"Go down to the barricade," he said. "See whether the guards are at their posts, and bring Mirambo to me."
He signed to the people to fall back to their huts, and beckoned to Moses, who had been hanging on the outskirts of the crowd, looking with a somewhat nervous and sheepish air at his late master.
"Give Herr Reinecke some food," said Tom. "Herr Reinecke, you will remain where you are for the present. You cannot escape: if you make an attempt you will be shot. I will give you proper quarters presently."
The German responded with a glare of venomous hate, and turned away.
[CHAPTER XVI--DRAWN BLANK]
When Mirambo came up, hard on the heels of Mwesa, he too fell on his face and greeted Tom with an air of mingled humility and gratitude. In the absence of the m'sungu his position had been a difficult one. The men of the hunting party had come dropping in singly and in small groups, and the story they told, magnifying the numbers of the enemy, had struck consternation and fear into the hearts of the people. If the m'sungu was gone, what would become of them? Who would tell them what to do? How could they deal with white men's war-power without a white man to help them? Some of the weaker-kneed among them had talked of fleeing from the nullah and betaking themselves to M'setu, and it had needed all Mirambo's authority to check the panic. He had reminded them of what the m'sungu had already done: how he had escaped the snares of Reinecke, quelled the German drill-sergeant with a look, led them forth with Reinecke himself a prisoner, shown them how to fortify the nullah, driven back the enemy. Surely one who had done all this would not now fall a prey to the evil men; surely he would come back to them.
Strangely enough, as Tom thought, the old chief's arguments had been strongly backed by the askaris, who, as fighting-men, were held in respect by the Wahehe. They expressed the utmost confidence that the m'sungu would return, and declared for holding the nullah at least until it was definitely known what had become of him. No doubt their motive was complicated by fear of the consequences if they fell into German hands and were treated as deserters; but Tom did not know this, and when he heard of their loyalty he abandoned his last objections, and resolved to incorporate them in his fighting force.
He listened to Mirambo's story, interpreted by Mwesa, only for a minute or two, for there was work to be done. During Mwesa's absence he had rapidly made his plans. The German askaris in the ravine above had almost certainly heard the shouts which had greeted his arrival. Their officer would send men forward to discover the meaning of the shouts, and what had happened to Reinecke and the Arab. They would no doubt move with caution, and, unfamiliar with the ground, would take some time in scouting over the rough, steep slopes, and would probably hesitate to adventure into the cleft which dropped deep into the unknown. If they came so far as to find the body of Haroun, they were more likely to hasten back with the news than to court danger or death themselves by descending lower. What action, then, would the lieutenant take? He would wish to learn his superior officer's fate, probably come down with his men, and, if he discovered the passage into the nullah, might risk an attack.
Tom felt that he must first guard against this. Getting Mirambo to choose a dozen of the best shots, he sent them up the ladder, with orders to post themselves in the cleft behind bushes or boulders, and fire at the enemy if they appeared. Though outnumbered, with the advantage of position and surprise they could probably check the descent. In case they should be driven back, he ordered Mirambo himself to hold thirty men under cover near the margin of the lake, and at the same time to keep Reinecke under guard. Mirambo was the last man in the world to be overcome by any German blandishments.
The non-combatants--old men, women and children--must be protected from harm. He ordered them to withdraw some little distance down the nullah, out of range of fire either from above or from the ground at the foot of the cliff.