第18章

On the following evening we once more dined together， and Quatermain， after some pressure， was persuaded to continue his story--for Good's remark still rankled in his breast.

"At last，" he went on， "a few minutes before sunset， the task was finished. We had laboured at it all day， stopping only once for dinner， for it is no easy matter to hew out five such tusks as those which now lay before me in a white and gleaming line. It was a dinner worth eating， too， I can tell you， for we dined off the heart of the great one-tusked bull， which was so big that the man whom I sent inside the elephant to look for his heart was forced to remove it in two pieces. We cut it into slices and fried it with fat， and I never tasted heart to equal it， for the meat seemed to melt in one's mouth.

By the way， I examined the jaw of the elephant； it never grew but one tusk； the other had not been broken off， nor was it present in a rudimentary form.

"Well， there lay the five beauties， or rather four of them， for Gobo and another man were engaged in sawing the grand one in two. At last with many sighs I ordered them to do this， but not until by practical experiment I had proved that it was impossible to carry it in any other way. One hundred and sixty pounds of solid ivory， or rather more in its green state， is too great a weight for two men to bear for long across a broken country. I sat watching the job and smoking the pipe of contentment， when suddenly the bush opened， and a very handsome and dignified native girl， apparently about twenty years of age， stood before me， carrying a basket of green mealies upon her head.

"Although I was rather surprised to see a native girl in such a wild spot， and， so far as I knew， a long way from any kraal， the matter did not attract my particular notice； I merely called to one of the men， and told him to bargain with the woman for the mealies， and ask her if there were any more to be bought in the neighbourhood. Then I turned my head and continued to superintend the cutting of the tusk.

Presently a shadow fell upon me. I looked up， and saw that the girl was standing before me， the basket of mealies still on her head.

"'Marême， Marême，' she said， gently clapping her hands together. The word Marême among these Matuku (though she was no Matuku) answers to the Zulu 'Koos，' and the clapping of hands is a form of salutation very common among the tribes of the Basutu race.

"'What is it， girl？' I asked her in Sisutu. 'Are those mealies for sale？'

"'No， great white hunter，' she answered in Zulu， 'I bring them as a gift.'

"'Good，' I replied； 'set them down.'

"'A gift for a gift， white man.'

"'Ah，' I grumbled， 'the old story--nothing for nothing in this wicked world. What do you want--beads？'

"She nodded， and I was about to tell one of the men to go and fetch some from one of the packs， when she checked me.

"'A gift from the giver's own hand is twice a gift，' she said， and I thought that she spoke meaningly.

"'You mean that you want me to give them to you myself？'

"'Surely.'

"I rose to go with her. 'How is it that， being of the Matuku， you speak in the Zulu tongue？' I asked suspiciously.

"'I am not of the Matuku，' she answered as soon as we were out of hearing of the men. 'I am of the people of Nala， whose tribe is the Butiana tribe， and who lives there，' and she pointed over the mountain. 'Also I am one of the wives of Wambe，' and her eyes flashed as she said the name.

"'And how did you come here？'

"'On my feet，' she answered laconically.

"We reached the packs， and undoing one of them， I extracted a handful of beads. 'Now，' I said， 'a gift for a gift. Hand over the mealies.'

"She took the beads without even looking at them， which struck me as curious， and setting the basket of mealies on the ground， emptied it.

"At the bottom of the basket were some curiously-shaped green leaves， rather like the leaves of the gutta-percha tree in shape， only somewhat thicker and of a more fleshy substance. As though by hazard， the girl picked one of these leaves out of the basket and smelt it.

Then she handed it to me. I took the leaf， and supposing that she wished me to smell it also， was about to oblige her by doing so， when my eye fell upon some curious red scratches on the green surface of the leaf.

"'Ah，' said the girl (whose name， by the way， was Maiwa)， speaking beneath her breath， 'read the signs， white man.'

"Without answering her I continued to stare at the leaf. It had been scratched or rather written upon with a sharp tool， such as a nail， and wherever this instrument had touched it， the acid juice oozing through the outer skin had turned a rusty blood colour. Presently I found the beginning of the scrawl， and read this in English， and covering the surface of the leaf and of two others that were in the basket.

"'I hear that a white man is hunting in the Matuku country. This is to warn him to fly over the mountain to Nala. Wambe sends an impi at daybreak to eat him up， because he has hunted before bringing hongo. For God's sake， whoever you are， try to help me. I have been the slave of this devil Wambe for nearly seven years， and am beaten and tortured continually. He murdered all the rest of us， but kept me because I could work iron. Maiwa， his wife， takes this； she is flying to Nala her father because Wambe killed her child. Try to get Nala to attack Wambe； Maiwa can guide them over the mountain. You won't come for nothing， for the stockade of Wambe's private kraal is made of elephants' tusks. For God's sake， don't desert me， or I shall kill myself. I can bear this no longer.

"'John Every.'

"'Great heavens！' I gasped. 'Every！--why， it must be my old friend.'

The girl， or rather the woman Maiwa， pointed to the other side of the leaf， where there was more writing. It ran thus--'I have just heard that the white man is called Macumazahn. If so， it must be my friend Quatermain. Pray Heaven it is， for I know he won't desert an old chum in such a fix as I am. It isn't that I'm afraid of dying， I don't care if I die， but I want to get a chance at Wambe first.'