登陆注册
15451200000010

第10章 CHAPTER II FURTH! FORTUNE!(5)

'So I'm told. Do you know anything about it? You're not the first who has looked queer when I've spoken the name.'

'I've never been there,' he said, 'though I've been pretty near it from the Portuguese side. That's the funny thing about Blaauwildebeestefontein. Everybody has heard of it, and nobody knows it.'

'I wish you would tell me what you have heard.'

'Well, the natives are queer up thereaways. There's some kind of a holy place which every Kaffir from Algoa Bay to the Zambesi and away beyond knows about. When I've been hunting in the bush-veld I've often met strings of Kaffirs from hundreds of miles distant, and they've all been going or coming from Blaauwildebeestefontein. It's like Mecca to the Mohammedans, a place they go to on pilgrimage. I've heard of an old man up there who is believed to be two hundred years old.

Anyway, there's some sort of great witch or wizard living in the mountains.'

Aitken smoked in silence for a time; then he said, 'I'll tell you another thing. I believe there's a diamond mine. I've often meant to go up and look for it.'

Tam and I pressed him to explain, which he did slowly after his fashion.

'Did you ever hear of I.D.B. - illicit diamond broking?' he asked me. 'Well, it's notorious that the Kaffirs on the diamond fields get away with a fair number of stones, and they are bought by Jew and Portuguese traders. It's against the law to deal in them, and when I was in the intelligence here we used to have a lot of trouble with the vermin. But I discovered that most of the stones came from natives in one part of the country - more or less round Blaauwildebeestefontein - and I see no reason to think that they had all been stolen from Kimberley or the Premier. Indeed some of the stones I got hold of were quite different from any I had seen in South Africa before. I shouldn't wonder if the Kaffirs in the Zoutpansberg had struck some rich pipe, and had the sense to keep quiet about it. Maybe some day I'll take a run up to see you and look into the matter.'

After this the talk turned on other topics till Tam, still nursing his grievance, asked a question on his own account.

'Did you ever come across a great big native parson called Laputa? He came on board as we were leaving Durban, and I had to turn out of my cabin for him.' Tam described him accurately but vindictively, and added that 'he was sure he was up to no good.'

Aitken shook his head. 'No, I don't know the man. You say he landed here? Well, I'll keep a look-out for him. Big native parsons are not so common.'

Then I asked about Henriques, of whom Tam knew nothing.

I described his face, his clothes, and his habits. Aitken laughed uproariously.

'Tut, my man, most of the subjects of his Majesty the King of Portugal would answer to that description. If he's a rascal, as you think, you may be certain he's in the I.D.B. business, and if I'm right about Blaauwildebeestefontein you'll likely have news of him there some time or other. Drop me a line if he comes, and I'll get on to his record.'

I saw Tam off in the boat with a fairly satisfied mind. I was going to a place with a secret, and I meant to find it out. The natives round Blaauwildebeestefontein were queer, and diamonds were suspected somewhere in the neighbourhood.

Henriques had something to do with the place, and so had the Rev. John Laputa, about whom I knew one strange thing. So did Tam by the way, but he had not identified his former pursuer, and I had told him nothing. I was leaving two men behind me, Colles at Durban and Aitken at Lourenco Marques, who would help me if trouble came. Things were shaping well for some kind of adventure.

The talk with Aitken had given Tam an inkling of my thoughts. His last words to me were an appeal to let him know if there was any fun going.

'I can see you're in for a queer job. Promise to let me hear from you if there's going to be a row, and I'll come up country, though I should have to desert the service. Send us a letter to the agents at Durban in case we should be in port. You haven't forgotten the Dyve Burn, Davie?'

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 风起瓦罗兰

    风起瓦罗兰

    没有主角,自己看多了英雄联盟的背景资料突然就想写一下,当然只是小说,跟背景资料里面还是有不少出入,希望有一天官方出一个完整的游戏背景资料,突然感觉游戏玩出了文学的意思,23333333
  • 诛仙之剑

    诛仙之剑

    话至逐鹿之战,黄帝以轩辕神剑重创魔门,魔门首领蚩尤率领的八十一兄弟被诛杀,后魔门几乎消尽,却不料数千年后,天心魔门领袖羽逐航打败其余另数个魔门分支,创下天魔宗,同时亦以席卷天下之势,妄图将各个门派一网打尽,不料......
  • 相思谋:妃常难娶

    相思谋:妃常难娶

    某日某王府张灯结彩,婚礼进行时,突然不知从哪冒出来一个小孩,对着新郎道:“爹爹,今天您的大婚之喜,娘亲让我来还一样东西。”说完提着手中的玉佩在新郎面前晃悠。此话一出,一府宾客哗然,然当大家看清这小孩与新郎如一个模子刻出来的面容时,顿时石化。此时某屋顶,一个绝色女子不耐烦的声音响起:“儿子,事情办完了我们走,别在那磨矶,耽误时间。”新郎一看屋顶上的女子,当下怒火攻心,扔下新娘就往女子所在的方向扑去,吼道:“女人,你给本王站住。”一场爱与被爱的追逐正式开始、、、、、、、
  • 万能情痴

    万能情痴

    ‘猪脚’,曾是一个‘貌丑、脑钝、手拙’的情痴,饱偿了被‘校花’百般拒绝的滋味,一部《万能宝典》,改写了他憋屈的人生……
  • 腹黑总裁要定你

    腹黑总裁要定你

    无良上司陷害,她无奈之下只能到夜场买醉,却偶遇了冰山总裁。本以为他们的交集就到此为止,男人却甩来一张协议,将她紧锁在婚姻牢笼中。“你想不想报复你的可恨上司?”男人的话诱惑至极,她点头画下卖身契。一场游戏,两人却越陷越深,他的明月光回来,她终成了他的累赘。她要离开之际,却被男人狠狠抱在怀里,霸道宣称:只有我让你走,你才能离开。
  • 怪谈杂记

    怪谈杂记

    一眼北弥山上的灵泉,养育了无数北弥山下的生灵,山水有灵而生精怪,传闻北弥山上有一蛇仙,山下一个名叫河洋坳的村庄里,住的都是蛇仙与人类繁育的后代,在古代,河洋坳里的人,和北弥山上的精怪生活在一起,于是便有无数的事迹流传到了现在,而我要说的,便是这无数传承下来的故事中的一部分,我叫武侯爵……
  • 星战银河

    星战银河

    什么是道义,什么是对错,什么是权力,什么是造化。我不入地狱谁入地狱。
  • TFBoys之公主的复仇计划

    TFBoys之公主的复仇计划

    小时候的玩伴如今成为仇人,交错的命运改如何改变?
  • 大玄空

    大玄空

    天元,天之本源!天元大陆,无尽雾霭重重笼罩。华夏先祖的足迹,在这里处处可见。萧千绝,一个古武世家子弟,被病魔折杀。异域重生,借尸万魔之祖“魔祖”的遗体还魂……由此开始,一个仙佛并起,妖魔横行,百族林立的大千世界开始呈现。热血喷发,欲望沸腾,激情燃烧。踏歌而行,剑舞东南,玄空一切!追寻着祖先的足迹,在无尽的生死之间,热血燃烧的战斗之中,一个个上古秘辛如同画卷徐徐开展……
  • 傲娇男神在隔壁

    傲娇男神在隔壁

    转眼火热的八月过去了,很快就又到了一个新的开始。