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CHAPTER IX
THE YELLOW DEVIL’S NEST SUNDOWN came, and, as on the previous night, the three
travellers camped upon an island waiting for the moon to rise. They had caught
two flapper-ducks in some weeds and there was a talk of lighting a fire to cook
them by. Finally Leonard negatived this idea. ‘It is dangerous,’ he said, ‘for
fires can be seen from afar.’ So they made a wretched meal off a little dried
meat and some raw duck’s eggs. It was fortunate that his caution prevailed, since, as the
twilight was dying into dark, they heard the stroke of paddles and made out the
shapes of canoes passing them. There were several canoes, each of which towed
something behind it, and the men in them shouted to one another from time to
time, now in Portuguese and now in Arabic. ‘Lie still, lie still,’ whispered Otter, ‘these are the slave-men
taking back the big boats.’ Leonard and Soa followed his advice to the letter, and the
slavers, paddling laboriously up stream, passed within thirty feet of where
they crouched in the rushes. ‘Give way, comrades,’ called one man to the captain of the
next canoe, ‘the landing-place is near and there is rum for those who earn it.’ ‘I hope that they will not stop here,’ said Leonard beneath
his breath. ‘Hist!’ answered Otter, ‘I hear them landing.’ He was right, the party had disembarked about two hundred
yards away. Presently they heard them collecting reeds for burning, and in ten
minutes more two bright tongues of flame showed that they had lit their fires. ‘We had better get out of this,’ said Leonard; ‘if they
discover us — ’ ‘They will not discover us, Baas, if we lie still,’ answered
Otter; ‘let us wait a while, I have another plan. Listen, Baas.’ And he
whispered in his ear. So they waited. From the fires below them came the sound of
men eating and drinking — especially drinking. An hour passed and Leonard rose,
followed by Otter, who said: ‘I will come too, Baas, I can move like a cat.’ ‘Where are you going, White Man?’ asked Soa. ‘I am going to spy upon those men. I understand Portuguese,
and wish to hear what they say. Otter, take your knife and revolver, but no
gun.’ ‘Good,’ said the woman, ‘but be careful. They are very
clever.’ ‘Yes, yes,’ put in Otter, ‘but the Baas is clever also, and
I — I am clever. Do not fear for us, mother.’ Then they started, creeping cautiously through the reeds.
When they were within twenty yards of the fires, Leonard missed his footing and
fell into a pool of water with a splash. Some of the slave-dealers heard the
noise and sprang to their feet. Instantly Otter grunted in exact imitation of a
hippopotamus-calf. ‘A sea-cow,’ said a man in Portuguese. ‘She won’t hurt us. The fire will frighten her.’ Leonard and Otter waited a while, then crept to a clump of
reeds whence they could hear every word that was spoken. The men round the fire
numbered twenty-two. One, their leader, appeared to be a pure-bred Portugee, some
of the others were Bastards and the rest Arabs. They were drinking rum and
water out of tin pannikins — a great deal of rum and very little water. Many of
them seemed halfdrunk already, at any rate their tongues were loosened. ‘May a curse fall upon our father, the Devil,’ said one, a
half-breed, ‘why did he take it into his head to send us back with the boats
just now? We shall miss the fun.’ ‘What fun?’ answered the leader of the party. ‘They won’t
cage the birds for another three or four days; the dhows are not ready, and
there is talk of an English cruiser — may she sink to hell! — hanging about
outside the river mouth.’ ‘No, not that,’ said the man who had spoken first, ‘there is
not much sport in driving a lot of stinking niggers on to a dhow. I mean the
auction of the white girl, the English trader’s daughter, whom we caught up the
river yonder. There’s a beauty for some lucky dog — I never saw such a one.
What eyes she has, and what a spirit; why, most of the little dears would have
cried themselves blind by now.’ ‘You needn’t think about her,’ sneered his
leader, ‘she will go too dear for the likes of you; besides it is foolish to
spend so much on one girl, white or black. When is the auction?’ ‘It was to have been the night before the dhows sail, but
now the Devil says it shall be to-morrow night. I will tell you why — he is
afraid of her. He thinks that she will bring misfortune to him, and wants to be
rid of her. Ah! he is a wag, is the old mail — he loves a joke, he does. “All
men are brothers,” he said yesterday, “white or black; therefore all women are
sisters.” So he is going to sell her like a nigger girl. What is good enough
for them is good enough for her. Ha! Ha! pass the rum, brother, pass the rum.’ ‘Perhaps he will put it off and we may be back in time,
after all,’ said the captain. ‘Anyhow, here is a health to her, the love. By
the way, did some of you think to ask the password before we left this morning?
I forgot to do so myself.’ ‘Yes,’ said a Bastard, ‘the old word, “the Devil.”‘ ‘There is none better, comrades, none better,’ hiccoughed
the leader. Then for an hour or more their talk went on — partly about Juanna,
partly about other things. As they grew more drunk, the conversation became
more and more revolting, till Leonard could scarcely listen to it and lie
still. At length it died away, and one by one the men sank into a sound and
sudden sleep. They did not set a sentry, for here on the island they had no
fear of foes. Then Otter rose upon his hands and knees and his face looked
fierce in the faint light. ‘Baas,’ he whispered, ‘shall we —’ and he drew his hand
across his throat. Leonard thought awhile. His rage was deep, and yet he shrank
from the slaughter of sleeping men, however wicked. Besides, could it be done
without noise? Some of them would wake — fear would sober them, and they were
many. ‘No,’ he whispered back. ‘Follow me, we will cut loose the
boats.’ ‘Good, good,’ said Otter. Then, stealthily as snakes, they crept some thirty yards to
where the boats were tied to a low tree — three canoes and five large
flat-bottomed punts, containing the arms and provisions of the slave-dealers. Drawing
their knives they cut these loose. A gentle push set them moving, then the
current caught them and slowly they floated away into the night. This done they crawled back again. Their path took them
within five paces of where that half-breed ruffian lay who had begun the talk
to which they had listened. Leonard looked at him and turned to creep away;
already Otter was five paces ahead, when suddenly the edge of the moon showed
for the first time and its light fell full upon the slaver’s face. The sleeping
man awoke, sat up, and saw them. Now Leonard dared not hesitate or they were lost. Like a
tiger he sprang at the man’s throat and had grasped it in his hand before he
could even cry aloud. Then came a struggle short and sharp, and a knife
flashed. Before Otter could get back to his side it was done — so swiftly and
so silently that none of the band had wakened, though one or two of them
stirred and muttered in their heavy sleep. Leonard sprang up unhurt, and together they ran, rather than
walked, back to the spot where they had left Soa. She was watching for them, and pointing to Leonard’s coat,
asked, ‘How many?’ ‘One,’ answered Otter. ‘I would it had been all,’ Soa muttered fiercely, ‘but you
are only two.’ ‘Quick,’ said Leonard, ‘into the canoe with you. They will
be after us presently.’ In another minute they had pushed off and were clear of the
island, which was not more than a quarter of a mile long. They paddled across
the river, which at this spot ran rapidly and had a width of some eight hundred
yards, so as to hide in the shadow of the opposite bank. When they reached it
Otter rested on his paddles and gave vent to a suppressed chuckle, which was
his nearest approach to laughter. ‘Why do you laugh, Black One?’ asked Soa. ‘Look yonder,’ he answered, and he pointed to some specks on
the surface of the river which were fast vanishing in the distance. ‘Yonder go
the boats of the slave-dealers, and in them are their arms and food. We cut
them loose, the Baas and I. There on the island sleep two-and-twenty men — all
save one: there they sleep, and when they wake what will they find? They will
find themselves on a little isle in the middle of great waters, into which,
even if they could, they will not dare to swim because of the alligators. They
can get no food on the island, for they have no guns, and ducks do not stop to
be caught, but outside the alligators will wait in hundreds to catch them. By-and-by
they will grow hungry — they will shout and yell, but none will hear them — then
they will become mad and, falling on each other, they will eat each other and
die miserably one by one. Some will take to the water, those will drown or be
caught by the alligators, and so it shall go on till they are all dead, every
one of them, dead, dead, dead!’ and again Otter chuckled. Leonard did not reprove him; with the talk of these wretches
yet echoing in his ears he could feel little pity for the horrible fate which
would certainly overtake them. Hark! a faint sound stole across the quiet waters, a sound
which grew into a clamour of fear and rage. The slavers had awakened, they had
found the dead man in their midst mysteriously slain by an invisible foe. And
now the clamour gathered to a yell, for they had learned that their boats were
gone and that they were trapped. From their shelter on the other side of the river; as they
dropped leisurely down the stream, Leonard and Otter could catch distant
glimpses of the frantic men rushing to and fro in the bright moonlight and seeking
for their boats. But the boats had departed to return no more. By degrees the
clamour lessened behind them, till at last it died away swallowed in the
silence of the night. Then Leonard told Soa what he had heard by the slaver’s
fire. ‘How far is the road, Black One?’ she asked when he had
finished. ‘By sundown to-morrow we shall be at the Yellow Devil’s gates!’ answered
Otter. Two hours later they overtook the boats which they had cut
adrift. Most of them were tied together and they floated peacefully in a group. ‘We had better scuttle them,’ said Leonard. ‘No, Baas,’ answered Otter, ‘if we escape we may want them
again. Yonder is the place where we must land,’ and he pointed to a distant
tongue of marsh. ‘Let us go with the boats there and make them fast. Perhaps we
may find food in them, and we need food.’ The advice was good and they followed it. Keeping alongside
of the punts and directing them, when necessary, with a push of the paddles,
they reached the point just as the dawn was breaking. Here in a sheltered bay
they found a mooring-place to which they fastened all the boats with ropes that
hung ready. Then they searched the lockers and to their joy discovered food in
plenty, including cooked meat, spirits, biscuits, bread, and some oranges and
bananas. Only those who have been forced to do without farinaceous food for
days or weeks will know what this abundance meant to them. Leonard thought
that he had never eaten a more delicious meal, or drunk anything so good as the
rum and water with which they washed it down. They found other things also: rifles, cutlasses and
ammunition, and, better than all, a chest of clothes which had evidently
belonged to the officer or officers of the party. One suit was a kind of
uniform plentifully adorned with gold lace, having tall boots and a broad felt
hat with a white ostrich feather in it to match. Also there were some long Arab
gowns and turbans, the gala clothes of the slavedealers, which they took with
them in order to appear smart on their return. But the most valuable find of all was a leather bag in the
breeches of the uniform, containing the sum of the honest gains of the leader
of the party, which he had preferred to keep in his own company even on his
travels. On examination this bag was found to hold something over a hundred
English sovereigns and a dozen or fifteen pieces of Portuguese gold. ‘Now, Baas,’ said Otter, ‘this is my word, that we put on
these clothes.’ ‘What for?’ asked Leonard. ‘For this reason: that should we be seen by the
slave-traders they will think us of their brethren.’ The advantages of the step were so obvious that they
immediately adopted it. Thus disguised, with a silk sash round his middle and a
pistol stuck in it, Leonard might well have been mistaken for the most
ferocious of slavetraders. Otter too looked sufficiently strange, robed as an Arab and
wearing a turban. Being a dwarf, the difficulty was that all the dresses proved
too long for him. Finally it was found necessary to cut one down by the
primitive process of laying it on a block of wood and chopping through it with
a sabre. When this change of garments had been effected, and their
own clothes with the spare arms were hidden away in the rushes on the somewhat
remote chance that they might be useful hereafter, they prepared for a start on
foot across the marshes. By an afterthought Leonard fetched the bag of gold and
put it in his pocket. He felt few scruples in availing himself of the money of
the slave-driver, not for his own use indeed, but because it might help their
enterprise. Now their road ran along marshes and by secret paths that
none save those who had travelled them could have found. But Otter had not
forgotten. On they went through the broiling heat of the day, since linger they
dared not. They met no living man on their path, though here and there they
found the body of some wretched slave, whose corpse had been cast into the
reeds by the road-side. But the road had been trodden, and recently, by many
feet, among which were the tracks of two mules or donkeys. At last, about an hour before sunset, they came to the home
of the Yellow Devil. The Nest was placed thus. It stood upon an island having
an area of ten or twelve acres. Of this, however, only about four and a half
acres were available for a living space; the rest was a morass hidden by a
growth of very tall reeds, which morass, starting from a great lagoon on the
northern and eastern sides, ran up to the low enclosure of the buildings that,
on these faces, were considered to be sufficiently defended by the swamp and
the wide waters beyond. On the southern and western aspects of the camp matters
were different, for here the place was strongly fortified both by art and
nature. Firstly, a canal ran round these two faces, not very wide or deep
indeed, but impassable except in boats, owing to the soft mud at its bottom. On
the further side of this canal an earthwork had been constructed, having its
crest stoutly palisaded and its steep sides planted with a natural defence of
aloes and prickly-pears. So much for the exterior of the spot. Its interior was
divided into three principal enclosures. Of these three the easternmost was the
site of the Nest itself, a long low thatched building of wood, in front and to
the west of which there was an open space or courtyard, with a hard floor.
Herein were but two buildings, a shed supported on posts and open from the
eaves to the ground, where sales of slaves were carried on, and further to the
north, almost continuous with the line of the Nest itself, but separate from it,
a small erection, very strongly built of brick and stone, and having a roof
made from the tin linings of ammunition and other cases. This was a magazine.
All round this enclosure stood rows of straw huts of a native build, evidently
occupied as a camp by the Arabs and half-breed slave-traders of the baser sort. The second enclosure, which was to the west of the Nest,
comprised the slave camp. It may have covered an acre of ground, and the only
buildings in it were four low sheds similar in every respect to that where the
slaves were sold, only much longer. Here the captives lay picketed in rows to
iron bars which ran the length of the sheds, and were fixed into the ground at
either end. This camp was separated from the Nest enclosure by a deep canal,
thirty feet in width and spanned at one point by a slender and primitive
drawbridge that led across the canal to the gate of the camp. Also it was
protected on the Nest side by a low wall, and on the slave-camp side by an
earthwork, planted as usual with prickly-pears. On this earthwork near the
gate and little guard-house a six-pounder cannon was mounted, the muzzle of
which frowned down upon the slave camp, a visible warning to its occupants of
the fate that awaited the froward. Indeed, all the defences of this part of the
island were devised as safeguards against a possible émeute of the
slaves, and also to provide a second line of fortifications should the Nest
itself chance to be taken by an enemy. Beyond the slave camp lay the garden, that could only be approached
through it. This also was fortified by water and earthworks, but not so
strongly. Such is a brief description of what was in those days the
strongest slave-hold in Africa. |