[Illustration: The march was continued with as much rapidity as was
consistent with caution.]
For about two miles Dick followed the course of the rivulet, in the
hope that it would emerge into a more important stream, which would
convey them without much difficulty or danger direct to the sea.
Towards noon about three miles had been accomplished, and a halt was
made for rest. Neither Negoro nor Harris had been seen, nor had Dingo
reappeared. The encampment for the midday refreshment was made under
the shelter of a clump of bamboos, which effectually concealed them
all. Few words were spoken during the meal. Mrs. Weldon could eat
nothing; she had again taken her little boy into her arms, and seemed
wholly absorbed in watching him. Again and again Dick begged her to
take some nourishment, urging upon her the necessity of keeping up her
strength.
"We shall not be long in finding a good current to carry us to the
coast," said the lad brightly.
Mrs. Weldon raised her eyes to his animated features. With so sanguine
and resolute a leader, with such devoted servants as the five negroes
in attendance, she felt that she ought not utterly to despair. Was she
not, after all, on friendly soil? what great harm could Harris
perpetrate against her or her belongings? She would hope still, hope
for the best.
Rejoiced as he was to see something of its former brightness return to
her countenance, Dick nevertheless had scarcely courage steadily to
return her searching gaze. Had she known the whole truth, he knew that
her heart must fail her utterly.
CHAPTER IV.
ROUGH TRAVELLING.
Just at this moment Jack woke up and put his arms round his mother's
neck. His eyes were brighter, and there was manifestly no return of
fever.
"You are better, darling!" said Mrs. Weldon, pressing him tenderly to
her.
"Yes, mamma, I am better; but I am very thirsty."
Some cold water was soon procured, which the child drank eagerly, and
then began to look about him. His first inquiry was for his old
friends, Dick and Hercules, both of whom approached at his summons and
greeted him affectionately.
"Where is the horse?" was the next question.
"Gone away, Master Jack; I am your horse now," said Hercules.
"But you have no bridle for me to hold," said Jack, looking rather
disappointed.
"You may put a bit in my mouth if you like, master Jack," replied
Hercules, extending his jaws, "and then you may pull as hard as you
please."
"O, I shall not pull very hard," said Jack; "but haven't we nearly come
to Mr. Harris's farm?"
Mrs. Weldon assured the child that they should soon be where they
wanted to be, and Dick, finding that the conversation was approaching
dangerous ground, proposed that the journey should be now resumed. Mrs.
Weldon assented; the encampment was forthwith broken up and the march
continued as before.
[Illustration: It was a scene only too common in Central Africa]
In order not to lose sight of the watercourse, it was necessary to cut
a way right through the underwood: progress was consequently very slow;
and a little over a mile was all that was accomplished in about three
hours. Footpaths had evidently once existed, but they had all become
what the natives term "dead," that is, they had become entirely
overgrown with brushwood and brambles. The negroes worked away with a
will; Hercules, in particular, who temporarily resigned his charge to
Nan, wielded his axe with marvellous effect, all the time giving vent
to stentorian groans and grunts, and succeeded in opening the woods
before him as if they were being consumed by a devouring fire.
Fortunately this heavy labour was not of very long duration.
After about a mile, an opening of moderate width, converging towards
the stream and following its bank, was discovered in the underwood. It
was a passage formed by elephants, which apparently by hundreds must be
in the habit of traversing this part of the forest. The spongy soil,
soaked by the downpour of the rainy season, was everywhere indented
with the enormous impressions of their feet.
But it soon became evident that elephants were not the only living
creatures that had used this track. Human bones gnawed by beasts of
prey, whole human skeletons, still wearing the iron fetters of slavery,
everywhere strewed the ground. It was a scene only too common in
Central Africa, where like cattle driven to the slaughter, poor
miserable men are dragged in caravans for hundreds of weary miles, to
perish on the road in countless numbers beneath the trader's lash, to
succumb to the mingled horrors of fatigue, privation, and disease, or,
if provisions fail, to be butchered, without pity or remorse, by sword
and gun.
That slave-caravans had passed that way was too obvious to permit a
doubt. For at least a mile, at almost every step Dick came in contact
with the scattered bones; while ever and again huge goat suckers,
disturbed by the approach of the travellers, rose with flapping wings,
and circled round their heads.
The youth's heart sank with secret dismay lest Mrs. Weldon should
divine the meaning of this ghastly scene, and appeal to him for
explanation, but fortunately she had again insisted on carrying her
little patient, and although the child was fast asleep, he absorbed her
whole attention. Nan was by her side, almost equally engrossed. Old Tom
alone was fully alive to the significance of his surroundings, and with
downcast eyes he mournfully pursued his march. Full of amazement, the
other negroes looked right and left upon what might appear to them as
the upheaval of some vast cemetery, but they uttered no word of inquiry
or surprise.
Meantime the bed of the stream had increased both in breadth and depth,
and the rivulet had in a degree lost its character of a rushing
torrent. This was a change which Dick Sands observed hopefully,
interpreting it as an indication that it might itself become navigable,
or would empty itself into some more important tributary of the
Atlantic. His resolve was fixed: he would follow its course at all
hazards. As soon, therefore, as he found that the elephant's track was
quitting the water's edge, he made up his mind to abandon it, and had
no hesitation in again resorting to the use of the axe. Once more,
then, commenced the labour of cutting a way through the entanglement of
bushes and creepers that were thick upon the soil. It was no longer
forest through which they were wending their arduous path; trees were
comparatively rare; only tall clumps of bamboos rose above the grass,
so high, however, that even Hercules could not see above them, and the
passage of the little troop could only have been discovered by the
rustling in the stalks.
In the course of the afternoon, the soil became soft and marshy. It was
evident that the travellers were crossing plains that in a long rainy
season must be inundated. The ground was carpeted with luxuriant mosses
and graceful ferns, and the continual appearance of brown hematite
wherever there was a rise in the soil, betokened the existence of a
rich vein of metal beneath.
Remembering what he had read in Dr. Livingstone's account of these
treacherous swamps, Dick bade his companions take their footing warily.
He himself led the way. Tom expressed his surprise that the ground
should be so soaked when there had been no rain for some time.
"I think we shall have a storm soon," said Bat,
"All the more reason, then," replied Dick, "why we should get away from
these marshes as quickly as possible. Carry Jack again, Hercules; and
you, Bat and Austin, keep close to Mrs. Weldon, so as to be able to
assist her if she wants your help. But take care, take care, Mr.
Benedict!" he cried out in sudden alarm; "what are you doing, sir?"
"I'm slipping in," was poor Benedict's helpless reply. He had trodden
upon a kind of quagmire and, as though a trap had been opened beneath
his feet, was fast disappearing into the slough. Assistance was
immediately rendered, and the unfortunate naturalist was dragged out,
covered with mud almost to his waist, but thoroughly satisfied because
his precious box of specimens had suffered no injury. Actæon undertook
for the future to keep close to his side, and endeavour to avoid a
repetition of the mishap.
The accident could not be said to be altogether free from unpleasant
consequences. Air-bubbles in great numbers had risen to the surface of
the mire from which Benedict had been extricated, and as they burst
they disseminated an odious stench that was well-nigh intolerable. The
passage of these pestilential districts is not unfrequently very
dangerous, and Livingstone, who on several occasions waded through them
in mud that reached to his breast, compares them to great sponges
composed of black porous earth, in which every footstep causes streams
of moisture to ooze out.
For well nigh half a mile they had now to wend their cautious way
across this spongy soil. Mrs. Weldon, ankle-deep in the soft mud, was
at last compelled to come to a stand-still; and Hercules, Bat, and
Austin, all resolved that she should be spared further discomfort, and
insisted upon weaving some bamboos into a litter, upon which, after
much reluctance to become such a burden, she was induced, with Jack
beside her, to take her place.
After the delay thus caused, the procession again started on its
perilous route. Dick Sands continued to walk at the head, in order to
test the stability of the footing; Action followed, holding Cousin
Benedict firmly by the arm; Tom took charge of old Nan, who without his
support would certainly have fallen into the quagmire; and the three
other negroes carried the litter in the rear. It was a matter of the
greatest difficulty to find a path that was sufficiently firm; the
method they adopted was to pick their way as much as possible on the
long rank grass that on the margin of the swamps was tolerably tough;
but in spite of the greatest precaution, there was not one of them who
escaped occasionally sinking up to his knees in slush.
At about five o'clock they were relieved by finding themselves on
ground of a more clayey character; it was still soft and porous below,
but its surface was hard enough to give a secure foothold. There were
watery pores that percolated the subsoil, and these gave evident
witness to the proximity of a river-district.
The heat would have been intolerably oppressive if it had not been
tempered by some heavy storm-clouds which obstructed the direct
influence of the sun's rays. Lightning was observed to be playing
faintly about the sky, and there was now and again the low growl of
distant thunder. The indications of a gathering storm were too manifest
to be disregarded, and Dick could not help being very uneasy. He had
heard of the extreme violence of African storms, and knew that torrents
of rain, hurricanes that no tree could resist, and thunderbolt after
thunderbolt were the usual accompaniment of these tempests. And here in
this lowland desert, which too surely would be completely inundated,
there would not be a tree to which they could resort for shelter, while
it would likewise be utterly vain to hope to obtain a refuge by
excavation, as water would be found only two feet below the surface.
[Illustration: Another brilliant flash brought the camp once again into
relief.]
After scrutinizing the landscape, however, he noticed some low
elevations on the north that seemed to form the boundary of the marshy
plain. A few trees were scattered along their summits; if his party
could get no other shelter here, he hoped they would be able to find
themselves free from any danger caused by the rising flood.
"Push on, friends, push on!" he cried; "three miles more, and we shall
be out of this treacherous lowland."
His words served to inspire a fresh confidence, and in spite of all the
previous fatigue, every energy was brought into play with renewed
vigour. Hercules, in particular, seemed ready to carry the whole party,
if it had been in his power.
The storm was not long in beginning. The rising ground was still two
miles away. Although the sun was above the horizon, the darkness was
almost complete; the overhanging volumes of vapour sank lower and lower
towards the earth, but happily the full force of the deluge which must
ultimately come did not descend as yet. Lightning, red and blue,
flashed on every side and appeared to cover the ground with a network
of flame.
Ever and again the little knot of travellers were in peril of being
struck by the thunderbolts which, on that treeless plain, had no other
object of attraction. Poor little Jack, who had been awakened by the
perpetual crashes, buried his face in terror in Hercules' breast,
anxious, however, not to distress his mother by any outward exhibition
of alarm. The good-natured negro endeavoured to pacify him by promises
that the lightning should not touch him, and the child, ever confident
in the protection of his huge friend, lost something of his nervousness.
But it could not be long before the clouds would burst and discharge
the threatened down-pour.
"What are we to do, Tom?" asked Dick, drawing up close to the negro's
side.
"We must make a rush for it; push on with all the speed we can."
"But where?" cried Dick.
"Straight on," was the prompt reply; "if the rain catches us here on
the plain we shall all be drowned."
"But where are we to go?" repeated Dick, in despair; "if only there
were a hut! But look, look there!"
A vivid flash of lightning had lit up the country, and Dick declared
that he could see a camp which could hardly be more than a quarter of a
mile ahead.
The negro looked doubtful.
"I saw it too," he assented: "but if it be a camp at all it would be a
camp of natives; and to fall into that would involve us in a worse fate
than the rain."
Another brilliant flash brought the camp once again into relief; it
appeared to be made up of about a hundred conical tents, arranged very
symmetrically, each of them being from twelve to fifteen feet in
height. It had the appearance, from a distance, of being deserted; if
it were really so, it would afford just the shelter that was needed;
otherwise, at all hazards, it must be most carefully avoided.
"I will go in advance," said Dick, after a moment's reflection, "and
reconnoitre it."
"Let one of us, at least, go with you," replied Tom.
"No, stay where you are; I shall be much less likely to be discovered
if I go alone."
Without another word, he darted off, and was soon lost in the sombre
darkness that was only broken by the frequent lightning.
Large drops of rain were now beginning to fall.
Tom and Dick had been walking some little distance in advance of the
rest of the party, who consequently had not overheard their
conversation. A halt being made, Mrs. Weldon inquired what was the
matter. Tom explained that a camp or village had been noticed a little
way in front, and that the captain had gone forward to investigate it.
Mrs. Weldon asked no further questions, but quietly waited the result.
It was only a few minutes before Dick returned.
"You may come on," he cried.
"Is the camp deserted?" asked Tom.
"It is not a camp at all; it is a lot of ant-hills!"
"Ant-hills!" echoed Benedict, suddenly aroused into a state of
excitement.
[Illustration: One after another, the whole party made their way inside]
"No doubt of it, Mr. Benedict." replied Dick; "they are ant-hills
twelve feet high at least: and I hope we shall be able to get into
them."
"Twelve feet!" the naturalist repeated; "they must be those of the
termites, the white ants; there is no other insect that could make
them. Wonderful architects are the termites."
"Termites, or whatever they are, they will have to turn out for us,"
said Dick.
"But they will eat us up!" objected Benedict.
"I can't help that," retorted Dick; "go we must, and go at once."
"But stop a moment," continued the provoking naturalist; "stop, and
tell me: I can't be wrong: I always thought that white ants could never
be found elsewhere than in Africa."
"Come along, sir, I say; come along, quick!" shouted Dick, terrified
lest Mrs. Weldon should have overheard him.
They hurried on. A wind had risen; large spattering drops were now
beginning to fall more heavily on the ground and in a few minutes it
would be impossible to stand against the advancing tempest. The nearest
of the accumulation of ant-hills was reached in time, and however
dangerous their occupants might be, it was decided either to expel
them, or to share their quarters. Each cone was formed of a kind of
reddish clay, and had a single opening at its base. Hercules took his
hatchet, and quickly enlarged the aperture till it would admit his own
huge body. Not an ant made its appearance. Cousin Benedict expressed
his extreme surprise. But the structure unquestionably was empty, and
one after another the whole party made their way inside.
The rain by this time was descending in terrific torrents, strong
enough to extinguish, one would think, the most violent explosions of
the electric fluid. But the travellers were secure in their shelter,
and had nothing to fear for the present; their tenement was of greater
stability than a tent or a native hut. It was one of those marvellous
structures erected by little insects, which to Cameron appeared even
more wonderful than the upraising of the Egyptian pyramids by human
hands. To use his own comparison, it might be likened to the
construction of a Mount Everest, the loftiest of the Himalayan peaks,
by the united labour of a nation.
CHAPTER V.
WHITE ANTS.
The storm had now burst in full fury, and fortunate it was that a
refuge had been found. The rain did not fall in separate drops as in
temperate zones, but descended like the waters of a cataract, in one
solid and compact mass, in a way that could only suggest the outpour of
some vast aerial basin containing the waters of an entire ocean.
Contrary, too, to the storms of higher latitudes, of which the duration
seems ordinarily to be in inverse ratio to their violence, these
African tempests, whatever their magnitude, often last for whole days,
furrowing the soil into deep ravines, changing plains to lakes and
brooks to torrents, and causing rivers to overflow and cover vast
districts with their inundations. It is hard to understand whence such
volumes of vapour and electric fluid can accumulate. The earth, upon
these occasions, might almost seem to be carried back to the remote
period which has been called "the diluvian age."
Happily, the walls of the ant-hill were very thick; no beaver-hut
formed of pounded earth could be more perfectly water-tight, and a
torrent might have passed over it without a particle of moisture making
its way through its substance.
As soon as the party had taken possession of the tenement, a lantern
was lighted, and they proceeded to examine the interior. The cone,
which was about twelve feet high inside, was eleven feet wide at the
base, gradually narrowing to a sugar-loaf top. The walls and partitions
between the tiers of cells were nowhere less than a foot thick
throughout.
These wonderful erections, the result of the combined labour of
innumerable insects, are by no means uncommon in the heart of Africa.
Smeathman, a Dutch traveller of the last century, has recorded how he
and four companions all at one time occupied the summit of one of them
in Loundé. Livingstone noticed some made of red clay, of which the
height varied from fifteen to twenty feet; and in Nyangwé, Cameron
several times mistook one of these colonies for a native camp pitched
upon the plain. He described some of these strange edifices as being
flanked with small spires, giving them the appearance of a
cathedral-dome.
The reddish clay of which the ant-hill was composed could leave no
doubt upon the mind of a naturalist that it had been formed by the
species known as "termes bellicosus;" had it been made of grey or black
alluvial soil, it might have been attributed to the "termes mordax" or
"termes atrox," formidable names that must awaken anything but pleasure
in the minds of all but enthusiast entomologists.
In the centre was an open space, surrounded by roomy compartments,
ranged one upon another, like the berths of a ship's cabin, and lined
with the millions of cells that had been occupied by the ants. This
central space was inadequate to hold the whole party that had now made
their hurried resort to it, but as each of the compartments was
sufficiently capacious to admit one person to occupy it in a sitting
posture, Mrs. Weldon, Jack, Nan, and Cousin Benedict were exalted to
the upper tier, Austin, Bat, and Actæon occupied the next story, whilst
Tom and Hercules, and Dick Sands himself remained below.
Dick soon found that the soil beneath his feet was beginning to get
damp, and insisted upon having some of the dry clay spread over it from
the base of the cone.
"It is a long time," he said, "since we have slept with a roof over our
heads; and I am anxious to make our refuge as secure as possible. It
may be that we shall have to stay here for a whole day or more; on the
first opportunity I shall go and explore; it may turn out that we are
near the stream we are seeking; and perhaps we shall have to build a
raft before we start again."
[Illustration: Cousin Benedict's curiosity was awakened.]
Under his direction, therefore, Hercules took his hatchet, and
proceeded to break down the lowest range of cells and to spread the
dry, brittle clay of which they were composed a good foot thick over
the damp floor, taking care not in any way to block up the aperture by
which the fresh air penetrated into the interior.
It was indeed fortunate that the termites had abandoned their home; had
it swarmed with its multitudes of voracious Neuroptera, the ant-hill
would have been utterly untenable for human beings. Cousin Benedict's
curiosity was awakened, and he was intensely interested in the question
of the evacuation, so that he proceeded at once to investigate, if he
could, whether the emigration had been recent or otherwise. He took the
lantern, and as the result of his scrutiny he soon discovered in a
recess what he described as the termites' "storehouse," or the place
where the indefatigable insects keep their provisions. It was a large
cavity, not far from the royal cell, which, together with the cells for
the reception of the young larvae, had been destroyed by Hercules in
the course of his flooring operations. Out of this receptacle Benedict
drew a considerable quantity of gum and vegetable juices, all in a
state so liquid as to demonstrate that they had been deposited there
quite recently.
"They have only just gone," he exclaimed, with an air of authority, as
if he imagined that some one was about to challenge his assertion.
"We are not going to dispute your word, Mr. Benedict," said Dick; "here
we are; we have taken their place, and shall be quite content for them
to keep out of the way, without caring when they went, or where they
have gone."
"But we must care," retorted Benedict testily; "why they have gone
concerns us a good deal; these juices make it evident, from the liquid
state in which we find them, that the ants were here this morning, they
have not only gone, but they have carried off their young larvae with
them; they have been sagacious enough to take warning of some impending
danger."
"Perhaps they heard that we were coming," said Hercules, laughing.
A look of withering scorn was the only answer that the entomologist
deigned to give.
"Yes, I say," repeated Hercules, "perhaps they heard that we were
coming."
"Pshaw!" said Benedict contemptuously; "do you imagine they would be
afraid of you? they would reduce your carcase to a skeleton in no time,
if they found it across their path."
"No doubt, if I were dead," replied Hercules, "they could pick my bones
pretty clean; but while I had the use of my limbs I think I could crush
them by thousands."
"Thousands!" ejaculated Benedict, with increasing warmth; "you think
you could demolish thousands; but what if they were hundreds of
thousands, millions, hundreds of millions? Alive as much as dead, I
tell you, they wouldn't be long in consuming every morsel of you."
During this brisk little discussion Dick Sands had been pondering over
what Benedict had said. There was no doubt that the amateur naturalist
was well acquainted with the habits of white ants, and if, as he
affirmed, the insects had instinctively quitted their abode on account
of some approaching danger, Dick asked himself whether it was safe or
prudent for his party to remain. But the fury of the storm was still so
great that all possibility of removing from the shelter seemed
precluded for the present, and, without inquiring farther into the
mystery, he merely said,
"Although the ants, Mr. Benedict, have left us their provisions, we
must not forget that we have brought our own. We will have our supper
now, and to-morrow, when the storm is over, we will see what is to be
done."
Fatigue had not taken away the appetite of the energetic travellers,
and they gladly set about the preparation of their meal. The
provisions, of which they had enough for another two days, had not been
injured by the rain. For some minutes the crunching of hard biscuit was
the only sound to be heard; Hercules, in particular, seemed to pound
away with his huge jaws as with a pair of millstones.
[Illustration: The naturalist now fairly mounted on a favourite hobby.]
Mrs. Weldon was the only one of the party who ate little; and that
little was only taken at Dick's earnest solicitation; he could not help
noticing, with much concern, that although Jack seemed to be
satisfactorily recovering, and, without sign of fever, was sleeping
calmly enough on a bed made up of clothes spread out in one of the
cells, yet his mother had lost much of her courage, and seemed
preoccupied and depressed.
Cousin Benedict did due honour to the simple evening repast; not on
account of its quantity or quality, but because it gave him an
opportunity of holding forth upon the subject of termites. He was much
vexed that he had been unable to discover a single specimen in the
deserted anthill with which he might illustrate his lecture, but
notwithstanding this deficiency he continued to talk, heedless whether
any one was listening.
"They are wonderful insects," he said; "they belong to the order of the
Neuroptera, which have the antennae longer than the head; their
mandibles are well-developed, and the inferior pair of wings is
generally as large as the superior. There are five families of them;
the Panorpide, the Myrmellonide, the Hemerobiide, the Termitine, and
the Perlide. I need hardly say that what we are now occupying is a
dwelling of the Termitine."
At this point Dick became all attention; he was anxious to ascertain
whether this discovery of white ants had aroused any suspicion in
Benedict's mind that they must be on African soil. The naturalist, now
fairly mounted on a favourite hobby, went on with his discourse.
"I am sorry not to have a specimen to show you, but these Termitine
have four joints in the tarsi, and strong horny mandibles. The family
includes, as genera, the Mantispa, the Raphidia, and the Termes, the
last commonly known as white ants, amongst which are 'Termes fatalis,
Termes lucifugans, Termes mordax,' and several others more or less
rare."
"And which of them built this ant-hill?" inquired Dick.
"The bellicosi!" replied Benedict, pronouncing the name with as much
pride as if he were eulogizing the Macedonians or some warlike nation
of antiquity. "Bellicosi," he continued, "are to be found of every
size. There is as much difference between the largest and the smallest
of them as there is between Hercules and a dwarf; the workers are about
one-fifth of an inch long; the soldiers, or fighting-ants, are half an
inch; whilst the males and females measure four fifths of an inch.
There is another curious species, called 'sirafoos,' which are about
half an inch long, and have pincers instead of mandibles, and heads
larger than their bodies, like sharks. In fact, if sharks and sirafoos
were placed in competition, I should be inclined to back the sharks."
"And where are these sirafoos most generally to be found?" said Dick
cautiously.
"In Africa, in the southern and central provinces. Africa may truly be
termed the land of ants. Livingstone, in the notes brought home by
Stanley, describes a battle which he was fortunate enough to witness
between an army of black ants and an army of red. The black ants, or
drivers, which are what the natives call sirafoos, got the best of it;
and the red ants, or 'tchoongoos,' after a very resolute defence, were
obliged to retire defeated, carrying their eggs and young ones with
them. Livingstone avows that he never saw the warlike instinct so
strongly developed as in these sirafoos; the stoutest man, the largest
animal, a lion or an elephant, quails before the grip of their
mandibles: no obstacle impedes their progress; no tree is too lofty for
them to scale, and they contrive to cross wide streams by forming their
own bodies into a kind of suspension bridge. Equally amazing are their
numbers; Du Chaillu, another African traveller, relates how it took
more than twelve hours for a column of ants to file pass him, without a
moment's pause in their march. These numbers, however cease to be so
surprising when it is explained that their fecundity is such that a
single female of the termites bellicosi has been estimated to produce
as many as sixty thousand eggs a day. These Neuroptera furnish the
natives with a favourite food, grilled ants being considered a great
delicacy."
"Have you ever tasted them?" asked Hercules, with a grin.
"Never," answered the naturalist; "but I am in hopes I shall have a
chance of doing so very soon."
"Surely you don't imagine yourself in Africa!" said Tom suddenly.
"Africa! no; why should I?" replied Benedict; "but, as I have already
seen a tzetsy in America, I do not despair of having the satisfaction
of discovering white ants there too. You do not know the sensation I
shall make in Europe when I publish my folio volume and its
illustrations."
It was evident that no inkling of the truth had yet entered poor
Benedict's brain, and it seemed likely that it would require
demonstration far more striking than any natural phenomena to undeceive
the minds of such of the party as were not already in possession of the
fatal secret.
Although it was nine o'clock, Cousin Benedict went on talking
incessantly, regardless of the fact that one by one his audience were
falling to sleep in their separate cells. Dick Sands did not sleep, but
neither did he interrupt the entomologist by farther questions;
Hercules kept up his attention longer than the rest, but at length he
too succumbed to weariness, and his eyes and ears were closed to all
external sights and sounds.
But endurance has limits, and at last Cousin Benedict, having worn
himself out, clambered up to the topmost cell of the cone, which he had
chosen for his dormitory, and fell into a peaceful slumber.
The lantern had been already extinguished. All was darkness and silence
within, whilst the storm without still raged with a violence that gave
no sign of abatement.
Dick Sands himself was the only one of the party who was not partaking
in the repose that was so indispensable to them all; but he could not
sleep; his every thought was absorbed in the responsibility that rested
on him to rescue those under his charge from the dangers that
threatened them. Again and again he recalled every incident that had
occurred since the loss of Captain Hull and his crew; he remembered the
occasion when he had stood with his pistol pointed at Negoro's head;
why, oh why, had his hand faltered then? why had he not at that moment
hurled the miserable wretch overboard, and thus relieved himself and
his partners in trouble from the catastrophe that had since befallen
them? Peril was still staring them in the face, and his sole drop of
consolation in the bitter cup of despondency was that Mrs. Weldon was
still ignorant of their real situation.
At that moment, just in the fever of his agony, he felt a light breath
upon his forehead; a hand was laid upon his shoulder, and a gentle
voice murmured in his ear,--
"My poor boy, I know everything. God will help us! His will be done!"
[Illustration: "My poor boy, I know everything."]
CHAPTER VI.
A DIVING-BELL.
This sudden revelation that Mrs. Weldon was acquainted with the true
state of things left Dick speechless. Even had he been capable of
replying, she gave him no opportunity, but immediately retired to the
side of her son. The various incidents of the march had all gradually
enlightened her, and perhaps the exclamation of Cousin Benedict on the
preceding evening had crowned them all; anyhow the brave lady now knew
the worst. Dick felt, however, that she did not despair; neither would
he.
He lay and longed for the dawn, when he hoped to explore the situation
better, and perchance to find the watercourse which he was convinced
could not be far distant. Moreover, he was extremely anxious to be out
of the reach of the natives whom, it was only too likely, Negoro and
Harris might be putting on their track.
But as yet no glimmer of daylight penetrated the aperture of the cone,
whilst the heavy rumblings, deadened as they were by the thickness of
the walls, made it certain that the storm was still raging with
undiminished fury. Attentively Dick listened, and he could distinctly
hear the rain beating around the base of the ant-hill; the heavy drops
splashed again as they fell, in a way altogether different to what they
would upon solid ground, so that he felt sure that the adjacent land
was by this time completely flooded. He was getting very drowsy when it
suddenly occurred to him that it was not unlikely the aperture was
getting blocked up with damp clay; in that case he knew that the breath
of the inmates would quickly vitiate the internal atmosphere. He crept
along the ground and had the satisfaction of finding that the clay
embankment was still perfectly dry; the orifice was quite unobstructed,
allowing not only a free passage to the air, but admitting the glare of
the occasional flashes of lightning, which the descending volumes of
water did not seem to stay.
Having thus far satisfied himself that all was well, and that there was
no immediate danger, Dick thought that he might now resign himself to
sleep as well as the rest: he took the precaution, however, of
stretching himself upon the embankment within easy reach of the
opening, and with his head supported against the wall, after a while
dozed off.
How long his light slumber had lasted he could not say, when he was
aroused by a sensation of cold. He started up, and to his horror
discovered that the water had entered the ant-hill and was rising
rapidly; it could not be long, he saw, before it reached the cells
which were occupied by Hercules and Tom. He woke them at once, and told
them what he had observed. The lantern was soon lighted, and they set
to work to ascertain what progress the water was making It rose for
about five feet, when it was found to remain stationary.
"What is the matter, Dick?" inquired Mrs. Weldon, disturbed by the
movements of the men.
"Nothing very alarming," answered Dick promptly; "only some water has
found its way into the lower part of the place; it will not reach your
upper cells; probably some river has overflowed its boundaries."
"The very river, perhaps," suggested Hercules assuringly, "that is to
carry us to the coast."
Mrs. Weldon made no reply.
Cousin Benedict was still sleeping as soundly as if he were himself a
white ant; the negroes were peering down on to the sheet of water which
reflected back the rays of the lantern, ready to carry out any orders
given by Dick, who was quietly gauging the inundation, and removing the
provisions and fire-arms out of its reach.
[Illustration: They set to work to ascertain what progress the water
was making.]
"Did the water get in at the opening, Mr. Dick?" asked Tom.
"Yes, Tom, and consequently we are coming to the end of our stock of
fresh air," was Dick's reply.
"But why should we not make another opening above the water level?" Tom
inquired.
"A thing to be thought about," said Dick; "but we have to remember that
if we have five feet of water here inside, there is probably a depth of
six or seven outside. In rising here the flood has compressed the air,
and made it an obstacle to further progress, but if we allow the air to
escape, we may perhaps only be letting the water rise too high for our
safety. We are just as if we were in a diving-bell."
"Then what is to be done?" asked the old negro.
"No doubt," replied Dick, "we must proceed very cautiously. An
inconsiderate step will jeopardize our lives." Dick Sands was quite
correct in comparing the cone to an immersed diving-bell. In that
mechanical contrivance, however, the air can always be renewed by means
of pumps, so that it can be occupied without inconvenience beyond what
is entailed by a somewhat confined atmosphere; but here the interior
space had already been reduced by a third part through the encroachment
of the water, and there was no method of communicating with the outer
air except by opening a new aperture, an operation in which there was
manifest danger.
Dick did not entertain the slightest apprehension that the ant-hill
would be carried away bodily by the inundation; he knew that it would
adhere to its base as firmly as a beaver-hut; what he really dreaded
was that the storm would last so long that the flood would rise high
above the plain, perhaps submerging the ant-hill entirely, so that
ultimately all air would be expelled by the persistent pressure.
The more he pondered the more he felt himself driven to the conviction
that the inundation would be wide and deep. It could not be, he felt
sure, entirely owing to the downpour from the clouds that the rapid
flood was rising; there must have been the sudden overflowing of some
stream to cause such a deluge over the low-lying plain. It could not be
proved that the ant hill was not already under water, so that escape
might be no longer possible, even from its highest point.
With all Dick's courage, it was yet evident that he was very uneasy; he
did not know what to do, and asked himself again and again whether
patient waiting or decisive action would be his more prudent course.
It was now about three o'clock in the morning. All within the ant-hill
were silent and motionless, listening to the incessant turmoil which
told that the strife of the elements had not yet ceased.
Presently, old Tom pointed out that the height of the water was
gradually increasing, but only by very slow ascent. Dick could only say
that if the flood continued to rise, however slowly, it must inevitably
drive out the air.
As if struck by a sudden thought, Bat called out,--
"Let me try and get outside. Perhaps I might dive and get through the
opening."
"I think I had better make that experiment myself," answered Dick.
"That you never shall," interposed Tom peremptorily; "you must let Bat
go. It may not be possible to get back, and your presence is
indispensable here. Think, sir, think of Mrs. Weldon, and Master Jack,"
he added in a lower tone.
"Well, well," Dick assented, "if it must be so, Bat shall go."
And turning to Bat, he continued,
"Do not try to come back again; we will try, if we can, to follow you
the same way; but if the top of the cone is still above water, knock
hard on it with your hatchet, and we shall take it as a signal that we
may break our way out. Do you understand?"
"All right!" he said, "all right, sir."
And after wringing his father's hand, he drew a long breath, and
plunged into the water that filled the lower section of the ant-hill.
It was an exploit that required considerable agility; the diver would
have to find the orifice, make his way through it, and, without loss of
a moment, let himself rise to the surface outside. Full half a minute
elapsed, and Dick was making sure that the negro had been successful in
his effort, when his black head emerged from the water. There was a
general exclamation of surprise.
"It is blocked up," gasped Bat, as soon as he had recovered breath
enough to speak.
"Blocked up?" cried Tom.
"Yes," Bat affirmed; "I have felt all round the wall very carefully
with my hand, and I am sure there is no hole left; I suppose the water
has dissolved the clay."
"If you cannot find a hole," exclaimed Hercules, "I can very soon make
one;" and he was just about to plunge his hatchet into the side of the
ant-hill, when Dick prevented him.
"Stop, stop! you must not be in such a hurry!"
He reflected for a few moments, and went on,--
"We must be cautious; an impetuous step may be destruction; perhaps the
water is over the top; if it is allowed to enter, then at once is an
end of all."
"But whatever we do," urged Tom, "must be done at once; there is no
time to lose."
He was right; the water had risen till it was quite six feet deep; none
but Mrs. Weldon, Jack, Nan, and Cousin Benedict, who were lodged in the
upper cells, were fairly above its surface.
Dick now came to his determination. At about a foot above the
water-level, that is, about seven feet from the ground, he resolved to
bore a hole through the clay. If he should find himself in
communication with the open air, he would have the proof he desired
that the top of the cone was still uncovered; if, on the other hand, he
should ascertain that he had pierced the wall below the surface of the
external water, he would be prepared to plug up the hole
instantaneously, and repeat the experiment higher up. It was true that
the inundation might have risen even fifteen feet above the plain; in
that case the worst had come, and there was no alternative but that
they must all die of asphyxia.
Carefully considering the chances of his undertaking, Dick calmly and
steadily set about his task. The best instrument that suggested itself
for his purpose was the ramrod of a gun, which, having a sort of
corkscrew at the end for extracting the wadding, would serve as an
auger. The hole would be very small, but yet large enough for the
requisite test. Hercules showed him all the light he could by holding
up the lantern. There were several candles left, so that they were not
in fear of being altogether in darkness.
The operation hardly took a minute; the ramrod passed through the clay
without difficulty; a muffled sound was distinguished as of air-bubbles
rushing through a column of water. As the air escaped, the water in the
cone rose perceptibly. The hole had been pierced too low. A handful of
clay was immediately forced into the orifice, which was thus
effectually plugged; and Dick turned round quietly, and said,--
"We must try again."
The water had again become stationary, but its last rise had diminished
the amount of breathing space by more than eight inches. The supply of
oxygen was beginning to fail, respiration was becoming difficult, and
the flame of the candle burned red and dim.
About a foot higher than the first hole, Dick now set about boring a
second. The experiment might again prove a failure, and the water rise
yet higher in the cone; but the risk must be run.
Just as the auger was being inserted, a loud exclamation of delight was
heard proceeding from Cousin Benedict's cell. Dick paused, and Hercules
turned the lantern towards the excited naturalist, who seemed beaming
with satisfaction.
"Yes, yes; I see it all well enough," he cried; "I know now why the
termites left their home; they were wide-awake; they were more clever
than we are; they knew that the storm was coming!"
Finding that this was all the worthy entomologist had to communicate,
Dick, without comment, turned back again to his operation. Again the
gurgling noise! again the water's upward rush! For the second time he
had failed to effect an aperture to the outer air!
[Illustration: All fired simultaneously at the nearest boat.]
The situation was to the last degree alarming. The water had all but
reached Mrs. Weldon, and she was obliged to take her boy into her arms.
Every one felt nearly stifled. A loud singing was heard in the ears,
and the lantern showed barely any light at all. A few minutes more and
the air would be incapable of supporting life. One chance alone
remained. They must bore another hole at the very summit of the cone.
Not that they were unaware of the imminent danger of this measure, for
if the ant-hill were really submerged the water from below would
immediately expel the remaining air and death must be instantaneous. A
few brief words from Dick explained the emergency of the crisis. Mrs.
Weldon recognized the necessity,--
"Yes, Dick, do it; there is nothing else to be done."
While she was speaking the light flickered out, and they were in total
darkness.
Mounted on the shoulders of Hercules, who was crouching in one of the
side-cells, his head only just above water, Dick proceeded to force the
ramrod into the clay, which at the vertex of the ant-hill was
considerably harder and thicker than elsewhere.
A strange mingling of hope and fear thrilled through Dick Sands as he
applied his hand to make the opening which was to admit life and air,
or the flood of death!
The silence of the general expectation was broken by the noise of a
sharp hissing; the water rose for eight inches, but all at once it
ceased to rise; it had found its level. No need this time to close the
orifice; the top of the ant-hill was higher than the top of the flood;
and for the present, at least, they could all rejoice that their lives
were spared!
A general cheer, led by the stentorian voice of Hercules, involuntarily
broke from the party; cutlasses were brought into action, and the clay
crumbled away beneath the vigorous assault that was made upon it. The
welcome air was admitted through the new-made aperture, bringing with
it the first rays of the rising sun. The summit of the ant-hill once
removed, it would be quite easy to clamber to the top, whence it was
hoped they would soon get away to some high ground out of reach of the
flood.
Dick was the first to mount the summit; but a cry of dismay burst from
his lips!
A sound only too well known to travellers in Africa broke upon his ear;
that sound was the whizzing of arrows.
Hardly a hundred yards away was a large encampment; whilst, in the
water, quite close to the ant-hill where he stood, he saw some long
boats full of natives. From one of these had come the volley of arrows
which had greeted his appearance above the opening of the cone.
To tell his people what had happened was the work of a moment. He
seized his gun, and made Hercules, Bat, and Actæon take theirs, and all
fired simultaneously at the nearest boat. Several of the natives were
seen to fall; but shouts of defiance were raised, and shots were fired
in return.
Resistance was manifestly useless. What could they do against a hundred
natives? they were assailed on every hand. In accordance with what
seemed a preconcerted plan, they were carried off from the ant-hill
with brutal violence, in two parties, without the chance of a farewell
word or sign.
Dick Sands saw that Mrs. Weldon, Jack, and Cousin Benedict were placed
on board one boat, and were conveyed towards the camp, whilst he
himself, with the five negroes and old Nan, was forced into another,
and taken in a different direction. Twenty natives formed a body-guard
around them, and five boats followed in their rear.
Useless though it were, Dick and the negroes made one desperate attempt
to maintain their freedom; they wounded several of their antagonists,
and would doubtless have paid their lives as a penalty for their
daring, if there had not been special orders given that they should be
taken alive.
The passage of the flood was soon accomplished. The boat had barely
touched the shore, when Hercules with a tremendous bound sprang on to
the land. Instantly two natives rushed upon him. The giant clave their
skulls with the butt end of his gun, and made off. Followed though he
was by a storm of bullets, he escaped in safety, and disappeared
beneath the cover of the woods.
[Illustration: The giant clave their skulls with the butt end of his
gun.]
Dick Sands and the others were guarded to the shore, and fettered like
slaves.
CHAPTER VII.
A SLAVE CARAVAN.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000