Calling a dozen warriors, he, with George, made a rush after the escaping fugitives, and before the limit of the village was reached they were surrounded and carried back.
The Illyas warriors were now in a panic. There seemed to be no one to order a surrender or a retreat. John ordered Uraso to have his men spread out to prevent escape in either direction, and as he turned to execute the order, Harry and George returned with the prisoners.
At the sight of the captives Uraso shouted the order to his men, and quickly turning to John, who was slightly in the advance, cried out: "Here are the chief and his princ.i.p.al advisers."
John turned to look and noticed that they were surrounded by the men in charge of Harry and George.
"Good work," he said. "Demand that he tell his men to surrender." And Uraso repeated the message.
The chief saw the situation, but refused to give the order.
"Then we shall have to kill them, and unless you surrender we shall attack at once."
He had hardly finished the words when Muro, seeing the condition of affairs, left their fortress, and rushing forward scaled the low entrenchments, directing a volley into the now thoroughly disorganized and excited warriors. The entire body of Illyas had seen the capture of their chiefs.
The appearance of the chiefs at the head of the column commanded by John made his position safe from attack. Whether the chief refused to comply with Uraso"s demand from stubbornness, or because he was paralyzed at the sudden changes from his fancied security, was not apparent at the time.
The warriors now advanced with guns ready for a volley, and the chief saw that resistance was useless. He held up his hand as a signal. John rushed forward toward the oncoming warriors led by Muro, and the latter, seeing the chief in the hands of Uraso, ordered his men to halt.
Meanwhile the forces under Uraso had spread out and were approaching the halting warriors, who, one by one, threw down their bows, and, as they did so, were marched to the open central part of the village and surrounded by the men led by Muro on one side and Uraso on the other.
John rushed back to the cordon surrounding the chiefs.
Up to this time not the sign of a woman or a child had been seen. But when order was finally restored and the defenseless warriors were herded together as compactly as possible, the huts surrounding the main buildings were opened, as by magic, and the women poured forth wailing and shrieking.
It was bedlam let loose. They pictured all the terrors of captivity.
They knew what it meant. They pa.s.sed around the cordon beating their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and shrieking like demoniacs. John, motioning to Muro and Uraso, stepped aside, and ordered the chiefs to follow.
"This is the building they came out of," said George quietly to John.
"Then it will be a good place to hold the conference. Uraso, instruct your men not to allow anyone to leave his place within the circle, and then attend the conference with us."
The guards followed John as he entered the building. The boys were eager to see the interior. Once within they saw a dozen women and twice that number of children huddled together in one of the rooms. The entrance from the main door in front led directly into a hall, and at the rear end of the hall was a large room the entire width of the building.
Several smaller rooms were on each side of the hall. It was, to all appearance, arranged like an American or European dwelling, the entire interior being finished in wood, but in a terribly dilapidated condition.
The surprise was still greater when they found in the interior of the great room a number of articles of furniture, such as chairs, tables, settees, and articles which, in their younger days, might have been rugs. Parts of bedsteads were littered around, broken articles of furniture were scattered here and there, and everywhere the place was lavish with dirt.
The boys had seen many native places where filth had acc.u.mulated, but the atmosphere seemed to fairly reek. It appeared so to the boys, who had lived so much in the open, and who had such vivid imaginations that the wrecked condition of the interior suggested a worse atmosphere than there really was.
It was not close or confined, that was certain; for the places which once, evidently, had windows, did not contain even the suggestion of gla.s.s. It was one ma.s.s of broken, misplaced, jumbled up belongings, that would require the rebus manager of a magazine to a.s.semble in order.
When Uraso returned, and the chiefs were placed before them, the boys had an opportunity to study the famous chief of the Illyas. They took occasion to compare him with the others, for the boys now knew all of them.
He was a man, probably sixty years of age, with the most curious headdress, which was worked to imitate, somewhat, the crown, to which his position ent.i.tled him. He wore a brightly colored mantle, if it could be called such, for it was simply thrown over one shoulder, and its pendant ends were bound to the waist by a wide girdle.
He wore short trousers, or pantalets, and Harry could hardly keep from laughing, as George suggested that he was ultra-English in the way his trousers were rolled up. He had the face of a man of authority. His every action and look betokened one who knew his authority, and the first question, together with the imperious manner of uttering it, indicated that he was a king, and he knew it.
He looked at Uraso and Muro, both chiefs, and equal to him in rank. He did it with such an imperious air as plainly indicated that he considered them his inferiors. Uraso and Muro stood there, with arms folded, dignified, and returned his gaze with a dignity that won the admiration of the boys.
"I wonder how Uraso and Muro feel now, when they have that old devil at their mercy?" George whispered to Harry.
When the circle had been arranged the chief, Oroto, addressed John in this terse manner:
"What do you want?"
The question came like a shot. It was the first word he had said.
Neither of the others had asked for information, nor had they deigned to notice him, as they were marching to the council chamber. This neglect on the part of Muro and Uraso may have nettled him. The att.i.tude of the chiefs plainly irritated him.
It is well known that people of this kind are very sensitive to slights, or what they consider so. It is just as likely that the two chiefs purposely neglected him in that manner to make the humiliation the more complete.
CHAPTER XV
THE RESCUE OF FIVE CAPTIVES
The question for the moment nettled John. Here was a prisoner, powerless in his hands, imperiously demanding of his captors what they wanted. It may not have occurred to him that such a question was out of place.
John drew himself up, and with that piercing glance which he could give, leaned forward, and slowly, but with terrible emphasis, answered: "Nothing."
It was now the chief"s turn to show a look of surprise. He looked at John, and his eyes wandered to Uraso and Muro. Neither indicated the slightest curiosity at the answer. Not another word was said as John kept his eye on the chief.
Then seeing that he had a different kind of creature to deal with than any he had heretofore met, addressed John in an entirely different tone of voice:
"Why have you captured me and my warriors, and why do you intend to destroy my village and take my women and children?"
"Because that is what you have been doing all your life. We do not ask you to give us anything. We have taken everything you have and shall not ask you for permission in anything we do. We have no desire to injure you or your people, and whether we shall do so will depend on your action. If you will give us certain information it may make it easier for you, but if you do not tell us it will go hard with you."
"I am ready to listen."
"Did you receive the messenger I sent you three days ago?"
"Yes."
"What did he tell you?"
"That you intended to kill me and my people."
"Did he not tell you that we did not want war, but peace, but that you must give up the captives you had?"
"No."
"Send out for that warrior," John ordered, as he glanced at Oroto.
Muro accompanied one of the sub-chiefs, and in a few moments returned with him. He came in with face hanging down.