they were to charge down upon the English
+and fire their pieces when they reached within a few yards of
+them, they would overpower them at once by their enormous
+superiority of numbers. At ten paces distant a volley of slugs is
+as effective as a Snider bullet, and the whole of the native
+troops would have bolted the instant such a charge was made. In
+the open such tactics might not be possible, as the Sniders could
+be discharged twenty times before the English line was reached,
+but in the woods, where the two lines were not more than forty or
+fifty yards apart, the Sniders could be fired but once or at the
+utmost twice, while the assailants rushed across the short
+intervening space.</p>
+
+<p>Had the Ashantis adopted these tactics they could have crushed
+with ease the little bands with which the English attacked them.
+But it is characteristic of all savages that they can never be
+got to rush down upon a foe who is prepared and well armed. A
+half dozen white men have been known to keep a whole tribe of Red
+Indians at a distance on the prairie. This, however, can be
+accounted for by the fact that the power of the chiefs is
+limited, and that each Indian values his own life highly and does
+not care to throw it away on a desperate enterprise. Among the
+Ashantis, however, where the power of the chiefs is very great
+and where human life is held of little account, it is singular
+that such tactics should not have been adopted.</p>
+
+<p>The Ashantis were now becoming thoroughly dispirited. Their
+sufferings had been immense. Fever and hunger had made great
+ravages among them, and, although now the wet season was over a
+large quantity of food could be obtained in the forest, the
+losses which the white men's bullets, rockets, and guns had
+inflicted upon them had broken their courage. The longing for
+home became greater than ever, and had it not been that they knew
+that troops stationed at the Prah would prevent any fugitives
+from crossing, they would have deserted in large numbers. Already
+one of the divisions had fallen back.</p>
+
+<p>Ammon Quatia spent hours sitting at the door of his hut
+smoking and talking to the other chiefs. Frank was often called
+into council, as Ammon Quatia had conceived a high opinion of his
+judgment, which had proved invariably correct so far.</p>
+
+<p>"We are going," he said one day, "to take Abra Crampa and to
+kill its king, and then to fall back across the Prah."</p>
+
+<p>"I think you had better fall back at once," Frank answered.
+"When you took me with you to the edge of the clearing yesterday
+I saw that preparations had been made for the defense, and that
+there were white troops there. You will never carry the village.
+The English have thrown up breastworks of earth, and they will
+lie behind these and shoot down your men as they come out of the
+forest."</p>
+
+<p>"I must have one victory to report to the king if I can,"
+Ammon Quatia said. "Then he can make peace if he chooses. The
+white men will not wish to go on fighting. The Fantis are eager
+for peace and to return to their villages. What do you
+think?"</p>
+
+<p>"If it be true that white troops are coming out from England,
+as the Fanti prisoners say," Frank answered, "you will see that
+the English will not make peace till they have crossed the Prah
+and marched to Coomassie. Your king is always making trouble. You
+will see that this time the English will not be content with your
+retiring, but will in turn invade Ashanti."</p>
+
+<p>Ammon Quatia and the chiefs laughed incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>"They will not dare to cross the Prah," Ammon Quatia said. "If
+they enter Ashanti they will be eaten up."</p>
+
+<p>"They are not so easy to eat up," Frank answered. "You have
+seen how a hundred or two can fight against your whole army. What
+will it be when they are in thousands? Your king has not been
+wise. It would be better for him to send down at once and to make
+peace at any price."</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX: THE WHITE
+TROOPS</h1>
+
+<p>Two days later Frank was awoke by a sudden yell. He leaped
+from his bed of boughs, seized his revolver, and rushing to the
+door, saw that a party of some twenty men were attacking Ammon
+Quatia's hut. The two guards stationed there had already been cut
+down. Frank shouted to his four guards and Ostik to follow him.
+The guards had been standing irresolute, not knowing what side to
+take, but the example of the young Englishman decided them. They
+fired their muskets into the knot of natives, and then charged
+sword in hand. Ostik drew the sword which he always carried and
+followed close to his master's heels. Frank did not fire until
+within two yards of the Ashantis. Then his revolver spoke out and
+six shots were discharged, each with deadly effect. Then,
+catching up a musket which had fallen from the hands of one of
+the men he had shot, he clubbed it and fell upon the surprised
+and already hesitating conspirators.</p>
+
+<p>These, fortunately for Frank, had not loaded their muskets.
+They had intended to kill Ammon Quatia and then to disperse
+instantly before aid could arrive, believing that with his death
+the order for retreat across the Prah would at once be given.
+Several of them had been killed by the slugs from the muskets of
+Frank's guard, and his pistol had completed their confusion. The
+reports of the guns called up other troops, and these came
+rushing in on all sides. Scarcely did Frank and his followers
+fall upon the conspirators than they took to their heels and fled
+into the wood.</p>
+
+<p>Ammon Quatia himself, sword in hand, had just sprung to the
+door of the hut prepared to sell his life dearly, when Frank's
+guard fired. The affair was so momentary that he had hardly time
+to realize what had happened before his assailants were in full
+flight.</p>
+
+<p>"You have saved my life," he said to Frank. "Had it not been
+for you I must have been killed. You shall not find me
+ungrateful. When I have taken Abra Crampa I will manage that you
+shall return to your friends. I dare not let you go openly, for
+the king would not forgive me, and I shall have enough to do
+already to pacify him when he hears how great have been our
+losses. But rest content. I will manage it somehow."</p>
+
+<p>An hour afterwards Ammon Quatia gave orders that the army
+should move to the attack of Abra Crampa. The place was held by a
+body of marines and sailors, a hundred West Indians, and the
+native troops of the king. Major Russell was in command. The
+village stood on rising ground, and was surrounded for a distance
+of a hundred and fifty yards by a clearing. Part of this
+consisted of patches of cultivated ground, the rest had been
+hastily cleared by the defenders. At the upper end stood a
+church, and this was converted into a stronghold. The windows
+were high up in the walls, and a platform had been erected inside
+for the sailors to fire from the windows, which were partially
+blocked with sandbags. The houses on the outside of the village
+had all been loopholed, and had been connected by breastworks of
+earth. Other defenses had been thrown up further back in case the
+outworks should be carried. The mission house in the main street
+and the huts which surrounded it formed, with the church, the
+last strongholds. For two or three days the bush round the town
+had swarmed with Ashantis, whose tomtoms could be heard by the
+garrison night and day.</p>
+
+<p>Frank accompanied Ammon Quatia, and was therefore in the
+front, and had an opportunity of seeing how the Ashantis commence
+an attack. The war drums gave the signal, and when they ceased,
+ten thousand voices raised the war song in measured cadence. The
+effect was very fine, rising as it did from all parts of the
+forest. By this time the Ashantis had lined the whole circle of
+wood round the clearing. Then three regular volleys were fired,
+making, from the heavy charges used, a tremendous roar.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had these ceased when the King of Abra, a splendid
+looking negro standing nearly six feet four in height, stepped
+out from behind the breastwork and shouted a taunting challenge
+to the Ashantis to come on. They replied with a loud yell, and
+with the opening of a continuous fire round the edge of the wood.
+On wall and roof of the village the slugs pattered thickly; but
+the defenders were all in shelter, and in reply, from breastwork
+and loophole, from the windows and roof of the church, the
+answering Snider bullets flew out straight and deadly. Several
+times Ammon Quatia tried to get his men to make a rush. The war
+drums beat, the great horns sounded, and the men shouted, but
+each time the English bullets flew so thick and deadly into the
+wood wherever the sound rose loudest that the Ashantis' heart
+failed them, and they could not be got to make the rush across
+the hundred yards of cleared ground.</p>
+
+<p>At five o'clock the fire slackened, but shortly after dark the
+attack recommenced. The moon was up and full. Frank feared that
+the Ashantis would try and crawl a part of the distance across
+the clearing and then make a sudden rush; but they appeared to
+have no idea of a silent attack. Several times, indeed, they
+gathered and rushed forward in large bodies, but each time their
+shouting and drums gave warning to the besieged, and so
+tremendous a fire was opened upon them when they emerged from the
+shadow of the trees into the moonlight, that each time they fell
+back leaving the ground strewn with dead. Till midnight the
+attack was continued, then the Ashantis fell back to their
+camp.</p>
+
+<p>At Accroful, a village on the main road some four miles
+distant, the attack had been heard, and a messenger sent off to
+Cape Coast to inform Sir Garnet Wolseley.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning fifty men of the 2d West India regiment marched
+from Accroful into Abra Crampa without molestation. Later on some
+Abra scouts approached the Ashanti camp and shouted tauntingly to
+know when the Ashantis were coming into Abra Crampa.</p>
+
+<p>They shouted in return, "After breakfast," and soon
+afterwards, a rocket fired from the roof of the church falling
+into the camp, they again sallied out and attacked. It was a
+repetition of the fight of the day before. Several times Major
+Russell withheld his fire altogether, but the Ashantis could not
+be tempted to show in force beyond the edge of the wood. So
+inspirited were the defenders that they now made several sorties
+and penetrated some distance into the wood.</p>
+
+<p>At eight in the morning Sir Garnet Wolseley had marched from
+Cape Coast with three hundred marines and blue jackets to the
+relief of the position, but so tremendous was the heat that
+nearly half the men fell exhausted by the way, and were ordered
+when they recovered to march back to Cape Coast. The remainder,
+when they arrived at Assaibo, five miles from Abra Crampa, were
+so utterly exhausted that a long halt was necessary, although a
+faint but continuous fire could be heard from the besieged
+place.</p>
+
+<p>Chocolate and cold preserved meat were served out to the men,
+and in the course of another three hours a large number of the
+stragglers came in. At three o'clock, a hundred of the most
+exhausted men being left to hold the village, the rest of the
+force with the fifty West Indians stationed there marched forward
+to Buteana, where they were jointed by fifty more men from
+Accroful. Just as they started from this place they met the King
+of Abra, who had come out with a small body of warriors; from him
+Sir Garnet learned that this road, which wound round and came in
+at the back of Abra Crampa, was still open.</p>
+
+<p>The Ashantis were too busy with their own operations to watch
+the path, and the relieving force entered the place without
+firing a shot. The firing round the town continued, but Ammon
+Quatia, when he saw the reinforcements enter, at once began to
+fall back with the main body of his troops, and although the
+firing was kept up all night, when the besieged in the morning
+advanced to attack the Ashanti camp they found it altogether
+deserted.</p>
+
+<p>"It is of no use," the Ashanti general said to Frank. "My men
+cannot fight in the open against the English guns. Besides, they
+do not know what they are fighting for here; but if your general
+should ever cross the Prah you will find it different. There are
+forests all the way to Coomassie, as you know, and the men will
+be fighting in defense of their own country, you will see what we
+shall do then. And now I will keep my promise to you. Tonight
+your guards will go to sleep. I shall have medicine given them
+which will make them sleep hard. One of the Fanti prisoners will
+come to your hut and will guide you through the woods to
+Assaiboo. Goodbye, my friend. Ammon Quatia has learnt that some
+of the white men are good and honest, and he will never forget
+that he owes his life to you. Take this in remembrance of Ammon
+Quatia."</p>
+
+<p>And he presented Frank with a necklace composed of nuggets of
+gold as big as walnuts and weighing nearly twenty pounds.</p>
+
+<p>Frank in return gave the general the only article of value
+which he now possessed, his revolver and tin box of cartridges,
+telling him that he hoped he would never use it against the
+English, but that it might be of value to him should he ever
+again have trouble with his own men. Frank made a parcel of the
+necklace and of the gold he had received from the king for his
+goods, and warned Ostik to hold himself in readiness for flight.
+The camp was silent although the roar of musketry a few hundred
+yards off round Abra Crampa continued unbroken. For some time
+Frank heard his guards pacing outside, and occasionally speaking
+to each other. Then these sounds ceased and all was quiet.
+Presently the front of the tent was opened and a voice said,
+"Come, all is ready."</p>
+
+<p>Frank came out and looked round. The Ashanti camp was
+deserted. Ammon Quatia had moved away with the main body of his
+troops, although the musketry fire round the village was kept up.
+A Fanti stood at the door of the hut with Ostik. The four guards
+were sleeping quietly. Noiselessly the little party stole away. A
+quarter of an hour later they struck the path, and an hour's
+walking brought them to Assaiboo. Not an Ashanti was met with
+along the path, but Frank hardly felt that he was safe until he
+heard the challenge of "Who goes there?" from an English sentry.
+A few minutes later he was taken before Captain Bradshaw, R. N.,
+who commanded the sailors and marines who had been left there.
+Very hearty was the greeting which the young Englishman received
+from the genial sailor, and a bowl of soup and a glass of grog
+were soon set before him.</p>
+
+<p>His arrival created quite a sensation, and for some hours he
+sat talking with the officers, while Ostik was an equal subject
+of curiosity among the sailors. The news that the Ashanti army
+was in full retreat relieved the garrison of the place from all
+further fear of attack, and Frank went to sleep before morning,
+and was only roused at noon when a messenger arrived with the
+news that the Ashanti camp had been found deserted, and that the
+road in its rear was found to be strewn with chairs, clothes,
+pillows, muskets, and odds and ends of every description. Few
+Ashanti prisoners had been taken, but a considerable number of
+Fantis, who had been prisoners among them, had come in, having
+escaped in the confusion of the retreat. Among these were many
+women, several of whom had been captured when the Ashantis had
+first crossed the Prah ten months before. In the afternoon Sir
+Garnet Wolseley, with the greater portion of the force from Abra
+Crampa, marched in, and Frank was introduced by Captain Bradshaw
+to the general. As the latter was anxious to press on at once to
+Cape Coast, in order that the sailors and marines might sleep on
+board ship that night, he asked Frank to accompany him, and on
+the road heard the story of his adventures. He invited him to
+sleep for the night at Government House, an invitation which
+Frank accepted; but he slept worse than he had done for a long
+time. It was now nearly two years since he had landed in Africa,
+and during all that time he had slept, covered with a rug, on the
+canvas of his little camp bed. The complete change, the stillness
+and security, and, above all, the novelty of a bed with sheets,
+completely banished sleep, and it was not until morning was
+dawning that, wrapping himself in a rug, and lying on the ground,
+he was able to get a sleep. In the morning at breakfast Sir
+Garnet asked him what he intended to do, and said that if he were
+in no extreme hurry to return to England he could render great
+services as guide to the expedition, which would start for
+Coomassie as soon as the white troops arrived. Frank had already
+thought the matter over. He had had more than enough of Africa,
+but two or three months longer would make no difference, and he
+felt that his knowledge of the Ashanti methods of war, of the
+country to be traversed, the streams to be crossed, and the
+points at which the Ashantis would probably make a stand, would
+enable him to tender really valuable assistance to the army. He
+therefore told Sir Garnet Wolseley that he had no particular
+business which called him urgently back, and that he was willing
+to guide the army to Coomassie. He at once had quarters as an
+officer assigned to him in the town, with rations for himself and
+servant.</p>
+
+<p>His first step was to procure English garments, for although
+he had before starting laid aside his Ashanti costume, and put on
+that he had before worn, his clothes were now so travel worn as
+to be scarce wearable. He had no difficulty in doing this. Many
+of the officers were already invalided home, and one who was just
+sailing was glad to dispose of his uniform, which consisted of a
+light brown Norfolk shooting jacket, knickerbockers, and helmet,
+as these would be of no use to him in England.</p>
+
+<p>Frank's next step was to go to the agent of Messrs. Swanzy,
+the principal African merchants of the coast. This gentleman
+readily cashed one of the orders on the African bank which Mr.
+Goodenough had, before his death, handed over to Frank, and the
+latter proceeded to discharge the long arrears of wages owing to
+Ostik, adding, besides, a handsome present. He offered to allow
+his faithful servant to depart to join his family on the Gaboon
+at once, should he wish to do so, but Ostik declared that he
+would remain with him as long as he stopped in Africa. On Frank's
+advice, however, he deposited his money, for safe keeping, with
+Messrs. Swanzy's agent, with orders to transmit it to his family
+should anything happen to him during the expedition.</p>
+
+<p>Three days later Frank was attacked by fever, the result of
+the reaction after so many dangers. He was at once sent on board
+the <i>Simoon</i>, which had been established as a hospital ship;
+but the attack was a mild one, and in a few days, thanks to the
+sea air, and the attention and nursing which he received, he was
+convalescent. As soon as the fever passed away, and he was able
+to sit on deck and enjoy the sea breezes, he had many visits from
+the officers of the ships of war. Among these was the captain of
+the <i>Decoy</i> gunboat.</p>
+
+<p>After chatting with Frank for some time the officer said: "I
+am going down the coast as far as the mouth of the Volta, where
+Captain Glover is organizing another expedition. You will not be
+wanted on shore just at present, and a week's rest will do you
+good; what do you say to coming down with me -- it will give you
+a little change and variety?"</p>
+
+<p>Frank accepted the invitation with pleasure. An hour later the
+<i>Decoy</i>'s boat came alongside, and Frank took his place on
+board it, Ostik following with his clothes. An hour later the
+<i>Decoy</i> got up her anchor and steamed down the coast. It was
+delightful to Frank, sitting in a large wicker work chair in the
+shade of the awning, watching the distant shore and chatting with
+the officers. He had much to hear of what had taken place in
+England since he left, and they on their part were equally eager
+to learn about the road along which they would have to march --
+at least those of them who were fortunate enough to be appointed
+to the naval brigade -- and the wonders of the barbarian capital.
+The <i>Decoy</i> was not fast, about six knots being her average
+pace of steaming; however, no one was in a hurry; there would be
+nothing to do until the troops arrived from England; and to all,
+a trip down the coast was a pleasant change after the long
+monotony of rolling at anchor. For some distance from Cape Coast
+the shore was flat, but further on the country became hilly. Some
+of the undulations reached a considerable height, the highest,
+Mamquady, being over two thousand feet.</p>
+
+<p>"That ought to be a very healthy place," Frank said. "I should
+think that a sanatorium established there would be an immense
+boon to the whites all along the coasts."</p>
+
+<p>"One would think so," an officer replied "but I'm told that
+those hills are particularly unhealthy. That fellow you see
+jutting out is said to be extremely rich in gold. Over and over
+again parties have been formed to dig there, but they have always
+suffered so terribly from fever that they have had to relinquish
+the attempt. The natives suffer as well as the whites. I believe
+that the formation is granite, the surface of which is much
+decomposed; and it is always found here that the turning up of
+ground that has not been disturbed for many years is extremely
+unhealthy, and decomposing granite possesses some element
+particularly obnoxious to health. The natives, of course, look
+upon the mountain as a fetish, and believe that an evil spirit
+guards it. The superstition of the negroes is wonderful, and at
+Accra they are, if possible, more superstitious than anywhere
+else. Every one believes that every malady under the sun is
+produced by fetish, and that some enemy is casting spells upon
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"There is more in it than you think," the doctor joined in;
+"although it is not spells, but poison, which they use against
+each other. The use of poison is carried to an incredible extent
+here. I have not been much on shore; but the medical men, both
+civilian and military, who have been here any time are convinced
+that a vast number of the deaths that take place are due to
+poison. The fetish men and women who are the vendors of these
+drugs keep as a profound secret their origin and nature, but it
+is certain that many of them are in point of secrecy and celerity
+equal to those of the middle ages."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder that the doctors have never discovered what plants
+they get them from," Frank said.</p>
+
+<p>"Some of them have tried to do so," the doctor replied; "but
+have invariably died shortly after commencing their experiments;
+it is believed they have been poisoned by the fetish men in order
+to prevent their secrets being discovered."</p>
+
+<p>The hours passed pleasurably. The beautiful neatness and order
+prevailing on board a man of war were specially delightful to
+Frank after the rough life he had so long led, and the silence
+and discipline of the men presented an equally strong contrast to
+the incessant chattering and noise kept up by the niggers.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning the ship was off Accra. Here the scenery had
+entirely changed. The hills had receded, and a wide and slightly
+undulating plain extended to their feet, some twelve miles back.
+The captain was going to land, as he had some despatches for the
+colony, and he invited Frank to accompany him. They did not, as
+Frank expected, land in a man of war's boat, but in a surf boat,
+which, upon their hoisting a signal, came out to them. These surf
+boats are large and very wide and flat. They are paddled by ten
+or twelve negroes, who sit upon the gunwale. These men work
+vigorously, and the boats travel at a considerable pace. Each
+boat has a stroke peculiar to itself. Some paddle hard for six
+strokes and then easy for an equal number. Some will take two or
+three hard and then one easy. The steersman stands in the stern
+and steers with an oar. He or one of the crew keeps up a
+monotonous song, to which the crew reply in chorus, always in
+time with their paddling.</p>
+
+<p>The surf is heavy at Accra and Frank held his breath, as,
+after waiting for a favorable moment, the steersman gave the sign
+and the boat darted in at lightning speed on the top of a great
+wave, and ran up on the beach in the midst of a whirl of white
+foam.</p>
+
+<p>While the captain went up to Government House, Frank,
+accompanied by one of the young officers who had also come
+ashore, took a stroll through the town. The first thing that
+struck him was the extraordinary number of pigs. These animals
+pervaded the whole place. They fed in threes and fours in the
+middle of the streets. They lay everywhere in the road, across
+the doors, and against the walls. They quarreled energetically
+inside lanes and courtyards, and when worsted in their disputes
+galloped away grunting, careless whom they might upset. The
+principal street of Accra was an amusing sight. Some effort had
+been made to keep it free of the filth and rubbish which
+everywhere else abounded. Both sides were lined by salesmen and
+women sitting on little mats upon the low wooden stools used as
+seats in Africa. The goods were contained in wooden trays. Here
+were dozens of women offering beads for sale of an unlimited
+variety of form and hue. They varied from the tiny opaque beads
+of all colors used by English children for their dolls, to great
+cylindrical beads of variegated hues as long and as thick as the
+joint of a finger. The love of the Africans for beads is
+surprising. The women wear them round the wrists, the neck, and
+the ankles. The occupation of threading the little beads is one
+of their greatest pleasures. The threads used are narrow fibers
+of palm leaves, which are very strong. The beads, however, are of
+unequal sizes, and no African girl who has any respect for her
+personal appearance will put on a string of beads until she has,
+with great pains and a good deal of skill, rubbed them with sand
+and water until all the projecting beads are ground down, and the
+whole are perfectly smooth and even.</p>
+
+<p>Next in number to the dealers in beads were those who sold
+calico, or, as it is called in Africa, cloth, and gaudily colored
+kerchiefs for the head. These three articles -- beads, cotton
+cloth, and colored handkerchiefs -- complete the list of articles
+required for the attire and adornment of males and females in
+Africa. Besides these goods, tobacco, in dried leaves, short clay
+pipes, knives, small looking glasses, and matches were offered
+for sale. The majority of the saleswomen, however, were dealers
+in eatables, dried fish, smoked fish, canki -- which is a
+preparation of ground corn wrapped up in palm leaves in the shape
+of paste -- eggs, fowls, kids, cooked meats in various forms,
+stews, boiled pork, fried knobs of meat, and other native
+delicacies, besides an abundance of seeds, nuts, and other
+vegetable productions.</p>
+
+<p>After walking for some time through the streets Frank and his
+companions returned to the boat, where, half an hour later, the
+captain joined them, and, putting off to the <i>Decoy</i>, they
+continued the voyage down the coast.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning they weighed anchor off Addah, a village at
+the mouth of the Volta. They whistled for a surf boat, but it was
+some time before one put out. When she was launched it was
+doubtful whether she would be able to make her way through the
+breaking water. The surf was much heavier here than it had been
+at Accra, and each wave threw the boat almost perpendicularly
+into the air, so that only a few feet of the end of the keel
+touched the water. Still she struggled on, although so long was
+she in getting through the surf that those on board the ship
+thought several times that she must give it up as impracticable.
+At last, however, she got through; the paddlers waited for a
+minute to recover from their exertions, and then made out to the
+<i>Decoy</i>. None of the officers had ever landed here, and
+several of them obtained leave to accompany the captain on shore.
+Frank was one of the party. After what they had seen of the
+difficulty which the boat had in getting out, all looked somewhat
+anxiously at the surf as they approached the line where the great
+smooth waves rolled over and broke into boiling foam. The
+steersman stood upon the seat in the stern, in one hand holding
+his oar, in the other his cap. For some time he stood half turned
+round, looking attentively seaward, while the boat lay at rest
+just outside the line of breakers. Suddenly he waved his cap and
+gave a shout. It was answered by the crew. Every man dashed his
+paddle into the water. Desperately they rowed, the steersman
+encouraging them by wild yells. A gigantic wave rolled in behind
+the boat, and looked for a moment as if she would break into it,
+but she rose on it just as it turned over, and for an instant was
+swept along amidst a cataract of white foam, with the speed of an
+arrow. The next wave was a small one, and ere a third reached it
+the boat grounded on the sand. A dozen men rushed out into the
+water. The passengers threw themselves anyhow on to their backs,
+and in a minute were standing perfectly dry upon the beach.</p>
+
+<p>They learned that Captain Glover's camp was half a mile
+distant, and at once set out for it. Upon the way up to the camp
+they passed hundreds of negroes, who had arrived in the last day
+or two, and had just received their arms. Some were squatted on
+the ground cooking and resting themselves. Others were examining
+their new weapons, oiling and removing every spot of rust, and
+occasionally loading and firing them off. The balls whizzed
+through the air in all directions. The most stringent orders had
+been given forbidding this dangerous nuisance; but nothing can
+repress the love of negroes for firing off guns. There were large
+numbers of women among them; these had acted as carriers on their
+journey to the camp; for among the coast tribes, as among the
+Ashantis, it is the proper thing when the warriors go out on the
+warpath, that the women should not permit them to carry anything
+except their guns until they approach the neighborhood of the
+enemy.</p>
+
+<p>The party soon arrived at the camp, which consisted of some
+bell tents and the little huts of a few hundred natives. This,
+indeed, was only the place where the latter were first received
+and armed, and they were then sent up the river in the steamboat
+belonging to the expedition, to the great camp some thirty miles
+higher.</p>
+
+<p>The expedition consisted only of some seven or eight English
+officers. Captain Glover of the royal navy was in command, with
+Mr. Goldsworthy and Captain Sartorius as his assistants. There
+were four other officers, two doctors, and an officer of
+commissariat. This little body had the whole work of drilling and
+keeping in order some eight or ten thousand men. They were
+generals, colonels, sergeants, quartermasters, storekeepers, and
+diplomatists, all at once, and from daybreak until late at night
+were incessantly at work. There were at least a dozen petty kings
+in camp, all of whom had to be kept in a good temper, and this
+was by no means the smallest of Captain Glover's difficulties, as
+upon the slightest ground for discontent each of these was ready
+at once to march away with his followers. The most reliable
+portion of Captain Glover's force were some 250 Houssas, and as
+many Yorabas. In addition to all their work with the native
+allies, the officers of the expedition had succeeded in drilling
+both these bodies until they had obtained a very fair amount of
+discipline.</p>
+
+<p>After strolling through the camp the visitors went to look on
+at the distribution of arms and accouterments to a hundred
+freshly arrived natives. They were served out with blue smocks,
+made of serge, and blue nightcaps, which had the result of
+transforming a fine looking body of natives, upright in carriage,
+and graceful in their toga-like attire, into a set of awkward
+looking, clumsy negroes. A haversack, water bottle, belts, cap
+pouch, and ammunition pouch, were also handed to each to their
+utter bewilderment, and it was easy to foresee that at the end of
+the first day's march the whole of these, to them utterly useless
+articles, would be thrown aside. They brightened up, however,
+when the guns were delivered to them. The first impulse of each
+was to examine his piece carefully, to try its balance by taking
+aim at distant objects, then to carefully rub off any little spot
+of rust that could be detected, lastly to take out the ramrod and
+let it fall into the barrel, to judge by the ring whether it was
+clean inside.</p>
+
+<p>Thence the visitors strolled away to watch a number of Houssas
+in hot pursuit of some bullocks, which were to be put on board
+the steamers and taken up the river to the great camp. These had
+broken loose in the night, and the chase was an exciting one.
+Although some fifty or sixty men were engaged in the hunt it took
+no less than four hours to capture the requisite number, and
+seven Houssas were more or less injured by the charges of the
+desperate little animals, which possessed wonderful strength and
+endurance, although no larger than moderate sized donkeys. They
+were only captured at last by hoops being thrown over their
+horns, and even when thrown down required the efforts of five or
+six men to tie them. They were finally got to the wharf by two
+men each: one went ahead with the rope attached to the animal's
+horn, the other kept behind, holding a rope fastened to one of
+the hind legs. Every bull made the most determined efforts to get
+at the man in front, who kept on at a run, the animal being
+checked when it got too close by the man behind pulling at its
+hind leg. When it turned to attack him the man in front again
+pulled at his rope. So most of them were brought down to the
+landing place, and there with great difficulty again thrown down,
+tied, and carried bodily on board. Some of them were so
+unmanageable that they had to be carried all the way down to the
+landing place. If English cattle possessed the strength and
+obstinate fury of these little animals, Copenhagen Fields would
+have to be removed farther from London, or the entrance swept by
+machine guns, for a charge of the cattle would clear the streets
+of London.</p>
+
+<p>After spending an amusing day on shore, the party returned on
+board ship. Captain Glover's expedition, although composed of
+only seven or eight English officers and costing the country
+comparatively nothing, accomplished great things, but its doings
+were almost ignored by England. Crossing the river they
+completely defeated the native tribes there, who were in alliance
+with the Ashantis, after some hard fighting, and thus prevented
+an invasion of our territory on that side. In addition to this
+they pushed forward into the interior and absolutely arrived at
+Coomassie two days after Sir Garnet Wolseley.</p>
+
+<p>It is true that the attention of the Ashantis was so much
+occupied by the advance of the white force that they paid but
+little attention to that advancing from the Volta; but none the
+less is the credit due to the indomitable perseverance and the
+immensity of the work accomplished by Captain Glover and his
+officers. Alone and single handed, they overcame all the enormous
+difficulties raised by the apathy, indolence, and self importance
+of the numerous petty chiefs whose followers constituted the
+army, infused something of their own spirit among their
+followers, and persuaded them to march without white allies
+against the hitherto invincible army of the Ashantis. Not a tithe
+of the credit due to them has been given to the officers of this
+little force.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Glover invited his visitors to pass the night on
+shore, offering to place a tent at their disposal; but the
+mosquitoes are so numerous and troublesome along the swampy shore
+of the Volta that the invitations were declined, and the whole
+party returned on board the <i>Decoy</i>. Next day the anchor was
+hove and the ship's head turned to the west; and two days later,
+after a pleasant and uneventful voyage, she was again off Cape
+Coast, and Frank, taking leave of his kind entertainers, returned
+on shore and reported himself as ready to perform any duty that
+might be assigned to him.</p>
+
+<p>Until the force advanced, he had nothing to do, and spent a
+good deal of his time watching the carriers starting with
+provisions for the Prah, and the doings of the negroes.</p>
+
+<p>The order had now been passed by the chiefs at a meeting
+called by Sir Garnet, that every able bodied man should work as a
+carrier, and while parties of men were sent to the villages round
+to fetch in people thence, hunts took place in Cape Coast itself.
+Every negro found in the streets was seized by the police;
+protestation, indignation, and resistance, were equally in vain.
+An arm or the loin cloth was firmly griped, and the victim was
+run into the castle yard, amid the laughter of the lookers on,
+who consisted, after the first quarter of an hour, of women only.
+Then the search began in the houses, the chiefs indicating the
+localities in which men were likely to be found. Some police were
+set to watch outside while others went in to search. The women
+would at once deny that anyone was there, but a door was pretty
+sure to be found locked, and upon this being broken open the
+fugitive would be found hiding under a pile of clothes or mats.
+Sometimes he would leap through the windows, sometimes take to
+the flat roof, and as the houses join together in the most
+confused way the roofs offered immense facilities for escape, and
+most lively chases took place.</p>
+
+<p>No excuses or pretences availed. A man seen limping painfully
+along the street would, after a brief examination of his leg to
+see if there was any external mark which would account for the
+lameness, be sent at a round trot down the road, amid peals of
+laughter from the women and girls looking on.</p>
+
+<p>The indignation of some of the men thus seized, loaded and
+sent up country under a strong escort, was very funny, and their
+astonishment in some cases altogether unfeigned. Small
+shopkeepers who had never supposed that they would be called upon
+to labor for the defense of their freedom and country, found
+themselves with a barrel of pork upon their heads and a policeman
+with a loaded musket by their side proceeding up country for an
+indefinite period. A school teacher was missing, and was found to
+have gone up with a case of ammunition. Casual visitors from down
+the coast had their stay prolonged.</p>
+
+<p>Lazy Sierra Leone men, discharged by their masters for
+incurable idleness, and living doing nothing, earning nothing,
+kept by the kindness of friends and the aid of an occasional
+petty theft, found themselves, in spite of the European cut of
+their clothes, groaning under the weight of cases of preserved
+provisions.</p>
+
+<p>Everywhere the town was busy and animated, but it was in the
+castle courtyard Frank found most amusement. Here of a morning a
+thousand negroes would be gathered, most of them men sent down
+from Dunquah, forming part of our native allied army. Their
+costumes were various but scant, their colors all shades of brown
+up to the deepest black. Their faces were all in a grin of
+amusement. The noise of talking and laughing was immense. All
+were squatted upon the ground, in front of each was a large keg
+labelled "pork." Among them moved two or three commissariat
+officers in gray uniforms. At the order, "Now then, off with
+you," the negroes would rise, take off their cloths, wrap them
+into pads, lift the barrels on to their heads, and go off at a
+brisk pace; the officer perhaps smartening up the last to leave
+with a cut with his stick, which would call forth a scream of
+laughter from all the others.</p>
+
+<p>When all the men had gone, the turn of the women came, and of
+these two or three hundred, who had been seated chattering and
+laughing against the walls, would now come forward and stoop to
+pick up the bags of biscuit laid out for them. Their appearance
+was most comical when they stooped to their work, their
+prodigious bustles forming an apex. At least two out of every
+three had babies seated on these bustles, kept firm against their
+backs by the cloth tightly wrapped round the mother's body. But
+from the attitudes of the mothers the position was now reversed,
+the little black heads hanging downwards upon the dark brown
+backs of the women. These were always in the highest state of
+good temper, often indulging when not at work in a general dance,
+and continually singing, and clapping their hands.</p>
+
+<p>After the women had been got off three or four hundred boys
+and girls, of from eleven to fourteen years old, would start with
+small kegs of rice or meat weighing from twenty-five to
+thirty-five pounds. These small kegs had upon their first arrival
+been a cause of great bewilderment and annoyance to the
+commissariat officers, for no man or woman, unless by profession
+a juggler, could balance two long narrow barrels on the head. At
+last the happy idea struck an officer of the department that the
+children of the place might be utilized for the purpose. No
+sooner was it known that boys and girls could get half men's
+wages for carrying up light loads, than there was a perfect rush
+of the juvenile population. Three hundred applied the first
+morning, four hundred the next. The glee of the youngsters was
+quite exuberant. All were accustomed to carry weights, such as
+great jars of water and baskets of yams, far heavier than those
+they were now called to take up the country; and the novel
+pleasure of earning money and of enjoying an expedition up the
+country delighted them immensely.</p>
+
+<p>Bullocks were now arriving from other parts of the coast, and
+although these would not live for any time at Cape Coast, it was
+thought they would do so long enough to afford the expedition a
+certain quantity of fresh meat; Australian meat, and salt pork,
+though valuable in their way, being poor food to men whose
+appetites are enfeebled by heat and exhaustion.</p>
+
+<p>It was not till upwards of six weeks after the fight at Abra
+Crampa that the last of the Ashanti army crossed the Prah. When
+arriving within a short distance of that river they had been met
+by seven thousand fresh troops, who had been sent by the king
+with orders that they were not to return until they had driven
+the English into the sea. Ammon Quatia's army, however, although
+still, from the many reinforcements it had received, nearly
+twenty thousand strong, positively refused to do any more
+fighting until they had been home and rested, and their tales of
+the prowess of the white troops so checked the enthusiasm of the
+newcomers, that these decided to return with the rest.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI: THE
+ADVANCE TO THE PRAH</h1>
+
+<p>A large body of natives were now kept at work on the road up
+to the Prah. The swamps were made passable by bundles of
+brushwood thrown into them, the streams were bridged and huts
+erected for the reception of the white troops. These huts were
+constructed of bamboo, the beds being made of lattice work of the
+same material, and were light and cool.</p>
+
+<p>On the 9th of December the <i>Himalaya</i> and <i>Tamar</i>
+arrived, having on board the 23d Regiment, a battalion of the
+Rifle Brigade, a battery of artillery, and a company of
+engineers. On the 18th, the <i>Surmatian</i> arrived with the
+42d. All these ships were sent off for a cruise, with orders to
+return on the 1st of January, when the troops were to be landed.
+A large number of officers arrived a few days later to assist in
+the organization of the transport corps.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Wood and Major Russell were by this time on the Prah
+with their native regiments. These were formed principally of
+Houssas, Cossoos, and men of other fighting Mahomedan tribes who
+had been brought down the coast, together with companies from
+Bonny and some of the best of the Fantis. The rest of the Fanti
+forces had been disbanded, as being utterly useless for fighting
+purposes, and had been turned into carriers.</p>
+
+<p>On the 26th of December Frank started with the General's staff
+for the front. The journey to the Prah was a pleasant one. The
+stations had been arranged at easy marches from each other. At
+each of these, six huts for the troops, each capable of holding
+seventy men, had been built, together with some smaller huts for
+officers. Great filters formed of iron tanks with sand and
+charcoal at the bottom, the invention of Captain Crease, R.M.A.,
+stood before the huts, with tubs at which the native bearers
+could quench their thirst. Along by the side of the road a single
+telegraph wire was supported on bamboos fifteen feet long.</p>
+
+<p>Passing through Assaiboo they entered the thick bush. The
+giant cotton trees had now shed their light feathery foliage,
+resembling that of an acacia, and the straight, round, even
+trunks looked like the skeletons of some giant or primeval
+vegetation rising above the sea of foliage below. White lilies,
+pink flowers of a bulbous plant, clusters of yellow acacia
+blossoms, occasionally brightened the roadside, and some of the
+old village clearings were covered with a low bush bearing a
+yellow blossom, and convolvuli white, buff, and pink. The second
+night the party slept at Accroful, and the next day marched
+through Dunquah. This was a great store station, but the white
+troops were not to halt there. It had been a large town, but the
+Ashantis had entirely destroyed it, as well as every other
+village between the Prah and the coast. Every fruit tree in the
+clearing had also been destroyed, and at Dunquah they had even
+cut down a great cotton tree which was looked upon as a fetish by
+the Fantis. It had taken them seven days' incessant work to
+overthrow this giant of the forest.</p>
+
+<p>The next halting place was Yancoomassie. When approaching
+Mansue the character of the forest changed. The undergrowth
+disappeared and the high trees grew thick and close. The
+plantain, which furnishes an abundant supply of fruit to the
+natives and had sustained the Ashanti army during its stay south
+of the Prah, before abundant, extended no further. Mansue stood,
+like other native villages, on rising ground, but the heavy rains
+which still fell every day and the deep swamps around rendered it
+a most unhealthy station.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond Mansue the forest was thick and gloomy. There was
+little undergrowth, but a perfect wilderness of climbers
+clustered round the trees, twisting in a thousand fantastic
+windings, and finally running down to the ground, where they took
+fresh root and formed props to the dead tree their embrace had
+killed. Not a flower was to be seen, but ferns grew by the
+roadside in luxuriance. Butterflies were scarce, but dragonflies
+darted along like sparks of fire. The road had the advantage of
+being shady and cool, but the heavy rain and traffic had made it
+everywhere slippery, and in many places inches deep in mud, while
+all the efforts of the engineers and working parties had failed
+to overcome the swamps.</p>
+
+<p>It was a relief to the party when they emerged from the
+forests into the little clearings where villages had once stood,
+for the gloom and quiet of the great forest weighed upon the
+spirits. The monotonous <i>too too</i> of the doves -- not a slow
+dreamy cooing like that of the English variety, but a sharp quick
+note repeated in endless succession -- alone broke the hush. The
+silence, the apparently never ending forest, the monotony of rank
+vegetation, the absence of a breath of wind to rustle a leaf,
+were most oppressive, and the feeling was not lessened by the
+dampness and heaviness of the air, and the malarious exhalation
+and smell of decaying vegetation arising from the swamps.</p>
+
+<p>Sootah was the station beyond Mansue, beyond this Assin and
+Barracoo. Beyond Sootah the odors of the forest became much more
+unpleasant, for at Fazoo they passed the scene of the conflict
+between Colonel Wood's regiment and the retiring Ashantis. In the
+forest beyond this were the remains of a great camp of the
+enemy's, which extended for miles, and hence to the Prah large
+numbers of Ashantis had dropped by the way or had crawled into
+the forest to die, smitten by disease or rifle balls.</p>
+
+<p>There was a general feeling of pleasure as the party emerged
+from the forest into the large open camp at Prahsue. This
+clearing was twenty acres in extent, and occupied an isthmus
+formed by a loop of the river. The 2d West Indians were encamped
+here, and huts had been erected under the shade of some lofty
+trees for the naval brigade. In the center was a great square. On
+one side were the range of huts for the general and his staff.
+Two sides of the square were formed by the huts for the white
+troops. On the fourth was the hospital, the huts for the
+brigadier and his staff, and the post office. Upon the river bank
+beyond the square were the tents of the engineers and Rait's
+battery of artillery, and the camps of Wood's and Russell's
+regiments. The river, some seventy yards wide, ran round three
+sides of the camp thirty feet below its level.</p>
+
+<p>The work which the engineers had accomplished was little less
+than marvelous. Eighty miles of road had been cut and cleared,
+every stream, however insignificant, had been bridged, and
+attempts made to corduroy every swamp. This would have been no
+great feat through a soft wood forest with the aid of good
+workmen. Here, however, the trees were for the most part of
+extremely hard wood, teak and mahogany forming the majority. The
+natives had no idea of using an axe. Their only notion of felling
+a tree was to squat down beside it and give it little hacking
+chops with a large knife or a sabre.</p>
+
+<p>With such means and such men as these the mere work of cutting
+and making the roads and bridging the streams was enormous. But
+not only was this done but the stations were all stockaded, and
+huts erected for the reception of four hundred and fifty men and
+officers, and immense quantities of stores, at each post. Major
+Home, commanding the engineers, was the life and soul of the
+work, and to him more than any other man was the expedition
+indebted for its success. He was nobly seconded by Buckle, Bell,
+Mann, Cotton, Skinner, Bates and Jeykyll, officers of his own
+corps, and by Hearle of the marines, and Hare of the 22d,
+attached to them. Long before daylight his men were off to their
+work, long after nightfall they returned utterly exhausted to
+camp.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the 1st of January, 1874, Sir Garnet Wolseley, with his
+staff, among whom Frank was now reckoned, reached the Prah.
+During the eight days which elapsed before the white troops came
+up Frank found much to amuse him. The engineers were at work,
+aided by the sailors of the naval brigade, which arrived two days
+after the general, in erecting a bridge across the Prah. The
+sailors worked, stripped to the waist, in the muddy water of the
+river, which was about seven feet deep in the middle. When tired
+of watching these he would wander into the camp of the native
+regiments, and chat with the men, whose astonishment at finding a
+young Englishman able to converse in their language, for the
+Fanti and Ashanti dialects differ but little, was unbounded.
+Sometimes he would be sent for to headquarters to translate to
+Captain Buller, the head of the intelligence department, the
+statements of prisoners brought in by the scouts, who, under Lord
+Gifford, had penetrated many miles beyond the Prah.</p>
+
+<p>Everywhere these found dead bodies by the side of the road,
+showing the state to which the Ashanti army was reduced in its
+retreat. The prisoners brought in were unanimous in saying that
+great uneasiness had been produced at Coomassie by the news of
+the advance of the British to the Prah. The king had written to
+Ammon Quatia, severely blaming him for his conduct of the
+campaign, and for the great loss of life among his army.</p>
+
+<p>All sorts of portents were happening at Coomassie, to the
+great disturbance of the mind of the people. Some of those
+related singularly resembled those said to have occurred before
+the capture of Rome by the Goths. An aerolite had fallen in the
+marketplace of Coomassie, and, still more strange, a child was
+born which was at once able to converse fluently. This youthful
+prodigy was placed in a room by itself, with guards around it to
+prevent anyone having converse with the supernatural visitant. In
+the morning, however, it was gone, and in its place was found a
+bundle of dead leaves. The fetish men having been consulted
+declared that this signified that Coomassie itself would
+disappear, and would become nothing but a bundle of dead leaves.
+This had greatly exercised the credulous there.</p>
+
+<p>Two days after his arrival Frank went down at sunset to bathe
+in the river. He had just reached the bank when he heard a cry
+among some white soldiers bathing there, and was just in time to
+see one of them pulled under water by an alligator, which had
+seized him by the leg. Frank had so often heard what was the best
+thing to do that he at once threw off his Norfolk jacket, plunged
+into the stream, and swam to the spot where the eddy on the
+surface showed that a struggle was going on beneath. The water
+was too muddy to see far through it, but Frank speedily came upon
+the alligator, and finding its eyes, shoved his thumbs into them.
+In an instant the creature relaxed his hold of his prey and made
+off, and Frank, seizing the wounded man, swam with him to shore
+amid the loud cheers of the sailors. The soldier, who proved to
+be a marine, was insensible, and his leg was nearly severed above
+the ankle. He soon recovered consciousness, and, being carried to
+the camp, his leg was amputated below the knee, and he was soon
+afterwards taken down to the coast.</p>
+
+<p>It had been known that there were alligators in the river, a
+young one about a yard long having been captured and tied up like
+a dog in the camp, with a string round its neck. But it was
+thought that the noise of building the bridge, and the movement
+on the banks, would have driven them away. After this incident
+bathing was for the most part abandoned.</p>
+
+<p>The affair made Frank a great favorite in the naval brigade,
+and of a night he would, after dinner, generally repair there,
+and sit by the great bonfires, which the tars kept up, and listen
+to the jovial choruses which they raised around them.</p>
+
+<p>Two days after the arrival of Sir Garnet, an ambassador came
+down from the king with a letter, inquiring indignantly why the
+English had attacked the Ashanti troops, and why they had
+advanced to the Prah. An opportunity was taken to impress him
+with the nature of the English arms. A Gatling gun was placed on
+the river bank, and its fire directed upon the surface, and the
+fountain of water which rose as the steady stream of bullets
+struck its surface astonished, and evidently filled with awe, the
+Ashanti ambassador. On the following day this emissary took his
+departure for Coomassie with a letter to the king.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th the messengers returned with an unsatisfactory
+answer to Sir Garnet's letter; they brought with them Mr. Kuhne,
+one of the German missionaries. He said that it was reported in
+Coomassie that twenty thousand out of the forty thousand Ashantis
+who had crossed the Prah had died. It is probable that this was
+exaggerated, but Mr. Kuhne had counted two hundred and
+seventy-six men carrying boxes containing the bones of chiefs and
+leading men. As these would have fared better than the common
+herd they would have suffered less from famine and dysentery. The
+army had for the most part broken up into small parties and gone
+to their villages. The wrath of the king was great, and all the
+chiefs who accompanied the army had been fined and otherwise
+punished. Mr. Kuhne said that when Sir Garnet's letter arrived,
+the question of peace or war had been hotly contested at a
+council. The chiefs who had been in the late expedition were
+unanimous in deprecating any further attempt to contend with the
+white man. Those who had remained at home, and who knew nothing
+of the white man's arms, or white man's valor, were for war
+rather than surrender.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Kuhne was unable to form any opinion what the final
+determination would be. The German missionary had no doubt been
+restored as a sort of peace offering. He was in a bad state of
+health, and as his brother and his brother's wife were among the
+captives, the Ashanti monarch calculated that anxiety for the
+fate of his relatives would induce him to argue as strongly as
+possible in favor of peace.</p>
+
+<p>Frank left the camp on the Prah some days before the arrival
+of the white troops, having moved forward with the scouts under
+Lord Gifford, to whom his knowledge of the country and language
+proved very valuable. The scouts did their work well. The
+Ashantis were in considerable numbers, but fell back gradually
+without fighting. Russell's regiment were in support, and they
+pressed forward until they neared the foot of the Adansee Hills.
+On the 16th Rait's artillery and Wood's regiment were to advance
+with two hundred men of the 2d West Indians. The Naval Brigade,
+the Rifle Brigade, the 42d, and a hundred men of the 23d would be
+up on the Prah on the 17th.</p>
+
+<p>News came down that fresh portents had happened at Coomassie.
+The word signifies the town under the tree, the town being so
+called because its founder sat under a broad tree, surrounded by
+his warriors, while he laid out the plan of the future town. The
+marketplace was situated round the tree, which became the great
+fetish tree of the town, under which human sacrifices were
+offered. On the 6th, the day upon which Sir Garnet sent his
+ultimatum to the king, a bird of ill omen was seen to perch upon
+it, and half an hour afterwards a tornado sprang up and the
+fetish tree was levelled to the ground. This caused an immense
+sensation in Coomassie, which was heightened when Sir Garnet's
+letter arrived, and proved to be dated upon the day upon which
+the fetish tree had fallen.</p>
+
+<p>The Adansee Hills are very steep and covered with trees, but
+without undergrowth. It had been supposed that the Ashantis would
+make their first stand here. Lord Gifford led the way up with the
+scouts, Russell's regiment following behind. Frank accompanied
+Major Russell. When Gifford neared the crest a priest came
+forward with five or six supporters and shouted to him to go
+back, for that five thousand men were waiting there to destroy
+them. Gifford paused for a moment to allow Russell with his
+regiment to come within supporting distance, and then made a rush
+with his scouts for the crest. It was found deserted, the priest
+and his followers having fled hastily, when they found that
+neither curses nor the imaginary force availed to prevent the
+British from advancing.</p>
+
+<p>The Adansee Hills are about six hundred feet high. Between
+them and the Prah the country was once thick with towns and
+villages inhabited by the Assins. These people, however, were so
+harassed by the Ashantis that they were forced to abandon their
+country and settle in the British protectorate south of the
+Prah.</p>
+
+<p>Had the Adansee Hills been held by European troops the
+position would have been extremely strong. A hill if clear of
+trees is of immense advantage to men armed with rifles and
+supported by artillery, but to men armed only with guns carrying
+slugs a distance of fifty yards, the advantage is not marked,
+especially when, as is the case with the Ashantis, they always
+fire high. The crest of the hill was very narrow, indeed a mere
+saddle, with some eight or ten yards only of level ground between
+the steep descents on either side. From this point the scouts
+perceived the first town in the territory of the King of Adansee,
+one of the five great kings of Ashanti. The scouts and Russell's
+regiment halted on the top of the hill, and the next morning the
+scouts went out skirmishing towards Queesa. The war drum could be
+heard beating in the town, but no opposition was offered. It was
+not, however, considered prudent to push beyond the foot of the
+hill until more troops came up. The scouts therefore contented
+themselves with keeping guard, while for the next four days
+Russell's men and the engineers labored incessantly, as they had
+done all the way from the Prah, in making the road over the hill
+practicable.</p>
+
+<p>During this time the scouts often pushed up close to Queesa,
+and reported that the soldiers and population were fast deserting
+the town. On the fifth day it was found to be totally deserted,
+and Major Russell moved the headquarters of his regiment down
+into it. The white officers were much surprised with the
+structure of the huts of this place, which was exactly similar to
+that of those of Coomassie, with their red clay, their alcoved
+bed places, and their little courts one behind the other. Major
+Russell established himself in the chief's palace, which was
+exactly like the other houses except that the alcoves were very
+lofty, and their roofs supported by pillars. These, with their
+red paint, their arabesque adornments, and their quaint
+character, gave the courtyard the precise appearance of an
+Egyptian temple.</p>
+
+<p>The question whether the Ashantis would or would not fight was
+still eagerly debated. Upon the one hand it was urged that if the
+Ashantis had meant to attack us they would have disputed every
+foot of the passage through the woods after we had once crossed
+the Prah. Had they done so it may be confidently affirmed that we
+could never have got to Coomassie. Their policy should have been
+to avoid any pitched battle, but to throng the woods on either
+side, continually harassing the troops on their march, preventing
+the men working on the roads, and rendering it impossible for the
+carriers to go along unless protected on either side by lines of
+troops. Even when unopposed it was difficult enough to keep the
+carriers, who were constantly deserting, but had they been
+exposed to continuous attacks there would have been no
+possibility of keeping them together.</p>
+
+<p>It was then a strong argument in favor of peace that we had
+been permitted to advance thirty miles into their country without
+a shot being fired. Upon the other hand no messengers had been
+sent down to meet us, no ambassadors had brought messages from
+the king. This silence was ominous; nor were other signs wanting.
+At one place a fetish, consisting of a wooden gun and several
+wooden daggers all pointing towards us, was placed in the middle
+of the road. Several kids had been found buried in calabashes in
+the path pierced through and through with stakes; while a short
+distance outside Queesa the dead body of a slave killed and
+mutilated but a few hours before we entered it was hanging from a
+tree. Other fetishes of a more common sort were to be met at
+every step, lines of worsted and cotton stretched across the
+road, rags hung upon bushes, and other negro trumperies of the
+same kind.</p>
+
+<p>Five days later the Naval Brigade, with Wood's regiment and
+Rait's battery, marched into Queesa, and the same afternoon the
+whole marched forward to Fomana, the capital of Adansee, situated
+half a mile only from Queesa. This was a large town capable of
+containing some seven or eight thousand inhabitants. The
+architecture was similar to that of Queesa, but the king's palace
+was a large structure covering a considerable extent of ground.
+Here were the apartments of the king himself, of his wives, the
+fetish room, and the room for execution, still smelling horribly
+of the blood with which the floor and walls were sprinkled. The
+first and largest court of the palace had really an imposing
+effect. It was some thirty feet square with an apartment or
+alcove on each side. The roofs of these alcoves were supported by
+columns about twenty-five feet high. As in all the buildings the
+lower parts were of red clay, the upper of white, all being
+covered with deep arabesque patterns.</p>
+
+<p>Fomana was one of the most pleasant stations which the troops
+had reached since leaving the coast. It lay high above the sea,
+and the temperature was considerably lower than that of the
+stations south of the hills. A nice breeze sprung up each day
+about noon. The nights were comparatively free from fog, and the
+town itself stood upon rising ground resembling in form an
+inverted saucer. The streets were very wide, with large trees at
+intervals every twenty or thirty yards along the middle of the
+road.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII: THE
+BATTLE OF AMOAFUL</h1>
+
+<p>Two days after the arrival at Fomana the remaining members of
+the German mission, two males, a female, and two children, were
+sent in by the king with a letter containing many assurances of
+his desire for peace, but making no mention of the stipulations
+which Sir Garnet Wolseley had laid down. The advance was
+therefore to continue. The rest of the troops came up, and on the
+25th Russell's regiment advanced to Dompiassee, Wood's regiment
+and Rait's battery joining him the next day. That afternoon the
+first blood north of the Prah was shed. It being known that a
+body of the enemy were collecting at a village a little off the
+road the force moved against them. Lord Gifford led the way, as
+usual, with his scouts. The enemy opened fire as soon as the
+scouts appeared; but these, with the Houssa company of Russell's
+regiment, rushed impetuously into the village, and the Ashantis
+at once bolted. Two of them were killed and five taken
+prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>The next halting places of the advance troops were Kiang Bossu
+and Ditchiassie. It was known now that Ammon Quatia was lying
+with the Ashanti army at Amoaful, but five miles away, and
+ambassadors arrived from the king finally declining to accept the
+terms of peace. Russell's and Wood's regiments marched forward to
+Quarman, within half a mile of the enemy's outposts. The white
+troops came on to Insafoo, three miles behind. Quarman was
+stockaded to resist an attack. Gordon with the Houssa company lay
+a quarter of a mile in advance of the village, Gifford with his
+scouts close to the edge of the wood. Major Home with the
+engineers cut a wide path for the advance of the troops to within
+a hundred yards of the village which the enemy held.</p>
+
+<p>Every one knew that the great battle of the war would be
+fought next morning. About half past seven on the morning of the
+81st of January the 42d Regiment entered the village of Quarman,
+and marched through without a halt. Then came Rait's artillery,
+followed by the company of the 23d and by the Naval Brigade. The
+plan of operations was as follows. The 42d Regiment would form
+the main attacking force. They were to drive the enemy's scouts
+out of Agamassie, the village in front, and were then to move
+straight on, extending to the right and left, and, if possible,
+advance in a skirmishing line through the bush. Rait's two little
+guns were to be in their center moving upon the road itself. The
+right column, consisting of half the Naval Brigade, with Wood's
+regiment, now reduced by leaving garrisons at various posts along
+the road to three companies, was to cut a path out to the right
+and then to turn parallel with the main road, so that the head of
+the column should touch the right of the skirmishing line of the
+42d. The left column, consisting of the other half of the Naval
+Brigade with the four companies of Russell's regiment, was to
+proceed in similar fashion on the left. These columns would
+therefore form two sides of a hollow square, protecting the 42d
+from any of those flanking movements of which the Ashantis are so
+fond. The company of the 23d was to proceed with the headquarter
+staff. The Rifle Brigade were held in reserve.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the morning Major Home cut the road to within thirty
+yards of the village of Agamassie, and ascertained by listening
+to the voices that there were not more than a score or so of men
+in the village. Gifford had made a circuit in the woods, and had
+ascertained that the Ashanti army was encamped on rising ground
+across a stream behind the village.</p>
+
+<p>Frank had been requested by Sir Garnet Wolseley to accompany
+the 42d, as his knowledge of Ashanti tactics might be of value,
+and he might be able by the shouts of the Ashantis to understand
+the orders issued to them. The head of the 42d Regiment
+experienced no opposition whatever until they issued from the
+bush into the little clearing surrounding the village, which
+consisted only of four or five houses. The Ashantis discharged
+their muskets hastily as the first white men showed themselves,
+but the fire of the leading files of the column quickly cleared
+them away. The 42d pushed on through the village, and then
+forming in skirmishing line, advanced. For the first two or three
+hundred yards they encountered no serious opposition, and they
+were then received by a tremendous fire from an unseen foe in
+front. The left column had not gone a hundred yards before they
+too came under fire. Captain Buckle of the Engineers, who was
+with the Engineer laborers occupied in cutting the path ahead of
+the advancing column, was shot through the heart. A similar
+opposition was experienced by the right.</p>
+
+<p>The roar of the fire was tremendous, so heavy indeed that all
+sound of individual reports was lost, and the noise was one
+hoarse hissing roar. Even the crack of Rait's guns was lost in
+the general uproar, but the occasional rush of a rocket, of which
+two troughs with parties of Rait's men accompanied each wing, was
+distinctly audible.</p>
+
+<p>The 42d could for a time make scarcely any way, and the
+flanking columns were also brought to a stand. Owing to the
+extreme thickness of the wood and their ignorance of the nature
+of the ground these columns were unable to keep in their proper
+position, and diverged considerably. The Ashantis, however, made
+no effort to penetrate between them and the 42d. For an hour this
+state of things continued. The company of the 23d advanced along
+the main road to help to clear the bush, where the Ashantis still
+fought stubbornly not two hundred yards from the village, while
+two companies of the Rifle Brigade were sent up the left hand
+road to keep touch with the rear of Russell's regiment.</p>
+
+<p>When the fight commenced in earnest, and the 42d were brought
+to a stand by the enemy, Frank lay down with the soldiers. Not a
+foe could be seen, but the fire of the enemy broke out
+incessantly from the bushes some twenty yards ahead. The air
+above was literally alive with slugs and a perfect shower of
+leaves continued to fall upon the path. So bewilderingly dense
+was the bush that the men soon lost all idea of the points of the
+compass, and fired in any direction from which the enemy's shots
+came. Thus it happened that the sailors sent in complaints to the
+general that the 23d and 42d were firing at them, while the 42d
+and 23d made the same complaint against the Naval Brigade. Sir
+Garnet, who had taken up his headquarters at the village, sent
+out repeated instructions to the commanding officers to warn
+their men to avoid this error.</p>
+
+<p>For two hours the fight went on. Then the column to the left
+found that the Ashantis in front of them had fallen back; they
+had, however, altogether lost touch of the 42d. They were
+accordingly ordered to cut a road to the northeast until they
+came in contact with them. In doing so they came upon a partial
+clearing, where a sharp opposition was experienced. The Houssas
+carried the open ground at a rush, but the enemy, as usual,
+opened a heavy fire from the edge of the bush. The Houssas were
+recalled, and fire was opened with the rockets, which soon drove
+the Ashantis back, and the cutting of the path was proceeded
+with.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the 42d was having a hard time of it. They had
+fought their way to the edge of the swamp, beyond which lay an
+immense Ashanti camp, and here the fire was so tremendously heavy
+that the advance was again completely arrested. Not an enemy was
+to be seen, but from every bush of the opposite side puffs of
+smoke came thick and fast, and a perfect rain of slugs swept over
+the ground on which they were lying. Here Rait's gun, for he was
+only able from the narrowness of the path to bring one into
+position, did splendid service. Advancing boldly in front of the
+line of the 42d, ably assisted by Lieutenant Saunders, he poured
+round after round of grape into the enemy until their fire
+slackened a little, and the 42d, leaping to their feet, struggled
+across the swamp, which was over knee deep. Step by step they won
+their way through the camp and up the hill. Everywhere the dead
+Ashantis lay in heaps, attesting the terrible effect of the
+Snider fire and the determination with which they had fought.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond the camp, upon the hills the bush was thicker than
+ever, and here, where it was impossible for the white soldiers to
+skirmish through the bush, the Ashantis made a last desperate
+stand. The narrow lane up which alone the troops could pass was
+torn as if by hail with the shower of slugs, while a large tree
+which stood nearly in the center of the path and caused it
+slightly to swerve, afforded some shelter to them from the storm
+of bullets which the 42d sent back in return. Here Rait brought
+his gun up again to the front and cleared the lane. The bush was
+too thick even for the Ashantis. The gun stopped firing and with
+a rush the regiment went up the narrow path and out into the open
+clearing beyond. For a short time the Ashantis kept up a fire
+from the houses, but the 42d soon drove them out, and a single
+shot from the gun down the wide street which divided the town
+into two portions, bursting in the midst of a group at the
+further end, killed eight and drove all further idea of
+resistance in that direction from their minds.</p>
+
+<p>It was now about twelve o'clock; but although the Ashantis had
+lost their camp and village, and had suffered terribly, they were
+not yet finally beaten. They had moved the principal part of the
+forces which had been engaged upon our left round to the right,
+were pressing hard upon the column there and the 23d, and were
+cutting in between the latter and the 42d, when a fortunate
+accident enabled us to meet this attack more effectively. The
+left column had cut its path rather too much to the east, and
+came into the road between the 42d and 23d, forming a connecting
+link between them; while the right column, having at last cut
+away the whole of the brush wood in which the Ashantis had so
+long wedged themselves between them and the road, were now in
+direct communication with the 23d. They had been reinforced by a
+company of the Rifle Brigade. Our front, therefore, was now
+entirely changed, and faced east instead of north. The Ashantis
+in vain tried to break the line, but desisted from their
+efforts.</p>
+
+<p>The firing died away, and it was thought that the battle was
+over, when at about a quarter to one a tremendous fire broke out
+from the rear of the column, showing that the Ashantis were
+making a last and desperate effort to turn our flank, and to
+retake the village from which we had driven them at eight in the
+morning. So near was the rear of the column to the village that
+the slugs fell fast into the reserve who were stationed there.
+Three companies of the Rifles were sent up to strengthen the
+line, and for three quarters of an hour the roar of the musketry
+was as heavy and continuous as it had been at any time during the
+day. Then, as the enemy's fire slackened, Sir Garnet gave the
+word for the line to advance, sweeping round from the rear so as
+to drive the enemy northwards before them.</p>
+
+<p>The movement was admirably executed. The Bonny men of Wood's
+regiment, who had fought silently and steadily all the time that
+they had been on the defensive, now raised their shrill war cry,
+and slinging their rifles and drawing their swords -- their
+favorite weapons -- dashed forward like so many panthers let
+loose. By their side, skirmishing as quietly and steadily as if
+on parade, the men of the Rifle Brigade searched every bush with
+their bullets, and in five minutes from the commencement of the
+advance the Ashantis were in full and final retreat. The battle
+ended at about half past one, having lasted five hours and a
+half.</p>
+
+<p>The Ashantis were supposed to have had from fifteen to twenty
+thousand men in the field. What their loss was could not
+accurately be calculated, as they carry off their dead as fast as
+they fall; but where rushes were made by our troops, as they had
+not time to do this, they lay everywhere thick on the ground. By
+the most moderate computation they must have lost over two
+thousand. Ammon Quatia himself was killed, as well as Aboo, one
+of the six great tributary kings. The body of the king's chief
+executioner was also pointed out by some of the prisoners. They
+fought with extraordinary pluck and resolution, as was shown by
+the fact that although wretchedly armed, for upwards of five
+hours they resisted the attack of troops armed with breech
+loaders, and supported by guns and rockets. Their position was a
+good one, and they had, no doubt, calculated upon coming down
+upon us from the rising ground, either on the flank or rear, with
+advantage, should we succeed in pushing forward.</p>
+
+<p>Upon our side the loss in killed was very slight, not
+exceeding eight or ten. The 42d out of a total of four hundred
+and fifty had a hundred and four wounded, of whom eight were
+officers. In the right hand column, Colonel Wood, six naval
+officers, and twenty men of the Naval Brigade, with many of the
+native regiment, were wounded. Of the sixty engineer laborers
+twenty were wounded; while of their five officers Captain Buckle
+was killed, Major Home and Lieutenant Hare wounded, together with
+several of their white soldiers. Altogether our casualties
+exceeded two hundred and fifty. Fortunately but a small
+proportion of the wounds were serious.</p>
+
+<p>While the battle was raging at one o'clock Quarman was
+attacked by a strong body of Ashantis coming from the west,
+probably forming part of Essarman Quatia's force. Captain
+Burnett, who was in command, having under him Lieutenant Jones of
+the 2d West Indian regiment, and thirty-five men of that corps
+and a few natives, conducted the defense, and was well seconded
+by his men. Although the attacking force was very greatly
+superior, and took the little garrison by surprise -- for they
+did not expect, while a great battle was raging within a distance
+of a mile, that the Ashantis would be able to spare a force to
+attack a detached party -- the garrison defended itself with
+great gallantry and complete success, not only beating off the
+enemy whenever they attacked, but sallying out and assisting to
+bring in a convoy of stores which was close at hand when the
+attack began.</p>
+
+<p>Amoaful was a town capable of containing two or three thousand
+inhabitants. Great quantities of grain and coarse flour were
+found here. These were done up in bundles of dried plantain
+leaves, each bundle weighing from five to fifteen pounds. This
+capture was of great service to the commissariat, as it afforded
+an abundant supply of excellent food for the carriers. The troops
+were in high spirits that night. They had won a battle fought
+under extreme difficulty, and that with a minimum of loss in
+killed. There were therefore no sad recollections to damp the
+pleasure of victory.</p>
+
+<p>Frank had been twice struck with slugs, but in neither case
+had these penetrated deeply, and he was able to sit round the
+camp fire and to enjoy his glass of rum and water. Two kegs of
+rum were the only stores which that night came up from the rear,
+thanks to the consideration of a commissariat officer, to whom
+the soldiers felt extremely grateful for providing them with an
+invigorating drink after their long and fatiguing labors of the
+day.</p>
+
+<p>At about a mile and a quarter from Amoaful lay the town of
+Bequah, the capital of one of the most powerful of the Ashanti
+kings. Here a considerable force was known to be collected before
+the battle, and here many of the fugitives were believed to have
+rallied. It would have been impossible to advance and leave this
+hostile camp so close to a station in our rear. Lord Gifford was
+therefore sent out at daybreak to reconnoiter it. He approached
+it closely, when twenty men sprang out from the bush and fired at
+him, fortunately without hitting him. When he returned and made
+his report the general determined to attack and burn the place,
+and orders were issued for a column, consisting of Russell's
+regiment, Rait's battery, and the Naval Brigade, supported by the
+42d and commanded by Colonel M'Leod, to start at one o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>The march was not opposed through the bush, but as the scouts
+entered the clearing a heavy fire was opened upon them. Lord
+Gifford and almost the whole of his party were more or less
+severely wounded when the sailors rushed in to their support. For
+a short time the enemy kept up a heavy fire from the houses, and
+then fled, leaving about forty of their number dead on the
+ground. The town, which was about twice the size of Fomana, was
+burned, and the column returned to the camp.</p>
+
+<p>A great portion of the town was destroyed and the place
+stockaded, and then all was in readiness for the advance upon
+Coomassie. Amoaful was to be left in charge of the 2d West
+Indians, who had now come up. Each man received four days'
+rations and each regiment was to take charge of its own provision
+and baggage. The advance started at seven in the morning,
+Russell's regiment, Rait's battery, and the Rifle Brigade. Then
+came the headquarter staff followed by the 42d and Naval Brigade.
+The hammocks and rations went on with the troops. The rest of the
+baggage remained behind. The road differed in nothing from that
+which had so long been followed. It bore everywhere marks of the
+retreating enemy, in provisions and other articles scattered
+about, in occasional dark stains, and in its plants and grass
+trampled into the ground, six feet in breadth, showing that the
+usual negro way of walking in single file had been abandoned. The
+rate of progression was slow, as the country had to be thoroughly
+searched by the advance. There were, too, many streams to be
+crossed, each causing a delay.</p>
+
+<p>At one of the villages there was a large camp, where about a
+thousand men were assembled to make a stand. The defense was,
+however, feeble in the extreme, and it was evident that they were
+greatly demoralized by their defeat on the 1st. Russell's
+regiment carried the place at a rush, the enemy firing wildly
+altogether beyond the range of their weapons. Several were killed
+and the rest took precipitately to the bush. A few shots were
+fired at other places, but no real resistance took place. On
+reaching the village of Agamemmu, after having taken six hours in
+getting over as many miles, the column halted, and orders were
+sent for the baggage to come on from Amoaful. The troops were set
+to work to cut the bush round the village, which was a very small
+one, and a breastwork was thrown up round it. The troops were in
+their little <i>tentes d'abri</i> packed as closely together as
+possible outside the houses, but within the stockade. The
+carriers slept in the street of the village, where so thickly did
+they lie that it was impossible for anyone to make his way along
+without treading upon them.</p>
+
+<p>News came in that night that Captain Butler with the Western
+Akims had arrived within two days' march of Amoaful, but that
+without the slightest reason the king and the whole of his army
+had left Captain Butler and retired suddenly to the Prah. At the
+same time they heard that the army of the Wassaws under Captain
+Dalrymple had also broken up without having come in contact with
+the enemy. From the rear also unpleasant news came up. The attack
+upon Quarman had been no isolated event. Fomana had also been
+attacked, but the garrison there had, after some hours' fighting,
+repulsed the enemy. Several convoys had been assaulted, and the
+whole road down to the Prah was unsafe. The next morning, after
+waiting till a large convoy came safely in, the column marched at
+nine o'clock, Gifford's scouts, Russell's regiment, and Rait's
+battery being as usual in front. The resistance increased with
+every step, and the head of the column was constantly engaged.
+Several villages were taken by Russell's regiment, who, full of
+confidence in themselves and their officers, carried them with a
+rush in capital style. It was but six miles to the Dab, but the
+ground was swampy and the road intersected by many streams.
+Consequently it was not until after being eight hours on the road
+that the head of the column reached the river, three hours later
+before the whole of the troops and their baggage were encamped
+there.</p>
+
+<h1 align="CENTER"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII: THE
+CAPTURE OF COOMASSIE</h1>
+
+<p>Upon the afternoon of the arrival of the English column upon
+the Dah the king made another attempt to arrest their progress,
+with a view no doubt of bringing up fresh reinforcements. A flag
+of truce came in with a letter to the effect that our rapid
+advance had much disconcerted him, which was no doubt true, and
+that he had not been able to make arrangements for the payments
+claimed; that he would send in hostages, but that most of those
+whom the general had asked for were away, and that he could not
+agree to give the queen mother or the heir apparent. These were,
+of course, the principal hostages, indeed the only ones who would
+be of any real value. The answer was accordingly sent back, that
+unless these personages arrived before daybreak the next morning
+we should force our way into Coomassie.</p>
+
+<p>The Dah is a river about fifteen yards wide and three feet
+deep at the deepest place. The Engineers set to work to bridge it
+directly they arrived, Russell's regiment at once crossing the
+river and bivouacking on the opposite bank.</p>
+
+<p>It was unfortunate that this, the first night upon which the
+troops had been unprovided with tents, should have turned out
+tremendously wet. The thunder roared, the lightning flashed, and
+the rain came down incessantly. Tired as the troops were there
+were few who slept, and there was a general feeling of
+satisfaction when the morning broke and the last day of the march
+began.</p>
+
+<p>The rain held up a little before daybreak, and the sky was
+clear when at six o'clock Wood's Bonny men, who had come up by a
+forced march the evening before, led the advance. Lieutenant
+Saunders with one of Rait's guns came next. The Rifles followed
+in support.</p>
+
+<p>Before the Bonny men had gone half a mile they were hotly
+engaged, and the combat was for two hours a repetition of that of
+Amoaful. Saunders advanced again and again to the front with his
+gun, and with a few rounds of grape cleared the sides of the path
+of the enemy. At last, however, the Bonny men would advance no
+farther, and Lieutenant Byre, the adjutant of Wood's regiment,
+was mortally wounded.</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Saunders sent back to say it was impossible for him
+to get on farther unless supported by white troops. The Rifles
+were then sent forward to take the Bonny men's place, and slowly,
+very slowly, the advance was continued until the clearing round a
+village could be seen fifty yards away. Then the Rifles gave a
+cheer and with a sudden rush swept through to the open and
+carried the village without a check. In the meantime the whole
+column had been following in the rear as the Rifles advanced, and
+were hotly engaged in repelling a series of flank attacks on the
+part of the enemy. These attacks were gallantly persevered in by
+the Ashantis, who at times approached in such masses that the
+whole bush swayed and moved as they pushed forward.</p>
+
+<p>Their loss must have been extremely large, for our men lined
+the road and kept up a tremendous Snider fire upon them at a
+short distance. Our casualties were slight. The road, like almost
+all roads in the country, was sunk two feet in the center below
+the level of the surrounding ground, consequently the men were
+lying in shelter as behind a breastwork, while they kept up their
+tremendous fire upon the foe.</p>
+
+<p>The village once gained, the leading troops were thrown out in
+a circle round it, and the order was given to pass the baggage
+from the rear to the village. The operation was carried out in
+safety, the path being protected by the troops lying in a line
+along it. The baggage once in, the troops closed up to the
+village, the disappointed foe continuing a series of desperate
+attacks upon their rear. These assaults were kept up even after
+all had reached the cleared space of the village, the enemy's war
+horn sounding and the men making the woods re-echo with their
+wild war cry. The Naval Brigade at one time inflicted great
+slaughter upon the enemy by remaining perfectly quiet until the
+Ashantis, thinking they had retired, advanced full of confidence,
+cheering, when a tremendous fire almost swept them away.</p>
+
+<p>It was six hours from the time at which the advance began
+before the rear guard entered the village, and as but a mile and
+a half had been traversed and Coomassie was still six miles away,
+it was evident that if the Ashantis continued to fight with the
+same desperation, and if the baggage had to be carried on step by
+step from village to village, the force would not get halfway on
+to Coomassie by nightfall.</p>
+
+<p>The instant the baggage was all in, preparations were made for
+a fresh advance. Rait's guns, as usual, opened to clear the way,
+and the 42d this time led the advance. The enemy's fire was very
+heavy and the Highlanders at first advanced but slowly, their
+wounded straggling back in quick succession into the village.
+After twenty minutes' work, however, they had pushed back the
+enemy beyond the brow of the hill, and from this point they
+advanced with great rapidity, dashing forward at times at the
+double, until the foe, scared by the sudden onslaught, gave way
+altogether and literally fled at the top of their speed.</p>
+
+<p>War drums and horns, chiefs' stools and umbrellas, littered
+the next village and told how sudden and complete had been the
+stampede. As the 42d advanced troops were from time to time sent
+forward until a despatch came in from Sir A. Alison saying that
+all the villages save the last were taken, that opposition had
+ceased, and that the enemy were in complete rout. Up to this time
+the attack of the enemy upon the rear of the village had
+continued with unabated vigor, and shot and slug continually fell
+in the place itself. The news from the front was soon known and
+was hailed with a cheer which went right round the line of
+defense, and, whether scared by its note of triumph or because
+they too had received the news, the efforts of the enemy ceased
+at once, and scarcely another shot was fired.</p>
+
+<p>At half past three the baggage was sent forward and the
+headquarter staff and Rifle Brigade followed it. There was no
+further check. The 42d and several companies of the Rifle Brigade
+entered Coomassie without another shot being fired in its
+defense. Sir Garnet Wolseley soon after arrived, and taking off
+his hat called for three cheers for the Queen, which was
+responded to with a heartiness and vigor which must have
+astonished the Ashantis. These were still in considerable numbers
+in the town, having been told by the king that peace was or would
+be made. They seemed in no way alarmed, but watched, as amused
+and interested spectators, the proceedings of the white
+troops.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing to be done was to disarm those who had guns,
+and this seemed to scare the others, for in a short time the town
+was almost entirely deserted. It was now fast getting dark, and
+the troops bivouacked in the marketplace, which had so often been
+the scene of human sacrifices on a large scale.</p>
+
+<p>Their day's work had, indeed, been a heavy one. They had been
+twelve hours on the road without rest or time to cook food. Water
+was very scarce, no really drinkable water having been met with
+during the day. In addition to this they had undergone the
+excitement of a long and obstinate fight with an enemy concealed
+in the bush, after work of almost equal severity upon the day
+before, and had passed a sleepless night in a tropical rainstorm,
+yet with the exception of a few fever stricken men not a single
+soldier fell out from his place in the ranks.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was the first night in Coomassie destined to be a quiet
+one. Soon after two o'clock a fire broke out in one of the
+largest of the collections of huts, which was soon in a blaze
+from end to end. The engineers pulled down the huts on either
+side and with great difficulty prevented the flames from
+spreading. These fires were the result of carriers and others
+plundering, and one man, a policeman, caught with loot upon him,
+was forthwith hung from a tree. Several others were flogged, and
+after some hours' excitement the place quieted down. Sir Garnet
+was greatly vexed at the occurrence, as he had the evening before
+sent a messenger to the king asking him to come in and make
+peace, and promising to spare the town if he did so.</p>
+
+<p>Although Coomassie was well known to Frank he was still
+ignorant of the character of the interior of the chiefs' houses,
+and the next day he wandered about with almost as much curiosity
+as the soldiers themselves. The interiors even of the palaces of
+the chiefs showed that the Ashantis can have no idea of what we
+call comfort. The houses were filled with dust and litter, and
+this could not be accounted for solely by the bustle and hurry of
+picking out the things worth carrying away prior to the hurried
+evacuation of the place. From the roofs hung masses of spiders'
+web, thick with dust, while sweeping a place out before occupying
+it brought down an accumulation of dust which must have been the
+result of years of neglect. The principal apartments were
+lumbered up with drums, great umbrellas, and other paraphernalia
+of processions, such as horns, state chairs, wooden maces, etc.
+Before the door of each house stood a tree, at the foot of which
+were placed little idols, calabashes, bits of china, bones, and
+an extraordinary jumble of strange odds and ends of every kind,
+all of which were looked upon as fetish. Over the doors and
+alcoves were suspended a variety of charms, old stone axes and
+arrow tips, nuts, gourds, amulets, beads, and other trumpery
+articles.</p>
+
+<p>The palace was in all respects exactly as the king had left
+it. The royal bed and couch were in their places, the royal
+chairs occupied their usual raised position. Only, curiously
+enough, all had been turned round and over. The storerooms
+upstairs were untouched, and here was found an infinite variety
+of articles, for the most part mere rubbish, but many interesting
+and valuable: silver plate, gold masks, gold cups, clocks, glass,
+china, pillows, guns, cloth, caskets, and cabinets; an olla
+podrida, which resembled the contents of a sale room.</p>
+
+<p>In many of the native apartments of the palace were signs that
+human sacrifice had been carried on to the last minute. Several
+stools were found covered with thick coatings of recently shed
+blood, and a horrible smell of gore pervaded the whole palace,
+and, indeed, the whole town. The palace was full of fetish
+objects just as trumpery and meaningless as those in the humblest
+cottages. The king's private sitting room was, like the rest, an
+open court with a tree growing in it. This tree was covered with
+fetish objects, and thickly hung with spiders' webs. At each end
+was a small but deep alcove with a royal chair, so that the
+monarch could always sit on the shady side.</p>
+
+<p>Along each side of the little court ran a sort of verandah,
+beneath which was an immense assortment of little idols and
+fetishes of all kinds.</p>
+
+<p>From one of the verandahs a door opened into the king's
+bedroom, which was about ten feet by eight. It was very dark,
+being lighted only by a small window about a foot square, opening
+into the women's apartments. At one end was the royal couch, a
+raised bedstead with curtains, and upon a ledge by the near side
+(that is to say the king had to step over the ledge to get into
+bed) were a number of pistols and other weapons, among them an
+English general's sword, bearing the inscription, "From Queen
+Victoria to the King of Ashanti." This sword was presented to the
+predecessor of King Coffee. Upon the floor at the end opposite
+the bed was a couch upon which the king could sit and talk with
+his wives through the little window.</p>
+
+<p>In the women's apartments all sorts of stuffs, some of
+European, some of native manufacture, were found scattered about
+in the wildest confusion. The terror and horror of the four or
+five hundred ladies, when they found that their husband was about
+to abandon his palace and that they would have no time to remove
+their treasured finery, can be well imagined.</p>
+
+<p>In almost every apartment and yard of the palace were very
+slightly raised mounds, some no larger than a plate, others two
+or even three feet long. These were whitewashed and presented a
+strong contrast to the general red of the ground and lower walls.
+These patches marked the places of graves. The whole palace, in
+fact, appeared to be little better than a cemetery and a
+slaughterhouse in one. A guard was placed over the palace, and
+here, as elsewhere through the town, looting was strictly
+forbidden.</p>
+
+<p>All day the general expected the arrival of the king, who had
+sent a messenger to say he would be in early. At two o'clock a
+tremendous rainstorm broke over the town, lasting for three
+hours. In the evening it became evident that he was again
+deceiving us, and orders were issued that the troops, in the
+morning, should push on another three miles to the tombs of the
+kings, where he was said to be staying. Later on, however, the
+news came that the king had gone right away into the interior,
+and as another storm was coming up it became evident that the
+rainy season was setting in in earnest. The determination was
+therefore come to, to burn the town and to start for the coast
+next morning.</p>
+
+<p>All night Major Home with a party of Engineers was at work
+mining the palace and preparing it for explosion, while a prize
+committee were engaged in selecting and packing everything which
+they considered worth taking down to the coast. The news of the
+change of plan, however, had not got abroad, and the troops
+paraded next morning under the belief that they were about to
+march still farther up the country. When it became known that
+they were bound for the coast there was a general brightening of
+faces, and a buzz of satisfaction ran down the ranks. It was true
+that it was believed that a large amount of treasure was
+collected at the kings' tombs, and the prize money would not have
+been unwelcome, still the men felt that their powers were rapidly
+becoming exhausted. The hope of a fight with the foe and of the
+capture of Coomassie had kept them up upon the march, but now
+that this had been done the usual collapse after great exertion
+followed. Every hour added to the number of fever stricken men
+who would have to be carried down to the coast, and each man, as
+he saw his comrades fall out from the ranks, felt that his own
+turn might come next.</p>
+
+<p>At six o'clock in the morning the advanced guard of the
+baggage began to move out of the town. The main body was off by
+seven. The 42d remained as rearguard to cover the Engineers and
+burning party.</p>
+
+<p>Frank stayed behind to see the destruction of the town. A
+hundred engineer laborers were supplied with palm leaf torches,
+and in spite of the outer coats of thatch being saturated by the
+tremendous rains, the flames soon spread. Volumes of black smoke
+poured up, and soon a huge pile of smoke resting over the town
+told the Ashantis of the destruction of their blood stained
+capital. The palace was blown up, and when the Engineers and 42d
+marched out from the town scarce a house remained untouched by
+the flames.</p>
+
+<p>The troops had proceeded but a short distance before they had
+reason to congratulate themselves on their retreat before the
+rains began in earnest, and to rejoice over the fact that the
+thunderstorms did not set in three days earlier than they did.
+The marsh round the town had increased a foot in depth, while the
+next stream, before a rivulet two feet and a half deep, had now
+swollen its banks for a hundred and fifty yards on either side,
+with over five feet and a half of water in the old channel.</p>
+
+<p>Across this channel the Engineers had with much difficulty
+thrown a tree, over which the white troops passed, while the
+native carriers had to wade across. It was laughable to see only
+the eyes of the taller men above the water, while the shorter
+disappeared altogether, nothing being seen but the boxes they
+carried. Fortunately the deep part was only three or four yards
+wide. Thus the carriers by taking a long breath on arriving at
+the edge of the original channel were able to struggle
+across.</p>
+
+<p>This caused a terrible delay, and a still greater one occurred
+at the Dah. Here the water was more than two feet above the
+bridge which the Engineers had made on the passage up. The river
+was as deep as the previous one had been, and the carriers
+therefore waded as before; but the deep part was wider, so wide,
+indeed, that it was impossible for the shorter men to keep under
+water long enough to carry their burdens across. The tall men
+therefore crossed and recrossed with the burdens, the short men
+swimming over.</p>
+
+<p>The passage across the bridge too was slow and tedious in the
+extreme. Some of the cross planks had been swept away, and each
+man had to feel every step of his way over. So tedious was the
+work that at five in the afternoon it became evident that it
+would be impossible for all the white troops to get across -- a
+process at once slow and dangerous -- before nightfall. The river
+was still rising, and it was a matter of importance that none
+should be left upon the other side at night, as the Ashantis
+might, for anything they could tell, be gathering in force in the
+rear. Consequently Sir Archibald Alison gave the order for the
+white troops to strip and to wade across taking only their
+helmets and guns. The clothes were made up in bundles and carried
+over by natives swimming, while others took their places below in
+case any of the men should be carried off their feet by the
+stream. All passed over without any accident.</p>
+
+<p>One result, however, was a laughable incident next morning, an
+incident which, it may be safely asserted, never before occurred
+in the British army. It was quite dark before the last party were
+over, and the natives collecting the clothes did not notice those
+of one of the men who had undressed at the foot of a tree.
+Consequently he had to pass the night, a very wet one, in a
+blanket, and absolutely paraded with his regiment in the morning
+in nothing but a helmet and rifle. The incident caused immense
+laughter, and a native swimming across the river found and
+brought back his clothes.</p>
+
+<p>As the journeys were necessarily slow and tedious, owing to
+the quantity of baggage and sick being carried down, Frank now
+determined to push straight down to the coast, and, bidding
+goodbye to Sir Garnet and the many friends he had made during the
+expedition, he took his place for the first time in the hammock,
+which with its bearers had accompanied him from Cape Coast, and
+started for the sea. There was some risk as far as the Prah, for
+straggling bodies of the enemy frequently intercepted the
+convoys. Frank, however, met with no obstacle, and in ten days
+after leaving the army reached Cape Coast.</p>
+
+<p>Ostik implored his master to take him with him across the sea;
+but Frank pointed out to him that he would not be happy long in
+England, where the customs were so different from his own, and
+where in winter he would feel the cold terribly. Ostik yielded to
+the arguments, and having earned enough to purchase for years the
+small comforts and luxuries dear to the negro heart, he agreed to
+start for the Gaboon immediately Frank left for England.</p>
+
+<p>On his first arrival at Cape Coast he had to his great
+satisfaction found that the Houssas who had escaped from
+Coomassie had succeeded in reaching the coast in safety, and that
+having obtained their pay from the agent they had sailed for
+their homes.</p>
+
+<p>Three days after Frank's arrival at Cape Coast the mail
+steamer came along, and he took passage for England. Very strange
+indeed did it feel to him when he set foot in Liverpool. Nearly
+two years and a half had elapsed since he had sailed, and he had
+gone through adventures sufficient for a lifetime. He was but
+eighteen years old now, but he had been so long accustomed to do
+man's work that he felt far older than he was. The next day on
+arriving in town he put up at the Charing Cross Hotel and then
+sallied out to see his friends.</p>
+
+<p>He determined to go first of all to visit the porter who had
+been the earliest friend he had made in London, and then to drive
+to Ruthven's, where he was sure of a hearty welcome. He had
+written several times, since it had been possible for him to send
+letters, to his various friends, first of all to his sister, and
+the doctor, to Ruthven, to the porter, and to the old naturalist.
+He drove to London Bridge Station, and there learned that the
+porter had been for a week absent from duty, having strained his
+back in lifting a heavy trunk. He therefore drove to Ratcliff
+Highway. The shop was closed, but his knock brought the
+naturalist to the door.</p>
+
+<p>"What can I do for you, sir?" he asked civilly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, in the first place, you can shake me by the hand."</p>
+
+<p>The old man started at the voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, 'tis Frank!" he exclaimed, "grown and sunburnt out of
+all recollection. My dear boy, I am glad indeed to see you. Come
+in, come in; John is inside."</p>
+
+<p>Frank received another hearty greeting, and sat for a couple
+of hours chatting over his adventures. He found that had he
+arrived a fortnight later he would not have found either of his
+friends. The porter was in a week about to be married again to a
+widow who kept a small shop and was in comfortable circumstances.
+The naturalist had sold the business, and was going down into the
+country to live with a sister there.</p>
+
+<p>After leaving them Frank drove to the residence of Sir James
+Ruthven in Eaton Square. Frank sent in his name and was shown up
+to the drawing room. A minute later the door opened with a crash
+and his old schoolfellow rushed in.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, dear, old boy," he said wringing Frank's hand, "I am
+glad to see you; but, bless me, how you have changed! How thin
+you are, and how black! I should have passed you in the street
+without knowing you; and you look years older than I do. But that
+is no wonder after all you've gone through. Well, when did you
+arrive, and where are your things? Why have you not brought them
+here?"</p>
+
+<p>Frank said that he had left them at the hotel, as he was going
+down early the next morning to Deal. He stayed, however, and
+dined with his friend, whose father received him with the
+greatest cordiality and kindness.</p>
+
+<p>On leaving the hotel next morning he directed his portmanteau
+to be sent in the course of the day to Sir James Ruthven's. He
+had bought a few things at Cape Coast, and had obtained a couple
+of suits of clothes for immediate use at Liverpool.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at Deal he found his sister much grown and very
+well and happy. She was almost out of her mind with delight at
+seeing him. He stayed two or three days with her and then
+returned to town and took up his abode in Eaton Square.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my dear boy, what are you thinking of doing?" Sir James
+Ruthven asked next morning at breakfast. "You have had almost
+enough of travel, I should think."</p>
+
+<p>"Quite enough, sir," Frank said. "I have made up my mind that
+I shall be a doctor. The gold necklace which I showed you, which
+Ammon Quatia gave me, weighs over twenty pounds, and as it is of
+the purest gold it is worth about a thousand pounds, a sum amply
+sufficient to keep me and pay my expenses till I have passed.
+Besides, Mr. Goodenough has, I believe, left me something in his
+will. I sent home one copy to his lawyer and have brought the
+other with me. I must call on the firm this morning. I have also
+some thirty pounds' weight in gold which was paid me by the king
+for the goods he took, but this, of course, belongs to Mr.
+Goodenough's estate."</p>
+
+<p>Upon calling upon the firm of lawyers, and sending in his
+name, he was at once shown in to the principal.</p>
+
+<p>"I congratulate you on your safe return, sir," the gentleman
+said. "You have called, of course, in reference to the will of
+the late Mr. Goodenough."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Frank replied. "I sent home one copy from Coomassie and
+have brought another with me."</p>
+
+<p>"We received the first in due course," the gentleman said,
+taking the document Frank held out to him. "You are, of course,
+acquainted with its contents."</p>
+
+<p>"No," Frank answered, "beyond the fact that Mr. Goodenough
+told me he had left me a legacy."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I have pleasant news to give you," the lawyer said. "Mr.
+Goodenough died possessed of about sixty thousand pounds. He left
+fifteen thousand each to his only surviving nephew and niece.
+Fifteen thousand pounds he has divided among several charitable
+and scientific institutions. Fifteen thousand pounds he has left
+to you."</p>
+
+<p>Frank gave a little cry of surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"The will is an eminently just and satisfactory one," the
+lawyer said, "for Mr. Goodenough has had but little intercourse
+with his relations, who live in Scotland, and they had no reason
+to expect to inherit any portion of his property. They are,
+therefore, delighted with the handsome legacy they have received.
+I may mention that Mr. Goodenough ordered that in the event of
+your not living to return to England, five thousand pounds of the
+portion which would have come to you was to be paid to trustees
+for the use of your sister, the remaining ten thousand to be
+added to the sum to be divided among the hospitals."</p>
+
+<p>"This is indeed a surprise," Frank said; "and I shall be
+obliged, sir, if you will at once draw out a paper for me to sign
+settling the five thousand pounds upon my sister. Whatever may
+happen then she will be provided for."</p>
+
+<p>The accession of this snug and most unexpected fortune in no
+way altered Frank's views as to his future profession. He worked
+hard and steadily and passed with high honors. He spent another
+three years in hospital work, and then purchased a partnership in
+an excellent West End practice. He is now considered one of the
+most rising young physicians of the day. His sister keeps house
+for him in Harley Street; but it is doubtful whether she will
+long continue to do so. The last time Dick Ruthven was at home on
+leave he persuaded her that it was her bounden duty to endeavor
+to make civilian life bearable to him when he should attain
+captain's rank, and, in accordance with his father's wish, retire
+from the army, events which are expected to take place in a few
+months' time.</p>
+
+<p>Ruthven often laughs and tells Frank that he is a good soldier
+spoiled, and that it is a pity a man should settle down as a
+doctor who had made his way in life "by sheer pluck."</p>
+
+<p>THE END</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of By Sheer Pluck, by G. A. Henty
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