Adventure, June 1911 — page 125: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Prester John “But in the meantime?” Iasked. “Sup- posing other Kaffirs hear of it, and come back and make a bridge over the gorge? ‘They may be doing it now.’ “T’ll put a guard on it,” he said, jumping up briskly. “It’s maybe not a soldier’s job, but you’ve saved this country, Davie, and I’m going to make sure that you have your reward!’ AFTER that I went with Arcoll to we | Inanda’s Kraal. I am not going to <= tell the story of that performance, for it occupies no less than two chapters in Mr. Upton’s book. He makes one or two blunders, for he spells my name withan “fo,” and he says we walked out of the camp on our perilous mission “with faces white and set as a Crusader’s.” ‘This is certainly not true, for in the first place nobody saw us go who could judge how we looked, and in the second place we were both smoking and feeling quite cheerful. At home they made -a great fuss about it and started a news- paper cry about the Victoria Cross, but the danger was not so terrible after all, and in ' any case it was nothing to what I had been through in the past week. I take credit to myself for suggesting the idea. By this time we had the army in the kraal at our mercy. Laputa not having returned, they had no plans. It had been the original intention to start for the Oli- fants on the following day, so there was a scanty supply of food. Besides, there were the makings of a pretty quarrel be- tween Umbooni and some of the north- country chiefs, and I verily believe that if we had held them tight there for a week they _ would have destroyed each other in faction fights. In a little they would have grown des- perate and tried to rush the approaches on the north and south. Then we must either | have used guns on them, which would have meant a great slaughter, or let them go to do mischief elsewhere. Arcoll was a merciful man who had no love for butchery; besides, he was a statesman with an eye to the future of the country after the war. But it was his duty to isolate Laputa’s army, and at all costs it must be prevented from joining any of the concentrations of the south. Then I proposed to him to do as Rhodes did in the Matoppos, and go and talk to ‘them. By this time, I argued, the influence of Laputa must have sunk and the fervor of - to. 311 the Purification be half forgotten. The army had little food and no leader. The rank and file had never been fanatical, and the chiefs and 7mdunes must now be inclined to sober reflections. But, once blood was shed, the lust of battle would possess. them. Our only chance was to strike when their minds were perplexed and undecided. CHAPTER XXXII I DELIVER LAPUTA’S WORD RCOLL did all the arranging. He had a message sent to the chiefs, inviting them to an indaba, and presently word was brought back that an déndaba was called for the next day at noon. That same night we heard that Umbooni and about twenty of his men had managed to evade our ring of scouts and get clean away to the south. This was all to our advan- tage, as it removed from the coming imdaba the most irreconcilable of the chiefs. That indaba was a queer business. Arcoll and I left our escort at the foot of a ravine and entered the kraal by the same road as I had left it. It was a very bright, hot Winter’s day and, try as I might, I could not bring myself to think of any danger. I be- lieve that in this way most temerarious deeds are done—the doer has become insen- sible to danger and his imagination is clouded with some engrossing purpose. The first sentries received us gloomily enough, and closed behind us as they had done when Machudi’s men haled me thither. Then the job became eerie, for we had to walk across a green flat with thousands of eyes watching us. By-and-by we came to the merula tree opposite the kyas, and there we found a ring of chiefs, sitting with cocked rifles on their knees. We were armed with pistols, and the first thing Arcoll did was to hand them to one of the chiefs. ““We come in peace,” he said. you our lives.” Ye “We give THEN the iudaba began, Arcoll leading off. It was a fine speech he made, the finest I have ever listened He asked them what their grievances were; he told them how mighty was the power of the white man; he promised that what was unjust should be remedied, if only they would speak honestly and peacefully; COmmiclbooks (C@