As they ate they talked, the burden of Dick’s conversation being the remarkable behaviour of the inhabitants of this mysterious country in leaving them so severely alone, a course of action which was in direct opposition to all their past experiences of the African peoples, and which Dick regarded as sinister in the extreme. His settled policy in dealing with the savages had always been to approach them promptly, as soon as met with, and lose no time in making friendly overtures, his leading idea being that if one can but succeed in convincing a savage that no harm of any kind is intended him, he is just as likely to be amiable as the reverse. Up to now Grosvenor had held a similar opinion, and had always most ably seconded Dick’s endeavours to create a friendly impression upon the natives encountered; but in the present case he was utterly opposed to their usual methods, the fact being that the idea of penetrating to the heart of the country inhabited by the mysterious white race had gradually come to be an obsession with him, and he would hear of nothing being done that might by any chance interfere with this project; his conviction being that if they adopted their usual methods they would inevitably be stopped and sent to the rightabout. Had he but known what was impending, his anxiety would probably have taken quite a different direction.
The two friends were seated in their tent, partaking of breakfast, on the following morning, when Mafuta hurriedly appeared, in a state of considerable perturbation, with the information that a strong body of armed men were approaching the camp; and upon turning out to investigate, they saw that this was indeed the case, the new arrivals being in number about a hundred, and apparently a party of soldiery, all being attired alike in a sort of uniform consisting of a sleeveless white tunic girt about the waist with a belt, and buskins reaching halfway to the knee; their heads were bare, save for a thick mop of black hair, arranged in curls which reached to the shoulders; and each man was armed with a long lance, or spear, and a shield, or target, similar to those seen on the previous day. They advanced in single file and close order, and appeared to be under the command of a man who wore a feather head-dress, whose tunic was adorned with a pattern round the hem and armholes, worked in what looked like crimson braid, upon which were sewn close together a large number of small circular disks of polished yellow metal which had the appearance of being made of brass, or, maybe, gold.
“Ah,” ejaculated Grosvenor, as he stood watching their approach, “my fears have materialised, you see, Dick! Those fellows have undoubtedly been dispatched to conduct us back to the frontier and see us safely out of the country; and here ends my longcherished hope of making the acquaintance of this mysterious white race. It is horribly exasperating, especially after we have actually reached their country, and seen for ourselves that such a people really exists.”
“Um!” retorted Dick. “Yes, it is undoubtedly provoking, as you say. But I hope nothing worse is going to happen than what you anticipate. I must confess that I do not altogether like the appearance of things in general, and the expression upon the countenances of those fellows in particular. I seem to detect indications of a cold-blooded, relentless ferocity that would cause them to convert our bodies into pincushions for those spears of theirs with as little compunction as you would impale a rare moth upon a cork with a pin. But whatever may be their intentions with regard to us, we must rigidly adhere to our usual principle of showing no fear and offering no resistance. Probably if we follow this plan they will not kill us on the spot; and while there is life there is hope and the possibility that chance may turn in our favour. Anyway, whatever may happen to us, I hope that they will spare the blacks. Possibly they may make slaves of us all. Well, we shall soon know the worst, for here they come—confound those dogs!—call them off, Phil; if they fly at any of those chaps and hurt them, there will be trouble at once! Here, Pincher, Juno, Pat, Kafoula, ’Mfan, come in, you silly duffers! Come in, I say! D’you hear me? Come in and lie down! And you too, Leo; how dare you, sir!”
Dick and Grosvenor rushed out, and with the aid of sjamboks soon quelled the disturbance and brought their motley pack into subjection, the animals having made a general dash at the intruders, when the latter arrived within some fifty yards of the wagon, while Leo, the lion cub, excited by the disturbance, had broken the rein which usually confined him to the wagon at nighttime, and had participated in the general onslaught.
At the charge of the snapping, snarling dogs the approaching body of soldiery had promptly levelled their spears, and the interference of Dick and Grosvenor had only just been in the nick of time to save the animals’ lives. The little episode left the troops and their commander absolutely expressionless, save that the latter seemed just a trifle astonished when he saw Dick coolly seize the snarling lion cub by his incipient mane and rate him roundly for his insubordinate behaviour, before he ordered the brute to retire with the dogs to the wagon. The next moment, in obedience to a sign from the officer, six couples detached themselves from the main body of the soldiery; and in a trice the two young Englishmen and their four dark-skinned followers, Mafuta, Ramoo Samee, Jantje, and ’Nkuku—the latter absolutely shivering with fear—found themselves prisoners, with their arms tightly bound behind them with stout raw-hide thongs.
“Ah,” ejaculated Dick, “this is just what I feared might happen! Still, it is perhaps better than being killed outright, and—”
“Hush!” interrupted Grosvenor, sharply. “Listen to that fellow giving orders to his men: I’ll be shot if he isn’t speaking Hebrew—or something that sounds uncommonly like it!”
“Hebrew?” echoed Dick. “Nonsense! Surely you don’t mean it?”
“Indeed I do, then,” retorted Grosvenor; “never was more serious in my life. Listen! Yes, I feel sure I was not mistaken; it is a sort of Hebrew patois that he is speaking, Hebrew, mixed up, it is true, with a number of words that I can make nothing of. Still, I can understand enough of what he is saying to make out that he is giving his fellows orders to drive in our oxen and yoke them to the wagon. You know I went in rather strongly for Hebrew when I was at Oxford, and did pretty well at it. And I don’t know what you think about it, Dick, but when I come to look at those men’s faces it seems to me that they are all of quite a distinct Jewish type—eh, what?”