"They can"t use them."
"Of course they can"t; but you"ll have to turn yourself into a musketry instructor. Meanwhile I must give that fellow Nando some sort of reward. It will encourage him and the others too."
When daylight broke Mr. Martindale went down to the river while Barney was preparing breakfast. There was no trace of the enemy. Presumably they had set their canoes afloat and drifted down stream in the darkness. They had no doubt reckoned on surprising the camp, and their calculations had been upset by the certainty of meeting with resistance, the fact that the travellers were poorly armed being forgotten in the panic bred of the sudden uproar in the night.
After breakfast Mr. Martindale had the men paraded in a semicircle around the tent, and, sitting on a stool in front of it, with Jack on one side and Barney on the other, he called Nando forward.
"We are very much pleased with your watchfulness, Nando."
The negro grinned, and with a ludicrous air of importance translated the sentence to his comrades.
"It is due to you that we were not surprised in the dark: you did very well, and set an excellent example to the men."
"Me plenty clebber, sah, oh yes!"
"I shall take care in future to have our camp more closely guarded, and punish any carelessness. But now, to show how pleased I am with you, I am going to give you a little present."
Nando"s mouth spread from ear to ear. He translated the announcement to the negroes, looking round upon them with an expression of triumphant satisfaction that tickled Jack"s sense of humour. Barney had shut one eye; his lips were twitching.
"But before I do that," went on Mr. Martindale, "I want you to tell us how you came to discover the enemy in the darkness."
Nando for a moment looked a little nonplussed, scratching his head and shifting from foot to foot. Then inspiration seized him; he elaborately cleared his throat, snapped his fingers, crossed his arms on his brawny chest, and began--
"Me no get sleep, me get up and go round about, fink see if ma.s.sa"s fings all right. Me stop, go sick inside; one, two eyes like twinkle twinkle look down out of tree." He waved his arm towards the acacia under which he had been sleeping. "Me fink dis plenty bad; what for man lib for hide in tree and look at Nando? Me no "fraid, no, no; me walk all same, like me no see nuffin. Yah! me see all same, wait long time, man no fit for see Nando. Bimeby man come down like snake, creep, creep, "long, "long; me go too, what for? "cos man plenty bad man, him go "Bini gun, him go into wood. What for? Muss see; s"pose he go fetch bad man and shoot ma.s.sa? He no come dis way "less he lib for do bad fings. Him got "Bini gun, me got spear; no good! Me no "fraid. Plenty debbils in forest! Me no "fraid. Ma.s.sa say Nando look after fings; all same: Nando look after, no "fraid, "Bini gun, debbils and all. What for? Ma.s.sa him Nando him fader and mudder. S"pose bad men shoot; s"pose debbil come; all same: muss do what ma.s.sa say, look after fings, look after ma.s.sa. Me no "fraid!"
Again Nando paused and scratched his head, looking troubled. Then his face cleared; he took a deep breath and continued--
"Me go "long "long after bad man. He come to place no trees, gra.s.s all same: one, two, twenty, fousand bad men dah. Bad man say "Kwa te! Kwa te!"[2] Dey talk, oh yes! whish! whish! same as trees when wind make talk. Me get behind tree; me hab got two, four, twenty ears. Me listen! Dey say come, creep, creep, bring "Bini gun; white man all "sleep; black man come, no nise, shoot: oh my gracious! White man all lib for dead! Me no "fraid!"
"Who was the chief of these bad men?" interrupted Mr. Martindale.
"Boloko, sah!--Samba him uncle."
"But how could you tell that in the dark?"
"Dey hab got light: one, two, twenty tiny small fire on stick."
"Torches, he means, I suppose," said Mr. Martindale. "How did you find your way back in the dark?"
"Yah! Me know all "bout dat. Me lib long time in forest, oh yes! Me fight little tiny men; dey plenty small, plenty good fighter all same; shoot one, two, free arrow; one, two, free fings gone dead. Me fight dem; so me find way like leopard."
"Well, you"re a clever fellow, and you did very well. Here is a present for you."
He took from his pocket a huge bone-handled penknife, and displayed its various parts one by one: four blades, a corkscrew, a file, a hook, and an awl. Nando"s eyes opened wide with delight; he chuckled gloatingly as one after another these treasures came to view. Mr. Martindale was shutting them up before handing over the knife when Barney stepped quietly forward, touched his cap and said--
"If you plase, sorr, before you part wid this handsome presentation, will I have yer leave to ax Mr. Nando wan question?"
"Why, you can if you like," said Mr. Martindale in surprise.
"Thank you, your honour. Now Mr. Nando, would you plase tell us if you ate a big supper uv maniac last night?"
"Manioc, Barney," corrected Jack with a smile.
"Sure that"s what I said, sorr! Would you plase tell his honour, Mr.
Nando?"
The man looked in amazement from one to another. He seemed to suspect a pitfall, but was puzzled to make out the bearing of the question.
"Sure I speak plain. Did ye, or did ye not, eat a big supper uv anything at all last night?"
"Me eat plenty little manioc," said Nando, thinking he was expected to defend himself against a charge of gluttony. "Me no pig like common black man."
"And you did not get a pain?"--here Barney helped out his meaning with pantomime--"nor dream all that terrible wild stuff you have just been telling us?"
"Me no can dream!" cried Nando, indignantly. "Me say true fings all same."
"Sure, thin, if your supper didn"t give ye the nightmare, mine did.
Begorra! "twas a mighty terrible dream I dreamt, indeed, Mr. Nando. I dreamt you was snoring like a pig--like a common black pig, to be sure; and there came a little spalpeen uv a black bhoy, a common black bhoy, and shook ye by the shoulder, and called "Baa! Baa! Bloko!" and some more I disremimber now; and thin----"
Nando, who had been looking more and more uneasy, here interrupted, hurriedly addressing Mr. Martindale--
"Me plenty sick inside, sah," he said, pressing his hands to the pit of his stomach. "Me eat plenty too much manioc all same."
Crestfallen and abashed the big fellow slunk away, Jack roaring with laughter, Mr. Martindale looking on in speechless amazement.
"Begorra, sorr," said Barney, ""tis a born liar he is. He was fast in the arms uv murphies, or maniac, speaking by the card, till the bhoy Samba woke him up. "Twas Samba, sorr, that spied the enemy, and "twas me little darlint uv a dog that gave the first alarm. Give a dog his due, sorr, and if you plase, give Samba the knife."
Mr. Martindale first looked annoyed, then broke into hearty laughter.
He called for Samba, who came up smiling, with Pat at his heels.
"Where"s that villain Nando?" cried Mr. Martindale. "He shall come and interpret."
In response to a summons Nando came from behind the crowd of natives.
He had recovered his composure, and translated with glib and smiling unconcern the story which Samba told. Only when Mr. Martindale handed Samba the knife did the negro look sorry.
"Me no lib for eat too big lot manioc nudder time," he said glumly, as he went away.
[1] Wake up!
[2] Hush!
CHAPTER VI