第52章 CHAPTER XV MORNING IN THE BERG(2)

Playing football, I used to notice how towards the end of a game I might be sore and weary, without a kick in my body; but when I had a straight job of tackling a man my strength miraculously returned. It was even so now. I lay on my side, luxuriating in being still, and slowly a sort of vigour crept back into my limbs. Perhaps a half-hour of rest was given me before, on the lip of the gully, I saw figures appear. Looking down I saw several men who had come across from the opposite side of the valley, scrambling up the stream. I got to my feet, with Colin bristling beside me, and awaited them with the stiffest face I could muster.

As I expected, they were Machudi's men. I recognized them by the red ochre in their hair and their copper-wire necklets.

Big fellows they were, long-legged and deep in the chest, the true breed of mountaineers. I admired their light tread on the slippery rock. It was hopeless to think of evading such men in their own hills.

The men from the side joined the men in front, and they stood looking at me from about twelve yards off. They were armed only with knobkerries, and very clearly were no part of Laputa's army. This made their errand plain to me.

'Halt!' I said in Kaffir, as one of them made a hesitating step to advance. 'Who are you and what do you seek?'

There was no answer, but they looked at me curiously.

Then one made a motion with his stick. Colin gave a growl, and would have been on him if I had not kept a hand on his collar.

The rash man drew back, and all stood stiff and perplexed.

'Keep your hands by your side,' I said, 'or the dog, who has a devil, will devour you. One of you speak for the rest and tell me your purpose.'

For a moment I had a wild notion that they might be friends, some of Arcoll's scouts, and out to help me. But the first words shattered the fancy.

'We are sent by Inkulu,' the biggest of them said. 'He bade us bring you to him.'

'And what if I refuse to go?'

'Then, Baas, we must take you to him. We are under the vow of the Snake.'

'Vow of fiddlestick!' I cried. 'Who do you think is the bigger chief, the Inkulu or Ratitswan? I tell you Ratitswan is now driving Inkulu before him as a wind drives rotten leaves. It will be well for you, men of Machudi, to make peace with Ratitswan and take me to him on the Berg. If you bring me to him, I and he will reward you; but if you do Inkulu's bidding you will soon be hunted like buck out of your hills.'

They grinned at one another, but I could see that my words had no effect. Laputa had done his business too well.

The spokesman shrugged his shoulders in the way the Kaffirs have.

'We wish you no ill, Baas, but we have been bidden to take you to Inkulu. We cannot disobey the command of the Snake.'

My weakness was coming on me again, and I could talk no more. I sat down plump on the ground, almost falling into the pool. 'Take me to Inkulu,' I stammered with a dry throat, 'I do not fear him;' and I rolled half-fainting on my back.

These clansmen of Machudi were decent fellows. One of them had some Kaffir beer in a calabash, which he gave me to drink. The stuff was thin and sickly, but the fermentation in it did me good. I had the sense to remember my need of sleep.

'The day is young,' I said, 'and I have come far. I ask to be allowed to sleep for an hour.'

The men made no difficulty, and with my head between Colin's paws I slipped into dreamless slumber.

When they wakened me the sun was beginning to climb the sky, I judged it to be about eight o'clock. They had made a little fire and roasted mealies. Some of the food they gave me, and I ate it thankfully. I was feeling better, and I think a pipe would have almost completed my cure.

But when I stood up I found that I was worse than I had thought. The truth is, I was leg-weary, which you often see in horses, but rarely in men. What the proper explanation is I do not know, but the muscles simply refuse to answer the direction of the will. I found my legs sprawling like a child's who is learning to walk.