The next few days presented little to chronicle. Life under the new conditions was monotonously uncomfortable, but not distressing to me, whatever it may have been to the less robust slaves.
We walked, with but few halts, from a little after sunrise to a little before sunset; we slept as much as our discomforts would let us, and we ate all that we could get—which was mighty little. Day after day we tramped on through what appeared to be an interminable orchard, which was so bare and shadeless that I was thankful for the burden that protected me from the sun. For at this season of the year, all the trees were leafless, and every blade of grass had been devoured by animals, so that the country had a most desolate aspect, and it was quite a relief to enter the narrow band of green forest that fringed the banks of the rivers.
It will readily be supposed that during this time I gave no little thought to my future prospects. At first I had been glad enough to be carried away so rapidly from the dangerous neighbourhood of the mine and the search parties of the fetish-men; but now I began to consider whether I had so greatly improved my position—whether, if I had not actually jumped out of the frying pan into the fire, I had not at least jumped out of the fire into the frying pan. For if it was impossible for an African to escape from slavery, it might prove also impossible to me, in which case the prospect was not encouraging; and I brought all my wits to bear, as well as Aminé's chatter would allow me, on the problem of how to get away from the caravan before I was finally sold to some private owner. I was, however, unable to think of any scheme that had the faintest shadow of feasibility. By day we were all continuously under the eyes of the slave dealers, and at night, although I was not cruelly bound, yet my hands and feet were too securely fastened to allow of my breaking my bonds.
On the third day of our march we passed a little distance from the great mart of Kantámpo, and I then observed that our conductors, no doubt for excellent reasons of their own, were avoiding the main caravan road, and travelling by a little-frequented by-path.
On the evening of the fifth day we encamped on the bank of a large and noble-looking river fully as wide as the Thames at Richmond, which one of the slaves recognised as the Firráo, or Volta; and early next morning our leaders commenced preparations for crossing.
First an advance guard of Hausas was sent over in the huge, flat-bottomed canoe that formed the ferry boat; then the rope (which consisted of lengths of a few fathoms each, knotted together) was untied, and the slaves divided up into gangs of ten, each gang being sent across separately in charge of a guard; and when all the slaves had been carried to the farther bank, the leaders of the caravan followed with the horse.
The greater part of the morning was consumed by the crossing of the river, and by the time we got on the road it was within an hour of noon. To make up for the delay, the caravan pushed on at greater speed than ordinary, so that when we at last halted for the night, we were more tired than we usually were, although we had covered less ground, having travelled not more than twelve or thirteen miles. This part of the country appeared to be as thinly populated as that south of the great river, for in the day's march we passed but a single village—a queer little collection of circular huts with high, thatched roofs like candle extinguishers.
After we had consumed our meagre supper and settled down for the night, I lay awake for a long time, gloomily meditating on my position. The passage of this great river had raised another barrier between me and freedom, and every day I was being carried farther and farther into the unknown regions of the interior, from which escape would become more difficult with every mile that I travelled. Was it, after all, to be my destiny to spend the remainder of my life hoeing yams or cutting wood for some negro master far from the sights and sounds of the civilised world?
I was aroused from these reflections by a soft poke in the back, and turning over, perceived that Aminé had shuffled towards me as far as the rope would allow her to, and had touched me with her outstretched fingers.
"Yúsufu!" she whispered, as I turned, "come nearer. I want to talk to thee."
"Hast thou not talked enough to-day, thou babbler?" I exclaimed impatiently. "Go to sleep now, and give thy tongue a little rest."
"Nay, but I have something to tell thee," she persisted. "Come near and listen."
I shuffled a couple of feet nearer to her.
"Now say what thou hast to say quickly," I said gruffly, "for the night is passing, and we have to march at daybreak."
"It is true, Yúsufu," she said earnestly. "To-day we have crossed the great river. To-morrow or the next day we shall come to Sálaga. There we are all to be sold, if any will buy us, and then we shall be taken away, who knows whither? and you and I, Yúsufu, will never see one another again."
This was rather startling and unpleasant news.
"In two days, thou sayest, we shall be there?" I said.
"Yes; or perhaps to-morrow night," she replied; and then she added in a low but emphatic whisper, "Yúsufu, thou must get thee away to-night."
"Must get me away!" I exclaimed. "It is well to talk of getting away; but how?"
"I thought of a way," she answered. "Listen! When we crossed the stream this afternoon, I felt something hard stick in the sole of my sandal against my foot, and all the afternoon I could not kick it out. When I lay down, I picked it out with my fingers and kept it. It is a little piece of broken shell, and one edge is quite sharp like a knife. Now, thy manacles and the fetters on thy ankles are of cord, not iron like ours, and I doubt not that I can cut through them with the piece of shell. Then thou canst easily untie thy halter from the rope, and so wilt be free; and if thou goest far enough before the morning, they will never catch thee again."
I pondered. It sounded a good and feasible plan, and it was apparently my last chance.
"But what about thee, Aminé?" I asked. "Thy fetters are of iron."
"Alas! yes," she replied sadly. "There is nothing to be done for me. I must go to the market, and be sold like the rest; but I shall be glad to think that thou at least art free."
I was deeply touched by the girl's unselfish thought for me, and profoundly reluctant to go away and leave her in the hands of the slave dealers; but it would be utter folly to allow mere sentiment to influence me in so momentous a matter, especially as the caravan would be broken up in a few days, and the slaves scattered abroad like a drove of beasts at a cattle fair.
"If thou canst set me free," said I, "I shall be thankful indeed; yet I am loth to go and leave thee here."
"I am loth to stay," she answered bitterly, "but it matters less to me than it would to thee, for servitude is the lot of a woman. But perhaps the shell will not cut thy bonds after all; put out thy hands, and let me try."
I thrust forward my hands and strained the connecting cords—which were only a couple of inches long—as tight as I could, while she sawed away with the little fragment of shell. In a few minutes it began to be evident that the scheme would be successful, for strand after strand frayed out and parted, until at length I was able with a powerful wrench to snap those that remained.
With my free hands I at once set to work upon the complicated knot by which my halter was tied to the rope, while Aminé sawed at the cords that confined my ankles, and almost at the same moment that I cast off the end of the halter from its fastening, I felt the last strand of my fetters give way.
"Now thou art free!" exclaimed Aminé, taking my hand for a moment in both of hers and looking earnestly into my face. "Go back by the road that we came by, and do not loiter on the way; for if thou goest far enough before the morning they cannot stay to follow thee. Now go quickly!" She pressed my hand, and then, suddenly turning her back to me, lay down and covered her face with her hands.
I rose to my feet and stretched my arms with great enjoyment whilst I took a survey of the camp.
The new moon was just setting, and by the dim light I could barely distinguish the prostrate forms of the slaves extended in a long row, and the vague shapes of the huts.
In various parts of the camp the dull glow of the waning fires was yet visible, and around the one at our end, the sleeping guards lay coiled up on their mats. I stepped lightly across to them, setting down each foot as I trod with the extremest caution, and examined them as they lay, each wrapped in a warm bernùs, and breathing heavily, keeping their vigil in the most approved African fashion, until I came to Maháma; and there I found what I was in search of, for, beside him on his mat, were deposited a fine, brass-hilted sword and the long, heavy knife that he had taken from me.
The sword was of no use to me, but I picked up the knife joyfully and crept, in the same silent, stealthy manner, back to Aminé, whom I found lying on her face sobbing silently but bitterly.
"Aminé," I whispered, "I am going to take thee with me."
She turned quickly with a gesture of impatience.
"Go away!" she exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. "It is impossible; thou art wasting precious time. Go!"
I took the rope where it was tied on to the ring of her collar and cut it through, and as she still refused to rise, I stuck the knife through the strip of rag that was tied round my loins, took her up in my arms, and, hoisting her on to my shoulder like a sack, strode away out of the camp along the path by which we had approached it.
The moon had now set, and the night was pitch dark, so that although the country was moderately open, it was difficult to avoid straying from the path; and Aminé, who though but of medium height was a strapping, solidly-built woman, formed a burden sufficiently heavy to tax the strength of a stronger man than me. In fact, I had not gone a quarter of a mile before I had to set her down and rest, when she again entreated me to hurry away and leave her.
While we were resting I explored the key holes of her fetters with my fingers, and finding that they were made so as to be unfastened by a key with a screw end, I determined to try if I could force them. For this purpose I groped among the trees and cut off a small branch, which I trimmed with my knife to a blunt point. This point I thrust forcibly into the hole and rotated it until the wood jammed into the thread of the screw-hole, when by giving it a few more turns, to my delight and Aminé's amazement, the ankle clasp fell open. This manuvre I repeated with the other three clasps with such success that, in a short time, I was able to remove the manacles and leg fetters, and Aminé stood up, hardly able to believe the evidence of her senses, and nearly wild with joy.
We flung the fetters away among the trees, and, leaving the iron collar to be operated on by daylight, set off along the path at a run to make up for the time that had been consumed by these labours; but presently we settled down, as our excitement somewhat subsided, into a brisk walk, covering the ground at an astonishing pace notwithstanding the darkness.
It was probably near midnight when we started, and we walked on, with gradually diminishing speed but without a halt, until the first streaks of dawn began to appear in the sky behind us, and our shadows spread out before us, attenuated and gigantic caricatures.
The pale daybreak, rapidly brightening into sunlight, showed us, a little distance ahead, a small stream, and we could see that we were approaching a much-frequented drinking-place, for the ground was covered with the spoor of hoofs and paws, all converging to one point.
The sight of these footmarks led us to glance back at our own tracks, and I was rather dismayed to see how extraordinarily distinct they were. In the darkness we had evidently strayed from the path which the caravan had traversed, on to one even more unfrequented, where the smooth surface left by the last rains on the light, loamy soil had not been disturbed, except by the wild beasts, and the deep and sharp impressions of our feet stood out as plainly as on a sandy shore when the tide has just gone out.
Hence, if we were pursued, there could be no difficulty in tracing us, for our tracks were as characteristic as they were conspicuous; my own bare feet with the toes turned out, unlike those of a negro, and Aminé's round-toed sandals, could be identified at a glance. And that we should be pursued I had little doubt, for Aminé was probably worth as much as any other three of the slaves, and Sálifu Sókoto was not the man to let her go, within a day's march of Sálaga, without an effort at recapture. But if we were pursued we should probably be overtaken, for we had not travelled above a dozen miles in the night, and we were now spent with fatigue, whereas our pursuers would be fresh from a night's rest, and had a horse into the bargain.
It was thus clear that our only chance lay in breaking our tracks, and the stream that we were approaching seemed to offer us the means of doing this.
I stood at the edge of the little river and looked across. On the opposite side the same soft, smooth surface could be seen stretching away under the little bare trees like a level sand-flat; but less than half a mile away, the rocky face of an isolated hill rose above the tree tops.
That hill would probably serve our purpose.
I led Aminé into the middle of the stream to where a large boulder stood up above the surface.
"Aminé," I said. "I am going away towards that hill, and I shall be some time gone. Sit down upon this stone, and do not move until I come back unless thou seest someone coming this way, in which case thou must walk down the middle of the stream, but do not for any reason leave the water. Now give me thy sandals, and I will go."
She sat down on the boulder and took off her sandals, handing them to me with a look of surprise, but without remark; and I at once crossed the stream and struck out through the trees towards the hill. As I strode along I selected the smoothest and softest patches of ground to walk over, and the tracks that marked my progress were as conspicuous as those in newly fallen snow.
In about ten minutes I reached the base of the hill, which was, as I had hoped from its appearance, a mass of bare rock spotted with patches of scanty vegetation. I walked round to the easiest slope, which I proceeded to ascend, and in a few minutes I reached a surface so hard and devoid of soil that my feet left not the slightest impression. Here I slipped my feet into Aminé's sandals, and looking over my shoulder at the last of my tracks, commenced to carefully walk backwards, turning my toes slightly inwards as Aminé did, and following in this laborious and tedious fashion, the line of footprints that marked the way I had come, until I at length arrived at the stream, and walked backwards into the water. The result was perfect, for there now stretched away from the river a double line of footprints identical in character with those that Aminé and I had left on our way from the camp; and these illusive tracks disappeared in an entirely natural manner on the rocky surface of the hill.
Aminé gave a little shriek of astonishment as I came down into the stream in this unusual manner.
"What is amiss with thee, Yúsufu?" she exclaimed, "that thou walkest backwards like an ant-lion?" But when I pointed out the tracks she at once understood my ruse, and sat down again, laughing heartily.
"Thou art as cunning as an old monkey," she declared.
As we were both too tired to attempt a journey in a new direction, and were, moreover, quite ignorant of the locality, I considered that it would be safest to conceal ourselves in the neighbourhood of the stream until we judged that the search was over, and I now began to look about for some suitable hiding place.
One of the first objects that attracted my attention was a large odúm tree that stood on the bank of the stream close to the ford. It had once been a noble tree, but had either been struck by lightning or by a tornado, for its upper half had fallen, and lay, a decaying mass, on the ground, and its trunk was covered with a network of the curious little earthen tunnels of the white ants, which ran from the ground to the splintered extremity, showing that some part of the upper portion was dead. From this I inferred that there was probably a hollow space at the summit of the broken trunk, where the dead wood had been eaten out by the white ants, and if this were so, it would furnish an ideal hiding place, provided we could reach it. The latter difficulty was to a great extent solved by a large monkey-rope, as thick as my arm, which had hung down from one of the top branches, and which in the fall of the upper part of the trunk, had become caught across the broken end, from which it drooped in a great bight or festoon down to the ground and again up a neighbouring tree.
The sloping position of this liana rendered it comparatively easy to climb—at least, for me—so I determined to go up and explore; and having "swarmed" up it without much difficulty, I found the upper eight or nine feet of the tree, as I had expected, little more than a shell filled with the papery remains of the wood, into which I sank up to my waist.
The tree would therefore answer our purpose admirably, but there was the difficulty of getting Aminé up to the hollow. I let myself down to the ground, and reported to her the state of things that I had found, on which she assured me that she was quite able to climb the monkey-rope. However, to diminish the risk of her falling, I cut a couple of fathoms of a thinner creeper, and passed it round her and the monkey-rope in a double figure of eight, so that it could, if necessary, take most of her weight; and having shown her how to manage it, I again ascended, leaving her to follow. She reached the top of the monkey-rope without mishap, and when I had disengaged her from the supporting loop, I helped her over into the hollow and pulled the loop in after, so that it should not remain to give a clue to our retreat.
Once inside the hollow we were perfectly concealed from view, but by standing up we were able to look over the edge; and from our elevated position we could see a considerable distance in the direction from which our pursuers were to be expected, as we looked over the tops of the small trees with which most of the country was covered.
As it was evidently impossible that the slave dealers could overtake us for some time yet, it occurred to me to go down once more and search the stream for shell-fish, for it would probably be necessary to remain in the tree the whole day, and it was necessary that we should have food of some kind. Bidding Aminé, therefore, to keep a sharp look-out, and let me know if she saw anyone approaching, I let myself down and commenced to systematically examine the bed of the stream.
The clean silvery sand of which it was composed did not offer a very favourable hunting ground, but, after working industriously for over an hour, I managed to accumulate a dozen or two of miscellaneous shell-fish, mostly small mussels somewhat like affaní, and a kind of large water snail. These I stuffed, as I gathered them, into an empty weaver-bird's nest, which I had fortunately found hanging from a branch near the water's edge, and I had nearly filled this curious receptacle when I heard Aminé calling from the tree.
"Quick! Yusufu! they are coming! Leave the shell-fish and climb up quickly!"
I ran to the monkey-rope, and, grasping the narrow opening of the nest with my teeth, climbed up as rapidly as I could; and I had hardly scrambled over into the hollow when I heard the voices of our pursuers sounding from below.
Very cautiously I put my eye to a broad crack in the bark and looked out.
The search party, headed by Salifu himself mounted on his horse, was coming along at a rapid pace, and was now within a hundred yards of the tree. All the members of the party were armed to the teeth, and in an excessively bad humour; Salifu, at the loss of his prey, and the five men who accompanied him, at being hustled along in the wake of the trotting horse.
"We must soon overtake them now," I heard Maháma say, as he wiped the sweat from his face with his wide sleeve. "They cannot have gone much farther. Canst thou see if they have crossed the stream?"
"Yes," grunted Salifu, standing up in his stirrups, "I can see the footmarks of the infidel pig on the other side, and the girl's, too. Hast thou put plenty of slugs in thy gun?"
"It is loaded with a double charge," replied Maháma.
"It is good," exclaimed the old rascal viciously. "When we overtake them, give me the gun, and I will blow the pig-faced Nazarene ape into kabobs."
Having announced these benevolent intentions, the old gentleman urged his horse forward and splashed through the water, followed by his retainers, while I held my hands firmly over Aminé's mouth to prevent her giggles from betraying our whereabouts.
As soon as our pursuers had passed, I turned out the contents of the retort-like bird's nest, and we proceeded to breakfast on the shell-fish; and while I was opening the mussels with my knife, Aminé popped the snails whole into her mouth, and crunched them up in a manner that made my flesh creep.
When we had satisfied our hunger, Aminé commenced to while away our vigil by pouring out an unending stream of chatter, but this I had to stop (as she could not remember to speak softly) by sternly forbidding her to speak; upon which she yawned plaintively, and presently, to my relief, curled herself up on the soft tindery floor of our cell and fell asleep.
The hours dragged on interminably. The sun rose to the zenith and glared down upon us until I was sick with the heat, and Aminé moaned and stirred in her sleep.
A belated parrot came and looked at us, and fluttered away screeching with fright; down in the plain a herd of harnessed antelopes sauntered about picking up here and there a stray blade of grass and sniffing the air suspiciously, and just below the tree a black monkey sat at the edge of the stream and dipped up little draughts of water in the hollow of his hand.
I looked on at these various occurrences dreamily and listlessly, keeping awake with difficulty, and watching the shadows slowly lengthen on the arid ground, until at last, late in the afternoon, I heard the welcome sound of voices and the noise of a horse's hoofs, and presently a splashing in the water told me that the party was crossing the ford.
"It is a strange thing," I could hear one of the men say. "I cannot understand it. They did not leave the hill, for I walked all round it."
"They were not on the hill," said Maháma, "for I searched every part of it."
"Chatter no more!" burst out the old man furiously. "They are gone. A hundred and twenty thousand kurdi—perhaps more—are lost. And why? Because of thy folly. Because thou must needs bring this yellow-skinned hog of an unbeliever into our camp."
"I did it for the best, my father," urged Maháma.
The old man made no reply, but, as I put my eye to the crack in the bark, I saw him kick viciously at the horse with his great spurs, and he soon disappeared at a brisk trot among the trees, leaving his followers to double wearily after him.
When they were gone I woke up Aminé, who sat up yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"Is it morning?" she asked.
"No," I replied. "It is not yet night, but they have gone back."
"Is there anything to eat?" she inquired.
"Nothing," I answered. "We ate all the shell-fish."
"Then let us sleep," said she, and without further parley she curled up like a dog and instantly fell asleep again.
It seemed the best thing to do, for the night was coming on, and we had large arrears of rest to make up; so stretching myself on the soft floor, as well as the space would allow, I settled myself with an unwonted feeling of comfort, and followed her example.
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