Then they started, creeping cautiously through the reeds. When they were within twenty yards of the fires, Leonard missed his footing and fell into a pool of water with a splash. Some of the slave–dealers heard the noise and sprang to their feet. Instantly Otter grunted in exact imitation of a hippopotamus–calf.
"A sea–cow," said a man in Portuguese. "She won't hurt us. The fire will frighten her."
Leonard and Otter waited awhile, then crept to a clump of reeds whence they could hear every word that was spoken. The men round the fire numbered twenty–two. One, their leader, appeared to be a pure–bred Portugee, some of the others were Bastards and the rest Arabs. They were drinking rum and water out of tin pannikins—a great deal of rum and very little water. Many of them seemed half–drunk already, at any rate their tongues were loosened.
"May a curse fall upon our father, the Devil!" said one, a half–breed; "why did he take it into his head to send us back with the boats just now? We shall miss the fun."
"What fun?" answered the leader of the party. "They won't cage the birds for another three or four days; the dhows are not ready, and there is talk of an English cruiser—may she sink to hell!—hanging about outside the river mouth."
"No, not that," said the man who had spoken first, "there is not much sport in driving a lot of stinking niggers on to a dhow. I mean the auction of the white girl, the English trader's daughter, whom we caught up the river yonder. There's a beauty for some lucky dog; I never saw such a one. What eyes she has, and what a spirit! why, most of the little dears would have cried themselves blind by now."
"You needn't think about her," sneered his leader; "she will go too dear for the likes of you; besides it is foolish to spend so much on one girl, white or black. When is the auction?"
"It was to have been the night before the dhows sail, but now the Devil says it shall be to–morrow night. I will tell you why—he is afraid of her. He thinks that she will bring misfortune to him, and wants to be rid of her. Ah! he is a wag, is the old man—he loves a joke, he does. 'All men are brothers,' he said yesterday, 'white or black; therefore all women are sisters.' So he is going to sell her like a nigger girl. What is good enough for them is good enough for her. Ha! ha! pass the rum, brother, pass the rum."
"Perhaps he will put it off and we may be back in time, after all," said the captain. "Anyhow, here is a health to her, the love. By the way, did some of you think to ask the password before we left this morning? I forgot to do so, myself."
"Yes," said a Bastard, "the old word, 'the Devil.'"
"There is none better, comrades, none better," hiccoughed the leader.
Then for an hour or more their talk went on—partly about Juanna, partly about other things. As they grew more drunk the conversation became more and more revolting, till Leonard could scarcely listen to it and lie still. At length it died away, and one by one the men sank into a sound and sodden sleep. They did not set a sentry, for here on the island they had no fear of foes.
Then Otter rose upon his hands and knees, and his face looked fierce in the faint light.
"Baas," he whispered, "shall we―" and he drew his hand across his throat.
Leonard thought awhile. His rage was deep, and yet he shrank from the slaughter of sleeping men, however wicked. Besides, could it be done without noise? Some of them would wake—fear would sober them, and they were many.
"No," he whispered back. "Follow me, we will cut loose the boats."
"Good, good," said Otter.
Then, stealthily as snakes, they crept some thirty yards to where the boats were tied to a low tree—three canoes and five large flat–bottomed punts, containing the arms and provisions of the slave–dealers. Drawing their knives they cut these loose. A gentle push set them moving, then the current caught them, and slowly they floated away into the night.
This done they crawled back again. Their path took them within five paces of where that half–breed ruffian lay who had begun the talk to which they had listened. Leonard looked at him and turned to creep away; already Otter was five paces ahead, when suddenly the edge of the moon showed for the first time and its light fell full upon the slaver's face. The sleeping man awoke, sat up, and saw them.
Now Leonard dared not hesitate, or they were lost. Like a tiger he sprang at the man's throat and had grasped it in his hand before he could even cry aloud. Then came a struggle short and sharp, and a knife flashed. Before Otter could get back to his side it was done—so swiftly and so silently that none of the band had wakened, though one or two of them stirred and muttered in their heavy sleep.
Leonard sprang up unhurt, and together they ran, rather than walked, back to the spot where they had left Soa.
She was watching for them, and pointing to Leonard's coat, asked "How many?"
"One," answered Otter.
"I would it had been all," Soa muttered fiercely, "but you are only two."
"Quick," said Leonard, "into the canoe with you. They will be after us presently."
In another minute they had pushed off and were clear of the island, which was not more than a quarter of a mile long. They paddled across the river, which at this spot ran rapidly and had a width of some eight hundred yards, so as to hide in the shadow of the opposite bank. When they reached it Otter rested on his paddles and gave vent to a suppressed chuckle, which was his nearest approach to laughter.
"Why do you laugh, Black One?" asked Soa.
"Look yonder," he answered, and he pointed to some specks on the surface of the river which were fast vanishing in the distance. "Yonder go the boats of the slave–dealers, and in them are their arms and food. We cut them loose, the Baas and I. There on the island sleep two–and–twenty men—all save one: there they sleep, and when they wake what will they find? They will find themselves on a little isle in the middle of great waters, into which, even if they could, they will not dare to swim because of the alligators. They can get no food on the island, for they have no guns and ducks do not stop to be caught, but outside the alligators will wait in hundreds to catch them. By–and–by they will grow hungry—they will shout and yell, but none will hear them—then they will become mad, and, falling on each other, they will eat each other and die miserably one by one. Some will take to the water, those will drown or be caught by the alligators, and so it shall go on till they are all dead, every one of them, dead, dead, dead!" and again Otter chuckled.
Leonard did not reprove him; with the talk of these wretches yet echoing in his ears he could feel little pity for the horrible fate which would certainly overtake them.
Hark! a faint sound stole across the quiet waters, a sound which grew into a clamour of fear and rage. The slavers had awakened, they had found the dead man in their midst mysteriously slain by an invisible foe. And now the clamour gathered to a yell, for they had learned that their boats were gone and that they were trapped.
From their shelter on the other side of the river, as they dropped leisurely down the stream, Leonard and Otter could catch distant glimpses of the frantic men rushing to and fro in the bright moonlight and seeking for their boats. But the boats had departed to return no more. By degrees the clamour lessened behind them, till at last it died away, swallowed in the silence of the night.
Then Leonard told Soa what he had heard by the slaver's fire.
"How far is the road, Black One?" she asked when he had finished.
"By sundown to–morrow we shall be at the Yellow Devil's gates!" answered Otter.
Two hours later they overtook the boats which they had cut adrift. Most of them were tied together, and they floated peacefully in a group.
"We had better scuttle them," said Leonard.