Steadily the Cleopatra had traversed the Mediterranean, passed through the Suez Canal, plowed the burning waters of the Red Sea, and now, on this bright, sultry day, Aden was left behind, and with smoking funnels she was heading swiftly and boldly for the Indian Ocean.
A smaller steamer, a mere pigmy beside this gigantic Indian liner, had left the harbor of Aden at the same time, and was beating in a southwesterly direction across the gulf with a speed that was rapidly increasing the distance between the two vessels.
On the upper deck stood Guy Chutney, straining his eyes through a pair of field-glasses to catch a last glimpse of the Cleopatra, and to distingussh, if possible, the figures grouped under the white awnings. He had only arrived at Aden last night, and now he was bound for the dreary African coast, while all the gay friends he had made on board the Cleopatra were steaming merrily off for Calcutta without him.
It was by no means a comforting state of affairs, and Guy’s spirits were at their lowest ebb as the steamer finally faded into the horizon. He put up the glasses and strode forward. From the lower deck came a confused babel of sounds, a harsh jabbering of foreign languages that grated roughly on his ear.
“This is a remarkably fine day, sir,”
It was the captain who spoke, a bluff, hearty man, who looked oddly out of place in white linen and a solar topee.
“It is a grand day,” said Guy. “May I ask when we are due at Zaila?”
“At Zaila?” repeated the captain, with a look of sudden surprise. “Ah, yes. Possibly tomorrow, probably not until the following day.”
It was now Guy’s turn to be surprised.
“Do you mean to tell me,” he said, “that it takes two or three days to cross the Gulf of Aden?”
“No,” replied the captain briskly. “You are surely aware, my dear sir, that we proceed first to Berbera, and thence up the coast to Zaila.”
“Then you have deceived me, sir,” cried Guy hotly. “You told me this morning that this steamer went to Zaila.”
“Certainly I did,” replied the captain. “You didn’t ask for any more information, or I should have told you that we went to Berbera first. The great annual fair has just opened at Berbera, and I have on board large stores of merchandise and trading properties. On other occasions I go to Zaila first, but during the progress of the fair I always go direct to Berbera and unload. I supposed that fact to be generally understood,” and, turning on his heel, the captain walked off to give some orders to his men.
Guy was half inclined to be angry at first, but on reflection he concluded he was just as well satisfied. Besides, it would give him a chance to see that wonderful African fair, which he now remembered to have heard about on different occasions.
But one other person was visible on the deck, a short, chunky man, with a dark complexion, and crafty, forbidding features.
A Portuguese or a Spaniard Guy put him down for at once, and he instantly conceived a deep mistrust of him. The fellow, however, was inclined to be sociable.
“Ah, an Englishman,” he said, coming up to Guy and holding out his hand, an action which Guy professed not to see.
“You are going to Berbera, perhaps,” he went on, nowise discomfited by the rebuff.
“No,” said Guy shortly. “To Zaila.”
“Ah, yes, Zaila! You have friends there, perhaps? I, too, am acquainted. I know very well Sir Arthur Ashby, the governor at Zaila.”
His keen eyes scanned Guy’s face closely, and noted the faint gleam of surprise at this information.
But Guy was too clever to be thrown off his guard.
“Yes,” he said. “I know some people here. I have not the pleasure of Sir Arthur’s acquaintance.”
He would have turned away at this point, but the man pulled a card from his pocket and presented it to him. Guy glanced it over with interest:
C. Manuel Torres,
Trader at Aden and Berbera.
“A vile Portuguese slave-hunter,” he thought to himself.
“Well, Mr. Torres” he said. “I am sorry that I have no cards about me, but my name in Chutney.”
The Portuguese softly whispered the name once or twice. Then, without further questioning, he offered Guy a cigar, and lit one himself.
Manuel Torres proved to be quite an interesting companion, and gave Guy a vivid account of the wonders of the fair.
As they went below at dinner time he pointed out on the corner of the dock a great stack of wooden boxes.
“Those are mine,” he said. “They contain iron and steel implements for the natives and Arabs.”
“They look like rifle cases,” Guy remarked carelessly; and, looking at the Portuguese as he spoke, he fancied that the dark face actually turned gray for an instant. In a moment they were seated at the table, and the brief occurrence was forgotten.
All that afternoon they steamed on across the gulf, overhead the blue and cloudless sky, beneath them waters of even deeper blue, and at sunset the yellow coast line of the African continent loomed up from the purple distance.
Guy had been dozing under an awning most of the afternoon, but now he came forward eagerly to get his first glimpse of eastern Africa.
To his great disappointment, the captain refused to land.
It was risky, he said, to make a landing at night, and it would be dark when they entered the harbor. They must lie at anchor till morning.
Most of the night Guy paced up and down the deck sleeping at brief intervals, and listening with eager curiosity to the strange sounds that floated out on the air from the shore, where the flickering glare of many torches could be seen.
Stretched on a mattress, the Portuguese slept like a log, without once awakening.
Before dawn the anchors were lifted, and at the captain’s suggestion Guy hastened down to his cabin to gather up his scanty luggage, for most of his traps had gone on to Calcutta in the Cleopatra.
He buckled on his sword, put his revolvers in his pocket, clapped his big solar topee on his head, and then reached down for the morocco traveling case which he had stored away for better security under his berth.
A cry of horror burst from his lips as he dragged it out. The lock was broken, and the sides were flapping apart. For one brief second he stared at it like a madman, and then, with frantic haste, he fell on his knees, and, plunging his hands inside, began to toss the contents recklessly out upon the floor. Toilet articles, linen, cigars, writing-paper, jewelry, and various other things piled up until his finger nails scraped the bottom. He turned the case bottom up and shook it savagely, shook it until the silver clasps rattled against the sides, and then he sank back with a groan, while the drops of perspiration chased each other down his haggard cheeks.
The precious despatches were gone.
For the time being Guy was fairly driven out of his senses by the horror of the calamity. Ruin stared him in the face. What madness it was to leave those papers in his cabin! He had foolishly hesitated to carry them on his person for fear the perspiration would soak them through and through, and now they were hopelessly lost. The cabin door had been locked, too. The thief must have had a key.
The first shock over, his manliness asserted itself, and he took a critical view of the situation. He hardly suspected any person as yet. The despatches must be recovered. That was the first step.
He flew up the stairs, three at a time, and rushed panting and breathless upon deck.
All about him was the hurry and bustle of preparation. The shore was close at hand, and the steamer was moving toward the rude wharf. Manuel Torres was leaning over the rail, coolly smoking a cigar. The captain stood near by, gazing intently at the shore. He looked up with wonder as Guy appeared, crying out in hoarse tones:
“I have been robbed, captain, treacherously robbed. Documents of the greatest importance have been stolen from my cabin, and not a soul shall leave this steamer till every inch of it has been searched. I demand your assistance, sir!”
Torres looked up in apparent surprise from his cigar, and the captain’s ruddy face flashed a shade deeper.
“Are you sure, sir?” he cried. “This is a strange place for a robbery.”
Guy turned on him hotly.
“A robbery has been committed, nevertheless, and the articles stolen are despatches for the governor of Zaila. They were intrusted to me for delivery, and I look to you to recover them.”
“Ah! Government despatches, were they?” said the captain. “Just step below and we’ll look into the matter.”
They turned toward the cabin, leaving the Portuguese still gazing over the rail.
At the foot of the steps the captain stopped.
“Why, what’s this?” he said, stooping down and pulling from under the lowest step a bunch of papers.
“The stolen despatches!” cried Guy wildly. “But look! The seals have been broken.”
Together they inspected the documents. Each envelope had been opened, but the contents appeared to be all right. The thief had plainly been satisfied with their perusal.
“Whoever stole them,” said the captain, “was afraid to retain them lest a search should be made, and as he had no way to destroy them he tossed them down here where they could easily be found.”
“Who else had a key to my cabin?” Guy asked sternly.
“The key to Torres’ cabin will open yours,” replied the captain, “and several of the crew also have keys.”
“Then Torres is the man,” said Guy. “The scoundrel looks capable of anything.”
“I wouldn’t advise you to accuse him,” said the captain gravely. “He may cause trouble for you on shore. You must remember that British influence is little felt at Berbera. Your best plan is to say nothing, but relate the whole affair to the governor at Zaila. And now, as we may lie in the harbor here all day, you had better go on shore. You will see a strange sight.”
Guy put the recovered documents away in an inner pocket, and followed the captain on deck, in a very angry frame of mind. Torres had disappeared, but Guy felt that he had not seen the last of him.
He half forgot his anger in the strange sight that now met his eyes, for the steamer was just approaching the wharf, and in a moment the gang-plank was dropped over the side.
He waited until the eager, jostling crowd of Arabs had passed over, and then he made his way to shore. The spectacle before him was marvelous and entrancing.
Extending apparently for miles up and down the yellow stretch of sand that fringed the coast was one great sea of canvas that fluttered under the African breeze.
There were tents of every description, some old and dingy, some spotlessly white and shining, and others brilliant in many colors, barred with red and green and yellow, while here and there, from their midst, rose the sun-baked walls and towers of the original Berbera, for all this floating canvas belonged to the nomadic population who flock hither from the interior during the fair, and add twenty thousand to the perennial population of the town.
Dazed as though in a dream, Guy moved forward, noting with wonder the strange people who thronged about him and regarded him with evident mistrust. Borne on by the crowd, he found himself presently in the main avenue of the fair, and his first amazed impression was that he had been transported to a scene in the “Arabian Nights.”
On either side of the narrow street stretched the sea of tents, and before them, on rude stalls, were ranged everything that the imagination could devise: sacks of coffee and grain, great heaps of glittering ivory, packets of gold-dust, aromatic spices, and fragrant gums of all sorts, great bunches of waving ostrich plumes, bales of cotton and tobacco, tanned hides of domestic animals, tawny skins of lions, leopards, and panthers, oddly-woven grass mats, quaint arms, and bits of carving, fetish ornaments, and even live cattle and sheep tied to the poles of the tents.
Standing guard over their wares were natives from all parts of Africa, Arabs from the Zambesi, savage-looking Abyssinians, crafty Somalis with greasy, dangling locks, and brawny, half-naked fellows from the interior, the like of whom Guy had never seen or heard.
And up and down the narrow street moved in a ceaseless throng the traders who had come to purchase: Arabs from Aden and Suakim, Egyptians from Cairo, traders from Zanzibar, and a sprinkling of Portuguese and Spaniards.
Some of them bore their goods on camels, others had hired native carriers, who staggered under the heavy bales and cases, and the uproar was deafening and incessant as they wrangled over their bartering and dazzled the eyes of their customers with rolls of English and French silks, pigs of iron, copper, and brass, sacks of rice and sugar, glittering Manchester cutlery, American beads, and cans of gunpowder.
The builders of the tower of Babel itself could not have produced such a jargon or variety of tongues, Guy thought, as he picked his way onward, new stopping to gaze at some odd-looking group, and now attracted by the harsh music and beating drums of a band of native musicians.
He noted with secret satisfaction the occasional presence in the crowd of a dark-skinned soldier in British uniform, and he observed with some surprise the vast number of Abyssinian Arabs, whom he recognized by their peculiar dress.
Finally a stranger sight than all arrested his steps. In a small inclosure, cordoned off by a rope, lay a dozen poor slaves shackled to stakes driven deep in the ground and exposed to the burning sun.
Their owner, a brawny negro with a head-dress of feathers, a native of the Galla country, was disputing over their purchase with a gigantic Arab, whose powerful frame irresistibly fascinated Guy’s attention.
He wore a loosely-flapping cotton gown, confined at the waist by a belt that fairly bristled with knives and pistols, while a scarlet burnous was drawn over his head, affording a brilliant set-off to the glittering eyes, the tawny, shining skin, and the short chin-beard and mustache.
Behind the group of slaves, chained to the pole of a spacious tent, lay a sleek and glossy leopard, sleeping in the sun as unconcernedly as though he were in the midst of his native desert. The Arab, unaware probably of the beast’s presence, walked slowly round the circle inspecting his prospective purchase.
The leopard perhaps was dreaming of the days when he was wont to chase the deer through the jungle, for suddenly his spotted body quivered and his long tail shot out like a stiffened serpent. The Arab’s sandaled foot came down on the tapering end, and with a scream of rage the beast sprang up.
Overcome by a sudden fright, the Arab staggered backward a pace, and like a flash the leopard shot to the end of his chain, and fastening teeth and claws on the unfortunate man’s neck, bore him to the ground. Panic-stricken, those who stood near made no move. The big negro danced wildly up and down, keeping well out of reach of his savage pet, and the slaves howled with fright.
An instant’s delay and the man was lost. Suddenly Guy drew his revolver and sprang forward.
The negro uttered a howl and tried to push him back, but Guy forced his way past him, and pressing the revolver close to the brute’s head pulled the trigger.
It was a good shot. The leopard rolled over lifeless, and the Arab, with Guy’s assistance, rose to his feet very dazed, while the blood dripped down from his lacerated back.
Instantly the scene changed. The negro, angered at the death of his leopard, advanced menacingly on Guy with a drawn knife, and in response to his summons other negroes rallied to his aid.
But the Arab, too, had friends in the crowd, and they, pressing forward in turn, made it seem as though a bloody conflict were inevitable.
Just as the issue was trembling in the balance, a shout arose from the crowded street.
“The white man! Make room for the white man!” and through the parted ranks Guy saw advancing a bronzed Englishman in white flannels and helmet.
The stranger pushed right in through the sullen group of negroes until he reached the open space before the tent, and stood face to face with Guy.
Their eyes met in one amazed glance that startled the wondering spectators, and then from Guy’s lips burst a glad, hoarse cry:
“Melton Forbes, or I am dreaming!”
“Chutney, by Jove! My dear fellow, can it be possible?”
All else forgotten in their deep joy of meeting, the two bronzed Englishmen fell into each other’s arms, and the Arabs and negroes, dimly comprehending what it all meant, shouted in sympathy and lowered their arms.
For a little while the British officer and the British newspaper correspondent could do nothing but stand off to look at each other, and then embrace again as though it were hard to believe that it was not all a dream.
The Arabs and negroes had drawn to one side, and the big savage was wrathfully inspecting the body of the leopard.
“Come,” said Melton, plucking Guy’s arm, “we will find a quiet place where we can talk in peace.”
The crowd made way for them, but before they had taken half a dozen steps the big Arab staggered forward and seized Guy by the hand.
“You brave man,” he cried. “Makar never forget.”
He kept on with many protestations of gratitude until Guy tried to withdraw in embarrassment.
“Wait,” said the Arab. “Come along. Me tell you something.”
He fairly dragged Guy back to the entrance of the tent where none could hear, and bending low he whispered in his ear:
“Berbera no place for Inglis man this day. Better go away, quick. Heed what Makar tell you. Now go.”
He fairly pushed Guy from him, and the latter, joining Melton, who had witnessed the scene with the greatest curiosity, led the way out into the street.
A curious crowd followed them closely for some distance, and not a word was spoken until they had turned off into a side avenue lined with low mud buildings.
“Now,” said Melton quickly, “I need not tell you, my dear fellow, what a pleasant surprise this meeting has been, but all explanation must be deferred to a more suitable time. You have made a friend and an enemy today, for Makar Makalo is the most powerful Arab in the whole Somali country, while that big negro is Oko Sain, the head chief of all the Gallas who dwell two hundred miles back from the coast. What did Makar tell you?”
Guy repeated the Arab’s warning, and Melton stood for a moment in deep thought.
“I suspected as much,” he said finally. “Never before have there been so many Arabs and Somalis from the interior at Berbera. Only yesterday a caravan of two thousand camels arrived from Harar in the Galla country. Something is wrong, I have felt certain, and now Makar confirms my fears.”
A glimmering suspicion of the truth flashed over Guy’s mind at this juncture, but he hesitated to speak.
“Now then,” continued Melton, “this can mean nothing but a massacre. The only soldiers in the place are about sixty of the Bombay infantry, who were sent down here from Zaila, and as for the fortifications, they are nothing but a few mud walls. There they lie yonder,” and he pointed to an English flag floating over the house-tops some distance away.
“We are only wasting time here,” he added. “We’ll look about a little and then I’ll decide what to do. I don’t want to raise any false alarm.”
They turned back to the main avenue. The crowds still surged up and down, and the tumult seemed as harsh and discordant as ever, but the place had nevertheless undergone a change since they had left it a short time before. Little bartering was going on, and but few Arabs and Somalis were to be seen. Those on the street were mostly harmless traders from Aden and Cairo.
“What has become of all the Arabs?” asked Guy.
“That is just what I want to know,” said Melton; “I’ll soon find out, though. Walk as fast as you can now, Chutney, and look as unconcerned as possible.”
Melton led the way down the street for a little distance, and, turning into a side passage, soon stopped before a low, one-story building.
A dark-skinned fellow clad in ordinary Egyptian costume stood in the doorway, and with a cry of surprise Guy recognized Mombagolo, Forbes’ trusty savage servant, who did much good service for them when they were in Burma together.
Their greeting was brief and hasty.
“I have work for you, Momba,” said Melton. “Something is going on in the town, I don’t know just what. You can go anywhere without being suspected. Find out what you can, and then come down to the wharf. Don’t return here.”
The man hastened away at once, and then Guy and Melton started for the shore.
“I won’t give any alarm at the garrison,” said Forbes, as they hurried along. “I’ll wait till Momba reports. I don’t suppose anything is contemplated before nightfall at the earliest, and, as the troops are scattered, it would only precipitate matters if I should have them called in.”
The last bale of goods was being unloaded from the steamer when they reached the wharf. The captain and officers were smoking cigars against the rail, and catching sight of Guy, the former called out:
“Don’t forget now. Six o’clock sharp.”
Guy nodded, and followed Melton to one side, where the two sat down on a bale of cotton. Melton briefly explained how he came to be at Berbera. After his return from Burma, he had been dispatched as war correspondent of the London Post to Suakim, which town was at that time threatened by the Mahdi.
Mombagolo, or Momba as Melton now called him, had become his faithful servant, and a week ago, the war-scare at Suakim having subsided, Melton had come to Berbera to write up the great fair for his paper.
Then Guy, in his turn, simply stated that he had stopped off on his way to India to execute a commission at Zaila. He made no reference to the dispatches, feeling doubtful whether it would be proper or not, for a government secret is a thing of weighty importance.
The conversation drifted to their perilous adventures in Burma, and the time passed on unheeded.
At last Melton glanced up.
“Do you observe how quiet it is?” he exclaimed. “And look! There are but few people in sight.”
It was indeed quiet. A dead, oppressive calm had settled on the sea; not a breeze rustled, not a ripple broke the glassy surface of the water, and from the town, instead of the loud babel of cries, came only a low murmur like a distant waterfall. A strange calm indeed, the calm that serves as precursor to the unseen storm.
Suddenly, with startling abruptness, a rifle-shot broke the silence with its shuddering echoes. Guy and Melton sprang to their feet. The officers on the steamer crowded to the rail, up in the town dark figures ran to and fro, a soldier in bright uniform was seen speeding toward the garrison, and now plunging madly toward the wharf came a white clad figure, pursued by a howling group of Somali warriors, who brandished long spears and daggers. A shot from Melton’s pistol brought them to a sudden halt, and Momba, for it was indeed he, ran a few paces and fell breathless at his master’s feet.
“What fiendishness is this?” shouted the captain furiously, from the deck of the steamer.
Momba staggered to his knees.
“The Arabs!” he cried. “They are coming—they have rifles—the Portuguese—he broke open long boxes—and handed out guns—Makar’s men all have them—the Somalis have them—they have plenty shells——”
Guy ground his teeth.
“The infernal scoundrel!” he cried. “So that’s what those long boxes of his contained!”
“You mean Torres?” exclaimed Melton. “I know the villain. He is a partner of Makar Makalo’s. But come. We must fight our way to the garrison.”
Alas! too late! Bang—bang, bang—bang, a fusillade of rifle-fire rang out from the town, hideous yells of triumph mingled with cries of despair and agony, and over the garrison walls floated a constantly increasing cloud of white smoke. The firing deepened, and a hoarse yell arose as the English flag, shot from its staff, fluttered down into the curling smoke.
“They are murdering the garrison!” cried Melton.
He grasped a revolver in each hand, and would have gone madly forward, but at that moment a louder tumult burst forth close at hand, and swarming down the crooked street, curving in and out through the tents and heaped-up stalls, came a fierce and frantic horde of Arabs and Somalis, waving rifles and spears, and yelling like ten thousand fiends.
“On board for your lives!” shouted the captain, and as Guy and Melton dashed over the gang-plank, followed by Momba, a kick from the captain sent it whirling down into the water.
Providentially steam was up, slowly the engines started, the screw revolved, and just as the steamer moved lazily out into the harbor, the enraged mob swept to the very edge of the wharf. In futile rage they let fly showers of spears and a scattering rifle-fire that pierced and shattered the woodwork of the vessel, but fortunately without effect, for every man had got safely below.
They rushed upon deck again as soon as the steamer was beyond rifle-shot. A distant roar, like the blended shouts of thousands of people, floated across the water from the town, and at intervals a shot was fired.
Smoke no longer hovered over the garrison. The last man had succumbed, and with the fall of the garrison the massacre seemed to have come to an end. The uprising had been directed against the British troops alone.
“This is a terrible thing,” said Melton, “and there is something back of it all. I can’t understand it. Can it be possible the wretches have designs on Zaila, I wonder? It’s a pity you interfered with that leopard, Chutney. If Makar Makalo had perished, this revolt might never have broken out. Makar is at the head of it, I know, and possibly he has influence behind him. He is an ally of that fanatical despot, Rao Khan, the Emir of Harar, who hates the English worse than poison, and——”
Guy started at the mention of this name.
“I want to see you a minute, Forbes,” he cried excitedly; and, leading Melton to one side, he pulled out the despatches from his pocket, and said, “You have come closer to the truth than you imagine. I am going to confide a secret to you, and you can tell what had best be done. These papers were intrusted to me for delivery into the hands of Sir Arthur Ashby, at Zaila, and they contain instructions bearing on the very matter you have just mentioned. The authorities at the colonial office in London told me in secret that the Emir of Harar was supposed to be plotting the capture of Zaila, and these despatches contain Sir Arthur’s orders in case of that emergency.”
“By Jove, that explains it!” cried Melton. “The emergency has come. I see it all. Makar had collected his Arabs and Somalis at Berbera by the Emir’s orders, and they were only waiting the arrival of that villainous Portuguese with the rifles. They have put the garrison at Berbera out of the way, and now they will march on to Zaila.”
“Then what can be done?” demanded Guy. “Shall we proced to Zaila, or get the captain to steam direct for Aden and collect all the available troops?”
“No, no,” groaned Forbes. “That would be useless. Zaila is sixty miles up the coast. We can beat the Arabs, and get there in time to prepare the town for defense. The garrison is wretchedly small, but they will have to hold out until assistance can come from Aden.”
Melton was still more astounded when Guy told him of the stealing of the despatches.
“Then Torres knows their contents,” he said, “and he will act accordingly. This is certainly a bad business, Chutney. Those papers must be delivered to Sir Arthur as soon as possible, though, to tell the truth, I fear Zaila is doomed. But we are losing precious time. Something must be done at once.”
They called the captain aside, and told him just enough to impress him with the danger threatening Zaila, and he readily fell in with their plans.
Twilight was now falling, and by the time darkness had settled over the blue waters of the gulf the steamer was plowing her way steadily northward, Berbera but faintly visible in the rear by the glow of the burning torches.
Hour after hour they steamed on. Neither Guy nor Melton could sleep, but sitting aft on camp stools they talked in whispers of the dread events they had witnessed, and of what might be before them.
At midnight the steamer came to a sudden stop. The machinery, exerted to the highest pressure, had broken in some part. A delay was inevitable, the captain assured them, but in a couple of hours the repairs could be made.
Morning came, revealing the distant yellow line of the African coast, but still the steamer lay at anchor, rocking gently in the early morning breeze. It may be imagined with what a fever of impatience Guy and Melton lived through those weary hours.
It was nearly midday when the repairs were completed, and the vessel forged ahead again. For fear of fresh accidents, the captain refused to crowd on steam, and when at last the turrets and brown walls of Zaila came in view, it was late in the afternoon.
At a distance, all seemed peaceful; the English flag was floating from half a dozen different buildings of the town. In the harbor lay three or four Arab dhows and a neat little steamer, which the captain said belonged to the governor, and was used for transporting troops or despatches.
Captain Waller anchored close by the town, and accompanied Guy, Melton, and Momba on shore in a small boat. So far, at least, all was well.
A few Arabs and Somalis were sitting around lazily on the sand, and troops of the Bombay Infantry were seen moving about the streets.
“Appear as unconscious as possible,” whispered Melton. “Let nothing be suspected.”
A close observer might have detected traces of suppressed curiosity on the faces of the Arabs and Somalis, but they were evidently deceived by the careless manner of the new arrivals, for after a keen scrutiny they settled back into lazy attitudes.
“I don’t like the looks of those fellows,” said Melton, “and another thing I don’t like is the presence of those Arab dhows in the harbor. But look, Chutney, there is the residency ahead of us.”
They were approaching a low building of sun-baked brick, with Venetian awnings at the entrance and windows. Half a dozen sentries were on guard, and an officer came forward to meet the little party.
Guy saluted.
“I am the bearer of important despatches for the governor of Zaila,” he said, “and must see him at once.”
The officer disappeared for a moment, and presently came back and announced that the governor would see them. They were ushered in through a wide hall, and, passing half along its length, they turned to the right, and found themselves in the presence of Sir Arthur Ashby. He was a very pompous looking man of middle age, with reddish mustache, and long side whiskers. He was seated on an easy chair beside an ebony table. Opposite him sat an English officer.
They were smoking cigars, and on the table were glasses and champagne bottles packed in ice. Lamps were lit, for already twilight was falling.
He half arose as his visitors entered, and then dropped back. Guy briefly introduced himself and party, and handed Sir Arthur the despatches, explaining how the seals came to be broken, but making no mention of Torres.
The governor knit his brow as he read them over, and then, to his companion, he remarked lightly, “All nonsense, all nonsense. Another government scare, Carrington.”
“I beg your pardon, Sir Arthur,” said Guy, “but I was informed in London of the tenor of those despatches. Yesterday afternoon the Arabs at Berbera massacred the garrison to a man, and are doubtless now marching on Zaila. We barely escaped with our lives. Captain Waller and Mr. Forbes and his servant will confirm my statement.”
Sir Arthur sprang to his feet with a sharp cry.