Tahara Among African Tribes Read online

  CHAPTER II

  KING OF TWO TRIBES

  "Let's go, Dan! Here's where we give our royal domain a visit ofinspection."

  "Okay, Dick. But first let me finish my breakfast. One more slice ofwild pig please!"

  "Get a move on, Dan! The sun's up. We're all ready but you!"

  Dick's first interest was to explore his new kingdom, and he set outearly on this expedition with his two chief lieutenants, Raal, who wasthe best fighter among the Taharans, carried a treasure, wrapped in azebra skin. Kulki, the young leader of the Gorol tribe, which lived inthe mountains in huts built in the trees, carried Dick's long flintknife as an emblem of royal power.

  Kulki was the son of Wabiti, an old chief who could not lead his tribein battle, but was still respected for his wisdom.

  These two warriors led the way, and for his bodyguard, the Boy Kingtook two Taharan tribesmen armed with bows and arrows and flint knives.Kurt and Kurul were devoted to him, and had proved their courage inmore than one stiff fight.

  Dan Carter, his chum, went with the expedition as right hand man andcounselor, though as a matter of fact, Dan was so easy-going andlight-hearted that he was more useful for his company than for hisadvice. As a sign of high rank he was allowed to carry the binoculars.

  The party set out from the fertile hills that rose from the Sahara andclimbed by winding trails up the cliffs to Gorol Land.

  Here the country was rugged and covered with a growth of trees andwhere the forest was thick and hard to penetrate lurked many wildanimals. Leopards, panthers and other fierce creatures were in thoseshadowy recesses, together with poisonous snakes and other reptiles.Great apes and chattering little monkeys clambered boldly among thetrees while gaily colored tropical birds screeched and scolded theintruders.

  "Jiminy crickets!" cried Dan excitedly. "This beats any zoo I've seenyet! Animals in cages don't seem as interesting as the ones that goclimbing about in the forest."

  "You're right at that," Dick answered. "And as for the Gorols, theyare more like the side-show 'wild man of Borneo' than anything I'veever heard of."

  "Listen. That sounds like war drums along the trail."

  Dan put his hand on his bow, but Dick held him back.

  "Don't be foolish!" he said. "Those are drums of welcome."

  He spoke a few words to Kulki in the Gorol language, which he wasbeginning to learn, and the savage answered grinning:

  "They are the drums of Chief Wabiti, my father. We are near his campnow."

  "Here they come!" exclaimed Dan. "Say, this beats a circus parade!"

  Ahead of them on the forest trail the boys caught sight of dark figuresmoving among the trees and spots of gay color. As they reached a smallclearing, Kulki led the party to a fallen log at one side, where Dicksat with his followers standing around him.

  Then Chief Wabiti and his people entered to greet their new ruler, theBoy King, with drums beating and voices raised in a shrill song ofwelcome.

  "Quick, Raal, where is the crown?" Dick asked and his savage henchmanhastily unwrapped the heavy diadem from a covering of zebra skin andhanded it to his master, bowing low as he did so.

  Dick placed the crudely fashioned crown of soft gold and uncut gemsupon his head, while Dan inspected him with a grin, remarking, "It setsa little sideways, Dick. Say, you need me along to keep your royalcrown from slipping over your eye."

  "Lay off, Dan! Don't get funny!"

  Dick turned to Kulki. "Where's my sword of state?"

  Down on his knees went the hairy, dark-skinned Kulki, and presented theflint knife on both open palms.

  "Good! Now Dan, you stand close to me and hold out the field glasseswhere they will impress the natives."

  Dick with his zebra skin garments, his crown, flint knife andrespectful attendants looked enough like a tribal king to impressWabiti, who entered the clearing at that moment, following hisbodyguard and a procession of young girls ornamented with garlands offlowers. Behind him came his sons, princes of the Gorol tribe, but allof lesser rank than Kulki.

  At the sight of Tahara, the new king, who was now ruler of both thetribes, Wabiti fell flat on his face and crawled forward to embrace theyoung monarch's ankles.

  His followers prostrated themselves at the same moment, all but thedrummers, who stood to one side beating furiously upon the instrumentswith their flat hands.

  "Tahara, hal!"

  The words came from the aged Wabiti in a submissive growling voice fromthe pit of his stomach. His gray head was almost between DickOakwood's feet.

  Kulki echoed the words in a ringing shout.

  "Tahara, hal! Tahara!"

  All the Gorol tribe followed, chanting at the top of their lungs, whilethe women and girls repeated the words of submission in shrill,piercing voices.

  The uproar terrified the brightly plumaged birds in the treetops andsent the curious little monkeys scuttling to safety.

  Dick was about to raise Wabiti to his feet, when Dan remarked, "Let himstay where he is a while longer. I remember that old scoundrel did notlift a hand to save me, the night of the witch hunt. Let him staythere till his joints get stiff!"

  "Don't blame him for that," said Dick. "Wabiti couldn't help himself."

  "That's right. He was scared of old Cimbula. By the way, where do yousuppose that rascally witch-doctor is hiding out?"

  "Can't say, Dan! But don't worry! The tribes are through with him andhis so-called magic."

  While Dick and his chum were talking, the tribe of Gorols showed somedegree of uneasiness. Dick was not aware of it, but his delay ingiving the signal for Wabiti to rise was taken as a sign of anger.

  The Gorols remembered how Dan had been chosen for sacrifice in theBoiling Black Spring that night of the terrible witch hunt, and whenthey saw him talking earnestly with Dick, they thought he was urgingthe new king to punish them.

  The women and girls of the tribe began swaying and weaving their armsover their heads in a dance of terror. Their high pitched voices brokeinto a wailing plea for mercy:

  "Ah-woe, ah-woe, Tahara!"

  Even the drummers joined in begging for a pardon, for the drums rolledin a melancholy rhythm.

  Kulki bowed to the ground and cried, "May I speak, Master?"

  "Speak, Kulki!"

  "Is my lord angry?"

  "Angry at what, Kulki?"

  "We did wrong! Be merciful, O King. Touch my father with the flat ofyour knife as a sign of pardon."

  "Pardon?"

  "Yes, O mighty Tahara. If one of us must be slain, strike me. But donot kill my father before the tribe that loves him."

  Dick was astonished at the earnestness of the young savage, and also atthe spirit of sacrifice.

  He smiled and spoke to Dan.

  "Pretty sporting, eh?"

  "I'll say so! Kulki shows the right spirit."

  As the tribe saw Dan and Dick smiling, their fears were turned torejoicing, and a great shout went up as Dick stooped and patted the oldchief on his grey head.

  "We are friends," he said.

  "I am your slave, O Tahara," exclaimed Wabiti.

  "And I!" Kulki cried while Wabiti's other sons all shouted in their ownlanguage, "Long live Tahara, King of the two tribes!"

  After this ceremony, Wabiti led the way to the clearing under his airyvillage in the trees.

  In a great pit, filled with glowing coals, were the carcasses ofmountain goats, antelopes and wild boars. Small birds were roasting onskewers held by women of the tribe, while girls came forward with woventrays heaped high with tropical fruits such as Dick had eaten among theTaharans.

  There were melons, dates, pomegranates and many others that he did notknow by name, also gourds full of a delicious drink made from honey andwild grapes.

  "Oh boy! This is the life!" exclaimed Dan. "Hey sister, bring overthat basket of figs! Look at this, Dick! Ripe figs, purple and whitefigs! They're sweet as sugar."

  Dick smiled and tasted the fruit but Dan insist
ed on keeping a basketbeside him while the guests and Wabiti sat on the grass and the feastbegan.

  Dan Carter, who enjoyed his meals and never passed up anything, was thehero of the hour. The savages believed in doing everything thoroughly:if they fought, they fought to kill and when they ate, they stuffed tobursting.

  Dick Oakwood, with his habit of moderate eating, would have made a poorimpression but for the exploits of Dan, who upheld the honor of both byhis attacks upon the food.

  As Dan picked a bone, he threw it behind him, over his shoulder andinstantly a child of the tribe would snatch it as a prize.

  The Gorols were in high spirits. They foresaw happy days ahead, daysof hunting and feasting with no more fear of war with the Taharans todisturb their sleep.

  "We are all friends and brothers!" said Wabiti, rising with a gourdfull of the honey drink.

  "Friends and brothers," echoed Dick.

  Wabiti chuckled sleepily, sat down abruptly and the next moment hishead fell forward and he began snoring like a buzz saw.

  Dick was not displeased. He looked forward to many happy years,studying these simple people, left over from the Old Stone Age, andwatching them develop as he taught them the arts of peace.

  After the Gorols had eaten all their skins could hold, they began todrop off to sleep and Dick called Raal to him.

  "Now is a good time for us to explore the country undisturbed," hesaid. "You and I will look over the Black Boiling Spring that I sawone terrible night. And I would enter the cave of the Great Gorol,where we stole the sacred black image."

  "I hear. I obey!"

  Raal ordered one of the Gorols to bring a bundle of torches and toldKurt and Kurul to stay where they were and look after Dan, who wasstretched out in a happy doze.

  But as Dick rose to go, Dan started after him. "I wasn't sleeping," hecried. "I just closed my eyes to think! I'm going along."

  "What's the matter?"

  "Nothing. I'd just feel better to go with you."

  "You're not afraid, are you?" laughed Dick. "The Gorols are allfriendly."

  "Of course not. But I was just thinking, suppose that oldwitch-doctor, Cimbula, happened to smell the cooking and crash theparty. He might persuade those fellows to throw me into the BoilingSpring after all."

  "Well, come along, if you're able to walk," answered Dick.

  They followed the winding trail to the hot sulphur spring that stillsent its suffocating fumes from the black pit and bubbled menacingly asthe boys looked down.

  "Jiminy crickets! I'll never forget how they wanted to chuck me inthere," exclaimed Dan. "Walk a little faster!"

  "Come along. There's the cave mouth just ahead."

  The chums paused to stare at the tall posts that marked the entrance,each crowned with a polished human skull, then Raal got the torchesflaring and passed them out to light their way.

  Dick followed close beside Raal, with Dan at his heels, as they plungedinto the darkness of the cave. The narrow walls rose straight besidethem as they proceeded slowly, and soon Dick reached the place wherethe passage turned at right angles.

  Here the walls were flat surfaces, smoothed and cut artificially. Itwas no longer a rugged cave but a tunnel.

  "Look!" exclaimed Dan. "The walls are all covered with drawings."

  Dick held up his torch to the rocky surface and saw that it was paintedwith pictures of hunting scenes, men pursuing boars and antelope. Thedrawings were done in outline and rubbed with some brownish color tomake them show clearly.

  "These are real Stone-Age pictures," said Dick as they went deeper anddeeper into the cave. "They are like the ones that Umba is paintingnow in his cave, but they show animals that have died out long ago.See, here are drawings of extinct animals. There is the sabre-toothtiger. And look, that is a mastodon with long, curved tusks."

  "Jiminy, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could find one or two leftover?" said Dan.

  "A mastodon? Not likely! The climate has changed since the time thatpicture was made and those giants died out long ago," Dick replied.

  "Well, anyhow, some day we will go hunting in the high mountains.Maybe we can find one or two animals that are extinct everywhere else."

  "We'll certainly do that little thing," said Dick. He held his torchcloser to the wall to examine a large crack in the surface. It was ofrotten, crumbling stone in the fissure and as Dick pried at it with hisflint knife, a handful of fragments dropped out.

  Dan stooped to look at them. He rose to his feet with his eyes brightwith excitement.

  "Do you know what this is?" he exclaimed. "Quartz! Rotten quartz!And it's heavy with gold."

  Dick stared at the glittering bits of ore and echoed: "Gold!"

  "We have stumbled on the place where all that metal comes from," saidDan. "This is a mine. See how the passage goes on at a right angle.It was dug to follow the ledge of gold."

  "I wonder. These people don't value gold. They use it the way we useany common metal."

  "It's the only metal they know," said Dan. "And it's common here asold iron is with us."

  Raal showed no interest in their find. Gold was nothing more to himthan lead or tin. He picked up a yellow nugget from the floor andcarelessly threw it away again.

  "I don't think the tribe hollowed this tunnel for gold," said Dick. "Ibelieve they cut it for use as a temple. And from the rock that wasdumped outside they collected the gold that happened to be mixed withthe crushed stone."

  "What a find!" Dan repeated over and over. "Why, Dick, this would leadto a gold rush if the news ever got out. Just like the California andYukon stampedes."

  "I hope nobody lets the word get out!"

  "If Jess Slythe knew about it, he'd be here with an army of ruffians,"said Dan.

  "And kill off all the tribesmen. It would be a tragedy."

  By this time the boys had reached the square dark chamber, with thestone block on which the idol of the ape-god had once been worshipped.Here the seams of ore were richer and thicker than in the tunnel andthe floor of the room was heavy with glinting particles of yellow.

  "Jiminy crickets!" gasped Dan Carter. "Gold dust! Think of it, Dick,the place is carpeted with gold dust! We're rich! Millionaires!"

  But Dick was not happy. He had not come there to make money but todiscover an ancient tribe. The secret of the gold would mean theslaughter of those people, if the word spread.

  When he left the cave he had resolved to swear Dan to secrecy, and asfor the cave, he would order the natives to wall up its mouth for fearof evil magic.

  Following his visit to Wabiti's tribe, Dick returned to the Taharanvillage, where he began teaching the natives the simple arts that theycould practice.

  The women were shown how the wool of wild sheep and the hair of goatscould be spun into yarn, and he had primitive looms set up in caves,where cloth was woven.

  Veena, the pretty little handmaiden of the old queen, was quick tolearn and as she was fond of Dick and anxious to please him, she wasamong the first to produce a fine piece of cloth.

  Veena blushed with pleasure when he praised it and looked at him shyly,then cast down her blue eyes much like one of the girls at home. Withher fair skin and blond hair, Veena might have been his own sister.

  The sharp-faced Queen Vanga, was given an occupation to keep her quiet.Now that she no longer ruled the tribe, Vanga was set to overseeing thewomen who spun and wove. She did it with relish.

  "Work faster, you lazy creatures!" she cried. "Don't stop to gossip!Don't go to sleep over your work!" and if any of them talked back, shedid not hesitate to box their ears. Old Vanga was still a queen.

  Dan was especially useful in teaching the men of the tribe somethingabout farming and horse-breaking. Both Dan and Dick had been inArizona long enough to see how the cowboys did things and soon theTaharans had learned to make lariats out of their palm fibre ropes.Dick and Dan took turns in showing them how to lasso and throw thelittle wild horses, which the tribe owned but h
ad never learned to use.

  "Can you beat it!" exclaimed Dan. "These fellows think a pony is goodfor just one thing. They raise them for food."

  "They are rather small to ride," said Dick, "but I'll tell you what,we'll break a few to the saddle anyhow."

  "First we'll have to make a saddle."

  "And then we'll show these Taharans what a horse-breaker their king canbe."

  But that plan had to be delayed for before the horse-breaking couldbegin a reign of terror swept like a hurricane over the peacefulkingdom of Tahara.