Kitabı oku: «The Adventures of Captain Mago», sayfa 17

The hut was perfectly empty, without an article of furniture; the walls were grimed with soot and smoke; upon the clay floor three rude stones formed a kind of fire-place which was filled with ashes and the refuse of some victuals. A cold drizzling rain penetrated the hole in the roof, and pattered down upon the ground below.

The men that had entered were elaborately covered with their war-paint. One of them had the head and skin of a bear drawn over his face like a mask, in the way that I have seen done by the Assyrians; another wore upon his shoulders the head and horns of an elk. A third, who carried a stick in his hand, ushered the other two into the middle of the hut, where they began dancing and making the strangest of contortions, but all without uttering a word. After this had gone on for some time, one of the two, who wore a necklace made of the teeth of wild animals, and who apparently was the chief, walked up to me, and stood gazing in my face. I noticed that he had my own sword in his hand. He began a long harangue of which I could not understand a word, but observed that he repeatedly said "Jono," and as often as he did so, all the others gave a loud shout. When his oration came to an end, the savage sprinkled us with some stinking liquor, which he poured from a horn; and having in chorus muttered some kind of refrain that ended in "Jono," they all quitted the hut, fastening the doorway securely behind them.

"No chance of making terms with such brutes as these," I indignantly exclaimed, when we were again alone.

"Patience!" said Hannibal; "only let me get my hands at liberty, and I'll guarantee to floor half-a-dozen of them, unarmed as I am."

Himilco avowed that he was burning for a chance to avenge himself for the filthy fish-oil; and Chamai protested that though the brutes should be as countless as the palms of Jericho or the fleas at Shechem, he would outwit them yet, and find his way back to Abigail.

While they had been talking in this strain, I had disengaged my hands, and very soon succeeded in freeing Bichri, who assisted me in liberating all the rest. Once again upon their feet, they stretched their stiff and weary limbs, and Hannibal, Chamai, and Himilco each armed themselves with one of the stones that formed the fire-place.

"Here's something that may smash a skull or two," said Chamai, as he poised his stone aloft.

"Not altogether a military-looking weapon," was Hannibal's remark, whilst he examined the cumbersome missile; "but our forefathers have done good execution with worse."

Picking up a few fragments of stone, Bichri was beginning to lament that he had not a sling, when Himilco in a moment produced the rope which he invariably wore, and tore off a piece of the goat-skin that had carried his wine, and with these materials the young archer was not long in putting together a sling which he hoped might do him good service.

Night closed in. It was still raining; the wind blew furiously. Everything seemed to favour our escape.

"Now's your time, my men!" I said. "Make your prayer to your gods, and we will be off at once."

It was agreed that if we should find more than one sentinel, we should fight our way through and make for the canoes, and that if we failed in that attempt, we should take to the water, and swim to the far end of the causeway. Our watch-word should be three raven-croaks.

"Now, invoke your gods," I repeated.

There was silence in the hut, and I noticed that Himilco raised his single eye to the aperture in the roof, as though looking for the Cabiri, but there was nothing to be seen except the pitchy blackness of the night.

I was about to lead the way, when, on peering out, I not only heard the sound of footsteps, but saw the glimmer of a torch. My heart beat fast, and I made my companions arrange themselves on either side of the doorway, so as to guard the entrance. It seemed to me that there were not more than one or two approaching. Chamai pressed his back against the wall, ready to brain the first savage that came within reach; but whoever they were that were coming, it was evident that they were not hurrying themselves: they paused in quiet conversation outside, and at intervals we could again catch the mysterious word "Jono."

"I wonder whether they are going to give us any more of their beastly sprinkling," said Himilco.

"I have something here," muttered Hannibal, "that may give them a sprinkling they don't expect."

Breaking the silence of the night, we now heard the ringing notes of the trumpet, followed by yells and vociferations. The clamour was obviously a signal, for at the same moment the covering at the door was raised, and a man carrying a torch entered the hut, and closed the entrance behind him. But scarcely had he advanced a step, when four strong arms arrested him. Chamai's hand was across the intruder's mouth, effectually stopping any outcry he might raise; I took possession of his torch; and Himilco, having lifted the stone above his head, was about to hurl it on his victim, when he let it fall to the ground, and ejaculated:

"Merciful Cabiri!"

I raised the torch to the visitor's face, and in a moment had thrown myself upon his neck. It was Hanno.

The sailor picked up the torch that I had dropped in my excitement, and enabled Hanno in his turn to recognise us.

We were speechless.

For some moments we could do nothing but grasp each other's hands and embrace our long-lost friend.

Hanno himself was the first to speak.

"Don't strangle me quite. What a joyful surprise is this!"

"Out with a joke, Hanno!" cried Hannibal, "or I shall never believe it's you!"

Hanno did not smile, but inquired anxiously about Chryseis. Hearing from me that she was safe and well, his eyes filled with tears, and he murmured:

"Ashtoreth be praised!"

A violent thumping outside brought us back to a sense of our real position, and when the thumping was renewed Hanno went to the door, and having addressed some one with a few guttural words, which were received with a half-approving grunt, he returned to us.

"And now," he said, his voice assuming its old tone of vivacity, "perhaps you would like to know what brings me here. I am come to conduct you to the grand temple of the Suomi; and a fine structure you will see it is, built of reeds and fish-bones in tip-top style. You are there to be sacrificed to the great god Jono."

"So then Jono is a god, is he?" I said; "but if you are his high priest I presume we need not give ourselves much alarm."

Himilco said that if this Jono were the god of fish-oil he most heartily wished that he might be sent some hundred fathoms down below the sea.

"Gently, gently, good pilot!" said Hanno, with mock solemnity; "you must not speak disparagingly of the great divinity. I can, however, tell you one thing. Jono has no more liking for fish-oil than you have yourself. No one loves a draught of good wine better. And I may as well tell you at once who he is. He is none other than our friend Jonah of Eltekeh! our incomparable trumpeter, Jonah!"

"Ah! didn't I say," cried Himilco, "that no one but Jonah could bring out such a flourish as that?"

Hanno went on to tell us that the people were already assembled in the temple awaiting the arrival of ourselves, their destined victims, and in reply to Chamai, who suggested that we should rise up and attack them bodily, informed us that there were more than three thousand of them, so that any resistance on our part would not only be useless, but must result in our immediate destruction.

"No;" he continued; "you have no alternative but to trust yourselves implicitly to the influence of the mighty Jono and of his high priest Hono, your humble servant. My first proceeding will be to acquaint the assembly that I have released you from your bonds, and that by the agency of magic I have rendered you quite mild and submissive."

"Allow me to interrupt you for a moment," I said; "but I am intensely anxious to learn whether you know anything of our comrades?"

"They are now on their way hither," replied Hanno; "and the very object with which the Suomi propose to sacrifice you is to propitiate their god, so that he may vouchsafe them the victory."

Hannibal burst out enthusiastically:

"I knew our fellows would come to our defence; brave souls they are! we'll conquer yet!"

"Not so fast," was the reply; "you must be content to leave everything to me. I will send a message to Hamilcar and Hasdrubal. See now; I have my writing materials ready; I made myself a calamus from the marsh-reeds; my ink is some of the Suomi war-paint; and for papyrus I have a piece of deer-skin."

Hanno wrote and talked at once; and as soon as he had finished he turned to us:

"Now then, follow me to the temple. You need be under no apprehension yet. I will take care that the god shall declare that he does not require your lives at present. This will give some hours' respite. In the interval I shall be able, I trust, to send my letter to our friends. Let us go: but one more word of caution; you must be careful above all things not to laugh at any of our proceedings."

"You will have to conjure pretty cleverly," I said, "if you are going to conjure us out of this dilemma."

"Well, you know," he said with a smile, "I have had some education in this line. I have learnt a bit of the craft of a priest and a magician; though I acknowledge I did not anticipate that I should have to practise under the present circumstances."

Taking his torch, he led the way; and with downcast eyes, and much to the amazement of some savages who were waiting outside, we filed demurely after him.

The island which we proceeded to cross was considerably larger than it had at first sight appeared. The huts were arranged in irregular clusters, each group surrounded by its own palisade. The road was very dark, and we had to ford a number of pools of water, while the rain splashed heavily down upon our bare heads. After winding through the labyrinth of huts, we reached an open place in the heart of the village, lighted with torches, and thronged with a crowd of Suomi, armed and coloured with their paint. The central hut into which we were conducted was much larger than the others, and served the purpose of a temple; it was circular, and had the appearance of a gigantic beehive. The interior was lighted with torches, and with pans of oil, furnished with flaming wicks, which had been made of bark; it was crowded with the savages, and what with the fumes of the torches, the vile odour of the burning oil, and the stench of the grease with which the savages had smeared their bodies, the atmosphere of the place was positively sickening.

On first entering the assembly the mist was so thick, and the confusion from the noise of the savages, who were raving like maniacs, was so great, that I could not distinguish the venerated deity; but as I gradually got accustomed to the smoky glare and the boisterous hubbub, I made out that there was a kind of dais or altar piled up with every conceivable variety of natural products, – skins of beasts, intestines of fishes, bladders of sea-calves, feathers of birds – mounted upon which, daubed with blue and crimson, and adorned with bulls' horns and sea-calves tusks, was the god himself. Not a feature could I distinguish; one only object seemed familiar; in one of his crimson hands the god held the very trumpet which I had purchased for twelve silver shekels of Khelesh-baal the merchant of Tyre.

The savages did more than make room for us to pass; they thrust us forward till we were close in front of the altar-shrine. Hanno placed himself at the side of the god, who, at a given signal, raised his trumpet to his mouth and blew a deafening blast. A few words from Hanno made the entire assembly, except ourselves, prostrate themselves with their faces to the very ground, and thus left standing conspicuously above the rest, the god could not fail to recognise us.

No words of mine can describe Jonah's amazement. Eyes, nose, and mouth, were all distended until the very paint broke in scales upon his face. He was dumbfounded for the time, and only after a long stare of astonishment, exclaimed:

"Baal Chamaim! lord of the heavens!"

A sensation of terror thrilled through the prostrate worshippers. The mighty Jono had spoken!

"Hold your tongue, you fool!" exclaimed Hannibal, with sonorous solemnity, but in plain Phœnician. The god started, and said no more.

The crowd of worshippers shivered with awe.

All at once a piercing shriek echoed through the temple. A black-haired object, ill-defined, had made a tremendous bound, and perching upon the head of the divinity himself, began tearing his hair, scratching his face, and hugging and caressing him with wild delight. The savages started to their feet in consternation, and some of them fled at once; but when they saw their god drop his trumpet and take the apparition in his arms, and heard him say to it, "Gebal, Gebal! dear little man! and have you found out your poor old Jonah?" their terror knew no bounds, and they rushed frantically out, leaving us absolutely by ourselves.

Chamai on one side gave the god a good dig in his ribs, while Hanno on the other kicked him pretty sharply on the leg, but neither of these attentions seemed to disconcert him in the least; he came forward and said:

"Delighted to see you all, my friends; an unexpected pleasure: you know I am a god now; what shall I order for you to eat?"

"Back to your seat, jackanapes!" cried Hanno, severely, "and don't speak another word until I give you leave."

For a moment Jonah's dignity seemed somewhat wounded, and he hesitated about complying; but upon my promising him a good skin of wine, he returned to his shrine without further murmuring. Hanno re-arranged the trumpery jewellery with which the god was bedecked, and Bichri whistled the monkey back to his own shoulder.

"Here's a messenger," said Hanno, "that I think will answer my purpose very well."

And turning to the creature, who was making the oddest grimaces, he said:

"Now, Gebal, take this to Hamilcar, quick; and you shall have some cake."

The monkey appeared perfectly to comprehend what was wanted, snatched the piece of skin that was held out to it, gnashed its teeth, and on three legs hopped rapidly out of the temple. A buzz of mingled surprise and fright made us aware that the animal had passed through the crowd outside.

"So far, so good," said Hanno; "now for the next scene. You must all prostrate yourselves to the ground before Jonah. I am going to recall the Suomi."

Jonah was taken aback, and modestly remonstrated against this humiliation on our part; but Chamai, by way of enforcing obedience to Hanno's injunction of silence, gave him a sharp blow across his mouth, and then came and took up with the rest of us his posture of outward reverence and awe.

Standing at the doorway in the character of Hono the priest, Hanno encouraged the people to re-enter their temple. Gradually the more courageous were induced to return, and ultimately about fifty, still tremulous with their recent alarm, were assembled in front of the shrine. Jono once again made the building ring with a tremendous blast, and Hanno delivered a brief oration, which seemed to have a soothing effect. The Suomi quietly retired, and we could hear them placing sentinels outside to prevent any one from entering.

Finding that we were not likely to be disturbed again, Hanno extinguished all the lights except two torches, and led us into the darkest corner of the temple, whither Jonah, after flinging off all his gew-gaws, was only too delighted to follow us.

CHAPTER XVIII
JONAH WAXES AMBITIOUS

"Where's my wine?" was Jonah's first inquiry.

"Coming in good time," I answered; "but you must have patience to wait, it may be a few months."

The giant looked aghast and stupified, until he was recalled to himself by a friendly poke from Chamai.

"Glad to see you amongst us again, old tippler!"

"And I am glad too," he said; "but what am I to do next?"

"Whatever else you do, you must obey Hanno," I said; "he is trying to accomplish our escape to our ships."

What I informed him seemed to have the effect of plunging him into a deep reverie; he knitted his forehead till a layer of red paint peeled off, and at last roused himself to ask if he should have to accompany us.

"Certainly," I replied; "unless you prefer remaining with these barbarians."

"And with their revolting fish-oil," put in Himilco.

"But here I am a god," said the trumpeter, slowly, as if pondering the matter. "On board ship, Chamai knocks me about, and Hannibal kicks me, and every one calls me a lubber: but here it is all different; instead of being thumped, I may thump whom I please; I gave the god of the savages in the north such a thrashing that he died an hour afterwards. At home too, in Eltekeh, the little children used to call me a blockhead, and the men used to make me carry olive-baskets on my head and sacks of corn on my back, and scant measure of wine did I ever get; but here, I blow my trumpet, and in there comes no end of good things, meat and venison and fish, more than I can eat. It's no bad thing to be a god."

We all stared in amazement. He had never been known to make such a long speech before, far less to arrive so logically at any conclusion; at any rate, his deification had expanded his ideas, and inspired him with a new ambition.

"So then," I said, "you do not mean to go back with us."

He hesitated; but soon said that where Hanno went he should go too.

Himilco began to jeer him:

"O! you mean that you like Suomi fish-oil better than Helbon wine? and you prefer the chilly fogs of the marshes to the olive-yards of Dan? and you like slices of reindeer more than wheat and honey cakes?"

A tear stood trembling in the giant's eye.

"I think," he said, "I would rather go with you."

"And surely," added Hanno, "you would wish to go back to Eltekeh; you must want to tell them all about the leviathans, and the behemoths, and Nergal's kitchen, and how you have been a god yourself."

"They wouldn't believe me!"

"And think," said Bichri, "we shall have old Gebal with us to show the men of Dan!"

This last appeal was too much for Jonah, and fairly bursting out into tears, he sobbed out:

"Yes, I must go; I must go with you and Gebal."

Hannibal laughed outright at what he called Jonah's calf's tears, but declared that he was really very pleased to have his trumpeter back again, and pulling out two silver shekels from his purse, which he had contrived to retain, he said:

"There, man, take these; they will pay somebody to give you a good wash when you get on board."

Hanno now proceeded to explain his scheme. The written message he had sent to Hamilcar was to the effect that he should parley with the Suomi until he heard the sound of Jonah's trumpet, and should then answer the signal by his own trumpet.

"I shall pretend to the savages," he continued, "that their god has ordered them to lead out their victims for sacrifice, and if by this stratagem we can once get over the causeway and within reach of our own people, everything is easy."

Approving of his plan, I merely observed that there might be some difficulty in knowing when our comrades were holding their parley; but Hanno at once assured me that the savages would not do anything without consulting him as their priest, so that he should be fully informed of everything that transpired.

We had now been twenty-four hours without food, and were suffering from fatigue and hunger. Hannibal ventured to ask whether some provisions were not to be had, and in an instant Hanno went to the door and uttered a few syllables that sounded something like the croaking of an old crow.

"I have told them," he said, "that Jono wants something to eat. They know what his appetite is; I daresay they will bring enough for you all."

Very shortly there was a knocking at the entrance of the temple; some savages had brought platters of boiled fish and roast venison, and several large horns full of drink, the whole of which Hanno took from their hands at the door and passed on to us. Half-famished as we were, we made short work with the dishes, the god appropriating as his own modest share a fish half as large as a tunny, and a reindeer-steak. Hanno joined us, and asked innumerable questions all the time we were eating. Both he and Jonah drank freely from the horns, which had been placed with their small ends on the ground; but Himilco and Hannibal could not conceal their disgust at seeing them swallow what they supposed to be rancid oil. Hanno, however, soon explained that the contents of the horns was a liquid made of fermented barley and some vegetable juice, and that it was the common beverage, not only of the Suomi and Cymri, but of the Celts of the west, the Gothi of the east, and the Germani of the south.

"I should not think of saying that it is in any way equal to the juice of the grape," he said; "but it is really not unpalatable; you may safely taste it."

Hannibal looked doubtful. Himilco said that he had heard Gisgo speak of some preparation of the kind before, and that he was not sure he had not himself tasted it at the mouth of the Rhone; he raised one of the horns cautiously to his lips, sipped, and said nothing.

We all in turn followed his example. Bichri pronounced it very acid; Chamai declared it was detestably bitter; the sailor and I both recognised it as very like what we had tasted elsewhere.

"Not good for much!" said Hannibal, after he had taken a good draught; "is it intoxicating?"

"Most assuredly it is," replied Hanno.

"The most villainous stuff I ever tasted," said Himilco, the last to pass an opinion. "However, I think I will have a little more."

And he drained another horn.

"Disgusting!" he sputtered out; but he seemed so thoroughly to have reconciled himself to the flavour of what he abused, that I was only fearful that he would take more than was good for him.

By the time we had finished our refreshment, day was beginning to dawn, and Hanno was summoned outside; he returned almost immediately, ordered Jonah to sound his trumpet, and bade us all be prepared to start.

Jonah went to the doorway and delivered a ringing blast.

Himilco hastily emptied every one of the horns, protesting all the while that it was odious stuff, sickening to the palate, and almost as vile a drink as plain water.

In answer to Jonah's signal we soon heard the reverberation of our Phœnician trumpets, and without loss of time, Jonah and Hanno at our head, we marched out of the temple. The crowd outside, regarding us with a superstitious reverence, allowed us to pass freely through them, and to proceed onwards without hindrance, so that in the course of half-an-hour we were in the midst of our friends, Hanno clasping Chryseis in his arms, Jonah hugging Judge Gebal, and Chamai so engaged with Abigail, that he did not notice how Hannibal, Himilco, and Bichri had been mercilessly thrashing a group of the nearest savages.

Our reception by our party had the immediate effect of opening the eyes of the barbarians to the terrestrial nature of their supposed god; and they no sooner became aware how we had escaped their clutches than they began to assail us with showers of stones and lances, so that our retreat to the ships was a matter of considerable peril. No one, however, was seriously injured; there were many slight contusions, and Jonah's nose was ignominiously bruised by a stone hurled at him by one of his late worshippers.

Once safely on board, we made no delay in turning our backs upon this inhospitable shore, and steering westwards, made towards the island of Prydhayn.

With a calm sea and a favourable wind, our progress was easy; and anxious to learn all that had befallen Hanno and Jonah since we had lost them, we assembled on the stern of the Ashtoreth expressly to hear their story. Jonah, who had been well washed, insisted upon being dressed in Phœnician costume, and took his seat, with the monkey upon his shoulder, by the side of the scribe, who proceeded to recount their adventures.

"It is now, you know, more than a year since the day when we were caught in the ambush of the men of Tarshish. When we were first captured our lives were in the greatest jeopardy, for according to what we were told by a Phœnician I met, we were at once to be handed over to Bodmilcar, who was close at hand. Negotiations to this effect were going on, when it transpired that one of the Iberian chiefs had been so fascinated by Jonah's trumpet that we were to be retained, and not given over to the Tyrian, who was reported to be wounded. During this respite I contrived, by means of a stick and some blood from a wound of my own, to write a message for you on my sandal-strap; I had no doubt that the instinct of Gebal would take him back to Bichri, and accordingly I resolved to make him my messenger."

"Yes; and your message came that night," I said.

"I conjectured so," he continued, "by the monkey not returning. We were soon sent off towards the north, under the guardianship of a troop of Iberians, who did not by any means treat us badly, and after a toilsome journey came to a region where the mountains were so high that they were all covered with snow; they separated the land of Tarshish from the land of the Celts, and were called the Pyrenees. Here we were handed over to the chief of the Guipuzcoa, for whom we were destined. These Guipuzcoa are sometimes known as Bascons; they are a warlike people, perpetually engaged in hostilities with the Aitzcoa, or "men of the rocks," on the north-west, and with other Iberians on the south. We remained for more than two months before any opportunity of escape occurred; but at last, during one of the forays, we were left behind in the village, which was built upon piles at the mouth of a small river. We got possession of a canoe, and having filled it as far as we could with provisions, we ventured out to sea, and contrived to reach the shores of the Celts, from whom, in answer to many inquiries, I ascertained that some ships had recently passed along their coast, and, from various articles that they showed me, I had little doubt they were the Ashtoreth, the Dagon, and the Cabiros. Making out from the Celts that you had gone northwards, we left our canoe, and took passage in one of their ships that was on the point of sailing for Ar-Mor; but upon our arrival we found the people engaged in war with the Cymri of the Island of Prydhayn, so that we could not get transported there. For two months I sojourned in various parts of the islands of Ar-Mor, and picked up some knowledge of Celtic; but all the time I was trying to devise some plan of following you in the direction I felt sure you had taken. At length it chanced that I found a tribe of Cymri who were not at war with the people of Prydhayn, and embarked in one of their boats; but a tremendous storm arose, and we were driven far away to the east."

"Talk of storms," said Jonah, putting in his word; "was not that a storm? I saw leviathans spouting water from their noses as high as your mast, and we were tossed about the waters like a log. For three days we had nothing to eat or to drink."

"Jonah is right," continued Hanno; "the tempest was really frightful, and we were dashed upon the muddy swamps of the coast. The Cymri drowned themselves in sheer desperation, and we, more dead than alive, existed for more than a week upon roots and wild fruit from the wood."

"And what did you find to drink?" asked Himilco.

"Nothing but muddy water."

The good pilot's sympathy was deeply moved, and he said:

"Sorry drink that, as I know by experience."

After this interruption, Hanno went on:

"Jonah persisted in blowing his trumpet perpetually, resolved if possible to attract attention, and at length succeeded in making himself heard by a troop of Suomi who were migrating eastwards in consequence of the aggressions of the Cymri and the Germani, who were appropriating territory after territory to themselves. Not only did Jonah's enormous trumpet excite the wonder of the Suomi, but I could observe at once that his huge and imposing stature, and his abundant growth of shaggy hair impressed this diminutive, smooth-faced people with superstitious awe, a sentiment which I resolved to encourage, with the object of turning it to our own advantage. We accompanied them in their migration to their new settlement, where we witnessed the erection of the village in which you found us, and my representations prevailed so completely that they recognised Jonah – Jono, as they called him – as their presiding deity, regarding me as his high priest. For some time, then, you see we have been in the lap of luxury; but nothing has ever led me for a moment to forget you or your ships, or to cease to long for the Great Sea and our noble Sidon."

"And Sidon ere long you shall see!" said I, when he had finished his narrative; "we are now on our way back; it is impossible to penetrate farther, and we are homeward bound."

"Sidon for ever! and long live the King!" shouted Chamai; "we shall see the sun again."

"And get some wine!" cried Himilco, tossing his cap in the air.

"And some new clothes!" chimed in Hannibal; "beggars in rags are our soldiers now."

In the midst of the general hilarity Jonah sat silent and full of thought.

"What ails you, trumpeter?" I asked; "cannot you quite make up your mind to go back?"

"It is no good my going back," he half blubbered out; "they will never believe me; they will only laugh when I tell them I have been to Nergal's kitchen and seen behemoths by dozens; and if I were to say I have been worshipped for a god, and had dinners brought me every day, big enough for a month, they will declare I'm stark mad."

"Never mind, old fellow," said Chamai; "we'll back you up; we will testify to the truth of your stories; and what's more, you shall be presented to the King, and he shall hear you blow your trumpet."

Overcome by Chamai's good-natured encouragement, and his own prospective honours, he fairly burst into tears.