Kouaga evidently meant making a sudden descent upon the mysterious country, and if his force once accomplished the passage through the mountain pass they would then no doubt make a rapid dash towards the capital itself, and would approach it at its only vulnerable point.

If this occurred, then the slaughter must be terrible and the catastrophe complete.



CHAPTER XXXII.

WAR.

TWELVE days later I found myself accompanying Kona who, at the head of a great force of over eighteen thousand men, was crossing the treacherous quicksands by the Way of the Thousand Steps. The critical position of Mo had been fully discussed by Omar, his officers and sages, and it had been decided to send, in addition to the force of twenty thousand men to the Hombori Mountains on the northern frontier, a second expedition to travel with all swiftness across the sandy plain and make a dash upon Samory's stronghold at Koussan in the absence of its picked troops.

Within two days after Makhana had brought news of the coming invasion, the whole of the twenty thousand men, with Omar himself at their head, had marched out of the capital on their way to defend the pass. I had expressed a wish to accompany them, but my friend had requested me to go with the expedition to Samory's capital because, having been there in captivity, I could act as guide. To this I made no objection, and bidding farewell to Omar, Goliba and Niaro at the city gate, I had watched them ride away at the head of a brilliant cavalcade, and the same evening at sundown descended the face of the cliff by the long flight of steps, and jumping into the saddle of a horse held ready for me, rode with all haste to catch up Kona who, as leader of our expedition, had already started for the gigantic precipice known as the Gate of Mo.

To Niaro, an excellent officer, the leadership of the defending force had been entrusted, as he had already had experience of fighting in the Hombori country, having been second in command of Kouaga's expedition when he conquered the tribes of Massina, while Kona, who had with him his valiant Dagombas, had orders to enrol another thousand men of that tribe when passing through their territory, prior to our dash upon Samory's country.

The passage to the desert by the Way of the Thousand Steps was a brilliant feat, for of our great force not a single life was lost, and so rapidly did we travel, that within two weeks of the day we left the palace, our Dagombas, who preferred their native spears and arrows to firearms, were enrolled and we were well on our way to the Great Salt Road, a mere native path notwithstanding its imposing designation, towards Samory's great fortress-city.

Heedless of the noontide heat we pushed forward over stony desert and green grass-land, now plunging into those gloomy dismal forests of eternal darkness where the stench of decaying vegetation sickened us, only to emerge again into the open plain devoid of shade, scorched by the pitiless rays of the fiery sun. Snatching brief rests, and pushing for ever onward our great host of armed men and carriers, with the vigilant Kona at their head, pressed forward, entering at last the land of our enemies.

The Dagomba scouts, travelling before us, splendid fellows, all eyes and ears, who could detect the slightest indication of an enemy's presence far or near, whether it were the broken twig at one's feet or the sudden rising of a bird in the distance, kept us well informed of all transpiring on every side. For a hundred miles we marched through the Arab chieftain's land without any of its inhabitants dreaming of the presence of a hostile force, and it was only by our sudden descent one night upon the small walled town of Torola, which we sacked and burned, that they were awakened to the truth.

But ere the news could spread to Koussan, about forty English miles distant, we, by a forced march, had already reached the capital. Making a dash upon the place by night with our Maxim and Hotchkiss guns, the garrison were completely taken by surprise, nevertheless so well were its high white walls defended, that our forces were driven back with severe loss.

Undaunted however, Kona, who placed himself at the head of our Dagomba allies, backed by the well-armed soldiers of Mo, made a second assault upon a point that had been indicated by our spies as weaker than the others. The fighting was desperate, and the sight, viewed from where I was standing with the reinforcements, was one of exceeding grandeur. Night was rendered almost bright as day by the constant flashing of guns, and the noise of the tumult ever increasing sounded high above the constant roar of artillery. Suddenly, as I gazed across the plain to where the sharp conflict was proceeding, a brilliant blue flash blinded me and an instant later a deafening explosion caused the ground to tremble, while the red light of the guns gleamed through the increasing veil of smoke, and I saw that our men had successfully placed a mine beneath that portion of the fortifications near where they were fighting, and it had been fired, effecting a great breach through which they next moment poured, engaging the defenders hand to hand.

Soon afterwards a signal light flashed thrice, as had been agreed, and six thousand men, including myself, sped over the plain to reinforce our comrades. Soon, clambering over the fallen masonry where the enormous breach had been made, I found myself with my sword, the one I had used in the conquest of Mo, hacking right and left, endowed with a strength that only came to me in moments of intense excitement.

The dash we made was indeed a brilliant one. The Arab defenders were, we found, fully equal to us in numbers and were withal magnificent soldiers, for in the broad squares of the city their cavalry, with their white flowing robes and heavy curved swords, committed frightful havoc in our ranks, yet in such numbers had we clambered into the great chieftain's stronghold that they became gradually hampered in the streets and, unable to manoeuvre, were compelled to dismount and engage us in combat. The fight proved an even more desperate and bloody one than that which resulted in the dethronement of the Naya. So equally matched were the forces, that the struggle raged with frightful ferocity, each side determined to secure the victory. In the old Moorish-looking streets, so narrow that two asses could scarce pass abreast, there were encounters more desperate than any I had ever witnessed, for the soldiers of Samory and the fighting-men of Mo, the two most fierce and valiant forces in the whole of the African continent, were pitted against each other.

Cutting our way forward, I found myself at last beneath the high whitewashed wall of the great Djamaea Thelatha Biban, or Mosque of the Three Gates, one of the most ancient in the city. I recognised it by its fine dome standing out white against the flame-illumined sky, and remembered that when a captive in the hands of the brutal Arab ruler, Omar had translated to me the fine Kufic inscription on its handsome facade, recording its construction by Mohammed Ibn Kheiroun el-Maaeferi in the second century of the Hedjira. For a moment I paused under its handsome entrance of black and white marble, when suddenly Kona rushed towards me, crying:

"Quick, Master! Fly for thy life, here, across the square!" and as he tore away as fast as his long black legs would carry him, I followed wondering.

Scarcely had we reached the opposite side of the great market-place when a deafening roar sounded, and an instant later, as I turned, I saw the great dome crack, tremble and collapse, together with the high white minaret, while the whole of its facade fell out with a terrific crash in the opposite direction. Our men had blown up the principal mosque in Samory's capital, an action which increased tenfold the rage of our fierce fanatical enemies.

With loud yells they fell upon us from every quarter, when a few minutes later they realised what had been done, and during the next hour the conflict became terrific. Hundreds were struck to earth by bullets and swords, and it appeared to me, striving as I was in the midst of the smoke and heat of battle, that the longer we fought the more numerous became the defenders, and the less our chance of success. Yet slowly we had succeeded in cutting our way from the city wall up the hill crowned by the great white Kasbah, or fortress, which constituted Samory's palace, and were now actually within sight of it. Fiercely exerting every muscle we fought to attain our goal, but so desperate was the defence, that time after time our forward movement was prevented, and we were compelled to fall back bleeding and frustrated. In these valiant attempts to reach the walls of the Kasbah there fell, at a low estimate, fully five hundred of that portion of the force to which I had attached myself. With reinforcements we might have flung back the defenders, yet separated as we had been into small bodies during the earlier manoeuvres, fighting was now taking place in every part of the city, no two bodies being able to unite their forces.

To thus cut us off one from another had, no doubt, been the tactics of the defenders, for we afterwards learnt that in many instances the smaller of our gallant little bands had been slaughtered literally to a man.

At last, however, my worst fears began to be realized, for the defenders, receiving reinforcements, swooped suddenly down upon us, and with their swords and those sharp double-edged knives they carried in their belts, wrought frightful havoc among us everywhere, while upon us another body poured a terrible fire from their long-barrelled rifles.

As result of this, although we made a spirited stand, once again we were compelled to fall back in confusion, leaving many dead and dying upon the stones. Suddenly I heard Kona's well-known voice behind me uttering the fierce war yell of the Dagombas, and next instant we found to our satisfaction that a great body of his dark oily-faced warriors had come to our relief. The reckless and savage manner in which they fought a few moments later was astounding, and it was certainly due to their courage and strength that the Arabs were first forced back and then cut to pieces and utterly routed.

This, however, did not carry us much further towards the Kasbah, for when within an ace of gaining its walls, another body of Arabs swept across the great square with its clump of date-palms, and with cries of rage attacked us vigorously with rifle and sword. The combat again became terrible, and in it I received from a big, raw-boned Arab a severe sword-cut over the left wrist that caused me excruciating pain. Still I fought on, although half fearing that our expedition was ill-fated. We had believed Samory's capital practically denuded of troops, and of such strenuous opposition as that offered we had never dreamed.

But the assertion of the West Coast tribes that the soldiers of the mystic land of Mo know not fear is certainly true, for never once did they falter, although the citadel seemed absolutely unassailable by reason of the fierceness and strength of its defence.

Through the dark night hours we had fought on revengefully, and when dawn spread the grey glimmering light disclosed the terrible result of the deadly fray. Dead and wounded lay everywhere, and through the suffocating smoke the fire of the rifles now seemed yellow where in the darkness it had appeared blood-red. By some means the Arabs rallied their forces, and I confess that the sight of the overwhelming numbers opposing us caused my courage to fail. Swiftly and unrelentlessly the attack upon us was delivered, and with such vigour that our van fell back, weak and decimated. Suddenly, without warning, a sound above the din broke upon our ears, startling us.

The rapid cackling was unmistakable, and involuntarily I burst into a good old-fashioned English cheer. One of our Maxims had been tardily brought into play!

Ere a few moments had elapsed the Arabs, having already had a taste of the terrible effect of the deadly weapon during the recent campaign against the French and English, stood panic-stricken. Their hesitation proved fatal. Under the hail of lead they were mowed down, and ere the remainder could recover from their astonishment a second weapon was brought into play, riddling their ranks with showers of death-dealing missiles.



CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE HAREM SLAVE.

A DOZEN times were we driven back by overwhelming numbers of Arabs, but as many times we dashed forward again, determined to strike a fatal, irrisistible blow at the power of the egotistical and fanatical chieftain whose depredations had earned for him the appelation of "The Pirate of the Niger." Every nation in Western Africa, save the dwellers in the mystic land of Mo, existed in daily fear of raids by his ruthless armed bands, who, travelling rapidly across desert and forest, devastated whole regions, seizing cattle, laying waste prosperous and fertile districts, burning towns and villages, and reducing their weaker neighbours to slavery. Indeed, no bodies of armed men throughout the whole of the great African continent, including even the Tuaregs, were so reckless in their attacks, or so fiendish in their wholesale butchery of those who resented the ruin and devastation of their homes. It was therefore scarcely surprising that this brigandish horde, whose power even European nations failed to break, should throw themselves into the conflict with reckless enthusiasm, and repel our attack by the exertion of every muscle.

In point of numbers we were much inferior; our superiority existed only in our arms. Their old-fashioned bronze field-pieces, flint-lock pistols and long-barrelled Arab guns, although deadly weapons in the hands of such expert shots, proved no match against such irresistible appliances as the Maxim, the Hotchkiss, or the modern English-made rifle. This fact very soon became apparent, for although the fierce battle raged for many hours, and Samory himself, in yellow robe, and mounted upon a snow-white stallion, gorgeously caparisoned, could be seen urging on his hordes to valiant deeds, we nevertheless everywhere made a firm stand at various points of vantage, and by no effort were they able to dislodge us.

When the sun rose, red and fiery through the veil of smoke, the increasing weakness of the defence was visibly demonstrated by the manner in which the entrance to the Kasbah was guarded. The great doors of iron were closed and barred securely, and on the walls the crimson fezes of the defenders showed in profusion, but presently Kona, as we drove back the soldiers of Al-Islam almost for the hundredth time, shouted the order to storm the citadel. With one accord we made a mad, reckless rush an instant later, and carried on by the thousands of my comrades behind, I found myself slashing to right and left under the high, sun-blanched walls of the enormous fortress. Kona, appearing a giant even among his tall Dagombas, gave one the impression in those critical moments of a veritable demon, filled as he was with a mad excitement and knowing that upon the success of our assault depended the result of the expedition. Towering above his fellows, his long spear in hand, he seemed to lead a charmed existence, swaying to and fro among whistling bullets, whizzing arrows, flashing swords and whirring spears. His own weapon he dyed in the blood of his adversaries times without number, for where he struck he never failed to kill. His aim was unerring, and his courage that of a lion of his native forest.

In those furious moments I escaped death only by a miracle. As I dashed forward to seek shelter beneath the ponderous wall, a tall Arab, with long brown hairy arms, swung his curved sword high above his head and brought it down with such force that had I not dodged him just in time, he would have smashed my skull. Lowering my rifle quickly till its muzzle almost touched his flowing garments, I fired, but unfortunately the bullet passed beneath his arm-pit, and flattened itself against the wall. Again, muttering some fearful imprecation in Arabic, he raised his gleaming blade, and, unable to fire at such close quarters, I was then compelled to use my rifle to ward off his attack. For an instant we struggled desperately, when suddenly he gave his sword a rapid twist, jerking my weapon from my hands and leaving me unarmed at his mercy.

His features broadened into a brutal grin as, noticing me fumbling for my pistol, he again raised his razor-edged Moorish blade, and holding it at arm's length, gave one vigorous slash at me. Pressed forward towards him by men engaged in mortal conflict behind me, I could not evade him, and was about to receive the full force of what my adversary intended should be a fatal blow, when suddenly a savage spear struck him full in the throat, and stuck quivering there.

Instantly his sinewy arm fell, the heavy sword dropped from his nerveless fingers, and he stumbled backward and fell to earth like a log.

"Thou art safe, O Master!" a voice cried cheerily behind me, and turning, I saw that the man who had thrown his spear and saved my life was Kona.

Shouting an expression of thanks I bent, and, unable to recover my lost rifle in the frightful melee, snatched up the dead Arab's sword that had so nearly caused my death, then fought on by my deliverer's side. His wounds were many, for blood was flowing from cuts and gashes innumerable in his bare black flesh, yet he appeared insensible to pain, striving forward, gasping as he dealt each blow, determined to conquer.

The fight continued with unabated fury—the bloodshed was horrible. The open square before the gate of the Kasbah was transformed into a veritable slaughter-yard, the stones being slippery with blood, and passage rendered difficult by the corpses that lay piled everywhere. At last, however, while engaged in another warm corner, the shrill, awe-inspiring war cry of the Dagombas again sounded above the tumult, and turning, I saw that by some means our men had opened the great gate, and that they were pouring into the spacious courtyards that I so well remembered.

Our assault, though fiercely and savagely repelled, was at last successful. We were entering the stronghold of Samory, and had achieved a feat that the well-equipped expeditions of the French and English had failed to accomplish.

The Arabs during the next quarter of an hour struggled bravely against their adversity and fought with a dogged courage of which I had not believed them capable. Soon, however, finding themselves conquered, they cried for quarter. Had they known the peculiar temperament of the Dagombas and the soldiers of Mo, they would never thus have implored mercy. But they cried out, and some even sank on their knees in the blood of their dead comrades, uttering piteous appeals. But the Arabs of Samory had never shown mercy to the Dagombas or the people of Mo, and consequently our army, in the first flush of their victory, filled with the awful lust for blood, treated their cries with jeers, and as they advanced into court after court within the great Kasbah walls, they fell upon all they met, armed or unarmed, men or women, and massacred them where they stood.

The appeal shouted time after time by Kona to view our victory in temperate spirit and spare those who submitted, was disregarded by all in this wholesale savage butchery. The scene within the Arab chieftain's stronghold was, alas! far more horrible than any I had witnessed during the revolt in Mo. Guards, officials and slaves of Samory's household were indiscriminately put to the sword, some of the men being hunted into corners and speared by the Dagombas, while others were forced upon their knees by the soldiers of Mo and mercilessly decapitated. The door of the great harem, long ago reputed to contain a thousand inmates, including slaves, was burst open, and in those beautiful and luxuriant courts and chambers the whole of the women were butchered with a brutality quite as fiendish as any displayed by the Arabs themselves. The handsome favourites of Samory in their filmy garments of gold tissue and girdles of precious stones were dragged by their long tresses from their hiding places and literally hacked to pieces, their magnificent and costly jewels being torn from them and regarded as legitimate loot. Women's death-screams filled the great courts and corridors; their life-blood stained the pavements of polished jasper and bespattered the conquerors. The Dagombas, finding themselves inside this extensive abode of luxury, where beautiful fountains shot high into the morning sunlight, sweet-smelling flowers bloomed everywhere and sensuous odours from perfuming-pans hung heavily in the air, seemed suddenly transformed into a demoniac horde bent upon the most ruthless devastation. They remembered that times without number had the Sofas of Samory burnt their villages and towns, and carried hundreds of their tribesmen away as slaves; they were now seeking revenge for past wrongs.

As, nauseated by the sight of blood, I witnessed these awful atrocities, I reflected that the curse of Zomara, uttered solemnly by Omar when Samory had sold us to the slave-dealers, had at last fallen upon the Arab chieftain.

Omar had prophesied the downfall of Samory, and his utterance was now fulfilled.

Screams, piercing and heart-rending, sounded everywhere, mingled with the fierce war-shouts of our savage allies, as, time after time, some unfortunate woman in gorgeous garb and ablaze with valuable gems was discovered, dragged unceremoniously from her hiding-place to the great court wherein I stood, her many necklets ruthlessly torn from her white throat and a keen sword drawn across it as a butcher would calmly despatch a lamb. Then, when life had ebbed, her body would be cast into the great basin of the fountain, where hundreds of others had already been pitched.

In other parts of the Kasbah a similar massacre was proceeding, none of those found therein being allowed to escape; while an active search was everywhere in progress for Samory himself.

From where I stood I witnessed the breaking up of the Arab ruler's throne, and the tearing down of the great canopy of amaranth silk under which Samory had reclined when, with Omar, I had been brought before him. The crescent of solid gold that had surmounted it was handed to Kona, who broke it in half beneath his heel as sign of the completeness of his victory. Then, when the destruction of the seat of the brutal autocrat was complete, the debris with the torn silk, and the long strips of crimson cloth, whereon good counsels from the Koran were embroidered in Kufic characters of gold, that had formed a kind of frieze to the chamber, were carried out into the court by fifty willing hands, heaped up and there burnt.

While watching the flames leaping up consuming the wrecked remains of the royal seat of the powerful Arab ruler, a woman's scream, louder than the rest, caused me to look suddenly round at the latest victim of the Dagombas' thirst for vengeance, and I beheld in the clutches of half-a-dozen savages, a young woman, dragged as the others had been by her fair, unbound hair towards the spot where each had, in turn, been murdered. She was dressed in a rich, beautiful robe of bright yellow silk, embroidered with pale pink flowers, but her garments were bedraggled with water and blood, and her bleeding wrists and fingers showed with what heartless brutality her jewels had been torn from her by her pitiless captors. She struggled frantically to free herself, but without avail, and one of the savages, noticing a magnificent diamond bangle upon her ankle, bent, and tried to force it off.

Just at that moment, in endeavouring to twist herself free from their clutches, her fair face became turned towards me and her deep blue, terrified eyes for an instant met mine.

Next second I uttered a cry of recognition. Yes, there was no mistake about that flawless complexion, those handsome features or those wondrous eyes, the mysterious depths of which had enthralled me, as they had done Omar.

It was Liola!

With a bound I sprang forward, tearing at the knot of savages and shouting to them to release her. At first they only grinned hideously, no doubt thinking that I desired her as a slave, and as they had decided that all should die without exception, in order that their conquest should be rendered the more complete, they were in no way disposed to obey my command. At last I succeeded in arresting their progress, when the man who had attempted to wrench from her ankle the diamond ornament shook his long, keen knife threateningly at me, while the others yelled all kinds of imprecations. Not liking his fierce attitude, and knowing that in the heat of victory they were capable of turning upon friends who attempted to thwart them, I drew back, and as I did so he flung himself upon one knee and raised his knife over Liola's foot.

Instantly I saw his intention. He meant to hack off her foot in order to secure the bangle, a horrible proceeding that had been carried out more than once before my eyes within the past hour. There was, I knew, but one way to save her, therefore without hesitating I drew my revolver and fired at him point blank.

The ball pierced his breast. With an agonized cry he clutched for a moment wildly at the air, then fell back dead.

My action, as I fully expected it would, aroused the intense ire of his companions and all released Liola, now insensible, and sprang at me, their ready knives flashing in the sunlight. I was compelled to fly, and had it not been for Kona, who, standing some distance off watching the reduction of Samory's throne to ashes, took in the situation at a glance, sped in their direction, and ordered his men to stop and tell him the cause, I should undoubtedly have lost my life. As their head-man his word was law. Then, glancing at the inanimate form of Liola, who, having fainted, had been left lying on the blood-stained pavement, he recognized her as Goliba's daughter, and in a dozen words told his men that she was the betrothed of the young Naba of Mo, and that I, his friend, had saved her.

The savages, aghast at this statement, and recognizing how near they had been to murdering the beloved of the Naba Omar, rushed towards me penitent, urging that they might be forgiven, and declaring that their conduct, under the circumstances, was excusable. They had, they said, no idea that they would find in the harem of their enemy Samory the betrothed of Mo's ruler, and I also was compelled to admit myself quite as astounded as themselves. Therefore in brief words explanations and forgiveness were exchanged and I rushed across, and with the ready help of Kona and his men endeavoured to restore her to consciousness.

The dread of her horrible fate had caused her to faint, and it was a long time ere we could bring her back to the knowledge of her surroundings. Tenderly the Dagombas, who a few minutes before would have brutally murdered her, carried her into one of the small luxuriantly-furnished chambers of the harem, and at my request left me alone with her. Kona, though fierce as a wild beast in war, was tender-hearted as a child where undefended women were concerned, and would have remained, but as commander of the forces now engaged in sacking the palace many onerous duties devolved upon him. Therefore I was left alone with her.

Her eyes closed, her fair hair disarranged, her clothing torn and blood-stained, she lay upon a soft divan, pale and motionless as one dead. I chafed her tiny hands, and released her rich robe at the throat to give her air, wondering by what strange chain of circumstances she had come to be an inmate of the private apartments of our enemy Samory. At last, however, her breast heaved and fell slowly once or twice, and presently she opened her beautiful eyes, gazing up at me with a puzzled, half-frightened expression.

"Liola," I exclaimed softly, in the language of Mo. "Thou art with friends, have no further fear. The soldiers of thy lover Omar have wreaked a vengeance complete and terrible upon thy captor Samory."

"But the savages!" she gasped. "They will kill me as they massacred all the women."

"No, no, they will not," I assured her, placing my arm tenderly beneath her handsome head. "The savages are our Dagomba allies who, not knowing that thou wert a native of Mo, would have butchered thee like the rest."

"And thou didst save me?" she cried. "Yes, I remember, thou didst shoot dead the brute who would have cut off my foot to secure my diamond anklet. I owe my life to thee."

"Ah! do not speak of that," I cried. "Calm thyself and rest assured of thy safety, for thou shalt return with us to the land of thy fathers. Thou shalt, ere a moon has run its course, pillow thine head upon the shoulder of the man thou lovest, Omar, Naba of Mo."

She blushed deeply at my words, and her small white hand still smeared with blood, gripped my wrist. Her heart seemed too full for words, and in this manner she silently thanked me for rescuing her from the awful fate to which she had so nearly been hurried.

Soon she recovered from the shock sufficiently to sit up and chat. Together we listened to the roar of the excited multitude outside, and from the lattice window could see columns of dense black smoke rising from the city, where the fighting-men of Mo, in accordance with their instructions from Omar, having sacked the place, were now setting it on fire.

In answer to my eager questions as to her adventures after her seizure by the soldiers of the Great White Queen, she said:

"Yes. It is true they captured me, together with my girl slave, Wyona, and hurried me towards the palace. Wyona fought and bit like a tigress, and one of the men becoming infuriated, killed her. Just at that moment the attack was made upon us by the populace, and they, witnessing his action, tore him limb from limb. Then, in the fierce conflict that followed, I escaped from their clutches in the same manner as Omar and thyself. Knowing of the attack to be made upon the palace I fled for safety in the opposite direction, and remained in hiding throughout the night in the house of one of my kinswomen away towards the city-gate. At last the report spread that the people had taken the palace by assault, the Naya had been deposed, and Omar enthroned Naba in her stead. Then, feeling that safety was assured, I ventured forth, but ere I had gone far I met a body of strange fighting men. They were Arabs, and proved to be men from this stronghold of our enemy Samory. After a strenuous attempt to cross the city they had been repulsed by the people, leaving many dead, and in their retreat towards the city-gate they seized me and bore me away in triumph here."

"How long hast thou been in Koussan?"

"Twenty days ago we arrived, after fighting our way back and losing half our force in skirmishes with the hostile savages of the forest. I was brought here to Samory's harem as slave, attired in the garments I now wear, loaded with jewels torn from the body of one of his favourites, who, incurring his displeasure, had been promptly strangled by the chief of the negro eunuchs, and placed in an apartment with three other slaves to do my bidding, there to await such time as it should please my Arab captor to inspect me. I was contemplating death," she added, dropping her deep blue eyes. "If your attack upon the Kasbah had not been delivered I should most assuredly have killed myself to-day ere the going down of the sun."

"It was fortunate that I recognized thee, or thou wouldst have been hacked to pieces by the keen blades of our savage allies," I said.

"Take me hence," she urged panting. "I cannot bear to hear the shout of the victor and the despairing cry of the vanquished. It is horrible. Throughout the night we, in the women's quarters, have dreaded the fate awaiting us if the invaders, whom we thought were savages of the forest, should gain the mastery and enter the palace. From the high windows yonder we witnessed the fight, knowing that our lives depended upon its issue, and judge our dismay and despair when, soon after dawn, we saw the Arabs overwhelmed and the Kasbah fall into the hands of their conquerors. Many of my wretched companions killed themselves with their poignards rather than fall into the hands of the blacks, while the majority hid themselves only to be afterwards discovered and butchered. Ah, it is all terrible, terrible!"

"True," I answered. "Yet it is only revenge for the depredations and heartless atrocities committed by these people upon the dwellers in thy border lands. Even at this moment Samory hath a great expedition on the northern confines of Mo, making a vigorous attempt to invade thy country, so that he shall reign upon the Emerald Throne in the place of thy lover Omar."

"An expedition to invade Mo?" she cried surprised. "Hath Samory done this; is it his intention to cause Omar's overthrow?"

"Most assuredly it is," I answered. "The reason of our presence here in such force was to assault Koussan in the absence of its picked troops, twenty thousand of whom were we ascertained on their way northward, with the intention of forcing a passage through Aribanda and the Hombori Mountains into Mo. Niaro hath led our fighting-men to repel their attack, and he is accompanied by Omar and thy father, while we are here, under Kona's leadership, to punish Samory for his intrepidity."

Then she asked how Omar fared, and I explained how it had been believed that she had died, and that all were mourning for her.

"My slave Wyona must have been mistaken for me," she answered. "And naturally, as I had given her one of my left-off robes only the day before."

"Omar believeth thee dead. Thy presence in Mo will indeed bring happiness to his eyes, and gaiety to his heart," I exclaimed happily.

"Doth he still mourn for me?" she inquired artlessly. I knew she wanted to ask me many questions regarding her lover, but her modesty forbade it.

"Since the fatal night when thou wert lost joy hath never caused a smile to cross his countenance. Sleeping and waking he thinketh only of thee, revering thy memory, reflecting upon the happy moments spent at thy side, as one fondly remembers a pleasant dream or adventures in some fair paradise, yet ever sad in the knowledge that those blissful days can never return. His is an empty honour, a kingship devoid of all pleasure because thou art no longer his."

Her lips trembled slightly, and I thought her brilliant eyes became brighter for a moment because of an unshed tear.

"I am still his," she said slowly, with emphasis. "I am ready, nay anxious, to return to him. Thou hast saved me from death and from dishonour; truly thou art a worthy friend of Omar's, for by thy valiant deed alone thou restorest unto him the woman he loveth."

I urged her to utter no word of thanks, and pointing to the sky, rendered every moment more dark by the increasing volumes of smoke ascending from the city, said:

"See! Our men are busy preparing for the destruction of this palace that through many centuries hath been a centre of Mohammedan influence and oppression. Time doth not admit of thanks, for we both have much to do ere we start forth on our return to Mo, and——"

My words were interrupted by a terrific explosion in such close proximity to us that it caused us to jump, and was followed by a deafening crash of falling masonry. From the lattice we saw the high handsome minaret of the palace topple and fall amid a dense smoke and shower of stones. Our men had undermined it and blown it up.

Liola shuddered, glancing at me in alarm.

"Fear not," I said. "Ere we leave, the city of Koussan must be devastated and burned. Samory hath never given quarter, or shown mercy to his weaker neighbours, and we will show none. Besides, he held thee captive as he hath already held thy lover Omar and myself. He sold us to slavers that we might be sacrificed in Kumassi, therefore the curse of thy Crocodile-god Zomara placed upon him hath at last fallen. The flood-gates of vengeance now opened the hand of man cannot close."

The great court of the harem, deserted by the troops, had become filled with volumes of dense smoke, showing that fire had broken out somewhere within the palace, and ever and anon explosions of a more or less violent character told us that the hands of the destroyers were actually at work. The sack of the Kasbah was indeed complete.

The loot, of which there was an enormous quantity of considerable value, was being removed to a place of safety by a large body of men told off for the purpose. Although Samory was a fugitive, yet the treasures found within his private apartments were of no mean order, and ere noon had passed preparations were being made for its conveyance to Mo, the greater part of the city being already in flames. The fire roared and crackled, choking smoke-clouds obscured the sun, and the heat wafted up was stifling. All opposition to us had long ago ceased, but whenever an Arab was found secreted or a fugitive, he was shot down without mercy. To linger longer in the harem might, I judged, be dangerous on account of the place having been fired, therefore we went together out into the court, and stepping over the mutilated bodies of its beautiful prisoners, entered the chamber where Samory had held his court. Empty, dismantled and wrecked, its appearance showed plainly how the mighty monarch had fallen. Even the great bejewelled manuscript of the Koran, the Arab book of Everlasting Will, that had reposed upon its golden stand at the end of the fine, high-roofed chamber, had been torn up, for its leaves lay scattered about the pavement and after the jewels had been hastily dug from their settings, the covers of green velvet had been cast aside as worthless. Every seat or divan had been either broken or slashed by swords, every vessel or mirror smashed, every ornament damaged beyond repair.

Thinking it best to leave her, a woman, in care of a guard of our armed men, while I went forward, I made the suggestion, but she would not hear of it.

"No," she answered smiling. "I will remain ever at thy side, for beside thee I fear not. Thou art my rescuer, and my life is thine."

"But some of the sights we may witness are not such as a woman's eyes should behold," I answered.

"It mattereth not. That thou wilt allow me to accompany thee, is all I ask."

"Very well," I replied, laughing. "Thou art welcome. Come."

By my side she hurried through the chamber wherein had stood the throne, and thence through several handsome courts, wandering at last into another smaller chamber at the side of which I noticed an alcove with a huge Arab bed surrounded by quaint lattices, so dark that my gaze could not penetrate to its recesses.

As we passed, the movement of some object in the deep shadow beside the bed attracted my attention. Advancing quickly I detected the figure of a man, and, fearing a sudden dash by one of our lurking foes, I again drew my sword.

Liola, seeing this, gave vent to a little scream of alarm and placed her hand upon my arm in fear, but next second the fugitive, anticipating my intention to attack him, sprang suddenly forward into the light.

The bearded face, the fierce, flashing eyes, the thick lips and bushy brows were all familiar to me. Although he wore the white cotton garb of the meanest slave, I recognised him in an instant.

It was the great Arab chieftain Samory!



CHAPTER XXXIV.

LIOLA'S DISCOVERY.

WITH a sudden bound I left Liola's side and sprang upon the leader of our enemies, clutching him fiercely by the throat and shouting for assistance. No one was, however, near, and for a few moments we struggled desperately. He was unarmed, and I, having unfortunately dropped my sword in the encounter, our conflict resolved itself into a fierce wrestle for the possession of the weapon which must give victory to the one into whose hands it fell. Once Samory, wiry and muscular like all Arabs, notwithstanding his age, stooped swiftly in an endeavour to snatch up the blade, but seeing his intention, my fingers tightened their grip upon his throat, and he was compelled to spring up again without obtaining possession of the weapon. For several minutes our struggle was desperate, for he had managed to pinion my arms, and I knew that ere long I must be powerless, his strength being far superior to my own.

Liola screamed for help, but no one seemed within call, when suddenly the thought seemed to suggest itself to her to snatch up my weapon and hold it.

I turned to take it from her, but by this action my grip upon my Arab foe became released, and with a desperate spring he forced himself from my grasp, bounding away, leaving a portion of his white jibbeh in my hand. But, determined that he should not escape, I dashed after him headlong across the chamber, and out by the opposite door. In the court beyond a knot of our soldiers were standing discussing the events of the day, and I shouted to them; but the sight of me chasing a single fugitive slave did not appeal to them, and they disregarded my order to arrest his progress. Nevertheless I kept on, feeling assured that sooner or later I must run him to earth, but never thinking of the intricacies with which all such palaces abound, intricacies which must be well-known to the Mohammedan ruler.

Suddenly, after endeavouring to elude me by ingenious devices innumerable, and always finding himself frustrated, he entered a chamber leading from the Court of the Eunuchs, and had gained on me sufficiently to disappear ere I reached the entrance. I rushed through after him, believing that he had crossed the deserted court beyond, but was surprised to find that I had utterly lost him. I halted to listen, but could hear no footsteps, and after a careful examination of all the outlets, presently returned in chagrin to the chamber into which he had suddenly dashed, before escaping.

Standing in its centre I looked wonderingly around. Then, for the first time, I discovered that our soldiers, obeying their instructions, had been pouring inflammable liquids everywhere throughout the Kasbah, and a great burst of blood-red flame in the outer court told me that the place had been ignited. At that moment, Liola, with white scared face, believing that she had lost me, entered the chamber, but I recognized our imminent peril, surrounded as we were by a belt of fire.

"Fly!" I cried, frantically. "Fly! quick, back across yonder court to save thy life! In a few moments I will join thee. I must examine this chamber ere I depart."

"I will not go without thee," she answered with calm decision.

"Why riskest thou thy life?" I cried in excitement. "Fly, or in a moment it may be too late, we may both be overwhelmed or suffocated."

But she stirred not. She stood by me in silence, gazing in fear at the red roaring flames that, raging outside, now cut off our retreat by either door. The cause of my hesitation to rush away at first sight of the flames, was the suspicion that somewhere in that chamber was a secret exit. The sudden manner in which the Arab chieftain had eluded me could only have been accomplished by such means. The chamber, well furnished and supported by three great twisted columns of milk-white marble, had its floor covered with costly rugs and its walls hung with dark red hangings, bearing strange devices and inscriptions in long thin Arabic characters. Few rooms in the Kasbah were decorated in this manner, and it had instantly occurred to me that, concealed somewhere, was one of those secret ways which, whether in the Oriental palace, or the mediaeval European castle, are so suggestive of treachery and intrigue.

Although one horse-shoe arch of the place led into the Court of the Eunuchs, the other, I noticed, was in direct communication with Samory's private apartments. With consummate skill he had led me here by such a circuitous route that I had not at first noticed that it joined a kind of ante-room to his pavilion.

But the roaring flames that every moment leaped nearer, crackling furiously and fanning us with their scorching breath, allowed me no time for further reflection. Escape was now entirely cut off; only by discovering the secret exit could we save ourselves. In breathless haste I rushed around the walls, tapping them with my sword; but such action proved useless, as I could hear nothing above the roaring and crackling on either side. With my hands I tried to discover where the door was concealed, rushing from side to side in frantic despair, but the exit, wherever it existed, was too cunningly hidden.

So dense had the smoke become that we could not see across the chamber; tongues of fire had ignited the heavy silken hangings, and the whole interior was alight from end to end.

"We are lost—lost!" shrieked Liola in despair "We have fallen victims to our own terrible vengeance upon our enemies."

Within myself I was compelled to admit this, for it seemed as though Samory had led us into a veritable death-trap that the soldiers of Mo had themselves prepared. Suddenly, as a last chance, I remembered I had not examined the three great marble columns, each of such circumference that a man could not embrace them in his arms. I dashed forward, and in the blinding smoke, that caused my eyes to water and held my chest contracted, I tried to investigate whether they were what they appeared to be, solid and substantial supports. The first was undoubtedly fashioned out of a single block of stone, the lower portion polished by the thousands of people who during many centuries had brushed past it. The second was exactly similar, and the third also. But the latter seemed more chipped and worn than the others, and just as I was about to abandon all hope I made a sudden discovery that thrilled me with joy. As I grasped it a portion of it fell back, disclosing that the column was hollow.

The hole was just sufficient to admit the passage of one's body, and without an instant's hesitation I drew Liola forward, and urged her to get inside. The flames were now lapping about us, and another moment's delay would mean certain death. Therefore she dashed in, and as she did so sank quickly out of sight, while the portion of the marble column closed again with a snap.

The rapidity with which she disappeared astounded me, the more so, when, after the lapse of about a minute the platform whereon she had stepped rose again, and with a click returned to its place. Only then was I enabled to re-open the cavity. Apparently it worked automatically, and being balanced in some way, as soon as Liola had stepped off it, had risen again. Instantly I stepped upon it, and with hands close to my sides, sank so swiftly into the darkness that the wind whistled through my garments and roared in my ears. The descent was, I judged, about two hundred feet, but in the pitch darkness I could not discern the character of the shaft. Of a sudden with a jerk it stopped, and finding myself in a strange dimly-lit chamber bricked like a vault, with Liola standing awaiting me, I stepped off, and as I did so the platform shot up again into its place.

"We have, at all events, escaped being burned alive," my fair companion exclaimed when she recovered breath. "But this place is weird and dismal enough."

"True," I answered. "There must, however, be some exit, or Samory would not have entered it. We must explore and discover it."

Glancing around the mysterious vault I saw burning in a niche, with a supply of oil sufficient to last several weeks, a single lamp that had apparently always been kept alight. Taking it up I led the way through the long narrow chamber. The walls, blackened by damp, were covered with great grey fungi, while lizards and other reptiles scuttled from our path into the darkness. At the further end, the vault narrowed into a passage so low that we were compelled to stoop when entering it. In this burrow, the ramifications of which were extraordinary, Liola's filmy garments came to sad grief, for catching upon the projecting portions of rock, they were rent from time to time, while the loss of one of her little green slippers necessitated some delay in recovering it. Yet groping along the narrow uneven way in search of some exit, we at length came into a larger chamber, bricked like the others, and as we entered it were startled by a sudden unearthly roar.

We both drew back, and Liola, in fear, clutched my arm.

"Listen!" she gasped. "What was that?"

Again the noise was repeated, causing the low-roofed chamber to echo, and as I peered forward into the darkness, my gaze was transfixed by a pair of gleaming fiery eyes straight before us.

Similar noises I had heard in the forest on many occasions, and the startling truth at once flashed across my mind. Confronting us was a lion!

I stood in hesitation, not knowing how to act, while Liola clung to me, herself detecting the gleaming eyes and being fully aware of our peril. Yet scarcely a moment passed ere there was a loud rushing sound in the darkness, and the animal, with a low growl, flew through the air in our direction. We had no time to elude him, but fortunately he seemed to have misjudged his distance, for he alighted about half-a-dozen paces short of us. So close was his head that the two gleaming orbs seemed to be rivetted to us. We felt his breath, and unable to draw back, we feared that each second must be our last.

Next moment I heard a clanking of chains, a sound that gave me instant courage.

"Hark!" I cried joyously. "At present we are safe, for the brute is chained!"

Such we ascertained a few minutes later was actually the case, and as I stood there, lamp in hand, my foot struck something. Glancing down I saw it was a human thigh-bone. The animal had already tasted the blood of man, and, straining at his chain, was furious to spring upon us. I then became puzzled to know the reason why this fierce king of the forest should be kept in captivity at this depth if not to guard some entrance or exit. For a few moments I reflected, and at length arrived at the conclusion that during our progress we had slowly ascended towards the earth's surface, and that through the lion's den was the exit of that subterranean way. Again, we had neither seen nor heard sign of the fugitive chieftain. By some means or other he must have succeeded in passing the ferocious brute, and if he had accomplished it, we surely could also.

With my words half drowned by the continuous roar of the fiery-eyed guardian of the secret burrow, I explained briefly to Liola the result of my reflections, and then set about to ascertain the length of the chain holding the animal. After several experiments, allowing it to spring forward at me half-a-dozen times and narrowly escaping its ponderous paws more than once, I ascertained that the chain was just short enough to allow a person to cross the chamber flattened against the opposite wall.

Holding the lamp still in my hand and urging Liola to brace her nerves and watch me closely, I essayed the attempt, creeping cautiously with my back against the roughly-hewn side of the underground lair, and drawing my garments about me to prevent them being hooked by the cruel claws that followed me within a yard during the whole distance. Before my eyes the big shaggy head wagged continuously, the great jaws with their terrible teeth opened, emitting terrific roars of rage and closed again with a dull ominous click, while the chain was strained until I feared it might be rent asunder.

Through several minutes mine was a most horrible experience, for I knew not whether the wall was even; if not, I must have fallen beneath the ferocious claws. However, I managed to successfully cross the brute's den, and shouting to Liola that the passage was perfectly safe, providing she kept her garments closely about her and did not remove her back from the wall, held up the light to her.

With reassuring words she commenced to follow my example, and when the brute saw me in safety and noticed her approach, he left me and sprang towards her. But again he fell short, almost strangled by the pressure upon the iron collar that held him. With an awful roar, his jaws snapping in rage, and his paws constantly clutching at her, he followed her closely just as he had followed me. I feared that she might suddenly faint from the terrible strain upon her nerves, but having witnessed my safe passage she preserved a calmness that was amazing. Twice as the animal, after crouching, leapt suddenly forward I feared the chain must give way, but beyond a low frightened scream escaping her, she preserved a cool demeanour, and a few moments later I was gratified to find her standing panting but unharmed at my side.

"There is an exit somewhere near," I exclaimed a moment later, while she rearranged her torn, blood-stained garments and smoothed her hair with her hands. "Come, let us search."

On proceeding we soon found ourselves in a small passage, drier than the former, and descending rather steeply for some distance, suddenly entered another spacious chamber hewn from the solid rock. Immediately we were inside some peculiarity of its walls attracted my gaze, and I noticed, in addition, that we were in a cul-de-sac.

There was, after all, no exit!

The rocky walls, however, rivetted the attention of both of us, for let into them at frequent intervals were large square plates of iron. These I examined carefully, quickly arriving at the conclusion that they had been placed there to close up hewn cavities. With this opinion, Liola, assisting me in my investigations, fully agreed. Each plate, looking curiously like the door of an oven, had apparently been fitted deeply into grooves sunk in the hard rock, for although I tried one after the other, seeking to remove them, they would not budge. By tapping upon them I ascertained that they were of great thickness, and I judged that each must weigh several hundredweight. They were not doors, for they had no hinges, yet beneath each one was a small semi-circular hole in the iron into which I could just thrust my little finger. These were certainly not key-holes, but rather, it seemed, intended to admit air.

In the course of our eager investigations we suddenly came upon a great pile of strongly-bound loads, each wrapped in untanned cow-hide and bound tightly with wire. From their battered appearance they had evidently rested upon the heads of carriers throughout a long march.

"I wonder what they contain?" Liola exclaimed, as we both looked down upon them.

"Let us see," I said. Handing her the lamp, I knelt upon one of the packages, and after considerable trouble succeeded in unbinding the wire. Then as I tore away its thick covering, we both uttered cries of amazement. The sight that met our gaze was bewildering.

From the package there rolled out into the dust a profusion of magnificent glittering jewels.

"Ah! What diamonds!" Liola cried, with admiration for the iridescent stones that was particularly feminine. Then, picking up a splendid bracelet and slipping it upon her wrist, she added, "Look! Isn't this marvellous? The gems are larger than I have ever before seen."

"Beautiful!" I cried gleefully, for by sheer good fortune we had discovered Samory's hidden treasure, and I reflected that our conquest would be rendered absolutely complete by its removal in triumph to Mo.

After a cursory examination of the first pack we together undid them one after another, eagerly investigating their glistening contents, and finding them to consist of a collection of the most wonderful and valuable precious stones it was possible to conceive. There were a few heavy gold ornaments of antique pattern, but in most of them jewels were set, and those only of the most antique and magnificent character. Every known gem was there represented by specimens larger, and of far purer water, than my eyes had ever before beheld. Upon her knees, Liola, with a cry of pleasure, plunged both hands into the glittering heap of jewels, drawing out one after another and holding them up to the glimmering light, her bright eyes full of admiration. The examination of nearly forty great packages took us a long time, but so fascinating proved our task that we were heedless of how the hours sped in our determination to ascertain the true extent of our discovery.

While still upon her knees I had opened almost the last package and spread it before her, when, with a sudden ejaculation she withdrew a magnificent necklet of emeralds of huge size in quaint ancient settings, and with a gay laugh held it up to me for a moment, then clasped it about her own white neck. In the centre hung a pendant consisting of a single emerald of enormous size and brilliant lustre, and as I regarded it in the half light, its shape struck me as distinctly curious. I snatched up the lamp, and bending, examined the quaintly-cut gem more minutely. Then, next instant, I cried excitedly:

"See! The shape of the pendant proves the origin of the necklet!"

With a quick movement she tore it off and looked. Then, in amazement, she gasped:

"It is a representation of Zomara, our god!"

We both scrutinized it closely. Yes, there was no mistake, the emerald had been fashioned into the form of a perfect crocodile, with open jaws, even the teeth being finely chiselled, a veritable marvel of the lapidary's art. While we were both looking at it puzzled, Liola's eyes suddenly became attracted by sight of something in the package I had just opened, and stooping swiftly, picked out of a mass of ornaments a magnificent diadem of some strange milk-coloured, opaque crystals of a character entirely strange to me. The stones were beautifully cut and polished, and although they glittered, even in the sickly rays of our lamp, they had no transparency.

"Behold!" she cried in a voice full of awe, her clear eyes wide open in astonishment. "See what we have discovered!"

I gazed at it, failing at first to notice what I afterwards recognised.

"It is a crown," I said laughing. "A crown fit to grace thy brow!"

"It is the great Rock Diadem of the Sanoms of Mo!" she answered. "See! It is surmounted by the vampire, our national emblem!"

Then, I saw that upon the crest of the diadem was a single great diamond wonderfully chiselled to represent a bat with outspread wings, the device upon the banners of the mystic realm.

"This," she continued, "is without doubt the historic crown of the first Naya. Though it hath never been seen for ages by the eyes of man, it was always popularly supposed to be preserved in the secret Treasure-house of the Sanoms, among the royal jewels. Many are the beliefs and superstitions regarding it. The stones are said to be the first pieces of rock chipped during the foundation of our City in the Clouds, which, as thou art aware, was her work a thousand years ago. Among the possessions of our royal house no relic hath been more venerated than this Rock Diadem of the Naya. How it came hither I know not. It is assuredly a mystery."

"No," I answered, endeavouring to subdue my excitement. "We have now elucidated the mystery. The Treasure-house of Mo hath been entered by thieves, and the most valuable of the royal treasures stolen. The matter hath been kept secret from the people, but by our discovery the identity of the robbers is established beyond doubt, and we have thus recovered the wealth of a nation that was believed to be irretrievably lost."

"But is all of this Omar's lost treasure?" she inquired, astounded at my statement, glancing at the huge heap of gold and jewels nearly as high as ourselves, and of such great value as to be utterly beyond computation.

"Without doubt," I answered, stooping and picking up several jewelled trinkets, girdles and other ornaments, each bearing the sacred reptile or the vampire crest of royalty. "The recovery of these will, at least repay thy nation for the expedition sent against their enemy. Retain possession of the Rock Diadem of Mo, for thou hast discovered it, and with thine own hands shalt thou deliver it into the possession of the ruler who loveth thee."

Then, carefully wrapping the ancient badge of regal dignity in a piece of hide and binding it securely with wire as the carriers' loads had been, I gave it back to her. In half an hour we had completed our examination of the wondrous accumulation of treasure, finding among it many quaint and extraordinary ornaments, some no doubt dating from the earlier days of the foundation of the mysterious isolated kingdom, and others manufactured during recent centuries. The gems were unique in size and character. Truly the thieves in the employ of the Arab chief had taken care to secure the most valuable portion of the royal jewels and leave behind only those of least worth.

With the secret of their concealment in our possession we were both full of eagerness to get back to the light of day and take steps for their removal, yet I confess that the mystery of what was contained behind those strange plates of iron puzzled me.

Leaving Liola to continue her inspection of our discovered treasures, I crossed to the wall and examined one of the plates again, trying with both hands to force it out, but being compelled to relinquish the attempt as hopeless. I was about to give up all idea of discovering how they might be opened, when Liola suddenly uttered an exclamation, and in turning to glance at her, the flame of the lamp I held came into contact with the wall close to the plate that had defied my exertions to remove it.

In an instant a bright flash ran around the chamber, lighting it up as bright as day; a puff of grey smoke was belched in our faces, and a report like thunder deafened us.

An explosion had occurred, great pieces of rock and other debris being flung in all directions.

Its terrific force hurled me heavily against the wall, while Liola was flung face downward upon the pile of jewels. Fortunately, neither of us sustained any injury beyond a few bruises, but when I had assisted her to rise, and gazed around, I was amazed to discover that a strange thing had occurred. The whole of the iron plates had been torn from their sockets, and a dark cavity behind each disclosed.

The small sealed cells had been wrenched open simultaneously, as if by a miracle.

But upon careful examination there was, I found, nothing miraculous in the manner in which they had thus been forced. The suffocating smoke that filled the place was of itself sufficient evidence of the agent to which the explosion had been due, and when I looked at the first cavity I saw that right around the chamber, from plate to plate, there had been laid a train of gunpowder, communicating with a charge of powder placed behind each of the semi-circular holes that had so puzzled me. Apparently it had been deemed by Samory wiser to seal the cells entirely rather than secure them by locks, and the train of powder had been placed in position in the event of any reverse of fortune requiring him to secure his treasure quickly before flight. A single spark, as I had accidentally proved, was sufficient to open every cell simultaneously.

Fortunately our lamp was not blown out by the concussion, therefore as soon as the smoke cleared, we together made another tour of inspection around the cavities, finding each of them crammed to overflowing with treasure of every description. Five of the cells, apparently freshly sealed, contained a portion of the stolen jewels of Mo, but all the remainder were evidently the spoils of war, much of it of enormous value. It amused me, too, to discover in one of the cavities, among a great collection of costly bejewelled ornaments, such European articles as a pair of common scissors in a pasteboard case, several penknives of the commonest quality, an India-rubber squeaking doll, a child's toy train in tin, and a mechanical mouse. All were, no doubt, considered as treasures by the Arab potentate, yet I reflected that nearly every article in the whole of that miscellaneous collection had been acquired by the most ruthless and merciless bloodshed.

When at last we became convinced of the necessity for finding some exit, we left the chamber by the way we had entered. The discovery of the wonderful treasure of the Sanoms made it plain to me that there must be an exit somewhere, for the packs were far too ponderous to have been lowered from the Kasbah by the way we had entered. On reflection I saw that the lion was evidently kept there to guard the entrance to the store of treasure, therefore it was not surprising that there was no outlet in that direction.

No, we should be compelled to repass the brute. This fact I explained to Liola, but it in no way disconcerted her, for she crept past the snapping jaws of the furious beast calmly, holding the treasured Rock Diadem close beside her. Presently, on making a diligent search, we discovered a long dark tunnel running at right angles to the path we had traversed, and following this ascended to where a faint but welcome glimmer of light showed. Soon we were in a small natural cavern, and a few moments later struggled upward to the light of day, amazed to find ourselves on the bank of a beautiful river. At our feet the clear cool water ran by, placid and peaceful, but away across the grass-plain about half a mile distant was the once-powerful city of Koussan, enveloped in black smoke that ascended to the clear blue heavens, mingled with great flames, the fierce roar of which reached our ears where we stood.

The vengeance of Mo had indeed overtaken her Arab enemy, and completely crushed him.



CHAPTER XXXV.

INTO THE MIST.

OUR troops had, we found, withdrawn from the burning city and were encamped about a mile away, taking a well-earned rest, and watching with satisfaction the destruction of the once powerful capital of the "Pirate of the Niger." The presence of Liola, together with the announcement of the discovery of the treasure of the Sanoms, that we made to Kona secretly, caused him the wildest delight. His barbaric instinct overcame him, and seizing his spear he executed a kind of war-dance around us, bestowing upon us the most adulatory phrases of the Dagomba vocabulary. Afterwards he addressed the assembled soldiers, omitting at my desire all mention of the jewels of Mo, and three days later, having secured all the gems and golden ornaments, together with Samory's hidden wealth, we set forth on our triumphant return to the mysterious far-off land.

Rapidly and pleasantly we accomplished the long journey, re-crossing the treacherous Way of the Thousand Steps without a single mishap, and ascended to the lofty plateau of Omar's kingdom until, high up in the grey morning mist, we saw looming before us with almost spectral indistinctness the gigantic battlements and domes of the City in the Clouds. On ascending the rope steps at the Gate of Mo a few days previously we had ascertained that the expedition to the Hombori Mountains had been entirely successful, for the enemy had been met in the pass by the defenders and mercilessly overwhelmed and slaughtered. Against the lightweight Maxim guns, weighing only about twenty-five pounds each and firing 600 to 700 shots per minute with an effective range of two miles, the old-fashioned rifles and field-pieces of the force under the traitor Kouaga had been powerless, hence the whole expedition had been utterly routed, followed up after their flight and massacred almost to a man, Kouaga himself being shot dead by Niaro while strenuously endeavouring to rally his men for a final onslaught. Omar, at the head of his victorious army, had re-entered the city only the day before our arrival, therefore on our return we found ourselves in the midst of feasting and merry-making of a most enthusiastic character.

Little wonder was it that when the news of the complete victory we had secured spread through the city the joy of the people knew no bounds, for especially welcome was the information that, in addition to utterly destroying Samory's city we had secured the whole of his treasure. Kona, Liola and myself held back the fact that we had also recovered the stolen jewels, and we also took elaborate precautions that the knowledge of Liola's safety should not be conveyed prematurely to Omar.

During the formal welcome that the young Naba, resplendent in his magnificent bejewelled robes of state and surrounded by his sages and officers, accorded us at the great palace-gate, now fully restored, Liola held back, hiding herself. Not until evening, when I was sitting with Omar in his luxurious private pavilion after eating a sumptuous meal served on the royal dishes of chased gold, I told him confidentially of the recovery of the lost jewels.

"Impossible, Scars!" he cried in English, starting suddenly to his feet. "Where did you find them? How?"

Brief words were required to explain how I had discovered them hidden in Samory's secret cavern beyond the lion's lair.

"I understood that only the wealth of the old Arab's Kasbah was hidden there," he exclaimed quickly. "This news is indeed as astounding as it is welcome."

"Your subjects are unaware that your treasure has ever been removed from Mo, therefore I have not enlightened them," I answered. "Come with me and see if you recognize any of the jewels."

Eagerly he followed me into a small adjoining apartment where the loot had been deposited, and as we opened pack after pack he uttered ejaculations of surprise and complete gratification, recognizing in the recovered gems the wonderful incomparable heirlooms of his royal house.

He turned to thank me when we had finished, and as he did so I placed my hand firmly on his arm, saying in a serious voice:

"In addition to these, Omar, I have also recovered a jewel of even far greater worth than all this magnificent collection; one that will shine as the brightest and most beautiful gem in the diadem of Mo."

A genuine look of bewilderment crossed his pale refined features for an instant, as he answered:

"I really don't understand, Scars. No jewel can be of greater intrinsic value than the Treasure of the Sanoms. What is it?"

For answer, Liola, a veritable vision of classic beauty in her loose white robe, gold-embroidered at the hem, and broad girdle of fiery rubies, stepped from behind the heavy curtain of blue silk where she had been concealed, and stood before him.

Rigid in speechless amazement he stood for a moment, then recognizing that his lost love was actually present, alive and well, he bounded towards her, and with a loud cry of joy embraced her, brushing back her soft hair and covering her white open brow with passionate kisses.

It was indeed a joyous reunion, but as I turned intending to withdraw discreetly and leave them alone together to continue their exchange of confidences, my friend promptly called me back, saying:

"Stay, Scars, old fellow! Let me hear from your own lips the solution of this mystery of the return of the dead to life. Truly you have recovered a jewel worth to me a hundred times all the treasures of Mo."

Crossing again towards him I described briefly the revolting circumstances in which I had discovered her, a harem slave of our Arab enemy; how we had both narrowly escaped being burned to death, our subsequent adventures in the damp subterranean burrow, and the finding of the secreted treasure.

"Liola herself also made one discovery," I said in conclusion, laughing and turning towards her.

Gently disengaging herself from her lover's fond arms she went behind the curtain where she had hidden, and on coming forth again held in her slim white hands a round package still securely wrapped in untanned hide, which she handed to Omar.

"The Rock Diadem of the Naya!" he cried in joy, when his trembling, eager hands had opened it. "The most valued of all our possessions!" Then, turning towards Liola, he tenderly placed upon her head the historic mark of royalty, saying in his own tongue:

"Now that the days of our sorrow have passed like the shadow of a cloud upon a sunlit sea, we will be wed as soon as it is meet for us so to do, and upon thy brow thus shalt rest the diadem of the first Naya, the upright queen to whom Mo oweth her magnificence, her power, and her present prosperity. Thou shalt sit beside me upon the Emerald Throne; thou shalt be known as the Naya Liola."

Again he embraced her with ineffable tenderness, and with her handsome head pillowed heavily upon his shoulder her breast heaved, and from her deep blue fathomless eyes there fell tears of joy.

At last, having received the warmest thanks from my old companion through many misfortunes and from the woman he loved, I turned and sought the sage Goliba, to whom I told the good news of his daughter's safety and betrothal to Omar.

Three days later the marriage took place amid the most gorgeous pomp and the wildest popular rejoicings, the strange ceremony being performed by the high-priest of the Temple of Zomara beneath the golden figure of the Crocodile-god that hung suspended above the Emerald Throne. Feasts and merry-making continued throughout a whole moon, and the mystic city, decorated with flags and flowers, was agog by day and brilliantly illuminated by night. Never in the long history of the ancient kingdom had such costly banquets been served; never had the royal entertainments been on such lavish scale; never had the sounds of revelry contained such a true genuine ring, for never before had the people been so happy and content. Though on the day of the marriage Liola was solemnly crowned with the wonderful Rock Diadem of Mo, I, as keeper of the royal treasure, allowed no word to go forth regarding the theft and recovery of the Sanom jewels, which had already been deposited in their original hiding-place beneath the lake. Samory's treasure was, however, given to Liola by Omar, and she ordered half of it to be distributed to the poor, an act of generosity that won for her intense popularity.

Her action was, she told me in confidence, a thank-offering to Zomara for her timely rescue from a terrible fate.



CONCLUSION.

SAMORY, the truculent old Arab, escaped. By some means he eluded us in the dark intricacies of that subterranean way, and groping along in a similar manner to ourselves, he evidently fled to the forest, for he has since collected the scattered remnant of his nomadic bands, and although he has never since troubled us, yet he now and then commits depredations on the borders of the English and French spheres of influence. Ere long he will overstep the bounds, and one Power or another will certainly send a punitive expedition to crush and humiliate him, as they have crushed the arrogant Prempeh of Ashanti.

During many months the means by which the theft of the Treasure of the Sanoms had been effected remained an inscrutable mystery, and it was only on the day previous to my departure from the mysterious land for England, or rather more than six months ago, that the problem was solved and in a manner entirely unexpected.

In preparation for the annual feast in honour of the Crocodile-god I had occasion to go secretly and alone to the submerged Treasure-house, in order to obtain certain jewels which tradition decreed should be worn on that day by the reigning sovereign. I had emptied the lake, unsealed the cover of the well-like aperture, locked the mechanism fatal to intruders, descended and obtained what I sought, when on ascending I was dismayed to find water pouring in upon me in increasing volumes. Upwards I climbed, struggling desperately against the inrushing flood thundering down upon me, and was aghast to find, when I gained the surface, that the sluice-gates that held back the waters feeding the lake had been opened, and that it was rapidly refilling. Instantly it occurred to me to replace the cover, and in breathless haste I succeeded in screwing it down and dashing for my life back to the bank, the water being up to my arm-pits ere I reached it.

When next second I glanced upward to the mound where the mechanism was concealed, I saw standing thereon the wild-looking figure of a woman with her soiled, tattered garments fluttering in the wind.

Her long scraggy arms were raised high above her head, and she was crying aloud to me.

Without a moment's hesitation I dashed forward up the hill to secure the person who had apparently discovered the secret of the Treasure-house, but on approaching her closely I suddenly halted in astonishment.

The wretched, fiendish-looking virago, upon whose face were the most hideous distortions of insanity I had ever witnessed, was none other than the once-powerful tyrannical autocrat, the Great White Queen!

Across her narrow, withered brow, brown almost as a toad's back, a single wisp of thin grey hair strayed; in her eyes was the unmistakeable light of madness, while the nails of her outstretched fingers were as sharp and long as the talons of some beast of prey. So weird and repulsive-looking was she that I stood before her dumbfounded.

"Ah!" she shrieked to me exultantly, in a harsh, rasping voice, "I have killed them—drowned them all, the accursed spies and renegades! The traitor Kouaga captured me as I fled for life from the city-gate, and promising me release and safe escort from this land of evil spirits in return for the secret of the Treasure-house, I recklessly gave it to him, on condition that his armed men should assist me to recover my lost position as Queen of Mo. I promised to forget the past and take him back into my favour. But, securing my jewels, he conveyed them to his Arab master at Koussan, and left me alone, deposed and ruined. May Zomara crush and torture him, the traitor!" Then, turning with wild gesture towards the lake, now a great sheet of placid water, her hands clutched convulsively, her eyes starting as if she saw, in her disordered imagination, a host of her enemies, she cried: "This, at last, is the hour of my revenge! I have drawn the lever, and while they were below with you they were drowned like rats in a hole!" And she gave vent to a short, dry laugh, exclaiming: "They refused to assist me to tear the usurper from the Emerald Throne, so I have killed them. My work is finished! I have reigned and have been deposed; I have striven for the people, and have been rewarded by their curses; I have——"

At this moment, determined to carry her back to the city, I sprang forward and gripped her lean, bony arms. With colossal strength, engendered by insanity, she fought and bit, shrieking and showering imprecations upon me, it requiring all my strength to hold her; but presently she became quiet again, uttering long strings of rapid incoherent words that plainly showed the hopeless state of her mind.

Thus walking, we gained the edge of the lake, and having passed the cascade were skirting the river when, with a suddenness that took me completely by surprise, she slipped from my grasp, and with a wild exclamation dashed towards the warm, oozy bank.

Next second I noticed that the waters were alive with the sacred reptiles, but ere I could reach her she threw up her long, thin arms, and uttering an unearthly yell, plunged in.

A dozen hideous, hungry jaws snapped viciously as she cast herself amongst them, and an instant later where, with a shriek of horror, she disappeared for ever beneath the waters, the swiftly-flowing current was tinged red by long streaks of human blood.

In an excess of religious fervour she had sacrificed herself to her god Zomara.

* * * * *

This is no apologue. Little there remains to tell. Under the beneficent rule of Omar and Liola power, prosperity and contentment have now returned to the mysterious ancient realm, within which I have been the first stranger to set foot. As principal official of the ruler of the land that, although familiar to me, is still a mystery to the Royal Geographical Society, I left for England a few months ago on a mission to the greatest White Queen, Victoria, offering her assistance in her effort to crush the cruel sway of our mutual enemies the Ashantis. Our offer was cordially accepted, and the successful issue of the campaign which caused the downfall of Prempeh is now well known. Before returning to resume my duties as Governor of Mo, the far-off spectral City in the Clouds, into which no stranger may enter, I have, however, written down, at the instigation of the publishers whose name this volume bears upon its title-page, this plain tale of travel, treason and treasure as a record of the first successful journey to the high-up, inaccessible land of the Naya, the once-dreaded Great White Queen.

THE END.



Transcriber's Notes.

1. Inconsistencies in hyphenation & spelling left intact.

2. Missing quotation marks and periods have been added, see HTML version for more details.

3. Errors corrected: "CHAPTER III" changed to "CHAPTER XIII" "After some futher discussion" changed to "After some further discussion"