CHAPTER V.

In the retreat we had chosen, on the flank, and about three hundred yards from both armies, no arrow, however badly aimed, could reach us, protected as we were by spreading, lofty trees. But if by means of our telescopes, we could follow the movements of the troops, take account of their manoeuvres, and distinguish them in the mass, all the details of the battle escaped us. We were looking down upon a _mêlée_ on a large scale, but we could take no note of the curious incidents of the fray.

"We are too far off!" de Morin persisted in saying. He was in such a state of excitement that he could not keep still, but was continually moving about and venturing into the open.

Nobody took the trouble to answer him, for the simple reason that there was nothing to say. We knew that we were too far off to see well, but we were quite near enough for safety, and that was all we cared about.

After having taken one or two turns round the trees, de Morin, still harping on his one fixed idea, came up to us and said—

"If we could only manage to catch sight of the king from this observatory of ours! Politeness alone would seem to dictate our contriving to witness his prowess."

"I am a witness already," I replied, "and it only depends on yourself to enjoy the self-same sight. If instead of pacing about in that idiotic manner, you would keep quiet for a moment, you would see the great Munza, towering with his head and plumed hat above all his guard of honour. He has plunged into the thick of the fight, and has already cleared a large space around him. See, he turns towards us, as if to say, 'I fight for you!'"

My last words were ill-judged, and I saw it as soon as they were out of my mouth.

"That is just my reason," cried de Morin, "for chafing at not being by his side. He exposes his life for us, and—"

To remedy my error, I hastened to say—

"My dear fellow, he exposes himself because it is his duty to fight at the head of his men. The chiefs of the Niam-Niam alone, amongst all the black tribes, hold aloof during a battle, ready to hide themselves, their wives, and their treasures in the most accessible marshes, should fortune declare against them. They never appear except to share in the plunder; but the King of the Monbuttoos belongs to quite another class."

"If you were to say," added Miss Poles, who for some time past had invariably spoken of Munza in terms of the utmost contempt, "that this savage has the most disgusting tastes, and is in his element amidst fire and sword, you would be giving the true reason of his rushing headlong into the fray."

De Morin did not hear this malicious speech, emanating from wounded pride, and continued his feverish, excited walk up and down an open space in front of some banana trees. Anyone who knew de Morin would have been pretty sure that he was revolving some scheme in his head.

Suddenly he stopped, and turning towards us, asked us whether we had not been struck with the expressions made use of by the Nubians.

"What expressions?" said Madame de Guéran.

"They told us that they would be despised by the Monbuttoos if they did not fight with them."

"Yes; but what of that?"

"I am afraid," replied our friend, with some hesitation, "that if we remain passive, they will despise us also."

"Do you mean to say that you care about the contempt of the Monbuttoos? Oh, M. de Morin!" said Miss Poles, with lofty disdain.

The grievance of Miss Beatrice against Munza made her unjust as regards his subjects; in her anger, hatred, and malice she tarred the King and his army with the same brush.

Without taking any notice of the remark of our eccentric companion, I observed to de Morin that we had no right to massacre these brave Domandoos, against whom we could not possibly have any ground of complaint.

"I never said a word about massacring them," replied de Morin. "But we ought to take the command of our Nubians. They are, as you see, behaving very prudently, and await our orders to fire; we could do what we liked with them."

"Nassar is quite capable of leading them," said Madame de Guéran. "Believe me," she added with a smile, "we shall be doing right by observing strict neutrality in this affair. You will have other opportunities, and very soon, perhaps, of fighting on your own account."

Unfortunately, the Baroness, after uttering this sage advice, strolled away with Miss Poles to seek shelter from the sun under a large sycamore tree.

Her presence had up to this time kept our friend's excitement within bounds; but as soon as he was no longer subject to this salutary influence, he lost his head completely, as he sometimes did, without showing the slightest symptom of the fact. The dear old donkey was never so clear in argument, so cool, or so collected as when he was meditating some act of downright folly.

This time he tried to make Delange his excuse. He knew very well that he was in no danger of reckoning without his host; the Doctor, wise and prudent at the commencement of the expedition, had now occasionally his moments of mild insanity, as if he had had a sunstroke.

"You will doubtless remember," said de Morin to him, "that one evening when I was tranquilly smoking my pipe in the hut with Périères, you compelled me to get up and follow you into the shed constructed for Munza's eighty wives."

"Do I remember!" replied Delange. "We had a charming game of bezique, with the women on one side and Bengal lights on the other. I was quite justified in disturbing you as I took the liberty of doing. I had lost on the previous night."

"I never said you were wrong. But, if I am not mistaken, you won the game you mention, and ever since then fortune has smiled incessantly upon you. Yesterday, again, I lost at piquet."

"I should never, of my own accord, have summoned up these sad memories," replied Delange; "but as you have mentioned them—why, yes, my debt to you has by this time become trifling—a matter of a few thousand francs at the outside."

"Shall we play double or quits?" suggested de Morin, suddenly.

Delange's eyes sparkled, and he brightened up directly, though, for the sake of appearances, he felt bound to say—

"Have we any right to infringe one of the most formal clauses of our treaty?"

"Hang the treaty!" replied de Morin. "It is such an old affair. Besides, if we are both of the same mind we can cancel it at any time."

"Oh, quite so. I am only speaking, as you can see clearly enough, in your interest. I am in luck—"

"Pray do not stand on any ceremony with me, for I have a presentiment that I shall win."

"We will see about that."

"Then do not let us lose any time about it."

"With all my heart. Here are our cards—they never leave me—and the trunk of this old tree will do for a card-table."

"What! You propose playing here, well under cover, whilst down below there they are cutting each others throats? You did not mean that, surely, my dear fellow."

"Your idea is—?" said Delange, pointing with his finger.

"Exactly so! it is a charming spot, just between the two armies, and beneath the cloud of arrows, which is becoming more dense every moment. They will take the place of a tent or an awning, and will shield us from the sun."

"Of course they will. Upon my word, your idea is positively charming."

"You are a couple of fools," I exclaimed, thinking it high time to put my oar in. "The arrows will not go over your heads; they will take you in front and in rear."

"Then we shall be just like two animated pin-cushions," rejoined de Morin, laughing.

"That will be a joke," added Delange. "Come along, old fellow; I am with you."

I made one more effort to restrain the pair of lunatics.

"I should be the first to applaud and follow you if there were the least use in what you are going to do."

"Do you think," exclaimed de Morin, interrupting him, "that it is of no use to teach all these people that we are not afraid of them, and that we hold their arrows and lances in utter contempt? I suppose you would like them to say, when they get back to their country, 'In the hour of danger the white men ensconced themselves behind the banana trees and looked on whilst their allies fought and bled for them.' It is not only of use, but it is indispensably necessary that we should stand high in the esteem of the Monbuttoos. It may be that the success of our enterprise depends on our line of conduct this very day."

"De Morin is right," said Delange. "In the first flush of success these people may make us pay dearly for our inaction and prudence."

"Then," said I, "if that is your opinion, I have nothing to do but go with you. I was present at the game you played under the shed; I will look on at the one you are going to play beneath the arrows."

"No, no," exclaimed de Morin; "you must stay with Madame de Guéran."

"Would you act on that piece of advice, my dear de Morin, if I were in your place and gave it to you?" I asked.

"I should take very good care to do nothing of the sort, my dear Périères," replied my rival.

"Then do not interfere with me. The battle is becoming more serious every moment. The Monbuttoos have some idea of strategy, and have nearly turned the enemy's flank. I do not think the fight will last much longer."

"I do not care," said de Morin, "so long as it gives us time for one game at écarté!"

"Only one?" asked Delange. "Kindly recollect that I owe you still eleven thousand francs; I have just consulted my book. Eleven thousand francs in five points is a little bit too much."

"Would you prefer a rubber?"

"Yes; a rubber, by all means. But," continued Delange, "a thought has just struck me. If I win, I shall not owe you anything."

"Certainly not, because we are going to play double or quits."

"In that case we shall not play any more to the end of the journey?" said the Doctor, in a tone of dismay.

"Make your mind easy," replied de Morin. "I will not be as cruel as all that. We have agreed to play for fifty louis every day, and we will go on doing so. If I am the loser in the end, so much the worse for me. The contract remains in full force, and this breaking through its provisions must be looked upon as an exceptional case."

"Then I have nothing more to say," rejoined Delange. "I was getting rather nervous, I admit, and I was thinking of making my way back to Paris alone. But as long as I can play cards every day, I am delighted with Africa."

Whilst this conversation was going on these two dear lunatics had advanced about three hundred yards towards the opposing forces, and I walked with them, watching the flight of arrows through the air, and listening to their hissing noise, now very plainly audible.