CHAPTER VI
THE NORTHWARD TRAIL
The information which the old chief had given Royce influenced his choice of route when he started on his return journey.
"You see, John," he said to the headman, "we don't want to meet this Goruba again. No doubt he stumbled on us by accident, and we have no reason to suppose that he has any particular spite against white men; certainly I had done nothing to upset him. But as he appears to be a dangerous character, we had better keep out of his way. Don't you think so?"
"Dat all same berry good, sah," said John.
"Then we won't go back by way of the fort," Royce pursued. "I dare say, indeed, these men know a nearer way to the village. Ask them."
The carriers assured John, when he questioned them, that they knew a much nearer way, by which they would leave the fort a long distance on their right. Royce therefore left the leadership to their headman, who carried no load, and went on with him, slightly ahead of the rest, to keep a good look-out in case of possible danger.
It was not until they had been marching for an hour or more that the suspicion flashed upon him that Goruba might have been concerned in the raid on the ruined village. True, John had said that the raiders were Tubus, and Goruba was not a Tubu, but probably, from his appearance, and from what the chief had said, a Nubian. But, remembering that Rabeh, Goruba's former master, had himself been a slave, who had gradually worked his way up to the lordship of a considerable empire, Royce wondered whether Goruba had raised himself to a similar position among the Tubus.
A puzzling fact was that he had appeared at the fort alone. As Rabeh's lieutenant he no doubt had made himself so much hated in this part of the country that he could expect no mercy if he fell into the hands of any of his former victims. It seemed therefore unlikely that he was really quite alone. He must belong to a party, and what could be more probable than that he was a member, if not the leader, of the party who had burnt the village?
The more he thought about it, the more troubled Royce became. If the raiders had not returned to their own country across the Yo, it was at least possible that they might discover Challis's camp. He was uneasy at the idea of Challis, with his few men, of whom half were sick, having to sustain an attack by a large body of the most ferocious warriors known in that part of Africa. Anxious to rejoin his friend, Royce grew impatient at the slow pace at which the carriers walked, heavily burdened as they were, and would have gone on far ahead but that he felt himself responsible to the chief for their safety.
It was fortunate that he had decided to avoid the fort on his return journey. Goruba had dispatched a small band of his best men to lie in wait there, and ambush the white man and his follower. They were lurking in the precincts of the fort at the very moment when Royce and his party were making a bend to the south about a mile distant.
The route followed by the headman of the carriers led through a considerable stretch of wooded country. The headman told John that he would not have chosen that way but for his master's desire to avoid the fort, although it was shorter. When John asked him why, he explained that the woodland was the resort of large herds of elephants, of which the carriers were somewhat afraid. It would have been different had they not been carrying loads. They were bold enough when they accompanied the chief on hunting expeditions, and had spears in their hands. But with heavy loads on their heads they felt helpless if the great beasts should chance to cross their path.
Once or twice, as they pressed on at their best pace, they heard a great crashing among the trees. Their scent, carried on the breeze, had disturbed the elephants browsing in the thickets. The sound alarmed the men, but Royce, when John told him what caused it, explained that the elephants were just as anxious to avoid them as they were to avoid the elephants.
"What the white man says may be true," said the headman. "But sometimes the scent of men makes the elephants angry, and then they seek the men, and do not run away."
They passed through the woodland without encountering elephants, and found themselves on the low shore of an extensive lake, the remoter border of which was overhung by low cliffs. The negroes were careful to keep at a good distance from the brink of the water. Alligators might often be met with on the mud flats, lying so still, and being so much the colour of the ground, that their presence was sometimes only known by the shrieks of some hapless victim whom one had seized.
As they were skirting the lake, John suddenly gave a shout, and pointed to what appeared to be a greyish-black ridge just projecting above the surface of the water. This object seemed to swell, the water was disturbed, and at one end of the ridge emerged the ugly head of a hippopotamus.
"Hippo meat berry fine, sah!" said John longingly.
"I daresay, but I am not going to shoot when I don't know who may be about," Royce returned. "And don't shout again, John, whatever you may see. I am not anxious to meet that giant Goruba again."
They left the lake behind, and by dint of hard marching through rough and scrubby country reached the neighbourhood of the ruined village a little before nightfall. Approaching it on a different side from that by which he had left it, Royce would not have recognised it but for the assurance of his guides.
He hurried along with John at the head of the party through the desolate blackened street until he reached the palm-trees, where he expected to find the camp. To his surprise there was no sign of an encampment having been there, nor, looking round, could he discover Challis or any of the boys.
"What does this mean, John?" he asked, feeling very uneasy.
John looked puzzled for a moment or two; then his face lightened as the explanation struck him.
"Boys 'fraid of debbils, sah," he said. "Massa Chally find 'nother place."
Somewhat relieved, Royce hastened on with the man, hoping to see his friend at no great distance. In a few minutes they caught sight of the scattered material of the zariba. In the enclosure was a round mark upon the ground, indicating where the tent had stood, and blackened spots where the men had kindled their fires. But all the baggage was gone, except one tent-peg. There was nothing else save a number of empty banana skins.
Royce paused in dismay. John looked about with the air of a man in fear. And then there was a sudden cry from one of the carriers, as they came up toiling under their loads. They halted, dropped their burdens, and, collecting in a group, stood staring at the ground.
Royce and John hurried to them, wondering what had attracted their attention. They were looking with terror at some dull reddish splashes on the soil.
Royce's heart sank. It was inconceivable that Challis had moved camp of his own accord. He must have been attacked. The bloodstains seemed to indicate that there had been a fight; yet they were very few, and all at one spot. He looked about, dreading to see dead bodies in the neighbourhood of the enclosure. The relief he felt at finding none was smothered by a great anxiety. It seemed only too certain that, fight or no fight, the camp had been captured, and all within it carried away.
For some little time they all stood silent. Then the headman suddenly started, threw up his arms, and with a howl of fright took to his heels, and ran fleetly back along the way he had come. Instantly his companions followed him; in a few seconds they had disappeared. Royce was left alone with John.
The Hausa had already discovered the cause of their sudden stampede. He had caught sight of a black form skulking among some thin bush at no great distance from the camp.
Just as he pointed him out to his master, looking much inclined to bolt after the carriers, the figure moved towards them, hastening its steps, and revealing itself to be that of one of their own men. The carriers, no doubt, had supposed him to be one of the party who had rushed the camp, and feared that the rest were somewhere near.
John ran to him, asking eagerly what had become of Massa Chally. The man explained that he and another had accompanied Massa Chally when he went shooting birds, and on their return had seen thousands of Tubus swoop down on the camp. Being himself somewhat in the rear of the other two, he had concealed himself, and the birds he carried, in the bush, and remained there until the prisoners had been taken away. So far as he knew, he was the only one who had escaped. Fearing to leave the spot, he had waited there, knowing that Massa Royce would return by-and-by.
"Was there a fight?" asked Royce.
The man replied that Massa Chally had fired his gun, but was himself wounded and ridden down by the horsemen. No one else had fired. Most of the men were laden with bananas, and the horsemen had come upon them so suddenly that there was no time to do anything.
Bad as the news was, Royce recognised a reason for thankfulness in that Challis had not been killed. The carrier was firm on that point. He had seen the white man tied to a saddle, and taken away with the rest.
"Which way did they go?" Royce asked.
The man pointed towards the north.
Royce stood pondering. What was to be done? It was unthinkable that he should leave Challis and the faithful boys to their fate, even though by following them up he should share it. Challis might escape, in which case he would need help, and the nearer Royce was to him the better. But Challis was not the man to desert his negroes, and the chance that all would be able to escape together was slight.
The longer Royce thought over the problem, the less likely did it appear that he could do anything for his friend. Yet he must make an attempt. Were the positions reversed, he knew that Challis would try to do something for him.
"We must go after them, John," he said at last.
"Save Massa Chally, sah—oh yes!" replied John, trying to look cheerful.
The other man was too much terrified of solitude to raise any objection, though he was inwardly trembling at the thought of meeting the Tubus.
"What can we do with these provisions?" said Royce, indicating the calabashes which the frightened carriers had dropped. "We ought not to leave them for the birds; they may come in handy some day."
John suggested that they should be carried into the bush, and covered up as well as possible with the material of the dismantled zariba. This plan seemed to be the only one possible, and the three spent half an hour in stowing the calabashes under a thick layer of thorn branches.
Then, providing themselves with enough food for a couple of days, they set off on the trail of the raiders. There was no difficulty in following it. The soil was sandy, and the horses had left unmistakable traces.
"Keep your eyes open, John," said Royce. "We must see the Tubus before they see us."
"Savvy all same, sah," said John. "Berry good eyes, sah—oh yes!"