The Great White Queen: A Tale of Treasure and Treason Read online

  CHAPTER VIII.

  THE SECRET OF THE QUEEN.

  AS we were led forward to the space in front of the divan all eyes weredirected towards us. The glitter and pomp of the merciless slave-raider'scourt was dazzling. Before their ruler all men salaamed. His officerssurrounding him, watched every movement of his face, and the four-scoreslaves behind him stood mute and motionless, ready to do his bidding atany instant.

  When our feet touched the great carpet spread before him, and we halted,he raised himself to a sitting posture, fixing his dark, gleaming eyesupon us. At sight of Omar a sudden frown of displeasure crossed hisfeatures, but an instant later a grim smile of triumph lit his sinisterface.

  Apparently he was waiting for us to bow before him, but Omar hadforbidden me to do so.

  "And who, pray, art thou, that thou deignest not to bend the knee beforeme?" he cried, in anger that his people should witness a slur thus castupon his power.

  "I am Omar, son of the Naya of Mo," my companion answered, folding hisarms resolutely, and regarding the potentate with supreme disdain."Princes do not make obeisance to any but their equals."

  "Am I not thine equal, then, thou son of offal?" cried Samory.

  "In strength thou art, possibly, but not by birth. In order to protectthy country against the white men thou hast sought to make palaver withPrempeh of Ashanti, but I would remind thee that the rulers of Mo havenever besought any aid of their neighbours."

  "Thou speakest well, lad," he said thoughtfully. "Thine is a mightykingdom, but by peace or war I will rule over it."

  "Never, while I live," answered Omar with pride.

  "But thou art the last of thy race. If thou diest--what then?"

  "If I die, then every man in Mo will seek blood revenge upon thee, andZomara will guide them into this, thy land, and arm them with spears offire."

  "I care nought for thy Naya nor thy pagan Crocodile-god," exclaimed theMohammedan chief impatiently. "Bow unto my divan, or of a verity myslaves shall compel thee."

  "I refuse."

  "May thine entrails be burned," cried Samory in anger, and raising hishand he ordered the guards of the divan to cast us both to earth beforehim.

  They threw us down, and their ruler, rising, placed his foot firmly onthe neck of the heir to the throne of Mo, saying in a loud voice:

  "As I hold thee thus within my power, so also will I, ere many moons haverun, hold thy country. Cursed by the Prophet may be thy detested race.There is neither peace nor friendship, there is neither gratitude norlove in the people of Samory, and they shall be the first to curse thee.When I enter Mo every day shall the knife of the executioner be fed withblood; thy cities shall mourn the loss of their sages, husbands theirwives, wives their children, and children their fathers. The countryshall be devastated to its most northerly limits and it shall berendered a wilderness of silence and sorrow."

  Then withdrawing his foot, amid the plaudits of his crowd offierce-looking courtiers, Omar sprang to his feet in rage, and facinghim, cried:

  "The men of Mo are forewarned already against thy designs,notwithstanding that our ex-Grand Vizier Kouaga, the son of a dungheapwho betrayed us hither, hath joined thine accursed ranks. The soldiers ofthe Naya are still anxious for the fourth time to try conclusions withthy white-cloaked rabble. Come, march forward into Mo--thou wilt neverreturn."

  "Thou defiest me, even as thy mother hath done," he roared, his hand uponthe bejewelled hilt of his curved blade. "Were it not for one fact Iwould smite thee dead."

  "I fear thee not," Omar answered with a calmness that astounded me."Sooner or later thou wilt, I suppose, order my death, therefore thesooner the better."

  "Why insultest thou our race by bringing hither with thee this dog of aChristian?" the chief enquired, looking at me with a terrible expressionof hatred.

  "He cometh as my companion," replied Omar briefly.

  "As thy companion he shall accompany thee to the grave," Samory criedfiercely, his eyes swimming in malice.

  "So be it," answered Omar, with a smile of contempt. "May Zomara cursethy work."

  "Speak, infidel!" Samory said, fixing his fiery glance upon me. "Whencecomest thou?"

  "From England," I answered briefly, in fear.

  "From that country where dwell the accursed of Allah," he said, as if tohimself. "They are pig-eaters who despise the Book of Everlasting Willand declare our great Prophet--on whom may be everlasting peace--to be afalse one. Accursed be thy country, infidel! May thy people suffer everytorment of Al-Hawiyat; may their food be offal, and may they slake theirthirst with boiling pitch. The white men have sent their messengers to metime after time to urge me to ally myself with them, but it shall neverbe recorded that Samory besought the assistance of infidels to extend hiskingdom. We fight beneath the green banner of Al-Islam, and will continueto do so until we die. Ere long, the day of the Jehad will dawn; then theforces of Al-Islam will unite to sweep from the face of the earth thosewhite parasites who seek the overthrow of the Faithful. Allah ismerciful, and his servant is patient," added the old scoundrel piously.

  There arose, as if with one voice from those assembled, the words:"Samory hath spoken! Allah send him blessings abundant!" and as they didso each fingered his amulets, little scraps of parchment whereon versesfrom the Koran were written in sprawly Arabic. At that moment, too, Inoticed, for the first time, that right opposite us was the grinning,evil face of the black giant, Kouaga, the man who had so foully betrayedus.

  We exchanged glances, and he laughed at us in triumph.

  "Dost thou intend to keep me as hostage?" Omar asked his mother's enemyboldly.

  "Until thou hast performed the service for which I caused thee to journeyhither with our good Kouaga."

  "The traitor's head shall fall," Omar blurted out with pardonablepassion. Then he asked, "Thou desirest a service of me. Well, what isit?"

  There was a silence so deep that a feather if dropped upon the cool floorof polished marble would have made audible sound, and Samory slowlyseated himself.

  "Give ear unto my words," he said a few moments later, in a clear voice,as he stroked his beard with his fat hand. "I know that within thineimpenetrable kingdom many undreamed-of mysteries and wealth untold lieconcealed. This is common report. Thine ancestors in theirtreasure-house, the whereabouts of which is known only to the Naya and tothyself, have deposited heaps of jewels and great quantities of gold, thespoils of war through many generations. I desire to ascertain, and I willascertain from thine own lips, the exact spot where we may seek thattreasure."

  A look of abject bewilderment crossed Omar's features, and he turned tome, saying in English:

  "All is now plain, Scars. Because only the Naya herself is aware of thespot where the treasure of the Sanoms is deposited, my mother, on the eveof my departure for England, divulged to me the secret, fearing lest sheshould die before my return. Kouaga was the only person who knew that mymother had thus spoken to me, and he has informed Samory and joined himfor the purpose of obtaining the treasure."

  "Is not Kouaga aware of the spot where the treasure is hidden?" I askedhurriedly.

  "No. He came to England at Samory's suggestion to convey me hither sothat they could get the secret from me. On gaining the information it isapparently their intention to make a raid, with Kouaga leading, in orderto secure our wealth."

  But Samory himself interrupted our consultation.

  "Speak not with thine infidel companion," he roared. "Answer me. Tell mewhere this treasure of the Sanoms lieth."

  "The son of the Naya is no traitor," he answered with hauteur.

  "If thou speakest thou shalt have thy liberty. Indeed, if thou deemestfit thou shalt join the expedition into Mo, and share with us the loot,"the chief urged.

  "Thy words insult me," cried Omar, full of wrath. "I will never sharewith thee, who murdered my father, that which is my birthright."

  "Very well," answered Samory indifferently. "Thou needest not. We willtake it, kill thy mother and annex thy country
. Already the whole kingdomis ripe for revolt, and we shall quickly accomplish the rest. I had theebrought hither because thou alone holdest a secret I desire to know--thesecret of the royal Treasure-house, and----"

  "And I refuse to disclose it," my companion said, interrupting thegaudily-attired potentate.

  "If thou wilt not speak willingly, then my executioners shall force theeto loosen thine obstinate tongue's strings," Samory cried, frowning,while the hideous face of the black traitor grinned horribly.

  "The secret of the queen is inviolable. My lips are sealed," answeredOmar with resolution.

  "Then my executioners shall unseal them."

  "If I cannot save my country from desolation at the hands of thy lawlessbands," exclaimed my friend, "I can at least preserve from thee thetreasure accumulated by my ancestors to be used only for the emancipationof our country should evil befall it. Until the present, Mo hath beenheld against all invaders by the hosts ready at the hands of my motherand her predecessors, and even now if thou marchest over my dead body thypath will not be clear of those who will oppose thee. Remember," headded, "the army of the Naya possesses many pom-poms[A] of the English,each of which is equal in power to the fire of one of thy battalions.With them our people will sweep away thine hosts like grains of sandbefore the sirocco."

  "Darest thou oppose my will?" cried Samory, rising in a sudden ebullitionof wrath.

  "Thy will ruleth me not," Omar answered, his face pale and calm. "A Sanomnever betrayed his trust, even though he suffered death."

  "Very well, offspring of sebel," he hissed between his white teeth. "Wewill test thy resolution, and cause thee to eat thy brave words. Thy bodyshall be racked by the torture, and thy flesh given unto the ants toeat." Then, turning to the executioner, a big negro with face hideouslyscarred by many cuts, who stood at his side leaning upon his razor-edged_doka_, he added:

  "You know my will. Loosen the lad's tongue. Let it be done here, so thatwe may watch the effect of thy persuasion."

  And all laughed loudly at their ruler's grim humour, while twenty slavesof the executioner rushed away in obedience to their master's command tobring in the instruments of torture.

  I turned to Omar. He still stood erect, with arms folded. But his facewas pale as death.

  [Footnote A: Maxim guns. They are called "pom-poms" by the Africannatives on account of the noise they cause when fired.]