Works of Jules Verne/Five Weeks in a Balloon/Chapter 21
CHAPTER XXI
A NIGHT ATTACK
The night was very dark. The doctor had not been able to recognize the country. He made fast to a tall tree, of which he could scarcely distinguish the confused mass in the gloom. According to arrangement, he took the nine o'clock watch, and at midnight Dick came to relieve him.
"Watch carefully, Dick, please; very carefully."
"Anything new, then?"
"No; I believe I have heard some strange noises below us, and I do not know quite where the wind has carried us. A little extra prudence, then, cannot do any harm."
"You have heard cries of wild beasts?"
"No, it appeared to me something quite different. However, at the least alarm do not fail to wake us."
"All right," replied Dick.
After listening attentively once more, and hearing nothing, the doctor retired, and slept soundly.
The sky was covered with thick clouds, but not a breath of wind was stirring. The "Victoria," held by a single grapnel, felt no movement.
Kennedy leaned upon the car so as to watch the action of the blow-pipe, and began to think of this Erebus-like gloom. He scanned the horizon, and as it happens to restless or preoccupied persons, he fancied he could perceive at times a faint glimmering of light. At one moment he actually believed he saw it 200 paces distant, but it was only a flash, after which he could perceive nothing. It was doubtless one of those luminous sensations which the eye produces in the midst of profound darkness.
Kennedy was satisfied, and resumed his contemplative mood, when a sharp whistle broke the silence. Was it the cry of an animal or of a bird of night? Or did it emanate from human lips?
Kennedy, recognizing all the gravity of the situation, was about to rouse his companions, but he considered that in any case, whether man or beast, it was out of range. He looked to his arms, however, and, with the night-glass, resumed his scrutiny into the darkness.
He soon fancied that he could distinguish below him shadowy forms, which glided towards the tree. By a ray of moonlight, which glinted like a lightning flash between two clouds, he perceived distinctly a group of people moving about in the gloom.
The adventure with the apes came to his mind; he laid his hand on the doctor's shoulder. Ferguson woke immediately.
"Silence!" whispered Kennedy.
"Is anything the matter?"
"Yes, wake Joe."
So soon as Joe was awake, the Scot related what he had seen.
"Those cursed apes again," said Joe.
"Possibly! but we must take our precautions. Joe and I will descend into the tree by the ladder," said Kennedy.
"And in the meantime," said the doctor, "I will take steps to ensure a rapid retreat upwards."
"Agreed!"
"Let us get down," said Joe.
"Do not resort to firearms except in the last necessity," said the doctor. "It is no use to reveal our whereabouts in these parts."
Dick and Joe signed assent and glided noiselessly into the tree. They took their position upon the fork of two large branches which the grapnel had caught.
For some minutes they listened mute and motionless in the tree. At a certain crackling of the bark Joe seized the Scot's hand.
"Don't you hear something?"
"Yes; it is approaching."
"If it be a serpent? The hissing you heard———"
"No, it is something human."
"I prefer savages to serpents," said Joe. "Those reptiles are most repugnant to me."
"The noise is increasing," said Kennedy some moments afterwards.
"Yes, they are ascending—creeping up."
"Do you watch this side; I will look out on the other."
"All right, sir."
They found themselves isolated upon the main branch, growing right in the middle of the miniature forest, which a "baobab" tree makes. The obscurity, increased by the thickness of the foliage, was profound; nevertheless Joe, stooping to Kennedy's ear, and pointing to the lower portion of the tree, said: "Niggers!"
Some words in a low voice then, reached even to the ears of the travelers. Joe shouldered his rifle.
"Wait a bit," said Kennedy.
The savages had actually scaled the "baobab." They rushed along it on every side, creeping along the branches like snakes—approaching slowly but surely; but they betrayed their presence by the smell of the horrible grease with which their bodies were smeared.
Soon two heads presented themselves to our travelers' gaze on a level with the very branch which they occupied.
"Attention!" cried Dick. "Fire!"
The double discharge echoed like thunder, and arose amid cries of distress. In a moment all the crowd had disappeared.
But in the midst of the shoutings a most extraordinary cry arose. It was incredible—impossible! A human voice, and speaking French!
"Help, help!" it cried.
Kennedy and Joe were stupefied. They regained the car with all speed.
"You heard it?" asked the doctor.
"Most decidedly a supernatural cry—Help! help!"
"'Tis a Frenchman in the hands of the savages!" said the doctor.
"A traveler!"
"A missionary, very likely!"
"The unhappy man!" cried Kennedy. They are about to kill him to make him suffer martyrdom!" The doctor endeavored in vain to hide his emotion.
"There can be no doubt," said he, "some unhappy Frenchman has fallen into the hands of the savages. But we will not leave this spot till we have made every effort to rescue him. The sound of our guns he looked upon as inspired succor—a providential intervention. We will not render this last hope false. Is this your opinion?"
"It is, Samuel, and we are ready to obey you."
"Let us then arrange our plans, and so soon as daylight comes we will endeavor to release him."
"But how shall we drive away those horrible negroes?"
"It seems to me," said the doctor, "that after the way in which they dispersed, they were not acquainted with firearms. We must then profit by their fright; but it will be necessary to wait for daylight, and we will form our plan of rescue according to the circumstances."
"This unhappy man cannot be very far distant," said Joe. "For———"
"Help, help!" cried the voice, but this time in weaker accents.
"The barbarians!" cried Joe angrily. "Suppose they kill him to-night?"
"Yes, Samuel!" said Kennedy. "If they murder him to-night?"
"That is not likely, my friends. These savage tribes kill their prisoners in open day: the sun is necessary for them."
"Suppose I were to take advantage of the darkness," said the Scot, to approach this poor victim?"
"I will go with you, Mr. Dick."
"Stop, stop, my friends. This suggestion does equal honor to your courage and your feelings; but you will put everything in jeopardy, and will only endanger the man we want to save."
"How so?" asked Kennedy. "The savages are frightened and dispersed. They will not return."
"Dick, obey me, I beg of you. I ask it for the common safety. If by any chance you were discovered, everything would be lost."
"But this poor wretch who is waiting and hoping all this time. No one answers him, no one comes to his assistance. He will think his senses have deceived him; that he has heard nothing."
"He can be reassured," said the doctor.
And standing up in the darkness and putting his hands to his mouth, the doctor called out to the stranger, in French:
"Whoever you are, be confident. Three friends watch over you."
A terrible uproar was the reply, which doubtless drowned the prisoner's answer.
"They are about to murder him," cried Kennedy. "Our interference has only served to hasten the hour of his death. We must act."
"But how, Dick? What can you do in this darkness?"
"Oh! if it were only day!" cried Joe.
"Well, if it were day?" said the doctor, in a peculiar tone.
"Nothing easier then," said Kennedy. "I would descend and disperse this rabble with a few shots."
"And you, Joe?" asked the doctor.
"I, sir, would act more prudently, in making known to the prisoner that he should escape in the proper direction."
"And how would you convey this advice?"
"By means of this arrow, which I caught flying, and to which I would fasten a note; or by simply calling to him in a loud voice. The negroes would not understand his language."
"Your plans are impracticable, my friends; the greatest difficulty would be for this unfortunate man to save himself, even admitting that he could escape the vigilance of his executioners. As for you, my dear Dick, with much courage and by profiting by the fright excited by our firearms, your plan might perhaps succeed; but if it failed you would be lost, and we should have two persons to save instead of one. No, we must have all the chances on our side, and act otherwise."
"Very well, but act at once," replied Kennedy.
"Perhaps," replied Samuel, dwelling on the word.
"Are you not capable of dispelling this darkness, sir?"
"Who knows, Joe?"
"Ah, if you could do a thing like that, I should say you are the cleverest man in the world."
The doctor remained silent for some minutes in deep thought. His companions contemplated him with some emotion. They were over-excited by this extraordinary incident. Ferguson soon spoke.
"This is my plan," he said. "We have still 200 lbs. of ballast, as the bags in which we brought it have remained untouched. I take for granted that this prisoner, a man evidently worn-out by hardships, weighs as much as one of us. There will remain, therefore, 60 lbs. to throw away in order that we may rise rapidly."
"How do you intend to act, then?" asked Kennedy.
"This way, Dick. You admit, no doubt, that if I succeed with the prisoner and throw away a quantity of ballast equal to his weight, nothing will be changed so far as the equilibrium of the balloon is concerned; but then if I want to secure a rapid ascent to escape this tribe of negroes, I must use stronger measures than the blow-pipe; now in throwing over this weight of ballast at the right moment I am sure to rise with great rapidity."
"That is evident."
"Yes; but there is great inconvenience in it. For instance, to descend slowly, I must lose a quantity of gas proportionate to the excess of ballast I shall have thrown away. Now this gas is a very precious commodity, but we must not regret the loss where the safety of a fellow-creature is concerned."
"You are right, Samuel, we must sacrifice everything to save him."
"Well, let us be up and doing. Dispose these bags so that they may be thrown down at once."
"But the darkness———"
"Will hide our preparations, and will not be gone until they are completed. Take care to have all the arms within reach. It may be necessary to give them a volley; we have one shot in the carbine, four in the two guns, twelve in the two revolvers—seventeen in all—which can be fired in a quarter of a minute. But we may not be obliged to resort to this. Are you ready?"
"We are," replied Joe.
The bags were arranged, and the arms laid ready for action.
"Good," said the doctor. "Keep a good look-out. Joe shall have the duty of throwing the ballast over, and Dick shall take up the prisoner, but nothing may be done without my orders. Joe, go and loose the grapnel and come back as quickly as possible."
Joe let himself slide down by the rope, and reappeared in a few minutes. The "Victoria" thus freed, floated in air, scarcely moving at all.
Meantime the doctor assured himself that there was a sufficient quantity of gas in the "mixing-chest" to support the blow-pipe, if necessary, without making it obligatory to resort to the Buntzen "pile." He raised the two perfectly isolating conducting rods which were used to decompose the water, then searching in his traveling-bag he drew out two pieces of charcoal cut to a point, which he fastened to the end of each wire.
His two friends watched him without understanding his object, but they said nothing until the doctor had finished. He then stood upright in the center of the car and took one of the pieces of charcoal in each hand and touched one against the other. Suddenly an intense and dazzling light was produced of an insupportable brightness between the two parts of the charcoal. An immense band of electric light literally burnt through the obscurity of the night.
"Oh!" said Joe. "Sir———"
"Hold your tongue," said the doctor.