It was the same with the whole force who had been in the fight; and on that night they lay down supperless, and slept just where they had fought. Dick and his men, however, contrived to fare a little better, for they had the wily Johnnie with them.
“Yo stay still like so,” he said, as he strutted up to his leader. “Johnnie see to food. Plenty in de forest. Soon fetch him.”
He was as good as his word, for very soon he came back with a number of plantains, and, splitting these, roasted them before the fire which had been made at the foot of a cotton tree. The meal was a welcome one, though not so nice as rations would have been on this night. However, the soldier and the sailor alike have to take matters as they come when on service, and the cheery spirits of the men of the navy were not damped in the least.
On the following day the advance again commenced, and four days later, having had one very serious meeting with the Ashantis, commanded by King Koffee in person, the troops arrived within a mile of Kumasi.
“We halt here for half an hour,” said an officer to Dick, as he lay in the bush with his men. “We have had a flag in from King Koffee, and have given him that time to surrender.”
“Then I will creep forward and see that all is clear,” was our hero’s answer. “I have permission to do so from the general.”
“In that case you may advance. But be cautious, Stapleton. There are thousands of the enemy everywhere, and it would be better to have the Highlanders near at hand.”
He left the little party marvelling at the dash of this civilian soldier. But he knew what Dick’s object was, and, with him, feared lest on the arrival of the force, they should find the Europeans massacred. Dick and his gallant little band, led by the natives whom he had rescued from Kumasi, at once took to the forest again, and carefully crept through it on hands and knees. No one ventured to speak a syllable, and whenever it was necessary to issue an order our hero raised his hand, gathered the men close to him, and signalled. And in this way, passing between vast bodies of fleeing Ashantis, who were so intent on procuring their own safety, that they failed to detect the presence of the British, the party came at length to the verge of the pestilential swamp which borders the town on one side. Not till then, perhaps, did the bluejackets fully comprehend the force of the tale which Dick had told them. It was only when they came actually to this spot and saw the awful results of the frequent executions which took place at this loathsome town, that they realised the agony suffered there, and the need there was to put a summary end to it all. Their teeth closed tight, and they gripped their rifles nervously.
“If they’d only stand, the cruel-hearted brutes,” whispered one of the men, “we’d jest give ’em sacrifice. This here place smells of the dead. Pah! I shall be glad when we’re quit of it.”
“Silence! The half-hour is up now, and in a little while we shall hear the bugle for the advance. We will march into the town at once, and shoot down any who oppose us. These natives know where the European prisoners are, and will lead us to them. As each is found, bring him along with us till we come to the last. Ah! That’s the bugle.”