King Solomon's Mines Page #5

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I got you.

I got you. All right.

Now, there's the desert.

- The map was right.

- Yeah.

We'll stay here until dark and go on by night.

It'll be too hot to travel by day.

There may be a mine out there. The map had

the desert. It may be right about the mine.

I'll be happier if it's right

about the water hole.

That fellow's probably heard about

the mines. That would explain him.

He has a long way to go to get to them.

- Then there's the problem of getting back.

- We could sprout wings and fly to England.

You're awfully cheerful about it.

I don't care.

I wanna see what's out there.

The map is correct so far, and I have

a feeling that when the mists clear...

...we'll see the mountains

marked on that map.

One-Eye babbled about burning earth and

sun. That means Curtis reached this desert.

If the water was where it's marked on

the map, he may have reached that too.

There they are, the mountains.

The White Twins.

You see them, those two peaks?

Now, if we head straight for them, we

should see the water indicated on the map.

I'll take a bearing

while I can see them.

- What does a water hole look like?

- Well, it can look like an oasis, or...

...it can look like that.

I should think it'll take us

about five days to get to the mountains.

Now, two swallows, no more.

We'll rest here until the sun goes down.

Get some sleep.

- It's like English countryside.

- Temperate country in the heart of Africa.

That's because of the plateau.

It must be thousands of feet higher...

...than the jungle or the desert.

Some natives bury their dead that way.

It's Curtis'.

Got a message on it.

"Ammunition gone, heading northwest,

inform Elizabeth Curtis...

...73 Grosvenor Square, London.

Henry Curtis."

He's alive.

Out there, somewhere.

- You said someday you'd tell me.

- You said you'd tell me.

You weren't in love with Henry,

and you treated him badly.

That's why he ran off to Africa.

That's about it.

Hasn't this trip been penance enough?

More than enough. In more ways

than you can guess, Jack.

I'm not blind.

The human heart's a strange thing.

When I started on this trip,

I was very confused.

I thought my motives were so noble.

But Allan guessed the truth

the first time I met him.

It was guilt.

I know it now, and I'm better

for knowing it. The nightmares are over.

But another sort of nightmare

seems to be beginning.

What are we to do?

Can't we face that when we come to it?

All right, let's go. Come on.

Look.

That's the first game

we've seen in weeks.

- Dare we invest a bullet in some fresh meat?

- I have exactly three shots left.

- Let's vote on it.

- I'm awfully hungry.

All right.

Don't miss.

Allan.

- What are they saying?

- I don't understand it.

- It's a dialect I've never heard.

- This explains Umbopa.

He's come home. These are his people.

He says there was a white man here.

Could've been Curtis. It's almost a certainty.

- Why?

- Because they've never seen a gun before.

And Curtis had no gun.

Your magic frightened that one.

My guess is he's gone ahead

to warn the others.

- It appears we've been traveling with a king.

- A what?

A king in rags, returning home to claim

a kingdom stolen from him.

He says it's the mark of a king. When a king

is born, they carve that snake on him.

They belong to a tribe called the Watussi.

They offered to lead us there.

The present king's Umbopa's cousin,

called Twala.

They say he's not a nice fellow.

Bad king, cruel.

King Twala won't be happy

at the sight of that snake.

They do seem to be traveling

with a cargo of dynamite.

It promises to be exciting.

Exciting?

I'm sorry.

He says there's a lot of discontent.

Kafa, the other boy, and some of

the others are fed up with the present king.

There's a civil war brewing.

With Umbopa returning,

it may come to a head.

- I've seem them before.

- Where?

On the walls of Egyptian tombs,

exactly such cattle.

The old man said the Watussi

came here from the north.

The north could be Egypt.

Umbopa's gone.

It's unlike him to have deserted us.

Do you suppose those two

were in league with the king?

Our reception committee.

So Blue-Stripes did announce our arrival.

You'd better shove

your ammunition up the spout.

- How do we behave?

- Friendly, but aloof and dignified.

They've heard about the magic

of our weapons, so show your guns.

I don't know what you're

talking about, but lead on.

That's either a speech of welcome,

or an announcement of our imminent death.

I wasn't very successful.

They don't understand the usual dialects.

Have you seen white man?

White man? Curtis?

Wait a minute. This is the place.

This is it. Look on the king's forehead.

You know what that is?

That's an uncut diamond.

The old witch doctor's wearing one too.

If we're ever gonna find Henry Curtis,

this is the place.

- Good shot.

- We know their intentions.

They know our guns. They don't know

we only have one bullet.

Curtis.

- Curtis?

- Curtis.

Curtis.

- I hope that means he'll take us to Curtis.

- That's a chance we'll have to take.

King Solomon's Mines.

Come on, get back!

It's hopeless.

We'll never dig our way out of here.

The only end of this is suffocation.

Torches.

We've been in here for ages. The torches

should be dying for lack of air.

Well, there's some air

coming in here somewhere.

It's here. Hold this.

Come on, pull.

Take a deep breath, all right?

- The drums of the Watussi.

- Celebrating our death.

Elizabeth, can you go on?

The sooner we leave here, the better.

Poor Umbopa. He was very nearly a king.

Quick.

It's Umbopa.

The insurrection has started.

These are the rebels.

We were expecting a civil war,

weren't we?

Umbopa says by the customs of his people

two claimants to the throne...

...settle it by hand-to-hand combat.

It saves war and bloodshed.

- Do we go along?

- It'll be safer with them.

Here, take this. It's not loaded,

but nobody'll know.

Come on.

This is where the fun begins.

Look out!

It's all right now. It's all over.

It seems we're gonna live.

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