The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 8, 1903, Page 3

THE SUNDAY CALL R DA o i ‘What is that which is most precious in the wide world to you, King Pomba? I sald, ‘You, my Familiar Spirit, are t precious in the wide world to me.’ en he said: ‘Take me, then, by night to the death place and burn me alive, so that my inner demon shall return to the Do this, if you love your people more than you love yourself. And it shall happen that you prevail instantly against the white men and blot themi from the »d of the living, and regain the guard- ian of the Batoncas. Chinkakko, the fetich of gold. And that shall take my place as your Familiar Spirit, for when thelr guardian is restored to the tribe you will want me no more.’ " “Thus he spoke, and I obey him, for love of my people, and make this great sacrifice, that my warriors may stiffen their knees and find their hearts stout against their enemy. My black ants shall travel forth against these white ants and devour them altogether, so that thcre is t a bone of their white bodies but shall ground to powder and flung into the wind “It is wel stars. » answered one of the old men; “the Familiar Spirit must be burned alive, according to the word of his own mouth. His words were good, but Pomba has a1l his wisdom now, and Chinkakko is wiser even than the Familiar. Thecefore Jay him upon the fire and send his her demon back again tos the Lord « Now bring him forth and hang him between the pillars by his hands and his feet and let the flames slowly lick up his life before the part.” essented to this proposition, and, the aged men walked in proce: to the litter and removed its cover- P elarum, who had gathered from Ma- bruki the general purport of the speeches just recorded, was in two minds whether to rescue the unhappy wretch who would sow appeer or let him suffer. Discretion puggested the latter course, and he hoped that the Famillar Spirit might prove to be some animal other than human—a goat or crocodile or bird But doubt upon the point was very speedily dispelled, and Meldrum’s heart stood s s he watched a tall figure rise from tter and stand face to face with Pomba. “My God!” he cried, “it's a white man!” CHAPTER XXIV. A DISCOVERY INDEED. Roy's cry startled the savages, and the fed round their wise men, p spears and shields as they 3ut the handful of aborigines red no match for five armed foes se- rely posted in the darkness and safety ¢ the wood of course, the one thought nd, and now he called to o fire a volley at the Batoncas, e, shouting the war cry that ght that morning. self singled out Pomba with shoot him, but all was now nd the light of the torches s of the night played such 2 the dark skins of the sav- short range, difficult nge fig- peared consid- e was without mered under the s feet and hands were fast ere lacked not dignity in upon the cry of Meldrum, en remained motionless with ing and his face raised to man appeared suddenly into white marble, and presented ked contrast to the agitated Baton- ished hither and thither like y dropped one warrior and ) others; but Pomba was un- now his partv, ignorant of of their enemy and stricken bef ack so unexpect- h closs quarters, Iy and aimlessly s Meldrum ard wood. For a second Pomba hesitated, but he, too, beat an v and his huge form showed itself capable cf mar: vel sctivity as It vanished into dark ness and saf. The aged medicine iuen so decamped, and their lives were ed, for, having j.ut the would-be mur- to flight, ldru ed € ghter, and now turned all his atten- tion 10 their intended victim. Pomba's familiar spirit gazad upon his rescuer like a man in a dream. lie made some strange, inarticulate sounds, as just waking from sleep, then he lifted both manacled haads and stretched them ut to his deliverer Meldrum took taem in his own, and a momant later the jris- oner’s bonds “were cut and .ie stood free. Do you know English?’ asked Roy." t is the only language I can speak; but > have those in camp who will under- nd any European tongue.” You are an Englishman! It was fated that one of my own race should set me free.” “Strange, indeed. But I'm a proud man to-day, for I've saved a life. Can you walk, or shall a couple of my men carry you? Are you hungry?” “I can walk slowly. I am only stiff and cramped. No, I am not hungry. It must all be a dream; I shall wake presently. I have seen some such event in vislons many times.” “No dream, thank God. Walk with me and talk, if you are equal to it. But do ndl speak If you would rather not. Come, take my arm on this side, and my servant’s on the other. Did you know they were going to kill you?” The rescued Briton moved slowly, but increased his pace as he felt the support on either side. Meldrum sent on a speedy Zanzibari to bid them make preparations for a special meal In camp. The stranger answered: “Not until we reached the Death Place did I realize that I was to be sacrificed. The King's proclamation to his medicine men was, of course, his own invention, and he is evidently beset by some difficult and dangerous problems, the nature of which I cannot guess. He spoke of Chin- kakko—an old-time fetich of the tribe— and its return to this land; but what should I know? I have been the prisoner of the Batoncas for more years than 1 can count. This human devil has kept me alive for his own ends after having en- deavored to take my life in the past; and I have dwelt a hermit’s life, a slave's life, seeing only the faces of my jailers and my tyrant through countless ages of time, as it has seemed to me" “Do not weary yourself with speaking.” “No, for my tongue is still. But pres- ently you shall hear my story. It is a long one, yet told in few words, for, since I was struck down and left for dead by that serpent—the man I nourished and whose life I saved—I have 1f%ed a brute's existence. I have slept and awakened, eaten and drunk, and slept again. By day I have been hidden and fastened up like a dog; at night I have many thousands of times been roused from sleep by Pomba, who would then lead me intg.the moon- light and make me talk and talk and in- struct him in all that I knew of civiliza- tion. In exchange he allowed me my life, and I, cur that I have been, clung to the wretched existence Fate put upon me. Now, now I begin to hope 3t was all a dream, that my hair has not grown gray in captivity; that my life has not been running to rot through ycars without count.” 2 “It is no dream; but now you are free. Tell me one thing and I' will trouble you no more. Did Pomba owe his I'fe to you? Was it you he struck from behind when rou were about to escape from the Baton- ? That he did this I knogy from his own lips, but I understood from him that he had slain his master.” “Not so; 1 am the man. He meant to kill me and I rolled over and belleved as 1 felt the steel through my back that all was ended. But I did not die; I was even nursed and kept alive that I might afford some sport at another time. And then the king In those days, one M'wenga, went to war and lost his life, and Englishmen were within half a day’'s march of me and never knew it! “Pomba, instead of slaying me, as the other had proposed, decided that 1 should live, and proclaimed me his famillar spirit before the nation. For years, how many you know better than I, I have dwelt with the Batoncas. Some- times I thought to kill myself, but life is precious under any circumstances and I lived on. “That is the outline of my story. The details will take long to fill in, but now relieve my own curiosity a little. Who are you and how did it come about you were hidden at the very spot on which I was to be brutally murdered? What can you do in the heart of this oursed land?"” I will tell you everything,” answered Roy, “but first one question more. The precious stones you had hidden—what of them? Where are they now?"” 5 “My emeralds and rubies and dlamonds! Why, it is years since I so much as thought of them. I hid the bulk of them in an ants’ nest beside the Golden Falls. 1 was writing a description of my hiding place when Pomba’s knife passed into my back. That man! I would have trust- ed him with untold gold—indeed, I did so, for he had my secret; he knew where tha treasure was buried. Now, please God, 1 may stand face to face with the fiend once more—only once more.” “And you heard no more of your treas- ure afterward?” “Never a word. Sometimes I specu- lated drearily on the value of it, hidden in the moldering anmts’' nest; and I also wondered what became of those gems I had concealed upon my person when I was struck down, for I reinained long insensible, and after I came to myself the precious stones were gone.” “Pomba could have told you,” said Meldrum, and he proceeded to describe the incident of the golden fetich and the paper it was wrapped In. The white man listened with amaze- ment to the strange sequel of his own story; then, when the party finally reached camp at daybreak, he ate and drank a little, suffered Winstone to tend his allments, and soon afterward sank into comfortable repose. Meldrum’'s adventure, as may be im- agined, excited the deepest interest in his friends, and a little council was held among them almost as soon as their res- cued fellow-countryman slept. “This incident alters the entire aspect of the position, of course,” began Roy. “I'm sorry for you, Tracy; but, after all we've done a bigger thing by rescuing a white man, and one who has suffered so much, too—we've done a bigger thing by saving his lifc than we should have done by discovering all the gems in the world.” “Yes: but the gems are his now, not ours—that's the point,” explained Mel- drum’s cousin. Fain had come near complete recovery during the past four and twenty hours. His mind, however, was undergoing a great change, and the shock of his fail- ure to find the preclous stones, together with his subsequent narrow escape from a hideous death, had tended, for the time at any rate, to modify his ambitions, if not his character. He craved the stones no more. looked back on his past with loathing and, under present -circumstances, a thought, in his mind before the discov- ery and rescue of the owner of the stones, now returned with tenfold force. He had already determined to confess to Mel- drum, but the advent of the stranger made it more difficult, in that the self- conscious and unhappy man feared that his cousin would read a wrong motive into confession at this juncture. If Fain had not explained how he had mutilated the document found in M'wen- ga's fetich, the writer of the missive might himself do so. He would certainly want to see his manuscript and was like- 1y to realize that a part had been cut off from the rest. The moment was not opportune for pri- vate conversation with Meldrum, how- ever, and the contrite and smitten sinner sald no more at that time. Winstone con- tinued, and his advice appeared sound enough. “More we cannot do now, and to beat a retreat before the overwhelming odds represented by the Batoncas is only com- mon sense. We know exactly where the treasure is, and if we work north up to Tanganyika we shall soon reach mis- sionary settlements and can there refit, or from there return with a strong party to the coast. This is not to abandon our goal altogether. Let this old man grow better of his ulcers and he will put him- self at the head of anpther expedition and with his knowledge of the country and’ people, probably achieve his object. But to try and secure his treasures for him at present appears to me beyond our power.” “I'm for walting e little myself,” de- clared Roy. Then Blackbird, with great humility, asked to be permitted to speak. “It dis way, gem'mem. T'ings is bery aifficult wif Marse Pomba now, ’‘cause ebberyting g0 wrong wif him. We near kill de great man last night, an’ we take his familiar spirit away from him in the name ob Chinkakko. So he go back to his people, an’ dey hear dat Chinkakko hab conquered agaln. What dey tink ob dat, sars? Why, dey begin tink Chinkak- ko's stronger i Pomba.” “By Jove, you're right, and I'm wrong!” sald Winstone, frankly. “I had not thought of the significance of this last incident. We must wait, certainly. I hoped great things from the Chinkakko, after that first interview, but I'd forgot- ten the thing before this startling de- velopment. To think that this poor chaj has been living as a savage King's famillar spirit for all these years! By the way, what was his name “Blessed if 1 asked him,” answered Meldrum. “Shouldn’t blame him if he'd forgotten it. What of his health? Is there any chance that he'll pull. through?” “Every chance. He has suffered a bit from neglected allments and lack of prop- er physics; but he has a powerful frame, and his reserves of strength are by no means worn out. The marvel to me is his intellect is clear and unclouded through it all. The man's face bothers me, curiously enough. Haggard and hairy though it is, his features constantly put He, { me in mind of others that were at some time or another familiar to me."” At this moment Bessie's voice reached Meldrum’s ear. She had just taken a litt'e dish. of soup to the beehive tent of straw, where the stranger lay sleeping, and now, a moment later, her loud scream startled Meldrum, who hastened to the spot accompanied by Winstone and Fain | and followed by several of the Zanzibaris. Within the little chamber Bessie lay extended Jn a dead faint, while the stranger %at up amid his blankets and looked with wild giay eyes at the ap- proaching men. “What in God’s name is_this? What has happened? 1 was dreaming of days long past and living again my youthful life, when a scream cut short .my dreams and I awoke to find this girl lying here at my feet insensible.” The Zanzibaris peeped and chattered at the entrance; Winstone answered the un- known one and Roy set about restoy!ns’ his sweetheart. Bessie had evidently been much moved or startled, for the girl did not faint easily; but seeing that it was her cry that had awakened the slceper, it ap- peared difficult to understand what had happened to occasion her such concern. Soon, however, she came to her senses and then explained what had occurred. In his sleep the rescued sufferer was living again the life of the past and a name upon his tongue roused the girl's interest, while his subsequent utterances chained it. The man indeed .was Richard Ogilvie, the long lost wanderer, the brother of Alister Ogilvie and the father of Eliza- beth. The parent and child, thus miraculous- ly restored each to the other, were left together awhile, for Bessle had now re- covered and was well able to tell her story to her father and acquaint him with the death of his wife, and the ter- rible end of his brother. % In camp, meantime, there were mat- ters to occupy all hands, and at sunset Dan Hook and his party returned, with four days’ rations. The sailor's trip had proved uneventful, for outside Batonca territory the natives continued both friendly and willing to trade. Profound agitation had fallen upon Richard Ogllvie after the knowledge that his only child, whom he remembered as an infant more than twenty years before, now stood beside him. Bessle, who had naturally aroused these deep emotions, did all In her power to soothe them. But it proyed not easy, and her' own heart was throbbing at the dis- covery -that her father yet lived. The man was in no condition to discuss the affairs of the expedition that night, and Roy decided not tg challenge his attén- tion until the following day. “To-morrow we will question him con- cerning the Batoncas and their strength. To-night we will let him delight in his daughter in peace. Poor fellow! It was his likeness to his brother that puzzled me,” sald Lord Winstone. “To think that we have rescued a man —and this. man—from death. To think that Bessie should have veen sent as a sort of guardian angel to her own father!” declared Meldrum, and the other nodded. “Pomba said truly at our first meteing that the world is a mighty small place.” Until near the dawn Bessle talked with her father, and Meldrum presently joined them and listened to the strange incidents of Richard Ogilvie's eventful life, while for the rest, Lord Winstone, anticipating a busy day on the morrow, turned in as soon as posible, and Fain absented him- self, feeling that he belonged no more to the united little party that had faced so much and whose anxieties and experi- ences were not yet at an end. Now he only desired to make a clean breast to Roy, and cared nothing what.might hap- pen after his confession. A day of uneventful peace succeeded upon these incidents, a day spent chiefly In listening to Richard Ogilvie's strange story of his savage life, but upon the fol- lowing morning, while breakfast was in progress, considerable numbers of the Ba- toncas began appearing upon the edges of the adjacent forest. They were in war array and evidently designed a combined approach if not attack. Lord® Winstone scrutinized them care- fully through his fleld glasses, then turned and spoke. “They look like fighting, I'm afraid. Better call the men to quarters. A good few of their lenders accompany the force, as far as I can make out, but I don’t see their plant king among them." CHAPTER XXV. THE BATTLE OF BANGILLO. But Ogilvie it was who allayed the im- mediate alarm of M.ldrum and his friends. Attired in a suit of Tracy Fain's, the rescued man moved about camp with wonderiul briskness and spirit, and now he borrowed Winstone's glasses, but re- turned them agaln after one glance at the coming force. “They don’'t mean fighting,” he said; “at least, thelr signals are friendly. These people are a part of Pomba's army —not his veterans—but about 500 or 600 of the younger men. Rather more than a quarter of the total troops, I should guess. They are coming to talk, either with a message from him or on their own account. Pomba’s son, Latossl, is with them; 8o they’ve probably arrived with a letter of u..matum of some sort. They’'re carrying p-ovisions, too; I can't understand that.” Presently certain of the chiefs includ- ing Latossi, approached, and Meldrum and Winstone, with a bodyguard, and Richard Ogilvie to interpret, went out of camp to meet them. Then the nature of the visit appeared and news of a re- markable dissension in the councils of the Batoncas was made public. Utmost discord indeed prevailed. The nation was divided against itself, and the party now awaiting Roy's word had se- ceded and split from the rest of Pomba's army, being moved thereto by recent events and a superstitious conviction that only under the sign of the returned Chin- kakko could Batoncas expect to fight and conquer. The recent faflure of his pro- posed eacrifice had gone far to_deepen an inner ferment throughout Pomba's army. Thanks to Ogllvie and his years of in- struction, something like modern military order and severity prevalled amid the Batonca forces, and their training had showed itself In many triumphs; but be- fore the shattering advent of the white Queen and the golden fetich even the high discipline of these savage regiments was not proof. Efforts had been made by Pomba to hide his moonlit disasters at the Death Place, and it was given out on the follow- ing morning by the medicine men that the familiar spirit had been duly sacri- ficed and that success must now attend the King; but truth on such a matter could not be concealed for long. It became known that under Chinkak- ko the white men had rescued familiar from the death prepared for him, and this intelligence confirmed many in their determination to go over to the "show against Pomba's * A spirit of disaffection spread like wild- fire among the younger. troops, and La- tossl, Pomba's own son, fostered fit. Every man regarded his neighbor, with suspicion, and the air was full of dread and danger, of pending change and of the murmur ef frightened men and ‘women. Pomba, however, stood firm. He nad determined to use his army. while yet it acknowledged him, and fight the in- truders to the death, thus giving the tim- 1d and fearful an object lesson. He har- angued the troops and pretended not to observe the spirit abroad among them. His words inspired some doubtful war- riors, but they could not stem the pend- ing wave of flight. ; The veterans stood firm and were pre- pared to fight tor Pomba while life was in them, but, under cover of night and by secret and preconcerted signals, many hundreds of the younger men crept singly andin small parties out of Bangillo, slew the trusty guards of the main entrance; Who were there to prevent this action, then departed to gather at the Death Fluce under Latossi. Thence by a swift march the - rebels reached Meldrum's camp at daylight. Now they announced their intention to enlist under Chinkakko, and this’ attitude and determination in & body amply large enough to have wiped out Meldrum’s en- tire force, had it so desired, naturally de- manded a grave conference, “‘Our hands ‘are forced,” declared Win- stone. “If we refuse these beggars our support they will grow desperate and very likely revenge themselves on us. Certain it Is that they cannot go back now. Their own side will cut them to pieces if they do. The question. 18, are we strong enough with this reinforcement to make a fair ba. He won't yleld, ap- parently, though I should have imagined a man of his brains would have gladly handed over the precious stones in ex- change for our still more preclous Chin- kakko." “‘What guns have you?” asked Richard Ogllvie. ‘*“With, say, thirty repeating rifies and ‘men who can use them, added to those black troops, you would have a good chance of beating Pomba. He com- ndands rather more than a thousand men, still—say 1250, And they're better troops than these, because older and experienc- ed. However, I understand them pretty well by this time. If you've got thirty re- peaters and can rely upon the men's ghooting, you ought to win.” “Thirty-two, as a matter of fact,” sald Meldrum. “Then go ahead. Accept the service of these people; make blood hrotherhood with Latossi, who is a very g0l Ba:on- ca, and promise him the throne of the kingdom in a week.” k Ogllvie's advice was followed. Meldrum, through Bessle's father, proclaimed that Chinkakko received the warriors gladly, and as the Batoncas brought two days’ rations for 600 men with them thev wers welcome enouggh in more ways than cne. Roy now decided to waste no time in giving battle and it was determined to march against Bangillo at dawn on tno following morning. All that day stragglers kept dropping in from Pomba's forces, and they brought news that the King, still obdurate and aliye to what he must expect, was fortify- ing Bangillo in some measure to protect the women and children, but he had de- cided that the pending battle should be fought upen the plain, outside the city stockades. Here, immediately below the steep tracks that wound down from thé Death Place to the valley beneath, Pom- ba meant to challenge the further ap- proach of his enemies. “His plan will be to hem us in and he will probably have a gogd force hidden on the mountain side, insuch a position that it can rush down upon us from above after we have descended,” explained Ogilvie; “‘but gur object is otherwise. We must clear the, way as we go—both to right and left—then use the Lill as a base. Our ,uns must do all they can to lessen the numbers against us before the Baton- cas meet at close gquarters. Once they are at the grips it will baedifficult to know who are friends and who are foes.” That night the order of battle was. ar- ranged and Pomba's son informed of the part he and his warriors must take. He showed great Intelligence and offered several practical hints from his personal knowledge and experience of such sav- age warfare as lay before them. After dark an advance column of fifty Batoncas and five Zanzibarls with Win- stone and Blackbird, set out to establish themselves on the hillside overlooking Bangillo. It was hoped by this means to anticipate the enemy and prevent the establishment of any secrct force that might subsequently attack . Meldrum’s army from the rear at a critical moment in the battle, The hiliside was, up to the present, at the mercy of either party and such was its constitution that a thousand ~men might have lain concealed in Its patches of dense brush and broken piles of vol- canfc rock. A system of signals, wita red, white and yellow handkerchiefs for flags, was hastily arranged between Mel- drum and Winstone, and each carefully confed the code. Thus on reaching the top of the hill next morning Roy would learn where his party was posted and at what point, if any, the Batoncas lay. Suppoding a com- pany of them to be concealed on the high ground, Meldrum's first move would be to charge them and sweep them into the valley before him. g Few slept that night. All looked to their arms; the riflemen received 200 rounds aplece, and while Meldrum ar- ranged for Bessle and a strongly armed force to remain well at the rear upon the following day and be under no imme- diate danger at any time. Ogilvie bor- rowed the golden fetich and, having cut half a dozen gaudy flags from the rolls of brightly colored fabrics, with his daughter's ald, he stitched upon each the black design of Chinkakko on a huge scale, “Our fellows will hold these rags sa- cred,” he explained, “for they have the badge of the guardian of the tribe upon them, and where a flag waves there will be Batonéas to protect it while they can crawl. The biggest—this white and green one—I shall hammer to a'lofty pole to- morrow and it must be carriéd before you. The niggers are fighting for the white queen, the possessor of Chinkakko; remember that.” “The more they see of me the better, " said Bessie. % es; it will put heart into them, but be cautious. God knows that I would never forgive myself and Meldrum would never forgive me if harm happened to you thtough word of mine.” “You are my dear father,” she safd. “I cannot accustom myself to the word yet. But it Is very beautiful to me to speak it. And you—you will run Into no danger either. You are old now and you have suffered enough.” ' “Do not fear for me. I want my own— that is all. I have suffered enough, as you say. I can only revenge a part of it. But there is one must answer to me for what is mine and for .the hell on earth my years have been; there is one traitor I would—but what idle talk is this! Come, child, take your rest and those who are dearest to-morrow. Kiss me—there! Strange it 1s, but my brain stands still when I think of you. I cannot realize yet that you are my ‘daughter Elizabeth. I remember her as though it was yesterday—a tiny round- eyed thing at her mother's breast. And now she is a woman, and providence has willed that she shall be the first factor in her unhappy father's salvation.” He left Bessle in her tent, and ‘Buhgani, according to custom, laid his own blanket at the entrance and curled up within call of his mistress. And then the noise and jangle of steel gradually subsided and the camp slept, while only the dark forms of the watch- men prowled around its outskirts under the moon to the wakeful thunder of the river. 2 Béfore a first white finger of approach- ing-dawn was laid upon the forehead of the Golden Falls, Roy Meldrum had blown his bugle, half a hundred fires had eprung into being and the little army sat busy at breakfast. None of the camp fur- niture was taken, but the force, in full fighting trim, set forth, with nothing but their gourd water bottles and weapons of War. Each regiment comprised a hundred Ba- toncas, under their own leaders. Of these thefe were four, and all went forward the prouder for one of the flags manufactured by Ogilvie, while Latossi, with a body of . 150 men, marched next, and the Zanzibaris with the Soudanese, Meldrum, Fain and lvie brought up the rear of the fight- ing men. Dan Hook had undertaken the task of commanding the little bodyguard of Bes- site; and Bungan! carried her flag. They were to show themselves upon the hill- sjde when the fight began; but Dan was to look to it that they never approached within spearshot of the combatants. As each detachment reached the Death Place of the Batoncas it drew up out of sight of the plain beneath, and then, . when his army was assembled, Meldrum stole forward to look for Winstone's sig- nal. But he found It possible to com- municate with his friend by a scout, as ‘Winstone was only a quarter of a mile or less down the hill, and Mabruki soon crept unnoticed to his ambush. His Lordship reported that, with the exception of one body of the Batoncas, about 100 strong, who had left Bangillo at dawn and were now posted In a rocky fastness within 800 yards of the summit of the mouhtain, the road was clear to the plain beneath. Far below, Pomba's troops were astir and moving out of the capital. As yet scarcely half of them had taken the field, and not a moment was to be lost if Roy's forces desired to reap the advantage of their early start. Now the smaller army advanced and the blacks moved steadily and swiftly, keeping wonderful forma- tion considering the steepness and rough- ness of the way. The regiments proceeded at great pace, and Roy, with Fain, four of the best Zanzibarls, three Soudanese and fifty of the Batoncas, advanced at the double to sweep before them the enemy hidden on the hillside in the rocky pile ahead. But the Batoncas posted here had vantage of ground and, though unprepared for any attack, they made Instant preparation upon finding themselves discovered, and greeted Meldrum’s force with a shower of spears, which dropped two men before a shot was fired. ‘Winstone from his secret hiding place cursed his big friend's method of attack, but Meldrum pushed Impetuously for- ward, and soon littlé puffs of smoke leaped along the hillside as the Zanzi- baris, Fain and Roy opened fire. A couple of volleys brought the Baton- cas tumbling out of the rocks, and soon the rival forces joined In a swaying, struggling mass, while the sharp, inces- sant crackle of revoiver fire proclatmed that Roy and his companions were in the thick of it with their black friends. The position was rushed in less than five min- ut but at heavy cost. ‘When all was practically over Meldrum himself charged five of the foe hemmed like rats in a trap between some heavy boulders open above to the sky. But their position rendered the warrlors desperate, and, after one had fallen, Roy discovered that his revolver was empty. Other weapon he had none, for he had flung down his rifle outside the opening, and now, at close quarters, he dropped a second Batonca by hurling his heavy re- volver at him. It hit the naked man over the heart and he went down like a stone, but at the same moment his companions ‘were upon their huge enemy, and a spear gashed open his shoulder. He hit out and staggered the man; then he felt another stab on the face, and was turning again when two more Batoncas sprang from hiding and advanced at a run to their companions, Meldrum was hidden from the eyes of his own party, but had just time togaise one. tremendous shout. He set his back to the rocks and must, one moment later, have perished In that position, for two spears thrown simultaneously from close quarters would both have transfixed him, but between Meldrum and this flying death, like some shield of a tutelary god- dess dropped from heaven, there fell or leaped a heavy object from the rock above, In this the spears buried them- selves and Meldrum, blinded by the blood that poured from his face, slipped at the same moment and half rolled down a sharp declivity between the rocks. His shout had brought half a dozen friendiy Batoncas to his aid, and they now climbed upward and slaughtered their caged enemy, while Meldrum, stag- gering back to where he had left his rifie, reloaded it, bound up his head and pushed on down the hill as fast as he ‘was able. Firing had now become general, and the riflemen at long range were making very good practice on the dense ranks of the Batoncas. They poured.in a steady fusillade from a position above their own black friends, and Oglilvie, seeing the ad- vantage of this maneuver, now signaled to Winstone to bring up his force, for every shot was telling at a range of a quarter of a mile, and the powerless Ba- toncas could do nothing. As Winstone came into position and added his fire to the rest, Roy regained the ranks. Then, after enduring another volley, the enemy, at a word of command, bégan to open out, in order to lessen their losses. To hold back the Batoncas under the Chinkakko banners was no light task at this juncture, but at length, as Pomba's forces received the word to charge, Mel- drum, only walting until the veterans of the enemy were on the foothills of the slope, released his own party and the bat- tle began in earnest. Behind the oncoming foe, however, ex- tended e brim black line of déad and dy- ing, and Winstone computed that Pom- ‘ba’'s active warriors must exceed those of the expedition by little more than 200 when the aetual crash of contact came. Meldrum, with advantage of ground, looked like holding the day at first, but the old soldiers began to do terrible exe- cution at close quarters, and soon the hill ‘was running red streams of blood upon its dusty face. Under the gleam of the rising sun, where it flashed on 'shining, sweating skins, bright spearheads and swaying ple- bald shields, the savages fought in clouds of dust, hacking, stabbing, disemboweling and shrieking like demons. Everywhere along the struggling lines, In the wild whirl of writhing figures and spattered blood, they were at death grips, tearing at each others’ throats, stabbing, rending, slaughtering and being slaughtered. Maimed men fought on till they were knocked upon the head; strong men leaped over the twisting bodles of their stricken companions; here a dozen went down In a glittering mass, llke a Rugby football scrimmage; but few ever rose to their feet agal here dusty, bloody flends forced a way through their enemles, then turned with reeking knives to hack a road back again; here individuals, scpar- ated from their friends and foes, fought hand to hand, wrestling and falling and blindly groping with dying hands or seek- ing with eyes already growing dim for fallen knife or spear. A nofse llke the ebd and flow of a heavy sea rose from the battle, and it was soon apparent that their ald must be given quickly and freely. 8o, revolv- er in hand, they plunged into the line and strove to support the swaying flags, which waved along the face of the fight. All the banners still stood. Then a sudden sortie threatened ong, and Mel- drum, calling to Mabruki and Blackbird, made for the spot. He was fighting with 8 clubbed Winchester, and the butt of the weapon showed the hideous nature of the blows it had dealt. Now, himself cov- ered with blood and a spectacle of terror, Roy went forward, and in a moment had mowed a way for himself through the enemy. He turned Instantly and fought his way back, while Blackbird performed the same feat with equal success. But Mabruki was less fortunate. The poor fellow pped, recovered, slipped agaln and went down, while before Roy could reach him half a dozen spears had passed through his body. A second later two of the men who had killed the Arab were themselves dead on top of him, one with a smashed skull and scattered brains, another shot by Blackbird. Then the hunter and Roy struggled clear from the conquering advance of their friends to note how the battle raged elsewhere and at what point their aid was most required. On one side Winstone’s small force had Joined Latoss!, and success was attending them, for they were fighting in splendid order and with a solid front that erum- bled the opposition before it. They moved over gory red ground and the reek of blood hung in the air behind them. But to the right Roy’s friends appeared to be barely holding their own. Here the Batoncas were unaided, for the full force of the Zanzabaris and Soudanese was now thrown into the center of the battle, and Meldrum saw with alarm that many of his own men lay among the black corpses that strewed the hiliside. Neither Qgilvie nor Fain was visible, and Meldrum only had Blackbird and a one- armed Zanzibari at his back, but, pick- ing up a loaded rifle from a dead man, he pushed ahead with the others and soon his presence inspired his followers with confidence and checked a threatened panie. The expedition was now gaining ground, and the combined forces under Roy had carved their way to the plain. Desperate fighting still continued; then an unpre- meditated action went far to decide the 1ssue. . Up aloft Dan Hook, finding that the battle was retrcating from beneath him, and never for zn instant in his own mind doubting its final issue, proceeded to near- er quarters, and the few Batoncas told off to stand by him now advanced gladly enough under Bessle's great green and white flag. Even through the din of the battle the shouts of the approaching company could be heard, and the cry of “Chinkak- ko! Chinkakko comes!" fell on the ears of a foe already worsted at most points, A last frantic effort the veteran Baton- cas made, and at the bitter end of the battle those that could do so stood and fought like despairing demons. For a terrible five minutes, that seemed to the onlookers a century, the .alance trem- bled, but fate was on the side of the smaller and stronger battalions. The encounter had much diminished in extent, and now, instead of ranging over half a mile of hillside Mt centered to a point. Here, In smoke and smother of dust and blood, the exhausted warriors of Pomba made thelr last stand and dealt death to right and left, killlng two for one. But though they knew it not, the lines behind them were in flight, for Pomba himself, who watched the battle from a knoll upon the plain, had hastened off the field, knowing defeat to be but a question of minutes, and behind him retreated many of his soldiers. “The king has fled! Your king has given you to us!" shricked Meldrum's men when the truth crept through the battle, and upon that all fighting ceased as if by magie. Without a king or commander the sav- ages would risk their lives no more, and now they flung down their arms and will- ingly surrendered to the victorious ser. vants of Chinkakko. So the battle of Bangillo ended, and the conquerors had breathing space to look about them and count the cost. CHAPTER XXVL DEATH OF . ING POMBA. When the duration of the battle came to be considered it was seen that the death roll had proven terribly heavy. About equal numbers of the Batoncas had fallen , as a result of their hand-to-hand encoun- ter, but ere they met Meldrum's guns had gone far to equalize the contending forces, and more than 200 of the savages wers slain by bullets before and after they Joined issue with their opponents. Another hundred or so had been wound- ed and put out of action before the civil battle of Batonca against Batonca began, and in round numbers, at the end of the conflict, not 400 uninjured members of Pomba’'s force were left upon the fleld to acknowledge Chinkakka victorfous. Another 100 or more had fled wish their king, and the total number of killed and wounded amounted to nearly 700 men—an extraordinarily high proportion consider- ing that Pomba's total force hardly ex- ceeded 1300. Of these more than 300 wers slain outright; while, upon the other hand, Meldrum had lost about 250 Batoncas killed and 100 wounded, while eight of the Zanzibaris were slain, Including poor Mabruki, and two of the Soudanese. Four Zanzibaris were wounded, none dangerously; two wers missing; and of the heads of the combined force, Roy himself and the king’s son, Latossi, wers wounded; Winstone was safe; Bessle, Dan Hook and their guard were all un- hurt, and Richard Ogllvie and Tracy Fain were both missing. Of the second none had seen any sign since the original attack on the hillside; of the first, several of the Zanzibaris avowed that on Pomba's retreat, Ogilvie, ‘who was the first to witness it, had called a dozen Batoncas to him, addressed them hurriedly in their own language and led them into Bangillo.