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diff --git a/old/5745.txt b/old/5745.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d13d287 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/5745.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12735 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of She and Allan, by H. Rider Haggard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: She and Allan + +Author: H. Rider Haggard + +Release Date: April 22, 2006 [EBook #5745] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHE AND ALLAN *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny + + + + + +SHE AND ALLAN + +By H. Rider Haggard + +First Published 1921. + + + + + +NOTE BY THE LATE MR. ALLAN QUATERMAIN + +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. + +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. + +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 _Ayesha_, or _Hiya_, or _She-who-commands_; 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. + +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 _whatever_ 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. + +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. + +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 Kor 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. + +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 Kor, without any doubt had thrown a glamour over +my senses and at the moment almost caused me to believe much that is +quite unbelievable. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, "_She_." + +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 _Kor_! Now of veiled women there are +plenty in the world, but were there also two Kors? + +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. + +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 _She-who-commands_, now rendered as +_She-who-must-be-obeyed_, which means much the same thing--in her case +at least; yes, with Ayesha the lovely, the mystic, the changeful and the +imperious. + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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 _not_ 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! + +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. + +She told me as much as she thought it fit that I should know, and no +more! + +Allan Quatermain. + +The Grange, Yorkshire. + + + + + +SHE AND ALLAN + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE TALISMAN + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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] + +Then I gave up the business. + + + +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. + +"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. + +I shook my head. + +"That is strange, Macumazahn, for I seem to see something written on +your mind--something to do with spirits." + +Then I remembered all the problems that had been troubling me, although +in truth I had never thought of propounding them to Zikali. + +"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." + +I filled my pipe and sat down again upon the stool of carved red-wood +which had been brought for me. + +"You are named 'Opener-of-Roads,' are you not, Zikali?" I said. + +"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?" + +"Only that _I_ want to open a road, Zikali, that which runs across the +River of Death." + +"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." + +Again I shook my head and answered, + +"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." + +"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?" + +"The question is," I answered with irritation, "not what you are asked +to do, but what you can do." + +"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----"[*] + + [*] For the history of Mameena see the book called "Child of + Storm."--Editor. + +"She is _not_ one of them, Zikali. Moreover, if she loved you, you paid +back her love with death." + +"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----" + +"What do you mean?" I asked. + +"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." + +"Then it is finished," I said, rising again and taking a step or two +towards the gate. + +"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?" + +I came back and sat down, for my curiosity, a great failing with me, was +excited. + +"Thank you, Zikali," I said, "but I will have no dealings with more of +your witch-doctors." + +"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." + +"If you mean missionaries----" I began hastily. + +"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." + +"Some of them think, Zikali." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"Then how can you talk of what you have never seen?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"You mean that she is immortal, Zikali," I answered with a smile. + +"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 knew 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." + +Now I grew angry and asked, + +"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 _Queen_ lives +and how I am to come to her." + +The old wizard took up the little assegai which he had offered to me and +with its blade raked our 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. + +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. + +"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." + +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, + +"There, now you will remember." + +"Certainly I shall," I answered, coughing, "and I beg that you will not +play such a joke upon me again." + +As a matter of fact, whatever may have been the reason, I never forgot +any detail of that extremely intricate map. + +"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?" + +"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." + +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. + +"How did people travel to the city, Zikali?" + +"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." + +"You want me to go on this adventure, Zikali. Why? I know you never do +anything without motive." + +"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." + +"Have done, Zikali. What is it that you desire?" + +"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 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." + +"What plots, Zikali, and how can my taking a distant journey tell you +anything about them?" + +"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." + +"As you seem to know this witch so well, why do you not ask her +yourself, Zikali?" + +"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?' + +"'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.' + +"Such is the answer that comes to me in my dreams, Macumazahn." + +"Well, what token will you give me, Zikali?" + +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. + +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, + +"Have a care, Macumazahn. Am I young that I can bear bring dashed to the +ground?" + +"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. + +"It is a clever carving, is it not, Macumazahn? I am skilled in that +art, you know, and therefore can judge of carving." + +"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?" + +"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." + +Now I bethought me of the old Egyptians and their _Ka_ 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. + +"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." + +"Indeed," I said, smiling, "and what is this colour on the ivory?" + +"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. + +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. + +"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?" + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"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!" + +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. + +Zikali groped in the bag and produced from it certain knuckle-bones. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"I know nothing of Nada the Lily," I answered. + +"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." + +"Is there anyone else?" I inquired. + +Zikali glanced at the bones again, poking them about in the ashes with +his toe, then replied with a yawn, + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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. + +"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? + +"Good-night, Macumazahn, good-night. When you return from visiting the +white Queen, that Great One beneath those 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. + +"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. + +"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 who 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. _Oho! Oho-ho!_ 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. _Oho-ho!_" + +I turned to depart but when I had gone a little way Zikali called me +back again and said, speaking very low, + +"When you meet this Umslopogaas, as you will meet him, he who is called +the Woodpecker and the Slaughterer, say these words to him, + +"'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.'" + + + +Then Zikali waved his hand and I went, wondering into what plot I had +stumbled. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MESSENGERS + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _immamba_, perhaps the +deadliest of all our African snakes, and the only one I know which will +attack man without provocation. + +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. + +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. + +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 _immambas_ have, hissing and flicking its tongue. + +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. + +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.[*] 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. + +[*] See the book called "Marie."--Editor. + +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. + +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 _Intombi_ or +Maiden. Of that gun, however, I have written in "The Holy Flower" and +elsewhere. + +"What is it, Baas?" he asked. "Here there are no lions, nor any game." + +"Look the other side of the bush, Hans." + +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 _immamba_ +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, + +"Black _'mamba_, or so you would call it, though I know it for something +else." + +"What else, Hans?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"He didn't do it, Hans. These snakes are very fierce and give battle, +that is all." + +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. + +"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." + +"That is an odd story," I said. + +Then I told Hans as much as I thought advisable of how this horrid +little talisman came into my possession. + +Hans nodded without showing any surprise. + +"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 _'mamba_ attacked you?" + +"Taking it off to throw it into the pool, Hans, as I do not like the +thing. I tried twice and each time the _immamba_ appeared." + +"Of course it appeared, Baas, and what is more, if you had taken that +Medicine off and thrown it away _you_ would have disappeared, since the +_'mamba_ would have killed you. Zikali wanted to show you that, Baas, +and that is why he set the snake at you." + +"You are a superstitious old fool, Hans." + +"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." + +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, + +"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." + +"Go away," I said, "I want to wash." + +"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." + +"Get out of the road, you dirty little scoundrel, and stop your +impudence," I said, lifting my foot suggestively. + +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. + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _ad infinitum_. Only very stupid people, or +humbugs, are or pretend to be, always consistent and unchanging. + +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. + +"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." + +"Why do you say that?" I asked sharply. + +"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?" + +Here Hands 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. + +"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." + +"Yes, Baas, but then why not cross it this evening? There is still +light." + +"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." + +"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." + + + +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. + +In despair at length I trekked south to where a ford was reported, +which, when reached, proved impracticable. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +"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."[*] + + [*] For the story of Umslopogaas and Nada see the book + called "Nada the Lily."--Editor. + +"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. + +"Where then lives the Chief Umslopogaas?" + +"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." + +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. + +"Here come some chips from the Axe," said Hans, and promptly bolted into +the waggon. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Then I took a little book out of my pocket, it was my favourite copy of +the Ingoldsby Legends--and began to read. + +The passage which caught my eye, if "axe" be substituted for "knife" was +not inappropriate. It was from "The Nurse's Story," and runs, + + "But, oh! what a thing 'tis to see and to know + That the bare knife is raised in the hand of the foe, + Without hope to repel or to ward off the blow!" + +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, + +"Are you blind, White Man?" + +"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. + +When I had read a little further I came to the following lines, + + "'Tis plain, + As anatomists tell us, that never again, + Shall life revisit the foully slain + When once they've been cut through the jugular vein." + +In my circumstances at that moment this statement seemed altogether too +suggestive, so I shut up the book and remarked, + +"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." + +"_Ow!_" said the spokesman, "he calls us wanderers! Either he must be a +very great man or he is mad." + +"You are right. I _am_ 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?" + +"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. + +"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?" + +"Our Captain is King here," said the man still more uncertainly. + +"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." + +"Hearken," said the man to his companions, "this is Macumazahn himself +and no other. Well, we thought it, for who else would have dared----" + +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. + + + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER III + +UMSLOPOGAAS OF THE AXE + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +He looked up and seeing me, cried out, + +"What! Has a white man come to fight me for the chieftainship of the +People of the Axe? Well, he is a small one." + +"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." + +The Chief heard and rising from his seat, lifted the big axe in salute. + +"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." + +"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. + +The grim Chief broke into a laugh and said, + +"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. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +Again the heralds summoned all and sundry who had grievances, to come +forward and to state them and receive redress. + +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. + +"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 _Inkosikaas_, your head-wife, O +Umslopogaas." + +"That I know well enough," said Umslopogaas, "what of it?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"Is it thus?" said Umslopogaas quietly. "And if so, will he be named +Lousta?" + +Then his smouldering wrath broke out and in a kind of roaring voice he +went on, + +"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?" + +"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." + +"I have heard your counsel, Wife, so now begone!" said Umslopogaas, +looking at her very strangely, and it seemed to me not without fear. + +"Have you wives, Macumazahn?" he asked of me in a low voice when she was +out of hearing. + +"Only among the spirits," I answered. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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, + +"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." + +"Had I not done so I should have been dead long ago, O Chief." + +"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." + +"Yes," I answered, "especially those who have the lion's blood in them, +whether that lion be man or beast." + +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, + +"Why do you come to visit me, Macumazahn, who have never done so +before?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"Did he, Umslopogaas? Well, it is true that I have a message, though it +is one that I did not mean to deliver." + +"Yet being here, perchance you will deliver it, Macumazahn, for those +who have messages and will not speak them, sometimes come to trouble." + +"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?" + +"I have heard of him, as have my forefathers for generations." + +"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." + +"That you cannot," replied Umslopogaas shortly, "since they are +_hlonipa_ (i.e. not to be spoken) in this land." + +"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." + +"Yes, O Macumazahn, you may be mistaken or--you may not. It matters +nothing. But what of this message of yours?" + +"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." + +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. + +Umslopogaas listened to every syllable with a curious intentness, and +then asked me to repeat it all again, which I did. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +"Certainly," I answered, "on one condition, that what the ears hear, the +heart shall keep to itself alone." + +Umslopogaas stooped and laid his hand upon the broad blade of the weapon +beside him, saying, + +"By the Axe I swear it. If I break the oath be the Axe my doom." + +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. + +"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?" + +I answered that he had. + +"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?" + +I said it was. + +"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." + +"Just so," I answered. + +"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." + +"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----" + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"Now," he said. + +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 "_Makosi!_" the salute that is given to great +wizards because they are supposed to be the home of many spirits. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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?" + +Here Umslopogaas passed his hand across his mouth, a significant gesture +amongst the Zulus. + +"Mopo," I said, "yes, I have heard the story of Mopo, also that Chaka's +body became _his_ 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." + +"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." + +"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 _you_." + +Umslopogaas stared at me and laying his hand upon the great axe, half +rose. Then he sat down again. + +"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." + +"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." + +"It would be a mistake, Umslopogaas, one of the many that you have made. +But as I _do_ wear the Medicine, the question does not arise, does it?" + +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?" + +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. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"By whom have you been betrayed, Umslopogaas?" + +"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." + +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." + +"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." + +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. + +"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?" + +I answered that I understood very well, as his case seemed to be like my +own. + +"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." + +"I answer for him," I replied. "Hans is a true man, cunning also when +once he is away from drink." + + + +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. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE LION AND THE AXE + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Only one untoward incident happened to me. Of a sudden a party of +the King's soldiers under the command of a well-known _Induna_ 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. + +I was very indignant and expressed my feelings to the _Induna_ 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. + +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. + +Still unsatisfied, the _Induna_ 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. + +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. + +With this the _Induna_ agreed emphatically, saying that perhaps I did +not know _how_ 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 _Induna_ explained that he was _not_ 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. + +I yawned as if weary of the subject of this chief, and indeed of the +whole business. Then the _Induna_ 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. + +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. + +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 _Induna_ +saw it and his eyes grew big with fear. + +"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." + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _has_ put it out, but that does not prevent a +repetition of the performance next time the perplexity arises. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +"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 Caesar. 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"No," I retorted, for his tone irritated me, "you are late, Bulalio, the +moon has been up some hours." + +"I said, O Macumazahn, that I would meet you on the _night_ of the full +moon, not at the rising of the moon." + +"That is true," I replied, mollified, "and at any rate you came at a +good moment." + +"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. + +"I did not know that there was a lion, Umslopogaas." + +"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." + +"You are right again," I replied. + +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. + +"The Great Medicine of the Opener-of-Roads has worked well," was all he +said. + +"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 _Inkosikaas_ (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?" + +"I was asleep," stuttered Hans indignantly. + +"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. + +"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. + +"Who are these?" I asked. + +"A few picked warriors whom I brought with me, Macumazahn. There were +one or two more, but they got lost on the way." + +Then we went to the waggon and spoke no more that night. + + + +Next morning I told Umslopogaas of the visit I had received from the +_Induna_ of the King who wished me to come to the royal kraal. He nodded +and said, + +"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." + +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 _Induna_ or +Councillor. + +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. + +"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. + +"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 _Inkosikaas_ 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." + +"It is a strange weapon," I said. + +"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." + +"Did you then see the Opener-of-Roads?" I asked. + +"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 +_you_." + +"Did he?" I replied indignantly, for Zikali's power of seeing or +learning about things that happened at a distance puzzled and annoyed +me. + +Only Hans grinned and said, + +"I told you so, Baas." + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Travelling by the sun and the compress 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. + +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 _vice versa_. 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +As it happened, he did. + + + +CHAPTER V + +INEZ + +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. + +Umslopogaas surveyed the place with a soldier's eye and said to me, + +"This must be a peaceful country, Macumazahn, where no attack is feared, +since of defences I see none." + +"Yes," I answered, "why not, with a wilderness behind it and bush-veld +and a great river in front?" + +"Men can cross rivers and travel through bush-veld," he answered, and +was silent. + +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. + +"Where can they be?" I asked. + +"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. + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +"Thank you," she said. "I, sir, was frightened. Your friends look----" +Here she stumbled for a word, then added, "terrocious." + +I laughed at this composite adjective and answered, + +"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----" + +"I have no husband, I have only a father, sir," and she sighed. + +"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." + +"Yes, I will go to wake him. He is asleep. Everyone sleeps here at +midday--except me," she said with another sigh. + +"Why do you not follow their example?" I asked jocosely, for this young +woman puzzled me and I wanted to find out about her. + +"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?" + +I stared at her and inquired her name, because I did not know what else +to say. + +"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. + +"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. + +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. + +"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." + +"Thank you, Mr. Robertson----" + +"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." + +"I beg your pardon--Captain Robertson, but myself, I don't drink +anything before sundown. However, if you have something to eat----?" + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"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. + +His retainer listened in silence, looking at Umslopogaas rather sulkily. +Then we walked into the house. As we went the Captain said, + +"Senor Thomaso--he calls himself Senor--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." + +"I hope so too, for his own sake," I replied emphatically. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"If I might ask, what brought you here, Captain?" I said, for the point +was one on which I felt curious. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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." + +"Why don't you?" I asked. + +"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 is 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. + +"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?" + +"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. + +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, + +"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. + +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. + +"Those children are very like the Baas with the red beard," remarked +Hans reflectively. + +"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. + +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. + +"This red-bearded Baas must be very rich in all things," remarked the +observant Hans when we had completed our investigations. + +"Yes," I answered, "rich and yet poor." + +"How can a man be both rich and yet poor, Baas?" asked Hans. + +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, + +"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." + +"Yes," I answered, "as you _are_, Hans, when you take too much to +drink." + +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. + +"Your father must do very well here," I said, nodding at the store with +the crowd of natives round it. + +"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?" + +"You can get things with it," I answered vaguely. + +"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." + +"You do not seem to be happy, Miss Inez." + +"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." + +"Oh! no," I replied cheerfully, "plenty are worse off." + +"Then, Mr. Quatermain, it must be because they cannot feel. Did you ever +have a father whom you loved?" + +"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." + +"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. + +"Why don't you go away?" I blurted out. + +"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. + +"I have my faults, Miss Inez," I answered. + +"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." + +Then with a sudden flash of her dark eyes that said more than all her +words, she turned and left me. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE SEA-COW HUNT + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"What was it all about, Mr. Quatermain?" asked Inez. + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"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. + +"What is the big half, then?" I asked with irritation. + +"Baas, the Spirit in Goroko----" + +"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." + +"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." + +"Red with blood! Whose blood? What did the fool mean?" + +"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." + +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. + +"What is it that Goroko has been saying and why do you smile, Bulalio?" +I asked. + +"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?" + +"Certainly not," I answered. "We came out to make a quiet journey in +strange lands, which is what I mean to do." + +"Ah! well, Macumazahn, in strange lands one meets strange men with whom +one does not always agree, and then _Inkosikaas_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _sjamboks_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +"Does your daughter accompany us?" I asked on the night before we +started. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +"And what, Hans?" + +"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?" + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _voorlooper_ 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. + +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. + +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 detour 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +As the dawn broke, by climbing a tree near my _schanze_ 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 _schanze_ and prepare. It +was full daylight, however, before anything happened. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"This is madness, Macumazahn," he shouted above the din. "Are we to stop +here and be stamped flat by a horde of water-pigs?" + +"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. + +"By the Axe!" shouted Umslopogaas again, "I--a warrior--will not die +thus, trodden on like a slug by an ox." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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 +"_He-who-is-so-brave-that-he-dares-to-ride-a-water-horse-up-a-tree._" + +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 out 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. + +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. + +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. + +This narrow escape sobered him, and I am bound to say that his gratitude +was profuse. + +"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." + +"Very well," I answered, being seized by an inspiration, "I do want +something that you can give easily enough." + +"Give it a name and it's yours, half my place, if you like." + +"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." + +"Man, you ask a hard thing," he said slowly. "But by God I'll try for +her sake and for yours too." + +Then I went to help to set the leg of the injured man, which was all the +rest I got that morning. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE OATH + +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 _sjamboks_ or to make small native shields +for which some of the East Coast tribes will pay heavily. + +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! + +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 _voorlooper_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"What is the matter, Hans?" I asked when we were within speaking +distance. + +"Oh! Baas, everything," he answered, and I noticed that he kept his eyes +fixed upon the ground and that his lips twitched. + +"Speak, you fool, and in Zulu," I said, for by now Umslopogaas had +joined me. + +"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." + +"Did you see them come?" I asked. + +"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." + +"You mean that you were asleep or drunk, Hans, but go on." + +"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." + +"What did you see, Hans?" I asked him. + +"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!" + +"Good God!" I exclaimed. "And what happened at the house and to the +lady?" + +"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. + +"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." + +"And then, Hans?" + +"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." + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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. + +"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.' + +"'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.' + +"'Very well, try it,' she said. + +"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." + +"Why did you not come to me?" I asked. + +"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." + +"Perhaps you were right." + +"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 _rimpis_ 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." + +"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." + +"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. + +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. + +"Did you say," asked Umslopogaas, speaking for the first time, "that my +servants killed only six of these men-eaters?" + +Hans nodded and answered, "Yes, six. I counted the bodies." + +"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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Now I went to him and sat up. + +"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 _so-and-so_ and +_so-and-so_," 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." + +"All right," I said, "I will. Sit here and wait a minute." + +Then I went to the waggon and poured out a stiff tot of spirits into +which I put an amazing doze 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. + +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. + +In a few minutes the drugs began to take effect upon Robertson's +tortured nerves, for he rose and said quietly, + +"What now?" + +"Vengeance, or rather justice," I answered. + +"Yes," he exclaimed, "vengeance. I swear that I will be avenged, or +die--or both." + +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." + +"Will you help me if I do, to the end, good or ill, Quatermain?" he +added. + +I nodded. + +"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." + +"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, + +"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." + +He did as I asked, telling me all he could remember. Then he said, + +"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." + +"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. + +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. + +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 _voorlooper_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +"Let the man go," I shouted to him. "Is there not enough death here +already?" + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Hans is making coffee," I said warningly. + +"Thank you," he answered, "I forgot. Force of habit, you know." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +I lingered to watch the funeral and heard Goroko, the witch-doctor, make +a little speech. + +"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----" + +This was the opening of the speech, the "_bonga_-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, + +"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. + +"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." + +Goroko paused a while, then added with a waving of his hands, + +"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." + +"Good words!" grunted Umslopogaas. Then he saluted the dead by raising +_Inkosikaas_ and came to me to consult about our journey. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +PURSUIT + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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?" + +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 _voorlooper_ to guard my belongings. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _reims_ round their +horns. As a result two were drowned, but one, a bold-hearted and +enterprising animal, gained the other bank. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"I fear my poor lassie is gone," he said, and relapsed into brooding as +had become his wont. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"Yes," I said, "I have reasons," although in fact I had none at all. + +Hans surveyed me with a watery eye as though waiting for me to explain +them, but I looked haughty and declined to oblige. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _per contra_, that if _his_ 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. + +"Then why did you not say so?" I asked. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"Drat the Great Medicine," I replied, but beneath my breath, then added +aloud, + +"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." + +"Yes, Baas," answered Hans humbly, as he snatched the tobacco and +wriggled away like a worm. + +Then I went to talk with Robertson. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +Hans chuckled, quite appreciating the joke, and having thus mutually +affronted each other, we started on our quest. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE SWAMP + +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. + +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, + +"Look to the right between those twin thorns." + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"Amahagger there all right, Baas, I smell them." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _pros_ and _cons_ 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. + +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 knew 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _pros_ and _cons_ 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. + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Make no noise, Inez," I whispered. "It is I, Allan Quatermain, come to +rescue you. Slip out and follow me; do you understand?" + +"Yes, quite," she whispered back and began to rise. + +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. + +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. + +So, lacking self-restraint, she screamed in the most lusty fashion, for +her lungs were excellent, and--the game was up. + +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, + +"Feign sleep and know nothing. We will follow you. Your father is with +us." + +Then I bolted back into the bushes, which Hans had reached already. + +A minute or two later when we were clear of the hubbub and nearing our +own camp, Hans remarked to me sententiously, + +"The Great Medicine worked well, Baas, but not quite well enough, for +what medicine can avail against a woman's folly?" + +"It was our own folly we should blame," I answered. "We ought to have +known that fool-girl would shriek, and taken precautions." + +"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." + +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, + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +As there was nothing to 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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] + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"If you are right, he should have bitten me, Hans." + +"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." + +"So do the mosquitoes," I answered, grabbing a handful of them. "The +Great Medicine has no effect upon them." + +"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." + +"No need, Hans," I remarked sarcastically. "Go and tell him that I have +the Great Medicine." + +"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. + +"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. + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +They were waiting for a better opportunity! + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE ATTACK + +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. + +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. + +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. + +All of these things I saw and pointed out to Robertson in the light of +the setting sun. + +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. + +"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." + +"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. + +"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." + +"Perhaps it is not done with yet," I answered wearily. + +"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." + +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. + +"Arise, Macumazahn," he said, "I hear men stirring below us." + +At this moment Hans slipped past him, whispering, + +"The cannibals are coming, Baas, a good number of them. I think they +mean to attack before dawn." + +Then he passed behind me to warn the Zulus. As he went by, I said to +him, + +"If so, Hans, now is the time for your Great Medicine to show what it +can do." + +"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. + +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. + +"What is the little yellow man saying about us?" asked Umslopogaas +suspiciously. + +"He is saying that if it comes to battle, you and your men will make a +great fight," I replied diplomatically. + +"Yes, we will do that, Macumazahn, but I thought he said that we should +be killed and that this pleased him." + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +When I put the riddle to Hans, who was lying next to me, he was ready +with another solution. + +"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." + +"Do you think so," I answered, "when we are so thin?" and I surveyed +Hans' scraggy form in the moonlight. + +"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----" + +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 _Child of Storm_, 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, + +"Hush! the dawn breaks and they come. I hear them." + +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. + +"Look out!" I said to Robertson on my right, "I believe they are +coming." + +"Man," he answered sternly, "I hope so, for whom else have I wanted to +meet all these days?" + +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 _not the men whom we +had been following_. 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. + +"We have been led into an ambush," I said first in Zulu to Umslopogaas +immediately in front, and then in English to Robertson. + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +There in the pale light of the dawn we looked at each other dismayed. + +"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. + +"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." + +"Well spoken!" said Umslopogaas, and again stood still a while, then +added, "The word is with you, Macumazahn, who are our captain." + +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. + +"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." + +I motioned to Hans to speak. + +"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." + +"So do I," I said briefly, giving no reasons. + +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. + +"There goes your daughter," I said, and handed the glasses to Robertson. + +"Oh! my God," he answered, "those villains have outwitted us after all." + +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. + +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. + +"They are coming," I said to Robertson. + +"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." + +"There's hope for all of us," I replied as cheerfully as I could, for +the man's deep depression disturbed me. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Die well, Hans," I said, "and if you get there first, wait for me on +the other side." + +"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. + +"Curse--I mean bless--the Great Medicine," I said as I lifted my rifle +to my shoulder. + +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. + +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 _Inkosikaas_, 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. + +"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!" + +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, + +"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." + +Then he paused and we stared at each other. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN WALL + +"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." + +"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." + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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----" + +"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. + +Having seated himself upon the little wall that we had built up, +he contemplated us, stroking his beautiful white beard, then said, +addressing me, + +"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. + +"Ordered by whom?" I asked. + +"There is only one who can order," he answered with mild astonishment. +"'She-who-commands, She-who-is-everlasting'!" + +It occurred to me that this must be some Arabic idiom for the Eternal +Feminine, but I only looked vague and said, + +"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. + +"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?" + +"Watcher-by-Night," I answered. + +"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 Kor." + +"Did she indeed?" I exclaimed, stifling a cough. + +"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?" + +"Warrior is his name." + +"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. + +"Light-in-Darkness is his name." + +"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?" + +"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?" + +"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." + +"How can this be, Billali, seeing that none knew of our coming?" + +"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?" + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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: + +"Awake, Baas, they are here!" + +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. + +"How did you make these so quickly," I asked, surveying their elegant +and indeed artistic workmanship. + +"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." + +"Yes," I answered vaguely, marvelling what kind of a glass it was that +gave the lady this information. + +Before I could inquire upon the point Billali added, + +"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." + +So having explained matters to Robertson and Umslopogaas, who announced +that nothing would induce _him_ 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. + +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 talked 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. + +"I see now, Baas," said Hans, thrusting his head between my curtains, +"that yonder Whitebeard cannot be your reverend father, the Predikant, +after all." + +"Why not?" I asked, though the fact was fairly obvious. + +"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." + +"You had better save your breath instead of talking nonsense, Hans," I +said, "since I believe that you have a long way to go." + +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. + +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 _maas_, and lumps of a kind of bread. + +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, + +"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." + +I did so, and Billali answered, + +"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." + +"Ah!" Robertson repeated when I had translated, "unless they kill her +first--or worse." Then he relapsed into his usual silence. + +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, + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +I went to Billali's litter and asked him who lived in the city. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +Then he went back to his men. + +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. + +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. + +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, + +"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." + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE WHITE WITCH + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +"Be silent," I answered. "All this mountain is a trap, therefore another +does not matter, and we have our pistols." + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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?" + +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. + +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. + +"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?" + +"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. + +"Call me _Hiya_," 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." + +I blushed at the compliment so artfully conveyed, and repeated stupidly +enough, + +"--Not such Arabic as you use, O--Ayesha." + +"I thought that you would like the sound of the word better than that +of _Hiya_, 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?" + +"Yes," I answered. "Allan." + +"--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?" + +I nodded, for it was one of the Latin tags that my father had taught me. + +"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?" + +I nodded again, and said, + +"There are disputes upon the point, Ayesha." + +"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?" + +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, + +"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?" + +"Not so ill," I answered. + +"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. + +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 _Bayete_, after which he too turned and went. + +"What does that word mean, Allan?" she asked. + +I explained that it was the salutation which the Zulu people only give +to kings. + +"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." + +"He too is of royal blood in his own land," I said. + +"If so, we are akin, Allan." + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"Perhaps she does this because she is so beautiful, Hans, that she fears +the hearts of men who look upon her would melt." + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Greeting, Macumazahn," he said, "you who are white and wise and I 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?" + +"I do not know," I said, "but it is worth while to have lived to see +her, even though she be veiled." + +"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." + +"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." + +"Yes, Macumazahn, such wisdom as Spirits and the dead have to give." + +"Mayhap, Umslopogaas, but we came here to seek Spirits and the dead, did +we not?" + +"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." + +Then we parted, and too tired even to wonder any more, I threw myself +down on my bed and slept. + + + +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. + +He greeted me with his courteous bow and said, + +"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." + +I burst out laughing and answered, + +"He does not go upon his knees and pray to She-who-commands, but to the +Great One who is in the sky." + +"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." + +"Is it so, Billali?" I answered incredulously. "And now, I would ask you +to take me to some place where I can bathe." + +"It is ready," he replied. "Come." + +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. + +"Who and what is this Queen of yours, Billali?" I asked as we went. +"Surely she is not of the Amahagger blood." + +"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." + +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, + +"If you doubt, ask. And now here is where you may bathe." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +ALLAN HEARS A STRANGE TALE + +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. + +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. + +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. + +For the rest a sweet and subtle odour pervaded the chamber which took +hold of my senses as _hasheesh_ 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. + +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. + +"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?" + +"Yes, Ayesha," I answered to all three questions, adding, for I knew not +what to say, "It seems to be a very ancient bath." + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +Now I thought that she would be very angry and was sorry that I had +spoken. But as it happened she was not. + +"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." + +"What else should I seek, Ayesha?" I asked innocently. + +"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." + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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, +_plus_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +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, + +"Do you admit now, Allan, that a woman may be old and still remain fair +and unwrinkled?" + +"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." + +"Why?" she asked, and I thought that I detected curiosity in her +question. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"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] + +"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?" + +I shook my head blankly, for I had never heard anything of the sort. + +"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." + +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, + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +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, + +"I come to ask you, Ayesha, to show me the dead, if the dead still live +elsewhere." + +"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." + +"What token?" I asked innocently, though I guessed her meaning well +enough. + +She searched me with her great eyes, for I felt, and indeed saw them on +me through the veil, then answered, + +"I think--nay, let me be sure," and half rising from the couch, she bent +her heard 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." + +Now I drew Zikali's talisman from its hiding-place and held it towards +her. + +"Give it to me," she said. + +I was about to obey when something seemed to warn me not to do so. + +"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." + +"Draw near," she said, "and let me look. Man, be not afraid." + +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. + +She took the talisman in her hand and examined it closely. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +"A little," I answered. + +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. + +"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." + +"The principal names of this doctor are Zikali, the Opener-of-Roads, the +'_Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born_,'" I answered. + +"Read the writing, Allan," she said. + +I unfolded the sheet and read Arabic words which meant, "Weapons, +Cleaver-of-Rocks, One-at-whom-dogs-bark-and-children-wail." + +"The last two are near enough," she said, "but the first is wrong." + +"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." + +"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 _Ka_ or Double, a second self, that can either dwell in his statue or +be sent afar?" + +I answered that I had heard this. + +"Well the _Ka_ 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?" + +"An oracle, the answer to a riddle, Ayesha." + +"Then set it out another time. So you decide 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?" + +"I think that it depends upon the price," I answered cautiously. "Set +out the price, Ayesha." + +"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." + +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. + +"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?" + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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?" + +"No, only her statues because of their beauty, though Love is always +worshipped." + +"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." + +Thinking it better not to enter on a discussion as to Ayesha's shoulder, +I remained silent and she went on. + +"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." + +I wondered what this "task" might be, but only asked, "Why?" + +"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." + +I asked pardon and she went on, + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"'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.' + +"Then she laughed softly and smiting me across the eyes with a lock of +her scented hair, was gone. + +"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. + +"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 +_sistrum_ 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. + +"'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. + +"'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. + +"'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.' + +"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?' + +"'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 _sistrum_ 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.' + +"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 +_sistrum_ 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. + +"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." + +Here I, Allan, could contain myself no longer and asked, "What for?" +then, fearing her wrath, wished that I had been silent. + +But she was not angry, perhaps because this tale of her interviews +with goddesses, doubtless fabled, had made her humble, for she answered +quietly, + +"By Aphrodite, or by Isis, or both of them I did not know. All I knew +was that I _must_ seek him, then and evermore, as seek I do to-day and +shall perchance through aeons yet unborn. So I followed, as I was taught +and commanded, the _sistrum_ 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 Kor." + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ALLAN MISSES OPPORTUNITY + +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. + +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, + +"What think you of this story, Allan? Do you believe it and have you +ever heard its like?" + +"_Never_," 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." + +"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 Kor +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." + +"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----" + +"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. + +"----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." + +"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 _you_ may find out in the days to come. But what of +these heavenly queens?" + +"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." + +"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." + +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, + +"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." + +At these quite innocent remarks she sprang to her feet in a rage that +might truly be called royal in every sense. + +"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. + +"Hearken, fool! _Nothing_ 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. + +"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?" + +"Yes, yes," I answered feebly. + +"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." + +"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. + +"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." + +Here she paused, choked, I think, with her almost childish anger, and +because I could not help it, I said, + +"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. + +This bold argument--for now I see that it was bold--seemed to astonish +and even bewilder my wonderful companion. + +"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 _he_ 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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +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. + +"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 Kor, 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." + +"How was this god named?" I asked. + +"_Rezu_ was his name, and from him came the Egyptian Re or Ra, since in +the beginning Kor was the mother of Egypt and the conquering people of +Kor 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." + +"Ra was the sun, was he not?" I asked. + +"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 Kor, 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 _Lulala_, 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 Kor 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." + +"Did you see this great pestilence?" I asked, much interested. + +"Nay, it befell generations before I came to Kor. 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 Kor, 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." + +"What brought _you_ to Kor, Ayesha?" I asked irrelevantly. + +"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." + +"And did you find them, Ayesha?" I asked. + +"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." + +"That must have been dreadful for you, Ayesha, since I understood that +you also--liked this priest." + +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, + +"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 Kor 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. + +"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." + +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, + +"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. + +"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. + +"'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." + +"Why not?" I asked. + +"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." + +"Then what spear can?" I inquired helplessly, who was bewildered. + +"None at all, Allan, yet an _axe_ 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 Kor, or rather +of myself, since to these people _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 to attack on Kor, 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." + +"Is that why those cannibals carried away the daughter of my companion, +the Sea-Captain who is named Avenger?" I asked. + +"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 Kor, 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." + +"What do you mean about an axe, Ayesha?" I asked. "Why can an axe alone +kill Rezu?" + +"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?" + +"In a translation," I answered. + +"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." + +"How did Noot know that?" I asked. + +"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." + +"It may be so," I replied prosaically, "but what happened about the +axe?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"But I do not want to fight," I answered, "who have fought enough and +came here to seek wisdom, not bloodshed." + +"First the sacrifice, then the reward," she answered, "that is if any +are left to be rewarded. Farewell." + + + +CHAPTER XV + +ROBERTSON IS LOST + +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. + +"Baas," he said, "did the White Witch tell you that there is a big +_impi_ encamped over yonder outside the houses, in what looks like a +great dry ditch, and on the edge of the plain beyond?" + +"No, Hans, but she said that this evening she would show us those in +whose company we must fight." + +"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." + +"Why, Hans?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"No, Baas, they are worshippers of the devil and that White Witch is his +wife." + +"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." + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The worst of scandals becomes romantic and even respectable in two +thousand years; witness that of Cleopatra with Caesar, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +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. + +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, + +"Where is Red-Beard, Macumazahn?" + +I answered that I did not know and waited, for I felt sure that he had +something to say. + +"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." + +"Why?" I asked. + +"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." + +"Then why did you not come to call me, Umslopogaas?" + +"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." + +"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. + +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: + + +"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." + + +Horrorstruck I translated this insane screed to Umslopogaas and Hans. +The former nodded gravely. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +"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?" + +"That is what I wish to ask you, Ayesha," I said. + +"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. + +"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." + +"Will you send to search for him, O Ayesha?" I asked anxiously. + +"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?" + +"More or less," I answered and translated to her the letter that +Robertson had left for me. + +"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." + +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. + +"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. + +"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." + +"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." + +I obeyed. Umslopogaas laughed grimly and answered, + +"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." + +"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." + +"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.'" + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _Hiya_, which is the Arabic for She, +and I suppose was a salutation to Ayesha. + +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, + +"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." + +She paused and the spokesman of the captains said, + +"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?" + +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, + +"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. + +"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, + +"'Oh, where is Hiya whom our fathers knew? Oh, will she not return and +save us from this hell?' + +"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." + +The captains drew apart and began to talk in low voices, while Ayesha +stood still, apparently quite unconcerned, and I considered the +situation. + +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 _rendezvous_. +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. + +Presently the spokesman returned, saluted with his spear, and asked, + +"If we go up to fight against Rezu, who will lead us in the battle, O +Hiya?" + +"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. + +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, + +"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." + +"And if this wondrous charm, this talisman of might, cannot be shown by +the white lord here, what then?" asked Ayesha coldly. + +"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." + +"So say we all," exclaimed the rest of the company when he had finished. + +"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?" + +I shook my head blankly, whereat they murmured together and made as +though they would go. + +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. + +"The Great Medicine, Baas! Show them Zikali's Great Medicine." + +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---- + +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, + +"Aye, bravely and to the death, him and the Bearer of the Axe of whom +also our legend tells." + +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, + +"Is this the holy thing, the charm of power, of which your legend tells, +O People of the Amahagger and worshippers of Lulala?" + +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. + +"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. + +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, + +"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." + +"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. + +Meanwhile Ayesha gave certain orders. Then she came to me and said, + +"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." + +"Do you not come with us?" I asked, dismayed. + +"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." + +Then before I could speak she turned and glided away, swiftly surrounded +by her guards, leaving me astonished and very uncomfortable. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ALLAN'S VISION + +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. + +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. + +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 Kor 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 Kor. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 Kor. + + + +Reaching our camp I found Hans awake and watching for me. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"But suppose that Rezu should choose to come up to the other ridge and +get behind you. What would happen then?" I inquired. + +He replied that he did not know, his ideas of strategy being, it was +clear, of a primitive order. + +"Do your people fight best at night or in the day?" I went on. + +He said undoubtedly at night, indeed in all their history there was no +record of their having done so in the daytime. + +"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. + +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. + +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, + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +From that moment till the end I had no more trouble with these +Amahagger. + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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 _are_ there." + +I hesitated who did not wish to expose the brave little Hottentot to +such risks. But when he understood, Umslopogaas said, + +"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." + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE MIDNIGHT BATTLE + +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. + +At length it was done and there was no sign of Hans. Another half hour +passed and still no sign of Hans. + +"I think that Light-in-Darkness is dead or taken prisoner," said +Umslopogaas. + +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. + +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, + +"Don't fire yet, Baas, as I want to tell you my story first." + +I looked down and there was the ugly face of Hans wearing a grin that +might have frightened the man in the moon. + +"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." + +"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. + +"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. + +"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, + +"'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.' + +"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." + +"Medicine-men," I suggested. + +"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. + +"'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.' + +"'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.' + +"'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.' + +"'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.' + +"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. + +"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 _skellum_ +(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. + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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?" + +Ah! my dear reader, I will only answer that I wish you had handled the +job yourself, and enjoyed the opportunity of seeing what _you_ 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? + +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 _qui s'excuse, s'accuse_. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Form the Amahagger into a ring or a square and await attack," he +answered. + +I nodded, for that was my own opinion, but replied, + +"If they were Zulus, the plan would be good. But how do we know that +these men will stand?" + +"We know nothing, Macumazahn, and therefore can only try. If they run it +must be up-hill." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, +_Rezu_, and next minute also from above, below and either side, some ten +thousand men poured forth upon our square. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Rezu himself!" I shouted to Umslopogaas. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Perhaps the Great Medicine of Zikali," piped Hans again as he fired a +rifle at the advancing foe. + +"Hang the Great Medicine," I shouted back, "and Ayesha with it. No +wonder she declined to take a hand in this business." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Now from every side there went up a roar of "_She-who-commands! +She-who-commands!_" while the people of Rezu in front shouted "_Lulala! +Lulala!_ Fly, Lulala is upon us with the witchcrafts of the moon!" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE SLAYING OF REZU + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 melee. + +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. + +"This is the mound on which Red-Beard should be," cried Hans as we faced +a little slope. + +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. + +"Red-Beard on the stone. They are killing him," screeched Hans again. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Let me shoot him," I cried to Umslopogaas, for I had reloaded the rifle +as I ran. + +"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." + +Then the giant began to talk in a low, rumbling voice that reverberated +from the slope of the little hill behind us. + +"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_ 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." + +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. + +"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?" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +For quite a while Rezu went on staring. Then he said aloud as if he were +thinking to himself. + +"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." + +Thus he spoke, but still for a moment hesitated. + +"Umslopogaas," I said in the deep silence that followed, "hear me." + +"I hear you," he answered without turning his head or moving his arms. +"What counsel, Watcher-by-Night?" + +"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?" + +"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." + +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. + +"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!" + +Thus he changed 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. + +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. + +But the giant would not, his shield held before him, he stood still and +waited to see what this black warrior would do. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _Inkosikaas_ 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. + +"_Tagati!_ (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. + +Rezu laughed aloud, a bellowing kind of laugh, while Umslopogaas sprang +back astonished. + +"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!" + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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. + +There he stood, gathering himself together for some mighty effort. + +"Run on!" shouted the spectators. "Run back to Kor, black dog!" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Rezu was rising, but before he gained his feet, the axe _Inkosikaas_ +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. + +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. + +"_Thou_ 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----" + +Here of a sudden life left him and throwing his great arms wide, a last +breath passed bubbling from his lips. + +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. + +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 _Inkosikaas_ 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. + +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. + +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, + +"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." + +"What does this glorious black hero say, Watcher-by-Night?" asked +Billali in his most courteous tones. + +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 Kor. + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +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 _had_ come to kill +her, and the bride-women had killed _him_ with their knives before he +could do so. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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. + +I went to her and having cut the straps, since I could not stop to untie +their knots, lifted the veil. + +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. + +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. + + + +This was the end of our long pursuit, and thus we rescued Inez, whom the +Zulus called the Lady Sad-Eyes. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE SPELL + +Of our return to Kor 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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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). + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +During our journey to Kor 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 Kor 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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"Why did it not give _me_ 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." + +"Oh! Baas, perhaps you missed him, who because you hit things sometimes, +think that you do so always." + +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." + +"Indeed! I thought that the Lady who dwells yonder had something to do +with that business. Did you see her, Hans?" + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +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." + +"How can you know the words of Hans, Ayesha," I asked, "seeing that he +spoke in a tongue which you have never learned?" + +"Perchance I read faces, Allan." + +"Or backs," I suggested, remembering that his was turned to her. + +"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." + +"Aye, but mindless, Ayesha." + +"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." + +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, + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"Look, I have laid a spell upon her," she said, beckoning to me to draw +near. + +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. + +"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." + +"Hypnotic suggestion," thought I to myself, "and I only hope to heaven +that it will work." + +Ayesha seemed to guess what was passing through my mind, for she nodded +and said, + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"But how did you come, Ayesha?" + +She laughed as she answered, + +"Perhaps I did not come at all. Perhaps you only thought I came; since I +seemed to be there the rest matters nothing." + +As I still looked unconvinced she went on, + +"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?" + +I answered that I had always been under this impression. + +"Yet, Allan, it is otherwise, for the body dwells within the soul." + +"Like the pearl in an oyster," I suggested. + +"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." + +"A strange theory," I said. + +"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." + +"Oh! yes," I answered, "I quite understand. I thank you much for putting +it so plainly." + +She laughed a little, appreciating my jest, looked at the sleeping Inez, +and said, + +"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." + +"The black people named her Sad-Eyes," I said. + +"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." + +"Just the width of the blade of the axe, _Inkosikaas_," 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?" + +"Because his front-armour was good, Allan, I suppose," she replied +indifferently, "and on his back he wore none." + +"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. + +"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." + +"I don't," I exclaimed exasperated. + +She laughed again and replied, + +"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." + +"Then why did you not choose Rezu to cease to be, and his army also, +Ayesha?" + +"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?" + +"Because you had no power over Rezu, Ayesha, or so you told me." + +"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." + +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. + +Yet as we went out of the house, by some coincidence she alluded to this +very matter. + +"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 Kor. 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. + +"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 Kor 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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +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 _Bayete_. + +She waited till the sound had died away. Then she said, + +"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." + +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, + +"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." + +I rendered the words, and Umslopogaas, preferring truth to modesty, +replied emphatically that this was the case. + +"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?" + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"It does not please me," I answered in a rage at her insults. + +"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 Kor. 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." + +Again I translated. Umslopogaas received her prophecies in stoical +silence, and as I thought with indifference, and only said in reply, + +"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." + +When she heard these words Ayesha said, + +"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." + +Then as though to change the subject, she talked to me for a long while +about Kor, of which she told me a most interesting history, true or +false, that I omit here. + +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. + +"Now they will recover swiftly," she said, and leaving the place was +gone into the darkness. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE GATE OF DEATH + +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 Kor, 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? + +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? + +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 role 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _impi_ +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"If I were going to receive a reward of cattle or wives, I should look +happier than those moon-worshippers, Baas," remarked Hans reflectively. + +"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." + +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. + +"I never thought of that, Baas," commented Hans, "but it is true that +all gifts are not good, especially witches' gifts." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 Kor 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. + +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 debris of the tumbled +wall and across the open space beyond, reaching the scene of the tragedy +without meeting or seeing anyone. + +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. + +"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." + +I remarked that if so the lightning had discriminated very well in this +instance. + +Meanwhile Goroko was examining the bodies one by one, and presently +called out, + +"These doomed ones died not by lightning but by witchcraft. There is not +a burn upon one of them, nor are their garments scorched." + +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. + +"Does lightning always scorch?" I asked Goroko. + +"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. + +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. + +"_Ow!_" 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." + +"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." + +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. + +However that might be, this Kor 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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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." + +"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. + +Outside the house I found Umslopogaas leaning on his axe and looking at +the sky in which the last red rays of evening lingered. + +"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." + +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. + +"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. + +"Why indeed?" I answered, adding to myself, "though I should much prefer +any other highway." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +For a while she sat still in her chair contemplating us both. Then she +said, + +"How comes it that you are late? Those that seek their lost loves should +run with eager feet, but yours have tarried." + +I muttered some excuse to which she did not trouble to listen, for she +went on, + +"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." + +I obeyed, rendering all that she had said into the Zulu idiom as best I +could. + +"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. + +"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." + +When I had passed on all this speech to Ayesha, her comment on it was, + +"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." + +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. + +She laughed a little as she answered, + +"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?" + +"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?" + +"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. + +At this point Hans, who having a smattering of Arabic understood +something of our talk, could contain himself no longer. + +"No, Baas," he broke in from his corner by the curtain, "not _me_. 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." + +"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, + +"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 +Kor, namely to learn, if so I might, whether those who have died upon +the world, live on elsewhere. Now, what must I do?" + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE LESSON + +"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 Kor 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 Kor 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." + +"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. + +"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. + +"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." + +"Pray do not try the experiment----" I began thoroughly alarmed, but she +cut me short. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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_ were the Universe rushing solitary through space for +ages upon ages in a frantic search for fellowship, and finding none. + +Then something seemed to grip my throat and I knew that I had died--for +the world floated away from beneath me. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +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. + +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 _man must answer to himself_, +or perhaps to a divine principle within himself, that out of his own +free-will, through long aeons 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. + +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. + +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. + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Many of these were beyond the power of my appreciation on subjects 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. + +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. + +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. + +Between me and them there was a great gulf fixed and a high wall built. + +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. + +Well, I knew them both; they were those whom I had come to seek, the +women who had been mind 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. + +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 _me!_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +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. + + + +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. + +"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. + +"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?" + +I seemed to answer that they did not appear to know that I was there. + +"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." + +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, + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + +Then suddenly all dissolved in a cataract of many-coloured flames and I +fell down into an infinite gulf of blackness. + + +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. + +"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." + +"Where are the others?" I asked as I rose slowly to obey, for my head +swam and my feet seemed feeble. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +"Now that thou art a man again, Allan, tell me what thou didst see when +thou wast more--or less--than man." + +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. + +"There is truth in thy dream," she said when I had finished; "a lesson +also." + +"Then it was all a dream?" I interrupted. + +"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?" + +"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. + +"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." + +"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. + +"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." + +(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.) + +"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. + +"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." + +"You mean a conscience," I suggested rather feebly, for her thoughts and +images overpowered me. + +"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." + +"When _you_ 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." + +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. + +"Well answered," she said. "Goad the patient ox enough and even it will +grow fierce and paw the ground. + +"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?" + +"Yes," I answered, "since I may as well be done with it at once, and +doubtless it will be good for me." + +"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 _thee_ and for _thee_ 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." + +"Never!" I exclaimed indignantly. "Never! it is not true." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +"Of course--it is allowed." + +"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?" + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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 _your_ 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." + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AYESHA'S FAREWELL + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _her_. +Perhaps certain words spoken by the dying Rezu had shaped that shaft. Or +perhaps some shadow of her advancing fate fell upon me. + +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. + +"What has happened to you?" I said, or rather gasped. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"I pray you, do not weep," I said; "it hurts me and indeed I am sorry if +I said anything to give you pain." + +But she only shook that glorious hair further about her face and behind +its veil wept on. + +"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." + +"And hast thou not deserved them, Allan?" she murmured in soft and +broken tones from behind that veil of scented locks. + +"Why?" I asked. + +"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." + +Then again she fell to sobbing, swaying herself gently to and fro in her +sweet sorrow. + +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. + +She tossed back her hair from her face and fixing her big eyes on me, +said gently enough, looking down at her hand, + +"What ails thee, Allan?" + +"Oh, nothing," I answered; "only I remembered the story you told me +about some man called Kallikrates." + +She frowned. + +"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?" + +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. + +Swiftly she placed her hand upon my heart, saying, + +"Stay! What meanest thou? Dost love me, Allan?" + +"I think so--that is--yes," I answered. + +She sank back upon the couch away from me and began to laugh very +softly. + +"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----?" + +I coloured to my eyes and rose, muttering, + +"Let me be gone!" + +"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!" + +She paused, waiting for me to speak. + +Well, I could not. I had nothing to say who was utterly disgraced and +overwhelmed. + +"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." + +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, + +"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 Kor and me, as indeed he has reminded me +and within an hour." + +This amazing statement aroused me from my personal and painful +pre-occupation and caused me to stare at her blankly. + +"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." + +"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." + +"Now thou liest. Well, what is one more falsehood among so many? Let it +pass." + +"What, indeed?" I echoed in eager affirmation, "and as for Zikali's +message----" and I paused. + +"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." + +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, + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"Over-paid, perhaps," I said with a sigh. + +"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." + +"That is what the Buddha preaches, Ayesha." + +"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." + +"I have often thought that," I said. + +"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 _friend_, 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. + +"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." + + + +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. + +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, + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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?" + +It was on my lips to answer, Yes, if the priest is a knave or a +self-deceiver, but I did not. + +"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." + +She paused awhile, then added, + +"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?" + +"I swear, Ayesha." + +"I thank thee, Allan," she answered, and grew silent for a while. + +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. + +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. + +I went and when I reached them, turned to look my last on her. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +WHAT UMSLOPOGAAS SAW + +Like one who drams 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. + +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. + +"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." + +"Why?" I asked. + +"Oh, Baas, because of the things that happened in that place where the +tall _vrouw_ with her head tied up as though she had tooth-ache, sits +like a spider in a web." + +"Well, what happened, Hans?" I asked as we walked forward. + +"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." + +"Well, and what then, Hans?" + +"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.' + +"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." + +"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." + +"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 _so_ much better!" + +By now we had reached our camp and here I found Umslopogaas sitting in +the doorway and staring at the sky. + +"Good-evening to you, Umslopogaas," I said in my most unconcerned +manner, and waited. + +"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." + +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, + +"Did you make a journey this evening, Macumazahn, and if so, what did +you see?" + +"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." + +"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.[*] 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." + + [*] For the history of Baleka, the mother of Umslopogaas, + and Mopo, see the book called "Nada the Lily."--Editor. + +"And what happened then, Umslopogaas?" I said, when he paused in his +narrative. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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." + +"Well, and did you find them?" I asked. + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +"Well, and what did they say to you, Umslopogaas?" I asked. + +"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." + +"You see, they were old friends, Umslopogaas," I said. + +"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." + +"I suppose that they did not see you, Umslopogaas." + +"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 _Inkosikaas_, making it circle in the light, and smote with all +my strength." + +"And what happened, Umslopogaas?" + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"And did he, Umslopogaas?" + +"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, _she_ 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. + +"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. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +He nodded and said, + +"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. + +"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. + +"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.'" + +"Good words, Umslopogaas, but they should have been spoken ere ever we +set out on this journey." + +"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?" + +"To-morrow morning, I believe, if the Lady Sad-Eyes and the others are +well enough, as She-who-commands says they will be." + +"Good. Then I would sleep who am more weary than I was after I had +killed Rezu in the battle on the mountain." + +"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." + + + +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. + +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. + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Well, the upshot of it was that, like Umslopogaas, more than anything +else in the world did I desire to depart from this haunted Kor 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. + + + +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. + +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. + +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, + +"Daddy has gone on a long journey and will not be back for weeks and +weeks." + +An idea came to me and I answered, + +"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." + +She clapped her hands and answered, + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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.[*] 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. + +[*] For this see the book called "She."--Editor. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +UMSLOPOGAAS WEARS THE GREAT MEDICINE + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 Kor, +and descending rapidly to a sheltered spot on the outer slope where our +camp was to be set for the night. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +We stared and stared till I said inconsequently, + +"Learn, Umslopogaas, what a liar is that old Billali, who told me that +She-who-commands had departed from Kor to her own place." + +"Perhaps this rock edge is her own place, if she be there at all, +Macumazahn." + +"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?" + +"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?" + +"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. + +Then Umslopogaas and I shook our heads and pursued our way in silence. + + + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + + + +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. + +Here we found the waggon and oxen quite safe and were welcomed +rapturously by my Zulu driver and the _voorlooper_, 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. + +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. + +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 Kor. 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. + +"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?" + +"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." + +She bowed her head for a while and muttered some prayer for his soul, +then looked at me keenly and said, + +"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." + +"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." + +"I trust and I believe," she answered. "Now please leave me, but tell me +first where are those women and their children?" + +"After your father died they went away," I replied, lying once more. + +She looked at me again but made no comment. + +Then I left her. + + + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +As we trekked away one fine morning I asked Inez whether she was sorry +to leave the place. + +"No," she replied with energy, "my life there has been a hell and I +never wish to see it again." + + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"It seems that this is the case with all of us, Umslopogaas." + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +"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." + +"Well, what of it, now that we are going into Zululand?" I inquired +sharply. "Do you want me to show it to them?" + +"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 +_voorlooper_, 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 _he_ 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. + +I translated what Hans had said in Dutch to Umslopogaas, who remarked +indifferently, + +"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." + +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. + + + +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 +_very_ 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. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"I have heard it," he said with a sickly smile. + +"And now you are about to learn whether the tale is true," I added +cheerfully. + +Then he asked to see Umslopogaas alone. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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." + +Then he lifted the great axe, and gave me a formal salute, naming me +"Chief and Father, Great Chief and Father, from of old" (_Baba! Koos y +umcool! Koos y pagate!_), 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 _Inkosikaas_ and Groan-maker. + +"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." + +"You suggested giving it to him, Hans," I said. + +"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." + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +ALLAN DELIVERS THE MESSAGE + +Once more I sat in the Black Kloof face to face with old Zikali. + +"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." + +"I have not got it, Zikali. I passed it on to Umslopogaas of the Axe to +save his life from the King's men." + +"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." + +"No," I answered, "I should not. Has Umslopogaas been here?" + +"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." + +"Where to? The Town of the People of the Axe?" + +"No, Macumazahn, he came thence, or so I understood, but thither he will +return no more." + +"Why not, Zikali?" + +"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." + +"Where has the Axe-bearer gone?" I asked without surprise, for this news +did not astonish me. + +"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.[*] 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 +_kaross_ 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." + + [*] For the tale of this meeting see the book called "Allan + Quatermain."--Editor. + +"The fate of your friends does not trouble you over much, +Opener-of-Roads," I said with sarcasm. + +"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." + +"I understand, Zikali, and know now what to expect from you." + +He laughed in his strange way and answered, + +"Aye, and it is good that you must expect, good in the future as in the +past, for _you_, 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." + +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, + +"What message had the White Queen for me?" + +"She said that you troubled her too much at night in dreams, Zikali." + +"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. + +"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?" + +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. + +Zikali listened intently to every word, then broke into a peal of his +unholy laughter. + +"_Oho-ho!_" 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." + +"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." + +"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. + +"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. + +"Lies, lies, all is lies! Yet beyond I tell you, beauteous and +eternal stands the Truth, Macumazahn. _Oho-ho! Oho-ho!_ 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." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of She and Allan, by H. 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