Adventure stories; Fantasy fiction; Tarzan (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
Luvini had been to her upon a certain afternoon to advise her that all
was ready, and that the revolt of the slaves and the murder of the Arabs
should take place that evening, immediately after dark. The cupidity of
the whites had long been aroused by the store of ivory possessed by the
raiders, with the result that all were more than eager for the final
step in the conspiracy that would put them in possession of considerable
wealth.
It was just before the evening meal that the little negro boy crept into
Flora Hawkes’s tent. He was very wide-eyed, and terribly frightened.
“What is the matter?” she demanded.
“S-sh!” he cautioned. “Do not let them hear you speak to me, but put
your ear close to me while I tell you in a low voice what Luvini is
planning.”
The girl bent her head close to the lips of the little black. “You have
been kind to me,” he whispered, “and now that Luvini would harm you I
have come to tell you.”
“What do you mean?” exclaimed Flora, in a low voice.
“I mean that Luvini, after the Arabs are killed, has given orders that
the black boys kill all the white men and take you prisoner. He intends
to either keep you for himself or to sell you in the north for a great
sum of money.”
“But how do you know all this?” demanded the girl.
“All the blacks in camp know it,” replied the boy. “I was to have stolen
your rifle and your pistol, as each of the boys will steal the weapons
of his white master.”
The girl sprang to her feet. “I’ll teach that nigger a lesson,” she
cried, seizing her pistol and striding toward the flap of the tent.
The boy seized her about the knees and held her. “No! no!” he cried. “Do
not do it. Do not say anything. It will only mean that they will kill
the white men sooner and take you prisoner just the same. Every black
boy in the camp is against you. Luvini has promised that the ivory shall
be divided equally among them all. They are ready now, and if you should
threaten Luvini, or if in any other way they should learn that you were
aware of the plot, they would fall upon you immediately.”
“What do you expect me to do then?” she asked.
“There is but one hope, and that is in flight. You and the white men
must escape into the jungle. Not even I may accompany you.”
The girl stood looking at the little boy in silence for a moment, and
then finally she said, “Very well, I will do as you say. You have saved
my life. Perhaps I may never be able to repay you, and perhaps, again, I
may. Go, now, before suspicion alights upon you.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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