The Golden Rock Part 66

"Yes."

"Why, then, is he not with you?"

"He is making arrangements for our departure, and I am afraid you will not see him--at any rate, at present."

"Why not?"

"You will remember that we came here for a certain purpose, and that, certainly, was not to return as soon as we had arrived. One of us is to remain, and it is decided that I go with you."

"Oh," she said, looking haughtily at him, "is this your arrangement?"

"Yes," he answered slowly; "I made it."

"Then I decline to go with you."

"I am afraid you must."

"Where is Mr Hume?" she asked, as the blood flashed in her cheeks.

"Frank asked me to say good-bye. He is very busy. I told him how important it was he should lose no time."

"Would you leave a blind man alone, and again seek the safest course yourself, you--you coward?"

"I should have told you," he said gravely, "that Frank has recovered his sight;" and he stood waiting for her to speak, but she turned away, and, with a wild look around, he moved heavily down to the river, where he stood with head sunk, watching the water.

Sirayo made arrangements that evening with the people, and next morning a party of men with two trained oxen approached the little camp. Laura was persuaded to mount one of these; the kit was packed on another, and Webster, with Klaas and five natives, moved off in the direction of the forest for a secret path which led directly over the mountains beyond into the Transvaal.

Hume, from the ruins, saw the little party go, and watched them across the plain--watched them until they were out of sight, and afterwards stood there looking towards the west with a half-formed hope that they might return. For now in his loneliness the bitterness and pride of his spirit melted away. And so, he thought, had ended their great quest, his companions surrendering in disgust, himself filled with disappointment, though he had reached the goal.

The Golden Rock, the golden dreams, the links of friends.h.i.+p, the ties of love--where were they now? Ah, well, there was still the rock. He turned from the ruins, and with Sirayo went along the right side of the valley in search of it. Away over the river the women moved among the fields singing, and beyond in the great kraal the men were drinking beer; their drinking-song had gone droning on through the night, and was still coming in s.n.a.t.c.hes.

"They sing loud and drink deep," said Sirayo; "to-day they will slay whole armies in song; to-morrow they will have forgotten Sirayo and the help he gave. Already they have asked me about the gold that was in my sack."

"Is there any danger, then?" asked Hume listlessly.

"I care not," said Sirayo; "and your heart is heavy too. What will it matter?"

Hume stopped and looked anxiously across the river. "As you say, chief, what does it matter? But are our friends safe?"

"They are safe, for they go and have the word of Umkomaas the chief; but we are here, and they would love us better if we were away."

"But you have done them a service, and they would have made you chief."

"I have done them a service, and when they were hot they would have set me above them; but some of them will think the service was too great for any reward but death. Water will run, and men will always act the same.

See where the vultures circle; below them lays the field of the fight."

The unclean birds, with their bald heads bent earthwards between the vast sweep of their fringed wings, were circling round above the stained and trampled ground, whereon were many scores of dark figures rigid in death, and each swift circle bringing them nearer to their dreadful repast.

"Phaugh! to think that a warrior should come at last to the maw of such a creature!"

They moved among the dead, lying as they fell, with gaping wounds on the naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and saw standing alone a large rock rising from a bed of flat stone stained red with blood.

"See the stone of blood!" said Sirayo. "It was here they made their last stand."

The Golden Rock! Hume looked at it with a feeling of horror and disgust, as though it were itself answerable for that ominous tinge of red; then his eye was caught by a singular life-like appearance, and advancing, he saw that the rock had been carved into the semblance of a coiled serpent, with the head slightly raised and projecting, giving to it a touch of defiance.

Looking closer, he saw that the coils were beautifully carved, the muscles standing out with startling distinctness, while each scale was clearly defined, and the whole polished to the smoothness of marble.

The head stood about five feet from the ground, and the tail ran out in a small ridge across the flat rock at the back. Under the throat a broad vein of white quartz gave a wonderful touch of reality to the carving, and along the side of the coils were patches of yellow and black, while the topmost coils in line with the head were richly marked with yellow. From the broad blunt nose there was a continuous line of yellow over the head and along the backbone of the topmost coil.

"It is gold," said Hume hoa.r.s.ely--"pure gold--and if these veins and splashes run through the ma.s.s there must be thousands of ounces."

"There are men hurrying from the kraal," said Sirayo quietly.

"Let them come;" and Hume, without turning his head, drew his knife and began feverishly to scratch a yellow patch. "It is as hard as iron," he muttered; "we shall have to blow it to pieces."

"It has been long here," said Sirayo, "that snake of stone, looking over the plain at the mountains. The people think it watches over them."

"The people are fools," said Hume gruffly. "There is gold enough here to buy up their cattle ten times over."

"Soh! If they had so many cattle, other nations would have eaten them up. As it is, they have lived in peace to the present."

"A fragment has been broken off here," muttered Hume, going down on his knees; "and the vein runs right into the rock. Why, it spreads right over here!" He crept over the flat rock, thinking nothing of the stains of blood, and cried out that the whole bed was thickly shot with gold.

"The rock has been cut down all round--see, here are the marks of the chisel! Miners have been at work here--white men."

"No white people have been here. So they told me; but here are those who can answer best."

A band of warriors led by an old Induna rapidly approached. The leader held a white wand in his hand; the warriors wore their blankets, which fell gracefully over their right shoulders, covering their right arms.

"Greeting!" said the old man.

"Greeting!" said Sirayo courteously.

"Why do you linger here among the dead, when on the other side there is plenty of beer and merriment? And what was the white man doing crawling around the rock?"

"And why have you left the feast to question me?"

"These questions are through my mouth, but they come from Umkomaas, the chief. He would have you near him, and he has sent a message."

"Hu-em!" said Sirayo, while his nostrils expanded; "the time has come.

Say what shall it be--one last fight, or, like an old lion weary of life, shall we die as we stand without a sound or a movement? I care not."

"Why," said Hume, "they are peaceful men;" but he brought his heavy rifle forward and stood beside the chief with his back to the rock.

"I know your message," said Sirayo in his deep voice. "I can see it in your eyes, that fear to look straight. You carry it under your blankets, and it has a sharp edge to it. Stop!" he thundered, as there was a movement among the men. "I have a word to say to you. Let slip your blankets; the air is warm, and I know what you hold beneath them."

The blankets slipped to the ground, and every man stood revealed with a stabbing a.s.segai in his hand.

"Soh! It is well. Look around on the dead and tell me who they are."