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"They go against my people, so that when Muata returns there will not be one left man, woman, child, or dog to greet him, not one hut left to shelter him, not a single manioc-root for him to eat. Hassan will let in the waters upon the Garden of Rest." "Eh?" "That is his word. He has sworn it in his beard, and these jackals howl it out. They talk of new fish that are to come to their nets."
The handkerchief was converted into a turban, the box into a decoration for the breast, and then, chatting like a treeful of monkeys, the three guides went on at a quick pace. There was no midday rest, no halt for coffee-making; they had evidently been told by Muata to hurry, and whenever their white men showed a tendency to slacken, they frowned, cracked their fingers, and capered about.
I fancy I can hear the river." "Well, there is this about it, if the worst comes, and we can't find a way out, we can signal from one of these holes to people in the valley." "And Dick would find a way to rescue us Dick and Muata. Hurrah! Then we won't have to go down into that awful darkness." "No; but we may as well see where this leads to."
"We are ready," said Compton, "for the upper way for the trapeze and the aerial flight." Muata struck off into the woods, and the rest crowded on him, glancing up at every tree for signs of the new track.
"We are out at last," said the hunter, in his deep tones. "Off with the awning, Muata; let us breathe again." The awning was thrown back, and the boys sat up, drawing in the air in great gulps. "This is but the beginning," said the woman. "A little further and your eyes will rest on the gardens below and the hilltops above. You will skip like the he-goat from rock to rock.
When he sees a single vulture in the sky, he knows there are others coming behind. A white man comes out of the beyond into the black man's country. He is soft-spoken; he is a hunter only. Mawoh! and behind him comes an army." "What do you know about white men, Muata?" "The wise men at the hiding-place talked. They knew one such. He lived among them. His ways were strange.
"One of those who hound me in the canoe even one of the man-hunters who seized my mother." Mr. Hume looked at the boys. "Did either of you see an Arab on board? Muata says a man was about to fire at him when he sprang overboard." "I thought he fell," said Compton. "I saw no one with a gun." "Nor I," said Venning; "but the Arab may have gone below." Mr. Hume hailed the captain.
And what made their helplessness the more felt, was the knowledge that Muata knew so much, and that others the mysterious pigmies knew still more.
"So, then, they have been waiting for us?" "On both sides of the river they have been waiting;" and the chief looked out over the brown flood towards the north bank. "It was well you talked to the man, for he was skillfully disguised, even to me, who am no child in these matters." "Muata is old in cunning," said the chief, quietly. "If he were not wise, he would not be dreaded by the Wolf."
Haw!" "She let the water in to save the people of the valley, and Hassan's men were lost utterly; but the first victim was your mother, Muata." "It was a good death," said Muata, after a long pause. "Ay, it was a good death, chief. Now send your men up the cliff, so that they overlook the river-gates."
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