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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Finished, by H. Rider Haggard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Finished
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: April, 1999 [eBook #1724]
+[Most recently updated: February 22, 2021]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: Christopher Hapka and David Widger
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINISHED ***
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+Finished
+
+by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+Contents
+
+ INTRODUCTION
+
+ CHAPTER I. ALLAN QUATERMAIN MEETS ANSCOMBE
+ CHAPTER II. MR. MARNHAM
+ CHAPTER III. THE HUNTERS HUNTED
+ CHAPTER IV. DOCTOR RODD
+ CHAPTER V. A GAME OF CARDS
+ CHAPTER VI. MISS HEDA
+ CHAPTER VII. THE STOEP
+ CHAPTER VIII. RODD’S LAST CARD
+ CHAPTER IX. FLIGHT
+ CHAPTER X. NOMBÉ
+ CHAPTER XI. ZIKALI
+ CHAPTER XII. TRAPPED
+ CHAPTER XIII. CETEWAYO
+ CHAPTER XIV. THE VALLEY OF BONES
+ CHAPTER XV. THE GREAT COUNCIL
+ CHAPTER XVI. WAR
+ CHAPTER XVII. KAATJE BRINGS NEWS
+ CHAPTER XVIII. ISANDHLWANA
+ CHAPTER XIX. ALLAN AWAKES
+ CHAPTER XX. HEDA’S TALE
+ CHAPTER XXI. THE KING VISITS ZIKALI
+ CHAPTER XXII. THE MADNESS OF NOMBÉ
+ CHAPTER XXIII. THE KRAAL JAZI
+
+
+
+
+Ditchingham House, Norfolk,
+May, 1917.
+
+
+My dear Roosevelt,—
+
+You are, I know, a lover of old Allan Quatermain, one who understands
+and appreciates the views of life and the aspirations that underlie and
+inform his manifold adventures.
+
+Therefore, since such is your kind wish, in memory of certain hours
+wherein both of us found true refreshment and companionship amidst the
+terrible anxieties of the World’s journey along that bloodstained road
+by which alone, so it is decreed, the pure Peak of Freedom must be
+scaled, I dedicate to you this tale telling of the events and
+experiences of my youth.
+
+Your sincere friend,
+H. RIDER HAGGARD.
+
+
+To COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
+Sagamore Hill, U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+This book, although it can be read as a separate story, is the third of
+the trilogy of which _Marie_ and _Child of Storm_ are the first two
+parts. It narrates, through the mouth of Allan Quatermain, the
+consummation of the vengeance of the wizard Zikali, alias The Opener of
+Roads, or “The-Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,” upon the royal
+Zulu House of which Senzangacona was the founder and Cetewayo, our
+enemy in the war of 1879, the last representative who ruled as a king.
+Although, of course, much is added for the purposes of romance, the
+main facts of history have been adhered to with some faithfulness.
+
+With these the author became acquainted a full generation ago, Fortune
+having given him a part in the events that preceded the Zulu War.
+Indeed he believes that with the exception of Colonel Phillips, who, as
+a lieutenant, commanded the famous escort of twenty-five policemen, he
+is now the last survivor of the party who, under the leadership of Sir
+Theophilus Shepstone, or Sompseu as the natives called him from the
+Zambesi to the Cape, were concerned in the annexation of the Transvaal
+in 1877. Recently also he has been called upon as a public servant to
+revisit South Africa and took the opportunity to travel through
+Zululand, in order to refresh his knowledge of its people, their
+customs, their mysteries, and better to prepare himself for the writing
+of this book. Here he stood by the fatal Mount of Isandhlawana which,
+with some details of the battle, is described in these pages, among the
+graves of many whom once he knew, Colonels Durnford, Pulleine and
+others. Also he saw Ulundi’s plain where the traces of war still lie
+thick, and talked with an old Zulu who fought in the attacking Impi
+until it crumbled away before the fire of the Martinis and shells from
+the heavy guns. The battle of the Wall of Sheet Iron, he called it,
+perhaps because of the flashing fence of bayonets.
+
+Lastly, in a mealie patch, he found the spot on which the corn grows
+thin, where King Cetewayo breathed his last, poisoned without a doubt,
+as he has known for many years. It is to be seen at the Kraal,
+ominously named Jazi or, translated into English, “Finished.” The
+tragedy happened long ago, but even now the quiet-faced Zulu who told
+the tale, looking about him as he spoke, would not tell it all. “Yes,
+as a young man, I was there at the time, but I do not remember, I do
+not know—the Inkoosi Lundanda (i.e., this Chronicler, so named in past
+years by the Zulus) stands on the very place where the king died—His
+bed was on the left of the door-hole of the hut,” and so forth, but no
+certain word as to the exact reason of this sudden and violent death or
+by whom it was caused. The name of that destroyer of a king is for ever
+hid.
+
+In this story the actual and immediate cause of the declaration of war
+against the British Power is represented as the appearance of the white
+goddess, or spirit of the Zulus, who is, or was, called Nomkubulwana or
+Inkosazana-y-Zulu, i.e., the Princess of Heaven. The exact
+circumstances which led to this decision are not now ascertainable,
+though it is known that there was much difference of opinion among the
+Zulu Indunas or great captains, and like the writer, many believe that
+King Cetewayo was personally averse to war against his old allies, the
+English.
+
+The author’s friend, Mr. J. Y. Gibson, at present the representative of
+the Union in Zululand, writes in his admirable history: “There was a
+good deal of discussion amongst the assembled Zulu notables at Ulundi,
+but of how counsel was swayed it is not possible now to obtain a
+reliable account.”
+
+The late Mr. F. B. Fynney, F.R.G.S., who also was his friend in days
+bygone, and, with the exception of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, who
+perhaps knew the Zulus and their language better than any other
+official of his day, speaking of this fabled goddess wrote: “I remember
+that just before the Zulu War Nomkubulwana appeared revealing something
+or other which had a great effect throughout the land.”
+
+The use made of this strange traditional Guardian Angel in the
+following tale is not therefore an unsupported flight of fancy, and the
+same may be said of many other incidents, such as the account of the
+reading of the proclamation annexing the Transvaal at Pretoria in 1877,
+which have been introduced to serve the purposes of the romance.
+
+Mameena, who haunts its pages, in a literal as well as figurative
+sense, is the heroine of _Child of Storm,_ a book to which she gave her
+own poetic title.
+
+THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+1916.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+ALLAN QUATERMAIN MEETS ANSCOMBE
+
+
+You, my friend, into whose hand, if you live, I hope these scribblings
+of mine will pass one day, must well remember the 12th of April of the
+year 1877 at Pretoria. Sir Theophilus Shepstone, or Sompseu, for I
+prefer to call him by his native name, having investigated the affairs
+of the Transvaal for a couple of months or so, had made up his mind to
+annex that country to the British Crown. It so happened that I, Allan
+Quatermain, had been on a shooting and trading expedition at the back
+of the Lydenburg district where there was plenty of game to be killed
+in those times. Hearing that great events were toward I made up my
+mind, curiosity being one of my weaknesses, to come round by Pretoria,
+which after all was not very far out of my way, instead of striking
+straight back to Natal. As it chanced I reached the town about eleven
+o’clock on this very morning of the 12th of April and, trekking to the
+Church Square, proceeded to outspan there, as was usual in the
+Seventies. The place was full of people, English and Dutch together,
+and I noted that the former seemed very elated and were talking
+excitedly, while the latter for the most part appeared to be sullen and
+depressed.
+
+Presently I saw a man I knew, a tall, dark man, a very good fellow and
+an excellent shot, named Robinson. By the way you knew him also, for
+afterwards he was an officer in the Pretoria Horse at the time of the
+Zulu war, the corps in which you held a commission. I called to him and
+asked what was up.
+
+“A good deal, Allan,” he said as he shook my hand. “Indeed we shall be
+lucky if all isn’t up, or something like it, before the day is over.
+Shepstone’s Proclamation annexing the Transvaal is going to be read
+presently.”
+
+I whistled and asked,
+
+“How will our Boer friends take it? They don’t look very pleased.”
+
+“That’s just what no one knows, Allan. Burgers the President is
+squared, they say. He is to have a pension; also he thinks it the only
+thing to be done. Most of the Hollanders up here don’t like it, but I
+doubt whether they will put out their hands further than they can draw
+them back. The question is—what will be the line of the Boers
+themselves? There are a lot of them about, all armed, you see, and more
+outside the town.”
+
+“What do you think?”
+
+“Can’t tell you. Anything may happen. They may shoot Shepstone and his
+staff and the twenty-five policemen, or they may just grumble and go
+home. Probably they have no fixed plan.”
+
+“How about the English?”
+
+“Oh! we are all crazy with joy, but of course there is no organization
+and many have no arms. Also there are only a few of us.”
+
+“Well,” I answered, “I came here to look for excitement, life having
+been dull for me of late, and it seems that I have found it. Still I
+bet you those Dutchmen do nothing, except protest. They are slim and
+know that the shooting of an unarmed mission would bring England on
+their heads.”
+
+“Can’t say, I am sure. They like Shepstone who understands them, and
+the move is so bold that it takes their breath away. But as the Kaffirs
+say, when a strong wind blows a small spark will make the whole veld
+burn. It just depends upon whether the spark is there. If an Englishman
+and a Boer began to fight for instance, anything might happen. Goodbye,
+I have got a message to deliver. If things go right we might dine at
+the European tonight, and if they don’t, goodness knows where we shall
+dine.”
+
+I nodded sagely and he departed. Then I went to my wagon to tell the
+boys not to send the oxen off to graze at present, for I feared lest
+they should be stolen if there were trouble, but to keep them tied to
+the trek-tow. After this I put on the best coat and hat I had, feeling
+that as an Englishman it was my duty to look decent on such an
+occasion, washed, brushed my hair—with me a ceremony without meaning,
+for it always sticks up—and slipped a loaded Smith & Wesson revolver
+into my inner poacher pocket. Then I started out to see the fun, and
+avoiding the groups of surly-looking Boers, mingled with the crowd that
+I saw was gathering in front of a long, low building with a broad
+stoep, which I supposed, rightly, to be one of the Government offices.
+
+Presently I found myself standing by a tall, rather loosely-built man
+whose face attracted me. It was clean-shaven and much bronzed by the
+sun, but not in any way good-looking; the features were too irregular
+and the nose was a trifle too long for good looks. Still the impression
+it gave was pleasant and the steady blue eyes had that twinkle in them
+which suggests humour. He might have been thirty or thirty-five years
+of age, and notwithstanding his rough dress that consisted mainly of a
+pair of trousers held up by a belt to which hung a pistol, and a common
+flannel shirt, for he wore no coat, I guessed at once that he was
+English-born.
+
+For a while neither of us said anything after the taciturn habit of our
+people even on the veld, and indeed I was fully occupied in listening
+to the truculent talk of a little party of mounted Boers behind us. I
+put my pipe into my mouth and began to hunt for my tobacco, taking the
+opportunity to show the hilt of my revolver, so that these men might
+see that I was armed. It was not to be found, I had left it in the
+wagon.
+
+“If you smoke Boer tobacco,” said the stranger, “I can help you,” and I
+noted that the voice was as pleasant as the face, and knew at once that
+the owner of it was a gentleman.
+
+“Thank you, Sir. I never smoke anything else,” I answered, whereon he
+produced from his trousers pocket a pouch made of lion skin of
+unusually dark colour.
+
+“I never saw a lion as black as this, except once beyond Buluwayo on
+the borders of Lobengula’s country,” I said by way of making
+conversation.
+
+“Curious,” answered the stranger, “for that’s where I shot the brute a
+few months ago. I tried to keep the whole skin but the white ants got
+at it.”
+
+“Been trading up there?” I asked.
+
+“Nothing so useful,” he said. “Just idling and shooting. Came to this
+country because it was one of the very few I had never seen, and have
+only been here a year. I think I have had about enough of it, though.
+Can you tell me of any boats running from Durban to India? I should
+like to see those wild sheep in Kashmir.”
+
+I told him that I did not know for certain as I had never taken any
+interest in India, being an African elephant-hunter and trader, but I
+thought they did occasionally. Just then Robinson passed by and called
+to me—
+
+“They’ll be here presently, Quatermain, but Sompseu isn’t coming
+himself.”
+
+“Does your name happen to be Allan Quatermain?” asked the stranger. “If
+so I have heard plenty about you up in Lobengula’s country, and of your
+wonderful shooting.”
+
+“Yes,” I replied, “but as for the shooting, natives always exaggerate.”
+
+“They never exaggerated about mine,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
+“Anyhow I am very glad to see you in the flesh, though in the spirit
+you rather bored me because I heard too much of you. Whenever I made a
+particularly bad miss, my gun-bearer, who at some time seems to have
+been yours, would say, ‘Ah! if only it had been the Inkosi Macumazahn,
+how different would have been the end!’ My name is Anscombe, Maurice
+Anscombe,” he added rather shyly. (Afterwards I discovered from a book
+of reference that he was a younger son of Lord Mountford, one of the
+richest peers in England.)
+
+Then we both laughed and he said—
+
+“Tell me, Mr. Quatermain, if you will, what those Boers are saying
+behind us. I am sure it is something unpleasant, but as the only Dutch
+I know is ‘Guten Tag’ and ‘Vootsack’ (Good-day and Get out) that takes
+me no forwarder.”
+
+“It ought to,” I answered, “for the substance of their talk is that
+they object to be ‘vootsacked’ by the British Government as represented
+by Sir Theophilus Shepstone. They are declaring that they won the land
+‘with their blood’ and want to keep their own flag flying over it.”
+
+“A very natural sentiment,” broke in Anscombe.
+
+“They say that they wish to shoot all damned Englishmen, especially
+Shepstone and his people, and that they would make a beginning now were
+they not afraid that the damned English Government, being angered,
+would send thousands of damned English rooibatjes, that is, red-coats,
+and shoot _them_ out of evil revenge.”
+
+“A very natural conclusion,” laughed Anscombe again, “which I should
+advise them to leave untested. Hush! Here comes the show.”
+
+I looked and saw a body of blackcoated gentlemen with one officer in
+the uniform of a Colonel of Engineers, advancing slowly. I remember
+that it reminded me of a funeral procession following the corpse of the
+Republic that had gone on ahead out of sight. The procession arrived
+upon the stoep opposite to us and began to sort itself out, whereon the
+English present raised a cheer and the Boers behind us cursed audibly.
+In the middle appeared an elderly gentleman with whiskers and a stoop,
+in whom I recognized Mr. Osborn, known by the Kaffirs as Malimati, the
+Chief of the Staff. By his side was a tall young fellow, yourself, my
+friend, scarcely more than a lad then, carrying papers. The rest stood
+to right and left in a formal line. _You_ gave a printed document to
+Mr. Osborn who put on his glasses and began to read in a low voice
+which few could hear, and I noticed that his hand trembled. Presently
+he grew confused, lost his place, found it, lost it again and came to a
+full stop.
+
+“A nervous-natured man,” remarked Mr. Anscombe. “Perhaps he thinks that
+those gentlemen are going to shoot.”
+
+“That wouldn’t trouble him,” I answered, who knew him well. “His fears
+are purely mental.”
+
+That was true since I know that this same Sir Melmoth Osborn as he is
+now, as I have told in the book I called _Child of Storm_, swam the
+Tugela alone to watch the battle of Indondakasuka raging round him, and
+on another occasion killed two Kaffirs rushing at him with a right and
+left shot without turning a hair. It was reading this paper that
+paralyzed him, not any fear of what might happen.
+
+There followed a very awkward pause such as occurs when a man breaks
+down in a speech. The members of the Staff looked at him and at each
+other, then behold! you, my friend, grabbed the paper from his hand and
+went on reading it in a loud clear voice.
+
+“That young man has plenty of nerve,” said Mr. Anscombe.
+
+“Yes,” I replied in a whisper. “Quite right though. Would have been a
+bad omen if the thing had come to a stop.”
+
+Well, there were no more breakdowns, and at last the long document was
+finished and the Transvaal annexed. The Britishers began to cheer but
+stopped to listen to the formal protest of the Boer Government, if it
+could be called a government when everything had collapsed and the
+officials were being paid in postage stamps. I can’t remember whether
+this was read by President Burgers himself or by the officer who was
+called State Secretary. Anyway, it was read, after which there came an
+awkward pause as though people were waiting to see something happen. I
+looked round at the Boers who were muttering and handling their rifles
+uneasily. Had they found a leader I really think that some of the
+wilder spirits among them would have begun to shoot, but none appeared
+and the crisis passed.
+
+The crowd began to disperse, the English among them cheering and
+throwing up their hats, the Dutch with very sullen faces. The
+Commissioner’s staff went away as it had come, back to the building
+with blue gums in front of it, which afterwards became Government
+House, that is all except you. You started across the square alone with
+a bundle of printed proclamations in your hand which evidently you had
+been charged to leave at the various public offices.
+
+“Let us follow him,” I said to Mr. Anscombe. “He might get into trouble
+and want a friend.”
+
+He nodded and we strolled after you unostentatiously. Sure enough you
+nearly did get into trouble. In front of the first office door to which
+you came, stood a group of Boers, two of whom, big fellows, drew
+together with the evident intention of barring your way.
+
+“Mynheeren,” you said, “I pray you to let me pass on the Queen’s
+business.”
+
+They took no heed except to draw closer together and laugh insolently.
+Again you made your request and again they laughed. Then I saw you lift
+your leg and deliberately stamp upon the foot of one of the Boers. He
+drew back with an exclamation, and for a moment I believed that he or
+his fellow was going to do something violent. Perhaps they thought
+better of it, or perhaps they saw us two Englishmen behind and noticed
+Anscombe’s pistol. At any rate you marched into the office triumphant
+and delivered your document.
+
+“Neatly done,” said Mr. Anscombe.
+
+“Rash,” I said, shaking my head, “very rash. Well, he’s young and must
+be excused.”
+
+But from that moment I took a great liking to you, my friend, perhaps
+because I wondered whether in your place I should have been daredevil
+enough to act in the same way. For you see I am English, and I like to
+see an Englishman hold his own against odds and keep up the credit of
+the country. Although, of course, I sympathized with the Boers who,
+through their own fault, were losing their land without a blow struck.
+As you know well, for you were living near Majuba at the time, plenty
+of blows were struck afterwards, but of that business I cannot bear to
+write. I wonder how it will all work out after I am dead and if I shall
+ever learn what happens in the end.
+
+Now I have only mentioned this business of the Annexation and the part
+you played in it, because it was on that occasion that I became
+acquainted with Anscombe. For you have nothing to do with this story
+which is about the destruction of the Zulus, the accomplishment of the
+vengeance of Zikali the wizard at the kraal named Finished, and
+incidentally, the love affairs of two people in which that old wizard
+took a hand, as I did to my sorrow.
+
+It happened that Mr. Anscombe had ridden on ahead of his wagons which
+could not arrive at Pretoria for a day or two, and as he found it
+impossible to get accommodation at the _European_ or elsewhere, I
+offered to let him sleep in mine, or rather alongside in a tent I had.
+He accepted and soon we became very good friends. Before the day was
+out I discovered that he had served in a crack cavalry regiment, but
+resigned his commission some years before. I asked him why.
+
+“Well,” he said, “I came into a good lot of money on my mother’s death
+and could not see a prospect of any active service. While the regiment
+was abroad I liked the life well enough, but at home it bored me. Too
+much society for my taste, and that sort of thing. Also I wanted to
+travel; nothing else really amuses me.”
+
+“You will soon get tired of it,” I answered, “and as you are well off,
+marry some fine lady and settle down at home.”
+
+“Don’t think so. I doubt if I should ever be happily married, I want
+too much. One doesn’t pick up an earthly angel with a cast-iron
+constitution who adores you, which are the bare necessities of
+marriage, under every bush.” Here I laughed. “Also,” he added, the
+laughter going out of his eyes, “I have had enough of fine ladies and
+their ways.”
+
+“Marriage is better than scrapes,” I remarked sententiously.
+
+“Quite so, but one might get them both together. No, I shall never
+marry, although I suppose I ought as my brothers have no children.”
+
+“Won’t you, my friend,” thought I to myself, “when the skin grows again
+on your burnt fingers.”
+
+For I was sure they had been burnt, perhaps more than once. How, I
+never learned, for which I am rather sorry for it interests me to study
+burnt fingers, if they do not happen to be my own. Then we changed the
+subject.
+
+Anscombe’s wagons were delayed for a day or two by a broken axle or a
+bog hole, I forget which. So, as I had nothing particular to do until
+the Natal post-cart left, we spent the time in wandering about
+Pretoria, which did not take us long as it was but a little dorp in
+those days, and chatting with all and sundry. Also we went up to
+Government House as it was now called, and left cards, or rather wrote
+our names in a book for we had no cards, being told by one of the Staff
+whom we met that we should do so. An hour later a note arrived asking
+us both to dinner that night and telling us very nicely not to mind if
+we had no dress things. Of course we had to go, Anscombe rigged up in
+my second best clothes that did not fit him in the least, as he was a
+much taller man than I am, and a black satin bow that he had bought at
+Becket’s Store together with a pair of shiny pumps.
+
+I actually met you, my friend, for the first time that evening, and in
+trouble too, though you may have forgotten the incident. We had made a
+mistake about the time of dinner, and arriving half an hour too soon,
+were shown into a long room that opened on to the verandah. You were
+working there, being I believe a private secretary at the time, copying
+some despatch; I think you said that which gave an account of the
+Annexation. The room was lit by a paraffin lamp behind you, for it was
+quite dark and the window was open, or at any rate unshuttered. The
+gentleman who showed us in, seeing that you were very busy, took us to
+the far end of the room, where we stood talking in the shadow. Just
+then a door opened opposite to that which led to the verandah, and
+through it came His Excellency the Administrator, Sir Theophilus
+Shepstone, a stout man of medium height with a very clever, thoughtful
+face, as I have always thought, one of the greatest of African
+statesmen. He did not see us, but he caught sight of you and said
+testily—
+
+“Are you mad?” To which you answered with a laugh—
+
+“I hope not more than usual, Sir, but why?”
+
+“Have I not told you always to let down the blinds after dark? Yet
+there you sit with your head against the light, about the best target
+for a bullet that could be imagined.”
+
+“I don’t think the Boers would trouble to shoot me, Sir. If you had
+been here I would have drawn the blinds and shut the shutters too,” you
+answered, laughing again.
+
+“Go to dress or you will be late for dinner,” he said still rather
+sternly, and you went. But when you had gone and after we had been
+announced to him, he smiled and added something which I will not repeat
+to you even now. I think it was about what you did on the Annexation
+day of which the story had come to him.
+
+I mention this incident because whenever I think of Shepstone, whom I
+had known off and on for years in the way that a hunter knows a
+prominent Government official, it always recurs to my mind, embodying
+as it does his caution and appreciation of danger derived from long
+experience of the country, and the sternness he sometimes affected
+which could never conceal his love towards his friends. Oh! there was
+greatness in this man, although they did call him an “African
+Talleyrand.” If it had not been so would every native from the Cape to
+the Zambesi have known and revered his name, as perhaps that of no
+other white man has been revered? But I must get on with my tale and
+leave historical discussions to others more fitted to deal with them.
+
+We had a very pleasant dinner that night, although I was so ashamed of
+my clothes with smart uniforms and white ties all about me, and
+Anscombe kept fidgeting his feet because he was suffering agony from
+his new pumps which were a size too small. Everybody was in the best of
+spirits, for from all directions came the news that the Annexation was
+well received and that the danger of any trouble had passed away. Ah!
+if we had only known what the end of it would be!
+
+It was on our way back to the wagon that I chanced to mention to
+Anscombe that there was still a herd of buffalo within a few days’ trek
+of Lydenburg, of which I had shot two not a month before.
+
+“Are there, by Jove!” he said. “As it happens I never got a buffalo;
+always I just missed them in one sense or another, and I can’t leave
+Africa with a pair of bought horns. Let’s go there and shoot some.”
+
+I shook my head and replied that I had been idling long enough and must
+try to make some money, news at which he seemed very disappointed.
+
+“Look here,” he said, “forgive me for mentioning it, but business is
+business. If you’ll come you shan’t be a loser.”
+
+Again I shook my head, whereat he looked more disappointed than before.
+
+“Very well,” he exclaimed, “then I must go alone. For kill a buffalo I
+will; that is unless the buffalo kills me, in which case my blood will
+be on your hands.”
+
+I don’t know why, but at that moment there came into my mind a
+conviction that if he did go alone a buffalo or something would kill
+him and that then I should be sorry all my life.
+
+“They are dangerous brutes, much worse than lions,” I said.
+
+“And yet you, who pretend to have a conscience, would expose me to
+their rage unprotected and alone,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye
+which I could see even by moonlight. “Oh! Quatermain, how I have been
+mistaken in your character.”
+
+“Look here, Mr. Anscombe,” I said, “it’s no use. I cannot possibly go
+on a shooting expedition with you just now. Only to-day I have heard
+from Natal that my boy is not well and must undergo an operation which
+will lay him up for quite six weeks, and may be dangerous. So I must
+get down to Durban before it takes place. After that I have a contract
+in Matabeleland whence you have just come, to take charge of a trading
+store there for a year; also perhaps to try to shoot a little ivory for
+myself. So I am fully booked up till, let us say, October, 1878, that
+is for about eighteen months, by which time I daresay I shall be dead.”
+
+“Eighteen months,” replied this cool young man. “That will suit me very
+well. I will go on to India as I intended, then home for a bit and will
+meet you on the 1st of October, 1878, after which we will proceed to
+the Lydenburg district and shoot those buffalo, or if they have
+departed, other buffalo. Is it a bargain?”
+
+I stared at him, thinking that the Administrator’s champagne had got
+into his head.
+
+“Nonsense,” I exclaimed. “Who knows where you will be in eighteen
+months? Why, by that time you will have forgotten all about me.”
+
+“If I am alive and well, on the 1st of October, 1878, I shall be
+exactly where I am now, upon this very square in Pretoria, with a
+wagon, or wagons, prepared for a hunting trip. But as not unnaturally
+you have doubts upon that point, I am prepared to pay forfeit if I
+fail, or even if circumstances cause you to fail.”
+
+Here he took a cheque-book from his letter-case and spread it out on
+the little table in the tent, on which there were ink and a pen,
+adding—
+
+“Now, Mr. Quatermain, will it meet your views if I fill this up for
+£250?”
+
+“No,” I answered; “taking everything into consideration the sum is
+excessive. But if you do not mind facing the risks of my
+non-appearance, to say nothing of your own, you may make it £50.”
+
+“You are very moderate in your demands,” he said as he handed me the
+cheque which I put in my pocket, reflecting that it would just pay for
+my son’s operation.
+
+“And you are very foolish in your offers,” I replied. “Tell me, why do
+you make such crack-brained arrangements?”
+
+“I don’t quite know. Something in me seems to say that we _shall_ make
+this expedition and that it will have a very important effect upon my
+life. Mind you, it is to be to the Lydenburg district and nowhere else.
+And now I am tired, so let’s turn in.”
+
+Next morning we parted and went our separate ways.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+MR. MARNHAM
+
+
+So much for preliminaries, now for the story.
+
+The eighteen months had gone by, bringing with them to me their share
+of adventure, weal and woe, with all of which at present I have no
+concern. Behold me arriving very hot and tired in the post-cart from
+Kimberley, whither I had gone to invest what I had saved out of my
+Matabeleland contract in a very promising speculation whereof, today,
+the promise remains and no more. I had been obliged to leave Kimberley
+in a great hurry, before I ought indeed, because of the silly bargain
+which I have just recorded. Of course I was sure that I should never
+see Mr. Anscombe again, especially as I had heard nothing of him during
+all this while, and had no reason to suppose that he was in Africa.
+Still I had taken his £50 and he _might_ come. Also I have always
+prided myself upon keeping an appointment.
+
+The post-cart halted with a jerk in front of the _European Hotel_, and
+I crawled, dusty and tired, from its interior, to find myself face to
+face with Anscombe, who was smoking a pipe upon the stoep!
+
+“Hullo, Quatermain,” he said in his pleasant, drawling voice, “here you
+are, up to time. I have been making bets with these five gentlemen,”
+and he nodded at a group of loungers on the stoep, “as to whether you
+would or would not appear, I putting ten to one on you in drinks.
+Therefore you must now consume five whiskies and sodas, which will save
+them from consuming fifty and a subsequent appearance at the Police
+Court.”
+
+I laughed and said I would be their debtor to the extent of one, which
+was duly produced.
+
+After it was drunk Anscombe and I had a chat. He said that he had been
+to India, shot, or shot at whatever game he meant to kill there,
+visited his relations in England and thence proceeded to keep his
+appointment with me in Africa. At Durban he had fitted himself out in a
+regal way with two wagons, full teams, and some spare oxen, and trekked
+to Pretoria where he had arrived a few days before. Now he was ready to
+start for the Lydenburg district and look for those buffalo.
+
+“But,” I said, “the buffalo probably long ago departed. Also there has
+been a war with Sekukuni, the Basuto chief who rules all that country,
+which remains undecided, although I believe some kind of a peace has
+been patched up. This may make hunting in this neighborhood dangerous.
+Why not try some other ground, to the north of the Transvaal, for
+instance?”
+
+“Quatermain,” he answered, “I have come all the way from England, I
+will not say to kill, but to try to kill buffalo in the Lydenburg
+district, with you if possible, if not, without you, and thither I am
+going. If you think it unsafe to accompany me, don’t come; I will get
+on as best I can alone, or with some other skilled person if I can find
+one.”
+
+“If you put it like that I shall certainly come,” I replied, “with the
+proviso that should the buffalo prove to be non-existent or the pursuit
+of them impossible, we either give up the trip, or go somewhere else,
+perhaps to the country at the back of Delagoa Bay.”
+
+“Agreed,” he said; after which we discussed terms, he paying me my
+salary in advance.
+
+On further consideration we determined, as two were quite unnecessary
+for a trip of the sort, to leave one of my wagons and half the cattle
+in charge of a very respectable man, a farmer who lived about five
+miles from Pretoria just over the pass near to the famous Wonder-boom
+tree which is one of the sights of the place. Should we need this wagon
+it could always be sent for; or, if we found the Lydenburg
+hunting-ground, which he was so set upon visiting, unproductive or
+impossible, we could return to Pretoria over the high-veld and pick it
+up before proceeding elsewhere.
+
+These arrangements took us a couple of days or so. On the third we
+started, without seeing you, my friend, or any one else that I knew,
+since just at that time every one seemed to be away from Pretoria. You,
+I remember, had by now become the Master of the High Court and were,
+they informed me at your office, absent on circuit.
+
+The morning of our departure was particularly lovely and we trekked
+away in the best of spirits, as so often happens to people who are
+marching into trouble. Of our journey there is little to say as
+everything went smoothly, so that we arrived at the edge of the
+high-veld feeling as happy as the country which has no history is
+reported to do. Our road led us past the little mining settlement of
+Pilgrim’s Rest where a number of adventurous spirits, most of them
+English, were engaged in washing for gold, a job at which I once took a
+turn near this very place without any startling success. Of the
+locality I need only say that the mountainous scenery is among the most
+beautiful, the hills are the steepest and the roads are, or were, the
+worst that I have ever travelled over in a wagon.
+
+However, “going softly” as the natives say, we negotiated them without
+accident and, leaving Pilgrim’s Rest behind us, began to descend
+towards the low-veld where I was informed a herd of buffalo could still
+be found, since, owing to the war with Sekukuni, no one had shot at
+them of late. This war had been suspended for a while, and the
+Land-drost at Pilgrim’s Rest told me he thought it would be safe to
+hunt on the borders of that Chief’s country, though he should not care
+to do so himself.
+
+Game of the smaller sort began to be plentiful about here, so not more
+than a dozen miles from Pilgrim’s Rest we outspanned early in the
+afternoon to try to get a blue wildebeeste or two, for I had seen the
+spoor of these creatures in a patch of soft ground, or failing them
+some other buck. Accordingly, leaving the wagon by a charming stream
+that wound and gurgled over a bed of granite, we mounted our salted
+horses, which were part of Anscombe’s outfit, and set forth rejoicing.
+Riding through the scattered thorns and following the spoor where I
+could, within half an hour we came to a little glade. There, not fifty
+yards away, I caught sight of a single blue wildebeeste bull standing
+in the shadow of the trees on the further side of the glade, and
+pointed out the ugly beast, for it is the most grotesque of all the
+antelopes, to Anscombe.
+
+“Off you get,” I whispered. “It’s a lovely shot, you can’t miss it.”
+
+“Oh, can’t I!” replied Anscombe. “Do you shoot.”
+
+I refused, so he dismounted, giving me his horse to hold, and kneeling
+down solemnly and slowly covered the bull. Bang went his rifle, and I
+saw a bough about a yard above the wildebeeste fall on to its back. Off
+it went like lightning, whereon Anscombe let drive with the left barrel
+of the Express, almost at hazard as it seemed to me, and by some chance
+hit it above the near fore-knee, breaking its leg.
+
+“That was a good shot,” he cried, jumping on to his horse.
+
+“Excellent,” I answered. “But what are you going to do?”
+
+“Catch it. It is cruel to leave a wounded animal,” and off he started.
+
+Of course I had to follow, but the ensuing ride remains among the more
+painful of my hunting memories. We tore through thorn trees that
+scratched my face and damaged my clothes; we struck a patch of antbear
+holes, into one of which my horse fell so that my stomach bumped
+against its head; we slithered down granite koppies, and this was the
+worst of it, at the end of each chapter, so to speak, always caught
+sight of that accursed bull which I fondly hoped would have vanished
+into space. At length after half an hour or so of this game we reached
+a stretch of open, rolling ground, and there not fifty yards ahead of
+us was the animal still going like a hare, though how it could do so on
+three legs I am sure I do not know. We coursed it like greyhounds, till
+at last Anscombe, whose horse was the faster, came alongside of the
+exhausted creature, whereon it turned suddenly and charged.
+
+Anscombe held out his rifle in his right hand and pulled the trigger,
+which, as he had forgotten to reload it, was a mere theatrical
+performance. Next second there was such a mix-up that for a while I
+could not distinguish which was Anscombe, which was the wildebeeste,
+and which the horse. They all seemed to be going round and round in a
+cloud of dust. When things settled themselves a little I discovered the
+horse rolling on the ground, Anscombe on his back with his hands up in
+an attitude of prayer and the wildebeeste trying to make up its mind
+which of them it should finish first. I settled the poor thing’s doubts
+by shooting it through the heart, which I flatter myself was rather
+clever of me under the circumstances. Then I dismounted to examine
+Anscombe, who, I presumed, was done for. Not a bit of it. There he sat
+upon the ground blowing like a blacksmith’s bellows and panting out—
+
+“What a glorious gallop. I finished it very well, didn’t I? You
+couldn’t have made a better shot yourself.”
+
+“Yes,” I answered, “you finished it very well as you will find out if
+you will take the trouble to open your rifle and count your cartridges.
+I may add that if we are going to hunt together I hope you will never
+lead me such a fool’s chase again.”
+
+He rose, opened the rifle and saw that it was empty, for although he
+had never re-loaded he had thrown out the two cartridges which he had
+discharged in the glen.
+
+“By Jingo,” he said, “you must have shot it, though I could have sworn
+that it was I. Quatermain, has it ever struck you what a strange thing
+is the human imagination?”
+
+“Drat the human imagination,” I answered, wiping away the blood that
+was trickling into my eye from a thorn scratch. “Let’s look at your
+horse. If it is lamed you will have to ride Imagination back to the
+wagon which must be six miles away, that is if we can find it before
+dark.”
+
+Sighing out something about a painfully practical mind, he obeyed, and
+when the beast was proved to be nothing more than blown and a little
+bruised, made remarks as to the inadvisability of dwelling on future
+evil events, which I reminded him had already been better summed up in
+the New Testament.
+
+After this we contemplated the carcase of the wildebeeste which it
+seemed a pity to leave to rot. Just then Anscombe, who had moved a few
+yards to the right out of the shadow of an obstructing tree, exclaimed—
+
+“I say, Quatermain, come here and tell me if I have been knocked silly,
+or if I really see a quite uncommon kind of house built in ancient
+Greek style set in a divine landscape.”
+
+“Temple to Diana, I expect,” I remarked as I joined him on the further
+side of the tree.
+
+I looked and rubbed my eyes. There, about half a mile away, situated in
+a bay of the sweeping hills and overlooking the measureless expanse of
+bush-veld beneath, was a remarkable house, at least for those days and
+that part of Africa. To begin with the situation was superb. It stood
+on a green and swelling mound behind which was a wooded kloof where ran
+a stream that at last precipitated itself in a waterfall over a great
+cliff. Then in front was that glorious view of the bush-veld, at which
+a man might look for a lifetime and not grow tired, stretching away to
+the Oliphant’s river and melting at last into the dim line of the
+horizon.
+
+The house itself also, although not large, was of a kind new to me. It
+was deep, but narrow fronted, and before it were four columns that
+carried the roof which projected so as to form a wide verandah.
+Moreover it seemed to be built of marble which glistened like snow in
+the setting sun. In short in that lonely wilderness, at any rate from
+this distance, it did look like the deserted shrine of some forgotten
+god.
+
+“Well, I’m bothered!” I said.
+
+“So am I,” answered Anscombe, “to know the name of the Lydenburg
+district architect whom I should like to employ; though I suspect it is
+the surroundings that make the place look so beautiful. Hullo! here
+comes somebody, but he doesn’t look like an architect; he looks like a
+wicked baronet disguised as a Boer.”
+
+True enough, round a clump of bush appeared an unusual looking person,
+mounted on a very good horse. He was tall, thin and old, at least he
+had a long white beard which suggested age, although his figure, so far
+as it could be seen beneath his rough clothes, seemed vigorous. His
+face was clean cut and handsome, with a rather hooked nose, and his
+eyes were grey, but as I saw when he came up to us, somewhat bloodshot
+at the corners. His general aspect was refined and benevolent, and as
+soon as he opened his mouth I perceived that he was a person of gentle
+breeding.
+
+And yet there was something about him, something in his atmosphere, so
+to speak, that I did not like. Before we parted that evening I felt
+sure that in one way or another he was a wrong-doer, not straight; also
+that he had a violent temper.
+
+He rode up to us and asked in a pleasant voice, although the manner of
+his question, which was put in bad Dutch, was not pleasant,
+
+“Who gave you leave to shoot on our land?”
+
+“I did not know that any leave was required; it is not customary in
+these parts,” I answered politely in English. “Moreover, this buck was
+wounded miles away.”
+
+“Oh!” he exclaimed in the same tongue, “that makes a difference, though
+I expect it was still on our land, for we have a lot; it is cheap about
+here.” Then after studying a little, he added apologetically, “You
+mustn’t think me strange, but the fact is my daughter hates things to
+be killed near the house, which is why there’s so much game about.”
+
+“Then pray make her our apologies,” said Anscombe, “and say that it
+shall not happen again.”
+
+He stroked his long beard and looked at us, for by now he had
+dismounted, then said—
+
+“Might I ask you gentlemen your names?”
+
+“Certainly,” I replied. “I am Allan Quatermain and my friend is the
+Hon. Maurice Anscombe.”
+
+He started and said—
+
+“Of Allan Quatermain of course I have heard. The natives told me that
+you were trekking to those parts; and if you, sir, are one of Lord
+Mountford’s sons, oddly enough I think I must have known your father in
+my youth. Indeed I served with him in the Guards.”
+
+“How very strange,” said Anscombe. “He’s dead now and my brother is
+Lord Mountford. Do you like life here better than that in the Guards? I
+am sure I should.”
+
+“Both of them have their advantages,” he answered evasively, “of which,
+if, as I think, you are also a soldier, you can judge for yourself. But
+won’t you come up to the house? My daughter Heda is away, and my
+partner Mr. Rodd” (as he mentioned this name I saw a blue vein, which
+showed above his cheek bone, swell as though under pressure of some
+secret emotion) “is a retiring sort of a man—indeed some might think
+him sulky until they came to know him. Still, we can make you
+comfortable and even give you a decent bottle of wine.”
+
+“No, thank you very much,” I answered, “we must get back to the wagon
+or our servants will think that we have come to grief. Perhaps you will
+accept the wildebeeste if it is of any use to you.”
+
+“Very well,” he said in a voice that suggested regret struggling with
+relief. To the buck he made no allusion, perhaps because he considered
+that it was already his own property. “Do you know your way? I believe
+your wagon is camped out there to the east by what we call the Granite
+stream. If you follow this Kaffir path,” and he pointed to a track near
+by, “it will take you quite close.”
+
+“Where does the path run to?” I asked. “There are no kraals about, are
+there?”
+
+“Oh! to the Temple, as my daughter calls our house. My partner and I
+are labour agents, we recruit natives for the Kimberley Mines,” he said
+in explanation, adding, “Where do you propose to shoot?”
+
+I told him.
+
+“Isn’t that rather a risky district?” he said. “I think that Sekukuni
+will soon be giving more trouble, although there is a truce between him
+and the English. Still he might send a regiment to raid that way.”
+
+I wondered how our friend knew so much of Sekukuni’s possible
+intentions, but only answered that I was accustomed to deal with
+natives and did not fear them.
+
+“Ah!” he said, “well, you know your own business best. But if you
+should get into any difficulty, make straight for this place. The
+Basutos will not interfere with you here.”
+
+Again I wondered why the Basutos should look upon this particular spot
+as sacred, but thinking it wisest to ask no questions, I only answered—
+
+“Thank you very much. We’ll bear your invitation in mind, Mr.—”
+
+“Marnham.”
+
+“Marnham,” I repeated after him. “Good-bye and many thanks for your
+kindness.”
+
+“One question,” broke in Anscombe, “if you will not think me rude. What
+is the name of the architect who designed that most romantic-looking
+house of yours which seems to be built of marble?”
+
+“My daughter designed it, or at least I think she copied it from some
+old drawing of a ruin. Also it _is_ marble; there’s a whole hill of the
+stuff not a hundred yards from the door, so it was cheaper to use than
+anything else. I hope you will come and see it on your way back, though
+it is not as fine as it appears from a distance. It would be very
+pleasant after all these years to talk to an English gentleman again.”
+
+Then we parted, I rather offended because he did not seem to include me
+in the description, he calling after us—
+
+“Stick close to the path through the patch of big trees, for the ground
+is rather swampy there and it’s getting dark.”
+
+Presently we came to the place he mentioned where the timber, although
+scattered, was quite large for South Africa, of the yellow-wood
+species, and interspersed wherever the ground was dry with huge
+euphorbias, of which the tall finger-like growths and sad grey
+colouring looked unreal and ghostlike in the waning light. Following
+the advice given to us, we rode in single file along the narrow path,
+fearing lest otherwise we should tumble into some bog hole, until we
+came to higher land covered with the scattered thorns of the country.
+
+“Did that bush give you any particular impression?” asked Anscombe a
+minute or two later.
+
+“Yes,” I answered, “it gave me the impression that we might catch fever
+there. See the mist that lies over it,” and turning in my saddle I
+pointed with the rifle in my hand to what looked like a mass of cotton
+wool over which, without permeating it, hung the last red glow of
+sunset, producing a curious and indeed rather unearthly effect. “I
+expect that thousands of years ago there was a lake yonder, which is
+why trees grow so big in the rich soil.”
+
+“You are curiously mundane, Quatermain,” he answered. “I ask you of
+spiritual impressions and you dilate to me of geological formations and
+the growth of timber. You felt nothing in the spiritual line?”
+
+“I felt nothing except a chill,” I answered, for I was tired and
+hungry. “What the devil are you driving at?”
+
+“Have you got that flask of Hollands about you, Quatermain?”
+
+“Oh! those are the spirits you are referring to,” I remarked with
+sarcasm as I handed it to him.
+
+He took a good pull and replied—
+
+“Not at all, except in the sense that bad spirits require good spirits
+to correct them, as the Bible teaches. To come to facts,” he added in a
+changed voice, “I have never been in a place that depressed me more
+than that thrice accursed patch of bush.”
+
+“Why did it depress you?” I asked, studying him as well as I could in
+the fading light. To tell the truth I feared lest he had knocked his
+head when the wildebeeste upset him, and was suffering from delayed
+concussion.
+
+“Can’t tell you, Quatermain. I don’t look like a criminal, do I? Well,
+I entered those trees feeling a fairly honest man, and I came out of
+them feeling like a murderer. It was as though something terrible had
+happened to me there; it was as though I had killed someone there.
+Ugh!” and he shivered and took another pull at the Hollands.
+
+“What bosh!” I said. “Besides, even if it were to come true, I am sorry
+to say I’ve killed lots of men in the way of business and they don’t
+bother me overmuch.”
+
+“Did you ever kill one to win a woman?”
+
+“Certainly not. Why, that would be murder. How can you ask me such a
+thing? But I have killed several to win cattle,” I reflected aloud,
+remembering my expedition with Saduko against the chief Bangu, and some
+other incidents in my career.
+
+“I appreciate the difference, Quatermain. If you kill for cows, it is
+justifiable homicide; if you kill for women, it is murder.”
+
+“Yes,” I replied, “that is how it seems to work out in Africa. You see,
+women are higher in the scale of creation than cows, therefore crimes
+committed for their sake are enormously greater than those committed
+for cows, which just makes the difference between justifiable homicide
+and murder.”
+
+“Good lord! what an argument,” he exclaimed and relapsed into silence.
+Had he been accustomed to natives and their ways he would have
+understood the point much better than he did, though I admit it is
+difficult to explain.
+
+In due course we reached the wagon without further trouble. While we
+were shielding our pipes after an excellent supper I asked Anscombe his
+impressions of Mr. Marnham.
+
+“Queer cove, I think,” he answered. “Been a gentleman, too, and still
+keeps the manners, which isn’t strange if he is one of the Marnhams,
+for they are a good family. I wonder he mentioned having served with my
+father.”
+
+“It slipped out of him. Men who live a lot alone are apt to be
+surprised into saying things they regret afterwards, as I noticed he
+did. But why do you wonder?”
+
+“Because as it happens, although I have only just recalled it, my
+father used to tell some story about a man named Marnham in his
+regiment. I can’t remember the details, but it had to do with cards
+when high stakes were being played for, and with the striking of a
+superior officer in the quarrel that ensued, as a result of which the
+striker was requested to send in his papers.”
+
+“It may not have been the same man.”
+
+“Perhaps not, for I believe that more than one Marnham served in that
+regiment. But I remember my father saying, by way of excuse for the
+person concerned, that he had a most ungovernable temper. I think he
+added, that he left the country and took service in some army on the
+Continent. I should rather like to clear the thing up.”
+
+“It isn’t probable that you will, for even if you should ever meet this
+Marnham again, I fancy you would find he held his tongue about his
+acquaintance with your father.”
+
+“I wonder what Miss Heda is like,” went on Anscombe after a pause. “I
+am curious to see a girl who designs a house on the model of an ancient
+ruin.”
+
+“Well, you won’t, for she’s away somewhere. Besides we are looking for
+buffalo, not girls, which is a good thing as they are less dangerous.”
+
+I spoke thus decisively because I had taken a dislike to Mr. Marnham
+and everything to do with him, and did not wish to encourage the idea
+of further meetings.
+
+“No, never, I suppose. And yet I feel as though I were certainly
+destined to see that accursed yellow-wood swamp again.”
+
+“Nonsense,” I replied as I rose to turn in. Ah! if I had but known!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+THE HUNTERS HUNTED
+
+
+While I was taking off my boots I heard a noise of jabbering in some
+native tongue which I took to be Sisutu, and not wishing to go to the
+trouble of putting them on again, called to the driver of the wagon to
+find out what it was. This man was a Cape Colony Kaffir, a Fingo I
+think, with a touch of Hottentot in him. He was an excellent driver,
+indeed I do not think I have ever seen a better, and by no means a bad
+shot. Among Europeans he rejoiced in the name of Footsack, a Boer Dutch
+term which is generally addressed to troublesome dogs and means “Get
+out.” To tell the truth, had I been his master he would have got out,
+as I suspected him of drinking, and generally did not altogether trust
+him. Anscombe, however, was fond of him because he had shown courage in
+some hunting adventure in Matabeleland, I think it was at the shooting
+of that very dark-coloured lion whose skin had been the means of making
+us acquainted nearly two years before. Indeed he said that on this
+occasion Footsack had saved his life, though from all that I could
+gather I do not think this was quite the case. Also the man, who had
+been on many hunting trips with sportsmen, could talk Dutch well and
+English enough to make himself understood, and therefore was useful.
+
+He went as I bade him, and coming back presently, told me that a party
+of Basutos, about thirty in number, who were returning from Kimberley,
+where they had been at work in the mines, under the leadership of a
+Bastard named Karl, asked leave to camp by the wagon for the night, as
+they were afraid to go on to “Tampel” in the dark.
+
+At first I could not make out what “Tampel” was, as it did not sound
+like a native name. Then I remembered that Mr. Marnham had spoken of
+his house as being called the Temple, of which, of course, Tampel was a
+corruption; also that he said he and his partner were labour agents.
+
+“Why are they afraid?” I asked.
+
+“Because, Baas, they say that they must go through a wood in a swamp,
+which they think is haunted by spooks, and they much afraid of spooks;”
+that is of ghosts.
+
+“What spooks?” I asked.
+
+“Don’t know, Baas. They say spook of some one who has been killed.”
+
+“Rubbish,” I replied. “Tell them to go and catch the spook; we don’t
+want a lot of noisy fellows howling chanties here all night.”
+
+Then it was that Anscombe broke in in his humorous, rather drawling
+voice.
+
+“How can you be so hard-hearted, Quatermain? After the supernatural
+terror which, as I told you, I experienced in that very place, I
+wouldn’t condemn a kicking mule to go through it in this darkness. Let
+the poor devils stay; I daresay they are tired.”
+
+So I gave in, and presently saw their fires beginning to burn through
+the end canvas of the wagon which was unlaced because the night was
+hot. Also later on I woke up, about midnight I think, and heard voices
+talking, one of which I reflected sleepily, sounded very like that of
+Footsack.
+
+Waking very early, as is my habit, I peeped out of the wagon, and
+through the morning mist perceived Footsack in converse with a
+particularly villainous-looking person. I at once concluded this must
+be Karl, evidently a Bastard compounded of about fifteen parts of
+various native bloods to one of white, who, to add to his attractions,
+was deeply scarred with smallpox and possessed a really alarming
+squint. It seemed to me that Footsack handed to this man something that
+looked suspiciously like a bottle of squareface gin wrapped up in dried
+grass, and that the man handed back to Footsack some small object which
+he put in his mouth.
+
+Now, I wondered to myself, what is there of value that one who does not
+eat sweets would stow away in his mouth. Gold coin perhaps, or a quid
+of tobacco, or a stone. Gold was too much to pay for a bottle of gin,
+tobacco was too little, but how about the stone? What stone? Who wanted
+stones? Then suddenly I remembered that these people were said to come
+from Kimberley, and whistled to myself. Still I did nothing,
+principally because the mist was still so dense that although I could
+see the men’s faces, I could not clearly see the articles which they
+passed to each other about two feet lower, where it still lay very
+thickly, and to bring any accusation against a native which he can
+prove to be false is apt to destroy authority. So I held my tongue and
+waited my chance. It did not come at once, for before I was dressed
+those Basutos had departed together with their leader Karl, for now
+that the sun was up they no longer feared the haunted bush.
+
+It came later, thus: We were trekking along between the thorns upon a
+level and easy track which enabled the driver Footsack to sit upon the
+“voorkisse” or driving box of the wagon, leaving the lad who is called
+the voorlooper to lead the oxen. Anscombe was riding parallel to the
+wagon in the hope of killing some guineafowl for the pot (though a very
+poor shot with a rifle he was good with a shot-gun). I, who did not
+care for this small game, was seated smoking by the side of Footsack
+who, I noted, smelt of gin and generally showed signs of dissipation.
+Suddenly I said to him—
+
+“Show me that diamond which the Bastard Karl gave you this morning in
+payment for the bottle of your master’s drink.”
+
+It was a bow drawn at a venture, but the effect of the shot was
+remarkable. Had I not caught it, the long bamboo whip Footsack held
+would have fallen to the ground, while he collapsed in his seat like a
+man who has received a bullet in his stomach.
+
+“Baas,” he gasped, “Baas, how did you know?”
+
+“I knew,” I replied grandly, “in the same way that I know everything.
+Show me the diamond.”
+
+“Baas,” he said, “it was not the Baas Anscombe’s gin, it was some I
+bought in Pilgrim’s Rest.”
+
+“I have counted the bottles in the case and know very well whose gin it
+was,” I replied ambiguously, for the reason that I had done nothing of
+the sort. “Show me the diamond.”
+
+Footsack fumbled about his person, his hair, his waistcoat pockets and
+even his moocha, and ultimately from somewhere produced a stone which
+he handed to me. I looked at it, and from the purity of colour and
+size, judged it to be a diamond worth £200, or possibly more. After
+careful examination I put it into my pocket, saying,
+
+“This is the price of your master’s gin and therefore belongs to him as
+much as it does to anybody. Now if you want to keep out of trouble,
+tell me—whence came it into the hands of that man, Karl?”
+
+“Baas,” replied Footsack, trembling all over, “how do I know? He and
+the rest have been working at the mines; I suppose he found it there.”
+
+“Indeed! And did he find others of the same sort?”
+
+“I think so, Baas. At least he said that he had been buying bottles of
+gin with such stones all the way down from Kimberley. Karl is a great
+drunkard, Baas, as I am sure, who have known him for years.”
+
+“That is not all,” I remarked, keeping my eyes fixed on him. “What else
+did he say?”
+
+“He said, Baas, that he was very much afraid of returning to the Baas
+Marnham whom the Kaffirs call White-beard, with only a few stones
+left.”
+
+“Why was he afraid?”
+
+“Because the Baas Whitebeard, he who dwells at Tampel, is, he says, a
+very angry man if he thinks himself cheated, and Karl is afraid lest he
+should kill him as another was killed, he whose spook haunts the wood
+through which those silly people feared to pass last night.”
+
+“Who was killed and who killed him?” I asked.
+
+“Baas, I don’t know,” replied Footsack, collapsing into sullen silence
+in a way that Kaffirs have when suddenly they realize that they have
+said too much. Nor did I press the matter further, having learned
+enough.
+
+What had I learned? This: that Messrs. Marnham & Rodd were illicit
+diamond buyers, I.D.B.‘s as they are called, who had cunningly situated
+themselves at a great distance from the scene of operations practically
+beyond the reach of civilized law. Probably they were engaged also in
+other nefarious dealings with Kaffirs, such as supplying them with guns
+wherewith to make war upon the Whites. Sekukuni had been fighting us
+recently, so that there would be a very brisk market for rifles. This,
+too, would account for Marnham’s apparent knowledge of that Chief’s
+plans. Possibly, however, he had no knowledge and only made a pretence
+of it to keep us out of the country.
+
+Later on I confided the whole story and my suspicions to Anscombe, who
+was much interested.
+
+“What picturesque scoundrels!” he exclaimed, “We really ought to go
+back to the Temple. I have always longed to meet some real live
+I.D.B.‘s.”
+
+“It is probable that you have done that already without knowing it. For
+the rest, if you wish to visit that den of iniquity, you must do so
+alone.”
+
+“Wouldn’t whited sepulchre be a better term, especially as it seems to
+cover dead men’s bones?” he replied in his frivolous manner.
+
+Then I asked him what he was going to do about Footsack and the bottle
+of gin, which he countered by asking me what I was going to do with
+that diamond.
+
+“Give it to you as Footsack’s master,” I said, suiting the action to
+the word. “I don’t wish to be mixed up in doubtful transactions.”
+
+Then followed a long argument as to who was the real owner of the
+stone, which ended in its being hidden away to be produced if called
+for, and in Footsack, who ought have had a round dozen, receiving a
+scolding from his master, coupled with the threat that if he stole more
+gin he would be handed over to a magistrate—when we met one.
+
+On the following day we reached the hot, low-lying veld which the herd
+of buffalo was said to inhabit. Next morning, however, when we were
+making ready to begin hunting, a Basuto Kaffir appeared who, on being
+questioned, said that he was one of Sekukuni’s people sent to this
+district to look for two lost oxen. I did not believe this story,
+thinking it more probable that he was a spy, but asked him whether in
+his hunt for oxen he had come across buffalo.
+
+He replied that he had, a herd of thirty-two of them, counting the
+calves, but that they were over the Oliphant’s River about
+five-and-twenty miles away, in a valley between some outlying hills and
+the rugged range of mountains, beyond which was situated Sekukuni’s
+town. Moreover, in proof of his story he showed me spoor of the beasts
+heading in that direction which was quite a week old.
+
+Now for my part, as I did not think it wise to get too near to
+Sekukuni, I should have given them up and gone to hunt something else.
+Anscombe, however, was of a different opinion and pleaded hard that we
+should follow them. They were the only herd within a hundred miles, he
+said, if indeed there were any others this side of the Lebombo
+Mountains. As I still demurred, he suggested, in the nicest possible
+manner, that if I thought the business risky, I should camp somewhere
+with the wagon, while he went on with Footsack to look for the buffalo.
+I answered that I was well used to risks, which in a sense were my
+trade, and that as he was more or less in my charge I was thinking of
+him, not of myself, who was quite prepared to follow the buffalo, not
+only to Sekukuni’s Mountains but over them. Then fearing that he had
+hurt my feelings, he apologized, and offered to go elsewhere if I
+liked. The upshot was that we decided to trek to the Oliphant’s River,
+camp there and explore the bush on the other side on horseback, never
+going so far from the wagon that we could not reach it again before
+nightfall.
+
+This, then, we did, outspanning that evening by the hot but beautiful
+river which was still haunted by a few hippopotamus and many
+crocodiles, one of which we shot before turning in. Next morning,
+having breakfasted off cold guineafowl, we mounted, crossed the river
+by a ford that was quite as deep as I liked, to which the Kaffir path
+led us, and, leaving Footsack with the two other boys in charge of the
+wagon, began to hunt for the buffalo in the rather swampy bush that
+stretched from the further bank to the slope of the first hills, eight
+or ten miles away. I did not much expect to find them, as the Basuto
+had said that they had gone over these hills, but either he lied or
+they had moved back again.
+
+Not half a mile from the river bank, just as I was about to dismount to
+stalk a fine waterbuck of which I caught sight standing among some
+coarse grass and bushes, my eye fell upon buffalo spoor that from its
+appearance I knew could not be more than a few hours old. Evidently the
+beasts had been feeding here during the night and at dawn had moved
+away to sleep in the dry bush nearer the hills. Beckoning to Anscombe,
+who fortunately had not seen the waterbuck, at which he would certainly
+have fired, thereby perhaps frightening the buffalo, I showed him the
+spoor that we at once started to follow.
+
+Soon it led us into other spoor, that of a whole herd of thirty or
+forty beasts indeed, which made our task quite easy, at least till we
+came to harder ground, for the animals had gone a long way. An hour or
+more later, when we were about seven miles from the river, I perceived
+ahead of us, for we were now almost at the foot of the hills, a cool
+and densely-wooded kloof.
+
+“That is where they will be,” I said. “Now come on carefully and make
+no noise.”
+
+We rode to the wide mouth of the kloof where the signs of the buffalo
+were numerous and fresh, dismounted and tied our horses to a thorn, so
+as to approach them silently on foot. We had not gone two hundred yards
+through the bush when suddenly about fifty paces away, standing
+broadside on in the shadow between two trees, I saw a splendid old bull
+with a tremendous pair of horns.
+
+“Shoot,” I whispered to Anscombe, “you will never get a better chance.
+It is the sentinel of the herd.”
+
+He knelt down, his face quite white with excitement, and covered the
+bull with his Express.
+
+“Keep cool,” I whispered again, “and aim behind the shoulder, half-way
+down.”
+
+I don’t think he understood me, for at that moment off went the rifle.
+He hit the beast somewhere, as I heard the bullet clap, but not
+fatally, for it turned and lumbered off up the kloof, apparently
+unhurt, whereon he sent the second barrel after it, a clean miss this
+time. Then of a sudden all about us appeared buffaloes that had, I
+suppose, been sleeping invisible to us. These, with snorts and bellows,
+rushed off towards the river, for having their senses about them, they
+had no mind to be trapped in the kloof. I could only manage a shot at
+one of them, a large and long-horned cow which I knocked over quite
+dead. If I had fired again it would have been but to wound, a thing I
+hate. The whole business was over in a minute. We went and looked at my
+dead cow which I had caught through the heart.
+
+“It’s cruel to kill these things,” I said, “for I don’t know what use
+we are going to make of them, and they must love life as much as we
+do.”
+
+“We’ll cut the horns off,” said Anscombe.
+
+“You may if you like,” I answered, “but you will find it a tough job
+with a sheath knife.”
+
+“Yes, I think that shall be the task of the worthy Footsack to-morrow,”
+he replied. “Meanwhile let us go and finish off my bull, as Footsack &
+Co. may as well bring home two pair of horns as one.”
+
+I looked at the dense bush, and knowing something of the habits of
+wounded buffaloes, reflected that it would be a nasty job. Still I said
+nothing, because if I hesitated, I knew he would want to go alone. So
+we started. Evidently the beast had been badly hit, for the blood spoor
+was easy to follow. Yet it had been able to retreat up to the end of
+the kloof that terminated in a cliff over which trickled a stream of
+water. Here it was not more than a hundred paces wide, and on either
+side of it were other precipitous cliffs. As we went from one of these
+a war-horn, such as the Basutos use, was blown. Although I heard it,
+oddly enough, I paid no attention to it at the time, being utterly
+intent upon the business in hand.
+
+Following a wounded buffalo bull up a tree-clad and stony kloof is no
+game for children, as these beasts have a habit of returning on their
+tracks and then rushing out to gore you. So I went on with every sense
+alert, keeping Anscombe well behind me. As it happened our bull had
+either been knocked silly or inherited no guile from his parents. When
+he found he could go no further he stopped, waited behind a bush, and
+when he saw us he charged in a simple and primitive fashion. I let
+Anscombe fire, as I wished him to have the credit of killing it all to
+himself, but somehow or other he managed to miss both barrels. Then,
+trouble being imminent, I let drive as the beast lowered its head, and
+was lucky enough to break its spine (to shoot at the head of a buffalo
+is useless), so that it rolled over quite dead at our feet.
+
+“You have got a magnificent pair of horns,” I said, contemplating the
+fallen giant.
+
+“Yes,” answered Anscombe, with a twinkle of his humorous eyes, “and if
+it hadn’t been for you I think that I should have got them in more
+senses than one.”
+
+As the words passed his lips some missile, from its peculiar sound I
+judged it was the leg off an iron pot, hurtled past my head, fired
+evidently from a smoothbore gun with a large charge of bad powder. Then
+I remembered the war-horn and all that it meant.
+
+“Off you go,” I said, “we are ambushed by Kaffirs.”
+
+We were indeed, for as we tailed down that kloof, from the top of both
+cliffs above us came a continuous but luckily ill-directed fire.
+Lead-coated stones, pot legs and bullets whirred and whistled all round
+us, yet until the last, just when we were reaching the tree to which we
+had tied our horses, quite harmlessly. Then suddenly I saw Anscombe
+begin to limp. Still he managed to run on and mount, though I observed
+that he did not put his right foot into the stirrup.
+
+“What’s the matter?” I asked as we galloped off.
+
+“Shot through the instep, I think,” he answered with a laugh, “but it
+doesn’t hurt a bit.”
+
+“I expect it will later,” I replied. “Meanwhile, thank God it wasn’t at
+the top of the kloof. They won’t catch us on the horses, which they
+never thought of killing first.”
+
+“They are going to try though. Look behind you.”
+
+I looked and saw twenty or thirty men emerging from the mouth of the
+kloof in pursuit.
+
+“No time to stop to get those horns,” he said with a sigh.
+
+“No,” I answered, “unless you are particularly anxious to say good-bye
+to the world pinned over a broken ant-heap in the sun, or something
+pleasant of the sort.”
+
+Then we rode on in silence, I thinking what a fool I had been first to
+allow myself to be overruled by Anscombe and cross the river, and
+secondly not to have taken warning from that war-horn. We could not go
+very fast because of the difficult and swampy nature of the ground;
+also the great heat of the day told on the horses. Thus it came about
+that when we reached the ford we were not more than ten minutes ahead
+of our active pursuers, good runners every one of them, and accustomed
+to the country. I suppose that they had orders to kill or capture us at
+any cost, for instead of giving up the chase, as I hoped they would,
+they stuck to us in surprising fashion.
+
+We splashed through the river, and luckily on the further bank were met
+by Footsack who had seen us coming and guessed that something was
+wrong.
+
+“Inspan!” I shouted to him, “and be quick about it if you want to see
+tomorrow’s light. The Basutos are after us.”
+
+Off he went like a shot, his face quite green with fear.
+
+“Now,” I said to Anscombe, as we let our horses take a drink for which
+they were mad, “we have got to hold this ford until the wagon is ready,
+or those devils will get us after all. Dismount and I’ll tie up the
+horses.”
+
+He did so with some difficulty, and at my suggestion, while I made the
+beasts fast, cut the lace of his boot which was full of blood, and
+soaked his wounded foot, that I had no time to examine, in the cool
+water. These things done, I helped him to the rear of a thorn tree
+which was thick enough to shield most of his body, and took my own
+stand behind a similar thorn at a distance of a few paces.
+
+Presently the Basutos appeared, trotting along close together whereon
+Anscombe, who was seated behind the tree, fired both barrels of his
+Express at them at a range of about two hundred yards. It was a foolish
+thing to do, first because he missed them clean, for he had
+over-estimated the range and the bullets went above their heads, and
+secondly because it caused them to scatter and made them careful,
+whereas had they come on in a lump we could have taught them a lesson.
+However I said nothing, as I knew that reproaches would only make him
+nervous. Down went those scoundrels on to their hands and knees and,
+taking cover behind stones and bushes on the further bank, began to
+fire at us, for they were all armed with guns of one sort and another,
+and there was only about a hundred yards of water between us. As they
+effected this manoeuvre I am glad to say I was able to get two of them,
+while Anscombe, I think, wounded another.
+
+After this our position grew quite warm, for as I have said the thorn
+trunks were not very broad, and three or four of the natives, who had
+probably been hunters, were by no means bad shots, though the rest of
+them fired wildly. Anscombe, in poking his head round the tree to
+shoot, had his hat knocked off by a bullet, while a slug went through
+the lappet of my coat. Then a worse thing happened. Either by chance or
+design Anscombe’s horse was struck in the neck and fell struggling,
+whereon my beast, growing frightened, broke its riem and galloped to
+the wagon. That is where I ought to have left them at first, only I
+thought that we might need them to make a bolt on, or to carry Anscombe
+if he could not walk.
+
+Quite a long while went by before, glancing behind me, I saw that the
+oxen that had been grazing at a little distance had at length arrived
+and were being inspanned in furious haste. The Basutos saw it also, and
+fearing lest we should escape, determined to try to end the business.
+Suddenly they leapt from their cover, and with more courage than I
+should have expected of them, rushed into the river, proposing to storm
+us, which, to speak truth, I think they would have done had I not been
+a fairly quick shot.
+
+As it was, finding that they were losing too heavily from our fire,
+they retreated in a hurry, leaving their dead behind them, and even a
+wounded man who was clinging to a rock. He, poor wretch, was in mortal
+terror lest we should shoot him again, which I had not the heart to do,
+although as his leg was shattered above the knee by an Express bullet,
+it might have been true kindness. Again and again he called out for
+mercy, saying that he only attacked us because his chief, who had been
+warned of our coming “by the White Man,” ordered him to take our guns
+and cattle.
+
+“What white man?” I shouted. “Speak or I shoot.”
+
+There was no answer, for at this moment he fainted from loss of blood
+and vanished beneath the water. Then another Basuto, I suppose he was
+their captain, but do not know for he was hidden in some bushes, called
+out—
+
+“Do not think that you shall escape, White Men. There are many more of
+our people coming, and we will kill you in the night when you cannot
+see to shoot us.”
+
+At this moment, too, Footsack shouted that the wagon was inspanned and
+ready. Now I hesitated what to do. If we made for the wagon, which must
+be very slowly because of Anscombe’s wounded foot, we had to cross
+seventy or eighty yards of rising ground almost devoid of cover. If, on
+the other hand, we stayed where we were till nightfall a shot might
+catch one of us, or other Basutos might arrive and rush us. There was
+also a third possibility, that our terrified servants might trek off
+and leave us in order to save their own lives, which verily I believe
+they would have done, not being of Zulu blood. I put the problem to
+Anscombe, who shook his head and looked at his foot. Then he produced a
+lucky penny which he carried in his pocket and said—
+
+“Let us invoke the Fates. Heads we run like heroes; tails we stay here
+like heroes,” and he spun the penny, while I stared at him open-mouthed
+and not without admiration.
+
+Never, I thought to myself, had this primitive method of cutting a
+gordian knot been resorted to in such strange and urgent circumstances.
+
+“Heads it is!” he said coolly. “Now, my boy, do you run and I’ll crawl
+after you. If I don’t arrive, you know my people’s address, and I
+bequeath to you all my African belongings in memory of a most pleasant
+trip.”
+
+“Don’t play the fool,” I replied sternly. “Come, put your right arm
+round my neck and hop on your left leg as you never hopped before.”
+
+Then we started, and really our transit was quite lively, for all those
+Basutos began what for them was rapid firing. I think, however, that
+their best shots must have fallen, for not a bullet touched us,
+although before we got out of their range one or two went very near.
+
+“There,” said Anscombe, as a last amazing hop brought him to the wagon
+rail, “there, you see how wise it is to give Providence a chance
+sometimes.”
+
+“In the shape of a lucky penny,” I grumbled as I hoisted him up.
+
+“Certainly, for why should not Providence inhabit a penny as much as it
+does any other mundane thing? Oh, my dear Quatermain, have you never
+been taught to look to the pence and let the rest take care of itself?”
+
+“Stop talking rubbish and look to your foot, for the wagon is
+starting,” I replied.
+
+Then off we went at a good round trot, for never have I seen oxen more
+scientifically driven than they were by Footsack and his friends on
+this occasion, or a greater pace got out of them. As soon as we reached
+a fairly level piece of ground I made Anscombe lie down on the cartel
+of the wagon and examined his wound as well as circumstances would
+allow. I found that the bullet or whatever the missile may have been,
+had gone through his right instep just beneath the big sinew, but so
+far as I could judge without injuring any bone. There was nothing to be
+done except rub in some carbolic ointment, which fortunately he had in
+his medicine chest, and bind up the wound as best I could with a clean
+handkerchief, after which I tied a towel, that was _not_ clean, over
+the whole foot.
+
+By this time evening was coming on, so we ate of such as we had with
+us, which we needed badly enough, without stopping the wagon. I
+remember that it consisted of cheese and hard biscuits. At dark we were
+obliged to halt a little by a stream until the moon rose, which
+fortunately she did very soon, as she was only just past her full. As
+soon as she was up we started again, and with a breathing space or two,
+trekked all that night, which I spent seated on the after part of the
+wagon and keeping a sharp look out, while, notwithstanding the
+roughness of the road and his hurt, Anscombe slept like a child upon
+the cartel inside.
+
+I was very tired, so tired that the fear of surprise was the only thing
+that kept me awake, and I recall reflecting in a stupid kind of way,
+that it seemed always to have been my lot in life to watch thus, in one
+sense or another, while others slept.
+
+The night passed somehow without anything happening, and at dawn we
+halted for a while to water the oxen, which we did with buckets, and
+let them eat what grass they could reach from their yokes, since we did
+not dare to outspan them. Just as we were starting on again the
+voortrekker, whom I had set to watch at a little distance, ran up with
+his eyes bulging out of his head, and reported that he had seen a
+Basuto with an assegai hanging about in the bush, as though to keep
+touch with us, after which we delayed no more.
+
+All that day we blundered on, thrashing the weary cattle that at every
+halt tried to lie down, and by nightfall came to the outspan near to
+the house called the Temple, where we had met the Kaffirs returning
+from the diamond fields. This journey we had accomplished in exactly
+half the time it had taken on the outward trip. Here we were obliged to
+stop, as our team must have rest and food. So we outspanned and slept
+that night without much fear, since I thought it most improbable that
+the Basutos would attempt to follow us so far, as we were now within a
+day’s trek of Pilgrim’s Rest, whither we proposed to proceed on the
+morrow. But that is just where I made a mistake.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+DOCTOR RODD
+
+
+I did get a little sleep that night, with one eye open, but before dawn
+I was up again seeing to the feeding of our remaining horse with some
+mealies that we carried, and other matters. The oxen we had been
+obliged to unyoke that they might fill themselves with grass and water,
+since otherwise I feared that we should never get them on to their feet
+again. As it was, the poor brutes were so tired that some of them could
+scarcely eat, and all lay down at the first opportunity.
+
+Having awakened Footsack and the other boys that they might be ready to
+take advantage of the light when it came, for I was anxious to be away,
+I drank a nip of Hollands and water and ate a biscuit, making Anscombe
+do the same. Coffee would have been more acceptable, but I thought it
+wiser not to light a fire for fear of showing our whereabouts.
+
+Now a faint glimmer in the east told me that the dawn was coming. Just
+by the wagon grew a fair-sized, green-leaved tree, and as it was quite
+easy to climb even by starlight, up it I went so as to get above the
+ground mist and take a look round before we trekked. Presently the sky
+grew pearly and light began to gather; then the edge of the sun
+appeared, throwing long level rays across the world. Everywhere the
+mist lay dense as cotton wool, except at one spot about a mile behind
+us where there was a little hill or rather a wave of the ground, over
+which we had trekked upon the preceding evening. The top of this rise
+was above mist level, and on it no trees grew because the granite came
+to the surface. Having discovered nothing, I called to the boys to
+drive up the oxen, some of which had risen and were eating again, and
+prepared to descend from my tree.
+
+As I did so, out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of something
+that glittered far away, so far that it would only have attracted the
+notice of a trained hunter. Yes, something was shining on the brow of
+the rise of which I have spoken. I stared at it through my glasses and
+saw what I had feared to see. A body of natives was crossing the rise
+and the glitter was caused by the rays of dawn striking on their spears
+and gun-barrels.
+
+I came down out of that tree like a frightened wild cat and ran to the
+wagon, thinking hard as I went. The Basutos were after us, meaning to
+attack as soon as there was sufficient light. In ten minutes or less
+they would be here. There was no time to inspan the oxen, and even if
+there had been, stiff and weary as the beasts were, we should be
+overtaken before we had gone a hundred yards on that bad road. What
+then was to be done? Run for it? It was impossible, Anscombe could not
+run. My eye fell upon the horse munching the last of his mealies.
+
+“Footsack,” I said as quietly as I could, “never mind about inspanning
+yet, but saddle up the horse. Be quick now.”
+
+He looked at me doubtfully, but obeyed, having seen nothing. If he had
+seen I knew that he would have been off. I nipped round to the end of
+the wagon, calling to the other two boys to let the oxen be a while and
+come to me.
+
+“Now, Anscombe,” I said, “hand out the rifles and cartridges. Don’t
+stop to ask questions, but do what I tell you. They are on the rack by
+your side. So. Now put on your revolver and let me help you down. Man,
+don’t forget your hat.”
+
+He obeyed quickly enough, and presently was standing on one leg by my
+side, looking cramped and tottery.
+
+“The Basutos are on us,” I said.
+
+He whistled and remarked something about Chapter No. 2.
+
+“Footsack,” I called, “bring the horse here; the Baas wishes to ride a
+little to ease his leg.”
+
+He did so, stopping a moment to pull the second girth tight. Then we
+helped Anscombe into the saddle.
+
+“Which way?” he asked.
+
+I looked at the long slope in front of us. It was steep and bad going.
+Anscombe might get up it on the horse before the Kaffirs overtook us,
+but it was extremely problematical if we could do so. I might perhaps
+if I mounted behind him and the horse could bear us both, which was
+doubtful, but how about our poor servants? He saw the doubt upon my
+face and said in his quiet way,
+
+“You may remember that our white-bearded friend told us to make
+straight for his place in case of any difficulty with the Basutos. It
+seems to have arisen.”
+
+“I know he did,” I answered, “but I cannot make up my mind which is the
+more dangerous, Marnham or the Basutos. I rather think that he set them
+on to us.”
+
+“It is impossible to solve problems at this hour of the morning,
+Quatermain, and there is no time to toss. So I vote for the Temple.”
+
+“It seems our best chance. At any rate that’s your choice, so let’s
+go.”
+
+Then I sang out to the Kaffirs, “The Basutos are on us. We go to Tampel
+for refuge. Run!”
+
+My word! they did run. I never saw athletes make better time over the
+first quarter of a mile. We ran, too, or at least the horse did, I
+hanging on to the stirrup and Anscombe holding both the rifles beneath
+his arm. But the beast was tired, also blown out with that morning feed
+of mealies, so our progress was not very fast. When we were about two
+hundred yards from the wagon I looked back and saw the Basutos
+beginning to arrive. They saw us also, and uttering a sort of whistling
+war cry, started in pursuit.
+
+After this we had quite an interesting time. I scrambled on to the
+horse behind Anscombe, whereon that intelligent animal, feeling the
+double weight, reduced its pace proportionately, to a slow tripple,
+indeed, out of which it could not be persuaded to move. So I slipped
+off again over its tail and we went on as before. Meanwhile the
+Basutos, very active fellows, were coming up. By this time the
+yellow-wood grove in the swamp, of which I have already written, was
+close to us, and it became quite a question which of us would get there
+first (I may mention that Footsack & Co. had already attained its
+friendly shelter). Anscombe kicked the horse with his sound heel and I
+thumped it with my fist, thereby persuading it to a hand gallop.
+
+As we reached the outlying trees of the wood the first Basuto, a lank
+fellow with a mouth like a rat trap, arrived and threw an assegai at us
+which passed between Anscombe’s back and my nose. Then he closed and
+tried to stab with another assegai. I could do nothing, but Anscombe
+showed himself cleverer than I expected. Dropping the reins, he drew
+his pistol and managed to send a bullet through that child of nature’s
+head, so that he went down like a stone.
+
+“And you tell me I am a bad shot,” he drawled.
+
+“It was a fluke,” I gasped, for even in these circumstances truth would
+prevail.
+
+“Wait and you’ll see,” he replied, re-cocking the revolver.
+
+As a matter of fact there was no need for more shooting, since at the
+verge of the swamp the Basutos pulled up. I do not think that the death
+of their companion caused them to do this, for they seemed to take no
+notice of him. It was as though they had reached some boundary which
+they knew it would not be lawful for them to pass. They simply stopped,
+took the dead man’s assegai and shield from the body and walked quietly
+back towards the wagon, leaving him where he lay. The horse stopped
+also, or rather proceeded at a walk.
+
+“There!” exclaimed Anscombe. “Did I not tell you I had a presentiment
+that I should kill a man in this accursed wood?”
+
+“Yes,” I said as soon as I had recovered my breath, “but you mixed up a
+woman with the matter and I don’t see one.”
+
+“That’s true,” he replied, “I hope we shan’t meet her later.”
+
+Then we went on as quickly as we could, which was not very fast, for I
+feared lest the Basutos should change their minds and follow us. As the
+risk of this became less our spirits rose, since if we had lost the
+wagon and the oxen, at least we had saved our lives, which was almost
+more than we could have expected in the circumstances. At last we came
+to that glade where we had killed the wildebeeste not a week before.
+There lay its skeleton picked clean by the great brown kites that
+frequent the bush-veld, some of which still sat about in the trees.
+
+“Well, I suppose we must go on to Tampel,” said Anscombe rather
+faintly, for I could see that his wound was giving him a good deal of
+pain.
+
+As he spoke from round the tree whence he had first emerged, appeared
+Mr. Marnham, riding the same horse and wearing the same clothes. The
+only difference between his two entries was that the first took place
+in the late evening and the second in the early morning.
+
+“So here you are again,” he said cheerfully.
+
+“Yes,” I answered, “and it is strange to meet you at the same spot.
+Were you expecting us?”
+
+“Not more than I expect many things,” he replied with a shrewd glance
+at me, adding, “I always rise with the sun, and thinking that I heard a
+shot fired in the distance, came to see what was happening. The Basutos
+attacked you at daybreak, did they not?”
+
+“They did, but how did you know that, Mr. Marnham?”
+
+“Your servants told me. I met them running to the house looking very
+frightened. You are wounded, Mr. Anscombe?”
+
+“Yes, a couple of days ago on the border of Sekukuni’s country where
+the natives tried to murder us.”
+
+“Ah!” he replied without surprise. “I warned you the trip was
+dangerous, did I not? Well, come on home where my partner, Rodd, who
+luckily has had medical experience, will attend to you. Mr. Quatermain
+can tell me the story as we go.”
+
+So we went on up the long slope, I relating our adventures, to which
+Mr. Marnham listened without comment.
+
+“I expect that the Kaffirs will have looted the wagon and be on the way
+home with your oxen by now,” he said when I had finished.
+
+“Are you not afraid that they will follow us here?” I asked.
+
+“Oh no, Mr. Quatermain. We do business with these people, also they
+sometimes come to be doctored by Rodd when they are sick, so this place
+is sacred ground to them. They stopped hunting you when they got to the
+Yellow-wood swamp where our land begins, did they not?”
+
+“Yes, but now I want to hunt them. Can you give me any help? Those oxen
+are tired out and footsore, so we might be able to catch them up.”
+
+He shook his head. “We have very few people here, and by the time that
+you could get assistance from the Camp at Barberton, if the Commandant
+is able and willing to give you any, which I rather doubt, they will be
+far away. Moreover,” he added, dropping his voice, “let us come to an
+understanding. You are most welcome to any help or hospitality that I
+can offer, but if you wish to do more fighting I must ask you to go
+elsewhere. As I have told you, we are peaceful men who trade with these
+people, and do not wish to be involved in a quarrel with them, which
+might expose us to attack or bring us into trouble with the British
+Government which has annexed but not conquered their country. Do I make
+myself clear?”
+
+“Perfectly. While we are with you we will do nothing, but afterwards we
+hold ourselves at liberty to act as we think best.”
+
+“Quite so. Meanwhile I hope that you and Mr. Anscombe will make
+yourselves comfortable with us for as long as you like.”
+
+In my own mind I came to the conclusion that this would be for the
+shortest time possible, but I only said—
+
+“It is most kind of you to take in complete strangers thus. No, not
+complete,” I added, looking towards Anscombe who was following on the
+tired horse a few paces behind, “for you knew his father, did you not?”
+
+“His father?” he said, lifting his eyebrows. “No. Oh! I remember, I
+said something to that effect the other night, but it was a mistake. I
+mixed up two names, as one often does after a lapse of many years.”
+
+“I understand,” I answered, but remembering Anscombe’s story I
+reflected to myself that our venerable host was an excellent liar. Or
+more probably he meant to convey that he wished the subject of his
+youthful reminiscences to be taboo.
+
+Just then we reached the house which had a pretty patch of well-kept
+flower-garden in front of it, surrounded by a fence covered with wire
+netting to keep out buck. By the gate squatted our three retainers,
+looking very blown and rather ashamed of themselves.
+
+“Your master wishes to thank you for your help in a dark hour,
+Footsack, and I wish to congratulate you all upon the swiftness of your
+feet,” I said in Dutch.
+
+“Oh! Baas, the Basutos were many and their spears are sharp,” he began
+apologetically.
+
+“Be silent, you running dog,” I said, “and go help your master to
+dismount.”
+
+Then we went through the gate, Anscombe leaning on my shoulder and on
+that of Mr. Marnham, and up the path which was bordered with fences of
+the monthly rose, towards the house. Really this was almost as charming
+to look at near at hand as it had been from far away. Of course the
+whole thing was crude in detail. Rough, half-shaped blocks of marble
+from the neighbouring quarry had been built into walls and columns.
+Nothing was finished, and considered bit by bit all was coarse and
+ugly. Yet the general effect was beautiful because it was an effect of
+design, the picture of an artist who did not fully understand the
+technicalities of painting, the work of a great writer who had as yet
+no proper skill in words. Never did I see a small building that struck
+me more. But then what experience have I of buildings, and, as Anscombe
+reminded me afterwards, it was but a copy of something designed when
+the world was young, or rather when civilization was young, and man new
+risen from the infinite ages of savagery, saw beauty in his dreams and
+tried to symbolize it in shapes of stone.
+
+We came to the broad stoep, to which several rough blocks of marble
+served as steps. On it in a long chair made of native wood and seated
+with hide rimpis, sat or rather lolled a man in a dressing-gown who was
+reading a book. He raised himself as we came and the light of the sun,
+for the verandah faced to the east, shone full upon his face, so that I
+saw him well. It was that of a man of something under forty years of
+age, dark, powerful, and weary—not a good face, I thought. Indeed, it
+gave me the impression of one who had allowed the evil which exists in
+the nature of all of us to become his master, or had even encouraged it
+to do so.
+
+In the Psalms and elsewhere we are always reading of the righteous and
+the unrighteous until those terms grow wearisome. It is only of late
+years that I have discovered, or think that I have discovered, what
+they mean. Our lives cannot be judged by our deeds; they must be judged
+by our desires or rather by our moral attitude. It is not what we do so
+much as what we try to do that counts in the formation of character.
+All fall short, all fail, but in the end those who seek to climb out of
+the pit, those who strive, however vainly, to fashion failure to
+success, are, by comparison, the righteous, while those who are content
+to wallow in our native mire and to glut themselves with the daily
+bread of vice, are the unrighteous. To turn our backs thereon wilfully
+and without cause, is the real unforgiveable sin against the Spirit. At
+least that is the best definition of the problem at which I in my
+simplicity can arrive.
+
+Such thoughts have often occurred to me in considering the character of
+Dr. Rodd and some others whom I have known; indeed the germ of them
+arose in my mind which, being wearied at the time and therefore
+somewhat vacant, was perhaps the more open to external impressions, as
+I looked upon the face of this stranger on the stoep. Moreover, as I am
+proud to record, I did not judge him altogether wrongly. He was a
+blackguard who, under other influences or with a few added grains of
+self-restraint and of the power of recovery, might have become a good
+or even a saintly man. But by some malice of Fate or some evil
+inheritance from an unknown past, those grains were lacking, and
+therefore he went not up but down the hill.
+
+“Case for you, Rodd,” called out Marnham.
+
+“Indeed,” he answered, getting to his feet and speaking in a full
+voice, which, like his partner’s, was that of an educated Englishman.
+“What’s the matter. Horse accident?”
+
+Then we were introduced, and Anscombe began to explain his injury.
+
+“Um!” said the doctor, studying him with dark eyes. “Kaffir bullet
+through the foot some days ago. Ought to be attended to at once. Also
+you look pretty done, so don’t tire yourself with the story, which I
+can get from Mr. Quatermain. Come and lie down and I’ll have a look at
+you while they are cooking breakfast.”
+
+Then he guided us to a room of which the double French windows opened
+on to the stoep, a very pretty room with two beds in it. Making
+Anscombe lie down on one of these he turned up his trouser, undid my
+rough bandage and examined the wound.
+
+“Painful?” he asked.
+
+“Very,” answered Anscombe, “right up to the thigh.”
+
+After this he drew off the nether garments and made a further
+examination.
+
+“Um,” he said again, “I must syringe this out. Stay still while I get
+some stuff.”
+
+I followed him from the room, and when we were out of hearing on the
+stoep inquired what he thought. I did not like the look of that leg.
+
+“It is very bad,” he answered, “so bad that I am wondering if it
+wouldn’t be best to remove the limb below the knee and make it a job.
+You can see for yourself that it is septic and the inflammation is
+spreading up rapidly.”
+
+“Good Heavens!” I exclaimed, “do you fear mortification?”
+
+He nodded. “Can’t say what was on that slug or bit of old iron and he
+hasn’t had the best chance since. Mortification, or tetanus, or both,
+are more than possible. Is he a temperate man?”
+
+“So far as I know,” I answered, and stared at him while he thought.
+Then he said with decision,
+
+“That makes a difference. To lose a foot is a serious thing; some might
+think almost as bad as death. I’ll give him a chance, but if those
+symptoms do not abate in twenty-four hours, I must operate. You needn’t
+be afraid, I was house surgeon at a London Hospital—once, and I keep my
+hand in. Lucky you came straight here.”
+
+Having made his preparations and washed his hands, he returned,
+syringed the wound with some antiseptic stuff, and dressed and bandaged
+the leg up to the knee. After this he gave Anscombe hot milk to drink,
+with two eggs broken into it, and told him to rest a while as he must
+not eat anything solid at present. Then he threw a blanket over him,
+and, signing to me to come away, let down a mat over the window.
+
+“I put a little something into that milk,” he said outside, “which will
+send him to sleep for a few hours. So we will leave him quiet. Now
+you’ll want a wash.”
+
+“Where are you going to take Mr. Quatermain?” asked Marnham who was
+seated on the stoep.
+
+“Into my room,” he answered.
+
+“Why? There’s Heda’s ready.”
+
+“Heda might return at any moment,” replied the doctor. “Also Mr.
+Quatermain had better sleep in Mr. Anscombe’s room. He will very likely
+want some one to look after him at night.”
+
+Marnham opened his mouth to speak again, then changed his mind and was
+silent, as a servant is silent under rebuke. The incident was quite
+trifling, yet it revealed to me the relative attitude of these two men.
+Without a doubt Rodd was the master of his partner, who did not even
+care to dispute with him about the matter of the use of his daughter’s
+bedroom. They were a queer couple who, had it not been for my anxiety
+as to Anscombe’s illness, would have interested me very much, as indeed
+they were destined to do.
+
+Well, I went to tidy up in the doctor’s room, and as he left me alone
+while I washed, had the opportunity of studying it a little. Like the
+rest of the house it was lined with native wood which was made to serve
+as the backs of bookshelves and of cupboards filled with medicines and
+instruments. The books formed a queer collection. There were medical
+works, philosophical works, histories, novels, most of them French, and
+other volumes of a sort that I imagine are generally kept under lock
+and key; also some that had to do with occult matters. There was even a
+Bible. I opened it thoughtlessly, half in idle curiosity, to see
+whether it was ever used, only to replace it in haste. For at the very
+page that my eye fell on, I remember it was one of my favourite
+chapters in Isaiah, was a stamp in violet ink marked H. M.‘s
+Prison—well, I won’t say where.
+
+I may state, however, that the clue enabled me in after years to learn
+an episode in this man’s life which had brought about his ruin. There
+is no need to repeat it or to say more than that gambling and an evil
+use of his medical knowledge to provide the money to pay his debts,
+were the cause of his fall. The strange thing is that he should have
+kept the book which had probably been given to him by the prison
+chaplain. Still everybody makes mistakes sometimes. Or it may have had
+associations for him, and of course he had never seen this stamp upon
+an unread page, which happened to leap to my eye.
+
+Now I was able to make a shrewd guess at his later career. After his
+trouble he had emigrated and began to practise in South Africa. Somehow
+his identity had been discovered; his past was dragged up against him,
+possibly by rivals jealous of his skill; his business went and he found
+it advisable to retire to the Transvaal before the Annexation, at that
+time the home of sundry people of broken repute. Even there he did not
+stop in a town, but hid himself upon the edge of savagery. Here he
+foregathered with another man of queer character, Marnham, and in his
+company entered upon some doubtful but lucrative form of trade while
+still indulging his love of medicine by doctoring and operating upon
+natives, over whom he would in this way acquire great influence.
+Indeed, as I discovered before the day was over, he had quite a little
+hospital at the back of the house in which were four or five beds
+occupied by Kaffirs and served by two male native nurses whom he had
+trained. Also numbers of out-patients visited him, some of whom
+travelled from great distances, and occasionally, but not often, he
+attended white people who chanced to be in the neighbourhood.
+
+The three of us breakfasted in a really charming room from the window
+of which could be studied a view as beautiful as any I know. The
+Kaffirs who waited were well trained and dressed in neat linen
+uniforms. The cooking was good; there was real silver on the table,
+then a strange sight in that part of Africa, and amongst engravings and
+other pictures upon the walls, hung an oil portrait of a very beautiful
+young woman with dark hair and eyes.
+
+“Is that your daughter, Mr. Marnham?” I asked.
+
+“No,” he replied rather shortly, “it is her mother.”
+
+Immediately afterwards he was called from the room to speak to some
+one, whereon the doctor said—
+
+“A foreigner as you see, a Hungarian; the Hungarian women are very good
+looking and very charming.”
+
+“So I have understood,” I answered, “but does this lady live here?”
+
+“Oh, no. She is dead, or I believe that she is dead. I am not sure,
+because I make it a rule never to pry into people’s private affairs.
+All I know about her is that she was a beauty whom Marnham married late
+in life upon the Continent when she was but eighteen. As is common in
+such cases he was very jealous of her, but it didn’t last long, as she
+died, or I understand that she died, within a year of her daughter’s
+birth. The loss affected him so much that he emigrated to South Africa
+with the child and began life anew. I do not think that they correspond
+with Hungary, and he never speaks of her even to his daughter, which
+suggests that she is dead.”
+
+I reflected that all these circumstances might equally well suggest
+several other things, but said nothing, thinking it wisest not to
+pursue the subject. Presently Marnham returned and informed me that a
+native had just brought him word that the Basutos had made off homeward
+with our cattle, but had left the wagon and its contents quite
+untouched, not even stealing the spare guns and ammunition.
+
+“That’s luck,” I said, astonished, “but extremely strange. How do you
+explain it, Mr. Marnham?”
+
+He shrugged his shoulders and answered—
+
+“As every one knows, you are a much greater expert in native habits and
+customs than I am, Mr. Quatermain.”
+
+“There are only two things that I can think of,” I said. “One is that
+for some reason or other they thought the wagon tagati, bewitched you
+know, and that it would bring evil on them to touch it, though this did
+not apply to the oxen. The other is that they supposed it, but not the
+oxen, to belong to some friend of their own whose property they did not
+wish to injure.”
+
+He looked at me sharply but said nothing, and I went on to tell them
+the details of the attack that had been made upon us, adding—
+
+“The odd part of the affair is that one of those Basutos called out to
+us that some infernal scoundrel of a white had warned Sekukuni of our
+coming and that he had ordered them to take our guns and cattle. This
+Basuto, who was wounded and praying for mercy, was drowned before he
+could tell me who the white man was.”
+
+“A Boer, I expect,” said Marnham quietly. “As you know they are not
+particularly well affected towards us English just now. Also I happen
+to be aware that some of them are intriguing with Sekukuni against the
+British through Makurupiji, his ‘Mouth’ or prime-minister, a very
+clever old scamp who likes to have two stools to sit on.”
+
+“And doubtless will end by falling between them. Well, you see, now
+that I think of it, the wounded Kaffir only said that they were ordered
+to take our guns and oxen, and incidentally our lives. The wagon was
+not mentioned.”
+
+“Quite so, Mr. Quatermain. I will send some of our boys to help your
+servants to bring everything it contains up here.”
+
+“Can’t you lend me a team of oxen,” I asked, “to drag it to the house?”
+
+“No, we have nothing but young cattle left. Both red-water and
+lung-sickness have been so bad this season that all the horned stock
+have been swept out of the country. I doubt whether you could beg,
+borrow or steal a team of oxen this side of Pretoria, except from some
+of the Dutchmen who won’t part.”
+
+“That’s awkward. I hoped to be able to trek in a day or two.”
+
+“Your friend won’t be able to trek for a good many days at the best,”
+broke in the doctor, who had been listening unconcernedly, “but of
+course you could get away on the horse after it has rested.”
+
+“You told me you left a span of oxen at Pretoria,” said Marnham. “Why
+not go and fetch them here, or if you don’t like to leave Mr. Anscombe,
+send your driver and the boys.”
+
+“Thanks for the idea. I will think it over,” I answered.
+
+That morning after Footsack and the voorlooper had been sent with some
+of the servants from the Temple to fetch up the contents of the wagon,
+for I was too tired to accompany them, having found that Anscombe was
+still asleep, I determined to follow his example. Finding a long chair
+on the stoep, I sat down and slumbered in it sweetly for hours. I
+dreamt of all sorts of things, then through my dreams it seemed to me
+that I heard two voices talking, those of our Marnham and Rodd, not on
+the stoep, but at a distance from it. As a matter of fact they were
+talking, but so far away that in my ordinary waking state I could never
+have heard them. My own belief is that the senses, and I may add the
+semi-spiritual part of us, are much more acute when we lie half bound
+in the bonds of sleep, than when we are what is called wide awake.
+Doubtless when we are quite bound they attain the limits of their power
+and, I think, sail at times to the uttermost ends of being. But
+unhappily of their experiences we remember nothing when we awake. In
+half sleep it is different; then we do retain some recollection.
+
+In this curious condition of mind it seemed to me that Rodd said to
+Marnham—
+
+“Why have you brought these men here?”
+
+“I did not bring them here,” he answered. “Luck, Fate, Fortune, God or
+the Devil, call it what you will, brought them here, though if you had
+your wish, it is true they would never have come. Still, as they have
+come, I am glad. It is something to me, living in this hell, to get a
+chance of talking to English gentlemen again before I die.”
+
+“English gentlemen,” remarked Rodd reflectively, “Well, Anscombe is of
+course, but how about that other hunter? After all, in what way is he
+better than the scores of other hunters and Kaffir traders and
+wanderers whom one meets in this strange land?”
+
+“In what way indeed?” thought I to myself, in my dream.
+
+“If you can’t see, I can’t explain to you. But as I happen to know, the
+man is of blood as good as mine—and a great deal better than yours,” he
+added with a touch of insolence. “Moreover, he has an honest name among
+white and black, which is much in this country.”
+
+“Yes,” replied the doctor in the same reflective voice, “I agree with
+you, I let him pass as a gentleman. But I repeat, Why did you bring
+them here when with one more word it would have been so easy—” and he
+stopped.
+
+“I have told you, it was not I. What are you driving at?”
+
+“Do you think it is exactly convenient, especially when we are under
+the British flag again, to have two people who, we both admit, are
+English gentlemen, that is, clean, clear-eyed men, considering us and
+our affairs for an indefinite period, just because you wish for the
+pleasure of their society? Would it not have been better to tell those
+Basutos to let them trek on to Pretoria?”
+
+“I don’t know what would have been better. I repeat, what are you
+driving at?
+
+“Heda is coming home in a day or two; she might be here any time,”
+remarked Rodd as he knocked the ashes out of his pipe.
+
+“Yes, because you made me write and say that I wanted her. But what of
+that?”
+
+“Nothing in particular, except that I am not sure that I wish her to
+associate with ‘an English gentleman’ like this Anscombe.”
+
+Marnham laughed scornfully. “Ah! I understand,” he said. “Too clean and
+straight. Complications might ensue and the rest of it. Well, I wish to
+God they would, for I know the Anscombes, or used to, and I know the
+genus called Rodd.”
+
+“Don’t be insulting; you may carry the thing too far one day, and
+whatever I have done I have paid for. But you’ve not paid—yet.”
+
+“The man is very ill. You are a skilled doctor. If you’re afraid of
+him, why don’t you kill him?” asked Marnham with bitter scorn.
+
+“There you have me,” replied Rodd. “Men may shed much, but most of them
+never shed their professional honour. I shall do my honest best to cure
+Mr. Anscombe, and I tell you that he will take some curing.”
+
+Then I woke up, and as no one was in sight, wondered whether or no I
+had been dreaming. The upshot of it was that I made up my mind to send
+Footsack to Pretoria for the oxen, not to go myself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+A GAME OF CARDS
+
+
+I slept in Anscombe’s room that night and looked after him. He was very
+feverish and the pain in his leg kept him awake a good deal. He told me
+that he could not bear Dr. Rodd and wished to get away at once. I had
+to explain to him that this was impossible until his spare oxen arrived
+which I was going to send for to Pretoria, but of other matters,
+including that of the dangerous state of his foot, I said nothing. I
+was thankful when towards two in the morning, he fell into a sound
+sleep and allowed me to do the same.
+
+Before breakfast time, just as I had finished dressing myself in some
+of the clean things which had been brought from the wagon, Rodd came
+and made a thorough and business-like examination of his patient, while
+I awaited the result with anxiety on the stoep. At length he appeared
+and said—
+
+“Well, I think that we shall be able to save the foot, though I can’t
+be quite sure for another twenty-four hours. The worst symptoms have
+abated and his temperature is down by two degrees. Anyway he will have
+to stay in bed and live on light food till it is normal, after which he
+might lie in a long chair on the stoep. On no account must he attempt
+to stand.”
+
+I thanked him for his information heartily enough and asked him if he
+knew where Marnham was, as I wanted to speak to him with reference to
+the despatch of Footsack to fetch the oxen from Pretoria.
+
+“Not up yet, I think,” he answered. “I fancy that yesterday was one of
+his ‘wet’ nights, excitement of meeting strangers and so on.”
+
+“Wet nights?” I queried, wishing for a clearer explanation.
+
+“Yes, he is a grand old fellow, one of the best, but like most other
+people he has his little weaknesses, and when the fit is on him he can
+put away a surprising amount of liquor. I tell you so that you should
+not be astonished if you notice anything, or try to argue with him when
+he is in that state, as then his temper is apt to be—well, lively. Now
+I must go and give him a pint of warm milk; that is his favourite
+antidote, and in fact the best there is.”
+
+I thought to myself that we had struck a nice establishment in which to
+be tied, literally by the leg, for an indefinite period. I was not
+particularly flush at the time, but I know I would have paid a £100 to
+be out of it; before the end I should have been glad to throw in
+everything that I had. But mercifully that was hidden from me.
+
+Rodd and I breakfasted together and discoursed of Kaffir customs, as to
+which he was singularly well informed. Then I accompanied him to see
+his native patients in the little hospital of which I have spoken.
+Believing the man to be a thorough scamp as I did, it was astonishing
+to me to note how gentle and forbearing he was to these people. Of his
+skill I need say nothing, as that was evident. He was going to perform
+an internal operation upon a burly old savage, rather a serious one I
+believe; at any rate it necessitated chloroform. He asked me if I would
+like to assist, but I declined respectfully, having no taste for such
+things. So I left him boiling his instruments and putting on what
+looked like a clean nightgown over his clothes, and returned to the
+stoep.
+
+Here I found Marnham, whose eyes were rather bloodshot, though
+otherwise, except for a shaky hand, he seemed right enough. He murmured
+something about having overslept himself and inquired very politely,
+for his manners were beautiful, after Anscombe and as to whether we
+were quite comfortable and so forth. After this I consulted him as to
+the best road for our servants to travel by to Pretoria, and later on
+despatched them, giving Footsack various notes to ensure the delivery
+of the oxen to him. Also I gave him some money to pay for their keep
+and told him with many threats to get back with the beasts as quick as
+he could travel. Then I sent him and the two other boys off, not
+without misgivings, although he was an experienced man in his way and
+promised faithfully to fulfil every injunction to the letter. To me he
+seemed so curiously glad to go that I inquired the reason, since after
+a journey like ours, it would have been more natural if he had wished
+to rest.
+
+“Oh! Baas,” he said, “I don’t think this Tampel very healthy for
+coloured people. I am told of some who have died here. That man Karl
+who gave me the diamond, I think he must have died also, at least I saw
+his spook last night standing over me and shaking his head, and the
+boys saw it too.”
+
+“Oh! be off with your talk of spooks,” I said, “and come back quickly
+with those oxen, or I promise you that you will die and be a spook
+yourself.”
+
+“I will, Baas, I will!” he ejaculated and departed almost at a run,
+leaving me rather uncomfortable.
+
+I believed nothing of the tale of the spook of Karl, but I saw that
+Footsack believed in it, and was afraid lest he might be thereby
+prevented from returning. I would much rather have gone myself, but it
+was impossible for me to leave Anscombe so ill in the hands of our
+strange hosts. And there was no one else whom I could send. I might
+perhaps have ridden to Pilgrim’s Rest and tried to find a white
+messenger there; indeed afterwards I regretted not having done so,
+although it would have involved at least a day’s absence at a very
+critical time. But the truth is I never thought of it until too late,
+and probably if I had, I should not have been able to discover anyone
+whom I could trust.
+
+As I walked back to the house, having parted from Footsack on the top
+of a neighbouring ridge whence I could point out his path to him, I met
+Marnham riding away. He pulled up and said that he was going down to
+the Granite stream to arrange about setting some one up to watch the
+wagon. I expressed sorrow that he should have the trouble, which should
+have been mine if I could have got away, whereon he answered that he
+was glad of the opportunity for a ride, as it was something to do.
+
+“How do you fill in your time here,” I asked carelessly, “as you don’t
+farm?”
+
+“Oh! by trading,” he replied, and with a nod set his horse to a canter.
+
+A queer sort of trading, thought I to myself, where there is no store.
+Now what exactly does he trade in, I wonder?
+
+As it happened I was destined to find out before I was an hour older.
+Having given Anscombe a look and found that he was comfortable, I
+thought that I would inspect the quarry whence the marble came of which
+the house was built, as it had occurred to me that if there was plenty
+of it, it might be worth exploiting some time in the future. It had
+been pointed out to me in the midst of some thorns in a gully that ran
+at right angles to the main kloof not more than a few hundred yards
+from the house. Following a path over which the stones had been dragged
+originally, I came to the spot and discovered that a little cavity had
+been quarried in what seemed to me to be a positive mountain of pure
+white marble. I examined the place as thoroughly as I could, climbing
+among some bushes that grew in surface earth which had been washed down
+from the top, in order to do so.
+
+At the back of these bushes there was a hole large enough for a man to
+creep through. I crept through with the object of ascertaining whether
+the marble veins continued. To my surprise I found a stout yellow-wood
+door within feet of the mouth of the hole. Reflecting that no doubt it
+was here that the quarrymen kept, or had kept tools and explosives, I
+gave it a push. I suppose it had been left unfastened accidentally, or
+that something had gone wrong with the lock; at any rate it swung open.
+Pursuing my researches as to the depth of the marble I advanced boldly
+and, the place being dark, struck a match. Evidently the marble did
+continue, as I could see by the glittering roof of a cavern, for such
+it was. But the floor attracted my attention as well as the roof, for
+on it were numerous cases not unlike coffins, bearing the stamp of a
+well-known Birmingham firm, labelled “fencing iron” and addressed to
+Messrs. Marnham & Rodd, Transvaal, _via_ Delagoa Bay.
+
+I knew at once what they were, having seen the like before, but if any
+doubt remained in my mind it was easy to solve, for as it chanced one
+of the cases was open and half emptied. I slipped my hand into it. As I
+thought it contained the ordinary Kaffir gun of commerce, cost
+delivered in Africa, say 35s.; cost delivered to native chief in cash
+or cattle, say £10, which, when the market is eager, allows for a
+decent profit. Contemplating those cases, survivors probably of a much
+larger stock, I understood how it came about that Sekukuni had dared to
+show fight against the Government. Doubtless it was hence that the guns
+had come which sent a bullet through Anscombe’s foot and nearly
+polished off both of us.
+
+Moreover, as further matches showed me, that cave contained other
+stores—item, kegs of gunpowder; item, casks of cheap spirit; item, bars
+of lead, also a box marked “bullet moulds” and another marked
+“Percussion caps.” I think, too, there were some innocent bags full of
+beads and a few packages of Birmingham-made assegai blades. There may
+have been other things, but if so I did not wait to investigate them.
+Gathering up the ends of my matches and, in case there should be any
+dust in the place that would show footmarks, flapping the stone floor
+behind me with my pocket handkerchief, I retired and continued my
+investigations of that wonderful marble deposit from the bottom of the
+quarry, to which, having re-arranged the bushes, I descended by another
+route, leaping like a buck from stone to stone.
+
+It was just as well that I did so, for a few minutes later Dr. Rodd
+appeared.
+
+“Made a good job of your operation?” I asked cheerfully.
+
+“Pretty fair, thanks,” he answered, “although that Kaffir tried to
+brain the nurse-man when he was coming out of the anæsthetic. But are
+you interested in geology?”
+
+“A little,” I replied, “that is if there is any chance of making money
+out of it, which there ought to be here, as this marble looks almost as
+good as that of Carrara. But flint instruments are more my line, that
+is in an ignorant and amateur way, as I think they are in yours, for I
+saw some in your room. Tell me, what do you think of this. Is it a
+scraper?” and I produced a stone out of my pocket which I had found a
+week before in the bush-veld.
+
+At once he forgot his suspicions, of which I could see he arrived very
+full indeed. This curious man, as it happened, was really fond of flint
+instruments, of which he knew a great deal.
+
+“Did you find this here?” he asked.
+
+I led him several yards further from the mouth of the cave and pointed
+out the exact spot where I said I had picked it up amongst some quarry
+debris. Then followed a most learned discussion, for it appeared that
+this was a flint instrument of the rarest and most valuable type, one
+that Noah might have used, or Job might have scraped himself with, and
+the question was how the dickens had it come among that quarry debris.
+In the end we left the problem undecided, and having presented the
+article to Dr. Rodd, a gift for which he thanked me with real warmth, I
+returned to the house filled with the glow that rewards one who has
+made a valuable discovery.
+
+Of the following three days I have nothing particular to say, except
+that during them I was perhaps more acutely bored than ever I had been
+in my life before. The house was beautiful in its own fashion; the food
+was excellent; there was everything I could want to drink, and Rodd
+announced that he no longer feared the necessity of operation upon
+Anscombe’s leg. His recovery was now a mere matter of time, and
+meanwhile he must not use his foot or let the blood run into it more
+than could be helped, which meant that he must keep himself in a
+recumbent position. The trouble was that I had nothing on earth to do
+except study the characters of our hosts, which I found disagreeable
+and depressing. I might have gone out shooting, but nothing of the sort
+was allowed upon the property in obedience to the wish of Miss Heda, a
+mysterious young person who was always expected and never appeared, and
+beyond it I was afraid to travel for fear of Basutos. I might have gone
+to Pilgrim’s Rest or Lydenburg to make report of the nefarious deeds of
+the said Basutos, but at best it would have taken one or two days, and
+possibly I should have been detained by officials who never consider
+any one’s time except their own.
+
+This meant that I should have been obliged to leave Anscombe alone,
+which I did not wish to do, so I just sat still and, as I have said,
+was intensely bored, hanging about the place and smoking more than was
+good for me.
+
+In due course Anscombe emerged on to the stoep, where he lay with his
+leg up, and was also bored, especially after he had tried to pump old
+Marnham about his past in the Guards and completely failed. It was in
+this mood of utter dejection that we agreed to play a game of cards one
+evening. Not that either of us cared for cards; indeed, personally, I
+have always detested them because, with various-coloured counters to
+represent money which never passed, they had formed one of the
+afflictions of my youth.
+
+It was so annoying if you won, to be handed a number of green counters
+and be informed that they represented so many hundreds or thousands of
+pounds, or vice-versa if you lost, for as it cost no one anything, my
+dear father insisted upon playing for enormous stakes. Never in any
+aspect of life have I cared for fooling. Anscombe also disliked cards,
+I think because his ancestors too had played with counters, such as
+some that I have seen belonging to the Cocoa-Tree Club and other
+gambling places of a past generation, marked as high as a thousand
+guineas, which counters must next morning be redeemed in hard cash,
+whereby his family had been not a little impoverished.
+
+“I fancy you will find they are high-fliers,” he said when the pair had
+left to fetch a suitable table, for the night being very hot we were
+going to play on the stoep by the light of the hanging paraffin lamp
+and some candles. I replied to the effect that I could not afford to
+lose large sums of money, especially to men who for aught I knew might
+then be engaged in marking the cards.
+
+“I understand,” he answered. “Don’t you bother about that, old fellow.
+This is my affair, arranged for my special amusement. I shan’t grumble
+if the fun costs something, for I am sure there will be fun.”
+
+“All right,” I said, “only if we should happen to win money, it’s
+yours, not mine.”
+
+To myself I reflected, however, that with these two opponents we had
+about as much chance of winning as a snowflake has of resisting the
+atmosphere of the lower regions.
+
+Presently they returned with the table, which had a green cloth over it
+that hung down half-way to the ground. Also one of the native boys
+brought a tray with spirits, from which I judged by various signs, old
+Marnham, who had already drunk his share at dinner, had helped himself
+freely on the way. Soon we were arranged, Anscombe, who was to be my
+partner, opposite to me in his long chair, and the game began.
+
+I forget what particular variant of cards it was we played, though I
+know it admitted of high and progressive stakes. At first, however,
+these were quite moderate and we won, as I suppose we were meant to do.
+After half an hour or so Marnham rose to help himself to brandy and
+water, a great deal of brandy and very little water, while I took a nip
+of Hollands, and Anscombe and Rodd filled their pipes.
+
+“I think this is getting rather slow,” said Rodd to Anscombe. “I vote
+we put a bit more on.”
+
+“As much as you like,” answered Anscombe with a little drawl and
+twinkle of the eye, which always showed that he was amused. “Both
+Quatermain and I are born gamblers. Don’t look angry, Quatermain, you
+know you are. Only if we lose you will have to take a cheque, for I
+have precious little cash.”
+
+“I think that will be good enough,” replied the doctor quietly—“if you
+lose.”
+
+So the stakes were increased to an amount that made my hair stand up
+stiffer even than usual, and the game went on. Behold! a marvel came to
+pass. How it happened I do not know, unless Marnham had brought the
+wrong cards by mistake or had grown too fuddled to understand his
+partner’s telegraphic signals, which I, being accustomed to observe,
+saw him make, not once but often, still we won! What is more, with a
+few set-backs, we went on winning, till presently the sums written down
+to our credit, for no actual cash passed, were considerable. And all
+the while, at the end of each bout Marnham helped himself to more
+brandy, while the doctor grew more mad in a suppressed-thunder kind of
+a way. For my part I became alarmed, especially as I perceived that
+Anscombe was on the verge of breaking into open merriment, and his legs
+being up I could not kick him under the table.
+
+“My partner ought to go to bed. Don’t you think we should stop?” I
+said.
+
+“On the whole I do,” replied Rodd, glowering at Marnham, who, somewhat
+unsteadily, was engaged in wiping drops of brandy from his long beard.
+
+“D——d if I do,” exclaimed that worthy. “When I was young and played
+with gentlemen they always gave losers an opportunity of revenge.”
+
+“Then,” replied Anscombe with a flash of his eyes, “let us try to
+follow in the footsteps of the gentlemen with whom you played in your
+youth. I suggest that we double the stakes.”
+
+“That’s right! That’s the old form!” said Marnham.
+
+The doctor half rose from his chair, then sat down again. Watching him,
+I concluded that he believed his partner, a seasoned vessel, was not so
+drunk as he pretended to be, and either in an actual or a figurative
+sense, had a card up his sleeve. If so, it remained there, for again we
+won; all the luck was with us.
+
+“I am getting tired,” drawled Anscombe. “Lemon and water are not
+sustaining. Shall we stop?”
+
+“By Heaven! no,” shouted Marnham, to which Anscombe replied that if it
+was wished, he would play another hand, but no more.
+
+“All right,” said Marnham, “but let it be for double or quits.”
+
+He spoke quite quietly and seemed suddenly to have grown sober. Now I
+think that Rodd made up his mind that he really was acting and that he
+really had that card up his sleeve. At any rate he did not object. I,
+however, was of a different opinion, having often seen drunken men
+succumb to an access of sobriety under the stress of excitement and
+remarked that it did not last long.
+
+“Do you really mean that?” I said, speaking for the first time and
+addressing myself to the doctor. “I don’t quite know what the sum
+involved is, but it must be large.”
+
+“Of course,” he answered.
+
+Then remembering that at the worst Anscombe stood to lose nothing, I
+shrugged my shoulders and held my tongue. It was Marnham’s deal, and
+although he was somewhat in the shadow of the hanging lamp and the
+candles had guttered out, I distinctly saw him play some hocus-pocus
+with the cards, but in the circumstances made no protest. As it chanced
+he must have hocus-pocused them wrong, for though _his_ hand was full
+of trumps, Rodd held nothing at all. The battle that ensued was quite
+exciting, but the end of it was that an ace in the hand of Anscombe,
+who really was quite a good player, did the business, and we won again.
+
+In the rather awful silence that followed Anscombe remarked in his
+cheerful drawl—
+
+“I’m not sure that my addition is quite right; we’ll check that in the
+morning, but I make out that you two gentlemen owe Quatermain and
+myself £749 10s.”
+
+Then the doctor broke out.
+
+“You accursed old fool,” he hissed—there is no other word for it—at
+Marnham. “How are you going to pay all this money that you have gambled
+away, drunken beast that you are!”
+
+“Easily enough, you felon,” shouted Marnham. “So,” and thrusting his
+hand into his pocket he pulled out a number of diamonds which he threw
+upon the table, adding, “there’s what will cover it twice over, and
+there are more where they came from, as you know well enough, my
+medical jailbird.”
+
+“You dare to call me that,” gasped the doctor in a voice laden with
+fury, so intense that it had deprived him of his reason,
+“you—you—murderer! Oh! why don’t I kill you as I shall some day?” and
+lifting his glass, which was half full, he threw the contents into
+Marnham’s face.
+
+“That’s a nice man for a prospective son-in-law, isn’t he?” exclaimed
+the old scamp, as, seizing the brandy decanter, he hurled it straight
+at Rodd’s head, only missing him by an inch.
+
+“Don’t you think you had both better go to bed, gentlemen?” I inquired.
+“You are saying things you might regret in the morning.”
+
+Apparently they did think it, for without another word they rose and
+marched off in different directions to their respective rooms, which I
+heard both of them lock. For my part I collected the I.O.U.‘s; also the
+diamonds which still lay upon the table, while Anscombe examined the
+cards.
+
+“Marked, by Jove!” he said. “Oh! my dear Quatermain, never have I had
+such an amusing evening in all my life.”
+
+“Shut up, you silly idiot,” I answered. “There’ll be murder done over
+this business, and I only hope it won’t be on us.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+MISS HEDA
+
+
+It might be thought that after all this there would have been a painful
+explanation on the following morning, but nothing of the sort happened.
+After all the greatest art is the art of ignoring things, without which
+the world could scarcely go on, even among the savage races. Thus on
+this occasion the two chief actors in the scene of the previous night
+pretended that they had forgotten what took place, as I believe, to a
+large extent truly. The fierce flame of drink in the one and of passion
+in the other had burnt the web of remembrance to ashes. They knew that
+something unpleasant had occurred and its main outlines; the rest had
+vanished away; perhaps because they knew also that they were not
+responsible for what they said and did, and therefore that what
+occurred had no right to a permanent niche in their memories. It was,
+as it were, something outside of their normal selves. At least so I
+conjectured, and their conduct seemed to give colour to my guess.
+
+The doctor spoke to me of the matter first.
+
+“I fear there was a row last night,” he said; “it has happened here
+before over cards, and will no doubt happen again until matters clear
+themselves up somehow. Marnham, as you see, drinks, and when drunk is
+the biggest liar in the world, and I, I am sorry to say, am cursed with
+a violent temper. Don’t judge either of us too harshly. If you were a
+doctor you would know that all these things come to us with our blood,
+and we didn’t fashion our own clay, did we? Have some coffee, won’t
+you?”
+
+Subsequently when Rodd wasn’t there, Marnham spoke also and with that
+fine air of courtesy which was peculiar to him.
+
+“I owe a deep apology,” he said, “to yourself and Mr. Anscombe. I do
+not recall much about it, but I know there was a scene last night over
+those cursed cards. A weakness overtakes me sometimes. I will say no
+more, except that you, who are also a man who perhaps have felt
+weaknesses of one sort or another, will, I hope, make allowances for me
+and pay no attention to anything that I may have said or done in the
+presence of guests; yes, that is what pains me—in the presence of
+guests.”
+
+Something in his distinguished manner caused me to reflect upon every
+peccadillo that I had ever committed, setting it in its very worst
+light.
+
+“Quite so,” I answered, “quite so. Pray do not mention the matter any
+more, although—” These words seemed to jerk themselves out of my
+throat, “you did call each other by such very hard names.”
+
+“I daresay,” he answered with a vacant smile, “but if so they meant
+nothing.”
+
+“No, I understand, just like a lovers’ quarrel. But look here, you left
+some diamonds on the table which I took to keep the Kaffirs out of
+temptation. I will fetch them.”
+
+“Did I? Well, probably I left some I.O.U.‘s also which might serve for
+pipelights. So suppose we set the one against the other. I don’t know
+the value of either the diamonds or the pipelights, it may be less or
+more, but for God’s sake don’t let me see the beastly things again.
+There’s no need, I have plenty.”
+
+“I must speak to Anscombe,” I answered. “The money at stake was his,
+not mine.”
+
+“Speak to whom you will,” he replied, and I noted that the throbbing
+vein upon his forehead indicated a rising temper. “But never let me see
+those diamonds again. Throw them into the gutter if you wish, but never
+let me see them again, or there will be trouble.”
+
+Then he flung out of the room, leaving his breakfast almost untasted.
+
+Reflecting that this queer old bird probably did not wish to be
+cross-questioned as to his possession of so many uncut diamonds, or
+that they were worth much less than the sum he had lost, or possibly
+that they were not diamonds at all but glass, I went to report the
+matter to Anscombe. He only laughed and said that as I had got the
+things I had better keep them until something happened, for we had both
+got it into our heads that something would happen before we had done
+with that establishment.
+
+So I went to put the stones away as safely as I could. While I was
+doing so I heard the rumble of wheels, and came out just in time to see
+a Cape cart, drawn by four very good horses and driven by a Hottentot
+in a smart hat and a red waistband, pull up at the garden gate. Out of
+this cart presently emerged a neatly dressed lady, of whom all I could
+see was that she was young, slender and rather tall; also, as her back
+was towards me, that she had a great deal of auburn hair.
+
+“There!” said Anscombe. “I knew that something would happen. Heda has
+happened. Quatermain, as neither her venerated parent nor her loving
+fiance, for such I gather he is, seems to be about, you had better go
+and give her a hand.”
+
+I obeyed with a groan, heartily wishing that Heda hadn’t happened,
+since some sense warned me that she would only add to the present
+complications. At the gate, having given some instructions to a very
+stout young coloured woman who, I took it, was her maid, about a basket
+of flower roots in the cart, she turned round suddenly and we came face
+to face with the gate between us. For a moment we stared at each other,
+I reflecting that she really was very pretty with her delicately-shaped
+features, her fresh, healthy-looking complexion, her long dark
+eyelashes and her lithe and charming figure. What she reflected about
+me I don’t know, probably nothing half so complimentary. Suddenly,
+however, her large greyish eyes grew troubled and a look of alarm
+appeared upon her face.
+
+“Is anything wrong with my father?” she asked. “I don’t see him.”
+
+“If you mean Mr. Marnham,” I replied, lifting my hat, “I believe that
+Dr. Rodd and he—”
+
+“Never mind about Dr. Rodd,” she broke in with a contemptuous little
+jerk of her chin, “how is my father?”
+
+“I imagine much as usual. He and Dr. Rodd were here a little while ago,
+I suppose that they have gone out” (as a matter of fact they had, but
+in different directions).
+
+“Then that’s all right,” she said with a sigh of relief. “You see, I
+heard that he was very ill, which is why I have come back.”
+
+So, thought I to myself, she loves that old scamp and she—doesn’t love
+the doctor. There will be more trouble as sure as five and two are
+seven. All we wanted was a woman to make the pot boil over.
+
+Then I opened the gate and took a travelling bag from her hand with my
+politest bow.
+
+“My name is Quatermain and that of my friend Anscombe. We are staying
+here, you know,” I said rather awkwardly.
+
+“Indeed,” she answered with a delightful smile, “what a very strange
+place to choose to stay in.”
+
+“It is a beautiful house,” I remarked.
+
+“Not bad, although I designed it, more or less. But I was alluding to
+its inhabitants.”
+
+This finished me, and I am sure she felt that I could think of nothing
+nice to say about those inhabitants, for I heard her sigh. We walked
+side by side up the rose-fringed path and presently arrived at the
+stoep, where Anscombe, whose hair I had cut very nicely on the previous
+day, was watching us from his long chair. They looked at each other,
+and I saw both of them colour a little, out of mere foolishness, I
+suppose.
+
+“Anscombe,” I said, “this is—” and I paused, not being quite certain
+whether she also was called Marnham. “Heda Marnham,” she interrupted.
+
+“Yes—Miss Heda Marnham, and this is the Honourable Maurice Anscombe.”
+
+“Forgive me for not rising, Miss Marnham,” said Anscombe in his
+pleasant voice (by the way hers was pleasant too, full and rather low,
+with just a suggestion of something foreign about it). “A shot through
+the foot prevents me at present.”
+
+“Who shot you?” she asked quickly.
+
+“Oh! only a Kaffir.”
+
+“I am so sorry, I hope you will get well soon. Forgive me now, I must
+go to look for my father.”
+
+“She is uncommonly pretty,” remarked Anscombe, “and a lady into the
+bargain. In reflecting on old Marnham’s sins we must put it to his
+credit that he has produced a charming daughter.”
+
+“Too pretty and charming by half,” I grunted.
+
+“Perhaps Dr. Rodd is of the same way of thinking. Great shame that such
+a girl should be handed over to a medical scoundrel like Dr. Rodd. I
+wonder if she cares for him?”
+
+“Just about as much as a canary cares for a tom-cat. I have found that
+out already.”
+
+“Really, Quatermain, you are admirable. I never knew anyone who could
+make a better use of the briefest opportunity.”
+
+Then we were silent, waiting, not without a certain impatience, for the
+return of Miss Heda. She did return with surprising quickness
+considering that she had found time to search for her parent, to change
+into a clean white dress, and to pin a single hibiscus flower on to her
+bodice which gave just the touch of colour that was necessary to
+complete her costume.
+
+“I can’t find my father,” she said, “but the boys say he has gone out
+riding. I can’t find anybody. When you have been summoned from a long
+way off and travelled post-haste, rather to your own inconvenience, it
+is amusing, isn’t it?”
+
+“Wagons and carts in South Africa don’t arrive like express trains,
+Miss Marnham,” said Anscombe, “so you shouldn’t be offended.”
+
+“I am not at all offended, Mr. Anscombe. Now that I know there is
+nothing the matter with my father I’m—But, tell me, how did you get
+your wound?”
+
+So he told her with much amusing detail after his fashion. She listened
+quietly with a puckered up brow and only made one comment. It was,—
+
+“I wonder what white man told those Sekukuni Kaffirs that you were
+coming.”
+
+“I don’t know,” he answered, “but he deserves a bullet through him
+somewhere above the ankle.”
+
+“Yes, though few people get what they deserve in this wicked world.”
+
+“So I have often thought. Had it been otherwise, for example, I should
+have been—”
+
+“What would you have been?” she asked, considering him curiously.
+
+“Oh! a better shot than Mr. Allan Quatermain, and as beautiful as a
+lady I once saw in my youth.”
+
+“Don’t talk rubbish before luncheon,” I remarked sternly, and we all
+laughed, the first wholesome laughter that I had heard at the Temple.
+For this young lady seemed to bring happiness and merriment with her. I
+remember wondering what it was of which her coming reminded me, and
+concluding that it was like the sight and smell of a peach orchard in
+full bloom stumbled on suddenly in the black desert of the burnt winter
+veld.
+
+After this we became quite friendly. She dilated on her skill in having
+produced the Temple from an old engraving, which she fetched and showed
+to us, at no greater an expense than it would have cost to build an
+ordinary house.
+
+“That is because the marble was at hand,” said Anscombe.
+
+“Quite so,” she replied demurely. “Speaking in a general sense one can
+do many things in life—if the marble is at hand. Only most of us when
+we look for marble find sandstone or mud.”
+
+“Bravo!” said Anscombe, “I have generally lit upon the sandstone.”
+
+“And I on the mud,” she mused.
+
+“And I on all three, for the earth contains marble and mud and
+sandstone, to say nothing of gold and jewels,” I broke in, being tired
+of silence.
+
+But neither of them paid much attention to me. Anscombe did say, out of
+politeness, I suppose, that pitch and subterranean fires should be
+added, or some such nonsense.
+
+Then she began to tell him of her infantile memories of Hungary, which
+were extremely faint; of how they came to this place and lived first of
+all in two large Kaffir huts, until suddenly they began to grow rich;
+of her school days at Maritzburg; of the friends with whom she had been
+staying, and I know not what, until at last I got up and went out for a
+walk.
+
+When I returned an hour or so later they were still talking, and so
+continued to do until Dr. Rodd arrived upon the scene. At first they
+did not see him, for he stood at an angle to them, but I saw him and
+watched his face with a great deal of interest. It, or rather its
+expression, was not pleasant; before now I have seen something like it
+on that of a wild beast which thinks that it is about to be robbed of
+its prey by a stronger wild beast, in short, a mixture of hate, fear
+and jealousy—especially jealousy. At the last I did not wonder, for
+these two seemed to be getting on uncommonly well.
+
+They were, so to speak, well matched. She, of course, was the better
+looking of the two, a really pretty and attractive young woman indeed,
+but the vivacity of Anscombe’s face, the twinkle of his merry blue eyes
+and its general refinement made up for what he lacked—regularity of
+feature. I think he had just told her one of his good stories which he
+always managed to make so humorous by a trick of pleasing and harmless
+exaggeration, and they were both laughing merrily. Then she caught
+sight of the doctor and her merriment evaporated like a drop of water
+on a hot shovel. Distinctly I saw her pull herself together and prepare
+for something.
+
+“How do you do?” she said rapidly, rising and holding out her slim
+sun-browned hand. “But I need not ask, you look so well.”
+
+“How do you do, my dear,” with a heavy emphasis on the “dear” he
+answered slowly. “But I needn’t ask, for I see that you are in perfect
+health and spirits,” and he bent forward as though to kiss her.
+
+Somehow or other she avoided that endearment or seal of possession. I
+don’t quite know how, as I turned my head away, not wishing to witness
+what I felt to be unpleasant. When I looked up again, however, I saw
+that she had avoided it, the scowl on his face, the demureness of hers
+and Anscombe’s evident amusement assured me of this. She was asking
+about her father; he answered that he also seemed quite well.
+
+“Then why did you write to tell me that I ought to come as he was not
+at all well?” she inquired, with a lifting of her delicate eyebrows.
+
+The question was never answered, for at that moment Marnham himself
+appeared.
+
+“Oh! father,” she said, and rushed into his arms, while he kissed her
+tenderly on both cheeks.
+
+So I was not mistaken, thought I to myself, she does really love this
+moral wreck, and what is more, he loves her, which shows that there
+must be good in him. Is anyone truly bad, I wondered, or for the matter
+of that, truly good either? Is it not all a question of circumstance
+and blood?
+
+Neither then or at any other time have I found an answer to the
+problem. At any rate to me there seemed something beautiful about the
+meeting of these two.
+
+The influence of Miss Heda in the house was felt at once. The boys
+became smarter and put on clean clothes. Vases of flowers appeared in
+the various rooms; ours was turned out and cleaned, a disagreeable
+process so far as we were concerned. Moreover, at dinner both Marnham
+and Rodd wore dress clothes with short jackets, a circumstance that put
+Anscombe and myself to shame since we had none. It was curious to see
+how with those dress clothes, which doubtless awoke old associations
+within him, Marnham changed his colour like a chameleon. Really he
+might have been the colonel of a cavalry regiment rising to toast the
+Queen after he had sent round the wine, so polite and polished was his
+talk. Who could have identified the man with the dry old ruffian of
+twenty-four hours before, he who was drinking claret (and very good
+claret too) mixed with water and listening with a polite interest to
+all the details of his daughter’s journey? Even the doctor looked a
+gentleman, which doubtless he was once upon a time, in evening dress.
+Moreover, some kind of truce had been arranged. He no longer called
+Miss Heda “My dear” or attempted any familiarities, while she on more
+than one occasion very distinctly called him Dr. Rodd.
+
+So much for that night and for several others that followed. As for the
+days they went by pleasantly and idly. Heda walked about on her
+father’s arm, conversed in friendly fashion with the doctor, always
+watching him, I noticed, as a cat watches a dog that she knows is
+waiting an opportunity to spring, and for the rest associated with us
+as much as she could. Particularly did she seem to take refuge behind
+my own insignificance, having, I suppose, come to the conclusion that I
+was a harmless person who might possibly prove useful. But all the
+while I felt that the storm was banking up. Indeed Marnham himself, at
+any rate to a great extent, played the part of the cloud-compelling
+Jove, for soon it became evident to me, and without doubt to Dr. Rodd
+also, that he was encouraging the intimacy between his daughter and
+Anscombe by every means in his power.
+
+In one way and another he had fully informed himself as to Anscombe’s
+prospects in life, which were brilliant enough. Moreover he liked the
+man who, as the remnant of the better perceptions of his youth told
+him, was one of the best class of Englishmen, and what is more, he saw
+that Heda liked him also, as much indeed as she disliked Rodd. He even
+spoke to me of the matter in a round-about kind of fashion, saying that
+the young woman who married Anscombe would be lucky and that the father
+who had him for a son-in-law might go to his grave confident of his
+child’s happiness. I answered that I agreed with him, unless the lady’s
+affections had already caused her to form other ties.
+
+“Affections!” he exclaimed, dropping all pretence, “there are none
+involved in this accursed business, as you are quite sharp enough to
+have seen for yourself.”
+
+“I understood that an engagement was involved,” I remarked.
+
+“On my part, perhaps, not on hers,” he answered. “Oh! can’t you
+understand, Quatermain, that sometimes men find themselves forced into
+strange situations against their will?”
+
+Remembering the very ugly name that I had heard Rodd call Marnham on
+the night of the card party, I reflected that I could understand well
+enough, but I only said—
+
+“After all marriage is a matter that concerns a woman even more than it
+does her father, one, in short, of which she must be the judge.”
+
+“Quite so, Quatermain, but there are some daughters who are prepared to
+make great sacrifices for their fathers. Well, she will be of age ere
+long, if only I can stave it off till then. But how, how?” and with a
+groan he turned and left me.
+
+That old gentleman’s neck is in some kind of a noose, thought I to
+myself, and his difficulty is to prevent the rope from being drawn
+tight. Meanwhile this poor girl’s happiness and future are at stake.
+
+“Allan,” said Anscombe to me a little later, for by now he called me by
+my Christian name, “I suppose you haven’t heard anything about those
+oxen, have you?”
+
+“No, I could scarcely expect to yet, but why do you ask?”
+
+He smiled in his droll fashion and replied, “Because, interesting as
+this household is in sundry ways, I think it is about time that we, or
+at any rate that I, got out of it.”
+
+“Your leg isn’t fit to travel yet, Anscombe, although Rodd says that
+all the symptoms are very satisfactory.”
+
+“Yes, but to tell you the truth I am experiencing other symptoms quite
+unknown to that beloved physician and so unfamiliar to myself that I
+attribute them to the influences of the locality. Altitude affects the
+heart, does it not, and this house stands high.”
+
+“Don’t play off your jokes on me,” I said sternly. “What do you mean?”
+
+“I wonder if you find Miss Heda attractive, Allan, or if you are too
+old. I believe there comes an age when the only beauties that can move
+a man are those of architecture, or scenery, or properly cooked food.”
+
+“Hang it all! I am not Methusaleh,” I replied; “but if you mean that
+you are falling in love with Heda, why the deuce don’t you say so,
+instead of wasting my time and your own?”
+
+“Because time was given to us to waste. Properly considered it is the
+best use to which it can be put, or at any rate the one that does least
+mischief. Also because I wished to make you say it for me that I might
+judge from the effect of your words whether it is or is not true. I may
+add that I fear the former to be the case.”
+
+“Well, if you are in love with the girl you can’t expect one so ancient
+as myself, who is quite out of touch with such follies, to teach you
+how to act.”
+
+“No, Allan. Unfortunately there are occasions when one must rely upon
+one’s own wisdom, and mine, what there is of it, tells me I had better
+get out of this. But I can’t ride even if I took the horse and you ran
+behind, and the oxen haven’t come.”
+
+“Perhaps you could borrow Miss Marnham’s cart in which to run away from
+her,” I suggested sarcastically.
+
+“Perhaps, though I believe it would be fatal to my foot to sit up in a
+cart for the next few days, and the horses seem to have been sent off
+somewhere. Look here, old fellow,” he went on, dropping his bantering
+tone, “it’s rather awkward to make a fool of oneself over a lady who is
+engaged to some one else, especially if one suspects that with a little
+encouragement she might begin to walk the same road. The truth is I
+have taken the fever pretty bad, worse than ever I did before, and if
+it isn’t stopped soon it will become chronic.”
+
+“Oh no, Anscombe, only intermittent at the worst, and African malaria
+nearly always yields to a change of climate.”
+
+“How can I expect a cynic and a misogynist to understand the simple
+fervour of an inexperienced soul—Oh! drat it all, Quatermain, stop your
+acid chaff and tell me what is to be done. Really I am in a tight
+place.”
+
+“Very; so tight that I rejoice to think, as you were kind enough to
+point out, that my years protect me from anything of the sort. I have
+no advice to give; I think you had better ask it of the lady.”
+
+“Well, we did have a little conversation, hypothetical of course, about
+some friends of ours who found themselves similarly situated, and I
+regret to say without result.”
+
+“Indeed. I did not know you had any mutual acquaintances. What did she
+say and do?”
+
+“She said nothing, only sighed and looked as though she were going to
+burst into tears, and all she did was to walk away. I’d have followed
+her if I could, but as my crutch wasn’t there it was impossible. It
+seemed to me that suddenly I had come up against a brick wall, that
+there was something on her mind which she could not or would not let
+out.”
+
+“Yes, and if you want to know, I will tell you what it is. Rodd has got
+a hold over Marnham of a sort that would bring him somewhere near the
+gallows. As the price of his silence Marnham has promised him his
+daughter. The daughter knows that her father is in this man’s power,
+though I think she does not know in what way, and being a good girl—”
+
+“An angel you mean—do call her by her right name, especially in a place
+where angels are so much wanted.”
+
+“Well, an angel if you like—she has promised on her part to marry a man
+she loathes in order to save her parent’s bacon.”
+
+“Just what I concluded, from what we heard in the row. I wonder which
+of that pair is the bigger blackguard. Well, Allan, that settles it.
+You and I are on the side of the angel. You will have to get her out of
+this scrape and—if she’ll have me, I’ll marry her; and if she won’t,
+why it can’t be helped. Now that’s a fair division of labour. How are
+you going to do it? I haven’t an idea, and if I had, I should not
+presume to interfere with one so much older and wiser than myself.”
+
+“I suppose that by the time you appeared in it, the game of heads I win
+and tails you lose had died out of the world,” I replied with an
+indignant snort. “I think the best thing I can do will be to take the
+horse and look for those oxen. Meanwhile you can settle your business
+by the light of your native genius, and I only hope you’ll finish it
+without murder and sudden death.”
+
+“I say, old fellow,” said Anscombe earnestly, “you don’t really mean to
+go off and leave me in this hideousness? I haven’t bothered much up to
+the present because I was sure that you would find a way out, which
+would be nothing to a man of your intellect and experience. I mean it
+honestly, I do indeed.”
+
+“Do you? Well, I can only say that my mind is a perfect blank, but if
+you will stop talking I will try to think the matter over. There’s Miss
+Heda in the garden cutting flowers. I will go to help her, which will
+be a very pleasant change.”
+
+And I went, leaving him to stare after me jealously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+THE STOEP
+
+
+When I reached Miss Heda she was collecting half-opened monthly roses
+from the hedge, and not quite knowing what to say I made the
+appropriate quotation. At least it was appropriate to my thought, and,
+from her answer, to hers also.
+
+“Yes,” she said, “I am gathering them while I may,” and she sighed and,
+as I thought, glanced towards the verandah, though of this I could not
+be sure because of the wide brim of the hat she was wearing.
+
+Then we talked a little on indifferent matters, while I pricked my
+fingers helping to pluck the roses. She asked me if I thought that
+Anscombe was getting on well, and how long it would be before he could
+travel. I replied that Dr. Rodd could tell her better than myself, but
+that I hoped in about a week.
+
+“In a week!” she said, and although she tried to speak lightly there
+was dismay in her voice.
+
+“I hope you don’t think it too long,” I answered; “but even if he is
+fit to go, the oxen have not come yet, and I don’t quite know when they
+will.”
+
+“Too long!” she exclaimed. “Too long! Oh! if you only knew what it is
+to me to have such guests as you are in this place,” and her dark eyes
+filled with tears.
+
+By now we had passed to the side of the house in search of some other
+flower that grew in the shade, I think it was mignonette, and were out
+of sight of the verandah and quite alone.
+
+“Mr. Quatermain,” she said hurriedly, “I am wondering whether to ask
+your advice about something, if you would give it. I have no one to
+consult here,” she added rather piteously.
+
+“That is for you to decide. If you wish to do so I am old enough to be
+your father, and will do my best to help.”
+
+We walked on to an orange grove that stood about forty yards away,
+ostensibly to pick some fruit, but really because we knew that there we
+should be out of hearing and could see any one who approached.
+
+“Mr. Quatermain,” she said presently in a low voice, “I am in great
+trouble, almost the greatest a woman can have. I am engaged to be
+married to a man whom I do not care for.”
+
+“Then why not break it off? It may be unpleasant, but it is generally
+best to face unpleasant things, and nothing can be so bad as marrying a
+man whom you do not—care for.”
+
+“Because I cannot—I dare not. I have to obey.”
+
+“How old are you, Miss Marnham?”
+
+“I shall be of age in three months’ time. You may guess that I did not
+intend to return here until they were over, but I was, well—trapped. He
+wrote to me that my father was ill and I came.”
+
+“At any rate when they are over you will not have to obey any one. It
+is not long to wait.”
+
+“It is an eternity. Besides this is not so much a question of obedience
+as of duty and of love. I love my father who, whatever his faults, has
+always been very kind to me.”
+
+“And I am sure he loves you. Why not go to him and tell him your
+trouble?”
+
+“He knows it already, Mr. Quatermain, and hates this marriage even more
+than I do, if that is possible. But he is driven to it, as I am. Oh! I
+must tell the truth. The doctor has some hold over him. My father has
+done something dreadful; I don’t know what and I don’t want to know,
+but if it came out it would ruin my father, or worse, worse. I am the
+price of his silence. On the day of our marriage he will destroy the
+proofs. If I refuse to marry him, they will be produced and then—”
+
+“It is difficult,” I said.
+
+“It is more than difficult, it is terrible. If you could see all there
+is in my heart, you would know how terrible.”
+
+“I think I can see, Miss Heda. Don’t say any more now. Give me time to
+consider. In case of necessity come to me again, and be sure that I
+will protect you.”
+
+“But you are going in a week.”
+
+“Many things happen in a week. Sufficient to the day is its evil. At
+the end of the week we will come to some decision unless everything is
+already decided.”
+
+For the next twenty-four hours I reflected on this pretty problem as
+hard as ever I did on anything in all my life. Here was a young woman
+who must somehow be protected from a scoundrel, but who could not be
+protected because she herself had to protect another scoundrel—to wit,
+her own father. Could the thing be faced out? Impossible, for I was
+sure that Marnham had committed a murder, or murders, of which Rodd
+possessed evidence that would hang him. Could Heda be married to
+Anscombe at once? Yes, if both were willing, but then Marnham would
+still be hung. Could they elope? Possibly, but with the same result.
+Could I take her away and put her under the protection of the Court at
+Pretoria? Yes, but with the same result. I wondered what my Hottentot
+retainer, Hans, would have advised, he who was named Light-in-Darkness,
+and in his own savage way was the cleverest and most cunning man that I
+have met. Alas! I could not raise him from the grave to tell me, and
+yet I knew well what he would have answered.
+
+“Baas,” he would have said, “this is a rope which only the pale old man
+(i.e., death) can cut. Let this doctor die or let the father die, and
+the maiden will be free. Surely heaven is longing for one or both of
+them, and if necessary, Baas, I believe that I can point out a path to
+heaven!”
+
+I laughed to myself at the thought, which was one that a white man
+could not entertain even as a thought. And I felt that the hypothetical
+Hans was right, death alone could cut this knot, and the reflection
+made me shiver.
+
+That night I slept uneasily and dreamed. I dreamed that once more I was
+in the Black Kloof in Zululand, seated in front of the huts at the end
+of the kloof. Before me squatted the old wizard, Zikali, wrapped up in
+his kaross—Zikali, the “Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,” whom I
+had not seen for years. Near him were the ashes of a fire, by the help
+of which I knew he had been practising divination. He looked up and
+laughed one of his terrible laughs.
+
+“So you are here again, Macumazahn,” he said, “grown older, but still
+the same; here at the appointed hour. What do you come to seek from the
+Opener of Roads? Not Mameena as I think this time. No, no, it is she
+who seeks you this time, Macumazahn. She found you once, did she not?
+Far away to the north among a strange people who worshipped an Ivory
+Child, a people of whom I knew in my youth, and afterwards, for was not
+their prophet, Harut, a friend of mine and one of our brotherhood? She
+found you beneath the tusks of the elephant, Jana, whom Macumazahn the
+skilful could not hit. Oh! do not look astonished.”
+
+“How do you know?” I asked in my dream.
+
+“Very simply, Macumazahn. A little yellow man named Hans has been with
+me and told me all the story not an hour ago, after which I sent for
+Mameena to learn if it were true. She will be glad to meet you,
+Macumazahn, she who has a hungry heart that does not forget. Oh! don’t
+be afraid. I mean here beneath the sun, in the land beyond there will
+be no need for her to meet you since she will dwell ever at your side.”
+
+“Why do you lie to me, Zikali?” I seemed to ask. “How can a dead man
+speak to you and how can I meet a woman who is dead?”
+
+“Seek the answer to that question in the hour of the battle when the
+white men, your brothers, fall beneath assegai as weeds fall before the
+hoe—or perhaps before it. But have done with Mameena, since she who
+never grows more old can well afford to wait. It is not of Mameena that
+you came to speak to me; it is of a fair white woman named Heddana you
+would speak, and of the man she loves, you, who will ever be mixing
+yourself up in affairs of others, and therefore must bear their burdens
+with no pay save that of honour. Hearken, for the time is short. When
+the storm bursts upon them bring hither the fair maiden, Heddana, and
+the white lord, Mauriti, and I will shelter them for your sake. Take
+them nowhere else. Bring them hither if they would escape trouble. I
+shall be glad to see you, Macumazahn, for at last I am about to smite
+the Zulu House of Senzangacona, my foes, with a bladder full of blood,
+and oh! it stains their doorposts red.”
+
+Then I woke up, feeling afraid, as one does after a nightmare, and was
+comforted to hear Anscombe sleeping quietly on the other side of the
+room.
+
+“Mauriti. Why did Zikali call him Mauriti?” I wondered drowsily to
+myself. “Oh! of course his name is Maurice, and it was a Zulu
+corruption of a common sort as was Heddana of Heda.” Then I dozed off
+again, and by the morning had forgotten all about my dream until it was
+brought back to me by subsequent events. Still it was this and nothing
+else that put it into my head to fly to Zululand on an emergency that
+was to arise ere long.[1]
+
+ [1] For the history of Zikali and Mameena see the book called _Child
+ of Storm_ by H. Rider Haggard.
+
+
+That evening Rodd was absent from dinner, and on inquiring where he
+might be, I was informed that he had ridden to visit a Kaffir headman,
+a patient of his who lived at a distance, and would very probably sleep
+at the kraal, returning early next day. One of the topics of
+conversation during dinner was as to where the exact boundary line used
+to run between the Transvaal and the country over which the Basuto
+chief, Sekukuni, claimed ownership and jurisdiction. Marnham said that
+it passed within a couple of miles of his house, and when we rose, the
+moon being very bright, offered to show me where the beacons had been
+placed years before by a Boer Commission. I accepted, as the night was
+lovely for a stroll after the hot day. Also I was half conscious of
+another undefined purpose in my mind, which perhaps may have spread to
+that of Marnham. Those two young people looked very happy together
+there on the stoep, and as they must part so soon it would, I thought,
+be kind to give them the opportunity of a quiet chat.
+
+So off we went to the brow of the hill on which the Temple stood,
+whence old Marnham pointed out to me a beacon, which I could not see in
+the dim, silvery bush-veld below, and how the line ran from it to
+another beacon somewhere else.
+
+“You know the Yellow-wood swamp,” he said. “It passes straight through
+that. That is why those Basutos who were following you pulled up upon
+the edge of the swamp, though as a matter of fact, according to their
+ideas, they had a perfect right to kill you on their side of the line
+which cuts through the middle.”
+
+I made some remark to the effect that I presumed that the line had in
+fact ceased to exist at all, as the Basuto territory had practically
+become British; after which we strolled back to the house. Walking
+quietly between the tall rose hedges and without speaking, for each of
+us was preoccupied with his own thoughts, suddenly we came upon a very
+pretty scene.
+
+We had left Anscombe and Heda seated side by side on the stoep. They
+were still there, but much closer together. In fact his arms were round
+her, and they were kissing each other in a remarkably whole-hearted
+way. About this there could be no mistake, since the rimpi-strung couch
+on which they sat was immediately under the hanging lamp—a somewhat
+unfortunate situation for such endearments. But what did they think of
+hanging lamps or any other lights, save those of their own eyes, they
+who were content to kiss and murmur words of passion as though they
+were as much alone as Adam and Eve in Eden? What did they think either
+of the serpent coiled about the bole of this tree of knowledge whereof
+they had just plucked the ripe and maddening fruit?
+
+By a mutual instinct Marnham and I withdrew ourselves, very gently
+indeed, purposing to skirt round the house and enter it from behind, or
+to be seized with a fit of coughing at the gate, or to do something to
+announce our presence at a convenient distance. When we had gone a
+little way we heard a crash in the bushes.
+
+“Another of those cursed baboons robbing the garden,” remarked Marnham
+reflectively.
+
+“I think he is going to rob the house also,” I replied, turning to
+point to something dark that seemed to be leaping up on to the
+verandah.
+
+Next moment we heard Heda utter a little cry of alarm, and a man say in
+a low fierce voice—
+
+“So I have caught you at last, have I!”
+
+“The doctor has returned from his business rounds sooner than was
+expected, and I think that we had better join the party,” I remarked,
+and made a bee line for the stoep, Marnham following me.
+
+I think that I arrived just in time to prevent mischief. There, with a
+revolver in his hand, stood Rodd, tall and formidable, his dark face
+looking like that of Satan himself, a very monument of rage and
+jealousy. There in front of him on the couch sat Heda, grasping its
+edge with her fingers, her cheeks as pale as a sheet and her eyes
+shining. By her side was Anscombe, cool and collected as usual, I
+noticed, but evidently perplexed.
+
+“If there is any shooting to be done,” he was saying, “I think you had
+better begin with me.”
+
+His calmness seemed to exasperate Rodd, who lifted the revolver. But I
+too was prepared, for in that house I always went armed. There was no
+time to get at the man, who was perhaps fifteen feet away, and I did
+not want to hurt him. So I did the best I could; that is, I fired at
+the pistol in his hand, and the light being good, struck it near the
+hilt and knocked it off the barrel before he could press the trigger,
+if he really meant to shoot.
+
+“That’s a good shot,” remarked Anscombe who had seen me, while Rodd
+stared at the hilt which he still held.
+
+“A lucky one,” I answered, walking forward. “And now, Dr. Rodd, will
+you be so good as to tell me what you mean by flourishing a revolver,
+presumably loaded, in the faces of a lady and an unarmed man?”
+
+“What the devil is that to you,” he asked furiously, “and what do you
+mean by firing at me?”
+
+“A great deal,” I answered, “seeing that a young woman and my friend
+are concerned. As for firing at you, had I done so you would not be
+asking questions now. I fired at the pistol in your hand, but if there
+is more trouble next time it shall be at the holder,” and I glanced at
+my revolver.
+
+Seeing that I meant business he made no reply, but turned upon Marnham
+who had followed me.
+
+“This is your work, you old villain,” he said in a low voice that was
+heavy with hate. “You promised your daughter to me. She is engaged to
+me, and now I find her in this wanderer’s arms.”
+
+“What have I to do with it?” said Marnham. “Perhaps she has changed her
+mind. You had better ask her.”
+
+“There is no need to ask me,” interrupted Heda, who now seemed to have
+got her nerve again. “I _have_ changed my mind. I never loved you, Dr.
+Rodd, and I will not marry you. I love Mr. Anscombe here, and as he has
+asked me to be his wife I mean to marry him.”
+
+“I see,” he sneered, “you want to be a peeress one day, no doubt. Well,
+you never shall if I can help it. Perhaps, too, this fine gentleman of
+yours will not be so particularly anxious to marry you when he learns
+that you are the daughter of a murderer.”
+
+That word was like a bombshell bursting among us. We looked at each
+other as people, yet dazed with the shock, might on a battlefield when
+the noise of the explosion has died and the smoke cleared away, to see
+who is still alive. Anscombe spoke the first.
+
+“I don’t know what you mean or to what you refer,” he said quietly.
+“But at any rate this lady who has promised to marry me is innocent,
+and therefore if all her ancestors had been murderers it would not in
+the slightest turn me from my purpose of marrying her.”
+
+She looked at him, and all the gratitude in the world shone in her
+frightened eyes. Marnham stepped, or rather staggered forward, the blue
+vein throbbing on his forehead.
+
+“He lies,” he said hoarsely, tugging at his long beard. “Listen now and
+I will tell you the truth. Once, more than a year ago, I was drunk and
+in a rage. In this state I fired at a Kaffir to frighten him, and by
+some devil’s chance shot him dead. That’s what he calls being a
+murderer.”
+
+“I have another tale,” said Rodd, “with which I will not trouble this
+company just now. Look here, Heda, either you fulfil your promise and
+marry me, or your father swings.”
+
+She gasped and sank together on the seat as though she had been shot.
+Then I took up my parable.
+
+“Are you the man,” I asked, “to accuse others of crime? Let us see. You
+have spent several months in an English prison (I gave the name) for a
+crime I won’t mention.”
+
+“How do you know—” he began.
+
+“Never mind, I do know and the prison books will show it. Further, your
+business is that of selling guns and ammunition to the Basutos of
+Sekukuni’s tribe, who, although the expedition against them has been
+temporarily recalled, are still the Queen’s enemies. Don’t deny it, for
+I have the proofs. Further, it was you who advised Sekukuni to kill us
+when we went down to his country to shoot the other day, because you
+were afraid that we should discover whence he got his guns.” (This was
+a bow drawn at a venture, but the arrow went home, for I saw his jaw
+drop.) “Further, I believe you to be an illicit diamond buyer, and I
+believe also that you have again been arranging with the Basutos to
+make an end of us, though of these last two items at present I lack
+positive proof. Now, Dr. Rodd, I ask you for the second time whether
+you are a person to accuse others of crimes and whether, should you do
+so, you will be considered a credible witness when your own are brought
+to light?”
+
+“If I had been guilty of any of these things, which I am not, it is
+obvious that my partner must have shared in all of them, except the
+first. So if you inform against me, you inform against him, and the
+father of Heda, whom your friend wishes to marry, will, according to
+your showing, be proved a gun-runner, a thief and a would-be murderer
+of his guests. I should advise you to leave that business alone, Mr.
+Quatermain.”
+
+The reply was bold and clever, so much so that I regarded this
+blackguard with a certain amount of admiration, as I answered—
+
+“I shall take your advice if you take mine to leave another business
+alone, that of this young lady and her father, but not otherwise.”
+
+“Then spare your breath and do your worst; only careful, sharp as you
+think yourself, that your meddling does not recoil on your own head.
+Listen, Heda, either you make up your mind to marry me at once and
+arrange that this young gentleman, who as a doctor I assure you is now
+quite fit to travel without injury to his health, leaves this house
+to-morrow with the spy Quatermain—you might lend him the Cape cart to
+go in—or I start with the proofs to lay a charge of murder against your
+father. I give you till to-morrow morning to have a family council to
+think it over. Good-night.”
+
+“Good-night,” I answered as he passed me, “and please be careful that
+none of us see your face again before to-morrow morning. As you may
+happen to have heard, my native name means Watcher-by-Night,” and I
+looked at the revolver in my hand.
+
+When he had vanished I remarked in as cheerful voice as I could
+command, that I thought it was bedtime, and as nobody stirred, added,
+“Don’t be afraid, young lady. If you feel lonely, you must tell that
+stout maid of yours to sleep in your room. Also, as the night is so hot
+I shall take my nap on the stoep, there, just opposite your window. No,
+don’t let us talk any more now. There will be plenty of time for that
+to-morrow.”
+
+She rose, looked at Anscombe, looked at me, looked at her father very
+pitifully; then with a little exclamation of despair passed into her
+room by the French window, where presently I heard her call the native
+maid and tell her that she was to sleep with her.
+
+Marnham watched her depart. Then he too went with his head bowed and
+staggering a little in his walk. Next Anscombe rose and limped off into
+his room, I following him.
+
+“Well, young man,” I said, “you have put us all in the soup now and no
+mistake.”
+
+“Yes, Allan, I am afraid I have. But on the whole don’t you think it
+rather interesting soup—so many unexpected ingredients, you see!”
+
+“Interesting soup! Unexpected ingredients!” I repeated after him,
+adding, “Why not call it hell’s broth at once?”
+
+Then he became serious, dreadfully serious.
+
+“Look here,” he said, “I love Heda, and whatever her family history may
+be I mean to marry her and face the row at home.”
+
+“You could scarcely do less in all the circumstances, and as for rows,
+that young lady would soon fit herself into any place that you can give
+her. But the question is, how can you marry her?”
+
+“Oh! something will happen,” he replied optimistically.
+
+“You are quite right there. Something will certainly happen, but the
+point is—what? Something was very near happening when I turned up on
+that stoep, so near that I think it was lucky for you, or for Miss
+Heda, or both, that I have learned how to handle a pistol. Now let me
+see your foot, and don’t speak another word to me about all this
+business to-night. I’d rather tackle it when I am clear-headed in the
+morning.”
+
+Well, I examined his instep and leg very carefully and found that Rodd
+was right. Although it still hurt him to walk, the wound was quite
+healed and all inflammation had gone from the limb. Now it was only a
+question of time for the sinews to right themselves. While I was thus
+engaged he held forth on the virtues and charms of Heda, I making no
+comment.
+
+“Lie down and get to sleep, if you can,” I said when I had finished.
+“The door is locked and I am going on to the stoep, so you needn’t be
+afraid of the windows. Good-night.”
+
+I went out and sat myself down in such a position that by the light of
+the hanging lamp, which still burned, I could make sure that no one
+could approach either Heda’s or my room without my seeing him. For the
+rest, all my life I have been accustomed to night vigils, and the
+loaded revolver hung from my wrist by a loop of hide. Moreover, never
+had I felt less sleepy. There I sat hour after hour, thinking.
+
+The substance of my thoughts does not matter, since the events that
+followed make them superfluous to the story. I will merely record,
+therefore, that towards dawn a great horror took hold of me. I did not
+know of what I was afraid, but I was much afraid of something. Nothing
+was passing in either Heda’s or our room, of that I made sure by
+personal examination. Therefore it would seem that my terrors were
+unnecessary, and yet they grew and grew. I felt sure that something was
+happening somewhere, a dread occurrence which it was beyond my power to
+prevent, though whether it were in this house or at the other end of
+Africa I did not know.
+
+The mental depression increased and culminated. Then of a sudden it
+passed completely away, and as I mopped the sweat from off my brow I
+noticed that dawn was breaking. It was a tender and beautiful dawn, and
+in a dim way I took it as a good omen. Of course it was nothing but the
+daily resurrection of the sun, and yet it brought to me comfort and
+hope. The night was past with all its fears; the light had come with
+all its joys. From that moment I was certain that we should triumph
+over these difficulties and that the end of them would be peace.
+
+So sure was I that I ventured to take a nap, knowing that the slightest
+movement or sound would wake me. I suppose I slept until six o’clock,
+when I was aroused by a footfall. I sprang up, and saw before me one of
+our native servants. He was trembling and his face was ashen beneath
+the black. Moreover he could not speak. All he did was to put his head
+on one side, like a dead man, and keep on pointing downwards. Then with
+his mouth open and starting eyes he beckoned to me to follow him.
+
+I followed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+RODD’S LAST CARD
+
+
+The man led me to Marnham’s room, which I had never entered before. All
+I could see at first, for the shutters were closed, was that the place
+seemed large, as bedchambers go in South Africa. When my eyes grew
+accustomed to the light, I made out the figure of a man seated in a
+chair with his head bent forward over a table that was placed at the
+foot of the bed almost in the centre of the room. I threw open the
+shutters and the morning light poured in. The man was Marnham. On the
+table were writing materials, also a brandy bottle with only a dreg of
+spirit in it. I looked for the glass and found it by his side on the
+floor, shattered, not merely broken.
+
+“Drunk,” I said aloud, whereon the servant, who understood me, spoke
+for the first time, saying in a frightened voice in Dutch—
+
+“No, Baas, dead, half cold. I found him so just now.”
+
+I bent down and examined Marnham, also felt his face. Sure enough, he
+was dead, for his jaw had fallen; also his flesh was chill, and from
+him came a horrible smell of brandy. I thought for a moment, then bade
+the boy fetch Dr. Rodd and say nothing to any one else, He went, and
+now for the first time I noticed a large envelope addressed “Allan
+Quatermain, Esq.” in a somewhat shaky hand. This I picked up and
+slipped into my pocket.
+
+Rodd arrived half dressed.
+
+“What’s the matter now?” he growled.
+
+I pointed to Marnham, saying—
+
+“That is a question for you to answer.
+
+“Oh! drunk again, I suppose,” he said. Then he did as I had done, bent
+down and examined him. A few seconds later he stepped or reeled back,
+looking as frightened as a man could be, and exclaiming—
+
+“Dead as a stone, by God! Dead these three hours or more.”
+
+“Quite so,” I answered, “but what killed him?”
+
+“How should I know?” he asked savagely. “Do you suspect me of poisoning
+him?”
+
+“My mind is open,” I replied; “but as you quarrelled so bitterly last
+night, others might.”
+
+The bolt went home; he saw his danger.
+
+“Probably the old sot died in a fit, or of too much brandy. How can one
+know without a post-mortem? But that mustn’t be made by me. I’m off to
+inform the magistrate and get hold of another doctor. Let the body
+remain as it is until I return.”
+
+I reflected quickly. Ought I to let him go or not? If he had any hand
+in this business, doubtless he intended to escape. Well, supposing this
+were so and he did escape, that would be a good thing for Heda, and
+really it was no affair of mine to bring the fellow to justice.
+Moreover there was nothing to show that he was guilty; his whole manner
+seemed to point another way, though of course he might be acting.
+
+“Very well,” I replied, “but return as quickly as possible.”
+
+He stood for a few seconds like a man who is dazed. It occurred to me
+that it might have come into his mind with Marnham’s death that he had
+lost his hold over Heda. But if so he said nothing of it, but only
+asked—
+
+“Will you go instead of me?”
+
+“On the whole I think not,” I replied, “and if I did, the story I
+should have to tell might not tend to your advantage.”
+
+“That’s true, damn you!” he exclaimed and left the room.
+
+Ten minutes later he was galloping towards Pilgrim’s Rest. Before I
+departed from the death chamber I examined the place carefully to see
+if I could find any poison or other deadly thing, but without success.
+One thing I did discover, however. Turning the leaf of a blotting-book
+that was by Marnham’s elbow, I came upon a sheet of paper on which were
+written these words in his hand, “Greater love hath no man than this—”
+that was all.
+
+Either he had forgotten the end of the quotation or changed his mind,
+or was unable through weakness to finish the sentence. This paper also
+I put in my pocket. Bolting the shutters and locking the door I
+returned to the stoep, where I was alone, for as yet no one else was
+stirring. Then I remembered the letter in my pocket and opened it. It
+ran—
+
+“DEAR MR. QUATERMAIN,—
+
+    “I have remembered that those who quarrel with Dr. Rodd are apt to
+    die soon and suddenly; at any rate life at my age is always
+    uncertain. Therefore, as I know you to be an honest man, I am
+    enclosing my will that it may be in safe keeping and purpose to
+    send it to your room to-morrow morning. Perhaps when you return to
+    Pretoria you will deposit it in the Standard Bank there, and if I
+    am still alive, forward me the receipt. You will see that I leave
+    everything to my daughter whom I dearly love, and that there is
+    enough to keep the wolf from her door, besides my share in this
+    property, if it is ever realized.
+
+    “After all that has passed to-night I do not feel up to writing a
+    long letter, so
+
+
+“Remain sincerely yours,
+“H. A. MARNHAM.”
+
+
+“PS.—I should like to state clearly upon paper that my earnest hope and
+wish are that Heda may get clear of that black-hearted, murderous,
+scoundrel Rodd and marry Mr. Anscombe, whom I like and who, I am sure,
+would make her a good husband.”
+
+
+Thinking to myself this did not look very like the letter of a suicide,
+I glanced through the will, as the testator seemed to have wished that
+I should do so. It was short, but properly drawn, signed, and
+witnessed, and bequeathed a sum of £9,000, which was on deposit at the
+Standard Bank, together with all his other property, real and personal,
+to Heda for her own sole use, free from the debts and engagements of
+her husband, should she marry. Also she was forbidden to spend more
+than £1,000 of the capital. In short the money was strictly tied up.
+With the will were some other papers that apparently referred to
+certain property in Hungary to which Heda might become entitled, but
+about these I did not trouble.
+
+Replacing these documents in a safe inner pocket in the lining of my
+waistcoat, I went into our room and woke up Anscombe who was sleeping
+soundly, a fact that caused an unreasonable irritation in my mind. When
+at length he was thoroughly aroused I said to him—
+
+“You are in luck’s way, my friend. Marnham is dead.”
+
+“Oh! poor Heda,” he exclaimed, “she loved him. It will half break her
+heart.”
+
+“If it breaks half of her heart,” I replied, “it will mend the other
+half, for now her filial affection can’t force her to marry Rodd, and
+that is where you are in luck’s way.”
+
+Then I told him all the story.
+
+“Was he murdered or did he commit suicide?” he asked when I had
+finished.
+
+“I don’t know, and to tell you the truth I don’t want to know; nor will
+you if you are wise, unless knowledge is forced upon you. It is enough
+that he is dead, and for his daughter’s sake the less the circumstances
+of his end are examined into the better.”
+
+“Poor Heda!” he said again, “who will tell her? I can’t. _You_ found
+him, Allan.”
+
+“I expected that job would be my share of the business, Anscombe. Well,
+the sooner it is over the better. Now dress yourself and come on to the
+stoep.”
+
+Then I left him and next minute met Heda’s fat, half-breed maid, a
+stupid but good sort of a woman who was called Kaatje, emerging from
+her mistress’s room with a jug, to fetch hot water, I suppose.
+
+“Kaatje,” I said, “go back and tell the Missie Heda that I want to
+speak to her as soon as I can. Never mind the hot water, but stop and
+help her to dress.”
+
+She began to grumble a little in a good-natured way, but something in
+my eye stopped her and she went back into the room. Ten minutes later
+Heda was by my side.
+
+“What is it, Mr. Quatermain?” she asked. “I feel sure that something
+dreadful has happened.”
+
+“It has, my dear,” I answered, “that is, if death is dreadful. Your
+father died last night.”
+
+“Oh!” she said, “oh!” and sank back on to the seat.
+
+“Bear up,” I went on, “we must all die one day, and he had reached the
+full age of man.”
+
+“But I loved him,” she moaned. “He had many faults I know, still I
+loved him.”
+
+“It is the lot of life, Heda, that we should lose what we love. Be
+thankful, therefore, that you have some one left to love.”
+
+“Yes, thank God! that’s true. If it had been him—no, it’s wicked to say
+that.”
+
+Then I told her the story, and while I was doing so, Anscombe joined
+us, walking by aid of his stick. Also I showed them both Marnham’s
+letter to me and the will, but the other bit of paper I did not speak
+of or show.
+
+She sat very pale and quiet and listened till I had done. Then she
+said—
+
+“I should like to see him.”
+
+“Perhaps it is as well,” I answered. “If you can bear it, come at once,
+and do you come also, Anscombe.”
+
+We went to the room, Anscombe and Heda holding each other by the hand.
+I unlocked the door and, entering, threw open a shutter. There sat the
+dead man as I had left him, only his head had fallen over a little. She
+gazed at him, trembling, then advanced and kissed his cold forehead,
+muttering,
+
+“Good-bye, father. Oh! good-bye, father.”
+
+A thought struck me, and I asked—
+
+“Is there any place here where your father locked up things? As I have
+shown you, you are his heiress, and if so it might be as well in this
+house that you should possess yourself of his property.”
+
+“There is a safe in the corner,” she answered, “of which he always kept
+the key in his trouser pocket.”
+
+“Then with your leave I will open it in your presence.”
+
+Going to the dead man I searched his pocket and found in it a bunch of
+keys. These I withdrew and went to the safe over which a skin rug was
+thrown. I unlocked it easily enough. Within were two bags of gold, each
+marked £100; also another larger bag marked “My wife’s jewelry. For
+Heda”; also some papers and a miniature of the lady whose portrait hung
+in the sitting-room; also some loose gold.
+
+“Now who will take charge of these?” I asked. “I do not think it safe
+to leave them here.”
+
+“You, of course,” said Anscombe, while Heda nodded.
+
+So with a groan I consigned all these valuables to my capacious
+pockets. Then I locked up the empty safe, replaced the keys where I had
+found them on Marnham, fastened the shutter and left the room with
+Anscombe, waiting for a while outside till Heda joined us, sobbing a
+little. After this we got something to eat, insisting on Heda doing the
+same.
+
+On leaving the table I saw a curious sight, namely, the patients whom
+Rodd was attending in the little hospital of which I have spoken,
+departing towards the bush-veld, those of them who could walk well and
+the attendants assisting the others. They were already some distance
+away, too far indeed for me to follow, as I did not wish to leave the
+house. The incident filled me with suspicion, and I went round to the
+back to make inquiries, but could find no one. As I passed the hospital
+door, however, I heard a voice calling in Sisutu—
+
+“Do not leave me behind, my brothers.”
+
+I entered and saw the man on whom Rodd had operated the day of our
+arrival, lying in bed and quite alone. I asked him where the others had
+gone. At first he would not answer, but when I pretended to leave him,
+called out that it was back to their own country. Finally, to cut the
+story short, I extracted from him that they had left because they had
+news that the Temple was going to be attacked by Sekukuni and did not
+wish to be here when I and Anscombe were killed. How the news reached
+him he refused, or could not, say; nor did he seem to know anything of
+the death of Marnham. When I pressed him on the former point, he only
+groaned and cried for water, for he was in pain and thirsty. I asked
+him who had told Sekukuni’s people to kill us, but he refused to speak.
+
+“Very well,” I said, “then you shall lie here alone and die of thirst,”
+and again I turned towards the door.
+
+At this he cried out—
+
+“I will tell you. It was the white medicine-man who lives here; he who
+cut me open. He arranged it all a few days ago because he hates you.
+Last night he rode to tell the impi when to come.”
+
+“When is it to come?” I asked, holding the jug of water towards him.
+
+“To-night at the rising of the moon, so that it may get far away before
+the dawn. My people are thirsty for your blood and for that of the
+other white chief, because you killed so many of them by the river. The
+others they will not harm.”
+
+“How did you learn all this?” I asked him again, but without result,
+for he became incoherent and only muttered something about being left
+alone because the others could not carry him. So I gave him some water,
+after which he fell asleep, or pretended to do so, and I left him,
+wondering whether he was delirious, or spoke truth. As I passed the
+stables I saw that my own horse was there, for in this district horses
+are always shut up at night to keep them from catching sickness, but
+that the four beasts that had brought Heda from Natal in the Cape cart
+were gone, though it was evident that they had been kraaled here till
+within an hour or two. I threw my horse a bundle of forage and returned
+to the house by the back entrance. The kitchen was empty, but crouched
+by the door of Marnham’s room sat the boy who had found him dead. He
+had been attached to his master and seemed half dazed. I asked him
+where the other servants were, to which he replied that they had all
+run away. Then I asked him where the horses were. He answered that the
+Baas Rodd had ordered them to be turned out before he rode off that
+morning. I bade him accompany me to the stoep, as I dared not let him
+out of my sight, which he did unwillingly enough.
+
+There I found Anscombe and Heda. They were seated side by side upon the
+couch. Tears were running down her face and he, looking very troubled,
+held her by the hand. Somehow that picture of Heda has always remained
+fixed in my mind. Sorrow becomes some women and she was one of them.
+Her beautiful dark grey eyes did not grow red with weeping; the tears
+just welled up in them and fell like dewdrops from the heart of a
+flower.
+
+She sat very upright and very still, as he did, looking straight in
+front of her, while a ray of sunshine, falling on her head, showed the
+chestnut-hued lights in her waving hair, of which she had a great
+abundance.
+
+Indeed the pair of them, thus seated side by side, reminded me of an
+engraving I had seen somewhere of the statues of a husband and wife in
+an old Egyptian tomb. With just such a look did the woman of thousands
+of years ago sit gazing in patient hope into the darkness of the
+future. Death had made her sad, but it was gone by, and the little
+wistful smile about her lips seemed to suggest that in this darkness
+her sorrowful eyes already saw the stirring of the new life to be.
+Moreover, was not the man she loved the companion of her hopes as he
+had been of her woes. Such was the fanciful thought that sprang up in
+my mind, even in the midst of those great anxieties, like a single
+flower in a stony wilderness of thorns or one star on the blackness of
+the night.
+
+In a moment it had gone and I was telling them of what I had learned.
+They listened till I had finished. Then Anscombe said slowly—
+
+“Two of us can’t hold this house against an impi. We must get out of
+it.”
+
+“Both your conclusions seem quite sound,” I remarked, “that is if
+yonder old Kaffir is telling the truth. But the question is—how? We
+can’t all three of us ride on one nag, as you are still a cripple.”
+
+“There is the Cape cart,” suggested Heda.
+
+“Yes, but the horses have been turned out, and I don’t know where to
+look for them. Nor dare I send that boy alone, for probably he would
+bolt like the others. I think that you had better get on my horse and
+ride for it, leaving us to take our chance. I daresay the whole thing
+is a lie and that we shall be in no danger,” I added by way of
+softening the suggestion.
+
+“That I will never do,” she replied with so much quiet conviction that
+I saw it was useless to pursue the argument.
+
+I thought for a moment, as the position was very difficult. The boy was
+not to be trusted, and if I went with him I should be leaving these two
+alone and, in Anscombe’s state, almost defenceless. Still it seemed as
+though I must. Just then I looked up, and there at the garden gate saw
+Anscombe’s driver, Footsack, the man whom I had despatched to Pretoria
+to fetch his oxen. I noted that he looked frightened and was
+breathless, for his eyes started out of his head. Also his hat was gone
+and he bled a little from his face.
+
+Seeing us he ran up the path and sat down as though he were tired.
+
+“Where are the oxen?” I asked.
+
+“Oh! Baas,” he answered, “the Basutos have got them. We heard from an
+old black woman that Sekukuni had an impi out, so we waited on the top
+of that hill about an hour’s ride away to see if it was true. Then
+suddenly the doctor Baas appeared riding, and I ran out and asked him
+if it were safe to go on. He knew me again and answered—
+
+“‘Yes, quite safe, for have I not just ridden this road without meeting
+so much as a black child. Go on, man; your masters will be glad to have
+their oxen, as they wish to trek, or will by nightfall.’ Then he
+laughed and rode away.
+
+“So we went on, driving the oxen. But when we came to the belt of
+thorns at the bottom of the hill, we found that the doctor Baas had
+either lied to us or he had not seen. For there suddenly the tall grass
+on either side of the path grew spears; yes, everywhere were spears. In
+a minute the two voorloopers were assegaied. As for me, I ran forward,
+not back, since the Kaffirs were behind me, across the path, Baas,
+driving off the oxen. They sprang at me, but I jumped this way and that
+way and avoided them. Then they threw assegais—see, one of them cut my
+cheek, but the rest missed. They had guns in their hands also, but none
+shot. I think they did not wish to make a noise. Only one of them
+shouted after me—
+
+“‘Tell Macumazahn that we are going to call on him tonight when he
+cannot see to shoot. We have a message for him from our brothers whom
+he killed at the drift of the Oliphant’s River.’
+
+“Then I ran on here without stopping, but I saw no more Kaffirs. That
+is all, Baas.”
+
+Now I did not delay to cross-examine the man or to sift the true from
+the false in his story, since it was clear to me that he had run into a
+company of Basutos, or rather been beguiled thereto by Rodd, and lost
+our cattle, also his companions, who were either killed as he said, or
+had escaped some other way.
+
+“Listen, man,” I said. “I am going to fetch some horses. Do you stay
+here and help the Missie to pack the cart and make the harness ready.
+If you disobey me or run away, then I will find you and you will never
+run again. Do you understand?”
+
+He vowed that he did and went to get some water, while I explained
+everything to Anscombe and Heda, pointing out that all the information
+we could gather seemed to show that no attack was to be made upon the
+house before nightfall, and that therefore we had the day before us. As
+this was so I proposed to go to look for the horses myself, since
+otherwise I was sure we should never find them. Meanwhile Heda must
+pack and make ready the cart with the help of Footsack, Anscombe
+superintending everything, as he could very well do since he was now
+able to walk leaning on a stick.
+
+Of course neither of them liked my leaving them, but in view of our
+necessities they raised no objection. So off I went, taking the boy
+with me. He did not want to go, being, as I have said, half dazed with
+grief or fear, or both, but when I had pointed out to him clearly that
+I was quite prepared to shoot him if he played tricks, he changed his
+mind. Having saddled my mare that was now fresh and fat, we started,
+the boy guiding me to a certain kloof at the foot of which there was a
+small plain of good grass where he said the horses were accustomed to
+graze.
+
+Here sure enough we found two of them, and as they had been turned out
+with their headstalls on, were able to tie them to trees with the riems
+which were attached to the headstalls. But the others were not there,
+and as two horses could not drag a heavy Cape cart, I was obliged to
+continue the search. Oh! what a hunt those beasts gave me. Finding
+themselves free, for as Rodd’s object was that they should stray, he
+had ordered the stable-boy not to kneel-halter them, after filling
+themselves with grass they had started off for the farm where they were
+bred, which, it seemed, was about fifty miles away, grazing as they
+went. Of course I did not know this at the time, so for several hours I
+rode up and down the neighbouring kloofs, as the ground was too hard
+for me to hope to follow them by their spoor.
+
+It occurred to me to ask the boy where the horses came from, a question
+that he happened to be able to answer, as he had brought them home when
+they were bought the year before. Having learned in what direction the
+place lay I rode for it at an angle, or rather for the path that led to
+it, making the boy run alongside, holding to my stirrup leather. About
+three o’clock in the afternoon I struck this path, or rather track, at
+a point ten or twelve miles away from the Temple, and there, just
+mounting a rise, met the two horses quietly walking towards me. Had I
+been a quarter of an hour later they would have passed and vanished
+into a sea of thorn-veld. We caught them without trouble and once more
+headed homewards, leading them by their riems.
+
+Reaching the glade where the other two were tied up, we collected them
+also and returned to the house, where we arrived at five o’clock. As
+everything seemed quiet I put my mare into the stable, slipped its bit
+and gave it some forage. Then I went round the house, and to my great
+joy found Anscombe and Heda waiting anxiously, but with nothing to
+report, and with them Footsack. Very hastily I swallowed some food,
+while Footsack inspanned the horses. In a quarter of an hour all was
+ready. Then suddenly, in an inconsequent female fashion, Heda developed
+a dislike to leaving her father unburied.
+
+“My dear young lady,” I said, “it seems that you must choose between
+that and our all stopping to be buried with him.”
+
+She saw the point and compromised upon paying him a visit of farewell,
+which I left her to do in Anscombe’s company, while I fetched my mare.
+To tell the truth I felt as though I had seen enough of the unhappy
+Marnham, and not for £50 would I have entered that room again. As I
+passed the door of the hospital, leading my horse, I heard the old
+Kaffir screaming within and sent the boy who was with me to find out
+what was the matter with him. That was the last I saw of either of
+them, or ever shall see this side of kingdom come. I wonder what became
+of them?
+
+When I got back to the front of the house I found the cart standing
+ready at the gate, Footsack at the head of the horses and Heda with
+Anscombe at her side. It had been neatly packed during the day by Heda
+with such of her and our belongings as it would hold, including our
+arms and ammunition. The rest, of course, we were obliged to abandon.
+Also there were two baskets full of food, some bottles of brandy and a
+good supply of overcoats and wraps. I told Footsack to take the reins,
+as I knew him to be a good driver, and helped Anscombe to a seat at his
+side, while Heda and the maid Kaatje got in behind in order to balance
+the vehicle. I determined to ride, at any rate for the present.
+
+“Which way, Baas?” asked Footsack.
+
+“Down to the Granite Stream where the wagon stands,” I answered.
+
+“That will be through the Yellow-wood Swamp. Can’t we take the other
+road to Pilgrim’s Rest and Lydenburg, or to Barberton?” asked Anscombe
+in a vague way, and as I thought, rather nervously.
+
+“No,” I answered, “that is unless you wish to meet those Basutos who
+stole the oxen and Dr. Rodd returning, if he means to return.”
+
+“Oh! let us go through the Yellow-wood,” exclaimed Heda, who, I think,
+would rather have met the devil than Dr. Rodd.
+
+Ah! if I had but known that we were heading straight for that person,
+sooner would I have faced the Basutos twice over. But I did what seemed
+wisest, thinking that he would be sure to return with another doctor or
+a magistrate by the shorter and easier path which he had followed in
+the morning. It just shows once more how useless are all our care and
+foresight, or how strong is Fate, have it which way you will.
+
+So we started down the slope, and I, riding behind, noted poor Heda
+staring at the marble house, which grew ever more beautiful as it
+receded and the roughness of its building disappeared, especially at
+that part of it which hid the body of her old scamp of a father whom
+still she loved. We came down to the glen and once more saw the bones
+of the blue wildebeeste that we had shot—oh! years and years ago, or so
+it seemed. Then we struck out for the Granite Stream.
+
+Before we reached the patch of Yellow-wood forest where I knew that the
+cart must travel very slowly because of the trees and the swampy nature
+of the ground, I pushed on ahead to reconnoitre, fearing lest there
+might be Basutos hidden in this cover. Riding straight through it I
+went as far as the deserted wagon at a sharp canter, seeing nothing and
+no one. Once indeed, towards the end of the wood where it was more
+dense, I thought that I heard a man cough and peered about me through
+the gloom, for here the rays of the sun, which was getting low in the
+heavens, scarcely penetrated. As I could perceive no one I came to the
+conclusion that I must have been deceived by my fancy. Or perhaps it
+was some baboon that coughed, though it was strange that a baboon
+should have come to such a low-lying spot where there was nothing for
+it to eat.
+
+The place was eerie, so much so that I bethought me of tales of the
+ghosts whereby it was supposed to be haunted. Also, oddly enough, of
+Anscombe’s presentiment which he had fulfilled by killing a Basuto.
+Look! There lay his grinning skull with some patches of hair still on
+it, dragged away from the rest of the bones by a hyena. I cantered on
+down the slope beyond the wood and through the scattered thorns to the
+stream on the banks of which the wagon should be. It had gone, and by
+the freshness of the trail, within an hour or two. A moment’s
+reflection told me what had happened. Having stolen our oxen the
+Basutos drove them to the wagon, inspanned them and departed with their
+loot. On the whole I was glad to see this, since it suggested that they
+had retired towards their own country, leaving our road open.
+
+Turning my horse I rode back again to meet the cart. As I reached the
+edge of the wood at the top of the slope I heard a whistle blown, a
+very shrill whistle, of which the sound would travel for a mile or two
+on that still air. Also I heard the sound of men’s voices in
+altercation and caught words, such as—“Let go, or by Heaven—!” then a
+furious laugh and other words which seemed to be—“In five minutes the
+Kaffirs will be here. In ten you will be dead. Can I help it if they
+kill you after I have warned you to turn back?” Then a woman’s scream.
+
+Rodd’s voice, Anscombe’s voice and Kaatje’s scream—not Heda’s but
+Kaatje’s!
+
+Then as I rode furiously round the last patch of intervening trees the
+sound of a pistol shot. I was out of them now and saw everything. There
+was the cart on the further side of a swamp. The horses were standing
+still and snorting. Holding the rein of one of the leaders was Rodd,
+whose horse also stood close by. He was rocking on his feet and as I
+leapt from my mare and ran up, I saw his face. It was horrible, full of
+pain and devilish rage. With his disengaged hand he pointed to Anscombe
+sitting in the cart and grasping a pistol that still smoked.
+
+“You’ve killed me,” he said in a hoarse, choking voice, for he was shot
+through the lung, “to get her,” and he waved his hand towards Heda who
+was peering at him between the heads of the two men. “You are a
+murderer, as her father was, and as David was before you. Well, I hope
+you won’t keep her long. I hope you’ll die as I do and break her false
+heart, you damned thief.”
+
+All of this he said in a slow voice, pausing between the words and
+speaking ever more thickly as the blood from his wound choked him. Then
+of a sudden it burst in a stream from his lips, and still pointing with
+an accusing finger at Anscombe, he fell backwards into the slimy pool
+behind him and there vanished without a struggle.
+
+So horrible was the sight that the driver, Footsack, leapt from the
+cart, uttering a kind of low howl, ran to Rodd’s horse, scrambled into
+the saddle and galloped off, striking it with his fist, where to I do
+not know. Anscombe put his hand before his eyes, Heda sank down on the
+seat in a heap, and the coloured woman, Kaatje, beat her breast and
+said something in Dutch about being accursed or bewitched. Luckily I
+kept my wits and went to the horses’ heads, fearing lest they should
+start and drag the trap into the pool. “Wake up,” I said. “That fellow
+has only got what he deserved, and you were quite right to shoot him.”
+
+“I am glad you think so,” answered Anscombe absently. “It was so like
+murder. Don’t you remember I told you I should kill a man in this place
+and about a woman?”
+
+“I remember nothing,” I answered boldly, “except that if we stop here
+much longer we shall have those Basutos on us. That brute was whistling
+to them and holding the horses till they came to kill us. Pull yourself
+together, take the reins and follow me.”
+
+He obeyed, being a skilful whip enough who, as he informed me
+afterwards, had been accustomed to drive a four-in-hand at home.
+Mounting my horse, which stood by, I guided the cart out of the wood
+and down the slope beyond, till at length we came to our old outspan
+where I proposed to turn on to the wagon track which ran to Pilgrim’s
+Rest. I say proposed, for when I looked up it I perceived about five
+hundred yards away a number of armed Basutos running towards us, the
+red light of the sunset shining on their spears. Evidently the scout or
+spy to whom Rodd whistled, had called them out of their ambush which
+they had set for us on the Pilgrim’s Rest road in order that they might
+catch us if we tried to escape that way.
+
+Now there was only one thing to be done. At this spot a native track
+ran across the little stream and up a steepish slope beyond. On the
+first occasion of our outspanning here I had the curiosity to mount
+this slope, reflecting as I did so that although rough it would be
+quite practicable for a wagon. At the top of it I found a wide flat
+plain, almost high-veld, for the bushes were very few, across which the
+track ran on. On subsequent inquiry I discovered that it was one used
+by the Swazis and other natives when they made their raids upon the
+Basutos, or when bodies of them went to work in the mines.
+
+“Follow me,” I shouted and crossed the stream which was shallow between
+the little pools, then led the way up the stony slope. The four horses
+negotiated it very well and the Cape cart, being splendidly built, took
+no harm. At the top I looked back and saw that the Basutos were
+following us.
+
+“Flog the horses!” I cried to Anscombe, and off we went at a hand
+gallop along the native track, the cart swaying and bumping upon the
+rough veld. The sun was setting now, in half an hour it would be quite
+dark.
+
+Could we keep ahead of them for that half hour?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+FLIGHT
+
+
+The sun sank in a blaze of glory. Looking back by the light of its last
+rays I saw a single native silhouetted against the red sky. He was
+standing on a mound that we had passed a mile or more behind us,
+doubtless waiting for his companions whom he had outrun. So they had
+not given up the chase. What was to be done? Once it was completely
+dark we could not go on. We should lose our way; the horses would get
+into ant-bear holes and break their legs. Perhaps we might become
+bogged in some hollow, therefore we must wait till the moon rose, which
+would not be for a couple of hours.
+
+Meanwhile those accursed Basutos would be following us even in the
+dark. This would hamper them, no doubt, but they would keep the path,
+with which they were probably familiar, beneath their feet, and what is
+more, the ground being soft with recent rain, they could feel the wheel
+spoor with their fingers. I looked about me. Just here another track
+started off in a nor’-westerly direction from that which we were
+following. Perhaps it ran to Lydenburg; I do not know. To our left, not
+more than a hundred yards or so away, the higher veld came to an end
+and sloped in an easterly direction down to bush-land below.
+
+Should I take the westerly road which ran over a great plain? No, for
+then we might be seen for miles and cut off. Moreover, even if we
+escaped the natives, was it desirable we should plunge into
+civilization just now and tell all our story, as in that case we must
+do. Rodd’s death was quite justified, but it had happened on Transvaal
+territory and would require a deal of explanation. Fortunately there
+was no witness of it, except ourselves. Yes, there was though—the
+driver Footsack, if he had got away, which, being mounted, would seem
+probable, a man who, for my part, I would not trust for a moment. It
+would be an ugly thing to see Anscombe in the dock charged with murder
+and possibly myself, with Footsack giving evidence against us before a
+Boer jury who might be hard on Englishmen. Also there was the body with
+a bullet in it.
+
+Suddenly there came into my mind a recollection of the very vivid dream
+of Zikali which had visited me, and I reflected that in Zululand there
+would be little need to trouble about the death of Rodd. But Zululand
+was a long way off, and if we were to avoid the Transvaal, there was
+only one way of going there, namely through Swaziland. Well, among the
+Swazis we should be quite safe from the Basutos, since the two peoples
+were at fierce enmity. Moreover I knew the Swazi chiefs and king very
+well, having traded there, and could explain that I came to collect
+debts owing to me.
+
+There was another difficulty. I had heard that the trouble between the
+English Government and Cetewayo, the Zulu king, was coming to a head,
+and that the High Commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere, talked of presenting
+him with an ultimatum. It would be awkward if this arrived while we
+were in the country, though even so, being on such friendly terms with
+the Zulus of all classes, I did not think that I, or any with me, would
+run great risks.
+
+All these thoughts rushed through my brain while I considered what to
+do. At the moment it was useless to ask the opinion of the others who
+were but children in native matters. I and I alone must take the
+responsibility and act, praying that I might do so aright. Another
+moment and I had made up my mind.
+
+Signing to Anscombe to follow me, I rode about a hundred yards or more
+down the nor’-westerly path. Then I turned sharply along a rather stony
+ridge of ground, the cart following me all the time, and came back
+across our own track, my object being of course to puzzle any Kaffirs
+who might spoor us. Now we were on the edge of the gentle slope that
+led down to the bush-veld. Over this I rode towards a deserted cattle
+kraal built of stones, in the rich soil of which grew sundry trees;
+doubtless one of those which had been abandoned when Mosilikatze swept
+all this country on his way north about the year 1838. The way to it
+was easy, since the surrounding stones had been collected to build the
+kraal generations before. As we passed over the edge of the slope in
+the gathering gloom, Heda cried—
+
+“Look!” and pointed in the direction whence we came. Far away a sheet
+of flame shot upwards.
+
+“The house is burning,” she exclaimed.
+
+“Yes,” I said, “it can be nothing else;” adding to myself, “a good job
+too, for now there will be no postmortem on old Marnham.”
+
+Who fired the place I never learnt. It may have been the Basutos, or
+Marnham’s body-servant, or Footsack, or a spark from the kitchen fire.
+At any rate it blazed merrily enough notwithstanding the marble walls,
+as a wood-lined and thatched building of course would do. On the whole
+I suspected the boy, who may very well have feared lest he should be
+accused of having had a hand in his master’s death. At least it was
+gone, and watching the distant flames I bethought me that with it went
+all Heda’s past. Twenty-four hours before her father was alive, the
+bondservant of Rodd and a criminal. Now he was ashes and Rodd was dead,
+while she and the man she loved were free, with all the world before
+them. I wished that I could have added that they were safe. Afterwards
+she told me that much the same ideas passed through her own mind.
+
+Dismounting I led the horses into the old kraal through the gap in the
+wall which once had been the gateway. It was a large kraal that
+probably in bygone days had held the cattle of some forgotten head
+chief whose town would have stood on the brow of the rise; so large
+that notwithstanding the trees I have mentioned, there was plenty of
+room for the cart and horses in its centre. Moreover, on such soil the
+grass grew so richly that after we had slipped their bits, the horses
+were able to fill themselves without being unharnessed. Also a little
+stream from a spring on the brow ran within a few yards whence, with
+the help of Kaatje, a strong woman, I watered them with the bucket
+which hung underneath the cart. Next we drank ourselves and ate some
+food in the darkness that was now complete. Then leaving Kaatje to
+stand at the head of the horses in case they should attempt any sudden
+movement, I climbed into the cart, and we discussed things in low
+whispers.
+
+It was a curious debate in that intense gloom which, close as our faces
+were together, prevented us from seeing anything of each other, except
+once when a sudden flare of summer lightning revealed them, white and
+unnatural as those of ghosts. On our present dangers I did not dwell,
+putting them aside lightly, though I knew they were not light. But of
+the alternative as to whether we should try to escape to Lydenburg and
+civilization, or to Zululand and savagery, I felt it to be my duty to
+speak.
+
+“To put it plainly,” said Anscombe in his slow way when I had finished,
+“you mean that in the Transvaal I might be tried as a murderer and
+perhaps convicted, whereas if we vanish into Zululand the probability
+is that this would not happen.”
+
+“I mean,” I whispered back, “that we might both be tried and, if
+Footsack should chance to appear and give evidence, find ourselves in
+an awkward position. Also there is another witness—Kaatje, and for the
+matter of that, Heda herself. Of course her evidence would be in our
+favour, but to make it understood by a jury she would have to explain a
+great deal of which she might prefer not to speak. Further, at the
+best, the whole business would get into the English papers, which you
+and your relatives might think disagreeable, especially in view of the
+fact that, as I understand, you and Heda intend to marry.”
+
+“Still I think that I would rather face it out,” he said in his
+outspoken way, “even if it should mean that I could never return to
+England. After all, of what have I to be afraid? I shot this scoundrel
+because I was obliged to do so.”
+
+“Yes, but it is of this that you may have to convince a jury who might
+possibly find a motive in Rodd’s past, and your present, relationship
+to the same lady. But what has she to say?”
+
+“I have to say,” whispered Heda, “that for myself I care nothing, but
+that I could never bear to see all these stories about my poor father
+raked up. Also there is Maurice to be considered. It would be terrible
+if they put him in prison—or worse. Let us go to Zululand, Mr.
+Quatermain, and afterwards get out of Africa. Don’t you agree,
+Maurice?”
+
+“What does Mr. Quatermain think himself?” he answered. “He is the
+oldest and by far the wisest of us and I will be guided by him.”
+
+Now I considered and said—
+
+“There is such a thing as flying from present troubles to others that
+may be worse, the ‘ills we know not of.’ Zululand is disturbed. If war
+broke out there we might all be killed. On the other hand we might not,
+and it ought to be possible for you to work up to Delagoa Bay and there
+get some ship home, that is if you wish to keep clear of British law. I
+cannot do so, as I must stay in Africa. Nor can I take the
+responsibility of settling what you are to do, since if things went
+wrong, it would be on my head. However, if you decide for the Transvaal
+or Natal and we escape, I must tell you that I shall go to the first
+magistrate we find and make a full deposition of all that has happened.
+It is not possible for me to live with the charge of having been
+concerned in the shooting of a white man hanging over me that might be
+brought up at any time, perhaps when no one was left in the country to
+give evidence on my behalf, for then, even if I were acquitted my name
+would always be tarnished. In Zululand, on the other hand, there are no
+magistrates before whom I could depose, and if this business should
+come out, I can always say that we went there to escape from the
+Basutos. Now I am going to get down to see if the horses are all right.
+Do you two talk the thing over and make up your minds. Whatever you
+agree on, I shall accept and do my best to carry through.” Then,
+without waiting for an answer, I slipped from the cart.
+
+Having examined the horses, who were cropping all the grass within
+reach of them, I crept to the wall of the kraal so as to be quite out
+of earshot. The night was now pitch dark, dark as it only knows how to
+be in Africa. More, a thunderstorm was coming up of which that flash of
+sheet lightning had been a presage. The air was electric. From the vast
+bush-clad valley beneath us came a wild, moaning sound caused, I
+suppose, by wind among the trees, though here I felt none; far away a
+sudden spear of lightning stabbed the sky. The brooding trouble of
+nature spread to my own heart. I was afraid, and not of our present
+dangers, though these were real enough, so real that in a few hours we
+might all be dead.
+
+To dangers I was accustomed; for years they had been my daily food by
+day and by night, and, as I think I have said elsewhere, I am a
+fatalist, one who knows full well that when God wants me He will take
+me; that is if He can want such a poor, erring creature. Nothing that I
+did or left undone could postpone or hasten His summons for a moment,
+though of course I knew it to be my duty to fight against death and to
+avoid it for as long as I might, because that I should do so was a
+portion of His plan. For we are all part of a great pattern, and the
+continuance or cessation of our lives re-acts upon other lives, and
+therefore life is a trust.
+
+No, it was of greater things that I felt afraid, things terrible and
+imminent which I could not grasp and much less understand. I understand
+them now, but who would have guessed that on the issue of that
+whispered colloquy in the cart behind me, depended the fate of a people
+and many thousands of lives? As I was to learn in days to come, if
+Anscombe and Heda had determined upon heading for the Transvaal, there
+would, as I believe, have been no Zulu war, which in its turn meant
+that there would have been no Boer Rebellion and that the mysterious
+course of history would have been changed.
+
+I shook myself together and returned to the cart.
+
+“Well,” I whispered, but there was no answer. A moment later there came
+another flash of lightning.
+
+“There,” said Heda, “how many do you make it?
+
+“Ninety-eight,” he answered.
+
+“I counted ninety-nine,” she said, “but anyway it was within the
+hundred. Mr. Quatermain, we will go to Zululand, if you please, if you
+will show us the way there.”
+
+“Right,” I answered, “but might I ask what that has to do with your
+both counting a hundred?”
+
+“Only this,” she said, “we could not make up our minds. Maurice was for
+the Transvaal, I was for Zululand. So you see we agreed that if another
+flash came before we counted a hundred, we would go to Zululand, and if
+it didn’t, to Pretoria. A very good way of settling, wasn’t it?”
+
+“Excellent!” I replied, “quite excellent for those who could think of
+such a thing.”
+
+As a matter of fact I don’t know which of them thought of it because I
+never inquired. But I did remember afterwards how Anscombe had tossed
+with a lucky penny when it was a question whether we should or should
+not run for the wagon during our difficulty by the Oliphant’s River;
+also when I asked him the reason for this strange proceeding he
+answered that Providence might inhabit a penny as well as anything
+else, and that he wished to give it—I mean Providence—a chance. How
+much more then, he may have argued, could it inhabit a flash of
+lightning which has always been considered a divine manifestation from
+the time of the Roman Jove, and no doubt far before him.
+
+Forty or fifty generations ago, which is not long, our ancestors set
+great store by the behaviour of lightning and thunder, and doubtless
+the instinct is still in our blood, in the same way that all our
+existing superstitions about the moon come down to us from the time
+when our forefathers worshipped her. They did this for tens of hundreds
+or thousands of years, and can we expect a few coatings of the veneer
+that we politely call civilization, which after all is only one of our
+conventions that vanish in any human stress such as war, to kill out
+the human impulse it seems to hide? I do not know, though I have my own
+opinion, and probably these young people never reasoned the matter out.
+They just acted on an intuition as ancient as that which had attracted
+them to each other, namely a desire to consult the ruling fates by
+omens or symbols. Or perhaps Anscombe thought that as his experience
+with the penny had proved so successful, he would give Providence
+another “chance.” If so it took it and no mistake. Confound it! I don’t
+know what he thought; I only dwell on the matter because of the great
+results which followed this consultation of the Sybilline books of
+heaven.
+
+As it happened my speculations, if I really indulged in any at that
+time, were suddenly extinguished by the bursting of the storm. It was
+of the usual character, short but very violent. Of a sudden the sky
+became alive with lightnings and the atmosphere with the roar of winds.
+One flash struck a tree quite near the kraal, and I saw that tree seem
+to melt in its fiery embrace, while about where it had been, rose a
+column of dust from the ground beneath. The horses were so frightened
+that luckily they stood quite quiet, as I have often known animals to
+do in such circumstances. Then came the rain, a torrential rain as I,
+who was out in it holding the horses, became painfully aware. It
+thinned after a while, however, as the storm rolled away.
+
+Suddenly in a silence between the tremendous echoes of the passing
+thunder I thought that I heard voices somewhere on the brow of the
+slope, and as the horses were now quite calm, I crept through the trees
+to that part of the enclosure which I judged to be nearest to them.
+
+Voices they were sure enough, and of the Basutos who were pursuing us.
+What was more, they were coming down the slope. The top of the old wall
+reached almost to my chin. Taking off my hat I thrust my head forward
+between two loose stones, that I might hear the better.
+
+The men were talking together in Sisutu. One, whom I took to be their
+captain, said to the others—
+
+“That white-headed old jackal, Macumazahn, has given us the slip again.
+He doubled on his tracks and drove the horses down the hillside to the
+lower path in the valley. I could feel where the wheels went over the
+edge.”
+
+“It is so, Father,” answered another voice, “but we shall catch him and
+the others at the bottom if we get there before the moon rises, since
+they cannot have moved far in this rain and darkness. Let me go first
+and guide you who know every tree and stone upon this slope where I
+used to herd cattle when I was a child.”
+
+“Do so,” said the captain. “I can see nothing now the lightning has
+gone, and were it not that I have sworn to dip my spear in the blood of
+Macumazahn who has fooled us again, I would give up the hunt.”
+
+“I think it would be better to give it up in any case,” said a third
+voice, “since it is known throughout the land that no luck has ever
+come to those who tried to trap the Watcher-by-Night. Oh! he is a
+leopard who springs and is gone again. How many are the throats in
+which his fangs have met. Leave him alone, I say, lest our fate should
+be that of the white doctor in the Yellow-wood Swamp, he who set us on
+this hunt. We have his wagon and his cattle; let us be satisfied.”
+
+“I will leave him alone when he sleeps for the last time, and not
+before,” answered the captain, “he who shot my brother in the drift the
+other day. What would Sekukuni say if we let him escape to bring the
+Swazis on us? Moreover, we want that white maiden for a hostage in case
+the English should attack us again. Come, you who know the road, and
+lead us.”
+
+There was some disturbance as this man passed to the front. Then I
+heard the line move forward. Presently they were going by the wall
+within a foot or two of me. Indeed by ill-luck just as we were opposite
+to each other the captain stumbled and fell against the wall.
+
+“There is an old cattle kraal here,” he said. “What if those white rats
+have hidden in it?”
+
+I trembled as I heard the words. If a horse should neigh or make any
+noise that could be heard above the hiss of the rain! I did not dare to
+move for fear lest I should betray myself. There I stood so close to
+the Kaffirs that I could smell them and hear the rain pattering on
+their bodies. Only very stealthily I drew my hunting knife with my
+right hand. At that moment the lightning, which I thought had quite
+gone by, flashed again for the last time, revealing the fat face of the
+Basuto captain within a foot of my own, for he was turned towards the
+wall on which one of his hands rested. Moreover, the blue and ghastly
+light revealed mine to him thrust forward between the two stones, my
+eyes glaring at him.
+
+“The head of a dead man is set upon the wall!” he cried in terror. “It
+is the ghost of—”
+
+He got no further, for as the last word passed his lips I drove the
+knife at him with all my strength deep into his throat. He fell back
+into the arms of his followers, and next instant I heard the sound of
+many feet rushing in terror down the hill. What became of him I do not
+know, but if he still lives, probably he agrees with his tribesman that
+Macumazahn—Watcher-by-Night, or his ghost “is a leopard who springs and
+kills and is gone again”; also, that those who try to trap him meet
+with no luck. I say, or his ghost—because I am sure he thought that I
+was a spirit of the dead; doubtless I must have looked like one with my
+white, rain-drowned face appearing there between the stones and made
+ghastly and livid by the lightning.
+
+Well, they had gone, the whole band of them, not less than thirty or
+forty men, so I went also, back to the cart where I found the others
+very comfortable indeed beneath the rainproof tilt. Saying nothing of
+what had happened, of which they were as innocent as babes, I took a
+stiff tot of brandy, for I was chilled through by the wet, and while
+waiting for the moon to rise, busied myself with getting the bits back
+into the horses’ mouths—an awkward job in the dark. At length it
+appeared in a clear sky, for the storm had quite departed and the rain
+ceased. As soon as there was light enough I took the near leader by the
+bridle and led the cart to the brow of the hill, which was not easy
+under the conditions, making Kaatje follow with my horse.
+
+Then, as there were no signs of any Basutos, we started on again, I
+riding about a hundred yards ahead, keeping a sharp look-out for a
+possible ambush. Fortunately, however, the veld was bare and open,
+consisting of long waves of ground. One start I did get, thinking that
+I saw men’s heads just on the crest of a wave, which turned out to be
+only a herd of springbuck feeding among the tussocks of grass. I was
+very glad to see them, since their presence assured me that no human
+being had recently passed that way.
+
+All night long we trekked, following the Kaffir path for as long as I
+could see it, and after that going by my compass. I knew whereabouts
+the drift of the Crocodile River should be, as I had crossed it twice
+before in my life, and kept my eyes open for a certain tall koppie
+which stood within half a mile of it on the Swazi side of the river.
+Ultimately to my joy I caught sight of this hill faintly outlined
+against the sky and headed for it. Half a mile further on I struck a
+wagon-track made by Boers trekking into Swazi-Land to trade or shoot.
+Then I knew that the drift was straight ahead of us, and called to
+Anscombe to flog up the weary horses.
+
+We reached the river just before the dawn. To my horror it was very
+full, so full that the drift looked dangerous, for it had been swollen
+by the thunder-rain of the previous night. Indeed some wandering Swazis
+on the further bank shouted to us that we should be drowned if we tried
+to cross.
+
+“Which means that the only thing to do is to stay until the water runs
+down,” I said to Anscombe, for the two women, tired out, were asleep.
+
+“I suppose so,” he answered, “unless those Basutos—”
+
+I looked back up the long slope down which we had come and saw no one.
+Then I raised myself in my stirrups and looked along another track that
+joined the road just here, leading from the bush-veld, as ours led from
+the high-veld. The sun was rising now, dispersing the mist that hung
+about the trees after the wet. Searching among these with my eyes,
+presently I perceived the light gleaming upon what I knew must be the
+points of spears projecting above the level of the ground vapour.
+
+“Those devils are after us by the lower road,” I said to Anscombe,
+adding, “I heard them pass the old cattle kraal last night. They
+followed our spoor over the edge of the hill, but in the dark lost it
+among the stones.”
+
+He whistled and asked what was to be done.
+
+“That is for you to decide,” I answered. “For my part I’d rather risk
+the river than the Basutos,” and I looked at the slumbering Heda.
+
+“Can we bolt back the way we came, Allan?”
+
+“The horses are very spent and we might meet more Basutos,” and again I
+looked at Heda.
+
+“A hard choice, Allan. It is wonderful how women complicate everything
+in life, because they are life, I suppose.” He thought a moment and
+went on, “Let’s try the river. If we fail, it will be soon over, and it
+is better to drown than be speared.”
+
+“Or be kept alive by savages who hate us,” I exclaimed, with my eyes
+still fixed upon Heda.
+
+Then I got to business. There were hide riems on the bridles of the
+leaders. I undid these and knotted their loose ends firmly together. To
+them I made fast the riem of my own mare, slipping a loop I tied in it,
+over my right hand and saying—
+
+“Now I will go first, leading the horses. Do you drive after me for all
+you are worth, even if they are swept off their feet. I can trust my
+beast to swim straight, and being a mare, I hope that the horses will
+follow her as they have done all night. Wake up Heda and Kaatje.”
+
+He nodded, and looking very pale, said—
+
+“Heda my dear, I am sorry to disturb you, but we have to get over a
+river with a rough bottom, so you and Kaatje must hang on and sit
+tight. Don’t be frightened, you are as safe as a church.”
+
+“God forgive him for that lie,” thought I to myself as, having
+tightened the girths, I mounted my mare. Then gripping the riem I
+kicked the beast to a canter, Anscombe flogging up the team as we swung
+down the bank to the edge of the foaming torrent, on the further side
+of which the Swazis shouted and gesticulated to us to go back.
+
+We were in it now, for, as I had hoped, the horses followed the mare
+without hesitation. For the first twenty yards or so all went well, I
+heading up the stream. Then suddenly I felt that the mare was swimming.
+
+“Flog the horses and don’t let them turn,” I shouted to Anscombe.
+
+Ten more yards and I glanced over my shoulder. The team was swimming
+also, and behind them the cart rocked and bobbed like a boat swinging
+in a heavy sea. There came a strain on the riem; the leaders were
+trying to turn! I pulled hard and encouraged them with my voice, while
+Anscombe, who drove splendidly, kept their heads as straight as he
+could. Mercifully they came round again and struck out for the further
+shore, the water-logged cart floating after them. Would it turn over?
+That was the question in my mind. Five seconds; ten seconds and it was
+still upright. Oh! it was going. No, a fierce back eddy caught it and
+set it straight again. My mare touched bottom and there was hope. It
+struggled forward, being swept down the stream all the time. Now the
+horses in the cart also found their footing and we were saved.
+
+No, the wet had caused the knot of one of the riems to slip beneath the
+strain, or perhaps it broke—I don’t know. Feeling the pull slacken the
+leaders whipped round on to the wheelers. There they all stood in a
+heap, their heads and part of their necks above water, while the cart
+floated behind them on its side. Kaatje screamed and Anscombe flogged.
+I leapt from my mare and struggled to the leaders, the water up to my
+chin. Grasping their bits I managed to keep them from turning further.
+But I could do no more and death came very near to us. Had it not been
+for some of those brave Swazis on the bank it would have found us,
+every one. But they plunged in, eight of them, holding each other’s
+hands, and half-swimming, half-wading, reached us. They got the horses
+by the head and straightened them out, while Anscombe plied his whip. A
+dash forward and the wheels were on the bottom again.
+
+Three minutes later we were safe on the further bank, which my mare had
+already reached, where I lay gasping on my face, ejaculating prayers of
+thankfulness and spitting out muddy water.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+NOMBÉ
+
+
+The Swazis, shivering, for all these people hate cold, and shaking
+themselves like a dog when he comes to shore, gathered round, examining
+me.
+
+“Why!” said one of them, an elderly man who seemed to be their leader,
+“this is none other than Macumazahn, Watcher-by-Night, the old friend
+of all us black people. Surely the spirits of our fathers have been
+with us who might have risked our lives to save a Boer or a
+half-breed.” (The Swazis, I may explain, did not like the Boers for
+reasons they considered sound.)
+
+“Yes,” I said, sitting up, “it is I, Macumazahn.”
+
+“Then why,” asked the man, “did you, whom all know to be wise, show
+yourself to have suddenly become a fool?” and he pointed to the raging
+river.
+
+“And why,” I asked, “do you show yourself a fool by supposing that I,
+whom you know to be none, am a fool? Look across the water for your
+answer.”
+
+He looked and saw the Basutos, fifty or more of them, arriving, just
+too late.
+
+“Who are these?” he asked.
+
+“They are the people of Sekukuni whom you should know well enough. They
+have hunted us all night, yes, and before, seeking to murder us; also
+they have stolen our oxen, thirty-two fine oxen which I give to your
+king if he can take them back. Now perhaps you understand why we dared
+the Crocodile River in its rage.”
+
+At the name of Sekukuni the man, who it seemed was the captain of some
+border guards, stiffened all over like a terrier which perceives a rat.
+“What!” he exclaimed, “do these dirty Basuto dogs dare to carry spears
+so near our country? Have they not yet learned their lesson?”
+
+Then he rushed into the water, shaking an assegai he had snatched up,
+and shouted,
+
+“Bide a while, you fleas from the kaross of Sekukuni, till I can come
+across and crack you between my thumb and finger. Or at the least wait
+until Macumazahn has time to get his rifle. No, put down those guns of
+yours; for every shot you fire I swear that I will cut ten Basuto
+throats when we come to storm your koppies, as we shall do ere long.”
+
+“Be silent,” I said, “and let me speak.”
+
+Then I, too, called across the river, asking where was that fat captain
+of theirs, as I would talk with him. One of the men shouted back that
+he had stopped behind, very sick, because of a ghost that he had seen.
+
+“Ah!” I answered, “a ghost who pricked him in the throat. Well, I was
+that ghost, and such are the things that happen to those who would harm
+Macumazahn and his friends. Did you not say last night that he is a
+leopard who leaps out in the dark, bites and is gone again?”
+
+“Yes,” the man shouted back, “and it is true, though had we known, O
+Macumazahn, that you were the ghost hiding in those stones, you should
+never have leapt again. Oh! that white medicine-man who is dead has
+sent us on a mad errand.”
+
+“So you will think when I come to visit you among your koppies. Go home
+and take a message from Macumazahn to Sekukuni, who believes that the
+English have run away from him. Tell him that they will return again
+and these Swazis with them, and that then he will cease to live and his
+town will be burnt and his tribe will no more be a tribe. Away now,
+more swiftly than you came, since the water by which you thought to
+trap us is falling, and a Swazi impi gathers to make an end of every
+one of you.”
+
+The man attempted no answer, nor did his people so much as fire on us.
+They turned tail and crept off like a pack of frightened
+jackals—pursued by the mocking of the Swazis.
+
+Still in a way they had the laugh of us, seeing that they gave us a
+terrible fright and stole our wagon and thirty-two oxen. Well, a year
+or two later I helped to pay them back for that fright and even
+recovered some of the oxen.
+
+When they had gone the Swazis led us to a kraal about two miles from
+the river, sending on a runner with orders to make huts and food ready
+for us. It was just as much as we could do to reach it, for we were all
+utterly worn out, as were the horses. Still we did get there at last,
+the hot sun warming us as we went. Arrived at the kraal I helped Heda
+and Kaatje from the cart—the former could scarcely walk, poor dear—and
+into the guest hut which seemed clean, where food of a sort and fur
+karosses were brought to them in which to wrap themselves while their
+clothes dried.
+
+Leaving them in charge of two old women, I went to see to Anscombe, who
+as yet could not do much for himself, also to the outspanning of the
+horses which were put into a cattle kraal, where they lay down at once
+without attempting to eat the green forage which was given to them.
+After this I gave our goods into the charge of the kraal-head, a nice
+old fellow whom I had never met before, and he led Anscombe to another
+hut close to that where the women were. Here we drank some maas, that
+is curdled milk, ate a little mutton, though we were too fatigued to be
+very hungry, and stripping off our wet clothes, threw them out into the
+sun to dry.
+
+“That was a close shave,” said Anscombe as he wrapped up in the kaross.
+
+“Very,” I answered. “So close that I think you must have been started
+in life with an extra strong guardian angel well accustomed to native
+ways.”
+
+“Yes,” he replied, “and, old fellow, I believe that on earth he goes by
+the name of Allan Quatermain.”
+
+After this I remember no more, for I went to sleep, and so remained for
+about twenty-four hours. This was not wonderful, seeing that for two
+days and nights practically I had not rested, during which time I went
+through much fatigue and many emotions.
+
+When at length I did wake up, the first thing I saw was Anscombe
+already dressed, engaged in cleaning my clothes with a brush from his
+toilet case. I remember thinking how smart and incongruous that
+dressing-bag, made appropriately enough of crocodile hide, looked in
+this Kaffir hut with its silver-topped bottles and its ivory-handled
+razors.
+
+“Time to get up, Sir. Bath ready, Sir,” he said in his jolly, drawling
+voice, pointing to a calabash full of hot water. “Hope you slept as
+well as I did, Sir.”
+
+“You appear to have recovered your spirits,” I remarked as I rose and
+began to wash myself.
+
+“Yes, Sir, and why not? Heda is quite well, for I have seen her. These
+Swazis are very good people, and as Kaatje understands their language,
+bring us all we want. Our troubles seem to be done with. Old Marnham is
+dead, and doubtless cremated; Rodd is dead and, let us hope, in heaven;
+the Basutos have melted away, the morning is fine and warm and a whole
+kid is cooking for breakfast.”
+
+“I wish there were two, for I am ravenous,” I remarked.
+
+“The horses are getting rested and feeding well, though some of their
+legs have filled, and the trap is little the worse, for I have walked
+to look at them, or rather hopped, leaning on the shoulder of a very
+sniffy Swazi boy. Do you know, old fellow, I believe there never were
+any Basutos; also that the venerable Marnham and the lurid Rodd had no
+real existence, that they were but illusions, a prolonged nightmare—no
+more. Here is your shirt. I am sorry that I have not had time to wash
+it, but it has cooked well in the sun, which, being flannel, is almost
+as good.”
+
+“At any rate Heda remains,” I remarked, cutting his nonsense short,
+“and I suppose she is not a nightmare or a delusion.”
+
+“Yes, thank God! she remains,” he replied with earnestness. “Oh! Allan,
+I thought she must drown in that river, and if I had lost her, I think
+I should have gone mad. Indeed, at the moment I felt myself going mad
+while I dragged and flogged at those horses.”
+
+“Well, you didn’t lose her, and if she had drowned, you would have
+drowned also. So don’t talk any more about it. She is safe, and now we
+have got to keep her so, for you are not married yet, my boy, and there
+are generally more trees in a wood than one can see. Still we are alive
+and well, which is more than we had any right to expect, and, as you
+say, let us thank God for that.”
+
+Then I put on my coat and my boots which Anscombe had greased as he had
+no blacking, and crept from the hut.
+
+There, only a few yards away, engaged in setting the breakfast in the
+shadow of another hut on a tanned hide that served for a tablecloth
+while Kaatje saw to the cooking close by, I found Heda, still a little
+pale and sorrowful but otherwise quite well and rested. Moreover, she
+had managed to dress herself very nicely, I suppose by help of spare
+clothes in the cart, and therefore looked as charming as she always
+did. I think that her perfect manners were one of her greatest
+attractions. Thus on this morning her first thought was to thank me
+very sweetly for all she was good enough to say I had done for her and
+Anscombe, thereby, as she put it, saving their lives several times
+over.
+
+“My dear young lady,” I answered as roughly as I could, “don’t flatter
+yourself on that point; it was my own life of which I was thinking.”
+
+But she only smiled and, shaking her head in a fascinating way that was
+peculiar to her, remarked that I could not deceive her as I did the
+Kaffirs. After this the solid Kaatje brought the food and we
+breakfasted very heartily, or at least I did.
+
+Now I am not going to set out all the details of our journey through
+Swazi-Land, for though in some ways it was interesting enough, also as
+comfortable as a stay among savages can be, for everywhere we were
+kindly received, to do so would be too long, and I must get on with my
+story. At the king’s kraal, which we did not reach for some days as the
+absence of roads and the flooded state of the rivers, also the need of
+sparing our horses, caused us to travel very slowly, I met a Boer who I
+think was concession hunting.
+
+He told me that things were really serious in Zululand, so serious that
+he thought there was a probability of immediate war between the English
+and the Zulus. He said also that Cetewayo, the Zulu king, had sent
+messengers to stir up the Basutos and other tribes against the white
+men, with the result that Sekukuni had already made a raid towards
+Pilgrim’s Rest and Lydenburg.
+
+I expressed surprise and asked innocently if he had done any harm. The
+Boer replied he understood that they had stolen some cattle, killed two
+white men, if not more, and burnt their house. He added, however, that
+he was not sure whether the white men had been killed by the Kaffirs or
+by other white men with whom they had quarrelled. There was a rumour to
+this effect, and he understood that the magistrate of Barberton had
+gone with some mounted police and armed natives to investigate the
+matter.
+
+Then we parted, as, having got his concession to which the king
+Umbandine had put his mark when he was drunk on brandy that the Boer
+himself had brought with him as a present, he was anxious to be gone
+before he grew sober and revoked it. Indeed, he was in so great a hurry
+that he never stopped to inquire what I was doing in Swazi-Land, nor do
+I think he realized that I was not alone. Certainly he was quite
+unaware that I had been mixed up in these Basuto troubles. Still his
+story as to the investigation concerning the deaths of Marnham and Rodd
+made me uneasy, since I feared lest he should hear something on his
+journey and put two and two together, though as a matter of fact I
+don’t think he ever did either of these things.
+
+The Swazis told me much the same story as to the brewing Zulu storm. In
+fact an old Induna or councillor, whom I knew, informed me that
+Cetewayo had sent messengers to them, asking for their help if it
+should come to fighting with the white men, but that the king and
+councillors answered that they had always been the Queen’s children
+(which was not strictly true, as they were never under English rule)
+and did not wish to “bite her feet if she should have to fight with her
+hands.” I replied that I hoped they would always act up to these fine
+words, and changed the subject.
+
+Now once more the question arose as to whether we should make for Natal
+or press on to Zululand. The rumour of coming war suggested that the
+first would be our better course, while the Boer’s story as to the
+investigation of Rodd’s death pointed the other way. Really I did not
+know which to do, and as usual Anscombe and Heda seemed inclined to
+leave the decision to me. I think that after all Natal would have
+gained the day had it not been for a singular circumstance, not a flash
+of lightning this time. Indeed, I had almost made up my mind to risk
+trouble and inquiry as to Rodd’s death, remembering that in Natal these
+two young people could get married, which, being in loco parentis, I
+thought it desirable they should do as soon as possible, if only to
+ease me of my responsibilities. Also thence I could attend to the
+matter of Heda’s inheritance and rid myself of her father’s will that
+already had been somewhat damaged in the Crocodile River, though not as
+much as it might have been since I had taken the precaution to enclose
+it in Anscombe’s sponge bag before we left the house.
+
+The circumstance was this: On emerging from the cart one morning, where
+I slept to keep an eye upon the valuables, for it will be remembered
+that we had a considerable sum in gold with us, also Heda’s jewels, a
+Swazi informed me that a messenger wished to see me. I asked what
+messenger and whence did he come. He replied that the messenger was a
+witch-doctoress named Nombé, and that she came from Zululand and said
+that I knew her father.
+
+I bade the man bring her to me, wondering who on earth she could be,
+for it is not usual for the Zulus to send women as messengers, and from
+whom she came. However, I knew exactly what she would be like, some
+hideous old hag smelling horribly of grease and other abominations,
+with a worn snake skin and some human bones tied about her.
+
+Presently she came, escorted by the Swazi who was grinning, for I think
+he guessed what I expected to see. I stared and rubbed my eyes,
+thinking that I must still be asleep, for instead of a fat old Isanusi
+there appeared a tall and graceful young woman, rather light-coloured,
+with deep and quiet eyes and a by no means ill-favoured face,
+remarkable for a fixed and somewhat mysterious smile. She was a
+witch-doctoress sure enough, for she wore in her hair the regulation
+bladders and about her neck the circlet of baboon’s teeth, also round
+her middle a girdle from which hung little bags of medicines.
+
+She contemplated me gravely and I contemplated her, waiting till she
+should choose to speak. At length, having examined me inch by inch, she
+saluted by raising her rounded arm and tapering hand, and remarked in a
+soft, full voice—
+
+“All is as the picture told. I perceive before me the lord Macumazahn.”
+
+I thought this a strange saying, seeing that I could not recollect
+having given my photograph to any one in Zululand.
+
+“You need no magic to tell you that, doctoress,” I remarked, “but where
+did you see my picture?”
+
+“In the dust far away,” she replied.
+
+“And who showed it to you?”
+
+“One who knew you, O Macumazahn, in the years before I came out of the
+Darkness, one named Opener of Roads, and with him another who also knew
+you in those years, one who has gone down to the Darkness.”
+
+Now for some occult reason I shrank from asking the name of this “one
+who had gone down to the Darkness,” although I was sure that she was
+waiting for the question. So I merely remarked, without showing
+surprise—
+
+“So Zikali still lives, does he? He should have been dead long ago.”
+
+“You know well that he lives, Macumazahn, for how could he die till his
+work was accomplished? Moreover, you will remember that he spoke to you
+when last moon was but just past her full—in a dream, Macumazahn. I
+brought that dream, although you did not see me.”
+
+“Pish!” I exclaimed. “Have done with your talk of dreams. Who thinks
+anything of dreams?”
+
+“You do,” she replied even more placidly than before, “you whom that
+dream has brought hither—with others.”
+
+“You lie,” I said rudely. “The Basutos brought me here.”
+
+“The Watcher-by-Night is pleased to say that I lie, so doubtless I do
+lie,” she answered, her fixed smile deepening a little. Then she folded
+her arms across her breast and remained silent.
+
+“You are a messenger, O seer of pictures in the dust and bearer of the
+cup of dreams,” I said with sarcasm. “Who sends a message by your lips
+for me, and what are the words of the message?”
+
+“My Lords the Spirits spoke the message by the mouth of the master
+Zikali. He sends it on to you by the lips of your servant, the
+doctoress Nombé.”
+
+“Are you indeed a doctoress, being so young?” I asked, for somehow I
+wished to postpone the hearing of that message.
+
+“O Macumazahn, I have heard the call, I have felt the pain in my back,
+I have drunk of the black medicine and of the white medicine, yes, for
+a whole year. I have been visited by the multitude of Spirits and seen
+the shades of those who live and of those who are dead. I have dived
+into the river and drawn my snake from its mud; see, its skin is about
+me now,” and opening the mantle she wore she showed what looked like
+the skin of a black mamba, fastened round her slender body. “I have
+dwelt in the wilderness alone and listened to its voices. I have sat at
+the feet of my master, the Opener of Roads, and looked down the road
+and drunk of his wisdom. Yes, I am in truth a doctoress.”
+
+“Well, after all this, you should be as wise as you are pretty.”
+
+“Once before, Macumazahn, you told a maid of my people that she was
+pretty and she came to no good end; though to one that was great.
+Therefore do not say to me that I am pretty, though I am glad that you
+should think so who can compare me with so many whom you have known,”
+and she dropped her eyes, looking a little shy.
+
+It was the first human touch I had seen about her, and I was glad to
+have found a weak spot in her armour. Moreover, from that moment she
+was always my friend.
+
+“As you will, Nombé. Now for your message.”
+
+“My Lords the Spirits, speaking through Zikali as one who makes music
+speak through a pipe of reeds, say—”
+
+“Never mind what the spirits say. Tell me what Zikali says,” I
+interrupted.
+
+“So be it, Macumazahn. These are the words of Zikali: ‘O
+Watcher-by-Night, the time draws on when the
+Thing-who-should-never-have-been-born will be as though he never had
+been born, whereat he rejoices. But first there is much for him to do,
+and as he told you nearly three hundred moons ago, in what must be done
+you will have your part. Of that he will speak to you afterwards.
+Macumazahn, you dreamed a dream, did you not, lying asleep in the house
+that was built of white stone which now is black with fire? I, Zikali,
+sent you that dream through the arts of a child of mine who is named
+Nombé, she to whom I have given a Spirit to guide her feet. You did
+well to follow it, Macumazahn, for had you tried the other path, which
+would have led you back to the towns of the white men, you and those
+with you must have been killed, how it does not matter. Now by the
+mouth of Nombé I say to you, do not follow the thought that is in your
+mind as she speaks to you and go to Natal, since if you do so, you and
+those with you will come to much shame and trouble that to you would be
+worse than death, over the matter of the killing of a certain white
+doctor in a swamp where grow yellow-wood trees. For there in Natal you
+will be taken, all of you, and sent back to the Transvaal to be tried
+before a man who wears upon his head horse’s hair stained white. But if
+you come to Zululand this shadow shall pass away from you, since great
+things are about to happen which will cause so small a matter to be
+forgot. Moreover, I Zikali, who do not lie, promise this: That however
+great may be their dangers here in Zululand, those half-fledged ones
+whom you, the old night-hawk, cover with your wings, shall in the end
+suffer no harm; those of whom I spoke to you in your dream, the white
+lord, Mauriti, and the white lady, Heddana, who stretch out their arms
+one to another. I wait to welcome you, here at the Black Kloof, whither
+my daughter Nombé will guide you. Cetewayo, the king, also will welcome
+you, and so will another whose name I do not utter. Now choose. I have
+spoken.’”
+
+Having delivered her message Nombé stood quite still, smiling as
+before, and apparently indifferent as to its effect.
+
+“How do I know that you come from Zikali?” I asked. “You may be but the
+bait set upon a trap.”
+
+From somewhere within her robe she produced a knife and handed it to
+me, remarking—
+
+“The Master says you will remember this, and by it know that the
+message comes from him. He bade me add that with it was carved a
+certain image that once he gave to you at Panda’s kraal, wrapped round
+with a woman’s hair, which image you still have.”
+
+I looked at the knife and did remember it, for it was one of those of
+Swedish make with a wooden handle, the first that I had ever seen in
+Africa. I had made a present of it to Zikali when I returned to
+Zululand before the war between the Princes. The image, too, I still
+possessed. It was that of the woman called Mameena who brought about
+the war, and the wrapping which covered it was of the hair that once
+grew upon her head.
+
+“The words are Zikali’s,” I said, returning her the knife, “but why do
+you call yourself the child of one who is too old to be a father?”
+
+“The Master says that my great-grandmother was his daughter and that
+therefore I am his child. Now, Macumazahn, I go to eat with my people,
+for I have servants with me. Then I must speak with the Swazi king, for
+whom I also have a message, which I cannot do at present because he is
+still drunk with the white man’s liquor. After that I shall be ready to
+return with you to Zululand.”
+
+“I never said that I was going to Zululand, Nombé.”
+
+“Yet your heart has gone there already, Macumazahn, and you must follow
+your heart. Does not the image which was carved with the knife you
+gave, hold a white heart in its hand, and although it seems to be but a
+bit of Umzimbeete wood, is it not alive and bewitched, which perhaps is
+why you could never make up your mind to burn it, Macumazahn?”
+
+“I wish I had,” I replied angrily; but having thrown this last spear,
+with a flash of her unholy eyes Nombé had turned and gone.
+
+A clever woman and thoroughly coached, thought I. Well, Zikali was
+never one to suffer fools, and doubtless she is another of the pawns
+whom he uses on his board of policy. Oh! she, or rather he was right;
+my heart was in Zululand, though not in the way he thought, and I
+longed to see the end of that great game played by a wizard against a
+despot and his hosts.
+
+So we went to Zululand because after talking it over we all came to the
+conclusion that this was the best thing to do, especially as there we
+seemed to be sure of a welcome. For later in the day Nombé repeated to
+Anscombe and Heda the invitation which she had delivered to me,
+assuring them also that in Zululand they would come to no harm.
+
+It was curious to watch the meeting between Heda and Nombé. The
+doctoress appeared just as we had risen from breakfast, and Heda,
+turning round, came face to face with her.
+
+“Is this your witch, Mr. Quatermain?” she asked me in her vivacious
+way. “Why, she is different from what I expected, quite good-looking
+and, yes, impressive. I am not sure that she does not frighten me a
+little.”
+
+“What does the Inkosikaasi (i.e., the chieftainess) say concerning me,
+Macumazahn?” asked Nombé.
+
+“Only what I said, that you are young who she thought would be old, and
+pretty who she thought would be ugly.”
+
+“To grow old we must first be young, Macumazahn, and in due season all
+of us will become ugly, even the Inkosikaasi. But I thought she said
+also that she feared me.”
+
+“Do you know English, Nombé?”
+
+“Nay, but I know how to read eyes, and the Inkosikaasi has eyes that
+talk. Tell her that she has no reason to fear me who would be her
+friend, though I think that she will bring me little luck.”
+
+It was scarcely necessary, so far as Heda was concerned, but I
+translated, leaving out the last sentence.
+
+“Say to her that I am grateful who have few friends, and that I will
+fear her no more,” said Heda.
+
+Again I translated, whereon Nombé stretched out her hand, saying—
+
+“Let her not scorn to take it, it is clean. It has brought no man to
+his death—” Here she looked at Heda meaningly. “Moreover, though she is
+white and I am black, I like herself am of high blood and come of a
+race of warriors who did nothing small, and lastly, we are of an age,
+and if she is beautiful, I am wise and have gifts great as her own.”
+
+Once more I interpreted for the benefit of Anscombe, for Heda
+understood Zulu well enough, although she had pretended not to do so,
+after which the two shook hands, to Anscombe’s amusement and my wonder.
+For I felt this scene to be strained and one that hid, or presaged,
+something I did not comprehend.
+
+“This is the Chief she loves?” said Nombé to me, studying Anscombe with
+her steady eyes after Heda had gone. “Well, he is no common man and
+brave, if idle; one, too, who may grow tall in the world, should he
+live, when he has learned to think. But, Macumazahn, if she met you
+both at the same time why did she not choose you?”
+
+“Just now you said you were wise, Nombé,” I replied laughing, “but now
+I see that, like most of your trade, you are but a vain boaster. Is
+there a hat upon my head that you cannot see the colour of my hair, and
+is it natural that youth should turn to age?”
+
+“Sometimes if the mind is old, Macumazahn, which is why I love the
+Spirits only who are more ancient than the mountains, and with them
+Zikali their servant, who was young before the Zulus were a people, or
+so he says, and still year by year gathers wisdom as the bee gathers
+honey. Inspan your horses, Macumazahn, for I have done my business and
+am ready to start.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+ZIKALI
+
+
+Ten days had gone by when once more I found myself drawing near to the
+mouth of the Black Kloof where dwelt Zikali the Wizard. Our journey in
+Zululand had been tedious and uneventful. It seemed to me that we met
+extraordinarily few people; it was as though the place had suddenly
+become depopulated, and I even passed great kraals where there was no
+one to be seen. I asked Nombé what was the meaning of this, for she and
+three silent men she had with her were acting as our guides. Once she
+answered that the people had moved because of lack of food, as the
+season had been one of great scarcity owing to drought, and once that
+they had been summoned to a gathering at the king’s kraal near Ulundi.
+At any rate they were not there, and the few who did appear stared at
+us strangely.
+
+Moreover, I noticed that they were not allowed to speak to us. Also
+Heda was kept in the cart and Nombé insisted that the rear canvas
+curtain should be closed and a blanket fastened behind Anscombe who
+drove, evidently with the object that she should not be seen. Further,
+on the plea of weariness, from the time that we entered Zulu territory
+Nombé asked to be allowed to ride in the cart with Kaatje and Heda, her
+real reason, as I was sure, being that she might keep a watch on them.
+Lastly we travelled by little-frequented tracks, halting at night in
+out-of-the-way places, where, however, we always found food awaiting
+us, doubtless by arrangement.
+
+With one man whom I had known in past days and who recognized me, I did
+manage to have a short talk. He asked me what I was doing in Zululand
+at that time. I replied that I was on a visit to Zikali, whereon he
+said I should be safer with him than with any one else.
+
+Our conversation went no further, for just then one of Nombé’s servants
+appeared and made some remark to the man of which I could not catch the
+meaning, whereon he promptly turned and departed, leaving me wondering
+and uneasy.
+
+Evidently we were being isolated, but when I remonstrated with Nombé
+she only answered with her most unfathomable smile—
+
+“O Macumazahn, you must ask Zikali of all these things. I am no one and
+know nothing, who only do what the Master tells me is for your good.”
+
+“I am minded to turn and depart from Zululand,” I said angrily, “for in
+this low veld whither you have led us there is fever and the horses
+will catch sickness or be bitten by the tsetse fly and perish.”
+
+“I cannot say, Macumazahn, who only travel by the road the Master
+pointed out. Yet if you will be guided by me, you will not try to leave
+Zululand.”
+
+“You mean that I am in a trap, Nombé.”
+
+“I mean that the country is full of soldiers and that all white men
+have fled from it. Therefore, even if you were allowed to pass because
+the Zulus love you, Macumazahn, it might well happen that those with
+you would stay behind, sound asleep, Macumazahn, for which, like you, I
+should be sorry.”
+
+After this I said no more, for I knew that she meant to warn me. We had
+entered on this business and must see it through to its end, sweet or
+bitter.
+
+As for Anscombe and Heda their happiness seemed to be complete. The
+novelty of the life charmed them, and of its dangers they took no
+thought, being content to leave me, in whom they had a blind faith, to
+manage everything. Moreover, Heda, who in the joy of her love was
+beginning to forget the sorrow of her father’s death and the other
+tragic events through which she had just passed, took a great fancy to
+the young witch-doctoress who conversed with her in Zulu, a language of
+which, having lived so long in Natal, Heda knew much already. Indeed,
+when I suggested to her that to be over-trusting was not wise, she
+fired up and replied that she had been accustomed to natives all her
+life and could judge them, adding that she had every confidence in
+Nombé.
+
+After this I held my tongue and said no more of my doubts. What was the
+use since Heda would not listen to them, and at that time Anscombe was
+nothing but her echo?
+
+So this, for me, very dull journey continued, till at length, after
+being held up for a couple of days by a flooded river where there was
+nothing to do but sit and smoke, as Nombé requested me not to make a
+noise by shooting at the big game that abounded, we began to emerge
+from the bush-veld on to the lovely uplands in the neighbourhood of
+Nongoma. Leaving these on our right we headed for a place called Ceza,
+a natural stronghold consisting of a flat plain on the top of a
+mountain, which plain is surrounded by bush. It is at the foot of this
+stronghold that the Black Kloof lies, being one of the ravines that run
+up into the mountain.
+
+So thither we came at last. It was drawing towards sunset, a tremendous
+and stormy sunset, as we approached the place, and lo! it looked
+exactly as it had done when first I saw it more than a score of years
+before, forbidding as the mouth of hell, vast and lonesome. There stood
+the columns of boulders fantastically piled one upon another; there
+grew the sparse trees upon its steep sides, mingled with aloes that
+looked like the shapes of men; there was the granite bottom swept
+almost clean by floods in some dim age, and the little stream that
+flowed along it. There, too, was the spot where once I had outspanned
+my wagons on the night when my servants swore that they saw the
+Imikovu, or wizard-raised spectres, floating past them on the air in
+the shapes of the Princes and others who were soon to fall at the
+battle of the Tugela. Up it we went, I riding and Nombé, who had
+descended from the cart that followed, walking by my side and watching
+me.
+
+“You seem sad, Macumazahn,” she said at length.
+
+“Yes, Nombé, I am sad. This place makes me so.”
+
+“Is it the place, Macumazahn, or is it the thought of one whom once you
+met in the place, one who is dead?”
+
+I looked at her, pretending not to understand, and she went on—
+
+“I have the gift of vision, Macumazahn, which comes at times to those
+of my trade, and now and again, amongst others, I have seemed to see
+the spirit of a certain woman haunting this kloof as though she were
+waiting for some one.”
+
+“Indeed, and what may that woman be like?” I inquired carelessly.
+
+“As it chances I can see her now gliding backwards in front of you just
+there, and therefore am able to answer your question, Macumazahn. She
+is tall and slender, beautifully made, and light-coloured for one of us
+black people. She has large eyes like a buck, and those eyes are full
+of fire that does not come from the sun but from within. Her face is
+tender yet proud, oh! so proud that she makes me afraid. She wears a
+cloak of grey fur, and about her neck there is a circlet of big blue
+beads with which her fingers play. A thought comes from her to me.
+These are the words of the thought: ‘I have waited long in this dark
+place, watching by day and night till you, the Watcher-by-Night, return
+to meet me here. At length you have come, and in this enchanted place
+my hungry spirit can feed upon your spirit for a while. I thank you for
+coming, who now am no more lonely. Fear nothing, Macumazahn, for by a
+certain kiss I swear to you that till the appointed hour when you
+become as I am, I will be a shield upon your arm and a spear in your
+hand.’ Such are the words of her thought, Macumazahn, but she has gone
+away and I hear no more. It was as though your horse rode over her and
+she passed through you.”
+
+Then, like one who wished to answer no questions, Nombé turned and went
+back to the cart, where she began to talk indifferently with Heda, for
+as soon as we entered the kloof her servants had drawn back the
+curtains and let fall the blanket. As for me, I groaned, for of course
+I knew that Zikali, who was well acquainted with the appearance of
+Mameena, had instructed Nombé to say all this to me in order to impress
+my mind for some reason of his own. Yet he had done it cleverly, for
+such words as those Mameena might well have uttered could her great
+spirit have need to walk the earth again. Was such a thing possible, I
+wondered? No, it was not possible, yet it was true that her atmosphere
+seemed to cling about this place and that my imagination, excited by
+memory and Nombé’s suggestions, seemed to apprehend her presence.
+
+As I reflected the horse advanced round the little bend in the
+ever-narrowing cliffs, and there in front of me, under the gigantic
+mass of overhanging rock, appeared the kraal of Zikali surrounded by
+its reed fence. The gate of the fence was open, and beyond it, on his
+stool in front of the large hut, sat Zikali. Even at that distance it
+was impossible to mistake his figure, which was like no other that I
+had known in the world. A broad-shouldered dwarf with a huge head,
+deep, sunken eyes and snowy hair that hung upon his shoulders; the
+whole frame and face pervaded with an air of great antiquity, and yet
+owing to the plumpness of the flesh and that freshness of skin which is
+sometimes seen in the aged, comparatively young-looking.
+
+Such was the great wizard Zikali, known throughout the land for longer
+than any living man could remember as “Opener of Roads,” a title that
+referred to his powers of spiritual vision, also as the
+“Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,” a name given to him by Chaka,
+the first and greatest of the Zulu kings, because of his deformity.
+
+There he sat silent, impassive, staring open-eyed at the red ball of
+the setting sun, looking more like some unshapely statue than a man.
+His silent, fierce-faced servants appeared. To me they looked like the
+same men whom I had seen here three and twenty years before, only grown
+older. Indeed, I think they were, for they greeted me by name and
+saluted by raising their broad spears. I dismounted and waited while
+Anscombe, whose foot was now quite well again, helped Heda from the
+cart which was led away by the servants. Anscombe, who seemed a little
+oppressed, remarked that this was a strange place.
+
+“Yes,” said Heda, “but it is magnificent. I like it.”
+
+Then her eye fell upon Zikali seated before the hut and she turned
+pale.
+
+“Oh! what a terrible-looking man,” she murmured, “if he is a man.”
+
+The maid Kaatje saw him also and uttered a little cry.
+
+“Don’t be frightened, dear,” said Anscombe, “he is only an old dwarf.”
+
+“I suppose so,” she exclaimed doubtfully, “but to me he is like the
+devil.”
+
+Nombé slid past us. She threw off the kaross she wore and for the first
+time appeared naked except for the mucha about her middle and her
+ornaments. Down she went on her hands and knees and in this humble
+posture crept towards Zikali. Arriving in front of him she touched the
+ground with her forehead, then lifting her right arm, gave the salute
+of _Makosi_, to which as a great wizard he was entitled, being supposed
+to be the home of many spirits. So far as I could see he took no notice
+of her. Presently she moved and squatted herself down on his right
+hand, while two of his attendants appeared from behind the hut and took
+their stand between him and its doorway, holding their spears raised.
+About a minute later Nombé beckoned to us to approach, and we went
+forward across the courtyard, I a little ahead of the others. As we
+drew near Zikali opened his mouth and uttered a loud and terrifying
+laugh. How well I remembered that laugh which I had first heard at
+Dingaan’s kraal as a boy after the murder of Retief and the Boers.[1]
+
+ [1] See the book called _Marie,_ by H. Rider Haggard.
+
+
+“I begin to think that you are right and that this old gentleman must
+be the devil,” said Anscombe to Heda, then lapsed into silence.
+
+As I was determined not to speak first I took the opportunity to fill
+my pipe. Zikali, who was watching me, although all the while he seemed
+to be staring at the setting sun, made a sign. One of the servants
+dashed away and immediately returned, bearing a flaming brand which he
+proffered to me as a pipe-lighter. Then he departed again to bring
+three carved stools of red wood which he placed for us. I looked at
+mine and knew it again by the carvings. It was the same on which I had
+sat when first I met Zikali. At length he spoke in his deep, slow
+voice.
+
+“Many years have gone by, Macumazahn, since you made use of that stool.
+They are cut in notches upon the leg you hold and you may count them if
+you will.”
+
+I examined the leg. There were the notches, twenty-two or three of
+them. On the other legs were more notches too numerous to reckon.
+
+“Do not look at those, Macumazahn, for they have nothing to do with
+you. They tell the years since the first of the House of Senzangacona
+sat upon that stool, since Chaka sat upon it, since Dingaan and others
+sat upon it, one Mameena among them. Well, much has happened since it
+served you for a rest. You have wandered far and seen strange things
+and lived where others would have died because it was your lot to live,
+of all of which we will talk afterwards. And now when you are grey you
+have come back here, as the Opener of Roads told you you would do,
+bringing with you new companions, you who have the art of making
+friends even when you are old, which is one given to few men. Where are
+those with whom you used to company, Macumazahn? Where are Saduko and
+Mameena and the rest? All gone except the
+Thing-who-should-never-have-been-born,” and again he laughed loudly.
+
+“And who it seems has never learned when to die,” I remarked, speaking
+for the first time.
+
+“Just so, Macumazahn, because I cannot die until my work is finished.
+But thanks be to the spirits of my fathers and to my own that I live on
+to glut with vengeance, the end draws near at last, and as I promised
+you in the dead days, you shall have your share in it, Macumazahn.”
+
+He paused, then continued, still staring at the sinking sun, which made
+his remarks about us, whom he did not seem to see, uncanny—
+
+“That white man with you is brave and well-born, one who loves
+fighting, I think, and the maiden is fair and sweet, with a high
+spirit. She is thinking to herself that I am an old wizard whom, if she
+were not afraid of me, she would ask to tell her her fortune. See, she
+understands and starts. Well, perhaps I will one day. Meanwhile, here
+is a little bit of it. She will have five children, of whom two will
+die and one will give her so much trouble that she will wish it had
+died also. But who their father will be I do not say. Nombé my child,
+lead away this White One and her woman to the hut that has been made
+ready for her, for she is weary and would rest. See, too, that she
+lacks for nothing which we can give her who is our guest. Let the white
+lord, Mauriti, accompany her to the hut and be shown that next to it in
+which he and Macumazahn will sleep, so that he may be sure that she is
+safe, and attend to the horses if he wills. There is a place to tether
+them behind the huts, and the men who travelled with you will help him.
+Afterwards, when I have spoken with him, Macumazahn can join them that
+they may eat before they sleep.”
+
+These directions I translated to Anscombe, who went gladly enough with
+Heda, for I think they were both afraid of the terrible old dwarf and
+did not desire his company in the gathering gloom.
+
+“The sun sinks once more, Macumazahn,” he said when they were gone,
+“and the air grows chill. Come with me now into my hut where the fire
+burns, for I am aged and the cold strikes through me. Also there we can
+be alone.”
+
+So speaking he turned and crawled into the hut, looking like a gigantic
+white-headed beetle as he did so, a creature, I remembered, to which I
+had once compared him in the past. I followed, carrying the historic
+stool, and when he had seated himself on his kaross on the further side
+of the fire, took up my position opposite to him. This fire was fed
+with some kind of root or wood that gave a thin clear flame with little
+or no smoke. Over it he crouched, so closely that his great head seemed
+to be almost in the flame at which he stared with unblinking eyes as he
+had done at the sun, circumstances which added to his terrifying
+appearance and made me think of a certain region and its inhabitants.
+
+“Why do you come here, Macumazahn?” he asked after studying me for a
+while through that window of fire.
+
+“Because you brought me, Zikali, partly through your messenger, Nombé,
+and partly by means of a dream which she says you sent.”
+
+“Did I, Macumazahn? If so, I have forgotten it. Dreams are as many as
+gnats by the water; they bite us while we sleep, but when we wake up we
+forget them. Also it is foolishness to say that one man can send a
+dream to another.”
+
+“Then your messenger lied, Zikali, especially as she added that she
+brought it.”
+
+“Of course she lied, Macumazahn. Is she not my pupil whom I have
+trained from a child? Moreover, she lied well, it would seem, who
+guessed what sort of a dream you would have when you thought of turning
+your steps to Zululand.”
+
+“Why do you play at sticks (i.e., fence) with me, Zikali, seeing that
+neither of us are children?”
+
+“O Macumazahn, that is where you are mistaken, seeing that both of us,
+old though we be and cunning though we think ourselves, are nothing but
+babes in the arms of Fate. Well, well, I will tell you the truth, since
+it would be foolish to try to throw dust into such eyes as yours. I
+knew that you were down in Sekukuni’s country and I was watching
+you—through my spies. You have been nowhere during all these years that
+I was not watching you—through my spies. For instance, that
+Arab-looking man named Harut, whom first you met at a big kraal in a
+far country, was a spy of mine. He has visited me lately and told me
+much of your doings. No, don’t ask me of him now who would talk to you
+of other matters—”
+
+“Does Harut still live then, and has he found a new god in place of the
+Ivory Child?” I interrupted.
+
+“Macumazahn, if he did not live, how could he visit and speak with me?
+Well, I watched you there by the Oliphant’s River where you fought
+Sekukuni’s people, and afterwards in the marble hut where you found the
+old white man dead in his chair and got the writings that you have in
+your pocket which concern the maiden Heddana; also afterwards when the
+white man, your friend, killed the doctor who fell into a mud hole and
+the Basutos stole his cattle and wagon.”
+
+“How do you know all these things, Zikali?”
+
+“Have I not told you—through my spies. Was there not a half-breed
+driver called Footsack, and do not the Basutos come and go between the
+Black Kloof and Sekukuni’s town, bearing me tidings?”
+
+“Yes, Zikali, and so does the wind and so do the birds.”
+
+“True! O Macumazahn, I see that you are one who has watched Nature and
+its ways as closely as my spies watch you. So I learned these matters
+and knew that you were in trouble over the death of these white men,
+and your friends likewise, and as you were always dear to me, I sent
+that child Nombé to bring you to me, thinking from what I knew of you
+that you would be more likely to follow a woman who is both wise and
+good to look at, than a man who might be neither. I told her to say to
+you that you and the others would be safer here than in Natal at
+present. It seems that you hearkened and came. That is all.”
+
+“Yes, I hearkened and came. But, Zikali, that is not all, for you know
+well that you sent for me for your own sake, not for mine.”
+
+“O Macumazahn, who can prevent a needle from piercing cloth when it is
+pushed by a finger like yours? Your wits are too sharp for me,
+Macumazahn; your eyes read through the blanket of cunning with which I
+would hide my thought. You speak truly. I did send for you for my own
+sake as well as for yours. I sent for you because I wanted your
+counsel, Macumazahn, and because Cetewayo the king also wants your
+counsel, and I wished to see you before you saw Cetewayo. Now you have
+the whole truth.”
+
+“What do you want my counsel about, Zikali?”
+
+He leaned forward till his white locks almost seemed to mingle with the
+thin flame, through which he glared at me with eyes that were fiercer
+than the fire.
+
+“Macumazahn, you remember the story that I told you long ago, do you
+not?”
+
+“Very well, Zikali. It was that you hate the House of Senzangacona
+which has given all its kings to Zululand. First, because you are one
+of the Dwandwe tribe whom the Zulus crushed and mocked at. Secondly,
+because Chaka the Lion named you the
+'Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born’ and killed your wives, for
+which crime you brought about the death of Chaka. Thirdly, because you
+have matched your single wit for many years against all the power of
+the royal House and yet kept your life in you, notably when Panda
+threatened you in my presence at the trial of one who has ‘gone down,’
+and you told him to kill you if he dared. Now you would prove that you
+were right by causing your cunning to triumph over the royal House.”
+
+“True, quite true, O Macumazahn. You have a good memory, Macumazahn,
+especially for anything that has to do with that woman who has ‘gone
+down.’ I sent her down, but how was she named, Macumazahn? I forget, I
+forget, whose mind being old, falls suddenly into black pits of
+darkness—like her who went down.”
+
+He paused and we stared at each other through the veil of fire. Then as
+I made no answer, he went on—
+
+“Oh! I remember now, she was called Mameena, was she not, a name taken
+from the wailing of the wind? Hark! It is wailing now.”
+
+I listened; it was, and I shivered to hear it, since but a minute
+before the night had been quite still. Yes, the wind moaned and wailed
+about the rocks of the Black Kloof.
+
+“Well, enough of her. Why trouble about the dead when there are so many
+to be sent to join them? Macumazahn, the hour is at hand. The fool
+Cetewayo has quarrelled with your people, the English, and on my
+counsel. He has sent and killed women, or allowed others to do so,
+across the river in Natal. His messengers came to me asking what he
+should do. I answered, 'Shall a king of the blood of Chaka fear to
+allow his own wicked ones to be slain because they have stepped across
+a strip of water, and still call himself king of the Zulus?’ So those
+women were dragged back across the water and killed; and now the
+Queen’s man from the Cape asks many things, great fines of cattle, the
+giving up of the slayers, and that an end should be made of the Zulu
+army, which is to lay down its spears and set to hoeing like the old
+women in the kraals.”
+
+“And if the king refuses, what then, Zikali?”
+
+“Then, Macumazahn, the Queen’s man will declare war on the Zulus;
+already he gathers his soldiers for the war.”
+
+“Will Cetewayo refuse, Zikali?”
+
+“I do not know. His mind swings this way and that, like a pole balanced
+on a rock. The ends of the pole are weighted with much counsel, and it
+hangs so even that if a grasshopper lit on one end or the other, it
+would turn the scale.”
+
+“And do you wish me to be that grasshopper, Zikali?”
+
+“Who else? That is why I brought you to Zululand.”
+
+“So you wish me to counsel Cetewayo to lie down in the bed that the
+English have made for him. If he seeks my advice I will do so gladly,
+for so I am sure he will sleep well.”
+
+“Why do you mock me, Macumazahn? I wish you to counsel Cetewayo to
+throw back his word into the teeth of the Queen’s man and to fight the
+English.”
+
+“And thus bring destruction on the Zulus and death to thousands of them
+and of my own people, and in return gain nothing but remorse. Do you
+think me mad or wicked, or both, that I should do this thing?”
+
+“Nay, Macumazahn, you would gain much. I could show you where the
+king’s cattle are hidden. The English will never find them, and after
+the war you might take as many as you chose. But it would be useless,
+for knowing you well, I am sure that you would only hand them over to
+the British Government, as once you handed over the cattle of Bangu,
+being fashioned that way by the Great-Great, Macumazahn.”
+
+“Perhaps I might, but then what should I gain, Zikali?”
+
+“This: you would so bring things about that, being broken by war, the
+Zulu power could never again menace the white men, which would be a
+great and good deed, Macumazahn.”
+
+“Mayhap—I am not sure. But of this I am sure, that I will not thrust my
+face into your nest of wasps, that the English hornets may steal the
+honey when they are disturbed. I leave such matters to the Queen and
+those who rule under her. So have done with such talk, for you do but
+waste your breath, Zikali.”
+
+“It is as I guessed it would be,” he answered, shaking his great head.
+“You are too honest to prosper in the world, Macumazahn. Well, I must
+find other means to bring the House of Cetewayo to the end that he
+deserves, who has been an evil and a cruel king.”
+
+All this he said, showing neither surprise nor resentment, which
+convinced me of what I had suspected throughout, that never for an
+instant did he believe that I should fall in with his suggestions and
+try to influence the Zulus to declare war. No, this talk of his was but
+a blind; there was some deeper scheme at work in his cunning old brain
+which he was hiding from me. Why exactly had he beguiled me to
+Zululand? I could not divine, and to ask him would be worse than
+useless, but then and there I made up my mind that I would get away
+from the Black Kloof early on the following morning, if that were
+possible.
+
+He began to speak of other matters in a low, droning voice, like a man
+who converses with himself. Sad, all of them, such as the haunted death
+of Saduko who had betrayed his lord, the Prince Umbelazi, because of a
+woman, every circumstance of which seemed to be familiar to him.
+
+I made no answer, who was waiting for an opportunity to leave the hut,
+and did not care to dwell on these events. He ceased and brooded for a
+while, then said suddenly—
+
+“You are hungry and would eat, Macumazahn, and I who eat little would
+sleep, for in sleep the multitudes of Spirits visit me, bringing
+tidings from afar. Well, we have spoken together and of that I am glad,
+for who knows when the chance will come again, though I think that soon
+we shall meet at Ulundi, Ulundi where Fate spreads its net. What was it
+I had to say to you? Ah! I remember. There is one who is always in your
+thoughts and whom you wish to see, one too who wishes to see you. You
+shall, you shall in payment for the trouble you have taken in coming so
+far to visit a poor old Zulu doctor whom, as you told me long ago, you
+know to be nothing but a cheat.”
+
+He paused and, why I could not tell, I grew weak with fear of I knew
+not what, and bethought me of flight.
+
+“It is cold in this hut, is it not?” he went on. “Burn up, fire, burn
+up!” and plunging his hand into a catskin bag of medicines which he
+wore, he drew out some powder which he threw upon the embers that
+instantly burst into bright flame.
+
+“Look now, Macumazahn,” he said, “look to your right.”
+
+I looked and oh Heaven! there before me with outstretched arms and
+infinite yearning on her face, stood Mameena, Mameena as I had last
+seen her after I gave her the promised kiss that she used to cover her
+taking of the poison. For five seconds, mayhap, she stood thus, living,
+wonderful, but still as death, the fierce light showing all. Then the
+flame died down again and she was gone.
+
+I turned and next instant was out of the hut, pursued by the terrible
+laughter of Zikali.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+TRAPPED
+
+
+Outside in the cool night air I recovered myself, sufficiently at any
+rate to be able to think, and saw at once that the thing was an
+illusion for which Zikali had prepared my mind very carefully by means
+of the young witch-doctoress, Nombé. He knew well enough that this
+remarkable woman, Mameena, had made a deep impression on me nearly a
+quarter of a century before, as she had done upon other men with whom
+she had been associated. Therefore it was probable that she would
+always be present to my thought, since whatever a man forgets, he
+remembers the women who have shown him favour, true or false, for
+Nature has decreed it thus.
+
+Moreover, this was one to be remembered for herself, since she was
+beautiful and most attractive in her wild way. Also she had brought
+about a great war, causing the death of thousands, and lastly her end
+might fairly be called majestic. All these impressions Zikali had
+instructed Nombé to revivify by her continual allusions to Mameena, and
+lastly by her pretence that she saw her walking in front of me. Then
+when I was tired and hungry, in that place which for me was so closely
+connected with this woman, and in his own uncanny company, either by
+mesmerism or through the action of the drug he threw upon the fire, he
+had succeeded in calling up the illusion of her presence to my charmed
+sight. All this was clear enough, what remained obscure was his object.
+
+Possibly he had none beyond an impish desire to frighten me, which is
+common enough among practitioners of magic in all lands. Well, for a
+little while he had succeeded, although to speak truth I remained
+uncertain whether in a sense I was not more thrilled and rejoiced than
+frightened. Mameena had never been so ill to look upon, and I knew that
+dead or living I had nothing to fear from her who would have walked
+through hell fire for my sake, would have done anything, except perhaps
+sacrifice her ambition. No, even if this were her ghost I should have
+been glad to see her again.
+
+But it was not a ghost; it was only a fancy reproduced exactly as my
+mind had photographed her, almost as my eyes last saw her, when her
+kiss was still warm upon my lips.
+
+Such were my thoughts as I stood outside that hut with the cold
+perspiration running down my face, for to tell the truth my nerves were
+upset, although without reason. So upset were they that when suddenly a
+silent-footed man appeared out of the darkness I jumped as high as
+though I had set my foot on a puff-adder, and until I recognized him by
+his voice as one of Nombé’s servants who had accompanied us from
+Swazi-Land, felt quite alarmed. As a matter of fact he had only come to
+tell me that our meal was ready and that the other “high White Ones”
+were waiting for me.
+
+He led me round the fence that encircled Zikali’s dwelling-place, to
+two huts that stood nearly behind it, almost against the face of the
+rock which, overhanging in a curve, formed a kind of natural roof above
+them. I thought they must have been built since I visited the place, as
+I, who have a good memory for such things, did not remember them.
+Indeed, on subsequent examination I found that they were quite new, for
+the poles that formed their uprights were still green and the grass of
+the thatch was scarcely dry. It looked to me as if they had been
+specially constructed for our accommodation.
+
+In one of these huts, that to the right which was allotted to Anscombe
+and myself, I found the others waiting for me, also the food. It was
+good of its sort and well cooked, and we ate it by the light of some
+candles that we had with us, Kaatje serving us. Yet, although a little
+while before I had been desperately hungry, now my appetite seemed to
+have left me and I made but a poor meal. Heda and Anscombe also seemed
+oppressed and ate sparingly. We did not talk much until Kaatje had
+taken away the tin plates and gone to eat her own supper by a fire that
+burned outside the hut. Then Heda broke out, saying that she was
+terrified of this place and especially of its master, the old dwarf,
+and felt sure that something terrible was going to happen to her.
+Anscombe did his best to calm her, and I also told her she had nothing
+to fear.
+
+“If there is nothing to fear, Mr. Quatermain,” she answered, turning on
+me, “why do you look so frightened yourself? By your face you might
+have seen a ghost.”
+
+This sudden and singularly accurate thrust, for after all I had seen
+something that looked very like a ghost, startled me, and before I
+could invent any soothing and appropriate fib, Nombé appeared, saying
+that she had come to lead Heda to her sleeping-place. After this
+further conversation was impossible since, although Nombé knew but few
+words of English, she was a great thought-reader and I feared to speak
+of anything secret in her presence. So we all went out of the hut,
+Nombé and I drawing back a little to the fire while the lovers said
+good-night to each other.
+
+“Nombé,” I said, “the Inkosikazi Heddana is afraid. The rocks of this
+kloof lie heavy on her heart; the face of the Opener of Roads is
+fearful to her and his laughter grates upon her ears. Do you
+understand?”
+
+“I understand, Macumazahn, and it is as I expected. When you yourself
+are frightened it is natural that she, an untried maiden, should be
+frightened also in this home of spirits.”
+
+“It is men we fear, not spirits, now when all Zululand is boiling like
+a pot,” I replied angrily.
+
+“Have it as you will, Macumazahn,” she said, and at that moment her
+quiet, searching eyes and fixed smile were hateful to me. “At least you
+admit that you do fear. Well, for the lady Heddana fear nothing. I
+sleep across the door of her hut, and while I who have learned to love
+her, live, I say—for her fear nothing, whatever may chance or whatever
+you may see or hear.”
+
+“I believe you, but, Nombé, you might die.”
+
+“Yes, I may die, but be sure of this, that when I die she will be safe,
+and he who loves her also. Sleep well, Macumazahn, and do not dream too
+much of what you heard and saw in Zikali’s house.”
+
+Then before I could speak she turned and left me.
+
+I did _not_ sleep well; I slept very badly. To begin with, Maurice
+Anscombe, generally the most cheerful and nonchalant of mortals with a
+jest for every woe, was in a most depressed condition, and informed me
+of it several times, while I was getting ready to turn in. He said he
+thought the place hateful and felt as if people he could not see were
+looking at him (I had the same sensation but did not mention the fact
+to him). When I told him he was talking stuff, he only replied that he
+could not help it, and pointed out that it was not his general habit to
+be downcast in any danger, which was quite true. Now, he added, he was
+enjoying much the same sensations as he did when first he saw the
+Yellow-wood Swamp and got the idea into his head that he would kill
+some one there, which happened in due course.
+
+“Do you mean that you think you are going to kill somebody else?” I
+asked anxiously.
+
+“No,” he answered, “I think I am going to be killed, or something like
+it, probably by that accursed old villain of a witch-doctor, who I
+don’t believe is altogether human.”
+
+“Others have thought that before now, Anscombe, and to be plain, I
+don’t know that he is. He lives too much with the dead to be like other
+people.”
+
+“And with Satan, to whom I expect he makes sacrifices. The truth is I’m
+afraid of his playing some of his tricks with Heda. It is for her I
+fear, not for myself, Allan. Oh! why on earth did you come here?”
+
+“Because you wished it and it seemed the safest thing to do. Look here,
+my boy, as usual the trouble comes through a woman. When a man’s
+single—you know the rest. You used to be able to laugh at anything, but
+now that you are practically double you can’t laugh any more. Well,
+that’s the common lot of man and you’ve got to put up with it. Adam was
+pretty jolly in his garden until Eve was started, but you know what
+happened afterwards. The rest of his life was a compound of temptation,
+anxiety, family troubles, remorse, hard labour with primitive
+instruments, and a flaming sword behind him. If you had left your Eve
+alone you would have escaped all this. But you see you didn’t, and as a
+matter of fact, nobody ever does who is worth his salt, for Nature has
+arranged it so.”
+
+“You appear to talk with experience, Allan,” he retorted blandly. “By
+the way, that girl Nombé, when she isn’t star-gazing or muttering
+incantations, is always trying to explain to Heda some tale about you
+and a lady called Mameena. I gather that you were introduced to her in
+this neighbourhood where, Nombé says, you were in the habit of kissing
+her in public, which sounds an odd kind of a thing to do; all of which
+happened before she, Nombé, was born. She adds, according to Kaatje’s
+interpretation, that you met her again this afternoon, which, as I
+understand the young woman has been long dead, seems so
+incomprehensible that I wish you would explain.”
+
+“With reference to Heda,” I said, ignoring the rest as unworthy of
+notice, “I think you may make your mind easy. Zikali knows that she is
+in my charge and I don’t believe that he wants to quarrel with me.
+Still, as you are uncomfortable here, the best thing to do will be to
+get away as early as possible to-morrow morning, where to we can decide
+afterwards. And now I am going to sleep, so please stop arguing.”
+
+As I have already hinted, my attempts in the sleep line proved a
+failure, for whenever I did drop off I was pursued by bad dreams, which
+resulted from lying down so soon after supper. I heard the cries of
+desperate men in their mortal agony. I saw a rain-swollen river; its
+waters were red with blood. I beheld a vision of one who I knew by his
+dress to be a Zulu king, although I could not see his face. He was
+flying and staggering with weariness as he fled. A great hound followed
+him. It lifted its head from the spoor; it was that of Zikali set upon
+the hound’s body, Zikali who laughed instead of baying. Then one whose
+copper ornaments tinkled as she walked, entered beside me, whispering
+into my ear. “A quarter of a hundred years have gone by since we talked
+together in this haunted kloof,” she seemed to whisper, “and before we
+talk again face to face there remain to pass of years”—
+
+Here she ceased, though naturally I should have liked to hear the
+number. But that is just where dreams break down. They tell us only of
+what we know, or can evolve therefrom. Of what it is impossible for us
+to know they tell us nothing—at least as a general rule.
+
+I woke up with a start, and feeling stifled in that hot place and
+aggravated by the sound of Anscombe’s peaceful breathing, threw a coat
+about me and, removing the door-board, crept into the air. The night
+was still, the stars shone, and at a little distance the embers of the
+fire still glowed. By it was seated a figure wrapped in a kaross. The
+end of a piece of wood that the fire had eaten through fell on to the
+red ashes and flamed up brightly. By its light I saw that the figure
+was Nombé’s. The eternal smile was still upon her face, the smile which
+suggested a knowledge of hidden things that from moment to moment
+amused her soul. Her lips moved as though she were talking to an
+invisible companion, and from time to time, like one who acts upon
+directions, she took a pinch of ashes and blew them, either towards
+Heda’s hut or ours. Yes, she did this when all decent young women
+should have been asleep, like one who keeps some unholy, midnight
+assignation.
+
+Talking with her master, Zikali, or trying to cast spells upon us,
+confound her! thought I to myself, and very silently crept back into
+the hut. Afterwards it occurred to me that she might have had another
+motive, namely of watching to see that none of us left the huts.
+
+The rest of the night went by somehow. Once, listening with all my
+ears, I thought that I caught the sound of a number of men tramping and
+of some low word of command, but as I heard no more, concluded that
+fancy had deceived me. There I lay, puzzling over the situation till my
+head ached, and wondering how we were to get clear of the Black Kloof
+and Zikali, and out of Zululand which I gathered was no place for white
+people at the moment.
+
+It seemed to me that the only thing was to make start for Dundee on the
+Natal border, and for the rest to trust to fortune. If we got into
+trouble over the death of Rodd, unpleasant as this would be, the matter
+must be faced out, that was all. For even if any witness appeared
+against us, the man had been killed in self-defence whilst trying to
+bring about our deaths at the hands of Basutos. I could see now that I
+was foolish not to have taken this line from the first, but as I think
+I have already explained, what weighed with me was the terror of
+involving these young people in a scandal which might shadow all their
+future lives. Also some fate inch by inch had dragged me into Zululand.
+Fortunately in life there are few mistakes, and even worse than
+mistakes that cannot be repaired, if the wish towards reparation is
+real and earnest. Were it otherwise not many of us would escape
+destruction in one form or another.
+
+Thus I reflected until at length light flowing faintly through the
+smoke-hole of the hut told me that dawn was at hand. Seeing it I rose
+quietly, for I did not wish to wake Anscombe, dressed and left the hut.
+My object was to find Nombé, who I hoped would be still sitting by the
+fire, and send her to Zikali with a message that I wished to speak with
+him at once. Glancing round me in the grey dawn I saw that she was gone
+and that as yet no one seemed to be stirring. Hearing a horse snort at
+a little distance, I made my way towards the sound and in a little bay
+of the overhanging cliff discovered the cart and near by our beasts
+tied up with a plentiful supply of forage. Since so far as I could
+judge in that uncertain light, nothing seemed to be wrong with them
+except weariness, for three of them were still lying down, I walked on
+to the gate of the fence which surrounded Zikali’s big hut, proposing
+to wait there until some one appeared by whom I could send my message.
+
+I reached the gate which I tried and found to be fastened on its inner
+side. Then I sat down, lit my pipe and waited. It was extraordinarily
+lonesome in that place; at least this was the feeling that came over
+me. No doubt the sun was up behind the Ceza Stronghold that I have
+mentioned, which towered high behind me, for the sky above grew light
+with the red rays of its rising. But all the vast Black Kloof with its
+huge fantastic rocks was still plunged in gloom, whereof the shadows
+seemed to oppress my heart, weary as I was with my wakeful night and
+many anxieties. I was horribly nervous also and, as it proved, not
+without reason. Presently I heard rustlings on the further side of the
+fence as of people creeping about cautiously, and the sound of
+whispering. Then of a sudden the gate was thrown open and through it
+emerged about a dozen Zulu warriors, all of them ringed men, who
+instantly surrounded me, seated there upon the ground.
+
+I looked at them and they looked at me for quite a long while, since
+following my usual rule, I determined not to be the first to speak.
+Moreover, if they meant to kill me there was no use in speaking. At
+length their leader, an elderly man with thin legs, a large stomach and
+a rather pleasant countenance, saluted politely, saying—
+
+“Good morning, O Macumazahn.”
+
+“Good morning, O Captain, whose name and business I do not know,” I
+answered.
+
+“The winds know the mountain on which they blow, but the mountain does
+not know the winds which it cannot see,” he remarked with poetical
+courtesy; a Zulu way of saying that more people are acquainted with Tom
+Fool than Tom Fool is aware of.
+
+“Perhaps, Captain; yet the mountain can feel the winds,” and I might
+have added, smell them, for the Kloof was close and these Kaffirs had
+not recently bathed.
+
+“I am named Goza and come on an errand from the king, O Macumazahn.”
+
+“Indeed, Goza, and is your errand to cut my throat?”
+
+“Not at present, Macumazahn, that is, unless you refuse to do what the
+king wishes.”
+
+“And what does the king wish, Goza?”
+
+“He wishes, Macumazahn, that you, his friend, should visit him.”
+
+“Which is just what I was on my way to do, Goza.” (This was not true,
+but it didn’t matter, for, if a lie, in the words of the schoolgirl’s
+definition, is an abomination to the Lord, it is a very present help in
+time of trouble.) “After we have eaten I and my friends will accompany
+you to the king’s kraal at Ulundi.”
+
+“Not so, Macumazahn. The king said nothing about your friends, of whom
+I do not think he has ever heard any more than we have. Moreover, if
+your friends are white, you will do well not to mention them, since the
+order is that all white people in Zululand who have not come here by
+the king’s desire, are to be killed at once, except yourself,
+Macumazahn.”
+
+“Is it so, Goza? Well, as you will have understood, I am quite alone
+here and have no friends. Only I did not wish to travel so early.”
+
+“Of course we understand that you are quite alone and have no friends,
+is it not so, my brothers?”
+
+“Yes, yes, we understand,” they exclaimed in chorus, one of them
+adding, “and shall so report to the King.”
+
+“What kind of blankets do you like; the plain grey ones or the white
+ones with the blue stripes?” I asked, desiring to confirm them in this
+determination.
+
+“The grey ones are warmer, Macumazahn, and do not show dirt so much,”
+answered Goza thoughtfully.
+
+“Good, I will remember when I have the chance.”
+
+“The promise of Macumazahn is known from of old to be as a tree that
+elephants cannot pull down and white ants will not eat,” said the
+sententious Goza, thereby intimating his belief that some time or other
+they would receive those blankets. As a matter of fact the survivors of
+the party and the families of the others did receive them after the
+war, for in dealing with natives I have always made a point of trying
+to fulfil any promise or engagement made for value received.
+
+“And now,” went on Goza, “will the Inkosi be pleased to start, as we
+have to travel far to-day?”
+
+“Impossible,” I replied. “Before I leave I must eat, for who can
+journey upon yesterday’s food? Also I must saddle my horse, collect
+what belongs to me, and bid farewell to my host, Zikali.”
+
+“Of meat we have plenty with us, Macumazahn, and therefore you will not
+hunger on the way. Your horse and everything that is yours shall be
+brought after you; since were you mounted on that swift beast and
+minded to escape, how could we catch you with our feet, and did you
+please to shoot us with your rifle, how could we who have only spears,
+save ourselves from dying? As for the Opener of Roads, his servants
+have told us that he means to sleep all to-day that he may talk with
+spirits in his dreams, and therefore it is useless for you to wait to
+bid him farewell. Moreover, the orders of the king are that we should
+bring you to him at once.”
+
+After this for a time there was silence, while I sat immovable
+revolving the situation, and the Zulus regarded me with a benignant
+interest. Goza took his snuff-box from his ear, shook out some into the
+palm of his hand and, after offering it to me in vain, inhaled it
+himself.
+
+“The orders of the king are (sneeze) that we should bring you to him
+alive if possible, and if not (sneeze) dead. Choose which you will,
+Macumazahn. Perhaps you may prefer to go to Ulundi dead, which
+would—ah! how strong is this snuff, it makes me weep like a woman—save
+you the trouble of walking. But if you prefer that we should carry you,
+be so good, Macumazahn, first to write the words which will cause the
+grey blankets to be delivered to us, for we know well that even your
+bones would desire to keep your promise. Is it not a proverb in the
+land from the time of the slaying of Bangu when you gave the cattle you
+had earned to Saduko’s wanderers?”
+
+I listened and an idea occurred to me, as perhaps it had to Goza.
+
+“I hear you, Goza,” I said, “and I will start for Ulundi on my feet—to
+save _you_ the trouble of carrying me. But as the times are rough and
+accidents may always happen; as, too, I wish to make sure that you
+should get those blankets, and it may chance that I shall arrive there
+on my back, first I will write words which, if they are delivered to
+the witch-doctoress Nombé, will, sooner or later, turn into blankets.”
+
+“Write the words quickly, Macumazahn, and they will be delivered,” said
+Goza.
+
+So I drew out my pocket-book and wrote—
+
+“DEAR ANSCOMBE,—
+    “There is treachery afoot and I think that Zikali is at the bottom
+    of it. I am being carried off to Cetewayo at Ulundi, by a party of
+    armed Zulus who will not allow me to communicate with you, probably
+    by Zikali’s orders. You must do the best you can for Heda and
+    yourself. Escape to Natal if you are able. Of course I will help if
+    I get the chance, but if war is about to break out Cetewayo may
+    kill me. I think that you can trust Nombé; also that Zikali does
+    not wish to work you any ill unless he is obliged, though I have no
+    doubt that he has trapped us here for some dark purpose of his own.
+    Tell him through Nombé that if harm comes to you I will kill him if
+    I live, and that if I die, I will settle the score with him
+    afterwards. God save and bless you both. Keep up your courage and
+    use your wits.
+
+
+“Your friend,
+“A. Q.”
+
+
+I tore out the sheet, folded, addressed it and presented it to Goza,
+remarking that although it seemed to be but paper, it really was
+fourteen blankets—if given at once to Nombé.
+
+He nodded and handed it to one of his men, who departed in the
+direction of our huts. So, thought I to myself, Nombé knows all about
+this business, which means that it is being worked by Zikali. That is
+why she spoke to me as she did last night.
+
+“It is time to start, Macumazahn, and I think you told us that you
+would prefer to do so on your feet,” said Goza, looking suggestively at
+his spear.
+
+“I am ready,” I said, rising because I must. For a moment I
+contemplated the door in the kraal fence, wondering whether it would be
+safe to bolt through it and take refuge with Zikali. No, it was not
+safe, since Zikali sat there in his hut pulling the strings and
+probably might refuse to see me. Moreover, it was likely enough that
+before I could find him one of those broad spears would find my heart.
+There was nothing to be done except submit. Still I did call out in a
+loud voice—
+
+“Farewell, Zikali. I leave you without a present against my will who am
+being taken by soldiers to visit the king at Ulundi. When we meet again
+I will talk all this matter over with you.”
+
+There was no answer, and as Goza took the opportunity to say that he
+disliked the noise of shouting extremely, which sometimes made him do
+things that he afterwards regretted, I became silent. Then we departed,
+I in the exact centre of that guard of Zulus, heavy-hearted and filled
+with fears both for myself and those I left behind me.
+
+Down the Black Kloof we tramped, emerging on the sunlit plain beyond
+without meeting any one. A couple of miles further on we came to a
+small stream where Goza announced we would halt to eat. So we ate of
+cold toasted meat which one of the men produced from a basket he
+carried, unpalatable food but better than nothing. Just as we had
+finished I looked up and saw the soldier to whom my note had been
+given. He was leading my mare that had been saddled. On it were my
+large saddle-bags packed with my belongings, also my thick overcoat,
+mackintosh, waterbottle, and other articles down to a bag of tobacco, a
+spare pipe and a box of wax matches. Moreover, the man carried my
+double-barrelled Express rifle and a shot-gun that could be used for
+ball, together with two bags of cartridges. Practically nothing
+belonging to me had been forgotten.
+
+I asked him who had collected the things. He replied the doctress Nombé
+had done so and had brought him the horse saddled to carry them. He did
+not know who saddled the horse as he had seen no one but Nombé to whom
+he had given the writing which she hid away. In answer to further
+questions, he said that Nombé had sent me a message. It was—
+
+“I bid farewell to Macumazahn for a little while and wish him good
+fortune till we meet again. Let him not be afraid in the battle, for
+even if he is hurt it will not be to death, since those go with him
+whom he cannot see, and protect him with their shields. Say to
+Macumazahn that I, Nombé, remember in the morning what I said in the
+night and that what seems to be quite lost is ofttimes found again.
+Wish him good fortune and tell him I am sorry that I had not time to
+cause his spare garments to be cleansed with water, but that I have
+been careful to find his little box with the white man’s medicines.”
+
+I could extract nothing more from this soldier, who was either very
+stupid, or chose to appear so; nor indeed did I dare to put direct
+questions about the cart and those who travelled in it.
+
+Soon we marched again, for Goza would not allow me to ride the horse,
+fearing that I should escape on it. Nor would he let me carry either of
+the guns lest I should make use of them. All day we travelled, reaching
+the Nongoma heights in the late afternoon. On this beautiful spot we
+found a kraal situated where afterwards a magistracy was built when we
+conquered the country, whence there is one of the finest views in
+Zululand. There was no one in the kraal except two old women who
+appeared to be deaf and dumb for all I could get out of them. These
+aged dames, however, or others who were hidden, had made ready for our
+arrival, since a calf lay skinned and prepared for cooking, and by it
+big gourds filled with Kaffir beer and “maas” or curdled milk.
+
+In due course we ate of these provisions, and after we had finished I
+gave Goza a stiff tot of brandy, of which Nombé, or perhaps Anscombe,
+had thoughtfully sent a bottle with my other baggage. The strong liquor
+made the old fellow talkative and enabled me to get a good deal of
+information out of him. Thus I learned that certain demands, as to
+which he was rather vague, had been made upon Cetewayo by the English
+Government, and that the King was now considering whether he should
+accede to them or fight. The Great Council of the nation was summoned
+to attend at Ulundi within a few days, when the matter would be
+decided. Meanwhile all the regiments were being gathered, or, as we
+should say, mobilized; an army, said Goza, greater than any that Chaka
+had ever led.
+
+I asked him what I had to do with this business, that I, a peaceful
+traveller and an old friend of the Zulus, should be made prisoner and
+dragged off to Ulundi. He replied he did not know who was not in the
+council of the High Ones, but he thought that Cetewayo the king wished
+to see me because I was their friend, perhaps that he might send me as
+a messenger to the white people. I asked him how the king knew that I
+was in the country, to which he replied that Zikali had told him I was
+coming, he did not know how, whereon he, Goza, was sent at once to
+fetch me. I could get no more out of him.
+
+I wondered if it would be worth while to make him quite drunk and then
+attempt to escape on the horse, but gave up the idea. To begin with,
+his men were at hand and there was not enough brandy to make them all
+drunk. Also even if I succeeded in winning away here in the heart of
+Zululand, it would not help Anscombe or Heda and I should probably be
+cut off and killed before I could get out of the country. So I
+abandoned the plan and went to sleep instead.
+
+Next morning we left Nongoma early in the hope of reaching Ulundi that
+evening if the Ivuna and Black Umfolozi Rivers proved fordable. As it
+chanced, although they were high, we were able to cross them, I seated
+on the horse which two of the Zulus led. Next we tramped for miles
+through the terrible Bekameezi Valley, a hot and desolate place which
+the Zulus swear is haunted. So unhealthy is this valley, which is the
+home of large game, that whole kraals full of people who have tried to
+cultivate the rich land, have died in it of fever, or fled away leaving
+their crops unreaped. Now no man dwells there. After this we climbed a
+terrible mount to the high land of Mahlabatini, and having eaten,
+pushed on once more.
+
+At length we sighted the great hill-encircled plain of Ulundi which may
+be called the cradle of the Zulu race as, politically speaking, it was
+destined to be its coffin. On the ridge to the west once stood the
+Nobamba kraal where dwelt Senzangacona, the father of Chaka the Lion.
+Nearer to the White Umfolozi was Panda’s dwelling-place, Nodwengu,
+which once I knew so well, while on the slope of the hills of the
+north-east stood the town of Ulundi in which Cetewayo dwelt, bathed in
+the lights of sunset.
+
+Indeed it and all the vast plain were red as though with blood, red as
+they were destined to be on the coming day of the last battle of the
+Zulus.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+CETEWAYO
+
+
+It was dark when at last we reached the Ulundi kraal, for the growing
+moon was obscured by clouds. Therefore I could see nothing and was only
+aware, by the sound of voices and the continual challenging, that we
+were passing through great numbers of men. At length we were admitted
+at the eastern gate and I was taken to a hut where I at once flung
+myself down to sleep, being so weary that I could not attempt to eat.
+Next morning as I was finishing my breakfast in the little fenced
+courtyard of this guest-hut, Goza appeared and said that the king
+commanded me to be brought to him at once, adding that I must “speak
+softly” to him, as he was “very angry.”
+
+So off we went across the great cattle kraal where a regiment of young
+men, two thousand strong or so, were drilling with a fierce intensity
+which showed they knew that they were out for more than exercise. About
+the sides of the kraal also stood hundreds of soldiers, all of them
+talking and, it seemed to me, excited, for they stamped upon the ground
+and even jumped into the air to give point to their arguments. Suddenly
+some of them caught sight of me, whereon a tall, truculent fellow
+called out—
+
+“What does a white man at Ulundi at such a time, when even John Dunn
+dare not come? Let us kill him and send his head as a present to the
+English general across the Tugela. That will settle this long talk
+about peace or war.”
+
+Others of a like mind echoed this kind proposal, with the result that
+presently a score or so of them made a rush at me, brandishing their
+sticks, since they might not carry arms in the royal kraal. Goza did
+his best to keep them off, but was swept aside like a feather, or
+rather knocked over, for I saw him on his back with his thin legs in
+the air.
+
+“You must climb out of this pit by yourself,” he began, addressing me
+in his pompous and figurative way. Then somebody stamped on his face,
+and fixing his teeth in his assailant’s heel, he grew silent for a
+while.
+
+The truculent blackguard, who was about six feet three high and had a
+mouth like a wolf’s throat, arrived in front of me and, bending down,
+roared out—
+
+“We are going to kill you, White Man.”
+
+I had a pistol in my pocket and could perfectly well have killed him,
+as I was much tempted to do. A second’s reflection showed me, however,
+that this would be useless, and in a sense put me in the wrong, though
+when the matter came on for argument it would interest me no more. So I
+just folded my arms and, looking up at him, said—
+
+“Why, Black Man?”
+
+“Because your face is white,” he roared.
+
+“No,” I answered, “because your heart is black and your eyes are so
+full of blood that you do not know Macumazahn when you see him.”
+
+“Wow!” said one, “it is Watcher-by-Night whom our fathers knew before
+us. Leave him alone.”
+
+“No,” shouted the great fellow, “I will send him to watch where it is
+always night, I who keep a club for white rats,” and he brandished his
+stick over me.
+
+Now my temper rose. Watching my opportunity, I stretched out my right
+foot and hooked him round the ankle, at the same time striking up with
+all my force. My fist caught him beneath the chin and over he went
+backwards sprawling on the ground.
+
+“Son of a dog!” I said, “if a single stick touches me, at least you
+shall go first,” and whipping out my revolver, I pointed it at him.
+
+He lay quiet enough, but how the matter would have ended I do not know,
+for passion was running high, had not Goza at this moment risen with a
+bleeding nose and called out—
+
+“O Fools, would you kill the king’s guest to whom the king himself has
+given safe-conduct. Surely you are pots full of beer, not men.”
+
+“Why not?” answered one. “This is the Place of Soldiers. The king’s
+house is yonder. Give the old jackal a start of a length of ten
+assegais. If he reaches it first, he can shake hands with his friend,
+the king. If not we will make him into medicine.”
+
+“Yes, yes, run for it, Jackal,” clamoured the others, knocking their
+shields with their sticks, as men do who would frighten a buck, and
+opening out to make a road for me.
+
+Now while all this was going on, with some kind of sixth sense I had
+noted a big man whose face was shrouded by a blanket thrown over his
+head, who very quietly had joined these drunken rioters, and vaguely
+wondered who he might be.
+
+“I will not run,” I said slowly, “that I may be saved by the king. Nay,
+I will die here, though some of you shall die first. Go to the king,
+Goza, and tell him how his servants have served his guest,” and I
+lifted my pistol, waiting till the first stick touched me to put a
+bullet through the bully on the ground.
+
+“There is no need,” said a deep voice that proceeded from the draped
+man of whom I have spoken, “for the king has come to see for himself.”
+
+Then the blanket was thrown back, revealing Cetewayo grown fat and much
+aged since last I saw him, but undoubtedly Cetewayo.
+
+“Bayete!” roared the mob in salute, while some of those who had been
+most active in the tumult tried to slip away.
+
+“Let no man stir,” said Cetewayo, and they stood as though they were
+rooted to the ground, while I slipped my pistol back into my pocket.
+
+“Who are you, White Man?” he asked, looking at me, “and what do you
+here?”
+
+“The King should know Macumazahn,” I answered, lifting my hat, “whom
+Dingaan knew, whom Panda knew well, and whom the King knew before he
+was a king.”
+
+“Yes, I know you,” he answered, “although since we spoke together you
+have shrunk like an oxhide in the sun, and time has stained your beard
+white.”
+
+“And the King has grown fat like the ox on summer grass. As for what I
+do here, did not the King send for me by Goza, and was I not brought
+like a baby in a blanket.”
+
+“The last time we met,” he went on, taking no heed of my words, “was
+yonder at Nodwengu when the witch Mameena was tried for sorcery, she
+who made my brother mad and brought about the great battle, in which
+you fought for him with the Amawombe regiment. Do you not remember how
+she kissed you, Macumazahn, and took poison between the kisses, and how
+before she grew silent she spoke evil words to me, saying that I was
+doomed to pull down my own House and to die as she died, words that
+have haunted me ever since and now haunt me most of all? I wish to
+speak to you concerning them, Macumazahn, for it is said in the land
+that this beautiful witch loved you alone and that you only knew her
+mind.”
+
+I made no reply, who was heartily tired of this subject of Mameena whom
+no one seemed able to forget.
+
+“Well,” he went on, “we will talk of that matter alone, since it is not
+natural that you should wish to speak of your dead darlings before the
+world,” and with a wave of the hand he put the matter aside. Then
+suddenly his attitude changed. His face, that had been thoughtful and
+almost soft, became fierce, his form seemed to swell and he grew
+terrible.
+
+“What was that dog doing?” he asked of Goza, pointing to the brute whom
+I had knocked down and who still lay prostrate on his back, afraid to
+stir.
+
+“O King,” answered Goza, “he was trying to kill Macumazahn because he
+is a white man, although I told him that he was your guest, being
+brought to you by the royal command. He was trying to kill him by
+giving him a start of ten spears’ length and making him run to the
+isigodhlo (the king’s house) and beating him to death with the sticks
+of these men if they caught him, which, as he is old and they are
+young, they must have done. Only the Watcher-by-Night would not run;
+no, although he is so small he knocked him to the earth with his fist,
+and there he lies. That is all, O King.”
+
+“Rise, dog,” said Cetewayo, and the man rose trembling with fear, and,
+being bidden, gave his name, which I forget.
+
+“Listen, dog,” went on the king in the same cold voice. “What Goza says
+is true, for I saw and heard it all with my eyes and ears. You would
+have made yourself as the king. You dared to try to kill the king’s
+guest to whom he had given safe-conduct, and to stain the king’s
+doorposts with his blood, thereby defiling his house and showing him to
+the white people as a murderer of one of them whom he had promised to
+protect. Macumazahn, do _you_ say how he shall die, and I will have it
+done.”
+
+“I do not wish him to die,” I answered, “I think that he and those with
+him were drunk. Let him go, O King.”
+
+“Aye, Macumazahn, I will let him go. See now, we are in the centre of
+the cattle-kraal, and to the eastern gate is as far as to the
+isigodhlo. Let this man have a start of ten spears’ length and run to
+the eastern gate, as he would have made Macumazahn run to the king’s
+house, and let his companions, those who would have hunted Macumazahn,
+hunt him.
+
+“If he wins through to the gate he can go on to the Government in Natal
+and tell them of the cruelty of the Zulus. Only then, let those who
+hunted him be brought before me for trial and perhaps we shall see how
+_they_ can run.”
+
+Now the poor wretch caught hold of my hand, begging me to intercede for
+him, but soldiers who had come up dragged him away and, having measured
+the distance allowed him, set him on a mark made upon the ground.
+Presently at a word off he sped like an arrow, and after him went his
+friends, ten or more of them. I think they caught him just by the gate
+doubling like a hare, or so the shouts of laughter from the watching
+regiment told me, for myself I would not look.
+
+“That dog ate his own stomach,” said Cetewayo grimly, thereby
+indicating in native fashion that the biter had been bit or the
+engineer hoist with his petard. “It is long since there has been a war
+in the land, and some of these young soldiers who have never used an
+assegai save to skin an ox or cut the head from a chicken, shout too
+loud and leap too high. Now they will be quieter, and while you stay
+here you may walk where you will in safety, Macumazahn,” he added
+thoughtfully.
+
+Then dismissing the matter from his mind, as we white people dismiss
+any trivial incident in a morning stroll, he talked for a few minutes
+to the commanding officer of the regiment that was drilling, who ran up
+to make some report to him, and walked back towards the isigodhlo,
+beckoning me to follow with Goza.
+
+After waiting for a little while outside the gate in the surrounding
+fence, a body-servant ordered us to enter, which we did to find the
+king seated on the shady side of his big hut quite alone. At a sign I
+also sat myself down upon a stool that had been set for me, while Goza,
+whose nose was still bleeding, squatted at my side.
+
+“Your manners are not so good as they were once, Macumazahn,” said
+Cetewayo presently, “or perhaps you have been so long away from the
+royal kraal that you have forgotten its customs.”
+
+I stared at him, wondering what he could mean, whereon he added with a
+laugh—
+
+“What is that in your pocket? Is it not a loaded pistol, and do you not
+remember that it is death to appear before the king armed? Now I might
+kill you and have no blame, although you are my guest, for who knows
+that you are not sent by the English Queen to shoot me?”
+
+“I ask the King’s pardon,” I said humbly enough. “I did not think about
+the pistol. Let your servants take it away.”
+
+“Perhaps it is safer in your pocket, where I saw you place it in the
+cattle-kraal, Macumazahn, than in their hands, which do not know how to
+hold such things. Moreover, I know that you are not one who stabs in
+the dark, even when our peoples growl round each other like two dogs
+about to fight, and if you were, in this place your life would have to
+pay for mine. There is beer by your side; drink and fear nothing. Did
+you see the Opener of Roads, Goza, and if so, what is his answer to my
+message?”
+
+“O King, I saw him,” answered Goza. “The Father of the doctors, the
+friend and master of the Spirits, says he has heard the King’s word,
+yes, that he heard it as it passed the King’s lips, and that although
+he is very old, he will travel to Ulundi and be present at the Great
+Council of the nation which is to be summoned on the eighth day from
+this, that of the full moon. Yet he makes a prayer of the King. It is
+that a place may be prepared for him, for his people and for his
+servants who carry him, away from this town of Ulundi, where he may
+sojourn quite alone, a decree of death being pronounced against any who
+attempt to break in upon his privacy, either where he dwells or upon
+his journey. These are his very words, O King:
+
+“‘I, who am the most ancient man in Zululand, dwell with the spirits of
+my fathers, who will not suffer strangers to come nigh them and who, if
+they are offended, will bring great woes upon the land. Moreover, I
+have sworn that while there is a king in Zululand and I draw the breath
+of life, never again will I set foot in a royal kraal, because when
+last I did so at the slaying of the witch, Mameena, the king who is
+dead thought it well to utter threats against me, and never more will
+I, the Opener of Roads, be threatened by a mortal. Therefore if the
+King and his Council seek to drink of the water of my wisdom, it must
+be in the place and hour of my own choosing. If this cannot be, let me
+abide here in my house and let the King seek light from other doctors,
+since mine shall remain as a lamp to my own heart.’”
+
+Now I saw that these words greatly disturbed Cetewayo who feared
+Zikali, as indeed did all the land.
+
+“What does the old wizard mean?” he asked angrily. “He lives alone like
+a bat in a cave and for years has been seen of none. Yet as a bat flies
+forth at night, ranging far and wide in search of prey, so does his
+spirit seem to fly through Zululand. Everywhere I hear the same word.
+It is—‘What says the Opener of Roads?’ It is—‘How can aught be done
+unless the Opener of Roads has declared that it shall be done, he who
+was here before the Black One (Chaka) was born, he who it is said was
+the friend of Inkosi Umkulu, the father of the Zulus who died before
+our great-grandfathers could remember; he who has all knowledge and is
+almost a spirit, if indeed he be not a spirit?’ I ask you, Macumazahn,
+who are his friend, what does he mean, and why should I not kill him
+and be done?”
+
+“O King,” I answered, “in the days of your uncle Dingaan, when Dingaan
+slew the Boers who were his guests, and thus began the war between the
+White and the Black, I, who was a lad, heard the laughter of Zikali for
+the first time yonder at the kraal Ungungundhlovu, I who rode with
+Retief and escaped the slaughter, but his face I did not see. Many
+years later, in the days of Panda your father, I saw his face and
+therefore you name me his friend. Yet this friend who drew me to visit
+him, perhaps by your will, O King, has now caused me to be brought here
+to Ulundi doubtless by your will, O King, but against my own, for who
+wishes to come to a town where he is well-nigh slain by the first
+brawler he meets in the cattle kraal?”
+
+“Yet you were not slain, Macumazahn, and perhaps you do not know all
+the story of that brawler,” replied Cetewayo almost humbly, like one
+who begs pardon, though the rest of what I had said he ignored. “But
+still you are Zikali’s friend, for between you and him there is a rope
+which enabled him to draw you to Zululand, which rope I have heard
+called by a woman’s name. Therefore by the spirit of that woman, which
+still can draw you like a rope, I charge you, tell me—what does this
+old wizard mean, and why should I not kill him and be rid of one who
+haunts my heart like an evil vision of the night and, as I sometimes
+think, is an _umtakati_, an evil-doer, who would work ill to me and all
+my House, yes, and to all my people?”
+
+“How should I know what he means, O King?” I answered with indignation,
+though in fact I could guess well enough. “As for killing him, cannot
+the King kill whom he will? Yet I remember that once I heard your
+father ask much the same question and of Zikali himself, saying that he
+was minded to find out whether or no he were mortal like other men. I
+remember also Zikali answered that there was a saying that when the
+Opener of Roads came to the end of his road, there would be no more a
+king of Zululand, as there was none when first he set foot upon his
+road. Now I have spoken, who am a white man and do not understand your
+sayings.”
+
+“I remember it also, Macumazahn, who was present at the time,” he
+replied heavily. “My father feared this Zikali and his father feared
+him, and I have heard that the Black One himself, who feared nothing,
+feared him also. And I, too, fear him, so much that I dare not make up
+my mind upon a great matter without his counsel, lest he should bewitch
+me and the nation and bring us to nothing.”
+
+He paused, then turning to Goza, asked, “Did the Opener of Roads tell
+you where he wished to dwell when he comes to visit me here at Ulundi?”
+
+“O King,” answered Goza, “yonder in the hills, not further away than an
+aged man can walk in the half of an hour, is a place called the Valley
+of Bones, because there in the days of those who went before the King,
+and even in the King’s day, many evildoers have been led to die. Zikali
+would dwell in this Valley of Bones, and there and nowhere else would
+meet the King and the Great Council, not in the daylight but after
+sunset when the moon has risen.”
+
+“Why,” said Cetewayo, starting, “the place is ill-omened and, they say,
+haunted, one that no man dares to approach after the fall of darkness
+for fear lest the ghosts of the dead should leap upon him gibbering.”
+
+“Such were the words of the Opener of Roads, O King,” replied Goza.
+“There and nowhere else will he meet the King, and there he demands
+that three huts should be built to shelter him and his folk and stored
+with all things needful. If this be not granted to him, then he refuses
+to visit the King or to give counsel to the nation.”
+
+“So be it then,” said Cetewayo. “Send messengers to the Opener of
+Roads, Goza, saying that what he desires shall be done. Let my command
+go out that under pain of death none spy upon him while he journeys
+hither or returns. Let the huts be built forthwith, and when it is
+known that he is coming, let food in plenty be placed in them and
+afterwards morning by morning taken to the mouth of the valley. Bid him
+announce his arrival and the hour he chooses for our meeting by
+messenger. Begone.”
+
+Goza leapt up, gave the royal salute, and retreated backwards from the
+presence of the king, leaving us alone. I also rose to depart, but
+Cetewayo motioned to me to be seated.
+
+“Macumazahn,” he said, “the Great Queen’s man who has come to Natal
+(Sir Bartle Frere) threatens me with war because two evil-doing women
+were taken on the Natal side of the Tugela and brought back to Zululand
+and killed by Mehlokazulu, being the wives of his father, Sirayo, which
+was done without my knowledge. Also two white men were driven away from
+an island in the Tugela River by some of my soldiers.”
+
+“Is that all, O King?” I asked.
+
+“No. The Queen’s man says I kill my people without trial, which is a
+lie told him by the missionaries, and that girls have been killed also
+who refused to marry those to whom they were given and ran away with
+other men. Also that wizards are smelt out and slain, which happens but
+rarely now; all of this contrary to the promises I made to Sompseu when
+he came to recognize me as king upon my father’s death, and some other
+such small matters.”
+
+“What is demanded if you would avoid war, O King?”
+
+“Nothing less than this, Macumazahn: That the Zulu army should be
+abolished and the soldiers allowed to marry whom and when they please,
+because, says the Queen’s man, he fears lest it should be used to
+attack the English, as though I who love the English, as those have
+done who went before me, desire to lay a finger on them. Also that
+another Queen’s man should be sent to dwell here in my country, to be
+the eyes and ears of the English Government and have power with me in
+the land; yes, and more demands which would destroy the Zulus as a
+people and make me, their king, but a petty kraal-head.”
+
+“And what will the King answer?” I asked.
+
+“I know not what to answer. The fine of two thousand cattle I will pay
+for the killing of the women. If it may be, I wish no quarrel with the
+English, though gladly I would have fought the Dutch had not Sompseu
+stretched out his arm over their land. But how can I disband the army
+and make an end of the regiments that have conquered in so many wars?
+Macumazahn, I tell you that if I did this, in a moon I should be dead.
+Oh! you white people think there is but one will in Zululand, that of
+the king. But it is not so, for he is but a single man among ten
+thousand thousand, who lives to work the people’s wish. If he beats
+them with too thick a stick, or if he brings them to shame or does what
+the most of them do not wish, then where is the king? Then, I say, he
+goes a road that was trodden by Chaka and Dingaan who were before me,
+yes, the red road of the assegai. Therefore today, I stand like a man
+between two falling cliffs. If I run towards the English the Zulu cliff
+falls upon me. If I run towards my own people, the English cliff falls
+upon me, and in either case I am crushed and no more seen. Tell me
+then, Macumazahn, you whose heart is honest, what must I do?”
+
+So he spoke, wringing his hands, with tears starting to his eyes, and
+upon my word, although I never liked Cetewayo as I had liked his
+father, Panda, perhaps because I loved his brother, Umbelazi, whom he
+killed, and had known him do many cruel deeds, my heart bled for him.
+
+“I cannot tell you, King,” I answered, thinking that I must say
+something, “but I pray you do not make war against the queen, for she
+is the most mighty One in the whole earth, and though her foot, of
+which you see but the little toe here in Africa, seems small to you,
+yet if she is angered, it will stamp the Zulus flat, so that they cease
+to be.”
+
+“Many have told me this, Macumazahn. Yes, even Uhamu, the son of my
+uncle Unzibe, or, as some say, the son of his spirit, to which his
+mother was married after Unzibe was dead, and others throughout the
+land, and in truth I think it myself. But who can hold the army which
+shouts for war? _Ow!_ the Council must decide, which means perhaps that
+Zikali will decide, for now all hang upon his lips.”
+
+“Then I am sorry,” I exclaimed.
+
+He looked at me shrewdly.
+
+“Are you? So am I. Yet his counsel must be asked, and better that it
+should be here in my presence than yonder secretly at the Black Kloof.
+I would kill him if I dared, but I dare not, who am sure—why I may not
+say—that the same sun will see his death and mine.”
+
+He waved his hand to show that the talk on this matter was ended, then
+added—
+
+“Macumazahn, you are my prisoner for a while, but give me your word
+that you will not try to escape and you may go where you will within an
+hour’s ride of Ulundi. I would pay you well to stop here with me, but
+this I know you would never do should there be trouble between us and
+your people. Therefore I promise you that if war breaks out I will send
+you safely to Natal, or perhaps sooner, as my messenger, whence
+doubtless you will return to fight against me. Know that I have given
+orders that every other white man or woman who is found in Zululand
+shall be killed as a spy. Even John Dunn has fled or is flying, or so I
+hear, John Dunn who has fed out of my hand and grown rich on my gifts.
+You yourself would have been killed as you came from Swazi-Land in your
+cart, had not command been sent to those chiefs through whose lands you
+passed that neither they nor their people were so much as to look at
+you.”
+
+Now for one intense moment I thought, as hard as ever I had done in my
+life. It was evident—unless he were dealing very cunningly with me,
+which I did not believe—that Cetewayo knew nothing of Anscombe and
+Heda, but thought that I had come into Zululand alone. Should I or
+should I not tell him and beg his protection for them? If I did so he
+might refuse or be unable to give it to them far away in the midst of a
+savage population aflame with the lust of war. As the incident of the
+morning showed, it was as much as he could do to protect myself,
+although the Zulus knew me for their friend. On the other hand no one
+who dwelt under Zikali’s blanket, to use the Kaffir idiom, would be
+touched, because he was looked on as half divine and therefore
+everything under it down to the rat in his thatch was sacred. Now
+Zikali by implication and Nombé with emphasis, had promised to
+safeguard these two. Surely, therefore, they would run less risk in the
+Black Kloof than here at Ulundi, if ever they got so far.
+
+All this went through my brain in an instant, with the result that I
+made up my mind to say nothing. As the issue proved, this was a
+terrible mistake, but who can always judge rightly? Had I spoken out it
+seems to me probable that Cetewayo would have granted my prayer and
+ordered that these two should be escorted out of Zululand before
+hostilities began, although of course they might have been murdered on
+the way. Also, for a reason that will become evident later, it is
+possible that there would never have been any hostilities. All I can
+plead is, that I acted for the best and Fate would have it so. Another
+moment and the chance was gone.
+
+The gate opened and a body-servant appeared announcing that one of the
+great captains with some of his officers waited to see the king.
+Cetewayo made a sign, whereon the servant called out something, and
+they entered, three or four of them, saluting loudly. Seeing me they
+stopped and stared, whereon Cetewayo shortly, but with much clearness,
+repeated to them and to an induna who accompanied them, what he had
+already said to me, namely that I was his guest, sent for by him that
+he might use me as a messenger if he thought fit. He added that the man
+who dared to speak a word against me, or even to look at me askance,
+should pay the price with his life, however high his station, and he
+commanded that the heralds should proclaim this his decree throughout
+Ulundi and the neighbouring kraals. Then he held out his hand to me in
+token of friendship, bidding me to “go softly” and come to see him
+whenever I wished, and dismissed me in charge of the induna, one of the
+captains and some soldiers.
+
+Within five minutes of reaching my hut I heard a loud-voiced crier
+proclaiming the order of the king and knew that I had no more to fear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+THE VALLEY OF BONES
+
+
+The week that followed my interview with Cetewayo was indeed a
+miserable time for me. For myself, as I have said, I had no fear, for
+the king’s orders were strictly obeyed. Moreover, the tale of what had
+happened to the brute who wished to hunt me down in the cattle-kraal
+had travelled far and wide and none sought to share his fate. My hut
+was inviolate and well supplied with necessary food, as was my mare,
+and I could wander where I liked and talk with whom I would. I could
+even ride to exercise the horse, though this I did very sparingly and
+only in the immediate neighbourhood of the town for fear of exciting
+suspicion or meeting Zulus whom the king’s word had not reached. Indeed
+on these occasions I was always accompanied by a guard of swift-footed
+and armed soldiers sent “to protect me,” or more probably to kill me if
+I did anything that seemed suspicious.
+
+In the course of my rambles I met sundry natives whom I had known in
+the old days, some of them a long while ago. They all seemed glad to
+see me and were quite ready to talk of past times, but of the present
+they would say little or nothing, except that they were certain there
+would be war. Of Anscombe and Heda I could hear nothing, and indeed did
+not dare to make any direct inquiries concerning them, but several
+reliable men assured me that the last missionaries and traders having
+departed, there was not a white man, woman or child left in Zululand
+except myself. It was “all black” they said, referring to the colour of
+their people, as it had been before the time of Chaka. So I was forced
+to eat out my heart with anxiety in silence, hoping and praying that
+Zikali had played an honest part and sent them away safely.
+
+Why should he not have done so, seeing that it was my presence he had
+desired, not theirs? They were only taken, or rather snared, because
+they were with me and could not be separated, or so I believed at the
+time.
+
+One ray of comfort I did get. About the fifth day after my interview I
+saw Goza, who told me that the king’s messengers were back from the
+Black Kloof and had brought “a word” for me from Zikali himself. The
+word was—
+
+“Bid Goza say to Macumazahn that I was sorry not to see him to say
+good-bye, because that morning I slept heavily. Bid him say that I am
+glad he has seen the king, since for this purpose I sought his presence
+in Zululand. Bid him say that he is to fear nothing, and that if his
+heart is heavy about others whom he loves, he should make it light
+again, since the Spirits have them in their keeping as they have him,
+and never were they or he more safe than they are to-day.”
+
+Now I looked at Goza and asked if I could see this messenger. He
+replied, No, as he had already been despatched upon another errand.
+Then I asked him if the messenger had said anything else. He answered,
+Yes, one thing that he had forgotten, namely that the writing about
+blankets should now be in Natal. Then suddenly he changed the subject
+and asked me if I would like to accompany him to the Valley of Bones
+where he was ordered to inspect the huts which were being built for
+Zikali and his people. Of course I said I should, hoping, quite without
+result, that I might get something more out of him on the road.
+
+Now this town of Cetewayo’s stands, or rather stood, for it has long
+been burnt, on the slope of the hills to the north-east of the plains
+of Ulundi. Above it these hills grow steeper, and deep in the recesses
+of one of them is the Valley of Bones. There is nothing particularly
+imposing about the place; no towering cliffs or pillars of piled
+granite, as at the Black Kloof. It is just a vale cut out by water,
+bordered by steep slopes on either side, and a still steeper slope
+strown with large rocks at its end. Dotted here and there on these
+slopes grew tall aloes that from a little distance looked like
+scattered men, whereof the lower leaves were shrivelled and blackened
+by veld fires. Also there were a few euphorbias, grey, naked-looking
+things that end in points like fingers on a hand, and among them some
+sparse thorn trees, struggling to live in an inhospitable soil.
+
+The place has one peculiarity. Jutting into it from the hillside is a
+ridge or spur, sixty or seventy yards in length by perhaps twenty
+broad, that ends in a flat point of rock which stands about forty feet
+above the level of the rest of the little valley. On this ridge also
+grew tall aloes until near its extremity the soil ceased, or had been
+washed away from the water-worn core of rock.
+
+It was, and no doubt still is, a desolate-looking spot, at any rate for
+most of the day when owing to the shadow of the surrounding hills, it
+receives but little sun. Everything about it, especially when I was
+there in a time of rain, seemed dank and miserable, although the flat
+floor of the kloof was clothed with a growth of tall, coarse grass, and
+weeds that bore an evil-smelling flower. Perhaps some sense of
+appropriateness had caused the Zulu kings to choose this lonesome,
+deathly-looking gorge as one of their execution grounds. At any rate
+many had been slain here, for skulls and the larger human bones, some
+of them black with age, lay all about among the grass, as they had been
+scattered by hyenas and jackals. They were particularly thick beneath
+and around the table-like rock that I have mentioned.
+
+Goza told me that this was because the King’s Slayers made a custom of
+dragging the victim along the projecting tongue to the edge of this
+rock and hurling him, either dead or living, to the ground beneath; or,
+in the case of witches; driving them over after they had been blinded.
+
+Such was the spot that Zikali had selected to abide in during his visit
+to Ulundi. Certainly where privacy was an object it was well chosen,
+for, as Cetewayo had said and as Goza emphasized to me, it had the
+repute of being the most thoroughly haunted place in all Zululand, with
+the sole exception, perhaps, of the ridge opposite to Dingaan’s old
+kraal where once I shot the vultures for my life and those of my
+companions.[1] Even in the daytime people gave it a wide berth, and at
+night nothing would induce them to approach it, at any rate alone.
+
+ [1] See the book called _Marie,_ by H. Rider Haggard.
+
+
+Here to one side of and near the root of the tongue of land of which I
+have spoken, the huts that Zikali had demanded for himself and his
+company were being rapidly built, close to a spring of water, by a
+large body of men who laboured as though they wished to be done with
+their task. Also about half way up the donga, for really it was nothing
+more, at a distance of perhaps five and twenty paces from its flat
+point whence the condemned were hurled, a circular space of ground had
+been cleared and levelled which was large enough to accommodate fifty
+or sixty men. On this space, Goza told me, the King and the Council
+were to sit when they came to seek light from Zikali.
+
+In my heart I reflected that the light they were likely to get from him
+would be such as may be supposed to be thrown by hell fire. For be it
+remembered I knew what these people never seemed to understand, that
+Zikali was the most bitter of their enemies. To begin with, he was of
+Undwandwe blood, one of the people whom the great king Chaka had
+destroyed. Then this same Chaka had robbed him of his wives and
+murdered his children, in revenge for which he had plotted the slaying
+of Chaka, as he did that of his brothers, Umhlangana and Dingaan, the
+latter of whom he involved in a quarrel with the Boers. Subsequently he
+brought about the war between the princes Cetewayo and Umbelazi, in
+which I played a part.
+
+Now I was certain that he intended to bring about another war between
+the English and the Zulus, knowing well that in the end the latter
+would be destroyed, and with them the royal House of Senzangacona which
+he had sworn to level with the dust. Had he not told me as much years
+ago, and was he one to go back upon his word? Had he not used Mameena
+with her beauty and ambitions as his tool, and when she was of no
+further service to him, given her to death, as he had used scores of
+others and in due season given them to death? Was I not myself perhaps
+one of those tools destined to be thrown into the pit of doom when my
+turn came, though in what way I could help his plots was more than I
+could see, since he knew well that I should do my best to oppose him?
+Oh! I had half a mind to go to Cetewayo and tell him all I knew about
+Zikali, even if it involved the breaking of confidences.
+
+But stay! Even if I were believed, this far-seeing wizard held hostages
+for my good behaviour, and if I betrayed him what would happen to those
+hostages? He sent me messages saying that they were safe, suggesting
+that they had escaped to Natal. How was I to know that these were true?
+I was utterly bewildered; I could not guess why I had been beguiled
+into Zululand, and I dared not step either this way or that for fear
+lest I should fall into some pit dug by his cunning hands and, what was
+worse, drag down others with me.
+
+Moreover, was this man quite human, or perhaps an emissary of Satan
+upon earth who had knowledge denied to other men and a certain mastery
+over the Powers of Ill? Again I could not say. His term of life seemed
+to be extraordinarily prolonged, though none knew how old exactly he
+might be. Also he had a wonderful knowledge of what was passing in the
+minds of others, and by his arts, as I had experienced only the other
+day, could summon up apparitions or illusions before their eyes.
+Further, he was aware of events which had happened at a distance and
+could send or read dreams, since otherwise how did Nombé know what I
+had dreamt at Marnham’s house? Lastly he could foretell the future, as
+once he had done in my own case, prophecying that I should be injured
+by a buffalo with a split horn.
+
+Yet all of this might be nothing more than a mixture of keen
+observation, clever spying, trickery and mesmerism. I could not say
+which it was, nor can I with certainty to this hour.
+
+Such were the thoughts that passed through my mind as I walked back
+from the Vale of Bones by the side of the big-paunched Goza, whom I
+caught eyeing me from time to time as a curious crow eyes any object
+that has attracted his attention.
+
+“Goza,” I said at last, “do the Zulus really mean to fight the
+English?”
+
+He turned and pointed to a spot where the hills ran down into the great
+plain. Here two regiments were manoeuvring. One of these held the
+slopes of the hill and the other was attacking them from the plain, so
+fiercely that at a distance their onslaught looked like that of actual
+warfare.
+
+“That looks like fighting, does it not, Macumazahn?” he replied.
+
+“Yes, Goza, yet it may be but play.”
+
+“Quite so, Macumazahn. It may be fighting or it may be but play. Am I a
+prophet that I should be able to say which it is? Of that there is but
+one man in Zululand who knows the truth. It is he for whom the new huts
+are being built up yonder.”
+
+“You think he really knows, Goza?”
+
+“No, Macumazahn, I do not think, I am sure. He is the greatest of all
+wizards, as he was when my father held on to his mother’s apron. He
+pulls the strings and the Great-ones of the country dance. If he wishes
+war, there will be war. If he wishes peace, there will be peace.”
+
+“And which does he wish, Goza?”
+
+“I thought perhaps you could tell me that, Macumazahn, who, he says,
+are such an old friend of his; also why he chooses to sojourn in a dark
+hole among the dead instead of in the sunshine among the living, here
+at Ulundi.”
+
+“Well, I cannot, Goza, since the Opener of Roads does not open his
+heart to me but keeps his secrets to himself. For the rest, those who
+talk with the dead may prefer to dwell among the dead.”
+
+“Now as always you speak truth, Macumazahn,” said Goza, looking at me
+in a way which suggested to me that he believed I spoke anything but
+the truth.
+
+Indeed I am convinced he thought that I was in the council of Zikali
+and acquainted with his plans. Also I am sure he knew that I had not
+come to Zululand alone, the incident of the blankets, which I had
+promised to him a bribe to keep silence, showed it, and suspected that
+my companions were parties to some plot together with myself. And yet
+at the time I could not be quite sure, and therefore dared not ask
+anything concerning them lest thus I should reveal their existence and
+bring them to death.
+
+As a matter of fact I need not have been anxious on this point, since
+if Goza, who I may state, was a kind of secret service officer as well
+as a head messenger, knew, as I think probable, he had been commanded
+by Zikali to hold his tongue under penalty of a curse. Perhaps the same
+was true of the soldiers who had come with him to take me to Ulundi.
+The hint of Zikali was as powerful as the word of the king, since they,
+like thousands of others, believed that whereas Cetewayo could kill
+them, Zikali, like Satan, could blast their spirits as well as their
+bodies. But how was I to guess all these things at that time?
+
+During the next two days nothing happened, though I heard that there
+had been one if not two meetings of the Council at the King’s House
+during which the position of affairs was discussed. Cetewayo I did not
+see, although twice he sent messengers to me bringing gifts of food,
+who were charged to inquire whether I was well and happy and if any had
+offered me hurt or insult. To these I answered that I was well and
+unmolested but not happy, who grew lonesome, being but a solitary white
+man among so many thousands of the Zulus.
+
+On the third morning, that of the day of the full moon, Goza came and
+informed me that Zikali had arrived at the Valley of Bones before dawn.
+I asked him how he, who was so old and feeble, had walked so far. He
+answered that he had not walked, or so he understood, but had been
+carried in a litter, or rather in two litters, one for himself and one
+for his “spirit.” This staggered me even where Zikali was concerned,
+and I inquired what on earth Goza meant.
+
+“Macumazahn, how can I tell you who only know what I myself am told?”
+he exclaimed. “Such is the report that the Opener of Roads has made
+himself by messengers to the king. None have seen him, for he journeys
+only in the night. Moreover, when Zikali passes all men are blind and
+even women’s tongues grow dumb. Perchance by ‘his spirit’ he means his
+medicine or the witch-doctoress, Nombé, whom folks say he created,
+since none have seen her father or her mother, or heard who begat her;
+or perchance his snake is hid behind the mats of the second litter, if
+in truth there was one.”
+
+“It may be so,” I said, feeling that it was useless to pursue the
+matter. “Now, Goza, I would see Zikali and at once.”
+
+“That cannot be, Macumazahn, since he has given out that he will see no
+one, who rests after his journey, and the king has issued orders that
+any who attempt to approach the Valley of Bones shall die, even if they
+be of the royal blood. Yes, if so much as a dog dares to draw near that
+place, it must die. The soldiers who ring it round have killed one
+already, so strict are the orders, also a boy who went towards it
+searching for a calf, which I think a bad omen.”
+
+“Then I will send a message to him,” I persisted.
+
+“Do so,” mocked Goza. “Look, yonder sails a vulture. Ask it to take
+your message, for nothing else will. Be not foolish, Macumazahn, but
+have patience, for to-night you shall see the Opener of Roads when he
+attends the Council of the king in the Valley of Bones. This is the
+order of the king—that at the rising of the moon I lead you thither, so
+that you may be present at the Council in case he wishes to ask you any
+questions about the White People or to give you any message to the
+Government in Natal. Therefore at sunset I will come for you. Till
+then, farewell. I have business that cannot wait.”
+
+“Can I see the king?” I cried.
+
+“Not so, Macumazahn. All to-day he makes sacrifice to the spirits of
+his ancestors and must not be approached,” Goza called back as he
+departed.
+
+Availing myself of the permission of the king to go where I would, a
+little later in the day I walked out of the town towards the Valley of
+Bones in order to ascertain for myself whether what Goza had told me
+was true. So it proved, for about three hundred yards from the mouth of
+the valley, which at that distance looked like a black hole in the
+hills, I found soldiers stationed about ten paces apart in a great
+circle which ran right up the hillside and vanished over the crest.
+Strolling up to one of these, whose face I thought I knew, I asked him
+if he would let me pass to see my friend, the Opener of Roads.
+
+The man, who was something of a humourist replied—
+
+“Certainly if you wish, Macumazahn. That is to say, I will let your
+spirit pass, but to do this, if you come one step nearer I must first
+make a hole in you with my spear out of which it can fly.”
+
+I thanked him for his information and gave him some snuff, which he
+took gratefully, being bored by his long vigil. Then I asked him how
+many people the great witch-doctor had with him. He said he did not
+know, but he had seen a number of tall men come to the mouth of the
+donga to fetch food that had been placed there. Again I inquired if he
+had seen any women, whereon he replied none, Zikali being, he
+understood, too old to trouble himself about the other sex. Just then
+an officer, making his rounds, came up and looked at me so sternly that
+I thought it well to retreat. Evidently there was no chance of getting
+through that line.
+
+On my way back I walked as near the fence of the King’s House as I
+dared, and saw witch-doctors passing in and out in their hideous
+official panoply. This told me that here also Goza had spoken the
+truth—the king was performing magical ceremonies, which meant that it
+would be impossible to approach him. In every direction I met with
+failure. The Fates were against me; it lay over me like a spell. Indeed
+I grew superstitious and began to think that Zikali had bewitched me,
+as he was said to have the power to do. Well, perhaps he had, for the
+mere fact of finding myself opposed by this persistent wall of
+difficulties and silence convinced me that there was something behind
+it to be learned.
+
+I went back very dejected to my hut and talked to my mare which
+whinnied and rubbed its nose against me, for although it was well fed
+and looked after, the poor beast seemed as lonely as I was myself. No
+wonder, since like myself it was separated from all its kind and weary
+of inaction. After this I ate and smoked and finally dozed, no more,
+for whenever I tried to go to sleep I thought that I heard Zikali
+laughing at me, as mayhap he was doing yonder in his hut.
+
+At length that wearisome day drew towards its end. The sun began to
+sink, a huge red ball of fire, now and again veiled by clouds, for the
+sky was stormy. Its fierce rays, striking upon other clouds, peopled
+the enormous heavens with fantastic shapes of light which were thickest
+over the hills wherein was the Valley of Bones. To my strained mind
+these clouds looked like battling armies, figures of flame warring
+against figures of darkness. The darkness won; no, the light broke out
+again and conquered it. And see, there above them both squatted a
+strange black presence crowned with fire. It might have been that of
+Zikali magnified ten thousand times, and hark! it laughed with the low
+reverberating voice of distant thunder.
+
+Suddenly I felt that I was no longer alone and looking round, saw Goza
+at my side.
+
+“What do you see up there, Macumazahn, that you stare so hard?” he
+asked, pointing at the sky with his stick.
+
+“Impis fighting,” I answered briefly.
+
+“Then you must be a ‘heaven-doctor,’ Macumazahn, for I only see black
+and red clouds. Well, it is time to go to learn whether or no the impis
+will fight, for Zikali awaits us and the Council has started already.
+By the way, the king says that you will do well to put your pistol in
+your pocket in case any should seek to harm you in the dark.”
+
+“It is there. But, Goza, I pray you to protect me, since in the dark
+bullets fly wide, and if I began to shoot, one might hit you, Goza.”
+
+He smiled, making no answer, but I noticed that during the rest of that
+night he was careful to keep behind me as much as possible.
+
+Our way led us through the town where everybody seemed to be standing
+about doing nothing and speaking very little. There was a curious air
+of expectancy upon their faces. They knew that the crisis was at hand,
+that their nation’s fate hung upon the scales, and they watched my
+every look and movement as though in them they expected to read an
+omen. I too watched them out of the corners of my eyes, wondering
+whether I should escape from their savage company alive. If once the
+blood lust broke out among them, it seemed to me that I should have
+about as much chance as a chopped fox among a pack of hungry hounds.
+
+Once out of the town we saw no one until we came to the circle of
+guards which I have already mentioned, who stood there like an endless
+line of black statues. In answer to their challenge Goza gave some
+complicated password in which my name occurred, whereon they opened out
+and let us through. Then we marched on to the mouth of the kloof. The
+place was very dark, for now the sun was down in the west and the moon
+in the east was cut off from us by the hills and would not be visible
+here for half an hour or more. Presently I saw a spot of light. It was
+a small fire burning near the tongue of rock which I have described.
+
+At a distance, in front of the fire on the patch of prepared ground,
+squatted a number of men, between twenty and thirty of them, in a
+semicircle. They were wrapped up in karosses and blankets, and in their
+centre sat a large figure on a chair of wood.
+
+“The King and the Great Council,” whispered Goza.
+
+One of them looked round and saw us. At some sign from the king he
+rose, and against the fire I saw that he was the Prime Minister,
+Umnyamana. He came to me and, with a nod of recognition, conducted me
+some paces to the right where a euphorbia tree grew among the rank
+herbage. Here I found a stool placed ready on which I sat down, Goza,
+who of course was not of the Council, squatting at my side in the
+grass.
+
+Now I found that I was so situated that I could not well be seen from
+the fire, or even from the rock above it, while I, by moving my head a
+little, could see both quite clearly. After this as the last reflection
+from the sunk sun faded, the darkness increased until nothing remained
+visible except the fire and the massive outline of the rock behind. The
+silence was complete, for none of the Council spoke. They were so still
+that they might have been dead, so still that a beetle suddenly booming
+past me made me start as though it had been a bullet. The general
+impression was almost mesmeric. I felt as though I were going to sleep
+and yet my mind remained painfully awake, so that I was able to think
+things out.
+
+I understood clearly that the body of men to my left had come together
+to decide whether there should be peace or war; that there were
+divisions of opinion among them; that the king was ready to follow the
+party which should prove itself the strongest, but that the real voice
+of decision would speak from behind that fire. It was the case of the
+Delphic Oracle over again with a priest instead of a priestess, and
+what a priest!
+
+It was evident to me also that Zikali, who knew human nature, and
+especially savage human nature, had arranged all this with a view to
+scenic and indeed supernatural effect. Moreover, he had done it very
+well, since I knew myself that in this place and hour words and
+occurrences would affect me deeply at which I should have laughed in
+the sunlight and open plain. Already the Zulus were affected, for I
+could hear the teeth of some of them chattering, and Goza began to
+shiver at my side. He muttered that it was cold, and lied for the donga
+was extremely hot and stuffy.
+
+At length the silver radiance of the moon spread itself on the high
+curtain of the dark. Then the edge of her orb appeared above the hill
+and an arrow of white light fell into the little valley. It struck upon
+and about the jutting rock, revealing a misshapen, white-headed figure
+squatted between its base and the fire, the figure of Zikali.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+THE GREAT COUNCIL
+
+
+None had seen or heard him come, and though doubtless he had but crept
+round the rock and taken his place in the darkness, there appeared to
+be something mysterious about this sudden appearance of Zikali. So the
+Zulu nobles thought at any rate, for they uttered a low “Ow!” of fear
+and wonder.
+
+There he sat like a huge ape staring at the sky, for the firelight
+shone on his deep and burning eyes. The moonlight increased, but now
+and again it was broken by little clouds which caused strange shadows
+to appear about the rock. Some of these shadows looked as though veiled
+figures were approaching the wizard, bending over him and departing
+again, after giving him their message or counsel.
+
+“His Spirits visit him,” whispered Goza, but I made no answer.
+
+This went on for quite a long time, until the full round of the moon
+appeared above the hill indeed, and, for the while, the clouds had
+cleared away. Still Zikali sat silent and I, who was acquainted with
+the habits of this people, knew that I was witnessing a conflict
+between two they considered to be respectively a spiritual and an
+earthly king. It is my belief that unless he were first addressed,
+Zikali would have sat all night without opening his lips. Possibly
+Cetewayo would have done the same if the impatience of public opinion
+had allowed him. At any was rate it was he who gave way.
+
+“_Makosi_, master of many Spirits, on behalf of the Council and the
+People of the Zulus I, the King, greet you here in the place that you
+have chosen,” said Cetewayo.
+
+Zikali made no answer.
+
+The silence went on as before, till at length, after a pause and some
+whispering, Cetewayo repeated his salutation, adding—
+
+“Has age made you deaf, O Opener of Roads, that you cannot hear the
+voice of the King?”
+
+Then at last Zikali answered in his low voice that yet seemed to fill
+all the kloof—
+
+“Nay, Child of Senzangacona, age has not made me deaf, but my spirit in
+these latter days floats far from my body. It is like a bladder filled
+with air that a child holds by a string, and before I can speak I must
+draw it from the heavens to earth again. What did you say about the
+place that I have chosen? Well, what better place could I choose,
+seeing that it was here in this very Vale of Bones that I met the first
+king of the Zulus, Chaka the Wild Beast, who was your uncle? Why then
+should I not choose it to meet the last king of the Zulus?”
+
+Now I, listening, knew at once that this saying might be understood in
+two ways, namely that Cetewayo was the reigning king, or that he was
+the last king who would ever reign. But the Council interpreted it in
+the latter and worse sense, for I saw a quiver of fear go through them.
+
+“Why should I not choose it,” went on Zikali, “seeing also that this
+place is holy to me? Here it was, O Son of Panda, that Chaka brought my
+children to be killed and forced me, sitting where you sit, to watch
+their deaths. There on the rock above me they were killed, four of
+them, three sons and a daughter, and the slayers—they came to an evil
+end, those slayers, as did Chaka—laughed and cast them down from the
+rock before me. Yes, and Chaka laughed, and I too laughed, for had not
+the king the right to kill my children and to steal their mothers, and
+was I not glad that they should be taken from the world and gathered to
+that of Spirits whence they always talk to me, yes, even now? That is
+why I did not hear you at first, King, because they were talking to
+me.”
+
+He paused, turning one ear upwards, then continued in a new and tender
+voice, “What is it you say to me, Noma, my dear little Noma? Oh! I hear
+you, I hear you.”
+
+Now he shifted himself along the ground on his haunches some paces to
+the right, and began to search about, groping with his long fingers.
+“Where, where?” he muttered. “Oh, I understand, further under the root,
+a jackal buried it, did it? Pah! how hard is this soil. Ah! I have it,
+but look, Noma, a stone has cut my finger. I have it, I have it,” and
+from beneath the root of some fallen tree he drew out the skull of a
+child and, holding it in his right hand, softly rubbed the mould off it
+with his left.
+
+“Yes, Noma, it might be yours, it is of the right size, but how can I
+be sure? What is it you say? The teeth? Ah! now I remember. Only the
+day before you were taken I pulled out that front tooth, did I not, and
+beneath it was another that was strangely split in two. If this skull
+was yours, it will be there. Come to the fire, Noma, and let us look;
+the moonlight is faint, is it not?”
+
+Back to the fire he shifted himself, and bending towards the blaze,
+made an examination.
+
+“True, Noma, true! Here is the split tooth, white as when I saw it all
+those years ago. Oh! dear child of my body, dear child of my spirit,
+for we do not beget with the body alone, Noma, as you know better than
+I do to-day, I greet you,” and pressing the skull to his lips, he
+kissed it, then set it down in front of him between himself and the
+fire with the face part pointing to the king, and burst into one of his
+eerie and terrible laughs.
+
+A low moan went up from his audience, and I felt the skin of Goza, who
+had shrunk against me, break into a profuse sweat. Then suddenly
+Zikali’s voice changed once more and became hard and businesslike, if I
+may call it so, similar to that of other professional doctors.
+
+“You have sent for me, O King, as those who went before you have sent
+when great things were about to happen. What is the matter on which you
+would speak to me?”
+
+“You know well, Opener of Roads,” answered Cetewayo, rather shakily I
+thought. “The matter is one of peace or war. The English threaten me
+and my people and make great demands on me; amongst others that the
+army should be disbanded. I can set them all out if you will. If I
+refuse to do as they bid me, then within a few days they will invade
+Zululand; indeed their soldiers are already gathered at the drifts.”
+
+“It is not needful, King,” answered Zikali, “since I know what all
+know, neither more nor less. The winds whisper the demands of the white
+men, the birds sing them, the hyenas howl them at night. Let us see how
+the matter stands. When your father died Sompseu (Sir T. Shepstone),
+the great white chief, came from the English Government to name you
+king. This he could not do according to our law, since how can a
+stranger name the King of the Zulus? Therefore the Council of the
+Nation and the doctors—I was not among them, King—moved the spirit of
+Chaka the Lion into the body of Sompseu and made him as Chaka was and
+gave him power to name you to rule over the Zulus. So it came about
+that to the English Queen through the spirit of Chaka you swore certain
+things; that slaying for witchcraft should be abolished; that no man
+should die without fair and open trial, and other matters.”
+
+He paused a while, then went on, “These oaths you have broken, O King,
+as being of the blood you are and what you are, you must do.”
+
+Here there was disturbance among the Council and Cetewayo half rose
+from his seat, then sat down again. Zikali, gazing at the sky, waited
+till it had died away, then went on—
+
+“Do any question my words? If so, then let them ask of the white men
+whether they be true or no. Let them ask also of the spirits of those
+who have died for witchcraft, and of the spirits of the women who have
+been slain and whose bodies were laid at the cross-roads because they
+married the men they chose and not the soldiers to whom the king gave
+them.”
+
+“How can I ask the white men who are far away?” broke out Cetewayo,
+ignoring the rest.
+
+“Are the white men so far away, King? It is true that I see none and
+hear none, yet I seem to smell one of them close at hand.” Here he took
+up the skull which he had laid down and whispered to it. “Ah! I thank
+you, my child. It seems, King, that there is a white man here hidden in
+this kloof, he who is named Macumazahn, a good man and a truthful,
+known to many of us from of old, who can tell you what his people
+think, though he is not one of their indunas. If you question my words,
+ask him.”
+
+“We know what the white men think,” said Cetewayo, “so there is no need
+to ask Macumazahn to sing us an old song. The question is—what must the
+Zulus do? Must they swallow their spears and, ceasing to be a nation,
+become servants, or must they strike with them and drive the English
+into the sea, and after them the Boers?”
+
+“Tell me first, King, who dwell far away and alone, knowing little of
+what passes in the land of Life, what the Zulus desire to do. Before me
+sits the Great Council of the Nation. Let it speak.”
+
+Then one by one the members of the Council uttered their opinions in
+order of rank or seniority. I do not remember the names of all who were
+present, or what each of them said. I recall, however, that Sigananda,
+a very old chief—he must have been over ninety—spoke the first. He told
+them that he had been friend of Chaka and one of his captains, and had
+fought in most of his battles. That afterwards he had been a general of
+Dingaan’s until that king killed the Boers under Retief, when he left
+him and finally sided with Panda in the civil war in which Dingaan was
+killed with the help of the Boers. That he had been present at the
+battle of the Tugela, though he took no actual part in the fighting,
+and afterwards became a councillor of Panda’s and then of Cetewayo his
+son. It was a long and interesting historical recital covering the
+whole period of the Zulu monarchy which ended suddenly with these
+words—
+
+“I have noted, O King and Councillors, that whenever the black vulture
+of the Zulus was content to attack birds of his own feather, he has
+conquered. But when it has met the grey eagles of the white men, which
+come from over the sea, he has been conquered, and my heart tells me
+that as it was in the past, so it shall be in the future. Chaka was a
+friend of the English, so was Panda, and so has Cetewayo been until
+this hour. I say, therefore, let not the King tear the hand which fed
+him because it seems weak, lest it should grow strong and clutch him by
+the throat and choke him.”
+
+Next spoke Undabuko, Dabulamanzi and Magwenga, brothers of the king,
+who all favoured war, though the two last were guarded in their speech.
+After these came Uhamu, the king’s uncle—he who was said to be the son
+of a Spirit—who was strong for peace, urging that the king should
+submit to the demands of the English, making the best terms he could,
+that he “should bend like a reed before the storm, so that after the
+storm had swept by, he might stand up straight again, and with him all
+the other reeds of the people of the Zulus.”
+
+So, too, said Seketwayo, chief of the Umdhlalosi, and more whom I
+cannot recall, six or seven of them. But Usibebu and the induna
+Untshingwayo, who afterwards commanded at Isandhlwana, were for
+fighting, as were Sirayo, the husband of the two women who had been
+taken on English territory and killed, and Umbilini, the chief of Swazi
+blood whose surrender was demanded by Sir Bartle Frere and who
+afterwards commanded the Zulus in the battle at Ihlobane. Last of all
+spoke the Prime Minister, Umnyamana, who declared fiercely that if the
+Zulu buffalo hid itself in the swamp like a timid calf when the white
+bull challenged it on the hills, the spirits of Chaka and all his
+forefathers would thrust its head into the mud and choke it.
+
+When all had finished Cetewayo spoke, saying—
+
+“That is a bad council which has two voices, for to which of them must
+the Captain listen when the impis of the foe gather in front of him?
+Here I have sat while the moon climbs high and counted, and what do I
+find? That one half of you, men of wisdom and renown, say Yes, and that
+the other half of you, men of wisdom and renown, say No. Which then is
+it to be, Yes or No? Are we to fight the English, or are we to sit
+still?”
+
+“That is for the king to decide,” said a voice.
+
+“See what it is to be a king,” went on Cetewayo with passion. “If I
+declare for war and we win, shall I be greater than I am? If victory
+gives me more land, more subjects, more wives and more cattle, what is
+the use of these things to me who already have enough of all of them?
+And if defeat should take everything from me, even my life perhaps,
+then what shall I have gained? I will tell you—the curse of the Zulus
+upon my name from father to son for ever. They will say, ‘Cetewayo, son
+of Panda, pulled down a House that once was great. Because of some
+small matter he quarrelled with the English who were always the friends
+of our people, and brought the Zulus to the dust.’ Sintwangu, my
+messenger, who brought heavy words from the Queen’s _induna_ which we
+must answer with other words or with spears, says that the English
+soldiers in Natal are few, so few that we Zulus can swallow them like
+bits of meat and still be hungry. But are these all the soldiers of the
+English? I am not sure. You are one of that people, Macumazahn,” he
+added, turning his massive shape towards me, “tell us now, how many
+soldiers has your Queen?”
+
+“King,” I answered, “I do not know for certain. But if the Zulus can
+muster fifty thousand spears, the Queen, if there be need, can send
+against them ten times fifty thousand, and if she grows angry, another
+ten times fifty, every one armed with a rifle that will fire five
+bullets a minute, and to accompany the soldiers, hundreds of cannon
+whereof a single shot would give Ulundi to the flames. Out of the sea
+they will come, shipload after shipload, white men from where the sun
+sets and black men from where the sun rises, so many that Zululand
+would not hold them.”
+
+Now at these words, which I delivered as grandly as I could, something
+like a groan burst from the Council, though one man cried—
+
+“Do not listen to the white traitor, O King, who is sent here to turn
+our hearts to water with his lies.”
+
+“Macumazahn may lie to us,” went on Cetewayo, “though in the past none
+in the land have ever known him to lie, but he was not sent to do so,
+for I brought him here. For my part I do not believe that he lies. I
+believe that these English are as many as the pebbles in a river bed,
+and that to them Natal, yes, and all the Cape is but as a single,
+outlying cattle kraal, one cattle kraal out of a hundred. Did not
+Sompseu once tell us that they were countless, on that day when he came
+many years ago after the battle of the Tugela to name me to succeed my
+father Panda, the day when my faction, the Usutu, roared round him for
+hours like a river in flood, and he sat still like a rock in the centre
+of a river? Also I am minded of the words that Chaka said when Dingaan
+and Umbopa had stabbed him and he lay dying at the kraal Duguza, that
+although the dogs of his own House whom his hand fed, had eaten him up,
+he heard the sound of the running of the feet of a great white people
+that should stamp them and the Zulus flat.”
+
+He paused; and the silence was so intense that the crackling of
+Zikali’s fire, which kept on burning brightly although I saw no fuel
+added to it, sounded quite loud. Presently it was broken, first by a
+dog near at hand, howling horribly at the moon, and next by the hooting
+of a great owl that flitted across the donga, the shadow of its wide
+wings falling for a moment on the king.
+
+“Listen!” exclaimed Cetewayo, “a dog that howls! Methinks that it
+stands upon the roof of the House of Senzangacona. And an owl that
+hoots. Methinks that owl has its nest in the world of Spirits! Are
+these good omens, Councillors? I trow not. I say that I will not decide
+this matter of peace or war. If there is one of my own blood here who
+will do so, come, let him take my place and let me go away to my own
+lordship of Gikazi that I had when I was a prince before the witch
+Mameena who played with all men and loved but one”—here everybody
+turned and stared towards me, yes, even Zikali whom nothing else had
+seemed to move, till I wished that the ground would swallow me
+up—“caused the war between me and my brother Umbelazi whose blood earth
+will not swallow nor suns dry—”
+
+“How can that be, O King?” broke in Umnyamana the Prime Minister. “How
+can any of your race sit in your seat while you still live? Then indeed
+there would be war, war between tribe and tribe and Zulu and Zulu till
+none were left, and the white hyenas from Natal would come and chew our
+bones and with them the Boers that have passed the Vaal. See now. Why
+is this Nyanga (i.e. witch-doctor) here?” and he pointed to Zikali
+beyond the fire. “Why has the Opener of Roads been brought from the
+Black Kloof which he has not left for years? Is it not that he may give
+us counsel in our need and show us a sign that his counsel is good,
+whether it be for war or peace? Then when he has made divination and
+given the counsel and shown the sign, then, O King, do you speak the
+word of war or peace, and send it to the Queen by yonder white man, and
+by that word we, the people, will abide.”
+
+At this suggestion, which I had no doubt was made by some secret
+agreement between Umnyamana and Zikali, Cetewayo seemed to grasp.
+Perhaps this was because it postponed for a little while the dreadful
+moment of decision, or perhaps because he hoped that in the eyes of the
+nation it would shift the responsibility from his shoulders to those of
+the Spirits speaking through the lips of their prophet. At any rate he
+nodded and answered—
+
+“It is so. Let the Opener of Roads open us a road through the forests
+and the swamps and the rocks of doubt, danger and fear. Let him give us
+a sign that it is a good road on which we may safely travel, and let
+him tell us whether I shall live to walk that road and what I shall
+meet thereon. I promise him in return the greatest fee that ever yet
+was paid to a doctor in Zululand.”
+
+Now Zikali lifted his big head, shook his grey locks, and opening his
+wide mouth as though he expected manna to fall into it from the sky, he
+laughed out loud.
+
+“O-ho-ho,” he laughed, “Oho-ho-ho-o, it is worth while to have lived so
+long when life has brought me to such an hour as this. What is it that
+my ears hear? That I, the Indwande dwarf, I whom Chaka named
+‘The-Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born,’ I, one of the race
+conquered and despised by the Zulus, am here to speak a word which the
+Zulus dare not utter, which the King of the Zulus dares not utter.
+O-ho-ho-ho! And what does the King offer to me? A fee, a great fee for
+the word that shall paint the Zulus red with blood or white with the
+slime of shame. Nay, I take no fee that is the price of blood or shame.
+Before I speak that word unknown—for as yet my heart has not heard it,
+and what the heart has not heard the lips cannot shape—I ask but one
+thing. It is an oath that whatever follows on the word, while there is
+a Zulu left living in the world, I, the Voice of the Spirits, shall be
+safe from hurt or from reproach, I and those of my House and those over
+whom I throw my blanket, be they black or be they white. That is my
+fee, without which I am silent.”
+
+“_Izwa!_ We hear you. We swear it on behalf of the people,” said every
+councillor in the semi-circle in front of him; yes, and the king said
+it also, stretching out his hand.
+
+“Good,” said Zikali, “it is an oath, it is an oath, sworn here upon the
+bones of the dead. Evil-doers you call them, but I say to you that many
+of those who sit before me have more evil in their hearts than had
+those dead. Well, let it be proclaimed, O King, and with it this—that
+ill shall it go with him who breaks the oath, with his family, with his
+kraal and all with whom he has to do.
+
+“Now what is it you ask of me? First of all, counsel as to whether you
+should fight the English Queen, a matter on which you, the Great Ones,
+are evenly divided in opinion, as is the nation behind you. O King,
+Indunas, and Captains, who am I that I should judge of such a matter
+which is beyond my trade, a matter of the world above and of men’s
+bodies, not of the world below and of men’s spirits? Yet there was one
+who made the Zulu people out of nothing, as a potter fashions a vessel
+from clay, as a smith fashions an assegai out of the ore of the hills,
+yes, and tempers it with human blood.[1] Chaka the Lion, the Wild
+Beast, the King among Kings, the Conqueror. I knew Chaka as I knew his
+father, yes, and _his_ father. Others still living knew him also, say
+you, Sigananda there for instance,” and he pointed to the old chief who
+had spoken first. “Yes, Sigananda knew him as a boy knows a great man,
+as a soldier knows a general. But I knew his heart, aye, I shaped his
+heart, I was its thought. Had it not been for me he would never have
+been great. Then he wronged me”—here Zikali took up the skull which he
+said was that of his daughter, and stroked it—“and I left him.
+
+ [1] The old Zulu smiths dipped their choicest blades in the blood of
+ men.—A. Q.
+
+
+“He was not wise, he should have killed one whom he had wronged, but
+perhaps he knew that I could not be killed; perhaps he had tried and
+found that he was but throwing spears at the moon which fell back on
+his own head. I forget. It is so long ago, and what does it matter? At
+least I took away from him the prop of my wisdom, and he fell—to rise
+no more. And so it has been with others. So it has been with others.
+Yet while he was great I knew his heart who lived in his heart, and
+therefore I ask myself, had he been sitting where the King sits to-day,
+what would Chaka have done? I will tell you. If not only the English
+but the Boers also and with them the Pondos, the Basutos and all the
+tribes of Africa had threatened him, he would have fought them—yes, and
+set his heel upon their necks. Therefore, although I give no counsel
+upon such a matter, I say to you that the counsel of Chaka is—fight—and
+conquer. Hearken to it or pass it by—I care not which.”
+
+He paused and a loud “_Ow_” of wonder and admiration rose from his
+audience. Myself I nearly joined in it, for I thought this one of the
+cleverest bits of statecraft that ever I had heard of or seen. The old
+wizard had taken no responsibility and given no answer to the demand
+for advice. All this he had thrust on to the shoulders of a dead man,
+and that man one whose name was magical to every Zulu, the king whose
+memory they adored, the great General who had gorged them with victory
+and power. Speaking as Chaka, after a long period of peace, he urged
+them once more to lift their spears and know the joys of triumph,
+thereby making themselves the greatest nation in Southern Africa. From
+the moment I heard this cunning appeal, I know what the end would be;
+all the rest was but of minor and semi-personal interest. I knew also
+for the first time how truly great was Zikali and wondered what he
+might have become had Fortune set him in different circumstances among
+a civilized people.
+
+Now he was speaking again, and quickly before the impression died away.
+
+“Such is the word of Chaka spoken by me who was his secret councillor,
+the Councillor who was seldom seen, and never heard. Does not Sigananda
+yonder know the voice which amongst all those present echoes in his
+ears alone?”
+
+“I know it,” cried the old chief. Then with his eyes starting almost
+from his head, Sigananda leapt up and raising his hand, gave the royal
+salute, the Bayete, to the spirit of Chaka, as though the dead king
+stood before him.
+
+I think that most of those there thought that it did stand before him,
+for some of them also gave the Bayete and even Cetewayo raised his arm.
+
+Sigananda squatted down again and Zikali went on.
+
+“You have heard. This captain of the Lion knows his voice. So, that is
+done with. Now you ask of me something else—that I who am a doctor, the
+oldest of all the doctors and, it is thought—I know not—the wisest,
+should be able to answer. You ask of me—How shall this war prosper, if
+it is made—and what shall chance to the King during and after the war,
+and lastly you ask of me a sign. What I tell to you is true, is it not
+so?”
+
+“It is true,” answered the Council.
+
+“Asking is easy,” continued Zikali in a grumbling voice, “but answering
+is another matter. How can I answer without preparation, without the
+needful medicines also that I have not with me, who did not know what
+would be sought of me, who thought that my opinion was desired and no
+more? Go away now and return on the sixth night and I will tell you
+what I can do.”
+
+“Not so,” cried the king. “We refuse to go, for the matter is
+immediate. Speak at once, Opener of Roads, lest it should be said in
+the land that after all you are but an ancient cheat, a stick that
+snaps in two when it is leant on.”
+
+“Ancient cheat! I remember that is what Macumazahn yonder once told me
+I am, though afterwards—Perhaps he was right, for who in his heart
+knows whether or not he be a cheat, a cheat who deceives himself and
+through himself others. A stick that snaps in two when it is leant on!
+Some have thought me so and some have thought otherwise. Well, you
+would have answers which I know not how to give, being without medicine
+and in face of those who are quite ignorant and therefore cannot lend
+me their thoughts, as it sometimes happens that men do when workers of
+evil are sought out in the common fashion. For then, as you may have
+guessed, it is the evil-doer who himself tells the doctor of his crime,
+though he may not know that he is telling it. Yet there is another
+stone that I alone can throw, another plan that I alone can practise,
+and that not always. But of this I would not make use since it is
+terrible and might frighten you or even send you back to your huts
+raving so that your wives, yes, and the very dogs fled, from you.”
+
+He stopped and for the first time did something to his fire, for I saw
+his hands going backwards and forwards, as though he warmed them at the
+flames.
+
+At length an awed voice, I think it was that of Dabulamanzi, asked—
+
+“What is this plan, Inyanga? Let us hear that we may judge.”
+
+“The plan of calling one from the dead and hearkening to the voice of
+the dead. Is it your desire that I should draw water from this fount of
+wisdom, O King and Councillors?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+WAR
+
+
+Now men began to whisper together and Goza groaned at my side.
+
+“Rather would I look down a live lion’s throat than see the dead,” he
+murmured. But I, who was anxious to learn how far Zikali would carry
+his tricks, contemptuously told him to be silent.
+
+Presently the king called me to him and said—
+
+“Macumazahn, you white men are reported to know all things. Tell me
+now, is it possible for the dead to appear?”
+
+“I am not sure,” I answered doubtfully; “some say that it is and some
+say that it is not possible.”
+
+“Well,” said the king. “Have you ever seen one you knew in life after
+death?”
+
+“No,” I replied, “that is—yes. That is—I do not know. When you will
+tell me, King, where waking ends and sleep begins, then I will answer.”
+
+“Macumazahn,” he exclaimed, “just now I announced that you were no
+liar, who perceive that after all you are a liar, for how can you both
+have seen, and not seen, the dead? Indeed I remember that you lied long
+ago, when you gave it out that the witch Mameena was not your lover,
+and afterwards showed that she was by kissing her before all men, for
+who kisses a woman who is not his lover, or his mother? Return, since
+you will not tell me the truth.”
+
+So I went back to my stool, feeling very small and yet indignant, for
+how was it possible to be definite about ghosts, or to explain the
+exact facts of the Mameena myth which clung to me like a Wait-a-bit
+thorn.
+
+Then after a little consultation Cetewayo said—
+
+“It is our desire, O Opener of Roads, that you should draw wisdom from
+the fount of Death, if indeed you can do so. Now let any who are afraid
+depart and wait for us who are not afraid, alone and in silence at the
+mouth of the kloof.”
+
+At this some of the audience rose, but after hesitating a little, sat
+down again. Only Goza actually took a step forward, but on my remarking
+that he would probably meet the dead coming up that way, collapsed,
+muttering something about my pistol, for the fool seemed to think I
+could shoot a spirit.
+
+“If indeed I can do so,” repeated Zikali in a careless fashion. “That
+is to be proved, is it not? Perhaps, too, it may be better for every
+one of you if I fail than if I succeed. Of one thing I warn you, should
+the dead appear stir not, and above all touch not, for he who does
+either of these things will, I think, never live to look upon the sun
+again. But first let me try an easier fashion.”
+
+Then once again he took up the skull that he said had been his
+daughter’s, and whispered to it, only to lay it down presently.
+
+“It will not serve,” he said with a sigh and shaking his locks. “Noma
+tells me that she died a child, one who had no knowledge of war or
+matters of policy, and that in all these things of the world she still
+remains a child. She says that I must seek some one who thought much of
+them; one, too who still lives in the heart of a man who is present
+here, if that be possible, since from such a heart alone can the
+strength be drawn to enable the dead to appear and speak. Now let there
+be silence—Let there be silence, and woe to him that breaks it.”
+
+Silence there was indeed, and in it Zikali crouched himself down till
+his head almost rested on his knee, and seemed to go to sleep. He awoke
+again and chanted for half a minute or so in some language I could not
+understand. Then voices began to answer him, as it seemed to me from
+all over the kloof, also from the sky or rock above. Whether the effect
+was produced by ventriloquism or whether he had confederates posted at
+various points, I do not know.
+
+At any rate this lord of “multitudes of spirits” seemed to be engaged
+in conversation with some of them. What is more, the thing was
+extremely well done, since each voice differed from the other; also I
+seemed to recognize some of them, Dingaan’s for instance, and Panda’s,
+yes, and that of Umbelazi the Handsome, the brother of the king whose
+death I witnessed down by the Tugela.
+
+You will ask me what they said. I do not know. Either the words were
+confused or the events that followed have blotted them from my brain.
+All I remember is that each of them seemed to be speaking of the Zulus
+and their fate and to be very anxious to refer further discussion of
+the matter to some one else. In short they seemed to talk under
+protest, or that was my impression, although Goza, the only person with
+whom I had any subsequent debate upon the subject, appeared to have
+gathered one that was different, though what it was I do not recall.
+The only words that remained clear to me must, I thought, have come
+from the spirit of Chaka, or rather from Zikali or one of his myrmidons
+assuming that character. They were uttered in a deep full voice, spiced
+with mockery, and received by the wizard with _Sibonga_, or titles of
+praise, which I who am versed in Zulu history and idiom knew had only
+been given to the great king, and indeed since his death had become
+unlawful, not to be used. The words were—
+
+“What, Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born, do you think yourself a
+Thing-that-should-never-die, that you still sit beneath the moon and
+weave witchcrafts as of old? Often have I hunted for you in the
+Under-world who have an account to settle with you, as you have an
+account to settle with me. So, so, what does it matter since we must
+meet at last, even if you hide yourself at the back of the furthest
+star? Why do you bring me up to this place where I see some whom I
+would forget? Yes, they build bone on bone and taking the red earth,
+mould it into flesh and stand before me as last I saw them newly dead.
+Oh! your magic is good, Spell-weaver, and your hate is deep and your
+vengeance is keen. No, I have nothing to tell you to-day, who rule a
+greater people than the Zulus in another land. Who are these little men
+who sit before you? One of them has a look of Dingaan, my brother who
+slew me, yes, and wears his armlet. Is he the king? Answer not, for I
+do not care to know. Surely yonder withered thing is Sigananda. I know
+his eye and the _Iziqu_ on his breast. Yes, I gave it to him after the
+great battle with Zweede in which he killed five men. Does he remember
+it, I wonder? Greeting, Sigananda; old as you are you have still twenty
+and one years to live, and then we will talk of the battle with Zweede.
+Let me begone, this place burns my spirit, and in it there is a stench
+of mortal blood. Farewell, O Conqueror!”
+
+These were the words that I thought I heard Chaka say, though I daresay
+that I dreamt them. Indeed had it been otherwise, I mean had they
+really been spoken by Zikali, there would surely have been more in
+them, something that might have served his purpose, not mere talk which
+had all the inconsequence of a dream. Also no one else seemed to pay
+any particular attention to them, though this may have been because so
+many voices were sounding from different places at once, for as I have
+said, Zikali arranged his performance very well, as well as any medium
+could have done on a prepared stage in London.
+
+In a moment, as though at a signal, the voices died away. Then other
+things happened. To begin with I felt very faint, as though all the
+strength were being taken out of me. Some queer fancy got a hold of me.
+I don’t quite know what it was, but it had to do with the Bible story
+of Adam when he fell asleep and a rib was removed from him and made
+into a woman. I reflected that I felt as Adam must have done when he
+came out of his trance after this terrific operation, very weak and
+empty. Also, as it chanced, presently I saw Eve—or rather a woman.
+Looking at the fire in a kind of disembodied way, I perceived that
+dense smoke was rising from it, which smoke spread itself out like a
+fan. It thinned by degrees, and through the veil of smoke I perceived
+something else, namely, a woman very like one whom once I had known.
+There she stood, lightly clad enough, her fingers playing with the blue
+beads of her necklace, an inscrutable smile upon her face and her large
+eyes fixed on nothingness.
+
+Oh! Heaven, I knew her, or rather thought I did at the moment, for now
+I am almost sure that it was Nombé dressed, or undressed, for the part.
+That knowledge came with reflection, but then I could have sworn, being
+deceived by the uncertain light, that the long dead Mameena stood
+before us as she had seemed to stand before me in the hut of Zikali,
+radiating a kind of supernatural life and beauty.
+
+A little wind arose, shaking the dry leaves of the aloes in the kloof;
+I thought it whispered—_Hail, Mameena!_ Some of the older men, too,
+among them a few who had seen her die, in trembling voices murmured,
+“It is Mameena!” whereon Zikali scowled at them and they grew silent.
+
+As for the figure it stood there patient and unmoved, like one who has
+all time at its disposal, playing with the blue beads. I heard them
+tinkle against each other, which proves that it was human, for how
+could a wraith cause beads to tinkle, although it is true that
+Christmas-story ghosts are said to clank their chains. Her eyes roved
+idly and without interest over the semi-circle of terrified men before
+her. Then by degrees they fixed themselves upon the tree behind which I
+was crouching, whereon Goza sank paralyzed to the ground. She
+contemplated this tree for a while that seemed to me interminable; it
+reminded me of a setter pointing game it winded but could not see, for
+her whole frame grew intent and alert. She ceased playing with the
+beads and stretched out her slender hand towards me. Her lips moved.
+She spoke in a sweet, slow voice, saying—
+
+“O Watcher-by-Night, is it thus you greet her to whom you have given
+strength to stand once more beneath the moon? Come hither and tell me,
+have you no kiss for one from whom you parted with a kiss?”
+
+I heard. Without doubt the voice was the very voice of Mameena (so well
+had Nombé been instructed). Still I determined not to obey it, who
+would not be made a public laughing-stock for a second time in my life.
+Also I confess this jesting with the dead seemed to me somewhat unholy,
+and not on any account would I take a part in it.
+
+All the company turned and stared at me, even Goza lifted his head and
+stared, but I sat still and contemplated the beauties of the night.
+
+“If it is the spirit of Mameena, he will come,” whispered Cetewayo to
+Umnyamana.
+
+“Yes, yes,” answered the Prime Minister, “for the rope of his love will
+draw him. He who has once kissed Mameena, _must_ kiss her again when
+she asks.”
+
+Hearing this I grew furiously indignant and was about to break into
+explanations, when to my horror I found myself rising from that stool.
+I tried to cling to it, but, as it only came into the air with me, let
+it go.
+
+“Hold me, Goza,” I muttered, and he like a good fellow clutched me by
+the ankle, whereon I promptly kicked him in the mouth, at least my foot
+kicked him, not my will. Now I was walking towards that Shape—shadow or
+woman—like a man in his sleep, and as I came she stretched out her arms
+and smiled oh! as sweetly as an angel, though I felt quite sure that
+she was nothing of the sort.
+
+Now I stood opposite to her alongside the fire of which the smoke smelt
+like roses at the dawn, and she seemed to bend towards me. With shame
+and humiliation I perceived that in another moment those arms would be
+about me. But somehow they never touched me; I lost sight of them in
+the rose-scented smoke, only the sweet, slow voice which I could have
+sworn was that of Mameena, murmured in my ear—well, words known to her
+and me alone that I had never breathed to any living being, though of
+course I am aware now that they must also have been known to somebody
+else.
+
+“Do you doubt me any longer?” went on the murmuring. “Say, am I Nombé
+now? Or—or am I in truth that Mameena, whose kiss thrills your lips and
+soul? Hearken, Macumazahn, for the time is short. In the rout of the
+great battle that shall be, do not fly with the white men, but set your
+face towards Ulundi. One who was your friend will guard you, and
+whoever dies, no harm shall come to you now that the fire which burns
+in my heart has set all Zululand aflame. Hearken once more. Hans, the
+little yellow man who was named Light-in-Darkness, he who died among
+the Kendah people, sends you salutations and gives you praise. He bids
+me tell you that now of his own accord he renders to me, Mameena, the
+royal salute, because royal I must ever be; because also he and I who
+are so far apart are yet one in the love that is our life.”
+
+The smoke blew into my face, causing me to reel back. Cetewayo caught
+me by the arm, saying—
+
+“Tell us, are the lips of the dead witch warm or cold?”
+
+“I do not know,” I groaned, “for I never touched her.”
+
+“How he lies! Oh! how he lies even about what our eyes saw,” said
+Cetewayo reflectively as I blundered past him back to my seat, on which
+I sank half swooning. When I got my wits again the figure that
+pretended to be Mameena was speaking, I suppose in answer to some
+question of Zikali’s which I had not heard. It said—
+
+“O Lord of the Spirits, you have called me from the land of Spirits to
+make reply as to two matters which have not yet happened upon the
+earth. These replies I will give but no others, since the mortal
+strength that I have borrowed returns whence it came. The first matter
+is, if there be war between the White and Black, what will happen in
+that war? I see a plain ringed round with hills and on it a
+strange-shaped mount. I see a great battle; I see the white men go down
+like corn before a tempest; I see the spears of the _impis_ redden; I
+see the white soldiers lie like leaves cut from a tree by frost. They
+are dead, all dead, save a handful that have fled away. I hear the
+_ingoma_ of victory sung here at Ulundi. It is finished.
+
+“The second matter is—what shall chance to the king? I see him tossed
+on the Black Water; I see him in a land full of houses, talking with a
+royal woman and her councillors. There, too, he conquers, for they
+offer him tribute of many gifts. I see him here, back here in Zululand,
+and hear him greeted with the royal salute. Last of all I see him dead,
+as men must die, and hear the voice of Zikali and the mourning of the
+women of his house. It is finished. Farewell, King Cetewayo, I pass to
+tell Panda, your father, how it fares with you. When last we parted did
+I not prophesy to you that we should meet again at the bottom of a
+gulf? Was it this gulf, think you, or another? One day you shall learn.
+Farewell, or fare ill, as it may happen!”
+
+Once more the smoke spread out like a fan. When it thinned and drew
+together again, the Shape was gone.
+
+Now I thought that the Zulus would be so impressed by this very queer
+exhibition, that they would seek no more supernatural guidance, but
+make up their minds for war at once. This, however, was just what they
+did not do. As it happened, among the assembled chiefs, was one who
+himself had a great repute as a witch-doctor, and therefore burned with
+jealousy of Zikali who appeared to be able to do things that he had
+never even attempted. This man leapt up and declared that all which
+they had seemed to hear and see was but cunning trickery, carried out
+after long preparation by Zikali and his confederates. The voices, he
+said, came from persons placed in certain spots, or sometimes were
+produced by Zikali himself. As for the vision, it was not that of a
+spirit but of a real woman, in proof of which he called attention to
+certain anatomical details of the figure. Finally, with much sense, he
+pointed out that the Council would be mad to come to any decision upon
+such evidence, or to give faith to prophecies, whereof the truth or
+falsity could only be known in the future.
+
+Now a fierce debate broke out, the war party maintaining that the
+manifestations were genuine, the peace party that they were a fraud. In
+the end, as neither side would give way and as Zikali, when appealed
+to, sat silent as a stone, refusing any explanation, the king said—
+
+“Must we sit here talking, talking, till daylight? There is but one man
+who can know the truth, that is Macumazahn. Let him deny it as he will,
+he was the lover of this Mameena while she was alive, for with my own
+eyes I saw him kiss her before she killed herself. It is certain,
+therefore, that he knows if the woman we seemed to see was Mameena or
+another, since there are things which a man never forgets. I propose,
+therefore, that we should question him and form our own judgment of his
+answer.”
+
+This advice, which seemed to promise a road out of a blind ally, met
+with instant acceptance.
+
+“Let it be so,” they cried with one voice, and in another minute I was
+once more conducted from behind my tree and set down upon the stool in
+front of the Council, with my back to the fire and Zikali, “that his
+eyes might not charm me.”
+
+“Now, Watcher-by-Night,” said Cetewayo, “although you have lied to us
+in a certain matter, of this we do not think much, since it is one upon
+which both men and women always lie, as every judge will know.
+Therefore we still believe you to be an honest man, as your dealings
+have proved for many years. As an honest man, therefore, we beg you to
+give us a true answer to a plain question. Was the Shape we saw before
+us just now a woman or a spirit, and if a spirit, was it the ghost of
+Mameena, the beautiful witch who died near this place nearly the
+quarter of a hundred years ago, she whom you loved, or who loved you,
+which is just the same thing, since a man always loves a woman who
+loves him, or thinks that he does?”
+
+Now after reflection I replied in these words and as conscientiously as
+I could—
+
+“King and Councillors, I do not know if what we all saw was a ghost or
+a living person, but, as I do not believe in ghosts, or at any rate
+that they come back to the world on such errands, I conclude that it
+was a living person. Still it may have been neither, but only a mere
+picture produced before us by the arts of Zikali. So much for the first
+question. Your second is—was this spirit or woman or shadow, that of
+her whom I remember meeting in Zululand many years ago? King and
+Councillors, I can only say that it was very like her. Still one
+handsome young woman often greatly resembles another of the same age
+and colouring. Further, the moon gives an uncertain light, especially
+when it is tempered by smoke from a fire. Lastly, memory plays strange
+tricks with all of us, as you will know if you try to think of the face
+of any one who has been dead for more than twenty years. For the rest,
+the voice seemed similar, the beads and ornaments seemed similar, and
+the figure repeated to me certain words which I thought I alone had
+heard come from the lips of her who is dead. Also she gave me a strange
+message from another who is dead, referring to a matter which I
+believed was known only to me and that other. Yet Zikali is very clever
+and may have learned these things in some way unguessed by me, and what
+he has learned, others may have learned also. King and Councillors, I
+do not think that what we saw was the spirit of Mameena. I think it a
+woman not unlike to her who had been taught her lesson. I have nothing
+more to say, and therefore I pray you not to ask me any further
+questions about Mameena of whose name I grow weary.”
+
+At this point Zikali seemed to wake out of his indifference, or his
+torpor, for he looked up and said darkly—
+
+“It is strange that the cleverest are always those who first fall into
+the trap. They go along, gazing at the stars at night, and forget the
+pit which they themselves have dug in the morning. _O-ho-ho! Oho-ho!_”
+
+Now the wrangling broke out afresh. The peace party pointed
+triumphantly to the fact that I, the white man who ought to know, put
+no faith in this apparition, which was therefore without doubt a fraud.
+The war party on the other hand declared that I was deceiving them for
+reasons of my own, one of which would be that I did not wish to see the
+Zulus eat up my people. So fierce grew the debate that I thought it
+would end in blows and perhaps in an attack on myself or Zikali who all
+the while sat quite careless and unmoved, staring at the moon. At
+length Cetewayo shouted for silence, spitting, as was his habit when
+angry.
+
+“Make an end,” he cried, “lest I cause some of you to grow quiet for
+ever,” whereon the recriminations ceased. “Opener of Roads,” he went
+on, “many of those who are present think like Macumazahn here, that you
+are but an old cheat, though whether or no I be one of these I will not
+say. They demand a sign of you that none can dispute, and I demand it
+also before I speak the word of peace or war. Give us then that sign or
+begone to whence you came and show your face no more at Ulundi.”
+
+“What sign does the Council require, Son of Panda?” asked Zikali
+quietly. “Let them agree on one together and tell me now at once, for I
+who am old grow weary and would sleep. Then if it can be given I will
+give it; and if I cannot give it, I will get me back to my own house
+and show my face no more at Ulundi, who do not desire to listen again
+to fools who babble like contending waters round a stone and yet never
+stir the stone because they run two ways at once.”
+
+Now the Councillors stared at each other, for none knew what sign to
+ask. At length old Sigananda said—
+
+“O King, it is well known that the Black One who went before you had a
+certain little assegai handled with the royal red wood, which drank the
+blood of many. It was with this assegai that Mopo his servant, who
+vanished from the land after the death of Dingaan, let out the life of
+the Black One at the kraal Duguza, but what became of it afterwards
+none have heard for certain. Some say that it was buried with the Black
+One, some that Mopo stole it. Others that Dingaan and Umhlagana burned
+it. Still a saying rose like a wind in the land that when that spear
+shall fall from heaven at the feet of the king who reigns in the place
+of the Black One, then the Zulus shall make their last great war and
+win a victory of which all the world shall hear. Now let the Opener of
+Roads give us this sign of the falling of the Black One’s spear and I
+shall be content.”
+
+“Would you know the spear if it fell?” asked Cetewayo.
+
+“I should know it, O King, who have often held it in my hand. The end
+of the haft is gnawed, for when he was angry the Black One used to bite
+it. Also a thumb’s length from the blade is a black mark made with hot
+iron. Once the Black One made a bet with one of his captains that at a
+distance of ten paces he would throw the spear deeper into the body of
+a chief whom he wished to kill, than the captain could. The captain
+threw first, for I saw him with my eyes, and the spear sank to that
+place on the shaft where the mark is, for the Black One burned it
+there. Then the Black One threw and the spear went through the body of
+the chief who, as he died, called to him that he too should know the
+feel of it in his heart, as indeed he did.”
+
+I think that Cetewayo was about to assent to this suggestion, since he
+who desired peace believed it impossible that Zikali should suddenly
+cause this identical spear to fall from heaven. But Umnyamana, the
+Prime Induna, interposed hurriedly—
+
+“It is not enough, O King. Zikali may have stolen the spear, for he was
+living and at the kraal Duguza at that time. Also he may have put about
+the prophecy whereof Sigananda speaks, or at least so men would say.
+Let him give us a greater sign than this that all may be content, so
+that whether we make war or peace it may be with a single mind. Now it
+is known that we Zulus have a guardian spirit who watches over us from
+the skies, she who is called Nomkubulwana, or by some the
+Inkosazana-y-Zulu, the Princess of Heaven. It is known also that this
+Princess, who is white of skin and ruddy-haired, appears always before
+great things happen in our land. Thus she appeared before the Black One
+died. Also she appeared to a number of children before the battle of
+the Tugela. It is said, too, that but lately she appeared to a woman
+near the coast and warned her to cross the Tugela because there would
+be war, though this woman cannot now be found. Let the Opener of Roads
+call down Nomkubulwana before our eyes from heaven and we will admit,
+every man of us, that this is a sign which cannot be questioned.”
+
+“And if he does this thing, which I hold no doctor in the world can do,
+what shall it signify?” asked Cetewayo.
+
+“O King,” answered Umnyamana, “if he does so, it shall signify war and
+victory. If he does not do so, it shall signify peace, and we will bow
+our heads before the _Amalungwana basi bodwe_” (i.e., “the little
+English,” used as a term of derision).
+
+“Do all agree?” asked Cetewayo.
+
+“We agree,” answered every man, stretching out his hand.
+
+“Then, Opener of Roads, it stands thus: If you can call Nomkubulwana,
+should there be such a spirit, to appear before our eyes, the Council
+will take it as a sign that the Heavens direct us to fight the
+English.”
+
+So spoke Cetewayo, and I noted a tone of triumph in his voice, for his
+heart shrank from this war, and he was certain that Zikali could do
+nothing of the sort. Still the opinion of the nation, or rather of the
+army, was so strong in favour of it that he feared lest his refusal
+might bring about his deposition, if not his death. From this dilemma
+the supernatural test suggested by the Prime Minister and approved by
+the Council that represented the various tribes of people, seemed to
+offer a path of escape. So I read the situation, as I think rightly.
+
+Upon hearing these words for the first time that night Zikali seemed to
+grow disturbed.
+
+“What do my ears hear?” he exclaimed excitedly. “Am I the _Umkulukulu_,
+the Great-Great (i.e., God) himself, that it should be asked of me to
+draw the Princess of Heaven from beyond the stars, she who comes and
+goes like the wind, but like the wind cannot be commanded? Do they hear
+that if she will not come to my beckoning, then the great Zulu people
+must put a yoke upon their shoulders and be as slaves? Surely the King
+must have been listening to the doctrines of those English teachers who
+wear a white ribbon tied about their necks, and tell us of a god who
+suffered himself to be nailed to a cross of wood, rather than make war
+upon his foes, one whom they call the Prince of Peace. Times have
+changed indeed since the days of the Black One. Yes, generals have
+become like women; the captains of the _impis_ are set to milk the
+cows. Well, what have I to do with all this? What does it matter to me
+who am so very old that only my head remains above the level of the
+earth, the rest of me being buried in the grave, who am not even a Zulu
+to boot, but a Dwandwe, one of the despised Dwandwe whom the Zulus
+mocked and conquered?
+
+“Hearken to me, Spirits of the House of Senzangacona”—here he addressed
+about a dozen of Cetewayo’s ancestors by name, going back for many
+generations. “Hearken to me, O Princess of Heaven, appointed by the
+Great-Great to be the guardian of the Zulu race. It is asked that you
+should appear, should it be your wish to signify to these your children
+that they must stand upon their feet and resist the white men who
+already gather upon their borders. And should it be your wish that they
+should lay down their spears and go home to sleep with their wives and
+hoe the gardens while the white men count the cattle and set each to
+his work upon the roads, then that you should not appear. Do what you
+will, O Spirits of the House of Senzangacona, do what you will, O
+Princess of Heaven. What does it matter to the
+Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born, who soon will be as though he
+never had been born, whether the House of Senzangacona and the Zulu
+people stand or fall?
+
+“I, the old doctor, was summoned here to give counsel. I gave counsel,
+but it passed over the heads of these wise ones like a shadow of which
+none took note. I was asked to prophesy of what would chance if war
+came. I called the dead from their graves; they came in voices, and one
+of them put on the flesh again and spoke from the lips of flesh. The
+white man to whom she spoke denied her who had been his love, and the
+wise ones said that she was a cheat, yes, a doll that I had dressed up
+to deceive them. This spirit that had put on flesh, told of what would
+chance in the war, if war there were, and what would chance to the
+King, but they mock at the prophecy and now they demand a sign. Come
+then, Nomkubulwana, and give them the sign if you will and let there be
+war. Or stay away and give them no sign if you will, and let there be
+peace. It is nought to me, nought to the
+Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.”
+
+Thus he rambled on, as it occurred to me who watched and listened,
+talking against time. For I observed that while he spoke a cloud was
+passing over the face of the moon, and that when he ceased speaking it
+was quite obscured by this cloud, so that the Vale of Bones was plunged
+in a deep twilight that was almost darkness. Further, in a nervous kind
+of way, he did something more to his wizard’s fire which again caused
+it to throw out a fan of smoke that hid him and the execution rock in
+front of which he sat.
+
+The cloud floated by and the moon came out as though from an eclipse;
+the smoke of the fire, too, thinned by degrees. As it melted and the
+light grew again, I became aware that something was materializing, or
+had appeared on the point of the rock above us. A few seconds later, to
+my wonder and amazement, I perceived that this something was the
+spirit-like form of a white woman which stood quite still upon the very
+point of the rock. She was clad in some garment of gleaming white cut
+low upon her breast, that may have been of linen, but from the way it
+shone, suggested that it was of glittering feathers, egrets’ for
+instance. Her ruddy hair was outspread, and in it, too, something
+glittered, like mica or jewels. Her feet and milk-hued arms were bare
+and poised in her right hand was a little spear.
+
+Nor did I see alone, since a moan of fear and worship went up from the
+Councillors. Then they grew silent and stared and stared.
+
+Suddenly Zikali lifted his head and looked at them through the thin
+flame of the fire which made his eyes shine like those of a tiger or of
+a cornered baboon.
+
+“At what do you gaze so hard, King and Councillors?” he asked. “I see
+nothing. At what then do you gaze so hard?”
+
+“On the rock above you stands a white spirit in her glory. It is the
+Inkosazana herself,” muttered Cetewayo.
+
+“Has she come then?” mocked the old wizard. “Nay, surely it is but a
+dream, or another of my tricks; some black woman painted white that I
+have smuggled here in my medicine bag, or rolled up in the blanket on
+my back. How can I prove to you that this is not another cheat like to
+that of the spirit of Mameena whom the white man, her lover, did not
+know again? Go near to her you must not, even if you could, seeing that
+if by chance she should _not_ be a cheat, you would die, every man of
+you, for woe to him whom Nomkubulwana touches. How then, how? Ah! I
+have it. Doubtless in his pocket Macumazahn yonder hides a little gun,
+Macumazahn who with such a gun can cut a reed in two at thirty paces,
+or shave the hair from the chin of a man, as is well known in the land.
+Let him then take his little gun and shoot at that which you say stands
+upon the rock. If it be a black woman painted white, doubtless she will
+fall down dead, as so many have fallen from that rock. But if it be the
+Princess of Heaven, then the bullet will pass through her or turn aside
+and she will take no harm, though whether Macumazahn will take any harm
+is more than I can say.”
+
+Now when they heard this many remained silent, but some of the peace
+party began to clamour that I should be ordered to shoot at the
+apparition. At length Cetewayo seemed to give way to this pressure. I
+say seemed, because I think he wished to give way. Whether or not a
+spirit stood before him, he knew no more than the rest, but he did know
+that unless the vision were proved to be mortal he would be driven into
+war with the English. Therefore he took the only chance that remained
+to him.
+
+“Macumazahn,” he said, “I know you have your pistol on you, for only
+the other day you brought it into my presence, and through light and
+darkness you nurse it as a mother does her firstborn. Now since the
+Opener of Roads desires it, I command you to fire at that which seems
+to stand above us. If it be a mortal woman, she is a cheat and deserves
+to die. If it be a spirit from heaven it can take no harm. Nor can you
+take harm who only do that which you must.”
+
+“Woman or spirit, I will not shoot, King,” I answered.
+
+“Is it so? What! do you defy me, White Man? Do so if you will, but
+learn that then your bones shall whiten here in this Vale of Bones.
+Yes, you shall be the first of the English to go below,” and turning,
+he whispered something to two of the Councillors.
+
+Now I saw that I must either obey or die. For a moment my mind grew
+confused in face of this awful alternative. I did not believe that I
+saw a spirit. I believed that what stood above me was Nombé cunningly
+tricked out with some native pigments which at that distance and in
+that light made her look like a white woman. For oddly enough at that
+time the truth did not occur to me, perhaps because I was too
+surprised. Well, if it were Nombé, she deserved to be shot for playing
+such a trick, and what is more her death, by revealing the fraud of
+Zikali, would perhaps avert a great war. But then why did he make the
+suggestion that I should be commanded to fire at this figure? Slowly I
+drew out my pistol and brought it to the full cock, for it was loaded.
+
+“I will obey, King,” I said, “to save myself from being murdered. But
+on your head be all that may follow from this deed.”
+
+Then it was for the first time that a new idea struck me so clearly
+that I believe it was conveyed direct from Zikali’s brain to my own. _I
+might shoot, but there was no need for me to hit._ After that
+everything grew plain.
+
+“King,” I said, “if yonder be a mortal, she is about to die. Only a
+spirit can escape my aim. Watch now the centre of her forehead, for
+there the bullet will strike!”
+
+I lifted the pistol and appeared to cover the figure with much care. As
+I did so, even from that distance I thought I saw a look of terror in
+its eyes. Then I fired, with a little jerk of the wrist sending the
+ball a good yard above her head.
+
+“She is unharmed,” cried a voice. “Macumazahn missed her.”
+
+“Macumazahn does not miss,” I replied loftily. “If that at which he
+aimed is unharmed, it is because it cannot be hit.”
+
+“_O-ho-o!_” laughed Zikali, “the White Man who does not know the taste
+of his own love’s lips, says that he has fired at that which cannot be
+hit. Let him try again. No, let him choose another target. The Spirit
+is the Spirit, but he who summoned her may still be a cheat. There is
+another bullet in your little gun, White Man; see if it can pierce the
+heart of Zikali, that the King and Council may learn whether he be a
+true prophet, the greatest of all the prophets that ever was, or
+whether he be but a common cheat.”
+
+Now a sudden rage filled me against this old rascal. I remembered how
+he had brought Mameena to her death, when he thought that it would
+serve him, and since then filled the land with stories concerning her
+and me, which met me whatever way I turned. I remembered that for years
+he had plotted to bring about the destruction of the Zulus, and to
+further his dark ends, was now engaged in causing a fearful war which
+would cost the lives of thousands. I remembered that he had trapped me
+into Zululand and then handed me over to Cetewayo, separating me from
+my friends who were in my charge, and for aught I knew, giving them to
+death. Surely the world would be well rid of him.
+
+“Have your will,” I shouted and covered him with the pistol.
+
+Then there came into my mind a certain saying—“Judge not that ye be not
+judged.” Who and what was I that I should dare to arraign and pass
+sentence upon this man who after all had suffered many wrongs? As I was
+about to fire I caught sight of some bright object flashing towards the
+king from above, and instantaneously shifted my aim and pressed the
+trigger. The thing, whatever it might be, flew in two. One part of it
+fell upon Zikali, the other part travelled on and struck Cetewayo upon
+the knee.
+
+There followed a great confusion and a cry of “The king is stabbed!” I
+ran forward to look and saw the blade of a little assegai lying on the
+ground and on Cetewayo’s knee a slight cut from which blood trickled.
+
+“It is nothing,” I said, “a scratch, no more, though had not the spear
+been stopped in its course it might have been otherwise.”
+
+“Yes,” cried Zikali, “but what was it that caused the cut? Take this,
+Sigananda, and tell me what it may be,” and he threw towards him a
+piece of red wood.
+
+Sigananda looked at it. “It is the haft of the Black One’s spear,” he
+exclaimed, “which the bullet of Macumazahn has severed from the blade.”
+
+“Aye,” said Zikali, “and the blade has drawn the blood of the Black
+One’s child. Read me this omen, Sigananda; or ask it of her who stands
+above you.”
+
+Now all looked to the rock, but it was empty. The figure had vanished.
+
+“Your word, King,” said Zikali. “Is it for peace or war?”
+
+Cetewayo looked at the assegai, looked at the blood trickling from his
+knee, looked at the faces of the councillors.
+
+“Blood calls for blood,” he moaned. “My word is—_War!_”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+KAATJE BRINGS NEWS
+
+
+Zikali burst into one of his peals of laughter, so unholy that it
+caused the blood in me to run cold.
+
+“The King’s word is _war_,” he cried. “Let Nomkubulwana take that word
+back to heaven. Let Macumazahn take it to the White Men. Let the
+captains cry it to the regiments and let the world grow red. The King
+has chosen, though mayhap, had I been he, I should have chosen
+otherwise; yet what am I but a hollow reed stuck in the ground up which
+the spirits speak to men? It is finished, and I, too, am finished for a
+while. Farewell, O King! Where shall we meet again, I wonder? On the
+earth or under it? Farewell, Macumazahn, I know where we shall meet,
+though you do not. O King, I return to my own place, I pray you to
+command that none come near me or trouble me with words, for I am
+spent.”
+
+“It is commanded,” said Cetewayo.
+
+As he spoke the fire went out mysteriously, and the wizard rose and
+hobbled off at a surprising pace round the corner of the projecting
+rock.
+
+“Stay!” I called, “I would speak with you;” but although I am sure he
+heard me, he did not stop or look round.
+
+I sprang up to follow him, but at some sign from Cetewayo two _indunas_
+barred my way.
+
+“Did you not hear the King’s command, White Man?” one of them asked
+coldly, and the tone of his question told me that war having been
+declared, I was now looked upon as a foe. I was about to answer sharply
+when Cetewayo himself addressed me.
+
+“Macumazahn,” he said, “you are now my enemy, like all your people, and
+from sunrise to-morrow morning your safe-conduct here ends, for if you
+are found at Ulundi two hours after that time, it will be lawful for
+any man to kill you. Yet as you are still my guest, I will give you an
+escort to the borders of the land. Moreover, you shall take a message
+from me to the Queen’s officers and captains. It is—that I will send an
+answer to their demands upon the point of an assegai. Yet add this,
+that not I but the English, to whom I have always been a friend, sought
+this war. If Sompseu had suffered me to fight the Boers as I wished to
+do, it would never have come about. But he threw the Queen’s blanket
+over the Transvaal and stood upon it, and now he declares that lands
+which were always the property of the Zulus, belong to the Boers.
+Therefore I take back all the promises which I made to him when he came
+hither to call me King in the Queen’s name, and no more do I call him
+my father. As for the disbanding of my _impis_, let the English disband
+them if they can. I have spoken.”
+
+“And I have heard,” I answered, “and will deliver your words
+faithfully, though I hold, King, that they come from the lips of one
+whom the Heavens have made mad.”
+
+At this bold speech some of the Councillors started up with threatening
+gestures. Cetewayo waved them back and answered quietly, “Perhaps it
+was the Queen of Heaven who stood on yonder rock who made me mad. Or
+perhaps she made me wise, as being the Spirit of our people she should
+surely do. That is a question which the future will decide, and if ever
+we should meet after it is decided, we will talk it over. Now, _hamba
+gachle!_ (go in peace).”
+
+“I hear the king and I will go, but first I would speak with Zikali.”
+
+“Then, White Man, you must wait till this war is finished or till you
+meet him in the Land of Spirits. Goza, lead Macumazahn back to his hut
+and set a guard about it. At the dawn a company of soldiers will be
+waiting with orders to take him to the border. You will go with him and
+answer for his safety with your life. Let him be well treated on the
+road as my messenger.”
+
+Then Cetewayo rose and stood while all present gave him the royal
+salute, after which he walked away down the kloof. I remained for a
+moment, making pretence to examine the blade of the little assegai that
+had been thrown by the figure on the rock, which I had picked from the
+ground. This historical piece of iron which I have no doubt is the same
+that Chaka always carried, wherewith, too, he is said to have killed
+his mother, Nandie, by the way I still possess, for I slipped it into
+my pocket and none tried to take it from me.
+
+Really, however, I was wondering whether I could in any way gain access
+to Zikali, a problem that was settled for me by a sharp request to move
+on, uttered in a tone which admitted of no further argument.
+
+Well, I trudged back to my hut in the company of Goza, who was so
+overcome by all the wonders he had seen that he could scarcely speak.
+Indeed, when I asked him what he thought of the figure that had
+appeared upon the rock, he replied petulantly that it was not given to
+him to know whence spirits came or of what stuff they were made, which
+showed me that he at any rate believed in its supernatural origin and
+that it had appeared to direct the Zulus to make war. This was all I
+wanted to find out, so I said nothing more, but gave up my mind to
+thought of my own position and difficulties.
+
+Here I was, ordered on pain of death to depart from Ulundi at the dawn.
+And yet how could I obey without seeing Zikali and learning from him
+what had happened to Anscombe and Heda, or at any rate without
+communicating with him? Once more only did I break silence, offering to
+give Goza a gun if he would take a message from me to the great wizard.
+But with a shake of his big head, he answered that to do so would mean
+death, and guns were of no good to a dead man since, as I had shown
+myself that night, they had no power to shoot a spirit.
+
+This closed the business on which I need not have troubled to enter,
+since an answer to all my questionings was at hand.
+
+We reached the hut where Goza gave me over to the guard of soldiers,
+telling their officer that none were to be permitted to enter it save
+myself and that I was not to be permitted to come out of it until he,
+Goza, came to fetch me a little before the dawn.
+
+The officer asked if any one else was to be permitted to come out, a
+question that surprised me, though vaguely, for I was thinking of other
+things. Then Goza departed, remarking that he hoped I should sleep
+better than he would, who “felt spirits in his bones and did not wish
+to kiss them as I seemed to like to do.” I replied facetiously,
+thinking of the bottle of brandy, that ere long I meant to feel them in
+my stomach, whereat he shook his head again with the air of one whom
+nothing connected with me could surprise, and vanished.
+
+I crawled into the hut and put the board over the bee-hole-like
+entrance behind me. Then I began to hunt for the matches in my pocket
+and pricked my finger with the point of Chaka’s historical assegai.
+While I was sucking it to my amazement I heard the sound of some one
+breathing on the further side of the hut. At first I thought of calling
+the guard, but on reflection found the matches and lit the candle,
+which stood by the blankets that served me as a bed. As soon as it
+burned up I looked towards the sound, and to my horror perceived the
+figure of a sleeping woman, which frightened me so much that I nearly
+dropped the candle.
+
+To tell the truth, so obsessed was I with Zikali and his ghosts that
+for a few moments it occurred to me that this might be the Shape with
+which I had talked an hour or two before. I mean that which had seemed
+to resemble the long-dead lady Mameena, or rather the person made up to
+her likeness, come here to continue our conversation. At any rate I was
+sure, and rightly, that here was more of the handiwork of Zikali who
+wished to put me in some dreadful position for reasons of his own.
+
+Pulling myself together I advanced upon the lady, only to find myself
+no wiser, since she was totally covered by a kaross. Now what was to be
+done? To escape, of which of course I had thought at once, was
+impossible since it meant an assegai in my ribs. To call to the guard
+for help seemed indiscreet, for who knew what those fools might say? To
+kick or shake her would undoubtedly be rude and, if it chanced to be
+the person who had played Mameena, would certainly provoke remarks that
+I should not care to face. There seemed to be only one resource, to sit
+down and wait till she woke up.
+
+This I did for quite a long time, till at last the absurdity of the
+position and, I will admit, my own curiosity overcame me, especially as
+I was very tired and wanted to go to sleep. So advancing most gingerly,
+I turned down the kaross from over the head of the sleeping woman, much
+wondering whom I should see, for what man is there that a veiled woman
+does not interest? Indeed, does not half the interest of woman lie in
+the fact that her nature is veiled from man, in short a mystery which
+he is always seeking to solve at his peril, and I might add, never
+succeeds in solving?
+
+Well, I turned down that kaross and next instant stepped back amazed
+and, to tell the truth, somewhat disappointed, for there, with her
+mouth open, lay no wondrous and spiritual Mameena, but the stout,
+earthly and most prosaic—Kaatje!
+
+“Confound the woman!” thought I to myself. “What is she doing here?”
+
+Then I remembered how wrong it was to give way to a sense of romantic
+disappointment at such a time, though as a matter of fact it is always
+in a moment of crisis or of strained nerves that we are most open to
+the insidious advances of romance. Also that there was no one on earth,
+or beyond it, whom I ought more greatly to have rejoiced to see. I had
+left Kaatje with Anscombe and Heda; therefore Kaatje could tell me what
+had become of them. And at this thought my heart sank—why was she here
+in this most inappropriate meeting-place, alone? Feeling that these
+were questions which must be answered at once, I prodded Kaatje in the
+ribs with my toe until, after a good deal of prodding, she awoke, sat
+up and yawned, revealing an excellent set of teeth in her cavernous,
+quarter-cast mouth. Then perceiving a man she opened that mouth even
+wider, as I thought with the idea of screaming for help. But here I was
+first with her, for before a sound could issue I had filled it full
+with the corner of the kaross, exclaiming in Dutch as I did so—
+
+“Idiot of a woman, do you not know the Heer Quatermain when you see
+him?”
+
+“Oh! Baas,” she answered, “I thought you were some wicked Zulu come to
+do me a mischief.” Then she burst into tears and sobs which I could not
+stop for at least three minutes.
+
+“Be quiet, you fat fool!” I cried exasperated, “and tell me, where are
+your mistress and the Heer Anscombe?”
+
+“I don’t know, Baas, but I hope in heaven” (Kaatje was some kind of a
+Christian), she replied between her sobs.
+
+“In heaven! What do you mean?” I asked, horrified.
+
+“I mean, Baas, that I hope they are in heaven, because when last I saw
+them they were both dead, and dead people must be either in heaven or
+hell, and heaven, they say, is better than hell.”
+
+“_Dead!_ Where did you see them dead?”
+
+“In that Black Kloof, Baas, some days after you left us and went away.
+The old baboon man who is called Zikali gave us leave through the
+witch-girl, Nombé, to go also. So the Baas Anscombe set to work to
+inspan the horses, the Missie Heda helping him, while I packed the
+things. When I had nearly finished Nombé came, smiling like a cat that
+has caught two mice, and beckoned to me to follow her. I went and saw
+the cart inspanned with the four horses all looking as though they were
+asleep, for their heads hung down. Then after she had stared at me for
+a long while Nombé led me past the horses into the shadow of the
+overhanging cliff. There I saw my mistress and the Baas Anscombe lying
+side by side quite dead.”
+
+“How do you know that they were dead?” I gasped. “What had killed
+them?”
+
+“I know that they were dead because they _were_ dead, Baas. Their
+mouths and eyes were open and they lay upon their backs with their arms
+stretched out. The witch-girl, Nombé, said some Kaffirs had come and
+strangled them and then gone away again, or so I understood who cannot
+speak Zulu so very well. Who the Kaffirs were or why they came she did
+not say.”
+
+“Then what did you do?” I asked.
+
+I ran back to the hut, Baas, fearing lest I should be strangled also,
+and wept there till I grew hungry. When I came out of it again they
+were gone. Nombé showed me a place under a tree where the earth was
+disturbed. She said that they were buried there by order of her master,
+Zikali. I don’t know what became of the horses or the cart.”
+
+“And what happened to you afterwards?”
+
+“Baas, I was kept for several days, I cannot remember how many, and
+only allowed out within the fence round the huts. Nombé came to see me
+once, bringing this,” and she produced a package sewn up in a skin.
+“She said that I was to give it to you with a message that those whom
+you loved were quite safe with One who is greater than any in the land,
+and therefore that you must not grieve for them whose troubles were
+over. I think it was two nights after this that four Zulus came, two
+men and two women, and led me away, as I thought to kill me. But they
+did not kill me; indeed they were very kind to me, although when I
+spoke to them they pretended not to understand. They took me a long
+journey, travelling for the most part in the dark and sleeping in the
+day. This evening when the sun set they brought me through a Kaffir
+town and thrust me into the hut where I am without speaking to any one.
+Here, being very tired, I went to sleep, and that is all.”
+
+And quite enough too, thought I to myself. Then I put her through a
+cross-examination, but Kaatje was a stupid woman although a good and
+faithful servant, and all her terrible experiences had not sharpened
+her intelligence. Indeed, when I pressed her she grew utterly confused,
+began to cry, thereby taking refuge in the last impregnable female
+fortification, and snivelled out that she could not bear to talk of her
+dear mistress any more. So I gave it up, and two minutes later she was
+literally snoring, being very tired, poor thing.
+
+Now I tried to think matters out as well as this disturbance would
+allow, for nothing hinders thought so much as snores. But what was the
+use of thinking? There was her story to take or to leave, and evidently
+the honest creature believed what she said. Further, how could she be
+deceived on such a point? She swore that she had seen Anscombe and Heda
+dead and afterwards had seen their graves.
+
+Moreover, there was confirmation in Nombé’s message which could not
+well have been invented, that spoke of their being well in the charge
+of a “Great One,” a term by which the Zulus designate God, with all
+their troubles finished. The reason and manner of their end were left
+unrevealed. Zikali might have murdered them for his own purposes, or
+the Zulus might have killed them in obedience to the king’s order that
+no white people in the land were to be allowed to live. Or perhaps the
+Basutos from Sekukuni’s country, with whom the Zulus had some
+understanding, had followed and done them to death; indeed the
+strangling sounded more Basuto than Zulu—if they were really strangled.
+
+Almost overcome though I was, I bethought me of the package and opened
+it, only to find another apparent proof of their end, for it contained
+Heda’s jewels as I had found them in the bag in the safe; also a spare
+gold watch belonging to Anscombe with his coat-of-arms engraved upon
+it. That which he wore was of silver and no doubt was buried with him,
+since for superstitious reasons the natives would not have touched
+anything on his person after death. This seemed to me to settle the
+matter, presumptively at any rate, since to show that robbery was not
+the cause of their murder, their most valuable possessions which were
+not upon their persons had been sent to me, their friend.
+
+So this was the end of all my efforts to secure the safety and
+well-being of that most unlucky pair. I wept when I thought of it there
+in the darkness of the hut, for the candle had burned out, and going on
+to my knees, put up an earnest prayer for the welfare of their souls;
+also that I might be forgiven my folly in leading them into such
+danger. And yet I did it for the best, trying to judge wisely in the
+light of such experience of the world as I possessed.
+
+Now alas! when I am old I have come to the conclusion that those things
+which one tries to do for the best one generally does wrong, because
+nearly always there is some tricky fate at hand to mar them, which in
+this instance was named Zikali. The fact is, I suppose, that man who
+thinks himself a free agent, can scarcely be thus called, at any rate
+so far as immediate results are concerned. But that is a dangerous
+doctrine about which I will say no more, for I daresay that he is
+engaged in weaving a great life-pattern of which he only sees the
+tiniest piece.
+
+One thing comforted me a little. If these two were dead I could now
+leave Zululand without qualms. Of course I was obliged to leave in any
+case, or die, but somehow that fact would not have eased my conscience.
+Indeed I think that had I believed they still lived, in this way or in
+that I should have tried not to leave, because I should have thought it
+for the best to stay to help them, whereby in all human probability I
+should have brought about my own death without helping them at all.
+Well, it had fallen out otherwise and there was an end. Now I could
+only hope that they had gone to some place where there are no more
+troubles, even if, at the worst, it were a place of rest too deep for
+dreams.
+
+Musing thus at last I dozed off, for I was so tired that I think I
+should have slept although execution awaited me at the dawn instead of
+another journey. I did not sleep well because of that snoring female on
+the other side of the hut whose presence outraged my sense of propriety
+and caused me to be invaded by prophetic dreams of the talk that would
+ensue among those scandalmongering Zulus. Yes, it was of this I
+dreamed, not of the great dangers that threatened me or of the terrible
+loss of my friends, perhaps because to many men, of whom I suppose I am
+one, the fear of scandal or of being the object of public notice, is
+more than the fear of danger or the smart of sorrow.
+
+So the night wore away, till at length I woke to see the gleam of dawn
+penetrating the smoke-hole and dimly illuminating the recumbent form of
+Kaatje, which to me looked most unattractive. Presently I heard a
+discreet tapping on the doorboard of the hut which I at once removed,
+wriggling swiftly through the hole, careless in my misery as to whether
+I met an assegai the other side of it or not. Without a guard of eight
+soldiers was standing, and with them Goza, who asked me if I were ready
+to start.
+
+“Quite,” I answered, “as soon as I have saddled my horse,” which by the
+way had been led up to the hut.
+
+Very soon this was done, for I brought out most of my few belongings
+with me and the bag of jewels was in my pocket. Then it was that the
+officer of the guard, a thin and melancholy-looking person, said in a
+hollow voice, addressing himself to Goza—
+
+“The orders are that the White Man’s wife is to go with him. Where is
+she?”
+
+“Where a man’s wife should be, in his hut I suppose,” answered Goza
+sleepily.
+
+Rage filled me at the words. Seldom do I remember being so angry.
+
+“Yes,” I said, “if you mean that Half-cast whom someone has thrust upon
+me, she is in there. So if she is to come with us, perhaps you will get
+her out.”
+
+Thus adjured the melancholy-looking captain, who was named Indudu,
+perhaps because he or his father had longed to the Dudu regiment,
+crawled into the hut, whence presently emerged sounds not unlike those
+which once I heard when a _ringhals_ cobra followed a hare that I had
+wounded into a hole, a muffled sound of struggling and terror. These
+ended in the sudden and violent appearance of Kaatje’s fat and
+dishevelled form, followed by that of the snakelike Indudu.
+
+Seeing me standing there before a bevy of armed Zulus, she promptly
+fell upon my neck with a cry for help, for the silly woman thought she
+was going to be killed by them. Gripping me as an octopus grips its
+prey, she proceeded to faint, dragging me to my knees beneath the
+weight of eleven stone of solid flesh.
+
+“Ah!” said one of the Zulus not unkindly, “she is much afraid for her
+husband whom she loves.”
+
+Well, I disentangled myself somehow, and seizing what I took to be a
+gourd of water in that dim light, poured it over her head, only to
+discover too late that it was not water but clotted milk. However the
+result was the same, for presently she sat up, made a dreadful-looking
+object by this liberal application of curds and whey, whereon I
+explained matters to her to the best of my power. The end of it was
+that after Indudu and Goza had wiped her down with tufts of thatch
+dragged from the hut and I had collected her gear with the rest of my
+own, we set her on the horse straddlewise, and started, the objects of
+much interest among such Zulus as were already abroad.
+
+At the gate of the town there was a delay which made me nervous, since
+in such a case as mine delay might always mean a death-warrant. I knew
+that it was quite possible Cetewayo had changed, or been persuaded to
+change his mind and issue a command that I should be killed as one who
+had seen and knew too much. Indeed this fear was my constant companion
+during all the long journey to the Drift of the Tugela, causing me to
+look askance at every man we met or who overtook us, lest he should
+prove to be a messenger of doom.
+
+Nor were these doubts groundless, for as I learned in the after days,
+the Prime Minister, Umnyamana, and others had urged Cetewayo strongly
+to kill me, and what we were waiting for at the gate were his final
+orders on the subject. However, in this matter, as in more that I could
+mention, the king played the part of a man of honour, and although he
+seemed to hesitate for reasons of policy, never had any intention of
+allowing me to be harmed. On the contrary the command brought was that
+any one who harmed Macumazahn, the king’s guest and messenger, should
+die with all his House.
+
+Whilst we tarried a number of women gathered round us whose
+conversation I could not help overhearing. One of them said to another—
+
+“Look at the white man, Watcher-by-Night, who can knock a fly off an
+ox’s horn with a bullet from further away than we could see it. He it
+was who loved and was loved by the witch Mameena, whose beauty is still
+famous in the land. They say she killed herself for his sake, because
+she declared that she would never live to grow old and ugly, so that he
+turned away from her. My mother told me all about it only last night.”
+
+Then you have a liar for a mother, thought I to myself, for to
+contradict such a one openly would have been undignified.
+
+“Is it so?” asked one of her friends, deeply interested. “Then the lady
+Mameena must have had a strange taste in men, for this one is an ugly
+little fellow with hair like the grey ash of stubble and a wrinkled
+face of the colour of a flayed skin that has lain unstretched in the
+sun. However, I have been told that witches always love those who look
+unnatural.”
+
+“Yes,” said Number one, “but you see now that he is old he has to be
+satisfied with a different sort of wife. She is not beautiful, is she,
+although she has dipped her head in milk to make herself look white?”
+
+So it went on till at length a runner arrived and whispered something
+to Indudu who saluted, showing me that it was a royal message, and
+ordered us to move. Of this I was glad, for had I stopped there much
+longer, I think I should have personally assaulted those gossiping
+female idiots.
+
+Of our journey through Zululand there is nothing particular to say. We
+saw but few people, since most of the men had been called up to the
+army, and many of the kraals seemed to be deserted by the women and
+children who perhaps were hidden away with the cattle. Once, however,
+we met an impi about five thousand strong, that seemed to cover the
+hillside like a herd of game. It consisted of the Nodwengu and the
+Nokenke regiments, both of which afterwards fought at Isandhlwana. Some
+of their captains with a small guard came to see who we were, fine,
+fierce-looking men. They stared at me curiously, and with one of them,
+whom I knew, I had a little talk. He said that I was the last white man
+in Zululand and that I was lucky to be alive, for soon these, and he
+pointed to the hordes of warriors who were streaming past, would eat up
+the English to “the last bone.” I answered that this remained to be
+seen, as the English were also great eaters, whereat he laughed,
+replying, that it was true that the white men had already taken the
+first bite—a very little one, from which I gathered that some small
+engagement had happened.
+
+“Well, farewell, Macumazahn,” he said, as he turned to go, “I hope that
+we shall meet in the battle, for I want to see if you can run as well
+as you can shoot.”
+
+This roused my temper and I answered him—
+
+“I hope for your sake that we shall not meet, for if we do I promise
+that before I run I will show you what you never saw before, the
+gateway of the world of Spirits.”
+
+I mention this conversation because by some strange chance it happened
+at Isandhlwana that I killed this man, who was named Simpofu.
+
+During all those days of trudging through hot suns and thunderstorms,
+for I had to give up the mare to Kaatje who was too fat to walk, or
+said she was, I was literally haunted by thoughts of my murdered
+friends. Heaven knows how bitterly I reproached myself for having
+brought them into Zululand. It seemed so terribly sad that these young
+people who loved each other and had so bright a future before them,
+should have escaped from a tragic past merely to be overwhelmed by such
+a fate. Again and again I questioned that lump Kaatje as to the details
+of their end and of all that went before and followed after the murder.
+
+But it was quite useless; indeed, as time went on she seemed to become
+more nebulous on the point as though a picture were fading from her
+mind. But as to one thing she was always quite clear, that she had seen
+them dead and had seen their new-made grave. This she swore “by God in
+Heaven,” completing the oath with an outburst of tears in a way that
+would have carried conviction to any jury, as it did to me.
+
+And after all, what was more likely in the circumstances? Zikali had
+killed them, or caused them to be killed; or possibly they were killed
+in spite of him in obedience to the express, or general, order of the
+king, if the deed was not done by the Basutos. And yet an idea occurred
+to me. How about the woman on the rock that the Zulus thought was their
+Princess of the Heavens? Obviously this must be nonsense, since no such
+deity existed, therefore the person must either have been a white woman
+or one painted up to resemble a white woman; seen from a distance in
+moonlight it was impossible to say which. Now, if it were a white
+woman, she might, from her shape and height and the colour of her hair,
+be Heda herself. Yet it seemed incredible that Heda, whom Kaatje had
+seen dead some days before, could be masquerading in such a part and
+make no sign of recognition to me, even when I covered her with my
+pistol, whereas that Nombé would play it was likely enough.
+
+Only then Nombé must be something of a quick-change artist since but a
+little while before she was beyond doubt personating the dead Mameena.
+If it were not so I must have been suffering from illusions, for
+certainly I seemed to see some one who looked like Mameena, and only
+Zikali, and through him Nombé, had sufficient knowledge to enable her
+to fill that role with such success. Perhaps the whole business was an
+illusion, though if so Zikali’s powers must be great indeed. But then
+how about the assegai that Nomkubulwana, or rather her effigy, had
+seemed to hold and throw, whereof the blade was at present in my
+saddle-bag. That at any rate was tangible and real, though of course
+there was nothing to prove that it had really been Chaka’s famous
+weapon.
+
+Another thing that tormented me was my failure to see Zikali. I felt as
+though I had committed a crime in leaving Zululand without doing this
+and hearing from his own lips—well, whatever he chose to tell me. I
+forget if I said that while we were waiting at the gate where those
+silly women talked so much nonsense about Mameena and Kaatje, that I
+made another effort through Goza to get into touch with the wizard, but
+quite without avail. Goza only answered what he said before, that if I
+wished to die at once I had better take ten steps towards the Valley of
+Bones, whence, he added parenthetically, the Opener of Roads had
+already departed on his homeward journey. This might or might not be
+true; at any rate I could find no possible way of coming face to face
+with him, or even of getting a message to his ear. No, I was not to
+blame; I had done all I could, and yet in my heart I felt guilty. But
+then, as cynics would, say, failure is guilt.
+
+At length we came to the ford of the Tugela, and as fortunately the
+water was just low enough, bade farewell to our escort before crossing
+to the Natal side. My parting with Goza was quite touching, for we felt
+that it partook of the nature of a deathbed adieu, which indeed it did.
+I told him and the others that I hoped their ends be easy, and that
+whether they met them by bullets or by bayonet thrusts, the wounds
+would prove quickly mortal so that they might not linger in discomfort
+or pain. Recognizing my kind thought for their true welfare they
+thanked me for it, though with no enthusiasm. Indudu, however, filled
+with the spirit of repartee, or rather of “tu quoque”, said in his
+melancholy fashion that if he and I came face to face in war, he would
+be sure to remember my words and to cut me up in the best style, since
+he could not bear to think of me languishing on a bed of sickness
+without my wife Kaatje to nurse me (they knew I was touchy about
+Kaatje). Then we shook hands and parted. Kaatje, hung round with
+paraphernalia like the White Knight in “Alice through the
+Looking-glass,” clinging to a cooking-pot and weeping tears of terror,
+faced the foaming flood upon the mare, while I grasped its tail.
+
+When we were as I judged out of assegai shot, I turned, with the water
+up to my armpits, and shouted some valedictory words.
+
+“Tell your king,” I said, “that he is the greatest fool in the world to
+fight the English, since it will bring his country to destruction and
+himself to disgrace and death, as at last, in the words of your
+proverb, ‘the swimmer goes down with the stream.’”
+
+Here, as it happened, I slipped off the stone on which I was standing
+and nearly went down with the stream myself.
+
+Emerging with my mouth full of muddy water I waited till they had done
+laughing and continued—
+
+“Tell that old rogue, Zikali, that I know he has murdered my friends
+and that when we meet again he and all who were in the plot shall pay
+for it with their lives.”
+
+Now an irritated Zulu flung an assegai, and as the range proved to be
+shorter than I thought, for it went through Kaatje’s dress, causing her
+to scream with alarm, I ceased from eloquence, and we struggled on to
+the further bank, where at length we were safe.
+
+Thus ended this unlucky trip of mine to Zululand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+ISANDHLWANA
+
+
+We had crossed the Tugela by what is known as the Middle Drift. A mile
+or so on the further side of it I was challenged by a young fellow in
+charge of some mounted natives, and found that I had stumbled into what
+was known as No. 2 Column, which consisted of a rocket battery, three
+battalions of the Native Contingent and some troops of mounted natives,
+all under the command of Colonel Durnford, R.E.
+
+After explanations I was taken to this officer’s head-quarter tent. He
+was a tall, nervous-looking man with a fair, handsome face and long
+side-whiskers. One of his arms, I remember, was supported by a sling. I
+think it had been injured in some Kaffir fighting. When I was
+introduced to him he was very busy, having, I understood from some one
+on his staff, just received orders to “operate against Matshana.”
+
+Learning that I had come from Zululand and was acquainted with the
+Zulus, he at once began to cross-examine me about Matshana, a chief of
+whom he seemed to know very little indeed. I told him what I could,
+which was not much, and before I could give him any information of real
+importance, was shown out and most hospitably entertained at luncheon,
+a meal of which I partook with gratitude in some garments that I had
+borrowed from one of the officers, while my own were set in the sun to
+dry. Well can I recall how much I enjoyed the first whisky and soda
+that I had tasted since I left “the Temple,” and the good English food
+by which it was accompanied.
+
+Presently I remembered Kaatje, whom I had left outside with some native
+women, and went to see what had happened to her. I found her finishing
+a hearty meal and engaged in conversation with a young gentleman who
+was writing in a notebook. Afterwards I discovered that he was a
+newspaper correspondent. What she told him and what he imagined, I do
+not know, but I may as well state the results at once. Within a few
+days there appeared in one of the Natal papers and, for aught I know,
+all over the earth, an announcement that Mr. Allan Quatermain, a
+well-known hunter in Zululand, after many adventures, had escaped from
+that country, “together with his favourite native wife, the only
+survivor of his extensive domestic establishment.” Then followed some
+wild details as to the murder of my other wives by a Zulu wizard called
+“Road Mender, or Sick Ass” (i.e., Opener of Roads, or Zikali), and so
+on.
+
+I was furious and interviewed the editor, a mild and apologetic little
+man, who assured me that the despatch was printed exactly as it had
+been received, as though that bettered the case. After this I commenced
+an action for libel, but as I was absent through circumstances over
+which I had no control when it came on for trial, the case was
+dismissed. I suppose the truth was that they mixed me up with a certain
+well-known white man in Zululand, who had a large “domestic
+establishment,” but however this may be, it was a long while before I
+heard the last of that “favourite native wife.”
+
+Later in the day I and Kaatje, who stuck to me like a burr, departed
+from the camp.
+
+The rest of our journey was uneventful, except for more
+misunderstandings about Kaatje, one of which, wherein a clergyman was
+concerned, was too painful to relate. At last we reached Maritzburg,
+where I deposited Kaatje in a boarding-house kept by another half-cast,
+and with a sigh of relief betook myself to the _Plough Hotel_, which
+was a long way off her.
+
+Subsequently she obtained a place as a cook at Howick, and for a while
+I saw her no more.
+
+At Maritzburg, as in duty bound, I called upon various persons in
+authority and delivered Cetewayo’s message, leaving out all Zikali’s
+witchcraft which would have sounded absurd. It did not produce much
+impression as, hostilities having already occurred, it was superfluous.
+Also no one was inclined to pay attention to the words of one who was
+neither an official nor a military officer, but a mere hunter supposed
+to have brought a native wife out of Zululand.
+
+I did, however, report the murder of Anscombe and Heda, though in such
+times this caused no excitement, especially as they were not known to
+the officials concerned with such matters. Indeed the occurrence never
+so much as got into the papers, any more than did the deaths of Rodd
+and Marnham on the borders of Sekukuni’s country. When people are
+expecting to be massacred themselves, they do not trouble about the
+past killing of others far away. Lastly, I posted Marnham’s will to the
+Pretoria bank, advising them that they had better keep it safely until
+some claim arose, and deposited Heda’s jewels and valuables in another
+branch of the same bank in Maritzburg with a sealed statement as to how
+they came into my possession.
+
+These things done, I found it necessary to turn myself to the eternal
+problem of earning my living. I am a very rich man now as I write these
+reminiscences here in Yorkshire—King Solomon’s mines made me that—but
+up to the time of my journey to Kukuana Land with my friends, Curtis
+and Good, although plenty of money passed through my hands on one
+occasion and another, little of it ever seemed to stick. In this way or
+that it was lost or melted; also I was not born one to make the best of
+his opportunities in the way of acquiring wealth. Perhaps this was good
+for me, since if I had gained the cash early I should not have met with
+the experiences, and during our few transitory years, experience is of
+more real value than cash. It may prepare us for other things beyond,
+whereas the mere possession of a bank balance can prepare us for
+nothing in a land where gold ceases to be an object of worship as it is
+here. Yet wealth is our god, not knowledge or wisdom, a fact which
+shows that the real essence of Christianity has not yet permeated human
+morals. It just runs over their surface, no more, and for every eye
+that is turned towards the divine Vision, a thousand are fixed night
+and day upon Mammon’s glittering image.
+
+Now I owned certain wagons and oxen, and just then the demand for these
+was keen. So I hired them out to the military authorities for service
+in the war, and incidentally myself with them. I drove what I
+considered a splendid bargain with an officer who wrote as many letters
+after his name as a Governor-General, but was really something quite
+humble. At least I thought it splendid until outside his tent I met a
+certain transport rider of my acquaintance whom I had always looked
+upon as a perfect fool, who told me that not half an hour before he had
+got twenty per cent. more for unsalted oxen and very rickety wagons.
+However, it did not matter much in the end as the whole outfit was lost
+at Isandhlwana, and owing to the lack of some formality which I had
+overlooked, I never recovered more than a tithe of their value. I think
+it was that I neglected to claim within a certain specified time.
+
+At last my wagons were laden with ammunition and other Government goods
+and I trekked over awful roads to Helpmakaar, a place on the Highlands
+not far from Rorke’s Drift where No. 3 Column was stationed. Here we
+were delayed awhile, I and my wagons having moved to a ford of the
+Buffalo, together with many others. It was during this time that I
+ventured to make very urgent representations to certain highly placed
+officers, I will not mention which, as to the necessity of laagering,
+that is, forming fortified camps, as soon as Zululand was entered,
+since from my intimate knowledge of its people I was sure that they
+would attack in force. These warnings of mine were received with the
+most perfect politeness and offers of gin to drink, which all transport
+riders were supposed to love, but in effect were treated with the
+contempt that they were held to deserve. The subject is painful and one
+on which I will not dwell. Why should I complain when I know that
+cautions from notable persons such as Sir Melmoth Osborn, and J. J.
+Uys, a member of one of the old Dutch fighting families, met with a
+like fate.
+
+By the way it was while I was waiting on the banks of the river that I
+came across an old friend of mine, a Zulu named Magepa, with whom I had
+fought at the battle of the Tugela. A few days later this man performed
+an extraordinary feat in saving his grandchild from death by his great
+swiftness in running, whereof I have preserved a note somewhere or
+other.
+
+Ultimately on January 11 we received our marching orders and crossed
+the river by the drift, the general scheme of the campaign being that
+the various columns were to converge upon Ulundi. The roads, if so they
+can be called, were in such a fearful state that it took us ten days to
+cover as many miles. At length we trekked over a stony nek about five
+hundred yards in width. To the right of us was a stony eminence and to
+our left, its sheer brown cliffs of rock rising like the walls of some
+cyclopean fortress, the strange, abrupt mount of Isandhlwana, which
+reminded me of a huge lion crouching above the hill-encircled plain
+beyond. At the foot of this isolated mount, whereof the aspect somehow
+filled me with alarm, we camped on the night of January 21, taking no
+precautions against attack by way of laagering the wagons. Indeed the
+last thing that seemed to occur to those in command was that there
+would be serious fighting; men marched forward to their deaths as
+though they were going on a shooting-party, or to a picnic. I even saw
+cricketing bats and wickets occupying some of the scanty space upon the
+wagons.
+
+Now I am not going to set out all the military details that preceded
+the massacre of Isandhlwana, for these are written in history. It is
+enough to say that on the night of January 21, Major Dartnell, who was
+in command of the Natal Mounted Police and had been sent out to
+reconnoitre the country beyond Isandhlwana, reported a strong force of
+Zulus in front of us. Thereon Lord Chelmsford, the General-in-Chief,
+moved out from the camp at dawn to his support, taking with him six
+companies of the 24th regiment, together with four guns and the mounted
+infantry. There were left in the camp two guns and about eight hundred
+white and nine hundred native troops, also some transport riders such
+as myself and a number of miscellaneous camp-followers. I saw him go
+from between the curtains of one of my wagons where I had made my bed
+on the top of a pile of baggage. Indeed I had already dressed myself at
+the time, for that night I slept very ill because I knew our danger,
+and my heart was heavy with fear.
+
+About ten o’clock in the morning Colonel Durnford, whom I have
+mentioned already, rode up with five hundred Natal Zulus, about half of
+whom were mounted, and two rocket tubes which, of course, were worked
+by white men. This was after a patrol had reported that they had come
+into touch with some Zulus on the left front, who retired before them.
+As a matter of fact these Zulus were foraging in the mealie fields,
+since owing to the drought food was very scarce in Zululand that year
+and the regiments were hungry. I happened to see the meeting between
+Colonel Pulleine, a short, stout man who was then in command of the
+camp, and Colonel Durnford who, as his senior officer, took it over
+from him, and heard Colonel Pulleine say that his orders were “to
+defend the camp,” but what else passed between them I do not know.
+
+Presently Colonel Durnford saw and recognized me.
+
+“Do you think the Zulus will attack us, Mr. Quatermain?” he said.
+
+“I don’t think so, Sir,” I answered, “as it is the day of the new moon
+which they hold unlucky. But to-morrow it may be different.”
+
+Then he gave certain orders, dispatching Captain George Shepstone with
+a body of mounted natives along the ridge to the left, where presently
+they came in contact with the Zulus about three miles away, and making
+other dispositions. A little later he moved out to the front with a
+strong escort, followed by the rocket battery, which ultimately
+advanced to a small conical hill on the left front, round which it
+passed, never to return again.
+
+Just before he started Colonel Durnford, seeing me still standing
+there, asked me if I would like to accompany him, adding that as I knew
+the Zulus so well I might be useful. I answered, Certainly, and called
+to my head driver, a man named Jan, to bring me my mare, the same that
+I had ridden out of Zululand, while I slipped into the wagon and, in
+addition to the beltful that I wore, filled all my available pockets
+with cartridges for my double-barrelled Express rifle.
+
+As I mounted I gave Jan certain directions about the wagon and oxen, to
+which he listened, and then to my astonishment held out his hand to me,
+saying—
+
+“Good-bye, Baas. You have been a kind master to me and I thank you.”
+
+“Why do you say that?” I asked.
+
+“Because, Baas, all the Kaffirs declare that the great Zulu _impi_ will
+be on to us in an hour or two and eat up every man. I can’t tell how
+they know it, but so they swear.”
+
+“Nonsense,” I answered, “it is the day of new moon when the Zulus don’t
+fight. Still if anything of the sort should happen, you and the other
+boys had better slip away to Natal, since the Government must pay for
+the wagons and oxen.”
+
+This I said half joking, but it was a lucky jest for Jan and the rest
+of my servants, since they interpreted it in earnest and with the
+exception of one of them who went back to get a gun, got off before the
+Zulu horn closed round the camp, and crossed the river in safety.
+
+Next moment I was cantering away after Colonel Durnford, whom I caught
+up about a quarter of a mile from the camp.
+
+Now of course I did not see all of the terrible battle that followed
+and can only tell of that part of it in which I had a share. Colonel
+Durnford rode out about three and a half miles to the left front, I
+really don’t quite know why, for already we were hearing firing on the
+top of the Nqutu Hills almost behind us, where Captain Shepstone was
+engaging the Zulus, or so I believe. Suddenly we met a trooper of the
+Natal Carabineers whose name was Whitelaw, who had been out scouting.
+He reported that an enormous _impi_ was just ahead of us seated in an
+_umkumbi_, or semi-circle, as is the fashion of the Zulus before they
+charge. At least some of them, he said, were so seated, but others were
+already advancing.
+
+Presently these appeared over the crest of the hill, ten thousand of
+them I should say, and amongst them I recognized the shields of the
+Nodwengu, the Dududu, the Nokenke and the Ingoba-makosi regiments. Now
+there was nothing to be done except retreat, for the _impi_ was
+attacking in earnest. The General Untshingwayo, together with Undabuko,
+Cetewayo’s brother, and the chief Usibebu who commanded the scouts, had
+agreed not to fight this day for the reason I have given, because it
+was that of the new moon, but circumstances had forced their hand and
+the regiments could no longer be restrained. So to the number of twenty
+thousand or more, say one-third of the total Zulu army, they hurled
+themselves upon the little English force that, owing to lack of
+generalship, was scattered here and there over a wide front and had no
+fortified base upon which to withdraw.
+
+We fell back to a donga which we held for a little while, and then as
+we saw that there we should presently be overwhelmed, withdrew
+gradually for another two miles or so, keeping off the Zulus by our
+fire. In so doing we came upon the remains of the rocket battery near
+the foot of the conical hill I have mentioned, which had been destroyed
+by some regiment that passed behind us in its rush on the camp. There
+lay all the soldiers dead, assegaied through and through, and I noticed
+that one young fellow who had been shot through the head, still held a
+rocket in his hands.
+
+Now somewhat behind and perhaps half a mile to the right of this hill a
+long, shallow donga runs across the Isandhlwana plain. This we gained,
+and being there reinforced by about fifty of the Natal Carabineers
+under Captain Bradstreet, held it for a long while, keeping off the
+Zulus by our terrible fire which cut down scores of them every time
+they attempted to advance. At this spot I alone killed from twelve to
+fifteen of them, for if the big bullet from my Express rifle struck a
+man, he did not live. Messengers were sent back to the camp for more
+ammunition, but none arrived, Heaven knows why. My own belief is that
+the reserve cartridges were packed away in boxes and could not be got
+at. At last our supply began to run short, so there was nothing to be
+done except retreat upon the camp which was perhaps half a mile behind
+us.
+
+Taking advantage of a pause in the Zulu advance which had lain down
+while waiting for reserves, Colonel Durnford ordered a retirement that
+was carried out very well. Up to that time we had lost only quite a few
+men, for the Zulu fire was wild and high and they had not been able to
+get at us with the assegai. As we rode towards the mount I observed
+that firing was going on in all directions, especially on the nek that
+connected it with the Nqutu range where Captain Shepstone and his
+mounted Basutos were wiped out while trying to hold back the Zulu right
+horn. The guns, too, were firing heavily and doing great execution.
+
+After this all grew confused. Colonel Durnford gave orders to certain
+officers who came up to him, Captain Essex was one and Lieutenant
+Cochrane another. Then his force made for their wagons to get more
+ammunition. I kept near to the Colonel and a while later found myself
+with him and a large, mixed body of men a little to the right of the
+nek which we had crossed in our advance from the river. Not long
+afterwards there was a cry of “The Zulus are getting round us!” and
+looking to the left I saw them pouring in hundreds across the ridge
+that joins Isandhlwana Mountain to the Nqutu Range. Also they were
+advancing straight on to the camp.
+
+Then the rout began. Already the native auxiliaries were slipping away
+and now the others followed. Of course this battle was but a small
+affair, yet I think that few have been more terrible, at any rate in
+modern times. The aspect of those plumed and shielded Zulus as they
+charged, shouting their war-cries and waving their spears, was awesome.
+They were mown down in hundreds by the Martini fire, but still they
+came on, and I knew that the game was up. A maddened horde of
+fugitives, mostly natives, began to flow past us over the nek, making
+for what was afterwards called Fugitives’ Drift, nine miles away, and
+with them went white soldiers, some mounted, some on foot. Mingled with
+all these people, following them, on either side of them, rushed Zulus,
+stabbing as they ran. Other groups of soldiers formed themselves into
+rough squares, on which the savage warriors broke like water on a rock.
+By degrees ammunition ran out; only the bayonet remained. Still the
+Zulus could not break those squares. So they took another counsel.
+Withdrawing a few paces beyond the reach of the bayonets, they
+overwhelmed the soldiers by throwing assegais, then rushed in and
+finished them.
+
+This was what happened to us, among whom were men of the 24th, Natal
+Carabineers and Mounted Police. Some had dismounted, but I sat on my
+horse, which stood quite still, I think from fright, and fired away so
+long as I had any ammunition. With my very last cartridge I killed the
+Captain Indudu who had been in charge of the escort that conducted me
+to the Tugela. He had caught sight of me and called out—
+
+“Now, Macumazahn, I will cut you up nicely as I promised.”
+
+He got no further in his speech, for at that moment I sent an Express
+bullet through him and his tall, melancholy figure doubled up and
+collapsed.
+
+All this while Colonel Durnford had been behaving as a British officer
+should do. Scorning to attempt flight, whenever I looked round I caught
+sight of his tall form, easy to recognize by the long fair moustaches
+and his arm in a sling, moving to and fro encouraging us to stand firm
+and die like men. Then suddenly I saw a Kaffir, who carried a big old
+smooth-bore gun, aim at him from a distance of about twenty yards, and
+fire. He went down, as I believe dead, and that was the end of a very
+gallant officer and gentleman whose military memory has in my opinion
+been most unjustly attacked. The real blame for that disaster does not
+rest upon the shoulders of either Colonel Durnford or Colonel Pulleine.
+
+After this things grew very awful. Some fled, but the most stood and
+died where they were. Oddly enough during all this time I was never
+touched. Men fell to my right and left and in front of me; bullets and
+assegais whizzed past me, yet I remained quite unhurt. It was as though
+some Power protected me, which no doubt it did.
+
+At length when nearly all had fallen and I had nothing left to defend
+myself with except my revolver, I made up my mind that it was time to
+go. My first impulse was to ride for the river nine miles away. Looking
+behind me I saw that the rough road was full of Zulus hunting down
+those who tried to escape. Still I thought I would try it, when
+suddenly there flashed across my brain the saying of whoever it was
+that personated Mameena in the Valley of Bones, to the effect that in
+the great rout of the battle I was not to join the flying but to set my
+face towards Ulundi and that if I did so I should be protected and no
+harm would come to me. I knew that all this prophecy was but a vain
+thing fondly imagined, although it was true that the battle and the
+rout had come. And yet I acted on it—why Heaven knows alone.
+
+Setting the spurs to my horse I galloped off past Isandhlwana Mount, on
+the southern slopes of which a body of the 24th were still fighting
+their last fight, and heading for the Nqutu Range. The plain was full
+of Zulus, reserves running up; also to the right of me the Ulundi and
+Gikazi divisions were streaming forward. These, or some of them, formed
+the left horn of the impi, but owing to the unprepared nature of the
+Zulu battle, for it must always be remembered that they did not mean to
+fight that day, their advance had been delayed until it was too late
+for them entirely to enclose the camp. Thus the road, if it can so be
+called, to Fugitives’ Drift was left open for a while, and by it some
+effected their escape. It was this horn, or part of it, that afterwards
+moved on and attacked Rorke’s Drift, with results disastrous to itself.
+
+For some hundreds of yards I rode on thus recklessly, because
+recklessness seemed my only chance. Thrice I met bodies of Zulus, but
+on each occasion they scattered before me, calling out words that I
+could not catch. It was as though they were frightened of something
+they saw about me. Perhaps they thought that I was mad to ride thus
+among them. Indeed I must have looked mad, or perhaps there was
+something else. At any rate I believed that I was going to win right
+through them when an accident happened.
+
+A bullet struck my mare somewhere in the back. I don’t know where it
+came from, but as I saw no Zulu shoot, I think it must have been one
+fired by a soldier who was still fighting on the slopes of the mount.
+The effect of it was to make the poor beast quite ungovernable. Round
+she wheeled and galloped at headlong speed back towards the peak,
+leaping over dead and dying and breaking through the living as she
+went. In two minutes we were rushing up its northern flank, which
+seemed to be quite untenanted, towards the sheer brown cliff which rose
+above it, for the fighting was in progress on the other side. Suddenly
+at the foot of this cliff the mare stopped, shivered and sank down
+dead, probably from internal bleeding.
+
+I looked about me desperately. To attempt the plain on foot meant
+death. What then was I to do? Glancing at the cliff I saw that there
+was a gully in it worn by thousands of years of rainfall, in which grew
+scanty bushes. Into this I ran, and finding it practicable though
+difficult, began to climb upwards, quite unnoticed by the Zulus who
+were all employed upon the further side. The end of it was that I
+reached the very crest of the mount, a patch of bare, brown rock,
+except at one spot on its southern front where there was a little
+hollow in which at this rainy season of the year herbage and ferns grew
+in the accumulated soil, also a few stunted, aloe-like plants.
+
+Into this patch I crept, having first slaked my thirst from a little
+pool of rain water that lay in a cup-like depression of the rock, which
+tasted more delicious than any nectar, and seemed to give me new life.
+Then covering myself as well as I could with grasses and dried leaves
+from the aloe plants, I lay still.
+
+Now I was right on the brink of the cliff and had the best view of the
+Isandhlwana plain and the surrounding country that can be imagined.
+From my lofty eyrie some hundreds of feet in the air, I could see
+everything that happened beneath. Thus I witnessed the destruction of
+the last of the soldiers on the slopes below. They made a gallant end,
+so gallant that I was proud to be of the same blood with them. One fine
+young fellow escaped up the peak and reached a plateau about fifty feet
+beneath me. He was followed by a number of Zulus, but took refuge in a
+little cave whence he shot three or four of them; then his cartridges
+were exhausted and I heard the savages speaking in praise of him—dead.
+I think he was the last to die on the field of Isandhlwana.
+
+The looting of the camp began; it was a terrible scene. The oxen and
+those of the horses that could be caught were driven away, except
+certain of the former which were harnessed to the guns and some of the
+wagons and, as I afterwards learned, taken to Ulundi in proof of
+victory. Then the slain were stripped and Kaffirs appeared wearing the
+red coats of the soldiers and carrying their rifles. The stores were
+broken into and all the spirits drunk. Even the medical drugs were
+swallowed by these ignorant men, with the result that I saw some of
+them reeling about in agony and others fall down and go to sleep.
+
+An hour or two later an officer who came from the direction in which
+the General had marched, cantered right into the camp where the tents
+were still standing and even the flag was flying. I longed to be able
+to warn him, but could not. He rode up to the headquarters marquee,
+whence suddenly issued a Zulu waving a great spear. I saw the officer
+pull up his horse, remain for a moment as though indecisive, then turn
+and gallop madly away, quite unharmed, though one or two assegais were
+thrown and many shots fired at him. After this considerable movements
+of the Zulus went on, of which the net result was, that they evacuated
+the place.
+
+Now I hoped that I might escape, but it was not to be, since on every
+side numbers of them crept up Isandhlwana Mountain and hid behind rocks
+or among the tall grasses, evidently for purposes of observation.
+Moreover some captains arrived on the little plateau where was the cave
+in which the soldier had been killed, and camped there. At least at
+sundown they unrolled their mats and ate, though they lighted no fire.
+
+The darkness fell and in it escape for me from that guarded place was
+impossible, since I could not see where to set my feet and one false
+step on the steep rock would have meant my death. From the direction of
+Rorke’s Drift I could hear continuous firing; evidently some great
+fight was going on there, I wondered vaguely—with what result. A little
+later also I heard the distant tramp of horses and the roll of gun
+wheels. The captains below heard it too and said one to another that it
+was the English soldiers returning, who had marched out of the camp at
+dawn. They debated one with another whether it would be possible to
+collect a force to fall upon them, but abandoned the idea because the
+regiments who had fought that day were now at a distance and too tired,
+and the others had rushed forward with orders to attack the white men
+on and beyond the river.
+
+So they lay still and listened, and I too lay still and listened, for
+on that cloudy, moonless night I could see nothing. I heard smothered
+words of command. I heard the force halt because it could not travel
+further in the gloom. Then they lay down, the living among the dead,
+wondering doubtless if they themselves would not soon be dead, as of
+course must have happened had the Zulu generalship been better, for if
+even five thousand men had been available to attack at dawn not one of
+them could have escaped. But Providence ordained it otherwise. Some
+were taken and the others left.
+
+About an hour before daylight I heard them stirring again, and when its
+first gleams came all of them had vanished over the nek of slaughter,
+with what thoughts in their hearts, I wondered, and to what fate. The
+captains on the plateau beneath had gone also, and so had the circle of
+guards upon the slopes of the mount, for I saw these depart through the
+grey mist. As the light gathered, however, I observed bodies of men
+collecting on the nek, or rather on both neks, which made it impossible
+for me to do what I had hoped, and run to overtake the English troops.
+From these I was utterly cut off. Nor could I remain longer without
+food on my point of rock, especially as I was sure that soon some Zulus
+would climb there to use it as an outlook post. So while I was still
+more or less hidden by the mist and morning shadows, I climbed down it
+by the same road that I had climbed up, and thus reached the plain. Not
+a living man, white or black, was to be seen, only the dead, only the
+dead. I was the last Englishman to stand upon the plain of Isandhlwana
+for weeks or rather months to come.
+
+Of all my experiences this was, I think, the strangest, after that
+night of hell, to find myself alone upon this field of death, staring
+everywhere at the distorted faces which on the previous morn I had seen
+so full of life. Yet my physical needs asserted themselves. I was very
+hungry, who for twenty-four hours had eaten nothing, faint with hunger
+indeed. I passed a provision wagon that had been looted by the Zulus.
+Tins of bully beef lay about, also, among a wreck of broken glass, some
+bottles of Bass’s beer which had escaped their notice. I found an
+assegai, cleaned it in the ground which it needed, and opening one of
+the tins, lay down in a tuft of grass by a dead man, or rather between
+him and some Zulus whom he had killed, and devoured its contents. Also
+I knocked the tops off a couple of the beer bottles and drank my fill.
+While I was doing this a large rough dog with a silver-mounted collar
+on its neck, I think of the sort that is called an Airedale terrier,
+came up to me whining. At first I thought it was an hyena, but
+discovering my mistake, threw it some bits of meat which it ate
+greedily. Doubtless it had belonged to some dead officer, though there
+was no name on the collar. The poor beast, which I named Lost, at once
+attached itself to me, and here I may say that I kept it till its
+death, which occurred of jaundice at Durban not long before I started
+on my journey to King Solomon’s Mines. No man ever had a more faithful
+friend and companion.
+
+When I had eaten and drunk I looked about me, wondering what I should
+do. Fifty yards away I saw a stout Basuto pony still saddled and
+bridled, although the saddle was twisted out of its proper position,
+which was cropping the grass as well as it could with the bit in its
+mouth. Advancing gently I caught it without trouble, and led it back to
+the plundered wagon. Evidently from the marks upon the saddlery it had
+belonged to Captain Shepstone’s force of mounted natives.
+
+Here I filled the large saddlebags made of buckskin with tins of beef,
+a couple more bottles of beer and a packet of _tandstickor_ matches
+which I was fortunate enough to find. Also I took the Martini rifle
+from a dead soldier, together with a score or so of cartridges that
+remained in his belt, for apparently he must have been killed rather
+early in the fight.
+
+Thus equipped I mounted the pony and once more bethought me of escaping
+to Natal. A look towards the nek cured me of that idea, for coming over
+it I saw the plumed heads of a whole horde of warriors. Doubtless these
+were returning from the unsuccessful attack on Rorke’s Drift, though of
+that I knew nothing at the time. So whistling to the dog I bore to the
+left for the Nqutu Hills, riding as fast as the rough ground would
+allow, and in half an hour was out of sight of that accursed plain.
+
+One more thing too I did. On its confines I came across a group of dead
+Zulus who appeared to have been killed by a shell. Dismounting I took
+the headdress of one of them and put it on, for I forgot to say that I
+had lost my hat. It was made of a band of otterskin from which rose
+large tufts of the black feathers of the finch which the natives call
+_sakabula_. Also I tied his kilt of white oxtails about my middle,
+precautions to which I have little doubt I owe my life, since from a
+distance they made me look like a Kaffir mounted on a captured pony.
+
+Then I started on again, whither I knew not.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+ALLAN AWAKES
+
+
+Now I have no intention of setting down all the details of that
+dreadful journey through Zululand, even if I could recall them, which,
+for a reason to be stated, I cannot do. I remember that at first I
+thought of proceeding to Ulundi with some wild idea of throwing myself
+on the mercy of Cetewayo under pretence that I brought him a message
+from Natal. Within a couple of hours, however, from the top of a hill I
+saw ahead of me an _impi_ and with it captured wagons, which was
+evidently heading for the king’s kraal. So as I knew what kind of a
+greeting these warriors would give me, I bore away in another direction
+with the hope of reaching the border by a circuitous route. In this too
+I had no luck, since presently I caught sight of outposts stationed
+upon rocks, which doubtless belonged to another _impi_ or regiment.
+Indeed one soldier, thinking from my dress that I also was a Zulu,
+called to me for news from about half a mile away, in that peculiar
+carrying voice which Kaffirs can command. I shouted back something
+about victory and that the white men were wiped out, then put an end to
+the conversation by vanishing into a patch of dense bush.
+
+It is a fact that after this I have only the dimmest recollection of
+what happened. I remember off-saddling at night on several occasions. I
+remember being very hungry because all the food was eaten and the dog,
+Lost, catching a bush buck fawn, some of which I partially cooked on a
+fire of dead wood, and devoured. Next I remember—I suppose this was a
+day or two later—riding at night in a thunderstorm and a particularly
+brilliant flash of lightning which revealed scenery that seemed to be
+familiar to me, after which came a shock and total unconsciousness.
+
+At length my mind returned to me. It was reborn very slowly and with
+horrible convulsions, out of the womb of death and terror. I saw blood
+flowing round me in rivers, I heard the cries of triumph and of agony.
+I saw myself standing, the sole survivor, on a grey field of death, and
+the utter loneliness of it ate into my soul, so that with all its
+strength it prayed that it might be numbered in this harvest. But oh!
+it was so strong, that soul which could not, would not die or fly away.
+So strong, that then, for the first time, I understood its immortality
+and that it could _never_ die. This everlasting thing still clung for a
+while to the body of its humiliation, the mass of clay and nerves and
+appetites which it was doomed to animate, and yet knew its own
+separateness and eternal individuality. Striving to be free of earth,
+still it seemed to walk the earth, a spirit and a shadow, aware of the
+hatefulness of that to which it was chained, as we might imagine some
+lovely butterfly to be that is fated by nature to suck its strength
+from carrion, and remains unable to soar away into the clean air of
+heaven.
+
+Something touched my hand and I reflected dreamily that if I had been
+still alive, for in a way I believed that I was dead, I should have
+thought it was a dog’s tongue. With a great effort I lifted my arm,
+opened my eyes and looked at the hand against the light, for there was
+light, to see it was so thin that this light shone through between the
+bones. Then I let it fall again, and lo! it rested on the head of a dog
+which went on licking it.
+
+A dog! What dog? Now I remembered; one that I had found on the field of
+Isandhlwana. Then I must be still alive. The thought made me cry, for I
+could feel the tears run down my cheeks, not with joy but with sorrow.
+I did not wish to go on living. Life was too full of struggle and of
+bloodshed and bereavement and fear and all horrible things. I was
+prepared to exchange my part in it just for rest, for the blessing of
+deep, unending sleep in which no more dreams could come, no more cups
+of joy could be held to thirsting lips, only to be snatched away.
+
+I heard something shuffling towards me at which the dog growled, then
+seemed to slink away as though it were afraid. I opened my eyes again,
+looked, and closed them once more in terror, for what I saw suggested
+that perhaps I was dead after all and had reached that hell which a
+certain class of earnest Christian promises to us as the reward of the
+failings that Nature and those who begat us have handed on to us as a
+birth doom. It was something unnatural, grey-headed, terrific—doubtless
+a devil come to torment me in the inquisition vaults of Hades. Yet I
+had known the like when I was alive. How had it been called? I
+remembered, “The-thing-that-never-should-have-been-born.” Hark! It was
+speaking in that full deep voice which was unlike to any other.
+
+“Greeting, Macumazahn,” it said. “I see that you have come back from
+among the dead with whom you have been dwelling for a moon and more. It
+is not wise of you, Macumazahn, yet I am glad who have matched my skill
+against Death and won, for now you will have much to tell me about his
+kingdom.”
+
+So it was Zikali—Zikali who had butchered my friends.
+
+“Away from me, murderer!” I said faintly, “and let me die, or kill me
+as you did the others.”
+
+He laughed, but very softly, not in his usual terrific fashion,
+repeating the word “murderer” two or three times. Then with his great
+hand he lifted my head gently as a woman might, saying—
+
+“Look before you, Macumazahn.”
+
+I looked and saw that I was in some kind of a cave. Outside the sun was
+setting and against its brightness I perceived two figures, a white man
+and a white woman who were walking hand in hand and gazing into each
+other’s eyes. They were Anscombe and Heda passing the mouth of the
+cave.
+
+“Behold the murdered, O Macumazahn, dealer of hard words.”
+
+“It is only a trick,” I murmured. “Kaatje saw them dead and buried.”
+
+“Yes, yes, I forgot. The fat fool-woman saw them dead and buried. Well,
+sometimes the dead come to life again and for good purpose, as you
+should know, Macumazahn, who followed the counsel of a certain Mameena
+and wandered here instead of rushing onto the Zulu spears.”
+
+I tried to think the thing out and could not, so only asked—
+
+“How did I come? What happened to me?”
+
+“I think the sun smote you first who had no covering on your head and
+the lightning smote you afterwards. Yet all the while that reason had
+left you, One led your horse and after the Heavens had tried to kill
+you and failed, perhaps because my magic was too strong for them, One
+sent that beast which you found, yes, sent it here to lead us to where
+you lay. There you were discovered and brought hither. Now sleep lest
+you should go further than even I can fetch you back again.”
+
+He held his hands above my head, seeming to grow in stature till his
+white hair touched the roof of the cave, and in an instant I fancied
+that I was falling away, deep, deep into a gulf of nothingness.
+
+There followed another period of dreaming, in which dreams I seemed to
+meet all sorts of people, dead and living, especially Lady Ragnall, a
+friend of mine with whom I had been concerned in a very strange
+adventure among the Kendah people[1] and with whom in days to come I
+was destined to be concerned again, although of course I knew nothing
+of this, in a still stranger adventure of what I may call a spiritual
+order, which I may or may not try to reduce to writing. It seemed to me
+that I was constantly dining with her _tête-à-tête_ and that she told
+me all sorts of queer things between the courses. Doubtless these
+illusions occurred when I was fed.
+
+ [1] See the book called _The Ivory Child._—EDITOR.
+
+
+At length I woke up again, feeling much stronger, and saw the dog,
+Lost, watching me with its great tender eyes—oh! they talk of the eyes
+of women, but are they ever as beautiful as those of a loving dog? It
+lay by my low bed-stead, a rough affair fashioned of poles and strung
+with rimpis or strings of raw hide, and by it, stroking its head, sat
+the witch-doctoress, Nombé. I remember how pleasing she looked, a
+perfect type of the eternal feminine with her graceful, rounded shape
+and her continual, mysterious smile which suggested so much more than
+any mortal woman has to give.
+
+“Good-day to you, Macumazahn,” she said in her gentle voice, “you have
+gone through much since last we met on the night before Goza took you
+away to Ulundi.”
+
+Now remembering all, I was filled with indignation against this little
+humbug.
+
+“The last time we met, Nombé,” I said, “was when you played the part of
+a woman who is dead in the Vale of Bones by the king’s kraal.”
+
+She regarded me with a kindly commiseration, and answered, shaking her
+head—
+
+“You have been very ill, Macumazahn, and your spirit still tricks you.
+I played the part of no woman in any valley by the king’s kraal, nor
+were my eyes rejoiced with the sight of you there or elsewhere till
+they brought you to this place, so changed that I should scarcely have
+known you.”
+
+“You little liar!” I said rudely.
+
+“Do the white people always name those liars who tell them true things
+they cannot understand?” she inquired with a sweet innocence. Then
+without waiting for an answer, she patted my hand as though I were a
+fretful child and gave me some soup in a gourd, saying, “Drink it, it
+is good. The lady Heddana made it herself in the white man’s fashion.”
+
+I drank the soup, which _was_ very good, and as I handed back the
+gourd, answered—
+
+“Kaatje has told me that the lady Heddana is dead. Can the dead make
+soup?”
+
+She considered the point while she threw some bits of meat out of the
+bottom of the gourd to the dog, Lost, then replied—
+
+“I do not know, Macumazahn, or indeed whether the dead eat as we do.
+Next time my Spirit visits me I will make inquiry and tell you the
+answer. But I do know that it is very strange that you, who always turn
+your back upon the truth, are so ready to accept falsehoods. Why should
+you believe that the lady Heddana is dead just because Kaatje told you
+so, when I who am still alive had sworn to you that I would protect her
+with my life? Nay, speak no more now. To-morrow if you are well enough
+you shall see and judge for yourself.”
+
+She drew up the kaross over me, again patted my hand in her motherly
+fashion and departed, still smiling, after which I went to sleep again,
+so dreamlessly that I think there was some native soporific in that
+soup.
+
+On the following day two of Zikali’s servants who did the rougher work
+of my sick room, if I may so call it, arrived and said that they were
+going to carry me out of the cave for a while, if that were my will. I
+who longed to breathe the fresh air again, said that it was very much
+my will, whereon they grasped the rough bedstead which I have described
+by either end and very carefully bore me down the cave and through its
+narrow entrance, where they set the bedstead in the shadow of the
+overhanging rock without. When I had recovered a little, for even that
+short journey tired me, I looked about me and perceived that as I had
+expected, I was in the Black Kloof, for there in front of me were the
+very huts which we had occupied on our arrival from Swazi-Land.
+
+I lay a while drawing in the sweet air which to me was like a draught
+of nectar, and wondering whether I were not still in a dream. For
+instance, I wondered if I had truly seen the figures of Anscombe and
+Heda pass the mouth of the cave, on that day when I awoke, or if these
+were but another of Zikali’s illusions imprinted on my weakened mind by
+his will power. For of what he and Nombé told me I believed nothing.
+Thus marvelling I fell into a doze and in my doze heard whisperings. I
+opened my eyes and lo! there before me stood Anscombe and Heda. It was
+she who spoke the first, for I was tongue-tied; I could not open my
+lips.
+
+“Dear Mr. Quatermain, dear Mr. Quatermain!” she murmured in her sweet
+voice, then paused.
+
+Now at last words came to me. “I thought you were both dead,” I said.
+“Tell me, are you really alive?”
+
+She bent down and kissed my brow, while Anscombe took my hand.
+
+“Now you know,” she answered. “We are both of us alive and well.”
+
+“Thank God!” I exclaimed. “Kaatje swore that she saw you dead and
+buried.”
+
+“One sees strange things in the Black Kloof,” replied Anscombe speaking
+for the first time, “and much has happened to us since we were parted,
+to which you are not strong enough to listen now. When you are better,
+then we will tell you all. So grow well as soon as you can.”
+
+After this I think I fainted, for when I came to myself again I was
+back in the cave.
+
+Another ten days or so went by before I could even leave my bed, for my
+recovery was very slow. Indeed for weeks I could scarcely walk at all,
+and six whole months passed before I really got my strength again and
+became as I used to be. During those days I often saw Anscombe and
+Heda, but only for a few minutes at a time. Also occasionally Zikali
+would visit me, speaking a little, generally about past history, or
+something of the sort, but never of the war, and go away. At length one
+day he said to me—
+
+“Macumazahn, now I am sure you are going to live, a matter as to which
+I was doubtful, even after you seemed to recover. For, Macumazahn, you
+have endured three shocks, of which to-day I am not afraid to talk to
+you. First there was that of the battle of Isandhlwana where you were
+the last white man left alive.”
+
+“How do you know that, Zikali?” I asked.
+
+“It does not matter. I do know. Did you not ride through the Zulus who
+parted this way and that before you, shouting what you could not
+understand? One of them you may remember even saluted with his spear.”
+
+“I did, Zikali. Tell me, why did they behave thus, and what did they
+shout?”
+
+“I shall not tell you, Macumazahn. Think over it for the rest of your
+life and conclude what you choose; it will not be so wonderful as the
+truth. At least they did so, as a certain doll I dressed up yonder in
+the Vale of Bones told you they would, she whose advice you followed in
+riding towards Ulundi instead of back to the river where you would have
+met your death, like so many others of the white people.”
+
+“Who was that doll, Zikali?”
+
+“Nay, ask me not. Perhaps it was Nombé, perhaps another. I have
+forgotten. I am very old and my memory begins to play me strange
+tricks. Still I recollect that she was a good doll, so like a dead
+woman called Mameena that I could scarcely have known them apart. Ah!
+that was a great game I played in the Vale of Bones, was it not,
+Macumazahn?”
+
+“Yes, Zikali, yet I do not understand why it was played.”
+
+“Being so young you still have the impatience of youth, Macumazahn,
+although your hair grows white. Wait a while and you will understand
+all. Well, you lay that night on the topmost rock of Isandhlwana, and
+there you saw and heard strange things. You heard the rest of the white
+soldiers come and lie down to rest among their dead brothers, and
+depart again unharmed. Oh! what fools are these Zulu generals nowadays.
+They send out an _impi_ to attack men behind walls, spears against
+rifles, and are defeated. Had they kept that _impi_ to fall on the rest
+of the English when they walked into the trap, not a man of your people
+would have been left alive. Would that have happened in the time of
+Chaka?”
+
+“I think not, Zikali. Still I am glad that it did happen.”
+
+“I think not too, Macumazahn, but small men, small wit. Also like you I
+am glad that it did not happen, since it is the Zulus I hate, not the
+English who have now learned a lesson and will not be caught again. Oh!
+many a captain in Zululand is to-day flat as a pricked bladder, and
+even their victory, as they call it, cost them dear. For, mind you,
+Macumazahn, for every white man they killed two of them died. So, so!
+In the morning you left the hill—do not look astonished, Macumazahn.
+Perhaps those captains on the rock beneath you let you go for their own
+purposes, or because they were commanded, for though weak I can still
+lift a stone or two, Macumazahn, and afterwards told me all about it.
+Then you found yourself alone among the dead, like the last man in the
+world, Macumazahn, and that dog at your side, also a horse came to you.
+Perhaps I sent them, perhaps it was a chance. Who knows? Not I myself,
+for as I have said, my memory has grown so bad. That was your first
+shock, Macumazahn, the shock of standing alone among the dead like the
+last man in the world. You felt it, did you not?”
+
+“As I hope I shall never feel anything again. It nearly drove me mad,”
+I answered.
+
+“Very nearly indeed, though I have felt worse things and only laughed,
+as I would tell you, had I the time. Well, then the sun struck you, for
+at this season of the year it is very hot in those valleys for a white
+man with no covering to his head, and you went quite mad, though
+fortunately the dog and the horse remained as Heaven had made them.
+That was the second shock. Then the storm burst and the lightning fell.
+It ran down the rifle that you still carried, Macumazahn. I will show
+it to you and you will see that its stock is shattered. Perhaps I
+turned the flash aside, for I am a great thunder-herd, or perhaps it
+was One mightier than I. That was the third shock, Macumazahn. Then you
+were found, still living—how, the white man, your friend, will tell
+you. But you should cherish that dog of yours, Macumazahn, for many a
+man might have served you worse. And being strong, though small, or
+perhaps because you still have work left to do in the world before you
+leave it for a while, you have lived through all these things and will
+in time recover, though not yet.”
+
+“I hope so, Zikali, though on the whole I am not sure that I wish to
+recover.”
+
+“Yes, you do, Macumazahn, because the religion of you white men makes
+you fear death and what may come after it. You think of what you call
+your sins and are afraid lest you should be tortured because of them,
+not understanding that the spirit must be judged not by what the flesh
+has done but by what the spirit desired to do, by _will_ not by _deed,_
+Macumazahn. The evil man is he who wishes to do evil, not he who wishes
+to do good and falls now and again into evil. Oh! I have hearkened to
+your white teachers and I know, I know.”
+
+“Then by your own standard you are evil, Zikali, since you wished to
+bring about war, and not in vain.”
+
+“Oho! Macumazahn, you think that, do you, who cannot understand that
+what seems to be evil is often good. I wished to bring about war and
+brought it about, and maybe what bred the wish was all that I have
+suffered in the past. But say you, who have seen what the Zulu Power
+means, who have seen men, women and children killed by the thousand to
+feed that Power, and who have seen, too, what the English Power means,
+is it evil that I should wish to destroy the House of the Zulu kings
+that the English House may take its place and that in a time to come
+the Black people may be free?”
+
+“You are clever, Zikali, but it is of your own wrongs that you think.
+How about that skull which you kissed in the Vale of Bones?”
+
+“Mayhap, Macumazahn, but my wrongs are the wrongs of a nation,
+therefore I think of the nation, and at least I do not fear death like
+you white men. Now hearken. Presently your friends will tell you a
+story. The lady Heddana will tell you how I made use of her for a
+certain purpose, for which purpose indeed I drew the three of you into
+Zululand, because without her I could not have brought about this war
+into which Cetewayo did not wish to enter. When you have heard that
+story, do not judge me too hardly, Macumazahn, who had a great end to
+gain.”
+
+“Yet whatever the story may be, I do judge you hardly, Zikali, who
+tormented me with a false tale, causing the woman Kaatje to lie to me
+and swear that she saw these two dead before her—how I know not.”
+
+“She did not lie to you, Macumazahn. Has not such a one as I the power
+to make a fat fool think that she saw what she did not see? As to how!
+How did I make you think in yonder hut of mine that you saw what you
+did not see—perhaps.”
+
+“But why did you mock me in this fashion, Zikali?”
+
+“Truly, Macumazahn, you are blind as a bat in sunlight. When your
+friends have told you the story, you will understand why. Yet I admit
+to you that things went wrong. You should have heard that tale _before_
+Cetewayo brought you to the Vale of Bones. But the fool-woman delayed
+and blundered, and when she reached Ulundi the gates were shut against
+her as a spy, and not opened till too late, so that you only found her
+when you returned from the Council. I knew this, and that was why I
+dared to bid you fire at that which stood upon the rock. Had you heard
+Kaatje’s tale you might have aimed straight, as also you would have
+certainly shot straight at me, out of revenge for the deaths of those
+you loved, Macumazahn, though whether you could have killed me before
+all the game is played is another matter. As it was, I was sure that
+you would not pierce the heart of one who _might_ be a certain white
+woman, sure also that you would not pierce my heart whose death _might_
+bring about her death and that of another.”
+
+“You are very subtle, Zikali,” I said in astonishment.
+
+“So you hold because I am very simple, who understand the spirit of
+man—and some other things. For the rest, had you not believed that
+these two were dead, you would never have left Zululand. You would have
+tried to escape to get to them and have been killed. Is it not so?”
+
+“Yes, I think I should have tried, Zikali. But why did you keep them
+prisoner?”
+
+“For the same reason that I still keep them—and you—to hold them back a
+while from the world of ghosts. Had I sent them away after that night
+of the declaration of war, they would have been killed before they had
+gone an hour’s journey. Oh! I am not so bad as you think, Macumazahn,
+and I never break my word. Now I have done.”
+
+“How goes the war?” I asked as he shuffled to his feet.
+
+“As it must go, very ill for the Zulus. They have driven back the white
+men who gather strength from over the Black Water and will come on
+presently and wipe them out. Umnyamana would have had Cetewayo invade
+Natal and sweep it clean, as of course he should have done. But I sent
+him word that if he did so Nomkubulwana, yes, she and no other, had
+told me that all the spirits would be against him, and he hearkened.
+When next you think me wicked, remember that, Macumazahn. Now it is but
+a matter of time, and here you must bide till all is finished. That
+will be good for you who need rest, though the other two find it
+wearisome. Still for them it is good also to watch the fruit ripen on
+their tree of love. It will be the sweeter when they eat it,
+Macumazahn, and teach them how to live together. _Oho! Oho-ho!_” and he
+shambled off.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+HEDA’S TALE
+
+
+That evening when I was lying on my bed outside the cave, I heard the
+tale of Anscombe and Heda. Up to a certain point he told it, then she
+went on with the story.
+
+“On the morning after our arrival at this place, Allan,” said Anscombe,
+“I woke up to find you gone from the hut. As you did not come back I
+concluded that you were with Zikali, and walked about looking for you.
+Then food was brought to us and Heda and I breakfasted together, after
+which we went to where we heard the horses neighing and found that
+yours was gone. Returning, much frightened, we met Nombé, who gave me
+your note which explained everything, and we inquired of her why this
+had been done and what was to become of us. She smiled and answered
+that we had better ask the first question of the king and the second of
+her master Zikali, and in the meanwhile be at peace since we were quite
+safe.
+
+“I tried to see Zikali but could not. Then I went to inspan the horses
+with the idea of following you, only to find that they were gone.
+Indeed I have not seen them from that day to this. Next we thought of
+starting on foot, for we were quite desperate. But Nombé intervened and
+told us that if we ventured out of the Black Kloof we should be killed.
+In short we were prisoners.
+
+“This went on for some days, during which we were well treated but
+could not succeed in seeing Zikali. At length one morning he sent for
+us and we were taken to the enclosure in front of his hut, Kaatje
+coming with us as interpreter. For a while he sat still, looking very
+grim and terrible. Then he said—
+
+“‘White Chief and Lady, you think ill of me because Macumazahn has gone
+and you are kept prisoners here, and before all is done you will think
+worse. Yet I counsel you to trust me since everything that happens is
+for your good.’
+
+“At this point Heda, who, as you know, talked Zulu fairly well, though
+not so well as she does now, broke in, and said some very angry things
+to him.”
+
+“Yes,” interrupted Heda. “I told him that he was a liar and I believed
+that he had murdered you and meant to murder us.”
+
+“He listened stonily,” continued Anscombe, “and answered, ‘I perceive,
+Lady Heddana, that you understand enough of our tongue to enable me to
+talk to you; therefore I will send away this half-breed woman, since
+what I have to say is secret.’
+
+“Then he called servants by clapping his hands and ordered them to
+remove Kaatje, which was done.
+
+“‘Now, Lady Heddana,’ he said, speaking very slowly so that Heda might
+interpret to me and repeating his words whenever she did not
+understand, ‘I have a proposal to make to you. For my own ends it is
+necessary that you should play a part and appear before the king and
+the Council as the goddess of this land who is called the Chieftainess
+of Heaven, which goddess is always seen as a white woman. Therefore you
+must travel with me to Ulundi and there do those things which I shall
+tell you.’
+
+“‘And if I refuse to play this trick,’ said Heda, ‘what then?’
+
+“‘Then, Lady Heddana, this white lord whom you love and who is to be
+your husband will—die—and after he is dead you must still do what I
+desire of you, or—die also.’
+
+“‘Would he come with me to Ulundi?’ asked Heda.
+
+“‘Not so, Lady. He would stay here under guard, but quite safe, and you
+will be brought back to him, safe. Choose now, with death on the one
+hand and safety on the other. I would sleep a little. Talk the matter
+over in your own tongue and when it is settled awaken me again,’ and he
+shut his eyes and appeared to go to sleep.
+
+“So we discussed the situation, if you can call it discussion when we
+were both nearly mad. Heda wished to go. I begged her to let me be
+killed rather than trust herself into the hands of this old villain.
+She pointed out that even if I were killed, which she admitted might
+not happen, she would still be in his hands whence she could only
+escape by her own death, whereas if she went there was a chance that we
+might both continue to live, and that after all death was easy to find.
+So in the end I gave way and we woke up Zikali and told him so.
+
+“He seemed pleased and spoke to us gently, saying, ‘I was sure that
+wisdom dwelt behind those bright eyes of yours, Lady, and again I
+promise you that neither you nor the lord your lover shall come to any
+harm. Also that in payment I and my child, Nombé, will protect you even
+with our lives, and further, that I will bring back your friend,
+Macumazahn, to you, though not yet. Now go and be happy together. Nombé
+will tell the lady Heddana when she is to start. Of all this say
+nothing on your peril to the woman Kaatje, since if you do, it will be
+necessary that she should be made silent. Indeed, lest she should learn
+something, to-morrow I shall send her on to await you at Ulundi,
+therefore be not surprised if you see her go, and take no heed of aught
+she may say in going. Nombé, my child, will fill her place as servant
+to the lady Heddana and sleep with her at night that she may not be
+lonely or afraid.’
+
+“Then he clapped his hands again and servants came and conducted us
+back to the huts. And now, Allan, Heda will go on with the story.”
+
+“Well, Mr. Quatermain,” she said, “nothing more happened that day which
+we spent with bursting hearts. Kaatje did not question us as to what
+the witch-doctor had said after she was sent away. Indeed I noticed
+that she was growing very stupid and drowsy, like a person who has been
+drugged, as I daresay she was, and would insist upon beginning to pack
+up the things in a foolish kind of way, muttering something about our
+trekking on the following day. The night passed as usual, Kaatje
+sleeping very heavily by my side and snoring so much” (here I groaned
+sympathetically) “that I could get little rest. On the next morning
+after breakfast as the huts were very hot, Nombé suggested that we
+should sit under the shadow of the overhanging rock, just where we are
+now. Accordingly we went, and being tired out with all our troubles and
+bad nights, I fell into a doze, and so, I think, did Maurice, Nombé
+sitting near to us and singing all the while, a very queer kind of
+song.
+
+“Presently, through my doze as it were, I saw Kaatje approaching. Nombé
+went to meet her, still singing, and taking her hand, led her to the
+cart, where they seemed to talk to the horses, which surprised me as
+there were no horses. Then she brought her round the cart and pointed
+to us, still singing. Now Kaatje began to weep and throw her hands
+about, while Nombé patted her on the shoulder. I tried to speak to her
+but could not. My tongue was tied, why I don’t know, but I suppose
+because I was really asleep, and Maurice also was asleep and did not
+wake at all.”
+
+“Yes,” said Anscombe, “I remember nothing of all this business.”
+
+“After a while Kaatje went away, still weeping, and then I fell asleep
+in earnest and did not wake until the sun was going down, when I roused
+Maurice and we both went back to the hut, where I found that Nombé had
+cooked our evening meal. I looked for Kaatje, but could not find her.
+Also in searching through my things I missed the bag of jewels. I
+called to Nombé and asked where Kaatje was, whereon she smiled and said
+that she had gone away, taking the bag with her. This pained me, for I
+had always found Kaatje quite honest—”
+
+“Which she is,” I remarked, “for those jewels are now in a bank at
+Maritzburg.”
+
+Heda nodded and went on, “I am glad to hear it; indeed, remembering
+what Zikali had said, I never really suspected her of being a thief,
+but thought it was all part of some plan. After this things went on as
+before, except that Nombé took Kaatje’s place and was with me day and
+night. Of Kaatje’s disappearance she would say nothing. Zikali we did
+not see.
+
+“On the third evening after the vanishing of Kaatje, Nombé came and
+said that I must make ready for a journey, and while she spoke men
+arrived with a litter that had grass mats hung round it. Nombé brought
+out my long cape and put it over me, also a kind of veil of white stuff
+which she threw over my head, so as to hide my face. I think it was
+made out of one of our travelling mosquito nets. Then she said I must
+say good-bye to Maurice for a while. There was a scene as you may
+imagine. He grew angry and said that he would come with me, whereon
+armed men appeared, six of them, and pushed him away with the handles
+of their spears. In another minute I was lifted into the litter which
+Nombé entered with me, and so we were parted, wondering if we should
+ever see each other more. At the mouth of the kloof I saw another
+litter surrounded by a number of Zulus, which Nombé said contained
+Zikali.
+
+“We travelled all that night and two succeeding nights, resting during
+the day in deserted kraals that appeared to have been made ready for
+us. It was a strange journey, for although the armed men flitted about
+us, neither they nor the bearers ever spoke, nor did I see Zikali, or
+indeed any one else. Only Nombé comforted me from time to time, telling
+me there was nothing to fear. Towards dawn on the third night we
+travelled over some hills and I was put into a new hut and told that my
+journey was done as we had reached a place near Ulundi.
+
+“I slept most of the following day, but after I had eaten towards
+evening, Zikali crept into the hut, just as a great toad might do, and
+squatted down in front of me.
+
+“‘Lady,’ he said, ‘listen. To-night, perhaps one hour after sundown,
+perhaps two, perhaps three, Nombé will lead you, dressed in a certain
+fashion, from this hut. See now, outside of it there is a tongue of
+rock up which you may climb unnoted by the little path that runs
+between those big stones. Look,’ and he showed me the place through the
+door-hole. ‘The path ends on a flat boulder at the end of the rock.
+There you will take your stand, holding in your right hand a little
+assegai which will be given to you. Nombé will not accompany you to the
+rock, but she will crouch between the stones at the head of the path
+and perhaps from time to time whisper to you what to do. Thus when she
+tells you, you must throw the little spear into the air, so that it
+falls among a number of men gathered in debate who will be seated about
+twenty paces from the rock. For the rest you are to stand quite still,
+saying nothing and showing no alarm whatever you may hear or see. Among
+the men before you may be your friend, Macumazahn, but you must not
+appear to recognize him, and if he speaks to you, you must make no
+answer. Even if he should seem to shoot at you, do not be afraid. Do
+you understand? If so, repeat what I have told you.’ I obeyed him and
+asked what would happen if I did not do these things, or some of them.
+
+“He answered, ‘You will be killed, Nombé will be killed, the lord
+Mauriti your lover will be killed, and your friend Macumazahn will be
+killed. Perhaps even I shall be killed and we will talk the matter over
+in the land of ghosts.’
+
+“On hearing this I said I would do my best to carry out his orders, and
+after making me repeat them once more, he went away. Later, Nombé
+dressed me up as you saw me, Mr. Quatermain, put some glittering powder
+into my hair and touched me beneath the eyes with a dark kind of
+pigment. Also she gave me the little spear and made me practise
+standing quite still with it raised in my right hand, telling me that
+when I heard her say the word 'Throw,’ I was to cast it into the air.
+Then the moon rose and we heard men talking at a distance. At last some
+one came to the hut and whispered to Nombé, who led me out to the
+little path between the rocks.
+
+“This must have been nearly two hours after I heard the men begin to
+talk—”
+
+“Excuse me,” I interrupted, “but where was Nombé all those two hours?”
+
+“With me. She never left my side, Mr. Quatermain, and while I was on
+the rock she was crouched within three paces of me between two big
+stones at the mouth of the path.”
+
+“Indeed,” I replied faintly, “this is very interesting. Please
+continue—but one word, how was Nombé dressed? Did she wear a necklace
+of blue beads?”
+
+“Just as she always is, or rather less so, for she had nothing on
+except her moocha, and certainly no blue beads. But why do you ask?”
+
+“From curiosity merely. I mean, I will tell you afterwards, pray go
+on.”
+
+“Well, I stepped forward on to the rock and at first saw nothing,
+because at that moment the moon was hid by a cloud; indeed Nombé had
+waited for the cloud to pass over its face, before she thrust me
+forward. Also some smoke from a fire below was rising straight in front
+of me. Presently the cloud passed, the smoke thinned, and I saw the
+circle of those savage men seated beneath, and in their centre a great
+chief wearing a leopard’s skin cloak who I guessed was the king. You I
+did not see, Mr. Quatermain, because you were behind a tree, yet I felt
+that you were there, a friend among all those foes. I stood still, as I
+had been taught to do, and heard the murmur of astonishment and caught
+the gleam of the moonlight from the white feathers that were sewn upon
+my robe.
+
+“Then I heard also the voice of Zikali speaking from beneath. He called
+on you to come out to shoot at me, and the man whom I took to be the
+king, ordered you to obey. You appeared from behind the tree, and I was
+certain from the look upon your face that at that distance you did not
+know who I was in my strange and glittering raiment. You lifted the
+pistol and I was terribly afraid, for I had seen you shoot with it
+before on the verandah of the Temple and knew well that you do not
+miss. Very nearly I screamed out to you, but remembered and was silent,
+thinking that after all it did not much matter if I died, except for
+the sake of Maurice here. Also by now I guessed that I was being used
+to deceive those men before me into some terrible act, and that if I
+died, at least they would be undeceived.
+
+“I thought that an age passed between the time you pointed the pistol
+and I saw the flash for which I was waiting.”
+
+“You need not have waited, Heda,” I interposed, “for if I had really
+aimed at you you would never have seen that flash, at least so it is
+said. I too guessed enough to shoot above you, although at the time I
+did not know that it was you on the rock; indeed I thought it was Nombé
+painted up.”
+
+“Yes, I heard the bullet sing over me. Then I heard the voice of Zikali
+challenging you to shoot him, and to tell the truth, hoped that you
+would do so. Just before you fired for the second time, Nombé whispered
+to me—‘Throw’ and I threw the little red-handled spear into the air.
+Then as the pistol went off Nombé whispered—‘Come.’ I slipped away down
+the path and back with her into the hut, where she kissed me and said
+that I had done well indeed, after which she took off my strange robe
+and helped me to put on my own dress.
+
+“That is all I know, except that some hours later I was awakened from
+sleep and put into the litter where I went to sleep again, for what I
+had gone through tired me very much. I need not trouble you with the
+rest, for we journeyed here in the same way that we had journeyed to
+Ulundi—by night. I did not see Zikali, but in answer to my questions,
+Nombé told me that the Zulus had declared war against the English. What
+part in the business I had played, she would not tell me, and I do not
+know to this hour, but I am sure that it was a great one.
+
+“So we came back to the Black Kloof, where I found Maurice quite well,
+and now he had better go on with the tale, for if I begin to tell you
+of our meeting I shall become foolish.”
+
+“There isn’t much more to tell,” said Anscombe, “except about yourself.
+While Heda was away I was kept a prisoner and watched day and night by
+Zikali’s people who would not let me stir a yard, but otherwise treated
+me kindly. Then one day at sunrise, or shortly after it, Heda
+re-appeared and told me all this story, for the end of which, as you
+may imagine, I thanked God.
+
+“After that we just lived on here, happily enough since we were
+together, until one day Nombé told us that there had been a great
+battle in which the Zulus had wiped out the English, killing hundreds
+and hundreds of them, although for every soldier that they killed, they
+had lost two. Of course this made us very sad, especially as we were
+afraid you might be with our troops. We asked Nombé if you were present
+at the battle. She answered that she would inquire of her Spirit and
+went through some very strange performances with ashes and knuckle
+bones, after which she announced that you had been in the battle but
+were alive and coming this way with a dog that had silver on it. We
+laughed at her, saying that she could not possibly know anything of the
+sort, also that dogs as a rule did not carry silver. Whereon she only
+smiled and said—‘Wait.’
+
+“I think it was three days later that one night towards dawn I was
+awakened by hearing a dog barking outside my hut, as though it wished
+to call attention to its presence. It barked so persistently and in a
+way so unlike a Kaffir dog, that at length about dawn I went out of the
+hut to see what was the matter. There, standing a few yards away
+surrounded by some of Zikali’s people, I saw Lost and knew at once that
+it was an English Airedale, for I have had several of the breed. It
+looked very tired and frightened, and while I was wondering whence on
+earth it could have come, I noticed that it had a silver-mounted collar
+and remembered Nombé and her talk about you and a dog that carried
+silver on it. From that moment, Allan, I was certain that you were
+somewhere near, especially as the beast ran up to me—it would take no
+notice of the Kaffirs—and kept looking towards the mouth of the kloof,
+as though it wished me to follow it. Just then Nombé arrived, and on
+seeing the dog looked at me oddly.
+
+“‘I have a message for you from my master, Mauriti,’ she said to me
+through Heda, who by now had arrived upon the scene, having also been
+aroused by Lost’s barking. ‘It is that if you wish to take a walk with
+a strange dog you can do so, and bring back anything you may find.’”
+
+“The end of it was that after we had fed Lost with milk and meat, I and
+six of Zikali’s men started down the kloof, Lost going ahead of us and
+now and again running back and whining. At the mouth of the kloof it
+led us over a hill and down into a bush-veld valley where the thorns
+grew very thick. When we had gone along the valley for about two miles,
+one of the Kaffirs saw a Basuto pony still saddled, and caught it. The
+dog went on past the pony to a tree that had been shattered by
+lightning, and there within a few yards of the tree we found you lying
+senseless, Allan, or, as I thought at first, dead, and by your side a
+Martini rifle of which the stock also seemed to have been broken by
+lightning.
+
+“Well, we put you on a shield and carried you here, meeting no one, and
+that is all the story, Allan.”
+
+He stopped and we stared at each other. Then I called Lost and patted
+its head, and the dear beast licked my hand as though it understood
+that it was being thanked.
+
+“A strange tale,” I said, “but God Almighty has put much wisdom into
+His creatures of which we know nothing. Let us thank Him,” and in our
+hearts we did.
+
+Thus was I rescued from death by the intelligence and fidelity of a
+four-footed creature. Doubtless in my semi-conscious state that
+resulted from shock, weariness and sun-stroke, I had all the while
+headed sub-consciously and without any definite object for the Black
+Kloof. When I was within a few miles of it I was stunned by the
+lightning which ran down the rifle to the ground, though not actually
+struck. Then the dog, which had escaped, played its part, wandering
+about the country to find help for me, and so I was saved.
+
+Now of the long months that followed I have little to tell. They were
+not unhappy in their way, for week by week I felt myself growing
+stronger, though very slowly. There was a path, steep, difficult and
+secret, which could be gained through one of the caves in the
+precipice, not that in which I slept. This path ran up a water-cut
+kloof through a patch of thorns to a flat tableland that was part of
+the Ceza stronghold. By it, when I had gained sufficient strength,
+sometimes we used to climb to the plateau, and there take exercise. It
+was an agreeable change from the stifling atmosphere of the Black
+Kloof. The days were very dull, for we were as much out of the world as
+though we had been marooned on a desert island. Still from time to time
+we heard of the progress of the war through Nombé, for Zikali I saw but
+seldom.
+
+She told of disasters to the English, of the death of a great young
+Chief who was deserted by his companions and died fighting
+bravely—afterwards I discovered that this was the Prince Imperial of
+France—of the advance of our armies, of defeats inflicted upon
+Cetewayo’s impis, and finally of the destruction of the Zulus on the
+battlefield of Ulundi, where they hurled themselves by thousands upon
+the British square, to be swept away by case-shot and the hail of
+bullets. This battle, by the way, the Zulus call, not Ulundi or
+Nodwengu, for it was fought in front of Panda’s old kraal of that name,
+but Ocwecweni, which means—“the fight of the sheet-iron fortress.” I
+suppose they give it this name because the hedge of bayonets, flashing
+in the sunlight, reminded them of sheet-iron. Or it may be because
+these proved as impenetrable as would have done walls of iron. At any
+rate they dashed their naked bodies against the storm of lead and fell
+in heaps, only about a dozen of our men being killed, as the little
+graveyard in the centre of the square entrenchment, about which still
+lie the empty cartridge cases, records to-day.
+
+There, then, on that plain perished the Zulu kingdom which was built up
+by Chaka.
+
+Now it was after this event that I saw Zikali and begged him to let us
+go. I found him triumphant and yet strangely disturbed and, as I
+thought, more apprehensive than I had ever seen him.
+
+“So, Zikali,” I said, “if what I hear is true, you have had your way
+and destroyed the Zulu people. Now you should be happy.”
+
+“Is man ever happy, Macumazahn, when he has gained that which he sought
+for years? The two out there sigh and are sad because they cannot be
+married after their own white fashion, though what there is to keep
+them apart I do not know. Well, in time they will be married, only to
+find that they are not so happy as they thought they would be. Oh! a
+day will come when they will talk to each other and say—‘Those moons
+which we spent waiting together in the Black Kloof were the true moons
+of sweetness, for then we had something to gain; now we have gained
+all—and what is it?’
+
+“So it is with me, Macumazahn. Since the Zulus under Chaka killed out
+my people, the Ndwandwe, year by year I have plotted and waited to see
+them wedded to the assegai. Now it has come about. You white men have
+stamped them flat upon the plain of Ulundi; they are no more a nation.
+And yet I am not happy, for after all it was the House of Senzangacona
+and not the people of the Zulus, that harmed me and mine, and Cetewayo
+still lives. While the queen bee remains there may be a hive again.
+While an ember still glows in the dead ashes, the forest may yet be
+fired. Perhaps when Cetewayo is dead, then I shall be happy. Only his
+death and mine are set by Fate as close together as two sister grains
+of corn upon the cob.”
+
+I turned the subject, again asking his leave to depart to Natal or to
+join the English army.
+
+“You cannot go yet,” he answered sternly, “so trouble me no more. The
+land is full of wandering bands of Zulus who would kill you and your
+blood would be on my head. Moreover, if they saw a white woman who had
+sheltered with me, might they not guess something? To dress a doll for
+the part of the Inkosazana-y-Zulu is the greatest crime in the world,
+Macumazahn, and what would happen to the Opener of Roads and all his
+House if it were even breathed that he had dressed that doll and thus
+brought about the war which ruined them? When Cetewayo is killed and
+the dead are buried and peace falls upon the land, the peace of death,
+then you shall go, Macumazahn, and not before.”
+
+“At least, Zikali, send a message to the captains of the English army
+and tell them that we are here.”
+
+“Send a message to the hyenas and tell them where the carcase is; send
+a message to the hunters and tell them where the buck Zikali crouches
+on its form! Hearken, Macumazahn, if you do this, or even urge me again
+to do it, neither you nor your friends shall ever leave the Black
+Kloof. I have spoken.”
+
+Then understanding that the case was hopeless, I left him and he
+glowered after me, for fear had made him cruel. He had won the long
+game and success had turned to ashes in his mouth. Or rather, he had
+not won—yet—since his war was against the House of Senzangacona from
+which he and his tribe had suffered cruel wrong. To pull it down he
+must pull down the Zulu nation; it was like burning a city to destroy a
+compromising letter. He had burnt the city, but the letter still
+remained intact and might be produced in evidence against him. In other
+words Cetewayo yet lived. Therefore his vengeance remained quite
+unslaked and his danger was as great, or perhaps greater than it had
+ever been before. For was he not the prophet who by producing the
+Princess of Heaven, the traditional goddess of the Zulus, before the
+eyes of the king and Council, had caused them to decide for war? And
+supposing it were so much as breathed that this spirit which they
+seemed to see, had been but a trick and a fraud, what then? He would be
+tortured to death if his dupes had time, or torn limb from limb if they
+had not, that is if he could die like other men—a matter as to which
+personally I had no doubts.
+
+Shortly after I left Zikali Heda and I ate our evening meal together.
+Anscombe, as it chanced, had gone by the secret path to the tableland
+of which I have spoken, where he amused himself, as of course we were
+not allowed to fire a gun, by catching partridges, with the help of an
+ingenious system of grass nets which he had invented. There were
+springs on this tableland that formed little pools of water, at which
+the partridges, also occasionally guineafowl and bush pheasants, came
+to drink at sunrise and sunset. Here it was that he set his nets and
+retired to work them at those hours by means of strings that he pulled
+from hiding-places. So Heda and I were alone.
+
+I told her of my ill success with Zikali, at which she was much
+disappointed. Then by an afterthought I suggested that perhaps she
+might try to do something in the way of getting a message through to
+the English camp at Ulundi, or elsewhere, by help of the
+witch-doctoress, Nombé, adding that I would speak to her myself had I
+not observed that I seemed to be out of favour with her of late. Heda
+shook her head and answered that she thought it would be useless to
+try, also too dangerous. Remembering Zikali’s threat, on reflection I
+agreed with her.
+
+“Tell me, Mr. Quatermain,” she added, “is it possible for one woman to
+be in love with another?”
+
+I stared at her and replied that I did not understand what she meant,
+since women, so far as I had observed them, were generally in love
+either with a man or with themselves, perhaps more often with the
+latter than the former. Rather a cheap joke I admit, with just enough
+truth in it to make it acceptable—in the Black Kloof.
+
+“So I thought,” she answered, “but really Nombé behaves in a most
+peculiar way. As you know she took a fancy to me from the beginning,
+perhaps because she had never had any other woman with whom to
+associate, having, so far as I can make out, been brought up here among
+men from a child. Indeed, her story is that she was one of twins and
+therefore as the younger, was exposed to die according to the Zulu
+superstition. Zikali, however, or a servant of his who knew what was
+happening, rescued and reared her, so practically I am the only female
+with whom she has ever been intimate. At any rate her affection for me
+has grown and grown until, although it seems ungrateful to say so, it
+has become something of a nuisance. She has told me again and again
+that she would die to protect me, and that if by chance anything
+happened to me, she would kill herself and follow me into another
+world. She is continually making divinations about my future, and as
+these, in which she entirely believes, always show me as living without
+her, she is much distressed and at times bursts into tears.”
+
+“Hysteria! It is very common among the Zulu women, and especially those
+of them who practise magic arts,” I answered.
+
+“Perhaps, but as it results in the most intense jealousy, Nombé’s
+hysteria is awkward. For instance, she is horribly jealous of Maurice.”
+
+“The instincts of a chaperone developed early,” I suggested again.
+
+“That won’t quite do, Mr. Quatermain,” answered Heda with a laugh,
+“since she is even more jealous of you. With reference to Maurice, she
+explains frankly that if we marry she might, as she puts it, ‘continue
+to sit outside the hut,’ but that in your case you live ‘in my head,’
+where she cannot come between you and me.”
+
+“Mad,” I remarked, “quite mad. Still madness has to be dealt with in
+this world like other things, and Nombé, being an abnormal person, may
+suffer from abnormal ideas. It just amounts to this; she has conceived
+a passionate devotion to you, at which I am sure neither Maurice nor I
+can wonder.”
+
+“Are those the kind of compliments you used to pay in your youth, Mr.
+Quatermain? I expect so, and now that you are old you cannot stop them.
+Well, I thank you all the same, because perhaps you mean what you say.
+But what is to be done about Nombé? Hush! here she comes. I will leave
+you to reason with her, if you get the chance,” and she departed in a
+hurry.
+
+Nombé arrived, and something in her aspect told me that I was going to
+get the chance. Her eternal smile was almost gone and her dark,
+beautiful eyes flashed ominously. Still she began by asking in a mild
+voice whether the lady Heddana had eaten her supper with appetite. It
+will be observed that she was not interested in my appetite or whether
+enough was left for Anscombe when he returned. I replied that so far as
+I noted she had consumed about half a partridge, with other things.
+
+“I am glad,” said Nombé, “since I was not here to attend upon her,
+having been summoned to speak with the Master.”
+
+Then she sat down and looked at me like a thunder storm.
+
+“I nursed you when you were so ill, Macumazahn,” she began, “but now I
+learn that for the milk with which I fed you, you would force me to
+drink bitter water that will poison me.”
+
+I replied I was well aware that without her nursing I should long ago
+have been dead, which was what caused me to love her like my own
+daughter. But would she kindly explain? This she did at once.
+
+“You have been plotting to take away from me the lady Heddana who to me
+is as mother and sister and child. It is useless to lie to me, for the
+Master has told me all; moreover, I knew it for myself, both through my
+Spirit and because I had watched you.”
+
+“I have no intention of lying to you, Nombé, about this or any other
+matter, though I think that sometimes in the past you have lied to me.
+Tell me, do you expect the Inkosi Mauriti, the lady Heddana and myself
+to pass the rest of our lives in the Black Kloof, when they wish to get
+married and go across the Black Water to where their home will be, and
+I wish to attend to my affairs?”
+
+“I do not know what I expect, Macumazahn, but I do know that never
+while I live will I be parted from the lady Heddana. At last I have
+found some one to love, and you and the other would steal her away from
+me.”
+
+I studied her for a while, then asked—
+
+“Why do you not marry, Nombé, and have a husband, and children to
+love?”
+
+“Marry?” she replied. “I am married to my Spirit which does not dwell
+beneath the sun, and my children are not of earth; moreover, all men
+are hateful to me,” and her eyes added, “especially you.”
+
+“That is a calf with a dog’s head,” I replied in the words of the
+native proverb, meaning that she said what was not natural. “Well,
+Nombé, if you are so fond of the lady Heddana, you had better arrange
+with her and the Inkosi Mauriti to go away with them.”
+
+“You know well I cannot, Macumazahn. I am tied to my Master by ropes
+that are stronger than iron, and if I attempted to break them my Spirit
+would wither and I should wither with it.”
+
+“Dear me! what a dreadful business. That is what comes of taking to
+magic. Well, Nombé, I am afraid I have nothing to suggest, nor, to tell
+you the truth, can I see what I have to do with the matter.”
+
+Then she sprang up in a rage, saying—
+
+“I understand that not only will you give me no help, but that you also
+mock at me, Macumazahn. Moreover, as it is with you, so it is with
+Mauriti, who pretends to love my lady so much, though I love her more
+with my little finger than he does with all his body and what he calls
+his soul. Yes, he too mocks at me. Now if you were both dead,” she
+added with sudden venom, “my lady would not wish to go away. Be careful
+lest a spell should fall upon you, Macumazahn,” and without more words
+she turned and went.
+
+At first I was inclined to laugh; the whole thing seemed so absurd. On
+reflection, however, I perceived that in reality it was very serious to
+people situated as we were. This woman was a savage; more, a mystic
+savage of considerable powers of mind—a formidable combination. Also
+there were no restraints upon her, since public opinion had as little
+authority in the Black Kloof as the Queen’s Writ. Lastly, it was not
+unknown for women to conceive these violent affections which, if
+thwarted, filled them with something like madness. Thus I remembered a
+very terrible occurrence of my youth which resulted in the death of one
+who was most dear to me. I will not dwell on it, but this, too, was the
+work of a passionate creature, woman I can scarcely call her, who
+thought she was being robbed of one whom she adored.
+
+The end of it was that I did not enjoy my pipe that night, though
+luckily Anscombe returned after a successful evening’s netting, about
+which he was so full of talk that there was no need for me to say much.
+So I put off any discussion of the problem until the morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+THE KING VISITS ZIKALI
+
+
+Next morning, as a result of my cogitations, I went to see Zikali. I
+was admitted after a good deal of trouble and delay, for although his
+retinue was limited and, with the exception of Nombé, entirely male,
+this old prophet kept a kind of semi-state and was about as difficult
+to approach as a European monarch. I found him crouching over a fire in
+his hut, since at this season of the year even in that hot place the
+air was chilly until midday.
+
+“What is it, Macumazahn?” he asked. “As to your going away, have
+patience. I learn that he who was King of the Zulus is in full flight,
+with the white men tracking him like a wounded buck. When the buck is
+caught and killed, then you can go.”
+
+“It is about Nombé,” I answered, and told him all the story, which did
+not seem to surprise him at all.
+
+“Now see, Macumazahn,” he said, taking some snuff, “how hard it is to
+dam up the stream of nature. This child, Nombé, is of my blood, one
+whom I saved from death in a strange way, not because she was of my
+blood but that I might make an experiment with her. Women, as you who
+are wise and have seen much will know, are in truth superior to men,
+though, because they are weaker in body, men have the upper hand of
+them and think themselves their masters, a state they are forced to
+accept because they must live and cannot defend themselves. Yet their
+brains are keener, as an assegai is keener than a hoe; they are more in
+touch with the hidden things that shape out fate for people and for
+nations; they are more faithful and more patient, and by instinct if
+not by reason, more far-seeing, or at least the best of them are so,
+and by their best, like men, they should be judged. Yet this is the
+hole in their shield. When they love they become the slaves of love,
+and for love’s sake all else is brought to naught, and for this reason
+they cannot be trusted. With men, as you know, this is otherwise. They,
+too, love, by Nature’s law, but always behind there is something
+greater than love, although often they do not understand what that may
+be. To be powerful, therefore, a woman must be one who does not love
+too much. If she cannot love at all, then she is hated and has no
+power, but she must not love too much.
+
+“Once I thought that I had found such a woman; she was named Mameena,
+whom all men worshipped and who played with all men, as I played with
+her. But what was the end of it? Just as things were going very well
+she learned to love too much some man of strange notions, who would
+have thwarted me and brought everything to nothing, and therefore I had
+to kill her, for which I was sorry.”
+
+Here he paused to take some more snuff, watching me over the spoon as
+he drew it up his great nostrils, but as I said nothing, went on—
+
+“Now after Mameena was dead I bethought me that I would rear up a woman
+who could still love but should never love a man and therefore never
+become mad or foolish, because I believed that it was only man who in
+taking her heart from woman, would take her wits also. This child,
+Nombé, came to my hand, and as I thought, so I did. Never mind how I
+did it, by medicine perhaps, by magic perhaps, by watering her pride
+and making it grow tall perhaps, or by all three. At least it was done,
+and this I know of Nombé, she will never care for any man except as a
+woman may care for a brother.
+
+“But now see what happens. She, the wise, the instructed, the
+man-despiser, meets a woman of another race who is sweet and good, and
+learns to love her, not as maids and mothers love, but as one loves the
+Spirit that she worships. Yes, yes, to her she is a goddess to be
+worshipped, one whom she desires to serve with all her heart and
+strength, to bow down before, making offerings, and at the end to
+follow into death. So it comes about that this Nombé, whose mind I
+thought to make as the wings of a bird floating on the air while it
+searches for its prey, has become even madder than other women. It is a
+disappointment to me, Macumazahn.”
+
+“It may be a disappointment to you, Zikali, and all that you say is
+very interesting. But to us it is a danger. Tell me, will you command
+Nombé to cease from her folly?”
+
+“Will I forbid the mist to rise, or the wind to blow, or the lightning
+to strike? As she is, she is. Her heart is filled with black jealousy
+of Mauriti and of you, as a butcher’s gourd is filled with blood, for
+she is not one who desires that her goddess should have other
+worshippers; she would keep her for herself alone.”
+
+“Then in this way or in that the gourd must be emptied, Zikali, lest we
+should be forced to drink from it and that black blood should poison
+us.”
+
+“How, unless it be broken, Macumazahn? If Heddana departs and leaves
+her, she will go mad, and accompany her she cannot, for her Spirit
+dwells here,” and he tapped his own breast. “It would pull her back
+again and she would become a great trouble to me, for then that Spirit
+of hers would not suffer me to sleep, with its continual startings in
+search of what it had lost, and its returnings empty-handed. Well, have
+no fear, for at the worst the bowl can be broken and the blood poured
+upon the earth, as I have broken finer bowls than this before; had I
+all the bits of them they would make a heap so high, Macumazahn!” and
+he held out his hand on a level with his head, a gesture that made my
+back creep. “I will tell her this and it may keep her quiet for a
+while. Of poison you need not be afraid, since unlike mine, her Spirit
+hates it. Poison is not one of its weapons as it is with mine. But of
+spells, beware, for her Spirit has some which are very powerful.”
+
+Now I jumped up, filled with indignation, saying—
+
+“I do not believe in Nombé’s spells, and in any case how am I to guard
+against them?”
+
+“If you do not believe there is no need to guard, and if you do
+believe, then it is for you to find out how to guard, Macumazahn. Oh! I
+could tell you the story of a white teacher who did not believe and
+would not guard—but never mind, never mind. Good-bye, Macumazahn, I
+will speak with Nombé. Ask her for a lock of her hair to wear upon your
+heart after she has enchanted it. The charm is good against spells.
+O-ho—Oho-o! What fools we are, white and black together! That is what
+Cetewayo is thinking to-day.”
+
+After this Nombé became much more agreeable. That is to say she was
+very polite, her smile was more fixed and her eyes more unfathomable
+than ever. Evidently Zikali had spoken to her and she had listened. Yet
+to tell the truth my distrust of this handsome young woman grew deeper
+day by day. I recognized that there was a great gulf between her and
+the normal, that she was a creature fashioned by Zikali who had trained
+her as a gardener trains a tree, nay, who had done more, who had
+grafted some foreign growth of exotic and unnatural spiritualism on to
+her primitive nature. The nature remained the same, but the graft or
+grafts bore strange flowers and fruit, unholy flowers and poisonous
+fruit. Therefore she was not to blame—sometimes I wonder whether in
+this curious world, could one see their past and their future, anybody
+is to blame for anything—but this did not make her the less dangerous.
+
+Some talks I had with her only increased my apprehensions, for I found
+that in a way she had no conscience. Life, she told me, was but a
+dream, and all its laws as evolved by man were but illusions. The real
+life was elsewhere. There was the distant lake on which the flower of
+our true existence floated. Without this unseen lake of supernatural
+water the flower could not float; indeed there would be no flower.
+Moreover, the flower did not matter; sometimes it would have this shape
+and colour, sometimes that. It was but a thing destined to grow and
+bloom and rot, and during its day to be ugly or to be beautiful, to
+smell sweet or ill, as it might chance, and ultimately to be absorbed
+back into the general water of Life.
+
+I pointed out to her that all flowers had roots which grew in soil.
+Looking at an orchid-like plant that crept along the bough of a tree,
+she answered that this was not true as some grew upon air. But however
+this might be, the soil, or the moisture in the air, was distilled from
+thousands of other flower lives that had flourished in their day and
+been forgotten. It did not matter when they died or how many other
+flowers they choked that they might live. Yet each flower had its own
+spirit which always had been and always would be.
+
+I asked her of the end and the object of that spirit. She answered
+darkly that she did not know and if she did, would not say, but that
+these were very dreadful.
+
+Such were some of her vague and figurative assertions which I only
+record to indicate their uncomfortable and indeed but half human
+nature. I forgot to add that she declared that every flower or life had
+a twin flower or life, which in each successive growth it was bound to
+find and bloom beside, or wither to the root and spring again and that
+ultimately these two would become one, and as one flourish eternally.
+Of all of which I understood and understand little, except that she had
+grasped the elements of some truth which she could not express in clear
+and definite language.
+
+One day I was seated in Zikali’s hut whither by permission I had come
+to ask the latest news, when suddenly Nombé appeared and crouched down
+before him.
+
+“Who gave you leave to enter here, and what is your business?” he asked
+angrily.
+
+“Home of Spirits,” she replied in a humble voice, “be not angry with
+your servant. Necessity gave me leave, and my business is to tell you
+that strangers approach.”
+
+“Who are they that dare to enter the Black Kloof unannounced?”
+
+“Cetewayo the King is one of them, the others I do not know, but they
+are many, armed all of them. They approach your gate; before a man can
+count two hundred they will be here.”
+
+“Where are the white chief and the lady Heddana?” asked Zikali.
+
+“By good fortune they have gone by the secret path to the tableland and
+will not be back till sunset. They wished to be alone, so I did not
+accompany them, and Macumazahn here said that he was too weary to do
+so.” (This was true. Also like Nombé I thought that they wished to be
+alone.)
+
+“Good. Go, tell the king that I knew of his coming and am awaiting him.
+Bid my servants kill the ox which is in the kraal, the fat ox that they
+thought is sick and therefore fit food for a sick king,” he added
+bitterly.
+
+She glided away like a startled snake. Then Zikali turned to me and
+said swiftly—
+
+“Macumazahn, you are in great danger. If you are found here you will be
+killed, and so will the others whom I will send to warn not to return
+till this king has gone away. Go at once to join them. No, it is too
+late, I hear the Zulus come. Take that kaross, cover yourself with it
+and lie among the baskets and beerpots here near the entrance of the
+hut in the deepest of the shadows, so that if any enter, perchance you
+will not be found. I too am in danger who shall be held to account for
+all that has happened. Perhaps they will kill me, if I can be killed.
+If so, get away with the others as best you can. Nombé will tell you
+where your horses are hidden. In that case let Heddana take Nombé with
+her, for when I am dead she will go, and shake her off in Natal if she
+troubles her. Whatever chances, remember, Macumazahn, that I have done
+my best to keep my word to you and to protect you and your friends. Now
+I go to look on this pricked bladder who was once a king.”
+
+He scrambled from the hut with slow, toad-like motions, while I with
+motions that were anything but slow, grabbed the grey catskin kaross
+and ensconced myself among the beerpots and mats in such a position
+that my head, over which I set a three-legged carved stool of Zikali’s
+own cutting, was but a few inches to the left of the door-hole and
+therefore in the deepest of the shadows. Thence by stretching out my
+neck a little, I could see through the hole, also hear all that passed
+outside. Unless a deliberate search of the hut should be made I was
+fairly safe from observation, even if it were entered by strangers. One
+fear I had, however, it was lest the dog Lost should get into the place
+and smell me out. I had left him tied to the centre pole in my own hut,
+because he hated Zikali and always growled at him. But suppose he
+gnawed through the cord, or any one let him loose!
+
+Scarcely had Zikali seated himself in his accustomed place before the
+hut, than the gate of the outer fence opened and approaching through it
+I saw forty or fifty fierce and way-worn men. In front of them, riding
+on a tired horse that was led by a servant, was Cetewayo himself. He
+was assisted to dismount, or rather threw his great bulk into the arms
+that were waiting to receive him.
+
+Then after some words with his following and with one of Zikali’s
+people, followed by three or four indunas and leaning on the arm of
+Umnyamana, the Prime Minister, he entered the enclosure, the rest
+remaining without. Zikali, who sat as though asleep, suddenly appeared
+to wake up and perceive him. Struggling to his feet he lifted his right
+arm and gave the royal salute of Bayete, and with it titles of praise,
+such as “Black One!” “Elephant!” “Earth-Shaker!” “Conqueror!” “Eater-up
+of the White men!” “Child of the Wild Beast (Chaka) whose teeth are
+sharper than the Wild Beast’s ever were!” and so on, until Cetewayo,
+growing impatient, cried out—
+
+“Be silent, Wizard. Is this a time for fine words? Do you not know my
+case that you offend my ears with them? Give us food to eat if you have
+it, after which I would speak with you alone. Be swift also; here I may
+not stay for long, since the white dogs are at my heels.”
+
+“I knew that you were coming, O King, to honour my poor house with a
+visit,” said Zikali slowly, “and therefore the ox is already killed and
+the meat will soon be on the fire. Meanwhile drink a sup of beer, and
+rest.”
+
+He clapped his hands, whereon Nombé and some servants appeared with
+pots of beer, of which, after Zikali had tasted it to show that it was
+not poisoned, the king and his people drank thirstily. Then it was
+taken to those outside.
+
+“What is this that my ears hear?” asked Zikali when Nombé and the
+others had gone, “that the White Dogs are on the spoor of the Black
+Bull?”
+
+Cetewayo nodded heavily, and answered—
+
+“My impis were broken to pieces on the plain of Ulundi; the cowards ran
+from the bullets as children run from bees. My kraals are burnt and I,
+the King, with but a faithful remnant fly for my life. The prophecy of
+the Black One has come true. The people of the Zulus are stamped flat
+beneath the feet of the great White People.”
+
+“I remember that prophecy, O King. Mopo told it to me within an hour of
+the death of the Black One when he gave me the little red-handled
+assegai that he snatched from the Black One’s hand to do the deed. It
+makes me almost young again to think of it, although even then I was
+old,” replied Zikali in a dreamy voice like one who speaks to himself.
+
+Hearing him from under my kaross I bethought me that he had really
+grown old at last, who for the moment evidently forgot the part which
+this very assegai had played a few months before in the Vale of Bones.
+Well, even the greatest masters make such slips at times when their
+minds are full of other things. But if Zikali forgot, Cetewayo and his
+councillors remembered, as I could see by the look of quick
+intelligence that flashed from face to face.
+
+“So! Mopo the murderer, he who vanished from the land after the death
+of my uncle Dingaan, gave you the little red assegai, did he, Opener of
+Roads! And but a few months ago that assegai, which old Sigananda knew
+again, thrown by the hand of the Inkosazana-y-Zulu, drew blood from my
+body after the white man, Macumazahn, had severed its shaft with his
+bullet. Now tell me, Opener of Roads, how did it pass from your keeping
+into that of the spirit Nomkubulwana?”
+
+At this question I distinctly saw a shiver shake the frame of Zikali
+who realized too late the terrible mistake he had made. Yet as only the
+great can do, he retrieved and even triumphed over his error.
+
+“Oho-ho!” he laughed, “who am I that I can tell how such things happen?
+Do you not know, O King, that the Spirits leave what they will and take
+what they will, whether it be but a blade of grass, or the life of a
+man”—here he looked at Cetewayo—“or even of a people? Sometimes they
+take the shadow and sometimes the substance, since spirit or matter,
+all is theirs. As for the little assegai, I lost it years ago. I
+remember that the last time I saw it was in the hands of a woman named
+Mameena to whom I showed it as a strange and bloody thing. After her
+death I found that it was gone, so doubtless she took it with her to
+the Under-world and there gave it to the Queen Nomkubulwana, with whom
+you may remember this Mameena returned from that Under-world yonder in
+the Bones.”
+
+“It may be so,” said Cetewayo sullenly, “yet it was no spirit iron that
+cut my thigh, but what do I know of the ways of Spirits? Wizard, I
+would speak with you in your hut alone where no ear can hear us.”
+
+“My hut is the King’s,” answered Zikali, “yet let the King remember
+that those Spirits of which he does not know the ways, can always hear,
+yes, even the thoughts of men, and on them do judgment.”
+
+“Fear not,” said Cetewayo, “amongst many other things I remember this
+also.”
+
+Then Zikali turned and crept into the hut, whispering as he passed me—
+
+“Lie silent for your life.” And Cetewayo having bidden his retinue to
+depart outside the fence and await him there, followed after him.
+
+They sat them down on either side of the smouldering fire and stared at
+each other through the thin smoke there in the gloom of the hut. By
+turning my head that the foot of the king had brushed as he passed, I
+could watch them both. Cetewayo spoke the first in a hoarse, slow
+voice, saying—
+
+“Wizard, I am in danger of my life and I have come to you who know all
+the secrets of this land, that you may tell me in what place I may hide
+where the white men cannot find me. It must be told into my ear alone,
+since I dare not trust the matter to any other, at any rate until I
+must. They are traitors every man of them, yes, even those who seem to
+be most faithful. The fallen man has no friends, least of all if he
+chances to be a king. Only the dead will keep his counsel. Tell me of
+the place I need.”
+
+“Dingaan, who was before you, once asked this same thing of me, O King,
+when he was flying from Panda your father, and the Boers. I gave him
+advice that he did not take, but sought a refuge of his own upon a
+certain Ghost-mountain. What happened to him there that Mopo, of whom
+you spoke a while ago, can tell you if he still lives.”[1]
+
+ [1] See _Nada the Lily._—EDITOR.
+
+
+“Surely you are an ill-omened night-bird who thus croak to me
+continually of the death of kings,” broke in Cetewayo with suppressed
+rage. Then calming himself with an effort added, “Tell me now, where
+shall I hide?”
+
+“Would you know, King? Then hearken. On the south slope of the Ingome
+Range west of the Ibululwana River, on the outskirts of the great
+forest, there is a kloof whereof the entrance, which only one man can
+pass at a time, is covered by a thicket of thorns and marked by a black
+rock shaped like a great toad with an open mouth, or, as some say, like
+myself, 'The-Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.’ Near to this rock
+dwells an old woman, blind of one eye and lacking a hand, which the
+Black One cut off shortly before his death, because when he killed her
+father, she saw the future and prophesied a like death to him, although
+then she was but a child. This woman is of our company, being a
+witch-doctoress. I will send a Spirit to her, if you so will it, to
+warn her to watch for you and your company, O King, and show you the
+mouth of the kloof, where are some old huts and water. There you will
+never be found unless you are betrayed.”
+
+“Who can betray me when none know whither I am going?” asked Cetewayo.
+“Send the Spirit, send it at once, that this one-armed witch may make
+ready.”
+
+“What is the hurry, King, seeing that the forest is far away? Yet be it
+as you will. Keep silence now, lest evil should befall you.”
+
+Then of a sudden Zikali seemed to go off into one of his trances. His
+form grew rigid, his eyes closed, his face became fixed as though in
+death, and foam appeared upon his lips. He was a dreadful sight to look
+on, there in the gloomy hut.
+
+Cetewayo watched him and shivered. Then he opened his blanket and I
+perceived that fastened about him by a loop of hide in such a fashion
+that it could be drawn out in a moment, was the blade of a broad
+assegai, the shaft of which was shortened to about six inches. His hand
+grasped this shaft, and I understood that he was contemplating the
+murder of Zikali. Then it seemed to me that he changed his mind and
+that his lips shaped the words—“Not yet,” though whether he really
+spoke them I do not know. At least he withdrew his hand and closed the
+blanket.
+
+Slowly Zikali opened his eyes, staring at the roof of the hut, whence
+came a curious sound as of squeaking bats. He looked like a dead man
+coming to life again. For a few moments he turned up his ear as though
+he listened to the squealing, then said—
+
+“It is well. The Spirit that I summoned has visited her of our company
+who is named One-hand and returned with the answer. Did you not hear it
+speaking in the thatch, O King?”
+
+“I heard something, Wizard,” answered Cetewayo in an awed voice. “I
+thought it was a bat.”
+
+“A bat it is, O King, one with wide wings and swift. This bat says that
+my sister, One-hand, will meet you on the third day from now at this
+hour on the further side of the ford of the Ibululwana, where three
+milk-trees grow together on a knoll. She will be sitting under the
+centre milk-tree and will wait for two hours, no more, to show you the
+secret entrance to the kloof.”
+
+“The road is rough and long, I shall have to hurry when worn out with
+travelling,” said Cetewayo.
+
+“That is so, O King. Therefore my counsel is that you begin the journey
+as soon as possible, especially as I seem to hear the baying of the
+white dogs not far away.”
+
+“By Chaka’s head! I will not,” growled Cetewayo, “who thought to sleep
+here in peace this night.”
+
+“As the King wills. All that I have is the King’s. Only then One-hand
+will not be waiting and some other place of hiding must be found, since
+this is known to me only and to her; also that Spirit which I sent will
+make no second journey, nor can I travel to show it to the King.”
+
+“Yes, Wizard, it is known to you and to myself. Methinks it would be
+better were it known to me alone. I have a spoonful of snuff to share
+(i.e., a bone to pick) with you, Wizard. It would seem that you set my
+feet and those of the Zulu people upon a false road, yonder in the Vale
+of Bones, causing me to declare war upon the white men and thereby
+bringing us all to ruin.”
+
+“Mayhap my memory grows bad, O King, for I do not remember that I did
+these things. I remember that the spirit of a certain Mameena whom I
+called up from the dead, prophesied victory to the King, which victory
+has been his. Also it prophesied other victories to the King in a far
+land across the water, which victories doubtless shall be his in due
+season; for myself I gave no ‘counsel to the King or to his indunas and
+generals.’”
+
+“You lie, Wizard,” exclaimed Cetewayo hoarsely. “Did you not summon the
+shape of the Princess of Heaven to be the sign of war, and did she not
+hold in her hand that assegai of the Black One which you have told me
+was in your keeping? How did it pass from your keeping into the hand of
+a spirit?”
+
+“As to that matter I have spoken, O King. For the rest, is Nomkubulwana
+my servant to come and go at my bidding?”
+
+“I think so,” said Cetewayo coldly. “I think also that you who know the
+place where I purpose to hide, would do well to forget it. Surely you
+have lived too long, O Opener of Roads, and done enough evil to the
+House of Senzangacona, which you ever hated.”
+
+So he spoke, and once more I saw his hand steal towards the spearhead
+which was hidden beneath the blanket that he wore.
+
+Zikali saw it also and laughed. “Oho!” he laughed, “forgetting all my
+warnings, and that the day of my death will be his own, the King thinks
+to kill me because I am old and feeble and alone and unarmed. He thinks
+to kill me as the Black One thought, as Dingaan thought, as even Panda
+thought, yet I live on to this day. Well, I bear no malice since it is
+natural that the King should wish to kill one who knows the secret of
+where he would hide himself for his own life’s sake. That spearhead
+which the King is fingering is sharp, so sharp that my bare breast
+cannot turn its edge. I must find me a shield! I must find me a shield!
+Fire, you are not yet dead. Awake, make smoke to be my shield!” and he
+waved his long, monkey-like arms over the embers, from which instantly
+there sprang up a reek of thin white smoke that appeared to take a
+vague and indefinite shape which suggested the shadow of a man; for to
+me it seemed a nebulous and wavering shadow, no more.
+
+“What are you staring at, O King?” went on Zikali in a fierce and
+thrilling voice. “Who is it that you see? Who has the fire sent to be
+my shield? Ghosts are so thick here that I do not know. I cannot tell
+one of them from the other. Who is it? Who, who of all that you have
+slain and who therefore are your foes?”
+
+“Umbelazi, my brother,” groaned Cetewayo. “My brother Umbelazi stands
+before me with spear raised; he whom I brought to his death at the
+battle of the Tugela. His eyes flame upon me, his spear is raised to
+strike. He speaks words I cannot understand. Protect me, O Wizard! Lord
+of Spirits, protect me from the spirit of Umbelazi.”
+
+Zikali laughed wildly and continued to wave his arms above the fire
+from which smoke poured ever more densely, till the hut was full of it.
+
+When it cleared away again Cetewayo was gone!
+
+“Saw you ever the like of that?” said Zikali, addressing the kaross
+under which I was sweltering. “Tell me, Macumazahn.”
+
+“Yes,” I answered, thrusting out my head as a tortoise does, “when in
+this very hut you seemed to produce the shape, also out of smoke, I
+think, of one whom I used to know. Say, how do you do it, Zikali?”
+
+“Do it. Who knows? Perchance I do nothing. Perchance I think and you
+fools see, no more. Or perchance the spirits of the dead who are so
+near to us, come at my call and take themselves bodies out of the
+charmed smoke of my fire. You white men are wise, answer your own
+question, Macumazahn. At least that smoke or that ghost saved me from a
+spear thrust in the heart, wherewith Cetewayo was minded to pay me for
+showing him a hiding-place which he desired should be secret to himself
+alone. Well, well, I can pay as well as Cetewayo and my count is
+longer. Now lie you still, Macumazahn, for I go out to watch. He will
+not bide long in this place which he deems haunted and ill-omened. He
+will be gone ere sunset, that is within an hour, and sleep elsewhere.”
+
+Then he crept from the hut and presently, though I could see nothing,
+for now the gate of the fence was shut, I heard voices debating and
+finally that of Cetewayo say angrily—
+
+“Have done! It is my will. You can eat your food outside of this place
+which is bewitched; the girl will show us where are the huts of which
+the wizard speaks.”
+
+A few minutes later Zikali crept back into the hut, laughing to
+himself.
+
+“All is safe,” he said, “and you can come out of your hole, old jackal.
+He who calls himself a king is gone, taking with him those whom he
+thinks faithful, most of whom are but waiting a chance to betray him.
+What did I say, a king? Nay, in all Africa there is no slave so humble
+or so wretched as this broken man. Oh! feather by feather I have
+plucked my fowl and by and by I shall cut his throat. You will be
+there, Macumazahn, you will be there.”
+
+“I trust not,” I answered as I mopped my brow. “We have been near
+enough to throat-cutting this afternoon to last me a long while. Where
+has the king gone?”
+
+“Not far, Macumazahn. I have sent Nombé to guide him to the huts in the
+little dip five spear throws to the right of the mouth of the kloof
+where live the old herdsman and his people who guard my cattle. He and
+all the rest are away with the cattle that are hidden in the Ceza
+Forest out of reach of the white men, so the huts are empty. Oh! now I
+read what you are thinking. I do not mean that he should be taken
+there. It is too near my house and the king still has friends.”
+
+“Why did you send Nombé?” I asked.
+
+“Because he would have no other guide, who does not trust my men. He
+means to keep her with him for some days and then let her go, and thus
+she will be out of mischief. Meanwhile you and your friends can depart
+untroubled by her fancies, and join the white men who are near.
+Tomorrow you shall start.”
+
+“That is good,” I said with a sigh of relief. Then an idea struck me
+and I added, “I suppose no harm will come to Nombé, who might be
+thought to know too much?”
+
+“I hope not,” he replied indifferently, “but that is a matter for her
+Spirit to decide. Now go, Macumazahn, for I am weary.”
+
+I also was weary after my prolonged seclusion under that very hot skin
+rug. For be it remembered I was not yet strong again, and although this
+was not the real reason why I had stopped behind when the others went
+to the plateau, I still grew easily tired. My real reason was that of
+Nombé—that I thought they preferred to be alone. I looked about me and
+saw with relief that Cetewayo and every man of his retinue were really
+gone. They had not even waited to eat the ox that had been killed for
+them, but had carried off the meat with other provisions to their
+sleeping-place outside the kloof. Having made sure of this I went to my
+hut and loosed Lost that fortunately enough had been unable to gnaw
+through the thick buffalo-hide riem with which I had fastened him to
+the pole.
+
+He greeted me with rapture as though we had been parted for years. Had
+he belonged to Ulysses himself he could not have been more joyful. When
+one is despondent and lonesome, how grateful is the whole-hearted
+welcome of a dog which, we are sometimes tempted to think, is the only
+creature that really cares for us in the world. Every other living
+thing has side interests of its own, but that of a dog is centred in
+its master, though it is true that it also dreams affectionately of
+dinner and rabbits.
+
+Then with Lost at my feet I sat outside the hut smoking and waiting for
+the return of Anscombe and Heda. Presently I caught sight of them in
+the gloaming. Their arms were around one another, and in some
+remarkable way they had managed to dispose their heads, forgetting that
+the sky was still light behind them, in such fashion that it was
+difficult to tell one from the other. I reflected that it was a good
+thing that at last we were escaping from this confounded kloof and
+country for one where they could marry and make an end, and became
+afflicted with a sneezing fit.
+
+Heda asked where Nombé was and why supper was not ready, for Nombé
+played the part of cook and parlourmaid combined. I told her something
+of what had happened, whereon Heda, who did not appreciate its
+importance in the least, remarked that she, Nombé, might as well have
+put on the pot before she went and done sundry other things which I
+forget. Ultimately we got something to eat and turned in, Heda
+grumbling a little because she must sleep alone, for she had grown used
+to the company of the ever-watchful Nombé, who made her bed across the
+door-hole of the hut.
+
+Anscombe was soon lost in dreams, if he did dream, but I could not
+sleep well that night. I was fearful of I knew not what, and so, I
+think, was Lost, for he fidgeted and kept poking me with his nose. At
+last, I think it must have been about two hours after midnight, he
+began to growl. I could hear nothing, although my ears are sharp, but
+as he went on growling I crept to the door-hole and drew aside the
+board. Lost slipped out and vanished, while I waited, listening.
+Presently I thought I heard a soft foot-fall and a whisper, also that I
+saw the shape of a woman which reminded me of Nombé, shown faintly by
+the starlight. It vanished in a moment and Lost returned wagging his
+tail, as he might well have done if it were Nombé who was attached to
+the dog. As nothing further happened I went back to bed, reflecting
+that I was probably mistaken, since Nombé had been sent away for some
+days by Zikali and would scarcely dare to return at once, even if she
+could do so.
+
+Shortly before daylight Lost began to growl again in a subdued and
+thunderous fashion. This time I got up and dressed myself more or less.
+Then I went out. The dawn was just breaking and by its light I saw a
+strange scene. About fifty yards away in the narrow nek that ran over
+some boulders to the site of our huts, stood what seemed to be the
+goddess Nomkubulwana as I had seen her on the point of rock in the Vale
+of Bones. She wore the same radiant dress and in the dim glow had all
+the appearance of a white woman. I stood amazed, thinking that I
+dreamt, when from round the bend emerged a number of Zulus, creeping
+forward stealthily with raised spears.
+
+They caught sight of the supernatural figure which barred their road,
+halted and whispered to each other. Then they turned to fly, but before
+they went one of them, as it seemed to me through sheer terror, hurled
+his assegai at the figure which remained still and unmoved.
+
+In thirty seconds they were gone; in sixty their footsteps had died
+away. Then the figure wheeled slowly round and by the strengthening
+light I perceived that a spear transfixed its breast.
+
+As it sank to the ground I ran up to it. It was Nombé with her face and
+arms whitened and her life-blood running down the glittering feather
+robe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+THE MADNESS OF NOMBÉ
+
+
+The dog reached Nombé first and began to lick her face, its tongue
+removing patches of the white which had not had time to dry. She was
+lying, her back supported by one of the boulders. With her left hand
+she patted the dog’s head feebly and with her right drew out the
+assegai from her body, letting it fall upon the ground. Recognizing me
+she smiled in her usual mysterious fashion and said—
+
+“All is well, Macumazahn, all is very well. I have deserved to die and
+I do not die in vain.”
+
+“Don’t talk, let me see your wound,” I exclaimed.
+
+She opened her robe and pointed; it was quite a small gash beneath the
+breast from which blood ebbed slowly.
+
+“Let it be, Macumazahn,” she said. “I am bleeding inside and it is
+mortal. But I shall not die yet. Listen to me while I have my mind.
+Yesterday when Mauriti and Heddana went up to the plain I wished to go
+with them because I had news that Zulus were wandering everywhere and
+thought that I might be able to protect my mistress from danger.
+Mauriti spoke to me roughly, telling me that I was not wanted. Of that
+I thought little, for to such words I am accustomed from him; moreover,
+they are to be forgiven to a man in love. But it did not end there, for
+my lady Heddana also pierced me with her tongue, which hurt more than
+this spear thrust does, Macumazahn, for I could see that her speech had
+been prepared and that she took this chance to throw it at me. She said
+that I did not know where I should sit; that I was a thorn beneath her
+nail, and that whenever she wished to talk with Mauriti, or with you,
+Macumazahn, I was ever there with my ear open like the mouth of a
+gourd. She commanded me in future to come only when I was called; all
+of which things I am sure Mauriti had taught her, who in herself is too
+gentle even to think them—unless you taught her, Macumazahn.”
+
+I shook my head and she went on—
+
+“No, it was not you who also are too gentle, and having suffered
+yourself, can feel for those who suffer, which Mauriti who has never
+suffered cannot do. Still, you too thought me a trouble, one that
+sticks in the flesh like a hooked thorn, or a tick from the grass, and
+cannot be unfastened. You spoke to the Master about it and he spoke to
+me.”
+
+This time I nodded in assent.
+
+“I do not blame you, Macumazahn; indeed now I see that you were wise,
+for what right has a poor black doctoress to seek the love, or even to
+look upon the face of the great white lady whom for a little while Fate
+has caused to walk upon the same path with her? But yesterday I forgot
+that, Macumazahn, for you see we are all of us, not one self, but many
+selves, and each self has its times of rule. Nombé alive and well was
+one woman, Nombé dying is another, and doubtless Nombé dead will be a
+third, unless, as she prays, she should sleep for ever.
+
+“Macumazahn, those words of Heddana’s were to me what gall is to sweet
+milk. My blood clotted and my heart turned sour. It was not against her
+that I was angry, because that can never happen, but against Mauriti
+and against you. My Spirit whispered in my ear. It said, ‘If Mauriti
+and Macumazahn were dead the lady Heddana would be left alone in a
+strange land. Then she would learn to rest upon you as upon a stick,
+and learn to love the stick on which she rested, though it be so rough
+and homely.’ But how can I kill them, I asked of my Spirit, and myself
+escape death?
+
+“‘Poison is forbidden to you by the pact between us,’ answered my
+Spirit, ‘yet I will show you a way, who am bound to serve you in all
+things good or ill.’
+
+“Then we nodded to each other in my breast, Macumazahn, and I waited
+for what should happen who knew that my Spirit would not lie. Yes, I
+waited for a chance to kill you both, forgetting, as the wicked forget
+in their madness, that even if I were not found out, soon or late
+Heddana would guess the truth and then, even if she had learned to love
+me a thousand times more than she ever could, would come to hate me as
+a mother hates a snake that has slain her child. Or even if she never
+learned or guessed in life, after death she would learn and hunt me and
+spit on me from world to world as a traitoress and a murderer, one who
+has sinned past pardon.”
+
+Here she seemed to grow faint and I turned to seek for help. But she
+caught hold of my coat and said—
+
+“Hear me out, Macumazahn, or I will run after you till I fall and die.”
+
+So thinking it best, I stayed and she went on—
+
+“My Spirit, which must be an evil one since Zikali gave it me when I
+was made a doctoress, dealt truly with me, for presently the king and
+his people came. Moreover, my Spirit brought it about that the king
+would have no other guide but me to lead him to the kraal where he
+slept last night, and I went as though unwillingly. At the kraal the
+king sent for me and questioned me in a dark hut, pretending to be
+alone, but I who am a doctoress knew that two other men were in that
+hut, taking note of all my words. He asked me of the Inkosazana-y-Zulu
+who appeared in the Vale of Bones and of the little assegai she held in
+her hand, and of the magic of the Opener of Roads, and many other
+things. I said that I knew nothing of the Inkosazana, but that without
+doubt my Master was a great magician. He did not believe me. He
+threatened that I should be tortured very horribly and was about to
+call his servants to torment me till I told the truth. Then my Spirit
+spoke in my heart saying, ‘Now the door is open to you, as I promised.
+Tell the king of the two white men whom the Master hides, and he will
+send to kill them, leaving the lady Heddana and you alone together.’ So
+I pretended to be afraid and told him, whereon he laughed and answered—
+
+“‘For your sake I am glad, girl, that you have spoken the truth;
+besides it is useless to torture a witch, since then the spirit in her
+only vomits lies.’
+
+“Next he called aloud and a man came, who it was I could not see in the
+dark. The king commanded him to take me to one of the other huts and
+tie me up there to the roof-pole. The man obeyed, but he did not tie me
+up; he only blocked the hut with the door-board, and sat with me there
+in the dark alone.
+
+“Now I grew cunning and began to talk with him, spreading a net of
+sweet words, as the fowler spreads a net for cranes from which he would
+tear the crests. Soon by his talk I found out that the king and his
+people knew more than I guessed. Macumazahn, they had seen the cart
+which still stands under the overhanging rock by the mouth of the cave.
+I asked him if that were all, pretending that the cart belonged to my
+Master, to whom it had been brought from the field of Isandhlwana, that
+he might be drawn about in it, who was too weak to walk.
+
+“The man said that if I would kiss him he would tell me everything. I
+bade him tell me first, swearing that then I would kiss him. Yes,
+Macumazahn, I, whom no man’s lips have ever touched, fell as low as
+this. So he grew foolish and told me. He told me that they had also
+seen a kappje such as white women wear, hanging on the hut fence, and I
+remembered that after washing the headdress of my mistress I had set it
+there to dry in the sun. He told me also that the King suspected that
+she who wore that kappje was she who had played the part of the
+Inkosazana in the Vale of Bones. I asked him what the king would do
+about the matter, at the same time denying that there was any white
+woman in the Black Kloof. He said that at dawn the king would send and
+kill these foreign rats, whom the Opener of Roads kept in the thatch of
+his hut. Now he drew near and asked his pay. I gave it to him—with a
+knife-point, Macumazahn. Oh! that was a good thrust. He never spoke
+again. Then I slipped away, for all the others were asleep, and was
+here a little after midnight.”
+
+“I thought I saw you, Nombé,” I said, “but was not sure, so I did
+nothing.”
+
+She smiled and answered—
+
+“Ah! I was afraid that the Watcher-by-Night would be watching by night;
+also the dog ran up to me, but he knew me and I sent him back again.
+Now while I was coming home, thoughts entered my heart. I saw, as one
+sees by a lightning flash, all that I had done. The king and his people
+were not sure that the Master was hiding white folk here and would
+never have sent back to kill them on the chance. I had made them sure,
+as indeed, being mad, I meant to do. Moreover, in throwing spears at
+the kites I had killed my own dove, since it was on the false
+Inkosazana who had caused them to declare war and brought the land to
+ruin, that they wished to be avenged, and perchance on him who taught
+her her part, not on one or two wandering white men. I saw that when
+Cetewayo’s people came, and there were many more of them outside,
+several hundreds I think, they would shave the whole head and burn the
+whole tree. Every one in the kloof would be killed.
+
+“How could I undo the knot that I had tied and stamp out the fire that
+I had lit? That was the question. I bethought me of coming to you, but
+without arms how could you help? I bethought me of going to the Master,
+but I was ashamed. Also, what could he do with but a few servants, for
+the most of his people are away with the cattle? He is too weak to
+climb the steep path to the plain above, nor was there time to gather
+folk to carry him. Lastly, even if there were time which there was not,
+and we went thither they would track us out and kill us. For the rest I
+did not care, nor for myself, but that the lady Heddana should be
+butchered who was more to me than a hundred lives, and through my
+treachery—ah! for that I cared.
+
+“I called on my Spirit to help me, but it would not come. My Spirit was
+dead in me because now I would do good and not ill. Yet another Spirit
+came, that of one Mameena whom once you knew. She came angrily, like a
+storm, and I shrank before her. She said, ‘Vile witch, you have plotted
+to murder Macumazahn, and for that you shall answer to me before
+another sun has set over this earth of yours. Now you seek a way of
+escape from your own wickedness. Well, it can be had, but at a price.’
+
+“‘What price, O Lady of Death?’ I asked.
+
+“‘The price of your own life, Witch.’
+
+“I laughed into that ghost face of hers and said—
+
+“‘Is this all? Be swift and show me the way, O Lady of Death, and
+afterwards we will balance our account.’
+
+“Then she whispered into the ear of my heart and was gone. I ran on,
+for the dawn was near. I whitened myself with lime, I put on the
+glittering cloak and powdered my hair with the sparkling earth. I took
+a little stick in my hand since I could find no spear and had no time
+to search, and just as day began to break, I crept out and stood in the
+bend of the path. The slayers came, twelve or so of them, but behind
+were many more. They saw the Inkosazana-y-Zulu barring their way and
+were much afraid. They fled, but out of his fright one of them threw a
+spear which went home, as I knew it would. He watched to see if I
+should fall, but I would not fall. Then he fled faster than the rest,
+knowing himself accursed who had lifted steel against the Queen of
+Heaven, and oh! I am glad, I am glad!”
+
+She ceased, exhausted, yet with a great exultation in her beautiful
+eyes; indeed at that moment she looked a most triumphant creature. I
+stared at her, thrilled through and through. She had been wicked, no
+doubt, but how splendid was her end; and, thank Heaven! she was
+troubled with no thought of what might befall her after that end,
+although I was sure she believed that she would live again to face
+Mameena.
+
+I knew not what to do. I did not like to leave her, especially as no
+earthly power could help her case, since slowly but quite surely she
+was bleeding to death from an internal wound. By now the sun was up and
+Zikali’s people were about. One of them appeared suddenly and saw, then
+with a howl of terror turned to fly away.
+
+“Fool! Fool!” I cried, “go summon the lady Heddana and the Inkosi
+Mauriti. Bid them come swiftly if they would see the doctoress Nombé
+before she dies.”
+
+The man leapt off like a buck, and within a few minutes I saw Heda and
+Anscombe running towards us, half dressed, and went to meet them.
+
+“What is it?” she gasped.
+
+“I have only time to tell you this,” I answered. “Nombé is dying. She
+gave her life to save you, how I will explain afterwards. The assegai
+that pierced her was meant for your heart. Go, thank her, and bid her
+farewell. Anscombe, stop back with me.”
+
+We stood still and watched from a little distance. Heda knelt down and
+put her arms about Nombé. They whispered together into each other’s
+ears. Then they kissed.
+
+It was at this moment that Zikali appeared, leaning on two of his
+servants. By some occult art or instinct he seemed to know all that had
+happened, and oh! he looked terrible. He crouched down in front of the
+dying woman and, toadlike, spat his venom at her.
+
+“You lost your Spirit, did you?” he said. “Well, it came back to me
+laden with the black honey of your treachery, to me, its home, as a bee
+comes to its hive. It has told me everything, and well for you, Witch,
+it is that you are dying. But think not that you shall escape me there
+in the world below, for thither I will follow you. Curses on you,
+traitress, who would have betrayed me and brought all my plans to
+naught. Ow! in a day to come I will pay you back a full harvest for
+this seed of shame that you have sown.”
+
+She opened her eyes and looked at him, then answered quite softly—
+
+“I think your chain is broken, O Zikali, no more my master. I think
+that love has cut your chain in two and I fear you never more. Keep the
+spirit you lent to me; it is yours, but the rest of me is my own, and
+in the house of my heart another comes to dwell.”
+
+Then once more she stretched out her arms towards Heda and murmuring,
+“Sister, forget me not, Sister, who will await you for a thousand
+years,” she passed away.
+
+It was a good ending to a bad business, and I confess I felt glad when
+it was finished. Only afterwards I regretted very much that I had not
+found an opportunity to ask her whether or no she had masqueraded as
+Mameena in the Valley of Bones. Now it is too late.
+
+We buried poor Nombé decently in her own little hut where she used to
+practise her incantations. Zikali and his people wished apparently to
+throw her to the vultures for some secret reason that had to do with
+their superstitions. But Heda, who, now that Nombé was dead, developed
+a great affection for her not unmixed with a certain amount of
+compunction for which really she had no cause, withstood him to his
+face and insisted upon a decent interment. So she was laid to earth
+still plastered with the white pigment and wrapped in the bloodstained
+feather robe. I may add that on the following morning one of Zikali’s
+servants informed me solemnly that because of this she had been seen
+during the night riding up and down the rocks on a baboon as Zulu
+umtagati are supposed to do. I have small doubt that as soon as we were
+gone they dug her up again and threw her to the vultures and the
+jackals according to their first intention.
+
+On this day we at length escaped from the Black Kloof, and in our own
+cart, for during the night our horses arrived mysteriously from
+somewhere, in good condition though rather wild. I went to say good-bye
+to Zikali, who said little, except that we should meet once more after
+many moons. Anscombe and Heda he would not see at all, but only sent
+them a message, to the effect that he hoped they would think kindly of
+him through the long years to come, since he had kept his promise and
+preserved them safe through many dangers. I might have answered that he
+had first of all put them into the dangers, but considered it wise to
+hold my tongue. I think, however, that he guessed my thought, if one
+can talk of guessing in connection with Zikali, for he said that they
+had no reason to thank him, since if he had served their turn they had
+served his, adding—
+
+“It will be strange in the times to be for the lady Heddana to remember
+that it was she and no other who crumpled up the Zulus like a
+frostbitten winter reed, since had she not appeared upon the rock in
+the Valley of Bones, there would have been no war.”
+
+“She did not do this, you did it, Zikali,” I said, “making her your
+tool through love and fear.”
+
+“Nay, Macumazahn, I did not do it; it was done by what you call God and
+I call Fate in whose hand I am the tool. Well, say to the lady Heddana
+that in payment I will hold back the ghost of Nombé from haunting her,
+if I can. Say also that if I had not brought her and her lover to
+Zululand they would have been killed.”
+
+So we went from that hateful kloof which I have never seen since and
+hope I shall never see again, two of Zikali’s men escorting us until we
+got into touch with white people. To these we said as little as
+possible. I think they believed that we were only premature tourists
+who had made a dash into Zululand to visit some of the battlefields.
+Indeed none of us ever reported our strange adventures, and after my
+experience with Kaatje we were particularly careful to say nothing in
+the hearing of any gentleman connected with the Press. But as a matter
+of fact there were so many people moving about and such a continual
+coming and going of soldiers and their belongings, that after we had
+managed to buy some decent clothes, which we did at the little town of
+Newcastle, nobody paid any attention to us.
+
+On our way to Maritzburg one amusing thing did happen. We met Kaatje!
+It was about sunset that we were driving up a steep hill not far from
+Howick. At least I was driving, but Anscombe and Heda were walking
+about a hundred yards ahead of the cart, when suddenly Kaatje appeared
+over a rise and came face to face with them while taking an evening
+stroll, or as I concluded afterwards, making some journey. She saw, she
+stared, she uttered one wild yell, and suddenly bundled over the edge
+of the road. Never would I have believed that such a fat woman could
+have run so fast. In a minute she was down the slope and had vanished
+into a dense kloof where, as night was closing in and we were very
+tired, it was impossible for us to follow her. Nor did subsequent
+inquiry in Howick tell us where she was living or whence she came, for
+some months before she had left the place she had taken there as a
+cook.
+
+Such was the end of Kaatje so far as we were concerned. Doubtless to
+her dying day she remained, or will remain, a firm believer in ghosts.
+
+Anscombe and Heda were married at Maritzburg as soon as the necessary
+formalities had been completed. I could not attend the ceremony, which
+was a disappointment to me and I hope to them, but unfortunately I had
+a return of my illness and was laid up for a week. Perhaps this was
+owing to the hot sun that struck me on the neck one afternoon coming
+down the Town Hill where I was obliged to hang on to the rear of the
+cart because the brakes had given out. However I was able to send Heda
+a wedding gift in the shape of her jewels and money that I recovered
+from the bank, which she had never expected to see again; also to
+arrange everything about her property.
+
+They went down to Durban for their honeymoon and, some convenient
+opportunity arising, sailed thence for England. I received an
+affectionate letter from them both, which I still treasure, thanking me
+very much for all I had done for them, that after all was little
+enough. Also Anscombe enclosed a blank cheque, begging me to fill it in
+for whatever sum I considered he was indebted to me on the balance of
+account. I thought this very kind of him and a great mark of
+confidence, but the cheque remained blank.
+
+I never saw either of them again, and though I believe that they are
+both living, for the most part abroad—in Hungary I think—I do not
+suppose that I ever shall. When I came to England some years later
+after King Solomon’s mines had made me rich, I wrote Anscombe a letter.
+He never answered it, which hurt me at the time. Afterwards I
+remembered that in their fine position it was very natural that they
+should not wish to renew acquaintance with an individual who had so
+intimate a knowledge of certain incidents that they probably regarded
+as hateful, such as the deaths of Marnham and Dr. Rodd, and all the
+surrounding circumstances. If so, I daresay that they were wise, but of
+course it may have been only carelessness. It is so easy for busy and
+fashionable folk not to answer a rather troublesome letter, or to
+forget to put that answer in the post. Or, indeed, the letter may never
+have reached them—such things often go astray, especially when people
+live abroad. At any rate, perhaps through my own fault, we have drifted
+apart. I daresay they believe that I am dead, or not to be found
+somewhere in Africa. However, I always think of them with affection,
+for Anscombe was one of the best travelling companions I ever had, and
+his wife a most charming girl, and wonder whether Zikali’s prophecy
+about their children will come true. Good luck go with them!
+
+As it chances, since then I passed the place where the Temple stood,
+though at a little distance. I had the curiosity, however, at some
+inconvenience, to ride round and examine the spot. I suppose that Heda
+had sold the property, for a back-veld Boer, who was absent at the
+time, had turned what used to be Rodd’s hospital into his house. Close
+by, grim and gaunt, stood the burnt-out marble walls of the Temple. The
+verandah was still roofed over, and standing on the spot whence I had
+shot the pistol out of Rodd’s hand, I was filled with many memories.
+
+I could trace the whole plan of the building and visited that part of
+it which had been Marnham’s room. The iron safe that stood in the
+corner had been taken away, but the legs of the bedstead remained. Also
+not far from it, overgrown with running plants, was a little heap which
+I took to be the ashes of his desk, for bits of burnt wood protruded. I
+grubbed among them with my foot and riding crop and presently came
+across the remains of a charred human skull. Then I departed in a
+hurry.
+
+My way took me through the Yellow-wood grove, past the horns of the
+blue wildebeeste which still lay there, past that mud-hole also into
+which Rodd had fallen dead. Here, however, I made no more search, who
+had seen enough of bones. To this day I do not know whether he still
+lies beneath the slimy ooze, or was removed and buried.
+
+Also I saw the site of our wagon camp where the Basutos attacked us.
+But I will have done with these reminiscences which induce melancholy,
+though really there is no reason why they should.
+
+Tout lasse, tout casse, tout passe—everything wears out, everything
+crumbles, everything vanishes—in the words of the French proverb that
+my friend Sir Henry Curtis is so fond of quoting, that at last I wrote
+it down in my pocket-book, only to remember afterwards that when I was
+a boy I had heard it from the lips of an old scamp of a Frenchman, of
+the name of Leblanc, who once gave me and another lessons in the Gallic
+tongue. But of him I have already written in _Marie,_ which is the
+first chapter in the Book of the fall of the Zulus. That headed _Child
+of Storm_ is the second. These pages form the third and last.
+
+Ah! indeed, tout lasse, tout casse, tout passe!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+THE KRAAL JAZI
+
+
+Now I shall pass over all the Zulu record of the next four years, since
+after all it has nothing to do with my tale and I do not pretend to be
+writing a history.
+
+Sir Garnet Wolseley set up his Kilkenny cat Government in Zululand, or
+the Home Government did it for him, I do not know which. In place of
+one king, thirteen chiefs were erected who got to work to cut the
+throats of each other and of the people.
+
+As I expected would be the case, Zikali informed the military
+authorities of the secret hiding-place in the Ingome Forest where he
+suggested to Cetewayo that he should refuge. The ex-king was duly
+captured there and taken first to the Cape and then to England, where,
+after the disgrace of poor Sir Bartle Frere, an agitation had been set
+on foot on his behalf. Here he saw the Queen and her ministers, once
+more conquering, as it had been prophesied that he would by her who
+wore the shape of Mameena at the memorable scene in the Valley of Bones
+when I was present. Often I have thought of him dressed in a black coat
+and seated in that villa in Melbury Road in the suburb of London which
+I understand is populated by artists. A strange contrast truly to the
+savage prince receiving the salute of triumph after the Battle of the
+Tugela in which he won the kingship, or to the royal monarch to whose
+presence I had been summoned at Ulundi. However, he was brought back to
+Zululand again by a British man-of-war, re-installed to a limited
+chieftainship by Sir Theophilus Shepstone, and freed from the
+strangling embrace of the black coat.
+
+Then of course there was more fighting, as every one knew would happen,
+except the British Colonial Office; indeed all Zululand ran with blood.
+For in England Cetewayo and his rights, or wrongs, had, like the Boers
+and their rights, or wrongs, become a matter of Party politics to which
+everything else must give way. Often I wonder whether Party politics
+will not in the end prove the ruin of the British Empire. Well, thank
+Heaven, I shall not live to learn.
+
+So Cetewayo came back and fought and was defeated by those who once had
+been his subjects. Now for the last scene, that is all with which I
+need concern myself.
+
+At the beginning of February, 1884, business took me to Zululand; it
+had to do with a deal in cattle and blankets. As I was returning
+towards the Tugela who should I meet but friend Goza, he who had
+escorted me from the Black Kloof to Ulundi before the outbreak of war,
+and who afterwards escorted me and that unutterable nuisance, Kaatje,
+out of the country. At first I thought that we came together by
+accident, or perhaps that he had journeyed a little way to thank me for
+the blankets which I had sent to him, remembering my ancient promise,
+but afterwards I changed my opinion on this point.
+
+Well, we talked over many matters, the war, the disasters that had
+befallen Zululand, and so forth. Especially did we talk of that night
+in the Valley of Bones and the things we had seen there side by side. I
+asked him if the people still believed in the Inkosazana-y-Zulu who
+then appeared in the moonlight on the rock. He answered that some did
+and some did not. For his part, he added, looking at me fixedly, he did
+not, since it was rumoured that Zikali had dressed up a white woman to
+play the part of the Spirit. Yet he could not be sure of the matter,
+since it was also said that when some of Cetewayo’s people went to kill
+this white woman in the Black Kloof, Nomkubulwana, the Princess of
+Heaven herself, rose before them and frightened them away.
+
+I remarked that this was very strange, and then quite casually asked
+him whom Zikali had dressed up to play the part of the dead Mameena
+upon that same occasion, since this was a point upon which I always
+thirsted for definite intelligence. He stared at me and replied that I
+ought to be able to answer my own question, since I had been much
+nearer to her who looked like Mameena than any one else, so near indeed
+that all present distinctly saw her kiss me, as it was well known she
+had liked to do while still alive. I replied indignantly that they saw
+wrong and repeated my question. Then he answered straight out—
+
+“O Macumazahn, we Zulus believe that what we saw on that night was not
+Nombé or another dressed up, but the spirit of the witch Mameena
+itself. We believe it because we could see the light of Zikali’s fire
+through her, not always, but sometimes; also because all that she said
+has come true, though everything is not yet finished.”
+
+I could get no more out of him about the matter, for when I tried to
+speak of it again, he turned the subject, telling me of his wonderful
+escapes during the war. Presently he rose to go and said casually—
+
+“Surely I grow old in these times of trouble, Macumazahn, for thoughts
+slip through my head like water through the fingers. Almost I had
+forgotten what I wished to say to you. The other day I met Zikali, the
+Opener of Roads. He told me that you were in Zululand and that I should
+meet you—he did not say where, only that when I did meet you, I was to
+give you a message. This was the message—that when on your way to Natal
+you came to the kraal Jazi, you would find him there; also another whom
+you used to know, and must be sure not to go away without seeing him,
+since that was about to happen in which you must take your part.”
+
+“Zikali!” I exclaimed. “I have heard nothing of him since the war. I
+thought that by now he was certainly dead.”
+
+“Oh! no, Macumazahn, he is certainly not dead, but just the same as
+ever. Indeed it is believed that he and no other has kept all this
+broth of trouble on the boil, some say for Cetewayo’s sake, and some
+say because he wishes to destroy Cetewayo. But what do I know of such
+matters who only desire to live in peace under whatever chief the
+English Queen sends to us, as she has a right to do having conquered us
+in war? When you meet the Opener of Roads at the kraal Jazi, ask him,
+Macumazahn.”
+
+“Where the devil is the kraal Jazi?” I inquired with irritation. “I
+never heard of such a place.”
+
+“Nor did I, therefore I cannot tell you, Macumazahn. For aught I can
+say it may be down beneath where dead men go. But wherever it is there
+certainly you will meet the Opener of Roads. Now farewell, Macumazahn.
+If it should chance that we never look into each other’s eyes again, I
+am sure you will think of me sometimes, as I shall of you, and of all
+that we have seen together, especially on that night in the Vale of
+Bones when the ghost of the witch Mameena prophesied to us and kissed
+you before us all. She must have been very beautiful, Macumazahn, as
+indeed I have heard from those who remember her, and I don’t wonder
+that you loved her so much. Still for my part I had rather be kissed by
+a living woman than by one who is dead, though doubtless it is best to
+be kissed by none at all. Again, farewell, and be sure to tell the
+Opener of Roads that I gave you his message, lest he should lay some
+evil charm upon me, who have seen enough evil of late.”
+
+Thus talking Goza departed. I never saw him again, and do not know if
+he is dead or alive. Well, he was a kindly old fellow, if no hero.
+
+I had almost forgotten the incident of this meeting when a while later
+I found myself in the neighbourhood of the beautiful but semi-tropical
+place called Eshowe, which since those days has become the official
+home of the British Resident in Zululand. Indeed, although the house
+was not then finished, if it had been begun, Sir Melmoth Osborn already
+had an office there. I wished to see him in order to give him some
+rather important information, but when I reached a kraal of about fifty
+huts some five hundred yards from the site of the present Residency, my
+wagon stuck fast in the boggy ground. While I was trying to get it out
+a quiet-faced Zulu, whose name, I remember, was Umnikwa, informed me
+that Malimati, that is Sir Melmoth Osborn’s native name, was somewhere
+at a little distance from Eshowe, too far away for me to get to him
+that night. I answered, Very well, I would sleep where I was, and asked
+the name of the kraal.
+
+He replied, Jazi, at which I started, but only said that it was a
+strange name, seeing that it meant “Finished,” or “Finished with joy.”
+Umnikwa answered, Yes, but that it had been so called because the chief
+Umfokaki, or The Stranger, who married a sister of the king, was killed
+at this kraal by his brother, Gundane, or the Bat. I remarked that it
+was an ill-omened kind of name, to which the man replied, Yes, and
+likely to become more so, since the King Cetewayo who had been
+sheltering there “beneath the armpit” of Malimati, the white lord, for
+some months, lay in it dying. I asked him of what he was dying, and he
+replied that he did not know, but that doubtless the father of the
+witch-doctors, named Zikali, the Opener of Roads, would be able to tell
+me, as he was attending on Cetewayo.
+
+“He has sent me to bid you to come at once, O Macumazahn,” he added
+casually, “having had news that you were arriving here.”
+
+Showing no surprise, I answered that I would come, although goodness
+knows I was surprised enough, and leaving my servants to get my wagon
+out of the bog, I walked into the kraal with the messenger. He took me
+to a large hut placed within a fence about the gate of which some women
+were gathered, who all looked very anxious and disturbed. Among them I
+saw Dabuko the king’s brother, whom I knew slightly. He greeted me and
+told me that Cetewayo was at the point of death within the hut, but
+like Umnikwa, professed ignorance of the cause of his illness.
+
+For a long while, over an hour I should think, I sat there outside the
+hut, or walked to and fro. Until darkness came I could occupy myself
+with contemplating the scenery of the encircling hills, which is among
+the most beautiful in Zululand with its swelling contours and rich
+colouring. But after it had set in only my thoughts remained, and these
+I found depressing.
+
+At length I made up my mind that I would go away, for after all what
+had I to do with this business of the death of Cetewayo, if in truth he
+was dying? I wished to see no more of Cetewayo of whom all my
+recollections were terrific or sorrowful. I rose to depart, when
+suddenly a woman emerged from the hut. I could not see who she was or
+even what she was like, because of the gloom; also for the reason that
+she had the corner of her blanket thrown over her face as though she
+wished to keep it hidden. For a moment she stopped opposite to me and
+said—
+
+“The king who is sick desires to see you, Macumazahn.” Then she pointed
+to the door-hole of the hut and vanished, shutting the gate of the
+fence behind her. Curiosity overcame me and I crawled into the hut,
+pushing aside the door-board in order to do so and setting it up again
+when I was through.
+
+Inside burned a single candle fixed in the neck of a bottle, faintly
+illuminating that big and gloomy place. By its feeble light I saw a low
+bedstead on the left of the entrance and lying on it a man half covered
+by a blanket in whom I recognized Cetewayo. His face was shrunken and
+distorted with pain, and his great bulk seemed less, but still without
+doubt it was Cetewayo.
+
+“Greeting, Macumazahn,” he said feebly, “you find me in evil case, but
+I heard that you were here and thought that I should like to see you
+before I die, because I know that you are honest and will report my
+words faithfully. I wish you to tell the white men that my heart never
+really was against them; they have always been the friends of my heart,
+but others forced me down a road I did not wish to travel, of which now
+I have come to the end.”
+
+“What is the matter with you, King?” I asked.
+
+“I do not know, Macumazahn, but I have been sick for some days. The
+Opener of Roads who came to doctor me, because my wives believed those
+white medicine-men wished me dead, says that I have been poisoned and
+must die. If you had been here at first you might perhaps have given me
+some medicine. But now it is too late,” he added with a groan.
+
+“Who then poisoned you, King?”
+
+“I cannot tell you, Macumazahn. Perhaps my enemies, perhaps my
+brothers, perhaps my wives. All wish to have done with me, and the
+Great One, who is no longer wanted, is soon dead. Be thankful,
+Macumazahn, that you never were a king, for sad is the lot of kings.”
+
+“Where, then, is the Opener of Roads?” I asked.
+
+“He was here a little while ago. Perhaps he has gone out to take the
+King’s head” (i.e., to announce his death) “to Malimati and the white
+men,” he answered in a faint voice.
+
+Just then I heard a shuffling noise proceeding from that part of the
+hut where the shadow was deepest, and looking, saw an emaciated arm
+projected into the circle of the light. It was followed by another arm,
+then by a vast head covered with long white hair that trailed upon the
+ground, then by a big, misshapen body, so wasted that it looked like a
+skeleton covered with corrugated black skin. Slowly, like a chameleon
+climbing a bough, the thing crept forward, and I knew it for Zikali. He
+reached the side of the bed and squatted down in his toad-like fashion,
+then, again like a chameleon, without moving his head turned his deep
+and glowing eyes towards me.
+
+“Hail, O Macumazahn,” he said in his low voice. “Did I not promise you
+long ago that you should be with me at the last, and are you not with
+me and another?”
+
+“It seems so, Zikali,” I answered. “But why do you not send for the
+white doctors to cure the king?”
+
+“All the doctors, white and black, in the whole world cannot cure him,
+Macumazahn. The Spirits call him and he dies. At his call I came fast
+and far, but even I cannot cure him—although because of him I myself
+must die.”
+
+“Why?” I asked.
+
+“Look at me, Macumazahn, and say if I am one who should travel. Well,
+all come to their end at last, even the
+'Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.’”
+
+Cetewayo lifted his head and looked at him, then said heavily—
+
+“Perchance it would have been better for our House if that end had been
+sooner. Now that I lie dying many sayings concerning you come into my
+mind that I had forgotten. Moreover, Opener of Roads, I never sent for
+you, whoever may have done so, and it was not until after you came here
+that the great pain seized me. How did it happen,” he went on with
+gathering force, “that the white men caught me in the secret place
+where you told me I should hide? Who pointed out that hidden hole to
+the white men? But what does it matter now?”
+
+“Nothing at all, O Son of Panda,” answered Zikali, “even less than it
+matters how I escaped the spear-head hidden in your robe, yonder in my
+hut in the Black Kloof where, had it not been for a certain spirit that
+stood between you and me, you would have murdered me. Tell me, Son of
+Panda, during these last three days have you thought at all of your
+brother Umbelazi, and of certain other brethren of yours whom you
+killed at the battle of the Tugela, when the white man here led the
+charge of the Amawombe against your regiments and ate up three of
+them?”
+
+Cetewayo groaned but said nothing. I think he had become too faint to
+speak.
+
+“Listen, Son of Panda,” went on Zikali in an intense and hissing voice.
+“Many, many years ago, before Senzangacona, your grandfather, saw the
+light—who knows how long before—a man was born of high blood in the
+Dwandwe tribe, which man was a dwarf. Chaka the Black One conquered the
+Dwandwe, but this man of high blood was spared because he was a dwarf,
+an abortion, to whom Chaka gave the name of the
+'Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born,’ keeping him about him to be a
+mock in times of peace and safety, and because he was wise and learned
+in magic, to be a counsellor in times of trouble. Moreover, Chaka
+killed this man’s wives and children for his sport, save one whom he
+kept to be his ‘sister.’
+
+“Therefore for the sake of his people and his butchered wives and
+children, this wizard swore an oath of vengeance against Chaka and all
+his House. Working beneath the ground like a rat, he undermined the
+throne of Chaka and brought him to his death by the spears of his
+brethren and of Mopo his servant, whom Chaka had wronged. Still working
+in the dark like a rat, he caused Dingaan, who stabbed Chaka, to murder
+the Boer Retief and his people, and thus called down upon his head the
+vengeance of the Whites, and afterwards brought Dingaan to his death.
+Then Panda, your father, arose, and his life this
+'Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born’ spared because once Panda had
+done him a kindness. Only through the witch Mameena he brought sorrow
+on him, causing war to arise between his children, one of whom was
+named Cetewayo.
+
+“Then this Cetewayo ruled, first with his father Panda and afterwards
+in his place, and trouble arose between him and the English. Son of
+Panda, you will remember that this Cetewayo was in doubt whether to
+fight the English and demanded a sign of the
+Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born. He gave the sign, causing the
+Inkosazana-y-Zulu, the Princess of Heaven, to appear before him and
+thereby lifting the spear of War. Son of Panda, you know how that war
+went, how this Cetewayo was defeated and came to the
+‘Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born’ like a hunted hyena, to learn
+of a hole where he might hide. You know, too, how he strove to murder
+the poor old doctor who showed him such a hole; how he was taken
+prisoner and sent across the water and afterwards set up again in the
+land that had learned to hate him, to bring its children to death by
+thousands. And you know how at last he took refuge beneath the wing of
+the white chief, here in the kraal Jazi, and lived, spat upon, an
+outcast, until at length he fell sick, as such men are apt to do, and
+the Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born was sent for to doctor him.
+And you know also how he lies dying, within him an agony as though he
+had swallowed a red hot spear, and before him a great blackness peopled
+by the ghosts of those whom he has slain, and of his forefathers whose
+House he has pulled down and burned.”
+
+Zikali ceased, and thrusting his hideous head to within an inch or two
+of that of the dying man, he glowered at him with his fierce and fiery
+eyes. Then he began to whisper into the king’s ear, who quivered at his
+words, as the victim quivers beneath the torturer’s looks.
+
+At that moment the end of the candle fell into the bottle which was of
+clear white glass, and there burned for a little while dully before it
+went out. Never shall I forget the scene illumined by its blue and
+ghastly light. The dying man lying on the low couch, rocking his head
+to and fro; the wizard bending over him like some grey vampire bat
+sucking the life-blood from his helpless throat. The terror in the eyes
+of the one, the insatiable hate in the eyes of the other. Oh! it was
+awful!
+
+“Macumazahn,” gasped Cetewayo in a rattling whisper, “help me,
+Macumazahn. I say that I am poisoned by this Zikali, who hates me. Oh!
+drive away the ghosts! Drive them away!”
+
+I looked at him and at his tormentor squatted by him like a mocking
+fiend, and as I looked the candle went out.
+
+Then my nerve broke, the cold sweat poured from my face and I fled from
+the hut as a man might from a scene in hell, followed by the low
+mocking laugh of Zikali.
+
+Outside the women and others were gathered in the gloom. I told them to
+go to the king, who was dying, and blundered up the slope to search for
+some white man. No one was to be found, but a Kaffir messenger by the
+office told me that Malimati was still away and had been sent for. So I
+returned to my wagon and lay down in it exhausted, for what more could
+I do?
+
+It was a rough night. Thunder muttered and rain fell in driving gusts.
+I dozed off, only to be awakened by a sound of wailing. Then I knew
+that the king was dead, for this was the Isililo, the cry of mourning.
+I wondered whether the murderers—for that he was poisoned I had no
+doubt—were among those who wailed.
+
+Towards dawn the storm rolled off and the night grew serene and clear,
+for a waning moon was shining in the sky. The heat of that stifling
+place oppressed me; my blood seemed to be afire. I knew that there was
+a stream in a gorge about half a mile away, for it had been pointed out
+to me. I longed for a swim in cool water, who, to tell truth, had found
+none for some days, and bethought me that I would bathe in this stream
+before I trekked from that hateful spot, for to me it had become
+hateful. Calling my driver, who was awake and talking with the
+voorloopers, for they knew what was passing at the kraal and were
+alarmed, I told them to get the oxen ready to start as I would be back
+presently. Then I set off for the stream and, after a longish walk,
+scrambled down a steep ravine to its banks, following a path made by
+Kaffir women going to draw water. Arrived there at last I found that it
+was in flood and rising rapidly, at least so I judged from the sound,
+for in that deep, tree-hung place the light was too faint to allow me
+to see anything. So I sat down waiting for the dawn and wishing that I
+had not come because of the mosquitoes.
+
+At length it broke and the mists lifted, showing that the spot was one
+of great beauty. Opposite to me was a waterfall twenty or thirty feet
+high, over which the torrent rushed into a black pool below. Everywhere
+grew tall ferns and beyond these graceful trees, from whose leaves hung
+raindrops. In the centre of the stream on the edge of the fall was a
+rock not a dozen feet away from me, round which the water foamed.
+Something was squatted on this rock, at first I could not see what
+because of the mist, but thought that it was a grey-headed baboon, or
+some other animal, and regretted that I had not brought a gun with me.
+Presently I became aware that it must be a man, for, in a chanting
+voice, it began to speak or pray in Zulu, and hidden behind a flowering
+bush, I could hear the words. They were to this effect—
+
+“O my Spirit, here where thou foundest me when I was young, hundreds of
+years ago” (he said hundreds, but I suppose he meant tens), “I come
+back to thee. In this pool I dived and beneath the waters found thee,
+my Snake, and thou didst wind thyself about my body and about my heart”
+(here I understood that the speaker was alluding to his initiation as a
+witch-doctor which generally includes, or used to include, the finding
+of a snake in a river that coils itself about the neophyte). “About my
+body and in my heart thou hast dwelt from that sun to this, giving me
+wisdom and good and evil counsel, and that which thou hast counselled,
+I have done. Now I return thee whence thou camest, there to await me in
+the new birth.
+
+“O Spirits of my fathers, toiling through many years I have avenged you
+on the House of Senzangacona, and never again will there be a king of
+the Zulus, for the last of them lies dead by my hand. O my murdered
+wives and my children, I have offered up to you a mighty sacrifice, a
+sacrifice of thousands upon thousands.
+
+“O Umkulu-kulu, Great One of the heavens, who sentest me to earth, I
+have done thy work upon the earth and bring back to thee thy harvest of
+the seed that thou hast sown, a blood-red harvest, O Umkulu-kulu. Be
+still, be still, my Snake, the sun arises, and soon, soon shalt thou
+rest in the water that wast thine from the beginning of the world!”
+
+The voice ceased, and presently a spear of light piercing the mists,
+lit upon the speaker. It was Zikali and about him was wound a great
+yellow-bellied snake, of which the black head with flickering tongue
+waved above his head and seemed from time to time to lick him on the
+brow. (I suppose it had come to him from the water, for its skin
+glittered as though with wet.) He stood up on tottering feet, staring
+at the red eye of the rising sun, then crying, _“Finished, finished
+with joy!”_ with a loud and dreadful laughter, he plunged into the
+foaming pool beneath.
+
+Such was the end of Zikali the Wizard, Opener of Roads, the
+“Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,” and such was the vengeance
+that he worked upon the great House of Senzangacona, bringing it to
+naught and with it the nation of the Zulus.
+
+
+
+
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+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Finished, by H. Rider Haggard</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
+at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
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+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Finished</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: H. Rider Haggard</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April, 1999 [eBook #1724]<br />
+[Most recently updated: February 22, 2021]</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Christopher Hapka and David Widger</div>
+<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINISHED ***</div>
+
+<div class="fig" style="width:55%;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" />
+</div>
+
+<h1>Finished</h1>
+
+<h2 class="no-break">by H. Rider Haggard</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap00">INTRODUCTION</a><br /><br /></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. ALLAN QUATERMAIN MEETS ANSCOMBE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. MR. MARNHAM</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. THE HUNTERS HUNTED</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. DOCTOR RODD</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. A GAME OF CARDS</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. MISS HEDA</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. THE STOEP</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. RODD’S LAST CARD</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. FLIGHT</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. NOMBÉ</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. ZIKALI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. TRAPPED</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. CETEWAYO</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. THE VALLEY OF BONES</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. THE GREAT COUNCIL</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. WAR</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII. KAATJE BRINGS NEWS</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap18">CHAPTER XVIII. ISANDHLWANA</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap19">CHAPTER XIX. ALLAN AWAKES</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap20">CHAPTER XX. HEDA’S TALE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap21">CHAPTER XXI. THE KING VISITS ZIKALI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap22">CHAPTER XXII. THE MADNESS OF NOMBÉ</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap23">CHAPTER XXIII. THE KRAAL JAZI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p class="right">
+Ditchingham House, Norfolk,<br />
+May, 1917.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My dear Roosevelt,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You are, I know, a lover of old Allan Quatermain, one who understands and
+appreciates the views of life and the aspirations that underlie and inform his
+manifold adventures.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Therefore, since such is your kind wish, in memory of certain hours wherein
+both of us found true refreshment and companionship amidst the terrible
+anxieties of the World&rsquo;s journey along that bloodstained road by which
+alone, so it is decreed, the pure Peak of Freedom must be scaled, I dedicate to
+you this tale telling of the events and experiences of my youth.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+Your sincere friend,<br />
+H. RIDER HAGGARD.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT,<br />
+Sagamore Hill, U.S.A.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap00"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+<p>
+This book, although it can be read as a separate story, is the third of the
+trilogy of which <i>Marie</i> and <i>Child of Storm</i> are the first two
+parts. It narrates, through the mouth of Allan Quatermain, the consummation of
+the vengeance of the wizard Zikali, alias The Opener of Roads, or
+&ldquo;The-Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,&rdquo; upon the royal Zulu
+House of which Senzangacona was the founder and Cetewayo, our enemy in the war
+of 1879, the last representative who ruled as a king. Although, of course, much
+is added for the purposes of romance, the main facts of history have been
+adhered to with some faithfulness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With these the author became acquainted a full generation ago, Fortune having
+given him a part in the events that preceded the Zulu War. Indeed he believes
+that with the exception of Colonel Phillips, who, as a lieutenant, commanded
+the famous escort of twenty-five policemen, he is now the last survivor of the
+party who, under the leadership of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, or Sompseu as the
+natives called him from the Zambesi to the Cape, were concerned in the
+annexation of the Transvaal in 1877. Recently also he has been called upon as a
+public servant to revisit South Africa and took the opportunity to travel
+through Zululand, in order to refresh his knowledge of its people, their
+customs, their mysteries, and better to prepare himself for the writing of this
+book. Here he stood by the fatal Mount of Isandhlawana which, with some details
+of the battle, is described in these pages, among the graves of many whom once
+he knew, Colonels Durnford, Pulleine and others. Also he saw Ulundi&rsquo;s
+plain where the traces of war still lie thick, and talked with an old Zulu who
+fought in the attacking Impi until it crumbled away before the fire of the
+Martinis and shells from the heavy guns. The battle of the Wall of Sheet Iron,
+he called it, perhaps because of the flashing fence of bayonets.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lastly, in a mealie patch, he found the spot on which the corn grows thin,
+where King Cetewayo breathed his last, poisoned without a doubt, as he has
+known for many years. It is to be seen at the Kraal, ominously named Jazi or,
+translated into English, &ldquo;Finished.&rdquo; The tragedy happened long ago,
+but even now the quiet-faced Zulu who told the tale, looking about him as he
+spoke, would not tell it all. &ldquo;Yes, as a young man, I was there at the
+time, but I do not remember, I do not know&mdash;the Inkoosi Lundanda (i.e.,
+this Chronicler, so named in past years by the Zulus) stands on the very place
+where the king died&mdash;His bed was on the left of the door-hole of the
+hut,&rdquo; and so forth, but no certain word as to the exact reason of this
+sudden and violent death or by whom it was caused. The name of that destroyer
+of a king is for ever hid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this story the actual and immediate cause of the declaration of war against
+the British Power is represented as the appearance of the white goddess, or
+spirit of the Zulus, who is, or was, called Nomkubulwana or Inkosazana-y-Zulu,
+i.e., the Princess of Heaven. The exact circumstances which led to this
+decision are not now ascertainable, though it is known that there was much
+difference of opinion among the Zulu Indunas or great captains, and like the
+writer, many believe that King Cetewayo was personally averse to war against
+his old allies, the English.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The author&rsquo;s friend, Mr. J. Y. Gibson, at present the representative of
+the Union in Zululand, writes in his admirable history: &ldquo;There was a good
+deal of discussion amongst the assembled Zulu notables at Ulundi, but of how
+counsel was swayed it is not possible now to obtain a reliable account.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The late Mr. F. B. Fynney, F.R.G.S., who also was his friend in days bygone,
+and, with the exception of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, who perhaps knew the Zulus
+and their language better than any other official of his day, speaking of this
+fabled goddess wrote: &ldquo;I remember that just before the Zulu War
+Nomkubulwana appeared revealing something or other which had a great effect
+throughout the land.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The use made of this strange traditional Guardian Angel in the following tale
+is not therefore an unsupported flight of fancy, and the same may be said of
+many other incidents, such as the account of the reading of the proclamation
+annexing the Transvaal at Pretoria in 1877, which have been introduced to serve
+the purposes of the romance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mameena, who haunts its pages, in a literal as well as figurative sense, is the
+heroine of <i>Child of Storm,</i> a book to which she gave her own poetic
+title.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+THE AUTHOR.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+1916.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I.<br />
+ALLAN QUATERMAIN MEETS ANSCOMBE</h2>
+
+<p>
+You, my friend, into whose hand, if you live, I hope these scribblings of mine
+will pass one day, must well remember the 12th of April of the year 1877 at
+Pretoria. Sir Theophilus Shepstone, or Sompseu, for I prefer to call him by his
+native name, having investigated the affairs of the Transvaal for a couple of
+months or so, had made up his mind to annex that country to the British Crown.
+It so happened that I, Allan Quatermain, had been on a shooting and trading
+expedition at the back of the Lydenburg district where there was plenty of game
+to be killed in those times. Hearing that great events were toward I made up my
+mind, curiosity being one of my weaknesses, to come round by Pretoria, which
+after all was not very far out of my way, instead of striking straight back to
+Natal. As it chanced I reached the town about eleven o&rsquo;clock on this very
+morning of the 12th of April and, trekking to the Church Square, proceeded to
+outspan there, as was usual in the Seventies. The place was full of people,
+English and Dutch together, and I noted that the former seemed very elated and
+were talking excitedly, while the latter for the most part appeared to be
+sullen and depressed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently I saw a man I knew, a tall, dark man, a very good fellow and an
+excellent shot, named Robinson. By the way you knew him also, for afterwards he
+was an officer in the Pretoria Horse at the time of the Zulu war, the corps in
+which you held a commission. I called to him and asked what was up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A good deal, Allan,&rdquo; he said as he shook my hand. &ldquo;Indeed we
+shall be lucky if all isn&rsquo;t up, or something like it, before the day is
+over. Shepstone&rsquo;s Proclamation annexing the Transvaal is going to be read
+presently.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I whistled and asked,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How will our Boer friends take it? They don&rsquo;t look very
+pleased.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s just what no one knows, Allan. Burgers the President is
+squared, they say. He is to have a pension; also he thinks it the only thing to
+be done. Most of the Hollanders up here don&rsquo;t like it, but I doubt
+whether they will put out their hands further than they can draw them back. The
+question is&mdash;what will be the line of the Boers themselves? There are a
+lot of them about, all armed, you see, and more outside the town.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you think?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t tell you. Anything may happen. They may shoot Shepstone and
+his staff and the twenty-five policemen, or they may just grumble and go home.
+Probably they have no fixed plan.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How about the English?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! we are all crazy with joy, but of course there is no organization
+and many have no arms. Also there are only a few of us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;I came here to look for excitement, life
+having been dull for me of late, and it seems that I have found it. Still I bet
+you those Dutchmen do nothing, except protest. They are slim and know that the
+shooting of an unarmed mission would bring England on their heads.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t say, I am sure. They like Shepstone who understands them,
+and the move is so bold that it takes their breath away. But as the Kaffirs
+say, when a strong wind blows a small spark will make the whole veld burn. It
+just depends upon whether the spark is there. If an Englishman and a Boer began
+to fight for instance, anything might happen. Goodbye, I have got a message to
+deliver. If things go right we might dine at the European tonight, and if they
+don&rsquo;t, goodness knows where we shall dine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I nodded sagely and he departed. Then I went to my wagon to tell the boys not
+to send the oxen off to graze at present, for I feared lest they should be
+stolen if there were trouble, but to keep them tied to the trek-tow. After this
+I put on the best coat and hat I had, feeling that as an Englishman it was my
+duty to look decent on such an occasion, washed, brushed my hair&mdash;with me
+a ceremony without meaning, for it always sticks up&mdash;and slipped a loaded
+Smith &amp; Wesson revolver into my inner poacher pocket. Then I started out to
+see the fun, and avoiding the groups of surly-looking Boers, mingled with the
+crowd that I saw was gathering in front of a long, low building with a broad
+stoep, which I supposed, rightly, to be one of the Government offices.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently I found myself standing by a tall, rather loosely-built man whose
+face attracted me. It was clean-shaven and much bronzed by the sun, but not in
+any way good-looking; the features were too irregular and the nose was a trifle
+too long for good looks. Still the impression it gave was pleasant and the
+steady blue eyes had that twinkle in them which suggests humour. He might have
+been thirty or thirty-five years of age, and notwithstanding his rough dress
+that consisted mainly of a pair of trousers held up by a belt to which hung a
+pistol, and a common flannel shirt, for he wore no coat, I guessed at once that
+he was English-born.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a while neither of us said anything after the taciturn habit of our people
+even on the veld, and indeed I was fully occupied in listening to the truculent
+talk of a little party of mounted Boers behind us. I put my pipe into my mouth
+and began to hunt for my tobacco, taking the opportunity to show the hilt of my
+revolver, so that these men might see that I was armed. It was not to be found,
+I had left it in the wagon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you smoke Boer tobacco,&rdquo; said the stranger, &ldquo;I can help
+you,&rdquo; and I noted that the voice was as pleasant as the face, and knew at
+once that the owner of it was a gentleman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you, Sir. I never smoke anything else,&rdquo; I answered, whereon
+he produced from his trousers pocket a pouch made of lion skin of unusually
+dark colour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I never saw a lion as black as this, except once beyond Buluwayo on the
+borders of Lobengula&rsquo;s country,&rdquo; I said by way of making
+conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Curious,&rdquo; answered the stranger, &ldquo;for that&rsquo;s where I
+shot the brute a few months ago. I tried to keep the whole skin but the white
+ants got at it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Been trading up there?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing so useful,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Just idling and shooting. Came
+to this country because it was one of the very few I had never seen, and have
+only been here a year. I think I have had about enough of it, though. Can you
+tell me of any boats running from Durban to India? I should like to see those
+wild sheep in Kashmir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I told him that I did not know for certain as I had never taken any interest in
+India, being an African elephant-hunter and trader, but I thought they did
+occasionally. Just then Robinson passed by and called to me&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They&rsquo;ll be here presently, Quatermain, but Sompseu isn&rsquo;t
+coming himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Does your name happen to be Allan Quatermain?&rdquo; asked the stranger.
+&ldquo;If so I have heard plenty about you up in Lobengula&rsquo;s country, and
+of your wonderful shooting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;but as for the shooting, natives always
+exaggerate.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They never exaggerated about mine,&rdquo; he said with a twinkle in his
+eye. &ldquo;Anyhow I am very glad to see you in the flesh, though in the spirit
+you rather bored me because I heard too much of you. Whenever I made a
+particularly bad miss, my gun-bearer, who at some time seems to have been
+yours, would say, &lsquo;Ah! if only it had been the Inkosi Macumazahn, how
+different would have been the end!&rsquo; My name is Anscombe, Maurice
+Anscombe,&rdquo; he added rather shyly. (Afterwards I discovered from a book of
+reference that he was a younger son of Lord Mountford, one of the richest peers
+in England.)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we both laughed and he said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me, Mr. Quatermain, if you will, what those Boers are saying behind
+us. I am sure it is something unpleasant, but as the only Dutch I know is
+&lsquo;Guten Tag&rsquo; and &lsquo;Vootsack&rsquo; (Good-day and Get out) that
+takes me no forwarder.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It ought to,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;for the substance of their talk
+is that they object to be &lsquo;vootsacked&rsquo; by the British Government as
+represented by Sir Theophilus Shepstone. They are declaring that they won the
+land &lsquo;with their blood&rsquo; and want to keep their own flag flying over
+it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A very natural sentiment,&rdquo; broke in Anscombe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They say that they wish to shoot all damned Englishmen, especially
+Shepstone and his people, and that they would make a beginning now were they
+not afraid that the damned English Government, being angered, would send
+thousands of damned English rooibatjes, that is, red-coats, and shoot
+<i>them</i> out of evil revenge.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A very natural conclusion,&rdquo; laughed Anscombe again, &ldquo;which I
+should advise them to leave untested. Hush! Here comes the show.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked and saw a body of blackcoated gentlemen with one officer in the
+uniform of a Colonel of Engineers, advancing slowly. I remember that it
+reminded me of a funeral procession following the corpse of the Republic that
+had gone on ahead out of sight. The procession arrived upon the stoep opposite
+to us and began to sort itself out, whereon the English present raised a cheer
+and the Boers behind us cursed audibly. In the middle appeared an elderly
+gentleman with whiskers and a stoop, in whom I recognized Mr. Osborn, known by
+the Kaffirs as Malimati, the Chief of the Staff. By his side was a tall young
+fellow, yourself, my friend, scarcely more than a lad then, carrying papers.
+The rest stood to right and left in a formal line. <i>You</i> gave a printed
+document to Mr. Osborn who put on his glasses and began to read in a low voice
+which few could hear, and I noticed that his hand trembled. Presently he grew
+confused, lost his place, found it, lost it again and came to a full stop.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A nervous-natured man,&rdquo; remarked Mr. Anscombe. &ldquo;Perhaps he
+thinks that those gentlemen are going to shoot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That wouldn&rsquo;t trouble him,&rdquo; I answered, who knew him well.
+&ldquo;His fears are purely mental.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That was true since I know that this same Sir Melmoth Osborn as he is now, as I
+have told in the book I called <i>Child of Storm</i>, swam the Tugela alone to
+watch the battle of Indondakasuka raging round him, and on another occasion
+killed two Kaffirs rushing at him with a right and left shot without turning a
+hair. It was reading this paper that paralyzed him, not any fear of what might
+happen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There followed a very awkward pause such as occurs when a man breaks down in a
+speech. The members of the Staff looked at him and at each other, then behold!
+you, my friend, grabbed the paper from his hand and went on reading it in a
+loud clear voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That young man has plenty of nerve,&rdquo; said Mr. Anscombe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I replied in a whisper. &ldquo;Quite right though. Would
+have been a bad omen if the thing had come to a stop.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, there were no more breakdowns, and at last the long document was finished
+and the Transvaal annexed. The Britishers began to cheer but stopped to listen
+to the formal protest of the Boer Government, if it could be called a
+government when everything had collapsed and the officials were being paid in
+postage stamps. I can&rsquo;t remember whether this was read by President
+Burgers himself or by the officer who was called State Secretary. Anyway, it
+was read, after which there came an awkward pause as though people were waiting
+to see something happen. I looked round at the Boers who were muttering and
+handling their rifles uneasily. Had they found a leader I really think that
+some of the wilder spirits among them would have begun to shoot, but none
+appeared and the crisis passed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The crowd began to disperse, the English among them cheering and throwing up
+their hats, the Dutch with very sullen faces. The Commissioner&rsquo;s staff
+went away as it had come, back to the building with blue gums in front of it,
+which afterwards became Government House, that is all except you. You started
+across the square alone with a bundle of printed proclamations in your hand
+which evidently you had been charged to leave at the various public offices.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let us follow him,&rdquo; I said to Mr. Anscombe. &ldquo;He might get
+into trouble and want a friend.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He nodded and we strolled after you unostentatiously. Sure enough you nearly
+did get into trouble. In front of the first office door to which you came,
+stood a group of Boers, two of whom, big fellows, drew together with the
+evident intention of barring your way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mynheeren,&rdquo; you said, &ldquo;I pray you to let me pass on the
+Queen&rsquo;s business.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They took no heed except to draw closer together and laugh insolently. Again
+you made your request and again they laughed. Then I saw you lift your leg and
+deliberately stamp upon the foot of one of the Boers. He drew back with an
+exclamation, and for a moment I believed that he or his fellow was going to do
+something violent. Perhaps they thought better of it, or perhaps they saw us
+two Englishmen behind and noticed Anscombe&rsquo;s pistol. At any rate you
+marched into the office triumphant and delivered your document.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Neatly done,&rdquo; said Mr. Anscombe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Rash,&rdquo; I said, shaking my head, &ldquo;very rash. Well, he&rsquo;s
+young and must be excused.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But from that moment I took a great liking to you, my friend, perhaps because I
+wondered whether in your place I should have been daredevil enough to act in
+the same way. For you see I am English, and I like to see an Englishman hold
+his own against odds and keep up the credit of the country. Although, of
+course, I sympathized with the Boers who, through their own fault, were losing
+their land without a blow struck. As you know well, for you were living near
+Majuba at the time, plenty of blows were struck afterwards, but of that
+business I cannot bear to write. I wonder how it will all work out after I am
+dead and if I shall ever learn what happens in the end.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I have only mentioned this business of the Annexation and the part you
+played in it, because it was on that occasion that I became acquainted with
+Anscombe. For you have nothing to do with this story which is about the
+destruction of the Zulus, the accomplishment of the vengeance of Zikali the
+wizard at the kraal named Finished, and incidentally, the love affairs of two
+people in which that old wizard took a hand, as I did to my sorrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It happened that Mr. Anscombe had ridden on ahead of his wagons which could not
+arrive at Pretoria for a day or two, and as he found it impossible to get
+accommodation at the <i>European</i> or elsewhere, I offered to let him sleep
+in mine, or rather alongside in a tent I had. He accepted and soon we became
+very good friends. Before the day was out I discovered that he had served in a
+crack cavalry regiment, but resigned his commission some years before. I asked
+him why.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I came into a good lot of money on my
+mother&rsquo;s death and could not see a prospect of any active service. While
+the regiment was abroad I liked the life well enough, but at home it bored me.
+Too much society for my taste, and that sort of thing. Also I wanted to travel;
+nothing else really amuses me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You will soon get tired of it,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and as you are
+well off, marry some fine lady and settle down at home.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t think so. I doubt if I should ever be happily married, I
+want too much. One doesn&rsquo;t pick up an earthly angel with a cast-iron
+constitution who adores you, which are the bare necessities of marriage, under
+every bush.&rdquo; Here I laughed. &ldquo;Also,&rdquo; he added, the laughter
+going out of his eyes, &ldquo;I have had enough of fine ladies and their
+ways.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Marriage is better than scrapes,&rdquo; I remarked sententiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so, but one might get them both together. No, I shall never marry,
+although I suppose I ought as my brothers have no children.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Won&rsquo;t you, my friend,&rdquo; thought I to myself, &ldquo;when the
+skin grows again on your burnt fingers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For I was sure they had been burnt, perhaps more than once. How, I never
+learned, for which I am rather sorry for it interests me to study burnt
+fingers, if they do not happen to be my own. Then we changed the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anscombe&rsquo;s wagons were delayed for a day or two by a broken axle or a bog
+hole, I forget which. So, as I had nothing particular to do until the Natal
+post-cart left, we spent the time in wandering about Pretoria, which did not
+take us long as it was but a little dorp in those days, and chatting with all
+and sundry. Also we went up to Government House as it was now called, and left
+cards, or rather wrote our names in a book for we had no cards, being told by
+one of the Staff whom we met that we should do so. An hour later a note arrived
+asking us both to dinner that night and telling us very nicely not to mind if
+we had no dress things. Of course we had to go, Anscombe rigged up in my second
+best clothes that did not fit him in the least, as he was a much taller man
+than I am, and a black satin bow that he had bought at Becket&rsquo;s Store
+together with a pair of shiny pumps.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I actually met you, my friend, for the first time that evening, and in trouble
+too, though you may have forgotten the incident. We had made a mistake about
+the time of dinner, and arriving half an hour too soon, were shown into a long
+room that opened on to the verandah. You were working there, being I believe a
+private secretary at the time, copying some despatch; I think you said that
+which gave an account of the Annexation. The room was lit by a paraffin lamp
+behind you, for it was quite dark and the window was open, or at any rate
+unshuttered. The gentleman who showed us in, seeing that you were very busy,
+took us to the far end of the room, where we stood talking in the shadow. Just
+then a door opened opposite to that which led to the verandah, and through it
+came His Excellency the Administrator, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, a stout man of
+medium height with a very clever, thoughtful face, as I have always thought,
+one of the greatest of African statesmen. He did not see us, but he caught
+sight of you and said testily&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you mad?&rdquo; To which you answered with a laugh&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope not more than usual, Sir, but why?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have I not told you always to let down the blinds after dark? Yet there
+you sit with your head against the light, about the best target for a bullet
+that could be imagined.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the Boers would trouble to shoot me, Sir. If you had
+been here I would have drawn the blinds and shut the shutters too,&rdquo; you
+answered, laughing again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Go to dress or you will be late for dinner,&rdquo; he said still rather
+sternly, and you went. But when you had gone and after we had been announced to
+him, he smiled and added something which I will not repeat to you even now. I
+think it was about what you did on the Annexation day of which the story had
+come to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I mention this incident because whenever I think of Shepstone, whom I had known
+off and on for years in the way that a hunter knows a prominent Government
+official, it always recurs to my mind, embodying as it does his caution and
+appreciation of danger derived from long experience of the country, and the
+sternness he sometimes affected which could never conceal his love towards his
+friends. Oh! there was greatness in this man, although they did call him an
+&ldquo;African Talleyrand.&rdquo; If it had not been so would every native from
+the Cape to the Zambesi have known and revered his name, as perhaps that of no
+other white man has been revered? But I must get on with my tale and leave
+historical discussions to others more fitted to deal with them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had a very pleasant dinner that night, although I was so ashamed of my
+clothes with smart uniforms and white ties all about me, and Anscombe kept
+fidgeting his feet because he was suffering agony from his new pumps which were
+a size too small. Everybody was in the best of spirits, for from all directions
+came the news that the Annexation was well received and that the danger of any
+trouble had passed away. Ah! if we had only known what the end of it would be!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was on our way back to the wagon that I chanced to mention to Anscombe that
+there was still a herd of buffalo within a few days&rsquo; trek of Lydenburg,
+of which I had shot two not a month before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are there, by Jove!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As it happens I never got a
+buffalo; always I just missed them in one sense or another, and I can&rsquo;t
+leave Africa with a pair of bought horns. Let&rsquo;s go there and shoot
+some.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I shook my head and replied that I had been idling long enough and must try to
+make some money, news at which he seemed very disappointed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;forgive me for mentioning it, but
+business is business. If you&rsquo;ll come you shan&rsquo;t be a loser.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again I shook my head, whereat he looked more disappointed than before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;then I must go alone. For kill a
+buffalo I will; that is unless the buffalo kills me, in which case my blood
+will be on your hands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I don&rsquo;t know why, but at that moment there came into my mind a conviction
+that if he did go alone a buffalo or something would kill him and that then I
+should be sorry all my life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They are dangerous brutes, much worse than lions,&rdquo; I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And yet you, who pretend to have a conscience, would expose me to their
+rage unprotected and alone,&rdquo; he replied with a twinkle in his eye which I
+could see even by moonlight. &ldquo;Oh! Quatermain, how I have been mistaken in
+your character.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here, Mr. Anscombe,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s no use. I
+cannot possibly go on a shooting expedition with you just now. Only to-day I
+have heard from Natal that my boy is not well and must undergo an operation
+which will lay him up for quite six weeks, and may be dangerous. So I must get
+down to Durban before it takes place. After that I have a contract in
+Matabeleland whence you have just come, to take charge of a trading store there
+for a year; also perhaps to try to shoot a little ivory for myself. So I am
+fully booked up till, let us say, October, 1878, that is for about eighteen
+months, by which time I daresay I shall be dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Eighteen months,&rdquo; replied this cool young man. &ldquo;That will
+suit me very well. I will go on to India as I intended, then home for a bit and
+will meet you on the 1st of October, 1878, after which we will proceed to the
+Lydenburg district and shoot those buffalo, or if they have departed, other
+buffalo. Is it a bargain?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stared at him, thinking that the Administrator&rsquo;s champagne had got into
+his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nonsense,&rdquo; I exclaimed. &ldquo;Who knows where you will be in
+eighteen months? Why, by that time you will have forgotten all about me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If I am alive and well, on the 1st of October, 1878, I shall be exactly
+where I am now, upon this very square in Pretoria, with a wagon, or wagons,
+prepared for a hunting trip. But as not unnaturally you have doubts upon that
+point, I am prepared to pay forfeit if I fail, or even if circumstances cause
+you to fail.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here he took a cheque-book from his letter-case and spread it out on the little
+table in the tent, on which there were ink and a pen, adding&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, Mr. Quatermain, will it meet your views if I fill this up for
+£250?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;taking everything into consideration the
+sum is excessive. But if you do not mind facing the risks of my non-appearance,
+to say nothing of your own, you may make it £50.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are very moderate in your demands,&rdquo; he said as he handed me
+the cheque which I put in my pocket, reflecting that it would just pay for my
+son&rsquo;s operation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you are very foolish in your offers,&rdquo; I replied. &ldquo;Tell
+me, why do you make such crack-brained arrangements?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t quite know. Something in me seems to say that we
+<i>shall</i> make this expedition and that it will have a very important effect
+upon my life. Mind you, it is to be to the Lydenburg district and nowhere else.
+And now I am tired, so let&rsquo;s turn in.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next morning we parted and went our separate ways.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II.<br />
+MR. MARNHAM</h2>
+
+<p>
+So much for preliminaries, now for the story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The eighteen months had gone by, bringing with them to me their share of
+adventure, weal and woe, with all of which at present I have no concern. Behold
+me arriving very hot and tired in the post-cart from Kimberley, whither I had
+gone to invest what I had saved out of my Matabeleland contract in a very
+promising speculation whereof, today, the promise remains and no more. I had
+been obliged to leave Kimberley in a great hurry, before I ought indeed,
+because of the silly bargain which I have just recorded. Of course I was sure
+that I should never see Mr. Anscombe again, especially as I had heard nothing
+of him during all this while, and had no reason to suppose that he was in
+Africa. Still I had taken his £50 and he <i>might</i> come. Also I have always
+prided myself upon keeping an appointment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The post-cart halted with a jerk in front of the <i>European Hotel</i>, and I
+crawled, dusty and tired, from its interior, to find myself face to face with
+Anscombe, who was smoking a pipe upon the stoep!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hullo, Quatermain,&rdquo; he said in his pleasant, drawling voice,
+&ldquo;here you are, up to time. I have been making bets with these five
+gentlemen,&rdquo; and he nodded at a group of loungers on the stoep, &ldquo;as
+to whether you would or would not appear, I putting ten to one on you in
+drinks. Therefore you must now consume five whiskies and sodas, which will save
+them from consuming fifty and a subsequent appearance at the Police
+Court.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I laughed and said I would be their debtor to the extent of one, which was duly
+produced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After it was drunk Anscombe and I had a chat. He said that he had been to
+India, shot, or shot at whatever game he meant to kill there, visited his
+relations in England and thence proceeded to keep his appointment with me in
+Africa. At Durban he had fitted himself out in a regal way with two wagons,
+full teams, and some spare oxen, and trekked to Pretoria where he had arrived a
+few days before. Now he was ready to start for the Lydenburg district and look
+for those buffalo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;the buffalo probably long ago departed. Also
+there has been a war with Sekukuni, the Basuto chief who rules all that
+country, which remains undecided, although I believe some kind of a peace has
+been patched up. This may make hunting in this neighborhood dangerous. Why not
+try some other ground, to the north of the Transvaal, for instance?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quatermain,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;I have come all the way from
+England, I will not say to kill, but to try to kill buffalo in the Lydenburg
+district, with you if possible, if not, without you, and thither I am going. If
+you think it unsafe to accompany me, don&rsquo;t come; I will get on as best I
+can alone, or with some other skilled person if I can find one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you put it like that I shall certainly come,&rdquo; I replied,
+&ldquo;with the proviso that should the buffalo prove to be non-existent or the
+pursuit of them impossible, we either give up the trip, or go somewhere else,
+perhaps to the country at the back of Delagoa Bay.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Agreed,&rdquo; he said; after which we discussed terms, he paying me my
+salary in advance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On further consideration we determined, as two were quite unnecessary for a
+trip of the sort, to leave one of my wagons and half the cattle in charge of a
+very respectable man, a farmer who lived about five miles from Pretoria just
+over the pass near to the famous Wonder-boom tree which is one of the sights of
+the place. Should we need this wagon it could always be sent for; or, if we
+found the Lydenburg hunting-ground, which he was so set upon visiting,
+unproductive or impossible, we could return to Pretoria over the high-veld and
+pick it up before proceeding elsewhere.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These arrangements took us a couple of days or so. On the third we started,
+without seeing you, my friend, or any one else that I knew, since just at that
+time every one seemed to be away from Pretoria. You, I remember, had by now
+become the Master of the High Court and were, they informed me at your office,
+absent on circuit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The morning of our departure was particularly lovely and we trekked away in the
+best of spirits, as so often happens to people who are marching into trouble.
+Of our journey there is little to say as everything went smoothly, so that we
+arrived at the edge of the high-veld feeling as happy as the country which has
+no history is reported to do. Our road led us past the little mining settlement
+of Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest where a number of adventurous spirits, most of them
+English, were engaged in washing for gold, a job at which I once took a turn
+near this very place without any startling success. Of the locality I need only
+say that the mountainous scenery is among the most beautiful, the hills are the
+steepest and the roads are, or were, the worst that I have ever travelled over
+in a wagon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However, &ldquo;going softly&rdquo; as the natives say, we negotiated them
+without accident and, leaving Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest behind us, began to descend
+towards the low-veld where I was informed a herd of buffalo could still be
+found, since, owing to the war with Sekukuni, no one had shot at them of late.
+This war had been suspended for a while, and the Land-drost at Pilgrim&rsquo;s
+Rest told me he thought it would be safe to hunt on the borders of that
+Chief&rsquo;s country, though he should not care to do so himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Game of the smaller sort began to be plentiful about here, so not more than a
+dozen miles from Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest we outspanned early in the afternoon to
+try to get a blue wildebeeste or two, for I had seen the spoor of these
+creatures in a patch of soft ground, or failing them some other buck.
+Accordingly, leaving the wagon by a charming stream that wound and gurgled over
+a bed of granite, we mounted our salted horses, which were part of
+Anscombe&rsquo;s outfit, and set forth rejoicing. Riding through the scattered
+thorns and following the spoor where I could, within half an hour we came to a
+little glade. There, not fifty yards away, I caught sight of a single blue
+wildebeeste bull standing in the shadow of the trees on the further side of the
+glade, and pointed out the ugly beast, for it is the most grotesque of all the
+antelopes, to Anscombe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Off you get,&rdquo; I whispered. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lovely shot, you
+can&rsquo;t miss it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, can&rsquo;t I!&rdquo; replied Anscombe. &ldquo;Do you shoot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I refused, so he dismounted, giving me his horse to hold, and kneeling down
+solemnly and slowly covered the bull. Bang went his rifle, and I saw a bough
+about a yard above the wildebeeste fall on to its back. Off it went like
+lightning, whereon Anscombe let drive with the left barrel of the Express,
+almost at hazard as it seemed to me, and by some chance hit it above the near
+fore-knee, breaking its leg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That was a good shot,&rdquo; he cried, jumping on to his horse.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Excellent,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;But what are you going to
+do?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Catch it. It is cruel to leave a wounded animal,&rdquo; and off he
+started.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course I had to follow, but the ensuing ride remains among the more painful
+of my hunting memories. We tore through thorn trees that scratched my face and
+damaged my clothes; we struck a patch of antbear holes, into one of which my
+horse fell so that my stomach bumped against its head; we slithered down
+granite koppies, and this was the worst of it, at the end of each chapter, so
+to speak, always caught sight of that accursed bull which I fondly hoped would
+have vanished into space. At length after half an hour or so of this game we
+reached a stretch of open, rolling ground, and there not fifty yards ahead of
+us was the animal still going like a hare, though how it could do so on three
+legs I am sure I do not know. We coursed it like greyhounds, till at last
+Anscombe, whose horse was the faster, came alongside of the exhausted creature,
+whereon it turned suddenly and charged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anscombe held out his rifle in his right hand and pulled the trigger, which, as
+he had forgotten to reload it, was a mere theatrical performance. Next second
+there was such a mix-up that for a while I could not distinguish which was
+Anscombe, which was the wildebeeste, and which the horse. They all seemed to be
+going round and round in a cloud of dust. When things settled themselves a
+little I discovered the horse rolling on the ground, Anscombe on his back with
+his hands up in an attitude of prayer and the wildebeeste trying to make up its
+mind which of them it should finish first. I settled the poor thing&rsquo;s
+doubts by shooting it through the heart, which I flatter myself was rather
+clever of me under the circumstances. Then I dismounted to examine Anscombe,
+who, I presumed, was done for. Not a bit of it. There he sat upon the ground
+blowing like a blacksmith&rsquo;s bellows and panting out&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What a glorious gallop. I finished it very well, didn&rsquo;t I? You
+couldn&rsquo;t have made a better shot yourself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;you finished it very well as you will
+find out if you will take the trouble to open your rifle and count your
+cartridges. I may add that if we are going to hunt together I hope you will
+never lead me such a fool&rsquo;s chase again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He rose, opened the rifle and saw that it was empty, for although he had never
+re-loaded he had thrown out the two cartridges which he had discharged in the
+glen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By Jingo,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you must have shot it, though I could
+have sworn that it was I. Quatermain, has it ever struck you what a strange
+thing is the human imagination?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Drat the human imagination,&rdquo; I answered, wiping away the blood
+that was trickling into my eye from a thorn scratch. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s look at
+your horse. If it is lamed you will have to ride Imagination back to the wagon
+which must be six miles away, that is if we can find it before dark.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sighing out something about a painfully practical mind, he obeyed, and when the
+beast was proved to be nothing more than blown and a little bruised, made
+remarks as to the inadvisability of dwelling on future evil events, which I
+reminded him had already been better summed up in the New Testament.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this we contemplated the carcase of the wildebeeste which it seemed a
+pity to leave to rot. Just then Anscombe, who had moved a few yards to the
+right out of the shadow of an obstructing tree, exclaimed&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I say, Quatermain, come here and tell me if I have been knocked silly,
+or if I really see a quite uncommon kind of house built in ancient Greek style
+set in a divine landscape.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Temple to Diana, I expect,&rdquo; I remarked as I joined him on the
+further side of the tree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked and rubbed my eyes. There, about half a mile away, situated in a bay
+of the sweeping hills and overlooking the measureless expanse of bush-veld
+beneath, was a remarkable house, at least for those days and that part of
+Africa. To begin with the situation was superb. It stood on a green and
+swelling mound behind which was a wooded kloof where ran a stream that at last
+precipitated itself in a waterfall over a great cliff. Then in front was that
+glorious view of the bush-veld, at which a man might look for a lifetime and
+not grow tired, stretching away to the Oliphant&rsquo;s river and melting at
+last into the dim line of the horizon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The house itself also, although not large, was of a kind new to me. It was
+deep, but narrow fronted, and before it were four columns that carried the roof
+which projected so as to form a wide verandah. Moreover it seemed to be built
+of marble which glistened like snow in the setting sun. In short in that lonely
+wilderness, at any rate from this distance, it did look like the deserted
+shrine of some forgotten god.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;m bothered!&rdquo; I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So am I,&rdquo; answered Anscombe, &ldquo;to know the name of the
+Lydenburg district architect whom I should like to employ; though I suspect it
+is the surroundings that make the place look so beautiful. Hullo! here comes
+somebody, but he doesn&rsquo;t look like an architect; he looks like a wicked
+baronet disguised as a Boer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+True enough, round a clump of bush appeared an unusual looking person, mounted
+on a very good horse. He was tall, thin and old, at least he had a long white
+beard which suggested age, although his figure, so far as it could be seen
+beneath his rough clothes, seemed vigorous. His face was clean cut and
+handsome, with a rather hooked nose, and his eyes were grey, but as I saw when
+he came up to us, somewhat bloodshot at the corners. His general aspect was
+refined and benevolent, and as soon as he opened his mouth I perceived that he
+was a person of gentle breeding.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And yet there was something about him, something in his atmosphere, so to
+speak, that I did not like. Before we parted that evening I felt sure that in
+one way or another he was a wrong-doer, not straight; also that he had a
+violent temper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He rode up to us and asked in a pleasant voice, although the manner of his
+question, which was put in bad Dutch, was not pleasant,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who gave you leave to shoot on our land?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did not know that any leave was required; it is not customary in these
+parts,&rdquo; I answered politely in English. &ldquo;Moreover, this buck was
+wounded miles away.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; he exclaimed in the same tongue, &ldquo;that makes a
+difference, though I expect it was still on our land, for we have a lot; it is
+cheap about here.&rdquo; Then after studying a little, he added apologetically,
+&ldquo;You mustn&rsquo;t think me strange, but the fact is my daughter hates
+things to be killed near the house, which is why there&rsquo;s so much game
+about.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then pray make her our apologies,&rdquo; said Anscombe, &ldquo;and say
+that it shall not happen again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stroked his long beard and looked at us, for by now he had dismounted, then
+said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Might I ask you gentlemen your names?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly,&rdquo; I replied. &ldquo;I am Allan Quatermain and my friend
+is the Hon. Maurice Anscombe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He started and said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of Allan Quatermain of course I have heard. The natives told me that you
+were trekking to those parts; and if you, sir, are one of Lord
+Mountford&rsquo;s sons, oddly enough I think I must have known your father in
+my youth. Indeed I served with him in the Guards.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How very strange,&rdquo; said Anscombe. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s dead now and
+my brother is Lord Mountford. Do you like life here better than that in the
+Guards? I am sure I should.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Both of them have their advantages,&rdquo; he answered evasively,
+&ldquo;of which, if, as I think, you are also a soldier, you can judge for
+yourself. But won&rsquo;t you come up to the house? My daughter Heda is away,
+and my partner Mr. Rodd&rdquo; (as he mentioned this name I saw a blue vein,
+which showed above his cheek bone, swell as though under pressure of some
+secret emotion) &ldquo;is a retiring sort of a man&mdash;indeed some might
+think him sulky until they came to know him. Still, we can make you comfortable
+and even give you a decent bottle of wine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, thank you very much,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;we must get back to
+the wagon or our servants will think that we have come to grief. Perhaps you
+will accept the wildebeeste if it is of any use to you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; he said in a voice that suggested regret struggling
+with relief. To the buck he made no allusion, perhaps because he considered
+that it was already his own property. &ldquo;Do you know your way? I believe
+your wagon is camped out there to the east by what we call the Granite stream.
+If you follow this Kaffir path,&rdquo; and he pointed to a track near by,
+&ldquo;it will take you quite close.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where does the path run to?&rdquo; I asked. &ldquo;There are no kraals
+about, are there?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! to the Temple, as my daughter calls our house. My partner and I are
+labour agents, we recruit natives for the Kimberley Mines,&rdquo; he said in
+explanation, adding, &ldquo;Where do you propose to shoot?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I told him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t that rather a risky district?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think
+that Sekukuni will soon be giving more trouble, although there is a truce
+between him and the English. Still he might send a regiment to raid that
+way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wondered how our friend knew so much of Sekukuni&rsquo;s possible intentions,
+but only answered that I was accustomed to deal with natives and did not fear
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;well, you know your own business best. But if
+you should get into any difficulty, make straight for this place. The Basutos
+will not interfere with you here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again I wondered why the Basutos should look upon this particular spot as
+sacred, but thinking it wisest to ask no questions, I only answered&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you very much. We&rsquo;ll bear your invitation in mind,
+Mr.&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Marnham.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Marnham,&rdquo; I repeated after him. &ldquo;Good-bye and many thanks
+for your kindness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One question,&rdquo; broke in Anscombe, &ldquo;if you will not think me
+rude. What is the name of the architect who designed that most romantic-looking
+house of yours which seems to be built of marble?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My daughter designed it, or at least I think she copied it from some old
+drawing of a ruin. Also it <i>is</i> marble; there&rsquo;s a whole hill of the
+stuff not a hundred yards from the door, so it was cheaper to use than anything
+else. I hope you will come and see it on your way back, though it is not as
+fine as it appears from a distance. It would be very pleasant after all these
+years to talk to an English gentleman again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we parted, I rather offended because he did not seem to include me in the
+description, he calling after us&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stick close to the path through the patch of big trees, for the ground
+is rather swampy there and it&rsquo;s getting dark.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently we came to the place he mentioned where the timber, although
+scattered, was quite large for South Africa, of the yellow-wood species, and
+interspersed wherever the ground was dry with huge euphorbias, of which the
+tall finger-like growths and sad grey colouring looked unreal and ghostlike in
+the waning light. Following the advice given to us, we rode in single file
+along the narrow path, fearing lest otherwise we should tumble into some bog
+hole, until we came to higher land covered with the scattered thorns of the
+country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did that bush give you any particular impression?&rdquo; asked Anscombe
+a minute or two later.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;it gave me the impression that we might
+catch fever there. See the mist that lies over it,&rdquo; and turning in my
+saddle I pointed with the rifle in my hand to what looked like a mass of cotton
+wool over which, without permeating it, hung the last red glow of sunset,
+producing a curious and indeed rather unearthly effect. &ldquo;I expect that
+thousands of years ago there was a lake yonder, which is why trees grow so big
+in the rich soil.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are curiously mundane, Quatermain,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;I ask
+you of spiritual impressions and you dilate to me of geological formations and
+the growth of timber. You felt nothing in the spiritual line?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I felt nothing except a chill,&rdquo; I answered, for I was tired and
+hungry. &ldquo;What the devil are you driving at?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you got that flask of Hollands about you, Quatermain?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! those are the spirits you are referring to,&rdquo; I remarked with
+sarcasm as I handed it to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He took a good pull and replied&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not at all, except in the sense that bad spirits require good spirits to
+correct them, as the Bible teaches. To come to facts,&rdquo; he added in a
+changed voice, &ldquo;I have never been in a place that depressed me more than
+that thrice accursed patch of bush.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why did it depress you?&rdquo; I asked, studying him as well as I could
+in the fading light. To tell the truth I feared lest he had knocked his head
+when the wildebeeste upset him, and was suffering from delayed concussion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t tell you, Quatermain. I don&rsquo;t look like a criminal, do
+I? Well, I entered those trees feeling a fairly honest man, and I came out of
+them feeling like a murderer. It was as though something terrible had happened
+to me there; it was as though I had killed someone there. Ugh!&rdquo; and he
+shivered and took another pull at the Hollands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What bosh!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Besides, even if it were to come true,
+I am sorry to say I&rsquo;ve killed lots of men in the way of business and they
+don&rsquo;t bother me overmuch.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did you ever kill one to win a woman?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly not. Why, that would be murder. How can you ask me such a
+thing? But I have killed several to win cattle,&rdquo; I reflected aloud,
+remembering my expedition with Saduko against the chief Bangu, and some other
+incidents in my career.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I appreciate the difference, Quatermain. If you kill for cows, it is
+justifiable homicide; if you kill for women, it is murder.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;that is how it seems to work out in
+Africa. You see, women are higher in the scale of creation than cows, therefore
+crimes committed for their sake are enormously greater than those committed for
+cows, which just makes the difference between justifiable homicide and
+murder.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good lord! what an argument,&rdquo; he exclaimed and relapsed into
+silence. Had he been accustomed to natives and their ways he would have
+understood the point much better than he did, though I admit it is difficult to
+explain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In due course we reached the wagon without further trouble. While we were
+shielding our pipes after an excellent supper I asked Anscombe his impressions
+of Mr. Marnham.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Queer cove, I think,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Been a gentleman, too,
+and still keeps the manners, which isn&rsquo;t strange if he is one of the
+Marnhams, for they are a good family. I wonder he mentioned having served with
+my father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It slipped out of him. Men who live a lot alone are apt to be surprised
+into saying things they regret afterwards, as I noticed he did. But why do you
+wonder?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because as it happens, although I have only just recalled it, my father
+used to tell some story about a man named Marnham in his regiment. I
+can&rsquo;t remember the details, but it had to do with cards when high stakes
+were being played for, and with the striking of a superior officer in the
+quarrel that ensued, as a result of which the striker was requested to send in
+his papers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may not have been the same man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps not, for I believe that more than one Marnham served in that
+regiment. But I remember my father saying, by way of excuse for the person
+concerned, that he had a most ungovernable temper. I think he added, that he
+left the country and took service in some army on the Continent. I should
+rather like to clear the thing up.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t probable that you will, for even if you should ever meet
+this Marnham again, I fancy you would find he held his tongue about his
+acquaintance with your father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder what Miss Heda is like,&rdquo; went on Anscombe after a pause.
+&ldquo;I am curious to see a girl who designs a house on the model of an
+ancient ruin.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, you won&rsquo;t, for she&rsquo;s away somewhere. Besides we are
+looking for buffalo, not girls, which is a good thing as they are less
+dangerous.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I spoke thus decisively because I had taken a dislike to Mr. Marnham and
+everything to do with him, and did not wish to encourage the idea of further
+meetings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, never, I suppose. And yet I feel as though I were certainly destined
+to see that accursed yellow-wood swamp again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nonsense,&rdquo; I replied as I rose to turn in. Ah! if I had but known!
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III.<br />
+THE HUNTERS HUNTED</h2>
+
+<p>
+While I was taking off my boots I heard a noise of jabbering in some native
+tongue which I took to be Sisutu, and not wishing to go to the trouble of
+putting them on again, called to the driver of the wagon to find out what it
+was. This man was a Cape Colony Kaffir, a Fingo I think, with a touch of
+Hottentot in him. He was an excellent driver, indeed I do not think I have ever
+seen a better, and by no means a bad shot. Among Europeans he rejoiced in the
+name of Footsack, a Boer Dutch term which is generally addressed to troublesome
+dogs and means &ldquo;Get out.&rdquo; To tell the truth, had I been his master
+he would have got out, as I suspected him of drinking, and generally did not
+altogether trust him. Anscombe, however, was fond of him because he had shown
+courage in some hunting adventure in Matabeleland, I think it was at the
+shooting of that very dark-coloured lion whose skin had been the means of
+making us acquainted nearly two years before. Indeed he said that on this
+occasion Footsack had saved his life, though from all that I could gather I do
+not think this was quite the case. Also the man, who had been on many hunting
+trips with sportsmen, could talk Dutch well and English enough to make himself
+understood, and therefore was useful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went as I bade him, and coming back presently, told me that a party of
+Basutos, about thirty in number, who were returning from Kimberley, where they
+had been at work in the mines, under the leadership of a Bastard named Karl,
+asked leave to camp by the wagon for the night, as they were afraid to go on to
+&ldquo;Tampel&rdquo; in the dark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At first I could not make out what &ldquo;Tampel&rdquo; was, as it did not
+sound like a native name. Then I remembered that Mr. Marnham had spoken of his
+house as being called the Temple, of which, of course, Tampel was a corruption;
+also that he said he and his partner were labour agents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why are they afraid?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because, Baas, they say that they must go through a wood in a swamp,
+which they think is haunted by spooks, and they much afraid of spooks;&rdquo;
+that is of ghosts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What spooks?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t know, Baas. They say spook of some one who has been
+killed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Rubbish,&rdquo; I replied. &ldquo;Tell them to go and catch the spook;
+we don&rsquo;t want a lot of noisy fellows howling chanties here all
+night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then it was that Anscombe broke in in his humorous, rather drawling voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can you be so hard-hearted, Quatermain? After the supernatural
+terror which, as I told you, I experienced in that very place, I wouldn&rsquo;t
+condemn a kicking mule to go through it in this darkness. Let the poor devils
+stay; I daresay they are tired.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I gave in, and presently saw their fires beginning to burn through the end
+canvas of the wagon which was unlaced because the night was hot. Also later on
+I woke up, about midnight I think, and heard voices talking, one of which I
+reflected sleepily, sounded very like that of Footsack.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Waking very early, as is my habit, I peeped out of the wagon, and through the
+morning mist perceived Footsack in converse with a particularly
+villainous-looking person. I at once concluded this must be Karl, evidently a
+Bastard compounded of about fifteen parts of various native bloods to one of
+white, who, to add to his attractions, was deeply scarred with smallpox and
+possessed a really alarming squint. It seemed to me that Footsack handed to
+this man something that looked suspiciously like a bottle of squareface gin
+wrapped up in dried grass, and that the man handed back to Footsack some small
+object which he put in his mouth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, I wondered to myself, what is there of value that one who does not eat
+sweets would stow away in his mouth. Gold coin perhaps, or a quid of tobacco,
+or a stone. Gold was too much to pay for a bottle of gin, tobacco was too
+little, but how about the stone? What stone? Who wanted stones? Then suddenly I
+remembered that these people were said to come from Kimberley, and whistled to
+myself. Still I did nothing, principally because the mist was still so dense
+that although I could see the men&rsquo;s faces, I could not clearly see the
+articles which they passed to each other about two feet lower, where it still
+lay very thickly, and to bring any accusation against a native which he can
+prove to be false is apt to destroy authority. So I held my tongue and waited
+my chance. It did not come at once, for before I was dressed those Basutos had
+departed together with their leader Karl, for now that the sun was up they no
+longer feared the haunted bush.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It came later, thus: We were trekking along between the thorns upon a level and
+easy track which enabled the driver Footsack to sit upon the
+&ldquo;voorkisse&rdquo; or driving box of the wagon, leaving the lad who is
+called the voorlooper to lead the oxen. Anscombe was riding parallel to the
+wagon in the hope of killing some guineafowl for the pot (though a very poor
+shot with a rifle he was good with a shot-gun). I, who did not care for this
+small game, was seated smoking by the side of Footsack who, I noted, smelt of
+gin and generally showed signs of dissipation. Suddenly I said to him&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Show me that diamond which the Bastard Karl gave you this morning in
+payment for the bottle of your master&rsquo;s drink.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a bow drawn at a venture, but the effect of the shot was remarkable. Had
+I not caught it, the long bamboo whip Footsack held would have fallen to the
+ground, while he collapsed in his seat like a man who has received a bullet in
+his stomach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baas,&rdquo; he gasped, &ldquo;Baas, how did you know?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I knew,&rdquo; I replied grandly, &ldquo;in the same way that I know
+everything. Show me the diamond.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baas,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it was not the Baas Anscombe&rsquo;s gin,
+it was some I bought in Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have counted the bottles in the case and know very well whose gin it
+was,&rdquo; I replied ambiguously, for the reason that I had done nothing of
+the sort. &ldquo;Show me the diamond.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Footsack fumbled about his person, his hair, his waistcoat pockets and even his
+moocha, and ultimately from somewhere produced a stone which he handed to me. I
+looked at it, and from the purity of colour and size, judged it to be a diamond
+worth £200, or possibly more. After careful examination I put it into my
+pocket, saying,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is the price of your master&rsquo;s gin and therefore belongs to
+him as much as it does to anybody. Now if you want to keep out of trouble, tell
+me&mdash;whence came it into the hands of that man, Karl?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baas,&rdquo; replied Footsack, trembling all over, &ldquo;how do I know?
+He and the rest have been working at the mines; I suppose he found it
+there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed! And did he find others of the same sort?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think so, Baas. At least he said that he had been buying bottles of
+gin with such stones all the way down from Kimberley. Karl is a great drunkard,
+Baas, as I am sure, who have known him for years.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is not all,&rdquo; I remarked, keeping my eyes fixed on him.
+&ldquo;What else did he say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He said, Baas, that he was very much afraid of returning to the Baas
+Marnham whom the Kaffirs call White-beard, with only a few stones left.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why was he afraid?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because the Baas Whitebeard, he who dwells at Tampel, is, he says, a
+very angry man if he thinks himself cheated, and Karl is afraid lest he should
+kill him as another was killed, he whose spook haunts the wood through which
+those silly people feared to pass last night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who was killed and who killed him?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baas, I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; replied Footsack, collapsing into
+sullen silence in a way that Kaffirs have when suddenly they realize that they
+have said too much. Nor did I press the matter further, having learned enough.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What had I learned? This: that Messrs. Marnham &amp; Rodd were illicit diamond
+buyers, I.D.B.&lsquo;s as they are called, who had cunningly situated
+themselves at a great distance from the scene of operations practically beyond
+the reach of civilized law. Probably they were engaged also in other nefarious
+dealings with Kaffirs, such as supplying them with guns wherewith to make war
+upon the Whites. Sekukuni had been fighting us recently, so that there would be
+a very brisk market for rifles. This, too, would account for Marnham&rsquo;s
+apparent knowledge of that Chief&rsquo;s plans. Possibly, however, he had no
+knowledge and only made a pretence of it to keep us out of the country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later on I confided the whole story and my suspicions to Anscombe, who was much
+interested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What picturesque scoundrels!&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;We really ought
+to go back to the Temple. I have always longed to meet some real live
+I.D.B.&lsquo;s.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is probable that you have done that already without knowing it. For
+the rest, if you wish to visit that den of iniquity, you must do so
+alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wouldn&rsquo;t whited sepulchre be a better term, especially as it seems
+to cover dead men&rsquo;s bones?&rdquo; he replied in his frivolous manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I asked him what he was going to do about Footsack and the bottle of gin,
+which he countered by asking me what I was going to do with that diamond.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Give it to you as Footsack&rsquo;s master,&rdquo; I said, suiting the
+action to the word. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t wish to be mixed up in doubtful
+transactions.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then followed a long argument as to who was the real owner of the stone, which
+ended in its being hidden away to be produced if called for, and in Footsack,
+who ought have had a round dozen, receiving a scolding from his master, coupled
+with the threat that if he stole more gin he would be handed over to a
+magistrate&mdash;when we met one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the following day we reached the hot, low-lying veld which the herd of
+buffalo was said to inhabit. Next morning, however, when we were making ready
+to begin hunting, a Basuto Kaffir appeared who, on being questioned, said that
+he was one of Sekukuni&rsquo;s people sent to this district to look for two
+lost oxen. I did not believe this story, thinking it more probable that he was
+a spy, but asked him whether in his hunt for oxen he had come across buffalo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He replied that he had, a herd of thirty-two of them, counting the calves, but
+that they were over the Oliphant&rsquo;s River about five-and-twenty miles
+away, in a valley between some outlying hills and the rugged range of
+mountains, beyond which was situated Sekukuni&rsquo;s town. Moreover, in proof
+of his story he showed me spoor of the beasts heading in that direction which
+was quite a week old.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now for my part, as I did not think it wise to get too near to Sekukuni, I
+should have given them up and gone to hunt something else. Anscombe, however,
+was of a different opinion and pleaded hard that we should follow them. They
+were the only herd within a hundred miles, he said, if indeed there were any
+others this side of the Lebombo Mountains. As I still demurred, he suggested,
+in the nicest possible manner, that if I thought the business risky, I should
+camp somewhere with the wagon, while he went on with Footsack to look for the
+buffalo. I answered that I was well used to risks, which in a sense were my
+trade, and that as he was more or less in my charge I was thinking of him, not
+of myself, who was quite prepared to follow the buffalo, not only to
+Sekukuni&rsquo;s Mountains but over them. Then fearing that he had hurt my
+feelings, he apologized, and offered to go elsewhere if I liked. The upshot was
+that we decided to trek to the Oliphant&rsquo;s River, camp there and explore
+the bush on the other side on horseback, never going so far from the wagon that
+we could not reach it again before nightfall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This, then, we did, outspanning that evening by the hot but beautiful river
+which was still haunted by a few hippopotamus and many crocodiles, one of which
+we shot before turning in. Next morning, having breakfasted off cold
+guineafowl, we mounted, crossed the river by a ford that was quite as deep as I
+liked, to which the Kaffir path led us, and, leaving Footsack with the two
+other boys in charge of the wagon, began to hunt for the buffalo in the rather
+swampy bush that stretched from the further bank to the slope of the first
+hills, eight or ten miles away. I did not much expect to find them, as the
+Basuto had said that they had gone over these hills, but either he lied or they
+had moved back again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not half a mile from the river bank, just as I was about to dismount to stalk a
+fine waterbuck of which I caught sight standing among some coarse grass and
+bushes, my eye fell upon buffalo spoor that from its appearance I knew could
+not be more than a few hours old. Evidently the beasts had been feeding here
+during the night and at dawn had moved away to sleep in the dry bush nearer the
+hills. Beckoning to Anscombe, who fortunately had not seen the waterbuck, at
+which he would certainly have fired, thereby perhaps frightening the buffalo, I
+showed him the spoor that we at once started to follow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Soon it led us into other spoor, that of a whole herd of thirty or forty beasts
+indeed, which made our task quite easy, at least till we came to harder ground,
+for the animals had gone a long way. An hour or more later, when we were about
+seven miles from the river, I perceived ahead of us, for we were now almost at
+the foot of the hills, a cool and densely-wooded kloof.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is where they will be,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Now come on carefully
+and make no noise.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We rode to the wide mouth of the kloof where the signs of the buffalo were
+numerous and fresh, dismounted and tied our horses to a thorn, so as to
+approach them silently on foot. We had not gone two hundred yards through the
+bush when suddenly about fifty paces away, standing broadside on in the shadow
+between two trees, I saw a splendid old bull with a tremendous pair of horns.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Shoot,&rdquo; I whispered to Anscombe, &ldquo;you will never get a
+better chance. It is the sentinel of the herd.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He knelt down, his face quite white with excitement, and covered the bull with
+his Express.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Keep cool,&rdquo; I whispered again, &ldquo;and aim behind the shoulder,
+half-way down.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I don&rsquo;t think he understood me, for at that moment off went the rifle. He
+hit the beast somewhere, as I heard the bullet clap, but not fatally, for it
+turned and lumbered off up the kloof, apparently unhurt, whereon he sent the
+second barrel after it, a clean miss this time. Then of a sudden all about us
+appeared buffaloes that had, I suppose, been sleeping invisible to us. These,
+with snorts and bellows, rushed off towards the river, for having their senses
+about them, they had no mind to be trapped in the kloof. I could only manage a
+shot at one of them, a large and long-horned cow which I knocked over quite
+dead. If I had fired again it would have been but to wound, a thing I hate. The
+whole business was over in a minute. We went and looked at my dead cow which I
+had caught through the heart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s cruel to kill these things,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;for I
+don&rsquo;t know what use we are going to make of them, and they must love life
+as much as we do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll cut the horns off,&rdquo; said Anscombe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You may if you like,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;but you will find it a
+tough job with a sheath knife.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I think that shall be the task of the worthy Footsack
+to-morrow,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;Meanwhile let us go and finish off my
+bull, as Footsack &amp; Co. may as well bring home two pair of horns as
+one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at the dense bush, and knowing something of the habits of wounded
+buffaloes, reflected that it would be a nasty job. Still I said nothing,
+because if I hesitated, I knew he would want to go alone. So we started.
+Evidently the beast had been badly hit, for the blood spoor was easy to follow.
+Yet it had been able to retreat up to the end of the kloof that terminated in a
+cliff over which trickled a stream of water. Here it was not more than a
+hundred paces wide, and on either side of it were other precipitous cliffs. As
+we went from one of these a war-horn, such as the Basutos use, was blown.
+Although I heard it, oddly enough, I paid no attention to it at the time, being
+utterly intent upon the business in hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Following a wounded buffalo bull up a tree-clad and stony kloof is no game for
+children, as these beasts have a habit of returning on their tracks and then
+rushing out to gore you. So I went on with every sense alert, keeping Anscombe
+well behind me. As it happened our bull had either been knocked silly or
+inherited no guile from his parents. When he found he could go no further he
+stopped, waited behind a bush, and when he saw us he charged in a simple and
+primitive fashion. I let Anscombe fire, as I wished him to have the credit of
+killing it all to himself, but somehow or other he managed to miss both
+barrels. Then, trouble being imminent, I let drive as the beast lowered its
+head, and was lucky enough to break its spine (to shoot at the head of a
+buffalo is useless), so that it rolled over quite dead at our feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have got a magnificent pair of horns,&rdquo; I said, contemplating
+the fallen giant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; answered Anscombe, with a twinkle of his humorous eyes,
+&ldquo;and if it hadn&rsquo;t been for you I think that I should have got them
+in more senses than one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the words passed his lips some missile, from its peculiar sound I judged it
+was the leg off an iron pot, hurtled past my head, fired evidently from a
+smoothbore gun with a large charge of bad powder. Then I remembered the
+war-horn and all that it meant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Off you go,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;we are ambushed by Kaffirs.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were indeed, for as we tailed down that kloof, from the top of both cliffs
+above us came a continuous but luckily ill-directed fire. Lead-coated stones,
+pot legs and bullets whirred and whistled all round us, yet until the last,
+just when we were reaching the tree to which we had tied our horses, quite
+harmlessly. Then suddenly I saw Anscombe begin to limp. Still he managed to run
+on and mount, though I observed that he did not put his right foot into the
+stirrup.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the matter?&rdquo; I asked as we galloped off.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Shot through the instep, I think,&rdquo; he answered with a laugh,
+&ldquo;but it doesn&rsquo;t hurt a bit.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I expect it will later,&rdquo; I replied. &ldquo;Meanwhile, thank God it
+wasn&rsquo;t at the top of the kloof. They won&rsquo;t catch us on the horses,
+which they never thought of killing first.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They are going to try though. Look behind you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked and saw twenty or thirty men emerging from the mouth of the kloof in
+pursuit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No time to stop to get those horns,&rdquo; he said with a sigh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;unless you are particularly anxious to say
+good-bye to the world pinned over a broken ant-heap in the sun, or something
+pleasant of the sort.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we rode on in silence, I thinking what a fool I had been first to allow
+myself to be overruled by Anscombe and cross the river, and secondly not to
+have taken warning from that war-horn. We could not go very fast because of the
+difficult and swampy nature of the ground; also the great heat of the day told
+on the horses. Thus it came about that when we reached the ford we were not
+more than ten minutes ahead of our active pursuers, good runners every one of
+them, and accustomed to the country. I suppose that they had orders to kill or
+capture us at any cost, for instead of giving up the chase, as I hoped they
+would, they stuck to us in surprising fashion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We splashed through the river, and luckily on the further bank were met by
+Footsack who had seen us coming and guessed that something was wrong.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Inspan!&rdquo; I shouted to him, &ldquo;and be quick about it if you
+want to see tomorrow&rsquo;s light. The Basutos are after us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Off he went like a shot, his face quite green with fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; I said to Anscombe, as we let our horses take a drink for
+which they were mad, &ldquo;we have got to hold this ford until the wagon is
+ready, or those devils will get us after all. Dismount and I&rsquo;ll tie up
+the horses.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He did so with some difficulty, and at my suggestion, while I made the beasts
+fast, cut the lace of his boot which was full of blood, and soaked his wounded
+foot, that I had no time to examine, in the cool water. These things done, I
+helped him to the rear of a thorn tree which was thick enough to shield most of
+his body, and took my own stand behind a similar thorn at a distance of a few
+paces.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently the Basutos appeared, trotting along close together whereon Anscombe,
+who was seated behind the tree, fired both barrels of his Express at them at a
+range of about two hundred yards. It was a foolish thing to do, first because
+he missed them clean, for he had over-estimated the range and the bullets went
+above their heads, and secondly because it caused them to scatter and made them
+careful, whereas had they come on in a lump we could have taught them a lesson.
+However I said nothing, as I knew that reproaches would only make him nervous.
+Down went those scoundrels on to their hands and knees and, taking cover behind
+stones and bushes on the further bank, began to fire at us, for they were all
+armed with guns of one sort and another, and there was only about a hundred
+yards of water between us. As they effected this manoeuvre I am glad to say I
+was able to get two of them, while Anscombe, I think, wounded another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this our position grew quite warm, for as I have said the thorn trunks
+were not very broad, and three or four of the natives, who had probably been
+hunters, were by no means bad shots, though the rest of them fired wildly.
+Anscombe, in poking his head round the tree to shoot, had his hat knocked off
+by a bullet, while a slug went through the lappet of my coat. Then a worse
+thing happened. Either by chance or design Anscombe&rsquo;s horse was struck in
+the neck and fell struggling, whereon my beast, growing frightened, broke its
+riem and galloped to the wagon. That is where I ought to have left them at
+first, only I thought that we might need them to make a bolt on, or to carry
+Anscombe if he could not walk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Quite a long while went by before, glancing behind me, I saw that the oxen that
+had been grazing at a little distance had at length arrived and were being
+inspanned in furious haste. The Basutos saw it also, and fearing lest we should
+escape, determined to try to end the business. Suddenly they leapt from their
+cover, and with more courage than I should have expected of them, rushed into
+the river, proposing to storm us, which, to speak truth, I think they would
+have done had I not been a fairly quick shot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it was, finding that they were losing too heavily from our fire, they
+retreated in a hurry, leaving their dead behind them, and even a wounded man
+who was clinging to a rock. He, poor wretch, was in mortal terror lest we
+should shoot him again, which I had not the heart to do, although as his leg
+was shattered above the knee by an Express bullet, it might have been true
+kindness. Again and again he called out for mercy, saying that he only attacked
+us because his chief, who had been warned of our coming &ldquo;by the White
+Man,&rdquo; ordered him to take our guns and cattle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What white man?&rdquo; I shouted. &ldquo;Speak or I shoot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no answer, for at this moment he fainted from loss of blood and
+vanished beneath the water. Then another Basuto, I suppose he was their
+captain, but do not know for he was hidden in some bushes, called out&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do not think that you shall escape, White Men. There are many more of
+our people coming, and we will kill you in the night when you cannot see to
+shoot us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this moment, too, Footsack shouted that the wagon was inspanned and ready.
+Now I hesitated what to do. If we made for the wagon, which must be very slowly
+because of Anscombe&rsquo;s wounded foot, we had to cross seventy or eighty
+yards of rising ground almost devoid of cover. If, on the other hand, we stayed
+where we were till nightfall a shot might catch one of us, or other Basutos
+might arrive and rush us. There was also a third possibility, that our
+terrified servants might trek off and leave us in order to save their own
+lives, which verily I believe they would have done, not being of Zulu blood. I
+put the problem to Anscombe, who shook his head and looked at his foot. Then he
+produced a lucky penny which he carried in his pocket and said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let us invoke the Fates. Heads we run like heroes; tails we stay here
+like heroes,&rdquo; and he spun the penny, while I stared at him open-mouthed
+and not without admiration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Never, I thought to myself, had this primitive method of cutting a gordian knot
+been resorted to in such strange and urgent circumstances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Heads it is!&rdquo; he said coolly. &ldquo;Now, my boy, do you run and
+I&rsquo;ll crawl after you. If I don&rsquo;t arrive, you know my people&rsquo;s
+address, and I bequeath to you all my African belongings in memory of a most
+pleasant trip.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t play the fool,&rdquo; I replied sternly. &ldquo;Come, put
+your right arm round my neck and hop on your left leg as you never hopped
+before.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we started, and really our transit was quite lively, for all those Basutos
+began what for them was rapid firing. I think, however, that their best shots
+must have fallen, for not a bullet touched us, although before we got out of
+their range one or two went very near.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There,&rdquo; said Anscombe, as a last amazing hop brought him to the
+wagon rail, &ldquo;there, you see how wise it is to give Providence a chance
+sometimes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the shape of a lucky penny,&rdquo; I grumbled as I hoisted him up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly, for why should not Providence inhabit a penny as much as it
+does any other mundane thing? Oh, my dear Quatermain, have you never been
+taught to look to the pence and let the rest take care of itself?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stop talking rubbish and look to your foot, for the wagon is
+starting,&rdquo; I replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then off we went at a good round trot, for never have I seen oxen more
+scientifically driven than they were by Footsack and his friends on this
+occasion, or a greater pace got out of them. As soon as we reached a fairly
+level piece of ground I made Anscombe lie down on the cartel of the wagon and
+examined his wound as well as circumstances would allow. I found that the
+bullet or whatever the missile may have been, had gone through his right instep
+just beneath the big sinew, but so far as I could judge without injuring any
+bone. There was nothing to be done except rub in some carbolic ointment, which
+fortunately he had in his medicine chest, and bind up the wound as best I could
+with a clean handkerchief, after which I tied a towel, that was <i>not</i>
+clean, over the whole foot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By this time evening was coming on, so we ate of such as we had with us, which
+we needed badly enough, without stopping the wagon. I remember that it
+consisted of cheese and hard biscuits. At dark we were obliged to halt a little
+by a stream until the moon rose, which fortunately she did very soon, as she
+was only just past her full. As soon as she was up we started again, and with a
+breathing space or two, trekked all that night, which I spent seated on the
+after part of the wagon and keeping a sharp look out, while, notwithstanding
+the roughness of the road and his hurt, Anscombe slept like a child upon the
+cartel inside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was very tired, so tired that the fear of surprise was the only thing that
+kept me awake, and I recall reflecting in a stupid kind of way, that it seemed
+always to have been my lot in life to watch thus, in one sense or another,
+while others slept.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The night passed somehow without anything happening, and at dawn we halted for
+a while to water the oxen, which we did with buckets, and let them eat what
+grass they could reach from their yokes, since we did not dare to outspan them.
+Just as we were starting on again the voortrekker, whom I had set to watch at a
+little distance, ran up with his eyes bulging out of his head, and reported
+that he had seen a Basuto with an assegai hanging about in the bush, as though
+to keep touch with us, after which we delayed no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All that day we blundered on, thrashing the weary cattle that at every halt
+tried to lie down, and by nightfall came to the outspan near to the house
+called the Temple, where we had met the Kaffirs returning from the diamond
+fields. This journey we had accomplished in exactly half the time it had taken
+on the outward trip. Here we were obliged to stop, as our team must have rest
+and food. So we outspanned and slept that night without much fear, since I
+thought it most improbable that the Basutos would attempt to follow us so far,
+as we were now within a day&rsquo;s trek of Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest, whither we
+proposed to proceed on the morrow. But that is just where I made a mistake.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br />
+DOCTOR RODD</h2>
+
+<p>
+I did get a little sleep that night, with one eye open, but before dawn I was
+up again seeing to the feeding of our remaining horse with some mealies that we
+carried, and other matters. The oxen we had been obliged to unyoke that they
+might fill themselves with grass and water, since otherwise I feared that we
+should never get them on to their feet again. As it was, the poor brutes were
+so tired that some of them could scarcely eat, and all lay down at the first
+opportunity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having awakened Footsack and the other boys that they might be ready to take
+advantage of the light when it came, for I was anxious to be away, I drank a
+nip of Hollands and water and ate a biscuit, making Anscombe do the same.
+Coffee would have been more acceptable, but I thought it wiser not to light a
+fire for fear of showing our whereabouts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now a faint glimmer in the east told me that the dawn was coming. Just by the
+wagon grew a fair-sized, green-leaved tree, and as it was quite easy to climb
+even by starlight, up it I went so as to get above the ground mist and take a
+look round before we trekked. Presently the sky grew pearly and light began to
+gather; then the edge of the sun appeared, throwing long level rays across the
+world. Everywhere the mist lay dense as cotton wool, except at one spot about a
+mile behind us where there was a little hill or rather a wave of the ground,
+over which we had trekked upon the preceding evening. The top of this rise was
+above mist level, and on it no trees grew because the granite came to the
+surface. Having discovered nothing, I called to the boys to drive up the oxen,
+some of which had risen and were eating again, and prepared to descend from my
+tree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I did so, out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of something that
+glittered far away, so far that it would only have attracted the notice of a
+trained hunter. Yes, something was shining on the brow of the rise of which I
+have spoken. I stared at it through my glasses and saw what I had feared to
+see. A body of natives was crossing the rise and the glitter was caused by the
+rays of dawn striking on their spears and gun-barrels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I came down out of that tree like a frightened wild cat and ran to the wagon,
+thinking hard as I went. The Basutos were after us, meaning to attack as soon
+as there was sufficient light. In ten minutes or less they would be here. There
+was no time to inspan the oxen, and even if there had been, stiff and weary as
+the beasts were, we should be overtaken before we had gone a hundred yards on
+that bad road. What then was to be done? Run for it? It was impossible,
+Anscombe could not run. My eye fell upon the horse munching the last of his
+mealies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Footsack,&rdquo; I said as quietly as I could, &ldquo;never mind about
+inspanning yet, but saddle up the horse. Be quick now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at me doubtfully, but obeyed, having seen nothing. If he had seen I
+knew that he would have been off. I nipped round to the end of the wagon,
+calling to the other two boys to let the oxen be a while and come to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, Anscombe,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;hand out the rifles and cartridges.
+Don&rsquo;t stop to ask questions, but do what I tell you. They are on the rack
+by your side. So. Now put on your revolver and let me help you down. Man,
+don&rsquo;t forget your hat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He obeyed quickly enough, and presently was standing on one leg by my side,
+looking cramped and tottery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Basutos are on us,&rdquo; I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He whistled and remarked something about Chapter No. 2.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Footsack,&rdquo; I called, &ldquo;bring the horse here; the Baas wishes
+to ride a little to ease his leg.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He did so, stopping a moment to pull the second girth tight. Then we helped
+Anscombe into the saddle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Which way?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at the long slope in front of us. It was steep and bad going. Anscombe
+might get up it on the horse before the Kaffirs overtook us, but it was
+extremely problematical if we could do so. I might perhaps if I mounted behind
+him and the horse could bear us both, which was doubtful, but how about our
+poor servants? He saw the doubt upon my face and said in his quiet way,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You may remember that our white-bearded friend told us to make straight
+for his place in case of any difficulty with the Basutos. It seems to have
+arisen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know he did,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;but I cannot make up my mind
+which is the more dangerous, Marnham or the Basutos. I rather think that he set
+them on to us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is impossible to solve problems at this hour of the morning,
+Quatermain, and there is no time to toss. So I vote for the Temple.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems our best chance. At any rate that&rsquo;s your choice, so
+let&rsquo;s go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I sang out to the Kaffirs, &ldquo;The Basutos are on us. We go to Tampel
+for refuge. Run!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My word! they did run. I never saw athletes make better time over the first
+quarter of a mile. We ran, too, or at least the horse did, I hanging on to the
+stirrup and Anscombe holding both the rifles beneath his arm. But the beast was
+tired, also blown out with that morning feed of mealies, so our progress was
+not very fast. When we were about two hundred yards from the wagon I looked
+back and saw the Basutos beginning to arrive. They saw us also, and uttering a
+sort of whistling war cry, started in pursuit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this we had quite an interesting time. I scrambled on to the horse behind
+Anscombe, whereon that intelligent animal, feeling the double weight, reduced
+its pace proportionately, to a slow tripple, indeed, out of which it could not
+be persuaded to move. So I slipped off again over its tail and we went on as
+before. Meanwhile the Basutos, very active fellows, were coming up. By this
+time the yellow-wood grove in the swamp, of which I have already written, was
+close to us, and it became quite a question which of us would get there first
+(I may mention that Footsack &amp; Co. had already attained its friendly
+shelter). Anscombe kicked the horse with his sound heel and I thumped it with
+my fist, thereby persuading it to a hand gallop.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we reached the outlying trees of the wood the first Basuto, a lank fellow
+with a mouth like a rat trap, arrived and threw an assegai at us which passed
+between Anscombe&rsquo;s back and my nose. Then he closed and tried to stab
+with another assegai. I could do nothing, but Anscombe showed himself cleverer
+than I expected. Dropping the reins, he drew his pistol and managed to send a
+bullet through that child of nature&rsquo;s head, so that he went down like a
+stone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you tell me I am a bad shot,&rdquo; he drawled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was a fluke,&rdquo; I gasped, for even in these circumstances truth
+would prevail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wait and you&rsquo;ll see,&rdquo; he replied, re-cocking the revolver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As a matter of fact there was no need for more shooting, since at the verge of
+the swamp the Basutos pulled up. I do not think that the death of their
+companion caused them to do this, for they seemed to take no notice of him. It
+was as though they had reached some boundary which they knew it would not be
+lawful for them to pass. They simply stopped, took the dead man&rsquo;s assegai
+and shield from the body and walked quietly back towards the wagon, leaving him
+where he lay. The horse stopped also, or rather proceeded at a walk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There!&rdquo; exclaimed Anscombe. &ldquo;Did I not tell you I had a
+presentiment that I should kill a man in this accursed wood?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I said as soon as I had recovered my breath, &ldquo;but you
+mixed up a woman with the matter and I don&rsquo;t see one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s true,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;I hope we shan&rsquo;t meet
+her later.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we went on as quickly as we could, which was not very fast, for I feared
+lest the Basutos should change their minds and follow us. As the risk of this
+became less our spirits rose, since if we had lost the wagon and the oxen, at
+least we had saved our lives, which was almost more than we could have expected
+in the circumstances. At last we came to that glade where we had killed the
+wildebeeste not a week before. There lay its skeleton picked clean by the great
+brown kites that frequent the bush-veld, some of which still sat about in the
+trees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I suppose we must go on to Tampel,&rdquo; said Anscombe rather
+faintly, for I could see that his wound was giving him a good deal of pain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he spoke from round the tree whence he had first emerged, appeared Mr.
+Marnham, riding the same horse and wearing the same clothes. The only
+difference between his two entries was that the first took place in the late
+evening and the second in the early morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So here you are again,&rdquo; he said cheerfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and it is strange to meet you at the same
+spot. Were you expecting us?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not more than I expect many things,&rdquo; he replied with a shrewd
+glance at me, adding, &ldquo;I always rise with the sun, and thinking that I
+heard a shot fired in the distance, came to see what was happening. The Basutos
+attacked you at daybreak, did they not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They did, but how did you know that, Mr. Marnham?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your servants told me. I met them running to the house looking very
+frightened. You are wounded, Mr. Anscombe?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, a couple of days ago on the border of Sekukuni&rsquo;s country
+where the natives tried to murder us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; he replied without surprise. &ldquo;I warned you the trip was
+dangerous, did I not? Well, come on home where my partner, Rodd, who luckily
+has had medical experience, will attend to you. Mr. Quatermain can tell me the
+story as we go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we went on up the long slope, I relating our adventures, to which Mr.
+Marnham listened without comment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I expect that the Kaffirs will have looted the wagon and be on the way
+home with your oxen by now,&rdquo; he said when I had finished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you not afraid that they will follow us here?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh no, Mr. Quatermain. We do business with these people, also they
+sometimes come to be doctored by Rodd when they are sick, so this place is
+sacred ground to them. They stopped hunting you when they got to the
+Yellow-wood swamp where our land begins, did they not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, but now I want to hunt them. Can you give me any help? Those oxen
+are tired out and footsore, so we might be able to catch them up.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shook his head. &ldquo;We have very few people here, and by the time that
+you could get assistance from the Camp at Barberton, if the Commandant is able
+and willing to give you any, which I rather doubt, they will be far away.
+Moreover,&rdquo; he added, dropping his voice, &ldquo;let us come to an
+understanding. You are most welcome to any help or hospitality that I can
+offer, but if you wish to do more fighting I must ask you to go elsewhere. As I
+have told you, we are peaceful men who trade with these people, and do not wish
+to be involved in a quarrel with them, which might expose us to attack or bring
+us into trouble with the British Government which has annexed but not conquered
+their country. Do I make myself clear?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perfectly. While we are with you we will do nothing, but afterwards we
+hold ourselves at liberty to act as we think best.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so. Meanwhile I hope that you and Mr. Anscombe will make
+yourselves comfortable with us for as long as you like.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In my own mind I came to the conclusion that this would be for the shortest
+time possible, but I only said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is most kind of you to take in complete strangers thus. No, not
+complete,&rdquo; I added, looking towards Anscombe who was following on the
+tired horse a few paces behind, &ldquo;for you knew his father, did you
+not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;His father?&rdquo; he said, lifting his eyebrows. &ldquo;No. Oh! I
+remember, I said something to that effect the other night, but it was a
+mistake. I mixed up two names, as one often does after a lapse of many
+years.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand,&rdquo; I answered, but remembering Anscombe&rsquo;s story
+I reflected to myself that our venerable host was an excellent liar. Or more
+probably he meant to convey that he wished the subject of his youthful
+reminiscences to be taboo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just then we reached the house which had a pretty patch of well-kept
+flower-garden in front of it, surrounded by a fence covered with wire netting
+to keep out buck. By the gate squatted our three retainers, looking very blown
+and rather ashamed of themselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your master wishes to thank you for your help in a dark hour, Footsack,
+and I wish to congratulate you all upon the swiftness of your feet,&rdquo; I
+said in Dutch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! Baas, the Basutos were many and their spears are sharp,&rdquo; he
+began apologetically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be silent, you running dog,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;and go help your
+master to dismount.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we went through the gate, Anscombe leaning on my shoulder and on that of
+Mr. Marnham, and up the path which was bordered with fences of the monthly
+rose, towards the house. Really this was almost as charming to look at near at
+hand as it had been from far away. Of course the whole thing was crude in
+detail. Rough, half-shaped blocks of marble from the neighbouring quarry had
+been built into walls and columns. Nothing was finished, and considered bit by
+bit all was coarse and ugly. Yet the general effect was beautiful because it
+was an effect of design, the picture of an artist who did not fully understand
+the technicalities of painting, the work of a great writer who had as yet no
+proper skill in words. Never did I see a small building that struck me more.
+But then what experience have I of buildings, and, as Anscombe reminded me
+afterwards, it was but a copy of something designed when the world was young,
+or rather when civilization was young, and man new risen from the infinite ages
+of savagery, saw beauty in his dreams and tried to symbolize it in shapes of
+stone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We came to the broad stoep, to which several rough blocks of marble served as
+steps. On it in a long chair made of native wood and seated with hide rimpis,
+sat or rather lolled a man in a dressing-gown who was reading a book. He raised
+himself as we came and the light of the sun, for the verandah faced to the
+east, shone full upon his face, so that I saw him well. It was that of a man of
+something under forty years of age, dark, powerful, and weary&mdash;not a good
+face, I thought. Indeed, it gave me the impression of one who had allowed the
+evil which exists in the nature of all of us to become his master, or had even
+encouraged it to do so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the Psalms and elsewhere we are always reading of the righteous and the
+unrighteous until those terms grow wearisome. It is only of late years that I
+have discovered, or think that I have discovered, what they mean. Our lives
+cannot be judged by our deeds; they must be judged by our desires or rather by
+our moral attitude. It is not what we do so much as what we try to do that
+counts in the formation of character. All fall short, all fail, but in the end
+those who seek to climb out of the pit, those who strive, however vainly, to
+fashion failure to success, are, by comparison, the righteous, while those who
+are content to wallow in our native mire and to glut themselves with the daily
+bread of vice, are the unrighteous. To turn our backs thereon wilfully and
+without cause, is the real unforgiveable sin against the Spirit. At least that
+is the best definition of the problem at which I in my simplicity can arrive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such thoughts have often occurred to me in considering the character of Dr.
+Rodd and some others whom I have known; indeed the germ of them arose in my
+mind which, being wearied at the time and therefore somewhat vacant, was
+perhaps the more open to external impressions, as I looked upon the face of
+this stranger on the stoep. Moreover, as I am proud to record, I did not judge
+him altogether wrongly. He was a blackguard who, under other influences or with
+a few added grains of self-restraint and of the power of recovery, might have
+become a good or even a saintly man. But by some malice of Fate or some evil
+inheritance from an unknown past, those grains were lacking, and therefore he
+went not up but down the hill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Case for you, Rodd,&rdquo; called out Marnham.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed,&rdquo; he answered, getting to his feet and speaking in a full
+voice, which, like his partner&rsquo;s, was that of an educated Englishman.
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the matter. Horse accident?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we were introduced, and Anscombe began to explain his injury.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Um!&rdquo; said the doctor, studying him with dark eyes. &ldquo;Kaffir
+bullet through the foot some days ago. Ought to be attended to at once. Also
+you look pretty done, so don&rsquo;t tire yourself with the story, which I can
+get from Mr. Quatermain. Come and lie down and I&rsquo;ll have a look at you
+while they are cooking breakfast.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he guided us to a room of which the double French windows opened on to the
+stoep, a very pretty room with two beds in it. Making Anscombe lie down on one
+of these he turned up his trouser, undid my rough bandage and examined the
+wound.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Painful?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very,&rdquo; answered Anscombe, &ldquo;right up to the thigh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this he drew off the nether garments and made a further examination.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Um,&rdquo; he said again, &ldquo;I must syringe this out. Stay still
+while I get some stuff.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I followed him from the room, and when we were out of hearing on the stoep
+inquired what he thought. I did not like the look of that leg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is very bad,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;so bad that I am wondering if
+it wouldn&rsquo;t be best to remove the limb below the knee and make it a job.
+You can see for yourself that it is septic and the inflammation is spreading up
+rapidly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good Heavens!&rdquo; I exclaimed, &ldquo;do you fear
+mortification?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He nodded. &ldquo;Can&rsquo;t say what was on that slug or bit of old iron and
+he hasn&rsquo;t had the best chance since. Mortification, or tetanus, or both,
+are more than possible. Is he a temperate man?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So far as I know,&rdquo; I answered, and stared at him while he thought.
+Then he said with decision,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That makes a difference. To lose a foot is a serious thing; some might
+think almost as bad as death. I&rsquo;ll give him a chance, but if those
+symptoms do not abate in twenty-four hours, I must operate. You needn&rsquo;t
+be afraid, I was house surgeon at a London Hospital&mdash;once, and I keep my
+hand in. Lucky you came straight here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having made his preparations and washed his hands, he returned, syringed the
+wound with some antiseptic stuff, and dressed and bandaged the leg up to the
+knee. After this he gave Anscombe hot milk to drink, with two eggs broken into
+it, and told him to rest a while as he must not eat anything solid at present.
+Then he threw a blanket over him, and, signing to me to come away, let down a
+mat over the window.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I put a little something into that milk,&rdquo; he said outside,
+&ldquo;which will send him to sleep for a few hours. So we will leave him
+quiet. Now you&rsquo;ll want a wash.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where are you going to take Mr. Quatermain?&rdquo; asked Marnham who was
+seated on the stoep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Into my room,&rdquo; he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why? There&rsquo;s Heda&rsquo;s ready.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Heda might return at any moment,&rdquo; replied the doctor. &ldquo;Also
+Mr. Quatermain had better sleep in Mr. Anscombe&rsquo;s room. He will very
+likely want some one to look after him at night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Marnham opened his mouth to speak again, then changed his mind and was silent,
+as a servant is silent under rebuke. The incident was quite trifling, yet it
+revealed to me the relative attitude of these two men. Without a doubt Rodd was
+the master of his partner, who did not even care to dispute with him about the
+matter of the use of his daughter&rsquo;s bedroom. They were a queer couple
+who, had it not been for my anxiety as to Anscombe&rsquo;s illness, would have
+interested me very much, as indeed they were destined to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, I went to tidy up in the doctor&rsquo;s room, and as he left me alone
+while I washed, had the opportunity of studying it a little. Like the rest of
+the house it was lined with native wood which was made to serve as the backs of
+bookshelves and of cupboards filled with medicines and instruments. The books
+formed a queer collection. There were medical works, philosophical works,
+histories, novels, most of them French, and other volumes of a sort that I
+imagine are generally kept under lock and key; also some that had to do with
+occult matters. There was even a Bible. I opened it thoughtlessly, half in idle
+curiosity, to see whether it was ever used, only to replace it in haste. For at
+the very page that my eye fell on, I remember it was one of my favourite
+chapters in Isaiah, was a stamp in violet ink marked H. M.&lsquo;s
+Prison&mdash;well, I won&rsquo;t say where.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I may state, however, that the clue enabled me in after years to learn an
+episode in this man&rsquo;s life which had brought about his ruin. There is no
+need to repeat it or to say more than that gambling and an evil use of his
+medical knowledge to provide the money to pay his debts, were the cause of his
+fall. The strange thing is that he should have kept the book which had probably
+been given to him by the prison chaplain. Still everybody makes mistakes
+sometimes. Or it may have had associations for him, and of course he had never
+seen this stamp upon an unread page, which happened to leap to my eye.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I was able to make a shrewd guess at his later career. After his trouble he
+had emigrated and began to practise in South Africa. Somehow his identity had
+been discovered; his past was dragged up against him, possibly by rivals
+jealous of his skill; his business went and he found it advisable to retire to
+the Transvaal before the Annexation, at that time the home of sundry people of
+broken repute. Even there he did not stop in a town, but hid himself upon the
+edge of savagery. Here he foregathered with another man of queer character,
+Marnham, and in his company entered upon some doubtful but lucrative form of
+trade while still indulging his love of medicine by doctoring and operating
+upon natives, over whom he would in this way acquire great influence. Indeed,
+as I discovered before the day was over, he had quite a little hospital at the
+back of the house in which were four or five beds occupied by Kaffirs and
+served by two male native nurses whom he had trained. Also numbers of
+out-patients visited him, some of whom travelled from great distances, and
+occasionally, but not often, he attended white people who chanced to be in the
+neighbourhood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The three of us breakfasted in a really charming room from the window of which
+could be studied a view as beautiful as any I know. The Kaffirs who waited were
+well trained and dressed in neat linen uniforms. The cooking was good; there
+was real silver on the table, then a strange sight in that part of Africa, and
+amongst engravings and other pictures upon the walls, hung an oil portrait of a
+very beautiful young woman with dark hair and eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is that your daughter, Mr. Marnham?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; he replied rather shortly, &ldquo;it is her mother.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Immediately afterwards he was called from the room to speak to some one,
+whereon the doctor said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A foreigner as you see, a Hungarian; the Hungarian women are very good
+looking and very charming.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So I have understood,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;but does this lady live
+here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, no. She is dead, or I believe that she is dead. I am not sure,
+because I make it a rule never to pry into people&rsquo;s private affairs. All
+I know about her is that she was a beauty whom Marnham married late in life
+upon the Continent when she was but eighteen. As is common in such cases he was
+very jealous of her, but it didn&rsquo;t last long, as she died, or I
+understand that she died, within a year of her daughter&rsquo;s birth. The loss
+affected him so much that he emigrated to South Africa with the child and began
+life anew. I do not think that they correspond with Hungary, and he never
+speaks of her even to his daughter, which suggests that she is dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I reflected that all these circumstances might equally well suggest several
+other things, but said nothing, thinking it wisest not to pursue the subject.
+Presently Marnham returned and informed me that a native had just brought him
+word that the Basutos had made off homeward with our cattle, but had left the
+wagon and its contents quite untouched, not even stealing the spare guns and
+ammunition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s luck,&rdquo; I said, astonished, &ldquo;but extremely
+strange. How do you explain it, Mr. Marnham?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shrugged his shoulders and answered&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As every one knows, you are a much greater expert in native habits and
+customs than I am, Mr. Quatermain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are only two things that I can think of,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;One
+is that for some reason or other they thought the wagon tagati, bewitched you
+know, and that it would bring evil on them to touch it, though this did not
+apply to the oxen. The other is that they supposed it, but not the oxen, to
+belong to some friend of their own whose property they did not wish to
+injure.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at me sharply but said nothing, and I went on to tell them the
+details of the attack that had been made upon us, adding&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The odd part of the affair is that one of those Basutos called out to us
+that some infernal scoundrel of a white had warned Sekukuni of our coming and
+that he had ordered them to take our guns and cattle. This Basuto, who was
+wounded and praying for mercy, was drowned before he could tell me who the
+white man was.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A Boer, I expect,&rdquo; said Marnham quietly. &ldquo;As you know they
+are not particularly well affected towards us English just now. Also I happen
+to be aware that some of them are intriguing with Sekukuni against the British
+through Makurupiji, his &lsquo;Mouth&rsquo; or prime-minister, a very clever
+old scamp who likes to have two stools to sit on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And doubtless will end by falling between them. Well, you see, now that
+I think of it, the wounded Kaffir only said that they were ordered to take our
+guns and oxen, and incidentally our lives. The wagon was not mentioned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so, Mr. Quatermain. I will send some of our boys to help your
+servants to bring everything it contains up here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t you lend me a team of oxen,&rdquo; I asked, &ldquo;to drag
+it to the house?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, we have nothing but young cattle left. Both red-water and
+lung-sickness have been so bad this season that all the horned stock have been
+swept out of the country. I doubt whether you could beg, borrow or steal a team
+of oxen this side of Pretoria, except from some of the Dutchmen who won&rsquo;t
+part.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s awkward. I hoped to be able to trek in a day or two.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your friend won&rsquo;t be able to trek for a good many days at the
+best,&rdquo; broke in the doctor, who had been listening unconcernedly,
+&ldquo;but of course you could get away on the horse after it has
+rested.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You told me you left a span of oxen at Pretoria,&rdquo; said Marnham.
+&ldquo;Why not go and fetch them here, or if you don&rsquo;t like to leave Mr.
+Anscombe, send your driver and the boys.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thanks for the idea. I will think it over,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That morning after Footsack and the voorlooper had been sent with some of the
+servants from the Temple to fetch up the contents of the wagon, for I was too
+tired to accompany them, having found that Anscombe was still asleep, I
+determined to follow his example. Finding a long chair on the stoep, I sat down
+and slumbered in it sweetly for hours. I dreamt of all sorts of things, then
+through my dreams it seemed to me that I heard two voices talking, those of our
+Marnham and Rodd, not on the stoep, but at a distance from it. As a matter of
+fact they were talking, but so far away that in my ordinary waking state I
+could never have heard them. My own belief is that the senses, and I may add
+the semi-spiritual part of us, are much more acute when we lie half bound in
+the bonds of sleep, than when we are what is called wide awake. Doubtless when
+we are quite bound they attain the limits of their power and, I think, sail at
+times to the uttermost ends of being. But unhappily of their experiences we
+remember nothing when we awake. In half sleep it is different; then we do
+retain some recollection.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this curious condition of mind it seemed to me that Rodd said to
+Marnham&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why have you brought these men here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did not bring them here,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Luck, Fate,
+Fortune, God or the Devil, call it what you will, brought them here, though if
+you had your wish, it is true they would never have come. Still, as they have
+come, I am glad. It is something to me, living in this hell, to get a chance of
+talking to English gentlemen again before I die.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;English gentlemen,&rdquo; remarked Rodd reflectively, &ldquo;Well,
+Anscombe is of course, but how about that other hunter? After all, in what way
+is he better than the scores of other hunters and Kaffir traders and wanderers
+whom one meets in this strange land?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In what way indeed?&rdquo; thought I to myself, in my dream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you can&rsquo;t see, I can&rsquo;t explain to you. But as I happen to
+know, the man is of blood as good as mine&mdash;and a great deal better than
+yours,&rdquo; he added with a touch of insolence. &ldquo;Moreover, he has an
+honest name among white and black, which is much in this country.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied the doctor in the same reflective voice, &ldquo;I
+agree with you, I let him pass as a gentleman. But I repeat, Why did you bring
+them here when with one more word it would have been so easy&mdash;&rdquo; and
+he stopped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have told you, it was not I. What are you driving at?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you think it is exactly convenient, especially when we are under the
+British flag again, to have two people who, we both admit, are English
+gentlemen, that is, clean, clear-eyed men, considering us and our affairs for
+an indefinite period, just because you wish for the pleasure of their society?
+Would it not have been better to tell those Basutos to let them trek on to
+Pretoria?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what would have been better. I repeat, what are you
+driving at?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Heda is coming home in a day or two; she might be here any time,&rdquo;
+remarked Rodd as he knocked the ashes out of his pipe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, because you made me write and say that I wanted her. But what of
+that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing in particular, except that I am not sure that I wish her to
+associate with &lsquo;an English gentleman&rsquo; like this Anscombe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Marnham laughed scornfully. &ldquo;Ah! I understand,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Too
+clean and straight. Complications might ensue and the rest of it. Well, I wish
+to God they would, for I know the Anscombes, or used to, and I know the genus
+called Rodd.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be insulting; you may carry the thing too far one day, and
+whatever I have done I have paid for. But you&rsquo;ve not
+paid&mdash;yet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The man is very ill. You are a skilled doctor. If you&rsquo;re afraid of
+him, why don&rsquo;t you kill him?&rdquo; asked Marnham with bitter scorn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There you have me,&rdquo; replied Rodd. &ldquo;Men may shed much, but
+most of them never shed their professional honour. I shall do my honest best to
+cure Mr. Anscombe, and I tell you that he will take some curing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Then I woke up, and as no one was in sight, wondered whether or no I had been
+dreaming. The upshot of it was that I made up my mind to send Footsack to
+Pretoria for the oxen, not to go myself.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V.<br />
+A GAME OF CARDS</h2>
+
+<p>
+I slept in Anscombe&rsquo;s room that night and looked after him. He was very
+feverish and the pain in his leg kept him awake a good deal. He told me that he
+could not bear Dr. Rodd and wished to get away at once. I had to explain to him
+that this was impossible until his spare oxen arrived which I was going to send
+for to Pretoria, but of other matters, including that of the dangerous state of
+his foot, I said nothing. I was thankful when towards two in the morning, he
+fell into a sound sleep and allowed me to do the same.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before breakfast time, just as I had finished dressing myself in some of the
+clean things which had been brought from the wagon, Rodd came and made a
+thorough and business-like examination of his patient, while I awaited the
+result with anxiety on the stoep. At length he appeared and said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I think that we shall be able to save the foot, though I
+can&rsquo;t be quite sure for another twenty-four hours. The worst symptoms
+have abated and his temperature is down by two degrees. Anyway he will have to
+stay in bed and live on light food till it is normal, after which he might lie
+in a long chair on the stoep. On no account must he attempt to stand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I thanked him for his information heartily enough and asked him if he knew
+where Marnham was, as I wanted to speak to him with reference to the despatch
+of Footsack to fetch the oxen from Pretoria.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not up yet, I think,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;I fancy that yesterday
+was one of his &lsquo;wet&rsquo; nights, excitement of meeting strangers and so
+on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wet nights?&rdquo; I queried, wishing for a clearer explanation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, he is a grand old fellow, one of the best, but like most other
+people he has his little weaknesses, and when the fit is on him he can put away
+a surprising amount of liquor. I tell you so that you should not be astonished
+if you notice anything, or try to argue with him when he is in that state, as
+then his temper is apt to be&mdash;well, lively. Now I must go and give him a
+pint of warm milk; that is his favourite antidote, and in fact the best there
+is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I thought to myself that we had struck a nice establishment in which to be
+tied, literally by the leg, for an indefinite period. I was not particularly
+flush at the time, but I know I would have paid a £100 to be out of it; before
+the end I should have been glad to throw in everything that I had. But
+mercifully that was hidden from me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rodd and I breakfasted together and discoursed of Kaffir customs, as to which
+he was singularly well informed. Then I accompanied him to see his native
+patients in the little hospital of which I have spoken. Believing the man to be
+a thorough scamp as I did, it was astonishing to me to note how gentle and
+forbearing he was to these people. Of his skill I need say nothing, as that was
+evident. He was going to perform an internal operation upon a burly old savage,
+rather a serious one I believe; at any rate it necessitated chloroform. He
+asked me if I would like to assist, but I declined respectfully, having no
+taste for such things. So I left him boiling his instruments and putting on
+what looked like a clean nightgown over his clothes, and returned to the stoep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here I found Marnham, whose eyes were rather bloodshot, though otherwise,
+except for a shaky hand, he seemed right enough. He murmured something about
+having overslept himself and inquired very politely, for his manners were
+beautiful, after Anscombe and as to whether we were quite comfortable and so
+forth. After this I consulted him as to the best road for our servants to
+travel by to Pretoria, and later on despatched them, giving Footsack various
+notes to ensure the delivery of the oxen to him. Also I gave him some money to
+pay for their keep and told him with many threats to get back with the beasts
+as quick as he could travel. Then I sent him and the two other boys off, not
+without misgivings, although he was an experienced man in his way and promised
+faithfully to fulfil every injunction to the letter. To me he seemed so
+curiously glad to go that I inquired the reason, since after a journey like
+ours, it would have been more natural if he had wished to rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! Baas,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think this Tampel very
+healthy for coloured people. I am told of some who have died here. That man
+Karl who gave me the diamond, I think he must have died also, at least I saw
+his spook last night standing over me and shaking his head, and the boys saw it
+too.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! be off with your talk of spooks,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;and come back
+quickly with those oxen, or I promise you that you will die and be a spook
+yourself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will, Baas, I will!&rdquo; he ejaculated and departed almost at a run,
+leaving me rather uncomfortable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I believed nothing of the tale of the spook of Karl, but I saw that Footsack
+believed in it, and was afraid lest he might be thereby prevented from
+returning. I would much rather have gone myself, but it was impossible for me
+to leave Anscombe so ill in the hands of our strange hosts. And there was no
+one else whom I could send. I might perhaps have ridden to Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest
+and tried to find a white messenger there; indeed afterwards I regretted not
+having done so, although it would have involved at least a day&rsquo;s absence
+at a very critical time. But the truth is I never thought of it until too late,
+and probably if I had, I should not have been able to discover anyone whom I
+could trust.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I walked back to the house, having parted from Footsack on the top of a
+neighbouring ridge whence I could point out his path to him, I met Marnham
+riding away. He pulled up and said that he was going down to the Granite stream
+to arrange about setting some one up to watch the wagon. I expressed sorrow
+that he should have the trouble, which should have been mine if I could have
+got away, whereon he answered that he was glad of the opportunity for a ride,
+as it was something to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you fill in your time here,&rdquo; I asked carelessly, &ldquo;as
+you don&rsquo;t farm?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! by trading,&rdquo; he replied, and with a nod set his horse to a
+canter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A queer sort of trading, thought I to myself, where there is no store. Now what
+exactly does he trade in, I wonder?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it happened I was destined to find out before I was an hour older. Having
+given Anscombe a look and found that he was comfortable, I thought that I would
+inspect the quarry whence the marble came of which the house was built, as it
+had occurred to me that if there was plenty of it, it might be worth exploiting
+some time in the future. It had been pointed out to me in the midst of some
+thorns in a gully that ran at right angles to the main kloof not more than a
+few hundred yards from the house. Following a path over which the stones had
+been dragged originally, I came to the spot and discovered that a little cavity
+had been quarried in what seemed to me to be a positive mountain of pure white
+marble. I examined the place as thoroughly as I could, climbing among some
+bushes that grew in surface earth which had been washed down from the top, in
+order to do so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the back of these bushes there was a hole large enough for a man to creep
+through. I crept through with the object of ascertaining whether the marble
+veins continued. To my surprise I found a stout yellow-wood door within feet of
+the mouth of the hole. Reflecting that no doubt it was here that the quarrymen
+kept, or had kept tools and explosives, I gave it a push. I suppose it had been
+left unfastened accidentally, or that something had gone wrong with the lock;
+at any rate it swung open. Pursuing my researches as to the depth of the marble
+I advanced boldly and, the place being dark, struck a match. Evidently the
+marble did continue, as I could see by the glittering roof of a cavern, for
+such it was. But the floor attracted my attention as well as the roof, for on
+it were numerous cases not unlike coffins, bearing the stamp of a well-known
+Birmingham firm, labelled &ldquo;fencing iron&rdquo; and addressed to Messrs.
+Marnham &amp; Rodd, Transvaal, <i>via</i> Delagoa Bay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I knew at once what they were, having seen the like before, but if any doubt
+remained in my mind it was easy to solve, for as it chanced one of the cases
+was open and half emptied. I slipped my hand into it. As I thought it contained
+the ordinary Kaffir gun of commerce, cost delivered in Africa, say 35s.; cost
+delivered to native chief in cash or cattle, say £10, which, when the market is
+eager, allows for a decent profit. Contemplating those cases, survivors
+probably of a much larger stock, I understood how it came about that Sekukuni
+had dared to show fight against the Government. Doubtless it was hence that the
+guns had come which sent a bullet through Anscombe&rsquo;s foot and nearly
+polished off both of us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moreover, as further matches showed me, that cave contained other
+stores&mdash;item, kegs of gunpowder; item, casks of cheap spirit; item, bars
+of lead, also a box marked &ldquo;bullet moulds&rdquo; and another marked
+&ldquo;Percussion caps.&rdquo; I think, too, there were some innocent bags full
+of beads and a few packages of Birmingham-made assegai blades. There may have
+been other things, but if so I did not wait to investigate them. Gathering up
+the ends of my matches and, in case there should be any dust in the place that
+would show footmarks, flapping the stone floor behind me with my pocket
+handkerchief, I retired and continued my investigations of that wonderful
+marble deposit from the bottom of the quarry, to which, having re-arranged the
+bushes, I descended by another route, leaping like a buck from stone to stone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was just as well that I did so, for a few minutes later Dr. Rodd appeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Made a good job of your operation?&rdquo; I asked cheerfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pretty fair, thanks,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;although that Kaffir
+tried to brain the nurse-man when he was coming out of the anæsthetic. But are
+you interested in geology?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A little,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;that is if there is any chance of
+making money out of it, which there ought to be here, as this marble looks
+almost as good as that of Carrara. But flint instruments are more my line, that
+is in an ignorant and amateur way, as I think they are in yours, for I saw some
+in your room. Tell me, what do you think of this. Is it a scraper?&rdquo; and I
+produced a stone out of my pocket which I had found a week before in the
+bush-veld.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At once he forgot his suspicions, of which I could see he arrived very full
+indeed. This curious man, as it happened, was really fond of flint instruments,
+of which he knew a great deal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did you find this here?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I led him several yards further from the mouth of the cave and pointed out the
+exact spot where I said I had picked it up amongst some quarry debris. Then
+followed a most learned discussion, for it appeared that this was a flint
+instrument of the rarest and most valuable type, one that Noah might have used,
+or Job might have scraped himself with, and the question was how the dickens
+had it come among that quarry debris. In the end we left the problem undecided,
+and having presented the article to Dr. Rodd, a gift for which he thanked me
+with real warmth, I returned to the house filled with the glow that rewards one
+who has made a valuable discovery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of the following three days I have nothing particular to say, except that
+during them I was perhaps more acutely bored than ever I had been in my life
+before. The house was beautiful in its own fashion; the food was excellent;
+there was everything I could want to drink, and Rodd announced that he no
+longer feared the necessity of operation upon Anscombe&rsquo;s leg. His
+recovery was now a mere matter of time, and meanwhile he must not use his foot
+or let the blood run into it more than could be helped, which meant that he
+must keep himself in a recumbent position. The trouble was that I had nothing
+on earth to do except study the characters of our hosts, which I found
+disagreeable and depressing. I might have gone out shooting, but nothing of the
+sort was allowed upon the property in obedience to the wish of Miss Heda, a
+mysterious young person who was always expected and never appeared, and beyond
+it I was afraid to travel for fear of Basutos. I might have gone to
+Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest or Lydenburg to make report of the nefarious deeds of the
+said Basutos, but at best it would have taken one or two days, and possibly I
+should have been detained by officials who never consider any one&rsquo;s time
+except their own.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This meant that I should have been obliged to leave Anscombe alone, which I did
+not wish to do, so I just sat still and, as I have said, was intensely bored,
+hanging about the place and smoking more than was good for me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In due course Anscombe emerged on to the stoep, where he lay with his leg up,
+and was also bored, especially after he had tried to pump old Marnham about his
+past in the Guards and completely failed. It was in this mood of utter
+dejection that we agreed to play a game of cards one evening. Not that either
+of us cared for cards; indeed, personally, I have always detested them because,
+with various-coloured counters to represent money which never passed, they had
+formed one of the afflictions of my youth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was so annoying if you won, to be handed a number of green counters and be
+informed that they represented so many hundreds or thousands of pounds, or
+vice-versa if you lost, for as it cost no one anything, my dear father insisted
+upon playing for enormous stakes. Never in any aspect of life have I cared for
+fooling. Anscombe also disliked cards, I think because his ancestors too had
+played with counters, such as some that I have seen belonging to the Cocoa-Tree
+Club and other gambling places of a past generation, marked as high as a
+thousand guineas, which counters must next morning be redeemed in hard cash,
+whereby his family had been not a little impoverished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I fancy you will find they are high-fliers,&rdquo; he said when the pair
+had left to fetch a suitable table, for the night being very hot we were going
+to play on the stoep by the light of the hanging paraffin lamp and some
+candles. I replied to the effect that I could not afford to lose large sums of
+money, especially to men who for aught I knew might then be engaged in marking
+the cards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you bother about
+that, old fellow. This is my affair, arranged for my special amusement. I
+shan&rsquo;t grumble if the fun costs something, for I am sure there will be
+fun.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All right,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;only if we should happen to win money,
+it&rsquo;s yours, not mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To myself I reflected, however, that with these two opponents we had about as
+much chance of winning as a snowflake has of resisting the atmosphere of the
+lower regions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently they returned with the table, which had a green cloth over it that
+hung down half-way to the ground. Also one of the native boys brought a tray
+with spirits, from which I judged by various signs, old Marnham, who had
+already drunk his share at dinner, had helped himself freely on the way. Soon
+we were arranged, Anscombe, who was to be my partner, opposite to me in his
+long chair, and the game began.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I forget what particular variant of cards it was we played, though I know it
+admitted of high and progressive stakes. At first, however, these were quite
+moderate and we won, as I suppose we were meant to do. After half an hour or so
+Marnham rose to help himself to brandy and water, a great deal of brandy and
+very little water, while I took a nip of Hollands, and Anscombe and Rodd filled
+their pipes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think this is getting rather slow,&rdquo; said Rodd to Anscombe.
+&ldquo;I vote we put a bit more on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As much as you like,&rdquo; answered Anscombe with a little drawl and
+twinkle of the eye, which always showed that he was amused. &ldquo;Both
+Quatermain and I are born gamblers. Don&rsquo;t look angry, Quatermain, you
+know you are. Only if we lose you will have to take a cheque, for I have
+precious little cash.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think that will be good enough,&rdquo; replied the doctor
+quietly&mdash;&ldquo;if you lose.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So the stakes were increased to an amount that made my hair stand up stiffer
+even than usual, and the game went on. Behold! a marvel came to pass. How it
+happened I do not know, unless Marnham had brought the wrong cards by mistake
+or had grown too fuddled to understand his partner&rsquo;s telegraphic signals,
+which I, being accustomed to observe, saw him make, not once but often, still
+we won! What is more, with a few set-backs, we went on winning, till presently
+the sums written down to our credit, for no actual cash passed, were
+considerable. And all the while, at the end of each bout Marnham helped himself
+to more brandy, while the doctor grew more mad in a suppressed-thunder kind of
+a way. For my part I became alarmed, especially as I perceived that Anscombe
+was on the verge of breaking into open merriment, and his legs being up I could
+not kick him under the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My partner ought to go to bed. Don&rsquo;t you think we should
+stop?&rdquo; I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the whole I do,&rdquo; replied Rodd, glowering at Marnham, who,
+somewhat unsteadily, was engaged in wiping drops of brandy from his long beard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;D&mdash;&mdash;d if I do,&rdquo; exclaimed that worthy. &ldquo;When I
+was young and played with gentlemen they always gave losers an opportunity of
+revenge.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then,&rdquo; replied Anscombe with a flash of his eyes, &ldquo;let us
+try to follow in the footsteps of the gentlemen with whom you played in your
+youth. I suggest that we double the stakes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s right! That&rsquo;s the old form!&rdquo; said Marnham.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The doctor half rose from his chair, then sat down again. Watching him, I
+concluded that he believed his partner, a seasoned vessel, was not so drunk as
+he pretended to be, and either in an actual or a figurative sense, had a card
+up his sleeve. If so, it remained there, for again we won; all the luck was
+with us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am getting tired,&rdquo; drawled Anscombe. &ldquo;Lemon and water are
+not sustaining. Shall we stop?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By Heaven! no,&rdquo; shouted Marnham, to which Anscombe replied that if
+it was wished, he would play another hand, but no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All right,&rdquo; said Marnham, &ldquo;but let it be for double or
+quits.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He spoke quite quietly and seemed suddenly to have grown sober. Now I think
+that Rodd made up his mind that he really was acting and that he really had
+that card up his sleeve. At any rate he did not object. I, however, was of a
+different opinion, having often seen drunken men succumb to an access of
+sobriety under the stress of excitement and remarked that it did not last long.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you really mean that?&rdquo; I said, speaking for the first time and
+addressing myself to the doctor. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t quite know what the sum
+involved is, but it must be large.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then remembering that at the worst Anscombe stood to lose nothing, I shrugged
+my shoulders and held my tongue. It was Marnham&rsquo;s deal, and although he
+was somewhat in the shadow of the hanging lamp and the candles had guttered
+out, I distinctly saw him play some hocus-pocus with the cards, but in the
+circumstances made no protest. As it chanced he must have hocus-pocused them
+wrong, for though <i>his</i> hand was full of trumps, Rodd held nothing at all.
+The battle that ensued was quite exciting, but the end of it was that an ace in
+the hand of Anscombe, who really was quite a good player, did the business, and
+we won again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the rather awful silence that followed Anscombe remarked in his cheerful
+drawl&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure that my addition is quite right; we&rsquo;ll check
+that in the morning, but I make out that you two gentlemen owe Quatermain and
+myself £749 10s.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the doctor broke out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You accursed old fool,&rdquo; he hissed&mdash;there is no other word for
+it&mdash;at Marnham. &ldquo;How are you going to pay all this money that you
+have gambled away, drunken beast that you are!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Easily enough, you felon,&rdquo; shouted Marnham. &ldquo;So,&rdquo; and
+thrusting his hand into his pocket he pulled out a number of diamonds which he
+threw upon the table, adding, &ldquo;there&rsquo;s what will cover it twice
+over, and there are more where they came from, as you know well enough, my
+medical jailbird.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You dare to call me that,&rdquo; gasped the doctor in a voice laden with
+fury, so intense that it had deprived him of his reason,
+&ldquo;you&mdash;you&mdash;murderer! Oh! why don&rsquo;t I kill you as I shall
+some day?&rdquo; and lifting his glass, which was half full, he threw the
+contents into Marnham&rsquo;s face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a nice man for a prospective son-in-law, isn&rsquo;t
+he?&rdquo; exclaimed the old scamp, as, seizing the brandy decanter, he hurled
+it straight at Rodd&rsquo;s head, only missing him by an inch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you think you had both better go to bed, gentlemen?&rdquo; I
+inquired. &ldquo;You are saying things you might regret in the morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Apparently they did think it, for without another word they rose and marched
+off in different directions to their respective rooms, which I heard both of
+them lock. For my part I collected the I.O.U.&lsquo;s; also the diamonds which
+still lay upon the table, while Anscombe examined the cards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Marked, by Jove!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Oh! my dear Quatermain, never
+have I had such an amusing evening in all my life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Shut up, you silly idiot,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;There&rsquo;ll be
+murder done over this business, and I only hope it won&rsquo;t be on us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br />
+MISS HEDA</h2>
+
+<p>
+It might be thought that after all this there would have been a painful
+explanation on the following morning, but nothing of the sort happened. After
+all the greatest art is the art of ignoring things, without which the world
+could scarcely go on, even among the savage races. Thus on this occasion the
+two chief actors in the scene of the previous night pretended that they had
+forgotten what took place, as I believe, to a large extent truly. The fierce
+flame of drink in the one and of passion in the other had burnt the web of
+remembrance to ashes. They knew that something unpleasant had occurred and its
+main outlines; the rest had vanished away; perhaps because they knew also that
+they were not responsible for what they said and did, and therefore that what
+occurred had no right to a permanent niche in their memories. It was, as it
+were, something outside of their normal selves. At least so I conjectured, and
+their conduct seemed to give colour to my guess.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The doctor spoke to me of the matter first.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I fear there was a row last night,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;it has
+happened here before over cards, and will no doubt happen again until matters
+clear themselves up somehow. Marnham, as you see, drinks, and when drunk is the
+biggest liar in the world, and I, I am sorry to say, am cursed with a violent
+temper. Don&rsquo;t judge either of us too harshly. If you were a doctor you
+would know that all these things come to us with our blood, and we didn&rsquo;t
+fashion our own clay, did we? Have some coffee, won&rsquo;t you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Subsequently when Rodd wasn&rsquo;t there, Marnham spoke also and with that
+fine air of courtesy which was peculiar to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I owe a deep apology,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;to yourself and Mr.
+Anscombe. I do not recall much about it, but I know there was a scene last
+night over those cursed cards. A weakness overtakes me sometimes. I will say no
+more, except that you, who are also a man who perhaps have felt weaknesses of
+one sort or another, will, I hope, make allowances for me and pay no attention
+to anything that I may have said or done in the presence of guests; yes, that
+is what pains me&mdash;in the presence of guests.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Something in his distinguished manner caused me to reflect upon every
+peccadillo that I had ever committed, setting it in its very worst light.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;quite so. Pray do not mention the
+matter any more, although&mdash;&rdquo; These words seemed to jerk themselves
+out of my throat, &ldquo;you did call each other by such very hard
+names.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I daresay,&rdquo; he answered with a vacant smile, &ldquo;but if so they
+meant nothing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I understand, just like a lovers&rsquo; quarrel. But look here, you
+left some diamonds on the table which I took to keep the Kaffirs out of
+temptation. I will fetch them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did I? Well, probably I left some I.O.U.&lsquo;s also which might serve
+for pipelights. So suppose we set the one against the other. I don&rsquo;t know
+the value of either the diamonds or the pipelights, it may be less or more, but
+for God&rsquo;s sake don&rsquo;t let me see the beastly things again.
+There&rsquo;s no need, I have plenty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I must speak to Anscombe,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;The money at stake
+was his, not mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Speak to whom you will,&rdquo; he replied, and I noted that the
+throbbing vein upon his forehead indicated a rising temper. &ldquo;But never
+let me see those diamonds again. Throw them into the gutter if you wish, but
+never let me see them again, or there will be trouble.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he flung out of the room, leaving his breakfast almost untasted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reflecting that this queer old bird probably did not wish to be
+cross-questioned as to his possession of so many uncut diamonds, or that they
+were worth much less than the sum he had lost, or possibly that they were not
+diamonds at all but glass, I went to report the matter to Anscombe. He only
+laughed and said that as I had got the things I had better keep them until
+something happened, for we had both got it into our heads that something would
+happen before we had done with that establishment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I went to put the stones away as safely as I could. While I was doing so I
+heard the rumble of wheels, and came out just in time to see a Cape cart, drawn
+by four very good horses and driven by a Hottentot in a smart hat and a red
+waistband, pull up at the garden gate. Out of this cart presently emerged a
+neatly dressed lady, of whom all I could see was that she was young, slender
+and rather tall; also, as her back was towards me, that she had a great deal of
+auburn hair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There!&rdquo; said Anscombe. &ldquo;I knew that something would happen.
+Heda has happened. Quatermain, as neither her venerated parent nor her loving
+fiance, for such I gather he is, seems to be about, you had better go and give
+her a hand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I obeyed with a groan, heartily wishing that Heda hadn&rsquo;t happened, since
+some sense warned me that she would only add to the present complications. At
+the gate, having given some instructions to a very stout young coloured woman
+who, I took it, was her maid, about a basket of flower roots in the cart, she
+turned round suddenly and we came face to face with the gate between us. For a
+moment we stared at each other, I reflecting that she really was very pretty
+with her delicately-shaped features, her fresh, healthy-looking complexion, her
+long dark eyelashes and her lithe and charming figure. What she reflected about
+me I don&rsquo;t know, probably nothing half so complimentary. Suddenly,
+however, her large greyish eyes grew troubled and a look of alarm appeared upon
+her face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is anything wrong with my father?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t
+see him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you mean Mr. Marnham,&rdquo; I replied, lifting my hat, &ldquo;I
+believe that Dr. Rodd and he&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind about Dr. Rodd,&rdquo; she broke in with a contemptuous
+little jerk of her chin, &ldquo;how is my father?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I imagine much as usual. He and Dr. Rodd were here a little while ago, I
+suppose that they have gone out&rdquo; (as a matter of fact they had, but in
+different directions).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then that&rsquo;s all right,&rdquo; she said with a sigh of relief.
+&ldquo;You see, I heard that he was very ill, which is why I have come
+back.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So, thought I to myself, she loves that old scamp and she&mdash;doesn&rsquo;t
+love the doctor. There will be more trouble as sure as five and two are seven.
+All we wanted was a woman to make the pot boil over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I opened the gate and took a travelling bag from her hand with my politest
+bow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My name is Quatermain and that of my friend Anscombe. We are staying
+here, you know,&rdquo; I said rather awkwardly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed,&rdquo; she answered with a delightful smile, &ldquo;what a very
+strange place to choose to stay in.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a beautiful house,&rdquo; I remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not bad, although I designed it, more or less. But I was alluding to its
+inhabitants.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This finished me, and I am sure she felt that I could think of nothing nice to
+say about those inhabitants, for I heard her sigh. We walked side by side up
+the rose-fringed path and presently arrived at the stoep, where Anscombe, whose
+hair I had cut very nicely on the previous day, was watching us from his long
+chair. They looked at each other, and I saw both of them colour a little, out
+of mere foolishness, I suppose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Anscombe,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;this is&mdash;&rdquo; and I paused, not
+being quite certain whether she also was called Marnham. &ldquo;Heda
+Marnham,&rdquo; she interrupted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes&mdash;Miss Heda Marnham, and this is the Honourable Maurice
+Anscombe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forgive me for not rising, Miss Marnham,&rdquo; said Anscombe in his
+pleasant voice (by the way hers was pleasant too, full and rather low, with
+just a suggestion of something foreign about it). &ldquo;A shot through the
+foot prevents me at present.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who shot you?&rdquo; she asked quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! only a Kaffir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am so sorry, I hope you will get well soon. Forgive me now, I must go
+to look for my father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She is uncommonly pretty,&rdquo; remarked Anscombe, &ldquo;and a lady
+into the bargain. In reflecting on old Marnham&rsquo;s sins we must put it to
+his credit that he has produced a charming daughter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Too pretty and charming by half,&rdquo; I grunted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps Dr. Rodd is of the same way of thinking. Great shame that such a
+girl should be handed over to a medical scoundrel like Dr. Rodd. I wonder if
+she cares for him?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just about as much as a canary cares for a tom-cat. I have found that
+out already.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Really, Quatermain, you are admirable. I never knew anyone who could
+make a better use of the briefest opportunity.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we were silent, waiting, not without a certain impatience, for the return
+of Miss Heda. She did return with surprising quickness considering that she had
+found time to search for her parent, to change into a clean white dress, and to
+pin a single hibiscus flower on to her bodice which gave just the touch of
+colour that was necessary to complete her costume.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t find my father,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but the boys say
+he has gone out riding. I can&rsquo;t find anybody. When you have been summoned
+from a long way off and travelled post-haste, rather to your own inconvenience,
+it is amusing, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wagons and carts in South Africa don&rsquo;t arrive like express trains,
+Miss Marnham,&rdquo; said Anscombe, &ldquo;so you shouldn&rsquo;t be
+offended.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am not at all offended, Mr. Anscombe. Now that I know there is nothing
+the matter with my father I&rsquo;m&mdash;But, tell me, how did you get your
+wound?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So he told her with much amusing detail after his fashion. She listened quietly
+with a puckered up brow and only made one comment. It was,&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder what white man told those Sekukuni Kaffirs that you were
+coming.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;but he deserves a bullet
+through him somewhere above the ankle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, though few people get what they deserve in this wicked
+world.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So I have often thought. Had it been otherwise, for example, I should
+have been&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What would you have been?&rdquo; she asked, considering him curiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! a better shot than Mr. Allan Quatermain, and as beautiful as a lady
+I once saw in my youth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t talk rubbish before luncheon,&rdquo; I remarked sternly, and
+we all laughed, the first wholesome laughter that I had heard at the Temple.
+For this young lady seemed to bring happiness and merriment with her. I
+remember wondering what it was of which her coming reminded me, and concluding
+that it was like the sight and smell of a peach orchard in full bloom stumbled
+on suddenly in the black desert of the burnt winter veld.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this we became quite friendly. She dilated on her skill in having
+produced the Temple from an old engraving, which she fetched and showed to us,
+at no greater an expense than it would have cost to build an ordinary house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is because the marble was at hand,&rdquo; said Anscombe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so,&rdquo; she replied demurely. &ldquo;Speaking in a general
+sense one can do many things in life&mdash;if the marble is at hand. Only most
+of us when we look for marble find sandstone or mud.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bravo!&rdquo; said Anscombe, &ldquo;I have generally lit upon the
+sandstone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I on the mud,&rdquo; she mused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I on all three, for the earth contains marble and mud and sandstone,
+to say nothing of gold and jewels,&rdquo; I broke in, being tired of silence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But neither of them paid much attention to me. Anscombe did say, out of
+politeness, I suppose, that pitch and subterranean fires should be added, or
+some such nonsense.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then she began to tell him of her infantile memories of Hungary, which were
+extremely faint; of how they came to this place and lived first of all in two
+large Kaffir huts, until suddenly they began to grow rich; of her school days
+at Maritzburg; of the friends with whom she had been staying, and I know not
+what, until at last I got up and went out for a walk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I returned an hour or so later they were still talking, and so continued
+to do until Dr. Rodd arrived upon the scene. At first they did not see him, for
+he stood at an angle to them, but I saw him and watched his face with a great
+deal of interest. It, or rather its expression, was not pleasant; before now I
+have seen something like it on that of a wild beast which thinks that it is
+about to be robbed of its prey by a stronger wild beast, in short, a mixture of
+hate, fear and jealousy&mdash;especially jealousy. At the last I did not
+wonder, for these two seemed to be getting on uncommonly well.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were, so to speak, well matched. She, of course, was the better looking of
+the two, a really pretty and attractive young woman indeed, but the vivacity of
+Anscombe&rsquo;s face, the twinkle of his merry blue eyes and its general
+refinement made up for what he lacked&mdash;regularity of feature. I think he
+had just told her one of his good stories which he always managed to make so
+humorous by a trick of pleasing and harmless exaggeration, and they were both
+laughing merrily. Then she caught sight of the doctor and her merriment
+evaporated like a drop of water on a hot shovel. Distinctly I saw her pull
+herself together and prepare for something.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you do?&rdquo; she said rapidly, rising and holding out her slim
+sun-browned hand. &ldquo;But I need not ask, you look so well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you do, my dear,&rdquo; with a heavy emphasis on the
+&ldquo;dear&rdquo; he answered slowly. &ldquo;But I needn&rsquo;t ask, for I
+see that you are in perfect health and spirits,&rdquo; and he bent forward as
+though to kiss her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Somehow or other she avoided that endearment or seal of possession. I
+don&rsquo;t quite know how, as I turned my head away, not wishing to witness
+what I felt to be unpleasant. When I looked up again, however, I saw that she
+had avoided it, the scowl on his face, the demureness of hers and
+Anscombe&rsquo;s evident amusement assured me of this. She was asking about her
+father; he answered that he also seemed quite well.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then why did you write to tell me that I ought to come as he was not at
+all well?&rdquo; she inquired, with a lifting of her delicate eyebrows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The question was never answered, for at that moment Marnham himself appeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! father,&rdquo; she said, and rushed into his arms, while he kissed
+her tenderly on both cheeks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I was not mistaken, thought I to myself, she does really love this moral
+wreck, and what is more, he loves her, which shows that there must be good in
+him. Is anyone truly bad, I wondered, or for the matter of that, truly good
+either? Is it not all a question of circumstance and blood?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neither then or at any other time have I found an answer to the problem. At any
+rate to me there seemed something beautiful about the meeting of these two.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The influence of Miss Heda in the house was felt at once. The boys became
+smarter and put on clean clothes. Vases of flowers appeared in the various
+rooms; ours was turned out and cleaned, a disagreeable process so far as we
+were concerned. Moreover, at dinner both Marnham and Rodd wore dress clothes
+with short jackets, a circumstance that put Anscombe and myself to shame since
+we had none. It was curious to see how with those dress clothes, which
+doubtless awoke old associations within him, Marnham changed his colour like a
+chameleon. Really he might have been the colonel of a cavalry regiment rising
+to toast the Queen after he had sent round the wine, so polite and polished was
+his talk. Who could have identified the man with the dry old ruffian of
+twenty-four hours before, he who was drinking claret (and very good claret too)
+mixed with water and listening with a polite interest to all the details of his
+daughter&rsquo;s journey? Even the doctor looked a gentleman, which doubtless
+he was once upon a time, in evening dress. Moreover, some kind of truce had
+been arranged. He no longer called Miss Heda &ldquo;My dear&rdquo; or attempted
+any familiarities, while she on more than one occasion very distinctly called
+him Dr. Rodd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So much for that night and for several others that followed. As for the days
+they went by pleasantly and idly. Heda walked about on her father&rsquo;s arm,
+conversed in friendly fashion with the doctor, always watching him, I noticed,
+as a cat watches a dog that she knows is waiting an opportunity to spring, and
+for the rest associated with us as much as she could. Particularly did she seem
+to take refuge behind my own insignificance, having, I suppose, come to the
+conclusion that I was a harmless person who might possibly prove useful. But
+all the while I felt that the storm was banking up. Indeed Marnham himself, at
+any rate to a great extent, played the part of the cloud-compelling Jove, for
+soon it became evident to me, and without doubt to Dr. Rodd also, that he was
+encouraging the intimacy between his daughter and Anscombe by every means in
+his power.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In one way and another he had fully informed himself as to Anscombe&rsquo;s
+prospects in life, which were brilliant enough. Moreover he liked the man who,
+as the remnant of the better perceptions of his youth told him, was one of the
+best class of Englishmen, and what is more, he saw that Heda liked him also, as
+much indeed as she disliked Rodd. He even spoke to me of the matter in a
+round-about kind of fashion, saying that the young woman who married Anscombe
+would be lucky and that the father who had him for a son-in-law might go to his
+grave confident of his child&rsquo;s happiness. I answered that I agreed with
+him, unless the lady&rsquo;s affections had already caused her to form other
+ties.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Affections!&rdquo; he exclaimed, dropping all pretence, &ldquo;there are
+none involved in this accursed business, as you are quite sharp enough to have
+seen for yourself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understood that an engagement was involved,&rdquo; I remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On my part, perhaps, not on hers,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Oh!
+can&rsquo;t you understand, Quatermain, that sometimes men find themselves
+forced into strange situations against their will?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Remembering the very ugly name that I had heard Rodd call Marnham on the night
+of the card party, I reflected that I could understand well enough, but I only
+said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After all marriage is a matter that concerns a woman even more than it
+does her father, one, in short, of which she must be the judge.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so, Quatermain, but there are some daughters who are prepared to
+make great sacrifices for their fathers. Well, she will be of age ere long, if
+only I can stave it off till then. But how, how?&rdquo; and with a groan he
+turned and left me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That old gentleman&rsquo;s neck is in some kind of a noose, thought I to
+myself, and his difficulty is to prevent the rope from being drawn tight.
+Meanwhile this poor girl&rsquo;s happiness and future are at stake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Allan,&rdquo; said Anscombe to me a little later, for by now he called
+me by my Christian name, &ldquo;I suppose you haven&rsquo;t heard anything
+about those oxen, have you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I could scarcely expect to yet, but why do you ask?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He smiled in his droll fashion and replied, &ldquo;Because, interesting as this
+household is in sundry ways, I think it is about time that we, or at any rate
+that I, got out of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your leg isn&rsquo;t fit to travel yet, Anscombe, although Rodd says
+that all the symptoms are very satisfactory.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, but to tell you the truth I am experiencing other symptoms quite
+unknown to that beloved physician and so unfamiliar to myself that I attribute
+them to the influences of the locality. Altitude affects the heart, does it
+not, and this house stands high.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t play off your jokes on me,&rdquo; I said sternly.
+&ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder if you find Miss Heda attractive, Allan, or if you are too old.
+I believe there comes an age when the only beauties that can move a man are
+those of architecture, or scenery, or properly cooked food.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hang it all! I am not Methusaleh,&rdquo; I replied; &ldquo;but if you
+mean that you are falling in love with Heda, why the deuce don&rsquo;t you say
+so, instead of wasting my time and your own?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because time was given to us to waste. Properly considered it is the
+best use to which it can be put, or at any rate the one that does least
+mischief. Also because I wished to make you say it for me that I might judge
+from the effect of your words whether it is or is not true. I may add that I
+fear the former to be the case.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, if you are in love with the girl you can&rsquo;t expect one so
+ancient as myself, who is quite out of touch with such follies, to teach you
+how to act.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Allan. Unfortunately there are occasions when one must rely upon
+one&rsquo;s own wisdom, and mine, what there is of it, tells me I had better
+get out of this. But I can&rsquo;t ride even if I took the horse and you ran
+behind, and the oxen haven&rsquo;t come.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps you could borrow Miss Marnham&rsquo;s cart in which to run away
+from her,&rdquo; I suggested sarcastically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps, though I believe it would be fatal to my foot to sit up in a
+cart for the next few days, and the horses seem to have been sent off
+somewhere. Look here, old fellow,&rdquo; he went on, dropping his bantering
+tone, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s rather awkward to make a fool of oneself over a lady
+who is engaged to some one else, especially if one suspects that with a little
+encouragement she might begin to walk the same road. The truth is I have taken
+the fever pretty bad, worse than ever I did before, and if it isn&rsquo;t
+stopped soon it will become chronic.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh no, Anscombe, only intermittent at the worst, and African malaria
+nearly always yields to a change of climate.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can I expect a cynic and a misogynist to understand the simple
+fervour of an inexperienced soul&mdash;Oh! drat it all, Quatermain, stop your
+acid chaff and tell me what is to be done. Really I am in a tight place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very; so tight that I rejoice to think, as you were kind enough to point
+out, that my years protect me from anything of the sort. I have no advice to
+give; I think you had better ask it of the lady.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, we did have a little conversation, hypothetical of course, about
+some friends of ours who found themselves similarly situated, and I regret to
+say without result.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed. I did not know you had any mutual acquaintances. What did she
+say and do?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She said nothing, only sighed and looked as though she were going to
+burst into tears, and all she did was to walk away. I&rsquo;d have followed her
+if I could, but as my crutch wasn&rsquo;t there it was impossible. It seemed to
+me that suddenly I had come up against a brick wall, that there was something
+on her mind which she could not or would not let out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, and if you want to know, I will tell you what it is. Rodd has got a
+hold over Marnham of a sort that would bring him somewhere near the gallows. As
+the price of his silence Marnham has promised him his daughter. The daughter
+knows that her father is in this man&rsquo;s power, though I think she does not
+know in what way, and being a good girl&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;An angel you mean&mdash;do call her by her right name, especially in a
+place where angels are so much wanted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, an angel if you like&mdash;she has promised on her part to marry a
+man she loathes in order to save her parent&rsquo;s bacon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just what I concluded, from what we heard in the row. I wonder which of
+that pair is the bigger blackguard. Well, Allan, that settles it. You and I are
+on the side of the angel. You will have to get her out of this scrape
+and&mdash;if she&rsquo;ll have me, I&rsquo;ll marry her; and if she
+won&rsquo;t, why it can&rsquo;t be helped. Now that&rsquo;s a fair division of
+labour. How are you going to do it? I haven&rsquo;t an idea, and if I had, I
+should not presume to interfere with one so much older and wiser than
+myself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose that by the time you appeared in it, the game of heads I win
+and tails you lose had died out of the world,&rdquo; I replied with an
+indignant snort. &ldquo;I think the best thing I can do will be to take the
+horse and look for those oxen. Meanwhile you can settle your business by the
+light of your native genius, and I only hope you&rsquo;ll finish it without
+murder and sudden death.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I say, old fellow,&rdquo; said Anscombe earnestly, &ldquo;you
+don&rsquo;t really mean to go off and leave me in this hideousness? I
+haven&rsquo;t bothered much up to the present because I was sure that you would
+find a way out, which would be nothing to a man of your intellect and
+experience. I mean it honestly, I do indeed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you? Well, I can only say that my mind is a perfect blank, but if you
+will stop talking I will try to think the matter over. There&rsquo;s Miss Heda
+in the garden cutting flowers. I will go to help her, which will be a very
+pleasant change.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And I went, leaving him to stare after me jealously.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br />
+THE STOEP</h2>
+
+<p>
+When I reached Miss Heda she was collecting half-opened monthly roses from the
+hedge, and not quite knowing what to say I made the appropriate quotation. At
+least it was appropriate to my thought, and, from her answer, to hers also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I am gathering them while I may,&rdquo; and
+she sighed and, as I thought, glanced towards the verandah, though of this I
+could not be sure because of the wide brim of the hat she was wearing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we talked a little on indifferent matters, while I pricked my fingers
+helping to pluck the roses. She asked me if I thought that Anscombe was getting
+on well, and how long it would be before he could travel. I replied that Dr.
+Rodd could tell her better than myself, but that I hoped in about a week.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In a week!&rdquo; she said, and although she tried to speak lightly
+there was dismay in her voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope you don&rsquo;t think it too long,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;but
+even if he is fit to go, the oxen have not come yet, and I don&rsquo;t quite
+know when they will.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Too long!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Too long! Oh! if you only knew
+what it is to me to have such guests as you are in this place,&rdquo; and her
+dark eyes filled with tears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By now we had passed to the side of the house in search of some other flower
+that grew in the shade, I think it was mignonette, and were out of sight of the
+verandah and quite alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Quatermain,&rdquo; she said hurriedly, &ldquo;I am wondering whether
+to ask your advice about something, if you would give it. I have no one to
+consult here,&rdquo; she added rather piteously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is for you to decide. If you wish to do so I am old enough to be
+your father, and will do my best to help.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We walked on to an orange grove that stood about forty yards away, ostensibly
+to pick some fruit, but really because we knew that there we should be out of
+hearing and could see any one who approached.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. Quatermain,&rdquo; she said presently in a low voice, &ldquo;I am in
+great trouble, almost the greatest a woman can have. I am engaged to be married
+to a man whom I do not care for.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then why not break it off? It may be unpleasant, but it is generally
+best to face unpleasant things, and nothing can be so bad as marrying a man
+whom you do not&mdash;care for.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because I cannot&mdash;I dare not. I have to obey.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How old are you, Miss Marnham?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall be of age in three months&rsquo; time. You may guess that I did
+not intend to return here until they were over, but I was, well&mdash;trapped.
+He wrote to me that my father was ill and I came.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At any rate when they are over you will not have to obey any one. It is
+not long to wait.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is an eternity. Besides this is not so much a question of obedience
+as of duty and of love. I love my father who, whatever his faults, has always
+been very kind to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I am sure he loves you. Why not go to him and tell him your
+trouble?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He knows it already, Mr. Quatermain, and hates this marriage even more
+than I do, if that is possible. But he is driven to it, as I am. Oh! I must
+tell the truth. The doctor has some hold over him. My father has done something
+dreadful; I don&rsquo;t know what and I don&rsquo;t want to know, but if it
+came out it would ruin my father, or worse, worse. I am the price of his
+silence. On the day of our marriage he will destroy the proofs. If I refuse to
+marry him, they will be produced and then&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is difficult,&rdquo; I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is more than difficult, it is terrible. If you could see all there is
+in my heart, you would know how terrible.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think I can see, Miss Heda. Don&rsquo;t say any more now. Give me time
+to consider. In case of necessity come to me again, and be sure that I will
+protect you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But you are going in a week.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Many things happen in a week. Sufficient to the day is its evil. At the
+end of the week we will come to some decision unless everything is already
+decided.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For the next twenty-four hours I reflected on this pretty problem as hard as
+ever I did on anything in all my life. Here was a young woman who must somehow
+be protected from a scoundrel, but who could not be protected because she
+herself had to protect another scoundrel&mdash;to wit, her own father. Could
+the thing be faced out? Impossible, for I was sure that Marnham had committed a
+murder, or murders, of which Rodd possessed evidence that would hang him. Could
+Heda be married to Anscombe at once? Yes, if both were willing, but then
+Marnham would still be hung. Could they elope? Possibly, but with the same
+result. Could I take her away and put her under the protection of the Court at
+Pretoria? Yes, but with the same result. I wondered what my Hottentot retainer,
+Hans, would have advised, he who was named Light-in-Darkness, and in his own
+savage way was the cleverest and most cunning man that I have met. Alas! I
+could not raise him from the grave to tell me, and yet I knew well what he
+would have answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baas,&rdquo; he would have said, &ldquo;this is a rope which only the
+pale old man (i.e., death) can cut. Let this doctor die or let the father die,
+and the maiden will be free. Surely heaven is longing for one or both of them,
+and if necessary, Baas, I believe that I can point out a path to heaven!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I laughed to myself at the thought, which was one that a white man could not
+entertain even as a thought. And I felt that the hypothetical Hans was right,
+death alone could cut this knot, and the reflection made me shiver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That night I slept uneasily and dreamed. I dreamed that once more I was in the
+Black Kloof in Zululand, seated in front of the huts at the end of the kloof.
+Before me squatted the old wizard, Zikali, wrapped up in his
+kaross&mdash;Zikali, the &ldquo;Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,&rdquo;
+whom I had not seen for years. Near him were the ashes of a fire, by the help
+of which I knew he had been practising divination. He looked up and laughed one
+of his terrible laughs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So you are here again, Macumazahn,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;grown older,
+but still the same; here at the appointed hour. What do you come to seek from
+the Opener of Roads? Not Mameena as I think this time. No, no, it is she who
+seeks you this time, Macumazahn. She found you once, did she not? Far away to
+the north among a strange people who worshipped an Ivory Child, a people of
+whom I knew in my youth, and afterwards, for was not their prophet, Harut, a
+friend of mine and one of our brotherhood? She found you beneath the tusks of
+the elephant, Jana, whom Macumazahn the skilful could not hit. Oh! do not look
+astonished.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you know?&rdquo; I asked in my dream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very simply, Macumazahn. A little yellow man named Hans has been with me
+and told me all the story not an hour ago, after which I sent for Mameena to
+learn if it were true. She will be glad to meet you, Macumazahn, she who has a
+hungry heart that does not forget. Oh! don&rsquo;t be afraid. I mean here
+beneath the sun, in the land beyond there will be no need for her to meet you
+since she will dwell ever at your side.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you lie to me, Zikali?&rdquo; I seemed to ask. &ldquo;How can a
+dead man speak to you and how can I meet a woman who is dead?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Seek the answer to that question in the hour of the battle when the
+white men, your brothers, fall beneath assegai as weeds fall before the
+hoe&mdash;or perhaps before it. But have done with Mameena, since she who never
+grows more old can well afford to wait. It is not of Mameena that you came to
+speak to me; it is of a fair white woman named Heddana you would speak, and of
+the man she loves, you, who will ever be mixing yourself up in affairs of
+others, and therefore must bear their burdens with no pay save that of honour.
+Hearken, for the time is short. When the storm bursts upon them bring hither
+the fair maiden, Heddana, and the white lord, Mauriti, and I will shelter them
+for your sake. Take them nowhere else. Bring them hither if they would escape
+trouble. I shall be glad to see you, Macumazahn, for at last I am about to
+smite the Zulu House of Senzangacona, my foes, with a bladder full of blood,
+and oh! it stains their doorposts red.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I woke up, feeling afraid, as one does after a nightmare, and was
+comforted to hear Anscombe sleeping quietly on the other side of the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mauriti. Why did Zikali call him Mauriti?&rdquo; I wondered drowsily to
+myself. &ldquo;Oh! of course his name is Maurice, and it was a Zulu corruption
+of a common sort as was Heddana of Heda.&rdquo; Then I dozed off again, and by
+the morning had forgotten all about my dream until it was brought back to me by
+subsequent events. Still it was this and nothing else that put it into my head
+to fly to Zululand on an emergency that was to arise ere
+long.<a href="#fn-7.1" name="fnref-7.1" id="fnref-7.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn-7.1" id="fn-7.1"></a> <a href="#fnref-7.1">[1]</a>
+For the history of Zikali and Mameena see the book called <i>Child of Storm</i>
+by H. Rider Haggard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That evening Rodd was absent from dinner, and on inquiring where he might be, I
+was informed that he had ridden to visit a Kaffir headman, a patient of his who
+lived at a distance, and would very probably sleep at the kraal, returning
+early next day. One of the topics of conversation during dinner was as to where
+the exact boundary line used to run between the Transvaal and the country over
+which the Basuto chief, Sekukuni, claimed ownership and jurisdiction. Marnham
+said that it passed within a couple of miles of his house, and when we rose,
+the moon being very bright, offered to show me where the beacons had been
+placed years before by a Boer Commission. I accepted, as the night was lovely
+for a stroll after the hot day. Also I was half conscious of another undefined
+purpose in my mind, which perhaps may have spread to that of Marnham. Those two
+young people looked very happy together there on the stoep, and as they must
+part so soon it would, I thought, be kind to give them the opportunity of a
+quiet chat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So off we went to the brow of the hill on which the Temple stood, whence old
+Marnham pointed out to me a beacon, which I could not see in the dim, silvery
+bush-veld below, and how the line ran from it to another beacon somewhere else.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know the Yellow-wood swamp,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It passes
+straight through that. That is why those Basutos who were following you pulled
+up upon the edge of the swamp, though as a matter of fact, according to their
+ideas, they had a perfect right to kill you on their side of the line which
+cuts through the middle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I made some remark to the effect that I presumed that the line had in fact
+ceased to exist at all, as the Basuto territory had practically become British;
+after which we strolled back to the house. Walking quietly between the tall
+rose hedges and without speaking, for each of us was preoccupied with his own
+thoughts, suddenly we came upon a very pretty scene.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had left Anscombe and Heda seated side by side on the stoep. They were still
+there, but much closer together. In fact his arms were round her, and they were
+kissing each other in a remarkably whole-hearted way. About this there could be
+no mistake, since the rimpi-strung couch on which they sat was immediately
+under the hanging lamp&mdash;a somewhat unfortunate situation for such
+endearments. But what did they think of hanging lamps or any other lights, save
+those of their own eyes, they who were content to kiss and murmur words of
+passion as though they were as much alone as Adam and Eve in Eden? What did
+they think either of the serpent coiled about the bole of this tree of
+knowledge whereof they had just plucked the ripe and maddening fruit?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By a mutual instinct Marnham and I withdrew ourselves, very gently indeed,
+purposing to skirt round the house and enter it from behind, or to be seized
+with a fit of coughing at the gate, or to do something to announce our presence
+at a convenient distance. When we had gone a little way we heard a crash in the
+bushes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Another of those cursed baboons robbing the garden,&rdquo; remarked
+Marnham reflectively.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think he is going to rob the house also,&rdquo; I replied, turning to
+point to something dark that seemed to be leaping up on to the verandah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next moment we heard Heda utter a little cry of alarm, and a man say in a low
+fierce voice&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So I have caught you at last, have I!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The doctor has returned from his business rounds sooner than was
+expected, and I think that we had better join the party,&rdquo; I remarked, and
+made a bee line for the stoep, Marnham following me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I think that I arrived just in time to prevent mischief. There, with a revolver
+in his hand, stood Rodd, tall and formidable, his dark face looking like that
+of Satan himself, a very monument of rage and jealousy. There in front of him
+on the couch sat Heda, grasping its edge with her fingers, her cheeks as pale
+as a sheet and her eyes shining. By her side was Anscombe, cool and collected
+as usual, I noticed, but evidently perplexed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If there is any shooting to be done,&rdquo; he was saying, &ldquo;I
+think you had better begin with me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His calmness seemed to exasperate Rodd, who lifted the revolver. But I too was
+prepared, for in that house I always went armed. There was no time to get at
+the man, who was perhaps fifteen feet away, and I did not want to hurt him. So
+I did the best I could; that is, I fired at the pistol in his hand, and the
+light being good, struck it near the hilt and knocked it off the barrel before
+he could press the trigger, if he really meant to shoot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a good shot,&rdquo; remarked Anscombe who had seen me,
+while Rodd stared at the hilt which he still held.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A lucky one,&rdquo; I answered, walking forward. &ldquo;And now, Dr.
+Rodd, will you be so good as to tell me what you mean by flourishing a
+revolver, presumably loaded, in the faces of a lady and an unarmed man?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What the devil is that to you,&rdquo; he asked furiously, &ldquo;and
+what do you mean by firing at me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A great deal,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;seeing that a young woman and my
+friend are concerned. As for firing at you, had I done so you would not be
+asking questions now. I fired at the pistol in your hand, but if there is more
+trouble next time it shall be at the holder,&rdquo; and I glanced at my
+revolver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seeing that I meant business he made no reply, but turned upon Marnham who had
+followed me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is your work, you old villain,&rdquo; he said in a low voice that
+was heavy with hate. &ldquo;You promised your daughter to me. She is engaged to
+me, and now I find her in this wanderer&rsquo;s arms.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What have I to do with it?&rdquo; said Marnham. &ldquo;Perhaps she has
+changed her mind. You had better ask her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is no need to ask me,&rdquo; interrupted Heda, who now seemed to
+have got her nerve again. &ldquo;I <i>have</i> changed my mind. I never loved
+you, Dr. Rodd, and I will not marry you. I love Mr. Anscombe here, and as he
+has asked me to be his wife I mean to marry him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I see,&rdquo; he sneered, &ldquo;you want to be a peeress one day, no
+doubt. Well, you never shall if I can help it. Perhaps, too, this fine
+gentleman of yours will not be so particularly anxious to marry you when he
+learns that you are the daughter of a murderer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That word was like a bombshell bursting among us. We looked at each other as
+people, yet dazed with the shock, might on a battlefield when the noise of the
+explosion has died and the smoke cleared away, to see who is still alive.
+Anscombe spoke the first.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what you mean or to what you refer,&rdquo; he said
+quietly. &ldquo;But at any rate this lady who has promised to marry me is
+innocent, and therefore if all her ancestors had been murderers it would not in
+the slightest turn me from my purpose of marrying her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him, and all the gratitude in the world shone in her frightened
+eyes. Marnham stepped, or rather staggered forward, the blue vein throbbing on
+his forehead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He lies,&rdquo; he said hoarsely, tugging at his long beard.
+&ldquo;Listen now and I will tell you the truth. Once, more than a year ago, I
+was drunk and in a rage. In this state I fired at a Kaffir to frighten him, and
+by some devil&rsquo;s chance shot him dead. That&rsquo;s what he calls being a
+murderer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have another tale,&rdquo; said Rodd, &ldquo;with which I will not
+trouble this company just now. Look here, Heda, either you fulfil your promise
+and marry me, or your father swings.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She gasped and sank together on the seat as though she had been shot. Then I
+took up my parable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you the man,&rdquo; I asked, &ldquo;to accuse others of crime? Let
+us see. You have spent several months in an English prison (I gave the name)
+for a crime I won&rsquo;t mention.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you know&mdash;&rdquo; he began.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind, I do know and the prison books will show it. Further, your
+business is that of selling guns and ammunition to the Basutos of
+Sekukuni&rsquo;s tribe, who, although the expedition against them has been
+temporarily recalled, are still the Queen&rsquo;s enemies. Don&rsquo;t deny it,
+for I have the proofs. Further, it was you who advised Sekukuni to kill us when
+we went down to his country to shoot the other day, because you were afraid
+that we should discover whence he got his guns.&rdquo; (This was a bow drawn at
+a venture, but the arrow went home, for I saw his jaw drop.) &ldquo;Further, I
+believe you to be an illicit diamond buyer, and I believe also that you have
+again been arranging with the Basutos to make an end of us, though of these
+last two items at present I lack positive proof. Now, Dr. Rodd, I ask you for
+the second time whether you are a person to accuse others of crimes and
+whether, should you do so, you will be considered a credible witness when your
+own are brought to light?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If I had been guilty of any of these things, which I am not, it is
+obvious that my partner must have shared in all of them, except the first. So
+if you inform against me, you inform against him, and the father of Heda, whom
+your friend wishes to marry, will, according to your showing, be proved a
+gun-runner, a thief and a would-be murderer of his guests. I should advise you
+to leave that business alone, Mr. Quatermain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The reply was bold and clever, so much so that I regarded this blackguard with
+a certain amount of admiration, as I answered&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall take your advice if you take mine to leave another business
+alone, that of this young lady and her father, but not otherwise.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then spare your breath and do your worst; only careful, sharp as you
+think yourself, that your meddling does not recoil on your own head. Listen,
+Heda, either you make up your mind to marry me at once and arrange that this
+young gentleman, who as a doctor I assure you is now quite fit to travel
+without injury to his health, leaves this house to-morrow with the spy
+Quatermain&mdash;you might lend him the Cape cart to go in&mdash;or I start
+with the proofs to lay a charge of murder against your father. I give you till
+to-morrow morning to have a family council to think it over. Good-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good-night,&rdquo; I answered as he passed me, &ldquo;and please be
+careful that none of us see your face again before to-morrow morning. As you
+may happen to have heard, my native name means Watcher-by-Night,&rdquo; and I
+looked at the revolver in my hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he had vanished I remarked in as cheerful voice as I could command, that I
+thought it was bedtime, and as nobody stirred, added, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be
+afraid, young lady. If you feel lonely, you must tell that stout maid of yours
+to sleep in your room. Also, as the night is so hot I shall take my nap on the
+stoep, there, just opposite your window. No, don&rsquo;t let us talk any more
+now. There will be plenty of time for that to-morrow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She rose, looked at Anscombe, looked at me, looked at her father very
+pitifully; then with a little exclamation of despair passed into her room by
+the French window, where presently I heard her call the native maid and tell
+her that she was to sleep with her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Marnham watched her depart. Then he too went with his head bowed and staggering
+a little in his walk. Next Anscombe rose and limped off into his room, I
+following him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, young man,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;you have put us all in the soup
+now and no mistake.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Allan, I am afraid I have. But on the whole don&rsquo;t you think
+it rather interesting soup&mdash;so many unexpected ingredients, you
+see!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Interesting soup! Unexpected ingredients!&rdquo; I repeated after him,
+adding, &ldquo;Why not call it hell&rsquo;s broth at once?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he became serious, dreadfully serious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look here,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I love Heda, and whatever her family
+history may be I mean to marry her and face the row at home.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You could scarcely do less in all the circumstances, and as for rows,
+that young lady would soon fit herself into any place that you can give her.
+But the question is, how can you marry her?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! something will happen,&rdquo; he replied optimistically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are quite right there. Something will certainly happen, but the
+point is&mdash;what? Something was very near happening when I turned up on that
+stoep, so near that I think it was lucky for you, or for Miss Heda, or both,
+that I have learned how to handle a pistol. Now let me see your foot, and
+don&rsquo;t speak another word to me about all this business to-night.
+I&rsquo;d rather tackle it when I am clear-headed in the morning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, I examined his instep and leg very carefully and found that Rodd was
+right. Although it still hurt him to walk, the wound was quite healed and all
+inflammation had gone from the limb. Now it was only a question of time for the
+sinews to right themselves. While I was thus engaged he held forth on the
+virtues and charms of Heda, I making no comment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lie down and get to sleep, if you can,&rdquo; I said when I had
+finished. &ldquo;The door is locked and I am going on to the stoep, so you
+needn&rsquo;t be afraid of the windows. Good-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I went out and sat myself down in such a position that by the light of the
+hanging lamp, which still burned, I could make sure that no one could approach
+either Heda&rsquo;s or my room without my seeing him. For the rest, all my life
+I have been accustomed to night vigils, and the loaded revolver hung from my
+wrist by a loop of hide. Moreover, never had I felt less sleepy. There I sat
+hour after hour, thinking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The substance of my thoughts does not matter, since the events that followed
+make them superfluous to the story. I will merely record, therefore, that
+towards dawn a great horror took hold of me. I did not know of what I was
+afraid, but I was much afraid of something. Nothing was passing in either
+Heda&rsquo;s or our room, of that I made sure by personal examination.
+Therefore it would seem that my terrors were unnecessary, and yet they grew and
+grew. I felt sure that something was happening somewhere, a dread occurrence
+which it was beyond my power to prevent, though whether it were in this house
+or at the other end of Africa I did not know.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The mental depression increased and culminated. Then of a sudden it passed
+completely away, and as I mopped the sweat from off my brow I noticed that dawn
+was breaking. It was a tender and beautiful dawn, and in a dim way I took it as
+a good omen. Of course it was nothing but the daily resurrection of the sun,
+and yet it brought to me comfort and hope. The night was past with all its
+fears; the light had come with all its joys. From that moment I was certain
+that we should triumph over these difficulties and that the end of them would
+be peace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So sure was I that I ventured to take a nap, knowing that the slightest
+movement or sound would wake me. I suppose I slept until six o&rsquo;clock,
+when I was aroused by a footfall. I sprang up, and saw before me one of our
+native servants. He was trembling and his face was ashen beneath the black.
+Moreover he could not speak. All he did was to put his head on one side, like a
+dead man, and keep on pointing downwards. Then with his mouth open and starting
+eyes he beckoned to me to follow him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I followed.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br />
+RODD&rsquo;S LAST CARD</h2>
+
+<p>
+The man led me to Marnham&rsquo;s room, which I had never entered before. All I
+could see at first, for the shutters were closed, was that the place seemed
+large, as bedchambers go in South Africa. When my eyes grew accustomed to the
+light, I made out the figure of a man seated in a chair with his head bent
+forward over a table that was placed at the foot of the bed almost in the
+centre of the room. I threw open the shutters and the morning light poured in.
+The man was Marnham. On the table were writing materials, also a brandy bottle
+with only a dreg of spirit in it. I looked for the glass and found it by his
+side on the floor, shattered, not merely broken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Drunk,&rdquo; I said aloud, whereon the servant, who understood me,
+spoke for the first time, saying in a frightened voice in Dutch&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Baas, dead, half cold. I found him so just now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I bent down and examined Marnham, also felt his face. Sure enough, he was dead,
+for his jaw had fallen; also his flesh was chill, and from him came a horrible
+smell of brandy. I thought for a moment, then bade the boy fetch Dr. Rodd and
+say nothing to any one else, He went, and now for the first time I noticed a
+large envelope addressed &ldquo;Allan Quatermain, Esq.&rdquo; in a somewhat
+shaky hand. This I picked up and slipped into my pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rodd arrived half dressed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the matter now?&rdquo; he growled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I pointed to Marnham, saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is a question for you to answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! drunk again, I suppose,&rdquo; he said. Then he did as I had done,
+bent down and examined him. A few seconds later he stepped or reeled back,
+looking as frightened as a man could be, and exclaiming&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dead as a stone, by God! Dead these three hours or more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;but what killed him?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How should I know?&rdquo; he asked savagely. &ldquo;Do you suspect me of
+poisoning him?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My mind is open,&rdquo; I replied; &ldquo;but as you quarrelled so
+bitterly last night, others might.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bolt went home; he saw his danger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Probably the old sot died in a fit, or of too much brandy. How can one
+know without a post-mortem? But that mustn&rsquo;t be made by me. I&rsquo;m off
+to inform the magistrate and get hold of another doctor. Let the body remain as
+it is until I return.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I reflected quickly. Ought I to let him go or not? If he had any hand in this
+business, doubtless he intended to escape. Well, supposing this were so and he
+did escape, that would be a good thing for Heda, and really it was no affair
+of mine to bring the fellow to justice. Moreover there was nothing to show that
+he was guilty; his whole manner seemed to point another way, though of course
+he might be acting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;but return as quickly as
+possible.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stood for a few seconds like a man who is dazed. It occurred to me that it
+might have come into his mind with Marnham&rsquo;s death that he had lost his
+hold over Heda. But if so he said nothing of it, but only asked&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you go instead of me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the whole I think not,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;and if I did, the
+story I should have to tell might not tend to your advantage.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s true, damn you!&rdquo; he exclaimed and left the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ten minutes later he was galloping towards Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest. Before I
+departed from the death chamber I examined the place carefully to see if I
+could find any poison or other deadly thing, but without success. One thing I
+did discover, however. Turning the leaf of a blotting-book that was by
+Marnham&rsquo;s elbow, I came upon a sheet of paper on which were written these
+words in his hand, &ldquo;Greater love hath no man than this&mdash;&rdquo; that
+was all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Either he had forgotten the end of the quotation or changed his mind, or was
+unable through weakness to finish the sentence. This paper also I put in my
+pocket. Bolting the shutters and locking the door I returned to the stoep,
+where I was alone, for as yet no one else was stirring. Then I remembered the
+letter in my pocket and opened it. It ran&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;D<small>EAR</small> M<small>R</small>. Q<small>UATERMAIN</small>,&mdash;
+<br />
+    &ldquo;I have remembered that those who quarrel with Dr. Rodd are apt to
+die soon and suddenly; at any rate life at my age is always uncertain.
+Therefore, as I know you to be an honest man, I am enclosing my will that it
+may be in safe keeping and purpose to send it to your room to-morrow morning.
+Perhaps when you return to Pretoria you will deposit it in the Standard Bank
+there, and if I am still alive, forward me the receipt. You will see that I
+leave everything to my daughter whom I dearly love, and that there is enough to
+keep the wolf from her door, besides my share in this property, if it is ever
+realized.
+<br />
+    &ldquo;After all that has passed to-night I do not feel up to writing a
+long letter, so
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+&ldquo;Remain sincerely yours,<br />
+&ldquo;H. A. M<small>ARNHAM</small>.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;PS.&mdash;I should like to state clearly upon paper that my earnest hope
+and wish are that Heda may get clear of that black-hearted, murderous,
+scoundrel Rodd and marry Mr. Anscombe, whom I like and who, I am sure, would
+make her a good husband.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thinking to myself this did not look very like the letter of a suicide, I
+glanced through the will, as the testator seemed to have wished that I should
+do so. It was short, but properly drawn, signed, and witnessed, and bequeathed
+a sum of £9,000, which was on deposit at the Standard Bank, together with all
+his other property, real and personal, to Heda for her own sole use, free from
+the debts and engagements of her husband, should she marry. Also she was
+forbidden to spend more than £1,000 of the capital. In short the money was
+strictly tied up. With the will were some other papers that apparently referred
+to certain property in Hungary to which Heda might become entitled, but about
+these I did not trouble.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Replacing these documents in a safe inner pocket in the lining of my waistcoat,
+I went into our room and woke up Anscombe who was sleeping soundly, a fact that
+caused an unreasonable irritation in my mind. When at length he was thoroughly
+aroused I said to him&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are in luck&rsquo;s way, my friend. Marnham is dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! poor Heda,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;she loved him. It will half
+break her heart.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If it breaks half of her heart,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;it will mend
+the other half, for now her filial affection can&rsquo;t force her to marry
+Rodd, and that is where you are in luck&rsquo;s way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I told him all the story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Was he murdered or did he commit suicide?&rdquo; he asked when I had
+finished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, and to tell you the truth I don&rsquo;t want to
+know; nor will you if you are wise, unless knowledge is forced upon you. It is
+enough that he is dead, and for his daughter&rsquo;s sake the less the
+circumstances of his end are examined into the better.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Poor Heda!&rdquo; he said again, &ldquo;who will tell her? I
+can&rsquo;t. <i>You</i> found him, Allan.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I expected that job would be my share of the business, Anscombe. Well,
+the sooner it is over the better. Now dress yourself and come on to the
+stoep.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I left him and next minute met Heda&rsquo;s fat, half-breed maid, a stupid
+but good sort of a woman who was called Kaatje, emerging from her
+mistress&rsquo;s room with a jug, to fetch hot water, I suppose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Kaatje,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;go back and tell the Missie Heda that I
+want to speak to her as soon as I can. Never mind the hot water, but stop and
+help her to dress.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She began to grumble a little in a good-natured way, but something in my eye
+stopped her and she went back into the room. Ten minutes later Heda was by my
+side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is it, Mr. Quatermain?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;I feel sure that
+something dreadful has happened.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It has, my dear,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;that is, if death is
+dreadful. Your father died last night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;oh!&rdquo; and sank back on to the seat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bear up,&rdquo; I went on, &ldquo;we must all die one day, and he had
+reached the full age of man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I loved him,&rdquo; she moaned. &ldquo;He had many faults I know,
+still I loved him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is the lot of life, Heda, that we should lose what we love. Be
+thankful, therefore, that you have some one left to love.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, thank God! that&rsquo;s true. If it had been him&mdash;no,
+it&rsquo;s wicked to say that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I told her the story, and while I was doing so, Anscombe joined us,
+walking by aid of his stick. Also I showed them both Marnham&rsquo;s letter to
+me and the will, but the other bit of paper I did not speak of or show.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She sat very pale and quiet and listened till I had done. Then she said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I should like to see him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps it is as well,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;If you can bear it,
+come at once, and do you come also, Anscombe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We went to the room, Anscombe and Heda holding each other by the hand. I
+unlocked the door and, entering, threw open a shutter. There sat the dead man
+as I had left him, only his head had fallen over a little. She gazed at him,
+trembling, then advanced and kissed his cold forehead, muttering,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good-bye, father. Oh! good-bye, father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A thought struck me, and I asked&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is there any place here where your father locked up things? As I have
+shown you, you are his heiress, and if so it might be as well in this house
+that you should possess yourself of his property.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is a safe in the corner,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;of which he
+always kept the key in his trouser pocket.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then with your leave I will open it in your presence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Going to the dead man I searched his pocket and found in it a bunch of keys.
+These I withdrew and went to the safe over which a skin rug was thrown. I
+unlocked it easily enough. Within were two bags of gold, each marked £100; also
+another larger bag marked &ldquo;My wife&rsquo;s jewelry. For Heda&rdquo;; also
+some papers and a miniature of the lady whose portrait hung in the
+sitting-room; also some loose gold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now who will take charge of these?&rdquo; I asked. &ldquo;I do not think
+it safe to leave them here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You, of course,&rdquo; said Anscombe, while Heda nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So with a groan I consigned all these valuables to my capacious pockets. Then I
+locked up the empty safe, replaced the keys where I had found them on Marnham,
+fastened the shutter and left the room with Anscombe, waiting for a while
+outside till Heda joined us, sobbing a little. After this we got something to
+eat, insisting on Heda doing the same.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On leaving the table I saw a curious sight, namely, the patients whom Rodd was
+attending in the little hospital of which I have spoken, departing towards the
+bush-veld, those of them who could walk well and the attendants assisting the
+others. They were already some distance away, too far indeed for me to follow,
+as I did not wish to leave the house. The incident filled me with suspicion,
+and I went round to the back to make inquiries, but could find no one. As I
+passed the hospital door, however, I heard a voice calling in Sisutu&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do not leave me behind, my brothers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I entered and saw the man on whom Rodd had operated the day of our arrival,
+lying in bed and quite alone. I asked him where the others had gone. At first
+he would not answer, but when I pretended to leave him, called out that it was
+back to their own country. Finally, to cut the story short, I extracted from
+him that they had left because they had news that the Temple was going to be
+attacked by Sekukuni and did not wish to be here when I and Anscombe were
+killed. How the news reached him he refused, or could not, say; nor did he seem
+to know anything of the death of Marnham. When I pressed him on the former
+point, he only groaned and cried for water, for he was in pain and thirsty. I
+asked him who had told Sekukuni&rsquo;s people to kill us, but he refused to
+speak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;then you shall lie here alone and die
+of thirst,&rdquo; and again I turned towards the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this he cried out&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will tell you. It was the white medicine-man who lives here; he who
+cut me open. He arranged it all a few days ago because he hates you. Last night
+he rode to tell the impi when to come.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When is it to come?&rdquo; I asked, holding the jug of water towards
+him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-night at the rising of the moon, so that it may get far away before
+the dawn. My people are thirsty for your blood and for that of the other white
+chief, because you killed so many of them by the river. The others they will
+not harm.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How did you learn all this?&rdquo; I asked him again, but without
+result, for he became incoherent and only muttered something about being left
+alone because the others could not carry him. So I gave him some water, after
+which he fell asleep, or pretended to do so, and I left him, wondering whether
+he was delirious, or spoke truth. As I passed the stables I saw that my own
+horse was there, for in this district horses are always shut up at night to
+keep them from catching sickness, but that the four beasts that had brought
+Heda from Natal in the Cape cart were gone, though it was evident that they had
+been kraaled here till within an hour or two. I threw my horse a bundle of
+forage and returned to the house by the back entrance. The kitchen was empty,
+but crouched by the door of Marnham&rsquo;s room sat the boy who had found him
+dead. He had been attached to his master and seemed half dazed. I asked him
+where the other servants were, to which he replied that they had all run away.
+Then I asked him where the horses were. He answered that the Baas Rodd had
+ordered them to be turned out before he rode off that morning. I bade him
+accompany me to the stoep, as I dared not let him out of my sight, which he did
+unwillingly enough.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There I found Anscombe and Heda. They were seated side by side upon the couch.
+Tears were running down her face and he, looking very troubled, held her by the
+hand. Somehow that picture of Heda has always remained fixed in my mind. Sorrow
+becomes some women and she was one of them. Her beautiful dark grey eyes did
+not grow red with weeping; the tears just welled up in them and fell like
+dewdrops from the heart of a flower.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She sat very upright and very still, as he did, looking straight in front of
+her, while a ray of sunshine, falling on her head, showed the chestnut-hued
+lights in her waving hair, of which she had a great abundance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Indeed the pair of them, thus seated side by side, reminded me of an engraving
+I had seen somewhere of the statues of a husband and wife in an old Egyptian
+tomb. With just such a look did the woman of thousands of years ago sit gazing
+in patient hope into the darkness of the future. Death had made her sad, but it
+was gone by, and the little wistful smile about her lips seemed to suggest that
+in this darkness her sorrowful eyes already saw the stirring of the new life to
+be. Moreover, was not the man she loved the companion of her hopes as he had
+been of her woes. Such was the fanciful thought that sprang up in my mind, even
+in the midst of those great anxieties, like a single flower in a stony
+wilderness of thorns or one star on the blackness of the night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a moment it had gone and I was telling them of what I had learned. They
+listened till I had finished. Then Anscombe said slowly&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Two of us can&rsquo;t hold this house against an impi. We must get out
+of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Both your conclusions seem quite sound,&rdquo; I remarked, &ldquo;that
+is if yonder old Kaffir is telling the truth. But the question is&mdash;how? We
+can&rsquo;t all three of us ride on one nag, as you are still a cripple.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is the Cape cart,&rdquo; suggested Heda.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, but the horses have been turned out, and I don&rsquo;t know where
+to look for them. Nor dare I send that boy alone, for probably he would bolt
+like the others. I think that you had better get on my horse and ride for it,
+leaving us to take our chance. I daresay the whole thing is a lie and that we
+shall be in no danger,&rdquo; I added by way of softening the suggestion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That I will never do,&rdquo; she replied with so much quiet conviction
+that I saw it was useless to pursue the argument.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I thought for a moment, as the position was very difficult. The boy was not to
+be trusted, and if I went with him I should be leaving these two alone and, in
+Anscombe&rsquo;s state, almost defenceless. Still it seemed as though I must.
+Just then I looked up, and there at the garden gate saw Anscombe&rsquo;s
+driver, Footsack, the man whom I had despatched to Pretoria to fetch his oxen.
+I noted that he looked frightened and was breathless, for his eyes started out
+of his head. Also his hat was gone and he bled a little from his face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seeing us he ran up the path and sat down as though he were tired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where are the oxen?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! Baas,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;the Basutos have got them. We heard
+from an old black woman that Sekukuni had an impi out, so we waited on the top
+of that hill about an hour&rsquo;s ride away to see if it was true. Then
+suddenly the doctor Baas appeared riding, and I ran out and asked him if it
+were safe to go on. He knew me again and answered&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, quite safe, for have I not just ridden this road without
+meeting so much as a black child. Go on, man; your masters will be glad to have
+their oxen, as they wish to trek, or will by nightfall.&rsquo; Then he laughed
+and rode away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So we went on, driving the oxen. But when we came to the belt of thorns
+at the bottom of the hill, we found that the doctor Baas had either lied to us
+or he had not seen. For there suddenly the tall grass on either side of the
+path grew spears; yes, everywhere were spears. In a minute the two voorloopers
+were assegaied. As for me, I ran forward, not back, since the Kaffirs were
+behind me, across the path, Baas, driving off the oxen. They sprang at me, but
+I jumped this way and that way and avoided them. Then they threw
+assegais&mdash;see, one of them cut my cheek, but the rest missed. They had
+guns in their hands also, but none shot. I think they did not wish to make a
+noise. Only one of them shouted after me&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Tell Macumazahn that we are going to call on him tonight when he
+cannot see to shoot. We have a message for him from our brothers whom he killed
+at the drift of the Oliphant&rsquo;s River.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I ran on here without stopping, but I saw no more Kaffirs. That is
+all, Baas.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I did not delay to cross-examine the man or to sift the true from the false
+in his story, since it was clear to me that he had run into a company of
+Basutos, or rather been beguiled thereto by Rodd, and lost our cattle, also his
+companions, who were either killed as he said, or had escaped some other way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen, man,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;I am going to fetch some horses. Do
+you stay here and help the Missie to pack the cart and make the harness ready.
+If you disobey me or run away, then I will find you and you will never run
+again. Do you understand?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He vowed that he did and went to get some water, while I explained everything
+to Anscombe and Heda, pointing out that all the information we could gather
+seemed to show that no attack was to be made upon the house before nightfall,
+and that therefore we had the day before us. As this was so I proposed to go to
+look for the horses myself, since otherwise I was sure we should never find
+them. Meanwhile Heda must pack and make ready the cart with the help of
+Footsack, Anscombe superintending everything, as he could very well do since he
+was now able to walk leaning on a stick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course neither of them liked my leaving them, but in view of our necessities
+they raised no objection. So off I went, taking the boy with me. He did not
+want to go, being, as I have said, half dazed with grief or fear, or both, but
+when I had pointed out to him clearly that I was quite prepared to shoot him if
+he played tricks, he changed his mind. Having saddled my mare that was now
+fresh and fat, we started, the boy guiding me to a certain kloof at the foot of
+which there was a small plain of good grass where he said the horses were
+accustomed to graze.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here sure enough we found two of them, and as they had been turned out with
+their headstalls on, were able to tie them to trees with the riems which were
+attached to the headstalls. But the others were not there, and as two horses
+could not drag a heavy Cape cart, I was obliged to continue the search. Oh!
+what a hunt those beasts gave me. Finding themselves free, for as Rodd&rsquo;s
+object was that they should stray, he had ordered the stable-boy not to
+kneel-halter them, after filling themselves with grass they had started off for
+the farm where they were bred, which, it seemed, was about fifty miles away,
+grazing as they went. Of course I did not know this at the time, so for several
+hours I rode up and down the neighbouring kloofs, as the ground was too hard
+for me to hope to follow them by their spoor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It occurred to me to ask the boy where the horses came from, a question that he
+happened to be able to answer, as he had brought them home when they were
+bought the year before. Having learned in what direction the place lay I rode
+for it at an angle, or rather for the path that led to it, making the boy run
+alongside, holding to my stirrup leather. About three o&rsquo;clock in the
+afternoon I struck this path, or rather track, at a point ten or twelve miles
+away from the Temple, and there, just mounting a rise, met the two horses
+quietly walking towards me. Had I been a quarter of an hour later they would
+have passed and vanished into a sea of thorn-veld. We caught them without
+trouble and once more headed homewards, leading them by their riems.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reaching the glade where the other two were tied up, we collected them also and
+returned to the house, where we arrived at five o&rsquo;clock. As everything
+seemed quiet I put my mare into the stable, slipped its bit and gave it some
+forage. Then I went round the house, and to my great joy found Anscombe and
+Heda waiting anxiously, but with nothing to report, and with them Footsack.
+Very hastily I swallowed some food, while Footsack inspanned the horses. In a
+quarter of an hour all was ready. Then suddenly, in an inconsequent female
+fashion, Heda developed a dislike to leaving her father unburied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My dear young lady,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;it seems that you must choose
+between that and our all stopping to be buried with him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She saw the point and compromised upon paying him a visit of farewell, which I
+left her to do in Anscombe&rsquo;s company, while I fetched my mare. To tell
+the truth I felt as though I had seen enough of the unhappy Marnham, and not
+for £50 would I have entered that room again. As I passed the door of the
+hospital, leading my horse, I heard the old Kaffir screaming within and sent
+the boy who was with me to find out what was the matter with him. That was the
+last I saw of either of them, or ever shall see this side of kingdom come. I
+wonder what became of them?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I got back to the front of the house I found the cart standing ready at
+the gate, Footsack at the head of the horses and Heda with Anscombe at her
+side. It had been neatly packed during the day by Heda with such of her and our
+belongings as it would hold, including our arms and ammunition. The rest, of
+course, we were obliged to abandon. Also there were two baskets full of food,
+some bottles of brandy and a good supply of overcoats and wraps. I told
+Footsack to take the reins, as I knew him to be a good driver, and helped
+Anscombe to a seat at his side, while Heda and the maid Kaatje got in behind in
+order to balance the vehicle. I determined to ride, at any rate for the
+present.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Which way, Baas?&rdquo; asked Footsack.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Down to the Granite Stream where the wagon stands,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That will be through the Yellow-wood Swamp. Can&rsquo;t we take the
+other road to Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest and Lydenburg, or to Barberton?&rdquo; asked
+Anscombe in a vague way, and as I thought, rather nervously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;that is unless you wish to meet those
+Basutos who stole the oxen and Dr. Rodd returning, if he means to
+return.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! let us go through the Yellow-wood,&rdquo; exclaimed Heda, who, I
+think, would rather have met the devil than Dr. Rodd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ah! if I had but known that we were heading straight for that person, sooner
+would I have faced the Basutos twice over. But I did what seemed wisest,
+thinking that he would be sure to return with another doctor or a magistrate by
+the shorter and easier path which he had followed in the morning. It just shows
+once more how useless are all our care and foresight, or how strong is Fate,
+have it which way you will.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we started down the slope, and I, riding behind, noted poor Heda staring at
+the marble house, which grew ever more beautiful as it receded and the
+roughness of its building disappeared, especially at that part of it which hid
+the body of her old scamp of a father whom still she loved. We came down to the
+glen and once more saw the bones of the blue wildebeeste that we had
+shot&mdash;oh! years and years ago, or so it seemed. Then we struck out for the
+Granite Stream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before we reached the patch of Yellow-wood forest where I knew that the cart
+must travel very slowly because of the trees and the swampy nature of the
+ground, I pushed on ahead to reconnoitre, fearing lest there might be Basutos
+hidden in this cover. Riding straight through it I went as far as the deserted
+wagon at a sharp canter, seeing nothing and no one. Once indeed, towards the
+end of the wood where it was more dense, I thought that I heard a man cough and
+peered about me through the gloom, for here the rays of the sun, which was
+getting low in the heavens, scarcely penetrated. As I could perceive no one I
+came to the conclusion that I must have been deceived by my fancy. Or perhaps
+it was some baboon that coughed, though it was strange that a baboon should
+have come to such a low-lying spot where there was nothing for it to eat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The place was eerie, so much so that I bethought me of tales of the ghosts
+whereby it was supposed to be haunted. Also, oddly enough, of Anscombe&rsquo;s
+presentiment which he had fulfilled by killing a Basuto. Look! There lay his
+grinning skull with some patches of hair still on it, dragged away from the
+rest of the bones by a hyena. I cantered on down the slope beyond the wood and
+through the scattered thorns to the stream on the banks of which the wagon
+should be. It had gone, and by the freshness of the trail, within an hour or
+two. A moment&rsquo;s reflection told me what had happened. Having stolen our
+oxen the Basutos drove them to the wagon, inspanned them and departed with
+their loot. On the whole I was glad to see this, since it suggested that they
+had retired towards their own country, leaving our road open.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Turning my horse I rode back again to meet the cart. As I reached the edge of
+the wood at the top of the slope I heard a whistle blown, a very shrill
+whistle, of which the sound would travel for a mile or two on that still air.
+Also I heard the sound of men&rsquo;s voices in altercation and caught words,
+such as&mdash;&ldquo;Let go, or by Heaven&mdash;!&rdquo; then a furious laugh
+and other words which seemed to be&mdash;&ldquo;In five minutes the Kaffirs
+will be here. In ten you will be dead. Can I help it if they kill you after I
+have warned you to turn back?&rdquo; Then a woman&rsquo;s scream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rodd&rsquo;s voice, Anscombe&rsquo;s voice and Kaatje&rsquo;s scream&mdash;not
+Heda&rsquo;s but Kaatje&rsquo;s!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then as I rode furiously round the last patch of intervening trees the sound of
+a pistol shot. I was out of them now and saw everything. There was the cart on
+the further side of a swamp. The horses were standing still and snorting.
+Holding the rein of one of the leaders was Rodd, whose horse also stood close
+by. He was rocking on his feet and as I leapt from my mare and ran up, I saw
+his face. It was horrible, full of pain and devilish rage. With his disengaged
+hand he pointed to Anscombe sitting in the cart and grasping a pistol that
+still smoked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve killed me,&rdquo; he said in a hoarse, choking voice, for
+he was shot through the lung, &ldquo;to get her,&rdquo; and he waved his hand
+towards Heda who was peering at him between the heads of the two men.
+&ldquo;You are a murderer, as her father was, and as David was before you.
+Well, I hope you won&rsquo;t keep her long. I hope you&rsquo;ll die as I do and
+break her false heart, you damned thief.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All of this he said in a slow voice, pausing between the words and speaking
+ever more thickly as the blood from his wound choked him. Then of a sudden it
+burst in a stream from his lips, and still pointing with an accusing finger at
+Anscombe, he fell backwards into the slimy pool behind him and there vanished
+without a struggle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So horrible was the sight that the driver, Footsack, leapt from the cart,
+uttering a kind of low howl, ran to Rodd&rsquo;s horse, scrambled into the
+saddle and galloped off, striking it with his fist, where to I do not know.
+Anscombe put his hand before his eyes, Heda sank down on the seat in a heap,
+and the coloured woman, Kaatje, beat her breast and said something in Dutch
+about being accursed or bewitched. Luckily I kept my wits and went to the
+horses&rsquo; heads, fearing lest they should start and drag the trap into the
+pool. &ldquo;Wake up,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;That fellow has only got what he
+deserved, and you were quite right to shoot him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am glad you think so,&rdquo; answered Anscombe absently. &ldquo;It was
+so like murder. Don&rsquo;t you remember I told you I should kill a man in this
+place and about a woman?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I remember nothing,&rdquo; I answered boldly, &ldquo;except that if we
+stop here much longer we shall have those Basutos on us. That brute was
+whistling to them and holding the horses till they came to kill us. Pull
+yourself together, take the reins and follow me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He obeyed, being a skilful whip enough who, as he informed me afterwards, had
+been accustomed to drive a four-in-hand at home. Mounting my horse, which stood
+by, I guided the cart out of the wood and down the slope beyond, till at length
+we came to our old outspan where I proposed to turn on to the wagon track which
+ran to Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest. I say proposed, for when I looked up it I
+perceived about five hundred yards away a number of armed Basutos running
+towards us, the red light of the sunset shining on their spears. Evidently the
+scout or spy to whom Rodd whistled, had called them out of their ambush which
+they had set for us on the Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest road in order that they might
+catch us if we tried to escape that way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now there was only one thing to be done. At this spot a native track ran across
+the little stream and up a steepish slope beyond. On the first occasion of our
+outspanning here I had the curiosity to mount this slope, reflecting as I did
+so that although rough it would be quite practicable for a wagon. At the top of
+it I found a wide flat plain, almost high-veld, for the bushes were very few,
+across which the track ran on. On subsequent inquiry I discovered that it was
+one used by the Swazis and other natives when they made their raids upon the
+Basutos, or when bodies of them went to work in the mines.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Follow me,&rdquo; I shouted and crossed the stream which was shallow
+between the little pools, then led the way up the stony slope. The four horses
+negotiated it very well and the Cape cart, being splendidly built, took no
+harm. At the top I looked back and saw that the Basutos were following us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Flog the horses!&rdquo; I cried to Anscombe, and off we went at a hand
+gallop along the native track, the cart swaying and bumping upon the rough
+veld. The sun was setting now, in half an hour it would be quite dark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Could we keep ahead of them for that half hour?
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br />
+FLIGHT</h2>
+
+<p>
+The sun sank in a blaze of glory. Looking back by the light of its last rays I
+saw a single native silhouetted against the red sky. He was standing on a mound
+that we had passed a mile or more behind us, doubtless waiting for his
+companions whom he had outrun. So they had not given up the chase. What was to
+be done? Once it was completely dark we could not go on. We should lose our
+way; the horses would get into ant-bear holes and break their legs. Perhaps we
+might become bogged in some hollow, therefore we must wait till the moon rose,
+which would not be for a couple of hours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile those accursed Basutos would be following us even in the dark. This
+would hamper them, no doubt, but they would keep the path, with which they were
+probably familiar, beneath their feet, and what is more, the ground being soft
+with recent rain, they could feel the wheel spoor with their fingers. I looked
+about me. Just here another track started off in a nor&rsquo;-westerly
+direction from that which we were following. Perhaps it ran to Lydenburg; I do
+not know. To our left, not more than a hundred yards or so away, the higher
+veld came to an end and sloped in an easterly direction down to bush-land
+below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Should I take the westerly road which ran over a great plain? No, for then we
+might be seen for miles and cut off. Moreover, even if we escaped the natives,
+was it desirable we should plunge into civilization just now and tell all our
+story, as in that case we must do. Rodd&rsquo;s death was quite justified, but
+it had happened on Transvaal territory and would require a deal of explanation.
+Fortunately there was no witness of it, except ourselves. Yes, there was
+though&mdash;the driver Footsack, if he had got away, which, being mounted,
+would seem probable, a man who, for my part, I would not trust for a moment. It
+would be an ugly thing to see Anscombe in the dock charged with murder and
+possibly myself, with Footsack giving evidence against us before a Boer jury
+who might be hard on Englishmen. Also there was the body with a bullet in it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suddenly there came into my mind a recollection of the very vivid dream of
+Zikali which had visited me, and I reflected that in Zululand there would be
+little need to trouble about the death of Rodd. But Zululand was a long way
+off, and if we were to avoid the Transvaal, there was only one way of going
+there, namely through Swaziland. Well, among the Swazis we should be quite safe
+from the Basutos, since the two peoples were at fierce enmity. Moreover I knew
+the Swazi chiefs and king very well, having traded there, and could explain
+that I came to collect debts owing to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was another difficulty. I had heard that the trouble between the English
+Government and Cetewayo, the Zulu king, was coming to a head, and that the High
+Commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere, talked of presenting him with an ultimatum. It
+would be awkward if this arrived while we were in the country, though even so,
+being on such friendly terms with the Zulus of all classes, I did not think
+that I, or any with me, would run great risks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All these thoughts rushed through my brain while I considered what to do. At
+the moment it was useless to ask the opinion of the others who were but
+children in native matters. I and I alone must take the responsibility and act,
+praying that I might do so aright. Another moment and I had made up my mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Signing to Anscombe to follow me, I rode about a hundred yards or more down the
+nor&rsquo;-westerly path. Then I turned sharply along a rather stony ridge of
+ground, the cart following me all the time, and came back across our own track,
+my object being of course to puzzle any Kaffirs who might spoor us. Now we were
+on the edge of the gentle slope that led down to the bush-veld. Over this I
+rode towards a deserted cattle kraal built of stones, in the rich soil of which
+grew sundry trees; doubtless one of those which had been abandoned when
+Mosilikatze swept all this country on his way north about the year 1838. The
+way to it was easy, since the surrounding stones had been collected to build
+the kraal generations before. As we passed over the edge of the slope in the
+gathering gloom, Heda cried&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look!&rdquo; and pointed in the direction whence we came. Far away a
+sheet of flame shot upwards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The house is burning,&rdquo; she exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;it can be nothing else;&rdquo; adding to
+myself, &ldquo;a good job too, for now there will be no postmortem on old
+Marnham.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Who fired the place I never learnt. It may have been the Basutos, or
+Marnham&rsquo;s body-servant, or Footsack, or a spark from the kitchen fire. At
+any rate it blazed merrily enough notwithstanding the marble walls, as a
+wood-lined and thatched building of course would do. On the whole I suspected
+the boy, who may very well have feared lest he should be accused of having had
+a hand in his master&rsquo;s death. At least it was gone, and watching the
+distant flames I bethought me that with it went all Heda&rsquo;s past.
+Twenty-four hours before her father was alive, the bondservant of Rodd and a
+criminal. Now he was ashes and Rodd was dead, while she and the man she loved
+were free, with all the world before them. I wished that I could have added
+that they were safe. Afterwards she told me that much the same ideas passed
+through her own mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dismounting I led the horses into the old kraal through the gap in the wall
+which once had been the gateway. It was a large kraal that probably in bygone
+days had held the cattle of some forgotten head chief whose town would have
+stood on the brow of the rise; so large that notwithstanding the trees I have
+mentioned, there was plenty of room for the cart and horses in its centre.
+Moreover, on such soil the grass grew so richly that after we had slipped their
+bits, the horses were able to fill themselves without being unharnessed. Also a
+little stream from a spring on the brow ran within a few yards whence, with the
+help of Kaatje, a strong woman, I watered them with the bucket which hung
+underneath the cart. Next we drank ourselves and ate some food in the darkness
+that was now complete. Then leaving Kaatje to stand at the head of the horses
+in case they should attempt any sudden movement, I climbed into the cart, and
+we discussed things in low whispers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a curious debate in that intense gloom which, close as our faces were
+together, prevented us from seeing anything of each other, except once when a
+sudden flare of summer lightning revealed them, white and unnatural as those of
+ghosts. On our present dangers I did not dwell, putting them aside lightly,
+though I knew they were not light. But of the alternative as to whether we
+should try to escape to Lydenburg and civilization, or to Zululand and
+savagery, I felt it to be my duty to speak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To put it plainly,&rdquo; said Anscombe in his slow way when I had
+finished, &ldquo;you mean that in the Transvaal I might be tried as a murderer
+and perhaps convicted, whereas if we vanish into Zululand the probability is
+that this would not happen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I mean,&rdquo; I whispered back, &ldquo;that we might both be tried and,
+if Footsack should chance to appear and give evidence, find ourselves in an
+awkward position. Also there is another witness&mdash;Kaatje, and for the
+matter of that, Heda herself. Of course her evidence would be in our favour,
+but to make it understood by a jury she would have to explain a great deal of
+which she might prefer not to speak. Further, at the best, the whole business
+would get into the English papers, which you and your relatives might think
+disagreeable, especially in view of the fact that, as I understand, you and
+Heda intend to marry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Still I think that I would rather face it out,&rdquo; he said in his
+outspoken way, &ldquo;even if it should mean that I could never return to
+England. After all, of what have I to be afraid? I shot this scoundrel because
+I was obliged to do so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, but it is of this that you may have to convince a jury who might
+possibly find a motive in Rodd&rsquo;s past, and your present, relationship to
+the same lady. But what has she to say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have to say,&rdquo; whispered Heda, &ldquo;that for myself I care
+nothing, but that I could never bear to see all these stories about my poor
+father raked up. Also there is Maurice to be considered. It would be terrible
+if they put him in prison&mdash;or worse. Let us go to Zululand, Mr.
+Quatermain, and afterwards get out of Africa. Don&rsquo;t you agree,
+Maurice?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What does Mr. Quatermain think himself?&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;He is
+the oldest and by far the wisest of us and I will be guided by him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I considered and said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is such a thing as flying from present troubles to others that may
+be worse, the &lsquo;ills we know not of.&rsquo; Zululand is disturbed. If war
+broke out there we might all be killed. On the other hand we might not, and it
+ought to be possible for you to work up to Delagoa Bay and there get some ship
+home, that is if you wish to keep clear of British law. I cannot do so, as I
+must stay in Africa. Nor can I take the responsibility of settling what you are
+to do, since if things went wrong, it would be on my head. However, if you
+decide for the Transvaal or Natal and we escape, I must tell you that I shall
+go to the first magistrate we find and make a full deposition of all that has
+happened. It is not possible for me to live with the charge of having been
+concerned in the shooting of a white man hanging over me that might be brought
+up at any time, perhaps when no one was left in the country to give evidence on
+my behalf, for then, even if I were acquitted my name would always be
+tarnished. In Zululand, on the other hand, there are no magistrates before whom
+I could depose, and if this business should come out, I can always say that we
+went there to escape from the Basutos. Now I am going to get down to see if the
+horses are all right. Do you two talk the thing over and make up your minds.
+Whatever you agree on, I shall accept and do my best to carry through.&rdquo;
+Then, without waiting for an answer, I slipped from the cart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having examined the horses, who were cropping all the grass within reach of
+them, I crept to the wall of the kraal so as to be quite out of earshot. The
+night was now pitch dark, dark as it only knows how to be in Africa. More, a
+thunderstorm was coming up of which that flash of sheet lightning had been a
+presage. The air was electric. From the vast bush-clad valley beneath us came a
+wild, moaning sound caused, I suppose, by wind among the trees, though here I
+felt none; far away a sudden spear of lightning stabbed the sky. The brooding
+trouble of nature spread to my own heart. I was afraid, and not of our present
+dangers, though these were real enough, so real that in a few hours we might
+all be dead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To dangers I was accustomed; for years they had been my daily food by day and
+by night, and, as I think I have said elsewhere, I am a fatalist, one who knows
+full well that when God wants me He will take me; that is if He can want such a
+poor, erring creature. Nothing that I did or left undone could postpone or
+hasten His summons for a moment, though of course I knew it to be my duty to
+fight against death and to avoid it for as long as I might, because that I
+should do so was a portion of His plan. For we are all part of a great pattern,
+and the continuance or cessation of our lives re-acts upon other lives, and
+therefore life is a trust.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No, it was of greater things that I felt afraid, things terrible and imminent
+which I could not grasp and much less understand. I understand them now, but
+who would have guessed that on the issue of that whispered colloquy in the cart
+behind me, depended the fate of a people and many thousands of lives? As I was
+to learn in days to come, if Anscombe and Heda had determined upon heading for
+the Transvaal, there would, as I believe, have been no Zulu war, which in its
+turn meant that there would have been no Boer Rebellion and that the mysterious
+course of history would have been changed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I shook myself together and returned to the cart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; I whispered, but there was no answer. A moment later there
+came another flash of lightning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There,&rdquo; said Heda, &ldquo;how many do you make it?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ninety-eight,&rdquo; he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I counted ninety-nine,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but anyway it was within
+the hundred. Mr. Quatermain, we will go to Zululand, if you please, if you will
+show us the way there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Right,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;but might I ask what that has to do
+with your both counting a hundred?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only this,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;we could not make up our minds.
+Maurice was for the Transvaal, I was for Zululand. So you see we agreed that if
+another flash came before we counted a hundred, we would go to Zululand, and if
+it didn&rsquo;t, to Pretoria. A very good way of settling, wasn&rsquo;t
+it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Excellent!&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;quite excellent for those who could
+think of such a thing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As a matter of fact I don&rsquo;t know which of them thought of it because I
+never inquired. But I did remember afterwards how Anscombe had tossed with a
+lucky penny when it was a question whether we should or should not run for the
+wagon during our difficulty by the Oliphant&rsquo;s River; also when I asked
+him the reason for this strange proceeding he answered that Providence might
+inhabit a penny as well as anything else, and that he wished to give it&mdash;I
+mean Providence&mdash;a chance. How much more then, he may have argued, could
+it inhabit a flash of lightning which has always been considered a divine
+manifestation from the time of the Roman Jove, and no doubt far before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Forty or fifty generations ago, which is not long, our ancestors set great
+store by the behaviour of lightning and thunder, and doubtless the instinct is
+still in our blood, in the same way that all our existing superstitions about
+the moon come down to us from the time when our forefathers worshipped her.
+They did this for tens of hundreds or thousands of years, and can we expect a
+few coatings of the veneer that we politely call civilization, which after all
+is only one of our conventions that vanish in any human stress such as war, to
+kill out the human impulse it seems to hide? I do not know, though I have my
+own opinion, and probably these young people never reasoned the matter out.
+They just acted on an intuition as ancient as that which had attracted them to
+each other, namely a desire to consult the ruling fates by omens or symbols. Or
+perhaps Anscombe thought that as his experience with the penny had proved so
+successful, he would give Providence another &ldquo;chance.&rdquo; If so it
+took it and no mistake. Confound it! I don&rsquo;t know what he thought; I only
+dwell on the matter because of the great results which followed this
+consultation of the Sybilline books of heaven.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it happened my speculations, if I really indulged in any at that time, were
+suddenly extinguished by the bursting of the storm. It was of the usual
+character, short but very violent. Of a sudden the sky became alive with
+lightnings and the atmosphere with the roar of winds. One flash struck a tree
+quite near the kraal, and I saw that tree seem to melt in its fiery embrace,
+while about where it had been, rose a column of dust from the ground beneath.
+The horses were so frightened that luckily they stood quite quiet, as I have
+often known animals to do in such circumstances. Then came the rain, a
+torrential rain as I, who was out in it holding the horses, became painfully
+aware. It thinned after a while, however, as the storm rolled away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suddenly in a silence between the tremendous echoes of the passing thunder I
+thought that I heard voices somewhere on the brow of the slope, and as the
+horses were now quite calm, I crept through the trees to that part of the
+enclosure which I judged to be nearest to them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Voices they were sure enough, and of the Basutos who were pursuing us. What was
+more, they were coming down the slope. The top of the old wall reached almost
+to my chin. Taking off my hat I thrust my head forward between two loose
+stones, that I might hear the better.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The men were talking together in Sisutu. One, whom I took to be their captain,
+said to the others&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That white-headed old jackal, Macumazahn, has given us the slip again.
+He doubled on his tracks and drove the horses down the hillside to the lower
+path in the valley. I could feel where the wheels went over the edge.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is so, Father,&rdquo; answered another voice, &ldquo;but we shall
+catch him and the others at the bottom if we get there before the moon rises,
+since they cannot have moved far in this rain and darkness. Let me go first and
+guide you who know every tree and stone upon this slope where I used to herd
+cattle when I was a child.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do so,&rdquo; said the captain. &ldquo;I can see nothing now the
+lightning has gone, and were it not that I have sworn to dip my spear in the
+blood of Macumazahn who has fooled us again, I would give up the hunt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think it would be better to give it up in any case,&rdquo; said a
+third voice, &ldquo;since it is known throughout the land that no luck has ever
+come to those who tried to trap the Watcher-by-Night. Oh! he is a leopard who
+springs and is gone again. How many are the throats in which his fangs have
+met. Leave him alone, I say, lest our fate should be that of the white doctor
+in the Yellow-wood Swamp, he who set us on this hunt. We have his wagon and his
+cattle; let us be satisfied.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will leave him alone when he sleeps for the last time, and not
+before,&rdquo; answered the captain, &ldquo;he who shot my brother in the drift
+the other day. What would Sekukuni say if we let him escape to bring the Swazis
+on us? Moreover, we want that white maiden for a hostage in case the English
+should attack us again. Come, you who know the road, and lead us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was some disturbance as this man passed to the front. Then I heard the
+line move forward. Presently they were going by the wall within a foot or two
+of me. Indeed by ill-luck just as we were opposite to each other the captain
+stumbled and fell against the wall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is an old cattle kraal here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;What if those
+white rats have hidden in it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I trembled as I heard the words. If a horse should neigh or make any noise that
+could be heard above the hiss of the rain! I did not dare to move for fear lest
+I should betray myself. There I stood so close to the Kaffirs that I could
+smell them and hear the rain pattering on their bodies. Only very stealthily I
+drew my hunting knife with my right hand. At that moment the lightning, which I
+thought had quite gone by, flashed again for the last time, revealing the fat
+face of the Basuto captain within a foot of my own, for he was turned towards
+the wall on which one of his hands rested. Moreover, the blue and ghastly light
+revealed mine to him thrust forward between the two stones, my eyes glaring at
+him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The head of a dead man is set upon the wall!&rdquo; he cried in terror.
+&ldquo;It is the ghost of&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He got no further, for as the last word passed his lips I drove the knife at
+him with all my strength deep into his throat. He fell back into the arms of
+his followers, and next instant I heard the sound of many feet rushing in
+terror down the hill. What became of him I do not know, but if he still lives,
+probably he agrees with his tribesman that Macumazahn&mdash;Watcher-by-Night,
+or his ghost &ldquo;is a leopard who springs and kills and is gone
+again&rdquo;; also, that those who try to trap him meet with no luck. I say, or
+his ghost&mdash;because I am sure he thought that I was a spirit of the dead;
+doubtless I must have looked like one with my white, rain-drowned face
+appearing there between the stones and made ghastly and livid by the lightning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, they had gone, the whole band of them, not less than thirty or forty men,
+so I went also, back to the cart where I found the others very comfortable
+indeed beneath the rainproof tilt. Saying nothing of what had happened, of
+which they were as innocent as babes, I took a stiff tot of brandy, for I was
+chilled through by the wet, and while waiting for the moon to rise, busied
+myself with getting the bits back into the horses&rsquo; mouths&mdash;an
+awkward job in the dark. At length it appeared in a clear sky, for the storm
+had quite departed and the rain ceased. As soon as there was light enough I
+took the near leader by the bridle and led the cart to the brow of the hill,
+which was not easy under the conditions, making Kaatje follow with my horse.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, as there were no signs of any Basutos, we started on again, I riding
+about a hundred yards ahead, keeping a sharp look-out for a possible ambush.
+Fortunately, however, the veld was bare and open, consisting of long waves of
+ground. One start I did get, thinking that I saw men&rsquo;s heads just on the
+crest of a wave, which turned out to be only a herd of springbuck feeding among
+the tussocks of grass. I was very glad to see them, since their presence
+assured me that no human being had recently passed that way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All night long we trekked, following the Kaffir path for as long as I could see
+it, and after that going by my compass. I knew whereabouts the drift of the
+Crocodile River should be, as I had crossed it twice before in my life, and
+kept my eyes open for a certain tall koppie which stood within half a mile of
+it on the Swazi side of the river. Ultimately to my joy I caught sight of this
+hill faintly outlined against the sky and headed for it. Half a mile further on
+I struck a wagon-track made by Boers trekking into Swazi-Land to trade or
+shoot. Then I knew that the drift was straight ahead of us, and called to
+Anscombe to flog up the weary horses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached the river just before the dawn. To my horror it was very full, so
+full that the drift looked dangerous, for it had been swollen by the
+thunder-rain of the previous night. Indeed some wandering Swazis on the further
+bank shouted to us that we should be drowned if we tried to cross.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Which means that the only thing to do is to stay until the water runs
+down,&rdquo; I said to Anscombe, for the two women, tired out, were asleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose so,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;unless those
+Basutos&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked back up the long slope down which we had come and saw no one. Then I
+raised myself in my stirrups and looked along another track that joined the
+road just here, leading from the bush-veld, as ours led from the high-veld. The
+sun was rising now, dispersing the mist that hung about the trees after the
+wet. Searching among these with my eyes, presently I perceived the light
+gleaming upon what I knew must be the points of spears projecting above the
+level of the ground vapour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Those devils are after us by the lower road,&rdquo; I said to Anscombe,
+adding, &ldquo;I heard them pass the old cattle kraal last night. They followed
+our spoor over the edge of the hill, but in the dark lost it among the
+stones.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He whistled and asked what was to be done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is for you to decide,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;For my part
+I&rsquo;d rather risk the river than the Basutos,&rdquo; and I looked at the
+slumbering Heda.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can we bolt back the way we came, Allan?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The horses are very spent and we might meet more Basutos,&rdquo; and
+again I looked at Heda.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A hard choice, Allan. It is wonderful how women complicate everything in
+life, because they are life, I suppose.&rdquo; He thought a moment and went on,
+&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s try the river. If we fail, it will be soon over, and it is
+better to drown than be speared.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Or be kept alive by savages who hate us,&rdquo; I exclaimed, with my
+eyes still fixed upon Heda.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I got to business. There were hide riems on the bridles of the leaders. I
+undid these and knotted their loose ends firmly together. To them I made fast
+the riem of my own mare, slipping a loop I tied in it, over my right hand and
+saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now I will go first, leading the horses. Do you drive after me for all
+you are worth, even if they are swept off their feet. I can trust my beast to
+swim straight, and being a mare, I hope that the horses will follow her as they
+have done all night. Wake up Heda and Kaatje.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He nodded, and looking very pale, said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Heda my dear, I am sorry to disturb you, but we have to get over a river
+with a rough bottom, so you and Kaatje must hang on and sit tight. Don&rsquo;t
+be frightened, you are as safe as a church.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;God forgive him for that lie,&rdquo; thought I to myself as, having
+tightened the girths, I mounted my mare. Then gripping the riem I kicked the
+beast to a canter, Anscombe flogging up the team as we swung down the bank to
+the edge of the foaming torrent, on the further side of which the Swazis
+shouted and gesticulated to us to go back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were in it now, for, as I had hoped, the horses followed the mare without
+hesitation. For the first twenty yards or so all went well, I heading up the
+stream. Then suddenly I felt that the mare was swimming.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Flog the horses and don&rsquo;t let them turn,&rdquo; I shouted to
+Anscombe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ten more yards and I glanced over my shoulder. The team was swimming also, and
+behind them the cart rocked and bobbed like a boat swinging in a heavy sea.
+There came a strain on the riem; the leaders were trying to turn! I pulled hard
+and encouraged them with my voice, while Anscombe, who drove splendidly, kept
+their heads as straight as he could. Mercifully they came round again and
+struck out for the further shore, the water-logged cart floating after them.
+Would it turn over? That was the question in my mind. Five seconds; ten seconds
+and it was still upright. Oh! it was going. No, a fierce back eddy caught it
+and set it straight again. My mare touched bottom and there was hope. It
+struggled forward, being swept down the stream all the time. Now the horses in
+the cart also found their footing and we were saved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No, the wet had caused the knot of one of the riems to slip beneath the strain,
+or perhaps it broke&mdash;I don&rsquo;t know. Feeling the pull slacken the
+leaders whipped round on to the wheelers. There they all stood in a heap, their
+heads and part of their necks above water, while the cart floated behind them
+on its side. Kaatje screamed and Anscombe flogged. I leapt from my mare and
+struggled to the leaders, the water up to my chin. Grasping their bits I
+managed to keep them from turning further. But I could do no more and death
+came very near to us. Had it not been for some of those brave Swazis on the
+bank it would have found us, every one. But they plunged in, eight of them,
+holding each other&rsquo;s hands, and half-swimming, half-wading, reached us.
+They got the horses by the head and straightened them out, while Anscombe plied
+his whip. A dash forward and the wheels were on the bottom again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Three minutes later we were safe on the further bank, which my mare had already
+reached, where I lay gasping on my face, ejaculating prayers of thankfulness
+and spitting out muddy water.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X.<br />
+NOMBÉ</h2>
+
+<p>
+The Swazis, shivering, for all these people hate cold, and shaking themselves
+like a dog when he comes to shore, gathered round, examining me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why!&rdquo; said one of them, an elderly man who seemed to be their
+leader, &ldquo;this is none other than Macumazahn, Watcher-by-Night, the old
+friend of all us black people. Surely the spirits of our fathers have been with
+us who might have risked our lives to save a Boer or a half-breed.&rdquo; (The
+Swazis, I may explain, did not like the Boers for reasons they considered
+sound.)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I said, sitting up, &ldquo;it is I, Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then why,&rdquo; asked the man, &ldquo;did you, whom all know to be
+wise, show yourself to have suddenly become a fool?&rdquo; and he pointed to
+the raging river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And why,&rdquo; I asked, &ldquo;do you show yourself a fool by supposing
+that I, whom you know to be none, am a fool? Look across the water for your
+answer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked and saw the Basutos, fifty or more of them, arriving, just too late.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are these?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They are the people of Sekukuni whom you should know well enough. They
+have hunted us all night, yes, and before, seeking to murder us; also they have
+stolen our oxen, thirty-two fine oxen which I give to your king if he can take
+them back. Now perhaps you understand why we dared the Crocodile River in its
+rage.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the name of Sekukuni the man, who it seemed was the captain of some border
+guards, stiffened all over like a terrier which perceives a rat.
+&ldquo;What!&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;do these dirty Basuto dogs dare to
+carry spears so near our country? Have they not yet learned their
+lesson?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he rushed into the water, shaking an assegai he had snatched up, and
+shouted,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bide a while, you fleas from the kaross of Sekukuni, till I can come
+across and crack you between my thumb and finger. Or at the least wait until
+Macumazahn has time to get his rifle. No, put down those guns of yours; for
+every shot you fire I swear that I will cut ten Basuto throats when we come to
+storm your koppies, as we shall do ere long.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be silent,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;and let me speak.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I, too, called across the river, asking where was that fat captain of
+theirs, as I would talk with him. One of the men shouted back that he had
+stopped behind, very sick, because of a ghost that he had seen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;a ghost who pricked him in the throat.
+Well, I was that ghost, and such are the things that happen to those who would
+harm Macumazahn and his friends. Did you not say last night that he is a
+leopard who leaps out in the dark, bites and is gone again?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; the man shouted back, &ldquo;and it is true, though had we
+known, O Macumazahn, that you were the ghost hiding in those stones, you should
+never have leapt again. Oh! that white medicine-man who is dead has sent us on
+a mad errand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So you will think when I come to visit you among your koppies. Go home
+and take a message from Macumazahn to Sekukuni, who believes that the English
+have run away from him. Tell him that they will return again and these Swazis
+with them, and that then he will cease to live and his town will be burnt and
+his tribe will no more be a tribe. Away now, more swiftly than you came, since
+the water by which you thought to trap us is falling, and a Swazi impi gathers
+to make an end of every one of you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man attempted no answer, nor did his people so much as fire on us. They
+turned tail and crept off like a pack of frightened jackals&mdash;pursued by
+the mocking of the Swazis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Still in a way they had the laugh of us, seeing that they gave us a terrible
+fright and stole our wagon and thirty-two oxen. Well, a year or two later I
+helped to pay them back for that fright and even recovered some of the oxen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When they had gone the Swazis led us to a kraal about two miles from the river,
+sending on a runner with orders to make huts and food ready for us. It was just
+as much as we could do to reach it, for we were all utterly worn out, as were
+the horses. Still we did get there at last, the hot sun warming us as we went.
+Arrived at the kraal I helped Heda and Kaatje from the cart&mdash;the former
+could scarcely walk, poor dear&mdash;and into the guest hut which seemed clean,
+where food of a sort and fur karosses were brought to them in which to wrap
+themselves while their clothes dried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving them in charge of two old women, I went to see to Anscombe, who as yet
+could not do much for himself, also to the outspanning of the horses which were
+put into a cattle kraal, where they lay down at once without attempting to eat
+the green forage which was given to them. After this I gave our goods into the
+charge of the kraal-head, a nice old fellow whom I had never met before, and he
+led Anscombe to another hut close to that where the women were. Here we drank
+some maas, that is curdled milk, ate a little mutton, though we were too
+fatigued to be very hungry, and stripping off our wet clothes, threw them out
+into the sun to dry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That was a close shave,&rdquo; said Anscombe as he wrapped up in the
+kaross.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;So close that I think you must have been
+started in life with an extra strong guardian angel well accustomed to native
+ways.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;and, old fellow, I believe that on earth
+he goes by the name of Allan Quatermain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this I remember no more, for I went to sleep, and so remained for about
+twenty-four hours. This was not wonderful, seeing that for two days and nights
+practically I had not rested, during which time I went through much fatigue and
+many emotions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When at length I did wake up, the first thing I saw was Anscombe already
+dressed, engaged in cleaning my clothes with a brush from his toilet case. I
+remember thinking how smart and incongruous that dressing-bag, made
+appropriately enough of crocodile hide, looked in this Kaffir hut with its
+silver-topped bottles and its ivory-handled razors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Time to get up, Sir. Bath ready, Sir,&rdquo; he said in his jolly,
+drawling voice, pointing to a calabash full of hot water. &ldquo;Hope you slept
+as well as I did, Sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You appear to have recovered your spirits,&rdquo; I remarked as I rose
+and began to wash myself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Sir, and why not? Heda is quite well, for I have seen her. These
+Swazis are very good people, and as Kaatje understands their language, bring us
+all we want. Our troubles seem to be done with. Old Marnham is dead, and
+doubtless cremated; Rodd is dead and, let us hope, in heaven; the Basutos have
+melted away, the morning is fine and warm and a whole kid is cooking for
+breakfast.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish there were two, for I am ravenous,&rdquo; I remarked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The horses are getting rested and feeding well, though some of their
+legs have filled, and the trap is little the worse, for I have walked to look
+at them, or rather hopped, leaning on the shoulder of a very sniffy Swazi boy.
+Do you know, old fellow, I believe there never were any Basutos; also that the
+venerable Marnham and the lurid Rodd had no real existence, that they were but
+illusions, a prolonged nightmare&mdash;no more. Here is your shirt. I am sorry
+that I have not had time to wash it, but it has cooked well in the sun, which,
+being flannel, is almost as good.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At any rate Heda remains,&rdquo; I remarked, cutting his nonsense short,
+&ldquo;and I suppose she is not a nightmare or a delusion.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, thank God! she remains,&rdquo; he replied with earnestness.
+&ldquo;Oh! Allan, I thought she must drown in that river, and if I had lost
+her, I think I should have gone mad. Indeed, at the moment I felt myself going
+mad while I dragged and flogged at those horses.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, you didn&rsquo;t lose her, and if she had drowned, you would have
+drowned also. So don&rsquo;t talk any more about it. She is safe, and now we
+have got to keep her so, for you are not married yet, my boy, and there are
+generally more trees in a wood than one can see. Still we are alive and well,
+which is more than we had any right to expect, and, as you say, let us thank
+God for that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I put on my coat and my boots which Anscombe had greased as he had no
+blacking, and crept from the hut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There, only a few yards away, engaged in setting the breakfast in the shadow of
+another hut on a tanned hide that served for a tablecloth while Kaatje saw to
+the cooking close by, I found Heda, still a little pale and sorrowful but
+otherwise quite well and rested. Moreover, she had managed to dress herself
+very nicely, I suppose by help of spare clothes in the cart, and therefore
+looked as charming as she always did. I think that her perfect manners were one
+of her greatest attractions. Thus on this morning her first thought was to
+thank me very sweetly for all she was good enough to say I had done for her and
+Anscombe, thereby, as she put it, saving their lives several times over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My dear young lady,&rdquo; I answered as roughly as I could,
+&ldquo;don&rsquo;t flatter yourself on that point; it was my own life of which
+I was thinking.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But she only smiled and, shaking her head in a fascinating way that was
+peculiar to her, remarked that I could not deceive her as I did the Kaffirs.
+After this the solid Kaatje brought the food and we breakfasted very heartily,
+or at least I did.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I am not going to set out all the details of our journey through
+Swazi-Land, for though in some ways it was interesting enough, also as
+comfortable as a stay among savages can be, for everywhere we were kindly
+received, to do so would be too long, and I must get on with my story. At the
+king&rsquo;s kraal, which we did not reach for some days as the absence of
+roads and the flooded state of the rivers, also the need of sparing our horses,
+caused us to travel very slowly, I met a Boer who I think was concession
+hunting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He told me that things were really serious in Zululand, so serious that he
+thought there was a probability of immediate war between the English and the
+Zulus. He said also that Cetewayo, the Zulu king, had sent messengers to stir
+up the Basutos and other tribes against the white men, with the result that
+Sekukuni had already made a raid towards Pilgrim&rsquo;s Rest and Lydenburg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I expressed surprise and asked innocently if he had done any harm. The Boer
+replied he understood that they had stolen some cattle, killed two white men,
+if not more, and burnt their house. He added, however, that he was not sure
+whether the white men had been killed by the Kaffirs or by other white men with
+whom they had quarrelled. There was a rumour to this effect, and he understood
+that the magistrate of Barberton had gone with some mounted police and armed
+natives to investigate the matter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we parted, as, having got his concession to which the king Umbandine had
+put his mark when he was drunk on brandy that the Boer himself had brought with
+him as a present, he was anxious to be gone before he grew sober and revoked
+it. Indeed, he was in so great a hurry that he never stopped to inquire what I
+was doing in Swazi-Land, nor do I think he realized that I was not alone.
+Certainly he was quite unaware that I had been mixed up in these Basuto
+troubles. Still his story as to the investigation concerning the deaths of
+Marnham and Rodd made me uneasy, since I feared lest he should hear something
+on his journey and put two and two together, though as a matter of fact I
+don&rsquo;t think he ever did either of these things.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Swazis told me much the same story as to the brewing Zulu storm. In fact an
+old Induna or councillor, whom I knew, informed me that Cetewayo had sent
+messengers to them, asking for their help if it should come to fighting with
+the white men, but that the king and councillors answered that they had always
+been the Queen&rsquo;s children (which was not strictly true, as they were
+never under English rule) and did not wish to &ldquo;bite her feet if she
+should have to fight with her hands.&rdquo; I replied that I hoped they would
+always act up to these fine words, and changed the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now once more the question arose as to whether we should make for Natal or
+press on to Zululand. The rumour of coming war suggested that the first would
+be our better course, while the Boer&rsquo;s story as to the investigation of
+Rodd&rsquo;s death pointed the other way. Really I did not know which to do,
+and as usual Anscombe and Heda seemed inclined to leave the decision to me. I
+think that after all Natal would have gained the day had it not been for a
+singular circumstance, not a flash of lightning this time. Indeed, I had almost
+made up my mind to risk trouble and inquiry as to Rodd&rsquo;s death,
+remembering that in Natal these two young people could get married, which,
+being in loco parentis, I thought it desirable they should do as soon as
+possible, if only to ease me of my responsibilities. Also thence I could attend
+to the matter of Heda&rsquo;s inheritance and rid myself of her father&rsquo;s
+will that already had been somewhat damaged in the Crocodile River, though not
+as much as it might have been since I had taken the precaution to enclose it in
+Anscombe&rsquo;s sponge bag before we left the house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The circumstance was this: On emerging from the cart one morning, where I slept
+to keep an eye upon the valuables, for it will be remembered that we had a
+considerable sum in gold with us, also Heda&rsquo;s jewels, a Swazi informed me
+that a messenger wished to see me. I asked what messenger and whence did he
+come. He replied that the messenger was a witch-doctoress named Nombé, and that
+she came from Zululand and said that I knew her father.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I bade the man bring her to me, wondering who on earth she could be, for it is
+not usual for the Zulus to send women as messengers, and from whom she came.
+However, I knew exactly what she would be like, some hideous old hag smelling
+horribly of grease and other abominations, with a worn snake skin and some
+human bones tied about her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently she came, escorted by the Swazi who was grinning, for I think he
+guessed what I expected to see. I stared and rubbed my eyes, thinking that I
+must still be asleep, for instead of a fat old Isanusi there appeared a tall
+and graceful young woman, rather light-coloured, with deep and quiet eyes and a
+by no means ill-favoured face, remarkable for a fixed and somewhat mysterious
+smile. She was a witch-doctoress sure enough, for she wore in her hair the
+regulation bladders and about her neck the circlet of baboon&rsquo;s teeth,
+also round her middle a girdle from which hung little bags of medicines.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She contemplated me gravely and I contemplated her, waiting till she should
+choose to speak. At length, having examined me inch by inch, she saluted by
+raising her rounded arm and tapering hand, and remarked in a soft, full
+voice&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All is as the picture told. I perceive before me the lord
+Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I thought this a strange saying, seeing that I could not recollect having given
+my photograph to any one in Zululand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You need no magic to tell you that, doctoress,&rdquo; I remarked,
+&ldquo;but where did you see my picture?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the dust far away,&rdquo; she replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And who showed it to you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One who knew you, O Macumazahn, in the years before I came out of the
+Darkness, one named Opener of Roads, and with him another who also knew you in
+those years, one who has gone down to the Darkness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now for some occult reason I shrank from asking the name of this &ldquo;one who
+had gone down to the Darkness,&rdquo; although I was sure that she was waiting
+for the question. So I merely remarked, without showing surprise&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So Zikali still lives, does he? He should have been dead long
+ago.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know well that he lives, Macumazahn, for how could he die till his
+work was accomplished? Moreover, you will remember that he spoke to you when
+last moon was but just past her full&mdash;in a dream, Macumazahn. I brought
+that dream, although you did not see me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pish!&rdquo; I exclaimed. &ldquo;Have done with your talk of dreams. Who
+thinks anything of dreams?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You do,&rdquo; she replied even more placidly than before, &ldquo;you
+whom that dream has brought hither&mdash;with others.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You lie,&rdquo; I said rudely. &ldquo;The Basutos brought me
+here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Watcher-by-Night is pleased to say that I lie, so doubtless I do
+lie,&rdquo; she answered, her fixed smile deepening a little. Then she folded
+her arms across her breast and remained silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are a messenger, O seer of pictures in the dust and bearer of the
+cup of dreams,&rdquo; I said with sarcasm. &ldquo;Who sends a message by your
+lips for me, and what are the words of the message?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My Lords the Spirits spoke the message by the mouth of the master
+Zikali. He sends it on to you by the lips of your servant, the doctoress
+Nombé.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you indeed a doctoress, being so young?&rdquo; I asked, for somehow
+I wished to postpone the hearing of that message.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Macumazahn, I have heard the call, I have felt the pain in my back, I
+have drunk of the black medicine and of the white medicine, yes, for a whole
+year. I have been visited by the multitude of Spirits and seen the shades of
+those who live and of those who are dead. I have dived into the river and drawn
+my snake from its mud; see, its skin is about me now,&rdquo; and opening the
+mantle she wore she showed what looked like the skin of a black mamba, fastened
+round her slender body. &ldquo;I have dwelt in the wilderness alone and
+listened to its voices. I have sat at the feet of my master, the Opener of
+Roads, and looked down the road and drunk of his wisdom. Yes, I am in truth a
+doctoress.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, after all this, you should be as wise as you are pretty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Once before, Macumazahn, you told a maid of my people that she was
+pretty and she came to no good end; though to one that was great. Therefore do
+not say to me that I am pretty, though I am glad that you should think so who
+can compare me with so many whom you have known,&rdquo; and she dropped her
+eyes, looking a little shy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was the first human touch I had seen about her, and I was glad to have found
+a weak spot in her armour. Moreover, from that moment she was always my friend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As you will, Nombé. Now for your message.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My Lords the Spirits, speaking through Zikali as one who makes music
+speak through a pipe of reeds, say&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never mind what the spirits say. Tell me what Zikali says,&rdquo; I
+interrupted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So be it, Macumazahn. These are the words of Zikali: &lsquo;O
+Watcher-by-Night, the time draws on when the
+Thing-who-should-never-have-been-born will be as though he never had been born,
+whereat he rejoices. But first there is much for him to do, and as he told you
+nearly three hundred moons ago, in what must be done you will have your part.
+Of that he will speak to you afterwards. Macumazahn, you dreamed a dream, did
+you not, lying asleep in the house that was built of white stone which now is
+black with fire? I, Zikali, sent you that dream through the arts of a child of
+mine who is named Nombé, she to whom I have given a Spirit to guide her feet.
+You did well to follow it, Macumazahn, for had you tried the other path, which
+would have led you back to the towns of the white men, you and those with you
+must have been killed, how it does not matter. Now by the mouth of Nombé I say
+to you, do not follow the thought that is in your mind as she speaks to you and
+go to Natal, since if you do so, you and those with you will come to much shame
+and trouble that to you would be worse than death, over the matter of the
+killing of a certain white doctor in a swamp where grow yellow-wood trees. For
+there in Natal you will be taken, all of you, and sent back to the Transvaal to
+be tried before a man who wears upon his head horse&rsquo;s hair stained white.
+But if you come to Zululand this shadow shall pass away from you, since great
+things are about to happen which will cause so small a matter to be forgot.
+Moreover, I Zikali, who do not lie, promise this: That however great may be
+their dangers here in Zululand, those half-fledged ones whom you, the old
+night-hawk, cover with your wings, shall in the end suffer no harm; those of
+whom I spoke to you in your dream, the white lord, Mauriti, and the white lady,
+Heddana, who stretch out their arms one to another. I wait to welcome you, here
+at the Black Kloof, whither my daughter Nombé will guide you. Cetewayo, the
+king, also will welcome you, and so will another whose name I do not utter. Now
+choose. I have spoken.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having delivered her message Nombé stood quite still, smiling as before, and
+apparently indifferent as to its effect.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do I know that you come from Zikali?&rdquo; I asked. &ldquo;You may
+be but the bait set upon a trap.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From somewhere within her robe she produced a knife and handed it to me,
+remarking&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Master says you will remember this, and by it know that the message
+comes from him. He bade me add that with it was carved a certain image that
+once he gave to you at Panda&rsquo;s kraal, wrapped round with a woman&rsquo;s
+hair, which image you still have.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at the knife and did remember it, for it was one of those of Swedish
+make with a wooden handle, the first that I had ever seen in Africa. I had made
+a present of it to Zikali when I returned to Zululand before the war between
+the Princes. The image, too, I still possessed. It was that of the woman called
+Mameena who brought about the war, and the wrapping which covered it was of the
+hair that once grew upon her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The words are Zikali&rsquo;s,&rdquo; I said, returning her the knife,
+&ldquo;but why do you call yourself the child of one who is too old to be a
+father?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Master says that my great-grandmother was his daughter and that
+therefore I am his child. Now, Macumazahn, I go to eat with my people, for I
+have servants with me. Then I must speak with the Swazi king, for whom I also
+have a message, which I cannot do at present because he is still drunk with the
+white man&rsquo;s liquor. After that I shall be ready to return with you to
+Zululand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I never said that I was going to Zululand, Nombé.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet your heart has gone there already, Macumazahn, and you must follow
+your heart. Does not the image which was carved with the knife you gave, hold a
+white heart in its hand, and although it seems to be but a bit of Umzimbeete
+wood, is it not alive and bewitched, which perhaps is why you could never make
+up your mind to burn it, Macumazahn?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish I had,&rdquo; I replied angrily; but having thrown this last
+spear, with a flash of her unholy eyes Nombé had turned and gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A clever woman and thoroughly coached, thought I. Well, Zikali was never one to
+suffer fools, and doubtless she is another of the pawns whom he uses on his
+board of policy. Oh! she, or rather he was right; my heart was in Zululand,
+though not in the way he thought, and I longed to see the end of that great
+game played by a wizard against a despot and his hosts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we went to Zululand because after talking it over we all came to the
+conclusion that this was the best thing to do, especially as there we seemed to
+be sure of a welcome. For later in the day Nombé repeated to Anscombe and Heda
+the invitation which she had delivered to me, assuring them also that in
+Zululand they would come to no harm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was curious to watch the meeting between Heda and Nombé. The doctoress
+appeared just as we had risen from breakfast, and Heda, turning round, came
+face to face with her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is this your witch, Mr. Quatermain?&rdquo; she asked me in her vivacious
+way. &ldquo;Why, she is different from what I expected, quite good-looking and,
+yes, impressive. I am not sure that she does not frighten me a little.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What does the Inkosikaasi (i.e., the chieftainess) say concerning me,
+Macumazahn?&rdquo; asked Nombé.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only what I said, that you are young who she thought would be old, and
+pretty who she thought would be ugly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To grow old we must first be young, Macumazahn, and in due season all of
+us will become ugly, even the Inkosikaasi. But I thought she said also that she
+feared me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you know English, Nombé?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, but I know how to read eyes, and the Inkosikaasi has eyes that
+talk. Tell her that she has no reason to fear me who would be her friend,
+though I think that she will bring me little luck.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was scarcely necessary, so far as Heda was concerned, but I translated,
+leaving out the last sentence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Say to her that I am grateful who have few friends, and that I will fear
+her no more,&rdquo; said Heda.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again I translated, whereon Nombé stretched out her hand, saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let her not scorn to take it, it is clean. It has brought no man to his
+death&mdash;&rdquo; Here she looked at Heda meaningly. &ldquo;Moreover, though
+she is white and I am black, I like herself am of high blood and come of a race
+of warriors who did nothing small, and lastly, we are of an age, and if she is
+beautiful, I am wise and have gifts great as her own.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more I interpreted for the benefit of Anscombe, for Heda understood Zulu
+well enough, although she had pretended not to do so, after which the two shook
+hands, to Anscombe&rsquo;s amusement and my wonder. For I felt this scene to be
+strained and one that hid, or presaged, something I did not comprehend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is the Chief she loves?&rdquo; said Nombé to me, studying Anscombe
+with her steady eyes after Heda had gone. &ldquo;Well, he is no common man and
+brave, if idle; one, too, who may grow tall in the world, should he live, when
+he has learned to think. But, Macumazahn, if she met you both at the same time
+why did she not choose you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just now you said you were wise, Nombé,&rdquo; I replied laughing,
+&ldquo;but now I see that, like most of your trade, you are but a vain boaster.
+Is there a hat upon my head that you cannot see the colour of my hair, and is
+it natural that youth should turn to age?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sometimes if the mind is old, Macumazahn, which is why I love the
+Spirits only who are more ancient than the mountains, and with them Zikali
+their servant, who was young before the Zulus were a people, or so he says, and
+still year by year gathers wisdom as the bee gathers honey. Inspan your horses,
+Macumazahn, for I have done my business and am ready to start.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br />
+ZIKALI</h2>
+
+<p>
+Ten days had gone by when once more I found myself drawing near to the mouth of
+the Black Kloof where dwelt Zikali the Wizard. Our journey in Zululand had been
+tedious and uneventful. It seemed to me that we met extraordinarily few people;
+it was as though the place had suddenly become depopulated, and I even passed
+great kraals where there was no one to be seen. I asked Nombé what was the
+meaning of this, for she and three silent men she had with her were acting as
+our guides. Once she answered that the people had moved because of lack of
+food, as the season had been one of great scarcity owing to drought, and once
+that they had been summoned to a gathering at the king&rsquo;s kraal near
+Ulundi. At any rate they were not there, and the few who did appear stared at
+us strangely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moreover, I noticed that they were not allowed to speak to us. Also Heda was
+kept in the cart and Nombé insisted that the rear canvas curtain should be
+closed and a blanket fastened behind Anscombe who drove, evidently with the
+object that she should not be seen. Further, on the plea of weariness, from the
+time that we entered Zulu territory Nombé asked to be allowed to ride in the
+cart with Kaatje and Heda, her real reason, as I was sure, being that she might
+keep a watch on them. Lastly we travelled by little-frequented tracks, halting
+at night in out-of-the-way places, where, however, we always found food
+awaiting us, doubtless by arrangement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With one man whom I had known in past days and who recognized me, I did manage
+to have a short talk. He asked me what I was doing in Zululand at that time. I
+replied that I was on a visit to Zikali, whereon he said I should be safer with
+him than with any one else.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our conversation went no further, for just then one of Nombé&rsquo;s servants
+appeared and made some remark to the man of which I could not catch the
+meaning, whereon he promptly turned and departed, leaving me wondering and
+uneasy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Evidently we were being isolated, but when I remonstrated with Nombé she only
+answered with her most unfathomable smile&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Macumazahn, you must ask Zikali of all these things. I am no one and
+know nothing, who only do what the Master tells me is for your good.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am minded to turn and depart from Zululand,&rdquo; I said angrily,
+&ldquo;for in this low veld whither you have led us there is fever and the
+horses will catch sickness or be bitten by the tsetse fly and perish.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot say, Macumazahn, who only travel by the road the Master pointed
+out. Yet if you will be guided by me, you will not try to leave
+Zululand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean that I am in a trap, Nombé.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I mean that the country is full of soldiers and that all white men have
+fled from it. Therefore, even if you were allowed to pass because the Zulus
+love you, Macumazahn, it might well happen that those with you would stay
+behind, sound asleep, Macumazahn, for which, like you, I should be
+sorry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this I said no more, for I knew that she meant to warn me. We had entered
+on this business and must see it through to its end, sweet or bitter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for Anscombe and Heda their happiness seemed to be complete. The novelty of
+the life charmed them, and of its dangers they took no thought, being content
+to leave me, in whom they had a blind faith, to manage everything. Moreover,
+Heda, who in the joy of her love was beginning to forget the sorrow of her
+father&rsquo;s death and the other tragic events through which she had just
+passed, took a great fancy to the young witch-doctoress who conversed with her
+in Zulu, a language of which, having lived so long in Natal, Heda knew much
+already. Indeed, when I suggested to her that to be over-trusting was not wise,
+she fired up and replied that she had been accustomed to natives all her life
+and could judge them, adding that she had every confidence in Nombé.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this I held my tongue and said no more of my doubts. What was the use
+since Heda would not listen to them, and at that time Anscombe was nothing but
+her echo?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So this, for me, very dull journey continued, till at length, after being held
+up for a couple of days by a flooded river where there was nothing to do but
+sit and smoke, as Nombé requested me not to make a noise by shooting at the big
+game that abounded, we began to emerge from the bush-veld on to the lovely
+uplands in the neighbourhood of Nongoma. Leaving these on our right we headed
+for a place called Ceza, a natural stronghold consisting of a flat plain on the
+top of a mountain, which plain is surrounded by bush. It is at the foot of this
+stronghold that the Black Kloof lies, being one of the ravines that run up into
+the mountain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So thither we came at last. It was drawing towards sunset, a tremendous and
+stormy sunset, as we approached the place, and lo! it looked exactly as it had
+done when first I saw it more than a score of years before, forbidding as the
+mouth of hell, vast and lonesome. There stood the columns of boulders
+fantastically piled one upon another; there grew the sparse trees upon its
+steep sides, mingled with aloes that looked like the shapes of men; there was
+the granite bottom swept almost clean by floods in some dim age, and the little
+stream that flowed along it. There, too, was the spot where once I had
+outspanned my wagons on the night when my servants swore that they saw the
+Imikovu, or wizard-raised spectres, floating past them on the air in the shapes
+of the Princes and others who were soon to fall at the battle of the Tugela. Up
+it we went, I riding and Nombé, who had descended from the cart that followed,
+walking by my side and watching me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You seem sad, Macumazahn,&rdquo; she said at length.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Nombé, I am sad. This place makes me so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it the place, Macumazahn, or is it the thought of one whom once you
+met in the place, one who is dead?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at her, pretending not to understand, and she went on&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have the gift of vision, Macumazahn, which comes at times to those of
+my trade, and now and again, amongst others, I have seemed to see the spirit of
+a certain woman haunting this kloof as though she were waiting for some
+one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed, and what may that woman be like?&rdquo; I inquired carelessly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As it chances I can see her now gliding backwards in front of you just
+there, and therefore am able to answer your question, Macumazahn. She is tall
+and slender, beautifully made, and light-coloured for one of us black people.
+She has large eyes like a buck, and those eyes are full of fire that does not
+come from the sun but from within. Her face is tender yet proud, oh! so proud
+that she makes me afraid. She wears a cloak of grey fur, and about her neck
+there is a circlet of big blue beads with which her fingers play. A thought
+comes from her to me. These are the words of the thought: &lsquo;I have waited
+long in this dark place, watching by day and night till you, the
+Watcher-by-Night, return to meet me here. At length you have come, and in this
+enchanted place my hungry spirit can feed upon your spirit for a while. I thank
+you for coming, who now am no more lonely. Fear nothing, Macumazahn, for by a
+certain kiss I swear to you that till the appointed hour when you become as I
+am, I will be a shield upon your arm and a spear in your hand.&rsquo; Such are
+the words of her thought, Macumazahn, but she has gone away and I hear no more.
+It was as though your horse rode over her and she passed through you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, like one who wished to answer no questions, Nombé turned and went back to
+the cart, where she began to talk indifferently with Heda, for as soon as we
+entered the kloof her servants had drawn back the curtains and let fall the
+blanket. As for me, I groaned, for of course I knew that Zikali, who was well
+acquainted with the appearance of Mameena, had instructed Nombé to say all this
+to me in order to impress my mind for some reason of his own. Yet he had done
+it cleverly, for such words as those Mameena might well have uttered could her
+great spirit have need to walk the earth again. Was such a thing possible, I
+wondered? No, it was not possible, yet it was true that her atmosphere seemed
+to cling about this place and that my imagination, excited by memory and
+Nombé&rsquo;s suggestions, seemed to apprehend her presence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I reflected the horse advanced round the little bend in the ever-narrowing
+cliffs, and there in front of me, under the gigantic mass of overhanging rock,
+appeared the kraal of Zikali surrounded by its reed fence. The gate of the
+fence was open, and beyond it, on his stool in front of the large hut, sat
+Zikali. Even at that distance it was impossible to mistake his figure, which
+was like no other that I had known in the world. A broad-shouldered dwarf with
+a huge head, deep, sunken eyes and snowy hair that hung upon his shoulders; the
+whole frame and face pervaded with an air of great antiquity, and yet owing to
+the plumpness of the flesh and that freshness of skin which is sometimes seen
+in the aged, comparatively young-looking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such was the great wizard Zikali, known throughout the land for longer than any
+living man could remember as &ldquo;Opener of Roads,&rdquo; a title that
+referred to his powers of spiritual vision, also as the
+&ldquo;Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,&rdquo; a name given to him by
+Chaka, the first and greatest of the Zulu kings, because of his deformity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There he sat silent, impassive, staring open-eyed at the red ball of the
+setting sun, looking more like some unshapely statue than a man. His silent,
+fierce-faced servants appeared. To me they looked like the same men whom I had
+seen here three and twenty years before, only grown older. Indeed, I think they
+were, for they greeted me by name and saluted by raising their broad spears. I
+dismounted and waited while Anscombe, whose foot was now quite well again,
+helped Heda from the cart which was led away by the servants. Anscombe, who
+seemed a little oppressed, remarked that this was a strange place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Heda, &ldquo;but it is magnificent. I like it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then her eye fell upon Zikali seated before the hut and she turned pale.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! what a terrible-looking man,&rdquo; she murmured, &ldquo;if he is a
+man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The maid Kaatje saw him also and uttered a little cry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be frightened, dear,&rdquo; said Anscombe, &ldquo;he is only
+an old dwarf.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose so,&rdquo; she exclaimed doubtfully, &ldquo;but to me he is
+like the devil.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nombé slid past us. She threw off the kaross she wore and for the first time
+appeared naked except for the mucha about her middle and her ornaments. Down
+she went on her hands and knees and in this humble posture crept towards
+Zikali. Arriving in front of him she touched the ground with her forehead, then
+lifting her right arm, gave the salute of <i>Makosi</i>, to which as a great
+wizard he was entitled, being supposed to be the home of many spirits. So far
+as I could see he took no notice of her. Presently she moved and squatted
+herself down on his right hand, while two of his attendants appeared from
+behind the hut and took their stand between him and its doorway, holding their
+spears raised. About a minute later Nombé beckoned to us to approach, and we
+went forward across the courtyard, I a little ahead of the others. As we drew
+near Zikali opened his mouth and uttered a loud and terrifying laugh. How well
+I remembered that laugh which I had first heard at Dingaan&rsquo;s kraal as a
+boy after the murder of Retief and the
+Boers.<a href="#fn-11.1" name="fnref-11.1" id="fnref-11.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn-11.1" id="fn-11.1"></a> <a href="#fnref-11.1">[1]</a>
+See the book called <i>Marie,</i> by H. Rider Haggard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I begin to think that you are right and that this old gentleman must be
+the devil,&rdquo; said Anscombe to Heda, then lapsed into silence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I was determined not to speak first I took the opportunity to fill my pipe.
+Zikali, who was watching me, although all the while he seemed to be staring at
+the setting sun, made a sign. One of the servants dashed away and immediately
+returned, bearing a flaming brand which he proffered to me as a pipe-lighter.
+Then he departed again to bring three carved stools of red wood which he placed
+for us. I looked at mine and knew it again by the carvings. It was the same on
+which I had sat when first I met Zikali. At length he spoke in his deep, slow
+voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Many years have gone by, Macumazahn, since you made use of that stool.
+They are cut in notches upon the leg you hold and you may count them if you
+will.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I examined the leg. There were the notches, twenty-two or three of them. On the
+other legs were more notches too numerous to reckon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do not look at those, Macumazahn, for they have nothing to do with you.
+They tell the years since the first of the House of Senzangacona sat upon that
+stool, since Chaka sat upon it, since Dingaan and others sat upon it, one
+Mameena among them. Well, much has happened since it served you for a rest. You
+have wandered far and seen strange things and lived where others would have
+died because it was your lot to live, of all of which we will talk afterwards.
+And now when you are grey you have come back here, as the Opener of Roads told
+you you would do, bringing with you new companions, you who have the art of
+making friends even when you are old, which is one given to few men. Where are
+those with whom you used to company, Macumazahn? Where are Saduko and Mameena
+and the rest? All gone except the Thing-who-should-never-have-been-born,&rdquo;
+and again he laughed loudly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And who it seems has never learned when to die,&rdquo; I remarked,
+speaking for the first time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just so, Macumazahn, because I cannot die until my work is finished. But
+thanks be to the spirits of my fathers and to my own that I live on to glut
+with vengeance, the end draws near at last, and as I promised you in the dead
+days, you shall have your share in it, Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused, then continued, still staring at the sinking sun, which made his
+remarks about us, whom he did not seem to see, uncanny&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That white man with you is brave and well-born, one who loves fighting,
+I think, and the maiden is fair and sweet, with a high spirit. She is thinking
+to herself that I am an old wizard whom, if she were not afraid of me, she
+would ask to tell her her fortune. See, she understands and starts. Well,
+perhaps I will one day. Meanwhile, here is a little bit of it. She will have
+five children, of whom two will die and one will give her so much trouble that
+she will wish it had died also. But who their father will be I do not say.
+Nombé my child, lead away this White One and her woman to the hut that has been
+made ready for her, for she is weary and would rest. See, too, that she lacks
+for nothing which we can give her who is our guest. Let the white lord,
+Mauriti, accompany her to the hut and be shown that next to it in which he and
+Macumazahn will sleep, so that he may be sure that she is safe, and attend to
+the horses if he wills. There is a place to tether them behind the huts, and
+the men who travelled with you will help him. Afterwards, when I have spoken
+with him, Macumazahn can join them that they may eat before they sleep.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These directions I translated to Anscombe, who went gladly enough with Heda,
+for I think they were both afraid of the terrible old dwarf and did not desire
+his company in the gathering gloom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The sun sinks once more, Macumazahn,&rdquo; he said when they were gone,
+&ldquo;and the air grows chill. Come with me now into my hut where the fire
+burns, for I am aged and the cold strikes through me. Also there we can be
+alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So speaking he turned and crawled into the hut, looking like a gigantic
+white-headed beetle as he did so, a creature, I remembered, to which I had once
+compared him in the past. I followed, carrying the historic stool, and when he
+had seated himself on his kaross on the further side of the fire, took up my
+position opposite to him. This fire was fed with some kind of root or wood that
+gave a thin clear flame with little or no smoke. Over it he crouched, so
+closely that his great head seemed to be almost in the flame at which he stared
+with unblinking eyes as he had done at the sun, circumstances which added to
+his terrifying appearance and made me think of a certain region and its
+inhabitants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you come here, Macumazahn?&rdquo; he asked after studying me for
+a while through that window of fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because you brought me, Zikali, partly through your messenger, Nombé,
+and partly by means of a dream which she says you sent.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did I, Macumazahn? If so, I have forgotten it. Dreams are as many as
+gnats by the water; they bite us while we sleep, but when we wake up we forget
+them. Also it is foolishness to say that one man can send a dream to
+another.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then your messenger lied, Zikali, especially as she added that she
+brought it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course she lied, Macumazahn. Is she not my pupil whom I have trained
+from a child? Moreover, she lied well, it would seem, who guessed what sort of
+a dream you would have when you thought of turning your steps to
+Zululand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you play at sticks (i.e., fence) with me, Zikali, seeing that
+neither of us are children?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Macumazahn, that is where you are mistaken, seeing that both of us,
+old though we be and cunning though we think ourselves, are nothing but babes
+in the arms of Fate. Well, well, I will tell you the truth, since it would be
+foolish to try to throw dust into such eyes as yours. I knew that you were down
+in Sekukuni&rsquo;s country and I was watching you&mdash;through my spies. You
+have been nowhere during all these years that I was not watching
+you&mdash;through my spies. For instance, that Arab-looking man named Harut,
+whom first you met at a big kraal in a far country, was a spy of mine. He has
+visited me lately and told me much of your doings. No, don&rsquo;t ask me of
+him now who would talk to you of other matters&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Does Harut still live then, and has he found a new god in place of the
+Ivory Child?&rdquo; I interrupted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn, if he did not live, how could he visit and speak with me?
+Well, I watched you there by the Oliphant&rsquo;s River where you fought
+Sekukuni&rsquo;s people, and afterwards in the marble hut where you found the
+old white man dead in his chair and got the writings that you have in your
+pocket which concern the maiden Heddana; also afterwards when the white man,
+your friend, killed the doctor who fell into a mud hole and the Basutos stole
+his cattle and wagon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you know all these things, Zikali?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have I not told you&mdash;through my spies. Was there not a half-breed
+driver called Footsack, and do not the Basutos come and go between the Black
+Kloof and Sekukuni&rsquo;s town, bearing me tidings?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Zikali, and so does the wind and so do the birds.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;True! O Macumazahn, I see that you are one who has watched Nature and
+its ways as closely as my spies watch you. So I learned these matters and knew
+that you were in trouble over the death of these white men, and your friends
+likewise, and as you were always dear to me, I sent that child Nombé to bring
+you to me, thinking from what I knew of you that you would be more likely to
+follow a woman who is both wise and good to look at, than a man who might be
+neither. I told her to say to you that you and the others would be safer here
+than in Natal at present. It seems that you hearkened and came. That is
+all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I hearkened and came. But, Zikali, that is not all, for you know
+well that you sent for me for your own sake, not for mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Macumazahn, who can prevent a needle from piercing cloth when it is
+pushed by a finger like yours? Your wits are too sharp for me, Macumazahn; your
+eyes read through the blanket of cunning with which I would hide my thought.
+You speak truly. I did send for you for my own sake as well as for yours. I
+sent for you because I wanted your counsel, Macumazahn, and because Cetewayo
+the king also wants your counsel, and I wished to see you before you saw
+Cetewayo. Now you have the whole truth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you want my counsel about, Zikali?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He leaned forward till his white locks almost seemed to mingle with the thin
+flame, through which he glared at me with eyes that were fiercer than the fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn, you remember the story that I told you long ago, do you
+not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, Zikali. It was that you hate the House of Senzangacona which
+has given all its kings to Zululand. First, because you are one of the Dwandwe
+tribe whom the Zulus crushed and mocked at. Secondly, because Chaka the Lion
+named you the 'Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born&rsquo; and killed your
+wives, for which crime you brought about the death of Chaka. Thirdly, because
+you have matched your single wit for many years against all the power of the
+royal House and yet kept your life in you, notably when Panda threatened you in
+my presence at the trial of one who has &lsquo;gone down,&rsquo; and you told
+him to kill you if he dared. Now you would prove that you were right by causing
+your cunning to triumph over the royal House.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;True, quite true, O Macumazahn. You have a good memory, Macumazahn,
+especially for anything that has to do with that woman who has &lsquo;gone
+down.&rsquo; I sent her down, but how was she named, Macumazahn? I forget, I
+forget, whose mind being old, falls suddenly into black pits of
+darkness&mdash;like her who went down.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused and we stared at each other through the veil of fire. Then as I made
+no answer, he went on&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! I remember now, she was called Mameena, was she not, a name taken
+from the wailing of the wind? Hark! It is wailing now.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I listened; it was, and I shivered to hear it, since but a minute before the
+night had been quite still. Yes, the wind moaned and wailed about the rocks of
+the Black Kloof.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, enough of her. Why trouble about the dead when there are so many
+to be sent to join them? Macumazahn, the hour is at hand. The fool Cetewayo has
+quarrelled with your people, the English, and on my counsel. He has sent and
+killed women, or allowed others to do so, across the river in Natal. His
+messengers came to me asking what he should do. I answered, 'Shall a king of
+the blood of Chaka fear to allow his own wicked ones to be slain because they
+have stepped across a strip of water, and still call himself king of the
+Zulus?&rsquo; So those women were dragged back across the water and killed; and
+now the Queen&rsquo;s man from the Cape asks many things, great fines of
+cattle, the giving up of the slayers, and that an end should be made of the
+Zulu army, which is to lay down its spears and set to hoeing like the old women
+in the kraals.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And if the king refuses, what then, Zikali?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, Macumazahn, the Queen&rsquo;s man will declare war on the Zulus;
+already he gathers his soldiers for the war.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will Cetewayo refuse, Zikali?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know. His mind swings this way and that, like a pole balanced
+on a rock. The ends of the pole are weighted with much counsel, and it hangs so
+even that if a grasshopper lit on one end or the other, it would turn the
+scale.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And do you wish me to be that grasshopper, Zikali?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who else? That is why I brought you to Zululand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So you wish me to counsel Cetewayo to lie down in the bed that the
+English have made for him. If he seeks my advice I will do so gladly, for so I
+am sure he will sleep well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you mock me, Macumazahn? I wish you to counsel Cetewayo to throw
+back his word into the teeth of the Queen&rsquo;s man and to fight the
+English.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And thus bring destruction on the Zulus and death to thousands of them
+and of my own people, and in return gain nothing but remorse. Do you think me
+mad or wicked, or both, that I should do this thing?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, Macumazahn, you would gain much. I could show you where the
+king&rsquo;s cattle are hidden. The English will never find them, and after the
+war you might take as many as you chose. But it would be useless, for knowing
+you well, I am sure that you would only hand them over to the British
+Government, as once you handed over the cattle of Bangu, being fashioned that
+way by the Great-Great, Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps I might, but then what should I gain, Zikali?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This: you would so bring things about that, being broken by war, the
+Zulu power could never again menace the white men, which would be a great and
+good deed, Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mayhap&mdash;I am not sure. But of this I am sure, that I will not
+thrust my face into your nest of wasps, that the English hornets may steal the
+honey when they are disturbed. I leave such matters to the Queen and those who
+rule under her. So have done with such talk, for you do but waste your breath,
+Zikali.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is as I guessed it would be,&rdquo; he answered, shaking his great
+head. &ldquo;You are too honest to prosper in the world, Macumazahn. Well, I
+must find other means to bring the House of Cetewayo to the end that he
+deserves, who has been an evil and a cruel king.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All this he said, showing neither surprise nor resentment, which convinced me
+of what I had suspected throughout, that never for an instant did he believe
+that I should fall in with his suggestions and try to influence the Zulus to
+declare war. No, this talk of his was but a blind; there was some deeper scheme
+at work in his cunning old brain which he was hiding from me. Why exactly had
+he beguiled me to Zululand? I could not divine, and to ask him would be worse
+than useless, but then and there I made up my mind that I would get away from
+the Black Kloof early on the following morning, if that were possible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He began to speak of other matters in a low, droning voice, like a man who
+converses with himself. Sad, all of them, such as the haunted death of Saduko
+who had betrayed his lord, the Prince Umbelazi, because of a woman, every
+circumstance of which seemed to be familiar to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I made no answer, who was waiting for an opportunity to leave the hut, and did
+not care to dwell on these events. He ceased and brooded for a while, then said
+suddenly&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are hungry and would eat, Macumazahn, and I who eat little would
+sleep, for in sleep the multitudes of Spirits visit me, bringing tidings from
+afar. Well, we have spoken together and of that I am glad, for who knows when
+the chance will come again, though I think that soon we shall meet at Ulundi,
+Ulundi where Fate spreads its net. What was it I had to say to you? Ah! I
+remember. There is one who is always in your thoughts and whom you wish to see,
+one too who wishes to see you. You shall, you shall in payment for the trouble
+you have taken in coming so far to visit a poor old Zulu doctor whom, as you
+told me long ago, you know to be nothing but a cheat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused and, why I could not tell, I grew weak with fear of I knew not what,
+and bethought me of flight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is cold in this hut, is it not?&rdquo; he went on. &ldquo;Burn up,
+fire, burn up!&rdquo; and plunging his hand into a catskin bag of medicines
+which he wore, he drew out some powder which he threw upon the embers that
+instantly burst into bright flame.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look now, Macumazahn,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;look to your right.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked and oh Heaven! there before me with outstretched arms and infinite
+yearning on her face, stood Mameena, Mameena as I had last seen her after I
+gave her the promised kiss that she used to cover her taking of the poison. For
+five seconds, mayhap, she stood thus, living, wonderful, but still as death,
+the fierce light showing all. Then the flame died down again and she was gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I turned and next instant was out of the hut, pursued by the terrible laughter
+of Zikali.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br />
+TRAPPED</h2>
+
+<p>
+Outside in the cool night air I recovered myself, sufficiently at any rate to
+be able to think, and saw at once that the thing was an illusion for which
+Zikali had prepared my mind very carefully by means of the young
+witch-doctoress, Nombé. He knew well enough that this remarkable woman,
+Mameena, had made a deep impression on me nearly a quarter of a century before,
+as she had done upon other men with whom she had been associated. Therefore it
+was probable that she would always be present to my thought, since whatever a
+man forgets, he remembers the women who have shown him favour, true or false,
+for Nature has decreed it thus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moreover, this was one to be remembered for herself, since she was beautiful
+and most attractive in her wild way. Also she had brought about a great war,
+causing the death of thousands, and lastly her end might fairly be called
+majestic. All these impressions Zikali had instructed Nombé to revivify by her
+continual allusions to Mameena, and lastly by her pretence that she saw her
+walking in front of me. Then when I was tired and hungry, in that place which
+for me was so closely connected with this woman, and in his own uncanny
+company, either by mesmerism or through the action of the drug he threw upon
+the fire, he had succeeded in calling up the illusion of her presence to my
+charmed sight. All this was clear enough, what remained obscure was his object.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Possibly he had none beyond an impish desire to frighten me, which is common
+enough among practitioners of magic in all lands. Well, for a little while he
+had succeeded, although to speak truth I remained uncertain whether in a sense
+I was not more thrilled and rejoiced than frightened. Mameena had never been so
+ill to look upon, and I knew that dead or living I had nothing to fear from her
+who would have walked through hell fire for my sake, would have done anything,
+except perhaps sacrifice her ambition. No, even if this were her ghost I should
+have been glad to see her again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But it was not a ghost; it was only a fancy reproduced exactly as my mind had
+photographed her, almost as my eyes last saw her, when her kiss was still warm
+upon my lips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such were my thoughts as I stood outside that hut with the cold perspiration
+running down my face, for to tell the truth my nerves were upset, although
+without reason. So upset were they that when suddenly a silent-footed man
+appeared out of the darkness I jumped as high as though I had set my foot on a
+puff-adder, and until I recognized him by his voice as one of Nombé&rsquo;s
+servants who had accompanied us from Swazi-Land, felt quite alarmed. As a
+matter of fact he had only come to tell me that our meal was ready and that the
+other &ldquo;high White Ones&rdquo; were waiting for me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He led me round the fence that encircled Zikali&rsquo;s dwelling-place, to two
+huts that stood nearly behind it, almost against the face of the rock which,
+overhanging in a curve, formed a kind of natural roof above them. I thought
+they must have been built since I visited the place, as I, who have a good
+memory for such things, did not remember them. Indeed, on subsequent
+examination I found that they were quite new, for the poles that formed their
+uprights were still green and the grass of the thatch was scarcely dry. It
+looked to me as if they had been specially constructed for our accommodation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In one of these huts, that to the right which was allotted to Anscombe and
+myself, I found the others waiting for me, also the food. It was good of its
+sort and well cooked, and we ate it by the light of some candles that we had
+with us, Kaatje serving us. Yet, although a little while before I had been
+desperately hungry, now my appetite seemed to have left me and I made but a
+poor meal. Heda and Anscombe also seemed oppressed and ate sparingly. We did
+not talk much until Kaatje had taken away the tin plates and gone to eat her
+own supper by a fire that burned outside the hut. Then Heda broke out, saying
+that she was terrified of this place and especially of its master, the old
+dwarf, and felt sure that something terrible was going to happen to her.
+Anscombe did his best to calm her, and I also told her she had nothing to fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If there is nothing to fear, Mr. Quatermain,&rdquo; she answered,
+turning on me, &ldquo;why do you look so frightened yourself? By your face you
+might have seen a ghost.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This sudden and singularly accurate thrust, for after all I had seen something
+that looked very like a ghost, startled me, and before I could invent any
+soothing and appropriate fib, Nombé appeared, saying that she had come to lead
+Heda to her sleeping-place. After this further conversation was impossible
+since, although Nombé knew but few words of English, she was a great
+thought-reader and I feared to speak of anything secret in her presence. So we
+all went out of the hut, Nombé and I drawing back a little to the fire while
+the lovers said good-night to each other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nombé,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;the Inkosikazi Heddana is afraid. The rocks
+of this kloof lie heavy on her heart; the face of the Opener of Roads is
+fearful to her and his laughter grates upon her ears. Do you understand?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand, Macumazahn, and it is as I expected. When you yourself are
+frightened it is natural that she, an untried maiden, should be frightened also
+in this home of spirits.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is men we fear, not spirits, now when all Zululand is boiling like a
+pot,&rdquo; I replied angrily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have it as you will, Macumazahn,&rdquo; she said, and at that moment her
+quiet, searching eyes and fixed smile were hateful to me. &ldquo;At least you
+admit that you do fear. Well, for the lady Heddana fear nothing. I sleep across
+the door of her hut, and while I who have learned to love her, live, I
+say&mdash;for her fear nothing, whatever may chance or whatever you may see or
+hear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I believe you, but, Nombé, you might die.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I may die, but be sure of this, that when I die she will be safe,
+and he who loves her also. Sleep well, Macumazahn, and do not dream too much of
+what you heard and saw in Zikali&rsquo;s house.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then before I could speak she turned and left me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I did <i>not</i> sleep well; I slept very badly. To begin with, Maurice
+Anscombe, generally the most cheerful and nonchalant of mortals with a jest for
+every woe, was in a most depressed condition, and informed me of it several
+times, while I was getting ready to turn in. He said he thought the place
+hateful and felt as if people he could not see were looking at him (I had the
+same sensation but did not mention the fact to him). When I told him he was
+talking stuff, he only replied that he could not help it, and pointed out that
+it was not his general habit to be downcast in any danger, which was quite
+true. Now, he added, he was enjoying much the same sensations as he did when
+first he saw the Yellow-wood Swamp and got the idea into his head that he would
+kill some one there, which happened in due course.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you mean that you think you are going to kill somebody else?&rdquo; I
+asked anxiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;I think I am going to be killed, or
+something like it, probably by that accursed old villain of a witch-doctor, who
+I don&rsquo;t believe is altogether human.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Others have thought that before now, Anscombe, and to be plain, I
+don&rsquo;t know that he is. He lives too much with the dead to be like other
+people.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And with Satan, to whom I expect he makes sacrifices. The truth is
+I&rsquo;m afraid of his playing some of his tricks with Heda. It is for her I
+fear, not for myself, Allan. Oh! why on earth did you come here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because you wished it and it seemed the safest thing to do. Look here,
+my boy, as usual the trouble comes through a woman. When a man&rsquo;s
+single&mdash;you know the rest. You used to be able to laugh at anything, but
+now that you are practically double you can&rsquo;t laugh any more. Well,
+that&rsquo;s the common lot of man and you&rsquo;ve got to put up with it. Adam
+was pretty jolly in his garden until Eve was started, but you know what
+happened afterwards. The rest of his life was a compound of temptation,
+anxiety, family troubles, remorse, hard labour with primitive instruments, and
+a flaming sword behind him. If you had left your Eve alone you would have
+escaped all this. But you see you didn&rsquo;t, and as a matter of fact, nobody
+ever does who is worth his salt, for Nature has arranged it so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You appear to talk with experience, Allan,&rdquo; he retorted blandly.
+&ldquo;By the way, that girl Nombé, when she isn&rsquo;t star-gazing or
+muttering incantations, is always trying to explain to Heda some tale about you
+and a lady called Mameena. I gather that you were introduced to her in this
+neighbourhood where, Nombé says, you were in the habit of kissing her in
+public, which sounds an odd kind of a thing to do; all of which happened before
+she, Nombé, was born. She adds, according to Kaatje&rsquo;s interpretation,
+that you met her again this afternoon, which, as I understand the young woman
+has been long dead, seems so incomprehensible that I wish you would
+explain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With reference to Heda,&rdquo; I said, ignoring the rest as unworthy of
+notice, &ldquo;I think you may make your mind easy. Zikali knows that she is in
+my charge and I don&rsquo;t believe that he wants to quarrel with me. Still, as
+you are uncomfortable here, the best thing to do will be to get away as early
+as possible to-morrow morning, where to we can decide afterwards. And now I am
+going to sleep, so please stop arguing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I have already hinted, my attempts in the sleep line proved a failure, for
+whenever I did drop off I was pursued by bad dreams, which resulted from lying
+down so soon after supper. I heard the cries of desperate men in their mortal
+agony. I saw a rain-swollen river; its waters were red with blood. I beheld a
+vision of one who I knew by his dress to be a Zulu king, although I could not
+see his face. He was flying and staggering with weariness as he fled. A great
+hound followed him. It lifted its head from the spoor; it was that of Zikali
+set upon the hound&rsquo;s body, Zikali who laughed instead of baying. Then one
+whose copper ornaments tinkled as she walked, entered beside me, whispering
+into my ear. &ldquo;A quarter of a hundred years have gone by since we talked
+together in this haunted kloof,&rdquo; she seemed to whisper, &ldquo;and before
+we talk again face to face there remain to pass of years&rdquo;&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here she ceased, though naturally I should have liked to hear the number. But
+that is just where dreams break down. They tell us only of what we know, or can
+evolve therefrom. Of what it is impossible for us to know they tell us
+nothing&mdash;at least as a general rule.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I woke up with a start, and feeling stifled in that hot place and aggravated by
+the sound of Anscombe&rsquo;s peaceful breathing, threw a coat about me and,
+removing the door-board, crept into the air. The night was still, the stars
+shone, and at a little distance the embers of the fire still glowed. By it was
+seated a figure wrapped in a kaross. The end of a piece of wood that the fire
+had eaten through fell on to the red ashes and flamed up brightly. By its light
+I saw that the figure was Nombé&rsquo;s. The eternal smile was still upon her
+face, the smile which suggested a knowledge of hidden things that from moment
+to moment amused her soul. Her lips moved as though she were talking to an
+invisible companion, and from time to time, like one who acts upon directions,
+she took a pinch of ashes and blew them, either towards Heda&rsquo;s hut or
+ours. Yes, she did this when all decent young women should have been asleep,
+like one who keeps some unholy, midnight assignation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Talking with her master, Zikali, or trying to cast spells upon us, confound
+her! thought I to myself, and very silently crept back into the hut. Afterwards
+it occurred to me that she might have had another motive, namely of watching to
+see that none of us left the huts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rest of the night went by somehow. Once, listening with all my ears, I
+thought that I caught the sound of a number of men tramping and of some low
+word of command, but as I heard no more, concluded that fancy had deceived me.
+There I lay, puzzling over the situation till my head ached, and wondering how
+we were to get clear of the Black Kloof and Zikali, and out of Zululand which I
+gathered was no place for white people at the moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed to me that the only thing was to make start for Dundee on the Natal
+border, and for the rest to trust to fortune. If we got into trouble over the
+death of Rodd, unpleasant as this would be, the matter must be faced out, that
+was all. For even if any witness appeared against us, the man had been killed
+in self-defence whilst trying to bring about our deaths at the hands of
+Basutos. I could see now that I was foolish not to have taken this line from
+the first, but as I think I have already explained, what weighed with me was
+the terror of involving these young people in a scandal which might shadow all
+their future lives. Also some fate inch by inch had dragged me into Zululand.
+Fortunately in life there are few mistakes, and even worse than mistakes that
+cannot be repaired, if the wish towards reparation is real and earnest. Were it
+otherwise not many of us would escape destruction in one form or another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus I reflected until at length light flowing faintly through the smoke-hole
+of the hut told me that dawn was at hand. Seeing it I rose quietly, for I did
+not wish to wake Anscombe, dressed and left the hut. My object was to find
+Nombé, who I hoped would be still sitting by the fire, and send her to Zikali
+with a message that I wished to speak with him at once. Glancing round me in
+the grey dawn I saw that she was gone and that as yet no one seemed to be
+stirring. Hearing a horse snort at a little distance, I made my way towards the
+sound and in a little bay of the overhanging cliff discovered the cart and near
+by our beasts tied up with a plentiful supply of forage. Since so far as I
+could judge in that uncertain light, nothing seemed to be wrong with them
+except weariness, for three of them were still lying down, I walked on to the
+gate of the fence which surrounded Zikali&rsquo;s big hut, proposing to wait
+there until some one appeared by whom I could send my message.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I reached the gate which I tried and found to be fastened on its inner side.
+Then I sat down, lit my pipe and waited. It was extraordinarily lonesome in
+that place; at least this was the feeling that came over me. No doubt the sun
+was up behind the Ceza Stronghold that I have mentioned, which towered high
+behind me, for the sky above grew light with the red rays of its rising. But
+all the vast Black Kloof with its huge fantastic rocks was still plunged in
+gloom, whereof the shadows seemed to oppress my heart, weary as I was with my
+wakeful night and many anxieties. I was horribly nervous also and, as it
+proved, not without reason. Presently I heard rustlings on the further side of
+the fence as of people creeping about cautiously, and the sound of whispering.
+Then of a sudden the gate was thrown open and through it emerged about a dozen
+Zulu warriors, all of them ringed men, who instantly surrounded me, seated
+there upon the ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at them and they looked at me for quite a long while, since following
+my usual rule, I determined not to be the first to speak. Moreover, if they
+meant to kill me there was no use in speaking. At length their leader, an
+elderly man with thin legs, a large stomach and a rather pleasant countenance,
+saluted politely, saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good morning, O Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good morning, O Captain, whose name and business I do not know,&rdquo; I
+answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The winds know the mountain on which they blow, but the mountain does
+not know the winds which it cannot see,&rdquo; he remarked with poetical
+courtesy; a Zulu way of saying that more people are acquainted with Tom Fool
+than Tom Fool is aware of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps, Captain; yet the mountain can feel the winds,&rdquo; and I
+might have added, smell them, for the Kloof was close and these Kaffirs had not
+recently bathed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am named Goza and come on an errand from the king, O
+Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed, Goza, and is your errand to cut my throat?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not at present, Macumazahn, that is, unless you refuse to do what the
+king wishes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what does the king wish, Goza?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He wishes, Macumazahn, that you, his friend, should visit him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Which is just what I was on my way to do, Goza.&rdquo; (This was not
+true, but it didn&rsquo;t matter, for, if a lie, in the words of the
+schoolgirl&rsquo;s definition, is an abomination to the Lord, it is a very
+present help in time of trouble.) &ldquo;After we have eaten I and my friends
+will accompany you to the king&rsquo;s kraal at Ulundi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so, Macumazahn. The king said nothing about your friends, of whom I
+do not think he has ever heard any more than we have. Moreover, if your friends
+are white, you will do well not to mention them, since the order is that all
+white people in Zululand who have not come here by the king&rsquo;s desire, are
+to be killed at once, except yourself, Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it so, Goza? Well, as you will have understood, I am quite alone here
+and have no friends. Only I did not wish to travel so early.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course we understand that you are quite alone and have no friends, is
+it not so, my brothers?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, yes, we understand,&rdquo; they exclaimed in chorus, one of them
+adding, &ldquo;and shall so report to the King.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What kind of blankets do you like; the plain grey ones or the white ones
+with the blue stripes?&rdquo; I asked, desiring to confirm them in this
+determination.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The grey ones are warmer, Macumazahn, and do not show dirt so
+much,&rdquo; answered Goza thoughtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good, I will remember when I have the chance.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The promise of Macumazahn is known from of old to be as a tree that
+elephants cannot pull down and white ants will not eat,&rdquo; said the
+sententious Goza, thereby intimating his belief that some time or other they
+would receive those blankets. As a matter of fact the survivors of the party
+and the families of the others did receive them after the war, for in dealing
+with natives I have always made a point of trying to fulfil any promise or
+engagement made for value received.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And now,&rdquo; went on Goza, &ldquo;will the Inkosi be pleased to
+start, as we have to travel far to-day?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Impossible,&rdquo; I replied. &ldquo;Before I leave I must eat, for who
+can journey upon yesterday&rsquo;s food? Also I must saddle my horse, collect
+what belongs to me, and bid farewell to my host, Zikali.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of meat we have plenty with us, Macumazahn, and therefore you will not
+hunger on the way. Your horse and everything that is yours shall be brought
+after you; since were you mounted on that swift beast and minded to escape, how
+could we catch you with our feet, and did you please to shoot us with your
+rifle, how could we who have only spears, save ourselves from dying? As for the
+Opener of Roads, his servants have told us that he means to sleep all to-day
+that he may talk with spirits in his dreams, and therefore it is useless for
+you to wait to bid him farewell. Moreover, the orders of the king are that we
+should bring you to him at once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this for a time there was silence, while I sat immovable revolving the
+situation, and the Zulus regarded me with a benignant interest. Goza took his
+snuff-box from his ear, shook out some into the palm of his hand and, after
+offering it to me in vain, inhaled it himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The orders of the king are (sneeze) that we should bring you to him
+alive if possible, and if not (sneeze) dead. Choose which you will, Macumazahn.
+Perhaps you may prefer to go to Ulundi dead, which would&mdash;ah! how strong
+is this snuff, it makes me weep like a woman&mdash;save you the trouble of
+walking. But if you prefer that we should carry you, be so good, Macumazahn,
+first to write the words which will cause the grey blankets to be delivered to
+us, for we know well that even your bones would desire to keep your promise. Is
+it not a proverb in the land from the time of the slaying of Bangu when you
+gave the cattle you had earned to Saduko&rsquo;s wanderers?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I listened and an idea occurred to me, as perhaps it had to Goza.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hear you, Goza,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;and I will start for Ulundi on
+my feet&mdash;to save <i>you</i> the trouble of carrying me. But as the times
+are rough and accidents may always happen; as, too, I wish to make sure that
+you should get those blankets, and it may chance that I shall arrive there on
+my back, first I will write words which, if they are delivered to the
+witch-doctoress Nombé, will, sooner or later, turn into blankets.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Write the words quickly, Macumazahn, and they will be delivered,&rdquo;
+said Goza.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I drew out my pocket-book and wrote&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;D<small>EAR</small> A<small>NSCOMBE</small>,&mdash;<br />
+    &ldquo;There is treachery afoot and I think that Zikali is at the bottom of
+it. I am being carried off to Cetewayo at Ulundi, by a party of armed Zulus who
+will not allow me to communicate with you, probably by Zikali&rsquo;s orders.
+You must do the best you can for Heda and yourself. Escape to Natal if you are
+able. Of course I will help if I get the chance, but if war is about to break
+out Cetewayo may kill me. I think that you can trust Nombé; also that Zikali
+does not wish to work you any ill unless he is obliged, though I have no doubt
+that he has trapped us here for some dark purpose of his own. Tell him through
+Nombé that if harm comes to you I will kill him if I live, and that if I die, I
+will settle the score with him afterwards. God save and bless you both. Keep up
+your courage and use your wits.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+&ldquo;Your friend,<br />
+&ldquo;A. Q.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I tore out the sheet, folded, addressed it and presented it to Goza, remarking
+that although it seemed to be but paper, it really was fourteen
+blankets&mdash;if given at once to Nombé.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He nodded and handed it to one of his men, who departed in the direction of our
+huts. So, thought I to myself, Nombé knows all about this business, which means
+that it is being worked by Zikali. That is why she spoke to me as she did last
+night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is time to start, Macumazahn, and I think you told us that you would
+prefer to do so on your feet,&rdquo; said Goza, looking suggestively at his
+spear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am ready,&rdquo; I said, rising because I must. For a moment I
+contemplated the door in the kraal fence, wondering whether it would be safe to
+bolt through it and take refuge with Zikali. No, it was not safe, since Zikali
+sat there in his hut pulling the strings and probably might refuse to see me.
+Moreover, it was likely enough that before I could find him one of those broad
+spears would find my heart. There was nothing to be done except submit. Still I
+did call out in a loud voice&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Farewell, Zikali. I leave you without a present against my will who am
+being taken by soldiers to visit the king at Ulundi. When we meet again I will
+talk all this matter over with you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no answer, and as Goza took the opportunity to say that he disliked
+the noise of shouting extremely, which sometimes made him do things that he
+afterwards regretted, I became silent. Then we departed, I in the exact centre
+of that guard of Zulus, heavy-hearted and filled with fears both for myself and
+those I left behind me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Down the Black Kloof we tramped, emerging on the sunlit plain beyond without
+meeting any one. A couple of miles further on we came to a small stream where
+Goza announced we would halt to eat. So we ate of cold toasted meat which one
+of the men produced from a basket he carried, unpalatable food but better than
+nothing. Just as we had finished I looked up and saw the soldier to whom my
+note had been given. He was leading my mare that had been saddled. On it were
+my large saddle-bags packed with my belongings, also my thick overcoat,
+mackintosh, waterbottle, and other articles down to a bag of tobacco, a spare
+pipe and a box of wax matches. Moreover, the man carried my double-barrelled
+Express rifle and a shot-gun that could be used for ball, together with two
+bags of cartridges. Practically nothing belonging to me had been forgotten.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I asked him who had collected the things. He replied the doctress Nombé had
+done so and had brought him the horse saddled to carry them. He did not know
+who saddled the horse as he had seen no one but Nombé to whom he had given the
+writing which she hid away. In answer to further questions, he said that Nombé
+had sent me a message. It was&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I bid farewell to Macumazahn for a little while and wish him good
+fortune till we meet again. Let him not be afraid in the battle, for even if he
+is hurt it will not be to death, since those go with him whom he cannot see,
+and protect him with their shields. Say to Macumazahn that I, Nombé, remember
+in the morning what I said in the night and that what seems to be quite lost is
+ofttimes found again. Wish him good fortune and tell him I am sorry that I had
+not time to cause his spare garments to be cleansed with water, but that I have
+been careful to find his little box with the white man&rsquo;s
+medicines.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I could extract nothing more from this soldier, who was either very stupid, or
+chose to appear so; nor indeed did I dare to put direct questions about the
+cart and those who travelled in it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Soon we marched again, for Goza would not allow me to ride the horse, fearing
+that I should escape on it. Nor would he let me carry either of the guns lest I
+should make use of them. All day we travelled, reaching the Nongoma heights in
+the late afternoon. On this beautiful spot we found a kraal situated where
+afterwards a magistracy was built when we conquered the country, whence there
+is one of the finest views in Zululand. There was no one in the kraal except
+two old women who appeared to be deaf and dumb for all I could get out of them.
+These aged dames, however, or others who were hidden, had made ready for our
+arrival, since a calf lay skinned and prepared for cooking, and by it big
+gourds filled with Kaffir beer and &ldquo;maas&rdquo; or curdled milk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In due course we ate of these provisions, and after we had finished I gave Goza
+a stiff tot of brandy, of which Nombé, or perhaps Anscombe, had thoughtfully
+sent a bottle with my other baggage. The strong liquor made the old fellow
+talkative and enabled me to get a good deal of information out of him. Thus I
+learned that certain demands, as to which he was rather vague, had been made
+upon Cetewayo by the English Government, and that the King was now considering
+whether he should accede to them or fight. The Great Council of the nation was
+summoned to attend at Ulundi within a few days, when the matter would be
+decided. Meanwhile all the regiments were being gathered, or, as we should say,
+mobilized; an army, said Goza, greater than any that Chaka had ever led.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I asked him what I had to do with this business, that I, a peaceful traveller
+and an old friend of the Zulus, should be made prisoner and dragged off to
+Ulundi. He replied he did not know who was not in the council of the High Ones,
+but he thought that Cetewayo the king wished to see me because I was their
+friend, perhaps that he might send me as a messenger to the white people. I
+asked him how the king knew that I was in the country, to which he replied that
+Zikali had told him I was coming, he did not know how, whereon he, Goza, was
+sent at once to fetch me. I could get no more out of him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wondered if it would be worth while to make him quite drunk and then attempt
+to escape on the horse, but gave up the idea. To begin with, his men were at
+hand and there was not enough brandy to make them all drunk. Also even if I
+succeeded in winning away here in the heart of Zululand, it would not help
+Anscombe or Heda and I should probably be cut off and killed before I could get
+out of the country. So I abandoned the plan and went to sleep instead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next morning we left Nongoma early in the hope of reaching Ulundi that evening
+if the Ivuna and Black Umfolozi Rivers proved fordable. As it chanced, although
+they were high, we were able to cross them, I seated on the horse which two of
+the Zulus led. Next we tramped for miles through the terrible Bekameezi Valley,
+a hot and desolate place which the Zulus swear is haunted. So unhealthy is this
+valley, which is the home of large game, that whole kraals full of people who
+have tried to cultivate the rich land, have died in it of fever, or fled away
+leaving their crops unreaped. Now no man dwells there. After this we climbed a
+terrible mount to the high land of Mahlabatini, and having eaten, pushed on
+once more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length we sighted the great hill-encircled plain of Ulundi which may be
+called the cradle of the Zulu race as, politically speaking, it was destined to
+be its coffin. On the ridge to the west once stood the Nobamba kraal where
+dwelt Senzangacona, the father of Chaka the Lion. Nearer to the White Umfolozi
+was Panda&rsquo;s dwelling-place, Nodwengu, which once I knew so well, while on
+the slope of the hills of the north-east stood the town of Ulundi in which
+Cetewayo dwelt, bathed in the lights of sunset.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Indeed it and all the vast plain were red as though with blood, red as they
+were destined to be on the coming day of the last battle of the Zulus.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br />
+CETEWAYO</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was dark when at last we reached the Ulundi kraal, for the growing moon was
+obscured by clouds. Therefore I could see nothing and was only aware, by the
+sound of voices and the continual challenging, that we were passing through
+great numbers of men. At length we were admitted at the eastern gate and I was
+taken to a hut where I at once flung myself down to sleep, being so weary that
+I could not attempt to eat. Next morning as I was finishing my breakfast in the
+little fenced courtyard of this guest-hut, Goza appeared and said that the king
+commanded me to be brought to him at once, adding that I must &ldquo;speak
+softly&rdquo; to him, as he was &ldquo;very angry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So off we went across the great cattle kraal where a regiment of young men, two
+thousand strong or so, were drilling with a fierce intensity which showed they
+knew that they were out for more than exercise. About the sides of the kraal
+also stood hundreds of soldiers, all of them talking and, it seemed to me,
+excited, for they stamped upon the ground and even jumped into the air to give
+point to their arguments. Suddenly some of them caught sight of me, whereon a
+tall, truculent fellow called out&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What does a white man at Ulundi at such a time, when even John Dunn dare
+not come? Let us kill him and send his head as a present to the English general
+across the Tugela. That will settle this long talk about peace or war.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Others of a like mind echoed this kind proposal, with the result that presently
+a score or so of them made a rush at me, brandishing their sticks, since they
+might not carry arms in the royal kraal. Goza did his best to keep them off,
+but was swept aside like a feather, or rather knocked over, for I saw him on
+his back with his thin legs in the air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must climb out of this pit by yourself,&rdquo; he began, addressing
+me in his pompous and figurative way. Then somebody stamped on his face, and
+fixing his teeth in his assailant&rsquo;s heel, he grew silent for a while.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The truculent blackguard, who was about six feet three high and had a mouth
+like a wolf&rsquo;s throat, arrived in front of me and, bending down, roared
+out&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We are going to kill you, White Man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had a pistol in my pocket and could perfectly well have killed him, as I was
+much tempted to do. A second&rsquo;s reflection showed me, however, that this
+would be useless, and in a sense put me in the wrong, though when the matter
+came on for argument it would interest me no more. So I just folded my arms
+and, looking up at him, said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, Black Man?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because your face is white,&rdquo; he roared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;because your heart is black and your eyes
+are so full of blood that you do not know Macumazahn when you see him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wow!&rdquo; said one, &ldquo;it is Watcher-by-Night whom our fathers
+knew before us. Leave him alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; shouted the great fellow, &ldquo;I will send him to watch
+where it is always night, I who keep a club for white rats,&rdquo; and he
+brandished his stick over me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now my temper rose. Watching my opportunity, I stretched out my right foot and
+hooked him round the ankle, at the same time striking up with all my force. My
+fist caught him beneath the chin and over he went backwards sprawling on the
+ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Son of a dog!&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;if a single stick touches me, at
+least you shall go first,&rdquo; and whipping out my revolver, I pointed it at
+him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He lay quiet enough, but how the matter would have ended I do not know, for
+passion was running high, had not Goza at this moment risen with a bleeding
+nose and called out&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Fools, would you kill the king&rsquo;s guest to whom the king himself
+has given safe-conduct. Surely you are pots full of beer, not men.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; answered one. &ldquo;This is the Place of Soldiers. The
+king&rsquo;s house is yonder. Give the old jackal a start of a length of ten
+assegais. If he reaches it first, he can shake hands with his friend, the king.
+If not we will make him into medicine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, yes, run for it, Jackal,&rdquo; clamoured the others, knocking
+their shields with their sticks, as men do who would frighten a buck, and
+opening out to make a road for me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now while all this was going on, with some kind of sixth sense I had noted a
+big man whose face was shrouded by a blanket thrown over his head, who very
+quietly had joined these drunken rioters, and vaguely wondered who he might be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will not run,&rdquo; I said slowly, &ldquo;that I may be saved by the
+king. Nay, I will die here, though some of you shall die first. Go to the king,
+Goza, and tell him how his servants have served his guest,&rdquo; and I lifted
+my pistol, waiting till the first stick touched me to put a bullet through the
+bully on the ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is no need,&rdquo; said a deep voice that proceeded from the
+draped man of whom I have spoken, &ldquo;for the king has come to see for
+himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the blanket was thrown back, revealing Cetewayo grown fat and much aged
+since last I saw him, but undoubtedly Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bayete!&rdquo; roared the mob in salute, while some of those who had
+been most active in the tumult tried to slip away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let no man stir,&rdquo; said Cetewayo, and they stood as though they
+were rooted to the ground, while I slipped my pistol back into my pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are you, White Man?&rdquo; he asked, looking at me, &ldquo;and what
+do you here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The King should know Macumazahn,&rdquo; I answered, lifting my hat,
+&ldquo;whom Dingaan knew, whom Panda knew well, and whom the King knew before
+he was a king.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I know you,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;although since we spoke
+together you have shrunk like an oxhide in the sun, and time has stained your
+beard white.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And the King has grown fat like the ox on summer grass. As for what I do
+here, did not the King send for me by Goza, and was I not brought like a baby
+in a blanket.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The last time we met,&rdquo; he went on, taking no heed of my words,
+&ldquo;was yonder at Nodwengu when the witch Mameena was tried for sorcery, she
+who made my brother mad and brought about the great battle, in which you fought
+for him with the Amawombe regiment. Do you not remember how she kissed you,
+Macumazahn, and took poison between the kisses, and how before she grew silent
+she spoke evil words to me, saying that I was doomed to pull down my own House
+and to die as she died, words that have haunted me ever since and now haunt me
+most of all? I wish to speak to you concerning them, Macumazahn, for it is said
+in the land that this beautiful witch loved you alone and that you only knew
+her mind.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I made no reply, who was heartily tired of this subject of Mameena whom no one
+seemed able to forget.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;we will talk of that matter alone, since
+it is not natural that you should wish to speak of your dead darlings before
+the world,&rdquo; and with a wave of the hand he put the matter aside. Then
+suddenly his attitude changed. His face, that had been thoughtful and almost
+soft, became fierce, his form seemed to swell and he grew terrible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What was that dog doing?&rdquo; he asked of Goza, pointing to the brute
+whom I had knocked down and who still lay prostrate on his back, afraid to
+stir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O King,&rdquo; answered Goza, &ldquo;he was trying to kill Macumazahn
+because he is a white man, although I told him that he was your guest, being
+brought to you by the royal command. He was trying to kill him by giving him a
+start of ten spears&rsquo; length and making him run to the isigodhlo (the
+king&rsquo;s house) and beating him to death with the sticks of these men if
+they caught him, which, as he is old and they are young, they must have done.
+Only the Watcher-by-Night would not run; no, although he is so small he knocked
+him to the earth with his fist, and there he lies. That is all, O King.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Rise, dog,&rdquo; said Cetewayo, and the man rose trembling with fear,
+and, being bidden, gave his name, which I forget.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen, dog,&rdquo; went on the king in the same cold voice. &ldquo;What
+Goza says is true, for I saw and heard it all with my eyes and ears. You would
+have made yourself as the king. You dared to try to kill the king&rsquo;s guest
+to whom he had given safe-conduct, and to stain the king&rsquo;s doorposts with
+his blood, thereby defiling his house and showing him to the white people as a
+murderer of one of them whom he had promised to protect. Macumazahn, do
+<i>you</i> say how he shall die, and I will have it done.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not wish him to die,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;I think that he and
+those with him were drunk. Let him go, O King.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aye, Macumazahn, I will let him go. See now, we are in the centre of the
+cattle-kraal, and to the eastern gate is as far as to the isigodhlo. Let this
+man have a start of ten spears&rsquo; length and run to the eastern gate, as he
+would have made Macumazahn run to the king&rsquo;s house, and let his
+companions, those who would have hunted Macumazahn, hunt him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If he wins through to the gate he can go on to the Government in Natal
+and tell them of the cruelty of the Zulus. Only then, let those who hunted him
+be brought before me for trial and perhaps we shall see how <i>they</i> can
+run.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now the poor wretch caught hold of my hand, begging me to intercede for him,
+but soldiers who had come up dragged him away and, having measured the distance
+allowed him, set him on a mark made upon the ground. Presently at a word off he
+sped like an arrow, and after him went his friends, ten or more of them. I
+think they caught him just by the gate doubling like a hare, or so the shouts
+of laughter from the watching regiment told me, for myself I would not look.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That dog ate his own stomach,&rdquo; said Cetewayo grimly, thereby
+indicating in native fashion that the biter had been bit or the engineer hoist
+with his petard. &ldquo;It is long since there has been a war in the land, and
+some of these young soldiers who have never used an assegai save to skin an ox
+or cut the head from a chicken, shout too loud and leap too high. Now they will
+be quieter, and while you stay here you may walk where you will in safety,
+Macumazahn,&rdquo; he added thoughtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then dismissing the matter from his mind, as we white people dismiss any
+trivial incident in a morning stroll, he talked for a few minutes to the
+commanding officer of the regiment that was drilling, who ran up to make some
+report to him, and walked back towards the isigodhlo, beckoning me to follow
+with Goza.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After waiting for a little while outside the gate in the surrounding fence, a
+body-servant ordered us to enter, which we did to find the king seated on the
+shady side of his big hut quite alone. At a sign I also sat myself down upon a
+stool that had been set for me, while Goza, whose nose was still bleeding,
+squatted at my side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your manners are not so good as they were once, Macumazahn,&rdquo; said
+Cetewayo presently, &ldquo;or perhaps you have been so long away from the royal
+kraal that you have forgotten its customs.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stared at him, wondering what he could mean, whereon he added with a
+laugh&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is that in your pocket? Is it not a loaded pistol, and do you not
+remember that it is death to appear before the king armed? Now I might kill you
+and have no blame, although you are my guest, for who knows that you are not
+sent by the English Queen to shoot me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I ask the King&rsquo;s pardon,&rdquo; I said humbly enough. &ldquo;I did
+not think about the pistol. Let your servants take it away.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps it is safer in your pocket, where I saw you place it in the
+cattle-kraal, Macumazahn, than in their hands, which do not know how to hold
+such things. Moreover, I know that you are not one who stabs in the dark, even
+when our peoples growl round each other like two dogs about to fight, and if
+you were, in this place your life would have to pay for mine. There is beer by
+your side; drink and fear nothing. Did you see the Opener of Roads, Goza, and
+if so, what is his answer to my message?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O King, I saw him,&rdquo; answered Goza. &ldquo;The Father of the
+doctors, the friend and master of the Spirits, says he has heard the
+King&rsquo;s word, yes, that he heard it as it passed the King&rsquo;s lips,
+and that although he is very old, he will travel to Ulundi and be present at
+the Great Council of the nation which is to be summoned on the eighth day from
+this, that of the full moon. Yet he makes a prayer of the King. It is that a
+place may be prepared for him, for his people and for his servants who carry
+him, away from this town of Ulundi, where he may sojourn quite alone, a decree
+of death being pronounced against any who attempt to break in upon his privacy,
+either where he dwells or upon his journey. These are his very words, O King:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;I, who am the most ancient man in Zululand, dwell with the
+spirits of my fathers, who will not suffer strangers to come nigh them and who,
+if they are offended, will bring great woes upon the land. Moreover, I have
+sworn that while there is a king in Zululand and I draw the breath of life,
+never again will I set foot in a royal kraal, because when last I did so at the
+slaying of the witch, Mameena, the king who is dead thought it well to utter
+threats against me, and never more will I, the Opener of Roads, be threatened
+by a mortal. Therefore if the King and his Council seek to drink of the water
+of my wisdom, it must be in the place and hour of my own choosing. If this
+cannot be, let me abide here in my house and let the King seek light from other
+doctors, since mine shall remain as a lamp to my own heart.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I saw that these words greatly disturbed Cetewayo who feared Zikali, as
+indeed did all the land.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What does the old wizard mean?&rdquo; he asked angrily. &ldquo;He lives
+alone like a bat in a cave and for years has been seen of none. Yet as a bat
+flies forth at night, ranging far and wide in search of prey, so does his
+spirit seem to fly through Zululand. Everywhere I hear the same word. It
+is&mdash;&lsquo;What says the Opener of Roads?&rsquo; It is&mdash;&lsquo;How
+can aught be done unless the Opener of Roads has declared that it shall be
+done, he who was here before the Black One (Chaka) was born, he who it is said
+was the friend of Inkosi Umkulu, the father of the Zulus who died before our
+great-grandfathers could remember; he who has all knowledge and is almost a
+spirit, if indeed he be not a spirit?&rsquo; I ask you, Macumazahn, who are his
+friend, what does he mean, and why should I not kill him and be done?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O King,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;in the days of your uncle Dingaan,
+when Dingaan slew the Boers who were his guests, and thus began the war between
+the White and the Black, I, who was a lad, heard the laughter of Zikali for the
+first time yonder at the kraal Ungungundhlovu, I who rode with Retief and
+escaped the slaughter, but his face I did not see. Many years later, in the
+days of Panda your father, I saw his face and therefore you name me his friend.
+Yet this friend who drew me to visit him, perhaps by your will, O King, has now
+caused me to be brought here to Ulundi doubtless by your will, O King, but
+against my own, for who wishes to come to a town where he is well-nigh slain by
+the first brawler he meets in the cattle kraal?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet you were not slain, Macumazahn, and perhaps you do not know all the
+story of that brawler,&rdquo; replied Cetewayo almost humbly, like one who begs
+pardon, though the rest of what I had said he ignored. &ldquo;But still you are
+Zikali&rsquo;s friend, for between you and him there is a rope which enabled
+him to draw you to Zululand, which rope I have heard called by a woman&rsquo;s
+name. Therefore by the spirit of that woman, which still can draw you like a
+rope, I charge you, tell me&mdash;what does this old wizard mean, and why
+should I not kill him and be rid of one who haunts my heart like an evil vision
+of the night and, as I sometimes think, is an <i>umtakati</i>, an evil-doer,
+who would work ill to me and all my House, yes, and to all my people?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How should I know what he means, O King?&rdquo; I answered with
+indignation, though in fact I could guess well enough. &ldquo;As for killing
+him, cannot the King kill whom he will? Yet I remember that once I heard your
+father ask much the same question and of Zikali himself, saying that he was
+minded to find out whether or no he were mortal like other men. I remember also
+Zikali answered that there was a saying that when the Opener of Roads came to
+the end of his road, there would be no more a king of Zululand, as there was
+none when first he set foot upon his road. Now I have spoken, who am a white
+man and do not understand your sayings.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I remember it also, Macumazahn, who was present at the time,&rdquo; he
+replied heavily. &ldquo;My father feared this Zikali and his father feared him,
+and I have heard that the Black One himself, who feared nothing, feared him
+also. And I, too, fear him, so much that I dare not make up my mind upon a
+great matter without his counsel, lest he should bewitch me and the nation and
+bring us to nothing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused, then turning to Goza, asked, &ldquo;Did the Opener of Roads tell you
+where he wished to dwell when he comes to visit me here at Ulundi?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O King,&rdquo; answered Goza, &ldquo;yonder in the hills, not further
+away than an aged man can walk in the half of an hour, is a place called the
+Valley of Bones, because there in the days of those who went before the King,
+and even in the King&rsquo;s day, many evildoers have been led to die. Zikali
+would dwell in this Valley of Bones, and there and nowhere else would meet the
+King and the Great Council, not in the daylight but after sunset when the moon
+has risen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why,&rdquo; said Cetewayo, starting, &ldquo;the place is ill-omened and,
+they say, haunted, one that no man dares to approach after the fall of darkness
+for fear lest the ghosts of the dead should leap upon him gibbering.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such were the words of the Opener of Roads, O King,&rdquo; replied Goza.
+&ldquo;There and nowhere else will he meet the King, and there he demands that
+three huts should be built to shelter him and his folk and stored with all
+things needful. If this be not granted to him, then he refuses to visit the
+King or to give counsel to the nation.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So be it then,&rdquo; said Cetewayo. &ldquo;Send messengers to the
+Opener of Roads, Goza, saying that what he desires shall be done. Let my
+command go out that under pain of death none spy upon him while he journeys
+hither or returns. Let the huts be built forthwith, and when it is known that
+he is coming, let food in plenty be placed in them and afterwards morning by
+morning taken to the mouth of the valley. Bid him announce his arrival and the
+hour he chooses for our meeting by messenger. Begone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Goza leapt up, gave the royal salute, and retreated backwards from the presence
+of the king, leaving us alone. I also rose to depart, but Cetewayo motioned to
+me to be seated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;the Great Queen&rsquo;s man who has
+come to Natal (Sir Bartle Frere) threatens me with war because two evil-doing
+women were taken on the Natal side of the Tugela and brought back to Zululand
+and killed by Mehlokazulu, being the wives of his father, Sirayo, which was
+done without my knowledge. Also two white men were driven away from an island
+in the Tugela River by some of my soldiers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is that all, O King?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No. The Queen&rsquo;s man says I kill my people without trial, which is
+a lie told him by the missionaries, and that girls have been killed also who
+refused to marry those to whom they were given and ran away with other men.
+Also that wizards are smelt out and slain, which happens but rarely now; all of
+this contrary to the promises I made to Sompseu when he came to recognize me as
+king upon my father&rsquo;s death, and some other such small matters.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is demanded if you would avoid war, O King?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing less than this, Macumazahn: That the Zulu army should be
+abolished and the soldiers allowed to marry whom and when they please, because,
+says the Queen&rsquo;s man, he fears lest it should be used to attack the
+English, as though I who love the English, as those have done who went before
+me, desire to lay a finger on them. Also that another Queen&rsquo;s man should
+be sent to dwell here in my country, to be the eyes and ears of the English
+Government and have power with me in the land; yes, and more demands which
+would destroy the Zulus as a people and make me, their king, but a petty
+kraal-head.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what will the King answer?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know not what to answer. The fine of two thousand cattle I will pay
+for the killing of the women. If it may be, I wish no quarrel with the English,
+though gladly I would have fought the Dutch had not Sompseu stretched out his
+arm over their land. But how can I disband the army and make an end of the
+regiments that have conquered in so many wars? Macumazahn, I tell you that if I
+did this, in a moon I should be dead. Oh! you white people think there is but
+one will in Zululand, that of the king. But it is not so, for he is but a
+single man among ten thousand thousand, who lives to work the people&rsquo;s
+wish. If he beats them with too thick a stick, or if he brings them to shame or
+does what the most of them do not wish, then where is the king? Then, I say, he
+goes a road that was trodden by Chaka and Dingaan who were before me, yes, the
+red road of the assegai. Therefore today, I stand like a man between two
+falling cliffs. If I run towards the English the Zulu cliff falls upon me. If I
+run towards my own people, the English cliff falls upon me, and in either case
+I am crushed and no more seen. Tell me then, Macumazahn, you whose heart is
+honest, what must I do?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So he spoke, wringing his hands, with tears starting to his eyes, and upon my
+word, although I never liked Cetewayo as I had liked his father, Panda, perhaps
+because I loved his brother, Umbelazi, whom he killed, and had known him do
+many cruel deeds, my heart bled for him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot tell you, King,&rdquo; I answered, thinking that I must say
+something, &ldquo;but I pray you do not make war against the queen, for she is
+the most mighty One in the whole earth, and though her foot, of which you see
+but the little toe here in Africa, seems small to you, yet if she is angered,
+it will stamp the Zulus flat, so that they cease to be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Many have told me this, Macumazahn. Yes, even Uhamu, the son of my uncle
+Unzibe, or, as some say, the son of his spirit, to which his mother was married
+after Unzibe was dead, and others throughout the land, and in truth I think it
+myself. But who can hold the army which shouts for war? <i>Ow!</i> the Council
+must decide, which means perhaps that Zikali will decide, for now all hang upon
+his lips.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I am sorry,&rdquo; I exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at me shrewdly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you? So am I. Yet his counsel must be asked, and better that it
+should be here in my presence than yonder secretly at the Black Kloof. I would
+kill him if I dared, but I dare not, who am sure&mdash;why I may not
+say&mdash;that the same sun will see his death and mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He waved his hand to show that the talk on this matter was ended, then
+added&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn, you are my prisoner for a while, but give me your word that
+you will not try to escape and you may go where you will within an hour&rsquo;s
+ride of Ulundi. I would pay you well to stop here with me, but this I know you
+would never do should there be trouble between us and your people. Therefore I
+promise you that if war breaks out I will send you safely to Natal, or perhaps
+sooner, as my messenger, whence doubtless you will return to fight against me.
+Know that I have given orders that every other white man or woman who is found
+in Zululand shall be killed as a spy. Even John Dunn has fled or is flying, or
+so I hear, John Dunn who has fed out of my hand and grown rich on my gifts. You
+yourself would have been killed as you came from Swazi-Land in your cart, had
+not command been sent to those chiefs through whose lands you passed that
+neither they nor their people were so much as to look at you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now for one intense moment I thought, as hard as ever I had done in my life. It
+was evident&mdash;unless he were dealing very cunningly with me, which I did
+not believe&mdash;that Cetewayo knew nothing of Anscombe and Heda, but thought
+that I had come into Zululand alone. Should I or should I not tell him and beg
+his protection for them? If I did so he might refuse or be unable to give it to
+them far away in the midst of a savage population aflame with the lust of war.
+As the incident of the morning showed, it was as much as he could do to protect
+myself, although the Zulus knew me for their friend. On the other hand no one
+who dwelt under Zikali&rsquo;s blanket, to use the Kaffir idiom, would be
+touched, because he was looked on as half divine and therefore everything under
+it down to the rat in his thatch was sacred. Now Zikali by implication and
+Nombé with emphasis, had promised to safeguard these two. Surely, therefore,
+they would run less risk in the Black Kloof than here at Ulundi, if ever they
+got so far.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All this went through my brain in an instant, with the result that I made up my
+mind to say nothing. As the issue proved, this was a terrible mistake, but who
+can always judge rightly? Had I spoken out it seems to me probable that
+Cetewayo would have granted my prayer and ordered that these two should be
+escorted out of Zululand before hostilities began, although of course they
+might have been murdered on the way. Also, for a reason that will become
+evident later, it is possible that there would never have been any hostilities.
+All I can plead is, that I acted for the best and Fate would have it so.
+Another moment and the chance was gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The gate opened and a body-servant appeared announcing that one of the great
+captains with some of his officers waited to see the king. Cetewayo made a
+sign, whereon the servant called out something, and they entered, three or four
+of them, saluting loudly. Seeing me they stopped and stared, whereon Cetewayo
+shortly, but with much clearness, repeated to them and to an induna who
+accompanied them, what he had already said to me, namely that I was his guest,
+sent for by him that he might use me as a messenger if he thought fit. He added
+that the man who dared to speak a word against me, or even to look at me
+askance, should pay the price with his life, however high his station, and he
+commanded that the heralds should proclaim this his decree throughout Ulundi
+and the neighbouring kraals. Then he held out his hand to me in token of
+friendship, bidding me to &ldquo;go softly&rdquo; and come to see him whenever
+I wished, and dismissed me in charge of the induna, one of the captains and
+some soldiers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Within five minutes of reaching my hut I heard a loud-voiced crier proclaiming
+the order of the king and knew that I had no more to fear.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br />
+THE VALLEY OF BONES</h2>
+
+<p>
+The week that followed my interview with Cetewayo was indeed a miserable time
+for me. For myself, as I have said, I had no fear, for the king&rsquo;s orders
+were strictly obeyed. Moreover, the tale of what had happened to the brute who
+wished to hunt me down in the cattle-kraal had travelled far and wide and none
+sought to share his fate. My hut was inviolate and well supplied with necessary
+food, as was my mare, and I could wander where I liked and talk with whom I
+would. I could even ride to exercise the horse, though this I did very
+sparingly and only in the immediate neighbourhood of the town for fear of
+exciting suspicion or meeting Zulus whom the king&rsquo;s word had not reached.
+Indeed on these occasions I was always accompanied by a guard of swift-footed
+and armed soldiers sent &ldquo;to protect me,&rdquo; or more probably to kill
+me if I did anything that seemed suspicious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the course of my rambles I met sundry natives whom I had known in the old
+days, some of them a long while ago. They all seemed glad to see me and were
+quite ready to talk of past times, but of the present they would say little or
+nothing, except that they were certain there would be war. Of Anscombe and Heda
+I could hear nothing, and indeed did not dare to make any direct inquiries
+concerning them, but several reliable men assured me that the last missionaries
+and traders having departed, there was not a white man, woman or child left in
+Zululand except myself. It was &ldquo;all black&rdquo; they said, referring to
+the colour of their people, as it had been before the time of Chaka. So I was
+forced to eat out my heart with anxiety in silence, hoping and praying that
+Zikali had played an honest part and sent them away safely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Why should he not have done so, seeing that it was my presence he had desired,
+not theirs? They were only taken, or rather snared, because they were with me
+and could not be separated, or so I believed at the time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One ray of comfort I did get. About the fifth day after my interview I saw
+Goza, who told me that the king&rsquo;s messengers were back from the Black
+Kloof and had brought &ldquo;a word&rdquo; for me from Zikali himself. The word
+was&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bid Goza say to Macumazahn that I was sorry not to see him to say
+good-bye, because that morning I slept heavily. Bid him say that I am glad he
+has seen the king, since for this purpose I sought his presence in Zululand.
+Bid him say that he is to fear nothing, and that if his heart is heavy about
+others whom he loves, he should make it light again, since the Spirits have
+them in their keeping as they have him, and never were they or he more safe
+than they are to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I looked at Goza and asked if I could see this messenger. He replied, No,
+as he had already been despatched upon another errand. Then I asked him if the
+messenger had said anything else. He answered, Yes, one thing that he had
+forgotten, namely that the writing about blankets should now be in Natal. Then
+suddenly he changed the subject and asked me if I would like to accompany him
+to the Valley of Bones where he was ordered to inspect the huts which were
+being built for Zikali and his people. Of course I said I should, hoping, quite
+without result, that I might get something more out of him on the road.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now this town of Cetewayo&rsquo;s stands, or rather stood, for it has long been
+burnt, on the slope of the hills to the north-east of the plains of Ulundi.
+Above it these hills grow steeper, and deep in the recesses of one of them is
+the Valley of Bones. There is nothing particularly imposing about the place; no
+towering cliffs or pillars of piled granite, as at the Black Kloof. It is just
+a vale cut out by water, bordered by steep slopes on either side, and a still
+steeper slope strown with large rocks at its end. Dotted here and there on
+these slopes grew tall aloes that from a little distance looked like scattered
+men, whereof the lower leaves were shrivelled and blackened by veld fires. Also
+there were a few euphorbias, grey, naked-looking things that end in points like
+fingers on a hand, and among them some sparse thorn trees, struggling to live
+in an inhospitable soil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The place has one peculiarity. Jutting into it from the hillside is a ridge or
+spur, sixty or seventy yards in length by perhaps twenty broad, that ends in a
+flat point of rock which stands about forty feet above the level of the rest of
+the little valley. On this ridge also grew tall aloes until near its extremity
+the soil ceased, or had been washed away from the water-worn core of rock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was, and no doubt still is, a desolate-looking spot, at any rate for most of
+the day when owing to the shadow of the surrounding hills, it receives but
+little sun. Everything about it, especially when I was there in a time of rain,
+seemed dank and miserable, although the flat floor of the kloof was clothed
+with a growth of tall, coarse grass, and weeds that bore an evil-smelling
+flower. Perhaps some sense of appropriateness had caused the Zulu kings to
+choose this lonesome, deathly-looking gorge as one of their execution grounds.
+At any rate many had been slain here, for skulls and the larger human bones,
+some of them black with age, lay all about among the grass, as they had been
+scattered by hyenas and jackals. They were particularly thick beneath and
+around the table-like rock that I have mentioned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Goza told me that this was because the King&rsquo;s Slayers made a custom of
+dragging the victim along the projecting tongue to the edge of this rock and
+hurling him, either dead or living, to the ground beneath; or, in the case of
+witches; driving them over after they had been blinded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such was the spot that Zikali had selected to abide in during his visit to
+Ulundi. Certainly where privacy was an object it was well chosen, for, as
+Cetewayo had said and as Goza emphasized to me, it had the repute of being the
+most thoroughly haunted place in all Zululand, with the sole exception,
+perhaps, of the ridge opposite to Dingaan&rsquo;s old kraal where once I shot
+the vultures for my life and those of my companions.<a href="#fn-14.1" name="fnref-14.1" id="fnref-14.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>
+Even in the daytime people gave it a wide berth, and at night nothing would
+induce them to approach it, at any rate alone.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn-14.1" id="fn-14.1"></a> <a href="#fnref-14.1">[1]</a>
+See the book called <i>Marie,</i> by H. Rider Haggard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here to one side of and near the root of the tongue of land of which I have
+spoken, the huts that Zikali had demanded for himself and his company were
+being rapidly built, close to a spring of water, by a large body of men who
+laboured as though they wished to be done with their task. Also about half way
+up the donga, for really it was nothing more, at a distance of perhaps five and
+twenty paces from its flat point whence the condemned were hurled, a circular
+space of ground had been cleared and levelled which was large enough to
+accommodate fifty or sixty men. On this space, Goza told me, the King and the
+Council were to sit when they came to seek light from Zikali.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In my heart I reflected that the light they were likely to get from him would
+be such as may be supposed to be thrown by hell fire. For be it remembered I
+knew what these people never seemed to understand, that Zikali was the most
+bitter of their enemies. To begin with, he was of Undwandwe blood, one of the
+people whom the great king Chaka had destroyed. Then this same Chaka had robbed
+him of his wives and murdered his children, in revenge for which he had plotted
+the slaying of Chaka, as he did that of his brothers, Umhlangana and Dingaan,
+the latter of whom he involved in a quarrel with the Boers. Subsequently he
+brought about the war between the princes Cetewayo and Umbelazi, in which I
+played a part.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I was certain that he intended to bring about another war between the
+English and the Zulus, knowing well that in the end the latter would be
+destroyed, and with them the royal House of Senzangacona which he had sworn to
+level with the dust. Had he not told me as much years ago, and was he one to go
+back upon his word? Had he not used Mameena with her beauty and ambitions as
+his tool, and when she was of no further service to him, given her to death, as
+he had used scores of others and in due season given them to death? Was I not
+myself perhaps one of those tools destined to be thrown into the pit of doom
+when my turn came, though in what way I could help his plots was more than I
+could see, since he knew well that I should do my best to oppose him? Oh! I had
+half a mind to go to Cetewayo and tell him all I knew about Zikali, even if it
+involved the breaking of confidences.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But stay! Even if I were believed, this far-seeing wizard held hostages for my
+good behaviour, and if I betrayed him what would happen to those hostages? He
+sent me messages saying that they were safe, suggesting that they had escaped
+to Natal. How was I to know that these were true? I was utterly bewildered; I
+could not guess why I had been beguiled into Zululand, and I dared not step
+either this way or that for fear lest I should fall into some pit dug by his
+cunning hands and, what was worse, drag down others with me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moreover, was this man quite human, or perhaps an emissary of Satan upon earth
+who had knowledge denied to other men and a certain mastery over the Powers of
+Ill? Again I could not say. His term of life seemed to be extraordinarily
+prolonged, though none knew how old exactly he might be. Also he had a
+wonderful knowledge of what was passing in the minds of others, and by his
+arts, as I had experienced only the other day, could summon up apparitions or
+illusions before their eyes. Further, he was aware of events which had happened
+at a distance and could send or read dreams, since otherwise how did Nombé know
+what I had dreamt at Marnham&rsquo;s house? Lastly he could foretell the
+future, as once he had done in my own case, prophecying that I should be
+injured by a buffalo with a split horn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet all of this might be nothing more than a mixture of keen observation,
+clever spying, trickery and mesmerism. I could not say which it was, nor can I
+with certainty to this hour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such were the thoughts that passed through my mind as I walked back from the
+Vale of Bones by the side of the big-paunched Goza, whom I caught eyeing me
+from time to time as a curious crow eyes any object that has attracted his
+attention.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Goza,&rdquo; I said at last, &ldquo;do the Zulus really mean to fight
+the English?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He turned and pointed to a spot where the hills ran down into the great plain.
+Here two regiments were manoeuvring. One of these held the slopes of the hill
+and the other was attacking them from the plain, so fiercely that at a distance
+their onslaught looked like that of actual warfare.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That looks like fighting, does it not, Macumazahn?&rdquo; he replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Goza, yet it may be but play.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite so, Macumazahn. It may be fighting or it may be but play. Am I a
+prophet that I should be able to say which it is? Of that there is but one man
+in Zululand who knows the truth. It is he for whom the new huts are being built
+up yonder.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You think he really knows, Goza?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Macumazahn, I do not think, I am sure. He is the greatest of all
+wizards, as he was when my father held on to his mother&rsquo;s apron. He pulls
+the strings and the Great-ones of the country dance. If he wishes war, there
+will be war. If he wishes peace, there will be peace.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And which does he wish, Goza?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought perhaps you could tell me that, Macumazahn, who, he says, are
+such an old friend of his; also why he chooses to sojourn in a dark hole among
+the dead instead of in the sunshine among the living, here at Ulundi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I cannot, Goza, since the Opener of Roads does not open his heart
+to me but keeps his secrets to himself. For the rest, those who talk with the
+dead may prefer to dwell among the dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now as always you speak truth, Macumazahn,&rdquo; said Goza, looking at
+me in a way which suggested to me that he believed I spoke anything but the
+truth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Indeed I am convinced he thought that I was in the council of Zikali and
+acquainted with his plans. Also I am sure he knew that I had not come to
+Zululand alone, the incident of the blankets, which I had promised to him a
+bribe to keep silence, showed it, and suspected that my companions were parties
+to some plot together with myself. And yet at the time I could not be quite
+sure, and therefore dared not ask anything concerning them lest thus I should
+reveal their existence and bring them to death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As a matter of fact I need not have been anxious on this point, since if Goza,
+who I may state, was a kind of secret service officer as well as a head
+messenger, knew, as I think probable, he had been commanded by Zikali to hold
+his tongue under penalty of a curse. Perhaps the same was true of the soldiers
+who had come with him to take me to Ulundi. The hint of Zikali was as powerful
+as the word of the king, since they, like thousands of others, believed that
+whereas Cetewayo could kill them, Zikali, like Satan, could blast their spirits
+as well as their bodies. But how was I to guess all these things at that time?
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+During the next two days nothing happened, though I heard that there had been
+one if not two meetings of the Council at the King&rsquo;s House during which
+the position of affairs was discussed. Cetewayo I did not see, although twice
+he sent messengers to me bringing gifts of food, who were charged to inquire
+whether I was well and happy and if any had offered me hurt or insult. To these
+I answered that I was well and unmolested but not happy, who grew lonesome,
+being but a solitary white man among so many thousands of the Zulus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the third morning, that of the day of the full moon, Goza came and informed
+me that Zikali had arrived at the Valley of Bones before dawn. I asked him how
+he, who was so old and feeble, had walked so far. He answered that he had not
+walked, or so he understood, but had been carried in a litter, or rather in two
+litters, one for himself and one for his &ldquo;spirit.&rdquo; This staggered
+me even where Zikali was concerned, and I inquired what on earth Goza meant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn, how can I tell you who only know what I myself am
+told?&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Such is the report that the Opener of Roads
+has made himself by messengers to the king. None have seen him, for he journeys
+only in the night. Moreover, when Zikali passes all men are blind and even
+women&rsquo;s tongues grow dumb. Perchance by &lsquo;his spirit&rsquo; he means
+his medicine or the witch-doctoress, Nombé, whom folks say he created, since
+none have seen her father or her mother, or heard who begat her; or perchance
+his snake is hid behind the mats of the second litter, if in truth there was
+one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be so,&rdquo; I said, feeling that it was useless to pursue the
+matter. &ldquo;Now, Goza, I would see Zikali and at once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That cannot be, Macumazahn, since he has given out that he will see no
+one, who rests after his journey, and the king has issued orders that any who
+attempt to approach the Valley of Bones shall die, even if they be of the royal
+blood. Yes, if so much as a dog dares to draw near that place, it must die. The
+soldiers who ring it round have killed one already, so strict are the orders,
+also a boy who went towards it searching for a calf, which I think a bad
+omen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I will send a message to him,&rdquo; I persisted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do so,&rdquo; mocked Goza. &ldquo;Look, yonder sails a vulture. Ask it
+to take your message, for nothing else will. Be not foolish, Macumazahn, but
+have patience, for to-night you shall see the Opener of Roads when he attends
+the Council of the king in the Valley of Bones. This is the order of the
+king&mdash;that at the rising of the moon I lead you thither, so that you may
+be present at the Council in case he wishes to ask you any questions about the
+White People or to give you any message to the Government in Natal. Therefore
+at sunset I will come for you. Till then, farewell. I have business that cannot
+wait.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can I see the king?&rdquo; I cried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so, Macumazahn. All to-day he makes sacrifice to the spirits of his
+ancestors and must not be approached,&rdquo; Goza called back as he departed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Availing myself of the permission of the king to go where I would, a little
+later in the day I walked out of the town towards the Valley of Bones in order
+to ascertain for myself whether what Goza had told me was true. So it proved,
+for about three hundred yards from the mouth of the valley, which at that
+distance looked like a black hole in the hills, I found soldiers stationed
+about ten paces apart in a great circle which ran right up the hillside and
+vanished over the crest. Strolling up to one of these, whose face I thought I
+knew, I asked him if he would let me pass to see my friend, the Opener of
+Roads.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man, who was something of a humourist replied&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly if you wish, Macumazahn. That is to say, I will let your
+spirit pass, but to do this, if you come one step nearer I must first make a
+hole in you with my spear out of which it can fly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I thanked him for his information and gave him some snuff, which he took
+gratefully, being bored by his long vigil. Then I asked him how many people the
+great witch-doctor had with him. He said he did not know, but he had seen a
+number of tall men come to the mouth of the donga to fetch food that had been
+placed there. Again I inquired if he had seen any women, whereon he replied
+none, Zikali being, he understood, too old to trouble himself about the other
+sex. Just then an officer, making his rounds, came up and looked at me so
+sternly that I thought it well to retreat. Evidently there was no chance of
+getting through that line.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On my way back I walked as near the fence of the King&rsquo;s House as I dared,
+and saw witch-doctors passing in and out in their hideous official panoply.
+This told me that here also Goza had spoken the truth&mdash;the king was
+performing magical ceremonies, which meant that it would be impossible to
+approach him. In every direction I met with failure. The Fates were against me;
+it lay over me like a spell. Indeed I grew superstitious and began to think
+that Zikali had bewitched me, as he was said to have the power to do. Well,
+perhaps he had, for the mere fact of finding myself opposed by this persistent
+wall of difficulties and silence convinced me that there was something behind
+it to be learned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I went back very dejected to my hut and talked to my mare which whinnied and
+rubbed its nose against me, for although it was well fed and looked after, the
+poor beast seemed as lonely as I was myself. No wonder, since like myself it
+was separated from all its kind and weary of inaction. After this I ate and
+smoked and finally dozed, no more, for whenever I tried to go to sleep I
+thought that I heard Zikali laughing at me, as mayhap he was doing yonder in
+his hut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length that wearisome day drew towards its end. The sun began to sink, a
+huge red ball of fire, now and again veiled by clouds, for the sky was stormy.
+Its fierce rays, striking upon other clouds, peopled the enormous heavens with
+fantastic shapes of light which were thickest over the hills wherein was the
+Valley of Bones. To my strained mind these clouds looked like battling armies,
+figures of flame warring against figures of darkness. The darkness won; no, the
+light broke out again and conquered it. And see, there above them both squatted
+a strange black presence crowned with fire. It might have been that of Zikali
+magnified ten thousand times, and hark! it laughed with the low reverberating
+voice of distant thunder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suddenly I felt that I was no longer alone and looking round, saw Goza at my
+side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you see up there, Macumazahn, that you stare so hard?&rdquo; he
+asked, pointing at the sky with his stick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Impis fighting,&rdquo; I answered briefly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then you must be a &lsquo;heaven-doctor,&rsquo; Macumazahn, for I only
+see black and red clouds. Well, it is time to go to learn whether or no the
+impis will fight, for Zikali awaits us and the Council has started already. By
+the way, the king says that you will do well to put your pistol in your pocket
+in case any should seek to harm you in the dark.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is there. But, Goza, I pray you to protect me, since in the dark
+bullets fly wide, and if I began to shoot, one might hit you, Goza.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He smiled, making no answer, but I noticed that during the rest of that night
+he was careful to keep behind me as much as possible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our way led us through the town where everybody seemed to be standing about
+doing nothing and speaking very little. There was a curious air of expectancy
+upon their faces. They knew that the crisis was at hand, that their
+nation&rsquo;s fate hung upon the scales, and they watched my every look and
+movement as though in them they expected to read an omen. I too watched them
+out of the corners of my eyes, wondering whether I should escape from their
+savage company alive. If once the blood lust broke out among them, it seemed to
+me that I should have about as much chance as a chopped fox among a pack of
+hungry hounds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once out of the town we saw no one until we came to the circle of guards which
+I have already mentioned, who stood there like an endless line of black
+statues. In answer to their challenge Goza gave some complicated password in
+which my name occurred, whereon they opened out and let us through. Then we
+marched on to the mouth of the kloof. The place was very dark, for now the sun
+was down in the west and the moon in the east was cut off from us by the hills
+and would not be visible here for half an hour or more. Presently I saw a spot
+of light. It was a small fire burning near the tongue of rock which I have
+described.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At a distance, in front of the fire on the patch of prepared ground, squatted a
+number of men, between twenty and thirty of them, in a semicircle. They were
+wrapped up in karosses and blankets, and in their centre sat a large figure on
+a chair of wood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The King and the Great Council,&rdquo; whispered Goza.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of them looked round and saw us. At some sign from the king he rose, and
+against the fire I saw that he was the Prime Minister, Umnyamana. He came to me
+and, with a nod of recognition, conducted me some paces to the right where a
+euphorbia tree grew among the rank herbage. Here I found a stool placed ready
+on which I sat down, Goza, who of course was not of the Council, squatting at
+my side in the grass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I found that I was so situated that I could not well be seen from the fire,
+or even from the rock above it, while I, by moving my head a little, could see
+both quite clearly. After this as the last reflection from the sunk sun faded,
+the darkness increased until nothing remained visible except the fire and the
+massive outline of the rock behind. The silence was complete, for none of the
+Council spoke. They were so still that they might have been dead, so still that
+a beetle suddenly booming past me made me start as though it had been a bullet.
+The general impression was almost mesmeric. I felt as though I were going to
+sleep and yet my mind remained painfully awake, so that I was able to think
+things out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I understood clearly that the body of men to my left had come together to
+decide whether there should be peace or war; that there were divisions of
+opinion among them; that the king was ready to follow the party which should
+prove itself the strongest, but that the real voice of decision would speak
+from behind that fire. It was the case of the Delphic Oracle over again with a
+priest instead of a priestess, and what a priest!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was evident to me also that Zikali, who knew human nature, and especially
+savage human nature, had arranged all this with a view to scenic and indeed
+supernatural effect. Moreover, he had done it very well, since I knew myself
+that in this place and hour words and occurrences would affect me deeply at
+which I should have laughed in the sunlight and open plain. Already the Zulus
+were affected, for I could hear the teeth of some of them chattering, and Goza
+began to shiver at my side. He muttered that it was cold, and lied for the
+donga was extremely hot and stuffy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length the silver radiance of the moon spread itself on the high curtain of
+the dark. Then the edge of her orb appeared above the hill and an arrow of
+white light fell into the little valley. It struck upon and about the jutting
+rock, revealing a misshapen, white-headed figure squatted between its base and
+the fire, the figure of Zikali.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br />
+THE GREAT COUNCIL</h2>
+
+<p>
+None had seen or heard him come, and though doubtless he had but crept round
+the rock and taken his place in the darkness, there appeared to be something
+mysterious about this sudden appearance of Zikali. So the Zulu nobles thought
+at any rate, for they uttered a low &ldquo;Ow!&rdquo; of fear and wonder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There he sat like a huge ape staring at the sky, for the firelight shone on his
+deep and burning eyes. The moonlight increased, but now and again it was broken
+by little clouds which caused strange shadows to appear about the rock. Some of
+these shadows looked as though veiled figures were approaching the wizard,
+bending over him and departing again, after giving him their message or
+counsel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;His Spirits visit him,&rdquo; whispered Goza, but I made no answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This went on for quite a long time, until the full round of the moon appeared
+above the hill indeed, and, for the while, the clouds had cleared away. Still
+Zikali sat silent and I, who was acquainted with the habits of this people,
+knew that I was witnessing a conflict between two they considered to be
+respectively a spiritual and an earthly king. It is my belief that unless he
+were first addressed, Zikali would have sat all night without opening his lips.
+Possibly Cetewayo would have done the same if the impatience of public opinion
+had allowed him. At any was rate it was he who gave way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;<i>Makosi</i>, master of many Spirits, on behalf of the Council and the
+People of the Zulus I, the King, greet you here in the place that you have
+chosen,&rdquo; said Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Zikali made no answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The silence went on as before, till at length, after a pause and some
+whispering, Cetewayo repeated his salutation, adding&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Has age made you deaf, O Opener of Roads, that you cannot hear the voice
+of the King?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then at last Zikali answered in his low voice that yet seemed to fill all the
+kloof&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, Child of Senzangacona, age has not made me deaf, but my spirit in
+these latter days floats far from my body. It is like a bladder filled with air
+that a child holds by a string, and before I can speak I must draw it from the
+heavens to earth again. What did you say about the place that I have chosen?
+Well, what better place could I choose, seeing that it was here in this very
+Vale of Bones that I met the first king of the Zulus, Chaka the Wild Beast, who
+was your uncle? Why then should I not choose it to meet the last king of the
+Zulus?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I, listening, knew at once that this saying might be understood in two
+ways, namely that Cetewayo was the reigning king, or that he was the last king
+who would ever reign. But the Council interpreted it in the latter and worse
+sense, for I saw a quiver of fear go through them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why should I not choose it,&rdquo; went on Zikali, &ldquo;seeing also
+that this place is holy to me? Here it was, O Son of Panda, that Chaka brought
+my children to be killed and forced me, sitting where you sit, to watch their
+deaths. There on the rock above me they were killed, four of them, three sons
+and a daughter, and the slayers&mdash;they came to an evil end, those slayers,
+as did Chaka&mdash;laughed and cast them down from the rock before me. Yes, and
+Chaka laughed, and I too laughed, for had not the king the right to kill my
+children and to steal their mothers, and was I not glad that they should be
+taken from the world and gathered to that of Spirits whence they always talk to
+me, yes, even now? That is why I did not hear you at first, King, because they
+were talking to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused, turning one ear upwards, then continued in a new and tender voice,
+&ldquo;What is it you say to me, Noma, my dear little Noma? Oh! I hear you, I
+hear you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now he shifted himself along the ground on his haunches some paces to the
+right, and began to search about, groping with his long fingers. &ldquo;Where,
+where?&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;Oh, I understand, further under the root, a
+jackal buried it, did it? Pah! how hard is this soil. Ah! I have it, but look,
+Noma, a stone has cut my finger. I have it, I have it,&rdquo; and from beneath
+the root of some fallen tree he drew out the skull of a child and, holding it
+in his right hand, softly rubbed the mould off it with his left.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Noma, it might be yours, it is of the right size, but how can I be
+sure? What is it you say? The teeth? Ah! now I remember. Only the day before
+you were taken I pulled out that front tooth, did I not, and beneath it was
+another that was strangely split in two. If this skull was yours, it will be
+there. Come to the fire, Noma, and let us look; the moonlight is faint, is it
+not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Back to the fire he shifted himself, and bending towards the blaze, made an
+examination.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;True, Noma, true! Here is the split tooth, white as when I saw it all
+those years ago. Oh! dear child of my body, dear child of my spirit, for we do
+not beget with the body alone, Noma, as you know better than I do to-day, I
+greet you,&rdquo; and pressing the skull to his lips, he kissed it, then set it
+down in front of him between himself and the fire with the face part pointing
+to the king, and burst into one of his eerie and terrible laughs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A low moan went up from his audience, and I felt the skin of Goza, who had
+shrunk against me, break into a profuse sweat. Then suddenly Zikali&rsquo;s
+voice changed once more and became hard and businesslike, if I may call it so,
+similar to that of other professional doctors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have sent for me, O King, as those who went before you have sent
+when great things were about to happen. What is the matter on which you would
+speak to me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know well, Opener of Roads,&rdquo; answered Cetewayo, rather shakily
+I thought. &ldquo;The matter is one of peace or war. The English threaten me
+and my people and make great demands on me; amongst others that the army should
+be disbanded. I can set them all out if you will. If I refuse to do as they bid
+me, then within a few days they will invade Zululand; indeed their soldiers are
+already gathered at the drifts.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not needful, King,&rdquo; answered Zikali, &ldquo;since I know
+what all know, neither more nor less. The winds whisper the demands of the
+white men, the birds sing them, the hyenas howl them at night. Let us see how
+the matter stands. When your father died Sompseu (Sir T. Shepstone), the great
+white chief, came from the English Government to name you king. This he could
+not do according to our law, since how can a stranger name the King of the
+Zulus? Therefore the Council of the Nation and the doctors&mdash;I was not
+among them, King&mdash;moved the spirit of Chaka the Lion into the body of
+Sompseu and made him as Chaka was and gave him power to name you to rule over
+the Zulus. So it came about that to the English Queen through the spirit of
+Chaka you swore certain things; that slaying for witchcraft should be
+abolished; that no man should die without fair and open trial, and other
+matters.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused a while, then went on, &ldquo;These oaths you have broken, O King, as
+being of the blood you are and what you are, you must do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here there was disturbance among the Council and Cetewayo half rose from his
+seat, then sat down again. Zikali, gazing at the sky, waited till it had died
+away, then went on&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do any question my words? If so, then let them ask of the white men
+whether they be true or no. Let them ask also of the spirits of those who have
+died for witchcraft, and of the spirits of the women who have been slain and
+whose bodies were laid at the cross-roads because they married the men they
+chose and not the soldiers to whom the king gave them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can I ask the white men who are far away?&rdquo; broke out Cetewayo,
+ignoring the rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are the white men so far away, King? It is true that I see none and hear
+none, yet I seem to smell one of them close at hand.&rdquo; Here he took up the
+skull which he had laid down and whispered to it. &ldquo;Ah! I thank you, my
+child. It seems, King, that there is a white man here hidden in this kloof, he
+who is named Macumazahn, a good man and a truthful, known to many of us from of
+old, who can tell you what his people think, though he is not one of their
+indunas. If you question my words, ask him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We know what the white men think,&rdquo; said Cetewayo, &ldquo;so there
+is no need to ask Macumazahn to sing us an old song. The question is&mdash;what
+must the Zulus do? Must they swallow their spears and, ceasing to be a nation,
+become servants, or must they strike with them and drive the English into the
+sea, and after them the Boers?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me first, King, who dwell far away and alone, knowing little of
+what passes in the land of Life, what the Zulus desire to do. Before me sits
+the Great Council of the Nation. Let it speak.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then one by one the members of the Council uttered their opinions in order of
+rank or seniority. I do not remember the names of all who were present, or what
+each of them said. I recall, however, that Sigananda, a very old chief&mdash;he
+must have been over ninety&mdash;spoke the first. He told them that he had been
+friend of Chaka and one of his captains, and had fought in most of his battles.
+That afterwards he had been a general of Dingaan&rsquo;s until that king killed
+the Boers under Retief, when he left him and finally sided with Panda in the
+civil war in which Dingaan was killed with the help of the Boers. That he had
+been present at the battle of the Tugela, though he took no actual part in the
+fighting, and afterwards became a councillor of Panda&rsquo;s and then of
+Cetewayo his son. It was a long and interesting historical recital covering the
+whole period of the Zulu monarchy which ended suddenly with these words&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have noted, O King and Councillors, that whenever the black vulture of
+the Zulus was content to attack birds of his own feather, he has conquered. But
+when it has met the grey eagles of the white men, which come from over the sea,
+he has been conquered, and my heart tells me that as it was in the past, so it
+shall be in the future. Chaka was a friend of the English, so was Panda, and so
+has Cetewayo been until this hour. I say, therefore, let not the King tear the
+hand which fed him because it seems weak, lest it should grow strong and clutch
+him by the throat and choke him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next spoke Undabuko, Dabulamanzi and Magwenga, brothers of the king, who all
+favoured war, though the two last were guarded in their speech. After these
+came Uhamu, the king&rsquo;s uncle&mdash;he who was said to be the son of a
+Spirit&mdash;who was strong for peace, urging that the king should submit to
+the demands of the English, making the best terms he could, that he
+&ldquo;should bend like a reed before the storm, so that after the storm had
+swept by, he might stand up straight again, and with him all the other reeds of
+the people of the Zulus.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So, too, said Seketwayo, chief of the Umdhlalosi, and more whom I cannot
+recall, six or seven of them. But Usibebu and the induna Untshingwayo, who
+afterwards commanded at Isandhlwana, were for fighting, as were Sirayo, the
+husband of the two women who had been taken on English territory and killed,
+and Umbilini, the chief of Swazi blood whose surrender was demanded by Sir
+Bartle Frere and who afterwards commanded the Zulus in the battle at Ihlobane.
+Last of all spoke the Prime Minister, Umnyamana, who declared fiercely that if
+the Zulu buffalo hid itself in the swamp like a timid calf when the white bull
+challenged it on the hills, the spirits of Chaka and all his forefathers would
+thrust its head into the mud and choke it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When all had finished Cetewayo spoke, saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is a bad council which has two voices, for to which of them must
+the Captain listen when the impis of the foe gather in front of him? Here I
+have sat while the moon climbs high and counted, and what do I find? That one
+half of you, men of wisdom and renown, say Yes, and that the other half of you,
+men of wisdom and renown, say No. Which then is it to be, Yes or No? Are we to
+fight the English, or are we to sit still?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is for the king to decide,&rdquo; said a voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;See what it is to be a king,&rdquo; went on Cetewayo with passion.
+&ldquo;If I declare for war and we win, shall I be greater than I am? If
+victory gives me more land, more subjects, more wives and more cattle, what is
+the use of these things to me who already have enough of all of them? And if
+defeat should take everything from me, even my life perhaps, then what shall I
+have gained? I will tell you&mdash;the curse of the Zulus upon my name from
+father to son for ever. They will say, &lsquo;Cetewayo, son of Panda, pulled
+down a House that once was great. Because of some small matter he quarrelled
+with the English who were always the friends of our people, and brought the
+Zulus to the dust.&rsquo; Sintwangu, my messenger, who brought heavy words from
+the Queen&rsquo;s <i>induna</i> which we must answer with other words or with
+spears, says that the English soldiers in Natal are few, so few that we Zulus
+can swallow them like bits of meat and still be hungry. But are these all the
+soldiers of the English? I am not sure. You are one of that people,
+Macumazahn,&rdquo; he added, turning his massive shape towards me, &ldquo;tell
+us now, how many soldiers has your Queen?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;King,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;I do not know for certain. But if the
+Zulus can muster fifty thousand spears, the Queen, if there be need, can send
+against them ten times fifty thousand, and if she grows angry, another ten
+times fifty, every one armed with a rifle that will fire five bullets a minute,
+and to accompany the soldiers, hundreds of cannon whereof a single shot would
+give Ulundi to the flames. Out of the sea they will come, shipload after
+shipload, white men from where the sun sets and black men from where the sun
+rises, so many that Zululand would not hold them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now at these words, which I delivered as grandly as I could, something like a
+groan burst from the Council, though one man cried&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do not listen to the white traitor, O King, who is sent here to turn our
+hearts to water with his lies.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn may lie to us,&rdquo; went on Cetewayo, &ldquo;though in the
+past none in the land have ever known him to lie, but he was not sent to do so,
+for I brought him here. For my part I do not believe that he lies. I believe
+that these English are as many as the pebbles in a river bed, and that to them
+Natal, yes, and all the Cape is but as a single, outlying cattle kraal, one
+cattle kraal out of a hundred. Did not Sompseu once tell us that they were
+countless, on that day when he came many years ago after the battle of the
+Tugela to name me to succeed my father Panda, the day when my faction, the
+Usutu, roared round him for hours like a river in flood, and he sat still like
+a rock in the centre of a river? Also I am minded of the words that Chaka said
+when Dingaan and Umbopa had stabbed him and he lay dying at the kraal Duguza,
+that although the dogs of his own House whom his hand fed, had eaten him up, he
+heard the sound of the running of the feet of a great white people that should
+stamp them and the Zulus flat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused; and the silence was so intense that the crackling of Zikali&rsquo;s
+fire, which kept on burning brightly although I saw no fuel added to it,
+sounded quite loud. Presently it was broken, first by a dog near at hand,
+howling horribly at the moon, and next by the hooting of a great owl that
+flitted across the donga, the shadow of its wide wings falling for a moment on
+the king.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen!&rdquo; exclaimed Cetewayo, &ldquo;a dog that howls! Methinks
+that it stands upon the roof of the House of Senzangacona. And an owl that
+hoots. Methinks that owl has its nest in the world of Spirits! Are these good
+omens, Councillors? I trow not. I say that I will not decide this matter of
+peace or war. If there is one of my own blood here who will do so, come, let
+him take my place and let me go away to my own lordship of Gikazi that I had
+when I was a prince before the witch Mameena who played with all men and loved
+but one&rdquo;&mdash;here everybody turned and stared towards me, yes, even
+Zikali whom nothing else had seemed to move, till I wished that the ground
+would swallow me up&mdash;&ldquo;caused the war between me and my brother
+Umbelazi whose blood earth will not swallow nor suns dry&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can that be, O King?&rdquo; broke in Umnyamana the Prime Minister.
+&ldquo;How can any of your race sit in your seat while you still live? Then
+indeed there would be war, war between tribe and tribe and Zulu and Zulu till
+none were left, and the white hyenas from Natal would come and chew our bones
+and with them the Boers that have passed the Vaal. See now. Why is this Nyanga
+(i.e. witch-doctor) here?&rdquo; and he pointed to Zikali beyond the fire.
+&ldquo;Why has the Opener of Roads been brought from the Black Kloof which he
+has not left for years? Is it not that he may give us counsel in our need and
+show us a sign that his counsel is good, whether it be for war or peace? Then
+when he has made divination and given the counsel and shown the sign, then, O
+King, do you speak the word of war or peace, and send it to the Queen by yonder
+white man, and by that word we, the people, will abide.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this suggestion, which I had no doubt was made by some secret agreement
+between Umnyamana and Zikali, Cetewayo seemed to grasp. Perhaps this was
+because it postponed for a little while the dreadful moment of decision, or
+perhaps because he hoped that in the eyes of the nation it would shift the
+responsibility from his shoulders to those of the Spirits speaking through the
+lips of their prophet. At any rate he nodded and answered&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is so. Let the Opener of Roads open us a road through the forests and
+the swamps and the rocks of doubt, danger and fear. Let him give us a sign that
+it is a good road on which we may safely travel, and let him tell us whether I
+shall live to walk that road and what I shall meet thereon. I promise him in
+return the greatest fee that ever yet was paid to a doctor in Zululand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now Zikali lifted his big head, shook his grey locks, and opening his wide
+mouth as though he expected manna to fall into it from the sky, he laughed out
+loud.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O-ho-ho,&rdquo; he laughed, &ldquo;Oho-ho-ho-o, it is worth while to
+have lived so long when life has brought me to such an hour as this. What is it
+that my ears hear? That I, the Indwande dwarf, I whom Chaka named
+&lsquo;The-Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born,&rsquo; I, one of the race
+conquered and despised by the Zulus, am here to speak a word which the Zulus
+dare not utter, which the King of the Zulus dares not utter. O-ho-ho-ho! And
+what does the King offer to me? A fee, a great fee for the word that shall
+paint the Zulus red with blood or white with the slime of shame. Nay, I take no
+fee that is the price of blood or shame. Before I speak that word
+unknown&mdash;for as yet my heart has not heard it, and what the heart has not
+heard the lips cannot shape&mdash;I ask but one thing. It is an oath that
+whatever follows on the word, while there is a Zulu left living in the world,
+I, the Voice of the Spirits, shall be safe from hurt or from reproach, I and
+those of my House and those over whom I throw my blanket, be they black or be
+they white. That is my fee, without which I am silent.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;<i>Izwa!</i> We hear you. We swear it on behalf of the people,&rdquo;
+said every councillor in the semi-circle in front of him; yes, and the king
+said it also, stretching out his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good,&rdquo; said Zikali, &ldquo;it is an oath, it is an oath, sworn
+here upon the bones of the dead. Evil-doers you call them, but I say to you
+that many of those who sit before me have more evil in their hearts than had
+those dead. Well, let it be proclaimed, O King, and with it this&mdash;that ill
+shall it go with him who breaks the oath, with his family, with his kraal and
+all with whom he has to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now what is it you ask of me? First of all, counsel as to whether you
+should fight the English Queen, a matter on which you, the Great Ones, are
+evenly divided in opinion, as is the nation behind you. O King, Indunas, and
+Captains, who am I that I should judge of such a matter which is beyond my
+trade, a matter of the world above and of men&rsquo;s bodies, not of the world
+below and of men&rsquo;s spirits? Yet there was one who made the Zulu people
+out of nothing, as a potter fashions a vessel from clay, as a smith fashions an
+assegai out of the ore of the hills, yes, and tempers it with human
+blood.<a href="#fn-15.1" name="fnref-15.1" id="fnref-15.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>
+Chaka the Lion, the Wild Beast, the King among Kings, the Conqueror. I knew
+Chaka as I knew his father, yes, and <i>his</i> father. Others still living
+knew him also, say you, Sigananda there for instance,&rdquo; and he pointed to
+the old chief who had spoken first. &ldquo;Yes, Sigananda knew him as a boy
+knows a great man, as a soldier knows a general. But I knew his heart, aye, I
+shaped his heart, I was its thought. Had it not been for me he would never have
+been great. Then he wronged me&rdquo;&mdash;here Zikali took up the skull which
+he said was that of his daughter, and stroked it&mdash;&ldquo;and I left him.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn-15.1" id="fn-15.1"></a> <a href="#fnref-15.1">[1]</a>
+The old Zulu smiths dipped their choicest blades in the blood of men.&mdash;A.
+Q.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He was not wise, he should have killed one whom he had wronged, but
+perhaps he knew that I could not be killed; perhaps he had tried and found that
+he was but throwing spears at the moon which fell back on his own head. I
+forget. It is so long ago, and what does it matter? At least I took away from
+him the prop of my wisdom, and he fell&mdash;to rise no more. And so it has
+been with others. So it has been with others. Yet while he was great I knew his
+heart who lived in his heart, and therefore I ask myself, had he been sitting
+where the King sits to-day, what would Chaka have done? I will tell you. If not
+only the English but the Boers also and with them the Pondos, the Basutos and
+all the tribes of Africa had threatened him, he would have fought
+them&mdash;yes, and set his heel upon their necks. Therefore, although I give
+no counsel upon such a matter, I say to you that the counsel of Chaka
+is&mdash;fight&mdash;and conquer. Hearken to it or pass it by&mdash;I care not
+which.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He paused and a loud &ldquo;<i>Ow</i>&rdquo; of wonder and admiration rose from
+his audience. Myself I nearly joined in it, for I thought this one of the
+cleverest bits of statecraft that ever I had heard of or seen. The old wizard
+had taken no responsibility and given no answer to the demand for advice. All
+this he had thrust on to the shoulders of a dead man, and that man one whose
+name was magical to every Zulu, the king whose memory they adored, the great
+General who had gorged them with victory and power. Speaking as Chaka, after a
+long period of peace, he urged them once more to lift their spears and know the
+joys of triumph, thereby making themselves the greatest nation in Southern
+Africa. From the moment I heard this cunning appeal, I know what the end would
+be; all the rest was but of minor and semi-personal interest. I knew also for
+the first time how truly great was Zikali and wondered what he might have
+become had Fortune set him in different circumstances among a civilized people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now he was speaking again, and quickly before the impression died away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such is the word of Chaka spoken by me who was his secret councillor,
+the Councillor who was seldom seen, and never heard. Does not Sigananda yonder
+know the voice which amongst all those present echoes in his ears alone?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know it,&rdquo; cried the old chief. Then with his eyes starting
+almost from his head, Sigananda leapt up and raising his hand, gave the royal
+salute, the Bayete, to the spirit of Chaka, as though the dead king stood
+before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I think that most of those there thought that it did stand before him, for some
+of them also gave the Bayete and even Cetewayo raised his arm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sigananda squatted down again and Zikali went on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have heard. This captain of the Lion knows his voice. So, that is
+done with. Now you ask of me something else&mdash;that I who am a doctor, the
+oldest of all the doctors and, it is thought&mdash;I know not&mdash;the wisest,
+should be able to answer. You ask of me&mdash;How shall this war prosper, if it
+is made&mdash;and what shall chance to the King during and after the war, and
+lastly you ask of me a sign. What I tell to you is true, is it not so?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is true,&rdquo; answered the Council.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Asking is easy,&rdquo; continued Zikali in a grumbling voice, &ldquo;but
+answering is another matter. How can I answer without preparation, without the
+needful medicines also that I have not with me, who did not know what would be
+sought of me, who thought that my opinion was desired and no more? Go away now
+and return on the sixth night and I will tell you what I can do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so,&rdquo; cried the king. &ldquo;We refuse to go, for the matter is
+immediate. Speak at once, Opener of Roads, lest it should be said in the land
+that after all you are but an ancient cheat, a stick that snaps in two when it
+is leant on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ancient cheat! I remember that is what Macumazahn yonder once told me I
+am, though afterwards&mdash;Perhaps he was right, for who in his heart knows
+whether or not he be a cheat, a cheat who deceives himself and through himself
+others. A stick that snaps in two when it is leant on! Some have thought me so
+and some have thought otherwise. Well, you would have answers which I know not
+how to give, being without medicine and in face of those who are quite ignorant
+and therefore cannot lend me their thoughts, as it sometimes happens that men
+do when workers of evil are sought out in the common fashion. For then, as you
+may have guessed, it is the evil-doer who himself tells the doctor of his
+crime, though he may not know that he is telling it. Yet there is another stone
+that I alone can throw, another plan that I alone can practise, and that not
+always. But of this I would not make use since it is terrible and might
+frighten you or even send you back to your huts raving so that your wives, yes,
+and the very dogs fled, from you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stopped and for the first time did something to his fire, for I saw his
+hands going backwards and forwards, as though he warmed them at the flames.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length an awed voice, I think it was that of Dabulamanzi, asked&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is this plan, Inyanga? Let us hear that we may judge.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The plan of calling one from the dead and hearkening to the voice of the
+dead. Is it your desire that I should draw water from this fount of wisdom, O
+King and Councillors?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br />
+WAR</h2>
+
+<p>
+Now men began to whisper together and Goza groaned at my side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Rather would I look down a live lion&rsquo;s throat than see the
+dead,&rdquo; he murmured. But I, who was anxious to learn how far Zikali would
+carry his tricks, contemptuously told him to be silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently the king called me to him and said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn, you white men are reported to know all things. Tell me now,
+is it possible for the dead to appear?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am not sure,&rdquo; I answered doubtfully; &ldquo;some say that it is
+and some say that it is not possible.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the king. &ldquo;Have you ever seen one you knew in
+life after death?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;that is&mdash;yes. That is&mdash;I do not
+know. When you will tell me, King, where waking ends and sleep begins, then I
+will answer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;just now I announced that you
+were no liar, who perceive that after all you are a liar, for how can you both
+have seen, and not seen, the dead? Indeed I remember that you lied long ago,
+when you gave it out that the witch Mameena was not your lover, and afterwards
+showed that she was by kissing her before all men, for who kisses a woman who
+is not his lover, or his mother? Return, since you will not tell me the
+truth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I went back to my stool, feeling very small and yet indignant, for how was
+it possible to be definite about ghosts, or to explain the exact facts of the
+Mameena myth which clung to me like a Wait-a-bit thorn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then after a little consultation Cetewayo said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is our desire, O Opener of Roads, that you should draw wisdom from
+the fount of Death, if indeed you can do so. Now let any who are afraid depart
+and wait for us who are not afraid, alone and in silence at the mouth of the
+kloof.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this some of the audience rose, but after hesitating a little, sat down
+again. Only Goza actually took a step forward, but on my remarking that he
+would probably meet the dead coming up that way, collapsed, muttering something
+about my pistol, for the fool seemed to think I could shoot a spirit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If indeed I can do so,&rdquo; repeated Zikali in a careless fashion.
+&ldquo;That is to be proved, is it not? Perhaps, too, it may be better for
+every one of you if I fail than if I succeed. Of one thing I warn you, should
+the dead appear stir not, and above all touch not, for he who does either of
+these things will, I think, never live to look upon the sun again. But first
+let me try an easier fashion.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then once again he took up the skull that he said had been his
+daughter&rsquo;s, and whispered to it, only to lay it down presently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It will not serve,&rdquo; he said with a sigh and shaking his locks.
+&ldquo;Noma tells me that she died a child, one who had no knowledge of war or
+matters of policy, and that in all these things of the world she still remains
+a child. She says that I must seek some one who thought much of them; one, too
+who still lives in the heart of a man who is present here, if that be possible,
+since from such a heart alone can the strength be drawn to enable the dead to
+appear and speak. Now let there be silence&mdash;Let there be silence, and woe
+to him that breaks it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Silence there was indeed, and in it Zikali crouched himself down till his head
+almost rested on his knee, and seemed to go to sleep. He awoke again and
+chanted for half a minute or so in some language I could not understand. Then
+voices began to answer him, as it seemed to me from all over the kloof, also
+from the sky or rock above. Whether the effect was produced by ventriloquism or
+whether he had confederates posted at various points, I do not know.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At any rate this lord of &ldquo;multitudes of spirits&rdquo; seemed to be
+engaged in conversation with some of them. What is more, the thing was
+extremely well done, since each voice differed from the other; also I seemed to
+recognize some of them, Dingaan&rsquo;s for instance, and Panda&rsquo;s, yes,
+and that of Umbelazi the Handsome, the brother of the king whose death I
+witnessed down by the Tugela.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You will ask me what they said. I do not know. Either the words were confused
+or the events that followed have blotted them from my brain. All I remember is
+that each of them seemed to be speaking of the Zulus and their fate and to be
+very anxious to refer further discussion of the matter to some one else. In
+short they seemed to talk under protest, or that was my impression, although
+Goza, the only person with whom I had any subsequent debate upon the subject,
+appeared to have gathered one that was different, though what it was I do not
+recall. The only words that remained clear to me must, I thought, have come
+from the spirit of Chaka, or rather from Zikali or one of his myrmidons
+assuming that character. They were uttered in a deep full voice, spiced with
+mockery, and received by the wizard with <i>Sibonga</i>, or titles of praise,
+which I who am versed in Zulu history and idiom knew had only been given to the
+great king, and indeed since his death had become unlawful, not to be used. The
+words were&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What, Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born, do you think yourself a
+Thing-that-should-never-die, that you still sit beneath the moon and weave
+witchcrafts as of old? Often have I hunted for you in the Under-world who have
+an account to settle with you, as you have an account to settle with me. So,
+so, what does it matter since we must meet at last, even if you hide yourself
+at the back of the furthest star? Why do you bring me up to this place where I
+see some whom I would forget? Yes, they build bone on bone and taking the red
+earth, mould it into flesh and stand before me as last I saw them newly dead.
+Oh! your magic is good, Spell-weaver, and your hate is deep and your vengeance
+is keen. No, I have nothing to tell you to-day, who rule a greater people than
+the Zulus in another land. Who are these little men who sit before you? One of
+them has a look of Dingaan, my brother who slew me, yes, and wears his armlet.
+Is he the king? Answer not, for I do not care to know. Surely yonder withered
+thing is Sigananda. I know his eye and the <i>Iziqu</i> on his breast. Yes, I
+gave it to him after the great battle with Zweede in which he killed five men.
+Does he remember it, I wonder? Greeting, Sigananda; old as you are you have
+still twenty and one years to live, and then we will talk of the battle with
+Zweede. Let me begone, this place burns my spirit, and in it there is a stench
+of mortal blood. Farewell, O Conqueror!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These were the words that I thought I heard Chaka say, though I daresay that I
+dreamt them. Indeed had it been otherwise, I mean had they really been spoken
+by Zikali, there would surely have been more in them, something that might have
+served his purpose, not mere talk which had all the inconsequence of a dream.
+Also no one else seemed to pay any particular attention to them, though this
+may have been because so many voices were sounding from different places at
+once, for as I have said, Zikali arranged his performance very well, as well as
+any medium could have done on a prepared stage in London.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a moment, as though at a signal, the voices died away. Then other things
+happened. To begin with I felt very faint, as though all the strength were
+being taken out of me. Some queer fancy got a hold of me. I don&rsquo;t quite
+know what it was, but it had to do with the Bible story of Adam when he fell
+asleep and a rib was removed from him and made into a woman. I reflected that I
+felt as Adam must have done when he came out of his trance after this terrific
+operation, very weak and empty. Also, as it chanced, presently I saw
+Eve&mdash;or rather a woman. Looking at the fire in a kind of disembodied way,
+I perceived that dense smoke was rising from it, which smoke spread itself out
+like a fan. It thinned by degrees, and through the veil of smoke I perceived
+something else, namely, a woman very like one whom once I had known. There she
+stood, lightly clad enough, her fingers playing with the blue beads of her
+necklace, an inscrutable smile upon her face and her large eyes fixed on
+nothingness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Oh! Heaven, I knew her, or rather thought I did at the moment, for now I am
+almost sure that it was Nombé dressed, or undressed, for the part. That
+knowledge came with reflection, but then I could have sworn, being deceived by
+the uncertain light, that the long dead Mameena stood before us as she had
+seemed to stand before me in the hut of Zikali, radiating a kind of
+supernatural life and beauty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A little wind arose, shaking the dry leaves of the aloes in the kloof; I
+thought it whispered&mdash;<i>Hail, Mameena!</i> Some of the older men, too,
+among them a few who had seen her die, in trembling voices murmured, &ldquo;It
+is Mameena!&rdquo; whereon Zikali scowled at them and they grew silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for the figure it stood there patient and unmoved, like one who has all time
+at its disposal, playing with the blue beads. I heard them tinkle against each
+other, which proves that it was human, for how could a wraith cause beads to
+tinkle, although it is true that Christmas-story ghosts are said to clank their
+chains. Her eyes roved idly and without interest over the semi-circle of
+terrified men before her. Then by degrees they fixed themselves upon the tree
+behind which I was crouching, whereon Goza sank paralyzed to the ground. She
+contemplated this tree for a while that seemed to me interminable; it reminded
+me of a setter pointing game it winded but could not see, for her whole frame
+grew intent and alert. She ceased playing with the beads and stretched out her
+slender hand towards me. Her lips moved. She spoke in a sweet, slow voice,
+saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Watcher-by-Night, is it thus you greet her to whom you have given
+strength to stand once more beneath the moon? Come hither and tell me, have you
+no kiss for one from whom you parted with a kiss?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I heard. Without doubt the voice was the very voice of Mameena (so well had
+Nombé been instructed). Still I determined not to obey it, who would not be
+made a public laughing-stock for a second time in my life. Also I confess this
+jesting with the dead seemed to me somewhat unholy, and not on any account
+would I take a part in it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All the company turned and stared at me, even Goza lifted his head and stared,
+but I sat still and contemplated the beauties of the night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If it is the spirit of Mameena, he will come,&rdquo; whispered Cetewayo
+to Umnyamana.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; answered the Prime Minister, &ldquo;for the rope of his
+love will draw him. He who has once kissed Mameena, <i>must</i> kiss her again
+when she asks.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hearing this I grew furiously indignant and was about to break into
+explanations, when to my horror I found myself rising from that stool. I tried
+to cling to it, but, as it only came into the air with me, let it go.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hold me, Goza,&rdquo; I muttered, and he like a good fellow clutched me
+by the ankle, whereon I promptly kicked him in the mouth, at least my foot
+kicked him, not my will. Now I was walking towards that Shape&mdash;shadow or
+woman&mdash;like a man in his sleep, and as I came she stretched out her arms
+and smiled oh! as sweetly as an angel, though I felt quite sure that she was
+nothing of the sort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I stood opposite to her alongside the fire of which the smoke smelt like
+roses at the dawn, and she seemed to bend towards me. With shame and
+humiliation I perceived that in another moment those arms would be about me.
+But somehow they never touched me; I lost sight of them in the rose-scented
+smoke, only the sweet, slow voice which I could have sworn was that of Mameena,
+murmured in my ear&mdash;well, words known to her and me alone that I had never
+breathed to any living being, though of course I am aware now that they must
+also have been known to somebody else.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you doubt me any longer?&rdquo; went on the murmuring. &ldquo;Say, am
+I Nombé now? Or&mdash;or am I in truth that Mameena, whose kiss thrills your
+lips and soul? Hearken, Macumazahn, for the time is short. In the rout of the
+great battle that shall be, do not fly with the white men, but set your face
+towards Ulundi. One who was your friend will guard you, and whoever dies, no
+harm shall come to you now that the fire which burns in my heart has set all
+Zululand aflame. Hearken once more. Hans, the little yellow man who was named
+Light-in-Darkness, he who died among the Kendah people, sends you salutations
+and gives you praise. He bids me tell you that now of his own accord he renders
+to me, Mameena, the royal salute, because royal I must ever be; because also he
+and I who are so far apart are yet one in the love that is our life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The smoke blew into my face, causing me to reel back. Cetewayo caught me by the
+arm, saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell us, are the lips of the dead witch warm or cold?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know,&rdquo; I groaned, &ldquo;for I never touched her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How he lies! Oh! how he lies even about what our eyes saw,&rdquo; said
+Cetewayo reflectively as I blundered past him back to my seat, on which I sank
+half swooning. When I got my wits again the figure that pretended to be Mameena
+was speaking, I suppose in answer to some question of Zikali&rsquo;s which I
+had not heard. It said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Lord of the Spirits, you have called me from the land of Spirits to
+make reply as to two matters which have not yet happened upon the earth. These
+replies I will give but no others, since the mortal strength that I have
+borrowed returns whence it came. The first matter is, if there be war between
+the White and Black, what will happen in that war? I see a plain ringed round
+with hills and on it a strange-shaped mount. I see a great battle; I see the
+white men go down like corn before a tempest; I see the spears of the
+<i>impis</i> redden; I see the white soldiers lie like leaves cut from a tree
+by frost. They are dead, all dead, save a handful that have fled away. I hear
+the <i>ingoma</i> of victory sung here at Ulundi. It is finished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The second matter is&mdash;what shall chance to the king? I see him
+tossed on the Black Water; I see him in a land full of houses, talking with a
+royal woman and her councillors. There, too, he conquers, for they offer him
+tribute of many gifts. I see him here, back here in Zululand, and hear him
+greeted with the royal salute. Last of all I see him dead, as men must die, and
+hear the voice of Zikali and the mourning of the women of his house. It is
+finished. Farewell, King Cetewayo, I pass to tell Panda, your father, how it
+fares with you. When last we parted did I not prophesy to you that we should
+meet again at the bottom of a gulf? Was it this gulf, think you, or another?
+One day you shall learn. Farewell, or fare ill, as it may happen!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more the smoke spread out like a fan. When it thinned and drew together
+again, the Shape was gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I thought that the Zulus would be so impressed by this very queer
+exhibition, that they would seek no more supernatural guidance, but make up
+their minds for war at once. This, however, was just what they did not do. As
+it happened, among the assembled chiefs, was one who himself had a great repute
+as a witch-doctor, and therefore burned with jealousy of Zikali who appeared to
+be able to do things that he had never even attempted. This man leapt up and
+declared that all which they had seemed to hear and see was but cunning
+trickery, carried out after long preparation by Zikali and his confederates.
+The voices, he said, came from persons placed in certain spots, or sometimes
+were produced by Zikali himself. As for the vision, it was not that of a spirit
+but of a real woman, in proof of which he called attention to certain
+anatomical details of the figure. Finally, with much sense, he pointed out that
+the Council would be mad to come to any decision upon such evidence, or to give
+faith to prophecies, whereof the truth or falsity could only be known in the
+future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now a fierce debate broke out, the war party maintaining that the
+manifestations were genuine, the peace party that they were a fraud. In the
+end, as neither side would give way and as Zikali, when appealed to, sat silent
+as a stone, refusing any explanation, the king said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Must we sit here talking, talking, till daylight? There is but one man
+who can know the truth, that is Macumazahn. Let him deny it as he will, he was
+the lover of this Mameena while she was alive, for with my own eyes I saw him
+kiss her before she killed herself. It is certain, therefore, that he knows if
+the woman we seemed to see was Mameena or another, since there are things which
+a man never forgets. I propose, therefore, that we should question him and form
+our own judgment of his answer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This advice, which seemed to promise a road out of a blind ally, met with
+instant acceptance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let it be so,&rdquo; they cried with one voice, and in another minute I
+was once more conducted from behind my tree and set down upon the stool in
+front of the Council, with my back to the fire and Zikali, &ldquo;that his eyes
+might not charm me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, Watcher-by-Night,&rdquo; said Cetewayo, &ldquo;although you have
+lied to us in a certain matter, of this we do not think much, since it is one
+upon which both men and women always lie, as every judge will know. Therefore
+we still believe you to be an honest man, as your dealings have proved for many
+years. As an honest man, therefore, we beg you to give us a true answer to a
+plain question. Was the Shape we saw before us just now a woman or a spirit,
+and if a spirit, was it the ghost of Mameena, the beautiful witch who died near
+this place nearly the quarter of a hundred years ago, she whom you loved, or
+who loved you, which is just the same thing, since a man always loves a woman
+who loves him, or thinks that he does?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now after reflection I replied in these words and as conscientiously as I
+could&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;King and Councillors, I do not know if what we all saw was a ghost or a
+living person, but, as I do not believe in ghosts, or at any rate that they
+come back to the world on such errands, I conclude that it was a living person.
+Still it may have been neither, but only a mere picture produced before us by
+the arts of Zikali. So much for the first question. Your second is&mdash;was
+this spirit or woman or shadow, that of her whom I remember meeting in Zululand
+many years ago? King and Councillors, I can only say that it was very like her.
+Still one handsome young woman often greatly resembles another of the same age
+and colouring. Further, the moon gives an uncertain light, especially when it
+is tempered by smoke from a fire. Lastly, memory plays strange tricks with all
+of us, as you will know if you try to think of the face of any one who has been
+dead for more than twenty years. For the rest, the voice seemed similar, the
+beads and ornaments seemed similar, and the figure repeated to me certain words
+which I thought I alone had heard come from the lips of her who is dead. Also
+she gave me a strange message from another who is dead, referring to a matter
+which I believed was known only to me and that other. Yet Zikali is very clever
+and may have learned these things in some way unguessed by me, and what he has
+learned, others may have learned also. King and Councillors, I do not think
+that what we saw was the spirit of Mameena. I think it a woman not unlike to
+her who had been taught her lesson. I have nothing more to say, and therefore I
+pray you not to ask me any further questions about Mameena of whose name I grow
+weary.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this point Zikali seemed to wake out of his indifference, or his torpor, for
+he looked up and said darkly&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is strange that the cleverest are always those who first fall into
+the trap. They go along, gazing at the stars at night, and forget the pit which
+they themselves have dug in the morning. <i>O-ho-ho! Oho-ho!</i>&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now the wrangling broke out afresh. The peace party pointed triumphantly to the
+fact that I, the white man who ought to know, put no faith in this apparition,
+which was therefore without doubt a fraud. The war party on the other hand
+declared that I was deceiving them for reasons of my own, one of which would be
+that I did not wish to see the Zulus eat up my people. So fierce grew the
+debate that I thought it would end in blows and perhaps in an attack on myself
+or Zikali who all the while sat quite careless and unmoved, staring at the
+moon. At length Cetewayo shouted for silence, spitting, as was his habit when
+angry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Make an end,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;lest I cause some of you to grow
+quiet for ever,&rdquo; whereon the recriminations ceased. &ldquo;Opener of
+Roads,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;many of those who are present think like
+Macumazahn here, that you are but an old cheat, though whether or no I be one
+of these I will not say. They demand a sign of you that none can dispute, and I
+demand it also before I speak the word of peace or war. Give us then that sign
+or begone to whence you came and show your face no more at Ulundi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What sign does the Council require, Son of Panda?&rdquo; asked Zikali
+quietly. &ldquo;Let them agree on one together and tell me now at once, for I
+who am old grow weary and would sleep. Then if it can be given I will give it;
+and if I cannot give it, I will get me back to my own house and show my face no
+more at Ulundi, who do not desire to listen again to fools who babble like
+contending waters round a stone and yet never stir the stone because they run
+two ways at once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now the Councillors stared at each other, for none knew what sign to ask. At
+length old Sigananda said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O King, it is well known that the Black One who went before you had a
+certain little assegai handled with the royal red wood, which drank the blood
+of many. It was with this assegai that Mopo his servant, who vanished from the
+land after the death of Dingaan, let out the life of the Black One at the kraal
+Duguza, but what became of it afterwards none have heard for certain. Some say
+that it was buried with the Black One, some that Mopo stole it. Others that
+Dingaan and Umhlagana burned it. Still a saying rose like a wind in the land
+that when that spear shall fall from heaven at the feet of the king who reigns
+in the place of the Black One, then the Zulus shall make their last great war
+and win a victory of which all the world shall hear. Now let the Opener of
+Roads give us this sign of the falling of the Black One&rsquo;s spear and I
+shall be content.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would you know the spear if it fell?&rdquo; asked Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I should know it, O King, who have often held it in my hand. The end of
+the haft is gnawed, for when he was angry the Black One used to bite it. Also a
+thumb&rsquo;s length from the blade is a black mark made with hot iron. Once
+the Black One made a bet with one of his captains that at a distance of ten
+paces he would throw the spear deeper into the body of a chief whom he wished
+to kill, than the captain could. The captain threw first, for I saw him with my
+eyes, and the spear sank to that place on the shaft where the mark is, for the
+Black One burned it there. Then the Black One threw and the spear went through
+the body of the chief who, as he died, called to him that he too should know
+the feel of it in his heart, as indeed he did.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I think that Cetewayo was about to assent to this suggestion, since he who
+desired peace believed it impossible that Zikali should suddenly cause this
+identical spear to fall from heaven. But Umnyamana, the Prime Induna,
+interposed hurriedly&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not enough, O King. Zikali may have stolen the spear, for he was
+living and at the kraal Duguza at that time. Also he may have put about the
+prophecy whereof Sigananda speaks, or at least so men would say. Let him give
+us a greater sign than this that all may be content, so that whether we make
+war or peace it may be with a single mind. Now it is known that we Zulus have a
+guardian spirit who watches over us from the skies, she who is called
+Nomkubulwana, or by some the Inkosazana-y-Zulu, the Princess of Heaven. It is
+known also that this Princess, who is white of skin and ruddy-haired, appears
+always before great things happen in our land. Thus she appeared before the
+Black One died. Also she appeared to a number of children before the battle of
+the Tugela. It is said, too, that but lately she appeared to a woman near the
+coast and warned her to cross the Tugela because there would be war, though
+this woman cannot now be found. Let the Opener of Roads call down Nomkubulwana
+before our eyes from heaven and we will admit, every man of us, that this is a
+sign which cannot be questioned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And if he does this thing, which I hold no doctor in the world can do,
+what shall it signify?&rdquo; asked Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O King,&rdquo; answered Umnyamana, &ldquo;if he does so, it shall
+signify war and victory. If he does not do so, it shall signify peace, and we
+will bow our heads before the <i>Amalungwana basi bodwe</i>&rdquo; (i.e.,
+&ldquo;the little English,&rdquo; used as a term of derision).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do all agree?&rdquo; asked Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We agree,&rdquo; answered every man, stretching out his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, Opener of Roads, it stands thus: If you can call Nomkubulwana,
+should there be such a spirit, to appear before our eyes, the Council will take
+it as a sign that the Heavens direct us to fight the English.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So spoke Cetewayo, and I noted a tone of triumph in his voice, for his heart
+shrank from this war, and he was certain that Zikali could do nothing of the
+sort. Still the opinion of the nation, or rather of the army, was so strong in
+favour of it that he feared lest his refusal might bring about his deposition,
+if not his death. From this dilemma the supernatural test suggested by the
+Prime Minister and approved by the Council that represented the various tribes
+of people, seemed to offer a path of escape. So I read the situation, as I
+think rightly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Upon hearing these words for the first time that night Zikali seemed to grow
+disturbed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do my ears hear?&rdquo; he exclaimed excitedly. &ldquo;Am I the
+<i>Umkulukulu</i>, the Great-Great (i.e., God) himself, that it should be asked
+of me to draw the Princess of Heaven from beyond the stars, she who comes and
+goes like the wind, but like the wind cannot be commanded? Do they hear that if
+she will not come to my beckoning, then the great Zulu people must put a yoke
+upon their shoulders and be as slaves? Surely the King must have been listening
+to the doctrines of those English teachers who wear a white ribbon tied about
+their necks, and tell us of a god who suffered himself to be nailed to a cross
+of wood, rather than make war upon his foes, one whom they call the Prince of
+Peace. Times have changed indeed since the days of the Black One. Yes, generals
+have become like women; the captains of the <i>impis</i> are set to milk the
+cows. Well, what have I to do with all this? What does it matter to me who am
+so very old that only my head remains above the level of the earth, the rest of
+me being buried in the grave, who am not even a Zulu to boot, but a Dwandwe,
+one of the despised Dwandwe whom the Zulus mocked and conquered?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hearken to me, Spirits of the House of Senzangacona&rdquo;&mdash;here he
+addressed about a dozen of Cetewayo&rsquo;s ancestors by name, going back for
+many generations. &ldquo;Hearken to me, O Princess of Heaven, appointed by the
+Great-Great to be the guardian of the Zulu race. It is asked that you should
+appear, should it be your wish to signify to these your children that they must
+stand upon their feet and resist the white men who already gather upon their
+borders. And should it be your wish that they should lay down their spears and
+go home to sleep with their wives and hoe the gardens while the white men count
+the cattle and set each to his work upon the roads, then that you should not
+appear. Do what you will, O Spirits of the House of Senzangacona, do what you
+will, O Princess of Heaven. What does it matter to the
+Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born, who soon will be as though he never had
+been born, whether the House of Senzangacona and the Zulu people stand or fall?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I, the old doctor, was summoned here to give counsel. I gave counsel,
+but it passed over the heads of these wise ones like a shadow of which none
+took note. I was asked to prophesy of what would chance if war came. I called
+the dead from their graves; they came in voices, and one of them put on the
+flesh again and spoke from the lips of flesh. The white man to whom she spoke
+denied her who had been his love, and the wise ones said that she was a cheat,
+yes, a doll that I had dressed up to deceive them. This spirit that had put on
+flesh, told of what would chance in the war, if war there were, and what would
+chance to the King, but they mock at the prophecy and now they demand a sign.
+Come then, Nomkubulwana, and give them the sign if you will and let there be
+war. Or stay away and give them no sign if you will, and let there be peace. It
+is nought to me, nought to the Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus he rambled on, as it occurred to me who watched and listened, talking
+against time. For I observed that while he spoke a cloud was passing over the
+face of the moon, and that when he ceased speaking it was quite obscured by
+this cloud, so that the Vale of Bones was plunged in a deep twilight that was
+almost darkness. Further, in a nervous kind of way, he did something more to
+his wizard&rsquo;s fire which again caused it to throw out a fan of smoke that
+hid him and the execution rock in front of which he sat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cloud floated by and the moon came out as though from an eclipse; the smoke
+of the fire, too, thinned by degrees. As it melted and the light grew again, I
+became aware that something was materializing, or had appeared on the point of
+the rock above us. A few seconds later, to my wonder and amazement, I perceived
+that this something was the spirit-like form of a white woman which stood quite
+still upon the very point of the rock. She was clad in some garment of gleaming
+white cut low upon her breast, that may have been of linen, but from the way it
+shone, suggested that it was of glittering feathers, egrets&rsquo; for
+instance. Her ruddy hair was outspread, and in it, too, something glittered,
+like mica or jewels. Her feet and milk-hued arms were bare and poised in her
+right hand was a little spear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nor did I see alone, since a moan of fear and worship went up from the
+Councillors. Then they grew silent and stared and stared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suddenly Zikali lifted his head and looked at them through the thin flame of
+the fire which made his eyes shine like those of a tiger or of a cornered
+baboon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At what do you gaze so hard, King and Councillors?&rdquo; he asked.
+&ldquo;I see nothing. At what then do you gaze so hard?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the rock above you stands a white spirit in her glory. It is the
+Inkosazana herself,&rdquo; muttered Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Has she come then?&rdquo; mocked the old wizard. &ldquo;Nay, surely it
+is but a dream, or another of my tricks; some black woman painted white that I
+have smuggled here in my medicine bag, or rolled up in the blanket on my back.
+How can I prove to you that this is not another cheat like to that of the
+spirit of Mameena whom the white man, her lover, did not know again? Go near to
+her you must not, even if you could, seeing that if by chance she should
+<i>not</i> be a cheat, you would die, every man of you, for woe to him whom
+Nomkubulwana touches. How then, how? Ah! I have it. Doubtless in his pocket
+Macumazahn yonder hides a little gun, Macumazahn who with such a gun can cut a
+reed in two at thirty paces, or shave the hair from the chin of a man, as is
+well known in the land. Let him then take his little gun and shoot at that
+which you say stands upon the rock. If it be a black woman painted white,
+doubtless she will fall down dead, as so many have fallen from that rock. But
+if it be the Princess of Heaven, then the bullet will pass through her or turn
+aside and she will take no harm, though whether Macumazahn will take any harm
+is more than I can say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now when they heard this many remained silent, but some of the peace party
+began to clamour that I should be ordered to shoot at the apparition. At length
+Cetewayo seemed to give way to this pressure. I say seemed, because I think he
+wished to give way. Whether or not a spirit stood before him, he knew no more
+than the rest, but he did know that unless the vision were proved to be mortal
+he would be driven into war with the English. Therefore he took the only chance
+that remained to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I know you have your pistol on you,
+for only the other day you brought it into my presence, and through light and
+darkness you nurse it as a mother does her firstborn. Now since the Opener of
+Roads desires it, I command you to fire at that which seems to stand above us.
+If it be a mortal woman, she is a cheat and deserves to die. If it be a spirit
+from heaven it can take no harm. Nor can you take harm who only do that which
+you must.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Woman or spirit, I will not shoot, King,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it so? What! do you defy me, White Man? Do so if you will, but learn
+that then your bones shall whiten here in this Vale of Bones. Yes, you shall be
+the first of the English to go below,&rdquo; and turning, he whispered
+something to two of the Councillors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I saw that I must either obey or die. For a moment my mind grew confused in
+face of this awful alternative. I did not believe that I saw a spirit. I
+believed that what stood above me was Nombé cunningly tricked out with some
+native pigments which at that distance and in that light made her look like a
+white woman. For oddly enough at that time the truth did not occur to me,
+perhaps because I was too surprised. Well, if it were Nombé, she deserved to be
+shot for playing such a trick, and what is more her death, by revealing the
+fraud of Zikali, would perhaps avert a great war. But then why did he make the
+suggestion that I should be commanded to fire at this figure? Slowly I drew out
+my pistol and brought it to the full cock, for it was loaded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will obey, King,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;to save myself from being
+murdered. But on your head be all that may follow from this deed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then it was for the first time that a new idea struck me so clearly that I
+believe it was conveyed direct from Zikali&rsquo;s brain to my own. <i>I might
+shoot, but there was no need for me to hit.</i> After that everything grew
+plain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;King,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;if yonder be a mortal, she is about to die.
+Only a spirit can escape my aim. Watch now the centre of her forehead, for
+there the bullet will strike!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I lifted the pistol and appeared to cover the figure with much care. As I did
+so, even from that distance I thought I saw a look of terror in its eyes. Then
+I fired, with a little jerk of the wrist sending the ball a good yard above her
+head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She is unharmed,&rdquo; cried a voice. &ldquo;Macumazahn missed
+her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn does not miss,&rdquo; I replied loftily. &ldquo;If that at
+which he aimed is unharmed, it is because it cannot be hit.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;<i>O-ho-o!</i>&rdquo; laughed Zikali, &ldquo;the White Man who does not
+know the taste of his own love&rsquo;s lips, says that he has fired at that
+which cannot be hit. Let him try again. No, let him choose another target. The
+Spirit is the Spirit, but he who summoned her may still be a cheat. There is
+another bullet in your little gun, White Man; see if it can pierce the heart of
+Zikali, that the King and Council may learn whether he be a true prophet, the
+greatest of all the prophets that ever was, or whether he be but a common
+cheat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now a sudden rage filled me against this old rascal. I remembered how he had
+brought Mameena to her death, when he thought that it would serve him, and
+since then filled the land with stories concerning her and me, which met me
+whatever way I turned. I remembered that for years he had plotted to bring
+about the destruction of the Zulus, and to further his dark ends, was now
+engaged in causing a fearful war which would cost the lives of thousands. I
+remembered that he had trapped me into Zululand and then handed me over to
+Cetewayo, separating me from my friends who were in my charge, and for aught I
+knew, giving them to death. Surely the world would be well rid of him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have your will,&rdquo; I shouted and covered him with the pistol.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then there came into my mind a certain saying&mdash;&ldquo;Judge not that ye be
+not judged.&rdquo; Who and what was I that I should dare to arraign and pass
+sentence upon this man who after all had suffered many wrongs? As I was about
+to fire I caught sight of some bright object flashing towards the king from
+above, and instantaneously shifted my aim and pressed the trigger. The thing,
+whatever it might be, flew in two. One part of it fell upon Zikali, the other
+part travelled on and struck Cetewayo upon the knee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There followed a great confusion and a cry of &ldquo;The king is
+stabbed!&rdquo; I ran forward to look and saw the blade of a little assegai
+lying on the ground and on Cetewayo&rsquo;s knee a slight cut from which blood
+trickled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is nothing,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;a scratch, no more, though had not
+the spear been stopped in its course it might have been otherwise.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; cried Zikali, &ldquo;but what was it that caused the cut?
+Take this, Sigananda, and tell me what it may be,&rdquo; and he threw towards
+him a piece of red wood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sigananda looked at it. &ldquo;It is the haft of the Black One&rsquo;s
+spear,&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;which the bullet of Macumazahn has severed
+from the blade.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aye,&rdquo; said Zikali, &ldquo;and the blade has drawn the blood of the
+Black One&rsquo;s child. Read me this omen, Sigananda; or ask it of her who
+stands above you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now all looked to the rock, but it was empty. The figure had vanished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your word, King,&rdquo; said Zikali. &ldquo;Is it for peace or
+war?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cetewayo looked at the assegai, looked at the blood trickling from his knee,
+looked at the faces of the councillors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Blood calls for blood,&rdquo; he moaned. &ldquo;My word
+is&mdash;<i>War!</i>&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br />
+KAATJE BRINGS NEWS</h2>
+
+<p>
+Zikali burst into one of his peals of laughter, so unholy that it caused the
+blood in me to run cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The King&rsquo;s word is <i>war</i>,&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Let
+Nomkubulwana take that word back to heaven. Let Macumazahn take it to the White
+Men. Let the captains cry it to the regiments and let the world grow red. The
+King has chosen, though mayhap, had I been he, I should have chosen otherwise;
+yet what am I but a hollow reed stuck in the ground up which the spirits speak
+to men? It is finished, and I, too, am finished for a while. Farewell, O King!
+Where shall we meet again, I wonder? On the earth or under it? Farewell,
+Macumazahn, I know where we shall meet, though you do not. O King, I return to
+my own place, I pray you to command that none come near me or trouble me with
+words, for I am spent.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is commanded,&rdquo; said Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he spoke the fire went out mysteriously, and the wizard rose and hobbled off
+at a surprising pace round the corner of the projecting rock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stay!&rdquo; I called, &ldquo;I would speak with you;&rdquo; but
+although I am sure he heard me, he did not stop or look round.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I sprang up to follow him, but at some sign from Cetewayo two <i>indunas</i>
+barred my way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did you not hear the King&rsquo;s command, White Man?&rdquo; one of them
+asked coldly, and the tone of his question told me that war having been
+declared, I was now looked upon as a foe. I was about to answer sharply when
+Cetewayo himself addressed me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you are now my enemy, like all your
+people, and from sunrise to-morrow morning your safe-conduct here ends, for if
+you are found at Ulundi two hours after that time, it will be lawful for any
+man to kill you. Yet as you are still my guest, I will give you an escort to
+the borders of the land. Moreover, you shall take a message from me to the
+Queen&rsquo;s officers and captains. It is&mdash;that I will send an answer to
+their demands upon the point of an assegai. Yet add this, that not I but the
+English, to whom I have always been a friend, sought this war. If Sompseu had
+suffered me to fight the Boers as I wished to do, it would never have come
+about. But he threw the Queen&rsquo;s blanket over the Transvaal and stood upon
+it, and now he declares that lands which were always the property of the Zulus,
+belong to the Boers. Therefore I take back all the promises which I made to him
+when he came hither to call me King in the Queen&rsquo;s name, and no more do I
+call him my father. As for the disbanding of my <i>impis</i>, let the English
+disband them if they can. I have spoken.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I have heard,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and will deliver your words
+faithfully, though I hold, King, that they come from the lips of one whom the
+Heavens have made mad.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this bold speech some of the Councillors started up with threatening
+gestures. Cetewayo waved them back and answered quietly, &ldquo;Perhaps it was
+the Queen of Heaven who stood on yonder rock who made me mad. Or perhaps she
+made me wise, as being the Spirit of our people she should surely do. That is a
+question which the future will decide, and if ever we should meet after it is
+decided, we will talk it over. Now, <i>hamba gachle!</i> (go in peace).&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hear the king and I will go, but first I would speak with
+Zikali.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, White Man, you must wait till this war is finished or till you
+meet him in the Land of Spirits. Goza, lead Macumazahn back to his hut and set
+a guard about it. At the dawn a company of soldiers will be waiting with orders
+to take him to the border. You will go with him and answer for his safety with
+your life. Let him be well treated on the road as my messenger.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Cetewayo rose and stood while all present gave him the royal salute, after
+which he walked away down the kloof. I remained for a moment, making pretence
+to examine the blade of the little assegai that had been thrown by the figure
+on the rock, which I had picked from the ground. This historical piece of iron
+which I have no doubt is the same that Chaka always carried, wherewith, too, he
+is said to have killed his mother, Nandie, by the way I still possess, for I
+slipped it into my pocket and none tried to take it from me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Really, however, I was wondering whether I could in any way gain access to
+Zikali, a problem that was settled for me by a sharp request to move on,
+uttered in a tone which admitted of no further argument.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, I trudged back to my hut in the company of Goza, who was so overcome by
+all the wonders he had seen that he could scarcely speak. Indeed, when I asked
+him what he thought of the figure that had appeared upon the rock, he replied
+petulantly that it was not given to him to know whence spirits came or of what
+stuff they were made, which showed me that he at any rate believed in its
+supernatural origin and that it had appeared to direct the Zulus to make war.
+This was all I wanted to find out, so I said nothing more, but gave up my mind
+to thought of my own position and difficulties.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here I was, ordered on pain of death to depart from Ulundi at the dawn. And yet
+how could I obey without seeing Zikali and learning from him what had happened
+to Anscombe and Heda, or at any rate without communicating with him? Once more
+only did I break silence, offering to give Goza a gun if he would take a
+message from me to the great wizard. But with a shake of his big head, he
+answered that to do so would mean death, and guns were of no good to a dead man
+since, as I had shown myself that night, they had no power to shoot a spirit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This closed the business on which I need not have troubled to enter, since an
+answer to all my questionings was at hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached the hut where Goza gave me over to the guard of soldiers, telling
+their officer that none were to be permitted to enter it save myself and that I
+was not to be permitted to come out of it until he, Goza, came to fetch me a
+little before the dawn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The officer asked if any one else was to be permitted to come out, a question
+that surprised me, though vaguely, for I was thinking of other things. Then
+Goza departed, remarking that he hoped I should sleep better than he would, who
+&ldquo;felt spirits in his bones and did not wish to kiss them as I seemed to
+like to do.&rdquo; I replied facetiously, thinking of the bottle of brandy,
+that ere long I meant to feel them in my stomach, whereat he shook his head
+again with the air of one whom nothing connected with me could surprise, and
+vanished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I crawled into the hut and put the board over the bee-hole-like entrance behind
+me. Then I began to hunt for the matches in my pocket and pricked my finger
+with the point of Chaka&rsquo;s historical assegai. While I was sucking it to
+my amazement I heard the sound of some one breathing on the further side of the
+hut. At first I thought of calling the guard, but on reflection found the
+matches and lit the candle, which stood by the blankets that served me as a
+bed. As soon as it burned up I looked towards the sound, and to my horror
+perceived the figure of a sleeping woman, which frightened me so much that I
+nearly dropped the candle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To tell the truth, so obsessed was I with Zikali and his ghosts that for a few
+moments it occurred to me that this might be the Shape with which I had talked
+an hour or two before. I mean that which had seemed to resemble the long-dead
+lady Mameena, or rather the person made up to her likeness, come here to
+continue our conversation. At any rate I was sure, and rightly, that here was
+more of the handiwork of Zikali who wished to put me in some dreadful position
+for reasons of his own.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pulling myself together I advanced upon the lady, only to find myself no wiser,
+since she was totally covered by a kaross. Now what was to be done? To escape,
+of which of course I had thought at once, was impossible since it meant an
+assegai in my ribs. To call to the guard for help seemed indiscreet, for who
+knew what those fools might say? To kick or shake her would undoubtedly be rude
+and, if it chanced to be the person who had played Mameena, would certainly
+provoke remarks that I should not care to face. There seemed to be only one
+resource, to sit down and wait till she woke up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This I did for quite a long time, till at last the absurdity of the position
+and, I will admit, my own curiosity overcame me, especially as I was very tired
+and wanted to go to sleep. So advancing most gingerly, I turned down the kaross
+from over the head of the sleeping woman, much wondering whom I should see, for
+what man is there that a veiled woman does not interest? Indeed, does not half
+the interest of woman lie in the fact that her nature is veiled from man, in
+short a mystery which he is always seeking to solve at his peril, and I might
+add, never succeeds in solving?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, I turned down that kaross and next instant stepped back amazed and, to
+tell the truth, somewhat disappointed, for there, with her mouth open, lay no
+wondrous and spiritual Mameena, but the stout, earthly and most
+prosaic&mdash;Kaatje!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Confound the woman!&rdquo; thought I to myself. &ldquo;What is she doing
+here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I remembered how wrong it was to give way to a sense of romantic
+disappointment at such a time, though as a matter of fact it is always in a
+moment of crisis or of strained nerves that we are most open to the insidious
+advances of romance. Also that there was no one on earth, or beyond it, whom I
+ought more greatly to have rejoiced to see. I had left Kaatje with Anscombe and
+Heda; therefore Kaatje could tell me what had become of them. And at this
+thought my heart sank&mdash;why was she here in this most inappropriate
+meeting-place, alone? Feeling that these were questions which must be answered
+at once, I prodded Kaatje in the ribs with my toe until, after a good deal of
+prodding, she awoke, sat up and yawned, revealing an excellent set of teeth in
+her cavernous, quarter-cast mouth. Then perceiving a man she opened that mouth
+even wider, as I thought with the idea of screaming for help. But here I was
+first with her, for before a sound could issue I had filled it full with the
+corner of the kaross, exclaiming in Dutch as I did so&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Idiot of a woman, do you not know the Heer Quatermain when you see
+him?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! Baas,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;I thought you were some wicked
+Zulu come to do me a mischief.&rdquo; Then she burst into tears and sobs which
+I could not stop for at least three minutes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be quiet, you fat fool!&rdquo; I cried exasperated, &ldquo;and tell me,
+where are your mistress and the Heer Anscombe?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, Baas, but I hope in heaven&rdquo; (Kaatje was some
+kind of a Christian), she replied between her sobs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In heaven! What do you mean?&rdquo; I asked, horrified.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I mean, Baas, that I hope they are in heaven, because when last I saw
+them they were both dead, and dead people must be either in heaven or hell, and
+heaven, they say, is better than hell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;<i>Dead!</i> Where did you see them dead?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In that Black Kloof, Baas, some days after you left us and went away.
+The old baboon man who is called Zikali gave us leave through the witch-girl,
+Nombé, to go also. So the Baas Anscombe set to work to inspan the horses, the
+Missie Heda helping him, while I packed the things. When I had nearly finished
+Nombé came, smiling like a cat that has caught two mice, and beckoned to me to
+follow her. I went and saw the cart inspanned with the four horses all looking
+as though they were asleep, for their heads hung down. Then after she had
+stared at me for a long while Nombé led me past the horses into the shadow of
+the overhanging cliff. There I saw my mistress and the Baas Anscombe lying side
+by side quite dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you know that they were dead?&rdquo; I gasped. &ldquo;What had
+killed them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know that they were dead because they <i>were</i> dead, Baas. Their
+mouths and eyes were open and they lay upon their backs with their arms
+stretched out. The witch-girl, Nombé, said some Kaffirs had come and strangled
+them and then gone away again, or so I understood who cannot speak Zulu so very
+well. Who the Kaffirs were or why they came she did not say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then what did you do?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I ran back to the hut, Baas, fearing lest I should be strangled also, and wept
+there till I grew hungry. When I came out of it again they were gone. Nombé
+showed me a place under a tree where the earth was disturbed. She said that
+they were buried there by order of her master, Zikali. I don&rsquo;t know what
+became of the horses or the cart.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what happened to you afterwards?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Baas, I was kept for several days, I cannot remember how many, and only
+allowed out within the fence round the huts. Nombé came to see me once,
+bringing this,&rdquo; and she produced a package sewn up in a skin. &ldquo;She
+said that I was to give it to you with a message that those whom you loved were
+quite safe with One who is greater than any in the land, and therefore that you
+must not grieve for them whose troubles were over. I think it was two nights
+after this that four Zulus came, two men and two women, and led me away, as I
+thought to kill me. But they did not kill me; indeed they were very kind to me,
+although when I spoke to them they pretended not to understand. They took me a
+long journey, travelling for the most part in the dark and sleeping in the day.
+This evening when the sun set they brought me through a Kaffir town and thrust
+me into the hut where I am without speaking to any one. Here, being very tired,
+I went to sleep, and that is all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And quite enough too, thought I to myself. Then I put her through a
+cross-examination, but Kaatje was a stupid woman although a good and faithful
+servant, and all her terrible experiences had not sharpened her intelligence.
+Indeed, when I pressed her she grew utterly confused, began to cry, thereby
+taking refuge in the last impregnable female fortification, and snivelled out
+that she could not bear to talk of her dear mistress any more. So I gave it up,
+and two minutes later she was literally snoring, being very tired, poor thing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I tried to think matters out as well as this disturbance would allow, for
+nothing hinders thought so much as snores. But what was the use of thinking?
+There was her story to take or to leave, and evidently the honest creature
+believed what she said. Further, how could she be deceived on such a point? She
+swore that she had seen Anscombe and Heda dead and afterwards had seen their
+graves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moreover, there was confirmation in Nombé&rsquo;s message which could not well
+have been invented, that spoke of their being well in the charge of a
+&ldquo;Great One,&rdquo; a term by which the Zulus designate God, with all
+their troubles finished. The reason and manner of their end were left
+unrevealed. Zikali might have murdered them for his own purposes, or the Zulus
+might have killed them in obedience to the king&rsquo;s order that no white
+people in the land were to be allowed to live. Or perhaps the Basutos from
+Sekukuni&rsquo;s country, with whom the Zulus had some understanding, had
+followed and done them to death; indeed the strangling sounded more Basuto than
+Zulu&mdash;if they were really strangled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Almost overcome though I was, I bethought me of the package and opened it, only
+to find another apparent proof of their end, for it contained Heda&rsquo;s
+jewels as I had found them in the bag in the safe; also a spare gold watch
+belonging to Anscombe with his coat-of-arms engraved upon it. That which he
+wore was of silver and no doubt was buried with him, since for superstitious
+reasons the natives would not have touched anything on his person after death.
+This seemed to me to settle the matter, presumptively at any rate, since to
+show that robbery was not the cause of their murder, their most valuable
+possessions which were not upon their persons had been sent to me, their
+friend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So this was the end of all my efforts to secure the safety and well-being of
+that most unlucky pair. I wept when I thought of it there in the darkness of
+the hut, for the candle had burned out, and going on to my knees, put up an
+earnest prayer for the welfare of their souls; also that I might be forgiven my
+folly in leading them into such danger. And yet I did it for the best, trying
+to judge wisely in the light of such experience of the world as I possessed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now alas! when I am old I have come to the conclusion that those things which
+one tries to do for the best one generally does wrong, because nearly always
+there is some tricky fate at hand to mar them, which in this instance was named
+Zikali. The fact is, I suppose, that man who thinks himself a free agent, can
+scarcely be thus called, at any rate so far as immediate results are concerned.
+But that is a dangerous doctrine about which I will say no more, for I daresay
+that he is engaged in weaving a great life-pattern of which he only sees the
+tiniest piece.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One thing comforted me a little. If these two were dead I could now leave
+Zululand without qualms. Of course I was obliged to leave in any case, or die,
+but somehow that fact would not have eased my conscience. Indeed I think that
+had I believed they still lived, in this way or in that I should have tried not
+to leave, because I should have thought it for the best to stay to help them,
+whereby in all human probability I should have brought about my own death
+without helping them at all. Well, it had fallen out otherwise and there was an
+end. Now I could only hope that they had gone to some place where there are no
+more troubles, even if, at the worst, it were a place of rest too deep for
+dreams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Musing thus at last I dozed off, for I was so tired that I think I should have
+slept although execution awaited me at the dawn instead of another journey. I
+did not sleep well because of that snoring female on the other side of the hut
+whose presence outraged my sense of propriety and caused me to be invaded by
+prophetic dreams of the talk that would ensue among those scandalmongering
+Zulus. Yes, it was of this I dreamed, not of the great dangers that threatened
+me or of the terrible loss of my friends, perhaps because to many men, of whom
+I suppose I am one, the fear of scandal or of being the object of public
+notice, is more than the fear of danger or the smart of sorrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So the night wore away, till at length I woke to see the gleam of dawn
+penetrating the smoke-hole and dimly illuminating the recumbent form of Kaatje,
+which to me looked most unattractive. Presently I heard a discreet tapping on
+the doorboard of the hut which I at once removed, wriggling swiftly through the
+hole, careless in my misery as to whether I met an assegai the other side of it
+or not. Without a guard of eight soldiers was standing, and with them Goza, who
+asked me if I were ready to start.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;as soon as I have saddled my
+horse,&rdquo; which by the way had been led up to the hut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Very soon this was done, for I brought out most of my few belongings with me
+and the bag of jewels was in my pocket. Then it was that the officer of the
+guard, a thin and melancholy-looking person, said in a hollow voice, addressing
+himself to Goza&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The orders are that the White Man&rsquo;s wife is to go with him. Where
+is she?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where a man&rsquo;s wife should be, in his hut I suppose,&rdquo;
+answered Goza sleepily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rage filled me at the words. Seldom do I remember being so angry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;if you mean that Half-cast whom someone has
+thrust upon me, she is in there. So if she is to come with us, perhaps you will
+get her out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus adjured the melancholy-looking captain, who was named Indudu, perhaps
+because he or his father had longed to the Dudu regiment, crawled into the hut,
+whence presently emerged sounds not unlike those which once I heard when a
+<i>ringhals</i> cobra followed a hare that I had wounded into a hole, a muffled
+sound of struggling and terror. These ended in the sudden and violent
+appearance of Kaatje&rsquo;s fat and dishevelled form, followed by that of the
+snakelike Indudu.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seeing me standing there before a bevy of armed Zulus, she promptly fell upon
+my neck with a cry for help, for the silly woman thought she was going to be
+killed by them. Gripping me as an octopus grips its prey, she proceeded to
+faint, dragging me to my knees beneath the weight of eleven stone of solid
+flesh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said one of the Zulus not unkindly, &ldquo;she is much afraid
+for her husband whom she loves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, I disentangled myself somehow, and seizing what I took to be a gourd of
+water in that dim light, poured it over her head, only to discover too late
+that it was not water but clotted milk. However the result was the same, for
+presently she sat up, made a dreadful-looking object by this liberal
+application of curds and whey, whereon I explained matters to her to the best
+of my power. The end of it was that after Indudu and Goza had wiped her down
+with tufts of thatch dragged from the hut and I had collected her gear with the
+rest of my own, we set her on the horse straddlewise, and started, the objects
+of much interest among such Zulus as were already abroad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the gate of the town there was a delay which made me nervous, since in such
+a case as mine delay might always mean a death-warrant. I knew that it was
+quite possible Cetewayo had changed, or been persuaded to change his mind and
+issue a command that I should be killed as one who had seen and knew too much.
+Indeed this fear was my constant companion during all the long journey to the
+Drift of the Tugela, causing me to look askance at every man we met or who
+overtook us, lest he should prove to be a messenger of doom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nor were these doubts groundless, for as I learned in the after days, the Prime
+Minister, Umnyamana, and others had urged Cetewayo strongly to kill me, and
+what we were waiting for at the gate were his final orders on the subject.
+However, in this matter, as in more that I could mention, the king played the
+part of a man of honour, and although he seemed to hesitate for reasons of
+policy, never had any intention of allowing me to be harmed. On the contrary
+the command brought was that any one who harmed Macumazahn, the king&rsquo;s
+guest and messenger, should die with all his House.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whilst we tarried a number of women gathered round us whose conversation I
+could not help overhearing. One of them said to another&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look at the white man, Watcher-by-Night, who can knock a fly off an
+ox&rsquo;s horn with a bullet from further away than we could see it. He it was
+who loved and was loved by the witch Mameena, whose beauty is still famous in
+the land. They say she killed herself for his sake, because she declared that
+she would never live to grow old and ugly, so that he turned away from her. My
+mother told me all about it only last night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then you have a liar for a mother, thought I to myself, for to contradict such
+a one openly would have been undignified.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it so?&rdquo; asked one of her friends, deeply interested.
+&ldquo;Then the lady Mameena must have had a strange taste in men, for this one
+is an ugly little fellow with hair like the grey ash of stubble and a wrinkled
+face of the colour of a flayed skin that has lain unstretched in the sun.
+However, I have been told that witches always love those who look
+unnatural.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Number one, &ldquo;but you see now that he is old he
+has to be satisfied with a different sort of wife. She is not beautiful, is
+she, although she has dipped her head in milk to make herself look
+white?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So it went on till at length a runner arrived and whispered something to Indudu
+who saluted, showing me that it was a royal message, and ordered us to move. Of
+this I was glad, for had I stopped there much longer, I think I should have
+personally assaulted those gossiping female idiots.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Of our journey through Zululand there is nothing particular to say. We saw but
+few people, since most of the men had been called up to the army, and many of
+the kraals seemed to be deserted by the women and children who perhaps were
+hidden away with the cattle. Once, however, we met an impi about five thousand
+strong, that seemed to cover the hillside like a herd of game. It consisted of
+the Nodwengu and the Nokenke regiments, both of which afterwards fought at
+Isandhlwana. Some of their captains with a small guard came to see who we were,
+fine, fierce-looking men. They stared at me curiously, and with one of them,
+whom I knew, I had a little talk. He said that I was the last white man in
+Zululand and that I was lucky to be alive, for soon these, and he pointed to
+the hordes of warriors who were streaming past, would eat up the English to
+&ldquo;the last bone.&rdquo; I answered that this remained to be seen, as the
+English were also great eaters, whereat he laughed, replying, that it was true
+that the white men had already taken the first bite&mdash;a very little one,
+from which I gathered that some small engagement had happened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, farewell, Macumazahn,&rdquo; he said, as he turned to go, &ldquo;I
+hope that we shall meet in the battle, for I want to see if you can run as well
+as you can shoot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This roused my temper and I answered him&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope for your sake that we shall not meet, for if we do I promise that
+before I run I will show you what you never saw before, the gateway of the
+world of Spirits.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I mention this conversation because by some strange chance it happened at
+Isandhlwana that I killed this man, who was named Simpofu.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During all those days of trudging through hot suns and thunderstorms, for I had
+to give up the mare to Kaatje who was too fat to walk, or said she was, I was
+literally haunted by thoughts of my murdered friends. Heaven knows how bitterly
+I reproached myself for having brought them into Zululand. It seemed so
+terribly sad that these young people who loved each other and had so bright a
+future before them, should have escaped from a tragic past merely to be
+overwhelmed by such a fate. Again and again I questioned that lump Kaatje as to
+the details of their end and of all that went before and followed after the
+murder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But it was quite useless; indeed, as time went on she seemed to become more
+nebulous on the point as though a picture were fading from her mind. But as to
+one thing she was always quite clear, that she had seen them dead and had seen
+their new-made grave. This she swore &ldquo;by God in Heaven,&rdquo; completing
+the oath with an outburst of tears in a way that would have carried conviction
+to any jury, as it did to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And after all, what was more likely in the circumstances? Zikali had killed
+them, or caused them to be killed; or possibly they were killed in spite of him
+in obedience to the express, or general, order of the king, if the deed was not
+done by the Basutos. And yet an idea occurred to me. How about the woman on the
+rock that the Zulus thought was their Princess of the Heavens? Obviously this
+must be nonsense, since no such deity existed, therefore the person must either
+have been a white woman or one painted up to resemble a white woman; seen from
+a distance in moonlight it was impossible to say which. Now, if it were a white
+woman, she might, from her shape and height and the colour of her hair, be Heda
+herself. Yet it seemed incredible that Heda, whom Kaatje had seen dead some
+days before, could be masquerading in such a part and make no sign of
+recognition to me, even when I covered her with my pistol, whereas that Nombé
+would play it was likely enough.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Only then Nombé must be something of a quick-change artist since but a little
+while before she was beyond doubt personating the dead Mameena. If it were not
+so I must have been suffering from illusions, for certainly I seemed to see
+some one who looked like Mameena, and only Zikali, and through him Nombé, had
+sufficient knowledge to enable her to fill that role with such success. Perhaps
+the whole business was an illusion, though if so Zikali&rsquo;s powers must be
+great indeed. But then how about the assegai that Nomkubulwana, or rather her
+effigy, had seemed to hold and throw, whereof the blade was at present in my
+saddle-bag. That at any rate was tangible and real, though of course there was
+nothing to prove that it had really been Chaka&rsquo;s famous weapon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another thing that tormented me was my failure to see Zikali. I felt as though
+I had committed a crime in leaving Zululand without doing this and hearing from
+his own lips&mdash;well, whatever he chose to tell me. I forget if I said that
+while we were waiting at the gate where those silly women talked so much
+nonsense about Mameena and Kaatje, that I made another effort through Goza to
+get into touch with the wizard, but quite without avail. Goza only answered
+what he said before, that if I wished to die at once I had better take ten
+steps towards the Valley of Bones, whence, he added parenthetically, the Opener
+of Roads had already departed on his homeward journey. This might or might not
+be true; at any rate I could find no possible way of coming face to face with
+him, or even of getting a message to his ear. No, I was not to blame; I had
+done all I could, and yet in my heart I felt guilty. But then, as cynics would,
+say, failure is guilt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length we came to the ford of the Tugela, and as fortunately the water was
+just low enough, bade farewell to our escort before crossing to the Natal side.
+My parting with Goza was quite touching, for we felt that it partook of the
+nature of a deathbed adieu, which indeed it did. I told him and the others that
+I hoped their ends be easy, and that whether they met them by bullets or by
+bayonet thrusts, the wounds would prove quickly mortal so that they might not
+linger in discomfort or pain. Recognizing my kind thought for their true
+welfare they thanked me for it, though with no enthusiasm. Indudu, however,
+filled with the spirit of repartee, or rather of &ldquo;tu quoque&rdquo;, said
+in his melancholy fashion that if he and I came face to face in war, he would
+be sure to remember my words and to cut me up in the best style, since he could
+not bear to think of me languishing on a bed of sickness without my wife Kaatje
+to nurse me (they knew I was touchy about Kaatje). Then we shook hands and
+parted. Kaatje, hung round with paraphernalia like the White Knight in
+&ldquo;Alice through the Looking-glass,&rdquo; clinging to a cooking-pot and
+weeping tears of terror, faced the foaming flood upon the mare, while I grasped
+its tail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we were as I judged out of assegai shot, I turned, with the water up to my
+armpits, and shouted some valedictory words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell your king,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;that he is the greatest fool in
+the world to fight the English, since it will bring his country to destruction
+and himself to disgrace and death, as at last, in the words of your proverb,
+&lsquo;the swimmer goes down with the stream.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here, as it happened, I slipped off the stone on which I was standing and
+nearly went down with the stream myself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Emerging with my mouth full of muddy water I waited till they had done laughing
+and continued&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell that old rogue, Zikali, that I know he has murdered my friends and
+that when we meet again he and all who were in the plot shall pay for it with
+their lives.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now an irritated Zulu flung an assegai, and as the range proved to be shorter
+than I thought, for it went through Kaatje&rsquo;s dress, causing her to scream
+with alarm, I ceased from eloquence, and we struggled on to the further bank,
+where at length we were safe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus ended this unlucky trip of mine to Zululand.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br />
+ISANDHLWANA</h2>
+
+<p>
+We had crossed the Tugela by what is known as the Middle Drift. A mile or so on
+the further side of it I was challenged by a young fellow in charge of some
+mounted natives, and found that I had stumbled into what was known as No. 2
+Column, which consisted of a rocket battery, three battalions of the Native
+Contingent and some troops of mounted natives, all under the command of Colonel
+Durnford, R.E.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After explanations I was taken to this officer&rsquo;s head-quarter tent. He
+was a tall, nervous-looking man with a fair, handsome face and long
+side-whiskers. One of his arms, I remember, was supported by a sling. I think
+it had been injured in some Kaffir fighting. When I was introduced to him he
+was very busy, having, I understood from some one on his staff, just received
+orders to &ldquo;operate against Matshana.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Learning that I had come from Zululand and was acquainted with the Zulus, he at
+once began to cross-examine me about Matshana, a chief of whom he seemed to
+know very little indeed. I told him what I could, which was not much, and
+before I could give him any information of real importance, was shown out and
+most hospitably entertained at luncheon, a meal of which I partook with
+gratitude in some garments that I had borrowed from one of the officers, while
+my own were set in the sun to dry. Well can I recall how much I enjoyed the
+first whisky and soda that I had tasted since I left &ldquo;the Temple,&rdquo;
+and the good English food by which it was accompanied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently I remembered Kaatje, whom I had left outside with some native women,
+and went to see what had happened to her. I found her finishing a hearty meal
+and engaged in conversation with a young gentleman who was writing in a
+notebook. Afterwards I discovered that he was a newspaper correspondent. What
+she told him and what he imagined, I do not know, but I may as well state the
+results at once. Within a few days there appeared in one of the Natal papers
+and, for aught I know, all over the earth, an announcement that Mr. Allan
+Quatermain, a well-known hunter in Zululand, after many adventures, had escaped
+from that country, &ldquo;together with his favourite native wife, the only
+survivor of his extensive domestic establishment.&rdquo; Then followed some
+wild details as to the murder of my other wives by a Zulu wizard called
+&ldquo;Road Mender, or Sick Ass&rdquo; (i.e., Opener of Roads, or Zikali), and
+so on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was furious and interviewed the editor, a mild and apologetic little man, who
+assured me that the despatch was printed exactly as it had been received, as
+though that bettered the case. After this I commenced an action for libel, but
+as I was absent through circumstances over which I had no control when it came
+on for trial, the case was dismissed. I suppose the truth was that they mixed
+me up with a certain well-known white man in Zululand, who had a large
+&ldquo;domestic establishment,&rdquo; but however this may be, it was a long
+while before I heard the last of that &ldquo;favourite native wife.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later in the day I and Kaatje, who stuck to me like a burr, departed from the
+camp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rest of our journey was uneventful, except for more misunderstandings about
+Kaatje, one of which, wherein a clergyman was concerned, was too painful to
+relate. At last we reached Maritzburg, where I deposited Kaatje in a
+boarding-house kept by another half-cast, and with a sigh of relief betook
+myself to the <i>Plough Hotel</i>, which was a long way off her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Subsequently she obtained a place as a cook at Howick, and for a while I saw
+her no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Maritzburg, as in duty bound, I called upon various persons in authority and
+delivered Cetewayo&rsquo;s message, leaving out all Zikali&rsquo;s witchcraft
+which would have sounded absurd. It did not produce much impression as,
+hostilities having already occurred, it was superfluous. Also no one was
+inclined to pay attention to the words of one who was neither an official nor a
+military officer, but a mere hunter supposed to have brought a native wife out
+of Zululand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I did, however, report the murder of Anscombe and Heda, though in such times
+this caused no excitement, especially as they were not known to the officials
+concerned with such matters. Indeed the occurrence never so much as got into
+the papers, any more than did the deaths of Rodd and Marnham on the borders of
+Sekukuni&rsquo;s country. When people are expecting to be massacred themselves,
+they do not trouble about the past killing of others far away. Lastly, I posted
+Marnham&rsquo;s will to the Pretoria bank, advising them that they had better
+keep it safely until some claim arose, and deposited Heda&rsquo;s jewels and
+valuables in another branch of the same bank in Maritzburg with a sealed
+statement as to how they came into my possession.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These things done, I found it necessary to turn myself to the eternal problem
+of earning my living. I am a very rich man now as I write these reminiscences
+here in Yorkshire&mdash;King Solomon&rsquo;s mines made me that&mdash;but up to
+the time of my journey to Kukuana Land with my friends, Curtis and Good,
+although plenty of money passed through my hands on one occasion and another,
+little of it ever seemed to stick. In this way or that it was lost or melted;
+also I was not born one to make the best of his opportunities in the way of
+acquiring wealth. Perhaps this was good for me, since if I had gained the cash
+early I should not have met with the experiences, and during our few transitory
+years, experience is of more real value than cash. It may prepare us for other
+things beyond, whereas the mere possession of a bank balance can prepare us for
+nothing in a land where gold ceases to be an object of worship as it is here.
+Yet wealth is our god, not knowledge or wisdom, a fact which shows that the
+real essence of Christianity has not yet permeated human morals. It just runs
+over their surface, no more, and for every eye that is turned towards the
+divine Vision, a thousand are fixed night and day upon Mammon&rsquo;s
+glittering image.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I owned certain wagons and oxen, and just then the demand for these was
+keen. So I hired them out to the military authorities for service in the war,
+and incidentally myself with them. I drove what I considered a splendid bargain
+with an officer who wrote as many letters after his name as a Governor-General,
+but was really something quite humble. At least I thought it splendid until
+outside his tent I met a certain transport rider of my acquaintance whom I had
+always looked upon as a perfect fool, who told me that not half an hour before
+he had got twenty per cent. more for unsalted oxen and very rickety wagons.
+However, it did not matter much in the end as the whole outfit was lost at
+Isandhlwana, and owing to the lack of some formality which I had overlooked, I
+never recovered more than a tithe of their value. I think it was that I
+neglected to claim within a certain specified time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last my wagons were laden with ammunition and other Government goods and I
+trekked over awful roads to Helpmakaar, a place on the Highlands not far from
+Rorke&rsquo;s Drift where No. 3 Column was stationed. Here we were delayed
+awhile, I and my wagons having moved to a ford of the Buffalo, together with
+many others. It was during this time that I ventured to make very urgent
+representations to certain highly placed officers, I will not mention which, as
+to the necessity of laagering, that is, forming fortified camps, as soon as
+Zululand was entered, since from my intimate knowledge of its people I was sure
+that they would attack in force. These warnings of mine were received with the
+most perfect politeness and offers of gin to drink, which all transport riders
+were supposed to love, but in effect were treated with the contempt that they
+were held to deserve. The subject is painful and one on which I will not dwell.
+Why should I complain when I know that cautions from notable persons such as
+Sir Melmoth Osborn, and J. J. Uys, a member of one of the old Dutch fighting
+families, met with a like fate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By the way it was while I was waiting on the banks of the river that I came
+across an old friend of mine, a Zulu named Magepa, with whom I had fought at
+the battle of the Tugela. A few days later this man performed an extraordinary
+feat in saving his grandchild from death by his great swiftness in running,
+whereof I have preserved a note somewhere or other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ultimately on January 11 we received our marching orders and crossed the river
+by the drift, the general scheme of the campaign being that the various columns
+were to converge upon Ulundi. The roads, if so they can be called, were in such
+a fearful state that it took us ten days to cover as many miles. At length we
+trekked over a stony nek about five hundred yards in width. To the right of us
+was a stony eminence and to our left, its sheer brown cliffs of rock rising
+like the walls of some cyclopean fortress, the strange, abrupt mount of
+Isandhlwana, which reminded me of a huge lion crouching above the
+hill-encircled plain beyond. At the foot of this isolated mount, whereof the
+aspect somehow filled me with alarm, we camped on the night of January 21,
+taking no precautions against attack by way of laagering the wagons. Indeed the
+last thing that seemed to occur to those in command was that there would be
+serious fighting; men marched forward to their deaths as though they were going
+on a shooting-party, or to a picnic. I even saw cricketing bats and wickets
+occupying some of the scanty space upon the wagons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I am not going to set out all the military details that preceded the
+massacre of Isandhlwana, for these are written in history. It is enough to say
+that on the night of January 21, Major Dartnell, who was in command of the
+Natal Mounted Police and had been sent out to reconnoitre the country beyond
+Isandhlwana, reported a strong force of Zulus in front of us. Thereon Lord
+Chelmsford, the General-in-Chief, moved out from the camp at dawn to his
+support, taking with him six companies of the 24th regiment, together with four
+guns and the mounted infantry. There were left in the camp two guns and about
+eight hundred white and nine hundred native troops, also some transport riders
+such as myself and a number of miscellaneous camp-followers. I saw him go from
+between the curtains of one of my wagons where I had made my bed on the top of
+a pile of baggage. Indeed I had already dressed myself at the time, for that
+night I slept very ill because I knew our danger, and my heart was heavy with
+fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About ten o&rsquo;clock in the morning Colonel Durnford, whom I have mentioned
+already, rode up with five hundred Natal Zulus, about half of whom were
+mounted, and two rocket tubes which, of course, were worked by white men. This
+was after a patrol had reported that they had come into touch with some Zulus
+on the left front, who retired before them. As a matter of fact these Zulus
+were foraging in the mealie fields, since owing to the drought food was very
+scarce in Zululand that year and the regiments were hungry. I happened to see
+the meeting between Colonel Pulleine, a short, stout man who was then in
+command of the camp, and Colonel Durnford who, as his senior officer, took it
+over from him, and heard Colonel Pulleine say that his orders were &ldquo;to
+defend the camp,&rdquo; but what else passed between them I do not know.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently Colonel Durnford saw and recognized me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you think the Zulus will attack us, Mr. Quatermain?&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think so, Sir,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;as it is the day
+of the new moon which they hold unlucky. But to-morrow it may be
+different.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he gave certain orders, dispatching Captain George Shepstone with a body
+of mounted natives along the ridge to the left, where presently they came in
+contact with the Zulus about three miles away, and making other dispositions. A
+little later he moved out to the front with a strong escort, followed by the
+rocket battery, which ultimately advanced to a small conical hill on the left
+front, round which it passed, never to return again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just before he started Colonel Durnford, seeing me still standing there, asked
+me if I would like to accompany him, adding that as I knew the Zulus so well I
+might be useful. I answered, Certainly, and called to my head driver, a man
+named Jan, to bring me my mare, the same that I had ridden out of Zululand,
+while I slipped into the wagon and, in addition to the beltful that I wore,
+filled all my available pockets with cartridges for my double-barrelled Express
+rifle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I mounted I gave Jan certain directions about the wagon and oxen, to which
+he listened, and then to my astonishment held out his hand to me, saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good-bye, Baas. You have been a kind master to me and I thank
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you say that?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because, Baas, all the Kaffirs declare that the great Zulu <i>impi</i>
+will be on to us in an hour or two and eat up every man. I can&rsquo;t tell how
+they know it, but so they swear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nonsense,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;it is the day of new moon when the
+Zulus don&rsquo;t fight. Still if anything of the sort should happen, you and
+the other boys had better slip away to Natal, since the Government must pay for
+the wagons and oxen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This I said half joking, but it was a lucky jest for Jan and the rest of my
+servants, since they interpreted it in earnest and with the exception of one of
+them who went back to get a gun, got off before the Zulu horn closed round the
+camp, and crossed the river in safety.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next moment I was cantering away after Colonel Durnford, whom I caught up about
+a quarter of a mile from the camp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now of course I did not see all of the terrible battle that followed and can
+only tell of that part of it in which I had a share. Colonel Durnford rode out
+about three and a half miles to the left front, I really don&rsquo;t quite know
+why, for already we were hearing firing on the top of the Nqutu Hills almost
+behind us, where Captain Shepstone was engaging the Zulus, or so I believe.
+Suddenly we met a trooper of the Natal Carabineers whose name was Whitelaw, who
+had been out scouting. He reported that an enormous <i>impi</i> was just ahead
+of us seated in an <i>umkumbi</i>, or semi-circle, as is the fashion of the
+Zulus before they charge. At least some of them, he said, were so seated, but
+others were already advancing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently these appeared over the crest of the hill, ten thousand of them I
+should say, and amongst them I recognized the shields of the Nodwengu, the
+Dududu, the Nokenke and the Ingoba-makosi regiments. Now there was nothing to
+be done except retreat, for the <i>impi</i> was attacking in earnest. The
+General Untshingwayo, together with Undabuko, Cetewayo&rsquo;s brother, and the
+chief Usibebu who commanded the scouts, had agreed not to fight this day for
+the reason I have given, because it was that of the new moon, but circumstances
+had forced their hand and the regiments could no longer be restrained. So to
+the number of twenty thousand or more, say one-third of the total Zulu army,
+they hurled themselves upon the little English force that, owing to lack of
+generalship, was scattered here and there over a wide front and had no
+fortified base upon which to withdraw.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We fell back to a donga which we held for a little while, and then as we saw
+that there we should presently be overwhelmed, withdrew gradually for another
+two miles or so, keeping off the Zulus by our fire. In so doing we came upon
+the remains of the rocket battery near the foot of the conical hill I have
+mentioned, which had been destroyed by some regiment that passed behind us in
+its rush on the camp. There lay all the soldiers dead, assegaied through and
+through, and I noticed that one young fellow who had been shot through the
+head, still held a rocket in his hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now somewhat behind and perhaps half a mile to the right of this hill a long,
+shallow donga runs across the Isandhlwana plain. This we gained, and being
+there reinforced by about fifty of the Natal Carabineers under Captain
+Bradstreet, held it for a long while, keeping off the Zulus by our terrible
+fire which cut down scores of them every time they attempted to advance. At
+this spot I alone killed from twelve to fifteen of them, for if the big bullet
+from my Express rifle struck a man, he did not live. Messengers were sent back
+to the camp for more ammunition, but none arrived, Heaven knows why. My own
+belief is that the reserve cartridges were packed away in boxes and could not
+be got at. At last our supply began to run short, so there was nothing to be
+done except retreat upon the camp which was perhaps half a mile behind us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Taking advantage of a pause in the Zulu advance which had lain down while
+waiting for reserves, Colonel Durnford ordered a retirement that was carried
+out very well. Up to that time we had lost only quite a few men, for the Zulu
+fire was wild and high and they had not been able to get at us with the
+assegai. As we rode towards the mount I observed that firing was going on in
+all directions, especially on the nek that connected it with the Nqutu range
+where Captain Shepstone and his mounted Basutos were wiped out while trying to
+hold back the Zulu right horn. The guns, too, were firing heavily and doing
+great execution.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this all grew confused. Colonel Durnford gave orders to certain officers
+who came up to him, Captain Essex was one and Lieutenant Cochrane another. Then
+his force made for their wagons to get more ammunition. I kept near to the
+Colonel and a while later found myself with him and a large, mixed body of men
+a little to the right of the nek which we had crossed in our advance from the
+river. Not long afterwards there was a cry of &ldquo;The Zulus are getting
+round us!&rdquo; and looking to the left I saw them pouring in hundreds across
+the ridge that joins Isandhlwana Mountain to the Nqutu Range. Also they were
+advancing straight on to the camp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the rout began. Already the native auxiliaries were slipping away and now
+the others followed. Of course this battle was but a small affair, yet I think
+that few have been more terrible, at any rate in modern times. The aspect of
+those plumed and shielded Zulus as they charged, shouting their war-cries and
+waving their spears, was awesome. They were mown down in hundreds by the
+Martini fire, but still they came on, and I knew that the game was up. A
+maddened horde of fugitives, mostly natives, began to flow past us over the
+nek, making for what was afterwards called Fugitives&rsquo; Drift, nine miles
+away, and with them went white soldiers, some mounted, some on foot. Mingled
+with all these people, following them, on either side of them, rushed Zulus,
+stabbing as they ran. Other groups of soldiers formed themselves into rough
+squares, on which the savage warriors broke like water on a rock. By degrees
+ammunition ran out; only the bayonet remained. Still the Zulus could not break
+those squares. So they took another counsel. Withdrawing a few paces beyond the
+reach of the bayonets, they overwhelmed the soldiers by throwing assegais, then
+rushed in and finished them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was what happened to us, among whom were men of the 24th, Natal
+Carabineers and Mounted Police. Some had dismounted, but I sat on my horse,
+which stood quite still, I think from fright, and fired away so long as I had
+any ammunition. With my very last cartridge I killed the Captain Indudu who had
+been in charge of the escort that conducted me to the Tugela. He had caught
+sight of me and called out&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, Macumazahn, I will cut you up nicely as I promised.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He got no further in his speech, for at that moment I sent an Express bullet
+through him and his tall, melancholy figure doubled up and collapsed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All this while Colonel Durnford had been behaving as a British officer should
+do. Scorning to attempt flight, whenever I looked round I caught sight of his
+tall form, easy to recognize by the long fair moustaches and his arm in a
+sling, moving to and fro encouraging us to stand firm and die like men. Then
+suddenly I saw a Kaffir, who carried a big old smooth-bore gun, aim at him from
+a distance of about twenty yards, and fire. He went down, as I believe dead,
+and that was the end of a very gallant officer and gentleman whose military
+memory has in my opinion been most unjustly attacked. The real blame for that
+disaster does not rest upon the shoulders of either Colonel Durnford or Colonel
+Pulleine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this things grew very awful. Some fled, but the most stood and died where
+they were. Oddly enough during all this time I was never touched. Men fell to
+my right and left and in front of me; bullets and assegais whizzed past me, yet
+I remained quite unhurt. It was as though some Power protected me, which no
+doubt it did.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length when nearly all had fallen and I had nothing left to defend myself
+with except my revolver, I made up my mind that it was time to go. My first
+impulse was to ride for the river nine miles away. Looking behind me I saw that
+the rough road was full of Zulus hunting down those who tried to escape. Still
+I thought I would try it, when suddenly there flashed across my brain the
+saying of whoever it was that personated Mameena in the Valley of Bones, to the
+effect that in the great rout of the battle I was not to join the flying but to
+set my face towards Ulundi and that if I did so I should be protected and no
+harm would come to me. I knew that all this prophecy was but a vain thing
+fondly imagined, although it was true that the battle and the rout had come.
+And yet I acted on it&mdash;why Heaven knows alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Setting the spurs to my horse I galloped off past Isandhlwana Mount, on the
+southern slopes of which a body of the 24th were still fighting their last
+fight, and heading for the Nqutu Range. The plain was full of Zulus, reserves
+running up; also to the right of me the Ulundi and Gikazi divisions were
+streaming forward. These, or some of them, formed the left horn of the impi,
+but owing to the unprepared nature of the Zulu battle, for it must always be
+remembered that they did not mean to fight that day, their advance had been
+delayed until it was too late for them entirely to enclose the camp. Thus the
+road, if it can so be called, to Fugitives&rsquo; Drift was left open for a
+while, and by it some effected their escape. It was this horn, or part of it,
+that afterwards moved on and attacked Rorke&rsquo;s Drift, with results
+disastrous to itself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For some hundreds of yards I rode on thus recklessly, because recklessness
+seemed my only chance. Thrice I met bodies of Zulus, but on each occasion they
+scattered before me, calling out words that I could not catch. It was as though
+they were frightened of something they saw about me. Perhaps they thought that
+I was mad to ride thus among them. Indeed I must have looked mad, or perhaps
+there was something else. At any rate I believed that I was going to win right
+through them when an accident happened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A bullet struck my mare somewhere in the back. I don&rsquo;t know where it came
+from, but as I saw no Zulu shoot, I think it must have been one fired by a
+soldier who was still fighting on the slopes of the mount. The effect of it was
+to make the poor beast quite ungovernable. Round she wheeled and galloped at
+headlong speed back towards the peak, leaping over dead and dying and breaking
+through the living as she went. In two minutes we were rushing up its northern
+flank, which seemed to be quite untenanted, towards the sheer brown cliff which
+rose above it, for the fighting was in progress on the other side. Suddenly at
+the foot of this cliff the mare stopped, shivered and sank down dead, probably
+from internal bleeding.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked about me desperately. To attempt the plain on foot meant death. What
+then was I to do? Glancing at the cliff I saw that there was a gully in it worn
+by thousands of years of rainfall, in which grew scanty bushes. Into this I
+ran, and finding it practicable though difficult, began to climb upwards, quite
+unnoticed by the Zulus who were all employed upon the further side. The end of
+it was that I reached the very crest of the mount, a patch of bare, brown rock,
+except at one spot on its southern front where there was a little hollow in
+which at this rainy season of the year herbage and ferns grew in the
+accumulated soil, also a few stunted, aloe-like plants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Into this patch I crept, having first slaked my thirst from a little pool of
+rain water that lay in a cup-like depression of the rock, which tasted more
+delicious than any nectar, and seemed to give me new life. Then covering myself
+as well as I could with grasses and dried leaves from the aloe plants, I lay
+still.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I was right on the brink of the cliff and had the best view of the
+Isandhlwana plain and the surrounding country that can be imagined. From my
+lofty eyrie some hundreds of feet in the air, I could see everything that
+happened beneath. Thus I witnessed the destruction of the last of the soldiers
+on the slopes below. They made a gallant end, so gallant that I was proud to be
+of the same blood with them. One fine young fellow escaped up the peak and
+reached a plateau about fifty feet beneath me. He was followed by a number of
+Zulus, but took refuge in a little cave whence he shot three or four of them;
+then his cartridges were exhausted and I heard the savages speaking in praise
+of him&mdash;dead. I think he was the last to die on the field of Isandhlwana.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The looting of the camp began; it was a terrible scene. The oxen and those of
+the horses that could be caught were driven away, except certain of the former
+which were harnessed to the guns and some of the wagons and, as I afterwards
+learned, taken to Ulundi in proof of victory. Then the slain were stripped and
+Kaffirs appeared wearing the red coats of the soldiers and carrying their
+rifles. The stores were broken into and all the spirits drunk. Even the medical
+drugs were swallowed by these ignorant men, with the result that I saw some of
+them reeling about in agony and others fall down and go to sleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An hour or two later an officer who came from the direction in which the
+General had marched, cantered right into the camp where the tents were still
+standing and even the flag was flying. I longed to be able to warn him, but
+could not. He rode up to the headquarters marquee, whence suddenly issued a
+Zulu waving a great spear. I saw the officer pull up his horse, remain for a
+moment as though indecisive, then turn and gallop madly away, quite unharmed,
+though one or two assegais were thrown and many shots fired at him. After this
+considerable movements of the Zulus went on, of which the net result was, that
+they evacuated the place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I hoped that I might escape, but it was not to be, since on every side
+numbers of them crept up Isandhlwana Mountain and hid behind rocks or among the
+tall grasses, evidently for purposes of observation. Moreover some captains
+arrived on the little plateau where was the cave in which the soldier had been
+killed, and camped there. At least at sundown they unrolled their mats and ate,
+though they lighted no fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The darkness fell and in it escape for me from that guarded place was
+impossible, since I could not see where to set my feet and one false step on
+the steep rock would have meant my death. From the direction of Rorke&rsquo;s
+Drift I could hear continuous firing; evidently some great fight was going on
+there, I wondered vaguely&mdash;with what result. A little later also I heard
+the distant tramp of horses and the roll of gun wheels. The captains below
+heard it too and said one to another that it was the English soldiers
+returning, who had marched out of the camp at dawn. They debated one with
+another whether it would be possible to collect a force to fall upon them, but
+abandoned the idea because the regiments who had fought that day were now at a
+distance and too tired, and the others had rushed forward with orders to attack
+the white men on and beyond the river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So they lay still and listened, and I too lay still and listened, for on that
+cloudy, moonless night I could see nothing. I heard smothered words of command.
+I heard the force halt because it could not travel further in the gloom. Then
+they lay down, the living among the dead, wondering doubtless if they
+themselves would not soon be dead, as of course must have happened had the Zulu
+generalship been better, for if even five thousand men had been available to
+attack at dawn not one of them could have escaped. But Providence ordained it
+otherwise. Some were taken and the others left.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About an hour before daylight I heard them stirring again, and when its first
+gleams came all of them had vanished over the nek of slaughter, with what
+thoughts in their hearts, I wondered, and to what fate. The captains on the
+plateau beneath had gone also, and so had the circle of guards upon the slopes
+of the mount, for I saw these depart through the grey mist. As the light
+gathered, however, I observed bodies of men collecting on the nek, or rather on
+both neks, which made it impossible for me to do what I had hoped, and run to
+overtake the English troops. From these I was utterly cut off. Nor could I
+remain longer without food on my point of rock, especially as I was sure that
+soon some Zulus would climb there to use it as an outlook post. So while I was
+still more or less hidden by the mist and morning shadows, I climbed down it by
+the same road that I had climbed up, and thus reached the plain. Not a living
+man, white or black, was to be seen, only the dead, only the dead. I was the
+last Englishman to stand upon the plain of Isandhlwana for weeks or rather
+months to come.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of all my experiences this was, I think, the strangest, after that night of
+hell, to find myself alone upon this field of death, staring everywhere at the
+distorted faces which on the previous morn I had seen so full of life. Yet my
+physical needs asserted themselves. I was very hungry, who for twenty-four
+hours had eaten nothing, faint with hunger indeed. I passed a provision wagon
+that had been looted by the Zulus. Tins of bully beef lay about, also, among a
+wreck of broken glass, some bottles of Bass&rsquo;s beer which had escaped
+their notice. I found an assegai, cleaned it in the ground which it needed, and
+opening one of the tins, lay down in a tuft of grass by a dead man, or rather
+between him and some Zulus whom he had killed, and devoured its contents. Also
+I knocked the tops off a couple of the beer bottles and drank my fill. While I
+was doing this a large rough dog with a silver-mounted collar on its neck, I
+think of the sort that is called an Airedale terrier, came up to me whining. At
+first I thought it was an hyena, but discovering my mistake, threw it some bits
+of meat which it ate greedily. Doubtless it had belonged to some dead officer,
+though there was no name on the collar. The poor beast, which I named Lost, at
+once attached itself to me, and here I may say that I kept it till its death,
+which occurred of jaundice at Durban not long before I started on my journey to
+King Solomon&rsquo;s Mines. No man ever had a more faithful friend and
+companion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I had eaten and drunk I looked about me, wondering what I should do. Fifty
+yards away I saw a stout Basuto pony still saddled and bridled, although the
+saddle was twisted out of its proper position, which was cropping the grass as
+well as it could with the bit in its mouth. Advancing gently I caught it
+without trouble, and led it back to the plundered wagon. Evidently from the
+marks upon the saddlery it had belonged to Captain Shepstone&rsquo;s force of
+mounted natives.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here I filled the large saddlebags made of buckskin with tins of beef, a couple
+more bottles of beer and a packet of <i>tandstickor</i> matches which I was
+fortunate enough to find. Also I took the Martini rifle from a dead soldier,
+together with a score or so of cartridges that remained in his belt, for
+apparently he must have been killed rather early in the fight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus equipped I mounted the pony and once more bethought me of escaping to
+Natal. A look towards the nek cured me of that idea, for coming over it I saw
+the plumed heads of a whole horde of warriors. Doubtless these were returning
+from the unsuccessful attack on Rorke&rsquo;s Drift, though of that I knew
+nothing at the time. So whistling to the dog I bore to the left for the Nqutu
+Hills, riding as fast as the rough ground would allow, and in half an hour was
+out of sight of that accursed plain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One more thing too I did. On its confines I came across a group of dead Zulus
+who appeared to have been killed by a shell. Dismounting I took the headdress
+of one of them and put it on, for I forgot to say that I had lost my hat. It
+was made of a band of otterskin from which rose large tufts of the black
+feathers of the finch which the natives call <i>sakabula</i>. Also I tied his
+kilt of white oxtails about my middle, precautions to which I have little doubt
+I owe my life, since from a distance they made me look like a Kaffir mounted on
+a captured pony.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I started on again, whither I knew not.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap19"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br />
+ALLAN AWAKES</h2>
+
+<p>
+Now I have no intention of setting down all the details of that dreadful
+journey through Zululand, even if I could recall them, which, for a reason to
+be stated, I cannot do. I remember that at first I thought of proceeding to
+Ulundi with some wild idea of throwing myself on the mercy of Cetewayo under
+pretence that I brought him a message from Natal. Within a couple of hours,
+however, from the top of a hill I saw ahead of me an <i>impi</i> and with it
+captured wagons, which was evidently heading for the king&rsquo;s kraal. So as
+I knew what kind of a greeting these warriors would give me, I bore away in
+another direction with the hope of reaching the border by a circuitous route.
+In this too I had no luck, since presently I caught sight of outposts stationed
+upon rocks, which doubtless belonged to another <i>impi</i> or regiment. Indeed
+one soldier, thinking from my dress that I also was a Zulu, called to me for
+news from about half a mile away, in that peculiar carrying voice which Kaffirs
+can command. I shouted back something about victory and that the white men were
+wiped out, then put an end to the conversation by vanishing into a patch of
+dense bush.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is a fact that after this I have only the dimmest recollection of what
+happened. I remember off-saddling at night on several occasions. I remember
+being very hungry because all the food was eaten and the dog, Lost, catching a
+bush buck fawn, some of which I partially cooked on a fire of dead wood, and
+devoured. Next I remember&mdash;I suppose this was a day or two
+later&mdash;riding at night in a thunderstorm and a particularly brilliant
+flash of lightning which revealed scenery that seemed to be familiar to me,
+after which came a shock and total unconsciousness.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+At length my mind returned to me. It was reborn very slowly and with horrible
+convulsions, out of the womb of death and terror. I saw blood flowing round me
+in rivers, I heard the cries of triumph and of agony. I saw myself standing,
+the sole survivor, on a grey field of death, and the utter loneliness of it ate
+into my soul, so that with all its strength it prayed that it might be numbered
+in this harvest. But oh! it was so strong, that soul which could not, would not
+die or fly away. So strong, that then, for the first time, I understood its
+immortality and that it could <i>never</i> die. This everlasting thing still
+clung for a while to the body of its humiliation, the mass of clay and nerves
+and appetites which it was doomed to animate, and yet knew its own separateness
+and eternal individuality. Striving to be free of earth, still it seemed to
+walk the earth, a spirit and a shadow, aware of the hatefulness of that to
+which it was chained, as we might imagine some lovely butterfly to be that is
+fated by nature to suck its strength from carrion, and remains unable to soar
+away into the clean air of heaven.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Something touched my hand and I reflected dreamily that if I had been still
+alive, for in a way I believed that I was dead, I should have thought it was a
+dog&rsquo;s tongue. With a great effort I lifted my arm, opened my eyes and
+looked at the hand against the light, for there was light, to see it was so
+thin that this light shone through between the bones. Then I let it fall again,
+and lo! it rested on the head of a dog which went on licking it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A dog! What dog? Now I remembered; one that I had found on the field of
+Isandhlwana. Then I must be still alive. The thought made me cry, for I could
+feel the tears run down my cheeks, not with joy but with sorrow. I did not wish
+to go on living. Life was too full of struggle and of bloodshed and bereavement
+and fear and all horrible things. I was prepared to exchange my part in it just
+for rest, for the blessing of deep, unending sleep in which no more dreams
+could come, no more cups of joy could be held to thirsting lips, only to be
+snatched away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I heard something shuffling towards me at which the dog growled, then seemed to
+slink away as though it were afraid. I opened my eyes again, looked, and closed
+them once more in terror, for what I saw suggested that perhaps I was dead
+after all and had reached that hell which a certain class of earnest Christian
+promises to us as the reward of the failings that Nature and those who begat us
+have handed on to us as a birth doom. It was something unnatural, grey-headed,
+terrific&mdash;doubtless a devil come to torment me in the inquisition vaults
+of Hades. Yet I had known the like when I was alive. How had it been called? I
+remembered, &ldquo;The-thing-that-never-should-have-been-born.&rdquo; Hark! It
+was speaking in that full deep voice which was unlike to any other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting, Macumazahn,&rdquo; it said. &ldquo;I see that you have come
+back from among the dead with whom you have been dwelling for a moon and more.
+It is not wise of you, Macumazahn, yet I am glad who have matched my skill
+against Death and won, for now you will have much to tell me about his
+kingdom.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So it was Zikali&mdash;Zikali who had butchered my friends.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Away from me, murderer!&rdquo; I said faintly, &ldquo;and let me die, or
+kill me as you did the others.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He laughed, but very softly, not in his usual terrific fashion, repeating the
+word &ldquo;murderer&rdquo; two or three times. Then with his great hand he
+lifted my head gently as a woman might, saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look before you, Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked and saw that I was in some kind of a cave. Outside the sun was setting
+and against its brightness I perceived two figures, a white man and a white
+woman who were walking hand in hand and gazing into each other&rsquo;s eyes.
+They were Anscombe and Heda passing the mouth of the cave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold the murdered, O Macumazahn, dealer of hard words.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is only a trick,&rdquo; I murmured. &ldquo;Kaatje saw them dead and
+buried.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, yes, I forgot. The fat fool-woman saw them dead and buried. Well,
+sometimes the dead come to life again and for good purpose, as you should know,
+Macumazahn, who followed the counsel of a certain Mameena and wandered here
+instead of rushing onto the Zulu spears.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I tried to think the thing out and could not, so only asked&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How did I come? What happened to me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think the sun smote you first who had no covering on your head and the
+lightning smote you afterwards. Yet all the while that reason had left you, One
+led your horse and after the Heavens had tried to kill you and failed, perhaps
+because my magic was too strong for them, One sent that beast which you found,
+yes, sent it here to lead us to where you lay. There you were discovered and
+brought hither. Now sleep lest you should go further than even I can fetch you
+back again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He held his hands above my head, seeming to grow in stature till his white hair
+touched the roof of the cave, and in an instant I fancied that I was falling
+away, deep, deep into a gulf of nothingness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There followed another period of dreaming, in which dreams I seemed to meet all
+sorts of people, dead and living, especially Lady Ragnall, a friend of mine
+with whom I had been concerned in a very strange adventure among the Kendah
+people<a href="#fn-19.1" name="fnref-19.1" id="fnref-19.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>
+and with whom in days to come I was destined to be concerned again, although of
+course I knew nothing of this, in a still stranger adventure of what I may call
+a spiritual order, which I may or may not try to reduce to writing. It seemed
+to me that I was constantly dining with her <i>tête-à-tête</i> and that she
+told me all sorts of queer things between the courses. Doubtless these
+illusions occurred when I was fed.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn-19.1" id="fn-19.1"></a> <a href="#fnref-19.1">[1]</a>
+See the book called <i>The Ivory Child.</i>&mdash;E<small>DITOR</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length I woke up again, feeling much stronger, and saw the dog, Lost,
+watching me with its great tender eyes&mdash;oh! they talk of the eyes of
+women, but are they ever as beautiful as those of a loving dog? It lay by my
+low bed-stead, a rough affair fashioned of poles and strung with rimpis or
+strings of raw hide, and by it, stroking its head, sat the witch-doctoress,
+Nombé. I remember how pleasing she looked, a perfect type of the eternal
+feminine with her graceful, rounded shape and her continual, mysterious smile
+which suggested so much more than any mortal woman has to give.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good-day to you, Macumazahn,&rdquo; she said in her gentle voice,
+&ldquo;you have gone through much since last we met on the night before Goza
+took you away to Ulundi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now remembering all, I was filled with indignation against this little humbug.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The last time we met, Nombé,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;was when you played
+the part of a woman who is dead in the Vale of Bones by the king&rsquo;s
+kraal.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She regarded me with a kindly commiseration, and answered, shaking her
+head&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have been very ill, Macumazahn, and your spirit still tricks you. I
+played the part of no woman in any valley by the king&rsquo;s kraal, nor were
+my eyes rejoiced with the sight of you there or elsewhere till they brought you
+to this place, so changed that I should scarcely have known you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You little liar!&rdquo; I said rudely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do the white people always name those liars who tell them true things
+they cannot understand?&rdquo; she inquired with a sweet innocence. Then
+without waiting for an answer, she patted my hand as though I were a fretful
+child and gave me some soup in a gourd, saying, &ldquo;Drink it, it is good.
+The lady Heddana made it herself in the white man&rsquo;s fashion.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I drank the soup, which <i>was</i> very good, and as I handed back the gourd,
+answered&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Kaatje has told me that the lady Heddana is dead. Can the dead make
+soup?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She considered the point while she threw some bits of meat out of the bottom of
+the gourd to the dog, Lost, then replied&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know, Macumazahn, or indeed whether the dead eat as we do. Next
+time my Spirit visits me I will make inquiry and tell you the answer. But I do
+know that it is very strange that you, who always turn your back upon the
+truth, are so ready to accept falsehoods. Why should you believe that the lady
+Heddana is dead just because Kaatje told you so, when I who am still alive had
+sworn to you that I would protect her with my life? Nay, speak no more now.
+To-morrow if you are well enough you shall see and judge for yourself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She drew up the kaross over me, again patted my hand in her motherly fashion
+and departed, still smiling, after which I went to sleep again, so dreamlessly
+that I think there was some native soporific in that soup.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the following day two of Zikali&rsquo;s servants who did the rougher work of
+my sick room, if I may so call it, arrived and said that they were going to
+carry me out of the cave for a while, if that were my will. I who longed to
+breathe the fresh air again, said that it was very much my will, whereon they
+grasped the rough bedstead which I have described by either end and very
+carefully bore me down the cave and through its narrow entrance, where they set
+the bedstead in the shadow of the overhanging rock without. When I had
+recovered a little, for even that short journey tired me, I looked about me and
+perceived that as I had expected, I was in the Black Kloof, for there in front
+of me were the very huts which we had occupied on our arrival from Swazi-Land.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I lay a while drawing in the sweet air which to me was like a draught of
+nectar, and wondering whether I were not still in a dream. For instance, I
+wondered if I had truly seen the figures of Anscombe and Heda pass the mouth of
+the cave, on that day when I awoke, or if these were but another of
+Zikali&rsquo;s illusions imprinted on my weakened mind by his will power. For
+of what he and Nombé told me I believed nothing. Thus marvelling I fell into a
+doze and in my doze heard whisperings. I opened my eyes and lo! there before me
+stood Anscombe and Heda. It was she who spoke the first, for I was tongue-tied;
+I could not open my lips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear Mr. Quatermain, dear Mr. Quatermain!&rdquo; she murmured in her
+sweet voice, then paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now at last words came to me. &ldquo;I thought you were both dead,&rdquo; I
+said. &ldquo;Tell me, are you really alive?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She bent down and kissed my brow, while Anscombe took my hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now you know,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;We are both of us alive and
+well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank God!&rdquo; I exclaimed. &ldquo;Kaatje swore that she saw you dead
+and buried.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One sees strange things in the Black Kloof,&rdquo; replied Anscombe
+speaking for the first time, &ldquo;and much has happened to us since we were
+parted, to which you are not strong enough to listen now. When you are better,
+then we will tell you all. So grow well as soon as you can.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this I think I fainted, for when I came to myself again I was back in the
+cave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another ten days or so went by before I could even leave my bed, for my
+recovery was very slow. Indeed for weeks I could scarcely walk at all, and six
+whole months passed before I really got my strength again and became as I used
+to be. During those days I often saw Anscombe and Heda, but only for a few
+minutes at a time. Also occasionally Zikali would visit me, speaking a little,
+generally about past history, or something of the sort, but never of the war,
+and go away. At length one day he said to me&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn, now I am sure you are going to live, a matter as to which I
+was doubtful, even after you seemed to recover. For, Macumazahn, you have
+endured three shocks, of which to-day I am not afraid to talk to you. First
+there was that of the battle of Isandhlwana where you were the last white man
+left alive.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you know that, Zikali?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It does not matter. I do know. Did you not ride through the Zulus who
+parted this way and that before you, shouting what you could not understand?
+One of them you may remember even saluted with his spear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did, Zikali. Tell me, why did they behave thus, and what did they
+shout?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall not tell you, Macumazahn. Think over it for the rest of your
+life and conclude what you choose; it will not be so wonderful as the truth. At
+least they did so, as a certain doll I dressed up yonder in the Vale of Bones
+told you they would, she whose advice you followed in riding towards Ulundi
+instead of back to the river where you would have met your death, like so many
+others of the white people.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who was that doll, Zikali?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, ask me not. Perhaps it was Nombé, perhaps another. I have
+forgotten. I am very old and my memory begins to play me strange tricks. Still
+I recollect that she was a good doll, so like a dead woman called Mameena that
+I could scarcely have known them apart. Ah! that was a great game I played in
+the Vale of Bones, was it not, Macumazahn?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Zikali, yet I do not understand why it was played.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Being so young you still have the impatience of youth, Macumazahn,
+although your hair grows white. Wait a while and you will understand all. Well,
+you lay that night on the topmost rock of Isandhlwana, and there you saw and
+heard strange things. You heard the rest of the white soldiers come and lie
+down to rest among their dead brothers, and depart again unharmed. Oh! what
+fools are these Zulu generals nowadays. They send out an <i>impi</i> to attack
+men behind walls, spears against rifles, and are defeated. Had they kept that
+<i>impi</i> to fall on the rest of the English when they walked into the trap,
+not a man of your people would have been left alive. Would that have happened
+in the time of Chaka?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think not, Zikali. Still I am glad that it did happen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think not too, Macumazahn, but small men, small wit. Also like you I
+am glad that it did not happen, since it is the Zulus I hate, not the English
+who have now learned a lesson and will not be caught again. Oh! many a captain
+in Zululand is to-day flat as a pricked bladder, and even their victory, as
+they call it, cost them dear. For, mind you, Macumazahn, for every white man
+they killed two of them died. So, so! In the morning you left the hill&mdash;do
+not look astonished, Macumazahn. Perhaps those captains on the rock beneath you
+let you go for their own purposes, or because they were commanded, for though
+weak I can still lift a stone or two, Macumazahn, and afterwards told me all
+about it. Then you found yourself alone among the dead, like the last man in
+the world, Macumazahn, and that dog at your side, also a horse came to you.
+Perhaps I sent them, perhaps it was a chance. Who knows? Not I myself, for as I
+have said, my memory has grown so bad. That was your first shock, Macumazahn,
+the shock of standing alone among the dead like the last man in the world. You
+felt it, did you not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As I hope I shall never feel anything again. It nearly drove me
+mad,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very nearly indeed, though I have felt worse things and only laughed, as
+I would tell you, had I the time. Well, then the sun struck you, for at this
+season of the year it is very hot in those valleys for a white man with no
+covering to his head, and you went quite mad, though fortunately the dog and
+the horse remained as Heaven had made them. That was the second shock. Then the
+storm burst and the lightning fell. It ran down the rifle that you still
+carried, Macumazahn. I will show it to you and you will see that its stock is
+shattered. Perhaps I turned the flash aside, for I am a great thunder-herd, or
+perhaps it was One mightier than I. That was the third shock, Macumazahn. Then
+you were found, still living&mdash;how, the white man, your friend, will tell
+you. But you should cherish that dog of yours, Macumazahn, for many a man might
+have served you worse. And being strong, though small, or perhaps because you
+still have work left to do in the world before you leave it for a while, you
+have lived through all these things and will in time recover, though not
+yet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope so, Zikali, though on the whole I am not sure that I wish to
+recover.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, you do, Macumazahn, because the religion of you white men makes you
+fear death and what may come after it. You think of what you call your sins and
+are afraid lest you should be tortured because of them, not understanding that
+the spirit must be judged not by what the flesh has done but by what the spirit
+desired to do, by <i>will</i> not by <i>deed,</i> Macumazahn. The evil man is
+he who wishes to do evil, not he who wishes to do good and falls now and again
+into evil. Oh! I have hearkened to your white teachers and I know, I
+know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then by your own standard you are evil, Zikali, since you wished to
+bring about war, and not in vain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oho! Macumazahn, you think that, do you, who cannot understand that what
+seems to be evil is often good. I wished to bring about war and brought it
+about, and maybe what bred the wish was all that I have suffered in the past.
+But say you, who have seen what the Zulu Power means, who have seen men, women
+and children killed by the thousand to feed that Power, and who have seen, too,
+what the English Power means, is it evil that I should wish to destroy the
+House of the Zulu kings that the English House may take its place and that in a
+time to come the Black people may be free?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are clever, Zikali, but it is of your own wrongs that you think. How
+about that skull which you kissed in the Vale of Bones?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mayhap, Macumazahn, but my wrongs are the wrongs of a nation, therefore
+I think of the nation, and at least I do not fear death like you white men. Now
+hearken. Presently your friends will tell you a story. The lady Heddana will
+tell you how I made use of her for a certain purpose, for which purpose indeed
+I drew the three of you into Zululand, because without her I could not have
+brought about this war into which Cetewayo did not wish to enter. When you have
+heard that story, do not judge me too hardly, Macumazahn, who had a great end
+to gain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet whatever the story may be, I do judge you hardly, Zikali, who
+tormented me with a false tale, causing the woman Kaatje to lie to me and swear
+that she saw these two dead before her&mdash;how I know not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She did not lie to you, Macumazahn. Has not such a one as I the power to
+make a fat fool think that she saw what she did not see? As to how! How did I
+make you think in yonder hut of mine that you saw what you did not
+see&mdash;perhaps.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But why did you mock me in this fashion, Zikali?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Truly, Macumazahn, you are blind as a bat in sunlight. When your friends
+have told you the story, you will understand why. Yet I admit to you that
+things went wrong. You should have heard that tale <i>before</i> Cetewayo
+brought you to the Vale of Bones. But the fool-woman delayed and blundered, and
+when she reached Ulundi the gates were shut against her as a spy, and not
+opened till too late, so that you only found her when you returned from the
+Council. I knew this, and that was why I dared to bid you fire at that which
+stood upon the rock. Had you heard Kaatje&rsquo;s tale you might have aimed
+straight, as also you would have certainly shot straight at me, out of revenge
+for the deaths of those you loved, Macumazahn, though whether you could have
+killed me before all the game is played is another matter. As it was, I was
+sure that you would not pierce the heart of one who <i>might</i> be a certain
+white woman, sure also that you would not pierce my heart whose death
+<i>might</i> bring about her death and that of another.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are very subtle, Zikali,&rdquo; I said in astonishment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So you hold because I am very simple, who understand the spirit of
+man&mdash;and some other things. For the rest, had you not believed that these
+two were dead, you would never have left Zululand. You would have tried to
+escape to get to them and have been killed. Is it not so?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I think I should have tried, Zikali. But why did you keep them
+prisoner?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For the same reason that I still keep them&mdash;and you&mdash;to hold
+them back a while from the world of ghosts. Had I sent them away after that
+night of the declaration of war, they would have been killed before they had
+gone an hour&rsquo;s journey. Oh! I am not so bad as you think, Macumazahn, and
+I never break my word. Now I have done.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How goes the war?&rdquo; I asked as he shuffled to his feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As it must go, very ill for the Zulus. They have driven back the white
+men who gather strength from over the Black Water and will come on presently
+and wipe them out. Umnyamana would have had Cetewayo invade Natal and sweep it
+clean, as of course he should have done. But I sent him word that if he did so
+Nomkubulwana, yes, she and no other, had told me that all the spirits would be
+against him, and he hearkened. When next you think me wicked, remember that,
+Macumazahn. Now it is but a matter of time, and here you must bide till all is
+finished. That will be good for you who need rest, though the other two find it
+wearisome. Still for them it is good also to watch the fruit ripen on their
+tree of love. It will be the sweeter when they eat it, Macumazahn, and teach
+them how to live together. <i>Oho! Oho-ho!</i>&rdquo; and he shambled off.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap20"></a>CHAPTER XX.<br />
+HEDA&rsquo;S TALE</h2>
+
+<p>
+That evening when I was lying on my bed outside the cave, I heard the tale of
+Anscombe and Heda. Up to a certain point he told it, then she went on with the
+story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the morning after our arrival at this place, Allan,&rdquo; said
+Anscombe, &ldquo;I woke up to find you gone from the hut. As you did not come
+back I concluded that you were with Zikali, and walked about looking for you.
+Then food was brought to us and Heda and I breakfasted together, after which we
+went to where we heard the horses neighing and found that yours was gone.
+Returning, much frightened, we met Nombé, who gave me your note which explained
+everything, and we inquired of her why this had been done and what was to
+become of us. She smiled and answered that we had better ask the first question
+of the king and the second of her master Zikali, and in the meanwhile be at
+peace since we were quite safe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I tried to see Zikali but could not. Then I went to inspan the horses
+with the idea of following you, only to find that they were gone. Indeed I have
+not seen them from that day to this. Next we thought of starting on foot, for
+we were quite desperate. But Nombé intervened and told us that if we ventured
+out of the Black Kloof we should be killed. In short we were prisoners.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This went on for some days, during which we were well treated but could
+not succeed in seeing Zikali. At length one morning he sent for us and we were
+taken to the enclosure in front of his hut, Kaatje coming with us as
+interpreter. For a while he sat still, looking very grim and terrible. Then he
+said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;White Chief and Lady, you think ill of me because Macumazahn has
+gone and you are kept prisoners here, and before all is done you will think
+worse. Yet I counsel you to trust me since everything that happens is for your
+good.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At this point Heda, who, as you know, talked Zulu fairly well, though
+not so well as she does now, broke in, and said some very angry things to
+him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; interrupted Heda. &ldquo;I told him that he was a liar and I
+believed that he had murdered you and meant to murder us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He listened stonily,&rdquo; continued Anscombe, &ldquo;and answered,
+&lsquo;I perceive, Lady Heddana, that you understand enough of our tongue to
+enable me to talk to you; therefore I will send away this half-breed woman,
+since what I have to say is secret.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then he called servants by clapping his hands and ordered them to remove
+Kaatje, which was done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Now, Lady Heddana,&rsquo; he said, speaking very slowly so that
+Heda might interpret to me and repeating his words whenever she did not
+understand, &lsquo;I have a proposal to make to you. For my own ends it is
+necessary that you should play a part and appear before the king and the
+Council as the goddess of this land who is called the Chieftainess of Heaven,
+which goddess is always seen as a white woman. Therefore you must travel with
+me to Ulundi and there do those things which I shall tell you.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;And if I refuse to play this trick,&rsquo; said Heda, &lsquo;what
+then?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Then, Lady Heddana, this white lord whom you love and who is to
+be your husband will&mdash;die&mdash;and after he is dead you must still do
+what I desire of you, or&mdash;die also.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Would he come with me to Ulundi?&rsquo; asked Heda.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Not so, Lady. He would stay here under guard, but quite safe, and
+you will be brought back to him, safe. Choose now, with death on the one hand
+and safety on the other. I would sleep a little. Talk the matter over in your
+own tongue and when it is settled awaken me again,&rsquo; and he shut his eyes
+and appeared to go to sleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So we discussed the situation, if you can call it discussion when we
+were both nearly mad. Heda wished to go. I begged her to let me be killed
+rather than trust herself into the hands of this old villain. She pointed out
+that even if I were killed, which she admitted might not happen, she would
+still be in his hands whence she could only escape by her own death, whereas if
+she went there was a chance that we might both continue to live, and that after
+all death was easy to find. So in the end I gave way and we woke up Zikali and
+told him so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He seemed pleased and spoke to us gently, saying, &lsquo;I was sure that
+wisdom dwelt behind those bright eyes of yours, Lady, and again I promise you
+that neither you nor the lord your lover shall come to any harm. Also that in
+payment I and my child, Nombé, will protect you even with our lives, and
+further, that I will bring back your friend, Macumazahn, to you, though not
+yet. Now go and be happy together. Nombé will tell the lady Heddana when she is
+to start. Of all this say nothing on your peril to the woman Kaatje, since if
+you do, it will be necessary that she should be made silent. Indeed, lest she
+should learn something, to-morrow I shall send her on to await you at Ulundi,
+therefore be not surprised if you see her go, and take no heed of aught she may
+say in going. Nombé, my child, will fill her place as servant to the lady
+Heddana and sleep with her at night that she may not be lonely or
+afraid.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then he clapped his hands again and servants came and conducted us back
+to the huts. And now, Allan, Heda will go on with the story.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Mr. Quatermain,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;nothing more happened that
+day which we spent with bursting hearts. Kaatje did not question us as to what
+the witch-doctor had said after she was sent away. Indeed I noticed that she
+was growing very stupid and drowsy, like a person who has been drugged, as I
+daresay she was, and would insist upon beginning to pack up the things in a
+foolish kind of way, muttering something about our trekking on the following
+day. The night passed as usual, Kaatje sleeping very heavily by my side and
+snoring so much&rdquo; (here I groaned sympathetically) &ldquo;that I could get
+little rest. On the next morning after breakfast as the huts were very hot,
+Nombé suggested that we should sit under the shadow of the overhanging rock,
+just where we are now. Accordingly we went, and being tired out with all our
+troubles and bad nights, I fell into a doze, and so, I think, did Maurice,
+Nombé sitting near to us and singing all the while, a very queer kind of song.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Presently, through my doze as it were, I saw Kaatje approaching. Nombé
+went to meet her, still singing, and taking her hand, led her to the cart,
+where they seemed to talk to the horses, which surprised me as there were no
+horses. Then she brought her round the cart and pointed to us, still singing.
+Now Kaatje began to weep and throw her hands about, while Nombé patted her on
+the shoulder. I tried to speak to her but could not. My tongue was tied, why I
+don&rsquo;t know, but I suppose because I was really asleep, and Maurice also
+was asleep and did not wake at all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said Anscombe, &ldquo;I remember nothing of all this
+business.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After a while Kaatje went away, still weeping, and then I fell asleep in
+earnest and did not wake until the sun was going down, when I roused Maurice
+and we both went back to the hut, where I found that Nombé had cooked our
+evening meal. I looked for Kaatje, but could not find her. Also in searching
+through my things I missed the bag of jewels. I called to Nombé and asked where
+Kaatje was, whereon she smiled and said that she had gone away, taking the bag
+with her. This pained me, for I had always found Kaatje quite
+honest&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Which she is,&rdquo; I remarked, &ldquo;for those jewels are now in a
+bank at Maritzburg.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Heda nodded and went on, &ldquo;I am glad to hear it; indeed, remembering what
+Zikali had said, I never really suspected her of being a thief, but thought it
+was all part of some plan. After this things went on as before, except that
+Nombé took Kaatje&rsquo;s place and was with me day and night. Of
+Kaatje&rsquo;s disappearance she would say nothing. Zikali we did not see.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On the third evening after the vanishing of Kaatje, Nombé came and said
+that I must make ready for a journey, and while she spoke men arrived with a
+litter that had grass mats hung round it. Nombé brought out my long cape and
+put it over me, also a kind of veil of white stuff which she threw over my
+head, so as to hide my face. I think it was made out of one of our travelling
+mosquito nets. Then she said I must say good-bye to Maurice for a while. There
+was a scene as you may imagine. He grew angry and said that he would come with
+me, whereon armed men appeared, six of them, and pushed him away with the
+handles of their spears. In another minute I was lifted into the litter which
+Nombé entered with me, and so we were parted, wondering if we should ever see
+each other more. At the mouth of the kloof I saw another litter surrounded by a
+number of Zulus, which Nombé said contained Zikali.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We travelled all that night and two succeeding nights, resting during
+the day in deserted kraals that appeared to have been made ready for us. It was
+a strange journey, for although the armed men flitted about us, neither they
+nor the bearers ever spoke, nor did I see Zikali, or indeed any one else. Only
+Nombé comforted me from time to time, telling me there was nothing to fear.
+Towards dawn on the third night we travelled over some hills and I was put into
+a new hut and told that my journey was done as we had reached a place near
+Ulundi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I slept most of the following day, but after I had eaten towards
+evening, Zikali crept into the hut, just as a great toad might do, and squatted
+down in front of me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Lady,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;listen. To-night, perhaps one hour
+after sundown, perhaps two, perhaps three, Nombé will lead you, dressed in a
+certain fashion, from this hut. See now, outside of it there is a tongue of
+rock up which you may climb unnoted by the little path that runs between those
+big stones. Look,&rsquo; and he showed me the place through the door-hole.
+&lsquo;The path ends on a flat boulder at the end of the rock. There you will
+take your stand, holding in your right hand a little assegai which will be
+given to you. Nombé will not accompany you to the rock, but she will crouch
+between the stones at the head of the path and perhaps from time to time
+whisper to you what to do. Thus when she tells you, you must throw the little
+spear into the air, so that it falls among a number of men gathered in debate
+who will be seated about twenty paces from the rock. For the rest you are to
+stand quite still, saying nothing and showing no alarm whatever you may hear or
+see. Among the men before you may be your friend, Macumazahn, but you must not
+appear to recognize him, and if he speaks to you, you must make no answer. Even
+if he should seem to shoot at you, do not be afraid. Do you understand? If so,
+repeat what I have told you.&rsquo; I obeyed him and asked what would happen if
+I did not do these things, or some of them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He answered, &lsquo;You will be killed, Nombé will be killed, the lord
+Mauriti your lover will be killed, and your friend Macumazahn will be killed.
+Perhaps even I shall be killed and we will talk the matter over in the land of
+ghosts.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On hearing this I said I would do my best to carry out his orders, and
+after making me repeat them once more, he went away. Later, Nombé dressed me up
+as you saw me, Mr. Quatermain, put some glittering powder into my hair and
+touched me beneath the eyes with a dark kind of pigment. Also she gave me the
+little spear and made me practise standing quite still with it raised in my
+right hand, telling me that when I heard her say the word 'Throw,&rsquo; I was
+to cast it into the air. Then the moon rose and we heard men talking at a
+distance. At last some one came to the hut and whispered to Nombé, who led me
+out to the little path between the rocks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This must have been nearly two hours after I heard the men begin to
+talk&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Excuse me,&rdquo; I interrupted, &ldquo;but where was Nombé all those
+two hours?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With me. She never left my side, Mr. Quatermain, and while I was on the
+rock she was crouched within three paces of me between two big stones at the
+mouth of the path.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed,&rdquo; I replied faintly, &ldquo;this is very interesting.
+Please continue&mdash;but one word, how was Nombé dressed? Did she wear a
+necklace of blue beads?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just as she always is, or rather less so, for she had nothing on except
+her moocha, and certainly no blue beads. But why do you ask?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From curiosity merely. I mean, I will tell you afterwards, pray go
+on.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I stepped forward on to the rock and at first saw nothing, because
+at that moment the moon was hid by a cloud; indeed Nombé had waited for the
+cloud to pass over its face, before she thrust me forward. Also some smoke from
+a fire below was rising straight in front of me. Presently the cloud passed,
+the smoke thinned, and I saw the circle of those savage men seated beneath, and
+in their centre a great chief wearing a leopard&rsquo;s skin cloak who I
+guessed was the king. You I did not see, Mr. Quatermain, because you were
+behind a tree, yet I felt that you were there, a friend among all those foes. I
+stood still, as I had been taught to do, and heard the murmur of astonishment
+and caught the gleam of the moonlight from the white feathers that were sewn
+upon my robe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I heard also the voice of Zikali speaking from beneath. He called
+on you to come out to shoot at me, and the man whom I took to be the king,
+ordered you to obey. You appeared from behind the tree, and I was certain from
+the look upon your face that at that distance you did not know who I was in my
+strange and glittering raiment. You lifted the pistol and I was terribly
+afraid, for I had seen you shoot with it before on the verandah of the Temple
+and knew well that you do not miss. Very nearly I screamed out to you, but
+remembered and was silent, thinking that after all it did not much matter if I
+died, except for the sake of Maurice here. Also by now I guessed that I was
+being used to deceive those men before me into some terrible act, and that if I
+died, at least they would be undeceived.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought that an age passed between the time you pointed the pistol and
+I saw the flash for which I was waiting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You need not have waited, Heda,&rdquo; I interposed, &ldquo;for if I had
+really aimed at you you would never have seen that flash, at least so it is
+said. I too guessed enough to shoot above you, although at the time I did not
+know that it was you on the rock; indeed I thought it was Nombé painted
+up.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I heard the bullet sing over me. Then I heard the voice of Zikali
+challenging you to shoot him, and to tell the truth, hoped that you would do
+so. Just before you fired for the second time, Nombé whispered to
+me&mdash;&lsquo;Throw&rsquo; and I threw the little red-handled spear into the
+air. Then as the pistol went off Nombé whispered&mdash;&lsquo;Come.&rsquo; I
+slipped away down the path and back with her into the hut, where she kissed me
+and said that I had done well indeed, after which she took off my strange robe
+and helped me to put on my own dress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is all I know, except that some hours later I was awakened from
+sleep and put into the litter where I went to sleep again, for what I had gone
+through tired me very much. I need not trouble you with the rest, for we
+journeyed here in the same way that we had journeyed to Ulundi&mdash;by night.
+I did not see Zikali, but in answer to my questions, Nombé told me that the
+Zulus had declared war against the English. What part in the business I had
+played, she would not tell me, and I do not know to this hour, but I am sure
+that it was a great one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So we came back to the Black Kloof, where I found Maurice quite well,
+and now he had better go on with the tale, for if I begin to tell you of our
+meeting I shall become foolish.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t much more to tell,&rdquo; said Anscombe, &ldquo;except
+about yourself. While Heda was away I was kept a prisoner and watched day and
+night by Zikali&rsquo;s people who would not let me stir a yard, but otherwise
+treated me kindly. Then one day at sunrise, or shortly after it, Heda
+re-appeared and told me all this story, for the end of which, as you may
+imagine, I thanked God.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After that we just lived on here, happily enough since we were together,
+until one day Nombé told us that there had been a great battle in which the
+Zulus had wiped out the English, killing hundreds and hundreds of them,
+although for every soldier that they killed, they had lost two. Of course this
+made us very sad, especially as we were afraid you might be with our troops. We
+asked Nombé if you were present at the battle. She answered that she would
+inquire of her Spirit and went through some very strange performances with
+ashes and knuckle bones, after which she announced that you had been in the
+battle but were alive and coming this way with a dog that had silver on it. We
+laughed at her, saying that she could not possibly know anything of the sort,
+also that dogs as a rule did not carry silver. Whereon she only smiled and
+said&mdash;&lsquo;Wait.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think it was three days later that one night towards dawn I was
+awakened by hearing a dog barking outside my hut, as though it wished to call
+attention to its presence. It barked so persistently and in a way so unlike a
+Kaffir dog, that at length about dawn I went out of the hut to see what was the
+matter. There, standing a few yards away surrounded by some of Zikali&rsquo;s
+people, I saw Lost and knew at once that it was an English Airedale, for I have
+had several of the breed. It looked very tired and frightened, and while I was
+wondering whence on earth it could have come, I noticed that it had a
+silver-mounted collar and remembered Nombé and her talk about you and a dog
+that carried silver on it. From that moment, Allan, I was certain that you were
+somewhere near, especially as the beast ran up to me&mdash;it would take no
+notice of the Kaffirs&mdash;and kept looking towards the mouth of the kloof, as
+though it wished me to follow it. Just then Nombé arrived, and on seeing the
+dog looked at me oddly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;I have a message for you from my master, Mauriti,&rsquo; she said
+to me through Heda, who by now had arrived upon the scene, having also been
+aroused by Lost&rsquo;s barking. &lsquo;It is that if you wish to take a walk
+with a strange dog you can do so, and bring back anything you may
+find.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The end of it was that after we had fed Lost with milk and meat, I and
+six of Zikali&rsquo;s men started down the kloof, Lost going ahead of us and
+now and again running back and whining. At the mouth of the kloof it led us
+over a hill and down into a bush-veld valley where the thorns grew very thick.
+When we had gone along the valley for about two miles, one of the Kaffirs saw a
+Basuto pony still saddled, and caught it. The dog went on past the pony to a
+tree that had been shattered by lightning, and there within a few yards of the
+tree we found you lying senseless, Allan, or, as I thought at first, dead, and
+by your side a Martini rifle of which the stock also seemed to have been broken
+by lightning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, we put you on a shield and carried you here, meeting no one, and
+that is all the story, Allan.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stopped and we stared at each other. Then I called Lost and patted its head,
+and the dear beast licked my hand as though it understood that it was being
+thanked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A strange tale,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;but God Almighty has put much
+wisdom into His creatures of which we know nothing. Let us thank Him,&rdquo;
+and in our hearts we did.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus was I rescued from death by the intelligence and fidelity of a four-footed
+creature. Doubtless in my semi-conscious state that resulted from shock,
+weariness and sun-stroke, I had all the while headed sub-consciously and
+without any definite object for the Black Kloof. When I was within a few miles
+of it I was stunned by the lightning which ran down the rifle to the ground,
+though not actually struck. Then the dog, which had escaped, played its part,
+wandering about the country to find help for me, and so I was saved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now of the long months that followed I have little to tell. They were not
+unhappy in their way, for week by week I felt myself growing stronger, though
+very slowly. There was a path, steep, difficult and secret, which could be
+gained through one of the caves in the precipice, not that in which I slept.
+This path ran up a water-cut kloof through a patch of thorns to a flat
+tableland that was part of the Ceza stronghold. By it, when I had gained
+sufficient strength, sometimes we used to climb to the plateau, and there take
+exercise. It was an agreeable change from the stifling atmosphere of the Black
+Kloof. The days were very dull, for we were as much out of the world as though
+we had been marooned on a desert island. Still from time to time we heard of
+the progress of the war through Nombé, for Zikali I saw but seldom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She told of disasters to the English, of the death of a great young Chief who
+was deserted by his companions and died fighting bravely&mdash;afterwards I
+discovered that this was the Prince Imperial of France&mdash;of the advance of
+our armies, of defeats inflicted upon Cetewayo&rsquo;s impis, and finally of
+the destruction of the Zulus on the battlefield of Ulundi, where they hurled
+themselves by thousands upon the British square, to be swept away by case-shot
+and the hail of bullets. This battle, by the way, the Zulus call, not Ulundi or
+Nodwengu, for it was fought in front of Panda&rsquo;s old kraal of that name,
+but Ocwecweni, which means&mdash;&ldquo;the fight of the sheet-iron
+fortress.&rdquo; I suppose they give it this name because the hedge of
+bayonets, flashing in the sunlight, reminded them of sheet-iron. Or it may be
+because these proved as impenetrable as would have done walls of iron. At any
+rate they dashed their naked bodies against the storm of lead and fell in
+heaps, only about a dozen of our men being killed, as the little graveyard in
+the centre of the square entrenchment, about which still lie the empty
+cartridge cases, records to-day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There, then, on that plain perished the Zulu kingdom which was built up by
+Chaka.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now it was after this event that I saw Zikali and begged him to let us go. I
+found him triumphant and yet strangely disturbed and, as I thought, more
+apprehensive than I had ever seen him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So, Zikali,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;if what I hear is true, you have had
+your way and destroyed the Zulu people. Now you should be happy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is man ever happy, Macumazahn, when he has gained that which he sought
+for years? The two out there sigh and are sad because they cannot be married
+after their own white fashion, though what there is to keep them apart I do not
+know. Well, in time they will be married, only to find that they are not so
+happy as they thought they would be. Oh! a day will come when they will talk to
+each other and say&mdash;&lsquo;Those moons which we spent waiting together in
+the Black Kloof were the true moons of sweetness, for then we had something to
+gain; now we have gained all&mdash;and what is it?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So it is with me, Macumazahn. Since the Zulus under Chaka killed out my
+people, the Ndwandwe, year by year I have plotted and waited to see them wedded
+to the assegai. Now it has come about. You white men have stamped them flat
+upon the plain of Ulundi; they are no more a nation. And yet I am not happy,
+for after all it was the House of Senzangacona and not the people of the Zulus,
+that harmed me and mine, and Cetewayo still lives. While the queen bee remains
+there may be a hive again. While an ember still glows in the dead ashes, the
+forest may yet be fired. Perhaps when Cetewayo is dead, then I shall be happy.
+Only his death and mine are set by Fate as close together as two sister grains
+of corn upon the cob.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I turned the subject, again asking his leave to depart to Natal or to join the
+English army.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You cannot go yet,&rdquo; he answered sternly, &ldquo;so trouble me no
+more. The land is full of wandering bands of Zulus who would kill you and your
+blood would be on my head. Moreover, if they saw a white woman who had
+sheltered with me, might they not guess something? To dress a doll for the part
+of the Inkosazana-y-Zulu is the greatest crime in the world, Macumazahn, and
+what would happen to the Opener of Roads and all his House if it were even
+breathed that he had dressed that doll and thus brought about the war which
+ruined them? When Cetewayo is killed and the dead are buried and peace falls
+upon the land, the peace of death, then you shall go, Macumazahn, and not
+before.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At least, Zikali, send a message to the captains of the English army and
+tell them that we are here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Send a message to the hyenas and tell them where the carcase is; send a
+message to the hunters and tell them where the buck Zikali crouches on its
+form! Hearken, Macumazahn, if you do this, or even urge me again to do it,
+neither you nor your friends shall ever leave the Black Kloof. I have
+spoken.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then understanding that the case was hopeless, I left him and he glowered after
+me, for fear had made him cruel. He had won the long game and success had
+turned to ashes in his mouth. Or rather, he had not won&mdash;yet&mdash;since
+his war was against the House of Senzangacona from which he and his tribe had
+suffered cruel wrong. To pull it down he must pull down the Zulu nation; it was
+like burning a city to destroy a compromising letter. He had burnt the city,
+but the letter still remained intact and might be produced in evidence against
+him. In other words Cetewayo yet lived. Therefore his vengeance remained quite
+unslaked and his danger was as great, or perhaps greater than it had ever been
+before. For was he not the prophet who by producing the Princess of Heaven, the
+traditional goddess of the Zulus, before the eyes of the king and Council, had
+caused them to decide for war? And supposing it were so much as breathed that
+this spirit which they seemed to see, had been but a trick and a fraud, what
+then? He would be tortured to death if his dupes had time, or torn limb from
+limb if they had not, that is if he could die like other men&mdash;a matter as
+to which personally I had no doubts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shortly after I left Zikali Heda and I ate our evening meal together. Anscombe,
+as it chanced, had gone by the secret path to the tableland of which I have
+spoken, where he amused himself, as of course we were not allowed to fire a
+gun, by catching partridges, with the help of an ingenious system of grass nets
+which he had invented. There were springs on this tableland that formed little
+pools of water, at which the partridges, also occasionally guineafowl and bush
+pheasants, came to drink at sunrise and sunset. Here it was that he set his
+nets and retired to work them at those hours by means of strings that he pulled
+from hiding-places. So Heda and I were alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I told her of my ill success with Zikali, at which she was much disappointed.
+Then by an afterthought I suggested that perhaps she might try to do something
+in the way of getting a message through to the English camp at Ulundi, or
+elsewhere, by help of the witch-doctoress, Nombé, adding that I would speak to
+her myself had I not observed that I seemed to be out of favour with her of
+late. Heda shook her head and answered that she thought it would be useless to
+try, also too dangerous. Remembering Zikali&rsquo;s threat, on reflection I
+agreed with her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me, Mr. Quatermain,&rdquo; she added, &ldquo;is it possible for one
+woman to be in love with another?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stared at her and replied that I did not understand what she meant, since
+women, so far as I had observed them, were generally in love either with a man
+or with themselves, perhaps more often with the latter than the former. Rather
+a cheap joke I admit, with just enough truth in it to make it
+acceptable&mdash;in the Black Kloof.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So I thought,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;but really Nombé behaves in a
+most peculiar way. As you know she took a fancy to me from the beginning,
+perhaps because she had never had any other woman with whom to associate,
+having, so far as I can make out, been brought up here among men from a child.
+Indeed, her story is that she was one of twins and therefore as the younger,
+was exposed to die according to the Zulu superstition. Zikali, however, or a
+servant of his who knew what was happening, rescued and reared her, so
+practically I am the only female with whom she has ever been intimate. At any
+rate her affection for me has grown and grown until, although it seems
+ungrateful to say so, it has become something of a nuisance. She has told me
+again and again that she would die to protect me, and that if by chance
+anything happened to me, she would kill herself and follow me into another
+world. She is continually making divinations about my future, and as these, in
+which she entirely believes, always show me as living without her, she is much
+distressed and at times bursts into tears.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hysteria! It is very common among the Zulu women, and especially those
+of them who practise magic arts,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps, but as it results in the most intense jealousy, Nombé&rsquo;s
+hysteria is awkward. For instance, she is horribly jealous of Maurice.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The instincts of a chaperone developed early,&rdquo; I suggested again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That won&rsquo;t quite do, Mr. Quatermain,&rdquo; answered Heda with a
+laugh, &ldquo;since she is even more jealous of you. With reference to Maurice,
+she explains frankly that if we marry she might, as she puts it,
+&lsquo;continue to sit outside the hut,&rsquo; but that in your case you live
+&lsquo;in my head,&rsquo; where she cannot come between you and me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mad,&rdquo; I remarked, &ldquo;quite mad. Still madness has to be dealt
+with in this world like other things, and Nombé, being an abnormal person, may
+suffer from abnormal ideas. It just amounts to this; she has conceived a
+passionate devotion to you, at which I am sure neither Maurice nor I can
+wonder.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are those the kind of compliments you used to pay in your youth, Mr.
+Quatermain? I expect so, and now that you are old you cannot stop them. Well, I
+thank you all the same, because perhaps you mean what you say. But what is to
+be done about Nombé? Hush! here she comes. I will leave you to reason with her,
+if you get the chance,&rdquo; and she departed in a hurry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nombé arrived, and something in her aspect told me that I was going to get the
+chance. Her eternal smile was almost gone and her dark, beautiful eyes flashed
+ominously. Still she began by asking in a mild voice whether the lady Heddana
+had eaten her supper with appetite. It will be observed that she was not
+interested in my appetite or whether enough was left for Anscombe when he
+returned. I replied that so far as I noted she had consumed about half a
+partridge, with other things.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am glad,&rdquo; said Nombé, &ldquo;since I was not here to attend upon
+her, having been summoned to speak with the Master.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then she sat down and looked at me like a thunder storm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I nursed you when you were so ill, Macumazahn,&rdquo; she began,
+&ldquo;but now I learn that for the milk with which I fed you, you would force
+me to drink bitter water that will poison me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I replied I was well aware that without her nursing I should long ago have been
+dead, which was what caused me to love her like my own daughter. But would she
+kindly explain? This she did at once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have been plotting to take away from me the lady Heddana who to me
+is as mother and sister and child. It is useless to lie to me, for the Master
+has told me all; moreover, I knew it for myself, both through my Spirit and
+because I had watched you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have no intention of lying to you, Nombé, about this or any other
+matter, though I think that sometimes in the past you have lied to me. Tell me,
+do you expect the Inkosi Mauriti, the lady Heddana and myself to pass the rest
+of our lives in the Black Kloof, when they wish to get married and go across
+the Black Water to where their home will be, and I wish to attend to my
+affairs?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know what I expect, Macumazahn, but I do know that never while
+I live will I be parted from the lady Heddana. At last I have found some one to
+love, and you and the other would steal her away from me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I studied her for a while, then asked&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you not marry, Nombé, and have a husband, and children to
+love?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Marry?&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;I am married to my Spirit which does
+not dwell beneath the sun, and my children are not of earth; moreover, all men
+are hateful to me,&rdquo; and her eyes added, &ldquo;especially you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is a calf with a dog&rsquo;s head,&rdquo; I replied in the words of
+the native proverb, meaning that she said what was not natural. &ldquo;Well,
+Nombé, if you are so fond of the lady Heddana, you had better arrange with her
+and the Inkosi Mauriti to go away with them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know well I cannot, Macumazahn. I am tied to my Master by ropes that
+are stronger than iron, and if I attempted to break them my Spirit would wither
+and I should wither with it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear me! what a dreadful business. That is what comes of taking to
+magic. Well, Nombé, I am afraid I have nothing to suggest, nor, to tell you the
+truth, can I see what I have to do with the matter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then she sprang up in a rage, saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand that not only will you give me no help, but that you also
+mock at me, Macumazahn. Moreover, as it is with you, so it is with Mauriti, who
+pretends to love my lady so much, though I love her more with my little finger
+than he does with all his body and what he calls his soul. Yes, he too mocks at
+me. Now if you were both dead,&rdquo; she added with sudden venom, &ldquo;my
+lady would not wish to go away. Be careful lest a spell should fall upon you,
+Macumazahn,&rdquo; and without more words she turned and went.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At first I was inclined to laugh; the whole thing seemed so absurd. On
+reflection, however, I perceived that in reality it was very serious to people
+situated as we were. This woman was a savage; more, a mystic savage of
+considerable powers of mind&mdash;a formidable combination. Also there were no
+restraints upon her, since public opinion had as little authority in the Black
+Kloof as the Queen&rsquo;s Writ. Lastly, it was not unknown for women to
+conceive these violent affections which, if thwarted, filled them with
+something like madness. Thus I remembered a very terrible occurrence of my
+youth which resulted in the death of one who was most dear to me. I will not
+dwell on it, but this, too, was the work of a passionate creature, woman I can
+scarcely call her, who thought she was being robbed of one whom she adored.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The end of it was that I did not enjoy my pipe that night, though luckily
+Anscombe returned after a successful evening&rsquo;s netting, about which he
+was so full of talk that there was no need for me to say much. So I put off any
+discussion of the problem until the morrow.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap21"></a>CHAPTER XXI.<br />
+THE KING VISITS ZIKALI</h2>
+
+<p>
+Next morning, as a result of my cogitations, I went to see Zikali. I was
+admitted after a good deal of trouble and delay, for although his retinue was
+limited and, with the exception of Nombé, entirely male, this old prophet kept
+a kind of semi-state and was about as difficult to approach as a European
+monarch. I found him crouching over a fire in his hut, since at this season of
+the year even in that hot place the air was chilly until midday.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is it, Macumazahn?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;As to your going away,
+have patience. I learn that he who was King of the Zulus is in full flight,
+with the white men tracking him like a wounded buck. When the buck is caught
+and killed, then you can go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is about Nombé,&rdquo; I answered, and told him all the story, which
+did not seem to surprise him at all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now see, Macumazahn,&rdquo; he said, taking some snuff, &ldquo;how hard
+it is to dam up the stream of nature. This child, Nombé, is of my blood, one
+whom I saved from death in a strange way, not because she was of my blood but
+that I might make an experiment with her. Women, as you who are wise and have
+seen much will know, are in truth superior to men, though, because they are
+weaker in body, men have the upper hand of them and think themselves their
+masters, a state they are forced to accept because they must live and cannot
+defend themselves. Yet their brains are keener, as an assegai is keener than a
+hoe; they are more in touch with the hidden things that shape out fate for
+people and for nations; they are more faithful and more patient, and by
+instinct if not by reason, more far-seeing, or at least the best of them are
+so, and by their best, like men, they should be judged. Yet this is the hole in
+their shield. When they love they become the slaves of love, and for
+love&rsquo;s sake all else is brought to naught, and for this reason they
+cannot be trusted. With men, as you know, this is otherwise. They, too, love,
+by Nature&rsquo;s law, but always behind there is something greater than love,
+although often they do not understand what that may be. To be powerful,
+therefore, a woman must be one who does not love too much. If she cannot love
+at all, then she is hated and has no power, but she must not love too much.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Once I thought that I had found such a woman; she was named Mameena,
+whom all men worshipped and who played with all men, as I played with her. But
+what was the end of it? Just as things were going very well she learned to love
+too much some man of strange notions, who would have thwarted me and brought
+everything to nothing, and therefore I had to kill her, for which I was
+sorry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here he paused to take some more snuff, watching me over the spoon as he drew
+it up his great nostrils, but as I said nothing, went on&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now after Mameena was dead I bethought me that I would rear up a woman
+who could still love but should never love a man and therefore never become mad
+or foolish, because I believed that it was only man who in taking her heart
+from woman, would take her wits also. This child, Nombé, came to my hand, and
+as I thought, so I did. Never mind how I did it, by medicine perhaps, by magic
+perhaps, by watering her pride and making it grow tall perhaps, or by all
+three. At least it was done, and this I know of Nombé, she will never care for
+any man except as a woman may care for a brother.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But now see what happens. She, the wise, the instructed, the
+man-despiser, meets a woman of another race who is sweet and good, and learns
+to love her, not as maids and mothers love, but as one loves the Spirit that
+she worships. Yes, yes, to her she is a goddess to be worshipped, one whom she
+desires to serve with all her heart and strength, to bow down before, making
+offerings, and at the end to follow into death. So it comes about that this
+Nombé, whose mind I thought to make as the wings of a bird floating on the air
+while it searches for its prey, has become even madder than other women. It is
+a disappointment to me, Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be a disappointment to you, Zikali, and all that you say is very
+interesting. But to us it is a danger. Tell me, will you command Nombé to cease
+from her folly?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will I forbid the mist to rise, or the wind to blow, or the lightning to
+strike? As she is, she is. Her heart is filled with black jealousy of Mauriti
+and of you, as a butcher&rsquo;s gourd is filled with blood, for she is not one
+who desires that her goddess should have other worshippers; she would keep her
+for herself alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then in this way or in that the gourd must be emptied, Zikali, lest we
+should be forced to drink from it and that black blood should poison us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How, unless it be broken, Macumazahn? If Heddana departs and leaves her,
+she will go mad, and accompany her she cannot, for her Spirit dwells
+here,&rdquo; and he tapped his own breast. &ldquo;It would pull her back again
+and she would become a great trouble to me, for then that Spirit of hers would
+not suffer me to sleep, with its continual startings in search of what it had
+lost, and its returnings empty-handed. Well, have no fear, for at the worst the
+bowl can be broken and the blood poured upon the earth, as I have broken finer
+bowls than this before; had I all the bits of them they would make a heap so
+high, Macumazahn!&rdquo; and he held out his hand on a level with his head, a
+gesture that made my back creep. &ldquo;I will tell her this and it may keep
+her quiet for a while. Of poison you need not be afraid, since unlike mine, her
+Spirit hates it. Poison is not one of its weapons as it is with mine. But of
+spells, beware, for her Spirit has some which are very powerful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I jumped up, filled with indignation, saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not believe in Nombé&rsquo;s spells, and in any case how am I to
+guard against them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you do not believe there is no need to guard, and if you do believe,
+then it is for you to find out how to guard, Macumazahn. Oh! I could tell you
+the story of a white teacher who did not believe and would not guard&mdash;but
+never mind, never mind. Good-bye, Macumazahn, I will speak with Nombé. Ask her
+for a lock of her hair to wear upon your heart after she has enchanted it. The
+charm is good against spells. O-ho&mdash;Oho-o! What fools we are, white and
+black together! That is what Cetewayo is thinking to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this Nombé became much more agreeable. That is to say she was very
+polite, her smile was more fixed and her eyes more unfathomable than ever.
+Evidently Zikali had spoken to her and she had listened. Yet to tell the truth
+my distrust of this handsome young woman grew deeper day by day. I recognized
+that there was a great gulf between her and the normal, that she was a creature
+fashioned by Zikali who had trained her as a gardener trains a tree, nay, who
+had done more, who had grafted some foreign growth of exotic and unnatural
+spiritualism on to her primitive nature. The nature remained the same, but the
+graft or grafts bore strange flowers and fruit, unholy flowers and poisonous
+fruit. Therefore she was not to blame&mdash;sometimes I wonder whether in this
+curious world, could one see their past and their future, anybody is to blame
+for anything&mdash;but this did not make her the less dangerous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some talks I had with her only increased my apprehensions, for I found that in
+a way she had no conscience. Life, she told me, was but a dream, and all its
+laws as evolved by man were but illusions. The real life was elsewhere. There
+was the distant lake on which the flower of our true existence floated. Without
+this unseen lake of supernatural water the flower could not float; indeed there
+would be no flower. Moreover, the flower did not matter; sometimes it would
+have this shape and colour, sometimes that. It was but a thing destined to grow
+and bloom and rot, and during its day to be ugly or to be beautiful, to smell
+sweet or ill, as it might chance, and ultimately to be absorbed back into the
+general water of Life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I pointed out to her that all flowers had roots which grew in soil. Looking at
+an orchid-like plant that crept along the bough of a tree, she answered that
+this was not true as some grew upon air. But however this might be, the soil,
+or the moisture in the air, was distilled from thousands of other flower lives
+that had flourished in their day and been forgotten. It did not matter when
+they died or how many other flowers they choked that they might live. Yet each
+flower had its own spirit which always had been and always would be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I asked her of the end and the object of that spirit. She answered darkly that
+she did not know and if she did, would not say, but that these were very
+dreadful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such were some of her vague and figurative assertions which I only record to
+indicate their uncomfortable and indeed but half human nature. I forgot to add
+that she declared that every flower or life had a twin flower or life, which in
+each successive growth it was bound to find and bloom beside, or wither to the
+root and spring again and that ultimately these two would become one, and as
+one flourish eternally. Of all of which I understood and understand little,
+except that she had grasped the elements of some truth which she could not
+express in clear and definite language.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One day I was seated in Zikali&rsquo;s hut whither by permission I had come to
+ask the latest news, when suddenly Nombé appeared and crouched down before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who gave you leave to enter here, and what is your business?&rdquo; he
+asked angrily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Home of Spirits,&rdquo; she replied in a humble voice, &ldquo;be not
+angry with your servant. Necessity gave me leave, and my business is to tell
+you that strangers approach.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are they that dare to enter the Black Kloof unannounced?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cetewayo the King is one of them, the others I do not know, but they are
+many, armed all of them. They approach your gate; before a man can count two
+hundred they will be here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where are the white chief and the lady Heddana?&rdquo; asked Zikali.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By good fortune they have gone by the secret path to the tableland and
+will not be back till sunset. They wished to be alone, so I did not accompany
+them, and Macumazahn here said that he was too weary to do so.&rdquo; (This was
+true. Also like Nombé I thought that they wished to be alone.)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good. Go, tell the king that I knew of his coming and am awaiting him.
+Bid my servants kill the ox which is in the kraal, the fat ox that they thought
+is sick and therefore fit food for a sick king,&rdquo; he added bitterly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She glided away like a startled snake. Then Zikali turned to me and said
+swiftly&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn, you are in great danger. If you are found here you will be
+killed, and so will the others whom I will send to warn not to return till this
+king has gone away. Go at once to join them. No, it is too late, I hear the
+Zulus come. Take that kaross, cover yourself with it and lie among the baskets
+and beerpots here near the entrance of the hut in the deepest of the shadows,
+so that if any enter, perchance you will not be found. I too am in danger who
+shall be held to account for all that has happened. Perhaps they will kill me,
+if I can be killed. If so, get away with the others as best you can. Nombé will
+tell you where your horses are hidden. In that case let Heddana take Nombé with
+her, for when I am dead she will go, and shake her off in Natal if she troubles
+her. Whatever chances, remember, Macumazahn, that I have done my best to keep
+my word to you and to protect you and your friends. Now I go to look on this
+pricked bladder who was once a king.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He scrambled from the hut with slow, toad-like motions, while I with motions
+that were anything but slow, grabbed the grey catskin kaross and ensconced
+myself among the beerpots and mats in such a position that my head, over which
+I set a three-legged carved stool of Zikali&rsquo;s own cutting, was but a few
+inches to the left of the door-hole and therefore in the deepest of the
+shadows. Thence by stretching out my neck a little, I could see through the
+hole, also hear all that passed outside. Unless a deliberate search of the hut
+should be made I was fairly safe from observation, even if it were entered by
+strangers. One fear I had, however, it was lest the dog Lost should get into
+the place and smell me out. I had left him tied to the centre pole in my own
+hut, because he hated Zikali and always growled at him. But suppose he gnawed
+through the cord, or any one let him loose!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Scarcely had Zikali seated himself in his accustomed place before the hut, than
+the gate of the outer fence opened and approaching through it I saw forty or
+fifty fierce and way-worn men. In front of them, riding on a tired horse that
+was led by a servant, was Cetewayo himself. He was assisted to dismount, or
+rather threw his great bulk into the arms that were waiting to receive him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then after some words with his following and with one of Zikali&rsquo;s people,
+followed by three or four indunas and leaning on the arm of Umnyamana, the
+Prime Minister, he entered the enclosure, the rest remaining without. Zikali,
+who sat as though asleep, suddenly appeared to wake up and perceive him.
+Struggling to his feet he lifted his right arm and gave the royal salute of
+Bayete, and with it titles of praise, such as &ldquo;Black One!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Elephant!&rdquo; &ldquo;Earth-Shaker!&rdquo; &ldquo;Conqueror!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Eater-up of the White men!&rdquo; &ldquo;Child of the Wild Beast (Chaka)
+whose teeth are sharper than the Wild Beast&rsquo;s ever were!&rdquo; and so
+on, until Cetewayo, growing impatient, cried out&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be silent, Wizard. Is this a time for fine words? Do you not know my
+case that you offend my ears with them? Give us food to eat if you have it,
+after which I would speak with you alone. Be swift also; here I may not stay
+for long, since the white dogs are at my heels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I knew that you were coming, O King, to honour my poor house with a
+visit,&rdquo; said Zikali slowly, &ldquo;and therefore the ox is already killed
+and the meat will soon be on the fire. Meanwhile drink a sup of beer, and
+rest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He clapped his hands, whereon Nombé and some servants appeared with pots of
+beer, of which, after Zikali had tasted it to show that it was not poisoned,
+the king and his people drank thirstily. Then it was taken to those outside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is this that my ears hear?&rdquo; asked Zikali when Nombé and the
+others had gone, &ldquo;that the White Dogs are on the spoor of the Black
+Bull?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cetewayo nodded heavily, and answered&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My impis were broken to pieces on the plain of Ulundi; the cowards ran
+from the bullets as children run from bees. My kraals are burnt and I, the
+King, with but a faithful remnant fly for my life. The prophecy of the Black
+One has come true. The people of the Zulus are stamped flat beneath the feet of
+the great White People.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I remember that prophecy, O King. Mopo told it to me within an hour of
+the death of the Black One when he gave me the little red-handled assegai that
+he snatched from the Black One&rsquo;s hand to do the deed. It makes me almost
+young again to think of it, although even then I was old,&rdquo; replied Zikali
+in a dreamy voice like one who speaks to himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hearing him from under my kaross I bethought me that he had really grown old at
+last, who for the moment evidently forgot the part which this very assegai had
+played a few months before in the Vale of Bones. Well, even the greatest
+masters make such slips at times when their minds are full of other things. But
+if Zikali forgot, Cetewayo and his councillors remembered, as I could see by
+the look of quick intelligence that flashed from face to face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So! Mopo the murderer, he who vanished from the land after the death of
+my uncle Dingaan, gave you the little red assegai, did he, Opener of Roads! And
+but a few months ago that assegai, which old Sigananda knew again, thrown by
+the hand of the Inkosazana-y-Zulu, drew blood from my body after the white man,
+Macumazahn, had severed its shaft with his bullet. Now tell me, Opener of
+Roads, how did it pass from your keeping into that of the spirit
+Nomkubulwana?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this question I distinctly saw a shiver shake the frame of Zikali who
+realized too late the terrible mistake he had made. Yet as only the great can
+do, he retrieved and even triumphed over his error.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oho-ho!&rdquo; he laughed, &ldquo;who am I that I can tell how such
+things happen? Do you not know, O King, that the Spirits leave what they will
+and take what they will, whether it be but a blade of grass, or the life of a
+man&rdquo;&mdash;here he looked at Cetewayo&mdash;&ldquo;or even of a people?
+Sometimes they take the shadow and sometimes the substance, since spirit or
+matter, all is theirs. As for the little assegai, I lost it years ago. I
+remember that the last time I saw it was in the hands of a woman named Mameena
+to whom I showed it as a strange and bloody thing. After her death I found that
+it was gone, so doubtless she took it with her to the Under-world and there
+gave it to the Queen Nomkubulwana, with whom you may remember this Mameena
+returned from that Under-world yonder in the Bones.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be so,&rdquo; said Cetewayo sullenly, &ldquo;yet it was no spirit
+iron that cut my thigh, but what do I know of the ways of Spirits? Wizard, I
+would speak with you in your hut alone where no ear can hear us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My hut is the King&rsquo;s,&rdquo; answered Zikali, &ldquo;yet let the
+King remember that those Spirits of which he does not know the ways, can always
+hear, yes, even the thoughts of men, and on them do judgment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Fear not,&rdquo; said Cetewayo, &ldquo;amongst many other things I
+remember this also.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Zikali turned and crept into the hut, whispering as he passed me&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lie silent for your life.&rdquo; And Cetewayo having bidden his retinue
+to depart outside the fence and await him there, followed after him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They sat them down on either side of the smouldering fire and stared at each
+other through the thin smoke there in the gloom of the hut. By turning my head
+that the foot of the king had brushed as he passed, I could watch them both.
+Cetewayo spoke the first in a hoarse, slow voice, saying&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wizard, I am in danger of my life and I have come to you who know all
+the secrets of this land, that you may tell me in what place I may hide where
+the white men cannot find me. It must be told into my ear alone, since I dare
+not trust the matter to any other, at any rate until I must. They are traitors
+every man of them, yes, even those who seem to be most faithful. The fallen man
+has no friends, least of all if he chances to be a king. Only the dead will
+keep his counsel. Tell me of the place I need.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dingaan, who was before you, once asked this same thing of me, O King,
+when he was flying from Panda your father, and the Boers. I gave him advice
+that he did not take, but sought a refuge of his own upon a certain
+Ghost-mountain. What happened to him there that Mopo, of whom you spoke a while
+ago, can tell you if he still
+lives.&rdquo;<a href="#fn-21.1" name="fnref-21.1" id="fnref-21.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn-21.1" id="fn-21.1"></a> <a href="#fnref-21.1">[1]</a>
+See <i>Nada the Lily.</i>&mdash;E<small>DITOR</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely you are an ill-omened night-bird who thus croak to me continually
+of the death of kings,&rdquo; broke in Cetewayo with suppressed rage. Then
+calming himself with an effort added, &ldquo;Tell me now, where shall I
+hide?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would you know, King? Then hearken. On the south slope of the Ingome
+Range west of the Ibululwana River, on the outskirts of the great forest, there
+is a kloof whereof the entrance, which only one man can pass at a time, is
+covered by a thicket of thorns and marked by a black rock shaped like a great
+toad with an open mouth, or, as some say, like myself,
+'The-Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.&rsquo; Near to this rock dwells an
+old woman, blind of one eye and lacking a hand, which the Black One cut off
+shortly before his death, because when he killed her father, she saw the future
+and prophesied a like death to him, although then she was but a child. This
+woman is of our company, being a witch-doctoress. I will send a Spirit to her,
+if you so will it, to warn her to watch for you and your company, O King, and
+show you the mouth of the kloof, where are some old huts and water. There you
+will never be found unless you are betrayed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who can betray me when none know whither I am going?&rdquo; asked
+Cetewayo. &ldquo;Send the Spirit, send it at once, that this one-armed witch
+may make ready.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is the hurry, King, seeing that the forest is far away? Yet be it
+as you will. Keep silence now, lest evil should befall you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then of a sudden Zikali seemed to go off into one of his trances. His form grew
+rigid, his eyes closed, his face became fixed as though in death, and foam
+appeared upon his lips. He was a dreadful sight to look on, there in the gloomy
+hut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cetewayo watched him and shivered. Then he opened his blanket and I perceived
+that fastened about him by a loop of hide in such a fashion that it could be
+drawn out in a moment, was the blade of a broad assegai, the shaft of which was
+shortened to about six inches. His hand grasped this shaft, and I understood
+that he was contemplating the murder of Zikali. Then it seemed to me that he
+changed his mind and that his lips shaped the words&mdash;&ldquo;Not
+yet,&rdquo; though whether he really spoke them I do not know. At least he
+withdrew his hand and closed the blanket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Slowly Zikali opened his eyes, staring at the roof of the hut, whence came a
+curious sound as of squeaking bats. He looked like a dead man coming to life
+again. For a few moments he turned up his ear as though he listened to the
+squealing, then said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is well. The Spirit that I summoned has visited her of our company
+who is named One-hand and returned with the answer. Did you not hear it
+speaking in the thatch, O King?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I heard something, Wizard,&rdquo; answered Cetewayo in an awed voice.
+&ldquo;I thought it was a bat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A bat it is, O King, one with wide wings and swift. This bat says that
+my sister, One-hand, will meet you on the third day from now at this hour on
+the further side of the ford of the Ibululwana, where three milk-trees grow
+together on a knoll. She will be sitting under the centre milk-tree and will
+wait for two hours, no more, to show you the secret entrance to the
+kloof.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The road is rough and long, I shall have to hurry when worn out with
+travelling,&rdquo; said Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is so, O King. Therefore my counsel is that you begin the journey
+as soon as possible, especially as I seem to hear the baying of the white dogs
+not far away.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By Chaka&rsquo;s head! I will not,&rdquo; growled Cetewayo, &ldquo;who
+thought to sleep here in peace this night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As the King wills. All that I have is the King&rsquo;s. Only then
+One-hand will not be waiting and some other place of hiding must be found,
+since this is known to me only and to her; also that Spirit which I sent will
+make no second journey, nor can I travel to show it to the King.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Wizard, it is known to you and to myself. Methinks it would be
+better were it known to me alone. I have a spoonful of snuff to share (i.e., a
+bone to pick) with you, Wizard. It would seem that you set my feet and those of
+the Zulu people upon a false road, yonder in the Vale of Bones, causing me to
+declare war upon the white men and thereby bringing us all to ruin.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mayhap my memory grows bad, O King, for I do not remember that I did
+these things. I remember that the spirit of a certain Mameena whom I called up
+from the dead, prophesied victory to the King, which victory has been his. Also
+it prophesied other victories to the King in a far land across the water, which
+victories doubtless shall be his in due season; for myself I gave no
+&lsquo;counsel to the King or to his indunas and generals.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You lie, Wizard,&rdquo; exclaimed Cetewayo hoarsely. &ldquo;Did you not
+summon the shape of the Princess of Heaven to be the sign of war, and did she
+not hold in her hand that assegai of the Black One which you have told me was
+in your keeping? How did it pass from your keeping into the hand of a
+spirit?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As to that matter I have spoken, O King. For the rest, is Nomkubulwana
+my servant to come and go at my bidding?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think so,&rdquo; said Cetewayo coldly. &ldquo;I think also that you
+who know the place where I purpose to hide, would do well to forget it. Surely
+you have lived too long, O Opener of Roads, and done enough evil to the House
+of Senzangacona, which you ever hated.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So he spoke, and once more I saw his hand steal towards the spearhead which was
+hidden beneath the blanket that he wore.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Zikali saw it also and laughed. &ldquo;Oho!&rdquo; he laughed,
+&ldquo;forgetting all my warnings, and that the day of my death will be his
+own, the King thinks to kill me because I am old and feeble and alone and
+unarmed. He thinks to kill me as the Black One thought, as Dingaan thought, as
+even Panda thought, yet I live on to this day. Well, I bear no malice since it
+is natural that the King should wish to kill one who knows the secret of where
+he would hide himself for his own life&rsquo;s sake. That spearhead which the
+King is fingering is sharp, so sharp that my bare breast cannot turn its edge.
+I must find me a shield! I must find me a shield! Fire, you are not yet dead.
+Awake, make smoke to be my shield!&rdquo; and he waved his long, monkey-like
+arms over the embers, from which instantly there sprang up a reek of thin white
+smoke that appeared to take a vague and indefinite shape which suggested the
+shadow of a man; for to me it seemed a nebulous and wavering shadow, no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What are you staring at, O King?&rdquo; went on Zikali in a fierce and
+thrilling voice. &ldquo;Who is it that you see? Who has the fire sent to be my
+shield? Ghosts are so thick here that I do not know. I cannot tell one of them
+from the other. Who is it? Who, who of all that you have slain and who
+therefore are your foes?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Umbelazi, my brother,&rdquo; groaned Cetewayo. &ldquo;My brother
+Umbelazi stands before me with spear raised; he whom I brought to his death at
+the battle of the Tugela. His eyes flame upon me, his spear is raised to
+strike. He speaks words I cannot understand. Protect me, O Wizard! Lord of
+Spirits, protect me from the spirit of Umbelazi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Zikali laughed wildly and continued to wave his arms above the fire from which
+smoke poured ever more densely, till the hut was full of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When it cleared away again Cetewayo was gone!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Saw you ever the like of that?&rdquo; said Zikali, addressing the kaross
+under which I was sweltering. &ldquo;Tell me, Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I answered, thrusting out my head as a tortoise does,
+&ldquo;when in this very hut you seemed to produce the shape, also out of
+smoke, I think, of one whom I used to know. Say, how do you do it,
+Zikali?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do it. Who knows? Perchance I do nothing. Perchance I think and you
+fools see, no more. Or perchance the spirits of the dead who are so near to us,
+come at my call and take themselves bodies out of the charmed smoke of my fire.
+You white men are wise, answer your own question, Macumazahn. At least that
+smoke or that ghost saved me from a spear thrust in the heart, wherewith
+Cetewayo was minded to pay me for showing him a hiding-place which he desired
+should be secret to himself alone. Well, well, I can pay as well as Cetewayo
+and my count is longer. Now lie you still, Macumazahn, for I go out to watch.
+He will not bide long in this place which he deems haunted and ill-omened. He
+will be gone ere sunset, that is within an hour, and sleep elsewhere.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he crept from the hut and presently, though I could see nothing, for now
+the gate of the fence was shut, I heard voices debating and finally that of
+Cetewayo say angrily&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have done! It is my will. You can eat your food outside of this place
+which is bewitched; the girl will show us where are the huts of which the
+wizard speaks.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A few minutes later Zikali crept back into the hut, laughing to himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All is safe,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and you can come out of your hole,
+old jackal. He who calls himself a king is gone, taking with him those whom he
+thinks faithful, most of whom are but waiting a chance to betray him. What did
+I say, a king? Nay, in all Africa there is no slave so humble or so wretched as
+this broken man. Oh! feather by feather I have plucked my fowl and by and by I
+shall cut his throat. You will be there, Macumazahn, you will be there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I trust not,&rdquo; I answered as I mopped my brow. &ldquo;We have been
+near enough to throat-cutting this afternoon to last me a long while. Where has
+the king gone?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not far, Macumazahn. I have sent Nombé to guide him to the huts in the
+little dip five spear throws to the right of the mouth of the kloof where live
+the old herdsman and his people who guard my cattle. He and all the rest are
+away with the cattle that are hidden in the Ceza Forest out of reach of the
+white men, so the huts are empty. Oh! now I read what you are thinking. I do
+not mean that he should be taken there. It is too near my house and the king
+still has friends.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why did you send Nombé?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because he would have no other guide, who does not trust my men. He
+means to keep her with him for some days and then let her go, and thus she will
+be out of mischief. Meanwhile you and your friends can depart untroubled by her
+fancies, and join the white men who are near. Tomorrow you shall start.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is good,&rdquo; I said with a sigh of relief. Then an idea struck
+me and I added, &ldquo;I suppose no harm will come to Nombé, who might be
+thought to know too much?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope not,&rdquo; he replied indifferently, &ldquo;but that is a matter
+for her Spirit to decide. Now go, Macumazahn, for I am weary.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I also was weary after my prolonged seclusion under that very hot skin rug. For
+be it remembered I was not yet strong again, and although this was not the real
+reason why I had stopped behind when the others went to the plateau, I still
+grew easily tired. My real reason was that of Nombé&mdash;that I thought they
+preferred to be alone. I looked about me and saw with relief that Cetewayo and
+every man of his retinue were really gone. They had not even waited to eat the
+ox that had been killed for them, but had carried off the meat with other
+provisions to their sleeping-place outside the kloof. Having made sure of this
+I went to my hut and loosed Lost that fortunately enough had been unable to
+gnaw through the thick buffalo-hide riem with which I had fastened him to the
+pole.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He greeted me with rapture as though we had been parted for years. Had he
+belonged to Ulysses himself he could not have been more joyful. When one is
+despondent and lonesome, how grateful is the whole-hearted welcome of a dog
+which, we are sometimes tempted to think, is the only creature that really
+cares for us in the world. Every other living thing has side interests of its
+own, but that of a dog is centred in its master, though it is true that it also
+dreams affectionately of dinner and rabbits.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then with Lost at my feet I sat outside the hut smoking and waiting for the
+return of Anscombe and Heda. Presently I caught sight of them in the gloaming.
+Their arms were around one another, and in some remarkable way they had managed
+to dispose their heads, forgetting that the sky was still light behind them, in
+such fashion that it was difficult to tell one from the other. I reflected that
+it was a good thing that at last we were escaping from this confounded kloof
+and country for one where they could marry and make an end, and became
+afflicted with a sneezing fit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Heda asked where Nombé was and why supper was not ready, for Nombé played the
+part of cook and parlourmaid combined. I told her something of what had
+happened, whereon Heda, who did not appreciate its importance in the least,
+remarked that she, Nombé, might as well have put on the pot before she went and
+done sundry other things which I forget. Ultimately we got something to eat and
+turned in, Heda grumbling a little because she must sleep alone, for she had
+grown used to the company of the ever-watchful Nombé, who made her bed across
+the door-hole of the hut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anscombe was soon lost in dreams, if he did dream, but I could not sleep well
+that night. I was fearful of I knew not what, and so, I think, was Lost, for he
+fidgeted and kept poking me with his nose. At last, I think it must have been
+about two hours after midnight, he began to growl. I could hear nothing,
+although my ears are sharp, but as he went on growling I crept to the door-hole
+and drew aside the board. Lost slipped out and vanished, while I waited,
+listening. Presently I thought I heard a soft foot-fall and a whisper, also
+that I saw the shape of a woman which reminded me of Nombé, shown faintly by
+the starlight. It vanished in a moment and Lost returned wagging his tail, as
+he might well have done if it were Nombé who was attached to the dog. As
+nothing further happened I went back to bed, reflecting that I was probably
+mistaken, since Nombé had been sent away for some days by Zikali and would
+scarcely dare to return at once, even if she could do so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shortly before daylight Lost began to growl again in a subdued and thunderous
+fashion. This time I got up and dressed myself more or less. Then I went out.
+The dawn was just breaking and by its light I saw a strange scene. About fifty
+yards away in the narrow nek that ran over some boulders to the site of our
+huts, stood what seemed to be the goddess Nomkubulwana as I had seen her on the
+point of rock in the Vale of Bones. She wore the same radiant dress and in the
+dim glow had all the appearance of a white woman. I stood amazed, thinking that
+I dreamt, when from round the bend emerged a number of Zulus, creeping forward
+stealthily with raised spears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They caught sight of the supernatural figure which barred their road, halted
+and whispered to each other. Then they turned to fly, but before they went one
+of them, as it seemed to me through sheer terror, hurled his assegai at the
+figure which remained still and unmoved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In thirty seconds they were gone; in sixty their footsteps had died away. Then
+the figure wheeled slowly round and by the strengthening light I perceived that
+a spear transfixed its breast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it sank to the ground I ran up to it. It was Nombé with her face and arms
+whitened and her life-blood running down the glittering feather robe.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap22"></a>CHAPTER XXII.<br />
+THE MADNESS OF NOMBÉ</h2>
+
+<p>
+The dog reached Nombé first and began to lick her face, its tongue removing
+patches of the white which had not had time to dry. She was lying, her back
+supported by one of the boulders. With her left hand she patted the dog&rsquo;s
+head feebly and with her right drew out the assegai from her body, letting it
+fall upon the ground. Recognizing me she smiled in her usual mysterious fashion
+and said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All is well, Macumazahn, all is very well. I have deserved to die and I
+do not die in vain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t talk, let me see your wound,&rdquo; I exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She opened her robe and pointed; it was quite a small gash beneath the breast
+from which blood ebbed slowly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let it be, Macumazahn,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I am bleeding inside and
+it is mortal. But I shall not die yet. Listen to me while I have my mind.
+Yesterday when Mauriti and Heddana went up to the plain I wished to go with
+them because I had news that Zulus were wandering everywhere and thought that I
+might be able to protect my mistress from danger. Mauriti spoke to me roughly,
+telling me that I was not wanted. Of that I thought little, for to such words I
+am accustomed from him; moreover, they are to be forgiven to a man in love. But
+it did not end there, for my lady Heddana also pierced me with her tongue,
+which hurt more than this spear thrust does, Macumazahn, for I could see that
+her speech had been prepared and that she took this chance to throw it at me.
+She said that I did not know where I should sit; that I was a thorn beneath her
+nail, and that whenever she wished to talk with Mauriti, or with you,
+Macumazahn, I was ever there with my ear open like the mouth of a gourd. She
+commanded me in future to come only when I was called; all of which things I am
+sure Mauriti had taught her, who in herself is too gentle even to think
+them&mdash;unless you taught her, Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I shook my head and she went on&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, it was not you who also are too gentle, and having suffered
+yourself, can feel for those who suffer, which Mauriti who has never suffered
+cannot do. Still, you too thought me a trouble, one that sticks in the flesh
+like a hooked thorn, or a tick from the grass, and cannot be unfastened. You
+spoke to the Master about it and he spoke to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This time I nodded in assent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not blame you, Macumazahn; indeed now I see that you were wise, for
+what right has a poor black doctoress to seek the love, or even to look upon
+the face of the great white lady whom for a little while Fate has caused to
+walk upon the same path with her? But yesterday I forgot that, Macumazahn, for
+you see we are all of us, not one self, but many selves, and each self has its
+times of rule. Nombé alive and well was one woman, Nombé dying is another, and
+doubtless Nombé dead will be a third, unless, as she prays, she should sleep
+for ever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn, those words of Heddana&rsquo;s were to me what gall is to
+sweet milk. My blood clotted and my heart turned sour. It was not against her
+that I was angry, because that can never happen, but against Mauriti and
+against you. My Spirit whispered in my ear. It said, &lsquo;If Mauriti and
+Macumazahn were dead the lady Heddana would be left alone in a strange land.
+Then she would learn to rest upon you as upon a stick, and learn to love the
+stick on which she rested, though it be so rough and homely.&rsquo; But how can
+I kill them, I asked of my Spirit, and myself escape death?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Poison is forbidden to you by the pact between us,&rsquo;
+answered my Spirit, &lsquo;yet I will show you a way, who am bound to serve you
+in all things good or ill.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then we nodded to each other in my breast, Macumazahn, and I waited for
+what should happen who knew that my Spirit would not lie. Yes, I waited for a
+chance to kill you both, forgetting, as the wicked forget in their madness,
+that even if I were not found out, soon or late Heddana would guess the truth
+and then, even if she had learned to love me a thousand times more than she
+ever could, would come to hate me as a mother hates a snake that has slain her
+child. Or even if she never learned or guessed in life, after death she would
+learn and hunt me and spit on me from world to world as a traitoress and a
+murderer, one who has sinned past pardon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here she seemed to grow faint and I turned to seek for help. But she caught
+hold of my coat and said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hear me out, Macumazahn, or I will run after you till I fall and
+die.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So thinking it best, I stayed and she went on&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My Spirit, which must be an evil one since Zikali gave it me when I was
+made a doctoress, dealt truly with me, for presently the king and his people
+came. Moreover, my Spirit brought it about that the king would have no other
+guide but me to lead him to the kraal where he slept last night, and I went as
+though unwillingly. At the kraal the king sent for me and questioned me in a
+dark hut, pretending to be alone, but I who am a doctoress knew that two other
+men were in that hut, taking note of all my words. He asked me of the
+Inkosazana-y-Zulu who appeared in the Vale of Bones and of the little assegai
+she held in her hand, and of the magic of the Opener of Roads, and many other
+things. I said that I knew nothing of the Inkosazana, but that without doubt my
+Master was a great magician. He did not believe me. He threatened that I should
+be tortured very horribly and was about to call his servants to torment me till
+I told the truth. Then my Spirit spoke in my heart saying, &lsquo;Now the door
+is open to you, as I promised. Tell the king of the two white men whom the
+Master hides, and he will send to kill them, leaving the lady Heddana and you
+alone together.&rsquo; So I pretended to be afraid and told him, whereon he
+laughed and answered&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;For your sake I am glad, girl, that you have spoken the truth;
+besides it is useless to torture a witch, since then the spirit in her only
+vomits lies.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Next he called aloud and a man came, who it was I could not see in the
+dark. The king commanded him to take me to one of the other huts and tie me up
+there to the roof-pole. The man obeyed, but he did not tie me up; he only
+blocked the hut with the door-board, and sat with me there in the dark alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now I grew cunning and began to talk with him, spreading a net of sweet
+words, as the fowler spreads a net for cranes from which he would tear the
+crests. Soon by his talk I found out that the king and his people knew more
+than I guessed. Macumazahn, they had seen the cart which still stands under the
+overhanging rock by the mouth of the cave. I asked him if that were all,
+pretending that the cart belonged to my Master, to whom it had been brought
+from the field of Isandhlwana, that he might be drawn about in it, who was too
+weak to walk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The man said that if I would kiss him he would tell me everything. I
+bade him tell me first, swearing that then I would kiss him. Yes, Macumazahn,
+I, whom no man&rsquo;s lips have ever touched, fell as low as this. So he grew
+foolish and told me. He told me that they had also seen a kappje such as white
+women wear, hanging on the hut fence, and I remembered that after washing the
+headdress of my mistress I had set it there to dry in the sun. He told me also
+that the King suspected that she who wore that kappje was she who had played
+the part of the Inkosazana in the Vale of Bones. I asked him what the king
+would do about the matter, at the same time denying that there was any white
+woman in the Black Kloof. He said that at dawn the king would send and kill
+these foreign rats, whom the Opener of Roads kept in the thatch of his hut. Now
+he drew near and asked his pay. I gave it to him&mdash;with a knife-point,
+Macumazahn. Oh! that was a good thrust. He never spoke again. Then I slipped
+away, for all the others were asleep, and was here a little after
+midnight.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought I saw you, Nombé,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;but was not sure, so I
+did nothing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She smiled and answered&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! I was afraid that the Watcher-by-Night would be watching by night;
+also the dog ran up to me, but he knew me and I sent him back again. Now while
+I was coming home, thoughts entered my heart. I saw, as one sees by a lightning
+flash, all that I had done. The king and his people were not sure that the
+Master was hiding white folk here and would never have sent back to kill them
+on the chance. I had made them sure, as indeed, being mad, I meant to do.
+Moreover, in throwing spears at the kites I had killed my own dove, since it
+was on the false Inkosazana who had caused them to declare war and brought the
+land to ruin, that they wished to be avenged, and perchance on him who taught
+her her part, not on one or two wandering white men. I saw that when
+Cetewayo&rsquo;s people came, and there were many more of them outside, several
+hundreds I think, they would shave the whole head and burn the whole tree.
+Every one in the kloof would be killed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How could I undo the knot that I had tied and stamp out the fire that I
+had lit? That was the question. I bethought me of coming to you, but without
+arms how could you help? I bethought me of going to the Master, but I was
+ashamed. Also, what could he do with but a few servants, for the most of his
+people are away with the cattle? He is too weak to climb the steep path to the
+plain above, nor was there time to gather folk to carry him. Lastly, even if
+there were time which there was not, and we went thither they would track us
+out and kill us. For the rest I did not care, nor for myself, but that the lady
+Heddana should be butchered who was more to me than a hundred lives, and
+through my treachery&mdash;ah! for that I cared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I called on my Spirit to help me, but it would not come. My Spirit was
+dead in me because now I would do good and not ill. Yet another Spirit came,
+that of one Mameena whom once you knew. She came angrily, like a storm, and I
+shrank before her. She said, &lsquo;Vile witch, you have plotted to murder
+Macumazahn, and for that you shall answer to me before another sun has set over
+this earth of yours. Now you seek a way of escape from your own wickedness.
+Well, it can be had, but at a price.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;What price, O Lady of Death?&rsquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The price of your own life, Witch.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I laughed into that ghost face of hers and said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Is this all? Be swift and show me the way, O Lady of Death, and
+afterwards we will balance our account.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then she whispered into the ear of my heart and was gone. I ran on, for
+the dawn was near. I whitened myself with lime, I put on the glittering cloak
+and powdered my hair with the sparkling earth. I took a little stick in my hand
+since I could find no spear and had no time to search, and just as day began to
+break, I crept out and stood in the bend of the path. The slayers came, twelve
+or so of them, but behind were many more. They saw the Inkosazana-y-Zulu
+barring their way and were much afraid. They fled, but out of his fright one of
+them threw a spear which went home, as I knew it would. He watched to see if I
+should fall, but I would not fall. Then he fled faster than the rest, knowing
+himself accursed who had lifted steel against the Queen of Heaven, and oh! I am
+glad, I am glad!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She ceased, exhausted, yet with a great exultation in her beautiful eyes;
+indeed at that moment she looked a most triumphant creature. I stared at her,
+thrilled through and through. She had been wicked, no doubt, but how splendid
+was her end; and, thank Heaven! she was troubled with no thought of what might
+befall her after that end, although I was sure she believed that she would live
+again to face Mameena.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I knew not what to do. I did not like to leave her, especially as no earthly
+power could help her case, since slowly but quite surely she was bleeding to
+death from an internal wound. By now the sun was up and Zikali&rsquo;s people
+were about. One of them appeared suddenly and saw, then with a howl of terror
+turned to fly away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Fool! Fool!&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;go summon the lady Heddana and the
+Inkosi Mauriti. Bid them come swiftly if they would see the doctoress Nombé
+before she dies.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man leapt off like a buck, and within a few minutes I saw Heda and Anscombe
+running towards us, half dressed, and went to meet them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is it?&rdquo; she gasped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have only time to tell you this,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Nombé is
+dying. She gave her life to save you, how I will explain afterwards. The
+assegai that pierced her was meant for your heart. Go, thank her, and bid her
+farewell. Anscombe, stop back with me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stood still and watched from a little distance. Heda knelt down and put her
+arms about Nombé. They whispered together into each other&rsquo;s ears. Then
+they kissed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was at this moment that Zikali appeared, leaning on two of his servants. By
+some occult art or instinct he seemed to know all that had happened, and oh! he
+looked terrible. He crouched down in front of the dying woman and, toadlike,
+spat his venom at her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You lost your Spirit, did you?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Well, it came back
+to me laden with the black honey of your treachery, to me, its home, as a bee
+comes to its hive. It has told me everything, and well for you, Witch, it is
+that you are dying. But think not that you shall escape me there in the world
+below, for thither I will follow you. Curses on you, traitress, who would have
+betrayed me and brought all my plans to naught. Ow! in a day to come I will pay
+you back a full harvest for this seed of shame that you have sown.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She opened her eyes and looked at him, then answered quite softly&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think your chain is broken, O Zikali, no more my master. I think that
+love has cut your chain in two and I fear you never more. Keep the spirit you
+lent to me; it is yours, but the rest of me is my own, and in the house of my
+heart another comes to dwell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then once more she stretched out her arms towards Heda and murmuring,
+&ldquo;Sister, forget me not, Sister, who will await you for a thousand
+years,&rdquo; she passed away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a good ending to a bad business, and I confess I felt glad when it was
+finished. Only afterwards I regretted very much that I had not found an
+opportunity to ask her whether or no she had masqueraded as Mameena in the
+Valley of Bones. Now it is too late.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We buried poor Nombé decently in her own little hut where she used to practise
+her incantations. Zikali and his people wished apparently to throw her to the
+vultures for some secret reason that had to do with their superstitions. But
+Heda, who, now that Nombé was dead, developed a great affection for her not
+unmixed with a certain amount of compunction for which really she had no cause,
+withstood him to his face and insisted upon a decent interment. So she was laid
+to earth still plastered with the white pigment and wrapped in the bloodstained
+feather robe. I may add that on the following morning one of Zikali&rsquo;s
+servants informed me solemnly that because of this she had been seen during the
+night riding up and down the rocks on a baboon as Zulu umtagati are supposed to
+do. I have small doubt that as soon as we were gone they dug her up again and
+threw her to the vultures and the jackals according to their first intention.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On this day we at length escaped from the Black Kloof, and in our own cart, for
+during the night our horses arrived mysteriously from somewhere, in good
+condition though rather wild. I went to say good-bye to Zikali, who said
+little, except that we should meet once more after many moons. Anscombe and
+Heda he would not see at all, but only sent them a message, to the effect that
+he hoped they would think kindly of him through the long years to come, since
+he had kept his promise and preserved them safe through many dangers. I might
+have answered that he had first of all put them into the dangers, but
+considered it wise to hold my tongue. I think, however, that he guessed my
+thought, if one can talk of guessing in connection with Zikali, for he said
+that they had no reason to thank him, since if he had served their turn they
+had served his, adding&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It will be strange in the times to be for the lady Heddana to remember
+that it was she and no other who crumpled up the Zulus like a frostbitten
+winter reed, since had she not appeared upon the rock in the Valley of Bones,
+there would have been no war.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She did not do this, you did it, Zikali,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;making
+her your tool through love and fear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, Macumazahn, I did not do it; it was done by what you call God and I
+call Fate in whose hand I am the tool. Well, say to the lady Heddana that in
+payment I will hold back the ghost of Nombé from haunting her, if I can. Say
+also that if I had not brought her and her lover to Zululand they would have
+been killed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we went from that hateful kloof which I have never seen since and hope I
+shall never see again, two of Zikali&rsquo;s men escorting us until we got into
+touch with white people. To these we said as little as possible. I think they
+believed that we were only premature tourists who had made a dash into Zululand
+to visit some of the battlefields. Indeed none of us ever reported our strange
+adventures, and after my experience with Kaatje we were particularly careful to
+say nothing in the hearing of any gentleman connected with the Press. But as a
+matter of fact there were so many people moving about and such a continual
+coming and going of soldiers and their belongings, that after we had managed to
+buy some decent clothes, which we did at the little town of Newcastle, nobody
+paid any attention to us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On our way to Maritzburg one amusing thing did happen. We met Kaatje! It was
+about sunset that we were driving up a steep hill not far from Howick. At least
+I was driving, but Anscombe and Heda were walking about a hundred yards ahead
+of the cart, when suddenly Kaatje appeared over a rise and came face to face
+with them while taking an evening stroll, or as I concluded afterwards, making
+some journey. She saw, she stared, she uttered one wild yell, and suddenly
+bundled over the edge of the road. Never would I have believed that such a fat
+woman could have run so fast. In a minute she was down the slope and had
+vanished into a dense kloof where, as night was closing in and we were very
+tired, it was impossible for us to follow her. Nor did subsequent inquiry in
+Howick tell us where she was living or whence she came, for some months before
+she had left the place she had taken there as a cook.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such was the end of Kaatje so far as we were concerned. Doubtless to her dying
+day she remained, or will remain, a firm believer in ghosts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anscombe and Heda were married at Maritzburg as soon as the necessary
+formalities had been completed. I could not attend the ceremony, which was a
+disappointment to me and I hope to them, but unfortunately I had a return of my
+illness and was laid up for a week. Perhaps this was owing to the hot sun that
+struck me on the neck one afternoon coming down the Town Hill where I was
+obliged to hang on to the rear of the cart because the brakes had given out.
+However I was able to send Heda a wedding gift in the shape of her jewels and
+money that I recovered from the bank, which she had never expected to see
+again; also to arrange everything about her property.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They went down to Durban for their honeymoon and, some convenient opportunity
+arising, sailed thence for England. I received an affectionate letter from them
+both, which I still treasure, thanking me very much for all I had done for
+them, that after all was little enough. Also Anscombe enclosed a blank cheque,
+begging me to fill it in for whatever sum I considered he was indebted to me on
+the balance of account. I thought this very kind of him and a great mark of
+confidence, but the cheque remained blank.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I never saw either of them again, and though I believe that they are both
+living, for the most part abroad&mdash;in Hungary I think&mdash;I do not
+suppose that I ever shall. When I came to England some years later after King
+Solomon&rsquo;s mines had made me rich, I wrote Anscombe a letter. He never
+answered it, which hurt me at the time. Afterwards I remembered that in their
+fine position it was very natural that they should not wish to renew
+acquaintance with an individual who had so intimate a knowledge of certain
+incidents that they probably regarded as hateful, such as the deaths of Marnham
+and Dr. Rodd, and all the surrounding circumstances. If so, I daresay that they
+were wise, but of course it may have been only carelessness. It is so easy for
+busy and fashionable folk not to answer a rather troublesome letter, or to
+forget to put that answer in the post. Or, indeed, the letter may never have
+reached them&mdash;such things often go astray, especially when people live
+abroad. At any rate, perhaps through my own fault, we have drifted apart. I
+daresay they believe that I am dead, or not to be found somewhere in Africa.
+However, I always think of them with affection, for Anscombe was one of the
+best travelling companions I ever had, and his wife a most charming girl, and
+wonder whether Zikali&rsquo;s prophecy about their children will come true.
+Good luck go with them!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it chances, since then I passed the place where the Temple stood, though at
+a little distance. I had the curiosity, however, at some inconvenience, to ride
+round and examine the spot. I suppose that Heda had sold the property, for a
+back-veld Boer, who was absent at the time, had turned what used to be
+Rodd&rsquo;s hospital into his house. Close by, grim and gaunt, stood the
+burnt-out marble walls of the Temple. The verandah was still roofed over, and
+standing on the spot whence I had shot the pistol out of Rodd&rsquo;s hand, I
+was filled with many memories.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I could trace the whole plan of the building and visited that part of it which
+had been Marnham&rsquo;s room. The iron safe that stood in the corner had been
+taken away, but the legs of the bedstead remained. Also not far from it,
+overgrown with running plants, was a little heap which I took to be the ashes
+of his desk, for bits of burnt wood protruded. I grubbed among them with my
+foot and riding crop and presently came across the remains of a charred human
+skull. Then I departed in a hurry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My way took me through the Yellow-wood grove, past the horns of the blue
+wildebeeste which still lay there, past that mud-hole also into which Rodd had
+fallen dead. Here, however, I made no more search, who had seen enough of
+bones. To this day I do not know whether he still lies beneath the slimy ooze,
+or was removed and buried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Also I saw the site of our wagon camp where the Basutos attacked us. But I will
+have done with these reminiscences which induce melancholy, though really there
+is no reason why they should.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tout lasse, tout casse, tout passe&mdash;everything wears out, everything
+crumbles, everything vanishes&mdash;in the words of the French proverb that my
+friend Sir Henry Curtis is so fond of quoting, that at last I wrote it down in
+my pocket-book, only to remember afterwards that when I was a boy I had heard
+it from the lips of an old scamp of a Frenchman, of the name of Leblanc, who
+once gave me and another lessons in the Gallic tongue. But of him I have
+already written in <i>Marie,</i> which is the first chapter in the Book of the
+fall of the Zulus. That headed <i>Child of Storm</i> is the second. These pages
+form the third and last.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ah! indeed, tout lasse, tout casse, tout passe!
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap23"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.<br />
+THE KRAAL JAZI</h2>
+
+<p>
+Now I shall pass over all the Zulu record of the next four years, since after
+all it has nothing to do with my tale and I do not pretend to be writing a
+history.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sir Garnet Wolseley set up his Kilkenny cat Government in Zululand, or the Home
+Government did it for him, I do not know which. In place of one king, thirteen
+chiefs were erected who got to work to cut the throats of each other and of the
+people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I expected would be the case, Zikali informed the military authorities of
+the secret hiding-place in the Ingome Forest where he suggested to Cetewayo
+that he should refuge. The ex-king was duly captured there and taken first to
+the Cape and then to England, where, after the disgrace of poor Sir Bartle
+Frere, an agitation had been set on foot on his behalf. Here he saw the Queen
+and her ministers, once more conquering, as it had been prophesied that he
+would by her who wore the shape of Mameena at the memorable scene in the Valley
+of Bones when I was present. Often I have thought of him dressed in a black
+coat and seated in that villa in Melbury Road in the suburb of London which I
+understand is populated by artists. A strange contrast truly to the savage
+prince receiving the salute of triumph after the Battle of the Tugela in which
+he won the kingship, or to the royal monarch to whose presence I had been
+summoned at Ulundi. However, he was brought back to Zululand again by a British
+man-of-war, re-installed to a limited chieftainship by Sir Theophilus
+Shepstone, and freed from the strangling embrace of the black coat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then of course there was more fighting, as every one knew would happen, except
+the British Colonial Office; indeed all Zululand ran with blood. For in England
+Cetewayo and his rights, or wrongs, had, like the Boers and their rights, or
+wrongs, become a matter of Party politics to which everything else must give
+way. Often I wonder whether Party politics will not in the end prove the ruin
+of the British Empire. Well, thank Heaven, I shall not live to learn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So Cetewayo came back and fought and was defeated by those who once had been
+his subjects. Now for the last scene, that is all with which I need concern
+myself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the beginning of February, 1884, business took me to Zululand; it had to do
+with a deal in cattle and blankets. As I was returning towards the Tugela who
+should I meet but friend Goza, he who had escorted me from the Black Kloof to
+Ulundi before the outbreak of war, and who afterwards escorted me and that
+unutterable nuisance, Kaatje, out of the country. At first I thought that we
+came together by accident, or perhaps that he had journeyed a little way to
+thank me for the blankets which I had sent to him, remembering my ancient
+promise, but afterwards I changed my opinion on this point.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, we talked over many matters, the war, the disasters that had befallen
+Zululand, and so forth. Especially did we talk of that night in the Valley of
+Bones and the things we had seen there side by side. I asked him if the people
+still believed in the Inkosazana-y-Zulu who then appeared in the moonlight on
+the rock. He answered that some did and some did not. For his part, he added,
+looking at me fixedly, he did not, since it was rumoured that Zikali had
+dressed up a white woman to play the part of the Spirit. Yet he could not be
+sure of the matter, since it was also said that when some of Cetewayo&rsquo;s
+people went to kill this white woman in the Black Kloof, Nomkubulwana, the
+Princess of Heaven herself, rose before them and frightened them away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I remarked that this was very strange, and then quite casually asked him whom
+Zikali had dressed up to play the part of the dead Mameena upon that same
+occasion, since this was a point upon which I always thirsted for definite
+intelligence. He stared at me and replied that I ought to be able to answer my
+own question, since I had been much nearer to her who looked like Mameena than
+any one else, so near indeed that all present distinctly saw her kiss me, as it
+was well known she had liked to do while still alive. I replied indignantly
+that they saw wrong and repeated my question. Then he answered straight
+out&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Macumazahn, we Zulus believe that what we saw on that night was not
+Nombé or another dressed up, but the spirit of the witch Mameena itself. We
+believe it because we could see the light of Zikali&rsquo;s fire through her,
+not always, but sometimes; also because all that she said has come true, though
+everything is not yet finished.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I could get no more out of him about the matter, for when I tried to speak of
+it again, he turned the subject, telling me of his wonderful escapes during the
+war. Presently he rose to go and said casually&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely I grow old in these times of trouble, Macumazahn, for thoughts
+slip through my head like water through the fingers. Almost I had forgotten
+what I wished to say to you. The other day I met Zikali, the Opener of Roads.
+He told me that you were in Zululand and that I should meet you&mdash;he did
+not say where, only that when I did meet you, I was to give you a message. This
+was the message&mdash;that when on your way to Natal you came to the kraal
+Jazi, you would find him there; also another whom you used to know, and must be
+sure not to go away without seeing him, since that was about to happen in which
+you must take your part.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Zikali!&rdquo; I exclaimed. &ldquo;I have heard nothing of him since the
+war. I thought that by now he was certainly dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! no, Macumazahn, he is certainly not dead, but just the same as ever.
+Indeed it is believed that he and no other has kept all this broth of trouble
+on the boil, some say for Cetewayo&rsquo;s sake, and some say because he wishes
+to destroy Cetewayo. But what do I know of such matters who only desire to live
+in peace under whatever chief the English Queen sends to us, as she has a right
+to do having conquered us in war? When you meet the Opener of Roads at the
+kraal Jazi, ask him, Macumazahn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where the devil is the kraal Jazi?&rdquo; I inquired with irritation.
+&ldquo;I never heard of such a place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nor did I, therefore I cannot tell you, Macumazahn. For aught I can say
+it may be down beneath where dead men go. But wherever it is there certainly
+you will meet the Opener of Roads. Now farewell, Macumazahn. If it should
+chance that we never look into each other&rsquo;s eyes again, I am sure you
+will think of me sometimes, as I shall of you, and of all that we have seen
+together, especially on that night in the Vale of Bones when the ghost of the
+witch Mameena prophesied to us and kissed you before us all. She must have been
+very beautiful, Macumazahn, as indeed I have heard from those who remember her,
+and I don&rsquo;t wonder that you loved her so much. Still for my part I had
+rather be kissed by a living woman than by one who is dead, though doubtless it
+is best to be kissed by none at all. Again, farewell, and be sure to tell the
+Opener of Roads that I gave you his message, lest he should lay some evil charm
+upon me, who have seen enough evil of late.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus talking Goza departed. I never saw him again, and do not know if he is
+dead or alive. Well, he was a kindly old fellow, if no hero.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had almost forgotten the incident of this meeting when a while later I found
+myself in the neighbourhood of the beautiful but semi-tropical place called
+Eshowe, which since those days has become the official home of the British
+Resident in Zululand. Indeed, although the house was not then finished, if it
+had been begun, Sir Melmoth Osborn already had an office there. I wished to see
+him in order to give him some rather important information, but when I reached
+a kraal of about fifty huts some five hundred yards from the site of the
+present Residency, my wagon stuck fast in the boggy ground. While I was trying
+to get it out a quiet-faced Zulu, whose name, I remember, was Umnikwa, informed
+me that Malimati, that is Sir Melmoth Osborn&rsquo;s native name, was somewhere
+at a little distance from Eshowe, too far away for me to get to him that night.
+I answered, Very well, I would sleep where I was, and asked the name of the
+kraal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He replied, Jazi, at which I started, but only said that it was a strange name,
+seeing that it meant &ldquo;Finished,&rdquo; or &ldquo;Finished with
+joy.&rdquo; Umnikwa answered, Yes, but that it had been so called because the
+chief Umfokaki, or The Stranger, who married a sister of the king, was killed
+at this kraal by his brother, Gundane, or the Bat. I remarked that it was an
+ill-omened kind of name, to which the man replied, Yes, and likely to become
+more so, since the King Cetewayo who had been sheltering there &ldquo;beneath
+the armpit&rdquo; of Malimati, the white lord, for some months, lay in it
+dying. I asked him of what he was dying, and he replied that he did not know,
+but that doubtless the father of the witch-doctors, named Zikali, the Opener of
+Roads, would be able to tell me, as he was attending on Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He has sent me to bid you to come at once, O Macumazahn,&rdquo; he added
+casually, &ldquo;having had news that you were arriving here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Showing no surprise, I answered that I would come, although goodness knows I
+was surprised enough, and leaving my servants to get my wagon out of the bog, I
+walked into the kraal with the messenger. He took me to a large hut placed
+within a fence about the gate of which some women were gathered, who all looked
+very anxious and disturbed. Among them I saw Dabuko the king&rsquo;s brother,
+whom I knew slightly. He greeted me and told me that Cetewayo was at the point
+of death within the hut, but like Umnikwa, professed ignorance of the cause of
+his illness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a long while, over an hour I should think, I sat there outside the hut, or
+walked to and fro. Until darkness came I could occupy myself with contemplating
+the scenery of the encircling hills, which is among the most beautiful in
+Zululand with its swelling contours and rich colouring. But after it had set in
+only my thoughts remained, and these I found depressing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length I made up my mind that I would go away, for after all what had I to
+do with this business of the death of Cetewayo, if in truth he was dying? I
+wished to see no more of Cetewayo of whom all my recollections were terrific or
+sorrowful. I rose to depart, when suddenly a woman emerged from the hut. I
+could not see who she was or even what she was like, because of the gloom; also
+for the reason that she had the corner of her blanket thrown over her face as
+though she wished to keep it hidden. For a moment she stopped opposite to me
+and said&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The king who is sick desires to see you, Macumazahn.&rdquo; Then she
+pointed to the door-hole of the hut and vanished, shutting the gate of the
+fence behind her. Curiosity overcame me and I crawled into the hut, pushing
+aside the door-board in order to do so and setting it up again when I was
+through.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Inside burned a single candle fixed in the neck of a bottle, faintly
+illuminating that big and gloomy place. By its feeble light I saw a low
+bedstead on the left of the entrance and lying on it a man half covered by a
+blanket in whom I recognized Cetewayo. His face was shrunken and distorted with
+pain, and his great bulk seemed less, but still without doubt it was Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting, Macumazahn,&rdquo; he said feebly, &ldquo;you find me in evil
+case, but I heard that you were here and thought that I should like to see you
+before I die, because I know that you are honest and will report my words
+faithfully. I wish you to tell the white men that my heart never really was
+against them; they have always been the friends of my heart, but others forced
+me down a road I did not wish to travel, of which now I have come to the
+end.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is the matter with you, King?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know, Macumazahn, but I have been sick for some days. The
+Opener of Roads who came to doctor me, because my wives believed those white
+medicine-men wished me dead, says that I have been poisoned and must die. If
+you had been here at first you might perhaps have given me some medicine. But
+now it is too late,&rdquo; he added with a groan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who then poisoned you, King?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot tell you, Macumazahn. Perhaps my enemies, perhaps my brothers,
+perhaps my wives. All wish to have done with me, and the Great One, who is no
+longer wanted, is soon dead. Be thankful, Macumazahn, that you never were a
+king, for sad is the lot of kings.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where, then, is the Opener of Roads?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He was here a little while ago. Perhaps he has gone out to take the
+King&rsquo;s head&rdquo; (i.e., to announce his death) &ldquo;to Malimati and
+the white men,&rdquo; he answered in a faint voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just then I heard a shuffling noise proceeding from that part of the hut where
+the shadow was deepest, and looking, saw an emaciated arm projected into the
+circle of the light. It was followed by another arm, then by a vast head
+covered with long white hair that trailed upon the ground, then by a big,
+misshapen body, so wasted that it looked like a skeleton covered with
+corrugated black skin. Slowly, like a chameleon climbing a bough, the thing
+crept forward, and I knew it for Zikali. He reached the side of the bed and
+squatted down in his toad-like fashion, then, again like a chameleon, without
+moving his head turned his deep and glowing eyes towards me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hail, O Macumazahn,&rdquo; he said in his low voice. &ldquo;Did I not
+promise you long ago that you should be with me at the last, and are you not
+with me and another?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems so, Zikali,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;But why do you not send
+for the white doctors to cure the king?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All the doctors, white and black, in the whole world cannot cure him,
+Macumazahn. The Spirits call him and he dies. At his call I came fast and far,
+but even I cannot cure him&mdash;although because of him I myself must
+die.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look at me, Macumazahn, and say if I am one who should travel. Well, all
+come to their end at last, even the
+'Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cetewayo lifted his head and looked at him, then said heavily&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perchance it would have been better for our House if that end had been
+sooner. Now that I lie dying many sayings concerning you come into my mind that
+I had forgotten. Moreover, Opener of Roads, I never sent for you, whoever may
+have done so, and it was not until after you came here that the great pain
+seized me. How did it happen,&rdquo; he went on with gathering force,
+&ldquo;that the white men caught me in the secret place where you told me I
+should hide? Who pointed out that hidden hole to the white men? But what does
+it matter now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing at all, O Son of Panda,&rdquo; answered Zikali, &ldquo;even less
+than it matters how I escaped the spear-head hidden in your robe, yonder in my
+hut in the Black Kloof where, had it not been for a certain spirit that stood
+between you and me, you would have murdered me. Tell me, Son of Panda, during
+these last three days have you thought at all of your brother Umbelazi, and of
+certain other brethren of yours whom you killed at the battle of the Tugela,
+when the white man here led the charge of the Amawombe against your regiments
+and ate up three of them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cetewayo groaned but said nothing. I think he had become too faint to speak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen, Son of Panda,&rdquo; went on Zikali in an intense and hissing
+voice. &ldquo;Many, many years ago, before Senzangacona, your grandfather, saw
+the light&mdash;who knows how long before&mdash;a man was born of high blood in
+the Dwandwe tribe, which man was a dwarf. Chaka the Black One conquered the
+Dwandwe, but this man of high blood was spared because he was a dwarf, an
+abortion, to whom Chaka gave the name of the
+'Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born,&rsquo; keeping him about him to be a
+mock in times of peace and safety, and because he was wise and learned in
+magic, to be a counsellor in times of trouble. Moreover, Chaka killed this
+man&rsquo;s wives and children for his sport, save one whom he kept to be his
+&lsquo;sister.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Therefore for the sake of his people and his butchered wives and
+children, this wizard swore an oath of vengeance against Chaka and all his
+House. Working beneath the ground like a rat, he undermined the throne of Chaka
+and brought him to his death by the spears of his brethren and of Mopo his
+servant, whom Chaka had wronged. Still working in the dark like a rat, he
+caused Dingaan, who stabbed Chaka, to murder the Boer Retief and his people,
+and thus called down upon his head the vengeance of the Whites, and afterwards
+brought Dingaan to his death. Then Panda, your father, arose, and his life this
+'Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born&rsquo; spared because once Panda had
+done him a kindness. Only through the witch Mameena he brought sorrow on him,
+causing war to arise between his children, one of whom was named Cetewayo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then this Cetewayo ruled, first with his father Panda and afterwards in
+his place, and trouble arose between him and the English. Son of Panda, you
+will remember that this Cetewayo was in doubt whether to fight the English and
+demanded a sign of the Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born. He gave the
+sign, causing the Inkosazana-y-Zulu, the Princess of Heaven, to appear before
+him and thereby lifting the spear of War. Son of Panda, you know how that war
+went, how this Cetewayo was defeated and came to the
+&lsquo;Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born&rsquo; like a hunted hyena, to
+learn of a hole where he might hide. You know, too, how he strove to murder the
+poor old doctor who showed him such a hole; how he was taken prisoner and sent
+across the water and afterwards set up again in the land that had learned to
+hate him, to bring its children to death by thousands. And you know how at last
+he took refuge beneath the wing of the white chief, here in the kraal Jazi, and
+lived, spat upon, an outcast, until at length he fell sick, as such men are apt
+to do, and the Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born was sent for to doctor
+him. And you know also how he lies dying, within him an agony as though he had
+swallowed a red hot spear, and before him a great blackness peopled by the
+ghosts of those whom he has slain, and of his forefathers whose House he has
+pulled down and burned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Zikali ceased, and thrusting his hideous head to within an inch or two of that
+of the dying man, he glowered at him with his fierce and fiery eyes. Then he
+began to whisper into the king&rsquo;s ear, who quivered at his words, as the
+victim quivers beneath the torturer&rsquo;s looks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At that moment the end of the candle fell into the bottle which was of clear
+white glass, and there burned for a little while dully before it went out.
+Never shall I forget the scene illumined by its blue and ghastly light. The
+dying man lying on the low couch, rocking his head to and fro; the wizard
+bending over him like some grey vampire bat sucking the life-blood from his
+helpless throat. The terror in the eyes of the one, the insatiable hate in the
+eyes of the other. Oh! it was awful!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Macumazahn,&rdquo; gasped Cetewayo in a rattling whisper, &ldquo;help
+me, Macumazahn. I say that I am poisoned by this Zikali, who hates me. Oh!
+drive away the ghosts! Drive them away!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at him and at his tormentor squatted by him like a mocking fiend, and
+as I looked the candle went out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then my nerve broke, the cold sweat poured from my face and I fled from the hut
+as a man might from a scene in hell, followed by the low mocking laugh of
+Zikali.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Outside the women and others were gathered in the gloom. I told them to go to
+the king, who was dying, and blundered up the slope to search for some white
+man. No one was to be found, but a Kaffir messenger by the office told me that
+Malimati was still away and had been sent for. So I returned to my wagon and
+lay down in it exhausted, for what more could I do?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a rough night. Thunder muttered and rain fell in driving gusts. I dozed
+off, only to be awakened by a sound of wailing. Then I knew that the king was
+dead, for this was the Isililo, the cry of mourning. I wondered whether the
+murderers&mdash;for that he was poisoned I had no doubt&mdash;were among those
+who wailed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards dawn the storm rolled off and the night grew serene and clear, for a
+waning moon was shining in the sky. The heat of that stifling place oppressed
+me; my blood seemed to be afire. I knew that there was a stream in a gorge
+about half a mile away, for it had been pointed out to me. I longed for a swim
+in cool water, who, to tell truth, had found none for some days, and bethought
+me that I would bathe in this stream before I trekked from that hateful spot,
+for to me it had become hateful. Calling my driver, who was awake and talking
+with the voorloopers, for they knew what was passing at the kraal and were
+alarmed, I told them to get the oxen ready to start as I would be back
+presently. Then I set off for the stream and, after a longish walk, scrambled
+down a steep ravine to its banks, following a path made by Kaffir women going
+to draw water. Arrived there at last I found that it was in flood and rising
+rapidly, at least so I judged from the sound, for in that deep, tree-hung place
+the light was too faint to allow me to see anything. So I sat down waiting for
+the dawn and wishing that I had not come because of the mosquitoes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length it broke and the mists lifted, showing that the spot was one of great
+beauty. Opposite to me was a waterfall twenty or thirty feet high, over which
+the torrent rushed into a black pool below. Everywhere grew tall ferns and
+beyond these graceful trees, from whose leaves hung raindrops. In the centre of
+the stream on the edge of the fall was a rock not a dozen feet away from me,
+round which the water foamed. Something was squatted on this rock, at first I
+could not see what because of the mist, but thought that it was a grey-headed
+baboon, or some other animal, and regretted that I had not brought a gun with
+me. Presently I became aware that it must be a man, for, in a chanting voice,
+it began to speak or pray in Zulu, and hidden behind a flowering bush, I could
+hear the words. They were to this effect&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O my Spirit, here where thou foundest me when I was young, hundreds of
+years ago&rdquo; (he said hundreds, but I suppose he meant tens), &ldquo;I come
+back to thee. In this pool I dived and beneath the waters found thee, my Snake,
+and thou didst wind thyself about my body and about my heart&rdquo; (here I
+understood that the speaker was alluding to his initiation as a witch-doctor
+which generally includes, or used to include, the finding of a snake in a river
+that coils itself about the neophyte). &ldquo;About my body and in my heart
+thou hast dwelt from that sun to this, giving me wisdom and good and evil
+counsel, and that which thou hast counselled, I have done. Now I return thee
+whence thou camest, there to await me in the new birth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Spirits of my fathers, toiling through many years I have avenged you
+on the House of Senzangacona, and never again will there be a king of the
+Zulus, for the last of them lies dead by my hand. O my murdered wives and my
+children, I have offered up to you a mighty sacrifice, a sacrifice of thousands
+upon thousands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Umkulu-kulu, Great One of the heavens, who sentest me to earth, I have
+done thy work upon the earth and bring back to thee thy harvest of the seed
+that thou hast sown, a blood-red harvest, O Umkulu-kulu. Be still, be still, my
+Snake, the sun arises, and soon, soon shalt thou rest in the water that wast
+thine from the beginning of the world!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The voice ceased, and presently a spear of light piercing the mists, lit upon
+the speaker. It was Zikali and about him was wound a great yellow-bellied
+snake, of which the black head with flickering tongue waved above his head and
+seemed from time to time to lick him on the brow. (I suppose it had come to him
+from the water, for its skin glittered as though with wet.) He stood up on
+tottering feet, staring at the red eye of the rising sun, then crying,
+<i>&ldquo;Finished, finished with joy!&rdquo;</i> with a loud and dreadful
+laughter, he plunged into the foaming pool beneath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such was the end of Zikali the Wizard, Opener of Roads, the
+&ldquo;Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,&rdquo; and such was the
+vengeance that he worked upon the great House of Senzangacona, bringing it to
+naught and with it the nation of the Zulus.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #1724 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1724)
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Finished, by H. Rider Haggard
+#6 in our series by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Finished
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: November 13, 2004  [eBook #1724]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINISHED***
+
+
+This etext was prepared by Christopher Hapka, Sunnyvale, California
+
+Digital Editor's Note:
+
+Italics are represented in the text with _underscores_.  In the
+interest of readability, where italics are used to indicate
+non-English words, I have silently omitted them or replaced them
+with quotation marks.
+
+Haggard's spelling, especially of Zulu terms, is wildly inconsistent;
+likewise his capitalization, especially of Zulu terms.  For example,
+Masapo is the chief of the Amansomi until chapter IX; thereafter his
+tribe is consistently referred to as the "Amasomi".  In general, I
+have retained Haggard's spellings.  Some obvious spelling mistakes
+(as "Quartermain" for "Quatermain" in one instance) have been silently
+corrected.
+
+Some diacriticals in the text could not be represented in 7-bit
+ASCII text and have been approximated here.  To restore all
+formatting, do the following throughout the text:
+
+Replace the pound symbol "#" with the English pound symbol
+Place an acute accent over the "e" in "Nombe", "acces",
+  "Amawombe", and "fiance", and the first "e" in "Bayete"
+Place a circumflex accent over the "u" in "Harut" and
+  the "o" in "role"
+Place a grave accent over the "a" and circumflex accents
+  over the first and third "e" in "tete-a-tete"
+Replace "oe" with the oe ligature in "manoeuvring"
+
+
+
+
+
+FINISHED
+
+by H. RIDER HAGGARD
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATION
+
+
+Ditchingham House, Norfolk,
+May, 1917.
+
+
+My dear Roosevelt,--
+
+You are, I know, a lover of old Allan Quatermain, one who
+understands and appreciates the views of life and the aspirations
+that underlie and inform his manifold adventures.
+
+Therefore, since such is your kind wish, in memory of certain
+hours wherein both of us found true refreshment and companionship
+amidst the terrible anxieties of the World's journey along that
+bloodstained road by which alone, so it is decreed, the pure Peak
+of Freedom must be scaled, I dedicate to you this tale telling of
+the events and experiences of my youth.
+
+Your sincere friend,
+
+H. RIDER HAGGARD.
+
+
+To COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
+Sagamore Hill, U.S.A.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS:
+
+I. ALLAN QUATERMAIN MEETS ANSCOMBE
+II. MR. MARNHAM
+III. THE HUNTERS HUNTED
+IV. DOCTOR RODD
+V. A GAME OF CARDS
+VI. MISS HEDA
+VII. THE STOEP
+VIII. RODD'S LAST CARD
+IX. FLIGHT
+X. NOMBE
+XI. ZIKALI
+XII. TRAPPED
+XIII. CETEWAYO
+XIV. THE VALLEY OF BONES
+XV. THE GREAT COUNCIL
+XVI. WAR
+XVII. KAATJE BRINGS NEWS
+XVIII. ISANDHLWANA
+XIX. ALLAN AWAKES
+XX. HEDA'S TALE
+XXI. THE KING VISITS ZIKALI
+XXII. THE MADNESS OF NOMBE
+XXIII. THE KRAAL JAZI
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+
+
+
+This book, although it can be read as a separate story, is the
+third of the trilogy of which _Marie_ and _Child of Storm_ are
+the first two parts.  It narrates, through the mouth of Allan
+Quatermain, the consummation of the vengeance of the wizard
+Zikali, alias The Opener of Roads, or
+"The-Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," upon the royal Zulu
+House of which Senzangacona was the founder and Cetewayo, our
+enemy in the war of 1879, the last representative who ruled as a
+king.  Although, of course, much is added for the purposes of
+romance, the main facts of history have been adhered to with some
+faithfulness.
+
+With these the author became acquainted a full generation ago,
+Fortune having given him a part in the events that preceded the
+Zulu War.  Indeed he believes that with the exception of Colonel
+Phillips, who, as a lieutenant, commanded the famous escort of
+twenty-five policemen, he is now the last survivor of the party
+who, under the leadership of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, or Sompseu
+as the natives called him from the Zambesi to the Cape, were
+concerned in the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877.  Recently
+also he has been called upon as a public servant to revisit South
+Africa and took the opportunity to travel through Zululand, in
+order to refresh his knowledge of its people, their customs,
+their mysteries, and better to prepare himself for the writing of
+this book.  Here he stood by the fatal Mount of Isandhlawana
+which, with some details of the battle, is described in these
+pages, among the graves of many whom once he knew, Colonels
+Durnford, Pulleine and others.  Also he saw Ulundi's plain where
+the traces of war still lie thick, and talked with an old Zulu
+who fought in the attacking Impi until it crumbled away before
+the fire of the Martinis and shells from the heavy guns.  The
+battle of the Wall of Sheet Iron, he called it, perhaps because
+of the flashing fence of bayonets.
+
+Lastly, in a mealie patch, he found the spot on which the corn
+grows thin, where King Cetewayo breathed his last, poisoned
+without a doubt, as he has known for many years.  It is to be
+seen at the Kraal, ominously named Jazi or, translated into
+English, "Finished."  The tragedy happened long ago, but even now
+the quiet-faced Zulu who told the tale, looking about him as he
+spoke, would not tell it all.  "Yes, as a young man, I was there
+at the time, but I do not remember, I do not know--the Inkoosi
+Lundanda (i.e., this Chronicler, so named in past years by the
+Zulus) stands on the very place where the king died--His bed was
+on the left of the door-hole of the hut," and so forth, but no
+certain word as to the exact reason of this sudden and violent
+death or by whom it was caused.  The name of that destroyer of a
+king is for ever hid.
+
+In this story the actual and immediate cause of the declaration
+of war against the British Power is represented as the appearance
+of the white goddess, or spirit of the Zulus, who is, or was,
+called Nomkubulwana or Inkosazana-y-Zulu, i.e., the Princess of
+Heaven.  The exact circumstances which led to this decision are
+not now ascertainable, though it is known that there was much
+difference of opinion among the Zulu Indunas or great captains,
+and like the writer, many believe that King Cetewayo was
+personally averse to war against his old allies, the English.
+
+The author's friend, Mr. J. Y. Gibson, at present the
+representative of the Union in Zululand, writes in his admirable
+history: "There was a good deal of discussion amongst the
+assembled Zulu notables at Ulundi, but of how counsel was swayed
+it is not possible now to obtain a reliable account."
+
+The late Mr. F. B. Fynney, F.R.G.S., who also was his friend in
+days bygone, and, with the exception of Sir Theophilus Shepstone,
+who perhaps knew the Zulus and their language better than any
+other official of his day, speaking of this fabled goddess wrote:
+"I remember that just before the Zulu War Nomkubulwana appeared
+revealing something or other which had a great effect throughout
+the land."
+
+The use made of this strange traditional Guardian Angel in the
+following tale is not therefore an unsupported flight of fancy,
+and the same may be said of many other incidents, such as the
+account of the reading of the proclamation annexing the Transvaal
+at Pretoria in 1877, which have been introduced to serve the
+purposes of the romance.
+
+Mameena, who haunts its pages, in a literal as well as figurative
+sense, is the heroine of _Child of Storm,_ a book to which she
+gave her own poetic title.
+
+
+1916.
+THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+
+
+ALLAN QUATERMAIN MEETS ANSCOMBE
+
+
+
+
+
+You, my friend, into whose hand, if you live, I hope these
+scribblings of mine will pass one day, must well remember the
+12th of April of the year 1877 at Pretoria.  Sir Theophilus
+Shepstone, or Sompseu, for I prefer to call him by his native
+name, having investigated the affairs of the Transvaal for a
+couple of months or so, had made up his mind to annex that
+country to the British Crown.  It so happened that I, Allan
+Quatermain, had been on a shooting and trading expedition at the
+back of the Lydenburg district where there was plenty of game to
+be killed in those times.  Hearing that great events were toward
+I made up my mind, curiosity being one of my weaknesses, to come
+round by Pretoria, which after all was not very far out of my
+way, instead of striking straight back to Natal.  As it chanced I
+reached the town about eleven o'clock on this very morning of the
+12th of April and, trekking to the Church Square, proceeded to
+outspan there, as was usual in the Seventies.  The place was full
+of people, English and Dutch together, and I noted that the
+former seemed very elated and were talking excitedly, while the
+latter for the most part appeared to be sullen and depressed.
+
+Presently I saw a man I knew, a tall, dark man, a very good
+fellow and an excellent shot, named Robinson.  By the way you
+knew him also, for afterwards he was an officer in the Pretoria
+Horse at the time of the Zulu war, the corps in which you held a
+commission.  I called to him and asked what was up.
+
+"A good deal, Allan," he said as he shook my hand.  "Indeed we
+shall be lucky if all isn't up, or something like it, before the
+day is over.  Shepstone's Proclamation annexing the Transvaal is
+going to be read presently."
+
+I whistled and asked,
+
+"How will our Boer friends take it?  They don't look very
+pleased."
+
+"That's just what no one knows, Allan.  Burgers the President is
+squared, they say.  He is to have a pension; also he thinks it
+the only thing to be done.  Most of the Hollanders up here don't
+like it, but I doubt whether they will put out their hands
+further than they can draw them back.  The question is--what will
+be the line of the Boers themselves?  There are a lot of them
+about, all armed, you see, and more outside the town."
+
+"What do you think?"
+
+"Can't tell you.  Anything may happen.  They may shoot Shepstone
+and his staff and the twenty-five policemen, or they may just
+grumble and go home.  Probably they have no fixed plan."
+
+"How about the English?"
+
+"Oh! we are all crazy with joy, but of course there is no
+organization and many have no arms.  Also there are only a few of
+us."
+
+"Well," I answered, "I came here to look for excitement, life
+having been dull for me of late, and it seems that I have found
+it.  Still I bet you those Dutchmen do nothing, except protest.
+They are slim and know that the shooting of an unarmed mission
+would bring England on their heads."
+
+"Can't say, I am sure.  They like Shepstone who understands them,
+and the move is so bold that it takes their breath away.  But as
+the Kaffirs say, when a strong wind blows a small spark will make
+the whole veld burn.  It just depends upon whether the spark is
+there.  If an Englishman and a Boer began to fight for instance,
+anything might happen.  Goodbye, I have got a message to deliver.
+If things go right we might dine at the European tonight, and if
+they don't, goodness knows where we shall dine."
+
+I nodded sagely and he departed.  Then I went to my wagon to tell
+the boys not to send the oxen off to graze at present, for I
+feared lest they should be stolen if there were trouble, but to
+keep them tied to the trek-tow.  After this I put on the best
+coat and hat I had, feeling that as an Englishman it was my duty
+to look decent on such an occasion, washed, brushed my hair--with
+me a ceremony without meaning, for it always sticks up--and
+slipped a loaded Smith & Wesson revolver into my inner poacher
+pocket.  Then I started out to see the fun, and avoiding the
+groups of surly-looking Boers, mingled with the crowd that I saw
+was gathering in front of a long, low building with a broad
+stoep, which I supposed, rightly, to be one of the Government
+offices.
+
+Presently I found myself standing by a tall, rather loosely-built
+man whose face attracted me.  It was clean-shaven and much
+bronzed by the sun, but not in any way good-looking; the features
+were too irregular and the nose was a trifle too long for good
+looks.  Still the impression it gave was pleasant and the steady
+blue eyes had that twinkle in them which suggests humour.  He
+might have been thirty or thirty-five years of age, and
+notwithstanding his rough dress that consisted mainly of a pair
+of trousers held up by a belt to which hung a pistol, and a
+common flannel shirt, for he wore no coat, I guessed at once that
+he was English-born.
+
+For a while neither of us said anything after the taciturn habit
+of our people even on the veld, and indeed I was fully occupied
+in listening to the truculent talk of a little party of mounted
+Boers behind us.  I put my pipe into my mouth and began to hunt
+for my tobacco, taking the opportunity to show the hilt of my
+revolver, so that these men might see that I was armed.  It was
+not to be found, I had left it in the wagon.
+
+"If you smoke Boer tobacco," said the stranger, "I can help you,"
+and I noted that the voice was as pleasant as the face, and knew
+at once that the owner of it was a gentleman.
+
+"Thank you, Sir.  I never smoke anything else," I answered,
+whereon he produced from his trousers pocket a pouch made of lion
+skin of unusually dark colour.
+
+"I never saw a lion as black as this, except once beyond Buluwayo
+on the borders of Lobengula's country," I said by way of making
+conversation.
+
+"Curious," answered the stranger, "for that's where I shot the
+brute a few months ago.  I tried to keep the whole skin but the
+white ants got at it."
+
+"Been trading up there?" I asked.
+
+"Nothing so useful," he said.  "Just idling and shooting.  Came
+to this country because it was one of the very few I had never
+seen, and have only been here a year.  I think I have had about
+enough of it, though.  Can you tell me of any boats running from
+Durban to India?  I should like to see those wild sheep in
+Kashmir."
+
+I told him that I did not know for certain as I had never taken
+any interest in India, being an African elephant-hunter and
+trader, but I thought they did occasionally.  Just then Robinson
+passed by and called to me--
+
+"They'll be here presently, Quatermain, but Sompseu isn't coming
+himself."
+
+"Does your name happen to be Allan Quatermain?" asked the
+stranger.  "If so I have heard plenty about you up in Lobengula's
+country, and of your wonderful shooting."
+
+"Yes," I replied, "but as for the shooting, natives always
+exaggerate."
+
+"They never exaggerated about mine," he said with a twinkle in
+his eye.  "Anyhow I am very glad to see you in the flesh, though
+in the spirit you rather bored me because I heard too much of
+you.  Whenever I made a particularly bad miss, my gun-bearer,
+who at some time seems to have been yours, would say, 'Ah! if
+only it had been the Inkosi Macumazahn, how different would have
+been the end!'  My name is Anscombe, Maurice Anscombe," he added
+rather shyly.  (Afterwards I discovered from a book of reference
+that he was a younger son of Lord Mountford, one of the richest
+peers in England.)
+
+Then we both laughed and he said--
+
+"Tell me, Mr. Quatermain, if you will, what those Boers are
+saying behind us.  I am sure it is something unpleasant, but as
+the only Dutch I know is 'Guten Tag' and 'Vootsack' (Good-day and
+Get out) that takes me no forwarder."
+
+"It ought to," I answered, "for the substance of their talk is
+that they object to be 'vootsacked' by the British Government as
+represented by Sir Theophilus Shepstone.  They are declaring that
+they won the land 'with their blood' and want to keep their own
+flag flying over it."
+
+"A very natural sentiment," broke in Anscombe.
+
+"They say that they wish to shoot all damned Englishmen,
+especially Shepstone and his people, and that they would make a
+beginning now were they not afraid that the damned English
+Government, being angered, would send thousands of damned English
+rooibatjes, that is, red-coats, and shoot _them_ out of evil
+revenge."
+
+"A very natural conclusion," laughed Anscombe again, "which I
+should advise them to leave untested.  Hush!  Here comes the
+show."
+
+I looked and saw a body of blackcoated gentlemen with one officer
+in the uniform of a Colonel of Engineers, advancing slowly.  I
+remember that it reminded me of a funeral procession following
+the corpse of the Republic that had gone on ahead out of sight.
+The procession arrived upon the stoep opposite to us and began to
+sort itself out, whereon the English present raised a cheer and
+the Boers behind us cursed audibly.  In the middle appeared an
+elderly gentleman with whiskers and a stoop, in whom I recognized
+Mr. Osborn, known by the Kaffirs as Malimati, the Chief of the
+Staff.  By his side was a tall young fellow, yourself, my friend,
+scarcely more than a lad then, carrying papers.  The rest stood
+to right and left in a formal line.  _You_ gave a printed
+document to Mr. Osborn who put on his glasses and began to read
+in a low voice which few could hear, and I noticed that his hand
+trembled.  Presently he grew confused, lost his place, found it,
+lost it again and came to a full stop.
+
+"A nervous-natured man," remarked Mr. Anscombe.  "Perhaps he
+thinks that those gentlemen are going to shoot."
+
+"That wouldn't trouble him," I answered, who knew him well.  "His
+fears are purely mental."
+
+That was true since I know that this same Sir Melmoth Osborn as
+he is now, as I have told in the book I called _Child of Storm_,
+swam the Tugela alone to watch the battle of Indondakasuka raging
+round him, and on another occasion killed two Kaffirs rushing at
+him with a right and left shot without turning a hair.  It was
+reading this paper that paralyzed him, not any fear of what might
+happen.
+
+There followed a very awkward pause such as occurs when a man
+breaks down in a speech.  The members of the Staff looked at him
+and at each other, then behold! you, my friend, grabbed the paper
+from his hand and went on reading it in a loud clear voice.
+
+"That young man has plenty of nerve," said Mr. Anscombe.
+
+"Yes," I replied in a whisper.  "Quite right though.  Would have
+been a bad omen if the thing had come to a stop."
+
+Well, there were no more breakdowns, and at last the long
+document was finished and the Transvaal annexed.  The Britishers
+began to cheer but stopped to listen to the formal protest of the
+Boer Government, if it could be called a government when
+everything had collapsed and the officials were being paid in
+postage stamps.  I can't remember whether this was read by
+President Burgers himself or by the officer who was called State
+Secretary.  Anyway, it was read, after which there came an
+awkward pause as though people were waiting to see something
+happen.  I looked round at the Boers who were muttering and
+handling their rifles uneasily.  Had they found a leader I really
+think that some of the wilder spirits among them would have begun
+to shoot, but none appeared and the crisis passed.
+
+The crowd began to disperse, the English among them cheering and
+throwing up their hats, the Dutch with very sullen faces.  The
+Commissioner's staff went away as it had come, back to the
+building with blue gums in front of it, which afterwards became
+Government House, that is all except you.  You started across the
+square alone with a bundle of printed proclamations in your hand
+which evidently you had been charged to leave at the various
+public offices.
+
+"Let us follow him," I said to Mr. Anscombe.  "He might get into
+trouble and want a friend."
+
+He nodded and we strolled after you unostentatiously.  Sure
+enough you nearly did get into trouble.  In front of the first
+office door to which you came, stood a group of Boers, two of
+whom, big fellows, drew together with the evident intention of
+barring your way.
+
+"Mynheeren," you said, "I pray you to let me pass on the Queen's
+business."
+
+They took no heed except to draw closer together and laugh
+insolently.  Again you made your request and again they laughed.
+Then I saw you lift your leg and deliberately stamp upon the foot
+of one of the Boers.  He drew back with an exclamation, and for a
+moment I believed that he or his fellow was going to do something
+violent.  Perhaps they thought better of it, or perhaps they saw
+us two Englishmen behind and noticed Anscombe's pistol.  At any
+rate you marched into the office triumphant and delivered your
+document.
+
+"Neatly done," said Mr. Anscombe.
+
+"Rash," I said, shaking my head, "very rash.  Well, he's young
+and must be excused."
+
+But from that moment I took a great liking to you, my friend,
+perhaps because I wondered whether in your place I should have
+been daredevil enough to act in the same way.  For you see I am
+English, and I like to see an Englishman hold his own against
+odds and keep up the credit of the country.  Although, of course,
+I sympathized with the Boers who, through their own fault, were
+losing their land without a blow struck.  As you know well, for
+you were living near Majuba at the time, plenty of blows were
+struck afterwards, but of that business I cannot bear to write.
+I wonder how it will all work out after I am dead and if I shall
+ever learn what happens in the end.
+
+Now I have only mentioned this business of the Annexation and the
+part you played in it, because it was on that occasion that I
+became acquainted with Anscombe.  For you have nothing to do with
+this story which is about the destruction of the Zulus, the
+accomplishment of the vengeance of Zikali the wizard at the kraal
+named Finished, and incidentally, the love affairs of two people
+in which that old wizard took a hand, as I did to my sorrow.
+
+It happened that Mr. Anscombe had ridden on ahead of his wagons
+which could not arrive at Pretoria for a day or two, and as he
+found it impossible to get accommodation at the European or
+elsewhere, I offered to let him sleep in mine, or rather
+alongside in a tent I had.  He accepted and soon we became very
+good friends.  Before the day was out I discovered that he had
+served in a crack cavalry regiment, but resigned his commission
+some years before.  I asked him why.
+
+"Well," he said, "I came into a good lot of money on my mother's
+death and could not see a prospect of any active service.  While
+the regiment was abroad I liked the life well enough, but at home
+it bored me.  Too much society for my taste, and that sort of
+thing.  Also I wanted to travel; nothing else really amuses me."
+
+"You will soon get tired of it," I answered, "and as you are well
+off, marry some fine lady and settle down at home."
+
+"Don't think so.  I doubt if I should ever be happily married, I
+want too much.  One doesn't pick up an earthly angel with a
+cast-iron constitution who adores you, which are the bare
+necessities of marriage, under every bush." Here I laughed.
+"Also," he added, the laughter going out of his eyes, "I have had
+enough of fine ladies and their ways."
+
+"Marriage is better than scrapes," I remarked sententiously.
+
+"Quite so, but one might get them both together.  No, I shall
+never marry, although I suppose I ought as my brothers have no
+children."
+
+"Won't you, my friend," thought I to myself, "when the skin grows
+again on your burnt fingers."
+
+For I was sure they had been burnt, perhaps more than once.  How,
+I never learned, for which I am rather sorry for it interests me
+to study burnt fingers, if they do not happen to be my own.  Then
+we changed the subject.
+
+Anscombe's wagons were delayed for a day or two by a broken axle
+or a bog hole, I forget which.  So, as I had nothing particular
+to do until the Natal post-cart left, we spent the time in
+wandering about Pretoria, which did not take us long as it was
+but a little dorp in those days, and chatting with all and
+sundry.  Also we went up to Government House as it was now
+called, and left cards, or rather wrote our names in a book for
+we had no cards, being told by one of the Staff whom we met that
+we should do so.  An hour later a note arrived asking us both to
+dinner that night and telling us very nicely not to mind if we
+had no dress things.  Of course we had to go, Anscombe rigged up
+in my second best clothes that did not fit him in the least, as
+he was a much taller man than I am, and a black satin bow that he
+had bought at Becket's Store together with a pair of shiny pumps.
+
+I actually met you, my friend, for the first time that evening,
+and in trouble too, though you may have forgotten the incident.
+We had made a mistake about the time of dinner, and arriving half
+an hour too soon, were shown into a long room that opened on to
+the verandah.  You were working there, being I believe a private
+secretary at the time, copying some despatch; I think you said
+that which gave an account of the Annexation.  The room was lit
+by a paraffin lamp behind you, for it was quite dark and the
+window was open, or at any rate unshuttered.  The gentleman who
+showed us in, seeing that you were very busy, took us to the far
+end of the room, where we stood talking in the shadow.  Just then
+a door opened opposite to that which led to the verandah, and
+through it came His Excellency the Administrator, Sir Theophilus
+Shepstone, a stout man of medium height with a very clever,
+thoughtful face, as I have always thought, one of the greatest of
+African statesmen.  He did not see us, but he caught sight of you
+and said testily--
+
+"Are you mad?" To which you answered with a laugh--
+
+"I hope not more than usual, Sir, but why?"
+
+"Have I not told you always to let down the blinds after dark?
+Yet there you sit with your head against the light, about the
+best target for a bullet that could be imagined."
+
+"I don't think the Boers would trouble to shoot me, Sir.  If you
+had been here I would have drawn the blinds and shut the shutters
+too," you answered, laughing again.
+
+"Go to dress or you will be late for dinner," he said still
+rather sternly, and you went.  But when you had gone and after we
+had been announced to him, he smiled and added something which I
+will not repeat to you even now.  I think it was about what you
+did on the Annexation day of which the story had come to him.
+
+I mention this incident because whenever I think of Shepstone,
+whom I had known off and on for years in the way that a hunter
+knows a prominent Government official, it always recurs to my
+mind, embodying as it does his caution and appreciation of danger
+derived from long experience of the country, and the sternness he
+sometimes affected which could never conceal his love towards his
+friends.  Oh! there was greatness in this man, although they did
+call him an "African Talleyrand."  If it had not been so would
+every native from the Cape to the Zambesi have known and revered
+his name, as perhaps that of no other white man has been revered?
+But I must get on with my tale and leave historical discussions
+to others more fitted to deal with them.
+
+We had a very pleasant dinner that night, although I was so
+ashamed of my clothes with smart uniforms and white ties all
+about me, and Anscombe kept fidgeting his feet because he was
+suffering agony from his new pumps which were a size too small.
+Everybody was in the best of spirits, for from all directions
+came the news that the Annexation was well received and that the
+danger of any trouble had passed away.  Ah! if we had only known
+what the end of it would be!
+
+It was on our way back to the wagon that I chanced to mention to
+Anscombe that there was still a herd of buffalo within a few
+days' trek of Lydenburg, of which I had shot two not a month
+before.
+
+"Are there, by Jove!" he said.  "As it happens I never got a
+buffalo; always I just missed them in one sense or another, and I
+can't leave Africa with a pair of bought horns.  Let's go there
+and shoot some."
+
+I shook my head and replied that I had been idling long enough
+and must try to make some money, news at which he seemed very
+disappointed.
+
+"Look here," he said, "forgive me for mentioning it, but business
+is business.  If you'll come you shan't be a loser."
+
+Again I shook my head, whereat he looked more disappointed than
+before.
+
+"Very well," he exclaimed, "then I must go alone.  For kill a
+buffalo I will; that is unless the buffalo kills me, in which
+case my blood will be on your hands."
+
+I don't know why, but at that moment there came into my mind a
+conviction that if he did go alone a buffalo or something would
+kill him and that then I should be sorry all my life.
+
+"They are dangerous brutes, much worse than lions," I said.
+
+"And yet you, who pretend to have a conscience, would expose me
+to their rage unprotected and alone," he replied with a twinkle
+in his eye which I could see even by moonlight. "Oh! Quatermain,
+how I have been mistaken in your character."
+
+"Look here, Mr. Anscombe," I said, "it's no use.  I cannot
+possibly go on a shooting expedition with you just now.  Only
+to-day I have heard from Natal that my boy is not well and must
+undergo an operation which will lay him up for quite six weeks,
+and may be dangerous.  So I must get down to Durban before it
+takes place.  After that I have a contract in Matabeleland whence
+you have just come, to take charge of a trading store there for a
+year; also perhaps to try to shoot a little ivory for myself.  So
+I am fully booked up till, let us say, October, 1878, that is for
+about eighteen months, by which time I daresay I shall be dead."
+
+"Eighteen months," replied this cool young man.  "That will suit
+me very well.  I will go on to India as I intended, then home for
+a bit and will meet you on the 1st of October, 1878, after which
+we will proceed to the Lydenburg district and shoot those
+buffalo, or if they have departed, other buffalo.  Is it a
+bargain?"
+
+I stared at him, thinking that the Administrator's champagne had
+got into his head.
+
+"Nonsense," I exclaimed.  "Who knows where you will be in
+eighteen months?  Why, by that time you will have forgotten all
+about me."
+
+"If I am alive and well, on the 1st of October, 1878, I shall be
+exactly where I am now, upon this very square in Pretoria, with a
+wagon, or wagons, prepared for a hunting trip.  But as not
+unnaturally you have doubts upon that point, I am prepared to pay
+forfeit if I fail, or even if circumstances cause you to fail."
+
+Here he took a cheque-book from his letter-case and spread it out
+on the little table in the tent, on which there were ink and a
+pen, adding--
+
+"Now, Mr. Quatermain, will it meet your views if I fill this up
+for #250?"
+
+"No," I answered; "taking everything into consideration the sum
+is excessive.  But if you do not mind facing the risks of my
+non-appearance, to say nothing of your own, you may make it #50."
+
+"You are very moderate in your demands," he said as he handed me
+the cheque which I put in my pocket, reflecting that it would
+just pay for my son's operation.
+
+"And you are very foolish in your offers," I replied.  "Tell me,
+why do you make such crack-brained arrangements?"
+
+"I don't quite know.  Something in me seems to say that we
+_shall_ make this expedition and that it will have a very
+important effect upon my life.  Mind you, it is to be to the
+Lydenburg district and nowhere else.  And now I am tired, so
+let's turn in."
+
+Next morning we parted and went our separate ways.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+
+
+MR. MARNHAM
+
+
+
+
+
+So much for preliminaries, now for the story.
+
+The eighteen months had gone by, bringing with them to me their
+share of adventure, weal and woe, with all of which at present I
+have no concern.  Behold me arriving very hot and tired in the
+post-cart from Kimberley, whither I had gone to invest what I had
+saved out of my Matabeleland contract in a very promising
+speculation whereof, today, the promise remains and no more.  I
+had been obliged to leave Kimberly in a great hurry, before I
+ought indeed, because of the silly bargain which I have just
+recorded.  Of course I was sure that I should never see Mr.
+Anscombe again, especially as I had heard nothing of him during
+all this while, and had no reason to suppose that he was in
+Africa.  Still I had taken his #50 and he _might_ come.  Also I
+have always prided myself upon keeping an appointment.
+
+The post-cart halted with a jerk in front of the European Hotel,
+and I crawled, dusty and tired, from its interior, to find myself
+face to face with Anscombe, who was smoking a pipe upon the
+stoep!
+
+"Hullo, Quatermain," he said in his pleasant, drawling voice,
+"here you are, up to time.  I have been making bets with these
+five gentlemen," and he nodded at a group of loungers on the
+stoep, "as to whether you would or would not appear, I putting
+ten to one on you in drinks.  Therefore you must now consume five
+whiskies and sodas, which will save them from consuming fifty and
+a subsequent appearance at the Police Court."
+
+I laughed and said I would be their debtor to the extent of one,
+which was duly produced.
+
+After it was drunk Anscombe and I had a chat.  He said that he
+had been to India, shot, or shot at whatever game he meant to
+kill there, visited his relations in England and thence proceeded
+to keep his appointment with me in Africa.  At Durban he had
+fitted himself out in a regal way with two wagons, full teams,
+and some spare oxen, and trekked to Pretoria where he had arrived
+a few days before.  Now he was ready to start for the Lydenburg
+district and look for those buffalo.
+
+"But," I said, "the buffalo probably long ago departed.  Also
+there has been a war with Sekukuni, the Basuto chief who rules
+all that country, which remains undecided, although I believe
+some kind of a peace has been patched up.  This may make hunting
+in this neighborhood dangerous.  Why not try some other ground,
+to the north of the Transvaal, for instance?"
+
+"Quatermain," he answered, "I have come all the way from England,
+I will not say to kill, but to try to kill buffalo in the
+Lydenburg district, with you if possible, if not, without you,
+and thither I am going.  If you think it unsafe to accompany me,
+don't come; I will get on as best I can alone, or with some other
+skilled person if I can find one."
+
+"If you put it like that I shall certainly come," I replied,
+"with the proviso that should the buffalo prove to be
+non-existent or the pursuit of them impossible, we either give up
+the trip, or go somewhere else, perhaps to the country at the
+back of Delagoa Bay."
+
+"Agreed," he said; after which we discussed terms, he paying me
+my salary in advance.
+
+On further consideration we determined, as two were quite
+unnecessary for a trip of the sort, to leave one of my wagons and
+half the cattle in charge of a very respectable man, a farmer who
+lived about five miles from Pretoria just over the pass near to
+the famous Wonder-boom tree which is one of the sights of the
+place.  Should we need this wagon it could always be sent for;
+or, if we found the Lydenburg hunting-ground, which he was so set
+upon visiting, unproductive or impossible, we could return to
+Pretoria over the high-veld and pick it up before proceeding
+elsewhere.
+
+These arrangements took us a couple of days or so.  On the third
+we started, without seeing you, my friend, or any one else that I
+knew, since just at that time every one seemed to be away from
+Pretoria.  You, I remember, had by now become the Master of the
+High Court and were, they informed me at your office, absent on
+circuit.
+
+The morning of our departure was particularly lovely and we
+trekked away in the best of spirits, as so often happens to
+people who are marching into trouble.  Of our journey there is
+little to say as everything went smoothly, so that we arrived at
+the edge of the high-veld feeling as happy as the country which
+has no history is reported to do.  Our road led us past the
+little mining settlement of Pilgrim's Rest where a number of
+adventurous spirits, most of them English, were engaged in
+washing for gold, a job at which I once took a turn near this
+very place without any startling success.  Of the locality I need
+only say that the mountainous scenery is among the most
+beautiful, the hills are the steepest and the roads are, or were,
+the worst that I have ever travelled over in a wagon.
+
+However, "going softly" as the natives say, we negotiated them
+without accident and, leaving Pilgrim's Rest behind us, began to
+descend towards the low-veld where I was informed a herd of
+buffalo could still be found, since, owing to the war with
+Sekukuni, no one had shot at them of late.  This war had been
+suspended for a while, and the Land-drost at Pilgrim's Rest told
+me he thought it would be safe to hunt on the borders of that
+Chief's country, though he should not care to do so himself.
+
+Game of the smaller sort began to be plentiful about here, so not
+more than a dozen miles from Pilgrim's Rest we outspanned early
+in the afternoon to try to get a blue wildebeeste or two, for I
+had seen the spoor of these creatures in a patch of soft ground,
+or failing them some other buck.  Accordingly, leaving the wagon
+by a charming stream that wound and gurgled over a bed of
+granite, we mounted our salted horses, which were part of
+Anscombe's outfit, and set forth rejoicing.  Riding through the
+scattered thorns and following the spoor where I could, within
+half an hour we came to a little glade.  There, not fifty yards
+away, I caught sight of a single blue wildebeeste bull standing in the
+shadow of the trees on the further side of the glade, and pointed
+out the ugly beast, for it is the most grotesque of all the
+antelopes, to Anscombe.
+
+"Off you get," I whispered.  "It's a lovely shot, you can't miss
+it."
+
+"Oh, can't I!" replied Anscombe.  "Do you shoot."
+
+I refused, so he dismounted, giving me his horse to hold, and
+kneeling down solemnly and slowly covered the bull.  Bang went
+his rifle, and I saw a bough about a yard above the wildebeeste
+fall on to its back.  Off it went like lightning, whereon
+Anscombe let drive with the left barrel of the Express, almost at
+hazard as it seemed to me, and by some chance hit it above the
+near fore-knee, breaking its leg.
+
+"That was a good shot," he cried, jumping on to his horse.
+
+"Excellent," I answered.  "But what are you going to do?"
+
+"Catch it.  It is cruel to leave a wounded animal," and off he
+started.
+
+Of course I had to follow, but the ensuing ride remains among the
+more painful of my hunting memories.  We tore through thorn trees
+that scratched my face and damaged my clothes; we struck a patch
+of antbear holes, into one of which my horse fell so that my
+stomach bumped against its head; we slithered down granite
+koppies, and this was the worst of it, at the end of each
+chapter, so to speak, always caught sight of that accursed bull
+which I fondly hoped would have vanished into space.  At length
+after half an hour or so of this game we reached a stretch of
+open, rolling ground, and there not fifty yards ahead of us was
+the animal still going like a hare, though how it could do so on
+three legs I am sure I do not know.  We coursed it like
+greyhounds, till at last Anscombe, whose horse was the faster,
+came alongside of the exhausted creature, whereon it turned
+suddenly and charged.
+
+Anscombe held out his rifle in his right hand and pulled the
+trigger, which, as he had forgotten to reload it, was a mere
+theatrical performance.  Next second there was such a mix-up that
+for a while I could not distinguish which was Anscombe, which was
+the wildebeeste, and which the horse.  They all seemed to be
+going round and round in a cloud of dust.  When things settled
+themselves a little I discovered the horse rolling on the ground,
+Anscombe on his back with his hands up in an attitude of prayer
+and the wildebeeste trying to make up its mind which of them it
+should finish first.  I settled the poor thing's doubts by
+shooting it through the heart, which I flatter myself was rather
+clever of me under the circumstances.  Then I dismounted to
+examine Anscombe, who, I presumed, was done for.  Not a bit of
+it.  There he sat upon the ground blowing like a blacksmith's
+bellows and panting out--
+
+"What a glorious gallop.  I finished it very well, didn't I?  You
+couldn't have made a better shot yourself."
+
+"Yes," I answered, "you finished it very well as you will find
+out if you will take the trouble to open your rifle and count
+your cartridges.  I may add that if we are going to hunt together
+I hope you will never lead me such a fool's chase again."
+
+He rose, opened the rifle and saw that it was empty, for although
+he had never re-loaded he had thrown out the two cartridges which
+he had discharged in the glen.
+
+"By Jingo," he said, "you must have shot it, though I could have
+sworn that it was I.  Quatermain, has it ever struck you what a
+strange thing is the human imagination?"
+
+"Drat the human imagination," I answered, wiping away the blood
+that was trickling into my eye from a thorn scratch.  "Let's look
+at your horse.  If it is lamed you will have to ride Imagination
+back to the wagon which must be six miles away, that is if we can
+find it before dark."
+
+Sighing out something about a painfully practical mind, he
+obeyed, and when the beast was proved to be nothing more than
+blown and a little bruised, made remarks as to the inadvisability
+of dwelling on future evil events, which I reminded him had
+already been better summed up in the New Testament.
+
+After this we contemplated the carcasse of the wildebeeste which
+it seemed a pity to leave to rot.  Just then Anscombe, who had
+moved a few yards to the right out of the shadow of an
+obstructing tree, exclaimed--
+
+"I say, Quatermain, come here and tell me if I have been knocked
+silly, or if I really see a quite uncommon kind of house built in
+ancient Greek style set in a divine landscape."
+
+"Temple to Diana, I expect," I remarked as I joined him on the
+further side of the tree.
+
+I looked and rubbed my eyes.  There, about half a mile away,
+situated in a bay of the sweeping hills and overlooking the
+measureless expanse of bush-veld beneath, was a remarkable house,
+at least for those days and that part of Africa.  To begin with
+the situation was superb.  It stood on a green and swelling mound
+behind which was a wooded kloof where ran a stream that at last
+precipitated itself in a waterfall over a great cliff.  Then in
+front was that glorious view of the bush-veld, at which a man
+might look for a lifetime and not grow tired, stretching away to
+the Oliphant's river and melting at last into the dim line of the
+horizon.
+
+The house itself also, although not large, was of a kind new to
+me.  It was deep, but narrow fronted, and before it were four
+columns that carried the roof which projected so as to form a
+wide verandah.  Moreover it seemed to be built of marble which
+glistened like snow in the setting sun.  In short in that lonely
+wilderness, at any rate from this distance, it did look like the
+deserted shrine of some forgotten god.
+
+"Well, I'm bothered!" I said.
+
+"So am I," answered Anscombe, "to know the name of the Lydenburg
+district architect whom I should like to employ; though I suspect
+it is the surroundings that make the place look so beautiful.
+Hullo! here comes somebody, but he doesn't look like an
+architect; he looks like a wicked baronet disguised as a Boer."
+
+True enough, round a clump of bush appeared an unusual looking
+person, mounted on a very good horse.  He was tall, thin and old,
+at least he had a long white beard which suggested age, although
+his figure, so far as it could be seen beneath his rough clothes,
+seemed vigorous.  His face was clean cut and handsome, with a
+rather hooked nose, and his eyes were grey, but as I saw when he
+came up to us, somewhat bloodshot at the corners.  His general
+aspect was refined and benevolent, and as soon as he opened his
+mouth I perceived that he was a person of gentle breeding.
+
+And yet there was something about him, something in his
+atmosphere, so to speak, that I did not like.  Before we parted
+that evening I felt sure that in one way or another he was a
+wrong-doer, not straight; also that he had a violent temper.
+
+He rode up to us and asked in a pleasant voice, although the
+manner of his question, which was put in bad Dutch, was not
+pleasant,
+
+"Who gave you leave to shoot on our land?"
+
+"I did not know that any leave was required; it is not customary
+in these parts," I answered politely in English.  "Moreover, this
+buck was wounded miles away."
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed in the same tongue, "that makes a difference,
+though I expect it was still on our land, for we have a lot; it
+is cheap about here."  Then after studying a little, he added
+apologetically, "You mustn't think me strange, but the fact is my
+daughter hates things to be killed near the house, which is why
+there's so much game about."
+
+"Then pray make her our apologies," said Anscombe, "and say that
+it shall not happen again."
+
+He stroked his long beard and looked at us, for by now he had
+dismounted, then said--
+
+"Might I ask you gentlemen your names?"
+
+"Certainly," I replied.  "I am Allan Quatermain and my friend is
+the Hon. Maurice Anscombe."
+
+He started and said--
+
+"Of Allan Quatermain of course I have heard.  The natives told me
+that you were trekking to those parts; and if you, sir, are one
+of Lord Mountford's sons, oddly enough I think I must have known
+your father in my youth.  Indeed I served with him in the
+Guards."
+
+"How very strange," said Anscombe.  "He's dead now and my brother
+is Lord Mountford.  Do you like life here better than that in the
+Guards?  I am sure I should."
+
+"Both of them have their advantages," he answered evasively, "of
+which, if, as I think, you are also a soldier, you can judge for
+yourself.  But won't you come up to the house?  My daughter Heda
+is away, and my partner Mr. Rodd" (as he mentioned this name I
+saw a blue vein, which showed above his cheek bone, swell as
+though under pressure of some secret emotion) "is a retiring sort
+of a man--indeed some might think him sulky until they came to
+know him.  Still, we can make you comfortable and even give you a
+decent bottle of wine."
+
+"No, thank you very much," I answered, "we must get back to the
+wagon or our servants will think that we have come to grief.
+Perhaps you will accept the wildebeeste if it is of any use to
+you."
+
+"Very well," he said in a voice that suggested regret struggling
+with relief.  To the buck he made no allusion, perhaps because he
+considered that it was already his own property.  "Do you know
+your way?  I believe your wagon is camped out there to the east
+by what we call the Granite stream.  If you follow this Kaffir
+path," and he pointed to a track near by, "it will take you quite
+close."
+
+"Where does the path run to?"  I asked.  "There are no kraals
+about, are there?"
+
+"Oh! to the Temple, as my daughter calls our house.  My partner
+and I are labour agents, we recruit natives for the Kimberley
+Mines," he said in explanation, adding, "Where do you propose to
+shoot?"
+
+I told him.
+
+"Isn't that rather a risky district?" he said.  "I think that
+Sekukuni will soon be giving more trouble, although there is a
+truce between him and the English.  Still he might send a
+regiment to raid that way."
+
+I wondered how our friend knew so much of Sekukuni's possible
+intentions, but only answered that I was accustomed to deal with
+natives and did not fear them.
+
+"Ah!" he said, "well, you know your own business best.  But if
+you should get into any difficulty, make straight for this place.
+The Basutos will not interfere with you here."
+
+Again I wondered why the Basutos should look upon this particular
+spot as sacred, but thinking it wisest to ask no questions, I
+only answered--
+
+"Thank you very much.  We'll bear your invitation in mind, Mr.--"
+
+"Marnham."
+
+"Marnham," I repeated after him.  "Good-bye and many thanks for
+your kindness."
+
+"One question," broke in Anscombe, "if you will not think me
+rude.  What is the name of the architect who designed that most
+romantic-looking house of yours which seems to be built of
+marble?"
+
+"My daughter designed it, or at least I think she copied it from
+some old drawing of a ruin.  Also it _is_ marble; there's a whole
+hill of the stuff not a hundred yards from the door, so it was
+cheaper to use than anything else.  I hope you will come and see
+it on your way back, though it is not as fine as it appears from
+a distance.  It would be very pleasant after all these years to
+talk to an English gentleman again."
+
+Then we parted, I rather offended because he did not seem to
+include me in the description, he calling after us--
+
+"Stick close to the path through the patch of big trees, for the
+ground is rather swampy there and it's getting dark."
+
+Presently we came to the place he mentioned where the timber,
+although scattered, was quite large for South Africa, of the
+yellow-wood species, and interspersed wherever the ground was dry
+with huge euphorbias, of which the tall finger-like growths and
+sad grey colouring looked unreal and ghostlike in the waning
+light.  Following the advice given to us, we rode in single file
+along the narrow path, fearing lest otherwise we should tumble
+into some bog hole, until we came to higher land covered with the
+scattered thorns of the country.
+
+"Did that bush give you any particular impression?" asked
+Anscombe a minute or two later.
+
+"Yes," I answered, "it gave me the impression that we might catch
+fever there.  See the mist that lies over it," and turning in my
+saddle I pointed with the rifle in my hand to what looked like a
+mass of cotton wool over which, without permeating it, hung the
+last red glow of sunset, producing a curious and indeed rather
+unearthly effect.  "I expect that thousands of years ago there
+was a lake yonder, which is why trees grow so big in the rich
+soil."
+
+"You are curiously mundane, Quatermain," he answered.  "I ask you
+of spiritual impressions and you dilate to me of geological
+formations and the growth of timber.  You felt nothing in the
+spiritual line?"
+
+"I felt nothing except a chill," I answered, for I was tired and
+hungry.  "What the devil are you driving at?"
+
+"Have you got that flask of Hollands about you, Quatermain?"
+
+"Oh! those are the spirits you are referring to," I remarked with
+sarcasm as I handed it to him.
+
+He took a good pull and replied--
+
+"Not at all, except in the sense that bad spirits require good
+spirits to correct them, as the Bible teaches.  To come to
+facts," he added in a changed voice, "I have never been in a
+place that depressed me more than that thrice accursed patch of
+bush."
+
+"Why did it depress you?" I asked, studying him as well as I
+could in the fading light.  To tell the truth I feared lest he
+had knocked his head when the wildebeeste upset him, and was
+suffering from delayed concussion.
+
+"Can't tell you, Quatermain.  I don't look like a criminal, do I?
+Well, I entered those trees feeling a fairly honest man, and I
+came out of them feeling like a murderer.  It was as though
+something terrible had happened to me there; it was as though I
+had killed someone there.  Ugh!" and he shivered and took another
+pull at the Hollands.
+
+"What bosh!" I said.  "Besides, even if it were to come true, I
+am sorry to say I've killed lots of men in the way of business
+and they don't bother me overmuch."
+
+"Did you ever kill one to win a woman?"
+
+"Certainly not.  Why, that would be murder.  How can you ask me
+such a thing?  But I have killed several to win cattle," I
+reflected aloud, remembering my expedition with Saduko against
+the chief Bangu, and some other incidents in my career.
+
+"I appreciate the difference, Quatermain.  If you kill for cows,
+it is justifiable homicide; if you kill for women, it is murder."
+
+"Yes," I replied, "that is how it seems to work out in Africa.
+You see, women are higher in the scale of creation than cows,
+therefore crimes committed for their sake are enormously greater
+than those committed for cows, which just makes the difference
+between justifiable homicide and murder."
+
+"Good lord! what an argument," he exclaimed and relapsed into
+silence.  Had he been accustomed to natives and their ways he
+would have understood the point much better than he did, though I
+admit it is difficult to explain.
+
+In due course we reached the wagon without further trouble.
+While we were shielding our pipes after an excellent supper I
+asked Anscombe his impressions of Mr. Marnham.
+
+"Queer cove, I think," he answered.  "Been a gentleman, too, and
+still keeps the manners, which isn't strange if he is one of the
+Marnhams, for they are a good family.  I wonder he mentioned
+having served with my father."
+
+"It slipped out of him.  Men who live a lot alone are apt to be
+surprised into saying things they regret afterwards, as I noticed
+he did.  But why do you wonder?"
+
+"Because as it happens, although I have only just recalled it, my
+father used to tell some story about a man named Marnham in his
+regiment.  I can't remember the details, but it had to do with
+cards when high stakes were being played for, and with the
+striking of a superior officer in the quarrel that ensued, as a
+result of which the striker was requested to send in his papers."
+
+"It may not have been the same man."
+
+"Perhaps not, for I believe that more than one Marnham served in
+that regiment.  But I remember my father saying, by way of excuse
+for the person concerned, that he had a most ungovernable temper.
+I think he added, that he left the country and took service in
+some army on the Continent.  I should rather like to clear the
+thing up."
+
+"It isn't probable that you will, for even if you should ever
+meet this Marnham again, I fancy you would find he held his
+tongue about his acquaintance with your father."
+
+"I wonder what Miss Heda is like," went on Anscombe after a
+pause.  "I am curious to see a girl who designs a house on the
+model of an ancient ruin."
+
+"Well, you won't, for she's away somewhere.  Besides we are
+looking for buffalo, not girls, which is a good thing as they are
+less dangerous."
+
+I spoke thus decisively because I had taken a dislike to Mr.
+Marnham and everything to do with him, and did not wish to
+encourage the idea of further meetings.
+
+"No, never, I suppose.  And yet I feel as though I were certainly
+destined to see that accursed yellow-wood swamp again."
+
+"Nonsense," I replied as I rose to turn in.  Ah! if I had but
+known!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+
+
+THE HUNTERS HUNTED
+
+
+
+
+
+While I was taking off my boots I heard a noise of jabbering in
+some native tongue which I took to be Sisutu, and not wishing to
+go to the trouble of putting them on again, called to the driver
+of the wagon to find out what it was.  This man was a Cape Colony
+Kaffir, a Fingo I think, with a touch of Hottentot in him.  He
+was an excellent driver, indeed I do not think I have ever seen a
+better, and by no means a bad shot.  Among Europeans he rejoiced
+in the name of Footsack, a Boer Dutch term which is generally
+addressed to troublesome dogs and means "Get out."  To tell the
+truth, had I been his master he would have got out, as I
+suspected him of drinking, and generally did not altogether trust
+him.  Anscombe, however, was fond of him because he had shown
+courage in some hunting adventure in Matabeleland, I think it was
+at the shooting of that very dark-coloured lion whose skin had
+been the means of making us acquainted nearly two years before.
+Indeed he said that on this occasion Footsack had saved his life,
+though from all that I could gather I do not think this was quite
+the case.  Also the man, who had been on many hunting trips with
+sportsmen, could talk Dutch well and English enough to make
+himself understood, and therefore was useful.
+
+He went as I bade him, and coming back presently, told me that a
+party of Basutos, about thirty in number, who were returning from
+Kimberley, where they had been at work in the mines, under the
+leadership of a Bastard named Karl, asked leave to camp by the
+wagon for the night, as they were afraid to go on to "Tampel" in
+the dark.
+
+At first I could not make out what "Tampel" was, as it did not
+sound like a native name.  Then I remembered that Mr. Marnham had
+spoken of his house as being called the Temple, of which, of
+course, Tampel was a corruption; also that he said he and his
+partner were labour agents.
+
+"Why are they afraid?" I asked.
+
+"Because, Baas, they say that they must go through a wood in a
+swamp, which they think is haunted by spooks, and they much
+afraid of spooks;" that is of ghosts.
+
+"What spooks?" I asked.
+
+"Don't know, Baas.  They say spook of some one who has been
+killed."
+
+"Rubbish," I replied.  "Tell them to go and catch the spook; we
+don't want a lot of noisy fellows howling chanties here all
+night."
+
+Then it was that Anscombe broke in in his humorous, rather
+drawling voice.
+
+"How can you be so hard-hearted, Quatermain?  After the
+supernatural terror which, as I told you, I experienced in that
+very place, I wouldn't condemn a kicking mule to go through it in
+this darkness.  Let the poor devils stay; I daresay they are
+tired."
+
+So I gave in, and presently saw their fires beginning to burn
+through the end canvas of the wagon which was unlaced because the
+night was hot.  Also later on I woke up, about midnight I think,
+and heard voices talking, one of which I reflected sleepily,
+sounded very like that of Footsack.
+
+Waking very early, as is my habit, I peeped out of the wagon, and
+through the morning mist perceived Footsack in converse with a
+particularly villainous-looking person.  I at once concluded this
+must be Karl, evidently a Bastard compounded of about fifteen
+parts of various native bloods to one of white, who, to add to
+his attractions, was deeply scarred with smallpox and possessed a
+really alarming squint.  It seemed to me that Footsack handed to
+this man something that looked suspiciously like a bottle of
+squareface gin wrapped up in dried grass, and that the man handed
+back to Footsack some small object which he put in his mouth.
+
+Now, I wondered to myself, what is there of value that one who
+does not eat sweets would stow away in his mouth.  Gold coin
+perhaps, or a quid of tobacco, or a stone.  Gold was too much to
+pay for a bottle of gin, tobacco was too little, but how about
+the stone?  What stone?  Who wanted stones?  Then suddenly I
+remembered that these people were said to come from Kimberley,
+and whistled to myself.  Still I did nothing, principally because
+the mist was still so dense that although I could see the men's
+faces, I could not clearly see the articles which they passed to
+each other about two feet lower, where it still lay very thickly,
+and to bring any accusation against a native which he can prove
+to be false is apt to destroy authority.  So I held my tongue and
+waited my chance.  It did not come at once, for before I was
+dressed those Basutos had departed together with their leader
+Karl, for now that the sun was up they no longer feared the
+haunted bush.
+
+It came later, thus: We were trekking along between the thorns
+upon a level and easy track which enabled the driver Footsack to
+sit upon the "voorkisse" or driving box of the wagon, leaving the
+lad who is called the voorlooper to lead the oxen.  Anscombe was
+riding parallel to the wagon in the hope of killing some
+guineafowl for the pot (though a very poor shot with a rifle he
+was good with a shot-gun).  I, who did not care for this small
+game, was seated smoking by the side of Footsack who, I noted,
+smelt of gin and generally showed signs of dissipation.  Suddenly
+I said to him--
+
+"Show me that diamond which the Bastard Karl gave you this
+morning in payment for the bottle of your master's drink."
+
+It was a bow drawn at a venture, but the effect of the shot was
+remarkable.  Had I not caught it, the long bamboo whip Footsack
+held would have fallen to the ground, while he collapsed in his
+seat like a man who has received a bullet in his stomach.
+
+"Baas," he gasped, "Baas, how did you know?"
+
+"I knew," I replied grandly, "in the same way that I know
+everything.  Show me the diamond."
+
+"Baas," he said, "it was not the Baas Anscombe's gin, it was some
+I bought in Pilgrim's Rest."
+
+"I have counted the bottles in the case and know very well whose
+gin it was," I replied ambiguously, for the reason that I had
+done nothing of the sort.  "Show me the diamond."
+
+Footsack fumbled about his person, his hair, his waistcoat
+pockets and even his moocha, and ultimately from somewhere
+produced a stone which he handed to me.  I looked at it, and from
+the purity of colour and size, judged it to be a diamond worth
+#200, or possibly more.  After careful examination I put it into
+my pocket, saying,
+
+"This is the price of your master's gin and therefore belongs to
+him as much as it does to anybody.  Now if you want to keep out
+of trouble, tell me--whence came it into the hands of that man,
+Karl?"
+
+"Baas," replied Footsack, trembling all over, "how do I know?  He
+and the rest have been working at the mines; I suppose he found
+it there."
+
+"Indeed!  And did he find others of the same sort?"
+
+"I think so, Baas.  At least he said that he had been buying
+bottles of gin with such stones all the way down from Kimberley.
+Karl is a great drunkard, Baas, as I am sure, who have known him
+for years."
+
+"That is not all," I remarked, keeping my eyes fixed on him.
+"What else did he say?"
+
+"He said, Baas, that he was very much afraid of returning to the
+Baas Marnham whom the Kaffirs call White-beard, with only a few
+stones left."
+
+"Why was he afraid?"
+
+"Because the Baas Whitebeard, he who dwells at Tampel, is, he
+says, a very angry man if he thinks himself cheated, and Karl is
+afraid lest he should kill him as another was killed, he whose
+spook haunts the wood through which those silly people feared to
+pass last night."
+
+"Who was killed and who killed him?" I asked.
+
+"Baas, I don't know," replied Footsack, collapsing into sullen
+silence in a way that Kaffirs have when suddenly they realize
+that they have said too much.  Nor did I press the matter
+further, having learned enough.
+
+What had I learned?  This: that Messrs. Marnham & Rodd were
+illicit diamond buyers, I.D.B.'s as they are called, who had
+cunningly situated themselves at a great distance from the scene
+of operations practically beyond the reach of civilized law.
+Probably they were engaged also in other nefarious dealings with
+Kaffirs, such as supplying them with guns wherewith to make war
+upon the Whites.  Sekukuni had been fighting us recently, so that
+there would be a very brisk market for rifles.  This, too, would
+account for Marnham's apparent knowledge of that Chief's plans.
+Possibly, however, he had no knowledge and only made a pretence
+of it to keep us out of the country.
+
+Later on I confided the whole story and my suspicions to
+Anscombe, who was much interested.
+
+"What picturesque scoundrels!" he exclaimed, "We really ought to
+go back to the Temple.  I have always longed to meet some real
+live I.D.B.'s."
+
+"It is probable that you have done that already without knowing
+it.  For the rest, if you wish to visit that den of iniquity, you
+must do so alone."
+
+"Wouldn't whited sepulchre be a better term, especially as it
+seems to cover dead men's bones?" he replied in his frivolous
+manner.
+
+Then I asked him what he was going to do about Footsack and the
+bottle of gin, which he countered by asking me what I was going
+to do with that diamond.
+
+"Give it to you as Footsack's master," I said, suiting the action
+to the word.  "I don't wish to be mixed up in doubtful
+transactions."
+
+Then followed a long argument as to who was the real owner of the
+stone, which ended in its being hidden away be produced if called
+for, and in Footsack, who ought have had a round dozen, receiving
+a scolding from his master, coupled with the threat that if he
+stole more gin he would be handed over to a magistrate--when we
+met one.
+
+On the following day we reached the hot, low-lying veld which the
+herd of buffalo was said to inhabit.  Next morning, however, when
+we were making ready to begin hunting, a Basuto Kaffir appeared
+who, on being questioned, said that he was one of Sekukuni's
+people sent to this district to look for two lost oxen.  I did
+not believe this story, thinking it more probable that he was a
+spy, but asked him whether in his hunt for oxen he had come
+across buffalo.
+
+He replied that he had, a herd of thirty-two of them, counting
+the calves, but that they were over the Oliphant's River about
+five-and-twenty miles away, in a valley between some outlying
+hills and the rugged range of mountains, beyond which was
+situated Sekukuni's town.  Moreover, in proof of his story he
+showed me spoor of the beasts heading in that direction which was
+quite a week old.
+
+Now for my part, as I did not think it wise to get too near to
+Sekukuni, I should have given them up and gone to hunt something
+else.  Anscombe, however, was of a different opinion and pleaded
+hard that we should follow them.  They were the only herd within
+a hundred miles, he said, if indeed there were any others this
+side of the Lebombo Mountains.  As I still demurred, he
+suggested, in the nicest possible manner, that if I thought the
+business risky, I should camp somewhere with the wagon, while he
+went on with Footsack to look for the buffalo.  I answered that I
+was well used to risks, which in a sense were my trade, and that
+as he was more or less in my charge I was thinking of him, not of
+myself, who was quite prepared to follow the buffalo, not only to
+Sekukuni's Mountains but over them.  Then fearing that he had
+hurt my feelings, he apologized, and offered to go elsewhere if I
+liked.  The upshot was that we decided to trek to the Oliphant's
+River, camp there and explore the bush on the other side on
+horseback, never going so far from the wagon that we could not
+reach it again before nightfall.
+
+This, then, we did, outspanning that evening by the hot but
+beautiful river which was still haunted by a few hippopotamus and
+many crocodiles, one of which we shot before turning in.  Next
+morning, having breakfasted off cold guineafowl, we mounted,
+crossed the river by a ford that was quite as deep as I liked, to
+which the Kaffir path led us, and, leaving Footsack with the two
+other boys in charge of the wagon, began to hunt for the buffalo
+in the rather swampy bush that stretched from the further bank to
+the slope of the first hills, eight or ten miles away.  I did not
+much expect to find them, as the Basuto had said that they had
+gone over these hills, but either he lied or they had moved back
+again.
+
+Not half a mile from the river bank, just as I was about to
+dismount to stalk a fine waterbuck of which I caught sight
+standing among some coarse grass and bushes, my eye fell upon
+buffalo spoor that from its appearance I knew could not be more
+than a few hours old.  Evidently the beasts had been feeding here
+during the night and at dawn had moved away to sleep in the dry
+bush nearer the hills.  Beckoning to Anscombe, who fortunately
+had not seen the waterbuck, at which he would certainly have
+fired, thereby perhaps frightening the buffalo, I showed him the
+spoor that we at once started to follow.
+
+Soon it led us into other spoor, that of a whole herd of thirty
+or forty beasts indeed, which made our task quite easy, at least
+till we came to harder ground, for the animals had gone a long
+way.  An hour or more later, when we were about seven miles from
+the river, I perceived ahead of us, for we were now almost at the
+foot of the hills, a cool and densely-wooded kloof.
+
+"That is where they will be," I said.  "Now come on carefully and
+make no noise."
+
+We rode to the wide mouth of the kloof where the signs of the
+buffalo were numerous and fresh, dismounted and tied our horses
+to a thorn, so as to approach them silently on foot.  We had not
+gone two hundred yards through the bush when suddenly about fifty
+paces away, standing broadside on in the shadow between two
+trees, I saw a splendid old bull with a tremendous pair of horns.
+
+"Shoot," I whispered to Anscombe, "you will never get a better
+chance.  It is the sentinel of the herd."
+
+He knelt down, his face quite white with excitement, and covered
+the bull with his Express.
+
+"Keep cool," I whispered again, "and aim behind the shoulder,
+half-way down."
+
+I don't think he understood me, for at that moment off went the
+rifle.  He hit the beast somewhere, as I heard the bullet clap,
+but not fatally, for it turned and lumbered off up the kloof,
+apparently unhurt, whereon he sent the second barrel after it, a
+clean miss this time.  Then of a sudden all about us appeared
+buffaloes that had, I suppose, been sleeping invisible to us.
+These, with snorts and bellows, rushed off towards the river, for
+having their senses about them, they had no mind to be trapped in
+the kloof.  I could only manage a shot at one of them, a large
+and long-horned cow which I knocked over quite dead.  If I had
+fired again it would have been but to wound, a thing I hate.  The
+whole business was over in a minute.  We went and looked at my
+dead cow which I had caught through the heart.
+
+"It's cruel to kill these things," I said, "for I don't know what
+use we are going to make of them, and they must love life as much
+as we do."
+
+"We'll cut the horns off," said Anscombe.
+
+"You may if you like," I answered, "but you will find it a tough
+job with a sheath knife."
+
+"Yes, I think that shall be the task of the worthy Footsack
+to-morrow," he replied.  "Meanwhile let us go and finish off my
+bull, as Footsack & Co. may as well bring home two pair of horns
+as one."
+
+I looked at the dense bush, and knowing something of the habits
+of wounded buffaloes, reflected that it would be a nasty job.
+Still I said nothing, because if I hesitated, I knew he would
+want to go alone.  So we started.  Evidently the beast had been
+badly hit, for the blood spoor was easy to follow.  Yet it had
+been able to retreat up to the end of the kloof that terminated
+in a cliff over which trickled a stream of water.  Here it was
+not more than a hundred paces wide, and on either side of it were
+other precipitous cliffs.  As we went from one of these a
+war-horn, such as the Basutos use, was blown.  Although I heard
+it, oddly enough, I paid no attention to it at the time, being
+utterly intent upon the business in hand.
+
+Following a wounded buffalo bull up a tree-clad and stony kloof
+is no game for children, as these beasts have a habit of
+returning on their tracks and then rushing out to gore you.  So I
+went on with every sense alert, keeping Anscombe well behind me.
+As it happened our bull had either been knocked silly or
+inherited no guile from his parents.  When he found he could go
+no further he stopped, waited behind a bush, and when he saw us
+he charged in a simple and primitive fashion.  I let Anscombe
+fire, as I wished him to have the credit of killing it all to
+himself, but somehow or other he managed to miss both barrels.
+Then, trouble being imminent, I let drive as the beast lowered
+its head, and was lucky enough to break its spine (to shoot at
+the head of a buffalo is useless), so that it rolled over quite
+dead at our feet.
+
+"You have got a magnificent pair of horns," I said, contemplating
+the fallen giant.
+
+"Yes," answered Anscombe, with a twinkle of his humorous eyes,
+"and if it hadn't been for you I think that I should have got
+them in more senses than one."
+
+As the words passed his lips some missile, from its peculiar
+sound I judged it was the leg off an iron pot, hurtled past my
+head, fired evidently from a smoothbore gun with a large charge
+of bad powder.  Then I remembered the war-horn and all that it
+meant.
+
+"Off you go," I said, "we are ambushed by Kaffirs."
+
+We were indeed, for as we tailed down that kloof, from the top of
+both cliffs above us came a continuous but luckily ill-directed
+fire.  Lead-coated stones, pot legs and bullets whirred and
+whistled all round us, yet until the last, just when we were
+reaching the tree to which we had tied our horses, quite
+harmlessly.  Then suddenly I saw Anscombe begin to limp.  Still
+he managed to run on and mount, though I observed that he did not
+put his right foot into the stirrup.
+
+"What's the matter?" I asked as we galloped off.
+
+"Shot through the instep, I think," he answered with a laugh,
+"but it doesn't hurt a bit."
+
+"I expect it will later," I replied.  "Meanwhile, thank God it
+wasn't at the top of the kloof.  They won't catch us on the
+horses, which they never thought of killing first."
+
+"They are going to try though.  Look behind you."
+
+I looked and saw twenty or thirty men emerging from the mouth of
+the kloof in pursuit.
+
+"No time to stop to get those horns," he said with a sigh.
+
+"No," I answered, "unless you are particularly anxious to say
+good-bye to the world pinned over a broken ant-heap in the sun,
+or something pleasant of the sort."
+
+Then we rode on in silence, I thinking what a fool I had been
+first to allow myself to be overruled by Anscombe and cross the
+river, and secondly not to have taken warning from that war-horn.
+We could not go very fast because of the difficult and swampy
+nature of the ground; also the great heat of the day told on the
+horses.  Thus it came about that when we reached the ford we were
+not more than ten minutes ahead of our active pursuers, good
+runners every one of them, and accustomed to the country.  I
+suppose that they had orders to kill or capture us at any cost,
+for instead of giving up the chase, as I hoped they would, they
+stuck to us in surprising fashion.
+
+We splashed through the river, and luckily on the further bank
+were met by Footsack who had seen us coming and guessed that
+something was wrong.
+
+"Inspan!" I shouted to him, "and be quick about it if you want to
+see tomorrow's light.  The Basutos are after us."
+
+Off he went like a shot, his face quite green with fear.
+
+"Now," I said to Anscombe, as we let our horses take a drink for
+which they were mad, "we have got to hold this ford until the
+wagon is ready, or those devils will get us after all.  Dismount
+and I'll tie up the horses."
+
+He did so with some difficulty, and at my suggestion, while I
+made the beasts fast, cut the lace of his boot which was full of
+blood, and soaked his wounded foot, that I had no time to
+examine, in the cool water.  These things done, I helped him to
+the rear of a thorn tree which was thick enough to shield most of
+his body, and took my own stand behind a similar thorn at a
+distance of a few paces.
+
+Presently the Basutos appeared, trotting along close together
+whereon Anscombe, who was seated behind the tree, fired both
+barrels of his Express at them at a range of about two hundred
+yards.  It was a foolish thing to do, first because he missed
+them clean, for he had over-estimated the range and the bullets
+went above their heads, and secondly because it caused them to
+scatter and made them careful, whereas had they come on in a lump
+we could have taught them a lesson.  However I said nothing, as I
+knew that reproaches would only make him nervous.  Down went
+those scoundrels on to their hands and knees and, taking cover
+behind stones and bushes on the further bank, began to fire at
+us, for they were all armed with guns of one sort and another,
+and there was only about a hundred yards of water between us.  As
+they effected this manoeuvre I am glad to say I was able to get
+two of them, while Anscombe, I think, wounded another.
+
+After this our position grew quite warm, for as I have said the
+thorn trunks were not very broad, and three or four of the
+natives, who had probably been hunters, were by no means bad
+shots, though the rest of them fired wildly.  Anscombe, in poking
+his head round the tree to shoot, had his hat knocked off by a
+bullet, while a slug went through the lappet of my coat.  Then a
+worse thing happened.  Either by chance or design Anscombe's
+horse was struck in the neck and fell struggling, whereon my
+beast, growing frightened, broke its riem and galloped to the
+wagon.  That is where I ought to have left them at first, only I
+thought that we might need them to make a bolt on, or to carry
+Anscombe if he could not walk.
+
+Quite a long while went by before, glancing behind me, I saw
+that the oxen that had been grazing at a little distance had at
+length arrived and were being inspanned in furious haste.  The
+Basutos saw it also, and fearing lest we should escape,
+determined to try to end the business.  Suddenly they leapt from
+their cover, and with more courage than I should have expected of
+them, rushed into the river, proposing to storm us, which, to
+speak truth, I think they would have done had I not been a fairly
+quick shot.
+
+As it was, finding that they were losing too heavily from our
+fire, they retreated in a hurry, leaving their dead behind them,
+and even a wounded man who was clinging to a rock.  He, poor
+wretch, was in mortal terror lest we should shoot him again,
+which I had not the heart to do, although as his leg was
+shattered above the knee by an Express bullet, it might have been
+true kindness.  Again and again he called out for mercy, saying
+that he only attacked us because his chief, who had been warned
+of our coming "by the White Man," ordered him to take our guns
+and cattle.
+
+"What white man?" I shouted.  "Speak or I shoot."
+
+There was no answer, for at this moment he fainted from loss of
+blood and vanished beneath the water.  Then another Basuto, I
+suppose he was their captain, but do not know for he was hidden
+in some bushes, called out--
+
+"Do not think that you shall escape, White Men.  There are many
+more of our people coming, and we will kill you in the night when
+you cannot see to shoot us."
+
+At this moment, too, Footsack shouted that the wagon was
+inspanned and ready.  Now I hesitated what to do.  If we made for
+the wagon, which must be very slowly because of Anscombe's
+wounded foot, we had to cross seventy or eighty yards of rising
+ground almost devoid of cover.  If, on the other hand, we stayed
+where we were till nightfall a shot might catch one of us, or
+other Basutos might arrive and rush us.  There was also a third
+possibility, that our terrified servants might trek off and leave
+us in order to save their own lives, which verily I believe they
+would have done, not being of Zulu blood.  I put the problem to
+Anscombe, who shook his head and looked at his foot.  Then he
+produced a lucky penny which he carried in his pocket and said--
+
+"Let us invoke the Fates.  Heads we run like heroes; tails we
+stay here like heroes," and he spun the penny, while I stared at
+him open-mouthed and not without admiration.
+
+Never, I thought to myself, had this primitive method of cutting
+a gordian knot been resorted to in such strange and urgent
+circumstances.
+
+"Heads it is!" he said coolly.  "Now, my boy, do you run and I'll
+crawl after you.  If I don't arrive, you know my people's
+address, and I bequeath to you all my African belongings in
+memory of a most pleasant trip."
+
+"Don't play the fool," I replied sternly.  "Come, put your right
+arm round my neck and hop on your left leg as you never hopped
+before."
+
+Then we started, and really our transit was quite lively, for
+all those Basutos began what for them was rapid firing.  I think,
+however, that their best shots must have fallen, for not a bullet
+touched us, although before we got out of their range one or two
+went very near.
+
+"There," said Anscombe, as a last amazing hop brought him to the
+wagon rail, "there, you see how wise it is give Providence a
+chance sometimes."
+
+"In the shape of a lucky penny," I grumbled as I hoisted him up.
+
+"Certainly, for why should not Providence inhabit a penny as much
+as it does any other mundane thing?  Oh, my dear Quatermain, have
+you never been taught to look to the pence and let the rest take
+care of itself?"
+
+"Stop talking rubbish and look to your foot, for the wagon is
+starting," I replied.
+
+Then off we went at a good round trot, for never have I seen oxen
+more scientifically driven than they were by Footsack and his
+friends on this occasion, or a greater pace got out of them.  As
+soon as we reached a fairly level piece of ground I made Anscombe
+lie down on the cartel of the wagon and examined his wound as
+well as circumstances would allow.  I found that the bullet or
+whatever the missile may have been, had gone through his right
+instep just beneath the big sinew, but so far as I could judge
+without injuring any bone.  There was nothing to be done except
+rub in some carbolic ointment, which fortunately he had in his
+medicine chest, and bind up the wound as best I could with a
+clean handkerchief, after which I tied a towel, that was _not_
+clean, over the whole foot.
+
+By this time evening was coming on, so we ate of such as we had
+with us, which we needed badly enough, without stopping the
+wagon.  I remember that it consisted of cheese and hard biscuits.
+At dark we were obliged to halt a little by a stream until the
+moon rose, which fortunately she did very soon, as she was only
+just past her full.  As soon as she was up we started again, and
+with a breathing space or two, trekked all that night, which I
+spent seated on the after part of the wagon and keeping a sharp
+look out, while, notwithstanding the roughness of the road and
+his hurt, Anscombe slept like a child upon the cartel inside.
+
+I was very tired, so tired that the fear of surprise was the only
+thing that kept me awake, and I recall reflecting in a stupid
+kind of way, that it seemed always to have been my lot in life to
+watch thus, in one sense or another, while others slept.
+
+The night passed somehow without anything happening, and at dawn
+we halted for a while to water the oxen, which we did with
+buckets, and let them eat what grass they could reach from their
+yokes, since we did not dare to outspan them.  Just as we were
+starting on again the voortrekker, whom I had set to watch at a
+little distance, ran up with his eyes bulging out of his head,
+and reported that he had seen a Basuto with an assegai hanging
+about in the bush, as though to keep touch with us, after which
+we delayed no more.
+
+All that day we blundered on, thrashing the weary cattle that at
+every halt tried to lie down, and by nightfall came to the
+outspan near to the house called the Temple, where we had met the
+Kaffirs returning from the diamond fields.  This journey we had
+accomplished in exactly half the time it had taken on the outward
+trip.  Here we were obliged to stop, as our team must have rest
+and food.  So we outspanned and slept that night without much
+fear, since I thought it most improbable that the Basutos would
+attempt to follow us so far, as we were now within a day's trek
+of Pilgrim's Rest, whither we proposed to proceed on the morrow.
+But that is just where I made a mistake.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+
+
+DOCTOR RODD
+
+
+
+
+
+I did get a little sleep that night, with one eye open, but
+before dawn I was up again seeing to the feeding of our remaining
+horse with some mealies that we carried, and other matters.  The
+oxen we had been obliged to unyoke that they might fill
+themselves with grass and water, since otherwise I feared that we
+should never get them on to their feet again.  As it was, the
+poor brutes were so tired that some of them could scarcely eat,
+and all lay down at the first opportunity.
+
+Having awakened Footsack and the other boys that they might be
+ready to take advantage of the light when it came, for I was
+anxious to be away, I drank a nip of Hollands and water and ate a
+biscuit, making Anscombe do the same.  Coffee would have been
+more acceptable, but I thought it wiser not to light a fire for
+fear of showing our whereabouts.
+
+Now a faint glimmer in the east told me that the dawn was coming.
+Just by the wagon grew a fair-sized, green-leaved tree, and as it
+was quite easy to climb even by starlight, up it I went so as to
+get above the ground mist and take a look round before we
+trekked.  Presently the sky grew pearly and light began to
+gather; then the edge of the sun appeared, throwing long level
+rays across the world.  Everywhere the mist lay dense as cotton
+wool, except at one spot about a mile behind us where there was a
+little hill or rather a wave of the ground, over which we had
+trekked upon the preceding evening.  The top of this rise was
+above mist level, and on it no trees grew because the granite
+came to the surface.  Having discovered nothing, I called to the
+boys to drive up the oxen, some of which had risen and were
+eating again, and prepared to descend from my tree.
+
+As I did so, out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of
+something that glittered far away, so far that it would only have
+attracted the notice of a trained hunter.  Yes, something was
+shining on the brow of the rise of which I have spoken.  I stared
+at it through my glasses and saw what I had feared to see.  A
+body of natives was crossing the rise and the glitter was caused
+by the rays of dawn striking on their spears and gun-barrels.
+
+I came down out of that tree like a frightened wild cat and ran
+to the wagon, thinking hard as I went.  The Basutos were after
+us, meaning to attack as soon as there was sufficient light.  In
+ten minutes or less they would be here.  There was no time to
+inspan the oxen, and even if there had been, stiff and weary as
+the beasts were, we should be overtaken before we had gone a
+hundred yards on that bad road.  What then was to be done? Run
+for it? It was impossible, Anscombe could not run.  My eye fell
+upon the horse munching the last of his mealies.
+
+"Footsack," I said as quietly as I could, "never mind about
+inspanning yet, but saddle up the horse.  Be quick now."
+
+He looked at me doubtfully, but obeyed, having seen nothing.  If
+he had seen I knew that he would have been off.  I nipped round
+to the end of the wagon, calling to the other two boys to let the
+oxen be a while and come to me.
+
+"Now, Anscombe," I said, "hand out the rifles and cartridges.
+Don't stop to ask questions, but do what I tell you.  They are on
+the rack by your side.  So.  Now put on your revolver and let me
+help you down.  Man, don't forget your hat."
+
+He obeyed quickly enough, and presently was standing on one leg
+by my side, looking cramped and tottery.
+
+"The Basutos are on us," I said.
+
+He whistled and remarked something about Chapter No. 2.
+
+"Footsack," I called, "bring the horse here; the Baas wishes to
+ride a little to ease his leg."
+
+He did so, stopping a moment to pull the second girth tight.
+Then we helped Anscombe into the saddle.
+
+"Which way?" he asked.
+
+I looked at the long slope in front of us.  It was steep and bad
+going.  Anscombe might get up it on the horse before the Kaffirs
+overtook us, but it was extremely problematical if we could do
+so.  I might perhaps if I mounted behind him and the horse could
+bear us both, which was doubtful, but how about our poor
+servants? He saw the doubt upon my face and said in his quiet
+way,
+
+"You may remember that our white-bearded friend told us to make
+straight for his place in case of any difficulty with the
+Basutos.  It seems to have arisen."
+
+"I know he did," I answered, "but I cannot make up my mind which
+is the more dangerous, Marnham or the Basutos.  I rather think
+that he set them on to us."
+
+"It is impossible to solve problems at this hour of the morning,
+Quatermain, and there is no time to toss.  So I vote for the
+Temple."
+
+"It seems our best chance.  At any rate that's your choice, so
+let's go."
+
+Then I sang out to the Kaffirs, "The Basutos are on us.  We go to
+Tampel for refuge.  Run!"
+
+My word! they did run.  I never saw athletes make better time
+over the first quarter of a mile.  We ran, too, or at least the
+horse did, I hanging on to the stirrup and Anscombe holding both
+the rifles beneath his arm.  But the beast was tired, also blown
+out with that morning feed of mealies, so our progress was not
+very fast.  When we were about two hundred yards from the wagon I
+looked back and saw the Basutos beginning to arrive.  They saw us
+also, and uttering a sort of whistling war cry, started in
+pursuit.
+
+After this we had quite an interesting time.  I scrambled on to
+the horse behind Anscombe, whereon that intelligent animal,
+feeling the double weight, reduced its pace proportionately, to a
+slow tripple, indeed, out of which it could not be persuaded to
+move.  So I slipped off again over its tail and we went on as
+before.  Meanwhile the Basutos, very active fellows, were coming
+up.  By this time the yellow-wood grove in the swamp, of which I
+have already written, was close to us, and it became quite a
+question which of us would get there first (I may mention that
+Footsack & Co.  had already attained its friendly shelter).
+Anscombe kicked the horse with his sound heel and I thumped it
+with my fist, thereby persuading it to a hand gallop.
+
+As we reached the outlying trees of the wood the first Basuto, a
+lank fellow with a mouth like a rat trap, arrived and threw an
+assegai at us which passed between Anscombe's back and my nose.
+Then he closed and tried to stab with another assegai.  I could
+do nothing, but Anscombe showed himself cleverer than I expected.
+Dropping the reins, he drew his pistol and managed to send a
+bullet through that child of nature's head, so that he went down
+like a stone.
+
+"And you tell me I am a bad shot," he drawled.
+
+"It was a fluke," I gasped, for even in these circumstances truth
+would prevail.
+
+"Wait and you'll see," he replied, re-cocking the revolver.
+
+As a matter of fact there was no need for more shooting, since at
+the verge of the swamp the Basutos pulled up.  I do not think
+that the death of their companion caused them to do this, for
+they seemed to take no notice of him.  It was as though they had
+reached some boundary which they knew it would not be lawful for
+them to pass.  They simply stopped, took the dead man's assegai
+and shield from the body and walked quietly back towards the
+wagon, leaving him where he lay.  The horse stopped also, or
+rather proceeded at a walk.
+
+"There!" exclaimed Anscombe.  "Did I not tell you I had a
+presentiment that I should kill a man in this accursed wood?"
+
+"Yes," I said as soon as I had recovered my breath, "but you
+mixed up a woman with the matter and I don't see one."
+
+"That's true," he replied, "I hope we shan't meet her later."
+
+Then we went on as quickly as we could, which was not very fast,
+for I feared lest the Basutos should change their minds and
+follow us.  As the risk of this became less our spirits rose,
+since if we had lost the wagon and the oxen, at least we had
+saved our lives, which was almost more than we could have
+expected in the circumstances.  At last we came to that glade
+where we had killed the wildebeeste not a week before.  There lay
+its skeleton picked clean by the great brown kites that frequent
+the bush-veld, some of which still sat about in the trees.
+
+"Well, I suppose we must go on to Tampel," said Anscombe rather
+faintly, for I could see that his wound was giving him a good
+deal of pain.
+
+As he spoke from round the tree whence he had first emerged,
+appeared Mr. Marnham, riding the same horse and wearing the same
+clothes.  The only difference between his two entries was that
+the first took place in the late evening and the second in the
+early morning.
+
+"So here you are again," he said cheerfully.
+
+"Yes," I answered, "and it is strange to meet you at the same
+spot.  Were you expecting us?"
+
+"Not more than I expect many things," he replied with a shrewd
+glance at me, adding, "I always rise with the sun, and thinking
+that I heard a shot fired in the distance, came to see what was
+happening.  The Basutos attacked you at daybreak, did they not?"
+
+"They did, but how did you know that, Mr. Marnham?"
+
+"Your servants told me.  I met them running to the house looking
+very frightened.  You are wounded, Mr. Anscombe?"
+
+"Yes, a couple of days ago on the border of Sekukuni's country
+where the natives tried to murder us."
+
+"Ah!" he replied without surprise.  "I warned you the trip was
+dangerous, did I not?  Well, come on home where my partner, Rodd,
+who luckily has had medical experience, will attend to you.  Mr.
+Quatermain can tell me the story as we go."
+
+So we went on up the long slope, I relating our adventures, to
+which Mr. Marnham listened without comment.
+
+"I expect that the Kaffirs will have looted the wagon and be on
+the way home with your oxen by now," he said when I had finished.
+
+"Are you not afraid that they will follow us here?" I asked.
+
+"Oh no, Mr. Quatermain.  We do business with these people, also
+they sometimes come to be doctored by Rodd when they are sick, so
+this place is sacred ground to them.  They stopped hunting you
+when they got to the Yellow-wood swamp where our land begins, did
+they not?"
+
+"Yes, but now I want to hunt them.  Can you give me any help?
+Those oxen are tired out and footsore, so we might be able to
+catch them up."
+
+He shook his head.  "We have very few people here, and by the
+time that you could get assistance from the Camp at Barberton, if
+the Commandant is able and willing to give you any, which I
+rather doubt, they will be far away.  Moreover," he added,
+dropping his voice, "let us come to an understanding.  You are
+most welcome to any help or hospitality that I can offer, but if
+you wish to do more fighting I must ask you to go elsewhere.  As
+I have told you, we are peaceful men who trade with these people,
+and do not wish to be involved in a quarrel with them, which
+might expose us to attack or bring us into trouble with the
+British Government which has annexed but not conquered their
+country.  Do I make myself clear?"
+
+"Perfectly.  While we are with you we will do nothing, but
+afterwards we hold ourselves at liberty to act as we think best."
+
+"Quite so.  Meanwhile I hope that you and Mr. Anscombe will make
+yourselves comfortable with us for as long as you like."
+
+In my own mind I came to the conclusion that this would be for
+the shortest time possible, but I only said--
+
+"It is most kind of you to take in complete strangers thus.  No,
+not complete," I added, looking towards Anscombe who was
+following on the tired horse a few paces behind, "for you knew
+his father, did you not?"
+
+"His father?" he said, lifting his eyebrows.  "No.  Oh! I
+remember, I said something to that effect the other night, but it
+was a mistake.  I mixed up two names, as one often does after a
+lapse of many years."
+
+"I understand," I answered, but remembering Anscombe's story I
+reflected to myself that our venerable host was an excellent
+liar.  Or more probably he meant to convey that he wished the
+subject of his youthful reminiscences to be taboo.
+
+Just then we reached the house which had a pretty patch of
+well-kept flower-garden in front of it, surrounded by a fence
+covered with wire netting to keep out buck.  By the gate squatted
+our three retainers, looking very blown and rather ashamed of
+themselves.
+
+"Your master wishes to thank you for your help in a dark hour,
+Footsack, and I wish to congratulate you all upon the swiftness
+of your feet," I said in Dutch.
+
+"Oh! Baas, the Basutos were many and their spears are sharp," he
+began apologetically.
+
+"Be silent, you running dog," I said, "and go help your master to
+dismount."
+
+Then we went through the gate, Anscombe leaning on my shoulder
+and on that of Mr. Marnham, and up the path which was bordered
+with fences of the monthly rose, towards the house.  Really this
+was almost as charming to look at near at hand as it had been
+from far away.  Of course the whole thing was crude in detail.
+Rough, half-shaped blocks of marble from the neighbouring quarry
+had been built into walls and columns.  Nothing was finished, and
+considered bit by bit all was coarse and ugly.  Yet the general
+effect was beautiful because it was an effect of design, the
+picture of an artist who did not fully understand the
+technicalities of painting, the work of a great writer who had as
+yet no proper skill in words.  Never did I see a small building
+that struck me more.  But then what experience have I of
+buildings, and, as Anscombe reminded me afterwards, it was but a
+copy of something designed when the world was young, or rather
+when civilization was young, and man new risen from the infinite
+ages of savagery, saw beauty in his dreams and tried to symbolize
+it in shapes of stone.
+
+We came to the broad stoep, to which several rough blocks of
+marble served as steps.  On it in a long chair made of native
+wood and seated with hide rimpis, sat or rather lolled a man in a
+dressing-gown who was reading a book.  He raised himself as we
+came and the light of the sun, for the verandah faced to the
+east, shone full upon his face, so that I saw him well.  It was
+that of a man of something under forty years of age, dark,
+powerful, and weary--not a good face, I thought.  Indeed, it gave
+me the impression of one who had allowed the evil which exists in
+the nature of all of us to become his master, or had even
+encouraged it to do so.
+
+In the Psalms and elsewhere we are always reading of the
+righteous and the unrighteous until those terms grow wearisome.
+It is only of late years that I have discovered, or think that I
+have discovered, what they mean.  Our lives cannot be judged by
+our deeds; they must be judged by our desires or rather by our
+moral attitude.  It is not what we do so much as what we try to
+do that counts in the formation of character.  All fall short,
+all fail, but in the end those who seek to climb out of the pit,
+those who strive, however vainly, to fashion failure to success,
+are, by comparison, the righteous, while those who are content to
+wallow in our native mire and to glut themselves with the daily
+bread of vice, are the unrighteous.  To turn our backs thereon
+wilfully and without cause, is the real unforgiveable sin against
+the Spirit.  At least that is the best definition of the problem
+at which I in my simplicity can arrive.
+
+Such thoughts have often occurred to me in considering the
+character of Dr. Rodd and some others whom I have known; indeed
+the germ of them arose in my mind which, being wearied at the
+time and therefore somewhat vacant, was perhaps the more open to
+external impressions, as I looked upon the face of this stranger
+on the stoep.  Moreover, as I am proud to record, I did not judge
+him altogether wrongly.  He was a blackguard who, under other
+influences or with a few added grains of self-restraint and of
+the power of recovery, might have become a good or even a saintly
+man.  But by some malice of Fate or some evil inheritance from an
+unknown past, those grains were lacking, and therefore he went
+not up but down the hill.
+
+"Case for you, Rodd," called out Marnham.
+
+"Indeed," he answered, getting to his feet and speaking in a full
+voice, which, like his partner's, was that of an educated
+Englishman.  "What's the matter.  Horse accident?"
+
+Then we were introduced, and Anscombe began to explain his
+injury.
+
+"Um!" said the doctor, studying him with dark eyes.  "Kaffir
+bullet through the foot some days ago.  Ought to be attended to
+at once.  Also you look pretty done, so don't tire yourself with
+the story, which I can get from Mr. Quatermain.  Come and lie
+down and I'll have a look at you while they are cooking
+breakfast."
+
+Then he guided us to a room of which the double French windows
+opened on to the stoep, a very pretty room with two beds in it.
+Making Anscombe lie down on one of these he turned up his
+trouser, undid my rough bandage and examined the wound.
+
+"Painful?" he asked.
+
+"Very," answered Anscombe, "right up to the thigh."
+
+After this he drew off the nether garments and made a further
+examination.
+
+"Um," he said again, "I must syringe this out.  Stay still while
+I get some stuff."
+
+I followed him from the room, and when we were out of hearing on
+the stoep inquired what he thought.  I did not like the look of
+that leg.
+
+"It is very bad," he answered, "so bad that I am wondering if it
+wouldn't be best to remove the limb below the knee and make it a
+job.  You can see for yourself that it is septic and the
+inflammation is spreading up rapidly."
+
+"Good Heavens!" I exclaimed, "do you fear mortification?"
+
+He nodded.  "Can't say what was on that slug or bit of old iron
+and he hasn't had the best chance since.  Mortification, or
+tetanus, or both, are more than possible.  Is he a temperate
+man?"
+
+"So far as I know," I answered, and stared at him while he
+thought.  Then he said with decision,
+
+"That makes a difference.  To lose a foot is a serious thing;
+some might think almost as bad as death.  I'll give him a chance,
+but if those symptoms do not abate in twenty-four hours, I must
+operate.  You needn't be afraid, I was house surgeon at a London
+Hospital--once, and I keep my hand in.  Lucky you came straight
+here."
+
+Having made his preparations and washed his hands, he returned,
+syringed the wound with some antiseptic stuff, and dressed and
+bandaged the leg up to the knee.  After this he gave Anscombe hot
+milk to drink, with two eggs broken into it, and told him to rest
+a while as he must not eat anything solid at present.  Then he
+threw a blanket over him, and, signing to me to come away, let
+down a mat over the window.
+
+"I put a little something into that milk," he said outside,
+"which will send him to sleep for a few hours.  So we will leave
+him quiet.  Now you'll want a wash."
+
+"Where are you going to take Mr. Quatermain?" asked Marnham who
+was seated on the stoep.
+
+"Into my room," he answered.
+
+"Why? There's Heda's ready."
+
+"Heda might return at any moment," replied the doctor.  "Also Mr.
+Quatermain had better sleep in Mr. Anscombe's room.  He will very
+likely want some one to look after him at night."
+
+Marnham opened his mouth to speak again, then changed his mind
+and was silent, as a servant is silent under rebuke.  The
+incident was quite trifling, yet it revealed to me the relative
+attitude of these two men.  Without a doubt Rodd was the master
+of his partner, who did not even care to dispute with him about
+the matter of the use of his daughter's bedroom.  They were a
+queer couple who, had it not been for my anxiety as to Anscombe's
+illness, would have interested me very much, as indeed they were
+destined to do.
+
+Well, I went to tidy up in the doctor's room, and as he left me
+alone while I washed, had the opportunity of studying it a
+little.  Like the rest of the house it was lined with native wood
+which was made to serve as the backs of bookshelves and of
+cupboards filled with medicines and instruments.  The books
+formed a queer collection.  There were medical works,
+philosophical works, histories, novels, most of them French, and
+other volumes of a sort that I imagine are generally kept under
+lock and key; also some that had to do with occult matters.
+There was even a Bible.  I opened it thoughtlessly, half in idle
+curiosity, to see whether it was ever used, only to replace it in
+haste.  For at the very page that my eye fell on, I remember it
+was one of my favourite chapters in Isaiah, was a stamp in violet
+ink marked H. M.'s Prison--well, I won't say where.
+
+I may state, however, that the clue enabled me in after years to
+learn an episode in this man's life which had brought about his
+ruin.  There is no need to repeat it or to say more than that
+gambling and an evil use of his medical knowledge to provide the
+money to pay his debts, were the cause of his fall.  The strange
+thing is that he should have kept the book which had probably
+been given to him by the prison chaplain.  Still everybody makes
+mistakes sometimes.  Or it may have had associations for him, and
+of course he had never seen this stamp upon an unread page, which
+happened to leap to my eye.
+
+Now I was able to make a shrewd guess at his later career.  After
+his trouble he had emigrated and began to practise in South
+Africa.  Somehow his identity had been discovered; his past was
+dragged up against him, possibly by rivals jealous of his skill;
+his business went and he found it advisable to retire to the
+Transvaal before the Annexation, at that time the home of sundry
+people of broken repute.  Even there he did not stop in a town,
+but hid himself upon the edge of savagery.  Here he foregathered
+with another man of queer character, Marnham, and in his company
+entered upon some doubtful but lucrative form of trade while
+still indulging his love of medicine by doctoring and operating
+upon natives, over whom he would in this way acquire great
+influence.  Indeed, as I discovered before the day was over, he
+had quite a little hospital at the back of the house in which
+were four or five beds occupied by Kaffirs and served by two male
+native nurses whom he had trained.  Also numbers of out-patients
+visited him, some of whom travelled from great distances, and
+occasionally, but not often, he attended white people who chanced
+to be in the neighbourhood.
+
+The three of us breakfasted in a really charming room from the
+window of which could be studied a view as beautiful as any I
+know.  The Kaffirs who waited were well trained and dressed in
+neat linen uniforms.  The cooking was good; there was real silver
+on the table, then a strange sight in that part of Africa, and
+amongst engravings and other pictures upon the walls, hung an oil
+portrait of a very beautiful young woman with dark hair and eyes.
+
+"Is that your daughter, Mr. Marnham?" I asked.
+
+"No," he replied rather shortly, "it is her mother."
+
+Immediately afterwards he was called from the room to speak to
+some one, whereon the doctor said--
+
+"A foreigner as you see, a Hungarian; the Hungarian women are
+very good looking and very charming."
+
+"So I have understood," I answered, "but does this lady live
+here?"
+
+"Oh, no.  She is dead, or I believe that she is dead.  I am not
+sure, because I make it a rule never to pry into people's private
+affairs.  All I know about her is that she was a beauty whom
+Marnham married late in life upon the Continent when she was but
+eighteen.  As is common in such cases he was very jealous of her,
+but it didn't last long, as she died, or I understand that she
+died, within a year of her daughter's birth.  The loss affected
+him so much that he emigrated to South Africa with the child and
+began life anew.  I do not think that they correspond with
+Hungary, and he never speaks of her even to his daughter, which
+suggests that she is dead."
+
+I reflected that all these circumstances might equally well
+suggest several other things, but said nothing, thinking it
+wisest not to pursue the subject.  Presently Marnham returned and
+informed me that a native had just brought him word that the
+Basutos had made off homeward with our cattle, but had left the
+wagon and its contents quite untouched, not even stealing the
+spare guns and ammunition.
+
+"That's luck," I said, astonished, "but extremely strange.  How
+do you explain it, Mr. Marnham?"
+
+He shrugged his shoulders and answered--
+
+"As every one knows, you are a much greater expert in native
+habits and customs than I am, Mr. Quatermain."
+
+"There are only two things that I can think of," I said.  "One is
+that for some reason or other they thought the wagon tagati,
+bewitched you know, and that it would bring evil on them to touch
+it, though this did not apply to the oxen.  The other is that
+they supposed it, but not the oxen, to belong to some friend of
+their own whose property they did not wish to injure."
+
+He looked at me sharply but said nothing, and I went on to tell
+them the details of the attack that had been made upon us,
+adding--
+
+"The odd part of the affair is that one of those Basutos called
+out to us that some infernal scoundrel of a white had warned
+Sekukuni of our coming and that he had ordered them to take our
+guns and cattle.  This Basuto, who was wounded and praying for
+mercy, was drowned before he could tell me who the white man
+was."
+
+"A Boer, I expect," said Marnham quietly.  "As you know they are
+not particularly well affected towards us English just now.  Also
+I happen to be aware that some of them are intriguing with
+Sekukuni against the British through Makurupiji, his 'Mouth' or
+prime-minister, a very clever old scamp who likes to have two
+stools to sit on."
+
+"And doubtless will end by falling between them.  Well, you see,
+now that I think of it, the wounded Kaffir only said that they
+were ordered to take our guns and oxen, and incidentally our
+lives.  The wagon was not mentioned."
+
+"Quite so, Mr. Quatermain.  I will send some of our boys to help
+your servants to bring everything it contains up here."
+
+"Can't you lend me a team of oxen," I asked, "to drag it to the
+house?"
+
+"No, we have nothing but young cattle left.  Both red-water and
+lung-sickness have been so bad this season that all the horned
+stock have been swept out of the country.  I doubt whether you
+could beg, borrow or steal a team of oxen this side of Pretoria,
+except from some of the Dutchmen who won't part."
+
+"That's awkward.  I hoped to be able to trek in a day or two."
+
+"Your friend won't be able to trek for a good many days at the
+best," broke in the doctor, who had been listening unconcernedly,
+"but of course you could get away on the horse after it has
+rested."
+
+"You told me you left a span of oxen at Pretoria," said Marnham.
+"Why not go and fetch them here, or if you don't like to leave
+Mr. Anscombe, send your driver and the boys."
+
+"Thanks for the idea.  I will think it over," I answered.
+
+That morning after Footsack and the voorlooper had been sent with
+some of the servants from the Temple to fetch up the contents of
+the wagon, for I was too tired to accompany them, having found
+that Anscombe was still asleep, I determined to follow his
+example.  Finding a long chair on the stoep, I sat down and
+slumbered in it sweetly for hours.  I dreamt of all sorts of
+things, then through my dreams it seemed to me that I heard two
+voices talking, those of our Marnham and Rodd, not on the stoep,
+but at a distance from it.  As a matter of fact they were
+talking, but so far away that in my ordinary waking state I could
+never have heard them.  My own belief is that the senses, and I
+may add the semi-spiritual part of us, are much more acute when
+we lie half bound in the bonds of sleep, than when we are what is
+called wide awake.  Doubtless when we are quite bound they attain
+the limits of their power and, I think, sail at times to the
+uttermost ends of being.  But unhappily of their experiences we
+remember nothing when we awake.  In half sleep it is different;
+then we do retain some recollection.
+
+In this curious condition of mind it seemed to me that Rodd said
+to Marnham--
+
+"Why have you brought these men here?"
+
+"I did not bring them here," he answered.  "Luck, Fate, Fortune,
+God or the Devil, call it what you will, brought them here,
+though if you had your wish, it is true they would never have
+come.  Still, as they have come, I am glad.  It is something to
+me, living in this hell, to get a chance of talking to English
+gentlemen again before I die."
+
+"English gentlemen," remarked Rodd reflectively, "Well, Anscombe
+is of course, but how about that other hunter?  After all, in
+what way is he better than the scores of other hunters and Kaffir
+traders and wanderers whom one meets in this strange land?"
+
+"In what way indeed?" thought I to myself, in my dream.
+
+"If you can't see, I can't explain to you.  But as I happen to
+know, the man is of blood as good as mine--and a great deal
+better than yours," he added with a touch of insolence.
+"Moreover, he has an honest name among white and black, which is
+much in this country."
+
+"Yes," replied the doctor in the same reflective voice, "I agree
+with you, I let him pass as a gentleman.  But I repeat, Why did
+you bring them here when with one more word it would have been so
+easy--" and he stopped.
+
+"I have told you, it was not I.  What are you driving at?"
+
+"Do you think it is exactly convenient, especially when we are
+under the British flag again, to have two people who, we both
+admit, are English gentlemen, that is, clean, clear-eyed men,
+considering us and our affairs for an indefinite period, just
+because you wish for the pleasure of their society?  Would it not
+have been better to tell those Basutos to let them trek on to
+Pretoria?"
+
+"I don't know what would have been better.  I repeat, what are
+you driving at?
+
+"Heda is coming home in a day or two; she might be here any
+time," remarked Rodd as he knocked the ashes out of his pipe.
+
+"Yes, because you made me write and say that I wanted her.  But
+what of that?"
+
+"Nothing in particular, except that I am not sure that I wish her
+to associate with 'an English gentleman' like this Anscombe."
+
+Marnham laughed scornfully.  "Ah! I understand," he said.  "Too
+clean and straight.  Complications might ensue and the rest of
+it.  Well, I wish to God they would, for I know the Anscombes, or
+used to, and I know the genus called Rodd."
+
+"Don't be insulting; you may carry the thing too far one day, and
+whatever I have done I have paid for.  But you've not paid--yet."
+
+"The man is very ill.  You are a skilled doctor.  If you're
+afraid of him, why don't you kill him?" asked Marnham with bitter
+scorn.
+
+"There you have me," replied Rodd.  "Men may shed much, but most
+of them never shed their professional honour.  I shall do my
+honest best to cure Mr. Anscombe, and I tell you that he will
+take some curing."
+
+
+Then I woke up, and as no one was in sight, wondered whether or
+no I had been dreaming.  The upshot of it was that I made up my
+mind to send Footsack to Pretoria for the oxen, not to go myself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+
+
+A GAME OF CARDS
+
+
+
+
+
+I slept in Anscombe's room that night and looked after him.  He
+was very feverish and the pain in his leg kept him awake a good
+deal.  He told me that he could not bear Dr. Rodd and wished to
+get away at once.  I had to explain to him that this was
+impossible until his spare oxen arrived which I was going to send
+for to Pretoria, but of other matters, including that of the
+dangerous state of his foot, I said nothing.  I was thankful when
+towards two in the morning, he fell into a sound sleep and
+allowed me to do the same.
+
+Before breakfast time, just as I had finished dressing myself in
+some of the clean things which had been brought from the wagon,
+Rodd came and made a thorough and business-like examination of
+his patient, while I awaited the result with anxiety on the
+stoep.  At length he appeared and said--
+
+"Well, I think that we shall be able to save the foot, though I
+can't be quite sure for another twenty-four hours.  The worst
+symptoms have abated and his temperature is down by two degrees.
+Anyway he will have to stay in bed and live on light food till it
+is normal, after which he might lie in a long chair on the stoep.
+On no account must he attempt to stand."
+
+I thanked him for his information heartily enough and asked him
+if he knew where Marnham was, as I wanted to speak to him with
+reference to the despatch of Footsack to fetch the oxen from
+Pretoria.
+
+"Not up yet, I think," he answered.  "I fancy that yesterday was
+one of his 'wet' nights, excitement of meeting strangers and so
+on."
+
+"Wet nights?" I queried, wishing for a clearer explanation.
+
+"Yes, he is a grand old fellow, one of the best, but like most
+other people he has his little weaknesses, and when the fit is on
+him he can put away a surprising amount of liquor.  I tell you so
+that you should not be astonished if you notice anything, or try
+to argue with him when he is in that state, as then his temper is
+apt to be--well, lively.  Now I must go and give him a pint of
+warm milk; that is his favourite antidote, and in fact the best
+there is."
+
+I thought to myself that we had struck a nice establishment in
+which to be tied, literally by the leg, for an indefinite period.
+I was not particularly flush at the time, but I know I would have
+paid a #100 to be out of it; before the end I should have been
+glad to throw in everything that I had.  But mercifully that was
+hidden from me.
+
+Rodd and I breakfasted together and discoursed of Kaffir customs,
+as to which he was singularly well informed.  Then I accompanied
+him to see his native patients in the little hospital of which I
+have spoken.  Believing the man to be a thorough scamp as I did,
+it was astonishing to me to note how gentle and forbearing he was
+to these people.  Of his skill I need say nothing, as that was
+evident.  He was going to perform an internal operation upon a
+burly old savage, rather a serious one I believe; at any rate it
+necessitated chloroform.  He asked me if I would like to assist,
+but I declined respectfully, having no taste for such things.  So
+I left him boiling his instruments and putting on what looked
+like a clean nightgown over his clothes, and returned to the
+stoep.
+
+Here I found Marnham, whose eyes were rather bloodshot, though
+otherwise, except for a shaky hand, he seemed right enough.  He
+murmured something about having overslept himself and inquired
+very politely, for his manners were beautiful, after Anscombe and
+as to whether we were quite comfortable and so forth.  After this
+I consulted him as to the best road for our servants to travel by
+to Pretoria, and later on despatched them, giving Footsack
+various notes to ensure the delivery of the oxen to him.  Also I
+gave him some money to pay for their keep and told him with many
+threats to get back with the beasts as quick as he could travel.
+Then I sent him and the two other boys off, not without
+misgivings, although he was an experienced man in his way and
+promised faithfully to fulfil every injunction to the letter.  To
+me he seemed so curiously glad to go that I inquired the reason,
+since after a journey like ours, it would have been more natural
+if he had wished to rest.
+
+"Oh! Baas," he said, "I don't think this Tampel very healthy for
+coloured people.  I am told of some who have died here.  That man
+Karl who gave me the diamond, I think he must have died also, at
+least I saw his spook last night standing over me and shaking his
+head, and the boys saw it too."
+
+"Oh! be off with your talk of spooks," I said, "and come back
+quickly with those oxen, or I promise you that you will die and
+be a spook yourself."
+
+"I will, Baas, I will!" he ejaculated and departed almost at a
+run, leaving me rather uncomfortable.
+
+I believed nothing of the tale of the spook of Karl, but I saw
+that Footsack believed in it, and was afraid lest he might be
+thereby prevented from returning.  I would much rather have gone
+myself, but it was impossible for me to leave Anscombe so ill in
+the hands of our strange hosts.  And there was no one else whom I
+could send.  I might perhaps have ridden to Pilgrim's Rest and
+tried to find a white messenger there; indeed afterwards I
+regretted not having done so, although it would have involved at
+least a day's absence at a very critical time.  But the truth is
+I never thought of it until too late, and probably if I had, I
+should not have been able to discover anyone whom I could trust.
+
+As I walked back to the house, having parted from Footsack on
+the top of a neighbouring ridge whence I could point out his path
+to him, I met Marnham riding away.  He pulled up and said that he
+was going down to the Granite stream to arrange about setting
+some one up to watch the wagon.  I expressed sorrow that he
+should have the trouble, which should have been mine if I could
+have got away, whereon he answered that he was glad of the
+opportunity for a ride, as it was something to do.
+
+"How do you fill in your time here," I asked carelessly, "as you
+don't farm?"
+
+"Oh! by trading," he replied, and with a nod set his horse to a
+canter.
+
+A queer sort of trading, thought I to myself, where there is no
+store.  Now what exactly does he trade in, I wonder?
+
+As it happened I was destined to find out before I was an hour
+older.  Having given Anscombe a look and found that he was
+comfortable, I thought that I would inspect the quarry whence the
+marble came of which the house was built, as it had occurred to
+me that if there was plenty of it, it might be worth exploiting
+some time in the future.  It had been pointed out to me in the
+midst of some thorns in a gully that ran at right angles to the
+main kloof not more than a few hundred yards from the house.
+Following a path over which the stones had been dragged
+originally, I came to the spot and discovered that a little
+cavity had been quarried in what seemed to me to be a positive
+mountain of pure white marble.  I examined the place as
+thoroughly as I could, climbing among some bushes that grew in
+surface earth which had been washed down from the top, in order
+to do so.
+
+At the back of these bushes there was a hole large enough for a
+man to creep through.  I crept through with the object of
+ascertaining whether the marble veins continued.  To my surprise
+I found a stout yellow-wood door within feet of the mouth of the
+hole.  Reflecting that no doubt it was here that the quarrymen
+kept, or had kept tools and explosives, I gave it a push.  I
+suppose it had been left unfastened accidentally, or that
+something had gone wrong with the lock; at any rate it swung
+open.  Pursuing my researches as to the depth of the marble I
+advanced boldly and, the place being dark, struck a match.
+Evidently the marble did continue, as I could see by the
+glittering roof of a cavern, for such it was.  But the floor
+attracted my attention as well as the roof, for on it were
+numerous cases not unlike coffins, bearing the stamp of a
+well-known Birmingham firm, labelled "fencing iron" and
+addressed to Messrs. Marnham & Rodd, Transvaal, _via_ Delagoa
+Bay.
+
+I knew at once what they were, having seen the like before, but
+if any doubt remained in my mind it was easy to solve, for as it
+chanced one of the cases was open and half emptied.  I slipped my
+hand into it.  As I thought it contained the ordinary Kaffir gun
+of commerce, cost delivered in Africa, say 35s.; cost delivered
+to native chief in cash or cattle, say #10, which, when the
+market is eager, allows for a decent profit.  Contemplating those
+cases, survivors probably of a much larger stock, I understood
+how it came about that Sekukuni had dared to show fight against
+the Government.  Doubtless it was hence that the guns had come
+which sent a bullet through Anscombe's foot and nearly polished
+off both of us.
+
+Moreover, as further matches showed me, that cave contained other
+stores--item, kegs of gunpowder; item, casks of cheap spirit;
+item, bars of lead, also a box marked "bullet moulds" and another
+marked "Percussion caps." I think, too, there were some innocent
+bags full of beads and a few packages of Birmingham-made assegai
+blades.  There may have been other things, but if so I did not
+wait to investigate them.  Gathering up the ends of my matches
+and, in case there should be any dust in the place that would
+show footmarks, flapping the stone floor behind me with my pocket
+handkerchief, I retired and continued my investigations of that
+wonderful marble deposit from the bottom of the quarry, to which,
+having re-arranged the bushes, I descended by another route,
+leaping like a buck from stone to stone.
+
+It was just as well that I did so, for a few minutes later Dr.
+Rodd appeared.
+
+"Made a good job of your operation?" I asked cheerfully.
+
+"Pretty fair, thanks," he answered, "although that Kaffir tried
+to brain the nurse-man when he was coming out of the anesthetic.
+But are you interested in geology?"
+
+"A little," I replied, "that is if there is any chance of making
+money out of it, which there ought to be here, as this marble
+looks almost as good as that of Carrara.  But flint instruments
+are more my line, that is in an ignorant and amateur way, as I
+think they are in yours, for I saw some in your room.  Tell me,
+what do you think of this.  Is it a scraper?" and I produced a
+stone out of my pocket which I had found a week before in the
+bush-veld.
+
+At once he forgot his suspicions, of which I could see he arrived
+very full indeed.  This curious man, as it happened, was really
+fond of flint instruments, of which he knew a great deal.
+
+"Did you find this here?" he asked.
+
+I led him several yards further from the mouth of the cave and
+pointed out the exact spot where I said I had picked it up
+amongst some quarry debris.  Then followed a most learned
+discussion, for it appeared that this was a flint instrument of
+the rarest and most valuable type, one that Noah might have used,
+or Job might have scraped himself with, and the question was how
+the dickens had it come among that quarry debris.  In the end we
+left the problem undecided, and having presented the article to
+Dr. Rodd, a gift for which he thanked me with real warmth, I
+returned to the house filled with the glow that rewards one who
+has made a valuable discovery.
+
+Of the following three days I have nothing particular to say,
+except that during them I was perhaps more acutely bored than
+ever I had been in my life before.  The house was beautiful in
+its own fashion; the food was excellent; there was everything I
+could want to drink, and Rodd announced that he no longer feared
+the necessity of operation upon Anscombe's leg.  His recovery was
+now a mere matter of time, and meanwhile he must not use his foot
+or let the blood run into it more than could be helped, which
+meant that he must keep himself in a recumbent position.  The
+trouble was that I had nothing on earth do except study the
+characters of our hosts, which I found disagreeable and
+depressing.  I might have gone out shooting, but nothing of the
+sort was allowed upon the property in obedience to the wish of
+Miss Heda, a mysterious young person who was always expected and
+never appeared, and beyond it I was afraid to travel for fear of
+Basutos.  I might have gone to Pilgrim's Rest or Lydenburg to
+make report of the nefarious deeds of the said Basutos, but at
+best it would have taken one or two days, and possibly I should
+have been detained by officials who never consider any one's time
+except their own.
+
+This meant that I should have been obliged to leave Anscombe
+alone, which I did not wish to do, so I just sat still and, as I
+have said, was intensely bored, hanging about the place and
+smoking more than was good for me.
+
+In due course Anscombe emerged on to the stoep, where he lay with
+his leg up, and was also bored, especially after he had tried to
+pump old Marnham about his past in the Guards and completely
+failed.  It was in this mood of utter dejection that we agreed to
+play a game of cards one evening.  Not that either of us cared
+for cards; indeed, personally, I have always detested them
+because, with various-coloured counters to represent money which
+never passed, they had formed one of the afflictions of my youth.
+
+It was so annoying if you won, to be handed a number of green
+counters and be informed that they represented so many hundreds
+or thousands of pounds, or vice-versa if you lost, for as it cost
+no one anything, my dear father insisted upon playing for
+enormous stakes.  Never in any aspect of life have I cared for
+fooling.  Anscombe also disliked cards, I think because his
+ancestors too had played with counters, such as some that I have
+seen belonging to the Cocoa-Tree Club and other gambling places
+of a past generation, marked as high as a thousand guineas, which
+counters must next morning be redeemed in hard cash, whereby his
+family had been not a little impoverished.
+
+"I fancy you will find they are high-fliers," he said when the
+pair had left to fetch a suitable table, for the night being very
+hot we were going to play on the stoep by the light of the
+hanging paraffin lamp and some candles.  I replied to the effect
+that I could not afford to lose large sums of money, especially
+to men who for aught I knew might then be engaged in marking the
+cards.
+
+"I understand," he answered.  "Don't you bother about that, old
+fellow.  This is my affair, arranged for my special amusement.  I
+shan't grumble if the fun costs something, for I am sure there
+will be fun."
+
+"All right," I said, "only if we should happen to win money, it's
+yours, not mine."
+
+To myself I reflected, however, that with these two opponents we
+had about as much chance of winning as a snowflake has of
+resisting the atmosphere of the lower regions.
+
+Presently they returned with the table, which had a green cloth
+over it that hung down half-way to the ground.  Also one of the
+native boys brought a tray with spirits, from which I judged by
+various signs, old Marnham, who had already drunk his share at
+dinner, had helped himself freely on the way.  Soon we were
+arranged, Anscombe, who was to be my partner, opposite to me in
+his long chair, and the game began.
+
+I forget what particular variant of cards it was we played,
+though I know it admitted of high and progressive stakes.  At
+first, however, these were quite moderate and we won, as I
+suppose we were meant to do.  After half an hour or so Marnham
+rose to help himself to brandy and water, a great deal of brandy
+and very little water, while I took a nip of Hollands, and
+Anscombe and Rodd filled their pipes.
+
+"I think this is getting rather slow," said Rodd to Anscombe.  "I
+vote we put a bit more on."
+
+"As much as you like," answered Anscombe with a little drawl and
+twinkle of the eye, which always showed that he was amused.
+"Both Quatermain and I are born gamblers.  Don't look angry,
+Quatermain, you know you are.  Only if we lose you will have to
+take a cheque, for I have precious little cash."
+
+"I think that will be good enough," replied the doctor
+quietly--"if you lose."
+
+So the stakes were increased to an amount that made my hair stand
+up stiffer even than usual, and the game went on.  Behold! a
+marvel came to pass.  How it happened I do not know, unless
+Marnham had brought the wrong cards by mistake or had grown too
+fuddled to understand his partner's telegraphic signals, which I,
+being accustomed to observe, saw him make, not once but often,
+still we won!  What is more, with a few set-backs, we went on
+winning, till presently the sums written down to our credit, for
+no actual cash passed, were considerable.  And all the while, at
+the end of each bout Marnham helped himself to more brandy, while
+the doctor grew more mad in a suppressed-thunder kind of a way.
+For my part I became alarmed, especially as I perceived that
+Anscombe was on the verge of breaking into open merriment, and
+his legs being up I could not kick him under the table.
+
+"My partner ought to go to bed.  Don't you think we should stop?"
+I said.
+
+"On the whole I do," replied Rodd, glowering at Marnham, who,
+somewhat unsteadily, was engaged in wiping drops of brandy from
+his long beard.
+
+"D----d if I do," exclaimed that worthy.  "When I was young and
+played with gentlemen they always gave losers an opportunity of
+revenge."
+
+"Then," replied Anscombe with a flash of his eyes, "let us try to
+follow in the footsteps of the gentlemen with whom you played in
+your youth.  I suggest that we double the stakes."
+
+"That's right!  That's the old form!" said Marnham.
+
+The doctor half rose from his chair, then sat down again.
+Watching him, I concluded that he believed his partner, a
+seasoned vessel, was not so drunk as he pretended to be, and
+either in an actual or a figurative sense, had a card up his
+sleeve.  If so, it remained there, for again we won; all the luck
+was with us.
+
+"I am getting tired," drawled Anscombe.  "Lemon and water are not
+sustaining.  Shall we stop?"
+
+"By Heaven! no," shouted Marnham, to which Anscombe replied that
+if it was wished, he would play another hand, but no more.
+
+"All right," said Marnham, "but let it be for double or quits."
+
+He spoke quite quietly and seemed suddenly to have grown sober.
+Now I think that Rodd made up his mind that he really was acting
+and that he really had that card up his sleeve.  At any rate he
+did not object.  I, however, was of a different opinion, having
+often seen drunken men succumb to an access of sobriety under the
+stress of excitement and remarked that it did not last long.
+
+"Do you really mean that?" I said, speaking for the first time
+and addressing myself to the doctor.  "I don't quite know what
+the sum involved is, but it must be large."
+
+"Of course," he answered.
+
+Then remembering that at the worst Anscombe stood to lose
+nothing, I shrugged my shoulders and held my tongue.  It was
+Marnham's deal, and although he was somewhat in the shadow of the
+hanging lamp and the candles had guttered out, I distinctly saw
+him play some hocus-pocus with the cards, but in the
+circumstances made no protest.  As it chanced he must have
+hocus-pocused them wrong, for though _his_ hand was full of
+trumps, Rodd held nothing at all.  The battle that ensued was
+quite exciting, but the end of it was that an ace in the hand of
+Anscombe, who really was quite a good player, did the business,
+and we won again.
+
+In the rather awful silence that followed Anscombe remarked in
+his cheerful drawl--
+
+"I'm not sure that my addition is quite right; we'll check that
+in the morning, but I make out that you two gentlemen owe
+Quatermain and myself #749 10s."
+
+Then the doctor broke out.
+
+"You accursed old fool," he hissed--there is no other word for
+it--at Marnham.  "How are you going to pay all this money that
+you have gambled away, drunken beast that you are!"
+
+"Easily enough, you felon," shouted Marnham.  "So," and thrusting
+his hand into his pocket he pulled out a number of diamonds which
+he threw upon the table, adding, "there's what will cover it
+twice over, and there are more where they came from, as you know
+well enough, my medical jailbird."
+
+"You dare to call me that," gasped the doctor in a voice laden
+with fury, so intense that it had deprived him of his reason,
+"you--you--murderer!  Oh! why don't I kill you as I shall some
+day?" and lifting his glass, which was half full, he threw the
+contents into Marnham's face.
+
+"That's a nice man for a prospective, son-in-law, isn't he?"
+exclaimed the old scamp, as, seizing the brandy decanter, he
+hurled it straight at Rodd's head, only missing him by an inch.
+
+"Don't you think you had both better go to bed, gentlemen?" I
+inquired.  "You are saying things you might regret in the
+morning."
+
+Apparently they did think it, for without another word they rose
+and marched off in different directions to their respective
+rooms, which I heard both of them lock.  For my part I collected
+the I.O.U.'s; also the diamonds which still lay upon the table,
+while Anscombe examined the cards.
+
+"Marked, by Jove!" he said.  "Oh! my dear Quatermain, never have I
+had such an amusing evening in all my life."
+
+"Shut up, you silly idiot," I answered.  "There'll be murder done
+over this business, and I only hope it won't be on us."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+
+
+MISS HEDA
+
+
+
+
+
+It might be thought that after all this there would have been a
+painful explanation on the following morning, but nothing of the
+sort happened.  After all the greatest art is the art of ignoring
+things, without which the world could scarcely go on, even among
+the savage races.  Thus on this occasion the two chief actors in
+the scene of the previous night pretended that they had forgotten
+what took place, as I believe, to a large extent truly.  The
+fierce flame of drink in the one and of passion in the other had
+burnt the web of remembrance to ashes.  They knew that something
+unpleasant had occurred and its main outlines; the rest had
+vanished away; perhaps because they knew also that they were not
+responsible for what they said and did, and therefore that what
+occurred had no right to a permanent niche in their memories.  It
+was, as it were, something outside of their normal selves.  At
+least so I conjectured, and their conduct seemed to give colour
+to my guess.
+
+The doctor spoke to me of the matter first.
+
+"I fear there was a row last night," he said; "it has happened
+here before over cards, and will no doubt happen again until
+matters clear themselves up somehow.  Marnham, as you see,
+drinks, and when drunk is the biggest liar in the world, and I, I
+am sorry to say, am cursed with a violent temper.  Don't judge
+either of us too harshly.  If you were a doctor you would know
+that all these things come to us with our blood, and we didn't
+fashion our own clay, did we?  Have some coffee, won't you?"
+
+Subsequently when Rodd wasn't there, Marnham spoke also and with
+that fine air of courtesy which was peculiar to him.
+
+"I owe a deep apology," he said, "to yourself and Mr. Anscombe.
+I do not recall much about it, but I know there was a scene last
+night over those cursed cards.  A weakness overtakes me
+sometimes.  I will say no more, except that you, who are also a
+man who perhaps have felt weaknesses of one sort or another,
+will, I hope, make allowances for me and pay no attention to
+anything that I may have said or done in the presence of guests;
+yes, that is what pains me--in the presence of guests."
+
+Something in his distinguished manner caused me to reflect upon
+every peccadillo that I had ever committed, setting it in its
+very worst light.
+
+"Quite so," I answered, "quite so.  Pray do not mention the
+matter any more, although--" These words seemed to jerk
+themselves out of my throat, "you did call each other by such
+very hard names."
+
+"I daresay," he answered with a vacant smile, "but if so they
+meant nothing."
+
+"No, I understand, just like a lovers' quarrel.  But look here,
+you left some diamonds on the table which I took to keep the
+Kaffirs out of temptation.  I will fetch them."
+
+"Did I?  Well, probably I left some I.O.U.'s also which might
+serve for pipelights.  So suppose we set the one against the
+other.  I don't know the value of either the diamonds or the
+pipelights, it may be less or more, but for God's sake don't let
+me see the beastly things again.  There's no need, I have
+plenty."
+
+"I must speak to Anscombe," I answered.  "The money at stake was
+his, not mine."
+
+"Speak to whom you will," he replied, and I noted that the
+throbbing vein upon his forehead indicated a rising temper.  "But
+never let me see those diamonds again.  Throw them into the
+gutter if you wish, but never let me see them again, or there
+will be trouble."
+
+Then he flung out of the room, leaving his breakfast almost
+untasted.
+
+Reflecting that this queer old bird probably did not wish to be
+cross-questioned as to his possession of so many uncut diamonds,
+or that they were worth much less than the sum he had lost, or
+possibly that they were not diamonds at all but glass, I went to
+report the matter to Anscombe.  He only laughed and said that as
+I had got the things I had better keep them until something
+happened, for we had both got it into our heads that something
+would happen before we had done with that establishment.
+
+So I went to put the stones away as safely as I could.  While I
+was doing so I heard the rumble of wheels, and came out just in
+time to see a Cape cart, drawn by four very good horses and
+driven by a Hottentot in a smart hat and a red waistband, pull up
+at the garden gate.  Out of this cart presently emerged a neatly
+dressed lady, of whom all I could see was that she was young,
+slender and rather tall; also, as her back was towards me, that
+she had a great deal of auburn hair.
+
+"There!" said Anscombe.  "I knew that something would happen.
+Heda has happened.  Quatermain, as neither her venerated parent
+nor her loving fiance, for such I gather he is, seems to be
+about, you had better go and give her a hand."
+
+I obeyed with a groan, heartily wishing that Heda hadn't
+happened, since some sense warned me that she would only add to
+the present complications.  At the gate, having given some
+instructions to a very stout young coloured woman who, I took it,
+was her maid, about a basket of flower roots in the cart, she
+turned round suddenly and we came face to face with the gate
+between us.  For a moment we stared at each other, I reflecting
+that she really was very pretty with her delicately-shaped
+features, her fresh, healthy-looking complexion, her long dark
+eyelashes and her lithe and charming figure.  What she reflected
+about me I don't know, probably nothing half so complimentary.
+Suddenly, however, her large greyish eyes grew troubled and a
+look of alarm appeared upon her face.
+
+"Is anything wrong with my father?" she asked.  "I don't see
+him."
+
+"If you mean Mr. Marnham," I replied, lifting my hat, "I believe
+that Dr. Rodd and he--"
+
+"Never mind about Dr. Rodd," she broke in with a contemptuous
+little jerk of her chin, "how is my father?"
+
+"I imagine much as usual.  He and Dr. Rodd were here a little
+while ago, I suppose that they have gone out" (as a matter of
+fact they had, but in different directions).
+
+"Then that's all right," she said with a sigh of relief.  "You
+see, I heard that he was very ill, which is why I have come
+back."
+
+So, thought I to myself, she loves that old scamp and
+she--doesn't love the doctor.  There will be more trouble as sure
+as five and two are seven.  All we wanted was a woman to make the
+pot boil over.
+
+Then I opened the gate and took a travelling bag from her hand
+with my politest bow.
+
+"My name is Quatermain and that of my friend Anscombe.  We are
+staying here, you know," I said rather awkwardly.
+
+"Indeed," she answered with a delightful smile, "what a very
+strange place to choose to stay in."
+
+"It is a beautiful house," I remarked.
+
+"Not bad, although I designed it, more or less.  But I was
+alluding to its inhabitants."
+
+This finished me, and I am sure she felt that I could think of
+nothing nice to say about those inhabitants, for I heard her
+sigh.  We walked side by side up the rose-fringed path and
+presently arrived at the stoep, where Anscombe, whose hair I had
+cut very nicely on the previous day, was watching us from his
+long chair.  They looked at each other, and I saw both of them
+colour a little, out of mere foolishness, I suppose.
+
+"Anscombe," I said, "this is--" and I paused, not being quite
+certain whether she also was called Marnham.  "Heda Marnham," she
+interrupted.
+
+"Yes--Miss Heda Marnham, and this is the Honourable Maurice
+Anscombe."
+
+"Forgive me for not rising, Miss Marnham," said Anscombe in his
+pleasant voice (by the way hers was pleasant too, full and rather
+low, with just a suggestion of something foreign about it).  "A
+shot through the foot prevents me at present."
+
+"Who shot you?" she asked quickly.
+
+"Oh! only a Kaffir."
+
+"I am so sorry, I hope you will get well soon.  Forgive me now, I
+must go to look for my father."
+
+"She is uncommonly pretty," remarked Anscombe, "and a lady into
+the bargain.  In reflecting on old Marnham's sins we must put it
+to his credit that he has produced a charming daughter."
+
+"Too pretty and charming by half," I grunted.
+
+"Perhaps Dr. Rodd is of the same way of thinking.  Great shame
+that such a girl should be handed over to a medical scoundrel
+like Dr. Rodd.  I wonder if she cares for him?"
+
+"Just about as much as a canary cares for a tom-cat.  I have
+found that out already."
+
+"Really, Quatermain, you are admirable.  I never knew anyone who
+could make a better use of the briefest opportunity."
+
+Then we were silent, waiting, not without a certain impatience,
+for the return of Miss Heda.  She did return with surprising
+quickness considering that she had found time to search for her
+parent, to change into a clean white dress, and to pin a single
+hibiscus flower on to her bodice which gave just the touch of
+colour that was necessary to complete her costume.
+
+"I can't find my father," she said, "but the boys say he has gone
+out riding.  I can't find anybody.  When you have been summoned
+from a long way off and travelled post-haste, rather to your own
+inconvenience, it is amusing, isn't it?"
+
+"Wagons and carts in South Africa don't arrive like express
+trains, Miss Marnham," said Anscombe, "so you shouldn't be
+offended."
+
+"I am not at all offended, Mr. Anscombe.  Now that I know there
+is nothing the matter with my father I'm--But, tell me, how did
+you get your wound?"
+
+So he told her with much amusing detail after his fashion.  She
+listened quietly with a puckered up brow and only made one
+comment.  It was,--
+
+"I wonder what white man told those Sekukuni Kaffirs that you
+were coming."
+
+"I don't know," he answered, "but he deserves a bullet through
+him somewhere above the ankle."
+
+"Yes, though few people get what they deserve in this wicked
+world."
+
+"So I have often thought.  Had it been otherwise, for example, I
+should have been--"
+
+"What would you have been?" she asked, considering him curiously.
+
+"Oh! a better shot than Mr. Allan Quatermain, and as beautiful as
+a lady I once saw in my youth."
+
+"Don't talk rubbish before luncheon," I remarked sternly, and we
+all laughed, the first wholesome laughter that I had heard at the
+Temple.  For this young lady seemed to bring happiness and
+merriment with her.  I remember wondering what it was of which
+her coming reminded me, and concluding that it was like the sight
+and smell of a peach orchard in full bloom stumbled on suddenly
+in the black desert of the burnt winter veld.
+
+After this we became quite friendly.  She dilated on her skill in
+having produced the Temple from an old engraving, which she
+fetched and showed to us, at no greater an expense than it would
+have cost to build an ordinary house.
+
+"That is because the marble was at hand," said Anscombe.
+
+"Quite so," she replied demurely.  "Speaking in a general sense
+one can do many things in life--if the marble is at hand.  Only
+most of us when we look for marble find sandstone or mud."
+
+"Bravo!" said Anscombe, "I have generally lit upon the
+sandstone."
+
+"And I on the mud," she mused.
+
+"And I on all three, for the earth contains marble and mud and
+sandstone, to say nothing of gold and jewels," I broke in, being
+tired of silence.
+
+But neither of them paid much attention to me.  Anscombe did say,
+out of politeness, I suppose, that pitch and subterranean fires
+should be added, or some such nonsense.
+
+Then she began to tell him of her infantile memories of Hungary,
+which were extremely faint; of how they came this place and lived
+first of all in two large Kaffir huts, until suddenly they began
+to grow rich; of her school days at Maritzburg; of the friends
+with whom she had been staying, and I know not what, until at
+last I got up and went out for a walk.
+
+When I returned an hour or so later they were still talking, and
+so continued to do until Dr. Rodd arrived upon the scene.  At
+first they did not see him, for he stood at an angle to them, but
+I saw him and watched his face with a great deal of interest.
+It, or rather its expression, was not pleasant; before now I have
+seen something like it on that of a wild beast which thinks that
+it is about to be robbed of its prey by a stronger wild beast, in
+short, a mixture of hate, fear and jealousy--especially jealousy.
+At the last I did not wonder, for these two seemed to be getting
+on uncommonly well.
+
+They were, so to speak, well matched.  She, of course, was the
+better looking of the two, a really pretty and attractive young
+woman indeed, but the vivacity of Anscombe's face, the twinkle of
+his merry blue eyes and its general refinement made up for what
+he lacked--regularity of feature.  I think he had just told her
+one of his good stories which he always managed to make so
+humorous by a trick of pleasing and harmless exaggeration, and
+they were both laughing merrily.  Then she caught sight of the
+doctor and her merriment evaporated like a drop of water on a hot
+shovel.  Distinctly I saw her pull herself together and prepare
+for something.
+
+"How do you do?" she said rapidly, rising and holding out her
+slim sun-browned hand.  "But I need not ask, you look so well."
+
+"How do you do, my dear," with a heavy emphasis on the "dear" he
+answered slowly.  "But I needn't ask, for I see that you are in
+perfect health and spirits," and he bent forward as though to
+kiss her.
+
+Somehow or other she avoided that endearment or seal of
+possession.  I don't quite know how, as I turned my head away,
+not wishing to witness what I felt to be unpleasant.  When I
+looked up again, however, I saw that she had avoided it, the
+scowl on his face the demureness of hers and Anscombe's evident
+amusement assured me of this.  She was asking about her father;
+he answered that he also seemed quite well.
+
+"Then why did you write to tell me that I ought to come as he was
+not at all well?" she inquired, with a lifting of her delicate
+eyebrows.
+
+The question was never answered, for at that moment Marnham
+himself appeared.
+
+"Oh! father," she said, and rushed into his arms, while he kissed
+her tenderly on both cheeks.
+
+So I was not mistaken, thought I to myself, she does really love
+this moral wreck, and what is more, he loves her, which shows
+that there must be good in him.  Is anyone truly bad, I wondered,
+or for the matter of that, truly good either?  Is it not all a
+question of circumstance and blood?
+
+Neither then or at any other time have I found an answer to the
+problem.  At any rate to me there seemed something beautiful
+about the meeting of these two.
+
+The influence of Miss Heda in the house was felt at once.  The
+boys became smarter and put on clean clothes.  Vases of flowers
+appeared in the various rooms; ours was turned out and cleaned, a
+disagreeable process so far as we were concerned.  Moreover, at
+dinner both Marnham and Rodd wore dress clothes with short
+jackets, a circumstance that put Anscombe and myself to shame
+since we had none.  It was curious to see how with those dress
+clothes, which doubtless awoke old associations within him,
+Marnham changed his colour like a chameleon.  Really he might
+have been the colonel of a cavalry regiment rising to toast the
+Queen after he had sent round the wine, so polite and polished
+was his talk.  Who could have identified the man with the dry old
+ruffian of twenty-four hours before, he who was drinking claret
+(and very good claret too) mixed with water and listening with a
+polite interest to all the details of his daughter's journey?
+Even the doctor looked a gentleman, which doubtless he was once
+upon a time, in evening dress.  Moreover, some kind of truce had
+been arranged.  He no longer called Miss Heda "My dear" or
+attempted any familiarities, while she on more than one occasion
+very distinctly called him Dr. Rodd.
+
+So much for that night and for several others that followed.  As
+for the days they went by pleasantly and idly.  Heda walked about
+on her father's arm, conversed in friendly fashion with the
+doctor, always watching him, I noticed, as a cat watches a dog
+that she knows is waiting an opportunity to spring, and for the
+rest associated with us as much as she could.  Particularly did
+she seem to take refuge behind my own insignificance, having, I
+suppose, come to the conclusion that I was a harmless person who
+might possibly prove useful.  But all the while I felt that the
+storm was banking up.  Indeed Marnham himself, at any rate to a
+great extent, played the part of the cloud-compelling Jove, for
+soon it became evident to me, and without doubt to Dr. Rodd also,
+that he was encouraging the intimacy between his daughter and
+Anscombe by every means in his power.
+
+In one way and another he had fully informed himself as to
+Anscombe's prospects in life, which were brilliant enough.
+Moreover he liked the man who, as the remnant of the better
+perceptions of his youth told him, was one of the best class of
+Englishmen, and what is more, he saw that Heda liked him also, as
+much indeed as she disliked Rodd.  He even spoke to me of the
+matter in a round-about kind of fashion, saying that the young
+woman who married Anscombe would be lucky and that the father who
+had him for a son-in-law might go to his grave confident of his
+child's happiness.  I answered that I agreed with him, unless the
+lady's affections had already caused her to form other ties.
+
+"Affections!" he exclaimed, dropping all pretence, "there are
+none involved in this accursed business, as you are quite sharp
+enough to have seen for yourself."
+
+"I understood that an engagement was involved," I remarked.
+
+"On my part, perhaps, not on hers," he answered.  "Oh! can't you
+understand, Quatermain, that sometimes men find themselves forced
+into strange situations against their will?"
+
+Remembering the very ugly name that I had heard Rodd call Marnham
+on the night of the card party, I reflected that I could
+understand well enough, but I only said--
+
+"After all marriage is a matter that concerns a woman even more
+than it does her father, one, in short, of which she must be the
+judge."
+
+"Quite so, Quatermain, but there are some daughters who are
+prepared to make great sacrifices for their fathers.  Well, she
+will be of age ere long, if only I can stave it off till then.
+But how, how?" and with a groan he turned and left me.
+
+That old gentleman's neck is in some kind of a noose, thought I
+to myself, and his difficulty is to prevent the rope from being
+drawn tight.  Meanwhile this poor girl's happiness and future are
+at stake.
+
+"Allan," said Anscombe to me a little later, for by now he called
+me by my Christian name, "I suppose you haven't heard anything
+about those oxen, have you?"
+
+"No, I could scarcely expect to yet, but why do you ask?"
+
+He smiled in his droll fashion and replied, "Because, interesting
+as this household is in sundry ways, I think it is about time
+that we, or at any rate that I, got out of it."
+
+"Your leg isn't fit to travel yet, Anscombe, although Rodd says
+that all the symptoms are very satisfactory."
+
+"Yes, but to tell you the truth I am experiencing other symptoms
+quite unknown to that beloved physician and so unfamiliar to
+myself that I attribute them to the influences of the locality.
+Altitude affects the heart, does it not, and this house stands
+high."
+
+"Don't play off your jokes on me," I said sternly.  "What do you
+mean?"
+
+"I wonder if you find Miss Heda attractive, Allan, or if you are
+too old.  I believe there comes an age when the only beauties
+that can move a man are those of architecture, or scenery, or
+properly cooked food."
+
+"Hang it all! I am not Methusaleh," I replied; "but if you mean
+that you are falling in love with Heda, why the deuce don't you
+say so, instead of wasting my time and your own?"
+
+"Because time was given to us to waste.  Properly considered it
+is the best use to which it can be put, or at any rate the one
+that does least mischief.  Also because I wished to make you say
+it for me that I might judge from the effect of your words
+whether it is or is not true.  I may add that I fear the former
+to be the case."
+
+"Well, if you are in love with the girl you can't expect one so
+ancient as myself, who is quite out of touch with such follies,
+to teach you how to act."
+
+"No, Allan.  Unfortunately there are occasions when one must
+rely upon one's own wisdom, and mine, what there is of it, tells
+me I had better get out of this.  But I can't ride even if I took
+the horse and you ran behind, and the oxen haven't come."
+
+"Perhaps you could borrow Miss Marnham's cart in which to run
+away from her," I suggested sarcastically.
+
+"Perhaps, though I believe it would be fatal to my foot to sit up
+in a cart for the next few days, and the horses seem to have been
+sent off somewhere.  Look here, old fellow," he went on, dropping
+his bantering tone, "it's rather awkward to make a fool of
+oneself over a lady who is engaged to some one else, especially
+if one suspects that with a little encouragement she might begin
+to walk the same road.  The truth is I have taken the fever
+pretty bad, worse than ever I did before, and if it isn't stopped
+soon it will become chronic."
+
+"Oh no, Anscombe, only intermittent at the worst, and African
+malaria nearly always yields to a change of climate."
+
+"How can I expect a cynic and a misogynist to understand the
+simple fervour of an inexperienced soul--Oh! drat it all,
+Quatermain, stop your acid chaff and tell me what is to be done.
+Really I am in a tight place."
+
+"Very; so tight that I rejoice to think, as you were kind enough
+to point out, that my years protect me from anything of the sort.
+I have no advice to give; I think you had better ask it of the
+lady."
+
+"Well, we did have a little conversation, hypothetical of course,
+about some friends of ours who found themselves similarly
+situated, and I regret to say without result."
+
+"Indeed.  I did not know you had any mutual acquaintances.  What
+did she say and do?"
+
+"She said nothing, only sighed and looked as though she were
+going to burst into tears, and all she did was to walk away.  I'd
+have followed her if I could, but as my crutch wasn't there it
+was impossible.  It seemed to me that suddenly I had come up
+against a brick wall, that there was something on her mind which
+she could not or would not let out."
+
+"Yes, and if you want to know, I will tell you what it is.  Rodd
+has got a hold over Marnham of a sort that would bring him
+somewhere near the gallows.  As the price of his silence Marnham
+has promised him his daughter.  The daughter knows that her
+father is in this man's power, though I think she does not know
+in what way, and being a good girl--"
+
+"An angel you mean--do call her by her right name, especially in
+a place where angels are so much wanted."
+
+"Well, an angel if you like--she has promised on her part to
+marry a man she loathes in order to save her parent's bacon."
+
+"Just what I concluded, from what we heard in the row.  I wonder
+which of that pair is the bigger blackguard.  Well, Allan, that
+settles it.  You and I are on the side of the angel.  You will
+have to get her out of this scrape and--if she'll have me, I'll
+marry her; and if she won't, why it can't be helped.  Now that's
+a fair division of labour.  How are you going to do it? I haven't
+an idea, and if I had, I should not presume to interfere with one
+so much older and wiser than myself."
+
+"I suppose that by the time you appeared in it, the game of heads
+I win and tails you lose had died out of the world," I replied
+with an indignant snort.  "I think the best thing I can do will
+be to take the horse and look for those oxen.  Meanwhile you can
+settle your business by the light of your native genius, and I
+only hope you'll finish it without murder and sudden death."
+
+"I say, old fellow," said Anscombe earnestly, "you don't really
+mean to go off and leave me in this hideousness? I haven't
+bothered much up to the present because I was sure that you would
+find a way out, which would be nothing to a man of your intellect
+and experience.  I mean it honestly, I do indeed."
+
+"Do you?  Well, I can only say that my mind is a perfect blank,
+but if you will stop talking I will try to think the matter over.
+There's Miss Heda in the garden cutting flowers.  I will go to
+help her, which will be a very pleasant change."
+
+And I went, leaving him to stare after me jealously.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+
+
+THE STOEP
+
+
+
+
+
+When I reached Miss Heda she was collecting half-opened monthly
+roses from the hedge, and not quite knowing what to say I made
+the appropriate quotation.  At least it was appropriate to my
+thought, and, from her answer, to hers also.
+
+"Yes," she said, "I am gathering them while I may," and she
+sighed and, as I thought, glanced towards the verandah, though of
+this I could not be sure because of the wide brim of the hat she
+was wearing.
+
+Then we talked a little on indifferent matters, while I pricked
+my fingers helping to pluck the roses.  She asked me if I thought
+that Anscombe was getting on well, and how long it would be
+before he could travel.  I replied that Dr. Rodd could tell her
+better than myself, but that I hoped in about a week.
+
+"In a week!" she said, and although she tried to speak lightly
+there was dismay in her voice.
+
+"I hope you don't think it too long," I answered; "but even if he
+is fit to go, the oxen have not come yet, and I don't quite know
+when they will."
+
+"Too long!" she exclaimed.  "Too long!  Oh! if you only knew what
+it is to me to have such guests as you are in this place," and
+her dark eyes filled with tears.
+
+By now we had passed to the side of the house in search of some
+other flower that grew in the shade, I think it was mignonette,
+and were out of sight of the verandah and quite alone.
+
+"Mr. Quatermain,"  she said hurriedly, "I am wondering whether to
+ask your advice about something, if you would give it.  I have no
+one to consult here," she added rather piteously.
+
+"That is for you to decide.  If you wish to do so I am old enough
+to be your father, and will do my best to help."
+
+We walked on to an orange grove that stood about forty yards
+away, ostensibly to pick some fruit, but really because we knew
+that there we should be out of hearing and could see any one who
+approached.
+
+"Mr. Quatermain," she said presently in a low voice, "I am in
+great trouble, almost the greatest a woman can have.  I am
+engaged to be married to a man whom I do not care for."
+
+"Then why not break it off?  It may be unpleasant, but it is
+generally best to face unpleasant things, and nothing can be so
+bad as marrying a man whom you do not--care for."
+
+"Because I cannot--I dare not.  I have to obey."
+
+"How old are you, Miss Marnham?"
+
+"I shall be of age in three months' time.  You may guess that I
+did not intend to return here until they were over, but I was,
+well--trapped.  He wrote to me that my father was ill and I
+came."
+
+"At any rate when they are over you will not have to obey any
+one.  It is not long to wait."
+
+"It is an eternity.  Besides this is not so much a question of
+obedience as of duty and of love.  I love my father who, whatever
+his faults, has always been very kind to me."
+
+"And I am sure he loves you.  Why not go to him and tell him your
+trouble?"
+
+"He knows it already, Mr. Quatermain, and hates this marriage
+even more than I do, if that is possible.  But he is driven to
+it, as I am.  Oh! I must tell the truth.  The doctor has some
+hold over him.  My father has done something dreadful; I don't
+know what and I don't want to know, but if it came out it would
+ruin my father, or worse, worse.  I am the price of his silence.
+On the day of our marriage he will destroy the proofs.  If I
+refuse to marry him, they will be produced and then--"
+
+"It is difficult," I said.
+
+"It is more than difficult, it is terrible.  If you could see all
+there is in my heart, you would know how terrible."
+
+"I think I can see, Miss Heda.  Don't say any more now.  Give me
+time to consider.  In case of necessity come to me again, and be
+sure that I will protect you."
+
+"But you are going in a week."
+
+"Many things happen in a week.  Sufficient to the day is its
+evil.  At the end of the week we will come to some decision
+unless everything is already decided."
+
+For the next twenty-four hours I reflected on this pretty problem
+as hard as ever I did on anything in all my life.  Here was a
+young woman who must somehow be protected from a scoundrel, but who
+could not be protected because she herself had to protect another
+scoundrel--to wit, her own father.  Could the thing be faced out?
+Impossible, for I was sure that Marnham had committed a murder,
+or murders, of which Rodd possessed evidence that would hang him.
+Could Heda be married to Anscombe at once?  Yes, if both were
+willing, but then Marnham would still be hung.  Could they elope?
+Possibly, but with the same result.  Could I take her away and
+put her under the protection of the Court at Pretoria?  Yes, but
+with the same result.  I wondered what my Hottentot retainer,
+Hans, would have advised, he who was named Light-in-Darkness, and
+in his own savage way was the cleverest and most cunning man that
+I have met.  Alas! I could not raise him from the grave to tell
+me, and yet I knew well what he would have answered.
+
+"Baas," he would have said, "this is a rope which only the pale
+old man (i.e., death) can cut.  Let this doctor die or let the
+father die, and the maiden will be free.  Surely heaven is
+longing for one or both of them, and if necessary, Baas, I
+believe that I can point out a path to heaven!"
+
+I laughed to myself at the thought, which was one that a white
+man could not entertain even as a thought.  And I felt that the
+hypothetical Hans was right, death alone could cut this knot, and
+the reflection made me shiver.
+
+That night I slept uneasily and dreamed.  I dreamed that once
+more I was in the Black Kloof in Zululand, seated in front of the
+huts at the end of the kloof.  Before me squatted the old wizard,
+Zikali, wrapped up in his kaross--Zikali, the
+"Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," whom I had not seen for
+years.  Near him were the ashes of a fire, by the help of which I
+knew he had been practising divination.  He looked up and laughed
+one of his terrible laughs.
+
+"So you are here again, Macumazahn," he said, "grown older, but
+still the same; here at the appointed hour.  What do you come to
+seek from the Opener of Roads?  Not Mameena as I think this time.
+No, no, it is she who seeks you this time, Macumazahn.  She found
+you once, did she not?  Far away to the north among a strange
+people who worshipped an Ivory Child, a people of whom I knew in
+my youth, and afterwards, for was not their prophet, Harut, a
+friend of mine and one of our brotherhood?  She found you beneath
+the tusks of the elephant, Jana, whom Macumazahn the skilful
+could not hit.  Oh! do not look astonished."
+
+"How do you know?" I asked in my dream.
+
+"Very simply, Macumazahn.  A little yellow man named Hans has
+been with me and told me all the story not an hour ago, after
+which I sent for Mameena to learn if it were true.  She will be
+glad to meet you, Macumazahn, she who has a hungry heart that
+does not forget.  Oh! don't be afraid.  I mean here beneath the
+sun, in the land beyond there will be no need for her to meet you
+since she will dwell ever at your side."
+
+"Why do you lie to me, Zikali?" I seemed to ask.  "How can a dead
+man speak to you and how can I meet a woman who is dead?"
+
+"Seek the answer to that question in the hour of the battle when
+the white men, your brothers, fall beneath assegai as weeds fall
+before the hoe--or perhaps before it.  But have done with
+Mameena, since she who never grows more old can well afford to
+wait.  It is not of Mameena that you came to speak to me; it is
+of a fair white woman named Heddana you would speak, and of the
+man she loves, you, who will ever be mixing yourself up in
+affairs of others, and therefore must bear their burdens with no
+pay save that of honour.  Hearken, for the time is short.  When
+the storm bursts upon them bring hither the fair maiden, Heddana,
+and the white lord, Mauriti, and I will shelter them for your
+sake.  Take them nowhere else.  Bring them hither if they would
+escape trouble.  I shall be glad to see you, Macumazahn, for at
+last I am about to smite the Zulu House of Senzangacona, my foes,
+with a bladder full of blood, and oh! it stains their doorposts
+red."
+
+Then I woke up, feeling afraid, as one does after a nightmare,
+and was comforted to hear Anscombe sleeping quietly on the other
+side of the room.
+
+"Mauriti.  Why did Zikali call him Mauriti?" I wondered drowsily
+to myself.  "Oh! of course his name is Maurice, and it was a Zulu
+corruption of a common sort as was Heddana of Heda."  Then I
+dozed off again, and by the morning had forgotten all about my
+dream until it was brought back to me by subsequent events.
+Still it was this and nothing else that put it into my head to
+fly to Zululand on an emergency that was to arise ere long.*
+
+[*--For the history of Zikali and Mameena see the book called
+_Child of Storm_ by H. Rider Haggard.]
+
+That evening Rodd was absent from dinner, and on inquiring where
+he might be, I was informed that he had ridden to visit a Kaffir
+headman, a patient of his who lived at a distance, and would very
+probably sleep at the kraal, returning early next day.  One of
+the topics of conversation during dinner was as to where the
+exact boundary line used to run between the Transvaal and the
+country over which the Basuto chief, Sekukuni, claimed ownership
+and jurisdiction.  Marnham said that it passed within a couple of
+miles of his house, and when we rose, the moon being very bright,
+offered to show me where the beacons had been placed years before
+by a Boer Commission.  I accepted, as the night was lovely for a
+stroll after the hot day.  Also I was half conscious of another
+undefined purpose in my mind, which perhaps may have spread to
+that of Marnham.  Those two young people looked very happy
+together there on the stoep, and as they must part so soon it
+would, I thought, be kind to give them the opportunity of a quiet
+chat.
+
+So off we went to the brow of the hill on which the Temple stood,
+whence old Marnham pointed out to me a beacon, which I could not
+see in the dim, silvery bush-veld below, and how the line ran
+from it to another beacon somewhere else.
+
+"You know the Yellow-wood swamp," he said.  "It passes straight
+through that.  That is why those Basutos who were following you
+pulled up upon the edge of the swamp, though as a matter of fact,
+according to their ideas, they had a perfect right to kill you on
+their side of the line which cuts through the middle."
+
+I made some remark to the effect that I presumed that the line
+had in fact ceased to exist at all, as the Basuto territory had
+practically become British; after which we strolled back to the
+house.  Walking quietly between the tall rose hedges and without
+speaking, for each of us was preoccupied with his own thoughts,
+suddenly we came upon a very pretty scene.
+
+We had left Anscombe and Heda seated side by side on the stoep.
+They were still there, but much closer together.  In fact his
+arms were round her, and they were kissing each other in a
+remarkably whole-hearted way.  About this there could be no
+mistake, since the rimpi-strung couch on which they sat was
+immediately under the hanging lamp--a somewhat unfortunate
+situation for such endearments.  But what did they think of
+hanging lamps or any other lights, save those of their own eyes,
+they who were content to kiss and murmur words of passion as
+though they were as much alone as Adam and Eve in Eden?  What did
+they think either of the serpent coiled about the bole of this
+tree of knowledge whereof they had just plucked the ripe and
+maddening fruit?
+
+By a mutual instinct Marnham and I withdrew ourselves, very
+gently indeed, purposing to skirt round the house and enter it
+from behind, or to be seized with a fit of coughing at the gate,
+or to do something to announce our presence at a convenient
+distance.  When we had gone a little way we heard a crash in the
+bushes.
+
+"Another of those cursed baboons robbing the garden," remarked
+Marnham reflectively.
+
+"I think he is going to rob the house also," I replied, turning
+to point to something dark that seemed to be leaping up on to the
+verandah.
+
+Next moment we heard Heda utter a little cry of alarm, and a man
+say in a low fierce voice--
+
+"So I have caught you at last, have I!"
+
+"The doctor has returned from his business rounds sooner than was
+expected, and I think that we had better join the party," I
+remarked, and made a bee line for the stoep, Marnham following
+me.
+
+I think that I arrived just in time to prevent mischief.  There,
+with a revolver in his hand, stood Rodd, tall and formidable, his
+dark face looking like that of Satan himself, a very monument of
+rage and jealousy.  There in front of him on the couch sat Heda,
+grasping its edge with her fingers, her cheeks as pale as a sheet
+and her eyes shining.  By her side was Anscombe, cool and
+collected as usual, I noticed, but evidently perplexed.
+
+"If there is any shooting to be done," he was saying, "I think
+you had better begin with me."
+
+His calmness seemed to exasperate Rodd, who lifted the revolver.
+But I too was prepared, for in that house I always went armed.
+There was no time to get at the man, who was perhaps fifteen feet
+away, and I did not want to hurt him.  So I did the best I could;
+that is, I fired at the pistol in his hand, and the light being
+good, struck it near the hilt and knocked it off the barrel
+before the he could press the trigger, if he really meant to
+shoot.
+
+"That's a good shot," remarked Anscombe who had seen me, while
+Rodd stared at the hilt which he still held.
+
+"A lucky one," I answered, walking forward.  "And now, Dr. Rodd,
+will you be so good as to tell me what you mean by flourishing a
+revolver, presumably loaded, in the faces of a lady and an
+unarmed man?"
+
+"What the devil is that to you," he asked furiously, "and what do
+you mean by firing at me?"
+
+"A great deal," I answered, "seeing that a young woman and my
+friend are concerned.  As for firing at you, had I done so you
+would not be asking questions now.  I fired at the pistol in your
+hand, but if there is more trouble next time it shall be at the
+holder," and I glanced at my revolver.
+
+Seeing that I meant business he made no reply, but turned upon
+Marnham who had followed me.
+
+"This is your work, you old villain," he said in a low voice that
+was heavy with hate.  "You promised your daughter to me.  She is
+engaged to me, and now I find her in this wanderer's arms."
+
+"What have I to do with it?" said Marnham.  "Perhaps she has
+changed her mind.  You had better ask her."
+
+"There is no need to ask me," interrupted Heda, who now seemed to
+have got her nerve again.  "I _have_ changed my mind.  I never
+loved you, Dr. Rodd, and I will not marry you.  I love Mr.
+Anscombe here, and as he has asked me to be his wife I mean to
+marry him."
+
+"I see," he sneered, "you want to be a peeress one day, no doubt.
+Well, you never shall if I can help it.  Perhaps, too, this fine
+gentleman of yours will not be so particularly anxious to marry
+you when he learns that you are the daughter of a murderer."
+
+That word was like a bombshell bursting among us.  We looked at
+each other as people, yet dazed with the shock, might on a
+battlefield when the noise of the explosion has died and the
+smoke cleared away, to see who is still alive.  Anscombe spoke
+the first.
+
+"I don't know what you mean or to what you refer," he said
+quietly.  "But at any rate this lady who has promised to marry me
+is innocent, and therefore if all her ancestors had been
+murderers it would not in the slightest turn me from my purpose
+of marrying her."
+
+She looked at him, and all the gratitude in the world shone in
+her frightened eyes.  Marnham stepped, or rather staggered
+forward, the blue vein throbbing on forehead.
+
+"He lies," he said hoarsely, tugging at his long beard.  "Listen
+now and I will tell you the truth.  Once, more than a year ago, I
+was drunk and in a rage.  In this state I fired at a Kaffir to
+frighten him, and by some devil's chance shot him dead.  That's
+what he calls being a murderer."
+
+"I have another tale," said Rodd, "with which I will not trouble
+this company just now.  Look here, Heda, either you fulfil your
+promise and marry me, or your father swings."
+
+She gasped and sank together on the seat as though she had been
+shot.  Then I took up my parable.
+
+"Are you the man," I asked, "to accuse others of crime?  Let us
+see.  You have spent several months in an English prison (I gave
+the name) for a crime I won't mention."
+
+"How do you know--" he began.
+
+"Never mind, I do know and the prison books will show it.
+Further, your business is that of selling guns and ammunition to
+the Basutos of Sekukuni's tribe, who, although the expedition
+against them has been temporarily recalled, are still the Queen's
+enemies.  Don't deny it, for I have the proofs.  Further, it was
+you who advised Sekukuni to kill us when we went down to his
+country to shoot the other day, because you were afraid that we
+should discover whence he got his guns."  (This was a bow drawn
+at a venture, but the arrow went home, for I saw his jaw drop.)
+"Further, I believe you to be an illicit diamond buyer, and I
+believe also that you have again been arranging with the Basutos
+to make an end of us, though of these last two items at present I
+lack positive proof.  Now, Dr. Rodd, I ask you for the second
+time whether you are a person to accuse others of crimes and
+whether, should you do so, you will be considered a credible
+witness when your own are brought to light?"
+
+"If I had been guilty of any of these things, which I am not, it is
+obvious that my partner must have shared in all of them, except
+the first.  So if you inform against me, you inform against him,
+and the father of Heda, whom your friend wishes to marry, will,
+according to your showing, be proved a gun-runner, a thief and a
+would-be murderer of his guests.  I should advise you to leave
+that business alone, Mr. Quatermain."
+
+The reply was bold and clever, so much so that I regarded this
+blackguard with a certain amount of admiration, as I answered--
+
+"I shall take your advice if you take mine to leave another
+business alone, that of this young lady and her father, but not
+otherwise."
+
+"Then spare your breath and do your worst; only careful, sharp as
+you think yourself, that your meddling does not recoil on your
+own head.  Listen, Heda, either you make up your mind to marry me
+at once and arrange that this young gentleman, who as a doctor I
+assure you is now quite fit to travel without injury to his
+health, leaves this house to-morrow with the spy Quatermain--you
+might lend him the Cape cart to go in--or I start with the proofs
+to lay a charge of murder against your father.  I give you till
+to-morrow morning to have a family council to think it over.
+Good-night."
+
+"Good-night," I answered as he passed me, "and please be careful
+that none of us see your face again before to-morrow morning.  As
+you may happen to have heard, my native name means
+Watcher-by-Night," and I looked at the revolver in my hand.
+
+When he had vanished I remarked in as cheerful voice as I could
+command, that I thought it was bedtime, and as nobody stirred,
+added, "Don't be afraid, young lady.  If you feel lonely, you
+must tell that stout maid of yours to sleep in your room.  Also,
+as the night is so hot I shall take my nap on the stoep, there,
+just opposite your window.  No, don't let us talk any more now.
+There will be plenty of time for that to-morrow."
+
+She rose, looked at Anscombe, looked at me, looked at her father
+very pitifully; then with a little exclamation of despair passed
+into her room by the French window, where presently I heard her
+call the native maid and tell her that she was to sleep with her.
+
+Marnham watched her depart.  Then he too went with his head bowed
+and staggering a little in his walk.  Next Anscombe rose and
+limped off into his room, I following him.
+
+"Well, young man," I said, "you have put us all in the soup now
+and no mistake."
+
+"Yes, Allan, I am afraid I have.  But on the whole don't you
+think it rather interesting soup--so many unexpected ingredients,
+you see!"
+
+"Interesting soup!  Unexpected ingredients!" I repeated after
+him, adding, "Why not call it hell's broth at once?"
+
+Then he became serious, dreadfully serious.
+
+"Look here," he said, "I love Heda, and whatever her family
+history may be I mean to marry her and face the row at home."
+
+"You could scarcely do less in all the circumstances, and as for
+rows, that young lady would soon fit herself into any place that
+you can give her.  But the question is, how can you marry her?"
+
+"Oh! something will happen," he replied optimistically.
+
+"You are quite right there.  Something will certainly happen, but
+the point is--what? Something was very near happening when I
+turned up on that stoep, so near that I think it was lucky for
+you, or for Miss Heda, or both, that I have learned how to handle
+a pistol.  Now let me see your foot, and don't speak another word
+to me about all this business to-night.  I'd rather tackle it
+when I am clear-headed in the morning."
+
+Well, I examined his instep and leg very carefully and found
+that Rodd was right.  Although it still hurt him to walk, the
+wound was quite healed and all inflammation had gone from the
+limb.  Now it was only a question of time for the sinews to right
+themselves.  While I was thus engaged he held forth on the
+virtues and charms of Heda, I making no comment.
+
+"Lie down and get to sleep, if you can," I said when I had
+finished.  "The door is locked and I am going on to the stoep, so
+you needn't be afraid of the windows.  Good-night."
+
+I went out and sat myself down in such a position that by the
+light of the hanging lamp, which still burned, I could make sure
+that no one could approach either Heda's or my room without my
+seeing him.  For the rest, all my life I have been accustomed to
+night vigils, and the loaded revolver hung from my wrist by a
+loop of hide.  Moreover, never had I felt less sleepy.  There I
+sat hour after hour, thinking.
+
+The substance of my thoughts does not matter, since the events
+that followed make them superfluous to the story.  I will merely
+record, therefore, that towards dawn a great horror took hold of
+me.  I did not know of what I was afraid, but I was much afraid
+of something.  Nothing was passing in either Heda's or our room,
+of that I made sure by personal examination.  Therefore it would
+seem that my terrors were unnecessary, and yet they grew and
+grew.  I felt sure that something was happening somewhere, a
+dread occurrence which it was beyond my power to prevent, though
+whether it were in this house or at the other end of Africa I did
+not know.
+
+The mental depression increased and culminated.  Then of a sudden
+it passed completely away, and as I mopped the sweat from off my
+brow I noticed that dawn was breaking.  It was a tender and
+beautiful dawn, and in a dim way I took it as a good omen.  Of
+course it was nothing but the daily resurrection of the sun, and
+yet it brought to me comfort and hope.  The night was past with
+all its fears; the light had come with all its joys.  From that
+moment I was certain that we should triumph over these
+difficulties and that the end of them would be peace.
+
+So sure was I that I ventured to take a nap, knowing that the
+slightest movement or sound would wake me.  I suppose I slept
+until six o'clock, when I was aroused by a footfall.  I sprang
+up, and saw before me one of our native servants.  He was
+trembling and his face was ashen beneath the black.  Moreover he
+could not speak.  All he did was to put his head on one side,
+like a dead man, and keep on pointing downwards.  Then with his
+mouth open and starting eyes he beckoned to me to follow him.
+
+I followed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+
+
+RODD'S LAST CARD
+
+
+
+
+
+The man led me to Marnham's room, which I had never entered
+before.  All I could see at first, for the shutters were closed,
+was that the place seemed large, as bedchambers go in South
+Africa.  When my eyes grew accustomed to the light, I made out
+the figure of a man seated in a chair with his head bent forward
+over a table that was placed at the foot of the bed almost in the
+centre of the room.  I threw open the shutters and the morning
+light poured in.  The man was Marnham.  On the table were writing
+materials, also a brandy bottle with only a dreg of spirit in it.
+I looked for the glass and found it by his side on the floor,
+shattered, not merely broken.
+
+"Drunk," I said aloud, whereon the servant, who understood me,
+spoke for the first time, saying in a frightened voice in Dutch--
+
+"No, Baas, dead, half cold.  I found him so just now."
+
+I bent down and examined Marnham, also felt his face.  Sure
+enough, he was dead, for his jaw had fallen; also his flesh was
+chill, and from him came a horrible smell of brandy.  I thought
+for a moment, then bade the boy fetch Dr. Rodd and say nothing
+to any one else, He went, and now for the first time I noticed a
+large envelope addressed "Allan Quatermain, Esq." in a somewhat
+shaky hand.  This I picked up and slipped into my pocket.
+
+Rodd arrived half dressed.
+
+"What's the matter now?" he growled.
+
+I pointed to Marnham, saying--
+
+"That is a question for you to answer.
+
+"Oh! drunk again, I suppose," he said.  Then he did as I had
+done, bent down and examined him.  A few seconds later he stepped
+or reeled back, looking as frightened as a man could be, and
+exclaiming--
+
+"Dead as a stone, by God! Dead these three hours or more."
+
+"Quite so," I answered, "but what killed him?"
+
+"How should I know?" he asked savagely.  "Do you suspect me of
+poisoning him?"
+
+"My mind is open," I replied; "but as you quarrelled so bitterly
+last night, others might."
+
+The bolt went home; he saw his danger.
+
+"Probably the old sot died in a fit, or of too much brandy.  How
+can one know without a post-mortem?  But that mustn't be made by
+me.  I'm off to inform the magistrate and get hold of another
+doctor.  Let the body remain as it is until I return."
+
+I reflected quickly.  Ought I to let him go or not?  If he had
+any hand in this business, doubtless he intended to escape.
+Well, supposing this were so and he did escapee, that would be a
+good thing for Heda, and really it was no affair of mine to bring
+the fellow to justice.  Moreover there was nothing to show that
+he was guilty; his whole manner seemed to point another way,
+though of course he might be acting.
+
+"Very well," I replied, "but return as quickly as possible."
+
+He stood for a few seconds like a man who is dazed.  It occurred
+to me that it might have come into his mind with Marnham's death
+that he had lost his hold over Heda.  But if so he said nothing
+of it, but only asked--
+
+"Will you go instead of me?"
+
+"On the whole I think not," I replied, "and if I did, the story I
+should have to tell might not tend to your advantage."
+
+"That's true, damn you!" he exclaimed and left the room.
+
+Ten minutes later he was galloping towards Pilgrim's Rest.
+Before I departed from the death chamber I examined the place
+carefully to see if I could find any poison or other deadly
+thing, but without success.  One thing I did discover, however.
+Turning the leaf of a blotting-book that was by Marnham's elbow,
+I came upon a sheet of paper on which were written these words in
+his hand, "Greater love hath no man than this--" that was all.
+
+Either he had forgotten the end of the quotation or changed his
+mind, or was unable through weakness to finish the sentence.
+This paper also I put in my pocket.  Bolting the shutters and
+locking the door I returned to the stoep, where I was alone, for
+as yet no one else was stirring.  Then I remembered the letter in
+my pocket and opened it.  It ran--
+
+
+"Dear Mr. Quatermain,--
+
+"I have remembered that those who quarrel with Dr. Rodd are apt
+to die soon and suddenly; at any rate life at my age is always
+uncertain.  Therefore, as I know you to be an honest man, I am
+enclosing my will that it may be in safe keeping and purpose to
+send it to your room to-morrow morning.  Perhaps when you return
+to Pretoria you will deposit it in the Standard Bank there, and
+if I am still alive, forward me the receipt.  You will see that I
+leave everything to my daughter whom I dearly love, and that
+there is enough to keep the wolf from her door, besides my share
+in this property, if it is ever realized.
+
+"After all that has passed to-night I do not feel up to writing a
+long letter, so
+
+"Remain sincerely yours,
+
+"H. A. Marnham."
+
+
+"PS.--I should like to state clearly upon paper that my earnest
+hope and wish are that Heda may get clear of that black-hearted,
+murderous, scoundrel Rodd and marry Mr. Anscombe, whom I like and
+who, I am sure, would make her a good husband."
+
+
+Thinking to myself this did not look very like the letter of a
+suicide, I glanced through the will, as the testator seemed to
+have wished that I should do so.  It was short, but properly
+drawn, signed, and witnessed, and bequeathed a sum of #9,000,
+which was on deposit at the Standard Bank, together with all his
+other property, real and personal, to Heda for her own sole use,
+free from the debts and engagements of her husband, should she
+marry.  Also she was forbidden to spend more than #1,000 of the
+capital.  In short the money was strictly tied up.  With the will
+were some other papers that apparently referred to certain
+property in Hungary to which Heda might become entitled, but
+about these I did not trouble.
+
+Replacing these documents in a safe inner pocket in the lining of
+my waistcoat, I went into our room and woke up Anscombe who was
+sleeping soundly, a fact that caused an unreasonable irritation
+in my mind.  When at length he was thoroughly aroused I said to
+him--
+
+"You are in luck's way, my friend.  Marnham is dead."
+
+"Oh! poor Heda," he exclaimed, "she loved him.  It will half
+break her heart."
+
+"If it breaks half of her heart," I replied, "it will mend the
+other half, for now her filial affection can't force her to marry
+Rodd, and that is where you are in luck's way."
+
+Then I told him all the story.
+
+"Was he murdered or did he commit suicide?" he asked when I had
+finished.
+
+"I don't know, and to tell you the truth I don't want to know;
+nor will you if you are wise, unless knowledge is forced upon
+you.  It is enough that he is dead, and for his daughter's sake
+the less the circumstances of his end are examined into the
+better."
+
+"Poor Heda!" he said again, "who will tell her?  I can't.  _You_
+found him, Allan."
+
+"I expected that job would be my share of the business, Anscombe.
+Well, the sooner it is over the better.  Now dress yourself and
+come on to the stoep."
+
+Then I left him and next minute met Heda's fat, half-breed maid,
+a stupid but good sort of a woman who was called Kaatje, emerging
+from her mistress's room with a jug, to fetch hot water, I
+suppose.
+
+"Kaatje," I said, "go back and tell the Missie Heda that I want
+to speak to her as soon as I can.  Never mind the hot water, but
+stop and help her to dress."
+
+She began to grumble a little in a good-natured way, but
+something in my eye stopped her and she went back into the room.
+Ten minutes later Heda was by my side.
+
+"What is it, Mr. Quatermain?" she asked.  "I feel sure that
+something dreadful has happened."
+
+"It has, my dear," I answered, "that is, if death is dreadful.
+Your father died last night."
+
+"Oh!" she said, "oh!" and sank back on to the seat.
+
+"Bear up," I went on, "we must all die one day, and he had
+reached the full age of man."
+
+"But I loved him," she moaned.  "He had many faults I know, still
+I loved him."
+
+"It is the lot of life, Heda, that we should lose what we love.
+Be thankful, therefore, that you have some one left to love."
+
+"Yes, thank God! that's true.  If it had been him--no, it's
+wicked to say that."
+
+Then I told her the story, and while I was doing so, Anscombe
+joined us, walking by aid of his stick.  Also I showed them both
+Marnham's letter to me and the will, but the other bit of paper I
+did not speak of or show.
+
+She sat very pale and quiet and listened till I had done.  Then
+she said--
+
+"I should like to see him."
+
+"Perhaps it is as well," I answered.  "If you can bear it, come
+at once, and do you come also, Anscombe."
+
+We went to the room, Anscombe and Heda holding each other by the
+hand.  I unlocked the door and, entering, threw open a shutter.
+There sat the dead man as I had left him, only his head had
+fallen over a little.  She gazed at him, trembling, then advanced
+and kissed his cold forehead, muttering,
+
+"Good-bye, father.  Oh! good-bye, father."
+
+A thought struck me, and I asked--
+
+"Is there any place here where your father locked up things? As I
+have shown you, you are his heiress, and if so it might be as
+well in this house that you should possess yourself of his
+property."
+
+"There is a safe in the corner," she answered, "of which he
+always kept the key in his trouser pocket."
+
+"Then with your leave I will open it in your presence."
+
+Going to the dead man I searched his pocket and found in it a
+bunch of keys.  These I withdrew and went to the safe over which
+a skin rug was thrown.  I unlocked it easily enough.  Within were
+two bags of gold, each marked #100; also another larger bag
+marked "My wife's jewelry.  For Heda"; also some papers and a
+miniature of the lady whose portrait hung in the sitting-room;
+also some loose gold.
+
+"Now who will take charge of these?" I asked.  "I do not think it
+safe to leave them here."
+
+"You, of course," said Anscombe, while Heda nodded.
+
+So with a groan I consigned all these valuables to my capacious
+pockets.  Then I locked up the empty safe, replaced the keys
+where I had found them on Marnham, fastened the shutter and left
+the room with Anscombe, waiting for a while outside till Heda
+joined us, sobbing a little.  After this we got something to eat,
+insisting on Heda doing the same.
+
+On leaving the table I saw a curious sight, namely, the patients
+whom Rodd was attending in the little hospital of which I have
+spoken, departing towards the bush-veld, those of them who could
+walk well and the attendants assisting the others.  They were
+already some distance away, too far indeed for me to follow, as I
+did not wish to leave the house.  The incident filled me with
+suspicion, and I went round to the back to make inquiries, but
+could find no one.  As I passed the hospital door, however, I
+heard a voice calling in Sisutu--
+
+"Do not leave me behind, my brothers."
+
+I entered and saw the man on whom Rodd had operated the day of
+our arrival, lying in bed and quite alone.  I asked him where the
+others had gone.  At first he would not answer, but when I
+pretended to leave him, called out that it was back to their own
+country.  Finally, to cut the story short, I extracted from him
+that they had left because they had news that the Temple was
+going to be attacked by Sekukuni and did not wish to be here when
+I and Anscombe were killed.  How the news reached him he refused,
+or could not, say; nor did he seem to know anything of the death
+of Marnham.  When I pressed him on the former point, he only
+groaned and cried for water, for he was in pain and thirsty.  I
+asked him who had told Sekukuni's people to kill us, but he
+refused to speak.
+
+"Very well," I said, "then you shall lie here alone and die of
+thirst," and again I turned towards the door.
+
+At this he cried out--
+
+"I will tell you.  It was the white medicine-man who lives here;
+he who cut me open.  He arranged it all a few days ago because he
+hates you.  Last night he rode to tell the impi when to come."
+
+"When is it to come?" I asked, holding the jug of water towards
+him.
+
+"To-night at the rising of the moon, so that it may get far away
+before the dawn.  My people are thirsty for your blood and for
+that of the other white chief, because you killed so many of them
+by the river.  The others they will not harm."
+
+"How did you learn all this?" I asked him again, but without
+result, for he became incoherent and only muttered something
+about being left alone because the others could not carry him.
+So I gave him some water, after which he fell asleep, or
+pretended to do so, and I left him, wondering whether he was
+delirious, or spoke truth.  As I passed the stables I saw that my
+own horse was there, for in this district horses are always shut
+up at night to keep them from catching sickness, but that the
+four beasts that had brought Heda from Natal in the Cape cart
+were gone, though it was evident that they had been kraaled here
+till within an hour or two.  I threw my horse a bundle of forage
+and returned to the house by the back entrance.  The kitchen was
+empty, but crouched by the door of Marnham's room sat the boy who
+had found him dead.  He had been attached to his master and
+seemed half dazed.  I asked him where the other servants were, to
+which he replied that they had all run away.  Then I asked him
+where the horses were.  He answered that the Baas Rodd had
+ordered them to be turned out before he rode off that morning.  I
+bade him accompany me to the stoep, as I dared not let him out of
+my sight, which he did unwillingly enough.
+
+There I found Anscombe and Heda.  They were seated side by side
+upon the couch.  Tears were running down her face and he, looking
+very troubled, held her by the hand.  Somehow that picture of
+Heda has always remained fixed in my mind.  Sorrow becomes some
+women and she was one of them.  Her beautiful dark grey eyes did
+not grow red with weeping; the tears just welled up in them and
+fell like dewdrops from the heart of a flower.
+
+She sat very upright and very still, as he did, looking straight
+in front of her, while a ray of sunshine, falling on her head,
+showed the chestnut-hued lights in her waving hair, of which she
+had a great abundance.
+
+Indeed the pair of them, thus seated side by side, reminded me of
+an engraving I had seen somewhere of the statues of a husband and
+wife in an old Egyptian tomb.  With just such a look did the
+woman of thousands of years ago sit gazing in patient hope into
+the darkness of the future.  Death had made her sad, but it was
+gone by, and the little wistful smile about her lips seemed to
+suggest that in this darkness her sorrowful eyes already saw the
+stirring of the new life to be.  Moreover, was not the man she
+loved the companion of her hopes as he had been of her woes.
+Such was the fanciful thought that sprang up in my mind, even in
+the midst of those great anxieties, like a single flower in a
+stony wilderness of thorns or one star on the blackness of the
+night.
+
+In a moment it had gone and I was telling them of what I had
+learned.  They listened till I had finished.  Then Anscombe said
+slowly--
+
+"Two of us can't hold this house against an impi.  We must get
+out of it."
+
+"Both your conclusions seem quite sound," I remarked, "that is if
+yonder old Kaffir is telling the truth.  But the question
+is--how?  We can't all three of us ride on one nag, as you are
+still a cripple."
+
+"There is the Cape cart," suggested Heda.
+
+"Yes, but the horses have been turned out, and I don't know where
+to look for them.  Nor dare I send that boy alone, for probably
+he would bolt like the others.  I think that you had better get
+on my horse and ride for it, leaving us to take our chance.  I
+daresay the whole thing is a lie and that we shall be in no
+danger," I added by way of softening the suggestion.
+
+"That I will never do," she replied with so much quiet conviction
+that I saw it was useless to pursue the argument.
+
+I thought for a moment, as the position was very difficult.  The
+boy was not to be trusted, and if I went with him I should be
+leaving these two alone and, in Anscombe's state, almost
+defenceless.  Still it seemed as though I must.  Just then I
+looked up, and there at the garden gate saw Anscombe's driver,
+Footsack, the man whom I had despatched to Pretoria to fetch his
+oxen.  I noted that he looked frightened and was breathless, for
+his eyes started out of his head.  Also his hat was gone and he
+bled a little from his face.
+
+Seeing us he ran up the path and sat down as though he were
+tired.
+
+"Where are the oxen?" I asked.
+
+"Oh! Baas," he answered, "the Basutos have got them.  We heard
+from an old black woman that Sekukuni had an impi out, so we
+waited on the top of that hill about an hour's ride away to see
+if it was true.  Then suddenly the doctor Baas appeared riding,
+and I ran out and asked him if it were safe to go on.  He knew me
+again and answered--
+
+"'Yes, quite safe, for have I not just ridden this road without
+meeting so much as a black child.  Go on, man; your masters will
+be glad to have their oxen, as they wish to trek, or will by
+nightfall.'  Then he laughed and rode away.
+
+"So we went on, driving the oxen.  But when we came to the belt
+of thorns at the bottom of the hill, we found that the doctor
+Baas had either lied to us or he had not seen.  For there
+suddenly the tall grass on either side of the path grew spears;
+yes, everywhere were spears.  In a minute the two voorloopers
+were assegaied.  As for me, I ran forward, not back, since the
+Kaffirs were behind me, across the path, Baas, driving off the
+oxen.  They sprang at me, but I jumped this way and that way and
+avoided them.  Then they threw assegais--see, one of them cut my
+cheek, but the rest missed.  They had guns in their hands also,
+but none shot.  I think they did not wish to make a noise.  Only
+one of them shouted after me--
+
+"'Tell Macumazahn that we are going to call on him tonight when
+he cannot see to shoot.  We have a message for him from our
+brothers whom he killed at the drift of the Oliphant's River.'
+
+"Then I ran on here without stopping, but I saw no more Kaffirs.
+That is all, Baas."
+
+Now I did not delay to cross-examine the man or to sift the true
+from the false in his story, since it was clear to me that he had
+run into a company of Basutos, or rather been beguiled thereto by
+Rodd, and lost our cattle, also his companions, who were either
+killed as he said, or had escaped some other way.
+
+"Listen, man," I said.  "I am going to fetch some horses.  Do you
+stay here and help the Missie to pack the cart and make the
+harness ready.  If you disobey me or run away, then I will find
+you and you will never run again.  Do you understand?"
+
+He vowed that he did and went to get some water, while I
+explained everything to Anscombe and Heda, pointing out that all
+the information we could gather seemed to show that no attack was
+to be made upon the house before nightfall, and that therefore we
+had the day before us.  As this was so I proposed to go to look
+for the horses myself, since otherwise I was sure we should never
+find them.  Meanwhile Heda must pack and make ready the cart with
+the help of Footsack, Anscombe superintending everything, as he
+could very well do since he was now able to walk leaning on a
+stick.
+
+Of course neither of them liked my leaving them, but in view of
+our necessities they raised no objection.  So off I went, taking
+the boy with me.  He did not want to go, being, as I have said,
+half dazed with grief or fear, or both, but when I had pointed
+out to him clearly that I was quite prepared to shoot him if he
+played tricks, he changed his mind.  Having saddled my mare that
+was now fresh and fat, we started, the boy guiding me to a
+certain kloof at the foot of which there was a small plain of
+good grass where he said the horses were accustomed to graze.
+
+Here sure enough we found two of them, and as they had been
+turned out with their headstalls on, were able to tie them to
+trees with the riems which were attached to the headstalls.  But
+the others were not there, and as two horses could not drag a
+heavy Cape cart, I was obliged to continue the search.  Oh! what
+a hunt those beasts gave me.  Finding themselves free, for as
+Rodd's object was that they should stray, he had ordered the
+stable-boy not to kneel-halter them, after filling themselves
+with grass they had started off for the farm where they were
+bred, which, it seemed, was about fifty miles away, grazing as
+they went.  Of course I did not know this at the time, so for
+several hours I rode up and down the neighbouring kloofs, as the
+ground was too hard for me to hope to follow them by their spoor.
+
+It occurred to me to ask the boy where the horses came from, a
+question that he happened to be able to answer, as he had brought
+them home when they were bought the year before.  Having learned
+in what direction the place lay I rode for it at an angle, or
+rather for the path that led to it, making the boy run alongside,
+holding to my stirrup leather.  About three o'clock in the
+afternoon I struck this path, or rather track, at a point ten or
+twelve miles away from the Temple, and there, just mounting a
+rise, met the two horses quietly walking towards me.  Had I been
+a quarter of an hour later they would have passed and vanished
+into a sea of thorn-veld.  We caught them without trouble and
+once more headed homewards, leading them by their riems.
+
+Reaching the glade where the other two were tied up, we collected
+them also and returned to the house, where we arrived at five
+o'clock.  As everything seemed quiet I put my mare into the
+stable, slipped its bit and gave it some forage.  Then I went
+round the house, and to my great joy found Anscombe and Heda
+waiting anxiously, but with nothing to report, and with them
+Footsack.  Very hastily I swallowed some food, while Footsack
+inspanned the horses.  In a quarter of an hour all was ready.
+Then suddenly, in an inconsequent female fashion, Heda developed
+a dislike to leaving her father unburied.
+
+"My dear young lady," I said, "it seems that you must choose
+between that and our all stopping to be buried with him."
+
+She saw the point and compromised upon paying him a visit of
+farewell, which I left her to do in Anscombe's company, while I
+fetched my mare.  To tell the truth I felt as though I had seen
+enough of the unhappy Marnham, and not for #50 would I have
+entered that room again.  As I passed the door of the hospital,
+leading my horse, I heard the old Kaffir screaming within and
+sent the boy who was with me to find out what was the matter with
+him.  That was the last I saw of either of them, or ever shall
+see this side of kingdom come.  I wonder what became of them?
+
+When I got back to the front of the house I found the cart
+standing ready at the gate, Footsack at the head of the horses
+and Heda with Anscombe at her side.  It had been neatly packed
+during the day by Heda with such of her and our belongings as it
+would hold, including our arms and ammunition.  The rest, of
+course, we were obliged to abandon.  Also there were two baskets
+full of food, some bottles of brandy and a good supply of
+overcoats and wraps.  I told Footsack to take the reins, as I
+knew him to be a good driver, and helped Anscombe to a seat at
+his side, while Heda and the maid Kaatje got in behind in order
+to balance the vehicle.  I determined to ride, at any rate for
+the present.
+
+"Which way, Baas?" asked Footsack.
+
+"Down to the Granite Stream where the wagon stands," I answered.
+
+"That will be through the Yellow-wood Swamp.  Can't we take the
+other road to Pilgrim's Rest and Lydenburg, or to Barberton?"
+asked Anscombe in a vague way, and as I thought, rather
+nervously.
+
+"No," I answered, "that is unless you wish to meet those Basutos
+who stole the oxen and Dr. Rodd returning, if he means to
+return."
+
+"Oh! let us go through the Yellow-wood," exclaimed Heda, who, I
+think, would rather have met the devil than Dr. Rodd.
+
+Ah! if I had but known that we were heading straight for that
+person, sooner would I have faced the Basutos twice over.  But I
+did what seemed wisest, thinking that he would be sure to return
+with another doctor or a magistrate by the shorter and easier
+path which he had followed in the morning.  It just shows once
+more how useless are all our care and foresight, or how strong is
+Fate, have it which way you will.
+
+So we started down the slope, and I, riding behind, noted poor
+Heda staring at the marble house, which grew ever more beautiful
+as it receded and the roughness of its building disappeared,
+especially at that part of it which hid the body of her old scamp
+of a father whom still she loved.  We came down to the glen and
+once more saw the bones of the blue wildebeeste that we had
+shot--oh! years and years ago, or so it seemed.  Then we struck
+out for the Granite Stream.
+
+Before we reached the patch of Yellow-wood forest where I knew
+that the cart must travel very slowly because of the trees and
+the swampy nature of the ground, I pushed on ahead to
+reconnoitre, fearing lest there might be Basutos hidden in this
+cover.  Riding straight through it I went as far as the deserted
+wagon at a sharp canter, seeing nothing and no one.  Once indeed,
+towards the end of the wood where it was more dense, I thought
+that I heard a man cough and peered about me through the gloom,
+for here the rays of the sun, which was getting low in the
+heavens, scarcely penetrated.  As I could perceive no one I came
+to the conclusion that I must have been deceived by my fancy.  Or
+perhaps it was some baboon that coughed, though it was strange
+that a baboon should have come to such a low-lying spot where
+there was nothing for it to eat.
+
+The place was eerie, so much so that I bethought me of tales of
+the ghosts whereby it was supposed to be haunted.  Also, oddly
+enough, of Anscombe's presentiment which he had fulfilled by
+killing a Basuto.  Look! There lay his grinning skull with some
+patches of hair still on it, dragged away from the rest of the
+bones by a hyena.  I cantered on down the slope beyond the wood
+and through the scattered thorns to the stream on the banks of
+which the wagon should be.  It had gone, and by the freshness of
+the trail, within an hour or two.  A moment's reflection told me
+what had happened.  Having stolen our oxen the Basutos drove them
+to the wagon, inspanned them and departed with their loot.  On
+the whole I was glad to see this, since it suggested that they
+had retired towards their own country, leaving our road open.
+
+Turning my horse I rode back again to meet the cart.  As I
+reached the edge of the wood at the top of the slope I heard a
+whistle blown, a very shrill whistle, of which the sound would
+travel for a mile or two on that still air.  Also I heard the
+sound of men's voices in altercation and caught words, such
+as--"Let go, or by Heaven--!" then a furious laugh and other
+words which seemed to be--"In five minutes the Kaffirs will be
+here.  In ten you will be dead.  Can I help it if they kill you
+after I have warned you to turn back?"  Then a woman's scream.
+
+Rodd's voice, Anscombe's voice and Kaatje's scream--not Heda's
+but Kaatje's!
+
+Then as I rode furiously round the last patch of intervening
+trees the sound of a pistol shot.  I was out of them now and saw
+everything.  There was the cart on the further side of a swamp.
+The horses were standing still and snorting.  Holding the rein of
+one of the leaders was Rodd, whose horse also stood close by.  He
+was rocking on his feet and as I leapt from my mare and ran up, I
+saw his face.  It was horrible, full of pain and devilish rage.
+With his disengaged hand he pointed to Anscombe sitting in the
+cart and grasping a pistol that still smoked.
+
+"You've killed me," he said in a hoarse, choking voice, for he
+was shot through the lung, "to get her," and he waved his hand
+towards Heda who was peering at him between the heads of the two
+men.  "You are a murderer, as her father was, and as David was
+before you.  Well, I hope you won't keep her long.  I hope you'll
+die as I do and break her false heart, you damned thief."
+
+All of this he said in a slow voice, pausing between the words
+and speaking ever more thickly as the blood from his wound choked
+him.  Then of a sudden it burst in a stream from his lips, and
+still pointing with an accusing finger at Anscombe, he fell
+backwards into the slimy pool behind him and there vanished
+without a struggle.
+
+So horrible was the sight that the driver, Footsack, leapt from
+the cart, uttering a kind of low howl, ran to Rodd's horse,
+scrambled into the saddle and galloped off, striking it with his
+fist, where to I do not know.  Anscombe put his hand before his
+eyes, Heda sank down on the seat in a heap, and the coloured
+woman, Kaatje, beat her breast and said something in Dutch about
+being accursed or bewitched.  Luckily I kept my wits and went to
+the horses' heads, fearing lest they should start and drag the
+trap into the pool.  "Wake up," I said.  "That fellow has only
+got what he deserved, and you were quite right to shoot him."
+
+"I am glad you think so," answered Anscombe absently.  "It was so
+like murder.  Don't you remember I told you I should kill a man
+in this place and about a woman?"
+
+"I remember nothing," I answered boldly, "except that if we stop
+here much longer we shall have those Basutos on us.  That brute
+was whistling to them and holding the horses till they came to
+kill us.  Pull yourself together, take the reins and follow me."
+
+He obeyed, being a skilful whip enough who, as he informed me
+afterwards, had been accustomed to drive a four-in-hand at home.
+Mounting my horse, which stood by, I guided the cart out of the
+wood and down the slope beyond, till at length we came to our old
+outspan where I proposed to turn on to the wagon track which ran
+to Pilgrim's Rest.  I say proposed, for when I looked up it I
+perceived about five hundred yards away a number of armed Basutos
+running towards us, the red light of the sunset shining on their
+spears.  Evidently the scout or spy to whom Rodd whistled, had
+called them out of their ambush which they had set for us on the
+Pilgrim's Rest road in order that they might catch us if we tried
+to escape that way.
+
+Now there was only one thing to be done.  At this spot a native
+track ran across the little stream and up a steepish slope
+beyond.  On the first occasion of our outspanning here I had the
+curiosity to mount this slope, reflecting as I did so that
+although rough it would be quite practicable for a wagon.  At the
+top of it I found a wide flat plain, almost high-veld, for the
+bushes were very few, across which the track ran on.  On
+subsequent inquiry I discovered that it was one used by the
+Swazis and other natives when they made their raids upon the
+Basutos, or when bodies of them went to work in the mines.
+
+"Follow me," I shouted and crossed the stream which was shallow
+between the little pools, then led the way up the stony slope.
+The four horses negotiated it very well and the Cape cart, being
+splendidly built, took no harm.  At the top I looked back and saw
+that the Basutos were following us.
+
+"Flog the horses!" I cried to Anscombe, and off we went at a hand
+gallop along the native track, the cart swaying and bumping upon
+the rough veld.  The sun was setting now, in half an hour it
+would be quite dark.
+
+Could we keep ahead of them for that half hour?
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+
+
+FLIGHT
+
+
+
+
+
+The sun sank in a blaze of glory.  Looking back by the light of
+its last rays I saw a single native silhouetted against the red
+sky.  He was standing on a mound that we had passed a mile or
+more behind us, doubtless waiting for his companions whom he had
+outrun.  So they had not given up the chase.  What was to be
+done?  Once it was completely dark we could not go on.  We should
+lose our way; the horses would get into ant-bear holes and break
+their legs.  Perhaps we might become bogged in some hollow,
+therefore we must wait till the moon rose, which would not be for
+a couple of hours.
+
+Meanwhile those accursed Basutos would be following us even in
+the dark.  This would hamper them, no doubt, but they would keep
+the path, with which they were probably familiar, beneath their
+feet, and what is more, the ground being soft with recent rain,
+they could feel the wheel spoor with their fingers.  I looked
+about me.  Just here another track started off in a nor'-westerly
+direction from that which we were following.  Perhaps it ran to
+Lydenburg; I do not know.  To our left, not more than a hundred
+yards or so away, the higher veld came to an end and sloped in an
+easterly direction down to bush-land below.
+
+Should I take the westerly road which ran over a great plain?
+No, for then we might be seen for miles and cut off.  Moreover,
+even if we escaped the natives, was it desirable we should plunge
+into civilization just now and tell all our story, as in that
+case we must do.  Rodd's death was quite justified, but it had
+happened on Transvaal territory and would require a deal of
+explanation.  Fortunately there was no witness of it, except
+ourselves.  Yes, there was though--the driver Footsack, if he had
+got away, which, being mounted, would seem probable, a man who,
+for my part, I would not trust for a moment.  It would be an ugly
+thing to see Anscombe in the dock charged with murder and
+possibly myself, with Footsack giving evidence against us before
+a Boer jury who might be hard on Englishmen.  Also there was the
+body with a bullet in it.
+
+Suddenly there came into my mind a recollection of the very vivid
+dream of Zikali which had visited me, and I reflected that in
+Zululand there would be little need to trouble about the death of
+Rodd.  But Zululand was a long way off, and if we were to avoid
+the Transvaal, there was only one way of going there, namely
+through Swaziland.  Well, among the Swazis we should be quite
+safe from the Basutos, since the two peoples were at fierce
+enmity.  Moreover I knew the Swazi chiefs and king very well,
+having traded there, and could explain that I came to collect
+debts owing to me.
+
+There was another difficulty.  I had heard that the trouble
+between the English Government and Cetewayo, the Zulu king, was
+coming to a head, and that the High Commissioner, Sir Bartle
+Frere, talked of presenting him with an ultimatum.  It would be
+awkward if this arrived while we were in the country, though even
+so, being on such friendly terms with the Zulus of all classes, I
+did not think that I, or any with me, would run great risks.
+
+All these thoughts rushed through my brain while I considered
+what to do.  At the moment it was useless to ask the opinion of
+the others who were but children in native matters.  I and I
+alone must take the responsibility and act, praying that I might
+do so aright.  Another moment and I had made up my mind.
+
+Signing to Anscombe to follow me, I rode about a hundred yards or
+more down the nor'-westerly path.  Then I turned sharply along a
+rather stony ridge of ground, the cart following me all the time,
+and came back across our own track, my object being of course
+to puzzle any Kaffirs who might spoor us.  Now we were on the
+edge of the gentle slope that led down to the bush-veld.  Over
+this I rode towards a deserted cattle kraal built of stones, in
+the rich soil of which grew sundry trees; doubtless one of those
+which had been abandoned when Mosilikatze swept all this country
+on his way north about the year 1838.  The way to it was easy,
+since the surrounding stones had been collected to build the
+kraal generations before.  As we passed over the edge of the
+slope in the gathering gloom, Heda cried--
+
+"Look!" and pointed in the direction whence we came.  Far away a
+sheet of flame shot upwards.
+
+"The house is burning," she exclaimed.
+
+"Yes," I said, "it can be nothing else;" adding to myself, "a
+good job too, for now there will be no postmortem on old
+Marnham."
+
+Who fired the place I never learnt.  It may have been the
+Basutos, or Marnham's body-servant, or Footsack, or a spark from
+the kitchen fire.  At any rate it blazed merrily enough
+notwithstanding the marble walls, as a wood-lined and thatched
+building of course would do.  On the whole I suspected the boy,
+who may very well have feared lest he should be accused of having
+had a hand in his master's death.  At least it was gone, and
+watching the distant flames I bethought me that with it went all
+Heda's past.  Twenty-four hours before her father was alive, the
+bondservant of Rodd and a criminal.  Now he was ashes and Rodd
+was dead, while she and the man she loved were free, with all the
+world before them.  I wished that I could have added that they
+were safe.  Afterwards she told me that much the same ideas
+passed through her own mind.
+
+Dismounting I led the horses into the old kraal through the gap
+in the wall which once had been the gateway.  It was a large
+kraal that probably in bygone days had held the cattle of some
+forgotten head chief whose town would have stood on the brow of
+the rise; so large that notwithstanding the trees I have
+mentioned, there was plenty of room for the cart and horses in
+its centre.  Moreover, on such soil the grass grew so richly that
+after we had slipped their bits, the horses were able to fill
+themselves without being unharnessed.  Also a little stream from
+a spring on the brow ran within a few yards whence, with the help
+of Kaatje, a strong woman, I watered them with the bucket which
+hung underneath the cart.  Next we drank ourselves and ate some
+food in the darkness that was now complete.  Then leaving Kaatje
+to stand at the head of the horses in case they should attempt
+any sudden movement, I climbed into the cart, and we discussed
+things in low whispers.
+
+It was a curious debate in that intense gloom which, close as our
+faces were together, prevented us from seeing anything of each
+other, except once when a sudden flare of summer lightning
+revealed them, white and unnatural as those of ghosts.  On our
+present dangers I did not dwell, putting them aside lightly,
+though I knew they were not light.  But of the alternative as to
+whether we should try to escape to Lydenburg and civilization, or
+to Zululand and savagery, I felt it to be my duty to speak.
+
+"To put it plainly," said Anscombe in his slow way when I had
+finished, "you mean that in the Transvaal I might be tried as a
+murderer and perhaps convicted, whereas if we vanish into
+Zululand the probability is that this would not happen."
+
+"I mean," I whispered back, "that we might both be tried and, if
+Footsack should chance to appear and give evidence, find
+ourselves in an awkward position.  Also there is another
+witness--Kaatje, and for the matter of that, Heda herself.  Of
+course her evidence would be in our favour, but to make it
+understood by a jury she would have to explain a great deal of
+which she might prefer not to speak.  Further, at the best, the
+whole business would get into the English papers, which you and
+your relatives might think disagreeable, especially in view of
+the fact that, as I understand, you and Heda intend to marry."
+
+"Still I think that I would rather face it out," he said in his
+outspoken way, "even if it should mean that I could never return
+to England.  After all, of what have I to be afraid?  I shot this
+scoundrel because I was obliged to do so."
+
+"Yes, but it is of this that you may have to convince a jury who
+might possibly find a motive in Rodd's past, and your present,
+relationship to the same lady.  But what has she to say?"
+
+"I have to say," whispered Heda, "that for myself I care nothing,
+but that I could never bear to see all these stories about my
+poor father raked up.  Also there is Maurice to be considered.
+It would be terrible if they put him in prison--or worse.  Let us
+go to Zululand, Mr. Quatermain, and afterwards get out of Africa.
+Don't you agree, Maurice?"
+
+"What does Mr. Quatermain think himself?" he answered.  "He is
+the oldest and by far the wisest of us and I will be guided by
+him."
+
+Now I considered and said--
+
+"There is such a thing as flying from present troubles to others
+that may be worse, the 'ills we know not of.'  Zululand is
+disturbed.  If war broke out there we might all be killed.  On
+the other hand we might not, and it ought to be possible for you
+to work up to Delagoa Bay and there get some ship home, that is
+if you wish to keep clear of British law.  I cannot do so, as I
+must stay in Africa.  Nor can I take the responsibility of
+settling what you are to do, since if things went wrong, it would
+be on my head.  However, if you decide for the Transvaal or Natal
+and we escape, I must tell you that I shall go to the first
+magistrate we find and make a full deposition of all that has
+happened.  It is not possible for me to live with the charge of
+having been concerned in the shooting of a white man hanging over
+me that might be brought up at any time, perhaps when no one was
+left in the country to give evidence on my behalf, for then, even
+if I were acquitted my name would always be tarnished.  In
+Zululand, on the other hand, there are no magistrates before whom
+I could depose, and if this business should come out, I can
+always say that we went there to escape from the Basutos.  Now I
+am going to get down to see if the horses are all right.  Do you
+two talk the thing over and make up your minds.  Whatever you
+agree on, I shall accept and do my best to carry through."  Then,
+without waiting for an answer, I slipped from the cart.
+
+Having examined the horses, who were cropping all the grass
+within reach of them, I crept to the wall of the kraal so as to
+be quite out of earshot.  The night was now pitch dark, dark as
+it only knows how to be in Africa.  More, a thunderstorm was
+coming up of which that flash of sheet lightning had been a
+presage.  The air was electric.  From the vast bush-clad valley
+beneath us came a wild, moaning sound caused, I suppose, by wind
+among the trees, though here I felt none; far away a sudden spear
+of lightning stabbed the sky.  The brooding trouble of nature
+spread to my own heart.  I was afraid, and not of our present
+dangers, though these were real enough, so real that in a few
+hours we might all be dead.
+
+To dangers I was accustomed; for years they had been my daily
+food by day and by night, and, as I think I have said elsewhere,
+I am a fatalist, one who knows full well that when God wants me
+He will take me; that is if He can want such a poor, erring
+creature.  Nothing that I did or left undone could postpone or
+hasten His summons for a moment, though of course I knew it to be
+my duty to fight against death and to avoid it for as long as I
+might, because that I should do so was a portion of His plan.
+For we are all part of a great pattern, and the continuance or
+cessation of our lives re-acts upon other lives, and therefore
+life is a trust.
+
+No, it was of greater things that I felt afraid, things terrible
+and imminent which I could not grasp and much less understand.  I
+understand them now, but who would have guessed that on the issue
+of that whispered colloquy in the cart behind me, depended the
+fate of a people and many thousands of lives?  As I was to learn
+in days to come, if Anscombe and Heda had determined upon heading
+for the Transvaal, there would, as I believe, have been no Zulu
+war, which in its turn meant that there would have been no Boer
+Rebellion and that the mysterious course of history would have
+been changed.
+
+I shook myself together and returned to the cart.
+
+"Well," I whispered, but there was no answer.  A moment later
+there came another flash of lightning.
+
+"There," said Heda, "how many do you make it?
+
+"Ninety-eight," he answered.
+
+"I counted ninety-nine," she said, "but anyway it was within the
+hundred.  Mr. Quatermain, we will go to Zululand, if you please,
+if you will show us the way there."
+
+"Right,"  I answered, "but might I ask what that has to do with
+your both counting a hundred?"
+
+"Only this," she said, "we could not make up our minds.  Maurice
+was for the Transvaal, I was for Zululand.  So you see we agreed
+that if another flash came before we counted a hundred, we would
+go to Zululand, and if it didn't, to Pretoria.  A very good way
+of settling, wasn't it?"
+
+"Excellent!" I replied, "quite excellent for those who could
+think of such a thing."
+
+As a matter of fact I don't know which of them thought of it
+because I never inquired.  But I did remember afterwards how
+Anscombe had tossed with a lucky penny when it was a question
+whether we should or should not run for the wagon during our
+difficulty by the Oliphant's River; also when I asked him the
+reason for this strange proceeding he answered that Providence
+might inhabit a penny as well as anything else, and that he
+wished to give it--I mean Providence--a chance.  How much more
+then, he may have argued, could it inhabit a flash of lightning
+which has always been considered a divine manifestation from the
+time of the Roman Jove, and no doubt far before him.
+
+Forty or fifty generations ago, which is not long, our ancestors
+set great store by the behaviour of lightning and thunder, and
+doubtless the instinct is still in our blood, in the same way
+that all our existing superstitions about the moon come down to
+us from the time when our forefathers worshipped her.  They did
+this for tens of hundreds or thousands of years, and can we
+expect a few coatings of the veneer that we politely call
+civilization, which after all is only one of our conventions that
+vanish in any human stress such as war, to kill out the human
+impulse it seems to hide?  I do not know, though I have my own
+opinion, and probably these young people never reasoned the
+matter out.  They just acted on an intuition as ancient as that
+which had attracted them to each other, namely a desire to
+consult the ruling fates by omens or symbols.  Or perhaps
+Anscombe thought that as his experience with the penny had proved
+so successful, he would give Providence another "chance."  If so
+it took it and no mistake.  Confound it! I don't know what he
+thought; I only dwell on the matter because of the great results
+which followed this consultation of the Sybilline books of
+heaven.
+
+As it happened my speculations, if I really indulged in any at
+that time, were suddenly extinguished by the bursting of the
+storm.  It was of the usual character, short but very violent.
+Of a sudden the sky became alive with lightnings and the
+atmosphere with the roar of winds.  One flash struck a tree quite
+near the kraal, and I saw that tree seem to melt in its fiery
+embrace, while about where it had been, rose a column of dust
+from the ground beneath.  The horses were so frightened that
+luckily they stood quite quiet, as I have often known animals to
+do in such circumstances.  Then came the rain, a torrential rain
+as I, who was out in it holding the horses, became painfully
+aware.  It thinned after a while, however, as the storm rolled
+away.
+
+Suddenly in a silence between the tremendous echoes of the
+passing thunder I thought that I heard voices somewhere on the
+brow of the slope, and as the horses were now quite calm, I crept
+through the trees to that part of the enclosure which I judged to
+be nearest to them.
+
+Voices they were sure enough, and of the Basutos who were
+pursuing us.  What was more, they were coming down the slope.
+The top of the old wall reached almost to my chin.  Taking off my
+hat I thrust my head forward between two loose stones, that I
+might hear the better.
+
+The men were talking together in Sisutu.  One, whom I took to be
+their captain, said to the others--
+
+"That white-headed old jackal, Macumazahn, has given us the slip
+again.  He doubled on his tracks and drove the horses down the
+hillside to the lower path in the valley.  I could feel where the
+wheels went over the edge."
+
+"It is so, Father," answered another voice, "but we shall catch
+him and the others at the bottom if we get there before the moon
+rises, since they cannot have moved far in this rain and
+darkness.  Let me go first and guide you who know every tree and
+stone upon this slope where I used to herd cattle when I was a
+child."
+
+"Do so," said the captain.  "I can see nothing now the lightning
+has gone, and were it not that I have sworn to dip my spear in
+the blood of Macumazahn who has fooled us again, I would give up
+the hunt."
+
+"I think it would be better to give it up in any case," said a
+third voice, "since it is known throughout the land that no luck
+has ever come to those who tried to trap the Watcher-by-Night.
+Oh! he is a leopard who springs and is gone again.  How many are
+the throats in which his fangs have met.  Leave him alone, I say,
+lest our fate should be that of the white doctor in the
+Yellow-wood Swamp, he who set us on this hunt.  We have his wagon
+and his cattle; let us be satisfied."
+
+"I will leave him alone when he sleeps for the last time, and not
+before," answered the captain, "he who shot my brother in the
+drift the other day.  What would Sekukuni say if we let him
+escape to bring the Swazis on us?  Moreover, we want that white
+maiden for a hostage in case the English should attack us again.
+Come, you who know the road, and lead us."
+
+There was some disturbance as this man passed to the front.  Then
+I heard the line move forward.  Presently they were going by the
+wall within a foot or two of me.  Indeed by ill-luck just as we
+were opposite to each other the captain stumbled and fell against
+the wall.
+
+"There is an old cattle kraal here," he said.  "What if those
+white rats have hidden in it?"
+
+I trembled as I heard the words.  If a horse should neigh or make
+any noise that could be heard above the hiss of the rain! I did
+not dare to move for fear lest I should betray myself.  There I
+stood so close to the Kaffirs that I could smell them and hear
+the rain pattering on their bodies.  Only very stealthily I drew
+my hunting knife with my right hand.  At that moment the
+lightning, which I thought had quite gone by, flashed again for
+the last time, revealing the fat face of the Basuto captain
+within a foot of my own, for he was turned towards the wall on
+which one of his hands rested.  Moreover, the blue and ghastly
+light revealed mine to him thrust forward between the two stones,
+my eyes glaring at him.
+
+"The head of a dead man is set upon the wall!" he cried in
+terror.  "It is the ghost of--"
+
+He got no further, for as the last word passed his lips I drove
+the knife at him with all my strength deep into his throat.  He
+fell back into the arms of his followers, and next instant I
+heard the sound of many feet rushing in terror down the hill.
+What became of him I do not know, but if he still lives, probably
+he agrees with his tribesman that Macumazahn--Watcher-by-Night,
+or his ghost "is a leopard who springs and kills and is gone
+again"; also, that those who try to trap him meet with no luck.
+I say, or his ghost--because I am sure he thought that I was a
+spirit of the dead; doubtless I must have looked like one with my
+white, rain-drowned face appearing there between the stones and
+made ghastly and livid by the lightning.
+
+Well, they had gone, the whole band of them, not less than thirty
+or forty men, so I went also, back to the cart where I found the
+others very comfortable indeed beneath the rainproof tilt.
+Saying nothing of what had happened, of which they were as
+innocent as babes, I took a stiff tot of brandy, for I was
+chilled through by the wet, and while waiting for the moon to
+rise, busied myself with getting the bits back into the horses'
+mouths--an awkward job in the dark.  At length it appeared in a
+clear sky, for the storm had quite departed and the rain ceased.
+As soon as there was light enough I took the near leader by the
+bridle and led the cart to the brow of the hill, which was not
+easy under the conditions, making Kaatje follow with my horse.
+
+Then, as there were no signs of any Basutos, we started on again,
+I riding about a hundred yards ahead, keeping a sharp look-out
+for a possible ambush.  Fortunately, however, the veld was bare
+and open, consisting of long waves of ground.  One start I did
+get, thinking that I saw men's heads just on the crest of a wave,
+which turned out to be only a herd of springbuck feeding among
+the tussocks of grass.  I was very glad to see them, since their
+presence assured me that no human being had recently passed that
+way.
+
+All night long we trekked, following the Kaffir path for as long
+as I could see it, and after that going by my compass.  I knew
+whereabouts the drift of the Crocodile River should be, as I had
+crossed it twice before in my life, and kept my eyes open for a
+certain tall koppie which stood within half a mile it on the Swazi
+side of the river.  Ultimately to my joy I caught sight of this hill
+faintly outlined against the sky and headed for it.  Half a mile
+further on I struck a wagon-track made by Boers trekking into
+Swazi-Land to trade or shoot.  Then I knew that the drift was
+straight ahead of us, and called to Anscombe to flog up the
+weary horses.
+
+We reached the river just before the dawn.  To my horror it was
+very full, so full that the drift looked dangerous, for it had
+been swollen by the thunder-rain of the previous night.  Indeed
+some wandering Swazis on the further bank shouted to us that we
+should be drowned if we tried to cross.
+
+"Which means that the only thing to do is to stay until the water
+runs down," I said to Anscombe, for the two women, tired out,
+were asleep.
+
+"I suppose so," he answered, "unless those Basutos--"
+
+I looked back up the long slope down which we had come and saw no
+one.  Then I raised myself in my stirrups and looked along
+another track that joined the road just here, leading from the
+bush-veld, as ours led from the high-veld.  The sun was rising
+now, dispersing the mist that hung about the trees after the wet.
+Searching among these with my eyes, presently I perceived the
+light gleaming upon what I knew must be the points of spears
+projecting above the level of the ground vapour.
+
+"Those devils are after us by the lower road," I said to
+Anscombe, adding, "I heard them pass the old cattle kraal last
+night.  They followed our spoor over the edge of the hill, but in
+the dark lost it among the stones."
+
+He whistled and asked what was to be done.
+
+"That is for you to decide," I answered.  "For my part I'd rather
+risk the river than the Basutos," and I looked at the slumbering
+Heda.
+
+"Can we bolt back the way we came, Allan?"
+
+"The horses are very spent and we might meet more Basutos," and
+again I looked at Heda.
+
+"A hard choice, Allan.  It is wonderful how women complicate
+everything in life, because they are life, I suppose."  He
+thought a moment and went on, "Let's try the river.  If we fail,
+it will be soon over, and it is better to drown than be speared."
+
+"Or be kept alive by savages who hate us," I exclaimed, with my
+eyes still fixed upon Heda.
+
+Then I got to business.  There were hide riems on the bridles of
+the leaders.  I undid these and knotted their loose ends firmly
+together.  To them I made fast the riem of my own mare, slipping
+a loop I tied in it, over my right hand and saying--
+
+"Now I will go first, leading the horses.  Do you drive after me
+for all you are worth, even if they are swept off their feet.  I
+can trust my beast to swim straight, and being a mare, I hope
+that the horses will follow her as they have done all night.
+Wake up Heda and Kaatje."
+
+He nodded, and looking very pale, said--
+
+"Heda my dear, I am sorry to disturb you, but we have to get over
+a river with a rough bottom, so you and Kaatje must hang on and
+sit tight.  Don't be frightened, you are as safe as a church."
+
+"God forgive him for that lie," thought I to myself as, having
+tightened the girths, I mounted my mare.  Then gripping the riem
+I kicked the beast to a canter, Anscombe flogging up the team as
+we swung down the bank to the edge of the foaming torrent, on the
+further side of which the Swazis shouted and gesticulated to us
+to go back.
+
+We were in it now, for, as I had hoped, the horses followed the
+mare without hesitation.  For the first twenty yards or so all
+went well, I heading up the stream.  Then suddenly I felt that
+the mare was swimming.
+
+"Flog the horses and don't let them turn," I shouted to Anscombe.
+
+Ten more yards and I glanced over my shoulder.  The team was
+swimming also, and behind them the cart rocked and bobbed like a
+boat swinging in a heavy sea.  There came a strain on the riem;
+the leaders were trying to turn! I pulled hard and encouraged
+them with my voice, while Anscombe, who drove splendidly, kept
+their heads as straight as he could.  Mercifully they came round
+again and struck out for the further shore, the water-logged cart
+floating after them.  Would it turn over? That was the question
+in my mind.  Five seconds; ten seconds and it was still upright.
+Oh! it was going.  No, a fierce back eddy caught it and set it
+straight again.  My mare touched bottom and there was hope.  It
+struggled forward, being swept down the stream all the time.  Now
+the horses in the cart also found their footing and we were
+saved.
+
+No, the wet had caused the knot of one of the riems to slip
+beneath the strain, or perhaps it broke--I don't know.  Feeling
+the pull slacken the leaders whipped round on to the wheelers.
+There they all stood in a heap, their heads and part of their
+necks above water, while the cart floated behind them on its
+side.  Kaatje screamed and Anscombe flogged.  I leapt from my
+mare and struggled to the leaders, the water up to my chin.
+Grasping their bits I managed to keep them from turning further.
+But I could do no more and death came very near to us.  Had it
+not been for some of those brave Swazis on the bank it would have
+found us, every one.  But they plunged in, eight of them, holding
+each other's hands, and half-swimming, half-wading, reached us.
+They got the horses by the head and straightened them out, while
+Anscombe plied his whip.  A dash forward and the wheels were on
+the bottom again.
+
+Three minutes later we were safe on the further bank, which my
+mare had already reached, where I lay gasping on my face,
+ejaculating prayers of thankfulness and spitting out muddy water.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+
+
+NOMBE
+
+
+
+
+
+The Swazis, shivering, for all these people hate cold, and
+shaking themselves like a dog when he comes to shore, gathered
+round, examining me.
+
+"Why!" said one of them, an elderly man who seemed to be their
+leader, "this is none other than Macumazahn, Watcher-by-Night,
+the old friend of all us black people.  Surely the spirits of our
+fathers have been with us who might have risked our lives to save
+a Boer or a half-breed." (The Swazis, I may explain, did not like
+the Boers for reasons they considered sound.)
+
+"Yes," I said, sitting up, "it is I, Macumazahn."
+
+"Then why," asked the man, "did you, whom all know to be wise,
+show yourself to have suddenly become a fool?" and he pointed to
+the raging river.
+
+"And why," I asked, "do you show yourself a fool by supposing
+that I, whom you know to be none, am a fool?  Look across the
+water for your answer."
+
+He looked and saw the Basutos, fifty or more of them, arriving,
+just too late.
+
+"Who are these?" he asked.
+
+"They are the people of Sekukuni whom you should know well
+enough.  They have hunted us all night, yes, and before, seeking
+to murder us; also they have stolen our oxen, thirty-two fine
+oxen which I give to your king if he can take them back.  Now
+perhaps you understand why we dared the Crocodile River in its
+rage."
+
+At the name of Sekukuni the man, who it seemed was the captain of
+some border guards, stiffened all over like a terrier which
+perceives a rat.  "What!" he exclaimed, "do these dirty Basuto
+dogs dare to carry spears so near our country?  Have they not yet
+learned their lesson?"
+
+Then he rushed into the water, shaking an assegai he had snatched
+up, and shouted,
+
+"Bide a while, you fleas from the kaross of Sekukuni, till I can
+come across and crack you between my thumb and finger.  Or at the
+least wait until Macumazahn has time to get his rifle.  No, put
+down those guns of yours; for every shot you fire I swear that I
+will cut ten Basuto throats when we come to storm your koppies,
+as we shall do ere long."
+
+"Be silent," I said, "and let me speak."
+
+Then I, too, called across the river, asking where was that fat
+captain of theirs, as I would talk with him.  One of the men
+shouted back that he had stopped behind, very sick, because of a
+ghost that he had seen.
+
+"Ah!" I answered, "a ghost who pricked him in the throat.  Well,
+I was that ghost, and such are the things that happen to those
+who would harm Macumazahn and his friends.  Did you not say last
+night that he is a leopard who leaps out in the dark, bites and
+is gone again?"
+
+"Yes," the man shouted back, "and it is true, though had we
+known, O Macumazahn, that you were the ghost hiding in those
+stones, you should never have leapt again.  Oh! that white
+medicine-man who is dead has sent us on a mad errand."
+
+"So you will think when I come to visit you among your koppies.
+Go home and take a message from Macumazahn to Sekukuni, who
+believes that the English have run away from him.  Tell him that
+they will return again and these Swazis with them, and that then
+he will cease to live and his town will be burnt and his tribe
+will no more be a tribe.  Away now, more swiftly than you came,
+since the water by which you thought to trap us is falling, and a
+Swazi impi gathers to make an end of every one of you."
+
+The man attempted no answer, nor did his people so much as fire
+on us.  They turned tail and crept off like a pack of frightened
+jackals--pursued by the mocking of the Swazis.
+
+Still in a way they had the laugh of us, seeing that they gave us
+a terrible fright and stole our wagon and thirty-two oxen.  Well,
+a year or two later I helped to pay them back for that fright and
+even recovered some of the oxen.
+
+When they had gone the Swazis led us to a kraal about two miles
+from the river, sending on a runner with orders to make huts and
+food ready for us.  It was just as much as we could do to reach
+it, for we were all utterly worn out, as were the horses.  Still
+we did get there at last, the hot sun warming us as we went.
+Arrived at the kraal I helped Heda and Kaatje from the cart--the
+former could scarcely walk, poor dear--and into the guest hut
+which seemed clean, where food of a sort and fur karosses were
+brought to them in which to wrap themselves while their clothes
+dried.
+
+Leaving them in charge of two old women, I went to see to
+Anscombe, who as yet could not do much for himself, also to the
+outspanning of the horses which were put into a cattle kraal,
+where they lay down at once without attempting to eat the green
+forage which was given to them.  After this I gave our goods into
+the charge of the kraal-head, a nice old fellow whom I had never
+met before, and he led Anscombe to another hut close to that
+where the women were.  Here we drank some maas, that is curdled
+milk, ate a little mutton, though we were too fatigued to be very
+hungry, and stripping off our wet clothes, threw them out into
+the sun to dry.
+
+"That was a close shave," said Anscombe as he wrapped up in the
+kaross.
+
+"Very," I answered.  "So close that I think you must have been
+started in life with an extra strong guardian angel well
+accustomed to native ways."
+
+"Yes," he replied, "and, old fellow, I believe that on earth he
+goes by the name of Allan Quatermain."
+
+After this I remember no more, for I went to sleep, and so
+remained for about twenty-four hours.  This was not wonderful,
+seeing that for two days and nights practically I had not rested,
+during which time I went through much fatigue and many emotions.
+
+When at length I did wake up, the first thing I saw was Anscombe
+already dressed, engaged in cleaning my clothes with a brush from
+his toilet case.  I remember thinking how smart and incongruous
+that dressing-bag, made appropriately enough of crocodile hide,
+looked in this Kaffir hut with its silver-topped bottles and its
+ivory-handled razors.
+
+"Time to get up, Sir.  Bath ready, Sir," he said in his jolly,
+drawling voice, pointing to a calabash full of hot water.  "Hope
+you slept as well as I did, Sir."
+
+"You appear to have recovered your spirits," I remarked as I rose
+and began to wash myself.
+
+"Yes, Sir, and why not?  Heda is quite well, for I have seen her.
+These Swazis are very good people, and as Kaatje understands
+their language, bring us all we want.  Our troubles seem to be
+done with.  Old Marnham is dead, and doubtless cremated; Rodd is
+dead and, let us hope, in heaven; the Basutos have melted away,
+the morning is fine and warm and a whole kid is cooking for
+breakfast."
+
+"I wish there were two, for I am ravenous," I remarked.
+
+"The horses are getting rested and feeding well, though some of
+their legs have filled, and the trap is little the worse, for I
+have walked to look at them, or rather hopped, leaning on the
+shoulder of a very sniffy Swazi boy.  Do you know, old fellow, I
+believe there never were any Basutos; also that the venerable
+Marnham and the lurid Rodd had no real existence, that they were
+but illusions, a prolonged nightmare--no more.  Here is your
+shirt.  I am sorry that I have not had time to wash it, but it
+has cooked well in the sun, which, being flannel, is almost as
+good."
+
+"At any rate Heda remains," I remarked, cutting his nonsense
+short, "and I suppose she is not a nightmare or a delusion."
+
+"Yes, thank God! she remains," he replied with earnestness.  "Oh!
+Allan, I thought she must drown in that river, and if I had lost
+her, I think I should have gone mad.  Indeed, at the moment I
+felt myself going mad while I dragged and flogged at those
+horses."
+
+"Well, you didn't lose her, and if she had drowned, you would
+have drowned also.  So don't talk any more about it.  She is
+safe, and now we have got to keep her so, for you are not married
+yet, my boy, and there are generally more trees in a wood than
+one can see.  Still we are alive and well, which is more than we
+had any right to expect, and, as you say, let us thank God for
+that."
+
+Then I put on my coat and my boots which Anscombe had greased as
+he had no blacking, and crept from the hut.
+
+There, only a few yards away, engaged in setting the breakfast in
+the shadow of another hut on a tanned hide that served for a
+tablecloth while Kaatje saw to the cooking close by, I found
+Heda, still a little pale and sorrowful but otherwise quite well
+and rested.  Moreover, she had managed to dress herself very
+nicely, I suppose by help of spare clothes in the cart, and
+therefore looked as charming as she always did.  I think that her
+perfect manners were one of her greatest attractions.  Thus on
+this morning her first thought was to thank me very sweetly for
+all she was good enough to say I had done for her and Anscombe,
+thereby, as she put it, saving their lives several times over.
+
+"My dear young lady," I answered as roughly as I could, "don't
+flatter yourself on that point; it was my own life of which I was
+thinking."
+
+But she only smiled and, shaking her head in a fascinating way
+that was peculiar to her, remarked that I could not deceive her
+as I did the Kaffirs.  After this the solid Kaatje brought the
+food and we breakfasted very heartily, or at least I did.
+
+Now I am not going to set out all the details of our journey
+through Swazi-Land, for though in some ways it was interesting
+enough, also as comfortable as a stay among savages can be, for
+everywhere we were kindly received, to do so would be too long,
+and I must get on with my story.  At the king's kraal, which we
+did not reach for some days as the absence of roads and the
+flooded state of the rivers, also the need of sparing our horses,
+caused us to travel very slowly, I met a Boer who I think was
+concession hunting.
+
+He told me that things were really serious in Zululand, so
+serious that he thought there was a probability of immediate war
+between the English and the Zulus.  He said also that Cetewayo,
+the Zulu king, had sent messengers to stir up the Basutos and
+other tribes against the white men, with the result that Sekukuni
+had already made a raid towards Pilgrim's Rest and Lydenburg.
+
+I expressed surprise and asked innocently if he had done any
+harm.  The Boer replied he understood that they had stolen some
+cattle, killed two white men, if not more, and burnt their house.
+He added, however, that he was not sure whether the white men had
+been killed by the Kaffirs or by other white men with whom they
+had quarrelled.  There was a rumour to this effect, and he
+understood that the magistrate of Barberton had gone with some
+mounted police and armed natives to investigate the matter.
+
+Then we parted, as, having got his concession to which the king
+Umbandine had put his mark when he was drunk on brandy that the
+Boer himself had brought with him as a present, he was anxious to
+be gone before he grew sober and revoked it.  Indeed, he was in
+so great a hurry that he never stopped to inquire what I was
+doing in Swazi-Land, nor do I think he realized that I was not
+alone.  Certainly he was quite unaware that I had been mixed up
+in these Basuto troubles.  Still his story as to the
+investigation concerning the deaths of Marnham and Rodd made me
+uneasy, since I feared lest he should hear something on his
+journey and put two and two together, though as a matter of fact
+I don't think he ever did either of these things.
+
+The Swazis told me much the same story as to the brewing Zulu
+storm.  In fact an old Induna or councillor, whom I knew,
+informed me that Cetewayo had sent messengers to them, asking for
+their help if it should come to fighting with the white men, but
+that the king and councillors answered that they had always been
+the Queen's children (which was not strictly true, as they were
+never under English rule) and did not wish to "bite her feet if
+she should have to fight with her hands."  I replied that I hoped
+they would always act up to these fine words, and changed the
+subject.
+
+Now once more the question arose as to whether we should make for
+Natal or press on to Zululand.  The rumour of coming war
+suggested that the first would be our better course, while the
+Boer's story as to the investigation of Rodd's death pointed the
+other way.  Really I did not know which to do, and as usual
+Anscombe and Heda seemed inclined to leave the decision to me.  I
+think that after all Natal would have gained the day had it not
+been for a singular circumstance, not a flash of lightning this
+time.  Indeed, I had almost made up my mind to risk trouble and
+inquiry as to Rodd's death, remembering that in Natal these two
+young people could get married, which, being in loco parentis, I
+thought it desirable they should do as soon as possible, if only
+to ease me of my responsibilities.  Also thence I could attend to
+the matter of Heda's inheritance and rid myself of her father's
+will that already had been somewhat damaged in the Crocodile
+River, though not as much as it might have been since I had taken
+the precaution to enclose it in Anscombe's sponge bag before we
+left the house.
+
+The circumstance was this: On emerging from the cart one morning,
+where I slept to keep an eye upon the valuables, for it will be
+remembered that we had a considerable sum in gold with us, also
+Heda's jewels, a Swazi informed me that a messenger wished to see
+me.  I asked what messenger and whence did he come.  He replied
+that the messenger was a witch-doctoress named Nombe, and that
+she came from Zululand and said that I knew her father.
+
+I bade the man bring her to me, wondering who on earth she could
+be, for it is not usual for the Zulus to send women as
+messengers, and from whom she came.  However, I knew exactly what
+she would be like, some hideous old hag smelling horribly of
+grease and other abominations, with a worn snake skin and some
+human bones tied about her.
+
+Presently she came, escorted by the Swazi who was grinning, for I
+think he guessed what I expected to see.  I stared and rubbed my
+eyes, thinking that I must still be asleep, for instead of a fat
+old Isanusi there appeared a tall and graceful young woman,
+rather light-coloured, with deep and quiet eyes and a by no means
+ill-favoured face, remarkable for a fixed and somewhat mysterious
+smile.  She was a witch-doctoress sure enough, for she wore in
+her hair the regulation bladders and about her neck the circlet
+of baboon's teeth, also round her middle a girdle from which hung
+little bags of medicines.
+
+She contemplated me gravely and I contemplated her, waiting till
+she should choose to speak.  At length, having examined me inch
+by inch, she saluted by raising her rounded arm and tapering
+hand, and remarked in a soft, full voice--
+
+"All is as the picture told.  I perceive before me the lord
+Macumazahn."
+
+I thought this a strange saying, seeing that I could not
+recollect having given my photograph to any one in Zululand.
+
+"You need no magic to tell you that, doctoress," I remarked, "but
+where did you see my picture?"
+
+"In the dust far away," she replied.
+
+"And who showed it to you?"
+
+"One who knew you, O Macumazahn, in the years before I came out
+of the Darkness, one named Opener of Roads, and with him another
+who also knew you in those years, one who has gone down to the
+Darkness."
+
+Now for some occult reason I shrank from asking the name of this
+"one who had gone down to the Darkness," although I was sure that
+she was waiting for the question.  So I merely remarked, without
+showing surprise--
+
+"So Zikali still lives, does he?  He should have been dead long
+ago."
+
+"You know well that he lives, Macumazahn, for how could he die
+till his work was accomplished?  Moreover, you will remember that
+he spoke to you when last moon was but just past her full--in a
+dream, Macumazahn.  I brought that dream, although you did not
+see me."
+
+"Pish!" I exclaimed.  "Have done with your talk of dreams.  Who
+thinks anything of dreams?"
+
+"You do," she replied even more placidly than before, "you whom
+that dream has brought hither--with others."
+
+"You lie," I said rudely.  "The Basutos brought me here."
+
+"The Watcher-by-Night is pleased to say that I lie, so doubtless
+I do lie," she answered, her fixed smile deepening a little.
+Then she folded her arms across her breast and remained silent.
+
+"You are a messenger, O seer of pictures in the dust and bearer
+of the cup of dreams," I said with sarcasm.  "Who sends a message
+by your lips for me, and what are the words of the message?"
+
+"My Lords the Spirits spoke the message by the mouth of the
+master Zikali.  He sends it on to you by the lips of your
+servant, the doctoress Nombe."
+
+"Are you indeed a doctoress, being so young?" I asked, for
+somehow I wished to postpone the hearing of that message.
+
+"O Macumazahn, I have heard the call, I have felt the pain in my
+back, I have drunk of the black medicine and of the white
+medicine, yes, for a whole year. I have been visited by the
+multitude of Spirits and seen the shades of those who live and of
+those who are dead.  I have dived into the river and drawn my
+snake from its mud; see, its skin is about me now," and opening
+the mantle she wore she showed what looked like the skin of a
+black mamba, fastened round her slender body.  "I have dwelt in
+the wilderness alone and listened to its voices.  I have sat at
+the feet of my master, the Opener of Roads, and looked down the
+road and drunk of his wisdom.  Yes, I am in truth a doctoress."
+
+"Well, after all this, you should be as wise as you are pretty."
+
+"Once before, Macumazahn, you told a maid of my people that she
+was pretty and she came to no good end; though to one that was
+great.  Therefore do not say to me that I am pretty, though I am
+glad that you should think so who can compare me with so many
+whom you have known," and she dropped her eyes, looking a little
+shy.
+
+It was the first human touch I had seen about her, and I was glad
+to have found a weak spot in her armour.  Moreover, from that
+moment she was always my friend.
+
+"As you will, Nombe.  Now for your message."
+
+"My Lords the Spirits, speaking through Zikali as one who makes
+music speak through a pipe of reeds, say--"
+
+"Never mind what the spirits say.  Tell me what Zikali says," I
+interrupted.
+
+"So be it, Macumazahn.  These are the words of Zikali: 'O
+Watcher-by-Night, the time draws on when the
+Thing-who-should-never-have-been-born will be as though he never
+had been born, whereat he rejoices.  But first there is much for
+him to do, and as he told you nearly three hundred moons ago, in
+what must be done you will have your part.  Of that he will speak
+to you afterwards.  Macumazahn, you dreamed a dream, did you not,
+lying asleep in the house that was built of white stone which now
+is black with fire?  I, Zikali, sent you that dream through the
+arts of a child of mine who is named Nombe, she to whom I have
+given a Spirit to guide her feet.  You did well to follow it,
+Macumazahn, for had you tried the other path, which would have
+led you back to the towns of the white men, you and those with
+you must have been killed, how it does not matter.  Now by the
+mouth of Nombe I say to you, do not follow the thought that is in
+your mind as she speaks to you and go to Natal, since if you do
+so, you and those with you will come to much shame and trouble
+that to you would be worse than death, over the matter of the
+killing of a certain white doctor in a swamp where grow
+yellow-wood trees.  For there in Natal you will be taken, all of
+you, and sent back to the Transvaal to be tried before a man who
+wears upon his head horse's hair stained white.  But if you come
+to Zululand this shadow shall pass away from you, since great
+things are about to happen which will cause so small a matter to
+be forgot.  Moreover, I Zikali, who do not lie, promise this:
+That however great may be their dangers here in Zululand, those
+half-fledged ones whom you, the old night-hawk, cover with your
+wings, shall in the end suffer no harm; those of whom I spoke to
+you in your dream, the white lord, Mauriti, and the white lady,
+Heddana, who stretch out their arms one to another.  I wait to
+welcome you, here at the Black Kloof, whither my daughter Nombe
+will guide you.  Cetewayo, the king, also will welcome you, and
+so will another whose name I do not utter.  Now choose.  I have
+spoken.'"
+
+Having delivered her message Nombe stood quite still, smiling as
+before, and apparently indifferent as to its effect.
+
+"How do I know that you come from Zikali?" I asked.  "You may be
+but the bait set upon a trap."
+
+From somewhere within her robe she produced a knife and handed it
+to me, remarking--
+
+"The Master says you will remember this, and by it know that the
+message comes from him.  He bade me add that with it was carved a
+certain image that once he gave to you at Panda's kraal, wrapped
+round with a woman's hair, which image you still have."
+
+I looked at the knife and did remember it, for it was one of
+those of Swedish make with a wooden handle, the first that I had
+ever seen in Africa.  I had made a present of it to Zikali when I
+returned to Zululand before the war between the Princes.  The
+image, too, I still possessed.  It was that of the woman called
+Mameena who brought about the war, and the wrapping which covered
+it was of the hair that once grew upon her head.
+
+"The words are Zikali's," I said, returning her the knife, "but
+why do you call yourself the child of one who is too old to be a
+father?"
+
+"The Master says that my great-grandmother was his daughter and
+that therefore I am his child.  Now, Macumazahn, I go to eat with
+my people, for I have servants with me.  Then I must speak with
+the Swazi king, for whom I also have a message, which I cannot do
+at present because he is still drunk with the white man's liquor.
+After that I shall be ready to return with you to Zululand."
+
+"I never said that I was going to Zululand, Nombe."
+
+"Yet your heart has gone there already, Macumazahn, and you must
+follow your heart.  Does not the image which was carved with the
+knife you gave, hold a white heart in its hand, and although it
+seems to be but a bit of Umzimbeete wood, is it not alive and
+bewitched, which perhaps is why you could never make up your mind
+to burn it, Macumazahn?"
+
+"I wish I had," I replied angrily; but having thrown this last
+spear, with a flash of her unholy eyes Nombe had turned and gone.
+
+A clever woman and thoroughly coached, thought I.  Well, Zikali
+was never one to suffer fools, and doubtless she is another of
+the pawns whom he uses on his board of policy.  Oh! she, or
+rather he was right; my heart was in Zululand, though not in the
+way he thought, and I longed to see the end of that great game
+played by a wizard against a despot and his hosts.
+
+So we went to Zululand because after talking it over we all came
+to the conclusion that this was the best thing to do, especially
+as there we seemed to be sure of a welcome.  For later in the day
+Nombe repeated to Anscombe and Heda the invitation which she had
+delivered to me, assuring them also that in Zululand they would
+come to no harm.
+
+It was curious to watch the meeting between Heda and Nombe.  The
+doctoress appeared just as we had risen from breakfast, and Heda,
+turning round, came face to face with her.
+
+"Is this your witch, Mr. Quatermain?" she asked me in her
+vivacious way.  "Why, she is different from what I expected,
+quite good-looking and, yes, impressive.  I am not sure that she
+does not frighten me a little."
+
+"What does the Inkosikaasi (i.e., the chieftainess) say
+concerning me, Macumazahn?" asked Nombe.
+
+"Only what I said, that you are young who she thought would be
+old, and pretty who she thought would be ugly."
+
+"To grow old we must first be young, Macumazahn, and in due
+season all of us will become ugly, even the Inkosikaasi.  But I
+thought she said also that she feared me."
+
+"Do you know English, Nombe?"
+
+"Nay, but I know how to read eyes, and the Inkosikaasi has eyes
+that talk.  Tell her that she has no reason to fear me who would
+be her friend, though I think that she will bring me little
+luck."
+
+It was scarcely necessary, so far as Heda was concerned, but I
+translated, leaving out the last sentence.
+
+"Say to her that I am grateful who have few friends, and that I
+will fear her no more," said Heda.
+
+Again I translated, whereon Nombe stretched out her hand,
+saying--
+
+"Let her not scorn to take it, it is clean.  It has brought no
+man to his death--" Here she looked at Heda meaningly.
+"Moreover, though she is white and I am black, I like herself am
+of high blood and come of a race of warriors who did nothing
+small, and lastly, we are of an age, and if she is beautiful, I
+am wise and have gifts great as her own."
+
+Once more I interpreted for the benefit of Anscombe, for Heda
+understood Zulu well enough, although she had pretended not to do
+so, after which the two shook hands, to Anscombe's amusement and
+my wonder.  For I felt this scene to be strained and one that
+hid, or presaged, something I did not comprehend.
+
+"This is the Chief she loves?" said Nombe to me, studying
+Anscombe with her steady eyes after Heda had gone.  "Well, he is
+no common man and brave, if idle; one, too, who may grow tall in
+the world, should he live, when he has learned to think.  But,
+Macumazahn, if she met you both at the same time why did she not
+choose you?"
+
+"Just now you said you were wise, Nombe," I replied laughing,
+"but now I see that, like most of your trade, you are but a vain
+boaster.  Is there a hat upon my head that you cannot see the
+colour of my hair, and is it natural that youth should turn to
+age?"
+
+"Sometimes if the mind is old, Macumazahn, which is why I love
+the Spirits only who are more ancient than the mountains, and
+with them Zikali their servant, who was young before the Zulus
+were a people, or so he says, and still year by year gathers
+wisdom as the bee gathers honey.  Inspan your horses, Macumazahn,
+for I have done my business and am ready to start."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+
+
+ZIKALI
+
+
+
+
+
+Ten days had gone by when once more I found myself drawing near
+to the mouth of the Black Kloof where dwelt Zikali the Wizard.
+Our journey in Zululand had been tedious and uneventful.  It
+seemed to me that we met extraordinarily few people; it was as
+though the place had suddenly become depopulated, and I even
+passed great kraals where there was no one to be seen.  I asked
+Nombe what was the meaning of this, for she and three silent men
+she had with her were acting as our guides.  Once she answered
+that the people had moved because of lack of food, as the season
+had been one of great scarcity owing to drought, and once that
+they had been summoned to a gathering at the king's kraal near
+Ulundi.  At any rate they were not there, and the few who did
+appear stared at us strangely.
+
+Moreover, I noticed that they were not allowed to speak to us.
+Also Heda was kept in the cart and Nombe insisted that the rear
+canvas curtain should be closed and a blanket fastened behind
+Anscombe who drove, evidently with the object that she should not
+be seen.  Further, on the plea of weariness, from the time that
+we entered Zulu territory Nombe asked to be allowed to ride in
+the cart with Kaatje and Heda, her real reason, as I was sure,
+being that she might keep a watch on them.  Lastly we travelled
+by little-frequented tracks, halting at night in out-of-the-way
+places, where, however, we always found food awaiting us,
+doubtless by arrangement.
+
+With one man whom I had known in past days and who recognized me,
+I did manage to have a short talk.  He asked me what I was doing
+in Zululand at that time.  I replied that I was on a visit to
+Zikali, whereon he said I should be safer with him than with any
+one else.
+
+Our conversation went no further, for just then one of Nombe's
+servants appeared and made some remark to the man of which I
+could not catch the meaning, whereon he promptly turned and
+deported, leaving me wondering and uneasy.
+
+Evidently we were being isolated, but when I remonstrated with
+Nombe she only answered with her most unfathomable smile--
+
+"O Macumazahn, you must ask Zikali of all these things.  I am no
+one and know nothing, who only do what the Master tells me is for
+your good."
+
+"I am minded to turn and depart from Zululand," I said angrily,
+"for in this low veld whither you have led us there is fever and
+the horses will catch sickness or be bitten by the tsetse fly and
+perish."
+
+"I cannot say, Macumazahn, who only travel by the road the Master
+pointed out.  Yet if you will be guided by me, you will not try
+to leave Zululand."
+
+"You mean that I am in a trap, Nombe."
+
+"I mean that the country is full of soldiers and that all white
+men have fled from it.  Therefore, even if you were allowed to
+pass because the Zulus love you, Macumazahn, it might well happen
+that those with you would stay behind, sound asleep, Macumazahn,
+for which, like you, I should be sorry."
+
+After this I said no more, for I knew that she meant to warn me.
+We had entered on this business and must see it through to its
+end, sweet or bitter.
+
+As for Anscombe and Heda their happiness seemed to be complete.
+The novelty of the life charmed them, and of its dangers they
+took no thought, being content to leave me, in whom they had a
+blind faith, to manage everything.  Moreover, Heda, who in the
+joy of her love was beginning to forget the sorrow of her
+father's death and the other tragic events through which she had
+just passed, took a great fancy to the young witch-doctoress who
+conversed with her in Zulu, a language of which, having lived so
+long in Natal, Heda knew much already.  Indeed, when I suggested
+to her that to be over-trusting was not wise, she fired up and
+replied that she had been accustomed to natives all her life and
+could judge them, adding that she had every confidence in Nombe.
+
+After this I held my tongue and said no more of my doubts.  What
+was the use since Heda would not listen to them, and at that time
+Anscombe was nothing but her echo?
+
+So this, for me, very dull journey continued, till at length,
+after being held up for a couple of days by a flooded river where
+there was nothing to do but sit and smoke, as Nombe requested me
+not to make a noise by shooting at the big game that abounded, we
+began to emerge from the bush-veld on to the lovely uplands in
+the neighbourhood of Nongoma.  Leaving these on our right we
+headed for a place called Ceza, a natural stronghold consisting
+of a flat plain on the top of a mountain, which plain is
+surrounded by bush.  It is at the foot of this stronghold that
+the Black Kloof lies, being one of the ravines that run up into
+the mountain.
+
+So thither we came at last.  It was drawing towards sunset, a
+tremendous and stormy sunset, as we approached the place, and lo!
+it looked exactly as it had done when first I saw it more than a
+score of years before, forbidding as the mouth of hell, vast and
+lonesome.  There stood the columns of boulders fantastically
+piled one upon another; there grew the sparse trees upon its
+steep sides, mingled with aloes that looked like the shapes of
+men; there was the granite bottom swept almost clean by floods in
+some dim age, and the little stream that flowed along it.  There,
+too, was the spot where once I had outspanned my wagons on the
+night when my servants swore that they saw the Imikovu, or
+wizard-raised spectres, floating past them on the air in the
+shapes of the Princes and others who were soon to fall at the
+battle of the Tugela.  Up it we went, I riding and Nombe, who had
+descended from the cart that followed, walking by my side and
+watching me.
+
+"You seem sad, Macumazahn," she said at length.
+
+"Yes, Nombe, I am sad.  This place makes me so."
+
+"Is it the place, Macumazahn, or is it the thought of one whom
+once you met in the place, one who is dead?"
+
+I looked at her, pretending not to understand, and she went on--
+
+"I have the gift of vision, Macumazahn, which comes at times to
+those of my trade, and now and again, amongst others, I have
+seemed to see the spirit of a certain woman haunting this kloof
+as though she were waiting for some one."
+
+"Indeed, and what may that woman be like?" I inquired carelessly.
+
+"As it chances I can see her now gliding backwards in front of you
+just there, and therefore am able to answer your question,
+Macumazahn.  She is tall and slender, beautifully made, and
+light-coloured for one of us black people.  She has large eyes
+like a buck, and those eyes are full of fire that does not come
+from the sun but from within.  Her face is tender yet proud, oh!
+so proud that she makes me afraid.  She wears a cloak of grey
+fur, and about her neck there is a circlet of big blue beads with
+which her fingers play.  A thought comes from her to me.  These
+are the words of the thought: 'I have waited long in this dark
+place, watching by day and night till you, the Watcher-by-Night,
+return to meet me here.  At length you have come, and in this
+enchanted place my hungry spirit can feed upon your spirit for a
+while.  I thank you for coming, who now am no more lonely.  Fear
+nothing, Macumazahn, for by a certain kiss I swear to you that
+till the appointed hour when you become as I am, I will be a
+shield upon your arm and a spear in your hand.'  Such are the
+words of her thought, Macumazahn, but she has gone away and I
+hear no more.  It was as though your horse rode over her and she
+passed through you."
+
+Then, like one who wished to answer no questions, Nombe turned
+and went back to the cart, where she began to talk indifferently
+with Heda, for as soon as we entered the kloof her servants had
+drawn back the curtains and let fall the blanket.  As for me, I
+groaned, for of course I knew that Zikali, who was well
+acquainted with the appearance of Mameena, had instructed Nombe
+to say all this to me in order to impress my mind for some reason
+of his own.  Yet he had done it cleverly, for such words as those
+Mameena might well have uttered could her great spirit have need
+to walk the earth again.  Was such a thing possible, I wondered?
+No, it was not possible, yet it was true that her atmosphere
+seemed to cling about this place and that my imagination, excited
+by memory and Nombe's suggestions, seemed to apprehend her
+presence.
+
+As I reflected the horse advanced round the little bend in the
+ever-narrowing cliffs, and there in front of me, under the
+gigantic mass of overhanging rock, appeared the kraal of Zikali
+surrounded by its reed fence.  The gate of the fence was open, and
+beyond it, on his stool in front of the large hut, sat Zikali.
+Even at that distance it was impossible to mistake his figure,
+which was like no other that I had known in the world.  A
+broad-shouldered dwarf with a huge head, deep, sunken eyes and
+snowy hair that hung upon his shoulders; the whole frame and face
+pervaded with an air of great antiquity, and yet owing to the
+plumpness of the flesh and that freshness of skin which is
+sometimes seen in the aged, comparatively young-looking.
+
+Such was the great wizard Zikali, known throughout the land for
+longer than any living man could remember as "Opener of Roads," a
+title that referred to his powers of spiritual vision, also as
+the "Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," a name given to him
+by Chaka, the first and greatest of the Zulu kings, because of
+his deformity.
+
+There he sat silent, impassive, staring open-eyed at the red ball
+of the setting sun, looking more like some unshapely statue than
+a man.  His silent, fierce-faced servants appeared.  To me they
+looked like the same men whom I had seen here three and twenty
+years before, only grown older.  Indeed, I think they were, for
+they greeted me by name and saluted by raising their broad
+spears.  I dismounted and waited while Anscombe, whose foot was
+now quite well again, helped Heda from the cart which was led
+away by the servants.  Anscombe, who seemed a little oppressed,
+remarked that this was a strange place.
+
+"Yes," said Heda, "but it is magnificent.  I like it."
+
+Then her eye fell upon Zikali seated before the hut and she
+turned pale.
+
+"Oh! what a terrible-looking man," she murmured, "if he is a
+man."
+
+The maid Kaatje saw him also and uttered a little cry.
+
+"Don't be frightened, dear," said Anscombe, "he is only an old
+dwarf."
+
+"I suppose so," she exclaimed doubtfully, "but to me he is like
+the devil."
+
+Nombe slid past us.  She threw off the kaross she wore and for
+the first time appeared naked except for the mucha about her
+middle and her ornaments.  Down she went on her hands and knees
+and in this humble posture crept towards Zikali.  Arriving in
+front of him she touched the ground with her forehead, then
+lifting her right arm, gave the salute of Makosi, to which as a
+great wizard he was entitled, being supposed to be the home of
+many spirits.  So far as I could see he took no notice of her.
+Presently she moved and squatted herself down on his right hand,
+while two of his attendants appeared from behind the hut and took
+their stand between him and its doorway, holding their spears
+raised.  About a minute later Nombe beckoned to us to approach,
+and we went forward across the courtyard, I a little ahead of the
+others.  As we drew near Zikali opened his mouth and uttered a
+loud and terrifying laugh.  How well I remembered that laugh
+which I had first heard at Dingaan's kraal as a boy after the
+murder of Retief and the Boers.*
+
+[*--See the book called _Marie,_ by H. Rider Haggard.]
+
+"I begin to think that you are right and that this old gentleman
+must be the devil," said Anscombe to Heda, then lapsed into
+silence.
+
+As I was determined not to speak first I took the opportunity to
+fill my pipe.  Zikali, who was watching me, although all the
+while he seemed to be staring at the setting sun, made a sign.
+One of the servants dashed away and immediately returned, bearing
+a flaming brand which he proffered to me as a pipe-lighter.  Then he
+departed again to bring three carved stools of red wood which he
+placed for us.  I looked at mine and knew it again by the
+carvings.  It was the same on which I had sat when first I met
+Zikali.  At length he spoke in his deep, slow voice.
+
+"Many years have gone by, Macumazahn, since you made use of that
+stool.  They are cut in notches upon the leg you hold and you may
+count them if you will."
+
+I examined the leg.  There were the notches, twenty-two or three
+of them.  On the other legs were more notches too numerous to
+reckon.
+
+"Do not look at those, Macumazahn, for they have nothing to do
+with you.  They tell the years since the first of the House of
+Senzangacona sat upon that stool, since Chaka sat upon it, since
+Dingaan and others sat upon it, one Mameena among them.  Well,
+much has happened since it served you for a rest.  You have
+wandered far and seen strange things and lived where others would
+have died because it was your lot to live, of all of which we
+will talk afterwards.  And now when you are grey you have come
+back here, as the Opener of Roads told you you would do, bringing
+with you new companions, you who have the art of making friends
+even when you are old, which is one given to few men.  Where are
+those with whom you used to company, Macumazahn?  Where are
+Saduko and Mameena and the rest?  All gone except the
+Thing-who-should-never-have-been-born," and again he laughed
+loudly.
+
+"And who it seems has never learned when to die," I remarked,
+speaking for the first time.
+
+"Just so, Macumazahn, because I cannot die until my work is
+finished.  But thanks be to the spirits of my fathers and to my
+own that I live on to glut with vengeance, the end draws near at
+last, and as I promised you in the dead days, you shall have your
+share in it, Macumazahn."
+
+He paused, then continued, still staring at the sinking sun,
+which made his remarks about us, whom he did not seem to see,
+uncanny--
+
+"That white man with you is brave and well-born, one who loves
+fighting, I think, and the maiden is fair and sweet, with a high
+spirit.  She is thinking to herself that I am an old wizard whom,
+if she were not afraid of me, she would ask to tell her her
+fortune.  See, she understands and starts.  Well, perhaps I will
+one day.  Meanwhile, here is a little bit of it.  She will have
+five children, of whom two will die and one will give her so much
+trouble that she will wish it had died also.  But who their
+father will be I do not say.  Nombe my child, lead away this
+White One and her woman to the hut that has been made ready for
+her, for she is weary and would rest.  See, too, that she lacks
+for nothing which we can give her who is our guest.  Let the
+white lord, Mauriti, accompany her to the hut and be shown that
+next to it in which he and Macumazahn will sleep, so that he may
+be sure that she is safe, and attend to the horses if he wills.
+There is a place to tether them behind the huts, and the men who
+travelled with you will help him.  Afterwards, when I have spoken
+with him, Macumazahn can join them that they may eat before they
+sleep."
+
+These directions I translated to Anscombe, who went gladly enough
+with Heda, for I think they were both afraid of the terrible old
+dwarf and did not desire his company in the gathering gloom.
+
+"The sun sinks once more, Macumazahn," he said when they were
+gone, "and the air grows chill.  Come with me now into my hut
+where the fire burns, for I am aged and the cold strikes through
+me.  Also there we can be alone."
+
+So speaking he turned and crawled into the hut, looking like a
+gigantic white-headed beetle as he did so, a creature, I
+remembered, to which I had once compared him in the past.  I
+followed, carrying the historic stool, and when he had seated
+himself on his kaross on the further side of the fire, took up my
+position opposite to him.  This fire was fed with some kind of
+root or wood that gave a thin clear flame with little or no
+smoke.  Over it he crouched, so closely that his great head
+seemed to be almost in the flame at which he stared with
+unblinking eyes as he had done at the sun, circumstances which
+added to his terrifying appearance and made me think of a certain
+region and its inhabitants.
+
+"Why do you come here, Macumazahn?" he asked after studying me
+for a while through that window of fire.
+
+"Because you brought me, Zikali, partly through your messenger,
+Nombe, and partly by means of a dream which she says you sent."
+
+"Did I, Macumazahn?  If so, I have forgotten it.  Dreams are as
+many as gnats by the water; they bite us while we sleep, but when
+we wake up we forget them.  Also it is foolishness to say that
+one man can send a dream to another."
+
+"Then your messenger lied, Zikali, especially as she added that
+she brought it."
+
+"Of course she lied, Macumazahn.  Is she not my pupil whom I have
+trained from a child?  Moreover, she lied well, it would seem,
+who guessed what sort of a dream you would have when you thought
+of turning your steps to Zululand."
+
+"Why do you play at sticks (i.e., fence) with me, Zikali, seeing
+that neither of us are children?"
+
+"O Macumazahn, that is where you are mistaken, seeing that both
+of us, old though we be and cunning though we think ourselves,
+are nothing but babes in the arms of Fate.  Well, well, I will
+tell you the truth, since it would be foolish to try to throw
+dust into such eyes as yours.  I knew that you were down in
+Sekukuni's country and I was watching you--through my spies.  You
+have been nowhere during all these years that I was not watching
+you--through my spies.  For instance, that Arab-looking man named
+Harut, whom first you met at a big kraal in a far country, was a
+spy of mine.  He has visited me lately and told me much of your
+doings.  No, don't ask me of him now who would talk to you of
+other matters--"
+
+"Does Harut still live then, and has he found a new god in place
+of the Ivory Child?" I interrupted.
+
+"Macumazahn, if he did not live, how could he visit and speak
+with me?  Well, I watched you there by the Oliphant's River where
+you fought Sekukuni's people, and afterwards in the marble hut
+where you found the old white man dead in his chair and got the
+writings that you have in your pocket which concern the maiden
+Heddana; also afterwards when the white man, your friend, killed
+the doctor who fell into a mud hole and the Basutos stole his
+cattle and wagon."
+
+"How do you know all these things, Zikali?"
+
+"Have I not told you--through my spies.  Was there not a
+half-breed driver called Footsack, and do not the Basutos come
+and go between the Black Kloof and Sekukuni's town, bearing me
+tidings?"
+
+"Yes, Zikali, and so does the wind and so do the birds."
+
+"True!  O Macumazahn, I see that you are one who has watched
+Nature and its ways as closely as my spies watch you.  So I
+learned these matters and knew that you were in trouble over the
+death of these white men, and your friends likewise, and as you
+were always dear to me, I sent that child Nombe to bring you to
+me, thinking from what I knew of you that you would be more
+likely to follow a woman who is both wise and good to look at,
+than a man who might be neither.  I told her to say to you that
+you and the others would be safer here than in Natal at present.
+It seems that you hearkened and came.  That is all."
+
+"Yes, I hearkened and came.  But, Zikali, that is not all, for
+you know well that you sent for me for your own sake, not for
+mine."
+
+"O Macumazahn, who can prevent a needle from piercing cloth when
+it is pushed by a finger like yours?  Your wits are too sharp for
+me, Macumazahn; your eyes read through the blanket of cunning
+with which I would hide my thought.  You speak truly.  I did send
+for you for my own sake as well as for yours.  I sent for you
+because I wanted your counsel, Macumazahn, and because Cetewayo
+the king also wants your counsel, and I wished to see you before
+you saw Cetewayo.  Now you have the whole truth."
+
+"What do you want my counsel about, Zikali?"
+
+He leaned forward till his white locks almost seemed to mingle
+with the thin flame, through which he glared at me with eyes that
+were fiercer than the fire.
+
+"Macumazahn, you remember the story that I told you long ago, do
+you not?"
+
+"Very well, Zikali.  It was that you hate the House of
+Senzangacona which has given all its kings to Zululand.  First,
+because you are one of the Dwandwe tribe whom the Zulus crushed
+and mocked at.  Secondly, because Chaka the Lion named you the
+'Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born' and killed your wives,
+for which crime you brought about the death of Chaka.  Thirdly,
+because you have matched your single wit for many years against
+all the power of the royal House and yet kept your life in you,
+notably when Panda threatened you in my presence at the trial of
+one who has 'gone down,' and you told him to kill you if he
+dared.  Now you would prove that you were right by causing your
+cunning to triumph over the royal House."
+
+"True, quite true, O Macumazahn.  You have a good memory,
+Macumazahn, especially for anything that has to do with that
+woman who has 'gone down.'  I sent her down, but how was she
+named, Macumazahn?  I forget, I forget, whose mind being old,
+falls suddenly into black pits of darkness--like her who went
+down."
+
+He paused and we stared at each other through the veil of fire.
+Then as I made no answer, he went on--
+
+"Oh! I remember now, she was called Mameena, was she not, a name
+taken from the wailing of the wind?  Hark!  It is wailing now."
+
+I listened; it was, and I shivered to hear it, since but a minute
+before the night had been quite still.  Yes, the wind moaned and
+wailed about the rocks of the Black Kloof.
+
+"Well, enough of her.  Why trouble about the dead when there are
+so many to be sent to join them?  Macumazahn, the hour is at
+hand.  The fool Cetewayo has quarrelled with your people, the
+English, and on my counsel.  He has sent and killed women, or
+allowed others to do so, across the river in Natal.  His
+messengers came to me asking what he should do.  I answered,
+'Shall a king of the blood of Chaka fear to allow his own wicked
+ones to be slain because they have stepped across a strip of
+water, and still call himself king of the Zulus?'  So those women
+were dragged back across the water and killed; and now the
+Queen's man from the Cape asks many things, great fines of
+cattle, the giving up of the slayers, and that an end should be
+made of the Zulu army, which is to lay down its spears and set to
+hoeing like the old women in the kraals."
+
+"And if the king refuses, what then, Zikali?"
+
+"Then, Macumazahn, the Queen's man will declare war on the Zulus;
+already he gathers his soldiers for the war."
+
+"Will Cetewayo refuse, Zikali?"
+
+"I do not know.  His mind swings this way and that, like a pole
+balanced on a rock.  The ends of the pole are weighted with much
+counsel, and it hangs so even that if a grasshopper lit on one
+end or the other, it would turn the scale."
+
+"And do you wish me to be that grasshopper, Zikali?"
+
+"Who else?  That is why I brought you to Zululand."
+
+"So you wish me to counsel Cetewayo to lie down in the bed that
+the English have made for him.  If he seeks my advice I will do
+so gladly, for so I am sure he will sleep well."
+
+"Why do you mock me, Macumazahn?  I wish you to counsel Cetewayo
+to throw back his word into the teeth of the Queen's man and to
+fight the English."
+
+"And thus bring destruction on the Zulus and death to thousands
+of them and of my own people, and in return gain nothing but
+remorse.  Do you think me mad or wicked, or both, that I should
+do this thing?"
+
+"Nay, Macumazahn, you would gain much.  I could show you where
+the king's cattle are hidden.  The English will never find them,
+and after the war you might take as many as you chose.  But it
+would be useless, for knowing you well, I am sure that you would
+only hand them over to the British Government, as once you handed
+over the cattle of Bangu, being fashioned that way by the
+Great-Great, Macumazahn."
+
+"Perhaps I might, but then what should I gain, Zikali?"
+
+"This: you would so bring things about that, being broken by war,
+the Zulu power could never again menace the white men, which
+would be a great and good deed, Macumazahn."
+
+"Mayhap--I am not sure.  But of this I am sure, that I will not
+thrust my face into your nest of wasps, that the English hornets
+may steal the honey when they are disturbed.  I leave such
+matters to the Queen and those who rule under her.  So have done
+with such talk, for you do but waste your breath, Zikali."
+
+"It is as I guessed it would be," he answered, shaking his great
+head.  "You are too honest to prosper in the world, Macumazahn.
+Well, I must find other means to bring the House of Cetewayo to
+the end that he deserves, who has been an evil and a cruel king."
+
+All this he said, showing neither surprise nor resentment, which
+convinced me of what I had suspected throughout, that never for
+an instant did he believe that I should fall in with his
+suggestions and try to influence the Zulus to declare war.  No,
+this talk of his was but a blind; there was some deeper scheme at
+work in his cunning old brain which he was hiding from me.  Why
+exactly had he beguiled me to Zululand?  I could not divine, and
+to ask him would be worse than useless, but then and there I made
+up my mind that I would get away from the Black Kloof early on
+the following morning, if that were possible.
+
+He began to speak of other matters in a low, droning voice, like
+a man who converses with himself.  Sad, all of them, such as the
+haunted death of Saduko who had betrayed his lord, the Prince
+Umbelazi, because of a woman, every circumstance of which seemed
+to be familiar to him.
+
+I made no answer, who was waiting for an opportunity to leave the
+hut, and did not care to dwell on these events.  He ceased and
+brooded for a while, then said suddenly--
+
+"You are hungry and would eat, Macumazahn, and I who eat little
+would sleep, for in sleep the multitudes of Spirits visit me,
+bringing tidings from afar.  Well, we have spoken together and of
+that I am glad, for who knows when the chance will come again,
+though I think that soon we shall meet at Ulundi, Ulundi where
+Fate spreads its net.  What was it I had to say to you?  Ah! I
+remember.  There is one who is always in your thoughts and whom
+you wish to see, one too who wishes to see you.  You shall, you
+shall in payment for the trouble you have taken in coming so far
+to visit a poor old Zulu doctor whom, as you told me long ago,
+you know to be nothing but a cheat."
+
+He paused and, why I could not tell, I grew weak with fear of I
+knew not what, and bethought me of flight.
+
+"It is cold in this hut, is it not?" he went on.  "Burn up, fire,
+burn up!" and plunging his hand into a catskin bag of medicines
+which he wore, he drew out some powder which he threw upon the
+embers that instantly burst into bright flame.
+
+"Look now, Macumazahn," he said, "look to your right."
+
+I looked and oh Heaven! there before me with outstretched arms
+and infinite yearning on her face, stood Mameena, Mameena as I
+had last seen her after I gave her the promised kiss that she
+used to cover her taking of the poison.  For five seconds,
+mayhap, she stood thus, living, wonderful, but still as death,
+the fierce light showing all.  Then the flame died down again and
+she was gone.
+
+I turned and next instant was out of the hut, pursued by the
+terrible laughter of Zikali.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+
+
+TRAPPED
+
+
+
+
+
+Outside in the cool night air I recovered myself, sufficiently at
+any rate to be able to think, and saw at once that the thing was
+an illusion for which Zikali had prepared my mind very carefully
+by means of the young witch-doctoress, Nombe.  He knew well
+enough that this remarkable woman, Mameena, had made a deep
+impression on me nearly a quarter of a century before, as she had
+done upon other men with whom she had been associated.  Therefore
+it was probable that she would always be present to my thought,
+since whatever a man forgets, he remembers the women who have
+shown him favour, true or false, for Nature has decreed it thus.
+
+Moreover, this was one to be remembered for herself, since she
+was beautiful and most attractive in her wild way.  Also she had
+brought about a great war, causing the death of thousands, and
+lastly her end might fairly be called majestic.  All these
+impressions Zikali had instructed Nombe to revivify by her
+continual allusions to Mameena, and lastly by her pretence that
+she saw her walking in front of me.  Then when I was tired and
+hungry, in that place which for me was so closely connected with
+this woman, and in his own uncanny company, either by mesmerism
+or through the action of the drug he threw upon the fire, he had
+succeeded in calling up the illusion of her presence to my
+charmed sight.  All this was clear enough, what remained obscure
+was his object.
+
+Possibly he had none beyond an impish desire to frighten me,
+which is common enough among practitioners of magic in all lands.
+Well, for a little while he had succeeded, although to speak
+truth I remained uncertain whether in a sense I was not more
+thrilled and rejoiced than frightened.  Mameena had never been so
+ill to look upon, and I knew that dead or living I had nothing to
+fear from her who would have walked through hell fire for my
+sake, would have done anything, except perhaps sacrifice her
+ambition.  No, even if this were her ghost I should have been
+glad to see her again.
+
+But it was not a ghost; it was only a fancy reproduced exactly as
+my mind had photographed her, almost as my eyes last saw her,
+when her kiss was still warm upon my lips.
+
+Such were my thoughts as I stood outside that hut with the cold
+perspiration running down my face, for to tell the truth my
+nerves were upset, although without reason.  So upset were they
+that when suddenly a silent-footed man appeared out of the
+darkness I jumped as high as though I had set my foot on a
+puff-adder, and until I recognized him by his voice as one of
+Nombe's servants who had accompanied us from Swazi-Land, felt
+quite alarmed.  As a matter of fact he had only come to tell me
+that our meal was ready and that the other "high White Ones" were
+waiting for me.
+
+He led me round the fence that encircled Zikali's dwelling-place,
+to two huts that stood nearly behind it, almost against the face
+of the rock which, overhanging in a curve, formed a kind of
+natural roof above them.  I thought they must have been built
+since I visited the place, as I, who have a good memory for such
+things, did not remember them.  Indeed, on subsequent examination
+I found that they were quite new, for the poles that formed their
+uprights were still green and the grass of the thatch was
+scarcely dry.  It looked to me as if they had been specially
+constructed for our accommodation.
+
+In one of these huts, that to the right which was allotted to
+Anscombe and myself, I found the others waiting for me, also the
+food.  It was good of its sort and well cooked, and we ate it by
+the light of some candles that we had with us, Kaatje serving us.
+Yet, although a little while before I had been desperately
+hungry, now my appetite seemed to have left me and I made but a
+poor meal.  Heda and Anscombe also seemed oppressed and ate
+sparingly.  We did not talk much until Kaatje had taken away the
+tin plates and gone to eat her own supper by a fire that burned
+outside the hut.  Then Heda broke out, saying that she was
+terrified of this place and especially of its master, the old
+dwarf, and felt sure that something terrible was going to happen
+to her.  Anscombe did his best to calm her, and I also told her
+she had nothing to fear.
+
+"If there is nothing to fear, Mr. Quatermain," she answered,
+turning on me, "why do you look so frightened yourself?  By your
+face you might have seen a ghost."
+
+This sudden and singularly accurate thrust, for after all I had
+seen something that looked very like a ghost, startled me, and
+before I could invent any soothing and appropriate fib, Nombe
+appeared, saying that she had come to lead Heda to her
+sleeping-place.  After this further conversation was impossible
+since, although Nombe knew but few words of English, she was a
+great thought-reader and I feared to speak of anything secret in
+her presence.  So we all went out of the hut, Nombe and I drawing
+back a little to the fire while the lovers said good-night to
+each other.
+
+"Nombe," I said, "the Inkosikazi Heddana is afraid.  The rocks of
+this kloof lie heavy on her heart; the face of the Opener of
+Roads is fearful to her and his laughter grates upon her ears.
+Do you understand?"
+
+"I understand, Macumazahn, and it is as I expected.  When you
+yourself are frightened it is natural that she, an untried
+maiden, should be frightened also in this home of spirits."
+
+"It is men we fear, not spirits, now when all Zululand is boiling
+like a pot," I replied angrily.
+
+"Have it as you will, Macumazahn," she said, and at that moment
+her quiet, searching eyes and fixed smile were hateful to me.
+"At least you admit that you do fear.  Well, for the lady Heddana
+fear nothing.  I sleep across the door of her hut, and while I
+who have learned to love her, live, I say--for her fear nothing,
+whatever may chance or whatever you may see or hear."
+
+"I believe you, but, Nombe, you might die."
+
+"Yes, I may die, but be sure of this, that when I die she will be
+safe, and he who loves her also.  Sleep well, Macumazahn, and do
+not dream too much of what you heard and saw in Zikali's house."
+
+Then before I could speak she turned and left me.
+
+I did _not_ sleep well; I slept very badly.  To begin with,
+Maurice Anscombe, generally the most cheerful and nonchalant of
+mortals with a jest for every woe, was in a most depressed
+condition, and informed me of it several times, while I was
+getting ready to turn in.  He said he thought the place hateful
+and felt as if people he could not see were looking at him (I had
+the same sensation but did not mention the fact to him).  When I
+told him he was talking stuff, he only replied that he could not
+help it, and pointed out that it was not his general habit to be
+downcast in any danger, which was quite true.  Now, he added, he
+was enjoying much the same sensations as he did when first he saw
+the Yellow-wood Swamp and got the idea into his head that he
+would kill some one there, which happened in due course.
+
+"Do you mean that you think you are going to kill somebody else?"
+I asked anxiously.
+
+"No," he answered, "I think I am going to be killed, or something
+like it, probably by that accursed old villain of a witch-doctor,
+who I don't believe is altogether human."
+
+"Others have thought that before now, Anscombe, and to be plain,
+I don't know that he is.  He lives too much with the dead to be
+like other people."
+
+"And with Satan, to whom I expect he makes sacrifices.  The truth
+is I'm afraid of his playing some of his tricks with Heda.  It is
+for her I fear, not for myself, Allan.  Oh! why on earth did you
+come here?"
+
+"Because you wished it and it seemed the safest thing to do.
+Look here, my boy, as usual the trouble comes through a woman.
+When a man's single--you know the rest.  You used to be able to
+laugh at anything, but now that you are practically double you
+can't laugh any more.  Well, that's the common lot of man and
+you've got to put up with it.  Adam was pretty jolly in his
+garden until Eve was started, but you know what happened
+afterwards.  The rest of his life was a compound of temptation,
+anxiety, family troubles, remorse, hard labour with primitive
+instruments, and a flaming sword behind him.  If you had left
+your Eve alone you would have escaped all this.  But you see you
+didn't, and as a matter of fact, nobody ever does who is worth
+his salt, for Nature has arranged it so."
+
+"You appear to talk with experience, Allan," he retorted blandly.
+"By the way, that girl Nombe, when she isn't star-gazing or
+muttering incantations, is always trying to explain to Heda some
+tale about you and a lady called Mameena.  I gather that you were
+introduced to her in this neighbourhood where, Nombe says, you
+were in the habit of kissing her in public, which sounds an odd
+kind of a thing to do; all of which happened before she, Nombe,
+was born.  She adds, according to Kaatje's interpretation, that
+you met her again this afternoon, which, as I understand the
+young woman has been long dead, seems so incomprehensible that I
+wish you would explain."
+
+"With reference to Heda," I said, ignoring the rest as unworthy
+of notice, "I think you may make your mind easy.  Zikali knows
+that she is in my charge and I don't believe that he wants to
+quarrel with me.  Still, as you are uncomfortable here, the best
+thing to do will be to get away as early as possible to-morrow
+morning, where to we can decide afterwards.  And now I am going
+to sleep, so please stop arguing."
+
+As I have already hinted, my attempts in the sleep line proved a
+failure, for whenever I did drop off I was pursued by bad dreams,
+which resulted from lying down so soon after supper.  I heard the
+cries of desperate men in their mortal agony.  I saw a
+rain-swollen river; its waters were red with blood.  I beheld a
+vision of one who I knew by his dress to be a Zulu king, although
+I could not see his face.  He was flying and staggering with
+weariness as he fled.  A great hound followed him.  It lifted its
+head from the spoor; it was that of Zikali set upon the hound's
+body, Zikali who laughed instead of baying.  Then one whose
+copper ornaments tinkled as she walked, entered beside me,
+whispering into my ear.  "A quarter of a hundred years have gone
+by since we talked together in this haunted kloof," she seemed to
+whisper, "and before we talk again face to face there remain to
+pass of years"--
+
+Here she ceased, though naturally I should have liked to hear the
+number.  But that is just where dreams break down.  They tell us
+only of what we know, or can evolve therefrom.  Of what it is
+impossible for us to know they tell us nothing--at least as a
+general rule.
+
+I woke up with a start, and feeling stifled in that hot place and
+aggravated by the sound of Anscombe's peaceful breathing, threw a
+coat about me and, removing the door-board, crept into the air.
+The night was still, the stars shone, and at a little distance
+the embers of the fire still glowed.  By it was seated a figure
+wrapped in a kaross.  The end of a piece of wood that the fire
+had eaten through fell on to the red ashes and flamed up
+brightly.  By its light I saw that the figure was Nombe's.  The
+eternal smile was still upon her face, the smile which suggested
+a knowledge of hidden things that from moment to moment amused
+her soul.  Her lips moved as though she were talking to an
+invisible companion, and from time to time, like one who acts
+upon directions, she took a pinch of ashes and blew them, either
+towards Heda's hut or ours.  Yes, she did this when all decent
+young women should have been asleep, like one who keeps some
+unholy, midnight assignation.
+
+Talking with her master, Zikali, or trying to cast spells upon
+us, confound her! thought I to myself, and very silently crept
+back into the hut.  Afterwards it occurred to me that she might
+have had another motive, namely of watching to see that none of
+us left the huts.
+
+The rest of the night went by somehow.  Once, listening with all
+my ears, I thought that I caught the sound of a number of men
+tramping and of some low word of command, but as I heard no more,
+concluded that fancy had deceived me.  There I lay, puzzling over
+the situation till my head ached, and wondering how we were to
+get clear of the Black Kloof and Zikali, and out of Zululand
+which I gathered was no place for white people at the moment.
+
+It seemed to me that the only thing was to make start for Dundee
+on the Natal border, and for the rest to trust to fortune.  If we
+got into trouble over the death of Rodd, unpleasant as this would
+be, the matter must be faced out, that was all.  For even if any
+witness appeared against us, the man had been killed in
+self-defence whilst trying to bring about our deaths at the hands
+of Basutos.  I could see now that I was foolish not to have taken
+this line from the first, but as I think I have already
+explained, what weighed with me was the terror of involving these
+young people in a scandal which might shadow all their future
+lives.  Also some fate inch by inch had dragged me into Zululand.
+Fortunately in life there are few mistakes, and even worse than
+mistakes that cannot be repaired, if the wish towards reparation
+is real and earnest.  Were it otherwise not many of us would
+escape destruction in one form or another.
+
+Thus I reflected until at length light flowing faintly through
+the smoke-hole of the hut told me that dawn was at hand.  Seeing
+it I rose quietly, for I did not wish to wake Anscombe, dressed
+and left the hut.  My object was to find Nombe, who I hoped would
+be still sitting by the fire, and send her to Zikali with a
+message that I wished to speak with him at once.  Glancing round
+me in the grey dawn I saw that she was gone and that as yet no
+one seemed to be stirring.  Hearing a horse snort at a little
+distance, I made my way towards the sound and in a little bay of
+the overhanging cliff discovered the cart and near by our beasts
+tied up with a plentiful supply of forage.  Since so far as I
+could judge in that uncertain light, nothing seemed to be wrong
+with them except weariness, for three of them were still lying
+down, I walked on to the gate of the fence which surrounded
+Zikali's big hut, proposing to wait there until some one appeared
+by whom I could send my message.
+
+I reached the gate which I tried and found to be fastened on its
+inner side.  Then I sat down, lit my pipe and waited.  It was
+extraordinarily lonesome in that place; at least this was the
+feeling that came over me.  No doubt the sun was up behind the
+Ceza Stronghold that I have mentioned, which towered high behind
+me, for the sky above grew light with the red rays of its rising.
+But all the vast Black Kloof with its huge fantastic rocks was
+still plunged in gloom, whereof the shadows seemed to oppress my
+heart, weary as I was with my wakeful night and many anxieties.
+I was horribly nervous also and, as it proved, not without
+reason.  Presently I heard rustlings on the further side of the
+fence as of people creeping about cautiously, and the sound of
+whispering.  Then of a sudden the gate was thrown open and
+through it emerged about a dozen Zulu warriors, all of them
+ringed men, who instantly surrounded me, seated there upon the
+ground.
+
+I looked at them and they looked at me for quite a long while,
+since following my usual rule, I determined not to be the first
+to speak.  Moreover, if they meant to kill me there was no use in
+speaking.  At length their leader, an elderly man with thin legs,
+a large stomach and a rather pleasant countenance, saluted
+politely, saying--
+
+"Good morning, O Macumazahn."
+
+"Good morning, O Captain, whose name and business I do not know,"
+I answered.
+
+"The winds know the mountain on which they blow, but the mountain
+does not know the winds which it cannot see," he remarked with
+poetical courtesy; a Zulu way of saying that more people are
+acquainted with Tom Fool than Tom Fool is aware of.
+
+"Perhaps, Captain; yet the mountain can feel the winds," and I
+might have added, smell them, for the Kloof was close and these
+Kaffirs had not recently bathed.
+
+"I am named Goza and come on an errand from the king, O
+Macumazahn."
+
+"Indeed, Goza, and is your errand to cut my throat?"
+
+"Not at present, Macumazahn, that is, unless you refuse to do
+what the king wishes."
+
+"And what does the king wish, Goza?"
+
+"He wishes, Macumazahn, that you, his friend, should visit him."
+
+"Which is just what I was on my way to do, Goza."  (This was not
+true, but it didn't matter, for, if a lie, in the words of the
+schoolgirl's definition, is an abomination to the Lord, it is a
+very present help in time of trouble.)  "After we have eaten I
+and my friends will accompany you to the king's kraal at Ulundi."
+
+"Not so, Macumazahn.  The king said nothing about your friends,
+of whom I do not think he has ever heard any more than we have.
+Moreover, if your friends are white, you will do well not to
+mention them, since the order is that all white people in
+Zululand who have not come here by the king's desire, are to be
+killed at once, except yourself, Macumazahn."
+
+"Is it so, Goza?  Well, as you will have understood, I am quite
+alone here and have no friends.  Only I did not wish to travel so
+early."
+
+"Of course we understand that you are quite alone and have no
+friends, is it not so, my brothers?"
+
+"Yes, yes, we understand," they exclaimed in chorus, one of them
+adding, "and shall so report to the King."
+
+"What kind of blankets do you like; the plain grey ones or the
+white ones with the blue stripes?" I asked, desiring to confirm
+them in this determination.
+
+"The grey ones are warmer, Macumazahn, and do not show dirt so
+much," answered Goza thoughtfully.
+
+"Good, I will remember when I have the chance."
+
+"The promise of Macumazahn is known from of old to be as a tree
+that elephants cannot pull down and white ants will not eat,"
+said the sententious Goza, thereby intimating his belief that
+some time or other they would receive those blankets.  As a
+matter of fact the survivors of the party and the families of the
+others did receive them after the war, for in dealing with
+natives I have always made a point of trying to fulfil any
+promise or engagement made for value received.
+
+"And now," went on Goza, "will the Inkosi be pleased to start, as
+we have to travel far to-day?"
+
+"Impossible," I replied.  "Before I leave I must eat, for who can
+journey upon yesterday's food?  Also I must saddle my horse,
+collect what belongs to me, and bid farewell to my host, Zikali."
+
+"Of meat we have plenty with us, Macumazahn, and therefore you
+will not hunger on the way.  Your horse and everything that is
+yours shall be brought after you; since were you mounted on that
+swift beast and minded to escape, how could we catch you with our
+feet, and did you please to shoot us with your rifle, how could
+we who have only spears, save ourselves from dying?  As for the
+Opener of Roads, his servants have told us that he means to sleep
+all to-day that he may talk with spirits in his dreams, and
+therefore it is useless for you to wait to bid him farewell.
+Moreover, the orders of the king are that we should bring you to
+him at once."
+
+After this for a time there was silence, while I sat immovable
+revolving the situation, and the Zulus regarded me with a
+benignant interest.  Goza took his snuff-box from his ear, shook
+out some into the palm of his hand and, after offering it to me
+in vain, inhaled it himself.
+
+"The orders of the king are (sneeze) that we should bring you to
+him alive if possible, and if not (sneeze) dead.  Choose which
+you will, Macumazahn.  Perhaps you may prefer to go to Ulundi
+dead, which would--ah! how strong is this snuff, it makes me weep
+like a woman--save you the trouble of walking.  But if you prefer
+that we should carry you, be so good, Macumazahn, first to write
+the words which will cause the grey blankets to be delivered to
+us, for we know well that even your bones would desire to keep
+your promise.  Is it not a proverb in the land from the time of
+the slaying of Bangu when you gave the cattle you had earned to
+Saduko's wanderers?"
+
+I listened and an idea occurred to me, as perhaps it had to Goza.
+
+"I hear you, Goza," I said, "and I will start for Ulundi on my
+feet--to save _you_ the trouble of carrying me.  But as the times
+are rough and accidents may always happen; as, too, I wish to
+make sure that you should get those blankets, and it may chance
+that I shall arrive there on my back, first I will write words
+which, if they are delivered to the witch-doctoress Nombe, will,
+sooner or later, turn into blankets."
+
+"Write the words quickly, Macumazahn, and they will be
+delivered," said Goza.
+
+So I drew out my pocket-book and wrote--
+
+
+"DEAR ANSCOMBE,--
+
+"There is treachery afoot and I think that Zikali is at the
+bottom of it.  I am being carried off to Cetewayo at Ulundi, by a
+party of armed Zulus who will not allow me to communicate with
+you, probably by Zikali's orders.  You must do the best you can
+for Heda and yourself.  Escape to Natal if you are able.  Of
+course I will help if I get the chance, but if war is about to
+break out Cetewayo may kill me.  I think that you can trust
+Nombe; also that Zikali does not wish to work you any ill unless
+he is obliged, though I have no doubt that he has trapped us here
+for some dark purpose of his own.  Tell him through Nombe that if
+harm comes to you I will kill him if I live, and that if I die, I
+will settle the score with him afterwards.  God save and bless
+you both.  Keep up your courage and use your wits.
+
+"Your friend,
+
+"A. Q."
+
+
+I tore out the sheet, folded, addressed it and presented it to
+Goza, remarking that although it seemed to be but paper, it
+really was fourteen blankets--if given at once to Nombe.
+
+He nodded and handed it to one of his men, who departed in the
+direction of our huts.  So, thought I to myself, Nombe knows all
+about this business, which means that it is being worked by
+Zikali.  That is why she spoke to me as she did last night.
+
+"It is time to start, Macumazahn, and I think you told us that
+you would prefer to do so on your feet," said Goza, looking
+suggestively at his spear.
+
+"I am ready," I said, rising because I must.  For a moment I
+contemplated the door in the kraal fence, wondering whether it
+would be safe to bolt through it and take refuge with Zikali.
+No, it was not safe, since Zikali sat there in his hut pulling
+the strings and probably might refuse to see me.  Moreover, it
+was likely enough that before I could find him one of those broad
+spears would find my heart.  There was nothing to be done except
+submit.  Still I did call out in a loud voice--
+
+"Farewell, Zikali.  I leave you without a present against my will
+who am being taken by soldiers to visit the king at Ulundi.  When
+we meet again I will talk all this matter over with you."
+
+There was no answer, and as Goza took the opportunity to say that
+he disliked the noise of shouting extremely, which sometimes made
+him do things that he afterwards regretted, I became silent.
+Then we departed, I in the exact centre of that guard of Zulus,
+heavy-hearted and filled with fears both for myself and those I
+left behind me.
+
+Down the Black Kloof we tramped, emerging on the sunlit plain
+beyond without meeting any one.  A couple of miles further on we
+came to a small stream where Goza announced we would halt to eat.
+So we ate of cold toasted meat which one of the men produced from
+a basket he carried, unpalatable food but better than nothing.
+Just as we had finished I looked up and saw the soldier to whom
+my note had been given.  He was leading my mare that had been
+saddled.  On it were my large saddle-bags packed with my
+belongings, also my thick overcoat, mackintosh, waterbottle, and
+other articles down to a bag of tobacco, a spare pipe and a box
+of wax matches.  Moreover, the man carried my double-barrelled
+Express rifle and a shot-gun that could be used for ball,
+together with two bags of cartridges.  Practically nothing
+belonging to me had been forgotten.
+
+I asked him who had collected the things.  He replied the
+doctress Nombe had done so and had brought him the horse saddled
+to carry them.  He did not know who saddled the horse as he had
+seen no one but Nombe to whom he had given the writing which she
+hid away.  In answer to further questions, he said that Nombe had
+sent me a message.  It was--
+
+"I bid farewell to Macumazahn for a little while and wish him
+good fortune till we meet again.  Let him not be afraid in the
+battle, for even if he is hurt it will not be to death, since
+those go with him whom he cannot see, and protect him with their
+shields.  Say to Macumazahn that I, Nombe, remember in the
+morning what I said in the night and that what seems to be quite
+lost is ofttimes found again.  Wish him good fortune and tell him
+I am sorry that I had not time to cause his spare garments to be
+cleansed with water, but that I have been careful to find his
+little box with the white man's medicines."
+
+I could extract nothing more from this soldier, who was either
+very stupid, or chose to appear so; nor indeed did I dare to put
+direct questions about the cart and those who travelled in it.
+
+Soon we marched again, for Goza would not allow me to ride the
+horse, fearing that I should escape on it.  Nor would he let me
+carry either of the guns lest I should make use of them.  All day
+we travelled, reaching the Nongoma heights in the late afternoon.
+On this beautiful spot we found a kraal situated where afterwards
+a magistracy was built when we conquered the country, whence
+there is one of the finest views in Zululand.  There was no one
+in the kraal except two old women who appeared to be deaf and
+dumb for all I could get out of them.  These aged dames, however,
+or others who were hidden, had made ready for our arrival, since
+a calf lay skinned and prepared for cooking, and by it big gourds
+filled with Kaffir beer and "maas" or curdled milk.
+
+In due course we ate of these provisions, and after we had
+finished I gave Goza a stiff tot of brandy, of which Nombe, or
+perhaps Anscombe, had thoughtfully sent a bottle with my other
+baggage.  The strong liquor made the old fellow talkative and
+enabled me to get a good deal of information out of him.  Thus I
+learned that certain demands, as to which he was rather vague,
+had been made upon Cetewayo by the English Government, and that
+the King was now considering whether he should accede to them or
+fight.  The Great Council of the nation was summoned to attend at
+Ulundi within a few days, when the matter would be decided.
+Meanwhile all the regiments were being gathered, or, as we should
+say, mobilized; an army, said Goza, greater than any that Chaka
+had ever led.
+
+I asked him what I had to do with this business, that I, a
+peaceful traveller and an old friend of the Zulus, should be made
+prisoner and dragged off to Ulundi.  He replied he did not know
+who was not in the council of the High Ones, but he thought that
+Cetewayo the king wished to see me because I was their friend,
+perhaps that he might send me as a messenger to the white people.
+I asked him how the king knew that I was in the country, to which
+he replied that Zikali had told him I was coming, he did not know
+how, whereon he, Goza, was sent at once to fetch me.  I could get
+no more out of him.
+
+I wondered if it would be worth while to make him quite drunk and
+then attempt to escape on the horse, but gave up the idea.  To
+begin with, his men were at hand and there was not enough brandy
+to make them all drunk.  Also even if I succeeded in winning away
+here in the heart of Zululand, it would not help Anscombe or Heda
+and I should probably be cut off and killed before I could get
+out of the country.  So I abandoned the plan and went to sleep
+instead.
+
+Next morning we left Nongoma early in the hope of reaching Ulundi
+that evening if the Ivuna and Black Umfolozi Rivers proved
+fordable.  As it chanced, although they were high, we were able
+to cross them, I seated on the horse which two of the Zulus led.
+Next we tramped for miles through the terrible Bekameezi Valley,
+a hot and desolate place which the Zulus swear is haunted.  So
+unhealthy is this valley, which is the home of large game, that
+whole kraals full of people who have tried to cultivate the rich
+land, have died in it of fever, or fled away leaving their crops
+unreaped.  Now no man dwells there.  After this we climbed a
+terrible mount to the high land of Mahlabatini, and having eaten,
+pushed on once more.
+
+At length we sighted the great hill-encircled plain of Ulundi
+which may be called the cradle of the Zulu race as, politically
+speaking, it was destined to be its coffin.  On the ridge to the
+west once stood the Nobamba kraal where dwelt Senzangacona, the
+father of Chaka the Lion.  Nearer to the White Umfolozi was
+Panda's dwelling-place, Nodwengu, which once I knew so well,
+while on the slope of the hills of the north-east stood the town
+of Ulundi in which Cetewayo dwelt, bathed in the lights of
+sunset.
+
+Indeed it and all the vast plain were red as though with blood,
+red as they were destined to be on the coming day of the last
+battle of the Zulus.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+
+
+CETEWAYO
+
+
+
+
+
+It was dark when at last we reached the Ulundi kraal, for the
+growing moon was obscured by clouds.  Therefore I could see
+nothing and was only aware, by the sound of voices and the
+continual challenging, that we were passing through great numbers
+of men.  At length we were admitted at the eastern gate and I was
+taken to a hut where I at once flung myself down to sleep, being
+so weary that I could not attempt to eat.  Next morning as I was
+finishing my breakfast in the little fenced courtyard of this
+guest-hut, Goza appeared and said that the king commanded me to
+be brought to him at once, adding that I must "speak softly" to
+him, as he was "very angry."
+
+So off we went across the great cattle kraal where a regiment of
+young men, two thousand strong or so, were drilling with a fierce
+intensity which showed they knew that they were out for more than
+exercise.  About the sides of the kraal also stood hundreds of
+soldiers, all of them talking and, it seemed to me, excited, for
+they stamped upon the ground and even jumped into the air to give
+point to their arguments.  Suddenly some of them caught sight of
+me, whereon a tall, truculent fellow called out--
+
+"What does a white man at Ulundi at such a time, when even John
+Dunn dare not come?  Let us kill him and send his head as a
+present to the English general across the Tugela.  That will
+settle this long talk about peace or war."
+
+Others of a like mind echoed this kind proposal, with the result
+that presently a score or so of them made a rush at me,
+brandishing their sticks, since they might not carry arms in the
+royal kraal.  Goza did his best to keep them off, but was swept
+aside like a feather, or rather knocked over, for I saw him on
+his back with his thin legs in the air.
+
+"You must climb out of this pit by yourself," he began,
+addressing me in his pompous and figurative way.  Then somebody
+stamped on his face, and fixing his teeth in his assailant's
+heel, he grew silent for a while.
+
+The truculent blackguard, who was about six feet three high and
+had a mouth like a wolf's throat, arrived in front of me and,
+bending down, roared out--
+
+"We are going to kill you, White Man."
+
+I had a pistol in my pocket and could perfectly well have killed
+him, as I was much tempted to do.  A second's reflection showed
+me, however, that this would be useless, and in a sense put me in
+the wrong, though when the matter came on for argument it would
+interest me no more.  So I just folded my arms and, looking up at
+him, said--
+
+"Why, Black Man?"
+
+"Because your face is white," he roared.
+
+"No," I answered, "because your heart is black and your eyes are
+so full of blood that you do not know Macumazahn when you see
+him."
+
+"Wow!" said one, "it is Watcher-by-Night whom our fathers knew
+before us.  Leave him alone."
+
+"No," shouted the great fellow, "I will send him to watch where
+it is always night, I who keep a club for white rats," and he
+brandished his stick over me.
+
+Now my temper rose.  Watching my opportunity, I stretched out my
+right foot and hooked him round the ankle, at the same time
+striking up with all my force.  My fist caught him beneath the
+chin and over he went backwards sprawling on the ground.
+
+"Son of a dog!"  I said, "if a single stick touches me, at least
+you shall go first," and whipping out my revolver, I pointed it
+at him.
+
+He lay quiet enough, but how the matter would have ended I do not
+know, for passion was running high, had not Goza at this moment
+risen with a bleeding nose and called out--
+
+"O Fools, would you kill the king's guest to whom the king
+himself has given safe-conduct.  Surely you are pots full of
+beer, not men."
+
+"Why not?" answered one.  "This is the Place of Soldiers.  The
+king's house is yonder.  Give the old jackal a start of a length
+of ten assegais.  If he reaches it first, he can shake hands with
+his friend, the king.  If not we will make him into medicine."
+
+"Yes, yes, run for it, Jackal," clamoured the others, knocking
+their shields with their sticks, as men do who would frighten a
+buck, and opening out to make a road for me.
+
+Now while all this was going on, with some kind of sixth sense I
+had noted a big man whose face was shrouded by a blanket thrown
+over his head, who very quietly had joined these drunken rioters,
+and vaguely wondered who he might be.
+
+"I will not run," I said slowly, "that I may be saved by the
+king.  Nay, I will die here, though some of you shall die first.
+Go to the king, Goza, and tell him how his servants have served
+his guest," and I lifted my pistol, waiting till the first stick
+touched me to put a bullet through the bully on the ground.
+
+"There is no need," said a deep voice that proceeded from the
+draped man of whom I have spoken, "for the king has come to see
+for himself."
+
+Then the blanket was thrown back, revealing Cetewayo grown fat
+and much aged since last I saw him, but undoubtedly Cetewayo.
+
+"Bayete!" roared the mob in salute, while some of those who had
+been most active in the tumult tried to slip away.
+
+"Let no man stir," said Cetewayo, and they stood as though they
+were rooted to the ground, while I slipped my pistol back into my
+pocket.
+
+"Who are you, White Man?" he asked, looking at me, "and what do
+you here?"
+
+"The King should know Macumazahn," I answered, lifting my hat,
+"whom Dingaan knew, whom Panda knew well, and whom the King knew
+before he was a king."
+
+"Yes, I know you," he answered, "although since we spoke together
+you have shrunk like an oxhide in the sun, and time has stained
+your beard white."
+
+"And the King has grown fat like the ox on summer grass.  As for
+what I do here, did not the King send for me by Goza, and was I
+not brought like a baby in a blanket."
+
+"The last time we met," he went on, taking no heed of my words,
+"was yonder at Nodwengu when the witch Mameena was tried for
+sorcery, she who made my brother mad and brought about the great
+battle, in which you fought for him with the Amawombe regiment.
+Do you not remember how she kissed you, Macumazahn, and took
+poison between the kisses, and how before she grew silent she
+spoke evil words to me, saying that I was doomed to pull down my
+own House and to die as she died, words that have haunted me ever
+since and now haunt me most of all?  I wish to speak to you
+concerning them, Macumazahn, for it is said in the land that this
+beautiful witch loved you alone and that you only knew her mind."
+
+I made no reply, who was heartily tired of this subject of
+Mameena whom no one seemed able to forget.
+
+"Well," he went on, "we will talk of that matter alone, since it
+is not natural that you should wish to speak of your dead
+darlings before the world," and with a wave of the hand he put
+the matter aside.  Then suddenly his attitude changed.  His face,
+that had been thoughtful and almost soft, became fierce, his form
+seemed to swell and he grew terrible.
+
+"What was that dog doing?" he asked of Goza, pointing to the
+brute whom I had knocked down and who still lay prostrate on his
+back, afraid to stir.
+
+"O King," answered Goza, "he was trying to kill Macumazahn
+because he is a white man, although I told him that he was your
+guest, being brought to you by the royal command.  He was trying
+to kill him by giving him a start of ten spears' length and
+making him run to the isigodhlo (the king's house) and beating
+him to death with the sticks of these men if they caught him,
+which, as he is old and they are young, they must have done.
+Only the Watcher-by-Night would not run; no, although he is so
+small he knocked him to the earth with his fist, and there he
+lies.  That is all, O King."
+
+"Rise, dog," said Cetewayo, and the man rose trembling with fear,
+and, being bidden, gave his name, which I forget.
+
+"Listen, dog," went on the king in the same cold voice.  "What
+Goza says is true, for I saw and heard it all with my eyes and
+ears.  You would have made yourself as the king.  You dared to
+try to kill the king's guest to whom he had given safe-conduct,
+and to stain the king's doorposts with his blood, thereby
+defiling his house and showing him to the white people as a
+murderer of one of them whom he had promised to protect.
+Macumazahn, do _you_ say how he shall die, and I will have it
+done."
+
+"I do not wish him to die," I answered, "I think that he and
+those with him were drunk.  Let him go, O King."
+
+"Aye, Macumazahn, I will let him go.  See now, we are in the
+centre of the cattle-kraal, and to the eastern gate is as far as
+to the isigodhlo.  Let this man have a start of ten spears'
+length and run to the eastern gate, as he would have made
+Macumazahn run to the king's house, and let his companions, those
+who would have hunted Macumazahn, hunt him.
+
+"If he wins through to the gate he can go on to the Government in
+Natal and tell them of the cruelty of the Zulus.  Only then, let
+those who hunted him be brought before me for trial and perhaps
+we shall see how _they_ can run."
+
+Now the poor wretch caught hold of my hand, begging me to
+intercede for him, but soldiers who had come up dragged him away
+and, having measured the distance allowed him, set him on a mark
+made upon the ground.  Presently at a word off he sped like an
+arrow, and after him went his friends, ten or more of them.  I
+think they caught him just by the gate doubling like a hare, or
+so the shouts of laughter from the watching regiment told me, for
+myself I would not look.
+
+"That dog ate his own stomach," said Cetewayo grimly, thereby
+indicating in native fashion that the biter had been bit or the
+engineer hoist with his petard.  "It is long since there has been
+a war in the land, and some of these young soldiers who have
+never used an assegai save to skin an ox or cut the head from a
+chicken, shout too loud and leap too high.  Now they will be
+quieter, and while you stay here you may walk where you will in
+safety, Macumazahn," he added thoughtfully.
+
+Then dismissing the matter from his mind, as we white people
+dismiss any trivial incident in a morning stroll, he talked for a
+few minutes to the commanding officer of the regiment that was
+drilling, who ran up to make some report to him, and walked back
+towards the isigodhlo, beckoning me to follow with Goza.
+
+After waiting for a little while outside the gate in the
+surrounding fence, a body-servant ordered us to enter, which we
+did to find the king seated on the shady side of his big hut
+quite alone.  At a sign I also sat myself down upon a stool that
+had been set for me, while Goza, whose nose was still bleeding,
+squatted at my side.
+
+"Your manners are not so good as they were once, Macumazahn,"
+said Cetewayo presently, "or perhaps you have been so long away
+from the royal kraal that you have forgotten its customs."
+
+I stared at him, wondering what he could mean, whereon he added
+with a laugh--
+
+"What is that in your pocket?  Is it not a loaded pistol, and do
+you not remember that it is death to appear before the king
+armed?  Now I might kill you and have no blame, although you are
+my guest, for who knows that you are not sent by the English
+Queen to shoot me?"
+
+"I ask the King's pardon," I said humbly enough.  "I did not
+think about the pistol.  Let your servants take it away."
+
+"Perhaps it is safer in your pocket, where I saw you place it in
+the cattle-kraal, Macumazahn, than in their hands, which do not
+know how to hold such things.  Moreover, I know that you are not
+one who stabs in the dark, even when our peoples growl round each
+other like two dogs about to fight, and if you were, in this
+place your life would have to pay for mine.  There is beer by
+your side; drink and fear nothing.  Did you see the Opener of
+Roads, Goza, and if so, what is his answer to my message?"
+
+"O King, I saw him," answered Goza.  "The Father of the doctors,
+the friend and master of the Spirits, says he has heard the
+King's word, yes, that he heard it as it passed the King's lips,
+and that although he is very old, he will travel to Ulundi and be
+present at the Great Council of the nation which is to be
+summoned on the eighth day from this, that of the full moon.  Yet
+he makes a prayer of the King.  It is that a place may be
+prepared for him, for his people and for his servants who carry
+him, away from this town of Ulundi, where he may sojourn quite
+alone, a decree of death being pronounced against any who attempt
+to break in upon his privacy, either where he dwells or upon his
+journey.  These are his very words, O King:
+
+"'I, who am the most ancient man in Zululand, dwell with the
+spirits of my fathers, who will not suffer strangers to come nigh
+them and who, if they are offended, will bring great woes upon
+the land.  Moreover, I have sworn that while there is a king in
+Zululand and I draw the breath of life, never again will I set
+foot in a royal kraal, because when last I did so at the slaying
+of the witch, Mameena, the king who is dead thought it well to
+utter threats against me, and never more will I, the Opener of
+Roads, be threatened by a mortal.  Therefore if the King and his
+Council seek to drink of the water of my wisdom, it must be in
+the place and hour of my own choosing.  If this cannot be, let me
+abide here in my house and let the King seek light from other
+doctors, since mine shall remain as a lamp to my own heart.'"
+
+Now I saw that these words greatly disturbed Cetewayo who feared
+Zikali, as indeed did all the land.
+
+"What does the old wizard mean?" he asked angrily.  "He lives
+alone like a bat in a cave and for years has been seen of none.
+Yet as a bat flies forth at night, ranging far and wide in search
+of prey, so does his spirit seem to fly through Zululand.
+Everywhere I hear the same word.  It is--'What says the Opener of
+Roads?'  It is--'How can aught be done unless the Opener of Roads
+has declared that it shall be done, he who was here before the
+Black One (Chaka) was born, he who it is said was the friend of
+Inkosi Umkulu, the father of the Zulus who died before our
+great-grandfathers could remember; he who has all knowledge and
+is almost a spirit, if indeed he be not a spirit?'  I ask you,
+Macumazahn, who are his friend, what does he mean, and why should
+I not kill him and be done?"
+
+"O King," I answered, "in the days of your uncle Dingaan, when
+Dingaan slew the Boers who were his guests, and thus began the
+war between the White and the Black, I, who was a lad, heard the
+laughter of Zikali for the first time yonder at the kraal
+Ungungundhlovu, I who rode with Retief and escaped the slaughter,
+but his face I did not see.  Many years later, in the days of
+Panda your father, I saw his face and therefore you name me his
+friend.  Yet this friend who drew me to visit him, perhaps by
+your will, O King, has now caused me to be brought here to Ulundi
+doubtless by your will, O King, but against my own, for who
+wishes to come to a town where he is well-nigh slain by the first
+brawler he meets in the cattle kraal?"
+
+"Yet you were not slain, Macumazahn, and perhaps you do not know
+all the story of that brawler," replied Cetewayo almost humbly,
+like one who begs pardon, though the rest of what I had said he
+ignored.  "But still you are Zikali's friend, for between you and
+him there is a rope which enabled him to draw you to Zululand,
+which rope I have heard called by a woman's name.  Therefore by
+the spirit of that woman, which still can draw you like a rope, I
+charge you, tell me--what does this old wizard mean, and why
+should I not kill him and be rid of one who haunts my heart like
+an evil vision of the night and, as I sometimes think, is an
+umtakati, an evil-doer, who would work ill to me and all my
+House, yes, and to all my people?"
+
+"How should I know what he means, O King?" I answered with
+indignation, though in fact I could guess well enough.  "As for
+killing him, cannot the King kill whom he will?  Yet I remember
+that once I heard you father ask much the same question and of
+Zikali himself, saying that he was minded to find out whether or
+no he were mortal like other men.  I remember also Zikali
+answered that there was a saying that when the Opener of Roads
+came to the end of his road, there would be no more a king of
+Zululand, as there was none when first he set foot upon his road.
+Now I have spoken, who am a white man and do not understand your
+sayings."
+
+"I remember it also, Macumazahn, who was present at the time," he
+replied heavily.  "My father feared this Zikali and his father
+feared him, and I have heard that the Black One himself, who
+feared nothing, feared him also.  And I, too, fear him, so much
+that I dare not make up my mind upon a great matter without his
+counsel, lest he should bewitch me and the nation and bring us to
+nothing."
+
+He paused, then turning to Goza, asked, "Did the Opener of Roads
+tell you where he wished to dwell when he comes to visit me here
+at Ulundi?"
+
+"O King," answered Goza, "yonder in the hills, not further away
+than an aged man can walk in the half of an hour, is a place
+called the Valley of Bones, because there in the days of those
+who went before the King, and even in the King's day, many
+evildoers have been led to die.  Zikali would dwell in this
+Valley of Bones, and there and nowhere else would meet the King
+and the Great Council, not in the daylight but after sunset when
+the moon has risen."
+
+"Why," said Cetewayo, starting, "the place is ill-omened and,
+they say, haunted, one that no man dares to approach after the
+fall of darkness for fear lest the ghosts of the dead should leap
+upon him gibbering."
+
+"Such were the words of the Opener of Roads, O King," replied
+Goza.  "There and nowhere else will he meet the King, and there
+he demands that three huts should be built to shelter him and his
+folk and stored with all things needful.  If this be not granted
+to him, then he refuses to visit the King or to give counsel to
+the nation."
+
+"So be it then," said Cetewayo.  "Send messengers to the Opener
+of Roads, Goza, saying that what he desires shall be done.  Let
+my command go out that under pain of death none spy upon him
+while he journeys hither or returns.  Let the huts be built
+forthwith, and when it is known that he is coming, let food in
+plenty be placed in them and afterwards morning by morning taken
+to the mouth of the valley.  Bid him announce his arrival and the
+hour he chooses for our meeting by messenger.  Begone."
+
+Goza leapt up, gave the royal salute, and retreated backwards
+from the presence of the king, leaving us alone.  I also rose to
+depart, but Cetewayo motioned to me to be seated.
+
+"Macumazahn," he said, "the Great Queen's man who has come to
+Natal (Sir Bartle Frere) threatens me with war because two
+evil-doing women were taken on the Natal side of the Tugela and
+brought back to Zululand and killed by Mehlokazulu, being the
+wives of his father, Sirayo, which was done without my knowledge.
+Also two white men were driven away from an island in the Tugela
+River by some of my soldiers."
+
+"Is that all, O King?" I asked.
+
+"No.  The Queen's man says I kill my people without trial, which
+is a lie told him by the missionaries, and that girls have been
+killed also who refused to marry those to whom they were given
+and ran away with other men.  Also that wizards are smelt out and
+slain, which happens but rarely now; all of this contrary to the
+promises I made to Sompseu when he came to recognize me as king
+upon my father's death, and some other such small matters."
+
+"What is demanded if you would avoid war, O King?"
+
+"Nothing less than this, Macumazahn: That the Zulu army should be
+abolished and the soldiers allowed to marry whom and when they
+please, because, says the Queen's man, he fears lest it should be
+used to attack the English, as though I who love the English, as
+those have done who went before me, desire to lay a finger on
+them.  Also that another Queen's man should be sent to dwell here
+in my country, to be the eyes and ears of the English Government
+and have power with me in the land; yes, and more demands which
+would destroy the Zulus as a people and make me, their king, but
+a petty kraal-head."
+
+"And what will the King answer?" I asked.
+
+"I know not what to answer.  The fine of two thousand cattle I
+will pay for the killing of the women.  If it may be, I wish no
+quarrel with the English, though gladly I would have fought the
+Dutch had not Sompseu stretched out his arm over their land.  But
+how can I disband the army and make an end of the regiments that
+have conquered in so many wars?  Macumazahn, I tell you that if I
+did this, in a moon I should be dead.  Oh! you white people think
+there is but one will in Zululand, that of the king.  But it is
+not so, for he is but a single man among ten thousand thousand,
+who lives to work the people's wish.  If he beats them with too
+thick a stick, or if he brings them to shame or does what the
+most of them do not wish, then where is the king?  Then, I say,
+he goes a road that was trodden by Chaka and Dingaan who were
+before me, yes, the red road of the assegai.  Therefore today, I
+stand like a man between two falling cliffs.  If I run towards
+the English the Zulu cliff falls upon me.  If I run towards my
+own people, the English cliff falls upon me, and in either case I
+am crushed and no more seen.  Tell me then, Macumazahn, you whose
+heart is honest, what must I do?"
+
+So he spoke, wringing his hands, with tears starting to his eyes,
+and upon my word, although I never liked Cetewayo as I had liked
+his father, Panda, perhaps because I loved his brother, Umbelazi,
+whom he killed, and had known him do many cruel deeds, my heart
+bled for him.
+
+"I cannot tell you, King," I answered, thinking that I must say
+something, "but I pray you do not make war against the queen, for
+she is the most mighty One in the whole earth, and though her
+foot, of which you see but the little toe here in Africa, seems
+small to you, yet if she is angered, it will stamp the Zulus
+flat, so that they cease to be."
+
+"Many have told me this, Macumazahn.  Yes, even Uhamu, the son of
+my uncle Unzibe, or, as some say, the son of his spirit, to which
+his mother was married after Unzibe was dead, and others
+throughout the land, and in truth I think it myself.  But who can
+hold the army which shouts for war?  Ow! the Council must decide,
+which, means perhaps that Zikali will decide, for now all hang
+upon his lips."
+
+"Then I am sorry," I exclaimed.
+
+He looked at me shrewdly.
+
+"Are you?  So am I.  Yet his counsel must be asked, and better
+that it should be here in my presence than yonder secretly at the
+Black Kloof.  I would kill him if I dared, but I dare not, who am
+sure--why I may not say--that the same sun will see his death and
+mine."
+
+He waved his hand to show that the talk on this matter was ended,
+then added--
+
+"Macumazahn, you are my prisoner for a while, but give me your
+word that you will not try to escape and you may go where you
+will within an hour's ride of Ulundi.  I would pay you well to
+stop here with me, but this I know you would never do should
+there be trouble between us and your people.  Therefore I promise
+you that if war breaks out I will send you safely to Natal, or
+perhaps sooner, as my messenger, whence doubtless you will return
+to fight against me.  Know that I have given orders that every
+other white man or woman who is found in Zululand shall be killed
+as a spy.  Even John Dunn has fled or is flying, or so I hear,
+John Dunn who has fed out of my hand and grown rich on my gifts.
+You yourself would have been killed as you came from Swazi-Land
+in your cart, had not command been sent to those chiefs through
+whose lands you passed that neither they nor their people were so
+much as to look at you."
+
+Now for one intense moment I thought, as hard as ever I had done
+in my life.  It was evident--unless he dealing very cunningly
+with me, which I did not believe--that Cetewayo knew nothing of
+Anscombe and Heda, but thought that I had come into Zululand
+alone.  Should I or should I not tell him and beg his protection
+for them? If I did so he might refuse or be unable to give it to
+them far away in the midst of a savage population aflame with the
+lust of war.  As the incident of the morning showed, it was as
+much as he could do to protect myself, although the Zulus knew me
+for their friend.  On the other hand no one who dwelt under
+Zikali's blanket, to use the Kaffir idiom, would be touched,
+because he was looked on as half divine and therefore everything
+under it down to the rat in his thatch was sacred.  Now Zikali by
+implication and Nombe with emphasis, had promised to safeguard
+these two.  Surely, therefore, they would run less risk in the
+Black Kloof than here at Ulundi, if ever they got so far.
+
+All this went through my brain in an instant, with the result
+that I made up my mind to say nothing.  As the issue proved, this
+was a terrible mistake, but who can always judge rightly?  Had I
+spoken out it seems to me probable that Cetewayo would have
+granted my prayer and ordered that these two should be escorted
+out of Zululand before hostilities began, although of course they
+might have been murdered on the way.  Also, for a reason that
+will become evident later, it is possible that there would never
+have been any hostilities.  All I can plead is, that I acted for
+the best and Fate would have it so.  Another moment and the
+chance was gone.
+
+The gate opened and a body-servant appeared announcing that one
+of the great captains with some of his officers waited to see the
+king.  Cetewayo made a sign, whereon the servant called out
+something, and they entered, three or four of them, saluting
+loudly.  Seeing me they stopped and stared, whereon Cetewayo
+shortly, but with much clearness, repeated to them and to an
+induna who accompanied them, what he had already said to me,
+namely that I was his guest, sent for by him that he might use me
+as a messenger if he thought fit.  He added that the man who
+dared to speak a word against me, or even to look at me askance,
+should pay the price with his life, however high his station, and
+he commanded that the heralds should proclaim this his decree
+throughout Ulundi and the neighbouring kraals.  Then he held out
+his hand to me in token of friendship, bidding me to "go softly"
+and come to see him whenever I wished, and dismissed me in charge
+of the induna, one of the captains and some soldiers.
+
+Within five minutes of reaching my hut I heard a loud-voiced
+crier proclaiming the order of the king and knew that I had no
+more to fear.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+
+
+THE VALLEY OF BONES
+
+
+
+
+
+The week that followed my interview with Cetewayo was indeed a
+miserable time for me.  For myself, as I have said, I had no
+fear, for the king's orders were strictly obeyed.  Moreover, the
+tale of what had happened to the brute who wished to hunt me down
+in the cattle-kraal had travelled far and wide and none sought to
+share his fate.  My hut was inviolate and well supplied with
+necessary food, as was my mare, and I could wander where I liked
+and talk with whom I would.  I could even ride to exercise the
+horse, though this I did very sparingly and only in the immediate
+neighbourhood of the town for fear of exciting suspicion or
+meeting Zulus whom the king's word had not reached.  Indeed on
+these occasions I was always accompanied by a guard of
+swift-footed and armed soldiers sent "to protect me," or more
+probably to kill me if I did anything that seemed suspicious.
+
+In the course of my rambles I met sundry natives whom I had known
+in the old days, some of them a long while ago.  They all seemed
+glad to see me and were quite ready to talk of past times, but of
+the present they would say little or nothing, except that they
+were certain there would be war.  Of Anscombe and Heda I could
+hear nothing, and indeed did not dare to make any direct
+inquiries concerning them, but several reliable men assured me
+that the last missionaries and traders having departed, there was
+not a white man, woman or child left in Zululand except myself.
+It was "all black" they said, referring to the colour of their
+people, as it had been before the time of Chaka.  So I was forced
+to eat out my heart with anxiety in silence, hoping and praying
+that Zikali had played an honest part and sent them away safely.
+
+Why should he not have done so, seeing that it was my presence he
+had desired, not theirs?  They were only taken, or rather snared,
+because they were with me and could not be separated, or so I
+believed at the time.
+
+One ray of comfort I did get.  About the fifth day after my
+interview I saw Goza, who told me that the king's messengers were
+back from the Black Kloof and had brought "a word" for me from
+Zikali himself.  The word was--
+
+"Bid Goza say to Macumazahn that I was sorry not to see him to
+say good-bye, because that morning I slept heavily.  Bid him say
+that I am glad he has seen the king, since for this purpose I
+sought his presence in Zululand.  Bid him say that he is to fear
+nothing, and that if his heart is heavy about others whom he
+loves, he should make it light again, since the Spirits have them
+in their keeping as they have him, and never were they or he more
+safe than they are to-day."
+
+Now I looked at Goza and asked if I could see this messenger.  He
+replied, No, as he had already been despatched upon another
+errand.  Then I asked him if the messenger had said anything
+else.  He answered, Yes, one thing that he had forgotten, namely
+that the writing about blankets should now be in Natal.  Then
+suddenly he changed the subject and asked me if I would like to
+accompany him to the Valley of Bones where he was ordered to
+inspect the huts which were being built for Zikali and his
+people.  Of course I said I should, hoping, quite without result,
+that I might get something more out of him on the road.
+
+Now this town of Cetewayo's stands, or rather stood, for it has
+long been burnt, on the slope of the hills to the north-east of
+the plains of Ulundi.  Above it these hills grow steeper, and
+deep in the recesses of one of them is the Valley of Bones.
+There is nothing particularly imposing about the place; no
+towering cliffs or pillars of piled granite, as at the Black
+Kloof.  It is just a vale cut out by water, bordered by steep
+slopes on either side, and a still steeper slope strown with
+large rocks at its end.  Dotted here and there on these slopes
+grew tall aloes that from a little distance looked like scattered
+men, whereof the lower leaves were shrivelled and blackened by
+veld fires.  Also there were a few euphorbias, grey,
+naked-looking things that end in points like fingers on a hand,
+and among them some sparse thorn trees, struggling to live in an
+inhospitable soil.
+
+The place has one peculiarity.  Jutting into it from the hillside
+is a ridge or spur, sixty or seventy yards in length by perhaps
+twenty broad, that ends in a flat point of rock which stands
+about forty feet above the level of the rest of the little
+valley.  On this ridge also grew tall aloes until near its
+extremity the soil ceased, or had been washed away from the
+water-worn core of rock.
+
+It was, and no doubt still is, a desolate-looking spot, at any
+rate for most of the day when owing to the shadow of the
+surrounding hills, it receives but little sun.  Everything about
+it, especially when I was there in a time of rain, seemed dank
+and miserable, although the flat floor of the kloof was clothed
+with a growth of tall, coarse grass, and weeds that bore an
+evil-smelling flower.  Perhaps some sense of appropriateness had
+caused the Zulu kings to choose this lonesome, deathly-looking
+gorge as one of their execution grounds.  At any rate many had
+been slain here, for skulls and the larger human bones, some of
+them black with age, lay all about among the grass, as they had
+been scattered by hyenas and jackals.  They were particularly
+thick beneath and around the table-like rock that I have
+mentioned.
+
+Goza told me that this was because the King's Slayers made a
+custom of dragging the victim along the projecting tongue to the
+edge of this rock and hurling him, either dead or living, to the
+ground beneath; or, in the case of witches; driving them over
+after they had been blinded.
+
+Such was the spot that Zikali had selected to abide in during his
+visit to Ulundi.  Certainly where privacy was an object it was
+well chosen, for, as Cetewayo had said and as Goza emphasized to
+me, it had the repute of being the most thoroughly haunted place
+in all Zululand, with the sole exception, perhaps, of the ridge
+opposite to Dingaan's old kraal where once I shot the vultures
+for my life and those of my companions.*  Even in the daytime
+people gave it a wide berth, and at night nothing would induce
+them to approach it, at any rate alone.
+
+[*--See the book called _Marie,_ by H. Rider Haggard.]
+
+Here to one side of and near the root of the tongue of land of
+which I have spoken, the huts that Zikali had demanded for
+himself and his company were being rapidly built, close to a
+spring of water, by a large body of men who laboured as though
+they wished to be done with their task.  Also about half way up
+the donga, for really it was nothing more, at a distance of
+perhaps five and twenty paces from its flat point whence the
+condemned were hurled, a circular space of ground had been
+cleared and levelled which was large enough to accommodate fifty
+or sixty men.  On this space, Goza told me, the King and the
+Council were to sit when they came to seek light from Zikali.
+
+In my heart I reflected that the light they were likely to get
+from him would be such as may be supposed to be thrown by hell
+fire.  For be it remembered I knew what these people never seemed
+to understand, that Zikali was the most bitter of their enemies.
+To begin with, he was of Undwandwe blood, one of the people whom
+the great king Chaka had destroyed.  Then this same Chaka had
+robbed him of his wives and murdered his children, in revenge for
+which he had plotted the slaying of Chaka, as he did that of his
+brothers, Umhlangana and Dingaan, the latter of whom he involved
+in a quarrel with the Boers.  Subsequently he brought about the
+war between the princes Cetewayo and Umbelazi, in which I played
+a part.
+
+Now I was certain that he intended to bring about another war
+between the English and the Zulus, knowing well that in the end
+the latter would be destroyed, and with them the royal House of
+Senzangacona which he had sworn to level with the dust.  Had he
+not told me as much years ago, and was he one to go back upon his
+word?  Had he not used Mameena with her beauty and ambitions as
+his tool, and when she was of no further service to him, given
+her to death, as he had used scores of others and in due season
+given them to death?  Was I not myself perhaps one of those tools
+destined to be thrown into the pit of doom when my turn came,
+though in what way I could help his plots was more than I could
+see, since he knew well that I should do my best to oppose him?
+Oh! I had half a mind to go to Cetewayo and tell him all I knew
+about Zikali, even if it involved the breaking of confidences.
+
+But stay!  Even if I were believed, this far-seeing wizard held
+hostages for my good behaviour, and if I betrayed him what would
+happen to those hostages?  He sent me messages saying that they
+were safe, suggesting that they had escaped to Natal.  How was I
+to know that these were true?  I was utterly bewildered; I could
+not guess why I had been beguiled into Zululand, and I dared not
+step either this way or that for fear lest I should fall into
+some pit dug by his cunning hands and, what was worse, drag down
+others with me.
+
+Moreover, was this man quite human, or perhaps an emissary of
+Satan upon earth who had knowledge denied to other men and a
+certain mastery over the Powers of Ill?  Again I could not say.
+His term of life seemed to be extraordinarily prolonged, though
+none knew how old exactly he might be.  Also he had a wonderful
+knowledge of what was passing in the minds of others, and by his
+arts, as I had experienced only the other day, could summon up
+apparitions or illusions before their eyes.  Further, he was
+aware of events which had happened at a distance and could send
+or read dreams, since otherwise how did Nombe know what I had
+dreamt at Marnham's house?  Lastly he could foretell the future,
+as once he had done in my own case, prophecying that I should be
+injured by a buffalo with a split horn.
+
+Yet all of this might be nothing more than a mixture of keen
+observation, clever spying, trickery and mesmerism.  I could not
+say which it was, nor can I with certainty to this hour.
+
+Such were the thoughts that passed through my mind as I walked
+back from the Vale of Bones by the side of the big-paunched Goza,
+whom I caught eyeing me from time to time as a curious crow eyes
+any object that has attracted his attention.
+
+"Goza," I said at last, "do the Zulus really mean to fight the
+English?"
+
+He turned and pointed to a spot where the hills ran down into the
+great plain.  Here two regiments were manoeuvring.  One of these
+held the slopes of the hill and the other was attacking them from
+the plain, so fiercely that at a distance their onslaught looked
+like that of actual warfare.
+
+"That looks like fighting, does it not, Macumazahn?" he replied.
+
+"Yes, Goza, yet it may be but play."
+
+"Quite so, Macumazahn.  It may be fighting or it may be but play.
+Am I a prophet that I should be able to say which it is?  Of that
+there is but one man in Zululand who knows the truth.  It is he
+for whom the new huts are being built up yonder."
+
+"You think he really knows, Goza?"
+
+"No, Macumazahn, I do not think, I am sure.  He is the greatest
+of all wizards, as he was when my father held on to his mother's
+apron.  He pulls the strings and the Great-ones of the country
+dance.  If he wishes war, there will be war.  If he wishes peace,
+there will be peace."
+
+"And which does he wish, Goza?"
+
+"I thought perhaps you could tell me that, Macumazahn, who, he
+says, are such an old friend of his; also why he chooses to
+sojourn in a dark hole among the dead instead of in the sunshine
+among the living, here at Ulundi."
+
+"Well, I cannot, Goza, since the Opener of Roads does not open
+his heart to me but keeps his secrets to himself.  For the rest,
+those who talk with the dead may prefer to dwell among the dead."
+
+"Now as always you speak truth, Macumazahn," said Goza, looking
+at me in a way which suggested to me that he believed I spoke
+anything but the truth.
+
+Indeed I am convinced he thought that I was in the council of
+Zikali and acquainted with his plans.  Also I am sure he knew
+that I had not come to Zululand alone, the incident of the
+blankets, which I had promised to him a bribe to keep silence,
+showed it, and suspected that my companions were parties to some
+plot together with myself.  And yet at the time I could not be
+quite sure, and therefore dared not ask anything concerning them
+lest thus I should reveal their existence and bring them to
+death.
+
+As a matter of fact I need not have been anxious on this point,
+since if Goza, who I may state, was a kind of secret service
+officer as well as a head messenger, knew, as I think probable,
+he had been commanded by Zikali to hold his tongue under penalty
+of a curse.  Perhaps the same was true of the soldiers who had
+come with him to take me to Ulundi.  The hint of Zikali was as
+powerful as the word of the king, since they, like thousands of
+others, believed that whereas Cetewayo could kill them, Zikali,
+like Satan, could blast their spirits as well as their bodies.
+But how was I to guess all these things at that time?
+
+
+During the next two days nothing happened, though I heard that
+there had been one if not two meetings of the Council at the
+King's House during which the position of affairs was discussed.
+Cetewayo I did not see, although twice he sent messengers to me
+bringing gifts of food, who were charged to inquire whether I was
+well and happy and if any had offered me hurt or insult.  To
+these I answered that I was well and unmolested but not happy,
+who grew lonesome, being but a solitary white man among so many
+thousands of the Zulus.
+
+On the third morning, that of the day of the full moon, Goza came
+and informed me that Zikali had arrived at the Valley of Bones
+before dawn.  I asked him how he, who was so old and feeble, had
+walked so far.  He answered that he had not walked, or so he
+understood, but had been carried in a litter, or rather in two
+litters, one for himself and one for his "spirit." This staggered
+me even where Zikali was concerned, and I inquired what on earth
+Goza meant.
+
+"Macumazahn, how can I tell you who only know what I myself am
+told?" he exclaimed.  "Such is the report that the Opener of
+Roads has made himself by messengers to the king.  None have seen
+him, for he journeys only in the night.  Moreover, when Zikali
+passes all men are blind and even women's tongues grow dumb.
+Perchance by 'his spirit' he means his medicine or the
+witch-doctoress, Nombe, whom folks say he created, since none
+have seen her father or her mother, or heard who begat her; or
+perchance his snake is hid behind the mats of the second litter,
+if in truth there was one."
+
+"It may be so," I said, feeling that it was useless to pursue the
+matter.  "Now, Goza, I would see Zikali and at once."
+
+"That cannot be, Macumazahn, since he has given out that he will
+see no one, who rests after his journey, and the king has issued
+orders that any who attempt to approach the Valley of Bones shall
+die, even if they be of the royal blood.  Yes, if so much as a
+dog dares to draw near that place, it must die.  The soldiers who
+ring it round have killed one already, so strict are the orders,
+also a boy who went towards it searching for a calf, which I
+think a bad omen."
+
+"Then I will send a message to him," I persisted.
+
+"Do so," mocked Goza.  "Look, yonder sails a vulture.  Ask it to
+take your message, for nothing else will.  Be not foolish,
+Macumazahn, but have patience, for to-night you shall see the
+Opener of Roads when he attends the Council of the king in the
+Valley of Bones.  This is the order of the king--that at the
+rising of the moon I lead you thither, so that you may be present
+at the Council in case he wishes to ask you any questions about
+the White People or to give you any message to the Government in
+Natal.  Therefore at sunset I will come for you.  Till then,
+farewell.  I have business that cannot wait."
+
+"Can I see the king?" I cried.
+
+"Not so, Macumazahn.  All to-day he makes sacrifice to the
+spirits of his ancestors and must not be approached," Goza called
+back as he departed.
+
+Availing myself of the permission of the king to go where I
+would, a little later in the day I walked out of the town towards
+the Valley of Bones in order to ascertain for myself whether what
+Goza had told me was true.  So it proved, for about three hundred
+yards from the mouth of the valley, which at that distance looked
+like a black hole in the hills, I found soldiers stationed about
+ten paces apart in a great circle which ran right up the hillside
+and vanished over the crest.  Strolling up to one of these, whose
+face I thought I knew, I asked him if he would let me pass to see
+my friend, the Opener of Roads.
+
+The man, who was something of a humourist replied--
+
+"Certainly if you wish, Macumazahn.  That is to say, I will let
+your spirit pass, but to do this, if you come one step nearer I
+must first make a hole in you with my spear out of which it can
+fly."
+
+I thanked him for his information and gave him some snuff, which
+he took gratefully, being bored by his long vigil.  Then I asked
+him how many people the great witch-doctor had with him.  He said
+he did not know, but he had seen a number of tall men come to the
+mouth of the donga to fetch food that had been placed there.
+Again I inquired if he had seen any women, whereon he replied
+none, Zikali being, he understood, too old to trouble himself
+about the other sex.  Just then an officer, making his rounds,
+came up and looked at me so sternly that I thought it well to
+retreat.  Evidently there was no chance of getting through that
+line.
+
+On my way back I walked as near the fence of the King's House as
+I dared, and saw witch-doctors passing in and out in their
+hideous official panoply.  This told me that here also Goza had
+spoken the truth--the king was performing magical ceremonies,
+which meant that it would be impossible to approach him.  In
+every direction I met with failure.  The Fates were against me;
+it lay over me like a spell.  Indeed I grew superstitious and
+began to think that Zikali had bewitched me, as he was said to
+have the power to do.  Well, perhaps he had, for the mere fact of
+finding myself opposed by this persistent wall of difficulties
+and silence convinced me that there was something behind it to be
+learned.
+
+I went back very dejected to my hut and talked to my mare which
+whinnied and rubbed its nose against me, for although it was well
+fed and looked after, the poor beast seemed as lonely as I was
+myself.  No wonder, since like myself it was separated from all
+its kind and weary of inaction.  After this I ate and smoked and
+finally dozed, no more, for whenever I tried to go to sleep I
+thought that I heard Zikali laughing at me, as mayhap he was
+doing yonder in his hut.
+
+At length that wearisome day drew towards its end.  The sun began
+to sink, a huge red ball of fire, now and again veiled by clouds,
+for the sky was stormy.  Its fierce rays, striking upon other
+clouds, peopled the enormous heavens with fantastic shapes of
+light which were thickest over the hills wherein was the Valley
+of Bones.  To my strained mind these clouds looked like battling
+armies, figures of flame warring against figures of darkness.
+The darkness won; no, the light broke out again and conquered it.
+And see, there above them both squatted a strange black presence
+crowned with fire.  It might have been that of Zikali magnified
+ten thousand times, and hark! it laughed with the low
+reverberating voice of distant thunder.
+
+Suddenly I felt that I was no longer alone and looking round, saw
+Goza at my side.
+
+"What do you see up there, Macumazahn, that you stare so hard?"
+he asked, pointing at the sky with his stick.
+
+"Impis fighting," I answered briefly.
+
+"Then you must be a 'heaven-doctor,' Macumazahn, for I only see
+black and red clouds.  Well, it is time to go to learn whether or
+no the impis will fight, for Zikali awaits us and the Council has
+started already.  By the way, the king says that you will do well
+to put your pistol in your pocket in case any should seek to harm
+you in the dark."
+
+"It is there.  But, Goza, I pray you to protect me, since in the
+dark bullets fly wide, and if I began to shoot, one might hit
+you, Goza."
+
+He smiled, making no answer, but I noticed that during the rest
+of that night he was careful to keep behind me as much as
+possible.
+
+Our way led us through the town where everybody seemed to be
+standing about doing nothing and speaking very little.  There was
+a curious air of expectancy upon their faces.  They knew that the
+crisis was at hand, that their nation's fate hung upon the
+scales, and they watched my every look and movement as though in
+them they expected to read an omen.  I too watched them out of
+the corners of my eyes, wondering whether I should escape from
+their savage company alive.  If once the blood lust broke out
+among them, it seemed to me that I should have about as much
+chance as a chopped fox among a pack of hungry hounds.
+
+Once out of the town we saw no one until we came to the circle of
+guards which I have already mentioned, who stood there like an
+endless line of black statues.  In answer to their challenge Goza
+gave some complicated password in which my name occurred, whereon
+they opened out and let us through.  Then we marched on to the
+mouth of the kloof.  The place was very dark, for now the sun was
+down in the west and the moon in the east was cut off from us by
+the hills and would not be visible here for half an hour or more.
+Presently I saw a spot of light.  It was a small fire burning
+near the tongue of rock which I have described.
+
+At a distance, in front of the fire on the patch of prepared
+ground, squatted a number of men, between twenty and thirty of
+them, in a semicircle.  They were wrapped up in karosses and
+blankets, and in their centre sat a large figure on a chair of
+wood.
+
+"The King and the Great Council," whispered Goza.
+
+One of them looked round and saw us.  At some sign from the king
+he rose, and against the fire I saw that he was the Prime
+Minister, Umnyamana.  He came to me and, with a nod of
+recognition, conducted me some paces to the right where a
+euphorbia tree grew among the rank herbage.  Here I found a stool
+placed ready on which I sat down, Goza, who of course was not of
+the Council, squatting at my side in the grass.
+
+Now I found that I was so situated that I could not well be seen
+from the fire, or even from the rock above it, while I, by moving
+my head a little, could see both quite clearly.  After this as
+the last reflection from the sunk sun faded, the darkness
+increased until nothing remained visible except the fire and the
+massive outline of the rock behind.  The silence was complete,
+for none of the Council spoke.  They were so still that they
+might have been dead, so still that a beetle suddenly booming
+past me made me start as though it had been a bullet.  The
+general impression was almost mesmeric.  I felt as though I were
+going to sleep and yet my mind remained painfully awake, so that
+I was able to think things out.
+
+I understood clearly that the body of men to my left had come
+together to decide whether there should be peace or war; that
+there were divisions of opinion among them; that the king was
+ready to follow the party which should prove itself the
+strongest, but that the real voice of decision would speak from
+behind that fire.  It was the case of the Delphic Oracle over
+again with a priest instead of a priestess, and what a priest!
+
+It was evident to me also that Zikali, who knew human nature, and
+especially savage human nature, had arranged all this with a view
+to scenic and indeed supernatural effect.  Moreover, he had done
+it very well, since I knew myself that in this place and hour
+words and occurrences would affect me deeply at which I should
+have laughed in the sunlight and open plain.  Already the Zulus
+were affected, for I could hear the teeth of some of them
+chattering, and Goza began to shiver at my side.  He muttered
+that it was cold, and lied for the donga was extremely hot and
+stuffy.
+
+At length the silver radiance of the moon spread itself on the
+high curtain of the dark.  Then the edge of her orb appeared
+above the hill and an arrow of white light fell into the little
+valley.  It struck upon and about the jutting rock, revealing a
+misshapen, white-headed figure squatted between its base and the
+fire, the figure of Zikali.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT COUNCIL
+
+
+
+
+
+None had seen or heard him come, and though doubtless he had but
+crept round the rock and taken his place in the darkness, there
+appeared to be something mysterious about this sudden appearance
+of Zikali.  So the Zulu nobles thought at any rate, for they
+uttered a low "Ow!" of fear and wonder.
+
+There he sat like a huge ape staring at the sky, for the
+firelight shone on his deep and burning eyes.  The moonlight
+increased, but now and again it was broken by little clouds which
+caused strange shadows to appear about the rock.  Some of these
+shadows looked as though veiled figures were approaching the
+wizard, bending over him and departing again, after giving him
+their message or counsel.
+
+"His Spirits visit him," whispered Goza, but I made no answer.
+
+This went on for quite a long time, until the full round of the
+moon appeared above the hill indeed, and, for the while, the
+clouds had cleared away.  Still Zikali sat silent and I, who was
+acquainted with the habits of this people, knew that I was
+witnessing a conflict between two they considered to be
+respectively a spiritual and an earthly king.  It is my belief
+that unless he were first addressed, Zikali would have sat all
+night without opening his lips.  Possibly Cetewayo would have
+done the same if the impatience of public opinion had allowed
+him.  At any was rate it was he who gave way.
+
+"Makosi, master of many Spirits, on behalf of the Council and the
+People of the Zulus I, the King, greet you here in the place that
+you have chosen," said Cetewayo.
+
+Zikali made no answer.
+
+The silence went on as before, till at length, after a pause and
+some whispering, Cetewayo repeated his salutation, adding--
+
+"Has age made you deaf, O Opener of Roads, that you cannot hear
+the voice of the King?"
+
+Then at last Zikali answered in his low voice that yet seemed to
+fill all the kloof--
+
+"Nay, Child of Senzangacona, age has not made me deaf, but my
+spirit in these latter days floats far from my body.  It is like
+a bladder filled with air that a child holds by a string, and
+before I can speak I must draw it from the heavens to earth
+again.  What did you say about the place that I have chosen?
+Well, what better place could I choose, seeing that it was here
+in this very Vale of Bones that I met the first king of the
+Zulus, Chaka the Wild Beast, who was your uncle?  Why then should
+I not choose it to meet the last king of the Zulus?"
+
+Now I, listening, knew at once that this saying might be
+understood in two ways, namely that Cetewayo was the reigning
+king, or that he was the last king who would ever reign.  But the
+Council interpreted it in the latter and worse sense, for I saw a
+quiver of fear go through them.
+
+"Why should I not choose it," went on Zikali, "seeing also that
+this place is holy to me?  Here it was, O Son of Panda, that
+Chaka brought my children to be killed and forced me, sitting
+where you sit, to watch their deaths.  There on the rock above me
+they were killed, four of them, three sons and a daughter, and
+the slayers--they came to an evil end, those slayers, as did
+Chaka--laughed and cast them down from the rock before me.  Yes,
+and Chaka laughed, and I too laughed, for had not the king the
+right to kill my children and to steal their mothers, and was I
+not glad that they should be taken from the world and gathered
+to that of Spirits whence they always talk to me, yes, even now?
+That is why I did not hear you at first, King, because they were
+talking to me."
+
+He paused, turning one ear upwards, then continued in a new and
+tender voice, "What is it you say to me, Noma, my dear little
+Noma?  Oh! I hear you, I hear you."
+
+Now he shifted himself along the ground on his haunches some
+paces to the right, and began to search about, groping with his
+long fingers.  "Where, where?" he muttered.  "Oh, I understand,
+further under the root, a jackal buried it, did it?  Pah!  how
+hard is this soil.  Ah! I have it, but look, Noma, a stone has
+cut my finger.  I have it, I have it," and from beneath the root
+of some fallen tree he drew out the skull of a child and, holding
+it in his right hand, softly rubbed the mould off it with his
+left.
+
+"Yes, Noma, it might be yours, it is of the right size, but how
+can I be sure?  What is it you say?  The teeth?  Ah! now I
+remember.  Only the day before you were taken I pulled out that
+front tooth, did I not, and beneath it was another that was
+strangely split in two.  If this skull was yours, it will be
+there.  Come to the fire, Noma, and let us look; the moonlight is
+faint, is it not?"
+
+Back to the fire he shifted himself, and bending towards the
+blaze, made an examination.
+
+"True, Noma, true!  Here is the split tooth, white as when I saw
+it all those years ago.  Oh! dear child of my body, dear child of
+my spirit, for we do not beget with the body alone, Noma, as you
+know better than I do to-day, I greet you," and pressing the
+skull to his lips, he kissed it, then set it down in front of him
+between himself and the fire with the face part pointing to the
+king, and burst into one of his eerie and terrible laughs.
+
+A low moan went up from his audience, and I felt the skin of
+Goza, who had shrunk against me, break into a profuse sweat.
+Then suddenly Zikali's voice changed one more and became hard and
+businesslike, if I may call it so, similar to that of other
+professional doctors.
+
+"You have sent for me, O King, as those who went before you have
+sent when great things were about to happen.  What is the matter
+on which you would speak to me?"
+
+"You know well, Opener of Roads," answered Cetewayo, rather
+shakily I thought.  "The matter is one of peace or war.  The
+English threaten me and my people and make great demands on me;
+amongst others that the army should be disbanded.  I can set them
+all out if you will.  If I refuse to do as they bid me, then
+within a few days they will invade Zululand; indeed their
+soldiers are already gathered at the drifts."
+
+"It is not needful, King," answered Zikali, "since I know what
+all know, neither more nor less.  The winds whisper the demands
+of the white men, the birds sing them, the hyenas howl them at
+night.  Let us see how the matter stands.  When your father died
+Sompseu (Sir T. Shepstone), the great white chief, came from the
+English Government to name you king.  This he could not do
+according to our law, since how can a stranger name the King of
+the Zulus? Therefore the Council of the Nation and the doctors--I
+was not among them, King--moved the spirit of Chaka the Lion into
+the body of Sompseu and made him as Chaka was and gave him power
+to name you to rule over the Zulus.  So it came about that to the
+English Queen through the spirit of Chaka you swore certain
+things; that slaying for witchcraft should be abolished; that no
+man should die without fair and open trial, and other matters."
+
+He paused a while, then went on, "These oaths you have broken, O
+King, as being of the blood you are and what you are, you must
+do."
+
+Here there was disturbance among the Council and Cetewayo half
+rose from his seat, then sat down again.  Zikali, gazing at the
+sky, waited till it had died away, then went on--
+
+"Do any question my words?  If so, then let them ask of the white
+men whether they be true or no.  Let them ask also of the spirits
+of those who have died for witchcraft, and of the spirits of the
+women who have been slain and whose bodies were laid at the
+cross-roads because they married the men they chose and not the
+soldiers to whom the king gave them."
+
+"How can I ask the white men who are far away?" broke out
+Cetewayo, ignoring the rest.
+
+"Are the white men so far away, King?  It is true that I see none
+and hear none, yet I seem to smell one of them close at hand."
+Here he took up the skull which he had laid down and whispered to
+it.  "Ah! I thank you, my child.  It seems, King, that there is a
+white man here hidden in this kloof, he who is named Macumazahn,
+a good man and a truthful, known to many of us from of old, who
+can tell you what his people think, though he is not one of their
+indunas.  If you question my words, ask him."
+
+"We know what the white men think," said Cetewayo, "so there is
+no need to ask Macumazahn to sing us an old song.  The question
+is--what must the Zulus do?  Must they swallow their spears and,
+ceasing to be a nation, become servants, or must they strike with
+them and drive the English into the sea, and after them the
+Boers?"
+
+"Tell me first, King, who dwell far away and alone, knowing
+little of what passes in the land of Life, what the Zulus desire
+to do.  Before me sits the Great Council of the Nation.  Let it
+speak."
+
+Then one by one the members of the Council uttered their opinions
+in order of rank or seniority.  I do not remember the names of
+all who were present, or what each of them said.  I recall,
+however, that Sigananda, a very old chief--he must have been over
+ninety--spoke the first.  He told them that he had been friend of
+Chaka and one of his captains, and had fought in most of his
+battles.  That afterwards he had been a general of Dingaan's
+until that king killed the Boers under Retief, when he left him
+and finally sided with Panda in the civil war in which Dingaan
+was killed with the help of the Boers.  That he had been present
+at the battle of the Tugela, though he took no actual part in the
+fighting, and afterwards became a councillor of Panda's and then
+of Cetewayo his son.  It was a long and interesting historical
+recital covering the whole period of the Zulu monarchy which
+ended suddenly with these words--
+
+"I have noted, O King and Councillors, that whenever the black
+vulture of the Zulus was content to attack birds of his own
+feather, he has conquered.  But when it has met the grey eagles
+of the white men, which come from over the sea, he has been
+conquered, and my heart tells me that as it was in the past, so
+it shall be in the future.  Chaka was a friend of the English, so
+was Panda, and so has Cetewayo been until this hour.  I say,
+therefore, let not the King tear the hand which fed him because
+it seems weak, lest it should grow strong and clutch him by the
+throat and choke him."
+
+Next spoke Undabuko, Dabulamanzi and Magwenga, brothers of the
+king, who all favoured war, though the two last were guarded in
+their speech.  After these came Uhamu, the king's uncle--he who
+was said to be the son of a Spirit--who was strong for peace,
+urging that the king should submit to the demands of the English,
+making the best terms he could, that he "should bend like a reed
+before the storm, so that after the storm had swept by, he might
+stand up straight again, and with him all the other reeds of the
+people of the Zulus."
+
+So, too, said Seketwayo, chief of the Umdhlalosi, and more whom I
+cannot recall, six or seven of them.  But Usibebu and the induna
+Untshingwayo, who afterwards commanded at Isandhlwana, were for
+fighting, as were Sirayo, the husband of the two women who had
+been taken on English territory and killed, and Umbilini, the
+chief of Swazi blood whose surrender was demanded by Sir Bartle
+Frere and who afterwards commanded the Zulus in the battle at
+Ihlobane.  Last of all spoke the Prime Minister, Umnyamana, who
+declared fiercely that if the Zulu buffalo hid itself in the
+swamp like a timid calf when the white bull challenged it on the
+hills, the spirits of Chaka and all his forefathers would thrust
+its head into the mud and choke it.
+
+When all had finished Cetewayo spoke, saying--
+
+"That is a bad council which has two voices, for to which of them
+must the Captain listen when the impis of the foe gather in front
+of him?  Here I have sat while the moon climbs high and counted,
+and what do I find?  That one half of you, men of wisdom and
+renown, say Yes, and that the other half of you, men of wisdom
+and renown, say No.  Which then is it to be, Yes or No?  Are we
+to fight the English, or are we to sit still?"
+
+"That is for the king to decide," said a voice.
+
+"See what it is to be a king," went on Cetewayo with passion.
+"If I declare for war and we win, shall I be greater than I am?
+If victory gives me more land, more subjects, more wives and more
+cattle, what is the use of these things to me who already have
+enough of all of them?  And if defeat should take everything from
+me, even my life perhaps, then what shall I have gained?  I will
+tell you--the curse of the Zulus upon my name from father to son
+for ever.  They will say, 'Cetewayo, son of Panda, pulled down a
+House that once was great.  Because of some small matter he
+quarrelled with the English who were always the friends of our
+people, and brought the Zulus to the dust.'  Sintwangu, my
+messenger, who brought heavy words from the Queen's induna which
+we must answer with other words or with spears, says that the
+English soldiers in Natal are few, so few that we Zulus can
+swallow them like bits of meat and still be hungry.  But are
+these all the soldiers of the English?  I am not sure.  You are
+one of that people, Macumazahn," he added, turning his massive
+shape towards me, "tell us now, how many soldiers has your
+Queen?"
+
+"King," I answered, "I do not know for certain.  But if the Zulus
+can muster fifty thousand spears, the Queen, if there be need,
+can send against them ten times fifty thousand, and if she grows
+angry, another ten times fifty, every one armed with a rifle that
+will fire five bullets a minute, and to accompany the soldiers,
+hundreds of cannon whereof a single shot would give Ulundi to the
+flames.  Out of the sea they will come, shipload after shipload,
+white men from where the sun sets and black men from where the
+sun rises, so many that Zululand would not hold them."
+
+Now at these words, which I delivered as grandly as I could,
+something like a groan burst from the Council, though one man
+cried--
+
+"Do not listen to the white traitor, O King, who is sent here to
+turn our hearts to water with his lies."
+
+"Macumazahn may lie to us," went on Cetewayo, "though in the past
+none in the land have ever known him to lie, but he was not sent
+to do so, for I brought him here.  For my part I do not believe
+that he lies.  I believe that these English are as many as the
+pebbles in a river bed, and that to them Natal, yes, and all the
+Cape is but as a single, outlying cattle kraal, one cattle kraal
+out of a hundred.  Did not Sompseu once tell us that they were
+countless, on that day when he came many years ago after the
+battle of the Tugela to name me to succeed my father Panda, the
+day when my faction, the Usutu, roared round him for hours like a
+river in flood, and he sat still like a rock in the centre of a
+river?  Also I am minded of the words that Chaka said when
+Dingaan and Umbopa had stabbed him and he lay dying at the kraal
+Duguza, that although the dogs of his own House whom his hand
+fed, had eaten him up, he heard the sound of the running of the
+feet of a great white people that should stamp them and the Zulus
+flat."
+
+He paused; and the silence was so intense that the crackling of
+Zikali's fire, which kept on burning brightly although I saw no
+fuel added to it, sounded quite loud.  Presently it was broken,
+first by a dog near at hand, howling horribly at the moon, and
+next by the hooting of a great owl that flitted across the donga,
+the shadow of its wide wings falling for a moment on the king.
+
+"Listen!" exclaimed Cetewayo, "a dog that howls!  Methinks that
+it stands upon the roof of the House of Senzangacona.  And an owl
+that hoots.  Methinks that owl has its nest in the world of
+Spirits!  Are these good omens, Councillors?  I trow not.  I say
+that I will not decide this matter of peace or war.  If there is
+one of my own blood here who will do so, come, let him take my
+place and let me go away to my own lordship of Gikazi that I had
+when I was a prince before the witch Mameena who played with all
+men and loved but one"--here everybody turned and stared towards
+me, yes, even Zikali whom nothing else had seemed to move, till I
+wished that the ground would swallow me up--"caused the war
+between me and my brother Umbelazi whose blood earth will not
+swallow nor suns dry--"
+
+"How can that be, O King?" broke in Umnyamana the Prime Minister.
+"How can any of your race sit in your seat while you still live?
+Then indeed there would be war, war between tribe and tribe and
+Zulu and Zulu till none were left, and the white hyenas from
+Natal would come and chew our bones and with them the Boers that
+have passed the Vaal.  See now.  Why is this Nyanga (i.e.
+witch-doctor) here?" and he pointed to Zikali beyond the fire.
+"Why has the Opener of Roads been brought from the Black Kloof
+which he has not left for years?  Is it not that he may give us
+counsel in our need and show us a sign that his counsel is good,
+whether it be for war or peace?  Then when he has made divination
+and given the counsel and shown the sign, then, O King, do you
+speak the word of war or peace, and send it to the Queen by
+yonder white man, and by that word we, the people, will abide."
+
+At this suggestion, which I had no doubt was made by some secret
+agreement between Umnyamana and Zikali, Cetewayo seemed to grasp.
+Perhaps this was because it postponed for a little while the
+dreadful moment of decision, or perhaps because he hoped that in
+the eyes of the nation it would shift the responsibility from his
+shoulders to those of the Spirits speaking through the lips of
+their prophet.  At any rate he nodded and answered--
+
+"It is so.  Let the Opener of Roads open us a road through the
+forests and the swamps and the rocks of doubt, danger and fear.
+Let him give us a sign that it is a good road on which we may
+safely travel, and let him tell us whether I shall live to walk
+that road and what I shall meet thereon.  I promise him in return
+the greatest fee that ever yet was paid to a doctor in Zululand."
+
+Now Zikali lifted his big head, shook his grey locks, and opening
+his wide mouth as though he expected manna to fall into it from
+the sky, he laughed out loud.
+
+"O-ho-ho," he laughed, "Oho-ho-ho-o, it is worth while to have
+lived so long when life has brought me to such an hour as this.
+What is it that my ears hear?  That I, the Indwande dwarf, I whom
+Chaka named 'The-Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born,' I, one
+of the race conquered and despised by the Zulus, am here to speak
+a word which the Zulus dare not utter, which the King of the
+Zulus dares not utter.  O-ho-ho-ho! And what does the King offer
+to me?  A fee, a great fee for the word that shall paint the
+Zulus red with blood or white with the slime of shame.  Nay, I
+take no fee that is the price of blood or shame.  Before I speak
+that word unknown--for as yet my heart has not heard it, and what
+the heart has not heard the lips cannot shape--I ask but one
+thing.  It is an oath that whatever follows on the word, while
+there is a Zulu left living in the world, I, the Voice of the
+Spirits, shall be safe from hurt or from reproach, I and those of
+my House and those over whom I throw my blanket, be they black or
+be they white.  That is my fee, without which I am silent."
+
+"Izwa!  We hear you.  We swear it on behalf of the people," said
+every councillor in the semi-circle in front of him; yes, and the
+king said it also, stretching out his hand.
+
+"Good," said Zikali, "it is an oath, it is an oath, sworn here
+upon the bones of the dead.  Evil-doers you call them, but I say
+to you that many of those who sit before me have more evil in
+their hearts than had those dead.  Well, let it be proclaimed, O
+King, and with it this--that ill shall it go with him who breaks
+the oath, with his family, with his kraal and all with whom he
+has to do.
+
+"Now what is it you ask of me?  First of all, counsel as to
+whether you should fight the English Queen, a matter on which
+you, the Great Ones, are evenly divided in opinion, as is the
+nation behind you.  O King, Indunas, and Captains, who am I that
+I should judge of such a matter which is beyond my trade, a
+matter of the world above and of men's bodies, not of the world
+below and of men's spirits?  Yet there was one who made the Zulu
+people out of nothing, as a potter fashions a vessel from clay,
+as a smith fashions an assegai out of the ore of the hills, yes,
+and tempers it with human blood.*  Chaka the Lion, the Wild
+Beast, the King among Kings, the Conqueror.  I knew Chaka as I
+knew his father, yes, and _his_ father.  Others still living knew
+him also, say you, Sigananda there for instance," and he pointed
+to the old chief who had spoken first.  "Yes, Sigananda knew him
+as a boy knows a great man, as a soldier knows a general.  But I
+knew his heart, aye, I shaped his heart, I was its thought.  Had
+it not been for me he would never have been great.  Then he
+wronged me"--here Zikali took up the skull which he said was that
+of his daughter, and stroked it--"and I left him.
+
+[*--The old Zulu smiths dipped their choicest blades in the blood
+of men.--A. Q.]
+
+"He was not wise, he should have killed one whom he had wronged,
+but perhaps he knew that I could not be killed; perhaps he had
+tried and found that he was but throwing spears at the moon which
+fell back on his own head.  I forget.  It is so long ago, and
+what does it matter?  At least I took away from him the prop of
+my wisdom, and he fell--to rise no more.  And so it has been with
+others.  So it has been with others.  Yet while he was great I
+knew his heart who lived in his heart, and therefore I ask
+myself, had he been sitting where the King sits to-day, what
+would Chaka have done?  I will tell you.  If not only the English
+but the Boers also and with them the Pondos, the Basutos and all
+the tribes of Africa had threatened him, he would have fought
+them--yes, and set his heel upon their necks.  Therefore,
+although I give no counsel upon such a matter, I say to you that
+the counsel of Chaka is--fight--and conquer.  Hearken to it or
+pass it by--I care not which."
+
+He paused and a loud "Ow" of wonder and admiration rose from his
+audience.  Myself I nearly joined in it, for I thought this one
+of the cleverest bits of statecraft that ever I had heard of or
+seen.  The old wizard had taken no responsibility and given no
+answer to the demand for advice.  All this he had thrust on to
+the shoulders of a dead man, and that man one whose name was
+magical to every Zulu, the king whose memory they adored, the
+great General who had gorged them with victory and power.
+Speaking as Chaka, after a long period of peace, he urged them
+once more to lift their spears and know the joys of triumph,
+thereby making themselves the greatest nation in Southern Africa.
+From the moment I heard this cunning appeal, I know what the end
+would be; all the rest was but of minor and semi-personal
+interest.  I knew also for the first time how truly great was
+Zikali and wondered what he might have become had Fortune set him
+in different circumstances among a civilized people.
+
+Now he was speaking again, and quickly before the impression died
+away.
+
+"Such is the word of Chaka spoken by me who was his secret
+councillor, the Councillor who was seldom seen, and never heard.
+Does not Sigananda yonder know the voice which amongst all those
+present echoes in his ears alone?"
+
+"I know it," cried the old chief.  Then with his eyes starting
+almost from his head, Sigananda leapt up and raising his hand,
+gave the royal salute, the Bayete, to the spirit of Chaka, as
+though the dead king stood before him.
+
+I think that most of those there thought that it did stand before
+him, for some of them also gave the Bayete and even Cetewayo
+raised his arm.
+
+Sigananda squatted down again and Zikali went on.
+
+"You have heard.  This captain of the Lion knows his voice.  So,
+that is done with.  Now you ask of me something else--that I who
+am a doctor, the oldest of all the doctors and, it is thought--I
+know not--the wisest, should be able to answer.  You ask of
+me--How shall this war prosper, if it is made--and what shall
+chance to the King during and after the war, and lastly you ask
+of me a sign.  What I tell to you is true, is it not so?"
+
+"It is true," answered the Council.
+
+"Asking is easy," continued Zikali in a grumbling voice, "but
+answering is another matter.  How can I answer without
+preparation, without the needful medicines also that I have not
+with me, who did not know what would be sought of me, who thought
+that my opinion was desired and no more?  Go away now and return
+on the sixth night and I will tell you what I can do."
+
+"Not so," cried the king.  "We refuse to go, for the matter is
+immediate.  Speak at once, Opener of Roads, lest it should be
+said in the land that after all you are but an ancient cheat, a
+stick that snaps in two when it is leant on."
+
+"Ancient cheat!  I remember that is what Macumazahn yonder once
+told me I am, though afterwards--Perhaps he was right, for who in
+his heart knows whether or not he be a cheat, a cheat who
+deceives himself and through himself others.  A stick that snaps
+in two when it is leant on!  Some have thought me so and some
+have thought otherwise.  Well, you would have answers which I
+know not how to give, being without medicine and in face of those
+who are quite ignorant and therefore cannot lend me their
+thoughts, as it sometimes happens that men do when workers of
+evil are sought out in the common fashion.  For then, as you may
+have guessed, it is the evil-doer who himself tells the doctor of
+his crime, though he may not know that he is telling it.  Yet
+there is another stone that I alone can throw, another plan that
+I alone can practise, and that not always.  But of this I would
+not make use since it is terrible and might frighten you or even
+send you back to your huts raving so that your wives, yes, and
+the very dogs fled, from you."
+
+He stopped and for the first time did something to his fire, for
+I saw his hands going backwards and forwards, as though he warmed
+them at the flames.
+
+At length an awed voice, I think it was that of Dabulamanzi,
+asked--
+
+"What is this plan, Inyanga?  Let us hear that we may judge."
+
+"The plan of calling one from the dead and hearkening to the
+voice of the dead.  Is it your desire that I should draw water
+from this fount of wisdom, O King and Councillors?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+
+
+WAR
+
+
+
+
+
+Now men began to whisper together and Goza groaned at my side.
+
+"Rather would I look down a live lion's throat than see the
+dead," he murmured.  But I, who was anxious to learn how far
+Zikali would carry his tricks, contemptuously told him to be
+silent.
+
+Presently the king called me to him and said--
+
+"Macumazahn, you white men are reported to know all things.  Tell
+me now, is it possible for the dead to appear?"
+
+"I am not sure," I answered doubtfully; "some say that it is and
+some say that it is not possible."
+
+"Well," said the king.  "Have you ever seen one you knew in life
+after death?"
+
+"No," I replied, "that is--yes.  That is--I do not know.  When
+you will tell me, King, where waking ends and sleep begins, then
+I will answer."
+
+"Macumazahn," he exclaimed, "just now I announced that you were
+no liar, who perceive that after all you are a liar, for how can
+you both have seen, and not seen, the dead?  Indeed I remember
+that you lied long ago, when you gave it out that the witch
+Mameena was not your lover, and afterwards showed that she was by
+kissing her before all men, for who kisses a woman who is not his
+lover, or his mother?  Return, since you will not tell me the
+truth."
+
+So I went back to my stool, feeling very small and yet indignant,
+for how was it possible to be definite about ghosts, or to
+explain the exact facts of the Mameena myth which clung to me
+like a Wait-a-bit thorn.
+
+Then after a little consultation Cetewayo said--
+
+"It is our desire, O Opener of Roads, that you should draw wisdom
+from the fount of Death, if indeed you can do so.  Now let any
+who are afraid depart and wait for us who are not afraid, alone
+and in silence at the mouth of the kloof."
+
+At this some of the audience rose, but after hesitating a little,
+sat down again.  Only Goza actually took a step forward, but on
+my remarking that he would probably meet the dead coming up that
+way, collapsed, muttering something about my pistol, for the fool
+seemed to think I could shoot a spirit.
+
+"If indeed I can do so," repeated Zikali in a careless fashion.
+"That is to be proved, is it not?  Perhaps, too, it may be better
+for every one of you if I fail than if I succeed.  Of one thing I
+warn you, should the dead appear stir not, and above all touch
+not, for he who does either of these things will, I think, never
+live to look upon the sun again.  But first let me try an easier
+fashion."
+
+Then once again he took up the skull that he said had been his
+daughter's, and whispered to it, only to lay it down presently.
+
+"It will not serve," he said with a sigh and shaking his locks.
+"Noma tells me that she died a child, one who had no knowledge of
+war or matters of policy, and that in all these things of the
+world she still remains a child.  She says that I must seek some
+one who thought much of them; one, too who still lives in the
+heart of a man who is present here, if that be possible, since
+from such a heart alone can the strength be drawn to enable the
+dead to appear and speak.  Now let there be silence--Let there be
+silence, and woe to him that breaks it."
+
+Silence there was indeed, and in it Zikali crouched himself down
+till his head almost rested on his knee, and seemed to go to
+sleep.  He awoke again and chanted for half a minute or so in
+some language I could not understand.  Then voices began to
+answer him, as it seemed to me from all over the kloof, also from
+the sky or rock above.  Whether the effect was produced by
+ventriloquism or whether he had confederates posted at various
+points, I do not know.
+
+At any rate this lord of "multitudes of spirits" seemed to be
+engaged in conversation with some of them.  What is more, the
+thing was extremely well done, since each voice differed from the
+other; also I seemed to recognize some of them, Dingaan's for
+instance, and Panda's, yes, and that of Umbelazi the Handsome,
+the brother of the king whose death I witnessed down by the
+Tugela.
+
+You will ask me what they said.  I do not know.  Either the words
+were confused or the events that followed have blotted them from
+my brain.  All I remember is that each of them seemed to be
+speaking of the Zulus and their fate and to be very anxious to
+refer further discussion of the matter to some one else.  In
+short they seemed to talk under protest, or that was my
+impression, although Goza, the only person with whom I had any
+subsequent debate upon the subject, appeared to have gathered one
+that was different, though what it was I do not recall.  The only
+words that remained clear to me must, I thought, have come from
+the spirit of Chaka, or rather from Zikali or one of his
+myrmidons assuming that character.  They were uttered in a deep
+full voice, spiced with mockery, and received by the wizard with
+"Sibonga," or titles of praise, which I who am versed in Zulu
+history and idiom knew had only been given to the great king, and
+indeed since his death had become unlawful, not to be used.  The
+words were--
+
+"What, Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born, do you think
+yourself a Thing-that-should-never-die, that you still sit
+beneath the moon and weave witchcrafts as of old? Often have I
+hunted for you in the Under-world who have an account to settle
+with you, as you have an account to settle with me.  So, so, what
+does it matter since we must meet at last, even if you hide
+yourself at the back of the furthest star?  Why do you bring me
+up to this place where I see some whom I would forget?  Yes, they
+build bone on bone and taking the red earth, mould it into flesh
+and stand before me as last I saw them newly dead.  Oh! your
+magic is good, Spell-weaver, and your hate is deep and your
+vengeance is keen.  No, I have nothing to tell you to-day, who
+rule a greater people than the Zulus in another land.  Who are
+these little men who sit before you?  One of them has a look of
+Dingaan, my brother who slew me, yes, and wears his armlet.  Is
+he the king?  Answer not, for I do not care to know.  Surely
+yonder withered thing is Sigananda.  I know his eye and the Iziqu
+on his breast.  Yes, I gave it to him after the great battle with
+Zweede in which he killed five men.  Does he remember it, I
+wonder?  Greeting, Sigananda; old as you are you have still
+twenty and one years to live, and then we will talk of the battle
+with Zweede.  Let me begone, this place burns my spirit, and in
+it there is a stench of mortal blood.  Farewell, O Conqueror!"
+
+These were the words that I thought I heard Chaka say, though I
+daresay that I dreamt them.  Indeed had it been otherwise, I mean
+had they really been spoken by Zikali, there would surely have
+been more in them, something that might have served his purpose,
+not mere talk which had all the inconsequence of a dream.  Also
+no one else seemed to pay any particular attention to them,
+though this may have been because so many voices were sounding
+from different places at once, for as I have said, Zikali
+arranged his performance very well, as well as any medium could
+have done on a prepared stage in London.
+
+In a moment, as though at a signal, the voices died away.  Then
+other things happened.  To begin with I felt very faint, as
+though all the strength were being taken out of me.  Some queer
+fancy got a hold of me.  I don't quite know what it was, but it
+had to do with the Bible story of Adam when he fell asleep and a
+rib was removed from him and made into a woman.  I reflected that
+I felt as Adam must have done when he came out of his trance
+after this terrific operation, very weak and empty.  Also, as it
+chanced, presently I saw Eve--or rather a woman.  Looking at the
+fire in a kind of disembodied way, I perceived that dense smoke
+was rising from it, which smoke spread itself out like a fan.  It
+thinned by degrees, and through the veil of smoke I perceived
+something else, namely, a woman very like one whom once I had
+known.  There she stood, lightly clad enough, her fingers playing
+with the blue beads of her necklace, an inscrutable smile upon
+her face and her large eyes fixed on nothingness.
+
+Oh! Heaven, I knew her, or rather thought I did at the moment,
+for now I am almost sure that it was Nombe dressed, or undressed,
+for the part.  That knowledge came with reflection, but then I
+could have sworn, being deceived by the uncertain light, that the
+long dead Mameena stood before us as she had seemed to stand
+before me in the hut of Zikali, radiating a kind of supernatural
+life and beauty.
+
+A little wind arose, shaking the dry leaves of the aloes in the
+kloof; I thought it whispered--_Hail, Mameena!_  Some of the
+older men, too, among them a few who had seen her die, in
+trembling voices murmured, "It is Mameena!" whereon Zikali
+scowled at them and they grew silent.
+
+As for the figure it stood there patient and unmoved, like one
+who has all time at its disposal, playing with the blue beads.  I
+heard them tinkle against each other, which proves that it was
+human, for how could a wraith cause beads to tinkle, although it
+is true that Christmas-story ghosts are said to clank their
+chains.  Her eyes roved idly and without interest over the
+semi-circle of terrified men before her.  Then by degrees they
+fixed themselves upon the tree behind which I was crouching,
+whereon Goza sank paralyzed to the ground.  She contemplated this
+tree for a while that seemed to me interminable; it reminded me
+of a setter pointing game it winded but could not see, for her
+whole frame grew intent and alert.  She ceased playing with the
+beads and stretched out her slender hand towards me.  Her lips
+moved.  She spoke in a sweet, slow voice, saying--
+
+"O Watcher-by-Night, is it thus you greet her to whom you have
+given strength to stand once more beneath the moon?  Come hither
+and tell me, have you no kiss for one from whom you parted with a
+kiss?"
+
+I heard.  Without doubt the voice was the very voice of Mameena
+(so well had Nombe been instructed).  Still I determined not to
+obey it, who would not be made a public laughing-stock for a
+second time in my life.  Also I confess this jesting with the
+dead seemed to me somewhat unholy, and not on any account would I
+take a part in it.
+
+All the company turned and stared at me, even Goza lifted his
+head and stared, but I sat still and contemplated the beauties of
+the night.
+
+"If it is the spirit of Mameena, he will come," whispered
+Cetewayo to Umnyamana.
+
+"Yes, yes," answered the Prime Minister, "for the rope of his
+love will draw him.  He who has once kissed Mameena, _must_ kiss
+her again when she asks."
+
+Hearing this I grew furiously indignant and was about to break
+into explanations, when to my horror I found myself rising from
+that stool.  I tried to cling to it, but, as it only came into
+the air with me, let it go.
+
+"Hold me, Goza," I muttered, and he like a good fellow clutched
+me by the ankle, whereon I promptly kicked him in the mouth, at
+least my foot kicked him, not my will.  Now I was walking towards
+that Shape--shadow or woman--like a man in his sleep, and as I
+came she stretched out her arms and smiled oh! as sweetly as an
+angel, though I felt quite sure that she was nothing of the sort.
+
+Now I stood opposite to her alongside the fire of which the smoke
+smelt like roses at the dawn, and she seemed to bend towards me.
+With shame and humiliation I perceived that in another moment
+those arms would be about me.  But somehow they never touched me;
+I lost sight of them in the rose-scented smoke, only the sweet,
+slow voice which I could have sworn was that of Mameena, murmured
+in my ear--well, words known to her and me alone that I had never
+breathed to any living being, though of course I am aware now
+that they must also have been known to somebody else.
+
+"Do you doubt me any longer?" went on the murmuring.  "Say, am I
+Nombe now? Or--or am I in truth that Mameena, whose kiss thrills
+your lips and soul?  Hearken, Macumazahn, for the time is short.
+In the rout of the great battle that shall be, do not fly with
+the white men, but set your face towards Ulundi.  One who was
+your friend will guard you, and whoever dies, no harm shall come
+to you now that the fire which burns in my heart has set all
+Zululand aflame.  Hearken once more.  Hans, the little yellow man
+who was named Light-in-Darkness, he who died among the Kendah
+people, sends you salutations and gives you praise.  He bids me
+tell you that now of his own accord he renders to me, Mameena,
+the royal salute, because royal I must ever be; because also he
+and I who are so far apart are yet one in the love that is our
+life."
+
+The smoke blew into my face, causing me to reel back.  Cetewayo
+caught me by the arm, saying--
+
+"Tell us, are the lips of the dead witch warm or cold?"
+
+"I do not know," I groaned, "for I never touched her."
+
+"How he lies!  Oh! how he lies even about what our eyes saw,"
+said Cetewayo reflectively as I blundered past him back to my
+seat, on which I sank half swooning.  When I got my wits again
+the figure that pretended to be Mameena was speaking, I suppose
+in answer to some question of Zikali's which I had not heard.  It
+said--
+
+"O Lord of the Spirits, you have called me from the land of
+Spirits to make reply as to two matters which have not yet
+happened upon the earth.  These replies I will give but no
+others, since the mortal strength that I have borrowed returns
+whence it came.  The first matter is, if there be war between the
+White and Black, what will happen in that war?  I see a plain
+ringed round with hills and on it a strange-shaped mount.  I see
+a great battle; I see the white men go down like corn before a
+tempest; I see the spears of the impis redden; I see the white
+soldiers lie like leaves cut from a tree by frost.  They are
+dead, all dead, save a handful that have fled away.  I hear the
+ingoma of victory sung here at Ulundi.  It is finished.
+
+"The second matter is--what shall chance to the king?  I see him
+tossed on the Black Water; I see him in a land full of houses,
+talking with a royal woman and her councillors.  There, too, he
+conquers, for they offer him tribute of many gifts.  I see him
+here, back here in Zululand, and hear him greeted with the royal
+salute.  Last of all I see him dead, as men must die, and hear
+the voice of Zikali and the mourning of the women of his house.
+It is finished.  Farewell, King Cetewayo, I pass to tell Panda,
+your father, how it fares with you.  When last we parted did I
+not prophesy to you that we should meet again at the bottom of a
+gulf?  Was it this gulf, think you, or another?  One day you
+shall learn.  Farewell, or fare ill, as it may happen!"
+
+Once more the smoke spread out like a fan.  When it thinned and
+drew together again, the Shape was gone.
+
+Now I thought that the Zulus would be so impressed by this very
+queer exhibition, that they would seek no more supernatural
+guidance, but make up their minds for war at once.  This,
+however, was just what they did not do.  As it happened, among
+the assembled chiefs, was one who himself had a great repute as a
+witch-doctor, and therefore burned with jealousy of Zikali who
+appeared to be able to do things that he had never even
+attempted.  This man leapt up and declared that all which they
+had seemed to hear and see was but cunning trickery, carried out
+after long preparation by Zikali and his confederates.  The
+voices, he said, came from persons placed in certain spots, or
+sometimes were produced by Zikali himself.  As for the vision, it
+was not that of a spirit but of a real woman, in proof of which
+he called attention to certain anatomical details of the figure.
+Finally, with much sense, he pointed out that the Council would
+be mad to come to any decision upon such evidence, or to give
+faith to prophecies, whereof the truth or falsity could only be
+known in the future.
+
+Now a fierce debate broke out, the war party maintaining that the
+manifestations were genuine, the peace party that they were a
+fraud.  In the end, as neither side would give way and as Zikali,
+when appealed to, sat silent as a stone, refusing any
+explanation, the king said--
+
+"Must we sit here talking, talking, till daylight?  There is but
+one man who can know the truth, that is Macumazahn.  Let him deny
+it as he will, he was the lover of this Mameena while she was
+alive, for with my own eyes I saw him kiss her before she killed
+herself.  It is certain, therefore, that he knows if the woman we
+seemed to see was Mameena or another, since there are things
+which a man never forgets.  I propose, therefore, that we should
+question him and form our own judgment of his answer."
+
+This advice, which seemed to promise a road out of a blind ally,
+met with instant acceptance.
+
+"Let it be so," they cried with one voice, and in another minute
+I was once more conducted from behind my tree and set down upon
+the stool in front of the Council, with my back to the fire and
+Zikali, "that his eyes might not charm me."
+
+"Now, Watcher-by-Night," said Cetewayo, "although you have lied
+to us in a certain matter, of this we do not think much, since it
+is one upon which both men and women always lie, as every judge
+will know.  Therefore we still believe you to be an honest man,
+as your dealings have proved for many years.  As an honest man,
+therefore, we beg you to give us a true answer to a plain
+question.  Was the Shape we saw before us just now a woman or a
+spirit, and if a spirit, was it the ghost of Mameena, the
+beautiful witch who died near this place nearly the quarter of a
+hundred years ago, she whom you loved, or who loved you, which is
+just the same thing, since a man always loves a woman who loves
+him, or thinks that he does?"
+
+Now after reflection I replied in these words and as
+conscientiously as I could--
+
+"King and Councillors, I do not know if what we all saw was a
+ghost or a living person, but, as I do not believe in ghosts, or
+at any rate that they come back to the world on such errands, I
+conclude that it was a living person.  Still it may have been
+neither, but only a mere picture produced before us by the arts
+of Zikali.  So much for the first question.  Your second is--was
+this spirit or woman or shadow, that of her whom I remember
+meeting in Zululand many years ago?  King and Councillors, I can
+only say that it was very like her.  Still one handsome young
+woman often greatly resembles another of the same age and
+colouring.  Further, the moon gives an uncertain light,
+especially when it is tempered by smoke from a fire.  Lastly,
+memory plays strange tricks with all of us, as you will know if
+you try to think of the face of any one who has been dead for
+more than twenty years.  For the rest, the voice seemed similar,
+the beads and ornaments seemed similar, and the figure repeated
+to me certain words which I thought I alone had heard come from
+the lips of her who is dead.  Also she gave me a strange message
+from another who is dead, referring to a matter which I believed
+was known only to me and that other.  Yet Zikali is very clever
+and may have learned these things in some way unguessed by me,
+and what he has learned, others may have learned also.  King and
+Councillors, I do not think that what we saw was the spirit of
+Mameena.  I think it a woman not unlike to her who had been
+taught her lesson.  I have nothing more to say, and therefore I
+pray you not to ask me any further questions about Mameena of
+whose name I grow weary."
+
+At this point Zikali seemed to wake out of his indifference, or
+his torpor, for he looked up and said darkly--
+
+"It is strange that the cleverest are always those who first fall
+into the trap.  They go along, gazing at the stars at night, and
+forget the pit which they themselves have dug in the morning.
+O-ho-ho! Oho-ho!"
+
+Now the wrangling broke out afresh.  The peace party pointed
+triumphantly to the fact that I, the white man who ought to know,
+put no faith in this apparition, which was therefore without
+doubt a fraud.  The war party on the other hand declared that I
+was deceiving them for reasons of my own, one of which would be
+that I did not wish to see the Zulus eat up my people.  So fierce
+grew the debate that I thought it would end in blows and perhaps
+in an attack on myself or Zikali who all the while sat quite
+careless and unmoved, staring at the moon.  At length Cetewayo
+shouted for silence, spitting, as was his habit when angry.
+
+"Make an end," he cried, "lest I cause some of you to grow quiet
+for ever," whereon the recriminations ceased.  "Opener of Roads,"
+he went on, "many of those who are present think like Macumazahn
+here, that you are but an old cheat, though whether or no I be
+one of these I will not say.  They demand a sign of you that none
+can dispute, and I demand it also before I speak the word of
+peace or war.  Give us then that sign or begone to whence you
+came and show your face no more at Ulundi."
+
+"What sign does the Council require, Son of Panda?" asked Zikali
+quietly.  "Let them agree on one together and tell me now at
+once, for I who am old grow weary and would sleep.  Then if it
+can be given I will give it; and if I cannot give it, I will get
+me back to my own house and show my face no more at Ulundi, who
+do not desire to listen again to fools who babble like contending
+waters round a stone and yet never stir the stone because they
+run two ways at once."
+
+Now the Councillors stared at each other, for none knew what sign
+to ask.  At length old Sigananda said--
+
+"O King, it is well known that the Black One who went before you
+had a certain little assegai handled with the royal red wood,
+which drank the blood of many.  It was with this assegai that
+Mopo his servant, who vanished from the land after the death of
+Dingaan, let out the life of the Black One at the kraal Duguza,
+but what became of it afterwards none have heard for certain.
+Some say that it was buried with the Black One, some that Mopo
+stole it.  Others that Dingaan and Umhlagana burned it.  Still a
+saying rose like a wind in the land that when that spear shall
+fall from heaven at the feet of the king who reigns in the place
+of the Black One, then the Zulus shall make their last great war
+and win a victory of which all the world shall hear.  Now let the
+Opener of Roads give us this sign of the falling of the Black
+One's spear and I shall be content."
+
+"Would you know the spear if it fell?" asked Cetewayo.
+
+"I should know it, O King, who have often held it in my hand.
+The end of the haft is gnawed, for when he was angry the Black
+One used to bite it.  Also a thumb's length from the blade is a
+black mark made with hot iron.  Once the Black One made a bet
+with one of his captains that at a distance of ten paces he would
+throw the spear deeper into the body of a chief whom he wished to
+kill, than the captain could.  The captain threw first, for I saw
+him with my eyes, and the spear sank to that place on the shaft
+where the mark is, for the Black One burned it there.  Then the
+Black One threw and the spear went through the body of the chief
+who, as he died, called to him that he too should know the feel
+of it in his heart, as indeed he did."
+
+I think that Cetewayo was about to assent to this suggestion,
+since he who desired peace believed it impossible that Zikali
+should suddenly cause this identical spear to fall from heaven.
+But Umnyamana, the Prime Induna, interposed hurriedly--
+
+"It is not enough, O King.  Zikali may have stolen the spear, for
+he was living and at the kraal Duguza at that time.  Also he may
+have put about the prophecy whereof Sigananda speaks, or at least
+so men would say.  Let him give us a greater sign than this that
+all may be content, so that whether we make war or peace it may
+be with a single mind.  Now it is known that we Zulus have a
+guardian spirit who watches over us from the skies, she who is
+called Nomkubulwana, or by some the Inkosazana-y-Zulu, the
+Princess of Heaven.  It is known also that this Princess, who is
+white of skin and ruddy-haired, appears always before great
+things happen in our land.  Thus she appeared before the Black
+One died.  Also she appeared to a number of children before the
+battle of the Tugela.  It is said, too, that but lately she
+appeared to a woman near the coast and warned her to cross the
+Tugela because there would be war, though this woman cannot now
+be found.  Let the Opener of Roads call down Nomkubulwana before
+our eyes from heaven and we will admit, every man of us, that
+this is a sign which cannot be questioned."
+
+"And if he does this thing, which I hold no doctor in the world
+can do, what shall it signify?" asked Cetewayo.
+
+"O King," answered Umnyamana, "if he does so, it shall signify
+war and victory.  If he does not do so, it shall signify peace,
+and we will bow our heads before the Amalungwana basi bodwe"
+(i.e., "the little English," used as a term of derision).
+
+"Do all agree?" asked Cetewayo.
+
+"We agree," answered every man, stretching out his hand.
+
+"Then, Opener of Roads, it stands thus: If you can call
+Nomkubulwana, should there be such a spirit, to appear before our
+eyes, the Council will take it as a sign that the Heavens direct
+us to fight the English."
+
+So spoke Cetewayo, and I noted a tone of triumph in his voice,
+for his heart shrank from this war, and he was certain that
+Zikali could do nothing of the sort.  Still the opinion of the
+nation, or rather of the army, was so strong in favour of it that
+he feared lest his refusal might bring about his deposition, if
+not his death.  From this dilemma the supernatural test suggested
+by the Prime Minister and approved by the Council that
+represented the various tribes of people, seemed to offer a path
+of escape.  So I read the situation, as I think rightly.
+
+Upon hearing these words for the first time that night Zikali
+seemed to grow disturbed.
+
+"What do my ears hear?" he exclaimed excitedly.  "Am I the
+Umkulukulu, the Great-Great (i.e., God) himself, that it should
+be asked of me to draw the Princess of Heaven from beyond the
+stars, she who comes and goes like the wind, but like the wind
+cannot be commanded?  Do they hear that if she will not come to
+my beckoning, then the great Zulu people must put a yoke upon
+their shoulders and be as slaves?  Surely the King must have been
+listening to the doctrines of those English teachers who wear a
+white ribbon tied about their necks, and tell us of a god who
+suffered himself to be nailed to a cross of wood, rather than
+make war upon his foes, one whom they call the Prince of Peace.
+Times have changed indeed since the days of the Black One.  Yes,
+generals have become like women; the captains of the impis are
+set to milk the cows.  Well, what have I to do with all this?
+What does it matter to me who am so very old that only my head
+remains above the level of the earth, the rest of me being buried
+in the grave, who am not even a Zulu to boot, but a Dwandwe, one
+of the despised Dwandwe whom the Zulus mocked and conquered?
+
+"Hearken to me, Spirits of the House of Senzangacona"--here he
+addressed about a dozen of Cetewayo's ancestors by name, going
+back for many generations.  "Hearken to me, O Princess of Heaven,
+appointed by the Great-Great to be the guardian of the Zulu race.
+It is asked that you should appear, should it be your wish to
+signify to these your children that they must stand upon their
+feet and resist the white men who already gather upon their
+borders.  And should it be your wish that they should lay down
+their spears and go home to sleep with their wives and hoe the
+gardens while the white men count the cattle and set each to his
+work upon the roads, then that you should not appear.  Do what
+you will, O Spirits of the House of Senzangacona, do what you
+will, O Princess of Heaven.  What does it matter to the
+Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born, who soon will be as
+though he never had been born, whether the House of Senzangacona
+and the Zulu people stand or fall?
+
+"I, the old doctor, was summoned here to give counsel.  I gave
+counsel, but it passed over the heads of these wise ones like a
+shadow of which none took note.  I was asked to prophesy of what
+would chance if war came.  I called the dead from their graves;
+they came in voices, and one of them put on the flesh again and
+spoke from the lips of flesh.  The white man to whom she spoke
+denied her who had been his love, and the wise ones said that she
+was a cheat, yes, a doll that I had dressed up to deceive them.
+This spirit that had put on flesh, told of what would chance in
+the war, if war there were, and what would chance to the King,
+but they mock at the prophecy and now they demand a sign.  Come
+then, Nomkubulwana, and give them the sign if you will and let
+there be war.  Or stay away and give them no sign if you will,
+and let there be peace.  It is nought to me, nought to the
+Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born."
+
+Thus he rambled on, as it occurred to me who watched and
+listened, talking against time.  For I observed that while he
+spoke a cloud was passing over the face of the moon, and that
+when he ceased speaking it was quite obscured by this cloud, so
+that the Vale of Bones was plunged in a deep twilight that was
+almost darkness.  Further, in a nervous kind of way, he did
+something more to his wizard's fire which again caused it to
+throw out a fan of smoke that hid him and the execution rock in
+front of which he sat.
+
+The cloud floated by and the moon came out as though from an
+eclipse; the smoke of the fire, too, thinned by degrees.  As it
+melted and the light grew again, I became aware that something
+was materializing, or had appeared on the point of the rock above
+us.  A few seconds later, to my wonder and amazement, I perceived
+that this something was the spirit-like form of a white woman
+which stood quite still upon the very point of the rock.  She was
+clad in some garment of gleaming white cut low upon her breast,
+that may have been of linen, but from the way it shone, suggested
+that it was of glittering feathers, egrets' for instance.  Her
+ruddy hair was outspread, and in it, too, something glittered,
+like mica or jewels.  Her feet and milk-hued arms were bare and
+poised in her right hand was a little spear.
+
+Nor did I see alone, since a moan of fear and worship went up
+from the Councillors.  Then they grew silent stared and stared.
+
+Suddenly Zikali lifted his head and looked at them through the
+thin flame of the fire which made his eyes shine like those of a
+tiger or of a cornered baboon.
+
+"At what do you gaze so hard, King and Councillors?" he asked.
+"I see nothing.  At what then do you gaze so hard?"
+
+"On the rock above you stands a white spirit in her glory.  It is
+the Inkosazana herself," muttered Cetewayo.
+
+"Has she come then?" mocked the old wizard.  "Nay, surely it is
+but a dream, or another of my tricks; some black woman painted
+white that I have smuggled here in my medicine bag, or rolled up
+in the blanket on my back.  How can I prove to you that this is
+not another cheat like to that of the spirit of Mameena whom the
+white man, her lover, did not know again?  Go near to her you
+must not, even if you could, seeing that if by chance she should
+_not_ be a cheat, you would die, every man of you, for woe to him
+whom Nomkubulwana touches.  How then, how?  Ah! I have it.
+Doubtless in his pocket Macumazahn yonder hides a little gun,
+Macumazahn who with such a gun can cut a reed in two at thirty
+paces, or shave the hair from the chin of a man, as is well known
+in the land.  Let him then take his little gun and shoot at that
+which you say stands upon the rock.  If it be a black woman
+painted white, doubtless she will fall down dead, as so many have
+fallen from that rock.  But if it be the Princess of Heaven, then
+the bullet will pass through her or turn aside and she will take
+no harm, though whether Macumazahn will take any harm is more
+than I can say."
+
+Now when they heard this many remained silent, but some of the
+peace party began to clamour that I should be ordered to shoot at
+the apparition.  At length Cetewayo seemed to give way to this
+pressure.  I say seemed, because I think he wished to give way.
+Whether or not a spirit stood before him, he knew no more than
+the rest, but he did know that unless the vision were proved to
+be mortal he would be driven into war with the English.
+Therefore he took the only chance that remained to him.
+
+"Macumazahn," he said, "I know you have your pistol on you, for
+only the other day you brought it into my presence, and through
+light and darkness you nurse it as a mother does her firstborn.
+Now since the Opener of Roads desires it, I command you to fire
+at that which seems to stand above us.  If it be a mortal woman,
+she is a cheat and deserves to die.  If it be a spirit from
+heaven it can take no harm.  Nor can you take harm who only do
+that which you must."
+
+"Woman or spirit, I will not shoot, King," I answered.
+
+"Is it so?  What! do you defy me, White Man?  Do so if you will,
+but learn that then your bones shall whiten here in this Vale of
+Bones.  Yes, you shall be the first of the English to go below,"
+and turning, he whispered something to two of the Councillors.
+
+Now I saw that I must either obey or die.  For a moment my mind
+grew confused in face of this awful alternative.  I did not
+believe that I saw a spirit.  I believed that what stood above me
+was Nombe cunningly tricked out with some native pigments which
+at that distance and in that light made her look like a white
+woman.  For oddly enough at that time the truth did not occur to
+me, perhaps because I was too surprised.  Well, if it were Nombe,
+she deserved to be shot for playing such a trick, and what is
+more her death, by revealing the fraud of Zikali, would perhaps
+avert a great war.  But then why did he make the suggestion that
+I should be commanded to fire at this figure?  Slowly I drew out
+my pistol and brought it to the full cock, for it was loaded.
+
+"I will obey, King," I said, "to save myself from being murdered.
+But on your head be all that may follow from this deed."
+
+Then it was for the first time that a new idea struck me so
+clearly that I believe it was conveyed direct from Zikali's brain
+to my own.  _I might shoot, but there was no need for me to hit._
+After that everything grew plain.
+
+"King," I said, "if yonder be a mortal, she is about to die.  Only a
+spirit can escape my aim.  Watch now the centre of her forehead,
+for there the bullet will strike!"
+
+I lifted the pistol and appeared to cover the figure with much
+care.  As I did so, even from that distance I thought I saw a
+look of terror in its eyes.  Then I fired, with a little jerk of
+the wrist sending the ball a good yard above her head.
+
+"She is unharmed," cried a voice.  "Macumazahn missed her."
+
+"Macumazahn does not miss," I replied loftily.  "If that at which
+he aimed is unharmed, it is because it cannot be hit."
+
+"O-ho-o!" laughed Zikali, "the White Man who does not know the
+taste of his own love's lips, says that he has fired at that
+which cannot be hit.  Let him try again.  No, let him choose
+another target.  The Spirit is the Spirit, but he who summoned
+her may still be a cheat.  There is another bullet in your little
+gun, White Man; see if it can pierce the heart of Zikali, that
+the King and Council may learn whether he be a true prophet, the
+greatest of all the prophets that ever was, or whether he be but
+a common cheat."
+
+Now a sudden rage filled me against this old rascal.  I
+remembered how he had brought Mameena to her death, when he
+thought that it would serve him, and since then filled the land
+with stories concerning her and me, which met me whatever way I
+turned.  I remembered that for years he had plotted to bring
+about the destruction of the Zulus, and to further his dark ends,
+was now engaged in causing a fearful war which would cost the
+lives of thousands.  I remembered that he had trapped me into
+Zululand and then handed me over to Cetewayo, separating me from
+my friends who were in my charge, and for aught I knew, giving
+them to death.  Surely the world would be well rid of him.
+
+"Have your will," I shouted and covered him with the pistol.
+
+Then there came into my mind a certain saying--"Judge not that ye
+be not judged."  Who and what was I that I should dare to arraign
+and pass sentence upon this man who after all had suffered many
+wrongs?  As I was about to fire I caught sight of some bright
+object flashing towards the king from above, and instantaneously
+shifted my aim and pressed the trigger.  The thing, whatever it
+might be, flew in two.  One part of it fell upon Zikali, the
+other part travelled on and struck Cetewayo upon the knee.
+
+There followed a great confusion and a cry of "The king is
+stabbed!"  I ran forward to look and saw the blade of a little
+assegai lying on the ground and on Cetewayo's knee a slight cut
+from which blood trickled.
+
+"It is nothing," I said, "a scratch, no more, though had not the
+spear been stopped in its course it might have been otherwise."
+
+"Yes," cried Zikali, "but what was it that caused the cut?  Take
+this, Sigananda, and tell me what it may be," and he threw
+towards him a piece of red wood.
+
+Sigananda looked at it.  "It is the haft of the Black One's
+spear," he exclaimed, "which the bullet of Macumazahn has severed
+from the blade."
+
+"Aye," said Zikali, "and the blade has drawn the blood of the
+Black One's child.  Read me this omen, Sigananda; or ask it of
+her who stands above you."
+
+Now all looked to the rock, but it was empty.  The figure had
+vanished.
+
+"Your word, King," said Zikali.  "Is it for peace or war?"
+
+Cetewayo looked at the assegai, looked at the blood trickling
+from his knee, looked at the faces of the councillors.
+
+"Blood calls for blood," he moaned.  "My word is--_War!_"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+
+
+KAATJE BRINGS NEWS
+
+
+
+
+
+Zikali burst into one of his peals of laughter, so unholy that
+it caused the blood in me to run cold.
+
+"The King's word is _war_," he cried.  "Let Nomkubulwana take
+that word back to heaven.  Let Macumazahn take it to the White
+Men.  Let the captains cry it to the regiments and let the world
+grow red.  The King has chosen, though mayhap, had I been he, I
+should have chosen otherwise; yet what am I but a hollow reed
+stuck in the ground up which the spirits speak to men?  It is
+finished, and I, too, am finished for a while.  Farewell, O King!
+Where shall we meet again, I wonder?  On the earth or under it?
+Farewell, Macumazahn, I know where we shall meet, though you do
+not.  O King, I return to my own place, I pray you to command
+that none come near me or trouble me with words, for I am spent."
+
+"It is commanded," said Cetewayo.
+
+As he spoke the fire went out mysteriously, and the wizard rose
+and hobbled off at a surprising pace round the corner of the
+projecting rock.
+
+"Stay!" I called, "I would speak with you;" but although I am
+sure he heard me, he did not stop or look round.
+
+I sprang up to follow him, but at some sign from Cetewayo two
+indunas barred my way.
+
+"Did you not hear the King's command, White Man?" one of them
+asked coldly, and the tone of his question told me that war
+having been declared, I was now looked upon as a foe.  I was
+about to answer sharply when Cetewayo himself addressed me.
+
+"Macumazahn," he said, "you are now my enemy, like all your
+people, and from sunrise to-morrow morning your safe-conduct here
+ends, for if you are found at Ulundi two hours after that time,
+it will be lawful for any man to kill you.  Yet as you are still
+my guest, I will give you an escort to the borders of the land.
+Moreover, you shall take a message from me to the Queen's
+officers and captains.  It is--that I will send an answer to
+their demands upon the point of an assegai.  Yet add this, that
+not I but the English, to whom I have always been a friend,
+sought this war.  If Sompseu had suffered me to fight the Boers
+as I wished to do, it would never have come about.  But he threw
+the Queen's blanket over the Transvaal and stood upon it, and now
+he declares that lands which were always the property of the
+Zulus, belong to the Boers.  Therefore I take back all the
+promises which I made to him when he came hither to call me King
+in the Queen's name, and no more do I call him my father.  As for
+the disbanding of my impis, let the English disband them if they
+can.  I have spoken."
+
+"And I have heard," I answered, "and will deliver your words
+faithfully, though I hold, King, that they come from the lips of
+one whom the Heavens have made mad."
+
+At this bold speech some of the Councillors started up with
+threatening gestures.  Cetewayo waved them back and answered
+quietly, "Perhaps it was the Queen of Heaven who stood on yonder
+rock who made me mad.  Or perhaps she made me wise, as being the
+Spirit of our people she should surely do.  That is a question
+which the future will decide, and if ever we should meet after it
+is decided, we will talk it over.  Now, hamba gachle! (go in
+peace)."
+
+"I hear the king and I will go, but first I would speak with
+Zikali."
+
+"Then, White Man, you must wait till this war is finished or till
+you meet him in the Land of Spirits.  Goza, lead Macumazahn back
+to his hut and set a guard about it.  At the dawn a company of
+soldiers will be waiting with orders to take him to the border.
+You will go with him and answer for his safety with your life.
+Let him be well treated on the road as my messenger."
+
+Then Cetewayo rose and stood while all present gave him the royal
+salute, after which he walked away down the kloof.  I remained
+for a moment, making pretence to examine the blade of the little
+assegai that had been thrown by the figure on the rock, which I
+had picked from the ground.  This historical piece of iron which
+I have no doubt is the same that Chaka always carried, wherewith,
+too, he is said to have killed his mother, Nandie, by the way I
+still possess, for I slipped it into my pocket and none tried to
+take it from me.
+
+Really, however, I was wondering whether I could in any way gain
+access to Zikali, a problem that was settled for me by a sharp
+request to move on, uttered in a tone which admitted of no
+further argument.
+
+Well, I trudged back to my hut in the company of Goza, who was so
+overcome by all the wonders he had seen that he could scarcely
+speak.  Indeed, when I asked him what he thought of the figure
+that had appeared upon the rock, he replied petulantly that it
+was not given to him to know whence spirits came or of what stuff
+they were made, which showed me that he at any rate believed in
+its supernatural origin and that it had appeared to direct the
+Zulus to make war.  This was all I wanted to find out, so I said
+nothing more, but gave up my mind to thought of my own position
+and difficulties.
+
+Here I was, ordered on pain of death to depart from Ulundi at the
+dawn.  And yet how could I obey without seeing Zikali and
+learning from him what had happened to Anscombe and Heda, or at
+any rate without communicating with him?  Once more only did I
+break silence, offering to give Goza a gun if he would take a
+message from me to the great wizard.  But with a shake of his big
+head, he answered that to do so would mean death, and guns were
+of no good to a dead man since, as I had shown myself that night,
+they had no power to shoot a spirit.
+
+This closed the business on which I need not have troubled to
+enter, since an answer to all my questionings was at hand.
+
+We reached the hut where Goza gave me over to the guard of
+soldiers, telling their officer that none were to be permitted to
+enter it save myself and that I was not to be to permitted to
+come out of it until he, Goza, came to fetch me a little before
+the dawn.
+
+The officer asked if any one else was to be permitted to come
+out, a question that surprised me, though vaguely, for I was
+thinking of other things.  Then Goza departed, remarking that he
+hoped I should sleep better than he would, who "felt spirits in
+his bones and did not wish to kiss them as I seemed to like to
+do."  I replied facetiously, thinking of the bottle of brandy,
+that ere long I meant to feel them in my stomach, whereat he
+shook his head again with the air of one whom nothing connected
+with me could surprise, and vanished.
+
+I crawled into the hut and put the board over the bee-hole-like
+entrance behind me.  Then I began to hunt for the matches in my
+pocket and pricked my finger with the point of Chaka's historical
+assegai.  While I was sucking it to my amazement I heard the
+sound of some one breathing on the further side of the hut.  At
+first I thought of calling the guard, but on reflection found the
+matches and lit the candle, which stood by the blankets that
+served me as a bed.  As soon as it burned up I looked towards the
+sound, and to my horror perceived the figure of a sleeping woman,
+which frightened me so much that I nearly dropped the candle.
+
+To tell the truth, so obsessed was I with Zikali and his ghosts
+that for a few moments it occurred to me that this might be the
+Shape with which I had talked an hour or two before.  I mean that
+which had seemed to resemble the long-dead lady Mameena, or
+rather the person made up to her likeness, come here to continue
+our conversation.  At any rate I was sure, and rightly, that here
+was more of the handiwork of Zikali who wished to put me in some
+dreadful position for reasons of his own.
+
+Pulling myself together I advanced upon the lady, only to find
+myself no wiser, since she was totally covered by a kaross.  Now
+what was to be done?  To escape, of which of course I had thought
+at once, was impossible since it meant an assegai in my ribs.  To
+call to the guard for help seemed indiscreet, for who knew what
+those fools might say?  To kick or shake her would undoubtedly be
+rude and, if it chanced to be the person who had played Mameena,
+would certainly provoke remarks that I should not care to face.
+There seemed to be only one resource, to sit down and wait till
+she woke up.
+
+This I did for quite a long time, till at last the absurdity of
+the position and, I will admit, my own curiosity overcame me,
+especially as I was very tired and wanted to go to sleep.  So
+advancing most gingerly, I turned down the kaross from over the
+head of the sleeping woman, much wondering whom I should see, for
+what man is there that a veiled woman does not interest?  Indeed,
+does not half the interest of woman lie in the fact that her
+nature is veiled from man, in short a mystery which he is always
+seeking to solve at his peril, and I might add, never succeeds in
+solving?
+
+Well, I turned down that kaross and next instant stepped back
+amazed and, to tell the truth, somewhat disappointed, for there,
+with her mouth open, lay no wondrous and spiritual Mameena, but
+the stout, earthly and most prosaic--Kaatje!
+
+"Confound the woman!" thought I to myself.  "What is she doing
+here?"
+
+Then I remembered how wrong it was to give way to a sense of
+romantic disappointment at such a time, though as a matter of
+fact it is always in a moment of crisis or of strained nerves
+that we are most open to the insidious advances of romance.  Also
+that there was no one on earth, or beyond it, whom I ought more
+greatly to have rejoiced to see.  I had left Kaatje with Anscombe
+and Heda; therefore Kaatje could tell me what had become of them.
+And at this thought my heart sank--why was she here in this most
+inappropriate meeting-place, alone?  Feeling that these were
+questions which must be answered at once, I prodded Kaatje in the
+ribs with my toe until, after a good deal of prodding, she awoke,
+sat up and yawned, revealing an excellent set of teeth in her
+cavernous, quarter-cast mouth.  Then perceiving a man she opened
+that mouth even wider, as I thought with the idea of screaming
+for help.  But here I was first with her, for before a sound
+could issue I had filled it full with the corner of the kaross,
+exclaiming in Dutch as I did so--
+
+"Idiot of a woman, do you not know the Heer Quatermain when you
+see him?"
+
+"Oh! Baas," she answered, "I thought you were some wicked Zulu
+come to do me a mischief." Then she burst into tears and sobs
+which I could not stop for at least three minutes.
+
+"Be quiet, you fat fool!" I cried exasperated, "and tell me,
+where are your mistress and the Heer Anscombe?"
+
+"I don't know, Baas, but I hope in heaven" (Kaatje was some kind
+of a Christian), she replied between her sobs.
+
+"In heaven!  What do you mean?" I asked, horrified.
+
+"I mean, Baas, that I hope they are in heaven, because when last
+I saw them they were both dead, and dead people must be either in
+heaven or hell, and heaven, they say, is better than hell."
+
+"_Dead!_  Where did you see them dead?"
+
+"In that Black Kloof, Baas, some days after you left us and went
+away.  The old baboon man who is called Zikali gave us leave
+through the witch-girl, Nombe, to go also.  So the Baas Anscombe
+set to work to inspan the horses, the Missie Heda helping him,
+while I packed the things.  When I had nearly finished Nombe
+came, smiling like a cat that has caught two mice, and beckoned
+to me to follow her.  I went and saw the cart inspanned with the
+four horses all looking as though they were asleep, for their
+heads hung down.  Then after she had stared at me for a long
+while Nombe led me past the horses into the shadow of the
+overhanging cliff.  There I saw my mistress and the Baas Anscombe
+lying side by side quite dead."
+
+"How do you know that they were dead?" I gasped.  "What had
+killed them?"
+
+"I know that they were dead because they _were_ dead, Baas.
+Their mouths and eyes were open and they lay upon their backs
+with their arms stretched out.  The witch-girl, Nombe, said some
+Kaffirs had come and strangled them and then gone away again, or
+so I understood who cannot speak Zulu so very well.  Who the
+Kaffirs were or why they came she did not say."
+
+"Then what did you do?" I asked.
+
+I ran back to the hut, Baas, fearing lest I should be strangled
+also, and wept there till I grew hungry.  When I came out of it
+again they were gone.  Nombe showed me a place under a tree where
+the earth was disturbed.  She said that they were buried there by
+order of her master, Zikali.  I don't know what became of the
+horses or the cart."
+
+"And what happened to you afterwards?"
+
+"Baas, I was kept for several days, I cannot remember how many,
+and only allowed out within the fence round the huts.  Nombe came
+to see me once, bringing this," and she produced a package sewn
+up in a skin.  "She said that I was to give it to you with a
+message that those whom you loved were quite safe with One who is
+greater than any in the land, and therefore that you must not
+grieve for them whose troubles were over.  I think it was two
+nights after this that four Zulus came, two men and two women,
+and led me away, as I thought to kill me.  But they did not kill
+me; indeed they were very kind to me, although when I spoke to
+them they pretended not to understand.  They took me a long
+journey, travelling for the most part in the dark and sleeping in
+the day.  This evening when the sun set they brought me through a
+Kaffir town and thrust me into the hut where I am without
+speaking to any one.  Here, being very tired, I went to sleep,
+and that is all."
+
+And quite enough too, thought I to myself.  Then I put her
+through a cross-examination, but Kaatje was a stupid woman
+although a good and faithful servant, and all her terrible
+experiences had not sharpened her intelligence.  Indeed, when I
+pressed her she grew utterly confused, began to cry, thereby
+taking refuge in the last impregnable female fortification, and
+snivelled out that she could not bear to talk of her dear
+mistress any more.  So I gave it up, and two minutes later she
+was literally snoring, being very tired, poor thing.
+
+Now I tried to think matters out as well as this disturbance
+would allow, for nothing hinders thought so much as snores.  But
+what was the use of thinking?  There was her story to take or to
+leave, and evidently the honest creature believed what she said.
+Further, how could she be deceived on such a point?  She swore
+that she had seen Anscombe and Heda dead and afterwards had seen
+their graves.
+
+Moreover, there was confirmation in Nombe's message which could
+not well have been invented, that spoke of their being well in
+the charge of a "Great One," a term by which the Zulus designate
+God, with all their troubles finished.  The reason and manner of
+their end were left unrevealed.  Zikali might have murdered them
+for his own purposes, or the Zulus might have killed them in
+obedience to the king's order that no white people in the land
+were to be allowed to live.  Or perhaps the Basutos from
+Sekukuni's country, with whom the Zulus had some understanding,
+had followed and done them to death; indeed the strangling
+sounded more Basuto than Zulu--if they were really strangled.
+
+Almost overcome though I was, I bethought me of the package and
+opened it, only to find another apparent proof of their end, for
+it contained Heda's jewels as I had found them in the bag in the
+safe; also a spare gold watch belonging to Anscombe with his
+coat-of-arms engraved upon it.  That which he wore was of silver
+and no doubt was buried with him, since for superstitious reasons
+the natives would not have touched anything on his person after
+death.  This seemed to me to settle the matter, presumptively at
+any rate, since to show that robbery was not the cause of their
+murder, their most valuable possessions which were not upon their
+persons had been sent to me, their friend.
+
+So this was the end of all my efforts to secure the safety and
+well-being of that most unlucky pair.  I wept when I thought of
+it there in the darkness of the hut, for the candle had burned
+out, and going on to my knees, put up an earnest prayer for the
+welfare of their souls; also that I might be forgiven my folly in
+leading them into such danger.  And yet I did it for the best,
+trying to judge wisely in the light of such experience of the
+world as I possessed.
+
+Now alas! when I am old I have come to the conclusion that those
+things which one tries to do for the best one generally does
+wrong, because nearly always there is some tricky fate at hand to
+mar them, which in this instance was named Zikali.  The fact is,
+I suppose, that man who thinks himself a free agent, can scarcely
+be thus called, at any rate so far as immediate results are
+concerned.  But that is a dangerous doctrine about which I will
+say no more, for I daresay that he is engaged in weaving a great
+life-pattern of which he only sees the tiniest piece.
+
+One thing comforted me a little.  If these two were dead I could
+now leave Zululand without qualms.  Of course I was obliged to
+leave in any case, or die, but somehow that fact would not have
+eased my conscience.  Indeed I think that had I believed they
+still lived, in this way or in that I should have tried not to
+leave, because I should have thought it for the best to stay to
+help them, whereby in all human probability I should have brought
+about my own death without helping them at all.  Well, it had
+fallen out otherwise and there was an end.  Now I could only hope
+that they had gone to some place where there are no more
+troubles, even if, at the worst, it were a place of rest too deep
+for dreams.
+
+Musing thus at last I dozed off, for I was so tired that I think
+I should have slept although execution awaited me at the dawn
+instead of another journey.  I did not sleep well because of that
+snoring female on the other side of the hut whose presence
+outraged my sense of propriety and caused me to be invaded by
+prophetic dreams of the talk that would ensue among those
+scandalmongering Zulus.  Yes, it was of this I dreamed, not of
+the great dangers that threatened me or of the terrible loss of
+my friends, perhaps because to many men, of whom I suppose I am
+one, the fear of scandal or of being the object of public notice,
+is more than the fear of danger or the smart of sorrow.
+
+So the night wore away, till at length I woke to see the gleam of
+dawn penetrating the smoke-hole and dimly illuminating the
+recumbent form of Kaatje, which to me looked most unattractive.
+Presently I heard a discreet tapping on the doorboard of the hut
+which I at once removed, wriggling swiftly through the hole,
+careless in my misery as to whether I met an assegai the other
+side of it or not.  Without a guard of eight soldiers was
+standing, and with them Goza, who asked me if I were ready to
+start.
+
+"Quite," I answered, "as soon as I have saddled my horse," which
+by the way had been led up to the hut.
+
+Very soon this was done, for I brought out most of my few
+belongings with me and the bag of jewels was in my pocket.  Then
+it was that the officer of the guard, a thin and
+melancholy-looking person, said in a hollow voice, addressing
+himself to Goza--
+
+"The orders are that the White Man's wife is to go with him.
+Where is she?"
+
+"Where a man's wife should be, in his hut I suppose," answered
+Goza sleepily.
+
+Rage filled me at the words.  Seldom do I remember being so
+angry.
+
+"Yes," I said, "if you mean that Half-cast whom someone has
+thrust upon me, she is in there.  So if she is to come with us,
+perhaps you will get her out."
+
+Thus adjured the melancholy-looking captain, who was named
+Indudu, perhaps because he or his father had longed to the Dudu
+regiment, crawled into the hut, whence presently emerged sounds
+not unlike those which once I heard when a ringhals cobra
+followed a hare that I had wounded into a hole, a muffled sound
+of struggling and terror.  These ended in the sudden and violent
+appearance of Kaatje's fat and dishevelled form, followed by that
+of the snakelike Indudu.
+
+Seeing me standing there before a bevy of armed Zulus, she
+promptly fell upon my neck with a cry for help, for the silly
+woman thought she was going to be killed by them.  Gripping me as
+an octopus grips its prey, she proceeded to faint, dragging me to
+my knees beneath the weight of eleven stone of solid flesh.
+
+"Ah!" said one of the Zulus not unkindly, "she is much afraid for
+her husband whom she loves."
+
+Well, I disentangled myself somehow, and seizing what I took to
+be a gourd of water in that dim light, poured it over her head,
+only to discover too late that it was not water but clotted milk.
+However the result was the same, for presently she sat up, made a
+dreadful-looking object by this liberal application of curds and
+whey, whereon I explained matters to her to the best of my power.
+The end of it was that after Indudu and Goza had wiped her down
+with tufts of thatch dragged from the hut and I had collected her
+gear with the rest of my own, we set her on the horse
+straddlewise, and started, the objects of much interest among
+such Zulus as were already abroad.
+
+At the gate of the town there was a delay which made me nervous,
+since in such a case as mine delay might always mean a
+death-warrant.  I knew that it was quite possible Cetewayo had
+changed, or been persuaded to change his mind and issue a command
+that I should be killed as one who had seen and knew too much.
+Indeed this fear was my constant companion during all the long
+journey to the Drift of the Tugela, causing me to look askance at
+every man we met or who overtook us, lest he should prove to be a
+messenger of doom.
+
+Nor were these doubts groundless, for as I learned in the after
+days, the Prime Minister, Umnyamana, and others had urged
+Cetewayo strongly to kill me, and what we were waiting for at the
+gate were his final orders on the subject.  However, in this
+matter, as in more that I could mention, the king played the part
+of a man of honour, and although he seemed to hesitate for
+reasons of policy, never had any intention of allowing me to be
+harmed.  On the contrary the command brought was that any one who
+harmed Macumazahn, the king's guest and messenger, should die
+with all his House.
+
+Whilst we tarried a number of women gathered round us whose
+conversation I could not help overhearing.  One of them said to
+another--
+
+"Look at the white man, Watcher-by-Night, who can knock a fly off
+an ox's horn with a bullet from further away than we could see
+it.  He it was who loved and was loved by the witch Mameena,
+whose beauty is still famous in the land.  They say she killed
+herself for his sake, because she declared that she would never
+live to grow old and ugly, so that he turned away from her.  My
+mother told me all about it only last night."
+
+Then you have a liar for a mother, thought I to myself, for to
+contradict such a one openly would have been undignified.
+
+"Is it so?" asked one of her friends, deeply interested.  "Then
+the lady Mameena must have had a strange taste in men, for this
+one is an ugly little fellow with hair like the grey ash of
+stubble and a wrinkled face of the colour of a flayed skin that
+has lain unstretched in the sun.  However, I have been told that
+witches always love those who look unnatural."
+
+"Yes," said Number one, "but you see now that he is old he has to
+be satisfied with a different sort of wife.  She is not
+beautiful, is she, although she has dipped her head in milk to
+make herself look white?"
+
+So it went on till at length a runner arrived and whispered
+something to Indudu who saluted, showing me that it was a royal
+message, and ordered us to move.  Of this I was glad, for had I
+stopped there much longer, I think I should have personally
+assaulted those gossiping female idiots.
+
+
+Of our journey through Zululand there is nothing particular to
+say.  We saw but few people, since most of the men had been
+called up to the army, and many of the kraals seemed to be
+deserted by the women and children who perhaps were hidden away
+with the cattle.  Once, however, we met an impi about five
+thousand strong, that seemed to cover the hillside like a herd of
+game.  It consisted of the Nodwengu and the Nokenke regiments,
+both of which afterwards fought at Isandhlwana.  Some of their
+captains with a small guard came to see who we were, fine,
+fierce-looking men.  They stared at me curiously, and with one of
+them, whom I knew, I had a little talk.  He said that I was the
+last white man in Zululand and that I was lucky to be alive, for
+soon these, and he pointed to the hordes of warriors who were
+streaming past, would eat up the English to "the last bone."  I
+answered that this remained to be seen, as the English were also
+great eaters, whereat he laughed, replying, that it was true that
+the white men had already taken the first bite--a very little
+one, from which I gathered that some small engagement had
+happened.
+
+"Well, farewell, Macumazahn," he said, as he turned to go, "I
+hope that we shall meet in the battle, for I want to see if you
+can run as well as you can shoot."
+
+This roused my temper and I answered him--
+
+"I hope for your sake that we shall not meet, for if we do I
+promise that before I run I will show you what you never saw
+before, the gateway of the world of Spirits."
+
+I mention this conversation because by some strange chance it
+happened at Isandhlwana that I killed this man, who was named
+Simpofu.
+
+During all those days of trudging through hot suns and
+thunderstorms, for I had to give up the mare to Kaatje who was
+too fat to walk, or said she was, I was literally haunted by
+thoughts of my murdered friends.  Heaven knows how bitterly I
+reproached myself for having brought them into Zululand.  It
+seemed so terribly sad that these young people who loved each
+other and had so bright a future before them, should have escaped
+from a tragic past merely to be overwhelmed by such a fate.
+Again and again I questioned that lump Kaatje as to the details
+of their end and of all that went before and followed after the
+murder.
+
+But it was quite useless; indeed, as time went on she seemed to
+become more nebulous on the point as though a picture were fading
+from her mind.  But as to one thing she was always quite clear,
+that she had seen them dead and had seen their new-made grave.
+This she swore "by God in Heaven," completing the oath with an
+outburst of tears in a way that would have carried conviction to
+any jury, as it did to me.
+
+And after all, what was more likely in the circumstances?  Zikali
+had killed them, or caused them to be killed; or possibly they
+were killed in spite of him in obedience to the express, or
+general, order of the king, if the deed was not done by the
+Basutos.  And yet an idea occurred to me.  How about the woman on
+the rock that the Zulus thought was their Princess of the
+Heavens?  Obviously this must be nonsense, since no such deity
+existed, therefore the person must either have been a white woman
+or one painted up to resemble a white woman; seen from a distance
+in moonlight it was impossible to say which.  Now, if it were a
+white woman, she might, from her shape and height and the colour
+of her hair, be Heda herself.  Yet it seemed incredible that
+Heda, whom Kaatje had seen dead some days before, could be
+masquerading in such a part and make no sign of recognition to
+me, even when I covered her with my pistol, whereas that Nombe
+would play it was likely enough.
+
+Only then Nombe must be something of a quick-change artist since
+but a little while before she was beyond doubt personating the
+dead Mameena.  If it were not so I must have been suffering from
+illusions, for certainly I seemed to see some one who looked like
+Mameena, and only Zikali, and through him Nombe, had sufficient
+knowledge to enable her to fill that role with such success.
+Perhaps the whole business was an illusion, though if so Zikali's
+powers must be great indeed.  But then how about the assegai that
+Nomkubulwana, or rather her effigy, had seemed to hold and throw,
+whereof the blade was at present in my saddle-bag.  That at any
+rate was tangible and real, though of course there was nothing to
+prove that it had really been Chaka's famous weapon.
+
+Another thing that tormented me was my failure to see Zikali.  I
+felt as though I had committed a crime in leaving Zululand
+without doing this and hearing from his own lips--well, whatever
+he chose to tell me.  I forget if I said that while we were
+waiting at the gate where those silly women talked so much
+nonsense about Mameena and Kaatje, that I made another effort
+through Goza to get into touch with the wizard, but quite without
+avail.  Goza only answered what he said before, that if I wished
+to die at once I had better take ten steps towards the Valley of
+Bones, whence, he added parenthetically, the Opener of Roads had
+already departed on his homeward journey.  This might or might
+not be true; at any rate I could find no possible way of coming
+face to face with him, or even of getting a message to his ear.
+No, I was not to blame; I had done all I could, and yet in my
+heart I felt guilty.  But then, as cynics would, say, failure is
+guilt.
+
+At length we came to the ford of the Tugela, and as fortunately
+the water was just low enough, bade farewell to our escort before
+crossing to the Natal side.  My parting with Goza was quite
+touching, for we felt that it partook of the nature of a deathbed
+adieu, which indeed it did.  I told him and the others that I
+hoped their ends be easy, and that whether they met them by
+bullets or by bayonet thrusts, the wounds would prove quickly
+mortal so that they might not linger in discomfort or pain.
+Recognizing my kind thought for their true welfare they thanked
+me for it, though with no enthusiasm.  Indudu, however, filled
+with the spirit of repartee, or rather of "tu quoque", said in
+his melancholy fashion that if he and I came face to face in war,
+he would be sure to remember my words and to cut me up in the
+best style, since he could not bear to think of me languishing on
+a bed of sickness without my wife Kaatje to nurse me (they knew I
+was touchy about Kaatje).  Then we shook hands and parted.
+Kaatje, hung round with paraphernalia like the White Knight in
+"Alice through the Looking-glass," clinging to a cooking-pot and
+weeping tears of terror, faced the foaming flood upon the mare,
+while I grasped its tail.
+
+When we were as I judged out of assegai shot, I turned, with the
+water up to my armpits, and shouted some valedictory words.
+
+"Tell your king," I said, "that he is the greatest fool in the
+world to fight the English, since it will bring his country to
+destruction and himself to disgrace and death, as at last, in the
+words of your proverb, 'the swimmer goes down with the stream.'"
+
+Here, as it happened, I slipped off the stone on which I was
+standing and nearly went down with the stream myself.
+
+Emerging with my mouth full of muddy water I waited till they had
+done laughing and continued--
+
+"Tell that old rogue, Zikali, that I know he has murdered my
+friends and that when we meet again he and all who were in the
+plot shall pay for it with their lives."
+
+Now an irritated Zulu flung an assegai, and as the range proved
+to be shorter than I thought, for it went through Kaatje's dress,
+causing her to scream with alarm, I ceased from eloquence, and we
+struggled on to the further bank, where at length we were safe.
+
+Thus ended this unlucky trip of mine to Zululand.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+
+
+ISANDHLWANA
+
+
+
+
+
+We had crossed the Tugela by what is known as the Middle Drift.
+A mile or so on the further side of it I was challenged by a
+young fellow in charge of some mounted natives, and found that I
+had stumbled into what was known as No. 2 Column, which consisted
+of a rocket battery, three battalions of the Native Contingent
+and some troops of mounted natives, all under the command of
+Colonel Durnford, R.E.
+
+After explanations I was taken to this officer's head-quarter
+tent.  He was a tall, nervous-looking man with a fair, handsome
+face and long side-whiskers.  One of his arms, I remember, was
+supported by a sling, I think it had been injured in some Kaffir
+fighting.  When I was introduced to him he was very busy, having,
+I understood from some one on his staff, just received orders to
+"operate against Matshana."
+
+Learning that I had come from Zululand and was acquainted with
+the Zulus, he at once began to cross-examine me about Matshana, a
+chief of whom he seemed to know very little indeed.  I told him
+what I could, which was not much, and before I could give him any
+information of real importance, was shown out and most hospitably
+entertained at luncheon, a meal of which I partook with gratitude
+in some garments that I had borrowed from one of the officers,
+while my own were set in the sun to dry.  Well can I recall how
+much I enjoyed the first whisky and soda that I had tasted since
+I left "the Temple," and the good English food by which it was
+accompanied.
+
+Presently I remembered Kaatje, whom I had left outside with some
+native women, and went to see what had happened to her.  I found
+her finishing a hearty meal and engaged in conversation with a
+young gentleman who was writing in a notebook.  Afterwards I
+discovered that he was a newspaper correspondent.  What she told
+him and what he imagined, I do not know, but I may as well state
+the results at once.  Within a few days there appeared in one of
+the Natal papers and, for aught I know, all over the earth, an
+announcement that Mr. Allan Quatermain, a well-known hunter in
+Zululand, after many adventures, had escaped from that country,
+"together with his favourite native wife, the only survivor of
+his extensive domestic establishment."  Then followed some wild
+details as to the murder of my other wives by a Zulu wizard
+called "Road Mender, or Sick Ass" (i.e., Opener of Roads, or
+Zikali), and so on.
+
+I was furious and interviewed the editor, a mild and apologetic
+little man, who assured me that the despatch was printed exactly
+as it had been received, as though that bettered the case.  After
+this I commenced an action for libel, but as I was absent through
+circumstances over which I had no control when it came on for
+trial, the case was dismissed.  I suppose the truth was that they
+mixed me up with a certain well-known white man in Zululand, who
+had a large "domestic establishment," but however this may be, it
+was a long while before I heard the last of that "favourite
+native wife."
+
+Later in the day I and Kaatje, who stuck to me like a burr,
+departed from the camp.
+
+The rest of our journey was uneventful, except for more
+misunderstandings about Kaatje, one of which, wherein a clergyman
+was concerned, was too painful to relate.  At last we reached
+Maritzburg, where I deposited Kaatje in a boarding-house kept by
+another half-cast, and with a sigh of relief betook myself to the
+Plough Hotel, which was a long way off her.
+
+Subsequently she obtained a place as a cook at Howick, and for a
+while I saw her no more.
+
+At Maritzburg, as in duty bound, I called upon various persons in
+authority and delivered Cetewayo's message, leaving out all
+Zikali's witchcraft which would have sounded absurd.  It did not
+produce much impression as, hostilities having already occurred,
+it was superfluous.  Also no one was inclined to pay attention to
+the words of one who was neither an official nor a military
+officer, but a mere hunter supposed to have brought a native wife
+out of Zululand.
+
+I did, however, report the murder of Anscombe and Heda, though in
+such times this caused no excitement, especially as they were not
+known to the officials concerned with such matters.  Indeed the
+occurrence never so much as got into the papers, any more than
+did the deaths of Rodd and Marnham on the borders of Sekukuni's
+country.  When people are expecting to be massacred themselves,
+they do not trouble about the past killing of others far away.
+Lastly, I posted Marnham's will to the Pretoria bank, advising
+them that they had better keep it safely until some claim arose,
+and deposited Heda's jewels and valuables in another branch of
+the same bank in Maritzburg with a sealed statement as to how
+they came into my possession.
+
+These things done, I found it necessary to turn myself to the
+eternal problem of earning my living.  I am a very rich man now
+as I write these reminiscences here in Yorkshire--King Solomon's
+mines made me that--but up to the time of my journey to Kukuana
+Land with my friends, Curtis and Good, although plenty of money
+passed through my hands on one occasion and another, little of it
+ever seemed to stick.  In this way or that it was lost or melted;
+also I was not born one to make the best of his opportunities in
+the way of acquiring wealth.  Perhaps this was good for me, since
+if I had gained the cash early I should not have met with the
+experiences, and during our few transitory years, experience is
+of more real value than cash.  It may prepare us for other things
+beyond, whereas the mere possession of a bank balance can prepare
+us for nothing in a land where gold ceases to be an object of
+worship as it is here.  Yet wealth is our god, not knowledge or
+wisdom, a fact which shows that the real essence of Christianity
+has not yet permeated human morals.  It just runs over their
+surface, no more, and for every eye that is turned towards the
+divine Vision, a thousand are fixed night and day upon Mammon's
+glittering image.
+
+Now I owned certain wagons and oxen, and just then the demand for
+these was keen.  So I hired them out to the military authorities
+for service in the war, and incidentally myself with them.  I
+drove what I considered a splendid bargain with an officer who
+wrote as many letters after his name as a Governor-General, but
+was really something quite humble.  At least I thought it
+splendid until outside his tent I met a certain transport rider
+of my acquaintance whom I had always looked upon as a perfect
+fool, who told me that not half an hour before he had got twenty
+per cent. more for unsalted oxen and very rickety wagons.
+However, it did not matter much in the end as the whole outfit
+was lost at Isandhlwana, and owing to the lack of some formality
+which I had overlooked, I never recovered more than a tithe of
+their value.  I think it was that I neglected to claim within a
+certain specified time.
+
+At last my wagons were laden with ammunition and other Government
+goods and I trekked over awful roads to Helpmakaar, a place on
+the Highlands not far from Rorke's Drift where No. 3 Column was
+stationed.  Here we were delayed awhile, I and my wagons having
+moved to a ford of the Buffalo, together with many others.  It
+was during this time that I ventured to make very urgent
+representations to certain highly placed officers, I will not
+mention which, as to the necessity of laagering, that is, forming
+fortified camps, as soon as Zululand was entered, since from my
+intimate knowledge of its people I was sure that they would
+attack in force.  These warnings of mine were received with the
+most perfect politeness and offers of gin to drink, which all
+transport riders were supposed to love, but in effect were
+treated with the contempt that they were held to deserve.  The
+subject is painful and one on which I will not dwell.  Why should
+I complain when I know that cautions from notable persons such as
+Sir Melmoth Osborn, and J. J. Uys, a member of one the old Dutch
+fighting families, met with a like fate.
+
+By the way it was while I was waiting on the banks of the river
+that I came across an old friend of mine, a Zulu named Magepa,
+with whom I had fought at the battle of the Tugela.  A few days
+later this man performed an extraordinary feat in saving his
+grandchild from death by his great swiftness in running, whereof
+I have preserved a note somewhere or other.
+
+Ultimately on January 11 we received our marching orders and
+crossed the river by the drift, the general scheme of the
+campaign being that the various columns were to converge upon
+Ulundi.  The roads, if so they can be called, were in such a
+fearful state that it took us ten days to cover as many miles.
+At length we trekked over a stony nek about five hundred yards in
+width.  To the right of us was a stony eminence and to our left,
+its sheer brown cliffs of rock rising like the walls of some
+cyclopean fortress, the strange, abrupt mount of Isandhlwana,
+which reminded me of a huge lion crouching above the
+hill-encircled plain beyond.  At the foot of this isolated mount,
+whereof the aspect somehow filled me with alarm, we camped on the
+night of January 21, taking no precautions against attack by way
+of laagering the wagons.  Indeed the last thing that seemed to
+occur to those in command was that there would be serious
+fighting; men marched forward to their deaths as though they were
+going on a shooting-party, or to a picnic.  I even saw cricketing
+bats and wickets occupying some of the scanty space upon the
+wagons.
+
+Now I am not going to set out all the military details that
+preceded the massacre of Isandhlwana, for these are written in
+history.  It is enough to say that on the night of January 21,
+Major Dartnell, who was in command of the Natal Mounted Police
+and had been sent out to reconnoitre the country beyond
+Isandhlwana, reported a strong force of Zulus in front of us.
+Thereon Lord Chelmsford, the General-in-Chief, moved out from the
+camp at dawn to his support, taking with him six companies of the
+24th regiment, together with four guns and the mounted infantry.
+There were left in the camp two guns and about eight hundred
+white and nine hundred native troops, also some transport riders
+such as myself and a number of miscellaneous camp-followers.  I
+saw him go from between the curtains of one of my wagons where I
+had made my bed on the top of a pile of baggage.  Indeed I had
+already dressed myself at the time, for that night I slept very
+ill because I knew our danger, and my heart was heavy with fear.
+
+About ten o'clock in the morning Colonel Durnford, whom I have
+mentioned already, rode up with five hundred Natal Zulus, about
+half of whom were mounted, and two rocket tubes which, of course,
+were worked by white men.  This was after a patrol had reported
+that they had come into touch with some Zulus on the left front,
+who retired before them.  As a matter of fact these Zulus were
+foraging in the mealie fields, since owing to the drought food
+was very scarce in Zululand that year and the regiments were
+hungry.  I happened to see the meeting between Colonel Pulleine,
+a short, stout man who was then in command of the camp, and
+Colonel Durnford who, as his senior officer, took it over from
+him, and heard Colonel Pulleine say that his orders were "to
+defend the camp," but what else passed between them I do not
+know.
+
+Presently Colonel Durnford saw and recognized me.
+
+"Do you think the Zulus will attack us, Mr. Quatermain?" he said.
+
+"I don't think so, Sir," I answered, "as it is the day of the new
+moon which they hold unlucky.  But to-morrow it may be
+different."
+
+Then he gave certain orders, dispatching Captain George Shepstone
+with a body of mounted natives along the ridge to the left, where
+presently they came in contact with the Zulus about three miles
+away, and making other dispositions.  A little later he moved out
+to the front with a strong escort, followed by the rocket
+battery, which ultimately advanced to a small conical hill on the
+left front, round which it passed, never to return again.
+
+Just before he started Colonel Durnford, seeing me still standing
+there, asked me if I would like to accompany him, adding that as
+I knew the Zulus so well I might be useful.  I answered,
+Certainly, and called to my head driver, a man named Jan, to
+bring me my mare, the same that I had ridden out of Zululand,
+while I slipped into the wagon and, in addition to the beltful
+that I wore, filled all my available pockets with cartridges for
+my double-barrelled Express rifle.
+
+As I mounted I gave Jan certain directions about the wagon and
+oxen, to which he listened, and then to my astonishment held out
+his hand to me, saying--
+
+"Good-bye, Baas.  You have been a kind master to me and I thank
+you."
+
+"Why do you say that?" I asked.
+
+"Because, Baas, all the Kaffirs declare that the great Zulu impi
+will be on to us in an hour or two and eat up every man.  I can't
+tell how they know it, but so they swear."
+
+"Nonsense," I answered, "it is the day of new moon when the Zulus
+don't fight.  Still if anything of the sort should happen, you
+and the other boys had better slip away to Natal, since the
+Government must pay for the wagons and oxen."
+
+This I said half joking, but it was a lucky jest for Jan and the
+rest of my servants, since they interpreted it in earnest and
+with the exception of one of them who went back to get a gun, got
+off before the Zulu horn closed round the camp, and crossed the
+river in safety.
+
+Next moment I was cantering away after Colonel Durnford, whom I
+caught up about a quarter of a mile from the camp.
+
+Now of course I did not see all of the terrible battle that
+followed and can only tell of that part of it in which I had a
+share.  Colonel Durnford rode out about three and a half miles to
+the left front, I really don't quite know why, for already we
+were hearing firing on the top of the Nqutu Hills almost behind
+us, where Captain Shepstone was engaging the Zulus, or so I
+believe.  Suddenly we met a trooper of the Natal Carabineers
+whose name was Whitelaw, who had been out scouting.  He reported
+that an enormous impi was just ahead of us seated in an umkumbi,
+or semi-circle, as is the fashion of the Zulus before they
+charge.  At least some of them, he said, were so seated, but
+others were already advancing.
+
+Presently these appeared over the crest of the hill, ten thousand
+of them I should say, and amongst them I recognized the shields
+of the Nodwengu, the Dududu, the Nokenke and the Ingoba-makosi
+regiments.  Now there was nothing to be done except retreat, for
+the impi was attacking in earnest.  The General Untshingwayo,
+together with Undabuko, Cetewayo's brother, and the chief Usibebu
+who commanded the scouts, had agreed not to fight this day for
+the reason I have given, because it was that of the new moon, but
+circumstances had forced their hand and the regiments could no
+longer be restrained.  So to the number of twenty thousand or
+more, say one-third of the total Zulu army, they hurled
+themselves upon the little English force that, owing to lack of
+generalship, was scattered here and there over a wide front and
+had no fortified base upon which to withdraw.
+
+We fell back to a donga which we held for a little while, and
+then as we saw that there we should presently be overwhelmed,
+withdrew gradually for another two miles or so, keeping off the
+Zulus by our fire.  In so doing we came upon the remains of the
+rocket battery near the foot of the conical hill I have
+mentioned, which had been destroyed by some regiment that passed
+behind us in its rush on the camp.  There lay all the soldiers
+dead, assegaied through and through, and I noticed that one young
+fellow who had been shot through the head, still held a rocket in
+his hands.
+
+Now somewhat behind and perhaps half a mile to the right of this
+hill a long, shallow donga runs across the Isandhlwana plain.
+This we gained, and being there reinforced by about fifty of the
+Natal Carabineers under Captain Bradstreet, held it for a long
+while, keeping off the Zulus by our terrible fire which cut down
+scores of them every time they attempted to advance.  At this
+spot I alone killed from twelve to fifteen of them, for if the
+big bullet from my Express rifle struck a man, he did not live.
+Messengers were sent back to the camp for more ammunition, but
+none arrived, Heaven knows why.  My own belief is that the
+reserve cartridges were packed away in boxes and could not be got
+at.  At last our supply began to run short, so there was nothing
+to be done except retreat upon the camp which was perhaps half a
+mile behind us.
+
+Taking advantage of a pause in the Zulu advance which had lain
+down while waiting for reserves, Colonel Durnford ordered a
+retirement that was carried out very well.  Up to that time we
+had lost only quite a few men, for the Zulu fire was wild and
+high and they had not been able to get at us with the assegai.
+As we rode towards the mount I observed that firing was going on
+in all directions, especially on the nek that connected it with
+the Nqutu range where Captain Shepstone and his mounted Basutos
+were wiped out while trying to hold back the Zulu right horn.
+The guns, too, were firing heavily and doing great execution.
+
+After this all grew confused.  Colonel Durnford gave orders to
+certain officers who came up to him, Captain Essex was one and
+Lieutenant Cochrane another.  Then his force made for their
+wagons to get more ammunition.  I kept near to the Colonel and a
+while later found myself with him and a large, mixed body of men
+a little to the right of the nek which we had crossed in our
+advance from the river.  Not long afterwards there was a cry of
+"The Zulus are getting round us!" and looking to the left I saw
+them pouring in hundreds across the ridge that joins Isandhlwana
+Mountain to the Nqutu Range.  Also they were advancing straight
+on to the camp.
+
+Then the rout began.  Already the native auxiliaries were
+slipping away and now the others followed.  Of course this battle
+was but a small affair, yet I think that few have been more
+terrible, at any rate in modern times.  The aspect of those
+plumed and shielded Zulus as they charged, shouting their
+war-cries and waving their spears, was awesome.  They were mown
+down in hundreds by the Martini fire, but still they came on, and
+I knew that the game was up.  A maddened horde of fugitives,
+mostly natives, began to flow past us over the nek, making for
+what was afterwards called Fugitives' Drift, nine miles away, and
+with them went white soldiers, some mounted, some on foot.
+Mingled with all these people, following them, on either side of
+them, rushed Zulus, stabbing as they ran.  Other groups of
+soldiers formed themselves into rough squares, on which the
+savage warriors broke like water on a rock.  By degrees ammunition
+ran out; only the bayonet remained.  Still the Zulus could not
+break those squares.  So they took another counsel.  Withdrawing
+a few paces beyond the reach of the bayonets, they overwhelmed
+the soldiers by throwing assegais, then rushed in and finished
+them.
+
+This was what happened to us, among whom were men of the 24th,
+Natal Carabineers and Mounted Police.  Some had dismounted, but I
+sat on my horse, which stood quite still, I think from fright,
+and fired away so long as I had any ammunition.  With my very
+last cartridge I killed the Captain Indudu who had been in charge
+of the escort that conducted me to the Tugela.  He had caught
+sight of me and called out--
+
+"Now, Macumazahn, I will cut you up nicely as I promised."
+
+He got no further in his speech, for at that moment I sent an
+Express bullet through him and his tall, melancholy figure
+doubled up and collapsed.
+
+All this while Colonel Durnford had been behaving as a British
+officer should do.  Scorning to attempt flight, whenever I looked
+round I caught sight of his tall form, easy to recognize by the
+long fair moustaches and his arm in a sling, moving to and fro
+encouraging us to stand firm and die like men.  Then suddenly I
+saw a Kaffir, who carried a big old smooth-bore gun, aim at him
+from a distance of about twenty yards, and fire.  He went down,
+as I believe dead, and that was the end of a very gallant officer
+and gentleman whose military memory has in my opinion been most
+unjustly attacked.  The real blame for that disaster does not
+rest upon the shoulders of either Colonel Durnford or Colonel
+Pulleine.
+
+After this things grew very awful.  Some fled, but the most stood
+and died where they were.  Oddly enough during all this time I
+was never touched.  Men fell to my right and left and in front of
+me; bullets and assegais whizzed past me, yet I remained quite
+unhurt.  It was as though some Power protected me, which no doubt
+it did.
+
+At length when nearly all had fallen and I had nothing left to
+defend myself with except my revolver, I made up my mind that it
+was time to go.  My first impulse was to ride for the river nine
+miles away.  Looking behind me I saw that the rough road was full
+of Zulus hunting down those who tried to escape.  Still I thought
+I would try it, when suddenly there flashed across my brain the
+saying of whoever it was that personated Mameena in the Valley of
+Bones, to the effect that in the great rout of the battle I was
+not to join the flying but to set my face towards Ulundi and that
+if I did so I should be protected and no harm would come to me.
+I knew that all this prophecy was but a vain thing fondly
+imagined, although it was true that the battle and the rout had
+come.  And yet I acted on it--why Heaven knows alone.
+
+Setting the spurs to my horse I galloped off past Isandhlwana
+Mount, on the southern slopes of which a body of the 24th were
+still fighting their last fight, and heading for the Nqutu Range.
+The plain was full of Zulus, reserves running up; also to the
+right of me the Ulundi and Gikazi divisions were streaming
+forward.  These, or some of them, formed the left horn of the
+impi, but owing to the unprepared nature of the Zulu battle, for
+it must always be remembered that they did not mean to fight that
+day, their advance had been delayed until it was too late for
+them entirely to enclose the camp.  Thus the road, if it can so
+be called, to Fugitives' Drift was left open for a while, and by
+it some effected their escape.  It was this horn, or part of it,
+that afterwards moved on and attacked Rorke's Drift, with results
+disastrous to itself.
+
+For some hundreds of yards I rode on thus recklessly, because
+recklessness seemed my only chance.  Thrice I met bodies of
+Zulus, but on each occasion they scattered before me, calling out
+words that I could not catch.  It was as though they were
+frightened of something they saw about me.  Perhaps they thought
+that I was mad to ride thus among them.  Indeed I must have
+looked mad, or perhaps there was something else.  At any rate I
+believed that I was going to win right through them when an
+accident happened.
+
+A bullet struck my mare somewhere in the back.  I don't know
+where it came from, but as I saw no Zulu shoot, I think it must
+have been one fired by a soldier who was still fighting on the
+slopes of the mount.  The effect of it was to make the poor beast
+quite ungovernable.  Round she wheeled and galloped at headlong
+speed back towards the peak, leaping over dead and dying and
+breaking through the living as she went.  In two minutes we were
+rushing up its northern flank, which seemed to be quite
+untenanted, towards the sheer brown cliff which rose above it,
+for the fighting was in progress on the other side.  Suddenly at
+the foot of this cliff the mare stopped, shivered and sank down
+dead, probably from internal bleeding.
+
+I looked about me desperately.  To attempt the plain on foot
+meant death.  What then was I to do?  Glancing at the cliff I saw
+that there was a gully in it worn by thousands of years of
+rainfall, in which grew scanty bushes.  Into this I ran, and
+finding it practicable though difficult, began to climb upwards,
+quite unnoticed by the Zulus who were all employed upon the
+further side.  The end of it was that I reached the very crest of
+the mount, a patch of bare, brown rock, except at one spot on its
+southern front where there was a little hollow in which at this
+rainy season of the year herbage and ferns grew in the
+accumulated soil, also a few stunted, aloe-like plants.
+
+Into this patch I crept, having first slaked my thirst from a
+little pool of rain water that lay in a cup-like depression of
+the rock, which tasted more delicious than any nectar, and seemed
+to give me new life.  Then covering myself as well as I could
+with grasses and dried leaves from the aloe plants, I lay still.
+
+Now I was right on the brink of the cliff and had the best view
+of the Isandhlwana plain and the surrounding country that can be
+imagined.  From my lofty eyrie some hundreds of feet in the air,
+I could see everything that happened beneath.  Thus I witnessed
+the destruction of the last of the soldiers on the slopes below.
+They made a gallant end, so gallant that I was proud to be of the
+same blood with them.  One fine young fellow escaped up the peak
+and reached a plateau about fifty feet beneath me.  He was
+followed by a number of Zulus, but took refuge in a little cave
+whence he shot three or four of them; then his cartridges were
+exhausted and I heard the savages speaking in praise of
+him--dead.  I think he was the last to die on the field of
+Isandhlwana.
+
+The looting of the camp began; it was a terrible scene.  The oxen
+and those of the horses that could be caught were driven away,
+except certain of the former which were harnessed to the guns and
+some of the wagons and, as I afterwards learned, taken to Ulundi
+in proof of victory.  Then the slain were stripped and Kaffirs
+appeared wearing the red coats of the soldiers and carrying their
+rifles.  The stores were broken into and all the spirits drunk.
+Even the medical drugs were swallowed by these ignorant men, with
+the result that I saw some of them reeling about in agony and
+others fall down and go to sleep.
+
+An hour or two later an officer who came from the direction in
+which the General had marched, cantered right into the camp where
+the tents were still standing and even the flag was flying.  I
+longed to be able to warn him, but could not.  He rode up to the
+headquarters marquee, whence suddenly issued a Zulu waving a
+great spear.  I saw the officer pull up his horse, remain for a
+moment as though indecisive, then turn and gallop madly away,
+quite unharmed, though one or two assegais were thrown and many
+shots fired at him.  After this considerable movements of the
+Zulus went on, of which the net result was, that they evacuated
+the place.
+
+Now I hoped that I might escape, but it was not to be, since on
+every side numbers of them crept up Isandhlwana Mountain and hid
+behind rocks or among the tall grasses, evidently for purposes of
+observation.  Moreover some captains arrived on the little
+plateau where was the cave in which the soldier had been killed,
+and camped there.  At least at sundown they unrolled their mats
+and ate, though they lighted no fire.
+
+The darkness fell and in it escape for me from that guarded place
+was impossible, since I could not see where to set my feet and
+one false step on the steep rock would have meant my death.  From
+the direction of Rorke's Drift I could hear continuous firing;
+evidently some great fight was going on there, I wondered
+vaguely--with what result.  A little later also I heard the
+distant tramp of horses and the roll of gun wheels.  The captains
+below heard it too and said one to another that it was the
+English soldiers returning, who had marched out of the camp at
+dawn.  They debated one with another whether it would be possible
+to collect a force to fall upon them, but abandoned the idea
+because the regiments who had fought that day were now at a
+distance and too tired, and the others had rushed forward with
+orders to attack the white men on and beyond the river.
+
+So they lay still and listened, and I too lay still and listened,
+for on that cloudy, moonless night I could see nothing.  I heard
+smothered words of command.  I heard the force halt because it
+could not travel further in the gloom.  Then they lay down, the
+living among the dead, wondering doubtless if they themselves
+would not soon be dead, as of course must have happened had the
+Zulu generalship been better, for if even five thousand men had
+been available to attack at dawn not one of them could have
+escaped.  But Providence ordained it otherwise.  Some were taken
+and the others left.
+
+About an hour before daylight I heard them stirring again, and
+when its first gleams came all of them had vanished over the nek
+of slaughter, with what thoughts in their hearts, I wondered, and
+to what fate.  The captains on the plateau beneath had gone also,
+and so had the circle of guards upon the slopes of the mount, for
+I saw these depart through the grey mist.  As the light gathered,
+however, I observed bodies of men collecting on the nek, or
+rather on both neks, which made it impossible for me to do what I
+had hoped, and run to overtake the English troops.  From these I
+was utterly cut off.  Nor could I remain longer without food on
+my point of rock, especially as I was sure that soon some Zulus
+would climb there to use it as an outlook post.  So while I was
+still more or less hidden by the mist and morning shadows, I
+climbed down it by the same road that I had climbed up, and thus
+reached the plain.  Not a living man, white or black, was to be
+seen, only the dead, only the dead.  I was the last Englishman to
+stand upon the plain of Isandhlwana for weeks or rather months to
+come.
+
+Of all my experiences this was, I think, the strangest, after
+that night of hell, to find myself alone upon this field of
+death, staring everywhere at the distorted faces which on the
+previous morn I had seen so full of life.  Yet my physical needs
+asserted themselves.  I was very hungry, who for twenty-four
+hours had eaten nothing, faint with hunger indeed.  I passed a
+provision wagon that had been looted by the Zulus.  Tins of bully
+beef lay about, also, among a wreck of broken glass, some bottles
+of Bass's beer which had escaped their notice.  I found an
+assegai, cleaned it in the ground which it needed, and opening
+one of the tins, lay down in a tuft of grass by a dead man, or
+rather between him and some Zulus whom he had killed, and
+devoured its contents.  Also I knocked the tops off a couple of
+the beer bottles and drank my fill.  While I was doing this a
+large rough dog with a silver-mounted collar on its neck, I think
+of the sort that is called an Airedale terrier, came up to me
+whining.  At first I thought it was an hyena, but discovering my
+mistake, threw it some bits of meat which it ate greedily.
+Doubtless it had belonged to some dead officer, though there was
+no name on the collar.  The poor beast, which I named Lost, at
+once attached itself to me, and here I may say that I kept it
+till its death, which occurred of jaundice at Durban not long
+before I started on my journey to King Solomon's Mines.  No man
+ever had a more faithful friend and companion.
+
+When I had eaten and drunk I looked about me, wondering what I
+should do.  Fifty yards away I saw a stout Basuto pony still
+saddled and bridled, although the saddle was twisted out of its
+proper position, which was cropping the grass as well as it could
+with the bit in its mouth.  Advancing gently I caught it without
+trouble, and led it back to the plundered wagon.  Evidently from
+the marks upon the saddlery it had belonged to Captain
+Shepstone's force of mounted natives.
+
+Here I filled the large saddlebags made of buckskin with tins of
+beef, a couple more bottles of beer and a packet of tandstickor
+matches which I was fortunate enough to find.  Also I took the
+Martini rifle from a dead soldier, together with a score or so of
+cartridges that remained in his belt, for apparently he must have
+been killed rather early in the fight.
+
+Thus equipped I mounted the pony and once more bethought me of
+escaping to Natal.  A look towards the nek cured me of that idea,
+for coming over it I saw the plumed heads of a whole horde of
+warriors.  Doubtless these were returning from the unsuccessful
+attack on Rorke's Drift, though of that I knew nothing at the
+time.  So whistling to the dog I bore to the left for the Nqutu
+Hills, riding as fast as the rough ground would allow, and in
+half an hour was out of sight of that accursed plain.
+
+One more thing too I did.  On its confines I came across a group
+of dead Zulus who appeared to have been killed by a shell.
+Dismounting I took the headdress of one of them and put it on,
+for I forgot to say that I had lost my hat.  It was made of a
+band of otterskin from which rose large tufts of the black
+feathers of the finch which the natives call "sakabula."  Also I
+tied his kilt of white oxtails about my middle, precautions to
+which I have little doubt I owe my life, since from a distance
+they made me look like a Kaffir mounted on a captured pony.
+
+Then I started on again, whither I knew not.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+
+
+ALLAN AWAKES
+
+
+
+
+
+Now I have no intention of setting down all the details of that
+dreadful journey through Zululand, even if I could recall them,
+which, for a reason to be stated, I cannot do.  I remember that
+at first I thought of proceeding to Ulundi with some wild idea of
+throwing myself on the mercy of Cetewayo under pretence that I
+brought him a message from Natal.  Within a couple of hours,
+however, from the top of a hill I saw ahead of me an impi and
+with it captured wagons, which was evidently heading for the
+king's kraal.  So as I knew what kind of a greeting these
+warriors would give me, I bore away in another direction with the
+hope of reaching the border by a circuitous route.  In this too I
+had no luck, since presently I caught sight of outposts stationed
+upon rocks, which doubtless belonged to another impi or regiment.
+Indeed one soldier, thinking from my dress that I also was a
+Zulu, called to me for news from about half a mile away, in that
+peculiar carrying voice which Kaffirs can command.  I shouted
+back something about victory and that the white men were wiped
+out, then put an end to the conversation by vanishing into a
+patch of dense bush.
+
+It is a fact that after this I have only the dimmest recollection
+of what happened.  I remember off-saddling at night on several
+occasions.  I remember being very hungry because all the food was
+eaten and the dog, Lost, catching a bush buck fawn, some of which
+I partially cooked on a fire of dead wood, and devoured.  Next I
+remember--I suppose this was a day or two later--riding at night
+in a thunderstorm and a particularly brilliant flash of lightning
+which revealed scenery that seemed to be familiar to me, after
+which came a shock and total unconsciousness.
+
+
+At length my mind returned to me.  It was reborn very slowly and
+with horrible convulsions, out of the womb of death and terror.
+I saw blood flowing round me in rivers, I heard the cries of
+triumph and of agony.  I saw myself standing, the sole survivor,
+on a grey field of death, and the utter loneliness of it ate into
+my soul, so that with all its strength it prayed that it might be
+numbered in this harvest.  But oh! it was so strong, that soul
+which could not, would not die or fly away.  So strong, that
+then, for the first time, I understood its immortality and that
+it could _never_ die.  This everlasting thing still clung for a
+while to the body of its humiliation, the mass of clay and nerves
+and appetites which it was doomed to animate, and yet knew its
+own separateness and eternal individuality.  Striving to be free
+of earth, still it seemed to walk the earth, a spirit and a
+shadow, aware of the hatefulness of that to which it was chained,
+as we might imagine some lovely butterfly to be that is fated by
+nature to suck its strength from carrion, and remains unable to
+soar away into the clean air of heaven.
+
+Something touched my hand and I reflected dreamily that if I had
+been still alive, for in a way I believed that I was dead, I
+should have thought it was a dog's tongue.  With a great effort I
+lifted my arm, opened my eyes and looked at the hand against the
+light, for there was light, to see it was so thin that this light
+shone through between the bones.  Then I let it fall again, and
+lo! it rested on the head of a dog which went on licking it.
+
+A dog!  What dog?  Now I remembered; one that I had found on the
+field of Isandhlwana.  Then I must be still alive.  The thought
+made me cry, for I could feel the tears run down my cheeks, not
+with joy but with sorrow.  I did not wish to go on living.  Life
+was too full of struggle and of bloodshed and bereavement and
+fear and all horrible things.  I was prepared to exchange my part
+in it just for rest, for the blessing of deep, unending sleep in
+which no more dreams could come, no more cups of joy could be
+held to thirsting lips, only to be snatched away.
+
+I heard something shuffling towards me at which the dog growled,
+then seemed to slink away as though it were afraid.  I opened my
+eyes again, looked, and closed them once more in terror, for what
+I saw suggested that perhaps I was dead after all and had reached
+that hell which a certain class of earnest Christian promises to
+us as the reward of the failings that Nature and those who begat
+us have handed on to us as a birth doom.  It was something
+unnatural, grey-headed, terrific--doubtless a devil come to
+torment me in the inquisition vaults of Hades.  Yet I had known
+the like when I was alive.  How had it been called?  I
+remembered, "The-thing-that-never-should-have-been-born."  Hark!
+It was speaking in that full deep voice which was unlike to any
+other.
+
+"Greeting, Macumazahn," it said.  "I see that you have come back
+from among the dead with whom you have been dwelling for a moon
+and more.  It is not wise of you, Macumazahn, yet I am glad who
+have matched my skill against Death and won, for now you will
+have much to tell me about his kingdom."
+
+So it was Zikali--Zikali who had butchered my friends.
+
+"Away from me, murderer!" I said faintly, "and let me die, or
+kill me as you did the others."
+
+He laughed, but very softly, not in his usual terrific fashion,
+repeating the word "murderer" two or three times.  Then with his
+great hand he lifted my head gently as a woman might, saying--
+
+"Look before you, Macumazahn."
+
+I looked and saw that I was in some kind of a cave.  Outside the
+sun was setting and against its brightness I perceived two
+figures, a white man and a white woman who were walking hand in
+hand and gazing into each other's eyes.  They were Anscombe and
+Heda passing the mouth of the cave.
+
+"Behold the murdered, O Macumazahn, dealer of hard words."
+
+"It is only a trick," I murmured.  "Kaatje saw them dead and
+buried."
+
+"Yes, yes, I forgot.  The fat fool-woman saw them dead and
+buried.  Well, sometimes the dead come to life again and for good
+purpose, as you should know, Macumazahn, who followed the counsel
+of a certain Mameena and wandered here instead of rushing onto
+the Zulu spears."
+
+I tried to think the thing out and could not, so only asked--
+
+"How did I come?  What happened to me?"
+
+"I think the sun smote you first who had no covering on your head
+and the lightning smote you afterwards.  Yet all the while that
+reason had left you, One led your horse and after the Heavens had
+tried to kill you and failed, perhaps because my magic was too
+strong for them, One sent that beast which you found, yes, sent
+it here to lead us to where you lay.  There you were discovered
+and brought hither.  Now sleep lest you should go further than
+even I can fetch you back again."
+
+He held his hands above my head, seeming to grow in stature till
+his white hair touched the roof of the cave, and in an instant I
+fancied that I was falling away, deep, deep into a gulf of
+nothingness.
+
+There followed another period of dreaming, in which dreams I
+seemed to meet all sorts of people, dead and living, especially
+Lady Ragnall, a friend of mine with whom I had been concerned in
+a very strange adventure among the Kendah people* and with whom
+in days to come I was destined to be concerned again, although of
+course I knew nothing of this, in a still stranger adventure of
+what I may call a spiritual order, which I may or may not try to
+reduce to writing.  It seemed to me that I was constantly dining
+with her tete-a-tete and that she told me all sorts of queer
+things between the courses.  Doubtless these illusions occurred
+when I was fed.
+
+[*--See the book called _The Ivory Child._--EDITOR.]
+
+At length I woke up again, feeling much stronger, and saw the
+dog, Lost, watching me with its great tender eyes--oh! they talk
+of the eyes of women, but are they ever as beautiful as those of
+a loving dog?  It lay by my low bed-stead, a rough affair
+fashioned of poles and strung with rimpis or strings of raw hide,
+and by it, stroking its head, sat the witch-doctoress, Nombe.  I
+remember how pleasing she looked, a perfect type of the eternal
+feminine with her graceful, rounded shape and her continual,
+mysterious smile which suggested so much more than any mortal
+woman has to give.
+
+"Good-day to you, Macumazahn," she said in her gentle voice, "you
+have gone through much since last we met on the night before Goza
+took you away to Ulundi."
+
+Now remembering all, I was filled with indignation against this
+little humbug.
+
+"The last time we met, Nombe," I said, "was when you played the
+part of a woman who is dead in the Vale of Bones by the king's
+kraal."
+
+She regarded me with a kindly commiseration, and answered,
+shaking her head--
+
+"You have been very ill, Macumazahn, and your spirit still tricks
+you.  I played the part of no woman in any valley by the king's
+kraal, nor were my eyes rejoiced with the sight of you there or
+elsewhere till they brought you to this place, so changed that I
+should scarcely have known you."
+
+"You little liar!" I said rudely.
+
+"Do the white people always name those liars who tell them true
+things they cannot understand?" she inquired with a sweet
+innocence.  Then without waiting for an answer, she patted my
+hand as though I were a fretful child and gave me some soup in a
+gourd, saying, "Drink it, it is good.  The lady Heddana made it
+herself in the white man's fashion."
+
+I drank the soup, which was very good, and as I handed back the
+gourd, answered--
+
+"Kaatje has told me that the lady Heddana is dead.  Can the dead
+make soup?"
+
+She considered the point while she threw some bits of meat out of
+the bottom of the gourd to the dog, Lost, then replied--
+
+"I do not know, Macumazahn, or indeed whether the dead eat as we
+do.  Next time my Spirit visits me I will make inquiry and tell
+you the answer.  But I do know that it is very strange that you,
+who always turn your back upon the truth, are so ready to accept
+falsehoods.  Why should you believe that the lady Heddana is dead
+just because Kaatje told you so, when I who am still alive had
+sworn to you that I would protect her with my life?  Nay, speak
+no more now.  To-morrow if you are well enough you shall see and
+judge for yourself."
+
+She drew up the kaross over me, again patted my hand in her
+motherly fashion and departed, still smiling, after which I went
+to sleep again, so dreamlessly that I think there was some native
+soporific in that soup.
+
+On the following day two of Zikali's servants who did the rougher
+work of my sick room, if I may so call it, arrived and said that
+they were going to carry me out of the cave for a while, if that
+were my will.  I who longed to breathe the fresh air again, said
+that it was very much my will, whereon they grasped the rough
+bedstead which I have described by either end and very carefully
+bore me down the cave and through its narrow entrance, where they
+set the bedstead in the shadow of the overhanging rock without.
+When I had recovered a little, for even that short journey tired
+me, I looked about me and perceived that as I had expected, I was
+in the Black Kloof, for there in front of me were the very huts
+which we had occupied on our arrival from Swazi-Land.
+
+I lay a while drawing in the sweet air which to me was like a
+draught of nectar, and wondering whether I were not still in a
+dream.  For instance, I wondered if I had truly seen the figures
+of Anscombe and Heda pass the mouth of the cave, on that day when
+I awoke, or if these were but another of Zikali's illusions
+imprinted on my weakened mind by his will power.  For of what he
+and Nombe told me I believed nothing.  Thus marvelling I fell
+into a doze and in my doze heard whisperings.  I opened my eyes
+and lo! there before me stood Anscombe and Heda.  It was she who
+spoke the first, for I was tongue-tied; I could not open my lips.
+
+"Dear Mr. Quatermain, dear Mr. Quatermain!" she murmured in her
+sweet voice, then paused.
+
+Now at last words came to me.  "I thought you were both dead," I
+said.  "Tell me, are you really alive?"
+
+She bent down and kissed my brow, while Anscombe took my hand.
+
+"Now you know," she answered.  "We are both of us alive and
+well."
+
+"Thank God!" I exclaimed.  "Kaatje swore that she saw you dead
+and buried."
+
+"One sees strange things in the Black Kloof," replied Anscombe
+speaking for the first time, "and much has happened to us since
+we were parted, to which you are not strong enough to listen now.
+When you are better, then we will tell you all.  So grow well as
+soon as you can."
+
+After this I think I fainted, for when I came to myself again I
+was back in the cave.
+
+Another ten days or so went by before I could even leave my bed,
+for my recovery was very slow.  Indeed for weeks I could scarcely
+walk at all, and six whole months passed before I really got my
+strength again and became as I used to be.  During those days I
+often saw Anscombe and Heda, but only for a few minutes at a
+time.  Also occasionally Zikali would visit me, speaking a
+little, generally about past history, or something of the sort,
+but never of the war, and go away.  At length one day he said to
+me--
+
+"Macumazahn, now I am sure you are going to live, a matter as to
+which I was doubtful, even after you seemed to recover.  For,
+Macumazahn, you have endured three shocks, of which to-day I am
+not afraid to talk to you.  First there was that of the battle of
+Isandhlwana where you were the last white man left alive."
+
+"How do you know that, Zikali?" I asked.
+
+"It does not matter.  I do know.  Did you not ride through the
+Zulus who parted this way and that before you, shouting what you
+could not understand? One of them you may remember even saluted
+with his spear."
+
+"I did, Zikali.  Tell me, why did they behave thus, and what did
+they shout?"
+
+"I shall not tell you, Macumazahn.  Think over it for the rest of
+your life and conclude what you choose; it will not be so
+wonderful as the truth.  At least they did so, as a certain doll
+I dressed up yonder in the Vale of Bones told you they would, she
+whose advice you followed in riding towards Ulundi instead of
+back to the river where you would have met your death, like so
+many others of the white people."
+
+"Who was that doll, Zikali?"
+
+"Nay, ask me not.  Perhaps it was Nombe, perhaps another.  I have
+forgotten.  I am very old and my memory begins to play me strange
+tricks.  Still I recollect that she was a good doll, so like a
+dead woman called Mameena that I could scarcely have known them
+apart.  Ah! that was a great game I played in the Vale of Bones,
+was it not, Macumazahn?"
+
+"Yes, Zikali, yet I do not understand why it was played."
+
+"Being so young you still have the impatience of youth,
+Macumazahn, although your hair grows white.  Wait a while and you
+will understand all.  Well, you lay that night on the topmost
+rock of Isandhlwana, and there you saw and heard strange things.
+You heard the rest of the white soldiers come and lie down to
+rest among their dead brothers, and depart again unharmed.  Oh!
+what fools are these Zulu generals nowadays.  They send out an
+impi to attack men behind walls, spears against rifles, and are
+defeated.  Had they kept that impi to fall on the rest of the
+English when they walked into the trap, not a man of your people
+would have been left alive.  Would that have happened in the time
+of Chaka?"
+
+"I think not, Zikali.  Still I am glad that it did happen."
+
+"I think not too, Macumazahn, but small men, small wit.  Also
+like you I am glad that it did not happen, since it is the Zulus
+I hate, not the English who have now learned a lesson and will
+not be caught again.  Oh! many a captain in Zululand is to-day
+flat as a pricked bladder, and even their victory, as they call
+it, cost them dear.  For, mind you, Macumazahn, for every white
+man they killed two of them died.  So, so!  In the morning you
+left the hill--do not look astonished, Macumazahn.  Perhaps those
+captains on the rock beneath you let you go for their own
+purposes, or because they were commanded, for though weak I can
+still lift a stone or two, Macumazahn, and afterwards told me all
+about it.  Then you found yourself alone among the dead, like the
+last man in the world, Macumazahn, and that dog at your side,
+also a horse came to you.  Perhaps I sent them, perhaps it was a
+chance.  Who knows?  Not I myself, for as I have said, my memory
+has grown so bad.  That was your first shock, Macumazahn, the
+shock of standing alone among the dead like the last man in the
+world.  You felt it, did you not?"
+
+"As I hope I shall never feel anything again.  It nearly drove me
+mad," I answered.
+
+"Very nearly indeed, though I have felt worse things and only
+laughed, as I would tell you, had I the time.  Well, then the sun
+struck you, for at this season of the year it is very hot in
+those valleys for a white man with no covering to his head, and
+you went quite mad, though fortunately the dog and the horse
+remained as Heaven had made them.  That was the second shock.
+Then the storm burst and the lightning fell.  It ran down the
+rifle that you still carried, Macumazahn.  I will show it to you
+and you will see that its stock is shattered.  Perhaps I turned
+the flash aside, for I am a great thunder-herd, or perhaps it was
+One mightier than I.  That was the third shock, Macumazahn.  Then
+you were found, still living--how, the white man, your friend,
+will tell you.  But you should cherish that dog of yours,
+Macumazahn, for many a man might have served you worse.  And
+being strong, though small, or perhaps because you still have
+work left to do in the world before you leave it for a while, you
+have lived through all these things and will in time recover,
+though not yet."
+
+"I hope so, Zikali, though on the whole I am not sure that I wish
+to recover."
+
+"Yes, you do, Macumazahn, because the religion of you white men
+makes you fear death and what may come after it.  You think of
+what you call your sins and are afraid lest you should be
+tortured because of them, not understanding that the spirit must
+be judged not by what the flesh has done but by what the spirit
+desired to do, by _will_ not by _deed,_ Macumazahn.  The evil man
+is he who wishes to do evil, not he who wishes to do good and
+falls now and again into evil.  Oh! I have hearkened to your
+white teachers and I know, I know."
+
+"Then by your own standard you are evil, Zikali, since you wished
+to bring about war, and not in vain."
+
+"Oho! Macumazahn, you think that, do you, who cannot understand
+that what seems to be evil is often good.  I wished to bring
+about war and brought it about, and maybe what bred the wish was
+all that I have suffered in the past.  But say you, who have seen
+what the Zulu Power means, who have seen men, women and children
+killed by the thousand to feed that Power, and who have seen,
+too, what the English Power means, is it evil that I should wish
+to destroy the House of the Zulu kings that the English House may
+take its place and that in a time to come the Black people may be
+free?"
+
+"You are clever, Zikali, but it is of your own wrongs that you
+think.  How about that skull which you kissed in the Vale of
+Bones?"
+
+"Mayhap, Macumazahn, but my wrongs are the wrongs of a nation,
+therefore I think of the nation, and at least I do not fear death
+like you white men.  Now hearken.  Presently your friends will
+tell you a story.  The lady Heddana will tell you how I made use
+of her for a certain purpose, for which purpose indeed I drew the
+three of you into Zululand, because without her I could not have
+brought about this war into which Cetewayo did not wish to enter.
+When you have heard that story, do not judge me too hardly,
+Macumazahn, who had a great end to gain."
+
+"Yet whatever the story may be, I do judge you hardly, Zikali,
+who tormented me with a false tale, causing the woman Kaatje to
+lie to me and swear that she saw these two dead before her--how I
+know not."
+
+"She did not lie to you, Macumazahn.  Has not such a one as I the
+power to make a fat fool think that she saw what she did not see?
+As to how!  How did I make you think in yonder hut of mine that
+you saw what you did not see--perhaps."
+
+"But why did you mock me in this fashion, Zikali?"
+
+"Truly, Macumazahn, you are blind as a bat in sunlight.  When
+your friends have told you the story, you will understand why.
+Yet I admit to you that things went wrong.  You should have heard
+that tale _before_ Cetewayo brought you to the Vale of Bones.
+But the fool-woman delayed and blundered, and when she reached
+Ulundi the gates were shut against her as a spy, and not opened
+till too late, so that you only found her when you returned from
+the Council.  I knew this, and that was why I dared to bid you
+fire at that which stood upon the rock.  Had you heard Kaatje's
+tale you might have aimed straight, as also you would have
+certainly shot straight at me, out of revenge for the deaths of
+those you loved, Macumazahn, though whether you could have killed
+me before all the game is played is another matter.  As it was, I
+was sure that you would not pierce the heart of one who _might_
+be a certain white woman, sure also that you would not pierce my
+heart whose death _might_ bring about her death and that of
+another."
+
+"You are very subtle, Zikali," I said in astonishment.
+
+"So you hold because I am very simple, who understand the spirit
+of man--and some other things.  For the rest, had you not
+believed that these two were dead, you would never have left
+Zululand.  You would have tried to escape to get to them and have
+been killed.  Is it not so?"
+
+"Yes, I think I should have tried, Zikali.  But why did you keep
+them prisoner?"
+
+"For the same reason that I still keep them--and you--to hold
+them back a while from the world of ghosts.  Had I sent them away
+after that night of the declaration of war, they would have been
+killed before they had gone an hour's journey.  Oh! I am not so
+bad as you think, Macumazahn, and I never break my word.  Now I
+have done."
+
+"How goes the war?" I asked as he shuffled to his feet.
+
+"As it must go, very ill for the Zulus.  They have driven back
+the white men who gather strength from over the Black Water and
+will come on presently and wipe them out.  Umnyamana would have
+had Cetewayo invade Natal and sweep it clean, as of course he
+should have done.  But I sent him word that if he did so
+Nomkubulwana, yes, she and no other, had told me that all the
+spirits would be against him, and he hearkened.  When next you
+think me wicked, remember that, Macumazahn.  Now it is but a
+matter of time, and here you must bide till all is finished.
+That will be good for you who need rest, though the other two
+find it wearisome.  Still for them it is good also to watch the
+fruit ripen on their tree of love.  It will be the sweeter when
+they eat it, Macumazahn, and teach them how to live together.
+Oho! Oho-ho!" and he shambled off.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+
+
+HEDA'S TALE
+
+
+
+
+
+That evening when I was lying on my bed outside the cave, I heard
+the tale of Anscombe and Heda.  Up to a certain point he told it,
+then she went on with the story.
+
+"On the morning after our arrival at this place, Allan," said
+Anscombe, "I woke up to find you gone from the hut.  As you did
+not come back I concluded that you were with Zikali, and walked
+about looking for you.  Then food was brought to us and Heda and
+I breakfasted together, after which we went to where we heard the
+horses neighing and found that yours was gone.  Returning, much
+frightened, we met Nombe, who gave me your note which explained
+everything, and we inquired of her why this had been done and
+what was to become of us.  She smiled and answered that we had
+better ask the first question of the king and the second of her
+master Zikali, and in the meanwhile be at peace since we were
+quite safe.
+
+"I tried to see Zikali but could not.  Then I went to inspan the
+horses with the idea of following you, only to find that they
+were gone.  Indeed I have not seen them from that day to this.
+Next we thought of starting on foot, for we were quite desperate.
+But Nombe intervened and told us that if we ventured out of the
+Black Kloof we should be killed.  In short we were prisoners.
+
+"This went on for some days, during which we were well treated
+but could not succeed in seeing Zikali.  At length one morning he
+sent for us and we were taken to the enclosure in front of his
+hut, Kaatje coming with us as interpreter.  For a while he sat
+still, looking very grim and terrible.  Then he said--
+
+"'White Chief and Lady, you think ill of me because Macumazahn
+has gone and you are kept prisoners here, and before all is done
+you will think worse.  Yet I counsel you to trust me since
+everything that happens is for your good.'
+
+"At this point Heda, who, as you know, talked Zulu fairly well,
+though not so well as she does now, broke in, and said some very
+angry things to him."
+
+"Yes," interrupted Heda.  "I told him that he was a liar and I
+believed that he had murdered you and meant to murder us."
+
+"He listened stonily," continued Anscombe, "and answered, 'I
+perceive, Lady Heddana, that you understand enough of our tongue
+to enable me to talk to you; therefore I will send away this
+half-breed woman, since what I have to say is secret.'
+
+"Then he called servants by clapping his hands and ordered them
+to remove Kaatje, which was done.
+
+"'Now, Lady Heddana,' he said, speaking very slowly so that Heda
+might interpret to me and repeating his words whenever she did
+not understand, 'I have a proposal to make to you.  For my own
+ends it is necessary that you should play a part and appear
+before the king and the Council as the goddess of this land who
+is called the Chieftainess of Heaven, which goddess is always
+seen as a white woman.  Therefore you must travel with me to
+Ulundi and there do those things which I shall tell you.'
+
+"'And if I refuse to play this trick,' said Heda, 'what then?'
+
+"'Then, Lady Heddana, this white lord whom you love and who is to
+be your husband will--die--and after he is dead you must still do
+what I desire of you, or--die also.'
+
+"'Would he come with me to Ulundi?' asked Heda.
+
+"'Not so, Lady.  He would stay here under guard, but quite safe,
+and you will be brought back to him, safe.  Choose now, with
+death on the one hand and safety on the other.  I would sleep a
+little.  Talk the matter over in your own tongue and when it is
+settled awaken me again,' and he shut his eyes and appeared to go
+to sleep.
+
+"So we discussed the situation, if you can call it discussion
+when we were both nearly mad.  Heda wished to go.  I begged her
+to let me be killed rather than trust herself into the hands of
+this old villain.  She pointed out that even if I were killed,
+which she admitted might not happen, she would still be in his
+hands whence she could only escape by her own death, whereas if
+she went there was a chance that we might both continue to live,
+and that after all death was easy to find.  So in the end I gave
+way and we woke up Zikali and told him so.
+
+"He seemed pleased and spoke to us gently, saying, 'I was sure
+that wisdom dwelt behind those bright eyes of yours, Lady, and
+again I promise you that neither you nor the lord your lover
+shall come to any harm.  Also that in payment I and my child,
+Nombe, will protect you even with our lives, and further, that I
+will bring back your friend, Macumazahn, to you, though not yet.
+Now go and be happy together.  Nombe will tell the lady Heddana
+when she is to start.  Of all this say nothing on your peril to
+the woman Kaatje, since if you do, it will be necessary that she
+should be made silent.  Indeed, lest she should learn something,
+to-morrow I shall send her on to await you at Ulundi, therefore
+be not surprised if you see her go, and take no heed of aught she
+may say in going.  Nombe, my child, will fill her place as
+servant to the lady Heddana and sleep with her at night that she
+may not be lonely or afraid.'
+
+"Then he clapped his hands again and servants came and conducted
+us back to the huts.  And now, Allan, Heda will go on with the
+story."
+
+"Well, Mr. Quatermain," she said, "nothing more happened that day
+which we spent with bursting hearts.  Kaatje did not question us
+as to what the witch-doctor had said after she was sent away.
+Indeed I noticed that she was growing very stupid and drowsy,
+like a person who has been drugged, as I daresay she was, and
+would insist upon beginning to pack up the things in a foolish
+kind of way, muttering something about our trekking on the
+following day.  The night passed as usual, Kaatje sleeping very
+heavily by my side and snoring so much" (here I groaned
+sympathetically) "that I could get little rest.  On the next
+morning after breakfast as the huts were very hot, Nombe
+suggested that we should sit under the shadow of the overhanging
+rock, just where we are now.  Accordingly we went, and being
+tired out with all our troubles and bad nights, I fell into a
+doze, and so, I think, did Maurice, Nombe sitting near to us and
+singing all the while, a very queer kind of song.
+
+"Presently, through my doze as it were, I saw Kaatje approaching.
+Nombe went to meet her, still singing, and taking her hand, led
+her to the cart, where they seemed to talk to the horses, which
+surprised me as there were no horses.  Then she brought her round
+the cart and pointed to us, still singing.  Now Kaatje began to
+weep and throw her hands about, while Nombe patted her on the
+shoulder.  I tried to speak to her but could not.  My tongue was
+tied, why I don't know, but I suppose because I was really
+asleep, and Maurice also was asleep and did not wake at all."
+
+"Yes," said Anscombe, "I remember nothing of all this business."
+
+"After a while Kaatje went away, still weeping, and then I fell
+asleep in earnest and did not wake until the sun was going down,
+when I roused Maurice and we both went back to the hut, where I
+found that Nombe had cooked our evening meal.  I looked for
+Kaatje, but could not find her.  Also in searching through my
+things I missed the bag of jewels.  I called to Nombe and asked
+where Kaatje was, whereon she smiled and said that she had gone
+away, taking the bag with her.  This pained me, for I had always
+found Kaatje quite honest--"
+
+"Which she is," I remarked, "for those jewels are now in a bank
+at Maritzburg."
+
+Heda nodded and went on, "I am glad to hear it; indeed,
+remembering what Zikali had said, I never really suspected her of
+being a thief, but thought it was all part of some plan.  After
+this things went on as before, except that Nombe took Kaatje's
+place and was with me day and night.  Of Kaatje's disappearance
+she would say nothing.  Zikali we did not see.
+
+"On the third evening after the vanishing of Kaatje, Nombe came
+and said that I must make ready for a journey, and while she
+spoke men arrived with a litter that had grass mats hung round
+it.  Nombe brought out my long cape and put it over me, also a
+kind of veil of white stuff which she threw over my head, so as
+to hide my face.  I think it was made out of one of our
+travelling mosquito nets.  Then she said I must say good-bye to
+Maurice for a while.  There was a scene as you may imagine.  He
+grew angry and said that he would come with me, whereon armed men
+appeared, six of them, and pushed him away with the handles of
+their spears.  In another minute I was lifted into the litter
+which Nombe entered with me, and so we were parted, wondering if
+we should ever see each other more.  At the mouth of the kloof I
+saw another litter surrounded by a number of Zulus, which Nombe
+said contained Zikali.
+
+"We travelled all that night and two succeeding nights, resting
+during the day in deserted kraals that appeared to have been made
+ready for us.  It was a strange journey, for although the armed
+men flitted about us, neither they nor the bearers ever spoke,
+nor did I see Zikali, or indeed any one else.  Only Nombe
+comforted me from time to time, telling me there was nothing to
+fear.  Towards dawn on the third night we travelled over some
+hills and I was put into a new hut and told that my journey was
+done as we had reached a place near Ulundi.
+
+"I slept most of the following day, but after I had eaten towards
+evening, Zikali crept into the hut, just as a great toad might
+do, and squatted down in front of me.
+
+"'Lady,' he said, 'listen.  To-night, perhaps one hour after
+sundown, perhaps two, perhaps three, Nombe will lead you, dressed
+in a certain fashion, from this hut.  See now, outside of it
+there is a tongue of rock up which you may climb unnoted by the
+little path that runs between those big stones.  Look,' and he
+showed me the place through the door-hole.  'The path ends on a
+flat boulder at the end of the rock.  There you will take your
+stand, holding in your right hand a little assegai which will be
+given to you.  Nombe will not accompany you to the rock, but she
+will crouch between the stones at the head of the path and
+perhaps from time to time whisper to you what to do.  Thus when
+she tells you, you must throw the little spear into the air, so
+that it falls among a number of men gathered in debate who will
+be seated about twenty paces from the rock.  For the rest you are
+to stand quite still, saying nothing and showing no alarm
+whatever you may hear or see.  Among the men before you may be
+your friend, Macumazahn, but you must not appear to recognize
+him, and if he speaks to you, you must make no answer.  Even if
+he should seem to shoot at you, do not be afraid.  Do you
+understand?  If so, repeat what I have told you.'  I obeyed him
+and asked what would happen if I did not do these things, or some
+of them.
+
+"He answered, 'You will be killed, Nombe will be killed, the lord
+Mauriti your lover will be killed, and your friend Macumazahn
+will be killed.  Perhaps even I shall be killed and we will talk
+the matter over in the land of ghosts.'
+
+"On hearing this I said I would do my best to carry out his
+orders, and after making me repeat them once more, he went away.
+Later, Nombe dressed me up as you saw me, Mr. Quatermain, put
+some glittering powder into my hair and touched me beneath the
+eyes with a dark kind of pigment.  Also she gave me the little
+spear and made me practise standing quite still with it raised in
+my right hand, telling me that when I heard her say the word
+'Throw,' I was to cast it into the air.  Then the moon rose and
+we heard men talking at a distance.  At last some one came to the
+hut and whispered to Nombe, who led me out to the little path
+between the rocks.
+
+"This must have been nearly two hours after I heard the men begin
+to talk--"
+
+"Excuse me," I interrupted, "but where was Nombe all those two
+hours?"
+
+"With me.  She never left my side, Mr. Quatermain, and while I
+was on the rock she was crouched within three paces of me between
+two big stones at the mouth of the path."
+
+"Indeed," I replied faintly, "this is very interesting.  Please
+continue--but one word, how was Nombe dressed?  Did she wear a
+necklace of blue beads?"
+
+"Just as she always is, or rather less so, for she had nothing on
+except her moocha, and certainly no blue beads.  But why do you
+ask?"
+
+"From curiosity merely.  I mean, I will tell you afterwards, pray
+go on."
+
+"Well, I stepped forward on to the rock and at first saw nothing,
+because at that moment the moon was hid by a cloud; indeed Nombe
+had waited for the cloud to pass over its face, before she thrust
+me forward.  Also some smoke from a fire below was rising
+straight in front of me.  Presently the cloud passed, the smoke
+thinned, and I saw the circle of those savage men seated beneath,
+and in their centre a great chief wearing a leopard's skin cloak
+who I guessed was the king.  You I did not see, Mr. Quatermain,
+because you were behind a tree, yet I felt that you were there, a
+friend among all those foes.  I stood still, as I had been taught
+to do, and heard the murmur of astonishment and caught the gleam
+of the moonlight from the white feathers that were sewn upon my
+robe.
+
+"Then I heard also the voice of Zikali speaking from beneath.  He
+called on you to come out to shoot at me, and the man whom I took
+to be the king, ordered you to obey.  You appeared from behind
+the tree, and I was certain from the look upon your face that at
+that distance you did not know who I was in my strange and
+glittering raiment.  You lifted the pistol and I was terribly
+afraid, for I had seen you shoot with it before on the verandah
+of the Temple and knew well that you do not miss.  Very nearly I
+screamed out to you, but remembered and was silent, thinking that
+after all it did not much matter if I died, except for the sake
+of Maurice here.  Also by now I guessed that I was being used to
+deceive those men before me into some terrible act, and that if I
+died, at least they would be undeceived.
+
+"I thought that an age passed between the time you pointed the
+pistol and I saw the flash for which I was waiting."
+
+"You need not have waited, Heda," I interposed, "for if I had
+really aimed at you you would never have seen that flash, at
+least so it is said.  I too guessed enough to shoot above you,
+although at the time I did not know that it was you on the rock;
+indeed I thought it was Nombe painted up."
+
+"Yes, I heard the bullet sing over me.  Then I heard the voice of
+Zikali challenging you to shoot him, and to tell the truth, hoped
+that you would do so.  Just before you fired for the second time,
+Nombe whispered to me--'Throw' and I threw the little red-handled
+spear into the air.  Then as the pistol went off Nombe
+whispered--'Come.'  I slipped away down the path and back with
+her into the hut, where she kissed me and said that I had done
+well indeed, after which she took off my strange robe and helped
+me to put on my own dress.
+
+"That is all I know, except that some hours later I was awakened
+from sleep and put into the litter where I went to sleep again,
+for what I had gone through tired me very much.  I need not
+trouble you with the rest, for we journeyed here in the same way
+that we had journeyed to Ulundi--by night.  I did not see Zikali,
+but in answer to my questions, Nombe told me that the Zulus had
+declared war against the English.  What part in the business I
+had played, she would not tell me, and I do not know to this
+hour, but I am sure that it was a great one.
+
+"So we came back to the Black Kloof, where I found Maurice quite
+well, and now he had better go on with the tale, for if I begin
+to tell you of our meeting I shall become foolish."
+
+"There isn't much more to tell," said Anscombe, "except about
+yourself.  While Heda was away I was kept a prisoner and watched
+day and night by Zikali's people who would not let me stir a
+yard, but otherwise treated me kindly.  Then one day at sunrise,
+or shortly after it, Heda re-appeared and told me all this story,
+for the end of which, as you may imagine, I thanked God.
+
+"After that we just lived on here, happily enough since we were
+together, until one day Nombe told us that there had been a great
+battle in which the Zulus had wiped out the English, killing
+hundreds and hundreds of them, although for every soldier that
+they killed, they had lost two.  Of course this made us very sad,
+especially as we were afraid you might be with our troops.  We
+asked Nombe if you were present at the battle.  She answered that
+she would inquire of her Spirit and went through some very
+strange performances with ashes and knuckle bones, after which
+she announced that you had been in the battle but were alive and
+coming this way with a dog that had silver on it.  We laughed at
+her, saying that she could not possibly know anything of the
+sort, also that dogs as a rule did not carry silver.  Whereon she
+only smiled and said--'Wait.'
+
+"I think it was three days later that one night towards dawn I
+was awakened by hearing a dog barking outside my hut, as though
+it wished to call attention to its presence.  It barked so
+persistently and in a way so unlike a Kaffir dog, that at length
+about dawn I went out of the hut to see what was the matter.
+There, standing a few yards away surrounded by some of Zikali's
+people, I saw Lost and knew at once that it was an English
+Airedale, for I have had several of the breed.  It looked very
+tired and frightened, and while I was wondering whence on earth
+it could have come, I noticed that it had a silver-mounted collar
+and remembered Nombe and her talk about you and a dog that
+carried silver on it.  From that moment, Allan, I was certain
+that you were somewhere near, especially as the beast ran up to
+me--it would take no notice of the Kaffirs--and kept looking
+towards the mouth of the kloof, as though it wished me to follow
+it.  Just then Nombe arrived, and on seeing the dog looked at me
+oddly.
+
+"'I have a message for you from my master, Mauriti,' she said to
+me through Heda, who by now had arrived upon the scene, having
+also been aroused by Lost's barking.  'It is that if you wish to
+take a walk with a strange dog you can do so, and bring back
+anything you may find.'"
+
+"The end of it was that after we had fed Lost with milk and meat,
+I and six of Zikali's men started down the kloof, Lost going
+ahead of us and now and again running back and whining.  At the
+mouth of the kloof it led us over a hill and down into a
+bush-veld valley where the thorns grew very thick.  When we had
+gone along the valley for about two miles, one of the Kaffirs saw
+a Basuto pony still saddled, and caught it.  The dog went on past
+the pony to a tree that had been shattered by lightning, and
+there within a few yards of the tree we found you lying
+senseless, Allan, or, as I thought at first, dead, and by your
+side a Martini rifle of which the stock also seemed to have been
+broken by lightning.
+
+"Well, we put you on a shield and carried you here, meeting no
+one, and that is all the story, Allan."
+
+He stopped and we stared at each other.  Then I called Lost and
+patted its head, and the dear beast licked my hand as though it
+understood that it was being thanked.
+
+"A strange tale," I said, "but God Almighty has put much wisdom
+into His creatures of which we know nothing.  Let us thank Him,"
+and in our hearts we did.
+
+Thus was I rescued from death by the intelligence and fidelity of
+a four-footed creature.  Doubtless in my semi-conscious state
+that resulted from shock, weariness and sun-stroke, I had all the
+while headed sub-consciously and without any definite object for
+the Black Kloof.  When I was within a few miles of it I was
+stunned by the lightning which ran down the rifle to the ground,
+though not actually struck.  Then the dog, which had escaped,
+played its part, wandering about the country to find help for me,
+and so I was saved.
+
+
+Now of the long months that followed I have little to tell.  They
+were not unhappy in their way, for week by week I felt myself
+growing stronger, though very slowly.  There was a path, steep,
+difficult and secret, which could be gained through one of the
+caves in the precipice, not that in which I slept.  This path ran
+up a water-cut kloof through a patch of thorns to a flat
+tableland that was part of the Ceza stronghold.  By it, when I
+had gained sufficient strength, sometimes we used to climb to the
+plateau, and there take exercise.  It was an agreeable change from
+the stifling atmosphere of the Black Kloof.  The days were very
+dull, for we were as much out of the world as though we had been
+marooned on a desert island.  Still from time to time we heard of
+the progress of the war through Nombe, for Zikali I saw but
+seldom.
+
+She told of disasters to the English, of the death of a great
+young Chief who was deserted by his companions and died fighting
+bravely--afterwards I discovered that this was the Prince
+Imperial of France--of the advance of our armies, of defeats
+inflicted upon Cetewayo's impis, and finally of the destruction
+of the Zulus on the battlefield of Ulundi, where they hurled
+themselves by thousands upon the British square, to be swept away
+by case-shot and the hail of bullets.  This battle, by the way,
+the Zulus call, not Ulundi or Nodwengu, for it was fought in
+front of Panda's old kraal of that name, but Ocwecweni, which
+means--"the fight of the sheet-iron fortress."  I suppose they
+give it this name because the hedge of bayonets, flashing in the
+sunlight, reminded them of sheet-iron.  Or it may be because
+these proved as impenetrable as would have done walls of iron.
+At any rate they dashed their naked bodies against the storm of
+lead and fell in heaps, only about a dozen of our men being
+killed, as the little graveyard in the centre of the square
+entrenchment, about which still lie the empty cartridge cases,
+records to-day.
+
+There, then, on that plain perished the Zulu kingdom which was
+built up by Chaka.
+
+Now it was after this event that I saw Zikali and begged him to
+let us go.  I found him triumphant and yet strangely disturbed
+and, as I thought, more apprehensive than I had ever seen him.
+
+"So, Zikali," I said, "if what I hear is true, you have had your
+way and destroyed the Zulu people.  Now you should be happy."
+
+"Is man ever happy, Macumazahn, when he has gained that which he
+sought for years?  The two out there sigh and are sad because
+they cannot be married after their own white fashion, though what
+there is to keep them apart I do not know.  Well, in time they
+will be married, only to find that they are not so happy as they
+thought they would be.  Oh! a day will come when they will talk
+to each other and say--'Those moons which we spent waiting
+together in the Black Kloof were the true moons of sweetness, for
+then we had something to gain; now we have gained all--and what
+is it?'
+
+"So it is with me, Macumazahn.  Since the Zulus under Chaka
+killed out my people, the Ndwandwe, year by year I have plotted
+and waited to see them wedded to the assegai.  Now it has come
+about.  You white men have stamped them flat upon the plain of
+Ulundi; they are no more a nation.  And yet I am not happy, for
+after all it was the House of Senzangacona and not the people of
+the Zulus, that harmed me and mine, and Cetewayo still lives.
+While the queen bee remains there may be a hive again.  While an
+ember still glows in the dead ashes, the forest may yet be fired.
+Perhaps when Cetewayo is dead, then I shall be happy.  Only his
+death and mine are set by Fate as close together as two sister
+grains of corn upon the cob."
+
+I turned the subject, again asking his leave to depart to Natal
+or to join the English army.
+
+"You cannot go yet," he answered sternly, "so trouble me no more.
+The land is full of wandering bands of Zulus who would kill you
+and your blood would be on my head.  Moreover, if they saw a
+white woman who had sheltered with me, might they not guess
+something?  To dress a doll for the part of the Inkosazana-y-Zulu
+is the greatest crime in the world, Macumazahn, and what would
+happen to the Opener of Roads and all his House if it were even
+breathed that he had dressed that doll and thus brought about the
+war which ruined them?  When Cetewayo is killed and the dead are
+buried and peace falls upon the land, the peace of death, then
+you shall go, Macumazahn, and not before."
+
+"At least, Zikali, send a message to the captains of the English
+army and tell them that we are here."
+
+"Send a message to the hyenas and tell them where the carcase is;
+send a message to the hunters and tell them where the buck Zikali
+crouches on its form!  Hearken, Macumazahn, if you do this, or
+even urge me again to do it, neither you nor your friends shall
+ever leave the Black Kloof.  I have spoken."
+
+Then understanding that the case was hopeless, I left him and he
+glowered after me, for fear had made him cruel.  He had won the
+long game and success had turned to ashes in his mouth.  Or
+rather, he had not won--yet--since his war was against the House
+of Senzangacona from which he and his tribe had suffered cruel
+wrong.  To pull it down he must pull down the Zulu nation; it was
+like burning a city to destroy a compromising letter.  He had
+burnt the city, but the letter still remained intact and might be
+produced in evidence against him.  In other words Cetewayo yet
+lived.  Therefore his vengeance remained quite unslaked and his
+danger was as great, or perhaps greater than it had ever been
+before.  For was he not the prophet who by producing the Princess
+of Heaven, the traditional goddess of the Zulus, before the eyes
+of the king and Council, had caused them to decide for war?  And
+supposing it were so much as breathed that this spirit which they
+seemed to see, had been but a trick and a fraud, what then?  He
+would be tortured to death if his dupes had time, or torn limb
+from limb if they had not, that is if he could die like other
+men--a matter as to which personally I had no doubts.
+
+Shortly after I left Zikali Heda and I ate our evening meal
+together.  Anscombe, as it chanced, had gone by the secret path
+to the tableland of which I have spoken, where he amused himself,
+as of course we were not allowed to fire a gun, by catching
+partridges, with the help of an ingenious system of grass nets
+which he had invented.  There were springs on this tableland that
+formed little pools of water, at which the partridges, also
+occasionally guineafowl and bush pheasants, came to drink at
+sunrise and sunset.  Here it was that he set his nets and retired
+to work them at those hours by means of strings that he pulled
+from hiding-places.  So Heda and I were alone.
+
+I told her of my ill success with Zikali, at which she was much
+disappointed.  Then by an afterthought I suggested that perhaps
+she might try to do something in the way of getting a message
+through to the English camp at Ulundi, or elsewhere, by help of
+the witch-doctoress, Nombe, adding that I would speak to her
+myself had I not observed that I seemed to be out of favour with
+her of late.  Heda shook her head and answered that she thought
+it would be useless to try, also too dangerous.  Remembering
+Zikali's threat, on reflection I agreed with her.
+
+"Tell me, Mr. Quatermain," she added, "is it possible for one
+woman to be in love with another?"
+
+I stared at her and replied that I did not understand what she
+meant, since women, so far as I had observed them, were generally
+in love either with a man or with themselves, perhaps more often
+with the latter than the former.  Rather a cheap joke I admit,
+with just enough truth in it to make it acceptable--in the Black
+Kloof.
+
+"So I thought," she answered, "but really Nombe behaves in a most
+peculiar way.  As you know she took a fancy to me from the
+beginning, perhaps because she had never had any other woman with
+whom to associate, having, so far as I can make out, been brought
+up here among men from a child.  Indeed, her story is that she
+was one of twins and therefore as the younger, was exposed to die
+according to the Zulu superstition.  Zikali, however, or a
+servant of his who knew what was happening, rescued and reared
+her, so practically I am the only female with whom she has ever
+been intimate.  At any rate her affection for me has grown and
+grown until, although it seems ungrateful to say so, it has
+become something of a nuisance.  She has told me again and again
+that she would die to protect me, and that if by chance anything
+happened to me, she would kill herself and follow me into another
+world.  She is continually making divinations about my future,
+and as these, in which she entirely believes, always show me as
+living without her, she is much distressed and at times bursts
+into tears."
+
+"Hysteria!  It is very common among the Zulu women, and
+especially those of them who practise magic arts," I answered.
+
+"Perhaps, but as it results in the most intense jealousy, Nombe's
+hysteria is awkward.  For instance, she is horribly jealous of
+Maurice."
+
+"The instincts of a chaperone developed early," I suggested
+again.
+
+"That won't quite do, Mr. Quatermain," answered Heda with a
+laugh, "since she is even more jealous of you.  With reference to
+Maurice, she explains frankly that if we marry she might, as she
+puts it, 'continue to sit outside the hut,' but that in your case
+you live 'in my head,' where she cannot come between you and me."
+
+"Mad," I remarked, "quite mad.  Still madness has to be dealt
+with in this world like other things, and Nombe, being an
+abnormal person, may suffer from abnormal ideas.  It just amounts
+to this; she has conceived a passionate devotion to you, at which
+I am sure neither Maurice nor I can wonder."
+
+"Are those the kind of compliments you used to pay in your youth,
+Mr. Quatermain?  I expect so, and now that you are old you cannot
+stop them.  Well, I thank you all the same, because perhaps you
+mean what you say.  But what is to be done about Nombe?  Hush!
+here she comes.  I will leave you to reason with her, if you get
+the chance," and she departed in a hurry.
+
+Nombe arrived, and something in her aspect told me that I was
+going to get the chance.  Her eternal smile was almost gone and
+her dark, beautiful eyes flashed ominously.  Still she began by
+asking in a mild voice whether the lady Heddana had eaten her
+supper with appetite.  It will be observed that she was not
+interested in my appetite or whether enough was left for Anscombe
+when he returned.  I replied that so far as I noted she had
+consumed about half a partridge, with other things.
+
+"I am glad," said Nombe, "since I was not here to attend upon
+her, having been summoned to speak with the Master."
+
+Then she sat down and looked at me like a thunder storm.
+
+"I nursed you when you were so ill, Macumazahn," she began, "but
+now I learn that for the milk with which I fed you, you would
+force me to drink bitter water that will poison me."
+
+I replied I was well aware that without her nursing I should long
+ago have been dead, which was what caused me to love her like my
+own daughter.  But would she kindly explain?  This she did at
+once.
+
+"You have been plotting to take away from me the lady Heddana who
+to me is as mother and sister and child.  It is useless to lie to
+me, for the Master has told me all; moreover, I knew it for
+myself, both through my Spirit and because I had watched you."
+
+"I have no intention of lying to you, Nombe, about this or any
+other matter, though I think that sometimes in the past you have
+lied to me.  Tell me, do you expect the Inkosi Mauriti, the lady
+Heddana and myself to pass the rest of our lives in the Black
+Kloof, when they wish to get married and go across the Black
+Water to where their home will be, and I wish to attend to my
+affairs?"
+
+"I do not know what I expect, Macumazahn, but I do know that
+never while I live will I be parted from the lady Heddana.  At
+last I have found some one to love, and you and the other would
+steal her away from me."
+
+I studied her for a while, then asked--
+
+"Why do you not marry, Nombe, and have a husband, and children to
+love?"
+
+"Marry?" she replied.  "I am married to my Spirit which does not
+dwell beneath the sun, and my children are not of earth;
+moreover, all men are hateful to me," and her eyes added,
+"especially you."
+
+"That is a calf with a dog's head," I replied in the words of the
+native proverb, meaning that she said what was not natural.
+"Well, Nombe, if you are so fond of the lady Heddana, you had
+better arrange with her and the Inkosi Mauriti to go away with
+them."
+
+"You know well I cannot, Macumazahn.  I am tied to my Master by
+ropes that are stronger than iron, and if I attempted to break
+them my Spirit would wither and I should wither with it."
+
+"Dear me! what a dreadful business.  That is what comes of taking
+to magic.  Well, Nombe, I am afraid I have nothing to suggest,
+nor, to tell you the truth, can I see what I have to do with the
+matter."
+
+Then she sprang up in a rage, saying--
+
+"I understand that not only will you give me no help, but that
+you also mock at me, Macumazahn.  Moreover, as it is with you, so
+it is with Mauriti, who pretends to love my lady so much, though
+I love her more with my little finger than he does with all his
+body and what he calls his soul.  Yes, he too mocks at me.  Now
+if you were both dead," she added with sudden venom, "my lady
+would not wish to go away.  Be careful lest a spell should fall
+upon you, Macumazahn," and without more words she turned and
+went.
+
+At first I was inclined to laugh; the whole thing seemed so
+absurd.  On reflection, however, I perceived that in reality it
+was very serious to people situated as we were.  This woman was a
+savage; more, a mystic savage of considerable powers of mind--a
+formidable combination.  Also there were no restraints upon her,
+since public opinion had as little authority in the Black Kloof
+as the Queen's Writ.  Lastly, it was not unknown for women to
+conceive these violent affections which, if thwarted, filled them
+with something like madness.  Thus I remembered a very terrible
+occurrence of my youth which resulted in the death of one who was
+most dear to me.  I will not dwell on it, but this, too, was the
+work of a passionate creature, woman I can scarcely call her, who
+thought she was being robbed of one whom she adored.
+
+The end of it was that I did not enjoy my pipe that night, though
+luckily Anscombe returned after a successful evening's netting,
+about which he was so full of talk that there was no need for me
+to say much.  So I put off any discussion of the problem until
+the morrow.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+
+
+
+THE KING VISITS ZIKALI
+
+
+
+
+
+Next morning, as a result of my cogitations, I went to see
+Zikali.  I was admitted after a good deal of trouble and delay,
+for although his retinue was limited and, with the exception of
+Nombe, entirely male, this old prophet kept a kind of semi-state
+and was about as difficult to approach as a European monarch.  I
+found him crouching over a fire in his hut, since at this season
+of the year even in that hot place the air was chilly until
+midday.
+
+"What is it, Macumazahn?" he asked.  "As to your going away, have
+patience.  I learn that he who was King of the Zulus is in full
+flight, with the white men tracking him like a wounded buck.
+When the buck is caught and killed, then you can go."
+
+"It is about Nombe," I answered, and told him all the story,
+which did not seem to surprise him at all.
+
+"Now see, Macumazahn," he said, taking some snuff, "how hard it
+is to dam up the stream of nature.  This child, Nombe, is of my
+blood, one whom I saved from death in a strange way, not because
+she was of my blood but that I might make an experiment with her.
+Women, as you who are wise and have seen much will know, are in
+truth superior to men, though, because they are weaker in body,
+men have the upper hand of them and think themselves their
+masters, a state they are forced to accept because they must live
+and cannot defend themselves.  Yet their brains are keener, as an
+assegai is keener than a hoe; they are more in touch with the
+hidden things that shape out fate for people and for nations;
+they are more faithful and more patient, and by instinct if not
+by reason, more far-seeing, or at least the best of them are so,
+and by their best, like men, they should be judged.  Yet this is
+the hole in their shield.  When they love they become the slaves
+of love, and for love's sake all else is brought to naught, and
+for this reason they cannot be trusted.  With men, as you know,
+this is otherwise.  They, too, love, by Nature's law, but always
+behind there is something greater than love, although often they
+do not understand what that may be.  To be powerful, therefore, a
+woman must be one who does not love too much.  If she cannot love
+at all, then she is hated and has no power, but she must not love
+too much.
+
+"Once I thought that I had found such a woman; she was named
+Mameena, whom all men worshipped and who played with all men, as
+I played with her.  But what was the end of it?  Just as things
+were going very well she learned to love too much some man of
+strange notions, who would have thwarted me and brought
+everything to nothing, and therefore I had to kill her, for which
+I was sorry."
+
+Here he paused to take some more snuff, watching me over the
+spoon as he drew it up his great nostrils, but as I said nothing,
+went on--
+
+"Now after Mameena was dead I bethought me that I would rear up a
+woman who could still love but should never love a man and
+therefore never become mad or foolish, because I believed that it
+was only man who in taking her heart from woman, would take her
+wits also.  This child, Nombe, came to my hand, and as I thought,
+so I did.  Never mind how I did it, by medicine perhaps, by magic
+perhaps, by watering her pride and making it grow tall perhaps,
+or by all three.  At least it was done, and this I know of Nombe,
+she will never care for any man except as a woman may care for a
+brother.
+
+"But now see what happens.  She, the wise, the instructed, the
+man-despiser, meets a woman of another race who is sweet and
+good, and learns to love her, not as maids and mothers love, but
+as one loves the Spirit that she worships.  Yes, yes, to her she
+is a goddess to be worshipped, one whom she desires to serve with
+all her heart and strength, to bow down before, making offerings,
+and at the end to follow into death.  So it comes about that this
+Nombe, whose mind I thought to make as the wings of a bird
+floating on the air while it searches for its prey, has become
+even madder than other women.  It is a disappointment to me,
+Macumazahn."
+
+"It may be a disappointment to you, Zikali, and all that you say
+is very interesting.  But to us it is a danger.  Tell me, will
+you command Nombe to cease from her folly?"
+
+"Will I forbid the mist to rise, or the wind to blow, or the
+lightning to strike?  As she is, she is.  Her heart is filled
+with black jealousy of Mauriti and of you, as a butcher's gourd
+is filled with blood, for she is not one who desires that her
+goddess should have other worshippers; she would keep her for
+herself alone."
+
+"Then in this way or in that the gourd must be emptied, Zikali,
+lest we should be forced to drink from it and that black blood
+should poison us."
+
+"How, unless it be broken, Macumazahn?  If Heddana departs and
+leaves her, she will go mad, and accompany her she cannot, for
+her Spirit dwells here," and he tapped his own breast.  "It would
+pull her back again and she would become a great trouble to me,
+for then that Spirit of hers would not suffer me to sleep, with
+its continual startings in search of what it had lost, and its
+returnings empty-handed.  Well, have no fear, for at the worst
+the bowl can be broken and the blood poured upon the earth, as I
+have broken finer bowls than this before; had I all the bits of
+them they would make a heap so high, Macumazahn!" and he held out
+his hand on a level with his head, a gesture that made my back
+creep.  "I will tell her this and it may keep her quiet for a
+while.  Of poison you need not be afraid, since unlike mine, her
+Spirit hates it.  Poison is not one of its weapons as it is with
+mine.  But of spells, beware, for her Spirit has some which are
+very powerful."
+
+Now I jumped up, filled with indignation, saying--
+
+"I do not believe in Nombe's spells, and in any case how am I to
+guard against them?"
+
+"If you do not believe there is no need to guard, and if you do
+believe, then it is for you to find out how to guard, Macumazahn.
+Oh! I could tell you the story of a white teacher who did not
+believe and would not guard--but never mind, never mind.
+Good-bye, Macumazahn, I will speak with Nombe.  Ask her for a
+lock of her hair to wear upon your heart after she has enchanted
+it.  The charm is good against spells.  O-ho--Oho-o!  What fools
+we are, white and black together!  That is what Cetewayo is
+thinking to-day."
+
+After this Nombe became much more agreeable.  That is to say she
+was very polite, her smile was more fixed and her eyes more
+unfathomable than ever.  Evidently Zikali had spoken to her and
+she had listened.  Yet to tell the truth my distrust of this
+handsome young woman grew deeper day by day.  I recognized that
+there was a great gulf between her and the normal, that she was a
+creature fashioned by Zikali who had trained her as a gardener
+trains a tree, nay, who had done more, who had grafted some
+foreign growth of exotic and unnatural spiritualism on to her
+primitive nature.  The nature remained the same, but the graft or
+grafts bore strange flowers and fruit, unholy flowers and
+poisonous fruit.  Therefore she was not to blame--sometimes I
+wonder whether in this curious world, could one see their past
+and their future, anybody is to blame for anything--but this did
+not make her the less dangerous.
+
+Some talks I had with her only increased my apprehensions, for I
+found that in a way she had no conscience.  Life, she told me,
+was but a dream, and all its laws as evolved by man were but
+illusions.  The real life was elsewhere.  There was the distant
+lake on which the flower of our true existence floated.  Without
+this unseen lake of supernatural water the flower could not
+float; indeed there would be no flower.  Moreover, the flower did
+not matter; sometimes it would have this shape and colour,
+sometimes that.  It was but a thing destined to grow and bloom
+and rot, and during its day to be ugly or to be beautiful, to
+smell sweet or ill, as it might chance, and ultimately to be
+absorbed back into the general water of Life.
+
+I pointed out to her that all flowers had roots which grew in
+soil.  Looking at an orchid-like plant that crept along the bough
+of a tree, she answered that this was not true as some grew upon
+air.  But however this might be, the soil, or the moisture in the
+air, was distilled from thousands of other flower lives that had
+flourished in their day and been forgotten.  It did not matter
+when they died or how many other flowers they choked that they
+might live.  Yet each flower had its own spirit which always had
+been and always would be.
+
+I asked her of the end and the object of that spirit.  She
+answered darkly that she did not know and if she did, would not
+say, but that these were very dreadful.
+
+Such were some of her vague and figurative assertions which I
+only record to indicate their uncomfortable and indeed but half
+human nature.  I forgot to add that she declared that every
+flower or life had a twin flower or life, which in each
+successive growth it was bound to find and bloom beside, or
+wither to the root and spring again and that ultimately these two
+would become one, and as one flourish eternally.  Of all of which
+I understood and understand little, except that she had grasped
+the elements of some truth which she could not express in clear
+and definite language.
+
+
+One day I was seated in Zikali's hut whither by permission I had
+come to ask the latest news, when suddenly Nombe appeared and
+crouched down before him.
+
+"Who gave you leave to enter here, and what is your business?" he
+asked angrily.
+
+"Home of Spirits," she replied in a humble voice, "be not angry
+with your servant.  Necessity gave me leave, and my business is
+to tell you that strangers approach."
+
+"Who are they that dare to enter the Black Kloof unannounced?"
+
+"Cetewayo the King is one of them, the others I do not know, but
+they are many, armed all of them.  They approach your gate;
+before a man can count two hundred they will be here."
+
+"Where are the white chief and the lady Heddana?" asked Zikali.
+
+"By good fortune they have gone by the secret path to the
+tableland and will not be back till sunset.  They wished to be
+alone, so I did not accompany them, and Macumazahn here said that
+he was too weary to do so."  (This was true.  Also like Nombe I
+thought that they wished to be alone.)
+
+"Good.  Go, tell the king that I knew of his coming and am
+awaiting him.  Bid my servants kill the ox which is in the kraal,
+the fat ox that they thought is sick and therefore fit food for a
+sick king," he added bitterly.
+
+She glided away like a startled snake.  Then Zikali turned to me
+and said swiftly--
+
+"Macumazahn, you are in great danger.  If you are found here you
+will be killed, and so will the others whom I will send to warn
+not to return till this king has gone away.  Go at once to join
+them.  No, it is too late, I hear the Zulus come.  Take that
+kaross, cover yourself with it and lie among the baskets and
+beerpots here near the entrance of the hut in the deepest of the
+shadows, so that if any enter, perchance you will not be found.
+I too am in danger who shall be held to account for all that has
+happened.  Perhaps they will kill me, if I can be killed.  If so,
+get away with the others as best you can.  Nombe will tell you
+where your horses are hidden.  In that case let Heddana take
+Nombe with her, for when I am dead she will go, and shake her off
+in Natal if she troubles her.  Whatever chances, remember,
+Macumazahn, that I have done my best to keep my word to you and
+to protect you and your friends.  Now I go to look on this
+pricked bladder who was once a king."
+
+He scrambled from the hut with slow, toad-like motions, while I
+with motions that were anything but slow, grabbed the grey
+catskin kaross and ensconced myself among the beerpots and mats
+in such a position that my head, over which I set a three-legged
+carved stool of Zikali's own cutting, was but a few inches to the
+left of the door-hole and therefore in the deepest of the
+shadows.  Thence by stretching out my neck a little, I could see
+through the hole, also hear all that passed outside.  Unless a
+deliberate search of the hut should be made I was fairly safe
+from observation, even if it were entered by strangers.  One fear
+I had, however, it was lest the dog Lost should get into the
+place and smell me out.  I had left him tied to the centre pole
+in my own hut, because he hated Zikali and always growled at him.
+But suppose he gnawed through the cord, or any one let him loose!
+
+Scarcely had Zikali seated himself in his accustomed place before
+the hut, than the gate of the outer fence opened and approaching
+through it I saw forty or fifty fierce and way-worn men.  In
+front of them, riding on a tired horse that was led by a servant,
+was Cetewayo himself.  He was assisted to dismount, or rather
+threw his great bulk into the arms that were waiting to receive
+him.
+
+Then after some words with his following and with one of Zikali's
+people, followed by three or four indunas and leaning on the arm
+of Umnyamana, the Prime Minister, he entered the enclosure, the
+rest remaining without.  Zikali, who sat as though asleep,
+suddenly appeared to wake up and perceive him.  Struggling to his
+feet he lifted his right arm and gave the royal salute of Bayete,
+and with it titles of praise, such as "Black One!" "Elephant!"
+"Earth-Shaker!" "Conqueror!" "Eater-up of the White men!" "Child
+of the Wild Beast (Chaka) whose teeth are sharper than the Wild
+Beast's ever were!" and so on, until Cetewayo, growing
+impatient, cried out--
+
+"Be silent, Wizard.  Is this a time for fine words?  Do you not
+know my case that you offend my ears with them?  Give us food to
+eat if you have it, after which I would speak with you alone.  Be
+swift also; here I may not stay for long, since the white dogs
+are at my heels."
+
+"I knew that you were coming, O King, to honour my poor house
+with a visit," said Zikali slowly, "and therefore the ox is
+already killed and the meat will soon be on the fire.  Meanwhile
+drink a sup of beer, and rest."
+
+He clapped his hands, whereon Nombe and some servants appeared
+with pots of beer, of which, after Zikali had tasted it to show
+that it was not poisoned, the king and his people drank
+thirstily.  Then it was taken to those outside.
+
+"What is this that my ears hear?" asked Zikali when Nombe and the
+others had gone, "that the White Dogs are on the spoor of the
+Black Bull?"
+
+Cetewayo nodded heavily, and answered--
+
+"My impis were broken to pieces on the plain of Ulundi; the
+cowards ran from the bullets as children run from bees.  My
+kraals are burnt and I, the King, with but a faithful remnant fly
+for my life.  The prophecy of the Black One has come true.  The
+people of the Zulus are stamped flat beneath the feet of the
+great White People."
+
+"I remember that prophecy, O King.  Mopo told it to me within an
+hour of the death of the Black One when he gave me the little
+red-handled assegai that he snatched from the Black One's hand to
+do the deed.  It makes me almost young again to think of it,
+although even then I was old," replied Zikali in a dreamy voice
+like one who speaks to himself.
+
+Hearing him from under my kaross I bethought me that he had
+really grown old at last, who for the moment evidently forgot the
+part which this very assegai had played a few months before in
+the Vale of Bones.  Well, even the greatest masters make such
+slips at times when their minds are full of other things.  But if
+Zikali forgot, Cetewayo and his councillors remembered, as I
+could see by the look of quick intelligence that flashed from
+face to face.
+
+"So!  Mopo the murderer, he who vanished from the land after the
+death of my uncle Dingaan, gave you the little red assegai, did
+he, Opener of Roads!  And but a few months ago that assegai,
+which old Sigananda knew again, thrown by the hand of the
+Inkosazana-y-Zulu, drew blood from my body after the white man,
+Macumazahn, had severed its shaft with his bullet.  Now tell me,
+Opener of Roads, how did it pass from your keeping into that of
+the spirit Nomkubulwana?"
+
+At this question I distinctly saw a shiver shake the frame of
+Zikali who realized too late the terrible mistake he had made.
+Yet as only the great can do, he retrieved and even triumphed
+over his error.
+
+"Oho-ho!" he laughed, "who am I that I can tell how such things
+happen?  Do you not know, O King, that the Spirits leave what
+they will and take what they will, whether it be but a blade of
+grass, or the life of a man"--here he looked at Cetewayo--"or
+even of a people?  Sometimes they take the shadow and sometimes
+the substance, since spirit or matter, all is theirs.  As for the
+little assegai, I lost it years ago.  I remember that the last
+time I saw it was in the hands of a woman named Mameena to whom I
+showed it as a strange and bloody thing.  After her death I found
+that it was gone, so doubtless she took it with her to the
+Under-world and there gave it to the Queen Nomkubulwana, with
+whom you may remember this Mameena returned from that Under-world
+yonder in the Bones."
+
+"It may be so," said Cetewayo sullenly, "yet it was no spirit
+iron that cut my thigh, but what do I know of the ways of
+Spirits?  Wizard, I would speak with you in your hut alone where
+no ear can hear us."
+
+"My hut is the King's," answered Zikali, "yet let the King
+remember that those Spirits of which he does not know the ways,
+can always hear, yes, even the thoughts of men, and on them do
+judgment."
+
+"Fear not," said Cetewayo, "amongst many other things I remember
+this also."
+
+Then Zikali turned and crept into the hut, whispering as he
+passed me--
+
+"Lie silent for your life."  And Cetewayo having bidden his
+retinue to depart outside the fence and await him there, followed
+after him.
+
+They sat them down on either side of the smouldering fire and
+stared at each other through the thin smoke there in the gloom of
+the hut.  By turning my head that the foot of the king had
+brushed as he passed, I could watch them both.  Cetewayo spoke
+the first in a hoarse, slow voice, saying--
+
+"Wizard, I am in danger of my life and I have come to you who
+know all the secrets of this land, that you may tell me in what
+place I may hide where the white men cannot find me.  It must be
+told into my ear alone, since I dare not trust the matter to any
+other, at any rate until I must.  They are traitors every man of
+them, yes, even those who seem to be most faithful.  The fallen
+man has no friends, least of all if he chances to be a king.
+Only the dead will keep his counsel.  Tell me of the place I
+need."
+
+"Dingaan, who was before you, once asked this same thing of me, O
+King, when he was flying from Panda your father, and the Boers.
+I gave him advice that he did not take, but sought a refuge of
+his own upon a certain Ghost-mountain.  What happened to him
+there that Mopo, of whom you spoke a while ago, can tell you if
+he still lives."*
+
+[*--See _Nada the Lily._--EDITOR.]
+
+"Surely you are an ill-omened night-bird who thus croak to me
+continually of the death of kings," broke in Cetewayo with
+suppressed rage.  Then calming himself with an effort added,
+"Tell me now, where shall I hide?"
+
+"Would you know, King?  Then hearken.  On the south slope of the
+Ingome Range west of the Ibululwana River, on the outskirts of
+the great forest, there is a kloof whereof the entrance, which
+only one man can pass at a time, is covered by a thicket of
+thorns and marked by a black rock shaped like a great toad with
+an open mouth, or, as some say, like myself,
+'The-Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.'  Near to this rock
+dwells an old woman, blind of one eye and lacking a hand, which
+the Black One cut off shortly before his death, because when he
+killed her father, she saw the future and prophesied a like death
+to him, although then she was but a child.  This woman is of our
+company, being a witch-doctoress.  I will send a Spirit to her,
+if you so will it, to warn her to watch for you and your company,
+O King, and show you the mouth of the kloof, where are some old
+huts and water.  There you will never be found unless you are
+betrayed."
+
+"Who can betray me when none know whither I am going?" asked
+Cetewayo.  "Send the Spirit, send it at once, that this one-armed
+witch may make ready."
+
+"What is the hurry, King, seeing that the forest is far away?
+Yet be it as you will.  Keep silence now, lest evil should befall
+you."
+
+Then of a sudden Zikali seemed to go off into one of his trances.
+His form grew rigid, his eyes closed, his face became fixed as
+though in death, and foam appeared upon his lips.  He was a
+dreadful sight to look on, there in the gloomy hut.
+
+Cetewayo watched him and shivered.  Then he opened his blanket
+and I perceived that fastened about him by a loop of hide in such
+a fashion that it could be drawn out in a moment, was the blade
+of a broad assegai, the shaft of which was shortened to about six
+inches.  His hand grasped this shaft, and I understood that he
+was contemplating the murder of Zikali.  Then it seemed to me
+that he changed his mind and that his lips shaped the words--"Not
+yet," though whether he really spoke them I do not know.  At
+least he withdrew his hand and closed the blanket.
+
+Slowly Zikali opened his eyes, staring at the roof of the hut,
+whence came a curious sound as of squeaking bats.  He looked like
+a dead man coming to life again.  For a few moments he turned up
+his ear as though he listened to the squealing, then said--
+
+"It is well.  The Spirit that I summoned has visited her of our
+company who is named One-hand and returned with the answer.  Did
+you not hear it speaking in the thatch, O King?"
+
+"I heard something, Wizard," answered Cetewayo in an awed voice.
+"I thought it was a bat."
+
+"A bat it is, O King, one with wide wings and swift.  This bat
+says that my sister, One-hand, will meet you on the third day
+from now at this hour on the further side of the ford of the
+Ibululwana, where three milk-trees grow together on a knoll.  She
+will be sitting under the centre milk-tree and will wait for two
+hours, no more, to show you the secret entrance to the kloof."
+
+"The road is rough and long, I shall have to hurry when worn out
+with travelling," said Cetewayo.
+
+"That is so, O King.  Therefore my counsel is that you begin the
+journey as soon as possible, especially as I seem to hear the
+baying of the white dogs not far away."
+
+"By Chaka's head! I will not," growled Cetewayo, "who thought to
+sleep here in peace this night."
+
+"As the King wills.  All that I have is the King's.  Only then
+One-hand will not be waiting and some other place of hiding must
+be found, since this is known to me only and to her; also that
+Spirit which I sent will make no second journey, nor can I travel
+to show it to the King."
+
+"Yes, Wizard, it is known to you and to myself.  Methinks it
+would be better were it known to me alone.  I have a spoonful of
+snuff to share (i.e., a bone to pick) with you, Wizard.  It would
+seem that you set my feet and those of the Zulu people upon a
+false road, yonder in the Vale of Bones, causing me to declare
+war upon the white men and thereby bringing us all to ruin."
+
+"Mayhap my memory grows bad, O King, for I do not remember that I
+did these things.  I remember that the spirit of a certain
+Mameena whom I called up from the dead, prophesied victory to the
+King, which victory has been his.  Also it prophesied other
+victories to the King in a far land across the water, which
+victories doubtless shall be his in due season; for myself I gave
+no 'counsel to the King or to his indunas and generals.'"
+
+"You lie, Wizard," exclaimed Cetewayo hoarsely.  "Did you not
+summon the shape of the Princess of Heaven to be the sign of war,
+and did she not hold in her hand that assegai of the Black One
+which you have told me was in your keeping?  How did it pass from
+your keeping into the hand of a spirit?"
+
+"As to that matter I have spoken, O King.  For the rest, is
+Nomkubulwana my servant to come and go at my bidding?"
+
+"I think so," said Cetewayo coldly.  "I think also that you who
+know the place where I purpose to hide, would do well to forget
+it.  Surely you have lived too long, O Opener of Roads, and done
+enough evil to the House of Senzangacona, which you ever hated."
+
+So he spoke, and once more I saw his hand steal towards the
+spearhead which was hidden beneath the blanket that he wore.
+
+Zikali saw it also and laughed.  "Oho!" he laughed, "forgetting
+all my warnings, and that the day of my death will be his own,
+the King thinks to kill me because I am old and feeble and alone
+and unarmed.  He thinks to kill me as the Black One thought, as
+Dingaan thought, as even Panda thought, yet I live on to this
+day.  Well, I bear no malice since it is natural that the King
+should wish to kill one who knows the secret of where he would
+hide himself for his own life's sake.  That spearhead which the
+King is fingering is sharp, so sharp that my bare breast cannot
+turn its edge.  I must find me a shield!  I must find me a
+shield!  Fire, you are not yet dead.  Awake, make smoke to be my
+shield!" and he waved his long, monkey-like arms over the embers,
+from which instantly there sprang up a reek of thin white smoke
+that appeared to take a vague and indefinite shape which
+suggested the shadow of a man; for to me it seemed a nebulous and
+wavering shadow, no more.
+
+"What are you staring at, O King?" went on Zikali in a fierce and
+thrilling voice.  "Who is it that you see?  Who has the fire sent
+to be my shield?  Ghosts are so thick here that I do not know.  I
+cannot tell one of them from the other.  Who is it?  Who, who of
+all that you have slain and who therefore are your foes?"
+
+"Umbelazi, my brother," groaned Cetewayo.  "My brother Umbelazi
+stands before me with spear raised; he whom I brought to his
+death at the battle of the Tugela.  His eyes flame upon me, his
+spear is raised to strike.  He speaks words I cannot understand.
+Protect me, O Wizard!  Lord of Spirits, protect me from the
+spirit of Umbelazi."
+
+Zikali laughed wildly and continued to wave his arms above the
+fire from which smoke poured ever more densely, till the hut was
+full of it.
+
+When it cleared away again Cetewayo was gone!
+
+"Saw you ever the like of that?" said Zikali, addressing the
+kaross under which I was sweltering.  "Tell me, Macumazahn."
+
+"Yes," I answered, thrusting out my head as a tortoise does,
+"when in this very hut you seemed to produce the shape, also out
+of smoke, I think, of one whom I used to know.  Say, how do you
+do it, Zikali?"
+
+"Do it.  Who knows?  Perchance I do nothing.  Perchance I think
+and you fools see, no more.  Or perchance the spirits of the dead
+who are so near to us, come at my call and take themselves bodies
+out of the charmed smoke of my fire.  You white men are wise,
+answer your own question, Macumazahn.  At least that smoke or
+that ghost saved me from a spear thrust in the heart, wherewith
+Cetewayo was minded to pay me for showing him a hiding-place
+which he desired should be secret to himself alone.  Well, well,
+I can pay as well as Cetewayo and my count is longer.  Now lie
+you still, Macumazahn, for I go out to watch.  He will not bide
+long in this place which he deems haunted and ill-omened.  He
+will be gone ere sunset, that is within an hour, and sleep
+elsewhere."
+
+Then he crept from the hut and presently, though I could see
+nothing, for now the gate of the fence was shut, I heard voices
+debating and finally that of Cetewayo say angrily--
+
+"Have done!  It is my will.  You can eat your food outside of
+this place which is bewitched; the girl will show us where are
+the huts of which the wizard speaks."
+
+A few minutes later Zikali crept back into the hut, laughing to
+himself.
+
+"All is safe," he said, "and you can come out of your hole, old
+jackal.  He who calls himself a king is gone, taking with him
+those whom he thinks faithful, most of whom are but waiting a
+chance to betray him.  What did I say, a king?  Nay, in all
+Africa there is no slave so humble or so wretched as this broken
+man.  Oh! feather by feather I have plucked my fowl and by and by
+I shall cut his throat.  You will be there, Macumazahn, you will
+be there."
+
+"I trust not," I answered as I mopped my brow.  "We have been
+near enough to throat-cutting this afternoon to last me a long
+while.  Where has the king gone?"
+
+"Not far, Macumazahn.  I have sent Nombe to guide him to the huts
+in the little dip five spear throws to the right of the mouth of
+the kloof where live the old herdsman and his people who guard my
+cattle.  He and all the rest are away with the cattle that are
+hidden in the Ceza Forest out of reach of the white men, so the
+huts are empty.  Oh! now I read what you are thinking.  I do not
+mean that he should be taken there.  It is too near my house and
+the king still has friends."
+
+"Why did you send Nombe?" I asked.
+
+"Because he would have no other guide, who does not trust my men.
+He means to keep her with him for some days and then let her go,
+and thus she will be out of mischief.  Meanwhile you and your
+friends can depart untroubled by her fancies, and join the white
+men who are near.  Tomorrow you shall start."
+
+"That is good," I said with a sigh of relief.  Then an idea
+struck me and I added, "I suppose no harm will come to Nombe, who
+might be thought to know too much?"
+
+"I hope not," he replied indifferently, "but that is a matter for
+her Spirit to decide.  Now go, Macumazahn, for I am weary."
+
+I also was weary after my prolonged seclusion under that very hot
+skin rug.  For be it remembered I was not yet strong again, and
+although this was not the real reason why I had stopped behind
+when the others went to the plateau, I still grew easily tired.
+My real reason was that of Nombe--that I thought they preferred
+to be alone.  I looked about me and saw with relief that Cetewayo
+and every man of his retinue were really gone.  They had not even
+waited to eat the ox that had been killed for them, but had
+carried off the meat with other provisions to their
+sleeping-place outside the kloof.  Having made sure of this I
+went to my hut and loosed Lost that fortunately enough had been
+unable to gnaw through the thick buffalo-hide riem with which I
+had fastened him to the pole.
+
+He greeted me with rapture as though we had been parted for
+years.  Had he belonged to Ulysses himself he could not have been
+more joyful.  When one is despondent and lonesome, how grateful
+is the whole-hearted welcome of a dog which, we are sometimes
+tempted to think, is the only creature that really cares for us
+in the world.  Every other living thing has side interests of its
+own, but that of a dog is centred in its master, though it is
+true that it also dreams affectionately of dinner and rabbits.
+
+Then with Lost at my feet I sat outside the hut smoking and
+waiting for the return of Anscombe and Heda.  Presently I caught
+sight of them in the gloaming.  Their arms were around one
+another, and in some remarkable way they had managed to dispose
+their heads, forgetting that the sky was still light behind them,
+in such fashion that it was difficult to tell one from the other.
+I reflected that it was a good thing that at last we were
+escaping from this confounded kloof and country for one where
+they could marry and make an end, and became afflicted with a
+sneezing fit.
+
+Heda asked where Nombe was and why supper was not ready, for
+Nombe played the part of cook and parlourmaid combined.  I told
+her something of what had happened, whereon Heda, who did not
+appreciate its importance in the least, remarked that she, Nombe,
+might as well have put on the pot before she went and done sundry
+other things which I forget.  Ultimately we got something to eat
+and turned in, Heda grumbling a little because she must sleep
+alone, for she had grown used to the company of the ever-watchful
+Nombe, who made her bed across the door-hole of the hut.
+
+Anscombe was soon lost in dreams, if he did dream, but I could
+not sleep well that night.  I was fearful of I knew not what, and
+so, I think, was Lost, for he fidgeted and kept poking me with
+his nose.  At last, I think it must have been about two hours
+after midnight, he began to growl.  I could hear nothing,
+although my ears are sharp, but as he went on growling I crept to
+the door-hole and drew aside the board.  Lost slipped out and
+vanished, while I waited, listening.  Presently I thought I heard
+a soft foot-fall and a whisper, also that I saw the shape of a
+woman which reminded me of Nombe, shown faintly by the starlight.
+It vanished in a moment and Lost returned wagging his tail, as he
+might well have done if it were Nombe who was attached to the
+dog.  As nothing further happened I went back to bed, reflecting
+that I was probably mistaken, since Nombe had been sent away for
+some days by Zikali and would scarcely dare to return at once,
+even if she could do so.
+
+Shortly before daylight Lost began to growl again in a subdued
+and thunderous fashion.  This time I got up and dressed myself
+more or less.  Then I went out.  The dawn was just breaking and
+by its light I saw a strange scene.  About fifty yards away in
+the narrow nek that ran over some boulders to the site of our
+huts, stood what seemed to be the goddess Nomkubulwana as I had
+seen her on the point of rock in the Vale of Bones.  She wore the
+same radiant dress and in the dim glow had all the appearance of
+a white woman.  I stood amazed, thinking that I dreamt, when from
+round the bend emerged a number of Zulus, creeping forward
+stealthily with raised spears.
+
+They caught sight of the supernatural figure which barred their
+road, halted and whispered to each other.  Then they turned to
+fly, but before they went one of them, as it seemed to me through
+sheer terror, hurled his assegai at the figure which remained
+still and unmoved.
+
+In thirty seconds they were gone; in sixty their footsteps had
+died away.  Then the figure wheeled slowly round and by the
+strengthening light I perceived that a spear transfixed its
+breast.
+
+As it sank to the ground I ran up to it.  It was Nombe with her
+face and arms whitened and her life-blood running down the
+glittering feather robe.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+
+
+
+THE MADNESS OF NOMBE
+
+
+
+
+
+The dog reached Nombe first and began to lick her face, its
+tongue removing patches of the white which had not had time to
+dry.  She was lying, her back supported by one of the boulders.
+With her left hand she patted the dog's head feebly and with her
+right drew out the assegai from her body, letting it fall upon
+the ground.  Recognizing me she smiled in her usual mysterious
+fashion and said--
+
+"All is well, Macumazahn, all is very well.  I have deserved to
+die and I do not die in vain."
+
+"Don't talk, let me see your wound," I exclaimed.
+
+She opened her robe and pointed; it was quite a small gash
+beneath the breast from which blood ebbed slowly.
+
+"Let it be, Macumazahn," she said.  "I am bleeding inside and it
+is mortal.  But I shall not die yet.  Listen to me while I have
+my mind.  Yesterday when Mauriti and Heddana went up to the plain
+I wished to go with them because I had news that Zulus were
+wandering everywhere and thought that I might be able to protect
+my mistress from danger.  Mauriti spoke to me roughly, telling me
+that I was not wanted.  Of that I thought little, for to such
+words I am accustomed from him; moreover, they are to be forgiven
+to a man in love.  But it did not end there, for my lady Heddana
+also pierced me with her tongue, which hurt more than this spear
+thrust does, Macumazahn, for I could see that her speech had been
+prepared and that she took this chance to throw it at me.  She
+said that I did not know where I should sit; that I was a thorn
+beneath her nail, and that whenever she wished to talk with
+Mauriti, or with you, Macumazahn, I was ever there with my ear
+open like the mouth of a gourd.  She commanded me in future to
+come only when I was called; all of which things I am sure
+Mauriti had taught her, who in herself is too gentle even to
+think them--unless you taught her, Macumazahn."
+
+I shook my head and she went on--
+
+"No, it was not you who also are too gentle, and having suffered
+yourself, can feel for those who suffer, which Mauriti who has
+never suffered cannot do.  Still, you too thought me a trouble,
+one that sticks in the flesh like a hooked thorn, or a tick from
+the grass, and cannot be unfastened.  You spoke to the Master
+about it and he spoke to me."
+
+This time I nodded in assent.
+
+"I do not blame you, Macumazahn; indeed now I see that you were
+wise, for what right has a poor black doctoress to seek the love,
+or even to look upon the face of the great white lady whom for a
+little while Fate has caused to walk upon the same path with her?
+But yesterday I forgot that, Macumazahn, for you see we are all
+of us, not one self, but many selves, and each self has its times
+of rule.  Nombe alive and well was one woman, Nombe dying is
+another, and doubtless Nombe dead will be a third, unless, as she
+prays, she should sleep for ever.
+
+"Macumazahn, those words of Heddana's were to me what gall is to
+sweet milk.  My blood clotted and my heart turned sour.  It was
+not against her that I was angry, because that can never happen,
+but against Mauriti and against you.  My Spirit whispered in my
+ear.  It said, 'If Mauriti and Macumazahn were dead the lady
+Heddana would be left alone in a strange land.  Then she would
+learn to rest upon you as upon a stick, and learn to love the
+stick on which she rested, though it be so rough and homely.'
+But how can I kill them, I asked of my Spirit, and myself escape
+death?
+
+"'Poison is forbidden to you by the pact between us,' answered my
+Spirit, 'yet I will show you a way, who am bound to serve you in
+all things good or ill.'
+
+"Then we nodded to each other in my breast, Macumazahn, and I
+waited for what should happen who knew that my Spirit would not
+lie.  Yes, I waited for a chance to kill you both, forgetting, as
+the wicked forget in their madness, that even if I were not found
+out, soon or late Heddana would guess the truth and then, even if
+she had learned to love me a thousand times more than she ever
+could, would come to hate me as a mother hates a snake that has
+slain her child.  Or even if she never learned or guessed in
+life, after death she would learn and hunt me and spit on me from
+world to world as a traitoress and a murderer, one who has sinned
+past pardon."
+
+Here she seemed to grow faint and I turned to seek for help.  But
+she caught hold of my coat and said--
+
+"Hear me out, Macumazahn, or I will run after you till I fall and
+die."
+
+So thinking it best, I stayed and she went on--
+
+"My Spirit, which must be an evil one since Zikali gave it me
+when I was made a doctoress, dealt truly with me, for presently
+the king and his people came.  Moreover, my Spirit brought it
+about that the king would have no other guide but me to lead him
+to the kraal where he slept last night, and I went as though
+unwillingly.  At the kraal the king sent for me and questioned me
+in a dark hut, pretending to be alone, but I who am a doctoress
+knew that two other men were in that hut, taking note of all my
+words.  He asked me of the Inkosazana-y-Zulu who appeared in the
+Vale of Bones and of the little assegai she held in her hand, and
+of the magic of the Opener of Roads, and many other things.  I
+said that I knew nothing of the Inkosazana, but that without
+doubt my Master was a great magician.  He did not believe me.  He
+threatened that I should be tortured very horribly and was about
+to call his servants to torment me till I told the truth.  Then
+my Spirit spoke in my heart saying, 'Now the door is open to you,
+as I promised.  Tell the king of the two white men whom the
+Master hides, and he will send to kill them, leaving the lady
+Heddana and you alone together.'  So I pretended to be afraid and
+told him, whereon he laughed and answered--
+
+"'For your sake I am glad, girl, that you have spoken the truth;
+besides it is useless to torture a witch, since then the spirit
+in her only vomits lies.'
+
+"Next he called aloud and a man came, who it was I could not see
+in the dark.  The king commanded him to take me to one of the
+other huts and tie me up there to the roof-pole.  The man obeyed,
+but he did not tie me up; he only blocked the hut with the
+door-board, and sat with me there in the dark alone.
+
+"Now I grew cunning and began to talk with him, spreading a net
+of sweet words, as the fowler spreads a net for cranes from which
+he would tear the crests.  Soon by his talk I found out that the
+king and his people knew more than I guessed.  Macumazahn, they
+had seen the cart which still stands under the overhanging rock
+by the mouth of the cave.  I asked him if that were all,
+pretending that the cart belonged to my Master, to whom it had
+been brought from the field of Isandhlwana, that he might be
+drawn about in it, who was too weak to walk.
+
+"The man said that if I would kiss him he would tell me
+everything.  I bade him tell me first, swearing that then I would
+kiss him.  Yes, Macumazahn, I, whom no man's lips have ever
+touched, fell as low as this.  So he grew foolish and told me.
+He told me that they had also seen a kappje such as white women
+wear, hanging on the hut fence, and I remembered that after
+washing the headdress of my mistress I had set it there to dry in
+the sun.  He told me also that the King suspected that she who
+wore that kappje was she who had played the part of the
+Inkosazana in the Vale of Bones.  I asked him what the king would
+do about the matter, at the same time denying that there was any
+white woman in the Black Kloof.  He said that at dawn the king
+would send and kill these foreign rats, whom the Opener of Roads
+kept in the thatch of his hut.  Now he drew near and asked his
+pay.  I gave it to him--with a knife-point, Macumazahn.  Oh! that
+was a good thrust.  He never spoke again.  Then I slipped away,
+for all the others were asleep, and was here a little after
+midnight."
+
+"I thought I saw you, Nombe," I said, "but was not sure, so I did
+nothing."
+
+She smiled and answered--
+
+"Ah! I was afraid that the Watcher-by-Night would be watching by
+night; also the dog ran up to me, but he knew me and I sent him
+back again.  Now while I was coming home, thoughts entered my
+heart.  I saw, as one sees by a lightning flash, all that I had
+done.  The king and his people were not sure that the Master was
+hiding white folk here and would never have sent back to kill
+them on the chance.  I had made them sure, as indeed, being mad,
+I meant to do.  Moreover, in throwing spears at the kites I had
+killed my own dove, since it was on the false Inkosazana who had
+caused them to declare war and brought the land to ruin, that
+they wished to be avenged, and perchance on him who taught her
+her part, not on one or two wandering white men.  I saw that when
+Cetewayo's people came, and there were many more of them outside,
+several hundreds I think, they would shave the whole head and
+burn the whole tree.  Every one in the kloof would be killed.
+
+"How could I undo the knot that I had tied and stamp out the fire
+that I had lit?  That was the question.  I bethought me of coming
+to you, but without arms how could you help?  I bethought me of
+going to the Master, but I was ashamed.  Also, what could he do
+with but a few servants, for the most of his people are away with
+the cattle?  He is too weak to climb the steep path to the plain
+above, nor was there time to gather folk to carry him.  Lastly,
+even if there were time which there was not, and we went thither
+they would track us out and kill us.  For the rest I did not
+care, nor for myself, but that the lady Heddana should be
+butchered who was more to me than a hundred lives, and through my
+treachery--ah! for that I cared.
+
+"I called on my Spirit to help me, but it would not come.  My
+Spirit was dead in me because now I would do good and not ill.
+Yet another Spirit came, that of one Mameena whom once you knew.
+She came angrily, like a storm, and I shrank before her.  She
+said, 'Vile witch, you have plotted to murder Macumazahn, and for
+that you shall answer to me before another sun has set over this
+earth of yours.  Now you seek a way of escape from your own
+wickedness.  Well, it can be had, but at a price.'
+
+"'What price, O Lady of Death?' I asked.
+
+"'The price of your own life, Witch.'
+
+"I laughed into that ghost face of hers and said--
+
+"'Is this all?  Be swift and show me the way, O Lady of Death,
+and afterwards we will balance our account.'
+
+"Then she whispered into the ear of my heart and was gone.  I ran
+on, for the dawn was near.  I whitened myself with lime, I put on
+the glittering cloak and powdered my hair with the sparkling
+earth.  I took a little stick in my hand since I could find no
+spear and had no time to search, and just as day began to break,
+I crept out and stood in the bend of the path.  The slayers came,
+twelve or so of them, but behind were many more.  They saw the
+Inkosazana-y-Zulu barring their way and were much afraid.  They
+fled, but out of his fright one of them threw a spear which went
+home, as I knew it would.  He watched to see if I should fall,
+but I would not fall.  Then he fled faster than the rest, knowing
+himself accursed who had lifted steel against the Queen of
+Heaven, and oh! I am glad, I am glad!"
+
+She ceased, exhausted, yet with a great exultation in her
+beautiful eyes; indeed at that moment she looked a most
+triumphant creature.  I stared at her, thrilled through and
+through.  She had been wicked, no doubt, but how splendid was her
+end; and, thank Heaven! she was troubled with no thought of what
+might befall her after that end, although I was sure she believed
+that she would live again to face Mameena.
+
+I knew not what to do.  I did not like to leave her, especially
+as no earthly power could help her case, since slowly but quite
+surely she was bleeding to death from an internal wound.  By now
+the sun was up and Zikali's people were about.  One of them
+appeared suddenly and saw, then with a howl of terror turned to
+fly away.
+
+"Fool!  Fool!" I cried, "go summon the lady Heddana and the
+Inkosi Mauriti.  Bid them come swiftly if they would see the
+doctoress Nombe before she dies."
+
+The man leapt off like a buck, and within a few minutes I saw
+Heda and Anscombe running towards us, half dressed, and went to
+meet them.
+
+"What is it?" she gasped.
+
+"I have only time to tell you this," I answered.  "Nombe is
+dying.  She gave her life to save you, how I will explain
+afterwards.  The assegai that pierced her was meant for your
+heart.  Go, thank her, and bid her farewell.  Anscombe, stop back
+with me."
+
+We stood still and watched from a little distance.  Heda knelt
+down and put her arms about Nombe.  They whispered together into
+each other's ears.  Then they kissed.
+
+It was at this moment that Zikali appeared, leaning on two of his
+servants.  By some occult art or instinct he seemed to know all
+that had happened, and oh! he looked terrible.  He crouched down
+in front of the dying woman and, toadlike, spat his venom at her.
+
+"You lost your Spirit, did you?" he said.  "Well, it came back to
+me laden with the black honey of your treachery, to me, its home,
+as a bee comes to its hive.  It has told me everything, and well
+for you, Witch, it is that you are dying.  But think not that you
+shall escape me there in the world below, for thither I will
+follow you.  Curses on you, traitress, who would have betrayed me
+and brought all my plans to naught.  Ow! in a day to come I will
+pay you back a full harvest for this seed of shame that you have
+sown."
+
+She opened her eyes and looked at him, then answered quite
+softly--
+
+"I think your chain is broken, O Zikali, no more my master.  I
+think that love has cut your chain in two and I fear you never
+more.  Keep the spirit you lent to me; it is yours, but the rest
+of me is my own, and in the house of my heart another comes to
+dwell."
+
+Then once more she stretched out her arms towards Heda and
+murmuring, "Sister, forget me not, Sister, who will await you for
+a thousand years," she passed away.
+
+
+It was a good ending to a bad business, and I confess I felt glad
+when it was finished.  Only afterwards I regretted very much that
+I had not found an opportunity to ask her whether or no she had
+masqueraded as Mameena in the Valley of Bones.  Now it is too
+late.
+
+
+We buried poor Nombe decently in her own little hut where she
+used to practise her incantations.  Zikali and his people wished
+apparently to throw her to the vultures for some secret reason
+that had to do with their superstitions.  But Heda, who, now that
+Nombe was dead, developed a great affection for her not unmixed
+with a certain amount of compunction for which really she had no
+cause, withstood him to his face and insisted upon a decent
+interment.  So she was laid to earth still plastered with the
+white pigment and wrapped in the bloodstained feather robe.  I
+may add that on the following morning one of Zikali's servants
+informed me solemnly that because of this she had been seen
+during the night riding up and down the rocks on a baboon as Zulu
+umtagati are supposed to do.  I have small doubt that as soon as
+we were gone they dug her up again and threw her to the vultures
+and the jackals according to their first intention.
+
+On this day we at length escaped from the Black Kloof, and in our
+own cart, for during the night our horses arrived mysteriously
+from somewhere, in good condition though rather wild.  I went to
+say good-bye to Zikali, who said little, except that we should
+meet once more after many moons.  Anscombe and Heda he would not
+see at all, but only sent them a message, to the effect that he
+hoped they would think kindly of him through the long years to
+come, since he had kept his promise and preserved them safe
+through many dangers.  I might have answered that he had first of
+all put them into the dangers, but considered it wise to hold my
+tongue.  I think, however, that he guessed my thought, if one can
+talk of guessing in connection with Zikali, for he said that they
+had no reason to thank him, since if he had served their turn
+they had served his, adding--
+
+"It will be strange in the times to be for the lady Heddana to
+remember that it was she and no other who crumpled up the Zulus
+like a frostbitten winter reed, since had she not appeared upon
+the rock in the Valley of Bones, there would have been no war."
+
+"She did not do this, you did it, Zikali," I said, "making her
+your tool through love and fear."
+
+"Nay, Macumazahn, I did not do it; it was done by what you call
+God and I call Fate in whose hand I am the tool.  Well, say to
+the lady Heddana that in payment I will hold back the ghost of
+Nombe from haunting her, if I can.  Say also that if I had not
+brought her and her lover to Zululand they would have been
+killed."
+
+
+So we went from that hateful kloof which I have never seen since
+and hope I shall never see again, two of Zikali's men escorting
+us until we got into touch with white people.  To these we said
+as little as possible.  I think they believed that we were only
+premature tourists who had made a dash into Zululand to visit
+some of the battlefields.  Indeed none of us ever reported our
+strange adventures, and after my experience with Kaatje we were
+particularly careful to say nothing in the hearing of any
+gentleman connected with the Press.  But as a matter of fact
+there were so many people moving about and such a continual
+coming and going of soldiers and their belongings, that after we
+had managed to buy some decent clothes, which we did at the
+little town of Newcastle, nobody paid any attention to us.
+
+On our way to Maritzburg one amusing thing did happen.  We met
+Kaatje!  It was about sunset that we were driving up a steep hill
+not far from Howick.  At least I was driving, but Anscombe and
+Heda were walking about a hundred yards ahead of the cart, when
+suddenly Kaatje appeared over a rise and came face to face with
+them while taking an evening stroll, or as I concluded
+afterwards, making some journey.  She saw, she stared, she
+uttered one wild yell, and suddenly bundled over the edge of the
+road.  Never would I have believed that such a fat woman could
+have run so fast.  In a minute she was down the slope and had
+vanished into a dense kloof where, as night was closing in and we
+were very tired, it was impossible for us to follow her.  Nor did
+subsequent inquiry in Howick tell us where she was living or
+whence she came, for some months before she had left the place
+she had taken there as a cook.
+
+Such was the end of Kaatje so far as we were concerned.
+Doubtless to her dying day she remained, or will remain, a firm
+believer in ghosts.
+
+Anscombe and Heda were married at Maritzburg as soon as the
+necessary formalities had been completed.  I could not attend the
+ceremony, which was a disappointment to me and I hope to them,
+but unfortunately I had a return of my illness and was laid up
+for a week.  Perhaps this was owing to the hot sun that struck me
+on the neck one afternoon coming down the Town Hill where I was
+obliged to hang on to the rear of the cart because the brakes had
+given out.  However I was able to send Heda a wedding gift in the
+shape of her jewels and money that I recovered from the bank,
+which she had never expected to see again; also to arrange
+everything about her property.
+
+They went down to Durban for their honeymoon and, some convenient
+opportunity arising, sailed thence for England.  I received an
+affectionate letter from them both, which I still treasure,
+thanking me very much for all I had done for them, that after all
+was little enough.  Also Anscombe enclosed a blank cheque,
+begging me to fill it in for whatever sum I considered he was
+indebted to me on the balance of account.  I thought this very
+kind of him and a great mark of confidence, but the cheque
+remained blank.
+
+I never saw either of them again, and though I believe that they
+are both living, for the most part abroad--in Hungary I think--I
+do not suppose that I ever shall.  When I came to England some
+years later after King Solomon's mines had made me rich, I wrote
+Anscombe a letter.  He never answered it, which hurt me at the
+time.  Afterwards I remembered that in their fine position it was
+very natural that they should not wish to renew acquaintance with
+an individual who had so intimate a knowledge of certain
+incidents that they probably regarded as hateful, such as the
+deaths of Marnham and Dr. Rodd, and all the surrounding
+circumstances.  If so, I daresay that they were wise, but of
+course it may have been only carelessness.  It is so easy for
+busy and fashionable folk not to answer a rather troublesome
+letter, or to forget to put that answer in the post.  Or, indeed,
+the letter may never have reached them--such things often go
+astray, especially when people live abroad.  At any rate, perhaps
+through my own fault, we have drifted apart.  I daresay they
+believe that I am dead, or not to be found somewhere in Africa.
+However, I always think of them with affection, for Anscombe was
+one of the best travelling companions I ever had, and his wife a
+most charming girl, and wonder whether Zikali's prophecy about
+their children will come true.  Good luck go with them!
+
+As it chances, since then I passed the place where the Temple
+stood, though at a little distance.  I had the curiosity,
+however, at some inconvenience, to ride round and examine the
+spot.  I suppose that Heda had sold the property, for a back-veld
+Boer, who was absent at the time, had turned what used to be
+Rodd's hospital into his house.  Close by, grim and gaunt, stood
+the burnt-out marble walls of the Temple.  The verandah was still
+roofed over, and standing on the spot whence I had shot the
+pistol out of Rodd's hand, I was filled with many memories.
+
+I could trace the whole plan of the building and visited that
+part of it which had been Marnham's room.  The iron safe that
+stood in the corner had been taken away, but the legs of the
+bedstead remained.  Also not far from it, over grown with running
+plants, was a little heap which I took to be the ashes of his
+desk, for bits of burnt wood protruded.  I grubbed among them
+with my foot and riding crop and presently came across the
+remains of a charred human skull.  Then I departed in a hurry.
+
+My way took me through the Yellow-wood grove, past the horns of
+the blue wildebeeste which still lay there, past that mud-hole
+also into which Rodd had fallen dead.  Here, however, I made no
+more search, who had seen enough of bones.  To this day I do not
+know whether he still lies beneath the slimy ooze, or was removed
+and buried.
+
+Also I saw the site of our wagon camp where the Basutos attacked
+us.  But I will have done with these reminiscences which induce
+melancholy, though really there is no reason why they should.
+
+Tout lasse, tout casse, tout passe--everything wears out,
+everything crumbles, everything vanishes--in the words of the
+French proverb that my friend Sir Henry Curtis is so fond of
+quoting, that at last I wrote it down in my pocket-book, only to
+remember afterwards that when I was a boy I had heard it from the
+lips of an old scamp of a Frenchman, of the name of Leblanc, who
+once gave me and another lessons in the Gallic tongue.  But of
+him I have already written in _Marie,_ which is the first chapter
+in the Book of the fall of the Zulus.  That headed _Child of
+Storm_ is the second.  These pages form the third and last.
+
+Ah! indeed, tout lasse, tout casse, tout passe!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+
+
+
+THE KRAAL JAZI
+
+
+
+
+
+Now I shall pass over all the Zulu record of the next four years,
+since after all it has nothing to do with my tale and I do not
+pretend to be writing a history.
+
+Sir Garnet Wolseley set up his Kilkenny cat Government in
+Zululand, or the Home Government did it for him, I do not know
+which.  In place of one king, thirteen chiefs were erected who
+got to work to cut the throats of each other and of the people.
+
+As I expected would be the case, Zikali informed the military
+authorities of the secret hiding-place in the Ingome Forest where
+he suggested to Cetewayo that he should refuge.  The ex-king was
+duly captured there and taken first to the Cape and then to
+England, where, after the disgrace of poor Sir Bartle Frere, an
+agitation had been set on foot on his behalf.  Here he saw the
+Queen and her ministers, once more conquering, as it had been
+prophesied that he would by her who wore the shape of Mameena at
+the memorable scene in the Valley of Bones when I was present.
+Often I have thought of him dressed in a black coat and seated in
+that villa in Melbury Road in the suburb of London which I
+understand is populated by artists.  A strange contrast truly to
+the savage prince receiving the salute of triumph after the
+Battle of the Tugela in which he won the kingship, or to the
+royal monarch to whose presence I had been summoned at Ulundi.
+However, he was brought back to Zululand again by a British
+man-of-war, re-installed to a limited chieftainship by Sir
+Theophilus Shepstone, and freed from the strangling embrace of
+the black coat.
+
+Then of course there was more fighting, as every one knew would
+happen, except the British Colonial Office; indeed all Zululand
+ran with blood.  For in England Cetewayo and his rights, or
+wrongs, had, like the Boers and their rights, or wrongs, become a
+matter of Party politics to which everything else must give way.
+Often I wonder whether Party politics will not in the end prove
+the ruin of the British Empire.  Well, thank Heaven, I shall not
+live to learn.
+
+So Cetewayo came back and fought and was defeated by those who
+once had been his subjects.  Now for the last scene, that is all
+with which I need concern myself.
+
+At the beginning of February, 1884, business took me to Zululand;
+it had to do with a deal in cattle and blankets.  As I was
+returning towards the Tugela who should I meet but friend Goza,
+he who had escorted me from the Black Kloof to Ulundi before the
+outbreak of war, and who afterwards escorted me and that
+unutterable nuisance, Kaatje, out of the country.  At first I
+thought that we came together by accident, or perhaps that he had
+journeyed a little way to thank me for the blankets which I had
+sent to him, remembering my ancient promise, but afterwards I
+changed my opinion on this point.
+
+Well, we talked over many matters, the war, the disasters that
+had befallen Zululand, and so forth.  Especially did we talk of
+that night in the Valley of Bones and the things we had seen
+there side by side.  I asked him if the people still believed in
+the Inkosazana-y-Zulu who then appeared in the moonlight on the
+rock.  He answered that some did and some did not.  For his part,
+he added, looking at me fixedly, he did not, since it was
+rumoured that Zikali had dressed up a white woman to play the
+part of the Spirit.  Yet he could not be sure of the matter,
+since it was also said that when some of Cetewayo's people went
+to kill this white woman in the Black Kloof, Nomkubulwana, the
+Princess of Heaven herself, rose before them and frightened them
+away.
+
+I remarked that this was very strange, and then quite casually
+asked him whom Zikali had dressed up to play the part of the dead
+Mameena upon that same occasion, since this was a point upon
+which I always thirsted for definite intelligence.  He stared at
+me and replied that I ought to be able to answer my own question,
+since I had been much nearer to her who looked like Mameena than
+any one else, so near indeed that all present distinctly saw her
+kiss me, as it was well known she had liked to do while still
+alive.  I replied indignantly that they saw wrong and repeated my
+question.  Then he answered straight out--
+
+"O Macumazahn, we Zulus believe that what we saw on that night
+was not Nombe or another dressed up, but the spirit of the witch
+Mameena itself.  We believe it because we could see the light of
+Zikali's fire through her, not always, but sometimes; also
+because all that she said has come true, though everything is not
+yet finished."
+
+I could get no more out of him about the matter, for when I tried
+to speak of it again, he turned the subject, telling me of his
+wonderful escapes during the war.  Presently he rose to go and
+said casually--
+
+"Surely I grow old in these times of trouble, Macumazahn, for
+thoughts slip through my head like water through the fingers.
+Almost I had forgotten what I wished to say to you.  The other
+day I met Zikali, the Opener of Roads.  He told me that you were
+in Zululand and that I should meet you--he did not say where,
+only that when I did meet you, I was to give you a message.  This
+was the message--that when on your way to Natal you came to the
+kraal Jazi, you would find him there; also another whom you used
+to know, and must be sure not to go away without seeing him,
+since that was about to happen in which you must take your part."
+
+"Zikali!" I exclaimed.  "I have heard nothing of him since the
+war.  I thought that by now he was certainly dead."
+
+"Oh! no, Macumazahn, he is certainly not dead, but just the same
+as ever.  Indeed it is believed that he and no other has kept all
+this broth of trouble on the boil, some say for Cetewayo's sake,
+and some say because he wishes to destroy Cetewayo.  But what do
+I know of such matters who only desire to live in peace under
+whatever chief the English Queen sends to us, as she has a right
+to do having conquered us in war?  When you meet the Opener of
+Roads at the kraal Jazi, ask him, Macumazahn."
+
+"Where the devil is the kraal Jazi?" I inquired with irritation.
+"I never heard of such a place."
+
+"Nor did I, therefore I cannot tell you, Macumazahn.  For aught I
+can say it may be down beneath where dead men go.  But wherever
+it is there certainly you will meet the Opener of Roads.  Now
+farewell, Macumazahn.  If it should chance that we never look
+into each other's eyes again, I am sure you will think of me
+sometimes, as I shall of you, and of all that we have seen
+together, especially on that night in the Vale of Bones when the
+ghost of the witch Mameena prophesied to us and kissed you before
+us all.  She must have been very beautiful, Macumazahn, as indeed
+I have heard from those who remember her, and I don't wonder that
+you loved her so much.  Still for my part I had rather be kissed
+by a living woman than by one who is dead, though doubtless it is
+best to be kissed by none at all.  Again, farewell, and be sure
+to tell the Opener of Roads that I gave you his message, lest he
+should lay some evil charm upon me, who have seen enough evil of
+late."
+
+Thus talking Goza departed.  I never saw him again, and do not
+know if he is dead or alive.  Well, he was a kindly old fellow,
+if no hero.
+
+
+I had almost forgotten the incident of this meeting when a while
+later I found myself in the neighbourhood of the beautiful but
+semi-tropical place called Eshowe, which since those days has
+become the official home of the British Resident in Zululand.
+Indeed, although the house was not then finished, if it had been
+begun, Sir Melmoth Osborn already had an office there.  I wished
+to see him in order to give him some rather important
+information, but when I reached a kraal of about fifty huts some
+five hundred yards from the site of the present Residency, my
+wagon stuck fast in the boggy ground.  While I was trying to get
+it out a quiet-faced Zulu, whose name, I remember, was Umnikwa,
+informed me that Malimati, that is Sir Melmoth Osborn's native
+name, was somewhere at a little distance from Eshowe, too far
+away for me to get to him that night.  I answered, Very well, I
+would sleep where I was, and asked the name of the kraal.
+
+He replied, Jazi, at which I started, but only said that it was a
+strange name, seeing that it meant "Finished," or "Finished with
+joy."  Umnikwa answered, Yes, but that it had been so called
+because the chief Umfokaki, or The Stranger, who married a sister
+of the king, was killed at this kraal by his brother, Gundane, or
+the Bat.  I remarked that it was an ill-omened kind of name, to
+which the man replied, Yes, and likely to become more so, since
+the King Cetewayo who had been sheltering there "beneath the
+armpit" of Malimati, the white lord, for some months, lay in it
+dying.  I asked him of what he was dying, and he replied that he
+did not know, but that doubtless the father of the witch-doctors,
+named Zikali, the Opener of Roads, would be able to tell me, as
+he was attending on Cetewayo.
+
+"He has sent me to bid you to come at once, O Macumazahn," he
+added casually, "having had news that you were arriving here."
+
+Showing no surprise, I answered that I would come, although
+goodness knows I was surprised enough, and leaving my servants to
+get my wagon out of the bog, I walked into the kraal with the
+messenger.  He took me to a large hut placed within a fence about
+the gate of which some women were gathered, who all looked very
+anxious and disturbed.  Among them I saw Dabuko the king's
+brother, whom I knew slightly.  He greeted me and told me that
+Cetewayo was at the point of death within the hut, but like
+Umnikwa, professed ignorance of the cause of his illness.
+
+For a long while, over an hour I should think, I sat there
+outside the hut, or walked to and fro.  Until darkness came I
+could occupy myself with contemplating the scenery of the
+encircling hills, which is among the most beautiful in Zululand
+with its swelling contours and rich colouring.  But after it had
+set in only my thoughts remained, and these I found depressing.
+
+At length I made up my mind that I would go away, for after all
+what had I to do with this business of the death of Cetewayo, if
+in truth he was dying?  I wished to see no more of Cetewayo of
+whom all my recollections were terrific or sorrowful.  I rose to
+depart, when suddenly a woman emerged from the hut.  I could not
+see who she was or even what she was like, because of the gloom;
+also for the reason that she had the corner of her blanket thrown
+over her face as though she wished to keep it hidden.  For a
+moment she stopped opposite to me and said--
+
+"The king who is sick desires to see you, Macumazahn."  Then she
+pointed to the door-hole of the hut and vanished, shutting the
+gate of the fence behind her.  Curiosity overcame me and I
+crawled into the hut, pushing aside the door-board in order to do
+so and setting it up again when I was through.
+
+Inside burned a single candle fixed in the neck of a bottle,
+faintly illuminating that big and gloomy place.  By its feeble
+light I saw a low bedstead on the left of the entrance and lying
+on it a man half covered by a blanket in whom I recognized
+Cetewayo.  His face was shrunken and distorted with pain, and his
+great bulk seemed less, but still without doubt it was Cetewayo.
+
+"Greeting, Macumazahn," he said feebly, "you find me in evil
+case, but I heard that you were here and thought that I should
+like to see you before I die, because I know that you are honest
+and will report my words faithfully.  I wish you to tell the
+white men that my heart never really was against them; they have
+always been the friends of my heart, but others forced me down a
+road I did not wish to travel, of which now I have come to the
+end."
+
+"What is the matter with you, King?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know, Macumazahn, but I have been sick for some days.
+The Opener of Roads who came to doctor me, because my wives
+believed those white medicine-men wished me dead, says that I
+have been poisoned and must die.  If you had been here at first
+you might perhaps have given me some medicine.  But now it is too
+late," he added with a groan.
+
+"Who then poisoned you, King?"
+
+"I cannot tell you, Macumazahn.  Perhaps my enemies, perhaps my
+brothers, perhaps my wives.  All wish to have done with me, and
+the Great One, who is no longer wanted, is soon dead.  Be
+thankful, Macumazahn, that you never were a king, for sad is the
+lot of kings."
+
+"Where, then, is the Opener of Roads?" I asked.
+
+"He was here a little while ago.  Perhaps he has gone out to take
+the King's head" (i.e., to announce his death) "to Malimati and
+the white men," he answered in a faint voice.
+
+Just then I heard a shuffling noise proceeding from that part of
+the hut where the shadow was deepest, and looking, saw an
+emaciated arm projected into the circle of the light.  It was
+followed by another arm, then by a vast head covered with long
+white hair that trailed upon the ground, then by a big, misshapen
+body, so wasted that it looked like a skeleton covered with
+corrugated black skin.  Slowly, like a chameleon climbing a
+bough, the thing crept forward, and I knew it for Zikali.  He
+reached the side of the bed and squatted down in his toad-like
+fashion, then, again like a chameleon, without moving his head
+turned his deep and glowing eyes towards me.
+
+"Hail, O Macumazahn," he said in his low voice.  "Did I not
+promise you long ago that you should be with me at the last, and
+are you not with me and another?"
+
+"It seems so, Zikali," I answered.  "But why do you not send for
+the white doctors to cure the king?"
+
+"All the doctors, white and black, in the whole world cannot cure
+him, Macumazahn.  The Spirits call him and he dies.  At his call
+I came fast and far, but even I cannot cure him--although because
+of him I myself must die."
+
+"Why?" I asked.
+
+"Look at me, Macumazahn, and say if I am one who should travel.
+Well, all come to their end at last, even the
+'Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.'"
+
+Cetewayo lifted his head and looked at him, then said heavily--
+
+"Perchance it would have been better for our House if that end
+had been sooner.  Now that I lie dying many sayings concerning
+you come into my mind that I had forgotten.  Moreover, Opener of
+Roads, I never sent for you, whoever may have done so, and it was
+not until after you came here that the great pain seized me.  How
+did it happen," he went on with gathering force, "that the white
+men caught me in the secret place where you told me I should
+hide?  Who pointed out that hidden hole to the white men?  But
+what does it matter now?"
+
+"Nothing at all, O Son of Panda," answered Zikali, "even less
+than it matters how I escaped the spear-head hidden in your robe,
+yonder in my hut in the Black Kloof where, had it not been for a
+certain spirit that stood between you and me, you would have
+murdered me.  Tell me, Son of Panda, during these last three days
+have you thought at all of your brother Umbelazi, and of certain
+other brethren of yours whom you killed at the battle of the
+Tugela, when the white man here led the charge of the Amawombe
+against your regiments and ate up three of them?"
+
+Cetewayo groaned but said nothing.  I think he had become too
+faint to speak.
+
+"Listen, Son of Panda," went on Zikali in an intense and hissing
+voice.  "Many, many years ago, before Senzangacona, your
+grandfather, saw the light--who knows how long before--a man was
+born of high blood in the Dwandwe tribe, which man was a dwarf.
+Chaka the Black One conquered the Dwandwe, but this man of high
+blood was spared because he was a dwarf, an abortion, to whom
+Chaka gave the name of the
+'Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born,' keeping him about him
+to be a mock in times of peace and safety, and because he was
+wise and learned in magic, to be a counsellor in times of
+trouble.  Moreover, Chaka killed this man's wives and children
+for his sport, save one whom he kept to be his 'sister.'
+
+"Therefore for the sake of his people and his butchered wives and
+children, this wizard swore an oath of vengeance against Chaka
+and all his House.  Working beneath the ground like a rat, he
+undermined the throne of Chaka and brought him to his death by
+the spears of his brethren and of Mopo his servant, whom Chaka
+had wronged.  Still working in the dark like a rat, he caused
+Dingaan, who stabbed Chaka, to murder the Boer Retief and his
+people, and thus called down upon his head the vengeance of the
+Whites, and afterwards brought Dingaan to his death.  Then Panda,
+your father, arose, and his life this
+'Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born' spared because once
+Panda had done him a kindness.  Only through the witch Mameena he
+brought sorrow on him, causing war to arise between his children,
+one of whom was named Cetewayo.
+
+"Then this Cetewayo ruled, first with his father Panda and
+afterwards in his place, and trouble arose between him and the
+English.  Son of Panda, you will remember that this Cetewayo was
+in doubt whether to fight the English and demanded a sign of the
+Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born.  He gave the sign,
+causing the Inkosazana-y-Zulu, the Princess of Heaven, to appear
+before him and thereby lifting the spear of War.  Son of Panda,
+you know how that war went, how this Cetewayo was defeated and
+came to the 'Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born' like a
+hunted hyena, to learn of a hole where he might hide.  You know,
+too, how he strove to murder the poor old doctor who showed him
+such a hole; how he was taken prisoner and sent across the water
+and afterwards set up again in the land that had learned to hate
+him, to bring its children to death by thousands.  And you know
+how at last he took refuge beneath the wing of the white chief,
+here in the kraal Jazi, and lived, spat upon, an outcast, until
+at length he fell sick, as such men are apt to do, and the
+Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born was sent for to doctor
+him.  And you know also how he lies dying, within him an agony as
+though he had swallowed a red hot spear, and before him a great
+blackness peopled by the ghosts of those whom he has slain, and
+of his forefathers whose House he has pulled down and burned."
+
+Zikali ceased, and thrusting his hideous head to within an inch
+or two of that of the dying man, he glowered at him with his
+fierce and fiery eves.  Then he began to whisper into the king's
+ear, who quivered at his words, as the victim quivers beneath the
+torturer's looks.
+
+At that moment the end of the candle fell into the bottle which
+was of clear white glass, and there burned for a little while
+dully before it went out.  Never shall I forget the scene
+illumined by its blue and ghastly light.  The dying man lying on
+the low couch, rocking his head to and fro; the wizard bending
+over him like some grey vampire bat sucking the life-blood from
+his helpless throat.  The terror in the eyes of the one, the
+insatiable hate in the eyes of the other.  Oh! it was awful!
+
+"Macumazahn," gasped Cetewayo in a rattling whisper, "help me,
+Macumazahn.  I say that I am poisoned by this Zikali, who hates
+me.  Oh! drive away the ghosts! Drive them away!"
+
+I looked at him and at his tormentor squatted by him like a
+mocking fiend, and as I looked the candle went out.
+
+Then my nerve broke, the cold sweat poured from my face and I
+fled from the hut as a man might from a scene in hell, followed
+by the low mocking laugh of Zikali.
+
+Outside the women and others were gathered in the gloom.  I told
+them to go to the king, who was dying, and blundered up the slope
+to search for some white man.  No one was to be found, but a
+Kaffir messenger by the office told me that Malimati was still
+away and had been sent for.  So I returned to my wagon and lay
+down in it exhausted, for what more could I do?
+
+
+It was a rough night.  Thunder muttered and rain fell in driving
+gusts.  I dozed off, only to be awakened by a sound of wailing.
+Then I knew that the king was dead, for this was the Isililo, the
+cry of mourning.  I wondered whether the murderers--for that he
+was poisoned I had no doubt--were among those who wailed.
+
+Towards dawn the storm rolled off and the night grew serene and
+clear, for a waning moon was shining in the sky.  The heat of
+that stiffing place oppressed me; my blood seemed to be afire.  I
+knew that there was a stream in a gorge about half a mile away,
+for it had been pointed out to me.  I longed for a swim in cool
+water, who, to tell truth, had found none for some days, and
+bethought me that I would bathe in this stream before I trekked
+from that hateful spot, for to me it had become hateful.  Calling
+my driver, who was awake and talking with the voorloopers, for
+they knew what was passing at the kraal and were alarmed, I told
+them to get the oxen ready to start as I would be back presently.
+Then I set off for the stream and, after a longish walk,
+scrambled down a steep ravine to its banks, following a path made
+by Kaffir women going to draw water.  Arrived there at last I
+found that it was in flood and rising rapidly, at least so I
+judged from the sound, for in that deep, tree-hung place the
+light was too faint to allow me to see anything.  So I sat down
+waiting for the dawn and wishing that I had not come because of
+the mosquitoes.
+
+At length it broke and the mists lifted, showing that the spot
+was one of great beauty.  Opposite to me was a waterfall twenty
+or thirty feet high, over which the torrent rushed into a black
+pool below.  Everywhere grew tall ferns and beyond these graceful
+trees, from whose leaves hung raindrops.  In the centre of the
+stream on the edge of the fall was a rock not a dozen feet away
+from me, round which the water foamed.  Something was squatted on
+this rock, at first I could not see what because of the mist, but
+thought that it was a grey-headed baboon, or some other animal,
+and regretted that I had not brought a gun with me.  Presently I
+became aware that it must be a man, for, in a chanting voice, it
+began to speak or pray in Zulu, and hidden behind a flowering
+bush, I could hear the words.  They were to this effect--
+
+"O my Spirit, here where thou foundest me when I was young,
+hundreds of years ago" (he said hundreds, but I suppose he meant
+tens), "I come back to thee.  In this pool I dived and beneath
+the waters found thee, my Snake, and thou didst wind thyself
+about my body and about my heart" (here I understood that the
+speaker was alluding to his initiation as a witch-doctor which
+generally includes, or used to include, the finding of a snake in
+a river that coils itself about the neophyte).  "About my body
+and in my heart thou hast dwelt from that sun to this, giving me
+wisdom and good and evil counsel, and that which thou hast
+counselled, I have done.  Now I return thee whence thou camest,
+there to await me in the new birth.
+
+"O Spirits of my fathers, toiling through many years I have
+avenged you on the House of Senzangacona, and never again will
+there be a king of the Zulus, for the last of them lies dead by
+my hand.  O my murdered wives and my children, I have offered up
+to you a mighty sacrifice, a sacrifice of thousands upon
+thousands.
+
+"O Umkulu-kulu, Great One of the heavens, who sentest me to
+earth, I have done thy work upon the earth and bring back to thee
+thy harvest of the seed that thou hast sown, a blood-red harvest,
+O Umkulu-kulu.  Be still, be still, my Snake, the sun arises, and
+soon, soon shalt thou rest in the water that wast thine from the
+beginning of the world!"
+
+
+The voice ceased, and presently a spear of light piercing the
+mists, lit upon the speaker.  It was Zikali and about him was
+wound a great yellow-bellied snake, of which the black head with
+flickering tongue waved above his head and seemed from time to
+time to lick him on the brow.  (I suppose it had come to him from
+the water, for its skin glittered as though with wet.)  He stood
+up on tottering feet, staring at the red eye of the rising sun,
+then crying, _"Finished, finished with joy!"_ with a loud and
+dreadful laughter, he plunged into the foaming pool beneath.
+
+
+Such was the end of Zikali the Wizard, Opener of Roads, the
+"Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," and such was the
+vengeance that he worked upon the great House of Senzangacona,
+bringing it to naught and with it the nation of the Zulus.
+
+
+
+
+
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+**The Project Gutenberg Etext of Finished, by H. Rider Haggard**
+#6 in our series by H. Rider Haggard
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+April, 1999  [Etext #1724]
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+This etext was prepared by Christopher Hapka, Sunnyvale, California
+
+Digital Editor's Note:
+
+Italics are represented in the text with _underscores_.  In the 
+interest of readability, where italics are used to indicate 
+non-English words, I have silently omitted them or replaced them 
+with quotation marks.
+
+Haggard's spelling, especially of Zulu terms, is wildly inconsistent;
+likewise his capitalization, especially of Zulu terms.  For example,
+example, 
+Masapo is the chief of the Amansomi until chapter IX; thereafter his
+tribe is consistently referred to as the "Amasomi".  In general, I
+have retained Haggard's spellings.  Some obvious spelling mistakes
+(as "Quartermain" for "Quatermain" in one instance) have been silently
+corrected.
+
+Some diacriticals in the text could not be represented in 7-bit 
+ASCII text and have been approximated here.  To restore all 
+formatting, do the following throughout the text:
+
+Replace the pound symbol "#" with the English pound symbol
+Place an acute accent over the "e" in "Nombe", "acces",
+  "Amawombe", and "fiance", and the first "e" in "Bayete"
+Place a circumflex accent over the "u" in "Harut" and
+  the "o" in "role"
+Place a grave accent over the "a" and circumflex accents
+  over the first and third "e" in "tete-a-tete"
+Replace "oe" with the oe ligature in "manoeuvring"
+
+
+
+
+
+FINISHED
+
+by H. RIDER HAGGARD
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATION
+
+
+Ditchingham House, Norfolk,
+May, 1917.
+
+
+My dear Roosevelt,--
+
+You are, I know, a lover of old Allan Quatermain, one who
+understands and appreciates the views of life and the aspirations
+that underlie and inform his manifold adventures.
+
+Therefore, since such is your kind wish, in memory of certain
+hours wherein both of us found true refreshment and companionship
+amidst the terrible anxieties of the World's journey along that
+bloodstained road by which alone, so it is decreed, the pure Peak
+of Freedom must be scaled, I dedicate to you this tale telling of
+the events and experiences of my youth.
+
+Your sincere friend,
+
+H. RIDER HAGGARD.
+
+
+To COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
+Sagamore Hill, U.S.A.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS:
+
+I. ALLAN QUATERMAIN MEETS ANSCOMBE
+II. MR. MARNHAM
+III. THE HUNTERS HUNTED
+IV. DOCTOR RODD
+V. A GAME OF CARDS
+VI. MISS HEDA
+VII. THE STOEP
+VIII. RODD'S LAST CARD
+IX. FLIGHT
+X. NOMBE
+XI. ZIKALI
+XII. TRAPPED
+XIII. CETEWAYO
+XIV. THE VALLEY OF BONES
+XV. THE GREAT COUNCIL
+XVI. WAR
+XVII. KAATJE BRINGS NEWS
+XVIII. ISANDHLWANA
+XIX. ALLAN AWAKES
+XX. HEDA'S TALE
+XXI. THE KING VISITS ZIKALI
+XXII. THE MADNESS OF NOMBE
+XXIII. THE KRAAL JAZI
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+
+
+
+This book, although it can be read as a separate story, is the
+third of the trilogy of which _Marie_ and _Child of Storm_ are
+the first two parts.  It narrates, through the mouth of Allan
+Quatermain, the consummation of the vengeance of the wizard
+Zikali, alias The Opener of Roads, or
+"The-Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," upon the royal Zulu
+House of which Senzangacona was the founder and Cetewayo, our
+enemy in the war of 1879, the last representative who ruled as a
+king.  Although, of course, much is added for the purposes of
+romance, the main facts of history have been adhered to with some
+faithfulness.
+
+With these the author became acquainted a full generation ago,
+Fortune having given him a part in the events that preceded the
+Zulu War.  Indeed he believes that with the exception of Colonel
+Phillips, who, as a lieutenant, commanded the famous escort of
+twenty-five policemen, he is now the last survivor of the party
+who, under the leadership of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, or Sompesu
+as the natives called him from the Zambesi to the Cape, were
+concerned in the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877.  Recently
+also he has been called upon as a public servant to revisit South
+Africa and took the opportunity to travel through Zululand, in
+order to refresh his knowledge of its people, their customs,
+their mysteries, and better to prepare himself for the writing of
+this book.  Here he stood by the fatal Mount of Isandhlawana
+which, with some details of the battle, is described in these
+pages, among the graves of many whom once he knew, Colonels
+Durnford, Pulleine and others.  Also he saw Ulundi's plain where
+the traces of war still lie thick, and talked with an old Zulu
+who fought in the attacking Impi until it crumbled away before
+the fire of the Martinis and shells from the heavy guns.  The
+battle of the Wall of Sheet Iron, he called it, perhaps because
+of the flashing fence of bayonets.
+
+Lastly, in a mealie patch, he found the spot on which the corn
+grows thin, where King Cetewayo breathed his last, poisoned
+without a doubt, as he has known for many years.  It is to be
+seen at the Kraal, ominously named Jazi or, translated into
+English, "Finished."  The tragedy happened long ago, but even now
+the quiet-faced Zulu who told the tale, looking about him as he
+spoke, would not tell it all.  "Yes, as a young man, I was there
+at the time, but I do not remember, I do not know--the Inkoosi
+Lundanda (i.e. this Chronicler, so named in past years by the
+Zulus) stands on the very place where the king died--His bed was
+on the left of the door-hole of the hut," and so forth, but no
+certain word as to the exact reason of this sudden and violent
+death or by whom it was caused.  The name of that destroyer of a
+king is for ever hid.
+
+In this story the actual and immediate cause of the declaration
+of war against the British Power is represented as the appearance
+of the white goddess, or spirit of the Zulus, who is, or was,
+called Nomkubulwana or Inkosazana-y-Zulu, i.e. the Princess of
+Heaven.  The exact circumstances which led to this decision are
+not now ascertainable, though it is known that there was much
+difference of opinion among the Zulu Indunas or great captains,
+and like the writer, many believe that King Cetewayo was
+personally averse to war against his old allies, the English.
+
+The author's friend, Mr. J. Y. Gibson, at present the
+representative of the Union in Zululand, writes in his admirable
+history: "There was a good deal of discussion amongst the
+assembled Zulu notables at Ulundi, but of how counsel was swayed
+it is not possible now to obtain a reliable account."
+
+The late Mr. F. B. Fynney, F.R.G.S., who also was his friend in
+days bygone, and, with the exception of Sir Theophilus Shepstone,
+who perhaps knew the Zulus and their language better than any
+other official of his day, speaking of this fabled goddess wrote:
+"I remember that just before the Zulu War Nomkubulwana appeared
+revealing something or other which had a great effect throughout
+the land."
+
+The use made of this strange traditional Guardian Angel in the
+following tale is not therefore an unsupported flight of fancy,
+and the same may be said of many other incidents, such as the
+account of the reading of the proclamation annexing the Transvaal
+at Pretoria in 1877, which have been introduced to serve the
+purposes of the romance.
+
+Mameena, who haunts its pages, in a literal as well as figurative
+sense, is the heroine of _Child of Storm,_ a book to which she
+gave her own poetic title.
+
+
+1916.
+THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+
+
+ALLAN QUATERMAIN MEETS ANSCOMBE
+
+
+
+
+
+You, my friend, into whose hand, if you live, I hope these
+scribblings of mine will pass one day, must well remember the
+12th of April of the year 1877 at Pretoria.  Sir Theophilus
+Shepstone, or Sompesu, for I prefer to call him by his native
+name, having investigated the affairs of the Transvaal for a
+couple of months or so, had made up his mind to annex that
+country to the British Crown.  It so happened that I, Allan
+Quatermain, had been on a shooting and trading expedition at the
+back of the Lydenburg district where there was plenty of game to
+be killed in those times.  Hearing that great events were toward
+I made up my mind, curiosity being one of my weaknesses, to come
+round by Pretoria, which after all was not very far out of my
+way, instead of striking straight back to Natal.  As it chanced I
+reached the town about eleven o'clock on this very morning of the
+12th of April and, trekking to the Church Square, proceeded to
+outspan there, as was usual in the Seventies.  The place was full
+of people, English and Dutch together, and I noted that the
+former seemed very elated and were talking excitedly, while the
+latter for the most part appeared to be sullen and depressed.
+
+Presently I saw a man I knew, a tall, dark man, a very good
+fellow and an excellent shot, named Robinson.  By the way you
+knew him also, for afterwards he was an officer in the Pretoria
+Horse at the time of the Zulu war, the corps in which you held a
+commission.  I called to him and asked what was up.
+
+"A good deal, Allan," he said as he shook my hand.  "Indeed we
+shall be lucky if all isn't up, or something like it, before the
+day is over.  Shepstone's Proclamation annexing the Transvaal is
+going to be read presently."
+
+I whistled and asked,
+
+"How will our Boer friends take it?  They don't look very
+pleased."
+
+"That's just what no one knows, Allan.  Burgers the President is
+squared, they say.  He is to have a pension; also he thinks it
+the only thing to be done.  Most of the Hollanders up here don't
+like it, but I doubt whether they will put out their hands
+further than they can draw them back.  The question is--what will
+be the line of the Boers themselves?  There are a lot of them
+about, all armed, you see, and more outside the town."
+
+"What do you think?"
+
+"Can't tell you.  Anything may happen.  They may shoot Shepstone
+and his staff and the twenty-five policemen, or they may just
+grumble and go home.  Probably they have no fixed plan."
+
+"How about the English?"
+
+"Oh! we are all crazy with joy, but of course there is no
+organization and many have no arms.  Also there are only a few of
+us."
+
+"Well," I answered, "I came here to look for excitement, life
+having been dull for me of late, and it seems that I have found
+it.  Still I bet you those Dutchmen do nothing, except protest. 
+They are slim and know that the shooting of an unarmed mission
+would bring England on their heads."
+
+"Can't say, I am sure.  They like Shepstone who understands them,
+and the move is so bold that it takes their breath away.  But as
+the Kaffirs say, when a strong wind blows a small spark will make
+the whole veld burn.  It just depends upon whether the spark is
+there.  If an Englishman and a Boer began to fight for instance,
+anything might happen.  Goodbye, I have got a message to deliver. 
+If things go right we might dine at the European tonight, and if
+they don't, goodness knows where we shall dine."
+
+I nodded sagely and he departed.  Then I went to my wagon to tell
+the boys not to send the oxen off to graze at present, for I
+feared lest they should be stolen if there were trouble, but to
+keep them tied to the trek-tow.  After this I put on the best
+coat and hat I had, feeling that as an Englishman it was my duty
+to look decent on such an occasion, washed, brushed my hair--with
+me a ceremony without meaning, for it always sticks up--and
+slipped a loaded Smith & Wesson revolver into my inner poacher
+pocket.  Then I started out to see the fun, and avoiding the
+groups of surly-looking Boers, mingled with the crowd that I saw
+was gathering in front of a long, low building with a broad
+stoep, which I supposed, rightly, to be one of the Government
+offices.
+
+Presently I found myself standing by a tall, rather loosely-built
+man whose face attracted me.  It was clean-shaven and much
+bronzed by the sun, but not in any way good-looking; the features
+were too irregular and the nose was a trifle too long for good
+looks.  Still the impression it gave was pleasant and the steady
+blue eyes had that twinkle in them which suggests humour.  He
+might have been thirty or thirty-five years of age, and
+notwithstanding his rough dress that consisted mainly of a pair
+of trousers held up by a belt to which hung a pistol, and a
+common flannel shirt, for he wore no coat, I guessed at once that
+he was English-born.
+
+For a while neither of us said anything after the taciturn habit
+of our people even on the veld, and indeed I was fully occupied
+in listening to the truculent talk of a little party of mounted
+Boers behind us.  I put my pipe into my mouth and began to hunt
+for my tobacco, taking the opportunity to show the hilt of my
+revolver, so that these men might see that I was armed.  It was
+not to be found, I had left it in the wagon.
+
+"If you smoke Boer tobacco," said the stranger, "I can help you,"
+and I noted that the voice was as pleasant as the face, and knew
+at once that the owner of it was a gentleman.
+
+"Thank you, Sir.  I never smoke anything else," I answered,
+whereon he produced from his trousers pocket a pouch made of lion
+skin of unusually dark colour.
+
+"I never saw a lion as black as this, except once beyond Buluwayo
+on the borders of Lobengula's country," I said by way of making
+conversation.
+
+"Curious," answered the stranger, "for that's where I shot the
+brute a few months ago.  I tried to keep the whole skin but the
+white ants got at it."
+
+"Been trading up there?" I asked.
+
+"Nothing so useful," he said.  "Just idling and shooting.  Came
+to this country because it was one of the very few I had never
+seen, and have only been here a year.  I think I have had about
+enough of it, though.  Can you tell me of any boats running from
+Durban to India?  I should like to see those wild sheep in
+Kashmir."
+
+I told him that I did not know for certain as I had never taken
+any interest in India, being an African elephant-hunter and
+trader, but I thought they did occasionally.  Just then Robinson
+passed by and called to me--
+
+"They'll be here presently, Quatermain, but Sompesu isn't coming
+himself."
+
+"Does your name happen to be Allan Quatermain?" asked the
+stranger.  "If so I have heard plenty about you up in Lobengula's
+country, and of your wonderful shooting."
+
+"Yes," I replied, "but as for the shooting, natives always
+exaggerate."
+
+"They never exaggerated about mine," he said with a twinkle in
+his eye.  "Anyhow I am very glad to see you in the flesh, though
+in the spirit you rather bored me because I heard too much of
+you.  Whenever I made a particularly, bad miss, my gun-bearer,
+who at some time seems to have been yours, would say, 'Ah! if
+only it had been the Inkosi Macumazahn, how different would have
+been the end!'  My name is Anscombe, Maurice Anscombe," he added
+rather shyly.  (Afterwards I discovered from a book of reference
+that he was a younger son of Lord Mountford, one of the richest
+peers in England.)
+
+Then we both laughed and he said--
+
+"Tell me, Mr. Quatermain, if you will, what those Boers are
+saying behind us.  I am sure it is something unpleasant, but as
+the only Dutch I know is 'Guten Tag' and 'Vootsack' (Good-day and
+Get out) that takes me no forwarder."
+
+"It ought to," I answered, "for the substance of their talk is
+that they object to be 'vootsacked' by the British Government as
+represented by Sir Theophilus Shepstone.  They are declaring that
+they won the land 'with their blood' and want to keep their own
+flag flying over it."
+
+"A very natural sentiment," broke in Anscombe.
+
+"They say that they wish to shoot all damned Englishmen,
+especially Shepstone and his people, and that they would make a
+beginning now were they not afraid that the damned English
+Government, being angered, would send thousands of damned English
+rooibatjes, that is, red-coats, and shoot _them_ out of evil
+revenge."
+
+"A very natural conclusion," laughed Anscombe again, "which I
+should advise them to leave untested.  Hush!  Here comes the
+show."
+
+I looked and saw a body of blackcoated gentlemen with one officer
+in the uniform of a Colonel of Engineers, advancing slowly.  I
+remember that it reminded me of a funeral procession following
+the corpse of the Republic that had gone on ahead out of sight. 
+The procession arrived upon the stoep opposite to us and began to
+sort itself out, whereon the English present raised a cheer and
+the Boers behind us cursed audibly.  In the middle appeared an
+elderly gentleman with whiskers and a stoop, in whom I recognized
+Mr. Osborn, known by the Kaffirs as Malimati, the Chief of the
+Staff.  By his side was a tall young fellow, yourself, my friend,
+scarcely more than a lad then, carrying papers.  The rest stood
+to right and left in a formal line.  _You_ gave a printed
+document to Mr. Osborn who put on his glasses and began to read
+in a low voice which few could hear, and I noticed that his hand
+trembled.  Presently he grew confused, lost his place, found it,
+lost it again and came to a full stop.
+
+"A nervous-natured man," remarked Mr. Anscombe.  "Perhaps he
+thinks that those gentlemen are going to shoot."
+
+"That wouldn't trouble him," I answered, who knew him well.  "His
+fears are purely mental."
+
+That was true since I know that this same Sir Melmoth Osborn as
+he is now, as I have told in the book I called _Child of Storm_,
+swam the Tugela alone to watch the battle of Indondakasuka raging
+round him, and on another occasion killed two Kaffirs rushing at
+him with a right and left shot without turning a hair.  It was
+reading this paper that paralyzed him, not any fear of what might
+happen.
+
+There followed a very awkward pause such as occurs when a man
+breaks down in a speech.  The members of the Staff looked at him
+and at each other, then behold! you, my friend, grabbed the paper
+from his hand and went on reading it in a loud clear voice.
+
+"That young man has plenty of nerve," said Mr. Anscombe.
+
+"Yes," I replied in a whisper.  "Quite right though.  Would have
+been a bad omen if the thing had come to a stop."
+
+Well, there were no more breakdowns, and at last the long
+document was finished and the Transvaal annexed.  The Britishers
+began to cheer but stopped to listen to the formal protest of the
+Boer Government, if it could be called a government when
+everything had collapsed and the officials were being paid in
+postage stamps.  I can't remember whether this was read by
+President Burgers himself or by the officer who was called State
+Secretary.  Anyway, it was read, after which there came an
+awkward pause as though people were waiting to see something
+happen.  I looked round at the Boers who were muttering and
+handling their rifles uneasily.  Had they found a leader I really
+think that some of the wilder spirits among them would have begun
+to shoot, but none appeared and the crisis passed.
+
+The crowd began to disperse, the English among them cheering and
+throwing up their hats, the Dutch with very sullen faces.  The
+Commissioner's staff went away as it had come, back to the
+building with blue gums in front of it, which afterwards became
+Government House, that is all except you.  You started across the
+square alone with a bundle of printed proclamations in your hand
+which evidently you had been charged to leave at the various
+public offices.
+
+"Let us follow him," I said to Mr. Anscombe.  "He might get into
+trouble and want a friend."
+
+He nodded and we strolled after you unostentatiously.  Sure
+enough you nearly did get into trouble.  In front of the first
+office door to which you came, stood a group of Boers, two of
+whom, big fellows, drew together with the evident intention of
+barring your way.
+
+"Mynheeren," you said, "I pray you to let me pass on the Queen's
+business."
+
+They took no heed except to draw closer together and laugh
+insolently.  Again you made your request and again they laughed. 
+Then I saw you lift your leg and deliberately stamp upon the foot
+of one of the Boers.  He drew back with an exclamation, and for a
+moment I believed that he or his fellow was going to do something
+violent.  Perhaps they thought better of it, or perhaps they saw
+us two Englishmen behind and noticed Anscombe's pistol.  At any
+rate you marched into the office triumphant and delivered your
+document.
+
+"Neatly done," said Mr. Anscombe.
+
+"Rash," I said, shaking my head, "very rash.  Well, he's young
+and must be excused."
+
+But from that moment I took a great liking to you, my friend,
+perhaps because I wondered whether in your place I should have
+been daredevil enough to act in the same way.  For you see I am
+English, and I like to see an Englishman hold his own against
+odds and keep up the credit of the country.  Although, of course,
+I sympathized with the Boers who, through their own fault, were
+losing their land without a blow struck.  As you know well, for
+you were living near Majuba at the time, plenty of blows were
+struck afterwards, but of that business I cannot bear to write. 
+I wonder how it will all work out after I am dead and if I shall
+ever learn what happens in the end.
+
+Now I have only mentioned this business of the Annexation and the
+part you played in it, because it was on that occasion that I
+became acquainted with Anscombe.  For you have nothing to do with
+this story which is about the destruction of the Zulus, the
+accomplishment of the vengeance of Zikali the wizard at the kraal
+named Finished, and incidentally, the love affairs of two people
+in which that old wizard took a hand, as I did to my sorrow.
+
+It happened that Mr. Anscombe had ridden on ahead of his wagons
+which could not arrive at Pretoria for a day or two, and as he
+found it impossible to get accommodation at the European or
+elsewhere, I offered to let him sleep in mine, or rather
+alongside in a tent I had.  He accepted and soon we became very
+good friends.  Before the day was as out I discovered that he had
+served in a crack cavalry regiment, but resigned his commission
+some years before.  I asked him why.
+
+"Well," he said, "I came into a good lot of money on my mother's
+death and could not see a prospect of any active service.  While
+the regiment was abroad I liked the life well enough, but at home
+it bored me.  Too much society for my taste, and that sort of
+thing.  Also I wanted to travel; nothing else really amuses me."
+
+"You will soon get tired of it," I answered, "and as you are well
+off, marry some fine lady and settle down at home."
+
+"Don't think so.  I doubt if I should ever be happily married, I
+want too much.  One doesn't pick up an earthly angel with a
+cast-iron constitution who adores you, which are the bare
+necessities of marriage, under every bush." Here I laughed. 
+"Also," he added, the laughter going out of his eyes, "I have had
+enough of fine ladies and their ways."
+
+"Marriage is better than scrapes," I remarked sententiously.
+
+"Quite so, but one might get them both together.  No, I shall
+never marry, although I suppose I ought as my brothers have no
+children."
+
+"Won't you, my friend," thought I to myself, "when the skin grows
+again on your burnt fingers."
+
+For I was sure they had been burnt, perhaps more than once.  How,
+I never learned, for which I am rather sorry for it interests me
+to study burnt fingers, if they do not happen to be my own.  Then
+we changed the subject.
+
+Anscombe's wagons were delayed for a day or two by a broken axle
+or a bog hole, I forget which.  So, as I had nothing particular
+to do until the Natal post-cart left, we spent the time in
+wandering about Pretoria, which did not take us long as it was
+but a little dorp in those days, and chatting with all and
+sundry.  Also we went up to Government House as it was now
+called, and left cards, or rather wrote our names in a book for
+we had no cards, being told by one of the Staff whom we met that
+we should do so.  An hour later a note arrived asking us both to
+dinner that night and telling us very nicely not to mind if we
+had no dress things.  Of course we had to go, Anscombe rigged up
+in my second best clothes that did not fit him in the least, as
+he was a much taller man than I am, and a black satin bow that he
+had bought at Becket's Store together with a pair of shiny pumps.
+
+I actually met you, my friend, for the first time that evening,
+and in trouble too, though you may have forgotten the incident. 
+We had made a mistake about the time of dinner, and arriving half
+an hour too soon, were shown into a long room that opened on to
+the verandah.  You were working there, being I believe a private
+secretary at the time, copying some despatch; I think you said
+that which gave an account of the Annexation.  The room was lit
+by a paraffin lamp behind you, for it was quite dark and the
+window was open, or at any rate unshuttered.  The gentleman who
+showed us in, seeing that you were very busy, took us to the far
+end of the room, where we stood talking in the shadow.  Just then
+a door opened opposite to that which led to the verandah, and
+through it came His Excellency the Administrator, Sir Theophilus
+Shepstone, a stout man of medium height with a very clever,
+thoughtful face, as I have always thought, one of the greatest of
+African statesmen.  He did not see us, but he caught sight of you
+and said testily--
+
+"Are you mad?" To which you answered with a laugh--
+
+"I hope not more than usual, Sir, but why?"
+
+"Have I not told you always to let down the blinds after dark? 
+Yet there you sit with your head against the light, about the
+best target for a bullet that could be imagined."
+
+"I don't think the Boers would trouble to shoot me, Sir.  If you
+had been here I would have drawn the blinds and shut the shutters
+too," you answered, laughing again.
+
+"Go to dress or you will be late for dinner," he said still
+rather sternly, and you went.  But when you had gone and after we
+had been announced to him, he smiled and added something which I
+will not repeat to you even now.  I think it was about what you
+did on the Annexation day of which the story had come to him.
+
+I mention this incident because whenever I think of Shepstone,
+whom I had known off and on for years in the way that a hunter
+knows a prominent Government official, it always recurs to my
+mind, embodying as it does his caution and appreciation of danger
+derived from long experience of the country, and the sternness he
+sometimes affected which could never conceal his love towards his
+friends.  Oh! there was greatness in this man, although they did
+call him an "African Talleyrand."  If it had not been so would
+every native from the Cape to the Zambesi have known and revered
+his name, as perhaps that of no other white man has been revered? 
+But I must get on with my tale and leave historical discussions
+to others more fitted to deal with them.
+
+We had a very pleasant dinner that night, although I was so
+ashamed of my clothes with smart uniforms and white ties all
+about me, and Anscombe kept fidgeting his feet because he was
+suffering agony from his new pumps which were a size too small. 
+Everybody was in the best of spirits, for from all directions
+came the news that the Annexation was well received and that the
+danger of any trouble had passed away.  Ah! if we had only known
+what the end of it would be!
+
+It was on our way back to the wagon that I chanced to mention to
+Anscombe that there was still a herd of buffalo within a few
+days' trek of Lydenburg, of which I had shot two not a month
+before.
+
+"Are there, by Jove!" he said.  "As it happens I never got a
+buffalo; always I just missed them in one sense or another, and I
+can't leave Africa with a pair of bought horns.  Let's go there
+and shoot some."
+
+I shook my head and replied that I had been idling long enough
+and must try to make some money, news at which he seemed very
+disappointed.
+
+"Look here," he said, "forgive me for mentioning it, but business
+is business.  If you'll come you shan't be a loser."
+
+Again I shook my head, whereat he looked more disappointed than
+before.
+
+"Very well," he exclaimed, "then I must go alone.  For kill a
+buffalo I will; that is unless the buffalo kills me, in which
+case my blood will be on your hands."
+
+I don't know why, but at that moment there came into my mind a
+conviction that if he did go alone a buffalo or something would
+kill him and that then I should be sorry all my life.
+
+"They are dangerous brutes, much worse than lions," I said.
+
+"And yet you, who pretend to have a conscience, would expose me
+to their rage unprotected and alone," he replied with a twinkle
+in his eye which I could see even by moonlight." Oh! Quatermain,
+how I have been mistaken in your character.
+
+"Look here, Mr. Anscombe," I said, "it's no use.  I cannot
+possibly go on a shooting expedition with you just now.  Only
+to-day I have heard from Natal that my boy is not well and must
+undergo an operation which will lay him up for quite six weeks,
+and may be dangerous.  So I must get down to Durban before it
+takes place.  After that I have a contract in Matabeleland whence
+you have just come, to take charge of a trading store there for a
+year; also perhaps to try to shoot a little ivory for myself.  So
+I am fully booked up till, let us say, October, 1878, that is for
+about eighteen months, by which time I daresay I shall be dead."
+
+"Eighteen months," replied this cool young man.  "That will suit
+me very well.  I will go on to India as I intended, then home for
+a bit and will meet you on the 1st of October, 1878, after which
+we will proceed to the Lydenburg district and shoot those
+buffalo, or if they have departed, other buffalo.  Is it a
+bargain?"
+
+I stared at him, thinking that the Administrator's champagne had
+got into his head.
+
+"Nonsense," I exclaimed.  "Who knows where you will be in
+eighteen months?  Why, by that time you will have forgotten all
+about me."
+
+"If I am alive and well, on the 1st of October, I878, I shall be
+exactly where I am now, upon this very square in Pretoria, with a
+wagon, or wagons, prepared for a hunting trip.  But as not
+unnaturally you have doubts upon that point, I am prepared to pay
+forfeit if I fail, or even if circumstances cause you to fail."
+
+Here he took a cheque-book from his letter-case and spread it out
+on the little table in the tent, on which there were ink and a
+pen, adding--
+
+"Now, Mr. Quatermain, will it meet your views if I fill this up
+for #250?"
+
+"No," I answered; "taking everything into consideration the sum
+is excessive.  But if you do not mind facing the risks of my
+non-appearance, to say nothing of your own, you may make it #50."
+
+"You are very moderate in your demands," he said as he handed me
+the cheque which I put in my pocket, reflecting that it would
+just pay for my son's operation.
+
+"And you are very foolish in your offers," I replied.  "Tell me,
+why do you make such crack-brained arrangements?"
+
+"I don't quite know.  Something in me seems to say that we
+_shall_ make this expedition and that it will have a very
+important effect upon my life.  Mind you, it is to be to the
+Lydenburg district and nowhere else.  And now I am tired, so
+let's turn in."
+
+Next morning we parted and went our separate ways.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+
+
+MR. MARNHAM
+
+
+
+
+
+So much for preliminaries, now for the story.
+
+The eighteen months had gone by, bringing with them to me their
+share of adventure, weal and woe, with all of which at present I
+have no concern.  Behold me arriving very hot and tired in the
+post-cart from Kimberley, whither I had gone to invest what I had
+saved out of my Matabeleland contract in a very promising
+speculation whereof, today, the promise remains and no more.  I
+had been obliged to leave Kimberly in a great hurry, before I
+ought indeed, because of the silly bargain which I have just
+recorded.  Of course I was sure that I should never see Mr.
+Anscombe again, especially as I had heard nothing of him during
+all this while, and had no reason to suppose that he was in
+Africa.  Still I had taken his #50 and he _might_ come.  Also I
+have always prided myself upon keeping an appointment.
+
+The post-cart halted with a jerk in front of the European Hotel,
+and I crawled, dusty and tired, from its interior, to find myself
+face to face with Anscombe, who was smoking a pipe upon the
+stoep!
+
+"Hullo, Quatermain," he said in his pleasant, drawling voice,
+"here you are, up to time.  I have been making bets with these
+five gentlemen," and he nodded at a group of loungers on the
+stoep," as to whether you would or would not appear, I putting
+ten to one on you in drinks.  Therefore you must now consume five
+whiskies and sodas, which will save them from consuming fifty and
+a subsequent appearance at the Police Court."
+
+I laughed and said I would be their debtor to the extent of one,
+which was duly produced.
+
+After it was drunk Anscombe and I had a chat.  He said that he
+had been to India, shot, or shot at whatever game he meant to
+kill there, visited his relations in England and thence proceeded
+to keep his appointment with me in Africa.  At Durban he had
+fitted himself out in a regal way with two wagons, full teams,
+and some spare oxen, and trekked to Pretoria where he had arrived
+a few days before.  Now he was ready to start for the Lydenburg
+district and look for those buffalo.
+
+"But," I said, "the buffalo probably long ago departed.  Also
+there has been a war with Sekukuni, the Basuto chief who rules
+all that country, which remains undecided, although I believe
+some kind of a peace has been patched up.  This may make hunting
+in this neighborhood dangerous.  Why not try some other ground,
+to the north of the Transvaal, for instance?"
+
+"Quatermain," he answered, "I have come all the way from England,
+I will not say to kill, but to try to kill buffalo in the
+Lydenburg district, with you if possible, if not, without you,
+and thither I am going.  If you think it unsafe to accompany me,
+don't come; I will get on as best I can alone, or with some other
+skilled person if I can find one."
+
+"If you put it like that I shall certainly come," I replied,
+"with the proviso that should the buffalo prove to be
+non-existent or the pursuit of them impossible, we either give up
+the trip, or go somewhere else, perhaps to the country at the
+back of Delagoa Bay."
+
+"Agreed," he said; after which we discussed terms, he paying me
+my salary in advance.
+
+On further consideration we determined, as two were quite
+unnecessary for a trip of the sort, to leave one of my wagons and
+half the cattle in charge of a very respectable man, a farmer who
+lived about five miles from Pretoria just over the pass near to
+the famous Wonder-boom tree which is one of the sights of the
+place.  Should we need this wagon it could always be sent for;
+or, if we found the Lydenburg hunting-ground, which he was so set
+upon visiting, unproductive or impossible, we could return to
+Pretoria over the high-veld and pick it up before proceeding
+elsewhere.
+
+These arrangements took us a couple of days or so.  On the third
+we started, without seeing you, my friend, or any one else that I
+knew, since just at that time every one seemed to be away from
+Pretoria.  You, I remember, had by now become the Master of the
+High Court and were, they informed me at your office, absent on
+circuit.
+
+The morning of our departure was particularly lovely and we
+trekked away in the best of spirits, as so often happens to
+people who are marching into trouble.  Of our journey there is
+little to say as everything went smoothly, so that we arrived at
+the edge of the high-veld feeling as happy as the country which
+has no history is reported to do.  Our road led us past the
+little mining settlement of Pilgrim's Rest where a number of
+adventurous spirits, most of them English, were engaged in
+washing for gold, a job at which I once took a turn near this
+very place without any startling success.  Of the locality I need
+only say that the mountainous scenery is among the most
+beautiful, the hills are the steepest and the roads are, or were,
+the worst that I have ever travelled over in a wagon.
+
+However, "going softly" as the natives say, we negotiated them
+without accident and, leaving Pilgrim's Rest behind us, began to
+descend towards the low-veld where I was informed a herd of
+buffalo could still be found, since, owing to the war with
+Sekukuni, no one had shot at them of late.  This war had been
+suspended for a while, and the Land-drost at Pilgrim's Rest told
+me he thought it would be safe to hunt on the borders of that
+Chief's country, though he should not care to do so himself.
+
+Game of the smaller sort began to be plentiful about here, so not
+more than a dozen miles from Pilgrim's Rest we outspanned early
+in the afternoon to try to get a blue wildebeeste or two, for I
+had seen the spoor of these creatures in a patch of soft ground,
+or failing them some other buck.  Accordingly, leaving the wagon
+by a charming stream that wound and gurgled over a bed of
+granite, we mounted our salted horses, which were part of
+Anscombe's outfit, and set forth rejoicing.  Riding through the
+scattered thorns and following the spoor where I could, within
+half an hour we came to a little glade.  There, not fifty yards
+away, I caught of a single blue wildebeeste bull standing in the
+shadow of the trees on the further side of the glade, and pointed
+out the ugly beast, for it is the most grotesque of all the
+antelopes, to Anscombe.
+
+"Off you get," I whispered.  "It's a lovely shot, you can't miss
+it."
+
+"Oh, can't I!" replied Anscombe.  "Do you shoot."
+
+I refused, so he dismounted, giving me his horse to hold, and
+kneeling down solemnly and slowly covered the bull.  Bang went
+his rifle, and I saw a bough about a yard above the wildebeeste
+fall on to its back.  Off it went like lightning, whereon
+Anscombe let drive with the left barrel of the Express, almost at
+hazard as it seemed to me, and by some chance hit it above the
+near fore-knee, breaking its leg.
+
+"That was a good shot," he cried, jumping on to his horse.
+
+"Excellent," I answered.  "But what are you going to do?"
+
+"Catch it.  It is cruel to leave a wounded animal," and off he
+started.
+
+Of course I had to follow, but the ensuing ride remains among the
+more painful of my hunting memories.  We tore through thorn trees
+that scratched my face and damaged my clothes; we struck a patch
+of antbear holes, into one of which my horse fell so that my
+stomach bumped against its head; we slithered down granite
+koppies, and this was the worst of it, at the end of each
+chapter, so to speak, always caught sight of that accursed bull
+which I fondly hoped would have vanished into space.  At length
+after half an hour or so of this game we reached a stretch of
+open, rolling ground, and there not fifty yards ahead of us was
+the animal still going like a hare, though how it could do so on
+three legs I am sure I do not know.  We coursed it like
+greyhounds, till at last Anscombe, whose horse was the faster,
+came alongside of the exhausted creature, whereon it turned
+suddenly and charged.
+
+Anscombe held out his rifle in his right hand and pulled the
+trigger, which, as he had forgotten to reload it, was a mere
+theatrical performance.  Next second there was such a mix-up that
+for a while I could not distinguish which was Anscombe, which was
+the wildebeeste, and which the horse.  They all seemed to be
+going round and round in a cloud of dust.  When things settled
+themselves a little I discovered the horse rolling on the ground,
+Anscombe on his back with his hands up in an attitude of prayer
+and the wildebeeste trying to make up its mind which of them it
+should finish first.  I settled the poor thing's doubts by
+shooting it through the heart, which I flatter myself was rather
+clever of me under the circumstances.  Then I dismounted to
+examine Anscombe, who, I presumed, was done for.  Not a bit of
+it.  There he sat upon the ground blowing like a blacksmith's
+bellows and panting out--
+
+"What a glorious gallop.  I finished it very well, didn't I?  You
+couldn't have made a better shot yourself."
+
+"Yes," I answered, "you finished it very well as you will find
+out if you will take the trouble to open your rifle and count
+your cartridges.  I may add that if we are going to hunt together
+I hope you will never lead me such a fool's chase again."
+
+He rose, opened the rifle and saw that it was empty, for although
+he had never re-loaded he had thrown out the two cartridges which
+he had discharged in the glen.
+
+"By Jingo," he said, "you must have shot it, though I could have
+sworn that it was I.  Quatermain, has it ever struck you what a
+strange thing is the human imagination?"
+
+"Drat the human imagination," I answered, wiping away the blood
+that was trickling into my eye from a thorn scratch.  "Let's look
+at your horse.  If it is lamed you will have to ride Imagination
+back to the wagon which must be six miles away, that is if we can
+find it before dark."
+
+Sighing out something about a painfully practical mind, he
+obeyed, and when the beast was proved to be nothing more than
+blown and a little bruised, made remarks as to the inadvisability
+of dwelling on future evil events, which I reminded him had
+already been better summed up in the New Testament.
+
+After this we contemplated the carcasse of the wildebeeste which
+it seemed a pity to leave to rot.  Just then Anscombe, who had
+moved a few yards to the right out of the shadow of an
+obstructing tree, exclaimed--
+
+"I say, Quatermain, come here and tell me if I have been knocked
+silly, or if I really see a quite uncommon kind of house built in
+ancient Greek style set in a divine landscape."
+
+"Temple to Diana, I expect," I remarked as I joined him on the
+further side of the tree.
+
+I looked and rubbed my eyes.  There, about half a mile away,
+situated in a bay of the sweeping hills and overlooking the
+measureless expanse of bush-veld beneath, was a remarkable house,
+at least for those days and that part of Africa.  To begin with
+the situation was superb.  It stood on a green and swelling mound
+behind which was a wooded kloof where ran a stream that at last
+precipitated itself in a waterfall over a great cliff.  Then in
+front was that glorious view of the bush-veld, at which a man
+might look for a lifetime and not grow tired, stretching away to
+the Oliphant's river and melting at last into the dim line of the
+horizon.
+
+The house itself also, although not large, was of a kind new to
+me.  It was deep, but narrow fronted, and before it were four
+columns that carried the roof which projected so as to form a
+wide verandah.  Moreover it seemed to be built of marble which
+glistened like snow in the setting sun.  In short in that lonely
+wilderness, at any rate from this distance, it did look like the
+deserted shrine of some forgotten god.
+
+"Well, I'm bothered!" I said.
+
+"So am I," answered Anscombe, "to know the name of the Lydenburg
+district architect whom I should like to employ; though I suspect
+it is the surroundings that make the place look so beautiful. 
+Hullo! here comes somebody, but he doesn't look like an
+architect; he looks like a wicked baronet disguised as a Boer."
+
+True enough, round a clump of bush appeared an unusual looking
+person, mounted on a very good horse.  He was tall, thin and old,
+at least he had a long white beard which suggested age, although
+his figure, so far as it could be seen beneath his rough clothes,
+seemed vigorous.  His face was clean cut and handsome, with a
+rather hooked nose, and his eyes were grey, but as I saw when he
+came up to us, somewhat bloodshot at the corners.  His general
+aspect was refined and benevolent, and as soon as he opened his
+mouth I perceived that he was a person of gentle breeding.
+
+And yet there was something about him, something in his
+atmosphere, so to speak, that I did not like.  Before we parted
+that evening I felt sure that in one way or another he was a
+wrong-doer, not straight; also that he had a violent temper.
+
+He rode up to us and asked in a pleasant voice, although the
+manner of his question, which was put in bad Dutch, was not
+pleasant,
+
+"Who gave you leave to shoot on our land?"
+
+"I did not know that any leave was required; it is not customary
+in these parts," I answered politely in English.  "Moreover, this
+buck was wounded miles away."
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed in the same tongue, "that makes a difference,
+though I expect it was still on our land, for we have a lot; it
+is cheap about here."  Then after studying a little, he added
+apologetically, "You mustn't think me strange, but the fact is my
+daughter hates things to be killed near the house, which is why
+there's so much game about."
+
+"Then pray make her our apologies," said Anscombe, "and say that
+it shall not happen again."
+
+He stroked his long beard and looked at us, for by now he had
+dismounted, then said--
+
+"Might I ask you gentlemen your names?"
+
+"Certainly," I replied.  "I am Allan Quatermain and my friend is
+the Hon. Maurice Anscombe."
+
+He started and said--
+
+"Of Allan Quatermain of course I have heard.  The natives told me
+that you were trekking to those parts; and if you, sir, are one
+of Lord Mountford's sons, oddly enough I think I must have known
+your father in my youth.  Indeed I served with him in the
+Guards."
+
+"How very strange," said Anscombe.  "He's dead now and my brother
+is Lord Mountford.  Do you like life here better than that in the
+Guards?  I am sure I should."
+
+"Both of them have their advantages," he answered evasively, "of
+which, if, as I think, you are also a soldier, you can judge for
+yourself.  But won't you come up to the house?  My daughter Heda
+is away, and my partner Mr. Rodd" (as he mentioned this name I
+saw a blue vein, which showed above his cheek bone, swell as
+though under pressure of some secret emotion) "is a retiring sort
+of a man--indeed some might think him sulky until they came to
+know him.  Still, we can make you comfortable and even give you a
+decent bottle of wine."
+
+"No, thank you very much," I answered, "we must get back to the
+wagon or our servants will think that we have come to grief. 
+Perhaps you will accept the wildebeeste if it is of any use to
+you."
+
+"Very well," he said in a voice that suggested regret struggling
+with relief.  To the buck he made no allusion, perhaps because he
+considered that it was already his own property.  "Do you know
+your way?  I believe your wagon is camped out there to the east
+by what we call the Granite stream.  If you follow this Kaffir
+path," and he pointed to a track near by, "it will take quite
+close."
+
+"Where does the path run to?"  I asked.  "There are no kraals
+about, are there?"
+
+"Oh! to the Temple, as my daughter calls our house.  My partner
+and I are labour agents, we recruit natives for the Kimberley
+Mines," he said in explanation, adding, "Where do you propose to
+shoot?"
+
+I told him.
+
+"Isn't that rather a risky district?" he said.  "I think that
+Sekukuni will soon be giving more trouble, although there is a
+truce between him and the English.  Still he might send a
+regiment to raid that way."
+
+I wondered how our friend knew so much of Sekukuni's possible
+intentions, but only answered that I was accustomed to deal with
+natives and did not fear them.
+
+"Ah!" he said, "well, you know your own business best.  But if
+you should get into any difficulty, make straight for this place. 
+The Basutos will not interfere with you here."
+
+Again I wondered why the Basutos should look upon this particular
+spot as sacred, but thinking it wisest to ask no questions, I
+only answered--
+
+"Thank you very much.  We'll bear your invitation in mind, Mr.--"
+
+"Marnham."
+
+"Marnham," I repeated after him.  "Good-bye and many thanks for
+your kindness."
+
+"One question," broke in Anscombe, "if you will not think me
+rude.  What is the name of the architect who designed that most
+romantic-looking house of yours which seems to be built of
+marble?"
+
+My daughter designed it, or at least I think she copied it from
+some old drawing of a ruin.  Also it _is_ marble; there's a whole
+hill of the stuff not a hundred yards from the door, so it was
+cheaper to use than anything else.  I hope you will come and see
+it on your way back, though it is not as fine as it appears from
+a distance.  It would be very pleasant after all these years to
+talk to an English gentleman again."
+
+Then we parted, I rather offended because he did not seem to
+include me in the description, he calling after us--
+
+"Stick close to the path through the patch of big trees, for the
+ground is rather swampy there and it's getting dark."
+
+Presently we came to the place he mentioned where the timber,
+although scattered, was quite large for South Africa, of the
+yellow-wood species, and interspersed wherever the ground was dry
+with huge euphorbias, of which the tall finger-like growths and
+sad grey colouring looked unreal and ghostlike in the waning
+light.  Following the advice given to us, we rode in single file
+along the narrow path, fearing lest otherwise we should tumble
+into some bog hole, until we came to higher land covered with the
+scattered thorns of the country.
+
+"Did that bush give you any particular impression?" asked
+Anscombe a minute or two later.
+
+"Yes," I answered, "it gave me the impression that we might catch
+fever there.  See the mist that lies over it," and turning in my
+saddle I pointed with the rifle in my hand to what looked like a
+mass of cotton wool over which, without permeating it, hung the
+last red glow of sunset, producing a curious and indeed rather
+unearthly effect.  "I expect that thousands of years ago there
+was a lake yonder, which is why trees grow so big in the rich
+soil."
+
+"You are curiously mundane, Quatermain," he answered.  "I ask you
+of spiritual impressions and you dilate to me of geological
+formations and the growth of timber.  You felt nothing in the
+spiritual line?"
+
+"I felt nothing except a chill," I answered, for I was tired and
+hungry.  "What the devil are you driving at?"
+
+"Have you got that flask of Hollands about you, Quatermain?"
+
+"Oh! those are the spirits you are referring to," I remarked with
+sarcasm as I handed it to him.
+
+He took a good pull and replied--
+
+"Not at all, except in the sense that bad spirits require good
+spirits to correct them, as the Bible teaches.  To come to
+facts," he added in a changed voice, "I have never been in a
+place that depressed me more than that thrice accursed patch of
+bush."
+
+"Why did it depress you?" I asked, studying him as well as I
+could in the fading light.  To tell the truth I feared lest he
+had knocked his head when the wildebeeste upset him, and was
+suffering from delayed concussion.
+
+"Can't tell you, Quatermain.  I don't look like a criminal, do I? 
+Well, I entered those trees feeling a fairly honest man, and I
+came out of them feeling like a murderer.  It was as though
+something terrible had happened to me there; it was as though I
+had killed someone there.  Ugh!" and he shivered and took another
+pull at the Hollands.
+
+"What bosh!" I said.  "Besides, even if it were to come true, I
+am sorry to say I've killed lots of men in the way of business
+and they don't bother me overmuch."
+
+"Did you ever kill one to win a woman?"
+
+"Certainly not.  Why, that would be murder.  How can you ask me
+such a thing?  But I have killed several to win cattle," I
+reflected aloud, remembering my expedition with Saduko against
+the chief Bangu, and some other incidents in my career.
+
+"I appreciate the difference, Quatermain.  If you kill for cows,
+it is justifiable homicide; if you kill for women, it is murder."
+
+"Yes," I replied, "that is how it seems to work out in Africa. 
+You see, women are higher in the scale of creation than cows,
+therefore crimes committed for their sake are enormously greater
+than those committed for cows, which just makes the difference
+between justifiable homicide and murder."
+
+"Good lord! what an argument," he exclaimed and relapsed into
+silence.  Had he been accustomed to natives and their ways he
+would have understood the point much better than he did, though I
+admit it is difficult to explain.
+
+In due course we reached the wagon without further trouble. 
+While we were shielding our pipes after an excellent supper I
+asked Anscombe his impressions of Mr. Marnham.
+
+"Queer cove, I think," he answered.  "Been a gentleman, too, and
+still keeps the manners, which isn't strange if he is one of the
+Marnhams, for they are a good family.  I wonder he mentioned
+having served with my father."
+
+"It slipped out of him.  Men who live a lot alone are apt to be
+surprised into saying things they regret afterwards, as I noticed
+he did.  But why do you wonder?"
+
+"Because is it happens, although I have only just recalled it, my
+father used to tell some story about a man named Marnham in his
+regiment.  I can't remember the details, but it had to do with
+cards when high stakes were being played for, and with the
+striking of a superior officer in the quarrel that ensued, as a
+result of which the striker was requested to send in his papers."
+
+"It may not have been the same man."
+
+"Perhaps not, for I believe that more than one Marnham served in
+that regiment.  But I remember my father saying, by way of excuse
+for the person concerned, that he had a most ungovernable temper. 
+I think he added, that he left the country and took service in
+some army on the Continent.  I should rather like to clear the
+thing up."
+
+"It isn't probable that you will, for even if you should ever
+meet this Marnham again, I fancy you would find he held his
+tongue about his acquaintance with your father."
+
+"I wonder what Miss Heda is like," went on Anscombe after a
+pause.  "I am curious to see a girl who designs a house on the
+model of an ancient ruin."
+
+"Well, you won't, for she's away somewhere.  Besides we are
+looking for buffalo, not girls, which is a good thing as they are
+less dangerous."
+
+I spoke thus decisively because I had taken a dislike to Mr.
+Marnham and everything to do with him, and did not wish to
+encourage the idea of further meetings.
+
+"No, never, I suppose.  And yet I feel as though I were certainly
+destined to see that accursed yellow-wood swamp again."
+
+"Nonsense," I replied as I rose to turn in.  Ah! if I had but
+known!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+
+
+THE HUNTERS HUNTED
+
+
+
+
+
+While I was taking off my boots I heard a noise of jabbering in
+some native tongue which I took to be Sisutu, and not wishing to
+go to the trouble of putting them on again, called to the driver
+of the wagon to find out what it was.  This man was a Cape Colony
+Kaffir, a Fingo I think, with a touch of Hottentot in him.  He
+was an excellent driver, indeed I do not think I have ever seen a
+better, and by no means a bad shot.  Among Europeans he rejoiced
+in the name of Footsack, a Boer Dutch term which is generally
+addressed to troublesome dogs and means "Get out."  To tell the
+truth, had I been his master he would have got out, as I
+suspected him of drinking, and generally did not altogether trust
+him.  Anscombe, however, was fond of him because he had shown
+courage in some hunting adventure in Matabeleland, I think it was
+at the shooting of that very dark-coloured lion whose skin had
+been the means of making us acquainted nearly two years before. 
+Indeed he said that on this occasion Footsack had saved his life,
+though from all that I could gather I do not think this was quite
+the case.  Also the man, who had been on many hunting trips with
+sportsmen, could talk Dutch well and English enough to make
+himself understood, and therefore was useful.
+
+He went as I bade him, and coming back presently, told me that a
+party of Basutos, about thirty in number, who were returning from
+Kimberley, where they had been at work in the mines, under the
+leadership of a Bastard named Karl, asked leave to camp by the
+wagon for the night, as they were afraid to go on to "Tampel" in
+the dark.
+
+At first I could not make out what "Tampel" was, as it did not
+sound like a native name.  Then I remembered that Mr. Marnham had
+spoken of his house as being called the Temple, of which, of
+course, Tampel was a corruption; also that he said he and his
+partner were labour agents.
+
+"Why are they afraid?" I asked.
+
+"Because, Baas, they say that they must go through a wood in a
+swamp, which they think is haunted by spooks, and they much
+afraid of spooks;" that is of ghosts.
+
+"What spooks?" I asked.
+
+"Don't know, Baas.  They say spook of some one who has been
+killed."
+
+"Rubbish," I replied.  "Tell them to go and catch the spook; we
+don't want a lot of noisy fellows howling chanties here all
+night."
+
+Then it was that Anscombe broke in in his humorous, rather
+drawling voice.
+
+"How can you be so hard-hearted, Quatermain?  After the
+supernatural terror which, as I told you, I experienced in that
+very place, I wouldn't condemn a kicking mule to go through it in
+this darkness.  Let the poor devils stay; I daresay they are
+tired."
+
+So I gave in, and presently saw their fires beginning to burn
+through the end canvas of the wagon which was unlaced because the
+night was hot.  Also later on I woke up, about midnight I think,
+and heard voices talking, one of which I reflected sleepily,
+sounded very like that of Footsack.
+
+Waking very early, as is my habit, I peeped out of the wagon, and
+through the morning mist perceived Footsack in converse with a
+particularly villainous-looking person.  I at once concluded this
+must be Karl, evidently a Bastard compounded of about fifteen
+parts of various native bloods to one of white, who, to add to
+his attractions, was deeply scarred with smallpox and possessed a
+really alarming squint.  It seemed to me that Footsack handed to
+this man something that looked suspiciously like a bottle of
+squareface gin wrapped up in dried grass, and that the man handed
+back to Footsack some small object which he put in his mouth.
+
+Now, I wondered to myself, what is there of value that one who
+does not eat sweets would stow away in his mouth.  Gold coin
+perhaps, or a quid of tobacco, or a stone.  Gold was too much to
+pay for a bottle of gin, tobacco was too little, but how about
+the stone?  What stone?  Who wanted stones?  Then suddenly I
+remembered that these people were said to come from Kimberley,
+and whistled to myself.  Still I did nothing, principally because
+the mist was still so dense that although I could see the men's
+faces, I could not clearly see the articles which they passed to
+each other about two feet lower, where it still lay very thickly,
+and to bring any accusation against a native which he can prove
+to be false is apt to destroy authority.  So I held my tongue and
+waited my chance.  It did not come at once, for before I was
+dressed those Basutos had departed together with their leader
+Karl, for now that the sun was up they no longer feared the
+haunted bush.
+
+It came later, thus: We were trekking along between the thorns
+upon a level and easy track which enabled the driver Footsack to
+sit upon the "voorkisse" or driving box of the wagon, leaving the
+lad who is called the voorlooper to lead the oxen.  Anscombe was
+riding parallel to the wagon in the hope of killing some
+guineafowl for the pot (though a very poor shot with a rifle he
+was good with a shot-gun).  I, who did not care for this small
+game, was seated smoking by the side of Footsack who, I noted,
+smelt of gin and generally showed signs of dissipation.  Suddenly
+I said to him--
+
+"Show me that diamond which the Bastard Karl gave you this
+morning in payment for the bottle of your master's drink."
+
+It was a bow drawn at a venture, but the effect of the shot was
+remarkable.  Had I not caught it, the long bamboo whip Footsack
+held would have fallen to the ground, while he collapsed in his
+seat like a man who has received a bullet in his stomach.
+
+"Baas," he gasped, "Baas, how did you know?"
+
+"I knew," I replied grandly, "in the same way that I know
+everything.  Show me the diamond."
+
+"Baas," he said, "it was not the Baas Anscombe's gin, it was some
+I bought in Pilgrim's Rest."
+
+"I have counted the bottles in the case and know very well whose
+gin it was," I replied ambiguously, for the reason that I had
+done nothing of the sort.  "Show me the diamond."
+
+Footsack fumbled about his person, his hair, his waistcoat
+pockets and even his moocha, and ultimately from somewhere
+produced a stone which he handed to me.  I looked at it, and from
+the purity of colour and size, judged it to be a diamond worth
+#200, or possibly more.  After careful examination I put it into
+my pocket, saying,
+
+"This is the price of your master's gin and therefore belongs to
+him as much as it does to anybody.  Now if you want to keep out
+of trouble, tell me--whence came it into the hands of that man,
+Karl?"
+
+"Baas," replied Footsack, trembling all over, "how do I know?  He
+and the rest have been working at the mines; I suppose he found
+it there."
+
+"Indeed!  And did he find others of the same sort?"
+
+"I think so, Baas.  At least he said that he had been buying
+bottles of gin with such stones all the way down from Kimberley. 
+Karl is a great drunkard, Baas, as I am sure, who have known him
+for years."
+
+"That is not all," I remarked, keeping my eyes fixed on him. 
+"What else did he say?"
+
+"He said, Baas, that he was very much afraid of returning to the
+Baas Marnham whom the Kaffirs call White-beard, with only a few
+stones left."
+
+"Why was he afraid?"
+
+"Because the Baas Whitebeard, he who dwells at Tampel, is, he
+says, a very angry man if he thinks himself cheated, and Karl is
+afraid lest he should kill him as another was killed, he whose
+spook haunts the wood through which those silly people feared to
+pass last night."
+
+"Who was killed and who killed him?" I asked.
+
+"Baas, I don't know," replied Footsack, collapsing into sullen
+silence in a way that Kaffirs have when suddenly they realize
+that they have said too much.  Nor did I press the matter
+further, having learned enough.
+
+What had I learned?  This: that Messrs. Marnham & Rodd were
+illicit diamond buyers, I.D.B.'s as they are called, who had
+cunningly situated themselves at a great distance from the scene
+of operations practically beyond the reach of civilized law. 
+Probably they were engaged also in other nefarious dealings with
+Kaffirs, such as supplying them with guns wherewith to make war
+upon the Whites.  Sekukuni had been fighting us recently, so that
+there would be a very brisk market for rifles.  This, too, would
+account for Marnham's apparent knowledge of that Chief's plans. 
+Possibly, however, he had no knowledge and only made a pretence
+of it to keep us out of the country.
+
+Later on I confided the whole story and my suspicions to
+Anscombe, who was much interested.
+
+"What picturesque scoundrels!" he exclaimed, "We really ought to
+go back to the Temple.  I have always longed to meet some real
+live I.D.B.'s."
+
+"It is probable that you have done that already without knowing
+it.  For the rest, if you wish to visit that den of iniquity, you
+must do so alone."
+
+"Wouldn't whited sepulchre be a better term, especially as it
+seems to cover dead men's bones?" he replied in his frivolous
+manner.
+
+Then I asked him what he was going to do about Footsack and the
+bottle of gin, which he countered by asking me what I was going
+to do with that diamond.
+
+"Give it to you as Footsack's master," I said, suiting the action
+to the word.  "I don't wish to be mixed up in doubtful
+transactions."
+
+Then followed a long argument as to who was the real owner of the
+stone, which ended in its being hidden away be produced if called
+for, and in Footsack, who ought have had a round dozen, receiving
+a scolding from his master, coupled with the threat that if he
+stole more gin he would be handed over to a magistrate--when we
+met one.
+
+On the following day we reached the hot, low-lying veld which the
+herd of buffalo was said to inhabit.  Next morning, however, when
+we were making ready to begin hunting, a Basuto Kaffir appeared
+who, on being questioned, said that he was one of Sekukuni's
+people sent to this district to look for two lost oxen.  I did
+not believe this story, thinking it more probable that he was a
+spy, but asked him whether in his hunt for oxen he had come
+across buffalo.
+
+He replied that he had, a herd of thirty-two of them, counting
+the calves, but that they were over the Oliphant's River about
+five-and-twenty miles away, in a valley between some outlying
+hills and the rugged range of mountains, beyond which was
+situated Sekukuni's town.  Moreover, in proof of his story he
+showed me spoor of the beasts heading in that direction which was
+quite a week old.
+
+Now for my part, as I did not think it wise to get too near to
+Sekukuni, I should have given them up and gone to hunt something
+else.  Anscombe, however, was of a different opinion and pleaded
+hard that we should follow them.  They were the only herd within
+a hundred miles, he said, if indeed there were any others this
+side of the Lebombo Mountains.  As I still demurred, he
+suggested, in the nicest possible manner, that if I thought the
+business risky, I should camp somewhere with the wagon, while he
+went on with Footsack to look for the buffalo.  I answered that I
+was well used to risks, which in a sense were my trade, and that
+as he was more or less in my charge I was thinking of him, not of
+myself, who was quite prepared to follow the buffalo, not only to
+Sekukuni's Mountains but over them.  Then fearing that he had
+hurt my feelings, he apologized, and offered to go elsewhere if I
+liked.  The upshot was that we decided to trek to the Oliphant's
+River, camp there and explore the bush on the other side on
+horseback, never going so far from the wagon that we could not
+reach it again before nightfall.
+
+This, then, we did, outspanning that evening by the hot but
+beautiful river which was still haunted by a few hippopotamus and
+many crocodiles, one of which we shot before turning in.  Next
+morning, having breakfasted off cold guineafowl, we mounted,
+crossed the river by a ford that was quite as deep as I liked, to
+which the Kaffir path led us, and, leaving Footsack with the two
+other boys in charge of the wagon, began to hunt for the buffalo
+in the rather swampy bush that stretched from the further bank to
+the slope of the first hills, eight or ten miles away.  I did not
+much expect to find them, as the Basuto had said that they had
+gone over these hills, but either he lied or they had moved back
+again.
+
+Not half a mile from the river bank, just as I was about to
+dismount to stalk a fine waterbuck of which I caught sight
+standing among some coarse grass and bushes, my eye fell upon
+buffalo spoor that from its appearance I knew could not be more
+than a few hours old.  Evidently the beasts had been feeding here
+during the night and at dawn had moved away to sleep in the dry
+bush nearer the hills.  Beckoning to Anscombe, who fortunately
+had not seen the waterbuck, at which he would certainly have
+fired, thereby perhaps frightening the buffalo, I showed him the
+spoor that we at once started to follow.
+
+Soon it led us into other spoor, that of a whole herd of thirty
+or forty beasts indeed, which made our task quite easy, at least
+till we came to harder ground, for the animals had gone a long
+way.  An hour or more later, when we were about seven miles from
+the river, I perceived ahead of us, for we were now almost at the
+foot of the hills, a cool and densely-wooded kloof.
+
+"That is where they will be," I said.  "Now come on carefully and
+make no noise."
+
+We rode to the wide mouth of the kloof where the signs of the
+buffalo were numerous and fresh, dismounted and tied our horses
+to a thorn, so as to approach them silently on foot.  We had not
+gone two hundred yards through the bush when suddenly about fifty
+paces away, standing broadside on in the shadow between two
+trees, I saw a splendid old bull with a tremendous pair of horns.
+
+"Shoot," I whispered to Anscombe, "you will never get a better
+chance.  It is the sentinel of the herd."
+
+He knelt down, his face quite white with excitement, and covered
+the bull with his Express.
+
+"Keep cool," I whispered again, "and aim behind the shoulder,
+half-way down."
+
+I don't think he understood me, for at that moment off went the
+rifle.  He hit the beast somewhere, as I heard the bullet clap,
+but not fatally, for it turned and lumbered off up the kloof,
+apparently unhurt, whereon he sent the second barrel after it, a
+clean miss this time.  Then of a sudden all about us appeared
+buffaloes that had, I suppose, been sleeping invisible to us. 
+These, with snorts and bellows, rushed off towards the river, for
+having their senses about them, they had no mind to be trapped in
+the kloof.  I could only manage a shot at one of them, a large
+and long-horned cow which I knocked over quite dead.  If I had
+fired again it would have been but to wound, a thing I hate.  The
+whole business was over in a minute.  We went and looked at my
+dead cow which I had caught through the heart.
+
+"It's cruel to kill these things," I said, "for I don't know what
+use we are going to make of them, and they must love life as much
+as we do."
+
+"We'll cut the horns off," said Anscombe.
+
+"You may if you like," I answered, "but you will find it a tough
+job with a sheath knife."
+
+"Yes, I think that shall be the task of the worthy Footsack
+to-morrow," he replied.  "Meanwhile let us go and finish off my
+bull, as Footsack & Co. may as well bring home two pair of horns
+as one."
+
+I looked at the dense bush, and knowing something of the habits
+of wounded buffaloes, reflected that it would be a nasty job. 
+Still I said nothing, because if I hesitated, I knew he would
+want to go alone.  So we started. Evidently the beast had been
+badly hit, for the blood spoor was easy to follow.  Yet it had
+been able to retreat up to the end of the kloof that terminated
+in a cliff over which trickled a stream of water.  Here it was
+not more than a hundred paces wide, and on either side of it were
+other precipitous cliffs.  As we went from one of these a
+war-horn, such as the Basutos use, was blown.  Although I heard
+it, oddly enough, I paid no attention to it at the time, being
+utterly intent upon the business in hand.
+
+Following a wounded buffalo bull up a tree-clad and stony kloof
+is no game for children, as these beasts have a habit of
+returning on their tracks and then rushing out to gore you.  So I
+went on with every sense alert, keeping Anscombe well behind me. 
+As it happened our bull had either been knocked silly or
+inherited no guile from his parents.  When he found he could go
+no further he stopped, waited behind a bush, and when he saw us
+he charged in a simple and primitive fashion.  I let Anscombe
+fire, as I wished him to have the credit of killing it all to
+himself, but somehow or other he managed to miss both barrels. 
+Then, trouble being imminent, I let drive as the beast lowered
+its head, and was lucky enough to break its spine (to shoot at
+the head of a buffalo is useless), so that it rolled over quite
+dead at our feet.
+
+"You have got a magnificent pair of horns," I said, contemplating
+the fallen giant.
+
+"Yes," answered Anscombe, with a twinkle of his humorous eyes,
+"and if it hadn't been for you I think that I should have got
+them in more senses than one."
+
+As the words passed his lips some missile, from its peculiar
+sound I judged it was the leg off an iron pot, hurtled past my
+head, fired evidently from a smoothbore gun with a large charge
+of bad powder.  Then I remembered the war-horn and all that it
+meant.
+
+"Off you go," I said, "we are ambushed by Kaffirs."
+
+We were indeed, for as we tailed down that kloof, from the top of
+both cliffs above us came a continuous but luckily ill-directed
+fire.  Lead-coated stones, pot legs and bullets whirred and
+whistled all round us, yet until the last, just when we were
+reaching the tree to which we had tied our horses, quite
+harmlessly.  Then suddenly I saw Anscombe begin to limp.  Still
+he managed to run on and mount, though I observed that he did not
+put his right foot into the stirrup.
+
+"What's the matter?" I asked as we galloped off."
+
+"Shot through the instep, I think," he answered with a laugh, "
+but it doesn't hurt a bit."
+
+"I expect it will later," I replied.  "Meanwhile, thank God it
+wasn't at the top of the kloof.  They won't catch us on the
+horses, which they never thought of killing first."
+
+"They are going to try though.  Look behind you."
+
+I looked and saw twenty or thirty men emerging from the mouth of
+the kloof in pursuit.
+
+"No time to stop to get those horns," he said with a sigh.
+
+"No," I answered, "unless you are particularly anxious to say
+good-bye to the world pinned over a broken ant-heap in the sun,
+or something pleasant of the sort."
+
+Then we rode on in silence, I thinking what a fool I had been
+first to allow myself to be overruled by Anscombe and cross the
+river, and secondly not to have taken warning from that war-horn. 
+We could not go very fast because of the difficult and swampy
+nature of the ground; also the great heat of the day told on the
+horses.  Thus it came about that when we reached the ford we were
+not more than ten minutes ahead of our active pursuers, good
+runners every one of them, and accustomed to the country.  I
+suppose that they had orders to kill or capture us at any cost,
+for instead of giving up the chase, as I hoped they would, they
+stuck to us in surprising fashion.
+
+We splashed through the river, and luckily on the further bank
+were met by Footsack who had seen us coming and guessed that
+something was wrong.
+
+"Inspan!" I shouted to him, "and be quick about it if you want to
+see tomorrow's light.  The Basutos are after us."
+
+Off he went like a shot, his face quite green with fear.
+
+"Now," I said to Anscombe, as we let our horses take a drink for
+which they were mad, "we have got to hold this ford until the
+wagon is ready, or those devils will get us after all.  Dismount
+and I'll tie up the horses."
+
+He did so with some difficulty, and at my suggestion, while I
+made the beasts fast, cut the lace of his boot which was full of
+blood, and soaked his wounded foot, that I had no time to
+examine, in the cool water.  These things done, I helped him to
+the rear of a thorn tree which was thick enough to shield most of
+his body, and took my own stand behind a similar thorn at a
+distance of a few paces.
+
+Presently the Basutos appeared, trotting along close together
+whereon Anscombe, who was seated behind the tree, fired both
+barrels of his Express at them at a range of about two hundred
+yards.  It was a foolish thing to do, first because he missed
+them clean, for he had over-estimated the range and the bullets
+went above their heads, and secondly because it caused them to
+scatter and made them careful, whereas had they come on in a lump
+we could have taught them a lesson.  However I said nothing, as I
+knew that reproaches would only make him nervous.  Down went
+those scoundrels on to their hands and knees and, taking cover
+behind stones and bushes on the further bank, began to fire at
+us, for they were all armed with guns of one sort and another,
+and there was only about a hundred yards of water between us.  As
+they effected this manoeuvre I am glad to say I was able to get
+two of them, while Anscombe, I think, wounded another.
+
+After this our position grew quite warm, for as I have said the
+thorn trunks were not very broad, and three or four of the
+natives, who had probably been hunters, were by no means bad
+shots, though the rest of them fired wildly.  Anscombe, in poking
+his head round the tree to shoot, had his hat knocked off by a
+bullet, while a slug went through the lappet of my coat.  Then a
+worse thing happened.  Either by chance or design Anscombe's
+horse was struck in the neck and fell struggling, whereon my
+beast, growing frightened, broke its riem and galloped to the
+wagon.  That is where I ought to have left them at first, only I
+thought that we might need them to make a bolt on, or to carry
+Anscombe if he could not walk.
+
+Quite a long while went by before, glancing behind me,  I saw
+that the oxen that had been grazing at a little distance had at
+length arrived and were being inspanned in furious haste.  The
+Basutos saw it also, and fearing lest we should escape,
+determined to try to end the business.  Suddenly they leapt from
+their cover, and with more courage than I should have expected of
+them, rushed into the river, proposing to storm us, which, to
+speak truth, I think they would have done had I not been a fairly
+quick shot.
+
+As it was, finding that they were losing too heavily from our
+fire, they retreated in a hurry, leaving their dead behind them,
+and even a wounded man who was clinging to a rock.  He, poor
+wretch, was in mortal terror lest we should shoot him again,
+which I had not the heart to do, although as his leg was
+shattered above the knee by an Express bullet, it might have been
+true kindness.  Again and again he called out for mercy, saying
+that he only attacked us because his chief, who had been warned
+of our coming "by the White Man," ordered him to take our guns
+and cattle.
+
+"What white man?" I shouted.  "Speak or I shoot."
+
+There was no answer, for at this moment he fainted from loss of
+blood and vanished beneath the water.  Then another Basuto, I
+suppose he was their captain, but do not know for he was hidden
+in some bushes, called out--
+
+"Do not think that you shall escape, White Men.  There are many
+more of our people coming, and we will kill you in the night when
+you cannot see to shoot us."
+
+At this moment, too, Footsack shouted that the wagon was
+inspanned and ready.  Now I hesitated what to do.  If we made for
+the wagon, which must be very slowly because of Anscombe's
+wounded foot, we had to cross seventy or eighty yards of rising
+ground almost devoid of cover.  If, on the other hand, we stayed
+where we were till nightfall a shot might catch one of us, or
+other Basutos might arrive and rush us.  There was also a third
+possibility, that our terrified servants might trek off and leave
+us in order to save their own lives, which verily I believe they
+would have done, not being of Zulu blood.  I put the problem to
+Anscombe, who shook his head and looked at his foot.  Then he
+produced a lucky penny which he carried in his pocket and said--
+
+"Let us invoke the Fates.  Heads we run like heroes; tails we
+stay here like heroes," and he spun the penny, while I stared at
+him open-mouthed and not without admiration.
+
+Never, I thought to myself, had this primitive method of cutting
+a gordian knot been resorted to in such strange and urgent
+circumstances.
+
+"Heads it is!" he said coolly.  "Now, my boy, do you run and I'll
+crawl after you.  If I don't arrive, you know my people's
+address, and I bequeath to you all my African belongings in
+memory of a most pleasant trip."
+
+"Don't play the fool," I replied sternly.  "Come, put your right
+arm round my neck and hop on your left leg as you never hopped
+before."
+
+Then we started, and really our transit was quite lively., for
+all those Basutos began what for them was rapid firing.  I think,
+however, that their best shots must have fallen, for not a bullet
+touched us, although before we got out of their range one or two
+went very near.
+
+"There," said Anscombe, as a last amazing hop brought him to the
+wagon rail, "there, you see how wise it is give Providence a
+chance sometimes."
+
+"In the shape of a lucky penny," I grumbled as I hoisted him up.
+
+"Certainly, for why should not Providence inhabit a penny as much
+as it does any other mundane thing?  Oh, my dear Quatermain, have
+you never been taught to look to the pence and let the rest take
+care of itself?"
+
+"Stop talking rubbish and look to your foot, for the wagon is
+starting," I replied.
+
+Then off we went at a good round trot, for never have I seen oxen
+more scientifically driven than they were by Footsack and his
+friends on this occasion, or a greater pace got out of them.  As
+soon as we reached a fairly level piece of ground I made Anscombe
+lie down on the cartel of the wagon and examined his wound as
+well as circumstances would allow.  I found that the bullet or
+whatever the missile may have been, had gone through his right
+instep just beneath the big sinew, but so far as I could judge
+without injuring any bone.  There was nothing to be done except
+rub in some carbolic ointment, which fortunately he had in his
+medicine chest, and bind up the wound as best I could with a
+clean handkerchief, after which I tied a towel, that was _not_
+clean, over the whole foot.
+
+By this time evening was coming on, so we ate of such as we had
+with us, which we needed badly enough, without stopping the
+wagon.  I remember that it consisted of cheese and hard biscuits. 
+At dark we were obliged to halt a little by a stream until the
+moon rose, which fortunately she did very soon, as she was only
+just past her full.  As soon as she was up we started again, and
+with a breathing space or two, trekked all that night, which I
+spent seated on the after part of the wagon and keeping a sharp
+look out, while, notwithstanding the roughness of the road and
+his hurt, Anscombe slept like a child upon the cartel inside.
+
+I was very tired, so tired that the fear of surprise was the only
+thing that kept me awake, and I recall reflecting in a stupid
+kind of way, that it seemed always to have been my lot in life to
+watch thus, in one sense or another, while others slept.
+
+The night passed somehow without anything happening, and at dawn
+we halted for a while to water the oxen, which we did with
+buckets, and let them eat what grass they could reach from their
+yokes, since we did not dare to outspan them.  Just as we were
+starting on again the voortrekker, whom I had set to watch at a
+little distance, ran up with his eyes bulging out of his head,
+and reported that he had seen a Basuto with an assegai hanging
+about in the bush, as though to keep touch with us, after which
+we delayed no more.
+
+All that day we blundered on, thrashing the weary cattle that at
+every halt tried to lie down, and by nightfall came to the
+outspan near to the house called the Temple, where we had met the
+Kaffirs returning from the diamond fields.  This journey we had
+accomplished in exactly half the time it had taken on the outward
+trip.  Here we were obliged to stop, as our team must have rest
+and food.  So we outspanned and slept that night without much
+fear, since I thought it most improbable that the Basutos would
+attempt to follow us so far, as we were now within a day's trek
+of Pilgrim's Rest, whither we proposed to proceed on the morrow. 
+But that is just where I made a mistake.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+
+
+DOCTOR RODD
+
+
+
+
+
+I did get a little sleep that night, with one eye open, but
+before dawn I was up again seeing to the feeding of our remaining
+horse with some mealies that we carried, and other matters.  The
+oxen we had been obliged to unyoke that they might fill
+themselves with grass and water, since otherwise I feared that we
+should never get them on to their feet again.  As it was, the
+poor brutes were so tired that some of them could scarcely eat,
+and all lay down at the first opportunity.
+
+Having awakened Footsack and the other boys that they might be
+ready to take advantage of the light when it came, for I was
+anxious to be away, I drank a nip of Hollands and water and ate a
+biscuit, making Anscombe do the same.  Coffee would have been
+more acceptable, but I thought it wiser not to light a fire for
+fear of showing our whereabouts.
+
+Now a faint glimmer in the east told me that the dawn was coming. 
+Just by the wagon grew a fair-sized, green-leaved tree, and as it
+was quite easy to climb even by starlight, up it I went so as to
+get above the ground mist and take a look round before we
+trekked.  Presently the sky grew pearly and light began to
+gather; then the edge of the sun appeared, throwing long level
+rays across the world.  Everywhere the mist lay dense as cotton
+wool, except at one spot about a mile behind us where there was a
+little hill or rather a wave of the ground, over which we had
+trekked upon the preceding evening.  The top of this rise was
+above mist level, and on it no trees grew because the granite
+came to the surface.  Having discovered nothing, I called to the
+boys to drive up the oxen, some of which had risen and were
+eating again, and prepared to descend from my tree.
+
+As I did so, out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of
+something that glittered far away, so far that it would only have
+attracted the notice of a trained hunter.  Yes, something was
+shining on the brow of the rise of which I have spoken.  I stared
+at it through my glasses and saw what I had feared to see.  A
+body of natives was crossing the rise and the glitter was caused
+by the rays of dawn striking on their spears and gun-barrels.
+
+I came down out of that tree like a frightened wild cat and ran
+to the wagon, thinking hard as I went.  The Basutos were after
+us, meaning to attack as soon as there was sufficient light.  In
+ten minutes or less they would be here.  There was no time to
+inspan the oxen, and even if there had been, stiff and weary as
+the beasts were, we should be overtaken before we had gone a
+hundred yards on that bad road.  What then was to be done? Run
+for it? It was impossible, Anscombe could not run.  My eye fell
+upon the horse munching the last of his mealies.
+
+"Footsack," I said as quietly as I could, "never mind about
+inspanning yet, but saddle up the horse.  Be quick now."
+
+He looked at me doubtfully, but obeyed, having seen nothing.  If
+he had seen I knew that he would have been off.  I nipped round
+to the end of the wagon, calling to the other two boys to let the
+oxen be a while and come to me.
+
+"Now, Anscombe," I said, "hand out the rifles and cartridges. 
+Don't stop to ask questions, but do what I tell you.  They are on
+the rack by your side.  So.  Now put on your revolver and let me
+help you down.  Man, don't forget your hat."
+
+He obeyed quickly enough, and presently was standing on one leg
+by my side, looking cramped and tottery.
+
+"The Basutos are on us," I said.
+
+He whistled and remarked something about Chapter No. 2.
+
+"Footsack," I called, "bring the horse here; the Baas wishes to
+ride a little to ease his leg."
+
+He did so, stopping a moment to pull the second girth tight. 
+Then we helped Anscombe into the saddle.
+
+"Which way?" he asked.
+
+I looked at the long slope in front of us.  It was steep and bad
+going.  Anscombe might get up it on the horse before the Kaffirs
+overtook us, but it was extremely problematical if we could do
+so.  I might perhaps if I mounted behind him and the horse could
+bear us both, which was doubtful, but how about our poor
+servants? He saw the doubt upon my face and said in his quiet
+way,
+
+"You may remember that our white-bearded friend told us to make
+straight for his place in case of any difficulty with the
+Basutos.  It seems to have arisen."
+
+"I know he did," I answered, "but I cannot make up my mind which
+is the more dangerous, Marnham or the Basutos.  I rather think
+that he set them on to us."
+
+"It is impossible to solve problems at this hour of the morning,
+Quatermain, and there is no time to toss.  So I vote for the
+Temple."
+
+"It seems our best chance.  At any rate that's your choice, so
+let's go."
+
+Then I sang out to the Kaffirs, "The Basutos are on us.  We go to
+Tampel for refuge.  Run!"
+
+My word! they did run.  I never saw athletes make better time
+over the first quarter of a mile.  We ran, too, or at least the
+horse did, I hanging on to the stirrup and Anscombe holding both
+the rifles beneath his arm.  But the beast was tired, also blown
+out with that morning feed of mealies, so our progress was not
+very fast.  When we were about two hundred yards from the wagon I
+looked back and saw the Basutos beginning to arrive.  They saw us
+also, and uttering a sort of whistling war cry, started in
+pursuit.
+
+After this we had quite an interesting time.  I scrambled on to
+the horse behind Anscombe, whereon that intelligent animal,
+feeling the double weight, reduced its pace proportionately, to a
+slow tripple, indeed, out of which it could not be persuaded to
+move.  So I slipped off again over its tail and we went on as
+before.  Meanwhile the Basutos, very active fellows, were coming
+up.  By this time the yellow-wood grove in the swamp, of which I
+have already written, was  close to us, and it became quite a
+question which of us would get there first (I may mention that
+Footsack & Co.  had already attained its friendly shelter). 
+Anscombe kicked the horse with his sound heel and I thumped it
+with my fist, thereby persuading it to a hand gallop.
+
+As we reached the outlying trees of the wood the first Basuto, a
+lank fellow with a mouth like a rat trap, arrived and threw an
+assegai at us which passed between Anscombe's back and my nose. 
+Then he closed and tried to stab with another assegai.  I could
+do nothing, but Anscombe showed himself cleverer than I expected. 
+Dropping the reins, he drew his pistol and managed to send a
+bullet through that child of nature's head, so that he went down
+like a stone.
+
+"And you tell me I am a bad shot," he drawled.
+
+"It was a fluke," I gasped, for even in these circumstances truth
+would prevail.
+
+"Wait and you'll see," he replied, re-cocking the revolver.
+
+As a matter of fact there was no need for more shooting, since at
+the verge of the swamp the Basutos pulled up.  I do not think
+that the death of their companion caused them to do this, for
+they seemed to take no notice of him.  It was as though they had
+reached some boundary which they knew it would not be lawful for
+them to pass.  They simply stopped, took the dead man's assegai
+and shield from the body and walked quietly back towards the
+wagon, leaving him where he lay.  The horse stopped also, or
+rather proceeded at a walk.
+
+"There!" exclaimed Anscombe.  "Did I not tell you I had a
+presentiment that I should kill a man in this accursed wood?"
+
+"Yes," I said as soon as I had recovered my breath, "but you
+mixed up a woman with the matter and I don't see one."
+
+"That's true," he replied, "I hope we shan't meet her later."
+
+Then we went on as quickly as we could, which was not very fast,
+for I feared lest the Basutos should change their minds and
+follow us.  As the risk of this became less our spirits rose,
+since if we had lost the wagon and the oxen, at least we had
+saved our lives, which was almost more than we could have
+expected in the circumstances.  At last we came to that glade
+where we had killed the wildebeeste not a week before.  There lay
+its skeleton picked clean by the great brown kites that frequent
+the bush-veld, some of which still sat about in the trees.
+
+"Well, I suppose we must go on to Tampel," said Anscombe rather
+faintly, for I could see that his wound was giving him a good
+deal of pain.
+
+As he spoke from round the tree whence he had first emerged,
+appeared Mr. Marnham, riding the same horse and wearing the same
+clothes.  The only difference between his two entries was that
+the first took place in the late evening and the second in the
+early morning.
+
+"So here you are again," he said cheerfully.
+
+"Yes," I answered, "and it is strange to meet you at the same
+spot.  Were you expecting us?"
+
+"Not more than I expect many things," he replied with a shrewd
+glance at me, adding, "I always rise with the sun, and thinking
+that I heard a shot fired in the distance, came to see what was
+happening.  The Basutos attacked you at daybreak, did they not?"
+
+"They did, but how did you know that, Mr. Marnham?"
+
+"Your servants told me.  I met them running to the house looking
+very frightened.  You are wounded, Mr. Anscombe?"
+
+"Yes, a couple of days ago on the border of Sekukuni's country
+where the natives tried to murder us."
+
+"Ah!" he replied without surprise.  "I warned you the trip was
+dangerous, did I not?  Well, come on home where my partner, Rodd,
+who luckily has had medical experience, will attend to you.  Mr.
+Quatermain can tell me the story as we go."
+
+So we went on up the long slope, I relating our adventures, to
+which Mr. Marnham listened without comment.
+
+"I expect that the Kaffirs will have looted the wagon and be on
+the way home with your oxen by now," he said when I had finished.
+
+"Are you not afraid that they will follow us here?" I asked.
+
+"Oh no, Mr. Quatermain.  We do business with these people, also
+they sometimes come to be doctored by Rodd when they are sick, so
+this place is sacred ground to them.  They stopped hunting you
+when they got to the Yellow-wood swamp where our land begins, did
+they not?"
+
+"Yes, but now I want to hunt them.  Can you give me any help? 
+Those oxen are tired out and footsore, so we might be able to
+catch them up."
+
+He shook his head.  "We have very few people here, and by the
+time that you could get assistance from the Camp at Barberton, if
+the Commandant is able and willing to give you any, which I
+rather doubt, they will be far away.  Moreover," he added,
+dropping his voice, "let us come to an understanding.  You are
+most welcome to any help or hospitality that I can offer, but if
+you wish to do more fighting I must ask you to go elsewhere.  As
+I have told you, we are peaceful men who trade with these people,
+and do not wish to be involved in a quarrel with them, which
+might expose us to attack or bring us into trouble with the
+British Government which has annexed but not conquered their
+country.  Do I make myself clear?"
+
+"Perfectly.  While we are with you we will do nothing, but
+afterwards we hold ourselves at liberty to act as we think best."
+
+"Quite so.  Meanwhile I hope that you and Mr. Anscombe will make
+yourselves comfortable with us for as long as you like."
+
+In my own mind I came to the conclusion that this would be for
+the shortest time possible, but I only said--
+
+"It is most kind of you to take in complete strangers thus.  No,
+not complete," I added, looking towards Anscombe who was
+following on the tired horse a few paces behind, "for you knew
+his father, did you not?"
+
+"His father?" he said, lifting his eyebrows.  "No.  Oh! I
+remember, I said something to that effect the other night, but it
+was a mistake.  I mixed up two names, as one often does after a
+lapse of many years."
+
+"I understand," I answered, but remembering Anscombe's story I
+reflected to myself that our venerable host was an excellent
+liar.  Or more probably he meant to convey that he wished the
+subject of his youthful reminiscences to be taboo.
+
+Just then we reached the house which had a pretty patch of
+well-kept flower-garden in front of it, surrounded by a fence
+covered with wire netting to keep out buck.  By the gate squatted
+our three retainers, looking very blown and rather ashamed of
+themselves.
+
+"Your master wishes to thank you for your help in a dark hour,
+Footsack, and I wish to congratulate you all upon the swiftness
+of your feet," I said in Dutch.
+
+"Oh! Baas, the Basutos were many and their spears are sharp," he
+began apologetically.
+
+"Be silent, you running dog," I said, "and go help your master to
+dismount."
+
+Then we went through the gate, Anscombe leaning on my shoulder
+and on that of Mr. Marnham, and up the path which was bordered
+with fences of the monthly rose, towards the house.  Really this
+was almost as charming to look at near at hand as it had been
+from far away.  Of course the whole thing was crude in detail. 
+Rough, half-shaped blocks of marble from the neighbouring quarry
+had been built into walls and columns.  Nothing was finished, and
+considered bit by bit all was coarse and ugly.  Yet the general
+effect was beautiful because it was an effect of design, the
+picture of an artist who did not fully understand the
+technicalities of painting, the work of a great writer who had as
+yet no proper skill in words.  Never did I see a small building
+that struck me more.  But then what experience have I of
+buildings, and, as Anscombe reminded me afterwards, it was but a
+copy of something designed when the world was young, or rather
+when civilization was young, and man new risen from the infinite
+ages of savagery, saw beauty in his dreams and tried to symbolize
+it in shapes of stone.
+
+We came to the broad stoep, to which several rough blocks of
+marble served as steps.  On it in a long chair made of native
+wood and seated with hide rimpis, sat or rather lolled a man in a
+dressing-gown who was reading a book.  He raised himself as we
+came and the light of the sun, for the verandah faced to the
+east, shone full upon his face, so that I saw him well.  It was
+that of a man of something under forty years of age, dark,
+powerful, and weary--not a good face, I thought.  Indeed, it gave
+me the impression of one who had allowed the evil which exists in
+the nature of all of us to become his master, or had even
+encouraged it to do so.
+
+In the Psalms and elsewhere we are always reading of the
+righteous and the unrighteous until those terms grow wearisome. 
+It is only of late years that I have discovered, or think that I
+have discovered, what they mean.  Our lives cannot be judged by
+our deeds; they must be judged by our desires or rather by our
+moral attitude.  It is not what we do so much as what we try to
+do that counts in the formation of character.  All fall short,
+all fail, but in the end those who seek to climb out of the pit,
+those who strive, however vainly, to fashion failure to success,
+are, by comparison, the righteous, while those who are content to
+wallow in our native mire and to glut themselves with the daily
+bread of vice, are the unrighteous.  To turn our backs thereon
+wilfully and without cause, is the real unforgiveable sin against
+the Spirit.  At least that is the best definition of the problem
+at which I in my simplicity can arrive.
+
+Such thoughts have often occurred to me in considering the
+character of Dr. Rodd and some others whom I have known; indeed
+the germ of them arose in my mind which, being wearied at the
+time and therefore somewhat vacant, was perhaps the more open to
+external impressions, as I looked upon the face of this stranger
+on the stoep.  Moreover, as I am proud to record, I did not judge
+him altogether wrongly.  He was a blackguard who, under other
+influences or with a few added grains of self-restraint and of
+the power of recovery, might have become a good or even a saintly
+man.  But by some malice of Fate or some evil inheritance from an
+unknown past, those grains were lacking, and therefore he went
+not up but down the hill.
+
+"Case for you, Rodd," called out Marnham.
+
+"Indeed," he answered, getting to his feet and speaking in a full
+voice, which, like his partner's, was that of an educated 
+Englishman.  "What's the matter.  Horse accident?"
+
+Then we were introduced, and Anscombe began to explain his
+injury.
+
+"Um!" said the doctor, studying him with dark eyes.  "Kaffir
+bullet through the foot some days ago.  Ought to be attended to
+at once.  Also you look pretty done, so don't tire yourself with
+the story, which I can get from Mr. Quatermain.  Come and lie
+down and I'll have a look at you while they are cooking
+breakfast."
+
+Then he guided us to a room of which the double French windows
+opened on to the stoep, a very pretty room with two beds in it. 
+Making Anscombe lie down on one of these he turned up his
+trouser, undid my rough bandage and examined the wound.
+
+"Painful?" he asked.
+
+"Very," answered Anscombe, "right up to the thigh."
+
+After this he drew off the nether garments and made a further
+examination.
+
+"Um," he said again, "I must syringe this out.  Stay still while
+I get some stuff."
+
+I followed him from the room, and when we were out of hearing on
+the stoep inquired what he thought.  I did not like the look of
+that leg.
+
+"It is very bad," he answered, "so bad that I am wondering If it
+wouldn't be best to remove the limb below the knee and make it a
+job.  You can see for yourself that it is septic and the
+inflammation is spreading up rapidly."
+
+"Good Heavens!" I exclaimed, "do you fear mortification?"
+
+He nodded.  "Can't say what was on that slug or bit of old iron
+and he hasn't had the best chance since.  Mortification, or
+tetanus, or both, are more than possible.  Is he a temperate
+man?"
+
+"So far as I know," I answered, and stared at him while he
+thought.  Then he said with decision,
+
+"That makes a difference.  To lose a foot is a serious thing;
+some might think almost as bad as death.  I'll give him a chance,
+but if those symptoms do not abate in twenty-four hours, I must
+operate.  You needn't be afraid, I was house surgeon at a London
+Hospital--once, and I keep my hand in.  Lucky you came straight
+here."
+
+Having made his preparations and washed his hands, he returned,
+syringed the wound with some antiseptic stuff, and dressed and
+bandaged the leg up to the knee.  After this he gave Anscombe hot
+milk to drink, with two eggs broken into it, and told him to rest
+a while as he must not eat anything solid at present.  Then he
+threw a blanket over him, and, signing to me to come away, let
+down a mat over the window.
+
+"I put a little something into that milk," he said outside,
+"which will send him to sleep for a few hours.  So we will leave
+him quiet.  Now you'll want a wash."
+
+"Where are you going to take Mr. Quatermain?" asked Marnham who
+was seated on the stoep.
+
+"Into my room," he answered.
+
+"Why? There's Heda's ready."
+
+"Heda might return at any moment," replied the doctor.  "Also Mr.
+Quatermain had better sleep in Mr. Anscombe's room.  He will very
+likely want some one to look after him at night."
+
+Marnham opened his mouth to speak again, then changed his mind
+and was silent, as a servant is silent under rebuke.  The
+incident was quite trifling, yet it revealed to me the relative
+attitude of these two men.  Without a doubt Rodd was the master
+of his partner, who did not even care to dispute with him about
+the matter of the use of his daughter's bedroom.  They were a
+queer couple who, had it not been for my anxiety as to Anscombe's
+illness, would have interested me very much, as indeed they were
+destined to do.
+
+Well, I went to tidy up in the doctor's room, and as he left me
+alone while I washed, had the opportunity of studying it a
+little.  Like the rest of the house it was lined with native wood
+which was made to serve as the backs of bookshelves and of
+cupboards filled with medicines and instruments.  The books
+formed a queer collection.  There were medical works,
+philosophical works, histories, novels, most of them French, and
+other volumes of a sort that I imagine are generally kept under
+lock and key; also some that had to do with occult matters. 
+There was even a Bible.  I opened it thoughtlessly, half in idle
+curiosity, to see whether it was ever used, only to replace it in
+haste.  For at the very page that my eye fell on, I remember it
+was one of my favourite chapters in Isaiah, was a stamp in violet
+ink marked H. M.'s Prison--well, I won't say where.
+
+I may state, however, that the clue enabled me in after years to
+learn an episode in this man's life which had brought about his
+ruin.  There is no need to repeat it or to say more than that
+gambling and an evil use of his medical knowledge to provide the
+money to pay his debts, were the cause of his fall.  The strange
+thing is that he should have kept the book which had probably
+been given to by the prison chaplain.  Still everybody makes
+mistakes sometimes.  Or it may have had associations for him, and
+of course he had never seen this stamp upon an unread page, which
+happened to leap to my eye.
+
+Now I was able to make a shrewd guess at his later career.  After
+his trouble he had emigrated and began to practise in South
+Africa.  Somehow his identity had been discovered; his past was
+dragged up against him, possibly by rivals jealous of his skill;
+his business went and he found it advisable to retire to the
+Transvaal before the Annexation, at that time the home of sundry
+people of broken repute.  Even there he did not stop in a town,
+but hid himself upon the edge of savagery.  Here he foregathered
+with another man of queer character, Marnham, and in his company
+entered upon some doubtful but lucrative form of trade while
+still indulging his love of medicine by doctoring and operating
+upon natives, over whom he would in this way acquire great
+influence.  Indeed, as I discovered before the day was over, he
+had quite a little hospital at the back of the house in which
+were four or five beds occupied by Kaffirs and served by two male
+native nurses whom he had trained.  Also numbers of out-patients
+visited him, some of whom travelled from great distances, and
+occasionally, but not often, he attended white people who chanced
+to be in the neighbourhood.
+
+The three of us breakfasted in a really charming room from the
+window of which could be studied a view as beautiful as any I
+know.  The Kaffirs who waited were well trained and dressed in
+neat linen uniforms.  The cooking was good; there was real silver
+on the table, then a strange sight in that part of Africa, and
+amongst engravings and other pictures upon the walls, hung an oil
+portrait of a very beautiful young woman with dark hair and eyes.
+
+"Is that your daughter, Mr. Marnham?" I asked.
+
+"No," he replied rather shortly, "it is her mother."
+
+Immediately afterwards he was called from the room to speak to
+some one, whereon the doctor said--
+
+"A foreigner as you see, a Hungarian; the Hungarian women are
+very good looking and very charming."
+
+"So I have understood," I answered, "but does this lady live
+here?"
+
+"Oh, no.  She is dead, or I believe that she is dead.  I am not
+sure, because I make it a rule never to pry into people's private
+affairs.  All l know about her is that she was a beauty whom
+Marnham married late in life upon the Continent when she was but
+eighteen.  As is common in such cases he was very jealous of her,
+but it didn't last long, as she died, or I understand that she
+died, within a year of her daughter's birth.  The loss affected
+him so much that he emigrated to South Africa with the child and
+began life anew.  I do not think that they correspond with
+Hungary, and he never speaks of her even to his daughter, which
+suggests that she is dead."
+
+I reflected that all these circumstances might equally well
+suggest several other things, but said nothing, thinking it
+wisest not to pursue the subject.  Presently Marnham returned and
+informed me that a native had just brought him word that the
+Basutos had made off homeward with our cattle, but had left the
+wagon and its contents quite untouched, not even stealing the
+spare guns and ammunition.
+
+"That's luck," I said, astonished, "but extremely strange.  How
+do you explain it, Mr. Marnham?"
+
+He shrugged his shoulders and answered--
+
+"As every one knows, you are a much greater expert in native
+habits and customs than I am, Mr. Quatermain.
+
+"There are only two things that I can think of," I said.  "One is
+that for some reason or other they thought the wagon tagati,
+bewitched you know, and that it would bring evil on them to touch
+it, though this did not apply to the oxen.  The other is that
+they supposed it, but not the oxen, to belong to some friend of
+their own whose property they did not wish to injure."
+
+He looked at me sharply but said nothing, and I went on to tell
+them the details of the attack that had been made upon us,
+adding--
+
+"The odd part of the affair is that one of those Basutos called
+out to us that some infernal scoundrel of a white had warned
+Sekukuni of our coming and that he had ordered them to take our
+guns and cattle.  This Basuto, who was wounded and praying for
+mercy, was drowned before he could tell me who the white man
+was."
+
+"A Boer, I expect," said Marnham quietly.  "As you know they are
+not particularly well affected towards us English just now.  Also
+I happen to be aware that some of them are intriguing with
+Sekukuni against the British through Makurupiji, his 'Mouth' or
+prime-minister, a very clever old scamp who likes to have two
+stools to sit on."
+
+"And doubtless will end by falling between them.  Well, you see,
+now that I think of it, the wounded Kaffir only said that they
+were ordered to take our guns and oxen, and incidentally our
+lives.  The wagon was not mentioned."
+
+"Quite so, Mr. Quatermain.  I will send some of our boys to help
+your servants to bring everything it contains up here."
+
+"Can't you lend me a team of oxen," I asked, "to drag it to the
+house?"
+
+"No, we have nothing but young cattle left.  Both red-water and
+lung-sickness have been so bad this season that all the horned
+stock have been swept out of the country.  I doubt whether you
+could beg, borrow or steal a team of oxen this side of Pretoria,
+except from some of the Dutchmen who won't part."
+
+"That's awkward.  I hoped to be able to trek in a day or two."
+
+"Your friend won't be able to trek for a good many days at the
+best," broke in the doctor, who had been listening unconcernedly,
+"but of course you could get away on the horse after it has
+rested."
+
+"You told me you left a span of oxen at Pretoria," said Marnham. 
+"Why not go and fetch them here, or if you don't like to leave
+Mr. Anscombe, send your driver and the boys."
+
+"Thanks for the idea.  I will think it over," I answered.
+
+That morning after Footsack and the voorlooper had been sent with
+some of the servants from the Temple to fetch up the contents of
+the wagon, for I was too tired to accompany them, having found
+that Anscombe was still asleep, I determined to follow his
+example.  Finding a long chair on the stoep, I sat down and
+slumbered in it sweetly for hours.  I dreamt of all sorts of
+things, then through my dreams it seemed to me that I heard two
+voices talking, those of our Marnham and Rodd, not on the stoep,
+but at a distance from it.  As a matter of fact they were
+talking, but so far away that in my ordinary waking state I could
+never have heard them.  My own belief is that the senses, and I
+may add the semi-spiritual part of us, are much more acute when
+we lie half bound in the bonds of sleep, than when we are what is
+called wide awake.  Doubtless when we are quite bound they attain
+the limits of their power and, I think, sail at times to the
+uttermost ends of being.  But unhappily of their experiences we
+remember nothing when we awake.  In half sleep it is different;
+then we do retain some recollection.
+
+In this curious condition of mind it seemed to me that Rodd said
+to Marnham--
+
+"Why have you brought these men here?"
+
+"I did not bring them here," he answered.  "Luck, Fate, Fortune,
+God or the Devil, call it what you will, brought them here,
+though if you had your wish, it is true they would never have
+come.  Still, as they have come, I am glad.  It is something to
+me, living in this hell, to get a chance of talking to English
+gentlemen again before I die."
+
+"English gentlemen," remarked Rodd reflectively,  "Well, Anscombe
+is of course, but how about that other hunter?  After all, in
+what way is he better than the scores of other hunters and Kaffir
+traders and wanderers whom one meets in this strange land?"
+
+"In what way indeed?" thought I to myself, in my dream.
+
+"If you can't see, I can't explain to you.  But as I happen to
+know, the man is of blood as good as mine--and a great deal
+better than yours," he added with a touch of insolence. 
+"Moreover, he has an honest name among white and black, which is
+much in this country."
+
+"Yes," replied the doctor in the same reflective voice, "I agree
+with you, I let him pass as a gentleman.  But I repeat, Why did
+you bring them here when with one more word it would have been so
+easy--" and he stopped.
+
+"I have told you, it was not I.  What are you driving at?"
+
+"Do you think it is exactly convenient, especially when we are
+under the British flag again, to have two people who, we both
+admit, are English gentlemen, that is, clean, clear-eyed men,
+considering us and our affairs for an indefinite period, just
+because you wish for the pleasure of their society?  Would it not
+have been better to tell those Basutos to let them trek on to
+Pretoria?"
+
+"I don't know what would have been better.  I repeat, what are
+you driving at?
+
+"Heda is coming home in a day or two; she might be here any
+time," remarked Rodd as he knocked the ashes out of his pipe.
+
+"Yes, because you made me write and say that I wanted her.  But
+what of that?"
+
+"Nothing in particular, except that I am not sure that I wish her
+to associate with 'an English gentleman' like this Anscombe."
+
+Marnham laughed scornfully.  "Ah! I understand," he said.  "Too
+clean and straight.  Complications might ensue and the rest of
+it.  Well, I wish to God they would, for I know the Anscombes, or
+used to, and I know the genus called Rodd."
+
+"Don't be insulting; you may carry the thing too far one day, and
+whatever I have done I have paid for.  But you've not paid--yet."
+
+"The man is very ill.  You are a skilled doctor.  If you're
+afraid of him, why don't you kill him?" asked Marnham with bitter
+scorn.
+
+"There you have me," replied Rodd.  "Men may shed much, but most
+of them never shed their professional honour.  I shall do my
+honest best to cure Mr. Anscombe, and I tell you that he will
+take some curing."
+
+
+Then I woke up, and as no one was in sight, wondered whether or
+no I had been dreaming.  The upshot of it was that I made up my
+mind to send Footsack to Pretoria for the oxen, not to go myself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+
+
+A GAME OF CARDS
+
+
+
+
+
+I slept in Anscombe's room that night and looked after him.  He
+was very feverish and the pain in his leg kept him awake a good
+deal.  He told me that he could not bear Dr. Rodd and wished to
+get away at once.  I had to explain to him that this was
+impossible until his spare oxen arrived which I was going to send
+for to Pretoria, but of other matters, including that of the
+dangerous state of his foot, I said nothing.  I was thankful when
+towards two in the morning, he fell into a sound sleep and
+allowed me to do the same.
+
+Before breakfast time, just as I had finished dressing myself in
+some of the clean things which had been brought from the wagon,
+Rodd came and made a thorough and business-like examination of
+his patient, while I awaited the result with anxiety on the
+stoep.  At length he appeared and said--
+
+"Well, I think that we shall be able to save the foot, though I
+can't be quite sure for another twenty-four hours.  The worst
+symptoms have abated and his temperature is down by two degrees. 
+Anyway he will have to stay in bed and live on light food till it
+is normal, after which he might lie in a long chair on the stoep. 
+On no account must he attempt to stand."
+
+I thanked him for his information heartily enough and asked him
+if he knew where Marnham was, as I wanted to speak to him with
+reference to the despatch of Footsack to fetch the oxen from
+Pretoria.
+
+"Not up yet, I think," he answered.  "I fancy that yesterday was
+one of his 'wet' nights, excitement of meeting strangers and so
+on."
+
+"Wet nights?" I queried, wishing for a clearer explanation.
+
+"Yes, he is a grand old fellow, one of the best, but like most
+other people he has his little weaknesses, and when the fit is on
+him he can put away a surprising amount of liquor.  I tell you so
+that you should not be astonished if you notice anything, or try
+to argue with him when he is in that state, as then his temper is
+apt to be--well, lively.  Now I must go and give him a pint of
+warm milk; that is his favourite antidote, and in fact the best
+there is."
+
+I thought to myself that we had struck a nice establishment in
+which to be tied, literally by the leg, for an indefinite period. 
+I was not particularly flush at the time, but I know I would have
+paid a #100 to be out of it; before the end I should have been
+glad to throw in everything that I had.  But mercifully that was
+hidden from me.
+
+Rodd and I breakfasted together and discoursed of Kaffir customs,
+as to which he was singularly well informed.  Then I accompanied
+him to see his native patients in the little hospital of which I
+have spoken.  Believing the man to be a thorough scamp as I did,
+it was astonishing to me to note how gentle and forbearing he was
+to these people.  Of his skill I need say nothing, as that was
+evident.  He was going to perform an internal operation upon a
+burly old savage, rather a serious one I believe; at any rate it
+necessitated chloroform.  He asked me if I would like to assist,
+but I declined respectfully, having no taste for such things.  So
+I left him boiling his instruments and putting on what looked
+like a clean nightgown over his clothes, and returned to the
+stoep.
+
+Here I found Marnham, whose eyes were rather bloodshot, though
+otherwise, except for a shaky hand, he seemed right enough.  He
+murmured something about having overslept himself and inquired
+very politely, for his manners were beautiful, after Anscombe and
+as to whether we were quite comfortable and so forth.  After this
+I consulted him as to the best road for our servants to travel by
+to Pretoria, and later on despatched them, giving Footsack
+various notes to ensure the delivery of the oxen to him.  Also I
+gave him some money to pay for their keep and told him with many
+threats to get back with the beasts as quick as he could travel. 
+Then I sent him and the two other boys off, not without
+misgivings, although he was an experienced man in his way and
+promised faithfully to fulfil every injunction to the letter.  To
+me he seemed so curiously glad to go that I inquired the reason,
+since after a journey like ours, it would have been more natural
+if he had wished to rest.
+
+"Oh! Baas," he said, "I don't think this Tampel very healthy for
+coloured people.  I am told of some who have died here.  That man
+Karl who gave me the diamond, I think he must have died also, at
+least I saw his spook last night standing over me and shaking his
+head, and the boys saw it too."
+
+"Oh! be off with your talk of spooks," I said, "and come back
+quickly with those oxen, or I promise you that you will die and
+be a spook yourself."
+
+"I will, Baas, I will!" he ejaculated and departed almost at a
+run, leaving me rather uncomfortable.
+
+I believed nothing of the tale of the spook of Karl, but I saw
+that Footsack believed in it, and was afraid lest he  might be
+thereby prevented from returning.  I would much rather have gone
+myself, but it was impossible for me to leave Anscombe so ill in
+the hands of our strange hosts.  And there was no one else whom I
+could send.  I might perhaps have ridden to Pilgrim's Rest and
+tried to find a white messenger there; indeed afterwards I
+regretted not having done so, although it would have involved at
+least a day's absence at a very critical time.  But the truth is
+I never thought of it until too late, and probably if I had, I
+should not have been able to discover anyone whom I could trust.
+
+As I walked back to the house, having parted from  Footsack on
+the top of a neighbouring ridge whence I could point out his path
+to him, I met Marnham riding away.  He pulled up and said that he
+was going down to the Granite stream to arrange about setting
+some one up to watch the wagon.  I expressed sorrow that he
+should have the trouble, which should have been mine if I could
+have got away, whereon he answered that he was glad of the
+opportunity for a ride, as it was something to do.
+
+"How do you fill in your time here," I asked carelessly, "as you
+don't farm?"
+
+"Oh! by trading," he replied, and with a nod set his horse to a
+canter.
+
+A queer sort of trading, thought I to myself, where there is no
+store.  Now what exactly does he trade in, I wonder?
+
+As it happened I was destined to find out before I was an hour
+older.  Having given Anscombe a look and found that he was
+comfortable, I thought that I would inspect the quarry whence the
+marble came of which the house was built, as it had occurred to
+me that if there was plenty of it, it might be worth exploiting
+some time in the future.  It had been pointed out to me in the
+midst of some thorns in a gully that ran at right angles to the
+main kloof not more than a few hundred yards from the house. 
+Following a path over which the stones had been dragged
+originally, I came to the spot and discovered that a little
+cavity had been quarried in what seemed to me to be a positive
+mountain of pure white marble.  I examined the place as
+thoroughly as I could, climbing among some bushes that grew in
+surface earth which had been washed down from the top, in order
+to do so.
+
+At the back of these bushes there was a hole large enough for a
+man to creep through.  I crept through with the object of
+ascertaining whether the marble veins continued.  To my surprise
+I found a stout yellow-wood door within feet of the mouth of the
+hole.  Reflecting that no doubt it was here that the quarrymen
+kept, or had kept tools and explosives, I gave it a push.  I
+suppose it had been left unfastened accidentally, or that
+something had gone wrong with the lock; at any rate it swung
+open.  Pursuing my researches as to the depth of the marble I
+advanced boldly and, the place being dark, struck a match. 
+Evidently the marble did continue, as I could see by the
+glittering roof of a cavern, for such it was.  But the floor
+attracted my attention as well as the roof, for on it were
+numerous cases not unlike coffins, bearing the stamp of a
+well-known Birmingham firm, labelled  "fencing iron" and
+addressed to Messrs. Marnham & Rodd, Transvaal, _via_ Delagoa
+Bay.
+
+I knew at once what they were, having seen the like before, but
+if any doubt remained in my mind it was easy to solve, for as it
+chanced one of the cases was open and half emptied.  I slipped my
+hand into it.  As I thought it contained the ordinary Kaffir gun
+of commerce, cost delivered in Africa, say 35s.; cost delivered
+to native chief in cash or cattle, say #10, which, when the
+market is eager, allows for a decent profit.  Contemplating those
+cases, survivors probably of a much larger stock, I understood
+how it came about that Sekukuni had dared to show fight against
+the Government.  Doubtless it was hence that the guns had come
+which sent a bullet through Anscombe's foot and nearly polished
+off both of us.
+
+Moreover, as further matches showed me, that cave contained other
+stores--item,  kegs of gunpowder; item, casks of cheap spirit;
+item, bars of lead, also a box marked "bullet moulds" and another
+marked "Percussion caps." I think, too, there were some innocent
+bags full of beads and a few packages of Birmingham-made assegai
+blades.  There may have been other things, but if so I did not
+wait to investigate them.  Gathering up the ends of my matches
+and, in case there should be any dust in the place that would
+show footmarks, flapping the stone floor behind me with my pocket
+handkerchief, I retired and continued my investigations of that
+wonderful marble deposit from the bottom of the quarry, to which,
+having re-arranged the bushes, I descended by another route,
+leaping like a buck from stone to stone.
+
+It was just as well that I did so, for a few minutes later Dr.
+Rodd appeared.
+
+"Made a good job of your operation?" I asked cheerfully.
+
+"Pretty fair, thanks," he answered, "although that Kaffir tried
+to brain the nurse-man when he was coming out of the anesthetic. 
+But are you interested in geology?"
+
+"A little," I replied, "that is if there is any chance of making
+money out of it, which there ought to be here, as this marble
+looks almost as good as that of Carrara.  But flint instruments
+are more my line, that is in an ignorant and amateur way, as I
+think they are in yours, for I saw some in your room.  Tell me,
+what do you think of this.  Is it a scraper?" and I produced a
+stone out of my pocket which I had found a week before in the
+bush-veld.
+
+At once he forgot his suspicions, of which I could see he arrived
+very full indeed.  This curious man, as it happened, was really
+fond of flint instruments, of which he knew a great deal.
+
+"Did you find this here?" he asked.
+
+I led him several yards further from the mouth of the cave and
+pointed out the exact spot where I said I had picked it up
+amongst some quarry debris.  Then followed a most learned
+discussion, for it appeared that this was a flint instrument of
+the rarest and most valuable type, one that Noah might have used,
+or Job might have scraped himself with, and the question was how
+the dickens had it come among that quarry debris.  In the end we
+left the problem undecided, and having presented the article to
+Dr. Rodd, a gift for which he thanked me with real warmth, I
+returned to the house filled with the glow that rewards one who
+has made a valuable discovery.
+
+Of the following three days I have nothing particular to say,
+except that during them I was perhaps more acutely  bored than
+ever I had been in my life before.  The house was beautiful in
+its own fashion; the food was excellent; there was everything I
+could want to drink, and Rodd announced that he no longer feared
+the necessity of operation upon Anscombe's leg.  His recovery was
+now a mere matter of time, and meanwhile he must not use his foot
+or let the blood run into it more than could be helped, which
+meant that he must keep himself in a recumbent position.  The
+trouble was that I had nothing on earth do except study the
+characters of our hosts, which I found disagreeable and
+depressing.  I might have gone out shooting, but nothing of the
+sort was allowed upon the property in obedience to the wish of
+Miss Heda, a mysterious young person who was always expected and
+never appeared, and beyond it I was afraid to travel for fear of
+Basutos.  I might have gone to Pilgrim's Rest or Lydenburg to
+make report of the nefarious deeds of the said Basutos, but at
+best it would have taken one or two days, and possibly I should
+have been detained by officials who never consider any one's time
+except their own.
+
+This meant that I should have been obliged to leave Anscombe
+alone, which I did not wish to do, so I just sat still and, as I
+have said, was intensely bored, hanging about the place and
+smoking more than was good for me.
+
+In due course Anscombe emerged on to the stoep, where he lay with
+his leg up, and was also bored, especially after he had tried to
+pump old Marnham about his past in the Guards and completely
+failed.  It was in this mood of utter dejection that we agreed to
+play a game of cards one evening.  Not that either of us cared
+for cards; indeed, personally, I have always detested them
+because, with various-coloured counters to represent money which
+never passed, they had formed one of the afflictions of my youth.
+
+It was so annoying if you won, to be handed a number of green
+counters and be informed that they represented so many hundreds
+or thousands of pounds, or vice-versa if you lost, for as it cost
+no one anything, my dear father insisted upon playing for
+enormous stakes.  Never in any aspect of life have I cared for
+fooling.  Anscombe also disliked cards, I think because his
+ancestors too had played with counters, such as some that I have
+seen belonging to the Cocoa-Tree Club and other gambling places
+of a past generation, marked as high as a thousand guineas, which
+counters must next morning be redeemed in hard cash, whereby his
+family had been not a little impoverished.
+
+"I fancy you will find they are high-fliers," he said when the
+pair had left to fetch a suitable table, for the night being very
+hot we were going to play on the stoep by the light of the
+hanging paraffin lamp and some candles.  I replied to the effect
+that I could not afford to lose large sums of money, especially
+to men who for aught I knew might then be engaged in marking the
+cards.
+
+"I understand," he answered.  "Don't you bother about that, old
+fellow.  This is my affair, arranged for my special amusement.  I
+shan't grumble if the fun costs something, for I am sure there
+will be fun."
+
+"All right," I said, "only if we should happen to win money, it's
+yours, not mine."
+
+To myself I reflected, however, that with these two opponents we
+had about as much chance of winning as a snowflake has of
+resisting the atmosphere of the lower regions.
+
+Presently they returned with the table, which had a green cloth
+over it that hung down half-way to the ground.  Also one of the
+native boys brought a tray with spirits, from which I judged by
+various signs, old Marnham, who had already drunk his share at
+dinner, had helped himself freely on the way.  Soon we were
+arranged, Anscombe, who was to be my partner, opposite to me in
+his long chair, and the game began.
+
+I forget what particular variant of cards it was we played,
+though I know it admitted of high and progressive stakes.  At
+first, however, these were quite moderate and we won, as I
+suppose we were meant to do.  After half an hour or so Marnham
+rose to help himself to brandy and water, a great deal of brandy
+and very little water, while I took a nip of Hollands, and
+Anscombe and Rodd filled their pipes.
+
+"I think this is getting rather slow," said Rodd to Anscombe.  "I
+vote we put a bit more on."
+
+"As much as you like," answered Anscombe with a little drawl and
+twinkle of the eye, which always showed that he was amused. 
+"Both Quatermain and I are born gamblers.  Don't look angry,
+Quatermain, you know you are.  Only if we lose you will have to
+take a cheque, for I have precious little cash."
+
+"I think that will be good enough," replied the doctor
+quietly--"if you lose."
+
+So the stakes were increased to an amount that made my hair stand
+up stiffer even than usual, and the game went on.  Behold! a
+marvel came to pass.  How it happened I do not know, unless
+Marnham had brought the wrong cards by mistake or had grown too
+fuddled to understand his partner's telegraphic signals, which I,
+being accustomed to observe, saw him make, not once but often,
+still we won!  What is more, with a few set-backs, we went on
+winning, till presently the sums written down to our credit, for
+no actual cash passed, were considerable.  And all the while, at
+the end of each bout Marnham helped himself to more brandy, while
+the doctor grew more mad in a suppressed-thunder kind of a way. 
+For my part I became alarmed, especially as I perceived that
+Anscombe was on the verge of breaking into open merriment, and
+his legs being up I could not kick him under the table.
+
+"My partner ought to go to bed.  Don't you think we should stop?"
+I said.
+
+"On the whole I do," replied Rodd, glowering at Marnham, who,
+somewhat unsteadily, was engaged in wiping drops of brandy from
+his long beard.
+
+"D----d if I do," exclaimed that worthy.  "When I was young and
+played with gentlemen they always gave losers an opportunity of
+revenge."
+
+"Then," replied Anscombe with a flash of his eyes, "let us try to
+follow in the footsteps of the gentlemen with whom you played in
+your youth.  I suggest that we double the stakes."
+
+"That's right!  That's the old form!" said Marnham.
+
+The doctor half rose from his chair, then sat down again. 
+Watching him, I concluded that he believed his partner, a
+seasoned vessel, was not so drunk as he pretended to be, and
+either in an actual or a figurative sense, had a card up his
+sleeve.  If so, it remained there, for again we won; all the luck
+was with us.
+
+"I am getting tired," drawled Anscombe.  "Lemon and water are not
+sustaining.  Shall we stop?"
+
+"By Heaven! no," shouted Marnham, to which Anscombe replied that
+if it was wished, he would play another hand, but no more.
+
+"All right," said Marnham, "but let it be for double or quits."
+
+He spoke quite quietly and seemed suddenly to have grown sober. 
+Now I think that Rodd made up his mind that he really was acting
+and that he really had that card up his sleeve.  At any rate he
+did not object.  I, however, was of a different opinion, having
+often seen drunken men succumb to an acces of sobriety under the
+stress of excitement and remarked that it did not last long.
+
+"Do you really mean that?" I said, speaking for the first time
+and addressing myself to the doctor.  "I don't quite know what
+the sum involved is, but it must be large."
+
+"Of course," he answered.
+
+Then remembering that at the worst Anscombe stood to lose
+nothing, I shrugged my shoulders and held my tongue.  It was
+Marnham's deal, and although he was somewhat in the shadow of the
+hanging lamp and the candles had guttered out, I distinctly saw
+him play some hocus-pocus with the cards, but in the
+circumstances made no protest.  As it chanced he must have
+hocus-pocused them wrong, for though _his_ hand was full of
+trumps, Rodd held nothing at all.  The battle that ensued was
+quite exciting, but the end of it was that an ace in the hand of
+Anscombe, who really was quite a good player, did the business,
+and we won again.
+
+In the rather awful silence that followed Anscombe remarked in
+his cheerful drawl--
+
+"I'm not sure that my addition is quite right; we'll check that
+in the morning, but I make out that you two gentlemen owe
+Quatermain and myself #749 10s."
+
+Then the doctor broke out.
+
+"You accursed old fool," he hissed--there is no other word for
+it--at Marnham.  "How are you going to pay all this money that
+you have gambled away, drunken beast that you are!"
+
+"Easily enough, you felon," shouted Marnham.  "So," and thrusting
+his hand into his pocket he pulled out a number of diamonds which
+he threw upon the table, adding, "there's what will cover it
+twice over, and there are more where they came from, as you know
+well enough, my medical jailbird."
+
+"You dare to call me that," gasped the doctor in a voice laden
+with fury, so intense that it had deprived him of his reason,
+"you--you--murderer!  Oh! why don't I kill you as I shall some
+day?" and lifting his glass, which was half full, he threw the
+contents into Marnham's face.
+
+"That's a nice man for a prospective, son-in-law, isn't he?"
+exclaimed the old scamp, as, seizing the brandy decanter, he
+hurled it straight at Rodd's head, only missing him by an inch.
+
+"Don't you think you had both better go to bed, gentlemen?" I
+inquired.  "You are saying things you might regret in the
+morning."
+
+Apparently they did think it, for without another word they rose
+and marched off in different directions to their respective
+rooms, which I heard both of them lock.  For my part I collected
+the I.O.U.'s; also the diamonds which still lay upon the table,
+while Anscombe examined the cards.
+
+"Marked, by Jove! he said.  "Oh! my dear Quatermain, never have I
+had such an amusing evening in all my life."
+
+"Shut up, you silly idiot," I answered.  "There'll be murder done
+over this business, and I only hope it won't be on us."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+
+
+MISS HEDA
+
+
+
+
+
+It might be thought that after all this there would have been a
+painful explanation on the following morning, but nothing of the
+sort happened.  After all the greatest art is the art of ignoring
+things, without which the world could scarcely go on, even among
+the savage races.  Thus on this occasion the two chief actors in
+the scene of the previous night pretended that they had forgotten
+what took place, as I believe, to a large extent truly.  The
+fierce flame of drink in the one and of passion in the other had
+burnt the web of remembrance to ashes.  They knew that something
+unpleasant had occurred and its main outlines; the rest had
+vanished away; perhaps because they knew also that they were not
+responsible for what they said and did, and therefore that what
+occurred had no right to a permanent niche in their memories.  It
+was, as it were, something outside of their normal selves.  At
+least so I conjectured, and their conduct seemed to give colour
+to my guess.
+
+The doctor spoke to me of the matter first.
+
+"I fear there was a row last night," he said; "it has happened
+here before over cards, and will no doubt happen again until
+matters clear themselves up somehow.  Marnham, as you see,
+drinks, and when drunk is the biggest liar in the world, and I, I
+am sorry to say, am cursed with a violent temper.  Don't judge
+either of us too harshly.  If you were a doctor you would know
+that all these things come to us with our blood, and we didn't
+fashion our own clay, did we?  Have some coffee, won't you?"
+
+Subsequently when Rodd wasn't there, Marnham spoke also and with
+that fine air of courtesy which was peculiar to him.
+
+"I owe a deep apology," he said, "to yourself and Mr. Anscombe. 
+I do not recall much about it, but I know there was a scene last
+night over those cursed cards.  A weakness overtakes me
+sometimes.  I will say no more, except that you, who are also a
+man who perhaps have felt weaknesses of one sort or another,
+will, I hope, make allowances for me and pay no attention to
+anything that I may have said or done in the presence of guests;
+yes, that is what pains me--in the presence of guests."
+
+Something in his distinguished manner caused me to reflect upon
+every peccadillo that I had ever committed, setting it in its
+very worst light.
+
+"Quite so," I answered, "quite so.  Pray do not mention the
+matter any more, although--" These words seemed to jerk
+themselves out of my throat, "you did call each other by such
+very hard names."
+
+"I daresay," he answered with a vacant smile, "but if so they
+meant nothing."
+
+"No, I understand, just like a lovers' quarrel.  But look here,
+you left some diamonds on the table which I took to keep the
+Kaffirs out of temptation.  I will fetch them."
+
+"Did I?  Well, probably I left some I.O.U.'s also which might
+serve for pipelights.  So suppose we set the one against the
+other.  I don't know the value of either the diamonds or the
+pipelights, it may be less or more, but for God's sake don't let
+me see the beastly things again.  There's no need, I have
+plenty."
+
+"I must speak to Anscombe," I answered.  "The money at stake was
+his, not mine."
+
+"Speak to whom you will," he replied, and I noted that the
+throbbing vein upon his forehead indicated a rising temper.  "But
+never let me see those diamonds again.  Throw them into the
+gutter if you wish, but never let me see them again, or there
+will be trouble."
+
+Then he flung out of the room, leaving his breakfast almost
+untasted.
+
+Reflecting that this queer old bird probably did not wish to be
+cross-questioned as to his possession of so many uncut diamonds,
+or that they were worth much less than the sum he had lost, or
+possibly that they were not diamonds at all but glass, I went to
+report the matter to Anscombe.  He only laughed and said that as
+I had got the things I had better keep them until something
+happened, for we had both got it into our heads that something
+would happen before we had done with that establishment.
+
+So I went to put the stones away as safely as I could.  While I
+was doing so I heard the rumble of wheels, and came out just in
+time to see a Cape cart, drawn by four very good horses and
+driven by a Hottentot in a smart hat and a red waistband, pull up
+at the garden gate.  Out of this cart presently emerged a neatly
+dressed lady, of whom all I could see was that she was young,
+slender and rather tall; also, as her back was towards me, that
+she had a great deal of auburn hair.
+
+"There!" said Anscombe.  "I knew that something would happen. 
+Heda has happened.  Quatermain, as neither her venerated parent
+nor her loving fiance, for such I gather he is, seems to be
+about, you had better go and give her a hand."
+
+I obeyed with a groan, heartily wishing that Heda hadn't
+happened, since some sense warned me that she would only add to
+the present complications.  At the gate, having given some
+instructions to a very stout young coloured woman who, I took it,
+was her maid, about a basket of flower roots in the cart, she
+turned round suddenly and we came face to face with the gate
+between us.  For a moment we stared at each other, I reflecting
+that she really was very pretty with her delicately-shaped
+features, her fresh, healthy-looking complexion, her long dark
+eyelashes and her lithe and charming figure.  What she reflected
+about me I don't know, probably nothing half so complimentary. 
+Suddenly, however, her large greyish eyes grew troubled and a
+look of alarm appeared upon her face.
+
+"Is anything wrong with my father?" she asked.  "I don't see
+him."
+
+"If you mean Mr. Marnham," I replied, lifting my hat, "I believe
+that Dr. Rodd and he--"
+
+"Never mind about Dr. Rodd," she broke in with a contemptuous
+little jerk of her chin," how is my father?"
+
+"I imagine much as usual.  He and Dr. Rodd were here a little
+while ago, I suppose that they have gone out" (as a matter of
+fact they had, but in different directions).
+
+"Then that's all right," she said with a sigh of relief.  "You
+see, I heard that he was very ill, which is why I have come
+back."
+
+So, thought I to myself, she loves that old scamp and
+she--doesn't love the doctor.  There will be more trouble as sure
+as five and two are seven.  All we wanted was a woman to make the
+pot boil over.
+
+Then I opened the gate and took a travelling bag from her hand
+with my politest bow.
+
+"My name is Quatermain and that of my friend Anscombe.  We are
+staying here, you know," I said rather awkwardly.
+
+"Indeed," she answered with a delightful smile, "what a very
+strange place to choose to stay in."
+
+"It is a beautiful house," I remarked.
+
+"Not bad, although I designed it, more or less.  But I was
+alluding to its inhabitants."
+
+This finished me, and I am sure she felt that I could think of
+nothing nice to say about those inhabitants, for I heard her
+sigh.  We walked side by side up the rose-fringed path and
+presently arrived at the stoep, where Anscombe, whose hair I had
+cut very nicely on the previous day, was watching us from his
+long chair.  They looked at each other, and I saw both of them
+colour a little, out of mere foolishness, I suppose.
+
+"Anscombe," I said, "this is--" and I paused, not being quite
+certain whether she also was called Marnham.  "Heda Marnham," she
+interrupted.
+
+"Yes--Miss Heda Marnham, and this is the Honourable Maurice
+Anscombe."
+
+"Forgive me for not rising, Miss Marnham," said Anscombe in his
+pleasant voice (by the way hers was pleasant too, full and rather
+low, with just a suggestion of something foreign about it).  "A
+shot through the foot prevents me at present."
+
+"Who shot you?" she asked quickly.
+
+"Oh! only a Kaffir."
+
+"I am so sorry, I hope you will get well soon.  Forgive me now, I
+must go to look for my father."
+
+"She is uncommonly pretty," remarked Anscombe, "and a lady into
+the bargain.  In reflecting on old Marnham's sins we must put it
+to his credit that he has produced a charming daughter."
+
+"Too pretty and charming by half," I grunted.
+
+"Perhaps Dr. Rodd is of the same way of thinking.  Great shame
+that such a girl should be handed over to a medical scoundrel
+like Dr. Rodd.  I wonder if she cares for him?"
+
+"Just about as much as a canary cares for a tom-cat.  I have
+found that out already."
+
+"Really, Quatermain, you are admirable.  I never knew anyone who
+could make a better use of the briefest opportunity."
+
+Then we were silent, waiting, not without a certain impatience,
+for the return of Miss Heda.  She did return with surprising
+quickness considering that she had found time to search for her
+parent, to change into a clean white dress, and to pin a single
+hibiscus flower on to her bodice which gave just the touch of
+colour that was necessary to complete her costume.
+
+"I can't find my father," she said, "but the boys say he has gone
+out riding.  I can't find anybody.  When you have been summoned
+from a long way off and travelled post-haste, rather to your own
+inconvenience, it is amusing, isn't it?"
+
+"Wagons and carts in South Africa don't arrive like express
+trains, Miss Marnham," said Anscombe, "so you shouldn't be
+offended."
+
+"I am not at all offended, Mr. Anscombe.  Now that I know there
+is nothing the matter with my father I'm--But, tell me, how did
+you get your wound?"
+
+So he told her with much amusing detail after his fashion.  She
+listened quietly with a puckered up brow and only made one
+comment.  It was,--
+
+"I wonder what white man told those Sekukuni Kaffirs that you
+were coming."
+
+"I don't know," he answered, "but he deserves a bullet through
+him somewhere above the ankle."
+
+"Yes, though few people get what they deserve in this wicked
+world."
+
+"So I have often thought.  Had it been otherwise, for example, I
+should have been--"
+
+"What would you have been?" she asked, considering him curiously.
+
+"Oh! a better shot than Mr. Allan Quatermain, and as beautiful as
+a lady I once saw in my youth."
+
+"Don't talk rubbish before luncheon," I remarked sternly, and we
+all laughed, the first wholesome laughter that I had heard at the
+Temple.  For this young lady seemed to bring happiness and
+merriment with her.  I remember wondering what it was of which
+her coming reminded me, and concluding that it was like the sight
+and smell of a peach orchard in full bloom stumbled on suddenly
+in the black desert of the burnt winter veld.
+
+After this we became quite friendly.  She dilated on her skill in
+having produced the Temple from an old engraving, which she
+fetched and showed to us, at no greater an expense than it would
+have cost to build an ordinary house.
+
+"That is because the marble was at hand," said Anscombe.
+
+"Quite so," she replied demurely.  "Speaking in a general sense
+one can do many things in life--if the marble is at hand.  Only
+most of us when we look for marble find sandstone or mud."
+
+"Bravo!" said Anscombe, "I have generally lit upon the
+sandstone."
+
+"And I on the mud," she mused.
+
+"And I on all three, for the earth contains marble and mud and
+sandstone, to say nothing of gold and jewels," I broke in, being
+tired of silence.
+
+But neither of them paid much attention to me.  Anscombe did say,
+out of politeness, I suppose, that pitch and subterranean fires
+should be added, or some such nonsense.
+
+Then she began to tell him of her infantile memories of Hungary,
+which were extremely faint; of how they came this place and lived
+first of all in two large Kaffir huts, until suddenly they began
+to grow rich; of her school days at Maritzburg; of the friends
+with whom she had been staying, and I know not what, until at
+last I got up and went out for a walk.
+
+When I returned an hour or so later they were still talking, and
+so continued to do until Dr. Rodd arrived upon the scene.  At
+first they did not see him, for he stood at an angle to them, but
+I saw him and watched his face with a great deal of interest. 
+It, or rather its expression, was not pleasant; before now I have
+seen something like it on that of a wild beast which thinks that
+it is about to be robbed of its prey by a stronger wild beast, in
+short, a mixture of hate, fear and jealousy--especially jealousy. 
+At the last I did not wonder, for these two seemed to be getting
+on uncommonly well.
+
+They were, so to speak, well matched.  She, of course, was the
+better looking of the two, a really pretty and attractive young
+woman indeed, but the vivacity of Anscombe's face, the twinkle of
+his merry blue eyes and its general refinement made up for what
+he lacked--regularity of feature.  I think he had just told her
+one of his good stories which he always managed to make so
+humorous by a trick of pleasing and harmless exaggeration, and
+they were both laughing merrily.  Then she caught sight of the
+doctor and her merriment evaporated like a drop of water on a hot
+shovel.  Distinctly I saw her pull herself together and prepare
+for something.
+
+"How do you do?" she said rapidly, rising and holding out her
+slim sun-browned hand.  "But I need not ask, you look so well."
+
+"How do you do, my dear," with a heavy emphasis on the "dear" he
+answered slowly.  "But I needn't ask, for I see that you are in
+perfect health and spirits," and he bent forward as though to
+kiss her.
+
+Somehow or other she avoided that endearment or seal of
+possession.  I don't quite know how, as I turned my head away,
+not wishing to witness what I felt to be unpleasant.  When I
+looked up again, however, I saw that she had avoided it, the
+scowl on his face the demureness of hers and Anscombe's evident
+amusement assured me of this.  She was asking about her father;
+he answered that he also seemed quite well.
+
+"Then why did you write to tell me that I ought to come as he was
+not at all well?" she inquired, with a lifting of her delicate
+eyebrows.
+
+The question was never answered, for at that moment Marnham
+himself appeared.
+
+"Oh! father," she said, and rushed into his arms, while he kissed
+her tenderly on both cheeks.
+
+So I was not mistaken, thought I to myself, she does really love
+this moral wreck, and what is more, he loves her, which shows
+that there must be good in him.  Is anyone truly bad, I wondered,
+or for the matter of that, truly good either?  Is it not all a
+question of circumstance and blood?
+
+Neither then or at any other time have I found an answer to the
+problem.  At any rate to me there seemed something beautiful
+about the meeting of these two.
+
+The influence of Miss Heda in the house was felt at once.  The
+boys became smarter and put on clean clothes.  Vases of flowers
+appeared in the various rooms; ours was turned out and cleaned, a
+disagreeable process so far as we were concerned.  Moreover, at
+dinner both Marnham and Rodd wore dress clothes with short
+jackets, a circumstance  that put Anscombe and myself to shame
+since we had none.  It was curious to see how with those dress
+clothes, which doubtless awoke old associations within him,
+Marnham changed his colour like a chameleon.  Really he might
+have been the colonel of a cavalry regiment rising to toast the
+Queen after he had sent round the wine, so polite and polished
+was his talk.  Who could have identified the man with the dry old
+ruffian of twenty-four hours before, he who was drinking claret
+(and very good claret too) mixed with water and listening with a
+polite interest to all the details of his daughter's journey?
+Even the doctor looked a gentleman, which doubtless he was once
+upon a time, in evening dress.  Moreover, some kind of truce had
+been arranged.  He no longer called Miss Heda "My dear" or
+attempted any familiarities, while she on more than one occasion
+very distinctly called him Dr. Rodd.
+
+So much for that night and for several others that followed.  As
+for the days they went by pleasantly and idly.  Heda walked about
+on her father's arm, conversed in friendly fashion with the
+doctor, always watching him, I noticed, as a cat watches a dog
+that she knows is waiting an opportunity to spring, and for the
+rest associated with us as much as she could.  Particularly did
+she seem to take refuge behind my own insignificance, having, I
+suppose, come to the conclusion that I was a harmless person who
+might possibly prove useful.  But all the while I felt that the
+storm was banking up.  Indeed Marnham himself, at any rate to a
+great extent, played the part of the cloud-compelling Jove, for
+soon it became evident to me, and without doubt to Dr. Rodd also,
+that he was encouraging the intimacy between his daughter and
+Anscombe by every means in his power.
+
+In one way and another he had fully informed himself as to
+Anscombe's prospects in life, which were brilliant enough. 
+Moreover he liked the man who, as the remnant of the better
+perceptions of his youth told him, was one of the best class of
+Englishmen, and what is more, he saw that Heda liked him also, as
+much indeed as she disliked Rodd.  He even spoke to me of the
+matter in a round-about kind of fashion, saying that the young
+woman who married Anscombe would be lucky and that the father who
+had him for a son-in-law might go to his grave confident of his
+child's happiness.  I answered that I agreed with him, unless the
+lady's affections had already caused her to form other ties.
+
+"Affections!" he exclaimed, dropping all pretence, "there are
+none involved in this accursed business, as you are quite sharp
+enough to have seen for yourself."
+
+"I understood that an engagement was involved," I remarked.
+
+"On my part, perhaps, not on hers," he answered.  "Oh! can't you
+understand, Quatermain, that sometimes men find themselves forced
+into strange situations against their will?"
+
+Remembering the very ugly name that I had heard Rodd call Marnham
+on the night of the card party, I reflected that I could
+understand well enough, but I only said--
+
+"After all marriage is a matter that concerns a woman even more
+than it does her father, one, in short, of which she must be the
+judge."
+
+"Quite so, Quatermain, but there are some daughters who are
+prepared to make great sacrifices for their fathers.  Well, she
+will be of age ere long, if only I can stave it off till then. 
+But how, how?" and with a groan he turned and left me.
+
+That old gentleman's neck is in some kind of a noose, thought I
+to myself, and his difficulty is to prevent the rope from being
+drawn tight.  Meanwhile this poor girl's happiness and future are
+at stake.
+
+"Allan," said Anscombe to me a little later, for by now he called
+me by my Christian name, "I suppose you haven't heard anything
+about those oxen, have you?"
+
+"No, I could scarcely expect to yet, but why do you ask?"
+
+He smiled in his droll fashion and replied, "Because, interesting
+as this household is in sundry ways, I think it is about time
+that we, or at any rate that I, got out of it."
+
+"Your leg isn't fit to travel yet, Anscombe, although Rodd says
+that all the symptoms are very satisfactory."
+
+"Yes, but to tell you the truth I am experiencing other symptoms
+quite unknown to that beloved physician and so unfamiliar to
+myself that I attribute them to the influences of the locality. 
+Altitude affects the heart, does it not, and this house stands
+high."
+
+"Don't play off your jokes on me," I said sternly.  "What do you
+mean?"
+
+"I wonder if you find Miss Heda attractive, Allan, or if you are
+too old.  I believe there comes an age when the only beauties
+that can move a man are those of architecture, or scenery, or
+properly cooked food."
+
+"Hang it all! I am not Methusaleh," I replied; "but if you mean
+that you are falling in love with Heda, why the deuce don't you
+say so, instead of wasting my time and your own?"
+
+"Because time was given to us to waste.  Properly considered it
+is the best use to which it can be put, or at any rate the one
+that does least mischief.  Also because I wished to make you say
+it for me that I might judge from the effect of your words
+whether it is or is not true.  I may add that I fear the former
+to be the case."
+
+"Well, if you are in love with the girl you can't expect one so
+ancient as myself, who is quite out of touch with such follies,
+to teach you how to act."
+
+"No, Allan.  Unfortunately there are occasions when one  must
+rely upon one's own wisdom, and mine, what there is of it, tells
+me I had better get out of this.  But I can't ride even if I took
+the horse and you ran behind, and the oxen haven't come."
+
+"Perhaps you could borrow Miss Marnham's cart in which to run
+away from her," I suggested sarcastically.
+
+"Perhaps, though I believe it would be fatal to my foot to sit up
+in a cart for the next few days, and the horses seem to have been
+sent off somewhere.  Look here, old fellow," he went on, dropping
+his bantering tone, "it's rather awkward to make a fool of
+oneself over a lady who is engaged to some one else, especially
+if one suspects that with a little encouragement she might begin
+to walk the same road.  The truth is I have taken the fever
+pretty bad, worse than ever I did before, and if it isn't stopped
+soon it will become chronic."
+
+"Oh no, Anscombe, only intermittent at the worst, and African
+malaria nearly always yields to a change of climate."
+
+"How can I expect a cynic and a misogynist to understand the
+simple fervour of an inexperienced soul--Oh! drat it all,
+Quatermain, stop your acid chaff and tell me what is to be done. 
+Really I am in a tight place."
+
+"Very; so tight that I rejoice to think, as you were kind enough
+to point out, that my years protect me from anything of the sort. 
+I have no advice to give; I think you had better ask it of the
+lady."
+
+"Well, we did have a little conversation, hypothetical of course,
+about some friends of ours who found themselves similarly
+situated, and I regret to say without result."
+
+"Indeed.  I did not know you had any mutual acquaintances.  What
+did she say and do?"
+
+"She said nothing, only sighed and looked as though she were
+going to burst into tears, and all she did was to walk away.  I'd
+have followed her if I could, but as my crutch wasn't there it
+was impossible.  It seemed to me that suddenly I had come up
+against a brick wall, that there was something on her mind which
+she could not or would not let out.
+
+"Yes, and if you want to know, I will tell you what it is.  Rodd
+has got a hold over Marnham of a sort that would bring him
+somewhere near the gallows.  As the price of his silence Marnham
+has promised him his daughter.  The daughter knows that her
+father is in this man's power, though I think she does not know
+in what way, and being a good girl--"
+
+"An angel you mean--do call her by her right name, especially in
+a place where angels are so much wanted."
+
+"Well, an angel if you like--she has promised on her part to
+marry a man she loathes in order to save her parent's bacon."
+
+"Just what I concluded, from what we heard in the row.  I wonder
+which of that pair is the bigger blackguard.  Well, Allan, that
+settles it.  You and I are on the side of the angel.  You will
+have to get her out of this scrape and--if she'll have me, I'll
+marry her; and if she won't, why it can't be helped.  Now that's
+a fair division of labour.  How are you going to do it? I haven't
+an idea, and if I had, I should not presume to interfere with one
+so much older and wiser than myself."
+
+"I suppose that by the time you appeared in it, the game of heads
+I win and tails you lose had died out of the world," I replied
+with an indignant snort.  "I think the best thing I can do will
+be to take the horse and look for those oxen.  Meanwhile you can
+settle your business by the light of your native genius, and I
+only hope you'll finish it without murder and sudden death."
+
+"I say, old fellow," said Anscombe earnestly, "you don't really
+mean to go off and leave me in this hideousness? I haven't
+bothered much up to the present because I was sure that you would
+find a way out, which would be nothing to a man of your intellect
+and experience.  I mean it honestly, I do indeed."
+
+"Do you?  Well, I can only say that my mind is a perfect blank,
+but if you will stop talking I will try to think the matter over. 
+There's Miss Heda in the garden cutting flowers.  I will go to
+help her, which will be a very pleasant change."
+
+And I went, leaving him to stare after me jealously.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+
+
+THE STOEP
+
+
+
+
+
+When I reached Miss Heda she was collecting half-opened monthly
+roses from the hedge, and not quite knowing what to say I made
+the appropriate quotation.  At least it was appropriate to my
+thought, and, from her answer, to hers also.
+
+"Yes," she said, "I am gathering them while I may," and she
+sighed and, as I thought, glanced towards the verandah, though of
+this I could not be sure because of the wide brim of the hat she
+was wearing.
+
+Then we talked a little on indifferent matters, while I pricked
+my fingers helping to pluck the roses.  She asked me if I thought
+that Anscombe was getting on well, and how long it would be
+before he could travel.  I replied that Dr. Rodd could tell her
+better than myself, but that I hoped in about a week.
+
+"In a week!" she said, and although she tried to speak lightly
+there was dismay in her voice.
+
+"I hope you don't think it too long," I answered; "but even if he
+is fit to go, the oxen have not come yet, and I don't quite know
+when they will."
+
+"Too long!" she exclaimed.  "Too long!  Oh! if you only knew what
+it is to me to have such guests as you are in this place," and
+her dark eyes filled with tears.
+
+By now we had passed to the side of the house in search of some
+other flower that grew in the shade, I think it was mignonette,
+and were out of sight of the verandah and quite alone.
+
+"Mr. Quatermain,"  she said hurriedly, "I am wondering whether to
+ask your advice about something, if you would give it.  I have no
+one to consult here," she added rather piteously.
+
+"That is for you to decide.  If you wish to do so I am old enough
+to be your father, and will do my best to help."
+
+We walked on to an orange grove that stood about forty yards
+away, ostensibly to pick some fruit, but really because we knew
+that there we should be out of hearing and could see any one who
+approached.
+
+"Mr. Quatermain," she said presently in a low voice, I am in
+great trouble, almost the greatest a woman can have.  I am
+engaged to be married to a man whom I do not care for.
+
+"Then why not break it off?  It may be unpleasant, but it is
+generally best to face unpleasant things, and nothing can be so
+bad as marrying a man whom you do
+not--care for.
+
+"Because I cannot--I dare not.  I have to obey."
+
+"How old are you, Miss Marnham?"
+
+"I shall be of age in three months' time.  You may guess that I
+did not intend to return here until they were over, but I was,
+well--trapped.  He wrote to me that my father was ill and I
+came."
+
+"At any rate when they are over you will not have to obey any
+one.  It is not long to wait."
+
+"It is an eternity.  Besides this is not so much a question of
+obedience as of duty and of love.  I love my father who, whatever
+his faults, has always been very kind to me."
+
+"And I am sure he loves you.  Why not go to him and tell him your
+trouble?"
+
+"He knows it already, Mr. Quatermain, and hates this marriage
+even more than I do, if that is possible.  But he is driven to
+it, as I am.  Oh! I must tell the truth.  The doctor has some
+hold over him.  My father has done something dreadful; I don't
+know what and I don't want to know, but if it came out it would
+ruin my father, or worse, worse.  I am the price of his silence. 
+On the day of our marriage he will destroy the proofs.  If I
+refuse to marry him, they will be produced and then--"
+
+"It is difficult," I said.
+
+"It is more than difficult, it is terrible.  If you could see all
+there is in my heart, you would know how terrible."
+
+"I think I can see, Miss Heda.  Don't say any more now.  Give me
+time to consider.  In case of necessity come to me again, and be
+sure that I will protect you."
+
+"But you are going in a week."
+
+"Many things happen in a week.  Sufficient to the day is its
+evil.  At the end of the week we will come to some decision
+unless everything is already decided."
+
+For the next twenty-four hours I reflected on this pretty problem
+as hard as ever I did on anything in all my life.  Here was a
+young woman who must somehow protected from a scoundrel, but who
+could not be protected because she herself had to protect another
+scoundrel--to wit, her own father.  Could the thing be faced out?
+Impossible,  for I was sure that Marnham had committed a murder,
+or murders, of which Rodd possessed evidence that would hang him. 
+Could Heda be married to Anscombe at once?  Yes, if both were
+willing, but then Marnham would still be hung.  Could they elope? 
+Possibly, but with the same result.  Could I take her away and
+put her under the protection of the Court at Pretoria?  Yes, but
+with the same result.  I wondered what my Hottentot retainer,
+Hans, would have advised, he who was named Light-in-Darkness, and
+in his own savage way was the cleverest and most cunning man that
+I have met.  Alas! I could not raise him from the grave to tell
+me, and yet I knew well what he would have answered.
+
+"Baas," he would have said, "this is a rope which only the pale
+old man (i.e. death) can cut.  Let this doctor die or let the
+father die, and the maiden will be free.  Surely heaven is
+longing for one or both of them, and if necessary, Baas, I
+believe that I can point out a path to heaven!"
+
+I laughed to myself at the thought, which was one that a white
+man could not entertain even as a thought.  And I felt that the
+hypothetical Hans was right, death alone could cut this knot, and
+the reflection made me shiver.
+
+That night I slept uneasily and dreamed.  I dreamed that once
+more I was in the Black Kloof in Zululand, seated in front of the
+huts at the end of the kloof.  Before me squatted the old wizard,
+Zikali, wrapped up in his kaross--Zikali, the
+"Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," whom I had not seen for
+years.  Near him were the ashes of a fire, by the help of which I
+knew he had been practising divination.  He looked up and laughed
+one of his terrible laughs.
+
+"So you are here again, Macumazahn," he said, "grown older, but
+still the same; here at the appointed hour.  What do you come to
+seek from the Opener of Roads?  Not Mameena as I think this time. 
+No, no, it is she who seeks you this time, Macumazahn.  She found
+you once, did she not?  Far away to the north among a strange
+people who worshipped an Ivory Child, a people of whom I knew in
+my youth, and afterwards, for was not their prophet, Harut, a
+friend of mine and one of our brotherhood?  She found you beneath
+the tusks of the elephant, Jana, whom Macumazahn the skilful
+could not hit.  Oh! do not look astonished."
+
+"How do you know?" I asked in my dream.
+
+"Very simply, Macumazahn.  A little yellow man named Hans has
+been with me and told me all the story not an hour ago, after
+which I sent for Mameena to learn if it were true.  She will be
+glad to meet you, Macumazahn, she who has a hungry heart that
+does not forget.  Oh! don't be afraid.  I mean here beneath the
+sun, in the land beyond there will be no need for her to meet you
+since she will dwell ever at your side."
+
+"Why do you lie to me, Zikali?" I seemed to ask.  "How can a dead
+man speak to you and how can I meet a woman who is dead?"
+
+"Seek the answer to that question in the hour of the battle when
+the white men, your brothers, fall beneath assegai as weeds fall
+before the hoe--or perhaps before it.  But have done with
+Mameena, since she who never grows more old can well afford to
+wait.  It is not of Mameena that you came to speak to me; it is
+of a fair white woman named Heddana you would speak, and of the
+man she loves, you, who will ever be mixing yourself up in
+affairs of others, and therefore must bear their burdens with no
+pay save that of honour.  Hearken, for the time is short.  When
+the storm bursts upon them bring hither the fair maiden, Heddana,
+and the white lord, Mauriti, and I will shelter them for your
+sake.  Take them nowhere else.  Bring them hither if they would
+escape trouble.  I shall be glad to see you, Macumazahn, for at
+last I am about to smite the Zulu House of Senzangacona, my foes,
+with a bladder full of blood, and oh! it stains their doorposts
+red."
+
+Then I woke up, feeling afraid, as one does after a nightmare,
+and was comforted to hear Anscombe sleeping quietly on the other
+side of the room.
+
+"Mauriti.  Why did Zikali call him Mauriti?" I wondered drowsily
+to myself.  "Oh! of course his name is Maurice, and it was a Zulu
+corruption of a common sort as was Heddana of Heda."  Then I
+dozed off again, and by the morning had forgotten all about my
+dream until it was brought back to me by subsequent events. 
+Still it was this and nothing else that put it into my head to
+fly to Zululand on an emergency that was to arise ere long.*
+
+[*--For the history of Zikali and Mameena see the book called
+_Child of Storm_ by H. Rider Haggard.]
+
+That evening Rodd was absent from dinner, and on inquiring where
+he might be, I was informed that he had ridden to visit a Kaffir
+headman, a patient of his who lived at a distance, and would very
+probably sleep at the kraal, returning early next day.  One of
+the topics of conversation during dinner was as to where the
+exact boundary line used to run between the Transvaal and the
+country over which the Basuto chief, Sekukuni, claimed ownership
+and jurisdiction.  Marnham said that it passed within a couple of
+miles of his house, and when we rose, the moon being very bright,
+offered to show me where the beacons had been placed years before
+by a Boer Commission.  I accepted, as the night was lovely for a
+stroll after the hot day.  Also I was half conscious of another
+undefined purpose in my mind, which perhaps may have spread to
+that of Marnham.  Those two young people looked very happy
+together there on the stoep, and as they must part so soon it
+would, I thought, be kind to give them the opportunity of a quiet
+chat.
+
+So off we went to the brow of the hill on which the Temple stood,
+whence old Marnham pointed out to me a beacon, which I could not
+see in the dim, silvery bush-veld below, and how the line ran
+from it to another beacon somewhere else.
+
+"You know the Yellow-wood swamp," he said.  "It passes straight
+through that.  That is why those Basutos who were following you
+pulled up upon the edge of the swamp, though as a matter of fact,
+according to their ideas, they had a perfect right to kill you on
+their side of the line which cuts through the middle."
+
+I made some remark to the effect that I presumed that the line
+had in fact ceased to exist at all, as the Basuto territory had
+practically become British; after which we strolled back to the
+house.  Walking quietly between the tall rose hedges and without
+speaking, for each of us was preoccupied with his own thoughts,
+suddenly we came upon a very pretty scene.
+
+We had left Anscombe and Heda seated side by side on the stoep. 
+They were still there, but much closer together.  In fact his
+arms were round her, and they were kissing each other in a
+remarkably whole-hearted way.  About this there could be no
+mistake, since the rimpi-strung couch on which they sat was
+immediately under the hanging lamp--a somewhat unfortunate
+situation for such endearments.  But what did they think of
+hanging lamps or any other lights, save those of their own eyes,
+they who were content to kiss and murmur words of passion as
+though they were as much alone as Adam and Eve in Eden?  What did
+they think either of the serpent coiled about the bole of this
+tree of knowledge whereof they had just plucked the ripe and
+maddening fruit?
+
+By a mutual instinct Marnham and I withdrew ourselves, very
+gently indeed, purposing to skirt round the house and enter it
+from behind, or to be seized with a fit of coughing at the gate,
+or to do something to announce our presence at a convenient
+distance.  When we had gone a little way we heard a crash in the
+bushes.
+
+"Another of those cursed baboons robbing the garden," remarked
+Marnham reflectively.
+
+"I think he is going to rob the house also," I replied, turning
+to point to something dark that seemed to be leaping up on to the
+verandah.
+
+Next moment we heard Heda utter a little cry of alarm, and a man
+say in a low fierce voice-
+
+"So I have caught you at last, have I!"
+
+"The doctor has returned from his business rounds sooner than was
+expected, and I think that we had better join the party," I
+remarked, and made a bee line for the stoep, Marnham following
+me.
+
+I think that I arrived just in time to prevent mischief.  There,
+with a revolver in his hand, stood Rodd, tall and formidable, his
+dark face looking like that of Satan himself, a very monument of
+rage and jealousy.  There in front of him on the couch sat Heda,
+grasping its edge with her fingers, her cheeks as pale as a sheet
+and her eyes shining.  By her side was Anscombe, cool and
+collected as usual, I noticed, but evidently perplexed.
+
+"If there is any shooting to be done," he was saying, "I think
+you had better begin with me."
+
+His calmness seemed to exasperate Rodd, who lifted the revolver. 
+But I too was prepared, for in that house I always went armed. 
+There was no time to get at the man, who was perhaps fifteen feet
+away, and I did not want to hurt him.  So I did the best I could;
+that is, I fired at the pistol in his hand, and the light being
+good, struck it near the hilt and knocked it off the barrel
+before the he could press the trigger, if he really meant to
+shoot.
+
+"That's a good shot," remarked Anscombe who had seen me, while
+Rodd stared at the hilt which he still held.
+
+"A lucky one," I answered, walking forward.  "And now, Dr. Rodd,
+will you be so good as to tell me what you mean by flourishing a
+revolver, presumably loaded, in the faces of a lady and an
+unarmed man?"
+
+"What the devil is that to you," he asked furiously, "and what do
+you mean by firing at me?"
+
+"A great deal," I answered, "seeing that a young woman and my
+friend are concerned.  As for firing at you, had I done so you
+would not be asking questions now.  I fired at the pistol in your
+hand, but if there is more trouble next time it shall be at the
+holder," and I glanced at my revolver.
+
+Seeing that I meant business he made no reply, but turned upon
+Marnham who had followed me.
+
+"This is your work, you old villain," he said in a low voice that
+was heavy with hate.  "You promised your daughter to me.  She is
+engaged to me, and now I find her in this wanderer's arms."
+
+"What have I to do with it?" said Marnham.  "Perhaps she has
+changed her mind.  You had better ask her."
+
+"There is no need to ask me," interrupted Heda, who now seemed to
+have got her nerve again.  "I _have_ changed my mind.  I never
+loved you, Dr. Rodd, and I will not marry you.  I love Mr.
+Anscombe here, and as he has asked me to be his wife I mean to
+marry him."
+
+"I see," he sneered, "you want to be a peeress one day, no doubt. 
+Well, you never shall if I can help it.  Perhaps, too, this fine
+gentleman of yours will not be so particularly anxious to marry
+you when he learns that you are the daughter of a murderer."
+
+That word was like a bombshell bursting among us.  We looked at
+each other as people, yet dazed with the shock, might on a
+battlefield when the noise of the explosion has died and the
+smoke cleared away, to see who is still alive.  Anscombe spoke
+the first.
+
+"I don't know what you mean or to what you refer," he said
+quietly.  "But at any rate this lady who has promised to marry me
+is innocent, and therefore if all her ancestors had been
+murderers it would not in the slightest turn me from my purpose
+of marrying her."
+
+She looked at him, and all the gratitude in the world shone in
+her frightened eyes.  Marnham stepped, or rather staggered
+forward, the blue vein throbbing on forehead.
+
+"He lies," he said hoarsely, tugging at his long beard.  "Listen
+now and I will tell you the truth.  Once, more than a year ago, I
+was drunk and in a rage.  In this state I fired at a Kaffir to
+frighten him, and by some devil's chance shot him dead.  That's
+what he calls being a murderer."
+
+"I have another tale," said Rodd, "with which I will not trouble
+this company just now.  Look here, Heda, either you fulfil your
+promise and marry me, or your father swings."
+
+She gasped and sank together on the seat as though she had been
+shot.  Then I took up my parable.
+
+"Are you the man," I asked, "to accuse others of crime?  Let us
+see.  You have spent several months in an English prison (I gave
+the name) for a crime I won't mention."
+
+"How do you know--" he began.
+
+"Never mind, I do know and the prison books will show it. 
+Further, your business is that of selling guns and ammunition to
+the Basutos of Sekukuni's tribe, who, although the expedition
+against them has been temporarily recalled, are still the Queen's
+enemies.  Don't deny it, for I have the proofs.  Further, it was
+you who advised Sekukuni to kill us when we went down to his
+country to shoot the other day, because you were afraid that we
+should discover whence he got his guns."  (This was a bow drawn
+at a venture, but the arrow went home, for I saw his jaw drop.) 
+"Further, I believe you to be an illicit diamond buyer, and I
+believe also that you have again been arranging with the Basutos
+to make an end of us, though of these last two items at present I
+lack positive proof.  Now, Dr. Rodd, I ask you for the second
+time whether you are a person to accuse others of crimes and
+whether, should you do so, you will be considered a credible
+witness when your own are brought to light?"
+
+"If had been guilty of any of these things, which I am not, it is
+obvious that my partner must have shared in all of them, except
+the first.  So if you inform against me, you inform against him,
+and the father of Heda, whom your friend wishes to marry, will,
+according to your showing, be proved a gun-runner, a thief and a
+would-be murderer of his guests.  I should advise you to leave
+that business alone, Mr. Quatermain."
+
+The reply was bold and clever, so much so that I regarded this
+blackguard with a certain amount of admiration, as I answered--
+
+"I shall take your advice if you take mine to leave another
+business alone, that of this young lady and her father, but not
+otherwise."
+
+"Then spare your breath and do your worst; only careful, sharp as
+you think yourself, that your meddling does not recoil on your
+own head.  Listen, Heda, either you make up your mind to marry me
+at once and arrange that this young gentleman, who as a doctor I
+assure you is now quite fit to travel without injury to his
+health, leaves this house to-morrow with the spy Quatermain--you
+might lend him the Cape cart to go in--or I start with the proofs
+to lay a charge of murder against your father.  I give you till
+to-morrow morning to have a family council to think it over. 
+Good-night."
+
+"Good-night," I answered as he passed me, "and please be careful
+that none of us see your face again before to-morrow morning.  As
+you may happen to have heard, my native name means
+Watcher-by-Night," and I looked at the revolver in my hand.
+
+When he had vanished I remarked in as cheerful voice as I could
+command, that I thought it was bedtime, and as nobody stirred,
+added, "Don't be afraid, young lady.  If you feel lonely, you
+must tell that stout maid of yours to sleep in your room.  Also,
+as the night is so hot I shall take my nap on the stoep, there,
+just opposite your window.  No, don't let us talk any more now. 
+There will be plenty of time for that to-morrow."
+
+She rose, looked at Anscombe, looked at me, looked at her father
+very pitifully; then with a little exclamation of despair passed
+into her room by the French window, where presently I heard her
+call the native maid and tell her that she was to sleep with her.
+
+Marnham watched her depart.  Then he too went with his head bowed
+and staggering a little in his walk.  Next Anscombe rose and
+limped off into his room, I following him.
+
+"Well, young man," I said, "you have put us all in the soup now
+and no mistake."
+
+"Yes, Allan, I am afraid I have.  But on the whole don't you
+think it rather interesting soup--so many unexpected ingredients,
+you see!"
+
+"Interesting soup!  Unexpected ingredients!" I repeated after
+him, adding, "Why not call it hell's broth at once?"
+
+Then he became serious, dreadfully serious.
+
+"Look here," he said, "I love Heda, and whatever her family
+history may be I mean to marry her and face the row at home."
+
+"You could scarcely do less in all the circumstances, and as for
+rows, that young lady would soon fit herself into any place that
+you can give her.  But the question is, how can you marry her?"
+
+"Oh! something will happen," he replied optimistically.
+
+"You are quite right there.  Something will certainly happen, but
+the point is--what? Something was very near happening when I
+turned up on that stoep, so near that I think it was lucky for
+you, or for Miss Heda, or both, that I have learned how to handle
+a pistol.  Now let me see your foot, and don't speak another word
+to me about all this business to-night.  I'd rather tackle it
+when I am clear-headed in the morning."
+
+"Well, I examined his instep and leg very carefully and found
+that Rodd was right.  Although it still hurt him to walk, the
+wound was quite healed and all inflammation had gone from the
+limb.  Now it was only a question of time for the sinews to right
+themselves.  While I was thus engaged he held forth on the
+virtues and charms of Heda, I making no comment.
+
+"Lie down and get to sleep, if you can," I said when I had
+finished.  "The door is locked and I am going on to the stoep, so
+you needn't be afraid of the windows.  Good-night."
+
+I went out and sat myself down in such a position that by the
+light of the hanging lamp, which still burned, I could make sure
+that no one could approach either Heda's or my room without my
+seeing him.  For the rest, all my life I have been accustomed to
+night vigils, and the loaded revolver hung from my wrist by a
+loop of hide.  Moreover, never had I felt less sleepy.  There I
+sat hour after hour, thinking.
+
+The substance of my thoughts does not matter, since the events
+that followed make them superfluous to the story.  I will merely
+record, therefore, that towards dawn a great horror took hold of
+me.  I did not know of what I was afraid, but I was much afraid
+of something.  Nothing was passing in either Heda's or our room,
+of that I made sure by personal examination.  Therefore it would
+seem that my terrors were unnecessary, and yet they grew and
+grew.  I felt sure that something was happening somewhere, a
+dread occurrence which it was beyond my power to prevent, though
+whether it were in this house or at the other end of Africa I did
+not know.
+
+The mental depression increased and culminated.  Then of a sudden
+it passed completely away, and as I mopped the sweat from off my
+brow I noticed that dawn was breaking.  It was a tender and
+beautiful dawn, and in a dim way I took it as a good omen.  Of
+course it was nothing but the daily resurrection of the sun, and
+yet it brought to me comfort and hope.  The night was past with
+all its fears; the light had come with all its joys.  From that
+moment I was certain that we should triumph over these
+difficulties and that the end of them would be peace.
+
+So sure was I that I ventured to take a nap, knowing that the
+slightest movement or sound would wake me.  I suppose I slept
+until six o'clock, when I was aroused by a footfall.  I sprang
+up, and saw before me one of our native servants.  He was
+trembling and his face was ashen beneath the black.  Moreover he
+could not speak.  All he did was to put his head on one side,
+like a dead man, and keep on pointing downwards.  Then with his
+mouth open and starting eyes he beckoned to me to follow him.
+
+I followed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+
+
+RODD'S LAST CARD
+
+
+
+
+
+The man led me to Marnham's room, which I had never entered
+before.  All I could see at first, for the shutters were closed,
+was that the place seemed large, as bedchambers go in South
+Africa.  When my eyes grew accustomed to the light, I made out
+the figure of a man seated in a chair with his head bent forward
+over a table that was placed at the foot of the bed almost in the
+centre of the room.  I threw open the shutters and the morning
+light poured in.  The man was Marnham.  On the table were writing
+materials, also a brandy bottle with only a dreg of spirit in it. 
+I looked for the glass and found it by his side on the floor,
+shattered, not merely broken.
+
+"Drunk," I said aloud, whereon the servant, who understood me,
+spoke for the first time, saying in a frightened voice in Dutch--
+
+"No, Baas, dead, half cold.  I found him so just now."
+
+I bent down and examined Marnham, also felt his face.  Sure
+enough, he was dead, for his jaw had fallen; also his flesh was
+chill, and from him came a horrible smell of brandy.  I thought
+for a moment, then bade the boy fetch Dr.  Rodd and say nothing
+to any one else, He went, and now for the first time I noticed a
+large envelope addressed "Allan Quatermain, Esq." in a somewhat
+shaky hand.  This I picked up and slipped into my pocket.
+
+Rodd arrived half dressed.
+
+"What's the matter now?" he growled.
+
+I pointed to Marnham, saying--
+
+"That is a question for you to answer.
+
+"Oh! drunk again, I suppose," he said.  Then he did as I had
+done, bent down and examined him.  A few seconds later he stepped
+or reeled back, looking as frightened as a man could be, and
+exclaiming--
+
+"Dead as a stone, by God! Dead these three hours or more."
+
+"Quite so," I answered, "but what killed him?"
+
+"How should I know?" he asked savagely.  "Do you suspect me of
+poisoning him?"
+
+"My mind is open," I replied; "but as you quarrelled so bitterly
+last night, others might."
+
+The bolt went home; he saw his danger.
+
+"Probably the old sot died in a fit, or of too much brandy.  How
+can one know without a post-mortem?  But that mustn't be made by
+me.  I'm off to inform the magistrate and get hold of another
+doctor.  Let the body remain as it is until I return.
+
+I reflected quickly.  Ought I to let him go or not?  If he had
+any hand in this business, doubtless he intended to escape. 
+Well, supposing this were so and he did escapee, that would be a
+good thing for Heda, and really it was no affair of mine to bring
+the fellow to justice.  Moreover there was nothing to show that
+he was guilty; his whole manner seemed to point another way,
+though of course he might be acting.
+
+"Very well," I replied, "but return as quickly as possible."
+
+He stood for a few seconds like a man who is dazed.  It occurred
+to me that it might have come into his mind with Marnham's death
+that he had lost his hold over Heda.  But if so he said nothing
+of it, but only asked--
+
+"Will you go instead of me?"
+
+"On the whole I think not," I replied, "and if I did, the story I
+should have to tell might not tend to your advantage.
+
+"That's true, damn you!" he exclaimed and left the room.
+
+Ten minutes later he was galloping towards Pilgrim's Rest. 
+Before I departed from the death chamber I examined the place
+carefully to see if I could find any poison or other deadly
+thing, but without success.  One thing I did discover, however. 
+Turning the leaf of a blotting-book that was by Marnham's elbow,
+I came upon a sheet of paper on which were written these words in
+his hand, "Greater love hath no man than this--" that was all.
+
+Either he had forgotten the end of the quotation or changed his
+mind, or was unable through weakness to finish the sentence. 
+This paper also I put in my pocket.  Bolting the shutters and
+locking the door I returned to the stoep, where I was alone, for
+as yet no one else was stirring.  Then I remembered the letter in
+my pocket and opened it.  It ran--
+
+
+"Dear Mr. Quatermain,--
+
+"I have remembered that those who quarrel with Dr. Rodd are apt
+to die soon and suddenly; at any rate life at my age is always
+uncertain.  Therefore, as I know you to be an honest man, I am
+enclosing my will that it may be in safe keeping and purpose to
+send it to your room to-morrow morning.  Perhaps when you return
+to Pretoria you will deposit it in the Standard Bank there, and
+if I am still alive, forward me the receipt.  You will see that I
+leave everything to my daughter whom I dearly love, and that
+there is enough to keep the wolf from her door, besides my share
+in this property, if it is ever realized.
+
+"After all that has passed to-night I do not feel up to writing a
+long letter, so
+
+"Remain sincerely yours,
+
+"H. A. Marnham."
+
+
+"PS.--I should like to state clearly upon paper that my earnest
+hope and wish are that Heda may get clear of that black-hearted,
+murderous, scoundrel Rodd and marry Mr. Anscombe, whom I like and
+who, I am sure, would make her a good husband."
+
+
+Thinking to myself this did not look very like the letter of a
+suicide, I glanced through the will, as the testator seemed to
+have wished that I should do so.  It was short, but properly
+drawn, signed, and witnessed, and bequeathed a sum of #9,000,
+which was on deposit at the Standard Bank, together with all his
+other property, real and personal, to Heda for her own sole use,
+free from the debts and engagements of her husband, should she
+marry.  Also she was forbidden to spend more than #1,000 of the
+capital.  In short the money was strictly tied up.  With the will
+were some other papers that apparently referred to certain
+property in Hungary to which Heda might become entitled, but
+about these I did not trouble.
+
+Replacing these documents in a safe inner pocket in the lining of
+my waistcoat, I went into our room and woke up Anscombe who was
+sleeping soundly, a fact that caused an unreasonable irritation
+in my mind.  When at length he was thoroughly aroused I said to
+him--
+
+"You are in luck's way, my friend.  Marnham is dead."
+
+"Oh! poor Heda," he exclaimed, "she loved him.  It will half
+break her heart."
+
+"If it breaks half of her heart," I replied, "it will mend the
+other half, for now her filial affection can't force her to marry
+Rodd, and that is where you are in luck's way."
+
+Then I told him all the story.
+
+"Was he murdered or did he commit suicide?" he asked when I had
+finished.
+
+"I don't know, and to tell you the truth I don't want to know;
+nor will you if you are wise, unless knowledge is forced upon
+you.  It is enough that he is dead, and for his daughter's sake
+the less the circumstances of his end are examined into the
+better."
+
+"Poor Heda!" he said again, "who will tell her?  I can't.  _You_
+found him, Allan."
+
+"I expected that job would be my share of the business, Anscombe. 
+Well, the sooner it is over the better.  Now dress yourself and
+come on to the stoep."
+
+Then I left him and next minute met Heda's fat, half-breed maid,
+a stupid but good sort of a woman who was called Kaatje, emerging
+from her mistress's room with a jug, to fetch hot water, I
+suppose.
+
+"Kaatje," I said, "go back and tell the Missie Heda that I want
+to speak to her as soon as I can.  Never mind the hot water, but
+stop and help her to dress."
+
+She began to grumble a little in a good-natured way, but
+something in my eye stopped her and she went back into the room. 
+Ten minutes later Heda was by my side.
+
+"What is it, Mr. Quatermain?" she asked.  "I feel sure that
+something dreadful has happened."
+
+"It has, my dear," I answered, "that is, if death is dreadful. 
+Your father died last night."
+
+"Oh!" she said, "oh!" and sank back on to the seat.
+
+"Bear up," I went on, "we must all die one day, and he had
+reached the full age of man."
+
+"But I loved him," she moaned.  "He had many faults I know, still
+I loved him."
+
+"It is the lot of life, Heda, that we should lose what we love. 
+Be thankful, therefore, that you have some one left to love."
+
+"Yes, thank God! that's true.  If it had been him--no, it's
+wicked to say that."
+
+Then I told her the story, and while I was doing so, Anscombe
+joined us, walking by aid of his stick.  Also I showed them both
+Marnham's letter to me and the will, but the other bit of paper I
+did not speak of or show.
+
+She sat very pale and quiet and listened till I had done.  Then
+she said--
+
+"I should like to see him."
+
+"Perhaps it is as well," I answered.  "If you can bear it, come
+at once, and do you come also, Anscombe."
+
+We went to the room, Anscombe and Heda holding each other by the
+hand.  I unlocked the door and, entering, threw open a shutter. 
+There sat the dead man as I had left him, only his head had
+fallen over a little.  She gazed at him, trembling, then advanced
+and kissed his cold forehead, muttering,
+
+"Good-bye, father.  Oh! good-bye, father."
+
+A thought struck me, and I asked--
+
+"Is there any place here where your father locked up things? As I
+have shown you, you are his heiress, and if so it might be as
+well in this house that you should possess yourself of his
+property."
+
+"There is a safe in the corner," she answered, "of which he
+always kept the key in his trouser pocket."
+
+"Then with your leave I will open it in your presence."
+
+Going to the dead man I searched his pocket and found in it a
+bunch of keys.  These I withdrew and went to the safe over which
+a skin rug was thrown.  I unlocked it easily enough.  Within were
+two bags of gold, each marked #100; also another larger bag
+marked "My wife's jewelry.  For Heda"; also some papers and a
+miniature of the lady whose portrait hung in the sitting-room;
+also some loose gold.
+
+"Now who will take charge of these?" I asked.  "I do not think it
+safe to leave them here."
+
+"You, of course," said Anscombe, while Heda nodded.
+
+So with a groan I consigned all these valuables to my capacious
+pockets.  Then I locked up the empty safe, replaced the keys
+where I had found them on Marnham, fastened the shutter and left
+the room with Anscombe, waiting for a while outside till Heda
+joined us, sobbing a little.  After this we got something to eat,
+insisting on Heda doing the same.
+
+On leaving the table I saw a curious sight, namely, the patients
+whom Rodd was attending in the little hospital of which I have
+spoken, departing towards the bush-veld, those of them who could
+walk well and the attendants assisting the others.  They were
+already some distance away, too far indeed for me to follow, as I
+did not wish to leave the house.  The incident filled me with
+suspicion, and I went round to the back to make inquiries, but
+could find no one.  As I passed the hospital door, however, I
+heard a voice calling in Sisutu--
+
+"Do not leave me behind, my brothers."
+
+I entered and saw the man on whom Rodd had operated the day of
+our arrival, lying in bed and quite alone.  I asked him where the
+others had gone.  At first he would not answer, but when I
+pretended to leave him, called out that it was back to their own
+country.  Finally, to cut the story short, I extracted from him
+that they had left because they had news that the Temple was
+going to be attacked by Sekukuni and did not wish to be here when
+I and Anscombe were killed.  How the news reached him he refused,
+or could not, say; nor did he seem to know anything of the death
+of Marnham.  When I pressed him on the former point, he only
+groaned and cried for water, for he was in pain and thirsty.  I
+asked him who had told Sekukuni's people to kill us, but he
+refused to speak.
+
+"Very well," I said, "then you shall lie here alone and die of
+thirst," and again I turned towards the door.
+
+At this he cried out--
+
+"I will tell you.  It was the white medicine-man who lives here;
+he who cut me open.  He arranged it all a few days ago because he
+hates you.  Last night he rode to tell the impi when to come."
+
+"When is it to come?" I asked, holding the jug of water towards
+him.
+
+"To-night at the rising of the moon, so that it may get far away
+before the dawn.  My people are thirsty for your blood and for
+that of the other white chief, because you killed so many of them
+by the river.  The others they will not harm."
+
+"How did you learn all this?" I asked him again, but without
+result, for he became incoherent and only muttered something
+about being left alone because the others could not carry him. 
+So I gave him some water, after which he fell asleep, or
+pretended to do so, and I left him, wondering whether he was
+delirious, or spoke truth.  As I passed the stables I saw that my
+own horse was there, for in this district horses are always shut
+up at night to keep them from catching sickness, but that the
+four beasts that had brought Heda from Natal in the Cape cart
+were gone, though it was evident that they had been kraaled here
+till within an hour or two.  I threw my horse a bundle of forage
+and returned to the house by the back entrance.  The kitchen was
+empty, but crouched by the door of Marnham's room sat the boy who
+had found him dead.  He had been attached to his master and
+seemed half dazed.  I asked him where the other servants were, to
+which he replied that they had all run away.  Then I asked him
+where the horses were.  He answered that the Baas Rodd had
+ordered them to be turned out before he rode off that morning.  I
+bade him accompany me to the stoep, as I dared not let him out of
+my sight, which he did unwillingly enough.
+
+There I found Anscombe and Heda.  They were seated side by side
+upon the couch.  Tears were running down her face and he, looking
+very troubled, held her by the hand.  Somehow that picture of
+Heda has always remained fixed in my mind.  Sorrow becomes some
+women and she was one of them.  Her beautiful dark grey eyes did
+not grow red with weeping; the tears just welled up in them and
+fell like dewdrops from the heart of a flower.
+
+She sat very upright and very still, as he did, looking straight
+in front of her, while a ray of sunshine, falling on her head,
+showed the chestnut-hued lights in her waving hair, of which she
+had a great abundance.
+
+Indeed the pair of them, thus seated side by side, reminded me of
+an engraving I had seen somewhere of the statues of a husband and
+wife in an old Egyptian tomb.  With just such a look did the
+woman of thousands of years ago sit gazing in patient hope into
+the darkness of the future.  Death had made her sad, but it was
+gone by, and the little wistful smile about her lips seemed to
+suggest that in this darkness her sorrowful eyes already saw the
+stirring of the new life to be.  Moreover, was not the man she
+loved the companion of her hopes as he had been of her woes. 
+Such was the fanciful thought that sprang up in my mind, even in
+the midst of those great anxieties, like a single flower in a
+stony wilderness of thorns or one star on the blackness of the
+night.
+
+In a moment it had gone and I was telling them of what I had
+learned.  They listened till I had finished.  Then Anscombe said
+slowly--
+
+"Two of us can't hold this house against an impi.  We must get
+out of it."
+
+"Both your conclusions seem quite sound," I remarked, "that is if
+yonder old Kaffir is telling the truth.  But the question
+is--how?  We can't all three of us ride on one nag, as you are
+still a cripple."
+
+"There is the Cape cart," suggested Heda.
+
+"Yes, but the horses have been turned out, and I don't know where
+to look for them.  Nor dare I send that boy alone, for probably
+he would bolt like the others.  I think that you had better get
+on my horse and ride for it, leaving us to take our chance.  I
+daresay the whole thing is a lie and that we shall be in no
+danger," I added by way of softening the suggestion.
+
+"That I will never do," she replied with so much quiet conviction
+that I saw it was useless to pursue the argument.
+
+I thought for a moment, as the position was very difficult.  The
+boy was not to be trusted, and if I went with him I should be
+leaving these two alone and, in Anscombe's state, almost
+defenceless.  Still it seemed as though I must.  Just then I
+looked up, and there at the garden gate saw Anscombe's driver,
+Footsack, the man whom I had despatched to Pretoria to fetch his
+oxen.  I noted that he looked frightened and was breathless, for
+his eyes started out of his head.  Also his hat was gone and he
+bled a little from his face.
+
+Seeing us he ran up the path and sat down as though he were
+tired.
+
+"Where are the oxen?" I asked.
+
+"Oh! Baas," he answered, "the Basutos have got them.  We heard
+from an old black woman that Sekukuni had an impi out, so we
+waited on the top of that hill about an hour's ride away to see
+if it was true.  Then suddenly the doctor Baas appeared riding,
+and I ran out and asked him if it were safe to go on.  He knew me
+again and answered--
+
+"'Yes, quite safe, for have I not just ridden this road without
+meeting so much as a black child.  Go on, man; your masters will
+be glad to have their oxen, as they wish to trek, or will by
+nightfall.'  Then he laughed and rode away.
+
+"So we went on, driving the oxen.  But when we came to the belt
+of thorns at the bottom of the hill, we found that the doctor
+Baas had either lied to us or he had not seen.  For there
+suddenly the tall grass on either side of the path grew spears;
+yes, everywhere were spears.  In a minute the two voorloopers
+were assegaied.  As for me, I ran forward, not back, since the
+Kaffirs were behind me, across the path, Baas, driving off the
+oxen.  They sprang at me, but I jumped this way and that way and
+avoided them.  Then they threw assegais--see, one of them cut my
+cheek, but the rest missed.  They had guns in their hands also,
+but none shot.  I think they did not wish to make a noise.  Only
+one of them shouted after me--
+
+"'Tell Macumazahn that we are going to call on him tonight when
+he cannot see to shoot.  We have a message for him from our
+brothers whom he killed at the drift of the Oliphant's River.'
+
+"Then I ran on here without stopping, but I saw no more Kaffirs. 
+That is all, Baas."
+
+Now I did not delay to cross-examine the man or to sift the true
+from the false in his story, since it was clear to me that he had
+run into a company of Basutos, or rather been beguiled thereto by
+Rodd, and lost our cattle, also his companions, who were either
+killed as he said, or had escaped some other way.
+
+"Listen, man," I said.  "I am going to fetch some horses.  Do you
+stay here and help the Missie to pack the cart and make the
+harness ready.  If you disobey me or run away, then I will find
+you and you will never run again.  Do you understand?"
+
+He vowed that he did and went to get some water, while I
+explained everything to Anscombe and Heda, pointing out that all
+the information we could gather seemed to show that no attack was
+to be made upon the house before nightfall, and that therefore we
+had the day before us.  As this was so I proposed to go to look
+for the horses myself, since otherwise I was sure we should never
+find them.  Meanwhile Heda must pack and make ready the cart with
+the help of Footsack, Anscombe superintending everything, as he
+could very well do since he was now able to walk leaning on a
+stick.
+
+Of course neither of them liked my leaving them, but in view of
+our necessities they raised no objection.  So off I went, taking
+the boy with me.  He did not want to go, being, as I have said,
+half dazed with grief or fear, or both, but when I had pointed
+out to him clearly that I was quite prepared to shoot him if he
+played tricks, he changed his mind.  Having saddled my mare that
+was now fresh and fat, we started, the boy guiding me to a
+certain kloof at the foot of which there was a small plain of
+good grass where he said the horses were accustomed to graze.
+
+Here sure enough we found two of them, and as they had been
+turned out with their headstalls on, were able to tie them to
+trees with the riems which were attached to the headstalls.  But
+the others were not there, and as two horses could not drag a
+heavy Cape cart, I was obliged to continue the search.  Oh! what
+a hunt those beasts gave me.  Finding themselves free, for as
+Rodd's object was that they should stray, he had ordered the
+stable-boy not to kneel-halter them, after filling themselves
+with grass they had started off for the farm where they were
+bred, which, it seemed, was about fifty miles away, grazing as
+they went.  Of course I did not know this at the time, so for
+several hours I rode up and down the neighbouring kloofs, as the
+ground was too hard for me to hope to follow them by their spoor.
+
+It occurred to me to ask the boy where the horses came from, a
+question that he happened to be able to answer, as he had brought
+them home when they were bought the year before.  Having learned
+in what direction the place lay I rode for it at an angle, or
+rather for the path that led to it, making the boy run alongside,
+holding to my stirrup leather.  About three o'clock in the
+afternoon I struck this path, or rather track, at a point ten or
+twelve miles away from the Temple, and there, just mounting a
+rise, met the two horses quietly  walking towards me.  Had I been
+a quarter of an hour later they would have passed and vanished
+into a sea of thorn-veld.  We caught them without trouble and
+once more headed homewards, leading them by their riems.
+
+Reaching the glade where the other two were tied up, we collected
+them also and returned to the house, where we arrived at five
+o'clock.  As everything seemed quiet I put my mare into the
+stable, slipped its bit and gave it some forage.  Then I went
+round the house, and to my great joy found Anscombe and Heda
+waiting anxiously, but with nothing to report, and with them
+Footsack.  Very hastily I swallowed some food, while Footsack
+inspanned the horses.  In a quarter of an hour all was ready. 
+Then suddenly, in an inconsequent female fashion, Heda developed
+a dislike to leaving her father unburied.
+
+"My dear young lady," I said, "it seems that you must choose
+between that and our all stopping to be buried with him."
+
+She saw the point and compromised upon paying him a visit of
+farewell, which I left her to do in Anscombe's company, while I
+fetched my mare.  To tell the truth I felt as though I had seen
+enough of the unhappy Marnham, and not for #50 would I have
+entered that room again.  As l passed the door of the hospital,
+leading my horse, I heard the old Kaffir screaming within and
+sent the boy who was with me to find out what was the matter with
+him.  That was the last I saw of either of them, or ever shall
+see this side of kingdom come.  I wonder what became of them?
+
+When I got back to the front of the house I found the cart
+standing ready at the gate, Footsack at the head of the horses
+and Heda with Anscombe at her side.  It had been neatly packed
+during the day by Heda with such of her and our belongings as it
+would hold, including our arms and ammunition.  The rest, of
+course, we were obliged to abandon.  Also there were two baskets
+full of food, some bottles of brandy and a good supply of
+overcoats and wraps.  I told Footsack to take the reins, as I
+knew him to be a good driver, and helped Anscombe to a seat at
+his side, while Heda and the maid Kaatje got in behind in order
+to balance the vehicle.  I determined to ride, at any rate for
+the present.
+
+"Which way, Baas?" asked Footsack.
+
+"Down to the Granite Stream where the wagon stands," I answered.
+
+"That will be through the Yellow-wood Swamp.  Can't we take the
+other road to Pilgrim's Rest and Lydenburg, or to Barberton?"
+asked Anscombe in a vague way, and as I thought, rather
+nervously.
+
+"No," I answered, "that is unless you wish to meet those Basutos
+who stole the oxen and Dr. Rodd returning, if he means to
+return."
+
+"Oh! let us go through the Yellow-wood," exclaimed Heda, who, I
+think, would rather have met the devil than Dr. Rodd.
+
+"Ah! if I had but known that we were heading straight for that
+person, sooner would I have faced the Basutos twice over.  But I
+did what seemed wisest, thinking that he would be sure to return
+with another doctor or a magistrate by the shorter and easier
+path which he had followed in the morning.  It just shows once
+more how useless are all our care and foresight, or how strong is
+Fate, have it which way you will.
+
+So we started down the slope, and I, riding behind, noted  poor
+Heda staring at the marble house, which grew ever more beautiful
+as it receded and the roughness of its building disappeared,
+especially at that part of it which hid the body of her old scamp
+of a father whom still she loved.  We came down to the glen and
+once more saw the bones of the blue wildebeeste that we had
+shot--oh! years and years ago, or so it seemed.  Then we struck
+out for the Granite Stream.
+
+Before we reached the patch of Yellow-wood forest where I knew
+that the cart must travel very slowly because of the trees and
+the swampy nature of the ground, I pushed on ahead to
+reconnoitre, fearing lest there might be Basutos hidden in this
+cover.  Riding straight through it I went as far as the deserted
+wagon at a sharp canter, seeing nothing one.  Once indeed,
+towards the end of the wood where it was more dense, I thought
+that I heard a man cough and peered about me through the gloom,
+for here the rays of the sun, which was getting low in the
+heavens, scarcely penetrated.  As I could perceive no one I came
+to the conclusion that I must have been deceived by my fancy.  Or
+perhaps it was some baboon that coughed, though it was strange
+that a baboon should have come to such a low-lying spot where
+there was nothing for it to eat.
+
+The place was eerie, so much so that I bethought me of tales of
+the ghosts whereby it was supposed to be haunted.  Also, oddly
+enough, of Anscombe's presentiment  which he had fulfilled by
+killing a Basuto.  Look! There lay his grinning skull with some
+patches of hair still on it, dragged away from the rest of the
+bones by a hyena.  I cantered on down the slope beyond the wood
+and through the scattered thorns to the stream on the banks of
+which the wagon should be.  It had gone, and by the freshness of
+the trail, within an hour or two.  A moment's reflection told me
+what had happened.  Having stolen our oxen the Basutos drove them
+to the wagon, inspanned them and departed with their loot.  On
+the whole I was glad to see this, since it suggested that they
+had retired towards their own country, leaving our road open.
+
+Turning my horse I rode back again to meet the cart.  As I
+reached the edge of the wood at the top of the slope I heard a
+whistle blown, a very shrill whistle, of which the sound would
+travel for a mile or two on that still air.  Also I heard the
+sound of men's voices in altercation and caught words, such
+as--"Let go, or by Heaven--!" then a furious laugh and other
+words which seemed to be--"In five minutes the Kaffirs will be
+here.  In ten you will be dead.  Can I help it if they kill you
+after I have warned you to turn back?"  Then a woman's scream.
+
+Rodd's voice, Anscombe's voice and Kaatje's scream--not Heda's
+but Kaatje's!
+
+Then as I rode furiously round the last patch of intervening
+trees the sound of a pistol shot.  I was out of them now and saw
+everything.  There was the cart on the further side of a swamp. 
+The horses were standing still and snorting.  Holding the rein of
+one of the leaders was Rodd, whose horse also stood close by.  He
+was rocking on his feet and as I leapt from my mare and ran up, I
+saw his face.  it was horrible, full of pain and devilish rage. 
+With his disengaged hand he pointed to Anscombe sitting in the
+cart and grasping a pistol that still smoked.
+
+"You've killed me," he said in a hoarse, choking voice, for he
+was shot through the lung, "to get her," and he waved his hand
+towards Heda who was peering at him between the heads of the two
+men.  "You are a murderer, as her father was, and as David was
+before you.  Well, I hope you won't keep her long.  I hope you'll
+die as I do and break her false heart, you damned thief."
+
+All of this he said in a slow voice, pausing between the words
+and speaking ever more thickly as the blood from his wound choked
+him.  Then of a sudden it burst in a stream from his lips, and
+still pointing with an accusing finger at Anscombe, he fell
+backwards into the slimy pool behind him and there vanished
+without a struggle.
+
+So horrible was the sight that the driver, Footsack, leapt from
+the cart, uttering a kind of low howl, ran to Rodd's horse,
+scrambled into the saddle and galloped off, striking it with his
+fist, where to I do not know.  Anscombe put his hand before his
+eyes, Heda sank down on the seat in a heap, and the coloured
+woman, Kaatje, beat her breast and said something in Dutch about
+being accursed or bewitched.  Luckily I kept my wits and went to
+the horses' heads, fearing lest they should start and drag the
+trap into the pool.  "Wake up," I said.  "That fellow has only
+got what he deserved, and you were quite right to shoot him."
+
+"I am glad you think so," answered Anscombe absently.  "It was so
+like murder.  Don't you remember I told you I should kill a man
+in this place and about a woman?"
+
+"I remember nothing," I answered boldly, "except that if we stop
+here much longer we shall have those Basutos on us.  That brute
+was whistling to them and holding the horses till they came to
+kill us.  Pull yourself together, take the reins and follow me."
+
+He obeyed, being a skilful whip enough who, as he informed me
+afterwards, had been accustomed to drive a four-in-hand at home. 
+Mounting my horse, which stood by, I guided the cart out of the
+wood and down the slope beyond, till at length we came to our old
+outspan where I proposed to turn on to the wagon track which ran
+to Pilgrim's Rest.  I say proposed, for when I looked up it I
+perceived about five hundred yards away a number of armed Basutos
+running towards us, the red light of the sunset shining on their
+spears.  Evidently the scout or spy to whom Rodd whistled, had
+called them out of their ambush which they had set for us on the
+Pilgrim's Rest road in order that they might catch us if we tried
+to escape that way.
+
+Now there was only one thing to be done.  At this spot a native
+track ran across the little stream and up a steepish slope
+beyond.  On the first occasion of our outspanning here I had the
+curiosity to mount this slope, reflecting as I did so that
+although rough it would be quite practicable for a wagon.  At the
+top of it I found a wide flat plain, almost high-veld, for the
+bushes were very few, across which the track ran on.  On
+subsequent inquiry I discovered that it was one used by the
+Swazis and other natives when they made their raids upon the
+Basutos, or when bodies of them went to work in the mines.
+
+"Follow me," I shouted and crossed the stream which was shallow
+between the little pools, then led the way up the stony slope. 
+The four horses negotiated it very well and the Cape cart, being
+splendidly built, took no harm.  At the top I looked back and saw
+that the Basutos were following us.
+
+"Flog the horses!" I cried to Anscombe, and off we went at a hand
+gallop along the native track, the cart swaying and bumping upon
+the rough veld.  The sun was setting now, in half an hour it
+would be quite dark.
+
+Could we keep ahead of them for that half hour?
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+
+
+FLIGHT
+
+
+
+
+
+The sun sank in a blaze of glory.  Looking back by the light of
+its last rays I saw a single native silhouetted against the red
+sky.  He was standing on a mound that we had passed a mile or
+more behind us, doubtless waiting for his companions whom he had
+outrun.  So they had not given up the chase.  What was to be
+done?  Once it was completely dark we could not go on.  We should
+lose our way; the horses would get into ant-bear holes and break
+their legs.  Perhaps we might become bogged in some hollow,
+therefore we must wait till the moon rose, which would not be for
+a couple of hours.
+
+Meanwhile those accursed Basutos would be following us even in
+the dark.  This would hamper them, no doubt, but they would keep
+the path, with which they were probably familiar, beneath their
+feet, and what is more, the ground being soft with recent rain,
+they could feel the wheel spoor with their fingers.  I looked
+about me.  Just here another track started off in a nor'-westerly
+direction from that which we were following.  Perhaps it ran to
+Lydenburg; I do not know.  To our left, not more than a hundred
+yards or so away, the higher veld came to an end and sloped in an
+easterly direction down to bush-land below.
+
+Should I take the westerly road which ran over a great plain? 
+No, for then we might be seen for miles and cut off.  Moreover,
+even if we escaped the natives, was it desirable should plunge
+into civilization just now and tell all our story, as in that
+case we must do.  Rodd's death was quite justified, but it had
+happened on Transvaal territory and would require a deal of
+explanation.  Fortunately there was no witness of it, except
+ourselves.  Yes, there was though--the driver Footsack, if he had
+got away, which, being mounted, would seem probable, a man who,
+for my part, I would not trust for a moment.  It would be an ugly
+thing to see Anscombe in the dock charged with murder and
+possibly myself, with Footsack giving evidence against us before
+a Boer jury who might be hard on Englishmen.  Also there was the
+body with a bullet in it.
+
+Suddenly there came into my mind a recollection of the very vivid
+dream of Zikali which had visited me, and I reflected that in
+Zululand there would be little need to trouble about the death of
+Rodd.  But Zululand was a long way off, and if we were to avoid
+the Transvaal, there was only one way of going there, namely
+through Swaziland.  Well, among the Swazis we should be quite
+safe from the Basutos, since the two peoples were at fierce
+enmity.  Moreover I knew the Swazi chiefs and king very well,
+having traded there, and could explain that I came to collect
+debts owing to me.
+
+There was another difficulty.  I had heard that the trouble
+between the English Government and Cetewayo, the Zulu king, was
+coming to a head, and that the High Commissioner, Sir Bartle
+Frere, talked of presenting him with an ultimatum.  It would be
+awkward if this arrived while we were in the country, though even
+so, being on such friendly terms with the Zulus of all classes, I
+did not think that I, or any with me, would run great risks.
+
+All these thoughts rushed through my brain while I considered
+what to do.  At the moment it was useless to ask the opinion of
+the others who were but children in native matters.  I and I
+alone must take the responsibility and act, praying that I might
+do so aright.  Another moment and I had made up my mind.
+
+Signing to Anscombe to follow me, I rode about a hundred yards or
+more down the nor'-westerly path.  Then I turned sharply along a
+rather stony ridge of ground, the cart following me all the time,
+and came back across our own track, our my object being of course
+to puzzle any Kaffirs who might spoor us.  Now we were on the
+edge of the gentle slope that led down to the bush-veld.  Over
+this I rode towards a deserted cattle kraal built of stones, in
+the rich soil of which grew sundry trees; doubtless one of those
+which had been abandoned when Mosilikatze swept all this country
+on  his way north about the year 1838.  The way to it was easy,
+since the surrounding stones had been collected to build the
+kraal generations before.  As we passed over the edge of the
+slope in the gathering gloom, Heda cried--
+
+"Look!" and pointed in the direction whence we came.  Far away a
+sheet of flame shot upwards.
+
+"The house is burning," she exclaimed.
+
+"Yes," I said, "it can be nothing else;" adding to myself, "a
+good job too, for now there will be no postmortem on old
+Marnham."
+
+Who fired the place I never learnt.  It may have been the
+Basutos, or Marnham's body-servant, or Footsack, or a spark from
+the kitchen fire.  At any rate it blazed merrily enough
+notwithstanding the marble walls, as a wood-lined and thatched
+building of course would do.  On the whole I suspected the boy,
+who may very well have feared lest he should be accused of having
+had a hand in his master's death.  At least it was gone, and
+watching the distant flames I bethought me that with it went all
+Heda's past.  Twenty-four hours before her father was alive, the
+bondservant of Rodd and a criminal.  Now he was ashes and Rodd
+was dead, while she and the man she loved were free, with all the
+world before them.  I wished that I could have added that they
+were safe.  Afterwards she told me that much the same ideas
+passed through her own mind.
+
+Dismounting I led the horses into the old kraal through the gap
+in the wall which once had been the gateway.  It was a large
+kraal that probably in bygone days had held the cattle of some
+forgotten head chief whose town would have stood on the brow of
+the rise; so large that notwithstanding the trees I have
+mentioned, there was plenty of room for the cart and horses in
+its centre.  Moreover, on such soil the grass grew so richly that
+after we had slipped their bits, the horses were able to fill
+themselves without being unharnessed.  Also a little stream from
+a spring on the brow ran within a few yards whence, with the help
+of Kaatje, a strong woman, I watered them with the bucket which
+hung underneath the cart.  Next we drank ourselves and ate some
+food in the darkness that was now complete.  Then leaving Kaatje
+to stand at the head of the horses in case they should attempt
+any sudden movement, I climbed into the cart, and we discussed
+things in low whispers.
+
+It was a curious debate in that intense gloom which, close as our
+faces were together, prevented us from seeing anything of each
+other, except once when a sudden flare of summer lightning
+revealed them, white and unnatural as those of ghosts.  On our
+present dangers I did not dwell, putting them aside lightly,
+though I knew they were not light.  But of the alternative as to
+whether we should try to escape to Lydenburg and civilization, or
+to Zululand and savagery, I felt it to be my duty to speak.
+
+"To put it plainly," said Anscombe in his slow way when I had
+finished, "you mean that in the Transvaal I might be tried as a
+murderer and perhaps convicted, whereas if we vanish into
+Zululand the probability is that this would not happen."
+
+"I mean," I whispered back, "that we might both be tried and, if
+Footsack should chance to appear and give evidence, find
+ourselves in an awkward position.  Also there is another
+witness--Kaatje, and for the matter of that, Heda herself.  Of
+course her evidence would be in our favour, but to make it
+understood by a jury she would have to explain a great deal of
+which she might prefer not to speak.  Further, at the best, the
+whole business would get into the English papers, which you and
+your relatives might think disagreeable, especially in view of
+the fact that, as I understand, you and Heda intend to marry."
+
+"Still I think that I would rather face it out," he said in his
+outspoken way, "even if it should mean that I could never return
+to England.  After all, of what have I to be afraid?  I shot this
+scoundrel because I was obliged to do so."
+
+"Yes, but it is of this that you may have to convince a jury who
+might possibly find a motive in Rodd's past, and your present,
+relationship to the same lady.  But what has she to say?"
+
+"I have to say," whispered Heda, "that for myself I care nothing,
+but that I could never bear to see all these stories about my
+poor father raked up.  Also there is Maurice to be considered. 
+It would be terrible if they put him in prison--or worse.  Let us
+go to Zululand, Mr. Quatermain, and afterwards get out of Africa. 
+Don't you agree, Maurice?"
+
+"What does Mr. Quatermain think himself?" he answered.  "He is
+the oldest and by far the wisest of us and I will be guided by
+him."
+
+Now I considered and said--
+
+"There is such a thing as flying from present troubles to others
+that may be worse, the 'ills we know not of.'  Zululand is
+disturbed.  If war broke out there we might all be killed.  On
+the other hand we might not, and it ought to be possible for you
+to work up to Delagoa Bay and there get some ship home, that is
+if you wish to keep clear of British law.  I cannot do so, as I
+must stay in Africa.  Nor can I take the responsibility of
+settling what you are to do, since if things went wrong, it would
+be on my head.  However, if you decide for the Transvaal or Natal
+and we escape, I must tell you that I shall go to the first
+magistrate we find and make a full deposition of all that has
+happened.  It is not possible for me to live with the charge of
+having been concerned in the shooting of a white man hanging over
+me that might be brought up at any time, perhaps when no one was
+left in the country to give evidence on my behalf, for then, even
+if I were acquitted my name would always be tarnished.  In
+Zululand, on the other hand, there are no magistrates before whom
+I could depose, and if this business should come out, I can
+always say that we went there to escape from the Basutos.  Now I
+am going to get down to see if the horses are all right.  Do you
+two talk the thing over and make up your minds.  Whatever you
+agree on, I shall accept and do my best to carry through."  Then,
+without waiting for an answer, I slipped from the cart.
+
+Having examined the horses, who were cropping all the grass
+within reach of them, I crept to the wall of the kraal so as to
+be quite out of earshot.  The night was now pitch dark, dark as
+it only knows how to be in Africa.  More, a thunderstorm was
+coming up of which that flash of sheet lightning had been a
+presage.  The air was electric.  From the vast bush-clad valley
+beneath us came a wild, moaning sound caused, I suppose, by wind
+among the trees, though here I felt none; far away a sudden spear
+of lightning stabbed the sky.  The brooding trouble of nature
+spread to  my own heart.  I was afraid, and not of our present
+dangers, though these were real enough, so real that in a few
+hours we might all be dead.
+
+To dangers I was accustomed; for years they had been my daily
+food by day and by night, and, as I think I have said elsewhere,
+I am a fatalist, one who knows full well that when God wants me
+He will take me; that is if He can want such  a poor, erring
+creature.  Nothing that I did or left undone could postpone or
+hasten His summons for a moment, though of course I knew it to be
+my duty to fight against death and to avoid it for as long as I
+might, because that I should do so was a portion of His plan. 
+For we are all part of a great pattern, and the continuance or
+cessation of our lives re-acts upon other lives, and therefore
+life is a trust.
+
+No, it was of greater things that I felt afraid, things terrible
+and imminent which I could not grasp and much less understand.  I
+understand them now, but who would have guessed that on the issue
+of that whispered colloquy in the cart behind me, depended the
+fate of a people and many thousands of lives?  As I was to learn
+in days to come, if Anscombe and Heda had determined upon heading
+for the Transvaal, there would, as I believe, have been no Zulu
+war, which in its turn meant that there would have been no Boer
+Rebellion and that the mysterious course of history would have
+been changed.
+
+I shook myself together and returned to the cart.
+
+"Well," I whispered, but there was no answer.  A moment later
+there came another flash of lightning.
+
+"There," said Heda, "how many do you make it?
+
+"Ninety-eight," he answered.
+
+"I counted ninety-nine," she said, "but anyway it was within the
+hundred.  Mr. Quatermain, we will go to Zululand, if you please,
+if you will show us the way there."
+
+"Right,"  I answered, "but might I ask what that has to do with
+your both counting a hundred?"
+
+"Only this," she said, "we could not make up our minds.  Maurice
+was for the Transvaal, I was for Zululand.  So you see we agreed
+that if another flash came before we counted a hundred, we would
+go to Zululand, and if it didn't, to Pretoria.  A very good way
+of settling, wasn't it?"
+
+"Excellent!" I replied, "quite excellent for those who could
+think of such a thing."
+
+As a matter of fact I don't know which of them thought of it
+because I never inquired.  But I did remember afterwards how
+Anscombe had tossed with a lucky penny when it was a question
+whether we should or should not run for the wagon during our
+difficulty by the Oliphant's River; also when I asked him the
+reason for this strange proceeding he answered that Providence
+might inhabit a penny as well as anything else, and that he
+wished to give it--I mean Providence--a chance.  How much more
+then, he may have argued, could it inhabit a flash of lightning
+which has always been considered a divine manifestation from the
+time of the Roman Jove, and no doubt far before him.
+
+Forty or fifty generations ago, which is not long, our ancestors
+set great store by the behaviour of lightning and thunder, and
+doubtless the instinct is still in our blood, in the same way
+that all our existing superstitions about the moon come down to
+us from the time when our forefathers worshipped her.  They did
+this for tens of hundreds or thousands of years, and can we
+expect a few coatings of the veneer that we politely call
+civilization, which after all is only one of our conventions that
+vanish in any human stress such as war, to kill out the human
+impulse it seems to hide?  I do not know, though I have my own
+opinion, and probably these young people never reasoned the
+matter out.  They just acted on an intuition as ancient as that
+which had attracted them to each other, namely a desire to
+consult the ruling fates by omens or symbols.  Or perhaps
+Anscombe thought that as his experience with the penny had proved
+so successful, he would give Providence another "chance."  If so
+it took it and no mistake.  Confound it! I don't know what he
+thought; I only dwell on the matter because of the great results
+which followed this consultation of the Sybilline books of
+heaven.
+
+As it happened my speculations, if I really indulged in any at
+that time, were suddenly extinguished by the bursting of the
+storm.  It was of the usual character, short but very violent. 
+Of a sudden the sky became alive with lightnings and the
+atmosphere with the roar of winds.  One flash struck a tree quite
+near the kraal, and I saw that tree seem to melt in its fiery
+embrace, while about where it had been, rose a column of dust
+from the ground beneath.  The horses were so frightened that
+luckily they stood quite quiet, as I have often known animals to
+do in such circumstances.  Then came the rain, a torrential rain
+as I, who was out in it holding the horses, became painfully
+aware.  It thinned after a while, however, as the storm rolled
+away.
+
+Suddenly in a silence between the tremendous echoes of the
+passing thunder I thought that I heard voices somewhere on the
+brow of the slope, and as the horses were now quite calm, I crept
+through the trees to that part of the enclosure which I judged to
+be nearest to them.
+
+Voices they were sure enough, and of the Basutos who were
+pursuing us.  What was more, they were coming down the slope. 
+The top of the old wall reached almost to my chin.  Taking off my
+hat I thrust my head forward between two loose stones, that I
+might hear the better.
+
+The men were talking together in Sisutu.  One, whom I took to be
+their captain, said to the others--
+
+"That white-headed old jackal, Macumazahn, has given us the slip
+again.  He doubled on his tracks and drove the horses down the
+hillside to the lower path in the valley.  I could feel where the
+wheels went over the edge."
+
+"It is so, Father," answered another voice, "but we shall catch
+him and the others at the bottom if we get there before the moon
+rises, since they cannot have moved far in this rain and
+darkness.  Let me go first and guide you who know every tree and
+stone upon this slope where I used to herd cattle when I was a
+child."
+
+"Do so," said the captain.  "I can see nothing now the lightning
+has gone, and were it not that I have sworn to dip my spear in
+the blood of Macumazahn who has fooled us again, I would give up
+the hunt."
+
+"I think it would be better to give it up in any case," said a
+third voice, "since it is known throughout the land that no luck
+has ever come to those who tried to trap the Watcher-by-Night. 
+Oh! he is a leopard who springs and is gone again.  How many are
+the throats in which his fangs have met.  Leave him alone, I say,
+lest our fate should be that of the white doctor in the
+Yellow-wood Swamp, he who set us on this hunt.  We have his wagon
+and his cattle; let us be satisfied."
+
+"I will leave him alone when he sleeps for the last time, and not
+before," answered the captain, "he who shot my brother in the
+drift the other day.  What would Sekukuni say if we let him
+escape to bring the Swazis on us?  Moreover, we want that white
+maiden for a hostage in case the English should attack us again. 
+Come, you who know the road, and lead us."
+
+There was some disturbance as this man passed to the front.  Then
+I heard the line move forward.  Presently they were going by the
+wall within a foot or two of me.  Indeed by ill-luck just as we
+were opposite to each other the captain stumbled and fell against
+the wall.
+
+"There is an old cattle kraal here," he said.  "What if those
+white rats have hidden in it?"
+
+I trembled as I heard the words.  If a horse should neigh or make
+any noise that could be heard above the hiss of the rain! I did
+not dare to move for fear lest I should betray myself.  There I
+stood so close to the Kaffirs that I could smell them and hear
+the rain pattering on their bodies.  Only very stealthily I drew
+my hunting knife with my right hand.  At that moment the
+lightning, which I thought had quite gone by, flashed again for
+the last time, revealing the fat face of the Basuto captain
+within a foot of my own, for he was turned towards the wall on
+which one of his hands rested.  Moreover, the blue and ghastly
+light revealed mine to him thrust forward between the two stones,
+my eyes glaring at him.
+
+"The head of a dead man is set upon the wall!" he cried in
+terror.  "It is the ghost of--"
+
+He got no further, for as the last word passed his lips I drove
+the knife at him with all my strength deep into his throat.  He
+fell back into the arms of his followers, and next instant I
+heard the sound of many feet rushing in terror down the hill. 
+What became of him I do not know, but if he still lives, probably
+he agrees with his tribesman that Macumazahn--Watcher-by-Night,
+or his ghost "is a leopard who springs and kills and is gone
+again"; also, that those who try to trap him meet with no luck. 
+I say, or his ghost--because I am sure he thought that I was a
+spirit of the dead; doubtless I must have looked like one with my
+white, rain-drowned face appearing there between the stones and
+made ghastly and livid by the lightning.
+
+Well, they had gone, the whole band of them, not less than thirty
+or forty men, so I went also, back to the cart where I found the
+others very comfortable indeed beneath the rainproof tilt. 
+Saying nothing of what had happened, of which they were as
+innocent as babes, I took a stiff tot of brandy, for I was
+chilled through by the wet, and while waiting for the moon to
+rise, busied myself with getting the bits back into the horses'
+mouths--an awkward job in the dark.  At length it appeared in a
+clear sky, for the storm had quite departed and the rain ceased. 
+As soon as there was light enough I took the near leader by the
+bridle and led the cart to the brow of the hill, which was not
+easy under the conditions, making Kaatje follow with my horse.
+
+Then, as there were no signs of any Basutos, we started on again,
+I riding about a hundred yards ahead, keeping a sharp look-out
+for a possible ambush.  Fortunately, however, the veld was bare
+and open, consisting of long waves of ground.  One start I did
+get, thinking that I saw men's heads just on the crest of a wave,
+which turned out to be only a herd of springbuck feeding among
+the tussocks of grass.  I was very glad to see them, since their
+presence assured me that no human being had recently passed that
+way.
+
+All night long we trekked, following the Kaffir path for as could
+see it, and after that going by my compass.  I knew whereabouts
+the drift of the Crocodile River should be, as I had crossed it
+twice before in my life, and kept my eyes open for a certain tall
+koppie which stood within half a mile it on the Swazi side of the
+river.  Ultimately to my joy I caught sight of this hill faintly
+outlined against the sky and headed for it.  Half a mile further
+on I struck a wagon-track made by Boers trekking into Swazi-Land
+to trade or shoot.  Then I knew that the drift was straight ahead
+of us, and called to Anscombe to flog up the weary horses.
+
+We reached the river just before the dawn.  To my horror it was
+very full, so full that the drift looked dangerous, for it had
+been swollen by the thunder-rain of the previous night.  Indeed
+some wandering Swazis on the further bank shouted to us that we
+should be drowned if we tried to cross.
+
+"Which means that the only thing to do is to stay until the water
+runs down," I said to Anscombe, for the two women, tired out,
+were asleep.
+
+"I suppose so," he answered, "unless those Basutos--"
+
+I looked back up the long slope down which we had come and saw no
+one.  Then I raised myself in my stirrups and looked along
+another track that joined the road just here, leading from the
+bush-veld, as ours led from the high-veld.  The sun was rising
+now, dispersing the mist that hung about the trees after the wet. 
+Searching among these with my eyes, presently I perceived the
+light gleaming upon what I knew must be the points of spears
+projecting above the level of the ground vapour.
+
+"Those devils are after us by the lower road," I said to
+Anscombe, adding, "I heard them pass the old cattle kraal last
+night.  They followed our spoor over the edge of the hill, but in
+the dark lost it among the stones."
+
+He whistled and asked what was to be done.
+
+"That is for you to decide," I answered.  "For my part I'd rather
+risk the river than the Basutos," and I looked at the slumbering
+Heda.
+
+"Can we bolt back the way we came, Allan?"
+
+"The horses are very spent and we might meet more Basutos," and
+again I looked at Heda.
+
+"A hard choice, Allan.  It is wonderful how women complicate
+everything in life, because they are life, I suppose."  He
+thought a moment and went on, "Let's try the river.  If we fail,
+it will be soon over, and it is better to drown than be speared."
+
+"Or be kept alive by savages who hate us," I exclaimed, with my
+eyes still fixed upon Heda.
+
+Then I got to business.  There were hide riems on the bridles of
+the leaders.  I undid these and knotted their loose ends firmly
+together.  To them I made fast the riem of my own mare, slipping
+a loop I tied in it, over my right hand and saying--
+
+"Now I will go first, leading the horses.  Do you drive after me
+for all you are worth, even if they are swept off their feet.  I
+can trust my beast to swim straight, and being a mare, I hope
+that the horses will follow her as they have done all night. 
+Wake up Heda and Kaatje."
+
+He nodded, and looking very pale, said--
+
+"Heda my dear, I am sorry to disturb you, but we have to get over
+a river with a rough bottom, so you and Kaatje must hang on and
+sit tight.  Don't be frightened, you are as safe as a church."
+
+"God forgive him for that lie," thought I to myself as, having
+tightened the girths, I mounted my mare.  Then gripping the riem
+I kicked the beast to a canter, Anscombe flogging up the team as
+we swung down the bank to the edge of the foaming torrent, on the
+further side of which the Swazis shouted and gesticulated to us
+to go back.
+
+We were in it now, for, as I had hoped, the horses followed the
+mare without hesitation.  For the first twenty yards or so all
+went well, I heading up the stream.  Then suddenly I felt that
+the mare was swimming.
+
+"Flog the horses and don't let them turn," I shouted to Anscombe.
+
+Ten more yards and I glanced over my shoulder.  The team was
+swimming also, and behind them the cart rocked and bobbed like a
+boat swinging in a heavy sea.  There came a strain on the riem;
+the leaders were trying to turn! I pulled hard and encouraged
+them with my voice, while Anscombe, who drove splendidly, kept
+their heads as straight as he could.  Mercifully they came round
+again and struck out for the further shore, the water-logged cart
+floating after them.  Would it turn over? That was the question
+in my mind.  Five seconds; ten seconds and it was still upright. 
+Oh! it was going.  No, a fierce back eddy caught it and set it
+straight again.  My mare touched bottom and there was hope.  It
+struggled forward, being swept down the stream all the time.  Now
+the horses in the cart also found their footing and we were
+saved.
+
+No, the wet had caused the knot of one of the riems to slip
+beneath the strain, or perhaps it broke--I don't know.  Feeling
+the pull slacken the leaders whipped round on to the wheelers. 
+There they all stood in a heap, their heads and part of their
+necks above water, while the cart floated behind them on its
+side.  Kaatje screamed and Anscombe flogged.  I leapt from my
+mare and struggled to the leaders, the water up to my chin. 
+Grasping their bits I managed to keep them from turning further. 
+But I could do no more and death came very near to us.  Had it
+not been for some of those brave Swazis on the bank it would have
+found us, every one.  But they plunged in, eight of them, holding
+each other's hands, and half-swimming, half-wading, reached us. 
+They got the horses by the head and straightened them out, while
+Anscombe plied his whip.  A dash forward and the wheels were on
+the bottom again.
+
+Three minutes later we were safe on the further bank, which my
+mare had already reached, where I lay gasping on my face,
+ejaculating prayers of thankfulness and spitting out muddy water.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+
+
+NOMBE
+
+
+
+
+
+The Swazis, shivering, for all these people hate cold, and
+shaking themselves like a dog when he comes to shore, gathered
+round, examining me.
+
+"Why!" said one of them, an elderly man who seemed to be their
+leader, "this is none other than Macumazahn, Watcher-by-Night,
+the old friend of all us black people.  Surely the spirits of our
+fathers have been with us who might have risked our lives to save
+a Boer or a half-breed." (The Swazis, I may explain, did not like
+the Boers for reasons they considered sound.)
+
+"Yes," I said, sitting up, "it is I, Macumazahn."
+
+"Then why," asked the man, "did you, whom all know to be wise,
+show yourself to have suddenly become a fool?" and he pointed to
+the raging river.
+
+"And why," I asked, "do you show yourself a fool by supposing
+that I, whom you know to be none, am a fool?  Look across the
+water for your answer."
+
+He looked and saw the Basutos, fifty or more of them, arriving,
+just too late.
+
+"Who are these?" he asked.
+
+"They are the people of Sekukuni whom you should know well
+enough.  They have hunted us all night, yes, and before, seeking
+to murder us; also they have stolen our oxen, thirty-two fine
+oxen which I give to your king if he can take them back.  Now
+perhaps you understand why we dared the Crocodile River in its
+rage."
+
+At the name of Sekukuni the man, who it seemed was the captain of
+some border guards, stiffened all over like a terrier which
+perceives a rat.  "What!" he exclaimed, "do these dirty Basuto
+dogs dare to carry spears so near our country?  Have they not yet
+learned their lesson?"
+
+Then he rushed into the water, shaking an assegai he had snatched
+up, and shouted,
+
+"Bide a while, you fleas from the kaross of Sekukuni, till I can
+come across and crack you between my thumb and finger.  Or at the
+least wait until Macumazahn has time to get his rifle.  No, put
+down those guns of yours; for every shot you fire I swear that I
+will cut ten Basuto throats when we come to storm your koppies,
+as we shall do ere long."
+
+"Be silent," I said, "and let me speak."
+
+Then I, too, called across the river, asking where was that fat
+captain of theirs, as I would talk with him.  One of the men
+shouted back that he had stopped behind, very sick, because of a
+ghost that he had seen.
+
+"Ah!" I answered, "a ghost who pricked him in the throat.  Well,
+I was that ghost, and such are the things that happen to those
+who would harm Macumazahn and his friends.  Did you not say last
+night that he is a leopard who leaps out in the dark, bites and
+is gone again?"
+
+"Yes," the man shouted back, "and it is true, though had we
+known, O Macumazahn, that you were the ghost hiding in those
+stones, you should never have leapt again.  Oh! that white
+medicine-man who is dead has sent us on a mad errand."
+
+"So you will think when I come to visit you among your koppies. 
+Go home and take a message from Macumazahn to Sekukuni, who
+believes that the English have run away from him.  Tell him that
+they will return again and these Swazis with them, and that then
+he will cease to live and his town will be burnt and his tribe
+will no more be a tribe.  Away now, more swiftly than you came,
+since the water by which you thought to trap us is falling, and a
+Swazi impi gathers to make an end of every one of you."
+
+The man attempted no answer, nor did his people so much as fire
+on us.  They turned tail and crept off like a pack of frightened
+jackals--pursued by the mocking of the Swazis.
+
+Still in a way they had the laugh of us, seeing that they gave us
+a terrible fright and stole our wagon and thirty-two oxen.  Well,
+a year or two later I helped to pay them back for that fright and
+even recovered some of the oxen.
+
+When they had gone the Swazis led us to a kraal about two miles
+from the river, sending on a runner with orders to make huts and
+food ready for us.  It was just as much as we could do to reach
+it, for we were all utterly worn out, as were the horses.  Still
+we did get there at last, the hot sun warming us as we went. 
+Arrived at the kraal I helped Heda and Kaatje from the cart--the
+former could scarcely walk, poor dear--and into the guest hut
+which seemed clean, where food of a sort and fur karosses were
+brought to them in which to wrap themselves while their clothes
+dried.
+
+Leaving them in charge of two old women, I went to see to
+Anscombe, who as yet could not do much for himself, also to the
+outspanning of the horses which were put into a cattle kraal,
+where they lay down at once without attempting to eat the green
+forage which was given to them.  After this I gave our goods into
+the charge of the kraal-head, a nice old fellow whom I had never
+met before, and he led Anscombe to another hut close to that
+where the women were.  Here we drank some maas, that is curdled
+milk, ate a little mutton, though we were too fatigued to be very
+hungry, and stripping off our wet clothes, threw them out into
+the sun to dry.
+
+"That was a close shave," said Anscombe as he wrapped up in the
+kaross.
+
+"Very," I answered.  "So close that I think you must have been
+started in life with an extra strong guardian angel well
+accustomed to native ways."
+
+"Yes," he replied, "and, old fellow, I believe that on earth he
+goes by the name of Allan Quatermain."
+
+After this I remember no more, for I went to sleep, and so
+remained for about twenty-four hours.  This was not wonderful,
+seeing that for two days and nights practically I had not rested,
+during which time I went through much fatigue and many emotions.
+
+When at length I did wake up, the first thing I saw was Anscombe
+already dressed, engaged in cleaning my clothes with a brush from
+his toilet case.  I remember thinking how smart and incongruous
+that dressing-bag, made appropriately enough of crocodile hide,
+looked in this Kaffir hut with its silver-topped bottles and its
+ivory-handled razors.
+
+"Time to get up, Sir.  Bath ready, Sir," he said in his jolly,
+drawling voice, pointing to a calabash full of hot water.  "Hope
+you slept as well as I did, Sir."
+
+"You appear to have recovered your spirits," I remarked as I rose
+and began to wash myself.
+
+"Yes, Sir, and why not?  Heda is quite well, for I have seen her. 
+These Swazis are very good people, and as Kaatje understands
+their language, bring us all we want.  Our troubles seem to be
+done with.  Old Marnham is dead, and doubtless cremated; Rodd is
+dead and, let us hope, in heaven; the Basutos have melted away,
+the morning is fine and warm and a whole kid is cooking for
+breakfast."
+
+"I wish there were two, for I am ravenous," I remarked.
+
+"The horses are getting rested and feeding well, though some of
+their legs have filled, and the trap is little the worse, for I
+have walked to look at them, or rather hopped, leaning on the
+shoulder of a very sniffy Swazi boy.  Do you know, old fellow, I
+believe there never were any Basutos; also that the venerable
+Marnham and the lurid Todd had no real existence, that they were
+but illusions, a prolonged nightmare--no more.  Here is your
+shirt.  I am sorry that I have not had time to wash it, but it
+has cooked well in the sun, which, being flannel, is almost as
+good."
+
+"At any rate Heda remains," I remarked, cutting his nonsense
+short, "and I suppose she is not a nightmare or a delusion."
+
+"Yes, thank God! she remains," he replied with earnestness.  "Oh!
+Allan, I thought she must drown in that river, and if I had lost
+her, I think I should have gone mad.  Indeed, at the moment I
+felt myself going mad while I dragged and flogged at those
+horses."
+
+"Well, you didn't lose her, and if she had drowned, you would
+have drowned also.  So don't talk any more about it.  She is
+safe, and now we have got to keep her so, for you are not married
+yet, my boy, and there are generally more trees in a wood than
+one can see.  Still we are alive and well, which is more than we
+had any right to expect, and, as you say, let us thank God for
+that."
+
+Then I put on my coat and my boots which Anscombe had greased as
+he had no blacking, and crept from the hut.
+
+There, only a few yards away, engaged in setting the breakfast in
+the shadow of another hut on a tanned hide that served for a
+tablecloth while Kaatje saw to the cooking close by, I found
+Heda, still a little pale and sorrowful but otherwise quite well
+and rested.  Moreover, she had managed to dress herself very
+nicely, I suppose by help of spare clothes in the cart, and
+therefore looked as charming as she always did.  I think that her
+perfect manners were one of her greatest attractions.  Thus on
+this morning her first thought was to thank me very sweetly for
+all she was good enough to say I had done for her and Anscombe,
+thereby, as she put it, saving their lives several times over.
+
+"My dear young lady," I answered as roughly as I could, "don't
+flatter yourself on that point; it was my own life of which I was
+thinking."
+
+But she only smiled and, shaking her head in a fascinating way
+that was peculiar to her, remarked that I could not deceive her
+as I did the Kaffirs.  After this the solid Kaatje brought the
+food and we breakfasted very heartily, or at least I did.
+
+Now I am not going to set out all the details of our journey
+through Swazi-Land, for though in some ways it was interesting
+enough, also as comfortable as a stay among savages can be, for
+everywhere we were kindly received, to do so would be too long,
+and I must get on with my story.  At the king's kraal, which we
+did not reach for some days as the absence of roads and the
+flooded state of the rivers, also the need of sparing our horses,
+caused us to travel very slowly, I met a Boer who I think was
+concession hunting.
+
+He told me that things were really serious in Zululand, so
+serious that he thought there was a probability of immediate war
+between the English and the Zulus.  He said also that Cetewayo,
+the Zulu king, had sent messengers to stir up the Basutos and
+other tribes against the white men, with the result that Sekukuni
+had already made a raid towards Pilgrim's Rest and Lydenburg.
+
+I expressed surprise and asked innocently if he had done any
+harm.  The Boer replied he understood that they had stolen some
+cattle, killed two white men, if not more, and burnt their house. 
+He added, however, that he was not sure whether the white men had
+been killed by the Kaffirs or by other white men with whom they
+had quarrelled.  There was a rumour to this effect, and he
+understood that the magistrate of Barberton had gone with some
+mounted police and armed natives to investigate the matter.
+
+Then we parted, as, having got his concession to which the king
+Umbandine had put his mark when he was drunk on brandy that the
+Boer himself had brought with him as a present, he was anxious to
+be gone before he grew sober and revoked it.  Indeed, he was in
+so great a hurry that he never stopped to inquire what I was
+doing in Swazi-Land, nor do I think he realized that I was not
+alone.  Certainly he was quite unaware that I had been mixed up
+in these Basuto troubles.  Still his story as to the
+investigation concerning the deaths of Marnham and Rodd made me
+uneasy, since I feared lest he should hear something on his
+journey and put two and two together, though as a matter of fact
+I don't think he ever did either of these things.
+
+The Swazis told me much the same story as to the brewing Zulu
+storm.  In fact an old Induna or councillor, whom I knew,
+informed me that Cetewayo had sent messengers to them, asking for
+their help if it should come to fighting with the white men, but
+that the king and councillors answered that they had always been
+the Queen's children (which was not strictly true, as they were
+never under English rule) and did not wish to "bite her feet if
+she should have to fight with her hands."  I replied that I hoped
+they would always act up to these fine words, and changed the
+subject.
+
+Now once more the question arose as to whether we should make for
+Natal or press on to Zululand.  The rumour of coming war
+suggested that the first would be our better course, while the
+Boer's story as to the investigation of Rodd's death pointed the
+other way.  Really I did not know which to do, and as usual
+Anscombe and Heda seemed inclined to leave the decision to me.  I
+think that after all Natal would have gained the day had it not
+been for a singular circumstance, not a flash of lightning this
+time.  Indeed, I had almost made up my mind to risk trouble and
+inquiry as to Rodd's death, remembering that in Natal these two
+young people could get married, which, being in loco parentis, I
+thought it desirable they should do as soon as possible, if only
+to ease me of my responsibilities.  Also thence I could attend to
+the matter of Heda's inheritance and rid myself of her father's
+will that already had been somewhat damaged in the Crocodile
+River, though not as much as it might have been since I had taken
+the precaution to enclose it in Anscombe's sponge bag before we
+left the house.
+
+The circumstance was this: On emerging from the cart one morning,
+where I slept to keep an eye upon the valuables, for it will be
+remembered that we had a considerable sum in gold with us, also
+Heda's jewels, a Swazi informed me that a messenger wished to see
+me.  I asked what messenger and whence did he come.  He replied
+that the messenger was a witch-doctoress named Nombe, and that
+she came from Zululand and said that I knew her father.
+
+I bade the man bring her to me, wondering who on earth she could
+be, for it is not usual for the Zulus to send women as
+messengers, and from whom she came.  However, I knew exactly what
+she would be like, some hideous old hag smelling horribly of
+grease and other abominations, with a worn snake skin and some
+human bones tied about her.
+
+Presently she came, escorted by the Swazi who was grinning, for I
+think he guessed what I expected to see.  I stared and rubbed my
+eyes, thinking that I must still be asleep, for instead of a fat
+old Isanusi there appeared a tall and graceful young woman,
+rather light-coloured, with deep and quiet eyes and a by no means
+ill-favoured face, remarkable for a fixed and somewhat mysterious
+smile.  She was a witch-doctoress sure enough, for she wore in
+her hair the regulation bladders and about her neck the circlet
+of baboon's teeth, also round her middle a girdle from which hung
+little bags of medicines.
+
+She contemplated me gravely and I contemplated her, waiting till
+she should choose to speak.  At length, having examined me inch
+by inch, she saluted by raising her rounded arm and tapering
+hand, and remarked in a soft, full voice--
+
+"All is as the picture told.  I perceive before me the lord
+Macumazahn."
+
+I thought this a strange saying, seeing that I could not
+recollect having given my photograph to any one in Zululand.
+
+"You need no magic to tell you that, doctoress," I remarked, "but
+where did you see my picture?"
+
+"In the dust far away," she replied.
+
+"And who showed it to you?"
+
+"One who knew you, O Macumazahn, in the years before I came out
+of the Darkness, one named Opener of Roads, and with him another
+who also knew you in those years, one who has gone down to the
+Darkness."
+
+Now for some occult reason I shrank from asking the name of this
+"one who had gone down to the Darkness,' although I was sure that
+she was waiting for the question.  So I merely remarked, without
+showing surprise--
+
+"So Zikali still lives, does he?  He should have been dead long
+ago."
+
+"You know well that he lives, Macumazahn, for how could he die
+till his work was accomplished?  Moreover, you will remember that
+he spoke to you when last moon was but just past her full--in a
+dream, Macumazahn.  I brought that dream, although you did not
+see me."
+
+"Pish!" I exclaimed.  "Have done with your talk of dreams.  Who
+thinks anything of dreams?"
+
+"You do," she replied even more placidly than before, "you whom
+that dream has brought hither--with others."
+
+"You lie," I said rudely.  "The Basutos brought me here."
+
+"The Watcher-by-Night is pleased to say that I lie, so doubtless
+I do lie," she answered, her fixed smile deepening a little. 
+Then she folded her arms across her breast and remained silent.
+
+"You are a messenger, O seer of pictures in the dust and bearer
+of the cup of dreams," I said with sarcasm.  "Who sends a message
+by your lips for me, and what are the words of the message?"
+
+"My Lords the Spirits spoke the message by the mouth of the
+master Zikali.  He sends it on to you by the lips of your
+servant, the doctoress Nombe."
+
+"Are you indeed a doctoress, being so young?" I asked, for
+somehow I wished to postpone the hearing of that message.
+
+"O Macumazahn, I have heard the call, I have felt the pain in my
+back, I have drunk of the black medicine and of the white
+medicine, yes, for a whole year. I have been visited by the
+multitude of Spirits and seen the shades of those who live and of
+those who are dead.  I have dived into the river and drawn my
+snake from its mud; see, its skin is about me now," and opening
+the mantle she wore she showed what looked like the skin of a
+black mamba, fastened round her slender body.  "I have dwelt in
+the wilderness alone and listened to its voices.  I have sat at
+the feet of my master, the Opener of Roads, and looked down the
+road and drunk of his wisdom.  Yes, I am in truth a doctoress."
+
+"Well, after all this, you should be as wise as you are pretty."
+
+"Once before, Macumazahn, you told a maid of my people that she
+was pretty and she came to no good end; though to one that was
+great.  Therefore do not say to me that I am pretty, though I am
+glad that you should think so who can compare me with so many
+whom you have known," and she dropped her eyes, looking a little
+shy.
+
+It was the first human touch I had seen about her, and I was glad
+to have found a weak spot in her armour.  Moreover, from that
+moment she was always my friend.
+
+"As you will, Nombe.  Now for your message."
+
+"My Lords the Spirits, speaking through Zikali as one who makes
+music speak through a pipe of reeds, say--"
+
+"Never mind what the spirits say.  Tell me what Zikali says," I
+interrupted.
+
+"So be it, Macumazahn.  These are the words of Zikali: 'O
+Watcher-by-Night, the time draws on when the
+Thing-who-should-never-have-been-born will be as though he never
+had been born, whereat he rejoices.  But first there is much for
+him to do, and as he told you nearly three hundred moons ago, in
+what must be done you will have your part.  Of that he will speak
+to you afterwards.  Macumazahn, you dreamed a dream, did you not,
+lying asleep in the house that was built of white stone which now
+is black with fire?  I, Zikali, sent you that dream through the
+arts of a child of mine who is named Nombe, she to whom I have
+given a Spirit to guide her feet.  You did well to follow it,
+Macumazahn, for had you tried the other path, which would have
+led you back to the towns of the white men, you and those with
+you must have been killed, how it does not matter.  Now by the
+mouth of Nombe I say to you, do not follow the thought that is in
+your mind as she speaks to you and go to Natal, since if you do
+so, you and those with you will come to much shame and trouble
+that to you would be worse than death, over the matter of the
+killing of a certain white doctor in a swamp where grow
+yellow-wood trees.  For there in Natal you will be taken, all of
+you, and sent back to the Transvaal to be tried before a man who
+wears upon his head horse's hair stained white.  But if you come
+to Zululand this shadow shall pass away from you, since great
+things are about to happen which will cause so small a matter to
+be forgot.  Moreover, I Zikali, who do not lie, promise this:
+That however great may be their dangers here in Zululand, those
+half-fledged ones whom you, the old night-hawk, cover with your
+wings, shall in the end suffer no harm; those of whom I spoke to
+you in your dream, the white lord, Mauriti, and the white lady,
+Heddana, who stretch out their arms one to another.  I wait to
+welcome you, here at the Black Kloof, whither my daughter Nombe
+will guide you.  Cetewayo, the king, also will welcome you, and
+so will another whose name I do not utter.  Now choose.  I have
+spoken.'"
+
+Having delivered her message Nombe stood quite still, smiling as
+before, and apparently indifferent as to its effect.
+
+"How do I know that you come from Zikali?" I asked.  "You may be
+but the bait set upon a trap."
+
+From somewhere within her robe she produced a knife and handed it
+to me, remarking--
+
+"The Master says you will remember this, and by it know that the
+message comes from him.  He bade me add that with it was carved a
+certain image that once he gave to you at Panda's kraal, wrapped
+round with a woman's hair, which image you still have."
+
+I looked at the knife and did remember it, for it was one of
+those of Swedish make with a wooden handle, the first that I had
+ever seen in Africa.  I had made a present of it to Zikali when I
+returned to Zululand before the war between the Princes.  The
+image, too, I still possessed.  It was that of the woman called
+Mameena who brought about the war, and the wrapping which covered
+it was of the hair that once grew upon her head.
+
+"The words are Zikali's," I said, returning her the knife, "but
+why do you call yourself the child of one who is too old to be a
+father?"
+
+"The Master says that my great-grandmother was his daughter and
+that therefore I am his child.  Now, Macumazahn, I go to eat with
+my people, for I have servants with me.  Then I must speak with
+the Swazi king, for whom I also have a message, which I cannot do
+at present because he is still drunk with the white man's liquor. 
+After that I shall be ready to return with you to Zululand."
+
+"I never said that I was going to Zululand, Nombe."
+
+"Yet your heart has gone there already, Macumazahn, and you must
+follow your heart.  Does not the image which was carved with the
+knife you gave, hold a white heart in its hand, and although it
+seems to be but a bit of Umzimbeete wood, is it not alive and
+bewitched, which perhaps is why you could never make up your mind
+to burn it, Macumazahn?"
+
+"I wish I had," I replied angrily; but having thrown this last
+spear, with a flash of her unholy eyes Nombe had turned and gone.
+
+A clever woman and thoroughly coached, thought I.  Well, Zikali
+was never one to suffer fools, and doubtless she is another of
+the pawns whom he uses on his board of policy.  Oh! she, or
+rather he was right; my heart was in Zululand, though not in the
+way he thought, and I longed to see the end of that great game
+played by a wizard against a despot and his hosts.
+
+So we went to Zululand because after talking it over we all came
+to the conclusion that this was the best thing to do, especially
+as there we seemed to be sure of a welcome.  For later in the day
+Nombe repeated to Anscombe and Heda the invitation which she had
+delivered to me, assuring them also that in Zululand they would
+come to no harm.
+
+It was curious to watch the meeting between Heda and Nombe.  The
+doctoress appeared just as we had risen from breakfast, and Heda,
+turning round, came face to face with her.
+
+Is this your witch, Mr. Quatermain?" she asked me in her
+vivacious way.  "Why, she is different from what I expected,
+quite good-looking and, yes, impressive.  I am not sure that she
+does not frighten me a little."
+
+"What does the Inkosikaasi (i.e., the chieftainess) say
+concerning me, Macumazahn?" asked Nombe.
+
+"Only what I said, that you are young who she thought would be
+old, and pretty who she thought would be ugly."
+
+"To grow old we must first be young, Macumazahn, and in due
+season all of us will become ugly, even the Inkosikaasi.  But I
+thought she said also that she feared me."
+
+"Do you know English, Nombe?"
+
+"Nay, but I know how to read eyes, and the Inkosikaasi has eyes
+that talk.  Tell her that she has no reason to fear me who would
+be her friend, though I think that she will bring me little
+luck."
+
+It was scarcely necessary, so far as Heda was concerned, but I
+translated, leaving out the last sentence.
+
+"Say to her that I am grateful who have few friends, and that I
+will fear her no more," said Heda.
+
+Again I translated, whereon Nombe stretched out her hand,
+saying--
+
+"Let her not scorn to take it, it is clean.  It has brought no
+man to his death--" Here she looked at Heda meaningly. 
+"Moreover, though she is white and I am black, I like herself am
+of high blood and come of a race of warriors who did nothing
+small, and lastly, we are of an age, and if she is beautiful, I
+am wise and have gifts great as her own."
+
+Once more I interpreted for the benefit of Anscombe, for Heda
+understood Zulu well enough, although she had pretended not to do
+so, after which the two shook hands, to Anscombe's amusement and
+my wonder.  For I felt this scene to be strained and one that
+hid, or presaged, something I did not comprehend.
+
+"This is the Chief she loves?" said Nombe to me, studying
+Anscombe with her steady eyes after Heda had gone.  "Well, he is
+no common man and brave, if idle; one, too, who may grow tall in
+the world, should he live, when he has learned to think.  But,
+Macumazahn, if she met you both at the same time why did she not
+choose you?"
+
+"Just now you said you were wise, Nombe," I replied laughing,
+"but now I see that, like most of your trade, you are but a vain
+boaster.  Is there a hat upon my head that you cannot see the
+colour of my hair, and is it natural that youth should turn to
+age?"
+
+"Sometimes if the mind is old, Macumazahn, which is why I love
+the Spirits only who are more ancient than the mountains, and
+with them Zikali their servant, who was young before the Zulus
+were a people, or so he says, and still year by year gathers
+wisdom as the bee gathers honey.  Inspan your horses, Macumazahn,
+for I have done my business and am ready to start."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+
+
+ZIKALI
+
+
+
+
+
+Ten days had gone by when once more I found myself drawing near
+to the mouth of the Black Kloof where dwelt Zikali the Wizard. 
+Our journey in Zululand had been tedious and uneventful.  It
+seemed to me that we met extraordinarily few people; it was as
+though the place had suddenly become depopulated, and I even
+passed great kraals where there was no one to be seen.  I asked
+Nombe what was the meaning of this, for she and three silent men
+she had with her were acting as our guides.  Once she answered
+that the people had moved because of lack of food, as the season
+had been one of great scarcity owing to drought, and once that
+they had been summoned to a gathering at the king's kraal near
+Ulundi.  At any rate they were not there, and the few who did
+appear stared at us strangely.
+
+Moreover, I noticed that they were not allowed to speak to us. 
+Also Heda was kept in the cart and Nombe insisted that the rear
+canvas curtain should be closed and a blanket fastened behind
+Anscombe who drove, evidently with the object that she should not
+be seen.  Further, on the plea of weariness, from the time that
+we entered Zulu territory Nombe asked to be allowed to ride in
+the cart with Kaatje and Heda, her real reason, as I was sure,
+being that she might keep a watch on them.  Lastly we travelled
+by little-frequented tracks, halting at night in out-of-the-way
+places, where, however, we always found food awaiting us,
+doubtless by arrangement.
+
+With one man whom I had known in past days and who recognized me,
+I did manage to have a short talk.  He asked me what I was doing
+in Zululand at that time.  I replied that I was on a visit to
+Zikali, whereon he said I should be safer with him than with any
+one else.
+
+Our conversation went no further, for just then one of Nombe's
+servants appeared and made some remark to the man of which I
+could not catch the meaning, whereon he promptly turned and
+deported, leaving me wondering and uneasy.
+
+Evidently we were being isolated, but when I remonstrated with
+Nombe she only answered with her most unfathomable smile--
+
+"O Macumazahn, you must ask Zikali of all these things.  I am no
+one and know nothing, who only do what the Master tells me is for
+your good."
+
+"I am minded to turn and depart from Zululand," I said angrily,
+"for in this low veld whither you have led us there is fever and
+the horses will catch sickness or be bitten by the tsetse fly and
+perish."
+
+"I cannot say, Macumazahn, who only travel by the road the Master
+pointed out.  Yet if you will be guided by me, you will not try
+to leave Zululand."
+
+"You mean that I am in a trap, Nombe."
+
+"I mean that the country is full of soldiers and that all white
+men have fled from it.  Therefore, even if you were allowed to
+pass because the Zulus love you, Macumazahn, it might well happen
+that those with you would stay behind, sound asleep, Macumazahn,
+for which, like you, I should be sorry."
+
+After this I said no more, for I knew that she meant to warn me. 
+We had entered on this business and must see it through to its
+end, sweet or bitter.
+
+As for Anscombe and Heda their happiness seemed to be complete. 
+The novelty of the life charmed them, and of its dangers they
+took no thought, being content to leave me, in whom they had a
+blind faith, to manage everything.  Moreover, Heda, who in the
+joy of her love was beginning to forget the sorrow of her
+father's death and the other tragic events through which she had
+just passed, took a great fancy to the young witch-doctoress who
+conversed with her in Zulu, a language of which, having lived so
+long in Natal, Heda knew much already.  Indeed, when I suggested
+to her that to be over-trusting was not wise, she fired up and
+replied that she had been accustomed to natives all her life and
+could judge them, adding that she had every confidence in Nombe.
+
+After this I held my tongue and said no more of my doubts.  What
+was the use since Heda would not listen to them, and at that time
+Anscombe was nothing but her echo?
+
+So this, for me, very dull journey continued, till at length,
+after being held up for a couple of days by a flooded river where
+there was nothing to do but sit and smoke, as Nombe requested me
+not to make a noise by shooting at the big game that abounded, we
+began to emerge from the bush-veld on to the lovely uplands in
+the neighbourhood of Nongoma.  Leaving these on our right we
+headed for a place called Ceza, a natural stronghold consisting
+of a flat plain on the top of a mountain, which plain is
+surrounded by bush.  It is at the foot of this stronghold that
+the Black Kloof lies, being one of the ravines that run up into
+the mountain.
+
+So thither we came at last.  It was drawing towards sunset, a
+tremendous and stormy sunset, as we approached the place, and lo!
+it looked exactly as it had done when first I saw it more than a
+score of years before, forbidding as the mouth of hell, vast and
+lonesome.  There stood the columns of boulders fantastically
+piled one upon another; there grew the sparse trees upon its
+steep sides, mingled with aloes that looked like the shapes of
+men; there was the granite bottom swept almost clean by floods in
+some dim age, and the little stream that flowed along it.  There,
+too, was the spot where once I had outspanned my wagons on the
+night when my servants swore that they saw the Imikovu, or
+wizard-raised spectres, floating past them on the air in the
+shapes of the Princes and others who were soon to fall at the
+battle of the Tugela.  Up it we went, I riding and Nombe, who had
+descended from the cart that followed, walking by my side and
+watching me.
+
+"You seem sad, Macumazahn," she said at length.
+
+"Yes, Nombe, I am sad.  This place makes me so."
+
+"Is it the place, Macumazahn, or is it the thought of one whom
+once you met in the place, one who is dead?"
+
+I looked at her, pretending not to understand, and she went on--
+
+"I have the gift of vision, Macumazahn, which comes at times to
+those of my trade, and now and again, amongst others, I have
+seemed to see the spirit of a certain woman haunting this kloof
+as though she were waiting for some one."
+
+"Indeed, and what may that woman be like?" I inquired carelessly.
+
+As it chances I can see her now gliding backwards in front of you
+just there, and therefore am able to answer your question,
+Macumazahn.  She is tall and slender, beautifully made, and
+light-coloured for one of us black people.  She has large eyes
+like a buck, and those eyes are full of fire that does not come
+from the sun but from within.  Her face is tender yet proud, oh!
+so proud that she makes me afraid.  She wears a cloak of grey
+fur, and about her neck there is a circlet of big blue beads with
+which her fingers play.  A thought comes from her to me.  These
+are the words of the thought: 'I have waited long in this dark
+place, watching by day and night till you, the Watcher-by-Night,
+return to meet me here.  At length you have come, and in this
+enchanted place my hungry spirit can feed upon your spirit for a
+while.  I thank you for coming, who now am no more lonely.  Fear
+nothing, Macumazahn, for by a certain kiss I swear to you that
+till the appointed hour when you become as I am, I will be a
+shield upon your arm and a spear in your hand.'  Such are the
+words of her thought, Macumazahn, but she has gone away and I
+hear no more.  It was as though your horse rode over her and she
+passed through you."
+
+Then, like one who wished to answer no questions, Nombe turned
+and went back to the cart, where she began to talk indifferently
+with Heda, for as soon as we entered the kloof her servants had
+drawn back the curtains and let fall the blanket.  As for me, I
+groaned, for of course I knew that Zikali, who was well
+acquainted with the appearance of Mameena, had instructed Nombe
+to say all this to me in order to impress my mind for some reason
+of his own.  Yet he had done it cleverly, for such words as those
+Mameena might well have uttered could her great spirit have need
+to walk the earth again.  Was such a thing possible, I wondered? 
+No, it was not possible, yet it was true that her atmosphere
+seemed to cling about this place and that my imagination, excited
+by memory and Nombe's suggestions, seemed to apprehend her
+presence.
+
+As I reflected the horse advanced round the little bend in the
+ever-narrowing cliffs, and there in front of me, under the
+gigantic mass of overhanging rock, appeared the kraal of Zikali
+surrounded by its reed fence, The gate of the fence was open, and
+beyond it, on his stool in front of the large hut, sat Zikali. 
+Even at that distance it was impossible to mistake his figure,
+which was like no other that I had known in the world.  A
+broad-shouldered dwarf with a huge head, deep, sunken eyes and
+snowy hair that hung upon his shoulders; the whole frame and face
+pervaded with an air of great antiquity, and yet owing to the
+plumpness of the flesh and that freshness of skin which is
+sometimes seen in the aged, comparatively young-looking.
+
+Such was the great wizard Zikali, known throughout the land for
+longer than any living man could remember as "Opener of Roads," a
+title that referred to his powers of spiritual vision, also as
+the "Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," a name given to him
+by Chaka, the first and greatest of the Zulu kings, because of
+his deformity.
+
+There he sat silent, impassive, staring open-eyed at the red ball
+of the setting sun, looking more like some unshapely statue than
+a man.  His silent, fierce-faced servants appeared.  To me they
+looked like the same men whom I had seen here three and twenty
+years before, only grown older.  Indeed, I think they were, for
+they greeted me by name and saluted by raising their broad
+spears.  I dismounted and waited while Anscombe, whose foot was
+now quite well again, helped Heda from the cart which was led
+away by the servants.  Anscombe, who seemed a little oppressed,
+remarked that this was a strange place.
+
+"Yes," said Heda, "but it is magnificent.  I like it."
+
+Then her eye fell upon Zikali seated before the hut and she
+turned pale.
+
+"Oh! what a terrible-looking man," she murmured, "if he is a
+man."
+
+The maid Kaatje saw him also and uttered a little cry.
+
+"Don't be frightened, dear," said Anscombe, "he is only an old
+dwarf."
+
+"I suppose so," she exclaimed doubtfully, "but to me he is like
+the devil."
+
+Nombe slid past us.  She threw off the kaross she wore and for
+the first time appeared naked except for the mucha about her
+middle and her ornaments.  Down she went on her hands and knees
+and in this humble posture crept towards Zikali.  Arriving in
+front of him she touched the ground with her forehead, then
+lifting her right arm, gave the salute of Makosi, to which as a
+great wizard he was entitled, being supposed to be the home of
+many spirits.  So far as I could see he took no notice of her. 
+Presently she moved and squatted herself down on his right hand,
+while two of his attendants appeared from behind the hut and took
+their stand between him and its doorway, holding their spears
+raised.  About a minute later Nombe beckoned to us to approach,
+and we went forward across the courtyard, I a little ahead of the
+others.  As we drew near Zikali opened his mouth and uttered a
+loud and terrifying laugh.  How well I remembered that laugh
+which I had first heard at Dingaan's kraal as a boy after the
+murder of Retief and the Boers.*
+
+[See the book called _Marie,_ by H. Rider Haggard.]
+
+"I begin to think that you are right and that this old gentleman
+must be the devil," said Anscombe to Heda, then lapsed into
+silence.
+
+As I was determined not to speak first I took the opportunity to
+fill my pipe.  Zikali, who was watching me, although all the
+while he seemed to be staring at the setting sun, made a sign. 
+One of the servants dashed away and immediately returned, bearing
+a flaming brand which proffered to me as a pipe-lighter.  Then he
+departed again to bring three carved stools of red wood which he
+placed for us.  I looked at mine and knew it again by the
+carvings.  It was the same on which I had sat when first I met
+Zikali.  At length he spoke in his deep, slow voice.
+
+"Many years have gone by, Macumazahn, since you made use of that
+stool.  They are cut in notches upon the leg you hold and you may
+count them if you will."
+
+I examined the leg.  There were the notches, twenty-two or three
+of them.  On the other legs were more notches too numerous to
+reckon.
+
+"Do not look at those, Macumazahn, for they have nothing to do
+with you.  They tell the years since the first of the House of
+Senzangacona sat upon that stool, since Chaka sat upon it, since
+Dingaan and others sat upon it, one Mameena among them.  Well,
+much has happened since it served you for a rest.  You have
+wandered far and seen strange things and lived where others would
+have died because it was your lot to live, of all of which we
+will talk afterwards.  And now when you are grey you have come
+back here, as the Opener of Roads told you you would do, bringing
+with you new companions, you who have the art of making friends
+even when you are old, which is one given to few men.  Where are
+those with whom you used to company, Macumazahn?  Where are
+Saduko and Mameena and the rest?  All gone except the
+Thing-who-should-never-have-been-born," and again he laughed
+loudly.
+
+"And who it seems has never learned when to die," I remarked,
+speaking for the first time.
+
+"Just so, Macumazahn, because I cannot die until my work is
+finished.  But thanks be to the spirits of my fathers and to my
+own that I live on to glut with vengeance, the end draws near at
+last, and as I promised you in the dead days, you shall have your
+share in it, Macumazahn."
+
+He paused, then continued, still staring at the sinking sun,
+which made his remarks about us, whom he did not seem to see,
+uncanny--
+
+"That white man with you is brave and well-born, one who loves
+fighting, I think, and the maiden is fair and sweet, with a high
+spirit.  She is thinking to herself that I am an old wizard whom,
+if she were not afraid of me, she would ask to tell her her
+fortune.  See, she understands and starts.  Well, perhaps I will
+one day.  Meanwhile, here is a little bit of it.  She will have
+five children, of whom two will die and one will give her so much
+trouble that she will wish it had died also.  But who their
+father will be I do not say.  Nombe my child, lead away this
+White One and her woman to the hut that has been made ready for
+her, for she is weary and would rest.  See, too, that she lacks
+for nothing which we can give her who is our guest.  Let the
+white lord, Mauriti, accompany her to the hut and be shown that
+next to it in which he and Macumazahn will sleep, so that he may
+be sure that she is safe, and attend to the horses if he wills. 
+There is a place to tether them behind the huts, and the men who
+travelled with you will help him.  Afterwards, when I have spoken
+with him, Macumazahn can join them that they may eat before they
+sleep.
+
+These directions I translated to Anscombe, who went gladly enough
+with Heda, for I think they were both afraid of the terrible old
+dwarf and did not desire his company in the gathering gloom.
+
+"The sun sinks once more, Macumazahn," he said when they were
+gone, "and the air grows chill.  Come with me now into my hut
+where the fire burns, for I am aged and the cold strikes through
+me.  Also there we can be alone."
+
+So speaking he turned and crawled into the hut, looking like a
+gigantic white-headed beetle as he did so, a creature, I
+remembered, to which I had once compared him in the past.  I
+followed, carrying the historic stool, and when he had seated
+himself on his kaross on the further side of the fire, took up my
+position opposite to him.  This fire was fed with some kind of
+root or wood that gave a thin clear flame with little or no
+smoke.  Over it he crouched, so closely that his great head
+seemed to be almost in the flame at which he stared with
+unblinking eyes as he had done at the sun, circumstances which
+added to his terrifying appearance and made me think of a certain
+region and its inhabitants.
+
+"Why do you come here, Macumazahn?" he asked after studying me
+for a while through that window of fire.
+
+"Because you brought me, Zikali, partly through your messenger,
+Nombe, and partly by means of a dream which she says you sent."
+
+"Did I, Macumazahn?  If so, I have forgotten it.  Dreams are as
+many as gnats by the water; they bite us while we sleep, but when
+we wake up we forget them.  Also it is foolishness to say that
+one man can send a dream to another."
+
+"Then your messenger lied, Zikali, especially as she added that
+she brought it."
+
+"Of course she lied, Macumazahn.  Is she not my pupil whom I have
+trained from a child?  Moreover, she lied well, it would seem,
+who guessed what sort of a dream you would have when you thought
+of turning your steps to Zululand."
+
+"Why do you play at sticks (i.e. fence) with me, Zikali, seeing
+that neither of us are children?"
+
+"O Macumazahn, that is where you are mistaken, seeing that both
+of us, old though we be and cunning though we think ourselves,
+are nothing but babes in the arms of Fate.  Well, well, I will
+tell you the truth, since it would be foolish to try to throw
+dust into such eyes as yours.  I knew that you were down in
+Sekukuni's country and I was watching you--through my spies.  You
+have been nowhere during all these years that I was not watching
+you--through my spies.  For instance, that Arab-looking man named
+Harut, whom first you met at a big kraal in a far country, was a
+spy of mine.  He has visited me lately and told me much of your
+doings.  No, don't ask me of him now who would talk to you of
+other matters--"
+
+"Does Harut still live then, and has he found a new god in place
+of the Ivory Child?" I interrupted.
+
+"Macumazahn, if he did not live, how could he visit and speak
+with me?  Well, I watched you there by the Oliphant's River where
+you fought Sekukuni's people, and afterwards in the marble hut
+where you found the old white man dead in his chair and got the
+writings that you have in your pocket which concern the maiden
+Heddana; also afterwards when the white man, your friend, killed
+the doctor who fell into a mud hole and the Basutos stole his
+cattle and wagon."
+
+"How do you know all these things, Zikali?"
+
+"Have I not told you--through my spies.  Was there not a
+half-breed driver called Footsack, and do not the Basutos come
+and go between the Black Kloof and Sekukuni's town, bearing me
+tidings?"
+
+"Yes, Zikali, and so does the wind and so do the birds."
+
+"True!  O Macumazahn, I see that you are one who has watched
+Nature and its ways as closely as my spies watch you.  So I
+learned these matters and knew that you were in trouble over the
+death of these white men, and your friends likewise, and as you
+were always dear to me, I sent that child Nombe to bring you to
+me, thinking from what I knew of you that you would be more
+likely to follow a woman who is both wise and good to look at,
+than a man who might be neither.  I told her to say to you that
+you and the others would be safer here than in Natal at present. 
+It seems that you hearkened and came.  That is all."
+
+"Yes, I hearkened and came.  But, Zikali, that is not all, for
+you know well that you sent for me for your own sake, not for
+mine."
+
+"O Macumazahn, who can prevent a needle from piercing cloth when
+it is pushed by a finger like yours?  Your wits are too sharp for
+me, Macumazahn; your eyes read through the blanket of cunning
+with which I would hide my thought.  You speak truly.  I did send
+for you for my own sake as well as for yours.  I sent for you
+because I wanted your counsel, Macumazahn, and because Cetewayo
+the king also wants your counsel, and I wished to see you before
+you saw Cetewayo.  Now you have the whole truth."
+
+"What do you want my counsel about, Zikali?"
+
+He leaned forward till his white locks almost seemed to mingle
+with the thin flame, through which he glared at me with eyes that
+were fiercer than the fire.
+
+"Macumazahn, you remember the story that I told you long ago, do
+you not?"
+
+"Very well, Zikali.  It was that you hate the House of
+Senzangacona which has given all its kings to Zululand.  First,
+because you are one of the Dwandwe tribe whom the Zulus crushed
+and mocked at.  Secondly, because Chaka the Lion named you the
+"Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born" and killed your wives,
+for which crime you brought about the death of Chaka.  Thirdly,
+because you have matched your single wit for many years against
+all the power of the royal House and yet kept your life in you,
+notably when Panda threatened you in my presence at the trial of
+one who has 'gone down,' and you told him to kill you if he
+dared.  Now you would prove that you were right by causing your
+cunning to triumph over the royal House."
+
+"True, quite true, O Macumazahn.  You have a good memory,
+Macumazahn, especially for anything that has to do with that
+woman who has 'gone down.'  I sent her down, but how was she
+named, Macumazahn?  I forget, I forget, whose mind being old,
+falls suddenly into black pits of darkness--like her who went
+down.
+
+He paused and we stared at each other through the veil of fire. 
+Then as I made no answer, he went on--
+
+"Oh! I remember now, she was called Mameena, was she not, a name
+taken from the wailing of the wind?  Hark!  It is wailing now."
+
+I listened; it was, and I shivered to hear it, since but a minute
+before the night had been quite still.  Yes, the wind moaned and
+wailed about the rocks of the Black Kloof.
+
+"Well, enough of her.  Why trouble about the dead when there are
+so many to be sent to join them?  Macumazahn, the hour is at
+hand.  The fool Cetewayo has quarrelled with your people, the
+English, and on my counsel.  He has sent and killed women, or
+allowed others to do so, across the river in Natal.  His
+messengers came to me asking what he should do.  I answered,
+'Shall a king of the blood of Chaka fear to allow his own wicked
+ones to be slain because they have stepped across a strip of
+water, and still call himself king of the Zulus?'  So those women
+were dragged back across the water and killed; and now the
+Queen's man from the Cape asks many things, great fines of
+cattle, the giving up of the slayers, and that an end should be
+made of the Zulu army, which is to lay down its spears and set to
+hoeing like the old women in the kraals."
+
+"And if the king refuses, what then, Zikali?"
+
+"Then, Macumazahn, the Queen's man will declare war on the Zulus;
+already he gathers his soldiers for the war."
+
+"Will Cetewayo refuse, Zikali?"
+
+"I do not know.  His mind swings this way and that, like a pole
+balanced on a rock.  The ends of the pole are weighted with much
+counsel, and it hangs so even that if a grasshopper lit on one
+end or the other, it would turn the scale."
+
+"And do you wish me to be that grasshopper, Zikali?"
+
+"Who else?  That is why I brought you to Zululand."
+
+"So you wish me to counsel Cetewayo to lie down in the bed that
+the English have made for him.  If he seeks my advice I will do
+so gladly, for so I am sure he will sleep well."
+
+"Why do you mock me, Macumazahn?  I wish you to counsel Cetewayo
+to throw back his word into the teeth of the Queen's man and to
+fight the English."
+
+"And thus bring destruction on the Zulus and death to thousands
+of them and of my own people, and in return gain nothing but
+remorse.  Do you think me mad or wicked, or both, that I should
+do this thing?"
+
+"Nay, Macumazahn, you would gain much.  I could show you where
+the king's cattle are hidden.  The English will never find them,
+and after the war you might take as many as you chose.  But it
+would be useless, for knowing you well, I am sure that you would
+only hand them over to the British Government, as once you handed
+over the cattle of Bangu, being fashioned that way by the
+Great-Great, Macumazahn."
+
+"Perhaps I might, but then what should I gain, Zikali?"
+
+"This: you would so bring things about that, being broken by war,
+the Zulu power could never again menace the white men, which
+would be a great and good deed, Macumazahn."
+
+"Mayhap--I am not sure.  But of this I am sure, that I will nor
+thrust my face into your nest of wasps, that the English hornets
+may steal the honey when they are disturbed.  I leave such
+matters to the Queen and those who rule under her.  So have done
+with such talk, for you do but waste your breath, Zikali."
+
+"It is as I guessed it would be," he answered, shaking his great
+head.  "You are too honest to prosper in the world, Macumazahn. 
+Well, I must find other means to bring the House of Cetewayo to
+the end that he deserves, who has been an evil and a cruel king."
+
+All this he said, showing neither surprise nor resentment, which
+convinced me of what I had suspected throughout, that never for
+an instant did he believe that I should fall in with his
+suggestions and try to influence the Zulus to declare war.  No,
+this talk of his was but a blind; there was some deeper scheme at
+work in his cunning old brain which he was hiding from me.  Why
+exactly had he beguiled me to Zululand?  I could not divine, and
+to ask him would be worse than useless, but then and there I made
+up my mind that I would get away from the Black Kloof early on
+the following morning, if that were possible.
+
+He began to speak of other matters in a low, droning voice, like
+a man who converses with himself.  Sad, all of them, such as the
+haunted death of Saduko who had betrayed his lord, the Prince
+Umbelazi, because of a woman, every circumstance of which seemed
+to be familiar to him.
+
+I made no answer, who was waiting for an opportunity to leave the
+hut, and did not care to dwell on these events.  He ceased and
+brooded for a while, then said suddenly--
+
+"You are hungry and would eat, Macumazahn, and I who eat little
+would sleep, for in sleep the multitudes of Spirits visit me,
+bringing tidings from afar.  Well, we have spoken together and of
+that I am glad, for who knows when the chance will come again,
+though I think that soon we shall meet at Ulundi, Ulundi where
+Fate spreads its net.  What was it I had to say to you?  Ah! I
+remember.  There is one who is always in your thoughts and whom
+you wish to see, one too who wishes to see you.  You shall, you
+shall in payment for the trouble you have taken in coming so far
+to visit a poor old Zulu doctor whom, as you told me long ago,
+you know to be nothing but a cheat."
+
+He paused and, why I could not tell, I grew weak with fear of I
+knew not what, and bethought me of flight.
+
+"It is cold in this hut, is it not?" he went on.  "Burn up, fire,
+burn up!" and plunging his hand into a catskin bag of medicines
+which he wore, he drew out some powder which he threw upon the
+embers that instantly burst into bright flame.
+
+"Look now, Macumazahn," he said, "look to your right."
+
+I looked and oh Heaven! there before me with outstretched arms
+and infinite yearning on her face, stood Mameena, Mameena as I
+had last seen her after I gave her the promised kiss that she
+used to cover her taking of the poison.  For five seconds,
+mayhap, she stood thus, living, wonderful, but still as death,
+the fierce light showing all.  Then the flame died down again and
+she was gone.
+
+I turned and next instant was out of the hut, pursued by the
+terrible laughter of Zikali.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+
+
+TRAPPED
+
+
+
+
+
+Outside in the cool night air I recovered myself, sufficiently at
+any rate to be able to think, and saw at once that the thing was
+an illusion for which Zikali had prepared my mind very carefully
+by means of the young witch-doctoress, Nombe.  He knew well
+enough that this remarkable woman, Mameena, had made a deep
+impression on me nearly a quarter of a century before, as she had
+done upon other men with whom she had been associated.  Therefore
+it was probable that she would always be present to my thought,
+since whatever a man forgets, he remembers the women who have
+shown him favour, true or false, for Nature has decreed it thus.
+
+Moreover, this was one to be remembered for herself, since she
+was beautiful and most attractive in her wild way.  Also she had
+brought about a great war, causing the death of thousands, and
+lastly her end might fairly be called majestic.  All these
+impressions Zikali had instructed Nombe to revivify by her
+continual allusions to Mameena, and lastly by her pretence that
+she saw her walking in front of me.  Then when I was tired and
+hungry, in that place which for me was so closely connected with
+this woman, and in his own uncanny company, either by mesmerism
+or through the action of the drug he threw upon the fire, he had
+succeeded in calling up the illusion of her presence to my
+charmed sight.  All this was clear enough, what remained obscure
+was his object.
+
+Possibly he had none beyond an impish desire to frighten me,
+which is common enough among practitioners of magic in all lands. 
+Well, for a little while he had succeeded, although to speak
+truth I remained uncertain whether in a sense I was not more
+thrilled and rejoiced than frightened.  Mameena had never been so
+ill to look upon, and I knew that dead or living I had nothing to
+fear from her who would have walked through hell fire for my
+sake, would have done anything, except perhaps sacrifice her
+ambition.  No, even if this were her ghost I should have been
+glad to see her again.
+
+But it was not a ghost; it was only a fancy reproduced exactly as
+my mind had photographed her, almost as my eyes last saw her,
+when her kiss was still warm upon my lips.
+
+Such were my thoughts as I stood outside that hut with the cold
+perspiration running down my face, for to tell the truth my
+nerves were upset, although without reason.  So upset were they
+that when suddenly a silent-footed man appeared out of the
+darkness I jumped as high as though I had set my foot on a
+puff-adder, and until I recognized him by his voice as one of
+Nombe's servants who had accompanied us from Swazi-Land, felt
+quite alarmed.  As a matter of fact he had only come to tell me
+that our meal was ready and that the other "high White Ones" were
+waiting for me.
+
+He led me round the fence that encircled Zikali's dwelling-place,
+to two huts that stood nearly behind it, almost against the face
+of the rock which, overhanging in a curve, formed a kind of
+natural roof above them.  I thought they must have been built
+since I visited the place, as I, who have a good memory for such
+things, did not remember them.  Indeed, on subsequent examination
+I found that they were quite new, for the poles that formed their
+uprights were still green and the grass of the thatch was
+scarcely dry.  It looked to me as if they had been specially
+constructed for our accommodation.
+
+In one of these huts, that to the right which was allotted to
+Anscombe and myself, I found the others waiting for me, also the
+food.  It was good of its sort and well cooked, and we ate it by
+the light of some candles that we had with us, Kaatje serving us. 
+Yet, although a little while before I had been desperately
+hungry, now my appetite seemed to have left me and I made but a
+poor meal.  Heda and Anscombe also seemed oppressed and ate
+sparingly.  We did not talk much until Kaatje had taken away the
+tin plates and gone to eat her own supper by a fire that burned
+outside the hut.  Then Heda broke out, saying that she was
+terrified of this place and especially of its master, the old
+dwarf, and felt sure that something terrible was going to happen
+to her.  Anscombe did his best to calm her, and I also told her
+she had nothing to fear.
+
+"If there is nothing to fear, Mr. Quatermain," she answered,
+turning on me, "why do you look so frightened yourself?  By your
+face you might have seen a ghost."
+
+This sudden and singularly accurate thrust, for after all I had
+seen something that looked very like a ghost, startled me, and
+before I could invent any soothing and appropriate fib, Nombe
+appeared, saying that she had come to lead Heda to her
+sleeping-place.  After this further conversation was impossible
+since, although Nombe knew but few words of English, she was a
+great thought-reader and I feared to speak of anything secret in
+her presence.  So we all went out of the hut, Nombe and I drawing
+back a little to the fire while the lovers said good-night to
+each other.
+
+"Nombe," I said, "the Inkosikazi Heddana is afraid.  The rocks of
+this kloof lie heavy on her heart; the face of the Opener of
+Roads is fearful to her and his laughter grates upon her ears. 
+Do you understand?"
+
+"I understand, Macumazahn, and it is as I expected.  When you
+yourself are frightened it is natural that she, an untried
+maiden, should be frightened also in this home of spirits."
+
+"It is men we fear, not spirits, now when all Zululand is boiling
+like a pot," I replied angrily.
+
+"Have it as you will, Macumazahn," she said, and at that moment
+her quiet, searching eyes and fixed smile were hateful to me. 
+"At least you admit that you do fear.  Well, for the lady Heddana
+fear nothing.  I sleep across the door of her hut, and while I
+who have learned to love her, live, I say--for her fear nothing,
+whatever may chance or whatever you may see or hear."
+
+"I believe you, but, Nombe, you might die."
+
+"Yes, I may die, but be sure of this, that when I die she will be
+safe, and he who loves her also.  Sleep well, Macumazahn, and do
+not dream too much of what you heard and saw in Zikali's house."
+
+Then before I could speak she turned and left me.
+
+I did _not_ sleep well; I slept very badly.  To begin with,
+Maurice Anscombe, generally the most cheerful and nonchalant of
+mortals with a jest for every woe, was in a most depressed
+condition, and informed me of it several times, while I was
+getting ready to turn in.  He said he thought the place hateful
+and felt as if people he could not see were looking at him (I had
+the same sensation but did not mention the fact to him).  When I
+told him he was talking stuff, he only replied that he could not
+help it, and pointed out that it was not his general habit to be
+downcast in any danger, which was quite true.  Now, he added, he
+was enjoying much the same sensations as he did when first he saw
+the Yellow-wood Swamp and got the idea into his head that he
+would kill some one there, which happened in due course.
+
+"Do you mean that you think you are going to kill somebody else?"
+I asked anxiously.
+
+"No," he answered, "I think I am going to be killed, or something
+like it, probably by that accursed old villain of a witch-doctor,
+who I don't believe is altogether human."
+
+"Others have thought that before now, Anscombe, and to be plain,
+I don't know that he is.  He lives too much with the dead to be
+like other people."
+
+"And with Satan, to whom I expect he makes sacrifices.  The truth
+is I'm afraid of his playing some of his tricks with Heda.  It is
+for her I fear, not for myself, Allan.  Oh! why on earth did you
+come here?"
+
+"Because you wished it and it seemed the safest thing to do. 
+Look here, my boy, as usual the trouble comes through a woman. 
+When a man's single--you know the rest.  You used to be able to
+laugh at anything, but now that you are practically double you
+can't laugh any more.  Well, that's the common lot of man and
+you've got to put up with it.  Adam was pretty jolly in his
+garden until Eve was started, but you know what happened
+afterwards.  The rest of his life was a compound of temptation,
+anxiety, family troubles, remorse, hard labour with primitive
+instruments, and a flaming sword behind him.  If you had left
+your Eve alone you would have escaped all this.  But you see you
+didn't, and as a matter of fact, nobody ever does who is worth
+his salt, for Nature has arranged it so."
+
+"You appear to talk with experience, Allan," he retorted blandly. 
+"By the way, that girl Nombe, when she isn't star-gazing or
+muttering incantations, is always trying to explain to Heda some
+tale about you and a lady called Mameena.  I gather that you were
+introduced to her in this neighbourhood where, Nombe says, you
+were in the habit of kissing her in public, which sounds an odd
+kind of a thing to do; all of which happened before she, Nombe,
+was born.  She adds, according to Kaatje's interpretation, that
+you met her again this afternoon, which, as I understand the
+young woman has been long dead, seems so incomprehensible that I
+wish you would explain."
+
+"With reference to Heda," I said, ignoring the rest as unworthy
+of notice, "I think you may make your mind easy.  Zikali knows
+that she is in my charge and I don't believe that he wants to
+quarrel with me.  Still, as you are uncomfortable here, the best
+thing to do will be to get away as early as possible to-morrow
+morning, where to we can decide afterwards.  And now I am going
+to sleep, so please stop arguing."
+
+As I have already hinted, my attempts in the sleep line proved a
+failure, for whenever I did drop off I was pursued by bad dreams,
+which resulted from lying down so soon after supper.  I heard the
+cries of desperate men in their mortal agony.  I saw a
+rain-swollen river; its waters were red with blood.  I beheld a
+vision of one who I knew by his dress to be a Zulu king, although
+I could not see his face.  He was flying and staggering with
+weariness as he fled.  A great hound followed him.  It lifted its
+head from the spoor; it was that of Zikali set upon the hound's
+body, Zikali who laughed instead of baying.  Then one whose
+copper ornaments tinkled as she walked, entered beside me,
+whispering into my ear.  "A quarter of a hundred years have gone
+by since we talked together in this haunted kloof," she seemed to
+whisper, "and before we talk again face to face there remain to
+pass of years"--
+
+Here she ceased, though naturally I should have liked to hear the
+number.  But that is just where dreams break down.  They tell us
+only of what we know, or can evolve therefrom.  Of what it is
+impossible for us to know they tell us nothing--at least as a
+general rule.
+
+I woke up with a start, and feeling stifled in that hot place and
+aggravated by the sound of Anscombe's peaceful breathing, threw a
+coat about me and, removing the door-board, crept into the air. 
+The night was still, the stars shone, and at a little distance
+the embers of the fire still glowed.  By it was seated a figure
+wrapped in a kaross.  The end of a piece of wood that the fire
+had eaten through fell on to the red ashes and flamed up
+brightly.  By its light I saw that the figure was Nombe's.  The
+eternal smile was still upon her face, the smile which suggested
+a knowledge of hidden things that from moment to moment amused
+her soul.  Her lips moved as though she were talking to an
+invisible companion, and from time to time, like one who acts
+upon directions, she took a pinch of ashes and blew them, either
+towards Heda's hut or ours.  Yes, she did this when all decent
+young women should have been asleep, like one who keeps some
+unholy, midnight assignation.
+
+Talking with her master, Zikali, or trying to cast spells upon
+us, confound her, I thought I to myself, and very silently crept
+back into the hut.  Afterwards it occurred to me that she might
+have had another motive, namely of watching to see that none of
+us left the huts.
+
+The rest of the night went by somehow.  Once, listening with all
+my ears, I thought that I caught the sound of a number of men
+tramping and of some low word of command, but as I heard no more,
+concluded that fancy had deceived me.  There I lay, puzzling over
+the situation till my head ached, and wondering how we were to
+get clear of the Black Kloof and Zikali, and out of Zululand
+which I gathered was no place for white people at the moment
+
+It seemed to me that the only thing was to make start for Dundee
+on the Natal border, and for the rest to trust to fortune.  If we
+got into trouble over the death of Rodd, unpleasant as this would
+be, the matter must be faced out, that was all.  For even if any
+witness appeared against us, the man had been killed in
+self-defence whilst trying to bring about our deaths at the hands
+of Basutos.  I could see now that I was foolish not to have taken
+this line from the first, but as I think I have already
+explained, what weighed with me was the terror of involving these
+young people in a scandal which might shadow all their future
+lives.  Also some fate inch by inch had dragged me into Zululand. 
+Fortunately in life there are few mistakes, and even worse than
+mistakes that cannot be repaired, if the wish towards reparation
+is real and earnest.  Were it otherwise not many of us would
+escape destruction in one form or another.
+
+Thus I reflected until at length light flowing faintly through
+the smoke-hole of the hut told me that dawn was at hand.  Seeing
+it I rose quietly, for I did not wish to wake Anscombe, dressed
+and left the hut.  My object was to find Nombe, who I hoped would
+be still sitting by the fire, and send her to Zikali with a
+message that I wished to speak with him at once.  Glancing round
+me in the grey dawn I saw that she was gone and that as yet no
+one seemed to be stirring.  Hearing a horse snort at a little
+distance, I made my way towards the sound and in a little bay of
+the overhanging cliff discovered the cart and near by our beasts
+tied up with a plentiful supply of forage.  Since so far as I
+could judge in that uncertain light, nothing seemed to be wrong
+with them except weariness, for three of them were still lying
+down, I walked on to the gate of the fence which surrounded
+Zikali's big hut, proposing to wait there until some one appeared
+by whom I could send my message.
+
+I reached the gate which I tried and found to be fastened on its
+inner side.  Then I sat down, lit my pipe and waited.  It was
+extraordinarily lonesome in that place; at least this was the
+feeling that came over me.  No doubt the sun was up behind the
+Ceza Stronghold that I have mentioned, which towered high behind
+me, for the sky above grew light with the red rays of its rising. 
+But all the vast Black Kloof with its huge fantastic rocks was
+still plunged in gloom, whereof the shadows seemed to oppress my
+heart, weary as I was with my wakeful night and many anxieties. 
+I was horribly nervous also and, as it proved, not without
+reason.  Presently I heard rustlings on the further side of the
+fence as of people creeping about cautiously, and the sound of
+whispering.  Then of a sudden the gate was thrown open and
+through it emerged about a dozen Zulu warriors, all of them
+ringed men, who instantly surrounded me, seated there upon the
+ground.
+
+I looked at them and they looked at me for quite a long while,
+since following my usual rule, I determined not to be the first
+to speak.  Moreover, if they meant to kill me there was no use in
+speaking.  At length their leader, an elderly man with thin legs,
+a large stomach and a rather pleasant countenance, saluted
+politely, saying--
+
+"Good morning, O Macumazahn."
+
+"Good morning, O Captain, whose name and business I do not know,"
+I answered.
+
+The winds know the mountain on which they blow, but the mountain
+does not know the winds which it cannot see," he remarked with
+poetical courtesy; a Zulu way of saying that more people are
+acquainted with Tom Fool than Tom Fool is aware of.
+
+"Perhaps, Captain; yet the mountain can feel the winds," and I
+might have added, smell them, for the Kloof was close and these
+Kaffirs had not recently bathed.
+
+"I am named Goza and come on an errand from the king, O
+Macumazahn."
+
+"Indeed, Goza, and is your errand to cut my throat?"
+
+"Not at present, Macumazahn, that is, unless you refuse to do
+what the king wishes."
+
+"And what does the king wish, Goza?"
+
+"He wishes, Macumazahn, that you, his friend, should visit him."
+
+"Which is just what I was on my way to do, Goza."  (This was not
+true, but it didn't matter, for, if a lie, in the words of the
+schoolgirl's definition, is an abomination to the Lord, it is a
+very present help in time of trouble.)  "After we have eaten I
+and my friends will accompany you to the king's kraal at Ulundi."
+
+"Not so, Macumazahn.  The king said nothing about your friends,
+of whom I do not think he has ever heard any more than we have. 
+Moreover, if your friends are white, you will do well not to
+mention them, since the order is that all white people in
+Zululand who have not come here by the king's desire, are to be
+killed at once, except yourself, Macumazahn."
+
+"Is it so, Goza?  Well, as you will have understood, I am quite
+alone here and have no friends.  Only I did not wish to travel so
+early."
+
+"Of course we understand that you are quite alone and have no
+friends, is it not so, my brothers?"
+
+"Yes, yes, we understand," they exclaimed in chorus, one of them
+adding, "and shall so report to the King."
+
+"What kind of blankets do you like; the plain grey ones or the
+white ones with the blue stripes?" I asked, desiring to confirm
+them in this determination.
+
+"The grey ones are warmer, Macumazahn, and do not show dirt so
+much," answered Goza thoughtfully.
+
+"Good, I will remember when I have the chance."
+
+"The promise of Macumazahn is known from of old to be as a tree
+that elephants cannot pull down and white ants will not eat,"
+said the sententious Goza, thereby intimating his belief that
+some time or other they would receive those blankets.  As a
+matter of fact the survivors of the party and the families of the
+others did receive them after the war, for in dealing with
+natives I have always made a point of trying to fulfil any
+promise or engagement made for value received.
+
+"And now," went on Goza, "will the Inkosi be pleased to start, as
+we have to travel far to-day?"
+
+"Impossible," I replied.  "Before I leave I must eat, for who can
+journey upon yesterday's food?  Also I must saddle my horse,
+collect what belongs to me, and bid farewell to my host, Zikali."
+
+"Of meat we have plenty with us, Macumazahn, and therefore you
+will not hunger on the way.  Your horse and everything that is
+yours shall be brought after you; since were you mounted on that
+swift beast and minded to escape, how could we catch you with our
+feet, and did you please to shoot us with your rifle, how could
+we who have only spears, save ourselves from dying?  As for the
+Opener of Roads, his servants have told us that he means to sleep
+all to-day that he may talk with spirits in his dreams, and
+therefore it is useless for you to wait to bid him farewell. 
+Moreover, the orders of the king are that we should bring you to
+him at once."
+
+After this for a time there was silence, while I sat immovable
+revolving the situation, and the Zulus regarded me with a
+benignant interest.  Goza took his snuff-box from his ear, shook
+out some into the palm of his hand and, after offering it to me
+in vain, inhaled it himself.
+
+"The orders of the king are (sneeze) that we should bring you to
+him alive if possible, and if not (sneeze) dead.  Choose which
+you will, Macumazahn.  Perhaps you may prefer to go to Ulundi
+dead, which would--ah! how strong is this snuff, it makes me weep
+like a woman--save you the trouble of walking.  But if you prefer
+that we should carry you, be so good, Macumazahn, first to write
+the words which will cause the grey blankets to be delivered to
+us, for we know well that even your bones would desire to keep
+your promise.  Is it not a proverb in the land from the time of
+the slaying of Bangu when you gave the cattle you had earned to
+Saduko's wanderers?"
+
+I listened and an idea occurred to me, as perhaps it had to Goza.
+
+"I hear you, Goza," I said, "and I will start for Ulundi on my
+feet--to save _you_ the trouble of carrying me.  But as the times
+are rough and accidents may always happen; as, too, I wish to
+make sure that you should get those blankets, and it may chance
+that I shall arrive there on my back, first I will write words
+which, if they are delivered to the witch-doctoress Nombe, will,
+sooner or later, turn into blankets."
+
+"Write the words quickly, Macumazahn, and they will be
+delivered," said Goza.
+
+So I drew out my pocket-book and wrote--
+
+
+"DEAR ANSCOMBE,--
+
+
+"There is treachery afoot and I think that Zikali is at the
+bottom of it.  I am being carried off to Cetewayo at Ulundi, by a
+party of armed Zulus who will not allow me to communicate with
+you, probably by Zikali's orders.  You must do the best you can
+for Heda and yourself.  Escape to Natal if you are able.  Of
+course I will help if I get the chance, but if war is about to
+break out Cetewayo may kill me.  I think that you can trust
+Nombe; also that Zikali does not wish to work you any ill unless
+he is obliged, though I have no doubt that he has trapped us here
+for some dark purpose of his own.  Tell him through Nombe that if
+harm comes to you I will kill him if I live, and that if I die, I
+will settle the score with him afterwards.  God save and bless
+you both.  Keep up your courage and use your wits.
+
+
+"Your friend,
+
+"A. Q."
+
+
+I tore out the sheet, folded, addressed it and presented it to
+Goza, remarking that although it seemed to be but paper,  it
+really was fourteen blankets--if given at once to Nombe.
+
+He nodded and handed it to one of his men, who departed in the
+direction of our huts.  So, thought I to myself, Nombe knows all
+about this business, which means that it is being worked by
+Zikali.  That is why she spoke to me as she did last night.
+
+"It is time to start, Macumazahn, and I think you told us that
+you would prefer to do so on your feet," said Goza, looking
+suggestively at his spear.
+
+"I am ready," I said, rising because I must.  For a moment I
+contemplated the door in the kraal fence, wondering whether it
+would be safe to bolt through it and take refuge with Zikali. 
+No, it was not safe, since Zikali sat there in his hut pulling
+the strings and probably might refuse to see me.  Moreover, it
+was likely enough that before I could find him one of those broad
+spears would find my heart.  There was nothing to be done except
+submit.  Still I did call out in a loud voice--
+
+"Farewell, Zikali.  I leave you without a present against my will
+who am being taken by soldiers to visit the king at Ulundi.  When
+we meet again I will talk all this matter over with you."
+
+There was no answer, and as Goza took the opportunity to say that
+he disliked the noise of shouting extremely, which sometimes made
+him do things that he afterwards regretted, I became silent. 
+Then we departed, I in the exact centre of that guard of Zulus,
+heavy-hearted and filled with fears both for myself and those I
+left behind me.
+
+Down the Black Kloof we tramped, emerging on the sunlit plain
+beyond without meeting any one.  A couple of miles further on we
+came to a small stream where Goza announced we would halt to eat. 
+So we ate of cold toasted meat which one of the men produced from
+a basket he carried, unpalatable food but better than nothing. 
+Just as we had finished I looked up and saw the soldier to whom
+my note had been given.  He was leading my mare that had been
+saddled.  On it were my large saddle-bags packed with my
+belongings, also my thick overcoat, mackintosh, waterbottle, and
+other articles down to a bag of tobacco, a spare pipe and a box
+of wax matches.  Moreover, the man carried my double-barrelled
+Express rifle and a shot-gun that could be used for ball,
+together with two bags of cartridges.  Practically nothing
+belonging to me had been forgotten.
+
+I asked him who had collected the things.  He replied the
+doctress Nombe had done so and had brought him the horse saddled
+to carry them.  He did not know who saddled the horse as he had
+seen no one but Nombe to whom he had given the writing which she
+hid away.  In answer to further questions, he said that Nombe had
+sent me a message.  It was--
+
+"I bid farewell to Macumazahn for a little while and wish him
+good fortune till we meet again.  Let him not be afraid in the
+battle, for even if he is hurt it will not be to death, since
+those go with him whom he cannot see, and protect him with their
+shields.  Say to Macumazahn that I, Nombe, remember in the
+morning what I said in the night and that what seems to be quite
+lost is ofttimes found again.  Wish him good fortune and tell him
+I am sorry that I had not time to cause his spare garments to be
+cleansed with water, but that I have been careful to find his
+little box with the white man's medicines."
+
+I could extract nothing more from this soldier, who was either
+very stupid, or chose to appear so; nor indeed did I dare to put
+direct questions about the cart and those who travelled in it.
+
+Soon we marched again, for Goza would not allow me to ride the
+horse, fearing that I should escape on it.  Nor would he let me
+carry either of the guns lest I should make use of them.  All day
+we travelled, reaching the Nongoma heights in the late afternoon. 
+On this beautiful spot we found a kraal situated where afterwards
+a magistracy was built when we conquered the country, whence
+there is one of the finest views in Zululand.  There was no one
+in the kraal except two old women who appeared to be deaf and
+dumb for all I could get out of them.  These aged dames, however,
+or others who were hidden, had made ready for our arrival, since
+a calf lay skinned and prepared for cooking, and by it big gourds
+filled with Kaffir beer and "maas" or curdled milk.
+
+In due course we ate of these provisions, and after we had
+finished I gave Goza a stiff tot of brandy, of which Nombe, or
+perhaps Anscombe, had thoughtfully sent a bottle with my other
+baggage.  The strong liquor made the old fellow talkative and
+enabled me to get a good deal of information out of him.  Thus I
+learned that certain demands, as to which he was rather vague,
+had been made upon Cetewayo by the English Government, and that
+the King was now considering whether he should accede to them or
+fight.  The Great Council of the nation was summoned to attend at
+Ulundi within a few days, when the matter would be decided. 
+Meanwhile all the regiments were being gathered, or, as we should
+say, mobilized; an army, said Goza, greater than any that Chaka
+had ever led.
+
+I asked him what I had to do with this business, that I, a
+peaceful traveller and an old friend of the Zulus, should be made
+prisoner and dragged off to Ulundi.  He replied he did not know
+who was not in the council of the High Ones, but he thought that
+Cetewayo the king wished to see me because I was their friend,
+perhaps that he might send me as a messenger to the white people. 
+I asked him how the king knew that I was in the country, to which
+he replied that Zikali had told him I was coming, he did not know
+how, whereon he, Goza, was sent at once to fetch me.  I could get
+no more out of him.
+
+I wondered if it would be worth while to make him quite drunk and
+then attempt to escape on the horse, but gave up the idea.  To
+begin with, his men were at hand and there was not enough brandy
+to make them all drunk.  Also even if I succeeded in winning away
+here in the heart of Zululand, it would not help Anscombe or Heda
+and I should probably be cut off and killed before I could get
+out of the country.  So I abandoned the plan and went to sleep
+instead.
+
+Next morning we left Nongoma early in the hope of reaching Ulundi
+that evening if the Ivuna and Black Umfolozi Rivers proved
+fordable.  As it chanced, although they were high, we were able
+to cross them, I seated on the horse which two of the Zulus led. 
+Next we tramped for miles through the terrible Bekameezi Valley,
+a hot and desolate place which the Zulus swear is haunted.  So
+unhealthy is this valley, which is the home of large game, that
+whole kraals full of people who have tried to cultivate the rich
+land, have died in it of fever, or fled away leaving their crops
+unreaped.  Now no man dwells there.  After this we climbed a
+terrible mount to the high land of Mahlabatini, and having eaten,
+pushed on once more.
+
+At length we sighted the great hill-encircled plain of Ulundi
+which may be called the cradle of the Zulu race as, politically
+speaking, it was destined to be its coffin.  On the ridge to the
+west once stood the Nobamba kraal where dwelt Senzangacona, the
+father of Chaka the Lion.  Nearer to the White Umfolozi was
+Panda's dwelling-place, Nodwengu, which once I knew so well,
+while on the slope of the hills of the north-east stood the town
+of Ulundi in which Cetewayo dwelt, bathed in the lights of
+sunset.
+
+Indeed it and all the vast plain were red as though with blood,
+red as they were destined to be on the coming day of the last
+battle of the Zulus.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+
+
+CETEWAYO
+
+
+
+
+
+It was dark when at last we reached the Ulundi kraal, for the
+growing moon was obscured by clouds.  Therefore I could see
+nothing and was only aware, by the sound of voices and the
+continual challenging, that we were passing through great numbers
+of men.  At length we were admitted at the eastern gate and I was
+taken to a hut where I at once flung myself down to sleep, being
+so weary that I could not attempt to eat.  Next morning as I was
+finishing my breakfast in the little fenced courtyard of this
+guest-hut, Goza appeared and said that the king commanded me to
+be brought to him at once, adding that I must "speak softly" to
+him, as he was "very angry."
+
+So off we went across the great cattle kraal where a regiment of
+young men, two thousand strong or so, were drilling with a fierce
+intensity which showed they knew that they were out for more than
+exercise.  About the sides of the kraal also stood hundreds of
+soldiers, all of them talking and, it seemed to me, excited, for
+they stamped upon the ground and even jumped into the air to give
+point to their arguments.  Suddenly some of them caught sight of
+me, whereon a tall, truculent fellow called out--
+
+"What does a white man at Ulundi at such a time, when even John
+Dunn dare not come?  Let us kill him and send his head as a
+present to the English general across the Tugela.  That will
+settle this long talk about peace or war."
+
+Others of a like mind echoed this kind proposal, with the result
+that presently a score or so of them made a rush at me,
+brandishing their sticks, since they might not carry arms in the
+royal kraal.  Goza did his best to keep them off, but was swept
+aside like a feather, or rather knocked over, for I saw him on
+his back with his thin legs in the air.
+
+"You must climb out of this pit by yourself," he began,
+addressing me in his pompous and figurative way.  Then somebody
+stamped on his face, and fixing his teeth in his assailant's
+heel, he grew silent for a while.
+
+The truculent blackguard, who was about six feet three high and
+had a mouth like a wolf's throat, arrived in front, of me and,
+bending down, roared out--
+
+"We are going to kill you, White Man."
+
+I had a pistol in my pocket and could perfectly well have killed
+him, as I was much tempted to do.  A second's reflection showed
+me, however, that this would be useless, and in a sense put me in
+the wrong, though when the matter came on for argument it would
+interest me no more.  So I just folded my arms and, looking up at
+him, said--
+
+"Why, Black Man?"
+
+"Because your face is white," he roared.
+
+"No," I answered, "because your heart is black and your eyes are
+so full of blood that you do not know Macumazahn when you see
+him."
+
+"Wow!" said one, "it is Watcher-by-Night whom our fathers knew
+before us.  Leave him alone."
+
+"No," shouted the great fellow, "I will send him to watch where
+it is always night, I who keep a club for white rats," and he
+brandished his stick over me.
+
+Now my temper rose.  Watching my opportunity, I stretched out my
+right foot and hooked him round the ankle, at the same time
+striking up with all my force.  My fist caught him beneath the
+chin and over he went backwards sprawling on the ground.
+
+"Son of a dog!"  I said, "if a single stick touches me, at least
+you shall go first," and whipping out my revolver, I pointed it
+at him.
+
+He lay quiet enough, but how the matter would have ended I do not
+know, for passion was running high, had not Goza at this moment
+risen with a bleeding nose and called out--
+
+"O Fools, would you kill the king's guest to whom the king
+himself has given safe-conduct.  Surely you are pots full of
+beer, not men."
+
+"Why not?" answered one.  "This is the Place of Soldiers.  The
+king's house is yonder.  Give the old jackal a start of a length
+of ten assegais.  If he reaches it first, he can shake hands with
+his friend, the king.  If not we will make him into medicine."
+
+"Yes, yes, run for it, Jackal," clamoured the others, knocking
+their shields with their sticks, as men do who would frighten a
+buck, and opening out to make a road for me.
+
+Now while all this was going on, with some kind of sixth sense I
+had noted a big man whose face was shrouded by a blanket thrown
+over his head, who very quietly had joined these drunken rioters,
+and vaguely wondered who he might be.
+
+"I will not run," I said slowly, "that I may be saved by the
+king.  Nay, I will die here, though some of you shall die first. 
+Go to the king, Goza, and tell him how his servants have served
+his guest," and I lifted my pistol, waiting till the first stick
+touched me to put a bullet through the bully on the ground.
+
+"There is no need," said a deep voice that proceeded from the
+draped man of whom I have spoken, "for the king has come to see
+for himself."
+
+Then the blanket was thrown back, revealing Cetewayo grown fat
+and much aged since last I saw him, but undoubtedly Cetewayo.
+
+"Bayete!" roared the mob in salute, while some of those who had
+been most active in the tumult tried to slip away.
+
+"Let no man stir," said Cetewayo, and they stood as though they
+were rooted to the ground, while I slipped my pistol back into my
+pocket.
+
+"Who are you, White Man?" he asked, looking at me, "and what do
+you here?"
+
+"The King should know Macumazahn," I answered, lifting my hat,
+"whom Dingaan knew, whom Panda knew well, and whom the King knew
+before he was a king."
+
+"Yes, I know you," he answered, "although since we spoke together
+you have shrunk like an oxhide in the sun, and time has stained
+your heard white."
+
+"And the King has grown fat like the ox on summer grass.  As for
+what I do here, did not the King send for me by Goza, and was I
+not brought like a baby in a blanket."
+
+"The last time we met," he went on, taking no heed of my words,
+"was yonder at Nodwengu when the witch Mameena was tried for
+sorcery, she who made my brother mad and brought about the great
+battle, in which you fought for him with the Amawombe regiment. 
+Do you not remember how she kissed you, Macumazahn, and took
+poison between the kisses, and how before she grew silent she
+spoke evil words to me, saying that I was doomed to pull down my
+own House and to die as she died, words that have haunted me ever
+since and now haunt me most of all?  I wish to speak to you
+concerning them, Macumazahn, for it is said in the land that this
+beautiful witch loved you alone and that you only knew her mind."
+
+I made no reply, who was heartily tired of this subject of
+Mameena whom no one seemed able to forget.
+
+"Well," he went on, "we will talk of that matter alone, since it
+is not natural that you should wish to speak of your dead
+darlings before the world," and with a wave of the hand he put
+the matter aside.  Then suddenly his attitude changed.  His face,
+that had been thoughtful and almost soft, became fierce, his form
+seemed to swell and he grew terrible.
+
+"What was that dog doing?" he asked of Goza, pointing to the
+brute whom I had knocked down and who still lay prostrate on his
+back, afraid to stir.
+
+"O King," answered Goza, "he was trying to kill Macumazahn
+because he is a white man, although I told him that he was your
+guest, being brought to you by the royal command.  He was trying
+to kill him by giving him a start of ten spears' length and
+making him run to the isigodhlo (the king's house) and beating
+him to death with the sticks of these men if they caught him,
+which, as he is old and they are young, they must have done. 
+Only the Watcher-by-Night would not run; no, although he is so
+small he knocked him to the earth with his fist, and there he
+lies.  That is all, O King."
+
+"Rise, dog," said Cetewayo, and the man rose trembling with fear,
+and, being bidden, gave his name, which I forget.
+
+"Listen, dog," went on the king in the same cold voice.  "What
+Goza says is true, for I saw and heard it all with my eyes and
+ears.  You would have made yourself as the king.  You dared to
+try to kill the king's guest to whom he had given safe-conduct,
+and to stain the king's doorposts with his blood, thereby
+defiling his house and showing him to the white people as a
+murderer of one of them whom he had promised to protect. 
+Macumazahn, do _you_ say how he shall die, and I will have it
+done."
+
+"I do not wish him to die," I answered, "I think that he and
+those with him were drunk.  Let him go, O King."
+
+"Aye, Macumazahn, I will let him go.  See now, we are in the
+centre of the cattle-kraal, and to the eastern gate is as far as
+to the isigodhlo.  Let this man have a start of ten spears'
+length and run to the eastern gate, as he would have made
+Macumazahn run to the king's house, and let his companions, those
+who would have hunted Macumazahn, hunt him.
+
+"If he wins through to the gate he can go on to the Government in
+Natal and tell them of the cruelty of the Zulus.  Only then, let
+those who hunted him be brought before me for trial and perhaps
+we shall see how _they_ can run."
+
+Now the  poor wretch caught hold of my hand, begging me to
+intercede for him, but soldiers who had come up dragged him away
+and, having measured the distance allowed him, set him on a mark
+made upon the ground.  Presently at a word off he sped like an
+arrow, and after him went his friends, ten or more of them.  I
+think they caught him just by the gate doubling like a hare, or
+so the shouts of laughter from the watching regiment told me, for
+myself I would not look.
+
+"That dog ate his own stomach," said Cetewayo grimly, thereby
+indicating in native fashion that the biter had been bit or the
+engineer hoist with his petard.  "It is long since there has been
+a war in the land, and some of these young soldiers who have
+never used an assegai save to skin an ox or cut the head from a
+chicken, shout too loud and leap too high.  Now they will be
+quieter, and while you stay here you may walk where you will in
+safety, Macumazahn," he added thoughtfully.
+
+Then dismissing the matter from his mind, as we white people
+dismiss any trivial incident in a morning stroll, he talked for a
+few minutes to the commanding officer of the regiment that was
+drilling, who ran up to make some report to him, and walked back
+towards the isigodhlo, beckoning me to follow with Goza.
+
+After waiting for a little while outside the gate in the
+surrounding fence, a body-servant ordered us to enter, which we
+did to find the king seated on the shady side of his big hut
+quite alone.  At a sign I also sat myself down upon a stool that
+had been set for me, while Goza, whose nose was still bleeding,
+squatted at my side.
+
+"Your manners are not so good as they were once, Macumazahn,"
+said Cetewayo presently, "or perhaps you have been so long away
+from the royal kraal that you have forgotten its customs."
+
+I stared at him, wondering what he could mean, whereon he added
+with a laugh--
+
+"What is that in your pocket?  Is it not a loaded pistol, and do
+you not remember that it is death to appear before the king
+armed?  Now I might kill you and have no blame, although you are
+my guest, for who knows that you are not sent by the English
+Queen to shoot me?"
+
+"I ask the King's pardon," I said humbly enough.  "I did not
+think about the pistol.  Let your servants take it away."
+
+"Perhaps it is safer in your pocket, where I saw you place it in
+the cattle-kraal, Macumazahn, than in their hands, which do not
+know how to hold such things.  Moreover, I know that you are not
+one who stabs in the dark, even when our peoples growl round each
+other like two dogs about to fight, and if you were, in this
+place your life would have to pay for mine.  There is beer by
+your side; drink and fear nothing.  Did you see the Opener of
+Roads, Goza, and if so, what is his answer to my message?"
+
+"O King, I saw him," answered Goza.  "The Father of the doctors,
+the friend and master of the Spirits, says he has heard the
+King's word, yes, that he heard it as it passed the King's lips,
+and that although he is very old, he will travel to Ulundi and be
+present at the Great Council of the nation which is to be
+summoned on the eighth day from this, that of the full moon.  Yet
+he makes a prayer of the King.  It is that a place may be
+prepared for him, for his people and for his servants who carry
+him, away from this town of Ulundi, where he may sojourn quite
+alone, a decree of death being pronounced against any who attempt
+to break in upon his privacy, either where he dwells or upon his
+journey.  These are his very words, O King:
+
+"'I, who am the most ancient man in Zululand, dwell with the
+spirits of my fathers, who will not suffer strangers to come nigh
+them and who, if they are offended, will bring great woes upon
+the land.  Moreover, I have sworn that while there is a king in
+Zululand and I draw the breath of life, never again will I set
+foot in a royal kraal, because when last I did so at the slaying
+of the witch, Mameena, the king who is dead thought it well to
+utter threats against me, and never more will I, the Opener of
+Roads, be threatened by a mortal.  Therefore if the King and his
+Council seek to drink of the water of my wisdom, it must be in
+the place and hour of my own choosing.  If this cannot be, let me
+abide here in my house and let the King seek light from other
+doctors, since mine shall remain as a lamp to my own heart.'"
+
+Now I saw that these words greatly disturbed Cetewayo who feared
+Zikali, as indeed did all the land.
+
+"What does the old wizard mean?" he asked angrily.  "He lives
+alone like a bat in a cave and for years has been seen of none. 
+Yet as a bat flies forth at night, ranging far and wide in search
+of prey, so does his spirit seem to fly through Zululand. 
+Everywhere I hear the same word.  It is--'What says the Opener of
+Roads?'  It is--'How can aught be done unless the Opener of Roads
+has declared that it shall be done, he who was here before the
+Black One (Chaka) was born, he who it is said was the friend of
+Inkosi Umkulu, the father of the Zulus who died before our
+great-grandfathers could remember; he who has all knowledge and
+is almost a spirit, if indeed he be not a spirit?'  I ask you,
+Macumazahn, who are his friend, what does he mean, and why should
+I not kill him and be done?"
+
+"O King," I answered, "in the days of your uncle Dingaan, when
+Dingaan slew the Boers who were his guests, and thus began the
+war between the White and the Black, I, who was a lad, heard the
+laughter of Zikali for the first time yonder at the kraal
+Ungungundhlovu, I who rode with Retief and escaped the slaughter,
+but his face I did not see.  Many years later, in the days of
+Panda your father, I saw his face and therefore you name me his
+friend.  Yet this friend who drew me to visit him, perhaps by
+your will, O King, has now caused me to be brought here to Ulundi
+doubtless by your will, O King, but against my own, for who
+wishes to come to a town where he is well-nigh slain by the first
+brawler he meets in the cattle kraal?"
+
+"Yet you were not slain, Macumazahn, and perhaps you do not know
+all the story of that brawler," replied Cetewayo almost humbly,
+like one who begs pardon, though the rest of what l had said he
+ignored.  "But still you are Zikali's friend, for between you and
+him there is a rope which enabled him to draw you to Zululand,
+which rope I have heard called by a woman's name.  Therefore by
+the spirit of that woman, which still can draw you like a rope, I
+charge you, tell me--what does this old wizard mean, and why
+should I not kill him and be rid of one who haunts my heart like
+an evil vision of the night and, as I sometimes think, is an,
+umtakati, an evil-doer, who would work ill to me and all my
+House, yes, and to all my people?"
+
+"How should I know what he means, O King?" I answered with
+indignation, though in fact I could guess well enough.  "As for
+killing him, cannot the King kill whom he will?  Yet I remember
+that once I heard you father ask much the same question and of
+Zikali himself, saying that he was minded to find out whether or
+no he were mortal like other men.  I remember also Zikali
+answered that there was a saying that when the Opener of Roads
+came to the end of his road, there would be no more a king of
+Zululand, as there was none when first he set foot upon his road. 
+Now I have spoken, who am a white man and do not understand your
+sayings."
+
+"I remember it also, Macumazahn, who was present at the time," he
+replied heavily.  "My father feared this Zikali and his father
+feared him, and I have heard that the Black One himself, who
+feared nothing, feared him also.  And I, too, fear him, so much
+that I dare not make up my mind upon a great matter without Ws
+counsel, lest he should bewitch me and the nation and bring us to
+nothing."
+
+He paused, then turning to Goza, asked, "Did the Opener of Roads
+tell you where he wished to dwell when he comes to visit me here
+at Ulundi?"
+
+"O King," answered Goza, "yonder in the hills, not further away
+than an aged man can walk in the half of an hour, is a place
+called the Valley of Bones, because there in the days of those
+who went before the King, and even in the King's day, many
+evildoers have been led to die.  Zikali would dwell in this
+Valley of Bones, and there and nowhere else would meet the King
+and the Great Council, not in the daylight but after sunset when
+the moon has risen."
+
+"Why," said Cetewayo, starting, "the place is ill-omened and,
+they say, haunted, one that no man dares to approach after the
+fall of darkness for fear lest the ghosts of the dead should leap
+upon him gibbering."
+
+"Such were the words of the Opener of Roads, O King," replied
+Goza.  "There and nowhere else will he meet the King, and there
+he demands that three huts should be built to shelter him and his
+folk and stored with all things needful.  If this be not granted
+to him, then he refuses to visit the King or to give counsel to
+the nation."
+
+"So be it then," said Cetewayo.  "Send messengers to the Opener
+of Roads, Goza, saying that what he desires shall be done.  Let
+my command go out that under pain of death none spy upon him
+while he journeys hither or returns.  Let the huts be built
+forthwith, and when it is known that he is coming, let food in
+plenty be placed in them and afterwards morning by morning taken
+to the mouth of the valley.  Bid him announce his arrival and the
+hour he chooses for our meeting by messenger.  Begone."
+
+Goza leapt up, gave the royal salute, and retreated backwards
+from the presence of the king, leaving us alone.  I also rose to
+depart, but Cetewayo motioned to me to be seated.
+
+"Macumazahn," he said, "the Great Queen's man who has come to
+Natal (Sir Bartle Frere) threatens me with war because two
+evil-doing women were taken on the Natal side of the Tugela and
+brought back to Zululand and killed by Mehlokazulu, being the
+wives of his father, Sirayo, which was done without my knowledge. 
+Also two white men were driven away from an island in the Tugela
+River by some of my soldiers."
+
+"Is that all, O King?" I asked.
+
+"No.  The Queen's man says I kill my people without trial, which
+is a lie told him by the missionaries, and that girls have been
+killed also who refused to marry those to whom they were given
+and ran away with other men.  Also that wizards are smelt out and
+slain, which happens but rarely now; all of this contrary to the
+promises I made to Sompseu when he came to recognize me as king
+upon my father's death, and some other such small matters."
+
+"What is demanded if you would avoid war, O King?"
+
+"Nothing less than this, Macumazahn: That the Zulu army should be
+abolished and the soldiers allowed to marry whom and when they
+please, because, says the Queen's man, he fears lest it should be
+used to attack the English, as though I who love the English, as
+those have done who went before me, desire to lay a finger on
+them.  Also that another Queen's man should be sent to dwell here
+in my country, to be the eyes and ears of the English Government
+and have power with me in the land; yes, and more demands which
+would destroy the Zulus as a people and make me, their king, but
+a petty kraal-head."
+
+"And what will the King answer?" I asked.
+
+"I know not what to answer.  The fine of two thousand cattle I
+will pay for the killing of the women.  If it may be, I wish no
+quarrel with the English, though gladly I would have fought the
+Dutch had not Sompseu stretched out his arm over their land.  But
+how can I disband the army and make an end of the regiments that
+have conquered in so many wars?  Macumazahn, I tell you that if I
+did this, in a moon I should be dead.  Oh! you white people think
+there is but one will in Zululand, that of the king.  But it is
+not so, for he is but a single man among ten thousand thousand,
+who lives to work the people's wish.  If he beats them with too
+thick a stick, or if he brings them to shame or does what the
+most of them do not wish, then where is the king?  Then, I say,
+he goes a road that was trodden by Chaka and Dingaan who were
+before me, yes, the red road of the assegai.  Therefore today, I
+stand like a man between two falling cliffs.  If I run towards
+the English the Zulu cliff falls upon me.  If I run towards my
+own people, the English cliff falls upon me, and in either case I
+am crushed and no more seen.  Tell me then, Macumazahn, you whose
+heart is honest, what must I do?"
+
+So he spoke, wringing his hands, with tears starting to his eyes,
+and upon my word, although I never liked Cetewayo as I had liked
+his father, Panda, perhaps because I loved his brother, Umbelazi,
+whom he killed, and had known him do many cruel deeds, my heart
+bled for him.
+
+"I cannot tell you, King," I answered, thinking that I must say
+something, "but I pray you do not make war against the queen, for
+she is the most mighty One in the whole earth, and though her
+foot, of which you see but the little toe here in Africa, seems
+small to you, yet if she is angered, it will stamp the Zulus
+flat, so that they cease to be."
+
+"Many have told me this, Macumazahn.  Yes, even Uhamu, the son of
+my uncle Unzibe, or, as some say, the son of his spirit, to which
+his mother was married after Unzibe was dead, and others
+throughout the land, and in truth I think it myself.  But who can
+hold the army which shouts for war?  Ow! the Council must decide,
+which, means perhaps that Zikali will decide, for now all hang
+upon his lips.
+
+"Then I am sorry," I exclaimed.
+
+He looked at me shrewdly.
+
+"Are you?  So am I.  Yet his counsel must be asked, and better
+that it should be here in my presence than yonder secretly at the
+Black Kloof.  I would kill him if I dared, but I dare not, who am
+sure--why I may not say--that the same sun will see his death and
+mine."
+
+He waved his hand to show that the talk on this matter was ended,
+then added--
+
+"Macumazahn, you are my prisoner for a while, but give me your
+word that you will not try to escape and you may go where you
+will within an hour's ride of Ulundi.  I would pay you well to
+stop here with me, but this I know you would never do should
+there be trouble between us and your people.  Therefore I promise
+you that if war breaks out I will send you safely to Natal, or
+perhaps sooner, as my messenger, whence doubtless you will return
+to fight against me.  Know that I have given orders that every
+other white man or woman who is found in Zululand shall be killed
+as a spy.  Even John Dunn has fled or is flying, or so I hear,
+John Dunn who has fed out of my hand and grown rich on my gifts. 
+You yourself would have been killed as you came from Swazi-Land
+in your cart, had not command been sent to those chiefs through
+whose lands you passed that neither they nor their people were so
+much as to look at you."
+
+Now for one intense moment I thought, as hard as ever I had done
+in my life.  It was evident--unless he dealing very cunningly
+with me, which I did not believe--that Cetewayo knew nothing of
+Anscombe and Heda, but thought that I had come into Zululand
+alone.  Should I or should I not tell him and beg his protection
+for them? If I did so he might refuse or be unable to give it to
+them far away in the midst of a savage population aflame with the
+lust of war.  As the incident of the morning showed, it war as
+much as he could do to protect myself, although the Zulus knew me
+for their friend.  On the other hand no one who dwelt under
+Zikali's blanket, to use the Kaffir idiom, would be touched,
+because he was looked on as half divine and therefore everything
+under it down to the rat in his thatch was sacred.  Now Zikali by
+implication and Nombe with emphasis, had promised to safeguard
+these two.  Surely, therefore, they would run less risk in the
+Black Kloof than here at Ulundi, if ever they got so far.
+
+All this went through my brain in an instant, with the result
+that I made up my mind to say nothing.  As the issue proved, this
+was a terrible mistake, but who can always judge rightly?  Had I
+spoken out it seems to me probable that Cetewayo would have
+granted my prayer and ordered that these two should be escorted
+out of Zululand before hostilities began, although of course they
+might have been murdered on the way.  Also, for a reason that
+will become evident later, it is possible that there would never
+have been any hostilities.  All I can plead is, that I acted for
+the best and Fate would have it so.  Another moment and the
+chance was gone.
+
+The gate opened and a body-servant appeared announcing that one
+of the great captains with some of his officers waited to see the
+king.  Cetewayo made a sign, whereon the servant called out
+something, and they entered, three or four of them, saluting
+loudly.  Seeing me they stopped and stared, whereon Cetewayo
+shortly, but with much clearness, repeated to them and to an
+induna who accompanied them, what he had already said to me,
+namely that I was his guest, sent for by him that he might use me
+as a messenger if he thought fit.  He added that the man who
+dared to speak a word against me, or even to look at me askance,
+should pay the price with his life, however high his station, and
+he commanded that the heralds should proclaim this his decree
+throughout Ulundi and the neighbouring kraals.  Then he held out
+his hand to me in token of friendship, bidding me to "go softly"
+and come to see him whenever I wished, and dismissed me in charge
+of the induna, one of the captains and some soldiers.
+
+Within five minutes of reaching my hut I heard a loud-voiced
+crier proclaiming the order of the king and knew that I had no
+more to fear.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+
+
+THE VALLEY OF BONES
+
+
+
+
+
+The week that followed my interview with Cetewayo was indeed a
+miserable time for me.  For myself, as I have said, I had no
+fear, for the king's orders were strictly obeyed.  Moreover, the
+tale of what had happened to the brute who wished to hunt me down
+in the cattle-kraal had travelled far and wide and none sought to
+share his fate.  My hut was inviolate and well supplied with
+necessary food, as was my mare, and I could wander where I liked
+and talk with whom I would.  I could even ride to exercise the
+horse, though this I did very sparingly and only in the immediate
+neighbourhood of the town for fear of exciting suspicion or
+meeting Zulus whom the king's word had not reached.  Indeed on
+these occasions I was always accompanied by a guard of
+swift-footed and armed soldiers sent "to protect me," or more
+probably to kill me if I did anything that seemed suspicious.
+
+In the course of my rambles I met sundry natives whom I had known
+in the old days, some of them a long while ago.  They all seemed
+glad to see me and were quite ready to talk of past times, but of
+the present they would say little or nothing, except that they
+were certain there would be war.  Of Anscombe and Heda I could
+hear nothing, and indeed did not dare to make any direct
+inquiries concerning them, but several reliable men assured me
+that the last missionaries and traders having departed, there was
+not a white man, woman or child left in Zululand except myself. 
+It was "all black" they said, referring to the colour of their
+people, as it had been before the time of Chaka.  So I was forced
+to eat out my heart with anxiety in silence, hoping and praying
+that Zikali had played an honest part and sent them away safely.
+
+Why should he not have done so, seeing that it was my presence he
+had desired, not theirs?  They were only taken, or rather snared,
+because they were with me and could not be separated, or so I
+believed at the time.
+
+One ray of comfort I did get.  About the fifth day after my
+interview I saw Goza, who told me that the king's messengers were
+back from the Black Kloof and had brought "a word" for me from
+Zikali himself.  The word was--
+
+"Bid Goza say to Macumazahn that I was sorry not to see him to
+say good-bye, because that morning I slept heavily.  Bid him say
+that I am glad he has seen the king, since for this purpose I
+sought his presence in Zululand.  Bid him say that he is to fear
+nothing, and that if his heart is heavy about others whom he
+loves, he should make it light again, since the Spirits have them
+in their keeping as they have him, and never were they or he more
+safe than they are to-day."
+
+Now I looked at Goza and asked if I could see this messenger.  He
+replied, No, as he had already been despatched upon another
+errand.  Then I asked him if the messenger had said anything
+else.  He answered, Yes, one thing that he had forgotten, namely
+that the writing about blankets should now be in Natal.  Then
+suddenly he changed the subject and asked me if I would like to
+accompany him to the Valley of Bones where he was ordered to
+inspect the huts which were being built for Zikali and his
+people.  Of course I said I should, hoping, quite without result,
+that I might get something more out of him on the road.
+
+Now this town of Cetewayo's stands, or rather stood, for it has
+long been burnt, on the slope of the hills to the north-east of
+the plains of Ulundi.  Above it these hills grow steeper, and
+deep in the recesses of one of them is the Valley of Bones. 
+There is nothing particularly imposing about the place; no
+towering cliffs or pillars of piled granite, as at the Black
+Kloof.  It is just a vale cut out by water, bordered by steep
+slopes on either side, and a still steeper slope strown with
+large rocks at its end.  Dotted here and there on these slopes
+grew tall aloes that from a little distance looked like scattered
+men, whereof the lower leaves were shrivelled and blackened by
+veld fires.  Also there were a few euphorbias, grey,
+naked-looking things that end in points like fingers on a hand,
+and among them some sparse thorn trees, struggling to live in an
+inhospitable soil.
+
+The place has one peculiarity.  Jutting into it from the hillside
+is a ridge or spur, sixty or seventy yards in length by perhaps
+twenty broad, that ends in a flat point of rock which stands
+about forty feet above the level of the rest of the little
+valley.  On this ridge also grew tall aloes until near its
+extremity the soil ceased, or had been washed away from the
+water-worn core of rock.
+
+It was, and no doubt still is, a desolate-looking spot, at any
+rate for most of the day when owing to the shadow of the
+surrounding hills, it receives but little sun.  Everything about
+it, especially when I was there in a time of rain, seemed dank
+and miserable, although the flat floor of the kloof was clothed
+with a growth of tall, coarse grass, and weeds that bore an
+evil-smelling flower.  Perhaps some sense of appropriateness had
+caused the Zulu kings to choose this lonesome, deathly-looking
+gorge as one of their execution grounds.  At any rate many had
+been slain here, for skulls and the larger human bones, some of
+them black with age, lay all about among the grass, as they had
+been scattered by hyenas and jackals.  They were particularly
+thick beneath and around the table-like rock that I have
+mentioned.
+
+Goza told me that this was because the King's Slayers made a
+custom of dragging the victim along the projecting tongue to the
+edge of this rock and hurling him, either dead or living, to the
+ground beneath; or, in the case of witches; driving them over
+after they had been blinded.
+
+Such was the spot that Zikali had selected to abide in during his
+visit to Ulundi.  Certainly where privacy was an object it was
+well chosen, for, as Cetewayo had said and as Goza emphasized to
+me, it had the repute of being the most thoroughly haunted place
+in all Zululand, with the sole exception, perhaps, of the ridge
+opposite to Dingaan's old kraal where once I shot the vultures
+for my life and those of my companions.*  Even in the daytime
+people gave it a wide berth, and at night nothing would induce
+them to approach it, at any rate alone.
+
+[*--See the book called _Marie,_ by H. Rider Haggard.]
+
+Here to one side of and near the root of the tongue of land of
+which I have spoken, the huts that Zikali had demanded for
+himself and his company were being rapidly built, close to a
+spring of water, by a large body of men who laboured as though
+they wished to be done with their task.  Also about half way up
+the donga, for really it was nothing more, at a distance of
+perhaps five and twenty paces from its flat point whence the
+condemned were hurled, a circular space of ground had been
+cleared and levelled which was large enough to accommodate fifty
+or sixty men.  On this space, Goza told me, the King and the
+Council were to sit when they came to seek light from Zikali.
+
+In my heart I reflected that the light they were likely to get
+from him would be such as may be supposed to be thrown by hell
+fire.  For be it remembered I knew what these people never seemed
+to understand, that Zikali was the most bitter of their enemies. 
+To begin with, he was of Undwandwe blood, one of the people whom
+the great king Chaka had destroyed.  Then this same Chaka had
+robbed him of his wives and murdered his children, in revenge for
+which he had plotted the slaying of Chaka, as he did that of his
+brothers, Umhlangana and Dingaan, the latter of whom he involved
+in a quarrel with the Boers.  Subsequently he brought about the
+war between the princes Cetewayo and Umbelazi, in which I played
+a part.
+
+Now I was certain that he intended to bring about another war
+between the English and the Zulus, knowing well that in the end
+the latter would be destroyed, and with them the royal House of
+Senzangacona which he had sworn to level with the dust.  Had he
+not told me as much years ago, and was he one to go back upon his
+word?  Had he not used Mameena with her beauty and ambitions as
+his tool, and when she was of no further service to him, given
+her to death, as he had used scores of others and in due season
+given them to death?  Was I not myself perhaps one of those tools
+destined to be thrown into the pit of doom when my turn came,
+though in what way I could help his plots was more than I could
+see, since he knew well that I should do my best to oppose him? 
+Oh! I had half a mind to go to Cetewayo and tell him all I knew
+about Zikali, even if it involved the breaking of confidences.
+
+But stay!  Even if I were believed, this far-seeing wizard held
+hostages for my good behaviour, and if I betrayed him what would
+happen to those hostages?  He sent me messages saying that they
+were safe, suggesting that they had escaped to Natal.  How was I
+to know that these were true?  I was utterly bewildered; I could
+not guess why I had been beguiled into Zululand, and I dared not
+step either this way or that for fear lest I should fall into
+some pit dug by his cunning hands and, what was worse, drag down
+others with me.
+
+Moreover, was this man quite human, or perhaps an emissary of
+Satan upon earth who had knowledge denied to other men and a
+certain mastery over the Powers of Ill?  Again I could not say. 
+His term of life seemed to be extraordinarily prolonged, though
+none knew how old exactly he might be.  Also he had a wonderful
+knowledge of what was passing in the minds of others, and by his
+arts, as I had experienced only the other day, could summon up
+apparitions or illusions before their eyes.  Further, he was
+aware of events which had happened at a distance and could send
+or read dreams, since otherwise how did Nombe know what I had
+dreamt at Marnham's house?  Lastly he could foretell the future,
+as once he had done in my own case, prophecying that I should be
+injured by a buffalo with a split horn.
+
+Yet all of this might be nothing more than a mixture of keen
+observation, clever spying, trickery and mesmerism.  I could not
+say which it was, nor can I with certainty to this hour.
+
+Such were the thoughts that passed through my mind as I walked
+back from the Vale of Bones by the side of the big-paunched Goza,
+whom I caught eyeing me from time to time as a curious crow eyes
+any object that has attracted his attention.
+
+"Goza," I said at last, "do the Zulus really mean to fight the
+English?"
+
+He turned and pointed to a spot where the hills ran down into the
+great plain.  Here two regiments were manoeuvring.  One of these
+held the slopes of the hill and the other was attacking them from
+the plain, so fiercely that at a distance their onslaught looked
+like that of actual warfare.
+
+"That looks like fighting, does it not, Macumazahn?" he replied.
+
+"Yes, Goza, yet it may be but play."
+
+"Quite so, Macumazahn.  It may be fighting or it may be but play. 
+Am I a prophet that I should be able to say which it is?  Of that
+there is but one man in Zululand who knows the truth.  It is he
+for whom the new huts are being built up yonder."
+
+"You think he really knows, Goza?"
+
+"No, Macumazahn, I do not think, I am sure.  He is the greatest
+of all wizards, as he was when my father held on to his mother's
+apron.  He pulls the strings and the Great-ones of the country
+dance.  If he wishes war, there will be war.  If he wishes peace,
+there will be peace."
+
+"And which does he wish, Goza?"
+
+"I thought perhaps you could tell me that, Macumazahn, who, he
+says, are such an old friend of his; also why he chooses to
+sojourn in a dark hole among the dead instead of in the sunshine
+among the living, here at Ulundi."
+
+"Well, I cannot, Goza, since the Opener of Roads does not open
+his heart to me but keeps his secrets to himself.  For the rest,
+those who talk with the dead may prefer to dwell among the dead."
+
+"Now as always you speak truth, Macumazahn," said Goza, looking
+at me in a way which suggested to me that he believed I spoke
+anything but the truth.
+
+Indeed I am convinced he thought that I was in the council of
+Zikali and acquainted with his plans.  Also I am sure he knew
+that I had not come to Zululand alone, the incident of the
+blankets, which I had promised to him a bribe to keep silence,
+showed it, and suspected that my companions were parties to some
+plot together with myself.  And yet at the time I could not be
+quite sure, and therefore dared not ask anything concerning them
+lest thus I should reveal their existence and bring them to
+death.
+
+As a matter of fact I need not have been anxious on this point,
+since if Goza, who I may state, was a kind of secret service
+officer as well as a head messenger, knew, as I think probable,
+he had been commanded by Zikali to hold his tongue under penalty
+of a curse.  Perhaps the same was true of the soldiers who had
+come with him to take me to Ulundi.  The hint of Zikali was as
+powerful as the word of the king, since they, like thousands of
+others, believed that whereas Cetewayo could kill them, Zikali,
+like Satan, could blast their spirits as well as their bodies. 
+But how was I to guess all these things at that time?
+
+
+During the next two days nothing happened, though I heard that
+there had been one if not two meetings of the Council at the
+King's House during which the position of affairs was discussed. 
+Cetewayo I did not see, although twice he sent messengers to me
+bringing gifts of food, who were charged to inquire whether I was
+well and happy and if any had offered me hurt or insult.  To
+these I answered that I was well and unmolested but not happy,
+who grew lonesome, being but a solitary white man among so many
+thousands of the Zulus.
+
+On the third morning, that of the day of the full moon, Goza came
+and informed me that Zikali had arrived at the Valley of Bones
+before dawn.  I asked him how he, who was so old and feeble, had
+walked so far.  He answered that he had not walked, or so he
+understood, but had been carried in a litter, or rather in two
+litters, one for himself and one for his "spirit." This staggered
+me even where Zikali was concerned, and I inquired what on earth
+Goza meant.
+
+"Macumazahn, how can I tell you who only know what I myself am
+told?" he exclaimed.  "Such is the report that the Opener of
+Roads has made himself by messengers to the king.  None have seen
+him, for he journeys only in the night.  Moreover, when Zikali
+passes all men are blind and even women's tongues grow dumb. 
+Perchance by 'his spirit' he means his medicine or the
+witch-doctoress, Nombe, whom folks say he created, since none
+have seen her father or her mother, or heard who begat her; or
+perchance his snake is hid behind the mats of the second litter,
+if in truth there was one."
+
+"It may be so," I said, feeling that it was useless to pursue the
+matter.  "Now, Goza, I would see Zikali and at once."
+
+"That cannot be, Macumazahn, since he has given out that he will
+see no one, who rests after his journey, and the king has issued
+orders that any who attempt to approach the Valley of Bones shall
+die, even if they be of the royal blood.  Yes, if so much as a
+dog dares to draw near that place, it must die.  The soldiers who
+ring it round have killed one already, so strict are the orders,
+also a boy who went towards it searching for a calf, which I
+think a bad omen."
+
+"Then I will send a message to him," I persisted.
+
+"Do so," mocked Goza.  "Look, yonder sails a vulture.  Ask it to
+take your message, for nothing else will.  Be not foolish,
+Macumazahn, but have patience, for to-night you shall see the
+Opener of Roads when he attends the Council of the king in the
+Valley of Bones.  This is the order of the king--that at the
+rising of the moon I lead you thither, so that you may be present
+at the Council in case he wishes to ask you any questions about
+the White People or to give you any message to the Government in
+Natal.  Therefore at sunset I will come for you.  Till then,
+farewell.  I have business that cannot wait."
+
+"Can I see the king?" I cried.
+
+"Not so, Macumazahn.  All to-day he makes sacrifice to the
+spirits of his ancestors and must not be approached," Goza called
+back as he departed.
+
+Availing myself of the permission of the king to go where I
+would, a little later in the day I walked out of the town towards
+the Valley of Bones in order to ascertain for myself whether what
+Goza had told me was true.  So it proved, for about three hundred
+yards from the mouth of the valley, which at that distance looked
+like a black hole in the hills, I found soldiers stationed about
+ten paces apart in a great circle which ran right up the hillside
+and vanished over the crest.  Strolling up to one of these, whose
+face I thought I knew, I asked him if he would let me pass to see
+my friend, the Opener of Roads.
+
+The man, who was something of a humourist replied--
+
+"Certainly if you wish, Macumazahn.  That is to say, I will let
+your spirit pass, but to do this, if you come one step nearer I
+must first make a hole in you with my spear out of which it can
+fly."
+
+I thanked him for his information and gave him some snuff, which
+he took gratefully, being bored by his long vigil.  Then I asked
+him how many people the great witch-doctor had with him.  He said
+he did not know, but he had seen a number of tall men come to the
+mouth of the donga to fetch food that had been placed there. 
+Again I inquired if he had seen any women, whereon he replied
+none, Zikali being, he understood, too old to trouble himself
+about the other sex.  Just then an officer, making his rounds,
+came up and looked at me so sternly that I thought it well to
+retreat.  Evidently there was no chance of getting through that
+line.
+
+On my way back I walked as near the fence of the King's House as
+I dared, and saw witch-doctors passing in and out in their
+hideous official panoply.  This told me that here also Goza had
+spoken the truth--the king was performing magical ceremonies,
+which meant that it would be impossible to approach him.  In
+every direction I met with failure.  The Fates were against me;
+it lay over me like a spell.  Indeed I grew superstitious and
+began to think that Zikali had bewitched me, as he was said to
+have the power to do.  Well, perhaps he had, for the mere fact of
+finding myself opposed by this persistent wall of difficulties
+and silence convinced me that there was something behind it to be
+learned.
+
+I went back very dejected to my hut and talked to my mare which
+whinnied and rubbed its nose against me, for although it was well
+fed and looked after, the poor beast seemed as lonely as I was
+myself.  No wonder, since like myself it was separated from all
+its kind and weary of inaction.  After this I ate and smoked and
+finally dozed, no more, for whenever I tried to go to sleep I
+thought that I heard Zikali laughing at me, as mayhap he was
+doing yonder in his hut.
+
+At length that wearisome day drew towards its end.  The sun began
+to sink, a huge red ball of fire, now and again veiled by clouds,
+for the sky was stormy.  Its fierce rays, striking upon other
+clouds, peopled the enormous heavens with fantastic shapes of
+light which were thickest over the hills wherein was the Valley
+of Bones.  To my strained mind these clouds looked like battling
+armies, figures of flame warring against figures of darkness. 
+The darkness won; no, the light broke out again and conquered it. 
+And see, there above them both squatted a strange black presence
+crowned with fire.  It might have been that of Zikali magnified
+ten thousand times, and hark! it laughed with the low
+reverberating voice of distant thunder.
+
+Suddenly I felt that I was no longer alone and looking round, saw
+Goza at my side.
+
+"What do you see up there, Macumazahn, that you stare so hard?"
+he asked, pointing at the sky with his stick.
+
+"Impis fighting," I answered briefly.
+
+"Then you must be a 'heaven-doctor,' Macumazahn, for I only see
+black and red clouds.  Well, it is time to go to learn whether or
+no the impis will fight, for Zikali awaits us and the Council has
+started already.  By the way, the king says that you will do well
+to put your pistol in your pocket in case any should seek to harm
+you in the dark."
+
+"It is there.  But, Goza, I pray you to protect me, since in the
+dark bullets fly wide, and if I began to shoot, one might hit
+you, Goza."
+
+He smiled, making no answer, but I noticed that during the rest
+of that night he was careful to keep behind me as much as
+possible.
+
+Our way led us through the town where everybody seemed to be
+standing about doing nothing and speaking very little.  There was
+a curious air of expectancy upon their faces.  They knew that the
+crisis was at hand, that their nation's fate hung upon the
+scales, and they watched my every look and movement as though in
+them they expected to read an omen.  I too watched them out of
+the corners of my eyes, wondering whether I should escape from
+their savage company alive.  If once the blood lust broke out
+among them, it seemed to me that I should have about as much
+chance as a chopped fox among a pack of hungry hounds.
+
+Once out of the town we saw no one until we came to the circle of
+guards which I have already mentioned, who stood there like an
+endless line of black statues.  In answer to their challenge Goza
+gave some complicated password in which my name occurred, whereon
+they opened out and let us through.  Then we marched on to the
+mouth of the kloof.  The place was very dark, for now the sun was
+down in the west and the moon in the east was cut off from us by
+the hills and would not be visible here for half an hour or more. 
+Presently I saw a spot of light.  It was a small fire burning
+near the tongue of rock which I have described.
+
+At a distance, in front of the fire on the patch of prepared
+ground, squatted a number of men, between twenty and thirty of
+them, in a semicircle.  They were wrapped up in karosses and
+blankets, and in their centre sat a large figure on a chair of
+wood.
+
+"The King and the Great Council," whispered Goza.
+
+One of them looked round and saw us.  At some sign from the king
+he rose, and against the fire I saw that he was the Prime
+Minister, Umnyamana.  He came to me and, with a nod of
+recognition, conducted me some paces to the right where a
+euphorbia tree grew among the rank herbage.  Here I found a stool
+placed ready on which I sat down, Goza, who of course was not of
+the Council, squatting at my side in the grass.
+
+Now I found that I was so situated that I could not well be seen
+from the fire, or even from the rock above it, while I, by moving
+my head a little, could see both quite clearly.  After this as
+the last reflection from the sunk sun faded, the darkness
+increased until nothing remained visible except the fire and the
+massive outline of the rock behind.  The silence was complete,
+for none of the Council spoke.  They were so still that they
+might have been dead, so still that a beetle suddenly booming
+past me made me start as though it had been a bullet.  The
+general impression was almost mesmeric.  I felt as though I were
+going to sleep and yet my mind remained painfully awake, so that
+I was able to think things out.
+
+I understood clearly that the body of men to my left had come
+together to decide whether there should be peace or war; that
+there were divisions of opinion among them; that the king was
+ready to follow the party which should prove itself the
+strongest, but that the real voice of decision would speak from
+behind that fire.  It was the case of the Delphic Oracle over
+again with a priest instead of a priestess, and what a priest!
+
+It was evident to me also that Zikali, who knew human nature, and
+especially savage human nature, had arranged all this with a view
+to scenic and indeed supernatural effect.  Moreover, he had done
+it very well, since I knew myself that in this place and hour
+words and occurrences would affect me deeply at which I should
+have laughed in the sunlight and open plain.  Already the Zulus
+were affected, for I could hear the teeth of some of them
+chattering, and Goza began to shiver at my side.  He muttered
+that it was cold, and lied for the donga was extremely hot and
+stuffy.
+
+At length the silver radiance of the moon spread itself on the
+high curtain of the dark.  Then the edge of her orb appeared
+above the hill and an arrow of white light fell into the little
+valley.  It struck upon and about the jutting rock, revealing a
+misshapen, white-headed figure squatted between its base and the
+fire, the figure of Zikali.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT COUNCIL
+
+
+
+
+
+None had seen or heard him come, and though doubtless he had but
+crept round the rock and taken his place in the darkness, there
+appeared to be something mysterious about this sudden appearance
+of Zikali.  So the Zulu nobles thought at any rate, for they
+uttered a low "Ow!" of fear and wonder.
+
+There he sat like a huge ape staring at the sky, for the
+firelight shone on his deep and burning eyes.  The moonlight
+increased, but now and again it was broken by little clouds which
+caused strange shadows to appear about the rock.  Some of these
+shadows looked as though veiled figures were approaching the
+wizard, bending over him and departing again, after giving him
+their message or counsel.
+
+"His Spirits visit him," whispered Goza, but I made no answer.
+
+This went on for quite a long time, until the full round of the
+moon appeared above the hill indeed, and, for the while, the
+clouds had cleared away.  Still Zikali sat silent and I, who was
+acquainted with the habits of this people,  knew that I was
+witnessing a conflict between two they considered to be
+respectively a spiritual and an earthly king.  It is my belief
+that unless he were first addressed, Zikali would have sat all
+night without opening his lips.  Possibly Cetewayo would have
+done the same if the impatience of public opinion had allowed
+him.  At any was rate it was he who gave way.
+
+"Makosi, master of many Spirits, on behalf of the Council and the
+People of the Zulus I, the King, greet you here in the place that
+you have chosen," said Cetewayo.
+
+Zikali made no answer.
+
+The silence went on as before, till at length, after a pause and
+some whispering, Cetewayo repeated his salutation, adding--
+
+"Has age made you deaf, O Opener of Roads, that you cannot hear
+the voice of the King?"
+
+Then at last Zikali answered in his low voice that yet seemed to
+fill all the kloof--
+
+"Nay, Child of Senzangacona, age has not made me deaf, but my
+spirit in these latter days floats far from my body.  It is like
+a bladder filled with air that a child holds by a string, and
+before I can speak I must draw it from the heavens to earth
+again.  What did you say about the place that I have chosen? 
+Well, what better place could I choose, seeing that it was here
+in this very Vale of Bones that I met the first king of the
+Zulus, Chaka the Wild Beast, who was your uncle?  Why then should
+I not choose it to meet the last king of the Zulus?"
+
+Now I, listening, knew at once that this saying might be
+understood in two ways, namely that Cetewayo was the reigning
+king, or that he was the last king who would ever reign.  But the
+Council interpreted it in the latter and worse sense, for I saw a
+quiver of fear go through them.
+
+"Why should I not choose it," went on Zikali, "seeing also that
+this place is holy to me?  Here it was, O Son of Panda, that
+Chaka brought my children to be killed and forced me, sitting
+where you sit, to watch their deaths.  There on the rock above me
+they were killed, four of them, three sons and a daughter, and
+the slayers--they came to an evil end, those slayers, as did
+Chaka--laughed and cast them down from the rock before me.  Yes,
+and Chaka laughed, and I too laughed, for had not the king the
+right to kill my children and to steal their mothers, and was I
+not glad  that they should be taken from the world and gathered
+to that of Spirits whence they always talk to me, yes, even now? 
+That is why I did not hear you at first, King, because they were
+talking to me."
+
+He paused, turning one ear upwards, then continued in a new and
+tender voice, "What is it you say to me, Noma, my dear little
+Noma?  Oh! I hear you, I hear you."
+
+Now he shifted himself along the ground on his haunches some
+paces to the right, and began to search about, groping with his
+long fingers.  "Where, where?" he muttered.  "Oh, I understand,
+further under the root, a jackal buried it, did it?  Pah!  how
+hard is this soil.  Ah! I have it, but look, Noma, a stone has
+cut my finger.  I have it, I have it," and from beneath the root
+of some fallen tree he drew out the skull of a child and, holding
+it in his right hand, softly rubbed the mould off it with his
+left.
+
+"Yes, Noma, it might be yours, it is of the right size, but how
+can I be sure?  What is it you say?  The teeth?  Ah! now I
+remember.  Only the day before you were taken I pulled out that
+front tooth, did I not, and beneath it was another that was
+strangely split in two.  If this skull was yours, it will be
+there.  Come to the fire, Noma, and let us look; the moonlight is
+faint, is it not?"
+
+Back to the fire he shifted himself, and bending towards the
+blaze, made an examination.
+
+"True, Noma, true!  Here is the split tooth, white as when I saw
+it all those years ago.  Oh! dear child of my body, dear child of
+my spirit, for we do not beget with the body alone, Noma, as you
+know better than I do to-day, I greet you," and pressing the
+skull to his lips, he kissed it, then set it down in front of him
+between himself and the fire with the face part pointing to the
+king, and burst into one of his eerie and terrible laughs.
+
+A low moan went up from his audience, and I felt the skin of
+Goza, who had shrunk against me, break into a profuse sweat. 
+Then suddenly Zikali's voice changed one more and became hard and
+businesslike, if I may call it so, similar to that of other
+professional doctors.
+
+"You have sent for me, O King, as those who went before you have
+sent when great things were about to happen.  What is the matter
+on which you would speak to me?"
+
+"You know well, Opener of Roads," answered Cetewayo, rather
+shakily I thought.  "The matter is one of peace or war.  The
+English threaten me and my people and make great demands on me;
+amongst others that the army should be disbanded.  I can set them
+all out if you will.  If I refuse to do as they bid me, then
+within a few days they will invade Zululand; indeed their
+soldiers are already gathered at the drifts."
+
+"It is not needful, King," answered Zikali, "since I know what
+all know, neither more nor less.  The winds whisper the demands
+of the white men, the birds sing them, the hyenas howl them at
+night.  Let us see how the matter stands.  When your father died
+Sompseu (Sir T. Shepstone), the great white chief, came from the
+English Government to name you king.  This he could not do
+according to our law, since how can a stranger name the King of
+the Zulus? Therefore the Council of the Nation and the doctors--I
+was not among them, King--moved the spirit of Chaka the Lion into
+the body of Sompseu and made him as Chaka was and gave him power
+to name you to rule over the Zulus.  So it came about that to the
+English Queen through the spirit of Chaka you swore certain
+things; that slaying for witchcraft should be abolished; that no
+man should die without fair and open trial, and other matters."
+
+He paused a while, then went on, "These oaths you have broken, O
+King, as being of the blood you are and what you are, you must
+do."
+
+Here there was disturbance among the Council and Cetewayo half
+rose from his seat, then sat down again.  Zikali, gazing at the
+sky, waited till it had died away, then went on--
+
+"Do any question my words?  If so, then let them ask of the white
+men whether they be true or no.  Let them ask also of the spirits
+of those who have died for witchcraft, and of the spirits of the
+women who have been slain and whose bodies were laid at the
+cross-roads because they married the men they chose and not the
+soldiers to whom the king gave them."
+
+"How can I ask the white men who are far away?" broke out
+Cetewayo, ignoring the rest.
+
+"Are the white men so far away, King?  It is true that I see none
+and hear none, yet I seem to smell one of them close at hand." 
+Here he took up the skull which he had laid down and whispered to
+it.  "Ah! I thank you, my child.  It seems, King, that there is a
+white man here hidden in this kloof, he who is named Macumazahn,
+a good man and a truthful, known to many of us from of old, who
+can tell you what his people think, though he is not one of their
+indunas.  If you question my words, ask him."
+
+"We know what the white men think," said Cetewayo, "so there is
+no need to ask Macumazahn to sing us an old song.  The question
+is--what must the Zulus do?  Must they swallow their spears and,
+ceasing to be a nation, become servants, or must they strike with
+them and drive the English into the sea, and after them the
+Boers?"
+
+"Tell me first, King, who dwell far away and alone, knowing
+little of what passes in the land of Life, what the Zulus desire
+to do.  Before me sits the Great Council of the Nation.  Let it
+speak."
+
+Then one by one the members of the Council uttered their opinions
+in order of rank or seniority.  I do not remember the names of
+all who were present, or what each of them said.  I recall,
+however, that Sigananda, a very old chief--he must have been over
+ninety--spoke the first.  He told them that he had been friend of
+Chaka and one of his captains, and had fought in most of his
+battles.  That afterwards he had been a general of Dingaan's
+until that king killed the Boers under Retief, when he left him
+and finally sided with Panda in the civil war in which Dingaan
+was killed with the help of the Boers.  That he had been present
+at the battle of the Tugela, though he took no actual part in the
+fighting, and afterwards became a councillor of Panda's and then
+of Cetewayo his son.  It was a long and interesting historical
+recital covering the whole period of the Zulu monarchy which
+ended suddenly with these words--
+
+"I have noted, O King and Councillors, that whenever the black
+vulture of the Zulus was content to attack birds of his own
+feather, he has conquered.  But when it has met the grey eagles
+of the white men, which come from over the sea, he has been
+conquered, and my heart tells me that as it was in the past, so
+it shall be in the future.  Chaka was a friend of the English, so
+was Panda, and so has Cetewayo been until this hour.  I say,
+therefore, let not the King tear the hand which fed him because
+it seems weak, lest it should grow strong and clutch him by the
+throat and choke him."
+
+Next spoke Undabuko, Dabulamanzi and Magwenga, brothers of the
+king, who all favoured war, though the two last were guarded in
+their speech.  After these came Uhamu, the king's uncle--he who
+was said to be the son of a Spirit--who was strong for peace,
+urging that the king should submit to the demands of the English,
+making the best terms he could, that he "should bend like a reed
+before the storm, so that after the storm had swept by, he might
+stand up straight again, and with him all the other reeds of the
+people of the Zulus."
+
+So, too, said Seketwayo, chief of the Umdhlalosi, and more whom I
+cannot recall, six or seven of them.  But Usibebu and the induna
+Untshingwayo, who afterwards commanded at Isandhlwana, were for
+fighting, as were Sirayo, the husband of the two women who had
+been taken on English territory and killed, and Umbilini, the
+chief of Swazi blood whose surrender was demanded by Sir Bartle
+Frere and who afterwards commanded the Zulus in the battle at
+Ihlobane.  Last of all spoke the Prime Minister, Umnyamana, who
+declared fiercely that if the Zulu buffalo hid itself in the
+swamp like a timid calf when the white bull challenged it on the
+hills, the spirits of Chaka and all his forefathers would thrust
+its head into the mud and choke it.
+
+When all had finished Cetewayo spoke, saying--
+
+"That is a bad council which has two voices, for to which of them
+must the Captain listen when the impis of the foe gather in front
+of him?  Here I have sat while the moon climbs high and counted,
+and what do I find?  That one half of you, men of wisdom and
+renown, say Yes, and that the other half of you, men of wisdom
+and renown, say No.  Which then is it to be, Yes or No?  Are we
+to fight the English, or are we to sit still?"
+
+"That is for the king to decide," said a voice.
+
+"See what it is to be a king," went on Cetewayo with passion. 
+"If I declare for war and we win, shall I be greater than I am? 
+If victory gives me more land, more subjects, more wives and more
+cattle, what is the use of these things to me who already have
+enough of all of them?  And if defeat should take everything from
+me, even my life perhaps, then what shall I have gained?  I will
+tell you--the curse of the Zulus upon my name from father to son
+for ever.  They will say, 'Cetewayo, son of Panda, pulled down a
+House that once was great.  Because of some small matter he
+quarrelled with the English who were always the friends of our
+people, and brought the Zulus to the dust.'  Sintwangu, my
+messenger, who brought heavy words from the Queen's induna which
+we must answer with other words or with spears, says that the
+English soldiers in Natal are few, so few that we Zulus can
+swallow them like bits of meat and still be hungry.  But are
+these all the soldiers of the English?  I am not sure.  You are
+one of that people, Macumazahn," he added, turning his massive
+shape towards me, "tell us now, how many soldiers has your
+Queen?"
+
+"King," I answered, "I do not know for certain.  But if the Zulus
+can muster fifty thousand spears, the Queen, if there be need,
+can send against them ten times fifty thousand, and if she grows
+angry, another ten times fifty, every one armed with a rifle that
+will fire five bullets a minute, and to accompany the soldiers,
+hundreds of cannon whereof a single shot would give Ulundi to the
+flames.  Out of the sea they will come, shipload after shipload,
+white men from where the sun sets and black men from where the
+sun rises, so many that Zululand would not hold them."
+
+Now at these words, which I delivered as grandly as I could,
+something like a groan burst from the Council, though one man
+cried--
+
+"Do not listen to the white traitor, O King, who is sent here to
+turn our hearts to water with his lies."
+
+"Macumazahn may lie to us," went on Cetewayo, "though in the past
+none in the land have ever known him to lie, but he was not sent
+to do so, for I brought him here.  For my part I do not believe
+that he lies.  I believe that these English are as many as the
+pebbles in a river bed, and that to them Natal, yes, and all the
+Cape is but as a single, outlying cattle kraal, one cattle kraal
+out of a hundred.  Did not Sompseu once tell us that they were
+countless, on that day when he came many years ago after the
+battle of the Tugela to name me to succeed my father Panda, the
+day when my faction, the Usutu, roared round him for hours like a
+river in flood, and he sat still like a rock in the centre of a
+river?  Also I am minded of the words that Chaka said when
+Dingaan and Umbopa had stabbed him and he lay dying at the kraal
+Duguza, that although the dogs of his own House whom his hand
+fed, had eaten him up, he heard the sound of the running of the
+feet of a great white people that should stamp them and the Zulus
+flat."
+
+He paused; and the silence was so intense that the crackling of
+Zikali's fire, which kept on burning brightly although I saw no
+fuel added to it, sounded quite loud.  Presently it was broken,
+first by a dog near at hand, howling horribly at the moon, and
+next by the hooting of a great owl that flitted across the donga,
+the shadow of its wide wings falling for a moment on the king.
+
+"Listen!" exclaimed Cetewayo, "a dog that howls!  Methinks that
+it stands upon the roof of the House of Senzangacona.  And an owl
+that hoots.  Methinks that owl has its nest in the world of
+Spirits!  Are these good omens, Councillors?  I trow not.  I say
+that I will not decide this matter of peace or war.  If there is
+one of my own blood here who will do so, come, let him take my
+place and let me go away to my own lordship of Gikazi that I had
+when I was a prince before the witch Mameena who played with all
+men and loved but one"--here everybody turned and stared towards
+me, yes, even Zikali whom nothing else had seemed to move, till I
+wished that the ground would swallow me up--"caused the war
+between me and my brother Umbelazi whose blood earth will not
+swallow nor suns dry--"
+
+"How can that be, O King?" broke in Umnyamana the Prime Minister. 
+"How can any of your race sit in your seat while you still live? 
+Then indeed there would be war, war between tribe and tribe and
+Zulu and Zulu till none were left, and the white hyenas from
+Natal would come and chew our bones and with them the Boers that
+have passed the Vaal.  See now.  Why is this Nyanga (i.e. 
+witch-doctor) here?" and he pointed to Zikali beyond the fire. 
+"Why has the Opener of Roads been brought from the Black Kloof
+which he has not left for years?  Is it not that he may give us
+counsel in our need and show us a sign that his counsel is good,
+whether it be for war or peace?  Then when he has made divination
+and given the counsel and shown the sign, then, O King, do you
+speak the word of war or peace, and send it to the Queen by
+yonder white man, and by that word we, the people, will abide."
+
+At this suggestion, which I had no doubt was made by some secret
+agreement between Umnyamana and Zikali, Cetewayo seemed to grasp. 
+Perhaps this was because it postponed for a little while the
+dreadful moment of decision, or perhaps because he hoped that in
+the eyes of the nation it would shift the responsibility from his
+shoulders to those of the Spirits speaking through the lips of
+their prophet.  At any rate he nodded and answered--
+
+"It is so.  Let the Opener of Roads open us a road through the
+forests and the swamps and the rocks of doubt, danger and fear. 
+Let him give us a sign that it is a good road on which we may
+safely travel, and let him tell us whether I shall live to walk
+that road and what I shall meet thereon.  I promise him in return
+the greatest fee that ever yet was paid to a doctor in Zululand."
+
+Now Zikali lifted his big head, shook his grey locks, and opening
+his wide mouth as though he expected manna to fall into it from
+the sky, he laughed out loud.
+
+"O-ho-ho," he laughed, "Oho-ho-ho-o, it is worth while to have
+lived so long when life has brought me to such an hour as this. 
+What is it that my ears hear?  That I, the Indwande dwarf, I whom
+Chaka named 'The-Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born,' I, one
+of the race conquered and despised by the Zulus, am here to speak
+a word which the Zulus dare not utter, which the King of the
+Zulus dares not utter.  O-ho-ho-ho! And what does the King offer
+to me?  A fee, a great fee for the word that shall paint the
+Zulus red with blood or white with the slime of shame.  Nay, I
+take no fee that is the price of blood or shame.  Before I speak
+that word unknown--for as yet my heart has not heard it, and what
+the heart has not heard the lips cannot shape--I ask but one
+thing.  It is an oath that whatever follows on the word, while
+there is a Zulu left living in the world, I, the Voice of the
+Spirits, shall be safe from hurt or from reproach, I and those of
+my House and those over whom I throw my blanket, be they black or
+be they white.  That is my fee, without which I am silent."
+
+"Izwa!  We hear you.  We swear it on behalf of the people," said
+every councillor in the semi-circle in front of him; yes, and the
+king said it also, stretching out his hand.
+
+"Good," said Zikali, "it is an oath, it is an oath, sworn here
+upon the bones of the dead.  Evil-doers you call them, but I say
+to you that many of those who sit before me have more evil in
+their hearts than had those dead.  Well, let it be proclaimed, O
+King, and with it this--that ill shall it go with him who breaks
+the oath, with his family, with his kraal and all with whom he
+has to do.
+
+"Now what is it you ask of me?  First of all, counsel as to
+whether you should fight the English Queen, a matter on which
+you, the Great Ones, are evenly divided in opinion, as is the
+nation behind you.  O King, Indunas, and Captains, who am I that
+I should judge of such a matter which is beyond my trade, a
+matter of the world above and of men's bodies, not of the world
+below and of men's spirits?  Yet there was one who made the Zulu
+people out of nothing, as a potter fashions a vessel from clay,
+as a smith fashions an assegai out of the ore of the hills, yes,
+and tempers it with human blood.*  Chaka the Lion, the Wild
+Beast, the King among Kings, the Conqueror.  I knew Chaka as I
+knew his father, yes, and _his_ father.  Others still living knew
+him also, say you, Sigananda there for instance," and he pointed
+to the old chief who had spoken first.  "Yes, Sigananda knew him
+as a boy knows a great man, as a soldier knows a general.  But I
+knew his heart, aye, I shaped his heart, I was its thought.  Had
+it not been for me he would never have been great.  Then he
+wronged me"--here Zikali took up the skull which he said was that
+of his daughter, and stroked it--"and I left him.
+
+[*--The old Zulu smiths dipped their choicest blades in the blood
+of men.--A. Q.]
+
+"He was not wise, he should have killed one whom he had wronged,
+but perhaps he knew that I could not be killed; perhaps he had
+tried and found that he was but throwing spears at the moon which
+fell back on his own head.  I forget.  It is so long ago, and
+what does it matter?  At least I took away from him the prop of
+my wisdom, and he fell--to rise no more.  And so it has been with
+others.  So it has been with others.  Yet while he was great I
+knew his heart who lived in his heart, and therefore I ask
+myself, had he been sitting where the King sits to-day, what
+would Chaka have done?  I will tell you.  If not only the English
+but the Boers also and with them the Pondos, the Basutos and all
+the tribes of Africa had threatened him, he would have fought
+them--yes, and set his heel upon their necks.  Therefore,
+although I give no counsel upon such a matter, I say to you that
+the counsel of Chaka is--fight--and conquer.  Hearken to it or
+pass it by--I care not which."
+
+He paused and a loud "Ow" of wonder and admiration rose from his
+audience.  Myself I nearly joined in it, for I thought this one
+of the cleverest bits of statecraft that ever I had heard of or
+seen.  The old wizard had taken no responsibility and given no
+answer to the demand for advice.  All this he had thrust on to
+the shoulders of a dead man, and that man one whose name was
+magical to every Zulu, the king whose memory they adored, the
+great General who had gorged them with victory and power. 
+Speaking as Chaka, after a long period of peace, he urged them
+once more to lift their spears and know the joys of triumph,
+thereby making themselves the greatest nation in Southern Africa. 
+From the moment I heard this cunning appeal, I know what the end
+would be; all the rest was but of minor and semi-personal
+interest.  I knew also for the first time how truly great was
+Zikali and wondered what he might have become had Fortune set him
+in different circumstances among a civilized people.
+
+Now he was speaking again, and quickly before the impression died
+away.
+
+"Such is the word of Chaka spoken by me who was his secret
+councillor, the Councillor who was seldom seen, and never heard. 
+Does not Sigananda yonder know the voice which amongst all those
+present echoes in his ears alone?"
+
+"I know it," cried the old chief.  Then with his eyes starting
+almost from his head, Sigananda leapt up and raising his hand,
+gave the royal salute, the Bayete, to the spirit of Chaka, as
+though the dead king stood before him.
+
+I think that most of those there thought that it did stand before
+him, for some of them also gave the Bayete and even Cetewayo
+raised his arm.
+
+Sigananda squatted down again and Zikali went on.
+
+"You have heard.  This captain of the Lion knows his voice.  So,
+that is done with.  Now you ask of me something else--that I who
+am a doctor, the oldest of all the doctors and, it is thought--I
+know not--the wisest, should be able to answer.  You ask of
+me--How shall this war prosper, if it is made--and what shall
+chance to the King during and after the war, and lastly you ask
+of me a sign.  What I tell to you is true, is it not so?"
+
+"It is true," answered the Council.
+
+"Asking is easy," continued Zikali in a grumbling voice, "but
+answering is another matter.  How can I answer without
+preparation, without the needful medicines also that I have not
+with me, who did not know what would be sought of me, who thought
+that my opinion was desired and no more?  Go away now and return
+on the sixth night and I will tell you what I can do."
+
+"Not so," cried the king.  "We refuse to go, for the matter is
+immediate.  Speak at once, Opener of Roads, lest it should be
+said in the land that after all you are but an ancient cheat, a
+stick that snaps in two when it is leant on."
+
+"Ancient cheat!  I remember that is what Macumazahn yonder once
+told me I am, though afterwards--Perhaps he was right, for who in
+his heart knows whether or not he be a cheat, a cheat who
+deceives himself and through himself others.  A stick that snaps
+in two when it is leant on!  Some have thought me so and some
+have thought otherwise.  Well, you would have answers which I
+know not how to give, being without medicine and in face of those
+who are quite ignorant and therefore cannot lend me their
+thoughts, as it sometimes happens that men do when workers of
+evil are sought out in the common fashion.  For then, as you may
+have guessed, it is the evil-doer who himself tells the doctor of
+his crime, though he may not know that he is telling it.  Yet
+there is another stone that I alone can throw, another plan that
+I alone can practise, and that not always.  But of this I would
+not make use since it is terrible and might frighten you or even
+send you back to your huts raving so that your wives, yes, and
+the very dogs fled, from you."
+
+He stopped and for the first time did something to his fire, for
+I saw his hands going backwards and forwards, as though he warmed
+them at the flames.
+
+At length an awed voice, I think it was that of Dabulamanzi,
+asked--
+
+"What is this plan, Inyanga?  Let us hear that we may judge."
+
+"The plan of calling one from the dead and hearkening to the
+voice of the dead.  Is it your desire that I should draw water
+from this fount of wisdom, O King and Councillors?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+
+
+WAR
+
+
+
+
+
+Now men began to whisper together and Goza groaned at my side.
+
+"Rather would I look down a live lion's throat than see the
+dead," he murmured.  But I, who was anxious to learn how far
+Zikali would carry his tricks, contemptuously told him to be
+silent.
+
+Presently the king called me to him and said--
+
+"Macumazahn, you white men are reported to know all things.  Tell
+me now, is it possible for the dead to appear?"
+
+"I am not sure," I answered doubtfully; "some say that it is and
+some say that it is not possible."
+
+"Well," said the king.  "Have you ever seen one you knew in life
+after death?"
+
+"No," I replied, "that is--yes.  That is--I do not know.  When
+you will tell me, King, where waking ends and sleep begins, then
+I will answer."
+
+"Macumazahn," he exclaimed, "just now I announced that you were
+no liar, who perceive that after all you are a liar, for how can
+you both have seen, and not seen, the dead?  Indeed I remember
+that you lied long ago, when you gave it out that the witch
+Mameena was not your lover, and afterwards showed that she was by
+kissing her before all men, for who kisses a woman who is not his
+lover, or his mother?  Return, since you will not tell me the
+truth."
+
+So I went back to my stool, feeling very small and yet indignant,
+for how was it possible to be definite about ghosts, or to
+explain the exact facts of the Mameena myth which clung to me
+like a Wait-a-bit thorn.
+
+Then after a little consultation Cetewayo said--
+
+"It is our desire, O Opener of Roads, that you should draw wisdom
+from the fount of Death, if indeed you can do so.  Now let any
+who are afraid depart and wait for us who are not afraid, alone
+and in silence at the mouth of the kloof."
+
+At this some of the audience rose, but after hesitating a little,
+sat down again.  Only Goza actually took a step forward, but on
+my remarking that he would probably meet the dead coming up that
+way, collapsed, muttering something about my pistol, for the fool
+seemed to think I could shoot a spirit.
+
+"If indeed I can do so," repeated Zikali in a careless fashion. 
+"That is to be proved, is it not?  Perhaps, too, it may be better
+for every one of you if I fail than if I succeed.  Of one thing I
+warn you, should the dead appear stir not, and above all touch
+not, for he who does either of these things will, I think, never
+live to look upon the sun again.  But first let me try an easier
+fashion."
+
+Then once again he took up the skull that he said had been his
+daughter's, and whispered to it, only to lay it down presently.
+
+"It will not serve," he said with a sigh and shaking his locks. 
+"Noma tells me that she died a child, one who had no knowledge of
+war or matters of policy, and that in all these things of the
+world she still remains a child.  She says that I must seek some
+one who thought much of them; one, too who still lives in the
+heart of a man who is present here, if that be possible, since
+from such a heart alone can the strength be drawn to enable the
+dead to appear and speak.  Now let there be silence--Let there be
+silence, and woe to him that breaks it."
+
+Silence there was indeed, and in it Zikali crouched himself down
+till his head almost rested on his knee, and seemed to go to
+sleep.  He awoke again and chanted for half a minute or so in
+some language I could not understand.  Then voices began to
+answer him, as it seemed to me from all over the kloof, also from
+the sky or rock above.  Whether the effect was produced by
+ventriloquism or whether he had confederates posted at various
+points, I do not know.
+
+At any rate this lord of "multitudes of spirits" seemed to be
+engaged in conversation with some of them.  What is more, the
+thing was extremely well done, since each voice differed from the
+other; also I seemed to recognize some of them, Dingaan's for
+instance, and Panda's, yes, and that of Umbelazi the Handsome,
+the brother of the king whose death I witnessed down by the
+Tugela.
+
+You will ask me what they said.  I do not know.  Either the words
+were confused or the events that followed have blotted them from
+my brain.  All I remember is that each of them seemed to be
+speaking of the Zulus and their fate and to be very anxious to
+refer further discussion of the matter to some one else.  In
+short they seemed to talk under protest, or that was my
+impression, although Goza, the only person with whom I had any
+subsequent debate upon the subject, appeared to have gathered one
+that was different, though what it was I do not recall.  The only
+words that remained clear to me must, I thought, have come from
+the spirit of Chaka, or rather from Zikali or one of his
+myrmidons assuming that character.  They were uttered in a deep
+full voice, spiced with mockery, and received by the wizard with
+"Sibonga," or titles of praise, which I who am versed in Zulu
+history and idiom knew had only been given to the great king, and
+indeed since his death had become unlawful, not to be used.  The
+words were--
+
+"What, Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born, do you think
+yourself a Thing-that-should-never-die, that you still sit
+beneath the moon and weave witchcrafts as of old? Often have I
+hunted for you in the Under-world who have an account to settle
+with you, as you have an account to settle with me.  So, so, what
+does it matter since we must meet at last, even if you hide
+yourself at the back of the furthest star?  Why do you bring me
+up to this place where I see some whom I would forget?  Yes, they
+build bone on bone and taking the red earth, mould it into flesh
+and stand before me as last I saw them newly dead.  Oh! your
+magic is good, Spell-weaver, and your hate is deep and your
+vengeance is keen.  No, I have nothing to tell you to-day, who
+rule a greater people than the Zulus in another land.  Who are
+these little men who sit before you?  One of them has a look of
+Dingaan, my brother who slew me, yes, and wears his armlet.  Is
+he the king?  Answer not, for I do not care to know.  Surely
+yonder withered thing is Sigananda.  I know his eye and the Iziqu
+on his breast.  Yes, I gave it to him after the great battle with
+Zweede in which he killed five men.  Does he remember it, I
+wonder?  Greeting, Sigananda; old as you are you have still
+twenty and one years to live, and than we will talk of the battle
+with Zweede.  Let me begone, this place burns my spirit, and in
+it there is a stench of mortal blood.  Farewell, O Conqueror!"
+
+These were the words that I thought I heard Chaka say, though I
+daresay that I dreamt them.  Indeed had it been otherwise, I mean
+had they really been spoken by Zikali, there would surely have
+been more in them, something that might have served his purpose,
+not mere talk which had all the inconsequence of a dream.  Also
+no one else seemed to pay any particular attention to them,
+though this may have been because so many voices were sounding
+from different places at once, for as I have said, Zikali
+arranged his performance very well, as well as any medium could
+have done on a prepared stage in London.
+
+In a moment, as though at a signal, the voices died away.  Then
+other things happened.  To begin with I felt very faint, as
+though all the strength were being taken out of me.  Some queer
+fancy got a hold of me.  I don't quite know what it was, but it
+had to do with the Bible story of Adam when he fell asleep and a
+rib was removed from him and made into a woman.  I reflected that
+I felt as Adam must have done when he came out of his trance
+after this terrific operation, very weak and empty.  Also, as it
+chanced, presently I saw Eve--or rather a woman.  Looking at the
+fire in a kind of disembodied way, I perceived that dense smoke
+was rising from it, which smoke spread itself out like a fan.  It
+thinned by degrees, and through the veil of smoke I perceived
+something else, namely, a woman very like one whom once I had
+known.  There she stood, lightly clad enough, her fingers playing
+with the blue beads of her necklace, an inscrutable smile upon
+her face and her large eyes fixed on nothingness.
+
+Oh! Heaven, I knew her, or rather thought I did at the moment,
+for now I am almost sure that it was Nombe dressed, or undressed,
+for the part.  That knowledge came with reflection, but then I
+could have sworn, being deceived by the uncertain light, that the
+long dead Mameena stood before us as she had seemed to stand
+before me in the hut of Zikali, radiating a kind of supernatural
+life and beauty.
+
+A little wind arose, shaking the dry leaves of the aloes in the
+kloof; l thought it whispered--_Hail, Mameena!_  Some of the
+older men, too, among them a few who had seen her die, in
+trembling voices murmured, "It is Mameena!" whereon Zikali
+scowled at them and they grew silent.
+
+As for the figure it stood there patient and unmoved, like one
+who has all time at its disposal, playing with the blue beads.  I
+heard them tinkle against each other, which proves that it was
+human, for how could a wraith cause beads to tinkle, although it
+is true that Christmas-story ghosts are said to clank their
+chains.  Her eyes roved idly and without interest over the
+semi-circle of terrified men before her.  Then by degrees they
+fixed themselves upon the tree behind which I was crouching,
+whereon Goza sank paralyzed to the ground.  She contemplated this
+tree for a while that seemed to me interminable; it reminded me
+of a setter pointing game it winded but could not see, for her
+whole frame grew intent and alert.  She ceased playing with the
+beads and stretched out her slender hand towards me.  Her lips
+moved.  She spoke in a sweet, slow voice, saying--
+
+"O Watcher-by-Night, is it thus you greet her to whom you have
+given strength to stand once more beneath the moon?  Come hither
+and tell me, have you no kiss for one from whom you parted with a
+kiss?"
+
+I heard.  Without doubt the voice was the very voice of Mameena
+(so well had Nombe been instructed).  Still I determined not to
+obey it, who would not be made a public laughing-stock for a
+second time in my life.  Also I confess this jesting with the
+dead seemed to me somewhat unholy, and not on any account would I
+take a part in it.
+
+All the company turned and stared at me, even Goza lifted his
+head and stared, but I sat still and contemplated the beauties of
+the night.
+
+"If it is the spirit of Mameena, he will come," whispered
+Cetewayo to Umnyamana.
+
+"Yes, yes," answered the Prime Minister, "for the rope of his
+love will draw him.  He who has once kissed Mameena, _must_ kiss
+her again when she asks."
+
+Hearing this I grew furiously indignant and was about to break
+into explanations, when to my horror I found myself rising from
+that stool.  I tried to cling to it, but, as it only came into
+the air with me, let it go.
+
+"Hold me, Goza," I muttered, and he like a good fellow clutched
+me by the ankle, whereon I promptly kicked him in the mouth, at
+least my foot kicked him, not my will.  Now I was walking towards
+that Shape--shadow or woman--like a man in his sleep, and as I
+came she stretched out her arms and smiled oh! as sweetly as an
+angel, though I felt quite sure that she was nothing of the sort.
+
+Now I stood opposite to her alongside the fire of which the smoke
+smelt like roses at the dawn, and she seemed to bend towards me. 
+With shame and humiliation I perceived that in another moment
+those arms would be about me.  But somehow they never touched me;
+I lost sight of them in the rose-scented smoke, only the sweet,
+slow voice which I could have sworn was that of Mameena, murmured
+in my ear--well, words known to her and me alone that I had never
+breathed to any living being, though of course I am aware now
+that they must also have been known to somebody else.
+
+"Do you doubt me any longer?" went on the murmuring.  "Say, am I
+Nombe now? Or--or am I in truth that Mameena, whose kiss thrills
+your lips and soul?  Hearken, Macumazahn, for the time is short. 
+In the rout of the great battle that shall be, do not fly with
+the white men, but set your face towards Ulundi.  One who was
+your friend will guard you, and whoever dies, no harm shall come
+to you now that the fire which burns in my heart has set all
+Zululand aflame.  Hearken once more.  Hans, the little yellow man
+who was named Light-in-Darkness, he who died among the Kendah
+people, sends you salutations and gives you praise.  He bids me
+tell you that now of his own accord he renders to me, Mameena,
+the royal salute, because royal I must ever be; because also he
+and I who are so far apart are yet one in the love that is our
+life."
+
+The smoke blew into my face, causing me to reel back.  Cetewayo
+caught me by the arm, saying--
+
+"Tell us, are the lips of the dead witch warm or cold?"
+
+"I do not know," I groaned, "for I never touched her."
+
+"How he lies!  Oh! how he lies even about what our eyes saw,"
+said Cetewayo reflectively as I blundered past him back to my
+seat, on which I sank half swooning.  When I got my wits again
+the figure that pretended to be Mameena was speaking, I suppose
+in answer to some question of Zikali's which I had not heard.  It
+said--
+
+"O Lord of the Spirits, you have called me from the land of
+Spirits to make reply as to two matters which have not yet
+happened upon the earth.  These replies I will give but no
+others, since the mortal strength that I have borrowed returns
+whence it came.  The first matter is, if there be war between the
+White and Black, what will happen in that war?  I see a plain
+ringed round with hills and on it a strange-shaped mount.  I see
+a great battle; I see the white men go down like corn before a
+tempest; I see the spears of the impis redden; I see the white
+soldiers lie like leaves cut from a tree by frost.  They are
+dead, all dead, save a handful that have fled away.  I hear the
+ingoma of victory sung here at Ulundi.  It is finished.
+
+"The second matter is--what shall chance to the king?  I see him
+tossed on the Black Water; I see him in a land full of houses,
+talking with a royal woman and her councillors.  There, too, he
+conquers, for they offer him tribute of many gifts.  I see him
+here, back here in Zululand, and hear him greeted with the royal
+salute.  Last of all I see him dead, as men must die, and hear
+the voice of Zikali and the mourning of the women of his house. 
+It is finished.  Farewell, King Cetewayo, I pass to tell Panda,
+your father, how it fares with you.  When last we parted did I
+not prophesy to you that we should meet again at the bottom of a
+gulf?  Was it this gulf, think you, or another?  One day you
+shall learn.  Farewell, or fare ill, as it may happen!"
+
+Once more the smoke spread out like a fan.  When it thinned and
+drew together again, the Shape was gone.
+
+Now I thought that the Zulus would be so impressed by this very
+queer exhibition, that they would seek no more supernatural
+guidance, but make up their minds for war at once.  This,
+however, was just what they did not do.  As it happened, among
+the assembled chiefs, was one who himself had a great repute as a
+witch-doctor, and therefore burned with jealousy of Zikali who
+appeared to be able to do things that he had never even
+attempted.  This man leapt up and declared that all which they
+had seemed to hear and see was but cunning trickery, carried out
+after long preparation by Zikali and his confederates.  The
+voices, he said, came from persons placed in certain spots, or
+sometimes were produced by Zikali himself.  As for the vision, it
+was not that of a spirit but of a real woman, in proof of which
+he called attention to certain anatomical details of the figure. 
+Finally, with much sense, he pointed out that the Council would
+be mad to come to any decision upon such evidence, or to give
+faith to prophecies, whereof the truth or falsity could only be
+known in the future.
+
+Now a fierce debate broke out, the war party maintaining that the
+manifestations were genuine, the peace party that they were a
+fraud.  In the end, as neither side would give way and as Zikali,
+when appealed to, sat silent as a stone, refusing any
+explanation, the king said--
+
+"Must we sit here talking, talking, till daylight?  There is but
+one man who can know the truth, that is Macumazahn.  Let him deny
+it as he will, he was the lover of this Mameena while she was
+alive, for with my own eyes I saw him kiss her before she killed
+herself.  It is certain, therefore, that he knows if the woman we
+seemed to see was Mameena or another, since there are things
+which a man never forgets.  I propose, therefore, that we should
+question him and form our own judgment of his answer."
+
+This advice, which seemed to promise a road out of a blind ally,
+met with instant acceptance.
+
+"Let it be so," they cried with one voice, and in another minute
+I was once more conducted from behind my tree and set down upon
+the stool in front of the Council, with my back to the fire and
+Zikali, "that his eyes might not charm me."
+
+"Now, Watcher-by-Night," said Cetewayo, "although you have lied
+to us in a certain matter, of this we do not think much, since it
+is one upon which both men and women always lie, as every judge
+will know.  Therefore we still believe you to be an honest man,
+as your dealings have proved for many years.  As an honest man,
+therefore, we beg you to give us a true answer to a plain
+question.  Was the Shape we saw before us just now a woman or a
+spirit, and if a spirit, was it the ghost of Mameena, the
+beautiful witch who died near this place nearly the quarter of a
+hundred years ago, she whom you loved, or who loved you, which is
+just the same thing, since a man always loves a woman who loves
+him, or thinks that he does?"
+
+Now after reflection I replied in these words and as
+conscientiously as I could--
+
+"King and Councillors, I do not know if what we all saw was a
+ghost or a living person, but, as I do not believe in ghosts, or
+at any rate that they come back to the world on such errands, I
+conclude that it was a living person.  Still it may have been
+neither, but only a mere picture produced before us by the arts
+of Zikali.  So much for the first question.  Your second is--was
+this spirit or woman or shadow, that of her whom I remember
+meeting in Zululand many years ago?  King and Councillors, I can
+only say that it was very like her.  Still one handsome young
+woman often greatly resembles another of the same age and
+colouring.  Further, the moon gives an uncertain light,
+especially when it is tempered by smoke from a fire.  Lastly,
+memory plays strange tricks with all of us, as you will know if
+you try to think of the face of any one who has been dead for
+more than twenty years.  For the rest, the voice seemed similar,
+the beads and ornaments seemed similar, and the figure repeated
+to me certain words which I thought I alone had heard come from
+the lips of her who is dead.  Also she gave me a strange message
+from another who is dead, referring to a matter which I believed
+was known only to me and that other.  Yet Zikali is very clever
+and may have learned these things in some way unguessed by me,
+and what he has learned, others may have learned also.  King and
+Councillors, I do not think that what we saw was the spirit of
+Mameena.  I think it a woman not unlike to her who had been
+taught her lesson.  I have nothing more to say, and therefore I
+pray you not to ask me any further questions about Mameena of
+whose name I grow weary."
+
+At this point Zikali seemed to wake out of his indifference, or
+his torpor, for he looked up and said darkly--
+
+"It is strange that the cleverest are always those who first fall
+into the trap.  They go along, gazing at the stars at night, and
+forget the pit which they themselves have dug in the morning. 
+O-ho-ho! Oho-ho!"
+
+Now the wrangling broke out afresh.  The peace party pointed
+triumphantly to the fact that I, the white man who ought to know,
+put no faith in this apparition, which was therefore without
+doubt a fraud.  The war party on the other hand declared that I
+was deceiving them for reasons of my own, one of which would be
+that I did not wish to see the Zulus eat up my people.  So fierce
+grew the debate that I thought it would end in blows and perhaps
+in an attack on myself or Zikali who all the while sat quite
+careless and unmoved, staring at the moon.  At length Cetewayo
+shouted for silence, spitting, as was his habit when angry.
+
+"Make an end," he cried, "lest I cause some of you to grow quiet
+for ever," whereon the recriminations ceased.  "Opener of Roads,"
+he went on, "many of those who are present think like Macumazahn
+here, that you are but an old cheat, though whether or no I be
+one of these I will not say.  They demand a sign of you that none
+can dispute, and I demand it also before I speak the word of
+peace or war.  Give us then that sign or begone to whence you
+came and show your face no more at Ulundi."
+
+"What sign does the Council require, Son of Panda?" asked Zikali
+quietly.  "Let them agree on one together and tell me now at
+once, for I who am old grow weary and would sleep.  Then if it
+can be given I will give it; and if I cannot give it, I will get
+me back to my own house and show my face no more at Ulundi, who
+do not desire to listen again to fools who babble like contending
+waters round a stone and yet never stir the stone because they
+run two ways at once."
+
+Now the Councillors stared at each other, for none knew what sign
+to ask.  At length old Sigananda said--
+
+"O King, it is well known that the Black One who went before you
+had a certain little assegai handled with the royal red wood,
+which drank the blood of many.  It was with this assegai that
+Mopo his servant, who vanished from the land after the death of
+Dingaan, let out the life of the Black One at the kraal Duguza,
+but what became of it afterwards none have heard for certain. 
+Some say that it was buried with the Black One, some that Mopo
+stole it.  Others that Dingaan and Umhlagana burned it.  Still a
+saying rose like a wind in the land that when that spear shall
+fall from heaven at the feet of the king who reigns in the place
+of the Black One, then the Zulus shall make their last great war
+and win a victory of which all the world shall hear.  Now let the
+Opener of Roads give us this sign of the falling of the Black
+One's spear and I shall be content."
+
+"Would you know the spear if it fell?" asked Cetewayo.
+
+"I should know it, O King, who have often held it in my hand. 
+The end of the haft is gnawed, for when he was angry the Black
+One used to bite it.  Also a thumb's length from the blade is a
+black mark made with hot iron.  Once the Black One made a bet
+with one of his captains that at a distance of ten paces he would
+throw the spear deeper into the body of a chief whom he wished to
+kill, than the captain could.  The captain threw first, for I saw
+him with my eyes, and the spear sank to that place on the shaft
+where the mark is, for the Black One burned it there.  Then the
+Black One threw and the spear went through the body of the chief
+who, as he died, called to him that he too should know the feel
+of it in his heart, as indeed he did."
+
+I think that Cetewayo was about to assent to this suggestion,
+since he who desired peace believed it impossible that Zikali
+should suddenly cause this identical spear to fall from heaven. 
+But Umnyamana, the Prime Induna, interposed hurriedly--
+
+"It is not enough, O King.  Zikali may have stolen the spear, for
+he was living and at the kraal Duguza at that time.  Also he may
+have put about the prophecy whereof Sigananda speaks, or at least
+so men would say.  Let him give us a greater sign than this that
+all may be content, so that whether we make war or peace it may
+be with a single mind.  Now it is known that we Zulus have a
+guardian spirit who watches over us from the skies, she who is
+called Nomkubulwana, or by some the Inkosazana-y-Zulu, the
+Princess of Heaven.  It is known also that this Princess, who is
+white of skin and ruddy-haired, appears always before great
+things happen in our land.  Thus she appeared before the Black
+One died.  Also she appeared to a number of children before the
+battle of the Tugela.  It is said, too, that but lately she
+appeared to a woman near the coast and warned her to cross the
+Tugela because there would be war, though this woman cannot now
+be found.  Let the Opener of Roads call down Nomkubulwana before
+our eyes from heaven and we will admit, every man of us, that
+this is a sign which cannot be questioned."
+
+"And if he does this thing, which I hold no doctor in the world
+can do, what shall it signify?" asked Cetewayo.
+
+"O King," answered Umnyamana, "if he does so, it shall signify
+war and victory.  If he does not do so, it shall signify peace,
+and we will bow our heads before the Amalungwana basi bodwe"
+(i.e.  "the little English," used as a term of derision).
+
+"Do all agree?" asked Cetewayo.
+
+"We agree," answered every man, stretching out his hand.
+
+"Then, Opener of Roads, it stands thus: If you can call
+Nomkubulwana, should there be such a spirit, to appear before our
+eyes, the Council will take it as a sign that the Heavens direct
+us to fight the English."
+
+So spoke Cetewayo, and I noted a tone of triumph in his voice,
+for his heart shrank from this war, and he was certain that
+Zikali could do nothing of the sort.  Still the opinion of the
+nation, or rather of the army, was so strong in favour of it that
+he feared lest his refusal might bring about his deposition, if
+not his death.  From this dilemma the supernatural test suggested
+by the Prime Minister and approved by the Council that
+represented the various tribes of people, seemed to offer a path
+of escape.  So I read the situation, as I think rightly.
+
+Upon hearing these words for the first time that night Zikali
+seemed to grow disturbed.
+
+"What do my ears hear?" he exclaimed excitedly.  "Am I the
+Umkulukulu, the Great-Great (i.e.  God) himself, that it should
+be asked of me to draw the Princess of Heaven from beyond the
+stars, she who comes and goes like the wind, but like the wind
+cannot be commanded?  Do they hear that if she will not come to
+my beckoning, then the great Zulu people must put a yoke upon
+their shoulders and be as slaves?  Surely the King must have been
+listening to the doctrines of those English teachers who wear a
+white ribbon tied about their necks, and tell us of a god who
+suffered himself to be nailed to a cross of wood, rather than
+make war upon his foes, one whom they call the Prince of Peace. 
+Times have changed indeed since the days of the Black One.  Yes,
+generals have become like women; the captains of the impis are
+set to milk the cows.  Well, what have I to do with all this? 
+What does it matter to me who am so very old that only my head
+remains above the level of the earth, the rest of me being buried
+in the grave, who am not even a Zulu to boot, but a Dwandwe, one
+of the despised Dwandwe whom the Zulus mocked and conquered?
+
+"Hearken to me, Spirits of the House of Senzangacona"--here he
+addressed about a dozen of Cetewayo's ancestors by name, going
+back for many generations.  "Hearken to me, O Princess of Heaven,
+appointed by the Great-Great to be the guardian of the Zulu race. 
+It is asked that you should appear, should it be your wish to
+signify to these your children that they must stand upon their
+feet and resist the white men who already gather upon their
+borders.  And should it be your wish that they should lay down
+their spears and go home to sleep with their wives and hoe the
+gardens while the white men count the cattle and set each to his
+work upon the roads, then that you should not appear.  Do what
+you will, O Spirits of the House of Senzangacona, do what you
+will, O Princess of Heaven.  What does it matter to the
+Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born, who soon will be as
+though he never had been born, whether the House of Senzangacona
+and the Zulu people stand or fall?
+
+"I, the old doctor, was summoned here to give counsel.  I gave
+counsel, but it passed over the heads of these wise ones like a
+shadow of which none took note.  I was asked to prophesy of what
+would chance if war came.  I called the dead from their graves;
+they came in voices, and one of them put on the flesh again and
+spoke from the lips of flesh.  The white man to whom she spoke
+denied her who had been his love, and the wise ones said that she
+was a cheat, yes, a doll that I had dressed up to deceive them. 
+This spirit that had put on flesh, told of what would chance in
+the war, if war there were, and what would chance to the King,
+but they mock at the prophecy and now they demand a sign.  Come
+then.  Nomkubulwana, and give them the sign if you will and let
+there be war.  Or stay away and give them no sign if you will,
+and let there be peace.  It is nought to me, nought to the
+Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born."
+
+Thus he rambled on, as it occurred to me who watched and
+listened, talking against time.  For I observed that while he
+spoke a cloud was passing over the face of the moon, and that
+when he ceased speaking it was quite obscured by this cloud, so
+that the Vale of Bones was plunged in a deep twilight that was
+almost darkness.  Further, in a nervous kind of way, he did
+something more to his wizard's fire which again caused it to
+throw out a fan of smoke that hid him and the execution rock in
+front of which he sat.
+
+The cloud floated by and the moon came out as though from an
+eclipse; the smoke of the fire, too, thinned by degrees.  As it
+melted and the light grew again, I became aware that something
+was materializing, or had appeared on the point of the rock above
+us.  A few seconds later, to my wonder and amazement, I perceived
+that this something was the spirit-like form of a white woman
+which stood quite still upon the very point of the rock.  She was
+clad in some garment of gleaming white cut low upon her breast,
+that may have been of linen, but from the way it shone, suggested
+that it was of glittering feathers, egrets' for instance.  Her
+ruddy hair was outspread, and in it, too, something glittered,
+like mica or jewels.  Her feet and milk-hued arms were bare and
+poised in her right hand was a little spear.
+
+Nor did I see alone, since a moan of fear and worship went up
+from the Councillors.  Then they grew silent stared and stared.
+
+Suddenly Zikali lifted his head and looked at them through the
+thin flame of the fire which made his eyes shine like those of a
+tiger or of a cornered baboon.
+
+"At what do you gaze so hard, King and Councillors?" he asked. 
+"I see nothing.  At what then do you gaze so hard?"
+
+"On the rock above you stands a white spirit in her glory.  It is
+the Inkosazana herself," muttered Cetewayo.
+
+"Has she come then?" mocked the old wizard.  "Nay, surely it is
+but a dream, or another of my tricks; some black woman painted
+white that I have smuggled here in my medicine bag, or rolled up
+in the blanket on my back.  How can I prove to you that this is
+not another cheat like to that of the spirit of Mameena whom the
+white man, her lover, did not know again?  Go near to her you
+must not, even if you could, seeing that if by chance she should
+_not_ be a cheat, you would die, every man of you, for woe to him
+whom Nomkubulwana touches.  How then, how?  Ah! I have it. 
+Doubtless in his pocket Macumazahn yonder hides a little gun,
+Macumazahn who with such a gun can cut a reed in two at thirty
+paces, or shave the hair from the chin of a man, as is well known
+in the land.  Let him then take his little gun and shoot at that
+which you say stands upon the rock.  If it be a black woman
+painted white, doubtless she will fall down dead, as so many have
+fallen from that rock.  But if it be the Princess of Heaven, then
+the bullet will pass through her or turn aside and she will take
+no harm, though whether Macumazahn will take any harm is more
+than I can say."
+
+Now when they heard this many remained silent, but some of the
+peace party began to clamour that I should be ordered to shoot at
+the apparition.  At length Cetewayo seemed to give way to this
+pressure.  I say seemed, because I think he wished to give way. 
+Whether or not a spirit stood before him, he knew no more than
+the rest, but he did know that unless the vision were proved to
+be mortal he would be driven into war with the English. 
+Therefore he took the only chance that remained to him.
+
+"Macumazahn," he said, "I know you have your pistol on you, for
+only the other day you brought it into my presence, and through
+light and darkness you nurse it as a mother does her firstborn. 
+Now since the Opener of Roads desires it, I command you to fire
+at that which seems to stand above us.  If it be a mortal woman,
+she is a cheat and deserves to die.  If it be a spirit from
+heaven it can take no harm.  Nor can you take harm who only do
+that which you must."
+
+"Woman or spirit, I will not shoot, King," I answered.
+
+"Is it so?  What! do you defy me, White Man?  Do so if you will,
+but learn that then your bones shall whiten here in this Vale of
+Bones.  Yes, you shall be the first of the English to go below,"
+and turning, he whispered something to two of the Councillors.
+
+Now I saw that I must either obey or die.  For a moment my mind
+grew confused in face of this awful alternative.  I did not
+believe that I saw a spirit.  I believed that what stood above me
+was Nombe cunningly tricked out with some native pigments which
+at that distance and in that light made her look like a white
+woman.  For oddly enough at that time the truth did not occur to
+me, perhaps because I was too surprised.  Well, if it were Nombe,
+she deserved to be shot for playing such a trick, and what is
+more her death, by revealing the fraud of Zikali, would perhaps
+avert a great war.  But then why did he make the suggestion that
+I should be commanded to fire at this figure?  Slowly I drew out
+my pistol and brought it to the full cock, for it was loaded.
+
+"I will obey, King," I said, "to save myself from being murdered. 
+But on your head be all that may follow from this deed."
+
+Then it was for the first time that a new idea struck me so
+clearly that I believe it was conveyed direct from Zikali's brain
+to my own.  _I might shoot, but there was no need for me to hit._ 
+After that everything grew plain.
+
+"King," I said, "if yonder be a mortal, she is about die.  Only a
+spirit can escape my aim.  Watch now the centre of her forehead,
+for there the bullet will strike!"
+
+I lifted the pistol and appeared to cover the figure with much
+care.  As I did so, even from that distance I thought I saw a
+look of terror in its eyes.  Then I fired, with a little jerk of
+the wrist sending the ball a good yard above her head.
+
+"She is unharmed," cried a voice.  "Macumazahn missed her."
+
+"Macumazahn does not miss," I replied loftily.  "If that at which
+he aimed is unharmed, it is because it cannot be hit."
+
+"O-ho-o!" laughed Zikali, "the White Man who does not know the
+taste of his own love's lips, says that he has fired at that
+which cannot be hit.  Let him try again.  No, let him choose
+another target.  The Spirit is the Spirit, but he who summoned
+her may still be a cheat.  There is another bullet in your little
+gun, White Man; see if it can pierce the heart of Zikali, that
+the King and Council may learn whether he be a true prophet, the
+greatest of all the prophets that ever was, or whether he be but
+a common cheat."
+
+Now a sudden rage filled me against this old rascal.  I
+remembered how he had brought Mameena to her death, when he
+thought that it would serve him, and since then filled the land
+with stories concerning her and me, which met me whatever way I
+turned.  I remembered that for years he had plotted to bring
+about the destruction of the Zulus, and to further his dark ends,
+was now engaged in causing a fearful war which would cost the
+lives of thousands.  I remembered that he had trapped me into
+Zululand and then handed me over to Cetewayo, separating me from
+my friends who were in my charge, and for aught I knew, giving
+them to death.  Surely the world would be well rid of him.
+
+"Have your will," I shouted and covered him with the pistol.
+
+Then there came into my mind a certain saying--"Judge not that ye
+be not judged."  Who and what was I that I should dare to arraign
+and pass sentence upon this man who after all had suffered many
+wrongs?  As I was about to fire I caught sight of some bright
+object flashing towards the king from above, and instantaneously
+shifted my aim and pressed the trigger.  The thing, whatever it
+might be, flew in two.  One part of it fell upon Zikali, the
+other part travelled on and struck Cetewayo upon the knee.
+
+There followed a great confusion and a cry of "The king is
+stabbed!"  I ran forward to look and saw the blade of a little
+assegai lying on the ground and on Cetewayo's knee a slight cut
+from which blood trickled.
+
+"It is nothing," I said, "a scratch, no more, though had not the
+spear been stopped in its course it might have been otherwise."
+
+"Yes," cried Zikali, "but what was it that caused the cut?  Take
+this, Sigananda, and tell me what it may be," and he threw
+towards him a piece of red wood.
+
+Sigananda looked at it.  "It is the haft of the Black One's
+spear," he exclaimed, "which the bullet of Macumazahn has severed
+from the blade."
+
+"Aye," said Zikali, "and the blade has drawn the blood of the
+Black One's child.  Read me this omen, Sigananda; or ask it of
+her who stands above you."
+
+Now all looked to the rock, but it was empty.  The figure had
+vanished.
+
+"Your word, King," said Zikali.  "Is it for peace or war?"
+
+Cetewayo looked at the assegai, looked at the blood trickling
+from his knee, looked at the faces of the councillors.
+
+"Blood calls for blood," he moaned.  "My word is--_War!_"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+
+
+KAATJE BRINGS NEWS
+
+
+
+
+
+Zikali burst into one of his peals of laughter, so unholy  that
+it caused the blood in me to run cold.
+
+"The King's word is _war_," he cried.  "Let Nomkubulwana take
+that word back to heaven.  Let Macumazahn take it to the White
+Men.  Let the captains cry it to the regiments and let the world
+grow red.  The King has chosen, though mayhap, had I been he, I
+should have chosen otherwise; yet what am I but a hollow reed
+stuck in the ground up which the spirits speak to men?  It is
+finished, and I, too, am finished for a while.  Farewell, O King! 
+Where shall we meet again, I wonder?  On the earth or under it? 
+Farewell, Macumazahn, I know where we shall meet, though you do
+not.  O King, I return to my own place, I pray you to command
+that none come near me or trouble me with words, for I am spent."
+
+"It is commanded," said Cetewayo.
+
+As he spoke the fire went out mysteriously, and the wizard rose
+and hobbled off at a surprising pace round the corner of the
+projecting rock.
+
+"Stay!" I called, "I would speak with you;" but although I am
+sure he heard me, he did not stop or look round.
+
+I sprang up to follow him, but at some sign from Cetewayo two
+indunas barred my way.
+
+"Did you not hear the King's command, White Man?" one of them
+asked coldly, and the tone of his question told me that war
+having been declared, I was now looked upon as a foe.  I was
+about to answer sharply when Cetewayo himself addressed me.
+
+"Macumazahn," he said, "you are now my enemy, like all your
+people, and from sunrise to-morrow morning your safe-conduct here
+ends, for if you are found at Ulundi two hours after that time,
+it will be lawful for any man to kill you.  Yet as you are still
+my guest, I will give you an escort to the borders of the land. 
+Moreover, you shall take a message from me to the Queen's
+officers and captains.  It is--that I will send an answer to
+their demands upon the point of an assegai.  Yet add this, that
+not I but the English, to whom I have always been a friend,
+sought this war.  If Sompseu had suffered me to fight the Boers
+as I wished to do, it would never have come about.  But he threw
+the Queen's blanket over the Transvaal and stood upon it, and now
+he declares that lands which were always the property of the
+Zulus, belong to the Boers.  Therefore I take back all the
+promises which I made to him when he came hither to call me King
+in the Queen's name, and no more do I call him my father.  As for
+the disbanding of my impis, let the English disband them if they
+can.  I have spoken.
+
+"And I have heard," I answered, "and will deliver your words
+faithfully, though I hold, King, that they come from the lips of
+one whom the Heavens have made mad."
+
+At this bold speech some of the Councillors started up with
+threatening gestures.  Cetewayo waved them back and answered
+quietly, "Perhaps it was the Queen of Heaven who stood on yonder
+rock who made me mad.  Or perhaps she made me wise, as being the
+Spirit of our people she should surely do.  That is a question
+which the future will decide, and if ever we should meet after it
+is decided, we will talk it over.  Now, hamba gachle! (go in
+peace)."
+
+"I hear the king and I will go, but first I would speak with
+Zikali."
+
+"Then, White Man, you must wait till this war is finished or till
+you meet him in the Land of Spirits.  Goza, lead Macumazahn back
+to his hut and set a guard about it.  At the dawn a company of
+soldiers will be waiting with orders to take him to the border. 
+You will go with him and answer for his safety with your life. 
+Let him be well treated on the road as my messenger."
+
+Then Cetewayo rose and stood while all present gave him the royal
+salute, after which he walked away down the kloof.  I remained
+for a moment, making pretence to examine the blade of the little
+assegai that had been thrown by the figure on the rock, which I
+had picked from the ground.  This historical piece of iron which
+I have no doubt is the same that Chaka always carried, wherewith,
+too, he is said to have killed his mother, Nandie, by the way I
+still possess, for I slipped it into my pocket and none tried to
+take it from me.
+
+Really, however, I was wondering whether I could in any way gain
+access to Zikali, a problem that was settled for me by a sharp
+request to move on, uttered in a tone which admitted of no
+further argument.
+
+Well, I trudged back to my hut in the company of Goza, who was so
+overcome by all the wonders he had seen that he could scarcely
+speak.  Indeed, when I asked him what he thought of the figure
+that had appeared upon the rock, he replied petulantly that it
+was not given to him to know whence spirits came or of what stuff
+they were made, which showed me that he at any rate believed in
+its supernatural origin and that it had appeared to direct the
+Zulus to make war.  This was all I wanted to find out, so I said
+nothing more, but gave up my mind to thought of my own position
+and difficulties.
+
+Here I was, ordered on pain of death to depart from Ulundi at the
+dawn.  And yet how could I obey without seeing Zikali and
+learning from him what had happened to Anscombe and Heda, or at
+any rate without communicating with him?  Once more only did I
+break silence, offering to give Goza a gun if he would take a
+message from me to the great wizard.  But with a shake of his big
+head, he answered that to do so would mean death, and guns were
+of no good to a dead man since, as I had shown myself that night,
+they had no power to shoot a spirit.
+
+This closed the business on which I need not have troubled to
+enter, since an answer to all my questionings was at hand.
+
+We reached the hut where Goza gave me over to the guard of
+soldiers, telling their officer that none were to be permitted to
+enter it save myself and that I was not to be to permitted to
+come out of it until he, Goza, came to fetch me a little before
+the dawn.
+
+The officer asked if any one else was to be permitted to come
+out, a question that surprised me, though vaguely, for I was
+thinking of other things.  Then Goza departed, remarking that he
+hoped I should sleep better than he would, who "felt spirits in
+his bones and did not wish to kiss them as I seemed to like to
+do."  I replied facetiously, thinking of the bottle of brandy,
+that ere long I meant to feel them in my stomach, whereat he
+shook his head again with the air of one whom nothing connected
+with me could surprise, and vanished.
+
+I crawled into the hut and put the board over the bee-hole-like
+entrance behind me.  Then I began to hunt for the matches in my
+pocket and pricked my finger with the point of Chaka's historical
+assegai.  While I was sucking it to my amazement I heard the
+sound of some one breathing on the further side of the hut.  At
+first I thought of calling the guard, but on reflection found the
+matches and lit the candle, which stood by the blankets that
+served me as a bed.  As soon as it burned up I looked towards the
+sound, and to my horror perceived the figure of a sleeping woman,
+which frightened me so much that I nearly dropped the candle.
+
+To tell the truth, so obsessed was I with Zikali and his ghosts
+that for a few moments it occurred to me that this might be the
+Shape with which I had talked an hour or two before.  I mean that
+which had seemed to resemble the long-dead lady Mameena, or
+rather the person made up to her likeness, come here to continue
+our conversation.  At any rate I was sure, and rightly, that here
+was more of the handiwork of Zikali who wished to put me in some
+dreadful position for reasons of his own.
+
+Pulling myself together I advanced upon the lady, only to find
+myself no wiser, since she was totally covered by a  kaross.  Now
+what was to be done?  To escape, of which of course I had thought
+at once, was impossible since it meant an assegai in my ribs.  To
+call to the guard for help seemed indiscreet, for who knew what
+those fools might say?  To kick or shake her would undoubtedly be
+rude and, if it chanced to be the person who had played Mameena,
+would certainly provoke remarks that I should not care to face. 
+There seemed to be only one resource, to sit down and wait till
+she woke up.
+
+This I did for quite a long time, till at last the absurdity of
+the position and, I will admit, my own curiosity overcame me,
+especially as I was very tired and wanted to go to sleep.  So
+advancing most gingerly, I turned down the kaross from over the
+head of the sleeping woman, much wondering whom I should see, for
+what man is there that a veiled woman does not interest?  Indeed,
+does not half the interest of woman lie in the fact that her
+nature is veiled from man, in short a mystery which he is always
+seeking to solve at his peril, and I might add, never succeeds in
+solving?
+
+Well, I turned down that kaross and next instant stepped back
+amazed and, to tell the truth, somewhat disappointed, for there,
+with her mouth open, lay no wondrous and spiritual Mameena, but
+the stout, earthly and most prosaic--Kaatje!
+
+"Confound the woman!" thought I to myself.  "What is she doing
+here?"
+
+Then I remembered how wrong it was to give way to a sense of
+romantic disappointment at such a time, though as a matter of
+fact it is always in a moment of crisis or of strained nerves
+that we are most open to the insidious advances of romance.  Also
+that there was no one on earth, or beyond it, whom I ought more
+greatly to have rejoiced to see.  I had left Kaatje with Anscombe
+and Heda; therefore Kaatje could tell me what had become of them. 
+And at this thought my heart sank--why was she here in this most
+inappropriate meeting-place, alone?  Feeling that these were
+questions which must be answered at once, I prodded Kaatje in the
+ribs with my toe until, after a good deal of prodding, she awoke,
+sat up and yawned, revealing an excellent set of teeth in her
+cavernous, quarter-cast mouth.  Then perceiving a man she opened
+that mouth even wider, as I thought with the idea of screaming
+for help.  But here I was first with her, for before a sound
+could issue I had filled it full with the corner of the kaross,
+exclaiming in Dutch as I did so--
+
+"Idiot of a woman, do you not know the Heer Quatermain when you
+see him?"
+
+"Oh! Baas," she answered, "I thought you were some wicked Zulu
+come to do me a mischief." Then she burst into tears and sobs
+which I could not stop for at least three minutes.
+
+"Be quiet, you fat fool!" I cried exasperated, "and tell me,
+where are your mistress and the Heer Anscombe?"
+
+"I don't know, Baas, but I hope in heaven" (Kaatje was some kind
+of a Christian), she replied between her sobs.
+
+"In heaven!  What do you mean?" I asked, horrified.
+
+"I mean, Baas, that I hope they are in heaven, because when last
+I saw them they were both dead, and dead people must be either in
+heaven or hell, and heaven, they say, is better than hell."
+
+"_Dead!_  Where did you see them dead?"
+
+"In that Black Kloof, Baas, some days after you left us and went
+away.  The old baboon man who is called Zikali gave us leave
+through the witch-girl, Nombe, to go also.  So the Baas Anscombe
+set to work to inspan the horses, the Missie Heda helping him,
+while I packed the things.  When I had nearly finished Nombe
+came, smiling like a cat that has caught two mice, and beckoned
+to me to follow her.  I went and saw the cart inspanned with the
+four horses all looking as though they were asleep, for their
+heads hung down.  Then after she had stared at me for a long
+while Nombe led me past the horses into the shadow of the
+overhanging cliff.  There I saw my mistress and the Baas Anscombe
+lying side by side quite dead."
+
+"How do you know that they were dead?" I gasped.  "What had
+killed them?"
+
+"I know that they were dead because they _were_ dead, Baas. 
+Their mouths and eyes were open and they lay upon their backs
+with their arms stretched out.  The witch-girl, Nombe, said some
+Kaffirs had come and strangled them and then gone away again, or
+so I understood who cannot speak Zulu so very well.  Who the
+Kaffirs were or why they came she did not say."
+
+"Then what did you do?" I asked.
+
+I ran back to the hut, Baas, fearing lest I should be strangled
+also, and wept there till I grew hungry.  When I came out of it
+again they were gone.  Nombe showed me a place under a tree where
+the earth was disturbed.  She said that they were buried there by
+order of her master, Zikali.  I don't know what became of the
+horses or the cart."
+
+"And what happened to you afterwards?"
+
+"Baas, I was kept for several days, I cannot remember how many,
+and only allowed out within the fence round the huts.  Nombe came
+to see me once, bringing this," and she produced a package sewn
+up in a skin.  "She said that I was to give it to you with a
+message that those whom you loved were quite safe with One who is
+greater than any in the land, and therefore that you must not
+grieve for them whose troubles were over.  I think it was two
+nights after this that four Zulus came, two men and two women,
+and led me away, as I thought to kill me.  But they did not kill
+me; indeed they were very kind to me, although when I spoke to
+them they pretended not to understand.  They took me a long
+journey, travelling for the most part in the dark and sleeping in
+the day.  This evening when the sun set they brought me through a
+Kaffir town and thrust me into the hut where I am without
+speaking to any one.  Here, being very tired, I went to sleep,
+and that is all."
+
+And quite enough too, thought I to myself.  Then I put her
+through a cross-examination, but Kaatje was a stupid woman
+although a good and faithful servant, and all her terrible
+experiences had not sharpened her intelligence.  Indeed, when I
+pressed her she grew utterly confused, began to cry, thereby
+taking refuge in the last impregnable female fortification, and
+snivelled out that she could not bear to talk of her dear
+mistress any more.  So I gave it up, and two minutes later she
+was literally snoring, being very tired, poor thing.
+
+Now I tried to think matters out as well as this disturbance
+would allow, for nothing hinders thought so much as snores.  But
+what was the use of thinking?  There was her story to take or to
+leave, and evidently the honest creature believed what she said. 
+Further, how could she be deceived on such a point?  She swore
+that she had seen Anscombe and Heda dead and afterwards had seen
+their graves.
+
+Moreover, there was confirmation in Nombe's message which could
+not well have been invented, that spoke of their being well in
+the charge of a "Great One," a term by which the Zulus designate
+God, with all their troubles finished.  The reason and manner of
+their end were left unrevealed.  Zikali might have murdered them
+for his own purposes, or the Zulus might have killed them in
+obedience to the king's order that no white people in the land
+were to be allowed to live.  Or perhaps the Basutos from
+Sekukuni's country, with whom the Zulus had some understanding,
+had followed and done them to death; indeed the strangling
+sounded more Basuto than Zulu--if they were really strangled.
+
+Almost overcome though I was, I bethought me of the package and
+opened it, only to find another apparent proof of their end, for
+it contained Heda's jewels as I had found them in the bag in the
+safe; also a spare gold watch belonging to Anscombe with his
+coat-of-arms engraved upon it.  That which he wore was of silver
+and no doubt was buried with him, since for superstitious reasons
+the natives would not have touched anything on his person after
+death.  This seemed to me to settle the matter, presumptively at
+any rate, since to show that robbery was not the cause of their
+murder, their most valuable possessions which were not upon their
+persons had been sent to me, their friend.
+
+So this was the end of all my efforts to secure the safety and
+well-being of that most unlucky pair.  I wept when I thought of
+it there in the darkness of the hut, for the candle had burned
+out, and going on to my knees, put up an earnest prayer for the
+welfare of their souls; also that I might be forgiven my folly in
+leading them into such danger.  And yet I did it for the best,
+trying to judge wisely in the light of such experience of the
+world as I possessed.
+
+Now alas! when I am old I have come to the conclusion that those
+things which one tries to do for the best one generally does
+wrong, because nearly always there is some tricky fate at hand to
+mar them, which in this instance was named Zikali.  The fact is,
+I suppose, that man who thinks himself a free agent, can scarcely
+be thus called, at any rate so far as immediate results are
+concerned.  But that is a dangerous doctrine about which I will
+say no more, for I daresay that he is engaged in weaving a great
+life-pattern of which he only sees the tiniest piece.
+
+One thing comforted me a little.  If these two were dead I could
+now leave Zululand without qualms.  Of course I was obliged to
+leave in any case, or die, but somehow that fact would not have
+eased my conscience.  Indeed I think that had I believed they
+still lived, in this way or in that I should have tried not to
+leave, because I should have thought it for the best to stay to
+help them, whereby in all human probability I should have brought
+about my own death without helping them at all.  Well, it had
+fallen out otherwise and there was an end.  Now I could only hope
+that they had gone to some place where there are no more
+troubles, even if, at the worst, it were a place of rest too deep
+for dreams.
+
+Musing thus at last I dozed off, for I was so tired that I think
+I should have slept although execution awaited me at the dawn
+instead of another journey.  I did not sleep well because of that
+snoring female on the other side of the hut whose presence
+outraged my sense of propriety and caused me to be invaded by
+prophetic dreams of the talk that would ensue among those
+scandalmongering Zulus.  Yes, it was of this I dreamed, not of
+the great dangers that threatened me or of the terrible loss of
+my friends, perhaps because to many men, of whom I suppose I am
+one, the fear of scandal or of being the object of public notice,
+is more than the fear of danger or the smart of sorrow.
+
+So the night wore away, till at length I woke to see the gleam of
+dawn penetrating the smoke-hole and dimly illuminating the
+recumbent form of Kaatje, which to me looked most unattractive. 
+Presently I heard a discreet tapping on the doorboard of the hut
+which I at once removed, wriggling swiftly through the hole,
+careless in my misery as to whether I met an assegai the other
+side of it or not.  Without a guard of eight soldiers was
+standing, and with them Goza, who asked me if I were ready to
+start.
+
+"Quite," I answered, "as soon as I have saddled my horse," which
+by the way had been led up to the hut.
+
+Very soon this was done, for I brought out most of my few
+belongings with me and the bag of jewels was in my pocket.  Then
+it was that the officer of the guard, a thin and
+melancholy-looking person, said in a hollow voice, addressing
+himself to Goza--
+
+"The orders are that the White Man's wife is to go with him. 
+Where is she?"
+
+"Where a man's wife should be, in his hut I suppose," answered
+Goza sleepily.
+
+Rage filled me at the words.  Seldom do I remember being so
+angry.
+
+"Yes," I said, "if you mean that Half-cast whom someone has
+thrust upon me, she is in there.  So if she is to come with us,
+perhaps you will get her out."
+
+Thus adjured the melancholy-looking captain, who was named
+Indudu, perhaps because he or his father had longed to the Dudu
+regiment, crawled into the hut, whence presently emerged sounds
+not unlike those which once I heard when a ringhals cobra
+followed a hare that I had wounded into a hole, a muffled sound
+of struggling and terror.  These ended in the sudden and violent
+appearance of Kaatje's fat and dishevelled form, followed by that
+of the snakelike Indudu.
+
+Seeing me standing there before a bevy of armed Zulus, she
+promptly fell upon my neck with a cry for help, for the silly
+woman thought she was going to be killed by them.  Gripping me as
+an octopus grips its prey, she proceeded to faint, dragging me to
+my knees beneath the weight of eleven stone of solid flesh.
+
+"Ah!" said one of the Zulus not unkindly, "she is much afraid for
+her husband whom she loves."
+
+Well, I disentangled myself somehow, and seizing what I took to
+be a gourd of water in that dim light, poured it over her head,
+only to discover too late that it was not water but clotted milk. 
+However the result was the same, for presently she sat up, made a
+dreadful-looking object by this liberal application of curds and
+whey, whereon I explained matters to her to the best of my power. 
+The end of it was that after Indudu and Goza had wiped her down
+with tufts of thatch dragged from the hut and I had collected her
+gear with the rest of my own, we set her on the horse
+straddlewise, and started, the objects of much interest among
+such Zulus as were already abroad.
+
+At the gate of the town there was a delay which made me nervous,
+since in such a case as mine delay might always mean a
+death-warrant.  I knew that it was quite possible Cetewayo had
+changed, or been persuaded to change his mind and issue a command
+that I should be killed as one who had seen and knew too much. 
+Indeed this fear was my constant companion during all the long
+journey to the Drift of the Tugela, causing me to look askance at
+every man we met or who overtook us, lest he should prove to be a
+messenger of doom.
+
+Nor were these doubts groundless, for as I learned in the after
+days, the Prime Minister, Umnyamana, and others had urged
+Cetewayo strongly to kill me, and what we were waiting for at the
+gate were his final orders on the subject.  However, in this
+matter, as in more that I could mention, the king played the part
+of a man of honour, and although he seemed to hesitate for
+reasons of policy, never had any intention of allowing me to be
+harmed.  On the contrary the command brought was that any one who
+harmed Macumazahn, the king's guest and messenger, should die
+with all his House.
+
+Whilst we tarried a number of women gathered round us whose
+conversation I could not help overhearing.  One of them said to
+another--
+
+"Look at the white man, Watcher-by-Night, who can knock a fly off
+an ox's horn with a bullet from further away than we could see
+it.  He it was who loved and was loved by the witch Mameena,
+whose beauty is still famous in the land.  They say she killed
+herself for his sake, because she declared that she would never
+live to grow old and ugly, so that he turned away from her.  My
+mother told me all about it only last night."
+
+Then you have a liar for a mother, thought I to myself, for to
+contradict such a one openly would have been undignified.
+
+"Is it so?" asked one of her friends, deeply interested.  "Then
+the lady Mameena must have had a strange taste in men, for this
+one is an ugly little fellow with hair like the grey ash of
+stubble and a wrinkled face of the colour of a flayed skin that
+has lain unstretched in the sun.  However, I have been told that
+witches always love those who look unnatural."
+
+"Yes," said Number one," but you see now that he is old he has to
+be satisfied with a different sort of wife.  She is not
+beautiful, is she, although she has dipped her head in milk to
+make herself look white?"
+
+So it went on till at length a runner arrived and whispered
+something to Indudu who saluted, showing me that it was a royal
+message, and ordered us to move.  Of this I was glad, for had I
+stopped there much longer, I think I should have personally
+assaulted those gossiping female idiots.
+
+
+Of our journey through Zululand there is nothing particular to
+say.  We saw but few people, since most of the men had been
+called up to the army, and many of the kraals seemed to be
+deserted by the women and children who perhaps were hidden away
+with the cattle.  Once, however, we met an impi about five
+thousand strong, that seemed to cover the hillside like a herd of
+game.  It consisted of the Nodwengu and the Nokenke regiments,
+both of which afterwards fought at Isandhlwana.  Some of their
+captains with a small guard came to see who we were, fine,
+fierce-looking men.  They stared at me curiously, and with one of
+them, whom I knew, I had a little talk.  He said that I was the
+last white man in Zululand and that I was lucky to be alive, for
+soon these, and he pointed to the hordes of warriors who were
+streaming past, would eat up the English to "the last bone."  I
+answered that this remained to be seen, as the English were also
+great eaters, whereat he laughed, replying, that it was true that
+the white men had already taken the first bite--a very little
+one, from which I gathered that some small engagement had
+happened.
+
+"Well, farewell, Macumazahn," he said, as he turned to go, "I
+hope that we shall meet in the battle, for I want to see if you
+can run as well as you can shoot."
+
+This roused my temper and I answered him--
+
+"I hope for your sake that we shall not meet, for if we do I
+promise that before I run I will show you what you never saw
+before, the gateway of the world of Spirits."
+
+I mention this conversation because by some strange chance it
+happened at Isandhlwana that I killed this man, who was named
+Simpofu.
+
+During all those days of trudging through hot suns and
+thunderstorms, for I had to give up the mare to Kaatje who was
+too fat to walk, or said she was, I was literally haunted by
+thoughts of my murdered friends.  Heaven knows how bitterly I
+reproached myself for having brought them into Zululand.  It
+seemed so terribly sad that these young people who loved each
+other and had so bright a future before them, should have escaped
+from a tragic past merely to be overwhelmed by such a fate. 
+Again and again I questioned that lump Kaatje as to the details
+of their end and of all that went before and followed after the
+murder.
+
+But it was quite useless; indeed, as time went on she seemed to
+become more nebulous on the point as though a picture were fading
+from her mind.  But as to one thing she was always quite clear,
+that she had seen them dead and had seen their new-made grave. 
+This she swore "by God in Heaven," completing the oath with an
+outburst of tears in a way that would have carried conviction to
+any jury, as it did to me.
+
+And after all, what was more likely in the circumstances?  Zikali
+had killed them, or caused them to be killed; or possibly they
+were killed in spite of him in obedience to the express, or
+general, order of the king, if the deed was not done by the
+Basutos.  And yet an idea occurred to me.  How about the woman on
+the rock that the Zulus thought was their Princess of the
+Heavens?  Obviously this must be nonsense, since no such deity
+existed, therefore the person must either have been a white woman
+or one painted up to resemble a white woman; seen from a distance
+in moonlight it was impossible to say which.  Now, if it were a
+white woman, she might, from her shape and height and the colour
+of her hair, be Heda herself.  Yet it seemed incredible that
+Heda, whom Kaatje had seen dead some days before, could be
+masquerading in such a part and make no sign of recognition to
+me, even when I covered her with my pistol, whereas that Nombe
+would play it was likely enough.
+
+Only then Nombe must be something of a quick-change artist since
+but a little while before she was beyond doubt personating the
+dead Mameena.  If it were not so I must have been suffering from
+illusions, for certainly I seemed to see some one who looked like
+Mameena, and only Zikali, and through him Nombe, had sufficient
+knowledge to enable her to fill that role with such success. 
+Perhaps the whole business was an illusion, though if so Zikali's
+powers must be great indeed.  But then how about the assegai that
+Nomkubulwana, or rather her effigy, had seemed to hold and throw,
+whereof the blade was at present in my saddle-bag.  That at any
+rate was tangible and real, though of course there was nothing to
+prove that it had really been Chaka's famous weapon.
+
+Another thing that tormented me was my failure to see Zikali.  I
+felt as though I had committed a crime in leaving Zululand
+without doing this and hearing from his own lips--well, whatever
+he chose to tell me.  I forget if I said that while we were
+waiting at the gate where those silly women talked so much
+nonsense about Mameena and Kaatje, that I made another effort
+through Goza to get into touch with the wizard, but quite without
+avail.  Goza only answered what he said before, that if I wished
+to die at once I had better take ten steps towards the Valley of
+Bones, whence, he added parenthetically, the Opener of Roads had
+already departed on his homeward journey.  This might or might
+not be true; at any rate I could find no possible way of coming
+face to face with him, or even of getting a message to his ear. 
+No, I was not to blame; I had done all I could, and yet in my
+heart I felt guilty.  But then, as cynics would, say, failure is
+guilt.
+
+At length we came to the ford of the Tugela, and as fortunately
+the water was just low enough, bade farewell to our escort before
+crossing to the Natal side.  My parting with Goza was quite
+touching, for we felt that it partook of the nature of a deathbed
+adieu, which indeed it did.  I told him and the others that I
+hoped their ends be easy, and that whether they met them by
+bullets or by bayonet thrusts, the wounds would prove quickly
+mortal so that they might not linger in discomfort or pain. 
+Recognizing my kind thought for their true welfare they thanked
+me for it, though with no enthusiasm.  Indudu, however, filled
+with the spirit of repartee, or rather of "tu quoque", said in
+his melancholy fashion that if he and I came face to face in war,
+he would be sure to remember my words and to cut me up in the
+best style, since he could not bear to think of me languishing on
+a bed of sickness without my wife Kaatje to nurse me (they knew I
+was touchy about Kaatje).  Then we shook hands and parted. 
+Kaatje, hung round with paraphernalia like the White Knight in
+"Alice through the Looking-glass," clinging to a cooking-pot and
+weeping tears of terror, faced the foaming flood upon the mare,
+while I grasped its tail.
+
+When we were as I judged out of assegai shot, I turned, with the
+water up to my armpits, and shouted some valedictory words.
+
+"Tell your king," I said, "that he is the greatest fool in the
+world to fight the English, since it will bring his country to
+destruction and himself to disgrace and death, as at last, in the
+words of your proverb, 'the swimmer goes down with the stream.'"
+
+Here, as it happened, I slipped off the stone on which I was
+standing and nearly went down with the stream myself.
+
+Emerging with my mouth full of muddy water I waited till they had
+done laughing and continued--
+
+"Tell that old rogue, Zikali, that I know he has murdered my
+friends and that when we meet again he and all who were in the
+plot shall pay for it with their lives."
+
+Now an irritated Zulu flung an assegai, and as the range proved
+to be shorter than I thought, for it went through Kaatje's dress,
+causing her to scream with alarm, I ceased from eloquence, and we
+struggled on to the further bank, where at length we were safe.
+
+Thus ended this unlucky trip of mine to Zululand.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+
+
+ISANDHLWANA
+
+
+
+
+
+We had crossed the Tugela by what is known as the Middle Drift. 
+A mile or so on the further side of it I was challenged by a
+young fellow in charge of some mounted natives, and found that I
+had stumbled into what was known as No. 2 Column, which consisted
+of a rocket battery, three battalions of the Native Contingent
+and some troops of mounted natives, all under the command of
+Colonel Durnford, R.E..
+
+After explanations I was taken to this officer's head-quarter
+tent.  He was a tall, nervous-looking man with a fair, handsome
+face and long side-whiskers.  One of his arms, I remember, was
+supported by a sling, I think it had been injured in some Kaffir
+fighting.  When I was introduced to him he was very busy, having,
+I understood from some one on his staff, just received orders to
+"operate against Matshana."
+
+Learning that I had come from Zululand and was acquainted with
+the Zulus, he at once began to cross-examine me about Matshana, a
+chief of whom he seemed to know very little indeed.  I told him
+what I could, which was not much, and before I could give him any
+information of real importance, was shown out and most hospitably
+entertained at luncheon, a meal of which I partook with gratitude
+in some garments that I had borrowed from one of the officers,
+while my own were set in the sun to dry.  Well can I recall how
+much I enjoyed the first whisky and soda that I had tasted since
+I left "the Temple," and the good English food by which it was
+accompanied.
+
+Presently I remembered Kaatje, whom I had left outside with some
+native women, and went to see what had happened to her.  I found
+her finishing a hearty meal and engaged in conversation with a
+young gentleman who was writing in a notebook.  Afterwards I
+discovered that he was a newspaper correspondent.  What she told
+him and what he imagined, I do not know, but I may as well state
+the results at once.  Within a few days there appeared in one of
+the Natal papers and, for aught I know, all over the earth, an
+announcement that Mr. Allan Quatermain, a well-known hunter in
+Zululand, after many adventures, had escaped from that country,
+"together with his favourite native wife, the only survivor of
+his extensive domestic establishment."  Then followed some wild
+details as to the murder of my other wives by a Zulu wizard
+called "Road Mender, or Sick Ass" (i.e. Opener of Roads, or
+Zikali), and so on.
+
+I was furious and interviewed the editor, a mild and apologetic
+little man, who assured me that the despatch was printed exactly
+as it had been received, as though that bettered the case.  After
+this I commenced an action for libel, but as I was absent through
+circumstances over which I had no control when it came on for
+trial, the case was dismissed.  I suppose the truth was that they
+mixed me up with a certain well-known white man in Zululand, who
+had a large "domestic establishment," but however this may be, it
+was a long while before I heard the last of that "favourite
+native wife."
+
+Later in the day I and Kaatje, who stuck to me like a burr,
+departed from the camp.
+
+The rest of our journey was uneventful, except for more
+misunderstandings about Kaatje, one of which, wherein a clergyman
+was concerned, was too painful to relate.  At last we reached
+Maritzburg, where I deposited Kaatje in a boarding-house kept by
+another half-cast, and with a sigh of relief betook myself to the
+Plough Hotel, which was a long way off her.
+
+Subsequently she obtained a place as a cook at Howick, and for a
+while I saw her no more.
+
+At Maritzburg, as in duty bound, I called upon various persons in
+authority and delivered Cetewayo's message, leaving out all
+Zikali's witchcraft which would have sounded absurd.  It did not
+produce much impression as, hostilities having already occurred,
+it was superfluous.  Also no one was inclined to pay attention to
+the words of one who was neither an official nor a military
+officer, but a mere hunter supposed to have brought a native wife
+out of Zululand.
+
+I did, however, report the murder of Anscombe and Heda, though in
+such times this caused no excitement, especially as they were not
+known to the officials concerned with such matters.  Indeed the
+occurrence never so much as got into the papers, any more than
+did the deaths of Rodd and Marnham on the borders of Sekukuni's
+country.  When people are expecting to be massacred themselves,
+they do not trouble about the past killing of others far away. 
+Lastly, I posted Marnham's will to the Pretoria bank, advising
+them that they had better keep it safely until some claim arose,
+and deposited Heda's jewels and valuables in another branch of
+the same bank in Maritzburg with a sealed statement as to how
+they came into my possession.
+
+These things done, I found it necessary to turn myself to the
+eternal problem of earning my living.  I am a very rich man now
+as I write these reminiscences here in Yorkshire--King Solomon's
+mines made me that--but up to the time of my journey to Kukuana
+Land with my friends, Curtis and Good, although plenty of money
+passed through my hands on one occasion and another, little of it
+ever seemed to stick.  In this way or that it was lost or melted;
+also I was not born one to make the best of his opportunities in
+the way of acquiring wealth.  Perhaps this was good for me, since
+if I had gained the cash early I should not have met with the
+experiences, and during our few transitory years, experience is
+of more real value than cash.  It may prepare us for other things
+beyond, whereas the mere possession of a bank balance can prepare
+us for nothing in a land where gold ceases to be an object of
+worship as it is here.  Yet wealth is our god, not knowledge or
+wisdom, a fact which shows that the real essence of Christianity
+has not yet permeated human morals.  It just runs over their
+surface, no more, and for every eye that is turned towards the
+divine Vision, a thousand are fixed night and day upon Mammon's
+glittering image.
+
+Now I owned certain wagons and oxen, and just then the demand for
+these was keen.  So I hired them out to the military authorities
+for service in the war, and incidentally myself with them.  I
+drove what I considered a splendid bargain with an officer who
+wrote as many letters after his name as a Governor-General, but
+was really something quite humble.  At least I thought it
+splendid until outside his tent I met a certain transport rider
+of my acquaintance whom I had always looked upon as a perfect
+fool, who told me that not half an hour before he had got twenty
+per cent. more for unsalted oxen and very rickety wagons. 
+However, it did not matter much in the end as the whole outfit
+was lost at Isandhlwana, and owing to the lack of some formality
+which I had overlooked, I never recovered more than a tithe of
+their value.  I think it was that I neglected to claim within a
+certain specified time.
+
+At last my wagons were laden with ammunition and other Government
+goods and I trekked over awful roads to Helpmakaar, a place on
+the Highlands not far from Rorke's Drift where No. 3 Column was
+stationed.  Here we were delayed awhile, I and my wagons having
+moved to a ford of the Buffalo, together with many others.  It
+was during this time that I ventured to make very urgent
+representations to certain highly placed officers, I will not
+mention which, as to the necessity of laagering, that is, forming
+fortified camps, as soon as Zululand was entered, since from my
+intimate knowledge of its people I was sure that they would
+attack in force.  These warnings of mine were received with the
+most perfect politeness and offers of gin to drink, which all
+transport riders were supposed to love, but in effect were
+treated with the contempt that they were held to deserve.  The
+subject is painful and one on which I will not dwell.  Why should
+I complain when I know that cautions from notable persons such as
+Sir Melmoth Osborn, and J. J. Uys, a member of one the old Dutch
+fighting families, met with a like fate.
+
+By the way it was while I was waiting on the banks of the river
+that I came across an old friend of mine, a Zulu named Magepa,
+with whom I had fought at the battle of the Tugela.  A few days
+later this man performed an extraordinary feat in saving his
+grandchild from death by his great swiftness in running, whereof
+I have preserved a note somewhere or other.
+
+Ultimately on January 11 we received our marching orders and
+crossed the river by the drift, the general scheme of the
+campaign being that the various columns were to converge upon
+Ulundi.  The roads, if so they can be called, were in such a
+fearful state that it took us ten days to cover as many miles. 
+At length we trekked over a stony nek about five hundred yards in
+width.  To the right of us was a stony eminence and to our left,
+its sheer brown cliffs of rock rising like the walls of some
+cyclopean fortress, the strange, abrupt mount of Isandhlwana,
+which reminded me of a huge lion crouching above the
+hill-encircled plain beyond.  At the foot of this isolated mount,
+whereof the aspect somehow filled me with alarm, we camped on the
+night of January 21, taking no precautions against attack by way
+of laagering the wagons.  Indeed the last thing that seemed to
+occur to those in command was that there would be serious
+fighting; men marched forward to their deaths as though they were
+going on a shooting-party, or to a picnic.  I even saw cricketing
+bats and wickets occupying some of the scanty space upon the
+wagons.
+
+Now I am not going to set out all the military details that
+preceded the massacre of Isandhlwana, for these are written in
+history.  It is enough to say that on the night of January 21,
+Major Dartnell, who was in command of the Natal Mounted Police
+and had been sent out to reconnoitre the country beyond
+Isandhlwana, reported a strong force of Zulus in front of us. 
+Thereon Lord Chelmsford, the General-in-Chief, moved out from the
+camp at dawn to his support, taking with him six companies of the
+24th regiment, together with four guns and the mounted infantry. 
+There were left in the camp two guns and about eight hundred
+white and nine hundred native troops, also some transport riders
+such as myself and a number of miscellaneous camp-followers.  I
+saw him go from between the curtains of one of my wagons where I
+had made my bed on the top of a pile of baggage.  Indeed I had
+already dressed myself at the time, for that night I slept very
+ill because I knew our danger, and my heart was heavy with fear.
+
+About ten o'clock in the morning Colonel Durnford, whom I have
+mentioned already, rode up with five hundred Natal Zulus, about
+half of whom were mounted, and two rocket tubes which, of course,
+were worked by white men.  This was after a patrol had reported
+that they had come into touch with some Zulus on the left front,
+who retired before them.  As a matter of fact these Zulus were
+foraging in the mealie fields, since owing to the drought food
+was very scarce in Zululand that year and the regiments were
+hungry.  I happened to see the meeting between Colonel Pulleine,
+a short, stout man who was then in command of the camp, and
+Colonel Durnford who, as his senior officer, took it over from
+him, and heard Colonel Pulleine say that his orders were "to
+defend the camp," but what else passed between them I do not
+know.
+
+Presently Colonel Durnford saw and recognized me.
+
+"Do you think the Zulus will attack us, Mr. Quatermain?" he said.
+
+"I don't think so, Sir," I answered, "as it is the day of the new
+moon which they hold unlucky.  But to-morrow it may be
+different."
+
+Then he gave certain orders, dispatching Captain George Shepstone
+with a body of mounted natives along the ridge to the left, where
+presently they came in contact with the Zulus about three miles
+away, and making other dispositions.  A little later he moved out
+to the front with a strong escort, followed by the rocket
+battery, which ultimately advanced to a small conical hill on the
+left front, round which it passed, never to return again.
+
+Just before he started Colonel Durnford, seeing me still standing
+there, asked me if I would like to accompany him, adding that as
+I knew the Zulus so well I might be useful.  I answered,
+Certainly, and called to my head driver, a man named Jan, to
+bring me my mare, the same that I had ridden out of Zululand,
+while I slipped into the wagon and, in addition to the beltful
+that I wore, filled all my available pockets with cartridges for
+my double-barrelled Express rifle.
+
+As I mounted I gave Jan certain directions about the wagon and
+oxen, to which he listened, and then to my astonishment held out
+his hand to me, saying--
+
+"Good-bye, Baas.  You have been a kind master to me and I thank
+you."
+
+"Why do you say that?" I asked.
+
+"Because, Baas, all the Kaffirs declare that the great Zulu impi
+will be on to us in an hour or two and eat up every man.  I can't
+tell how they know it, but so they swear."
+
+"Nonsense," I answered, "it is the day of new moon when the Zulus
+don't fight.  Still if anything of the sort should happen, you
+and the other boys had better slip away to Natal, since the
+Government must pay for the wagons and oxen."
+
+This I said half joking, but it was a lucky jest for Jan and the
+rest of my servants, since they interpreted it in earnest and
+with the exception of one of them who went back to get a gun, got
+off before the Zulu horn closed round the camp, and crossed the
+river in safety.
+
+Next moment I was cantering away after Colonel Durnford, whom I
+caught up about a quarter of a mile from the camp.
+
+Now of course I did not see all of the terrible battle that
+followed and can only tell of that part of it in which I had a
+share.  Colonel Durnford rode out about three and a half miles to
+the left front, I really don't quite know why, for already we
+were hearing firing on the top of the Nqutu Hills almost behind
+us, where Captain Shepstone was engaging the Zulus, or so I
+believe.  Suddenly we met a trooper of the Natal Carabineers
+whose name was Whitelaw, who had been out scouting.  He reported
+that an enormous impi was just ahead of us seated in an umkumbi,
+or semi-circle, as is the fashion of the Zulus before they
+charge.  At least some of them, he said, were so seated, but
+others were already advancing.
+
+Presently these appeared over the crest of the hill, ten thousand
+of them I should say, and amongst them I recognized the shields
+of the Nodwengu, the Dududu, the Nokenke and the Ingoba-makosi
+regiments.  Now there was nothing to be done except retreat, for
+the impi was attacking in earnest.  The General Untshingwayo,
+together with Undabuko, Cetewayo's brother, and the chief Usibebu
+who commanded the scouts, had agreed not to fight this day for
+the reason I have given, because it was that of the new moon, but
+circumstances had forced their hand and the regiments could no
+longer be restrained.  So to the number of twenty thousand or
+more, say one-third of the total Zulu army, they hurled
+themselves upon the little English force that, owing to lack of
+generalship, was scattered here and there over a wide front and
+had no fortified base upon which to withdraw.
+
+We fell back to a donga which we held for a little while, and
+then as we saw that there we should presently be overwhelmed,
+withdrew gradually for another two miles or so, keeping off the
+Zulus by our fire.  In so doing we came upon the remains of the
+rocket battery near the foot of the conical hill I have
+mentioned, which had been destroyed by some regiment that passed
+behind us in its rush on the camp.  There lay all the soldiers
+dead, assegaied through and through, and I noticed that one young
+fellow who had been shot through the head, still held a rocket in
+his hands.
+
+Now somewhat behind and perhaps half a mile to the right of this
+hill a long, shallow donga runs across the Isandhlwana plain. 
+This we gained, and being there reinforced by about fifty of the
+Natal Carabineers under Captain Bradstreet, held it for a long
+while, keeping off the Zulus by our terrible fire which cut down
+scores of them every time they attempted to advance.  At this
+spot I alone killed from twelve to fifteen of them, for if the
+big bullet from my Express rifle struck a man, he did not live. 
+Messengers were sent back to the camp for more ammunition, but
+none arrived, Heaven knows why.  My own belief is that the
+reserve cartridges were packed away in boxes and could not be got
+at.  At last our supply began to run short, so there was nothing
+to be done except retreat upon the camp which was perhaps half a
+mile behind us.
+
+Taking advantage of a pause in the Zulu advance which had lain
+down while waiting for reserves, Colonel Durnford ordered a
+retirement that was carried out very well.  Up to that time we
+had lost only quite a few men, for the Zulu fire was wild and
+high and they had not been able to get at us with the assegai. 
+As we rode towards the mount I observed that firing was going on
+in all directions, especially on the nek that connected it with
+the Nqutu range where Captain Shepstone and his mounted Basutos
+were wiped out while trying to hold back the Zulu right horn. 
+The guns, too, were firing heavily and doing great execution.
+
+After this all grew confused.  Colonel Durnford gave orders to
+certain officers who came up to him, Captain Essex was one and
+Lieutenant Cochrane another.  Then his force made for their
+wagons to get more ammunition.  I kept near to the Colonel and a
+while later found myself with him and a large, mixed body of men
+a little to the right of the nek which we had crossed in our
+advance from the river.  Not long afterwards there was a cry of
+"The Zulus are getting round us!" and looking to the left I saw
+them pouring in hundreds across the ridge that joins Isandhlwana
+Mountain to the Nqutu Range.  Also they were advancing straight
+on to the camp.
+
+Then the rout began.  Already the native auxiliaries were
+slipping away and now the others followed.  Of course this battle
+was but a small affair, yet I think that few have been more
+terrible, at any rate in modern times.  The aspect of those
+plumed and shielded Zulus as they charged, shouting their
+war-cries and waving their spears, was awesome.  They were mown
+down in hundreds by the Martini fire, but still they came on, and
+I knew that the game was up.  A maddened horde of fugitives,
+mostly natives, began to flow past us over the nek, making for
+what was afterwards called Fugitives' Drift, nine miles away, and
+with them went white soldiers, some mounted, some on foot. 
+Mingled with all these people, following them, on either side of
+them, rushed Zulus, stabbing as they ran.  Other groups of
+soldiers formed themselves into rough squares, on which the
+savage warriors broke like water on a rock, By degrees ammunition
+ran out; only the bayonet remained.  Still the Zulus could not
+break those squares.  So they took another counsel.  Withdrawing
+a few paces beyond the reach of the bayonets, they overwhelmed
+the soldiers by throwing assegais, then rushed in and finished
+them.
+
+This was what happened to us, among whom were men of the 24th,
+Natal Carabineers and Mounted Police.  Some had dismounted, but I
+sat on my horse, which stood quite still, I think from fright,
+and fired away so long as I had any ammunition.  With my very
+last cartridge I killed the Captain Indudu who had been in charge
+of the escort that conducted me to the Tugela.  He had caught
+sight of me and called out--
+
+"Now, Macumazahn, I will cut you up nicely as I promised."
+
+He got no further in his speech, for at that moment I sent an
+Express bullet through him and his tall, melancholy figure
+doubled up and collapsed.
+
+All this while Colonel Durnford had been behaving as a British
+officer should do.  Scorning to attempt flight, whenever I looked
+round I caught sight of his tall form, easy to recognize by the
+long fair moustaches and his arm in a sling, moving to and fro
+encouraging us to stand firm and die like men.  Then suddenly I
+saw a Kaffir, who carried a big old smooth-bore gun, aim at him
+from a distance of about twenty yards, and fire.  He went down,
+as I believe dead, and that was the end of a very gallant officer
+and gentleman whose military memory has in my opinion been most
+unjustly attacked.  The real blame for that disaster does not
+rest upon the shoulders of either Colonel Durnford or Colonel
+Pulleine.
+
+After this things grew very awful.  Some fled, but the most stood
+and died where they were.  Oddly enough during all this time I
+was never touched.  Men fell to my right and left and in front of
+me; bullets and assegais whizzed past me, yet I remained quite
+unhurt.  It was as though some Power protected me, which no doubt
+it did.
+
+At length when nearly all had fallen and I had nothing left to
+defend myself with except my revolver, I made up my mind that it
+was time to go.  My first impulse was to ride for the river nine
+miles away.  Looking behind me I saw that the rough road was full
+of Zulus hunting down those who tried to escape.  Still I thought
+I would try it, when suddenly there flashed across my brain the
+saying of whoever it was that personated Mameena in the Valley of
+Bones, to the effect that in the great rout of the battle I was
+not to join the flying but to set my face towards Ulundi and that
+if I did so I should be protected and no harm would come to me. 
+I knew that all this prophecy was but a vain thing fondly
+imagined, although it was true that the battle and the rout had
+come.  And yet I acted on it--why Heaven knows alone.
+
+Setting the spurs to my horse I galloped off past Isandhlwana
+Mount, on the southern slopes of which a body of the 24th were
+still fighting their last fight, and heading for the Nqutu Range. 
+The plain was full of Zulus, reserves running up; also to the
+right of me the Ulundi and Gikazi divisions were streaming
+forward.  These, or some of them, formed the left horn of the
+impi, but owing to the unprepared nature of the Zulu battle, for
+it must always be remembered that they did not mean to fight that
+day, their advance had been delayed until it was too late for
+them entirely to enclose the camp.  Thus the road, if it can so
+be called, to Fugitives' Drift was left open for a while, and by
+it some effected their escape.  It was this horn, or part of it,
+that afterwards moved on and attacked Rorke's Drift, with results
+disastrous to itself.
+
+For some hundreds of yards I rode on thus recklessly, because
+recklessness seemed my only chance.  Thrice I met bodies of
+Zulus, but on each occasion they scattered before me, calling out
+words that I could not catch.  It was as though they were
+frightened of something they saw about me.  Perhaps they thought
+that I was mad to ride thus among them.  Indeed I must have
+looked mad, or perhaps there was something else.  At any rate I
+believed that I was going to win right through them when an
+accident happened.
+
+A bullet struck my mare somewhere in the back.  I don't know
+where it came from, but as I saw no Zulu shoot, I think it must
+have been one fired by a soldier who was still fighting on the
+slopes of the mount.  The effect of it was to make the poor beast
+quite ungovernable.  Round she wheeled and galloped at headlong
+speed back towards the peak, leaping over dead and dying and
+breaking through the living as she went.  In two minutes we were
+rushing up its northern flank, which seemed to be quite
+untenanted, towards the sheer brown cliff which rose above it,
+for the fighting was in progress on the other side.  Suddenly at
+the foot of this cliff the mare stopped, shivered and sank down
+dead, probably from internal bleeding.
+
+I looked about me desperately.  To attempt the plain on foot
+meant death.  What then was I to do?  Glancing at the cliff I saw
+that there was a gully in it worn by thousands of years of
+rainfall, in which grew scanty bushes.  Into this I ran, and
+finding it practicable though difficult, began to climb upwards,
+quite unnoticed by the Zulus who were all employed upon the
+further side.  The end of it was that I reached the very crest of
+the mount, a patch of bare, brown rock, except at one spot on its
+southern front where there was a little hollow in which at this
+rainy season of the year herbage and ferns grew in the
+accumulated soil, also a few stunted, aloe-like plants.
+
+Into this patch I crept, having first slaked my thirst from a
+little pool of rain water that lay in a cup-like depression of
+the rock, which tasted more delicious than any nectar, and seemed
+to give me new life.  Then covering myself as well as I could
+with grasses and dried leaves from the aloe plants, I lay still.
+
+Now I was right on the brink of the cliff and had the best view
+of the Isandhlwana plain and the surrounding country that can be
+imagined.  From my lofty eyrie some hundreds of feet in the air,
+I could see everything that happened beneath.  Thus I witnessed
+the destruction of the last of the soldiers on the slopes below. 
+They made a gallant end, so gallant that I was proud to be of the
+same blood with them.  One fine young fellow escaped up the peak
+and reached a plateau about fifty feet beneath me.  He was
+followed by a number of Zulus, but took refuge in a little cave
+whence he shot three or four of them; then his cartridges were
+exhausted and I heard the savages speaking in praise of
+him--dead.  I think he was the last to die on the field of
+Isandhlwana.
+
+The looting of the camp began; it was a terrible scene.  The oxen
+and those of the horses that could be caught were driven away,
+except certain of the former which were harnessed to the guns and
+some of the wagons and, as I afterwards learned, taken to Ulundi
+in proof of victory.  Then the slain were stripped and Kaffirs
+appeared wearing the red coats of the soldiers and carrying their
+rifles.  The stores were broken into and all the spirits drunk. 
+Even the medical drugs were swallowed by these ignorant men, with
+the result that I saw some of them reeling about in agony and
+others fall down and go to sleep.
+
+An hour or two later an officer who came from the direction in
+which the General had marched, cantered right into the camp where
+the tents were still standing and even the flag was flying.  I
+longed to be able to warn him, but could not.  He rode up to the
+headquarters marquee, whence suddenly issued a Zulu waving a
+great spear.  I saw the officer pull up his horse, remain for a
+moment as though indecisive, then turn and gallop madly away,
+quite unharmed, though one or two assegais were thrown and many
+shots fired at him.  After this considerable movements of the
+Zulus went on, of which the net result was, that they evacuated
+the place.
+
+Now I hoped that I might escape, but it was not to be, since on
+every side numbers of them crept up Isandhlwana Mountain and hid
+behind rocks or among the tall grasses, evidently for purposes of
+observation.  Moreover some captains arrived on the little
+plateau where was the cave in which the soldier had been killed,
+and camped there.  At least at sundown they unrolled their mats
+and ate, though they lighted no fire.
+
+The darkness fell and in it escape for me from that guarded place
+was impossible, since I could not see where to set my feet and
+one false step on the steep rock would have meant my death.  From
+the direction of Rorke's Drift I could hear continuous firing;
+evidently some great fight was going on there, I wondered
+vaguely--with what result.  A little later also I heard the
+distant tramp of horses and the roll of gun wheels.  The captains
+below heard it too and said one to another that it was the
+English soldiers returning, who had marched out of the camp at
+dawn.  They debated one with another whether it would be possible
+to collect a force to fall upon them, but abandoned the idea
+because the regiments who had fought that day were now at a
+distance and too tired, and the others had rushed forward with
+orders to attack the white men on and beyond the river.
+
+So they lay still and listened, and I too lay still and listened,
+for on that cloudy, moonless night I could see nothing.  I heard
+smothered words of command.  I heard the force halt because it
+could not travel further in the gloom.  Then they lay down, the
+living among the dead, wondering doubtless if they themselves
+would not soon be dead, as of course must have happened had the
+Zulu generalship been better, for if even five thousand men had
+been available to attack at dawn not one of them could have
+escaped.  But Providence ordained it otherwise.  Some were taken
+and the others left.
+
+About an hour before daylight l heard them stirring again, and
+when its first gleams came all of them had vanished over the nek
+of slaughter, with what thoughts in their hearts, I wondered, and
+to what fate.  The captains on the plateau beneath had gone also,
+and so had the circle of guards upon the slopes of the mount, for
+I saw these depart through the grey mist.  As the light gathered,
+however, I observed bodies of men collecting on the nek, or
+rather on both neks, which made it impossible for me to do what I
+had hoped, and run to overtake the English troops.  From these I
+was utterly cut off.  Nor could I remain longer without food on
+my point of rock, especially as I was sure that soon some Zulus
+would climb there to use it as an outlook post.  So while I was
+still more or less hidden by the mist and morning shadows, I
+climbed down it by the same road that I had climbed up, and thus
+reached the plain.  Not a living man, white or black, was to be
+seen, only the dead, only the dead.  l was the last Englishman to
+stand upon the plain of Isandhlwana for weeks or rather months to
+come.
+
+Of all my experiences this was, I think, the strangest, after
+that night of hell, to find myself alone upon this field of
+death, staring everywhere at the distorted faces which on the
+previous morn I had seen so full of life.  Yet my physical needs
+asserted themselves.  I was very hungry, who for twenty-four
+hours had eaten nothing, faint with hunger indeed.  I passed a
+provision wagon that had been looted by the Zulus.  Tins of bully
+beef lay about, also, among a wreck of broken glass, some bottles
+of Bass's beer which had escaped their notice.  I found an
+assegai, cleaned it in the ground which it needed, and opening
+one of the tins, lay down in a tuft of grass by a dead man, or
+rather between him and some Zulus whom he had killed, and
+devoured its contents.  Also I knocked the tops off a couple of
+the beer bottles and drank my fill.  While I was doing this a
+large rough dog with a silver-mounted collar on its neck, I think
+of the sort that is called an Airedale terrier, came up to me
+whining.  At first I thought it was an hyena, but discovering my
+mistake, threw it some bits of meat which it ate greedily. 
+Doubtless it had belonged to some dead officer, though there was
+no name on the collar.  The poor beast, which I named Lost, at
+once attached itself to me, and here I may say that I kept it
+till its death, which occurred of jaundice at Durban not long
+before I started on my journey to King Solomon's Mines.  No man
+ever had a more faithful friend and companion.
+
+When I had eaten and drunk I looked about me, wondering what I
+should do.  Fifty yards away I saw a stout Basuto pony still
+saddled and bridled, although the saddle was twisted out of its
+proper position, which was cropping the grass as well as it could
+with the bit in its mouth.  Advancing gently I caught it without
+trouble, and led it back to the plundered wagon.  Evidently from
+the marks upon the saddlery it had belonged to Captain
+Shepstone's force of mounted natives.
+
+Here I filled the large saddlebags made of buckskin with tins of
+beef, a couple more bottles of beer and a packet of tandstickor
+matches which I was fortunate enough to find.  Also I took the
+Martini rifle from a dead soldier, together with a score or so of
+cartridges that remained in his belt, for apparently he must have
+been killed rather early in the fight.
+
+Thus equipped I mounted the pony and once more bethought me of
+escaping to Natal.  A look towards the nek cured me of that idea,
+for coming over it I saw the plumed heads of a whole horde of
+warriors.  Doubtless these were returning from the unsuccessful
+attack on Rorke's Drift, though of that I knew nothing at the
+time.  So whistling to the dog I bore to the left for the Nqutu
+Hills, riding as fast as the rough ground would allow, and in
+half an hour was out of sight of that accursed plain.
+
+One more thing too I did.  On its confines I came across a group
+of dead Zulus who appeared to have been killed by a shell. 
+Dismounting I took the headdress of one of them and put it on,
+for I forgot to say that I had lost my hat.  It was made of a
+band of otterskin from which rose large tufts of the black
+feathers of the finch which the natives call "sakabula."  Also I
+tied his kilt of white oxtails about my middle, precautions to
+which I have little doubt I owe my life, since from a distance
+they made me look like a Kaffir mounted on a captured pony.
+
+Then I started on again, whither I knew not.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+
+
+ALLAN AWAKES
+
+
+
+
+
+Now I have no intention of setting down all the details of that
+dreadful journey through Zululand, even if I could recall them,
+which, for a reason to be stated, I cannot do.  I remember that
+at first I thought of proceeding to Ulundi with some wild idea of
+throwing myself on the mercy of Cetewayo under pretence that I
+brought him a message from Natal.  Within a couple of hours,
+however, from the top of a hill I saw ahead of me an impi and
+with it captured wagons, which was evidently heading for the
+king's kraal.  So as I knew what kind of a greeting these
+warriors would give me, I bore away in another direction with the
+hope of reaching the border by a circuitous route.  In this too I
+had no luck, since presently I caught sight of outposts stationed
+upon rocks, which doubtless belonged to another impi or regiment. 
+Indeed one soldier, thinking from my dress that I also was a
+Zulu, called to me for news from about half a mile away, in that
+peculiar carrying voice which Kaffirs can command.  I shouted
+back something about victory and that the white men were wiped
+out, then put an end to the conversation by vanishing into a
+patch of dense bush.
+
+It is a fact that after this I have only the dimmest recollection
+of what happened.  I remember off-saddling at night on several
+occasions.  I remember being very hungry because all the food was
+eaten and the dog, Lost, catching a bush buck fawn, some of which
+I partially cooked on a fire of dead wood, and devoured.  Next I
+remember--I suppose this was a day or two later--riding at night
+in a thunderstorm and a particularly brilliant flash of lightning
+which revealed scenery that seemed to be familiar to me, after
+which came a shock and total unconsciousness.
+
+
+At length my mind returned to me.  It was reborn very slowly and
+with horrible convulsions, out of the womb of death and terror. 
+I saw blood flowing round me in rivers, I heard the cries of
+triumph and of agony.  I saw myself standing, the sole survivor,
+on a grey field of death, and the utter loneliness of it ate into
+my soul, so that with all its strength it prayed that it might be
+numbered in this harvest.  But oh! it was so strong, that soul
+which could not, would not die or fly away.  So strong, that
+then, for the first time, I understood its immortality and that
+it could _never_ die.  This everlasting thing still clung for a
+while to the body of its humiliation, the mass of clay and nerves
+and appetites which it was doomed to animate, and yet knew its
+own separateness and eternal individuality.  Striving to be free
+of earth, still it seemed to walk the earth, a spirit and a
+shadow, aware of the hatefulness of that to which it was chained,
+as we might imagine some lovely butterfly to be that is fated by
+nature to suck its strength from carrion, and remains unable to
+soar away into the clean air of heaven.
+
+Something touched my hand and I reflected dreamily that if I had
+been still alive, for in a way I believed that I was dead, I
+should have thought it was a dog's tongue.  With a great effort I
+lifted my arm, opened my eyes and looked at the hand against the
+light, for there was light, to see it was so thin that this light
+shone through between the bones.  Then I let it fall again, and
+lo! it rested on the head of a dog which went on licking it.
+
+A dog!  What dog?  Now I remembered; one that I had found on the
+field of Isandhlwana.  Then I must be still alive.  The thought
+made me cry, for I could feel the tears run down my cheeks, not
+with joy but with sorrow.  I did not wish to go on living.  Life
+was too full of struggle and of bloodshed and bereavement and
+fear and all horrible things.  I was prepared to exchange my part
+in it just for rest, for the blessing of deep, unending sleep in
+which no more dreams could come, no more cups of joy could be
+held to thirsting lips, only to be snatched away.
+
+I heard something shuffling towards me at which the dog growled,
+then seemed to slink away as though it were afraid.  I opened my
+eyes again, looked, and closed them once more in terror, for what
+I saw suggested that perhaps I was dead after all and had reached
+that hell which a certain class of earnest Christian promises to
+us as the reward of the failings that Nature and those who begat
+us have handed on to us as a birth doom.  It was something
+unnatural, grey-headed, terrific--doubtless a devil come to
+torment me in the inquisition vaults of Hades.  Yet I had known
+the like when I was alive.  How had it been called?  I
+remembered, "The-thing-that-never-should-have-been-born."  Hark! 
+It was speaking in that full deep voice which was unlike to any
+other.
+
+"Greeting, Macumazahn," it said.  "I see that you have come back
+from among the dead with whom you have been dwelling for a moon
+and more.  It is not wise of you, Macumazahn, yet I am glad who
+have matched my skill against Death and won, for now you will
+have much to tell me about his kingdom."
+
+So it was Zikali--Zikali who had butchered my friends.
+
+"Away from me, murderer!" I said faintly, "and let me die, or
+kill me as you did the others."
+
+He laughed, but very softly, not in his usual terrific fashion,
+repeating the word "murderer" two or three times.  Then with his
+great hand he lifted my head gently as a woman might, saying--
+
+"Look before you, Macumazahn."
+
+I looked and saw that I was in some kind of a cave.  Outside the
+sun was setting and against its brightness I perceived two
+figures, a white man and a white woman who were walking hand in
+hand and gazing into each other's eyes.  They were Anscombe and
+Heda passing the mouth of the cave.
+
+"Behold the murdered, O Macumazahn, dealer of hard words."
+
+"It is only a trick," I murmured.  "Kaatje saw them dead and
+buried."
+
+"Yes, yes, I forgot.  The fat fool-woman saw them dead and
+buried.  Well, sometimes the dead come to life again and for good
+purpose, as you should know, Macumazahn, who followed the counsel
+of a certain Mameena and wandered here instead of rushing onto
+the Zulu spears."
+
+I tried to think the thing out and could not, so only asked--
+
+"How did I come?  What happened to me?"
+
+"I think the sun smote you first who had no covering on your head
+and the lightning smote you afterwards.  Yet all the while that
+reason had left you, One led your horse and after the Heavens had
+tried to kill you and failed, perhaps because my magic was too
+strong for them, One sent that beast which you found, yes, sent
+it here to lead us to where you lay.  There you were discovered
+and brought hither.  Now sleep lest you should go further than
+even I can fetch you back again."
+
+He held his hands above my head, seeming to grow in stature till
+his white hair touched the roof of the cave, and in an instant I
+fancied that I was falling away, deep, deep into a gulf of
+nothingness.
+
+There followed another period of dreaming, in which dreams I
+seemed to meet all sorts of people, dead and living, especially
+Lady Ragnall, a friend of mine with whom I had been concerned in
+a very strange adventure among the Kendah people* and with whom
+in days to come I was destined to be concerned again, although of
+course I knew nothing of this, in a still stranger adventure of
+what I may call a spiritual order, which I may or may not try to
+reduce to writing.  It seemed to me that I was constantly dining
+with her tete-a-tete and that she told me all sorts of queer
+things between the courses.  Doubtless these illusions occurred
+when I was fed.
+
+[*--See the book called _The Ivory Child._--EDITOR.]
+
+At length I woke up again, feeling much stronger, and saw the
+dog, Lost, watching me with its great tender eyes--oh! they talk
+of the eyes of women, but are they ever as beautiful as those of
+a loving dog?  It lay by my low bed-stead, a rough affair
+fashioned of poles and strung with rimpis or strings of raw hide,
+and by it, stroking its head, sat the witch-doctoress, Nombe.  I
+remember how pleasing she looked, a perfect type of the eternal
+feminine with her graceful, rounded shape and her continual,
+mysterious smile which suggested so much more than any mortal
+woman has to give.
+
+"Good-day to you, Macumazahn," she said in her gentle voice, "you
+have gone through much since last we met on the night before Goza
+took you away to Ulundi."
+
+Now remembering all, I was filled with indignation against this
+little humbug.
+
+"The last time we met, Nombe," I said, "was when you played the
+part of a woman who is dead in the Vale of Bones by the king's
+kraal."
+
+She regarded me with a kindly commiseration, and answered,
+shaking her head--
+
+"You have been very ill, Macumazahn, and your spirit still tricks
+you.  I played the part of no woman in any valley by the king's
+kraal, nor were my eyes rejoiced with the sight of you there or
+elsewhere till they brought you to this place, so changed that I
+should scarcely have known you."
+
+"You little liar!" I said rudely.
+
+"Do the white people always name those liars who tell them true
+things they cannot understand?" she inquired with a sweet
+innocence.  Then without waiting for an answer, she patted my
+hand as though I were a fretful child and gave me some soup in a
+gourd, saying, "Drink it, it is good.  The lady Heddana made it
+herself in the white man's fashion."
+
+I drank the soup, which was very good, and as I handed back the
+gourd, answered--
+
+"Kaatje has told me that the lady Heddana is dead.  Can the dead
+make soup?"
+
+She considered the point while she threw some bits of meat out of
+the bottom of the gourd to the dog, Lost, then replied--
+
+"I do not know, Macumazahn, or indeed whether the dead eat as we
+do.  Next time my Spirit visits me I will make inquiry and tell
+you the answer.  But I do know that it is very strange that you,
+who always turn your back upon the truth, are so ready to accept
+falsehoods.  Why should you believe that the lady Heddana is dead
+just because Kaatje told you so, when I who am still alive had
+sworn to you that I would protect her with my life?  Nay, speak
+no more now.  To-morrow if you are well enough you shall see and
+judge for yourself."
+
+She drew up the kaross over me, again patted my hand in her
+motherly fashion and departed, still smiling, after which I went
+to sleep again, so dreamlessly that I think there was some native
+soporific in that soup.
+
+On the following day two of Zikali's servants who did the rougher
+work of my sick room, if I may so call it, arrived and said that
+they were going to carry me out of the cave for a while, if that
+were my will.  I who longed to breathe the fresh air again, said
+that it was very much my will, whereon they grasped the rough
+bedstead which I have described by either end and very carefully
+bore me down the cave and through its narrow entrance, where they
+set the bedstead in the shadow of the overhanging rock without. 
+When I had recovered a little, for even that short journey tired
+me, I looked about me and perceived that as I had expected, I was
+in the Black Kloof, for there in front of me were the very huts
+which we had occupied on our arrival from Swazi-Land.
+
+I lay a while drawing in the sweet air which to me was like a
+draught of nectar, and wondering whether I were not still in a
+dream.  For instance, I wondered if I had truly seen the figures
+of Anscombe and Heda pass the mouth of the cave, on that day when
+I awoke, or if these were but another of Zikali's illusions
+imprinted on my weakened mind by his will power.  For of what he
+and Nombe told me I believed nothing.  Thus marvelling I fell
+into a doze and in my doze heard whisperings.  I opened my eyes
+and lo! there before me stood Anscombe and Heda.  It was she who
+spoke the first, for I was tongue-tied; I could not open my lips.
+
+"Dear Mr. Quatermain, dear Mr. Quatermain!" she murmured in her
+sweet voice, then paused.
+
+Now at last words came to me.  "I thought you were both dead," I
+said.  "Tell me, are you really alive?"
+
+She bent down and kissed my brow, while Anscombe took my hand.
+
+"Now you know," she answered.  "We are both of us alive and
+well."
+
+"Thank God!" I exclaimed.  "Kaatje swore that she saw you dead
+and buried."
+
+"One sees strange things in the Black Kloof," replied Anscombe
+speaking for the first time, "and much has happened to us since
+we were parted, to which you are not strong enough to listen now. 
+When you are better, then we will tell you all.  So grow well as
+soon as you can."
+
+After this I think I fainted, for when I came to myself again I
+was back in the cave.
+
+Another ten days or so went by before I could even leave my bed,
+for my recovery was very slow.  Indeed for weeks I could scarcely
+walk at all, and six whole months passed before I really got my
+strength again and became as I used to be.  During those days I
+often saw Anscombe and Heda, but only for a few minutes at a
+time.  Also occasionally Zikali would visit me, speaking a
+little, generally about past history, or something of the sort,
+but never of the war, and go away.  At length one day he said to
+me--
+
+"Macumazahn, now I am sure you are going to live, a matter as to
+which I was doubtful, even after you seemed to recover.  For,
+Macumazahn, you have endured three shocks, of which to-day I am
+not afraid to talk to you.  First there was that of the battle of
+Isandhlwana where you were the last white man left alive."
+
+"How do you know that, Zikali?" I asked.
+
+"It does not matter.  I do know.  Did you not ride through the
+Zulus who parted this way and that before you, shouting what you
+could not understand? One of them you may remember even saluted
+with his spear."
+
+"I did, Zikali.  Tell me, why did they behave thus, and what did
+they shout?"
+
+"I shall not tell you, Macumazahn.  Think over it for the rest of
+your life and conclude what you choose; it will not be so
+wonderful as the truth.  At least they did so, as a certain doll
+I dressed up yonder in the Vale of Bones told you they would, she
+whose advice you followed in riding towards Ulundi instead of
+back to the river where you would have met your death, like so
+many others of the white people."
+
+"Who was that doll, Zikali?"
+
+"Nay, ask me not.  Perhaps it was Nombe, perhaps another.  I have
+forgotten.  I am very old and my memory begins to play me strange
+tricks.  Still I recollect that she was a good doll, so like a
+dead woman called Mameena that I could scarcely have known them
+apart.  Ah! that was a great game I played in the Vale of Bones,
+was it not, Macumazahn?"
+
+"Yes, Zikali, yet I do not understand why it was played."
+
+"Being so young you still have the impatience of youth,
+Macumazahn, although your hair grows white.  Wait a while and you
+will understand all.  Well, you lay that night on the topmost
+rock of Isandhlwana, and there you saw and heard strange things. 
+You heard the rest of the white soldiers come and lie down to
+rest among their dead brothers, and depart again unharmed.  Oh!
+what fools are these Zulu generals nowadays.  They send out an
+impi to attack men behind walls, spears against rifles, and are
+defeated.  Had they kept that impi to fall on the rest of the
+English when they walked into the trap, not a man of your people
+would have been left alive.  Would that have happened in the time
+of Chaka?"
+
+"I think not, Zikali.  Still I am glad that it did happen."
+
+"I think not too, Macumazahn, but small men, small wit.  Also
+like you I am glad that it did not happen, since it is the Zulus
+I hate, not the English who have now learned a lesson and will
+not be caught again.  Oh! many a captain in Zululand is to-day
+flat as a pricked bladder, and even their victory, as they call
+it, cost them dear.  For, mind you, Macumazahn, for every white
+man they killed two of them died.  So, so!  In the morning you
+left the hill--do not look astonished, Macumazahn.  Perhaps those
+captains on the rock beneath you let you go for their own
+purposes, or because they were commanded, for though weak I can
+still lift a stone or two, Macumazahn, and afterwards told me all
+about it.  Then you found yourself alone among the dead, like the
+last man in the world, Macumazahn, and that dog at your side,
+also a horse came to you.  Perhaps I sent them, perhaps it was a
+chance.  Who knows?  Not I myself, for as I have said, my memory
+has grown so bad.  That was your first shock, Macumazahn, the
+shock of standing alone among the dead like the last man in the
+world.  You felt it, did you not?"
+
+"As I hope I shall never feel anything again.  It nearly drove me
+mad," I answered.
+
+"Very nearly indeed, though I have felt worse things and only
+laughed, as I would tell you, had I the time.  Well, then the sun
+struck you, for at this season of the year it is very hot in
+those valleys for a white man with no covering to his head, and
+you went quite mad, though fortunately the dog and the horse
+remained as Heaven had made them.  That was the second shock. 
+Then the storm burst and the lightning fell.  It ran down the
+rifle that you still carried, Macumazahn.  I will show it to you
+and you will see that its stock is shattered.  Perhaps I turned
+the flash aside, for I am a great thunder-herd, or perhaps it was
+One mightier than I.  That was the third shock, Macumazahn.  Then
+yon were found, still living--how, the white man, your friend,
+will tell you.  But you should cherish that dog of yours,
+Macumazahn, for many a man might have served you worse.  And
+being strong, though small, or perhaps because you still have
+work left to do in the world before you leave it for a while, you
+have lived through all these things and will in time recover,
+though not yet."
+
+"I hope so, Zikali, though on the whole I am not sure that I wish
+to recover."
+
+"Yes, you do, Macumazahn, because the religion of you white men
+makes you fear death and what may come after it.  You think of
+what you call your sins and are afraid lest you should be
+tortured because of them, not understanding that the spirit must
+be judged not by what the flesh has done but by what the spirit
+desired to do, by _will_ not by _deed,_ Macumazahn.  The evil man
+is he who wishes to do evil, not he who wishes to do good and
+falls now and again into evil.  Oh! I have hearkened to your
+white teachers and I know, I know."
+
+"Then by your own standard you are evil, Zikali, since you wished
+to bring about war, and not in vain."
+
+"Oho! Macumazahn, you think that, do you, who cannot understand
+that what seems to be evil is often good.  I wished to bring
+about war and brought it about, and maybe what bred the wish was
+all that I have suffered in the past.  But say you, who have seen
+what the Zulu Power means, who have seen men, women and children
+killed by the thousand to feed that Power, and who have seen,
+too, what the English Power means, is it evil that I should wish
+to destroy the House of the Zulu kings that the English House may
+take its place and that in a time to come the Black people may be
+free?"
+
+"You are clever, Zikali, but it is of your own wrongs that you
+think.  How about that skull which you kissed in the Vale of
+Bones?"
+
+"Mayhap, Macumazahn, but my wrongs are the wrongs of a nation,
+therefore I think of the nation, and at least I do not fear death
+like you white men.  Now hearken.  Presently your friends will
+tell you a story.  The lady Heddana will tell you how I made use
+of her for a certain purpose, for which purpose indeed I drew the
+three of you into Zululand, because without her I could not have
+brought about this war into which Cetewayo did not wish to enter. 
+When you have heard that story, do not judge me too hardly,
+Macumazahn, who had a great end to gain."
+
+"Yet whatever the story may be, I do judge you hardly, Zikali,
+who tormented me with a false tale, causing the woman Kaatje to
+lie to me and swear that she saw these two dead before her--how I
+know not."
+
+"She did not lie to you, Macumazahn.  Has not such a one as I the
+power to make a fat fool think that she saw what she did not see? 
+As to how!  How did I make you think in yonder hut of mine that
+you saw what you did not see--perhaps."
+
+"But why did you mock me in this fashion, Zikali?"
+
+"Truly, Macumazahn, you are blind as a bat in sunlight.  When
+your friends have told you the story, you will understand why. 
+Yet I admit to you that things went wrong.  You should have heard
+that tale _before_ Cetewayo brought you to the Vale of Bones. 
+But the fool-woman delayed and blundered, and when she reached
+Ulundi the gates were shut against her as a spy, and not opened
+till too late, so that you only found her when you returned from
+the Council.  I knew this, and that was why I dared to bid you
+fire at that which stood upon the rock.  Had you heard Kaatje's
+tale you might have aimed straight, as also you would have
+certainly shot straight at me, out of revenge for the deaths of
+those you loved, Macumazahn, though whether you could have killed
+me before all the game is played is another matter.  As it was, I
+was sure that you would not pierce the heart of one who _might_
+be a certain white woman, sure also that you would not pierce my
+heart whose death _might_ bring about her death and that of
+another."
+
+"You are very subtle, Zikali," I said in astonishment.
+
+"So you hold because I am very simple, who understand the spirit
+of man--and some other things.  For the rest, had you not
+believed that these two were dead, you would never have left
+Zululand.  You would have tried to escape to get to them and have
+been killed.  Is it not so?"
+
+"Yes, I think I should have tried, Zikali.  But why did you keep
+them prisoner?"
+
+"For the same reason that I still keep them--and you--to hold
+them back a while from the world of ghosts.  Had I sent them away
+after that night of the declaration of war, they would have been
+killed before they had gone an hour's journey.  Oh! I am not so
+bad as you think, Macumazahn, and I never break my word.  Now I
+have done."
+
+"How goes the war?" I asked as he shuffled to his feet.
+
+"As it must go, very ill for the Zulus.  They have driven back
+the white men who gather strength from over the Black Water and
+will come on presently and wipe them out.  Umnyamana would have
+had Cetewayo invade Natal and sweep it clean, as of course he
+should have done.  But I sent him word that if he did so
+Nomkubulwana, yes, she and no other, had told me that all the
+spirits would be against him, and he hearkened.  When next you
+think me wicked, remember that, Macumazahn.  Now it is but a
+matter of time, and here you must bide till all is finished. 
+That will be good for you who need rest, though the other two
+find it wearisome.  Still for them it is good also to watch the
+fruit ripen on their tree of love.  It will be the sweeter when
+they eat it, Macumazahn, and teach them how to live together. 
+Oho! Oho-ho!" and he shambled off.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+
+
+HEDA'S TALE
+
+
+
+
+
+That evening when I was lying on my bed outside the cave, I heard
+the tale of Anscombe and Heda.  Up to a certain point he told it,
+then she went on with the story.
+
+"On the morning after our arrival at this place, Allan," said
+Anscombe, "I woke up to find you gone from the hut.  As you did
+not come back I concluded that you were with Zikali, and walked
+about looking for you.  Then food was brought to us and Heda and
+I breakfasted together, after which we went to where we heard the
+horses neighing and found that yours was gone.  Returning, much
+frightened, we met Nombe, who gave me your note which explained
+everything, and we inquired of her why this had been done and
+what was to become of us.  She smiled and answered that we had
+better ask the first question of the king and the second of her
+master Zikali, and in the meanwhile be at peace since we were
+quite safe.
+
+"I tried to see Zikali but could not.  Then I went to inspan the
+horses with the idea of following you, only to find that they
+were gone.  Indeed I have not seen them from that day to this. 
+Next we thought of starting on foot, for we were quite desperate. 
+But Nombe intervened and told us that if we ventured out of the
+Black Kloof we should be killed.  In short we were prisoners.
+
+"This went on for some days, during which we were well treated
+but could not succeed in seeing Zikali.  At length one morning he
+sent for us and we were taken to the enclosure in front of his
+hut, Kaatje coming with us as interpreter.  For a while he sat
+still, looking very grim and terrible.  Then he said--
+
+"'White Chief and Lady, you think ill of me because Macumazahn
+has gone and you are kept prisoners here, and before all is done
+you will think worse.  Yet I counsel you to trust me since
+everything that happens is for your good.'
+
+"At this point Heda, who, as you know, talked Zulu fairly well,
+though not so well as she does now, broke in, and said some very
+angry things to him."
+
+"Yes," interrupted Heda.  "I told him that he was a liar and I
+believed that he had murdered you and meant to murder us."
+
+"He listened stonily," continued Anscombe, "and answered, 'I
+perceive, Lady Heddana, that you understand enough of our tongue
+to enable me to talk to you; therefore I will send away this
+half-breed woman, since what I have to say is secret.'
+
+"Then he called servants by clapping his hands and ordered them
+to remove Kaatje, which was done.
+
+"'Now, Lady Heddana,' he said, speaking very slowly so that Heda
+might interpret to me and repeating his words whenever she did
+not understand, 'I have a proposal to make to you.  For my own
+ends it is necessary that you should play a part and appear
+before the king and the Council as the goddess of this land who
+is called the Chieftainess of Heaven, which goddess is always
+seen as a white woman.  Therefore you must travel with me to
+Ulundi and there do those things which I shall tell you.'
+
+"'And if I refuse to play this trick,' said Heda, 'what then?'
+
+"'Then, Lady Heddana, this white lord whom you love and who is to
+be your husband will--die--and after he is dead you must still do
+what I desire of you, or--die also.'
+
+"'Would he come with me to Ulundi?' asked Heda.
+
+"'Not so, Lady.  He would stay here under guard, but quite safe,
+and you will be brought back to him, safe.  Choose now, with
+death on the one hand and safety on the other.  I would sleep a
+little.  Talk the matter over in your own tongue and when it is
+settled awaken me again,' and he shut his eyes and appeared to go
+to sleep.
+
+"So we discussed the situation, if you can call it discussion
+when we were both nearly mad.  Heda wished to go.  I begged her
+to let me be killed rather than trust herself into the hands of
+this old villain.  She pointed out that even if I were killed,
+which she admitted might not happen, she would still be in his
+hands whence she could only escape by her own death, whereas if
+she went there was a chance that we might both continue to live,
+and that after all death was easy to find.  So in the end I gave
+way and we woke up Zikali and told him so.
+
+"He seemed pleased and spoke to us gently, saying, 'I was sure
+that wisdom dwelt behind those bright eyes of yours, Lady, and
+again I promise you that neither you nor the lord your lover
+shall come to any harm.  Also that in payment I and my child,
+Nombe, will protect you even with our lives, and further, that I
+will bring back your friend, Macumazahn, to you, though not yet. 
+Now go and be happy together.  Nombe will tell the lady Heddana
+when she is to start.  Of all this say nothing on your peril to
+the woman Kaatje, since if you do, it will be necessary that she
+should be made silent.  Indeed, lest she should learn something,
+to-morrow I shall send her on to await you at Ulundi, therefore
+be not surprised if you see her go, and take no heed of aught she
+may say in going.  Nombe, my child, will fill her place as
+servant to the lady Heddana and sleep with her at night that she
+may not be lonely or afraid.'
+
+"Then he clapped his hands again and servants came and conducted
+us back to the huts.  And now, Allan, Heda will go on with the
+story."
+
+"Well, Mr. Quatermain," she said, "nothing more happened that day
+which we spent with bursting hearts.  Kaatje did not question us
+as to what the witch-doctor had said after she was sent away. 
+Indeed I noticed that she was growing very stupid and drowsy,
+like a person who has been drugged, as I daresay she was, and
+would insist upon beginning to pack up the things in a foolish
+kind of way, muttering something about our trekking on the
+following day.  The night passed as usual, Kaatje sleeping very
+heavily by my side and snoring so much" (here I groaned
+sympathetically) "that I could get little rest.  On the next
+morning after breakfast as the huts were very hot, Nombe
+suggested that we should sit under the shadow of the overhanging
+rock, just where we are now.  Accordingly we went, and being
+tired out with all our troubles and bad nights, I fell into a
+doze, and so, I think, did Maurice, Nombe sitting near to us and
+singing all the while, a very queer kind of song.
+
+"Presently, through my doze as it were, I saw Kaatje approaching. 
+Nombe went to meet her, still singing, and taking her hand, led
+her to the cart, where they seemed to talk to the horses, which
+surprised me as there were no horses.  Then she brought her round
+the cart and pointed to us, still singing.  Now Kaatje began to
+weep and throw her hands about, while Nombe patted her on the
+shoulder.  I tried to speak to her but could not.  My tongue was
+tied, why I don't know, but I suppose because I was really
+asleep, and Maurice also was asleep and did not wake at all."
+
+"Yes," said Anscombe, "I remember nothing of all this business."
+
+"After a while Kaatje went away, still weeping, and then I fell
+asleep in earnest and did not wake until the sun was going down,
+when I roused Maurice and we both went back to the hut, where I
+found that Nombe had cooked our evening meal.  I looked for
+Kaatje, but could not find her.  Also in searching through my
+things I missed the bag of jewels.  I called to Nombe and asked
+where Kaatje was, whereon she smiled and said that she had gone
+away, taking the bag with her.  This pained me, for I had always
+found Kaatje quite honest--"
+
+"Which she is," I remarked, "for those jewels are now in a bank
+at Maritzburg."
+
+Heda nodded and went on, "I am glad to hear it; indeed,
+remembering what Zikali had said, I never really suspected her of
+being a thief, but thought it was all part of some plan.  After
+this things went on as before, except that Nombe took Kaatje's
+place and was with me day and night.  Of Kaatje's disappearance
+she would say nothing.  Zikali we did not see.
+
+"On the third evening after the vanishing of Kaatje, Nombe came
+and said that I must make ready for a journey, and while she
+spoke men arrived with a litter that had grass mats hung round
+it.  Nombe brought out my long cape and put it over me, also a
+kind of veil of white stuff which she threw over my head, so as
+to hide my face.  I think it was made out of one of our
+travelling mosquito nets.  Then she said I must say good-bye to
+Maurice for a while.  There was a scene as you may imagine.  He
+grew angry and said that he would come with me, whereon armed men
+appeared, six of them, and pushed him away with the handles of
+their spears.  In another minute I was lifted into the litter
+which Nombe entered with me, and so we were parted, wondering if
+we should ever see each other more.  At the mouth of the kloof I
+saw another litter surrounded by a number of Zulus, which Nombe
+said contained Zikali.
+
+"We travelled all that night and two succeeding nights, resting
+during the day in deserted kraals that appeared to have been made
+ready for us.  It was a strange journey, for although the armed
+men flitted about us, neither they nor the bearers ever spoke,
+nor did I see Zikali, or indeed any one else.  Only Nombe
+comforted me from time to time, telling me there was nothing to
+fear.  Towards dawn on the third night we travelled over some
+hills and I was put into a new hut and told that my journey was
+done as we had reached a place near Ulundi.
+
+"I slept most of the following day, but after I had eaten towards
+evening, Zikali crept into the hut, just as a great toad might
+do, and squatted down in front of me.
+
+"'Lady,' he said, 'listen.  To-night, perhaps one hour after
+sundown, perhaps two, perhaps three, Nombe will lead you, dressed
+in a certain fashion, from this hut.  See now, outside of it
+there is a tongue of rock up which you may climb unnoted by the
+little path that runs between those big stones.  Look,' and he
+showed me the place through the door-hole.  'The path ends on a
+flat boulder at the end of the rock.  There you will take your
+stand, holding in your right hand a little assegai which will be
+given to you.  Nombe will not accompany you to the rock, but she
+will crouch between the stones at the head of the path and
+perhaps from time to time whisper to you what to do.  Thus when
+she tells you, you must throw the little spear into the air, so
+that it falls among a number of men gathered in debate who will
+be seated about twenty paces from the rock.  For the rest you are
+to stand quite still, saying nothing and showing no alarm
+whatever you may hear or see.  Among the men before you may be
+your friend, Macumazahn, but you must not appear to recognize
+him, and if he speaks to you, you must make no answer.  Even if
+he should seem to shoot at you, do not be afraid.  Do you
+understand?  If so, repeat what I have told you.'  I obeyed him
+and asked what would happen if I did not do these things, or some
+of them.
+
+"He answered, 'You will be killed, Nombe will be killed, the lord
+Mauriti your lover will be killed, and your friend Macumazahn
+will be killed.  Perhaps even I shall be killed and we will talk
+the matter over in the land of ghosts.'
+
+"On hearing this I said I would do my best to carry out his
+orders, and after making me repeat them once more, he went away. 
+Later, Nombe dressed me up as you saw me, Mr. Quatermain, put
+some glittering powder into my hair and touched me beneath the
+eyes with a dark kind of pigment.  Also she gave me the little
+spear and made me practise standing quite still with it raised in
+my right hand, telling me that when I heard her say the word
+'Throw,' I was to cast it into the air.  Then the moon rose and
+we heard men talking at a distance.  At last some one came to the
+hut and whispered to Nombe, who led me out to the little path
+between the rocks.
+
+"This must have been nearly two hours after I heard the men begin
+to talk--"
+
+"Excuse me," I interrupted, "but where was Nombe all those two
+hours?"
+
+"With me.  She never left my side, Mr. Quatermain, and while I
+was on the rock she was crouched within three paces of me between
+two big stones at the mouth of the path."
+
+"Indeed," I replied faintly, "this is very interesting.  Please
+continue--but one word, how was Nombe dressed?  Did she wear a
+necklace of blue beads?"
+
+"Just as she always is, or rather less so, for she had nothing on
+except her moocha, and certainly no blue beads.  But why do you
+ask?"
+
+"From curiosity merely.  I mean, I will tell you afterwards, pray
+go on."
+
+"Well, I stepped forward on to the rock and at first saw nothing,
+because at that moment the moon was hid by a cloud; indeed Nombe
+had waited for the cloud to pass over its face, before she thrust
+me forward.  Also some smoke from a fire below was rising
+straight in front of me.  Presently the cloud passed, the smoke
+thinned, and I saw the circle of those savage men seated beneath,
+and in their centre a great chief wearing a leopard's skin cloak
+who I guessed was the king.  You I did not see, Mr. Quatermain,
+because you were behind a tree, yet I felt that you were there, a
+friend among all those foes.  I stood still, as I had been taught
+to do, and heard the murmur of astonishment and caught the gleam
+of the moonlight from the white feathers that were sewn upon my
+robe.
+
+"Then I heard also the voice of Zikali speaking from beneath.  He
+called on you to come out to shoot at me, and the man whom I took
+to be the king, ordered you to obey.  You appeared from behind
+the tree, and I was certain from the look upon your face that at
+that distance you did not know who I was in my strange and
+glittering raiment.  You lifted the pistol and I was terribly
+afraid, for I had seen you shoot with it before on the verandah
+of the Temple and knew well that you do not miss.  Very nearly I
+screamed out to you, but remembered and was silent, thinking that
+after all it did not much matter if I died, except for the sake
+of Maurice here.  Also by now I guessed that I was being used to
+deceive those men before me into some terrible act, and that if I
+died, at least they would be undeceived.
+
+"I thought that an age passed between the time you pointed the
+pistol and I saw the flash for which I was waiting."
+
+"You need not have waited, Heda," I interposed, "for if I had
+really aimed at you you would never have seen that flash, at
+least so it is said.  I too guessed enough to shoot above you,
+although at the time I did not know that it was you on the rock;
+indeed I thought it was Nombe painted up."
+
+"Yes, I heard the bullet sing over me.  Then I heard the voice of
+Zikali challenging you to shoot him, and to tell the truth, hoped
+that you would do so.  Just before you fired for the second time,
+Nombe whispered to me--'Throw' and I threw the little red-handled
+spear into the air.  Then as the pistol went off Nombe
+whispered--'Come.'  I slipped away down the path and back with
+her into the hut, where she kissed me and said that I had done
+well indeed, after which she took off my strange robe and helped
+me to put on my own dress.
+
+"That is all I know, except that some hours later I was awakened
+from sleep and put into the litter where I went to sleep again,
+for what I had gone through tired me very much.  I need not
+trouble you with the rest, for we journeyed here in the same way
+that we had journeyed to Ulundi--by night.  I did not see Zikali,
+but in answer to my questions, Nombe told me that the Zulus had
+declared war against the English.  What part in the business I
+had played, she would not tell me, and I do not know to this
+hour, but I am sure that it was a great one.
+
+"So we came back to the Black Kloof, where I found Maurice quite
+well, and now he had better go on with the tale, for if I begin
+to tell you of our meeting I shall become foolish."
+
+"There isn't much more to tell," said Anscombe, "except about
+yourself.  While Heda was away I was kept a prisoner and watched
+day and night by Zikali's people who would not let me stir a
+yard, but otherwise treated me kindly.  Then one day at sunrise,
+or shortly after it, Heda re-appeared and told me all this story,
+for the end of which, as you may imagine, I thanked God.
+
+"After that we just lived on here, happily enough since we were
+together, until one day Nombe told us that there had been a great
+battle in which the Zulus had wiped out the English, killing
+hundreds and hundreds of them, although for every soldier that
+they killed, they had lost two.  Of course this made us very sad,
+especially as we were afraid you might be with our troops.  We
+asked Nombe if you were present at the battle.  She answered that
+she would inquire of her Spirit and went through some very
+strange performances with ashes and knuckle bones, after which
+she announced that you had been in the battle but were alive and
+coming this way with a dog that had silver on it.  We laughed at
+her, saying that she could not possibly know anything of the
+sort, also that dogs as a rule did not carry silver.  Whereon she
+only smiled and said--'Wait.'
+
+"I think it was three days later that one night towards dawn I
+was awakened by hearing a dog barking outside my hut, as though
+it wished to call attention to its presence.  It barked so
+persistently and in a way so unlike a Kaffir dog, that at length
+about dawn I went out of the hut to see what was the matter. 
+There, standing a few yards away surrounded by some of Zikali's
+people, I saw Lost and knew at once that it was an English
+Airedale, for I have had several of the breed.  It looked very
+tired and frightened, and while I was wondering whence on earth
+it could have come, I noticed that it had a silver-mounted collar
+and remembered Nombe and her talk about you and a dog that
+carried silver on it.  From that moment, Allan, I was certain
+that you were somewhere near, especially as the beast ran up to
+me--it would take no notice of the Kaffirs--and kept looking
+towards the mouth of the kloof, as though it wished me to follow
+it.  Just then Nombe arrived, and on seeing the dog looked at me
+oddly.
+
+"'I have a message for you from my master, Mauriti,' she said to
+me through Heda, who by now had arrived upon the scene, having
+also been aroused by Lost's barking.  'It is that if you wish to
+take a walk with a strange dog you can do so, and bring back
+anything you may find.'"
+
+"The end of it was that after we had fed Lost with milk and meat,
+I and six of Zikali's men started down the kloof, Lost going
+ahead of us and now and again running back and whining.  At the
+mouth of the kloof it led us over a hill and down into a
+bush-veld valley where the thorns grew very thick.  When we had
+gone along the valley for about two miles, one of the Kaffirs saw
+a Basuto pony still saddled, and caught it.  The dog went on past
+the pony to a tree that had been shattered by lightning, and
+there within a few yards of the tree we found you lying
+senseless, Allan, or, as I thought at first, dead, and by your
+side a Martini rifle of which the stock also seemed to have been
+broken by lightning.
+
+"Well, we put you on a shield and carried you here, meeting no
+one, and that is all the story, Allan."
+
+He stopped and we stared at each other.  Then I called Lost and
+patted its head, and the dear beast licked my hand as though it
+understood that it was being thanked.
+
+"A strange tale," I said, "but God Almighty has put much wisdom
+into His creatures of which we know nothing.  Let us thank Him,"
+and in our hearts we did.
+
+Thus was I rescued from death by the intelligence and fidelity of
+a four-footed creature.  Doubtless in my semi-conscious state
+that resulted from shock, weariness and sun-stroke, I had all the
+while headed sub-consciously and without any definite object for
+the Black Kloof.  When I was within a few miles of it I was
+stunned by the lightning which ran down the rifle to the ground,
+though not actually struck.  Then the dog, which had escaped,
+played its part, wandering about the country to find help for me,
+and so I was saved.
+
+
+Now of the long months that followed I have little to tell.  They
+were not unhappy in their way, for week by week I felt myself
+growing stronger, though very slowly.  There was a path, steep,
+difficult and secret, which could be gained through one of the
+caves in the precipice, not that in which I slept.  This path ran
+up a water-cut kloof through a patch of thorns to a flat
+tableland that was part of the Ceza stronghold.  By it, when I
+had gained sufficient strength, sometimes we used to climb to the
+plateau, and there take exercise, It was an agreeable change from
+the stifling atmosphere of the Black Kloof.  The days were very
+dull, for we were as much out of the world as though we had been
+marooned on a desert island.  Still from time to time we heard of
+the progress of the war through Nombe, for Zikali I saw but
+seldom.
+
+She told of disasters to the English, of the death of a great
+young Chief who was deserted by his companions and died fighting
+bravely--afterwards I discovered that this was the Prince
+Imperial of France--of the advance of our armies, of defeats
+inflicted upon Cetewayo's impis, and finally of the destruction
+of the Zulus on the battlefield of Ulundi, where they hurled
+themselves by thousands upon the British square, to be swept away
+by case-shot and the hail of bullets.  This battle, by the way,
+the Zulus call, not Ulundi or Nodwengu, for it was fought in
+front of Panda's old kraal of that name, but Ocwecweni, which
+means--"the fight of the sheet-iron fortress."  I suppose they
+give it this name because the hedge of bayonets, flashing in the
+sunlight, reminded them of sheet-iron.  Or it may be because
+these proved as impenetrable as would have done walls of iron. 
+At any rate they dashed their naked bodies against the storm of
+lead and fell in heaps, only about a dozen of our men being
+killed, as the little graveyard in the centre of the square
+entrenchment, about which still lie the empty cartridge cases,
+records to-day.
+
+There, then, on that plain perished the Zulu kingdom which was
+built up by Chaka.
+
+Now it was after this event that I saw Zikali and begged him to
+let us go.  I found him triumphant and yet strangely disturbed
+and, as I thought, more apprehensive than I had ever seen him.
+
+"So, Zikali," I said, "if what I hear is true, you have had your
+way and destroyed the Zulu people.  Now you should be happy."
+
+"Is man ever happy, Macumazahn, when he has gained that which he
+sought for years?  The two out there sigh and are sad because
+they cannot be married after their own white fashion, though what
+there is to keep them apart I do not know.  Well, in time they
+will be married, only to find that they are not so happy as they
+thought they would be.  Oh! a day will come when they will talk
+to each other and say--'Those moons which we spent waiting
+together in the Black Kloof were the true moons of sweetness, for
+then we had something to gain; now we have gained all--and what
+is it?'
+
+"So it is with me, Macumazahn.  Since the Zulus under Chaka
+killed out my people, the Ndwandwe, year by year I have plotted
+and waited to see them wedded to the assegai.  Now it has come
+about.  You white men have stamped them flat upon the plain of
+Ulundi; they are no more a nation.  And yet I am not happy, for
+after all it was the House of Senzangacona and not the people of
+the Zulus, that harmed me and mine, and Cetewayo still lives. 
+While the queen bee remains there may be a hive again.  While an
+ember still glows in the dead ashes, the forest may vet be fired. 
+Perhaps when Cetewayo is dead, then I shall be happy.  Only his
+death and mine are set by Fate as close together as two sister
+grains of corn upon the cob."
+
+I turned the subject, again asking his leave to depart to Natal
+or to join the English army.
+
+"You cannot go yet," he answered sternly, "so trouble me no more. 
+The land is full of wandering bands of Zulus who would kill you
+and your blood would be on my head.  Moreover, if they saw a
+white woman who had sheltered with me, might they not guess
+something?  To dress a doll for the part of the Inkosazana-y-Zulu
+is the greatest crime in the world, Macumazahn, and what would
+happen to the Opener of Roads and all his House if it were even
+breathed that he had dressed that doll and thus brought about the
+war which ruined them?  When Cetewayo is killed and the dead are
+buried and peace falls upon the land, the peace of death, then
+you shall go, Macumazahn, and not before."
+
+"At least, Zikali, send a message to the captains of the English
+army and tell them that we are here."
+
+"Send a message to the hyenas and tell them where the carcase is;
+send a message to the hunters and tell them where the buck Zikali
+crouches on its form!  Hearken, Macumazahn, if you do this, or
+even urge me again to do it, neither you nor your friends shall
+ever leave the Black Kloof.  I have spoken."
+
+Then understanding that the case was hopeless, I left him and he
+glowered after me, for fear had made him cruel.  He had won the
+long game and success had turned to ashes in his mouth.  Or
+rather, he had not won--yet--since his war was against the House
+of Senzangacona from which he and his tribe had suffered cruel
+wrong.  To pull it down he must pull down the Zulu nation; it was
+like burning a city to destroy a compromising letter.  He had
+burnt the city, but the letter still remained intact and might be
+produced in evidence against him.  In other words Cetewayo yet
+lived.  Therefore his vengeance remained quite unslaked and his
+danger was as great, or perhaps greater than it had ever been
+before.  For was he not the prophet who by producing the Princess
+of Heaven, the traditional goddess of the Zulus, before the eyes
+of the king and Council, had caused them to decide for war?  And
+supposing it were so much as breathed that this spirit which they
+seemed to see, had been but a trick and a fraud, what then?  He
+would be tortured to death if his dupes had time, or torn limb
+from limb if they had not, that is if he could die like other
+men--a matter as to which personally I had no doubts.
+
+Shortly after I left Zikali Heda and I ate our evening meal
+together.  Anscombe, as it chanced, had gone by the secret path
+to the tableland of which I have spoken, where he amused himself,
+as of course we were not allowed to fire a gun, by catching
+partridges, with the help of an ingenious system of grass nets
+which he had invented.  There were springs on this tableland that
+formed little pools of water, at which the partridges, also
+occasionally guineafowl and bush pheasants, came to drink at
+sunrise and sunset.  Here it was that he set his nets and retired
+to work them at those hours by means of strings that he pulled
+from hiding-places.  So Heda and I were alone.
+
+I told her of my ill success with Zikali, at which she was much
+disappointed.  Then by an afterthought I suggested that perhaps
+she might try to do something in the way of getting a message
+through to the English camp at Ulundi, or elsewhere, by help of
+the witch-doctoress, Nombe, adding that I would speak to her
+myself had I not observe that I seemed to be out of favour with
+her of late.  Heda shook her head and answered that she thought
+it would be useless to try, also too dangerous.  Remembering
+Zikali's threat, on reflection I agreed with her.
+
+"Tell me, Mr. Quatermain," she added, "is it possible for one
+woman to be in love with another?"
+
+I stared at her and replied that I did not understand what she
+meant, since women, so far as I had observed them, were generally
+in love either with a man or with themselves, perhaps more often
+with the latter than the former.  Rather a cheap joke I admit,
+with just enough truth in it to make it acceptable--in the Black
+Kloof.
+
+"So I thought," she answered, "but really Nombe behaves in a most
+peculiar way.  As you know she took a fancy to me from the
+beginning, perhaps because she had never had any other woman with
+whom to associate, having, so far as I can make out, been brought
+up here among men from a child.  Indeed, her story is that she
+was one of twins and therefore as the younger, was exposed to die
+according to the Zulu superstition.  Zikali, however, or a
+servant of his who knew what was happening, rescued and reared
+her, so practically I am the only female with whom she has ever
+been intimate.  At any rate her affection for me has grown and
+grown until, although it seems ungrateful to say so, it has
+become something of a nuisance.  She has told me again and again
+that she would die to protect me, and that if by chance anything
+happened to me, she would kill herself and follow me into another
+world.  She is continually making divinations about my future,
+and as these, in which she entirely believes, always show me as
+living without her, she is much distressed and at times bursts
+into tears."
+
+"Hysteria!  It is very common among the Zulu women, and
+especially those of them who practise magic arts," I answered.
+
+"Perhaps, but as it results in the most intense jealousy, Nombe's
+hysteria is awkward.  For instance, she is horribly jealous of
+Maurice."
+
+"The instincts of a chaperone developed early," I suggested
+again.
+
+"That won't quite do, Mr. Quatermain," answered Heda with a
+laugh, "since she is even more jealous of you.  With reference to
+Maurice, she explains frankly that if we marry she might, as she
+puts it, 'continue to sit outside the hut,' but that in your case
+you live 'in my head,' where she cannot come between you and me."
+
+"Mad," I remarked, "quite mad.  Still madness has to be dealt
+with in this world like other things, and Nombe, being an
+abnormal person, may suffer from abnormal ideas.  It just amounts
+to this; she has conceived a passionate devotion to you, at which
+I am sure neither Maurice nor I can wonder."
+
+"Are those the kind of compliments you used to pay in your youth,
+Mr. Quatermain?  I expect so, and now that you are old you cannot
+stop them.  Well, I thank you all the same, because perhaps you
+mean what you say.  But what is to be done about Nombe?  Hush!
+here she comes.  I will leave you to reason with her, if you get
+the chance," and she departed in a hurry.
+
+Nombe arrived, and something in her aspect told me that I was
+going to get the chance.  Her eternal smile was almost gone and
+her dark, beautiful eyes flashed ominously.  Still she began by
+asking in a mild voice whether the lady Heddana had eaten her
+supper with appetite.  It will be observed that she was not
+interested in my appetite or whether enough was left for Anscombe
+when he returned.  I replied that so far as I noted she had
+consumed about half a partridge, with other things.
+
+"I am glad," said Nombe, "since I was not here to attend upon
+her, having been summoned to speak with the Master."
+
+Then she sat down and looked at me like a thunder storm.
+
+"I nursed you when you, were so ill, Macumazahn," she began, "but
+now I learn that for the milk with which I fed you, you would
+force me to drink bitter water that will poison me."
+
+I replied I was well aware that without her nursing I should long
+ago have been dead, which was what caused me to love her like my
+own daughter.  But would she kindly explain?  This she did at
+once.
+
+"You have been plotting to take away from me the lady Heddana who
+to me is as mother and sister and child.  It is useless to lie to
+me, for the Master has told me all; moreover, I knew it for
+myself, both through my Spirit and because I had watched you."
+
+"I have no intention of lying to you, Nombe, about this or any
+other matter, though I think that sometimes in the past you have
+lied to me.  Tell me, do you expect the Inkosi Mauriti, the lady
+Heddana and myself to pass the rest of our lives in the Black
+Kloof, when they wish to get married and go across the Black
+Water to where their home will be, and I wish to attend to my
+affairs?"
+
+"I do not know what I expect, Macumazahn, but I do know that
+never while I live will I be parted from the lady Heddana.  At
+last I have found some one to love, and you and the other would
+steal her away from me."
+
+I studied her for a while, then asked--
+
+"Why do you not marry, Nombe, and have a husband, and children to
+love?"
+
+"Marry?" she replied.  "I am married to my Spirit which does not
+dwell beneath the sun, and my children are not of earth;
+moreover, all men are hateful to me," and her eyes added,
+"especially you."
+
+"That is a calf with a dog's head," I replied in the words of the
+native proverb, meaning that she said what was not natural. 
+"Well, Nombe, if you are so fond of the lady Heddana, you had
+better arrange with her and the Inkosi Mauriti to go away with
+them."
+
+"You know well I cannot, Macumazahn.  I am tied to my Master by
+ropes that are stronger than iron, and if I attempted to break
+them my Spirit would wither and I should wither with it."
+
+"Dear me! what a dreadful business.  That is what comes of taking
+to magic.  Well, Nombe, I am afraid I have nothing to suggest,
+nor, to tell you the truth, can I see what I have to do with the
+matter."
+
+Then she sprang up in a rage, saying--
+
+"I understand that not only will you give me no help, but that
+you also mock at me, Macumazahn.  Moreover, as it is with you, so
+it is with Mauriti, who pretends to love my lady so much, though
+I love her more with my little finger than he does with all his
+body and what he calls his soul.  Yes, he too mocks at me.  Now
+if you were both dead," she added with sudden venom, "my lady
+would not wish to go away.  Be careful lest a spell should fall
+upon you, Macumazahn," and without more words she turned and
+went.
+
+At first I was inclined to laugh; the whole thing seemed so
+absurd.  On reflection, however, I perceived that in reality it
+was very serious to people situated as we were.  This woman was a
+savage; more, a mystic savage of considerable powers of mind--a
+formidable combination.  Also there were no restraints upon her,
+since public opinion had as little authority in the Black Kloof
+as the Queen's Writ.  Lastly, it was not unknown for women to
+conceive these violent affections which, if thwarted, filled them
+with something like madness.  Thus I remembered a very terrible
+occurrence of my youth which resulted in the death of one who was
+most dear to me.  I will not dwell on it, but this, too, was the
+work of a passionate creature, woman I can scarcely call her, who
+thought she was being robbed of one whom she adored.
+
+The end of it was that I did not enjoy my pipe that night, though
+luckily Anscombe returned after a successful evening's netting,
+about which he was so full of talk that there was no need for me
+to say much.  So I put off any discussion of the problem until
+the morrow.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+
+
+
+THE KING VISITS ZIKALI
+
+
+
+
+
+Next morning, as a result of my cogitations, I went to see
+Zikali.  I was admitted after a good deal of trouble and delay,
+for although his retinue was limited and, with the exception of
+Nombe, entirely male, this old prophet kept a kind of semi-state
+and was about as difficult to approach as a European monarch.  I
+found him crouching over a fire in his hut, since at this season
+of the year even in that hot place the air was chilly until
+midday.
+
+"What is it, Macumazahn?" he asked.  "As to your going away, have
+patience.  I learn that he who was King of the Zulus is in full
+flight, with the white men tracking him like a wounded buck. 
+When the buck is caught and killed, then you can go."
+
+"It is about Nombe," I answered, and told him all the story,
+which did not seem to surprise him at all.
+
+"Now see, Macumazahn," he said, taking some snuff, "how hard it
+is to dam up the stream of nature.  This child, Nombe, is of my
+blood, one whom I saved from death in a strange way, not because
+she was of my blood but that I might make an experiment with her. 
+Women, as you who are wise and have seen much will know, are in
+truth superior to men, though, because they are weaker in body,
+men have the upper hand of them and think themselves their
+masters, a state they are forced to accept because they must live
+and cannot defend themselves.  Yet their brains are keener, as an
+assegai is keener than a hoe; they are more in touch with the
+hidden things that shape out fate for people and for nations;
+they are more faithful and more patient, and by instinct if not
+by reason, more far-seeing, or at least the best of them are so,
+and by their best, like men, they should be judged.  Yet this is
+the hole in their shield.  When they love they become the slaves
+of love, and for love's sake all else is brought to naught, and
+for this reason they cannot be trusted.  With men, as you know,
+this is otherwise.  They, too, love, by Nature's law, but always
+behind there is something greater than love, although often they
+do not understand what that may be.  To be powerful, therefore, a
+woman must be one who does not love too much.  If she cannot love
+at all, then she is hated and has no power, but she must not love
+too much.
+
+Once I thought that I had found such a woman; she was named
+Mameena, whom all men worshipped and who played with all men, as
+I played with her.  But what was the end of it?  Just as things
+were going very well she learned to love too much some man of
+strange notions, who would have thwarted me and brought
+everything to nothing, and therefore I had to kill her, for which
+I was sorry."
+
+Here he paused to take some more snuff, watching me over the
+spoon as he drew it up his great nostrils, but as I said nothing,
+went on--
+
+"Now after Mameena was dead I bethought me that I would rear up a
+woman who could still love but should never love a man and
+therefore never become mad or foolish, because I believed that it
+was only man who in taking her heart from woman, would take her
+wits also.  This child, Nombe, came to my hand, and as I thought,
+so I did.  Never mind how I did it, by medicine perhaps, by magic
+perhaps, by watering her pride and making it grow tall perhaps,
+or by all three.  At least it was done, and this I know of Nombe,
+she will never care for any man except as a woman may care for a
+brother.
+
+"But now see what happens.  She, the wise, the instructed, the
+man-despiser, meets a woman of another race who is sweet and
+good, and learns to love her, not as maids and mothers love, but
+as one loves the Spirit that she worships.  Yes, yes, to her she
+is a goddess to be worshipped, one whom she desires to serve with
+all her heart and strength, to bow down before, making offerings,
+and at the end to follow into death.  So it comes about that this
+Nombe, whose mind I thought to make as the wings of a bird
+floating on the air while it searches for its prey, has become
+even madder than other women.  It is a disappointment to me,
+Macumazahn."
+
+"It may be a disappointment to you, Zikali, and all that you say
+is very interesting.  But to us it is a danger.  Tell me, will
+you command Nombe to cease from her folly?"
+
+"Will I forbid the mist to rise, or the wind to blow, or the
+lightning to strike?  As she is, she is.  Her heart is filled
+with black jealousy of Mauriti and of you, as a butcher's gourd
+is filled with blood, for she is not one who desires that her
+goddess should have other worshippers; she would keep her for
+herself alone."
+
+"Then in this way or in that the gourd must be emptied, Zikali,
+lest we should be forced to drink from it and that black blood
+should poison us."
+
+"How, unless it be broken, Macumazahn?  If Heddana departs and
+leaves her, she will go mad, and accompany her she cannot, for
+her Spirit dwells here," and he tapped his own breast.  "It would
+pull her back again and she would become a great trouble to me,
+for then that Spirit of hers would not suffer me to sleep, with
+its continual startings in search of what it had lost, and its
+returnings empty-handed.  Well, have no fear, for at the worst
+the bowl can be broken and the blood poured upon the earth, as I
+have broken finer bowls than this before; had I all the bits of
+them they would make a heap so high, Macumazahn!" and he held out
+his hand on a level with his head, a gesture that made my back
+creep.  "I will tell her this and it may keep her quiet for a
+while.  Of poison you need not be afraid, since unlike mine, her
+Spirit hates it.  Poison is not one of its weapons as it is with
+mine.  But of spells, beware, for her Spirit has some which are
+very powerful."
+
+Now I jumped up, filled with indignation, saying--
+
+"I do not believe in Nombe's spells, and in any case how am I to
+guard against them?"
+
+"If you do not believe there is no need to guard, and if you do
+believe, then it is for you to find out how to guard, Macumazahn. 
+Oh! I could tell you the story of a white teacher who did not
+believe and would not guard--but never mind, never mind. 
+Good-bye, Macumazahn, I will speak with Nombe.  Ask her for a
+lock of her hair to wear upon your heart after she has enchanted
+it.  The charm is good against spells.  O-ho--Oho-o!  What fools
+we are, white and black together!  That is what Cetewayo is
+thinking to-day."
+
+After this Nombe became much more agreeable.  That is to say she
+was very polite, her smile was more fixed and her eyes more
+unfathomable than ever.  Evidently Zikali had spoken to her and
+she had listened.  Yet to tell the truth my distrust of this
+handsome young woman grew deeper day by day.  I recognized that
+there was a great gulf between her and the normal, that she was a
+creature fashioned by Zikali who had trained her as a gardener
+trains a tree, nay, who had done more, who had grafted some
+foreign growth of exotic and unnatural spiritualism on to her
+primitive nature.  The nature remained the same, but the graft or
+grafts bore strange flowers and fruit, unholy flowers and
+poisonous fruit.  Therefore she was not to blame--sometimes I
+wonder whether in this curious world, could one see their past
+and their future, anybody is to blame for anything--but this did
+not make her the less dangerous.
+
+Some talks I had with her only increased my apprehensions, for I
+found that in a way she had no conscience.  Life, she told me,
+was but a dream, and all its laws as evolved by man were but
+illusions.  The real life was elsewhere.  There was the distant
+lake on which the flower of our true existence floated.  Without
+this unseen lake of supernatural water the flower could not
+float; indeed there would be no flower.  Moreover, the flower did
+not matter; sometimes it would have this shape and colour,
+sometimes that.  It was but a thing destined to grow and bloom
+and rot, and during its day to be ugly or to be beautiful, to
+smell sweet or ill, as it might chance, and ultimately to be
+absorbed back into the general water of Life.
+
+I pointed out to her that all flowers had roots which grew in
+soil.  Looking at an orchid-like plant that crept along the bough
+of a tree, she answered that this was not true as some grew upon
+air.  But however this might be, the soil, or the moisture in the
+air, was distilled from thousands of other flower lives that had
+flourished in their day and been forgotten.  It did not matter
+when they died or how many other flowers they choked that they
+might live.  Yet each flower had its own spirit which always had
+been and always would be.
+
+I asked her of the end and the object of that spirit.  She
+answered darkly that she did not know and if she did, would not
+say, but that these were very dreadful.
+
+Such were some of her vague and figurative assertions which I
+only record to indicate their uncomfortable and indeed but half
+human nature.  I forgot to add that she declared that every
+flower or life had a twin flower or life, which in each
+successive growth it was bound to find and bloom beside, or
+wither to the root and spring again and that ultimately these two
+would become one, and as one flourish eternally.  Of all of which
+I understood and understand little, except that she had grasped
+the elements of some truth which she could not express in clear
+and definite language.
+
+
+One day I was seated in Zikali's hut whither by permission I had
+come to ask the latest news, when suddenly Nombe appeared and
+crouched down before him.
+
+"Who gave you leave to enter here, and what is your business?" he
+asked angrily.
+
+"Home of Spirits," she replied in a humble voice, "be not angry
+with your servant.  Necessity gave me leave, and my business is
+to tell you that strangers approach."
+
+"Who are they that dare to enter the Black Kloof unannounced?"
+
+"Cetewayo the King is one of them, the others I do not know, but
+they are many, armed all of them.  They approach your gate;
+before a man can count two hundred they will be here."
+
+"Where are the white chief and the lady Heddana?" asked Zikali.
+
+"By good fortune they have gone by the secret path to the
+tableland and will not be back till sunset.  They wished to be
+alone, so I did not accompany them, and Macumazahn here said that
+he was too weary to do so."  (This was true.  Also like Nombe I
+thought that they wished to be alone.)
+
+"Good.  Go, tell the king that I knew of his coming and am
+awaiting him.  Bid my servants kill the ox which is in the kraal,
+the fat ox that they thought is sick and therefore fit food for a
+sick king," he added bitterly.
+
+She glided away like a startled snake.  Then Zikali turned to me
+and said swiftly--
+
+"Macumazahn, you are in great danger.  If you are found here you
+will be killed, and so will the others whom I will send to warn
+not to return till this king has gone away.  Go at once to join
+them.  No, it is too late, I hear the Zulus come.  Take that
+kaross, cover yourself with it and lie among the baskets and
+beerpots here near the entrance of the hut in the deepest of the
+shadows, so that if any enter, perchance you will not be found. 
+I too am in danger who shall be held to account for all that has
+happened.  Perhaps they will kill me, if I can be killed.  If so,
+get away with the others as best you can.  Nombe will tell you
+where your horses are hidden.  In that case let Heddana take
+Nombe with her, for when I am dead she will go, and shake her off
+in Natal if she troubles her.  Whatever chances, remember,
+Macumazahn, that I have done my best to keep my word to you and
+to protect you and your friends.  Now I go to look on this
+pricked bladder who was once a king."
+
+He scrambled from the hut with slow, toad-like motions, while I
+with motions that were anything but slow, grabbed the grey
+catskin kaross and ensconced myself among the beerpots and mats
+in such a position that my head, over which I set a three-legged
+carved stool of Zikali's own cutting, was but a few inches to the
+left of the door-hole and therefore in the deepest of the
+shadows.  Thence by stretching out my neck a little, I could see
+through the hole, also hear all that passed outside.  Unless a
+deliberate search of the hut should be made I was fairly safe
+from observation, even if it were entered by strangers.  One fear
+I had, however, it was lest the dog Lost should get into the
+place and smell me out.  I had left him tied to the centre pole
+in my own hut, because he hated Zikali and always growled at him. 
+But suppose he gnawed through the cord, or any one let him loose!
+
+Scarcely had Zikali seated himself in his accustomed place before
+the hut, than the gate of the outer fence opened and approaching
+through it I saw forty or fifty fierce and way-worn men.  In
+front of them, riding on a tired horse that was led by a servant,
+was Cetewayo himself.  He was assisted to dismount, or rather
+threw his great bulk into the arms that were waiting to receive
+him.
+
+Then after some words with his following and with one of Zikali's
+people, followed by three or four indunas and leaning on the arm
+of Umnyamana, the Prime Minister, he entered the enclosure, the
+rest remaining without.  Zikali, who sat as though asleep,
+suddenly appeared to wake up and perceive him.  Struggling to his
+feet he lifted his right arm and gave the royal salute of Bayete,
+and with it titles of praise, such as "Black One!" "Elephant!"
+"Earth-Shaker!" "Conqueror!" "Eater-up of the White men!" "Child
+of the Wild Beast (Chaka) whose teeth are sharper than the Wild
+Beast's ever were!" and so on, until Cetewayo,  growing
+impatient, cried out--
+
+"Be silent, Wizard.  Is this a time for fine words?  Do you not
+know my case that you offend my ears with them?  Give us food to
+eat if you have it, after which I would speak with you alone.  Be
+swift also; here I may not stay for long, since the white dogs
+are at my heels."
+
+"I knew that you were coming, O King, to honour my poor house
+with a visit," said Zikali slowly, "and therefore the ox is
+already killed and the meat will soon be on the fire.  Meanwhile
+drink a sup of beer, and rest."
+
+He clapped his hands, whereon Nombe and some servants appeared
+with pots of beer, of which, after Zikali had tasted it to show
+that it was not poisoned, the king and his people drank
+thirstily.  Then it was taken to those outside.
+
+"What is this that my ears hear?" asked Zikali when Nombe and the
+others had gone, "that the White Dogs are on the spoor of the
+Black Bull?"
+
+Cetewayo nodded heavily, and answered--
+
+"My impis were broken to pieces on the plain of Ulundi; the
+cowards ran from the bullets as children run from bees.  My
+kraals are burnt and I, the King, with but a faithful remnant fly
+for my life.  The prophecy of the Black One has come true.  The
+people of the Zulus are stamped flat beneath the feet of the
+great White People."
+
+"I remember that prophecy, O King.  Mopo told it to me within an
+hour of the death of the Black One when he gave me the little
+red-handled assegai that he snatched from the Black One's hand to
+do the deed.  It makes me almost young again to think of it,
+although even then I was old," replied Zikali in a dreamy voice
+like one who speaks to himself.
+
+Hearing him from under my kaross I bethought me that he had
+really grown old at last, who for the moment evidently forgot the
+part which this very assegai had played a few months before in
+the Vale of Bones.  Well, even the greatest masters make such
+slips at times when their minds are full of other things.  But if
+Zikali forgot, Cetewayo and his councillors remembered, as I
+could see by the look of quick intelligence that flashed from
+face to face.
+
+"So!  Mopo the murderer, he who vanished from the land after the
+death of my uncle Dingaan, gave you the little red assegai, did
+he, Opener of Roads!  And but a few months ago that assegai,
+which old Sigananda knew again, thrown by the hand of the
+Inkosazana-y-Zulu, drew blood from my body after the white man,
+Macumazahn, had severed its shaft with his bullet.  Now tell me,
+Opener of Roads, how did it pass from your keeping into that of
+the spirit Nomkubulwana?"
+
+At this question I distinctly saw a shiver shake the frame of
+Zikali who realized too late the terrible mistake he had made. 
+Yet as only the great can do, he retrieved and even triumphed
+over his error.
+
+"Oho-ho!" he laughed, "who am I that I can tell how such things
+happen?  Do you not know, O King, that the Spirits leave what
+they will and take what they will, whether it be but a blade of
+grass, or the life of a man"--here he looked at Cetewayo--"or
+even of a people?  Sometimes they take the shadow and sometimes
+the substance, since spirit or matter, all is theirs.  As for the
+little assegai, I lost it years ago.  I remember that the last
+time I saw it was in the hands of a woman named Mameena to whom I
+showed it as a strange and bloody thing.  After her death I found
+that it was gone, so doubtless she took it with her to the
+Under-world and there gave it to the Queen Nomkubulwana, with
+whom you may remember this Mameena returned from that Under-world
+yonder in the Bones."
+
+"It may be so," said Cetewayo sullenly, "yet it was no spirit
+iron that cut my thigh, but what do I know of the ways of
+Spirits?  Wizard, I would speak with you in your hut alone where
+no ear can hear us."
+
+"My hut is the King's," answered Zikali, "yet let the King
+remember that those Spirits of which he does not know the ways,
+can always hear, yes, even the thoughts of men, and on them do
+judgment."
+
+"Fear not," said Cetewayo, "amongst many other things I remember
+this also."
+
+Then Zikali turned and crept into the hut, whispering as he
+passed me--
+
+"Lie silent for your life."  And Cetewayo having bidden his
+retinue to depart outside the fence and await him there, followed
+after him.
+
+They sat them down on either side of the smouldering fire and
+stared at each other through the thin smoke there in the gloom of
+the hut.  By turning my head that the foot of the king had
+brushed as he passed, I could watch them both.  Cetewayo spoke
+the first in a hoarse, slow voice, saying--
+
+"Wizard, I am in danger of my life and I have come to you who
+know all the secrets of this land, that you may tell me in what
+place I may hide where the white men cannot find me.  It must be
+told into my ear alone, since I dare not trust the matter to any
+other, at any rate until I must.  They are traitors every man of
+them, yes, even those who seem to be most faithful.  The fallen
+man has no friends, least of all if he chances to be a king. 
+Only the dead will keep his counsel.  Tell me of the place I
+need."
+
+"Dingaan, who was before you, once asked this same thing of me, O
+King, when he was flying from Panda your father, and the Boers. 
+I gave him advice that he did not take, but sought a refuge of
+his own upon a certain Ghost-mountain.  What happened to him
+there that Mopo, of whom you spoke a while ago, can tell you if
+he still lives."*
+
+[*--See _Nada the Lily._--EDITOR.]
+
+"Surely you are an ill-omened night-bird who thus croak to me
+continually of the death of kings," broke in Cetewayo with
+suppressed rage.  Then calming himself with an effort added,
+"Tell me now, where shall I hide?"
+
+"Would you know, King?  Then hearken.  On the south slope of the
+Ingome Range west of the Ibululwana River, on the outskirts of
+the great forest, there is a kloof whereof the entrance, which
+only one man can pass at a time, is covered by a thicket of
+thorns and marked by a black rock shaped like a great toad with
+an open mouth, or, as some say, like myself,
+"The-Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born."  Near to this rock
+dwells an old woman, blind of one eye and lacking a hand, which
+the Black One cut off shortly before his death, because when he
+killed her father, she saw the future and prophesied a like death
+to him, although then she was but a child.  This woman is of our
+company, being a witch-doctoress.  I will send a Spirit to her,
+if you so will it, to warn her to watch for you and your company,
+O King, and show you the mouth of the kloof, where are some old
+huts and water.  There you will never be found unless you are
+betrayed."
+
+"Who can betray me when none know whither I am going?" asked
+Cetewayo.  "Send the Spirit, send it at once, that this one-armed
+witch may make ready."
+
+"What is the hurry, King, seeing that the forest is far away? 
+Yet be it as you will.  Keep silence now, lest evil should befall
+you."
+
+Then of a sudden Zikali seemed to go off into one of his trances. 
+His form grew rigid, his eyes closed, his face became fixed as
+though in death, and foam appeared upon his lips.  He was a
+dreadful sight to look on, there in the gloomy hut.
+
+Cetewayo watched him and shivered.  Then he opened his blanket
+and I perceived that fastened about him by a loop of hide in such
+a fashion that it could be drawn out in a moment, was the blade
+of a broad assegai, the shaft of which was shortened to about six
+inches.  His hand grasped this shaft, and I understood that he
+was contemplating the murder of Zikali.  Then it seemed to me
+that he changed his mind and that his lips shaped the words--"Not
+yet," though whether he really spoke them I do not know.  At
+least he withdrew his hand and closed the blanket.
+
+Slowly Zikali opened his eyes, staring at the roof of the hut,
+whence came a curious sound as of squeaking bats.  He looked like
+a dead man coming to life again.  For a few moments he turned up
+his ear as though he listened to the squealing, then said--
+
+"It is well.  The Spirit that I summoned has visited her of our
+company who is named One-hand and returned with the answer.  Did
+you not hear it speaking in the thatch, O King?"
+
+"I heard something, Wizard," answered Cetewayo in an awed voice. 
+"I thought it was a bat."
+
+"A bat it is, O King, one with wide wings and swift.  This bat
+says that my sister, One-hand, will meet you on the third day
+from now at this hour on the further side of the ford of the
+Ibululwana, where three milk-trees grow together on a knoll.  She
+will be sitting under the centre milk-tree and will wait for two
+hours, no more, to show you the secret entrance to the kloof."
+
+"The road is rough and long, I shall have to hurry when worn out
+with travelling," said Cetewayo.
+
+"That is so, O King.  Therefore my counsel is that you begin the
+journey as soon as possible, especially as I seem to hear the
+baying of the white dogs not far away."
+
+"By Chaka's head! I will not," growled Cetewayo, "who thought to
+sleep here in peace this night."
+
+"As the King wills.  All that I have is the King's.  Only then
+One-hand will not be waiting and some other place of hiding must
+be found, since this is known to me only and to her; also that
+Spirit which I sent will make no second journey, nor can I travel
+to show it to the King."
+
+"Yes, Wizard, it is known to you and to myself.  Methinks it
+would be better were it known to me alone.  I have a spoonful of
+snuff to share (i.e. a bone to pick) with you, Wizard.  It would
+seem that you set my feet and those of the Zulu people upon a
+false road, yonder in the Vale of Bones, causing me to declare
+war upon the white men and thereby bringing us all to ruin."
+
+"Mayhap my memory grows bad, O King, for I do not remember that I
+did these things.  I remember that the spirit of a certain
+Mameena whom I called up from the dead, prophesied victory to the
+King, which victory has been his.  Also it prophesied other
+victories to the King in a far land across the water, which
+victories doubtless shall be his in due season; for myself I gave
+no 'counsel to the King or to his indunas and generals.'"
+
+"You lie, Wizard," exclaimed Cetewayo hoarsely.  "Did you not
+summon the shape of the Princess of Heaven to be the sign of war,
+and did she not hold in her hand that assegai of the Black One
+which you have told me was in your keeping?  How did it pass from
+your keeping into the hand of a spirit?"
+
+"As to that matter I have spoken, O King.  For the rest, is
+Nomkubulwana my servant to come and go at my bidding?"
+
+"I think so," said Cetewayo coldly.  "I think also that you who
+know the place where I purpose to hide, would do well to forget
+it.  Surely you have lived too long, O Opener of Roads, and done
+enough evil to the House of Senzangacona, which you ever hated."
+
+So he spoke, and once more I saw his hand steal towards the
+spearhead which was hidden beneath the blanket that he wore.
+
+Zikali saw it also and laughed.  "Oho!" he laughed, "forgetting
+all my warnings, and that the day of my death will be his own,
+the King thinks to kill me because I am old and feeble and alone
+and unarmed.  He thinks to kill me as the Black One thought, as
+Dingaan thought, as even Panda thought, yet I live on to this
+day.  Well, I bear no malice since it is natural that the King
+should wish to kill one who knows the secret of where he would
+hide himself for his own life's sake.  That spearhead which the
+King is fingering is sharp, so sharp that my bare breast cannot
+turn its edge.  I must find me a shield!  I must find me a
+shield!  Fire, you are not yet dead.  Awake, make smoke to be my
+shield!" and he waved his long, monkey-like arms over the embers,
+from which instantly there sprang up a reek of thin white smoke
+that appeared to take a vague and indefinite shape which
+suggested the shadow of a man; for to me it seemed a nebulous and
+wavering shadow, no more.
+
+"What are you staring at, O King?" went on Zikali in a fierce and
+thrilling voice.  "Who is it that you see?  Who has the fire sent
+to be my shield?  Ghosts are so thick here that I do not know.  I
+cannot tell one of them from the other.  Who is it?  Who, who of
+all that you have slain and who therefore are your foes?"
+
+"Umbelazi, my brother," groaned Cetewayo.  "My brother Umbelazi
+stands before me with spear raised; he whom I brought to his
+death at the battle of the Tugela.  His eyes flame upon me, his
+spear is raised to strike.  He speaks words I cannot understand. 
+Protect me, O Wizard!  Lord of Spirits, protect me from the
+spirit of Umbelazi."
+
+Zikali laughed wildly and continued to wave his arms above the
+fire from which smoke poured ever more densely, till the hut was
+full of it.
+
+When it cleared away again Cetewayo was gone!
+
+"Saw you ever the like of that?" said Zikali, addressing the
+kaross under which I was sweltering.  "Tell me, Macumazahn."
+
+"Yes," I answered, thrusting out my head as a tortoise does,
+"when in this very hut you seemed to produce the shape, also out
+of smoke, I think, of one whom I used to know.  Say, how do you
+do it, Zikali?"
+
+"Do it.  Who knows?  Perchance I do nothing.  Perchance I think
+and you fools see, no more.  Or perchance the spirits of the dead
+who are so near to us, come at my call and take themselves bodies
+out of the charmed smoke of my fire.  You white men are wise,
+answer your own question, Macumazahn.  At least that smoke or
+that ghost saved me from a spear thrust in the heart, wherewith
+Cetewayo was minded to pay me for showing him a hiding-place
+which he desired should be secret to himself alone.  Well, well,
+I can pay as well as Cetewayo and my count is longer.  Now lie
+you still, Macumazahn, for I go out to watch.  He will not bide
+long in this place which he deems haunted and ill-omened.  He
+will be gone ere sunset, that is within an hour, and sleep
+elsewhere."
+
+Then he crept from the hut and presently, though I could see
+nothing, for now the gate of the fence was shut, I heard voices
+debating and finally that of Cetewayo say angrily--
+
+"Have done!  It is my will.  You can eat your food outside of
+this place which is bewitched; the girl will show us where are
+the huts of which the wizard speaks."
+
+A few minutes later Zikali crept back into the hut, laughing to
+himself.
+
+"All is safe," he said, "and you can come out of your hole, old
+jackal.  He who calls himself a king is gone, taking with him
+those whom he thinks faithful, most of whom are but waiting a
+chance to betray him.  What did I say, a king?  Nay, in all
+Africa there is no slave so humble or so wretched as this broken
+man.  Oh! feather by feather I have plucked my fowl and by and by
+I shall cut his throat.  You will be there, Macumazahn, you will
+be there."
+
+"I trust not," I answered as I mopped my brow.  "We have been
+near enough to throat-cutting this afternoon to last me a long
+while.  Where has the king gone?"
+
+"Not far, Macumazahn.  I have sent Nombe to guide him to the huts
+in the little dip five spear throws to the right of the mouth of
+the kloof where live the old herdsman and his people who guard my
+cattle.  He and all the rest are away with the cattle that are
+hidden in the Ceza Forest out of reach of the white men, so the
+huts are empty.  Oh! now I read what you are thinking.  I do not
+mean that he should be taken there.  It is too near my house and
+the king still has friends."
+
+"Why did you send Nombe?" I asked.
+
+"Because he would have no other guide, who does not trust my men. 
+He means to keep her with him for some days and then let her go,
+and thus she will be out of mischief.  Meanwhile you and your
+friends can depart untroubled by her fancies, and join the white
+men who are near.  Tomorrow you shall start."
+
+"That is good," I said with a sigh of relief.  Then an idea
+struck me and I added, "I suppose no harm will come to Nombe, who
+might be thought to know too much?"
+
+"I hope not," he replied indifferently, "but that is a matter for
+her Spirit to decide.  Now go, Macumazahn, for I am weary."
+
+I also was weary after my prolonged seclusion under that very hot
+skin rug.  For be it remembered I was not yet strong again, and
+although this was not the real reason why I had stopped behind
+when the others went to the plateau, I still grew easily tired. 
+My real reason was that of Nombe--that I thought they preferred
+to be alone.  I looked about me and saw with relief that Cetewayo
+and every man of his retinue were really gone.  They had not even
+waited to eat the ox that had been killed for them, but had
+carried off the meat with other provisions to their
+sleeping-place outside the kloof.  Having made sure of this I
+went to my hut and loosed Lost that fortunately enough had been
+unable to gnaw through the thick buffalo-hide rien with which I
+had fastened him to the pole.
+
+He greeted me with rapture as though we had been parted for
+years.  Had he belonged to Ulysses himself he could not have been
+more joyful.  When one is despondent and lonesome, how grateful
+is the whole-hearted welcome of a dog which, we are sometimes
+tempted to think, is the only creature that really cares for us
+in the world.  Every other living thing has side interests of its
+own, but that of a dog is centred in its master, though it is
+true that it also dreams affectionately of dinner and rabbits.
+
+Then with Lost at my feet I sat outside the hut smoking and
+waiting for the return of Anscombe and Heda.  Presently I caught
+sight of them in the gloaming.  Their arms were around one
+another, and in some remarkable way they had managed to dispose
+their heads, forgetting that the sky was still light behind them,
+in such fashion that it was difficult to tell one from the other. 
+I reflected that it was a good thing that at last we were
+escaping from this confounded kloof and country for one where
+they could marry and make an end, and became afflicted with a
+sneezing fit.
+
+Heda asked where Nombe was and why supper was not ready, for
+Nombe played the part of cook and parlourmaid combined.  I told
+her something of what had happened, whereon Heda, who did not
+appreciate its importance in the least, remarked that she, Nombe,
+might as well have put on the pot before she went and done sundry
+other things which I forget.  Ultimately we got something to eat
+and turned in, Heda grumbling a little because she must sleep
+alone, for she had grown used to the company of the ever-watchful
+Nombe, who made her bed across the door-hole of the hut.
+
+Anscombe was soon lost in dreams, if he did dream, but I could
+not sleep well that night.  I was fearful of I knew not what, and
+so, I think, was Lost, for he fidgeted and kept poking me with
+his nose.  At last, I think it must have been about two hours
+after midnight, he began to growl.  I could hear nothing,
+although my ears are sharp, but as he went on growling I crept to
+the door-hole and drew aside the board.  Lost slipped out and
+vanished, while I waited, listening.  Presently I thought I heard
+a soft foot-fall and a whisper, also that I saw the shape of a
+woman which reminded me of Nombe, shown faintly by the starlight. 
+It vanished in a moment and Lost returned wagging his tail, as he
+might well have done if it were Nombe who was attached to the
+dog.  As nothing further happened I went back to bed, reflecting
+that I was probably mistaken, since Nombe had been sent away for
+some days by Zikali and would scarcely dare to return at once,
+even if she could do so.
+
+Shortly before daylight Lost began to growl again in a subdued
+and thunderous fashion.  This time I got up and dressed myself
+more or less.  Then I went out.  The dawn was just breaking and
+by its light I saw a strange scene.  About fifty yards away in
+the narrow nek that ran over some boulders to the site of our
+huts, stood what seemed to be the goddess Nomkubulwana as I had
+seen her on the point of rock in the Vale of Bones.  She wore the
+same radiant dress and in the dim glow had all the appearance of
+a white woman.  I stood amazed, thinking that I dreamt, when from
+round the bend emerged a number of Zulus, creeping forward
+stealthily with raised spears.
+
+They caught sight of the supernatural figure which barred their
+road, halted and whispered to each other.  Then they turned to
+fly, but before they went one of them, as it seemed to me through
+sheer terror, hurled his assegai at the figure which remained
+still and unmoved.
+
+In thirty seconds they were gone; in sixty their footsteps had
+died away.  Then the figure wheeled slowly round and by the
+strengthening light I perceived that a spear transfixed its
+breast.
+
+As it sank to the ground I ran up to it.  It was Nombe with her
+face and arms whitened and her life-blood running down the
+glittering feather robe.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+
+
+
+THE MADNESS OF NOMBE
+
+
+
+
+
+The dog reached Nombe first and began to lick her face, its
+tongue removing patches of the white which had not had time to
+dry.  She was lying, her back supported by one of the boulders. 
+With her left hand she patted the dog's head feebly and with her
+right drew out the assegai from her body, letting it fall upon
+the ground.  Recognizing me she smiled in her usual mysterious
+fashion and said--
+
+"All is well, Macumazahn, all is very well.  I have deserved to
+die and I do not die in vain."
+
+"Don't talk, let me see your wound," I exclaimed.
+
+She opened her robe and pointed; it was quite a small gash
+beneath the breast from which blood ebbed slowly.
+
+"Let it be, Macumazahn," she said.  "I am bleeding inside and it
+is mortal.  But I shall not die yet.  Listen to me while I have
+my mind.  Yesterday when Mauriti and Heddana went up to the plain
+I wished to go with them because I had news that Zulus were
+wandering everywhere and thought that I might be able to protect
+my mistress from danger.  Mauriti spoke to me roughly, telling me
+that I was not wanted.  Of that I thought little, for to such
+words I am accustomed from him; moreover, they are to be forgiven
+to a man in love.  But it did not end there, for my lady Heddana
+also pierced me with her tongue, which hurt more than this spear
+thrust does, Macumazahn, for I could see that her speech had been
+prepared and that she took this chance to throw it at me.  She
+said that I did not know where I should sit; that I was a thorn
+beneath her nail, and that whenever she wished to talk with
+Mauriti, or with you, Macumazahn, I was ever there with my ear
+open like the mouth of a gourd.  She commanded me in future to
+come only when I was called; all of which things I am sure
+Mauriti had taught her, who in herself is too gentle even to
+think them--unless you taught her, Macumazahn."
+
+I shook my head and she went on--
+
+"No, it was not you who also are too gentle, and having suffered
+yourself, can feel for those who suffer, which Mauriti who has
+never suffered cannot do.  Still, you too thought me a trouble,
+one that sticks in the flesh like a hooked thorn, or a tick from
+the grass, and cannot be unfastened.  You spoke to the Master
+about it and he spoke to me."
+
+This time I nodded in assent.
+
+"I do not blame you, Macumazahn; indeed now I see that you were
+wise, for what right has a poor black doctoress to seek the love,
+or even to look upon the face of the great white lady whom for a
+little while Fate has caused to walk upon the same path with her? 
+But yesterday I forgot that, Macumazahn, for you see we are all
+of us, not one self, but many selves, and each self has its times
+of rule.  Nombe alive and well was one woman, Nombe dying is
+another, and doubtless Nombe dead will be a third, unless, as she
+prays, she should sleep for ever.
+
+"Macumazahn, those words of Heddana's were to me what gall is to
+sweet milk.  My blood clotted and my heart turned sour.  It was
+not against her that I was angry, because that can never happen,
+but against Mauriti and against you.  My Spirit whispered in my
+ear.  It said, 'If Mauriti and Macumazahn were dead the lady
+Heddana would be left alone in a strange land.  Then she would
+learn to rest upon you as upon a stick, and learn to love the
+stick on which she rested, though it be so rough and homely.' 
+But how can I kill them, I asked of my Spirit, and myself escape
+death?
+
+"'Poison is forbidden to you by the pact between us,' answered my
+Spirit, 'yet I will show you a way, who am bound to serve you in
+all things good or ill.'
+
+"Then we nodded to each other in my breast, Macumazahn, and I
+waited for what should happen who knew that my Spirit would not
+lie.  Yes, I waited for a chance to kill you both, forgetting, as
+the wicked forget in their madness, that even if I were not found
+out, soon or late Heddana would guess the truth and then, even if
+she had learned to love me a thousand times more than she ever
+could, would come to hate me as a mother hates a snake that has
+slain her child.  Or even if she never learned or guessed in
+life, after death she would learn and hunt me and spit on me from
+world to world as a traitoress and a murderer, one who has sinned
+past pardon."
+
+Here she seemed to grow faint and I turned to seek for help.  But
+she caught hold of my coat and said--
+
+"Hear me out, Macumazahn, or I will run after you till I fall and
+die."
+
+So thinking it best, I stayed and she went on--
+
+"My Spirit, which must be an evil one since Zikali gave it me
+when I was made a doctoress, dealt truly with me, for presently
+the king and his people came.  Moreover, my Spirit brought it
+about that the king would have no other guide but me to lead him
+to the kraal where he slept last night, and I went as though
+unwillingly.  At the kraal the king sent for me and questioned me
+in a dark hut, pretending to be alone, but I who am a doctoress
+knew that two other men were in that hut, taking note of all my
+words.  He asked me of the Inkosazana-y-Zulu who appeared in the
+Vale of Bones and of the little assegai she held in her hand, and
+of the magic of the Opener of Roads, and many other things.  I
+said that I knew nothing of the Inkosazana, but that without
+doubt my Master was a great magician.  He did not believe me.  He
+threatened that I should be tortured very horribly and was about
+to call his servants to torment me till I told the truth.  Then
+my Spirit spoke in my heart saying, 'Now the door is open to you,
+as, I promised.  Tell the king of the two white men whom the
+Master hides, and he will send to kill them, leaving the lady
+Heddana and you alone together.'  So I pretended to be afraid and
+told him, whereon he laughed and answered--
+
+"'For your sake I am glad, girl, that you have spoken the truth;
+besides it is useless to torture a witch, since then the spirit
+in her only vomits lies.'
+
+"Next he called aloud and a man came, who it was I could not see
+in the dark.  The king commanded him to take me to one of the
+other huts and tie me up there to the roof-pole.  The man obeyed,
+but he did not tie me up; he only blocked the hut with the
+door-board, and sat with me there in the dark alone.
+
+"Now I grew cunning and began to talk with him, spreading a net
+of sweet words, as the fowler spreads a net for cranes from which
+he would tear the crests.  Soon by his talk I found out that the
+king and his people knew more than I guessed.  Macumazahn, they
+had seen the cart which still stands under the overhanging rock
+by the mouth of the cave.  I asked him if that were all,
+pretending that the cart belonged to my Master, to whom it had
+been brought from the field of Isandhlwana, that he might be
+drawn about in it, who was too weak to walk.
+
+"The man said that if I would kiss him he would tell me
+everything.  I bade him tell me first, swearing that then I would
+kiss him.  Yes, Macumazahn, I, whom no man's lips have ever
+touched, fell as low as this.  So he grew foolish and told me. 
+He told me that they had also seen a kappje such as white women
+wear, hanging on the hut fence, and I remembered that after
+washing the headdress of my mistress I had set it there to dry in
+the sun.  He told me also that the King suspected that she who
+wore that kappje was she who had played the part of the
+Inkosazana in the Vale of Bones.  I asked him what the king would
+do about the matter, at the same time denying that there was any
+white woman in the Black Kloof.  He said that at dawn the king
+would send and kill these foreign rats, whom the Opener of Roads
+kept in the thatch of his hut.  Now he drew near and asked his
+pay.  I gave it to him--with a knife-point, Macumazahn.  Oh! that
+was a good thrust.  He never spoke again.  Then I slipped away,
+for all the others were asleep, and was here a little after
+midnight."
+
+"I thought I saw you, Nombe," I said, "but was not sure, so I did
+nothing."
+
+She smiled and answered--
+
+"Ah! I was afraid that the Watcher-by-Night would be watching by
+night; also the dog ran up to me, but he knew me and I sent him
+back again.  Now while I was coming home, thoughts entered my
+heart.  I saw, as one sees by a lightning flash, all that I had
+done.  The king and his people were not sure that the Master was
+hiding white folk here and would never have sent back to kill
+them on the chance.  I had made them sure, as indeed, being mad,
+I meant to do.  Moreover, in throwing spears at the kites I had
+killed my own dove, since it was on the false Inkosazana who had
+caused them to declare war and brought the land to ruin, that
+they wished to be avenged, and perchance on him who taught her
+her part, not on one or two wandering white men.  I saw that when
+Cetewayo's people came, and there were many more of them outside,
+several hundreds I think, they would shave the whole head and
+burn the whole tree.  Every one in the kloof would be killed.
+
+"How could I undo the knot that I had tied and stamp out the fire
+that I had lit?  That was the question.  I bethought me of coming
+to you, but without arms how could you help?  I bethought me of
+going to the Master, but I was ashamed.  Also, what could he do
+with but a few servants, for the most of his people are away with
+the cattle?  He is too weak to climb the steep path to the plain
+above, nor was there time to gather folk to carry him.  Lastly,
+even if there were time which there was not, and we went thither
+they would track us out and kill us.  For the rest I did not
+care, nor for myself, but that the lady Heddana should be
+butchered who was more to me than a hundred lives, and through my
+treachery--ah! for that I cared.
+
+I called on my Spirit to help me, but it would not come.  My
+Spirit was dead in me because now I would do good and not ill. 
+Yet another Spirit came, that of one Mameena whom once you knew. 
+She came angrily, like a storm, and I shrank before her.  She
+said, 'Vile witch, you have plotted to murder Macumazahn, and for
+that you shall answer to me before another sun has set over this
+earth of yours.  Now you seek a way of escape from your own
+wickedness.  Well, it can be had, but at a price.'
+
+"'What price, O Lady of Death?' I asked.
+
+"'The price of your own life, Witch.'
+
+"I laughed into that ghost face of hers and said--
+
+"'Is this all?  Be swift and show me the way, O Lady of Death,
+and afterwards we will balance our account.'
+
+"Then she whispered into the ear of my heart and was gone.  I ran
+on, for the dawn was near.  I whitened myself with lime, I put on
+the glittering cloak and powdered my hair with the sparkling
+earth.  I took a little stick in my hand since I could find no
+spear and had no time to search, and just as day began to break,
+I crept out and stood in the bend of the path.  The slayers came,
+twelve or so of them, but behind were many more.  They saw the
+Inkosazana-y-Zulu barring their way and were much afraid.  They
+fled, but out of his fright one of them threw a spear which went
+home, as I knew it would.  He watched to see if I should fall,
+but I would not fall.  Then he fled faster than the rest, knowing
+himself accursed who had lifted steel against the Queen of
+Heaven, and oh! I am glad, I am glad!"
+
+She ceased, exhausted, yet with a great exultation in her
+beautiful eyes; indeed at that moment she looked a most
+triumphant creature.  I stared at her, thrilled through and
+through.  She had been wicked, no doubt, but how splendid was her
+end; and, thank Heaven! she was troubled with no thought of what
+might befall her after that end, although I was sure she believed
+that she would live again to face Mameena.
+
+I knew not what to do.  I did not like to leave her, especially
+as no earthly power could help her case, since slowly but quite
+surely she was bleeding to death from an internal wound.  By now
+the sun was up and Zikali's people were about.  One of them
+appeared suddenly and saw, then with a howl of terror turned to
+fly away.
+
+"Fool!  Fool!" I cried, "go summon the lady Heddana and the
+Inkosi Mauriti.  Bid them come swiftly if they would see the
+doctoress Nombe before she dies."
+
+The man leapt off like a buck, and within a few minutes I saw
+Heda and Anscombe running towards us, half dressed, and went to
+meet them.
+
+"What is it?" she gasped.
+
+"I have only time to tell you this," I answered.  "Nombe is
+dying.  She gave her life to save you, how I will explain
+afterwards.  The assegai that pierced her was meant for your
+heart.  Go, thank her, and bid her farewell.  Anscombe, stop back
+with me."
+
+We stood still and watched from a little distance.  Heda knelt
+down and put her arms about Nombe.  They whispered together into
+each other's ears.  Then they kissed.
+
+It was at this moment that Zikali appeared, leaning on two of his
+servants.  By some occult art or instinct he seemed to know all
+that had happened, and oh! he looked terrible.  He crouched down
+in front of the dying woman and, toadlike, spat his venom at her.
+
+"You lost your Spirit, did you?" he said.  "Well, it came back to
+me laden with the black honey of your treachery, to me, its home,
+as a bee comes to its hive.  It has told me everything, and well
+for you, Witch, it is that you are dying.  But think not that you
+shall escape me there in the world below, for thither I will
+follow you.  Curses on you, traitress, who would have betrayed me
+and brought all my plans to naught.  Ow! in a day to come I will
+pay you back a full harvest for this seed of shame that you have
+sown."
+
+She opened her eyes and looked at him, then answered quite
+softly--
+
+"I think your chain is broken, O Zikali, no more, my master.  I
+think that love has cut your chain in two and I fear you never
+more.  Keep the spirit you lent to me; it is yours, but the rest
+of me is my own, and in the house of my heart another comes to
+dwell."
+
+Then once more she stretched out her arms towards Heda and
+murmuring, "Sister, forget me not, Sister, who will await you for
+a thousand years," she passed away.
+
+
+It was a good ending to a bad business, and I confess I felt glad
+when it was finished.  Only afterwards I regretted very much that
+I had not found an opportunity to ask her whether or no she had
+masqueraded as Mameena in the Valley of Bones.  Now it is too
+late.
+
+
+We buried poor Nombe decently in her own little hut where she
+used to practise her incantations.  Zikali and his people wished
+apparently to throw her to the vultures for some secret reason
+that had to do with their superstitions.  But Heda, who, now that
+Nombe was dead, developed a great affection for her not unmixed
+with a certain amount of compunction for which really she had no
+cause, withstood him to his face and insisted upon a decent
+interment.  So she was laid to earth still plastered with the
+white pigment and wrapped in the bloodstained feather robe.  I
+may add that on the following morning one of Zikali's servants
+informed me solemnly that because of this she had been seen
+during the night riding up and down the rocks on a baboon as Zulu
+umtagati are supposed to do.  I have small doubt that as soon as
+we were gone they dug her up again and threw her to the vultures
+and the jackals according to their first intention.
+
+On this day we at length escaped from the Black Kloof, and in our
+own cart, for during the night our horses arrived mysteriously
+from somewhere, in good condition though rather wild.  I went to
+say good-bye to Zikali, who said little, except that we should
+meet once more after many moons.  Anscombe and Heda he would not
+see at all, but only sent them a message, to the effect that he
+hoped they would think kindly of him through the long years to
+come, since he had kept his promise and preserved them safe
+through many dangers.  I might have answered that he had first of
+all put them into the dangers, but considered it wise to hold my
+tongue.  I think, however, that he guessed my thought, if one can
+talk of guessing in connection with Zikali, for he said that they
+had no reason to thank him, since if he had served their turn
+they had served his, adding--
+
+"It will be strange in the times to be for the lady Heddana to
+remember that it was she and no other who crumpled up the Zulus
+like a frostbitten winter reed, since had she not appeared upon
+the rock in the Valley of Bones, there would have been no war."
+
+"She did not do this, you did it, Zikali," I said, "making her
+your tool through love and fear."
+
+"Nay, Macumazahn, I did not do it; it was done by what you call
+God and I call Fate in whose hand I am the tool.  Well, say to
+the lady Heddana that in payment I will hold back the ghost of
+Nombe from haunting her, if I can.  Say also that if I had not
+brought her and her lover to Zululand they would have been
+killed."
+
+
+So we went from that hateful kloof which I have never seen since
+and hope I shall never see again, two of Zikali's men escorting
+us until we got into touch with white people.  To these we said
+as little as possible.  I think they believed that we were only
+premature tourists who had made a dash into Zululand to visit
+some of the battlefields.  Indeed none of us ever reported our
+strange adventures, and after my experience with Kaatje we were
+particularly careful to say nothing in the hearing of any
+gentleman connected with the Press.  But as a matter of fact
+there were so many people moving about and such a continual
+coming and going of soldiers and their belongings, that after we
+had managed to buy some decent clothes, which we did at the
+little town of Newcastle, nobody paid any attention to us.
+
+On our way to Maritzburg one amusing thing did happen.  We met
+Kaatje!  It was about sunset that we were driving up a steep hill
+not far from Howick.  At least I was driving, but Anscombe and
+Heda were walking about a hundred yards ahead of the cart, when
+suddenly Kaatje appeared over a rise and came face to face with
+them while taking an evening stroll, or as I concluded
+afterwards, making some journey.  She saw, she stared, she
+uttered one wild yell, and suddenly bundled over the edge of the
+road.  Never would I have believed that such a fat woman could
+have run so fast.  In a minute she was down the slope and had
+vanished into a dense kloof where, as night was closing in and we
+were very tired, it was impossible for us to follow her.  Nor did
+subsequent inquiry in Howick tell us where she was living or
+whence she came, for some months before she had left the place
+she had taken there as a cook.
+
+Such was the end of Kaatje so far as we were concerned. 
+Doubtless to her dying day she remained, or will remain, a firm
+believer in ghosts.
+
+Anscombe and Heda were married at Maritzburg as soon as the
+necessary formalities had been completed.  I could not attend the
+ceremony, which was a disappointment to me and I hope to them,
+but unfortunately I had a return of my illness and was laid up
+for a week.  Perhaps this was owing to the hot sun that struck me
+on the neck one afternoon coming down the Town Hill where I was
+obliged to hang on to the rear of the cart because the brakes had
+given out.  However I was able to send Heda a wedding gift in the
+shape of her jewels and money that I recovered from the bank,
+which she had never expected to see again; also to arrange
+everything about her property.
+
+They went down to Durban for their honeymoon and, some convenient
+opportunity arising, sailed thence for England.  I received an
+affectionate letter from them both, which I still treasure,
+thanking me very much for all I had done for them, that after all
+was little enough.  Also Anscombe enclosed a blank cheque,
+begging me to fill it in for whatever sum I considered he was
+indebted to me on the balance of account.  I thought this very
+kind of him and a great mark of confidence, but the cheque
+remained blank.
+
+I never saw either of them again, and though I believe that they
+are both living, for the most part abroad--in Hungary I think--I
+do not suppose that I ever shall.  When I came to England some
+years later after King Solomon's mines had made me rich, I wrote
+Anscombe a letter.  He never answered it, which hurt me at the
+time.  Afterwards I remembered that in their fine position it was
+very natural that they should not wish to renew acquaintance with
+an individual who had so intimate a knowledge of certain
+incidents that they probably regarded as hateful, such as the
+deaths of Marnham and Dr. Rodd, and all the surrounding
+circumstances.  If so, I daresay that they were wise, but of
+course it may have been only carelessness.  it is so easy for
+busy and fashionable folk not to answer a rather troublesome
+letter, or to forget to put that answer in the post.  Or, indeed,
+the letter may never have reached them--such things often go
+astray, especially when people live abroad.  At any rate, perhaps
+through my own fault, we have drifted apart.  I daresay they
+believe that I am dead, or not to be found somewhere in Africa. 
+However, I always think of them with affection, for Anscombe was
+one of the best travelling companions I ever had, and his wife a
+most charming girl, and wonder whether Zikali's prophecy about
+their children will come true.  Good luck go with them!
+
+As it chances, since then I passed the place where the Temple
+stood, though at a little distance.  I had the curiosity,
+however, at some inconvenience, to ride round and examine the
+spot.  I suppose that Heda had sold the property, for a back-veld
+Boer, who was absent at the time, had turned what used to be
+Rodd's hospital into his house.  Close by, grim and gaunt, stood
+the burnt-out marble walls of the Temple.  The verandah was still
+roofed over, and standing on the spot whence I had shot the
+pistol out of Rodd's hand, I was filled with many memories.
+
+I could trace the whole plan of the building and visited that
+part of it which had been Marnham's room.  The iron safe that
+stood in the corner had been taken away, but the legs of the
+bedstead remained.  Also not far from it, over grown with running
+plants, was a little heap which I took to be the ashes of his
+desk, for bits of burnt wood protruded.  I grubbed among them
+with my foot and riding crop and presently came across the
+remains of a charred human skull.  Then I departed in a hurry.
+
+My way took me through the Yellow-wood grove, past the horns of
+the blue wildebeeste which still lay there, past that mud-hole
+also into which Rodd had fallen dead.  Here, however, I made no
+more search, who had seen enough of bones.  To this day I do not
+know whether he still lies beneath the slimy ooze, or was removed
+and buried.
+
+Also I saw the site of our wagon camp where the Basutos attacked
+us.  But I will have done with these reminiscences which induce
+melancholy, though really there is no reason why they should.
+
+Tout lasse, tout casse, tout passe--everything wears out,
+everything crumbles, everything vanishes--in the words of the
+French proverb that my friend Sir Henry Curtis is so fond of
+quoting, that at last I wrote it down in my pocket-book, only to
+remember afterwards that when I was a boy I had heard it from the
+lips of an old scamp of a Frenchman, of the name of Leblanc, who
+once gave me and another lessons in the Gallic tongue.  But of
+him I have already written in _Marie,_ which is the first chapter
+in the Book of the fall of the Zulus.  That headed _Child of
+Storm_ is the second.  These pages form the third and last.
+
+Ah! indeed, tout lasse, tout casse, tout passe!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+
+
+
+THE KRAAL JAZI
+
+
+
+
+
+Now I shall pass over all the Zulu record of the next four years,
+since after all it has nothing to do with my tale and I do not
+pretend to be writing a history.
+
+Sir Garnet Wolseley set up his Kilkenny cat Government in
+Zululand, or the Home Government did it for him, I do not know
+which.  In place of one king, thirteen chiefs were erected who
+got to work to cut the throats of each other and of the people.
+
+As I expected would be the case, Zikali informed the military
+authorities of the secret hiding-place in the Ingome Forest where
+he suggested to Cetewayo that he should refuge.  The ex-king was
+duly captured there and taken first to the Cape and then to
+England, where, after the disgrace of poor Sir Bartle Frere, an
+agitation had been set on foot on his behalf.  Here he saw the
+Queen and her ministers, once more conquering, as it had been
+prophesied that he would by her who wore the shape of Mameena at
+the memorable scene in the Valley of Bones when I was present. 
+Often I have thought of him dressed in a black coat and seated in
+that villa in Melbury Road in the suburb of London which I
+understand is populated by artists.  A strange contrast truly to
+the savage prince receiving the salute of triumph after the
+Battle of the Tugela in which he won the kingship, or to the
+royal monarch to whose presence I had been summoned at Ulundi. 
+However, he was brought back to Zululand again by a British
+man-of-war, re-installed to a limited chieftainship by Sir
+Theophilus Shepstone, and freed from the strangling embrace of
+the black coat.
+
+Then of course there was more fighting, as every one knew would
+happen, except the British Colonial Office; indeed all Zululand
+ran with blood.  For in England Cetewayo and his rights, or
+wrongs, had, like the Boers and their rights, or wrongs, become a
+matter of Party politics to which everything else must give way. 
+Often I wonder whether Party politics will not in the end prove
+the ruin of the British Empire.  Well, thank Heaven, I shall not
+live to learn.
+
+So Cetewayo came back and fought and was defeated by those who
+once had been his subjects.  Now for the last scene, that is all
+with which I need concern myself.
+
+At the beginning of February, 1884, business took me to Zululand;
+it had to do with a deal in cattle and blankets.  As I was
+returning towards the Tugela who should I meet but friend Goza,
+he who had escorted me from the Black Kloof to Ulundi before the
+outbreak of war, and who afterwards escorted me and that
+unutterable nuisance, Kaatje, out of the country.  At first I
+thought that we came together by accident, or perhaps that he had
+journeyed a little way to thank me for the blankets which I had
+sent to him, remembering my ancient promise, but afterwards I
+changed my opinion on this point.
+
+Well, we talked over many matters, the war, the disasters that
+had befallen Zululand, and so forth.  Especially did we talk of
+that night in the Valley of Bones and the things we had seen
+there side by side.  I asked him if the people still believed in
+the Inkosazana-y-Zulu who then appeared in the moonlight on the
+rock.  He answered that some did and some did not.  For his part,
+he added, looking at me fixedly, he did not, since it was
+rumoured that Zikali had dressed up a white woman to play the
+part of the Spirit.  Yet he could not be sure of the matter,
+since it was also said that when some of Cetewayo's people went
+to kill this white woman in the Black Kloof, Nomkubulwana, the
+Princess of Heaven herself, rose before them and frightened them
+away.
+
+I remarked that this was very strange, and then quite casually
+asked him whom Zikali had dressed up to play the part of the dead
+Mameena upon that same occasion, since this was a point upon
+which I always thirsted for definite intelligence.  He stared at
+me and replied that I ought to be able to answer my own question,
+since I had been much nearer to her who looked like Mameena than
+any one else, so near indeed that all present distinctly saw her
+kiss me, as it was well known she had liked to do while still
+alive.  I replied indignantly that they saw wrong and repeated my
+question.  Then he answered straight out--
+
+"O Macumazahn, we Zulus believe that what we saw on that night
+was not Nombe or another dressed up, but the spirit of the witch
+Mameena itself.  We believe it because we could see the light of
+Zikali's fire through her, not always, but sometimes; also
+because all that she said has come true, though everything is not
+yet finished."
+
+I could get no more out of him about the matter, for when I tried
+to speak of it again, he turned the subject, telling me of his
+wonderful escapes during the war.  Presently he rose to go and
+said casually--
+
+"Surely I grow old in these times of trouble, Macumazahn, for
+thoughts slip through my head like water through the fingers. 
+Almost I had forgotten what I wished to say to you.  The other
+day I met Zikali, the Opener of Roads.  He told me that you were
+in Zululand and that I should meet you--he did not say where,
+only that when I did meet you, I was to give you a message.  This
+was the message--that when on your way to Natal you came to the
+kraal Jazi, you would find him there; also another whom you used
+to know, and must be sure not to go away without seeing him,
+since that was about to happen in which you must take your part."
+
+"Zikali!" I exclaimed.  "I have heard nothing of him since the
+war.  I thought that by now he was certainly dead."
+
+"Oh! no, Macumazahn, he is certainly not dead, but just the same
+as ever.  Indeed it is believed that he and no other has kept all
+this broth of trouble on the boil, some say for Cetewayo's sake,
+and some say because he wishes to destroy Cetewayo.  But what do
+I know of such matters who only desire to live in peace under
+whatever chief the English Queen sends to us, as she has a right
+to do having conquered us in war?  When you meet the Opener of
+Roads at the kraal Jazi, ask him, Macumazahn."
+
+"Where the devil is the kraal Jazi?" I inquired with irritation. 
+"I never heard of such a place."
+
+"Nor did I, therefore I cannot tell you, Macumazahn.  For aught I
+can say it may be down beneath where dead men go.  But wherever
+it is there certainly you will meet the Opener of Roads.  Now
+farewell, Macumazahn.  If it should chance that we never look
+into each other's eyes again, I am sure you will think of me
+sometimes, as I shall of you, and of all that we have seen
+together, especially on that night in the Vale of Bones when the
+ghost of the witch Mameena prophesied to us and kissed you before
+us all.  She must have been very beautiful, Macumazahn, as indeed
+I have heard from those who remember her, and I don't wonder that
+you loved her so much.  Still for my part l had rather be kissed
+by a living woman than by one who is dead, though doubtless it is
+best to be kissed by none at all.  Again, farewell, and be sure
+to tell the Opener of Roads that I gave you his message, lest he
+should lay some evil charm upon me, who have seen enough evil of
+late."
+
+Thus talking Goza departed.  I never saw him again, and do not
+know if he is dead or alive.  Well, he was a kindly old fellow,
+if no hero.
+
+
+I had almost forgotten the incident of this meeting when a while
+later I found myself in the neighbourhood of the beautiful but
+semi-tropical place called Eshowe, which since those days has
+become the official home of the British Resident in Zululand. 
+Indeed, although the house was not then finished, if it had been
+begun, Sir Melmoth Osborn already had an office there.  I wished
+to see him in order to give him some rather important
+information, but when I reached a kraal of about fifty huts some
+five hundred yards from the site of the present Residency, my
+wagon stuck fast in the boggy ground.  While l was trying to get
+it out a quiet-faced Zulu, whose name, I remember, was Umnikwa,
+informed me that Malimati, that is Sir Melmoth Osborn's native
+name, was somewhere at a little distance from Eshowe, too far
+away for me to get to him that night.  I answered, Very well, I
+would sleep where I was, and asked the name of the kraal.
+
+He replied, Jazi, at which l started, but only said that it was a
+strange name, seeing that it meant "Finished," or "Finished with
+joy."  Umnikwa answered, Yes, but that it had been so called
+because the chief Umfokaki, or The Stranger, who married a sister
+of the king, was killed at this kraal by his brother, Gundane, or
+the Bat.  I remarked that it was an ill-omened kind of name, to
+which the man replied, Yes, and likely to become more so, since
+the King Cetewayo who had been sheltering there "beneath the
+armpit" of Malimati, the white lord, for some months, lay in it
+dying.  I asked him of what he was dying, and he replied that he
+did not know, but that doubtless the father of the witch-doctors,
+named Zikali, the Opener of Roads, would be able to tell me, as
+he was attending on Cetewayo.
+
+"He has sent me to bid you to come at once, O Macumazahn," he
+added casually, "having had news that you were arriving here."
+
+Showing no surprise, I answered that I would come, although
+goodness knows I was surprised enough, and leaving my servants to
+get my wagon out of the bog, I walked into the kraal with the
+messenger.  He took me to a large hut placed within a fence about
+the gate of which some women were gathered, who all looked very
+anxious and disturbed.  Among them I saw Dabuko the king's
+brother, whom I knew slightly.  He greeted me and told me that
+Cetewayo was at the point of death within the hut, but like
+Umnikwa, professed ignorance of the cause of his illness.
+
+For a long while, over an hour I should think, I sat there
+outside the hut, or walked to and fro.  Until darkness came I
+could occupy myself with contemplating the scenery of the
+encircling hills, which is among the most beautiful in Zululand
+with its swelling contours and rich colouring.  But after it had
+set in only my thoughts remained, and these I found depressing.
+
+At length I made up my mind that I would go away, for after all
+what had I to do with this business of the death of Cetewayo, if
+in truth he was dying?  I wished to see no more of Cetewayo of
+whom all my recollections were terrific or sorrowful.  I rose to
+depart, when suddenly a woman emerged from the hut.  I could not
+see who she was or even what she was like, because of the gloom;
+also for the reason that she had the corner of her blanket thrown
+over her face as though she wished to keep it hidden.  For a
+moment she stopped opposite to me and said--
+
+"The king who is sick desires to see you, Macumazahn."  Then she
+pointed to the door-hole of the hut and vanished, shutting the
+gate of the fence behind her.  Curiosity overcame me and I
+crawled into the hut, pushing aside the door-board in order to do
+so and setting it up again when I was through.
+
+Inside burned a single candle fixed in the neck of a bottle,
+faintly illuminating that big and gloomy place.  By its feeble
+light I saw a low bedstead on the left of the entrance and lying
+on it a man half covered by a blanket in whom I recognized
+Cetewayo.  His face was shrunken and distorted with pain, and his
+great bulk seemed less, but still without doubt it was Cetewayo.
+
+"Greeting, Macumazahn," he said feebly, "you find me in evil
+case, but I heard that you were here and thought that I should
+like to see you before I die, because I know that you are honest
+and will report my words faithfully.  I wish you to tell the
+white men that my heart never really was against them; they have
+always been the friends of my heart, but others forced me down a
+road I did not wish to travel, of which now I have come to the
+end."
+
+"What is the matter with you, King?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know, Macumazahn, but I have been sick for some days. 
+The Opener of Roads who came to doctor me, because my wives
+believed those white medicine-men wished me dead, says that I
+have been poisoned and must die.  If you had been here at first
+you might perhaps have given me some medicine.  But now it is too
+late," he added with a groan.
+
+"Who then poisoned you, King?"
+
+"I cannot tell you, Macumazahn.  Perhaps my enemies, perhaps my
+brothers, perhaps my wives.  All wish to have done with me, and
+the Great One, who is no longer wanted, is soon dead.  Be
+thankful, Macumazahn, that you never were a king, for sad is the
+lot of kings."
+
+"Where, then, is the Opener of Roads? "I asked.
+
+"He was here a little while ago.  Perhaps he has gone out to take
+the King's head" (i.e., to announce his death) "to Malimati and
+the white men," he answered in a faint voice.
+
+Just then I heard a shuffling noise proceeding from that part of
+the hut where the shadow was deepest, and looking, saw an
+emaciated arm projected into the circle of the light.  It was
+followed by another arm, then by a vast head covered with long
+white hair that trailed upon the ground, then by a big, mishapen
+body, so wasted that it looked like a skeleton covered with
+corrugated black skin.  Slowly, like a chameleon climbing a
+bough, the thing crept forward, and I knew it for Zikali.  He
+reached the side of the bed and squatted down in his toad-like
+fashion, then, again like a chameleon, without moving his head
+turned his deep and glowing eyes towards me.
+
+"Hail, O Macumazahn," he said in his low voice.  "Did l not
+promise you long ago that you should be with me at the last, and
+are you not with me and another?"
+
+"It seems so, Zikali," I answered.  "But why do you not send for
+the white doctors to cure the king?"
+
+"All the doctors, white and black, in the whole world cannot cure
+him, Macumazahn.  The Spirits call him and he dies.  At his call
+I came fast and far, but even I cannot cure him--although because
+of him I myself must die."
+
+"Why?" I asked.
+
+"Look at me, Macumazahn, and say if I am one who should travel. 
+Well, all come to their end at last, even the
+'Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.'"
+
+Cetewayo lifted his head and looked at him, then said heavily--
+
+"Perchance it would have been better for our House if that end
+had been sooner.  Now that I lie dying many sayings concerning
+you come into my mind that I had forgotten.  Moreover, Opener of
+Roads, I never sent for you, whoever may have done so, and it was
+not until after you came here that the great pain seized me.  How
+did it happen," he went on with gathering force, "that the white
+men caught me in the secret place where you told me I should
+hide?  Who pointed out that hidden hole to the white men?  But
+what does it matter now?"
+
+"Nothing at all, O Son of Panda," answered Zikali, "even less
+than it matters how I escaped the spear-head hidden in your robe,
+yonder in my hut in the Black Kloof where, had it not been for a
+certain spirit that stood between you and me, you would have
+murdered me.  Tell me, Son of Panda, during these last three days
+have you thought at all of your brother Umbelazi, and of certain
+other brethren of yours whom you killed at the battle of the
+Tugela, when the white man here led the charge of the Amawombe
+against your regiments and ate up three of them?"
+
+Cetewayo groaned but said nothing.  I think he had become too
+faint to speak.
+
+"Listen, Son of Panda," went on Zikali in an intense and hissing
+voice.  "Many, many years ago, before Senzangacona, your
+grandfather, saw the light--who knows how long before--a man was
+born of high blood in the Dwandwe tribe, which man was a dwarf. 
+Chaka the Black One conquered the Dwandwe, but this man of high
+blood was spared because he was a dwarf, an abortion, to whom
+Chaka gave the name of the
+'Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born,' keeping him about him
+to be a mock in times of peace and safety, and because he was
+wise and learned in magic, to be a counsellor in times of
+trouble.  Moreover, Chaka killed this man's wives and children
+for his sport, save one whom he kept to be his 'sister.'
+
+"Therefore for the sake of his people and his butchered wives and
+children, this wizard swore an oath of vengeance against Chaka
+and all his House.  Working beneath the ground like a rat, he
+undermined the throne of Chaka and brought him to his death by
+the spears of his brethren and of Mopo his servant, whom Chaka
+had wronged.  Still working in the dark like a rat, he caused
+Dingaan, who stabbed Chaka, to murder the Boer Retief and his
+people, and thus called down upon his head the vengeance of the
+Whites, and afterwards brought Dingaan to his death.  Then Panda,
+your father, arose, and his life this
+'Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born' spared because once
+Panda had done him a kindness.  Only through the witch Mameena he
+brought sorrow on him, causing war to arise between his children,
+one of whom was named Cetewayo.
+
+"Then this Cetewayo ruled, first with his father Panda and
+afterwards in his place, and trouble arose between him and the
+English.  Son of Panda, you will remember that this Cetewayo was
+in doubt whether to fight the English and demanded a sign of the
+Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born.  He gave the sign,
+causing the Inkosazana-y-Zulu, the Princess of Heaven, to appear
+before him and thereby lifting the spear of War.  Son of Panda,
+you know how that war went, how this Cetewayo was defeated and
+came to the 'Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born' like a
+hunted hyena, to learn of a hole where he might hide.  You know,
+too, how he strove to murder the poor old doctor who showed him
+such a hole; how he was taken prisoner and sent across the water
+and afterwards set up again in the land that had learned to hate
+him, to bring its children to death by thousands.  And you know
+how at last he took refuge beneath the wing of the white chief,
+here in the kraal Jazi, and lived, spat upon, an outcast, until
+at length he fell sick, as such men are apt to do, and the
+Thing-that-never-should-have-been-born was sent for to doctor
+him.  And you know also how he lies dying, within him an agony as
+though he had swallowed a red hot spear, and before him a great
+blackness peopled by the ghosts of those whom he has slain, and
+of his forefathers whose House he has pulled down and burned."
+
+Zikali ceased, and thrusting his hideous head to within an inch
+or two of that of the dying man, he glowered at him with his
+fierce and fiery eves.  Then he began to whisper into the king's
+ear, who quivered at his words, as the victim quivers beneath the
+torturer's looks.
+
+At that moment the end of the candle fell into the bottle which
+was of clear white glass, and there burned for a little while
+dully before it went out.  Never shall I forget the scene
+illumined by its blue and ghastly light.  The dying man lying on
+the low couch, rocking his head to and fro; the wizard bending
+over him like some grey vampire bat sucking the life-blood from
+his helpless throat.  The terror in the eyes of the one, the
+insatiable hate in the eyes of the other.  Oh! it was awful!
+
+"Macumazahn," gasped Cetewayo in a rattling whisper, "help me,
+Macumazahn.  I say that I am poisoned by this Zikali, who hates
+me.  Oh! drive away the ghosts! Drive them away!"
+
+I looked at him and at his tormentor squatted by him like a
+mocking fiend, and as I looked the candle went out.
+
+Then my nerve broke, the cold sweat poured from my face and I
+fled from the hut as a man might from a scene in hell, followed
+by the low mocking laugh of Zikali.
+
+Outside the women and others were gathered in the gloom.  I told
+them to go to the king, who was dying, and blundered up the slope
+to search for some white man.  No one was to be found, but a
+Kaffir messenger by the office told me that Malimati was still
+away and had been sent for.  So I returned to my wagon and lay
+down in it exhausted, for what more could I do?
+
+
+It was a rough night.  Thunder muttered and rain fell in driving
+gusts.  I dozed off, only to be awakened by a sound of wailing. 
+Then I knew that the king was dead, for this was the Isililo, the
+cry of mourning.  I wondered whether the murderers--for that he
+was poisoned I had no doubt--were among those who wailed.
+
+Towards dawn the storm rolled off and the night grew serene and
+clear, for a waning moon was shining in the sky.  The heat of
+that stiffing place oppressed me; my blood seemed to be afire.  I
+knew that there was a stream in a gorge about half a mile away,
+for it had been pointed out to me.  I longed for a swim in cool
+water, who, to tell truth, had found none for some days, and
+bethought me that I would bathe in this stream before I trekked
+from that hateful spot, for to me it had become hateful.  Calling
+my driver, who was awake and talking with the voorloopers, for
+they knew what was passing at the kraal and were alarmed, I told
+them to get the oxen ready to start as I would be back presently. 
+Then I set off for the stream and, after a longish walk,
+scrambled down a steep ravine to its banks, following a path made
+by Kaffir women going to draw water.  Arrived there at last I
+found that it was in flood and rising rapidly, at least so I
+judged from the sound, for in that deep, tree-hung place the
+light was too faint to allow me to see anything.  So I sat down
+waiting for the dawn and wishing that I had not come because of
+the mosquitoes.
+
+At length it broke and the mists lifted, showing that the spot
+was one of great beauty.  Opposite to me was a waterfall twenty
+or thirty feet high, over which the torrent rushed into a black
+pool below.  Everywhere grew tall ferns and beyond these graceful
+trees, from whose leaves hung raindrops.  In the centre of the
+stream on the edge of the fall was a rock not a dozen feet away
+from me, round which the water foamed.  Something was squatted on
+this rock, at first I could not see what because of the mist, but
+thought that it was a grey-headed baboon, or some other animal,
+and regretted that I had not brought a gun with me.  Presently I
+became aware that it must be a man, for, in a chanting voice, it
+began to speak or pray in Zulu, and hidden behind a flowering
+bush, I could hear the words.  They were to this effect--
+
+"O my Spirit, here where thou foundest me when I was young,
+hundreds of years ago" (he said hundreds, but I suppose he meant
+tens), "I come back to thee.  In this pool I dived and beneath
+the waters found thee, my Snake, and thou didst wind thyself
+about my body and about my heart" (here I understood that the
+speaker was alluding to his initiation as a witch-doctor which
+generally includes, or used to include, the finding of a snake in
+a river that coils itself about the neophyte).  "About my body
+and in my heart thou hast dwelt from that sun to this, giving me
+wisdom and good and evil counsel, and that which thou hast
+counselled, I have done.  Now I return thee whence thou camest,
+there to await me in the new birth.
+
+"O Spirits of my fathers, toiling through many years I have
+avenged you on the House of Senzangacona, and never again will
+there be a king of the Zulus, for the last of them lies dead by
+my hand.  O my murdered wives and my children, I have offered up
+to you a mighty sacrifice, a sacrifice of thousands upon
+thousands.
+
+"O Umkulu-kulu, Great One of the heavens, who sentest me to
+earth, I have done thy work upon the earth and bring back to thee
+thy harvest of the seed that thou hast sown, a blood-red harvest,
+O Umkulu-kulu.  Be still, be still, my Snake, the sun arises, and
+soon, soon shalt thou rest in the water that wast thine from the
+beginning of the world!"
+
+
+The voice ceased, and presently a spear of light piercing the
+mists, lit upon the speaker.  It was Zikali and about him was
+wound a great yellow-bellied snake, of which the black head with
+flickering tongue waved above his head and seemed from time to
+time to lick him on the brow.  (I suppose it had come to him from
+the water, for its skin glittered as though with wet.)  He stood
+up on tottering feet, staring at the red eye of the rising sun,
+then crying, _"Finished, finished with joy!"_ with a loud and
+dreadful laughter, he plunged into the foaming pool beneath.
+
+
+Such was the end of Zikali the Wizard, Opener of Roads, the
+"Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," and such was the
+vengeance that he worked upon the great House of Senzangacona,
+bringing it to naught and with it the nation of the Zulus.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Finished, by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
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