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diff --git a/5745-h/5745-h.htm b/5745-h/5745-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..917e2f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/5745-h/5745-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,16548 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of She and Allan, by H. Rider Haggard</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of She and Allan, by H. Rider Haggard</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: She and Allan</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: H. Rider Haggard</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 22, 2002 [eBook #5745]<br /> +[Most recently updated: January 23, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: John Bickers; Dagny; David Widger</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHE AND ALLAN ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<h1>She and Allan</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">by H. Rider Haggard</h2> + +<h4>First Published 1921.</h4> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref01">NOTE BY THE LATE MR. ALLAN QUATERMAIN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap00">SHE AND ALLAN</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. THE TALISMAN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. THE MESSENGERS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. UMSLOPOGAAS OF THE AXE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. THE LION AND THE AXE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. INEZ</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. THE SEA-COW HUNT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. THE OATH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. PURSUIT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. THE SWAMP</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. THE ATTACK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN WALL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. THE WHITE WITCH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. ALLAN HEARS A STRANGE TALE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. ALLAN MISSES OPPORTUNITY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. ROBERTSON IS LOST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. ALLAN’S VISION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII. THE MIDNIGHT BATTLE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">CHAPTER XVIII. THE SLAYING OF REZU</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap19">CHAPTER XIX. THE SPELL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap20">CHAPTER XX. THE GATE OF DEATH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap21">CHAPTER XXI. THE LESSON</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap22">CHAPTER XXII. AYESHA’S FAREWELL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap23">CHAPTER XXIII. WHAT UMSLOPOGAAS SAW</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap24">CHAPTER XXIV. UMSLOPOGAAS WEARS THE GREAT MEDICINE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap25">CHAPTER XXV. ALLAN DELIVERS THE MESSAGE</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>NOTE BY THE LATE MR. ALLAN QUATERMAIN</h2> + +<p> +My friend, into whose hands I hope that all these manuscripts of mine will pass +one day, of this one I have something to say to you. +</p> + +<p> +A long while ago I jotted down in it the history of the events that it details +with more or less completeness. This I did for my own satisfaction. You will +have noted how memory fails us as we advance in years; we recollect, with an +almost painful exactitude, what we experienced and saw in our youth, but the +happenings of our middle life slip away from us or become blurred, like a +stretch of low-lying landscape overflowed by grey and nebulous mist. Far off +the sun still seems to shine upon the plains and hills of adolescence and early +manhood, as yet it shines about us in the fleeting hours of our age, that +ground on which we stand to-day, but the valley between is filled with fog. +Yes, even its prominences, which symbolise the more startling events of that +past, often are lost in this confusing fog. +</p> + +<p> +It was an appreciation of these truths which led me to set down the following +details (though of course much is omitted) of my brief intercourse with the +strange and splendid creature whom I knew under the names of <i>Ayesha</i>, or +<i>Híya</i>, or <i>She-who-commands</i>; not indeed with any view to their +publication, but before I forgot them that, if I wished to do so, I might +re-peruse them in the evening of old age to which I hope to attain. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, at the time the last thing I intended was that they should be given to +the world even after my own death, because they, or many of them, are so +unusual that I feared lest they should cause smiles and in a way cast a slur +upon my memory and truthfulness. Also, as you will read, as to this matter I +made a promise and I have always tried to keep my promises and to guard the +secrets of others. For these reasons I proposed, in case I neglected or forgot +to destroy them myself, to leave a direction that this should be done by my +executors. Further, I have been careful to make no allusion <i>whatever</i> to +them either in casual conversation or in anything else that I may have written, +my desire being that this page of my life should be kept quite private, +something known only to myself. Therefore, too, I never so much as hinted of +them to anyone, not even to yourself to whom I have told so much. +</p> + +<p> +Well, I recorded the main facts concerning this expedition and its issues, +simply and with as much exactness as I could, and laid them aside. I do not say +that I never thought of them again, since amongst them were some which, +together with the problems they suggested, proved to be of an unforgettable +nature. +</p> + +<p> +Also, whenever any of Ayesha’s sayings or stories which are not preserved +in these pages came back to me, as has happened from time to time, I jotted +them down and put them away with this manuscript. Thus among these notes you +will find a history of the city of Kôr as she told it to me, which I have +omitted here. Still, many of these remarkable events did more or less fade from +my mind, as the image does from an unfixed photograph, till only their outlines +remained, faint if distinguishable. +</p> + +<p> +To tell the truth, I was rather ashamed of the whole story in which I cut so +poor a figure. On reflection it was obvious to me, although honesty had +compelled me to set out all that is essential exactly as it occurred, adding +nothing and taking nothing away, that I had been the victim of very gross +deceit. This strange woman, whom I had met in the ruins of a place called Kôr, +without any doubt had thrown a glamour over my senses and at the moment almost +caused me to believe much that is quite unbelievable. +</p> + +<p> +For instance, she had told me ridiculous stories as to interviews between +herself and certain heathen goddesses, though it is true that, almost with her +next breath, these she qualified or contradicted. Also, she had suggested that +her life had been prolonged far beyond our mortal span, for hundreds and +hundreds of years, indeed; which, as Euclid says, is absurd, and had pretended +to supernatural powers, which is still more absurd. Moreover, by a clever use +of some hypnotic or mesmeric power, she had feigned to transport me to some +place beyond the earth and in the Halls of Hades to show me what is veiled from +the eyes of man, and not only me, but the savage warrior Umhlopekazi, commonly +called Umslopogaas of the Axe, who, with Hans, a Hottentot, was my companion +upon that adventure. There were like things equally incredible, such as her +appearance, when all seemed lost, in the battle with the troll-like Rezu. To +omit these, the sum of it was that I had been shamefully duped, and if anyone +finds himself in that position, as most people have at one time or another in +their lives, Wisdom suggests that he had better keep the circumstances to +himself. +</p> + +<p> +Well, so the matter stood, or rather lay in the recesses of my mind—and +in the cupboard where I hide my papers—when one evening someone, as a +matter of fact it was Captain Good, an individual of romantic tendencies who is +fond, sometimes I think too fond, of fiction, brought a book to this house +which he insisted over and over again really I must peruse. +</p> + +<p> +Ascertaining that it was a novel I declined, for to tell the truth I am not +fond of romance in any shape, being a person who has found the hard facts of +life of sufficient interest as they stand. +</p> + +<p> +Reading I admit I like, but in this matter, as in everything else, my range is +limited. I study the Bible, especially the Old Testament, both because of its +sacred lessons and of the majesty of the language of its inspired translators; +whereof that of Ayesha, which I render so poorly from her flowing and melodious +Arabic, reminded me. For poetry I turn to Shakespeare, and, at the other end of +the scale, to the Ingoldsby Legends, many of which I know almost by heart, +while for current affairs I content myself with the newspapers. +</p> + +<p> +For the rest I peruse anything to do with ancient Egypt that I happen to come +across, because this land and its history have a queer fascination for me, that +perhaps has its roots in occurrences or dreams of which this is not the place +to speak. Lastly now and again I read one of the Latin or Greek authors in a +translation, since I regret to say that my lack of education does not enable me +to do so in the original. But for modern fiction I have no taste, although from +time to time I sample it in a railway train and occasionally am amused by such +excursions into the poetic and unreal. +</p> + +<p> +So it came about that the more Good bothered me to read this particular +romance, the more I determined that I would do nothing of the sort. Being a +persistent person, however, when he went away about ten o’clock at night, +he deposited it by my side, under my nose indeed, so that it might not be +overlooked. Thus it came about that I could not help seeing some Egyptian +hieroglyphics in an oval on the cover, also the title, and underneath it your +own name, my friend, all of which excited my curiosity, especially the title, +which was brief and enigmatic, consisting indeed of one word, +“<i>She</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +I took up the work and on opening it the first thing my eye fell upon was a +picture of a veiled woman, the sight of which made my heart stand still, so +painfully did it remind me of a certain veiled woman whom once it had been my +fortune to meet. Glancing from it to the printed page one word seemed to leap +at me. It was <i>Kôr</i>! Now of veiled women there are plenty in the world, +but were there also two Kôrs? +</p> + +<p> +Then I turned to the beginning and began to read. This happened in the autumn +when the sun does not rise till about six, but it was broad daylight before I +ceased from reading, or rather rushing through that book. +</p> + +<p> +Oh! what was I to make of it? For here in its pages (to say nothing of old +Billali, who, by the way lied, probably to order, when he told Mr. Holly that +no white man had visited his country for many generations, and those gloomy, +man-eating Amahagger scoundrels) once again I found myself face to face with +<i>She-who-commands</i>, now rendered as <i>She-who-must-be-obeyed</i>, which +means much the same thing—in her case at least; yes, with Ayesha the +lovely, the mystic, the changeful and the imperious. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover the history filled up many gaps in my own limited experiences of that +enigmatical being who was half divine (though, I think, rather wicked or at any +rate unmoral in her way) and yet all woman. It is true that it showed her in +lights very different from and higher than those in which she had presented +herself to me. Yet the substratum of her character was the same, or rather of +her characters, for of these she seemed to have several in a single body, +being, as she said of herself to me, “not One but Many and not Here but +Everywhere.” +</p> + +<p> +Further, I found the story of Kallikrates, which I had set down as a mere +falsehood invented for my bewilderment, expanded and explained. Or rather not +explained, since, perhaps that she might deceive, to me she had spoken of this +murdered Kallikrates without enthusiasm, as a handsome person to whom, because +of an indiscretion of her youth, she was bound by destiny and whose +return—somewhat to her sorrow—she must wait. At least she did so at +first, though in the end when she bared her heart at the moment of our +farewell, she vowed she loved him only and was “appointed” to him +“by a divine decree.” +</p> + +<p> +Also I found other things of which I knew nothing, such as the Fire of Life +with its fatal gift of indefinite existence, although I remember that like the +giant Rezu whom Umslopogaas defeated, she did talk of a “Cup of +Life” of which she had drunk, that might have been offered to my lips, +had I been politic, bowed the knee and shown more faith in her and her +supernatural pretensions. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly I saw the story of her end, and as I read it I wept, yes, I confess I +wept, although I feel sure that she will return again. Now I understood why she +had quailed and even seemed to shrivel when, in my last interview with her, +stung beyond endurance by her witcheries and sarcasms, I had suggested that +even for her with all her powers, Fate might reserve one of its shrewdest +blows. Some prescience had told her that if the words seemed random, Truth +spoke through my lips, although, and this was the worst of it, she did not know +what weapon would deal the stroke or when and where it was doomed to fall. +</p> + +<p> +I was amazed, I was overcome, but as I closed that book I made up my mind, +first that I would continue to preserve absolute silence as to Ayesha and my +dealings with her, as, during my life, I was bound by oath to do, and secondly +that I would <i>not</i> cause my manuscript to be destroyed. I did not feel +that I had any right to do so in view of what already had been published to the +world. There let it lie to appear one day, or not to appear, as might be fated. +Meanwhile my lips were sealed. I would give Good back his book without comment +and—buy another copy! +</p> + +<p> +One more word. It is clear that I did not touch more than the fringe of the +real Ayesha. In a thousand ways she bewitched and deceived me so that I never +plumbed her nature’s depths. Perhaps this was my own fault because from +the first I shewed a lack of faith in her and she wished to pay me back in her +own fashion, or perhaps she had other private reasons for her secrecy. +Certainly the character she discovered to me differed in many ways from that +which she revealed to Mr. Holly and to Leo Vincey, or Kallikrates, whom, it +seems, once she slew in her jealousy and rage. +</p> + +<p> +She told me as much as she thought it fit that I should know, and no more! +</p> + +<p class="right"> +Allan Quatermain. +</p> + +<p> +The Grange, Yorkshire. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap00"></a>SHE AND ALLAN</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /> +THE TALISMAN</h2> + +<p> +I believe it was the old Egyptians, a very wise people, probably indeed much +wiser than we know, for in the leisure of their ample centuries they had time +to think out things, who declared that each individual personality is made up +of six or seven different elements, although the Bible only allows us three, +namely, body, soul, and spirit. The body that the man or woman wore, if I +understand their theory aright which perhaps I, an ignorant person, do not, was +but a kind of sack or fleshly covering containing these different principles. +Or mayhap it did not contain them all, but was simply a house as it were, in +which they lived from time to time and seldom all together, although one or +more of them was present continually, as though to keep the place warmed and +aired. +</p> + +<p> +This is but a casual illustrative suggestion, for what right have I, Allan +Quatermain, out of my little reading and probably erroneous deductions, to form +any judgment as to the theories of the old Egyptians? Still these, as I +understand them, suffice to furnish me with the text that man is not one, but +many, in which connection it may be remembered that often in Scripture he is +spoken of as being the home of many demons, seven, I think. Also, to come to +another far-off example, the Zulus talk of their witch-doctors as being +inhabited by “a multitude of spirits.” +</p> + +<p> +Anyhow of one thing I am quite sure, we are not always the same. Different +personalities actuate us at different times. In one hour passion of this sort +or the other is our lord; in another we are reason itself. In one hour we +follow the basest appetites; in another we hate them and the spirit arising +through our mortal murk shines within or above us like a star. In one hour our +desire is to kill and spare not; in another we are filled with the holiest +compassion even towards an insect or a snake, and are ready to forgive like a +god. Everything rules us in turn, to such an extent indeed, that sometimes one +begins to wonder whether we really rule anything. +</p> + +<p> +Now the reason of all this homily is that I, Allan, the most practical and +unimaginative of persons, just a homely, half-educated hunter and trader who +chances to have seen a good deal of the particular little world in which his +lot was cast, at one period of my life became the victim of spiritual longings. +</p> + +<p> +I am a man who has suffered great bereavements in my time such as have seared +my soul, since, perhaps because of my rather primitive and simple nature, my +affections are very strong. By day or night I can never forget those whom I +have loved and whom I believe to have loved me. +</p> + +<p> +For you know, in our vanity some of us are apt to hold that certain people with +whom we have been intimate upon the earth, really did care for us and, in our +still greater vanity—or should it be called madness?—to imagine +that they still care for us after they have left the earth and entered on some +new state of society and surroundings which, if they exist, inferentially are +much more congenial than any they can have experienced here. At times, however, +cold doubts strike us as to this matter, of which we long to know the truth. +Also behind looms a still blacker doubt, namely whether they live at all. +</p> + +<p> +For some years of my lonely existence these problems haunted me day by day, +till at length I desired above everything on earth to lay them at rest in one +way or another. Once, at Durban, I met a man who was a spiritualist to whom I +confided a little of my perplexities. He laughed at me and said that they could +be settled with the greatest ease. All I had to do was to visit a certain local +medium who for a fee of one guinea would tell me everything I wanted to know. +Although I rather grudged the guinea, being more than usually hard up at the +time, I called upon this person, but over the results of that visit, or rather +the lack of them, I draw a veil. +</p> + +<p> +My queer and perhaps unwholesome longing, however, remained with me and would +not be abated. I consulted a clergyman of my acquaintance, a good and +spiritually-minded man, but he could only shrug his shoulders and refer me to +the Bible, saying, quite rightly I doubt not, that with what it reveals I ought +to be contented. Then I read certain mystical books which were recommended to +me. These were full of fine words, undiscoverable in a pocket dictionary, but +really took me no forwarder, since in them I found nothing that I could not +have invented myself, although while I was actually studying them, they seemed +to convince me. I even tackled Swedenborg, or rather samples of him, for he is +very copious, but without satisfactory results. [Ha!—JB] +</p> + +<p> +Then I gave up the business. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Some months later I was in Zululand and being near the Black Kloof where he +dwelt, I paid a visit to my acquaintance of whom I have written elsewhere, the +wonderful and ancient dwarf, Zikali, known as +“The-Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,” also more universally +among the Zulus as “Opener-of-Roads.” When we had talked of many +things connected with the state of Zululand and its politics, I rose to leave +for my waggon, since I never cared for sleeping in the Black Kloof if it could +be avoided. +</p> + +<p> +“Is there nothing else that you want to ask me, Macumazahn?” asked +the old dwarf, tossing back his long hair and looking at—I had almost +written through—me. +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head. +</p> + +<p> +“That is strange, Macumazahn, for I seem to see something written on your +mind—something to do with spirits.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I remembered all the problems that had been troubling me, although in +truth I had never thought of propounding them to Zikali. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! it comes back, does it?” he exclaimed, reading my thought. +“Out with it, then, Macumazahn, while I am in a mood to answer, and +before I grow tired, for you are an old friend of mine and will so remain till +the end, many years hence, and if I can serve you, I will.” +</p> + +<p> +I filled my pipe and sat down again upon the stool of carved red-wood which had +been brought for me. +</p> + +<p> +“You are named ‘Opener-of-Roads,’ are you not, Zikali?” +I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, the Zulus have always called me that, since before the days of +Chaka. But what of names, which often enough mean nothing at all?” +</p> + +<p> +“Only that <i>I</i> want to open a road, Zikali, that which runs across +the River of Death.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oho!” he laughed, “it is very easy,” and snatching up +a little assegai that lay beside him, he proffered it to me, adding, “Be +brave now and fall on that. Then before I have counted sixty the road will be +wide open, but whether you will see anything on it I cannot tell you.” +</p> + +<p> +Again I shook my head and answered, +</p> + +<p> +“It is against our law. Also while I still live I desire to know whether +I shall meet certain others on that road after my time has come to cross the +River. Perhaps you who deal with spirits, can prove the matter to me, which no +one else seems able to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oho!” laughed Zikali again. “What do my ears hear? Am I, the +poor Zulu cheat, as you will remember once you called me, Macumazahn, asked to +show that which is hidden from all the wisdom of the great White People?” +</p> + +<p> +“The question is,” I answered with irritation, “not what you +are asked to do, but what you can do.” +</p> + +<p> +“That I do not know yet, Macumazahn. Whose spirits do you desire to see? +If that of a woman called Mameena is one of them, I think that perhaps I whom +she loved——“<a href="#fn-1.1" name="fnref-1.1" id="fnref-1.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-1.1" id="fn-1.1"></a> <a href="#fnref-1.1">[1]</a> +For the history of Mameena see the book called “Child of +Storm.”—Editor. +</p> + +<p> +“She is <i>not</i> one of them, Zikali. Moreover, if she loved you, you +paid back her love with death.” +</p> + +<p> +“Which perhaps was the kindest thing I could do, Macumazahn, for reasons +that you may be able to guess, and others with which I will not trouble you. +But if not hers, whose? Let me look, let me look! Why, there seems to be two of +them, head-wives, I mean, and I thought that white men only took one wife. Also +a multitude of others; their faces float up in the water of your mind. An old +man with grey hair, little children, perhaps they were brothers and sisters, +and some who may be friends. Also very clear indeed that Mameena whom you do +not wish to see. Well, Macumazahn, this is unfortunate, since she is the only +one whom I can show you, or rather put you in the way of finding. Unless indeed +there are other Kaffir women——” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you mean?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I mean, Macumazahn, that only black feet travel on the road which I can +open; over those in which ran white blood I have no power.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then it is finished,” I said, rising again and taking a step or +two towards the gate. +</p> + +<p> +“Come back and sit down, Macumazahn. I did not say so. Am I the only +ruler of magic in Africa, which I am told is a big country?” +</p> + +<p> +I came back and sat down, for my curiosity, a great failing with me, was +excited. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, Zikali,” I said, “but I will have no dealings +with more of your witch-doctors.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, because you are afraid of them; quite without reason, +Macumazahn, seeing that they are all cheats except myself. I am the last child +of wisdom, the rest are stuffed with lies, as Chaka found out when he killed +every one of them whom he could catch. But perhaps there might be a white +doctor who would have rule over white spirits.” +</p> + +<p> +“If you mean missionaries——” I began hastily. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Macumazahn, I do not mean your praying men who are cast in one mould +and measured with one rule, and say what they are taught to say, not thinking +for themselves.” +</p> + +<p> +“Some of them think, Zikali.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and then the others fall on them with big sticks. The real priest +is he to whom the Spirit comes, not he who feeds upon its wrappings, and speaks +through a mask carved by his father’s fathers. I am a priest like that, +which is why all my fellowship have hated me.” +</p> + +<p> +“If so, you have paid back their hate, Zikali, but cease to cast round +the lion, like a timid hound, and tell me what you mean. Of whom do you +speak?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is the trouble, Macumazahn. I do not know. This lion, or rather +lioness, lies hid in the caves of a very distant mountain and I have never seen +her—in the flesh.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then how can you talk of what you have never seen?” +</p> + +<p> +“In the same way, Macumazahn, that your priests talk of what they have +never seen, because they, or a few of them, have knowledge of it. I will tell +you a secret. All seers who live at the same time, if they are great, commune +with each other because they are akin and their spirits meet in sleep or +dreams. Therefore I know of a mistress of our craft, a very lioness among +jackals, who for thousands of years has lain sleeping in the northern caves +and, humble though I am, she knows of me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so,” I said, yawning, “but perhaps, Zikali, you will +come to the point of the spear. What of her? How is she named, and if she +exists will she help me?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will answer your question backwards, Macumazahn. I think that she will +help you if you help her, in what way I do not know, because although +witch-doctors sometimes work without pay, as I am doing now, Macumazahn, +witch-doctoresses never do. As for her name, the only one that she has among +our company is ‘Queen,’ because she is the first of all of them and +the most beauteous among women. For the rest I can tell you nothing, except +that she has always been and I suppose, in this shape or in that, will always +be while the world lasts, because she has found the secret of life +unending.” +</p> + +<p> +“You mean that she is immortal, Zikali,” I answered with a smile. +</p> + +<p> +“I do not say that, Macumazahn, because my little mind cannot shape the +thought of immortality. But when I was a babe, which is far ago, she had lived +so long that scarce would she know the difference between then and now, and +already in her breast was all wisdom gathered. I know it, because although, as +I have said, we have never seen each other, at times we walk together in our +sleep, for thus she shares her loneliness, and I think, though this may be but +a dream, that last night she told me to send you on to her to seek an answer to +certain questions which you would put to me to-day. Also to me she seemed to +desire that you should do her a service; I know not what service.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I grew angry and asked, +</p> + +<p> +“Why does it please you to fool me, Zikali, with such talk as this? If +there is any truth in it, show me where the woman called <i>Queen</i> lives and +how I am to come to her.” +</p> + +<p> +The old wizard took up the little assegai which he had offered to me and with +its blade raked out ashes from the fire that always burnt in front of him. +While he did so, he talked to me, as I thought in a random fashion, perhaps to +distract my attention, of a certain white man whom he said I should meet upon +my journey and of his affairs, also of other matters, none of which interested +me much at the time. These ashes he patted down flat and then on them drew a +map with the point of his spear, making grooves for streams, certain marks for +bush and forest, wavy lines for water and swamps and little heaps for hills. +</p> + +<p> +When he had finished it all he bade me come round the fire and study the +picture across which by an after-thought he drew a wandering furrow with the +edge of the assegai to represent a river, and gathered the ashes in a lump at +the northern end to signify a large mountain. +</p> + +<p> +“Look at it well, Macumazahn,” he said, “and forget nothing, +since if you make this journey and forget, you die. Nay, no need to copy it in +that book of yours, for see, I will stamp it on your mind.” +</p> + +<p> +Then suddenly he gathered up the warm ashes in a double handful and threw them +into my face, muttering something as he did so and adding aloud, +</p> + +<p> +“There, now you will remember.” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly I shall,” I answered, coughing, “and I beg that +you will not play such a joke upon me again.” +</p> + +<p> +As a matter of fact, whatever may have been the reason, I never forgot any +detail of that extremely intricate map. +</p> + +<p> +“That big river must be the Zambesi,” I stuttered, “and even +then the mountain of your Queen, if it be her mountain, is far away, and how +can I come there alone?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know, Macumazahn, though perhaps you might do so in +company. At least I believe that in the old days people used to travel to the +place, since I have heard a great city stood there once which was the heart of +a mighty empire.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I pricked up my ears, for though I believed nothing of Zikali’s story +of a wonderful Queen, I was always intensely interested in past civilisations +and their relics. Also I knew that the old wizard’s knowledge was +extensive and peculiar, however he came by it, and I did not think that he +would lie to me in this matter. Indeed to tell the truth, then and there I made +up my mind that if it were in any way possible, I would attempt this journey. +</p> + +<p> +“How did people travel to the city, Zikali?” +</p> + +<p> +“By sea, I suppose, Macumazahn, but I think that you will be wise not to +try that road, since I believe that on the sea side the marshes are now +impassable and you will be safer on your feet.” +</p> + +<p> +“You want me to go on this adventure, Zikali. Why? I know you never do +anything without motive.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oho! Macumazahn, you are clever and see deeper into the trunk of a tree +than most. Yes, I want you to go for three reasons. First, that you may satisfy +your soul on certain matters and I would help you to do so. Secondly, because I +want to satisfy mine, and thirdly, because I know that you will come back safe +to be a prop to me in things that will happen in days unborn. Otherwise I would +have told you nothing of this story, since it is necessary to me that you +should remain living beneath the sun.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have done, Zikali. What is it that you desire?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! a great deal that I shall get, but chiefly two things, so with the +rest I will not trouble you. First I desire to know whether these dreams of +mine of a wonderful white witch-doctoress, or witch, and of my converse with +her are indeed more than dreams. Next I would learn whether certain plots of +mine at which I have worked for years, will succeed.” +</p> + +<p> +“What plots, Zikali, and how can my taking a distant journey tell you +anything about them?” +</p> + +<p> +“You know them well enough, Macumazahn; they have to do with the +overthrow of a Royal House that has worked me bitter wrong. As to how your +journey can help me, why, thus. You shall promise to me to ask of this Queen +whether Zikali, Opener-of-Roads, shall triumph or be overthrown in that on +which he has set his heart.” +</p> + +<p> +“As you seem to know this witch so well, why do you not ask her yourself, +Zikali?” +</p> + +<p> +“To ask is one thing, Macumazahn. To get an answer is another. I have +asked in the watches of the night, and the reply was, ‘Come hither and +perchance I will tell you.’ ‘Queen,’ I said, ‘how can I +come save in the spirit, who am an ancient and a crippled dwarf scarcely able +to stand upon my feet?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Then send a messenger, Wizard, and be sure that he is white, for +of black savages I have seen more than enough. Let him bear a token also that +he comes from you and tell me of it in your sleep. Moreover let that token be +something of power which will protect him on the journey.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Such is the answer that comes to me in my dreams, Macumazahn.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what token will you give me, Zikali?” +</p> + +<p> +He groped about in his robe and produced a piece of ivory of the size of a +large chessman, that had a hole in it, through which ran a plaited cord of the +stiff hairs from an elephant’s tail. On this article, which was of a +rusty brown colour, he breathed, then having whispered to it for a while, +handed it to me. +</p> + +<p> +I took the talisman, for such I guessed it to be, idly enough, held it to the +light to examine it, and started back so violently that almost I let it fall. I +do not quite know why I started, but I think it was because some influence +seemed to leap from it to me. Zikali started also and cried out, +</p> + +<p> +“Have a care, Macumazahn. Am I young that I can bear being dashed to the +ground?” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you mean?” I asked, still staring at the thing which I +perceived to be a most wonderfully fashioned likeness of the old dwarf himself +as he appeared before me crouched upon the ground. There were the deepset eyes, +the great head, the toad-like shape, the long hair, all. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a clever carving, is it not, Macumazahn? I am skilled in that art, +you know, and therefore can judge of carving.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I know,” I answered, bethinking me of another statuette of +his which he had given to me on the morrow of the death of her from whom it was +modelled. “But what of the thing?” +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn, it has come down to me through the ages. As you may have +heard, all great doctors when they die pass on their wisdom and something of +their knowledge to another doctor of spirits who is still living on the earth, +that nothing may be lost, or as little as possible. Also I have learned that to +such likenesses as these may be given the strength of him or her from whom they +were shaped.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I bethought me of the old Egyptians and their <i>Ka</i> statues of which I +had read, and that these statues, magically charmed and set in the tombs of the +departed, were supposed to be inhabited everlastingly by the Doubles of the +dead endued with more power even than ever these possessed in life. But of this +I said nothing to Zikali, thinking that it would take too much explanation, +though I wondered very much how he had come by the same idea. +</p> + +<p> +“When that ivory is hung over your heart, Macumazahn, where you must +always wear it, learn that with it goes the strength of Zikali; the thought +that would have been his thought and the wisdom that is his wisdom, will be +your companions, as much as though he walked at your side and could instruct +you in every peril. Moreover north and south and east and west this image is +known to men who, when they see it, will bow down and obey, opening a road to +him who wears the medicine of the Opener-of-Roads.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed,” I said, smiling, “and what is this colour on the +ivory?” +</p> + +<p> +“I forget, Macumazahn, who have had it a great number of years, ever +since it descended to me from a forefather of mine, who was fashioned in the +same mould as I am. It looks like blood, does it not? It is a pity that Mameena +is not still alive, since she whose memory was so excellent might have been +able to tell you,” and as he spoke, with a motion that was at once sure +and swift, he threw the loop of elephant hair over my head. +</p> + +<p> +Hastily I changed the subject, feeling that after his wont this old wizard, the +most terrible man whom ever I knew, who had been so much concerned with the +tragic death of Mameena, was stabbing at me in some hidden fashion. +</p> + +<p> +“You tell me to go on this journey,” I said, “and not alone. +Yet for companion you give me only an ugly piece of ivory shaped as no man ever +was,” here I got one back at Zikali, “and from the look of it, +steeped in blood, which ivory, if I had my way, I would throw into the camp +fire. Who, then, am I to take with me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t do that, Macumazahn—I mean throw the ivory into the +fire—since I have no wish to burn before my time, and if you do, you who +have worn it might burn with me. At least certainly you would die with the +magic thing and go to acquire knowledge more quickly than you desire. No, no, +and do not try to take it off your neck, or rather try if you will.” +</p> + +<p> +I did try, but something seemed to prevent me from accomplishing my purpose of +giving the carving back to Zikali as I wished to do. First my pipe got in the +way of my hand, then the elephant hairs caught in the collar of my coat; then a +pang of rheumatism to which I was accustomed from an old lion-bite, developed +of a sudden in my arm, and lastly I grew tired of bothering about the thing. +</p> + +<p> +Zikali, who had been watching my movements, burst out into one of his terrible +laughs that seemed to fill the whole kloof and to re-echo from its rocky walls. +It died away and he went on, without further reference to the talisman or +image. +</p> + +<p> +“You asked whom you were to take with you, Macumazahn. Well, as to this I +must make inquiry of those who know. Man, my medicines!” +</p> + +<p> +From the shadows in the hut behind darted out a tall figure carrying a great +spear in one hand and in the other a catskin bag which with a salute he laid +down at the feet of his master. This salute, by the way, was that of a Zulu +word which means “Lord” or “Home” of Ghosts. +</p> + +<p> +Zikali groped in the bag and produced from it certain knuckle-bones. +</p> + +<p> +“A common method,” he muttered, “such as every vulgar wizard +uses, but one that is quick and, as the matter concerned is small, will serve +my turn. Let us see now, whom you shall take with you, Macumazahn.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he breathed upon the bones, shook them up in his thin hands and with a +quick turn of the wrist, threw them into the air. After this he studied them +carefully, where they lay among the ashes which he had raked out of the fire, +those that he had used for the making of his map. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know a man named Umslopogaas, Macumazahn, the chief of a tribe +that is called The People of the Axe, whose titles of praise are Bulalio or the +Slaughterer, and Woodpecker, the latter from the way he handles his ancient +axe? He is a savage fellow, but one of high blood and higher courage, a great +captain in his way, though he will never come to anything, save a glorious +death—in your company, I think, Macumazahn.” (Here he studied the +bones again for a while.) “Yes, I am sure, in your company, though not +upon this journey.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard of him,” I answered cautiously. “It is said in +the land that he is a son of Chaka, the great king of the Zulus.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it, Macumazahn? And is it said also that he was the slayer of +Chaka’s brother, Dingaan, also the lover of the fairest woman that the +Zulus have ever seen, who was called Nada the Lily? Unless indeed a certain +Mameena, who, I seem to remember, was a friend of yours, may have been even +more beautiful?” +</p> + +<p> +“I know nothing of Nada the Lily,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, Mameena, ‘the Waiting Wind,’ has blown over her +fame, so why should you know of one who has been dead a long while? Why also, +Macumazahn, do you always bring women into every business? I begin to believe +that although you are so strict in a white man’s fashion, you must be too +fond of them, a weakness which makes for ruin to any man. Well, now, I think +that this wolf-man, this axe-man, this warrior, Umslopogaas should be a good +fellow to you on your journey to visit the white witch, Queen—another +woman by the way, Macumazahn, and therefore one of whom you should be careful. +Oh! yes, he will come with you—because of a man called Lousta and a woman +named Monazi, a wife of his who hates him and does—not hate Lousta. I am +almost sure that he will come with you, so do not stop to ask questions about +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is there anyone else?” I inquired. +</p> + +<p> +Zikali glanced at the bones again, poking them about in the ashes with his toe, +then replied with a yawn, +</p> + +<p> +“You seem to have a little yellow man in your service, a clever snake who +knows how to creep through grass, and when to strike and when to lie hidden. I +should take him too, if I were you.” +</p> + +<p> +“You know well that I have such a man, Zikali, a Hottentot named Hans, +clever in his way but drunken, very faithful too, since he loved my father +before me. He is cooking my supper in the waggon now. Are there to be any +others?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I think you three will be enough, with a guard of soldiers from the +People of the Axe, for you will meet with fighting and a ghost or two. +Umslopogaas has always one at his elbow named Nada, and perhaps you have +several. For instance, there was a certain Mameena whom I always seem to feel +about me when you are near, Macumazahn. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, the wind is rising again, which is odd on so still an evening. +Listen to how it wails, yes, and stirs your hair, though mine hangs straight +enough. But why do I talk of ghosts, seeing that you travel to seek other +ghosts, white ghosts, beyond my ken, who can only deal with those who were +black? +</p> + +<p> +“Good-night, Macumazahn, good-night. When you return from visiting the +white Queen, that Great One beneath whose feet I, Zikali, who am also great in +my way, am but a grain of dust, come and tell me her answer to my question. +</p> + +<p> +“Meanwhile, be careful always to wear that pretty little image which I +have given you, as a young lover sometimes wears a lock of hair cut from the +head of some fool-girl that he thinks is fond of him. It will bring you safety +and luck, Macumazahn, which, for the most part, is more than the lock of hair +does to the lover. Oh! it is a strange world, full of jest to those who can see +the strings that work it. I am one of them, and perhaps, Macumazahn, you are +another, or will be before all is done—or begun. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-night, and good fortune to you on your journeyings, and, +Macumazahn, although you are so fond of women, be careful not to fall in love +with that white Queen, because it would make others jealous; I mean some whom +you have lost sight of for a while, also I think that being under a curse of +her own, she is not one whom you can put into your sack. <i>Oho! Oho-ho!</i> +Slave, bring me my blanket, it grows cold, and my medicine also, that which +protects me from the ghosts, who are thick to-night. Macumazahn brings them, I +think. <i>Oho-ho!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +I turned to depart but when I had gone a little way Zikali called me back again +and said, speaking very low, +</p> + +<p> +“When you meet this Umslopogaas, as you will meet him, he who is called +the Woodpecker and the Slaughterer, say these words to him, +</p> + +<p> +“‘A bat has been twittering round the hut of the Opener-of-Roads, +and to his ears it squeaked the name of a certain Lousta and the name of a +woman called Monazi. Also it twittered another greater name that may not be +uttered, that of an elephant who shakes the earth, and said that this elephant +sniffs the air with his trunk and grows angry, and sharpens his tusks to dig a +certain Woodpecker out of his hole in a tree that grows near the Witch +Mountain. Say, too, that the Opener-of-Roads thinks that this Woodpecker would +be wise to fly north for a while in the company of one who watches by night, +lest harm should come to a bird that pecks at the feet of the great and +chatters of it in his nest.’” +</p> + +<p> +Then Zikali waved his hand and I went, wondering into what plot I had stumbled. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /> +THE MESSENGERS</h2> + +<p> +I did not rest as I should that night who somehow was never able to sleep well +in the neighbourhood of the Black Kloof. I suppose that Zikali’s constant +talk about ghosts, with his hints and innuendoes concerning those who were +dead, always affected my nerves till, in a subconscious way, I began to believe +that such things existed and were hanging about me. Many people are open to the +power of suggestion, and I am afraid that I am one of them. +</p> + +<p> +However, the sun which has such strength to kill noxious things, puts an end to +ghosts more quickly even than it does to other evil vapours and emanations, and +when I woke up to find it shining brilliantly in a pure heaven, I laughed with +much heartiness over the whole affair. +</p> + +<p> +Going to the spring near which we were outspanned, I took off my shirt to have +a good wash, still chuckling at the memory of all the hocus-pocus of my old +friend, the Opener-of-Roads. +</p> + +<p> +While engaged in this matutinal operation I struck my hand against something +and looking, observed that it was the hideous little ivory image of Zikali, +which he had set about my neck. The sight of the thing and the memory of his +ridiculous talk about it, especially of its assertion that it had come down to +him through the ages, which it could not have done, seeing that it was a +likeness of himself, irritated me so much that I proceeded to take it off with +the full intention of throwing it into the spring. +</p> + +<p> +As I was in the act of doing this, from a clump of reeds mixed with bushes, +quite close to me, there came a sound of hissing, and suddenly above them +appeared the head of a great black <i>immamba</i>, perhaps the deadliest of all +our African snakes, and the only one I know which will attack man without +provocation. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving go of the image, I sprang back in a great hurry towards where my gun +lay. Then the snake vanished and making sure that it had departed to its hole, +which was probably at a distance, I returned to the pool, and once more began +to take off the talisman in order to consign it to the bottom of the pool. +</p> + +<p> +After all, I reflected, it was a hideous and probably a blood-stained thing +which I did not in the least wish to wear about my neck like a lady’s +love-token. +</p> + +<p> +Just as it was coming over my head, suddenly from the other side of the bush +that infernal snake popped up again, this time, it was clear, really intent on +business. It began to move towards me in the lightning-like way <i>immambas</i> +have, hissing and flicking its tongue. +</p> + +<p> +I was too quick for my friend, however, for snatching up the gun that I had +lain down beside me, I let it have a charge of buckshot in the neck which +nearly cut it in two, so that it fell down and expired with hideous convulsive +writhings. +</p> + +<p> +Hearing the shot Hans came running from the waggon to see what was the matter. +Hans, I should say, was that same Hottentot who had been the companion of most +of my journeyings since my father’s day. He was with me when as a young +fellow I accompanied Retief to Dingaan’s kraal, and like myself, escaped +the massacre.<a href="#fn-2.1" name="fnref-2.1" id="fnref-2.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +Also we shared many other adventures, including the great one in the Land of +the Ivory Child where he slew the huge elephant-god, Jana, and himself was +slain. But of this journey we did not dream in those days. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-2.1" id="fn-2.1"></a> <a href="#fnref-2.1">[1]</a> +See the book called “Marie.”—Editor. +</p> + +<p> +For the rest Hans was a most entirely unprincipled person, but as the Boers +say, “as clever as a waggonload of monkeys.” Also he drank when he +got the chance. One good quality he had, however; no man was ever more +faithful, and perhaps it would be true to say that neither man nor woman ever +loved me, unworthy, quite so well. +</p> + +<p> +In appearance he rather resembled an antique and dilapidated baboon; his face +was wrinkled like a dried nut and his quick little eyes were bloodshot. I never +knew what his age was, any more than he did himself, but the years had left him +tough as whipcord and absolutely untiring. Lastly he was perhaps the best hand +at following a spoor that ever I knew and up to a hundred and fifty yards or +so, a very deadly shot with a rifle especially when he used a little +single-barrelled, muzzle-loading gun of mine made by Purdey which he named +<i>Intombi</i> or Maiden. Of that gun, however, I have written in “The +Holy Flower” and elsewhere. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, Baas?” he asked. “Here there are no lions, nor +any game.” +</p> + +<p> +“Look the other side of the bush, Hans.” +</p> + +<p> +He slipped round it, making a wide circle with his usual caution, then, seeing +the snake which was, by the way, I think, the biggest <i>immamba</i> I ever +killed, suddenly froze, as it were, in a stiff attitude that reminded me of a +pointer when it scents game. Having made sure that it was dead, he nodded and +said, +</p> + +<p> +“Black <i>‘mamba</i>, or so you would call it, though I know it for +something else.” +</p> + +<p> +“What else, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“One of the old witch-doctor Zikali’s spirits which he sets at the +mouth of this kloof to warn him of who comes or goes. I know it well, and so do +others. I saw it listening behind a stone when you were up the kloof last +evening talking with the Opener-of-Roads.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then Zikali will lack a spirit,” I answered, laughing, +“which perhaps he will not miss amongst so many. It serves him right for +setting the brute on me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so, Baas. He will be angry. I wonder why he did it?” he +added suspiciously, “seeing that he is such a friend of yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“He didn’t do it, Hans. These snakes are very fierce and give +battle, that is all.” +</p> + +<p> +Hans paid no attention to my remark, which probably he thought only worthy of a +white man who does not understand, but rolled his yellow, bloodshot eyes about, +as though in search of explanations. Presently they fell upon the ivory that +hung about my neck, and he started. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you wear that pretty likeness of the Great One yonder over your +heart, as I have known you do with things that belonged to women in past days, +Baas? Do you know that it is Zikali’s Great Medicine, nothing less, as +everyone does throughout the land? When Zikali sends an order far away, he +always sends that image with it, for then he who receives the order knows that +he must obey or die. Also the messenger knows that he will come to no harm if +he does not take it off, because, Baas, the image is Zikali himself, and Zikali +is the image. They are one and the same. Also it is the image of his +father’s father’s father—or so he says.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is an odd story,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +Then I told Hans as much as I thought advisable of how this horrid little +talisman came into my possession. +</p> + +<p> +Hans nodded without showing any surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“So we are going on a long journey,” he said. “Well, I +thought it was time that we did something more than wander about these tame +countries selling blankets to stinking old women and so forth, Baas. Moreover, +Zikali does not wish that you should come to harm, doubtless because he does +wish to make use of you afterwards—oh! it’s safe to talk now when +that spirit is away looking for another snake. What were you doing with the +Great Medicine, Baas, when the <i>‘mamba</i> attacked you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Taking it off to throw it into the pool, Hans, as I do not like the +thing. I tried twice and each time the <i>immamba</i> appeared.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course it appeared, Baas, and what is more, if you had taken that +Medicine off and thrown it away <i>you</i> would have disappeared, since the +<i>‘mamba</i> would have killed you. Zikali wanted to show you that, +Baas, and that is why he set the snake at you.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are a superstitious old fool, Hans.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, but my father knew all about that Great Medicine before me, +for he was a bit of a doctor, and so does every wizard and witch for a thousand +miles or more. I tell you, Baas, it is known by all though no one ever talks +about it, no, not even the king himself. Baas, speaking to you, not with the +voice of Hans the old drunkard, but with that of the Predikant, your reverend +father, who made so good a Christian of me and who tells me to do so from up in +Heaven where the hot fires are which the wood feeds of itself, I beg you not to +try to throw away the Medicine again, or if you wish to do so, to leave me +behind on this journey. For you see, Baas, although I am now so good, almost +like one of those angels with the pretty goose’s wings in the pictures, I +feel that I should like to grow a little better before I go to the Place of +Fires to make report to your reverend father, the Predikant.” +</p> + +<p> +Thinking of how horrified my dear father would be if he could hear all this +string of ridiculous nonsense and learn the result of his moral and religious +lessons on raw Hottentot material, I burst out laughing. But Hans went on as +gravely as a judge, +</p> + +<p> +“Wear the Great Medicine, Baas, wear it; part with the liver inside you +before you part with that, Baas. It may not be as pretty or smell as sweet as a +woman’s hair in a little gold bottle, but it is much more useful. The +sight of the woman’s hair will only make you sick in your stomach and +cause you to remember a lot of things which you had much better forget, but the +Great Medicine, or rather Zikali who is in it, will keep the assegais and +sickness out of you and turn back bad magic on to the heads of those who sent +it, and always bring us plenty to eat and perhaps, if we are lucky, a little to +drink too sometimes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go away,” I said, “I want to wash.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, but with the Baas’s leave I will sit on the other side +of that bush with the gun—not to look at the Baas without his clothes, +because white people are always so ugly that it makes me feel ill to see them +undressed, also because—the Baas will forgive me—but because they +smell. No, not for that, but just to see that no other snake comes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Get out of the road, you dirty little scoundrel, and stop your +impudence,” I said, lifting my foot suggestively. +</p> + +<p> +Thereon he scooted with a subdued grin round the other side of the bush, whence +as I knew well he kept his eye fixed on me to be sure that I made no further +attempt to take off the Great Medicine. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now of this talisman I may as well say at once that I am no believer in it or +its precious influences. Therefore, although it was useful sometimes, notably +twice when Umslopogaas was concerned, I do not know whether personally I should +have done better or worse upon that journey if I had thrown it into the pool. +</p> + +<p> +It is true, however, that until quite the end of this history when it became +needful to do so to save another, I never made any further attempt to remove it +from my neck, not even when it rubbed a sore in my skin, because I did not wish +to offend the prejudices of Hans. +</p> + +<p> +It is true, moreover, that this hideous ivory had a reputation which stretched +very far from the place where it was made and was regarded with great reverence +by all kinds of queer people, even by the Amahagger themselves, of whom +presently, as they say in pedigrees, a fact of which I found sundry proofs. +Indeed, I saw a first example of it when a little while later I met that great +warrior, Umslopogaas, Chief of the People of the Axe. +</p> + +<p> +For, after determining firmly, for reasons which I will set out, that I would +not visit this man, in the end I did so, although by then I had given up any +idea of journeying across the Zambesi to look for a mysterious and non-existent +witch-woman, as Zikali had suggested that I should do. To begin with I knew +that his talk was all rubbish and, even if it were not, that at the bottom of +it was some desire of the Opener-of-Roads that I should make a path for him to +travel towards an indefinite but doubtless evil object of his own. Further, by +this time I had worn through that mood of mine which had caused me to yearn for +correspondence with the departed and a certain knowledge of their existence. +</p> + +<p> +I wonder whether many people understand, as I do, how entirely distinct and how +variable are these moods which sway us, or at any rate some of us, at sundry +periods of our lives. As I think I have already suggested, at one time we are +all spiritual; at another all physical; at one time we are sure that our lives +here are as a dream and a shadow and that the real existence lies elsewhere; at +another that these brief days of ours are the only business with which we have +to do and that of it we must make the best. At one time we think our loves much +more immortal than the stars; at another that they are mere shadows cast by the +baleful sun of desire upon the shallow and fleeting water we call Life which +seems to flow out of nowhere into nowhere. At one time we are full of faith, at +another all such hopes are blotted out by a black wall of Nothingness, and so +on <i>ad infinitum</i>. Only very stupid people, or humbugs, are or pretend to +be, always consistent and unchanging. +</p> + +<p> +To return, I determined not only that I would not travel north to seek that +which no living man will ever find, certainty as to the future, but also, to +show my independence of Zikali, that I would not visit this chief, Umslopogaas. +So, having traded all my goods and made a fair profit (on paper), I set myself +to return to Natal, proposing to rest awhile in my little house at Durban, and +told Hans my mind. +</p> + +<p> +“Very good, Baas,” he said. “I, too, should like to go to +Durban. There are lots of things there that we cannot get here,” and he +fixed his roving eye upon a square-faced gin bottle, which as it happened was +filled with nothing stronger than water, because all the gin was drunk. +“Yet, Baas, we shall not see the Berea for a long while.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you say that?” I asked sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! Baas, I don’t know, but you went to visit the Opener-of-Roads, +did you not, and he told you to go north and lent you a certain Great Medicine, +did he not?” +</p> + +<p> +Here Hans proceeded to light his corncob pipe with an ash from the fire, all +the time keeping his beady eyes fixed upon that part of me where he knew the +talisman was hung. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite true, Hans, but now I mean to show Zikali that I am not his +messenger, for south or north or east or west. So to-morrow morning we cross +the river and trek for Natal.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, but then why not cross it this evening? There is still +light.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have said that we will cross it to-morrow morning,” I answered +with that firmness which I have read always indicates a man of character, +“and I do not change my word.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas, but sometimes other things change besides words. Will the Baas +have that buck’s leg for supper, or the stuff out of a tin with a dint in +it, which we bought at a store two years ago? The flies have got at the +buck’s leg, but I cut out the bits with the maggots on it and ate them +myself.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Hans was right, things do change, especially the weather. That night, +unexpectedly, for when I turned in the sky seemed quite serene, there came a +terrible rain long before it was due, which lasted off and on for three whole +days and continued intermittently for an indefinite period. Needless to say the +river, which it would have been so easy to cross on this particular evening, by +the morning was a raging torrent, and so remained for several weeks. +</p> + +<p> +In despair at length I trekked south to where a ford was reported, which, when +reached, proved impracticable. +</p> + +<p> +I tried another, a dozen miles further on, which was very hard to come to over +boggy land. It looked all right and we were getting across finely, when +suddenly one of the wheels sank in an unsuspected hole and there we stuck. +Indeed, I believe the waggon, or bits of it, would have remained in the +neighbourhood of that ford to this day, had I not managed to borrow some extra +oxen belonging to a Christian Kaffir, and with their help to drag it back to +the bank whence we had started. +</p> + +<p> +As it happened I was only just in time, since a new storm which had burst +further up the river, brought it down in flood again, a very heavy flood. +</p> + +<p> +In this country, England, where I write, there are bridges everywhere and no +one seems to appreciate them. If they think of them at all it is to grumble +about the cost of their upkeep. I wish they could have experienced what a lack +of them means in a wild country during times of excessive rain, and the same +remark applied to roads. You should think more of your blessings, my friends, +as the old woman said to her complaining daughter who had twins two years +running, adding that they might have been triplets. +</p> + +<p> +To return—after this I confessed myself beaten and gave up until such +time as it should please Providence to turn off the water-tap. Trekking out of +sight of that infernal river which annoyed me with its constant gurgling, I +camped on a comparatively dry spot that overlooked a beautiful stretch of +rolling veld. Towards sunset the clouds lifted and I saw a mile or two away a +most extraordinary mountain on the lower slopes of which grew a dense forest. +Its upper part, which was of bare rock, looked exactly like the seated figure +of a grotesque person with the chin resting on the breast. There was the head, +there were the arms, there were the knees. Indeed, the whole mass of it +reminded me strongly of the effigy of Zikali which was tied about my neck, or +rather of Zikali himself. +</p> + +<p> +“What is that called?” I said to Hans, pointing to this strange +hill, now blazing in the angry fire of the setting sun that had burst out +between the storm clouds, which made it appear more ominous even than before. +</p> + +<p> +“That is the Witch Mountain, Baas, where the Chief Umslopogaas and a +blood brother of his who carried a great club used to hunt with the wolves. It +is haunted and in a cave at the top of it lie the bones of Nada the Lily, the +fair woman whose name is a song, she who was the love of Umslopogaas.”<a href="#fn-2.2" name="fnref-2.2" id="fnref-2.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-2.2" id="fn-2.2"></a> <a href="#fnref-2.2">[2]</a> +For the story of Umslopogaas and Nada see the book called “Nada the +Lily.”—Editor. +</p> + +<p> +“Rubbish,” I said, though I had heard something of all that story +and remembered that Zikali had mentioned this Nada, comparing her beauty to +that of another whom once I knew. +</p> + +<p> +“Where then lives the Chief Umslopogaas?” +</p> + +<p> +“They say that his town is yonder on the plain, Baas. It is called the +Place of the Axe and is strongly fortified with a river round most of it, and +his people are the People of the Axe. They are a fierce people, and all the +country round here is uninhabited because Umslopogaas has cleaned out the +tribes who used to live in it, first with his wolves and afterwards in war. He +is so strong a chief and so terrible in battle that even Chaka himself was +afraid of him, and they say that he brought Dingaan the King to his end because +of a quarrel about this Nada. Cetywayo, the present king, too leaves him alone +and to him he pays no tribute.” +</p> + +<p> +Whilst I was about to ask Hans from whom he had collected all this information, +suddenly I heard sounds, and looking up, saw three tall men clad in full +herald’s dress rushing towards us at great speed. +</p> + +<p> +“Here come some chips from the Axe,” said Hans, and promptly bolted +into the waggon. +</p> + +<p> +I did not bolt because there was no time to do so without loss of dignity, but, +although I wished I had my rifle with me, just sat still upon my stool and with +great deliberation lighted my pipe, taking not the slightest notice of the +three savage-looking fellows. +</p> + +<p> +These, who I noted carried axes instead of assegais, rushed straight at me with +the axes raised in such a fashion that anyone unacquainted with the habits of +Zulu warriors of the old school, might have thought that they intended nothing +short of murder. +</p> + +<p> +As I expected, however, within about six feet of me they halted suddenly and +stood there still as statues. For my part I went on lighting my pipe as though +I did not see them and when at length I was obliged to lift my head, surveyed +them with an air of mild interest. +</p> + +<p> +Then I took a little book out of my pocket, it was my favourite copy of the +Ingoldsby Legends—and began to read. +</p> + +<p> +The passage which caught my eye, if “axe” be substituted for +“knife” was not inappropriate. It was from “The Nurse’s +Story,” and runs, +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +“But, oh! what a thing ‘tis to see and to know<br /> +That the bare knife is raised in the hand of the foe,<br /> +Without hope to repel or to ward off the blow!” +</p> + +<p> +This proceeding of mine astonished them a good deal who felt that they had, so +to speak, missed fire. At last the soldier in the middle said, +</p> + +<p> +“Are you blind, White Man?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Black Fellow,” I answered, “but I am short-sighted. +Would you be so good as to stand out of my light?” a remark which puzzled +them so much that all three drew back a few paces. +</p> + +<p> +When I had read a little further I came to the following lines, +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +“‘Tis plain,<br /> +As anatomists tell us, that never again,<br /> +Shall life revisit the foully slain<br /> +When once they’ve been cut through the jugular vein.” +</p> + +<p> +In my circumstances at that moment this statement seemed altogether too +suggestive, so I shut up the book and remarked, +</p> + +<p> +“If you are wanderers who want food, as I judge by your being so thin, I +am sorry that I have little meat, but my servants will give you what they +can.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Ow!</i>” said the spokesman, “he calls us wanderers! +Either he must be a very great man or he is mad.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are right. I <i>am</i> a great man,” I answered, yawning, +“and if you trouble me too much you will see that I can be mad also. Now +what do you want?” +</p> + +<p> +“We are messengers from the great Chief Umslopogaas, Captain of the +People of the Axe, and we want tribute,” answered the man in a somewhat +changed tone. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you? Then you won’t get it. I thought that only the King of +Zululand had a right to tribute, and your Captain’s name is not Cetywayo, +is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Our Captain is King here,” said the man still more uncertainly. +</p> + +<p> +“Is he indeed? Then away with you back to him and tell this King of whom +I have never heard, though I have a message for a certain Umslopogaas, that +Macumazahn, Watcher-by-Night, intends to visit him to-morrow, if he will send a +guide at the first light to show the best path for the waggon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hearken,” said the man to his companions, “this is +Macumazahn himself and no other. Well, we thought it, for who else would have +dared——” +</p> + +<p> +Then they saluted with their axes, calling me “Chief” and other +fine names, and departed as they had come, at a run, calling out that my +message should be delivered and that doubtless Umslopogaas would send the +guide. +</p> + +<p> +So it came about that, quite contrary to my intention, after all circumstances +brought me to the Town of the Axe. Even to the last moment I had not meant to +go there, but when the tribute was demanded I saw that it was best to do so, +and having once passed my word it could not be altered. Indeed, I felt sure +that in this event there would be trouble and that my oxen would be stolen, or +worse. +</p> + +<p> +So Fate having issued its decree, of which Hans’s version was that +Zikali, or his Great Medicine, had so arranged things, I shrugged my shoulders +and waited. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /> +UMSLOPOGAAS OF THE AXE</h2> + +<p> +Next morning at the dawn guides arrived from the Town of the Axe, bringing with +them a yoke of spare oxen, which showed that its Chief was really anxious to +see me. So, in due course we inspanned and started, the guides leading us by a +rough but practicable road down the steep hillside to the saucer-like plain +beneath, where I saw many cattle grazing. Travelling some miles across this +plain, we came at last to a river of no great breadth that encircled a +considerable Kaffir town on three sides, the fourth being protected by a little +line of koppies which were joined together with walls. Also the place was +strongly fortified with fences and in every other way known to the native mind. +</p> + +<p> +With the help of the spare oxen we crossed the river safely at the ford, +although it was very full, and on the further side were received by a guard of +men, tall, soldierlike fellows, all of them armed with axes as the messengers +had been. They led us up to the cattle enclosure in the centre of the town, +which although it could be used to protect beasts in case of emergency, also +served the practical purpose of a public square. +</p> + +<p> +Here some ceremony was in progress, for soldiers stood round the kraal while +heralds pranced and shouted. At the head of the place in front of the +chief’s big hut was a little group of people, among whom a big, gaunt man +sat upon a stool clad in a warrior’s dress with a great and very long axe +hafted with wire-lashed rhinoceros horn, laid across his knees. +</p> + +<p> +Our guides led me, with Hans sneaking after me like a dejected and low-bred dog +(for the waggon had stopped outside the gate), across the kraal to where the +heralds shouted and the big man sat yawning. At once I noted that he was a very +remarkable person, broad and tall and spare of frame, with long, tough-looking +arms and a fierce face which reminded me of that of the late King Dingaan. Also +he had a great hole in his head above the temple where the skull had been +driven in by some blow, and keen, royal-looking eyes. +</p> + +<p> +He looked up and seeing me, cried out, +</p> + +<p> +“What! Has a white man come to fight me for the chieftainship of the +People of the Axe? Well, he is a small one.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I answered quietly, “but Macumazahn, Watcher-by-Night, +has come to visit you in answer to your request, O Umslopogaas; Macumazahn +whose name was known in this land before yours was told of, O +Umslopogaas.” +</p> + +<p> +The Chief heard and rising from his seat, lifted the big axe in salute. +</p> + +<p> +“I greet you, O Macumazahn,” he said, “who although you are +small in stature, are very great indeed in fame. Have I not heard how you +conquered Bangu, although Saduko slew him, and of how you gave up the six +hundred head of cattle to Tshoza and the men of the Amangwane who fought with +you, the cattle that were your own? Have I not heard how you led the Tulwana +against the Usutu and stamped flat three of Cetywayo’s regiments in the +days of Panda, although, alas! because of an oath of mine I lifted no steel in +that battle, I who will have nothing to do with those that spring from the +blood of Senzangacona—perhaps because I smell too strongly of it, +Macumazahn. Oh! yes, I have heard these and many other things concerning you, +though until now it has never been my fortune to look upon your face, O +Watcher-by-Night, and therefore I greet you well, Bold one, Cunning one, +Upright one, Friend of us Black People.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you,” I answered, “but you said something about +fighting. If there is to be anything of the sort, let us get it over. If you +want to fight, I am quite ready,” and I tapped the rifle which I carried. +</p> + +<p> +The grim Chief broke into a laugh and said, +</p> + +<p> +“Listen. By an ancient law any man on this day in each year may fight me +for this Chieftainship, as I fought and conquered him who held it before me, +and take it from me with my life and the axe, though of late none seems to like +the business. But that law was made before there were guns, or men like +Macumazahn who, it is said, can hit a lizard on a wall at fifty paces. +Therefore I tell you that if you wish to fight me with a rifle, O Macumazahn, I +give in and you may have the chieftainship,” and he laughed again in his +fierce fashion. +</p> + +<p> +“I think it is too hot for fighting either with guns or axes, and +Chieftainships are honey that is full of stinging bees,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +Then I took my seat on a stool that had been brought for me and placed by the +side of Umslopogaas, after which the ceremony went on. +</p> + +<p> +The heralds cried out the challenge to all and sundry to come and fight the +Holder of the Axe for the chieftainship of the Axe without the slightest +result, since nobody seemed to desire to do anything of the sort. Then, after a +pause, Umslopogaas rose, swinging his formidable weapon round his head and +declared that by right of conquest he was Chief of the Tribe for the ensuing +year, an announcement that everybody accepted without surprise. +</p> + +<p> +Again the heralds summoned all and sundry who had grievances, to come forward +and to state them and receive redress. +</p> + +<p> +After a little pause there appeared a very handsome woman with large eyes, +particularly brilliant eyes that rolled as though they were in search of +someone. She was finely dressed and I saw by the ornaments she wore that she +held the rank of a chief’s wife. +</p> + +<p> +“I, Monazi, have a complaint to make,” she said, “as it is +the right of the humblest to do on this day. In succession to Zinita whom +Dingaan slew with her children, I am your <i>Inkosikaas</i>, your head-wife, O +Umslopogaas.” +</p> + +<p> +“That I know well enough,” said Umslopogaas, “what of +it?” +</p> + +<p> +“This, that you neglect me for other women, as you neglected Zinita for +Nada the Beautiful, Nada the witch. I am childless, as are all your wives +because of the curse that this Nada left behind her. I demand that this curse +should be lifted from me. For your sake I abandoned Lousta the Chief, to whom I +was betrothed, and this is the end of it, that I am neglected and +childless.” +</p> + +<p> +“Am I the Heavens Above that I can cause you to bear children, +woman?” asked Umslopogaas angrily. “Would that you had clung to +Lousta, my blood-brother and my friend, whom you lament, and left me +alone.” +</p> + +<p> +“That still may chance, if I am not better treated,” answered +Monazi with a flash of her eyes. “Will you dismiss yonder new wife of +yours and give me back my place, and will you lift the curse of Nada off me, or +will you not?” +</p> + +<p> +“As to the first,” answered Umslopogaas, “learn, Monazi, that +I will not dismiss my new wife, who at least is gentler-tongued and +truer-hearted than you are. As to the second, you ask that which it is not in +my power to give, since children are the gift of Heaven, and barrenness is its +bane. Moreover, you have done ill to bring into this matter the name of one who +is dead, who of all women was the sweetest and most innocent. Lastly, I warn +you before the people to cease from your plottings or traffic with Lousta, lest +ill come of them to you, or him, even though he be my blood-brother, or to +both.” +</p> + +<p> +“Plottings!” cried Monazi in a shrill and furious voice. +“Does Umslopogaas talk of plottings? Well, I have heard that Chaka the +Lion left a son, and that this son has set a trap for the feet of him who sits +on Chaka’s throne. Perchance that king has heard it also; perchance the +People of the Axe will soon have another Chief.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it thus?” said Umslopogaas quietly. “And if so, will he +be named Lousta?” +</p> + +<p> +Then his smouldering wrath broke out and in a kind of roaring voice he went on, +</p> + +<p> +“What have I done that the wives of my bosom should be my betrayers, +those who would give me to death? Zinita betrayed me to Dingaan and in reward +was slain, and my children with her. Now would you, Monazi, betray me to +Cetywayo—though in truth there is naught to betray? Well, if so, bethink +you and let Lousta bethink him of what chanced to Zinita, and of what chances +to those who stand before the axe of Umslopogaas. What have I done, I say, that +women should thus strive to work me ill?” +</p> + +<p> +“This,” answered Monazi with a mocking laugh, “that you have +loved one of them too well. If he would live in peace, he who has wives should +favour all alike. Least of anything should he moan continually over one who is +dead, a witch who has left a curse behind her and thus insulted and do wrong to +the living. Also he would be wise to attend to the matters of his own tribe and +household and to cease from ambitions that may bring him to the assegai, and +them with him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard your counsel, Wife, so now begone!” said Umslopogaas, +looking at her very strangely, and it seemed to me not without fear. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you wives, Macumazahn?” he asked of me in a low voice when +she was out of hearing. +</p> + +<p> +“Only among the spirits,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Well for you then; moreover, it is a bond between us, for I too have but +one true wife and she also is among the spirits. But go rest a while, and later +we will talk.” +</p> + +<p> +So I went, leaving the Chief to his business, thinking as I walked away of a +certain message with which I was charged for him and of how into that message +came names that I had just heard, namely that of a man called Lousta and of a +woman called Monazi. Also I thought of the hints which in her jealous anger and +disappointment at her lack of children, this woman had dropped about a plot +against him who sat on the throne of Chaka, which of course must mean King +Cetywayo himself. +</p> + +<p> +I came to the guest-hut, which proved to be a very good place and clean; also +in it I found plenty of food made ready for me and for my servants. After +eating I slept for a time as it is always my fashion to do when I have nothing +else on hand, since who knows for how long he may be kept awake at night? +Indeed, it was not until the sun had begun to sink that a messenger came, +saying that the Chief desired to see me if I had rested. So I went to his big +hut which stood alone with a strong fence set round it at a distance, so that +none could come within hearing of what was said, even at the door of the hut. I +observed also that a man armed with an axe kept guard at the gateway in this +fence round which he walked from time to time. +</p> + +<p> +The Chief Umslopogaas was seated on a stool by the door of his hut with his +rhinoceros-horn-handled axe which was fastened to his right wrist by a thong, +leaning against his thigh, and a wolfskin hanging from his broad shoulders. +Very grim and fierce he looked thus, with the red light of the sunset playing +on him. He greeted me and pointed to another stool on which I sat myself down. +Apparently he had been watching my eyes, for he said, +</p> + +<p> +“I see that like other creatures which move at night, such as leopards +and hyenas, you take note of all, O Watcher-by-Night, even of the soldier who +guards this place and of where the fence is set and of how its gate is +fashioned.” +</p> + +<p> +“Had I not done so I should have been dead long ago, O Chief.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and because it is not my nature to do so as I should, perchance I +shall soon be dead. It is not enough to be fierce and foremost in the battle, +Macumazahn. He who would sleep safe and of whom, when he dies, folk will say +‘He has eaten’ (i.e., he has lived out his life), must do more than +this. He must guard his tongue and even his thoughts! he must listen to the +stirring of rats in the thatch and look for snakes in the grass; he must trust +few, and least of all those who sleep upon his bosom. But those who have the +Lion’s blood in them or who are prone to charge like a buffalo, often +neglect these matters and therefore in the end they fall into a pit.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “especially those who have the +lion’s blood in them, whether that lion be man or beast.” +</p> + +<p> +This I said because of the rumours I had heard that this Slaughterer was in +truth the son of Chaka. Therefore not knowing whether or no he were playing on +the word “lion,” which was Chaka’s title, I wished to draw +him, especially as I saw in his face a great likeness to Chaka’s brother +Dingaan, whom, it was whispered, this same Umslopogaas had slain. As it +happened I failed, for after a pause he said, +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you come to visit me, Macumazahn, who have never done so +before?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not come to visit you, Umslopogaas. That was not my intention. You +brought me, or rather the flooded rivers and you together brought me, for I was +on my way to Natal and could not cross the drifts.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet I think you have a message for me, White Man, for not long ago a +certain wandering witch-doctor who came here told me to expect you and that you +had words to say to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did he, Umslopogaas? Well, it is true that I have a message, though it +is one that I did not mean to deliver.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet being here, perchance you will deliver it, Macumazahn, for those who +have messages and will not speak them, sometimes come to trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, being here, I will deliver it, seeing that so it seems to be fated. +Tell me, do you chance to know a certain Small One who is great, a certain Old +One whose brain is young, a doctor who is called Opener-of-Roads?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard of him, as have my forefathers for generations.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed, and if it pleases you to tell me, Umslopogaas, what might be the +names of those forefathers of yours, who have heard of this doctor for +generations? They must have been short-lived men and as such I should like to +know of them.” +</p> + +<p> +“That you cannot,” replied Umslopogaas shortly, “since they +are <i>hlonipa</i> (i.e. not to be spoken) in this land.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed,” I said again. “I thought that rule applied only to +the names of kings, but of course I am but an ignorant white man who may well +be mistaken on such matters of your Zulu customs.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, O Macumazahn, you may be mistaken or—you may not. It matters +nothing. But what of this message of yours?” +</p> + +<p> +“It came at the end of a long story, O Bulalio. But since you seek to +know, these were the words of it, so nearly as I can remember them.” +</p> + +<p> +Then sentence by sentence I repeated to him all that Zikali had said to me when +he called me back after bidding me farewell, which doubtless he did because he +wished to cut his message more deeply into the tablets of my mind. +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas listened to every syllable with a curious intentness, and then +asked me to repeat it all again, which I did. +</p> + +<p> +“Lousta! Monazi!” he said slowly. “Well, you heard those +names to-day, did you not, White Man? And you heard certain things from the +lips of this Monazi who was angry, that give colour to that talk of the +Opener-of-Roads. It seems to me,” he added, glancing about him and +speaking in a low voice, “that what I suspected is true and that without +doubt I am betrayed.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not understand,” I replied indifferently. “All this +talk is dark to me, as is the message of the Opener-of-Roads, or rather its +meaning. By whom and about what are you betrayed?” +</p> + +<p> +“Let that snake sleep. Do not kick it with your foot. Suffice it you to +know that my head hangs upon this matter; that I am a rat in a forked stick, +and if the stick is pressed on by a heavy hand, then where is the rat?” +</p> + +<p> +“Where all rats go, I suppose, that is, unless they are wise rats that +bite the hand which holds the stick before it is pressed down.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is the rest of this story of yours, Macumazahn, which was told +before the Opener-of-Roads gave you that message? Does it please you to repeat +it to me that I may judge of it with my ears?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly,” I answered, “on one condition, that what the +ears hear, the heart shall keep to itself alone.” +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas stooped and laid his hand upon the broad blade of the weapon beside +him, saying, +</p> + +<p> +“By the Axe I swear it. If I break the oath be the Axe my doom.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I told him the tale, as I have set it down already, thinking to myself +that of it he would understand little, being but a wild warrior-man. As it +chanced, however, I was mistaken, for he seemed to understand a great deal, +perchance because such primitive natures are in closer touch with high and +secret things than we imagine; perchance for other reasons with which I became +acquainted later. +</p> + +<p> +“It stands thus,” he said when I had finished, “or so I +think. You, Macumazahn, seek certain women who are dead to learn whether they +still live, or are really dead, but so far have failed to find them. Still +seeking, you asked the counsel of Zikali, Opener-of-Roads, he who among other +titles is also called ‘Home of Spirits.’ He answered that he could +not satisfy your heart because this tree was too tall for him to climb, but +that far to the north there lives a certain white witch who has powers greater +than his, being able to fly to the top of any tree, and to this white witch he +bade you go. Have I the story right thus far?” +</p> + +<p> +I answered that he had. +</p> + +<p> +“Good! Then Zikali went on to choose you companions for your journey, but +two, leaving out the guards or servants. I, Umhlopekazi, called Bulalio the +Slaughterer, called the Woodpecker also, was one of these, and that little +yellow monkey of a man whom I saw with you to-day, called Hansi, was the other. +Then you made a mock of Zikali by determining not to visit me, Umhlopekazi, and +not to go north to find the great white Queen of whom he had told you, but to +return to Natal. Is that so?” +</p> + +<p> +I said it was. +</p> + +<p> +“Then the rain fell and the winds blew and the rivers rose in wrath so +that you could not return to Natal, and after all by chance, or by fate, or by +the will of Zikali, the wizard of wizards, you drifted here to the kraal of me, +Umhlopekazi, and told me this story.” +</p> + +<p> +“Just so,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, White Man, how am I to know that all this is not but a trap for my +feet which already seem to feel cords between the toes of both of them? What +token do you bring, O Watcher-by-Night? How am I to know that the +Opener-of-Roads really sent me this message which has been delivered so +strangely by one who wished to travel on another path? The wandering +witch-doctor told me that he who came would bear some sign.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t say,” I answered, “at least in words. +But,” I added after reflection, “as you ask for a token, perhaps I +might be able to show you something that would bring proof to your heart, if +there were any secret place——” +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas walked to the gateway of the fence and saw that the sentry was at +his post. Then he walked round the hut casting an eye upon its roof, and +muttered to me as he returned. +</p> + +<p> +“Once I was caught thus. There lived a certain wife of mine who set her +ear to the smoke-hole and so brought about the death of many, and among them of +herself and of our children. Enter. All is safe. Yet if you talk, speak +low.” +</p> + +<p> +So we went into the hut taking the stools with us, and seated ourselves by the +fire that burned there on to which Umslopogaas threw chips of resinous wood. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +I opened my shirt and by the clear light of the flame showed him the image of +Zikali which hung about my neck. He stared at it, though touch it he would not. +Then he stood up and lifting his great axe, he saluted the image with the word +“<i>Makosi!</i>” the salute that is given to great wizards because +they are supposed to be the home of many spirits. +</p> + +<p> +“It is the big Medicine, the Medicine itself,” he said, “that +which has been known in the land since the time of Senzangacona, the father of +the Zulu Royal House, and as it is said, before him.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can that be?” I asked, “seeing that this image +represents Zikali, Opener-of-Roads, as an old man, and Senzangacona died many +years ago?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know,” he answered, “but it is so. Listen. There +was a certain Mopo, or as some called him, Umbopo, who was Chaka’s +body-servant and my foster-father, and he told me that twice this +Medicine,” and he pointed to the image, “was sent to Chaka, and +that each time the Lion obeyed the message that came with it. A third time it +was sent, but he did not obey the message and then—where was +Chaka?” +</p> + +<p> +Here Umslopogaas passed his hand across his mouth, a significant gesture +amongst the Zulus. +</p> + +<p> +“Mopo,” I said, “yes, I have heard the story of Mopo, also +that Chaka’s body became <i>his</i> servant in the end, since Mopo killed +him with the help of the princes Dingaan and Umhlangana. Also I have heard that +this Mopo still lives, though not in Zululand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Does he, Macumazahn?” said Umslopogaas, taking snuff from a spoon +and looking at me keenly over the spoon. “You seem to know a great deal, +Macumazahn; too much as some might think.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “perhaps I do know too much, or at any +rate more than I want to know. For instance, O fosterling of Mopo and son +of—was the lady named Baleka?—I know a good deal about +<i>you</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas stared at me and laying his hand upon the great axe, half rose. +Then he sat down again. +</p> + +<p> +“I think that this,” and I touched the image of Zikali upon my +breast, “would turn even the blade of the axe named Groan-maker,” I +said and paused. As nothing happened, I went on, “For instance, again I +think I know—or have I dreamed it?—that a certain chief, whose +mother’s name I believe was Baleka—by the way, was she not one of +Chaka’s ‘sisters’?—has been plotting against that son +of Panda who sits upon the throne, and that his plots have been betrayed, so +that he is in some danger of his life.” +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn,” said Umslopogaas hoarsely, “I tell you that did +you not wear the Great Medicine on your breast, I would kill you where you sit +and bury you beneath the floor of the hut, as one who knows—too +much.” +</p> + +<p> +“It would be a mistake, Umslopogaas, one of the many that you have made. +But as I <i>do</i> wear the Medicine, the question does not arise, does +it?” +</p> + +<p> +Again he made no answer and I went on, “And now, what about this journey +to the north? If indeed I must make it, would you wish to accompany me?” +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas rose from the stool and crawled out of the hut, apparently to make +some inspection. Presently he returned and remarked that the night was clear +although there were heavy storm clouds on the horizon, by which I understood +him to convey in Zulu metaphor that it was safe for us to talk, but that danger +threatened from afar. +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn,” he said, “we speak under the blanket of the +Opener-of-Roads who sits upon your heart, and whose sign you bring to me, as he +sent me word that you would, do we not?” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose so,” I answered. “At any rate we speak as man to +man, and hitherto the honour of Macumazahn has not been doubted in Zululand. So +if you have anything to say, Chief Bulalio, say it at once, for I am tired and +should like to eat and rest.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good, Macumazahn. I have this to say. I who am the son of one who was +greater than he, have plotted to seize the throne of Zululand from him who sits +upon that throne. It is true, for I grew weary of my idleness as a petty chief. +Moreover, I should have succeeded with the help of Zikali, who hates the House +of Senzangacona, though me, who am of its blood, he does not hate, because ever +I have striven against that House. But it seems from his message and those +words spoken by an angry woman, that I have been betrayed, and that to-night or +to-morrow night, or by the next moon, the slayers will be upon me, smiting me +before I can smite, at which I cannot grumble.” +</p> + +<p> +“By whom have you been betrayed, Umslopogaas?” +</p> + +<p> +“By that wife of mine, as I think, Macumazahn. Also by Lousta, my +blood-brother, over whom she has cast her net and made false to me, so that he +hopes to win her whom he has always loved and with her the Chieftainship of the +Axe. Now what shall I do?—Tell me, you whose eyes can see in the +dark.” +</p> + +<p> +I thought a moment and answered, “I think that if I were you, I would +leave this Lousta to sit in my place for a while as Chief of the People of the +Axe, and take a journey north, Umslopogaas. Then if trouble comes from the +Great House where a king sits, it will come to Lousta who can show that the +People of the Axe are innocent and that you are far away.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is cunning, Macumazahn. There speaks the Great Medicine. If I go +north, who can say that I have plotted, and if I leave my betrayer in my place, +who can say that I was a traitor, who have set him where I used to sit and left +the land upon a private matter? And now tell me of this journey of +yours.” +</p> + +<p> +So I told him everything, although until that moment I had not made up my mind +to go upon this journey, I who had come here to his kraal by accident, or so it +seemed, and by accident had delivered to him a certain message. +</p> + +<p> +“You wish to consult a white witch-doctoress, Macumazahn, who according +to Zikali lives far to the north, as to the dead. Now I too, though perchance +you will not think it of a black man, desire to learn of the dead; yes, of a +certain wife of my youth who was sister and friend as well as wife, whom too I +loved better than all the world. Also I desire to learn of a brother of mine +whose name I never speak, who ruled the wolves with me and who died at my side +on yonder Witch-Mountain, having made him a mat of men to lie on in a great and +glorious fight. For of him as of the woman I think all day and dream all night, +and I would know if they still live anywhere and I may look to see them again +when I have died as a warrior should and as I hope to do. Do you understand, +Watcher-by-Night?” +</p> + +<p> +I answered that I understood very well, as his case seemed to be like my own. +</p> + +<p> +“It may happen,” went on Umslopogaas, “that all this talk of +the dead who are supposed to live after they are dead, is but as the sound of +wind whispering in the reeds at night, that comes from nowhere and goes nowhere +and means nothing. But at least ours will be a great journey in which we shall +find adventure and fighting, since it is well known in the land that wherever +Macumazahn goes there is plenty of both. Also it seems well for reasons that +have been spoken of between us, as Zikali says, that I should leave the country +of the Zulus for a while, who desire to die a man’s death at the last and +not to be trapped like a jackal in a pit. Lastly I think that we shall agree +well together though my temper is rough at times, and that neither of us will +desert the other in trouble, though of that little yellow dog of yours I am not +so sure.” +</p> + +<p> +“I answer for him,” I replied. “Hans is a true man, cunning +also when once he is away from drink.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Then we spoke of plans for our journey, and of when and where we should meet to +make it, talking till it was late, after which I went to sleep in the +guest-hut. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +THE LION AND THE AXE</h2> + +<p> +Next day early I left the town of the People of the Axe, having bid a formal +farewell to Umslopogaas, saying in a voice that all could hear that as the +rivers were still flooded, I proposed to trek to the northern parts of Zululand +and trade there until the weather was better. Our private arrangement, however, +was that on the night of the next full moon, which happened about four weeks +later, we should meet at the eastern foot of a certain great, flat-topped +mountain known to both of us, which stands to the north of Zululand but well +beyond its borders. +</p> + +<p> +So northward I trekked, slowly to spare my oxen, trading as I went. The details +do not matter, but as it happened I met with more luck upon that journey than +had come my way for many a long year. Although I worked on credit since nearly +all my goods were sold, as owing to my repute I could always do in Zululand, I +made some excellent bargains in cattle, and to top up with, bought a large lot +of ivory so cheap that really I think it must have been stolen. +</p> + +<p> +All of this, cattle and ivory together, I sent to Natal in charge of a white +friend of mine whom I could trust, where the stuff was sold very well indeed, +and the proceeds paid to my account, the “trade” equivalents being +duly remitted to the native vendors. +</p> + +<p> +In fact, my good fortune was such that if I had been superstitious like Hans, I +should have been inclined to attribute it to the influence of Zikali’s +“Great Medicine.” As it was I knew it to be one of the chances of a +trader’s life and accepted it with a shrug as often as I had been +accustomed to do in the alternative of losses. +</p> + +<p> +Only one untoward incident happened to me. Of a sudden a party of the +King’s soldiers under the command of a well-known <i>Induna</i> or +Councillor, arrived and insisted upon searching my waggon, as I thought at +first in connection with that cheap lot of ivory which had already departed to +Natal. However, never a word did they say of ivory, nor indeed was a single +thing belonging to me taken by them. +</p> + +<p> +I was very indignant and expressed my feelings to the <i>Induna</i> in no +measured terms. He on his part was most apologetic, and explained that what he +did he was obliged to do “by the King’s orders.” Also he let +it slip that he was seeking for a certain “evil-doer” who, it was +thought, might be with me without my knowing his real character, and as this +“evil-doer,” whose name he would not mention, was a very fierce +man, it had been necessary to bring a strong guard with him. +</p> + +<p> +Now I bethought me of Umslopogaas, but merely looked blank and shrugged my +shoulders, saying that I was not in the habit of consorting with evil-doers. +</p> + +<p> +Still unsatisfied, the <i>Induna</i> questioned me as to the places where I had +been during this journey of mine in the Zulu country. I told him with the +utmost frankness, mentioning among others—because I was sure that already +he knew all my movements well—the town of the People of the Axe. +</p> + +<p> +Then he asked me if I had seen its Chief, a certain Umslopogaas or Bulalio. I +answered, Yes, that I had met him there for the first time and thought him a +very remarkable man. +</p> + +<p> +With this the <i>Induna</i> agreed emphatically, saying that perhaps I did not +know <i>how</i> remarkable. Next he asked me where he was now, to which I +replied that I had not the faintest idea, but I presumed in his kraal where I +had left him. The <i>Induna</i> explained that he was <i>not</i> in his kraal; +that he had gone away leaving one Lousta and his own head wife Monazi to +administer the chieftainship for a while, because, as he stated, he wished to +make a journey. +</p> + +<p> +I yawned as if weary of the subject of this chief, and indeed of the whole +business. Then the <i>Induna</i> said that I must come to the King and repeat +to him all the words that I had spoken. I replied that I could not possibly do +so as, having finished my trading, I had arranged to go north to shoot +elephants. He answered that elephants lived a long while and would not die +while I was visiting the King. +</p> + +<p> +Then followed an argument which grew heated and ended in his declaring that to +the King I must come, even if he had to take me there by force. +</p> + +<p> +I sat silent, wondering what to say or do and leant forward to pick a piece of +wood out of the fire wherewith to light my pipe. Now my shirt was not buttoned +and as it chanced this action caused the ivory image of Zikali that hung about +my neck to appear between its edges. The <i>Induna</i> saw it and his eyes grew +big with fear. +</p> + +<p> +“Hide that!” he whispered, “hide that, lest it should bewitch +me. Indeed, already I feel as though I were being bewitched. It is the Great +Medicine itself.” +</p> + +<p> +“That will certainly happen to you,” I said, yawning again, +“if you insist upon my taking a week’s trek to visit the Black One, +or interfere with me in any way now or afterwards,” and I lifted my hand +towards the talisman, looking him steadily in the face. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps after all, Macumazahn, it is not necessary for you to visit the +King,” he said in an uncertain voice. “I will go and make report to +him that you know nothing of this evil-doer.” +</p> + +<p> +And he went in such a hurry that he never waited to say good-bye. Next morning +before the dawn I went also and trekked steadily until I was clear of Zululand. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +In due course and without accident, for the weather, which had been so wet, had +now turned beautifully fine and dry, we came to the great, flat-topped hill +that I have mentioned, trekking thither over high, sparsely-timbered veld that +offered few difficulties to the waggon. This peculiar hill, known to such +natives as lived in those parts by a long word that means +“Hut-with-a-flat-roof,” is surrounded by forest, for here trees +grow wonderfully well, perhaps because of the water that flows from its slopes. +Forcing our way through this forest, which was full of game, I reached its +eastern foot and there camped, five days before that night of full moon on +which I had arranged to meet Umslopogaas. +</p> + +<p> +That I should meet him I did not in the least believe, firstly because I +thought it very probable that he would have changed his mind about coming, and +secondly for the excellent reason that I expected he had gone to call upon the +King against his will, as I had been asked to do. It was evident to me that he +was up to his eyes in some serious plot against Cetywayo, in which he was the +old dwarf Zikali’s partner, or rather, tool; also that his plot had been +betrayed, with the result that he was “wanted” and would have +little chance of passing safely through Zululand. So taking one thing with +another I imagined that I had seen his grim face and his peculiar, +ancient-looking axe for the last time. +</p> + +<p> +To tell the truth I was glad. Although at first the idea had appealed to me a +little, I did not want to make this wild-goose, or wild-witch chase through +unknown lands to seek for a totally fabulous person who dwelt far across the +Zambesi. I had, as it were, been forced into the thing, but if Umslopogaas did +not appear, my obligations would be at an end and I should return to Natal at +my leisure. First, however, I would do a little shooting since I found that a +large herd of elephants haunted this forest. Indeed I was tempted to attack +them at once, but did not do so since, as Hans pointed out, if we were going +north it would be difficult to carry the ivory, especially if we had to leave +the waggon, and I was too old a hunter to desire to kill the great beasts for +the fun of the thing. +</p> + +<p> +So I just sat down and rested, letting the oxen feed throughout the hours of +light on the rich grasses which grew upon the bottom-most slopes of the big +mountain where we were camped by a stream, not more than a hundred yards above +the timber line. +</p> + +<p> +At some time or other there had been a native village at this spot; probably +the Zulus had cleaned it out in long past years, for I found human bones black +with age lying in the long grass. Indeed, the cattle-kraal still remained and +in such good condition that by piling up a few stones here and there on the +walls and closing the narrow entrances with thorn bushes, we could still use it +to enclose our oxen at night. This I did for fear lest there should be lions +about, though I had neither seen nor heard them. +</p> + +<p> +So the days went by pleasantly enough with lots to eat, since whenever we +wanted meat I had only to go a few yards to shoot a fat buck at a spot whither +they trekked to drink in the evening, till at last came the time of full moon. +Of this I was also glad, since, to tell the truth, I had begun to be bored. +Rest is good, but for a man who has always led an active life too much of it is +very bad, for then he begins to think and thought in large doses is depressing. +</p> + +<p> +Of the fire-eating Umslopogaas there was no sign, so I made up my mind that on +the morrow I would start after those elephants and when I had shot—or +failed to shoot—some of them, return to Natal. I felt unable to remain +idle any more; it never was my gift to do so, which is perhaps why I employ my +ample leisure here in England in jotting down such reminiscences as these. +</p> + +<p> +Well, the full moon came up in silver glory and after I had taken a good look +at her for luck, also at all the veld within sight, I turned in. An hour or two +later some noise from the direction of the cattle-kraal woke me up. As it did +not recur, I thought that I would go to sleep again. Then an uneasy thought +came to me that I could not remember having looked to see whether the entrance +was properly closed, as it was my habit to do. It was the same sort of +troublesome doubt which in a civilised house makes a man get out of bed and go +along the cold passages to the sitting-room to see whether he has put out the +lamp. It always proves that he <i>has</i> put it out, but that does not prevent +a repetition of the performance next time the perplexity arises. +</p> + +<p> +I reflected that perhaps the noise was caused by the oxen pushing their way +through the carelessly-closed entrance, and at any rate that I had better go to +see. So I slipped on my boots and a coat and went without waking Hans or the +boys, only taking with me a loaded, single-barrelled rifle which I used for +shooting small buck, but no spare cartridges. +</p> + +<p> +Now in front of the gateway of the cattle-kraal, shading it, grew a single big +tree of the wild fig order. Passing under this tree I looked and saw that the +gateway was quite securely closed, as now I remembered I had noted at sunset. +Then I started to go back but had not stepped more than two or three paces +when, in the bright moonlight, I saw the head of my smallest ox, a beast of the +Zulu breed, suddenly appear over the top of the wall. About this there would +have been nothing particularly astonishing, had it not been for the fact that +this head belonged to a dead animal, as I could tell from the closed eyes and +the hanging tongue. +</p> + +<p> +“What in the name of goodness——” I began to myself, +when my reflections were cut short by the appearance of another head, that of +one of the biggest lions I ever saw, which had the ox by the throat, and with +the enormous strength that is given to these creatures, by getting its back +beneath the body, was deliberately hoisting it over the wall, to drag it away +to devour at its leisure. +</p> + +<p> +There was the brute within twelve feet of me, and what is more, it saw me as I +saw it, and stopped, still holding the ox by the throat. +</p> + +<p> +“What a chance for Allan Quatermain! Of course he shot it dead,” +one can fancy anyone saying who knows me by repute, also that by the gift of +God I am handy with a rifle. Well, indeed, it should have been, for even with +the small-bore piece that I carried, a bullet ought to have pierced through the +soft parts of its throat to the brain and to have killed that lion as dead as +Julius Cæsar. Theoretically the thing was easy enough; indeed, although I was +startled for a moment, by the time that I had the rifle to my shoulder I had +little fear of the issue, unless there was a miss-fire, especially as the beast +seemed so astonished that it remained quite still. +</p> + +<p> +Then the unexpected happened as generally it does in life, particularly in +hunting, which, in my case, is a part of life. I fired, but by misfortune the +bullet struck the tip of the horn of that confounded ox, which tip either was +or at that moment fell in front of the spot on the lion’s throat whereat +half-unconsciously I had aimed. Result: the ball was turned and, departing at +an angle, just cut the skin of the lion’s neck deeply enough to hurt it +very much and to make it madder than all the hatters in the world. +</p> + +<p> +Dropping the ox, with a most terrific roar it came over the wall at me—I +remember that there seemed to be yards of it—I mean of the lion—in +front of which appeared a cavernous mouth full of gleaming teeth. +</p> + +<p> +I skipped back with much agility, also a little to one side, because there was +nothing else to do, reflecting in a kind of inconsequent way, that after all +Zikali’s Great Medicine was not worth a curse. The lion landed on my side +of the wall and reared itself upon its hind legs before getting to business, +towering high above me but slightly to my left. +</p> + +<p> +Then I saw a strange thing. A shadow thrown by the moon flitted past +me—all I noted of it was the distorted shape of a great, lifted axe, +probably because the axe came first. The shadow fell and with it another +shadow, that of a lion’s paw dropping to the ground. Next there was a +most awful noise of roaring, and wheeling round I saw such a fray as never I +shall see again. A tall, grim, black man was fighting the great lion, that now +lacked one paw, but still stood upon its hind legs, striking at him with the +other. +</p> + +<p> +The man, who was absolutely silent, dodged the blow and hit back with the axe, +catching the beast upon the breast with such weight that it came to the ground +in a lopsided fashion, since now it had only one fore-foot on which to light. +</p> + +<p> +The axe flashed up again and before the lion could recover itself, or do +anything else, fell with a crash upon its skull, sinking deep into the head. +After this all was over, for the beast’s brain was cut in two. +</p> + +<p> +“I am here at the appointed time, Macumazahn,” said Umslopogaas, +for it was he, as with difficulty he dragged his axe from the lion’s +severed skull, “to find you watching by night as it is reported that you +always do.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I retorted, for his tone irritated me, “you are late, +Bulalio, the moon has been up some hours.” +</p> + +<p> +“I said, O Macumazahn, that I would meet you on the <i>night</i> of the +full moon, not at the rising of the moon.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is true,” I replied, mollified, “and at any rate you +came at a good moment.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he answered, “though as it happens in this clear light +the thing was easy to anyone who can handle an axe. Had it been darker the end +might have been different. But, Macumazahn, you are not so clever as I thought, +since otherwise you would not have come out against a lion with a toy like +that,” and he pointed to the little rifle in my hand. +</p> + +<p> +“I did not know that there was a lion, Umslopogaas.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is why you are not so clever as I thought, since of one sort or +another there is always a lion which wise men should be prepared to meet, +Macumazahn.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are right again,” I replied. +</p> + +<p> +At that moment Hans arrived upon the scene, followed at a discreet distance by +the waggon boys, and took in the situation at a glance. +</p> + +<p> +“The Great Medicine of the Opener-of-Roads has worked well,” was +all he said. +</p> + +<p> +“The great medicine of the Opener-of-Heads has worked better,” +remarked Umslopogaas with a little laugh and pointing to his red axe. +“Never before since she came into my keeping has <i>Inkosikaas</i> (i.e. +‘Chieftainess,’ for so was this famous weapon named) sunk so low as +to drink the blood of beasts. Still, the stroke was a good one so she need not +be ashamed. But, Yellow Man, how comes it that you who, I have been told, are +cunning, watch your master so ill?” +</p> + +<p> +“I was asleep,” stuttered Hans indignantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Those who serve should never sleep,” replied Umslopogaas sternly. +Then he turned and whistled, and behold! out of the long grass that grew at a +little distance, emerged twelve great men, all of them bearing axes and wearing +cloaks of hyena skins, who saluted me by raising their axes. +</p> + +<p> +“Set a watch and skin me this beast by dawn. It will make us a +mat,” said Umslopogaas, whereon again they saluted silently and melted +away. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are these?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“A few picked warriors whom I brought with me, Macumazahn. There were one +or two more, but they got lost on the way.” +</p> + +<p> +Then we went to the waggon and spoke no more that night. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Next morning I told Umslopogaas of the visit I had received from the +<i>Induna</i> of the King who wished me to come to the royal kraal. He nodded +and said, +</p> + +<p> +“As it chances certain thieves attacked me on my journey, which is why +one or two of my people remain behind who will never travel again. We made good +play with those thieves; not one of them escaped,” he added grimly, +“and their bodies we threw into a river where are many crocodiles. But +their spears I brought away and I think that they are such as the King’s +guard use. If so, his search for them will be long, since the fight took place +where no man lives and we burned the shields and trappings. Oho! he will think +that the ghosts have taken them.” +</p> + +<p> +That morning we trekked on fast, fearing lest a regiment searching for these +“thieves” should strike and follow our spoor. Luckily the ox that +the lion had killed was one of some spare cattle which I was driving with me, +so its loss did not inconvenience us. As we went Umslopogaas told me that he +had duly appointed Lousta and his wife Monazi to rule the tribe during his +absence, an office which they accepted doubtfully, Monazi acting as +Chieftainess and Lousta as her head <i>Induna</i> or Councillor. +</p> + +<p> +I asked him whether he thought this wise under all the circumstances, seeing +that it had occurred to me since I made the suggestion, that they might be +unwilling to surrender power on his return, also that other domestic +complications might ensue. +</p> + +<p> +“It matters little, Macumazahn,” he said with a shrug of his great +shoulders, “for of this I am sure, that I have played my part with the +People of the Axe and to stop among them would have meant my death, who am a +man betrayed. What do I care who love none and now have no children? Still, it +is true that I might have fled to Natal with the cattle and there have led a +fat and easy life. But ease and plenty I do not desire who would live and fall +as a warrior should. +</p> + +<p> +“Never again, mayhap, shall I see the Ghost-Mountain where the wolves +ravened and the old Witch sits in stone waiting for the world to die, or sleep +in the town of the People of the Axe. What do I want with wives and oxen while +I have <i>Inkosikaas</i> the Groan-maker and she is true to me?” he +added, shaking the ancient axe above his head so that the sun gleamed upon the +curved blade and the hollow gouge or point at the back beyond the shaft socket. +“Where the Axe goes, there go the strength and virtue of the Axe, O +Macumazahn.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a strange weapon,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, a strange and an old, forged far away, says Zikali, by a +warrior-wizard hundreds of years ago, a great fighter who was also the first of +smiths and who sits in the Under-world waiting for it to return to his hand +when its work is finished beneath the sun. That will be soon, Macumazahn, since +Zikali told me that I am the last Holder of the Axe.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you then see the Opener-of-Roads?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, I saw him. He it was who told me which way to go to escape from +Zululand. Also he laughed when he heard how the flooded rivers brought you to +my kraal, and sent you a message in which he said that the spirit of a snake +had told him that you tried to throw the Great Medicine into a pool, but were +stopped by that snake, whilst it was still alive. This, he said, you must do no +more, lest he should send another snake to stop <i>you</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did he?” I replied indignantly, for Zikali’s power of seeing +or learning about things that happened at a distance puzzled and annoyed me. +</p> + +<p> +Only Hans grinned and said, +</p> + +<p> +“I told you so, Baas.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +On we travelled from day to day, meeting with such difficulties and dangers as +are common on roadless veld in Africa, but no more, for the grass was good and +there was plenty of game, of which we shot what we wanted for meat. Indeed, +here in the back regions of what is known as Portuguese South East Africa, +every sort of wild animal was so numerous that personally I wished we could +turn our journey into a shooting expedition. +</p> + +<p> +But of this Umslopogaas, whom hunting bored, would not hear. In fact, he was +much more anxious than myself to carry out our original purpose. When I asked +him why, he answered because of something Zikali had told him. What this was he +would not say, except that in the country whither we wandered he would fight a +great fight and win much honour. +</p> + +<p> +Now Umslopogaas was by nature a fighting man, one who took a positive joy in +battle, and like an old Norseman, seemed to think that thus only could a man +decorously die. This amazed me, a peaceful person who loves quiet and a home. +Still, I gave way, partly to please him, partly because I hoped that we might +discover something of interest, and still more because, having once undertaken +an enterprise, my pride prompted me to see it through. +</p> + +<p> +Now while he was preparing to draw his map in the ashes, or afterwards, I +forget which, Zikali had told me that when we drew near to the great river we +should come to a place on the edge of bush-veld that ran down to the river, +where a white man lived, adding, after casting his bones and reading from them, +that he thought this white man was a “trek-Boer.” This, I should +explain, means a Dutchman who has travelled away from wherever he lived and +made a home for himself in the wilderness, as some wandering spirit and the +desire to be free of authority often prompt these people to do. Also, after +another inspection of his enchanted knuckle-bones, he had declared that +something remarkable would happen to this man or his family, while I was +visiting him. Lastly in that map he drew in the ashes, the details of which +were impressed so indelibly upon my memory, he had shown me where I should find +the dwelling of this white man, of whom and of whose habitation doubtless he +knew through the many spies who seemed to be at the service of all +witch-doctors, and more especially of Zikali, the greatest among them. +</p> + +<p> +Travelling by the sun and the compass I had trekked steadily in the exact +direction which he indicated, to find that in this useful particular he was +well named the “Opener-of-Roads,” since always before me I found a +practicable path, although to the right or to the left there would have been +none. Thus when we came to mountains, it was at a spot where we discovered a +pass; when we came to swamps it was where a ridge of high ground ran between, +and so forth. Also such tribes as we met upon our journey always proved of a +friendly character, although perhaps the aspect of Umslopogaas and his fierce +band whom, rather irreverently, I named his twelve Apostles, had a share in +inducing this peaceful attitude. +</p> + +<p> +So smooth was our progress and so well marked by water at certain intervals, +that at last I came to the conclusion that we must be following some ancient +road which at a forgotten period of history, had run from south to north, or +<i>vice versâ</i>. Or rather, to be honest, it was the observant Hans who made +this discovery from various indications which had escaped my notice. I need not +stop to detail them, but one of these was that at certain places the +water-holes on a high, rather barren land had been dug out, and in one or more +instances, lined with stones after the fashion of an ancient well. Evidently we +were following an old trade route made, perhaps, in forgotten ages when Africa +was more civilised than it is now. +</p> + +<p> +Passing over certain high, misty lands during the third week of our trek, where +frequently at this season of the year the sun never showed itself before ten +o’clock and disappeared at three or four in the afternoon, and where +twice we were held up for two whole days by dense fog, we came across a queer +nomadic people who seemed to live in movable grass huts and to keep great herds +of goats and long-tailed sheep. +</p> + +<p> +These folk ran away from us at first, but when they found that we did them no +harm, became friendly and brought us offerings of milk, also of a kind of slug +or caterpillar which they seemed to eat. Hans, who was a great master of +different native dialects, discovered a tongue, or a mixture of tongues, in +which he could make himself understood to some of them. +</p> + +<p> +They told him that in their day they had never seen a white man, although their +fathers’ fathers (an expression by which they meant their remote +ancestors) had known many of them. They added, however, that if we went on +steadily towards the north for another seven days’ journey, we should +come to a place where a white man lived, one, they had heard, who had a long +beard and killed animals with guns, as we did. +</p> + +<p> +Encouraged by this intelligence we pushed forward, now travelling down hill out +of the mists into a more genial country. Indeed, the veld here was beautiful, +high, rolling plains like those of the East African plateau, covered with a +deep and fertile chocolate-coloured soil, as we could see where the rains had +washed out dongas. The climate, too, seemed to be cool and very healthful. +Altogether it was a pity to see such lands lying idle and tenanted only by +countless herds of game, for there were not any native inhabitants, or at least +we met none. +</p> + +<p> +On we trekked, our road still sloping slightly down hill, till at length we saw +far away a vast sea of bush-veld which, as I guessed correctly, must fringe the +great Zambesi River. Moreover we, or rather Hans, whose eyes were those of a +hawk, saw something else, namely buildings of a more or less civilised kind, +which stood among trees by the side of a stream several miles on this side of +the great belt of bush. +</p> + +<p> +“Look, Baas,” said Hans, “those wanderers did not lie; there +is the house of the white man. I wonder if he drinks anything stronger than +water,” he added with a sigh and a kind of reminiscent contraction of his +yellow throat. +</p> + +<p> +As it happened, he did. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /> +INEZ</h2> + +<p> +We had sighted the house from far away shortly after sunrise and by midday we +were there. As we approached I saw that it stood almost immediately beneath two +great baobab trees, babyan trees we call them in South Africa, perhaps because +monkeys eat their fruit. It was a thatched house with whitewashed walls and a +stoep or veranda round it, apparently of the ordinary Dutch type. Moreover, +beyond it, at a little distance were other houses or rather shanties with +waggon sheds, etc., and beyond and mixed up with these a number of native huts. +Further on were considerable fields green with springing corn; also we saw +herds of cattle grazing on the slopes. Evidently our white man was rich. +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas surveyed the place with a soldier’s eye and said to me, +</p> + +<p> +“This must be a peaceful country, Macumazahn, where no attack is feared, +since of defences I see none.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “why not, with a wilderness behind it and +bush-veld and a great river in front?” +</p> + +<p> +“Men can cross rivers and travel through bush-veld,” he answered, +and was silent. +</p> + +<p> +Up to this time we had seen no one, although it might have been presumed that a +waggon trekking towards the house was a sufficiently unusual sight to have +attracted attention. +</p> + +<p> +“Where can they be?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Asleep, Baas, I think,” said Hans, and as a matter of fact he was +right. The whole population of the place was indulging in a noonday siesta. +</p> + +<p> +At last we came so near to the house that I halted the waggon and descended +from the driving-box in order to investigate. At this moment someone did +appear, the sight of whom astonished me not a little, namely, a very +striking-looking young woman. She was tall, handsome, with large dark eyes, +good features, a rather pale complexion, and I think the saddest face that I +ever saw. Evidently she had heard the noise of the waggon and had come out to +see what caused it, for she had nothing on her head, which was covered with +thick hair of a raven blackness. Catching sight of the great Umslopogaas with +his gleaming axe and of his savage-looking bodyguard, she uttered an +exclamation and not unnaturally turned to fly. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s all right,” I sang out, emerging from behind the oxen, +and in English, though before the words had left my lips I reflected that there +was not the slightest reason to suppose that she would understand them. +Probably she was Dutch, or Portuguese, although by some instinct I had +addressed her in English. +</p> + +<p> +To my surprise she answered me in the same tongue, spoken, it is true, with a +peculiar accent which I could not place, as it was neither Scotch nor Irish. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you,” she said. “I, sir, was frightened. Your friends +look——” Here she stumbled for a word, then added, +“terrocious.” +</p> + +<p> +I laughed at this composite adjective and answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Well, so they are in a way, though they will not harm you or me. But, +young lady, tell me, can we outspan here? Perhaps your +husband——” +</p> + +<p> +“I have no husband, I have only a father, sir,” and she sighed. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then, could I speak to your father? My name is Allan Quatermain +and I am making a journey of exploration, to find out about the country beyond, +you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I will go to wake him. He is asleep. Everyone sleeps here at +midday—except me,” she said with another sigh. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you not follow their example?” I asked jocosely, for this +young woman puzzled me and I wanted to find out about her. +</p> + +<p> +“Because I sleep little, sir, who think too much. There will be plenty of +time to sleep soon for all of us, will there not?” +</p> + +<p> +I stared at her and inquired her name, because I did not know what else to say. +</p> + +<p> +“My name is Inez Robertson,” she answered. “I will go to wake +my father. Meanwhile please unyoke your oxen. They can feed with the others; +they look as though they wanted rest, poor things.” Then she turned and +went into the house. +</p> + +<p> +“Inez Robertson,” I said to myself, “that’s a queer +combination. English father and Portuguese mother, I suppose. But what can an +Englishman be doing in a place like this? If it had been a trek-Boer I should +not have been surprised.” Then I began to give directions about +out-spanning. +</p> + +<p> +We had just got the oxen out of the yokes, when a big, raw-boned, red-bearded, +blue-eyed, roughly-clad man of about fifty years of age appeared from the +house, yawning. I threw my eye over him as he advanced with a peculiar rolling +gait, and formed certain conclusions. A drunkard who has once been a gentleman, +I reflected to myself, for there was something peculiarly dissolute in his +appearance, also one who has had to do with the sea, a diagnosis which proved +very accurate. +</p> + +<p> +“How do you do, Mr. Allan Quatermain, which I think my daughter said is +your name, unless I dreamed it, for it is one that I seem to have heard +before,” he exclaimed with a broad Scotch accent which I do not attempt +to reproduce. “What in the name of blazes brings you here where no real +white man has been for years? Well, I am glad enough to see you any way, for I +am sick of half-breed Portuguese and niggers, and snuff-and-butter girls, and +gin and bad whisky. Leave your people to attend to those oxen and come in and +have a drink.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, Mr. Robertson——” +</p> + +<p> +“Captain Robertson,” he interrupted. “Man, don’t look +astonished. You mightn’t guess it, but I commanded a mail-steamer once +and should like to hear myself called rightly again before I die.” +</p> + +<p> +“I beg your pardon—Captain Robertson, but myself, I don’t +drink anything before sundown. However, if you have something to +eat——?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh yes, Inez—she’s my daughter—will find you a bite. +Those men of yours,” and he also looked doubtfully at Umslopogaas and his +savage company, “will want food as well. I’ll have a beast killed +for them; they look as if they could eat it, horns and all. Where are my +people? All asleep, I suppose, the lazy lubbers. Wait a bit, I’ll wake +them up.” +</p> + +<p> +Going to the house he snatched a great sjambok cut from hippopotamus hide, from +where it hung on a nail in the wall, and ran towards the group of huts which I +have mentioned, roaring out the name Thomaso, also a string of oaths such as +seamen use, mixed with others of a Portuguese variety. What happened there I +could not see because boughs were in the way, but presently I heard blows and +screams, and caught sight of people, all dark-skinned, flying from the huts. +</p> + +<p> +A little later a fat, half-breed man—I should say from his curling hair +that his mother was a negress and his father a Portuguese—appeared with +some other nondescript fellows and began to give directions in a competent +fashion about our oxen, also as to the killing of a calf. He spoke in bastard +Portuguese, which I could understand, and I heard him talk of Umslopogaas to +whom he pointed, as “that nigger,” after the fashion of such +cross-bred people who choose to consider themselves white men. Also he made +uncomplimentary remarks about Hans, who of course understood every word he +said. Evidently Thomaso’s temper had been ruffled by this sudden and +violent disturbance of his nap. +</p> + +<p> +Just then our host appeared puffing with his exertions and declaring that he +had stirred up the swine with a vengeance, in proof of which he pointed to the +sjambok that was reddened with blood. +</p> + +<p> +“Captain Robertson,” I said, “I wish to give you a hint to be +passed on to Mr. Thomaso, if that is he. He spoke of the Zulu soldier there as +a nigger, etc. Well, he is a chief of a high rank and rather a terrible fellow +if roused. Therefore I recommend Mr. Thomaso not to let him understand that he +is insulting him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! that’s the way of these ‘snuff-and-butters’ one of +whose grandmothers once met a white man,” replied the Captain, laughing, +“but I’ll tell him,” and he did in Portuguese. +</p> + +<p> +His retainer listened in silence, looking at Umslopogaas rather sulkily. Then +we walked into the house. As we went the Captain said, +</p> + +<p> +“Señor Thomaso—he calls himself Señor—is my manager here and +a clever man, honest too in his way and attached to me, perhaps because I saved +his life once. But he has a nasty temper, as have all these cross-breeds, so I +hope he won’t get wrong with that native who carries a big axe.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope so too, for his own sake,” I replied emphatically. +</p> + +<p> +The Captain led the way into the sitting-room; there was but one in the house. +It proved a queer kind of place with rude furniture seated with strips of hide +after the Boer fashion, and yet bearing a certain air of refinement which was +doubtless due to Inez, who, with the assistance of a stout native girl, was +already engaged in setting the table. Thus there was a shelf with books, +Shakespeare was one of these, I noticed—over which hung an ivory +crucifix, which suggested that Inez was a Catholic. On the walls, too, were +some good portraits, and on the window-ledge a jar full of flowers. Also the +forks and spoons were of silver, as were the mugs, and engraved with a +tremendous coat-of-arms and a Portuguese motto. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the food appeared, which was excellent and plentiful, and the +Captain, his daughter and I sat down and ate. I noted that he drank gin and +water, an innocent-looking beverage but strong as he took it. It was offered to +me, but like Miss Inez, I preferred coffee. +</p> + +<p> +During the meal and afterwards while we smoked upon the veranda, I told them as +much as I thought desirable of my plans. I said that I was engaged upon a +journey of exploration of the country beyond the Zambesi, and that having heard +of this settlement, which, by the way, was called Strathmuir, as I gathered +after a place in far away Scotland where the Captain had been born and passed +his childhood, I had come here to inquire as to how to cross the great river, +and about other things. +</p> + +<p> +The Captain was interested, especially when I informed him that I was that same +“Hunter Quatermain” of whom he had heard in past years, but he told +me that it would be impossible to take the waggon down into the low bush-veld +which we could see beneath us, as there all the oxen would die of the bite of +the tsetse fly. I answered that I was aware of this and proposed to try to make +an arrangement to leave it in his charge till I returned. +</p> + +<p> +“That might be managed, Mr. Quatermain,” he answered. “But, +man, will you ever return? They say there are queer folk living on the other +side of the Zambesi, savage men who are cannibals, Amahagger I think they call +them. It was they who in past years cleaned out all this country, except a few +river tribes who live in floating huts or on islands among the reeds, and +that’s why it is so empty. But this happened long ago, much before my +time, and I don’t suppose they will ever cross the river again.” +</p> + +<p> +“If I might ask, what brought you here, Captain?” I said, for the +point was one on which I felt curious. +</p> + +<p> +“That which brings most men to wild places, Mr. Quatermain—trouble. +If you want to know, I had a misfortune and piled up my ship. There were some +lives lost and, rightly or wrongly, I got the sack. Then I started as a trader +in a God-forsaken hole named Chinde, one of the Zambesi mouths, you know, and +did very well, as we Scotchmen have a way of doing. +</p> + +<p> +“There I married a Portuguese lady, a real lady of high blood, one of the +old sort. When my girl, Inez, was about twelve years old I got into more +trouble, for my wife died and it pleased a certain relative of hers to say that +it was because I had neglected her. This ended in a row and the truth is that I +killed him—in fair fight, mind you. Still, kill him I did though I +scarcely knew that I had done it at the time, after which the place grew too +hot to hold me. So I sold up and swore that I would have no more to do with +what they are pleased to call civilisation on the East Coast. +</p> + +<p> +“During my trading I had heard that there was fine country up this way, +and here I came and settled years ago, bringing my girl and Thomaso, who was +one of my managers, also a few other people with me. And here I have been ever +since, doing very well as before, for I trade a lot of ivory and other things +and grow stuff and cattle, which I sell to the River natives. Yes, I am a rich +man now and could go to live on my means in Scotland, or anywhere.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why don’t you?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! for many reasons. I have lost touch with all that and become half +wild and I like this life and the sunshine and being my own master. Also, if I +did, things might be raked up against me, about that man’s death. Also, +though I daresay it will make you think badly of me for it, Mr. Quatermain, I +have ties down there,” and he waved his hand towards the village, if so +it could be called, “which it wouldn’t be easy for me to break. A +man may be fond of his children, Mr. Quatermain, even if their skins +ain’t so white as they ought to be. Lastly I have habits—you see, I +am speaking out to you as man to man—which might get me into trouble +again if I went back to the world,” and he nodded his fine, +capable-looking head in the direction of the bottle on the table. +</p> + +<p> +“I see,” I said hastily, for this kind of confession bursting out +of the man’s lonely heart when what he had drunk took a hold of him, was +painful to hear. “But how about your daughter, Miss Inez?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” he said, with a quiver in his voice, “there you touch +it. She ought to go away. There is no one for her to marry here, where we +haven’t seen a white man for years, and she’s a lady right enough, +like her mother. But who is she to go to, being a Roman Catholic whom my own +dour Presbyterian folk in Scotland, if any of them are left, would turn their +backs on? Moreover, she loves me in her own fashion, as I love her, and she +wouldn’t leave me because she thinks it her duty to stay and knows that +if she did, I should go to the devil altogether. Still—perhaps you might +help me about her, Mr. Quatermain, that is if you live to come back from your +journey,” he added doubtfully. +</p> + +<p> +I felt inclined to ask how I could possibly help in such a matter, but thought +it wisest to say nothing. This, however, he did not notice, for he went on, +</p> + +<p> +“Now I think I will have a nap, as I do my work in the early morning, and +sometimes late at night when my brain seems to clear up again, for you see I +was a sailor for many years and accustomed to keeping watches. You’ll +look after yourself, won’t you, and treat the place as your own?” +Then he vanished into the house to lie down. +</p> + +<p> +When I had finished my pipe I went for a walk. First I visited the waggon where +I found Umslopogaas and his company engaged in cooking the beast that had been +given them, Zulu fashion; Hans with his usual cunning had already secured a +meal, probably from the servants, or from Inez herself; at least he left them +and followed me. First we went down to the huts, where we saw a number of +good-looking young women of mixed blood, all decently dressed and engaged about +their household duties. Also we saw four or five boys and girls, to say nothing +of a baby in arms, fine young people, one or two of whom were more white than +coloured. +</p> + +<p> +“Those children are very like the Baas with the red beard,” +remarked Hans reflectively. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I said, and shivered, for now I understood the awfulness of +this poor man’s case. He was the father of a number of half-breeds who +tied him to this spot as anchors tie a ship. I went on rather hastily past some +sheds to a long, low building which proved to be a store. Here the +quarter-blood called Thomaso, and some assistants were engaged in trading with +natives from the Zambesi swamps, men of a kind that I had never seen, but in a +way more civilised than many further south. What they were selling or buying, I +did not stop to see, but I noticed that the store was full of goods of one sort +or another, including a great deal of ivory, which, as I supposed, had come +down the river from inland. +</p> + +<p> +Then we walked on to the cultivated fields where we saw corn growing very well, +also tobacco and other crops. Beyond this were cattle kraals and in the +distance we perceived a great number of cattle and goats feeding on the slopes. +</p> + +<p> +“This red-bearded Baas must be very rich in all things,” remarked +the observant Hans when we had completed our investigations. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “rich and yet poor.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can a man be both rich and yet poor, Baas?” asked Hans. +</p> + +<p> +Just at that moment some of the half-breed children whom I have mentioned, ran +past us more naked than dressed and whooping like little savages. Hans +contemplated them gravely, then said, +</p> + +<p> +“I think I understand now, Baas. A man may be rich in things he loves and +yet does not want, which makes him poor in other ways.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “as <i>you</i> are, Hans, when you take +too much to drink.” +</p> + +<p> +Just then we met the stately Miss Inez returning from the store, carrying some +articles in a basket, soap, I think, and tea in a packet, amongst them. I told +Hans to take the basket and bear it to the house for her. He went off with it +and, walking slowly, we fell into conversation. +</p> + +<p> +“Your father must do very well here,” I said, nodding at the store +with the crowd of natives round it. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” she answered, “he makes much money which he puts in a +bank at the coast, for living costs us nothing and there is great profit in +what he buys and sells, also in the crops he grows and in the cattle. +But,” she added pathetically, “what is the use of money in a place +like this?” +</p> + +<p> +“You can get things with it,” I answered vaguely. +</p> + +<p> +“That is what my father says, but what does he get? Strong stuff to +drink; dresses for those women down there, and sometimes pearls, jewels and +other things for me which I do not want. I have a box full of them set in ugly +gold, or loose which I cannot use, and if I put them on, who is there to see +them? That clever half-breed, Thomaso—for he is clever in his way, +faithful too—or the women down there—no one else.” +</p> + +<p> +“You do not seem to be happy, Miss Inez.” +</p> + +<p> +“No. I cannot tell how unhappy others are, who have met none, but +sometimes I think that I must be the most miserable woman in the world.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! no,” I replied cheerfully, “plenty are worse off.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Mr. Quatermain, it must be because they cannot feel. Did you ever +have a father whom you loved?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Miss Inez. He is dead, but he was a very good man, a kind of saint. +Ask my servant, the little Hottentot Hans; he will tell you about him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! a very good man. Well, as you may have guessed, mine is not, though +there is much good in him, for he has a kind heart, and a big brain. But the +drink and those women down there, they ruin him,” and she wrung her +hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Why don’t you go away?” I blurted out. +</p> + +<p> +“Because it is my duty to stop. That is what my religion teaches me, +although of it I know little except through books, who have seen no priest for +years except one who was a missionary, a Baptist, I think, who told me that my +faith was false and would lead me to hell. Yes, not understanding how I lived, +he said that, who did not know that hell is here. No, I cannot go, who hopes +always that still God and the Saints will show me how to save my father, even +though it be with my blood. And now I have said too much to you who are quite a +stranger. Yet, I do not know why, I feel that you will not betray me, and what +is more, that you will help me if you can, since you are not one of those who +drink, or——” and she waved her hand towards the huts. +</p> + +<p> +“I have my faults, Miss Inez,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, no doubt, else you would be a saint, not a man, and even the saints +had their faults, or so I seem to remember, and became saints by repentance and +conquering them. Still, I am sure that you will help me if you can.” +</p> + +<p> +Then with a sudden flash of her dark eyes that said more than all her words, +she turned and left me. +</p> + +<p> +Here’s a pretty kettle of fish, thought I to myself as I strolled back to +the waggon to see how things were going on there, and how to get the live fish +out of the kettle before they boil or spoil is more than I know. I wonder why +fate is always finding me such jobs to do. +</p> + +<p> +Even as I thought thus a voice in my heart seemed to echo that poor +girl’s words—because it is your duty—and to add others to +them—woe betide him who neglects his duty. I was appointed to try to hook +a few fish out of the vast kettle of human woe, and therefore I must go on +hooking. Meanwhile this particular problem seemed beyond me. Perhaps Fate would +help, I reflected. As a matter of fact, in the end Fate did, if Fate is the +right word to use in this connection. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +THE SEA-COW HUNT</h2> + +<p> +Now it had been my intention to push forward across the river at once, but here +luck, or our old friend, Fate, was against me. To begin with several of +Umslopogaas’ men fell sick with a kind of stomach trouble, arising no +doubt from something they had eaten. This, however, was not their view, or that +of Umslopogaas himself. It happened that one of these men, Goroko by name, who +practised as a witch-doctor in his lighter moments, naturally suspected that a +spell had been cast upon them, for such people see magic in everything. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore he organised a “smelling-out” at which Umslopogaas, who +was as superstitious as the rest, assisted. So did Hans, although he called +himself a Christian, partly out of curiosity, for he was as curious as a +magpie, and partly from fear lest some implication should be brought against +him in his absence. I saw the business going on from a little distance, and, +unseen myself, thought it well to keep an eye upon the proceedings in case +anything untoward should occur. This I did with Miss Inez, who had never +witnessed anything of the sort, as a companion. +</p> + +<p> +The circle, a small one, was formed in the usual fashion; Goroko rigged up in +the best witch-doctor’s costume that he could improvise, duly came under +the influence of his “Spirit” and skipped about, waving a +wildebeeste’s tail, and so forth. +</p> + +<p> +Finally to my horror he broke out of the ring, and running to a group of +spectators from the village, switched Thomaso, who was standing among them with +a lordly and contemptuous air, across the face with the gnu’s tail, +shouting out that he was the wizard who had poisoned the bowels of the sick +men. Thereon Thomaso, who although he could be insolent, like most crossbreeds +was not remarkable for courage, seeing the stir that this announcement created +amongst the fierce-faced Zulus and fearing developments, promptly bolted, none +attempting to follow him. +</p> + +<p> +After this, just as I thought that everything was over and that the time had +come for me to speak a few earnest words to Umslopogaas, pointing out that +matters must go no further as regards Thomaso, whom I knew that he and his +people hated, Goroko went back to the circle and was seized with a new burst of +inspiration. +</p> + +<p> +Throwing down his whisk, he lifted his arms above his head and stared at the +heavens. Then he began to shout out something in a loud voice which I was too +far off to catch. Whatever it may have been, evidently it frightened his +hearers, as I could see from the expressions on their faces. Even Umslopogaas +was alarmed, for he let his axe fall for a moment, rose as though to speak, +then sat down again and covered his eyes with his hands. +</p> + +<p> +In a minute it was over; Goroko seemed to become normal, took some snuff and as +I guessed, after the usual fashion of these doctors, began to ask what he had +been saying while the “Spirit” possessed him, which he either had, +or affected to have, forgotten. The circle, too, broke up and its members began +to talk to each other in a subdued way, while Umslopogaas remained seated on +the ground, brooding, and Hans slipped away in his snake-like fashion, +doubtless in search of me. +</p> + +<p> +“What was it all about, Mr. Quatermain?” asked Inez. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! a lot of nonsense,” I said. “I fancy that witch-doctor +declared that your friend Thomaso put something into those men’s food to +make them sick.” +</p> + +<p> +“I daresay that he did; it would be just like him, Mr. Quatermain, as I +know that he hates them, especially Umslopogaas, of whom I am very fond. He +brought me some beautiful flowers this morning which he had found somewhere, +and made a long speech which I could not understand.” +</p> + +<p> +The idea of Umslopogaas, that man of blood and iron, bringing flowers to a +young lady, was so absurd that I broke out laughing and even the sad-faced Inez +smiled. Then she left me to see about something and I went to speak to Hans and +asked him what had happened. +</p> + +<p> +“Something rather queer, I think, Baas,” he answered vacuously, +“though I did not quite understand the last part. The doctor, Goroko, +smelt out Thomaso as the man who had made them sick, and though they will not +kill him because we are guests here, those Zulus are very angry with Thomaso +and I think will beat him if they get a chance. But that is only the small half +of the stick,” and he paused. +</p> + +<p> +“What is the big half, then?” I asked with irritation. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas, the Spirit in Goroko——” +</p> + +<p> +“The jackass in Goroko, you mean,” I interrupted. “How can +you, who are a Christian, talk such rubbish about spirits? I only wish that my +father could hear you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! Baas, your reverend father, the Predikant, is now wise enough to +know all about Spirits and that there are some who come into black +witch-doctors though they turn up their noses at white men and leave them +alone. However, whatever it is that makes Goroko speak, got hold of him so that +his lips said, though he remembered nothing of it afterwards, that soon this +place would be red with blood—that there would be a great killing here, +Baas. That is all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Red with blood! Whose blood? What did the fool mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know, Baas, but what you call the jackass in Goroko, +declared that those who are ‘with the Great Medicine’—meaning +what you wear, Baas—will be quite safe. So I hope that it will not be our +blood; also that you will get out of this place as soon as you can.” +</p> + +<p> +Well, I scolded Hans because he believed in what this doctor said, for I could +see that he did believe it, then went to question Umslopogaas, whom I found +looking quite pleased, which annoyed me still more. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it that Goroko has been saying and why do you smile, +Bulalio?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing much, Macumazahn, except that the man who looks like tallow that +has gone bad, put something in our food which made us sick, for which I would +kill him were he not Red-beard’s servant and that it would frighten the +lady his daughter. Also he said that soon there will be fighting, which is why +I smiled, who grow weary of peace. We came out to fight, did we not?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly not,” I answered. “We came out to make a quiet +journey in strange lands, which is what I mean to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! well, Macumazahn, in strange lands one meets strange men with whom +one does not always agree, and then <i>Inkosikaas</i> begins to talk,” +and he whirled the great axe round his head, making the air whistle as it was +forced through the gouge at its back. +</p> + +<p> +I could get no more out of him, so having extracted a promise from him that +nothing should happen to Thomaso who, I pointed out, was probably quite +unjustly accused, I went away. +</p> + +<p> +Still, the whole incident left a disagreeable impression on my mind, and I +began to wish that we were safe across the Zambesi without more trouble. But we +could not start at once because two of the Zulus were still not well enough to +travel and there were many preparations to be made about the loads, and so +forth, since the waggon must be left behind. Also, and this was another +complication—Hans had a sore upon his foot, resulting from the prick of a +poisonous thorn, and it was desirable that this should be quite healed before +we marched. +</p> + +<p> +So it came about that I was really glad when Captain Robertson suggested that +we should go down to a certain swamp formed, I gathered, by some small +tributary of the Zambesi to take part in a kind of hippopotamus battue. It +seemed that at this season of the year these great animals always frequented +the place in numbers, also that by barring a neck of deep water through which +they gained it, they, or a proportion of them, could be cut off and killed. +</p> + +<p> +This had been done once or twice in the past, though not of late, perhaps +because Captain Robertson had lacked the energy to organise such a hunt. Now he +wished to do so again, taking advantage of my presence, both because of the +value of the hides of the sea-cows which were cut up to be sent to the coast +and sold as <i>sjamboks</i> or whips, and because of the sport of the thing. +Also I think he desired to show me that he was not altogether sunk in sloth and +drink. +</p> + +<p> +I fell in with the idea readily enough, since in all my hunting life I had +never seen anything of the sort, especially as I was told that the expedition +would not take more than a week and I reckoned that the sick men and Hans would +not be fit to travel sooner. So great preparations were made. The riverside +natives, whose share of the spoil was to be the carcases of the slain sea-cows, +were summoned by hundreds and sent off to their appointed stations to beat the +swamps at a signal given by the firing of a great pile of reeds. Also many +other things were done upon which I need not enter. +</p> + +<p> +Then came the time for us to depart to the appointed spot over twenty miles +away, most of which distance it seemed we could trek in the waggon. Captain +Robertson, who for the time had cut off his gin, was as active about the affair +as though he were once more in command of a mail-steamer. Nothing escaped his +attention; indeed, in the care which he gave to details he reminded me of the +captain of a great ship that is leaving port, and from it I learned how able a +man he must once have been. +</p> + +<p> +“Does your daughter accompany us?” I asked on the night before we +started. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! no,” he answered, “she would only be in the way. She +will be quite safe here, especially as Thomaso, who is no hunter, remains in +charge of the place with some of the older natives to look after the women and +children.” +</p> + +<p> +Later I saw Inez herself, who said that she would have liked to come, although +she hated to see great beasts killed, but that her father was against it +because he thought she might catch fever. So she supposed that she had better +remain where she was. +</p> + +<p> +I agreed, though in my heart I was doubtful, and said that I would leave Hans, +whose foot was not as yet quite well, and with whom she had made friends as she +had done with Umslopogaas, to look after her. Also there would be with him the +two great Zulus who were now recovering from their attack of stomach sickness, +so that she would have nothing to fear. She answered with her slow smile that +she feared nothing, still, she would have liked to come with us. Then we +parted, as it proved for a long time. +</p> + +<p> +It was quite a ceremony. Umslopogaas, “in the name of the Axe” +solemnly gave over Inez to the charge of his two followers, bidding them guard +her with so much earnestness that I began to suspect he feared something which +he did not choose to mention. My mind went back indeed to the prophecy of the +witch-doctor Goroko, of which it was possible that he might be thinking, but as +while he spoke he kept his fierce eyes fixed upon the fat and pompous +quarter-breed, Thomaso, I concluded that here was the object of his doubts. +</p> + +<p> +It might have occurred to him that this Thomaso would take the opportunity of +her father’s absence to annoy Inez. If so I was sure that he was mistaken +for various reasons, of which I need only quote one, namely, that even if such +an idea had ever entered his head, Thomaso was far too great a coward to +translate it into action. Still, suspecting something, I also gave Hans +instructions to keep a sharp eye on Inez and generally to watch the place, and +if he saw anything suspicious, to communicate with us at once. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas,” said Hans, “I will look after +‘Sad-Eyes’”—for so with their usual quickness of +observation our Zulus had named Inez—“as though she were my +grandmother, though what there is to fear for her, I do not know. But, Baas, I +would much rather come and look after you, as your reverend father, the +Predikant, told me to do always, which is my duty, not girl-herding, Baas. Also +my foot is now quite well and—I want to shoot sea-cows, +and——” Here he paused. +</p> + +<p> +“And what, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“And Goroko said that there was going to be much fighting and if there +should be fighting and you should come to harm because I was not there to +protect you, what would your reverend father think of me then?” +</p> + +<p> +All of which meant two things: that Hans never liked being separated from me if +he could help it, and that he much preferred a shooting trip to stopping alone +in this strange place with nothing to do except eat and sleep. So I concluded, +though indeed I did not get quite to the bottom of the business. In reality +Hans was putting up a most gallant struggle against temptation. +</p> + +<p> +As I found out afterwards, Captain Robertson had been giving him strong drink +on the sly, moved thereto by sympathy with a fellow toper. Also he had shown +him where, if he wanted it, he could get more, and Hans always wanted gin very +badly indeed. To leave it within his reach was like leaving a handful of +diamonds lying about in the room of a thief. This he knew, but was ashamed to +tell me the truth, and thence came much trouble. +</p> + +<p> +“You will stop here, Hans, look after the young lady and nurse your +foot,” I said sternly, whereon he collapsed with a sigh and asked for +some tobacco. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Captain Robertson, who I think had been taking a stirrup cup to cheer +him on the road, was making his farewells down in what was known as “the +village,” for I saw him there kissing a collection of half-breed +children, and giving Thomaso instructions to look after them and their mothers. +Returning at length, he called to Inez, who remained upon the veranda, for she +always seemed to shrink from her father after his visits to the village, to +“keep a stiff upper lip” and not feel lonely, and commanded the +cavalcade to start. +</p> + +<p> +So off we went, about twenty of the village natives, a motley crew armed with +every kind of gun, marching ahead and singing songs. Then came the waggon with +Captain Robertson and myself seated on the driving-box, and lastly Umslopogaas +and his Zulus, except the two who had been left behind. +</p> + +<p> +We trekked along a kind of native road over fine veld of the same character as +that on which Strathmuir stood, having the lower-lying bush-veld which ran down +to the Zambesi on our right. Before nightfall we came to a ridge whereon this +bush-veld turned south, fringing that tributary of the great river in the +swamps of which we were to hunt for sea-cows. Here we camped and next morning, +leaving the waggon in charge of my <i>voorlooper</i> and a couple of the +Strathmuir natives, for the driver was to act as my gun-bearer—we marched +down into the sea of bush-veld. It proved to be full of game, but at this we +dared not fire for fearing of disturbing the hippopotami in the swamps beneath, +whence in that event they might escape us back to the river. +</p> + +<p> +About midday we passed out of the bush-veld and reached the place where the +drive was to be. Here, bordered by steep banks covered with bush, was swampy +ground not more than two hundred yards wide, down the centre of which ran a +narrow channel of rather deep water, draining a vast expanse of morass above. +It was up this channel that the sea-cows travelled to the feeding ground where +they loved to collect at that season of the year. +</p> + +<p> +There with the assistance of some of the riverside natives we made our +preparations under the direction of Captain Robertson. The rest of these men, +to the number of several hundreds, had made a wide détour to the head of the +swamps, miles away, whence they were to advance at a certain signal. These +preparations were simple. A quantity of thorn trees were cut down and by means +of heavy stones fastened to their trunks, anchored in the narrow channel of +deep water. To their tops, which floated on the placid surface, were tied a +variety of rags which we had brought with us, such as old red flannel shirts, +gay-coloured but worn-out blankets, and I know not what besides. Some of these +fragments also were attached to the anchored ropes under water. +</p> + +<p> +Also we selected places for the guns upon the steep banks that I have +mentioned, between which this channel ran. Foreseeing what would happen, I +chose one for myself behind a particularly stout rock and what is more, built a +stone wall to the height of several feet on the landward side of it, as I +guessed that the natives posted near to me would prove wild in their shooting. +</p> + +<p> +These labours occupied the rest of that day, and at night we retired to higher +ground to sleep. Before dawn on the following morning we returned and took up +our stations, some on one side of the channel and some on the other which we +had to reach in a canoe brought for the purpose by the river natives. +</p> + +<p> +Then, before the sun rose, Captain Robertson fired a huge pile of dried reeds +and bushes, which was to give the signal to the river natives far away to begin +their beat. This done, we sat down and waited, after making sure that every gun +had plenty of ammunition ready. +</p> + +<p> +As the dawn broke, by climbing a tree near my <i>schanze</i> or shelter, I saw +a good many miles away to the south a wide circle of little fires, and guessed +that the natives were beginning to burn the dry reeds of the swamp. Presently +these fires drew together into a thin wall of flame. Then I knew that it was +time to return to the <i>schanze</i> and prepare. It was full daylight, +however, before anything happened. +</p> + +<p> +Watching the still channel of water, I saw ripples on it and bubbles of air +rising. Suddenly there appeared the head of a great bull-hippopotamus which, +having caught sight of our rag barricade, either above or below water, had +risen to the surface to see what it might be. I put a bullet from an eight-bore +rifle through its brain, whereon it sank, as I guessed, stone dead to the +bottom of the channel, thus helping to increase the barricade by the bulk of +its great body. Also it had another effect. I have observed that sea-cows +cannot bear the smell and taint of blood, which frightens them horribly, so +that they will expose themselves to almost any risk, rather than get it into +their nostrils. +</p> + +<p> +Now, in this still water where there was no perceptible current, the blood from +the dead bull soon spread all about so that when the herd, following their +leader, began to arrive they were much alarmed. Indeed, the first of them on +winding or tasting it, turned and tried to get back up the channel where, +however, they met others following, and there ensued a tremendous confusion. +They rose to the surface, blowing, snorting, bellowing and scrambling over each +other in the water, while continually more and more arrived behind them, till +there was a perfect pandemonium in that narrow place. +</p> + +<p> +All our guns opened fire wildly upon the mass; it was like a battle and through +the smoke I caught sight of the riverside natives who were acting as beaters, +advancing far away, fantastically dressed, screaming with excitement and waving +spears, or sometimes torches of flaming reeds. Most of these were scrambling +along the banks, but some of the bolder spirits advanced over the lagoon in +canoes, driving the hippopotami towards the mouth of the channel by which alone +they could escape into the great swamps below and so on to the river. In all my +hunting experience I do not think I ever saw a more remarkable scene. Still, in +a way, to me it was unpleasant, for I flatter myself that I am a sportsman and +a battle of this sort is not sport as I understand the term. +</p> + +<p> +At length it came to this; the channel for quite a long way was literally full +of hippopotami—I should think there must have been a hundred of them or +more of all sorts and sizes, from great bulls down to little calves. Some of +these were killed, not many, for the shooting of our gallant company was +execrable and almost at hazard. Also for every sea-cow that died, of which +number I think that Captain Robertson and myself accounted for most—many +were only wounded. +</p> + +<p> +Still, the unhappy beasts, crazed with noise and fire and blood, did not seem +to dare to face our frail barricade, probably for the reason that I have given. +For a while they remained massed together in the water, or under it, making a +most horrible noise. Then of a sudden they seemed to take a resolution. A few +of them broke back towards the burning reeds, the screaming beaters and the +advancing canoes. One of these, indeed, a wounded bull, charged a canoe, +crushed it in its huge jaws and killed the rower, how exactly I do not know, +for his body was never found. The majority of them, however, took another +counsel, for emerging from the water on either side, they began to scramble +towards us along the steep banks, or even to climb up them with surprising +agility. It was at this point in the proceedings that I congratulated myself +earnestly upon the solid character of the water-worn rock which I had selected +as a shelter. +</p> + +<p> +Behind this rock together with my gun-bearer and Umslopogaas, who, as he did +not shoot, had elected to be my companion, I crouched and banged away at the +unwieldy creatures as they advanced. But fire fast as I might with two rifles, +I could not stop the half of them—they were drawing unpleasantly near. I +glanced at Umslopogaas and even then was amused to see that probably for the +first time in his life that redoubtable warrior was in a genuine fright. +</p> + +<p> +“This is madness, Macumazahn,” he shouted above the din. “Are +we to stop here and be stamped flat by a horde of water-pigs?” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems so,” I answered, “unless you prefer to be stamped +flat outside—or eaten,” I added, pointing to a great crocodile that +had also emerged from the channel and was coming along towards us with open +jaws. +</p> + +<p> +“By the Axe!” shouted Umslopogaas again, “I—a +warrior—will not die thus, trodden on like a slug by an ox.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I have mentioned a tree which I climbed. In his extremity Umslopogaas +rushed for that tree and went up it like a lamplighter, just as the crocodile +wriggled past its trunk, snapping at his retreating legs. +</p> + +<p> +After this I took no more note of him, partly because of the advancing +sea-cows, and more for the reason that one of the village natives posted above +me, firing wildly, put a large round bullet through the sleeve of my coat. +Indeed, had it not been for the wall which I built that protected us, I am +certain that both my bearer and I would have been killed, for afterwards I +found it splashed over with lead from bullets which had struck the stones. +</p> + +<p> +Well, thanks to the strength of my rock and to the wall, or as Hans said +afterwards, to Zikali’s Great Medicine, we escaped unhurt. The rush went +by me; indeed, I killed one sea-cow so close that the powder from the rifle +actually burned its hide. But it did go by, leaving us untouched. All, however, +were not so fortunate, since of the village natives two were trampled to death, +while a third had his leg broken. +</p> + +<p> +Also, and this was really amusing—a bewildered bull charging at full +speed, crashed into the trunk of Umslopogaas’ tree, and as it was not +very thick, snapped it in two. Down came the top in which the dignified chief +was ensconced like a bird in a nest, though at that moment there was precious +little dignity about him. However, except for scratches he was not hurt, as the +hippopotamus had other business in urgent need of attention and did not stop to +settle with him. +</p> + +<p> +“Such are the things which happen to a man who mixes himself up with +matters of which he knows nothing,” said Umslopogaas sententiously to me +afterwards. But all the same he could never bear any allusion to this +tree-climbing episode in his martial career, which, as it happened, had taken +place in full view of his retainers, among whom it remained the greatest of +jokes. Indeed, he wanted to kill a man, the wag of the party, who gave him a +slang name which, being translated, means +“<i>He-who-is-so-brave-that-he-dares-to-ride-a-water-horse-up-a-tree.</i> +” +</p> + +<p> +It was all over at last, for which I thanked Providence devoutly. A good many +of the sea-cows were dead, I think twenty-one was our exact bag, but the +majority of them had escaped in one way or another, many as I fear, wounded. I +imagine that at the last the bulk of the herd overcame its fears and swimming +through our screen, passed away down the channel. At any rate they were gone, +and having ascertained that there was nothing to be done for the man who had +been trampled on my side of the channel, I crossed it in the canoe with the +object of returning quietly to our camp to rest. +</p> + +<p> +But as yet there was to be no quiet for me, for there I found Captain +Robertson, who I think had been refreshing himself out of a bottle and was in a +great state of excitement about a native who had been killed near him who was a +favourite of his, and another whose leg was broken. He declared vehemently that +the hippopotamus which had done this had been wounded and rushed into some +bushes a few hundred yards away, and that he meant to take vengeance upon it. +Indeed, he was just setting off to do so. +</p> + +<p> +Seeing his agitated state I thought it wisest to follow him. What happened need +not be set out in detail. It is sufficient to say that he found that +hippopotamus and blazed both barrels at it in the bushes, hitting it, but not +seriously. Out lumbered the creature with its mouth open, wishing to escape. +Robertson turned to fly as he was in its path, but from one cause or another, +tripped and fell down. Certainly he would have been crushed beneath its huge +feet had I not stepped in front of him and sent two solid eight-bore bullets +down that yawning throat, killing it dead within three feet of where Robertson +was trying to rise, and I may add, of myself. +</p> + +<p> +This narrow escape sobered him, and I am bound to say that his gratitude was +profuse. +</p> + +<p> +“You are a brave man,” he said, “and had it not been for you +by now I should be wherever bad people go. I’ll not forget it, Mr. +Quatermain, and if ever you want anything that John Robertson can give, why, +it’s yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well,” I answered, being seized by an inspiration, “I +do want something that you can give easily enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“Give it a name and it’s yours, half my place, if you like.” +</p> + +<p> +“I want,” I went on as I slipped new cartridges into the rifle, +“I want you to promise to give up drink for your daughter’s sake. +That’s what nearly did for you just now, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Man, you ask a hard thing,” he said slowly. “But by God +I’ll try for her sake and for yours too.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I went to help to set the leg of the injured man, which was all the rest I +got that morning. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +THE OATH</h2> + +<p> +We spent three more days at that place. First it was necessary to allow time to +elapse before the gases which generated in their great bodies caused those of +the sea-cows which had been killed in the water, to float. Then they must be +skinned and their thick hides cut into strips and pieces to be traded for +<i>sjamboks</i> or to make small native shields for which some of the East +Coast tribes will pay heavily. +</p> + +<p> +All this took a long while, during which I amused, or disgusted myself in +watching those river natives devouring the flesh of the beasts. The lean, what +there was of it, they dried and smoked into a kind of “biltong,” +but a great deal of the fat they ate at once. I had the curiosity to weigh a +lump which was given to one thin, hungry-looking fellow. It scaled quite twenty +pounds. Within four hours he had eaten it to the last ounce and lay there, a +distended and torpid log. What would not we white people give for such a +digestion! +</p> + +<p> +At last all was over and we started homewards, the man with a broken leg being +carried in a kind of litter. On the edge of the bush-veld we found the waggon +quite safe, also one of Captain Robertson’s that had followed us from +Strathmuir in order to carry the expected load of hippopotamus’ hides and +ivory. I asked my <i>voorlooper</i> if anything had happened during our +absence. He answered nothing, but on the previous evening after dark, he had +seen a glow in the direction of Strathmuir which lay on somewhat lower ground +about twenty miles away, as though numerous fires had been lighted there. It +struck him so much, he added, that he climbed a tree to observe it better. He +did not think, however, that any building had been burned there, as the glow +was not strong enough for that. +</p> + +<p> +I suggested that it was caused by some grass fire or reed-burning, to which he +replied indifferently that he did not think so as the line of the glow was not +sufficiently continuous. +</p> + +<p> +There the matter ended, though I confess that the story made me anxious, for +what exact reason I could not say. Umslopogaas also, who had listened to it, +for our talk was in Zulu, looked grave, but made no remark. But as since his +tree-climbing experience he had been singularly silent, of this I thought +little. +</p> + +<p> +We had trekked at a time which we calculated would bring us to Strathmuir about +an hour before sundown, allowing for a short halt half way. As my oxen were got +in more quickly than those of the other waggon after this outspan, I was the +first away, followed at a little distance by Umslopogaas, who preferred to walk +with his Zulus. The truth was that I could not get that story about the glow of +fires out of my mind and was anxious to push on, which had caused me to hurry +up the inspanning. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps we had covered a couple of miles of the ten or twelve which still lay +between us and Strathmuir, when far off on the crest of one of the waves of the +veld which much resembled those of the swelling sea frozen while in motion, I +saw a small figure approaching us at a rapid trot. Somehow that figure +suggested Hans to my mind, so much so that I fetched my glasses to examine it +more closely. A short scrutiny through them convinced me that Hans it was, Hans +and no other, advancing at a great pace. +</p> + +<p> +Filled with uneasiness, I ordered the driver to flog up the oxen, with the +result that in a little over five minutes we met. Halting the waggon, I leapt +from the waggon-box and calling to Umslopogaas who had kept up with us at a +slow, swinging trot, went to Hans, who, when he saw me, stood still at a little +distance, swinging his apology for a hat in his hand, as was his fashion when +ashamed or perplexed. +</p> + +<p> +“What is the matter, Hans?” I asked when we were within speaking +distance. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! Baas, everything,” he answered, and I noticed that he kept his +eyes fixed upon the ground and that his lips twitched. +</p> + +<p> +“Speak, you fool, and in Zulu,” I said, for by now Umslopogaas had +joined me. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he answered in that tongue, “a terrible thing has +come about at the farm of Red-Beard yonder. Yesterday afternoon at the time +when people are in the habit of sleeping there till the sun grows less hot, a +body of great men with fierce faces who carried big spears—perhaps there +were fifty of them, Baas—crept up to the place through the long grass and +growing crops, and attacked it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you see them come?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas. I was watching at a little distance as you bade me do and the +sun being hot, I shut my eyes to keep out the glare of it, so that I did not +see them until they had passed me and heard the noise.” +</p> + +<p> +“You mean that you were asleep or drunk, Hans, but go on.” +</p> + +<p> +“Baas, I do not know,” he answered shamefacedly, “but after +that I climbed a tall tree with a kind of bush at the top of it” (I +ascertained afterwards that this was a sort of leafy-crowned palm), “and +from it I saw everything without being seen.” +</p> + +<p> +“What did you see, Hans?” I asked him. +</p> + +<p> +“I saw the big men run up and make a kind of circle round the village. +Then they shouted, and the people in the village came out to see what was the +matter. Thomaso and some of the men caught sight of them first and ran away +fast into the hillside at the back where the trees grow, before the circle was +complete. Then the women and the children came out and the big men killed them +with their spears—all, all!” +</p> + +<p> +“Good God!” I exclaimed. “And what happened at the house and +to the lady?” +</p> + +<p> +“Baas, some of the men had surrounded that also and when she heard the +noise the lady Sad-Eyes came out on to the stoep and with her came the two +Zulus of the Axe who had been left sick but were now quite recovered. A number +of the big men ran as though to take her, but the two Zulus made a great fight +in front of the little steps to the stoep, having their backs protected by the +stoep, and killed six of them before they themselves were killed. Also Sad-Eyes +shot one with a pistol she carried, and wounded another so that the spear fell +out of his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Then the rest fell on her and tied her up, setting her in a chair on the +stoep where two remained to watch her. They did her no hurt, Baas; indeed, they +seemed to treat her as gently as they could. Also they went into the house and +there they caught that tall fat yellow girl who always smiles and is called +Janee, she who waits upon the Lady Sad-Eyes, and brought her out to her. I +think they told her, Baas, that she must look after her mistress and that if +she tried to run away she would be killed, for afterwards I saw Janee bring her +food and other things.” +</p> + +<p> +“And then, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Baas, most of the great men rested a while, though some of them +went through the store gathering such things as they liked, blankets, knives +and iron cooking-pots, but they set fire to nothing, nor did they try to catch +the cattle. Also they took dry wood from the pile and lit big fires, eight or +nine of them, and when the sun set they began to feast.” +</p> + +<p> +“What did they feast on, Hans, if they took no cattle?” I asked +with a shiver, for I was afraid of I knew not what. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” answered Hans, turning his head away and looking at the +ground, “they feasted on the children whom they had killed, also on some +of the young women. These tall soldiers are men-eaters, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +At this horrible intelligence I turned faint and felt as though I was going to +fall, but recovering myself, signed to him to go on with his story. +</p> + +<p> +“They feasted quite nicely, Baas,” he continued, “making no +noise. Then some of them slept while others watched, and that went on all +night. As soon as it was dark, but before the moon rose, I slid down the tree +and crept round to the back of the house without being seen or heard, as I can, +Baas. I got into the house by the back door and crawled to the window of the +sitting-room. It was open and peeping through I saw Sad-Eyes still tied to the +seat on the stoep not more than a pace away, while the girl Janee crouched on +the floor at her feet—I think she was asleep or fainting. +</p> + +<p> +“I made a little noise, like a night-adder hissing, and kept on making +it, till at last Sad-Eyes turned her head. Then I spoke in a very low whisper, +for fear lest I should wake the two guards who were dozing on either side of +her wrapped in their blankets, saying, ‘It is I, Hans, come to help +you.’ ‘You cannot,’ she answered, also speaking very low. +‘Get to your master and tell him and my father to follow. These men are +called Amahagger and live far away across the river. They are going to take me +to their home, as I understand, to rule them, because they want a white woman +to be a queen over them who have always been ruled by a certain white queen, +against whom they have rebelled. I do not think they mean to do me any harm, +unless perhaps they want to marry me to their chief, but of this I am not sure +from their talk which I understand badly. Now go, before they catch you.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘I think you might get away,’ I whispered back. ‘I +will cut your bonds. When you are free, slip through the window and I will +guide you.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Very well, try it,’ she said. +</p> + +<p> +“So I drew my knife and stretched out my arm. But then, Baas, I showed +myself a fool—if the Great Medicine had still been there I might have +known better. I forgot the starlight which shone upon the blade of the knife. +That girl Janee came out of her sleep or swoon, lifted her head and saw the +knife. She screamed once, then at a word from her mistress was silent. But it +was enough, for it woke up the guards who glared about them and threatened +Janee with their great spears, also they went to sleep no more, but began to +talk together, though what they said I could not hear, for I was hiding on the +floor of the room. After this, knowing that I could do no good and might do +harm and get myself killed, I crept out of the house as I had crept in, and +crawled back to my tree.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why did you not come to me?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Because I still hoped I might be able to help Sad-Eyes, Baas. Also I +wanted to see what happened, and I knew that I could not bring you here in time +to be any good. Yet it is true I thought of coming though I did not know the +road.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps you were right.” +</p> + +<p> +“At the first dawn,” continued Hans, “the great men who are +called Amahagger rose and ate what was left over from the night before. Then +they gathered themselves together and went to the house. Here they found a +large chair, that seated with <i>rimpis</i> in which the Baas Red-Beard sits, +and lashed two poles to the chair. Beneath the chair they tied the garments and +other things of the Lady Sad-Eyes which they made Janee gather as Sad-Eyes +directed her. This done, very gently they sat Sad-Eyes herself in the chair, +bowing while they made her fast. After this eight of them set the poles upon +their shoulders, and they all went away at a trot, heading for the bush-veld, +driving with them a herd of goats which they had stolen from the farm, and +making Janee run by the chair. I saw everything, Baas, for they passed just +beneath my tree. Then I came to seek you, following the outward spoor of the +waggons which I could not have done well at night. That is all, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hans,” I said, “you have been drinking and because of it the +lady Sad-Eyes is taken a prisoner by cannibals; for had you been awake and +watching, you might have seen them coming and saved her and the rest. Still, +afterwards you did well, and for the rest you must answer to Heaven.” +</p> + +<p> +“I must tell your reverend father, the Predikant, Baas, that the white +master, Red-Beard, gave me the liquor and it is rude not to do as a great white +master does, and drink it up. I am sure he will understand, Baas,” said +Hans abjectly. +</p> + +<p> +I thought to myself that it was true and that the spear which Robertson cast +had fallen upon his own head, as the Zulus say, but I made no answer, lacking +time for argument. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you say,” asked Umslopogaas, speaking for the first time, +“that my servants killed only six of these men-eaters?” +</p> + +<p> +Hans nodded and answered, “Yes, six. I counted the bodies.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was ill done, they should have killed six each,” said +Umslopogaas moodily. “Well, they have left the more for us to +finish,” and he fingered the great axe. +</p> + +<p> +Just then Captain Robertson arrived in his waggon, calling out anxiously to +know what was the matter, for some premonition of evil seemed to have struck +him. My heart sank at the sight of him, for how was I to tell such a story to +the father of the murdered children and of the abducted girl? +</p> + +<p> +In the end I felt that I could not. Yes, I turned coward and saying that I must +fetch something out of the waggon, bolted into it, bidding Hans go forward and +repeat his tale. He obeyed unwillingly enough and looking out between the +curtains of the waggon tent I saw all that happened, though I could not hear +the words that passed. +</p> + +<p> +Robertson had halted the oxen and jumping from the waggon-box strode forward +and met Hans, who began to speak with him, twitching his hat in his hands. +Gradually as the tale progressed, I saw the Captain’s face freeze into a +mask of horror. Then he began to argue and deny, then to weep—oh! it was +a terrible sight to see that great man weeping over those whom he had lost, and +in such a fashion. +</p> + +<p> +After this a kind of blind rage seized him and I thought he was going to kill +Hans, who was of the same opinion, for he ran away. Next he staggered about, +shaking his fists, cursing and shouting, till presently he fell of a heap and +lay face downwards, beating his head against the ground and groaning. +</p> + +<p> +Now I went to him because I must. +</p> + +<p> +He saw me coming and sat up. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s a pretty story, Quatermain, which this little yellow monkey +has been gibbering at me. Man, do you understand what he says? He says that all +those half-blood children of mine are dead, murdered by savages from over the +Zambesi, yes, and eaten, too, with their mothers. Do you take the point? Eaten +like lambs. Those fires your man saw last night were the fires on which they +were cooked, my little <i>so-and-so</i> and <i>so-and-so</i>,” and he +mentioned half a dozen different names. “Yes, cooked, Quatermain. And +that isn’t all of it, they have taken Inez too. They didn’t eat +her, but they have dragged her off a captive for God knows what reason. I +couldn’t understand. The whole ship’s crew is gone, except the +captain absent on leave and the first officer, Thomaso, who deserted with some +Lascar stokers, and left the women and children to their fate. My God, +I’m going mad. I’m going mad! If you have any mercy in you, give me +something to drink.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right,” I said, “I will. Sit here and wait a +minute.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I went to the waggon and poured out a stiff tot of spirits into which I +put an amazing dose of bromide from a little medicine chest I always carry with +me, and thirty drops of chlorodyne on the top of it. All this compound I mixed +up with a little water and took it to him in a tin cup so that he could not see +the colour. +</p> + +<p> +He drank it at a gulp and throwing the pannikin aside, sat down on the veld, +groaning while the company watched him at a respectful distance, for Hans had +joined the others and his tale had spread like fire in drought-parched grass. +</p> + +<p> +In a few minutes the drugs began to take effect upon Robertson’s tortured +nerves, for he rose and said quietly, +</p> + +<p> +“What now?” +</p> + +<p> +“Vengeance, or rather justice,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he exclaimed, “vengeance. I swear that I will be +avenged, or die—or both.” +</p> + +<p> +Again I saw my opportunity and said, “You must swear more than that, +Robertson. Only sober men can accomplish great things, for drink destroys the +judgment. If you wish to be avenged for the dead and to rescue the living, you +must be sober, or I for one will not help you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will you help me if I do, to the end, good or ill, Quatermain?” he +added. +</p> + +<p> +I nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s as much as another’s oath,” he muttered. +“Still, I will put my thought in words. I swear by God, by my +mother—like these natives—and by my daughter born in honest +marriage, that I will never touch another drop of strong drink, until I have +avenged those poor women and their little children, and rescued Inez from their +murderers. If I do you may put a bullet through me.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s all right,” I said in an offhand fashion, though +inwardly I glowed with pride at the success of my great idea, for at the time I +thought it great, and went on, +</p> + +<p> +“Now let us get to business. The first thing to do is to trek to +Strathmuir and make preparations; the next to start upon the trail. Come to sit +on the waggon with me and tell me what guns and ammunition you have got, for +according to Hans those savages don’t seem to have touched anything, +except a few blankets and a herd of goats.” +</p> + +<p> +He did as I asked, telling me all he could remember. Then he said, +</p> + +<p> +“It is a strange thing, but now I recall that about two years ago a great +savage with a high nose, who talked a sort of Arabic which, like Inez, I +understand, having lived on the coast, turned up one day and said he wanted to +trade. I asked him what in, and he answered that he would like to buy some +children. I told him that I was not a slave-dealer. Then he looked at Inez, who +was moving about, and said that he would like to buy her to be a wife for his +Chief, and offered some fabulous sum in ivory and in gold, which he said should +be paid before she was taken away. I snatched his big spear from his hand, +broke it over his head and gave him the best hiding with its shaft that he had +ever heard of. Then I kicked him off the place. He limped away but when he was +out of reach, turned and called out that one day he would come again with +others and take her, meaning Inez, without leaving the price in ivory and gold. +I ran for my gun, but when I got back he had gone and I never thought of the +matter again from that day to this.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, he kept his promise,” I said, but Robertson made no answer, +for by this time that thundering dose of bromide and laudanum had taken effect +on him and he had fallen asleep, of which I was glad, for I thought that this +sleep would save his sanity, as I believe it did for a while. +</p> + +<p> +We reached Strathmuir towards sunset, too late to think of attempting the +pursuit that day. Indeed, during our trek, I had thought the matter out +carefully and come to the conclusion that to try to do so would be useless. We +must rest and make preparations; also there was no hope of our overtaking these +brutes who already had a clear twelve hours’ start, by a sudden spurt. +They must be run down patiently by following their spoor, if indeed they could +be run down at all before they vanished into the vast recesses of unknown +Africa. The most we could do this night was to get ready. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Robertson was still sleeping when we passed the village and of this I +was heartily glad, since the remains of a cannibal feast are not pleasant to +behold, especially when they are——! Indeed, of these I determined +to be rid at once, so slipping off the waggon with Hans and some of the farm +boys, for none of the Zulus would defile themselves by touching such human +remnants—I made up two of the smouldering fires, the light of which the +<i>voorlooper</i> had seen upon the sky, and on to them cast, or caused to be +cast, those poor fragments. Also I told the farm natives to dig a big grave and +in it to place the other bodies and generally to remove the traces of murder. +</p> + +<p> +Then I went on to the house, and not too soon. Seeing the waggons arrive and +having made sure that the Amahagger were gone, Thomaso and the other cowards +emerged from their hiding-places and returned. Unfortunately for the former the +first person he met was Umslopogaas, who began to revile the fat half-breed in +no measured terms, calling him dog, coward, and other opprobrious names, such +as deserter of women and children, and so forth—all of which someone +translated. +</p> + +<p> +Thomaso, an insolent person, tried to swagger the matter out, saying that he +had gone to get assistance. Infuriated at this lie, Umslopogaas leapt upon him +with a roar and though he was a strong man, dealt with him as a lion does with +a buck. Lifting him from his feet, he hurled him to the ground, then as he +strove to rise and run, caught him again and as it seemed to me, was about to +break his back across his knee. Just at this juncture I arrived. +</p> + +<p> +“Let the man go,” I shouted to him. “Is there not enough +death here already?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Umslopogaas, “I think there is. Best that +this jackal should live to eat his own shame,” and he cast Thomaso to the +ground, where he lay groaning. +</p> + +<p> +Robertson, who was still asleep in the waggon, woke up at the noise, and +descended from it, looking dazed. I got him to the house and in doing so made +my way past, or rather between the bodies of the two Zulus and of the six men +whom they had killed, also of him whom Inez had shot. Those Zulus had made a +splendid fight for they were covered with wounds, all of them in front, as I +found upon examination. +</p> + +<p> +Having made Robertson lie down upon his bed, I took a good look at the slain +Amahagger. They were magnificent men, all of them; tall, spare and shapely with +very clear-cut features and rather frizzled hair. From these characteristics, +as well as the lightness of their colour, I concluded that they were of a +Semitic or Arab type, and that the admixture of their blood with that of the +Bantus was but slight, if indeed there were any at all. Their spears, of which +one had been cut through by a blow of a Zulu’s axe, were long and broad, +not unlike to those used by the Masai, but of finer workmanship. +</p> + +<p> +By this time the sun was setting and thoroughly tired by all that I had gone +through, I went into the house to get something to eat, having told Hans to +find food and prepare a meal. As I sat down Robertson joined me and I made him +also eat. His first impulse was to go to the cupboard and fetch the spirit +bottle; indeed, he rose to do so. +</p> + +<p> +“Hans is making coffee,” I said warningly. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you,” he answered, “I forgot. Force of habit, you +know.” +</p> + +<p> +Here I may state that never from that moment did I see him touch another drop +of liquor, not even when I drank my modest tot in front of him. His triumph +over temptation was splendid and complete, especially as the absence of his +accustomed potations made him ill for some time and of course depressed his +spirits, with painful results that were apparent in due course. +</p> + +<p> +In fact, the man became totally changed. He grew gloomy but resourceful, also +full of patience. Only one idea obsessed him—to rescue his daughter and +avenge the murder of his people; indeed, except his sins, he thought of and +found interest in nothing else. Moreover, his iron constitution cast off all +the effects of his past debauchery and he grew so strong that although I was +pretty tough in those days, he could out-tire me. +</p> + +<p> +To return; I engaged him in conversation and with his help made a list of what +we should require on our vendetta journey, all of which served to occupy his +mind. Then I sent him to bed, saying that I would call him before dawn, having +first put a little more bromide into his third cup of coffee. After this I +turned in and notwithstanding the sight of those remains of the cannibal feast +and the knowledge of the dead men who lay outside my window, I slept like a +top. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, it was the Captain who awakened me, not I the Captain, saying that +daylight was on the break and we had better be stirring. So we went down to the +Store, where I was thankful to find that everything had been tidied up in +accordance with my directions. +</p> + +<p> +On our way Robertson asked me what had become of the remains, whereon I pointed +to the smouldering ashes of one of the great fires. He went to it and kneeling +down, said a prayer in broad Scotch, doubtless one that he had learned at his +mother’s knee. Then he took some of the ashes from the edge of the +pyre—for such it was—and threw them into the glowing embers where, +as he knew, lay all that was left of those who had sprung from him. Also he +tossed others of them into the air, though what he meant by this I did not +understand and never asked. Probably it was some rite indicative of expiation +or of revenge, or both, which he had learned from the savages among whom he had +lived so long. +</p> + +<p> +After this we went into the Store and with the help of some of the natives, or +half-breeds, who had accompanied us on the sea-cow expedition, selected all the +goods we wanted, which we sent to the house. +</p> + +<p> +As we returned thither I saw Umslopogaas and his men engaged, with the usual +Zulu ceremonies, in burying their two companions in a hole they had made in the +hillside. I noted, however, that they did not inter their war-axes or their +throwing-spears with them as usual, probably because they thought that these +might be needed. In place of them they put with the dead little models roughly +shaped of bits of wood, which models they “killed” by first +breaking them across. +</p> + +<p> +I lingered to watch the funeral and heard Goroko, the witch-doctor, make a +little speech. +</p> + +<p> +“O Father and Chief of the Axe,” he said, addressing Umslopogaas, +who stood silent leaning on his weapon and watching all, a portentous figure in +the morning mist, “O Father, O Son of the Heavens” (this was an +allusion to the royal blood of Umslopogaas of which the secret was well known, +although it would never have been spoken aloud in Zululand), “O +Slaughterer (Bulalio), O Woodpecker who picks at the hearts of men; O +King-Slayer; O Conqueror of the Halakazi; O Victor in a hundred fights; O +Gatherer of the Lily-bloom that faded in the hand; O Wolf-man, Captain of the +Wolves that ravened; O Slayer of Faku; O Great One whom it pleases to seem +small, because he must follow his blood to the end +appointed——” +</p> + +<p> +This was the opening of the speech, the “<i>bonga</i>-ing” or +giving of Titles of Praise to the person addressed, of which I have quoted but +a sample, for there were many more of them that I have forgotten. Then the +speaker went on, +</p> + +<p> +“It was told to me, though of it I remember nothing, that when my Spirit +was in me a while ago I prophesied that this place would flow with blood, and +lo! the blood has flowed, and with it that of these our brothers,” and he +gave the names of the two dead Zulus, also those of their forefathers for +several generations. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems, Father, that they died well, as you would have wished them to +die, and as doubtless they desired to die themselves, leaving a tale behind +them, though it is true that they might have died better, killing more of the +men-eaters, as it is certain they would have done, had they not been sick +inside. They are finished; they have gone beyond to await us in the Under-world +among the ghosts. Their story is told and soon to their children they will be +but names whispered in honour after the sun has set. Enough of them who have +showed us how to die as our fathers did before them.” +</p> + +<p> +Goroko paused a while, then added with a waving of his hands, +</p> + +<p> +“My Spirit comes to me again and I know that these our brothers shall not +pass unavenged. Chief of the Axe, great glory awaits the Axe, for it shall feed +full. I have spoken.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good words!” grunted Umslopogaas. Then he saluted the dead by +raising <i>Inkosikaas</i> and came to me to consult about our journey. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +PURSUIT</h2> + +<p> +After all we did not get away much before noon, because first there was a great +deal to be done. To begin with the loads had to be arranged. These consisted +largely of ammunition, everything else being cut down to an irreducible +minimum. To carry them we took two donkeys there were on the place, also half a +dozen pack oxen, all of which animals were supposed to be +“salted”—that is, to have suffered and recovered from every +kind of sickness, including the bite of the deadly tsetse fly. I suspected, it +is true, that they would not be proof against further attacks, still, I hoped +that they would last for some time, as indeed proved to be the case. +</p> + +<p> +In the event of the beasts failing us, we took also ten of the best of those +Strathmuir men who had accompanied us on the sea-cow trip, to serve as bearers +when it became necessary. It cannot be said that these snuff-and-butter +fellows—for most, if not all of them had some dash of white blood in +their veins—were exactly willing volunteers. Indeed, if a choice had been +left to them, they would, I think, have declined this adventure. +</p> + +<p> +But there was no choice. Their master, Robertson, ordered them to come and +after a glance at the Zulus they concluded that the command was one which would +be enforced and that if they stopped behind, it would not be as living men. +Also some of them had lost wives or children in the slaughter, which, if they +were not very brave, filled them with a desire for revenge. Lastly, they could +all shoot after a fashion and had good rifles; moreover if I may say so, I +think that they put confidence in my leadership. So they made the best of a bad +business and got themselves ready. +</p> + +<p> +Then arrangements must be made about the carrying on of the farm and store +during our absence. These, together with my waggon and oxen, were put in the +charge of Thomaso, since there was no one else who could be trusted at +all—a very battered and crestfallen Thomaso, by the way. When he heard of +it he was much relieved, since I think he feared lest he also should be +expected to take part in the hunt of the Amahagger man-eaters. Also it may have +occurred to him that in all probability none of us would ever come back at all, +in which case by a process of natural devolution, he might find himself the +owner of the business and much valuable property. However, he swore by sundry +saints—for Thomaso was nominally a Catholic—that he would look +after everything as though it were his own, as no doubt he hoped it might +become. +</p> + +<p> +“Hearken, fat pig,” said Umslopogaas, Hans obligingly translating +so that there might be no mistake, “if I come back, and come back I shall +who travel with the Great Medicine—and find even one of the cattle of the +white lord, Macumazahn, Watcher-by-Night, missing, or one article stolen from +his waggon, or the fields of your master not cultivated or his goods wasted, I +swear by the Axe that I will hew you into pieces with the axe; yes, if to do it +I have to hunt you from where the sun rises to where it sets and down the +length of the night between. Do you understand, fat pig, deserter of women and +children, who to save yourself could run faster than a buck?” +</p> + +<p> +Thomaso replied that he understood very clearly indeed, and that, Heaven +helping him, all should be kept safe and sound. Still, I was sure that in his +manly heart he was promising great gifts to the saints if they would so arrange +matters that Umslopogaas and his axe were never seen at Strathmuir again, and +reflecting that after all the Amahagger had their uses. However, as I did not +trust him in the least, much against their will, I left my driver and +<i>voorlooper</i> to guard my belongings. +</p> + +<p> +At last we did get off, pursued by the fervent blessings of Thomaso and the +prayers of the others that we would avenge their murdered relatives. We were a +curious and motley procession. First went Hans, because at following a spoor he +was, I believe, almost unequalled in Africa, and with him, Umslopogaas, and +three of his Zulus to guard against surprise. These were followed by Captain +Robertson, who seemed to prefer to walk alone and whom I thought it best to +leave undisturbed. Then I came and after me straggled the Strathmuir boys with +the pack animals, the cavalcade being closed by the remaining Zulus under the +command of Goroko. These walked last in case any of the mixed-bloods should +attempt to desert, as we thought it quite probable that they would. +</p> + +<p> +Less than an hour’s tramp brought us to the bush-veld where I feared that +our troubles might begin, since if the Amahagger were cunning, they would take +advantage of it to confuse or hide their spoor. As it chanced, however, they +had done nothing of the sort and a child could have followed their march. Just +before nightfall we came to their first halting-place where they had made a +fire and eaten one of the herd of farm goats which they had driven away with +them, although they left the cattle, I suppose, because goats are docile and +travel well. +</p> + +<p> +Hans showed us everything that had happened; where the chair in which Inez was +carried was set down, where she and Janee had been allowed to walk that she +might stretch her stiff limbs, the dregs of some coffee that evidently Janee +had made in a saucepan, and so forth. +</p> + +<p> +He even told us the exact number of the Amahagger, which he said totalled +forty-one, including the man whom Inez had wounded. His spoor he distinguished +from that of the others both by an occasional drop of blood and because he +walked lightly on his right foot, doubtless for the reason that he wished to +avoid jarring his wound, which was on that side. +</p> + +<p> +At this spot we were obliged to stay till daybreak, since it was impossible to +follow the spoor by night, a circumstance that gave the cannibals a great +advantage over us. +</p> + +<p> +The next two days were repetitions of the first, but on the fourth we passed +out of the bush-veld into the swamp country that bordered the great river. Here +our task was still easy since the Amahagger had followed one of the paths made +by the river-dwellers who had their habitations on mounds, though whether these +were natural or artificial I am not sure, and sometimes on floating islands. +</p> + +<p> +On our second day in the reeds we came upon a sad sight. To our left stood one +of these mound villages, if a village it could be called, since it consisted +only of four or five huts inhabited perhaps by twenty people. We went up to it +to obtain information and stumbled across the body of an old man lying in the +pathway. A few yards further on we found the ashes of a big fire and by it such +remains as we had seen at Strathmuir. Here there had been another cannibal +feast. The miserable huts were empty, but as at Strathmuir, had not been burnt. +</p> + +<p> +We were going away when the acute ears of Hans caught the sound of groans. We +searched about and in a clump of reeds near the foot of the mound, found an old +woman with a great spear wound just above her skinny thigh piercing deep into +the vitals, but of a nature which is not immediately mortal. One of +Robertson’s people who understood the language of these swamp-dwellers +well, spoke to her. She told him that she wanted water. It was brought and she +drank copiously. Then in answer to his questions she began to talk. +</p> + +<p> +She said that the Amahagger had attacked the village and killed all who could +not escape. They had eaten a young woman and three children. She had been +wounded by a spear and fled away into the place where we found her, where none +of them took the trouble to follow her as she “was not worth +eating.” +</p> + +<p> +By my direction the man asked her whether she knew anything of these Amahagger. +She replied that her grandfathers had, though she had heard nothing of them +since she was a child, which must have been seventy years before. They were a +fierce people who lived far up north across the Great River, the remnants of a +race that had once “ruled the world.” +</p> + +<p> +Her grandfathers used to say that they were not always cannibals, but had +become so long before because of a lack of food and now had acquired the taste. +It was for this purpose that they still raided to get other people to eat, +since their ruler would not allow them to eat one another. The flesh of cattle +they did not care for, although they had plenty of them, but sometimes they ate +goats and pigs because they said they tasted like man. According to her +grandfathers they were a very evil people and full of magic. +</p> + +<p> +All of this the old woman told us quite briskly after she had drunk the water, +I think because her wound had mortified and she felt no pain. Her information, +however, as is common with the aged, dealt entirely with the far past; of the +history of the Amahagger since the days of her forebears she knew nothing, nor +had she seen anything of Inez. All she could tell us was that some of them had +attacked her village at dawn and that when she ran out of the hut she was +speared. +</p> + +<p> +While Robertson and I were wondering what we should do with the poor old +creature whom it seemed cruel to leave here to perish, she cleared up the +question by suddenly expiring before our eyes. Uttering the name of someone +with whom, doubtless, she had been familiar in her youth, three or four times +over, she just sank down and seemed to go to sleep and on examination we found +that she was dead. So we left her and went on. +</p> + +<p> +Next day we came to the edge of the Great River, here a sheet of placid running +water about a mile across, for at this time of the year it was low. Perceiving +quite a big village on our left, we went to it and made enquiries, to find that +it had not been attacked by the cannibals, probably because it was too +powerful, but that three nights before some of their canoes had been stolen, in +which no doubt these had crossed the river. +</p> + +<p> +As the people of this village had traded with Robertson at Strathmuir, we had +no difficulty in obtaining other canoes from them in which to cross the Zambesi +in return for one of our oxen that I could see was already sickening from +tsetse bite. These canoes were large enough to take the donkeys that were +patient creatures and stood still, but the cattle we could not get into them +for fear of an upset. So we killed the two driven beasts that were left to us +and took them with us as dead meat for food, while the three remaining pack +oxen we tried to swim across, dragging them after the canoes with hide +<i>reims</i> round their horns. As a result two were drowned, but one, a +bold-hearted and enterprising animal, gained the other bank. +</p> + +<p> +Here again we struck a sea of reeds in which, after casting about, Hans once +more found the spoor of the Amahagger. That it was theirs beyond doubt was +proved by the circumstance that on a thorny kind of weed we found a fragment of +a cotton dress which, because of the pattern stamped on it, we all recognised +as one that Inez had been wearing. At first I thought that this had been torn +off by the thorns, but on examination we became certain that it had been placed +there purposely, probably by Janee, to give us a clue. This conclusion was +confirmed when at subsequent periods of the hunt we found other fragments of +the same garment. +</p> + +<p> +Now it would be useless for me to set out the details of this prolonged and +arduous chase which in all endured for something over three weeks. Again and +again we lost the trail and were only able to recover it by long and elaborate +search, which occupied much time. Then, after we escaped from the reeds and +swamps, we found ourselves upon stony uplands where the spoor was almost +impossible to follow, indeed, we only rediscovered it by stumbling across the +dead body of that cannibal whom Inez had wounded. Evidently he had perished +from his hurt, which I could see had mortified. From the state of his remains +we gathered that the raiders must be about two days’ march ahead of us. +</p> + +<p> +Striking their spoor again on softer ground where the impress of their feet +remained—at any rate to the cunning sight of Hans—we followed them +down across great valleys wherein trees grew sparsely, which valleys were +separated from each other by ridges of high and barren land. On these belts of +rocky soil our difficulties were great, but here twice we were put on the right +track by more fragments torn from the dress of Inez. +</p> + +<p> +At length we lost the spoor altogether; not a sign of it was to be found. We +had no idea which way to go. All about us appeared these valleys covered with +scattered bush running this way and that, so that we could not tell which of +them to follow or to cross. The thing seemed hopeless, for how could we expect +to find a little body of men in that immensity? Hans shook his head and even +the fierce and steadfast Robertson was discouraged. +</p> + +<p> +“I fear my poor lassie is gone,” he said, and relapsed into +brooding as had become his wont. +</p> + +<p> +“Never say die! It’s dogged as does it!” I replied cheerfully +in the words of Nelson, who also had learned what it meant to hunt an enemy +over trackless wastes, although his were of water. +</p> + +<p> +I walked to the top of the rise where we were encamped, and sat down alone to +think matters over. Our condition was somewhat parlous; all our beasts were now +dead, even the second donkey, which was the last of them, having perished that +morning, and been eaten, for food was scanty since of late we had met with +little game. The Strathmuir men, who now must carry the loads, were almost worn +out and doubtless would have deserted, except for the fact that there was no +place to which they could go. Even the Zulus were discouraged, and said they +had come away from home across the Great River to fight, not to run about in +wildernesses and starve, though Umslopogaas made no complaint, being buoyed up +by the promise of his soothsayer, Goroko, that battle was ahead of him in which +he would win great glory. +</p> + +<p> +Hans, however, remained cheerful, for the reason, as he remarked vacuously, +that the Great Medicine was with us and that therefore, however bad things +seemed to be, all in fact was well; an argument that carried no conviction to +my soul. +</p> + +<p> +It was on a certain evening towards sunset that I went away thus alone. I +looked about me, east and west and north. Everywhere appeared the same +bush-clad valleys and barren rises, miles upon miles of them. I bethought me of +the map that old Zikali had drawn in the ashes, and remembered that it showed +these valleys and rises and that beyond them there should be a great swamp, and +beyond the swamp a mountain. So it seemed that we were on the right road to the +home of his white Queen, if such a person existed, or at any rate we were +passing over country similar to that which he had pictured or imagined. +</p> + +<p> +But at this time I was not troubling my head about white queens. I was thinking +of poor Inez. That she was alive a few days before we knew from the fragments +of her dress. But where was she now? The spoor was utterly lost on that stony +ground, or if any traces of it remained a heavy deluge of rain had washed them +away. Even Hans had confessed himself beaten. +</p> + +<p> +I stared about me helplessly, and as I did so a flying ray of light from the +setting sun reflected downwards from a storm-cloud, fell upon a white patch on +the crest of one of the distant land-waves. It struck me that probably +limestone outcropped at this spot, as indeed proved to be the case; also that +such a patch of white would be a convenient guide for any who were travelling +across that sea of bush. Further, some instinct within seemed to impel me to +steer for it, although I had all but made up my mind to go in a totally +different direction many more points to the east. It was almost as though a +voice were calling to me to take this path and no other. Doubtless this was an +effect produced by weariness and mental overstrain. Still, there it was, very +real and tangible, one that I did not attempt to combat. +</p> + +<p> +So next morning at the dawn I headed north by west, laying my course for that +white patch and for the first time breaking the straight line of our advance. +Captain Robertson, whose temper had not been bettered by prolonged and +frightful anxiety, or I may add, by his unaccustomed abstinence, asked me +rather roughly why I was altering the course. +</p> + +<p> +“Look here, Captain,” I answered, “if we were at sea and you +did something of the sort, I should not put such a question to you, and if by +any chance I did, I should not expect you to answer. Well, by your own wish I +am in command here and I think that the same argument holds.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he replied. “I suppose you have studied your chart, if +there is any of this God-forsaken country, and at any rate discipline is +discipline. So steam ahead and don’t mind me.” +</p> + +<p> +The others accepted my decision without comment; most of them were so miserable +that they did not care which way we went, also they were good enough to repose +confidence in my judgment. +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless the Baas has reasons,” said Hans dubiously, +“although the spoor, when last we saw it, headed towards the rising sun +and as the country is all the same, I do not see why those man-eaters should +have returned.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I said, “I have reasons,” although in fact I had +none at all. +</p> + +<p> +Hans surveyed me with a watery eye as though waiting for me to explain them, +but I looked haughty and declined to oblige. +</p> + +<p> +“The Baas has reasons,” continued Hans, “for taking us on +what I think to be the wrong side of that great ridge, there to hunt for the +spoor of the men-eaters, and they are so deep down in his mind that he cannot +dig them up for poor old Hans to look at. Well, the Baas wears the Great +Medicine and perhaps it is there that the reasons sit. Those Strathmuir fellows +say that they can go no further and wish to die. Umslopogaas has just gone to +them with his axe to tell them that he is ready to help them to their wish. +Look, he has got there, for they are coming quickly, who after all prefer to +live.” +</p> + +<p> +Well, we started for my white patch of stones which no one else had noticed and +of which I said nothing to anyone, and reached it by the following evening, to +find, as I expected, that it was a lime outcrop. +</p> + +<p> +By now we were in a poor way, for we had practically nothing left to eat, which +did not tend to raise the spirits of the party. Also that lime outcrop proved +to be an uninteresting spot overlooking a wide valley which seemed to suggest +that there were other valleys of a similar sort beyond it, and nothing more. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Robertson sat stern-faced and despondent at a distance muttering into +his beard, as had become a habit with him. Umslopogaas leaned upon his axe and +contemplated the heavens, also occasionally the Strathmuir men who cowered +beneath his eye. The Zulus squatted about sharing such snuff as remained to +them in economic pinches. Goroko, the witch-doctor, engaged himself in +consulting his “Spirit,” by means of bone-throwing, upon the humble +subject of whether or no we should succeed in killing any game for food +to-morrow, a point on which I gathered that his “Spirit” was quite +uncertain. In short, the gloom was deep and universal and the sky looked as +though it were going to rain. +</p> + +<p> +Hans became sarcastic. Sneaking up to me in his most aggravating way, like a +dog that means to steal something and cover up the theft with simulated +affection, he pointed out one by one all the disadvantages of our present +position. He indicated <i>per contra</i>, that if <i>his</i> advice had been +followed, his conviction was that even if we had not found the man-eaters and +rescued the lady called Sad-Eyes, our state would have been quite different. He +was sure, he added, that the valley which he had suggested we should follow, +was one full of game, inasmuch as he had seen their spoor at its entrance. +</p> + +<p> +“Then why did you not say so?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +Hans sucked at his empty corn-cob pipe, which was his way of indicating that he +would like me to give him some tobacco, much as a dog groans heavily under the +table when he wants a bit to eat, and answered that it was not for him to point +out things to one who knew everything, like the great Macumazahn, +Watcher-by-Night, his honoured master. Still, the luck did seem to have gone a +bit wrong. The privations could have been put up with (here he sucked very +loudly at the empty pipe and looked at mine, which was alight), everything +could have been put up with, if only there had been a chance of coming even +with those men-eaters and rescuing the Lady Sad-Eyes, whose face haunted his +sleep. As it was, however, he was convinced that by following the course I had +mapped out we had lost their spoor finally and that probably they were now +three days’ march away in another direction. Still, the Baas had said +that he had his reasons, and that of course was enough for him, Hans, only if +the Baas would condescend to tell him, he would as a matter of curiosity like +to know what the reasons were. +</p> + +<p> +At that moment I confess that, much as I was attached to him, I should have +liked to murder Hans, who, I felt, believing that he had me “on +toast,” to use a vulgar phrase, was taking advantage of my position to +make a mock of me in his sly, Hottentot way. +</p> + +<p> +I tried to continue to look grand, but felt that the attitude did not impress. +Then I stared about me as though taking counsel with the Heavens, devoutly +hoping that the Heavens would respond to my mute appeal. As a matter of fact +they did. +</p> + +<p> +“There is my reason, Hans,” I said in my most icy voice, and I +pointed to a faint line of smoke rising against the twilight sky on the further +side of the intervening valley. +</p> + +<p> +“You will perceive, Hans,” I added, “that those Amahagger +cannibals have forgotten their caution and lit a fire yonder, which they have +not done for a long time. Perhaps you would like to know why this has happened. +If so I will tell you. It is because for some days past I have purposely lost +their spoor, which they knew we were following, and lit fires to puzzle them. +Now, thinking that they have done with us, they have become incautious and +shown us where they are. That is my reason, Hans.” +</p> + +<p> +He heard and, although of course he did not believe that I had lost the spoor +on purpose, stared at me till I thought his little eyes were going to drop out +of his head. But even in his admiration he contrived to convey an insult as +only a native can. +</p> + +<p> +“How wonderful is the Great Medicine of the Opener-of-Roads, that it +should have been able thus to instruct the Baas,” he said. “Without +doubt the Great Medicine is right and yonder those men-eaters are encamped, who +might just as well as have been anywhere else within a hundred miles.” +</p> + +<p> +“Drat the Great Medicine,” I replied, but beneath my breath, then +added aloud, +</p> + +<p> +“Be so good, Hans, as to go to Umslopogaas and to tell him that +Macumazahn, or the Great Medicine, proposes to march at once to attack the camp +of the Amahagger, and—here is some tobacco.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas,” answered Hans humbly, as he snatched the tobacco and +wriggled away like a worm. +</p> + +<p> +Then I went to talk with Robertson. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The end of it was that within an hour we were creeping across that valley +towards the spot where I had seen the line of smoke rising against the twilight +sky. +</p> + +<p> +Somewhere about midnight we reached the neighbourhood of this place. How near +or how far we were from it, we could not tell since the moon was invisible, as +of course the smoke was in the dark. Now the question was, what should we do? +</p> + +<p> +Obviously there would be enormous advantages in a night attack, or at least in +locating the enemy, so that it might be carried out at dawn before he marched. +Especially was this so, since we were scarcely in a condition even if we could +come face to face with them, to fight these savages when they were prepared and +in the light of day. Only we two white men, with Hans, Umslopogaas and his +Zulus, could be relied upon in such a case, since the Strathmuir mixed-bloods +had become entirely demoralised and were not to be trusted at a pinch. Indeed, +tired and half starving as we were, none of us was at his best. Therefore a +surprise seemed our only chance. But first we must find those whom we wished to +surprise. +</p> + +<p> +Ultimately, after a hurried consultation, it was agreed that Hans and I should +go forward and see if we could locate the Amahagger. Robertson wished to come +too, but I pointed out that he must remain to look after his people, who, if he +left them, might take the opportunity to melt away in the darkness, especially +as they knew that heavy fighting was at hand. Also if anything happened to me +it was desirable that one white man should remain to lead the party. +Umslopogaas, too, volunteered, but knowing his character, I declined his help. +To tell the truth, I was almost certain that if we came upon the men-eaters, he +would charge the whole lot of them and accomplish a fine but futile end after +hacking down a number of cannibal barbarians, whose extinction or escape +remained absolutely immaterial to our purpose, namely, the rescue of Inez. +</p> + +<p> +So it came about that Hans and I started alone, I not at all enjoying the job. +I suppose that there lurks in my nature some of that primeval terror of the +dark, which must continually have haunted our remote forefathers of a hundred +or a thousand generations gone and still lingers in the blood of most of us. At +any rate even if I am named the Watcher-by-Night, greatly do I prefer to fight +or to face peril in the sunlight, though it is true that I would rather avoid +both at any time. +</p> + +<p> +In fact, I wished heartily that the Amahagger were at the other side of Africa, +or in heaven, and that I, completely ignorant of the person called Inez +Robertson, were seated smoking the pipe of peace on my own stoep in Durban. I +think that Hans guessed my state of mind, since he suggested that he should go +alone, adding with his usual unveiled rudeness, that he was quite certain that +he would do much better without me, since white men always made a noise. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I replied, determined to give him a Roland for his Oliver, +“I have no doubt you would—under the first bush you came across, +where you would sleep till dawn, and then return and say that you could not +find the Amahagger.” +</p> + +<p> +Hans chuckled, quite appreciating the joke, and having thus mutually affronted +each other, we started on our quest. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +THE SWAMP</h2> + +<p> +Neither Hans nor I carried rifles that we knew would be in the way on our +business, which was just to scout. Moreover, one is always tempted to shoot if +a gun is at hand, and this I did not want to do at present. So, although I had +my revolver in case of urgent necessity, my only other weapon was a Zulu axe, +that formerly had belonged to one of those two men who died defending Inez on +the veranda at Strathmuir, while Hans had nothing but his long knife. Thus +armed, or unarmed, we crept forward towards that spot whence, as we +conjectured, we had seen the line of smoke rising some hours before. +</p> + +<p> +For about a quarter of a mile we went on thus without seeing or hearing +anything, and a difficult job it was in that gloom among the scattered trees +with no light save such as the stars gave us. Indeed, I was about to suggest +that we had better abandon the enterprise until daybreak when Hans nudged me, +whispering, +</p> + +<p> +“Look to the right between those twin thorns.” +</p> + +<p> +I obeyed and following the line of sight which he had indicated, perceived, at +a distance of about two hundred yards a faint glow, so faint indeed that I +think only Hans would have noticed it. Really it might have been nothing more +than the phosphorescence rising from a heap of fungus, or even from a decaying +animal. +</p> + +<p> +“The fire of which we saw the smoke that has burnt to ashes,” +whispered Hans again. “I think that they have gone, but let us +look.” +</p> + +<p> +So we crawled forward very cautiously to avoid making the slightest noise; so +cautiously, indeed, that it must have taken us nearly half an hour to cover +those two hundred yards. +</p> + +<p> +At length we were within about forty yards of that dying fire and, afraid to go +further, came to a stand—or rather, a lie-still—behind some bushes +until we knew more. Hans lifted his head and sniffed with his broad nostrils; +then he whispered into my ear, but so low that I could scarcely hear him. +</p> + +<p> +“Amahagger there all right, Baas, I smell them.” +</p> + +<p> +This of course was possible, since what wind there was blew from the direction +of the fire, although I whose nose is fairly keen could smell nothing at all. +So I determined to wait and watch a while, and indicated my decision to Hans, +who, considering our purpose accomplished, showed signs of wishing to retreat. +</p> + +<p> +Some minutes we lay thus, till of a sudden this happened. A branch of resinous +wood of which the stem had been eaten through by the flames, fell upon the +ashes of the fire and burnt up with a brilliant light. In it we saw that the +Amahagger were sleeping in a circle round the fire wrapped in their blankets. +</p> + +<p> +Also we saw another thing, namely that nearer to us, not more than a dozen +yards away, indeed, was a kind of little tent, also made of fur rugs or +blankets, which doubtless sheltered Inez. Indeed, this was evident from the +fact that at the mouth of it, wrapped up in something, lay none other than her +maid, Janee, for her face being towards us, was recognised by us both in the +flare of the flaming branch. One more thing we noted, namely, that two of the +cannibals, evidently a guard, were sleeping between us and the little tent. Of +course they ought to have been awake, but fatigue had overcome them and there +they slumbered, seated on the ground, their heads hanging forward almost upon +their knees. +</p> + +<p> +An idea came to me. If we could kill those men without waking the others in +that gloom, it might be possible to rescue Inez at once. Rapidly I weighed the +<i>pros</i> and <i>cons</i> of such an attempt. Its advantages, if successful, +were that the object of our pursuit would be carried through without further +trouble and that it was most doubtful whether we should ever get such a chance +again. If we returned to fetch the others and attacked in force, the +probability was that those Amahagger, or one of them, would hear some sound +made by the advance of a number of men, and fly into the darkness; or, rather +than lose Inez, they might kill her. Or if they stood and fought, she might be +slain in the scrimmage. Or, as after all we had only about a dozen effectives, +for the Strathmuir bearers could not be relied upon, they might defeat and kill +us whom they outnumbered by two or three to one. +</p> + +<p> +These were the arguments for the attempt. Those for not making it were equally +obvious. To begin with it was one of extraordinary risk; the two guards or +someone else behind them might wake up—for such people, like dogs, mostly +sleep with one eye open, especially when they know that they are being pursued. +Or if they did not we might bungle the business so that they raised an outcry +before they grew silent for ever, in which case both of us and perhaps Inez +also would probably pay the penalty before we could get away. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the horned dilemma upon one point or other of which we ran the risk of +being impaled. For a full minute or more I considered the matter with an +earnestness almost amounting to mental agony, and at last all but came to the +conclusion that the danger was too enormous. It would be better, +notwithstanding the many disadvantages of that plan, to go back and fetch the +others. +</p> + +<p> +But then it was that I made one of my many mistakes in life. Most of us do more +foolish things than wise ones and sometimes I think that in spite of a certain +reputation for caution and far-sightedness, I am exceptionally cursed in this +respect. Indeed, when I look back upon my past, I can scarcely see the scanty +flowers of wisdom that decorate its path because of the fat, ugly trees of +error by which it is overshadowed. +</p> + +<p> +On that occasion, forgetting past experiences where Hans was concerned, my +natural tendency to blunder took the form of relying upon another’s +judgment instead of on my own. Although I had formed a certain view as to what +should be done, the <i>pros</i> and <i>cons</i> seemed so evenly balanced that +I determined to consult the little Hottentot and accept his verdict. This, +after all, was but a form of gambling like pitch and toss, since, although it +is true Hans was a clever, or at any rate a cunning man according to his +lights, and experienced, it meant that I was placing my own judgment in +abeyance, which no one considering a life-and-death enterprise should do, +taking the chance of that of another, whatever it might be. However, not for +the first time, I did so—to my grief. +</p> + +<p> +In the tiniest of whispers with my lips right against his smelly head, I +submitted the problem to Hans, asking him what we should do, go on or go back. +He considered a while, then answered in a voice which he contrived to make like +the drone of a night beetle. +</p> + +<p> +“Those men are fast asleep, I know it by their breathing. Also the Baas +has the Great Medicine. Therefore I say go on, kill them and rescue +Sad-Eyes.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I saw that the Fates to which I had appealed had decided against me and +that I must accept their decree. With a sick and sinking heart—for I did +not at all like the business—I wondered for a moment what had led Hans to +take this view, which was directly opposite to any I had expected from him. Of +course his superstition about the Great Medicine had something to do with it, +but I felt convinced that this was not all. +</p> + +<p> +Even then I guessed that two arguments appealed to him, of which the first was +that he desired, if possible, to put an end to this intolerable and unceasing +hunt which had worn us all out, no matter what that end might be. The second +and more powerful, however, was, I believed, and rightly, that the idea of this +stealthy, midnight blow appealed irresistibly to the craft of his half-wild +nature in which the strains of the leopard and the snake seemed to mingle with +that of the human being. For be it remembered that notwithstanding his veneer +of civilisation, Hans was a savage whose forefathers for countless ages had +preserved themselves alive by means of such attacks and stratagems. +</p> + +<p> +The die having been cast, in the same infinitesimal whispers we made our +arrangements, which were few and simple. They amounted to this—that we +were to creep on to the men and each of us to kill that one who was opposite to +him, I with the axe and Hans with his knife, remembering that it must be done +with a single stroke—that is, if they did not wake up and kill +us—after which we were to get Inez out of her shelter, dressed or +undressed, and make off with her into the darkness where we were pretty sure of +being able to baffle pursuit until we reached our own camp. +</p> + +<p> +Provided that we could kill the two guards in the proper fashion—rather a +large proviso, I admit—the thing was simple as shelling peas which, +notwithstanding the proverb, in my experience is not simple at all, since +generally the shells crack the wrong way and at least one of the peas remained +in the pod. So it happened in this case, for Janee, whom we had both forgotten, +remained in the pod. +</p> + +<p> +I am sure I don’t know why we overlooked her; indeed, the error was +inexcusable, especially as Hans had already experienced her foolishness and she +was lying there before our eyes. I suppose that our minds were so concentrated +upon the guard-killing and the tragic and impressive Inez that there was no +room in them for the stolid and matter-of-fact Janee. At any rate she proved to +be the pea that would not come out of the pod. +</p> + +<p> +Often in my life I have felt terrified, not being by nature one of those who +rejoices in dangers and wild adventures for their own sake, which only the +stupid do, but who has, on the contrary, been forced to undertake them by the +pressure of circumstances, a kind of hydraulic force that no one can resist, +and who, having undertaken, has been carried through them, triumphing over the +shrinkings of his flesh by some secret reserve of nerve power. Almost am I +tempted to call it spirit-power, something that lives beyond and yet inspires +our frail and fallible bodies. +</p> + +<p> +Well, rarely have I been more frightened than I was at this moment. Actually I +hung back until I saw that Hans slithering through the grass like a thick +yellow snake with the great knife in his right hand, was quite a foot ahead of +me. Then my pride came to the rescue and I spurted, if one can spurt upon +one’s stomach, and drew level with him. After this we went at a pace so +slow that any able-bodied snail would have left us standing still. Inch by inch +we crept forward, lying motionless a while after each convulsive movement, once +for quite a long time, since the left-hand cannibal seemed about to wake up, +for he opened his mouth and yawned. If so, he changed his mind and rolling from +a sitting posture on to his side, went to sleep much more soundly than before. +</p> + +<p> +A minute or so later the right-hand ruffian, my man, also stirred, so sharply +that I thought he had heard something. Apparently, however, he was only haunted +by dreams resulting from an evil life, or perhaps by the prescience of its end, +for after waving his arm and muttering something in a frightened voice, he too, +wearied out, poor devil, sank back into sleep. +</p> + +<p> +At last we were on them, but paused because we could not see exactly where to +strike and knew, each of us, that our first blow must be the last and fatal. A +cloud had come up and dimmed what light there was, and we must wait for it to +pass. It was a long wait, or so it seemed. +</p> + +<p> +At length that cloud did pass and in faint outline I saw the classical head of +my Amahagger bowed in deep sleep. With a heart beating as it does only in the +fierce extremities of love or war, I hissed like a snake, which was our agreed +signal. Then rising to my knees, I lifted the Zulu axe and struck with all my +strength. +</p> + +<p> +The blow was straight and true; Umslopogaas himself could not have dealt a +better. The victim in front of me uttered no sound and made no movement; only +sank gently on to his side, and there lay as dead as though he had never been +born. +</p> + +<p> +It appeared that Hans had done equally well, since the other man kicked out his +long legs, which struck me on the knees. Then he also became strangely still. +In short, both of them were stone dead and would tell no stories this side of +Judgment Day. +</p> + +<p> +Recovering my axe, which had been wrenched from my hand, I crept forward and +opened the curtain-like rugs or blankets, I do not know which they were, that +covered Inez. I heard her stir at once. The movement had wakened her, since +captives sleep lightly. +</p> + +<p> +“Make no noise, Inez,” I whispered. “It is I, Allan +Quatermain, come to rescue you. Slip out and follow me; do you +understand?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, quite,” she whispered back and began to rise. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment a blood-curdling yell seemed to fill earth and heaven, a yell at +the memory of which even now I feel faint, although I am writing years after +its echoes died away. +</p> + +<p> +I may as well say at once that it came from Janee who, awaking suddenly, had +perceived against the background of the sky, Hans standing over her, looking +like a yellow devil with a long knife in his hand, which she thought was about +to be used to murder her. +</p> + +<p> +So, lacking self-restraint, she screamed in the most lusty fashion, for her +lungs were excellent, and—the game was up. +</p> + +<p> +Instantly every man sleeping round the fire leapt to his feet and rushed in the +direction of the echoes of Janee’s yell. It was impossible to get Inez +free of her tent arrangement or to do anything, except whisper to her, +</p> + +<p> +“Feign sleep and know nothing. We will follow you. Your father is with +us.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I bolted back into the bushes, which Hans had reached already. +</p> + +<p> +A minute or two later when we were clear of the hubbub and nearing our own +camp, Hans remarked to me sententiously, +</p> + +<p> +“The Great Medicine worked well, Baas, but not quite well enough, for +what medicine can avail against a woman’s folly?” +</p> + +<p> +“It was our own folly we should blame,” I answered. “We ought +to have known that fool-girl would shriek, and taken precautions.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, we ought to have killed her too, for nothing else would have +kept her quiet,” replied Hans in cheerful assent. “Now we shall +have to pay for our mistake, for the hunt must go on.” +</p> + +<p> +At this moment we stumbled across Robertson and Umslopogaas who, with the +others, and every living thing within a mile or two had also heard +Janee’s yell, and briefly told our story. When he learned how near we had +been to rescuing his daughter, Robertson groaned, but Umslopogaas only said, +</p> + +<p> +“Well, there are two less of the men-eaters left to deal with. Still, for +once your wisdom failed you, Macumazahn. When you had found the camp you should +have returned, so that we might all attack it together. Had we done so, before +the dawn there would not have been one of them left.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “I think that my wisdom did fail me, if I +have any to fail. But come; perhaps we may catch them yet.” +</p> + +<p> +So we advanced, Hans and I showing the road. But when we reached the place it +was too late, for all that remained of the Amahagger, or of Inez and Janee, +were the two dead men whom we had killed, and in that darkness pursuit was +impossible. So we went back to our own camp to rest and await the dawn before +taking up the trail, only to find ourselves confronted with a new trouble. All +the Strathmuir half-breeds whom we had left behind as useless, had taken +advantage of our absence and that of the Zulus, to desert. They had just bolted +back upon our tracks and vanished into the sea of bush. What became of them I +do not know, as we never saw them again, but my belief is that these cowardly +fellows all perished, for certainly not one of them reached Strathmuir. +</p> + +<p> +Fortunately for us, however, they departed in such a hurry that they left all +their loads behind them, and even some of the guns they carried. Evidently +Janee’s yell was the last straw which broke the back of such nerve as +remained to them. Doubtless they believed it to be the signal of attack by +hordes of cannibals. +</p> + +<p> +As there was nothing to be said or done, since any pursuit of these curs was +out of the question, we made the best of things as they were. It proved a +simple business. From the loads we selected such articles as were essential, +ammunition for the most part, to carry ourselves—and the rest we +abandoned, hiding it under a pile of stones in case we should ever come that +way again. +</p> + +<p> +The guns they had thrown aside we distributed among the Zulus who had none, +though the thought that they possessed them, so far as I was concerned, added +another terror to life. The prospect of going into battle with those wild +axemen letting off bullets in every direction was not pleasant, but fortunately +when that crisis came, they cast them away and reverted to the weapons to which +they were accustomed. +</p> + +<p> +Now all this sounds much like a tale of disaster, or at any rate of failure. It +is, however, wonderful by what strange ways good results are brought about, so +much so that at times I think that these seeming accidents must be arranged by +an Intelligence superior to our own, to fulfil through us purposes of which we +know nothing, and frequently, be it admitted, of a nature sufficiently obscure. +Of course this is a fatalistic doctrine, but then, as I have said before, +within certain limits I am a fatalist. +</p> + +<p> +To take the present case, for instance, the whole Inez episode at first sight +might appear to be an excrescence on my narrative, of which the object is to +describe how I met a certain very wonderful woman and what I heard and +experienced in her company. Yet it is not really so, since had it not been for +the Inez adventure, it is quite clear that I should never have reached the home +of this woman, if woman she were, or have seen her at all. Before long this +became very obvious to me, as shall be told. +</p> + +<p> +From the night upon which Hans and I failed to rescue Inez we had no more +difficulty in following the trail of the cannibals, who thenceforward were +never more than a few hours ahead of us and had no time to be careful or to +attempt to hide their spoor. Yet so fast did they travel that do what we would, +burdened and wearied as we were, it proved impossible to overtake them. +</p> + +<p> +For the first three days the track ran on through scattered, rolling bush-veld +of the character that I have described, but tending continually down hill. When +we broke camp on the morning of the fourth day, eating a hasty meal at dawn +(for now game had become astonishingly plentiful, so that we did not lack food) +the rising sun showed beneath us an endless sea of billowy mist stretching in +every direction far as the sight could carry. +</p> + +<p> +To the north, however, it did come to an end, for there, as I judged fifty or +sixty miles away, rose the grim outline of what looked like a huge fortress, +which I knew must be one of those extraordinary mountain formations, probably +owing their origin to volcanic action, that are to be met with here and there +in the vast expanses of Central and Eastern Africa. Being so distant it was +impossible to estimate its size, which I guessed must be enormous, but in +looking at it I bethought me of that great mountain in which Zikali said the +marvellous white Queen lived, and wondered whether it could be the same, as +from my memory of his map upon the ashes, it well might be, that is, if such a +place existed at all. If so the map had shown it as surrounded by swamps +and—well, surely that mist hid the face of a mighty swamp? +</p> + +<p> +It did indeed, since before nightfall, following the spoor of those Amahagger, +we had plunged into a morass so vast that in all my experience I have never +seen or heard of its like. It was a veritable ocean of papyrus and other reeds, +some of them a dozen or more feet high, so that it was impossible to see a yard +in any direction. +</p> + +<p> +Here it was that the Amahagger ahead of us proved our salvation, since without +them to guide us we must soon have perished. For through that gigantic swamp +there ran a road, as I think an ancient road, since in one or two places I saw +stone work which must have been laid by man. Yet it was not a road which it +would have been possible to follow without a guide, seeing that it also was +overgrown with reeds. Indeed, the only difference between it and the +surrounding swamp was that on the road the soil was comparatively firm, that is +to say, one seldom sank into it above the knee, whereas on either side of it +quagmires were often apparently bottomless, and what is more, partook of the +nature of quicksand. +</p> + +<p> +This we found out soon after we entered the swamp, since Robertson, pushing +forward with the fierce eagerness which seemed to consume him, neglected to +keep his eye upon the spoor and stepped off the edge on to land that appeared +to be exactly similar to its surface. Instantly he began to sink in greasy and +tenacious mud. Umslopogaas and I were only twenty yards behind, yet by the time +we reached him in answer to his shouts, already he was engulfed up to his +middle and going down so rapidly that in another minute he would have vanished +altogether. Well, we got him out but not with ease, for that mud clung to him +like the tentacles of an octopus. After this we were more careful. +</p> + +<p> +Nor did this road run straight; on the contrary, it curved about and sometimes +turned at right angles, doubtless to avoid a piece of swamp over which it had +proved impossible for the ancients to construct a causeway, or to follow some +out-crop of harder soil beneath. +</p> + +<p> +The difficulties of that horrible place are beyond description, and indeed can +scarcely be imagined. First there was that of a kind of grass which grew among +the roots of the reeds and had edges like to those of knives. As Robertson and +I wore gaiters we did not suffer so much from it, but the poor Zulus with their +bare legs were terribly cut about and in some cases lame. +</p> + +<p> +Then there were the mosquitoes which lived here by the million and all seemed +anxious for a bite; also snakes of a peculiarly deadly kind were numerous. A +Zulu was bitten by one of them of so poisonous a nature that he died within +three minutes, for the venom seemed to go straight to his heart. We threw his +body into the swamp, where it vanished at once. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly there was the all-pervading stench and the intolerable heat of the +place, since no breath of air could penetrate that forest of reeds, while a +minor trouble was that of the multitude of leeches which fastened on to our +bodies. By looking one could see the creatures sitting on the under side of +leaves with their heads stretched out waiting to attack anything that went by. +As wayfarers there could not have been numerous, I wondered what they had lived +on for the last few thousand years. By the way, I found that paraffin, of which +we had a small supply for our hand-lamps, rubbed over all exposed surfaces, was +to some extent a protection against these blood-sucking worms and the gnats, +although it did make one go about smelling like a dirty oil tin. +</p> + +<p> +During the day, except for the occasional rush of some great iguana or other +reptile, and the sound of the wings of the flocks of wildfowl passing over us +from time to time, the march was deathly silent. But at night it was different, +for then the bull-frogs boomed incessantly, as did the bitterns, while great +swamp owls and other night-flying birds uttered their weird cries. Also there +were mysterious sucking noises caused, no doubt, by the sinking of areas of +swamp, with those of bursting bubbles of foul, up-rushing gas. +</p> + +<p> +Strange lights, too, played about, will-o’-the-wisps or St. Elmo fires, +as I believe they are called, that frightened the Zulus very much, since they +believed them to be spirits of the dead. Perhaps this superstition had +something to do with their native legend that mankind was “torn out of +the reeds.” If so, they may have imagined that the ghosts of men went +back to the reeds, of which there were enough here to accommodate those of the +entire Zulu nation. Any way they were much scared; even the bold witch-doctor, +Goroko, was scared and went through incantations with the little bag of +medicines he carried to secure protection for himself and his companions. +Indeed, I think even the iron Umslopogaas himself was not as comfortable as he +might have been, although he did inform me that he had come out to fight and +did not care whether it were with man, or wizard, or spirit. +</p> + +<p> +In short, of all the journeys that I have made, with the exception of the +passage of the desert on our way to King Solomon’s Mines, I think that +through this enormous swamp was the most miserable. Heartily did I curse myself +for ever having undertaken such a quest in a wild attempt to allay that +sickness, or rather to quench that thirst of the soul which, I imagine, at +times assails most of those who have hearts and think or dream. +</p> + +<p> +For this was at the bottom of the business: this it was which had delivered me +into the hands of Zikali, Opener-of-Roads, who, as now I am sure, was merely +making use of me for his private occult purposes. He desired to consult the +distant Oracle, if such a person existed, as to great schemes of his own, and +therefore, to attain his end, made use of my secret longings which I had been +so foolish as to reveal to him, quite careless of what happened to me in the +process. [A bit narrow and uncharitable, this view. It seems to me that Zikali +is taking a big risk in giving him the Great Medicine.—JB] +</p> + +<p> +Well, I was in for the business and must follow it to the finish whatever that +might be. After all it was very interesting and if there were anything in what +Zikali said (if there were not I could not conceive what object he had in +sending me on such a wild-goose chase through this home of geese and ducks), it +might become more interesting still. For being pretty well fever-proof I did +not think I should die in that morass, as of course nine white men out of ten +would have done, and, beyond it lay the huge mountain which day by day grew +larger and clearer. +</p> + +<p> +Nor did Hans, who, with a childlike trust, pinned his faith to the Great +Medicine. This, he remarked, was the worst veld through which he had ever +travelled, but as the Great Medicine would never consent to be buried in that +stinking mud, he had no doubt that we should come safely through it some time. +I replied that this wonderful medicine of his had not saved one of our +companions who had now made a grave in the same mud. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas,” he said, “but those Zulus have nothing to do with +the Medicine which was given to you, and to me who accompanied you when we saw +the Opener-of-Roads. Therefore perhaps they will all die, except Umslopogaas, +whom you were told to take with you. If so, what does it matter, since there +are plenty of Zulus, although there be but one Macumazahn or one Hans? Also the +Baas may remember that he began by offending a snake and therefore it is quite +natural that this snake’s brother should have bitten the Zulu.” +</p> + +<p> +“If you are right, he should have bitten me, Hans.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, and so no doubt he would have done had you not been protected +by the Great Medicine, and me too had not my grandfather been a snake-charmer, +to say nothing of the smell of the Medicine being on me as well. The snakes +know those that they should bite, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +“So do the mosquitoes,” I answered, grabbing a handful of them. +“The Great Medicine has no effect upon them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! yes, Baas, it has, since though it pleases them to bite, the bites +do us no harm, or at least not much, and all are made happy. Still, I wish we +could get out of these reeds of which I never want to see another, and Baas, +please keep your rifle ready for I think I hear a crocodile stirring +there.” +</p> + +<p> +“No need, Hans,” I remarked sarcastically. “Go and tell him +that I have the Great Medicine.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, I will; also that if he is very hungry, there are some Zulus +camped a few yards further down the road,” and he went solemnly to the +reeds a little way off and began to talk to them. +</p> + +<p> +“You infernal donkey!” I murmured, and drew my blanket over my head +in a vain attempt to keep out the mosquitoes and smoking furiously with the +same object, tried to get to sleep. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +At last the swamp bottom began to slope upwards a little, with the result that +as the land dried through natural drainage, the reeds grew thinner by degrees, +until finally they ceased and we found ourselves on firmer ground; indeed, upon +the lowest slopes of the great mountain that I have mentioned, that now towered +above us, forbidden and majestic. +</p> + +<p> +I had made a little map in my pocket-book of the various twists and turns of +the road through that vast Slough of Despond, marking them from hour to hour as +we followed its devious wanderings. On studying this at the end of that part of +our journey I realised afresh how utterly impossible it would have been for us +to thread that misty maze where a few false steps would always have meant death +by suffocation, had it not been for the spoor of those Amahagger travelling +immediately ahead of us who were acquainted with its secrets. Had they been +friendly guides they could not have done us a better turn. +</p> + +<p> +What I wondered was why they had not tried to ambush us in the reeds, since our +fires must have shown them that we were close upon their heels. That they did +try to burn us out was clear from certain evidences that I found, but +fortunately at this season of the year in the absence of a strong wind the rank +reeds were too green to catch fire. For the rest I was soon to learn the reason +of their neglect to attack us in that dense cover. +</p> + +<p> +They were waiting for a better opportunity! +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /> +THE ATTACK</h2> + +<p> +We won out of the reeds at last, for which I fervently thanked God, since to +have crossed that endless marsh unguided, with the loss of only one man, seemed +little less than miraculous. We emerged from them late in the afternoon and +being wearied out, stopped for a while to rest and eat of the flesh of a buck +that I had been fortunate enough to shoot upon their fringe. Then we pushed +forward up the slope, proposing to camp for the night on the crest of it a mile +or so away where I thought we should escape from the deadly mist in which we +had been enveloped for so long, and obtain a clear view of the country ahead. +</p> + +<p> +Following the bank of a stream which here ran down into the marsh, we came at +length to this crest just as the sun was sinking. Below us lay a deep valley, a +fold, as it were, in the skin of the mountain, well but not densely bushed. The +woods of this valley climbed up the mountain flank for some distance above it +and then gave way to grassy slopes that ended in steep sides of rock, which +were crowned by a black and frowning precipice of unknown height. +</p> + +<p> +There was, I remember, something very impressive about this towering natural +wall, which seemed to shut off whatever lay beyond the gaze of man, as though +it veiled an ancient mystery. Indeed, the aspect of it thrilled me, I knew not +why. I observed, however, that at one point in the mighty cliff there seemed to +be a narrow cleft down which, no doubt, lava had flowed in a remote age, and it +occurred to me that up this cleft ran a roadway, probably a continuation of +that by which we had threaded the swamp. The fact that through my glasses I +could see herds of cattle grazing on the slopes of the mountain went to confirm +this view, since cattle imply owners and herdsmen, and search as I would, I +could find no native villages on the slopes. The inference seemed to be that +those owners dwelt beyond or within the mountain. +</p> + +<p> +All of these things I saw and pointed out to Robertson in the light of the +setting sun. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Umslopogaas had been engaged in selecting the spot where we were to +camp for the night. Some soldierlike instinct, or perchance some prescience of +danger, caused him to choose a place particularly suitable to defence. It was +on a steep-sided mound that more or less resembled a gigantic ant-heap. Upon +one side this mound was protected by the stream which because of a pool was +here rather deep, while at the back of it stood a collection of those curious +and piled-up water-worn rocks that are often to be found in Africa. These +rocks, lying one upon another like the stones of a Cyclopean wall, curved round +the western side of the mound, so that practically it was only open for a +narrow space, say thirty or forty feet, upon that face of it which looked on to +the mountain. +</p> + +<p> +“Umslopogaas expects battle,” remarked Hans to me with a grin, +“otherwise with all this nice plain round us he would not have chosen to +camp in a place which a few men could hold against many. Yes, Baas, he thinks +that those cannibals are going to attack us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Stranger things have happened,” I answered indifferently, and +having seen to the rifles, went to lie down, observing as I did so that the +tired Zulus seemed already to be asleep. Only Umslopogaas did not sleep. On the +contrary, he stood leaning on his axe staring at the dim outlines of the +opposing precipice. +</p> + +<p> +“A strange mountain, Macumazahn,” he said, “compared to it +that of the Witch, beneath which my kraal lies, is but a little baby. I wonder +what we shall find within it. I have always loved mountains, Macumazahn, ever +since a dead brother of mine and I lived with the wolves in the Witch’s +lap, for on them I have had the best of my fighting.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps it is not done with yet,” I answered wearily. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope not, Macumazahn, since some is due for us, after all these days +of mud and stench. Sleep a while now, Macumazahn, for that head of yours which +you use so much, must need rest. Fear not, I and the little yellow man who do +not think as much as you do, will keep watch and wake you if there is need, as +mayhap there will be before the dawn. Here none can come at us except in front, +and the place is narrow.” +</p> + +<p> +So I lay down and slept as soundly as ever I had done in my life, for a space +of four or five hours I suppose. Then, by some instinct perhaps, I awoke +suddenly, feeling much refreshed in that sweet mountain air, a new man indeed, +and in the moonlight saw Umslopogaas striding towards me. +</p> + +<p> +“Arise, Macumazahn,” he said, “I hear men stirring below +us.” +</p> + +<p> +At this moment Hans slipped past him, whispering, +</p> + +<p> +“The cannibals are coming, Baas, a good number of them. I think they mean +to attack before dawn.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he passed behind me to warn the Zulus. As he went by, I said to him, +</p> + +<p> +“If so, Hans, now is the time for your Great Medicine to show what it can +do.” +</p> + +<p> +“The Great Medicine will look after you and me all right, Baas,” he +replied, pausing and speaking in Dutch, which Umslopogaas did not understand, +“but I expect there will be fewer of those Zulus to cook for before the +sun grows hot. Their spirits will be turned into snakes and go back into the +reeds from which they say they were ‘torn out,’” he added +over his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +I should explain that Hans acted as cook to our party and it was a grievance +with him that the Zulus ate so much of the meat which he was called upon to +prepare. Indeed, there is never much sympathy between Hottentots and Zulus. +</p> + +<p> +“What is the little yellow man saying about us?” asked Umslopogaas +suspiciously. +</p> + +<p> +“He is saying that if it comes to battle, you and your men will make a +great fight,” I replied diplomatically. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, we will do that, Macumazahn, but I thought he said that we should +be killed and that this pleased him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh dear no!” I answered hastily. “How could he be pleased if +that happened, since then he would be left defenceless, if he were not killed +too. Now, Umslopogaas, let us make a plan for this fight.” +</p> + +<p> +So, together with Robertson, rapidly we discussed the thing. As a result, with +the help of the Zulus, we dragged together some loose stones and the tops of +three small thorn trees which we had cut down, and with them made a low +breastwork, sufficient to give us some protection if we lay down to shoot. It +was the work of a few minutes since we had prepared the material when we camped +in case an emergency should arise. +</p> + +<p> +Behind this breastwork we gathered and waited, Robertson and I being careful to +get a little to the rear of the Zulus, who it will be remembered had the rifles +which the Strathmuir bastards had left behind them when they bolted, in +addition to their axes and throwing assegais. The question was how these +cannibals would fight. I knew that they were armed with long spears and knives +but I did not know if they used those spears for thrusting or for throwing. In +the former case it would be difficult to get at them with the axes because they +must have the longer reach. Fortunately as it turned out, they did both. +</p> + +<p> +At length all was ready and there came that long and trying wait, the most +disagreeable part of a fight in which one grows nervous and begins to reflect +earnestly upon one’s sins. Clearly the Amahagger, if they really intended +business, did not mean to attack till just before dawn, after the common native +fashion, thinking to rush us in the low and puzzling light. What perplexed me +was that they should wish to attack us at all after having let so many +opportunities of doing so go by. Apparently these men were now in sight of +their own home, where no doubt they had many friends, and by pushing on could +reach its shelter before us, especially as they knew the roads and we did not. +</p> + +<p> +They had come out for a secret purpose that seemed to have to do with the +abduction of a certain young white woman for reasons connected with their +tribal statecraft or ritual, which is the kind of thing that happens not +infrequently among obscure and ancient African tribes. Well, they had abducted +their young woman and were in sight of safety and success in their objects, +whatever these might be. For what possible reason, then, could they desire to +risk a fight with the outraged friends and relatives of that young woman? +</p> + +<p> +It was true that they outnumbered us and therefore had a good chance of +victory, but on the other hand, they must know that it would be very dearly +won, and if it were not won, that we should retake their captive, so that all +their trouble would have been for nothing. Further they must be as exhausted +and travel-worn as we were ourselves and in no condition to face a desperate +battle. +</p> + +<p> +The problem was beyond me and I gave it up with the reflection that either this +threatened attack was a mere feint to delay us, or that behind it was something +mysterious, such as a determination to prevent us at all hazards from +discovering the secrets of that mountain stronghold. +</p> + +<p> +When I put the riddle to Hans, who was lying next to me, he was ready with +another solution. +</p> + +<p> +“They are men-eaters, Baas,” he said, “and being hungry, wish +to eat us before they get to their own land where doubtless they are not +allowed to eat each other.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think so,” I answered, “when we are so thin?” +and I surveyed Hans’ scraggy form in the moonlight. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! yes, Baas, we should be quite good boiled—like old hens, Baas. +Also it is the nature of cannibals to prefer thin man to fat beef. The devil +that is in them gives them that taste, Baas, just as he makes me like gin, or +you turn your head to look at pretty women, as those Zulus say you always did +in their country, especially at a certain witch who was named Mameena and whom +you kissed before everybody——” +</p> + +<p> +Here I turned my head to look at Hans, proposing to smite him with words, or +physically, since to have this Mameena myth, of which I have detailed the +origin in the book called <i>Child of Storm</i>, re-arise out of his hideous +little mouth was too much. But before I could get out a syllable he held up his +finger and whispered, +</p> + +<p> +“Hush! the dawn breaks and they come. I hear them.” +</p> + +<p> +I listened intently but could distinguish nothing. Only straining my eyes, +presently I thought that about a hundred yards down the slope beneath us in the +dim light I caught sight of ghostlike figures flitting from tree to tree; also +that these figures were drawing nearer. +</p> + +<p> +“Look out!” I said to Robertson on my right, “I believe they +are coming.” +</p> + +<p> +“Man,” he answered sternly, “I hope so, for whom else have I +wanted to meet all these days?” +</p> + +<p> +Now the figures vanished into a little fold of the ground. A minute or so later +they re-appeared upon its hither side where such light as there was from the +fading stars and the gathering dawn fell full upon them, for here were no +trees. I looked and a thrill of horror went through me, for with one glance I +recognised that these were <i>not the men whom we had been following</i>. To +begin with, there were many more of them, quite a hundred, I should think, also +they had painted shields, wore feathers in their hair, and generally so far as +I could judge, seemed to be fat and fresh. +</p> + +<p> +“We have been led into an ambush,” I said first in Zulu to +Umslopogaas immediately in front, and then in English to Robertson. +</p> + +<p> +“If so, man, we must just do the best we can,” answered the latter, +“but God help my poor daughter, for those other devils will have taken +her away, leaving their brethren to make an end of us.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is so, Macumazahn,” broke in Umslopogaas. “Well, whatever +the end of it, we shall have a better fight. Now do you give the word and we +will obey.” +</p> + +<p> +The savages, for so I call them, although I admit that cannibals or not, they +looked more like high-class Arabs than savages, came on in perfect silence, +hoping, I suppose, to catch us asleep. When they were about fifty yards away, +running in a treble line with spears advanced, I called out “Fire!” +in Zulu, and set the example by loosing off both barrels of my express rifle at +men whom I had picked out as leaders, with results that must have been more +satisfactory to me than to the two Amahagger whose troubles in this world came +to an end. +</p> + +<p> +There followed a tremendous fusillade, the Zulus banging off their guns wildly, +but even at that distance managing for the most part to shoot over the +enemy’s heads. Captain Robertson and Hans, however, did better and the +general result was that the Amahagger, who appeared to be unaccustomed to +firearms, retreated in a hurry to a fold of the ground whence they had emerged. +Before the last of them got there I loaded again, so that two more stopped +behind. Altogether we had put nine or ten of them out of action. +</p> + +<p> +Now I hoped that they would give the business up. But this was not so, for +being brave fellows, after a pause of perhaps five minutes, once more they +charged in a body, hoping to overwhelm us. Again we greeted them with bullets +and knocked out several, whereon the rest threw a volley of their long spears +at us. I was glad to see them do this although one of the Zulus got his death +from it, while two more were wounded. I myself had a very narrow escape, for a +spear passed between my neck and shoulder. Each of them carried but one of +these weapons and I knew that if they used them up in throwing, only their big +knives would remain to them with which to attack us. +</p> + +<p> +After this discharge of spears which was kept up for some time, they rushed at +us and there followed a great fight. The Zulus, throwing down their guns, rose +to their feet and holding their little fighting shields which had been carried +in their mats, in the left hand, wielded their axes with the right. +Umslopogaas, who stood in the centre of them, however, had no shield and swung +his great axe with both arms. This was the first time that I had seen him fight +and the spectacle was in a way magnificent. Again and again the axe crashed +down and every time it fell it left one dead beneath the stroke, till at length +those Amahagger shrank back out of his reach. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Robertson, Hans and I, standing on some stones at the back, kept up a +continual fire upon them, shooting over the heads of the Zulus, who were +playing their part like men. Yes, they shrank back, leaving many dead behind +them. Then a captain tried to gather them for another rush, and once more they +moved forward. I killed that captain with a revolver shot, for my rifle had +become too hot to hold, and at the sight of his fall, they broke and ran back +into the little hollow where our bullets could not reach them. +</p> + +<p> +So far we had held our own, but at a price, for three of the Zulus were now +dead and three more wounded, one of them severely, the other two but enough to +cripple them. In fact, now there were left of them but three untouched men, and +Umslopogaas, so that in all for fighting purposes we were but seven. What +availed it that we had killed a great number of these Amahagger, when we were +but seven? How could seven men withstand such another onslaught? +</p> + +<p> +There in the pale light of the dawn we looked at each other dismayed. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” said Umslopogaas, leaning on his red axe, “there +remains but one thing to do, make a good end, though I would that it were in a +greater cause. At least we must either fight or fly,” and he looked down +at the wounded. +</p> + +<p> +“Think not of us, Father,” murmured one of them, the man who had a +mortal hurt. “If it is best, kill us and begone that you may live to bear +the Axe in years to come.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well spoken!” said Umslopogaas, and again stood still a while, +then added, “The word is with you, Macumazahn, who are our +captain.” +</p> + +<p> +I set out the situation to Robertson and Hans as briefly as I could, showing +that there was a chance of life if we ran, but so far as I could see, none if +we stayed. +</p> + +<p> +“Go if you like, Quatermain,” answered the Captain, “but I +shall stop and die here, for since my girl is gone I think I’m better +dead.” +</p> + +<p> +I motioned to Hans to speak. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he answered, “the Great Medicine is here with us upon +the earth and your reverend father, the Predikant, is with us in the sky, so I +think we had better stop here and do what we can, especially as I do not want +to see those reeds any more at present.” +</p> + +<p> +“So do I,” I said briefly, giving no reasons. +</p> + +<p> +So we made ready for the next attack which we knew would be the last, +strengthening our little wall and dragging the dead Amahagger up against it as +an added protection. As we were thus engaged the sun rose and in its first +beams, some miles away on the opposing slopes of the mountain looking tiny +against the black background of the precipice, we saw a party of men creeping +forward. Lifting my glasses I studied it and perceived that in its midst was a +litter. +</p> + +<p> +“There goes your daughter,” I said, and handed the glasses to +Robertson. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! my God,” he answered, “those villains have outwitted us +after all.” +</p> + +<p> +Another minute and the litter, or rather the chair with its escort, had +vanished into the shadow of the great cliffs, probably up some pass which we +could not see. +</p> + +<p> +Next moment our thoughts were otherwise engaged, since from various symptoms we +gathered that the attack was about to be renewed. Spears upon which shone the +light of the rising sun, appeared above the edge of the ground-fold that I have +mentioned, which to the east increased to a deep, bush-clad ravine. Also there +were voices as of leaders encouraging their men to a desperate effort. +</p> + +<p> +“They are coming,” I said to Robertson. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he answered, “they are coming and we are going. +It’s a queer end to the thing we call life, isn’t it, Quatermain, +and hang it all! I wonder what’s beyond? Not much for me, I expect, but +whatever it is could scarcely be worse than what I’ve gone through here +below in one way and another.” +</p> + +<p> +“There’s hope for all of us,” I replied as cheerfully as I +could, for the man’s deep depression disturbed me. +</p> + +<p> +“Mayhap, Quatermain, for who knows the infinite mercy of whatever made us +as we are? My old mother used to preach of it and I remember her words now. But +in my case I expect it will stop at hope, or sleep, and if it wasn’t for +Inez, I’d not mind so much, for I tell you I’ve had enough of the +world and life. Look, there’s one of them. Take that, you black +devil!” and lifting his rifle he aimed and fired at an Amahagger who +appeared upon the edge of the fold of ground. What is more he hit him, for I +saw the man double up and fall backwards. +</p> + +<p> +Then the game began afresh, for the cannibals (I suppose they were cannibals +like their brethren) crept out of shelter, advancing on their stomachs or their +hands and knees, so as to offer a smaller mark, and dragging between them a +long and slender tree-trunk with which clearly they intended to batter down our +wall. +</p> + +<p> +Of course I blazed away at them, pretty carefully too, for I was determined +that what I believed to be the last exercise of the gift of shooting that has +been given to me, should prove a record. Therefore I selected my men and even +where I would hit them, and as subsequent examination showed, I made no +mistakes in the seven or eight shots that I fired. But all the while, like poor +Captain Robertson, I was thinking of other things; namely, where I was bound +for presently and if I should meet certain folk there and what was the meaning +of this show called Life, which unless it leads somewhere, according to my +judgment has none at all. Until these questions were solved, however, my duty +was to kill as many of those ruffians as I could, and this I did with finish +and despatch. +</p> + +<p> +Robertson and Hans were firing also, with more or less success, but there were +too many to be stopped by our three rifles. Still they came on till at length +their fierce faces were within a few yards of our little parapet and +Umslopogaas had lifted his great axe to give them greeting. They paused a +moment before making their final rush, and so did we to slip in fresh +cartridges. +</p> + +<p> +“Die well, Hans,” I said, “and if you get there first, wait +for me on the other side.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, I always meant to do that, though not yet. We are not going +to die this time, Baas. Those who have the Great Medicine don’t die; it +is the others who die, like that fellow,” and he pointed to an Amahagger +who went reeling round and round with a bullet from his Winchester through the +middle, for he had fired in the midst of his remarks. +</p> + +<p> +“Curse—I mean bless—the Great Medicine,” I said as I +lifted my rifle to my shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +At that moment all those Amahagger—there were about sixty of them +left—became seized with a certain perturbation. They stood still, they +stared towards the fold of ground out of which they had emerged; they called to +each other words which I did not catch, and then—they turned to run. +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas saw, and with a leader’s instinct, acted. Springing over the +parapet, followed by his remaining Zulus of the Axe, he leapt upon them with a +roar. Down they went before <i>Inkosikaas</i>, like corn before a sickle. The +thing was marvellous to see, it was like the charge of a leopard, so swift was +the rush and so lightning-like were the strokes or rather the pecks of that +flashing axe, for now he was tapping at their heads or spines with the +gouge-like point upon its back. Nor were these the only victims, for those +brave followers of his also did their part. In a minute all who remained upon +their feet of the Amahagger were in full flight, vanishing this way and that +among the trees. Hans fired a parting shot after the last of them, then sat +down upon a stone and finding his corn-cob pipe, proceeded to fill it. +</p> + +<p> +“The Great Medicine, Baas,” he began sententiously, “or +perhaps your reverend father, the Predikant——” Here he paused +and pointed doubtfully with the bowl of the pipe towards the fold in the +ground, adding, “Here it is, but I think it must be your reverend father, +not the Great Medicine, yes, the Predikant himself, returned from Heaven, the +Place of Fires!” +</p> + +<p> +Looking vaguely in the direction indicated, for I could not conceive what he +meant and thought that the excitement must have made him mad, I perceived a +venerable old man with a long white beard and clothed in a flowing garment, +also white, who reminded me of Father Christmas at a child’s party, +walking towards us and radiating benignancy. Also behind him I perceived a +whole forest of spear points emerging from the gully. He seemed to take it for +granted that we should not shoot at him, for he came on quite unconcerned, +carefully picking his way among the corpses. When he was near enough he stopped +and said in a kind of Arabic which I could understand, +</p> + +<p> +“I greet you, Strangers, in the name of her I serve. I see that I am just +in time, but this does not surprise me, since she said that it would be so. You +seem to have done very well with these dogs,” and he prodded a dead +Amahagger with his sandalled foot. “Yes, very well indeed. You must be +great warriors.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he paused and we stared at each other. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN WALL</h2> + +<p> +“These do not seem to be friends of yours,” I said, pointing to the +fallen. “And yet,” I added, nodding towards the spearmen who were +now emerging from the gully, “they are very like your friends.” +</p> + +<p> +“Puppies from the same litter are often alike, yet when they grow up +sometimes they fight each other,” replied Father Christmas blandly. +“At least these come to save and not to kill you. Look! they kill the +others!” and he pointed to them making an end of some of the wounded men. +“But who are these?” and he glanced with evident astonishment, +first at the fearsome-looking Umslopogaas and then at the grotesque Hans. +“Nay, answer not, you must be weary and need rest. Afterwards we can +talk.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, as a matter of fact we have not yet breakfasted,” I replied. +“Also I have business to attend to here,” and I glanced at our +wounded. +</p> + +<p> +The old fellow nodded and went to speak to the captains of his force, doubtless +as to the pursuit of the enemy, for presently I saw a company spring forward on +their tracks. Then, assisted by Hans and the remaining Zulus, of whom one was +Goroko, I turned to attend to our own people. The task proved lighter than I +expected, since the badly injured man was dead or dying and the hurts of the +two others were in their legs and comparatively slight, such as Goroko could +doctor in his own native fashion. +</p> + +<p> +After this, taking Hans to guard my back, I went down to the stream and washed +myself. Then I returned and ate, wondering the while that I could do so with +appetite after the terrible dangers which we had passed. Still, we had passed +them, and Robertson, Umslopogaas with three of his men, I and Hans were quite +unharmed, a fact for which I returned thanks in silence but sincerely enough to +Providence. +</p> + +<p> +Hans also returned thanks in his own fashion, after he had filled himself, not +before, and lit his corn-cob pipe. But Robertson made no remark; indeed, when +he had satisfied his natural cravings, he rose and walking a few paces forward, +stood staring at the cleft in the mountain cliff into which he had seen the +litter vanish that bore his daughter to some fate unknown. +</p> + +<p> +Even the great fight that we had fought and the victory we had won against +overpowering odds did not appear to impress him. He only glared at the mountain +into the heart of which Inez had been raped away, and shook his fist. Since she +was gone all else went for nothing, so much so that he did not offer to assist +with the wounded Zulus or show curiosity about the strange old man by whom we +had been rescued. +</p> + +<p> +“The Great Medicine, Baas,” said Hans in a bewildered way, +“is even more powerful than I thought. Not only has it brought us safely +through the fighting and without a scratch, for those Zulus there do not matter +and there will be less cooking for me to do now that they are gone; it has also +brought down your reverend father the Predikant from the Place of Fires in +Heaven, somewhat changed from what I remember him, it is true, but still +without doubt the same. When I make my report to him presently, if he can +understand my talk, I shall——” +</p> + +<p> +“Stop your infernal nonsense, you son of a donkey,” I broke in, for +at this moment old Father Christmas, smiling more benignly than before, +re-appeared from the kloof into which he had vanished and advanced towards us +bowing with much politeness. +</p> + +<p> +Having seated himself upon the little wall that we had built up, he +contemplated us, stroking his beautiful white beard, then said, addressing me, +</p> + +<p> +“Of a certainty you should be proud who with a few have defeated so many. +Still, had I not been ordered to come at speed, I think that by now you would +have been as those are,” and he looked towards the dead Zulus who were +laid out at a distance like men asleep, while their companions sought for a +place to bury them. +</p> + +<p> +“Ordered by whom?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“There is only one who can order,” he answered with mild +astonishment. “‘She-who-commands, +She-who-is-everlasting’!” +</p> + +<p> +It occurred to me that this must be some Arabic idiom for the Eternal Feminine, +but I only looked vague and said, +</p> + +<p> +“It would appear that there are some whom this exalted everlasting She +cannot command; those who attacked us; also those who have fled away +yonder,” and I waved my hand towards the mountain. +</p> + +<p> +“No command is absolute; in every country there are rebels, even, as I +have heard, in Heaven above us. But, Wanderer, what is your name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Watcher-by-Night,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! a good name for one who must have watched well by night, and by day +too, to reach this country living where She-who-commands says that no man of +your colour has set foot for many generations. Indeed, I think she told me once +that two thousand years had gone by since she spoke to a white man in the City +of Kôr.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did she indeed?” I exclaimed, stifling a cough. +</p> + +<p> +“You do not believe me,” he went on, smiling. “Well, +She-who-commands can explain matters for herself better than I who was not +alive two thousand years ago, so far as I remember. But what must I call him +with the Axe?” +</p> + +<p> +“Warrior is his name.” +</p> + +<p> +“Again a good name, as to judge by the wounds on them, certain of those +rebels I think are now telling each other in Hell. And this man, if indeed he +be a man——” he added, looking doubtfully at Hans. +</p> + +<p> +“Light-in-Darkness is his name.” +</p> + +<p> +“I see, doubtless because his colour is that of the winter sun in thick +fog, or a bad egg broken into milk. And the other white man who mutters and +whose brow is like a storm?” +</p> + +<p> +“He is called Avenger; you will learn why later on,” I answered +impatiently, for I grew tired of this catechism, adding, “And what are +you called and, if you are pleased to tell it to us, upon what errand do you +visit us in so fortunate an hour?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am named Billali,” he answered, “the servant and messenger +of She-who-commands, and I was sent to save you and to bring you safely to +her.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can this be, Billali, seeing that none knew of our coming?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet She-who-commands knew,” he said with his benignant smile. +“Indeed, I think that she learned of it some moons ago through a message +that was sent to her and so arranged all things that you should be guided +safely to her secret home; since otherwise how would you have passed a great +pathless swamp with the loss, I think she said, of but one man whom a snake +bit?” +</p> + +<p> +Now I stared at the old fellow, for how could he know of the death of this man, +but thought it useless to pursue the conversation further. +</p> + +<p> +“When you are rested and ready,” he went on, “we will start. +Meanwhile I leave you that I may prepare litters to carry those wounded men, +and you also, Watcher-by-Night, if you wish.” Then with a dignified bow, +for everything about this old fellow was stately, he turned and vanished into +the kloof. +</p> + +<p> +The next hour or so was occupied in the burial of the dead Zulus, a ceremony in +which I took no part beyond standing up and raising my hat as they were borne +away, for as I have said somewhere, it is best to leave natives alone on these +occasions. Indeed, I lay down, reflecting that strangely enough there seemed to +be something in old Zikali’s tale of a wonderful white Queen who lived in +a mountain fastness, since there was the mountain as he had drawn it on the +ashes, and the servants of that Queen who, apparently, had knowledge of our +coming, appeared in the nick of time to rescue us from one of the tightest +fixes in which ever I found myself. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, the antique and courteous individual called Billali, spoke of her as +“She-who-is-everlasting.” What the deuce could he mean by that, I +wondered? Probably that she was very old and therefore disagreeable to look on, +which I confessed to myself would be a disappointment. +</p> + +<p> +And how did she know that we were coming? I could not guess and when I asked +Robertson, he merely shrugged his shoulders and intimated that he took no +interest in the matter. The truth is that nothing moved the man, whose whole +soul was wrapped in one desire, namely to rescue, or avenge, the daughter +against whom he knew he had so sorely sinned. +</p> + +<p> +In fact, this loose-living but reformed seaman was becoming a monomaniac, and +what is more, one of the religious type. He had a Bible with him that had been +given to him by his mother when he was a boy, and in this he read constantly; +also he was always on his knees and at night I could hear him groaning and +praying aloud. Doubtless now that the chains of drink had fallen off him, the +instincts and the blood of the dour old Covenanters from whom he was descended, +were asserting themselves. In a way this was a good thing though for some time +past I had feared lest it should end in his going mad, and certainly as a +companion he was more cheerful in his unregenerate days. +</p> + +<p> +Abandoning speculation as useless and taking my chance of being murdered where +I lay, for after all Billali’s followers were singularly like the men +with whom we had been fighting and for aught I knew might be animated by +identical objects—I just went to sleep, as I can do at any time, to wake +up an hour or so later feeling wonderfully refreshed. Hans, who when I closed +my eyes was already asleep slumbering at my feet curled up like a dog on a spot +where the sun struck hotly, roused me by saying: +</p> + +<p> +“Awake, Baas, they are here!” +</p> + +<p> +I sprang up, snatching at my rifle, for I thought that he meant that we were +being attacked again, to see Billali advancing at the head of a train of four +litters made of bamboo with grass mats for curtains and coverings, each of +which was carried by stalwart Amahagger, as I supposed that they must be. Two +of these, the finest, Billali indicated were for Robertson and myself, and the +two others for the wounded. Umslopogaas and the remaining Zulus evidently were +expected to walk, as was Hans. +</p> + +<p> +“How did you make these so quickly,” I asked, surveying their +elegant and indeed artistic workmanship. +</p> + +<p> +“We did not make them, Watcher-by-Night, we brought them with us folded +up. She-who-commands looked in her glass and said that four would be needed, +besides my own which is yonder, two for white lords and two for wounded black +men, which you see is the number required.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered vaguely, marvelling what kind of a glass it was +that gave the lady this information. +</p> + +<p> +Before I could inquire upon the point Billali added, +</p> + +<p> +“You will be glad to learn that my men caught some of those rebels who +dared to attack you, eight or ten of them who had been hurt by your missiles or +axe-cuts, and put them to death in the proper fashion—yes, quite the +proper fashion,” and he smiled a little. “The rest had gone too far +where it would have been dangerous to follow them among the rocks. Enter now, +my lord Watcher-by-Night, for the road is steep and we must travel fast if we +would reach the place where She-who-commands is camped in the ancient holy +city, before the moon sinks behind the cliffs to-night.” +</p> + +<p> +So having explained matters to Robertson and Umslopogaas, who announced that +nothing would induce <i>him</i> to be carried like an old woman, or a corpse +upon a shield, and seen that the hurt Zulus were comfortably accommodated, +Robertson and I got into our litters, which proved to be delightfully easy and +restful. +</p> + +<p> +Then when our gear was collected by the hook-nosed bearers to whom we were +obliged to trust, though we kept with us our rifles and a certain amount of +ammunition, we started. First went a number of Billali’s spearmen, then +came the litters with the wounded alongside of which Umslopogaas and his three +uninjured Zulus stalked or trotted, then another litter containing Billali, +then my own by which ran Hans, and Robertson’s, and lastly the rest of +the Amahagger and the relief bearers. +</p> + +<p> +“I see now, Baas,” said Hans, thrusting his head between my +curtains, “that yonder Whitebeard cannot be your reverend father, the +Predikant, after all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why not?” I asked, though the fact was fairly obvious. +</p> + +<p> +“Because, Baas, if he were, he would not have left Hans, of whom he +always thought so well, to run in the sun like a dog, while he and others +travel in carriages like great white ladies.” +</p> + +<p> +“You had better save your breath instead of talking nonsense, +Hans,” I said, “since I believe that you have a long way to +go.” +</p> + +<p> +In fact, it proved to be a very long way indeed, especially as after we began +to breast the mountain, we must travel slowly. We started about ten +o’clock in the morning, for the fight which after all did not take +long—had, it will be remembered, begun shortly after dawn, and it was +three in the afternoon before we reached the base of the towering cliff which I +have mentioned. +</p> + +<p> +Here, at the foot of a remarkable, isolated column of rock, on which I was +destined to see a strange sight in the after days, we halted and ate of the +remaining food which we had brought with us, while the Amahagger consumed their +own, that seemed to consist largely of curdled milk, such as the Zulus call +<i>maas</i>, and lumps of a kind of bread. +</p> + +<p> +I noted that they were a very curious people who fed in silence and on whose +handsome, solemn faces one never saw a smile. Somehow it gave me the creeps to +look at them. Robertson was affected in the same way, for in one of the rare +intervals of his abstraction he remarked that they were “no canny.” +Then he added, +</p> + +<p> +“Ask yon old wizard who might be one of the Bible prophets come to +life—what those man-eating devils have done with my daughter.” +</p> + +<p> +I did so, and Billali answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Say that they have taken her away to make a queen of her, since having +rebelled against their own queen, they must have another who is white. Say too +that She-who-commands will wage war on them and perhaps win her back, unless +they kill her first.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” Robertson repeated when I had translated, “unless they +kill her first—or worse.” Then he relapsed into his usual silence. +</p> + +<p> +Presently we started on again, heading straight for what looked like a sheer +wall of black rock a thousand feet or more in height, up a path so steep that +Robertson and I got out and walked, or rather scrambled, in order to ease the +bearers. Billali, I noticed, remained in his litter. The convenience of the +bearers did not trouble him; he only ordered an extra gang to the poles. I +could not imagine how we were to negotiate this precipice. Nor could +Umslopogaas, who looked at it and said, +</p> + +<p> +“If we are to climb that, Macumazahn, I think that the only one who will +live to get to the top will be that little yellow monkey of yours,” and +he pointed with his axe at Hans. +</p> + +<p> +“If I do,” replied that worthy, much nettled, for he hated to be +called a “yellow monkey” by the Zulus, “be sure that I will +roll down stones upon any black butcher whom I see sprawling upon the cliff +below.” +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas smiled grimly, for he had a sense of humour and could appreciate a +repartee even when it hit him hard. Then we stopped talking for the climb took +all our breath. +</p> + +<p> +At length we came to the cliff face where, to all appearance, our journey must +end. Suddenly, however, out of the blind black wall in front of us started the +apparition of a tall man armed with a great spear and wearing a white robe, who +challenged us hoarsely. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly he stood before us, as a ghost might do, though whence he came we +could not see. Presently the mystery was explained. Here in the cliff face +there was a cleft, though one invisible even from a few paces away, since its +outer edge projected over the inner wall of rock. Moreover, this opening was +not above four feet in width, a mere split in the huge mountain mass caused by +some titanic convulsion in past ages. For it was a definite split since, once +entered, far, far above could be traced a faint line of light coming from the +sky, although the gloom of the passage was such that torches, which were stored +at hand, must be used by those who threaded it. One man could have held the +place against a hundred—until he was killed. Still, it was guarded, not +only at the mouth where the warrior had appeared, but further along at every +turn in the jagged chasm, and these were many. +</p> + +<p> +Into this grim place we went. The Zulus did not like it at all, for they are a +light-loving people and I noted that even Umslopogaas seemed scared and hung +back a little. Nor did Hans, who with his usual suspicion, feared some trap; +nor, for the matter of that, did I, though I thought it well to appear much +interested. Only Robertson seemed quite indifferent and trudged along stolidly +after a man carrying a torch. +</p> + +<p> +Old Billali put his head out of the litter and shouted back to me to fear +nothing, since there were no pitfalls in the path, his voice echoing strangely +between those narrow walls of measureless height. +</p> + +<p> +For half an hour or more we pursued this dreary, winding path round the corners +of which the draught tore in gusts so fierce that more than once the litters +with the wounded men and those who bore them were nearly blown over. It was +safe enough, however, since on either side of us, smooth and without break, +rose the sheer walls of rock over which lay the tiny ribbon of blue sky. At +length the cleft widened somewhat and the light grew stronger, making the +torches unnecessary. +</p> + +<p> +Then of a sudden we came to its end and found ourselves upon a little plateau +in the mountainside. Behind us for a thousand feet or so rose the sheer rock +wall as it did upon the outer face, while in front and beneath, far beneath, +was a beautiful plain circular in shape and of great extent, which plain was +everywhere surrounded, so far as I could see, by the same wall of rock. In +short, notwithstanding its enormous size, without doubt it was neither more nor +less than the crater of a vast extinct volcano. Lastly, not far from the centre +of this plain was what appeared to be a city, since through my glasses I could +see great walls built of stone, and what I thought were houses, all of them of +a character more substantial than any that I had discovered in the wilds of +Africa. +</p> + +<p> +I went to Billali’s litter and asked him who lived in the city. +</p> + +<p> +“No one,” he answered, “it has been dead for thousands of +years, but She-who-commands is camped there at present with an army, and +thither we go at once. Forward, bearers.” +</p> + +<p> +So, Robertson and I having re-entered our litters, we started on down hill at a +rapid pace, for the road, though steep, was safe and kept in good order. All +the rest of that afternoon we travelled and by sunset reached the edge of the +plain, where we halted a while to rest and eat, till the light of the growing +moon grew strong enough to enable us to proceed. Umslopogaas came up and spoke +to me. +</p> + +<p> +“Here is a fortress indeed, Macumazahn,” he said, “since none +can climb that fence of rock in which the holes seem to be few and +small.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “but it is one out of which those who are +in, would find it difficult to get out. We are buffaloes in a pit, +Umslopogaas.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is so,” he answered, “I have thought it already. But if +any would meddle with us we still have our horns and can toss for a +while.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he went back to his men. +</p> + +<p> +The sunset in that great solemn place was a wonderful thing to see. First of +all the measureless crater was filled with light like a bowl with fire. Then as +the great orb sank behind the western cliff, half of the plain became quite +dark while shadows seemed to rush forward over the eastern part of its surface, +till that too was swallowed up in gloom and for a little while there remained +only a glow reflected from the cliff face and from the sky above, while on the +crest of the parapet of rock played strange and glorious fires. Presently these +too vanished and the world was dark. +</p> + +<p> +Then the half moon broke from behind a bank of clouds and by its silver, +uncertain light we struggled forward across the flat plain, rather slowly now, +for even the iron muscles of those bearers grew tired. I could not see much of +it, but I gathered that we were passing through crops, very fine crops to judge +by their height, as doubtless they would be upon this lava soil; also once or +twice we splashed through streams. +</p> + +<p> +At length, being tired and lulled by the swaying of the litter and by the sound +of a weird, low chant that the bearers had set up now that they neared home and +were afraid of no attack, I sank into a doze. When I awoke again it was to find +that the litter had halted and to hear the voice of Billali say, +</p> + +<p> +“Descend, White Lords, and come with your companions, the black Warrior +and the yellow man who is named Light-in-Darkness. She-who-commands desires to +see you at once before you eat and sleep, and must not be kept waiting. Fear +not for the others, they will be cared for till you return.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +THE WHITE WITCH</h2> + +<p> +I descended from the litter and told the others what the old fellow had said. +Robertson did not want to come, and indeed refused to do so until I suggested +to him that such conduct might prejudice a powerful person against us. +Umslopogaas was indifferent, putting, as he remarked, no faith in a ruler who +was a woman. +</p> + +<p> +Only Hans, although he was so tired, acquiesced with some eagerness, the fact +being that his brain was more alert and that he had all the curiosity of the +monkey tribe which he so much resembled in appearance, and wanted to see this +queen whom Zikali revered. +</p> + +<p> +In the end we started, conducted by Billali and by men who carried torches +whereof the light showed me that we were passing between houses, or at any rate +walls that had been those of houses, and along what seemed to be a paved +street. +</p> + +<p> +Walking under what I took to be a great arch or portico, we came into a court +that was full of towering pillars but unroofed, for I could see the stars +above. At its end we entered a building of which the doorway was hung with +mats, to find that it was lighted with lamps and that all down its length on +either side guards with long spears stood at intervals. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Baas,” said Hans hesitatingly, “this is the mouth of a +trap,” while Umslopogaas glared about him suspiciously, fingering the +handle of his great axe. +</p> + +<p> +“Be silent,” I answered. “All this mountain is a trap, +therefore another does not matter, and we have our pistols.” +</p> + +<p> +Walking forward between the double line of guards who stood immovable as +statues, we came to some curtains hung at the end of a long, narrow hall which, +although I know little of such things, were, I noted, made of rich stuff +embroidered in colours and with golden threads. Before these curtains Billali +motioned us to halt. +</p> + +<p> +After a whispered colloquy with someone beyond carried on through the join of +the curtains, he vanished between them, leaving us alone for five minutes or +more. At length they opened and a tall and elegant woman with an Arab cast of +countenance and clad in white robes, appeared and beckoned to us to enter. She +did not speak or answer when I spoke to her, which was not wonderful as +afterwards I discovered that she was a mute. We went in, I wondering very much +what we were going to see. +</p> + +<p> +On the further side of the curtains was a room of no great size illumined with +lamps of which the light fell upon sculptured walls. It looked to me as though +it might once have been the inmost court or a sanctuary of some temple, for at +its head was a dais upon which once perhaps had stood the shrine or statue of a +god. On this dais there was now a couch and on the couch—a goddess! +</p> + +<p> +There she sat, straight and still, clothed in shining white and veiled, but +with her draperies so arranged that they emphasised rather than concealed the +wonderful elegance of her tall form. From beneath the veil, which was such as a +bride wears, appeared two plaits of glossy, raven hair of great length, to the +end of each of which was suspended a single large pearl. On either side of her +stood a tall woman like to her who had led us through the curtains, and on his +knees in front, but to the right, knelt Billali. +</p> + +<p> +About this seated personage there was an air of singular majesty, such as might +pervade a queen as fancy paints her, though she had a nobler figure than any +queen I ever saw depicted. Mystery seemed to flow from her; it clothed her like +the veil she wore, which of course heightened the effect. Beauty flowed from +her also; although it was shrouded I knew that it was there, no veil or +coverings could obscure it—at least, to my imagination. Moreover she +breathed out power also; one felt it in the air as one feels a thunderstorm +before it breaks, and it seemed to me that this power was not quite human, that +it drew its strength from afar and dwelt a stranger to the earth. +</p> + +<p> +To tell the truth, although my curiosity, always strong, was enormously excited +and though now I felt glad that I had attempted this journey with all its +perils, I was horribly afraid, so much afraid that I should have liked to turn +and run away. From the beginning I knew myself to be in the presence of an +unearthly being clothed in soft and perfect woman’s flesh, something +alien, too, and different from our human race. +</p> + +<p> +What a picture it all made! There she sat, quiet and stately as a perfect +marble statue; only her breast, rising and falling beneath the white robe, +showed that she was alive and breathed as others do. Another thing showed it +also—her eyes. At first I could not see them through the veil, but +presently either because I grew accustomed to the light, or because they +brightened as those of certain animals have power to do when they watch +intently, it ceased to be a covering to them. Distinctly I saw them now, large +and dark and splendid with a tinge of deep blue in the iris; alluring and yet +awful in their majestic aloofness which seemed to look through and beyond, to +embrace all without seeking and without effort. Those eyes were like windows +through which light flows from within, a light of the spirit. +</p> + +<p> +I glanced round to see the effect of this vision upon my companions. It was +most peculiar. Hans had sunk to his knees; his hands were joined in the +attitude of prayer and his ugly little face reminded me of that of a big fish +out of water and dying from excess of air. Robertson, startled out of his +abstraction, stared at the royal-looking woman on the couch with his mouth +open. +</p> + +<p> +“Man,” he whispered, “I’ve got them back although I +have touched nothing for weeks, only this time they are lovely. For yon’s +no human lady, I feel it in my bones.” +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas stood great and grim, his hands resting on the handle of his tall +axe; and he stared also, the blood pulsing against the skin that covered the +hole in his head. +</p> + +<p> +“Watcher-by-Night,” he said to me in his deep voice, but also +speaking in a whisper, “this chieftainess is not one woman, but all +women. Beneath those robes of hers I seem to see the beauty of one who has +‘gone Beyond,’ of the Lily who is lost to me. Do you not feel it +thus, Macumazahn?” +</p> + +<p> +Now that he mentioned it, certainly I did; indeed, I had felt it all along +although amid the rush of sensations this one had scarcely disentangled itself +in my mind. I looked at the draped shape and saw—well, never mind whom I +saw; it was not one only but several in sequence; also a woman who at that time +I did not know although I came to know her afterwards, too well, perhaps, or at +any rate quite enough to puzzle me. The odd thing was that in this +hallucination the personalities of these individuals seemed to overlap and +merge, till at last I began to wonder whether they were not parts of the same +entity or being, manifesting itself in sundry shapes, yet springing from one +centre, as different coloured rays flow from the same crystal, while the beams +from their source of light shift and change. But the fancy is too metaphysical +for my poor powers to express as clearly as I would. Also no doubt it was but a +hallucination that had its origin, perhaps, in the mischievous brain of her who +sat before us. +</p> + +<p> +At length she spoke and her voice sounded like silver bells heard over water in +a great calm. It was low and sweet, oh! so sweet that at its first notes for a +moment my senses seemed to swoon and my pulse to stop. It was to me that she +addressed herself. +</p> + +<p> +“My servant here,” and ever so slightly she turned her head towards +the kneeling Billali, “tells me that you who are named +Watcher-in-the-Night, understand the tongue in which I speak to you. Is it +so?” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand Arabic of a kind well enough, having learned it on the East +Coast and from Arabs in past years, but not such Arabic as you use, +O——” and I paused. +</p> + +<p> +“Call me <i>Hiya</i>,” she broke in, “which is my title here, +meaning, as you know, She, or Woman. Or if that does not please you, call me +Ayesha. It would rejoice me after so long to hear the name I bore spoken by the +lips of one of my colour and of gentle blood.” +</p> + +<p> +I blushed at the compliment so artfully conveyed, and repeated stupidly enough, +</p> + +<p> +“—Not such Arabic as you use, O—Ayesha.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought that you would like the sound of the word better than that of +<i>Hiya</i>, though afterwards I will teach you to pronounce it as you should, +O—have you any other name save Watcher-by-Night, which seems also to be a +title?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered. “Allan.” +</p> + +<p> +“—O—Allan. Tell me of these,” she went on quickly, +indicating my companions with a sweep of her slender hand, “for they do +not speak Arabic, I think. Or stay, I will tell you of them and you shall say +if I do so rightly. This one,” and she nodded towards Robertson, +“is a man bemused. There comes from him a colour which I see if you +cannot, and that colour betokens a desire for revenge, though I think that in +his time he has desired other things also, as I remember men always did from +the beginning, to their ruin. Human nature does not change, Allan, and wine and +women are ancient snares. Enough of him for this time. The little yellow one +there is afraid of me, as are all of you. That is woman’s greatest power, +although she is so weak and gentle, men are still afraid of her just because +they are so foolish that they cannot understand her. To them after a million +years she still remains the Unknown and to us all the Unknown is also the +awful. Do you remember the proverb of the Romans that says it well and +briefly?” +</p> + +<p> +I nodded, for it was one of the Latin tags that my father had taught me. +</p> + +<p> +“Good. Well, he is a little wild man, is he not, nearer to the apes from +whose race our bodies come? But do you know that, Allan?” +</p> + +<p> +I nodded again, and said, +</p> + +<p> +“There are disputes upon the point, Ayesha.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, they had begun in my day and we will discuss them later. Still, I +say—nearer to the ape than you or I, and therefore of interest, as the +germ of things is always. Yet he has qualities, I think; cunning, and fidelity +and love which in its round is all in all. Do you understand, Allan, that love +is all in all?” +</p> + +<p> +I answered warily that it depended upon what she meant by love, to which she +replied that she would explain afterwards when we had leisure to talk, adding, +</p> + +<p> +“What this little yellow monkey understands by it at least has served you +well, or so I believe. You shall tell me the tale of it some day. Now of the +last, this Black One. Here I think is a man indeed, a warrior of warriors such +as there used to be in the early world, if a savage. Well, believe me, Allan, +savages are often the best. Moreover, all are still savage at heart, even you +and I. For what is termed culture is but coat upon coat of paint laid on to +hide our native colour, and often there is poison in the paint. That axe of his +has drunk deep, I think, though always in fair fight, and I say that it shall +drink deeper yet. Have I read these men aright, Allan?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so ill,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought it,” she said with a musical laugh, “although at +this place I rust and grow dull like an unused sword. Now you would rest. +Go—all of you. To-morrow you and I will talk alone. Fear nothing for your +safety; you are watched by my slaves and I watch my slaves. Until to-morrow, +then, farewell. Go now, eat and sleep, as alas we all must do who linger on +this ball of earth and cling to a life we should do well to lose. Billali, lead +them hence,” and she waved her hand to signify that the audience was +ended. +</p> + +<p> +At this sign Hans, who apparently was still much afraid, rose from his knees +and literally bolted through the curtains. Robertson followed him. Umslopogaas +stood a moment, drew himself up and lifting the great axe, cried <i>Bayéte</i>, +after which he too turned and went. +</p> + +<p> +“What does that word mean, Allan?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +I explained that it was the salutation which the Zulu people only give to +kings. +</p> + +<p> +“Did I not say that savages are often the best?” she exclaimed in a +gratified voice. “The white man, your companion, gave me no salute, but +the Black One knows when he stands before a woman who is royal.” +</p> + +<p> +“He too is of royal blood in his own land,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“If so, we are akin, Allan.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I bowed deeply to her in my best manner and rising from her couch for the +first time she stood up, looking very tall and commanding, and bowed back. +</p> + +<p> +After this I went to find the others on the further side of the curtains, +except Hans, who had run down the long narrow hall and through the mats at its +end. We followed, marching with dignity behind Billali and between the double +line of guards, who raised their spears as we passed them, and on the further +side of the mats discovered Hans, still looking terrified. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he said to me as we threaded our way through the court of +columns, “in my life I have seen all kinds of dreadful things and faced +them, but never have I been so much afraid as I am of that white witch. Baas, I +think that she is the devil of whom your reverend father, the Predikant, used +to talk so much, or perhaps his wife.” +</p> + +<p> +“If so, Hans,” I answered, “the devil is not so black as he +is painted. But I advise you to be careful of what you say as she may have long +ears.” +</p> + +<p> +“It doesn’t matter at all what one says, Baas, because she reads +thoughts before they pass the lips. I felt her doing it there in that room. And +do you be careful, Baas, or she will eat up your spirit and make you fall in +love with her, who, I expect, is very ugly indeed, since otherwise she would +not wear a veil. Whoever saw a pretty woman tie up her head in a sack, +Baas?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps she does this because she is so beautiful, Hans, that she fears +the hearts of men who look upon her would melt.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, Baas, all women want to melt men’s hearts; the more the +better. They seem to have other things in their minds, but really they think of +nothing else until they are too old and ugly, and it takes them a long while to +be sure of that.” +</p> + +<p> +So Hans went on talking his shrewd nonsense till, following so far as I could +see, the same road as that by which we had come, we reached our quarters, where +we found food prepared for us, broiled goat’s flesh with corncakes and +milk, I think it was; also beds for us two white men covered with skin rugs and +blankets woven of wool. +</p> + +<p> +These quarters, I should explain, consisted of rooms in a house built of stone +of which the walls had once been painted. The roof of the house was gone now, +for we could see the stars shining above us, but as the air was very soft in +this sheltered plain, this was an advantage rather than otherwise. The largest +room was reserved for Robertson and myself, while another at the back was given +to Umslopogaas and his Zulus, and a third to the two wounded men. +</p> + +<p> +Billali showed us these arrangements by the light of lamps and apologised that +they were not better because, as he explained, the place was a ruin and there +had been no time to build us a house. He added that we might sleep without fear +as we were guarded and none would dare to harm the guests of She-who-commands, +on whom he was sure we, or at any rate I and the black Warrior, had produced an +excellent impression. Then he bowed himself out, saying that he would return in +the morning, and left us to our own devices. +</p> + +<p> +Robertson and I sat down on stools that had been set for us, and ate, but he +seemed so overcome by his experiences, or by his sombre thoughts, that I could +not draw him into conversation. All he remarked was that we had fallen into +queer company and that those who supped with Satan needed a long spoon. Having +delivered himself of this sentiment he threw himself upon the bed, prayed aloud +for a while as had become his fashion, to be “protected from warlocks and +witches,” amongst other things, and went to sleep. +</p> + +<p> +Before I turned in I visited Umslopogaas’s room to see that all was well +with him and his people, and found him standing in the doorway staring at the +star-spangled sky. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting, Macumazahn,” he said, “you who are white and wise +and I who am black and a fighter have seen many strange things beneath the sun, +but never such a one as we have looked upon to-night. Who and what is that +chieftainess, Macumazahn?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know,” I said, “but it is worth while to have lived +to see her, even though she be veiled.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nor do I, Macumazahn. Nay, I do know, for my heart tells me that she is +the greatest of all witches and that you will do well to guard your spirit lest +she should steal it away. If she were not a witch, should I have seemed to +behold the shape of Nada the Lily who was the wife of my youth, beneath those +white robes of hers, and though the tongue in which she spoke was strange to +me, to hear the murmur of Nada’s voice between her lips, of Nada who has +gone further from me than those stars. It is good that you wear the Great +Medicine of Zikali upon your breast, Macumazahn, for perhaps it will shield you +from harm at those hands that are shaped of ivory.” +</p> + +<p> +“Zikali is another of the tribe,” I answered, laughing, +“although less beautiful to see. Also I am not afraid of any of them, and +from this one, if she be more than some white woman whom it pleases to veil +herself, I shall hope to gather wisdom.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Macumazahn, such wisdom as Spirits and the dead have to +give.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mayhap, Umslopogaas, but we came here to seek Spirits and the dead, did +we not?” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye,” answered Umslopogaas, “these and war, and I think that +we shall find enough of all three. Only I hope that war will come the first, +lest the Spirits and the dead should bewitch me and take away my skill and +courage.” +</p> + +<p> +Then we parted, and too tired even to wonder any more, I threw myself down on +my bed and slept. +</p> + +<p> +I was awakened when the sun was already high, by the sound of Robertson, who +was on his knees, praying aloud as usual, a habit of his which I confess got on +my nerves. Prayer, in my opinion, is a private matter between man and his +Creator, that is, except in church; further, I did not in the least wish to +hear all about Robertson’s sins, which seemed to have been many and +peculiar. It is bad enough to have to bear the burden of one’s own +transgressions without learning of those of other people, that is, unless one +is a priest and must do so professionally. So I jumped up to escape and make +arrangements for a wash, only to butt into old Billali, who was standing in the +doorway contemplating Robertson with much interest and stroking his white +beard. +</p> + +<p> +He greeted me with his courteous bow and said, +</p> + +<p> +“Tell your companion, O Watcher, that it is not necessary for him to go +upon his knees to She-who-commands—and must be obeyed,” he added +with emphasis, “when he is not in her presence, and that even then he +would do well to keep silent, since so much talking in a strange tongue might +trouble her.” +</p> + +<p> +I burst out laughing and answered, +</p> + +<p> +“He does not go upon his knees and pray to She-who-commands, but to the +Great One who is in the sky.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed, Watcher. Well, here we only know a Great One who is upon the +earth, though it is true that perhaps she visits the skies sometimes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it so, Billali?” I answered incredulously. “And now, I +would ask you to take me to some place where I can bathe.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is ready,” he replied. “Come.” +</p> + +<p> +So I called to Hans, who was hanging about with a rifle on his arm, to follow +with a cloth and soap, of which fortunately we had a couple of pieces left, and +we started along what had once been a paved roadway running between stone +houses, whereof the time-eaten ruins still remained on either side. +</p> + +<p> +“Who and what is this Queen of yours, Billali?” I asked as we went. +“Surely she is not of the Amahagger blood.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ask it of herself, O Watcher, for I cannot tell you. All I know is that +I can trace my own family for ten generations and that my tenth forefather told +his son on his deathbed, for the saying has come down through his +descendants—that when he was young She-who-commands had ruled the land +for more scores of years than he could count months of life.” +</p> + +<p> +I stopped and stared at him, since the lie was so amazing that it seemed to +deprive me of the power of motion. Noting my very obvious disbelief he +continued blandly, +</p> + +<p> +“If you doubt, ask. And now here is where you may bathe.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he led me through an arched doorway and down a wrecked passage to what +very obviously once had been a splendid bath-house such as some I have seen +pictures of that were built by the Romans. Its size was that of a large room; +it was constructed of a kind of marble with a sloping bottom that varied from +three to seven feet in depth, and water still ran in and out of it through +large glazed pipes. Moreover round it was a footway about five feet across, +from which opened chambers, unroofed now, that the bathers used as +dressing-rooms, while between these chambers stood the remains of statues. One +at the end indeed, where an alcove had protected it from sun and weather, was +still quite perfect, except for the outstretched arms which were gone (the +right hand I noticed lying at the bottom of the bath). It was that of a nude +young woman in the attitude of diving, a very beautiful bit of work, I thought, +though of course I am no judge of sculpture. Even the smile mingled with +trepidation upon the girl’s face was most naturally portrayed. +</p> + +<p> +This statue showed two things, that the bath was used by females and that the +people who built it were highly civilised, also that they belonged to an +advanced if somewhat Eastern race, since the girl’s nose was, if +anything, Semitic in character, and her lips, though prettily shaped, were +full. For the rest, the basin was so clean that I presume it must have been +made ready for me or other recent bathers, and at its bottom I discovered +gratings and broken pipes of earthenware which suggested that in the old days +the water could be warmed by means of a furnace. +</p> + +<p> +This relic of a long-past civilisation excited Hans even more than it did +myself, since having never seen anything of the sort, he thought it so strange +that, as he informed me, he imagined that it must have been built by +witchcraft. In it I had a most delightful and much-needed bath. Even Hans was +persuaded to follow my example—a thing I had rarely known him to do +before—and seated in its shallowest part, splashed some water over his +yellow, wrinkled anatomy. Then we returned to our house, where I found an +excellent breakfast had been provided which was brought to us by tall, silent, +handsome women who surveyed us out of the corners of their eyes, but said +nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Shortly after I had finished my meal, Billali, who had disappeared, came back +again and said that She-who-commands desired my presence as she would speak +with me; also that I must come alone. So, after attending to the wounded, who +both seemed to be getting on well, I went, followed by Hans armed with his +rifle, though I only carried my revolver. Robertson wished to accompany me, as +he did not seem to care about being left alone with the Zulus in that strange +place, but this Billali would not allow. Indeed, when he persisted, two great +men stepped forward and crossed their spears before him in a somewhat +threatening fashion. Then at my entreaty, for I feared lest trouble should +arise, he gave in and returned to the house. +</p> + +<p> +Following our path of the night before, we walked up a ruined street which I +could see was only one of scores in what had once been a very great city, until +we came to the archway that I have mentioned, a large one now overgrown with +plants that from their yellow, sweet-scented bloom I judged to be a species of +wallflower, also with a kind of houseleek or saxifrage. +</p> + +<p> +Here Hans was stopped by guards, Billali explaining to me that he must await my +return, an order which he obeyed unwillingly enough. Then I went on down the +narrow passage, lined as before by guards who stood silent as statues, and came +to the curtains at the end. Before these at a motion from Billali, who did not +seem to dare to speak in this place, I stood still and waited. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +ALLAN HEARS A STRANGE TALE</h2> + +<p> +For some minutes I remained before those curtains until, had it not been for +something electric in the air which got into my bones, a kind of force that, +perhaps in my fancy only, seemed to pervade the place, I should certainly have +grown bored. Indeed I was about to ask my companion why he did not announce our +arrival instead of standing there like a stuck pig with his eyes shut as though +in prayer or meditation, when the curtains parted and from between them +appeared one of those tall waiting women whom we had seen on the previous +night. She contemplated us gravely for a few moments, then moved her hand +twice, once forward, towards Billali as a signal to him to retire, which he did +with great rapidity, and next in a beckoning fashion towards myself to invite +me to follow her. +</p> + +<p> +I obeyed, passing between the thick curtains which she fastened in some way +behind me, and found myself in the same roofed and sculptured room that I have +already described. Only now there were no lamps, such light as penetrated it +coming from an opening above that I could not see, and falling upon the dais at +its head, also on her who sat upon the dais. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, there she was in her white robes and veil, the point and centre of a +little lake of light, a wondrous and in a sense a spiritual vision, for in +truth there was something about her which was not of the world, something that +drew and yet frightened me. Still as a statue she sat, like one to whom time is +of no account and who has grown weary of motion, and on either side of her yet +more still, like caryatides supporting a shrine, stood two of the stately women +who were her attendants. +</p> + +<p> +For the rest a sweet and subtle odour pervaded the chamber which took hold of +my senses as <i>hasheesh</i> might do, which I was sure proceeded from her, or +from her garments, for I could see no perfumes burning. She spoke no word, yet +I knew she was inviting me to come nearer and moved forward till I reached a +curious carved chair that was placed just beneath the dais, and there halted, +not liking to sit down without permission. +</p> + +<p> +For a long while she contemplated me, for as before I could feel her eyes +searching me from head to foot and as it were looking through me as though she +would discover my very soul. Then at length she moved, waving those two ivory +arms of hers outwards with a kind of swimming stroke, whereon the women to +right and left of her turned and glided away, I know not whither. +</p> + +<p> +“Sit, Allan,” she said, “and let us talk, for I think we have +much to say to each other. Have you slept well? And eaten?—though I fear +that the food is but rough. Also was the bath made ready for you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Ayesha,” I answered to all three questions, adding, for I +knew not what to say, “It seems to be a very ancient bath.” +</p> + +<p> +“When I last saw it,” she replied, “it was well enough with +statues standing round it worked by a sculptor who had seen beauty in his +dreams. But in two thousand years—or is it more?—the tooth of Time +bites deep, and doubtless like all else in this dead place it is now a +ruin.” +</p> + +<p> +I coughed to cover up the exclamation of disbelief that rose to my lips and +remarked blandly that two thousand years was certainly a long time. +</p> + +<p> +“When you say one thing, Allan, and mean another, your Arabic is even +more vile than usual and does not serve to cloak your thought.” +</p> + +<p> +“It may be so, Ayesha, for I only know that tongue as I do many other of +the dialects of Africa by learning it from common men. My own speech is +English, in which, if you are acquainted with it, I should prefer to +talk.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know not English, which doubtless is some language that has arisen +since I left the world. Perhaps later you shall teach it to me. I tell you, you +anger me whom it is not well to anger, because you believe nothing that passes +my lips and yet do not dare to say so.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can I believe one, Ayesha, who if I understand aright, speaks of +having seen a certain bath two thousand years ago, whereas one hundred years +are the full days of man? Forgive me therefore if I cannot believe what I know +to be untrue.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I thought that she would be very angry and was sorry that I had spoken. But +as it happened she was not. +</p> + +<p> +“You must have courage to give me the lie so boldly—and I like +courage,” she said, “who have been cringed to for so long. Indeed, +I know that you are brave, who have heard how you bore yourself in the fight +yesterday, and much else about you. I think that we shall be friends, +but—seek no more.” +</p> + +<p> +“What else should I seek, Ayesha?” I asked innocently. +</p> + +<p> +“Now you are lying again,” she said, “who know well that no +man who is a man sees a woman who is beautiful and pleases him, without +wondering whether, should he desire it, she could come to love him, that is, if +she be young.” +</p> + +<p> +“Which at least is not possible if she has lived two thousand years. Then +naturally she would prefer to wear a veil,” I said boldly, seeking to +avoid the argument into which I saw she wished to drag me. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” she answered, “the little yellow man who is named +Light-in-Darkness put that thought into your heart, I think. Oh, do not trouble +as to how I know it, who have many spies here, as he guessed well enough. So a +woman who has lived two thousand years must be hideous and wrinkled, must she? +The stamp of youth and loveliness must long have fled from her; of that you, +the wise man, are sure. Very well. Now you tempt me to do what I had determined +I would not do and you shall pluck the fruit of that tree of curiosity which +grows so fast within you. Look, Allan, and say whether I am old and hideous, +even though I have lived two thousand years upon the earth and mayhap many +more.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she lifted her hands and did something to her veil, so that for a +moment—only one moment—her face was revealed, after which the veil +fell into its place. +</p> + +<p> +I looked, I saw, and if that chair had lacked a back I believe that I should +have fallen out of it to the ground. As for what I saw—well, it cannot be +described, at any rate by me, except perhaps as a flash of glory. +</p> + +<p> +Every man has dreamed of perfect beauty, basing his ideas of it perhaps on that +of some woman he has met who chanced to take his fancy, with a few accessories +from splendid pictures or Greek statues thrown in, <i>plus</i> a garnishment of +the imagination. At any rate I have, and here was that perfect beauty +multiplied by ten, such beauty, that at the sight of it the senses reeled. And +yet I repeat that it is not to be described. +</p> + +<p> +I do not know what the nose or the lips were like; in fact, all that I can +remember with distinctness is the splendour of the eyes, of which I had caught +some hint through her veil on the previous night. Oh, they were wondrous, those +eyes, but I cannot tell their colour save that the groundwork of them was +black. Moreover they seemed to be more than eyes as we understand them. They +were indeed windows of the soul, out of which looked thought and majesty and +infinite wisdom, mixed with all the allurements and the mystery that we are +accustomed to see or to imagine in woman. +</p> + +<p> +Here let me say something at once. If this marvellous creature expected that +the revelation of her splendour was going to make me her slave; to cause me to +fall in love with her, as it is called, well, she must have been disappointed, +for it had no such effect. It frightened and in a sense humbled me, that is +all, for I felt myself to be in the presence of something that was not human, +something alien to me as a man, which I could fear and even adore as humanity +would adore that which is Divine, but with which I had no desire to mix. +Moreover, was it divine, or was it something very different? I did not know, I +only knew that it was not for me; as soon should I have thought of asking for a +star to set within my lantern. +</p> + +<p> +I think that she felt this, felt that her stroke had missed, as the French say, +that is if she meant to strike at all at this moment. Of this I am not certain, +for it was in a changed voice, one with a suspicion of chill in it that she +said with a little laugh, +</p> + +<p> +“Do you admit now, Allan, that a woman may be old and still remain fair +and unwrinkled?” +</p> + +<p> +“I admit,” I answered, although I was trembling so much that I +could hardly speak with steadiness, “that a woman may be splendid and +lovely beyond anything that the mind of man can conceive, whatever her age, of +which I know nothing. I would add this, Ayesha, that I thank you very much for +having revealed to me the glory that is hid beneath your veil.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” she asked, and I thought that I detected curiosity in her +question. +</p> + +<p> +“For this reason, Ayesha. Now there is no fear of my troubling you in +such a fashion as you seemed to dread a little while ago. As soon would a man +desire to court the moon sailing in her silver loveliness through +heaven.” +</p> + +<p> +“The moon! It is strange that you should compare me to the moon,” +she said musingly. “Do you know that the moon was a great goddess in Old +Egypt and that her name was Isis and—well, once I had to do with Isis? +Perhaps you were there and knew it, since more lives than one are given to most +of us. I must search and learn. For the rest, all have not thought as you do, +Allan. Many, on the contrary, love and seek to win the Divine.” +</p> + +<p> +“So do I at a distance, Ayesha, but to come too near to it I do not +aspire. If I did perhaps I might be consumed.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have wisdom,” she replied, not without a note of admiration in +her voice. “The moths are few that fear the flame, but those are the +moths which live. Also I think that you have scorched your wings before and +learned that fire hurts. Indeed, now I remember that I have heard of three such +fires of love through which you have flown, Allan, though all of them are dead +ashes now, or shine elsewhere. Two burned in your youth when a certain lady +died to save you, a great woman that, is it not so? And the third, ah! she was +fire indeed, though of a copper hue. What was her name? I cannot remember, but +I think it had something to do with the wind, yes, with the wind when it +wails.” +</p> + +<p> +I stared at her. Was this Mameena myth to be dug up again in a secret place in +the heart of Africa? And how the deuce did she know anything about Mameena? +Could she have been questioning Hans or Umslopogaas? No, it was not possible, +for she had never seen them out of my presence. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps,” she went on in a mocking voice, “perhaps once +again you disbelieve, Allan, whose cynic mind is so hard to open to new truths. +Well, shall I show you the faces of these three? I can,” and she waved +her hand towards some object that stood on a tripod to the right of her in the +shadow—it looked like a crystal basin. “But what would it serve +when you who know them so well, believed that I drew their pictures out of your +own soul? Also perchance but one face would appear and that one strange to you. +[Lady Ragnall perhaps?—JB] +</p> + +<p> +“Have you heard, Allan, that among the wise some hold that not all of us +is visible at once here on earth within the same house of flesh; that the whole +self in its home above, separates itself into sundry parts, each of which walks +the earth in different form, a segment of life’s circle that can never be +dissolved and must unite again at last?” +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head blankly, for I had never heard anything of the sort. +</p> + +<p> +“You have still much to learn, Allan, although doubtless there are some +who think you wise,” she went on in the same mocking voice. “Well, +I hold that this doctrine is built upon a rock of truth; also,” she added +after studying me for a minute, “that in your case these three women do +not complete that circle. I think there is a fourth who as yet is strange to +you in this life, though you have known her well enough in others.” +</p> + +<p> +I groaned, imagining that she alluded to herself, which was foolish of me, for +at once she read my mind and went on with a rather acid little laugh, +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, not the humble slave who sits before you, whom, as you have told +me, it would please you to reject as unworthy were she brought to you in +offering, as in the old days was done at the courts of the great kings of the +East. O fool, fool! who hold yourself so strong and do not know that if I +chose, before yon shadow had moved a finger’s breadth, I could bring you +to my feet, praying that you might be suffered to kiss my robe, yes, just the +border of my robe.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I beg of you not to choose, Ayesha, since I think that when there +is work to be done by both of us, we shall find more comfort side by side than +if I were on the ground seeking to kiss a garment that doubtless then it would +delight you to snatch away.” +</p> + +<p> +At these words her whole attitude seemed to change. I could see her lovely +shape brace itself up, as it were, beneath her robes and felt in some way that +her mind had also changed; that it had rid itself of mockery and woman’s +pique and like a shifting searchlight, was directed upon some new objective. +</p> + +<p> +“Work to be done,” she repeated after me in a new voice. +“Yes, I thank you who bring it to my mind, since the hours pass and that +work presses. Also I think there is a bargain to be made between us who are +both of the blood that keeps bargains, even if they be not written on a roll +and signed and sealed. Why do you come to me and what do you seek of me, Allan, +Watcher-in-the-Night? Say it and truthfully, for though I may laugh at lies and +pass them by when they have to do with the eternal sword-play which Nature +decrees between man and woman, until these break apart or, casting down the +swords, seek arms in which they agree too well, when they have to do with +policy and high purpose and ambition’s ends, why then I avenge them upon +the liar.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I hesitated, as what I had to tell her seemed so foolish, indeed so insane, +while she waited patiently as though to give me time to shape my thoughts. +Speaking at last because I must, I said, +</p> + +<p> +“I come to ask you, Ayesha, to show me the dead, if the dead still live +elsewhere.” +</p> + +<p> +“And who told you, Allan, that I could show you the dead, if they are not +truly dead? There is but one, I think, and if you are his messenger, show me +his token. Without it we do not speak together of this business.” +</p> + +<p> +“What token?” I asked innocently, though I guessed her meaning well +enough. +</p> + +<p> +She searched me with her great eyes, for I felt, and indeed saw them on me +through the veil, then answered, +</p> + +<p> +“I think—nay, let me be sure,” and half rising from the +couch, she bent her head over the tripod that I have described, and stared +into what seemed to be a crystal bowl. “If I read aright,” she +said, straightening herself presently, “it is a hideous thing enough, the +carving of an abortion of a man such as no woman would care to look on lest her +babe should bear its stamp. It is a charmed thing also that has virtues for him +who wears it, especially for you, Allan, since something tells me that it is +dyed with the blood of one who loved you. If you have it, let it be revealed, +since without it I do not talk with you of these dead you seek.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I drew Zikali’s talisman from its hiding-place and held it towards +her. +</p> + +<p> +“Give it to me,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +I was about to obey when something seemed to warn me not to do so. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” I answered, “he who lent me this carving for a while, +charged me that except in emergency and to save others, I must wear it night +and day till I returned it to his hand, saying that if I parted from it fortune +would desert me. I believe none of this talk and tried to be rid of it, whereon +death drew near to me from a snake, such a snake as I see you wear about you, +which doubtless also has poison in its fangs, if of another sort, +Ayesha.” +</p> + +<p> +“Draw near,” she said, “and let me look. Man, be not +afraid.” +</p> + +<p> +So I rose from my chair and knelt before her, hoping secretly that no one would +see me in that ridiculous position, which the most unsuspicious might +misinterpret. I admit, however, that it proved to have compensations, since +even through the veil I saw her marvellous eyes better than I had done before, +and something of the pure outline of her classic face; also the fragrance of +her hair was wonderful. +</p> + +<p> +She took the talisman in her hand and examined it closely. +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard of this charm and it is true that the thing has +power,” she said, “for I can feel it running through my veins, also +that it is a shield of defence to him who wears it. Yes, and now I understand +what perplexed me somewhat, namely, how it came about that when you vexed me +into unveiling—but let that matter be. The wisdom was not your own, but +another’s, that is all. Yes, the wisdom of one whose years have borne him +beyond the shafts that fly from woman’s eyes, the ruinous shafts which +bring men down to doom and nothingness. Tell me, Allan, is this the likeness of +him who gave it to you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Ayesha, the very picture, as I think, carved by himself, though he +said that it is ancient, and others tell that it has been known in the land for +centuries.” +</p> + +<p> +“So perchance has he,” she answered drily, “since some of our +company live long. Now tell me this wizard’s names. Nay, wait awhile for +I would prove that indeed you are his messenger with whom I may talk about the +dead, and other things, Allan. You can read Arabic, can you not?” +</p> + +<p> +“A little,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +Then from a stool at her side she took paper, or rather papyrus and a reed pen, +and on her knee wrote something on the sheet which she gave to me folded up. +</p> + +<p> +“Now tell me the names,” she said, “and then let us see if +they tally with what I have written, for if so you are a true man, not a mere +wanderer or a spy.” +</p> + +<p> +“The principal names of this doctor are Zikali, the Opener-of-Roads, the +‘<i>Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born</i>,’” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Read the writing, Allan,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +I unfolded the sheet and read Arabic words which meant, “Weapons, +Cleaver-of-Rocks, One-at-whom-dogs-bark-and-children-wail.” +</p> + +<p> +“The last two are near enough,” she said, “but the first is +wrong.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Ayesha, since in this man’s tongue the word +‘Zikali’ means ‘Weapons’”; intelligence at which +she clapped her hands as a merry girl might do. “The man,” I went +on, “is without doubt a great doctor, one who sees and knows things that +others do not, but I do not understand why this token carved in his likeness +should have power, as you say it has.” +</p> + +<p> +“Because with it goes his spirit, Allan. Have you never heard of the +Egyptians, a very wise people who, as I remember, declared that man has a +<i>Ka</i> or Double, a second self, that can either dwell in his statue or be +sent afar?” +</p> + +<p> +I answered that I had heard this. +</p> + +<p> +“Well the <i>Ka</i> of this Zikali goes with that hideous image of him, +which is perhaps why you have come safe through many dangers and why also I +seemed to dream so much of him last night. Tell me now, what does Zikali want +of me whose power he knows very well?” +</p> + +<p> +“An oracle, the answer to a riddle, Ayesha.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then set it out another time. So you desire to see the dead, and this +old dwarf, who is a home of wisdom, desires an oracle from one who is greater +than he. Good. And what are you, or both of you, prepared to pay for these +boons? Know, Allan, that I am a merchant who sells my favours dear. Tell me +then, will you pay?” +</p> + +<p> +“I think that it depends upon the price,” I answered cautiously. +“Set out the price, Ayesha.” +</p> + +<p> +“Be not afraid, O cunning dealer,” she mocked. “I do not ask +your soul or even that love of yours which you guard so jealously, since these +things I could take without the asking. Nay, I ask only what a brave and honest +man may give without shame: your help in war, and perhaps,” she added +with a softer tone, “your friendship. I think, Allan, that I like you +well, perhaps because you remind me of another whom I knew long ago.” +</p> + +<p> +I bowed at the compliment, feeling proud and pleased at the prospect of a +friendship with this wonderful and splendid creature, although I was aware that +it had many dangers. Then I sat still and waited. She also waited, brooding. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen,” she said after a while, “I will tell you a story +and when you have heard it you shall answer, even if you do not believe it, but +not before. Does it please you to listen to something of the tale of my life +which I am moved to tell you, that you may know with whom you have to +deal?” +</p> + +<p> +Again I bowed, thinking to myself that I knew nothing that would please me +more, who was eaten up with a devouring curiosity about this woman. +</p> + +<p> +Now she rose from her couch and descending off the dais, began to walk up and +down the chamber. I say, to walk, but her movements were more like the gliding +of an eagle through the air or the motion of a swan upon still water, so smooth +were they and gracious. As she walked she spoke in a low and thrilling voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen,” she said again, “and even if my story seems +marvellous to you, interrupt, and above all, mock me not, lest I should grow +angry, which might be ill for you. I am not as other women are, O Allan, who +having conquered the secrets of Nature,” here I felt an intense desire to +ask what secrets, but remembered and held my tongue, “to my sorrow have +preserved my youth and beauty through many ages. Moreover in the past, perhaps +in payment for my sins, I have lived other lives of which some memory remains +with me. +</p> + +<p> +“By my last birth I am an Arab lady of royal blood, a descendant of the +Kings of the East. There I dwelt in the wilderness and ruled a people, and at +night I gathered wisdom from the stars and the spirits of the earth and air. At +length I wearied of it all and my people too wearied of me and besought me to +depart, for, Allan, I would have naught to do with men, yet men went mad +because of my beauty and slew each other out of jealousy. Moreover other +peoples made war upon my people, hoping to take me captive that I might be a +wife to their kings. So I left them, and being furnished with great wealth in +hoarded gold and jewels, together with a certain holy man, my master, I +wandered through the world, studying the nations and their worships. At +Jerusalem I tarried and learned of Jehovah who is, or was, its God. +</p> + +<p> +“At Paphos in the Isle of Chitim I dwelt a while till the folk of that +city thought that I was Aphrodite returned to earth and sought to worship me. +For this reason and because I made a mock of Aphrodite, I, who, as I have said, +would have naught to do with men, she through her priests cursed me, saying +that her yoke should lie more heavily upon my neck from age to age than on that +of any woman who had breathed beneath the sun. +</p> + +<p> +“It was a wondrous scene,” she added reflectively, “that of +the cursing, since for every word I gave back two. Moreover I told the hoary +villain of a high-priest to make report to his goddess that long after she was +dead in the world, I would live on, for the spirit of prophecy was on me in +that hour. Yet the curse fell in its season, since in her day, doubt it or not, +Aphrodite had strength, as indeed under other names she has and will have while +the world endures, and for aught I know, beyond it. Do they worship her now in +any land, Allan?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, only her statues because of their beauty, though Love is always +worshipped.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, who can testify to that better than you yourself, Allan, if he who +is called Zikali tells me the truth concerning you in the dreams he sends? As +for the statues, I saw some of them as they left the master’s hand in +Greece, and when I told him that he might have found a better model, once I was +that model. If this marble still endures, it must be the most famous of them +all, though perchance Aphrodite has shattered it in her jealous rage. You shall +tell me of these statues afterwards; mine had a mark on the left shoulder like +to a mole, but the stone was imperfect, not my flesh, as I can prove if you +should wish.” +</p> + +<p> +Thinking it better not to enter on a discussion as to Ayesha’s shoulder, +I remained silent and she went on. +</p> + +<p> +“I dwelt in Egypt also, and there, to be rid of men who wearied me with +their sighs and importunities, also to acquire more wisdom of which she was the +mistress, I entered the service of the goddess Isis, Queen of Heaven, vowing to +remain virgin for ever. Soon I became her high-priestess and in her most sacred +shrines upon the Nile, I communed with the goddess and shared her power, since +from me her daughter, she withheld none of her secrets. So it came about that +though Pharaohs held the sceptre, it was I who ruled Egypt and brought it and +Sidon to their fall, it matters not how or why, as it was fated that I must do. +Yes, kings would come to seek counsel from me where I sat throned, dressed in +the garb of Isis and breathing out her power. Yet, my task accomplished, of it +all I grew weary, as men will surely do of the heavens that they preach, should +they chance to find them.” +</p> + +<p> +I wondered what this “task” might be, but only asked, +“Why?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because in their pictured heaven all things lie to their hands and man, +being man, cannot be happy without struggle, and woman, being woman, without +victory over others. What is cheaply bought, or given, has no value, Allan; to +be enjoyed, it must first be won. But I bade you not to break my +thought.” +</p> + +<p> +I asked pardon and she went on, +</p> + +<p> +“Then it was that the shadow of the curse of Aphrodite fell upon me, yes, +and of the curse of Isis also, so that these twin maledictions have made me +what I am, a lost soul dwelling in the wilderness waiting the fulfilment of a +fate whereof I know not the end. For though I have all wisdom, all knowledge of +the Past and much power together with the gift of life and beauty, the future +is as dark to me as night without its moon and stars. +</p> + +<p> +“Hearken, this chanced to me. Though it be to my shame I tell it you that +all may be clear. At a temple of Isis on the Nile where I ruled, there was a +certain priest, a Greek by birth, vowed like myself to the service of the +goddess and therefore to wed none but her, the goddess herself—that is, +in the spirit. He was named Kallikrates, a man of courage and of beauty, such +an one as those Greeks carved in the statues of their god Apollo. Never, I +think, was a man more beautiful in face and form, though in soul he was not +great, as often happens to men who have all else, and well-nigh always happens +to women, save myself and perhaps one or two others that history tells of, +doubtless magnifying their fabled charms. +</p> + +<p> +“The Pharaoh of that day, the last of the native blood, him whom the +Persians drove to doom, had a daughter, the Princess of Egypt, Amenartas by +name, a fair woman in her fashion, though somewhat swarthy. In her youth this +Amenartas became enamoured of Kallikrates and he of her, when he was a captain +of the Grecian Mercenaries at Pharaoh’s Court. Indeed, she brought blood +upon his hands because of her, wherefore he fled to Isis for forgiveness and +for peace. Thither in after time she followed him and again urged her love. +</p> + +<p> +“Learning of the thing and knowing it for sacrilege, I summoned this +priest and warned him of his danger and of the doom which awaited him should he +continue in that path. He grew affrighted. He flung himself upon the ground +before me with groans and supplications, and kissing my feet, vowed most +falsely to me that his dealings with the royal Amenartas were but a veil and +that it was I whom he worshipped. His unhallowed words filled me with horror +and sternly I bade him begone and do penance for his crime, saying that I would +pray the goddess on behalf of him. +</p> + +<p> +“He went, leaving me alone lost in thought in the darkening shrine. Then +sleep fell on me and in my sleep I dreamed a dream, or saw a vision. For +suddenly there stood before me a woman beauteous as myself clad in nothing save +a golden girdle and a veil of gossamer. +</p> + +<p> +“‘O Ayesha,’ she said in a honeyed voice, ‘priestess of +Isis of the Egyptians, sworn to the barren worship of Isis and fed on the ashes +of her unprofitable wisdom, know that I am Aphrodite of the Greeks whom many +times thou hast mocked and defied, and Queen of the breathing world, as Isis is +Queen of the world that is dead. Now because thou didst despise me and pour +contempt upon my name, I smite thee with my strength and lay a curse upon thee. +It is that thou shalt love and desire this man who but now hath kissed thy +feet, ever longing till the world’s end to kiss his lips in payment, +although thou art as far above him as the moon thou servest is above the Nile. +Think not that thou shalt escape my doom, for know that however strong the +spirit, here upon the earth the flesh is stronger still and of all flesh I am +the queen.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Then she laughed softly and smiting me across the eyes with a lock of +her scented hair, was gone. +</p> + +<p> +“Allan, I awoke from my sleep and a great trouble fell upon me, for I who +had never loved before now was rent with a rage of love and for this man who +till that moment had been naught to me but as some beauteous image of gold and +ivory. I longed for him, my heart was racked with jealousy because of the +Egyptian who favoured him, an eating flame possessed my breast. I grew mad. +There in the shrine of Isis the divine I cast myself upon my knees and cried to +Aphrodite to return and give me him I sought, for whose sake I would renounce +all else, even if I must pour my wisdom into a beauteous, empty cup. Yes, thus +I prayed and lay upon the ground and wept until, outworn, once more sleep fell +upon me. +</p> + +<p> +“Now in the darkness of the holy place once more there came a dream or +vision, since before me in her glory stood the goddess Isis crowned with the +crescent of the young moon and holding in her hand the jewelled <i>sistrum</i> +that is her symbol, from which came music like to the melody of distant bells. +She gazed at me and in her great eyes were scorn and anger. +</p> + +<p> +“‘O Ayesha, Daughter of Wisdom,’ she said in a solemn voice, +‘whom I, Isis, had come to look upon rather as a child than a servant, +since in none other of my priestesses was such greatness to be found, and whom +in a day to be I had purposed to raise to the very steps of my heavenly throne, +thou hast broken thine oath and, forsaking me, hast worshipped false Aphrodite +of the Greeks who is mine enemy. Yea, in the eternal war between the spirit and +the flesh, thou hast chosen the part of flesh. Therefore I hate thee and add my +doom to that which Aphrodite laid upon thee, which, hadst thou prayed to me and +not to her, I would have lifted from thy heart. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Hearken! The Grecian whom thou hast chosen, by Aphrodite’s +will, thou shalt love as the Pathian said. More, thy love shall bring his blood +upon thy hands, nor mayest thou follow him to the grave. For I will show thee +the Source of Life and thou shalt drink of it to make thyself more fair even +than thou art and thus outpace thy rival, and when thy lover is dead, in a +desolate place thou shalt wait in grief and solitude till he is born again and +find thee there. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yet shall this be but the beginning of thy sorrows, since through +all time thou shalt pursue thy fate till at length thou canst draw up this man +to the height on which thine own soul stands by the ropes of love and loss and +suffering. Moreover through it all thou shalt despise thyself, which is +man’s and woman’s hardest lot, thou who having the rare feast of +spirit spread out before thee, hast chosen to fill thyself from the troughs of +flesh.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Allan, in my dream I made a proud answer to the goddess, saying, +‘Hear me, mighty mistress of many Forms who dost appear in all that +lives! An evil fate has fallen upon me, but was it I who chose that fate? Can +the leaf contend against the driving gale? Can the falling stone turn upwards +to the sky, or when Nature draws it, can the tide cease to flow? A goddess whom +I have offended, that goddess whose strength causes the whole world to be, has +laid her curse upon me and because I have bent before the storm, as bend I +must, or break, another goddess whom I serve, thou thyself, Mother Isis, hast +added to the curse. Where then is Justice, O Lady of the Moon?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Not here, Woman,’ she answered. ‘Yet far away Justice +lives and shall be won at last and mayhap because thou art so proud and +high-stomached, it is laid upon thee to seek her blinded eyes through many an +age. Yet at last I think thou shalt set thy sins against her weights and find +the balance even. Therefore cease from questioning the high decrees of destiny +which thou canst not understand and be content to suffer, remembering that all +joy grows from the root of pain. Moreover, know this for thy comfort, that the +wisdom which thou hast shall grow and gather on thee and with it thy beauty and +thy power; also that at the last thou shalt look upon my face again, in token +whereof I leave to thee my symbol, the <i>sistrum</i> that I bear, and with it +this command. Follow that false priest of mine wherever he may go and avenge me +upon him, and if thou lose him there, wait while the generations pass till he +return again. Such and no other is thy destiny.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Allan, the vision faded and when I awoke the lights of dawn played upon +the image of the goddess in the sanctuary. They played, moreover, upon the holy +jewelled thing that in my dream her hand had held, the <i>sistrum</i> of her +worship, shaped like the loop of life, the magic symbol that she had vowed to +me, wherewith goes her power, which henceforth was mine. +</p> + +<p> +“I took it and followed after the priest Kallikrates, to whom +thenceforward I was bound by passion’s ties that are stronger than all +the goddesses in this wide universe.” +</p> + +<p> +Here I, Allan, could contain myself no longer and asked, “What +for?” then, fearing her wrath, wished that I had been silent. +</p> + +<p> +But she was not angry, perhaps because this tale of her interviews with +goddesses, doubtless fabled, had made her humble, for she answered quietly, +</p> + +<p> +“By Aphrodite, or by Isis, or both of them I did not know. All I knew was +that I <i>must</i> seek him, then and evermore, as seek I do to-day and shall +perchance through æons yet unborn. So I followed, as I was taught and +commanded, the <i>sistrum</i> being my guide, how it matters not, and giving me +the means, and so at last I came to this ancient land whereof the ruin in which +you sit was once known as Kôr.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +ALLAN MISSES OPPORTUNITY</h2> + +<p> +All the while that she was talking thus the Lady or the Queen or the +Witch-woman, Ayesha, had been walking up and down the place from the curtains +to the foot of the dais, sweeping me with her scented robes as she passed to +and fro, and as she walked she waved her arms as an orator might do to +emphasise the more moving passages of her tale. Now at the end of it, or what I +took to be the end, she stepped on to the dais and sank upon the couch as if +exhausted, though I think her spirit was weary rather than her body. +</p> + +<p> +Here she sat awhile, brooding, her chin resting on her hand, then suddenly +looked up and fixing her glance upon me—for I could see the flash of it +through her thin veil—said, +</p> + +<p> +“What think you of this story, Allan? Do you believe it and have you ever +heard its like?” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Never</i>,” I answered with emphasis, “and of course I +believe every word. Only there are one or two questions that with your leave I +would wish to ask, Ayesha.” +</p> + +<p> +“By which you mean, Allan, that you believe nothing, being by nature +without faith and doubtful of all that you cannot see and touch and handle. +Well, perhaps you are wise, since what I have told you is not all the truth. +For example, it comes back to me now that it was not in the temple on the Nile, +or indeed upon the Earth, that I saw the vision of Aphrodite and of Isis, but +elsewhere; also that it was here in Kôr that I was first consumed by passion +for Kallikrates whom hitherto I had scorned. In two thousand years one forgets +much, Allan. Out with your questions and I will answer them, unless they be too +long.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ayesha,” I said humbly, reflecting to myself that my questions +would, at any rate, be shorter than her varying tale, “even I who am not +learned have heard of these goddesses of whom you speak, of the Grecian +Aphrodite who rose from the sea upon the shores of Cyprus and dwelt at Paphos +and elsewhere——” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, doubtless like most men you have heard of her and perchance also +have been struck across the eyes with her hair, like your betters before +you,” she interrupted with sarcasm. +</p> + +<p> +“——Also,” I went on, avoiding argument, “I have +heard of Isis of the Egyptians, Lady of the Moon, Mother of Mysteries, Spouse +of Osiris whose child was Horus the Avenger.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, and I think will hear more of her before you have done, Allan, for +now something comes back to me concerning you and her and another. I am not the +only one who has broken the oaths of Isis and received her curse, Allan, as +<i>you</i> may find out in the days to come. But what of these heavenly +queens?” +</p> + +<p> +“Only this, Ayesha; I have been taught that they were but phantasms +fabled by men with many another false divinity, and could have sworn that this +was true. And yet you talk of them as real and living, which perplexes +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Being dull of understanding doubtless it perplexes you, Allan. Yet if +you had imagination you might understand that these goddesses are great +Principles of Nature; Isis, of throned Wisdom and strait virtue, and Aphrodite, +of Love, as it is known to men and women who, being human, have it laid upon +them that they must hand on the torch of Life in their little hour. Also you +would know that such Principles can seem to take shape and form and at certain +ages of the world appear to their servants visible in majesty, though perchance +to-day others with changed names wield their sceptres and work their will. Now +you are answered on this matter. So to the next.” +</p> + +<p> +Privately I did not feel as though I were answered at all and I was sure that I +know nothing of the kind she indicated, but thinking it best to leave the +subject, I went on, +</p> + +<p> +“If I understood rightly, Ayesha, the events which you have been pleased +first to describe to me, and then to qualify or contradict, took place when the +Pharaohs reigned. Now no Pharaoh has sat upon the throne of Egypt for near two +thousand years, for the last was a Grecian woman whom the Romans conquered and +drove to death. And yet, Ayesha, you speak as though you have lived all through +that gulf of time, and in this there must be error, because it is impossible. +Therefore I suppose you to mean that this history has come down to you in +writing, or perhaps in dreams. I believe that even in such far-off times there +were writers of romance, and we all know of what stuff dreams are made. At +least this thought comes to me,” I added hurriedly, fearing lest I had +said too much, “and one so wise as you are, I repeat, knows well that a +woman who says she has lived two thousand years must be mad or—suffer +from delusions, because I repeat, it is impossible.” +</p> + +<p> +At these quite innocent remarks she sprang to her feet in a rage that might +truly be called royal in every sense. +</p> + +<p> +“Impossible! Romance! Dreams! Delusions! Mad!” she cried in a +ringing voice. “Oh! of a truth you weary me, and I have a mind to send +you whither you will learn what is impossible and what is not. Indeed, I would +do it, and now, only I need your services, and if I did there would be none +left for me to talk with, since your companion is moonstruck and the others are +but savages of whom I have seen enough. +</p> + +<p> +“Hearken, fool! <i>Nothing</i> is impossible. Why do you seek, you who +talk of the impossible, to girdle the great world in the span of your two hands +and to weigh the secrets of the Universe in the balance of your petty mind and, +of that which you cannot understand, to say that it is not? Life you admit +because you see it all about you. But that it should endure for two thousand +years, which after all is but a second’s beat in the story of the earth, +that to you is ‘impossible,’ although in truth the buried seed or +the sealed-up toad can live as long. Doubtless, also, you have some faith which +promises you this same boon to all eternity, after the little change called +Death. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Allan, it is possible enough, like to many other things of which +you do not dream to-day that will be common to the eyes of those who follow +after you. Mayhap you think it impossible that I should speak with and learn of +you from yonder old black wizard who dwells in the country whence you came. And +yet whenever I will I do so in the night because he is in tune with me, and +what I do shall be done by all men in the years unborn. Yes, they shall talk +together across the wide spaces of the earth, and the lover shall hear her +lover’s voice although great seas roll between them. Nor perchance will +it stop at this; perchance in future time men shall hold converse with the +denizens of the stars, and even with the dead who have passed into silence and +the darkness. Do you hear and understand me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes,” I answered feebly. +</p> + +<p> +“You lie, as you are too prone to do. You hear but you do not understand +nor believe, and oh! you vex me sorely. Now I had it in my mind to tell you the +secret of this long life of mine; long, mark you, but not endless, for +doubtless I must die and change and return again, like others, and even to show +you how it may be won. But you are not worthy in your faithlessness.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, I am not worthy,” I answered, who at that moment did not +feel the least desire to live two thousand years, perhaps with this woman as a +neighbour, rating me from generation to generation. Yet it is true, that now +when I am older and a certain event cannot be postponed much longer, I do often +regret that I neglected to take this unique chance, if in truth there was one, +of prolonging an existence which after all has its +consolations—especially when one has made one’s pile. Certainly it +is a case, a flagrant case, of neglected opportunities, and my only consolation +for having lost them is that this was due to the uprightness of my nature which +made it so hard for me to acquiesce in alternative statements that I had every +cause to disbelieve and thus to give offence to a very powerful and petulant if +attractive lady. +</p> + +<p> +“So that is done with,” she went on with a little stamp of +indignation, “as soon you will be also, who, had you not crossed and +doubted me, might have lived on for untold time and become one of the masters +of the world, as I am.” +</p> + +<p> +Here she paused, choked, I think, with her almost childish anger, and because I +could not help it, I said, +</p> + +<p> +“Such place and power, if they be yours, Ayesha, do not seem to bring you +much reward. If I were a master of the world I do not think that I should +choose to dwell unchangingly among savages who eat men and in a pile of ruins. +But perhaps the curses of Aphrodite and of Isis are stronger masters +still?” and I paused inquiringly. +</p> + +<p> +This bold argument—for now I see that it was bold—seemed to +astonish and even bewilder my wonderful companion. +</p> + +<p> +“You have more wisdom than I thought,” she said reflectively, +“who have come to understand that no one is really lord of anything, +since above there is always a more powerful lord who withers all his pomp and +pride to nothingness, even as the great kings learned in olden days, and I, who +am higher than they are, am learning now. Hearken. Troubles beset me wherein I +would have your help and that of your companions, for which I will pay each of +you the fee that he desires. The brooding white man who is with you shall free +his daughter and unharmed; though that <i>he</i> will be unharmed I do not +promise. The black savage captain shall fight his fill and gain the glory that +he seeks, also something that he seeks still more. The little yellow man asks +nothing save to be with his master like a dog and to satisfy at once his +stomach and his apish curiosity. You, Allan, shall see those dead over whom you +brood at night, though the other guerdon that you might have won is now passed +from your reach because you mock me in your heart.” +</p> + +<p> +“What must we do to gain these things?” I asked. “How can we +humble creatures help one who is all powerful and who has gathered in her +breast the infinite knowledge of two thousand years?” +</p> + +<p> +“You must make war under my banner and rid me of my foes. As for the +reason, listen to the end of my tale and you shall learn.” +</p> + +<p> +I reflected that it was a marvellous thing that this queen who claimed +supernatural powers should need our help in a war, but thinking it wiser to +keep my meditations to myself, said nothing. As a matter of fact I might just +as well have spoken, since as usual she read my thoughts. +</p> + +<p> +“You are thinking that it is strange, Allan, that I, the Mighty and +Undying, should seek your aid in some petty tribal battle, and so it would be +were my foes but common savages. But they are more; they are men protected by +the ancient god of this immemorial city of Kôr, a great god in his day whose +spirit still haunts these ruins and whose strength still protects the +worshippers who cling to him and practise his unholy rites of human +sacrifice.” +</p> + +<p> +“How was this god named?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Rezu</i> was his name, and from him came the Egyptian Re or Ra, since +in the beginning Kôr was the mother of Egypt and the conquering people of Kôr +took their god with them when they burst into the valley of the Nile and +subdued its peoples long before the first Pharaoh, Menes, wore Egypt’s +crown.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ra was the sun, was he not?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, and Rezu also was a sun-god whom from his throne in the fires of +the Lord of Day, gave life to men, or slew them if he willed with his +thunderbolts of drought and pestilence and storm. He was no gentle king of +heaven, but one who demanded blood-sacrifice from his worshippers, yes, even +that of maids and children. So it came about that the people of Kôr, who saw +their virgins slain and eaten by the priests of Rezu, and their infants burned +to ashes in the fires that his rays lit, turned themselves to the worship of +the gentle moon, the goddess whom they named <i>Lulala</i>, while some of them +chose Truth for their queen, since Truth, they said, was greater and more to be +desired than the fierce Sun-King or even the sweet Moon-Lady, Truth, who sat +above them both throned in the furthest stars of Heaven. Then the demon, Rezu, +grew wroth and sent a pestilence upon Kôr and its subject lands and slew their +people, save those who clung to him in the great apostasy, and with them some +others who served Lulala and Truth the Divine, that escaped I know not +how.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you see this great pestilence?” I asked, much interested. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, it befell generations before I came to Kôr. One Junis, a priest, +wrote a record of it in the caves yonder where I have my home and where is the +burying-place of the countless thousands that it slew. In my day Kôr, of which, +should you desire to hear it, I will tell you the history, was a ruin as it is +now, though scattered in the lands amidst the tumbled stones which once built +up her subject cities, a people named the Amahagger dwelt in Households, or +Tribes and there sacrificed men by fire and devoured them, following the rites +of the demon Rezu. For these were the descendants of those who escaped the +pestilence. Also there were certain others, children of the worshippers of +Lulala whose kingdom is the moon, and of Truth the Queen, who clung to the +gentle worship of their forefathers and were ever at war with the followers of +Rezu.” +</p> + +<p> +“What brought <i>you</i> to Kôr, Ayesha?” I asked irrelevantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Have I not said that I was led hither by the command and the symbol of +great Isis whom I serve? Also,” she added after a pause, “that I +might find a certain pair, one of whom had broken his oaths to her, tempted +thereto by the other.” +</p> + +<p> +“And did you find them, Ayesha?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, I found them, or rather they found me, and in my presence the +goddess executed her decree upon her false priest and drove his temptress back +to the world.” +</p> + +<p> +“That must have been dreadful for you, Ayesha, since I understood that +you also—liked this priest.” +</p> + +<p> +She sprang from her couch and in a low, hissing voice which resembled the sound +made by an angry snake and turned my blood cold to hear, exclaimed, +</p> + +<p> +“Man, do you dare to mock me? Nay, you are but a blundering, curious +fool, and it is well for you that this is so, since otherwise like Kallikrates, +never should you leave Kôr living. Cease from seeking that which you may not +learn. Suffice it for you to know that the doom of Isis fell upon the lost +Kallikrates, her priest forsworn, and that on me also fell her doom, who must +dwell here, dead yet living, till he return again and the play begins afresh. +</p> + +<p> +“Stranger,” she went on in a softer voice, “perchance your +faith, whate’er it be, parades a hell to terrify its worshippers and give +strength to the arms of its prophesying priests, who swear they hold the keys +of doom or of the eternal joys. I see you sign assent” (I had nodded at +her extremely accurate guess) “and therefore can understand that in such +a hell as this, here upon the earth I have dwelt for some two thousand years, +expiating the crime of Powers above me whereof I am but the hand and +instrument, since those Powers which decreed that I should love, decree also +that I must avenge that love.” +</p> + +<p> +She sank down upon the couch as though exhausted by emotion, of which I could +only guess the reasons, hiding her face in her hands. Presently she let them +fall again and continued, +</p> + +<p> +“Of these woes ask me no more. They sleep till the hour of their +resurrection, which I think draws nigh; indeed, I thought that you +perchance——But let that be. ‘Twas near the mark; nearer, +Allan, than you know, not in it! Therefore leave them to their sleep as I would +if I might—ah! if I might, whose companions they are throughout the weary +ages. Alas! that through the secret which was revealed to me I remain undying +on the earth who in death might perhaps have found a rest, and being human +although half divine, must still busy myself with the affairs of earth. +</p> + +<p> +“Look you, Wanderer, after that which was fated had happened and I +remained in my agony of solitude and sorrow, after, too, I had drunk of the cup +of enduring life and like the Prometheus of old fable, found myself bound to +this changeless rock, whereon day by day the vultures of remorse tear out my +living heart which in the watches of the night is ever doomed to grow again +within my woman’s breast, I was plunged into petty troubles of the flesh, +aye and welcomed them because their irk at times gave me forgetfulness. When +the savage dwellers in this land came to know that a mighty one had arisen +among them who was the servant of the Lady of the Moon, those of them who still +worshipped their goddess Lulala, gathered themselves about me, while those of +them who worshipped Rezu sought to overthrow me. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Here,’ they said, ‘is the goddess Lulala come to +earth. In the name of Rezu let us slay her and make an end,’ for these +fools thought that I could be killed. Allan, I conquered them, but their +captain, who also is named Rezu and whom they held and hold to be an emanation +of the god himself walking the earth, I could not conquer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why not?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“For this reason, Allan. In some past age his god showed him the same +secret that was shown to me. He too had drunk of the Cup of Life and lives on +unharmed by Time, so that being in strength my equal, no spear of mine can +reach his heart clad in the armour of his evil god.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then what spear can?” I inquired helplessly, who was bewildered. +</p> + +<p> +“None at all, Allan, yet an <i>axe</i> may, as you shall hear, or so I +think. For many generations there has been peace of a sort between the +worshippers of Lulala who dwell with me in the Plain of Kôr, or rather of +myself, since to these people <i>I</i> am Lulala, and the worshippers of Rezu, +who dwell in the strongholds beyond the mountain crest. But of late years their +chief Rezu, having devastated the lands about, has grown restless and +threatened attack on Kôr, which is not strong enough to stand against him. +Moreover he has sought for a white queen to rule under him, purposing to set +her up to mock my majesty.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is that why those cannibals carried away the daughter of my companion, +the Sea-Captain who is named Avenger?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“It is, Allan, since presently he will give it out that I am dead or +fled, if he has not done so already, and that this new queen has arisen in my +place. Thereby he hopes to draw away many who cling to me ere he advances upon +Kôr, carrying with him this girl veiled as I am, so that none may know the +difference between us, since not a man of them has ever looked upon my face, +Allan. Therefore this Rezu must die, if die he can; otherwise, although it is +impossible that he should harm me, he may slay or draw away my people and leave +me with none to rule in this place where by the decree of Fate I must dwell on +until he whom I seek returns. You are thinking in your heart that such savages +would be little loss and this is so, but still they serve as slaves to me in my +loneliness. Moreover I have sworn to protect them from the demon Rezu and they +have trusted in me and therefore my honour is at stake, for never shall it be +said that those who trusted in She-who-commands, were overthrown because they +put faith in one who was powerless.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you mean about an axe, Ayesha?” I asked. “Why can an +axe alone kill Rezu?” +</p> + +<p> +“The thing is a mystery, O Allan, of which I may not tell you all, since +to do so I must reveal secrets which I have determined you shall not learn. +Suffice it to you to know that when this Rezu drank of the Cup of Life he took +with him his axe. Now this axe was an ancient weapon rumoured to have been +fashioned by the gods and, as it chanced, that axe drew to itself more and +stronger life than did Rezu, how, it does not matter, if indeed the tale be +more than a fable. At least this I know is true, for he who guarded the Gate of +Life, a certain Noot, a master of mysteries, and mine also in my day of youth, +who being a philosopher and very wise, chose never to pass that portal which +was open to him, said it to me himself ere he went the way of flesh. He told +this Rezu also that now he had naught to fear save his own axe and therefore he +counselled him to guard it well, since if it was lifted against him in +another’s hands it would bring him down to death, which nothing else +could do. Like to the heel of Achilles whereof the great Homer sings—have +you read Homer, Allan?” +</p> + +<p> +“In a translation,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Good, then you will remember the story. Like to the heel of Achilles, I +say, that axe would be the only gate by which death could enter his +invulnerable flesh, or rather it alone could make the gate.” +</p> + +<p> +“How did Noot know that?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot say,” she answered with irritation. “Perchance he +did not know it. Perchance it is all an idle tale, but at least it is true that +Rezu believed and believes it, and what a man believes is true for him and will +certainly befall. If it were otherwise, what is the use of faith which in a +thousand forms supports our race and holds it from the horrors of the Pit? Only +those who believe nothing inherit what they believe—nothing, +Allan.” +</p> + +<p> +“It may be so,” I replied prosaically, “but what happened +about the axe?” +</p> + +<p> +“In the end it was lost, or as some say stolen by a woman whom Rezu had +deserted, and therefore he walks the world in fear from day to day. Nay, ask no +more empty questions” (I had opened my mouth to speak) “but hear +the end of the tale. In my trouble concerning Rezu I remembered this wild +legend of the axe and since, when lost in a forest every path that may lead to +safety should be explored, I sent my wisdom forth to make inquiry concerning +it, as I who am great, have the power to do, of certain who are in tune with me +throughout this wide land of Africa. Amongst others, I inquired of that old +wizard whom you named Zikali, Opener of Roads, and he gave me an answer that +there lived in his land a certain warrior who ruled a tribe called the People +of the Axe by right of the Axe, of which axe none, not even he, knew the +beginning or the legend. On the chance, though it was a small one, I bade the +wizard send that warrior here with his axe. Last night he stood before me and I +looked upon him and the axe, which at least is ancient and has a story. Whether +it be the same that Rezu bore I do not know who never saw it, yet perchance he +who bears it now is prepared to hold it aloft in battle even against Rezu, +though he be terrible to see, and then we shall learn.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! yes,” I answered, “he is quite prepared, for that is his +nature. Also among this man’s people, the holder of the Axe is thought to +be unconquerable.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet some must have been conquered who held it,” she replied +musingly. “Well, you shall tell me that tale later. Now we have talked +long and you are weary and astonished. Go, eat and rest yourself. To-night when +the moon rises I will come to where you are, not before, for I have much that +must be done, and show you those with whom you must fight against Rezu, and +make a plan of battle.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I do not want to fight,” I answered, “who have fought +enough and came here to seek wisdom, not bloodshed.” +</p> + +<p> +“First the sacrifice, then the reward,” she answered, “that +is if any are left to be rewarded. Farewell.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /> +ROBERTSON IS LOST</h2> + +<p> +So I went and was conducted by Billali, the old chamberlain, for such seemed to +be his office, who had been waiting patiently without all this while, back to +our rest-house. On my way I picked up Hans, whom I found sitting outside the +arch, and found that as usual that worthy had been keeping his eyes and ears +open. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he said, “did the White Witch tell you that there is +a big <i>impi</i> encamped over yonder outside the houses, in what looks like a +great dry ditch, and on the edge of the plain beyond?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Hans, but she said that this evening she would show us those in +whose company we must fight.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Baas, they are there, some thousands of them, for I crept through +the broken walls like a snake and saw them. And, Baas, I do not think they are +men, I think that they are evil spirits who walk at night only.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because when the sun is high, Baas, as it is now, they are all sleeping. +Yes, there they lie abed, fast asleep, as other people do at night, with only a +few sentries out on guard, and these are yawning and rubbing their eyes.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard that there are folk like that in the middle of Africa where +the sun is very hot, Hans,” I answered, “which perhaps is why +She-who-commands is going to take us to see them at night. Also these people, +it seems, are worshippers of the moon.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas, they are worshippers of the devil and that White Witch is his +wife.” +</p> + +<p> +“You had better keep your thoughts to yourself, Hans, for whatever she is +I think that she can read thoughts from far away, as you guessed last night. +Therefore I would not have any if I were you.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas, or if I must think, henceforth, it shall be only of gin which +in this place is also far away,” he replied, grinning. +</p> + +<p> +Then we came to the rest-house where I found that Robertson had already eaten +his midday meal and like the Amahagger gone to sleep, while apparently +Umslopogaas had done the same; at least I saw nothing of him. Of this I was +glad, since that wondrous Ayesha seemed to draw vitality out of me and after my +long talk with her I felt very tired. So I too ate and then went to lie down +under an old wall in the shade at a little distance, and to reflect upon the +marvellous things that I had heard. +</p> + +<p> +Here be it said at once that I believed nothing of them, or at least very +little indeed. All the involved tale of Ayesha’s long life I dismissed at +once as incredible. Clearly she was some beautiful woman who was more or less +mad and suffered from megalomania; probably an Arab, who had wandered to this +place for reasons of her own, and become the chieftainess of a savage tribe +whose traditions she had absorbed and reproduced as personal experiences, again +for reasons of her own. +</p> + +<p> +For the rest, she was now threatened by another tribe and knowing that we had +guns and could fight from what happened on the yesterday, wished naturally +enough for our assistance in the coming battle. As for the marvellous chief +Rezu, or rather for his supernatural attributes and all the cock-and-bull story +about an axe—well, it was humbug like the rest, and if she believed in it +she must be more foolish than I took her to be—even if she were unhinged +on certain points. For the rest, her information about myself and Umslopogaas +doubtless had reached her from Zikali in some obscure fashion, as she herself +acknowledged. +</p> + +<p> +But heavens! how beautiful she was! That flash of loveliness when out of pique +or coquetry she lifted her veil, blinded like the lightning. But thank +goodness, also like the lightning it frightened; instinctively one felt that it +was very dangerous, even to death, and with it I for one wished no closer +acquaintance. Fire may be lovely and attractive, also comforting at a proper +distance, but he who sits on the top of it is cremated, as many a moth has +found. +</p> + +<p> +So I argued, knowing well enough all the while that if this particular +human—or inhuman—fire desired to make an holocaust of me, it could +do so easily enough, and that in reality I owed my safety so far to a lack of +that desire on its part. The glorious Ayesha saw nothing to attract her in an +insignificant and withered hunter, or at any rate in his exterior, though with +his mind she might find some small affinity. Moreover to make a fool of him +just for the fun of it would not serve her purpose, since she needed his +assistance in a business that necessitated clear wits and unprejudiced +judgment. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly she had declared herself to be absorbed in some tiresome complication +with another man, of which it was rather difficult to follow the details. It is +true that she described him as a handsome but somewhat empty-headed person whom +she had last seen two thousand years ago, but probably this only meant that she +thought poorly of him because he had preferred some other woman to herself, +while the two thousand years were added to the tale to give it atmosphere. +</p> + +<p> +The worst of scandals becomes romantic and even respectable in two thousand +years; witness that of Cleopatra with Cæsar, Mark Antony and other gentlemen. +The most virtuous read of Cleopatra with sympathy, even in boarding-schools, +and it is felt that were she by some miracle to be blotted out of the book of +history, the loss would be enormous. The same applied to Helen, Phryne, and +other bad lots. In fact now that one comes to think of it, most of the +attractive personages in history, male or female, especially the latter, were +bad lots. When we find someone to whose name is added “the good” we +skip. No doubt Ayesha, being very clever, appreciated this regrettable truth, +and therefore moved her murky entanglements of the past decade or so back for a +couple of thousand years, as many of us would like to do. +</p> + +<p> +There remained the very curious circumstance of her apparent correspondence +with old Zikali who lived far away. This, however, after all was not +inexplicable. In the course of a great deal of experience I have observed that +all the witch-doctor family, to which doubtless she belonged, have strange +means of communication. +</p> + +<p> +In most instances these are no doubt physical, carried on by help of +messengers, or messages passed from one to the other. But sometimes it is +reasonable to assume what is known as telepathy, as their link of intercourse. +Between two such highly developed experts as Ayesha and Zikali, it might for +the sake of argument safely be supposed that it was thus they learned each +other’s mind and co-operated in each other’s projects, though +perhaps this end was effected by commoner methods. +</p> + +<p> +Whatever its interpretations, the issue of the business seemed to be that I was +to be let in for more fighting. Well, in any case this could not be avoided, +since Robertson’s daughter, Inez, had to be saved at all costs, if it +could possibly be done, even if we lost our lives in the attempt. Therefore +fight we must, so there was nothing more to be said. Also without doubt this +adventure was particularly interesting and I could only hope that good luck, or +Zikali’s Great Medicine, or rather Providence, would see me through it +safely. +</p> + +<p> +For the rest the fact that our help was necessary to her in this war-like +venture showed me clearly enough that all this wonderful woman’s +pretensions to supernatural powers were the sheerest nonsense. Had they been +otherwise she would not have needed our help in her tribal fights, +notwithstanding the rubbish she talked about the chief, Rezu, who according to +her account of him, must resemble one of the fabulous “trolls,” +half-human and half-ghostly evil creatures, of whom I have read in the Norse +Sagas, who could only be slain by some particular hero armed with a particular +weapon. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Reflecting thus I went to sleep and did not wake until the sun was setting. +Finding that Hans was also sleeping at my feet just like a faithful dog, I woke +him up and we went back together to the rest-house, which we reached as the +darkness fell with extraordinary swiftness, as it does in those latitudes, +especially in a place surrounded by cliffs. +</p> + +<p> +Not finding Robertson in the house, I concluded that he was somewhere outside, +possibly making a reconnaissance on his own account, and told Hans to get +supper ready for both of us. While he was doing so, by aid of the Amahagger +lamps, Umslopogaas suddenly appeared in the circle of light, and looking about +him, said, +</p> + +<p> +“Where is Red-Beard, Macumazahn?” +</p> + +<p> +I answered that I did not know and waited, for I felt sure that he had +something to say. +</p> + +<p> +“I think that you had better keep Red-Beard close to you, +Macumazahn,” he went on. “This afternoon, when you had returned +from visiting the white doctoress and having eaten, had gone to sleep under the +wall yonder, I saw Red-Beard come out of the house carrying a gun and a bag of +cartridges. His eyes rolled wildly and he turned first this way and then that, +sniffing at the air, like a buck that scents danger. Then he began to talk +aloud in his own tongue and as I saw that he was speaking with his Spirit, as +those do who are mad, I went away and left him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Because, as you know, Macumazahn, it is a law among us Zulus never to +disturb one who is mad and engaged in talking with his Spirit. Moreover, had I +done so, probably he would have shot me, nor should I have complained who would +have thrust myself in where I had no right to be.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then why did you not come to call me, Umslopogaas?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because then he might have shot you, for, as I have seen for some time +he is inspired of heaven and knows not what he does upon the earth, thinking +only of the Lady Sad-Eyes who has been stolen away from him, as is but natural. +So I left him walking up and down, and when I returned later to look, saw that +he was gone, as I thought into this walled hut. Now when Hansi tells me that he +is not here, I have come to speak to you about him.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, certainly he is not here,” I said, and I went to look at the +bed where Robertson slept to see if it had been used that evening. +</p> + +<p> +Then for the first time I saw lying on it a piece of paper torn from a +pocketbook and addressed to myself. I seized and read it. It ran thus: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“The merciful Lord has sent me a vision of Inez and shown me where she is +over the cliff-edge away to the west, also the road to her. In my sleep I heard +her talking to me. She told me that she is in great danger—that they are +going to marry her to some brute—and called to me to come at once and +save her; yes, and to come alone without saying anything to anyone. So I am +going at once. Don’t be frightened or trouble about me. All will be well, +all will be quite well. I will tell you the rest when we meet.” +</p> + +<p> +Horrorstruck I translated this insane screed to Umslopogaas and Hans. The +former nodded gravely. +</p> + +<p> +“Did I not tell you that he was talking with his Spirit, +Macumazahn?” (I had rendered “the merciful Lord” as the Good +Spirit.) “Well, he has gone and doubtless his Spirit will take care of +him. It is finished.” +</p> + +<p> +“At any rate we cannot, Baas,” broke in Hans, who I think feared +that I might send him out to look for Robertson. “I can follow most +spoors, but not on such a night as this when one could cut the blackness into +lumps and build a wall of it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “he has gone and nothing can be done at +present,” though to myself I reflected that probably he had not gone far +and would be found when the moon rose, or at any rate on the following morning. +</p> + +<p> +Still I was most uneasy about the man who, as I had noted for a long while, was +losing his balance more and more. The shock of the barbarous and dreadful +slaughter of his half-breed children and of the abduction of Inez by these +grim, man-eating savages began the business, and I think that it was increased +and accentuated by his sudden conversion to complete temperance after years of +heavy drinking. +</p> + +<p> +When I persuaded him to this course I was very proud of myself, thinking that I +had done a clever thing, but now I was not so sure. Perhaps it would have been +better if he had continued to drink something, at any rate for a while, but the +trouble is that in such cases there is generally no half-way house. A man, or +still more a woman, given to this frailty either turns aggressively sober or +remains very drunken. At any rate, even if I had made a mess of it, I had acted +for the best and could not blame myself. +</p> + +<p> +For the rest it was clear that in his new phase the religious associations of +his youth had re-asserted themselves with remarkable vigour, for I gathered +that he had been brought up almost as a Calvinist, and in the rush of their +return, had overset his equilibrium. As I have said, he prayed night and day +without any of those reserves which most people prefer in their religious +exercises, and when he talked of matters outside our quest, his conversation +generally revolved round the devil, or hell and its torments, which, to say the +truth, did not make him a cheerful companion. Indeed in this respect I liked +him much better in his old, unregenerate days, being, I fear, myself a somewhat +worldly soul. +</p> + +<p> +Well, the sum of it was that the poor fellow had gone mad and given us the +slip, and as Hans said, to search for him at once in that darkness was +impossible. Indeed, even if it had been lighter, I do not think that it would +have been safe among these Amahagger nightbirds whom I did not trust. Certainly +I could not have asked Hans to undertake the task, and if I had, I do not think +he would have gone since he was afraid of the Amahagger. Therefore there was +nothing to be done except wait and hope for the best. +</p> + +<p> +So I waited till at last the moon came and with it Ayesha, as she had promised. +Clad in a rich, dark cloak she arrived in some pomp, heralded by Billali, +followed by women, also cloaked, and surrounded by a guard of tall spearmen. I +was seated outside the house, smoking, when suddenly she arrived from the +shadows and stood before me. +</p> + +<p> +I rose respectfully and bowed, while Umslopogaas, Goroko and the other Zulus +who were with me, gave her the royal salute, and Hans cringed like a dog that +is afraid of being kicked. +</p> + +<p> +After a swift glance at them, as I guessed by the motion of her veiled head, +she seemed to fix her gaze upon my pipe that evidently excited her curiosity, +and asked me what it was. I explained as well as I could, expatiating on the +charms of smoking. +</p> + +<p> +“So men have learned another useless vice since I left the world, and one +that is filthy also,” she said, sniffing at the smoke and waving her hand +before her face, whereon I dropped the pipe into my pocket, where, being +alight, it burnt a hole in my best remaining coat. +</p> + +<p> +I remember the remark because it showed me what a clever actress she was who, +to keep up her character of antiquity, pretended to be astonished at a habit +with which she must have been well acquainted, although I believe that it was +unknown in the ancient world. +</p> + +<p> +“You are troubled,” she went on, swiftly changing the subject, +“I read it in your face. One of your company is missing. Who is it? Ah! I +see, the white man you name Avenger. Where is he gone?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is what I wish to ask you, Ayesha,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“How can I tell you, Allan, who in this place lack any glass into which +to look for things that pass afar. Still, let me try,” and pressing her +hands to her forehead, she remained silent for perhaps a minute, then spoke +slowly. +</p> + +<p> +“I think that he has gone over the mountain lip towards the worshippers +of Rezu. I think that he is mad; sorrow and something else which I do not +understand have turned his brain; something that has to do with the Heavens. I +think also that we shall recover him living, if only for a little while, though +of this I cannot be sure since it is not given to me to read the future, but +only the past, and sometimes the things that happen in the present though they +be far away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will you send to search for him, O Ayesha?” I asked anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, it is useless, for he is already distant. Moreover those who went +might be taken by the outposts of Rezu, as perchance has happened to your +companion wandering in his madness. Do you know what he went to seek?” +</p> + +<p> +“More or less,” I answered and translated to her the letter that +Robertson had left for me. +</p> + +<p> +“It may be as the man writes,” she commented, “since the mad +often see well in their dreams, though these are not sent by a god as he +imagines. The mind in its secret places knows all things, O Allan, although it +seems to know little or nothing, and when the breath of vision or the fury of a +soul distraught blows away the veils or burns through the gates of distance, +then for a while it sees and learns, since, whatever fools may think, often +madness is true wisdom. Now follow me with the little yellow man and the +Warrior of the Axe. Stay, let me look upon that axe.” +</p> + +<p> +I interpreted her wish to Umslopogaas who held it out to her but refused to +loose it from his wrist to which it was attached by the leathern thong. +</p> + +<p> +“Does the Black One think that I shall cut him down with his own weapon, +I who am so weak and gentle?” she asked, laughing. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Ayesha, but it is his law not to part with this Drinker of Lives, +which he names ‘Chieftainess and Groan-maker,’ and clings to closer +by day and night than a man does to his wife.” +</p> + +<p> +“There he is wise, Allan, since a savage captain may get more wives but +never such another axe. The thing is ancient,” she added musingly after +examining its every detail, “and who knows? It may be that whereof the +legend tells which is fated to bring Rezu to the dust. Now ask this fierce-eyed +Slayer whether, armed with his axe he can find courage to face the most +terrible of all men and the strongest, one who is a wizard also, of whom it is +prophesied that only by such an axe as this can he be made to bite the +dust.” +</p> + +<p> +I obeyed. Umslopogaas laughed grimly and answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Say to the White Witch that there is no man living upon the earth whom I +would not face in war, I who have never been conquered in fair fight, though +once a chance blow brought me to the doors of death,” and he touched the +great hole in his forehead. “Say to her also that I have no fear of +defeat, I from whom doom is, as I think, still far away, though the +Opener-of-Roads has told me that among a strange people I shall die in war at +last, as I desire to do, who from my boyhood have lived in war.” +</p> + +<p> +“He speaks well,” she answered with a note of admiration in her +voice. “By Isis, were he but white I would set him to rule these +Amahagger under me. Tell him, Allan, that if he lays Rezu low he shall have a +great reward.” +</p> + +<p> +“And tell the White Witch, Macumazahn,” Umslopogaas replied when I +had translated, “that I seek no reward, save glory only, and with it the +sight of one who is lost to me but with whom my heart still dwells, if indeed +this Witch has strength to break the wall of blackness that is built between me +and her who is ‘gone down.’” +</p> + +<p> +“Strange,” reflected Ayesha when she understood, “that this +grim Destroyer should yet be bound by the silken bonds of love and yearn for +one whom the grave has taken. Learn from it, Allan, that all humanity is cast +in the same mould, since my longings and your longings are his also, though the +three of us be far apart as are the sun and the moon and the earth, and as +different in every other quality. Yet it is true that sun and moon and earth +are born of the same black womb of chaos. Therefore in the beginning they were +identical, as doubtless they will be in the end when, their journeyings done, +they rush together to light space with a flame at which the mocking gods that +made them may warm their hands. Well, so it is with men, Allan, whose +soul-stuff is drawn from the gulf of Spirit by Nature’s hand, and, cast +upon the cold air of this death-driven world, freezes into a million shapes +each different to the other and yet, be sure, the same. Now talk no more, but +follow me. Slave” (this was addressed to Billali), “bid the guards +lead on to the camp of the servants of Lulala.” +</p> + +<p> +So we went through the silent ruins. Ayesha walked, or rather glided a pace or +two ahead, then came Umslopogaas and I side by side, while at our heels +followed Hans, very close at our heels since he did not wish to be out of reach +of the virtue of the Great Medicine and incidentally of the protection of axe +and rifle. +</p> + +<p> +Thus we marched surrounded by the solemn guard for something between a quarter +and half a mile, till at length we climbed the debris of a mighty wall that +once had encompassed the city, and by the moonlight saw beneath us a vast +hollow which clearly at some unknown time had been the bed of an enormous moat +and filled with water. +</p> + +<p> +Now, however, it was dry and all about its surface were dotted numerous +camp-fires round which men were moving, also some women who appeared to be +engaged in cooking food. At a little distance too, upon the further edge of the +moat-like depression were a number of white-robed individuals gathered in a +circle about a large stone upon which something was stretched that resembled +the carcase of a sheep or goat, and round these a great number of spectators. +</p> + +<p> +“The priests of Lulala who make sacrifice to the moon, as they do night +by night, save when she is dead,” said Ayesha, turning back towards me as +though in answer to the query which I had conceived but left unuttered. +</p> + +<p> +What struck me about the whole scene was its extraordinary animation and +briskness. All the folk round the fires and outside of them moved about quickly +and with the same kind of liveliness which might animate a camp of more natural +people at the rising of the sun. It was as though they had just got up full of +vigour to commence their daily, or rather their nightly round, which in truth +was the case, since as Hans discovered, by habitude these Amahagger preferred +to sleep during the day unless something prevented them, and to carry on the +activities of life at night. It only remains to add that there seemed to be a +great number of them, for their fires following the round of the dry moat, +stretched further than I could see. +</p> + +<p> +Scrambling down the crumpled wall by a zig-zag pathway, we came upon the +outposts of the army beneath us who challenged, then seeing with whom they had +to do, fell flat upon their faces, leaving their great spears, which had iron +spikes on their shafts like to those of the Masai, sticking in the ground +beside them. +</p> + +<p> +We passed on between some of the fires and I noted how solemn and gloomy, +although handsome, were the countenances of the folk by whom these were +surrounded. Indeed, they looked like denizens of a different world to ours, one +alien to the kindly race of men. There was nothing social about these +Amahagger, who seemed to be a people labouring under some ancient ancestral +curse of which they could never shake off the memory. Even the women rarely +smiled; their clear-cut, stately countenances remained stern and set, except +when they glowered at us incuriously. Only when Ayesha passed they prostrated +themselves like the rest. +</p> + +<p> +We went on through them and across the moat, climbing its further slope and +here suddenly came upon a host of men gathered in a hollow square, apparently +in order to receive us. They stood in ranks of five or six deep and their +spear-points glimmering in the moonlight looked like long bands of level steel. +As we entered the open side of the square all these spears were lifted. Thrice +they were lifted and at each uplifting there rose a deep-throated cry of +<i>Hiya</i>, which is the Arabic for She, and I suppose was a salutation to +Ayesha. +</p> + +<p> +She swept on taking no heed, till we came to the centre of the square where a +number of men were gathered who prostrated themselves in the usual fashion. +Motioning to them to rise she said, +</p> + +<p> +“Captains, this very night within two hours we march against Rezu and the +sun-worshippers, since otherwise as my arts tell me, they march against us. +She-who-commands is immortal, as your fathers have known from generation to +generation, and cannot be destroyed; but you, her servants, can be destroyed, +and Rezu, who also has drunk of the Cup of Life, out-numbers you by three to +one and prepares a queen to set up in my place over his own people and such of +you as remain. As though,” she added with a contemptuous laugh, +“any woman of a day could take my place.” +</p> + +<p> +She paused and the spokesman of the captains said, +</p> + +<p> +“We hear, O Hiya, and we understand. What wouldst thou have us do, O +Lulala-come-to-earth? The armies of Rezu are great and from the beginning he +has hated thee and us, also his magic is as thy magic and his length of days as +thy length of days. How then can we who are few, three thousand men at the +most, match ourselves against Rezu, Son of the Sun? Would it not be better that +we should accept the terms of Rezu, which are light, and acknowledge him as our +king?” +</p> + +<p> +As she heard these words I saw the tall shape of Ayesha quiver beneath her +robes, as I think, not with fear but with rage, because the meaning of them was +clear enough, namely that rather than risk a battle with Rezu, these people +were contemplating surrender and her own deposition, if indeed she could be +deposed. Still she answered in a quiet voice, +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that I have dealt too gently with you and with your fathers, +Children of Lulala, whose shadow I am here upon the earth, so that because you +only see the scabbard, you have forgotten the sword within and that it can +shine forth and smite. Well, why should I be wrath because the brutish will +follow the law of brutes, though it be true that I am minded to slay you where +you stand? Hearken! Were I less merciful I would leave you to the clutching +hands of Rezu, who would drag you one by one to the stone of sacrifice and +there offer up your hearts to his god of fire and devour your bodies with his +heat. But I bethink me of your wives and children and of your forefathers whom +I knew in the dead days, and therefore, if I may, I still would save you from +yourselves and your heads from the glowing pot. +</p> + +<p> +“Take counsel together now and say—Will you fight against Rezu, or +will you yield? If that is your desire, speak it, and by to-morrow’s sun +I will begone, taking these with me,” and she pointed to us, “whom +I have summoned to help us in the war. Aye, I will begone, and when you are +stretched upon the stone of sacrifice, and your women and children are the +slaves of the men of Rezu, then shall you cry, +</p> + +<p> +“‘Oh, where is Hiya whom our fathers knew? Oh, will she not return +and save us from this hell?’ +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, so shall you cry but there shall come no answer, since then she +will have departed to her own habitations in the moon and thence appear no +more. Now consult together and answer swiftly, since I weary of you and your +ways.” +</p> + +<p> +The captains drew apart and began to talk in low voices, while Ayesha stood +still, apparently quite unconcerned, and I considered the situation. +</p> + +<p> +It was obvious to me that these people were almost in rebellion against their +strange ruler, whose power over them was of a purely moral nature, one that +emanated from her personality alone. What I wondered was, being what she seemed +to be, why she thought it worth while to exercise it at all. Then I remembered +her statement that here and nowhere else she must abide for some secret reason, +until a certain mystical gentleman with a Greek name came to fetch her away +from this appointed <i>rendezvous</i>. Therefore I supposed she had no choice, +or rather, suffering as she did from hallucinations, believed herself to have +no choice and was obliged to put up with a crowd of disagreeable savages in +quarters which were sadly out of repair. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the spokesman returned, saluted with his spear, and asked, +</p> + +<p> +“If we go up to fight against Rezu, who will lead us in the battle, O +Hiya?” +</p> + +<p> +“My wisdom shall be your guide,” she answered, “this white +man shall be your General and there stands the warrior who shall meet Rezu face +to face and bring him to the dust,” and she pointed to Umslopogaas +leaning upon his axe and watching them with a contemptuous smile. +</p> + +<p> +This reply did not seem to please the man for he withdrew to consult again with +his companions. After a debate which I suppose was animated for the Amahagger, +men of few words who did not indulge in oratory, all of them advanced on us and +the spokesman said, +</p> + +<p> +“The choice of a General does not please us, Hiya. We know that the white +man is brave because of the fight he made against the men of Rezu over the +mountain yonder; also that he and his followers have weapons that deal death +from afar. But there is a prophecy among us of which none know the beginning, +that he who commands in the last great battle between Lulala and Rezu must +produce before the eyes of the People of Lulala a certain holy thing, a charm +of power, without which defeat will be the portion of Lulala. Of this holy +thing, this spirit-haunted shape of power, we know the likeness and the +fashion, for these have come down among our priests, though who told it to them +we cannot tell, but of it I will say this only, that it speaks both of the +spirit and the body, of man and yet of more than man.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if this wondrous charm, this talisman of might, cannot be shown by +the white lord here, what then?” asked Ayesha coldly. +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Hiya, this is the word of the People of Lulala, that we will not +serve under him in the battle, and this also is their word that we will not go +up against Rezu. That thou art mighty we know well, Hiya, also that thou canst +slay if thou wilt, but we know also that Rezu is mightier and that against him +thou hast no power. Therefore kill us if thou dost so desire, until thy heart +is satisfied with death. For it is better that we should perish thus than upon +the altar of sacrifice wearing the red-hot crowns of Rezu.” +</p> + +<p> +“So say we all,” exclaimed the rest of the company when he had +finished. +</p> + +<p> +“The thought comes to me to begin to satisfy my heart with thy coward +blood and that of thy companions,” said Ayesha contemptuously. Then she +paused and turning to me, added, “O Watcher-by-Night, what counsel? Is +there aught that will convince these chicken-hearted ones over whom I have +spread my feathers for so long?” +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head blankly, whereat they murmured together and made as though they +would go. +</p> + +<p> +Then it was that Hans, who understood something of Arabic as he did of most +African tongues, pulled my sleeve and whispered in my ear. +</p> + +<p> +“The Great Medicine, Baas! Show them Zikali’s Great +Medicine.” +</p> + +<p> +Here was an idea. The description of the article required, a +“spirit-haunted shape of power” that spoke “both of the +spirit and the body of man and yet of more than man,” was so vague that +it might mean anything or nothing. And yet—— +</p> + +<p> +I turned to Ayesha and prayed her to ask them if what they wanted should be +produced, whether they would follow me bravely and fight Rezu to the death. She +did so and with one voice they replied, +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, bravely and to the death, him and the Bearer of the Axe of whom +also our legend tells.” +</p> + +<p> +Then with deliberation I opened my shirt and holding out the image of Zikali as +far as the chain of elephant hair would allow, I asked, +</p> + +<p> +“Is this the holy thing, the charm of power, of which your legend tells, +O People of the Amahagger and worshippers of Lulala?” +</p> + +<p> +The spokesman glanced at it, then snatching a brand from a watch-fire that +burnt near by held it over the carving and stared, and stared again; and as he +did, so did the others bending over him. +</p> + +<p> +“Dog! would you singe my beard?” I cried in affected rage, and +seizing the brand from his hand I smote him with it over the head. +</p> + +<p> +But he took no heed of the affront which I had offered to him merely to assert +my authority. Still for a few moments he stared although the sparks from the +wood were frizzling in his greasy hair, then of a sudden went down on his face +before me, as did all the others and cried out, +</p> + +<p> +“It is the Holy Thing! It is the spirit-haunted Shape of Power itself, +and we the Worshippers of Lulala will follow thee to the death, O white lord, +Watcher-by-Night. Yes, where thou goest and he goes who bears the Axe, thither +will we follow till not one of us is left upon his feet.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then that’s settled,” I said, yawning, since it is never +wise to show concern about anything before savages. Indeed personally I had no +wish to be the leader of this very peculiar tribe in an adventure of which I +knew nothing, and therefore had hoped that they would leave that honour to +someone else. Then I turned and told Umslopogaas what had passed, a tale at +which he only shrugged his great shoulders, handling his axe as though he were +minded to try its edge upon some of these “Dark-lovers,” as he +named the Amahagger people because of their nocturnal habits. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Ayesha gave certain orders. Then she came to me and said, +</p> + +<p> +“These men march at once, three thousand strong, and by dawn will camp on +the northern mountain crest. At sunrise litters will come to bear you and those +with you if they will, to join them, which you should do by midday. In the +afternoon marshall them as you think wise, for the battle will take place in +the small hours of the following morning, since the People of Lulala only fight +at night. I have said.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you not come with us?” I asked, dismayed. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, not in a war against Rezu, why it matters not. Yet my Spirit will +go with you, for I shall watch all that passes, how it matters not and +perchance you may see it there—I know not. On the third day from +to-morrow we shall meet again in the flesh or beyond it, but as I think in the +flesh, and you can claim the reward which you journeyed here to seek. A place +shall be prepared for the white lady whom Rezu would have set up as a rival +queen to me. Farewell, and farewell also to yonder Bearer of the Axe that shall +drink the blood of Rezu, also to the little yellow man who is rightly named +Light-in-Darkness, as you shall learn ere all is done.” +</p> + +<p> +Then before I could speak she turned and glided away, swiftly surrounded by her +guards, leaving me astonished and very uncomfortable. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +ALLAN’S VISION</h2> + +<p> +The old chamberlain, Billali, conducted us back to our camp. As we went he +discoursed to me of these Amahagger, of whom it seemed he was himself a +developed specimen, one who threw back, perhaps tens of generations, to some +superior ancestor who lived before they became debased. In substance he told me +that they were a wild and lawless lot who lived amongst ruins or in caves, or +some of them in swamp dwellings, in small separate communities, each governed +by its petty headman who was generally a priest of their goddess Lulala. +</p> + +<p> +Originally they and the people of Rezu were the same, in times when they +worshipped the sun and the moon jointly, but “thousands of years” +ago, as he expressed it, they had separated, the Rezuites having gone to dwell +to the north of the Great Mountain, whence they continually threatened the +Lulalaites whom, had it not been for She-who-commands, they would have +destroyed long before. The Rezuites, it seemed, were habitual cannibals, +whereas the Lulalaite branch of the Amahagger only practised cannibalism +occasionally when by a lucky chance they got hold of strangers. “Such as +yourself, Watcher-by-Night, and your companions,” he added with meaning. +If their crime were discovered, however, Hiya, She-who-commands, punished it by +death. +</p> + +<p> +I asked if she exercised an active rule over these people. He answered that she +did not, as she lacked sufficient interest in them; only when she was angry +with individuals she would destroy some of them by “her arts,” as +she had power to do if she chose. Most of them indeed had never seen her and +only knew of her existence by rumour. To them she was a spirit or a goddess who +inhabited the ancient tombs that lay to the south of the old city whither she +had come because of the threatened war with Rezu, whom alone she feared, he did +not know why. He told me again, moreover, that she was the greatest magician +who had ever been, and that it was certain she did not die, since their +forefathers knew her generations ago. Still she seemed to be under some curse, +like the Amahagger themselves, who were the descendants of those who had once +inhabited Kôr and the country round it, as far as the sea-coast and for +hundreds of miles inland, having been a mighty people in their day before a +great plague destroyed them. +</p> + +<p> +For the rest he thought that she was a very unhappy woman who “lived with +her own soul mourning the dead” and consorting with none upon the earth. +</p> + +<p> +I asked him why she stayed here, whereat he shook his head and replied, he +supposed because of the “curse,” since he could conceive of no +other reason. He informed me also that her moods varied very much. Sometimes +she was fierce and active and at others by comparison mild and low-spirited. +Just now she was passing through one of the latter stages, perhaps because of +the Rezu trouble, for she did not wish her people to be destroyed by this +terrible person; or perhaps for some other reason with which he was not +acquainted. +</p> + +<p> +When she chose, she knew all things, except the distant future. Thus she knew +that we were coming, also the details of our march and that we should be +attacked by the Rezuites who were going out to meet their returning company +that had been sent afar to find a white queen. Therefore she had ordered him to +go with soldiers to our assistance. I asked why she went veiled, and he +replied, because of her beauty which drove even savage men mad, so that in old +days she had been obliged to kill a number of them. +</p> + +<p> +That was all he seemed to know about her, except that she was kind to those who +served her well, like himself, and protected them from evil of every sort. +</p> + +<p> +Then I asked him about Rezu. He answered that he was a dreadful person, +undying, it was said, like She-who-commands, though he had never seen the man +himself and never wanted to do so. His followers being cannibals and having +literally eaten up all those that they could reach, were now desirous of +conquering the people of Lulala that they might eat them also at their leisure. +Each other they did not eat, because dog does not eat dog, and therefore they +were beginning to grow hungry, although they had plenty of grain and cattle of +which they used the milk and hides. +</p> + +<p> +As for the coming battle, he knew nothing about it or what would happen, save +that She-who-commands said that it would go well for the Lulalaites under my +direction. She was so sure that it would go well, that she did not think it +worth while to accompany the army, for she hated noise and bloodshed. +</p> + +<p> +It occurred to me that perhaps she was afraid that she too would be taken +captive and eaten, but I kept my reflection to myself. +</p> + +<p> +Just then we arrived at our camp-house, where Billali bade me farewell, saying +that he wished to rest as he must be back at dawn with litters, when he hoped +to find us ready to start. Then he departed. Umslopogaas and Hans also went +away to sleep, leaving me alone who, having taken my repose in the afternoon, +did not feel drowsy at the moment. So lovely was the night indeed that I made +up my mind to take a little walk during the midnight hours, after the manner of +the Amahagger themselves, for having now been recognised as Generalissimo of +their forces, I had little fear of being attacked, especially as I carried a +pistol in my pocket. So off I set strolling slowly down what seemed to have +been a main street of the ancient city, which in its general appearance +resembled excavated Pompeii, only on an infinitely larger scale. +</p> + +<p> +As I went I meditated on the strange circumstances in which I found myself. +Really they tempted me to believe that I was suffering from delusions and +perhaps all the while in fact lay stretched upon a bed in the delirium of +fever. That marvellous woman, for instance—even rejecting her tale of +miraculously extended life, which I did—what was I to make of her? I did +not know, except that wondrous as she was, it remained clear that she claimed a +great deal more power than she possessed. This was evident from her tone in the +interview with the captains, and from the fact that she had shuffled off the +command of her tribe on to my shoulders. If she were so mighty, why did she not +command it herself and bring her celestial, or infernal, powers to bear upon +the enemy? Again, I could not say, but one fact emerged, namely that she was as +interesting as she was beautiful, and uncommonly clever into the bargain. +</p> + +<p> +But what a task was this that she had laid upon me, to lead into battle, with a +foe of unascertained strength, a mob of savages probably quite undisciplined, +of whose fighting qualities I knew nothing and whom I had no opportunity of +organising. The affair seemed madness and I could only hope that luck or +destiny would take me through somehow. +</p> + +<p> +To tell the truth, I believed it would, for I had grown almost as superstitious +about Zikali and his Great Medicine as was Hans himself. Certainly the effect +of it upon those captains was very odd, or would have been had not the +explanation come to me in a flash. On the first night of our meeting, as I have +described, I showed this talisman to Ayesha, as a kind of letter of +credentials, and now I could see that it was she who had arranged all the scene +with the captains, or their tribal magician, in order to get her way about my +appointment to the command. +</p> + +<p> +Everything about her conduct bore this out, even her feigning ignorance of the +existence of the charm and the leaving of it to Hans to suggest its production, +which perhaps she did by influencing his mind subconsciously. No doubt more or +less it fitted in with one of those nebulous traditions which are so common +amongst ancient savage races, and therefore once shown to her confederate, or +confederates, would be accepted by the common people as a holy sign, after +which the rest was easy. +</p> + +<p> +Such an obvious explanation involved the death of any illusions I might still +cherish about this Arab lady, Ayesha, and it is true that I parted with them +with regret, as we all do when we think we have discovered something wonderful +in the female line. But there it was, and to bother any more about her, her +history and aims, seemed useless. +</p> + +<p> +So dismissing her and all present anxieties from my mind, I began to look about +me and to wonder at the marvellous scene which unfolded itself before me in the +moonlight. That I might see it better, although I was rather afraid of snakes +which might hide among the stones, by an easy ascent I climbed a mount of ruins +and up the broad slope of a tumbled massive wall, which from its thickness I +judged must have been that of some fort or temple. On the crest of this wall, +some seventy or eighty feet above the level of the streets, I sat down and +looked about me. +</p> + +<p> +Everywhere around me stretched the ruins of the great city, now as fallen and +as deserted as Babylon herself. The majestic loneliness of the place was +something awful. Even the vision of companies and battalions of men crossing +the plain towards the north with the moonlight glistening on their +spear-points, did little to lessen this sense of loneliness. I knew that these +were the regiments which I was destined to command, travelling to the camp +where I must meet them. But in such silence did they move that no sound came +from them even in the deathly stillness of the perfect night, so that almost I +was tempted to believe them to be the shadow-ghosts of some army of old Kôr. +</p> + +<p> +They vanished, and musing thus I think I must have dozed. At any rate it seemed +to me that of a sudden the city was as it had been in the days of its glory. I +saw it brilliant with a hundred colours; everywhere was colour, on the painted +walls and roofs, the flowering trees that lined the streets and the bright +dresses of the men and women who by thousands crowded them and the marts and +squares. Even the chariots that moved to and fro were coloured as were the +countless banners which floated from palace walls and temple tops. +</p> + +<p> +The enormous place teemed with every activity of life; brides being borne to +marriage and dead men to burial; squadrons marching, clad in glittering armour; +merchants chaffering; white-robed priests and priestesses passing in procession +(who or what did they worship? I wondered); children breaking out of school; +grave philosophers debating in the shadow of a cool arcade; a royal person +making a progress preceded by runners and surrounded by slaves, and lastly the +multitudes of citizens going about the daily business of life. +</p> + +<p> +Even details were visible, such as those of officers of the law chasing an +escaped prisoner who had a broken rope tied to his arm, and a collision between +two chariots in a narrow street, about the wrecks of which an idle mob gathered +as it does to-day if two vehicles collide, while the owners argued, +gesticulating angrily, and the police and grooms tried to lift a fallen horse +on to its feet. Only no sound of the argument or of anything else reached me. I +saw, and that was all. The silence remained intense, as well it might do, since +those chariots must have come to grief thousands upon thousands of years ago. +</p> + +<p> +A cloud seemed to pass before my eyes, a thin, gauzy cloud which somehow +reminded me of the veil that Ayesha wore. Indeed at the moment, although I +could not see her, I would have sworn that she was present at my side, and what +is more, that she was mocking me who had set her down as so impotent a +trickstress, which doubtless was part of the dream. +</p> + +<p> +At any rate I returned to my normal state, and there about me were the miles of +desolate streets and the thousands of broken walls, and the black blots of +roofless houses and the wide, untenanted plain bounded by the battlemented line +of encircling mountain crests, and above all, the great moon shining softly in +a tender sky. +</p> + +<p> +I looked and thrilled, though oppressed by the drear and desolate beauty of the +scene around me, descended the wall and the ruined slope and made my way +homewards, afraid even of my own shadow. For I seemed to be the only living +thing among the dead habitations of immemorial Kôr. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Reaching our camp I found Hans awake and watching for me. +</p> + +<p> +“I was just coming to look for you, Baas,” he said. “Indeed I +should have done so before, only I knew that you had gone to pay a visit to +that tall white ‘Missis’ who ties up her head in a blanket, and +thought that neither of you would like to be disturbed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you thought wrong,” I answered, “and what is more, if +you had made that visit I think it might have been one from which you would +never have come back.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh yes, Baas,” sniggered Hans. “The tall white lady would +not have minded. It is you who are so particular, after the fashion of men whom +Heaven made very shy.” +</p> + +<p> +Without deigning to reply to the gibes of Hans I went to lie down, wondering +what kind of a bed poor Robertson occupied that night, and soon fell asleep, as +fortunately for myself I have the power to do, whatever my circumstances at the +moment. Men who can sleep are those who do the work of the world and succeed, +though personally I have had more of the work than of the success. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +I was awakened at the first grey dawn by Hans, who informed me that Billali was +waiting outside with litters, also that Goroko had already made his +incantations and doctored Umslopogaas and his two men for war after the Zulu +fashion when battle was expected. He added that these Zulus had refused to be +left behind to guard and nurse their wounded companions, and said that rather +than do so, they would kill them. +</p> + +<p> +Somehow, he informed me, in what way he could not guess, this had come to the +ears of the White Lady who “hid her face from men because it was so +ugly,” and she had sent women to attend to the sick ones, with word that +they should be well cared for. All of this proved to be true enough, but I need +not enter into the details. +</p> + +<p> +In the end off we went, I in my litter following Billali’s, with an +express and a repeating rifle and plenty of ammunition for both, and Hans, also +well armed, in that which had been sent for Umslopogaas, who preferred to walk +with Goroko and the two other Zulus. +</p> + +<p> +For a little while Hans enjoyed the sensation of being carried by somebody +else, and lay upon the cushions smoking with a seraphic smile and addressing +sarcastic remarks to the bearers, who fortunately did not understand them. +Soon, however, he wearied of these novel delights and as he was still +determined not to walk until he was obliged, climbed on to the roof of the +litter, astride of which he sat as though it were a horse, looking for all the +world like a toy monkey on a horizontal stick. +</p> + +<p> +Our road ran across the level, fertile plain but a small portion of which was +cultivated, though I could see that at some time or other, when its population +was greater, every inch of it had been under crop. Now it was largely covered +by trees, many of them fruit-bearing, between which meandered streams of water +which once, I think, had been irrigation channels. +</p> + +<p> +About ten o’clock we reached the foot of the encircling cliffs and began +the climb of the escarpment, which was steep, tortuous and difficult. By noon +we reached its crest and here found all our little army encamped and, except +for the sentries, sleeping, as seemed to be the invariable custom of these +people in the daytime. +</p> + +<p> +I caused the chief captains to be awakened and with them made a circuit of the +camp, reckoning the numbers of the men which came to about 3,250 and learning +what I could concerning them and their way of fighting. Then, accompanied by +Umslopogaas and Hans with the Zulus as a guard, also by three of the +head-captains of the Amahagger, I walked forward to study the lie of the land. +</p> + +<p> +Coming to the further edge of the escarpment, I found that at this place two +broad-based ridges, shaped like those that spring from the boles of certain +tropical forest trees, ran from its crest to the plain beneath at a gentle +slope. Moreover I saw that on this plain between the ends of the ridges an army +was encamped which, by the aid of my glasses, I examined and estimated to +number at least ten thousand men. +</p> + +<p> +This army, the Amahagger captains informed me, was that of Rezu, who, they +said, intended to commence his attack at dawn on the following morning, since +the People of Rezu, being sun-worshippers, would never fight until their god +appeared above the horizon. Having studied all there was to see I asked the +captains to set out their plan of battle, if they had a plan. +</p> + +<p> +The chief of them answered that it was to advance halfway down the right-hand +ridge to a spot where there was a narrow flat piece of ground, and there await +attack, since at this place their smaller numbers would not so much matter, +whereas these made it impossible for them to assail the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +“But suppose that Rezu should choose to come up to the other ridge and +get behind you. What would happen then?” I inquired. +</p> + +<p> +He replied that he did not know, his ideas of strategy being, it was clear, of +a primitive order. +</p> + +<p> +“Do your people fight best at night or in the day?” I went on. +</p> + +<p> +He said undoubtedly at night, indeed in all their history there was no record +of their having done so in the daytime. +</p> + +<p> +“And yet you propose to let Rezu join battle with you when the sun is +high, or in other words to court defeat,” I remarked. +</p> + +<p> +Then I went aside and discussed things for a while with Umslopogaas and Hans, +after which I returned and gave my orders, declining all argument. Briefly +these were that in the dusk before the rising of the moon, our Amahagger must +advance down the right-hand ridge in complete silence, and hide themselves +among the scrub which I saw grew thickly near its root. A small party, however, +under the leadership of Goroko, whom I knew to be a brave and clever captain, +was to pass halfway down the left-hand ridge and there light fires over a wide +area, so as to make the enemy think that our whole force had encamped there. +Then at the proper moment which I had not yet decided upon, we would attack the +army of Rezu. +</p> + +<p> +The Amahagger captains did not seem pleased with this plan which I think was +too bold for their fancy, and began to murmur together. Seeing that I must +assert my authority at once, I walked up to them and said to their chief man, +</p> + +<p> +“Hearken, my friend. By your own wish, not mine, I have been appointed +your general and I expect to be obeyed without question. From the moment that +the advance begins you will keep close to me and to the Black One, and if so +much as one of your men hesitates or turns back, you will die,” and I +nodded towards the axe of Umslopogaas. “Moreover, afterwards +She-who-commands will see that others of you die, should you escape in the +fight.” +</p> + +<p> +Still they hesitated. Thereon without another word, I produced Zikali’s +Great Medicine and held it before their eyes, with the result that the sight of +this ugly thing did what even the threat of death could not do. They went flat +on the ground, every one of them, and swore by Lulala and by She-who-commands, +her priestess, that they would do all I said, however mad it seemed to them. +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” I answered. “Now go back and make ready, and for the +rest, by this time to-morrow we shall know who is or is not mad.” +</p> + +<p> +From that moment till the end I had no more trouble with these Amahagger. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +I will get on quickly with the story of this fight whereof the preliminary +details do not matter. At the proper time Goroko went off with two hundred and +fifty men and one of the two Zulus to light the fires and, at an agreed signal, +namely the firing of two shots in rapid succession by myself, to begin shouting +and generally make as much noise as they could. +</p> + +<p> +We also went off with the remaining three thousand, and before the moon rose, +crept as quietly as ghosts down the right-hand ridge. Being such a silent folk +who were accustomed to move at night and could see in the dark almost as well +as cats, the Amahagger executed this manoeuvre splendidly, wrapping their +spear-blades in bands of dry grass lest light should glint on them and betray +our movements. So in due course we came to the patch of bush where the ridge +widened out about five hundred yards from the plain beneath, and there lay down +in four companies or regiments, each of them about seven hundred and fifty +strong. +</p> + +<p> +Now the moon had risen, but because of the mist which covered the surface of +the plain, we could see nothing of the camp of Rezu which we knew must be +within a thousand yards of us, unless indeed it had been moved, as the silence +seemed to suggest. +</p> + +<p> +This circumstance gave me much anxiety, since I feared lest abandoning their +reputed habits, these Rezuites were also contemplating a night attack. +Umslopogaas, too, was disturbed on the subject, though because of Goroko and +his men whose fires began to twinkle on the opposing ridge something over a +mile away, they could not pass up there without our knowledge. +</p> + +<p> +Still, for aught I knew there might be other ways of scaling this mountain. I +did not trust the Amahagger, who declared that none existed, since their local +knowledge was slight as they never visited these northern slopes because of +their fear of Rezu. Supposing that the enemy gained the crest and suddenly +assaulted us in the rear! The thought of it made me feel cold down the back. +</p> + +<p> +While I was wondering how I could find out the truth, Hans, who was squatted +behind a bush, suddenly rose and gave the rifle he was carrying to the +remaining Zulu. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he said, “I am going to look and find out what those +people are doing, if they are still there, and then you will know how and when +to attack them. Don’t be afraid for me, Baas, it will be easy in that +mist and you know I can move like a snake. Also if I should not come back, it +does not matter and it will tell you that they <i>are</i> there.” +</p> + +<p> +I hesitated who did not wish to expose the brave little Hottentot to such +risks. But when he understood, Umslopogaas said, +</p> + +<p> +“Let the man go. It is his gift and duty to spy, as it is mine to smite +with the axe, and yours to lead, Macumazahn. Let him go, I say.” +</p> + +<p> +I nodded my head, and having kissed my hand in his silly fashion in token of +much that he did not wish to say, Hans slipped out of sight, saying that he +hoped to be back within an hour. Except for his great knife, he went unarmed, +who feared that if he took a pistol he might be tempted to fire it and make a +noise. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +THE MIDNIGHT BATTLE</h2> + +<p> +That hour went by very slowly. Again and again I consulted my watch by the +light of the moon, which was now rising high in the heavens, and thought that +it would never come to an end. Listen as I would, there was nothing to be +heard, and as the mist still prevailed the only thing I could see except the +heavens, was the twinkling of the fires lit by Goroko and his party. +</p> + +<p> +At length it was done and there was no sign of Hans. Another half hour passed +and still no sign of Hans. +</p> + +<p> +“I think that Light-in-Darkness is dead or taken prisoner,” said +Umslopogaas. +</p> + +<p> +I answered that I feared so, but that I would give him another fifteen minutes +and then, if he did not appear, I proposed to order an advance, hoping to find +the enemy where we had last seen them from the top of the mountain. +</p> + +<p> +The fifteen minutes went by also, and as I could see that the Amahagger +captains who sat at a little distance were getting very nervous, I picked up my +double-barrelled rifle and turned round so that I faced up hill with a view of +firing it as had been agreed with Goroko, but in such a fashion that the +flashes perhaps would not be seen from the plain below. For this purpose I +moved a few yards to the left to get behind the trunk of a tree that grew +there, and was already lifting the rifle to my shoulder, when a yellow hand +clasped the barrel and a husky voice said, +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t fire yet, Baas, as I want to tell you my story first.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked down and there was the ugly face of Hans wearing a grin that might +have frightened the man in the moon. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” I said with cold indifference, assumed I admit to hide my +excessive joy at his safe return, “tell on, and be quick about it. I +suppose you lost your way and never found them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, I lost my way for the fog was very thick down there. But in +the end I found them all right, by my nose, Baas, for those man-eating people +smell strong and I got the wind of one of their sentries. It was easy to pass +him in the mist, Baas, so easy that I was tempted to cut his throat as I went, +but I didn’t for fear lest he should make a noise. No, I walked on right +into the middle of them, which was easy too, for they were all asleep, wrapped +up in blankets. They hadn’t any fires perhaps because they didn’t +want them to be seen, or perhaps because it is so hot down in that low land, I +don’t know which. +</p> + +<p> +“So I crept on taking note of all I saw, till at last I came to a little +hill of which the top rose above the level of the mist, so that I could see on +it a long hut built of green boughs with the leaves still fresh upon them. Now +I thought that I would crawl up to the hut since it came into my mind that Rezu +himself must be sleeping there and that I might kill him. But while I stood +hesitating I heard a noise like to that made by an old woman whose husband had +thrown a blanket over her head to keep her quiet, or to that of a bee in a +bottle, a sort of droning noise that reminded me of something. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought a while and remembered that when Red Beard was on his knees +praying to Heaven, as is his habit when he has nothing else to do, Baas, he +makes a noise just like that. I crept towards the sound and presently there I +found Red Beard himself tied upon a stone and looking as mad as a buffalo bull +stuck in a swamp, for he shook his head and rolled his eyes about, just as +though he had had two bottles of bad gin, Baas, and all the while he kept +saying prayers. Now I thought that I would cut him loose, and bent over him to +do so, when by ill-luck he saw my face and began to shout, saying, +</p> + +<p> +“‘Go away, you yellow devil. I know you have come to take me to +hell, but you are too soon, and if my hands were loose I would twist your head +off your shoulders.’ +</p> + +<p> +“He said this in English, Baas, which as you know I can understand quite +well, after which I was sure that I had better leave him alone. Whilst I was +thinking, there came out of the hut above two old men dressed in night-shirts, +such as you white people wear, with yellow things upon their heads that had a +metal picture of the sun in front of them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Medicine-men,” I suggested. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, or Predikants of some sort, for they were rather like your +reverend father when he dressed himself up and went into a box to preach. +Seeing them I slipped back a little way to where the mist began, lay down and +listened. They looked at Red Beard, for his shouts at me had brought them out, +but he took no notice of them, only went on making a noise like a beetle in a +tin can. +</p> + +<p> +“‘It is nothing,’ said one of the Predikants to the other in +the same tongue that these Amahagger use. ‘But when is he to be +sacrificed? Soon, I hope, for I cannot sleep because of the noise he +makes.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘When the edge of the sun appears, not before,’ answered the +other Predikant. ‘Then the new queen will be brought out of the hut and +this white man will be sacrificed to her.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘I think it is a pity to wait so long,’ said the first +Predikant, ‘for never shall we sleep in peace until the red-hot pot is on +his head.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘First the victory, then the feast,’ answered the second +Predikant, ‘though he will not be so good to eat as that fat young woman +who was with the new queen.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Baas, they both smacked their lips and one of them went back +towards the hut. But the other did not go back. No, he sat down on the ground +and glowered at Baas Red-Beard upon the stone. More, he struck him on the face +to make him quiet. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Baas, when I saw this and remembered that they had said that they +had eaten Janee whom I liked although she was such a fool, the spirit in me +grew so very angry and I thought that I would give this old <i>skellum</i> +(i.e. rascal) of a Predikant a taste of sacrifice himself, after which I +purposed to creep to the hut and see if I could get speech with the Lady +Sad-Eyes, if she was there. +</p> + +<p> +“So I wriggled up behind the Predikant as he sat glowering over +Red-Beard, and stuck my knife into his back where I thought it would kill him +at once. But it didn’t, Baas, for he fell on to his face and began to +make a noise like a wounded hyena before I could finish him. Then I heard a +sound of shouts, and to save my life was obliged to run away into the mist, +without loosing Red-Beard or seeing Lady Sad-Eyes. I ran very hard, Baas, +making a wide circle to the left, and so at last got back here. That’s +all, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +“And quite enough, too,” I answered, “though if they did not +see you, the death of the Medicine-man may frighten them. Poor Janee! Well, I +hope to come even with those devils before they are three hours older.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I called up Umslopogaas and the Amahagger captains and told them the +substance of the story, also that Hans had located the army, or part of it. +</p> + +<p> +The end of it was that we made up our minds to attack at once; indeed I +insisted on this, as I was determined if I could to save that unfortunate man, +Robertson, who, from Hans’ account, evidently was now quite mad and +raving. So I fired the two shots as had been arranged and presently heard the +sound of distant shoutings on the slope of the opposing ridge. A few minutes +later we started, Umslopogaas and I leading the vanguard and the Amahagger +captains following with the three remaining companies. +</p> + +<p> +Now the reader, presuming the existence of such a person, will think that +everything is sure to go right; that this cunning old fellow, Allan Quatermain, +is going to surprise and wipe the floor with those Rezuites, who were already +beguiled by the trick he had instructed Goroko to play. That after this he will +rescue Robertson who doubtless shortly recovers his mind, also Inez with the +greatest ease, in fact that everything will happen as it ought to do if this +were a romance instead of a mere record of remarkable facts. But being the +latter, as it happened, matters did not work out quite in this convenient way. +</p> + +<p> +To begin with, when those Amahagger told me that the Rezuites never fought in +the dark or before the sun was well up, either they lied or they were much +mistaken, for at any rate on this occasion they did the exact contrary. All the +while that we thought we were stalking them, they were stalking us. The Goroko +manoeuvre had not deceived them in the least, since from their spies they knew +its exact significance. +</p> + +<p> +Here, I may add that those spies were in our own ranks, traitors, in short, who +were really in the pay of Rezu and possibly belonged to his abominable faith, +some of whom slipped away from time to time to the enemy to report our progress +and plans, so far as they knew them. +</p> + +<p> +Further, what Hans had stumbled on was a mere rear guard left around the place +of sacrifice and the hut where Inez was confined. The real army he never found +at all. That was divided into two bodies and hidden in bush to the right and +left of the ridge which we were descending just at the spot where it joined the +plain beneath, and into the jaws of these two armies we marched gaily. +</p> + +<p> +Now that hypothetical reader will say, “Why didn’t that silly old +fool, Allan, think of all these things? Why didn’t he remember that he +was commanding a pack of savages with whom he had no real acquaintance, among +whom there were sure to be traitors, especially as they were of the same blood +as the Rezuites, and take precautions?” +</p> + +<p> +Ah! my dear reader, I will only answer that I wish you had handled the job +yourself, and enjoyed the opportunity of seeing what <i>you</i> could do in the +circumstances. Do you suppose I didn’t think of all these points? Of +course I did. But have you ever heard of the difficulty of making silk purses +out of sows’ ears, or of turning a lot of gloomy and disagreeable +barbarians whom you had never even drilled, into trustworthy and efficient +soldiers ready to fight three times their own number and beat them? +</p> + +<p> +Also I beg to observe that I did get through somehow, as you shall learn, which +is more than you might have done, Mr. Wisdom, though I admit, not without help +from another quarter. It is all very well for you to sit in your armchair and +be sapient and turn up your learned nose, like the gentlemen who criticise +plays and poems, an easy job compared to the writing of them. From all of +which, however, you will understand that I am, to tell the truth, rather +ashamed of what followed, since <i>qui s’excuse, s’accuse</i>. +</p> + +<p> +As we slunk down that hill in the moonlight, a queer-looking crowd, I admit +also that I felt very uncomfortable. To begin with I did not like that remark +of the Medicine-man which Hans reported, to the effect that the feast must come +after the victory, especially as he had said just before that Robertson was to +be sacrificed as the sun rose, which would seem to suggest that the +“victory” was planned to take place before that event. +</p> + +<p> +While I was ruminating upon this subject, I looked round for Hans to +cross-examine him as to the priest’s exact words, only to find that he +had slunk off somewhere. A few minutes later he reappeared running back towards +us swiftly and, I noticed, taking shelter behind tree trunks and rocks as he +came. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he gasped, for he was out of breath, “be careful, +those Rezu men are on either side ahead. I went forward and ran into them. They +threw many spears at me. Look!” and he showed a slight cut on his arm +from which blood was flowing. +</p> + +<p> +Instantly I understood that we were ambushed and began to think very hard +indeed. As it chanced we were passing across a large flat space upon the ridge, +say seven or eight acres in extent, where the bush grew lightly, though owing +to the soil being better, the trees were tall. +</p> + +<p> +On the steep slope below this little plain it seemed to be denser and there it +was, according to Hans, that the ambush was set. I halted my regiment and sent +back messengers to the others that they were to halt also as they came up, on +the pretext of giving them a rest before they were marshalled and we advanced +to the battle. +</p> + +<p> +Then I told Umslopogaas what Hans said and asked him to send out his Zulu +soldier whom he could trust, to see if he could obtain confirmation of the +report. This he did at once. Also I asked him what he thought should be done, +supposing that it was true. +</p> + +<p> +“Form the Amahagger into a ring or a square and await attack,” he +answered. +</p> + +<p> +I nodded, for that was my own opinion, but replied, +</p> + +<p> +“If they were Zulus, the plan would be good. But how do we know that +these men will stand?” +</p> + +<p> +“We know nothing, Macumazahn, and therefore can only try. If they run it +must be up-hill.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I called the captains and told them what was toward, which seemed to alarm +them very much. Indeed one or two of them wanted to retreat at once, but I said +I would shoot the first man who tried to do so. In the end they agreed to my +plan and said that they would post their best soldiers above, at the top of the +square, with the orders to stop any attempt at a flight up the mountain. +</p> + +<p> +After this we formed up the square as best we could, arranging it in a rather +rough, four-fold line. While we were doing this we heard some shouts below and +presently the Zulu returned, who reported that all was as Hans had said and +that Rezu’s men were moving round us, having discovered, as he thought, +that we had halted and escaped their ambush. +</p> + +<p> +Still the attack did not develop at once, for the reason that the Rezu army was +crawling up the steep flanks of the spur on either side of the level piece of +ground, with a view of encircling us altogether, so as to make a clean sweep of +our force. As a matter of fact, considered from our point of view, this was a +most fortunate move, since thereby they stopped any attempt at a retreat on the +part of our Amahagger, whose bolt-hole was now blocked. +</p> + +<p> +When we had done all we could, we sat down, or at least I did, and waited. The +night, I remember, was strangely still, only from the slopes on either side of +our plateau came a kind of rustling sound which in fact was caused by the feet +of Rezu’s people, as they marched to surround us. +</p> + +<p> +It ceased at last and the silence grew complete, so much so that I could hear +the teeth of some of our tall Amahagger chattering with fear, a sound that gave +me little confidence and caused Umslopogaas to remark that the hearts of these +big men had never grown; they remained “as those of babies.” I told +the captains to pass the word down the ranks that those who stood might live, +but those who fled would certainly die. Therefore if they wished to see their +homes again they had better stand and fight like men. Otherwise most of them +would be killed and the rest eaten by Rezu. This was done, and I observed that +the message seemed to produce a steadying effect upon our ranks. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly all around us, from below, from above and on either side there broke a +most awful roar which seemed to shape itself into the word, <i>Rezu</i>, and +next minute also from above, below and either side, some ten thousand men +poured forth upon our square. +</p> + +<p> +In the moonlight they looked very terrible with their flowing white robes and +great gleaming spears. Hans and I fired some shots, though for all the effect +they produced, we might as well have pelted a breaker with pebbles. Then, as I +thought that I should be more useful alive than dead, I retreated within the +square, Umslopogaas, his Zulu, and Hans coming with me. +</p> + +<p> +On the whole our Amahagger stood the attack better than I expected. They beat +back the first rush with considerable loss to the enemy, also the second after +a longer struggle. Then there was a pause during which we re-formed our ranks, +dragging the wounded men into the square. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely had we done this when with another mighty shout of “Rezu!” +the enemy attacked again—that was about an hour after the battle had +begun. But now they had changed their tactics, for instead of trying to rush +all sides of the square at once, they concentrated their efforts on the western +front, that which faced towards the plain below. +</p> + +<p> +On they came, and among them in the forefront of the battle, now and again I +caught sight of a gigantic man, a huge creature who seemed to me to be seven +feet high and big in proportion. I could not see him clearly because of the +uncertain moonlight, but I noted his fierce aspect, also that he had an +enormous beard, black streaked with grey, that flowed down to his middle, and +that his hair hung in masses upon his shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +“Rezu himself!” I shouted to Umslopogaas. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, Macumazahn, Rezu himself without doubt, and I rejoice to see him +for he will be a worthy foe to fight. Look! he carries an axe as I do. Now I +must save my strength for when we come face to face I shall need it all.” +</p> + +<p> +I thought that I would spare Umslopogaas this exertion and watched my +opportunity to put a bullet through this giant. But I could never get one. Once +when I had covered him an Amahagger rushed in front of my gun so that I could +not shoot, and when a second chance came a little cloud floated over the face +of the moon and made him invisible. After that I had other things to which to +attend, since, as I expected would happen, the western face of our square gave, +and yelling like devils, the enemy began to pour in through the gap. +</p> + +<p> +A cold thrill went through me for I saw that the game was up. To re-form these +undisciplined Amahagger was impossible; nothing was to be expected except +panic, rout and slaughter. I cursed my folly for ever having had anything to do +with the business, while Hans screamed to me in a thin voice that the only +chance was for us three and the Zulu to bolt and hide in the bush. +</p> + +<p> +I did not answer him because, apart from any nasty pride, the thing was +impossible, for how could we get through those struggling masses of men which +surrounded us on every side? No, my clock had struck, so I went on making a +kind of mental sandwich of prayers and curses; prayers for my soul and +forgiveness for my sins, and curses on the Amahagger and everything to do with +them, especially Zikali and the woman called Ayesha, who, between them, had led +me into this affair. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps the Great Medicine of Zikali,” piped Hans again as he +fired a rifle at the advancing foe. +</p> + +<p> +“Hang the Great Medicine,” I shouted back, “and Ayesha with +it. No wonder she declined to take a hand in this business.” +</p> + +<p> +As I spoke the words I saw old Billali, who not being a man of war was keeping +as close to us as he could, go flat onto his venerable face, and reflected that +he must have got a thrown spear through him. Casting a hurried glance at him to +see if he were done for or only wounded, out of the corner of my eye I caught +sight of something diaphanous which gleamed in the moonlight and reminded me of +I knew not what at the moment. +</p> + +<p> +I looked round quickly to see what it might be and lo! there, almost at my side +was the veiled Ayesha herself, holding in her hand a little rod made of black +wood inlaid with ivory not unlike a field marshal’s baton, or a sceptre. +</p> + +<p> +I never saw her come and to this day I do not know how she did so; she was just +there and what is more she must have put luminous paint or something else on +her robes, for they gleamed with a sort of faint, phosphorescent fire, which in +the moonlight made her conspicuous all over the field of battle. Nor did she +speak a single word, she only waved the rod, pointed with it towards the fierce +hordes who were drawing near to us, killing as they came, and began to move +forward with a gliding motion. +</p> + +<p> +Now from every side there went up a roar of “<i>She-who-commands! +She-who-commands!</i>” while the people of Rezu in front shouted +“<i>Lulala! Lulala!</i> Fly, Lulala is upon us with the witchcrafts of +the moon!” +</p> + +<p> +She moved forward and by some strange impulse, for no order was given, we all +began to move after her. Yes, the ranks that a minute before were beginning to +give way to wild panic, became filled with a marvellous courage and moved after +her. +</p> + +<p> +The men of Rezu also, and I suppose with them Rezu himself, for I saw no more +of him at that time, began to move uncommonly fast over the edge of the plateau +towards the plain beneath. In fact they broke into flight and leaping over dead +and dying, we rushed after them, always following the gleaming robe of Ayesha, +who must have been an extremely agile person, since without any apparent +exertion she held her place a few steps ahead of us. +</p> + +<p> +There was another curious circumstance about this affair, namely, that +terrified though they were, those Rezuites, after the first break, soon seemed +to find it impossible to depart with speed. They kept turning round to look +behind them at that following vision, as though they were so many of +Lot’s wives. Moreover, the same fate overtook many of them which fell +upon that scriptural lady, since they appeared to become petrified and stood +there quite still, like rabbits fascinated by a snake, until our people came up +and killed them. +</p> + +<p> +This slaying went on all down the last steep slope of the ridge, on which I +suppose at least two-thirds of the army of Rezu must have perished, since our +Amahagger showed themselves very handy men when it came to exterminating foes +who were too terror-struck to fight, and, exhilarated by the occupation, gained +courage every moment. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> +THE SLAYING OF REZU</h2> + +<p> +At last we were on the plain, the bemused remnant of Rezu’s army still +doubling before us like a mob of game pursued by wild dogs. Here we halted to +re-form our ranks; it seemed to me, although still she spoke no word, that some +order reached me from the gleaming Ayesha that I should do this. The business +took twenty minutes or so, and then, numbering about two thousand five hundred +strong, for the rest had fallen in the fight of the square, we advanced again. +</p> + +<p> +Now there came that dusk which often precedes the rising of the sun, and +through it I could see that the battle was not yet over, since gathered in +front of us was still a force about equal to our own. Ayesha pointed towards it +with her wand and we leapt forward to the attack. Here the men of Rezu stood +awaiting us, for they seemed to overcome their terror with the approach of day. +</p> + +<p> +The battle was fierce, a very strange battle in that dim, uncertain light, +which scarcely showed us friend from foe. Indeed I am not sure that we should +have won it, since Ayesha was no longer visible to give our Amahagger +confidence, and as the courage of the Rezuites increased, so theirs seemed to +lessen with the passing of the night. +</p> + +<p> +Fortunately, however, just as the issue hung doubtful, there was a shout to our +left and looking, I made out the tall shape of Goroko, the witch-doctor, with +the other Zulu, followed by his two hundred and fifty men, and leaping on to +the flank of the line of Rezu. +</p> + +<p> +That settled the business. The enemy crumpled up and melted, and just then the +first lights of dawn appeared in the sky. I looked about me for Ayesha, but she +had gone, where to I knew not, though at the moment I feared that she must have +been killed in the mêlée. +</p> + +<p> +Then I gave up looking and thinking, since now or never was the time for +action. Signalling and shouting to those hatchet-faced Amahagger to advance, +accompanied by Umslopogaas with Goroko who had joined us, and Hans, I sprang +forward to give them an example, which, to be just to them, they took. +</p> + +<p> +“This is the mound on which Red-Beard should be,” cried Hans as we +faced a little slope. +</p> + +<p> +I ran up it and through the gloom which precedes the actual dawn, saw a group +of men gathered round something, as people collect about a street accident. +</p> + +<p> +“Red-Beard on the stone. They are killing him,” screeched Hans +again. +</p> + +<p> +It was so; at least several white-robed priests were bending over a prostrate +figure with knives in their hands, while behind stood the huge fellow whom I +took to be Rezu, staring towards the east as though he were waiting for the rim +of the sun to appear before he gave some order. At that very moment it did +appear, just a thin edge of bright light on the horizon, and he turned, +shouting the order. +</p> + +<p> +Too late! For we were on them. Umslopogaas cut down one of the priests with his +axe, and the men about me dealt with the others, while Hans with a couple of +sweeps of his long knife, severed the cords with which Robertson was tied. +</p> + +<p> +The poor man who in the growing light I could see was raving mad, sprang up, +calling out something in Scotch about “the deil.” Seizing a great +spear which had fallen from the hand of one of the priests, he rushed furiously +at the giant who had given the order, and with a yell drove it at his heart. I +saw the spear snap, from which I concluded that this man, whom rightly I took +to be Rezu, wore some kind of armour. +</p> + +<p> +Next instant the axe he held, a great weapon, flashed aloft and down went +Robertson before its awful stroke, stone dead, for as we found out afterwards, +he was cloven almost in two. At the sight of the death of my poor friend rage +took hold of me. In my hand was a double-barrelled rifle, an Express loaded +with hollow-pointed bullets. I covered the giant and let drive, first with one +barrel and then with the other, and what is more, distinctly I heard both +bullets strike upon him. +</p> + +<p> +Yet he did not fall. He rocked a little, that is all, then turned and marched +off towards a hut, that whereof Hans had told me, which stood about fifty yards +away. +</p> + +<p> +“Leave him to me,” shouted Umslopogaas. “Steel cuts where +bullets cannot pierce,” and with a bound like to that of a buck, the +great Zulu leapt away after him. +</p> + +<p> +I think that Rezu meant to enter the hut for some purpose of his own, but +Umslopogaas was too hard upon his tracks. At any rate he ran past it and down +the other slope of the little hill on to the plain behind where the remnants of +his army were trying to re-form. There in front of them the giant turned and +stood at bay. +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas halted also, waiting for us to come up, since, cunning old warrior +as he was, he feared lest should he begin the fight before that happened, the +horde of them would fall on him. Thirty seconds later we arrived and found him +standing still with bent body, small shield advanced and the great axe raised +as though in the act of striking, a wondrous picture outlined as it was against +the swiftly rising-sun. +</p> + +<p> +Some ten paces away stood the giant leaning on the axe he bore, which was not +unlike to that with which woodmen fell big trees. He was an evil man to see and +at this, my first full sight of him, I likened him in my mind to Goliath whom +David overthrew. Huge he was and hairy, with deep-set, piercing eyes and a +great hooked nose. His face seemed thin and ancient also, when with a motion of +the great head, he tossed his long locks back from about it, but his limbs were +those of a Hercules and his movements full of a youthful vigour. Moreover his +aspect as a whole was that of a devil rather than of a man; indeed the sight of +it sickened me. +</p> + +<p> +“Let me shoot him,” I cried to Umslopogaas, for I had reloaded the +rifle as I ran. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Watcher-by-Night,” answered the Zulu without moving his head, +“rifle has had its chance and failed. Now let us see what axe can do. If +I cannot kill this man, I will be borne hence feet first who shall have made a +long journey for nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the giant began to talk in a low, rumbling voice that reverberated from +the slope of the little hill behind us. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you?” he asked, speaking in the same tongue that the +Amahagger use, “who dare to come face to face with Rezu? Black hound, do +you not know that I cannot be slain who have lived a year for every week of +your life’s days, and set my foot upon the necks of men by thousands. +Have you not seen the spear shatter and the iron balls melt upon my breast like +rain-drops, and would you try to bring me down with that toy you carry? My army +is defeated—I know it. But what matters that when I can get me more? +Because the sacrifice was not completed and the white queen was not wed, +therefore my army was defeated by the magic of Lulala, the White Witch who +dwells in the tombs. But <i>I</i> am not defeated who cannot be slain until I +show my back, and then only by a certain axe which long ago has rusted into +dust.” +</p> + +<p> +Now of this long speech Umslopogaas understood nothing, so I answered for him, +briefly enough, but to the point, for there flashed into my mind all +Ayesha’s tale about an axe. +</p> + +<p> +“A certain axe!” I cried. “Aye, a certain axe! Well, look at +that which is held by the Black One, the captain who is named Slaughterer, the +ancient axe whose title is Chieftainess, because if so she wills, she takes the +lives of all. Look at it well, Rezu, Giant and Wizard, and say whether it is +not that which your forefather lost, that which is destined to bring you to +your doom?” +</p> + +<p> +Thus I spoke, very loudly that all might hear, slowly also, pausing between +each word because I wished to give time for the light to strengthen, seeing as +I did that the rays of the rising sun struck upon the face of the giant, +whereas the eyes of Umslopogaas were less dazzled by it. +</p> + +<p> +Rezu heard, and stared at the axe which Umslopogaas held aloft, causing it to +quiver slightly by an imperceptible motion of his arm. As he stared I saw his +hideous face change, and that on it for the first time gathered a look of +something resembling fear. Also his followers behind him who were also studying +the axe, began to murmur together. +</p> + +<p> +For here I should say that as though by common consent the battle had been +stayed; we no longer attacked and the enemy no longer ran. They, or whose who +were left of them, stood still as though they felt that the real and ultimate +issue of the fight depended upon the forthcoming duel between these two +champions, though of that issue they had little doubt since, as I learned +afterwards, they believed their king to be invulnerable. +</p> + +<p> +For quite a while Rezu went on staring. Then he said aloud as if he were +thinking to himself. +</p> + +<p> +“It is like, very like. The horn haft is the same; the pointed gouge is +the same; the blade shaped like the young moon is the same. Almost could I +think that before me shook the ancient holy axe. Nay, the gods have taken that +back long ago and this is but a trick of the witch, Lulala of the Caves.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus he spoke, but still for a moment hesitated. +</p> + +<p> +“Umslopogaas,” I said in the deep silence that followed, +“hear me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear you,” he answered without turning his head or moving his +arms. “What counsel, Watcher-by-Night?” +</p> + +<p> +“This, Slaughterer. Strike not at that man’s face and breast, for +there I think he is protected by witchcraft or by armour. Get behind him and +strike at his back. Do you understand?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Macumazahn, I understand not. Yet I will do your bidding because +you are wiser than I and utter no empty words. Now be still.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Umslopogaas threw the axe into the air and caught it as it fell, and as he +did so began to chant his own praises Zulu fashion. +</p> + +<p> +“Oho!” he said, “I am the child of the Lion, the Black-maned +Lion, whose claws never loosened of their prey. I am the Wolf-king, he who +hunted with the wolves upon the Witch-mountain with my brother, Bearer of the +Club named Watcher-of-the-Fords, I am he who slew him called the Unconquered, +Chief of the People of the Axe, he who bore the ancient Axe before me; I am he +who smote the Halakazi tribe in their caves and won me Nada the Lily to wife. I +am he who took to the King Dingaan a gift that he loved little, and afterward +with Mopo, my foster-sire, hurled this Dingaan down to death. I am the Royal +One, named Bulalio the Slaughterer, named Woodpecker, named Umhlopekazi the +Captain, before whom never yet man has stood in fair and open fight. Now, thou +Wizard Rezu, now thou Giant, now thou Ghost-man, come on against me and before +the sun has risen by a hand’s breadth, all those who watch shall see +which of us is better at the game of war. Come on, then! Come on, for I say +that my blood boils over and my feet grow cold. Come on, thou grinning dog, +thou monster grown fat with eating the flesh of men, thou hook-beaked vulture, +thou old, grey-whiskered wolf!” +</p> + +<p> +Thus he chanted in his fierce, boastful way, while his two remaining Zulus +clapped their hands and sentence by sentence echoed his words, and Goroko, the +witch-doctor, muttered incantations behind him. +</p> + +<p> +While he sang thus Umslopogaas began to stir. First only his head and shoulders +moved gently, swaying from side to side like a reed shaken in the wind or a +snake about to strike. Then slowly he put out first one foot and next the other +and drew them back again, as a dancer might do, tempting Rezu to attack. +</p> + +<p> +But the giant would not, his shield held before him, he stood still and waited +to see what this black warrior would do. +</p> + +<p> +The snake struck. Umslopogaas darted in and let drive with the long axe. Rezu +raised his shield above his head and caught the blow. From the clank it made I +knew that this shield which seemed to be of hide, was lined with iron. Rezu +smote back, but before the blow could fall the Zulu was out of his reach. This +taught me how great was the giant’s strength, for though the stroke was +heavy, like the steel-hatted axe he bore, still when he saw that it had missed +he checked the weapon in mid air, which only a mighty man could have done. +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas saw these things also and changed his tactics. His axe was six or +eight inches longer in the haft than that of Rezu, and therefore he could reach +where Rezu could not, for the giant was short-armed. He twisted it round in his +hand so that the moon-shaped blade was uppermost, and keeping it almost at full +length, began to peck with the gouge-shaped point on the back at the head and +arms of Rezu, that as I knew was a favourite trick of his in fight from which +he won his name of “Woodpecker.” Rezu defended his head with his +shield as best he could against the sharp points of steel which flashed all +about him. +</p> + +<p> +Twice it seemed to me that the Zulu’s pecks went home upon the +giant’s breast, but if so they did no harm. Either Rezu’s thick +beard, or armour beneath it stopped them from penetrating his body. Still he +roared out as though with pain, or fury, or both, and growing mad, charged at +Umslopogaas and smote with all his strength. +</p> + +<p> +The Zulu caught the blow upon his shield, through which it shore as though the +tough hide were paper. Stay the stroke it could not, yet it turned its +direction, so that the falling axe slid past Umslopogaas’s shoulder, +doing him no hurt. Next instant, before Rezu could strike again, the Zulu threw +the severed shield into his face and seizing the axe with both hands, leapt in +and struck. It was a mighty blow, for I saw the rhinoceros-horn handle of the +famous axe bend like a drawn bow, and it went home with a dull thud full upon +Rezu’s breast. He shook, but no more. Evidently the razor edge of +<i>Inkosikaas</i> had failed to pierce. There was a sound as though a hollow +tree had been smitten and some strands of the long beard, shorn off, fell to +the ground, but that was all. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Tagati!</i> (bewitched),” cried the watching Zulus. “That +stroke should have cut him in two!” while I thought to myself that this +man knew how to make good armour. +</p> + +<p> +Rezu laughed aloud, a bellowing kind of laugh, while Umslopogaas sprang back +astonished. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it thus!” he cried in Zulu. “Well, all wizards have some +door by which their Spirit enters and departs. I must find the door, I must +find the door!” +</p> + +<p> +So he spoke and with springing movements tried to get past Rezu, first to the +right and then to the left, all the while keeping out of reach. But Rezu ever +turned and faced him, as he did so retreating step by step down the slope of +the little hill and striking whenever he found a chance, but without avail, for +always Umslopogaas was beyond his reach. Also the sunlight which now grew +strong, dazzled him, or so I thought. Moreover he seemed to tire +somewhat—or so I thought also. +</p> + +<p> +At any rate he determined to make an end of the play, for with a swift motion, +as Umslopogaas had done, he threw away his shield and grasping the iron handle +of his axe with both hands, charged the Zulu like a bull. Umslopogaas leapt +back out of reach. Then suddenly he turned and ran up the rise. Yes, Bulalio +the Slaughterer ran! +</p> + +<p> +A roar of mockery went up from the sun-worshippers behind, while our Amahagger +laughed and Goroko and the two Zulus stared astonished and ashamed. Only I read +his mind aright and wondered what guile he had conceived. +</p> + +<p> +He ran, and Rezu ran after him, but never could he catch the swiftest-footed +man in Zululand. To and fro he followed him, for Umslopogaas was taking a +zig-zag path towards the crest of the slope, till at length Rezu stopped +breathless. But Umslopogaas still ran another twenty yards or so until he +reached the top of the slope and there halted and wheeled round. +</p> + +<p> +For ten seconds or more he stood drawing his breath in great gasps, and, +looking at his face, I saw that it had become as the face of a wolf. His lips +were drawn up into a terrible grin, showing the white teeth between; his cheeks +seemed to have fallen in and his eyes glared, while the skin over the hole in +his forehead beat up and down. +</p> + +<p> +There he stood, gathering himself together for some mighty effort. +</p> + +<p> +“Run on!” shouted the spectators. “Run back to Kôr, black +dog!” +</p> + +<p> +Umslopogaas knew that they were mocking him, but he took no heed, only bent +down and rubbed his sweating hand in the grit of the dry earth. Then he +straightened himself and charged down on Rezu. +</p> + +<p> +I, Allan Quatermain, have seen many things in battle, but never before or since +did I see aught like to this charge. It was swift as that of a lioness, so +swift that the Zulu’s feet scarcely seemed to touch the ground. On he +sped like a thrown spear, till, when within about a dozen feet of Rezu who +stood staring at him, he bent his frame almost double and leapt into the air. +</p> + +<p> +Oh! what a leap was that. Surely he must have learnt it from the lion, or the +spring-buck. High he rose and now I saw his purpose; it was to clear the tall +shape of Rezu. Aye, and he cleared him with half a foot to spare, and as he +passed above, smote downwards with the axe so that the blow fell upon the back +of Rezu’s head. Moreover it went home this time, for I saw the red blood +stream and Rezu fell forward on his face. Umslopogaas landed far beyond him, +ran a little way because he must, then wheeled round and charged again. +</p> + +<p> +Rezu was rising, but before he gained his feet, the axe <i>Inkosikaas</i> +thundered down where the neck joins the shoulder and sank in. Still, so great +was his strength that Rezu found his feet and smote out wildly. But now his +movements were slow and again Umslopogaas got behind him, smiting at his back. +Once, twice, thrice, he smote, and at the third blow it seemed as though the +massive spine were severed, for his weapon fell from Rezu’s hand and +slowly he sank down to the ground, and lay there, a huddled heap. +</p> + +<p> +Believing that all was over I ran to where he lay with Umslopogaas standing +over him, as it seemed to me, utterly exhausted, for he supported himself by +the axe and tottered upon his feet. But Rezu was not yet dead. He opened his +cavernous eyes and glared at the Zulu with a look of hellish hate. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Thou</i> hast not conquered me, Black One,” he gasped. +“It is thine axe which gave thee victory; the ancient, holy axe that once +was mine until the woman stole it, yes, that and the craft of the Witch of the +Caves who told thee to smite where the Spirit of Life which I feared to enter +wholly, had not kissed my flesh, and there only left me mortal. Wolf of a black +man, may we meet elsewhere and fight this fray again. Ah! would that I could +get these hands about thy throat and take thee with me down into the Darkness. +But Lulala wins if only for a while, since her fate, I think, shall be worse +than mine. Ah! I see the magic beauty that she boasts turn to +shameful——” +</p> + +<p> +Here of a sudden life left him and throwing his great arms wide, a last breath +passed bubbling from his lips. +</p> + +<p> +As I stooped to examine the man’s huge and hairy carcase that to me +looked only half human, with a thunder of feet our Amahagger rushed down upon +us and thrusting me aside, fell upon the body of their ancient foe like hounds +upon a helpless fox, and with hands and spears and knives literally tore and +hacked it limb from limb, till no semblance of humanity remained. +</p> + +<p> +It was impossible to stop them; indeed I was too outworn with labours and +emotions to make any such attempt. This I regret the more since I lost the +opportunity of making an examination of the body of this troll-like man, and of +ascertaining what kind of armour it was he wore beneath that great beard of +his, which was strong enough to stop my bullets, and even the razor edge of the +axe <i>Inkosikaas</i> driven with all the might of the arms of the Zulu, +Bulalio. For when I looked again at the sickening sight the giant was but +scattered fragments and the armour, whatever it might have been, was gone, rent +to little pieces and carried off, doubtless, by the Amahagger, perhaps to be +divided between them to serve as charms. +</p> + +<p> +So of Rezu I know only that he was the hugest, most terrible-looking man I have +ever seen, one too who carried his vast strength very late in life, since from +the aspect of his countenance I imagine that he must have been nigh upon +seventy years of age, though his supposed unnatural antiquity of course was +nothing but a fable put about by the natives for their own purposes. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Umslopogaas seemed to recover from the kind of faint into which he +had fallen and opening his eyes, looked about him. The first person they fell +on was old Billali who stood stroking his white beard and contemplating the +scene with an air which was at once philosophic and satisfied. This seemed to +anger Umslopogaas, for he cried, +</p> + +<p> +“I think it was you, ancient bag of words and sweeper of paths for the +feet of the great, who made a mock of me but now, when you thought that I fled +before the horns of yonder man-eating bull—” and he nodded towards +the fragments of what once had been Rezu. “Find now his axe and though I +am weak and weary, I will wash away the insult with your blood.” +</p> + +<p> +“What does this glorious black hero say, Watcher-by-Night?” asked +Billali in his most courteous tones. +</p> + +<p> +I told him word by word, whereon Billali lifted his hands in horror, turned and +fled. Nor did I see him again until we arrived at Kôr. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +At the sight of the fall of their giant chief Rezu whom they believed to be +invulnerable, his followers, who were watching the fray, set up a great +wailing, a most mournful and uncanny noise to hear. Then, as I think did the +hosts of the Philistines when David brought down Goliath by his admirable shot +with a stone, they set out for their homes wherever these may have been, at an +absolutely record pace and in the completest disarray. +</p> + +<p> +Our Amahagger followed them for a while, but soon were left standing still. So +they contented themselves with killing any wounded they could find and +returned. I did not accompany them; indeed the battle being won, metaphorically +I washed my hands of them, and in my thoughts consigned them to a certain +locality as a people of whom it might well be said that manners they had none +and their customs were simply beastly. Also, although fierce and cruel, these +night-bats were not good fighting men and in short never did I wish to have to +do with such another company. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, a very different matter pressed. The object of this business so far +as I was concerned, had been to rescue poor Inez, since had it not been for her +sake, never would I have consented to lead those Amahagger against their fellow +blackguards, the Rezuites. +</p> + +<p> +But where was Inez? If Hans had understood the medicine-man aright, she was, or +had been, in the hut, where it was my earnest hope that she still remained, +since otherwise the hunt must be continued. This at any rate was easy to +discover. Calling Hans, who was amusing himself by taking long shots at the +flying enemy, so that they might not forget him, as he said, and the Zulus, I +walked up the slope to the hut, or rather booth of boughs, for it was quite +twenty feet long by twelve or fifteen broad. +</p> + +<p> +At its eastern end was a doorway or opening closed with a heavy curtain. Here I +paused full of tremors, and listened, for to tell the truth I dreaded to draw +that curtain, fearing what I might see within. Gathering up my courage at +length I tore it aside and, a revolver in my hand, looked in. At first after +the strong light without, for the sun was now well up, I could see nothing, +since those green boughs and palm leaves were very closely woven. As my eyes +grew accustomed to the gloom, however, I perceived a glittering object seated +on a kind of throne at the end of the booth, while in a double row in front +knelt six white-robed women who seemed to wear chains about their necks and +carried large knives slung round their middles. On the floor between these +women and the throne lay a dead man, a priest of some sort as I gathered from +his garb, who still held a huge spear in his hand. So silent were the figure on +the throne and those that knelt before it, that at first I thought that all of +them must be dead. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady Sad-Eyes,” whispered Hans, “and her bride-women. +Doubtless that old Predikant came to kill her when he saw that the battle was +lost, but the bride-women killed him with their knives.” +</p> + +<p> +Here I may state that Hans’ suppositions proved to be quite correct, +which shows how quick and deductive was his mind. The figure on the throne was +Inez; the priest in his disappointed rage <i>had</i> come to kill her, and the +bride-women had killed <i>him</i> with their knives before he could do so. +</p> + +<p> +I bade the Zulus tear down the curtain and pull away some of the end boughs, so +as to let in more light. Then we advanced up the place, holding our pistols and +spears in readiness. The kneeling women turned their heads to look at us and I +saw that they were all young and handsome in their fashion, although +fierce-faced. Also I saw their hands go to the knives they wore. I called to +them to let these be and come out, and that if they did so they had nothing to +fear. But if they understood, they did not heed my words. +</p> + +<p> +On the contrary while Hans and I covered them with our pistols, fearing lest +they should stab the person on the throne whom we took to be Inez, at some word +from one of them, they bowed simultaneously towards her, then at another word, +suddenly they drew the knives and plunged them to their own hearts! +</p> + +<p> +It was a dreadful sight and one of which I never saw the like. Nor to this day +do I know why the deed was done, unless perhaps the women were sworn to the +service of the new queen and feared that if they failed to protect her, they +would be doomed to some awful end. At any rate we got them out dead or dying, +for their blows had been strong and true, and not one of them lived for more +than a few minutes. +</p> + +<p> +Then I advanced to the figure on the throne, or rather foot-stooled chair of +black wood inlaid with ivory, which sat so silent and motionless that I was +certain it was that of a dead woman, especially when I perceived that she was +fastened to the chair with leather straps, which were sewn over with gold wire. +Also she was veiled and, with one exception, made up, if I may use the term, +exactly to resemble the lady Ayesha, even down to the two long plaits of black +hair, each finished with some kind of pearl and to the sandalled feet. +</p> + +<p> +The exception was that about her hung a great necklace of gold ornaments from +which were suspended pendants also of gold representing the rayed disc of the +sun in rude but bold and striking workmanship. +</p> + +<p> +I went to her and having cut the straps, since I could not stop to untie their +knots, lifted the veil. +</p> + +<p> +Beneath it was Inez sure enough, and Inez living, for her breast rose and fell +as she breathed, but Inez senseless. Her eyes were wide open, yet she was quite +senseless. Probably she had been drugged, or perhaps some of the sights of +horror which she saw, had taken away her mind. I confess that I was glad that +this was so, who otherwise must have told her the dreadful story of her +father’s end. +</p> + +<p> +We bore her out and away from that horrible place, apparently quite unhurt, and +laid her under the shadow of a tree till a litter could be procured. I could do +no more who knew not how to treat her state, and had no spirits with me to pour +down her throat. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +This was the end of our long pursuit, and thus we rescued Inez, whom the Zulus +called the Lady Sad-Eyes. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> +THE SPELL</h2> + +<p> +Of our return to Kôr I need say nothing, except that in due course we reached +that interesting ruin. The journey was chiefly remarkable for one thing, that +on this occasion, I imagine for the first and last time in his life, +Umslopogaas consented to be carried in a litter, at least for part of the way. +He was, as I have said, unwounded, for the axe of his mighty foe had never once +so much as touched his skin. What he suffered from was shock, a kind of +collapse, since, although few would have thought it, this great and utterly +fearless warrior was at bottom a nervous, highly-strung man. +</p> + +<p> +It is only the nervous that climb the highest points of anything, and this is +true of fights as of all others. That fearful fray with Rezu had been a great +strain on the Zulu. As he put it himself, “the wizard had sucked the +strength” out of him, especially when he found that owing to his armour +he could not harm him in front, and owing to his cunning could not get at him +behind. Then it was that he conceived the desperate expedient of leaping over +his head and smiting backwards as he leapt, a trick, he told me, that he had +once played years before when he was young, in order to break a shield ring and +reach one who stood in its centre. +</p> + +<p> +In this great leap over Rezu’s head Umslopogaas knew that he must +succeed, or be slain, which in turn would mean my death and that of the others. +For this reason he faced the shame of seeming to fly in order to gain the +higher ground, whence alone he could gather the speed necessary to such a +terrific spring. +</p> + +<p> +Well, he made it and thereby conquered, and this was the end, but as he said, +it had left him, “weak as a snake when it crawls out of its hole into the +sun after the long winter sleep.” +</p> + +<p> +Of one thing, Umslopogaas added, he was thankful, namely that Rezu had never +succeeded in getting his arms round him, since he was quite certain that if he +had he would have broken him “as a baboon breaks a mealie-stalk.” +No strength, not even his, could have resisted the iron might of that huge, +gorilla-like man. +</p> + +<p> +I agreed with him who had noted Rezu’s vast chest and swelling muscles, +also the weight of the blows that he struck with the steel-hafted axe (which, +by the way, when I sought for it, was missing, stolen, I suppose, by one of the +Amahagger). +</p> + +<p> +Whence did that strength come, I wondered, in one who from his face appeared to +be old? Was there perchance, after all, some truth in the legend of Samson and +did it dwell in that gigantic beard and those long locks of his? It was +impossible to say and probably the man was but a Herculean freak, for that he +was as strong as Hercules all the stories that I heard afterwards of his feats, +left little room for doubt. +</p> + +<p> +About one thing only was I certain in connection with him, namely, that the +tales of his supernatural abilities were the merest humbug. He was simply one +of the representatives of the family of “strong men,” of whom +examples are still to be seen doing marvellous feats all over the earth. +</p> + +<p> +For the rest, he was dead and broken up by those Amahagger blood-hounds before +I could examine him, or his body-armour either, and there was an end of him and +his story. But when I looked at the corpse of poor Robertson, which I did as we +buried it where he fell, and saw that though so large and thick-set, it was +cleft almost in two by a single blow of Rezu’s axe, I came to understand +what the might of this savage must have been. +</p> + +<p> +I say savage, but I am not sure that this is a right description of Rezu. +Evidently he had a religion of a sort, also imagination, as was shown by the +theft of the white woman to be his queen; by his veiling of her to resemble +Ayesha whom he dreaded; by the intended propitiatory sacrifice; by the guard of +women sworn to her service who slew the priest that tried to kill her, and +afterwards committed suicide when they had failed in their office, and by other +things. All this indicated something more than savagery, perhaps survivals from +a forgotten civilisation, or perhaps native ability on the part of an +individual ruler. I do not know and it matters nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Rezu is dead and the world is well rid of him, and those who want to learn more +of his people can go to study such as remain of them in their own habitat, +which for my part I never wish to visit any more. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +During our journey to Kôr poor Inez never stirred. Whenever I went to look at +her in the litter, I found her lying there with her eyes open and a fixed stare +upon her face which frightened me very much, since I began to fear lest she +should die. However I could do nothing to help her, except urge the bearers to +top speed. So swiftly did we travel down the hill and across the plain that we +reached Kôr just as the sun was setting. As we crossed the moat I perceived old +Billali coming to meet us. This he did with many bows, keeping an anxious eye +upon the litter which he had learned contained Umslopogaas. Indeed his attitude +and that of the Amahagger towards the two of us, and even Hans, thenceforward +became almost abject, since after our victory over Rezu and his death beneath +the axe, they looked upon us as half divine and treated us accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +“O mighty General,” he said, “She-who-commands bids me +conduct the lady who is sick to the place that has been made ready for her, +which is near your own so that you may watch over her if you will.” +</p> + +<p> +I wondered how Ayesha knew that Inez was sick, but being too tired to ask +questions, merely bade him lead on. This he did, taking us to another ruined +house next to our own quarters which had been swept, cleaned and furnished +after a fashion, and moreover cleverly roofed in with mats, so that it was +really quite comfortable. Here we found two middle-aged women of a very +superior type, who, Billali informed me, were by trade nurses of the sick. +Having seen her laid upon her bed, I committed Inez to their charge, since the +case was not one that I dared to try to doctor myself, not knowing what drug of +the few I possessed should be administered to her. Moreover Billali comforted +me with the information that soon She-who-commands would visit her and +“make her well again,” as she could do. +</p> + +<p> +I answered that I hoped so and went to our quarters where I found an excellent +meal ready cooked and with it a stone flagon, of the contents of which Billali +said we were all three to drink by the command of Ayesha, who declared that it +would take away our weariness. +</p> + +<p> +I tried the stuff, which was pale yellow in colour like sherry and, for aught I +knew, might be poison, to find it most comforting, though it did not seem to be +very strong to the taste. Certainly, too, its effects were wonderful, since +presently all my great weariness fell from me like a discarded cloak, and I +found myself with a splendid appetite and feeling better and stronger than I +had done for years. In short that drink was a “cocktail” of the +best, one of which I only wish I possessed the recipe, though Ayesha told me +afterwards that it was distilled from quite harmless herbs and not in any sense +a spirit. +</p> + +<p> +Having discovered this, I gave some of it to Hans, also to Umslopogaas, who was +with the wounded Zulus, who, we found, were progressing well towards complete +recovery, and lastly to Goroko who also was worn out. On all of these the +effect of that magical brew proved most satisfactory. +</p> + +<p> +Then, having washed, I ate a splendid dinner, though in this respect Hans, who +was seated on the ground nearby, far outpassed my finest efforts. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he said, “things have gone very well with us when +they might have gone very ill. The Baas Red-Beard is dead, which is a good +thing, since a madman would have been difficult to look after, and a brain full +of moonshine is a bad companion for any one. Oh! without doubt he is better +dead, though your reverend father the Predikant will have a hard job looking +after him there in the Place of Fires.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps,” I said with a sigh, “since it is better to be dead +than to live a lunatic. But what I fear is that the lady his daughter will +follow him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no! Baas,” replied Hans cheerfully, “though I daresay +that she will always be a little mad also, because you see it is in her blood +and doubtless she has looked on dreadful things. But the Great Medicine will +see to it that she does not die after we have taken so much trouble and gone +into such big dangers to save her. That Great Medicine is very wonderful, Baas. +First of all it makes you General over those Amahagger who without you would +never have fought, as the Witch who ties up her head in a cloth knew well +enough. Then it brings us safe through the battle and gives strength to +Umslopogaas to kill the old man-eating giant.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why did it not give <i>me</i> strength to kill him, Hans? I let him have +two Express bullets on his chest, which hurt him no more than a tap upon the +horns with a dancing stick would hurt a bull-buffalo.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! Baas, perhaps you missed him, who because you hit things sometimes, +think that you do so always.” +</p> + +<p> +Having waited to see if I would rise to this piece of insolence, which of +course I did not, he went on by way of letting me down easily, “Or +perhaps he wore very good armour under his beard, for I saw some of those +Amahagger who pulled his hair off and cut him to pieces, go away with what +looked like little bits of brass. Also the Great Medicine meant that he should +be killed by Umslopogaas and not by you, since otherwise Umslopogaas would have +been sad for the rest of his life, whereas now he will walk about the world as +proud as a cock with two tails and crow all night as well as all day. Then, +Baas, when Rezu broke the square and the Amahagger began to run, without doubt +it was the Great Medicine which changed their hearts and made them brave again, +so that they charged at the right moment when they saw it going forward on your +breast, and instead of being eaten up, ate up the cannibals.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed! I thought that the Lady who dwells yonder had something to do +with that business. Did you see her, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes! I saw her, Baas, and I think that without doubt she lifted the +cloth from over her head and when the people of Rezu saw how ugly was the face +beneath, it did frighten them a little. But doubtless the Great Medicine put +that thought into her also, for, Baas, what could a silly woman do in such a +case? Did you ever know of a woman who was of any use in a battle, or for +anything else except to nurse babies, and this one does not even do that, no +doubt because being so hideous under that sheet, no man can be found to marry +her.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I looked up by chance and in the light of the lamps saw Ayesha standing in +the room, which she had entered through the open doorway, within six feet of +Hans’ back indeed. +</p> + +<p> +“Be sure Baas,” he went on, “that this bundle of rags is +nothing but a common old cheat who frightens people by pretending to be a +spook, as, if she dared to say that it was she who made those stinking +Amahagger charge, and not the Great Medicine of the Opener-of-Roads, I would +tell her to her face.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I was too paralysed to speak, and while I was reflecting that it was +fortunate Ayesha did not understand Dutch, she moved a little so that one of +the lamps behind her caused her shadow to fall on to the back of the squatting +Hans and over it on to the floor beyond. He saw it and stared at the distorted +shape of the hooded head, then slowly screwed his neck round and looked upwards +behind him. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment he went on staring as though he were frozen, then uttering a wild +yell, he scrambled to his feet, bolted out of the house and vanished into the +night. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems, Allan,” said Ayesha slowly, “that yonder yellow +ape of yours is very bold at throwing sticks when the leopardess is not beneath +the tree. But when she comes it is otherwise with him. Oh! make no excuse, for +I know well that he was speaking ill things of me, because being curious, as +apes are, he burns to learn what is behind my veil, and being simple, believes +that no woman would hide her face unless its fashion were not pleasing to the +nice taste of men.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, to my relief, she laughed a little, softly, which showed me that she had +a sense of humour, and went on, “Well, let him be, for he is a good ape +and courageous in his fashion, as he showed when he went out to spy upon the +host of Rezu, and stabbed the murderer-priest by the stone of sacrifice.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can you know the words of Hans, Ayesha,” I asked, +“seeing that he spoke in a tongue which you have never learned?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance I read faces, Allan.” +</p> + +<p> +“Or backs,” I suggested, remembering that his was turned to her. +</p> + +<p> +“Or backs, or voices, or hearts. It matters little which, since read I +do. But have done with such childish talk and lead me to this maiden who has +been snatched from the claws of Rezu and a fate that is worse than death. Do +you understand, Allan, that ere the demon Rezu took her to wife, the plan was +to sacrifice her own father to her and then eat him as the woman with her was +eaten, and before her eyes? Now the father is dead, which is well, as I think +the little yellow man said to you—nay, start not, I read it from his back +[Ha!—JB]—since had he lived whose brain was rotted, he would have +raved till his death’s day. Better, therefore, that he should die like a +man fighting against a foe unconquerable by all save one. But she still +lives.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, but mindless, Ayesha.” +</p> + +<p> +“Which, in great trouble such as she has passed, is a blessed state, O +Allan. Bethink you, have there not been days, aye and months, in your own life +when you would have rejoiced to sleep in mindlessness? And should we not, +perchance, be happier, all of us, if like the beasts we could not remember, +foreknow and understand? Oh! men talk of Heaven, but believe me, the real +Heaven is one of dreamless sleep, since life and wakefulness, however high +their scale and on whatever star, mean struggle, which being so oft mistaken, +must breed sorrow—or remorse that spoils all. Come now.” +</p> + +<p> +So I preceded her to the next ruined house where we found Inez lying on the bed +still clothed in her barbaric trappings, although the veil had been drawn off +her face. There she lay, wide-eyed and still, while the women watched her. +Ayesha looked at her a while, then said to me, +</p> + +<p> +“So they tricked her out to be Ayesha’s mock and image, and in time +accepted by those barbarians as my very self, and even set the seals of royalty +on her,” and she pointed to the gold discs stamped with the likeness of +the sun. “Well, she is a fair maiden, white and gently bred, the first +such that I have seen for many an age. Nor did she wish this trickery. Moreover +she has taken no hurt; her soul has sunk deep into a sea of horror and that is +all, whence doubtless it can be drawn again. Yet I think it best that for a +while she should remember naught, lest her brain break, as did her +father’s, and therefore no net of mine shall drag her back to memory. Let +that return gently in future days, and then of it not too much, for so shall +all this terror become to her a void in which sad shapes move like shadows, and +as shadows are soon forgot and gone, no more to be held than dreams by the +awakening sense. Stand aside, Allan, and you women, leave us for a +while.” +</p> + +<p> +I obeyed, and the women bowed and went. Then Ayesha drew up her veil, and knelt +down by the bed of Inez, but in such a fashion that I could not see her face +although I admit that I tried to do so. I could see, however, that she set her +lips against those of Inez and as I gathered by her motions, seemed to breathe +into her lips. Also she lifted her hands and placing one of them upon the heart +of Inez, for a minute or more swayed the other from side to side above her +eyes, pausing at times to touch her upon the forehead with her finger-tips. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Inez stirred and sat up, whereon Ayesha took a vessel of milk which +stood upon the floor and held it to her lips. Inez drank to the last drop, then +sank on to the bed again. For a while longer Ayesha continued the motions of +her hands, then let fall her veil and rose. +</p> + +<p> +“Look, I have laid a spell upon her,” she said, beckoning to me to +draw near. +</p> + +<p> +I did so and perceived that now the eyes of Inez were shut and that she seemed +to be plunged in a deep and natural sleep. +</p> + +<p> +“So she will remain for this night and that day which follows,” +said Ayesha, “and when she wakes it will be, I think, to believe herself +once more a happy child. Not until she sees her home again will she find her +womanhood, and then all this story will be forgotten by her. Of her father you +must tell her that he died when you went out to hunt the river-beasts together, +and if she seeks for certain others, that they have gone away. But I think that +she will ask little more when she learns that he is dead, since I have laid +that command upon her soul.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hypnotic suggestion,” thought I to myself, “and I only hope +to heaven that it will work.” +</p> + +<p> +Ayesha seemed to guess what was passing through my mind, for she nodded and +said, +</p> + +<p> +“Have no fear, Allan, for I am what the black axe-bearer and the little +yellow man called a ‘witch’ which means, as you who are instructed +know, one who has knowledge of medicine and other things and who holds a key to +some of the mysteries that lie hid in Nature.” +</p> + +<p> +“For instance,” I suggested, “of how to transport yourself +into a battle at the right moment, and out of it again—also at the right +moment.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Allan, since watching from afar, I saw that those Amahagger curs +were about to flee and that I was needed there to hearten them and to put fear +into the army of Rezu. So I came.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how did you come, Ayesha?” +</p> + +<p> +She laughed as she answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps I did not come at all. Perhaps you only thought I came; since I +seemed to be there the rest matters nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +As I still looked unconvinced she went on, +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! foolish man, seek not to learn of that which is too high for you. +Yet listen. You in your ignorance suppose that the soul dwells within the body, +do you not?” +</p> + +<p> +I answered that I had always been under this impression. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet, Allan, it is otherwise, for the body dwells within the soul.” +</p> + +<p> +“Like the pearl in an oyster,” I suggested. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, in a sense, since the pearl which to you is beautiful, is to the +oyster a sickness and a poison, and so is the body to the soul whose temple it +troubles and defiles. Yet round it is the white and holy soul that ever seeks +to bring the vile body to its own purity and colour, yet oft-times fails. +Learn, Allan, that flesh and spirit are the deadliest foes joined together by a +high decree that they may forget their hate and perfect each other, or failing, +be separate to all eternity, the spirit going to its own place and the flesh to +its corruption.” +</p> + +<p> +“A strange theory,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, Allan, and one which is so new to you that never will you +understand it. Yet it is true and I set it out for this reason. The soul of +man, being at liberty and not cooped within his narrow breast, is in touch with +that soul of the Universe, which men know as God Whom they call by many names. +Therefore it has all knowledge and perhaps all power, and at times the body +within it, if it be a wise body, can draw from this well of knowledge and +abounding power. So at least can I. And now you will understand why I am so +good a doctoress and how I came to appear in the battle, as you said, at the +right time, and to leave it when my work was done.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! yes,” I answered, “I quite understand. I thank you much +for putting it so plainly.” +</p> + +<p> +She laughed a little, appreciating my jest, looked at the sleeping Inez, and +said, +</p> + +<p> +“The fair body of this lady dwells in a large soul, I think, though one +of a somewhat sombre hue, for souls have their colours, Allan, and stain that +which is within them. She will never be a happy woman.” +</p> + +<p> +“The black people named her Sad-Eyes,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it so? Well, I name her Sad-Heart, though for such often there is joy +at last. Meanwhile she will forget; yes, she will forget the worst and how +narrow was the edge between her and the arms of Rezu.” +</p> + +<p> +“Just the width of the blade of the axe, <i>Inkosikaas</i>,” I +answered. “But tell me, Ayesha, why could not that axe cut and why did my +bullets flatten or turn aside when these smote the breast of Rezu?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because his front-armour was good, Allan, I suppose,” she replied +indifferently, “and on his back he wore none.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then why did you fill my ears with such a different tale about that +horrible giant having drunk of a Cup of Life, and all the rest?” I asked +with irritation. +</p> + +<p> +“I have forgotten, Allan. Perhaps because the curious, such as you are, +like to hear tales even stranger than their own, which in the days to be may +become their own. Therefore you will be wise to believe only what I do, and of +what I tell you, nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t,” I exclaimed exasperated. +</p> + +<p> +She laughed again and replied, +</p> + +<p> +“What need to say to me that which I know already? Yet perhaps in the +future it may be different, since often by the alchemy of the mind the fables +of our youth are changed into the facts of our age, and we come to believe in +anything, as your little yellow man believes in some savage named Zikali, and +those Amahagger believe in the talisman round your neck, and I who am the +maddest of you all, believe in Love and Wisdom, and the black warrior, +Umslopogaas, believes in the virtue of that great axe of his, rather than in +those of his own courage and of the strength that wields it. Fools, every one +of us, though perchance I am the greatest fool among them. Now take me to the +warrior, Umslopogaas, whom I would thank, as I thank you, Allan, and the little +yellow man, although he jeers at me with his sharp tongue, not knowing that if +I were angered, with a breath I could cause him to cease to be.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then why did you not choose Rezu to cease to be, and his army also, +Ayesha?” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that I have done these things through the axe of Umslopogaas +and by the help of your generalship, Allan. Why then, waste my own strength +when yours lay to my hand?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because you had no power over Rezu, Ayesha, or so you told me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have I not said that my words are snowflakes, meant to melt and leave no +trace, hiding my thoughts as this veil hides my beauty? Yet as the beauty is +beneath the veil, perchance there is truth beneath the words, though not that +truth you think. So you are well answered, and for the rest, I wonder whether +Rezu thought I had no power over him when yonder on the mountain spur he saw me +float down upon his companies like a spirit of the night. Well, perchance some +day I shall learn this and many other things.” +</p> + +<p> +I made no answer, since what was the use of arguing with a woman who told me +frankly that all she said was false. So, although I longed to ask her why these +Amahagger had such reverence for the talisman that Hans called the Great +Medicine, since now I guessed that her first explanations concerning it were +quite untrue, I held my tongue. +</p> + +<p> +Yet as we went out of the house, by some coincidence she alluded to this very +matter. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish to tell you, Allan,” she said, “why it was those +Amahagger would not accept you as a General till their eyes had seen that which +you wear upon your breast. Their tale of a legend of this very thing seemed +that of savages or of their cunning priests, not to be believed by a wise man +such as you are, like some others that you have heard in Kôr. Yet it has in it +a grain of truth, for as it chanced a little while ago, about a hundred years +ago, I think, the old wizard whose picture is cut upon the wood, came to visit +her who held my place before me as ruler of this tribe—she was very like +me and as I believe, my mother, Allan—because of her repute for wisdom. +</p> + +<p> +“At that time I have heard there was a question of war between the +worshippers of Lulala and the grandfather of Rezu. But this Zikali told the +People of Lulala that they must not fight the People of Rezu until in a day to +come a white man should visit Kôr and bring with him a piece of wood on which +was cut the image of a dwarf like to that of Zikali himself. Then and not +before they must fight and conquer the People of Rezu. Now this story came down +among them and you who may have thought the first tale magical, will understand +it in its simplicity: is it not so, you wise Allan?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! yes,” I answered, “except that I do not see how Zikali +can have come here a hundred years ago, since men do not live as long, although +he pretends to have done so.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Allan, nor do I, but perhaps it was his father, or his grandfather +who came, since being observant, you will have noted that if the parent is +mis-formed, so often are the descendants; also that the pretence of wizardry at +times comes down with the blood.” +</p> + +<p> +Again I made no answer for I saw that Ayesha was fooling me, and before she +could exhaust that amusement we reached the place where Umslopogaas and his men +were gathered round a camp fire. He sat silent, but Goroko with much animation +was telling the story of the fight in picturesque and colourful language, or +that part of it which he had seen, for the benefit of the two wounded men who +took no share in it and who, lying on their blankets with heads thrust forward, +were listening with eagerness to the entrancing tale. Suddenly they caught +sight of Ayesha, and those of the party who could stand sprang to their feet, +while one and all they gave her the royal salute of <i>Bayéte</i>. +</p> + +<p> +She waited till the sound had died away. Then she said, +</p> + +<p> +“I come to thank you and your men, O Wielder of the Axe, who have shown +yourself very great in battle, and to say to you that my Spirit tells me that +every one of you, yes, even those who are still sick, will come safe to your +own land again and live out your years with honour.” +</p> + +<p> +Again they saluted at this pleasing intelligence, when I had translated it to +them, for of course they knew no Arabic. Then she went on, +</p> + +<p> +“I am told, Umslopogaas, Son of the Lion, as a certain king was named in +your land, that the fight you made against Rezu was a very great fight, and +that such a leap as yours above his head when you smote him with the axe on the +hinder parts where he wore no armour, and brought him to his death, has not +been seen before, nor will be again.” +</p> + +<p> +I rendered the words, and Umslopogaas, preferring truth to modesty, replied +emphatically that this was the case. +</p> + +<p> +“Because of that fight and that leap,” Ayesha went on, “as +for other deeds that you have done and will do, my Spirit tells me that your +name will live in story for many generations. Yet of what use is fame to the +dead? Therefore I make you an offer. Bide here with me and you shall rule these +Amahagger, and with them the remnant of the People of Rezu. Your cattle shall +be countless and your wives the fairest in the land, and your children many, +for I will lift a certain curse from off you so that no more shall you be +childless. Do you accept, O Holder of the Axe?” +</p> + +<p> +When he understood, Umslopogaas, after pondering a moment, asked if I meant to +stay in this land and marry the white chieftainess who spoke such wise words +and could appear and disappear in the battle at her will, and like a +mountain-top hid her head in a cloud, which was his way of alluding to her +veil. +</p> + +<p> +I answered at once and with decision that I intended to do nothing of the sort +and immediately regretted my words, since, although I spoke in Zulu, I suppose +she read their meaning from my face. At any rate she understood the drift of +them. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell him, Allan,” she said with a kind of icy politeness, +“that you will not stop here and marry me, because if ever I chose a +husband he would not be a little man at the doors of whose heart so many +women’s hands have knocked—yes, even those that are black—and +not, I think, in vain. One, moreover, who holds himself so clever that he +believes he has nothing left to learn, and in every flower of truth that is +shown to him, however fair, smells only poison, and beneath, nurturing it, sees +only the gross root of falsehood planted in corruption. Tell him these things, +Allan, if it pleases you.” +</p> + +<p> +“It does not please me,” I answered in a rage at her insults. +</p> + +<p> +“Nor is it needful, Allan, since if I caught the meaning of that +barbarous tongue you use aright, you have told him already. Well, let the jest +pass, O man who least of all things desires to be Ayesha’s husband, and +whom Ayesha least of all things desires as her spouse, and ask the Axe-bearer +nothing since I perceive that without you he will not stay at Kôr. Nor indeed +is it fated that he should do so, for now my Spirit tells me what it hid from +me when I spoke a moment gone, that this warrior shall die in a great fight far +away and that between then and now much sorrow waits him who save that of one, +knows not how to win the love of women. Let him say moreover what reward he +desires since if I can give it to him, it shall be his.” +</p> + +<p> +Again I translated. Umslopogaas received her prophecies in stoical silence, and +as I thought with indifference, and only said in reply, +</p> + +<p> +“The glory that I have won is my reward and the only boon I seek at this +queen’s hands is that if she can she should give me sight of a woman for +whom my heart is hungry, and with it knowledge that this woman lives in that +land whither I travel like all men.” +</p> + +<p> +When she heard these words Ayesha said, +</p> + +<p> +“True, I had forgotten. Your heart also is hungry, I think, Allan, for +the vision of sundry faces that you see no more. Well, I will do my best, but +since only faith fulfils itself, how can I who must strive to pierce the gates +of darkness for one so unbelieving, know that they will open at my word? Come +to me, both of you, at the sunset to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +Then as though to change the subject, she talked to me for a long while about +Kôr, of which she told me a most interesting history, true or false, that I +omit here. +</p> + +<p> +At length, as though suddenly she had grown tired, waving her hand to show that +the conversation was ended, Ayesha went to the wounded men and touched them +each in turn. +</p> + +<p> +“Now they will recover swiftly,” she said, and leaving the place +was gone into the darkness. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>CHAPTER XX.<br /> +THE GATE OF DEATH</h2> + +<p> +Before turning in I examined these wounded men for myself. The truth is that I +was anxious to learn their exact condition in order that I might make an +estimate as to when it would be possible for us to leave this valley or crater +bottom of Kôr, of which I was heartily tired. Who could desire to stay in a +place where he had not only been involved in a deal of hard, doubtful, and very +dangerous fighting from which all personal interest was absent, but where also +he was meshed in a perfect spider’s web of bewilderment, and exposed to +continual insult into the bargain? +</p> + +<p> +For that is what it came to; this Ayesha took every opportunity to jeer at and +affront me. And why? Just because I had conceived doubts, which somehow she +discovered, of the amazing tales with which it had amused her to stuff me, as a +farmer’s wife does a turkey poult with meal pellets. How could she expect +me, a man, after all, of some experience, to believe such lies, which, not half +an hour before, in the coolest possible fashion she had herself admitted to be +lies and nothing else, told for the mere pleasure of romancing? +</p> + +<p> +The immortal Rezu, for instance, who had drunk of the Cup of Life or some such +rubbish, now turned out to be nothing but a brawny savage descended from +generations of chiefs also called Rezu. Moreover the immemorial Ayesha, who +also had drunk of Cups of Life, and according to her first story, had lived in +this place for thousands of years, had come here with a mother, who filled the +same mystic rôle before her for the benefit of an extremely gloomy and +disagreeable tribe of Semitic savages. Yet she was cross with me because I had +not swallowed her crude and indigestible mixture of fable and philosophy +without a moment’s question. +</p> + +<p> +At least I supposed that this was the reason, though another possible +explanation did come into my mind. I had refused to be duly overcome by her +charms, not because I was unimpressed, for who could be, having looked upon +that blinding beauty even for a moment? but rather because, after sundry +experiences, I had at last attained to some power of judgment and learned what +it is best to leave alone. Perhaps this had annoyed her, especially as no white +man seemed to have come her way for a long while and the fabulous Kallikrates +had not put in his promised appearance. +</p> + +<p> +Also it was unfortunate that in one way or another—how did she do it, I +wondered—she had interpreted Umslopogaas’ question to me about +marrying her, and my compromising reply. Not that for one moment, as I saw very +clearly, did she wish to marry me. But that fact, intuition suggested to my +mind, did not the least prevent her from being angry because I shared her views +upon this important subject. +</p> + +<p> +Oh! the whole thing was a bore and the sooner I saw the last of that veiled +lady and the interesting but wearisome ruins in which she dwelt, the better I +should be pleased, although apparently I must trek homewards with a poor young +woman who was out of her mind, leaving the bones of her unfortunate father +behind me. I admitted to myself, however, that there were consolations in the +fact that Providence had thus decreed, for Robertson since he gave up drink had +not been a cheerful companion, and two mad people would really have been more +than I could manage. +</p> + +<p> +To return, for these reasons I examined the two wounded Zulus with considerable +anxiety, only to discover another instance of the chicanery which it amused +this Ayesha to play off upon me. For what did I find? That they were +practically well. Their hurts, which had never been serious, had healed +wonderfully in that pure air, as those of savages have a way of doing, and they +told me themselves that they felt quite strong again. Yet with colossal +impudence Ayesha had managed to suggest to my mind that she was going to work +some remarkable cure upon them, who were already cured. +</p> + +<p> +Well, it was of a piece with the rest of her conduct and there was nothing to +do except go to bed, which I did with much gratitude that my resting place that +night was not of another sort. The last thing I remember was wondering how on +earth Ayesha appeared and disappeared in the course of that battle, a problem +as to which I could find no solution, though, as in the case of the others, I +was sure that one would occur to me in course of time. +</p> + +<p> +I slept like a top, so soundly indeed that I think there was some kind of +soporific in the pick-me-up which looked like sherry, especially as the others +who had drunk of it also passed an excellent night. +</p> + +<p> +About ten o’clock on the following morning I awoke feeling particularly +well and quite as though I had been enjoying a week at the seaside instead of +my recent adventures, which included an abominable battle and some agonising +moments during which I thought that my number was up upon the board of Destiny. +</p> + +<p> +I spent the most of that day lounging about, eating, talking over the details +of the battle with Umslopogaas and the Zulus and smoking more than usual. (I +forgot to say that these Amahagger grew some capital tobacco of which I had +obtained a supply, although like most Africans, they only used it in the shape +of snuff.) The truth was that after all my marvellings and acute anxieties, +also mental and physical exertions, I felt like the housemaid who caused to be +cut upon her tombstone that she had gone to a better land where her ambition +was to do nothing “for ever and ever.” I just wanted to be +completely idle and vacuous-minded for at least a month, but as I knew that all +I could expect in that line was a single bank holiday, like a City clerk on the +spree, of it I determined to make the most. +</p> + +<p> +The result was that before the evening I felt very bored indeed. I had gone to +look at Inez, who was still fast asleep, as Ayesha said would be the case, but +whose features seemed to have plumped up considerably. The reason of this I +gathered from her Amahagger nurses, was that at certain intervals she had +awakened sufficiently to swallow considerable quantities of milk, or rather +cream, which I hoped would not make her ill. I had chatted with the wounded +Zulus, who were now walking about, more bored even than I was myself, and +heaping maledictions on their ancestral spirits because they had not been well +enough to take part in the battle against Rezu. +</p> + +<p> +I even took a little stroll to look for Hans, who had vanished in his +mysterious fashion, but the afternoon was so hot and oppressive with coming +thunder, that soon I came back again and fell into a variety of reflections +that I need not detail. +</p> + +<p> +While I was thus engaged and meditating, not without uneasiness, upon the +ordeal that lay before me after sunset, for I felt sure that it would be an +ordeal, Hans appeared and said that the Amahagger <i>impi</i> or army was +gathered on that spot where I had been elected to the proud position of their +General. He added that he believed—how he got this information I do not +know—that the White Lady was going to hold a review of them and give them +the rewards that they had earned in the battle. +</p> + +<p> +Hearing this, Umslopogaas and the other Zulus said that they would like to see +this review if I would accompany them. Although I did not want to go nor indeed +desired ever to look at another Amahagger, I consented to save the trouble of +argument, on condition that we should do so from a distance. +</p> + +<p> +So, including the wounded men, we strolled off and presently came to the +crumbled wall of the old city, beyond which lay the great moat now dry, that +once had encircled it with water. +</p> + +<p> +Here on the top of this wall we sat down where we could see without being seen, +and observed the Amahagger companies, considerably reduced during the battle, +being marshalled by their captains beneath us and about a couple of hundred +yards away. Also we observed several groups of men under guard. These we took +to be prisoners captured in the fight with Rezu, who, as Hans remarked with a +smack of his lips, were probably awaiting sacrifice. +</p> + +<p> +I said I hoped not and yawned, for really the afternoon was intensely hot and +the weather most peculiar. The sun had vanished behind clouds, and vapours +filled the still air, so dense that at times it grew almost dark; also when +these cleared for brief intervals, the landscape in the grey, unholy light +looked distorted and unnatural, as it does during an eclipse of the sun. +</p> + +<p> +Goroko, the witch-doctor, stared round him, sniffed the air and then remarked +ocularly that it was “wizard’s weather” and that there were +many spirits about. Upon my word I felt inclined to agree with him, for my +feelings were very uncomfortable, but I only replied that if so, I should be +obliged if he, as a professional, would be good enough to keep them off me. Of +course I knew that electrical charges were about, which accounted for my +sensations, and wished that I had never left the camp. +</p> + +<p> +It was during one of these periods of dense gloom that Ayesha must have arrived +upon the review ground. At least, when it lifted, there she was in her white +garments, surrounded by women and guards, engaged apparently in making an +oration, for although I could not hear a word, I could see by the motions of +her arms that she was speaking. +</p> + +<p> +Had she been the central figure in some stage scene, no limelights could have +set her off to better advantage, than did those of the heavens above her. +Suddenly, through the blanket of cloud, flowing from a hole in it that looked +like an eye, came a blood-red ray which fell full upon her, so that she alone +was fiercely visible whilst all around was gloom in which shapes moved dimly. +Certainly she looked strange and even terrifying in that red ray which stained +her robe till I who had but just come out of battle with its “confused +noise,” began to think of “the garments rolled in blood” of +which I often read in my favourite Old Testament. For crimson was she from head +to foot; a tall shape of terror and of wrath. +</p> + +<p> +The eye in heaven shut and the ray went out. Then came one of the spaces of +grey light and in it I saw men being brought up, apparently from the groups of +prisoners, under guard, and, to the number of a dozen or more, stood in a line +before Ayesha. +</p> + +<p> +Then I saw nothing more for a long while, because blackness seemed to flow in +from every quarter of the heavens and to block out the scene beneath. At least +after a pause of perhaps five minutes, during which the stillness was intense, +the storm broke. +</p> + +<p> +It was a very curious storm; in all my experience of African tempests I cannot +recall one which it resembled. It began with the usual cold and wailing wind. +This died away, and suddenly the whole arch of heaven was alive with little +lightnings that seemed to strike horizontally, not downwards to the earth, +weaving a web of fire upon the surface of the sky. +</p> + +<p> +By the illumination of these lightnings which, but for the swiftness of their +flashing and greater intensity, somewhat resembled a dense shower of shooting +stars, I perceived that Ayesha was addressing the men that had been brought +before her, who stood dejectedly in a long line with their heads bent, quite +unattended, since their guards had fallen back. +</p> + +<p> +“If I were going to receive a reward of cattle or wives, I should look +happier than those moon-worshippers, Baas,” remarked Hans reflectively. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps it would depend,” I answered, “upon what the cattle +and wives were like. If the cattle had red-water and would bring disease into +your herd, or wild bulls that would gore you, and the wives were skinny old +widows with evil tongues, then I think you would look as do those men, +Hans.” +</p> + +<p> +I don’t quite know what made me speak thus, but I believe it was some +sense of pending death or disaster, suggested, probably, by the ominous +character of the setting provided by Nature to the curious drama of which we +were witnesses. +</p> + +<p> +“I never thought of that, Baas,” commented Hans, “but it is +true that all gifts are not good, especially witches’ gifts.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke the little net-like lightnings died away, leaving behind them a +gross darkness through which, far above us, the wind wailed again. +</p> + +<p> +Then suddenly all the heaven was turned into one blaze of light, and by it I +saw Ayesha standing tall and rigid with her hand pointed towards the line of +men in front of her. The blaze went out, to be followed by blackness, and to +return almost instantly in a yet fiercer blaze which seemed to fall earthwards +in a torrent of fire that concentrated itself in a kind of flame-spout upon the +spot where Ayesha stood. +</p> + +<p> +Through that flame or rather in the heart of it, I saw Ayesha and the file of +men in front of her, as the great King saw the prophets in the midst of the +furnace that had been heated sevenfold. Only these men did not walk about in +the fire; no, they fell backwards, while Ayesha alone remained upon her feet +with outstretched hand. +</p> + +<p> +Next came more blackness and crash upon crash of such thunder that the earth +shook as it reverberated from the mountain cliffs. Never in my life did I hear +such fearful thunder. It frightened the Zulus so much, that they fell upon +their faces, except Goroko and Umslopogaas, whose pride kept them upon their +feet, the former because he had a reputation to preserve as a +“Heaven-herd,” or Master of tempests. +</p> + +<p> +I confess that I should have liked to follow their example, and lie down, being +dreadfully afraid lest the lightning should strike me. But there—I did +not. +</p> + +<p> +At last the thunder died away and in the most mysterious fashion that violent +tempest came to a sudden end, as does a storm upon the stage. No rain fell, +which in itself was surprising enough and most unusual, but in place of it a +garment of the completest calm descended upon the earth. By degrees, too, the +darkness passed and the westering sun reappeared. Its rays fell upon the place +where the Amahagger companies had stood, but now not one of them was to be +seen. +</p> + +<p> +They were all gone and Ayesha with them. So completely had they vanished away +that I should have thought that we suffered from illusions, were it not for the +line of dead men which lay there looking very small and lonesome on the veld; +mere dots indeed at that distance. +</p> + +<p> +We stared at each other and at them, and then Goroko said that he would like to +inspect the bodies to learn whether lightning killed at Kôr as it did +elsewhere, also whether it had smitten them altogether or leapt from man to +man. This, as a professional “Heaven-herd,” he declared he could +tell from the marks upon these unfortunates. +</p> + +<p> +As I was curious also and wanted to make a few observations, I consented. So +with the exception of the wounded men, who I thought should avoid the exertion, +we scrambled down the débris of the tumbled wall and across the open space +beyond, reaching the scene of the tragedy without meeting or seeing anyone. +</p> + +<p> +There lay the dead, eleven of them, in an exact line as they had stood. They +were all upon their backs with widely-opened eyes and an expression of great +fear frozen upon their faces. Some of these I recognised, as did Umslopogaas +and Hans. They were soldiers or captains who had marched under me to attack +Rezu, although until this moment I had not seen any of them after we began to +descend the ridge where the battle took place. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” said Hans, “I believe that these were the traitors +who slipped away and told Rezu of our plans so that he attacked us on the +ridge, instead of our attacking him on the plain as we had arranged so nicely. +At least they were none of them in the battle and afterwards I heard the +Amahagger talking of some of them.” +</p> + +<p> +I remarked that if so the lightning had discriminated very well in this +instance. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Goroko was examining the bodies one by one, and presently called out, +</p> + +<p> +“These doomed ones died not by lightning but by witchcraft. There is not +a burn upon one of them, nor are their garments scorched.” +</p> + +<p> +I went to look and found that it was perfectly true; to all outward appearance +the eleven were quite unmarked and unharmed. Except for their frightened air, +they might have died a natural death in their sleep. +</p> + +<p> +“Does lightning always scorch?” I asked Goroko. +</p> + +<p> +“Always, Macumazahn,” he answered, “that is, if he who has +been struck is killed, as these are, and not only stunned. Moreover, most of +yonder dead wear knives which should have melted or shattered with the sheaths +burnt off them. Yet those knives are as though they had just left the +smith’s hammer and the whet-stone,” and he drew some of them to +show me. +</p> + +<p> +Again it was quite true and here I may remark that my experience tallied with +that of Goroko, since I have never seen anyone killed by lightning on whom or +on whose clothing there was not some trace of its passage. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Ow!</i>” said Umslopogaas, “this is witchcraft, not +Heaven-wrath. The place is enchanted. Let us get away lest we be smitten also +who have not earned doom like those traitors.” +</p> + +<p> +“No need to fear,” said Hans, “since with us is the Great +Medicine of Zikali which can tie up the lightning as an old woman does a bundle +of sticks.” +</p> + +<p> +Still I observed that for all his confidence, Hans himself was the first to +depart and with considerable speed. So we went back to our camp without more +conversation, since the Zulus were scared and I confess that myself I could not +understand the matter, though no doubt it admitted of some quite simple +explanation. +</p> + +<p> +However that might be, this Kôr was a queer place with its legends, its sullen +Amahagger and its mysterious queen, to whom at times, in spite of my inner +conviction to the contrary, I was still inclined to attribute powers beyond +those that are common even among very beautiful and able women. +</p> + +<p> +This reflection reminded me that she had promised us a further exhibition of +those powers and within an hour or two. Remembering this I began to regret that +I had ever asked for any such manifestations, for who knew what these might or +might not involve? +</p> + +<p> +So much did I regret it that I determined, unless Ayesha sent for us, as she +had said she would do, I would conveniently forget the appointment. Luckily +Umslopogaas seemed to be of the same way of thinking; at any rate he went off +to eat his evening meal without alluding to it at all. So I made up my mind +that I would not bring the matter to his notice and having ascertained that +Inez was still asleep, I followed his example and dined myself, though without +any particular appetite. +</p> + +<p> +As I finished the sun was setting in a perfectly clear sky, so as there was no +sign of any messenger, I thought that I would go to bed early, leaving orders +that I was not to be disturbed. But on this point my luck was lacking, for just +as I had taken off my coat, Hans arrived and said that old Billali was without +and had come to take me somewhere. +</p> + +<p> +Well, there was nothing to do but to put it on again. Before I had finished +this operation Billali himself arrived with undignified and unusual haste. I +asked him what was the matter, and he answered inconsequently that the Black +One, the slayer of Rezu, was at the door “with his axe.” +</p> + +<p> +“That generally accompanies him,” I replied. Then, remembering the +cause of Billali’s alarm, I explained to him that he must not take too +much notice of a few hasty words spoken by an essentially gentle-natured person +whose nerve had given way beneath provocation and bodily effort. The old fellow +bowed in assent and stroked his beard, but I noticed that while Umslopogaas was +near, he clung to me like a shadow. Perhaps he thought that nervous attacks +might be recurrent, like those of fever. +</p> + +<p> +Outside the house I found Umslopogaas leaning on his axe and looking at the sky +in which the last red rays of evening lingered. +</p> + +<p> +“The sun has set, Macumazahn,” he said, “and it is time to +visit this white queen as she bade us, and to learn whether she can indeed lead +us ‘down below’ where the dead are said to dwell.” +</p> + +<p> +So he had not forgotten, which was disconcerting. To cover up my own doubts I +asked him with affected confidence and cheerfulness whether he was not afraid +to risk this journey “down below,” that is, to the Realm of Death. +</p> + +<p> +“Why should I fear to tread a road that awaits the feet of all of us and +at the gate of which we knock day by day, especially if we chance to live by +war, as do you and I, Macumazahn?” he inquired with a quiet dignity, +which made me feel ashamed. +</p> + +<p> +“Why indeed?” I answered, adding to myself, “though I should +much prefer any other highway.” +</p> + +<p> +After this we started without more words, I keeping up my spirits by reflecting +that the whole business was nonsense and that there could be nothing to dread. +</p> + +<p> +All too soon we passed the ruined archway and were admitted into Ayesha’s +presence in the usual fashion. As Billali, who remained outside of them, drew +the curtains behind us, I observed, to my astonishment, that Hans had sneaked +in after me, and squatted down quite close to them, apparently in the hope of +being overlooked. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed, as I gathered later, that somehow or other he had guessed, or become +aware of the object of our visit, and that his burning curiosity had overcome +his terror of the “White Witch.” Or possibly he hoped to discover +whether or not she were so ugly as he supposed her veil-hidden face to be. At +any rate there he was, and if Ayesha noticed him, as I think she did, for I saw +by the motion of her head, that she was looking in his direction, she made no +remark. +</p> + +<p> +For a while she sat still in her chair contemplating us both. Then she said, +</p> + +<p> +“How comes it that you are late? Those that seek their lost loves should +run with eager feet, but yours have tarried.” +</p> + +<p> +I muttered some excuse to which she did not trouble to listen, for she went on, +</p> + +<p> +“I think, Allan, that your sandals, which should be winged like to those +of the Roman Mercury, are weighted with the grey lead of fear. Well, it is not +strange, since you have come to travel through the Gates of Death that are +feared by all, even by Ayesha’s self, for who knows what he may find +beyond them? Ask the Axe-Bearer if he also is afraid.” +</p> + +<p> +I obeyed, rendering all that she had said into the Zulu idiom as best I could. +</p> + +<p> +“Say to the Queen,” answered Umslopogaas, when he understood, +“that I fear nothing, except women’s tongues. I am ready to pass +the Gates of Death and, if need be, to come back no more. With the white people +I know it is otherwise because of some dark teachings to which they listen, +that tell of terrors to be, such as we who are black do not dread. Still, we +believe that there are ghosts and that the spirits of our fathers live on and +as it chances I would learn whether this is so, who above all things desire to +met a certain ghost, for which reason I journeyed to this far land. +</p> + +<p> +“Say these things to the white Queen, Macumazahn, and tell her that if +she should send me to a place whence there is no return, I who do not love the +world, shall not blame her overmuch, though it is true that I should have +chosen to die in war. Now I have spoken.” +</p> + +<p> +When I had passed on all this speech to Ayesha, her comment on it was, +</p> + +<p> +“This black Captain has a spirit as brave as his body, but how is it with +your spirit, Allan? Are you also prepared to risk so much? Learn that I can +promise you nothing, save that when I loose the bonds of your mortality and +send out your soul to wander in the depths of Death, as I believe that I can +do, though even of this I am not certain—you must pass through a gate of +terrors that may be closed behind you by a stronger arm than mine. Moreover, +what you will find beyond it I do not know, since be sure of this, each of us +has his own heaven or his own hell, or both, that soon or late he is doomed to +travel. Now will you go forward, or go back? Make choice while there is still +time.” +</p> + +<p> +At all this ominous talk I felt my heart shrivel like a fire-withered leaf, if +I may use that figure, and my blood assume the temperature and consistency of +ice-cream. Earnestly did I curse myself for having allowed my curiosity about +matters which we are not meant to understand to bring me to the edge of such a +choice. Swiftly I determined to temporise, which I did by asking Ayesha whether +she would accompany me upon this eerie expedition. +</p> + +<p> +She laughed a little as she answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Bethink you, Allan. Am I, whose face you have seen, a meet companion for +a man who desires to visit the loves that once were his? What would they say or +think, if they should see you hand in hand with such a one?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know and don’t care,” I replied desperately, +“but this is the kind of journey on which one requires a guide who knows +the road. Cannot Umslopogaas go first and come back to tell me how it has fared +with him?” +</p> + +<p> +“If the brave and instructed white lord, panoplied in the world’s +last Faith, is not ashamed to throw the savage in his ignorance out like a +feather to test the winds of hell and watch the while to learn whether these +blow him back unscorched, or waft him into fires whence there is no return, +perchance it might so be ordered, Allan. Ask him yourself, Allan, if he is +willing to run this errand for your sake. Or perhaps the little yellow +man——” and she paused. +</p> + +<p> +At this point Hans, who having a smattering of Arabic understood something of +our talk, could contain himself no longer. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas,” he broke in from his corner by the curtain, “not +<i>me</i>. I don’t care for hunting spooks, Baas, which leave no spoor +that you can follow and are always behind when you think they are in front. +Also there are too many of them waiting for me down there and how can I stand +up to them until I am a spook myself and know their ways of fighting? Also if +you should die when your spirit is away, I want to be left that I may bury you +nicely.” +</p> + +<p> +“Be silent,” I said in my sternest manner. Then, unable to bear +more of Ayesha’s mockery, for I felt that as usual she was mocking me, I +added with all the dignity that I could command, +</p> + +<p> +“I am ready to make this journey through the gate of Death, Ayesha, if +indeed you can show me the road. For one purpose and no other I came to Kôr, +namely to learn, if so I might, whether those who have died upon the world, +live on elsewhere. Now, what must I do?” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21"></a>CHAPTER XXI.<br /> +THE LESSON</h2> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Ayesha, laughing very softly, “for that +purpose alone, O truth-seeking Allan, whose curiosity is so fierce that the +wide world cannot hold it, did you come to Kôr and not to seek wealth or new +lands, or to fight more savages. No, not even to look upon a certain Ayesha, of +whom the old wizard told you, though I think you have always loved to try to +lift the veil that hides women’s hearts, if not their faces. Yet it was I +who brought you to Kôr for my own purposes, not your desire, nor Zikali’s +map and talisman, since had not the white lady who lies sick been stolen by +Rezu, never would you have pursued the journey nor found the way hither.” +</p> + +<p> +“How could you have had anything to do with that business?” I asked +testily, for my nerves were on edge and I said the first thing that came into +my mind. +</p> + +<p> +“That, Allan, is a question over which you will wonder for a long while +either beneath or beyond the sun, as you will wonder concerning much that has +to do with me, which your little mind, shut in its iron box of ignorance and +pride, cannot understand to-day. +</p> + +<p> +“For example, you have been wondering, I am sure, how the lightning +killed those eleven men whose bodies you went to look on an hour or two ago, +and left the rest untouched. Well, I will tell you at once that it was not +lightning that killed them, although the strength within me was manifest to you +in storm, but rather what that witch-doctor of your following called wizardry. +Because they were traitors who betrayed your army to Rezu, I killed them with +my wrath and by the wand of my power. Oh! you do not believe, yet perhaps ere +long you will, since thus to fulfil your prayer I must also kill +you—almost. That is the trouble, Allan. To kill you outright would be +easy, but to kill you just enough to set your spirit free and yet leave one +crevice of mortal life through which it can creep back again, that is most +difficult; a thing that only I can do and even of myself I am not sure.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pray do not try the experiment——” I began thoroughly +alarmed, but she cut me short. +</p> + +<p> +“Disturb me no more, Allan, with the tremors and changes of your +uncertain mind, lest you should work more evil than you think, and making mine +uncertain also, spoil my skill. Nay, do not try to fly, for already the net has +thrown itself about you and you cannot stir, who are bound like a little gilded +wasp in the spider’s web, or like birds beneath the eyes of +basilisks.” +</p> + +<p> +This was true, for I found that, strive as I would, I could not move a limb or +even an eyelid. I was frozen to that spot and there was nothing for it except +to curse my folly and say my prayers. +</p> + +<p> +All this while she went on talking, but of what she said I have not the +faintest idea, because my remaining wits were absorbed in these much-needed +implorations. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Presently, of a sudden, I appeared to see Ayesha seated in a temple, for there +were columns about her, and behind her was an altar on which a fire burned. All +round her, too, were hooded snakes like to that which she wore about her +middle, fashioned in gold. To these snakes she sang and they danced to her +singing; yes, with flickering tongues they danced upon their tails! What the +scene signified I cannot conceive, unless it meant that this mistress of magic +was consulting her familiars. +</p> + +<p> +Then that vision vanished and Ayesha’s voice began to seem very far away +and dreamy, also her wondrous beauty became visible to me through her veil, as +though I had acquired a new sense that overcame the limitations of mortal +sight. Even in this extremity I reflected it was well that the last thing I +looked on should be something so glorious. No, not quite the last thing, for +out of the corners of my eyes I saw that Umslopogaas from a sitting position +had sunk on to his back and lay, apparently dead, with his axe still gripped +tightly and held above his head, as though his arm had been turned to ice. +</p> + +<p> +After this terrible things began to happen to me and I became aware that I was +dying. A great wind seemed to catch me up and blow me to and fro, as a leaf is +blown in the eddies of a winter gale. Enormous rushes of darkness flowed over +me, to be succeeded by vivid bursts of brightness that dazzled like lightning. +I fell off precipices and at the foot of them was caught by some fearful +strength and tossed to the very skies. +</p> + +<p> +From those skies I was hurled down again into a kind of whirlpool of inky +night, round which I spun perpetually, as it seemed for hours and hours. But +worst of all was the awful loneliness from which I suffered. It seemed to me as +though there were no other living thing in all the Universe and never had been +and never would be any other living thing. I felt as though <i>I</i> were the +Universe rushing solitary through space for ages upon ages in a frantic search +for fellowship, and finding none. +</p> + +<p> +Then something seemed to grip my throat and I knew that I had died—for +the world floated away from beneath me. +</p> + +<p> +Now fear and every mortal sensation left me, to be replaced by a new and +spiritual terror. I, or rather my disembodied consciousness, seemed to come up +for judgment, and the horror of it was that I appeared to be my own judge. +There, a very embodiment of cold justice, my Spirit, grown luminous, sat upon a +throne and to it, with dread and merciless particularity I set out all my +misdeeds. It was as if some part of me remained mortal, for I could see my two +eyes, my mouth and my hands, but nothing else—and strange enough they +looked. From the eyes came tears, from the mouth flowed words and the hands +were joined, as though in prayer to that throned and adamantine Spirit which +was ME. +</p> + +<p> +It was as though this Spirit were asking how my body had served its purposes +and advanced its mighty ends, and in reply—oh! what a miserable tale I +had to tell. Fault upon fault, weakness upon weakness, sin upon sin; never +before did I understand how black was my record. I tried to relieve the picture +with some incidents of attempted good, but that Spirit would not hearken. It +seemed to say that it had gathered up the good and knew it all. It was of the +evil that it would learn, not of the good that had bettered it, but of the evil +by which it had been harmed. +</p> + +<p> +Hearing this there rose up in my consciousness some memory of what Ayesha had +said; namely, that the body lived within the temple of the spirit which is oft +defied, and not the spirit in the body. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The story was told and I hearkened for the judgment, my own judgment on myself, +which I knew would be accepted without question and registered for good or ill. +But none came, since ere the balance sank this way or that, ere it could be +uttered, I was swept afar. +</p> + +<p> +Through Infinity I was swept, and as I fled faster than the light, the meaning +of what I had seen came home to me. I knew, or seemed to know for the first +time, that at the last <i>man must answer to himself</i>, or perhaps to a +divine principle within himself, that out of his own free-will, through long +æons and by a million steps, he climbs or sinks to the heights or depths +dormant in his nature; that from what he was, springs what he is, and what he +is, engenders what he shall be for ever and aye. +</p> + +<p> +Now I envisaged Immortality and splendid and awful was its face. It clasped me +to its breast and in the vast circle of its arms I was up-borne, I who knew +myself to be without beginning and without end, and yet of the past and of the +future knew nothing, save that these were full of mysteries. +</p> + +<p> +As I went I encountered others, or overtook them, making the same journey. +Robertson swept past me, and spoke, but in a tongue I could not understand. I +noted that the madness had left his eyes and that his fine-cut features were +calm and spiritual. The other wanderers I did not know. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +I came to a region of blinding light; the thought rose in me that I must have +reached the sun, or a sun, though I felt no heat. I stood in a lovely, shining +valley about which burned mountains of fire. There were huge trees in that +valley, but they glowed like gold and their flowers and fruit were as though +they had been fashioned of many-coloured flames. +</p> + +<p> +The place was glorious beyond compare, but very strange to me and not to be +described. I sat me down upon a boulder which burned like a ruby, whether with +heat or colour I do not know, by the edge of a stream that flowed with what +looked like fire and made a lovely music. I stooped down and drank of this +water of flames and the scent and the taste of it were as those of the +costliest wine. +</p> + +<p> +There, beneath the spreading limbs of a fire-tree I sat, and examined the +strange flowers that grew around, coloured like rich jewels and perfumed above +imagining. There were birds also which might have been feathered with +sapphires, rubies and amethysts, and their song was so sweet that I could have +wept to hear it. The scene was wonderful and filled me with exaltation, for I +thought of the land where it is promised that there shall be no more night. +</p> + +<p> +People began to appear; men, women, and even children, though whence they came +I could not see. They did not fly and they did not walk; they seemed to drift +towards me, as unguided boats drift upon the tide. One and all they were very +beautiful, but their beauty was not human although their shapes and faces +resembled those of men and women made glorious. None were old, and except the +children, none seemed very young; it was as though they had grown backwards or +forwards to middle life and rested there at their very best. +</p> + +<p> +Now came the marvel; all these uncounted people were known to me, though so far +as my knowledge went I had never set eyes on most of them before. Yet I was +aware that in some forgotten life or epoch I had been intimate with every one +of them; also that it was the fact of my presence and the call of my +sub-conscious mind which drew them to this spot. Yet that presence and that +call were not visible or audible to them, who, I suppose, flowed down some +stream of sympathy, why or whither they did not know. Had I been as they were +perchance they would have seen me, as it was they saw nothing and I could not +speak and tell them of my presence. +</p> + +<p> +Some of this multitude, however, I knew well enough even when they had departed +years and years ago. But about these I noted this, that every one of them was a +man or a woman or a child for whom I had felt love or sympathy or friendship. +Not one was a person whom I had disliked or whom I had no wish to see again. If +they spoke at all I could not hear—or read—their speech, yet to a +certain extent I could hear their thoughts. +</p> + +<p> +Many of these were beyond the power of my appreciation on subjects of which I +had no knowledge, or that were too high for me, but some were of quite simple +things such as concern us upon the earth, such as of friendship, or learning, +or journeys made or to be made, or art, or literature, or the wonders of +Nature, or of the fruits of the earth, as they knew them in this region. +</p> + +<p> +This I noted too, that each separate thought seemed to be hallowed and enclosed +in an atmosphere of prayer or heavenly aspiration, as a seed is enclosed in the +heart of a flower, or a fruit in its odorous rind, and that this prayer or +aspiration presently appeared to bear the thought away, whither I knew not. +Moreover, all these thoughts, even of the humblest things, were beauteous and +spiritual, nothing cruel or impure or even coarse was to be found among them: +they radiated charity, purity and goodness. +</p> + +<p> +Among them I perceived were none that had to do with our earth; this and its +affairs seemed to be left far behind these thinkers, a truth that chilled my +soul was alien to their company. Worse still, so far as I could discover, +although I knew that all these bright ones had been near to me at some hour in +the measurements of time and space, not one of their musings dwelt upon me or +on aught with which I had to do. +</p> + +<p> +Between me and them there was a great gulf fixed and a high wall built. +</p> + +<p> +Oh, look! One came shining like a star, and from far away came another with +dove-like eyes and beautiful exceedingly, and with this last a maiden, whose +eyes were as hers who my own heart told me was her mother. +</p> + +<p> +Well, I knew them both; they were those whom I had come to seek, the women who +had been mine upon the earth, and at the sight of them my spirit thrilled. +Surely they would discover me. Surely at least they would speak of me and feel +my presence. +</p> + +<p> +But, although they stayed within a pace or two of where I rested, alas! it was +not so. They seemed to kiss and to exchange swift thoughts about many things, +high things of which I will not write, and common things; yes, even of the +shining robes they wore, but never a one of <i>me!</i> I strove to rise and go +to them, but could not; I strove to speak and could not; I strove to throw out +my thought to them and could not; it fell back upon my head like a stone hurled +heavenward. +</p> + +<p> +They were remote from me, utterly apart. I wept tears of bitterness that I +should be so near and yet so far; a dull and jealous rage burned in my heart, +and this they did seem to feel, or so I fancied; at any rate, apparently by +mutual consent, they moved further from me as though something pained them. +Yes, my love could not reach their perfected natures, but my anger hurt them. +</p> + +<p> +As I sat chewing this root of bitterness, a man appeared, a very noble man, in +whom I recognised my father grown younger and happier-looking, but still my +father, with whom came others, men and women whom I knew to be my brothers and +sisters who had died in youth far away in Oxfordshire. Joy leapt up in me, for +I thought—these will surely know me and give me welcome, since, though +here sex has lost its power, blood must still call to blood. +</p> + +<p> +But it was not so. They spoke, or interchanged their thoughts, but not one of +me. I read something that passed from my father to them. It was a speculation +as to what had brought them all together there, and read also the answer +hazarded, that perhaps it might be to give welcome to some unknown who was +drawing near from below and would feel lonely and unfriended. Thereon my father +replied that he did not see or feel this wanderer, and thought that it could +not be so, since it was his mission to greet such on their coming. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Then in an instant all were gone and that lovely, glowing plain was empty, save +for myself seated on the ruby-like stone, weeping tears of blood and shame and +loss within my soul. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +So I sat a long while, till presently I was aware of a new presence, a presence +dusky and splendid and arrayed in rich barbaric robes. Straight she came +towards me, like a thrown spear, and I knew her for a certain royal and savage +woman who on earth was named Mameena, or “Wind-that-wailed.” +Moreover she divined me, though see me she could not. +</p> + +<p> +“Art there, Watcher-in-the-Night, watching in the light?” she said +or thought, I know not which, but the words came to me in the Zulu tongue. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye,” she went on, “I know that thou art there; from ten +thousand leagues away I felt thy presence and broke from my own place to +welcome thee, though I must pay for it with burning chains and bondage. How did +those welcome thee whom thou camest out to seek? Did they clasp thee in their +arms and press their kisses on thy brow? Or did they shrink away from thee +because the smell of earth was on thy hands and lips?” +</p> + +<p> +I seemed to answer that they did not appear to know that I was there. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, they did not know because their love is not enough, because they +have grown too fine for love. But I, the sinner, I knew well, and here am I +ready to suffer all for thee and to give thee place within this stormy heart of +mine. Forget them, then, and come to rule with me who still am queen in my own +house that thou shalt share. There we will live royally and when our hour +comes, at least we shall have had our day.” +</p> + +<p> +Now before I could reply, some power seemed to seize this splendid creature and +whirl her thence so that she departed, flashing these words from her mind to +mine, +</p> + +<p> +“For a little while farewell, but remember always that Mameena, the +Wailing Wind, being still as a sinful woman in a woman’s love and of the +earth, earthy, found thee, whom all the rest forgot. O Watcher-in-the-Night, +watch in the night for me, for there thou shalt find me, the Child of Storm, +again, and yet again.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +She was gone and once more I sat in utter solitude upon that ruby stone, +staring at the jewelled flowers and the glorious flaming trees and the lambent +waters of the brook. What was the meaning of it all, I wondered, and why was I +deserted by everyone save a single savage woman, and why had she a power to +find me which was denied to all the rest? Well, she had given me an answer, +because she was “as a sinful woman with a woman’s love and of the +earth, earthy,” while with the rest it was otherwise. Oh! this was clear, +that in the heavens man has no friend among the heavenly, save perhaps the +greatest Friend of all Who understands both flesh and spirit. +</p> + +<p> +Thus I mused in this burning world which was still so beautiful, this alien +world into which I had thrust myself unwanted and unsought. And while I mused +this happened. The fiery waters of the stream were disturbed by something and +looking up I saw the cause. +</p> + +<p> +A dog had plunged into them and was swimming towards me. At a glance I knew +that dog on which my eyes had not fallen for decades. It was a mongrel, half +spaniel and half bull-terrier, which for years had been the dear friend of my +youth and died at last on the horns of a wounded wildebeeste that attacked me +when I had fallen from my horse upon the veld. Boldly it tackled the maddened +buck, thus giving me time to scramble to my rifle and shoot it, but not before +the poor hound had yielded its life for mine, since presently it died +disembowelled, but licking my hand and forgetful of its agonies. This dog, Smut +by name, it was that swam or seemed to swim the brook of fire. It scrambled to +the hither shore, it nosed the earth and ran to the ruby stone and stared about +it whining and sniffing. +</p> + +<p> +At last it seemed to see or feel me, for it stood upon its hind legs and licked +my face, yelping with mad joy, as I could see though I heard nothing. Now I +wept in earnest and bent down to hug and kiss the faithful beast, but this I +could not do, since like myself it was only shadow. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Then suddenly all dissolved in a cataract of many-coloured flames and I fell +down into an infinite gulf of blackness. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Surely Ayesha was talking to me! What did she say? What did she say? I could +not catch her words, but I caught her laughter and knew that after her fashion +she was making a mock of me. My eyelids were dragged down as though with heavy +sleep; it was difficult to lift them. At last they were open and I saw Ayesha +seated on her couch before me and—this I noted at once—with her +lovely face unveiled. I looked about me, seeking Umslopogaas and Hans. But they +were gone as I guessed they must be, since otherwise Ayesha would not have been +unveiled. We were quite alone. She was addressing me and in a new fashion, +since now she had abandoned the formal “you” and was using the more +impressive and intimate “thou,” much as is the manner of the +French. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou hast made thy journey, Allan,” she said, “and what thou +hast seen there thou shalt tell me presently. Yet from thy mien I gather +this—that thou art glad to look upon flesh and blood again and, after the +company of spirits, to find that of mortal woman. Come then and sit beside me +and tell thy tale.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where are the others?” I asked as I rose slowly to obey, for my +head swam and my feet seemed feeble. +</p> + +<p> +“Gone, Allan, who as I think have had enough of ghosts, which is perhaps +thy case also. Come, drink this and be a man once more. Drink it to me whose +skill and power have brought thee safe from lands that human feet were never +meant to tread,” and taking a strange-shaped cup from a stool that stood +beside her, she offered it to me. +</p> + +<p> +I drank to the last drop, neither knowing nor caring whether it were wine or +poison, since my heart seemed desperate at its failure and my spirit crushed +beneath the weight of its great betrayal. I suppose it was the former, for the +contents of that cup ran through my veins like fire and gave me back my courage +and the joy of life. +</p> + +<p> +I stepped to the dais and sat me down upon the couch, leaning against its +rounded end so that I was almost face to face with Ayesha who had turned +towards me, and thence could study her unveiled loveliness. For a while she +said nothing, only eyed me up and down and smiled and smiled, as though she +were waiting for that wine to do its work with me. +</p> + +<p> +“Now that thou art a man again, Allan, tell me what thou didst see when +thou wast more—or less—than man.” +</p> + +<p> +So I told her all, for some power within her seemed to draw the truth out of +me. Nor did the tale appear to cause her much surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“There is truth in thy dream,” she said when I had finished; +“a lesson also.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then it was all a dream?” I interrupted. +</p> + +<p> +“Is not everything a dream, even life itself, Allan? If so, what can this +be that thou hast seen, but a dream within a dream, and itself containing other +dreams, as in the old days the ball fashioned by the eastern workers of ivory +would oft be found to contain another ball, and this yet another and another +and another, till at the inmost might be found a bead of gold, or perchance a +jewel, which was the prize of him who could draw out ball from ball and leave +them all unbroken. That search was difficult and rarely was the jewel come by, +if at all, so that some said there was none, save in the maker’s mind. +Yes, I have seen a man go crazed with seeking and die with the mystery +unsolved. How much harder, then, is it to come at the diamond of Truth which +lies at the core of all our nest of dreams and without which to rest upon they +could not be fashioned to seem realities?” +</p> + +<p> +“But was it really a dream, and if so, what were the truth and the +lesson?” I asked, determined not to allow her to bemuse or escape me with +her metaphysical talk and illustrations. +</p> + +<p> +“The first question has been answered, Allan, as well as I can answer, +who am not the architect of this great globe of dreams, and as yet cannot +clearly see the ineffable gem within, whose prisoned rays illuminate their +substance, though so dimly that only those with the insight of a god can catch +their glamour in the night of thought, since to most they are dark as +glow-flies in the glare of noon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then what are the truth and the lesson?” I persisted, perceiving +that it was hopeless to extract from her an opinion as to the real nature of my +experiences and that I must content myself with her deductions from them. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou tellest me, Allan, that in thy dream or vision thou didst seem to +appear before thyself seated on a throne and in that self to find thy judge. +That is the Truth whereof I spoke, though how it found its way through the +black and ignorant shell of one whose wit is so small, is more than I can +guess, since I believed that it was revealed to me alone.” +</p> + +<p> +(Now I, Allan, thought to myself that I began to see the origin of all these +fantasies and that for once Ayesha had made a slip. If she had a theory and I +developed that same theory in a hypnotic condition, it was not difficult to +guess its fount. However, I kept my mouth shut, and luckily for once she did +not seem to read my mind, perhaps because she was too much occupied in spinning +her smooth web of entangling words.) +</p> + +<p> +“All men worship their own god,” she went on, “and yet seem +not to know that this god dwells within them and that of him they are a part. +There he dwells and there they mould him to their own fashion, as the potter +moulds his clay, though whatever the shape he seems to take beneath their +fingers, still he remains the god infinite and unalterable. Still he is the +Seeker and the Sought, the Prayer and its Fulfilment, the Love and the Hate, +the Virtue and the Vice, since all these qualities the alchemy of his spirit +turns into an ultimate and eternal Good. For the god is in all things and all +things are in the god, whom men clothe with such diverse garments and whose +countenance they hide beneath so many masks. +</p> + +<p> +“In the tree flows the sap, yet what knows the great tree it nurtures of +the sap? In the world’s womb burns the fire that gives life, yet what of +the fire knows the glorious earth it conceived and will destroy; in the heavens +the great globes swing through space and rest not, yet what know they of the +Strength that sent them spinning and in a time to come will stay their mighty +motions, or turn them to another course? Therefore of everything this +all-present god is judge, or rather, not one but many judges, since of each +living creature he makes its own magistrate to deal out justice according to +that creature’s law which in the beginning the god established for it and +decreed. Thus in the breast of everyone there is a rule and by that rule, at +work through a countless chain of lives, in the end he shall be lifted up to +Heaven, or bound about and cast down to Hell and death.” +</p> + +<p> +“You mean a conscience,” I suggested rather feebly, for her +thoughts and images overpowered me. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, a conscience, if thou wilt, and canst only understand that term, +though it fits my theme but ill. This is my meaning, that consciences, as thou +namest them, are many. I have one; thou, Allan, hast another; that black +Axe-bearer has a third; the little yellow man a fourth, and so on through the +tale of living things. For even a dog such as thou sawest has a conscience +and—like thyself or I—must in the end be its own judge, because of +the spark that comes to it from above, the same spark which in me burns as a +great fire, and in thee as a smouldering ember of green wood.” +</p> + +<p> +“When <i>you</i> sit in judgment on yourself in a day to come, +Ayesha,” I could not help interpolating, “I trust that you will +remember that humility did not shine among your virtues.” +</p> + +<p> +She smiled in her vivid way—only twice or thrice did I see her smile thus +and then it was like a flash of summer lightning illumining a clouded sky, +since for the most part her face was grave and even sombre. +</p> + +<p> +“Well answered,” she said. “Goad the patient ox enough and +even it will grow fierce and paw the ground. +</p> + +<p> +“Humility! What have I to do with it, O Allan? Let humility be the part +of the humble-souled and lowly, but for those who reign as I do, and they are +few indeed, let there be pride and the glory they have earned. Now I have told +thee of the Truth thou sawest in thy vision and wouldst thou hear the +Lesson?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “since I may as well be done with it at +once, and doubtless it will be good for me.” +</p> + +<p> +“The Lesson, Allan, is one which thou preachest—humility. Vain man +and foolish as thou art, thou didst desire to travel the Underworld in search +of certain ones who once were all in all to thee—nay, not all in all +since of them there were two or more—but at least much. Thus thou wouldst +do because, as thou saidest, thou didst seek to know whether they still lived +on beyond the gates of Blackness. Yes, thou saidest this, but what thou didst +hope to learn in truth was whether they lived on in <i>thee</i> and for +<i>thee</i> only. For thou, thou in thy vanity, didst picture these departed +souls as doing naught in that Heaven they had won, save think of thee still +burrowing on the earth, and, at times lightening thy labours with kisses from +other lips than theirs.” +</p> + +<p> +“Never!” I exclaimed indignantly. “Never! it is not +true.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I pray pardon, Allan, who only judged of thee by others that were +as men are made, and being such, not to be blamed if perchance from time to +time, they turned to look on women, who alas! were as they are made. So at +least it was when I knew the world, but mayhap since then its richest wine has +turned to water, whereby I hope it has been bettered. At the least this was thy +thought, that those women who had been thine for an hour, through all eternity +could dream of naught else save thy perfections, and hope for naught else than +to see thee at their sides through that eternity, or such part of thee as thou +couldst spare to each of them. For thou didst forget that where they have gone +there may be others even more peerless than thou art and more fit to hold a +woman’s love, which as we know on earth was ever changeful, and perhaps +may so remain where it is certain that new lights must shine and new desires +beckon. Dost understand me, Allan?” +</p> + +<p> +“I think so,” I answered with a groan. “I understand you to +mean that worldly impressions soon wear out and that people who have departed +to other spheres may there form new ties and forget the old.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Allan, as do those who remain upon this earth, whence these others +have departed. Do men and women still re-marry in the world, Allan, as in my +day they were wont to do?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course—it is allowed.” +</p> + +<p> +“As many other things, or perchance this same thing, may be allowed +elsewhere, for when there are so many habitations from which to choose, why +should we always dwell in one of them, however strait the house or poor the +prospect?” +</p> + +<p> +Now understanding that I was symbolised by the “strait house” and +the “poor prospect” I should have grown angry, had not a certain +sense of humour come to my rescue, who remembered that after all Ayesha’s +satire was profoundly true. Why, beyond the earth, should anyone desire to +remain unalterably tied to and inextricably wrapped up in such a personality as +my own, especially if others of superior texture abounded about them? Now that +I came to think of it, the thing was absurd and not to be the least expected in +the midst of a thousand new and vivid interests. I had met with one more +disillusionment, that was all. +</p> + +<p> +“Dost understand, Allan,” went on Ayesha, who evidently was +determined that I should drink this cup to the last drop, “that these +dwellers in the sun, or the far planet where thou hast been according to thy +tale, saw thee not and knew naught of thee? It may chance therefore that at +this time thou wast not in their minds which at others dream of thee +continually. Or it may chance that they never dream of thee at all, having +quite forgotten thee, as the weaned cub forgets its mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“At least there was one who seemed to remember,” I exclaimed, for +her poisoned mocking stung the words out of me, “one woman and—a +dog.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, the savage, who being Nature’s child, a sinner that departed +hence by her own act” (how Ayesha knew this I cannot say, I never told +her), “has not yet put on perfection and therefore still remembers him +whose kiss was last upon her lips. But surely, Allan, it is not thy desire to +pass from the gentle, ordered claspings of those white souls for the tumultuous +arms of such a one as this. Still, let that be, for who knows what men will or +will not do in jealousy and disappointed love? And the dog, it remembered also +and even sought thee out, since dogs are more faithful and single-hearted than +is mankind. There at least thou hast thy lesson, namely to grow more humble and +never to think again that thou holdest all a woman’s soul for aye, +because once she was kind to thee for a little while on earth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, jumping up in a rage, “as you say, I have +my lesson, and more of it than I want. So by your leave, I will now bid you +farewell, hoping that when it comes to be <i>your</i> turn to learn this +lesson, or a worse, Ayesha, as I am sure it will one day, for something tells +me so, you may enjoy it more than I have done.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22"></a>CHAPTER XXII.<br /> +AYESHA’S FAREWELL</h2> + +<p> +Thus I spoke whose nerves were on edge after all that I had seen or, as even +then I suspected, seemed to see. For how could I believe that these visions of +mine had any higher origin than Ayesha’s rather malicious imagination? +Already I had formed my theory. +</p> + +<p> +It was that she must be a hypnotist of power, who, after she had put a spell +upon her subject, could project into his mind such fancies as she chose +together with a selection of her own theories. Only two points remained +obscure. The first was—how did she get the necessary information about +the private affairs of a humble individual like myself, for these were not +known even to Zikali with whom she seemed to be in some kind of correspondence, +or to Hans, at any rate in such completeness? +</p> + +<p> +I could but presume that in some mysterious way she drew them from, or rather +excited them in my own mind and memory, so that I seemed to see those with whom +once I had been intimate, with modifications and in surroundings that her +intelligence had carefully prepared. It would not be difficult for a mind like +hers familiar, as I gathered it was, with the ancient lore of the Greeks and +the Egyptians, to create a kind of Hades and, by way of difference, to change +it from one of shadow to one of intense illumination, and into it to plunge the +consciousness of him upon whom she had laid her charm of sleep. I had seen +nothing and heard nothing that she might not thus have moulded, always given +that she had access to the needful clay of facts which I alone could furnish. +</p> + +<p> +Granting this hypothesis, the second point was—what might be the object +of her elaborate and most bitter jest? Well, I thought that I could guess. +First, she wished to show her power, or rather to make me believe that she had +power of a very unusual sort. Secondly, she owed Umslopogaas and myself a debt +for our services in the war with Rezu which we had been told would be repaid in +this way. Thirdly, I had offended her in some fashion and she took her +opportunity of settling the score. Also there was a fourth +possibility—that really she considered herself a moral instructress and +desired, as she said, to teach me a lesson by showing how futile were human +hopes and vanities in respect to the departed and their affections. +</p> + +<p> +Now I do not pretend that all this analysis of Ayesha’s motives occurred +to me at the moment of my interview with her; indeed, I only completed it later +after much careful thought, when I found it sound and good. At that time, +although I had inklings, I was too bewildered to form a just judgment. +</p> + +<p> +Further, I was too angry and it was from this bow of my anger that I loosed a +shaft at a venture as to some lesson which awaited <i>her</i>. Perhaps certain +words spoken by the dying Rezu had shaped that shaft. Or perhaps some shadow of +her advancing fate fell upon me. +</p> + +<p> +The success of the shot, however, was remarkable. Evidently it pierced the +joints of her harness, and indeed went home to Ayesha’s heart. She turned +pale; all the peach-bloom hues faded from her lovely face, her great eyes +seemed to lessen and grow dull and her cheeks to fall in. Indeed, for a moment +she looked old, very old, quite an aged woman. Moreover she wept, for I saw two +big tears drop upon her white raiment and I was horrified. +</p> + +<p> +“What has happened to you?” I said, or rather gasped. +</p> + +<p> +“Naught,” she answered, “save that thou hast hurt me sore. +Dost thou not know, Allan, that it is cruel to prophesy ill to any, since such +words feathered from Fate’s own wing and barbed with venom, fester in the +breast and mayhap bring about their own accomplishment. Most cruel of all is it +when with them are repaid friendship and gentleness.” +</p> + +<p> +I reflected to myself—yes, friendship of the order that is called candid, +and gentleness such as is hid in a cat’s velvet paw, but contented myself +with asking how it was that she who said she was so powerful, came to fear +anything at all. +</p> + +<p> +“Because as I have told thee, Allan, there is no armour that can turn the +spear of Destiny which, when I heard those words of thine, it seemed to me, I +know not why, was directed by thy hand. Look now on Rezu who thought himself +unconquerable and yet was slain by the black Axe-bearer and whose bones +to-night stay the famine of the jackals. Moreover I am accursed who sought to +steal its servant from Heaven to be my love, and how know I when and where +vengeance will fall at last? Indeed, it has fallen already on me, who through +the long ages amid savages must mourn widowed and alone, but not all of +it—oh! I think, not all.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she began to weep in good earnest, and watching her, for the first time I +understood that this glorious creature who seemed to be so powerful, was after +all one of the most miserable of women and as much a prey to loneliness, every +sort of passion and apprehensive fear, as can be any common mortal. If, as she +said, she had found the secret of life, which of course I did not believe, at +least it was obvious that she had lost that of happiness. +</p> + +<p> +She sobbed softly and wept and while she did so the loveliness, which had left +her for a little while, returned to her like light to a grey and darkened sky. +Oh, how beautiful she seemed with the abundant locks in disorder over her +tear-stained face, how beautiful beyond imagining! My heart melted as I studied +her; I could think of nothing else except her surpassing charm and glory. +</p> + +<p> +“I pray you, do not weep,” I said; “it hurts me and indeed I +am sorry if I said anything to give you pain.” +</p> + +<p> +But she only shook that glorious hair further about her face and behind its +veil wept on. +</p> + +<p> +“You know, Ayesha,” I continued, “you have said many hard +things to me, making me the target of your bitter wit, therefore it is not +strange that at last I answered you.” +</p> + +<p> +“And hast thou not deserved them, Allan?” she murmured in soft and +broken tones from behind that veil of scented locks. +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Because from the beginning thou didst defy me, showing in thine every +accent that thou heldest me a liar and one of no account in body or in spirit, +one not worthy of thy kind look, or of those gentle words which once were my +portion among men. Oh! thou hast dealt hardly with me and therefore +perchance—I know not—I paid thee back with such poor weapons as a +woman holds, though all the while I liked thee well.” +</p> + +<p> +Then again she fell to sobbing, swaying herself gently to and fro in her sweet +sorrow. +</p> + +<p> +It was too much. Not knowing what else to do to comfort her, I patted her ivory +hand which lay upon the couch beside me, and as this appeared to have no +effect, I kissed it, which she did not seem to resent. Then suddenly I +remembered and let it fall. +</p> + +<p> +She tossed back her hair from her face and fixing her big eyes on me, said +gently enough, looking down at her hand, +</p> + +<p> +“What ails thee, Allan?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, nothing,” I answered; “only I remembered the story you +told me about some man called Kallikrates.” +</p> + +<p> +She frowned. +</p> + +<p> +“And what of Kallikrates, Allan? Is it not enough that for my sins, with +tears, empty longings and repentance, I must wait for him through all the weary +centuries? Must I also wear the chains of this Kallikrates, to whom I owe many +a debt, when he is far away? Say, didst thou see him in that Heaven of thine, +Allan, for there perchance he dwells?” +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head and tried to think the thing out while all the time those +wonderful eyes of hers seemed to draw the soul from me. It seemed to me that +she bent forward and held up her face to me. Then I lost my reason and also +bent forward. Yes, she made me mad, and, save her, I forgot all. +</p> + +<p> +Swiftly she placed her hand upon my heart, saying, +</p> + +<p> +“Stay! What meanest thou? Dost love me, Allan?” +</p> + +<p> +“I think so—that is—yes,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +She sank back upon the couch away from me and began to laugh very softly. +</p> + +<p> +“What words are these,” she said, “that they pass thy lips so +easily and so unmeant, perchance from long practice? Oh! Allan, I am +astonished. Art thou the same man who some few days ago told me, and this +unasked, that as soon wouldst thou think of courting the moon as of courting +me? Art thou he who not a minute gone swore proudly that never had his heart +and his lips wandered from certain angels whither they should not? And now, and +now——?” +</p> + +<p> +I coloured to my eyes and rose, muttering, +</p> + +<p> +“Let me be gone!” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Allan, why? I see no mark here,” and she held up her hand, +scanning it carefully. “Thou art too much what thou wert before, except +perhaps in thy soul, which is invisible,” she added with a touch of +malice. “Nor am I angry with thee; indeed, hadst thou not tried to charm +away my woe, I should have thought but poorly of thee as a man. There let it +rest and be forgotten—or remembered as thou wilt. Still, in answer to thy +words concerning my Kallikrates, what of those adored ones that, according to +thy tale, but now thou didst find again in a place of light? Because they +seemed faithless, shouldst thou be faithless also? Shame on thee, thou fickle +Allan!” +</p> + +<p> +She paused, waiting for me to speak. +</p> + +<p> +Well, I could not. I had nothing to say who was utterly disgraced and +overwhelmed. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou thinkest, Allan,” she went on, “that I have cast my net +about thee, and this is true. Learn wisdom from it, Allan, and never again defy +a woman—that is, if she be fair, for then she is stronger than thou art, +since Nature for its own purpose made her so. Whatever I have done by tears, +that ancient artifice of my sex, as in other ways, is for thy instruction, +Allan, that thou mayest benefit thereby.” +</p> + +<p> +Again I sprang up, uttering an English exclamation which I trust Ayesha did not +understand, and again she motioned to me to be seated, saying, +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, leave me not yet since, even if the light fancy of a man that comes +and goes like the evening wind and for a breath made me dear to thee, has +passed away, there remains certain work which we must do together. Although, +thinking of thyself alone, thou hast forgotten it, having been paid thine own +fee, one is yet due to that old wizard in a far land who sent thee to visit Kôr +and me, as indeed he has reminded me and within an hour.” +</p> + +<p> +This amazing statement aroused me from my personal and painful pre-occupation +and caused me to stare at her blankly. +</p> + +<p> +“Again thou disbelievest me,” she said, with a little stamp. +“Do so once more, Allan, and I swear I’ll bring thee to grovel on +the ground and kiss my foot and babble nonsense to a woman sworn to another +man, such as never for all thy days thou shalt think of without a blush of +shame.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! no,” I broke in hurriedly, “I assure you that you are +mistaken. I believe every word you have said, or say or will say; I do in +truth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now thou liest. Well, what is one more falsehood among so many? Let it +pass.” +</p> + +<p> +“What, indeed?” I echoed in eager affirmation, “and as for +Zikali’s message——” and I paused. +</p> + +<p> +“It was to recall to my mind that he desired to learn whether a certain +great enterprise of his will succeed, the details of which he says thou canst +tell me. Repeat them to me.” +</p> + +<p> +So, glad enough to get away from more dangerous topics, I narrated to her as +briefly and clearly as I could, the history of the old witch-doctor’s +feud with the Royal House of Zululand. She listened, taking in every word, and +said, +</p> + +<p> +“So now he yearns to know whether he will conquer or be conquered; and +that is why he sent, or thinks that he sent thee on this journey, not for thy +sake, Allan, but for his own. I cannot tell thee, for what have I do to with +the finish of this petty business, which to him seems so large? Still, as I owe +him a debt for luring the Axe-Bearer here to rid me of mine enemy, and thee to +lighten my solitude for an hour by the burnishing of thy mind, I will try. Set +that bowl before me, Allan,” and she pointed to a marble tripod on which +stood a basin half full of water, “and come, sit close by me and look +into it, telling me what thou seest.” +</p> + +<p> +I obeyed her instructions and presently found myself with my head over the +basin, staring into the water in the exact attitude of a person who is about to +be shampooed. +</p> + +<p> +“This seems rather foolish,” I said abjectly, for at that moment I +resembled the Queen of Sheba in one particular, if in no other, namely, that +there was no more spirit in me. “What am I supposed to do? I see nothing +at all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Look again,” she said, and as she spoke the water grew clouded. +Then on it appeared a picture. I saw the interior of a Kaffir hut dimly lighted +by a single candle set in the neck of a bottle. To the left of the door of the +hut was a bedstead and on it lay stretched a wasted and dying man, in whom, to +my astonishment, I recognised Cetywayo, King of the Zulus. At the foot of the +bed stood another man—myself grown older by many years, and leaning over +the bed, apparently whispering into the dying man’s ear, was a grotesque +and malevolent figure which I knew to be that of Zikali, Opener-of-Roads, whose +glowing eyes were fixed upon the terrified and tortured face of Cetywayo. All +was as it happened afterwards, as I have written down in the book called +“Finished.” +</p> + +<p> +I described what I saw to Ayesha, and while I was doing so the picture vanished +away, so that nothing remained save the clear water in the marble bowl. The +story did not seem to interest her; indeed, she leaned back and yawned a +little. +</p> + +<p> +“Thy vision is good, Allan,” she said indifferently, “and +wide also, since thou canst see what passes in the sun or distant stars, and +pictures of things to be in the water, to say nothing of other pictures in a +woman’s eyes, all within an hour. Well, this savage business concerns me +not and of it I want to know no more. Yet it would appear that here the old +wizard who is thy friend, has the answer that he desires. For there in the +picture the king he hates lies dying while he hisses in his ear and thou dost +watch the end. What more can he seek? Tell him it when ye meet, and tell him +also it is my will that in future he should trouble me less, since I love not +to be wakened from my sleep to listen to his half-instructed talk and savage +vapourings. Indeed, he presumes too much. And now enough of him and his dark +plots. Ye have your desires, all of you, and are paid in full.” +</p> + +<p> +“Over-paid, perhaps,” I said with a sigh. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, Allan, I think that Lesson thou hast learned pleases thee but +little. Well, be comforted for the thing is common. Hast never heard that there +is but one morsel more bitter to the taste than desire denied, namely, desire +fulfilled? Believe me that there can be no happiness for man until he attains a +land where all desire is dead.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is what the Buddha preaches, Ayesha.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, I remember the doctrines of that wise man well, who without doubt +had found a key to the gate of Truth, one key only, for, mark thou, Allan, +there are many. Yet, man being man must know desires, since without them, +robbed of ambitions, strivings, hopes, fears, aye and of life itself, the race +must die, which is not the will of the Lord of Life who needs a nursery for his +servant’s souls, wherein his swords of Good and Ill shall shape them to +his pattern. So it comes about, Allan, that what we think the worst is oft the +best for us, and with that knowledge, if we are wise, let us assuage our +bitterness and wipe away our tears.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have often thought that,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“I doubt it not, Allan, since though it has pleased me to make a jest of +thee, I know that thou hast thy share of wisdom, such little share as thou +canst gather in thy few short years. I know, too, that thy heart is good and +aspires high, and Friend—well, I find in thee a friend indeed, as I think +not for the first time, nor certainly for the last. Mark, Allan, what I say, +not a lover, but a <i>friend</i>, which is higher far. For when passion dies +with the passing of the flesh, if there be no friendship what will remain save +certain memories that, mayhap, are well forgot? Aye, how would those lovers +meet elsewhere who were never more than lovers? With weariness, I hold, as they +stared into each other’s empty soul, or even with disgust. +</p> + +<p> +“Therefore the wise will seek to turn those with whom Fate mates them +into friends, since otherwise soon they will be lost for aye. More, if they are +wiser still, having made them friends, they will suffer them to find lovers +where they will. Good maxims, are they not? Yet hard to follow, or so, +perchance, thou thinkest them—as I do.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +She grew silent and brooded a while, resting her chin upon her hand and staring +down the hall. Thus the aspect of her face was different from any that I had +seen it wear. No longer had it the allure of Aphrodite or the majesty of Hera; +rather might it have been that of Athene herself. So wise it seemed, so calm, +so full of experience and of foresight, that almost it frightened me. +</p> + +<p> +What was this woman’s true story, I wondered, what her real self, and +what the sum of her gathered knowledge? Perhaps it was accident, or perhaps, +again, she guessed my mind. At any rate her next words seemed in some sense an +answer to these speculations. Lifting her eyes she contemplated me a while, +then said, +</p> + +<p> +“My friend, we part to meet no more in thy life’s day. Often thou +wilt wonder concerning me, as to what in truth I am, and mayhap in the end thy +judgment will be to write me down some false and beauteous wanderer who, +rejected of the world or driven from it by her crimes, made choice to rule +among savages, playing the part of Oracle to that little audience and telling +strange tales to such few travellers as come her way. Perhaps, indeed, I do +play this part among many others, and if so, thou wilt not judge me wrongly. +</p> + +<p> +“Allan, in the old days, mariners who had sailed the northern seas, told +me that therein amidst mist and storm float mountains of ice, shed from dizzy +cliffs which are hid in darkness where no sun shines. They told me also that +whereas above the ocean’s breast appears but a blue and dazzling point, +sunk beneath it is oft a whole frozen isle, invisible to man. +</p> + +<p> +“Such am I, Allan. Of my being thou seest but one little peak glittering +in light or crowned with storm, as heaven’s moods sweep over it. But in +the depths beneath are hid its white and broad foundations, hollowed by the +seas of time to caverns and to palaces which my spirit doth inhabit. So picture +me, therefore, as wise and fair, but with a soul unknown, and pray that in time +to come thou mayest see it in its splendour. +</p> + +<p> +“Hadst thou been other than thou art, I might have shown thee secrets, +making clear to thee the parable of much that I have told thee in metaphor and +varying fable, aye, and given thee great gifts of power and enduring days of +which thou knowest nothing. But of those who visit shrines, O Allan, two things +are required, worship and faith, since without these the oracles are dumb and +the healing waters will not flow. +</p> + +<p> +“Now I, Ayesha, am a shrine; yet to me thou broughtest no worship until I +won it by a woman’s trick, and in me thou hast no faith. Therefore for +thee the oracle will not speak and the waters of deliverance will not flow. Yet +I blame thee not, who art as thou wast made and the hard world has shaped thee. +</p> + +<p> +“And so we part: Think not I am far from thee because thou seest me not +in the days to come, since like that Isis whose majesty alone I still exercise +on earth, I, whom men name Ayesha, am in all things. I tell thee that I am not +One but Many and, being many, am both Here and Everywhere. When thou standest +beneath the sky at night and lookest on the stars, remember that in them mine +eyes behold thee; when the soft winds of evening blow, that my breath is on thy +brow and when the thunder rolls, that there am I riding on the lightnings and +rushing with the gale.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean that you are the goddess Isis?” I asked, bewildered. +“Because if so why did you tell me that you were but her +priestess?” +</p> + +<p> +“Have it as thou wilt, Allan. All sounds do not reach thine ears; all +sights are not open to thy eyes and therefore thou art both half deaf and +blind. Perchance now that her shrines are dust and her worship is forgot, some +spark of the spirit of that immortal Lady whose chariot was the moon, lingers +on the earth in this woman’s shape of mine, though her essence dwells +afar, and perchance her other name is Nature, my mother and thine, O Allan. At +the least hath not the World a soul—and of that soul am I not mayhap a +part, aye, and thou also? For the rest are not the priest and the Divine he +bows to, oft the same?” +</p> + +<p> +It was on my lips to answer, Yes, if the priest is a knave or a self-deceiver, +but I did not. +</p> + +<p> +“Farewell, Allan, and let Ayesha’s benison go with thee. Safe shalt +thou reach thy home, for all is prepared to take thee hence, and thy companions +with thee. Safe shalt thou live for many a year, till thy time comes, and then, +perchance, thou wilt find those whom thou hast lost more kind than they seemed +to be to-night.” +</p> + +<p> +She paused awhile, then added, +</p> + +<p> +“Hearken unto my last word! As I have said, much that I have told thee +may bear a double meaning, as is the way of parables, to be interpreted as thou +wilt. Yet one thing is true. I love a certain man, in the old days named +Kallikrates, to whom alone I am appointed by a divine decree, and I await him +here. Oh, shouldest thou find him in the world without, tell him that Ayesha +awaits him and grows weary in the waiting. Nay, thou wilt never find him, since +even if he be born again, by what token would he be known to thee? Therefore I +charge thee, keep my secrets well, lest Ayesha’s curse should fall on +thee. While thou livest tell naught of me to the world thou knowest. Dost thou +swear to keep my secrets, Allan?” +</p> + +<p> +“I swear, Ayesha.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thank thee, Allan,” she answered, and grew silent for a while. +</p> + +<p> +At length Ayesha rose and drawing herself up to the full of her height, stood +there majestic. Next she beckoned to me to come near, for I too had risen and +left the dais. +</p> + +<p> +I obeyed, and bending down she held her hands over me as though in blessing, +then pointed towards the curtains which at this moment were drawn asunder, by +whom I do not know. +</p> + +<p> +I went and when I reached them, turned to look my last on her. +</p> + +<p> +There she stood as I had left her, but now her eyes were fixed upon the ground +and her face once more was brooding absently as though no such a man as I had +ever been. It came into my mind that already she had forgotten me, the +plaything of an hour, who had served her turn and been cast aside. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap23"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.<br /> +WHAT UMSLOPOGAAS SAW</h2> + +<p> +Like one who dreams I passed down the outer hall where stood the silent guards +as statues might, and out through the archway. Here I paused for a moment, +partly to calm my mind in the familiar surroundings of the night, and partly +because I thought that I heard someone approaching me through the gloom, and in +such a place where I might have many enemies, it was well to be prepared. +</p> + +<p> +As it chanced, however, my imaginary assailant was only Hans, who emerged from +some place where he had been hiding; a very disturbed and frightened Hans. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Baas,” he said in a low and shaky whisper, “I am glad to +see you again, and standing on your feet, not being carried with them sticking +straight in front of you as I expected.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Baas, because of the things that happened in that place where the +tall <i>vrouw</i> with her head tied up as though she had tooth-ache, sits like +a spider in a web.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what happened, Hans?” I asked as we walked forward. +</p> + +<p> +“This, Baas. The Doctoress talked and talked at you and Umslopogaas, and +as she talked, your faces began to look as though you had drunk half a flask +too much of the best gin, such as I wish I had some of here to-night, at once +wise and foolish, and full and empty, Baas. Then you both rolled over and lay +there quite dead, and whilst I was wondering what I should do and how I should +get out your bodies to bury them, the Doctoress came down off her platform and +bent, first over you and next over Umslopogaas, whispering into the ears of +both of you. Then she took off a snake that looked as though it were made of +gold with green eyes, which she wears about her middle beneath the long +dish-cloth, Baas, and held it to your lips and next to those of +Umslopogaas.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, and what then, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“After that all sorts of things came about, Baas, and I felt as though +the whole house were travelling through the air, Baas, twice as fast as a +bullet does from a rifle. Suddenly, too, the room became filled with fire so +hot that it scorched me, and so bright that it made my eyes water, although +they can look at the sun without winking. And, Baas, the fire was full of +spooks which walked around; yes, I saw some of them standing on your head and +stomach, Baas, also on that of Umslopogaas, whilst others went and talked to +the white Doctoress as quietly as though they had met her in the market-place +and wanted to sell her eggs or butter. Then, Baas, suddenly I saw your reverend +father, the Predikant, who looked as though he were red-hot, as doubtless he is +in the Place of Fires. I thought he came up to me, Baas, and said, ‘Get +out of this, Hans. This is no place for a good Hottentot like you, Hans, for +here only the very best Christians can bear the heat for long.’ +</p> + +<p> +“That finished me, Baas. I just answered that I handed you, the Baas +Allan his son, over to his care, hoping that he would see that you did not burn +in that oven, whatever happened to Umslopogaas. Then I shut my eyes and mouth +and held my nose, and wriggled beneath those curtains as a snake does, Baas, +and ran down the hall and across the kraal-yard and through the archway out +into the night, where I have been sitting cooling myself ever since, waiting +for you to be carried away, Baas. And now you have come alive and with not even +your hair burnt off, which shows how wonderful must be the Great Medicine of +Zikali, Baas, since nothing else could have saved you in that fire, no, not +even your reverend father, the Predikant.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hans,” I said when he had finished, “you are a very +wonderful fellow, for you can get drunk on nothing at all. Please remember, +Hans, that you have been drunk to-night, yes, very drunk indeed, and never dare +to repeat anything that you thought you saw while you were drunk.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, I understand that I was drunk and already have forgotten +everything. But, Baas, there is still a bottle full of brandy and if I could +have just one more tot I should forget <i>so</i> much better!” +</p> + +<p> +By now we had reached our camp and here I found Umslopogaas sitting in the +doorway and staring at the sky. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-evening to you, Umslopogaas,” I said in my most unconcerned +manner, and waited. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-evening, Watcher-by-Night, who I thought was lost in the night, +since in the end the night is stronger than any of its watchers.” +</p> + +<p> +At this cryptic remark I looked bewildered but said nothing. At length +Umslopogaas, whose nature, for a Zulu, was impulsive and lacking in the +ordinary native patience, asked, +</p> + +<p> +“Did you make a journey this evening, Macumazahn, and if so, what did you +see?” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you have a dream this evening, Umslopogaas?” I inquired by way +of answer, “and if so, what was it about? I thought that I saw you shut +your eyes in the House of the White One yonder, doubtless because you were +weary of talk which you did not understand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, Macumazahn, as you suppose I grew weary of that talk which flowed +from the lips of the White Witch like the music that comes from a little stream +babbling over stones when the sun is hot, and being weary, I fell asleep and +dreamed. What I dreamed does not much matter. It is enough to say that I felt +as though I were thrown through the air like a stone cast from his sling by a +boy who is set upon a stage to scare the birds out of a mealie garden. Further +than any stone I went, aye, further than a shooting star, till I reached a +wonderful place. It does not much matter what it was like either, and indeed I +am already beginning to forget, but there I met everyone I have ever known. I +met the Lion of the Zulus, the Black One, the Earth-Shaker, he who had a +‘sister’ named Baleka, which sister,” here he dropped his +voice and looked about him suspiciously, “bore a child, which child was +fostered by one Mopo, that Mopo who afterwards slew the Black one with the +Princes. Now, Macumazahn, I had a score to settle with this Black One, aye, +even though our blood be much of the same colour, I had a score to settle with +him, because of the slaying of this sister of his, Baleka, together with the +Langeni tribe.<a href="#fn-23.1" name="fnref-23.1" id="fnref-23.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +So I walked up to him and took him by the head-ring and spat in his face and +bade him find a spear and shield, and meet me as man to man. Yes, I did +this.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-23.1" id="fn-23.1"></a> <a href="#fnref-23.1">[1]</a> +For the history of Baleka, the mother of Umslopogaas, and Mopo, see the book +called “Nada the Lily.”—Editor. +</p> + +<p> +“And what happened then, Umslopogaas?” I said, when he paused in +his narrative. +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn, nothing happened at all. My hand seemed to go through his +head-ring and the skull beneath, and to shut upon itself while he went on +talking to someone else, a captain whom I recognised, yes, one Faku, whom in +the days of Dingaan, the Black One’s brother, I myself slew upon the +Ghost-Mountain. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Macumazahn, and Faku was telling him the tale of how I killed him +and of the fight that I and my blood-brother and the wolves made, there on the +knees of the old witch who sits aloft on the Ghost Mountain waiting for the +world to die, for I could understand their talk, though mine went by them like +the wind. +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn, they passed away and there came others, Dingaan among them, +aye, Dingaan who also knows something of the Witch-Mountain, seeing that there +Mopo and I hurled him to his death. With him also I would have had words, but +it was the same story, only presently he caught sight of the Black One, yes, of +Chaka whom he slew, stabbing him with the little red assegai, and turned and +fled, because in that land I think he still fears Chaka, Macumazahn, or so the +dream told. +</p> + +<p> +“I went on and met others, men I had fought in my day, most of them, +among them was Jikiza, he who ruled the People of the Axe before me whom I slew +with his own axe. I lifted the axe and made me ready to fight again, but not +one of them took any note of me. There they walked about, or sat drinking beer +or taking snuff, but never a sup of the beer or a pinch of the snuff did they +offer me, no, not even those among them whom I chanced not to have killed. So I +left them and walked on, seeking for Mopo, my foster-father, and a certain man, +my blood-brother, by whose side I hunted with the wolves, yes, for them, and +for another.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, and did you find them?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Mopo I found not, which makes me think, Macumazahn, that, as once you +hinted to me, he whom I thought long dead, perchance still lingers on the +earth. But the others I did find . . .” and he ceased, brooding. +</p> + +<p> +Now I knew enough of Umslopogaas’s history to be aware that he had loved +this man and woman of whom he spoke more than any others on the earth. The +“blood-brother,” whose name he would not utter, by which he did not +mean that he was his brother in blood but one with whom he had made a pact of +eternal friendship by the interchange of blood or some such ceremony, according +to report, had dwelt with him on the Witch-Mountain where legend told, though +this I could scarcely believe, that they had hunted with a pack of hyenas. +There, it said also, they fought a great fight with a band send out by Dingaan +the king under the command of that Faku whom Umslopogaas had mentioned, in +which fight the “Blood-Brother,” wielder of a famous club known as +Watcher-of-the-Fords, got his death after doing mighty deeds. There also, as I +had heard, Nada the Lily, whose beauty was still famous in the land, died under +circumstances strange as they were sad. +</p> + +<p> +Naturally, remembering my own experiences, or rather what seemed to be my +experiences, for already I had made up my mind that they were but a dream, I +was most anxious to learn whether these two who had been so dear to this fierce +Zulu, had recognised him. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, and what did they say to you, Umslopogaas?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn, they said nothing at all. Hearken! There stood this pair, or +sometimes they moved to and fro; my brother, an even greater man than he used +to be, with the wolfskin girt about him and the club, Watcher-of-the-Fords, +which he alone could wield, upon his shoulder, and Nada, grown lovelier even +than she was of old, so lovely, Macumazahn, that my heart rose into my throat +when I saw her and stopped my breath. Yes, Macumazahn, there they stood, or +walked about arm in arm as lovers might, and looked into each other’s +eyes and talked of how they had known each other on the earth, for I could +understand their words or thoughts, and how it was good to be at rest together +where they were.” +</p> + +<p> +“You see, they were old friends, Umslopogaas,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Macumazahn, very old friends as I thought. So much so that they had +never had a word to say of me who also was the old friend of both of them. Aye, +my brother, whose name I am sworn not to speak, the woman-hater who vowed he +loved nothing save me and the wolves, could smile into the face of Nada the +Lily, Nada the bride of my youth, yet never a word of me, while she could smile +back and tell him how great a warrior he had been and never a word of me whose +deeds she was wont to praise, who saved her in the Halakazi caves and from +Dingaan; no, never a word of me although I stood there staring at them.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose that they did not see you, Umslopogaas.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is so, Macumazahn; I am sure that they did not see me, for if they +had they would not have been so much at ease. But I saw them and as they would +not take heed when I shouted, I ran up calling to my brother to defend himself +with his club. Then, as he still took no note, I lifted the axe +<i>Inkosikaas</i>, making it circle in the light, and smote with all my +strength.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what happened, Umslopogaas?” +</p> + +<p> +“Only this, Macumazahn, that the axe went straight through my brother +from the crown of his head to the groin, cutting him in two, and he just went +on talking! Indeed, he did more, for stooping down he gathered a white +lily-bloom which grew there and gave it to Nada, who smelt at it, smiled and +thanked him, and then thrust it into her girdle, still thanking him all the +while. Yes, she did this for I saw it with my eyes, Macumazahn.” +</p> + +<p> +Here the Zulu’s voice broke and I think that he wept, for in the faint +light I saw him draw his long hand across his eyes, whereon I took the +opportunity to turn my back and light a pipe. +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn,” he went on presently, “it seems that madness +took hold of me for a long while, for I shouted and raved at them, thinking +that words and rage might hurt where good steel could not, and as I did so they +faded away and disappeared, still smiling and talking, Nada smelling at the +lily which, having a long stalk, rose up above her breast. After this I rushed +away and suddenly met that savage king, Rezu, whom I slew a few days gone. At +him I went with the axe, wondering whether he would put up a better fight this +second time.” +</p> + +<p> +“And did he, Umslopogaas?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but I think he felt me for he turned and fled and when I tried to +follow I could not see him. So I ran on and presently who should I find but +Baleka, Baleka, Chaka’s ‘sister’ who—repeat it not, +Macumazahn—was my mother; and, Macumazahn, <i>she</i> saw me. Yes, though +I was but little when last she looked on me who now am great and grim, she saw +and knew me, for she floated up to me and smiled at me and seemed to press her +lips upon my forehead, though I could feel no kiss, and to draw the soreness +out of my heart. Then she, too, was gone and of a sudden I fell down through +space, having, I suppose, stepped into some deep hole, or perchance a well. +</p> + +<p> +“The next thing I knew was that I awoke in the house of the White Witch +and saw you sleeping at my side and the Witch leaning back upon her bed and +smiling at me through the thin blanket with which she covers herself up, for I +could see the laughter in her eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Now I grew mad with her because of the things that I had seen in the +Place of Dreams, and it came into my heart that it would be well to kill her +that the world might be rid of her and her evil magic which can show lies to +men. So, being distraught, I sprang up and lifted the axe and stepped towards +her, whereon she rose and stood before me, laughing out loud. Then she said +something in the tongue I cannot understand, and pointed with her finger, and +lo! next moment it was as if giants had seized me and were whirling me away, +till presently I found myself breathless but unharmed beyond the arch +and—what does it all mean, Macumazahn?” +</p> + +<p> +“Very little, as I think, Umslopogaas, except that this queen has powers +to which those of Zikali are as nothing, and can cause visions to float before +the eyes of men. For know that such things as you saw, I saw, and in them those +whom I have loved also seemed to take no thought of me but only to be concerned +with each other. Moreover when I awoke and told this to the queen who is called +She-who-commands, she laughed at me as she did at you, and said that it was a +good lesson for my pride who in that pride had believed that the dead only +thought of the living. But I think that the lesson came from her who wished to +humble us, Umslopogaas, and that it was her mind that shaped these visions +which we saw.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think so too, Macumazahn, but how she knew of all the matters of your +life and mine, I do not know, unless perchance Zikali told them to her, +speaking in the night-watches as wizards can.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Umslopogaas, I believe that by her magic she drew our stories out +of our own hearts and then set them forth to us afresh, putting her own colour +on them. Also it may be that she drew something from Hans, and from Goroko and +the other Zulus with you, and thus paid us the fee that she had promised for +our service, but in lung-sick oxen and barren cows, not in good cattle, +Umslopogaas.” +</p> + +<p> +He nodded and said, +</p> + +<p> +“Though at the time I seemed to go mad and though I know that women are +false and men must follow where they lead them, never will I believe that my +brother, the woman-hater, and Nada are lovers in the land below and have there +forgotten me, the comrade of one of them and the husband of the other. Moreover +I hold, Macumazahn, that you and I have met with a just reward for our folly. +</p> + +<p> +“We have sought to look through the bottom of the grave at things which +the Great-Great in Heaven above did not mean that men should see, and now that +we have seen we are unhappier than we were, since such dreams burn themselves +upon the heart as a red-hot iron burns the hide of an ox, so that the hair will +never grow again where it has been and the hide is marred. +</p> + +<p> +“To you, Watcher-by-Night, I say, ‘Content yourself with your +watching and whatever it may bring to you in fame and wealth.’ And to +myself I say, ‘Holder of the Axe, content yourself with the axe and what +it may bring to you in fair fight and glory’; and to both of us I say, +‘Let the Dead sleep unawakened until we go to join them, which surely +will be soon enough.’” +</p> + +<p> +“Good words, Umslopogaas, but they should have been spoken ere ever we +set out on this journey.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so, Macumazahn, since that journey we were fated to make to save one +who lies yonder, the Lady Sad-Eyes, and, as they tell me, is well again. Also +Zikali willed it, and who can resist the will of the Opener-of-Roads? So it is +made and we have seen many strange things and won some glory and come to know +how deep is the pool of our own foolishness, who thought that we could search +out the secrets of Death, and there have only found those of a witch’s +mind and venom, reflected as in water. And now having discovered all these +things I wish to be gone from this haunted land. When do we march, +Macumazahn?” +</p> + +<p> +“To-morrow morning, I believe, if the Lady Sad-Eyes and the others are +well enough, as She-who-commands says they will be.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good. Then I would sleep who am more weary than I was after I had killed +Rezu in the battle on the mountain.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “since it is harder to fight ghosts than +men, and dreams, if they be bad, are more dreadful than deeds. Good-night, +Umslopogaas.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +He went, and I too went to see how it fared with Inez. I found that she was +fast asleep but in a quite different sleep to that into which Ayesha seemed to +have plunged her. Now it was absolutely natural and looking at her lying there +upon the bed, I thought how young and healthy was her appearance. The women in +charge of her also told me that she had awakened at the hour appointed by +She-who-commands, as it seemed, quite well and very hungry, although she +appeared to be puzzled by her surroundings. After she had eaten, they added +that she had “sung a song,” which was probably a hymn, and prayed +upon her knees, “making signs upon her breast” and then gone +quietly to bed. +</p> + +<p> +My anxiety relieved as regards Inez, I returned to my own quarters. Not feeling +inclined for slumber, however, instead of turning in I sat at the doorway +contemplating the beauty of the night while I watched the countless fireflies +that seemed to dust the air with sparks of burning gold; also the great owls +and other fowl that haunt the dark. These had come out in numbers from their +hiding-places among the ruins and sailed to and fro like white-winged spirits, +now seen and now lost in the gloom. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +While I sat thus many reflections came to me as to the extraordinary nature of +my experiences during the past few days. Had any man ever known the like, I +wondered? What could they mean and what could this marvellous woman Ayesha be? +Was she perhaps a personification of Nature itself, as indeed to some extent +all women are? Was she human at all, or was she some spirit symbolising a +departed people, faith and civilisation, and haunting the ruins where once she +reigned as queen? No, the idea was ridiculous, since such beings do not exist, +though it was impossible to doubt that she possessed powers beyond those of +common humanity, as she possessed beauty and fascination greater than are given +to any other woman. +</p> + +<p> +Of one thing I was certain, however, that the Shades I had seemed to visit had +their being in the circle of her own imagination and intelligence. There +Umslopogaas was right; we had seen no dead, we had only seen pictures and +images that she drew and fashioned. +</p> + +<p> +Why did she do this, I wondered. Perhaps to pretend to powers which she did not +possess, perhaps out of sheer elfish mischief, or perhaps, as she asserted, +just to teach us a lesson and to humble us in our own sight. Well, if so she +had succeeded, for never did I feel so crushed and humiliated as at that +moment. +</p> + +<p> +I had seemed to descend, or ascend, into Hades, and there had only seen things +that gave me little joy and did but serve to reopen old wounds. Then, on +awaking, I had been bewitched; yes, fresh from those visions of the most dear +dead, I had been bewitched by the overpowering magic of this woman’s +loveliness and charm, and made a fool of myself, only to be brought back to my +senses by her triumphant mockery. Oh, I was humbled indeed, and yet the odd +thing is that I could not feel angry with her, and what is more that, perhaps +from vanity, I believed in her profession of friendship towards myself. +</p> + +<p> +Well, the upshot of it was that, like Umslopogaas, more than anything else in +the world did I desire to depart from this haunted Kôr and to bury all its +recollections in such activities as fortune might bring to me. And yet, and yet +it was well to have seen it and to have plucked the flower of such marvellous +experience, nor, as I knew even then, could I ever inter the memory of Ayesha +the wise, the perfect in all loveliness, and the half-divine in power. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +When I awoke the next morning the sun was well up and after I had taken a swim +in the old bath and dressed myself, I went to see how it fared with Inez. I +found her sitting at the door of her house looking extremely well and with a +radiant face. She was engaged in making a chain of some small and beautiful +blue flowers of the iris tribe, of which quantities grew about, that she +threaded together upon stalks of dry grass. +</p> + +<p> +This chain, which was just finished, she threw over her head so that it hung +down upon her white robe, for now she was dressed like an Arab woman though +without the veil. I watched her unseen for a little while then came forward and +spoke to her. She started at the sight of me and rose as though to run away; +then, apparently reassured by my appearance, selected a particularly fine +flower and offered it to me. +</p> + +<p> +I saw at once that she did not know me in the least and thought that she had +never seen me before, in short, that her mind had gone, exactly as Ayesha had +said that it would do. By way of making conversation I asked her if she felt +well. She replied, Oh, yes, she had never felt better, then added, +</p> + +<p> +“Daddy has gone on a long journey and will not be back for weeks and +weeks.” +</p> + +<p> +An idea came to me and I answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Inez, but I am a friend of his and he has sent me to take you to a +place where I hope that we shall find him. Only it is far away, so you also +must make a long journey.” +</p> + +<p> +She clapped her hands and answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, that will be nice, I do so love travelling, especially to find +Daddy, who I expect will have my proper clothes with him, not these which, +although they are very comfortable and pretty, seem different to what I used to +wear. You look very nice too and I am sure that we shall be great friends, +which I am glad of, for I have been rather lonely since my mother went to live +with the saints in Heaven, because, you see, Daddy is so busy and so often +away, that I do not see much of him.” +</p> + +<p> +Upon my word I could have wept when I heard her prattle on thus. It is so +terribly unnatural, almost dreadful indeed, to listen to a full grown woman who +talks in the accents and expresses the thoughts of a child. However, under all +the circumstances I recognised that her calamity was merciful, and remembering +that Ayesha had prophesied the recovery of her mind as well as its loss and how +great seemed to be her powers in these directions, I took such comfort as I +could. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving her I went to see the two Zulus who had been wounded and found to my +joy that they were now quite well and fit to travel, for here, too, +Ayesha’s prophecy had proved good. The other men also were completely +rested and anxious to be gone like Umslopogaas and myself. +</p> + +<p> +While I was eating my breakfast Hans announced the venerable Billali, who with +a sweeping bow informed me that he had come to inquire when we should be ready +to start, as he had received orders to see to all the necessary arrangements. I +replied—within an hour, and he departed in a hurry. +</p> + +<p> +But little after the appointed time he reappeared with a number of litters and +their bearers, also with a bodyguard of twenty-five picked men, all of whom we +recognised as brave fellows who had fought well in the battle. These men and +the bearers old Billali harangued, telling them that they were to guide, carry +and escort us to the other side of the great swamp, or further if we needed it, +and that it was the word of She-who-commands that if so much as the smallest +harm came to any one of us, even by accident, they should die every man of them +“by the hot-pot,” whatever that might be, for I was not sure of the +significance of this horror.<a href="#fn-23.2" name="fnref-23.2" id="fnref-23.2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +Then he asked them if they understood. They replied with fervour that they +understood perfectly and would lead and guard us as though we were their own +mothers. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-23.2" id="fn-23.2"></a> <a href="#fnref-23.2">[2]</a> +For this see the book called “She.”—Editor. +</p> + +<p> +As a matter of fact they did, and I think would have done so independently of +Ayesha’s command, since they looked upon Umslopogaas and myself almost as +gods and thought that we could destroy them all if we wished, as we had +destroyed Rezu and his host. +</p> + +<p> +I asked Billali if he were not coming with us, to which he replied, No, as +She-who-commands had returned to her own place and he must follow her at once. +I asked him again where her own place might be, to which he answered vaguely +that it was everywhere and he stared first at the heavens and then at the earth +as though she inhabited most of them, adding that generally it was “in +the Caves,” though what he meant by that I did not know. Then he said +that he was very glad to have met us and that the sight of Umslopogaas killing +Rezu was a spectacle that he would remember with pleasure all his life. Also he +asked me for a present. I gave him a spare pencil that I possessed in a little +German silver case, with which he was delighted. Thus I parted with old +Billali, of whom I shall always think with a certain affection. +</p> + +<p> +I noticed even then that he kept very clear indeed of Umslopogaas, thinking, I +suppose, that he might take a last opportunity to fulfil his threats and +introduce him to his terrible Axe. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap24"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.<br /> +UMSLOPOGAAS WEARS THE GREAT MEDICINE</h2> + +<p> +A little while later we started, some of us in litters, including the wounded +Zulus, who I insisted should be carried for a day or two, and some on foot. +Inez I caused to be borne immediately in front of myself so that I could keep +an eye upon her. Moreover I put her in the especial charge of Hans, to whom +fortunately she took a great fancy at once, perhaps because she remembered +subconsciously that she knew him and that he had been kind to her, although +when they met after her long sleep, as in my own case, she did not recognise +him in the least. +</p> + +<p> +Soon, however, they were again the fastest of friends, so much so that within a +day or two the little Hottentot practically filled the place of a maid to her, +attending to her every want and looking after her exactly as a nurse does after +a child, with the result that it was quite touching to see how she came to +depend upon him, “her monkey,” as she called him, and how fond he +grew of her. +</p> + +<p> +Once, indeed, there was trouble, since hearing a noise, I came up to find Hans +bristling with fury and threatening to shoot one of the Zulus, who stupidly, or +perhaps rudely, had knocked against the litter of Inez and nearly turned it +over. For the rest, the Lady Sad-Eyes, as they called her, had for the time +became the Lady Glad-Eyes, since she was merry as the day was long, laughing +and singing and playing just as a healthy happy child should do. +</p> + +<p> +Only once did I see her wretched and weep. It was when a kitten which she had +insisted on bringing with her, sprang out of the litter and vanished into some +bush where it could not be found. Even when she was soon consoled and dried her +tears, when Hans explained to her in a mixture of bad English and worse +Portuguese, that it had only run away because it wished to get back to its +mother which it loved, and that it was cruel to separate it from its mother. +</p> + +<p> +We made good progress and by the evening of the first day were over the crest +of the cliff or volcano lip that encircles the great plain of Kôr, and +descending rapidly to a sheltered spot on the outer slope where our camp was to +be set for the night. +</p> + +<p> +Not very far from this place, as I think I have mentioned, stood, and I suppose +still stands, a very curious pinnacle of rock, which, doubtless being of some +harder sort, had remained when, hundreds of thousands or millions of years +before, the surrounding lava had been washed or had corroded away. This rock +pillar was perhaps fifty feet high and as smooth as though it had been worked +by man; indeed, I remembered having remarked to Hans, or Umslopogaas—I +forget which—when we passed it on our inward journey, that there was a +column which no monkey could climb. +</p> + +<p> +As we went by it for the second time, the sun had already disappeared behind +the western cliff, but a fierce ray from its sinking orb, struck upon a +storm-cloud that hung over us, and thence was reflected in a glow of angry +light of which the focus or centre seemed to fall upon the summit of this +strange and obelisk-like pinnacle of rock. +</p> + +<p> +At the moment I was out of my litter and walking with Umslopogaas at the end of +the line, to make sure that no one straggled in the oncoming darkness. When we +had passed the column by some forty or fifty yards, something caused +Umslopogaas to turn and look back. He uttered an exclamation which made me +follow his example, with the result that I saw a very wonderful thing. For +there on the point of the pillar, like St. Simeon Stylites on his famous +column, glowing in the sunset rays as though she were on fire, stood Ayesha +herself! +</p> + +<p> +It was a strange and in a way a glorious sight, for poised thus between earth +and heaven, she looked like some glowing angel rather than a woman, standing as +she seemed to do upon the darkness; since the shadows, save for the faintest +outline, had swallowed up the column that supported her. Moreover, in the +intense, rich light that was focussed on her, we could see every detail of her +form and face, for she was unveiled, and even her large and tender eyes which +gazed upwards emptily (at this moment they seemed very tender), yes, and the +little gold studs that glittered on her sandals and the shine of the snake +girdle she wore about her waist. +</p> + +<p> +We stared and stared till I said inconsequently, +</p> + +<p> +“Learn, Umslopogaas, what a liar is that old Billali, who told me that +She-who-commands had departed from Kôr to her own place.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps this rock edge is her own place, if she be there at all, +Macumazahn.” +</p> + +<p> +“If she be there,” I answered angrily, for my nerves were at once +thrilled and torn. “Speak not empty words, Umslopogaas, for where else +can she be when we see her with our eyes?” +</p> + +<p> +“Who am I that I should know the ways of witches who, like the winds, are +able to go and come as they will? Can a woman run up a wall of rock like a +lizard, Macumazahn?” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless——” and I began some explanation which I have +forgotten, when a passing cloud, or I know not what, cut off the light so that +both the pinnacle and she who stood on it became invisible. A minute later it +returned for a little while, and there was the point of the needle-shaped rock, +but it was empty, as, save for the birds that rested on it, it had been since +the beginning of the world. +</p> + +<p> +Then Umslopogaas and I shook our heads and pursued our way in silence. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +This was the last that I saw of the glorious Ayesha, if indeed I did see her +and not her ghost. Yet it is true that for all the first part of the journey, +till we were through the great swamp in fact, from time to time I was +conscious, or imagined that I was conscious of her presence. Moreover, once +others saw her, or someone who might have been her. It happened thus. +</p> + +<p> +We were in the centre of the great swamp and the trained guides who were +leading came to a place where the path forked and were uncertain which road to +take. Finally they fixed on the right-hand path and were preparing to follow it +together with those who bore the litter of Inez, by the side of which Hans was +walking as usual. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment, as Hans told me, the guides went down upon their faces and he +saw standing in front of them a white-veiled form who pointed to the left-hand +path, and then seemed to be lost in the mist. Without a word the guides rose +and followed this left-hand path. Hans stopped the litter till I came up when +he told me what had happened, while Inez also began to chatter in her childish +fashion about a “White Lady.” +</p> + +<p> +I had the curiosity to walk a little way along the right-hand path which they +were about to take. Only a few yards further on I found myself sinking in a +floating quagmire, from which I extricated myself with much difficulty but just +in time for as I discovered afterwards by probing with a pole, the water +beneath the matted reeds was deep. That night I questioned the guides upon the +subject, but without result, for they pretended to have seen nothing and not to +understand what I meant. Of neither of these incidents have I any explanation +to offer, except that once contracted, it is as difficult to be rid of the +habit of hallucinations as of any other. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +It is not necessary that I should give all the details of our long homeward +journey. So I will only say that having dismissed our bearers and escorts when +we reached higher ground beyond the horrible swamp, keeping one litter for Inez +in which the Zulus carried her when she was tired, we accomplished it in +complete safety and having crossed the Zambesi, at last one evening reached the +house called Strathmuir. +</p> + +<p> +Here we found the waggon and oxen quite safe and were welcomed rapturously by +my Zulu driver and the <i>voorlooper</i>, who had made up their minds that we +were dead and were thinking of trekking homewards. Here also Thomaso greeted +us, though I think that, like the Zulus, he was astonished at our safe return +and indeed not over-pleased to see us. I told him that Captain Robertson had +been killed in a fight in which we had rescued his daughter from the cannibals +who had carried her off (information which I cautioned him to keep to himself) +but nothing else that I could help. +</p> + +<p> +Also I warned the Zulus through Umslopogaas and Goroko, that no mention was to +be made of our adventures, either then or afterwards, since if this were done +the curse of the White Queen would fall on them and bring them to disaster and +death. I added that the name of this queen and everything that was connected +with her, or her doings, must be locked up in their own hearts. It must be like +the name of dead kings, not to be spoken. Nor indeed did they ever speak it or +tell the story of our search, because they were too much afraid both of Ayesha +whom they believed to be the greatest of all witches, and of the axe of their +captain, Umslopogaas. +</p> + +<p> +Inez went to bed that night without seeming to recognise her old home, to all +appearance just a mindless child as she had been ever since she awoke from her +trance at Kôr. Next morning, however, Hans came to tell me that she was changed +and that she wished to speak with me. I went, wondering, to find her in the +sitting-room, dressed in European clothes which she had taken from where she +kept them, and once more a reasoning woman. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Quatermain,” she said, “I suppose that I must have been +ill, for the last thing I remember is going to sleep on the night after you +started for the hippopotamus hunt. Where is my father? Did any harm come to him +while he was hunting?” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” I answered, lying boldly, for I feared lest the truth +should take away her mind again, “it did. He was trampled upon by a +hippopotamus bull, which charged him, and killed, and we were obliged to bury +him where he died.” +</p> + +<p> +She bowed her head for a while and muttered some prayer for his soul, then +looked at me keenly and said, +</p> + +<p> +“I do not think you are telling me everything, Mr. Quatermain, but +something seems to say that this is because it is not well that I should learn +everything.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I answered, “you have been ill and out of your mind for +quite a long while; something gave you a shock. I think that you learned of +your father’s death, which you have now forgotten, and were overcome with +the news. Please trust to me and believe that if I keep anything back from you, +it is because I think it best to do so for the present.” +</p> + +<p> +“I trust and I believe,” she answered. “Now please leave me, +but tell me first where are those women and their children?” +</p> + +<p> +“After your father died they went away,” I replied, lying once +more. +</p> + +<p> +She looked at me again but made no comment. +</p> + +<p> +Then I left her. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +How much Inez ever learned of the true story of her adventures I do not know to +this hour, though my opinion is that it was but little. To begin with, +everyone, including Thomaso, was threatened with the direst consequences if he +said a word to her on the subject; moreover in her way she was a wise woman, +one who knew when it was best not to ask questions. She was aware that she had +suffered from a fit of aberration or madness and that during this time her +father had died and certain peculiar things had happened. There she was content +to leave the business and she never again spoke to me upon the subject. Of this +I was very glad, as how on earth could I have explained to her about +Ayesha’s prophecies as to her lapse into childishness and subsequent +return to a normal state when she reached her home seeing that I did not +understand them myself? +</p> + +<p> +Once indeed she did inquire what had become of Janee to which I answered that +she had died during her sickness. It was another lie, at any rate by +implication, but I hold that there are occasions when it is righteous to lie. +At least these particular falsehoods have never troubled my conscience. +</p> + +<p> +Here I may as well finish the story of Inez, that is, as far as I can. As I +have shown she was always a woman of melancholy and religious temperament, +qualities that seemed to grow upon her after her return to health. Certainly +the religion did, for continually she was engaged in prayer, a development with +which heredity may have had something to do, since after he became a reformed +character and grew unsettled in his mind, her father followed the same road. +</p> + +<p> +On our return to civilisation, as it chanced, one of the first persons with +whom she came in contact was a very earnest and excellent old priest of her own +faith. The end of this intimacy was much what might have been expected. Very +soon Inez determined to renounce the world, which I think never had any great +attractions for her, and entered a sisterhood of an extremely strict Order in +Natal, where, added to her many merits, her considerable possessions made her +very welcome indeed. +</p> + +<p> +Once in after years I saw her again when she expected before long to become the +Mother-Superior of her convent. I found her very cheerful and she told me that +her happiness was complete. Even then she did not ask me the true story of what +had happened to her during that period when her mind was a blank. She said that +she knew something had happened but that as she no longer felt any curiosity +about earthly things, she did not wish to know the details. Again I rejoiced, +for how could I tell the true tale and expect to be believed, even by the most +confiding and simple-minded nun? +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +To return to more immediate events. When we had been at Strathmuir for a day or +two and I thought that her mind was clear enough to judge of affairs, I told +Inez that I must journey on to Natal, and asked her what she wished to do. +Without a moment’s hesitation she replied that she desired to come with +me, as now that her father was dead nothing would induce her to continue to +live at Strathmuir without friends, or indeed the consolations of religion. +</p> + +<p> +Then she showed me a secret hiding-place cunningly devised in a sort of cellar +under the sitting-room floor, where her father was accustomed to keep the +spirits of which he consumed so great a quantity. In this hole beneath some +bricks, we discovered a large sum in gold stored away, which Robertson had +always told his daughter she would find there, in the event of anything +happening to him. With the money were his will and securities, also certain +mementos of his youth and some love-letters together with a prayer-book that +his mother had given him. +</p> + +<p> +These valuables, of which no one knew the existence except herself, we removed +and then made our preparations for departure. They were simple; such articles +of value as we could carry were packed into the waggon and the best of the +cattle we drove with us. The place with the store and the rest of the stock +were handed over to Thomaso on a half-profit agreement under arrangement that +he should remit the share of Inez twice a year to a bank on the coast, where +her father had an account. Whether or not he ever did this I am unable to say, +but as no one wished to stop at Strathmuir, I could conceive no better plan +because purchasers of property in that district did not exist. +</p> + +<p> +As we trekked away one fine morning I asked Inez whether she was sorry to leave +the place. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” she replied with energy, “my life there has been a hell +and I never wish to see it again.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now it was after this, on the northern borders of Zululand, that Zikali’s +Great Medicine, as Hans called it, really played its chief part, for without it +I think that we should have been killed, every one of us. I do not propose to +set out the business in detail; it is too long and intricate. Suffice it to +say, therefore, that it had to do with the plots of Umslopogaas against +Cetywayo, which had been betrayed by his wife Monazi and her lover Lousta, both +of whom I have mentioned earlier in this record. The result was that a watch +for him was kept on all the frontiers, because it was guessed that sooner or +later he would return to Zululand; also it had become known that he was +travelling in my company. +</p> + +<p> +So it came about that when my approach was reported by spies, a company was +gathered under the command of a man connected with the Royal House, and by it +we were surrounded. Before attacking, however, this captain sent men to me with +the message that with me the King had no quarrel, although I was travelling in +doubtful company, and that if I would deliver over to him Umslopogaas, Chief of +the People of the Axe, and his followers, I might go whither I wished unharmed, +taking my goods with me. Otherwise we should be attacked at once and killed +every one of us, since it was not desired that any witnesses should be left of +what happened to Umslopogaas. Having delivered this ultimatum and declined any +argument as to its terms, the messengers retired, saying that they would return +for my answer within half an hour. +</p> + +<p> +When they were out of hearing Umslopogaas, who had listened to their words in +grim silence, turned and spoke in such fashion as might have been expected of +him. +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn,” he said, “now I come to the end of an unlucky +journey, though mayhap it is not so evil as it seems, since I who went out to +seek the dead but to be filled by yonder White Witch with the meat of mocking +shadows, am about to find the dead in the only way in which they can be found, +namely by becoming of their number.” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that this is the case with all of us, Umslopogaas.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so, Macumazahn. That child of the King will give you safe-conduct. +It is I and mine whose blood he seeks, as he has the right to do, since it is +true that I would have raised rebellion against the King, I who wearied of my +petty lot and knew that by blood his place was mine. In this quarrel you have +no share, though you, whose heart is as white as your skin, are not minded to +desert me. Moreover, even if you wished to fight, there is one in the waggon +yonder whose life is not yours to give. The Lady Sad-Eyes is as a child in your +arms and her you must bear to safety.” +</p> + +<p> +Now this argument was so unanswerable that I did not know what to say. So I +only asked what he meant to do, as escape was impossible, seeing that we were +surrounded on every side. +</p> + +<p> +“Make a glorious end, Macumazahn,” he said with a smile. “I +will go out with those who cling to me, that is with all who remain of my men, +since my fate must be theirs, and stand back to back on yonder mound and there +wait till these dogs of the King come up against us. Watch a while, Macumazahn, +and see how Umslopogaas, Bearer of the Axe, and the warriors of the Axe can +fight and die.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I was silent for I knew not what to say. There we all stood silent, while +minute by minute I watched the shadow creeping forward towards a mark that the +head messenger had made with his spear upon the ground, for he had said that +when it touched that mark he would return for his answer. +</p> + +<p> +In this rather dreadful silence I heard a dry little cough, which I knew came +from the throat of Hans, and to be his method of indicating that he had a +remark to make. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” I asked with irritation, for it was annoying to see +him seated there on the ground fanning himself with the remains of a hat and +staring vacantly at the sky. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing, Baas, or rather, only this, Baas: Those hyenas of Zulus are +even more afraid of the Great Medicine than were the cannibals up north, since +the maker of it is nearer to them, Baas. You remember, Baas, they knelt to it, +as it were, when we were going out of Zululand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what of it, now that we are going into Zululand?” I inquired +sharply. “Do you want me to show it to them?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas. What is the use, seeing that they are ready to let you pass, +also the Lady Sad-Eyes, and me and the cattle with the driver and +<i>voorlooper</i>, which is better still, and all the other goods. So what have +you to gain by showing them the medicine? But perchance if it were on the neck +of Umslopogaas and <i>he</i> showed it to them and brought it to their minds +that those who touch him who is in the shadow of Zikali’s Great Medicine, +or aught that is his, die within three moons in this way or in that—well, +Baas, who knows?” and again he coughed drily and stared up at the sky. +</p> + +<p> +I translated what Hans had said in Dutch to Umslopogaas, who remarked +indifferently, +</p> + +<p> +“This little yellow man is well named Light-in-Darkness; at least the +plan can be tried—if it fails there is always time to die.” +</p> + +<p> +So thinking that this was an occasion on which I might properly do so, for the +first time I took off the talisman which I had worn for so long, and +Umslopogaas put it over his head and hid it beneath his blanket. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +A little while later the messengers returned and this time the captain himself +came with them, as he said to greet me, for I knew him slightly and once we had +dealt together about some cattle. After a friendly chat he turned to the matter +of Umslopogaas, explaining the case at some length. I said that I quite +understood his position but that it was a <i>very</i> awkward thing to +interfere with a man who was the actual wearer of the Great Medicine of Zikali +itself. When the captain heard this his eyes almost started out of his head. +</p> + +<p> +“The Great Medicine of the Opener-of-Roads!” he exclaimed. +“Oh, now I understand why this Chief of the People of the Axe is +unconquerable—such a wizard that no one is able to kill him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I replied, “and you remember, do you not, that he who +offends the Great Medicine, or offers violence to him who wears it, dies +horribly within three moons, he and his household and all those with +him?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard it,” he said with a sickly smile. +</p> + +<p> +“And now you are about to learn whether the tale is true,” I added +cheerfully. +</p> + +<p> +Then he asked to see Umslopogaas alone. +</p> + +<p> +I did not overhear their conversation, but the end of it was that Umslopogaas +came and said in a loud voice so that no one could miss a single word, that as +resistance was useless and he did not wish me, his friend, to be involved in +any trouble, together with his men he had agreed to accompany this King’s +captain to the royal kraal where he had been guaranteed a fair trial as to +certain false charges which had been brought against him. He added that the +King’s captain had sworn upon the Great Medicine of the Opener-of-Roads +to give him safe conduct and attempt no mischief against him which, as was well +known throughout the land, was an oath that could not be broken by anyone who +wished to continue to look upon the sun. +</p> + +<p> +I asked the captain if these things were so, also speaking in a loud voice. He +replied, Yes, since his orders were to take Umslopogaas alive if he might. He +was only to kill him if he would not come. +</p> + +<p> +Afterwards, while pretending to give him certain articles out of the waggon, I +had a few private words with Umslopogaas, who told me that the arrangement was +that he should be allowed to escape at night with his people. +</p> + +<p> +“Be sure of this, Macumazahn,” he said, “that if I do not +escape, neither will that captain, since I walk at his side and keep my axe, +and at the first sign of treachery the axe will enter the house of that thick +head of his and make friends with the brain inside. +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn,” he added, “we have made a strange journey +together and seen such things as I did not think the world had to show. Also I +have fought and killed Rezu in a mad battle of ghosts and men which alone was +worth all the trouble of the journey. Now it has come to an end as everything +must, and we part, but as I believe, not for always. I do not think that I +shall die on this journey with the captain, though I do think that others will +die at the end of it,” he added grimly, a saying which at the time I did +not understand. +</p> + +<p> +“It comes into my heart, Macumazahn, that in yonder land of witches and +wizards, the spirit of prophecy got caught in my moocha and crept into my +bowels. Now that spirit tells me that we shall meet again in the after-years +and stand together in a great fray which will be our last, as I believe that +the White Witch said. Or perhaps the spirit lives in Zikali’s Medicine +which has gone down my throat and comes out of it in words. I cannot say, but I +pray that it is a true spirit, since although you are white and I am black and +you are small and I am big, and you are gentle and cunning, whereas I am fierce +and as open as the blade of my own axe, yet I love you as well, Macumazahn, as +though we were born of the same mother and had been brought up in the same +kraal. Now that captain waits and grows doubtful of our talk, so farewell. I +will return the Great Medicine to Zikali, if I live, and if I die he must send +one of the ghosts that serve him, to fetch it from among my bones. +</p> + +<p> +“Farewell to you also, Yellow Man,” he went on to Hans, who had +appeared, hovering about like a dog that is doubtful of its welcome; +“well are you named Light-in-Darkness, and glad am I to have met you, who +have learned from you how a snake moves and strikes, and how a jackal thinks +and avoids the snare. Yes, farewell, for the spirit within me does not tell me +that you and I shall meet again.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he lifted the great axe, and gave me a formal salute, naming me +“Chief and Father, Great Chief and Father, from of old” (<i>Baba! +Koos y umcool! Koos y pagate!</i>), thereby acknowledging my superiority over +him, a thing that he had never done before, and as he did, so did Goroko and +the other Zulus, adding to their salute many titles of praise. In another +minute he had gone with the King’s captain, to whose side I noted he +clung lovingly, his long, thin fingers playing about the horn handle of the axe +that was named <i>Inkosikaas</i> and Groan-maker. +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad we have seen the last of him and his axe, Baas,” +remarked Hans, spitting reflectively. “It is very well to sleep in the +same hut with a tame lion sometimes, but after you have done so for many moons, +you begin to wonder when you will wake up at night to find him pulling the +blankets off you and combing your hair with his claws. Yes, I am very glad that +this half-tame lion is gone, since sometimes I have thought that I should be +obliged to poison it that we might sleep in peace. You know he called me a +snake, Baas, and poison is a snake’s only spear. Shall I tell the boys to +inspan the oxen, Baas? I think the further we get from that King’s +captain and his men, the more comfortably shall we travel, especially now when +we no longer have the Great Medicine to protect us.” +</p> + +<p> +“You suggested giving it to him, Hans,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, I had rather that Umslopogaas went away with the Great +Medicine, than that you kept the Great Medicine and he stopped with us here. +Never travel with a traitor, Baas, at any rate in the land of the king whom he +wishes to kill. Kings are very selfish people, Baas, and do not like being +killed, especially by someone who wants to sit upon their stool and to take the +royal salute. No one gives the royal salute to a dead king, Baas, however great +he was before he died, and no one thinks the worse of a king who was a traitor +before he became a king.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap25"></a>CHAPTER XXV.<br /> +ALLAN DELIVERS THE MESSAGE</h2> + +<p> +Once more I sat in the Black Kloof face to face with old Zikali. +</p> + +<p> +“So you have got back safely, Macumazahn,” he said. “Well, I +told you you would, did I not? As for what happened to you upon the journey, +let it be, for now that I am old long stories tire me and I daresay that there +is nothing wonderful about this one. Where is the charm I lent you? Give it +back now that it has served its turn.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have not got it, Zikali. I passed it on to Umslopogaas of the Axe to +save his life from the King’s men.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! yes, so you did. I had forgotten. Here it is,” and opening his +robe of fur, he showed me the hideous little talisman hanging about his neck, +then added, “Would you like a copy of it, Macumazahn, to keep as a +memory? If so, I will carve one for you.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I answered, “I should not. Has Umslopogaas been +here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, he has been and gone again, which is one of the reasons why I do +not wish to hear your tale a second time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where to? The Town of the People of the Axe?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Macumazahn, he came thence, or so I understood, but thither he will +return no more.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why not, Zikali?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because after his fashion he made trouble there and left some dead +behind him; one Lousta, I believe, whom he had appointed to sit on his stool as +chief while he was away, and a woman called Monazi, who was his wife, or +Lousta’s wife, or the wife of both of them, I forget which. It is said +that having heard stories of her—and the ears of jealousy are long, +Macumazahn—he cut off this woman’s head with a sweep of the axe and +made Lousta fight him till he fell, which the fool did almost before he had +lifted his shield. It served him right who should have made sure that +Umslopogaas was dead before he wrapped himself in his blanket and took the +woman to cook his porridge.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where has the Axe-bearer gone?” I asked without surprise, for this +news did not astonish me. +</p> + +<p> +“I neither know nor care, Macumazahn. To become a wanderer, I suppose. He +will tell you the tale when you meet again in the after-days, as I understand +he thinks that you will do.<a href="#fn-25.1" name="fnref-25.1" id="fnref-25.1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +Hearken! I have done with this lion’s whelp, who is Chaka over again, but +without Chaka’s wit. Yes, he is just a fighting man with a long reach, a +sure eye and the trick of handling an axe, and such are of little use to me who +know too many of them. Thrice have I tried to make him till my garden, but each +time he has broken the hoe, although the wage I promised him was a royal +<i>kaross</i> and nothing less. So enough of Umslopogaas, the Woodpecker. +Almost I wish that you had not lent him the charm, for then the King’s +men would have made an end of him, who knows too much and like some silly +boaster, may shout out the truth when his axe is aloft and he is full of the +beer of battle. For in battle he will live and in battle he will die, +Macumazahn, as perhaps you may see one day.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-25.1" id="fn-25.1"></a> <a href="#fnref-25.1">[1]</a> +For the tale of this meeting see the book called “Allan +Quatermain.”—Editor. +</p> + +<p> +“The fate of your friends does not trouble you over much, +Opener-of-Roads,” I said with sarcasm. +</p> + +<p> +“Not at all, Macumazahn, because I have none. The only friends of the old +are those whom they can turn to their own ends, and if these fail them they +find others.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand, Zikali, and know now what to expect from you.” +</p> + +<p> +He laughed in his strange way and answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, and it is good that you must expect, good in the future as in the +past, for <i>you</i>, Macumazahn, who are brave in your own fashion, without +being a fool like Umslopogaas, and, although you know it not, like some +master-smith, forge my assegais out of the red ore I give you, tempering them +in the blood of men, and yet keep your mind innocent and your hands clean. +Friends like you are useful to such as I, Macumazahn, and must be well paid in +those wares that please them.” +</p> + +<p> +The old wizard brooded for a space, while I reflected upon his amazing +cynicism, which interested me in a way, for the extreme of unmorality is as +fascinating to study as the extreme of virtue and often more so. Then jerking +up his great head, he asked suddenly, +</p> + +<p> +“What message had the White Queen for me?” +</p> + +<p> +“She said that you troubled her too much at night in dreams, +Zikali.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, but if I cease to do so, ever she desires to know the reason why, +for I hear her asking me in the voices of the wind, or in the twittering of +bats. After all, she is a woman, Macumazahn, and it must be dull sitting alone +from year to year with naught to stay her appetite save the ashes of the past +and dreams of the future, so dull that I wonder, having once meshed you in her +web, how she found the heart to let you go before she had sucked out your life +and spirit. I suppose that having made a mock of you and drained you dry, she +was content to throw you aside like an empty gourd. Perchance, had she kept you +at her side, you would have been a stone in her path in days to come. +Perchance, Macumazahn, she waits for other travellers and would welcome them, +or one of them alone, saying nothing of a certain Watcher-by-Night who has +served her turn and vanished into the night. +</p> + +<p> +“But what other message had the White Queen for the poor old savage +witch-doctor whose talk wearies her so much in her haunted sleep?” +</p> + +<p> +Then I told him of the picture that Ayesha had shown me in the water; the +picture of a king dying in a hut and of two who watched his end. +</p> + +<p> +Zikali listened intently to every word, then broke into a peal of his unholy +laughter. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Oho-ho!</i>” he laughed, “so all goes well, though the +road be long, since whatever this White One may have shown you in the fire of +the heavens above, she could show you nothing but truth in the water of the +earth below, for that is the law of our company of seers. You have worked well +for me, Macumazahn, and you have had your fee, the fee of the vision of the +dead which you desired above all mortal things.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye,” I answered indignantly, “a fee of bitter fruits +whereof the juice burns and twists the mouth and the stones still stick fast +within the gizzard. I tell you, Zikali, that she stuffed my heart with +lies.” +</p> + +<p> +“I daresay, Macumazahn, I daresay, but they were very pretty lies, were +they not? And after all I am sure that there was wisdom in them, as you will +discover when you have thought them over for a score of years. +</p> + +<p> +“Lies, lies, all is lies! But beyond the lie stands Truth, as the White +Witch stands behind her veil. You drew the veil, Macumazahn, and saw that +beneath which brought you to your knees. Why, it is a parable. Wander on +through the Valley of Lies till at last it takes a turn, and, glittering in the +sunshine, glittering like gold, you perceive the Mountain of everlasting Truth, +sought of all men but found by few. +</p> + +<p> +“Lies, lies, all is lies! Yet beyond I tell you, beauteous and eternal +stands the Truth, Macumazahn. <i>Oho-ho! Oho-ho!</i> Fare you well, +Watcher-by-Night, fare you well, Seeker after Truth. After the Night comes Dawn +and after Death comes what—Macumazahn? Well, you will learn one day, for +always the veil is lifted, at last, as the White Witch shewed you yonder, +Macumazahn.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHE AND ALLAN ***</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 5745-h.htm or 5745-h.zip</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/5/7/4/5745/</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law 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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