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diff --git a/36419.txt b/36419.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9dcb18f --- /dev/null +++ b/36419.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6592 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The White Hecatomb, by William Charles Scully + +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: The White Hecatomb + And other Stories + +Author: William Charles Scully + +Illustrator: A.W. Standen + +Release Date: June 13, 2011 [EBook #36419] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WHITE HECATOMB *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +The White Hecatomb +And other stories +By William Charles Scully +Published by Methuen and Co, London. +This edition dated 1897. + +The White Hecatomb, by William Charles Scully. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +________________________________________________________________________ +THE WHITE HECATOMB, BY WILLIAM CHARLES SCULLY. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +THE WHITE HECATOMB. + + "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the + whirlwind."--_Hosea_ VIII, 7. + +"Ehea, Inkosi am. I know by the smell of it that this snuff is of the +same kind as that which my grandson brought from you the other day. +Well, I am thankful that before I die I taste in my nose what really +_is_ snuff. But to think that I should have had to wait all these years +for it;--and now to be unable to see its colour! There, I have kissed +your hand, and that is all I can do to show my gratitude. + +"That one like you--one who can have as much as he likes of such snuff-- +should want to come here and talk to an old woman such as I, is +wonderful. You cannot be old, to judge by your voice. Is it not +perhaps the young women you want to talk to? But give them none of that +snuff,--they are impudent children of no experience, and would not value +it. Well, if it be myself that you want to talk to, my tongue is alive +although my eyes are dead. + +"When was I born, did you say? That I can hardly tell you. I think +that none but myself are now living who saw that day. My father's clan +dwelt far from here, beyond the Tugela river. He was just a common man +of the Amangwane tribe, and he stood close, until the day of his death, +to the great fighting chief Matiwane. In the days of my childhood I saw +nothing but fighting and wandering about. I do not remember when we +first began to wander, but I think my mother was wandering when she bore +me. Tshaka had fallen upon us, the Amangwane, and we, in turn, fell +upon the Amahlubi, whom we followed, fighting, across the Quathlamba +Mountains into a land of wide plains, high mountains, and great rivers. + +"When still a little girl I have often sat on a hill with the women and +the other children, and looked down upon the fighting. When the +villages of the Bathlokua were burnt the sun and the whole sky were +hidden by smoke. + +"Matiwane was one who loved blood. He drank the gall of every chief +that was slain, to make him fierce. When he fled back to the Zulu +country, Dingaan filled his mouth with the liver of an ox, and told the +captive Hlubis to beat him with sticks on the belly until he died. But +that was long afterwards,--after much blood had flowed. Blood, blood;-- +the light died in my eyes many years ago, yet whenever I think of the +days when I was a child, I seem to see a great redness glowing through +the darkness. + +"When Tshaka fell upon us for the third time, he drove us back among the +steep mountains of the Lesuto, and here we said we would henceforth +dwell. After Tshakas `impi' had departed, Matiwane sent back parties to +gather some millet from the ruined fields, for our crops were nearly +ripe when we were driven forth. Then our men took to hunting, and we +lived on what they killed; but there was much sickness among us, because +there was no grain for the children to eat, the little grain we had +being kept for seed. When the children cried with hunger they were told +to wait until the millet grew, for that then their hunger would be +satisfied. + +"The spring rains fell early, and on every mountain-ledge we broke the +ground and planted the millet. It grew as millet has never grown before +or since, in spite of the steepness of the ground, and we used to go and +sit among the high thick stalks, and fondle them, and think that in a +few weeks more we should be feasting upon the food we loved so much and +had been without for such a long time. + +"Just as the grain commenced forming, small flights of locusts began to +arrive from the westward. We stood around the millet patches with +boughs of trees, and drove away the locusts that attempted to alight. +One day we saw a brown cloud arising in the west, and this grew and +spread over the mountain-tops until it covered the whole land. Then the +cloud descended upon our fields, and we saw that it was a great flight +of locusts. + +"Men, women, and children then fought as they had never fought in the +worst days of battle against the spears of Tshaka, but it was all in +vain. Next day the millet-fields were bare, and the men wailed like +women. + +"Then the men sharpened their spears once more, and we set our faces to +the southward. We covered the face of the land like the locusts we were +fleeing from, and the tribes fled before us like game before a troop of +wild dogs. When we crossed the great river (the Orange) we turned to +the eastward, and over-ran the country of the Abatembu, who never stood +to fight us on a single occasion. Then we turned to the northward, and +wandered on, secure in our great numbers, and driving herds of spoil. +At length we crossed the Umtata river and took possession of the +mountain range between that and the Inxu river. Here, we said, we will +make a home, and now we will cease from wandering about like wild +animals. We had spoiled the Abatembu of grain, so we broke the ground +and again sowed millet, of which we gathered a good harvest. We built +huts, and we thought that at length we should have rest. I was then a +young girl, hardly old enough to marry. + +"One day, in the winter-time, we saw great armies coming up against us +from several directions, but we were not afraid, for Matiwane had many +spears, and his men feared not to die in war. One small body of men +clad in bright red garments came towards us, moving together as one man. +When they came close, they stretched themselves out like a snake, and +then they seemed to place tubes like black reeds to their mouths, +through which they blew white smoke. Then our men began to fall dead, +and our hearts were turned to water at this dreadful thing, the like of +which we had never before seen. With the smoke came a fearful noise +like thunder, and we thought that the children of the sky had come down +in wrath to destroy us. Soon we heard a louder thunder, and then balls +of iron fell out of the sky on us, and smashed our men into bloody heaps +where they stood thickest. The Abatembu and the Amagcaleka now moved up +from behind the men in red, and fell upon us with the spear. + +"Then took place a great slaughter, and those of us who escaped from it +were few. Women and children were sought in their hiding-places and +killed with the spear, whilst the old and sick were burned quick in the +huts. My father was slain early in the day, and my mother and I fled +with some others back towards the Quathlamba Mountains, meaning to +reach, if possible, the country of the Lesuto, and place ourselves under +Moshesh, the chief of the Basuto. + +"We fled up the valley of the Inxu river, driving a few cattle before +us. It was in the middle of winter, and at night the cold seemed to +burn like fierce fire. We were pursued by the Abatembu, but they could +not overtake our cattle, and having no food, were obliged to turn back. +When we reached the mountains the feet of our cattle were so sore that +we had to slaughter every beast, and then we went on, carrying the meat. + +"No rain had fallen since our flight began, but as we ascended the +mountains the cold became more and more fierce. Fuel was scarce, and +every morning many lay dead around the fireplaces. + +"Just before we reached the top of the mountain range the weather became +warmer, and black clouds came rolling up. As night fell the wind became +suddenly again cold, and then snow began to fall. + +"That night saw the end of all but me. We crowded together in three +lots for the sake of warmth,--all our clothing had been thrown away in +the flight, so we were quite naked. The women and children crouched in +the middle, and the men placed themselves around and held up their +shields to try and keep off the snow. One ring of men sat on the ground +and held their shields straight up, others sloped their shields +outwards, whilst a few held theirs up with outstretched arms, the whole +thus taking the shape of a hut. + +"We huddled together as close as we could, but the wind carried the snow +in between the shields in fine powder. The chattering of teeth sounded +for a little while louder than the wind, and ever and anon cries of +`Moi-ba-bo' [A native exclamation expressive of anguish or distress] +arose. Then the men in the group next to the one in which I was turned +their spears against each other in their pain, and those of them who +still lived scattered and died among the rocks. + +"After a time the men of the outer ring died where they sat, and the +last thing I remember is that a shield sank down on me; then I fell +asleep. My legs and my body to the breast were covered by the people +lying around me, and I was leaning forward against a man who was quite +dead, although there was a little warmth still left in his body. Before +I slept I ceased to feel pain, and became quite comfortable. + +"I awoke feeling sharp pangs all over me. I could not move, as I was +held fast by the bodies among which I was lying, and the shield above me +was pressing downward with a great weight. All was quite dark, and I +could hear no sound. + +"I struggled hard, and gradually began to loosen myself. Suddenly I +felt something slip away from the shield above me, and then I moved the +shield away easily to one side, and as I did this something seemed to +strike me on the eyes, a great light flashed all around me, and then I +could see nothing, although I could breathe free air. It was this, the +European doctor said, which, years afterwards, caused me to lose my +eyesight altogether. + +"You can understand what had happened:--The sun was shining brightly, +there was no cloud in the sky, but the whole world was white,--white,-- +white;--no one, before or since, ever saw such a whiteness. I had lain +so long under the shield in the darkness, that the sunlight and the snow +burnt into my eyes like lightning. + +"I rubbed my eyes gently, and gradually I began to see. I was still +held fast by the dead people lying around me, but I kept struggling, and +gradually I freed myself. Then I first recollected where I was and saw +what had happened. I cried aloud and tried to remove the snow from the +mound out of which I had dragged myself, but I was too stiff to do much, +and I kept getting dizzy and tumbling down on the snow. + +"Not far off was a rocky bluff, against which the sun was shining +warmly. I crept to a ledge and sat down on some dry grass, from which I +shook off the snow; soon, then, I began to get warmer. After a while I +went back and moved the snow away from one side of the heap. First I +reached a shield, and after some trouble I was able to pull this aside. +Under it I found dead limbs and bodies. I kept removing the snow until +I uncovered my mother's face. I touched it, and found it stiff and +colder than the snow. Then I cried aloud and went away. + +"I then picked up a shield, the stick of which was protruding from the +snow, and went forth to seek for the dwellings of men. As I departed I +passed another mound of snow, out of which I could see the ends of the +shield-sticks protruding. The snow was beginning to melt, and I could +see the limbs of those who had scattered among the rocks, appearing here +and there. + +"I stumbled along over the snow without seeing anything but a dreadful +whiteness, that made the water stream from my eyes. I suffered terribly +from pains all over me, especially in my feet, and I wished for death. +Every now and then the wind blew so cold that it seemed to cut me like a +spear all over my naked body. I tried at first to keep it off with the +shield, but found that on account of my eyes I was obliged to hold the +shield up over my head so as to prevent the bright sunlight from falling +on my face. + +"I wandered on and on until the sun began to fall, and then the thought +came to me to find a place in one of the valleys to die in,--for I did +not want to die on the white, lonely top of the mountain. I had seen no +signs of men or cattle, and I had given up all hope. I no longer wished +to live. Looking down a long slope I saw that in a deep valley beyond +it the snow had disappeared, so I thought to try and get down there, out +of the horrible whiteness which froze my body and burnt my eyes like +fire, and there lie down and die at once. + +"I reached the edge of the valley, which had steep sides, and soon I +found a footpath which led down sideways. This I followed to the foot +of a steep, narrow cliff, where I sat down and rested. Then I heard a +noise as of a stone rolling down the mountain-side, coming from the +other side of the flank of the cliff, so I stood up and went quickly +forward. Just then I heard another noise, and a large stone hurtled +past me, and crashed into a patch of scrub just below. Out of this +several hares leaped, and then ran away over the snow in different +directions. Then I heard a shout from near the top of the cliff, so I +looked up and saw a man bounding down the steep slope. + +"The man was young, hardly more than a boy. He was armed with an +assegai and several light throwing-clubs, and he carried two dead hares +slung over his shoulder. He ran to where I was standing and accosted +me, asking who I was and where I had come from. I began to weep, and +told him everything I could remember. + +"`What,' said he, `are you one of the "Fetcani," who have been slaying +our people? I think I must kill you, because many of my friends have +died under the spears of Matiwane.' + +[The word "fetcani" means "enemies." It was specially applied to the +horde of Matiwane, which was at enmity with all other tribes.] + +"At this I told him that I did not mind whether he killed me or not, as +I was already dying of cold and hunger. Then he examined me more +closely, and after a short time he began to laugh. + +"`Come along,' he said, `I will not kill you to-day. Perhaps you will +grow fat and pretty, and I may by and by take you as my wife. I can at +any time kill you if I want to.' + +"His kraal was not far off. He had come out to hunt hares by rolling +rocks down the mountain-side to drive them from the bushes in which they +were hiding, and then following their tracks through the snow. + +"We reached the kraal, and I was there fed and kindly treated. The name +of the young man was Masubana, and the kraal belonged to his father. +Masubana was his father's `great son.' + +"Two years afterwards I married Masubana. He died long ago--shortly +before I lost my sight. For many years I was poor and miserable; then +my eldest son Ramalebe, who had joined Lebenya's clan, brought me down +here to Matatiele to dwell with him. He also is dead, but his children +give me enough food, and a blanket now and then. + +"Come again, my father, and I will try and think of some more of what +happened in the old days. That snuff seems to make me young again. See +that you give none of it to foolish people of no experience, who perhaps +would not value it at its true worth. Let me once more kiss your hand." + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note.--The foregoing relates to the defeat of the Amangwane horde by +Colonel Somerset at Imbulumpini on August 27, 1828, and its subsequent +annihilation in the pursuit by the Amagcaleka and Abatembu impis under +Hintza and 'Ngub'incuka respectively. Three bodies of fugitives escaped +from the field of battle, only to meet a worse fate than that of being +killed in the fight. One party, the largest, was driven nearly to the +source of the Orange river, and there burnt alive in a valley full of +long grass, in which they had taken refuge. Another made its way to the +north-east, and was cut to pieces by the Amabaca under Ncapay, at the +base of the Intsiza Mountain, in what is now East Griqualand. The third +perished in the manner described in the tale. The horde must have +numbered considerably over a hundred thousand souls. It was completely +wiped out of existence. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +THE VENGEANCE OF DOGOLWANA. + + "The dark places of the earth are full + Of the habitations of cruelty." + _Psalm_ lxxiv. + + "Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit." + _Ezekiel_ XXXII, 23. + +_The Death of the Chief_. + +The old chief of the Amagamedse tribe lay dying in his hut. It was a +warm summer's evening, with a sense of moisture on the almost silent +breeze, which was borne from the other side of the valley, over which a +slight thunder-storm had passed. + +Umsoala, the chief, lay on a mat under which some dry grass had been +spread to ease his loosened bones. He was partially propped against the +body of old Dogolwana, his faithful and tried attendant. Dogolwana sat +with his left arm around his beloved master's waist. He had bravely +sustained for a long time a painfully strained position. + +Sitting silently on the ground, against the circular wall of the hut, +were a number of old men and a few women, all clad in blankets, their +knees drawn up to their chins. Between the centre-pole and the dying +man sat a young woman, who held a little boy of about five years of age +in her arms. On a log of wood, near the dying man's feet, sat the +Magistrate of the district and the District Surgeon. They had been +hurriedly sent for on the previous day when the paralytic stroke, which +was putting a sudden period to the old chief's existence, had fallen. + +The dying chief was a man of enormous build. He was covered by a +blanket to the middle, but his trunk and arms, gaunt and wrinkled with +age, were bare. His chest did not heave, as he was breathing from the +diaphragm. His face was grey and shrunken, and but for the eyes, which +were bright and lively, one might have almost thought him already dead. + +After his lips had been moistened with water brought by the young woman +in a cleft calabash, the chief spoke, his voice at first broken and +trembling, but gaining steadiness and volume under the stimulus of +excitement as he proceeded: + +"I am dying alone... alone... for a man is alone when his children +desert him. Where are my sons? Have they not been sent for?" + +Old Dogolwana replied in a low tone: + +"Yes, my chief and father." + +"My sons, for whose sakes I have striven, leave me lonely at the hour of +my death. There is Songoza, my `Great Son,' whom I have asked the +Government to recognise as chief in my place. I made him rich and now +he is poor. I filled his kraal with cattle, and he has filled his huts +with women until to-day his kraal stands empty. There is Gonyolo, +eldest son of my right hand. I gave him the cattle of his house last +year and told him to keep his mother in comfort till she died. One by +one the cattle are driven to the village and sold for brandy. They tell +me his mother has to go to a neighbouring kraal to beg for a drink of +milk. When I went to visit Bawela a few months ago, I found him drunk +with beer. He and his friends mocked me to my face. The bones of +cattle were strewn around the huts, and a fat cow had just been +slaughtered. And Philip, that I sent to school and kept there until he +had learned nearly as much as a Magistrate--does he not ride around +amongst the people telling them not to listen to my words? Nomtsheke-- +Zoduba and the others--all children, though men in years. And now I am +near my death, and none but this poor little Gqomisa is near me. Come +here, boy." + +The mother half arose and pushed forward the little boy, who shrank back +at first; then crouching down on his face and knees at his father's +side, he began to cry. + +Old Dogolwana seemed to divine what the old chief wanted. He lifted the +powerless arm from the elbow, and let the hand rest on the back of the +crouching child. + +After another sip of water, Umsoala recommenced speaking. He now +addressed the Magistrate: + +"You have always been a father to me and to my people, and your coming +now makes my heart lighter. We have known each other for many years, +and the knowledge has brought trust. This little boy Gqomisa is my +youngest child. There sits his mother Notemba, the daughter of +Dogolwana. I wish to tell you, so that all may know, that the herd of +black cattle here at my `great place' belongs to Gqomisa, and is left in +charge of his mother, old Dogolwana, and Dogolwana's son Kele. I have +paid out their shares of cattle to Songoza and to all my other sons, and +if they should try to take what belongs to this boy, I want the strength +of the Government to shield him from wrong. Will you promise to protect +him?" + +"I will protect him," replied the Magistrate. + +"He is such a little child. It is true he has Dogolwana, and Kele who +is the bravest and strongest man of my tribe, to protect him, but his +enemies will be many. I ask the Government, in its strength, to stand +on his side. I took the side of the Government when the Tshobeni raised +the war-cry in the great rebellion, and the Governor himself told me +that I dammed the flood of war, and that my services would never be +forgotten. I only ask that the Government may now keep my little boy +from harm." + +"I will be his father," said the Magistrate. + +The Magistrate and the District Surgeon had far to ride, so they arose +to take their leave of the dying chief. He was past all possibility of +recovery, and had only a few more hours to live. The Magistrate bent +down and spoke in a voice broken by emotion, holding the time Umsoala's +cold and lifeless hand. + +"I leave you now because I must return to my duties. We will never meet +again unless it be in that land beyond the grave. We have worked +together all these years, and my heart is heavy at parting with you, my +old friend. I only hope that your son Songoza will follow in the ways +of his father." + +"My son, my son. Why is he not here to hearken to my last words? Be a +father to Songoza. Advise him. He is young and headstrong--perhaps the +years may bring him wisdom. Bear with him for the sake of my people, to +whom I have tried to be a father." + +"I will bear with a lot for your sake," said the Magistrate. "Now +good-bye, old friend. I know you are brave, and that you fear nothing +for yourself. You will be all right--wherever you go to. I will try +and influence Songoza for good, and I will protect your little son +Gqomisa. Good-bye... old friend..." + +_The Sepulture_. + +The old chief died next morning just as the day was breaking. +Immediately after his death the women and most of the men left the hut +and dispersed silently. No one was allowed to enter the hut in which +the body lay, and all inquiries were answered with the statement, "The +chief is very near death," or "Our father is about to draw his last +breath." As day wore on a round pit, three feet in diameter and about +six feet deep, was dug on a ridge which overhung the "great place." +Every one then knew that the chief was no more, but custom forbade the +fact of his death to be acknowledged. + +At the same time another excavation was being secretly dug deep in the +heart of a large forest in an adjoining valley. This was the real +grave. Among the more important Bantu clans the last resting-place of +the chief is always kept a profound secret. The object of this is to +prevent an enemy obtaining the bones and, by their means, working magic +against the tribe. + +In the middle of the night, the dead body, with the legs flexed and the +knees bound up to the chin, was borne out of the hut by Dogolwana and +three other old men. It was carried by means of two poles between which +it was slung after the manner of a sedan chair. Avoiding the footpaths, +they hurried the dead chief up the side of the mountain, and then +plunged into the forest, stumbling over rocks and dead trees in their +course. The hoarse bark of the bush-bucks challenging each other echoed +across the ravine, the jackals yelled at the stars from the grassy +hill-tops, and the brown owls moaned from the tall yellow-wood trees. +Every now and then unseen forest creatures would rustle through the +undergrowth, or a frightened loorie flutter away, breaking its bright +plumage against the branches in the darkness. In the broken fringe of +cliff over the river-way a leopard made a dash at a troop of sleeping +baboons which, having heard the alarm-call of the sentinel, darted away +and escaped with hoarse roarings. + +When the bearers paused to rest, as they frequently did, the forest +seemed full of awful whisperings. It contained the graves of the dead +chief's ancestors--secret places known to no living man. It seemed to +the bearers as if the spirits of the dead were abroad in the rustling +darkness, mustering to welcome a long-waited-for companion--a son and +subject made peer by the patent of death. + +They found the open grave. A pit had been sunk, and a large, +dome-shaped excavation made in its side. Dogolwana had already been +chosen for the awful but honourable task of entering this chamber after +the body had been placed there, and finally disposing of the latter for +its long rest. The Kafirs have the most intense horror of a dead body, +and the man who enters the grave-chamber with a dead chief becomes a +chief himself immediately upon emerging--so highly is the dead esteemed. + +The body of Umsoala was placed on a mat, in a sitting posture, facing +the "great place," where the herd of black cattle that he had loved so +well were kraaled every night. The left hand had been bound across the +breast, with the open palm inwards. The right hand and arm had been +allowed to stiffen in a flexed position, and in the hand a spear was +placed, the handle resting on the ground and the blade pointing upwards. +At his side were an earthen pot, a calabash, and a wooden pillow. + +The face of the lateral excavation was then filled up with stones, the +builders saying the while in low tones: "Watch over us." + +"Remember your people in the place to which you have gone." + +"Do not forget that we are your children." + +After the building up of the excavation was finished, the grave was +filled in with earth, and then bushes and twigs were strewn on it so as +to conceal as far as possible all signs of its existence. After this, +Dogolwana and his companions separated, and returned to the "great +place," each by a different course. + +Just before day broke, a bright flame suddenly leaped to the sky--the +chief's hut had been set alight in several places at once. Soon a mass +of flame-shot smoke climbed into the still morning air, in the form of a +massive fiery column with an immense black capital. + +When day broke, old Dogolwana and his companions could be seen just +completing the filling in of the other grave, which had been dug on the +ridge at the back of the "great place." Over it they piled heavy +stones, and afterwards they dragged bushes up and built a surrounding +kraal-fence. Within the enclosure thus formed cattle would be folded +for about two years. A small hut was built in the immediate vicinity, +and here the watchers of the grave took up their abode. According to +native custom these are authorised to beat and rob any stranger coming +near the grave. The persons of the watchers are sacred, and they are +not subject to actions at law, nor can they be put to death for any +crime during the period of their watching. The kraal surrounding the +grave is an inviolable sanctuary even for the worst criminals, and the +cattle folded there may never be killed, nor can their progeny be in any +way disposed of until the very last one of the original cattle has died. + +_The Killing of Kele_. + +In due course, Songoza was duly declared chief of the Amagamedse. In an +address to the assembled people, the Magistrate highly extolled the old +chief, and exhorted his successor to follow Umsoala's example. Songoza +was reticent; he stood with the other sons of the late chief around him, +and listened quietly to the Magistrate's words. The assembly dispersed +in silence. It was evident that the memory of the dead man was not held +in esteem. As a matter of fact he had of late years rendered himself +unpopular by leaning towards civilised methods and ideas, and +discouraging the grosser forms of superstition. Songoza was known to be +reactionary, but as the tribe would have acknowledged no one else, +Government was constrained to recognise him as his late father's +successor. + +Two days afterwards, a messenger came hurrying in from old Dogolwana to +report that Songoza had swooped down and driven off the herd of black +cattle belonging to little Gqomisa. The Magistrate thereupon sent for +Songoza, who, after considerable pressure, consented to return them, so +they were restored, under police supervision, to old Dogolwana. + +The country of the Amagamedse was a border territory, and just over its +bounds lay the country of the Unonclaba, an independent native state. A +few months after the death of Umsoala, Songoza began to profess great +friendship for Kele, the son of old Dogolwana. There took place no +function at Songoza's "great place" (each chief, on his accession, +chooses a "great place" for himself) to which Kele was not specially +invited, and several of the chief's cattle were assigned to him to milk, +according to the custom known as "'Nquoma." + +Songoza arranged to add to his harem a girl of the Unondaba tribe, the +daughter of a petty chief who dwelt about ten miles from the border, and +when the first instalment of the "lobola" cattle were sent, Kele was one +of those selected to take charge of and deliver them. Three men besides +Kele were sent, namely, Pandule, Sogogo, and Rali. + +Just about this time Songoza's mother, Manolie, became ill. She lay on +a mat and coughed. On the fourth day of her illness her pains became +very great, and she kept pressing her hand to her right side and saying +that there was fire within her body. After this she wandered in her +mind for several days. At intervals she partially regained her senses, +and then she kept calling to the chief, her son, to find out who had +bewitched her. So Songoza sent men with an ox to Hloba, a renowned +witch-doctor, who lived at Xabakaza, with a message asking him to "smell +out" the person who had bewitched Manolie. + +Kele, with his three companions, started with the "lobola" cattle on the +day after the messengers went to Hloba. They crossed the border, and +slept at a kraal about five miles from the dwelling of the bride-elect. +Here a goat was killed for them, and they feasted late into the night. +Next morning they arose, lit a fire, and began cooking the remainder of +the goat's flesh in a pot. + +They were sitting round the fire talking, when a man was seen +approaching. This turned out to be Xosa, one of Songoza's Indunas. His +arrival occasioned some surprise, and in response to an inquiry, he +stated that he was carrying a message from Songoza to the bride's +father. Just then, having caught Pandule's eye, he made a quick +movement with his lips, and dropped his gaze. After this, Rali stood up +and walked a short distance away to collect some fire-wood. Xosa +followed him, and said in a whisper: + +"Manolie is dead, and Kele has been `smelt out;' Songoza has sent me to +tell you and the others to kill him." + +Rali, having in mind Kele's great strength and courage, replied: + +"Son of my father, how can we do it? He has his shield, spear, and +club, and some of us will surely die. Why did not the chief send a +larger party?" + +"I do not know," replied Xosa, "but the order is that he is to be killed +at once before he returns over the border to within reach of the hand of +the Government." + +"What plan do you think will be best?" asked Rali. "A blow from a club +would not be safe, for his hair is thick and his head-ring is heavy and +strong." + +"Nevertheless, the club is the best," replied Xosa; "one can stand +behind him as he leans over the fire, and strike him just over and in +front of the ear below the head-ring, where the bone is thin." + +Then they walked back to the fire with the wood, meaning to tell Pandule +and Sogogo as soon as an opportunity should offer. + +Just afterwards Kele stood up and walked away, leaving his weapons +behind. Then Pandule and Sogogo were told. They were much astonished; +all knew that Kele was innocent. They discussed the best mode of +killing him. Pandule was very much against using the club, for fear of +an unskilful blow. Sogogo was a strong man and an expert fighter. So +it was finally decided that the spear should be the weapon, clubs +(amabunguza) being kept in readiness in case they should be required. +Xosa refused to help in the killing by using any weapon. He was not a +strong man, and he said that the chief had only told him to convey a +message to the others. + +After a short time Kele returned, and again took his seat by the fire, +sitting on his heels. Sogogo stood up, yawned, stretched himself, and +took up his spear, which he pretended to sharpen on a stone. Pandule +and Rali also stood up. They took their clubs and began comparing them, +pretending to dispute as to the respective weights and workmanship. +Xosa then moved from where he was, and sat opposite Kele. These two +were now sitting with the fire and the pot of meat between them. + +Then Pandule remarked that the meat must now be sufficiently cooked. +Sogogo continued: "You, Kele and Xosa, lift the pot from the fire so +that we can eat, and then proceed on our journey." + +Rali added: + +"Do not try and lift it by yourself, Xosa, for you are not strong +enough." + +Xosa thereupon seized the pot by the rim on one side with both hands, +and Kele bent forward and did likewise. Then Sogogo, who stood ready, +with his right hand towards Kele's back, plunged the spear into Kele's +left side just below the arm-pit. Kele gave a roar and sprang up, but +Rali and Pandule struck him at the same time on the head and neck with +their clubs. He fell dead across the fire. + +They then took the body and dragged it for a short distance down the +hill to a point where there were some large rocks. After this they +returned to the fire, and found Xosa busy cleaning the meat which, on +account of the overturning of the pot, was full of ashes. + +Songoza sent a present of two oxen to the chief of the Unondaba with an +apology for having soiled the earth of his territory with the blood of a +wizard, and excusing himself on the ground that the unreasonableness of +the laws imposed by the white man prevented him from administering +justice in his own country. The Unondaba chief sent a message in reply, +to the effect that he fully approved of his brother's action, and +sympathised in the inconvenience caused by the vexatious restrictions +imposed by European government. He added that the Unondaba territory +was always at Songoza's disposal for similar operations. + +Old Dogolwana and his wife were nearly mad with grief at Kele's death. +It was the thought of their responsibility in respect of little Gqomisa +that brought them to a condition of outward reasonableness. Kele's +widow and her little baby son came to dwell with the old people, and a +deadly revenge was sworn against the murderers of Kele. + +_The Plot_. + +After Kele's death old Dogolwana redoubled his care of little Gqomisa. +He and Notemba hardly ever let the child out of their sight. Every +night the little one's mat was unrolled between that of his protector +and the wall of the hut. Three of Dogolwana's grandsons--lads between +twelve and sixteen years of age--looked after the cattle. Another +widowed daughter-in-law, with the widow of Kele, cultivated the +maize-field. + +Dogolwana was obliged to dissemble his hatred of Songoza, who, however, +disclaimed all complicity in the killing of Kele, and often visited the +late chief's "great place." No native, even under the Government, could +afford to defy the paramount chief. Dogolwana brooded over his intended +vengeance with deadly persistency. What form that vengeance was to +take, he had not been able to decide, but revenged he would be, so he +chewed the cud of implacable resentment, and bided his time. + +Philip, the educated half-brother of little Gqomisa, often visited the +"great place," and he, as much as Songoza, was hated and feared by old +Dogolwana. Philip was a cold-natured, cunning man. He had dwelt, ever +since his father's death, at the kraal of Songoza, who was completely +under his influence. + +The herd of black cattle, which numbered several hundred head, was ever +in the mind of Songoza, and Philip was continually reminding him that +only the life of little Gqomisa stood between him and his possession. +Songoza was poor--his former wealth squandered in purchasing fresh +wives. He already possessed upwards of twenty, for he endeavoured to +add every handsome girl he saw to his harem. In his sinister mind, +acted on by the evil influences of Philip, the wish for the little boy's +death soon ripened into a murderous resolve. + +Songoza's chief wife Mahlokoza, a woman of considerable force of +character, was the only one of his wives who possessed any influence +over him, and her son Umkilwa, a boy of about seven years of age, was +the only being who inspired him with anything like affection. In his +way, Songoza loved this boy, who already gave evidence of possessing a +somewhat brutal nature. + +Mahlokoza and Philip between them hatched out a plot against little +Gqomisa, and after all the details had been worked out, Songoza was +taken into their confidence. His stupidity would have rendered him +useless in the preliminary stages of the conspiracy. + +About six months after Umsoala's death, in the winter, Mahlokoza's +second son, a child of three years of age, sickened and nearly died. As +the child recovered, Mahlokoza herself became ill, and the witch-doctor +was sent for. After the exercise of most powerful incantations he +announced that the sufferers had not been bewitched by any being of +flesh, but that some evilly-disposed, disembodied spirits, who held a +spite against the "great house," were plaguing them. There existed, he +officially declared to a large assemblage, one, and only one, possible +remedy. The chief must transfer his great wife and her children to the +"great place" of his late father, and there cause to be slaughtered by +him (the witch-doctor) a young black bull from the herd. This sacrifice +would attract the "imishologu," or ancestral spirits, who would rally +round the "great house," and drive away the inimical ghosts. + +Old Dogolwana was obliged to agree to this, and even to assist at the +ceremonial, knowing as he full well did that some treachery was afoot +against little Gqomisa. Mahlokoza, after she and her children had been +sprinkled with the blood of the bull, declared herself much better, and +began making preparations for returning home at once. However, the +function was not yet at an end. The witch-doctor went through some +further most elaborate ritual, and then fell into a trance. On +awakening he declared to have again received a communication from the +spirits dwelling in the unseen, this time to the effect that the great +wife and her children were required to remain at the late chief's "great +place" for at least two weeks, at the end of which period the evil ones, +who dared not venture near so sacred a locality, would have left the +neighbourhood in disgust. + +Here again old Dogolwana was obliged to submit. He now felt that +matters were developing rapidly, and that the crisis was approaching +fast. Mahlokoza and her two sons were assigned a hut next door to the +one occupied by little Gqomisa and his two guardians. + +Trouble began on the very first day--just after the witch-doctor left +and the company dispersed--for Umkilwa and his younger brother fell upon +little Gqomisa with their small clubs, and mauled him cruelly before old +Dogolwana's wife, who was the only one near, could interfere. This was +added as a considerable item to the already heavy account debited +against Songoza and his house. + +However, next day things went somewhat more smoothly. Three of the +black cows were assigned to Mahlokoza's hut for milking purposes, and a +supply of corn was delivered in baskets every day. + +Philip became a constant visitor, and now and then Songoza called in +passing. One morning, about ten days after Mahlokoza's arrival, Songoza +and Philip arrived together. All the visitors were invited to partake +of beer in old Dogolwana's hut. + +Kele's widow, Mamiekwa, was a silent little woman with very bright eyes. +She was continually hovering around Mahlokoza and the others, trying to +hear what they talked about, but hitherto she had been unable to +overhear anything. + +On this occasion she announced her intention of spending the day in a +neighbouring forest seeking for medicinal roots, so she handed over her +baby to old Dogolwana's wife, asking her to look after it until evening. +She managed to whisper to old Dogolwana just before she left: + +"Get them all in here again at sundown to drink beer." + +Mamiekwa gave a hurried glance around to make sure she was not being +watched by any one, and then, instead of going to the forest, darted +into the hut occupied by Mahlokoza and her family. + +Huts of the larger class generally have four poles fixed in the ground +and extending to the roof close to the wall on the side opposite the +door. These poles are connected by horizontal pieces of wood, across +which wattles are laid. Rude shelving, generally in two tiers, is thus +formed, and upon the shelves are kept skins, mats, bundles of dried +rushes, and other bulky articles. In the hut occupied by Mahlokoza the +upper shelf was piled high with rolls of matting. Mamiekwa nimbly +climbed up and lay down amongst these, which effectually concealed her. +Here she lay perfectly still, and hardly venturing to breathe. + +After some little time, Songoza, Mahlokoza, and Philip came in. +Mahlokoza said to Philip: + +"Sit at the door where you can see outside, so that no one can creep up +to listen. That owl-face Mamiekwa is always sneaking near, and I am +sure Dogolwana suspects." + +Philip went and sat right in the doorway, and every now and then looked +out to either side. + +"Is it settled that it is to happen to-morrow night?" asked Songoza. + +"Yes," replied Philip; "and I shall stay here to see that all is +arranged. I must try and dispose of Mamiekwa. If I can manage it, I +will get her to sleep in the hut too." + +Bit by bit the horrible conspiracy was unfolded. In the middle of the +following night, the door of Dogolwana's hut was to be fastened from the +outside, and then the hut was to be burnt with its inmates. Songoza +particularly wished the thing to be done in his absence, but Philip, +whilst agreeing to fasten the door some time after the inmates had gone +to sleep, insisted that Songoza's should be the hand to apply the fire. +Philip knew Songoza well, and did not desire to run the risk of being +made a scapegoat. + +The day seemed very long to Mamiekwa stretched amongst the mats, and it +was with a keen sense of relief that she heard at sundown the voice of +old Dogolwana at the door saying that a pot of beer of a fresh brew, +which had risen splendidly, was waiting to be discussed, and that they +must be sure and bring the children to have some of it. Shortly +afterwards every one else left the hut, so she came down from her shelf. +After ascertaining that the coast was clear, she ran along the pathway +at the back of the kraal, and darted into the forest, whence she emerged +in a few moments, carrying some "mootie" (medicine) roots which she had +dug out, scraped, and hidden on the previous day. + +That night she communicated what she had heard to old Dogolwana, his +wife, and Notemba, and then under the influence of black wrath and +despair, a counter-plot, equally appalling, was hatched. + +_The Vengeance_. + +Next morning Songoza took a friendly farewell, saying that he was going +away on a three days' visit. Late in the afternoon, Mahlokoza went to +the forest to collect fuel, and her two boys went down to the field to +gather sticks of "imfe" (sweet reed). Old Dogolwana had been plying +Philip heavily with beer, and consequently the latter was somewhat +mellow. When the coast was clear, Mamiekwa, to whom Philip had been +making love all day, brought him an earthen pot of beer, over the edge +of which the pink foam was temptingly protruding. She lifted the pot +for him to drink from, and as he stretched forth his head, old Dogolwana +struck him a violent blow behind the ear with a knobbed stick, and he +fell to the ground, stunned. Dogolwana and the two women then bound his +hands and feet securely with thongs which they had in readiness. They +then lashed him firmly to a heavy loose pole which was lying in the hut, +passing the thongs round and round his body and the pole together, so +firmly that he could hardly writhe. They then fastened a gag in his +mouth. Just as they had finished, he regained consciousness, and glared +at them like the trapped animal that he was. A blanket was tied loosely +over his head, and he was than left to his own reflections. + +Upon the return of Mahlokoza with the load of fuel she was treated in +exactly the same way in her own hut. After dark she was carried into +the other hut and laid alongside Philip. The two boys had been easily +secured on their return from the field. They were trussed and gagged in +the same manner, and laid on the ground between their mother and uncle. + +The door of the hut was then securely fastened by lacing a strand of +soft copper wire through the wicker-work, and round stout poles placed +across the entrance, after the manner agreed upon by the conspirators, +as overheard by Mamiekwa. + +Old Dogolwana, his wife, and Notemba, with little Gqomisa, Mamiekwa, and +her baby moved into the hut which Mahlokoza had occupied. Little +Gqomisa had been kept out of the way whilst the terrible preparations +described had been carried out. + +The huts at the "great place" were arranged in the form of a large +crescent, with the cattle kraal midway between the points. The old +chief's hut had been in the middle of the curve. After his death, old +Dogolwana had taken possession of the huts near the right-hand point. +Those huts towards the middle of the curve were uninhabited, being used +as corn stores. Thus, no one dwelt nearer to the hut where the wretched +victims lay bound awaiting their doom than the women and boys occupying +the huts at the left-hand point, beyond the cattle kraal. + +As soon as darkness fell, old Dogolwana and the women barred the door of +the hut which they occupied securely on the inside, and sat in grim +silence awaiting developments. Dogolwana sat listening close to the +wicker door. After waiting thus for some hours he heard stealthy +footsteps approaching, and then some one endeavoured to open the door. +Then Songoza whispered: + +"Philip--Philip, open--it is I." + +The women snored loudly and Dogolwana sat mute and rigid. After calling +Philip's name several times in a low voice, and obtaining no answer, +Songoza crept away. Going softly to the door of the other hut, he +examined the fastenings, which satisfied him that Philip had performed +his share of the contract. He then stole away on tip-toe until he +reached the other side of the hut in which Dogolwana was. Then he sat +down and pulled out a flint, steel, and tinder-box. + +Old Dogolwana and the women could hear the low click, click of the steel +on the flint through the "wattle and daub" wall of the hut. + +The touchwood soon ignited, so Songoza placed it in the curve of a +doubled wisp of dry grass, and then he ran quickly over to the hut which +contained his brother, his wife, and his two sons, one being the only +creature that had ever awakened a spark of love in his cold and cruel +heart. + +The wisp of grass quickly ignited, and with it Songoza ran around the +hut, firing the overhanging eaves every few feet. He then rushed into +the forest. The hut was old and as dry as tinder. The roaring flames +shot up instantly, and within a quarter of an hour the glowing roof sank +down with a thud between the blazing walls. + +About an hour afterwards Dogolwana again heard some one trying to open +the door. + +"Who is there?" he called out, his voice sounding muffled through the +blanket which he had drawn over his head. + +"Open the door, Philip; it is I, Songoza." + +"My chief," replied Dogolwana; "Philip, with your wife and children, is +sleeping in the next hut on the left." + +Songoza gave one frightful shriek, and rushed forth as if driven by +fiends. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +GQUMA; OR, THE WHITE WAIF. + + "A sun-child whiter than the whitest snows + Was born out of the world of sunless things + That round the round earth flows and ebbs and flows!" + + _Thalassius_. + +_One_. + +The fish had been biting splendidly since midnight, and when at dawn we +ran the boat into a little creek which branched from the main lagoon +between steep, shelving, rocky banks overhung with forest, we counted +out eleven "kabeljouws," the lightest of which must have weighed fifteen +pounds, while the heaviest would certainly have turned the scale at +fifty. + +We laid them out, 'Nqalate and I, on the smooth, cool rock shelves. The +fish more recently caught were yet quivering, and the lovely pink and +purple flushes still chased each other along their shining sides. +'Nqalate, like all Kafirs, hated having to touch fish; he regarded them +as water-snakes with a bad smell superimposed upon the ordinary-ophidian +disadvantages. After cleansing the "kabeljouws" under my directions, he +washed and re-washed his hands with great vigour; but, to judge by the +expression of his face when he smelt them afterwards, the result of the +scrubbing was not satisfactory. + +The morning was cool and bracing, and a wonderful breeze streamed in +over the bar at the mouth of the lagoon, where the great ocean-rollers +were thundering. A flock of wild geese arose and flew inland after +their night's feeding, uttering wild screams of delight as they soared +into the sunlight, which had not yet descended upon us. Seamews and +curlews wheeled around with plaintive cries. A couple of ospreys +swooped down and settled on a giant euphorbia only a few yards off. +Ever and anon vivid halcyons skimmed down the creek. In the forest +close at hand the bush-bucks were hoarsely barking, and the guinea-fowls +uttering strident cries. + +While my companion collected fuel, I took the kettle and forced my way +through the bush to the bed of the creek at a spot above the reach of +the salt water. On returning I found 'Nqalate blowing at the fire as +only a Kafir can. Lifting his head out of the smoke, he gave a sneeze, +and immediately afterwards uttered the exclamation: "Gquma 'ndincede!" +This struck me as peculiar. "Gquma," pronounced "g (click) o-o-ma," +means in the Kafir language, "a roar," such as the roar of a lion, or of +the sea; in this instance I took it to mean the latter, and "'ndincede" +means "help me," or "give assistance." After speculating upon this +strange rudimentary suggestion of the widespread habit according to +which divers races of men invoke their respective deities or deified +ancestors after the innocuous process of sneezing, my curiosity as to +how the roar of the sea came to be invoked in an apparently analogous +sense prompted me to question 'Nqalate on the subject. + +"Gquma, whom I invoked," he replied, "is not the roar of the sea, but a +woman of your race who lived many years ago, and whom we, the Tshomane, +look upon as the head of our tribe. You will notice that whenever a +Tshomane sneezes he calls on Gquma." + +"But where did Gquma come from?" I inquired, "and why was she so +called?" + +"Gquma," replied 'Nqalate, "was a white woman who came out of the sea +when she was a child. She married our great chief 'Ndepa, and she and +he together ruled our tribe. She was the great-grandmother of our chief +Dalasile, who died last year." + +The tide was running out swiftly, and I waited impatiently for it to +turn, so that I could re-commence fishing. The sun was now high, and +the breeze had died down to a gentle, fragrant breath. Suddenly the +water ceased running, and began to sway troublously backward and +forward, lapping loudly against the rocks. Then the tide turned, up it +came rushing--this strange, cold, pure, bitter spirit pulsating with the +ocean's strenuous life. Like a singing bird it was vocal with wonderful +words that no man may understand; with joyful tidings from its +habitations in the sea's most secret places were its murmurs thrilling. + +We cast off the boat and let her drift with the current until a good +anchorage was reached. Fishing usually affords large opportunities for +reflection or conversation, and on this occasion 'Nqalate related to me +all he knew about Gquma, and, moreover, gave reference to certain old +men of the tribe, by whom the narrative was subsequently amplified. + +_Two_. + +One autumn morning early in the eighteenth century, some people of the +Tshomane clan, then occupying that portion of the coast country of what +is now Pondoland, which lies immediately to the north-east of the mouth +of the Unitati river, were astonished by an unwonted spectacle. The +wind had been blowing strongly from the south-east for several days +previously, and the sea was running high. Just outside the fringe of +breakers an immense "thing" was rolling about helplessly in the ocean +swell. This "thing" looked like a great fish, such as on rare occasions +had been stranded in the neighbourhood, but it had a flat top from which +thick, irregular stumps, like trunks of trees, protruded. Moreover, +long strings and objects resembling immense mats were hanging over the +sides and trailing in the water. As the rolling brought the flat +surface into view, strange creatures resembling human beings could be +seen moving about on it. + +Such an object had never been seen or heard of by the oldest man of the +tribe. The people assembled in crowds and watched, dumb with +astonishment. Then a shudder went through them. A faint cry repeated +at regular intervals pierced the booming of the surf, and a white +fabric, which swelled out as it arose, was seen to ascend the tallest of +the protruding stumps. The breeze was now blowing lightly off the land. + +All day long the monster lay wallowing. The trailing ropes and sails +were cut away, and the great East Indiaman, impelled shoreward by the +swell, was just able for a time to maintain her distance from the land. +The current sucked her slowly southward, and the crowd of natives +silently followed along the shore. Late in the afternoon the breeze +died down, and the doomed vessel rolled nearer and nearer the black +rocks. Just after sundown she struck with a crashing thud, and +thereupon a long wail of agony arose from those on board. Then she +heeled over somewhat, and it soon appeared as though she were melting +away in the water. By the time night fell, strange objects which the +people feared to touch had begun to wash up; these were stranded by the +receding tide. Nevertheless, the outline of the dark hull could still +be faintly seen when the startled people withdrew to their homes, where +they talked until far into the night, over the wonderful and +unprecedented events of the day. + +At the first streak of dawn the people began to re-assemble on the +beach. The vessel was no longer to be seen, but the strand was strewn +with wreckage of every description, a quantity of which had been flung +high and dry by the waves. When the sun arose the people gained +confidence and scattered about examining the different articles, which +were distributed over an extent of several hundred yards of beach. + +A shout arose, and then a rush was made to a certain spot where, in a +wide cleft of the black reef, which was floored with gleaming white +sand, a strange object had been discovered. Huddled against the rock on +one side of the cleft lay a child, a little white girl with long yellow +hair. She was clad in a light-coloured garment of a texture unknown to +the natives, and around the upper part of her body were tied a number of +discs of a substance resembling soft wood of little weight. + +The people crowded around the spot, keeping at a distance of a few +yards, and gazed with astonishment at this strange creature cast up by +the sea. The night had been mild and the sun was now shining warmly on +the pallid child, who was breathing slowly in a swoon-like sleep. At +length she opened her eyes, they were of the hue of the sky, a colour +never previously seen by any of the spectators in the eyes of a human +being. + +The gazing crowd increased, some of the people who climbed over the +rocks gaining foot-hold on the higher ledges of the steep reef, and +gazing eagerly over the heads of the others who were nearer. At length +an old man, Gambushe, head councillor to Sango, the chief, stepped +forward and lifted the little girl in his arms. She was deathly cold, +and when she felt the warmth of the old man's body she clung to him and +tried to throw her arms about his neck. This, however, the discs of +cork prevented her doing, so Gambushe sate her on his knee, and untied +the string by which they were fastened. She then nestled her face +against his shoulder. The child appeared to be quite without dread; +probably she was accustomed to black faces, but in any case the terrors +of the past night would, for the time being, have dulled her capacity +for further fear. + +The kraal of Gambushe was situated in a valley behind the adjacent +forest-covered sandhills which rose abruptly almost from +high-water-mark, and thither he carried the worn-out child, who had +fallen asleep on his shoulder. A few of the natives followed him, but +the greater number remained on the shore. Their curiosity had now got +the better of the dread inspired by the unprecedented events just +witnessed, and they began to examine and appropriate flotsam and jetsam +from the wreck. Bales, boxes, clothing, and furniture--all things +unknown--were eagerly examined. The bales, on being ripped open, were +found to contain silk and cotton fabrics, which struck the natives with +wonder and delight. + +An order was sent by the chief to the effect that all the property +salved was to be carried to his "great place," which was situated about +five miles away, and thither long lines of laden men, women, and +children wended over the sinuous footpaths. + +In the afternoon dead bodies began to roll in with the curling surf, and +the white, bearded faces of the drowned men struck the excited natives +with fresh terror. All of the Bantu race shrink with the greatest +horror from contact with a dead body, so the people drew back and +gathered together in affrighted groups, to discuss the strange +situation. The wind again blew freshly, and as the sea arose the dead +men came in more and more thickly, some with wide-open eyes, and lips +parted in a terrifying smile. Faster and faster came the bodies, until +the whole beach was strewn with them. Mixed with the bodies of the +Europeans were those of a number of Lascars, of whom the crew was +probably largely composed. + +The people left off removing the wreckage, and sent to the chief for +instructions. In the meantime they retired terror-stricken to their +homes. + +Next morning the chief came down, accompanied by the witch-doctors and +soothsayers of the tribe, who, with hardly dissembled dread, passed +along the strand from body to body. Then they withdrew for +consultation, with ashen-grey faces and trembling limbs. + +They came to a unanimous decision, which was communicated to a general +meeting of the tribe convened next day at the "great place." The +monster that had died on the rocks amidst the white water, was one of +the creatures of the sea sent to bear the little white maiden to the +land of the Tshomane. She, when old enough, was to be the "great wife" +of 'Ndepa, the chief's "great son," then a boy of about twelve years of +age. She was a daughter of the mighty ones that dwell in the sea,--her +marine nature being clearly shown by her long yellow hair, which +resembled nothing but sea-weed. All the dead people strewn on the beach +had been her slaves; they had now been destroyed because she no longer +needed them. + +The chief gave an order that no more property should be removed from the +beach, and that the things taken before the washing up of the bodies +were to be carefully preserved for the use of the white maiden. She had +come to the land of the Tshomane when the sea was raging and thundering +against the black rocks, so her name, said the soothsayers, must be +called "Gquma,"--"the roar of the sea." + +_Three_. + +In those days the European was quite unknown to the Bantu of +South-Eastern Africa. Rumour had vaguely told of the advent of strange +men with white, bearded faces, who had conquered the "Amalawu"--the +Hottentots--by means of the thunder and lightning, over which they had +command. This was, however, regarded simply as one of the many +semi-mythical tales which are always current among uncivilised people. +Now and then, at long intervals, strange, white-winged monsters had been +seen by the Tshomane gliding over the ocean, but these appearances had +been classed with meteors, eclipses of the sun and moon, and other +unexplainable phenomena. Among savages the unprecedented does not +occasion nearly so much astonishment as among civilised men, for the +reason that the former have but a very rudimentary idea of the laws +governing cause and effect. Like the early Christians, to whom the +miraculous was the normal, savages assign all the many things they do +not understand to the category of the magical. + +The explanation of the nature and the advent of the little white waif as +given by the soothsayers was fully accepted. The fair-skinned, +blue-eyed child with the long, shining, yellow locks was looked upon as +a gracious gift from the undefined but dreadful powers that rule the +world from the realm of the unseen, a creature to be fostered and +cherished as a pledge of favour,--to be reverenced as an emanation from +something that had its dwelling where the sea and the sky met, and that +swayed the destinies of ordinary men from afar, something the less known +the more awful. It must be borne in mind that the brandy-seller, the +gun-runner, and the loafer had not as yet nearly destroyed all respect +on the part of the native for the European. + +Little Gquma took with strange kindness to her new surroundings. She +must have possessed one of those natures--more common among women than +men--which can easily assimilate themselves to new surroundings. She +was apparently about seven years of age. She talked freely, but of +course her language could not be understood. One word she repeated over +and over again--pointing the while to herself: "Bessie, Bessie." This +was supposed to be her name, but the one given by the soothsayers quite +superseded it. + +Gquma remained at the kraal of Gambushe, whither all the things saved +from the wreck had been carried--two large store-huts having been built +for their reception. One day when one of the boxes was opened, the +child caught sight of a pair of hairbrushes and a large mirror. These +she at once seized, bursting into tears at the same time. She carried +them away with her, and was soon afterwards seen to place the mirror +standing against the side of one of the huts. Then she sat down before +it, and began brushing out her long, yellow hair, speaking softly to +herself the while. Every day thereafter she spent some time before the +mirror, brushing her hair and sometimes weeping. In some of the other +boxes other brushes were found, and these were put aside for Gquma's +use. + +Three white cows had been assigned from the chief's herd for Gquma's +support, and soon afterwards a law was enacted in terms of which all +pure white calves born in the Tshomane herds were regarded as "Gquma's +cattle," and had to be delivered, when a year old, at Gambushe's kraal. +This tribute was submitted to cheerfully by the people, and it was +considered a token of good fortune when a cow gave birth to a white +calf. In those days virulent cattle diseases were unknown, and in a few +years "Gquma's cattle" had increased to a herd of several hundreds. The +fame of "the child of the sea" spread far and wide, and people used to +come great distances to see her and her wonderful herd of white cattle. + +The property salved from the wreck soon became destroyed by moths and +damp, consequent on bad storage. In the course of a few years nothing +whatever of the textile fabrics was left. At first some attempt was +made to clothe Gquma in garments selected from the salved stores, but +these were mostly of an ill fit, and soon she came to prefer the +untrammelled nakedness of her little native companions. These always +paid her the greatest deference, and acknowledged her authority without +question. She quickly picked up the language of the tribe, and she +appeared to be perfectly happy in her new surroundings. + +In the eighteenth century some of the best ideals of the age of chivalry +were realised among the Bantu tribes of South-Eastern Africa. Battles +were fought for honour and not for plunder; in warfare the lives of +women and children were respected--prisoners were never put to death, +but were held at ransom. After a battle the young men of one side would +often send home their shields and spears by the attendant boys, and +proceed as honoured guests to the kraals of their late adversaries. It +was an age of gentle manners and generous deeds, which withered for ever +when the butcher Tshaka turned the land into a shambles. + +The uneventful years slipped by, and the white waif grew in stature and +beauty. Her favourite ornaments were cowrie and other sea-shells. +Being always regarded as the child of the sea, her fondness for bathing +was looked upon as appropriate and natural. On the level sandy beach +which stretched for miles to the north from the reef on which the ship +had been wrecked, the great rollers of the Indian Ocean swept in, +thundering, and here on sunny days, Gquma with her body-guard of boys +and girls would sport and swim, diving through the combers, and then +looking back to see them curl over and dash with a thud on the hard +smooth sand. On summer days, when the sun beat fiercely on the beach, +they would spend hours on the banks of one of the many streams that +trickled down through the forest, plunging every now and then into some +crystal-clear, fern-fringed pool. + +In cold weather Gquma wore for clothing a kaross made of otter-skins, +which had been tanned to the softness of silk, and sewn together +cunningly with strands of sinew by an old refugee from one of the inland +tribes, which excel as workers in peltries. + +Gquma grew to be a most lovely woman. Her skin had browned to a rich +glowing tint, and the healthy, natural life she led developed her form +to the highest degree of symmetry. She was never asked or expected to +perform labour of any description, the Tshomane people regarding her as +one who should be left to follow her own devices. Those who sent her +would show her what it was good that she should do. + +The one conventional practice which she continued was the brushing of +her hair. Before the wreck she had evidently been taught to take care +of her locks, for from the day on which she wept at seeing the +hairbrushes and the mirror, she had each night and morning brushed her +hair carefully. At night, before sleeping, she would twist it together, +and then coil it around her neck. In the morning when she arose she +would shake it out until it fell over her shoulders to below her waist. +Gquma's brushing of her hair was looked upon as a sort of rite, and the +function was regarded with the deepest respect, more especially as she +often wept softly during its performance. + +The Tshomane clan, which is located in the 'Mqanduli district, +Tembuland, is now of comparative insignificance, but in the eighteenth +century it stood at the head of a tribe of considerable strength and +importance. At the advent of Gquma, Sango had been chief for about four +years. His "great son" was 'Ndepa, who afterwards became the husband of +Gquma. Sango was a man of wisdom, who loved peace, and who kept his +clan as much as possible within its own territory. 'Ndepa took after +his father in character. He was about five years older than Gquma, and +he married her shortly after she arrived at womanhood. + +At the marriage feast of Gquma the whole tribe assembled. By advice of +the soothsayers the great dance took place at the sea shore, and instead +of following the custom in terms of which the bride should have been led +to her husband's dwelling, Gquma and her maidens stationed themselves +midway in the cleft of the black reef, where she had been tenderly +delivered by the destroying waves, and thither the bridegroom went to +ask his bride of the Ocean. Gifts of meat, milk, and beer were cast +into the foam, and the soothsayers read the signs of the murmuring water +as propitious to the union. + +Within a few years of the marriage Sango died, and 'Ndepa became "great +chief"; but Gquma, rather than he, was looked upon as the head of the +tribe. + +Gquma lived only for about eighteen years after her marriage. She bore +to her husband two sons, the eldest of whom was called Begela, and a +daughter, who was called Bessie. Begela inherited the chieftainship +after the death of his father. During the lifetime of Gquma, 'Ndepa did +not take another wife. + +Gquma died of a mysterious disorder which baffled the skill of several +renowned doctors. She lay almost speechless on her mat for many days, +and she became more and more emaciated. Then her mind began to wander, +and her speech was ever of the sea. On the day she died she was, at her +own request, carried down to the cleft in the reef. Just before she +breathed her last, she called for Bessie, her daughter. The child was +brought and placed at her side. The dying mother strove to speak, but +was unable to do so. She partly lifted herself, and pointed across the +sea with her right hand; then she turned, clasped the child to her +bosom, and gave out her life with a long-drawn sigh. In the night a +terrible storm arose, and the shore afterwards was found to be strewn +with myriads of dead fish. + +When the storm subsided, Gquma's body was carried at low tide to the +extreme outside verge of the black reef. After being heavily weighted, +it was cast into the sea, as also were the hairbrushes and the mirror. + +It was noticed that soon after Gquma returned, as all the people +believed, to the ocean that had given her birth, good fortune seemed to +have departed from the tribe which had acknowledged her as its honoured +and beloved chief, and the insignificant remnants of which venerate her +memory even at the present unromantic day. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +THE TRAMP'S TRAGEDY. + + "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your + pearls before swine."--_Matthew_ VII, 6. + +"From Durban, sir. Been a matter of three weeks on the road. Left my +mate at Kokstad, where he 'listed in the Cape Mounted Rifles. Wouldn't +have me because I was half-an-inch too short, and a matter of fifteen +years too old. + +"Yes, looking for a job now, same as lots of others. You're right, sir, +times _is_ mortal hard. I tramped all the way down to Durban from +Johannesburg. No one, barring a black, can get taken on there now. +Twenty years ago this was something of a white man's country;--'tisn't +no more. + +"Yes, it's my own fault; 'most everything that happens to man is, +barring good luck, and that's often sent special by the devil for the +sake of what comes afterwards. Drink? well, _that_ of course. When a +man has been tramping all day long in the hot sun, and then lies down so +tired and blistered that he can't sleep, but lies thinking of the +chances he has lost and the things he has done, small blame to him if he +buys threepenn'orth of forgetfulness, even if it _is_ another nail in +his coffin. Another nail! As if any more were wanted. I tell you, +sir, most of us tramps are dead and damned long ago, and any parson will +tell you that when a man's damned there's no hope for him. + +"Drink? all sorts. `Cape Smoke' is bad, and Natal rum is worse, but of +all the brews to rot the inside out of a man, Transvaal brandy takes the +cake. But I will say this for it: a bottle goes mortal far. I've seen +more than one man killed by a single bottle, through drinking it too +quick on an empty stomach. But I'm too tough; that sort of thing won't +finish me. + +"Let's see. I first took to the road twenty years ago, just after the +alluvial petered out at old `Pilgrim's,' and I've been on it ever since +pretty well, except for a few years in the Transvaal when I was working +on the Boers' farms before the war, helping them to build. I'm a mason +by trade; leastwise I never was in my articles, but I picked it up +natural like. I used to get a job that would keep me on a farm +sometimes for two or three months, and when I got my money, swag it to +the nearest town. Then drunk for a fortnight, and the road again until +I'd found another job." + +["Pilgrim's Rest," an alluvial gold-field in the north of the Transvaal, +rushed in 1873.] + +"Well, I suppose 'most every man has something special to look back +upon; mine, I never talk about. However, you've given me a good feed +and a shake-down, and you don't seem to suspect I'm going to try and +steal your spoons or cut your throat, so I don't see why I shouldn't +tell you about it; anyhow I'll try. Just let me light my pipe, and then +you sit sideways so's you can't see my face, and I'll be able to talk +better. + +"It came about this way: me and a mate left `Pilgrim's' together, +meaning to tramp to Kimberley, but of course we had to get work on the +road. I was just twenty-four years old, and as strong as a horse. I'd +not been drinking long, and you couldn't see by me that I'd ever touched +a drop. + +"At Lydenburg we met a Dutchman who told us of a farm about two days' +journey away, where there was some building wanting to be done, so for +there we started. The place was a little way off our course to the +right, but that didn't matter. Well, we reached it on the second day, +and we were at once taken on. The Boer wanted a `lean-to' built, and +the bricks and mortar were ready. The man who'd agreed to do the job +had hurt his hand and been obliged to go away to a doctor, so the Boer +was right glad to see us. + +"You know, sir, what life is like on a Boer's farm--coffee and biscuit +first thing in the morning, early dinner of meat and pumpkin, and late +supper of bread and dripping; lots of coffee, of course, in between. +This Boer was a good sort and treated us well. We took the job on as a +piece, so we worked hard. We grubbed with the family, listened without +understanding a word when the old man read the Bible and prayed, and +helped them (leastwise I did) to sing hymns. I soon began to pick up a +little of their lingo, learning a few words every day, but my mate +didn't know a word of it, and wouldn't learn. + +"There were lots of children, mostly small, and a young nephew of the +old woman's who lived in the house. His name was Jacob, and he'd long, +black hair and a cock-eye. The two eldest children were boys, and the +next one was a girl of twelve. She and I became great chums. She used +to come out and sit near where I was at work, asking questions about the +bricks and mortar, and teaching me Dutch words. She used to laugh like +the dickens at my way of saying them. Often, when visitors came, or +when the old woman made coffee between meals, as she did three or four +times a day, Hessie (that was her name) would bring me out a cup, and +watch me drink it. She didn't like my mate, who was a surly old bear, +so she would never bring him any, and if I gave him a swig out of mine, +she'd get as mad as cats, and swear she'd never bring me any more. + +"Sometimes she'd ask me all about my people, and get me to describe the +place I'd come from. To hear me describing Manchester in my Dutch would +have made a cow laugh. She'd want to know all sorts of things, whether +I'd any sisters, and what they were like, and if I'd a sweetheart, and +whether I'd ever come back again to the farm after the job was finished. +She always used to call me `Vellum.' + +"Well, the job was finished at last, and me and my mate left the farm +with about ten pound each, meaning to go straight to Kimberley. Hessie +took on a powerful lot when I said good-bye to her, crying and sobbing. +I was very sorry to say good-bye too, and I sent her back a present of a +red leather belt with a big steel buckle from Middleburg, where we +dossed down the first night after leaving the farm. + +"I don't know how it was, but although I met four or five of my old +chums, I never touched a drop of drink at Middleburg, and what's more, I +didn't want to. My mate wanted to, sure enough, but I wouldn't let him; +and to be quite safe we went and slept just outside the town, where we +couldn't see the lights in the bars, nor hear the boys shouting. + +"Next morning we started for Pretoria, and there we both got on the +bend. In a week all our money was spent, and we were then kicked out of +the hotel. Next day me and my mate got blaming each other, and it ended +in my giving him a most almighty hammering, after which we parted. + +"I hung about Pretoria for a while, loafing mostly, and doing odd jobs. +Then I got work in the country again, and when it was finished, went +back to Pretoria and drunk out what I'd made. This sort of thing went +on for about five years--a few months' work at which I'd earn a bit of +money--then a couple of weeks' spree. After this a loaf around looking +for jobs and picking up whatever I could get. + +"You're right, sir, sometimes I was in very low water. I've lived with +the niggers in the locations at the lower end of Pretoria, and I've seen +some queer sights. I lay ill in a hut there once for three months, and +never had a doctor near me; a woman just physicked me with roots, and +did me a power of good. When I got better I swore off drink for the +twentieth time, and then, as luck would have it, I dropped on a Dutchman +who wanted a house built. He lent me a couple of pound to buy clothes +with, and then loaded me up on his wagon and took me to his farm, which +was not very far from Middleburg. + +"After the job, which took me four months, was finished, instead of +going back to Pretoria I thought I'd drop round and see how little +Hessie and the others on the farm where I'd got my first job over five +years ago, were getting on. I'd more than twenty pound in my pocket, +and as I'd nearly died through spreeing after I was sick a few months +back, I made up my mind to keep on the straight, at all events for some +little time to come. + +"So I bought an old pony and a secondhand saddle from the man I'd been +working for, and then I rode into Middleburg, where I got a bran-new +rig-out at one of the stores. Next day I went on to Hessie's farm. The +old man and the old woman were away visiting, and the children, who were +nearly all standing outside, had grown so that I hardly knew one of +them. It seemed funny that none of them knew me from a crow. + +"I just hitched my horse on to a stake, and went straight up to the +front door. Not one of the children had recognised me, so they just +lolled about and took no notice, same as Dutch children pretty nigh +always does. The door was open, but I knocked, meaning to ask for +Hessie, and after I'd seen her and got a cup of coffee, to go back to +Middleburg. Just then, after I'd knocked, there came down the passage a +tall, strapping young woman with the prettiest face I'd ever seen. She +shook hands same as the Dutch always do with strangers that come on +horseback, and asked me to come inside, so inside I came. I sat down on +the old `bank' (sofa) with the straight back and the bottom of crossed +thongs, that looked just as if no one had sat on it since I'd left the +farm, and then I began to ask the young woman about Hessie. When she +heard my voice she gave a start, and then jumped up and called out in +her own language: `Why it's Vellum,' so it turned out to be Hessie after +all. She just ran at me, holding out both her hands, and laughing and +blushing. Well, in less than no time I was talking to her about all +sorts of things, and drinking cups of coffee as hard as ever I could. I +could now speak Dutch quite well, but she'd hardly give me a chance to +speak at all, being so full of questions, and asking another before I'd +had time to answer the one. She was a wonderful pretty girl--very +plump, with brown eyes and hair, and rosy cheeks. I'd never have known +her again. She kept saying she wondered how it was she'd not known me, +and then she'd get quite sad like, and say she thought I looked terrible +old, and asked me if I'd had lots of trouble. I said yes, and then she +pressed me to tell her what my trouble was. I told her a long yarn +about my father and mother having died, and myself having been laid up +for three months with fever (which was my name for the `rats,' and +worse). I felt so bad at deceiving her, that I was sorry I'd come back. +All at once she jumped up and ran out of the room. When she returned +her cheeks were very red, and her eyes bright. After a while I noticed +that she had put on the belt I'd sent her long ago as a good-bye gift, +and then that it was still nearly new. Then she called in her brothers +and sisters, and we all shook hands, and they made me welcome all round. + +"Well, she made me off-saddle my horse, and would hear of nothing but +that I must stay for the night. It was just a piece of luck my finding +any one at the farm, because the old man was preparing to shift to +another farm up near Lydenburg, which he had bought. That evening we +sat up late in the `voorhuis' (parlour), and talked to one another long +after every one else had gone to bed. Hessie told me all about herself, +how she had missed me, and how she used to wonder where I was, and +whether we'd ever meet again. + +"I lay that night, not in the little outside room that I'd used before, +but in the big strangers' room, where there was a four-poster with a +feather-bed so thick and soft that a bigger man than me might have got +lost in it. Will you believe me, sir, when I tell you that I didn't +sleep a wink? I just lay awake thinking of the life I'd been leading +and the things I'd done, and feeling as if I'd made everything I touched +dirty. Then the way I'd had to lie to the girl made me feel so hot that +I'd to kick off all the blankets, and that ashamed, that if I'd known +where to find my saddle and bridle I'd have stole out and cleared. + +"Next day the old man and the old woman turned up, and right glad they +were to see me, too. They said I must stay on for a spell. Then the +old man remembered that he wanted some building done at the other farm, +so he asked me to go there with them and take on another job. This I +agreed to do, and Hessie was that glad, her eyes just danced. + +"In about a fortnight's time we packed the wagons and started for the +new farm, which lay in the mountains about fifteen miles, just as the +crow flies, to the westward of Lydenburg. We reached there in four +days, and I began building at once with bricks from some old walls which +we broke down. There was a sort of a shanty already standing, but the +old man wanted a bran-new house put up, and I took on the contract to do +the mason-work, assisted by his boys. What with brick-burning and +laying the foundation, it promised to be a six months' job. + +"I just lived with the family like in the old days, only friendlier. +Hessie could not do enough for me, and talked and went on with me just +like she used to as a child. By and by this young woman's fondness +began to make me feel queer. I was very fond of her, too, but a bit +afraid of her at the same time; she was so mortal good and innocent, and +the worst of it was she believed me to be the same. Many's the time +I've been sorrowful for days together through thinking of my past life, +and wishing it had been different. Supposing I'd kept on the straight +those five years, I might perhaps have put by enough money to buy a +little farm, and then have married Hessie; for the old man liked me and +would, I'm pretty sure, have helped us with some stock. These thoughts +used to worry me more and more; it was just terrible to think of the +chance I'd lost. And then the girl got fonder and fonder of me, and +used to look sad when I'd keep out of her way, as I often did for two or +three days at a spell. + +"No, I never once thought of trying, as you say, `to live down the +past,' and marry her. You see, I couldn't. There were good reasons +against it. I've not told you half about the life I led those five +years. Drink alone was enough. I knew that sometimes when the thirst +for lush took me, nothing on earth would keep me from drinking. Once I +went to Lydenburg where I was not known, and stayed a week just because +I felt I must go on the bend. I was drunk on the quiet for three days +in a back room of the hotel, and then I stayed four days sober before +returning, so as to let the signs work off. But there was worse than +the drink... + +"After I'd been on the farm about six months, young Jacob, the old +woman's nephew, turned up. He had been away down colony for nearly a +year. Jacob had grown into a long, thin, slouching galoot with a yellow +face and a live-long-day scowl. His squint made him seem to be always +looking round the corner. He, it turned out, had asked Hessie to marry +him just before I'd conic back, and she'd not said no, nor yet yes, to +him; but just that she wanted to wait a bit, and that she'd see when lie +returned from the colony. I soon saw that Jacob was hot spoons on +Hessie, and dreadful jealous of me. For a while I enjoyed making him +mad, but when I saw how bad he looked I got sorry for him, and tried to +avoid the girl. Then _she_ began to look miserable, and, I can't tell +you, what with one thing and another, I didn't just know where I was. + +"One day, just about a month before I expected the job to be finished, I +was standing by myself working at pointing the foundation, when who +should come round the corner but Hessie. She sat down on a stone close +by. `Vellum,' says she, `Jacob has again been asking me to marry him, +and I've told him I won't.' `But,' says I, `why don't you marry him, +Hessie? he's got a good farm, and I'm sure he's fond enough of you.' + +"When I'd begun speaking I'd my face towards my work, and just when I +stopped I turned to look at Hessie. She was leaning forward with her +mouth half-open and her cheeks pale. For a while she didn't speak. +Then she gave a gulp and said, breathing hard: `Oh, Vellum, is it you +who says that to me?' I felt that sorry, I could have cut my throat. I +knew now that I loved the girl as I'd never loved any one else, and here +she was offering herself to me and I couldn't take the gift. I cursed +my own folly again only hotter, and what with one thought and another, I +clean forgot for a few moments where I was, and that Hessie was there. + +"When I looked round again Hessie was still staring at me, and then the +thought came to tell her a lie which would hurt a bit at first, but do +her good in the end. So I just said in a sort of jokey way: `Why, +Hessie, if I weren't a married man I'd think you were in love with me.' + +"At that she gave a start and another gulp and said: `Are you truly a +married man, Vellum?' Well, thinks I, it's no use turning back now, so +I said: `Yes, Hessie; didn't you know I've been married four years, and +that my wife has gone to stay with her people at Potchefstrom?' At this +she just stood up, and walked away. + +"Well, thinks I to myself, the sooner I'm out of this the better; but of +course I couldn't leave before my job was finished. I saw very little +of Hessie now except at table. She went about very pale, and never once +looked me in the eye, for which I was very thankful. Not many days +after our talk, the old man told me she'd promised to marry Jacob, who, +all the same, seemed to scowl worse than ever, and looked as mean as a +rotten banana. + +"As bad luck would have it, no sooner was my contract finished than the +war with the English broke out. Then Lydenburg was in a state of siege, +so I couldn't get away. After a while a lot of Boers trecked on to the +farm, and formed a `laager' there. Then a commandant came from near +Pretoria, and took charge. This happened to be a man who'd often enough +seen me blind drunk in the streets between my spells of work. I'd done +a job for him, too, and he'd humbugged me out of two pound ten. I felt +sure he'd told my old man all about me, but beyond looking a bit strange +for a day or two, it made no difference in him or in the old woman--they +were just as kind as ever. But all the other Boers looked very sour at +me, and would never answer when I'd speak to them. + +"Jacob had a cousin who was a parson--and the dead spit of him--right +down to the squint and the scowl. He was what they called a `dopper,' +[a South African Calvinist], which means in parsons one who sings very +slowly, and speaks through his nose. This chap came one Sunday and +preached to the Boers. His sermon was all about some folks called the +Amalekites, and a chap called Agag, and that the Lord's chosen people +must hew to pieces all folks who weren't chosen. He also told them they +were to be careful of spies, and he talked a lot about wolves in sheep's +clothing. I was a long way off, but he ramped and shouted so loud, I +could hear it all. + +"Next day the old man told me on the quiet that I was suspected of being +a spy, and that my life was in clanger. I told him this was ridiculous, +because I'd been on the farm for months before the war began, and had no +friends outside the `laager.' He said he knew this, but that all the +others were against me, and I must be careful. + +"A couple of days after this the old man told me I'd have to clear out +without further delay, because all the other Boers hated me like poison, +and they meant to try me by court-martial for being a spy, and perhaps +shoot me. He said that Jacob would take me away on horseback that +night, and then I could lie by during the following day, and make my way +to the English lines at Lydenburg when it got dark again. Just after +midnight we were to creep away to a bush where our horses would be tied, +and ride on from there. The old man gave me twenty-five pounds, which +was all the money he had by him, and said he would send me the balance +when the war was over, and I'd given him my address. + +"That night I went into my room, and pretended to go to bed as usual. I +just put my few little things together, and then I blew out the candle +and sat waiting in the dark, feeling very lonesome and uneasy. + +"By and by I heard a light tap at the door, so I opened it, and there I +found Hessie with a Hottentot servant-girl named Griet, who used to wash +my clothes. They came in on tip-toe, shut the door, and then Hessie +drew me to one side and whispered very softly: `Vellum,' says she, `you +must do what I tell you now, quickly, and ask no questions.' `All +right, Hessie,' says I, `what am I to do?' `You must go into that +corner of the room and take off all your clothes, and I will do the same +in the opposite one. Then Griet will bring yours to me and mine to you, +which you must put on. Do this at once, and then I will tell you the +rest.' + +"I could tell from the girl's way of speaking that she was very much in +earnest, so without saying anything I just went into the corner and took +off my clothes. In a few moments Griet carried them away, and brought +me Hessie's, which I put on. They fitted me quite well. + +"Just then Hessie stepped out of her corner and came to me in the dark. +`Now, Vellum,' says she, `just go with Griet, and when she tells you, +steal out of the "laager" and follow her. Then walk as quickly as you +can along the Lydenburg road until daybreak, when you must hide in the +bush until night comes again. From there you can easily reach the +Lydenburg "laager" before next morning.' + +"She then took my two hands and pressed them very hard. `Vellum,' says +she, `we will never meet again; think kindly of me, for I love you very +dearly.' She then let go my hands, and put her arms around my neck. +`Good-bye, Vellum,' says she, `give that to your wife when you see her,' +and then she gave me a long, loving kiss. Then she and Griet left the +room together, before I'd been able to say a word. + +"Now that I knew I'd never see Hessie again, I felt more knocked of a +heap than I'd ever felt in my life, and hot with shame at the lie I'd +let her go away believing. I sat in the room and waited for about an +hour, feeling quite queer in Hessie's clothes, and liking to feel that +what now touched me had touched her that was so good, and wondering +whether, if I escaped, I'd have the grit in me to try and be a better +man for her sake. I had a big `cappie' on, which quite covered my face. +I kept wondering why the plan for getting me away had been changed; but +I guessed Hessie had some good reason for what she'd done. + +"Then Griet came in and told me to follow her quickly. We went out by +the front door. She was barefoot, and I just in my socks, and carrying +my boots. We crept round the house in the shadow of the wall, and stole +down the garden, which was long and narrow, with quince hedges on each +side. We crossed a stream of water at the other end, and then walked +quickly up the hill opposite, until we came to the road, along which we +went as hard as we could. Then I wanted to put on my boots, so we +turned a bit out of the road, and sat down under a bush. + +"Griet then said she'd go back, so I gave her half-a-sovereign for +herself, and my kind love and thanks to take to Hessie. Griet told me I +was to listen for a horse's footsteps, and when I heard this, to take +cover until the horseman had passed. Griet then said `Good-bye, Boss,' +and we shook hands, and she went back. + +"I walked along the road as quick as I could, and after going for about +a quarter of an hour I heard a shot far ahead. This gave me a bit of a +start, but I knew there was nothing for it but to keep my ears and eyes +open, and go straight on, so straight on I went. + +"Soon after this, I heard the sound of horses' feet coming on in front, +so I just went a few yards out of the road, and lay down among some +rocks. In a few minutes a man rode past leading a horse by the bridle. +This was Jacob, and he was laughing to himself quite loud. After +passing me by a few yards, he stopped and dismounted. Then he let go +the horse he had been leading, and gave it a heavy kick in the stomach. +The horse just trotted away a few yards and began to feed. Jacob +mounted again and rode on, still laughing. I tried to think what all +this meant, but it got over me altogether. The last thing I heard of +him was his laugh. What made it so queer was that I'd never heard him +laugh before. + +"After Jacob had got well past I went over to the horse, which was still +feeding, and found it was my old moke, ready saddled-up. Here, thinks +I, is a bit of luck; so I got on him and rode away, taking it easy, for +I knew I could not reach Lydenburg that night, and I meant just to +overhaul a gully full of scrub that I knew of about ten miles ahead, and +where I could lie by next day. + +"As I was going slowly along, my old horse began to cock his ears and +snort, and then he gave a shy that nearly threw me out of the saddle. I +looked, and saw something lying just at the side of the road. It was +not a very dark night; there was no moon, but the stars could be seen +every now and then through the flying scud. Seeing that the thing lay +quite still, I got off to look more closely at it. I found it was a +dead body... I at once thought of the shot and of Jacob's laugh. I +noticed a big slouch hat lying alongside, which somehow reminded me of +my own. + +"I laid my hand on the body, and found that it was quite warm. I felt +farther and found... My God!... It was Hessie! + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +"She was quite dead, shot from behind through the back and chest... I +was standing in a puddle of her blood... I saw it all now. That +damnable scoundrel Jacob had brought her out here and shot her, thinking +it was me. She had found out his meaning in offering to take me away, +and come and died in my place... + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +"So now you can see, sir, why it is of no use your talking to me of +`turning over a new leaf,' and `leading a different life.' I'm sick and +tired of everything, and I'll be a drunken tramp until I die in a ditch. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +"When the war was over I went back to look for Jacob and kill him at +sight. But the devil had got the best of me. Jacob's neck had been +broken by the capsizing of a wagon... I often hear that laugh of his... +Some day I'll hear it in hell." + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +THE SEED OF THE CHURCH. + + "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." + + Tertullian. + +_One_. + +Matshaka sat on a stone on the highest south-eastern spur of the Intsiza +Mountain, just overlooking the Rode Wesleyan Mission Station, one Sunday +morning in the month of November 1880, and listened to the faint +throbbing of the church bell. Beyond the mission, the broken hills of +Pondoland, divided by the winding Umzimvubu--"the river of the +sea-cows"--stretched away towards the ocean until they merged with the +sky in an opaline haze. Around the Intsiza and on the surrounding +mountain ranges the air was clear; and the distant features of the +landscape looked unnaturally near--an almost certain sign of imminent +rain. + +It was the season of thunder-storms. The sun beat fiercely into the +glowing valleys, but on the mountain-tops the air was cool. Already the +heavy cumulus clouds were curdling over the distant Drakensberg, and +raising their white and shining masses over the near Xomlenzi range. In +the course of a few hours they would unite and sweep over valley and +mountain, with shoutings of thunder and wind, and volleys of lightning, +hail, and rain. + +Along the almost invisible footpaths the people could be seen +approaching the church from many directions. They suggested ants slowly +creeping to a nest. Matshaka looked at them and thought deeply. The +light breeze that almost invariably streams for hours against an +approaching thunder-storm carried to his ear the clear notes of the +bell. The beats grouped themselves in sets of three: what was the bell +trying to say? It seemed as if a word were being repeated over and over +again in the ringing. At length he found it--"Intsiza, Intsiza, +Intsiza;" that was the word. "Intsiza" in the Kafir language means +"refuge." The mountain was so called on account of its broken and +involuted valleys which, in the oft-recurring inter-tribal wars between +the Pondos, the Bacas, and the Xesibes, afforded a refuge to the +vanquished. And now the church bell tolled out the word so clearly that +Matshaka wondered how the thing could ever have puzzled him--"Intsiza, +Intsiza, Intsiza." + +Matshaka was a Pondo. A heathen and a polygamist, he had lived his +fifty years without a single aspiration towards anything better than the +surrounding savage conditions afforded him. A man of strong character, +he had amassed considerable wealth, and attained to an influential +position in his clan. From where he sat listening to the bell he could +see a large herd of his cattle grazing in the valley below his kraal, +which was situated about four miles from the Rode Mission. + +Pondoland, like every state under savage rule, was the scene of cruelty, +oppression, and misgovernment in most forms. Exposed to the unchecked +rapacity of the chiefs, the unhappy people were always in danger of +death, or confiscation of their property upon some puerile pretext. The +one quality which was of advantage to its possessor was cunning. +Frugality and industry resulted in the amassing of wealth, and wealth +excited the envy and cupidity of the rulers, who, through the agency of +the witch-doctor, were never at a loss for a pretext for "eating up" the +owner. Courage availed little, for what could one do against numbers? +Honesty would have been ridiculously out of place; conspicuous ability +minus cunning would have excited sure and fatal jealousy. Cunning +combined with force of character generally enabled a man to die a +natural death--even though rich; provided, of course, that he had been +judiciously liberal in the right quarters, and had consistently +supported the strong against the weak. + +Matshaka had used strength and cunning, had used them unscrupulously, +and prospered accordingly. Throughout his long life he had stood on the +side of the oppressor, and shared the spoil of the oppressed. The words +"right" and "wrong" had, practically speaking, no meaning for him. But +quite recently, something like the first faint glimmerings of a moral +sense awoke in his soul. The glaring and palpable frauds of the +witch-doctor had never deceived him, his intellect was too acute and his +temperament too reasonable. Lately, a vague and undefined sense of +general dissatisfaction with his surroundings had gradually grown, and +after this developed the conviction that everything he knew, himself +included, was utterly and hopelessly bad. Thereafter the "beer-drink" +knew him no more, he held aloof from the "eating up," which had been his +favourite and profitable diversion, and he begun to shun his fellow-men. +Soon he became an object of suspicion. + +Matshaka sat on the mountain-top and looked at the church far below him. +It was built on a spur which ran out abruptly from the lower zone of +the Intsiza. The bell had ceased ringing, but the beats still kept +sounding in his head. Intsiza--Refuge. Yes, the mission was at least a +refuge for those fortunate enough to escape from the dreadful "smelling +out," a sanctuary which had always been respected. He had, on the +previous Sunday, attended church for the first time in his life, and +what he heard there increased his dissatisfaction and unrest ten fold. +He could not have told what it was that impelled him to go. He had, of +course, often heard accounts of what was taught in churches, but the +idea of an omnipotent God coming into the world in the semblance of a +poor and insignificant member of a despised class, had always appeared +to him as ridiculous. The son of God going out mightily to war with a +blood-red banner streaming over him would have seemed appropriate to his +conception of deity, but meekness and submission as attributes of +Godhead were too preposterous. + +Yet some of the things he had heard on the previous Sunday stuck in his +memory. "Come unto Me, all ye who labour and are heavily laden," +impressed him particularly. He himself was one of the heavily laden; +who and where was the God that gave relief to such? Matshaka sat +thinking over this until long after the service was over, and he was +still thinking of it when the faint beats of the bell, which was now +sounding for afternoon service, fell upon his tense ear. As if in +answer to his unspoken questions the wind swept up the one clear word: +"Intsiza, Intsiza, Intsiza." + +The sun suddenly darkened, and, glancing to the westward, Matshaka saw +the great bulging thunder-clouds sweeping up in a serried mass. He +arose and quickly descended the mountain. He reached his dwelling just +as the storm broke. + +_Two_. + +The germ of unrest planted in the congenial soil of Matshaka's mind grew +and branched until it filled and dominated the man's whole being. The +result was a condition of hyperaesthesia. He seemed to be more alive +than formerly; things previously unnoticed forced themselves on his +attention and became significant with mysterious meanings. Everything +in his environment hurt him. His wives were mere animals that he had +purchased for his pleasure and use, his sons and daughters were mere +savages without his force of intellect. He had hitherto held aloof from +all who were Christians, and had strenuously opposed the missionaries. +Now, however, he felt a pressing need for intellectual and spiritual +communion, but there was not a living soul in the whole circle of his +acquaintance with whom he felt he could speak of what was torturing him. +His thoughts seemed to focus themselves upon the missionary at the +Rode, but he could not make up his mind to speak. What he really needed +was some one to explain to him his own mental and spiritual condition, a +talker rather than a listener. His longings were quite undefined, and +their object utterly unintelligible even to himself; had one asked him +as to the nature of his trouble he could hardly have even guessed at its +nature. + +During the week of suffering following the Sunday spent upon the +Intsiza, one idea continually haunted Matshaka, the idea of becoming a +Christian. When first this presented itself the notion was summarily +dismissed, but it kept persistently recurring. Public opinion is +probably a more potent coercive among savages than among civilised men, +and for an intellectual savage with Matshaka's antecedents to turn his +back on the traditions of a lifetime, and cleave publicly to what his +fellows held in contemptuous scorn, involved consequences that might +well appal the bravest. + +Next Sunday, however, found Matshaka at the Rode Church. When he +arrived there were not more than a dozen persons in the building. It +was a rainy day, and the congregation was consequently small. He took +his seat right at the back, in one of the corners, and from there +watched the dripping worshippers as they arrived one by one. An old man +named Langabuya especially attracted his attention. This man had been +"smelt out" for witchcraft some seven or eight years previously, and +Matshaka had assisted at his "eating up." He had managed to gain the +sanctuary of the mission, and thus to save his life. He had been a rich +man, almost as rich as Matshaka, but all his possessions had been taken. +Now he lived at the mission, his sole substance, as Matshaka knew, +being a few goats. Yet he looked contented with his lot, and at peace +with all men. + +The service began with a hymn sung by the congregation. The natives are +natural musicians, and they easily acquire the faculty of part-singing. +The harmony seemed to intensify the discord and unrest of Matshaka's +troubled spirit; all the events of his turbulent life seemed to crowd in +on his mind as the past is said to overwhelm the consciousness of a +drowning man. + +The hymn over, a prayer was said by the minister, but it made no +impression on Matshaka; the ideas were pitched in a key to which his +mind could not yet vibrate. After the prayer another hymn was sung, and +then the minister opened the Bible and said he was going to read the +Word of God. This statement set Matshaka's mind on the alert; now he +would hear the very words spoken by the majestic and all-powerful God to +the men He had made. It was with an almost sick feeling of +disappointment the forlorn man soon learnt that the words being spoken +were not those of the God towards whom his spirit was passionately +stretching forth its hands, but of one of His many prophets, who were, +after all, only men. + +The chapter happened to be the second in the Epistle of Paul to the +Colossians. Matshaka listened to the sentences read by the minister in +a sonorous voice and with excellent execution, and presently felt an +unfamiliar stir within him. When the minister reached the thirteenth +verse: "And you, being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your +flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all +trespasses," something seemed to transfix the heart and then the brain +of the desolate man sitting in the corner of the church, with bent head, +and face hidden in his hands. + +Then happened to Matshaka what happened to Saul of Tarsus when on the +road to Damascus: a great light from Heaven shone round about him. This +was succeeded by a darkness as of death. Then the scales fell from his +eyes, and he saw with a blinding clearness of vision. That strange new +birth, that awakening of the soul which transfigures those who genuinely +experience it, was his; let those doubt it who may, this experience is +the great _fact_ in some lives. Its existence is ignored by many, +denied by a few, and explained satisfactorily by none. The Christian +explanation is partly vitiated by attributing it solely to Christian +influences; the fact being that it was well known in ancient times +amongst Pagan nations. Moreover it is in these days realised by many to +whom Christianity, in some of its most important aspects, is a book +sealed with adamant. The materialistic attempt at an explanation is +quite untenable. Conversion, the conviction of sin, the awakening to a +higher life, that thunder-trump which separates the many goats from the +few sheep of our past, and summons the soul to that seat of agony from +which it can and must discern good from evil, without speciousness or +self-deception, is as real and fundamentally natural as the earthquake, +and as tremendous in its effects. + +Matshaka broke into a passion of sobs which he vainly strove to stifle. +At the conclusion of the reading the minister came down the aisle, and +kneeling next to the penitent, besought the Lord to save this sinner, +whose spirit was broken and whose pride lay in the dust. The +congregation prayed silently in unison, not one turned his head to look. +They well knew what was happening; most of the elder members had +undergone a similar experience. + +A short time elapsed and then Matshaka's sobs ceased. When the ordinary +service proceeded he became quite calm. After its close, the minister +met the penitent, took him by the hand, and led him apart. It was +eventually settled that he was to attend regularly for instruction each +day at the mission, before being formally received as a church member. + +When Matshaka left the mission for his home the rain had cleared off; +the steep, green slopes of the Intsiza shone in the sunlight, and +foaming cataracts shot down the gleaming crags. In his eyes was a +new-born light, and his heart was the home of a virginal peace from +whose gentle face the spirits of wrath had fled away--never to return. + +_Three_. + +Probably no more villainous and unmitigated fraud than the Kafir +"isanuse" or witch-doctor cumbers the earth. Pretending to the faculty +of divination, he trains his powers of observation and memory to an +extraordinary extent. Every trivial circumstance coming within the +sphere of his cognisance is hoarded with a view to future use, and by +means of spies he is kept informed of all going on among the people of +his clan. Rich and influential men are, of course, the objects of his +keenest regard. Nothing is too unimportant to claim his attention. The +pattern of a snuff-box, a dent in an assegai handle or blade, the number +of cowrie shells in a necklet or armlet--all facts of this description +are noted with the view to possible use against the owner, should it be +advisable to convict him of practising black magic. Such facts can be +used in this way, for instance: if a man be accused of causing any one's +illness or death, it is very useful to be able to say--"You took the +assegai with the crack in the handle that you mended with the sinew of a +she-goat last spring, dug a hole with it in front of the sick man's hut, +and buried therein" (whatever the particular supposed magical substance +may be). This knowledge of detail fills the spectators with awe at the +witch-doctor's powers of divination. All the friends of the accused +know that he possesses an assegai mended in the manner described, and +they at once feel that he is guilty. + +Superimposed upon all this fraud is a growth of self-deception; no doubt +many of these wretches believe themselves to be possessed of magical +powers. + +When a witch-doctor is consulted, a present, such as an ox, a sheep, or +a goat--according to the rank and wealth of the person seeking his +advice--is always brought. + +Such person, with his friends, sits down in front of the witch-doctor's +hut. Having already been advised by a spy of the probability of such a +visit being made, the witch-doctor--after asserting his dignity by +keeping his visitors waiting for a suitable period--comes forward, and +without any greeting, states to the startled strangers the object of +their visit. + +Those consulting a witch-doctor are bound by custom to "vuma," or +acknowledge the truth of every statement he makes, whether it be true or +false. Thus, supposing a child to be ill, and the parents to have come +to consult the witch-doctor as to who has bewitched it--for all illness +is assumed to be caused by "umtagati," or witchcraft--the witch-doctor +might say: "You, Sogolima," (or whoever it may be), "have come to find +out who it is that has bewitched your child that is ill." At once all +would clap their hands loudly, and call out "Siyavuma," which means, "we +acknowledge." A false statement is sometimes purposely made. For +instance, in the case we are supposing, the witch-doctor might say next: +"It is a girl that is sick," whereas as a matter of fact it is a boy. +The audience would, nevertheless, cry out "Siyavuma," but involuntarily; +the exclamation would not be so loud, nor would the hand-clap be so +energetic as if a true statement had been made. Then the witch-doctor +would say: "No, you are lying; it is not a girl that is sick, but a +boy." Then "Siyavuma" would break forth with a loud shout, and all +would be struck with terror at the wonderful powers of the "isanuse." + +Usually the witch-doctor takes his cue from the chief as to the +selection of victims. Women practise this horrible trade rather more +often than men. + +Whilst it was yet early morning of the Sunday following that upon which +Matshaka had attended church, and floated away from his past life on a +flood of penitent tears, small bodies of men could be seen trooping over +the hills from every direction towards the kraal of Nomaduma, priestess +and witch-doctor, renowned over the whole country-side for skill in +occult arts. Her dwelling was situated at the foot of a conical hill +which rose abruptly for about six hundred feet, and ended in a bare, +rocky point, fringed close to its summit with large, loose boulders. +This hill is known as the "Bonxa," a word which means the breast of a +woman, in some of the northern Bantu dialects. It is a striking object +in the landscape, and has been the scene of many a horrible tragedy. +All wizards detected anywhere in the neighbourhood were dragged thither +for execution. + +An hour after sunrise several hundred men had assembled, and fresh +arrivals happened every few moments. The men were ranged in the form of +a crescent along the hill-side, and facing the witch-doctor's hut. A +larger party than usual approached. This consisted of the chief Makanda +with his councillors and other attendants. They took up a position +midway between the central portion of the crescent-shaped crowd and the +"isanuse's" dwelling. Here they sat down and waited in silence. + +All the men bore arms when they came. Some had guns, many had spears +and assegais, and a few carried clubs, "amabunguza." All the weapons, +however, had been placed together in an empty hut about forty yards to +the right of that occupied by Nomaduma. The sun shone fiercely from a +cloudless sky, and not a breath of wind could be felt. The men sat +absolutely mute and motionless. + +About half-an-hour after the arrival of the chief, the wicker door of +the hut was drawn suddenly aside, and Nomaduma, the "isanuse," appeared. +She was a tall, slender woman of about forty-five years of age. Her +features were emaciated, and her hair drawn out into innumerable long +locks, which were stiffened with grease and red clay. Her eyes were +bright, and her cruel lips, partially withdrawn, showed her dazzlingly +white teeth, which were beautifully small and even. Her only garment +was a robe of tanned calfskin, which was draped around her waist and +hips. Encircling her body, under her thin and pendent breasts, was a +girdle made of the dried skins of snakes, twisted together. From her +neck depended a number of pieces of bone, fragments of dried and +polished wood of different sorts, and various little skin bags. But the +most striking element of her attire was the innumerable dry, inflated +gall-bladders which were fastened all over her in bunches and festoons. +These were the gall-bladders of sheep and goats, some hundreds of which +are an essential part of the witch-doctor's paraphernalia. + +When Nomaduma appeared, a low murmur, which lasted for a few seconds, +arose, and then dead silence reigned. She stood erect and gazed fixedly +at the sun; then she turned slowly towards the gibbous moon which was +sinking in the west. She appeared to affect being unaware of the +presence of the chief and his crowd of followers. Moving very slowly, +she took a few paces towards where Makanda was sitting, and then she +paused, closing her eyes and throwing her head back, as her body and +limbs stiffened. After a silence of a few minutes, and without changing +her posture, she spoke: + +"The chief has come to seek my help against the false friends who seek +to do him evil." + +From hundreds of eager throats the one word "Siyavuma" burst out in a +great shout, to the accompaniment of a simultaneous clap from the same +number of pairs of hands. Dead silence immediately followed, and after +a short pause Nomaduma continued: + +"The chief was about to go forth to attack his enemies." (Here she made +a sweep with her hand to southward, the direction in which the Cwera +country lay.) "Siyavuma." + +"The chief bade his `war-doctor' (inyanga) prepare the pot of magic +medicines and place it on the roof of his hut, so that the spirits of +his fathers (imishologu), that dwell in the unseen, might make his men +brave and his enemies faint-hearted." + +"Siyavuma." + +"In the darkness of the night the stealthy steps of the traitor +approached. Then his perfidious hands bore away the pot, which he +afterwards gave with the potent medicines of the war-doctor to a +messenger sent to receive it by the enemy." + +"Siyavuma." + +"When the spirits of his fathers came to the chief's hut, and found that +the medicines were gone, they departed in anger, thinking that the chief +and his tribe held them in contempt." + +"Siyavuma." + +"Those who wish evil to the chief are few, but they are crafty. Two men +only are guilty in this matter, one bore the pot of medicines away, and +the other afterwards delivered it to the messenger of the enemy." +"Siyavuma." + +"These traitors were incited to this deed by greed, they having been +promised large rewards by the enemy for their treachery." + +"Siyavuma." + +"The wicked ones have called themselves the friends of the chief, and +they were trusted by him; one of them is present, but the other has +feared to come before my face." + +There was no shout of "Siyavuma" at this, but a deep and confused murmur +arose among the men. It seemed to swell and break and shrink, and then +to wander backwards and forwards and up and down the curving lines of +the crescent, as if endowed with volition. It was like an evil spirit +seeking a victim to destroy. Each man looked at his neighbour with +shrinking distrust, and tried to draw away from contact with a possible +wizard. At length the shuddering sound died, and a tense and terrible +silence reigned. + +Nomaduma stamped with her foot on the ground, and a girl who looked to +be about twelve or thirteen years of age ran out of the hut carrying a +heavy stabbing spear with a broad and gleaming blade. This she handed +to the witch-doctor, and then she ran back to the hut. Nomaduma took +the spear and advanced slowly to where Makanda and his councillors were +sitting. She paused when close before the chief, and said: + +"At your right hand sits your councillor Rolobani; he and Matshaka, who +has joined the Christians, are the guilty men." + +Rolobani started to his feet, his eye-balls starting from his head, and +his face ashen-grey. He tried to speak, but could only gasp for breath. +His companions fell away in every direction to avoid the contamination +of his touch. + +The crescent broke up in disorder, the men surrounding the doomed wretch +in a furious, surging crowd. Nomaduma held up the spear, its head +glinting brightly in the sunshine, and again dead silence fell on the +throng. She then walked up to Rolobani and seized the necklet of charms +which he wore, after the manner of most natives. This she dragged from +his neck, and held out at arm's length. + +"In the pot of medicines prepared by the war-doctor for the chief, was +the dried head of a water-snake; the war-doctor is present; let him +declare if I speak the truth or not." + +The war-doctor called out from amongst the crowd that this statement was +true. + +"Look. I open this bag which I have taken from Rolobanis neck, and in +it find the thing I have named. He stole it out of the pot which he +sold to the Cwera chief." + +Here she held up the shrivelled snake's head, so that it could be seen +by all. + +This was accepted as proof positive, in the face of which, had any man +dared to lift his voice in favour of the doomed but guiltless victim, he +would probably have been killed as an accomplice. The unhappy Rolobani +again tried to speak, but his voice was drowned in shouts of rage. In a +few moments his hands were bound behind his back, and he was led away by +two men, each holding a thong which was noosed around his neck. + +Rolobani was dragged towards the Bonxa hill, followed by the furious +crowd. On the least appearance of faltering he was freely prodded +behind with spears, and by the time he reached the commencement of the +steep ascent, he was streaming with blood. Then a frenzy seized him and +he bounded forward, climbing over the rocks on his abrupt course so fast +that he tugged at the thongs by which he was held prisoner. He knew he +had to die at the top of the hill, and his only anxiety now was to get +it over as quickly as possible. Consequently, he and the two men +holding him got some considerable distance ahead, and reached the bare +summit of the hill some seconds before the nearest of the crowd which +straggled after them. Among the boulders forming the fringe gleamed +white bones, and a shapeless horror, emitting a dreadful stench lay +huddled in a cleft at the prisoners feet. As the men arrived one by +one, they gradually formed a ring around the doomed wretch whose last +hour had so nearly sped; their black, sinister, relentless countenances +shining with the sweat that poured plentifully from them. + +Rolobani was a man whose bravery had been proved in many a tribal fight. +The terrible accusation of witchcraft combined with foul treachery had +broken down his courage for a little space, but now he was his own man +again, and, in the strength of his conscious innocence, could look +steadily into the eyes of death. He glanced round the ring of angry +faces contemptuously, and then stood stolidly awaiting his certain doom. +After a short pause a man stole out from the circle armed with a +heavily knobbed club, and struck him from behind a violent, smashing +blow on the head. He fell forward on his face, and in a few moments was +beaten into a shapeless mass. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Matshaka had not been bidden to the gathering at Nomaduma's kraal. He +was, however, aware of such through overhearing a conversation between +two of his sons. His conversion to Christianity had been a fruitful +topic among the Pondos during the previous week; at every "beer-drink" +it had been discussed. His name became a by-word among the heathen, a +shaking of the head among the people. + +As the men passed his kraal on their way to the witch-doctor's they +shouted derisive and insulting words at him. His former friends had cut +him dead in the public ways. All this was no more than he expected; he +had helped to make others suffer what he now endured, and he felt that +he deserved it. + +When he thought of the future it seemed to be one mass of difficulties, +not the least of which was presented by his four wives. His chief wife, +old Nolenti, had been neglected by him for years past. He now +determined to marry her according to Christian rites, and to send the +other three back to their respective homes. He tried to explain this to +Nolenti, but utterly failed to make her understand him. She was quite +satisfied with her position of chief wife, and her consequent immunity +from labour in the fields. It was, he felt, his appointed task to +endeavour to make her see and appreciate the truth which illuminated his +enfranchised spirit. His three eldest sons had married and were +established in kraals of their own. They spent most of their days in +going from beer-drink to beer-drink, leaving their wives to hoe in the +fields. Several of his elder daughters were also married. His younger +sons lounged about the huts all day, their only occupation being the +herding of cattle, and keeping the calves away from the cows until +milking-time. His younger daughters played, naked and unashamed, about +the kraal, except when fetching fuel from the forest on the Intsiza, or +scaring the long-tailed finches from the crops. He felt he must try and +save the souls of his children; how to begin, that was the question. He +was as much an object of suspicion among them as among strangers. He +read distrust in every eye. Even at his own kraal, if a few were +gathered together and he approached, silence fell upon all, and they +would nervously disperse if he joined them. + +And now, on this Sunday morning, Matshaka experienced his first +revulsion of feeling against his new belief. Was it true, after all? +He could hardly have told what it was that he believed in. How large +the difficulties loomed! how bitter were the sufferings he was enduring! +how the future lowered and threatened! Matshaka was naturally a +sociable man, and the ostracism to which he was subjected caused him +acute pain. + +Musing miserably on all these things, he walked slowly towards the comb +of the ridge about two miles from his kraal and in the direction of the +Rode. From this ridge the church could be seen by looking diagonally +across a long, shallow, grassy valley. This was the day on which he was +to have been formally received into the church as a member. Now his +courage failed him, and he determined to postpone the matter, at all +events for another week. + +As he reached the top of the ridge, the sound of the bell came floating +and quivering up through the limpid air. Being much nearer the church, +the ringing sounded more clear and distinct in his ear than on the +morning he had spent upon the mountain. + +Away to the left, and distant about five miles, the upper half of the +Bonxa hill could be clearly seen projecting over an intervening ridge. +Matshaka could see the swarm of men around the summit; he knew by +experience what that indicated, and a shudder went through him. He sat +watching until he saw the crowd break up, descend slowly, and disappear +behind the ridge. + +The bell rang on, and again Matshaka saw the little knots of people +moving in towards the church, like ants towards a nest. Then, suddenly, +the doubter recovered his faith. His soul again became flooded with +light. He bent his head and wept, partly with shame at his recent +doubts, but mostly with relief and joy at the recovering of his faith. + +He arose after a while and moved towards the church. After walking a +few yards he recollected that he was wearing nothing but his blanket. +He did not wish to enter the church unless properly clothed, so he sat +down again, his brain reeling with the crowd of thoughts that hurtled +through it, and his ears filled with the music of the mission bell. + +Glancing to the left, Matshaka noticed a party of about thirty men +coming along the footpath which led towards his kraal over the saddle +where he was sitting. These men came from the direction of the Bonxa. +Wishing to avoid them, Matshaka arose and walked slowly forward in the +direction of the Rode. Looking around again after a few moments, he saw +to his surprise that the men had left the path, and were apparently +endeavouring to intercept him. He quickened his pace, and they began to +run. In an instant he saw what had happened: he had been "smelt out," +and this was the killing party sent to put him to a cruel death. + +The instinctive love of life surged up in Matshaka, and he bounded +forward in the direction of the church where, like Adonijah, he might +catch hold on the horns of the altar. Matshaka well knew that the +church was held to be an inviolable sanctuary even by the chiefs most +rabid in their hatred of supposed wizards. He had himself helped to +hunt a fugitive along the same course under similar circumstances, and +had angrily grumbled when the man eluded his clutches. + +But Matshaka was an elderly man, whilst several of his pursuers were +young and in the prime of their strength. They did not succeed in +intercepting him, but as the chase proceeded it could easily be seen +that the hunted man was losing ground. He now crossed a shallow valley, +the bulging side of which hid the church from view. Running up the hill +sorely tried his strength. Glancing back over his shoulder he could see +that the three foremost of his pursuers were rapidly gaining on him. + +Just then the bell rang out once more to call the people together to a +special class meeting held after the conclusion of the ordinary service. +The sound nerved Matshaka to fresh effort. He knew that his time had +conic--that he would never gain the sanctuary; so he now strove only to +reach the top of the ridge from where the church could be seen. This he +just succeeded in doing, and then he turned and faced his pursuers, who +were only a few yards behind him. Instinctively he had thus far carried +his knobbed stick; this he now flung away over the heads of his three +enemies, lest he should be tempted to use it. + +In a few seconds Matshaka was surrounded by a ring of implacable foes. + +He stood as still as his panting would permit, with folded arms, and +gazed fixedly at the church. He was quite naked, having long since +flung away his blanket in the course of the pursuit. The bell had now +ceased ringing, and the minister with his congregation stood bare-headed +at the side of the building, sadly expectant of the impending tragedy. +They knew they dared not interfere. + +The leader of the pursuers, a tall, ill-looking man named 'Ndatyana, +took a pace forward and said: + +"Ha, Matshaka, son and father of wizards, so we have caught you." + +"Yes, and I am a dead man. Whatever I am, my children are guiltless. +Give me but a little time to pray; then do with me what you will, but +spare them." + +Matshaka knelt down, clasped his hands, closed his eyes, and turned his +face upwards to the sky. His lips moved slightly. The men stood around +him without sound or movement. After a short pause he stood up, folded +his arms, looked straight into the eyes of 'Ndatyana, and said: + +"I am ready." + +For some seconds no one moved. Then, at a nod from the leader, one +stepped forward and struck Matshaka a violent blow on the head with a +club. He fell heavily to the ground, and in a few seconds all was over. + +The little congregation went back into the church, and soon the strains +of a hymn arose. When this had ceased, the minister offered up a +fervent prayer to the Lord that He might show mercy and forgiveness to +those who thus ignorantly slew His servants. + +By this time 'Ndatyana and his men were out of sight, so the male +members of the congregation, headed by the minister, who carried a large +white sheet, wended slowly to where the body lay. Then with reverent +hands they lifted it from the ground and bore it into the church. They +laid it, bleeding, in front of the little communion table at which they +had so recently celebrated the Lord's Supper. + +And every one there knew it to be an acceptable offering. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +LITTLE TOBE. + + "It wastes me more + Than were't my picture fashioned out of wax, + Stuck with a magic needle, and then buried + In some foul dunghill." + _The Duchess of Malfy_. + +_One_. + +For nearly two years after Madilenda came to the kraal of Sikulume as +his third wife, she was fairly happy, Mamagobatyana, the "great wife," +was neither jealous nor exacting; she was fat and lazy, and took her +highest enjoyment in sleeping in the hot sunshine on the lee-side of the +hut. Nozika, the second wife, had apparently been selected by her +spouse for her muscle; she was extremely stupid and not particularly +well-favoured, but powerfully built, and equal to any amount of hard +work in the fields. + +Madilenda was of a type somewhat uncommon among native women. She was +light in colour, with finely-formed features and very prominent eyes. +Her figure was the perfection of symmetry. According to European taste +she was very pretty indeed, but the ordinary native would have preferred +a woman somewhat larger built, and generally of a coarser type. + +Near the end of the first year her baby,--"Little Tobe,"--was born, and +then for a time she was perfectly happy. The baby came just at the end +of spring. During the previous four months she had not been expected to +work, and she had a nice long rest to look forward to before the hoeing +of the maize and millet-fields would commence. + +Sikulume was a man whom every one found it easy to get on with, and he +made in every respect a capital husband. He was kind to his wives, and +they were very fond of him. He was rich, and the skin bags and +calabashes at his kraal were full of milk. Winter and summer, food was +plentiful, work was easy, and the three wives were not jealous of each +other. Truly, Madilenda's lines were cast in comparatively pleasant +places. + +Sikulume's kraal was situated in a deep valley through which one of the +tributaries of the Kenira river runs. He was a Hlubi Kafir. Living in +one of the territories administered by the Government of the Cape +Colony, he had nothing to fear from the rapacity of the chief, or the +malice of the witch-doctor. + +Little Tobe grew rapidly both in stature and intelligence. His father +was fond and proud of him, and his mother not only thought, but knew him +to be the finest baby in the world. She fastened charms around his +neck, the seeds of the "rhiza" to keep away convulsions, and a piece of +"mooti" or medicinal wood as a preventive against illness generally. +Besides these, Madilenda's father gave her the tooth of a leopard, which +she hung next to the "mooti" for the purpose of making her boy brave. + +Mamagobatyana, the "great wife," was very clever as a maker of mats. +She used to send her daughters down to the banks of the Kenira river in +the autumn, before the grass-fires swept over the country, to collect +green rushes--of which they brought back great bundles. Of these rushes +she would construct mats which, for excellence of workmanship, were +renowned throughout the district. As soon as she had three or four mats +completed she would take them up to the trader at the Mandilini, and +dispose of them, obtaining sugar, bright-coloured handkerchiefs, brass +ornaments, and beads in exchange. + +One day, when little Tobe was about a year old, Mamagobatyana returned +from the trader's, laden with treasures. She had carried up and +disposed of an unusually large number of mats, and with the proceeds had +purchased, amongst other things, twelve yards of print of a particularly +striking pattern and hue. With this she meant to have a dress made. +She had never yet worn such a garment, but a woman from a mission +station, who was visiting her relations at a neighbouring kraal, was +wearing a dress made of similar material. This woman was of about +Mamagobatyana's age and build, and the sight of her dress had kindled in +Mamagobatyana's soul a strong desire to possess a similar garment. Thus +when she saw the material at the trader's she at once purchased +sufficient for her purpose. The other woman happened to be in the shop +at the same time, and she agreed to cut out and make the dress for a +reasonable remuneration. Mamagobatyana, however, was so proud of her +purchase that she could not bear to relinquish the material to the +modiste before exhibiting it to Madilenda and Nozika, so she tied it up +in a bundle, placed it under her arm, and bore it away in triumph to her +kraal. + +The day was cold, and most of the people were indoors warming their +hands at the little fires lit in the centre of the different huts. +Around these fires men, women, and children crouched on their hams, +keeping their heads as low as possible, so as to be out of the upper +stratum of thick smoke, which was sharply defined from the lower zone, +about a yard thick, of quite clear air. When you enter a Kafir hut in +which there is a fire, you must always keep your head low, or else you +will be stifled. The greener the wood that happens to be burning is, +the denser the smoke and the thicker the smoke-zone will be. Sometimes +in damp weather you may have to lie down on the ground to get a breath +of clear air, and from within three inches of the tip of the nose +through which you are breathing comfortably, you may watch the +sharply-defined and undulating under-surface of an opaque cloud of +acrid, stinging smoke. + +At the kraal of a polygamous Kafir each wife has her own particular hut, +which is, in a very real sense, her castle, and the door of which she +can shut against all except her husband; and even against him sometimes. +When, however, the wives of a family live on fairly good terms +mutually, they often exchange visits, and enjoy a considerable amount of +reciprocal friendly intercourse. + +On the occasion when Mamagobatyana returned to her kraal, proud in the +possession of the twelve yards of print, she found no fire lit in her +own hut, her children having gone to the hut of Madilenda, where they +were sitting playing with little Tobe. She therefore decided to remain +in Madilendas hut, and there dry her damp blanket and exhibit her +purchases, whilst a fire was being lit by her daughters in her own +dwelling. + +Mamagobatyana was stout and consequently had some difficulty in +stooping; more especially after unwonted exercise. When, therefore, she +entered the hut through the low doorway, she found her head surrounded +by an atmosphere of pungent smoke arising from the combustion of damp +sneeze-wood. This made her eyes smart excessively, and caused her to +cough and gasp. + +She sat down on the ground close to the fire, and handed the parcel +containing the dress material to Madilenda, asking her to open it. This +was soon done, and the material, in yard-length folds, was laid out for +admiration on a clean mat at the other side of the fire. + +Just then Mamagobatyana got another bad fit of coughing. Between her +gasps she begged for a drink of water which Madilenda, after placing +little Tobe on the ground, went to fetch in a cleft calabash. + +Now, little Tobe was an extremely lively child, and was of an inquiring +turn of mind. The thing of all others that had a special attraction for +him was fire. Repeated burnings and many slaps had not abated this +attraction. Whenever left to himself in the vicinity of a fire he would +endeavour to seize one of the burning sticks and drag it away to play +with. On two occasions he had narrowly avoided setting fire to the hut +by this means. On the present occasion, no sooner had his mother left +him to himself upon the ground, than he seized from the fire an +attractive brand, one end of which was glowing charcoal, and turned to +investigate the bright-coloured print which was close at hand. + +Madilenda returned with the water, and saw, to her horror, that Tobe had +laid the fire-stick on the print, six or seven folds of which had been +already burnt through. She snatched away the firebrand, and quenched +the burning material with the water which she had brought for +Mamagobatyana. The dress, of course, was completely ruined. +Mamagobatyana broke out into fierce lamentations and tears of rage. She +refused to be comforted. In a few moments she went off to her own hut, +muttering threats and calling little Tobe all the abusive names she +could think of. Little Tobe, much to his astonishment, received from +his mother a spanking more severe than any he had previously suffered. + +_Two_. + +About two months after the ruination of Mamagobatyana's dress by little +Tobe, measles of a virulent type broke out among the native children, +and nearly decimated the kraals. It was not so much the disease itself, +as its after effects, that were so fatal. The children usually got over +the measles easily enough, but they were allowed directly afterwards to +run about naked, no matter how cold the weather might be. Inflammation +of the lungs then often supervened, usually with a fatal result. + +Little Tobe got the disease in the first instance in a very mild form, +but just at the critical stage of convalescence, very cold, wet weather +set in, and he soon developed a bad cough. Soon afterwards he began to +pine, and lose his appetite. His eyes became unnaturally large and +bright, and he evidently suffered severely from pains in his poor little +chest. Sometimes the cough nearly left him, but at the least recurrence +of unfavourable weather another violent cold would ensue. + +A "gqira" (native doctor) was sent for, and a goat killed for his +entertainment. He made an infusion of ashes obtained from burnt roots +of different sorts, frogs' feet, baboons' hair, lizards' tails, and +other items included in his grotesque pharmacopoeia, and with this poor +little Tobe was heavily dosed. He then hung some infallible charms tied +up in a little skin bag around the invalid's neck by a string made of +twisted hairs from the tail of the "ubulunga" [see Note] cow. Next +morning, after promising a speedy recovery, he departed, taking a fat ox +as his fee. But poor little Tobe became worse and worse; his legs and +arms that had been so chubby were now mere skinny sticks, and his ribs +were sharply defined under the dry, feverish skin of his thorax. When +not coughing he wailed almost incessantly, and he hardly ever slept. + +Madilenda grew very thin and hollow-eyed herself, and she went her weary +way the picture of utter misery. Sikulume was very much distressed at +the poor little boy's plight, and he sent to a distance for another +"gqira," a most celebrated practitioner. Upon arriving at the kraal +this one required a fat black ox to be killed, with the blood of which +he sprinkled every member of Sikulume's family, poor little Tobe coming +in for an extra share. + +After speaking in the most slighting terms of the former doctor's +treatment, he made a powder of the burnt bones of several kinds of +snakes and birds. He then made small incisions with a sharpened stick +across the chest, and around the neck, arms, and body of the patient, +and into these rubbed the powder. After this he applied a plaster of +fresh cow-dung to little Tobe's chest, and then wrapped him up in the +skin of the black ox killed on the previous evening. Then he carried +him out of the hut and laid him in the middle of the cattle kraal. This +occurred at noon, and until sundown the "gqira" danced and chanted +around his patient in the most violent and grotesque manner conceivable. +Just after sundown he fell down in a kind of fit, foaming at the mouth +and yelling horribly, and then appeared to go off into a swoon. When he +awoke from this he crawled over to where the poor little child was +looking out from among his wraps with wondering eyes, inserted his hands +between the folds of the skin, and drew forth a lizard about four inches +in length. This he held up to view of the admiring and applauding +crowd. Here was the cause of the malady, rid of which the child would +at once mend. Madilenda wept tears of joy as she released little Tobe +from his unsavoury durance. + +The "gqira" left next morning with a reputation more firmly established +than ever. He took with him two of Sikulume's best cattle. + +For about a week after the function described the weather was mild and +dry, and little Tobe really appeared to be somewhat better. +Unfortunately, however, the improvement did not last. A cold rain set +in, and the cough became worse than ever. The mother then grew +desperate; she loved the child so passionately that the thought of the +possibility of losing him maddened her. The idea that little Tobe had +been bewitched had gradually developed in her mind. Among the +uncivilised natives, illness, especially in the case of one who is +young, is almost always attributed to witchcraft. Some enemy, by means +of occult arts, has caused the disease, embodied in a snake, a lizard, +or a toad, to enter the body of the sufferer during sleep. The unhappy +mother strongly suspected Mamagobatyana of having committed some +iniquity of this kind in revenge for the spoiling of her dress. She was +confirmed in this idea by an old woman from a neighbouring kraal, who +had a spite against Mamagobatyana, and who suggested to Madilenda what +she had loner been thinking of. As a matter of fact, however, it had +been for some little time whispered throughout the neighbourhood that +Mamagobatyana had bewitched little Tobe. + +Here and there among the Hlubi kraals are to be found the dwellings of +Basuto waifs who have drifted over the Maluti and Drakensberg mountains +to find a refuge from deserved punishment or despotic oppression. Among +the natives an alien is often believed to be an adept in magic more +effective than that practised by their own local tribal doctors, and the +sorcery of the Basuto, being associated with the awful, mysterious, and +cloudy mountains of his (in parts) almost impenetrable land, is held to +be very potent indeed. + +Now, an old Basuto, named Lotuba, dwelt high up in the valley in which +Sikulume's kraal was situated. Lotuba was famed far and near for his +skill as a wizard. It was believed that he could reveal the secrets of +the past as easily as he could foretell the future. His methods were +quite different to those practised by the Hlubi witch-doctors, and +consisted principally of divining through the medium of the "dolossie" +bones. These are the metatarsal and metacarpal bones of sheep, goats, +antelopes, and other animals, coloured variously. Lotuba would sit on a +mat, gather up two or three dozen of these bones, shake them up together +in the corner of his calfskin kaross, and then fling them down on the +ground after the manner of dice. From the different combinations formed +by the bones as they lay on the ground he would read the answer to any +question put to him. It was usual for those consulting him to pay a +goat as a fee in advance. In this manner he had accumulated +considerable wealth. + +One night Madilenda asked Sikulume to let her take a goat from his flock +and drive it up to the kraal of Lotuba, whose advice as to little Tobe +she wished to ask for. It happened, however, that Sikulume had reasons +of his own for disliking the Basuto doctor, whose kraal, by permission +of the chief, was built on what Sikulume considered to be by right his +own particular run of pasturage, so he refused Madilenda's request, +telling her rather roughly that he had had enough of doctors. Madilenda +heard him in silence. She sat the whole night through, rocking little +Tobe in her lap, and trying to soothe his cough. + +It was now mid-winter, and when the frosty dawn glimmered faintly +through the latticed door of the hut, the hapless mother arose, wrapped +the suffering child warmly in a blanket, stole quietly out, and hurried +up the rugged valley towards the dwelling of Lotuba. She had to walk +but a little more than a mile, but the road was steep and stony, and she +was weak from the effects of long-suffering anxiety and sleeplessness. +Besides she was again _enceinte_; she expected the baby to be born in +about two months. Slowly and painfully she climbed her way along the +zigzag pathway, sitting down on a stone to rest every now and then. +When she reached Lotuba's kraal the sun had just risen. She did not +approach the hut at once, but sat down to rest on the sunny side of the +stone goat-enclosure. Here she found a spot sheltered from the keen +breeze, so she laid little Tobe down gently upon the ground. The child, +protected from the raw air by the thick blanket which was loosely laid +over his head, slept soundly, being exhausted from the sufferings of the +night. + +Madilenda then proceeded to divest herself of all her ornaments. She +removed her double bracelets and anklets of cowrie shells, and the brass +and copper bangles from her arms and legs. From her throat she untied +the necklet of goats' teeth strung on twisted sinew. Around her waist +was tied a small bundle; this she opened, and thus revealed two +brightly-coloured cotton handkerchiefs and a small paper packet +containing five silver sixpences and four three-penny pieces. The money +had been given to her by her husband, coin by coin, out of the proceeds +of the hides which she had from time to time carried up to the trader's +and sold. + +She spread out one of the handkerchiefs and wrapped the other articles +loosely in it; then she lifted the child and walked up the slope to the +witch-doctor's hut, in front of which she sat down and waited, trying at +the same time to soothe the child, who was now awake, and who wailed +pitifully in the intervals between the racking fits of coughing. + +After a short time the door of the hut was opened, and Lotuba the +witch-doctor appeared. He was an old man, with wizened features and +small, bright eyes. His limbs were thin, and he walked with a stoop. + +Lotuba stood, wrapped to the throat in a calfskin kaross, and looked +intently at Madilenda, who returned his gaze. After a few moments he +re-entered the hut, and beckoned to her to follow him. He seated +himself on a mat just inside the door, and Madilenda knelt down, sitting +on her heels, opposite him on the floor. + +"Those who seek my advice," he said, "bring something as payment." + +For answer Madilenda held out the little bundle tied in the +handkerchief. Lotuba took this, opened it deliberately and examined the +contents. Then he tied it up again and hung it to one of the wattles of +the hut. Suspended from the central pole was a bag made of the skin of +a red mountain cat. This Lotuba took down; then he emptied the +"dolossie" bones which it contained into one of the corners of the +kaross. Taking a double handful of the bones he flung them down with a +sweeping throw on the bare, clay floor. + +Bending over the bones with the appearance of one calculating deeply, he +kept silence for some little time, and then began to speak in a droning, +monotonous, sing-song voice: + +"The wife of Sikulume comes in the early morning with her sick child. +She has held it to her breast for many days and nights. It eats not. +It gets thinner day by day. It coughs from the rising of the sun to the +falling of the darkness, and again until day comes." + +Here he gathered up the bones and again flung them to the ground. + +"The delight of the child before it got sick, was to play with fire. +The `imishologu' (ancestral spirits) meant the child to be one who would +sport with danger." + +Here he again gathered up the bones, waved them to and fro, and +scattered them on the ground. Madilenda sat gazing with wide eyes. Her +features were drawn and set. She held the child, which once more slept, +tightly to her bosom. The witch-doctor continued: + +"The `great wife' of Sikulume had anger against the child in her heart. +She dreamt a dream which made her fearful. Then she went to the wise +woman of the Vinyane, who told her that this child would overcome the +sons of her house as the autumn fires overcome the grass." + +Madilenda sat like a statue with eyes aflame. Lotuba threw the bones +again, and continued: + +"She told her husband of this, and he too feared for the sons of his +`great house'. In the night they talked over the matter, and they +determined that the child should die, so they buried the magic medicines +that draw the poison-lizard to the side of the sleeper, in the floor of +the hut of the child's mother. Soon afterwards the child sickened. He +will die before the coming of the spring rains, for no skill can save +him." + +Madilenda waited for no more. She arose, left the hut, and walked down +along the pathway by which she had come, clasping little Tobe to her +breaking heart. + +After walking a few hundred yards she turned abruptly to the right and +ran swiftly along another footpath which led over a saddle to the next +valley, in which her brother, Galonkulu, dwelt. + +_Three_. + +Sikulume soon ascertained that Madilenda was at the kraal of Galonkulu, +and on the second day of her sojourn there he followed with the +intention of persuading her to return to her home. She confronted him +with blazing eyes and heaving breast, and bade him begone and never +again approach her. Galonkulu and all the others at his kraal were +fully persuaded of the guilt of Mamagobatyana, and they strongly +suspected Sikulume of complicity. He, conscious of his innocence, was +thunderstruck at the accusation, the foulest that can be made against a +native, and at once withdrew, filled with indignation. + +Madilenda and little Tobe were given a hut to live in, and were provided +with milk and corn. The poor little child only lived for a week after +his removal. One morning, after a night of terrible coughing, he lay +very still in his mother's arms. Fearing to disturb him she sat still +until she became quite stiff. By and by he grew cold, and when she +moved her hand to reach for a blanket to cover him with, his head fell +back loosely. He had been dead for a long time whilst she thought he +was sleeping. + +They dug a grave close to the kraal; a pit was first sunk to a depth of +about five feet, and then in the side a little chamber was excavated. +In this the emaciated little body, which had grown so long, was laid +facing the north. It was wrapped in white calico obtained from the +trader, and beneath it was a mat. The opening of the side-chamber was +then walled up, and the grave filled in. The desolate mother would sit +for hours on a stone next to the grave-cairn, and weep bitter tears. + +The unhappy woman brooded day and night over her sorrow, and, as the +time for her confinement approached, she was filled with a fresh dread. +She had persuaded herself that Mamagobatyana and her husband had +bewitched her unborn child, and that it would die like little Tobe. +This delusion preyed upon her mind to such an extent that she became +almost insane. The people of the kraal feared and avoided her. They +still supplied her with food and left her in possession of the hut, but +otherwise neglected her completely. She took to lonely wanderings and +often talked to herself. Sikulume, wroth at the undeserved aspersion +cast upon him and his "great wife," did not again come near her, and +thus she ate her own heart out in grief, terror, and loneliness. + +It was now September, and the spring rains set in with a cold deluge. +The Kenira river roared in flood through the rocky gorge below the +northern face of the Umgano Mountain. + +One morning, the second after the rain had ceased, Madilenda wandered +down the valley she dwelt in, to where it joins the river, and then lay +down to rest in a sunny nook just below a rocky bluff. The +deep-thrilling murmur of the brown flood as it churned along in its +winding course soothed her, the warm sunshine brought a sensation of +physical comfort which to her weary and debilitated body had long been +unknown, and she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep. When she awoke +it was late in the afternoon. She tried to rise, but found she was +unable to do so. A succession of sharp pains racked her. Her time had +come. + +One advantage which women of the uncivilised races possess over their +European sisters is this, that for them the curse of Eve is lightened to +such an extent as to be hardly a curse at all. That ordeal which the +artificial life of our race through so many generations has made +pathological, is, with the majority of native women, a process so easy +that in normal instances little suffering and hardly any danger is +entailed. But in Madilenda's case mental agony and bodily fatigue +during the terrible months she had just lived through had lowered her +vitality to such an extent that she completely collapsed. The sun went +down on her ineffectual pangs; throughout the long, cold, winter's night +the stars swept over her anguish. + +The sun arose and thawed the thick hoarfrost that had crusted over the +shrubs and the grass, and still she lay moaning between frequent swoons. +A troop of wild baboons came searching along the mountain-side, turning +over the stones in their pursuit of lizards and scorpions; the leader +looked at Madilenda where she lay, and darted aside with a startled +cough. A jackal slinking home to his burrow after a night of +depredation, crept close up to her, looked long and carefully, and then +hid amongst the stones near by, awaiting further developments. A +wandering vulture made a loop in its course and then swept upwards in a +widening circle. Soon afterwards, other vultures, that had read the +signal aright, came flocking up from all directions in increasing +numbers. + +Late in the afternoon exhausted nature made a final effort, and the +child was born. The mother fainted immediately and then lay long +unconscious. When she again came to herself she turned with painful +difficulty and drew the child to her. It was cold and dead. + +So the curse had fallen here as well, as she had expected. A wild +indignation surged up in Madilenda and conquered the weakness of death +that was stealing over her. The sky seemed to have turned black, and +the swirling river blood-red. + +A shadow slid over her. She looked up and saw the sweeping vultures +which were now rapidly drawing in their spirals over where she lay. She +knew what that meant. One of them swooped so close that she felt the +wind of its wings, and heard the horrible skur-r-r-r of the pinions. +The bird alighted on a stone a few yards off, and began to preen the +vermin from its filthy feathers. + +Drawing the dead child under her arm, Madilenda crept backwards on her +hands and knees in the direction of the river. From the ledge on which +she had been lying, a steep slope of about twenty yards, which ended in +an abrupt drop of a few feet where the water had undermined the bank, +led to the swirling torrent. Down this slope she slowly and painfully +crept. When she reached it, the undermined bank gave way under her, and +she dropped like a stone into the water. One dull splash, scarcely to +be heard over the growling of the flood, and Madilenda slept in the soft +and merciful arms of Death. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note. When a native woman marries, her husband presents her with a +heifer, which is thereupon considered a sacred animal. It may never be +slaughtered, under any circumstances, and should it die untimely, such +is regarded as a token of evil fortune. The hairs of the tail are +thought to have peculiarly protective properties for members of the +"house," in respect of illness. This animal is known as the "ubulunga." + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +THE IMISHOLOGU. + + There is no bird in any last year's nest. + +_One_. + +Whoever has traversed the valley of the Umzinivubu river below the +Tabankulu Mountain, in that vicinity where the Tsitsa, the Tina, and the +Umzimhlava streams have carved their several devious courses almost +through the vitals of the earth to the main water-way, has seen the +roughest part of Pondoland, and seldom feels inclined to repeat the +experience. However, ponies accustomed to such regions will clamber up +and down precipices which would make a domestic cat that is only +habituated to the house-top of civilisation nervous, and accidents on +such journeys seldom occur. + +It has been my fortune twice to penetrate these rugged regions, an +interval of a year elapsing between the expeditions. Hence the +following tale. + +The season was late autumn. I had made a very early start, and my +horses were tired. I decided, therefore, to camp where I was, between +the precipice from which I had just escaped and another, equally +dangerous, frowning just before me, and which it seemed impossible to +avoid. The place was a small, flat ledge upon a rugged tongue of land +running from the mountain out to a sheer bluff, under which the river, +still slightly swollen from the late summer rains, murmured, hundreds of +feet below. + +A native kraal consisting of three huts, a stone cattle enclosure, and a +small goat-pen made of bushes, stood on the ledge. Two of the huts were +occupied by human beings, and the third, ordinarily used as a corn +store, was civilly placed at my disposal by the head of the kraal, an +old Pondo named Zwilibanzi. His son, one Madolo, and the latter's wife +and two children, were the only other occupants of the kraal. + +I was particularly struck by the air of cleanliness and neatness +pervading the whole establishment. This was in strong contrast with the +condition of the other kraals I had visited. The Pondos are, it may be +stated, much dirtier in their habits than are other natives. Their huts +are usually ragged and disorderly on the outside, and as to the +interiors--why, the less said about them the better. + +The night was cold, so after assisting my after-rider to make the horses +as comfortable as circumstances would permit, I entered the hut of +Madolo, who, with the old man, was sitting on the ground next to a +bright, almost smokeless fire. I then, for the first time, noticed the +two children, one boy named Dhlaka, aged about ten years, and the other +a little girl aged about six, whose name turned out to be Nodada, a +Kafir word meaning "wild duck." The mother was absent, but was +momentarily expected to return. + +Nodada was a remarkably pretty child. All she wore in the way of +clothing was a small apron of strung beads, unless a necklet of charms +hung on hairs from the tail of the "ubulunga" cow can be counted as +such. She made friends with me at once, although, as her grandfather +assured me, she had never previously seen a European. The boy, on the +other hand, would not come to terms at all, but crouched on the ground +near the door, ready to spring up and flee, as he did whenever I +attempted to make advances, After a short interval, the mother, a +good-looking woman of about thirty, arrived. Her name was Nomayeshe. +After greeting her husband, her father-in-law, and me (as guest) with +politeness and ease, she turned to the children; the evidently genuine +affection manifested between her and them was truly remarkable. She sat +down on the floor of the hut and they flung themselves upon her. They +were immediately clasped to her breast, with many an endearing epithet. +I could not help wishing at the time that some of those who believe the +Aryan race in South Africa to have a monopoly of the gentler feelings +and emotions could have been present. It could easily be seen that the +warmest feeling on the part of the mother was for the little girl, who, +up to the time when I retired for the night, never left her side. + +Next morning, shortly after daybreak, I bade farewell to my kind hosts, +and resumed climbing the anything-but-delectable mountains. In pausing +to take breath just before passing out of sight of the kraal I looked +back, and saw Nomayeshe at the hut door looking after me, and the little +girl holding on to her mother's skin skirt. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Within a few days of a year afterwards, I travelled over the same +course, but in an opposite direction. I had attempted to reach old +Zwilibanzi's, with the view of spending the night there, but when the +sun went down, leaving me still several miles away from that spot, I +found it necessary to seek shelter at another kraal, where my +entertainment was somewhat indifferent. However, I reached Zwilibanzi's +next day at about noon. Even from a distance it was apparent that +things were changed for the worse in comparison with what I had seen a +year previously. The huts looked dilapidated, and there was an +atmosphere of dreariness over the whole establishment. I found old +Zwilibanzi asleep on a mat on the sunny side of his hut, but could see +no sign of another human being. I wakened the old man, but it was some +time before I could bring myself to his remembrance. He was totally +blind and extremely deaf, and had aged considerably in every respect. +At length he remembered me, and then he seemed extremely pleased. + +Where were Madolo, Nomayeshe, and the children? I asked. Alas! +Nomayeshe and the little girl Nodada were both dead, Madolo had left the +neighbourhood, and the boy Dhlaka had gone to stay with an uncle at +another kraal. Of the happy family I had so often thought of, only this +old man remained. A nephew, with his two wives, had come to dwell at +the kraal, but I gathered from Zwilibanzi that they were not kind to +him, that the nephew was idle, and too much in the habit of going to +beer-drinks, and the wives lazy, ill-tempered, and fonder of emptying +than of filling the milk-sack and the calabashes. + +There was much that was tragic, and some that was sordid, in the old +man's tale. What follows is an account of the tragedy. + +_Two_. + +It was just at the merging of autumn and winter; the last of the maize +crop was being gathered in, and the first touch of frost was browning +the hill-tops. The field cultivated by Zwilibanzi's family lay in a +ravine a few hundred yards below the northern side of the ledge on which +the kraal was built. Thither Nomayeshe, with another woman who came to +assist at the harvesting, went every day for the purpose of stripping +what remained of the maize-cobs from the withered stalks, and carrying +what they gathered in baskets up to the kraal. At this work Madolo was +not supposed to assist, so he took his departure for the "great place" +of the paramount Pondo chief, for the purpose of attending an +"umkandhlu," or "meeting for talk," of which general notice had been +given. + +Early in the afternoon of the second day after Madolo left, there +remained little more than two basketfuls of grain to remove, so +Nomayeshe, with the other woman and Dhlaka, went down with baskets to +fetch it. Some little gleaning had to be done, so they expected to be +away, more or less, for the whole afternoon. + +The day was cold, and old Zwilibanzi was lying asleep in his hut, where +a fire had been lighted. Little Nodada, who was very intelligent for +her age, was left behind with instructions to attend to the fire and see +that it neither went out nor endangered the hut by blazing too freely. +This was an occupation to which she was quite accustomed. Thus, when +Nomayeshe and her two companions went to the field, the old man and the +child were the only ones left at the kraal. + +The cattle were within sight on the hill-side, and the little flock of +goats was close at hand. Just before he disappeared over the lip of the +ledge, Dhlaka called out to Nodada, asking her to keep her eye on the +goats, among which were a few strange ones that might be liable to +stray. + +The sun was still shining when Nomayeshe returned. She found old +Zwilibanzi asleep next to the fireplace, which was quite cold, but +little Nodada was missing. At first she felt no alarm, but rather anger +at the child's disobedience in thus absenting herself, but after the sun +sank behind the 'Ngwemnyama Mountain, and the child was still absent, +she began to feel uneasy. When the shades of night began to darken over +the valley she became alarmed, and began searching all around the edge +of the plateau, calling loudly the child's name. The woman, her +assistant in the harvesting, helped in the search. Up and down the +stony gullies, among the narrow rock fissures, below the precipice with +which the ledge where the kraal was built ended, the frantic mother and +her companion sought with flaming brands throughout the greater part of +the long, cold night, but no trace of the child could they find. + +The kraal nearest to that of Zwilibanzi was about three miles away, and +thither Nomayeshe hurried some time before daybreak, upon her +companion's suggestion that the child might have taken refuge there. At +this kraal, however, nothing could be heard of her. When day broke all +the men, women, and children turned out and scoured the country. The +alarm was wailed out to all the surrounding kraals, and the inhabitants +of these joined in the search. When the all too short day drew towards +its close, little Nodada was still missing. The hills resounded with +the shouts of the seekers, and dwellers in the more distant valleys, +flocking in to see what was the matter, had swelled the number of the +searchers to a considerable crowd. But all in vain. The sun again +sank, and night descended from an untarnished sky of throbbing stars, +and the poor little child was still lost in the maze of bare, frowning +peak and yawning chasm. + +The unhappy mother was now nearly insane. Throughout the whole day she +had never rested for a moment, and since the previous noon she had not +tasted food. When darkness fell and the seekers returned to their +homes, she kindled a large fire on a stony ridge just above the kraal, +and all night long she wandered about carrying firebrands, and calling +the name of her lost Nodada into the cold ear of the night that mocked +her with wild echoes. + +Daylight found the searchers again at work, but the experience of the +second day was only a repetition of that of the first. Late in the +afternoon Nomayeshe fell exhausted to the ground, and was carried +senseless to her dwelling. Then the searchers again wended sadly +homewards, feeling that further effort would be vain. + +_Three_. + +The kraal of 'Ndondo was built in a particularly inaccessible part of +the valley of the Umzimhlava, and about seven miles from the dwelling of +Zwilibanzi. Here, on the second day after the disappearance of little +Nodada, was held a small and select gathering. A fat ox had been +slaughtered for the occasion, and the pink foam of beer was visible over +the lips of several large earthen pots, some of them nearly three feet +high. + +'Ndondo was related to the heads of several important kraals in the +neighbourhood, to which he had only very recently returned. He had, a +few years previously, been "smelt out" upon an accusation of having, by +means of black magic, caused the death of one of the wives of his chief. +Luckily, however, he had got wind of the matter in time, and +accordingly had managed to escape--not alone with his life, but with the +bulk of his cattle--to the Cwera country. His alleged confederate had +not been so lucky. This unhappy man had been tortured to death, his +kraal had been destroyed, and all his property confiscated. + +Subsequently, however, 'Ndondo, by means of judicious bribery, had +managed to convince the chief of his innocence, and had accordingly been +permitted to return, as it were, on probation of good behaviour. He was +rich in cattle, and was now celebrated for generosity and hospitality to +the "isanuse" and "inyanga" fraternities, members of which were +generally to be found at his kraal. + +On the present occasion, no less than four witch-doctors--one a most +celebrated man, a very Matthew Hopkins among witch-finders--were +present, the occasion being an attempt to cure one of 'Ndondo's +daughters of what was really epilepsy, but which was supposed to be an +attack of "umdhlemnyana," or "love frenzy," believed to have been +induced by a young man of the neighbourhood by means of the casting a +love spell. + +It was about mid-day. Long strips of roasted meat were circulating +among the feasters, and the beer, which was of a very heavy brew, was +being handed round freely in small pots, each with a cleft-calabash +spoon floating in it. Then one of the boys who had been herding cattle +on the mountain-side rushed in, breathless, and told a strange tale. He +had, so he said, been seeking honey in a steep gorge, the entrance to +which was visible from the kraal, when he heard cries, as of a child, +issuing from beneath a large flat stone. The gorge was not far off, and +thither the feasters wended, some gazing back ruefully at the liquor and +the baked meats. + +They reached the flat stone; it was evidently part of an old land-slip, +and lay as a sort of bridge across the bottom of the gorge. On each +side the ground was flush with the top. Below it were piled stones +which had been carried over by aeons of floods, and above it boulders, +too heavy to admit of their being moved by water over the obstacle, had +lodged. Among these were a few crevices, this being probably due to a +general shifting of the whole mass under exceptionally violent pressure +of water from above. + +All the men listened carefully, but at first nothing could be heard. +The boy, however, was evidently in earnest over his tale, so they all +sat down and waited. Sure enough after a few moments they heard a faint +wail issuing from under the stone. Here was a portent which the +witch-doctors welcomed as something coming specially within their +province, and towards an explanation of which they alone could give a +clue. + +The most celebrated witch-doctor was asked his opinion. He did not give +an opinion; he gave a full and positive explanation of the case. There +was, he said, undoubtedly a child under the stone, but it had been +placed there by the "imishologu," or spirits of the earth, and under no +circumstances whatever should it be interfered with so long as it was in +their august charge. The "imishologu" might, of course, be asked in +some appropriate and orthodox manner to deliver the child back to the +light of day, but any attempt to violate their domain would certainly be +followed by severe punishment. + +The three other witch-doctors at once declared that they had each +independently arrived at exactly the same conclusion. + +Upon being asked as to what form the request to the "imishologu" should +take, the most celebrated witch-doctor claimed to have had it as a +direct personal communication from some most potent spirits of this +class, that the sounds most delectable to their shadowy ears were those +caused by the trampling hoofs and clashing horns of cattle, the lowing +of which was also grateful to them, but in a minor degree. He, the +witch-doctor, therefore recommended that the cattle be collected and +driven round and over the spot, so that haply thereby might the +earth-spirits be propitiated to the extent of permitting the imprisoned +child to return to the light of day. So the boys, of whom several were +present, were sent to collect the cattle on the mountain-side, and drive +them down the gorge for the appeasing of the "imishologu." + +All this time the pitiful wail of a little child who was dying in the +cold and darkness could be heard coming at intervals from under the +stone, which had lain through immemorial ages, not more deaf to pity, or +more senseless, than the fraud and superstition of man. + +The cattle were not far off, so within a short time the lowing herd was +hurried down the gorge by the shouting boys. The men then formed a ring +about a hundred yards in diameter, the flat stone being in the centre, +and in this circle the cattle were driven round and round, the animals +being crowded together so that their horns might clash, and beaten with +sticks to make them low and bellow loudly. This went on for some time; +until, in fact, the afternoon was well spent. Then the cattle were +driven away, and the witch-doctors, jointly and severally, shouted down +the crevices leading under the rock, conjuring the "imishologu" to +permit the imprisoned child to return to the light of day. + +But, perchance, the "imishologu" slept, like Baal of old. They gave no +answer, nor did the child come forth. When the sun went down the men +returned to 'Ndondo's kraal, and resumed their feasting. + +Next morning one of the minor witch-doctors stated that he had, on a +former occasion, been told by some "imishologu," in a vision, that the +light pattering of the hoofs, the varying bleat, and the rank smell of +goats were things that pleased them. After consultation it was decided +to try the experiment of propitiation by means of goats, where the +cattle had failed. The most celebrated witch-doctor, whilst admitting +the possibility of some result from the goat function, gave it as his +opinion that as the "imishologu" had remained obdurate in spite of the +cattle function, they would not now relent. + +The witch-doctors again went up the gorge to the flat stone, the goats +being driven after them by the people of the kraal. They bent over the +cleft and listened carefully. After a while a faint moaning could be +distinctly heard. Then the goats were hurried in, made to crowd over +the stone, and to rush backward and forward. This went on until nearly +noon, when the flock of goats was driven away. + +A most solemn invocation of the "imishologu" followed this, but they +were still unappeased. The child did not come forth, nor could any +sounds now be heard issuing from under the stone. Perhaps Death had at +length shown mercy. + +The most celebrated witch-doctor now apparently became epileptic, and +soon fell into a trance. Upon awaking, he claimed to have been in +spiritual communication with the "imishologu." The child had, he +declared, been taken by the spirits of the earth, but was being well +treated, and was, in fact, much happier than it ever had been before. +It was now playing in the wonderful underground fields where the sun +never scorched nor wind chilled, with numerous companions. It would +never more suffer hunger, thirst, nor any other pain. It was so happy +that it did not wish to return to the regions of day and night. Much of +this may, after all, have been true. + +_Four_. + +After Nomayeshe had been carried down to her hut on the afternoon of the +second day of the search for her lost child, she lay long unconscious, +and when she awoke, it was to raging delirium, which lasted until late +in the night, when sleep suddenly overcame her. + +Next morning, just after sunrise, she opened her eyes, and lay for a +long time wondering as to what had happened. At length she remembered, +and with a cry she started up for the purpose of going forth again to +search. She staggered out of the hut, only to fall helplessly to the +ground before the doorway. Several women from the nearest kraals had +come to tend her, and these tried to persuade her of the uselessness of +further search. Tears came to her relief, and she became calmer. At +length she was persuaded to drink a little milk, after which she sank to +the floor in a stone-like sleep. When she awoke, it was nearly noon. + +It happened just about this time that Dhlaka, who had been out herding +the flock of goats, returned to the kraal with strange news. In the +veldt he had foregathered with other boys, who told him that a child had +been heard crying under a stone near the kraal of 'Ndondo. + +When this was communicated to Nomayeshe, she uttered one wild cry in +which hope and agony were blended, and rushed forth. Her weakness had +disappeared, and she climbed the steep, stony hills so fast that the two +women who started with her were soon labouring on with heavy pantings, +some distance behind. The seven miles she had to travel led her through +many a tangled thicket, and along many a dizzy ledge with frowning +buttresses above, and sheer precipices yawning beneath. She plunged +into dark ravines, in the depths of which the light of day was almost +lost, and scaled narrow, knife-back ridges so steep that hands as well +as feet had to be used by the climber. + +Nomayeshe reached the kraal of 'Ndondo alone, about the middle of the +afternoon, and probably two hours after the return of the party from the +scene of their unsuccessful attempt at appeasing the "imishologu" by +means of the goats. + +These hours had been spent by the men in heavy drinking; all had +endeavoured to make up the time that had been lost, and the beer, being +now fully fermented, was at its point of greatest strength, just before +turning sour. + +Nomayeshe, wild-eyed and quivering, strode into the circle and sank +exhausted to the ground before 'Ndondo, who was the only one present +with whom she was acquainted. In disjointed sentences she began asking +about her child, for she knew that the one she had heard of as crying +under the stone must be little Nodada. + +'Ndondo was in a very maudlin state, and the only two clear ideas he had +were: that he must on no account whatsoever affront the witch-doctors, +and that the said witch-doctors had stringently forbidden any +interference with the child beneath the stone, under peril of the +vengeance of the "imishologu"; or rather, what concerned 'Ndondo more +nearly, under peril of offending the witch-doctors themselves. + +'Ndondo accordingly declared, with drunken emphasis, that he knew +nothing of the matter, and that the account of the child crying under +the stone was an idle tale set current by boys, who should be well +beaten for speaking falsely. + +The most celebrated witch-doctor, however, took a different line. He +had reached that stage in his cups which brings to some immense +self-confidence. He arose, albeit somewhat unsteadily, and made a +vigorous and eloquent speech. He recapitulated all he had previously +said about the danger of offending the "imishologu" by interference with +their concerns. He drew attention to an occurrence of a few years back, +which was still fresh in the memories of all present, when the solid +earth had shaken until a bluff of the mountain slid down with thunderous +roarings, and overwhelmed a kraal, not one of the inhabitants of which +had escaped. Continuing, he depicted once more the happy condition of +the child in the subterranean fields. He ended by pronouncing the +direst anathemas upon any one becoming accessory to the impious deed +which the woman contemplated. + +Then Nomayeshe went around the circle, grovelling at the feet of each +individual separately, and beseeching that she might be shown the spot +where her Nodada, her little wild duck, the child she had carried in her +womb and suckled at her breast, lay perishing in the cold and darkness. +Some of the men were evidently inclined to tell, but the warning frowns +of the witch-doctors deterred them, and they maintained the cruelty of +silence. + +Then Nomayeshe broke out into fierce rage, and cursed all present, and +their fathers and mothers before them as dogs and apes. She wished that +they might die under the spears of an enemy, and that the bodies of +their children might shrivel and hiss under their burning roof-trees. +This outburst came as a great relief to the men. Her invective was +easier to endure than her entreaties, and the drunken crew only laughed +at her fury. + +While all this was going on, the two women who had followed Nomayeshe +arrived at the kraal. They had found out, from some other women they +had met, all that Nomayeshe wanted to know. These women described +accurately the situation of the flat stone, so when Nomayeshe staggered +back from the beer-drinkers, and met her two friends outside the circle +of huts, she was led at once by them to the gorge where she knew that +her lost child lay hidden. + +It was dusk when they reached the stone. With unerring instinct the +mother made straight for the largest crevice, through which she at once +descended into the darkness. The two women waited in silence, standing +apart from each other. Soon a faint shriek was heard issuing as though +from the bowels of the earth. The women looked at each other with awe +in their eyes... Nomayeshe emerged from the crevice, clasping her dead +child to her bosom. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +It was past midnight when the three women, carrying Nodada's body, +arrived at Zwilibanzi's kraal. Their return journey was made by a +longer but safer route. Nomayeshe placed the little body on a mat, and +then laid herself down next to it. The two women lit a fire, and +prepared some food. When they went to Nomayeshe to try and persuade her +to eat, they found that she was dead. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +THE MADNESS OF GWEVA. + + "I have not left any calamity more hurtful to man than woman." + _Table-talk of Mohammad_. + +_One_. + +"Yes, my father; for although your years are many less than mine, did +you not protect me, even as a father, when these dogs of Fingo policemen +would have made me guilty over the chopping down of that white iron-wood +tree? I will now tell you the tale of Gweva, the son of Mehlo, which we +yesterday spoke of when resting in the big forest during the hunt. +Here, boy, bring fuel for the fire, for the night is cold and the tale +is long. Fetch also the last pot of that beer which was brewed seven +days ago. The new beer has not yet worked, and it tastes like water +from a muddy puddle. Fetch also the large calabash spoon; then clear +out, and come not near unless you are called. + +"There is one subject, my father, upon which you and I will never agree, +namely women. You tell me that the women of your race are wiser than +those of mine. This is no doubt true in the same sense as that you, a +European, are wiser than I, a Kafir; but experience teaches me that +women are just women, whatever be their colour, and that men should be +their masters. Where it is otherwise, trouble always follows. I grant +you that some women are wiser and better than most men; your great +Queen, for instance. Her I used to hear of when I was a boy, and I +still hear of her now that my head is white. _She_ must be strong and +wise. Then, who has not heard of Gubele the wife of Umjoli, the +cowardly chief of the Abasekunene, who, when her husband fled before +Tshaka, remained behind with half of the tribe, and slew so many Zulus +that men sang of her that she piled up the gateways of her kraal with +Zulu heads to prevent the cattle from coming out. + +"But such women, my father, are really men, and besides, one does not +meet them, one only hears of them. I speak of the women one sees and +knows and who become the mothers of our children, and I say that he who +is their master, and holds them for his profit and pleasure, for the +bringing forth of sons to fight for the chief (I forgot for the moment +that we are under Government) and daughters for whom `lobola' (dowry) +cattle will be sent to his kraal, is wise, whilst he who sets his heart +on one woman only, and desires her above all else, suffers from a +madness that often leads to ruin. + +"Hear then the tale of Gweva, the son of Mehlo, which tends to prove the +truth of my judgment in this matter. I will relate it, so far as I can, +in the words of my grandfather Nqokomisa, who told it to me many years +ago; he being at the time a man extremely old, also blind and deaf, and +bereft of the use of every member except the tongue. + +"You have heard of our `great chief' 'Ngwanya, whose body lies in the +deep pool in the Tina river just below the drift where the wagons cross. +They tied him to a green iron-wood log and sunk him in the water so +that no enemy could obtain his bones wherewith to work magic against the +tribe. Every year are cast into the pool slaughtered oxen and new bowls +of beer as offerings. You may have noticed that no woman of the +Pondomisi ever lifts her skin skirt, no matter how high the water is, in +crossing the Tina. + +"Well, in the days of 'Ngwanya, we Pondomisi occupied the whole of the +country between the Dedesi, at the source of the Umzimvubu, and the +Umtata. We were then a large tribe, and we feared no enemy. When we +rose against the English in the last war, we should have regained our +position had not our chief Umhlonhlo offended the `imishologu' by +killing his magistrate treacherously. Then an evil spirit put it into +the minds of some of us to attack the Fingoes of the Tsitsa, who +thereupon became our enemies instead of our allies, as had been +arranged. When Makaula and his Bacas slaughtered us in the Tina valley +the `imishologu' had turned their faces from us, and we knew it. + +"'Ngwanya was old when his father died, and was the father of many sons +and daughters. The eldest daughter of his `great house' was Nomasaba, +and it is of the madness caused by her, which fell upon Gweva, the son +of Mehlo, that I am about to tell. + +"Mehlo was the younger brother of 'Ngwanya. He was killed in a battle +with the Tembus, on the Bazaya Mountain. He was a young man of great +courage, and his death was so much lamented that his uncle, who had been +to him as a father, found his hair grow grey with grief. Mehlo had only +one wife--he had only been married a few months before his death. The +wife was, according to custom, taken into 'Ngwanya's household, and +when, half a year afterwards, she gave birth to a boy, it was said that +his name should be `Gwevu,' which means `grey.' Soon afterwards she +died, and the boy was formally adopted into 'Ngwanya's `great house.' +Once he was gored by a grey ox, and thereupon the witch-doctors said +that his name was an unlucky one, so they changed it to `Gweva,' which +means `one who spies about.' + +"When Gweva was three years old, Nomasaba was born, and these two grew +up together in one hut. According to native custom they were brother +and sister. I have been told that amongst Europeans marriage is allowed +between people so related, but with us such a thing would be looked upon +as most horrible and unnatural. + +"Gweva grew up exactly like what his father had been--tall and strong, +brave as a lion, and with eyes and voice that commanded the obedience of +men, even against their will. When hardly more than a lad he could +fling an assegai or a knobbed stick farther, and as true, as any man in +the tribe. But for the madness that fell on him he would have been +chief in the room of Pahlo, who was only of the right-hand house, the +only son of the `great house,' into which Gweva had been legally +adopted, having died young, through being bitten by a snake. + +"Nomasaba was said to be the most beautiful woman ever seen. She was +not black, but of a rich brown colour; she had large, smooth, rounded +limbs, a neck like the trunk of a young tree, a bosom fit to give milk +to the son of a great chief, and pleasing features, which, however, but +seldom smiled. Her voice, although soft, was said to resemble that of a +man. Nomasaba was sought by many in marriage, but she treated all +offers with disdain. + +"When Tahli succeeded Dayene as great chief of the Pondos, 'Ngwanya +became desirous that Nomasaba should be his `great wife,' so without the +girl's knowledge he sent messengers, of whom my grandfather was one, to +the `great place' in Pondoland, to open negotiations on the subject. My +grandfather, being fleet of foot, was sent with the assegai and the +`umlomo,' or `word present' for the intended bridegroom. These he +dropped in the Pondo chiefs presence and then, according to custom, +fled, pursued by the young men of the kraal. Although hard pressed, he +succeeded in escaping; otherwise, had he been caught, he would have been +driven homeward ignominiously with his hands bound behind him, and the +`umlomo' tied on his back. + +"After this the women were sent to `hlolela' or `spy' for the bride, and +whilst they were absent on this errand Nomasaba was informed for the +first time of the marriage which had been arranged for her. To the +surprise and embarrassment of all, she declared that she did not want to +marry, and that nothing would induce her to go to the Pondo chief. +However, we natives have our own ways of arranging such matters, so no +notice was taken of her words. + +"Gweva was absent on a military expedition against a clan of Tembus +which dwelt amongst the mountains just over our inland border, and which +had been raiding into our territory. He had departed shortly before the +first messengers were sent, and he did not return until after the +`hlolela' party had come back, having arranged all preliminaries. +Nomasaba was then told that she should start with the bridal party on a +certain day, and after declaring over and over again with considerable +violence that she would kill herself, and that they might take her dead +body to the Pondo chief, she suddenly changed her tone, and cheerfully +signified her willingness to accept Tahli as her husband. + +"In due course the bridal party started. The bride was accompanied by +twenty girls and fifty young men, including my grandfather and Gweva, +who went as the representatives of 'Ngwanya. Amongst the girls was one +Nonsimbi, who was known as Nomasaba's shadow, for the reason that she +hardly ever left Nomasaba's side. She was a girl of fierce temper and +great strength, and she loved Nomasaba as a dog loves its master. + +"The `great place' of the Pondo chief was distant about five days' walk +from that of 'Ngwanya. On the afternoon of the fourth day Nomasaba, at +whose side Nonsimbi was walking, suddenly fell to the ground with a +sharp cry. When questioned she said she had hurt her ankle, and that it +was impossible for her to proceed any farther. They were then on the +bank of the Umzimvubu river, close to the Lukawi drift, and there were +no dwellings of men close at hand. The huts at which it had been +arranged to sleep were still a long way ahead, so nothing could be done +except halt for the night where they were. Some of the young men went +into the forest close by to cut light poles and wattles which they meant +to bind together in the form of a litter, whereon to carry Nomasaba next +day unless, as appeared unlikely, she should prove to be better in the +morning. + +"Nomasaba, moaning and crying out, limped, with the assistance of +Nonsimbi, to a spot a short distance apart from where the others had +halted, and there lay down. + +"Next morning at daylight when the men awoke they found that Gweva, the +son of Mehlo, Nomasaba, and Nonsimbi had disappeared. Search was made +in every direction, but a heavy dew had fallen, and consequently no +spoor could be found. This, of course, indicated that the three must +have taken their departure early in the night. + +_Two_. + +"I will not say much about what happened to my grandfather, the men of +the escort, and the companions of the bride. They did not proceed to +the `great place' of the Pondo chief, but after searching much and +finding no trace of the missing ones, started for home, travelling so +fast, that although the return journey was up-hill, they performed it in +less than three days. They had much difficulty in persuading 'Ngwanya +of the truth of their story, and the lives of my grandfather and, in +fact, of all the men of the party, were in the greatest danger. To +avoid so far as possible any cause of quarrel, 'Ngwanya, who was at the +time at war with the Tembus, sent the fifty men who had formed the +escort unarmed to Tahli to answer for their carelessness, and suffer +such punishment as the Pondo chief might think fit to inflict. However, +by that time Tahli's wrath was no longer hot, so he sent them back +unpunished. + +"What now follows was told many years afterwards when, 'Ngwanya being +dead and the Bahlo chief in his place, she ventured to return to the +Pondomisi country to die among her own people. + +"It would appear that the plan of escaping was arranged before the +bridal party left 'Ngwanya's `great place,' in fact on the very day +Nomasaba stated her willingness to accept the Pondo chief as her +husband. The plan originated with Nomasaba herself, and she caused +Nonsimbi to communicate the same to Gweva. No particular spot was fixed +upon for the escape, it being settled that Gweva should give the signal +agreed upon, on reaching some locality where, from the density of its +forests and its lack of inhabitants, escape would be rendered easy. + +"Through Nonsimbi's good management the fugitives were enabled to take +with them enough food to last several days. They fled quite early in +the night, in fact whilst some of the men were still talking around the +fires, and slipped at once into the forest. They then bore swiftly away +towards the coast by a route which Gweva had discovered in the afternoon +when cutting sticks for the litter whereon to carry Nomasaba. + +"The coast country in this part of Pondoland is extremely broken, and +even now is well wooded, but in those days it was covered by dense, +almost continuous forest, which was full of elephants, buffaloes, and +other kinds of game. All this had been ascertained by Gweva from the +people of the kraals at which he and his party had rested on their way +down. Gweva's idea was to lie in hiding in the forest for some little +time, and then work his way down until he could manage to cross the +Umtata river and enter the country of the Amabonwane, who were reported +to be hospitable to strangers. + +"In the forest track, however, were living a number of Pondo outlaws, +formerly the adherents of a chief who had rebelled against Tahli's +father Dayene, and had lost his life in consequence. These people were +fierce and brave; for years they had evaded the different expeditions +sent against them. They always made welcome and incorporated among +themselves any fugitives from Pondoland or elsewhere who were willing to +join them. They lived principally by hunting, but had entered into a +secret arrangement with those people living nearest the forest, who, in +return for being left unmolested, grew a little grain for the outlaws +and looked after the few cattle that they owned. + +"One day Gweva and his two companions found themselves surrounded by a +number of these people. Instead, however, of being killed, as they +expected, the fugitives were civilly treated; eventually they were +received into full fellowship by the outlaw community. + +"Gweva represented that his house had been `eaten up' after his father +had been `smelt out' by the witch-doctor, and killed, and that he, with +his wife and sister, for he represented Nonsimbi as standing in the +latter relationship towards himself, had fled in consequence from over +the Pondo border. + +"Gweva soon became a leader amongst the outlaws; his bravery, his skill +in hunting, and his strength being very great. Nomasaba and Nonsimbi +built huts in a glade deep in the thickest part of the forest, and there +the three dwelt together for a time. But women were scarce among the +outlaws, and soon Nonsimbi found herself asked in marriage after a +manner which made it difficult for her to refuse, so she left the +dwelling of Gweva, and went to live with one of the leaders of the +outlaws as his wife. + +"Gweva and Nomasaba dwelt together in the forest for four years, during +which time the man's madness did not abate, and it was said that the +madness of the woman became worse as time passed. Although living very +much to themselves and, in fact, avoiding other people as much as +possible, they seemed to be happy and contented with their lot. Early +in the second year Nomasaba bore a son, and in the year following she +was delivered of a daughter. + +"The forest being full of game there was never any lack of meat; much +honey was to be found in the hollow trees: and the ground held many +roots which were fit for food. Besides, some few trees bore fruits, and +on the dead tree-trunks large mushrooms, good to eat, grew plentifully. +After they had become accustomed to the life, Gweva and Nomasaba ceased +to feel any hardship. Besides, their love-madness for each other was +such that they were content only to be together. + +"It was early in the fourth year of Gweva's dwelling in the forest when +messengers from the Pondo chief arrived offering forgiveness to the +outlaws if they would consent to leave the forest and return to their +homes. The outlaws assembled and heard the words of the messengers, who +satisfied them that the proposals were made in good faith, and that the +chief really meant to overlook the past. Most of the outlaws were tired +of the life they were leading, so were glad to accept the terms +proposed, and return to their allegiance. + +"The word being given, the whole outlaw community moved out of the +forest and assembled between the Umlengaan hill and the Umgazi river, at +a spot agreed upon. Here they were met by the chief induna of Tahli, +who had brought a herd of cattle given by the chief as a token of +forgiveness. The appearance of the outlaws was extremely fierce--they +were gaunt and worn from the effects of the hard life and the scarcity +of food. The children born in the forest were as wild as apes, and +showed great uneasiness in the open country. In passing through the +Umzimvubu forest, several of them ran away and hid, and were only +recovered after great difficulty. + +"It was soon ascertained that Gweva, who was known amongst the outlaws +by the name of Sondaba, and his family were missing. No particular +attention was paid to this fact at the time, but some months afterwards, +when the people had settled in their old homes, it began to be talked +about. The late outlaws were naturally much given to discussion with +their old friends as to all that had happened in Pondoland during recent +years, and, as may be imagined, the disappearance of the daughter of the +Pondomisi chief when on her wedding journey did not fail to be +mentioned. Gradually the idea grew that the wife of Sondaba was the +missing bride, and the shocking suggestion that these two who lived as +man and wife were really brother and sister (as, according to our ideas, +they were) was whispered from one to another. Nonsimbi, who had also +changed her name, was questioned on the subject, but no information +could be elicited from her. + +"The rumour at length reached the ears of Tahli, who sent word of it to +'Ngwanya, asking what he wished to be done. 'Ngwanya's wrath at the +flight of Nomasaba had from the first been fiercer than Tahli's, and his +heart was such that he never forgave an insult or an injury. He sent +back word to the Pondo chief that he wished his shameless daughter and +her criminal lover to be captured and sent to him for punishment. Such +punishment, the messengers added, would be of such severity that men +would talk of it for many years. + +"Tahli thereupon dispatched an expedition to capture Gweva and Nomasaba. +Some of those who had been outlaws acted as guides, and accordingly, a +few days after the arrival of 'Ngwanya's messenger, the valley wherein +the huts of Gweva were built was surrounded by armed men. But Gweva, +who evidently had expected some such event, had removed from the valley +just after the departure of the outlaws, and taken up his abode some +distance away, nearer the sea. + +"Gweva had great skill in the training of dogs to hunt, and it was +through his dogs that he was betrayed to his doom. After vainly +scouring the forest in unsuccessful search of the fugitives during +several days, the induna in charge of the expedition decided to return +home. He and the guides were of opinion that Gweva had fled across the +Umtata river. + +"On the first day of the return journey one of a hunting party, that had +been led afar in pursuit of a wounded koodoo, heard a dog barking in the +distance. Following the sound, the men went up a narrow, winding valley +with steep, rocky sides, until they came to a cave. The dog had now +ceased barking, having been, as they afterwards found out, tied up +inside the cave. They had found tracks leading to the cave, so the men, +who were ten in number, formed a line before its mouth, so that none who +were inside could escape. They then advanced, and a man armed with a +large stabbing spear and a shield made of buffalo hide, came towards +them, calling out a warning that they were to advance no farther. +Behind him was a woman also armed with a spear. She had two children +with her, one she held to her breast, whilst the other clung to her skin +skirt. The man and woman looked so fierce that the ten stood still for +a space at their warning. + +"`Who are you, and what do you want?' asked the man of the cave. + +"`Who we are matters not,' replied the leader of the ten, `but we want +you, Gweva, and this wife of yours who is also your sister.' + +"`My husband, it has come,' said the woman in a deep but quiet voice; `I +will do my work; see that you do yours as well.' + +"With that she plunged the spear into the back of the little boy who was +clinging to her skirt; then she withdrew it, and drove it through the +body of the child which she held on her arm. This done, she flung down +the spear, lifted her arms high over her head, and cried out in a loud +voice: + +"`My husband, I am ready--remember.' + +"The man turned, lifted his spear, and smote the woman downwards above +the left breast. + +"He withdrew the spear gently, and the woman sank slowly to the ground, +he supporting her to save her from falling, and holding his hand under +her head as she lay, until she ceased gasping. + +"The man then lifted his shield from where he had placed it leaning +against a rock, put his arm through the loop-thong, and turned towards +the ten, who stood struck dumb and rigid by what they had seen. Those +who were living when the sun went down that day said that the face of +Gweva was like a thunder-cloud, and that red flashes darted out of his +eyes. He lifted his spear and sprang upon the ten like a wounded lion. +Their surprise at the deeds they had just witnessed was such, that they +were taken quite unprepared. Three fell dead from as many rapid +strokes, and then the others closed in on the desperate man, who did not +seem to heed the many wounds which were dealt him. A fourth fell with +his throat slit in such a manner that he soon afterwards died, and then +Gweva drove his spear so hard into the head of a fifth, through the eye, +that the weapon stuck by its edges between the bones of the aperture. +Being thus disarmed, Gweva was quickly pierced through the heart from +behind, so he sank dead to the ground. + +"This was the end of Gweva, the son of Mehlo, who was smitten with such +a strange madness of desire for a woman whom he could not lawfully take +as his wife. Had he escaped this misfortune of love-madness, he might +have been `great chief' of the Pondomisi nation, and have taken a new +woman to his kraal each year, through all the years of his life." + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +THE LOVE CHARM. + + "Fetch me that flower; the herb I showed thee once; + The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid, + Will make or man or woman madly dote + Upon the next live creature that it sees." + + _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. + +"Ca, 'mntan 'am (no, my child), I am too old, as you can see for +yourself; my memory is no longer good, and all these things happened so +very long ago. Besides, you have not yet told me why you want me to +talk about these old days, you white people are so wise you cannot +require to learn from an old woman such as I. Hear him now, what can +the great people who live beyond the sea in those big houses you show me +the shadows (pictures) of, and of which I never can tell the top from +the bottom, want to know about the dead and gone Bacas? Yes, yes, I +have heard all this before from you, and you know I only promised to +talk on condition that you told me the true reason why you wanted to +write down my words. + +"You white people are _very_ sly; you know most things, yet one thing +you are always trying to learn, all of you: the magic of the native. +And what is our magic compared with yours? With us the `isanuse' +(witch-doctor) calls to all in a loud voice, boasting of what he knows, +yet you `abelungu' (white people) are for ever trying to persuade the +natives that you are not wizards. Don't tell me. Does not one of you +speak with your mouth close to the end of an iron string at Umzimkulu, +while another listens at Matatiele where the string passes over the big +poles, and hear the words spoken? and this over a distance which it +takes a man six days to walk. I know myself that such is the case, +because when my grand-daughter's baby was born at Umzimkulu last spring, +did I not learn it from the pink paper which the constable read to me on +the same day. I asked Rachel particularly about the date afterwards, +and she swore to me that the child was born two days before the new +moon, and that was the day on which the constable came. + +"Did you not yourself open the eye of a box at me, with a click, and +show me the next day the water-shadow of myself upon paper; and was not +the very torn place in my blanket, which I had not yet mended, there +too? Magic, _I_ know magic when I see it. + +"Yes, I am very old. I remember, like it were yesterday, the time when +Ncapay was killed by the Pondos, when he and his `impi' were driven over +the cliff on the Umzimvubu, and I have seen our chief, Makaula, herding +calves when he was a boy. My first husband was old Palelo (he died when +I was away at Umzimkulu), and my second was Momlotyolo, who got his head +broken with a club in a fight with the Pondomisi. He came home with his +head tied up, and laid himself down on a mat. Next day he could not +speak. He lay snoring for five days, and then died in a fit. I had +only been married to him three years, and we had three children. The +first was a girl, she died when still a child, and the second a boy whom +we called Tutani. He was drowned trying to cross the Umzimvubu after a +beer-drink. + +"The first time I was married? That is long ago, and I have almost +forgotten all about it. We were then living in what is now Cweraland. +I was quite a young girl when old Palelo took me as his wife. Yes, he +had six other wives then living, and several others had died. Palelo +was a very old man, but he was rich and my father was poor. Eighteen +head of cattle were given as my dowry, and a new hut was built for me. +In this hut old Palelo nearly lived for two years, and I was quite glad +when I heard that he was paying `lobola' for another girl, as I knew +that when he married her, he'd leave me alone for a time. + +"Who told you that I went to Umzimkulu? So, so, I had forgotten +mentioning it. Well, I suppose I may as well tell you everything about +it now, because you might hear it spoken of by others who do not know +all that happened, and thus come to think evil of me, not knowing that +it was Lamla's fault, and that I was blameless. + +"You have heard of the charm which a man places upon a woman to make her +follow him. Perhaps you do not believe in such things, eh? I thought +not. It is strange what a lot of true things you wise people disbelieve +in. Well, well, if you do not believe in such things why do you want to +hear about them? I think I know the reason, but it runs on a different +spoor to that of your words. Whether you believe in them or not, these +things exist. I have lived much longer than you in spite of the drought +on the top of your head, and I have not only seen, but experienced the +effect of such a charm. No, no, although you are old enough to know +better, you are also old enough to have seen that the eyes of a young +woman do not shine on you as on younger men, and this knowledge might +lead you into mischief. + +"Well, I will tell you of some, but not of the strongest. There are +many things which can be used as charms, and some work quite differently +from others. Some are of use only to a young man, and some to one who +is old. There is the `duba' (wild garlic: _Tulbaghia alliacea_) which +is pounded up with fat and clay, and kept in the tip of a goat's horn. +If a young man touch a young woman with this it will make her think of +him night and day, until the `umdhlemnyana' (a kind of hysteria) seizes +her. This will never leave her unless he releases her, or she can steal +the charm from where he has to keep it, wrapped in a skin, in the roof +of his dwelling. Then there is the `insonga 'mazwe' (literally `turner' +or `wrapper up' of words--_Commelyna speciosa_--a little blue, furry +flower, with bright yellow anthers). If a young man bathes, and then +rubs himself all over with this, his words become so wise and sweet to +the ear, that no woman can deny him anything. Besides, there is that +stuff which can be bought at the big stores, `zamlandela' (camphor; +literally `that which leads,' or `induces'). If a young man rub his +hands with this, and he touch a girl on the cheeks, she will dream of +him whether she be asleep or awake. There are other things; roots and +flowers which, if placed by a man in the water-pool at which the girls +drink, or in which they bathe in hot weather, will have such an effect +that their fathers and brothers will want to shed blood. Then there is +another flower which, if broken up and scattered on a path along which a +woman walks, will make her follow the man who scattered it wheresoever +he leads her. It was in this way I was charmed and led away to +Umzimkulu, where I dwelt for a year. + +"Lamla came to dwell in our neighbourhood nearly two years after I had +married old Palelo. He was a young man of Umzimkulu. He had been +obliged to flee for a time from there on account of having broken the +law. He was related to some people of a kraal near ours, and with them +he stayed. He was a very big man and a strong dancer, and was nearly +always laughing. + +"Old Palelo had many sons and daughters, and as he was rich, there was +plenty of feasting at our kraal. Lamla often visited my hut and seemed +to be very fond of talking to Palelo about old times, and about the +deeds my husband had done in his youth. The two would often sit over +the fire, far into the night, and I used to lie on my mat, my head +covered with a kaross, listening. There was a little hole in the +kaross, and through this I used to watch Lamla, who always sat with his +face towards me. I do not know how it was, but somehow that part of the +kaross with the hole in it was always just in front of my eyes. It was +strange to see how fond old Palelo was of Lamla; I think it was because +Lamla listened to him so quietly, and just let him talk. + +"Lamla said very little to me on these occasions, but we used often to +meet when I went down to the pool to fetch water, or to the millet-field +to hoe. I did not altogether like meeting him alone, because the way in +which he talked and went on annoyed me. It was not so much his words as +his ways that made me angry. Whenever we were alone he mimicked old +Palelo--his walk, his voice, his way of taking snuff--everything. +Although I could not keep from laughing, I did not like Lamla to go on +like this. He said he meant to make himself so like Palelo that none +would be able to tell one from the other, and that he came to practise +before me, so that I could tell him how he was getting on. + +"Sometimes he would tell me about what a lot of girls were in love with +him at Umzimkulu, and when I told him to go back to them and not trouble +me any more, he said he had got so fond of Palelo that he could not bear +to think of departing. Occasionally he would come down to the field +where I was hoeing, and if it were a hot day would make me sit with him +under a tree, chewing `imfe' (sweet reed), and listening while he blew +music on the `ugwalo' (a musical instrument formed of a single string +attached to a quill, and stretched along a stick), or talking nonsense. + +"One day as I was returning from the pool carrying a pot of water, I met +Lamla coming out of the bush with a lot of yellow flowers in his hands. +I inquired as to what he was going to do with these, and he said he was +going to do some `doctoring.' `Who, then, is sick?' I asked. `I am,' +he replied. I laughed at this, because at the dance the day before he +had tired all the others out. `Do you know what sickness these are to +cure?' he asked, looking at me very hard. `No,' said I, `unless it be +the sickness that makes people think they are not themselves; that is +the only sickness you have got.' `Why, you are almost as good as a +doctor yourself,' he replied; then he laughed and went away. + +"Next morning I saw some little bits of yellow stuff on the ground just +outside my hut, and also strewn along the pathway leading to the +millet-field. I picked a piece up, and found it to be very like a +portion of a flower such as Lamla had been carrying when I met him +coming out of the bush. I soon picked up a whole flower. This, without +considering what I was doing, I stuck into the carrying-hole of my left +ear. Then it suddenly seemed as if something began to sing inside me, +and I felt very happy, but rather frightened. + +"On that day I could not work. I felt as if quite changed in every way. +I could not forget the yellow flowers, or Lamla. I just stuck my hoe +into the ground and went to the spot under the big tree where he and I +used to sit. It was very hot, so I lay down and soon fell fast asleep. + +"I had a strange dream. I thought that Lamla came to me with a lot of +yellow flowers tied around his head in the way the Pondos tie the +`imvani' (wild asparagus) when they want rain to fall. I thought he +kept changing into old Palelo, and then back into himself again, and +that I was running away from him and at the same time feeling sorry that +he could not catch me. Just as I thought he had caught me, I woke up +suddenly, and there he stood. + +"I got such a fright that I screamed out and then began to weep. Lamla +sat down next to me. I told him to leave me alone, but he would not, so +I jumped up and ran away home. + +"That night I could eat nothing, and the `umdhlemnyana' sickness seized +me so badly that old Palelo became quite frightened, and said he would +fetch the witch-doctor next day to see who had bewitched me. When I +felt better I lay down to try and sleep, but it was of no use. I +dreamed of Lamla's coming, but when it got late and he had not come, I +felt like a long-tailed finch trying to fly against the wind on a wet +day. I kept wondering as to where he was, and the thought that he might +be at a feast at another kraal where there was a girl who I knew liked +him, troubled me so much that I got another `umdhlemnyana' fit, and when +old Palelo came to me with a pot of water, I threw the water all over +him, and broke the pot. This made me feel a little better, so I lay +quiet, pretending to be asleep. + +"Old Palelo went to sleep on his mat, but I lay long awake, until at +length I felt I could not stay in the hut any longer; something seemed +to draw me outside. I took my kaross and left the hut. The moon was +large and yellow. The stream of water in the kloof just below was +making a noise exactly like some one speaking, and at length I found +out what it was saying. It was +`lam-lam-lam-la-la-la-lam-la-la-lam-la-lam-la-lam-la,' that the water +was calling out over and over again as it ran over the stones. Lamla +seemed to be all about me, and I kept looking behind me to see if he was +not there. + +"A jackal up on the hill was calling out `yonk, yonk, yonk, yow-a-a-ow,' +like a man singing through his nose. The bats and night-jars were +flitting about, and two owls were crying out to each other among the +tops of the yellow-wood trees. + +"I first sat down near the hut, but old Palelo was snoring like a big +frog, so I walked away beyond the cattle kraal, and laid myself down on +the short, green grass, which was cool and wet with dew. + +"All this time I could think of nothing but Lamla, and I kept wondering +why this should be so. Why did I feel so strange and so changed? My +thoughts went back to the first time I had seen him. It was at the +wedding feast of one of Palelo's daughters. I remember thinking I had +never seen any one dance so well. Then I went over, one by one, all the +occasions upon which we had since met. Although they were many I think +I remembered every one of them. I began to laugh when I thought of the +way he used to mimic my husband. Then I thought of the long talks in +the hut at night, so I lay back and covered myself up with the kaross, +looking through the same little hole at a post standing near me, and +trying to imagine it was Lamla, giving his ears to Palelo and his eyes +to me. + +"Next I remembered his coming out of the bush with the yellow flowers, +and this set me thinking of what had been strewn on the path. Then I +suddenly understood the whole thing--I was bewitched. Lamla had said +the flowers were for medicine, and this was what he had meant, the +rogue. + +"When the thought first struck me I felt very much frightened, and I +jumped up, meaning to run into the hut at once. However, I remained +where I was for a little time, and then my fright seemed to pass away. +Then I walked on a few yards and sat down on the grass. + +"I listened to the water calling out Lamla's name, and thought seriously +over the whole matter of Lamla and his doings. After considering for a +while I concluded that in spite of the `umdhlemnyana' sickness, being +bewitched was, after all, not so very terrible. I had often heard of +girls being charmed in this way, and I knew that one cure for it was to +follow the man about, and make him take off the charm. `Ah, ha, my +friend Lamla,' thought I, `I am up to your ways and tricks, and will let +you know it the next time we meet. You have not got a silly girl to +deal with this time, but a woman who has been married nearly two years, +and who can take care of herself very well, in spite of the +"umdhlemnyana."' + +"The dogs suddenly began to bark all together, and then they rushed +round to the back of the cattle kraal, where they all ceased barking. +Just afterwards a man walked out into the moonlight from behind the +kraal-fence, and came slowly towards me. It was Lamla. The dogs knew +him, and were running after him and fawning. + +"He came up to where I was sitting, and without saying a word took my +hands in his and drew me gently towards him. I stood up, and then he +walked on, and I followed. I could not have resisted then, even if I +had wanted to, but I do not think I wanted to at all. You see, the +charm had influenced me more strongly than I had thought. I was no +longer myself, but just Lamla and nothing else. + +"I followed Lamla down the hill along the path to the millet-field, and +then we sat down under the tree. The dogs came too, and Lamla got very +angry because he could not at first manage to drive them back. `Lamla,' +said I, `you have bewitched me with those yellow flowers, and we will +both be killed by Palelo's sons.' `No,' said he, `it is you that have +bewitched me, and I only used those flowers to cure myself.' + +"After a while we went on together, Lamla leading me by the hand. When +we reached a little bush near the kraal he was living at, he left me for +a short time, and then he returned with two bundles, one of which he +gave me to carry. We walked on all night. Just before daybreak we +turned to the left and entered a thick forest. Here we spent the day. +We did not light a fire. Lamla had brought some millet already boiled, +in a skin bag. We ate this, and also some roots which he dug up with +the blade of his spear. From a hollow tree he brought some of the +sweetest honey I have ever tasted. He did not seem to mind the bees +stinging him at all. + +"All this time we hardly spoke a word. In the afternoon we were sitting +together hidden in some thick, green brushwood; I heard a rustle and, +looking up, saw a long green snake gliding through the branches just +over Lamla's head. I called out: `Look, there is a snake.' He just +smiled and, without standing up, killed the snake with one blow of his +stick. It nearly fell on him, so I screamed out, but he laughed and +comforted me and said that he had been doctored by a great wizard +against all dangerous things except me. + +"Then he asked me how I liked being bewitched. I replied: `I like it +very well now, because the charm is on me, but I know that by and by I +will be very angry.' He laughed very loud at this. Afterwards he asked +me if I knew what had really happened. I answered: `Yes, Lamla, you +wicked man, you have bewitched me and made me follow you away from my +home.' `No, you are mistaken,' said he, `I am not Lamla at all, but +your husband Palelo in Lamla's body; Lamla is still at the kraal in the +body of Palelo.' I could not understand how this could be, and I now +know that he was talking nonsense, but at the time the charm was so +strong on me that I would have believed anything he told me. + +"That night we crossed the Umzimvubu, and reached the big forest below +the Tabankulu. Here we laid down and slept. The sun was high when we +awoke. We travelled on through the forest, and again rested and spent +the night on the other side. + +"Next day we went on without concealment through the open country. We +were now in Pondoland, so had nothing to fear, so we just wandered on +quietly from kraal to kraal, getting food in plenty; for Lamla had such +pleasant ways, especially with the women, that we were always made +welcome. Lamla said I was his wife, whom he had fetched from the +Pondomisi country, and no one seemed to doubt his words. + +"When we reached the Baca country at Umzimkulu, we went straight to the +kraal of Lamla's father, and when he told his relations that I was his +wife, and that he had paid `lobola' for me, they all laughed at him, and +asked whether horns or feathers grew on the `lobola' cattle. I did not +see at the time why they should have doubted his words, but I found out +the reason afterwards. + +"At first we lived very happily, for the charm was still strong upon me, +but after some months Lamla began to go away from home very often, and +then I heard that he was courting another girl. Well, he married her, +and she and I quarrelled, and he took her part and beat me, so I became +very miserable. It was nearly a year after we came to Umzimkulu that my +baby, a boy, was born. + +"One day, when my baby was over a month old, who should walk up to the +kraal but the Matshoba, old Palelo's `great son.' I picked up the child +and ran away into the bush, but next day I got hungry and had to return. +Matshoba was not very angry. It turned out that Palelo was dead. +Matshoba said that I must return with him. I was not sorry to do so, +because the charm had now quite passed away from me. + +"Matshoba brought a law case before the chief against Lamla for taking +me away. I told all about the charm which had been used, and Lamla did +not deny having used it. He was ordered by the chief to pay ten head of +cattle as a fine. These his father had to pay, because Lamla had no +cattle of his own. The chief said that if Lamla's father had got him a +wife Lamla would not have gone about bewitching the wives of other +people. When the cattle were paid the chief took five head, and +Matshoba and I drove the other five to my old home. Soon afterwards I +was married to Momlotyolo. + +"My baby grew up and became just like his father both in appearance and +ways. When quite a young man he was `smelt out' for bewitching one of +the wives of the chief, and had to flee for his life. I have never +heard of him since. + +"No, no; I am not going to tell you anything more about the flower. It +was not a yellow flower at all, but one of quite another colour. +Besides, it is a young man's charm, and therefore would be of no use to +you." + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +DERELICTS. + + "God help all poor souls lost in the dark." + + _The Heretic's Tragedy_. + +"There is, after all, nothing equal to philosophic cultivation of the +mind for enabling one to withstand misfortune," said the man, as he +entered the room. + +The woman looked up at him from where she was sitting, with a start of +surprise. Pain, love, pity, and yearning made worlds of her eyes. + +"Now take my case," continued the man; "it is only four days since +Wallie died, and it was but yesterday we laid him in his grave, and yet +to-night I feel hardly any grief. Of course, the shock unmanned me at +first, but now I am quite myself again. I have never been able to make +you see the uses of--" + +The man ceased speaking and began to cough. Then he walked slowly +backwards and forwards with an air of extreme preoccupation. The woman +said nothing, but kept her eyes, which were now swimming in tears, fixed +on him. + +"Really, my darling," he continued after a pause, and in an impatient +tone, "you must try and look at the thing as I do. He is dead, and we +saw the lid of the coffin screwed down over his cold body, yet, +wonderful to relate, he is so close to us that I can bring him back at +will. I have only to close my eyes and I see him. Look here, I hold +his cap just three feet from the floor, and there he stands below it, +with his face under the peak, and his curls behind. Now cover your face +with the cap, and draw in your breath;--so--did I not tell you?--He has +only just taken it off. Now, look: can you not see him there before +you? Now he is here nestling up, and just going to beg for a story. +There, he has gone over to his rocking-horse. Now close your eyes and +rock it; to close your eyes at the right time is the great secret." + +Here the man's voice was again interrupted by the cough. The woman +stood up and laid her hand caressingly over his shoulder. Then she +tried to move in front of him and look into his eyes. With an impatient +gesture he shook himself free, and resumed his walking to and fro, +always avoiding her eyes. + +"How foolish you are," he resumed, "not to help me, not to participate +in this new creation which I have discovered the secret of effecting. +Look here, be reasonable, every night we will make up his bed and place +his clothes ready for the morning. Then we will tie the string to your +wrist so that he can pull it and waken you without disturbing me. Now +just try it, and I am quite positive you will feel the string being +pulled just when he wants you to kiss him at the usual time. You have +always been pitching into me for reading metaphysics, but look at the +difference between us now. You remember what Fichte--" + +Here the man's voice was once more interrupted by the cough. He turned +and leant against the wall, resting his forehead against his arm. The +woman tried to make him sit down on an easy-chair, which she drew +towards him, but he refused with the same impatient gesture. Soon he +resumed his walking, and continued: + +"I am even prepared to maintain that in some respects we are better off +than if he had lived. I do not imagine that either of us will last very +long, and think what it would have been to leave him behind, uncared +for. Then, if he had grown up, who knows what mistakes he might have +made, and what he might have suffered. As it is now, he will always be +the same to us. I am glad you are not crying any longer. Now I will go +and carry his cot back into the bedroom. Do not come in until I have +things arranged." + +There was a smell of carbolic disinfectant throughout the house, for the +boy had died of diphtheritic croup, after an agonising illness of five +days. This smell continually suggested death to the woman; it seemed to +have got into her nostrils permanently, go where she would she could not +avoid it. She now stood up from where she had been sitting near the +fireplace, and walked into the drawing-room, which had a south-eastern +aspect. It was winter, and the night was somewhat unseasonably warm. +The weather had long been dry. A bright moon was high in the heavens. +The woman stood in the dark room and looked out of the window to where +the bare, silvery rods of a willow swayed and undulated to the faint, +intermittent breeze. Then her gaze wandered to an oak, out of the +leafless boughs of which hung the ropes of the boy's swing, oscillating +gently. Every now and then she coughed, and the sound of the man's +coughing reached her at short intervals from the next room. The rising +wind began to sough and moan over the house, and to call ghostly +whisperings from the bare, chafing branches of the crowded oak trees. +Stretched across the sky from horizon to horizon was a curved fringe of +delicate snow-white cloud, suggestive of an ostrich feather in shape and +texture. This came nearer every moment. It hung for a breath like a +broken, opaline halo round the moon. Now it was over the house, and the +moon was again clear, but low down on the southern horizon from whence +it had arisen, dark clouds of gradually increasing bulk were surging up, +and faint lightnings flickering. + +The man came from the bedroom into the passage and called to the woman, +who silently joined him, and again passed her arm over his shoulder. + +"Come along, darling," he said, as they went towards the bedroom; "see +how I have arranged it all. What a pity we did not think of this last +night!" + +The little cot had been moved back to its place, and in it the boy's bed +had been made, pillow, white sheet turned back, and little eider-down +quilt, all complete. In the middle of the pillow was a dent, as if a +head had just been lying there, and the bed-clothes were slightly +tumbled. On a chair at the foot of the cot were carelessly thrown a +flannel shirt, a blue-striped tunic, and a pair of blue serge +knickerbockers; upon these lay loose a pair of cardinal-coloured socks, +and two shoes with bright steel buckles stood close by on the floor. +The woman walked up to the cot, her face was ashen. Her lips had ceased +quivering, but she could not speak. Her heart stood almost still. Her +mental tension was such that she almost lost consciousness. Two +impressions dominated all others, the smell of the carbolic, and the +swelling moan of the wind over the roof. The man went on garrulously, +and in a cheerful voice: + +"Look here, we will hang his plaid over the side of the cot, and when we +light the candle in the night to see if he is covered properly, we can +just _know_ that he is there, behind it. He lies so quietly that we +never can hear him breathe. + +"Sit down now and I will read a chapter of the Bible to you. It is past +our usual time." + +The man stretched forth his hand and took a Bible down from a small +book-shelf which hung on the wall close to the head of the bed. Then he +began to speak, turning over the leaves at the same time. + +"Let me see, what shall we read to-night? I forgot to-day to pick one +out that Wallie will not ask awkward questions about. + +"Ah! here is the one about King David's child dying; you remember he +lost a child, a boy too, his son and Bathsheba's... I will read this. +Come close; I believe Wallie is asleep, so I must speak low... How the +wind is wailing;... but you know, wind always makes him sleep more +soundly." + +The woman bent forward and hid her face in her hands, her elbows resting +on her knees. The man began to read: + +"And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died. And the +servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they +said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he +would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself if we +tell him that the child is dead? + +"But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that +the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child +dead? and they said, He is dead. + +"Then David arose from the earth and washed, and anointed himself; and +changed his apparel, and came into the House of the Lord, and +worshipped; then he came to his own house; and when he required, they +set bread before him, and he did eat. + +"Then said his servants unto him: What thing is this that thou hast +done? Thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was alive, but +when the child was dead thou didst arise and eat bread. + +"And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I +said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child +may live? + +"But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back +again? I shall go to him, but he shall not come to me." + +The wind had gradually increased in violence, and now there came a +strong gust and a sudden clash of rain against the iron roof. The man +ceased reading, and looked up with a light of wildness in his eyes. +Then he flung down the book, started up, and ran around to the other +side of the bed, where the cot was. He looked into the cot, and a long +cry of agony broke from him when he saw that it was empty. He staggered +and would have fallen but for the woman, who supported him for a moment, +and then let him sink back on the bed. Another fit of coughing came on, +after which white foam, slightly tinged with blood, appeared on his +lips. The rain, with which hail was now mixed, swept down on the roof +in a roaring torrent. + +Suddenly the man sprang up, and before the woman could restrain him, had +reached the passage leading to the front door. + +"Come, come," he shouted, "he is out in the cold and wet, and we are in +here warm and dry. Let me go; I will take his plaid to put over him. +You do not care, or you would not try to stop me. Let me go." + +All this time he was struggling to escape from the woman's clasping +arms, and at length he succeeded. He rushed back into the bedroom, +seized the plaid from where it hung on the cot, and again made for the +door. The woman followed him with an overcoat, and caught him as he was +turning the handle. + +"Wait one moment, Fred," she said in a low-toned voice, which had the +immediate effect of calming him, "we will go together. Come back with +me until I get my cloak." + +He followed her back to the bedroom, and there walked impatiently about, +struggling to get into the overcoat, and coughing incessantly. She put +on a waterproof ulster, and then opened a little jewel-case which stood +on the dressing-table. From this she took a thick, glossy lock of dark, +curly hair, which she hid in the bosom of her dress. + +The woman took the man's arm, and the two walked out into the wild +night. It was not dark, for the moon was nearly full, but swift on the +wings of the screaming gale low, combing clouds were hurrying over the +land. From these heavy showers of piercing sleet fell. Each shower +only lasted for a few minutes, but the intervals between them were +hardly longer. As the storm grew, the duration of the showers +increased, whilst that of the intervals diminished. As yet, how ever, +the moon shone out brightly after each shower. + +The graveyard was on the spur of a mountain which overhung the river +about a mile below the village. Thither the man and the woman wended. +Fortunately the wind was behind them. It was this circumstance that +made their progress possible. They never could have faced the howling +storm. Faster and faster they staggered onward, the woman supporting +the man by means of her left arm, which she had passed around his body, +and holding his left in her right hand. They both coughed dreadfully, +but the paroxysms of the man were the worse. + +They reached the graveyard at length, and sank down exhausted on the +boy's grave. Just then, a furious shower of hail lashed out of a +driving cloud, and in a few moments the whole world was white. They +managed to spread the plaid over the little mound. The woman being on +the windward side, held it for a while in position, and soon the hail +lay thickly on it. + +In a short lull between two of the worst gusts the woman managed to +creep around to the other side of the grave where the man was lying +huddled. She passed her arm around him in the old protective manner, +and laid her cold lips against his cheek, which was like frozen marble. +He was only just breathing. Then the cough seized him again, and he +struggled violently. The woman closed her eyes, and held him fast. He +gave a great gulp, a shudder passed over his limbs, and then he lay +still. + +The woman opened her eyes. The moon was shining brightly through a +narrow rift between the storm-cloud that had just passed over and the +one hurrying on its track. The dazzlingly white hail covered +everything, and lay in heaps against the graveyard wall, the +tree-trunks, and the tombstones. It half covered the man and the woman, +and on the white heap against which his head was lying, was a dark +stain. + +The woman closed her eyes and lay with her head against the man's body. +She soon fell asleep, and dreamt a dream. She thought she was swinging +in the hammock which was slung between the verandah poles of the +cottage, reading to the boy his favourite story. It was a slight and +simple allegory which the man had composed for him, and was based +principally upon the last chapter of Revelation, the description of the +Delectable Mountains, and Augustine's City of God. The story was +written in the man's happiest vein, and was full of the loveliest +fancy-play. The best passage in it was that description of the valley +through which runs the River of the Water of Life. She read as far as +this, and lo! in the twinkling of an eye she was in the valley. There +stood the grove of those wondrous trees which bear twelve different +kinds of fruit, and the leaves of which are for the healing of the +suffering nations. + +But she was alone in the midst of all this wonder and beauty. She +wandered along in a state of disquietude, seeking something or somebody, +she knew not who or what. Then she heard a halloa far away in a voice +that seemed familiar, and that sent a thrill of agonising bliss through +her being. Soon a well-known, pattering footstep sounded down one of +the spacious avenues, and the boy rushed into her arms. After an +ecstatic moment she lifted her face out of his dark curls, and saw the +man hurrying towards her with shining face and outstretched arms. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +THE RETURN OF SOBEDE. + + "There is a deal of human nature in mankind." + + Josh Billings. + +_One_. + +Sobede stood in the prisoners' dock before the Circuit Court at Kokstad, +between his fellow-prisoners Kwekwe and Gazile, and pleaded "Not Guilty" +to the charge of having stolen four head of cattle from one Jasper +Swainson, a farmer dwelling in the valley of the Indwana river, +Umzimkulu district, whom he had served as a shepherd two years +previously. + +Sobede belonged to the Hlangweni tribe, whilst his companions were Gaika +Kafirs from near King William's Town. But the important difference +between Sobede and the others lay in this: that whereas they were guilty +of the crime laid to their charge, he was as innocent as was his +Lordship the learned judge who, clad in a gorgeous vestment of crimson +silk, was trying him. + +Appearances were, however, strongly against Sobede. The evidence showed +that the stolen cattle had been found by the farmers who followed on +their spoor in the possession of the three prisoners, and were at the +time being driven up one of the gorges of the steep Drakensberg range, +in the direction of Basutoland, that great and grievous receptacle for +stolen stock of all kinds. When Sobede told his story, namely, that he +had casually joined the other two but a few minutes before he had been +apprehended, having come from his kraal along one of the many footpaths +leading through the same gorge, no one believed him, although the +relation was perfectly true. His wife, Mampitizili, with her +two-months-old baby slung on her back and hushing it as she spoke, gave +evidence to the effect that her husband had left her after the sun was +high on the same day for the purpose of fetching medicine from a native +doctor for the week-old baby, which happened at the time to be ailing, +whereas the cattle had been stolen thirty hours previously. His old, +half-decrepit father, 'Mbope, corroborated Mampitizili's statement in a +voice that rose to a quavering shout. The old man's lips trembled, his +eyes flashed for a moment through the blue film that had gradually +overspread them during the past few years, and he held his shaking right +hand with the two first fingers extended high over his head. He really +afforded a very fine tragic spectacle, and suggested a kind of Bantu +Lear in appearance and mien, but to judge by the behaviour of the jury +the exhibition was rather comic than otherwise, for they put their heads +together and laughed consumedly. _They_ knew the dodges all these old +niggers get up to, and it was quite clear that the old man had pitched +it too strong for sincerity. The old man's display evidently impressed +his Lordship, but was nevertheless of no use to Sobede. The damning +fact remained that the cattle had been stolen from a farmer in whose +service he had for some time been, and when the passing flash of insight +had faded from the mind of the judge, no one in court except Sobede's +wife and father had the slightest doubt as to Sobede's guilt. + +The prosecuting barrister finished his address to his own entire +satisfaction, and then, sitting down, leaned back in his seat and +contemplated the recently-painted ceiling, conscious of having done his +duty to society. Then the judge made a few remarks of an analytic +nature, inclining at the same time towards the jury-box with that +well-known and well-studied air of forensic friendliness which so tends +to establish a good understanding between all parties concerned; except, +perhaps, the prisoner at the bar. After this the nine heads of the +jurymen bent towards each other in a whispered colloquy which may +perhaps have lasted for thirty seconds. Then the jurymen all stood up +together, and the foreman communicated their verdict as one of "guilty" +against the three prisoners. + +Then the judge, pushing back the forensic friendliness stop, and drawing +out that of judicial austerity, began to admonish the prisoners, and it +could be seen that it was at Sobede his harangue was chiefly aimed. +Although the address was well interpreted, Sobede could not follow the +drift of it, his attention being divided between the wails of his child +sounding faintly from the court-house yard where the witnesses were +kept, and the little white tippets which waggled a silent accompaniment +to his Lordship's eloquence over the breast of his Lordship's beautiful +red silk robe. The baseness of ingratitude (it had transpired in the +course of the evidence that Sobede had, in recognition of meritorious +service, been sent away with four goats over and above his specified +wages) was enlarged upon, and the ineradicable nature of the furtive +bent in the average Bantu was treated from an ethnological point. +Eventually Sobede found himself sentenced to three years' imprisonment +with hard labour, whilst his companions, who could not help smiling at +the peculiarity of the situation, got off each with a year less. + +After sentence, as he was being hurried through the court-house yard to +the lock-up, Sobede caught a glimpse of old 'Mbope crouching with bent +head in a corner, and then he passed Mampitizili. She was still hushing +the baby, who as yet refused to be comforted, and as her husband passed +her with the horror of the prospect of three years of unmerited, painful +servitude darkening his uncivilised soul, these two exchanged such looks +as are never forgotten on this side of the grave. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +_Two_. + +Mampitizili and 'Mbope took two days wherein to perform the return +journey to Sidote's location, where they dwelt. Owing to his +infirmities the old man walked with great difficulty, but he kept a good +heart, and endeavoured his best to comfort the miserable wife of his +unhappy son, reminding her from his vantage coign of old age that three +years pass very quickly and do not, after all, make much of a slice out +of a lifetime. This is quite true when the lifetime is regarded from +near the wrong end of it, but such philosophy is unintelligible to the +young. The poor woman had only been married about a year, and the baby, +a boy, was not yet three months old. It had not as yet even been given +a name. + +They reached home one cold, misty evening, and it was then that the full +significance of their misfortune came home to them for the first time. +The friends who had taken charge of the premises during their absence +left next morning taking with them a goat, as a reward for their +services, and all day long the two miserable creatures sat and hugged +their misery. The hearth was cold, the milk-sacks were empty, and the +strong arm and shrewd head of Sobede were missed at every turn. + +The season was early autumn, and the crops were nearly ready to reap, +but during their absence the cattle, the birds, and marauding children +from kraals in the next valley had so damaged them that they were now +hardly worth the reaping. The calves of two of the best cows had died, +and consequently milk was scarce. Everything seemed to be falling into +disorganisation. A boy of about twelve years of age, a grandson of the +old man, was sent to dwell at the kraal for the purpose of assisting in +looking after the stock, but the loneliness weighed upon him to such an +extent that he repeatedly deserted and ran home, in spite of repeated +heavy beatings from his father, who had been promised a cow in payment +for the boy's services. + +Mampitizili struggled on bravely, and carried up basket after basket of +grain from the depleted field, but when the last cob had been harvested +there was hardly enough grain to last half-way through the winter, to +say nothing of seed for the ensuing spring. + +'Mbope had another son whose name was Manciya. Manciya's mother had +been the "great wife," and consequently he took precedence of Sobede, +whose mother was the wife of 'Mbope's "right hand." All the rest of +'Mbope's children were daughters, and they had all long since been +married. Sobede was 'Mbope's youngest child and his favourite. + +Manciya and his father did not agree, and consequently 'Mbope had dwelt +with Sobede since the latter had married and set up a kraal of his own +on a sheltered ledge near the head of a deep valley on the eastern +fringe of the Hlangweni location. Manciya had, under pretext of +seniority, seized the lion's share of the cattle. He had, it is true, a +right to a great deal of it, but he took more than his share, and it was +only after much trouble that he was compelled to disgorge. However, a +herd of about twenty head had been rescued from his clutches and +formally ceded to Sobede as his prospective share in his father's +estate, to be his unconditionally after 'Mbope's death. + +Manciya now and then called to see his father. His kraal, where he +dwelt with his several wives, was situated about five miles away. His +visits were not welcome, for the reason that he always appeared to +assume that Sobede was guilty, and this was resented by both 'Mbope and +Mampitizili. Theft of cattle, especially if it happens to be on a large +scale, is probably regarded by the native of to-day more or less as it +was regarded by the moss-trooper of the Scotch Border in the sixteenth +century. In Sobede's case, however, his wife and his father knew him to +be suffering for a sin he had not committed. The ever-present sense of +injustice made them sensitive, and they felt the inconvenience of their +position most keenly. + +Two years passed, full of misery to the widowed wife and the old man who +now felt his death approaching, and keenly longed for a sight of his +favourite son to carry with him into the grave. They did not even know +at which of the convict stations Sobede was serving his time, for no +word from him had ever reached them since the day of his conviction. +The little boy grew strong and tall. He was now able to run about. +"Kungaye" was the name given to him. This word means "It was through +(or owing to) him." This name, the significance of which will be +obvious, was not given as a reproach, but so that, in after life, the +son might remember and deplore his father's unmerited sufferings, of +which he had been the innocent cause. + +_Three_. + +One evening old 'Mbope, who had the habit of pottering about digging out +medicinal roots with an iron spike, returned and laid himself down on +his mat after refusing to eat any supper. The season was again early +autumn, and a bitterly cold wind swept down from the snow-flecked +Drakensberg range. Next day he was unable to arise, and he lay moaning +then and throughout the following night in a burning fever, whilst a +cruel cough racked his spent frame. His talk, as he wandered in +delirium, was ever of Sobede, and the "red chief" who had punished him +undeservedly. The poor old man appeared to imagine that he was still +giving evidence at the trial. In the early morning he tried to stand +up, but fell back dead on his mat. + +Manciya came over and buried his father, and then Mampitizili, with +little Kungaye, accompanied him back to his kraal. Manciya was now the +head of the family, and according to native custom the interests of +Sobede were vested in him for the time being. The cattle and goats were +driven over, and the mats, calabashes, and other _lares_ and _penates_, +with the assegais and clubs of Sobede, were taken to Manciya's kraal. +Mampitizili found herself disposed of as joint occupant, with Manciya's +oldest and ugliest wife, of a large hut on the left-hand side of the +cattle kraal. + +For a time Mampitizili was left to herself, but within a few months she +had come to find that all the inconvenience she had previously suffered +was as nothing compared to what she now had to endure. + +A rumour was set afloat to the effect that Sobede was dead; this at +first caused her much terror, but when all efforts to trace it to its +source had failed, Mampitizili ceased to give it much credence; +nevertheless, it left a rankling thorn of uneasiness in her mind. Soon +after this she began to see far more of Manciya than she liked, and then +he commenced paying her attentions that were extremely distasteful. +Among the many Jewish customs followed by the Kafirs is the one +prescribed in the fifth verse of the twenty-fifth chapter of the book of +Deuteronomy, and Manciya, assuming the report as to Sobede's death to be +true, proposed to follow this custom in Mampitizili's ease. She, it may +be stated, was an extremely attractive young woman. Manciya found +himself repulsed with indignation over and over again. Then he began to +try the effect of harsh and even cruel treatment where soft measures had +failed. + +The wife whose dwelling Mampitizili shared had been neglected by her +husband for years, and was now savagely jealous of the attentions which +he paid, in her hut and before her face, to a young, good-looking woman, +and she accordingly gave full vent to her spite when she saw from +Manciya's changed demeanour that it was safe for her to do so. Soon +Mampitizili's life became one of continuous misery. It was through +little Kungaye that she suffered most severely. The child was bullied +or beaten every day by the other children, who were encouraged to +torment him, and all attempts at defence or retaliation on the mother's +part proved to be worse than useless. The hardest drudgery fell to +Mampitizili's lot, and the worst food was her scanty portion, but all +this she regarded as nothing in comparison with what she had to endure +in respect of the treatment to which her child was subjected. + +Sometimes she would manage to steal away and carry little Kungaye over +to the old kraal, there to muse miserably over the short-lived happiness +that she and Sobede had enjoyed. The three huts were falling into +decay, the corn-pits in the kraal were full of water, and the whole +place was overgrown with weeds. But here she had at least peace; the +leering, libidinous eye of Manciya no longer affronted her, and she was +free from the constant nagging of his jealous, spiteful wives. Here, +moreover, little Kungaye could play in peace with the little toy oxen +she had made for him out of mud, free from the persecution of his +malevolent cousins. + +As may have been inferred, it was Manciya who had for his own purposes +set afloat the rumour as to Sobede's having died at the convict station. +He knew that Sobede's return home might be expected in a few months, +and he determined, therefore, to overcome Mampitizili's resistance to +his amatory advances with as little further delay as possible. With +this end in view he again changed his tactics, and began once more to +treat her with kindness. Amongst other manifestations of this may be +mentioned his buying a gaudy blanket for her at a traders, and his +administration of a most unmerciful thrashing to her hut-companion--to +whom, very unfairly, he had failed to notify the change in his tactics, +and who inopportunely was guilty before his face of a spiteful act +towards the object of his desires. Mampitizili felt grateful, but kept, +nevertheless, strictly on her guard. + +One day Manciya sent messages to the surrounding kraals inviting a +number of his friends to a beer-drink. For some days previously every +one had been kept busy grinding the "imitombo," or partly-germinated +millet from which the beer is made, in large earthen pots. The banquet +began early in the forenoon, and by the time the sun went down many +heads had been broken, and all the revellers were extremely drunk. +Shortly after nightfall Manciya staggered into the hut in which +Mampitizili dwelt. The other woman was crouching at the central hearth +over some faintly-glowing embers, and her he struck brutally with one of +the door-poles which he had stumbled over. The woman rushed with a yell +out of the hut, and Manciya began to grope about in the darkness for +Mampitizili. + +Mampitizili took in the situation at once. She was crouching against +the wall at the back of the hut when Manciya entered, clasping little +Kungaye close to her. Manciya passed her in his search, and she leaped +to her feet and rushed out into the night with her child. + +The unhappy woman at length felt that her burthen was greater than she +could bear;--that she must get away from Manciya's kraal now and for +ever,--even if she had to fling herself into the cold, dark, deep pool +of the river just below the waterfall. But that might happen to-morrow; +for to-night she would return to the old kraal, for the last time. She +felt she would like to sleep once more in the hut that she and Sobede +had occupied together. The season was late winter. She hurried on +through the darkness with hot head and cold, bruised feet. The night +was cloudless and still, and a heavy frost was settling down through the +keen, crisp air. Soon the eastern sky began to whiten, and then the +moon lit up the snowy masses of the Drakensberg rising abruptly to her +left. The child shivered and clung to her mutely; he had acquired the +habit of mutely enduring. + +At length she reached the rocky ledge upon which the three huts stood, +facing down the valley. Broken and dilapidated as they were, they +seemed to her like a city of refuge and peace. The largest hut was that +which stood in the centre facing the entrance to the stone cattle +enclosure. Mampitizili approached this hut from the back, with +faltering steps, half-blinded with her tears, and shaken by sobs wrung +from the depths of her despair. + +A portion of the wall of the hut had fallen in at one side, and, as +Mampitizili passed the aperture thus formed, she uttered a cry and fell +to the ground in terror, for a fire was alight in the centre of the hut, +and a man with his back towards her lay next to it, half covered by a +blanket. + +_Four_. + +Sobede, after his sentence, was drafted with other convicted prisoners +to the convict station at Port Saint John's, on the coast of Pondoland +and at the mouth of the Umzimvubu river. Here, every working day, he +trundled a wheel-barrow filled with gravel at the bluff that was being +broken down for the purpose, and tipped it into the lagoon which, before +it was thus filled up, wound sinuously through the little village. When +each day's work was done, he was marched with the other convicts to the +prison, which was built of galvanised iron on the flattened top of a +sand-hill overlooking the deep blue wonder of the Indian Ocean, and the +lovely river-mouth with its beetling cliffs and steep forest-fringed +slopes. He was well fed and comfortably housed; the work was not heavy, +nor were the working hours distressingly long. The only things that +troubled him much, after the first wild, desperate feeling of being +trapped had passed away, were the monotony of the life, the restraint, +always so specially irksome to uncivilised man, and the longing to +obtain news of his wife and child, of his father and his cattle. + +The climate of Port Saint John's, the gentle haze that seems to steal +into the soul and allay every irritation, the health-giving breath and +the commiserating murmur of the great ocean, all brought him peace. +Thus the time passed more quickly and less painfully than he had +expected. Moreover, he obtained the remission of six weeks for each +year of his sentence, such as is allowed to all well-conducted convicts +whose sentences exceed a certain limit. Of the regulation authorising +this he and his family had been unaware. + +At length he one day found himself a free man, with a clear conscience +and in perfect health. In spite of having herded with evil-doers he +came out of prison a better man than he had entered it. He had endured +heavy tribulation without losing hope; he had never lost hold of his +past and his future; he had instinctively and insensibly acquired a +healthy philosophy under the stress of his unmerited misfortune. + +Now he looked forward to meeting, within a few days, the wife, child, +and father whom, in spite of his black skin and his uncivilised nature, +he dearly loved. Conscious of his innocence and buoyant with hope, +Sobede, as he walked down the hill from the convict station after his +release, held his head erect and looked every man he met straight in the +face. He was probably a better man than most of those who would have +felt themselves contaminated by touching him. + +It is a long day's walk from Port Saint John's to Sidote's location, and +the whole course lies up-hill. Sobede was, however, in perfect +condition, and although he hurried on, walking all day long and half the +night, he felt less and less fatigue the farther he went. The cold was +severe in the higher altitudes, and he felt it considerably after his +nearly three years spent at sea-level, but this he did not mind. His +warm hearth, with Mampitizili and the child, who, he thought, must now +be big and old enough to run about and talk, was waiting for him, and +once there his troubles would all be forgotten. + +Upon taking his discharge, a few shillings wherewith to buy food on his +homeward journey had been given to him by the superintendent of the +convict station. Of this money he spent hardly any. Natives are +extremely hospitable to strangers, and all through Pondoland and the +Xesibe country Sobede never lacked food to eat. + +The last day of Sobede's journey dawned at last. His course now lay +along a main road running over farms occupied by Europeans, so he met +with hardly any people, nor did he see a single one whom he knew. Just +before sundown he came to a wagon outspanned, the owner of which had +just slaughtered a goat. Thinking it probable that there would be no +fresh meat at his kraal, Sobede invested a shilling of his +maintenance-money in goat-flesh. He cut a hole in the lump of meat, +stuck his stick through it, and carried it over his shoulder. + +Sobede's kraal was situated almost on the verge of the Hlangweni +location, and the footpath leading to it from the main road passed no +other dwellings of men. It was sundown when he reached the point at +which the footpath diverged, leading up the valley at the upper end of +which the huts were built. His feet were worn and sore from the long +walk, but he hurried along the steep, rugged course with firm nervous +steps. It was almost dark when he began to ascend the short, steep lip +of the ledge. It struck him as being strange that he had seen no signs +of cattle or other animals, nor had he even heard the bark of a dog. +Perhaps, he thought, those at the kraal had gone to sleep, and the dogs +crept in under shelter from the cold. Of course, he was not expected +for another four months, as his family knew nothing of the good-conduct +remission. + +He reached the top of the ledge; there sure enough, he could see the +outline of each hut in the shadow of the dark hill-side, beneath the +faintly-gleaming western sky.--But what was the matter? Not only was +there no sign of life, but he was surrounded by indications of +desolation and decay. The weeds were growing thickly all around him. +Sobede stepped forward with faltering steps and a sinking heart and made +for the largest hut. He saw that the wall had partly fallen in on one +side, the door had disappeared, and a gleam of stars showed through a +ragged gap in the roof. Sobede flung himself to the ground before the +threshold, and sobbed like a tired and despairing child. + +He lay until the keen frost chilled him to the bone. Then he arose and +began to search for fuel, which he found without any difficulty. Then +he drew a little of the tinder-dry grass from the roof, and by means of +his flint, steel, and touchwood, soon lit a fire on the cold and barren +hearth. The hut was in a fearfully dilapidated and dirty state, but +with a broom extemporised out of a small bush which he plucked outside, +he swept the place out. Amongst the rubbish he found several of the +little clay oxen which Mampitizili had made for Kungaye, and the sight +of these formed a small nucleus of hope in his mind, around which shreds +of comfort began to gather. No doubt, he thought, Mampitizili and the +old man had, for good and sufficient reasons, removed to Manciya's or to +some other part of the location. To-morrow he would, no doubt, find +them. To-night he felt far too weary, after the shock of his +disappointment, to seek them even at Manciya's kraal. All the fatigues +of the previous five days seemed to creep into his bones at once, and he +felt, for the time being, completely crushed. + +Sobede cooked a portion of the goat-flesh, ate it, and then laid himself +down, wrapped in his blanket, at the side of the fire. The wind had +completely died away, and the frosty night seemed tense with utter +silence. + +With the keen senses of his race Sobede became aware of an approaching +footstep. It was not so much that he heard any sound, as that he felt a +slight rhythmic tremor of the ground beneath him. The footstep drew +nearer, and then the sound of sobbing could be heard. Sobede did not +move; he was not in the slightest degree alarmed, and was far too weary +and heartsore to feel interested in anything just then. Then he heard a +cry and a sound as of some one falling heavily to the ground. + +He arose, seized a burning stick from the fire, and went outside. He +saw a woman crouching to the ground, with her face hidden in her hands. +Clinging to her was a little child, who gazed up at Sobede with wide, +terror-strained eyes. Sobede bent down and touched the woman on the +shoulder, telling her to arise and have no fear. At the sound of his +voice the woman looked up quickly with a start of recognition and a cry +of joy, and Sobede saw that her face was the face of Mampitizili. Then +he flung down the spent firebrand, and clasped his wife and son in a +long, silent embrace. + +Soon the three were sitting together in the hut, where the fire was now +again blazing cheerfully;--the man and the woman with hearts too full +for speech, and the child looking with wonder at the big stranger who +did not treat him unkindly. + +Mampitizili and Kungaye were faint from hunger, so the goat-flesh was +soon cut into strips, roasted upon the embers, and eaten as a sort of +sacrament of reunion. Then Sobede fetched water in a broken earthen pot +from the little streamlet that babbled down the gully at the side of the +ledge, and they washed out their mouths, Kafir fashion, and drank of the +icy-cold water, which seemed to taste more delicious than the best +calabash-milk. + +It was long before they could find words to express all that made big +their hearts. Sobede heard of the death of his father with equanimity; +the natives, with true philosophy, look upon the visitation of death to +the old and infirm without regret. Bit by bit--the little boy sleeping +peacefully at their feet as they talked--the whole shameful story of +Manciya's conduct was told. But Sobede was too happy to be angry for +long even under this provocation. His wife and child were safe with +him, and he knew that Manciya dared not refuse to give up his cattle,-- +the headman and the magistrate would see to that. They decided to +remain at the old kraal, and to commence repairing the huts on the +following day. + +Of all the myriad dwellings of men upon which the snowy peaks of the +Drakensberg glanced down that night in cold disdain of man and his +destinies, none held such happy human hearts as did this hut without a +door, with the wall falling down in ruin, and through the gaping roof of +which the frost fell from a wintry sky. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +THE QUICK AND THE DEAD. + + "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this + death?" _Romans_ VII, 24. + +_One_. + +Omfunda sat smoking his pipe alongside the fire he had lit close to the +spring gushing out at the foot of the big cliff at the upper end of +Krantz Vogel Kloof. The cliff arose sheer three hundred feet, and at +each side of it the steep, broken terraces of the mountain, covered with +huddled patches of immense boulders, swelled out into mighty flanks. +From between the boulders gnarled and stunted trees grew, rooted in soil +so deep down in the fissures that it could not be seen. Here and there +dark, ragged-edged chasms yawned. These boulder-patches were bordered +by fringes of scrubby forest, outside which grew coarse, matted grass. + +It was a hot day in late spring, and Nomfunda felt drowsy. The +bleatings of a flock of sheep came faintly to his ear. His dog lay +curled up at his feet. The day was at noon. A light breeze hushed +faintly through the tree-tops, soothing as the whisper of Somnus, and +then died away. Nomfunda slept. + +Nomfunda was the shepherd of Sarel Marais, the proprietor of the farm +which took its name from the thickly-wooded kloof at the head of which +he, Nomfunda, lay sleeping. Sarel Marais had over and over again warned +him not to come with his sheep to this neighbourhood, for the reason +that animals were so apt to get lost in the broken ground through +falling into the fissures; and Sarel's eldest son "Rooi Jan"--so called +on account of his red hair--had sworn to have Nomfunda's life if he ever +again disobeyed in this respect. However, on the present occasion +Nomfunda felt safe, for old Sarel was absent from home, and "Rooi Jan" +had only a few hours previously departed on horseback for a farm several +"hours" distant, where the girl he meant to marry in a few months' time +resided. + +The foot of the cliff where the spring gushed out had a peculiar +fascination for Nomfunda. It was cool on the hottest day. The water +plashed from under a jutting ledge and scattered moisture over luxuriant +masses of fern. The "umgwenya," or "Kafir plum," grew plentifully in +the forest close at hand, and the holes in the porous cliff were full of +bees' nests brimming with the storage of industrious years. These bees +were of the small, black, forest variety, which is celebrated as being +extremely savage when interfered with; this fact, and the +inaccessibility of the nests, accounted for their still being in +existence. However, Nomfunda was an expert and daring honey-hunter, and +was extremely pachydermatous; he hardly ever came to this spot without +plundering a nest and feeding on honey to repletion. + +Moreover, an antelope known as the "klipspringer" was to be found in +large numbers in the neighbourhood, and Nomfunda's dog thoroughly +understood the way to circumvent this animal. Sometimes, quite on its +own account, the dog would drive a buck to the point of some +rock-pinnacle in the vicinity, and there hold it prisoner until +Nomfunda, guided by the dog's baying, would hurry to the spot and knock +the buck over with his knob-kerrie. This dog was an utter mongrel +showing traces of extremely diverse canine types. Its enemies declared +they could even see a great deal of the jackal in it. The dog was, +however, utterly faithful to its master, and had a wonderful knack of +bailing up "klipspringers." One peculiarity of the animal's was that it +never barked. + +When Nomfunda awoke it was to find "Rooi Jan," gun in hand, watching +him. Nomfunda instinctively grasped his knob-kerrie, which lay on the +ground next to him, and sprang to his feet. The dog ran behind its +master and crouched, showing its teeth. "Rooi Jan" regarded Nomfunda in +silence for some seconds, and Nomfunda returned his gaze. Then "Rooi +Jan" spoke, using the Dutch language, which Nomfunda, who had worked +among the Boers for several years, understood fairly well. + +"Did I not tell you never to bring the sheep up here?" + +"Ja, Baas." ["Yes, Master."] + +"Did I not tell you that if ever you did, I would shoot you for the d--d +Kafir dog that you are?" + +"Ja, Baas." + +"Then," uttered "Rooi Jan," his face distorted with fury, and his voice +coming in husky gasps, as he deliberately, one after the other, drew +back the hammers of his double-barrelled gun, "to-day will I do it; +to-day you are dead; to-day will your black carcase lie down among the +rocks with the bones of the sheep that you--" + +Nomfunda had all this time kept his eyes on the face of the enraged +Boer, and when, blind and quivering, "Rooi Jan" lifted the gun to his +shoulder, Nomfunda sprang to one side, whilst the charge of buck-shot +passed so close to his head that he felt the wind of it. Then, as "Rooi +Jan," cursing his own clumsiness, was again raising the gun to his +shoulder, Nomfunda lifted his knob-kerrie and flung it with all his +force. The heavy knob caught "Rooi Jan" on the left temple, and he fell +backwards, and lay on the ground motionless. + +Nomfunda had no idea that "Rooi Jan" was seriously injured. The first +thing he did was to seize the gun and pitch it down the kloof into a +very thick patch of fern. Then he picked up his kerrie, returned to the +seat he had occupied when "Rooi Jan" arrived, and sat down to await +developments. He knew he had done wrong, and was prepared, as natives +generally are, to take his punishment like a man. The dog became very +uneasy; it began to whine and cowered against its master, with ears +cocked, tail tucked under, and hair on end all along the back. + +Nomfunda sat for a long time wondering why "Rooi Jan" did not move. +Then he stood up and examined the injured man, who had fallen on his +back across a flat stone. His head lay back and his mouth was wide +open. A very small trickle of blood came from his left temple, and +dabbled his hair. Nomfunda plucked a delicate frond of fern and held it +in front of "Rooi Jan's" gaping mouth and nostrils. It moved only to +the trembling of the hand that held it. + +For a long time Nomfunda could not realise what had happened; surely, he +thought, a little wound like that could not cause death. Then the +shadows began to fall the other way, the brown hawks came screaming out +of their nests in the cliff, and the bees came up the kloof in a steady +stream. Still "Rooi Jan" lay motionless, the ghastly pallor of his face +and stretched throat contrasting forcibly with the vivid red of his hair +and beard. Large, blue flies buzzed round in ever-increasing numbers, +and eventually a few of them settled on the nostrils and lips of the +corpse. Then Nomfunda realised that his master's son was dead and that +he had killed him. + +The wretched man already felt the strangling rope around his neck. He +was young and he loved his life. A flush of hope passed through him. +No one saw the deed--he would hide the body down one of the clefts. No, +that would not do; a search was sure to be made about here, and the +smell would betray the hiding-place. The body must be hidden far away, +high up on the mountain, in some secret place where it would never be +discovered. + +Nomfunda was of powerful build, and "Rooi Jan" had not been a very big +man. The blood had long since ceased trickling, so after carefully +removing the small quantity that had stained the stones, Nomfunda lifted +the corpse upon his shoulder and began ascending the steep +mountain-side. His course laid for the most part through cover, but he +had now and then to emerge into comparatively open spaces. Each time, +before doing this, he carefully reconnoitred, but not a human being was +in sight in any direction. At length he reached the bleak and broken +top of the mountain, and then he made straight for a small cavern he +knew of, the mouth of which was concealed by shrubs. Here he laid the +body, and after carefully re-adjusting the shrubs at the entrance, he +returned to his sheep by a different course. The flock was scattered +along the flanks of the mountain; he at once collected it and drove it +down to the kraal at the homestead, where he arrived at the usual time. +Then he joined the other servants in the hut wherein they dwelt +together, cooked and ate his supper and laid himself down wrapped in his +blanket,--just as though nothing had happened. But he lay awake during +the whole night, thinking of "Rooi Jan," whilst the dogs howled weirdly +beneath the unregarding stars. + +_Two_. + +The disappearance of "Rooi Jan" caused great surprise and uneasiness. +He had left the homestead early in the morning after an early breakfast, +with the avowed intention of visiting the farm of Jacob Venter, which +was situated about fifteen miles away, and where the girl lived to whom +he was engaged to be married. He meant to return during the afternoon +of the same day. It now transpired that he had not reached Venter's +farm. Each one of the servants, including Nomfunda, was closely +questioned, but apparently nothing had been seen of the missing man +since he disappeared riding along the road which scarped round the bluff +just below the homestead, early in the morning. The spoor of his horse +was traced along the road from here by an old Hottentot named Gezwint, +who was celebrated as a tracker. This spoor was found to lead along the +road for some distance, and then turn abruptly to the left towards the +wooded kloof, at the upper end of which, four miles away, "Rooi Jan" had +met his doom. It was late in the afternoon when the fact of the spoor +turning out of the road was discovered, and night fell before it could +be traced to any distance worth speaking of from this point. + +Next morning at daylight the tracking was resumed. Old Sarel Marais had +been sent for, but had not yet arrived. Several of the neighbouring +farmers had been sent for to come and assist in the search. The party +on the spoor consisted of old Gezwint, "Rooi Jan's" younger brothers +Piet and Willem--aged, respectively, fifteen and fourteen years--six +young farmers, and several native farm servants. Old Gezwint worked +like a bloodhound, deciphering almost invisible signs upon the rough, +stony ground, and casting back whenever at fault. On again verifying +the spoor after a check, he would call out "Hier's hij" ("Here he is"), +and again run forward on the slot, followed at a respectful distance by +the others, who left the real business of the tracking to his well-known +skill. It was at about noon that they came upon "Rooi Jan's" grey mare, +saddled and bridled, and tied to a tree deep in the bush. From this +point they followed swiftly and without a check the slot of a boot up +the kloof to the spring under the cliff. Here the spoor ceased. They +found the remains of a recent fire, and the tracks of naked human feet, +and of a dog. Beyond this point a spoor was hardly to be hoped for +because of the nature of the ground. They spent the rest of the day in +searching among the rocky chasms, but when night fell they had found no +further track, nor any sign of the missing man. Upon the search party +reaching the homestead an hour later, it was found that the flock of +sheep had not been brought back to the kraal, and that Nomfunda, the +shepherd, was missing. + +_Three_. + +Nomfunda was herding his sheep on the open, grassy slope to the +left-hand side of the kloof when the search party was at work. The day +was clear and still, and he could tell the whereabouts of the trackers +from the shouts which arose from time to time. As the trackers advanced +towards the head of the kloof, Nomfunda drove his flock along the +hill-side by a parallel course until the broken ground was almost +reached. Then he darted past the flock, and taking a course still +further to the right, through some scrub, he worked his round-about way +to the top of the cliff overhanging the scene of the tragedy. Here he +lay down just above a jutting bush, through the branches of which he +could see without being seen. + +He saw the party emerge from the forest and disappear out of the range +of his vision under the ledge where the spring gushed out. He could +faintly hear the sound of voices, but without being able to distinguish +the words. After a while he saw the men emerge and scatter about among +the rocks, searching. He made sure they had found the gun, but had no +fear just then of their being able to trace the body. It was almost +dark when the party withdrew, but Nomfunda had been so absorbed in +watching their operations that he had lost all recollection of his +sheep. He had been in a state of complete fascination during the whole +afternoon. Sometimes one or other of the searchers would take more or +less the course along which the body had been carried up the mountain. +When such happened, the unfortunate culprit would give himself up for +lost: the cavern would inevitably be found and searched. Then the man +who caused his uneasiness would proceed in another direction, and a +joyous, unreasoning relief would take possession of the watcher, only to +be dissipated when one of the others would accidentally take the former +course. + +The stars came out one by one, and at length the last shred of daylight +died out of the sky. Then Nomfunda sat up and considered. He had lain +on the same spot and in the same position for hours and hours. He began +to collect his wandering wits. He suddenly remembered his sheep. Why +had he come up on the mountain at all? he asked himself in desperation. +He could not now return, for it would be impossible for him to give an +explanation of his absence. Why had he not returned with his flock at +sundown? Fool, fool--thus to tie the rope around his own neck. No, it +would never do to return. He must escape;--but where to? The alarm had +been given; he was known to everybody in the neighbourhood, and all +would now be on the watch after he had practically admitted his guilt by +remaining away from the homestead just when he ought to have been most +particular to avoid any conduct calculated to cause suspicion. No, he +must remain on the mountain,--for some time at all events. He had his +day's ration with him, but it was still untouched, for all day long he +had been unable to eat. He was now hungry, but he determined to keep +the food for the morrow. The dog had lain quietly next to him all day; +its ears were cocked, its dilated nostrils were continuously working, +and the ridge of hair along the back was still erect. + +Next morning's dawn found Nomfunda still lying at the edge of the cliff, +and the searchers again at work among the fissures. It was, they made +sure, in one or the other of these that the body of "Rooi Jan" would be +found concealed. Since the disappearance of Nomfunda, everybody was +certain he had murdered the "Klein Baas," ["Little Master"], as "Rooi +Jan" was called. The whole forenoon was wasted on the lower parts of +the mountain. Nomfunda still lay on the top of the cliff and watched +the searchers. He now suffered from a burning thirst, but until +nightfall he must endure this physical, in addition to his mental +misery. + +Early in the afternoon a shrill yell of "Hier's hij" arose from Gezwint, +the old sleuth-Hottentot. He had again found the spoor. All that could +be seen was a frayed pad of lichen on a sloping stone, higher up than +any of the other searchers had reached. From this stone the spoor was +taken on slowly and with difficulty until sundown, by which time it had +been verified to the very top of the mountain, and within about four +hundred yards of where the haggard watcher lay, enduring more than the +agonies of death, at his post on the edge of the cliff. + +But the spoor could then be traced no further, and the nature of the +ground rendered it extremely unlikely that any more tracks would be +found. The top of the mountain was composed of flat stones lying +closely together, and bare even of lichen. + +At nightfall the searchers again returned to the homestead, and Nomfunda +hurried down the mountain to the spring, from which he drank his fill of +the pure, cold, delicious water, the dog lapping next to him. Then he +again ascended the mountain, stepping carefully from stone to stone so +as to avoid making a spoor. In places where the stones were not +continuous he carried the dog in his arms. He knew the animal was a +source of danger to him, and he thought of tying its mouth up and its +legs together and cutting its throat, but he remembered that the signs +of the deed would be so much more to conceal, and, moreover, he could +not endure the thought of the utter loneliness which would be his lot +without the dog's companionship. + +At midnight Nomfunda was sitting on a stone near the very summit of the +mountain. The place where the body was concealed was about half-a-mile +from him. The night was cold, but he did not feel any inconvenience +although clothed only in a threadbare cotton blanket. He had been for +two days almost without food, and for three nights he had not slept, yet +he knew neither hunger nor fatigue. Just then he felt fairly +comfortable. He was quite easy in his mind about the body; it would +never be found--none of the searchers would ever dream of looking in +that cave--probably none of them even knew of its existence... Nomfunda +sprang to his feet and gasped for breath, whilst his very heart seemed +to freeze in his breast. Had he not _himself_ shown this very cave to +young Piet, "Rooi Jan's" brother, one day when they together were +seeking strayed horses about two years ago? Fool, and again fool! Why +had he hidden the body there? Talking over the events of the day down +at the homestead, young Piet had probably by this told the others about +the cave. It was certain to be visited next day--probably early in the +morning. What was there to be done? An unspeakable solution of the +difficulty kept suggesting itself, but he drove the frightful notion +from him over and over again. At length it overwhelmed him like the +slime of a serpent that drenches a crushed victim about to be swallowed. +He must enter the charnel cave, and remove the body to some other +hiding-place. But the horror of it! There is nothing so horrifying to +a native as having to handle a dead body... "Rooi Jan" had been dead +nearly three days... He felt through every fibre of his tortured being +that he could _not_ do this thing. But he _must_. The body must not be +found. Until the body were found there was only suspicion against him; +not proof. Yes, _it_ must be done, so get it over quickly and then +laugh at danger. He caught up the dog again in his arms and fled, +leaping from stone to stone, towards the cave. Before he reached it he +had made up his mind as to what he should do with the corpse. There was +another cave in an adjoining mountain about four miles away, and in a +very inaccessible place. Fool, and again fool, not to have thought of +this spot in the first instance. + +Nomfunda readied the mouth of the cave and, throwing down the dog, burst +through the bushes into the charnel-house. He tore a strip off his +blanket and tied it over his mouth and nostrils. Then he caught up the +body, which lay horribly limp in his arms. He seemed to be endowed with +more than human strength. The frightful _thing_ seemed to cling to him +as it lay across his shoulders, and one loosely-hanging hand patted him +gruesomely on the bare flesh of his flank with rhythm corresponding to +his steps. His course led over bare, flat, rocky ledges. Here and +there he sat down to rest. He noticed that the dog, although it +followed, did not come near him. Day was just breaking when he reached +the other cave. He entered at once, and placed the body in a cleft at +the further extremity, piling up stones, which he felt for in the +darkness, against it. One of these slipped down, and Nomfunda thought +he heard the body move. He gave a wild shriek and rushed outside. It +was broad daylight. The dog heard his steps and ran forward to meet +him. When it caught sight of his face the dog stopped short and stood +rigid with uplifted paw, and a tingling ridge of hair erected along its +back. Then it gave a terrible howl, turned, and fled. It never +returned to him. + +All day long the wretched Nomfunda lay beneath the undermined bank of a +donga. Reeds and long grass concealed his hiding-place. When night +fell, he again visited the spring, drank his fill of water, and +plundered a bees' nest in the cliff, from which he had only recently +removed nearly all the honey. The combs were now full of bee-bread and +young bees. These were better as food for him just then than mere honey +would have been. After this he re-ascended the mountain and again +concealed himself in the donga, where he fell into a deep sleep. This +was the first time he had slept since the death of "Rooi Jan." He was +awakened early in the forenoon of the next day by voices. The speakers +stood so close that he could hear what they were saying. Their speech +was to the effect that in the event of the present day's search proving +unsuccessful they would on the following day overhaul the adjacent +mountain, in which it was known that several caves existed. The +wretched listener nearly expired from sheer terror. When night fell he +emerged from his den and hurried to the second sepulchre of "Rooi Jan." +The body must again be removed. The moon was new and sank soon after +the sun. He reached the cave and grovelled upon the ground before the +entrance in terror and anguish. But the awful deed had to be done. He +entered; the air was horribly foetid. One by one, with dreadful +groanings, he dragged away the piled-up stones, and then, trying to hold +his breath, he bore the corpse out into the pure air of the spring +night. Then, shutting his teeth tight, he lifted the swollen horror to +his shoulders and carried it in the direction of its former +resting-place. He knew of another secret spot--a deep cleft near the +edge of the clift overhanging the spring. He reached this spot with his +ghastly burthen just before dawn. He rolled the body into the cleft and +covered it with small bushes and handfuls of grass which he pulled out. +After this he concealed himself in another cleft in the vicinity. + +Shortly after daybreak he saw the searchers again ascending the kloof, +one of them leading his dog by a rein fastened to its neck. They passed +over the mountain to his left, and he did not again see them until they +returned in the evening. About mid-day he saw his dog, which had +evidently escaped, running as hard as ever it could down the mountain +towards the homestead, with the rein trailing from its neck. + +Nomfunda remained three weeks upon the mountain, and nine separate times +he took the body of "Rooi Jan" on his shoulders at the last +hiding-place, and, limping on lacerated and bleeding feet, removed it to +another. The moon grew night by night in soft splendour, and looked +down upon the awful spectacle of a putrid human corpse being carried +from place to place by a human being. The tempest wrapped the mountain +in flame and roarings, and the rain-charged wind buffeted the quick and +the dead thus linked together by a gruesome prank of Fate. The pure +breath of the midnight mountain breeze hurried on to rid itself of the +taint left by the gross gases of mortality which the earth should have +sealed up in its transmuting alembic, and the clear mountain height, +sacred to the most cleanly influences of Nature, was polluted by the +ghoul-wanderings of a terrific creature bearing an unspeakable burthen, +whom horror had deprived of the semblance of humanity. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The sequel to this narrative may be found in the records of a certain +Circuit Court and the (more or less) thirty-year-old files of some +Colonial newspapers. It may therein be read how old Gezwint was +perplexed by the fresh spoors which he found from time to time; these +sometimes showing signs of blood. Further, how the searchers eventually +determined to remain on the mountain by night, where they then scattered +about in pairs; how two of the searchers, concealed one night near a +certain footpath, were startled by the sound of heavy groanings, +followed by the rustle of staggering footsteps and an awful stench; how +they then captured Nomfunda carrying what had once been the body of +"Rooi Jan" Marais. He made no resistance, and they led him away to +prison. His aspect was such as to strike dread into all who beheld him. + +It may also be ascertained from the same sources how Nomfunda was tried +for murder by a jury composed of Dutch farmers, found guilty without any +recommendation to mercy, and sentenced to be hanged by the neck till he +was dead; how a certain minister of the United Presbyterian Church +obtained access to the condemned man, heard his story, believed it, went +to the scene of the initial tragedy, and found "Rooi Jan's" gun where it +was still concealed, with one barrel empty and one yet loaded; how +representations were made to the proper quarter with the effect that the +death-sentence was commuted to imprisonment for life. One somehow fails +to see clearly either the justice or mercy of this particular +commutation. Possibly Nomfunda is still serving out his sentence. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +AIALA. + +_One_. + +I promised Lourens Brand not to tell the tale of his strange adventure +and its stranger consequences until at least ten years should have +elapsed from the date of his departure from South Africa, and the +promise has been kept in the spirit if not in the letter. Poor Brand +never left South Africa--in the flesh, at least. His bones lie buried +in an unfenced graveyard, near the deserted site of an old mining camp +in the north of the Transvaal, where he died of fever in 1885. + +Brand was a Dutchman; his family established itself generations back in +Java, and several of his ancestors were prominent officials under the +old Dutch East India Company. He had a dash of Malay blood in his +veins--his great-grandfather having married the daughter of one of the +Singapore rajahs in the last century. This, however, one would never +have suspected from his appearance, for he was tall and blonde, with +blue eyes, and the presence and bearing of a sea-king. His disposition +was diffident and somewhat retiring, and his Eastern blood showed itself +in a certain dreaminess and a tendency to dwell rather on the occult +than the obvious properties and relations of the things around him. He +was a mechanical engineer by profession. + +Brand landed in Cape Town in the early autumn of 188--, and took +lodgings in the house where I was boarding. This was on the Sir Lowry +road, not far from the Castle. We struck up an intimacy almost +immediately. He had been educated at Leyden, and had returned to Java, +meaning to practise his profession there, but the scope was too small +for a man of his energetic disposition, so he came to South Africa in +the hope of obtaining employment in some mine. He spoke the Malay +language perfectly, and could quote copiously from the Malay version of +the Koran. + +One thing must, for the adequate understanding of this tale, be laid +stress on. Brand, although twenty-six years of age, had never strayed +in the fields where the wild oats grow. His nature was passionate in +its depths, but the passion still slept. It was probably an innate +fastidiousness combined with a strong sense of shame that kept his feet +in the path of purity. Be this as it may, the fact remains that +although he had lived in the East, where, they tell us, Galahads are +uncommon, Brand had never kissed a woman except his mother and sisters. +As regards religion, he was what is known as an agnostic. + +It was on the second day after arriving in Cape Town that Brand went +down to the docks to see about the landing of some of his effects from +the steamer. As it happened, another steamer had just arrived from the +east coast ports, bringing a cargo of Malay pilgrims on their return +journey from Mecca, and a lot of the pilgrims' friends had come to meet +and greet them. A number of cabs with Malay drivers were standing about +on the wharf, and in one of these Brand noticed, sitting by herself, a +young Malay girl of such rare beauty that it could not be concealed by +the formless hideousness of the local Malay garb. The driver had gone +on board the steamer to greet some of his friends, and left the cab to +take care of itself. + +The cab was close to the rail-track, and as Brand stood looking at the +girl he heard the warning whistle of a dock-engine which was rapidly +approaching. The startled horse moved a few paces forward and again +stood, this time right on the rail-track. Nothing could now save the +cab, but Brand sprang forward, lifted the girl in his arms, and sprang +with her out of danger just an instant before the vehicle and the +hapless horse were crushed into a mass of hopeless ruin. + +The girl was, of course, terribly frightened, and she clung convulsively +to her preserver. He spoke to her reassuringly in the Malay language, +which, strange to say, she appeared to understand perfectly. With the +exception of the priests, very few of the Cape Town Malays understand +the Malay tongue, they having adopted a very corrupt dialect of Dutch. +He was more than ever struck by her beauty. Her figure was effectually +concealed by her dress, but she was tall, and her head, which had become +freed from the head-dress when she was being dragged out of the cab, was +small, delicately moulded, and gracefully poised over a pair of shapely +shoulders, on a neck like the stem of an asphodel. Her colour was very +light, her face was a pure oval, and between her shaded eyelids lurked +the most wonderful depths of dark, liquid brown that ever drowned the +reason of a man. + +After being effusively thanked by the girl's friends, who had now come +with a swarm of others from the steamer, Brand took his leave of her +with a certain twinge of regret. The girl's eyes were to him henceforth +an abiding remembrance. + +It was about a month after the rescue of the girl that Brand's strange +adventure took place. + +It was now winter of the year of the small-pox epidemic. The streets of +Cape Town at the lower levels were slushy as only Cape Town streets can +be, for the rain had been falling steadily for ten days. Then followed +a day and a night of absolutely cloudless and unseasonably warm weather, +and it was on the night in question that Brand took the walk which had +such remarkable consequences. + +Brand, another man, and I dined together at the club. The other man had +arrived by the last mail steamer from England, and he and I had booked +to start by the up-country train at half-past ten. Our luggage was safe +at the railway-station, and having nothing to do for the moment, it was +suggested that we might take a walk to some of the higher levels where +we would be comparatively free of the mud, and from where we might +obtain a good view of Table Mountain and the city lights. We +accordingly lit our pipes and wandered forth. + +There is always much to fascinate in the streets of a strange city, and +the Cape Town streets at night, filled as they are with men and women of +all shades of colour, garbed variously and speaking divers tongues, are +especially interesting--at all events to any one with an imagination. + +On this night the streets possessed an unusual attraction of a weird and +impressive kind, for the small-pox epidemic was at its greatest height, +and a brooding terror overshadowed the stricken city. Every one abroad +seemed to have a furtive look. When two met near a lamp-post startled +glances were exchanged, and in hurrying along the pavements the passers +sheered off to avoid one another. Every now and then an empty coffin +would be seen being hurried along the middle of the street upon men's +shoulders. The few cabs on the almost deserted stands looked like +hearses, their occupation was almost gone for the time being, for hardly +a soul would venture into a cab for fear of infection. + +We strolled down Adderley Street for some distance, and then, turning to +the left, went up Long Market Street, across Saint George's and Long +Streets, and on until we found ourselves in the Malay quarter on the +slope at the base of the Lion's Rump. Here silence and desolation +reigned supreme. The moon had now arisen, so on reaching half-way up +the ascent we paused to examine the view and to take breath. Looking +back we saw the gleaming city stretched like a vast necropolis under the +crags of the great mountain, which gleamed silvery in the moonlight. To +our left opened the glassy expanse of Table Bay, with the breakwater +lights glinting on the water. From the Malay graveyard on the hill-side +above us came the shrill howls of the mourners. There was not a breath +of wind. Owing to the comparative suspension of traffic the city seemed +silent as the grave. + +We retraced our steps for a short distance, and then, turning to the +right, walked along a deserted street of white, flat-topped, +sepulchre-like houses. All at once we became aware of a sound of loud +wailing going on in a house to our left. We stood still for a space and +listened. The shrill treble of a woman's cry could be distinguished, +and also the quavering tones of an old man's voice, full of the deepest +agony. We drew near the house very softly. The windows were covered by +dark Venetian shutters, between the slats of which a dim light could be +discerned. The house was one of a row all more or less similar in size +and shape, and built touching each other. Each house had a paved +"stoep" in front, with a masoned seat at either end. Against the house +next to the one in which the wailing was going on, was standing a ladder +which just reached the top of the parapet. + +After listening for a few moments we moved quietly away and continued +our course along the street. Soon we turned again to the right, and +afterwards to the left. Eventually we found that we had lost ourselves. +We wandered about helplessly for some time, getting into blind alleys +and streets that led nowhere, and thus having to retrace our steps over +and over again. Quarter by quarter the hour was chimed from the belfry +tower of the far-away Dutch church, and when ten o'clock struck, and we +were still lost, the situation looked serious for us who required to +catch the train in half-an-hour. + +Just after this, however, we found ourselves in the street where we had +listened to the wailing, and soon the rumbling of an approaching cab was +heard. After being hailed, the driver, an Irishman of even more than +average volubility, swore with fervour that his cab had never, since it +was turned out with its first coat of varnish from the very best +workshop in the whole of South Africa, had a "dirty Malay" sitting +across its axle (it was from Malays that the infection was mostly +dreaded); that the vehicle was known throughout the length and breadth +of Cape Town as "the white man's cab"; that if we weren't too proud to +take a look at the panel, we would find the cab's name, "The Blanche," +in "purty gould letthers." Of course "ivry wan" who was educated knew +_that_ to mean just "white," and nothing else in the English language. + +So we bade Brand farewell and were driven, smoking germicidically, to +the railway-station, which we reached just in time to catch the train. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +_Two_. + +Brand strolled slowly down the street and again stopped before the house +of sorrow, where the wailing had now ceased. Yielding to a +reprehensible impulse of morbid curiosity he approached the shuttered +window, where light still faintly gleamed, and endeavoured to find an +aperture through which he could see into the house. By looking upwards +between the diagonally-fixed slats he could see the ceiling, but the +lower areas of the chamber were quite out of the range of his vision. +Listening carefully, he seemed to hear a smothered sob and then a sigh. +One of those unaccountable impulses that grip men by the throat +sometimes, and make them do to their own undoing things which under +ordinary circumstances they would never dream of attempting, then +overcame him, and he felt that, come what may, he must see the inside of +that room. He caught hold of the shutter and gently tried to open it, +but the outside leaf was firmly bolted to the window-sill, and could not +be moved. However, in passing his hand over the slats he found that one +was slightly loose and yielded to pressure. He pressed this slat and it +slid upwards and inwards, leaving a space of about an inch and a half in +width through which he could look. + +The room was one of medium size, with a fireplace at one end. A lamp +hung from the ceiling and distributed a dim light. The papered walls +were of a deep crimson hue, and the floor was covered with Indian mats. +A very large cushioned divan draped with dark green silk stood before a +curtained recess in the opposite wall, and a large open volume lay upon +a Koran stand of black wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl. A number of +feminine garments, principally of silk, lay about the room in disorder. + +Sitting on the divan and facing the window was a young girl, apparently +a Malay; and although her face was partly covered by her hands, Brand +could see that she was very lovely. Judging by her figure she looked to +be about seventeen years of age. She was bent forward with her elbows +resting on her knees, and her long black hair hung down in a rolled +sheaf over one side of her bosom. Her neck, arms, and legs below the +knees were bare, and of the most delicate symmetry. Her only clothing +appeared to be a short petticoat and bodice, both of red silk delicately +embroidered with white, and a pair of richly-worked sandals. Her skin +was even lighter than that delicate, slightly dusky tint usually only +found in pure-bred Malay girls and young boys. + +Brand withdrew from the window with a flush of shame at his +dishonourable conduct, and stood in the middle of the street. The huge +bulk of Table Mountain loomed sheer before him, transfigured by the +white splendour of the moonlight,--a faint film of mist hanging +motionless over its highest western buttress. A gentle breeze was now +streaming from the south-east. This, flowing over the city, bore to his +ear a low and confused murmur of belated life. From the graveyard high +on the hill-side above him still pierced the shrill cadences of the +mourners. Then an indescribable feeling of oppression came over him, a +sort of hopeless sense of the mystery overshadowing Man and his +destinies--Death, the falling of the awful veil that men, since the +beginning of Time, had been trying to pierce with their agonised +prayers. The God who dwelt behind it and made no sign--what did it +matter what He were called--Jehovah or Allah--whether the favoured +interpreter of His laws to men were called Christ or Mahomet, or whether +the broken heart sobbed out its yearning appeal from the church pew, or +from the carpet on the pavement of a mosque? + +Did men tell truth when they declared that they could realise His +existence with absolute certainty? Where in this world of shows and +shadows might a humble seeker happily find--not Him--that were too much +to hope for--but some sacred, authentic shred from the hem of His divine +robe? Just then from the tower of the adjacent mosque pealed out the +clear voice of a priest calling the faithful to prayer. Brand smiled +wearily--prayer, in the sense of communion with the object prayed to, +was as unintelligible to him as colour to one born blind. + +These impassive house-fronts that he passed in his slow, absorbed +stroll--what a dark, persistent stream of life trickled from eternity to +eternity behind them. These Malays of the Cape, although they had shed +their language like an outworn garment on the wayside, and had adapted +an alien tongue to their needs, had they not kept their previously +adopted faith, their customs, and their prejudices intact? What strange +quality was it in Mahometanism that rendered it so easy to grasp and so +difficult to let go? What curiosity was aroused in respect of the +family life of the Malay, which he has guarded so jealously from the ken +of the European who rules him from the next street. Yet, as Brand knew, +the dwellers in these tomb-like houses hoped and feared very much on the +same lines as did the other children of men. And how much alike was not +all human nature after all? The scene he had just witnessed, was it not +thoroughly and ordinarily feminine in all its detail--from the careful +manner in which the sheaf of opulent hair was rolled and tied to prevent +it tangling, to the petulant tap of the sandalled foot on the floor, and +the way the girl threw herself on the divan? Yes, the great beginning +and the great end, with the devious way and the changeful weather +between--the way so smooth for some and so rough for others, but with +the one splendid flower blooming for all by the wayside--the triple +mystery of birth and love and death--was it not all common to him and to +the alien dwellers in these silent streets? Then the present terror of +the pestilence made manifest in the solitude by the wails of the +mourners smote him to the heart with a sense of exalted sympathy, and a +deep pity for the stricken people came home to him. + +Brand, absorbed in his reflections, had unwittingly wandered back some +distance down the deserted street, and he now turned back with the +intention of returning to his lodgings. As he drew near the house of +sorrow for the third time, he again noticed the ladder leaning against +the parapet next, door, and the impulse seized him to climb to the top +and see what the city looked like from there. This impulse he +immediately and unthinkingly yielded to. Stepping from the ladder he +stood for a space on the flat roof of mason-work behind the parapet. +Then he walked softly towards the back and looked down into the yards +behind the row. Here, as in the street, everything seemed to be frozen +into white silence. + +The roof of the house next to Brand on his left was about three feet +higher than the one he was standing on, and was separated from it by a +parapet rising a foot higher still. He vaulted over the latter and +walked on for some yards; then he again stood still and regarded the +view. After a pause of a few moments he turned and retraced his steps, +meaning now to descend and return to his lodgings without further delay. +When, however, he reached the place where he had ascended he found to +his alarm and perplexity that the ladder had disappeared. + +It seemed most extraordinary. He had not heard a sound or seen a living +soul. He glanced up and down the street; all was vacant and as still as +death. Then the awkwardness and danger of his situation came home to +him in full force. What was he to do? The descent to the street was +nearly twenty feet, that into the back-yard rather more, but might be +broken by taking advantage of a sort of out-house built as a lean-to +against the main building. But in the yard he would be like a rat in a +trap. The yards at each side appeared to be all more or less +constructed on the same principle. His position was truly a desperate +one, and he knew this perfectly well. Most unfounded accusations had +been made against the Malays, to the effect that they were maliciously +endeavouring to spread the disease among the Europeans by means of +infected clothing. Indignation on this account ran high, and would no +doubt be ruthlessly vented on any European found in such an extremely +equivocal position as he was now in. Inwardly cursing his folly, he +took off his boots, remounted the roof to his left, and began walking +along the tops of the houses in the hope of discovering some means of +escape. + +After passing over the roofs of four houses he noticed that there seemed +to be a considerable drop to the roof of the next. He approached this, +and to his horror there arose before him from behind the parapet, the +dark, bearded face of a man who held a gleaming knife in his teeth. + +Brand turned and fled just as the man sprang over the parapet. As he +did so he heard a rough, guttural exclamation behind him, and the sound +of pursuing footsteps. As he sprang down to the roof of the house he +had ascended at, he heard his pursuer fall with a heavy thud on the hard +mason-work. + +Brand rushed on, and when he reached the roof of the next house he +noticed a curious cowl-shaped wooden structure, something like that +which covers the approach to the forecastle ladder on the deck of a +ship. He quickly turned and took refuge in this on the chance of his +pursuer, who had not yet reappeared, and who was most probably lying +stunned from his fall, going past it. When, however, he entered the +cowl the floor gave way almost noiselessly beneath him, and he fell +through nearly twenty feet of space, with a thud on what seemed to be a +pile of tumbled clothing. He lay half stunned for a few seconds, and +then sat up. He found himself in complete darkness. A sound of low +muttering reached his ear, but from what direction it came he could not +tell, and a strange smell suggestive somewhat of incense was strongly +perceptible. + +Searching in his pockets Brand managed to find a match, which he struck +on his boot. He found himself in a small room out of which one doorway +led. On the floor, which was of clay, was a heap of clothing of all +sorts, interspersed with bedding and mats, all thrown together in the +greatest confusion. He made for the door and turned the handle softly. +The leaf swung towards him. Passing into the doorway with his hands +outstretched, he groped forward and came in contact with the heavy folds +of a curtain, which he gently drew aside. + +A blaze of white light nearly blinded him. He found himself on the +threshold of a room about twenty feet square. From the ceiling a large +brazen lamp hung, and other lamps with burnished reflectors shone from +each of the four walls. On a low bier in the centre of the room lay the +dead body of a young man clad in green robes, his face frightfully +disfigured from the effects of small-pox. At the head and foot of the +bier stood braziers on which scented woods were burning, and the almost +invisible fumes which arose caused the smell which he had perceived. + +Crouching on the ground at the foot of the bier was an old man clad in a +cassock-like garment of dingy green alpaca. He was bent and +decrepit-looking, and he swayed slowly from side to side repeating some +words softly in a high-pitched, quavering tone. His long, white beard +and bald head were plentifully strewn with ashes, and his disordered +turban of green silk was thrown upon the floor next to him. + +Brand gazed spell-bound for a moment at the strange spectacle. The old +man's profile was towards him. Then words in an unknown dialect were +hoarsely shouted by some one on the roof, evidently at the aperture +through which Brand had made his entrance. The old man slowly turned +his head in the direction of the curtained door, and Brand then saw that +he was stone blind. + +At the opposite side of the room was another door also curtained, so +Brand, hearing a sound as though some one was descending through the +aperture by means of a ladder, crossed the room, stepping noiselessly +upon the soft carpet. He passed close to the head of the bier, pushed +the curtain to one side, opened the door, and entered the room into +which he had been looking from the street. + +The girl started up from the divan with a smothered cry and gazed wildly +at the intruder. To his intense surprise he recognised in her the one +whose life he had saved on the wharf. + +The girl evidently recognised him as well, for she checked the cry upon +her lips, and the terror faded out of her face. Brand closed the door +softly behind him, and then advanced towards her, his hands stretched +out with a gesture of appeal. As he did this he whispered in the Malay +tongue: + +"Save me, for God's sake; they want to kill me." + +Just then a movement was heard in the next room, and immediately +afterwards could be distinguished the hoarse, guttural tones which Brand +associated with the bearded man who carried the knife between his teeth, +and whose pursuit had filled him with such terror. The eyes of the girl +softened; she hesitated for a second, and then hurriedly motioned to +Brand to hide himself in the recess next to the divan. When he had +effected this she laid herself down in her former position. + +No sooner had this happened than the door opened, and some one, from the +voice evidently a woman, entered the room. After discussing rapidly for +a few seconds in Dutch so corrupt that Brand could barely understand a +word here and there, this person left, closing the door behind her. +Then a noise as of many people moving about on the roof, the pavement, +and at the back of the premises arose. This, however, soon died down, +and dead silence, only broken from time to time by a groan or a cry from +the old mourner, again reigned. + +After an interval the girl arose, turned the lamp down low, and +whispered to Brand to emerge from his concealment. He had now +completely regained his self-possession, and he fully expected to be +able to escape from the house with the girl's assistance, without much +difficulty or delay. She had now put on a loose skirt, and wrapped a +white, silken shawl over her shoulders and bosom. + +Brand told her the exact truth as to the circumstances under which he +had entered the room, and the girl evidently believed him. He thanked +her warmly for what she had done, and begged of her to show him a way by +which he might make his escape. This, however, she declared, to his +horror, she was absolutely unable to do. The window was, she assured +him, fastened down with nails, and the only other way of possible exit +lay through the room in which the corpse was lying, and thence through a +passage to the front door. This course was obviously impossible under +the circumstances, so there was nothing for it but for him to remain +where he was until the following morning, and then take advantage of +circumstances as they might arise. + +The recess in the wall was about two feet deep, and in this the girl +made a sort of a couch for her uninvited and unwilling guest, who lay +awake throughout the whole of the long July night, cursing his folly, +and wondering as to what the end of his adventure was to be. The girl +lay on the divan close to him, and although she hardly moved, Brand +could tell from her breathing that she was as sleepless as himself. + +Soon after daybreak the girl arose and, speaking softly, told Brand to +lie quietly where he was whilst she went out to see if the coast were +clear. Soon after this the sounds of people moving about the house +could be heard, and then a deadly feeling of being trapped took +possession of the concealed man. Had it not been for the certainty of +compromising the girl he would have risked the worst and burst his way +through the window. He felt, of course, that after her heroic conduct +in shielding him at terrible risk to herself, such a course would be +unpardonable, and he dismissed the idea at once. By and by the noise in +the next room increased; the heavy, shuffling tread of several men could +be heard, and the wailing of the old mourner rose to a high pitch. Then +came stillness. The body of the dead hadji had been carried away to be +prepared for burial. + +After another interval the girl returned, and in a whisper told Brand to +follow her. Then she sped swiftly through the curtained room and into a +passage to the left; then down this passage to the right, and out into a +small courtyard, on the opposite side of which a detached building +stood. This building was double-storied at one end. The girl darted +across the yard into the detached building, and Brand followed her +through the half-opened door. He found himself in a sort of lumber +store, which contained, amongst other things, a large number of +packing-cases piled one over the other. In obedience to a gesture on +the part of the girl, Brand entered a second room through a doorway +standing open just in front of him. Here he found himself in +semi-darkness. The girl closed the door behind him, and then ran +quickly back across the yard to the house. + +Brand's eyes soon accustomed themselves to the gloom, and then he began +to examine his prison. He found here also a number of packing-cases, +some apparently full of merchandise and others containing bound volumes +of the Koran in the Malay tongue. In the corner of the room stood a +ladder, and immediately above it an open trap-door, evidently leading to +an upper chamber. He mounted the ladder and soon found himself in a +small, cheerful-looking room with a window at either side. It contained +a small table, a chair, and a bracket which hung in one of the corners. +A thick, new carpet was on the floor, and on one side were heaped a +number of rich rugs which had evidently not been woven in Western looms. +On the bracket stood a jug of water, a loaf of bread, some baked meat, +and a small quantity of fruit. Brand closed the trap-door, took a long +drink of water,--which he had been longing for,--and flung himself down +upon the pile of rugs. + +The morning was for Brand one deadly monotony of apprehension. Once +only did he hear any evidence of movement below, and then it was the +sound of a footstep followed by the light click of some metal utensil +being placed on the floor. Just afterwards he cautiously lifted the +trap-door and looked down. He saw a bucket containing water, a rough +towel, and a piece of soap. He had heard the sound of the key being +turned in the door, so he descended and had a refreshing wash. After +this he re-ascended to the upper room, taking a copy of the Koran with +him. What he saw when he looked out of the windows was not reassuring. +The building stood at one side of a closed yard of small size but with +very high walls. It was quite certain that there was no means of exit +except through the house. Even could he cross these walls he knew from +his recollection of what he had seen from the roof that his position +would be no better. The trapped feeling overcame him again, and he +threw himself on the floor in despair. + +Early in the afternoon he heard the door below opened softly, and just +afterwards the girl ascended through the trap-door. She brought some +food,--a few hard-boiled eggs, a dish of meat cooked after the Malay +fashion in a paste, and some dates. Brands first question was as to the +practicability of his escaping, but the girl strongly negatived the idea +of any attempt in that direction being made for the present. The house +was, she said, so arranged that until some occasion arose upon which all +the dwellers except the old priest were absent, he could not possibly +get away without being discovered. She seated herself on the rug next +to him and they talked together like old friends. He ascertained from +her that he was on the premises of a very celebrated Malay priest,--the +girl's grandfather. This was a wealthy man, who combined commerce with +the practice of official religious functions. Two of his sons had +managed his business concerns, which had principally to do with the +importation of silken fabrics from the East. One of the sons had died +of the pest, and the other was away on a trading trip to Madagascar. +The dead body which Brand had seen was that of the old priest's youngest +and favourite son, a promising young hadji of highly reputed sanctity, +who had returned but a few weeks previously from Mecca, only to be +smitten by small-pox in its deadliest form. Altogether four members of +the family had died,--one an elderly widowed daughter of the old priest, +and the other a female servant. + +Brand also learned her own history, which was peculiar and interesting. +Her name was Aiala. Her father had been an Englishman who, on being +converted to Islam, had married a daughter of the old priest. This +accounted for her knowledge of European ways and her sympathetic +apprehension of European modes of thought, both of which had puzzled +Brand extremely. After her fathers death, two years previously, she had +left Java and had come to Cape Town to join her grandfather. She had +been very unhappy in her new surroundings; the local peculiarities of +the Malays were distasteful to her; she could hardly understand anything +of their speech. They, divining her contempt for them, and recognising +her superiority, disliked her intensely. She made no friends, and the +only one who had treated her with sympathy or kindness was the young +hadji who was now dead. To him she had been much attached. She had +recently been promised in marriage to a man for whom she had no regard +of any kind, and who was much older than she was. + +Before leaving, the girl made Brand solemnly promise, with his hand on +the Koran, that he would make no attempt to escape without her +co-operation. She reminded him of the terrible risk she ran in thus +hiding him, and that discovery would undoubtedly result in his death and +her ruin. His disappearance was, she said, a mystery to the whole +neighbourhood. He had been seen by others on the roof, and an organised +hunt had accordingly taken place. The black-bearded man was continually +on the watch, and had sworn, if he could find him, to have the +stranger's life. Brand, after some hesitation which she overcame by +falling at his feet in tears, made the promise she demanded, and +regretted having done so immediately afterwards. + +Aiala returned late that night and sat in the chair before the window, +with the moonlight shining on her beautiful face, and flashing back in +softened and enriched splendour from the depths of her glorious eyes. +Her proximity began to engender strange emotions in Brand, and to make +some unsuspected springs stir in the depths of his being. Perhaps it +was that the Malay strain in his blood had given a certain fibre to his +heartstrings, which required some such influence as this to draw it to +vibrating tension. + +After pressing his hand in silence to her breast, Aiala stole softly +away, leaving Brand to dream till dawn of her loveliness. She returned +early next morning, bringing food, clean linen, and other things +conducive to his comfort. The rain had again set in, and the prospect +which Brand regarded from the windows of his prison was the most +cheerless imaginable,--just dingy, yellow walls streaming with water. +He again besought the girl to try and arrange for his escape, and after +a few moments of deep thought she promised to let him out, irrespective +of risks, on the following day. It had hitherto struck Brand as +extremely strange that she should have consistently placed obstacles in +the way of every project for escaping which he suggested. + +All day long Aiala kept flitting up and down the ladder. She was +dressed in the most splendid attire. After the death of her uncle the +more valuable of the contents of the shop had been removed for +safe-keeping to the old priest's dwelling-house, and the girl thus had +access to a quantity of gorgeous Eastern finery, and in this she now +revelled to the utmost. The intimacy between her and Brand made rapid +progress. She was radiant with smiles so long as he avoided the subject +of his departure. When, however, he made any allusion to his wish to +escape, she wept bitterly, and begged of him not to be her undoing. + +They talked of the scenes of their childhood in far-off Java,--of how +the children used to go forth in troops in the early morning from the +"kampong," the village built of bamboo, to gather into baskets the +"melatti" flowers that had fallen during the night from the trees, until +the ground was covered as with a white carpet; of how they would weave +the blossoms into garlands and long festoons, wherewith all, even the +criminal going to suffer on the gallows, would be decked. From thus +talking over scenes which they both knew and loved, they attained to a +strange intuitive understanding of each other. Aiala had been her +father's favourite child, and he, without teaching her his own tongue, +had developed her mind to a degree almost unknown among women of her +mother's race. Her finely-moulded head contained a strange farrago of +fantastic and poetical notions, and for one so illiterate she had a +wonderful gift of language. Her memory was very retentive, especially +for poetry and passages from the Koran, which she would repeat with a +remarkable faculty of original expression, while her sensitive face +reflected the spirit of the words. + +Brand, however, did not even remotely suspect what was the true state of +the case,--that the girl loved him with the full strength of her +passionate nature. The man who had appeared twice in her life, each +time in a great crisis, had stamped himself indelibly on the untouched +wax of her heart, and she felt, without even defining the feeling to +herself, that her love and her life had become one and the same. From +the day when he lifted her from the cab in his arms she had tenderly +cherished the memory of the strong, tall, blue-eyed stranger who had +rescued her from a terrible death, and who looked like a god among the +uncouth, patois-jabbering crowd, from the like of which her only +acquaintance was drawn. Moreover, was he not of the race of the dead +father whom she had loved so well? And when he rushed into her +presence, a hunted fugitive, had she not--after the first shock of +surprise was over--been filled with exalted joy at the thought that this +man of men was hers to save or to slay with a word? And whilst he +cowered until dawn behind the curtain within a yard of where she lay, +outwardly composed, but inwardly seething as though with the thunder and +the tumult of the sea pent within her breast, throughout the long night +made splendid by starry, sleepless dreams, had her very soul not melted +in the ardent crucible of her burning hopes and re-formed in the mould +of the man whose personality was a revelation to her, far nobler than +her highest ideal? + +Aiala had hitherto been loverless; now passion awoke in her torrid, +Eastern nature like a summer tempest on an Indian Sea, and its waves' +resistless strength undermined what had hitherto been the impregnable +rock of Brand's insensibility. All the untaught wiles which are as +instinctive to the natural woman in her youth as is preening its +feathers to a bird in the spring-time, were lavished on him, and long +before he even suspected it, Aiala had filled his heart as completely as +he filled hers. + +She bade him farewell in the dusk, promising to return as soon as ever +she could manage again to escape. When the weary, leaden-footed hours +dragged past and yet she did not come, Brand was in despair. He thought +something had happened to prevent her coming at all that night, and the +agony of longing which he underwent taught him unmistakably that the +love he had dreamt of, but never before experienced, had at length made +its home in his heart. + +A sound in the room below threw him into an ecstasy of expectation, and +just afterwards the trap-door was lifted with the usual creaking sound +which he had come to regard as sweeter than the sweetest music. It was +absolutely dark; the moon had not yet arisen, and the wind-driven rain +hissed against the streaming window-panes. + +Brand came forward to the corner where the trap-door was, and his +outstretched hands came in contact with Aiala, who was shivering, +apparently with cold, beneath a heavy, wet cloak. She slid from his +attempted embrace with a low breath of laughter, and when he followed +her she again eluded him. This, acting on his over-wrought mind and his +inexperience, vexed him sorely, and he sat down on the chair in silence +and weary perplexity. + +After a few moments she startled him by striking a match and lighting a +small lamp, which she then placed on the bracket. Brand then noticed +that she had hung dark cloths across the windows. + +He stood up and looked at her in wonderment. A thick, dark cloak +covered her from head to foot and, being drawn in around her throat with +a string, formed a hood which quite hid her face. When she lifted the +lighted lamp to the bracket he saw with a thrill that her arms were bare +from firm, round wrist to shapely shoulder. Then she slowly turned +towards him and gazed fixedly into his eyes from the darkness of her +hood. Lifting her hands slowly to her throat she untied the string, and +then made a sudden, backward movement with her head. The cloak slid +down behind her to the floor. + +She was clad after the fashion of her native land in a "kabaai," or robe +of delicate, fawn-coloured silk, and a "sarong" or skirt of the same +material, cerise-coloured. Her thick, glossy, black hair hung loosely +over her shoulders; her throat, arms, and ankles were bare, and her feet +were covered by delicate sandals of crimson silk. In her hair and +around her bosom were garlanded white blossoms of a kind that Brand was +unacquainted with, strung together after the manner of the "melatti" +flowers, and emitting a very sweet and pungent scent. + +They stood, hardly a pace apart, and gazed at each other, the girl with +parted lips and heaving breast, and Brand awed to a statue before her +beauty and the spell of her eyes. Then she said in a steady voice: + +"I have come to bid you farewell. To-morrow morning the doors will be +opened to you, and you can go forth; then I shall die." + +She spoke with a calmness that carried conviction. Brand's love had +become as necessary to her untutored heart, with its wild, elemental +promptings, as the air to her nostrils; and he, with his perceptions +rendered acute by emotional stress, knew that she spoke but the truth. + +Then Aiala's strength seemed suddenly to give way; she covered her face +with her hands, swayed like a lily in the wind, and faltered to the +ground at Brand's feet. + +The spell was broken; the love in the rising stream of which he had +unwittingly been standing overwhelmed and bore Brand away in its +resistless course. He bent down to Aiala and clasped her to his breast. +She nestled to him with low murmurs of blissful content, and wound her +soft arms about his neck. + +As their lips met for the first time, the sordid world rolled away and +was forgotten, and they seemed to rest on some palm-shaded isle in a sea +of infinite delight, where the waves sang around them strong songs of +peace and joy. + +_Three_. + +Thus love grew, burgeoned, and flowered between these two thus strangely +thrown together in the house of pestilence and death, like some rich, +exotic plant. Brand no longer thought of departing. To him had come +the end of Time, and the realisation of Eternity through infinity of +joy. The ever-present danger of discovery, the inevitable consequence +of which would have been death, added ardour to their bliss even as wind +causes glowing embers to flush and glow more hotly. Their short +meetings were full of rapture, and the hours they spent apart were long, +delicious trances of remembrance and anticipation. Time was like a +golden chain studded here and there at uncertain intervals with +fire-hearted rubies. + +The rainy, tempestuous weather continued, but the lovers did not miss +the sun by day nor the stars by night. Safe in their warm nest they +would listen to the muffled roar of the rain on the masoned roof, +thrilling with a delicious realisation of the contrast between the cold +and darkness outside, and the love and light which filled their little +chamber. Under the influence of fulfilled love Aiala became a new +being, developing fresh and wonderful qualities every day. To her lover +she was a perpetually unfolding rose of wonder and sweetness. Once, in +the midst of a spring-day noon of changing moods she burst into tears, +flung herself at Brand's feet, and confessed that she had all along +deceived him as to the difficulty of escaping; that on any of the nights +of his imprisonment she could, without much danger, have guided him +through the almost deserted house and into the silent street. Would he +forgive her for having thus deceived him? He only found in what she +told him a reason for loving her the more, if that were possible. + +One morning, after Aiala had left him, Brand heard the sound of +footsteps and voices in the lower chamber. Then followed silence. +After some little time he lifted the trap-door and looked down. He saw, +lying upon trestles, the hideous corpse of an old woman,--another victim +of the scourge. When Aiala came again she did not mention the +circumstance, and when Brand asked her about it she appeared to consider +it not worth regarding. The body was that of the last of the original +domestic servants, who had died during the previous night. It was +removed for burial after dark. + +Now and then Brand thought carelessly of the possibility of either Aiala +or himself taking the disease, but familiarity had, as is usual, bred +contempt for the danger. Moreover, Brand was strongly imbued with +fatalism, absorbed insensibly from the people among whom so much of his +life had been spent. Once when he alluded to the danger, Aiala mocked +lightly at the notion, and he felt reassured. The superabundant +vitality with which she thrilled seemed as though it were sufficient to +defy any form of disease, if not death itself. + +Aiala took the greatest delight in ministering to the wants of her +lover. She brought him food in delicate variety, and changes of wearing +apparel. He now dressed like a Malay of superior rank, in loose, white +trousers, long smock, short, sleeveless jacket of velvet, pointed +sandals, and silken turban. The latter she would over and over again +skilfully roll for him, place upon his head, and immediately disarrange +with an embrace. + +Seven golden days dawned under a pall of tempest and drenching rain, +each with a brimming cup of delight for their unsated lips. Seven +nights of fierce storm curtained them away from a world of shifting +shadows with a rich fabric woven in the golden loom of happy dreams. +Death was busy all around them, but they heeded him not, and he forebore +to smite. Perhaps the genius of happiness that guested with them for a +little time shielded their nest with a wing which even the Destroyers +dart could not pierce. + +The eighth morning brought a cloudless sun, before the garish face of +which their bliss melted like a snow-flake on the lips of a rose. + +When Brand looked out into the bright, bracing morning he awoke from his +trance and again yearned for freedom. The whole man in him revolted +against this hiding like a mole in the earth. The sunshine and the +cool, moist air seemed to call him forth in tones of imperative command. +His love for Aiala had not in the slightest degree diminished, but a +horror at his situation, which was accentuated by the pure, blue sky, +fell upon him when he realised the nature of his surroundings. A +longing to lave in the cold, cleansing sea came over him, and he felt +that he must go forth, taking Aiala with him. He was prepared to +acknowledge her as his wife in the face of the world, and in all his +plans for the future she was inextricably woven. + +Aiala had slipped away from his side before dawn while he was yet +sleeping, and it was the middle of the forenoon before she was able to +return. She found him pacing to and fro like a caged lion raging for +its freedom. + +Brand clasped her in his arms and poured out his trouble in a torrent of +passionate words. She freed herself gently from his embrace and knelt +before him with her head bowed in token of submission. She had +understood in a flash the state of her lover's mind, and the strength of +his longing to go forth, and she submitted to the inevitable. One of +the most marked effects which their mutual, virginal passion had upon +these two was, that they became one in a very real sense. Aiala, as a +woman, naturally absorbed more of Brand than he did of her, and it was +the intuitive perception of his thoughts, his hopes, and his needs +manifested by Aiala which struck her lover with a sense of wonder and +almost with fear. It sometimes felt as though he had recreated her in +his own mental and spiritual image and likeness. + +It was decided that Brand was to make his escape just before midnight, +Aiala guiding him through the front door into the street. He was to +dress as a Malay, leaving his own clothes to be disposed of by Aiala +amongst the lumber in the lower room. He was to return forty-eight +hours later, and these two meant then to wander forth together into the +wide world. + +The last few hours of companionship which remained to them seemed to be +blighted by the shadow of impending woe. After they had arranged the +preliminaries regarding Brand's departure they hardly spoke again to +each other, but sat locked in a silent, close embrace. The vivid colour +and the ethereal, bliss-born light had faded out of Aiala's lovely face, +and given place to a shaded pallor. Her eyes were more wonderful than +ever; the pupils having dilated to such an extent that the irises were +completely absorbed. + +It was at about eleven o'clock that Aiala ascended the ladder for the +last time, for the purpose of leading her lover forth. She hung around +his neck a thin gold chain with a large pearl clasped by a rough, gold +band attached to it. They bade each other a silent, tearless, +passionate farewell, and then went forth, down the ladder and across the +yard, Aiala leading and Brand following with steps that faltered now +that the parting was so near. Had Aiala asked him to stay now at the +last moment he would have done so without hesitation, but although the +word was probably upon her lips, for she always divined Brand's moods, +she did not speak it. + +Once they paused in going along the passage to the front door, and Aiala +lifted a curtain that hung before a doorway. Brand looked and saw the +old priest sitting on the floor in mourning garb, still with ashes +strewn upon his head. A dim light shone upon the pain-worn face, the +sightless eyes, and the trembling lips that moved in prayer to the God +whom the Great Prophet of Islam had always called "the compassionate-- +the merciful." On the floor near the mourner lay the green robe and the +turban of his dead son. + +Brand walked down the street with a heart like lead in his breast, and a +sense as of one who, having died and reached Paradise, and again come to +life, knows that henceforth he must be a stranger among the sons of men. + +_Four_. + +Brand arrived at his lodgings just before midnight, and went up-stairs +quietly to his room. The front door of the house had been left open for +some of the lodgers who were still out. To his relief he met no one on +the stairs or in the passages; otherwise he would have had some +difficulty in accounting for his being in Malay garb. + +Upon awaking in the morning he had some difficulty in persuading himself +that he had been away for ten days,--or indeed at all. The last week +seemed now a fevered dream of terror and delight. Was it real? His +hand accidentally touched Aiala's pearl which hung from his neck, and +his doubts vanished. He sprang out of bed, dressed as quickly as he +could, and hurried down to the sea to have the swim he so longed for. +The cold southern current was sweeping into Table Bay. Brand plunged +into the surf, and swam out beyond the line of breakers. He felt the +clean, stinging water dissipating the fantasies which were woven around +him, and Aiala's image rose clear over the mists that had clouded his +understanding, like the sun over a huddled mass of dissolving, +wind-driven clouds. + +After his swim Brand walked slowly back to his lodgings, thinking over +the strange problem set before him for solution, and wondering as to +what the outcome of the matter would be. As to Aiala, his intentions +were clear and distinct up to a certain point. He meant to take her +away at once from the house of pestilence, and eventually to marry her, +but he knew enough of law to be quite sure that, she being under age, he +could not marry her without the consent of her guardians, and he knew +enough of Mahometan prejudice to be certain that such consent he would +never obtain. + +What in the mean time was he to do? He could not bring Aiala to the +lodging-house--that was quite certain. His means, moreover, were very +limited. He had been waiting in Cape Town in the hope of obtaining +employment from a certain mining-syndicate there being formed, but as +yet no definite offer had been made him. However, Aiala must, under any +circumstances, be at his side from and after the second midnight +following--that was the only certain and important thing; all the rest +was mere detail. + +Brand's landlady was much astonished when he put in an appearance at +breakfast, but he silenced all inquiries on the subject of his absence +by stating that he had been called suddenly away, and that he supposed +his letter explaining his absence had miscarried. + +After breakfast he went to his room, and, feeling unwell, threw himself +on the bed, and fell asleep. It was late in the afternoon when he awoke +with a violent headache, a feverish skin, and a burning thirst. In the +evening delirium set in and a doctor was sent for. He pronounced the +malady to be small-pox, so next morning Brand was removed to the +lazaretto. + +In spite of the fact that Brand had recently been vaccinated the attack +was a severe one. When he regained his senses at the cessation of the +fever he wanted, weak as he was, to rush out and go to Aiala, but this, +of course, the attendants prevented him from doing. Afterwards he +resigned himself quietly to his fate, and remained at the lazaretto +until discharged as cured. + +He took a cab and returned to his lodgings, where he found, to his +relief, that the disease had not been communicated to any of the other +inmates. As the day wore on he watched the slowly-sinking sun with +chafing impatience, longing for the hour when he could go to Aiala, +clasp her to his heart, and explain his absence. + +At length the hour of eleven was slowly struck from the belfry tower, +and Brand hurried to the nearest cab-stand. He hired a cab to convey +him in the direction of the silent street, and discharged it some little +distance from his destination. He went forward on foot, and when he got +close to the house he knew so well, he noticed a small crowd of people +congregated before the door. They were all Malays. He moved in among +them and listened to their conversation. He heard one man relating to +another, evidently a stranger, how every member of the old priest's +family had been carried off by the scourge, and how the young girl, his +grand-daughter, whose body they were now about to bury, had almost +recovered, but had died of weakness through refusing to take nourishment +after her convalescence had set in. + +Then the door opened, and the body, wrapped in white linen, was carried +out and borne onward upon a bier by four men. The little crowd of +people formed a procession behind it. Brand, with a heart of frozen +stone in his desolated breast, followed after the others. + +The _cortege_ wended slowly to the Malay burial-ground high on the +mountain-side, and here Brand stood among the tinselled tombs and saw +Aiala's body lowered into the dark grave. He listened in dread for the +first sound of the earth falling upon the flesh that he loved, and that +had thrilled to his kisses, but found to his surprise that it had little +or no effect upon his feelings. The funeral was hurriedly and +unceremoniously conducted, so in a very few minutes the grave was filled +in, and those who gathered round it dispersed. + +Brand threw himself upon the new-made grave. As yet no wailing mourners +had come to desecrate the spot. All around him the weird howls arose, +but they smote unheeded on his ear. He was just stupidly trying to +recall Aiala's face, and finding to his annoyance that he could not do +so clearly. Then he began to murmur her name over and over to himself +softly, in different cadences. + +An old man, probably a priest, came quietly up and bent over him. Brand +had kept on repeating Aiala's name. The old man laid a kindly hand on +his shoulder and reminded him in the Malay tongue of the Prophet's words +of consolation to mourners, and promises to such as die in the faith. +Brand listened without being able to understand a word of what he was +saying for some time; but an expression that Aiala had been in the habit +of using in her poetical moods fell from the old man's lips, and +startled the stunned hearer into momentary animation. The passage where +the expression occurs is at the beginning of that chapter of the Koran +known as "The Rending Asunder." Brand interrupted the garrulous flow of +the old man's talk by continuing the passage which he had unconsciously +quoted: + +"When the seas are let loose, and when the tombs are turned upside down, +the soul shall know what it hath done and left undone." + +The old man stood up and moved quietly away. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +_The End_. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The White Hecatomb, by William Charles Scully + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WHITE HECATOMB *** + +***** This file should be named 36419.txt or 36419.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/4/1/36419/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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