The chief nodded. "Me like, me take."
The swift equatorial night had fallen. Only the cooking fires of the little camp illuminated the tense scene. From the deep shadows a great lion watched.
Spike undid the thongs that bound the wrappings to the Gonfal, and with trembling hands threw back the skin revealing the great stone shimmering and scintillating in the dancing lights of the cooking fires. The chief recoiled with a short gasp of astonishment. He did not know what the stone was, but its brilliance awed him.
Troll dropped to one knee beside the Gonfal and laid a hand on it. "Go away!" he said to the chief. "Lay down your weapons, all of you; and go away!"
The chief and his warriors stood looking at the Gonfal and at Troll. They did not lay down their weapons and they did not go away. As nothing happened, they regained confidence.
"No lay down weapons; no go away," said the chief. "We stay. Me take." He pointed at Gonfal. "You come our village. You b'long me."
"You better go away," insisted Troll. He tried to make his voice sound commanding, but it did not.
"Wot's wrong with the Gonfal?" demanded Spike.
"It won't work."
"Le'me try it." Spike stooped and placed a palm on the stone. "You blokes drop your weapons an' beat it before our big medicine kills you," he shouted threateningly.
The chief stepped forward and kicked Spike in the face, bowling him over on his back. His warriors rushed in with loud war cries, brandishing their weapons. And then from the outer darkness came a thunderous roar that shook the earth, and a great lion charged into the savage melee.
He leaped over the prostrate Spike and brushed past Troll, falling upon the terrified chief and his warriors.
Troll was quick to grasp the opportunity for escape. He gathered up the great diamond, and shouted to Spike and the bearers to follow him and bring the other stone; then he ran for the forest.
A few screams, mingled with savage growls, rang in their ears for brief moments; then silence.
All night they followed close to the edge of the forest, nor did they stop until they came upon a small stream shortly after daylight. Then they threw themselves upon the ground, exhausted.
As they chewed once more upon the flesh of the old boar their spirits revived, and they spoke for the first time for hours.
"I guess we don't know how to work the rock," ventured Troll.
"Who says 'we'?" demanded Spike. "I worked it."
"You?"
"Sure. Didn't I tell 'em they'd get killed if they didn't beat it? And wot happens? The Gonfal calls the old maneater. You remember that lamp that bloke used to rub-I forget his name-but this works just the same for me. I rubs it and wishes-and there you are!"
"Rats!"
"A'right; didn't I do it?"
"No. That lion was comin' long before you touched the rock. He smelled meat-that was wot brought him, not you and your bloody rock."
"I'll show you. Here, give it to me."
Spike took the diamond from Troll, uncovered it, and placed a palm on its gleaming surface. He glowered fixedly at his companion.
"Sit down!" he commanded.
Troll grinned derisively and advised Spike to "Go to 'ell." The latter scratched his head in momentary confusion; then he brightened. "'Ere," he exclaimed; "I got a better idea." He scratched a line on the ground with a bit of stick. "I says now that you can't cross that line-and you can't."
"Who says I can't?" demanded Troll, stepping across the line.
"I guess maybe there's something I don't understand about this," admitted Spike. "That Clayton bloke worked it on the Kaji and the Zuli. You seen him yourself."
"Gonfala was there," reminded Troll. "Maybe that's the answer. Maybe it won't work without her."
"Maybe," admitted Spike; "but the Zuli medicine man done the same work with the emerald, an' he didn't have no Gonfala."
"Well, try the emerald, then."
"Le'me have it."
"I ain't got it."
"One of the boys must have it."
"I told you to bring it."
"One of the boys always carries it," insisted Spike turning to the bearers sprawled on the ground. "Hey, you! W'ich one o' you 's got the green rock?" They looked at him blankly; then they looked at one another.
"No got," said one. "No bring."
"Hell!" ejaculated Troll. "You're a rare un, you are, aleavin' maybe a three million pun stone back there in the cannibal country!"
Chapter 14. Kidnaped
"TIRED?" ASKED WOOD. Gonfala shook her head. "Not a bit."
"You're doing pretty well for a girl who never had to do anything more strenuous than sit on a throne," laughed van Eyk.
"You'd be surprised. I can probably out-run and out-last either of you. You see I used to hunt with the Kaji. Mafka insisted on it-lots of exercise. He was a great believer in exercise for every one but Mafka."
"I'm glad," said Wood, "for we've got two long marches between this camp and railhead. I'll be glad when it's over. To tell you the truth, I'm fed up on Africa. I hope I never see it again."
"I don't blame you, Stanlee; you came near staying here a long time."
"Yes; eternity is rather a long time." Wood grimaced. "It's hard to realize, even now, that we escaped."
"It's incredible," agreed Gonfala. "We're the first persons ever to escape from Mafka; and he'd been there, oh, no one knows how long-the Kaji said always. They believed that he created the world."
The three were camped at the end of a day's march on their way out toward civilization. They had a dependable, well equipped safari furnished by Tarzan. The men planned on devoting one day to hunting, as they were in excellent game country; then they would cover the two long marches to railhead. The delay for hunting was Wood's concession to van Eyk, an indefatigable Nimrod, who had obtained permission from the Lord of the Jungle to take out a few trophies for his collection.
As night fell, the light of their beast fire cast dancing shadows through the camp and shone far out into the night, both attracting and repelling the great carnivores upon whose domain they trespassed; for this was lion country. It attracted also other eyes a mile or more to the north.
"I wonder what that might be," said Spike.
"A fire," growled Troll; "what you think it was-a iceberg?"
"Funny, ain't you?"
"Not as funny as a bloke what runs off an leaves three million puns worth o' emerald with a bunch of cannibals."
"Fer cripe's sake quit chewin' about that; I didn't leave it any more 'n you did. What I mean is, there must be men over by that fire; I wonders who they might be."
"Natives, perhaps."
"Or white hunters."
"What difference does it make?" asked Troll.
"They might put us on the right trail."
"An' tell that Clayton bloke where we are? You're balmy."
"How do you know he's around here? Maybe they never even heard of him."
"He's everywhere. Everybody's heard of him. He said he'd know it if we double-crossed Stanley. After I seen what he done in the Kaji country, I wouldn't put nothin' past him-he's omnivorous."
"Whatever that means."
"You're ignorant."
"Well, just the same, I think we'd ourghter find out who made that fire. If they're one thing, we'd better light out of here; if they're the other, we can ask 'em to set us on the right trail."
"Maybe you said something intelligent at last. It wouldn't do no harm to go have a look-see."
"That fire may be a long ways off, and-"
"And what?"
"This is lion country."
"You scared?"
"Sure I'm scared. So are you, unless you're a bigger fool than I think. Nobody but a fool wouldn't be scared in lion country at night without a gun."
"We'll take a couple of the smokes with us. They say lions like dark meat."
"All right; let's get goin'."