"I reached the stone; I remember rolling it away, and after that I remember no more."
The narration of this story was too much for the man"s strength. As he said the last words he fell backward in a faint.
For the rest of the night they camped in the open air, sleeping around a fire. They remained upon the mountain-top for four days. The German troops had evidently left the district, and though Harry and Jim hunted in the valley, and succeeded in shooting some guinea-fowl, they saw no signs of von Hardenberg and the sheikh, who had evidently pushed forward on their way towards Maziriland and the Caves of Zoroaster.
It is remarkable how quickly they were completely restored to health.
Food and water and the freshness of the mountain air lent their a.s.sistance to Nature; and even Cortes, who had been so severely wounded, rapidly regained his strength. Indeed the wound was already healed, and all he required was nourishment and rest.
When they were able to continue their journey, they decided to advance with the greatest caution. A few miles farther on they would come to a long valley, two hundred miles in length, which led directly towards the frontier of Maziriland. Cortes knew of a path that ran along the crest-line of the mountains, whence they would be able to survey the surrounding country except such as was hidden by the density of the bush. If they followed this there would be small chance of their being taken by surprise, either by the Germans or von Hardenberg and the sheikh.
At first they marched by easy stages, in order not to overtax their strength. This part of the mountain was inhabited by a great number of rock-rabbits, many of which they were able to kill with sticks; and these rabbits soon found their way into the cooking-pot.
By degrees they made their daily marches longer. They were anxious to overtake Captain von Hardenberg and the Black Dog, who were evidently several miles in advance. Finally they marched by night, the guides taking a direct route by the stars.
Suddenly, one midnight, as they rounded a great spur of rock, they saw a small light, dim and twinkling in the distance like a star, far below them in the valley.
"Look there!" cried Harry, pointing ahead.
"Is it a camp-fire?" asked Braid, turning to the two guides, who stood together.
Both bowed their heads.
"It is a camp-fire," said Fernando. "It is the camp-fire of the Black Dog of the Cameroons."
CHAPTER XVII--A Shot by Night
Towards morning the fire dwindled and went out. At daylight they could see no sign of von Hardenberg and his companion. The entire valley appeared deserted. In this part of the country there were no villages, the valleys being too barren and infertile for agriculture.
The next night the bivouac-fire was again visible, this time nearer than before. On the third night they were not more than seven or eight miles in rear of those whom they pursued.
On these occasions they were careful that their own fire should not be observed. They always lit it under the cover of large rocks or boulders, screening it from the north. They had every reason to suppose that the sheikh and his companion believed them dead. The Black Dog had doubtless told his employer that their pursuers had been buried alive in the crater of the old volcano.
Every night they were careful to post a sentry, and, on one occasion, when the first signs of dawn were visible in the east, Harry--who was on watch--suddenly heard a sound, faint but very distinct, immediately behind his back.
He turned quickly, but could see nothing. He waited for some moments, holding his breath, with his finger ready on the trigger of his revolver.
Nothing happened. The boy imagined that the sound had been caused by a rock-rabbit or a mountain-rat, and was about to resume his former position, when something descended upon him with a spring like that of a tiger.
In the nick of time he jumped aside. He saw a white figure rushing violently through s.p.a.ce. In the moonlight he saw the flash of a knife that missed him by the fraction of an inch, and the next moment he was full length upon the ground, struggling in the arms of a powerful and savage man.
[Ill.u.s.tration: IN THE MOONLIGHT HE SAW THE FLASH OF A KNIFE THAT MISSED HIM BY THE FRACTION OF AN INCH]
Locked together in a death-grip, they rolled over and over, first one on top and then the other. There was a loud shout, which came from the lips of Braid, and at that the two guides sprang to their feet and hastened to Harry"s a.s.sistance.
The struggle ended as suddenly as it had begun. One second, strong fingers gripped Harry by the throat, and the next his adversary was gone. He had vanished like a ghost; he had slipped away like an eel.
Harry Urquhart sprang to his feet and listened. He heard a laugh--a wild, fiendish laugh--far away in the night. Stooping, he picked up a bare knife that was lying on the ground.
"I wrenched this from his hand," said he, showing the knife to Fernando.
The half-caste examined it in the firelight. It was a knife of Arab design.
"That," said he, "is the knife of the Black Dog."
"Why did he not fire?" asked Harry.
"Evidently because he did not wish to warn the Germans. That is a bad sign; it means that the German troops are in the neighbourhood."
The following night, when they scanned the valley, they could see no sign of the camp-fire of von Hardenberg and the Arab. The sheikh, having failed in his enterprise on the previous evening, was evidently determined to exercise greater caution. Harry examined the valley with his gla.s.ses, not only to the north but also to the west and to the east.
However, he could see no sign of their enemies.
"I do not like the look of it," said Fernando. "So long as we knew where the Black Dog was, we had the whip hand of him. We must be prepared for the worst."
"Surely," said Harry, "he will push on towards Maziriland?"
"The shortest way is not always the quickest," answered the other. "As likely as not he has gone back upon his tracks, and even now is encamped somewhere behind us."
That night they deemed it advisable to light no fire. Seated amid the rocks on the crest-line of the hills, where the wind moaned and howled from the west, they held a council of war. It was decided that, during the march on the following day, the two guides should act as scouts, the elder moving some distance in advance of the three Europeans, Cortes following in rear.
By the time the sun rose above the mountain-tops, they were well upon their way. At mid-day they halted for a meal, and it was then that Cortes came running to the bivouac.
"Come here!" he cried. "I have seen them."
They followed the man to the crest-line, crawling on hands and knees.
Only Peter Klein remained by the fire. Since they had escaped from the crater of the volcano no one had spoken to the man. The guides showed only too plainly that they despised him, and neither Harry nor Braid were disposed to forgive the scoundrel for having stolen their last drop of water.
They came to a place where the valley-side dropped down in an almost perpendicular cliff. Far below was a little grove of trees, around which a stream meandered, its waters glistening in the sunshine. Beyond the grove, on the other side of the valley, following a kind of bridle-path that led to the north, were five men, one of whom was dressed in robes of flowing white.
"That is the sheikh," said Fernando. "He walks by the side of the German."
"And the other three?" asked Braid.
"They are natives from the bush. The sheikh has doubtless enlisted their services during the last three days. The natives dare not refuse him labour. He was all-powerful when he was a slave-trader; fear of him pa.s.sed from village to village by word of mouth. On an expedition such as this, he is doubly to be dreaded, because he has friends among the Maziris themselves."
"Then," cried Harry, "supposing he tells the tribe to rise against us?"
"There is little fear of that," said Fernando. "He is hated by the chiefs and head-men, who resent the authority he wields over many of the people."
"Then, what will he do when he draws near to the caves?"
"He will rob by night," said Cortes. "Under cover of darkness he will endeavour to secure the treasure."
"My brother," said the elder man, laying a hand upon the other"s shoulder, "tell me, how far away is Black Dog?"