07 Elephant Adventure (16 page)

‘In former times it was believed that the earth was supported on the back of a white elephant, and whenever it moved an earthquake was produced. And did you ever hear about the present the King of Siam sent to Queen Victoria? It was in a gold box locked with a gold key. Everyone thought it must be a very rich gem since it came in so fine a box. They opened the box. It contained a few hairs from the king’s white elephant. This was the most precious gift the Siamese king could think of to present to the Queen. And when the Siamese ambassador wanted to say something very nice about Queen Victoria he said, ‘Her eyes, complexion, and, above all, her bearing, are those of a beautiful and majestic white elephant’ ‘

‘But the King of Siam already has several white elephants,’ Hal objected. ‘Why should he want another?’

‘Because he has only Siamese elephants. The African elephant is bigger, taller, several tons heavier, has greater ears and longer tusks, and is a more majestic animal in every way.’ The Thunder-man rose. ‘And that, my friends, is why the animal you saw today is about to make a little journey to the royal court of Siam. Until this is accomplished, you will be our guests. And I must warn you that if you interfere with our plans in any way you will not go from this place alive. Good night, and pleasant dreams.’

He clapped his hands. Guards appeared instantly. The boys rose and were led out of the Thunder-man’s apartment and back through the great cave, which was now almost completely dark and empty. From smaller caves behind curtains, evidently sleeping-rooms, came the snores of men already asleep and the subdued voices of those who were not

At the rear of the main cavern they entered a small cave where the smell of mint tea was especially strong. A large pot of the stuff steamed gently over a small wood fire. The place was feebly lit by the sputtering light of a single torch. There were no comforts here, no leopard-skin carpet, no cushions. The walls were bare rock, the ground cold and stony. In one corner was a sleeping, bare-skinned figure, huddled into a ball to keep warm. The voices of the guards made it stir and turn. Then it stood up and the boys realized it was the son of Chief Mumbo.

‘Bo!’ exclaimed Roger, going to him. ‘What kind of a dump is this they keep you in? A fine place for a Watussi prince.’

Bo smiled weakly. ‘Slave quarters,’ he said. ‘This is their prison until they are sent away. The others went yesterday to meet a dhow that will take them to some Red Sea port. They tell me I go tomorrow - bound for some place on the Persian Gulf.’

Roger looked about. ‘It’s worse than a dungeon,’ he said. ‘A dungeon usually has at least one tiny window. This has none.’ He looked at the steaming pot ‘At least you get tea.’

That’s for the guards,’ Bo replied. To keep them awake.’ ‘What do they give you to eat?’ ‘Nothing,’ Bo said. ‘Nothing at all. They say they will give me food when I get down on my knees and ask for it. I won’t do that. They say I can’t be a good slave until I forget that I am the son of a chief. They say they will starve me until I forget. They may starve me until I die but I will not forget’

Hal thought as he looked at the proud young figure holding himself straight in spite of the pain he must feel from the deep cuts that had been laid upon his back, There’s good stuff in this boy. He will make a great chief - if he has the chance.

But Bo would never have the chance if he were whisked away tomorrow to a life of slavery. If Hal could do anything to save him it must be done now, tonight

Hal’s eye travelled over every inch of the wall, roof, and ground of the dungeon. There was not a sign of any opening, except the entrance from the main cavern. This was completely blocked by six guards. Three of them sat wedged together in the doorway and three just inside. Bundled up in their burnouses, the tails of which were tucked under them to protect them from the cold ground, they drank tea and conversed in low tones. They were big men, and well armed with pistols and sabres. Only one guard with a pistol would be enough to prevent the escape of unarmed prisoners. What chance had three boys, without weapons, against six armed men?

Even if the six had nothing to fight with, their shouts would bring other men at the run.

Of course the) would shout - but, for the sake of argument, suppose they did not. Suppose that, by some miracle, the boys were able to defeat the guards, silently, and get through into the main cavern. They would still have to go down the length of the great cavern between the small sleeping-caves to get outside. Not everybody would be sound asleep. Some would be sure to poke out their heads to see what was going on. They would raise a cry and the boys would promptly be captured.

It all seemed quite hopeless. Hal gave it up. He rolled over on his side, intending to get some sleep.

Something hard in the pocket of his bush jacket punched into him uncomfortably. He shifted a little to get the hard thing out from under his hip.

Then he sat up, pop-eyed. This thing in his pocket It might do the trick.

He slipped in his hand and felt it - a cartridge about a half-inch in diameter and three inches long.

It was the sort of thing they often used after noosing a rhino or other large beast It contained a sleeping drug called Sernyl. It could be fitted with a hypodermic needle and shot from a crossbow into the animal’s hide.

In fifteen minutes the beast would stop kicking and bucking. He would go to sleep and stay asleep for four hours, giving the men plenty of opportunity to winch his body up into a truck, transport him to camp, and haul him into a cage.

If the contents of one cartridge were enough to dope a huge rhino or buffalo or elephant they ought to be quite enough to put six men, or even a dozen men, sound asleep.

But how could he get the stuff into the guards? He had no crossbow, nor more than one cartridge, and even if he had he could not imagine that the men would sit still and allow him to shoot them.

His eye lit on the great pot of tea on the fire. The guards seemed to have an unlimited capacity for tea. Every few minutes they refilled their glasses. If he could empty the cartridge into the pot…

He hunched along the ground a little closer to the fire. All six guards immediately turned their eyes upon him. He held out his hands towards the hot embers. The guards, assuming that he was merely coming closer to the fire is order to get warm, paid no further attention to him.

He shifted about slowly until he was between them and the fire. He waited until the men were deep in conversation. Then he slipped his hand into his pocket and drew out the cartridge. Hiding it with his body, he removed the plug and poured the contents into the tea. The empty cartridge went back into his pocket.

He moved over to rejoin Roger and 60. Roger knew what had happened, and Bo could guess, but neither gave any sign that would awaken suspicion in the guards.

Presently the men refilled their glasses and drank. Hal was on pins and needles - would they notice a change in the taste? Luckily the strong mint flavour was enough to conceal any slight taste of the drug.

It seemed an eternity, but it could not have been more than a quarter of an hour before the conversation lagged, dragged, and then stopped. The heads of the guards

began to droop. At first they prodded each other awake - but soon they all gave in to an overpowering sleepiness and there was no sound but their heavy breathing.

The three boys edged towards the door. The guards did not stir. Hal carefully stepped over their bodies and drew aside the door-curtain an inch or two so that he could see down the length of the main cavern.

The place was nearly dark. Only a few torches still burned. At first he could see no one - but upon looking more carefully he made out a few men, apparently asleep, using leopards’ heads as pillows.

Hal whispered to his companions. ‘We’re in a tough spot. If one of those fellows sees us, the game is up.’

It’s pretty dark out there,’ Roger said.

‘Not so dark that they can’t tell the difference between our clothes and a white burnous.’

Roger looked down at the sleeping guards. ‘Well, what are we waiting for? If it’s white burnouses we want, here they are.’

The bodies were heavy and it took some heaving and pulling to get the burnouses off three of the men. But when the boys were finally gowned in the long white robes with the hoods drawn over their heads, there was nothing but their feces to betray the fact that they were not blackbirders.

Quietly they stepped out of the dungeon and strolled through the cavern. Their hearts were thumping. They could hardly keep from breaking into a run. But they knew they must take it easy and arouse no suspicion. They passed the first man successfully. They kept their faces turned away, but it was hardly necessary since be remained fast asleep.

The second man raised his head as they came by. All he saw was three white backs. He rolled over on his side and closed his eyes.

Very lazily, the three wandered on past a third man and a fourth. Passing outside, they stopped for a moment as if they had merely come out to enjoy the fresh air. Then they wandered to one side, and out of sight.

Now they Were suddenly electrified. They picked up their skirts and ran. Hal led off straight into the wind. It was not as strong as by day, but enough to give him a sense of direction. The going was rough. The moon, glinting through breaks in the eternal fog, was helpful but not reliable. It had a way of hiding its face just when there were some rocks in the way. Shins were soon barked and bleeding, but the race continued.

At long last. White Lake gleamed faintly ahead.

‘And there’s our white elephant,’ exclaimed Roger.

It stood very near the spot where they had first come

upon it.

‘But I think I’m seeing double,’ said Hal, straining his eyes. ‘Do I see a black elephant too - or is it just the white one’s shadow?’

They crept closer. The misty moonlight brightened for a moment and they could quite clearly see the second elephant. Its dark hide proved at once that it was no albino.

Some patient searching was necessary to re-locate the moss tunnel.

‘Don’t much like the idea of diving into that in the middle of the night,’ Roger said.

Hal agreed with him. ‘I know what you mean. But after all, it’s just as dark in there in the daytime as at night’

‘So it is. But isn’t there more of a chance of leopards prowling around in there at night?’

It’s a chance well have to take. What’s bothering me is how do we crawl on our hands and knees in these nightgowns?’

They could throw off the burnouses and leave diem behind. That didn’t appeal to them, for the air was nipping cold. They tucked the clumsy garments up around their waists as tightly as possible and plunged into the tunnel.

The undermoss world was full of small strange noises, but they got through it without encountering anything more dangerous than a civet cat which was more frightened than they were.

Then down past Black Lake and Green Lake and through the gorilla forest to the camp. Dead tired, they wanted nothing more than to drop down on their beds and forget the blackbirders and everything else.

‘But there’s one thing we must do at once,’ Hal said. ‘Now that we know where the blackbirders hang out we can give the police some definite information.’

They woke Bo’s father. The chief wept with joy to see his son. He dispatched a runner at once to the police station of Mutwanga at the foot of the mountain.

The police, grumpy and grouchy because their sleep had been disturbed, did not get on their way up the mountain until mid-morning. Hal met them and led them, along with his own men, to the cave of the blackbirders. Surely so strong a force could overcome the robber band.

At the head of his little army, Hal marched boldly into the cavern.

It was empty.

The slavers, realizing that their secret hiding-place was now known, had fled. Leopard carpets and all were gone.

Nothing remained but the faint odour of mint tea.

They were too smart for us,’ Hal said in bitter disappointment

The police were annoyed. It had been a stiff climb up the mountain. They were tired and scratched and bruised and half frozen. And Hal realized they blamed him for all their troubles. From their black faces he got black looks and they mumbled Swahili insults which he luckily did not understand. But he understood clearly enough that he could not expect more help from them in bringing the slavers to justice.

Hal could guess what the robbers would do next. Some of them had seen the white elephant, and the Thunder-man himself had said that he meant to capture it.

There’s no time to lose,’ Hal said. ‘Of course, they may have grabbed it already, but I think it’s hardly likely. They must have been too busy this morning packing and leaving to bother about elephants. We still have a chance.’

They began the return march towards White Lake. Roger plodded along with his head down.

‘What’s the matter, kid?’ Hal inquired. ‘Some deep thinking going on?’

Roger looked up, and there was mischief in his eyes.

‘Just wondering if we could play a trick on those nightgown boys,’ he said.

‘What kind of a trick?’

Roger explained his plan. Hal grinned.

‘It just might work,’ he said. ‘They tell me there’s a short cut from here to our camp. Take one of the police with you - hell know the way. so you wont have to crawl through that tunnel. You’ll have to make a quick trip of it I can’t hold the police long.’

‘Okay,’ Roger said. ‘Big Boy and I will meet you at White Lake in about an hour.’

Roger and his police escort went at a jog-trot down the mountain-side to the camp. Roger ransacked the supply truck, found a spray gun and filled it with white paint The villagers watched these strange proceedings with curiosity, but he told them nothing.

Then he called Big Boy. The baby elephant lumbered up to him, squealing with pleasure.

1 have a job for you,’ Roger said. ‘Come along.’

He and his police companion struck out for White Lake. The elephant trundled along behind. It was a hard climb, and fast