CHAPTER V
AN INVITATION TO LUNCH
MACKELLER, now wide awake, sprang to his feet and gazed through the telescope.
"You see," he cried triumphantly, "I was right after all!"
"Yes, you were right on one point and wrong on another. I confess I did not believe in the floating mine, because it is not an article you can buy at every ironmonger's; but you were wrong in predicting they would leave a channel for the Rajah to get out: they have completely sealed the river. Of course that is an advantage. When it is time for the Rajah to leave, you will see those mines picked up and brought inshore; so, by watching the mine field on the river, we will receive notice of the Rajah's departure."
"And do you intend to follow her out when the mines are cleared away?"
"Bless you, no. We will depart by the main channel."
"Then you will do nothing about this nest of explosives?"
"What is there to do? If we were Japanese, and reckless of human life, we might steal down there and set the mines adrift; but that would be a dangerous business, and if one or more got out into the ocean we might find ourselves practically responsible for the destruction of a Cape liner. But after all," continued his lordship dreamily, sprawling at full length on the place that Mackeller had deserted, "after all, what is the use of this gold? You can't eat it or drink it, except in London or Paris, or some such center of so-called civilization. You have just seen what brutes it makes of men in quest of it, when they will in cold blood prepare for the annihilation of their fellow creatures."
"But you knew all that, sir, before you left England."
"True, true, so I did; but here the fact has made a greater impression on my mind. I have arrived at a theory. I believe this spot to be the Garden of Eden. The soil and climate will grow anything. You may enjoy whatever temperature you like by simply rising higher and higher in the hills; the higher you get the lower the temperature. There is ample timber of all kinds, and yesterday I discovered a lovely waterfall which would give us enough electricity to endow a city with power, so I intend to found a modern Utopia, and have selected a spot where this very day we will begin to clear away the forest and build log huts. The nucleus of our colony will be situated at the head of the delta alongside the stream that passes the gold field and flows direct to the ocean. I shall move the steamer over there, and thus, Peter, you will be deserted, for I insist that you shall watch our potential enemies from this spot, and report by wireless what they are doing."
"So you intend to give up this mining property without a struggle?"
"Oh, I hate struggling. The climate is too perfect to struggle. Let us be happy when there is a chance of happiness."
The young man reclined there with his hands clasped behind his head, looking up quizzically with half-closed eyes at the bewildered Mackeller.
"By the way, Mackeller, there is something afloat on the river near the yacht that would interest you. Did I tell you I had picked up a little gem of a motor boat at Thornycroft's, actually armored and bullet-proof? In it we could go down and visit the mine, and return, letting them pepper away at us, while we lay full length on deck protected by the armored bulwarks. No one could be hit, unless the shooter were on top of a church steeple. I think I'll visit the mining camp."
"I strongly advise you, sir, to do nothing of the kind."
"Oh, very well, I won't, then, but this little craft will come in handy for visiting you. It is a nimble little beast, and much more effective on these waters than the row boat."
"Are you in earnest about that Utopia, sir?"
"Certainly, which reminds me I must make a beginning."
He rose, lazily stretched himself, nodded good-by to Mackeller, and proceeded in leisurely fashion down the hill.
The woodmen on board The Woman in White received the announcement of the new Utopia in a spirit quite differing from that of Mackeller, but of course they knew nothing of the gold that had been the object of the cruise. The yacht proceeded to the side of the plateau that Stranleigh had selected as the site of his first village, and presently the air was filled with a crash of falling trees, with the ringing sound of the ax, and the snarl of the saw. Gamekeepers and crew were all set to work, those who could not chop being useful at the two-handed saw, or the rolling of logs to the river bank, where Stranleigh ordered them to be piled.
Mackeller and the telegrapher occupied their lonely perch night and day, and sent in reports of progress. At last Mackeller announced that the loading of ore had gone so far that the Plimsoll's mark on the Rajah's side was already submerged, which fact, added Mackeller, showed that the steamer did not intend sailing to England. Within half an hour of the receipt of this message the swift little motor boat brought Stranleigh and the doctor to the foot of Outlook Hill, and presently the two arrived at the summit.
"Mackeller," said Stranleigh, "turn your telescope upstream to the first bit of clear water you see."
While Mackeller was doing this, the chief turned to the operator—and said:
"Send a message to your colleague: these words—'Let 'em all come.' Ask him to repeat them to show that he has understood."
"Are you expecting an attack?" asked Mackeller, putting his own interpretation on the familiar defiant phrase.
"A sort of an attack," replied Stranleigh. "You watch the surface of that water, and tell me what you see."
"Oh!" cried Mackeller, "there seems to be a raft coming down."
"No, they are separate logs. They have understood our signal, doctor, and have acted promptly. Now, Mackeller, turn your glass on the floating mines, and give up your place to the doctor. I have promised him the first sight. How many mines did they lay down, Mackeller?"
"I don't know, sir."
"Ah, yes, I remember; you were asleep at your post. Well, I'm happy to inform you that the number I saw placed in the river was exactly twenty-seven. Now, Mr. Telegrapher, stand up here and make yourself useful. If explosions occur, no man is to speak, but each is to keep count of the number of spurts of water he sees, then we will compare notes at the end of the fusillade."
"By Jove!" exclaimed the doctor, his eyes glued to the telescope.
A tall pillar of water, white as snow, rose into the air, paused, broke like a sky-rocket, and subsided in a misty rain, which the wind caught and blew along the surface of the water. Then three more shot up into the air as if in competition. A sound like distant thunder came across the delta, and now it seemed that one mine had set off another, or else the logs were even thicker than might have been expected, for a wall of water rose from the surface of the river, extending, with breaks here and there, from shore to shore, and instead of a rumble, a sharp thunderclap was heard by the four men on the mountain. This made counting impossible. For a few moments nothing further happened, then a quarter of a mile down the river the line of mines went off practically simultaneously, forming for a brief instant a Niagara in the sky.
"I think we've got them," said Stranleigh quietly, as he slung over his shoulder again the binoculars he had been using. "Turn your telescope to the land again, doctor, and see those comical people tumbling over each other in their haste to find out what has happened. They look like a nest of disturbed ants."
"What have you done with the yacht?" asked Mackeller. "If any of those people have seen sawn logs float down the river there will be an investigation very speedily to discover who has done the sawing."
"That is true, Mackeller. I have therefore taken the yacht across the river out of gunshot, or the sight of our abandoned Utopia. If they come by land they can't reach her."
"They are not coming by land," said the doctor. "The steam launch is being got ready, and three men are standing on the rock ledge preparing to go aboard, I fancy. They are armed with rifles, too."
"Just glance through the telescope, Mackeller," said Stranleigh, "and tell me if you recognize the three men."
"Yes; there is the tall manager, with the captain of the Rajah on one side of him, and the first mate on the other."
"Don't say 'first mate,' Peter," corrected Stranleigh. "Clark Russell says there's no such thing as a first mate. He is merely the mate, and then you have second and third mate, and I don't know how many more. Well, doctor, let us get away, and meet them in the motor boat. We're innocent lumbermen, searching for timber that has tumbled off the bank, remember."
"You are surely not going down there," protested Mackeller.
"Why, of course. We'll fill them up with our story before they even begin to ask questions."
"But you are unarmed."
"Quite."
"And they possess rifles."
"So it seems."
"Then it is a foolhardy thing to meet them without being accompanied by an equal body of armed men to protect you, at least. I should take all that the motor boat will hold."
"I know you would, Peter, but then, as I have often said, you are a bloodthirsty person. We can drop behind the bulwarks flat on our faces, before any one of the three can shoot; then in that recumbent position I will explain to them as well as I can that the Thornycroft motor boat possesses a submarine prow as effective as that of a battle ship, and if they don't want their steam launch rammed and sunk, they'd better drop their rifles to the deck. I shall insist that whoever speaks to me shall talk as one gentleman to another. I'll tell them I'm a member of the Peace Conference at The Hague. Come along, doctor. We'll invite those johnnies to lunch, and cheer them up with the best wine and cigars that's to be had in Africa," and with that Stranleigh and the doctor departed for the waiting motor boat.
The steersman of the little motor boat crouched over his wheel, which had some resemblance to that of an automobile, as the swift craft sped up the river until it came to the branch that led to the mine, then into this watery lane it turned at full speed. Stranleigh and the doctor were standing up, and on rounding a bend came in sight of the steam launch laboriously churning up toward them against the current.
"Stop the engine," said Stranleigh. "Swing round the stern of the launch, and come up alongside at a distance of about twenty feet, then regulate her speed to suit that of the launch."
The manager, captain, and mate, all standing up, seemed struck into immobility with astonishment at seeing such a cutter in such a region. They made no motion to raise their guns, or even to salute the oncomer. The motor boat came past them like a wild duck, without sound of machinery or sight of vapor, swung gracefully round, and came up alongside with a light precision which should have aroused the admiration of an old salt like the captain of the Rajah.
But the three men were filled with consternation. The ruddy, weather-beaten face of the captain turned to a mottled purple; his jaw dropped, and he stood there gaping, with fear in his bulging eyes. The erect, easy grace of Lord Stranleigh, clad in white, instantly suggested to his experienced eye the British naval officer. This error was heightened by the natty, gold-braided hat worn by the doctor; but the attitude of the two men in white was not so disquieting as the demeanor and appearance of the boat herself. She was most expertly handled, and came alongside with that impudent, saucy air characteristic of midshipmen and the smaller units of the British navy. There was a touch of arrogance in her rakish build, as if she knew the whole power of a maritime nation was typified in her. The significance of her armored sides was not lost on the two seafaring men, even though the manager of the mine did not become immediately conscious of it, but all three recognized the sinister significance of that projecting prow of steel, which was plainly, if waveringly seen, through the transparent green waters, dangerous as the nose of a man-eating shark.
"The three men were filled with consternation"
Lord Stranleigh smiled as he realized the panic his sudden appearance had caused.
"Good morning," he greeted them pleasantly. "Have you seen anything of timber floating down this river?"
"Timber?" gasped the manager of the mine. "Yes—yes—we have."
"Is it lost, do you think?"
"I—I suppose most of it is bobbing about in the surf of the Atlantic Ocean."
"Not lost, but gone before," murmured the doctor.
Stranleigh surmised that captain and mate knew more of the piratical, thieving nature of their expedition than he had supposed. They were both well aware that British cruisers were nosing about in all sorts of odd corners of the world, mostly where they were not wanted, but even so a worthy seaman, if engaged in his lawful occupation, had no reason to fall into a state of nervous collapse at the sight of a craft which looked like a baby torpedo boat. He had hitherto believed that captain, officers, and crew of the Rajah were innocent participators in a scheme of villainy and theft, but now he knew that the captain and mate were equally in the plot with the tall, dark-looking manager, and this information he placed at the back of his brain for future use when he should meet the captain on the open sea.
"Are you a naval officer, sir?" stammered the captain, speaking for the first time.
"Oh, dear, no," replied Stranleigh airily; "merely a private person."
All three heaved a simultaneous sigh of relief, and their statuesque posture lost something of its stiffness.
"I'm cruising about the coast in my yacht."
"That isn't your yacht, is it?" asked the mine manager.
"No, my yacht lies a few miles farther up the river, and is an ocean-going affair. It is built with an eye to comfort and to the housing of a good number of men."
"Ah, how many men do you carry?" demanded the manager, his courage visibly returning.
"Blessed if I know," replied his lordship. "How many men have we, doctor?"
"I never counted them, sir," replied the doctor with a noncommittal air of indifference.
"They are scattered over the face of the country," continued the chief. "Many of them are woodmen, and the rest are gamekeepers from my own estates in England. They can all shoot a bit—trust a gamekeeper for that."
"And is your yacht built on the model of this boat of yours?"
"No. As I told you, it is built for comfort. I'd like very much to show her to you if you will honor me with a visit. Indeed, it is getting near to midday, so I should be delighted if you three gentlemen would be good enough to lunch with me. I can promise you a passable meal, some excellent wine, and cigars that will call up recollections of Havana."
The manager whispered to the captain, who somewhat doubtfully nodded his head, as who would say: "Well, I suppose we'd better see what's in this, anyway."
The manager then spoke up:
"Thank you, sir," he said. "We'll be very glad of a bite and a drink and a smoke. My friend here is captain of the Rajah, and this is Mr. Thompson, the mate. I am Frowningshield, representing the owners of this district."
"Delighted to make your acquaintance, gentlemen. My name is Stranleigh."
"And a very well-known name in Africa, Mr. Stanley."
"S-t-r-a-n-l-e-i-g-h," spelled his lordship. "I cannot claim the distinction of being a namesake of the explorer."
"May I inquire the object of your visit in these regions?" asked the manager.
"In a small way I am looking after big game, and so carry some of my gamekeepers with me. Then again, as you are probably aware, I am interested in timber, hence my woodmen with their axes and saws. We have cut a considerable quantity of firewood, with which we hope to supplement our coal. My third object may strike you as largely impractical. I had some thoughts of founding a settlement here, or on any other healthy and suitable spot not too far from the coast. I am delighted with this section of the country. Back in the hills while shooting I have discovered several waterfalls which could supply cheap power. Some days ago I gave orders to my woodmen to prepare logs for the building of huts. I was away shooting at the time they began operations, and I fear rather neglecting my duties as a settlement founder. Be that as it may, they piled the logs too near the brink of the river, where the incline is steep. This morning, like the Gadarene swine, the logs seem to have tumbled one after another into the water. I suppose one heap set another going. As I tell you, I was absent, but when word was brought to me, I took this launch and followed down the river, thinking perhaps the sawn logs had lodged or jammed somewhere, and might be towed back; but if, as you say, they are already in the ocean, I fear they are lost to us, and we'll need to cut some more."
Frowningshield listened to this recital with wrinkled brow, and intense gaze upon the speaker, who talked in an easy, indolent manner which impressed the manager with the belief that he had encountered some rich fool with more money at his disposal than was good for him, and gradually the nerve of the man who had kicked Mackeller into the hold began to reassert itself. He felt ashamed of his failure in courage when he had supposed he was confronted by the power of Great Britain.
"Perhaps you are not aware, Mr. Stranleigh, that the timber you are cutting is situated on private property."
"You are surely mistaken," protested the young man. "All the maps I have seen—I'll show you them when we come aboard the yacht—depict this district as a sort of no-man's-land."
"Such is not the case, Mr. Stranleigh. More than a hundred square miles of this territory has been acquired by a European syndicate, of whom I am the representative."
"You amaze me. From what government did this syndicate buy the property?"
"They did not buy it from any government, they acquired the concession from native chiefs. No European government holds jurisdiction over this section of Africa."
"That's what I thought. Are you forming a settlement, then, farther down the river? Is that where you have come from?"
"Yes."
"You arrived in the steamer you spoke of—I forget the name?"
"The Rajah. Yes. I am a mining engineer, and we are experimenting with the mineral resources of this country."
"I see. Then you are probably loading the Rajah with such ore as you can find, and are taking it back to Europe to test it."
"Exactly."
"What you tell me is most interesting, but surely you were not here when I came up this river in my yacht less than a month ago?"
"No, we were not here then, but we prospected, and secured possession more than a year ago."
"Then you are clothed with authority to order me to move on?"
"I assure you, Mr. Stranleigh, that so far as I am personally concerned you might form your settlement, or stay here as long as you please, but I am not acting for myself. In the interest of my employers, and to prevent future complications, should we discover valuable minerals, I fear I must warn you off."
"Could you oblige me with the address of that European syndicate?"
"It would be useless, sir. I was instructed that they do not intend to grant any concessions or franchises to outsiders. Whether they gain or lose, they intend to exploit this region for their own sole benefit. If you dispute my authority, I shall be pleased to produce documentary evidence corroborating what I say."
"My dear Mr. Frowningshield," protested Stranleigh, "I should not dream of disputing your authority. I confess I was rather taken with this upper country, though I don't think much of the stretch of land along the coast. However, Africa is large, and I do not doubt I may find some spot equally favorable for the carrying out of my plans. What you say merely shows how small the world is getting to be. Who would have imagined that in this seemingly virgin territory, thousands of miles from what we call civilization, the land should be all taken up, just as if it were a newly plotted piece of acreage in the vicinity of New York or London, to be exploited and covered with jerry-built villas. Well, well, we live and learn. It's rather disappointing, but it can't be helped. I hope you won't send in an exorbitant bill for the trees I have illegally felled, especially when you remember that I have lost most of the timber."
"Oh, no," said Frowningshield, with a laugh. "That will be all right."
"It seems so strange that I, of all people, should be a trespasser and a poacher, for when at home I am a stern upholder of the rights of property. I own several estates in England, and am a very pig-headed Tory when any of my privileges are threatened; so I should be the last man to trespass on the rights of others, and I hope, Mr. Frowningshield, when you are communicating with the proprietors, you will convey to them my humble apologies, with the assurance that if ever again I fell a tree, I shall take pains to know it has grown on my own land."
"Oh, that will be all right," repeated Frowningshield reassuringly.
"There!" cried Stranleigh, as they approached the triple outflow, and waving his hand to the right, "you see the gash I have made in your forest. That is the spot I had chosen for the nucleus of my settlement. There are the remainder of the logs, and I present them freely to you with no charge for the cutting."
"They are piled rather close to the edge," commented Frowningshield.
"Yes, we all realize that now, when it is too late. Locking the door when the horse is stolen. I must inquire how it happened. I have not seen my men since I heard of the disaster. I suppose they will present plenty of plausible excuses, and will fasten the fault of the occurrence on anything but their own stupidity. Ah, captain, what do you think of my yacht?"
"Very fine lines, sir," replied the captain, as he and the mate gazed at the white steamer lying on the other bank of the main stream.
"If you will excuse me," said Stranleigh, "I will precede you on board, to inform cook and steward that three more plates are to be provided."
He and the doctor sprang up the steps: the motor boat gave itself a flick astern, and then the steam launch came to the floor of the gangway. Stranleigh welcomed his guests at the head of the stair, conducted captain and manager to easy-chairs aft, and ordered the deck steward to bring them sherry and bitters. He made a mental note of the fact that the mate had remained in the launch, and from this surmised that he had not succeeded in allaying the suspicions of captain and manager. He resolved to give them an opportunity of consulting alone together, wondering what their action would be when they had come to a decision regarding recent events.
"I must go below to see about the wine. Like a prudent owner I hold the keys of the wine bin myself. With a mixed crew you know the wisdom of such a course, captain."
"Yes, sir, I do," and with this the genial host went down the companion way with the doctor.
"What do you think of him?" muttered the captain, when they were thus left in solitude on the after deck.
"Oh, he's all right," said Frowningshield confidently. "I've met plenty of that kind before. A rich ass, good-natured, without too much brains, blowing in the money he has inherited."
"I'm not so sure of that," replied the captain.
"Oh, you're suspicious of everybody. He has blundered in here, and I dare say has amused himself as he said, shooting and chopping, and what not."
"Do you see," murmured the captain, "that this boat is fitted up for wireless telegraphy? That's the meaning of the line between the masts."
Frowningshield looked aloft.
"Oh, that's it, is it? Well, I don't see anything to worry about, even if it is so. I suppose plenty of yachts are fitted with Marconi apparatus nowadays. It certainly can't be much use to him here in West Africa."
"He might be in communication with some one outside."
"Out in the ocean, you mean? What would be the good of that?"
"I don't know," replied the captain. "This chap is too smooth-tongued to suit my book."
"What do you propose to do? Sink his craft and drown the lot of them?"
"No."
"What then?"
"Keep an eye on him, and not drink too much of his wine."
"You don't need to give that warning to me, captain. It would come more pat applied nearer home."
"You are right," admitted the captain. "If you notice me becoming talkative, just give me a nudge, will you? We must sit together at table."
"I think you are unduly suspicious, captain. This boat must have left England before we did."
"I'm not so sure of that. Some of these ocean-going yachts are very fast. She may be turbine-engined."
"Can't a sea-wise man like you tell whether she is or not by the look of her?"
"No, not from the outside. A question to one of the men would settle it."
"Ah, here comes a waiter with the drinks. Well, my man, this is a very nice yacht you have here."
"Yes, sir."
"Turbine engines, I suppose?"
"I don't know, sir. The engineer would be able to tell you."
"Yes, I suppose he would. How long is it since you left England?"
"Very sorry, sir, but I don't remember the date. The captain or the owner would know."
"Why, of course. Have you been stopping at many places since you quit the old sod?"
"Running in here and there, sir."
"Lisbon, or Teneriffe, perhaps?"
"Well, sir, I never had no head for them foreign places. They all look alike to me, sir. Plymouth, or Southampton, or Liverpool, sir, there's some difference between them."
"So there is, so there is," murmured Frowningshield, as the man respectfully withdrew.
"You see," said the captain, "even the stewards are on their guard."
"Oh, that's the noncommittal nature of the English servant. I imagine Stranleigh is by way of being a swell. There's something of that 'You-be-damned' air about him, in spite of his politeness, and the servants of such people know when they're in a good place, and keep their mouths shut. Still, I can't imagine a la-de-da chap like this, with a fashionable yacht, and a gang of gamekeepers, sent out to interfere with us. What can he do?"
"The steel prow of that motor boat didn't look fashionable," growled the captain. "She could sink the Rajah, loaded down as she is, in about ten seconds, although she'd crumple herself up if she tried it, and as to what he can do, look at what he has already done. The tumbling of all that timber in the river may have been an accident, as he says, but I don't believe it. It fitted the case of the mines too cursedly pat to suit me. He couldn't have hit it off better, and at less cost to himself, if he had studied for a year."
"Yes, it does take a bit of explaining, doesn't it? Still, there's nothing to be done with his crew of landlubbers. He daren't attack us; there are too many of us."
"I think you'll change your opinion before the week is out, Mr. Frowningshield. See what he's already done. He's cleared the river, and the waterway from the ocean to the mine is open. I tell you what it is, Mr. Frowningshield; there's been a miscalculation, and that man Schwartzbrod isn't as clever as you thought he was."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because, according to your story, it should have taken them a week or two to fit out another steamer, and by that time you expected to get the river protected, and erect a few forts. Now what has happened? Instead of that they have chartered the quickest yacht they could find in England, and they have cut in here ahead of us. This fellow's smooth talk about founding a colony is all balderdash. They've been spying upon us ever since we came here. The other fellows in England have taken their time in fitting up a steamer, or perhaps two steamers, or perhaps three. This chap has cleared the channel for them, and any fine morning you may see three or four ships in the offing, carrying perhaps three or four hundred men. Then what are you going to do?"
"There wouldn't be anything to do, of course, if all that happened. Nevertheless, all you say is mere surmise, but if the worst came to the worst they couldn't touch us. We're doing nothing illegal. I tell you old Schwartzbrod assured me he would get from the new owners a legal document covering everything he ordered done."
"But suppose he didn't get that document?"
"We're both blooming prisoners, that's what we are!"
"Oh, trust him! Of course he's got it, but even if he hadn't, we are doing nothing illegal. Here you are with your fortune made if you run three trips to Lisbon and back. You are quite safe, whatever comes, for you are bound to obey the orders of those who chartered the vessel. But apart from all that, we are out of British jurisdiction here, and you will be out of British jurisdiction at Lisbon. You've done nothing, and can do nothing, so long as you obey orders, that will render you liable to British law."
"I don't like the job a bit, Mr. Frowningshield; I tell you that straight."
"Nonsense, man. If any one is in danger, it's me, and I'm not afraid. You're protected by your ship's papers. You are under orders, and you must obey them. If anything is wrong, it is other people who must stand the brunt. It isn't criminal to sail a ship from Southampton to the West African coast, and it isn't criminal to make voyages to Lisbon and back. You are all right, whoever's hurt, so don't get into a panic, captain, merely because a rich fool and his yacht appears to have discovered the Paramakaboo River."
The captain, sorely troubled, but somewhat comforted by the confident tone of his comrade, was absent-mindedly turning the picture pages of the Sphere, which he had taken from the wicker table at his elbow. Suddenly something caught his eye.
"By the Lord, Frowningshield, look at the date of the Sphere! 24th of May, it says, and we sailed on the 13th—a mighty unlucky day I call it. He bought this paper more than a week after we left! I tell you, Frowningshield, we're done for. We're blooming prisoners, that's what we are!"