Forging the Blades Part 4

But those coast dwellers--_Hau_! They are only half men. All the _man_ is burnt out of them among the sugar canes and the fever." Then, with bitterness, "But what is a chief in these days? _I_ am no chief. Every white man is chief now, if he is sent by Government--every white _boy_, rather. There are no chiefs left in the land of Zulu. Even those of our people who act as dogs to the courts of the white magistrates think they are chiefs over us. _Hau_!"

And Verna had answered consolingly--

"No one, in all the land of Zulu--white or not--could mistake Sapazani for anything but a chief."

Now, her customers having retired outside, and there being no sign of others arriving, Verna betook herself outside too. The rich glow of suns.h.i.+ne filled the air, seeming to envelop the fine form of this splendid daughter of the wilderness in its sensuous embrace. She stood for a moment gazing forth--her clear eyes dilating upon the glories of the far-spreading landscape. Then her glance rested upon her father, who, seated under a tree a little way distant, was engaged in apparently earnest converse with a single Zulu.

The latter she recognised as one Undhlawafa, a man she knew well, and the favourite and trusted induna of Sapazani. What were they talking about? she wondered. Well, whatever it was she would not interrupt them, so she pa.s.sed on into the dwelling-house.

Undhlawafa, who up till then had been talking preliminary commonplace, half turned to make sure she was safely out of earshot. Then he went on to expatiate on a very large koodoo bull that was always to be met with of late in the same haunts down yonder in the Lumisana forest. And now the moon was nearly at full. Horns? Such horns, went on Undhlawafa.

_Whau_! Horns of such a size had never been seen. His listener was vividly interested.

The matter touched Ben Halse on two points of his character--love of sport, and love of money-making. For the first, he, an old up-country man, resented the restrictions as to the killing of game that had come in with the British occupation of Zululand. These were all very well up to a certain point, but when it came to being obliged to obtain a magisterial permit to kill one head of anything in particular, why, then it became a bit chafing. It was one thing to restrict big shooting-parties from outside coming in and slaughtering everything indiscriminately, but to prohibit an old pioneer like himself from shooting a buck of any sort when he wanted to, was another. Prohibition or not, however, many a head of game did fall at the full of the moon, when Ben Halse chose to take the war-path; and every such head would have entailed upon him a ruinous fine did the circ.u.mstance come to the ears of the authorities, together with sufficient evidence to support a prosecution. Well, as to that, he took chances, as he had done all his life with regard to everything. One thing was certain--none of the natives would give him away, and there were no whites in the neighbourhood within a long distance. Now and again a patrol of mounted police would pa.s.s that way, but he would always be informed of the approach of such at least half-a-dozen hours before its arrival. Then, when it did arrive, why, Ben Halse's hospitality was a household word among the Field Force division of that useful corps, the Natal Police.

So much for the first. But for the second, wherein did the love of money-making come? In this way: The trader was in touch with a wealthy and enthusiastic collector of every kind of natural history specimen.

The latter was resident in England, and would pay almost any price for a record specimen of anything, and in this way Ben Halse had made quite a little income. Now the horns of this koodoo, as described by Undhlawafa, and even allowing for native exaggeration, sounded like a very "record" pair indeed. It would fetch a long price, apart from the fun of a bit of night-poaching, which last appealed to the adventurous side of the old pioneer. But not out of sheer love of money for its own sake did the latter never let slip an opportunity of making it. No; it was on Verna's account, and up till now he had done very well indeed.

So Ben Halse and the induna agreed to stalk the big koodoo bull with the "record" horns on the following night.

Then Undhlawafa began to talk about other things. He had produced a sovereign and was playing with it. The round gold which the whites had brought them was good, he said presently. Every one desired it, white or black. There was a spot down in the Lumisana forest where twenty times ten of such pieces were hidden. They were, in fact, hidden there for U' Ben to take out when he pleased--upon certain conditions.

Upon certain conditions! Yes. Two hundred sovereigns made up a very comfortable haul. There were two or three packages, the Zulu went on to explain, that U' Ben was required to bring from a certain quarter for Sapazani and one other. U' Ben had a waggon, and he had ridden loads for them before. Had he not always been paid promptly and well? And the trader answered unhesitatingly that he had. Yet he seemed in no hurry to close with the offer. The other, as the way of his race is, manifested no impatience.

"The money is there. It can be taken before anything is done," went on Undhlawafa. "U' Ben's word is as certain as that the sun will rise.

The conditions will be fulfilled."

We have said that Ben Halse's record was not quite clear; that there were dark hints whispered against him with regard to liquor-smuggling and gun-running. As for the latter, whatever had been done in that line had been done during the civil war in the country what time the Usutu party and Sibepu were striving for the mastery. In common with all others of his cla.s.s and tradition, and with many others besides, he held that if the natives chose to get up a fight among themselves that was their look-out, and, in fact, so much the better, in that it would serve the dual purpose of keeping down their numbers, and giving them the opportunity of letting loose the spirit of Donnybrook upon _each other_; wherefore if they wanted firearms for that purpose he had no scruple in supplying the side that would pay the highest price. Now, however, the case was different. Undhlawafa's "dark" talking was clear enough to him. Such a bribe as two hundred pounds could only mean one thing, and that was not liquor-smuggling.

"The load is there," went on the Zulu. "It is only for bringing it in-- the price. Is it not high enough?"

Still Ben Halse did not reply. Yes, the circ.u.mstances now were different. The country was now fairly populated with whites, among them hundreds of women and children. All of these he knew were virtually sitting on the crater of a volcano, and he had often said so, only to be derided as a scaremonger. He, however, knew that sooner or later the eruption would take place.

As Undhlawafa had said, this man's word was as certain as that the sun would rise; and this held good equally among white and black. But when it came to a question of making money--though never known to go back upon his word--Ben Halse was not scrupulous as to how he made it. In dealing with natives of authority or position, or both, and, indeed, with many others, he had found them absolutely reliable. He knew now that were he to demand double the price of the service asked of him he would almost certainly receive it; yet he was in no hurry to close with the offer. The induna, the while, sat placidly taking snuff. Then Verna's clear voice was heard.

"Father, come along in. The dinner will be spoiled."

"We will go after that big koodoo bull to-night, Undhlawafa," he said, rising to go inside.

"_Nkose_!"

"Whatever have you and old Undhlawafa been yarning about all this time, dear?" asked Verna, as they sat at table.

"He says there's a thundering big koodoo bull down in the Lumisana, one with record horns. We are going after him to-night."

Verna half started from her chair and her eyes sparkled.

"What fun! Why, so we will."

"Hallo! _We_! Now my 'we' didn't include a girl."

"No? It included this girl, though," was the tranquil reply.

"Did it? I've only got one girl, and I'm not going to have her breaking her neck over stones, or scratching her eyes out in the dark, in that infernal tangle, or getting bitten by some beastly black mamba, or something of that sort."

Verna's eyes danced.

"Since when have you discovered that I was made of sugar, dear?" she said sweetly. "I've never been into the bush with you before, have I?

Never helped you to defy the game laws of--I was going to say _our_ country, but it's hard to tell exactly whose country it is. Never--have I?"

"Oh well, I'm getting old now, and the part we are going into isn't adapted to a skirt. Besides--"

"Besides--what?"

"Nothing."

Perhaps that other consideration had occurred to him. Decidedly she would be in the way--under certain circ.u.mstances.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter," rejoined Verna tranquilly. "I'm going, anyhow."

CHAPTER FIVE.

THE TEMPTATION.

Tall tree-trunks, straight standing or curved; a tangle of creepers and undergrowth; long rank gra.s.s, and a general effluvium of decay and stuffiness unpleasantly suggestive of fever--such were the general features of the Lumisana forest.

Its depths were gloomy and desolate to the last degree, and seldom penetrated. The natives carefully avoided the place, and if they did enter it would never do so except in groups. It was the haunt of dangerous snakes, of fierce and aggressive specimens of the mamba tribe, and of abnormal size, they held; and these there was no avoiding among the long gra.s.s and tangled undergrowth. Further, it was the especial haunt of the _Inswelaboya_--a species of hairless monster, half ghost, half human, given to strangling its victims on sight; and this was a more weighty consideration even than the fear of venomous reptiles.

This feeling on the part of the natives had its advantages, for the forest const.i.tuted part of one of the large tracts utilised as game preserves. Here koodoo were plentiful, with a sprinkling of the splendid sable antelope. Buffalo, too, haunted its gloomy depths, where the reed-fringed pools in the clearing afforded them a wallowing-place-- and there was even a specimen or two of the rare white rhino. All these, of course, were rigidly protected, so far as it was possible to police so wild and difficult a tract of country at all. But the larger kind of game flourished. The natives, as we have said, shunned this gloomy wilderness, nor were the means of destruction at their disposal adequate. White men seldom came here, for permits were rarely given, and, failing such, the very act of getting the spoils away would have led to certain detection. But with Ben Halse the case was altogether different. He had exceptional advantages. He was resident on the spot, and knew every corner of those remote fastnesses. Then, too, he was hand in glove with the powerful chief of the district, and not a man of that chief's following would have dreamed of giving him away.

Now he was making his way along a narrow game path. Verna walked immediately behind him--they had left their horses at a kraal on the high ground, for this stuffy, forest-covered valley bottom was not altogether devoid of the tsetse fly. Behind her again walked Undhlawafa, followed by several Zulus in single file.

"I'm going to have first shot, dear," whispered Verna, over her father's shoulder.

"Don't know. What if you miss?" he returned. "Those horns'll be worth a devil of a lot."

"But I shan't miss. No, you must let me have first shot. I so seldom get a look in at anything big."

She carried a light, sporting .303, its magazine loaded with Dum-dum cartridges. She knew how to use it, too, and hand and nerve were steady as rock. She was arrayed in just the costume for an expedition of the kind, a plain blouse and short bicycle skirt, and looked exceedingly ready and sportsmanlike; and after some couple of hours' walk over anything but easy ground, her step was as elastic as though she had just sallied forth.

Night had fallen, and though a glorious moon was sailing in the clear sky, so thick were the tall tree-tops that, meeting overhead, they plunged the pathway into gloom, networked here and there by the penetrating moonbeams. But here was none of the stillness of night.

Large owls hooted loud and spectrally, and the nursery-like squall of the "bush-baby"--a species of lemur--was thrown forth, and echoed and answered from near and far. Now and then a sudden scuffle and rumbling retreat told that a buck had been disturbed and was making himself hurriedly scarce; or, not so harmless, perchance, a stealthy rustle in the gra.s.s would bring the party to a standstill.

"That's the worst of this walking in the dark," said Ben Halse. "You never know when some infernal black mamba may jump up and hit you bang in the face. Then--good-night! Or you may tread on his tail while he's getting out of the way. Which amounts to the same thing."

There was always the risk of this, of course, but risks have to be taken. Verna, for her part, was keenly enjoying this clandestine night-poaching expedition. There was that about it which appealed powerfully to her, and every fibre of her strong, healthy being thrilled with the sheer joy of life. Then, suddenly, the moonlight burst in through the trees in front. They had come to the edge of an open s.p.a.ce.