may join to stamp the life out of you and send your soul to hell.



I know the game you would have me join in, and I fling your offer

in your face. But I tell you one thing - you are damned yourself.



The white men are out, and you will never get over the Lebombo.

From black or white you will get justice before many hours, and



your carcass will be left to rot in the bush. Get out of my

sight, you swine.'



In that moment I was so borne up in my passion that I

forgot my bonds and my grave danger. I was inspired like a



prophet with a sense of approaching retribution. Henriques

heard me out; but his smile changed to a scowl, and a flush



rose on his sallow cheek.

'Stew in your own juice,' he said, and spat in my face. Then



he shouted in Kaffir that I had insulted him, and demanded

that I should be bound tighter and gagged.



It was Arcoll's messenger who answered his summons. That

admirable fellow rushed at me with a great appearance of



savagery. He made a pretence of swathing me up in fresh rawhide

ropes, but his knots were loose and the thing was a farce.



He gagged me with what looked like a piece of wood, but was

in reality a chunk of dry banana. And all the while, till



Henriques was out of hearing, he cursed me with a noble gift

of tongues.



The drums beat for the advance, and once more I was

hoisted on my horse, while Arcoll's Kaffir tied my bridle to his



own. A Kaffir cannot wink, but he has a way of slanting his

eyes which does as well, and as we moved on he would turn



his head to me with this strange grimace.

Henriques wanted me to help him to get the rubies - that I



presumed was the offer he had meant to make. Well, thought

I, I will perish before the jewel reaches the Portuguese's hands.



He hoped for a stampede when Arcoll opposed the crossing of

the river, and in the confusion intended to steal the casket. My



plan must be to get as near the old priest as possible before we

reached the ford. I spoke to my warder and told him what I



wanted. He nodded, and in the first mile we managed to edge

a good way forward. Several things came to aid us. As I have



said, we of the centre were not marching in close ranks, but in

a loose column, and often it was possible by taking a short cut



on rough ground to join the column some distance ahead.

There was a vlei, too, which many circumvented, but we



swam, and this helped our lead. In a couple of hours we were

so near the priest's litter that I could have easily tossed a



cricket ball on the head of Henriques who rode beside it.

Very soon the twilight of the winter day began to fall. The



far hills grew pink and mulberry in the sunset, and strange

shadows stole over the bush. Still creeping forward, we found



ourselves not twenty yards behind the litter, while far ahead I

saw a broad, glimmering space of water with a high woody



bank beyond.

'Dupree's Drift;' whispered my warder. 'Courage, Inkoos;*



in an hour's time you will be free.'

*Great chief.



CHAPTER XIII

THE DRIFT OF THE LETABA



The dusk was gathering fast as we neared the stream. From

the stagnant reaches above and below a fine white mist was



rising, but the long shallows of the ford were clear. My heart

was beginning to flutter wildly, but I kept a tight grip on



myself and prayed for patience. As I stared into the evening

my hopes sank. I had expected, foolishly enough, to see on the



far bank some sign of my friends, but the tall bush was dead

and silent.



The drift slants across the river at an acute angle, roughly

S.S.W. I did not know this at the time, and was amazed to see



the van of the march turn apparently up stream. Laputa's great

voice rang out in some order which was repeated down the



column, and the wide flanks of the force converged on the

narrow cart-track which entered the water. We had come to a



standstill while the front ranks began the passage.

I sat shaking with excitement, my eyes straining into the



gloom. Water holds the evening light for long, and I could

make out pretty clearly what was happening. The leading



horsemen rode into the stream with Laputa in front. The ford

is not the best going, so they had to pick their way, but in five



or ten minutes they were over. Then came some of the infantry

• traitor [´treitə] n.叛徒，卖国贼 (初中英语单词)


• tremendous [tri´mendəs] a.可怕的；巨大的 (初中英语单词)


• permission [pə´miʃən] n.允许；同意；许可 (初中英语单词)


• meantime [´mi:ntaim] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)


• confusion [kən´fju:ʒən] n.混乱(状态)；骚乱 (初中英语单词)


• whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)


• pistol [´pistl] n.手枪 vt.用手枪射击 (初中英语单词)


• weapon [´wepən] n.武器；斗争手段 (初中英语单词)


• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)


• equally [´i:kwəli] ad.相等地；平等地 (初中英语单词)


• sunlight [´sʌnlait] n.日光 (初中英语单词)


• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)


• cellar [´selə] n.地窑，地下室 (初中英语单词)


• vanity [´væniti] n.虚荣；自负；空虚 (初中英语单词)


• confess [kən´fes] vt.供认；坦白；承认 (初中英语单词)


• thoroughly [´θʌrəli] ad.完全地，彻底地 (初中英语单词)


• softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)


• thrust [θrʌst] v.&n.猛推；冲；刺；挤进 (初中英语单词)


• horror [´hɔrə] n.恐怖；战栗 (初中英语单词)


• sacred [´seikrid] a.神圣的；庄严的 (初中英语单词)


• torture [´tɔ:tʃə] n.&vt.折磨；痛苦；拷问 (初中英语单词)


• willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)


• hatred [´heitrid] n.憎恨，敌意 (初中英语单词)


• passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)


• messenger [´mesindʒə] n.使者；送信人 (初中英语单词)


• reality [ri´æliti] n.现实(性)；真实；逼真 (初中英语单词)


• banana [bə´nɑ:nə] n.香蕉 (初中英语单词)


• perish [´periʃ] v.灭亡；消灭；(使)死去 (初中英语单词)


• priest [pri:st] n.教士；牧师；神父 (初中英语单词)


• column [´kɔləm] n.柱；柱状物；纵队 (初中英语单词)


• twilight [´twailait] n.黎明；黄昏 (初中英语单词)


• sunset [´sʌnset] n.日落；晚霞 (初中英语单词)


• stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)


• beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)


• flutter [´flʌtə] vi.飘扬；摆 n.拍动 (初中英语单词)


• patience [´peiʃəns] n.忍耐(力)；耐心；坚韧 (初中英语单词)


• excitement [ik´saitmənt] n.兴奋；骚动；煽动 (初中英语单词)


• serpent [´sə:pənt] n.大毒蛇；阴险的人 (高中英语单词)


• precaution [pri´kɔ:ʃən] n.预防 vt.预先警告 (高中英语单词)


• incredible [in´kredəbəl] a.不能相信的；惊人的 (高中英语单词)


• awkward [´ɔ:kwəd] a.笨拙的；为难的 (高中英语单词)


• plight [plait] n.境况；困境；苦境 (高中英语单词)


• shrewd [ʃru:d] a.精明的；狡猾的 (高中英语单词)


• confession [kən´feʃən] n.招供；认错；交待 (高中英语单词)


• damned [dæmd] a.该死的 ad.非常，极 (高中英语单词)


• pretence [pri´tens] n.假装；托词；无理要求 (高中英语单词)


• hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)


• bridle [´braidl] n.(马)笼头；束缚 (高中英语单词)


• litter [´litə] n.杂乱 v.乱丢 (高中英语单词)


• apparently [ə´pærəntli] ad.显然，表面上地 (高中英语单词)


• repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)


• infantry [´infəntri] n.步兵(部队) (高中英语单词)


• rightly [´raitli] ad.正义地；正确地 (英语四级单词)


• undertook [,ʌndə´tuk] undertake的过去式 (英语四级单词)


• warning [´wɔ:niŋ] n.警告；前兆 a.预告的 (英语四级单词)


• necklace [´neklis] n.项链 (英语四级单词)


• refinement [ri´fainmənt] n.精炼；精制；文雅 (英语四级单词)


• carcass [´kɑ:kəs] n.(动物的)尸体 (英语四级单词)


• casket [´kɑ:skit] n.(精美)匣子；首饰盒 (英语四级单词)


• gathering [´gæðəriŋ] n.集会，聚集 (英语四级单词)


• happening [´hæpəniŋ] n.事件，偶然发生的事 (英语四级单词)


• drunkard [´drʌŋkəd] n.醉汉；酒鬼 (英语六级单词)


• uttermost [´ʌtəməust] a.&n.=utmost (英语六级单词)


• diplomacy [di´pləuməsi] n.外交；交际手腕 (英语六级单词)


• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)


• mulberry [´mʌlbəri] n.桑树；深紫红色 (英语六级单词)


• stagnant [´stægnənt] a.停滞的；萧条的 (英语六级单词)


• foolishly [´fu:liʃli] ad.愚蠢地 (英语六级单词)