THE ILAWA JU-JU.

Otago Witness, Issue 2915, 26 January 1910, Page 77

THE ILAWA JU-JU.

By Harold Bindloss.

[JLw. Rights Rksjrtjid.]

inere was a gap between, the time when Thomas Wilkinson, age'd 19, said good-bye to a girl who looked younger, in an English railway station, and the pleasant' evening we spent on the verandah of his house in Lee Faunas, Grand Canary. '..... On the former occasion, so Manners . his comrade said, Wilkinson's voice; was husky as he shivered in. the cold wind' that swept through the glassroofed building, comforting the girl who clung to him, while an increasing roar of wheels announced the night mail's coming. Neither of them were blessed 9 with worldly wealth or superfluous education, and had not learned to suppress ~ all natural feeling. So, though the panting of a locomotive drowned most of what passed,- Manners, who was slightly embarrassed, could not help hearing the girl say, "I'll-wait for you, Tommy, if it's all my life, 'an' never look at no< one 'else, however" nice he is. It's very fine for you, Tominy, goin' out as an explorm' hero, but, it's cruel for me to wait at home eewhr, . an' dream of wild beasts eatm'' you.. You'll never forget me, Tommy, will you':" With a scream of brakes the long train rolled in) Manners got his friend on . board it; after a screech of the whistle the throb of the wheels commenced again, ...and the girl stood forlornly on the platform, while; when the lights of the station faded behind, Wilkinson said solemnly, "She's as true as*, steel—God bless her! An' I'm comin' back with a fortune to marry her some day." As he was then on his way to earn £6O a year in an African factory this seemed doubtful, but a determined purpose carries one far, and when we last saw him he was-gaining a competence at least by supplying steamers with provisions, while his daintily-attired wife made a charming hostess'. ' '..Slie Was pretty, quick-witted, and had. picked up from the Spaniards a certain.gracefulness, .and'.when. Wilkinson mentioned that he was extending his operations by sending fruit home, he y ciint ed towards he.r, saying, "It was .Alice who ■ made me; I sent her all I could scrape Up, and she banked it for ure, though perhaps you know tlmt when -,ve started here we hadn't £ooo between vs. No : iv she buys things" froh the Spani;n;ds'oetter than me,, and if I'm mildly prosperijig it's.all through Alice." "You'Ve forgetting the Ilawa Ju-Ju, and Harry," said oui hostess with a smile. ■■, "Tell them the story, Harry; at least it will show that everything in that country doesn't end sadly." ' Manners obeyed, and as he talked* soft darkness settled down on the ancient Spanish city. . Rolling mist blotted out the volcanic crags above, the white wash of surf which filled the ah with its booming grew faintly luminous, while here and there the tinkle of a guitar rose from the flat roofs; but presently all these faded, and we were back with him in the land of the shadow some of us knew too well. " You can turn out them boy, Bad Dollar. This makes two hundred sickening, salt bags I've stowed to-day, and I'y#' more than earned my handsome salary. You don't savvy; you never do; then lib for get out quick ; I'm tired of the sight of you,' said Thomas Wilkinson when, as Manners related, he sat down limply on a'palm-puncheon in a. West African factory. "' . "He looked eighteen them, - but might have been older, for his face bore the stamp of self-reliant shrewdness, while the thin cotton garments exaggerated the angularity of his somewhat diminutive frame. White men do not usually thrive in that climate. The galvanised roof of the salt'shed crackled overhead, the iron walls were too hot to touch; and shaking 1 he white crystals from him the young assistant- donned a pith helmet, which covered his forehead to the eyes. Then • »-,icking up a wooden shovel he stood, -lied with the pride of a superior race, at door, while the half-naked Krooboys viarched past him, grinning at each other • ? they did so. Wilkinson said he liked things done in style, and once had words with his comrade, who served another factory, when Manners observed : Bo long lis the Krooboys take it as a joke you, ran tickle your vanity, but its my coinion' some half-tamed bushman will pitch you into the river some day. "Manners was even then waiting on board an ancient.. steam launch alongside the piles which prevented the whole crabnmnelled compound slipping into the river. Bad Dollar, the Jakkery, sat beside him discoursing in quaint coast palaver iioon the Ilawa Ju-Ju, a subject which fascinated both the young white men. Now, a Ju-Ju may be almost anything which .come mysterious divinity has endowed with virtue, and the Ilawa talisman was well known in that land. It was said to confer commercial prosperity on the man who could lay hands upon it, which was usually difficult, and when it happened bloodshed resulted. . " 'Them head man up river dun t let him from King George,' said the negro. ' Hang him in new Ju-Ju house, and stir him up with big nail in him inside, eah. Gappy Stevens smash first man who make war-palaver, so King George gib bokus full of dolloh to them boy who fief him Ju-Ju back, sah.' , "The -pair listened with kindling eyes until Wilkinson, rising, said with a dramatic gesture, ' This is gettin' sicken- " His contemptuous glance took in the sweltering factories and mangrove wastes i ( beharwi".the!in> and,Jio continued: 'I came out to taafce my; fortune and travel round , in eatin'.'big pineapples and bags in fc. blame cockroach-creepin' factory —no adventures, no nothin', except fever, mosquitoes, and other crawlers. Now "the agent'sgone off with the .steamboat fikippef'oh a jamboree,, and your man's pretending' he's 'Msy^at^he..otbfer f^tory;;

what's to hinder us it akin .a spell off and gettin' thajt Ju-Ju V "'You expect to& much,' oaid Manners, ' and that's why you're .generally disappointed. It might be easy to get the Ju-Ju, but what could we do with it if we had it?'

" 'Strike King George for salvage,' was the prompt answer. 'lf ho wouldn't pay, steam up river and corner the oil market en the strength of it. That would mean quick promotion, and'-—Wilkinson lowered his voice confidentially—' I'm engaged to that girl you met, you see. Her father laughed at me, but he's of no account, and she writes beautiful letters abou' her African hero. I'll show you one in confidence when we get the Ju-Ju.' "'You needn't,' said Manners drily; 'and you're not much of a hero to look at, any way : but my chief has been more than usually uncivil, and I'd like to show him what we can do. Hullo! there's Captain Stevens; watch me draw him.' "A . white-painted Government steamer came panting - up the creek, and when abreast of them a white officer on board of her said, 'What new mischief are you two plotting?' Manners answered, 'We were discussing the Ilawa Ju-Ju, sir.' "'Ah!' said the officer, frowning, 'l'd give six months' pay to see the wretched image safe in the river. Somebody will try to steal it, and there will be more complications. If any of your oil-carriers hear fresh news, send them straight across to the Consulate.''

" 'There's another market,' said Manners when the steamer passed, 'I expect it's a fool'-- game, but we'll try it'; and the pair consulted earnestly. Then, after enlisting three Krooboys, who did not know where they were going, as a bodyguard, they started the engines, and, because a boiler tubs leaked, steamed slowly along the blood-red track of sunset up the muddy river until the factories faded astern and they were alone in a region of twilit forest and misty waterway where the Ju-Ju reigns unquestioned over African, savagery. . They had a case of tinned meats, another of mineral waters with the effervescence gone, and one cheap revolver made in Belgium; and with this outfit .started cheerfully oh a journey the Government officers mad* accompanied by a machine gun. "But the romance ..'of the proceedings appealed to them, and Thomas Wilkinson sat with a sooty hand on the tiller and a bundle of letters over his heart, feeling ah last a hero- as the launch pounded noisily through .the velvety blackness of the African night. Thay moored her to a cottonwood when the mist hid all the river, managed to sleep in spite of the mosquitoes, and awakening found that Bad Dollar and his companions had, with commendable judgment, departed during the night. "'They're cowardly brutes,' said Manners, ruefully, as he wrung the dew out of his jacket. ' Stilly having started, we can't go back to' be laughed at, and it would suit, me much better to come down towing an oil flotilla and make my sweettempered chief stare. He'll be raging round presently looking for me.' "Manners, who seemed to.derive satisfaction from the thought, was right, for about this .time.his employer was .paddled the, factory -which had hitherto been honoured by Wilkinson's presence.... 'Have you got that-young idiot of mine loafing round here' he asked. 'I can't find him, and four of my best Kroooboys have vanished, too. He and your rising genius were, I believe, friendly, and I'm wondering what new foolishness they're up to.' " 'They've gone up river.' said his rival. 'Where? Oh, goodness knows—looking for fetiche treasure most likely. I'm sick of - the youthful assistant's vagaries; but this one has some sense now and then, and I'd be sorry to lose him. It's one consolation 'they've taken your launch along, and will probably blow her up between them—that craft is only safe for niggers.' " 'Up river!' said the other. 'lt's dangerous up there now with the niggers making.. Ju-Ju. I suppose I'm responsible ; besides that launch cost money. Come over to the Consul's; it's those Government fellows' business to help us.' "Meantime, though either would gladly have turned back had the other suggested it, the two ' adventurers sat beneath the launch's awning under the blistering heat while sand-bar, islet, and forest dropped astern, until just before darkness closed down spirals of blue smoke drifted across the mangroves ahead. "■ 'That's the headman's village, and a precious nasty 'place it is. Have you settled what to do when we get there?' asked Manners, and smiled sarcastically when Wilkinson answered: " 'l've been thinking we might announce we had come to arrange a big deal in oil, and make them entertain us in style, then get up at midnight and steal the Ju-Ju. But I don't like that .way. It doesn't look honest.' "'lt doesn't. Besides, they wouldn't believe you,' said Manners. 'When there's a deal of that kind on the agent comes himself. What's the other one ?' " 'We lie by among the mangroves, and when they're all asleep go in and take it by force of arms,' said Wilkinson, fingering the cheap revolver. 'That's justifiable, , because the Ilawa Ju-Ju belongs to whoever can get it. Bad Dollar told me there's an unwatched back way right up to this village, and when it's dark enough we'll try to find it.' "Black darkness fell like a curtain, but they managed to find the creek, then stopping the noisy engine, poled the launch along it, and when after midnight a half-moon swung up, above the sombre cottonwoodis,, its .radiance showed Wilkinson standiiig waist, deep among slime and seeds. His face was smeared with sooty grease, for the engines had- given trouVe during the afternoon, but it was determined, and he. turned savagely upon Manners, who said, 'l'll be uncommonly thankful if we get safe out of this. The ,':whole' ,*»)£ £*\ %.

horrible feeling, that a crocodile is wait ing to bite my 'leg.'

" 'What are snakes and crocodiles to a real magic J_u : JjiT said his comrade scornfully, 'Sojiie folk's are never contented, and ok'&Cinight fancy you were, frightened, too!': . ■ " 'You'll apologise if ever Ave get back to the factory, but there's no rise wakening the whole village now;' said Manners, and'the pair, .who were, better friends after such, differences, went oh until they stood silent," and decidedly uneasy, among tall bananas fringing the native village. Dim rows of wattled huts peeped out of the shadows' 'pi!.',the giant cottonwoods, and there were ; .mysterious . rustlings in the blackness.: ',. *fhen a dead silence followed, in whic.h. •„ Wilkinson could bear his own heart beating. The air was thick and stagnant. ..the dew soaked them through, while Manners afterwards remembered that the odours of moist earth and leaves reminded him of a hothouse at home/ Beyond the bananas a space of trampled sand' steetched toward a great tree, which be; 'gfesed was a witch-cotton - wood with ■ "tains on its stem, and under it stood a crazy structure of mud and. reeds daubed with white paint, ■which in the sacrificial colour in that country. Then a ,v<lfce roused 'him. 'lt's time we did something,' said Thomas Wilkinson. "Stooping low, they flitted across the bare space of sand, expecting every moment to hearfUie^era.sh,of a flintlock gun. nntil Manners grasped his comrade's arm, for a dim shape of muscular humanity lay huddled beside a long.gun among the buttress rootte"of the 'cottonwood. Another woolly head appeared in a hollow, and the pair waited in the shadow until Wilkinson turned his eyes aside lest the sight should prove too much for his resolution. He beckoned Manners, and something seemed to choke him when at the first movement'We/ water squelched in his boot, but nobody stirred until a shrill cry rang weirdly'; but ; of the forest. It was onlv the howl of. some hunting beast, one of ihe night, voices of the bush, but there was something startling in it in that dark place , of superstitious cruelty. and sudden, nnreasonin? panic might have routed the pair. Plight, however, was impossible, for a drowsy voice rose through the. succeeding stillness, and Manners, erabbins: his comrade, shoved him through the dark ..entrance of the Ju-Ju house. ..,,_'"" ; s _. "They •were just in time, for with tingling nerves they saw one of the sleepers raise,his head and then sink back again, after which for long minutes there was only the throbbing of their own pulses and a snake rustle in the thatch. Then Wilkinson, whose eyes had grown accustomed to the gloom, said hoarsely, 'Here it is.' "Manners rnoved towards him, and thev stood before what seemed to Joe a small ■and rude representation of a human figure, both wildly exultant, and yet, though neither would have owned the fact, almost reluctant to touch it. They had been trained in the severely practical fashion of a British hoard school, but things wear a different aspect at midnight in equatorial Africa, which is as yet a region of death and mystery. Then manners stretched out his hand, and, though he shivered as he lifted the object from its pedestal, there were no manifestations. The simple audacity of the enterprise had insured its success, and they had ; accomplished what an armed expedition might well have failed in. -At night great logs i were chained across the main inlet; from the river, but, thankis to Bad :: Dollar's directions, they bad crept in through a seldom-used waterway. '".What does it feel like?' asked Wilkinson, feverishly. 'ls it gold or ivory ?' and the other answered, 'Very like, a piece of cheap crockery, ,but Cwe can look nX. .it, :,TJ|6 K ia/to.get

away -with it now,' And once more they j stood listening at /ivo deer of the hut. Again the eeri* eiy rang through the black stillness of tb* bush, and Manners's J voice was strained as ha said, 'That leoi pard. or whatever the beast is, moms : bent on making mi» hie<f. It has wakened somebody, and wS had better bolt for it.' i "There were voices in the shadows, but neither stopped, running to-.r-ards the i bananas instead, until a black form rose out of the broad leaves, with the r oon- • light showing its white-rimmed e\es. Then, wheeling, they charged across an open space towards the creek in headlong flight. A clamour broke out among the huts, the crash of a flintlock gun £.j)d rumble of a skin dirum set the palm tufts vibrating, a patter of naked f eet coinI menced,° and glancing round Wilkinson j saw native figures following close hotuM. But with every second the Vveitertng reeds drew nearer ahead until, when they had almost reached them, Manners catchroc one foot in a thorny vine went down headlong. Thereupon Thomas Wilkinson, turning short round, pulled back the hammer of the cheap revolver as he gasped, 'l'll try to hold them off. For Heaven's sake, get up"!' ! "But that thorny vine has a special ! affinity for human flesh, and waile Ms.iiI ners rent himself the puraiiers came on, ! until the foremost were close at hand. Meanwhile, with the moonlight full upon hi,3 thin, determined face and the big sunhelmet thrust back from his beaded forehead, Wilkinson stood, a slight, climateworn figure, with the nickelled oistol barrel resting on his flung-up left arm. He had once seen a photograph of a revolver expert in this somewhat trying j attitude. The pursuers, who, remembering the black soldiers down the river, j may have been reluctant to shoot him j forthwith, stopped short, and Manners | struggled desperately until he said, 'l'm j almost free* Give roe another few moments and we'll make a break for it.' "Somebody among the mass of oily I bodies bailed them .in the coast -palaver, but "Wilkinson did not catch the ineti.ing as he watched several, dim -figures sidle into the shadows of . the cotton woods. 'Trying to cut us off. I'm ready now. I-You must manage to get a start,' said ; Manners, rising on one knee; and Wil- | kinson called hoarsely, 'Stand back!' I "The I negroes did not understand him, or considered they had waited long enough, for a rush was made, and with a | yell, 'Off with you for your life !' WilkinL'son.turned aloft the muzzle and dragged lat the trigger: There was only a snap 1 when the striker came down, and turning jhe ran like a deer- for the reeds. He .reached the tall blades; Manners was ■ floundering somewhere ahead, and a legion of shouting men behind, but up to the waist •ill water ha grasped the launch's stern, and his comrade had started the engines has he dragged himself on board. One or" two flintlock guns flashed 'harmlessly, but the craft was trembling to the engine | stroke now, and save for. the gurgle about | the screw all was black and silent when l they reached the main river. ! ''Then, a.-i happens often with their [ kind, neither expressed exactly what he j felt, for Manners said, 'lt was a near go, ! and I'm much obliged to you. Did you bring the rubbishy pistol that wouldn't : go off?—l've, got the. Ju-Ju'; and Wilkin- : son: answered hotly, 'So you ought to be; i only an idiot would fall down ait a time like that. The pistol's a, good one, but i she wants overhauling, and any way I saved your life for you. Now, if you can hold the launch straight, we'll look at the god.' "He held the object near the open fire door, and sniffed contemptuously, for it was an insignificant thing to risk any man's life oyer—-merely a pottery figure of a man in steel cap, and armour, which puzzled Wilkinsoi, who did not know that the Portuguese ruled these swamps five centuries ago. ' I've seen many finer things for sixpence in a second-hand mug shop,' he said. 'Still, King George will give no. end of oil for it, and the late owners don't seem to be following, which is lucky, as with that tube leaking we'll have to steam dead slow.' "It would have been wiser to push on, taking any risk, but Wilkinson feared to run aground or strike a sunken snag, and anchoring later they-kept watch in turn until at "daybreak Manners, leapt upright, for the thud of paddles drifted out of the mist. 'Get up and cram the furnace; they're coming after us. We'll have to chance an explosion,' be said. "The launch had scarcely started when, one by one, long dark bars with a row of naked backs swaying over the flashing paddles, slid out of the vapour, and, though flame licked fthfe funnel, A hung steadily behind. The boiler shed hot water freely, and the cold fluid injected kept down the steam, so that it was with I difficulty they shook five knots out of, the ! engines, while strong men, born to baddle, j toiled hard astern. Then the distance j beiran to lessen, and Wilkinson groaned. j 'Will those biutes never get tired? Empty | the cartridges on to the cylinder-head; ] perhaps they'll go off when hot, and pitch oil into the furnace. I'll smash the Ju-Ju and ram> them if we can't shake them off.'

"Yellow flame poured from the funnel, the revolutions quickened, but slackened again when hot water sputtered out from under the fire bars, while Wilkinson stood, over the talisman in the stern with fierce eyes and a haggard young face, balancing the axe they split firewood billets with/ There's an end of it. Do your worst, he said. "The axe flashed; he hurled the fragments into the bubbling wake, aiw! a howl of rage rolled across the. sun-lit wate*V The 'swaying "heads rose -and fell faster£ ;drib|rfng' paddle's 'flung back gleams ;6f light;,' find with the yellow river ifrothing" at .. their stenis the canoes closed in oh them. Even now on many African waterways .the white n&ffl'a authority scarcely extends beyond rifle-shot of the barracks of the black soldiery, . anid WflkhUßOh felt no human help. was possible as he said 'huskily> 'lt's ail over,' arid I w.as a mad

' fool for ka'dir.' you into this, bat -we'll finish game. Try to keep ste&n on her fcr just five minutes more.' "Then he sat with teeth clenched, gripping the taller, white the launch, circling slowly, turned her bows towards the- foe. and a yell of derision rose from the approaching iiotilla. But suddenly the paddling ceased, cries of consternation b.'oks out on board the clumsy craft, and Manners gasped, 'Look astern, Tom; look astern, can't you!' "Wilkinson glanced over his shoulder, and the blood stirred in every artery, for dingy smoke streaked the mangroves, while when he stared forward again the canoes were on their way up river in hurried flight. Meantime the thumping of engines drew steadily nearer, and ho stood up cheering deliriously when a white-painted steamer with a machine gun twinkling in bei bows and the ensign <■ steaming astern swept round a bend. She reversed her engines, and the officer who hailed them to come alongside said sternlj, ' Perhaps you will explain why you absconded with your employers' property, and the meaning of the demonstration yonder.' ■'They did it simultaneously, and the listener said: 'lt is sufficiently difficult to keep peace on this river, and a r-erious matter for any unauthorised person to cause trouble with native tribes. I hope you realise that if the bushmen yonder had seized you somebody would probably have poisoned you, or an expedition might . have been needed to set you free again. As it is, it will cost you a good many cloth pieces; but, on your word of honour, did yen actually steal and smash the Uawa Ju-Ju?' " 'We did, sir,' said Wilkinson solemnly: aiid there was a ghost of a twinkle in the officer's .eyes as he answered, ' Then you have actually done something useful atjast, and if you don't get yourselves cut off. prematurely, may, develop into successful traders some day. Now, give me a tow-line ; your respective employers, are anxiously waiting to welcome -you.'. "It was late when they reached the Consulate, but Wilkinson borrowed a sheet of note-paper and an envelope from the officer, who smiled when, in answer to the question why he- wanted it, the former answered unabashed, ' Only just in time to catch the mail" canoe, and I want to tell a young lady, at home; about the Ju-Ju. 1 think it would please her to see the stamp and arms- on the envelope, sir.' " 'They - grow " enterprising specimens either in love or' war in the country that raised you,' said the Government, officer." When Manner* concluded the story here set down, with some details added and others suppressed, the merchant laughed as, he said, "Yes, that's about the gist of it,, though I'm not quite-sure that I was Quite, such a fool as he .would make out. Well, smashing that Ju-Ju gave us a. lift, [for as .the had .nothing to quarrel about, trade ,was brisk that year, and we got some of the credit. So when fever cleared out the poor agent later on I got the factory, witb-Manners as chief assistant. We ran it for one.year, and • then, for the sake of- : Alice arid because the climate was breaking Manners up, settled here with our sayings, ; and haven't done badly. This is the .girl who came to this station—Mrs Wilkinson, God bless her—and that's a flagon of my well-known special-Madeira cooled infTeneriffe snow. Harry—-! daresay you're thirsty.—pasa round those glasses. Here's to 1 the Tne.morv of our good friend The Ilawa JuJu!"