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Page 65
"Chiefs," I said, "we have given you the sign. If ye are satisfied,
let us fly swiftly to the place of which ye spoke. The charm cannot
now be stopped. It will work for an hour and the half of an hour. Let
us cover ourselves in the darkness."
"Come," said Infadoos, turning to go, an example which was followed by
the awed captains, ourselves, and the girl Foulata, whom Good took by
the arm.
Before we reached the gate of the kraal the moon went out utterly, and
from every quarter of the firmament the stars rushed forth into the
inky sky.
Holding each other by the hand we stumbled on through the darkness.
CHAPTER XII
BEFORE THE BATTLE
Luckily for us, Infadoos and the chiefs knew all the paths of the
great town perfectly, so that we passed by side-ways unmolested, and
notwithstanding the gloom we made fair progress.
For an hour or more we journeyed on, till at length the eclipse began
to pass, and that edge of the moon which had disappeared the first
became again visible. Suddenly, as we watched, there burst from it a
silver streak of light, accompanied by a wondrous ruddy glow, which
hung upon the blackness of the sky like a celestial lamp, and a wild
and lovely sight it was. In another five minutes the stars began to
fade, and there was sufficient light to see our whereabouts. We then
discovered that we were clear of the town of Loo, and approaching a
large flat-topped hill, measuring some two miles in circumference.
This hill, which is of a formation common in South Africa, is not very
high; indeed, its greatest elevation is scarcely more than 200 feet,
but it is shaped like a horseshoe, and its sides are rather
precipitous and strewn with boulders. On the grass table-land at its
summit is ample camping-ground, which had been utilised as a military
cantonment of no mean strength. Its ordinary garrison was one regiment
of three thousand men, but as we toiled up the steep side of the
mountain in the returning moonlight we perceived that there were
several of such regiments encamped there.
Reaching the table-land at last, we found crowds of men roused from
their sleep, shivering with fear and huddled up together in the utmost
consternation at the natural phenomenon which they were witnessing.
Passing through these without a word, we gained a hut in the centre of
the ground, where we were astonished to find two men waiting, laden
with our few goods and chattels, which of course we had been obliged
to leave behind in our hasty flight.
"I sent for them," explained Infadoos; "and also for these," and he
lifted up Good's long-lost trousers.
With an exclamation of rapturous delight Good sprang at them, and
instantly proceeded to put them on.
"Surely my lord will not hide his beautiful white legs!" exclaimed
Infadoos regretfully.
But Good persisted, and once only did the Kukuana people get the
chance of seeing his beautiful legs again. Good is a very modest man.
Henceforward they had to satisfy their �sthetic longings with his one
whisker, his transparent eye, and his movable teeth.
Still gazing with fond remembrance at Good's trousers, Infadoos next
informed us that he had commanded the regiments to muster so soon as
the day broke, in order to explain to them fully the origin and
circumstances of the rebellion which was decided on by the chiefs, and
to introduce to them the rightful heir to the throne, Ignosi.
Accordingly, when the sun was up, the troops--in all some twenty
thousand men, and the flower of the Kukuana army--were mustered on a
large open space, to which we went. The men were drawn up in three
sides of a dense square, and presented a magnificent spectacle. We
took our station on the open side of the square, and were speedily
surrounded by all the principal chiefs and officers.
These, after silence had been proclaimed, Infadoos proceeded to
address. He narrated to them in vigorous and graceful language--for,
like most Kukuanas of high rank, he was a born orator--the history of
Ignosi's father, and of how he had been basely murdered by Twala the
king, and his wife and child driven out to starve. Then he pointed out
that the people suffered and groaned under Twala's cruel rule,
instancing the proceedings of the previous night, when, under pretence
of their being evil-doers, many of the noblest in the land had been
dragged forth and wickedly done to death. Next he went on to say that
the white lords from the Stars, looking down upon their country, had
perceived its trouble, and determined, at great personal
inconvenience, to alleviate its lot: That they had accordingly taken
the real king of the Kukuanas, Ignosi, who was languishing in exile,
by the hand, and led him over the mountains: That they had seen the
wickedness of Twala's doings, and for a sign to the wavering, and to
save the life of the girl Foulata, actually, by the exercise of their
high magic, had put out the moon and slain the young fiend Scragga;
and that they were prepared to stand by them, and assist them to
overthrow Twala, and set up the rightful king, Ignosi, in his place.
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